Long Steady Decline of New Rochelle Schools Continues as Newsweek Drops High School from Annual Survey

CHART SHOWING DECLINE IN NEW ROCHELLE RANKINGS IN NEWSWEEK SURVEY 2005-2009

The long slow slide of the reputation of the New Rochelle school system under the management of Schools Superintendent Richard Organisciak continued yesterday when Newsweek announced its latest annual high school rankings. For the first time since the survey began in 1998, New Rochelle did not make the Newsweek survey.

Organisciak inherited a district ranked #466 in 2005 but those rankings have been slipping each year on his watch and now dropped out of the rankings altogether. Organisciak now has the third lowest on-time graduation rate in Westchester County according to the New York State Department of Education and the most unhealthy cafeterias according to the Westchester County Health Department. This week, Organisciak will preside over an uncertified graduation ceremony where 100 or more students who have not earned a degree will “walk” with the class of 2010; many of those students will never earn a degree.

In March 2009, the Board voted to stop cooperating with Newsweek magazine and supported Organisciak’s recommendation that Organisciak refuse to provide data to Newsweek.

Organisciak talking about Newsweek rankings. Board votes to reject participation in the rankings because they are simultaneously too subjective and too data driven. Not sure how that works in their mind but they all start to complain about Jay Matthews from Newsweek. As I spent the past year or so working for Newsweek I think I will make a few calls and see what they have to say about this. It is really quite bizarre — they are wearing it like a badge of honor that they are not going to allow themselves to be evaluated by Newsweek. Funny how they had no complaints about BusinessWeek which used standardized test scores as a key driver of their analysis which came out good for New Rochelle.

Newsweek Reports New Rochelle Schools Sinking From #351 to #1,239 (out of 1,500)

I did, in fact, contact Jay Mathews about New Rochelle’s decision to refuse to participate. He informed me a few things that I will add here a little later…He also offered to speak directly with Organisciak and I did send Organisciak an email about this but never head back. More later.

SCHOOL BUDGET VOTE TODAY: Voters Go to the Polls in New Rochelle 7 AM to 9 PM

New Rochelle has dropped in the Index every year since Organisciak became Schools Superintendent and currently stands at its lowest level since the ranking was created in 1998.

Year Index
2005 1.608
2006 1.703
2007 1.769
2008 1.475
2009 1.259
2010 Not Ranked

New Rochelle has dropped in the Rank every year since Organisciak became Schools Superintendent and currently stands at its lowest level since the ranking was created in 1998.

Year Rank
2005 466
2006 528
2007 589
2008 897
2009 1,292
2010 Not Ranked