NBC New York (8/26/09) has some bad news on SAT scores in the NYC public schools:

The city's average score on each 800-point section of the SAT has plunged 18 points in math, to 459, and 13 points in reading, to 435, after reaching a peak in 2005.

Scores on the writing component of the test, which began in 2006, fell six points, to 432.

SAT scores have been going down for four years in a row. The city is trying to spin this as more black and latino students taking the SATs, but it is silly to say that so many minority students are taking the test that the scores dropped by a cumulative 37 points. Besides, Bloomberg has been in office over seven years. He should have accomplished a lot more by now to address racial disparities in the quality of education in the district. We should also be skeptical when a politician or bureaucrat says anything that seems to play on racial prejudices.

National SAT scores changed very little (Dayton Business Journal 8/26/09)

Nationally, scores on the test dropped slightly compared to last year. The College Board data showed the average combined score was 1,509, down two points from last year. Ohio’s average combined score was 1606.

What's the real problem?

Bloomberg has turned the NYC public schools into educational test prep academies, focusing on New York state mandated exams. Teaching to tests always has been frowned upon in educational circles because it has very little applicability to anything outside of the tests. The plummeting SAT scores show that teaching to one test doesn't necessarily apply to another test. Such teaching is even less applicable to college or work.

Bloomberg is a terrible mayor.