2007: A Year of Progress in Education, Quality of Life and Public Safety
By Mayor Michael Bloomberg
I think it’s fair to say that 2007 will be one for the record books. New Yorkers are living longer than at any point since World War II, our population is rising, and tourists are coming to visit us in record numbers. Over the past 12 months, we’ve launched more than 30 innovative poverty-fighting programs to give struggling New Yorkers a hand up, and we’ve begun work on most of the 127 proposals outlined in PlaNYC—our ambitious agenda to guide New York’s future growth while confronting major challenges like climate change and traffic congestion.
But much of New York’s success over the past year is owed to the fact that we continue to make great strides in three key areas of city life: education, quality of life, and public safety.
Public schools are the training grounds for the leaders of tomorrow. That’s why our administration has made improving them a top priority. In 2007, we took big steps on a number of fronts. We reformed the school funding process to address historic inequities. We reached agreements to award bonuses to educators who work in our highest-need schools and improve student achievement. And we gave parents powerful new insight into their child’s classroom by issuing progress reports that grade each school from A to F. All of this will build on the gains we’ve already made in higher graduation rates, improved test scores, and the narrowing of the achievement gap among students of different ethnicities.
The past year has been a tremendous one for New York City, so let’s give three cheers for our teachers and principals, our sanitation workers, our police officers, and all of the City employees who have worked so hard to make 2007 one of our best years ever. I’d like to wish them—and all of you—a happy and healthy New Year.#
