On February 11, I will begin my 39th year with the New York City public schools. I started as a teacher, and have served as an assistant principal, principal, deputy superintendent, and district superintendent. I am currently the Chief Schools Officer, a position in which I support and evaluate the 1,600 schools overseen by the Department of Education. Over these four decades, I have watched schools rise to greatness and great schools fall. That’s the cycle of a school system as we work to ensure that our classrooms are fulfilling their most basic obligation to educate children and put them on the path to graduation. Closing schools is a difficult, but necessary, part of this cycle.
During the past six years, the Department of Education has closed more than 90 schools that were incapable of reversing years of low performance. This year, we’ve proposed phasing out another 20 schools where turnaround efforts have failed to improve student achievement. We don’t take these decisions lightly. In some cases, these schools have storied histories and large numbers of faithful alumni. All have students and staffs who work hard and still believe in the school’s potential. But despite past successes and recent efforts, these schools all share something in common — they are failing to educate most of their students.
We consider many factors when determining whether to phase out a school. We study its performance trends over time. Some of the schools proposed for closure this year have been struggling for more than a decade, showing little if any progress despite an array of interventions. These may range from creating an assortment of enrichment programs, mentoring and tutoring services, reconfiguring grades and classes, lowering enrollment, or changing principals.