President Obama’s proposed changes to the No Child Left Behind law are on the right track — but he should not go easy on failing schools, the city’s schools chief told The Post yesterday.
Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said that, based on the blueprint Obama laid out, it was unclear whether the administration would push districts to close schools that fall short.
“The federal government has got to hang very tough to ensure that failing schools are closed, restructured and reorganized,” he said.
Klein’s reservations stem from the lack of specific criteria for school closings.
The city recently announced 34 school closings, although Klein, after negotiations with the teachers union, raised the possibility that 26 of them could be salvaged.
The chancellor applauded the administration for considering student test scores in more subjects than just reading and math to evaluate a school’s performance.
“[They’re] basically putting their thumb on the right scale,” he said.