Perdido Street School:
Pro-Common Core Speakers At NYC Forums Used Talking Points Scripts With Timelines
Andrew Cuomo Sticks "A F---ing Spear" Into Chris Christie's Eye
Daily News: DOE Gig Looks To Be Down To Farina, Starr, And Cashin
Perdido Street School Week
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Via Chris Cerrone, we learn the following from the Epoch Times about those Common Core supporters who flocked to the NYC Common Core forums to talk up the wonders of CCSS and testing:NEW YORK—In contrast to the angry crowds of parents who attended forums with the State Education Commissioner John King in other places, the speeches by many parents in New York City extolled his agenda. ... Photos from the forum show a speaker reading a printed note with instructions. The sheet, marked “Time sensitive,” read: “In the first minute, talk about how we have always taught our children, that if they wo
If you haven't been paying attention to the growing Port Authority scandal involving Chris Christie and his PA appointees, it's time you start.The scandal revolves around Christie's PA appointee closing traffic lanes to the GWB in retaliation for the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee not endorsing Christie's 2013 reelection bid the way many other Dem mayors around the state did.Dana Rubenstein at Capital NY has a great piece up about the second Christie appointee to resign over the scandal: Even as Chris Christie struggles to avoid being damaged by a burgeoning scandal at the Port Authority, Andrew
Kaya Henderson is a no for the chancellor job. http://t.co/Ru9L14S4vJ Linda Darling-Hammond also no. Maybe: Farina, Cashin, Starr— Rachel Monahan (@NYDNrachel) December 13, 2013Lindsay Crist says this about Henderson's chances for the DOE job:: @NYDNBenChapman but true, right? Such smart politics! From everything I've been hearing, she had a VERY small chance (and that's generous)— Lindsey Christ (@LindseyChrist) December 13, 2013And so it goes - five school days left with Walcott at the helm, but we don't know his successor just yet.Other than it won't be Kaya Henderson.
YESTERDAY
Things The Keep Joel Klein Up At Night
David Steiner, former NYSED Commissioner and unindicted co-conspirator in the Pearson bribery mess (for which Pearson was fined $7.7 million yesterday) interviewed former NYCDOE Chancellor Klein and got this out of him:Klein admits there are a few things that keep him up at night.“The charter schools do worry me and worry me profoundly,” Klein said. “Second thing that worries me if the signal goes
Pitbull Eau de Toilette for Men
Misogynistic rapper and charter school operator Pitbull has a wonderful exclusive fragrance set he's selling at Amazon.com.The set retails for $55.00 and is described this way:Top Notes - Sundrenched citruses of bergamot and mandarin meet warm spices of cardamom and sage.Mid Notes - An unexpected twist of a violet masculine floracy and the undeniably sexy combo of woods and verbena.Base Notes - S
DEC 12
Pearson Fined $7.7 Million For Breaking Law - Why Isn't Former NYSED Commissioner Steiner Under Investigation For The Same Thing?
From the NY Times:The Pearson Foundation, the charitable arm of one of the nation’s largest educational publishers, will pay $7.7 million to settle accusations that it repeatedly broke New York State law by assisting in for-profit ventures. An inquiry by Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York State attorney general, found that the foundation had helped develop products for its corporate parent, includ
UFT/Unity Shill Comes By To Say "Take What The Union Gets And Like It!"
