She also detailed the school s plans to make the recommended changes in math and writing instruction. There s no question that we still confront schools and districts that prefer to shoot the messenger than to hear the message. But the holdouts are fewer and the converts are growing. Thanks to our balanced approach, progress has been steady and improvements tangible. Still, the pace of change in education often feels too slow to all of us.
Impatience is understandable.
I recognize that for a parent concerned about the quality of their child s education, give it time is not an acceptable answer. If a poor-performing school, with increasing support and engagement from the district and the state, continues to flounder or decline, we will act. If faced with a district or school unable or unwilling to make adequate progress, we will act. You have written into law, and the Regents have endorsed, Progressive Support and Intervention, and we will make use of all the tools at our disposal, up to and including closing a school. It would deeply disappoint me as an educator.