Uli Seit for The New York Times The standardized test scores coming out this morning could bring bad news for the city’s school system.Updated, 6:05 a.m. | As they enjoy summer vacation, city students have just about forgotten the standardized tests they took a few months ago.
But those tests are weighing on the city on Wednesday.
The results are being released this morning and are expected to show steep declines.
The exams are more difficult because they are based on rigorous criteria.
Still, a significant drop could tarnish the mayor’s education record in his final months in office.
The schools chancellor is calling a decline inevitable.
The teachers union says the Bloomberg administration has not adequately prepared teachers for the new standards.
Mayoral candidates are chiming in with criticism as well.
But the federal education secretary, Arne Duncan, said on Tuesday that New Yorkers should “absolutely not be alarmed†by a drop in scores.
We asked Javier C. Hernández, a reporter for The New York Times who is covering the results, what to look for.
“All student scores will drop, but we’ll be trying to isolate whether any particular group fell disproportionately, whether by race, economic status, school district,†he told us.
Here’s what else you need to know for Wednesday.
WEATHER
Still cool, with a high of 79, but less delightful: clouds and humidity building and rain or thunderstorms likely by evening. Rain in the picture till Saturday. Dig out that umbrella. See forecast.
TRANSIT & TRAFFIC
- Mass Transit [6:03] No major delays. Click for latest M.T.A. status.
- Roads [6:03] No major delays. Click for traffic map or radio report on the 1s.
Alternate-side parking is suspended today, Thursday and Friday for Id al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that ends the monthlong fast of Ramadan. Meters remain in effect.
COMING UP TODAY
- On the campaign trail: evening mayoral-candidate forums in Canarsie, Brooklyn and Jamaica, Queens. Bill de Blasio visits a metal fabricator in Williamsburg. John C. Liu goes to a Hindu festival in Brooklyn.
- A judge in Brooklyn will hold a hearing on whether to shut Long Island College Hospital.
- The Brooklyn Botanic Garden will announce this year’s “Greenest Block†winner on a leafy street somewhere in the borough at 10 a.m.
- The city will spray pesticide in neighborhoods in Queens and Staten Island for the West Nile virus tonight and tomorrow morning.
- The city Planning Department will hold a public hearing on the proposed rezoning of Midtown that could make way for dozens of new buildings.
- The salsa legend Rubén Blades performs at the Damrosch Park Bandshell at Lincoln Center at 7:30 p.m. [Free, seating limited, get there early]
- Bilal, the Philadelphia-based neo-soul songwriter, plays at Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem. Vivian Green opens. 7 p.m. [Free]
- Free movies: “Sugar,†about the travails of a young Domnican baseball pitcher, at Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens (7 p.m.) , “Speed†in McCarren Park in Williamsburg (dusk) “ParaNorman†on Staten Island at Faber Park (8 p.m.) “The Blind Side†at Baisley Pond Park in Queens (8 p.m.)
IN THE NEWS
- The elite Horace Mann School paid more than $1 million to settle sex abuse claims. [New York Post]
- A Staten Island man accused of offering his ex-girlfriend’s two-month-old baby for sale on Craigslist turns down a plea bargain. [NY 1]
- A bank of 25 payphones at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn has been carted off to the dustbin of history. [Daily News]
- Mets beat Colorado 3-2. Yanks lose to White Sox 3-2.
Javier C. Hernández, Michaelle Bond, Nicole Higgins DeSmet, Mona El-Naggar and E.C. Gogolak contributed reporting.
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