Blakeman hammers Hochul over dismal NY public school rankings, vows to boost STEM: ‘Not acceptable’

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Oliveira, A., & Golden, V. (2026, October 16). Blakeman hammers Hochul over dismal NY public school rankings, vows to boost STEM: ‘Not acceptable’. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/16/us-news/bruce-blakeman-hammers-gov-hochul-for-school-rankings-and-vows-to-boost-stem-scores-have-gone-down-down-down/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-16 · by Alex Oliveira, Vaughn Golden

Quick Summary

Republican Bruce Blakeman criticized Governor Kathy Hochul during a campaign stop in The Bronx for declining public school test scores and the state's poor education ranking. He cited New York's 17th-place national standing despite being the highest spender per pupil at nearly $40,000 annually. Blakeman blamed the curriculum and leadership rather than teachers, pledging to prioritize STEM subjects if elected governor in November. Joined by Bronx community leader Sheikh Musa Drammeh, Blakeman emphasized that improving education is crucial for supporting children's futures.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-16, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Republican Bruce Blakeman criticized Governor Kathy Hochul during a campaign stop in The Bronx on Friday, Oct. 13, 2026, for New York's declining student test scores under her leadership. He vowed to prioritize STEM education if elected. Blakeman also denounced Hochul’s controversial 2024 comment about young black kids in the Bronx not knowing what a computer is, asserting that students know more than she does. Joining him was Bronx community leader Sheikh Musa Drammeh, who pointed out New York's 17th place ranking nationally for education despite the state spending more per pupil than any other in the country. Blakeman emphasized the need to support and elevate children’s education rather than criticizing them.

Written for “Blakeman Criticizes Hochul Over School Rankings” on 2026-10-17, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.65, but 2 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 1 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 85991: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-16

Story

📰 Blakeman Criticizes Hochul Over School Rankings
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 13% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 10% hedged 3 of 30 📰 publisher trust 67
“The articles describe different events: one focuses on a debate where Blakeman criticizes Hochul's policies and her body language, while the other reports on a campaign stop where Blakeman discusses public school test scores.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 14% hedged 5 of 37 📰 publisher trust 67
“The articles discuss different aspects of Kathy Hochul's political situation and performance, rather than reporting on a single incident or occurrence.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
13%
3 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
67/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-16 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 11025 article(s) · 31 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 31 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Alex Oliveira
43 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, also hammered Hochul for her infamous 2024 claim that “young black kids in the Bronx” don’t know what a computer is — insisting youngsters in the borough “know more about a computer” than the governor will “ever know.”
🔮 Democrat Cait Conley finally condemned Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s anti-Israel rhetoric — but only after Rep. Mike Lawler backed her into a corner for repeatedly dodging the question.
🔮 Mayor Zohran Mamdani plans to ask private New York City garage and parking lot owners to block ICE agents from using their property, The Post has learned.
🔮 Lawler, the Republican incumbent seeking his third term, said the high-profile ICE shooting last week in the Big Apple could have been prevented if local law enforcement were able to cooperate with federal immigration officers.
🔮 Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and her Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman faced off Tuesday night in the only debate of their hotly contested gubernatorial election campaign — trading barbs on affordability, immigration, President Trump, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
🔮 Despite that alarming history, politicians including Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his leftists pals called on Belgal’s release and demanded the abolishment of ICE – with the likes of Styles taking up the call. “I just want us to take a moment to think about Oscar Belgal tonight,” Styles recently said at Madison Square Garden, where he’s in the midst of a residency tour.
🔮 None of that stopped Mayor Zohran Mamdani from referring to Belgal as “a New Yorker” in a raging tribute Thursday against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement — a label some Bronx locals took offense to.
🔮 She was listed as a sober monitor for a party her sorority was throwing at a downtown Ithaca bar that night — but started drinking after learning somebody else would be covering her duty.
🔮 Newell then reiterated that he had no memory of any of that happening, writing, “had I been less f**ked up and even somewhat aware of the situation and how out of hand it got, I would’ve shut it down the second guys started walking in the room.” But the local Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office declined to bring any charges against the brothers, citing a statement from Doe provided by campus police which they claimed never accused anyone of rape and also showed she willingly ingested the alcohol and drugs throughout the night.
🔮 Firebrand socialist streamer Hasan Piker backed the anti-Israel protestors who heckled Mayor Zohran Mamdani during an Oct. 7 vigil at a Manhattan park — prompting critics to chuckle that the left was “eating itself.”
Also by Alex Oliveira
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 43 articles by Alex Oliveira →
Vaughn Golden
32 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Rep. Tom Suozzi will snub a Long Island campaign event with Gov. Kathy Hochul on Saturday because of a scheduling clash — as other down-ballot New York Democrats distance themselves from the unpopular Empire State leader.
🔮 Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, also hammered Hochul for her infamous 2024 claim that “young black kids in the Bronx” don’t know what a computer is — insisting youngsters in the borough “know more about a computer” than the governor will “ever know.”
🔮 Democrat Cait Conley finally condemned Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s anti-Israel rhetoric — but only after Rep. Mike Lawler backed her into a corner for repeatedly dodging the question.
🔮 That shouldn’t be a partisan issue, but a party-first politician like Mike Lawler could never comprehend that.”
🔮 Lawler, the Republican incumbent seeking his third term, said the high-profile ICE shooting last week in the Big Apple could have been prevented if local law enforcement were able to cooperate with federal immigration officers.
🔮 Getting the Bruce juiced Blakeman could be seen rapidly blinking throughout the debate, something Glass chalked up to “anger” instead of nerves.
🔮 “If you want to stop illegal alien criminals from being released into your communities, you must elect Bruce Blakeman and a Republican Congress and we will ban sanctuary cities and sanctuary states at long last,” he promised.
🔮 She supports men in women’s sports and a bill that would change the terms of mother and father to gestating and non-gestating parents.”
🔮 We lack an attorney general who is willing to enforce the law.
🔮 Hochul, who’s facing a reelection challenge from Republican Bruce Blakeman, is walking a tightrope of running as a moderate Democrat while trying to harness her party’s left wing who are energized by the recent election of democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Also by Vaughn Golden
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 32 articles by Vaughn Golden →

