Perdido Street School:
Perdido Street School Week
There Is Money For Municipal Worker Raises In NYC
Every time the subject of all those expired municipal union contracts comes up at the NY Post and other right wing media outlets, we hear how the city is broke, the city cannot afford raises for workers, employee benefit packages are turning NYC into Detroit blah blah blah.But the reality is this: Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio may be inheriting a city in better financial shape than he had expected.
Taking Back Newark From The Privatizers
In case you missed this:@KarenLewisCTU @deBlasioNYC @berthalewis Ras Baraka for Mayor of Newark http://t.co/7PjLgIioQx …— Mark Naison (@McFiredogg) December 21, 2013Electing a pro-public school mayor to ity-based edu... / 4h
Carol Burris: Tisch Did Blame Cuomo, But It Was Over APPR Teacher Evaluations
I managed to miss this tweet when I was writing up this morning's post about Andrew Cuomo going Corleone on Merryl Tisch over Common Core.First, let's recap the story:Newsday reported that a principal from a middle school in Red Hook said the following:Karyann (Katie) Zahedi, principal of Linden Middle School in Red Hook, told the panel of Assembly members Wednesday night that she and other educat
Andrew Cuomo Allegedly Goes Corleone On Merryl Tisch
Newsday has a very interesting story out tonight about something Merryl Tisch allegedly told to a middle school principal from Red Hook:A Long Island Republican has posted on the Internet video from a forum this week on the Common Core academic standards where a Hudson Valley middle school principal relayed a conversation she said she had with state Regents Chancellor Meryl Tisch, touching on Gov.
YESTERDAY
De Blasio Puts Ed Deformers John Legend And Harvey Weinsten On His Pre-K Push Team
From Eliza Shapiro at Capital NY:De Blasio unveiled the Campaign for Universal Pre-K and Afterschool along with a new website and accompanying promotional video which was sent to tens of thousands of people by actress Cynthia Nixon, one of the campaign's leaders. The goal is to convince New Yorkers to support a tax hike to fund the programs. In addition to Nixon, other recognizeable names include
De Blasio Promises Chancellor Announcement Will Come "Soon"
From Eliza Shapiro at Capital NY:Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio said Thursday he has not yet offered the city schools chancellor job to any of the leading candidates, but promised an announcement would come "soon."De Blasio gave few details about the chancellor search at an event at a Crown Heights preschool where he unveiled another part of his campaign to enact universal pre-K and expanded
Why No Chancellor Announcement Yet?
So now it's December 20th, the last school day of Dennis Walcott's tenure as chancellor.In just 12 calendar days, Walcott's replacement is supposed to come into power.There have been lots of stories in the press and on the Internet about the names that are supposed to be on de Blasio's short list for chancellor, but no actual announcement about the pick itself from de Blasio.Here is de Blasio's sc
Things They Should Name To Honor Dennis Walcott
An empty storefront.A garbage dumpster.A burnt, abandoned car.A mold-infested FEMA trailer.Flight deck at Bellevue.That smell on the subway in August. Any others?
DEC 19
Good To See Chris Quinn Leave For Good
.@ChrisCQuinn leaves the building for the final time. Pops her head into the press room to say goodbye. pic.twitter.com/hNJmgu1Gnm— Annie Karni (@anniekarni) December 19, 2013It's a shame she's not leaving in handcuffs escorted by a contingent of police.But I say that about almost every politician I can think of.I'm sure there will be plenty of enrichment opportunities to come her way now that she
Shelly Silver And Cathy Nolan Decide NYSED's InBloom Plan Is A Problem
From Daily Politics:State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Education Committee Chairman Catherine Nolan are trying to put the brakes on the state Ed Department's release of student data to outside vendor InBloom, saying it's just too risky right now. The data dump of attendance, grades and test scores -- plus disciplinary records and disabilities -- is supposed to fuel the SED's EngageNY web po
Bloomberg Claims His Education Reforms Are "Poster Child" For National Reform
The Daily News is doing Bloomberg "legacy" pieces today and the story on education by Ben Chapman is pretty good.Here's the opening: He ran for office as the Education Mayor, but his report card is mixed — at best. Mayor Bloomberg’s overhaul of the public schools was one of the most ambitious projects in the history of city government — backed by a doubling of the education budget during
Republican Congressman Wants Poor School Children To Sweep Floors For Food
This country is becoming more Dickensian by the day:Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) proposed that "low-income children do some manual labor in exchange for their subsidized meals," the Huffington Post reports. Said Kingston: "Why don't you have the kids pay a dime, pay a nickel to instill in them that there is, in fact, no such thing as a free lunch? Or maybe sweep the floor of the cafete
DEC 18
Bloomberg Says Municipal Worker Benefits Biggest Threat Facing The Country
I know, I know, sounds like another one of those lame parodies I occasionally do. But it's really not a parody - Bloomberg actually said it:Mayor Michael Bloomberg today took aim at the city’s rising pension and health costs, calling what he dubbed the “labor-electoral complex” the most pressing threat to New York in the final major speech as mayor.Speaking in a grand ballroom in front of members
Starting To Look Like No Chancellor Announcement This Week
At least if you buy what's in this NY Times article about de Blasio's chancellor search. Carmen Farina is supposed to be the frontrunner for the position now, but she told the Times yesterday that she didn't know if she would be offered the position:Carmen Fariña, a former deputy chancellor and the candidate who most closely matches Mr. de Blasio’s own thinking on education, was telling friends a
Mayor Bloomberg Plans On Bringing NYC's Homeless Problem To The Rest Of The World
