More DOE Improvements

It appears that Mayor Bloomberg and Joel Klein, by simplistically determining that test scores are the only criteria by which to judge schools, are driving away middle class students.

"I didn't see things getting better," Ms. Vayer said. "The school increased class sizes, and I felt no attention was being paid to middle-class students who were there."

The mayor, while paying lip service to smaller class size, has done virtually nothing to promote it. In fact, he’s blocked referendums that would have legislated smaller class size, and refused to cooperate with the CFE suit, which would have promoted it.

NYC, disgracefully, still has the highest class sizes in the state. And aside from a few high-profile, high publicity cases, the administration has done little to get rid of poor teachers. In fact, with a contract than worsens working condition while still allowing wages to lag behind the suburbs, he’s made it more difficult to attract good ones.

Everyone knows what makes good schools—good teachers and small classes. By focusing on test scores, at the expense of everything and anything else, Mayor Bloomberg stands to increase, rather than halt the exodus from public schools.