2008-2011 Mayoral State of the City addresses: on Education

Bill de Blasio: 75% of kids graduated High School; 59% went on to college

We set the all-time record for graduation rate in NYC. Today, three quarters of our kids graduate high school on time.

I want to put that in perspective for you. That number was less than 50% not long ago in this town. Less than 50% graduated on time before we had mayoral control of education, which created real accountability.

And here's something else we should be proud of: 59% of kids who graduated our public schools went on to higher education last year--another all-time record.

Source: 2019 State of the City address Jan 10, 2019

Phil Gordon: City must partner with schools to assure excellence

Public safety is one of my priorities for 2011. So is education. Cities like the Phoenix we want must build sustainable partnerships with tech-savvy companies and leading education institutions. They must become centers of excellence, creativity, knowledge and vision. We've been so fortunate to partner with great institutions like ASU, the U of A, NAU, the Maricopa County Community College District, the Phoenix Union High School District and the Paradise Valley Unified School District. Source: Phoenix 2011 State of the City address Mar 29, 2011

Mike Bloomberg: Slash bureaucracy; reward principal & teacher excellence

From the beginning, we’ve pursued major education reforms that put ‘children first.’ That commitment has been the engine driving everything we’ve achieved in the past six years: Raising graduation rates by 20%; increasing reading and math scores by double digits; slashing the bureaucracy; funding schools more generously--and more equitably; rewarding principals and teachers for excellence; closing the shameful achievement gap between ethnicities. Source: 2008 State of the City Address Jan 17, 2008

Mike Bloomberg: End the shameful practice of social promotion

Four years ago, I proposed ending the shameful practice of social promotion for 3rd graders in our city. Not everyone liked that idea, you may remember. But our 3rd graders rose to the challenge--and then, when we expanded the policy to 5th and 7th graders, they rose to the challenge, too. Now I will ask the City’s Panel on Educational Policy to end social promotion next school year in the 8th grade. Source: 2008 State of the City Address Jan 17, 2008

Rudy Giuliani: Privatize failing schools

New York should privatize failing schools. The Board of education has been trying to turn them around for five years, and in some cases ten years. It should admit that it’s failed, and it should bring in others to educate the children. Source: 2000 State of the City Address Jan 13, 2000

Rudy Giuliani: Charter Schools create competition

Charter schools are a great way to create competition. [New Yorkers] should want the competition for the good of our kids. Let’s push for more and more charter schools. Source: 2000 State of the City Address Jan 13, 2000

Rudy Giuliani: Voucher program for New York City

I am going to continue to fight for a voucher program in New York City. Because I believe the experiment in Milwaukee is something that should be tried in New York. Let me explain my thinking about this: I think our school system is in such bad shape that we do not have room to exclude any experiment that might help our children, and that is proven somewhere else. Our children are entitled to all the good ideas, all the innovative ideas, and every new thing that is helping education elsewhere. Source: 2000 State of the City Address Jan 13, 2000

Rudy Giuliani: Improve schools by taking on the unions & special interests

You only get one chance to educate a child, and it you screw it up, then it’s very hard to correct it later. [We] should be ashamed of ourselves, that we do not have the political courage to take on the unions, the special interests, and everything else that are holding our children back! The people of this City are saying something to the leadership of this City. But the city is not listening to them. It’s too busy listening to the unions. It should be listening to the people of the City. Source: State of the City Address, New York City Jan 13, 2000

The above quotations are from 2008-2011 Mayoral State of the City addresses. Click here for definitions & background information on Education. Click here for other issues (main summary page). Click here for more quotes by Cory Booker on Education. Click here for more quotes by Rocky Anderson on Education.
*Candidates and political leaders on Education:*
*Gubernatorial Debates 2020:* DE: vs.Carney(incumbent) vs.Williams(D) IN: vs.Holcomb(incumbent) vs.Melton(D) vs.Myers(D) MO: Parson(incumbent) vs.Galloway(D) vs.Neely(R) MT: Bullock(retiring) vs.Fox(R) vs.Perry(R) vs.Gianforte(R) vs.~~Stapleton~~(R) vs.Olszewski(R) vs.Neill(D) vs.Schreiner(D) vs.Cooney(D) vs.Williams(D) NC: Cooper(incumbent) vs.Forest(R) vs.Grange(R) ND: Burgum(incumbent) vs.Coachman(R) vs.Lenz(D) NH: Sununu(incumbent) vs.Volinsky(D) vs. fsFeltes(D) PR: Rossello(D) vs.Garced(D) vs.Pierluisi(D) UT: Herbert(retiring) vs.Huntsman(R) vs.Cox(R) vs.Burningham(R) vs.Newton(D) vs.Hughes(R) VT: Scott(incumbent) vs.Holcombe(D) vs.Zuckerman(D) WA: Inslee(incumbent) vs.Bryant(R) vs.Fortunato(R) WV: Justice(incumbent) vs.Folk(R) vs.Thrasher(R) vs.Vanover(D) vs.Smith(D) vs.Ron Stollings(D)	*Gubernatorial Debates 2021:* NJ: Murphy(D) vs.Ciattarelli(R) VA: Northam(D,term-limited) vs.Herring(D) vs.Chase(R) vs.Fairfax(D) *Gubernatorial Debates 2019:* KY: Bevin(R) vs.~~Goforth~~(R,lost primary) vs.~~Adkins~~(D,lost primary) vs.Beshear(D) vs.~~Edelen~~(D,lost primary) LA: Edwards(D) vs.Rispone(R) vs.Abraham(R) vs.~~Kennedy~~(R,declined) MS: ~~Bryant~~(R,retiring) vs.Foster(R) vs.Hood(D) vs.Reeves(R) vs.Waller(R)
Please consider a donation to OnTheIssues.org! Click for details -- or send donations to: 1770 Mass Ave. #630, Cambridge MA 02140 E-mail: submit@OnTheIssues.org (We rely on your support!)

Page last updated: Jun 01, 2021