Perdido Street School:
Perdido Street School
Bill De Blasio Meets With Rahm Emanuel To Talk "Transition And Urban Affairs"
Sure Bill de Blasio had a union rally yesterday - but he also met with one of the more virulently anti-union Dems around:Bill de Blasio met with Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel this morning in New York City, according to sources familiar with the meeting.Emanuel and de Blasio overlapped in the Clinton administration, where Emanuel served as a senior adviser to the president, while de Blasio served as a
Nearly A 1000 People Let State Senator John Flanagan Know How They Feel About The NYSED Education Reform Agenda
Great turnout by the people of Comsewogue:On Nov. 1 hundreds of parents, teachers, and community members lined the streets in front of State Sen. John Flanagan's office chanting that high-stakes testing needs to change. Educators define high-stakes testing as an exam that has important consequences. Many teachers feel the amount of testing that is being done to children through the new standards i
Charlie Crist To Run Against Rick Scott In Florida
From Political Wire:Charlie Crist (D) is running for Florida governor as a Democrat, the Tampa Bay Times reports. "The worst-kept secret in politics was confirmed Friday afternoon when the Republican Party of Florida spotted Crist's official filing with the state Division of Elections." Crist was a Jeb Bush ed deformer in the past too, but he did veto that teacher tenure bill.Scott is v
YESTERDAY
Why Chris Christie Will Never Be President
There's some talk around that Chris Christie could be elected president.I'm going to go on record right now and say he will not be elected president.Having watched him here in NJ, I can tell you that he cannot stand up to media scrutiny in a national election.Tonight TIME reports that the Romney campaign pretty much decided the same thing in 2012:In an excerpt from their new book Double Down: Game
Why Common Core Will Fail
The Atlantic looks at so-called text complexity:Here’s a pop quiz: according to the measurements used in the new Common Core Standards, which of these books would be complex enough for a ninth grader? a. Huckleberry Finnb. To Kill a Mockingbirdc. Jane Eyred. Sports Illustrated for Kids' Awesome Athletes!The only correct answer is “d,” since all the others have a “Lexile” score so low that they are
Does It Feel Like March To You?
It's November 1.I'm exhausted.I have three Regents prep classes - one is remedial class with students who have failed the Regents exam three times.I have two senior classes.I'm helping out with college admissions twice a week.And I just started writing college recommendations.I taught this senior class when they were freshmen, so I know them for four years.I am going to be writing a lot of recomm
OCT 31
Critics Of SED/Regents Reform Agenda: Commissioner King Has Not Gone For Enough To Address Concerns
Once again, from Jessica Bakeman at Capital NY:ALBANY—Statewide school groups are skeptical of a plan the state announced last week aimed at eliminating some testing, questioning the effectiveness and scope of the proposed changes.State Education Commissioner John King wrote in a letter to schools last week that he and the Board of Regents have discussed taking several steps to minimize and improv
State Senator Latimer: Make The Politcians Take The Common Core Tests
From Jessica Bakeman at Capital NY:ALBANY—Could New York lawmakers pass a high school exam in language arts or mathematics?One state senator wants to know.Sen. George Latimer, a Westchester Democrat, told City & State he's not sure if he would pass a high-school level state exam based on the new, more difficult Common Core curriculum standards, and he bets not all of his colleagues would pass
There's A Consensus - That John King And Common Core Must Go
NYSED Commissioner John King said there is a consensus across that Common Core reform is the right thing to do.Syracuse -- In a visit to Syracuse today, New York Education Commissioner John King said he sees more consensus Mthan division around the state's implementation of the Common Core standards, teacher evaluations and other issues."I don't see it as a particularly divisive moment,"
Common Core Opposition Will Not Be Marginalized
Neal McCluskey of the Cato institute explains why the attempts to marginalize Common Core opponents as crazy people will not work:The Common Core is opposed by scholars at several leading think tanks on both the right and left-hand side of the political landscape, including the Heritage Foundation, The Hoover Institution, the Brookings Institution and my own Cato Institute. My research has shown t
NYSED: Teacher Evaluations Not Confusing
Nope - they're complex!SCHOOLBOOK: Why are we hearing complaints about children in kindergarten through second grade being given extra assessments that are taking time away from class? SCHWARTZ: That would depend upon the strategy that was locally collectively bargained. There may be some districts in which they decided that they were going to give a pretest. But that was something that they decid
OCT 30
NYSED Commissioner John King Finally Announces Common Core Meetings For NYC
From Jessica Bakeman at Capital NY:ALBANY—The state Education Department plans to announce three New York City public hearings on the state's adoption of the more difficult Common Core curriculum standards, two weeks after scheduling 16 forums in upstate New York and on Long Island. There will likely be at least five meetings in New York City, and the state expects to hold them by the end of the y
Education Reform In Trouble
Anthony Cody at Gates Foundation Week:From coast to coast, the billionaire-backed education reform project is back-pedaling, and there are signs of desperation showing up all over. At Education Nation there was little attention paid to the fractured fairytale that corporate reform has become, but the cracks are appearing everywhere now.At a recent conference of mayors, few would even utter the wor
Mulgrew: I Support Common Core