Mayor Bloomberg, fresh from arguing that there's no place as good as NYC to be homeless and down on your luck, brags that the consulting firm he has put together to help governments around the world make their income inequality problems as bad as NYC's is very much in demand:Mayor Michael Bloomberg, burnishing his legacy in all five boroughs this week as he prepares to leave office, shed a sliver
DEC 17
De Blasio Uses Ed Deformer-Tied Consulting Group For Transition Team
That story that Dana Rubenstein broke at Capital NY about Mayor-Elect Bill de Blasio using a Bloomberg-funded consultant group suggested by Rahm Emanuel to run his transition team in secret just gets worse and worse:Civic Consulting Alliance role in Chicago schl closings & charter expansion; now working w/de Blasio transition team http://t.co/jOzzb5IIWt— leonie haimson (@leoniehaimson) Decembe
Jerry Brown Really Gets What Education Is All About
These are truly amazing statements from a 21st century politician:MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Gov. Jerry Brown blasted the notion of government-imposed standards for public schools, saying he opposed efforts from Washington and Sacramento to dictate education policy.Using "data on a national or state level I think misses the point — that learning is very individual, very personal," Brown sai
De Blasio Has Private Consulting Group Partly Funded By Bloomberg Running His Transition Team
This is just another example of why Bill de Blasio needs to be watched very, very carefully by his "progressive" base (from an excellent piece at Capital NY by Dana Rubenstein):Bill de Blasio has two transition teams.There's the public one, announced in late November. It's a diverse, 60-person assortment of nonprofit leaders, political types, educators, rabbis, Cynthia Nixon. More than h
It's Official: NYSED & Regents Plan No Major Changes To Their Reform Agenda
For those of you paying close attention to the Gospel of the Common Core Tour in which SED Commissioner King and Regents Chancellor Tisch went around the state trying to drum up support for their reform agenda after King had a public meltdown in Poughkeepsie when some parents dared to challenge him over CCSS, you won't be surprised by this news:There will be no major changes to the SED/Regents age
DEC 16
Cowardly Cuomo Continues To Run From His Own Education Reform Agenda
From Newsday:Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo didn’t bite Monday when asked about a proposal by Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport) to eliminate some student testing, re-evaluate the Common Core academic standards and tighten student-data privacy. Flanagan, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, unveiled his proposed legislation last week. "Who is this?" Cuomo said when a reporter asked him a
Regents Want Even More Money To Implement Their Reform Agenda
Buried in the request for a 6% hike in state money for education for the 2014-2015 year is this doozy:Teaching is the Core: Core Instruction Development Fund The Core Instruction Development Fund will represent a $125 million investment in 2014-15, and it will grow to $200 million for 2015-16 and 2016-17. This categorical program is intended to facilitate the state’s seven-year (2010-2017) transit
Bloomberg Strokes His Ego On The View
In touting his accomplishments as mayor - including making the school system "dramatically better" - Bloomberg said the following when asked by the hosts of The View what he might do next:“I’ve always thought that Santa Claus is a short, Jewish, balding 72-year-old guy, so I’ll give it a go,” he quipped.Ha ha ha ha ha ha - that line is almost as funny as the one about making the school s
Regent Betty Rosa Says NYSED Rigs Data To Make NY State Schools Look Like Failures
A very important article from the Times Union about discord on the Regents Board as well as accusations that NYSED rigs the data to push its agenda:Regent Betty A. Rosa wants people to know that her board of 17 members aren't all in agreement about the public education reform agenda that's currently upsetting many parents, teachers and school administrators statewide.In fact, she thinks the Common
Wash Post & Politicker: Carmen Farina Likely To Be Named Chancellor
From Politicker:According to The Washington Post, Bill de Blasio is reportedly “likely” to name Carmen Farina, a former adviser and deputy schools chancellor, to be the schools chancellor in his incoming administration–possibly on an interim basis. A source following the process relayed similar information to Politicker yesterday.We'll see.
Daily News: 140 Principals Write De Blasio, Say Eval System Needs Overhaul
Having just undergone my second observation of the year, with two more to go, I can say that yes, the system is insane: More than 100 New York City principals are in full-fledged revolt against key Bloomberg administration reforms of the last 12 years. In an open letter to Mayor-elect de Blasio, the principals call for “completely” overhauling the new teacher and principal evaluations, among other
DEC 15
NY Post's Michael Goodwin Misleads Over De Blasio Chancellor Search
Another Sunday at the NY Post, more lies from NY Post propagandist Michael Goodwin.Here's the part of the Goodwin column relevant to our topic here at Perdido Street Schools:Seeking fools for NYC schoolsBill de Blasio is having a hard time getting to yes. Depending on who is counting, as many as three people have turned down an offer to be the new schools chancellor.The latest “thanks, but no than
How The NYPD And The NYCDOE Suffer From The Same Bloombergian Disease
It's called checklistitis - as in, the corporate managers of the NYPD and the NYCDOE, people with little to no actual experience in the jobs they're now managing other people for, demand accountability of underlings through endless checklists on which every category of data must get checked or else there is hell to pay.In the end, the only thing that matters in such a system is the checklist and m
Mary Pat Christie Isn't Laughing This Weekend
The George Washington Bridge traffic lane closures scandal in New Jersey just gets more and more troublesome for Governor Blustery himself, Chris Christie.In the beginning, when critics first began to ask questions about why Christie's Port Authority appointees closed lanes to the GWB on the NJ side in September for an alleged traffic study that nobody saw conducted, Christie laughed the questions
DEC 14
Pro-Common Core Speakers At NYC Forums Used Talking Points Scripts With Timelines
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 fr