Education “reformers” have claimed for years that this new initiative or that new program would fix what’s wrong in our schools.

I reject the notion that program-driven, incremental reform will ever get us where we need to be. When 140,000 of our 16- to 21-year-olds have dropped out or are about to, when more than 60% of eighth-graders are below proficiency in reading and math, we need to be bold.

I reject the idea that we can’t surmount the challenges of urban education now since we haven’t already. We know we can help all kids learn because some schools — schools like KIPP and Bronx Aerospace Academy — are already doing it.

I reject the idea that we should ask our educators to succeed but deny them the authority and the resources they need. A system that spends “on behalf of ” schools rather than allowing school-level educators to make the best decisions for students cannot succeed.

I reject the notion that education, unlike every other domain in American life, is not compatible with serious and meaningful accountability.

New York City schools have made significant gains since Mayor Bloomberg and I launched our Children First school reforms more than four years ago. We’ve improved the teachers’ contract, our students have made record gains in math and reading, graduation rates are higher than they’ve been in more than 20 years, class sizes are smaller, and we have trained top-notch leaders for our schools.

But while we’ve rounded the bend, we still have a long way to go.

We need to build on our success. We need to aim high. And we need to be bold.

We are taking a number of steps, starting now, that will build upon the progress of the past four-plus years and take the city’s schools to the next level.

We are giving our educators the tools they need to help students learn. And we are holding everyone — from teachers and principals all the way up to the mayor and me — accountable for student success.

That means giving schools the authority and resources to build the right educational program for every single child. It means doing everything in our power to make sure every student has a high-quality teacher — by granting tenure only to teachers who have proven they are able to help students learn. And it means leveling the financial playing field so all students get their fair share of education funding and all principals can be held to the same high standards.

Whereas in the old system, principals were essentially pawns of bureaucrats, following orders, and parents received far too little information about their own children’s performance, under the new system, principals will be the chief executive officers of their buildings, and parents will have easy access to critical information about how well schools are helping their children learn.

This spring, instead of doing what supervisors in the regions tell them to do, all of our 1,400-plus principals will decide which one of our new School Support Organizations offers a package of services most likely to help them and their students succeed. These organizations — run by education experts both internal and external to the Department of Education — will offer customized packages of services designed to help schools help students learn.

In addition to selecting what type of support is best, principals also will have more authority over what goes on in their classrooms, libraries, and cafeterias, and they will accept responsibility for results.

We will eliminate existing unfairness in our school budgeting — so schools with the same kinds of students will have the same financial advantages — and principals and educators will decide on the best use of school resources. And principals will have new power to build their own administrative, teaching, and guidance staff, rather than allowing outside administrators, contractual obligations, or chance to build staff for them.

As we give schools more tools and decision-making power, my team and I will focus on accountability: Are all of our schools taking the steps they must take to address students’ individual needs? And are they helping all students make progress?

Beginning in September, we will grade all schools A to F based on their ability to help students achieve high academic standards. Progress is key, and all schools that help students advance will win, while schools that allow students to coast through will lose. We will also give schools diagnostic tools to help educators identify students’ individual learning needs and to help parents understand how they can best help their children learn.

The reforms we are now undertaking will reshape the school system as a whole, and they will change the way individual schools operate. These structural changes at the system and school level will fundamentally reshape education for our children, turning education into a much more personalized, success-driven experience for the students of New York City.

I believe the educators, the administrators — and certainly the children — of New York City are ready to take these next steps.

Mr. Klein is chancellor of the New York City Department of Education.