"These numbers are not acceptable," said Commissioner John B. King about NYC schools English language learners outcomes

NYC schools must improve the outcomes of the English language learners student population or face sanctions, the NYTimes reported state education officials announced on Wednesday.
NYC school leaders released their 31-page corrective action plan to address the problems of the ELLs in the city's schools. And this plan outlined the violation of state law in city schools in the services provided to the ELLs. The corrective action plan has been in the works for more than a year after state education officials directed the city to improve services to the ELLs.
John B. King Jr. the state education commissioner called "...the services poor, and the best indication of that are the student outcomes," of English language learners in the NYC schools. King cited how only 7 percent of ELLs graduated on time, 12 percent proficient in English in the lower grades and 35 percent in math, percentages way below the city averages.
The plan has targets and time tables for the improvements, covering  such issues as:

• The large number of students who were not timely administered the LAB-R; 
• The LEP/ELLs not receiving the mandated bilingual and or ESL services because of shortages of certified bilingual and ESL teachers; 
• Parent choice...steps to create new Transitional Bilingual Education Programs (TBE), awarding annual TBE and Dual Language (DL) planning grants...; 
• And long term LEP/ELLs must receive bilingual and/or ESL services until they are no longer LEP/ELLs based on the NYS proficiency exam and the NYSESLAT
•  among other issues.

The Council of Great City Schools presented a report to the School Board about the ELLs in the Buffalo Public schools "Raising the Achievement of English Language Learners in the Buffalo Schools" last year, while the Buffalo News commented on it on August 2010.