Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said it was the best year of his tenure. There were gains in state reading and math scores and incentive programs for teachers, principals and students. Klein touched on these issues, and some controversies, in an exclusive interview with The Post.
Q: You’ve talked about how smoothly the school year started – did it stay that way?
A: What surprised me was how smooth it was given all the changes we made. Remember, we eliminated the regions, downsized the bureaucracy, downsized central [administration] and brought in all the school support organizations. That’s a lot of stuff, if you will, and compared to the first reorganization, there’s no question that this was much smoother.
Q: What are some of the highlights of the school year?
A: I think the major highlight of the year is the [test] results. I’m a results guy, and the results were big. Probably the second major thing was the implementation of the accountability system, which I believe is long-term, big and meaningful . . . The charter scores were really dynamite. To have charter schools in the city of New York that are 92 percent African-American and Latino, 80 percent poverty, performing at the same level as the state of New York or even a little better is really a remarkable thing. [And] we got a pay-for-performance deal with the UFT [United Federation of Teachers].
Q: Speaking of charters, there is some opposition growing in District 22 to the Hebrew Charter School that could open there in 2009. Are you concerned at all that it’s going to turn into a lightning rod the way [Arabic-themed school] Khalil Gibran did?
A: I hope not. We’ve done [dual language] schools with such success . . . I think [the Khalil Gibran issue] was a combination of two unfortunate things – a lot of misunderstanding about what Khalil Gibran was about and then a real focus on the principal, the original principal, and I think that created some noise. I hope this Hebrew charter school – which again will be dual language, which has got zero religion to it – will be successful, but I guess we have to stay tuned.
Q: Was there anything you wish had gone differently – like the teacher-tenure legislation [not allowing school districts to use student performance in tenure decisions] in Albany, for example?
A: I wish it hadn’t occurred. On the other hand, I think it did surface the issue really at the national level . . . I clearly wish that the economy was otherwise and we wouldn’t have to go through budget cuts. But by and large I thought this was a smooth year.
Q: What about complaints about the report-card grades for schools?
A: The report cards were probably one of the noisy periods. But . . . I can’t tell you how many principals said to me, ‘You know, chancellor, I didn’t get the right grade but I promise you I won’t get the same one next year,’ so I think that had a big impact.
Q: Where do things stand on the budget cuts – is there any hope that Albany is going to loosen restrictions on the funds at this point?
A: I don’t believe that’s going to happen . . . We are looking at a variety of strategies.
Q: Like what?
A: I’d rather not get ahead of the story.
Q: If you had to assign a grade to yourself for the school year, what would it be?
A: This was in my view the best year we had. I always like to say the grade is ‘A’ for effort and other people can grade our performance.
Q: What’s next?
A: Now that we have so much information . . . we’re going to be able to really home in on what schools made real progress. We’re going to [focus] on which schools are really moving the English-language learners, which schools are moving in special education.
Q: What’s in store for you after Bloomberg’s term ends – would you like to stay on as chancellor?
A: I would like to keep serving . . . I think education is going to be a part of my life. I’m now doing this national [equality] project, which I’ll continue to push on . . . I’ve got many, many things that I want to do – not the least of which is to write a hell of a book about my 7½ years as chancellor.