Michael (excuse me, "Mike") Bloomberg has made a big deal of how test scores for NYC schoolchildren have risen to seemingly astronomical heights. A closer examination, of course, reveals that while city tests -- the ones he and his puppet, Joel Klein, control -- seem to show significant gains, scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests show virtually no change at all over the past several years.

It would seem that when Michael Bloomberg writes the tests, kids show progress, but when someone else writes the tests the result is far different. This doesn't even take into account the fact that teachers are now wasting valuable class time giving practice tests; in theory, test scores should improve across the board if those practice tests are any good.

The anomaly to date has been state tests, given by the Board of Regents. Scores on these tests have risen statewide, and especially so in NYC. Michael Bloomberg doesn't control these tests, so he could claim that they are proof that his and Klein's methods work.

Until now.

The Daily News has an article essentially stating that in order to pass the sixth grade English test you don't even need to know English -- you can pass it just by guessing.

My guess is that this is the result of the disastrous and disastrously misnamed "No Child Left Behind Act," under which states are required to show progress, as defined by state-run tests. It turns out that, just like the tests Bloomberg & Klein are creating, the state tests are being ridiculously dumbed down and/or scored so that a claim of "progress" can be made when no real progress is in sight.

Clearly, there need to be some changes at the Board of Regents. They decided to cave in to the rotten Bush administration plan, and have failed our children.

But there also needs to be a major change to the NYC Dept. of Education, for they have not only failed our children, but continue to do so -- then lie about that failure.