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NEW YORK, NY November 05, 2007 —Most of the city's 14-hundred public school principals got their grades today, as the city gave out its first ever progress reports. As WNYC's Beth Fertig reports, there were many surprises.

REPORTER: About 60 percent of the schools got As and B's. But some schools that are highly regarded got low marks - including Salk Middle School in Manhattan. The school got a C even though more than 90 percent of its students are meeting or exceeding state standards.

Meanwhile, some schools with lower test scores got higher marks. Mayor Bloomberg says that's because they made more progress from one year to the next.

BLOOMBERG: We should be asking ourselves why some of the schools we thought are doing well aren't serving students as effectively as other similar schools.

REPORTER: Bloomberg says the new grading system will encourage principals to focus more on those students who aren't making progress. Twelve percent of schools got D's and Fs', meaning their principals could be replaced if things don't improve. For WNYC I'm Beth Fertig.

You can see the results for all the city's schools here