ABNY Speech Draft #3-2.1

7/28/2019 ABNY Speech Draft #3-2.1

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Speech by Joseph J. Lhota on Education Reform

Association for a Better New YorkThursday, June 20, 2013

The following is the text of the remarks as prepared for delivery

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Thank you, Bill for that kind introduction.

This morning I will discuss my views of the state of our schools and my vision for education reform.

This will be the first of many policy speeches that I will make throughout thismayoral campaign about reform and I want to thank ABNY for allowing me theopportunity to present my vision for the future of our Citys education system.

For nearly two generations, and five mayoral administrations, Democratic and

Republican, the City has recognized our education system as dysfunctional.We decentralized the power at the Board of Education. When that didnt work,we centralized the power at the Board of Education.

Finally we got to the root cause of the problem and acknowledged that it was theBoard of Education that was the problem. It was unaccountable.

In 2002, after years of pressing the State Legislature, the executive in City Hallwas given authority over our education system.

The Mayor would finally be responsible and held accountable.

Mayor Bloomberg assumed this responsibility and told New Yorkers that heshould be judged on his governance of the Department of Education.

Lets take a look at som e of the results over the last 11 years:

In 2002, 37.3% of our students, grade 3 through 8 were meetingstandards in math. Now, 60% of these students are meeting thesegoals.

In 2002, only 39.5% of New York children passed Regents exams. Now, 70% of students pass the Regents exams.

Students scoring 65-100 on English proficiency increased from61% to 90%

The percentage of students who graduated from high school withinfour years increased by over 10 percentage points, while the


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number of kids dropping out of high school within four years wasalmost cut in half.

These results are incredible

I had the privilege of serving in the Giuliani administration during the historicreduction in crime. Elected officials - - City, State and Federal - - were falling allover themselves to join in taking credit.

Many had the right to claim some level of credit. The leadership of Speaker Peter Vallone in shepherding the Safe Streets law, the State legislature for enacting thelaw, and the Clinton Administration for pressing the crime bill were all helpful in

putting in motion a mechanism to reduce crime.

The lexicon used by Mayor Giuliani, Quality of Life , was adopted by virtuallyall elected officials.

So, I look at the great success of the Bloomberg administration with the educationsystem in our City and I ask, Where are the other elected officials? What arethey saying? Where is the support of these officials for the achievements of Mayor Bloomberg. Why arent they rallying around him?

The answer is: They are afraid.

Unlike the critical support the prior Mayor had from the certain police unions,Mike has no such support from the teachers union.

If you support reform, then somehow you are painted as being anti-teacher.

I stand here today and affirmatively state that nothing could be further from thetruth.

When Compstat was initiated and every measurable statistic of crime and policeactivity was measured, no one claimed the Mayor was anti-cop.

So why cant we measure and track test scores like we do other major statistics?

Why cant we relocate the very best of our teachers to the very worst of our schools?

The Governor mandates that teachers be subject to an evaluation system, and theunion objects. It refuses to sign an evaluation system with the Department of Education. The result, the City lost $250 million in State aid.

Historically, elected officials have held up the adoption of State and City budgetsfighting for an increase in education funding. So when we lose a quarter of a


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billion dollars, where were these same elected officials? Were they standing withthe Mayor?

NOT ONE.

On the very day that the City lost the State Aid, three candidates for Mayor, threeindividuals for your support to be our Citys chief executive, and manage our education system and assume responsibility for over a million students ran to a

press conference. Not to stand with the Mayor, not to stand with the children or the parents, but to stand with the UFT and its leadership.

You have no idea how much I enjoyed serving as Chairman and CEO of theMTA. So many people have asked me what made me decide to leave the MTA,and take on this journey to be the next Mayor. It was examples of like this, seeingdedicated public servants, abandoning kids, abandoning their fiduciary duty to our City and, racing to union headquarters. This reinforced my candidacy, my

decision to run, for Mayor.When I see things like this I conclude that all of the Citys gr eat successes over the past 20 years are fragile, and the improvements in our education system over the past 11 are even more fragile.

