A small group of Harlem charter schools – where 100 percent of eighth-graders passed the state’s math exam – is the “poster child” for President Obama’s proposal to overhaul the nation’s education system, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday.
“I think most of what the president said, you already do,” Bloomberg told a group of attentive, well-dressed ninth- and 10th- graders at the Harlem Village Academy HS on East 120th Street.
“It’s really amazing. You are the poster child for this country.”
The high school has just 60 students, all graduates of two middle schools run by Harlem Village.
Last year, a remarkable 100 percent of the eighth-graders in both middle schools passed the state’s math test, compared to 46 percent in neighboring public schools.
Principal Nick Timpone said the exam was a cinch, compared to the rigorous curriculum.
“What we do in the school day to day is more challenging than what they see on the test,” he said.
The school’s seventh-graders did nearly as well. One class scored 100 percent, the other 95.
This week, in Obama’s first major presidential speech on education, he called for sweeping reforms in the nation’s schools, including merit pay for teachers, more charters and longer school days and semesters.
The school day at Harlem Village runs from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., compared with the typical 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at public schools.
The students don’t seem to mind, since the last two hours are dedicated to such outside enrichment activities as yoga and dance classes.
“We have a long school day to learn stuff, but afterward we get to do things that interest us,” said ninth-grader Luis Santana.
When students excel, all teachers receive performance bonuses.
Schools Chancellor Joel Klein inadvertently hit upon another reason Harlem Village is such a success when he asked the students how their experiences differed from public school.
“When I was in public school, it seemed like the teachers didn’t care,” volunteered ninth-grader Gierra Morales.
“In public school, they were there for themselves. Here, they’re here for us.”
Bloomberg quickly interjected that there were good teachers in both charter and public schools.
“We’ve got 80,000 teachers here in the city,” he said. “When you’ve got 80,000 of anything, not everybody’s going to be perfect.”