Photos: Michael Bloomberg

Education
As part of an initiative to reform the city's public education system, Bloomberg replaced the school board set up by the state and placed it under direct mayoral control. He raised teachers' salaries by 15%, promoted after-school programs to help students who are behind and helped strengthen the cell-phone ban in schools. Most recently Bloomberg launched the city's first mulitimedia campaign, "Wake Up!," which aims to combat academic absentees and truancy. The campaign's partners include local radio stations who will encourage attendance on-air every day. It will also provide pre-recorded "wake up" calls to the homes of students with a history of truancy with messages from celebrities like Magic Johnson, Jose Reyes, Big Boi, and Terrence J, among others, urging kids to attend school.