No Excuse for Mediocre Secondary Education?

spitzer.jpg There will be no more excuses for failure. The debate will no longer be about money, but about performance. The goal will no longer be adequacy, but excellence. And the timetable will no longer be tomorrow, but today.

This from New York Governor Elliot Spitzer who, according to the New York Times, has proposed a budget that would add $1.4 billion to education spending statewide for the coming fiscal year, increasing to $7 billion in added annual spending after four years. The largest share of that $7 billion — about $3.1 billion — would go to New York City.

I don’t know enough to argue if this is enough, although Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is adding another $2.2 billion and, the same article notes that Schools Chancellor Joel Klein is “strongly in support.” But what if we could shift the debate away from resources and on to performance? Isn't that an amazing, crazy, thrilling notion?


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Susan Herr

Posted at 5:22 AM, Jan 31, 2007 in Education | Permalink | Comments (1)


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It is amazing, crazy, and thrilling. Two questions: What is the role of private philanthropy in facilitating this process -- not just in starting new programs and pet projects or adopting schools and kids, but in alleviating billion dollar discrepancies in education funding? And, what is the role of private philanthropists in debunking the notion that "money doesn't matter" when it comes to schools?

Posted by: Andrea Batista Schlesinger