Eastern States

The New York City Department of Education oversees the largest school district in the United States. This system has been responsible for the public schools in all five city boroughs for the past four decades. It is one of the few school systems in the country that is controlled by the city's mayor rather than an appointed school board. In addition to being the largest school network, it is also one of the most segregated in the country, which leads to numerous challenges in ensuring the many students in the system that come from a huge range of backgrounds all receive the same opportunities and education within the city limits.

How it Started

According to Wikipedia, the New York City Department of Education started in 1969. At that time, the mayor of the city, John Lindsay, organized the department of education to oversee high schools, while 32 individual school boards managed all the elementary and middle schools. This system continued in this manner until 2002, when full control of the school system was given to the city's mayor.

The Board of Education became the Panel for Education Policy – an office managed by 12 members appointed by the mayor. The Panel for Education Policy was responsible for 10 regions created by the mayor and took the place of the 32 districts that had been in place previously. Those regions were short-lived, however. In 2007, when Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office, the regions were completely dissolved; instead,

Although New York City recently issued guidelines for sex education in all of its high schools, the rest of the state does not appear to be faring as well. A recent report by the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) suggests that sex ed in New York schools is inconsistent at best, as well as incomplete and inaccurate in a number of schools across the state. In a state that has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the country, public schools need to produce a well-rounded, comprehensive curriculum without bias or stereotypes, the report recommends.

About the NYCLU’s Report

In creating the report, titled, “Birds, Bees and Bias: How Absent Sex Ed Standards Fail New York’s Students,” the NYCLU looked at 82 public school districts across the state. The organization originally asked 108 districts for information about their sex education programs, but 26 that responded were excluded from the study due to insufficient information. The study also did not include schools in New York City, since the city took measures to standardize and update the sex education programs last year. The 82 districts included in the study encompasses just over 540,000 students, which is more than half of all the students in the state, with the exception of students within New York City.

The report found that although New York’s Department of Health published guidelines in 2005 regarding sex education in schools, those guidelines are not requirements for schools to follow. The guidelines

New York churches now have legal permission to meet on weekends in public schools in the city, thanks to a recent ruling by the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York. The ruling marks the next milestone in a long-running battle between the Bronx Household of Faith and New York City. The fight began in 1995 when the church sought legal action after being denied the use of a school for their Sunday morning services. The ruling provides access to public schools by churches throughout the city, a move that some celebrated and others promised to continue to fight.

About the Bronx Household of Faith and NYC

In 1995, the Bronx Household of Faith submitted an application to city officials, expressing their desire to hold Sunday worship services at Public School 15. The New York City Department of Education denied the application, which cited the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause as the primary reason for keeping church services out of public school buildings.

However, the church countered that the denial violated its First Amendment rights and sued the city of New York to overturn the decision. The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has been representing the Bronx Household of Faith in court ever since the case originated in 1995. According to the Christian Post, the ADF argued against claims by the city that if schools allowed churches to hold worship services at the schools, it would be seen as an endorsement of religion by the

After an eighteen-month court battle, the city of New York is releasing 18,000 individual teacher rankings to the media and the general public. The ratings, known as Teacher Data Reports, involve 4^th through 8th-grade math and English teachers. The rankings were designed to demonstrate the progress a teacher’s students have made on state standardized tests. The results are based on data compiled since 2007, but this is the first time the information is available to those outside the school system.

Why Rank Teachers?

According to a report in the New York Times, the teacher rankings started out as a pilot program four years ago. The purpose of the program was to provide measurable data that would help improve the instruction at 140 of the city’s schools. The system was created in response to President Obama’s Race to the Top program, according to The Slatest. This federal program allows funding to states for public education, based on federal requirements to turn around low-performing schools.

The rankings have also been used by the city school districts to make decisions about teachers, such as tenure decisions and firings. The rankings were originally designed to be an objective piece of data that would help school districts distinguish between effective and ineffective teachers. The information was not originally intended to move beyond the school system, which is where the data could be used for the benefit of teachers, schools, and students.

This video reports on ranking

Since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office, the city of New York has focused on improving dismal high school graduation rates. To that end, Mayor Bloomberg has boasted that the city has seen huge success. However, more recent numbers indicate that graduating students from high school is not enough for the youth of New York City. Now, college readiness has become a concern, and the numbers there are not nearly as encouraging.

Dismal Numbers Indicate Preparation is Lacking

According to a recent report in the New York Times, only one in four New York City students is ready for the rigors of a college curriculum after graduating from high school. Minority students see even lower figures in college readiness after high school. The recent data has many educators and legislators throughout the city up in arms as they realize that graduation rates may not be enough to ensure students leaving New York schools are ready for the job market of the 21^st century.

“The reality today is that a high school degree is not enough for the average student to compete,” City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez told NY1.

Additional data collected by city officials showed the same distressing results – 75 percent of New York high school graduates did not have sufficient Regents and SAT scores to avoid remedial classes in their first year of college. Remedial classes often have a negative impact on college completion rates, since students must use valuable time and tuition