The Nation - Giuliani's poor school marks - His record in New York City includes four chancellors, angry teachers and an inferior educational system.

Today, the city is safer and has more jobs. But as Giuliani campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination, he says little about his problematic record on education.

New York City schools went through eight years of political chaos during Giuliani's terms, which ended in 2002. His bare-knuckle tactics contributed to the departure of three chancellors, according to interviews with former school administrators, Board of Education members, teachers, parents, union officials and outside experts.

He left behind an expired union contract, an army of angry teachers and a school system that by his own admission was still delivering inferior educations to hundreds of thousands of students.

How Giuliani handled education provides a window into his potential political skills as a U.S. president, especially in terms of the way he managed people and his refusal to compromise on issues big and small.

"I don't think he achieved anywhere near what he wanted to achieve," said Joseph P. Viteritti, an early Giuliani administration advisor and now a professor of public policy at Hunter College, part of the City University of New York. "There were no significant changes in the system while he was there. He tended to make enemies. He was very tough and abrupt. I think his instincts were right, but sometimes he overplayed it and caused a reaction against himself."

Giuliani fought with administrators, board members and state legislators over budgets, union contracts, vouchers, gay tolerance education, lunchroom supervision, curriculum, testing, social promotion and summer school, among much else.

Giuliani declined to be interviewed for this article. But his supporters say he took on an embedded bureaucracy that had badly mismanaged education, allowing schools to muddle along without meeting standards. They said he battled a bloated administration that was sucking dollars out of classrooms. And they applauded his attack on a curriculum that informed young children about homosexuality and distributed condoms to teens.

"He could not have accomplished more with a different approach," said Anthony P. Coles, Giuliani's deputy mayor, who handled education. "The school system was far superior when he left than it was when he was elected mayor."