General Info

Foundation for Education Reform and Accountability Statement on New York Winning Federal Race to the Top Funding for Proposed Education Reforms Education Commissioner David Steiner and the Board of Regents deserve a great deal of praise for their work on New York's strong Race to the Top plan, which increased the number of public charter schools and proposes a strong set of reforms that seek to raise academic standards, improve teacher preparation, instruction and evaluation and turn around the state's chronically failing schools. While today's announcement is welcome news and all New Yorkers should be hopeful that these reforms bring about necessary improvements in our educational system, similar efforts have been made in the past and delivered mixed results. In order for these reforms to have a serious chance of improving student achievement over the long haul, superintendents, school boards, teachers unions, and the like will need to abandon the status quo and work together at the local level to put new programs in place that deliver results. Dismal graduation rates and weak results on the most recent state English language arts and math exams have shown that New York has a long way to go before it provides all students with the high-quality education that they deserve. Today's announcement is a good first step in moving forward with funding for a coherent strategy to turn around our struggling education system.