Here's a response from some anonymous Unity/UFT shill to my post this morning entitled "Message To UFT Leadership - Raises, Not Bonuses" that has to be seen to be believed:Isn't funny that the very people that call the UFT a dues collecting agency, are the very purple that reap the benefits from the UFT negotiations team when it comes to our prescriptions, dental, hearing, and vision. Ou
Message To UFT Leadership - Raises, Not Bonuses
Reuters reported that the UFT is arguing retro raises for teachers can come in the form of bonuses that can be "booked" multiple years so as not to break the city's budget:Dec 10 (Reuters) - The administration of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is lining up for one last showdown in its $3.5 billion dispute over retroactive pay raises with the city's public school teachers. With just thr
KIPP Plans To Keep Padded Cell To Punish Students
Yesterday the Daily News reported a KIPP school in NYC uses a padded cell for "time outs" for children who act out in school.One child was so distraught by the experience that an ambulance was called.There has been much outrage about the KIPP padded cell story, but the DN reports today that KIPP plans to keep the practice going: The tot cell stays. Officials at an uptown New York charter
DEC 11
Some Of The Same CCSS/Students First Shills Show Up Two Nights Running
It's getting a little nauseating.Miranda Cohen FORMER teacher w/ StudentsFirst says she 150% supports CCSS & testing.She spoke last night 2.— CriticalClassrooms (@lapham_katie) December 12, 2013Leonie notes how even when the speakers are different, they all say the same things phrased in the same ways: Guy next to me sez they're all saying same things where's the critical thinking?— leonie hai
State Senator Polls On Common Core Standards
From Ken Lovett at the Daily News politics blog:State Sen. Kathy Marchione, a Saratoga County Republican, is robocalling to urge her constituents to take an online poll about the controversial state common core standards. "I, too, have real concerns about common core and it's possible impact on our children, teachers and schools," Marchione says in the call, which I just received. Marchi
Contract Negotiations Between UFT and City In State Hearing
Via James Eterno and Jeff Kaufman at ICEUFT, there is a must read Reuters piece about the contract negotiations between the city and the UFT:With just three weeks remaining before his team cedes power to Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, Bloomberg's administration will cite accounting rules at a closed-door state hearing on Wednesday as it tries to shut the door on any retroactive raises being paid out
DEC 10
Special Interests Co-Opt Common Core Forums In NYC
@NY1thecall I was the only one who spoke out against the Common Core and testing in Bklyn. Forum taken over by StudentsFirst charter.— CriticalClassrooms (@lapham_katie) December 11, 2013 @lapham_katie Is King going to say special interests co opted the meeting? 95% anti regents reform across the rest of the state.— Chris Cerrone (@Stoptesting15) December 11, 2013 Ah, but they're John King's speci
A Call For Governor Cuomo To Take A Stand On Education
It's a blog piece by Yancey Roy from a week ago, but it was going around twitter and it makes some good points I wanted to repost:Across New York, school issues appear to be at a boiling point.Whether it’s the Common Core curriculum, online student data or teacher and principal job reviews, parents have voiced anger and frustration statewide and on Long Island this fall. There’s sure to be politic
Bureaucratic Madness
Got a letter from an official bureaucratic entity stating that I must take immediate action on something or grave consequences will ensue.The letter was postmarked December 3, but I just received it yesterday, December 9.The deadline for taking action before the grave consequences ensue is Friday December 13 (how's that for an ominous date?).Over the weekend, I posted about frustration with bureau
Is Carmen Farina Now The Frontrunner To Be Chancellor?
From Capital NY:Carmen Farina, a leading chancellor contender, not only shares an educational philosophy nearly identical to Bill de Blasio’s, but helped to construct the mayor-elect’s beliefs during the decade she has advised him on school issues.“They are of one mind,” said Dorothy Siegel, an education advocate, former District 15 school board member and a close ally of Farina and de Blasio.Sour
Bloomberg To Force Flu Vaccinations On Pre School, Day Care Children
From Politicker:On Wednesday, with just three weeks to go until he leaves office, Mr. Bloomberg’s controversial Board of Health is set to vote on new rules that would force children as young as six months old to be immunized each year before December 31 if they attend licensed day care or pre-school programs. “Young children have a high risk of developing severe complications from influenza. One-t
DEC 09
Tish James: Let's Reform School System In First 100 Days
Via a Beth Fertig tweet:Tisch James calls on De Blasio to reform ed system in first 100 days... Says she is a friend but was elected to be "a thorn in his side"— Beth Fertig (@bethfertig) December 9, 2013Let's make sure whatever reform de Blasio and his DOE chancellor, it is REAL REFORM, not the corporate education reform stuff we've gotten from Barack Obama and Andrew Cuomo.
Valerie Strauss Says Kaya Henderson Was Never Seriously Considered By De Blasio For Chancellor
Informative post from Valerie Strauss about de Blasio's chancellor search:Among the people who have been considered at one point or another in the decision-making process are, according to sources, Joshua Starr, Montgomery County Public Schools superintendent, who has good union relations and who became nationally known when he called for a three-year moratorium on standardized testing last year;
NY Post Attacks Joshua Starr, Tries To Torpedo Him From DOE Job
Okay, this is telling.The NY Post attacked Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Joshua Starr today for allegedly failing to crack down on pedophile teachers.Turns out the Post attack on Starr's so-called failure to crack down on pedophile teachers is based on one case Seems odd to attack Starr for systemic failure to protect children from pedophiles based upon one case. Yet that's what they do
Randi Weingarten and The Day of Misdirection.
