High school education in New York was one of the most neglected issues even before the current financial crisis of the city. New problems that were even more urgent piled on top of old ones that had yet to be solved, and it seemed the latter would be put on the backburner for good.

However, contrary to skeptical prognosis, the city took on the public school system. An organization with the encouraging name New Visions for Public Schools, along with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the head of the school system, Joel Klein, decided despite all obstacles, to open an entire chain of new, smaller, progressive and potentially successful high schools in the city, which will gradually replace the large, stagnant, failing schools. The project has support from the United Federation of Teachers, the Union of School Administrators and a broad coalition of representatives from the Department of Education, private enterprises, nonprofit groups and charitable foundations.

This large-scale initiative is financed by the Carnegie Fund, the Open Institute founded by George Soros, and technological giant Bill Gates. Gates’ support is ironical when one considers that he and Joel Klein recently butted heads. Klein, who was head of the Department of Justice antitrust division at the time, accused Gates of attempting to monopolize a very promising industry. Now the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is donating $25 million to save the public school system headed by Klein. “We are extremely happy about the opportunity to participate in reforming the New York public school system,” said Mary Groark, the foundation’s press secretary. “We fully approve of this undertaking on the part of city government.”

It should be noted that this is already the second round of reforms. Last year, 17 experimental learning institutions opened in the city, named “Schools of the New Millennium.” A stream of students who were unsatisfied with their alma mater poured into these schools. Judging from recent numbers, attendance in the new high schools is eight percent greater than in the old, overflowing schools. Academic performance is significantly higher as well.

“The schools of the new millennium are a wonderful addition to the learning institutions of New York,” said Klein. “I am proud of these new, demanding, successful schools. Their appearance is an inspiring example of joint action on the part of private enterprises, volunteer organizations and the DOE.”

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is also satisfied with the results, having announced that he and Klein “are very well aware of the vital role small schools play in the academic success of students.”

In the second round of reforms, 29 more “Schools of the New Millennium” will be opened in New York, probably towards fall. Nine of them will be in Brooklyn with the remaining twenty in the Bronx. Ten of them are not actually schools, but are referred to as “experimental programs.”

Two of the new Brooklyn schools, the Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment and the Brooklyn School of Music and Theatre, will be located in the Prospect Heights High School building. Three new schools, the Academy of Urban Planning, the Bushwick School for Social Justice and the Harbor School will find their home in the old Bushwick High School. Two others, the High School for Public Service and the International Arts Business School, will be in Wingate High School. As their names suggest, “Schools of the New Millennium” are specialized and teenagers may choose the school that best suits their abilities and interests. The All City Leadership Academy is intended for potential leaders, while young people interested in problems of democracy, civil rights and social justice may study at the High School for Global Citizenship. In all likelihood the latter will open no earlier than 2004.

The range of schools to open in the Bronx is even broader. There will be the Academy for Careers in Sports, the Bronx Academy of Health Careers, Bronx Academy of Letters, and the Bronx School of Law &Finances, as well as programs for future mathematicians, actors, musicians and teachers. According to Klein, there have already been 14,000 applications for the 3000 places in the new Bronx schools. A lottery will determine which lucky students get to study at the “Schools of the New Millennium.”