THE CITY OF NEW YORK

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR

N E W Y O R K , N Y 10 00 7

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 19, 2010
No. 398
www.nyc.gov

MAYOR BLOOMBERG DISCUSSES IMPROVING SAT AND ADVANCED PLACEMENT

TEST SCORES IN NEW YORK CITY’S PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS IN WEEKLY RADIO
ADDRESS

The following is the text of Mayor Bloomberg’s weekly radio address as prepared
for delivery on 1010 WINS News Radio for Sunday, September 19, 2010

“Good Morning. This is Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

“When I was growing up, a high school diploma was often all you needed to get a good job
and start a good career. But in today’s increasingly competitive global economy, a high school
degree just doesn’t cut it anymore. What employers are increasingly looking for is a college degree
– and in some cases, more than that. That’s why the most important thing we can do for our
children is making sure they’re graduating from high school and ready to go to college or enter the
working world.

“Over the past eight years, we’ve worked very hard to put our children on that path. As part
of that commitment, we’ve expanded the number of academically selective secondary schools and
vastly increased Advanced Placement offerings throughout the city – especially in high schools
where such courses haven’t traditionally been offered. We’ve also developed a number of programs
to help our students prepare for the SAT, including a free online SAT preparation course for all
juniors and an intensive SAT prep course in 20 high schools across the city.

“To encourage even more students to start preparing for college, we’ve been paying the fee
for all 10th and 11th graders to take the PSAT, which has allowed us to substantially increase the
number of students who take the practice test. And that’s especially important because students
who take the PSAT perform significantly better on the SAT than those who did not take the PSAT.

“Now it looks like all of these efforts are paying off: last week, we released the results of the
SATs that public high school students took in June. In all three areas of the test – reading, math,
and writing – our students improved their average scores over the previous year. In fact, those gains
outpaced the progress made by students in the rest of the country. And even though our average

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scores still lag behind the national average, we remain encouraged, because Latino students were
responsible for some of our biggest gains – and the number of black and Latino students who took
the test has also increased.

“Last week, we also released the results of the Advanced Placement exams. Like this year’s
SAT results, they were also full of positive signs. For example, more than 15,000 students scored a
passing grade on the tests – a 12 percent increase over the previous year. And since 2002, the
number of New York City students who took at least one AP exam jumped more than 60 percent.

“We’re determined to ensure every student is prepared for college – even those who might
not be thinking about college right now. And we’re determined to give all our students the
resources and support they need to reach the high standards necessary to thrive in today’s world. It’s
what our children need – and what they deserve.

“This is Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Thanks for listening.”

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Contact: Stu Loeser (212) 788-2958