Now that I have given you the past, let me discuss my vision for the future of our Citys schools.

There are two things that you should know about me.

First, my father instilled in me the belief that a problem always presents anopportunity - - a chance for change, a prospect to do better, an opening for reform.

No matter what the problem is or what the crisis might be, I instinctively believethat my cup is always half-filled, never half-empty.

Its an optimism that says that a dilemma always provides opportunity.

And second, I believe in the Athenian Oath.

Two and a half thousand years ago, the leaders of ancient Athens took an oath - -the Athenian Oath.

These leaders pledged at the beginning of their term in office that they wouldturn-over their City not only, not less, but greater and more beautiful than it wastransmitted to them."

This should be the goal of everyone who enters public service.


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This should be the goal of every candidate running for Mayor..

To leave our City greater and more beautiful than we receive it.

And this pledge will apply to the entire City - - every agency, every department,

every borough, every park, every neighborhood, everything.But how does a Mayor leave the Department, the former Board of Education,greater than when they received it?

First the Mayor must prioritize. And my #1 priority will be our students.

Teachers and their union are important, but they are not the #1 priority. That perch belongs to the students.

Parents are a priority, but they are not #1.

Again, the #1 priority, at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day, willalways be the students.

While I believe in empowering teachers with the best pedagogical tools, our classroom curriculum is not about teachers.

While I believe, and strongly believe, in collective bargaining, our educationsystem is not about our unions.

Our education system is about the students. End of story.

If students are not learning, if students are not improving, then we are failing inour mission - - in our oath to do better.

So, how do we do this?

First, we must continually measure and quantify our schools.

Second, the Mayor must empower and uplift teachers.

Third, the Mayor must give schools the flexibility to manage and teach to theneeds of their students.

Finally, the Mayor must work with the unions to ensure that students come first.

A Mayor will not be able to transmit New York in greater shape without firstunderstanding the City they inherit. And no Mayor, or any of the citizens, willknow whether the Citys improving without constantly measuring and analyzingits services.


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We measure everything in this country. And centuries-old efficient and effectiveleadership tells us that if you can measure it, you can improve it.

Unfortunately, I am going to use a sports analogy. How do you determine

whether a baseball player is good or bad? Improving or failing? Winning or losing? You look at the numbers.

Batting average, RBIs, hits and homeruns.

ERA, strikeouts, walks, wins and losses.

Only by assessing numbers can one determine the quality of the performance.

Compstat proved this. Compstat was the only way City Hall could bring safetyand security to a city that was written-off as ungovernable, unmanageable.

Thats why it is critical for City Hall to bring similar methods of analysis andevaluation to the Department of Education.

Let me be clear:

I dont want to measure performance and evaluation for the purpose of mudslinging with the UFT.

I dont want to measure and evaluate school performance to punish teachers.

Just the contrary: I want to measure and evaluate our education system so that Ican improve schools for the benefit of our #1 priority - - the students.

I want to measure and evaluate our schools so that I can be held accountable.

This is why it is paramount that we continue strong mayoral control over NewYork City schools.

I have always believed in mayoral control -- strong mayoral control. I believed itand lobbied for it when I was deputy mayor. I believe in it as a mayoralcandidate.

Anyone who suggests that they will weaken Mayoral Control is dead wrong,and afraid to be held accountable. This is not what you or anyone elseshould want in a leader.

The cost of that control is that the Mayor must be the one to answer to parents andthe citizens of this City should their policies be found lacking.


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I welcome this responsibility and will never shy away from it.

Still, strong mayoral control does not mean central control. The mayor needsinput from teachers and parents, because successful education policy requiresschool level guidance.

I will make sure that the Chancellor holds frequent town hall meetings to listenand seek advice from parents, teachers and principals to gain the knowledgenecessary to manage the system

Its been 11 years since the Mayor gained control of the New York City educationsystem. It has changed, and I believe it has changed for the better.

Based on the results that I mentioned earlier, Mayor Bloomberg should becredited - - should be applauded - - for what has happened since he took controlfrom the Board.

I want to improve on these numbers. I want more kids graduating within four years, and even fewer kids dropping out. I want more kids passing Regents.

