In August 2002, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg selected former corporate executive and Justice Department official Joel I. Klein to become chancellor of the nation鈥檚 largest school system鈥攁 system that had just come under mayoral control. 鈥淚 believe he will deliver to this city what we promised鈥攁 quality education for all of our children,鈥� Mayor Bloomberg said when he announced his decision. Mr. Klein has since overseen a number of aggressive reform efforts, including a stringent evaluation effort for each of the system鈥檚 1,400 public schools and the introduction of value-added assessment of the city鈥檚 teachers. On Nov. 9, 2010, Klein announced his resignation after eight years and many struggles.
(November 12, 2010)
Studies Paint a Picture of Klein鈥檚 Legacy
Often it鈥檚 left to the history books to judge the results of big-city education reform efforts years later, but outgoing New York City 69传媒 Chancellor Joel I. Klein got a preview this week of the legacy of the far-reaching鈥攁nd controversial鈥攊nitiatives that he and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg have pushed over the past eight years.
(November 9, 2010)
Joel I. Klein, the combative and controversial chancellor of New York City鈥檚 public schools, announced on Nov. 9, 2010, that he would be resigning at the end of the year, leaving behind a school system fundamentally changed from where it stood when his tenure began.
(September 29, 2010)
Commentary
Small 69传媒, Big Difference
In an Education Week commentary, Michele Cahill and Robert L. Hughes write that a recent study of New York City鈥檚 small-schools initiative, an effort that was led by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel I. Klein, 鈥渂rings encouraging news for those seeking to produce rapid progress at scale in high school reform.鈥�
(May 20, 2009)
Bloomberg鈥檚 Way
The nation鈥檚 largest school district is engaged in a fierce debate over the merits and drawbacks of mayoral control as a legislative deadline looms for renewing the governance arrangement. Mayoral control, Chancellor Joel I. Klein said, aligns accountability and authority for schools. 鈥淚 think the basic structure is sound, but there鈥檚 no question that any structure can be improved,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about whether it鈥檚 a perfect law; it鈥檚 about whether the law provides the right governance structure.鈥�
(May 11, 2009)
Joel Klein on Mayoral Control
(March 5, 2008)
Commentary
Test Results and Drive-By Evaluations
Following New York City 69传媒 Chancellor Joel I. Klein鈥檚 announcement that he wanted to begin rating teachers in the nation鈥檚 largest school system on the basis of their students鈥� test scores, Thomas Toch, co-director of Washington think tank Education Sector, writes that 鈥渟tandardized-test scores aren鈥檛 the simple solution they seem to be.鈥�
(September 18, 2007)
NYC Wins Prestigious Urban Education Award
The Broad Prize honors large urban school districts that demonstrate the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement. The selection committee said that the New York City district stood out for raising student achievement to a greater degree than other disadvantaged districts in the state had done, for reducing the achievement gap between minority and white students, and for helping greater proportions of African-American and Hispanic students achieve at high levels.
(April 19, 2006)
NYC Chief Unveils New Accountability Plan
Signaling a new phase in the reorganization of the country鈥檚 largest school system, New York City 69传媒 Chancellor Joel I. Klein unveiled plans last week to grade all of the city鈥檚 1,400 public schools on student performance and the quality of instruction. Under the accountability plan, schools that fail to measure up could face leadership changes or restructuring. At the same time, Mr. Klein pledged to continue efforts already begun to give principals added decisionmaking authority and to give educators more data with which to gauge student progress.
(October 15, 2003)
NYC Hangs Tough Over Maverick Curriculum
The decision by New York City 69传媒 Chancellor Joel I. Klein to mandate 鈥減rogressive鈥� approaches to teaching, reading, and mathematics in all but the highest-performing of the city鈥檚 1,000 schools has been noted, and landed Gotham at the center of the continuing debate over how best to teach the three R鈥檚. Several local scholars questioned that research base in the New York approach shortly after Chancellor Klein announced the city would adopt Month-by-Month Phonics and Everyday Mathematics as the main reading and math programs.
(April 30, 2003)
NYC Administrators鈥� Contract Lacks Major Changes
69传媒 Chancellor Joel I. Klein has said he wants to steer more of New York City鈥檚 best principals to its lowest-performing schools. His remarks have fueled speculation that contract talks with administrators might yield changes in the way the system deploys its school leaders. While a spokesman for the chancellor鈥檚 office said last week that officials there would not comment on the ongoing collective bargaining process, it鈥檚 no secret that Mr. Klein considers strengthening school leadership a hallmark of his improvement strategy for the NYC school system.
(October 16, 2002)
NYC Chancellor Asks for Time To Fix 69传媒
The man heading the New York City schools is quick to admit that he knows case law better than he knows school management. But he has a bold proposal to make nonetheless: If you give me some time, I will turn around the biggest school system in the country. Since Joel I. Klein came aboard two months ago as chancellor, he has revealed few specifics on how he plans to improve schools, and last week鈥檚 speech was no different. But he did share his views on the magnitude of the change that is needed and where the locus of change should be.
(August 7, 2002)
Former Justice Official To Head NYC 69传媒
Following weeks of speculation, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg last week tapped Joel I. Klein, the former federal official who prosecuted Microsoft, to be the first mayor-appointed chancellor under the new governance system for the New York City schools. 鈥淗e is a visionary,鈥� the Republican mayor said as he introduced Mr. Klein during a July 29 news conference. 鈥淭his indeed is a historic time,鈥� Mr. Klein said. 鈥淚 intend to seize the opportunity.鈥�
