Latest News and Comment from Education

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

10-16-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:




Cory Booker Beats Tea Party Candidate In Special Election
Yeah, he won by 12 percentage points (at least as of 10:10 PM.)You know what?He should have won by 30+.Booker's opponent, Steve Lonegan, was a Tea Party favorite who trotted around with Sarah Palin during the campaign.Booker faced a Tea Party opponent during the Washington default crisis brought on by Tea Party Republicans, something that hasn't been lost on Americans who now say they like the Tea

NYSED Now Says They'll Try And Do New Common Core Town Hall Meetings
From Capital Confidential:The state Education Department is working on developing a new format for Commissioner John King’s town hall-style discussions of the Common Core standards — one it believes will be far less likely to descend into the sort of shoutfest that prevailed at Thursday’s session in Poughkeepsie. “We are working to finalize venues where constructive dialogue is possible so that to

Assemblyman Threatens To Have Legislature Go Over Commissioner King's Head If Problems With Common Core Are Not Fixed
Buried in this YNN story about Commissioner King saying he's thinking about rescheduling parent town halls so long as the new meetings are "civil" is this: "If it got out of hand, of course, that's not the right manner that we want those things to happen, but I do believe the parents have the right to be heard," said Assemblyman John Ceretto, R-Lewiston."Parents and teache

Joe Lhota Says New Yorkers Will Die If Bill De Blasio Is Elected Mayor
No, seriously - that's what he says in a new ad: So vote for Joe Lhota so we all can be safe - like back in the day.This day, for example:: There, don't you feel safer already?I  know I do.Lhota sounds a little like Benito, doesn't he?He certainly puts out the propaganda like Il Duce, that's for sure.
Charter School Sycophants
De Blasio talking pt that he's focused on 95% of non-charter students is flawed. Will be closer to 88% by 2017, his 3rd yr in office— Geoff Decker (@GDeckernews) October 16, 2013Decker fails to mention the increase is partly due to Bloomberg opening as many charters as he can right before he exits office. But the next mayor, if he so chooses, can decide not to replace closed charters with new ones
Superintendent Study Shows State Teacher Evaluation System Is A Mess
As Commissioner King tries to defend his increasingly indefensible education reform agenda from parents, a new superintendents study says the evaluation system has been a disaster:New York’s first attempt to grade teachers on their students’ progress was flawed in several key ways, a new study commissioned by the region’s superintendents says.The state’s formula gave less credit to teachers servin


King, Tisch Bombarded With Common Core Complaints At Invitation-Only Meeting On L.I.
Even the "invitation-only" meetings have become unsafe havens for NYSED Commissioner King and Regents Chancellor Tisch:Frustrated superintendents and parents urged New York's education commissioner at a meeting in Oyster Bay on Tuesday to slow implementation of the controversial Common Core curriculum."My daughter is not a '1,' " John Castronova of Oyster Bay told Commissioner


State Senator Jack Martin: John King Must Reschedule Parent Hearings Or Immediately Resign
Another politician jumps in on the side of parents against NYSED Commissioner John King:Common Core But No Common Sense Make no bones about it. I have been consumed with nonstop questions and concerns regarding the state education department’s rollout of the Common Core curriculum. I’m approached by constituents with questions at almost every event I attend in our district. But more than answer qu
Commissioner King Says No To Evaluation Moratorium
Not a surprise - he wants to go forward with the high stakes teacher evaluation system:ALBANY—State education commissioner John King said Tuesday that a call from teachers' unions for a three-year moratorium on using state exam results for “high-stakes” decisions is a “distraction” from the goal of improving New York graduates' outcomes in college and careers.The state's new system for evaluating

10-15-13 Perdido Street School
Perdido Street School: How Do You Let John King And SED Officials Know They're Wrong Without Showing Anger And Disrespect?Peter DeWitt has a blog post up this morning at Education Week on the John King/Poughkeepsie fiasco.DeWitt, who has been on the other end of SED anger himself (he got a pushback from an SED flack when he wrote a blog post pointing out that NYSED Commissioner John King sends his