Public Schools

Since the New York City Council Zoning and Franchises Committee voted Tuesday to approve a modified version of plans to sweepingly change 125th Street—ensuring likely passage at an upcoming full Council vote—many Harlemites fear that their beloved neighborhood will soon become unrecognizable. As in the case of any community change, longtime residents wonder how their children will be impacted.

Engineered and promoted by brand-new Governor David Paterson, CC ’77, and passed by the New York State Assembly on Wednesday, the 2008-2009 state budget includes a windfall $1.75 billion increase in state education funding. New York City schools will now receive $534 million, a fact which has prompted education campaigners to press ahead and call on Mayor Bloomberg and city schools Chancellor Joel Klein—this year’s class day speaker—to change their budget proposal as well.

Although 6,000 New York City students can now bring home some extra cash along with their report cards, most Upper West Side schools are rejecting the idea that money is the best way to improve classroom performance. Open to every city public school serving fourth or seventh grade students, the two-year pilot program launched by the New York City Department of Education—known as Spark—rewards test scores with up to hundreds of dollars.

In January, the NYC DOE commissioned a review of District 75, the city’s special needs education district. The move has worried many affected parents, some of whom believe that the DOE has a history of not affording special needs education priority in the school system.

Labelled a failing school by the New York City Department of Education, Manhattan’s Renaissance Leadership Academy is caught in transition as it struggles to improve its standardized test scores in time to avoid closure.

Nearly one-quarter of parents of New York City public school students are dissatisfied with the size of their children’s classes, according to the results of a survey commissioned by the city and released earlier this month.