Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg delivered his State of the City speech. We are heartened that some of the new policy proposals outlined in the mayor's speech—from expanding the number of Career and Technical Education (CTE) schools to creating permanent rehearsal and studio spaces for the arts—were greatly influenced by our reports.

In 2008, the Center published Schools That Work, a study urging the Bloomberg administration to make the city's career and technical education (CTE) high schools a more prominent part of ongoing efforts to improve the school system. Our study found that even though CTE schools long have been one of the most overlooked and under-funded parts of the school system, CTE students in New York graduate from high school at sharply higher rates and are four times less likely to drop out before graduating than the city's overall high school population. It also showed that these schools have the potential to play a critical role in creating a steady stream of skilled workers for several occupations in New York that are expected to have worker shortages in the years ahead.

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg announced: "Over the next two years, we'll open at least a dozen new Career and Technical Education schools and programs aligned with trends in the global economy. Students will get out-of-school internships tailored around their coursework and interests."