Topics

Bronx Nassau County New York Republican The Bronx

Subjects

Blakeman PERSON · 9× Bronx GPE · 5× New York GPE · 4× Hochul PERSON · 3× Kathy Hochul PERSON · 3× Democrat NORP · 2× Drammeh PERSON · 2× Bruce Blakeman PERSON · 1× Republican NORP · 1× The Bronx GPE · 1×

Narrative

Blakeman was joined by Bronx community leader and educator Sheikh Musa Drammeh, who highlighted New York’s bleak 17th-place national education ranking in US News & World Report — and questioned how that was possible when the state spends more per pupil than any other in the country.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-16
🔮 Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, also hammered Hochul for her infamous 2024 claim that “young black kids in the Bronx” don’t know what a computer is — insisting youngsters in the borough “know more about a computer” than the governor will “ever know.”

Claims (23 extracted, 3 hedged)

Republican Bruce Blakeman on Friday ripped Gov. Kathy Hochul for New York students’ dismal test scores under her watch — vowing to place STEM initiatives at the heart of public education if he wins in November. asserted
he → rip → November
“You’ve got to elevate our kids. asserted
You → get → kids
Kathy Hochul has no clue how to do that,” Blakeman said during a campaign stop in The Bronx. asserted
Blakeman → have → Bronx
“She’s had an opportunity for the last five years, and the test scores have gone down, down, down,” he railed. asserted
he → have → years
“It’s not acceptable.” asserted
It → ’ → ?
Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, also hammered Hochul for her infamous 2024 claim that “young black kids in the Bronx” don’t know what a computer is — insisting youngsters in the borough “know more about a computer” than the governor will “ever know.” uncertain
governor → hammer → computer
“She doesn’t know what is going on our communities. asserted
what → know → communities
She doesn’t even know what’s going on in our school system,” he said. asserted
he → know → system
“The fact is we have to support our children’s education and not put them down. asserted
we → have → them
We have to elevate them.” asserted
We → have → them
Blakeman was joined by Bronx community leader and educator Sheikh Musa Drammeh, who highlighted New York’s bleak 17th-place national education ranking in US News & World Report — and questioned how that was possible when the state spends more per pupil than any other in the country. asserted
state → join → country
The nearly $40,000-per-pupil spending in 2025 didn’t translate to equally soaring results, Blakeman and Drammeh noted. asserted
Blakeman → translate → results
Instead, New York 4th graders scored 22nd in the nation for reading while 8th graders scored 24th, according to the gold standard National Assessment of Educational Progress exam. “It’s not the teachers’ fault. uncertain
It → score → exam
It’s the fault of the curriculum, the Board of Regents, the Chancellor of Education and Kathy Hochul,” Blakeman said. asserted
Blakeman → ’ → Education
The Long Island pol said New York public schools should be zeroing in on science, technology, engineering and math — known under the acronym STEM — and said he’d make those subjects the core of the state’s curriculum if he wins the gubernatorial race on November 3. asserted
he → say → November
And it’s the future of our children and grandchildren,” Blakeman said, adding that he’d work closely with Drammeh to help roll out such education initiatives in the Bronx. asserted
he → ’ → Bronx
Blakeman making the announcement in the Bronx also appeared to be a highly deliberate — in addition to highlighting Hochul’s inflammatory computer comment throughout the campaign, he has been making a concerted effort to pitch himself to voters in the Boogie Down. asserted
he → make → Down
The borough largely voted Democrat in the 2024 presidential election, but it also had the sharpest swing right from 2020 to 2024 across the entire state. asserted
it → vote → state
The Bronx went 69% for Joe Biden in 2020 in his winning race against Donald Trump, then just 22% for Kamala Harris in 2024, when she lost to Trump, thanks in large part to Latino voters, Politico reported. asserted
Politico → go → voters
Blakeman was polling about 10 points behind Hochul earlier this week, though it’s unclear if his lauded showing in their sole debate on Tuesday could move the needle. uncertain
showing → poll → needle
With the election less than three weeks away, Blakeman has been frantically trying to get his message out to voters, urging them not to elect the incumbent Democrat governor to a second, full, four-year term. asserted
Blakeman → try → term
“We have to concentrate on the things that will give our kids a better future,” he said. asserted
he → have → future
“We need to lay the foundation and create the foundation for them to be successful in their future life here in New York.” asserted
them → need → York
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