Struggling Middle Schools Target Of City/Union Effort

Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn Aug. 26 announced a Campaign for Middle School Success, a strategy designed to improve the performance of middle schools in the city over the coming years. The campaign was created with the backing and collaboration of the United Federation of Teachers and the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, among others.

ERNEST LOGAN: 'A comprehensive plan.'

Focus on Low-Performers

The $35-million initiative will support grants to underperforming schools to fund innovative programming or other improvements and will streamline a database on middle school performance records called "The Blueprint" that will attempt to highlight the best practices of successful middle schools.

"We at the United Federation of Teachers are pleased to see our middle schools finally start to get the extra attention they need," said UFT Vice President Richard Farkas in a statement. "We should be realistic in our expectations ... but this campaign does provide a promising start."

CSA President Ernest Logan said the campaign would provide a "comprehensive academic improvement plan that addresses the specific needs of middle school students and staff." He said he thought that "The Blueprint" would give schools "the opportunity to expand and enhance programs that have demonstrated success."

Turning Point for Many

The Mayor said that middle schools are "where the rubber hits the road for many of our students  by sustaining more of the encouraging progress we are making in the lower grades, we can continue raising graduation rates to new highs."

Speaker Quinn credited the City Council's Middle School Task Force, who she said "[offer] a comprehensive menu of options for Principals to improve their schools."

Two hundred nineteen middle schools that are classed as "low-performing" will have access to the improvement grants, with 50 middle schools in northern Manhattan eligible for an additional $18 million grant provided by the GE Foundation. Principals of the "low-performing" schools will be sent Request for Applications forms this week, through which they can apply for planning grants. Selected schools will receive grants in October which they can use to spearhead improvement plans. "The amount of money allocated to each school will depend on the scope of their proposals," read a statement from the Office of the Mayor.