Oh wait, that's every day for her...That's Michael Fiorillo's response to Randi Weingarten p.r. over today's "Day of Action" to recalaim the promise of public education.And indeed, there is a diversionary tactic in this call to action.Even as our union leaders take millions of dollars from Bill Gates to promote the CCSS, to agree to teacher evaluations tied to test scores, and to collab
DEC 08
Put Pressure On De Blasio To Keep His Campaign Promises On Education
De Blasio said today that he probably won't announce his pick for the next chancellor this week.Ross Barkan at Politicker wrote that de Blasio is still taking names for the job:Mr. de Blasio, who will be the city’s first mayor in recent times with a child in the public school system, said the decision was a particularly important one for his family, and that, thanks to his experience, he and his w
De Blasio Says Schools Chancellor Announcement Will Probably Not Come This Week
From Politicker:Bill de Blasio will be unveiling “important” new appointments in the near future, but don’t expect his schools chancellor pick to be among them. Asked today about his decision-making process for the chancellor pick, the mayor-elect described it as deliberate and methodical and said new candidates are still being nominated even as his January 1 inauguration looms a few weeks away. “
A Response To The Daily News Corporate Education Reform Editorial
A commenter responds to the DN neo-liberals shilling for corporate education reform and calling for a pro-charter chancellor: If "it's really about the kids," Mr. DeBlasio will do nothing less than the following: 1. Appoint an educator who has valid school district administrator credentials, no more emergency waivers from the state. We have not had a qualified educational leader since D
Randi Weingarten And The Day Of Action
Gates Foundation cash-flushed Randi Weingarten is advertising a "Day of Action" to save public education tomorrow.As I told Randi on twitter (a conversation you can see here), she's full of crap over this "save public education" stuff since she's done so much to wreck it herself - from signing off on the Race to the Top reforms, caving on tying teacher evaluations to test score
DEC 07
Is Obama Administration Lobbying De Blasio To Go With A Pro-Testing Chancellor?
In the DN article that reported Carmina Farina is back on the short list to be de Blasio's chancellor pick is this doozy:Montgomery County Superintendent Joshua Starr has been mentioned, but may have Obama administration heavyweights lobbying de Blasio not to consider him because of his strong anti-testing positions, sources said.Not a surprise, given how much weight they have put on high stakes t
Adding A 5th Reason To Why Kaya Henderson Won't Be NYCDOE Chancellor
Valerie Strauss lists four reasons why she thinks DCPS chancellor Kaya Henderson won't be NYCDOE chancellor despite rumors that her name is on Mayor-Elect Bill de Blasio's short list for the job.The four reasons are 1) Henderson's staunch support of charter schools 2) Henderson's emphasis on standardized tests as the most important measure of educational achievement 3) her antagonism toward the un
Educational Myopia
Barney Miller is my favorite television show - has been ever since I was a little kid.I loved the off-beat and often dark humor, the pathos, the gritty NYC setting and the well-developed characters.One of the recurring themes to the show is the frustration of working in a bureaucracy that strips people of their autonomy and their humanity.A two part, hour long episode of Barney Miller from Season
Daily News: Carmen Farina Back On Chancellor List, No Decision Made Yet
Went up at 10:28 AM: Carmen Farina, a former deputy city schools chancellor, has emerged as a leading contender for the top education job, the Daily News has learned. Farina — an unofficial yet key education adviser to Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio — has repeatedly denied a willingness to return from retirement. This week she’s made the slight shift of refusing to answer a reporter’s questions about
Let De Blasio Know Rahm Emanuel's School CEO And DCPS Rhee Acolyte Are Unacceptable For NYCDOE
Gotham Schools posted rumors that Rahm Emanuel's schools CEO, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, the woman who helped oversee the closing of 50 Chicago schools in one fell swoop this year, is on Bill de Blasio's short list to be NYCDOE chancellor.The NY Times reported that Michelle Rhee's old DCPS deputy, Kaya Henderson, now the chancellor of DC schools, is also on the de Blasio short list to be chancellor.De