New York City's Public Education Challenges - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com

New York City's Public Education Challenges - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com:

New York City’s Public Education Challenges

DEBATERS

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  Testing and Choice Are Destructive

  DIANE RAVITCH, AUTHOR, "REIGN OF ERROR"
  The new mayor’s goal should be a great education for all students, one that meets their needs and strengthens their families and communities.
• 

  Let’s Have More Accountability

  GEOFFREY CANADA, HARLEM CHILDREN'S ZONE
  The next mayor must not be afraid to continue controversial measures like closing failing schools, supporting charters and evaluating teachers.
• 

  Focus on Schools in Poor Communities

  PEDRO NOGUERA, SOCIOLOGIST, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
  The next mayor will need to recognize that serving the needs of English-language learners cannot be treated as a minor issue.
• 

  Stop the Teacher Evaluations

  SOL STERN, MANHATTAN INSTITUTE
  The next New York mayor should suspend the test-based teacher rankings and focus on implementing the Common Core and new classroom curricula.

INTRODUCTION

André da Loba

The next mayor of New York City faces some tough challenges particularly when it comes to setting public education priorities. Should he or she abandon Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s fixation on testing and data-driven accountability, or expand school choice and close failing classrooms to give more options to families, especially English-language learners and those in low-income communities?

This is the fifth in a series of discussions on what awaits the next chief executive of New York.

READ THE DISCUSSION »