From Schoolbook:At Tuesday's hearing before the state Senate's Standing Committee on Education, city teachers union president Michael Mulgrew said he supports the goals of the Common Core, which emphasize more critical thinking and writing."But the roll-out has been horrible," he said, referring to what he called a lack of curriculum materials and teacher preparation. Mulgrew said the st
Here's A DOE Policy Change I'm On Board With
From the NY Post:Styrofoam companies are about to lose their lunch over a city plan to replace the foam trays in school cafeterias with an eco-friendly compostable version. The Department of Education said it tested the new trays in a small pilot program last spring, and is currently trying them again at four schools. The department plans to increase the program to 32 schools next month, and is as
Not One Speaker Supported The Common Core Rollout
Another great article about the John King Common Core forum held in Port Chester on Monday, this one from the Pearl River Patch:Dozens of angry Westchester and Rockland County parents and educators Monday vented their frustrations over the rollout of New York’s Common Core Curriculum, and urged state Education Commissioner John King, Jr. to delay the program until it is improved.In one of several
OCT 29
Which One's Lying?
John King sez reason no forums yet scheduled in NYC b/c DOE hasn't got them a venue; Suransky says not true. Who's telling the truth?— leonie haimson (@leoniehaimson) October 29, 2013
Amazon Does Stack Ranking Evaluations Too
The NY Times explains why Amazon is a nasty, nasty place to work:But if Amazon aspired to reduce friction for customers, Mr. Stone suggests that it remained a high-friction place to work. He describes the in-house culture as “notoriously confrontational,” and writes that because managers in departments of 50 or more people are required to “top-grade” their subordinates along a curve (and dismiss t
Yonkers Daily Voice: King Forum Attendees Overwhelmingly Negative Toward King, Common Core And Testing
The LoHud article on the John King Common Core forum managed to find one guy who was pro-Common Core and put him prominently in their piece on the King Common Core meeting yesterday, both in the writing and a video accompanying the article.Of course that makes the forum look like it was more evenly distributed in terms of attendees against the Common Core and those who are for the Common Core.But
The UFT Evaluation Team Sends An Email To UFT Members
Dunno if you got this in your email box from Mikey Mulgrew and the "UFT Evaluation Team," but it arrived in my in-box this morning:Teachers across the city are facing significant challenges caused by the Department of Education's poor implementation of the new evaluation and development system. To resolve these problems, the UFT introduced an online inquiry form for members to inform us
Common Core Reform In A Nutshell
From yesterday's NYSED Commissioner King Common Core propaganda tour:Ten-year-old John Del Vecchio got a standing ovation when he took to the microphone to describe how the rapid rollout of the new tests has caused a lot of stress for students like him in Yorktown public“There is so much pressure to pass all these tests, me and my classmates stay in from recess to study,” he said. There it is - so
Andrew Cuomo Owns This Common Core Mess In NY State
Fred LeBrun knocked it out of the park with this piece from Sunday, calling Commissioner John King the least trusted man in Albany.It's a must read, so head over there if you haven't seen it.I found the parts about Cuomo most interesting.LeBrun wrote:There are signs that the governor, who has a finely tuned ear for shifts in the murmurs of the masses, is getting nervous over the growing din of neg
OCT 28
NYSED Commissioner King Pretends To Listen, Still Hears Nothing
#KingForum King and audience in Westchester speaking in different worlds. This will not end well.— Carol Burris (@carolburris) October 28, 2013I think that's exactly right. Commissioner King and SED, Regents Chancellor Tisch and the Board of Regents - they're putting on a "We're Listening!" show.But they're really not listening.As Fred LeBrun wrote in the Times Union yesterday, unless th
Obamacore Implementation Just Like Obamacare Implementation
Parents and educators can't figure out what the new Common Core Federal Standards call for:The 2013-14 school year began with the full implementation of the Common Core State Standards in Maryland, the District of Columbia and 44 additional states. The new national standards in English/language arts and mathematics symbolize a shift in what it takes for students to be "college and career read
Cuomo Targeted By Frackers
Not only does Sheriff Andy have an angry legislature looking to stick a shiv in him, he's got the business interests that happily backed him the first time around asking him what he's done for them lately:State GOP Chairman Ed Cox plans an all-out-attack on Gov. Cuomo for “caving in to environmental Luddites’’ by refusing to approve “fracking’’ for natural gas in upstate’s Southern Tier, The Post
Cuomo Accused Of Abuse Of Power
From the Daily News: ALBANY — The state Legislature is expected to argue in court that Gov. Cuomo abused his power by using his corruption-fighting commission to try and force a deal on ethics reform, the Daily News has learned. “That’s the crux of the separation-of-powers issue,” said a legislative insider. “You can’t blackmail the Legislature into submission. It’s not legal and it’s not effectiv
De Blasio Still Up Big
Joe Lhota never closed the gap:Bill de Blasio is poised to win the race for mayor of New York City by a historically large margin, powered by optimism that he will bring about change and by overwhelming voter disapproval of the Republican Party. Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat who is currently the public advocate, leads his Republican opponent, Joseph J. Lhota, a former chairman of the Metropolitan Tran
Extra Evaluation Paperwork And Documentation Do Not Make For Better Teachers!
