New York, NY —

City education officials released high-school progress reports today, saying they're encouraged by the numbers. Forty-five percent of all high schools received an A grade, while 30 percent got a B in the third annual report, which considers student attendance, performance and progress. Schools Chancellor Joel Klein says new schools that have opened since 2002 did especially well, getting an average score of 70 out of a possible 100 points. "The new small schools are clearly outperforming, even with a higher and more challenging population... and this includes the Stuyvesants, the Brooklyn Techs and everything else," Klein says.

He added that 67 percent of schools that earned D's and F's last year improved enough to earn a C this time around. (Failing schools face the possibility of staff changes or closure.) Klein says more students are on track to meet their Regents requirements and graduate on time. But he says more progress needs to be made with English language learners and special education students.

The advocacy group Class Size Matters says the Department of Education is manipulating the numbers. The group says most New York City high schools are overcrowded and graduate, at most, about 60 percent of their students in four years.