This is where our teachers come into play.

The key to improving the quality of education for our children begins with our teachers.

Teachers need to know that when I am Mayor, City Hall will be their greatestadvocate.

I believe that teaching is more than just a job, more than just a profession - -it is a calling, a noble calling. People who want to educate our youngchildren should be held up by society and thanked for wanting to train youngminds. Teaching is the catalyst that allows our civilization to advance.

I want to help teachers. I want all teachers to be great teachers.

If they are evaluated to not be great teachers, but have the calling to educateyoung minds, I want to give them the tools and the training and the professionaldevelopment to become great teachers.

I am willing to wager that the vast majority of teachers are excellent, and amongthose who are not, there is the potential for greatness.

We need to uplift teachers. Teachers are the solution, not the problem.


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Teachers need to know that when I am Mayor, I will be their greatest advocate, anadvocate even stronger than their union. Teachers need to trust in Mayoralcontrol.

Look at the improvements since Education moved from 110 Livingston to Tweed.

Our teachers are getting paid more, and our teaching corps has more experience.

The City is spending billions on teacher professional development.

Teacher salaries have increased 43% since 2002 while the number of teacherswith over five years experience has increased from 61% to 75%. Teacher absenteeism has even declined.

Most important, we are making more money available to teachers in theclassroom. The average expenditure per student rose from $11 thousand in 2002

to almost $20 thousand today - - it has almost doubled.Let no one say that teachers and our schools are being financially shortchanged.

There is still more work to be done.

I believe that the new teacher evaluation system installed by State Commissioner King will improve our teachers and our schools.

Instead of the old system where teachers received either a satisfactory or unsatisfactory rating, the new system will create four possible evaluations - -Highly Effective, Effective, Developing and Unsatisfactory.

I know some teachers fear the evaluation system - - Do Not.

It is not meant to punish teachers. It is intended to improve the quality of teaching in New York.

Remember, my goal is to uplift teachers, not beat them down. This is mycommitment. I want to give New York City children the best possible teachers.Again, if you desire to be a great teacher, I will provide the training and

professional development to make it happen.

I will support proposals to shift greater funding for teacher training - - to improvethe quality of our teachers.

If a teacher is highly effective, that teacher should be rewarded. Thats right - -Merit Pay.


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I know that many people reject the concept of rewarding the best teachers. Theycome armed with studies and complaints. They bellyache that merit pay relies toomuch on test scores, and argue that it did not work when they last tried it in NewYork City.

When New York City tried merit pay before, most schools distributed bonusesequally to all teachers. This approach doesnt work.

Teachers are not entirely equal. Some are highly effective, some are not. A bonussystem that rewards both the best and worst is not an effective merit pay system.

The highly effective, should be rewarded with a bonus. The unsatisfactory teacher should be rewarded with training. If a teacher improves from unsatisfactory tohighly effective, they deserve a bonus, especially if we are calling on teachers toimprove through a new evaluation system.

To those who dismiss bonus compensation in New York City, I say look acrossthe river to Newark. Governor Christie and Mayor Booker worked together tocreate merit pay system funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The fundrewards teachers rated highly effective. Even Randi Weingarten, former head of the NYC UFT, now head of the national American Federation of Teachers, waseven pleased with the outcome in Newark.

If Booker and Christie can create a bonus system that earns the respect of a unionchief, then New York City can do the same.

But evaluations and bonus pay are not enough to help teachers succeed.

While I believe that Mayoral control is the cornerstone of successful education policy, Mayors do not teach. Teachers teach. My goal is to ensure that teachersand schools understand the core curriculum and acknowledge that students need alifetime foundation of knowledge and skills - - A Common Body of Knowledge.

Testing is a method through which we can assess a students progress. But a testis not an education. A test is merely a measure.

I hear too many teachers complain that they are teaching to the test. I amsympathetic to this complaint. Teachers should be providing students withknowledge, a foundation upon which they can build the rest of their lives - - ACommon Body of Knowledge.

In the spirit of flexibility, I want an educational system that provides vast choicesto teachers, parents and children.

