NYC schools an international inspiration

Posted by Philissa at 4:39 PM

Last year, the DOE imported inspectors from Great Britain to teach New York City educators how to conduct Quality Reviews of schools. The Quality Review initiative is now in its second year in New York, and for British pundits the time has come to take inspiration from the largest urban school system in the world. In the last few days, the Guardian has run two pieces arguing for New York-style reforms to be implemented in England. David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, wrote that he wants to give schools greater "autonomy" (sound familiar?) and hopes to see a version of New York's "real school choice" take hold in England. A Guardian writer also reports on New York City's small schools movement and concludes:

All the evidence suggests that the small schools work. The question for Britain is: can we afford it without large helpings of Microsoft money? There again, perhaps the better question might be: can we afford not to?

It's an interesting read. My favorite part? The writer's characterization of the "five Hogwarts-style heraldic shields" signaling the multiple schools in the John F. Kennedy High School campus.