Chancellor Demands 'No-Excuses' in Public School Reform

Queens, NY (Nov. 30) – Private universities must help the city realize a “no-excuses” vision of “revolutionary change” in public education by strengthening teacher preparation and partnering with local schools, said the New York City Schools Chancellor at an education forum at St. John’s University.

Chancellor Joel Klein issued his challenge in an address entitled "Reforming Public Education: A No-Excuses Approach to Success." Klein spoke on Tuesday, November 30, as part of the Carol Gresser Forum at St. John's.

"This is what we need from local private universities like St. John's," said Klein. "The demands of the 21st Century will be great. Schools of Education must help us ensure that our system is prepared for those demands."

Klein outlined three ways that universities must help: by strengthening teacher preparation in math and technology; developing new approaches to classroom management; and "helping to transform" local schools by partnering with them.

According to Klein, university support is part of his broad, multi-year plan for reforming New York's public schools. "This is our vision," he said. "Our first lever for change is school leadership. Where does that start? With the community, which is the first to tell us whether our children our succeeding."

Klein said his administration has promoted change by making schools more accountable and increasing community input. He pointed, for example, to his continuing efforts to end "social promotion" and his success in assigning "one superintendent" to every ten schools in the city.

This plan for change, Klein added, will be completed if Mayor Bloomberg is re-elected to another four years, which Klein said he is confident will happen.

Education reform, Klein said, has long eluded New York City. "We have had a history of reform efforts," he noted. "Yet there have been no new results." He pointed to a legacy of social promotion as a big reason for the system's failure.

"There have been too many excuses," Klein said. Policy makers traditionally have blamed the children, the parents, and school administration for unprepared students. By embracing a "no-excuses approach to success," he explained, the school system "will make bold steps on behalf of the children."

In addition to ending social promotion, Klein added, the city needs to decrease class sizes, install a consistent curriculum based on testing and assessment and "transform dysfunctional schools into fully functional schools."

After his address, Klein fielded a question-and-answer session with educators and other members of the St. John's community. According to Jerrold Ross, Ph.D., Dean of the School of Education, Klein's remarks were part of a continuing discourse on educational issues that stimulates "an opening of the mind, a conversion of heart and intellectual debate."

The School of Education established the Carol Gresser Forum in 1998.  Held twice a year, the forum is named for the former President of the New York City Board of Education and Queens resident, who now serves as a professor of education at St. John's.