As the school year ends, the state's school report cards show that most schools in Highbridge are in need of improvement. At the same time, education advocates celebrated a partial victory in the long fight with the state to adequately fund New York City schools and are raising concerns over two apparent priorities of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration: an emphasis on charter schools and an intense testing strategy.

In mid-June, education advocates from across the city gathered in Manhattan's St. Bart's church to celebrate what they hope will be the first of several victories related to the Campaign for Fiscal Equity's lawsuit against the state to equitably fund schools. The State Legislature pledged to increase capital funding for schools by $11.2 billion. But that is far short of what is needed, advocates said, and city schools are still short-changed.

In the city, advocates said that Mayor Bloomberg's emphasis on charter schools was of great concern.

"Only one percent of school kids go to charter schools," said one advocate. "The mayor wants to see that doubled, so two percent of kids go to charter schools. We're worried about the 98 percent who are in public schools."

New "accountability standards" also concern many advocates. Simply put, the new standards would mean much more testing of school children and the data would be used to evaluate teachers and principals as much as it would be used to evaluate the children. This strategy is similar to "Compstat," the police department's statistics approach, where precinct commanders are taken to task for increases in crime reports in their areas.

State's reviews of local schools mixed

The state's annual report cards came out in May to very little fanfare. The report cards include the percentages of students passing state tests in math, English and Language Arts (ELA) and science. Level 1 scores are the lowest, indicating no proficiency. Students who score at Level 3 or 4 are considered competent in the skill area. Here is what the report cards said about Highbridge area schools.

P.S .11, the Highbridge School, is one of the two that is reported to be in good standing. This may be true for the overall standing of the school but not for fourth graders attending the math classes. Its state report card indicated that while 72 percent of the students taking the math tests passed at the higher level 3 and 4 in 2003, this number dropped to 50 percent in 2004. Students are getting back on track with 63 percent passing at those levels in 2005.

The number of students passing at level 1 has increased over the past two years and is at a high with 11.8 percent in 2005. The students' scores on English and Language Arts (ELA) tests are getting better. More students are passing the tests at a higher level. The numbers are even better than those at similar Manhattan schools.

P.S. 64, the Pura Belpre School, needs a lot of improvement, the state's review indicated. Even though more students pass, they are not reaching the level 3 and 4 levels. In ELA now 37.2 percent of the students pass level 3 and 4 while only 26.4 percent were able to in 2003. However, compared to similar schools in Manhattan where 60.9 percent passing, Pura Belpre's results are a concern. The math numbers are much better. The number of fourth graders passing the math test at level 3 and 4 is up by 20 percent. Students' scores on science tests are troubling. Fewer students are passing the exam at levels 3 and 4: 30.6 achieved levels 3 and 4 in 2005 compared to 42 percent in 2003.

P.S. 73 is in its second year of restructuring. Numbers in this school have not improved but slightly worsened. Math and science seem to be the problem subjects. They were not able to keep their level from 2003 while students in ELA do not have as many problems and numbers slightly improved.

P.S. 114, the Luis Lorenz Torres School, is planned for restructuring. As in most of the other schools, students seem to improve in ELA and overall in math but a closer look at the fourth graders tells otherwise. In ELA they did do better, but in math and science the students are struggling. Only 52.9 percent passed at levels 3 and 4 while citywide the average is 78.3 percent do. Numbers in science look worse. Only 30 percent were able to pass at levels 3 and 4 (65 percent passed in schools citywide).

The overall standard of P.S. 126 Dr Marjorie H. Dunbar School seems to have improved. More students pass at levels 3 and 4 in both ELA and math. However, fourth graders are struggling: 41.8 percent passed in 2003 at levels 3 and 4 in ELA, but only 21.8 percent did in 2004. In 2005, 35.4 percent passed. The numbers scoring at level 1 has constantly been rising since 2003. Numbers for math and science reflect the same trend.

P.S. 199, the Shakespeare School is said to be in need of improvement. It is however the only school where students are getting better constantly. More students are passing at levels 3 and 4 and numbers for students scoring at level 1 are decreasing. Although the school has not yet reached citywide standards, the state's report cards show that students seem to slowly but constantly improve, including the fourth graders.

P.S. 218, the R. Hernandez Dual Language School, also has students doing well, according to the state: In 2005, 52.5 percent passed the ELA at levels 3 and 4 while only 30 percent did so in 2003. That's higher than the average citywide (51 percent at levels 3 and 4). The same applies to math. Students have improved dramatically over the past two years.

Although fourth graders at the school have slightly worsened in ELA they are not too far behind their Manhattan peers. In math, students scored even better, with 78.8 percent passing at levels 3 and 4. The eighth graders, however, have been inconsistent. In 2003, only 31 percent passed the ELA test at levels 3 and 4. This improved to 44 percent in 2004 but is now down again to 38 percent. In math, it is even worse.

Listening/Speaking and Reading/Writing have improved in all schools in Highbridge. Some kindergartens may not have improved as much as others but overall kids have significantly improved these skills.

The state's report cards also revealed that most schools in Higbridge are overcrowded or are close to reaching the official capacity.

"They don't get the individual attention they need," said Wanda Smith, a parent active in education issues. "It is not a teaching problem, but 40 students in one class is just too much."

In a classroom with 40 students teachers are overwhelmed and fighting among students seems to occur daily.

"Someone needs to talk with those kids not only to them," Smith said. "Listen and talk with them about their future plans. What do they want to be? Try and help them. Nobody is doing that."

- Monika Nordmann