By FERNANDA SANTOS
Published: January 13, 2012
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg devoted more than half of his State of the City address on Thursday to education. Throughout Mr. Bloomberg’s 10 years as mayor, it has been a consistent theme of the annual speeches. Following are excerpts:
2002 “We must remove disruptive kids from the classroom. We must strengthen teacher evaluation and training. We must improve teacher retention by focusing compensation on those educators just starting their careers.”
2003 “For 20 years, efforts to reform the schools were stymied by politics as usual. ... Last year, though, our Legislature and governor ended that status quo. Many people thought that was tantamount to achieving the impossible. In fact, that was the easy part. Now comes the real test: giving all our students the education they need and deserve. And I believe we’re ready to pass that test.”
2004 “It’s been 50 years since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. Does anyone seriously think we have realized the dream for all our children? It’s time to recognize both how far we’ve come — but also how far we’ve not come — and recommit to our goal of a quality education for every student.”
2005 “Don’t forget: We’ve got more than 1,300 schools, 85,000 teachers and 1.1 million kids. More kids than there are people in Detroit, and almost as many as the population of San Francisco and Miami combined. But there’s no more important job than bestowing a future of opportunity on every one of those students.”
2006 “We will be a leading voice in the effort to lift the state’s cap on charter schools in New York City so that we can create more options for communities that need them the most.”
2007 “I can’t think of a better way to hold a principal’s feet to the fire than arming Mom and Dad with the facts about how well or poorly their children’s school is performing.”
2008 “Make no mistake: We believe in our teachers. That’s why we’ve raised salaries 43 percent and invested more than $2 billion in training and supporting them. But we’re also going to be tough enough to give principals the authority to evaluate all teachers based on how well their students are actually learning. Students and parents deserve nothing less.”
2009 “If ever there was a case of, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,’ this is it. For the sake of our children, we can’t go back to the old days, and we won’t go back. In the months ahead, we look forward to discussing the progress we’ve made with our leaders in Albany, and listening to their concerns. And I believe they’ll once again do the right thing and reauthorize mayoral control.”
2010 “We’ve worked hard to get parents more involved in their children’s education, but how can they help if they don’t know there’s a problem?”
2011 “Every mayor who comes into office faces a defining challenge. ... When I first came into office, I was bringing the city back from the attacks of 9/11 and turning around a broken public school system.”
2012 “We have only climbed halfway up the mountain, and halfway isn’t good enough. We want all our children to see the view from the top, to see the world of possibilities that stretch out before them.”
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