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Mayor De Blasio Promotes Plan For Struggling NYC Schools

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) - Mayor Bill de Blasio promoted his plan to boost the performance of struggling schools by providing extra support during a visit to a Queens high school Thursday.

De Blasio said Richmond Hill High School is improving since it was added to a list of 94 "renewal schools'' receiving funds for services such as weekend tutoring and expanded after-school programs.

"The students, the faculty, everyone can tell that things are getting better,'' he said.

The mayor said 67 percent of Richmond Hill students across all grade levels are now on track to graduate, up from 60 percent at this point last year. The school was among those slated to be closed during previous Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration but was kept open by a lawsuit.

De Blasio said his administration ``came along with a different philosophy'' of helping struggling schools improve instead of closing them.

"We believe in fighting to turn around schools,'' he said.

Mayor De Blasio Promotes Plan For Struggling NYC Schools

As part of the program, de Blasio said the Department of Education is taking a page from the NYPD's CompStat Program to monitor progress.

"So we're going to hold every one of the principles to the same kind of standards that our precinct commanders are held to via CompStat," de Blasio said.

But instead of tracking crime trends, they'll look at stats like students on pace to graduate and family involvement.

The executive superintendent in charge of the program, Amy Horowitz, will even sit in on a CompStat meeting "to see people ask the difficult questions," she said.

The mayor's philosophy has clashed with the education priorities of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is proposing a state takeover of failing schools across New York.

 (TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

 

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