| Education in the Big Apple |
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| Written by Tom Clougherty | |
| Friday, 09 November 2007 | |
This week's Economist praises the educational reforms of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg – and with good reason. As the article notes:Progress has been sufficiently impressive that the Broad Foundation declared New York the most improved urban school district in the nation... Graduation rates are at their highest in decades.Much of this success is due to New York's charter schools, which are independently run, but publicly financed. Often backed by private firms or charities, these schools have far more flexibility in their operations than local authority schools (although they are not allowed to select pupils – places are allocated by lottery). In return head-teachers are held accountable for the education their schools provide, getting bonuses if they succeed and losing their jobs if they fail. Schools that don't improve face closure. Such is the charter schools' success that Bloomberg now intends to extend their autonomy and accountability to the rest of the schools in the city. In the UK, city academies were meant to be like 'charter schools' but – despite some encouraging signs – the results have mostly been disappointing, leading many to question their worth. Accordingly, one of the first things Gordon Brown did on becoming Prime Minister was give local authorities more control over academies. That was to completely miss the point. Academies have not been disappointing because they were too independent. They have been disappointing because they are little more than re-launched state schools in fancy new buildings. If we want city academies to make a real difference, we should take a leaf out of New York's book. There must be real independence, real incentives to succeed, and real accountability if they fail.
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