CUNY Math and the Mayoral Election

Thursday’s New York Daily News reported that “during their first math class at one of CUNY's four-year colleges, 90% of 200 students tested couldn't solve a simple algebra problem. “ Frightening? Yes. Yet as disastrous as those figures are there is another element to this story that disturbs me. Why is it that the public is only now learning of these facts even though CUNY’s Council of Math Chairs submitted this report to Schools Chancellor Joel Klein in September 2008?

At the risk of sounding cynical, it was quite convenient for Mayor Bloomberg that these figures weren’t released until after the Nov 3 mayoral election. Considering Bloomberg won by only 4.6 points and that education reform under his watch was a major element of his platform, it is fair to ask whether these disastrous math statistics could have swayed the election.

Did City Hall bury these findings, or pressure others to do so, until Mayor Bloomberg was firmly entrenched in office for another four years? Or was it merely coincidental that the results of this report were released less than two weeks after the election?

Luckily for Mayor Bloomberg what could have become a PR disaster never materialized.