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NEW YORK, NY September 08, 2005 —It's the first day of class for New York City public students. As WNYC's Beth Fertig reports, the city has more schools now than ever before.

The Education Department says there are now 14 hundred and eight public schools. That's an increase of 178 since Mayor Bloomberg took office over three years ago, reflecting the city's strategy to replace large, failing schools with smaller more focused ones. A total of 73 new schools are opening today. They include high schools, middle schools, elementary schools and 15 charter schools—one of which is run by the teachers union. Chancellor Joel Klein plans to visit a school in each of the city's five boroughs today. He'll be joined at some point by Mayor Bloomberg. A recent Pace Poll found education remains one of the top concerns for voters and the Democrats opposing Bloomberg have each been critical of his school reforms. For WNYC I'm Beth Fertig.