Karen Weaver's Fight for Clean Water November 2017 | Page 35

UNIVERSAL LITERACY IN NYC
When Bill DiBlasio took office as Mayor in New York City, he came in with a sweeping
agenda for education reform including universal full-day pre-K, a turnaround program
for struggling schools and a reorganization of the education department, 80 percent of
students graduating high school and two-thirds prepared for college-level work.
His plan to ensure students can read fluently by third grade was launched in May. It will
begin with 100 educators dispatched to coach reading teachers in schools in four high-
needs districts in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Coaches may teach some lessons, but their
focus will be training teachers.
Only about 30 percent of city students are proficient in English in third grade. The city
has set a goal that by 2022, that number will increase to over 60 percent, and by 2016,
every student will be reading on grade level.
The first 100 coaches will be sent to elementary schools in districts 9 and 10 in the Bronx
and districts 17 and 32 in Brooklyn. These schools have the largest share of third-grade
students earning a level 1 of 4 on the state English exams. The number of coaches will
increase to 300 by 2018 and to 470 or more by 2019.
The coaches will be using National Reading Panel's five-point literacy skills system as its
guide.
DiBlasio's full education agenda is expected to cost a $186 million annual investment,
once fully in place.