NYC Dep't of Education, Children First Network

New York City Dept of Education The New York City DOE provides primary and secondary education to more than one million students in over 1,350 schools. In 2003, the school system’s leadership -- Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York City Schools’ Chancellor, Joel Klein -- initiated a comprehensive, multi-year, district-wide reform effort, Children First. The Children First reform seeks to ensure that:

 The New York City DOE is staffed with talented leadership at all levels, especially at the school level, where principals drive student achievement outcomes, the New York City DOE’s core measure of success.  A culture of empowerment permeates the New York City DOE, where the right people, especially principals, are poised to make the right programmatic and operational decisions.  Accountability is at the fore of the New York City DOE’s operations, especially at the school level, where empowered principals must ensure that students make academic progress. The New York City DOE has worked to institutionalize these principles -- leadership, empowerment, and accountability -- and now seeks to further empower principals while holding them rigorously accountable for students’ academic gains. Children First Network Children First Network (CFN) is a systemic reform strategy rooted in the Children First reform’s core philosophy. CFN provides comprehensive, personalized instructional and operational service to the schools it serves. By expanding principals’ autonomy and streamlining support, CFN enables principals to devote more time to instruction and, ultimately, improve student achievement.