We live in a competitive world; a world that is getting flatter with improvementsin technology and communication. Our children will be competing not just with


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other Americans, but globally. Like European and Asian education systems, weneed to provide our students with fundamentals at a younger age. We need to

prepare them for being functional in the 21 st century.

A child who does not understand the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic will

fail when they face domestic and international competition; irrespective of their professions; regardless if they attend traditional or vocational high schools. Acarpenter who does not understand angles will fail. A plumber or mechanic whocannot read trade publications and manuals will fail.

As Mayor, I will advocate for engaging kids educationally at an earlier age. Iwill also advocate for longer school days, and longer school years.

Pre-K programs in particular should not be glorified babysitting services.Pre-school kids should have a core curriculum that provides children withthe foundational learning skills to move forward with their education.

Let me address school closures.

The only reason why a school closes is because it is not properly educatingchildren. That school is failing our children.

To keep a failing school open is immoral.

This does not mean that a failing school building should remain closed. Theschool building should never close. Instead the school within should beimmediately reconstituted with a better curriculum, better teachers, and a better

principal. No building will be left fallow when I am mayor. No school building,or space within a school building, will go unused.

Understand this: I will not put a moratorium on school closures.

I am also a big believer in Charter Public Schools.

Over a decade ago, there were only 14 Charter Public Schools in New York City.Today, there are over 150 servicing 48,000 students. Thats a remarkableachievement.

I believe that Charter Public Schools are successful and they have the potential of improving the education of every single student. Parents want and deserve choicesfor their children. I will provide parents with choice, more choice.

I will call for legislation expanding the number and scope of Charter PublicSchools. At a minimum, the number needs to double.

Parents want Charter Public Schools. The wait list is endless.


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A recent Zogby poll found that 86% of respondents want more options whenchoosing schools for their children. Among African-American parents, thenumber rises to over 90%.

It is disgraceful that kids cannot attend a school of their parents choosing.

New York City can do better.

We need to make space available for Charter Public Schools - - whether it isthrough continued co-location, or finding space in closing Catholic schools.

Parents need choice, children need choice, and teachers need choice.

Opposition to Charter Public Schools is insulting to educational advancement.

I believe that those opposed to Charter Public Schools fail to grasp theintrinsic value of competition and, unfortunately do not put educatingchildren as the #1 priority.

My own experience tells me that these reforms are necessary. As a Trustee of theCity University of New York for the last 12 years, I can tell you thatnotwithstanding the vast improvements in public school education over the pastdecade, there is an urgent need for reform. I firmly believe that all studentsshould be ready for college level work upon high school graduation. But lastyear, 80% of our high school graduates required remedial education in reading,writing and computing before matriculating in one of our seven communitycolleges.

80%. Thats four out of every five students that did not know the basics.

How did they graduate?

We must stop failing our children.

To the UFT, let me say this: Help me to put students first. Help me to upliftand improve our teachers. Believe me when I say that I believe that teachingis a calling, not merely just a job, and that I want all of our teachers to begreat and that I will provide the resources necessary to make your membersgreat.

I will not pander to the union. I am willing to cooperate with the UFT, but labor should not expect me to give them a backrub in an election year like so manyother candidates.

I challenge the UFT to help me implement a merit pay system.


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I challenge the UFT to continue support the new evaluation system for teachers.

I challenge the UFT to help me expand Charter Public Schools.

Please help me put our children, our students, first.I want to conclude by stating the obvious - - we must urgently implement further education reform. We live in a global environment and our children live in anever-increasing competitive world.

We must provide our children with the best possible education so they competeand be successful. This is how society advances. I believe that this is a humanrights issue.

Our education system is fragile. It needs more work. Now is the time to

solidify it.We owe to our children to work together for their benefit. Government, parents,teachers, unions must band together on behalf of the students. The studentsshould be our first, maybe only, priority.

I take the Athenian Oath very seriously. As Mayor, I will improve upon theeducation system I inherit, and every day I will work to make it better.

Thank you.

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ABNY Speech Draft #3-2.1

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