A respected educational watchdog challenges the assertion that New York state lags in educational achievement, ranking the Empire State # 2 in the nation in a comprehensive analysis of policy and performance and noting that New York has closed the gaps between poor and non-poor students faster than any other state in the nation.
Attention policy wonks! Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared in his State of the State address last week that New York is "No. 1 in spending but 34 in terms of results" when it comes to education. But according to a new analysis released Tuesday by an established education watchdog, New York is actually doing much, much better than that.
Education Week, which publishes the annual "Quality Counts" guide, ranked New York State No. 2 in the nation in a comprehensive analysis of policy and performance with an overall grade of B. Maryland ranked first, with a grade of B+, and Massachusetts came in third with a B.
Although this year's ranking on "Quality Counts" is unusually high, New York "is actually a perennial top-ranking state" said Christopher Swanson, Vice President for Editorial Projects in Education, which is the non-profit that publishes Education Week.
You can read the full report at WNYC.org.