Letter: From the Chancellor

Dear Colleagues,

As the 2008-09 school year ends, I want to thank you for all you have done to make this year a success for the schools and students of New York City.

Thanks to your dedication and hard work, our students have made real and sustained progress. Every day, you provide students with the high quality instruction that helps them achieve. By developing innovative ways to engage them and using the latest data and techniques, you’ve helped students acquire the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the 21^st century. You have put in the extra hours and the extra effort to reach students who need additional support. And you have involved parents and engaged community members to improve your students’ educational outcomes both in and out of the classroom.

As you know better than anyone, many of New York City’s teachers go beyond the basics, creating innovative programs and strategies to help students learn. Using YouTube and the power of song, for example, a music teacher in Staten Island launched his elementary school chorus into the national spotlight this year. He taught the students to express themselves through art, and helped them to perform in Washington, D.C. for members of Congress. A Queens teacher used videoconferencing to connect her students with an author and with students in the United Kingdom to generate enthusiasm for reading and to increase her fifth graders’ international awareness. Teachers at a high school in Coney Island developed an innovative course in marine science, helping students build underwater robots for aquatic research that students entered into an international marine robotics competition.

Your talent and dedication have helped our students make great strides this year. Thanks to your efforts, more students are meeting and exceeding standards in math and reading. For the first time, nearly 70 percent of our students in grades three through eight met or exceeded State standards in reading, and more than 80 percent of these students met or exceeded State standards in math. To put this in context: only seven years ago, just 30 percent of eighth graders were proficient in reading and math and only about 50 percent of fourth graders were proficient in math and reading. Not only are New York City’s students making progress, but they are catching up to their peers in the rest of the State. And the City’s black and Hispanic students are leading the way, narrowing the achievement gap separating them from their white and Asian peers. Our high school students are also succeeding in record numbers: earlier this week, we announced that the City’s four-year graduation rate surpassed 60 percent for the first time since the State created its new method for tracking this data, building on the progress of the last several years. Our work is far from complete, but we’ve come a long way.

I hope that you use the summer to think of new ways to help our schools and students continue this progress next year, but most of all, I hope that you enjoy a well-deserved break. Have a wonderful and relaxing summer vacation!

Sincerely,
Joel I. Klein