After dispensing high marks to 97 percent of the city’s elementary schools last year, the Department of Education is determined to be a tougher grader. It’s instating a new cut-throat system in which schools will be ranked against one another, and no good grades will be given for “effort”: only 25 percent of schools will get A’s, 30 percent B’s, 30 percent C’s, 10 percent D’s, and the bottom 5 percent of schools will get F’s. Like any grading curve, this one is already being called unfair and is sure to be unpopular, but will it slim down the previous bloated system or just confuse it? more ›

Mayor Bloomberg has implemented a controversial report card system for the city's teachers and schools and he's pushing restaurants to display their cleanliness grades on their windows — but he has no interest in grading the president. As a guest on CNN's "State of the Union" yesterday, the Mayor declined to issue a letter grade to President Obama. "I'd give him a pretty high grade," he said, adding that "[f]or a new president, he's in a very tough time" with issues including the war in Afghanistan, a "partisan," and the economy. more ›

The Department of Health will soon require NYC restaurants to prominently display their cleanliness ratings in windows or entryways, Mayor Bloomberg and State Senator Jeff "Dirty Dozen" Klein announced at a press conference Saturday. The changes which will alter the numbered DOH ratings to a letter-grade system, which has been used for years in LA. The new rules will be implemented over the next two years, and health commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden says he plans to hire 45 additional restaurant inspectors, adding to the current total of 140. Also, less sanitary restaurants will now be inspected more frequently. Of course, the restaurant industry is cool to the changes; a New York State Restaurant Association rep tells the Times, "a major objection we have is that an inspection is a snapshot, it reflects a condition on a particular day, but not necessarily a long-term condition." more ›