The New York City Public School District is the largest school district in the nation, serving all five boroughs of New York City. With 1,700 different schools and serving more than 1.1 million students a year, there are more students in this system than is most states. The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is part of the municipal government of New York city, and is currently headed by Chancellor Dennis M. Walcott.

History of The New York City Public School District

In 1969, after a series of protest and strikes, the New York City Mayor, John Lindsay, agreed to relinquished mayoral control of the school system. Control of the school system would now be the responsibility of the Board of Education, made of seven members appointed by the five boroughs and the mayor, and 32 community school boards. 

In 2002 control of the school system was returned to the mayor so that it could undergo reform. The Board of Education was renamed to the Panel for Educational Policy, run by twelve members of which seven are mayoral appointees and five by Borough Presidents. On July 1, 2009, the struggle to reach a decision whether or not to continue mayoral control of the school system between Democratic and Republican parties, forced the pre-2002 Board of Education system to be reinstated.

The current New York City Public School District employs over 75,000 teachers spread across the 1,700 schools. In 2000, the school system was under intense pressure to fill teaching positions, so it experimented with hiring uncertified teachers. The No Child Left Behind Act forced the Department of Education to try new and innovative methods for hiring teachers. Programs like the TOP Scholars Program helps to bring teachers from abroad and fill in the teacher gaps.

Demographic of The New York City Public Schools

Almost a quarter of the population of New York City is under the age of 18, and nearly 55% of them are enrolled in the public school system. About 25% of the children are under the age of five and will be entering the school system for the first time. That equates to more than half a million children each year.

Of the 1.1 million students that attend school each year, about 40% of them live in a household where a language other than English is spoken. To aid parents of non-English speaking students, The Department of Education offers translations of school documents and report cards into one of 13 different languages.

Charles is a undersized DE who most likely will play LB or FB at the next level. Here are some quotes from his recruitment story over at Scout.com:

“Tonight I got home from football practice and Coach O called me and told me that he and Coach Kiffin talked, and that the entire staff wanted to grant me a scholarship, regardless of if I graduate early or not.“I was all fired up and told him that I want to be a Trojan.”

Burks, who also had offers from Stanford, Duke and San Diego State among others, picked USC because of the coaching staff and the chance to stay local.

“I fell in love with the coaching staff,” he said. “They are all just great people and really good coaches. I love the way that they run things.

I like this pick-up because my theory on recruiting is you get the best results when you pit your elite 5 & 4 star players with tough/hungry 3-star players in each class to create a competitive environment.  Charles is the perfect example of a player who might not have the ideal size or elite talent but will overachieve through his work-ethic and attitude. Having players like that make the team better.  This brings me back to the old days when we recruited overachievers like Mike Patterson, Ryan Kalil, Fili Moala, Josh Pinkard, etc.

Someone should do the same for Pac-10 refs. It appears they’re unable to see blatant holding calls against SC d-linemen and clock-operators failing at their jobs in crucial moments of the game.

Don’t think I really have to speak much on George.  He’s been hyped for years now as one of the best receiver prospects to come out of Southern California in some time.  He and Robert Woods dominated at the HS level at J-Serra and many think he’s a lock to come to SC.  The thing I took away from the video above is how focused and mature George appears for a high schooler.  He also talks and sounds a lot like Kobe.