Michael Bloomberg is running for president. What you should know about the billionaire’s education record in New York City
This story was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for their newsletters here.
Weeks before he left office in 2013, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg stood before reporters and touted a record-high city graduation rate of 66 percent — a full six months before the state planned to release the statistics.
That’s how eager Bloomberg was to secure his legacy as an education reformer who battled mightily to enact his specific vision for a better school system. Pitting himself against those who argued that student poverty would impede efforts to improve education, Bloomberg closed low-performing schools, opened many small ones in their places, championed charter schools, and gave principals more autonomy in exchange for strict accountability.