New York City Mayor Bloomberg may have received an election-year boost thanks to City fourth graders' reading scores.  Students scored almost 10 percentage points higher this year than last, making the leap from 49.6% passing to 59.5%.  The unprecedented gain may lend credence to Bloomberg's mayoral control of schools as well as his controversial policy to retain failing third graders.

Despite the hefty hike in scores, union officials point to factors that may have tipped the scales in Bloomberg's favor, including struggling fourth graders who were allowed to skip the exam as well as non-native English students who received waivers to avoid the test.  The officials also said teachers should be credited for the test score gains rather than City Hall.

The article, entitled "Score One for Mayor on Exams," appeared in the May 18 edition of the Daily News.

Published Monday, May. 23, 2005