NEW YORK, NY January 30, 2003 — In the past 2 weeks, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced a breathtaking series of education reforms. When these changes go into place this fall, they'll not only shake up school administration. They'll also affect what's being taught in the classrooms. In the first of a 2 part series, WNYC's Beth Fertig reports on the many questions and concerns these changes are raising.

The New York City school system is now run by 40 different superintendents managing 1200 schools. Michael Bloomberg plans to eliminate that bureaucracy. He's creating a smaller structure of 10 regional superintendents who can concentrate on instruction - giving principals more power over their schools.

On the campus of Laguardia Community College, In Long Island City, there's one high school that's already had some experience with that kind of freedom.

International High school has 450 immigrant students from 50 countries. And more than 90 percent go on to college. The program is so successful , a few years ago it was allowed to become a charter school. This meant more control over its own budget and hiring. But the experiment ended in 2001 after just a year and a half. Principal Burt Rosenberg says that's partly because the small alternative school was overwhelmed without enough support services.

ROSENBERG: We were required to take care of all our back office work, so for example we had to hire a full time business manager that would basically take care of our payroll. We had to hire a contract with a payroll company to process the payroll.

That experience could serve as a warning as Mayor Bloomberg eliminates the district offices that controlled most of that bureaucracy. To make the system more efficient, and free more resources for instruction, Bloomberg plans to consolidate many operations like meals and transportation. Principal Rosenberg says that's fine - as long as the burden doesn't take him away from what's most important.

ROSENBERG: Certainly it's helpful to have someone take care of the lunch program, and secure transportation passes for students and those types of things. Some type of management. But in terms of instruction program - what we're going to teach, how we're going to teach it, we feel this is something we can do on our own.

But will they be left on their own? Teachers wonder how much freedom they'll have once a new unified curriculum goes into place next fall.

In this math class at International High, ninth and tenth graders tackle geometry problems by working together in small groups. At this table alone, there are six kids from five different countries.

My name is Tom and I'm from Poland. And my name is Daniel I'm from Taiwan. My name is Nergies and I'm from Afghanistan.

As the students work, they're forced to speak in English. The school uses this approach in every class. It's part of a specialized curriculum tailored to English language learners, which also allows them to speak and write in their native languages when appropriate. The students say it's working.

NERGIES I don't know that when I talk they understand or not but I try my best. FERTIG: Do you understand her? DANIEL: Yes, like maybe sometimes you can draw pictures or use your hands to communicate so it helps us to understand each other.

The chancellor says 200 of the best schools will be allowed to keep using their own curricula. But it's not clear what criteria he'll use. Test scores, which aren't always so high at this school where students are still learning English. Or graduation rates - which are well above average here. Global history teacher Janet Price - who's here on a fellowship - wonders what will happen if her school has to change.

PRICE: If teachers don't have the authority to tailor what they do in the classroom to the needs and interests of their students then we're no longer professionals, we're no longer teachers. So I'm hopeful that when they talk about a unified curriculum they don't mean relieving us of that authority. But I don't know yet.

Chancellor Klein says a unified curriculum is necessary, because teachers are now using a hodgepodge of different programs. And students frequently transfer. But he says he's not trying to stifle creativity.

KLEIN: Teachers who are cookie cutters who are not what we need. We need teachers who are creative and empowered. That doesn't mean they can't work off the same basic texts. But it's tailoring the material to the student.

Still, it's not clear how much room there will be for tailoring if teachers have to work off those same basic texts. Especially in the lower grades. Klein has specified blocks of instructional time devoted to math and reading. Elementary students would all use the same phonics program - which teaches them to sound out words. They'd also get more classroom libraries to expose them to literature. The chancellor's hoping to strike a similar balance between fundamentals and creative thinking with his math curriculum.

TEACHER: Look at the data do you know the minimum. KID: Yeah. TEACHER: Immediately. Is that important. Do you know the maximum? KID: Um hmm.

At PS 230 in Brooklyn, these fifth graders are drawing graphs based on how many states their classmates have visited. Laura and Sarah take out their rulers and pens and cheerfully plot the numbers.

KID: Some of the things we do are kind of fun. KID: Just work sheets with math problems wouldn't be fun but we make cards. KID Stuff like that. It's more interactive, so it's fun.

Teacher Sally Dyson says the curriculum is called Everyday Math precisely because it's so interactive.

DYSON: They use data that pertains to them rather than story problems written about Bob that lived in Texas has 3 dogs and Sarah that lives in California has 4 dogs, how many dogs do they have together. This is them, this is their class, this is their data.

The principal of PS 230 says his third to fifth grade scores have risen 10 points over the past three years with Everyday Math. But while some educators love the program, Klein's decision to use it citywide has also drawn criticism. William Schmidt is a professor at Michigan State University who's analyzed math curricula from around the world. He says Everyday Math is one of many new programs that often focus more on concepts than just the basics like addition and multiplication.

SCHMIDT: Many of the approaches people - at least teachers -- have taken from some of these materials, is to try to teach a process without necessarily attaching it to any real mathematics. So parents in my travels across the country are quite concerned that their children are learning or supposedly doing mathematics or some process. But they're not learning any mathematics.

However, he says, the are no conclusive studies about the program. Teachers in San Antonio voted to dump Everyday Math. But Pittsburgh seems pleased with it. Some education experts have also questioned Klein's choice for the phonics program because they say it isn't well known.

The Chancellor plans to address those concerns, by sending math and reading experts into the schools to prepare teachers for the new curriculum. This week, as Mayor Bloomberg announced the 10 new regional superintendents who will lead the system he said he was finally giving the public what it wants. Change.

BLOOMBERG: We've picked people who know how to work together, know how to exchange ideas. Every one of these people have demonstrated abilities they know the system, they know what's needed and they know how to get things done.

Bringing educators onboard will be critical for any of these reforms to work. But the mayor and his chancellor will also need the support of parents. And as THEY begin hearing about these changes, they have just as many questions about what their children will learn, and what role parents will play in the newly organized system. For WNYC I'm Beth Fertig.