New Yorkers Say Mayor Has Not Improved Schools

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

New Yorkers are broadly dissatisfied with the quality of their public schools, and most say the city’s school system has stagnated or declined since Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg took control of it nine years ago, according to a New York Times poll.

Mr. Bloomberg has made improving the schools a focus of his mayoralty, seizing authority over the bureaucracy, doubling the budget and opening hundreds of additional, small schools. Still, even as his overall approval rating, 45 percent, is at a six-year low, considerably fewer residents — 34 percent — approve of how the mayor is handling education.

“What had been a signature issue for Bloomberg may not be the legacy issue he hoped it would be,” said Bruce M. Gyory, a political consultant and adjunct professor at the State University of New York at Albany.

In follow-up interviews, poll respondents expressed various reasons for their dissatisfaction, including frustration over the system of school choice, services for disabled children and the emphasis on standardized tests.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/07/education/07poll.html?pagewanted=all

[timefortherevolution]

1. I grew up poor, but my parents gave a dam about what I did every night.

Sorry, but I too often see parents wanting others to care for their kids.

It doesn't take a whole lot.

[JackRiddler]

2. That's good but what does it have to do with the subject?

Public schools should be good places for children offering excellent education, do you not agree?

[alstephenson]

3. All kids deserve a good education.

Even if their parents aren't engaged in their education - or are working two jobs, or addicted to drugs, or in jail, or whatever. All children growing up in the United States of America deserve a good education.