GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

Mock test exams were scattered across the floor with the number four on them– the highest a student can score on the state exam. The papers were used as a prop in one of the pep rally performances.

A group of young girls dressed in gray pleated skirts and bright blue t-shirts ran to the side of the gym and turned to face some boys who were also getting into position. The girls waited for their cue and then loudly chanted, “Boom! Watch me rock that test!” They shouted the phrase over and over while pretending to push the boys, who represented the test, to the other side of the gym. (more…)

Comptroller John Liu's report on the Panel for Educational Policy includes a proposal for a nominating committee.

The city’s school board, used as a rubber stamp for mayoral proposals since 2002, would gain independence under a plan put forward today by Comptroller John Liu.

The plan makes Liu the first of the likely candidates for mayor to propose specific changes to the board, known since 2002 as the Panel for Educational Policy. Any changes would require the approval of the state legislature, which is next set to consider New York City’s school governance in 2015, to become permanent, but a new mayor could take some of the steps immediately upon taking office.

Whether and how to reform the panel is one of the stickiest questions that mayoral candidates face on education. (more…)