New York, NY —

Schools chancellor Joel Klein is blaming New York City's low math scores on a more difficult test. State Education Commissioner Richard Mills echoed the claim.

40% of the city's public school kids in grades 3 through 8 failed to meet state math standards. Over 15% of those students scored at the lowest possible level. Like the state's English scores, there is a steady decline in scores as kids get older...while 75% of 3rd graders passed the math test, only 39% of 8th graders met state standards. New York City students did, however, score better than in other urban districts around the state.

This was the 1st time New York's Education Department gave a standardized math exam to all kids in 3rd through 8th graders. New York's students surpassed national scores.