Sheriff Andy said last week that his vaunted new teacher evaluation system is "exactly right".Teachers around the state beg to differ:And although 91.5 percent of teachers statewide were ranked effective or highly effective on the 2012-13 annual teacher review plan, Victor third grade teacher Ted Isham said the measuring system leaves a lot to be desired. He said he’s not alone.“In my di
OCT 27
Last Night I Said Goodbye To My Friend
Lou Reed, John Cale And Moe Tucker at the induction of the Velvet Underground into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, performing a song they wrote for the deceased fourth member of the band, Sterling Morrison:
Lou Reed And New York
From one of my all-time favorite albums - Lou Reed's New York - is this song, Dirty Boulevard:
What Goes On
The Velvet Underground album that I first got into was the third album, the one with Doug Yule on it.John Cale, who I later came to respect greatly for both his work on the first two Velvet Underground albums and his solo work, was already gone.I came to the album off an REM b-side, a cover of "There She Goes Again (which was actually a VU song off the Velvet Underground And Nico album.)I was
Lou Reed Dead At 71
Just became aware of this:Lou Reed, a massively influential songwriter and guitarist who helped shape nearly fifty years of rock music, died today. The cause of his death has not yet been released, but Reed underwent a liver transplant in May.He didn't look well after the transplant.RIP. Saw him back in 2005 or 2006 at a club in Chelsea.He was prickly.Somebody called out the name of a song as he a
The Debacle Of The Common Core Reform
A commenter on a LoHud article about how the Regents/Common Core exams are causing agita for students, parents and teachers wrote the following indictment of the reform agenda as a whole:This Common Core reform has been an absolute joke from the start. They cannot get anything right. They roll out new exams before supplying curriculum guidance ... and then blare that the results are a testimony t
Obama Is A Disaster
This is the first and probably only time you will see me agree with Peggy Noonan:Peggy Noonan: "The ObamaCare rollout is a disaster for the White House, not a problem or a challenge or an embarrassment, not a gaffe or a bad few weeks. It is a political disaster, and the only question is whether it is partially recoverable, meaning the system can be made to work in a generally satisfactory way
OCT 26
Cuomo Loves His Teacher Evaluation System Even If He Can't Vouch For It's Accuracy
Just in case you think getting rid of NYSED Commissioner John King would solve the problems with teacher evaluation systems in districts around the state, here's Sheriff Andy Cuomo touting APPR:Cuomo said New Yorkers typically seek change in state government, but they are also resistant to it because it's nerve-wracking. There are typically kinks when a state agency undergoes any kind of policy ov
When Did The Word "Test" Disappear?
These ed deform criminals love euphemisms, don't they?What’s the right amount of assessment? See my letter on the Regents' plan to address appropriate amount of testing http://t.co/izc5dv7fVX— John King (@JohnKingNYSED) October 25, 2013For those of you who don't understand reformy geekspeak, King means "tests."For some reason, the ed deformers decided they can't say "test" anym
UFT To Open Casino In NYC
Via Jeff Kaufman at ICE UFT, we learn that the UFT gave $250,000 to help Sheriff Andy Cuomo get his casino referendum passed.Some people may be wondering why the UFT would give money to support gambling, but if you think closely about it, it makes total sense that the organized crime interests who run the teachers union would give a quarter of a million of your hard-earned dues money to the organi
Obama Goes To P-Tech To Find Somebody To Fix Obamacare "Glitches"
Okay, some irony here.Self-described Mike Bloomberg spent $2 billion on a 911 system redo that is so faulty it freezes up sometimes as often as four times a day and just may have contributed to the death of a four year.Another self-described genius, Barack Obama, has signature medical program that forces anyone without medical insurance to buy it, except for one big problem - the website doesn't w