Next NYC Mayor Must Call for Accountability in Schools
Geoffrey Canada, the president and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone and member of StudentsFirstNY's board of directors, urged New York City's next mayor to live up to Mayor Bloomberg's efforts to redirect the City's schools. Bloomberg, who took over mayoral control of NYC's public schools, has worked to close failing schools, expand charter school networks, hold teachers accountable and set strong evaluation standards. Canada wrote in The New York Times:
Mayor Bloomberg had the courage to support the exposure of how unprepared many of our students are for college. For all of us in education, these new Common Core exam results are a wake-up call — and the thing about a wake-up call is you have to wake up. The next mayor must put together an action plan so principals and teachers have the materials and the authority to create a rigorous educational experience for our kids.
The next mayor will find that improving the education of our students will be the toughest job he or she will take on. It will call for real courage and real accountability, but it must be job No. 1.
