Perdido Street School:
Perdido Street School Week
De Blasio Has His Work Cut Out For Him
Everywhere I went today, I kept hearing variations on the same theme:De Blasio is an idiot.Heard it at Starbucks, heard it on the train, heard it in the elevator in my building, heard it at work - de Blasio is in over his head, we miss Bloomberg.In the past, I might have defended Mayor de Blasio and pointed out Bloomberg's past foibles, including the "Go See A Broadway Show" debacle from
What The UFT Should Do Over Snow Day Debacle
James Eterno at ICEUFT blog has a great idea:What are the UFT and other school worker unions going to do about making us whole?What the unions should be demanding now is that people who made it in should be given an extra day in their sick banks and those who stayed out should not have a day deducted from their sick banks for missing school.Alas, I doubt very much the UFT leadership will make thes
Here's Hoping The Snow Debacle Is Not An Indication Of The Future Direction At Tweed
I bet Carmen Farina's wishing she stayed retired right about now- here's how the Daily News framed yesterday's "It's A Beautiful Day!" debacle: Ten inches of snow. School buses colliding with cars. Half empty schools. “It’s absolutely a beautiful day out there,” beamed New York Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña. The clueless chancellor added insult to inclement weather with that head-scr
Sheriff Andy Smiling Today
After de Blasio's self-inflicted school closure mess, Sheriff Andy is smiling wide:Gov. Cuomo on Thursday said Mayor de Blasio’s city-centered plans for prekindergarten will not pass muster with state lawmakers. Cuomo, during a conference to update reporters on storm conditions, used some of his strongest language to date to criticize the mayor’s Pre-K proposals and predicted it would not win app
FEB 13
NY Post: Farina Says No Excuse For Students Who Took A Snow Day
Wow, Chancellor Farina now rivaling Cathie Black for eye-raising statements.Here's the latest, as reported by the NY Post:Farina also callously declared that students who were absent from school Thursday would not be given a pass for taking the day off.“At the course of a whole day, you can still get to school,” she said.The Daily News reports that only 45% of NYC school children showed up to scho
A Failed Test By De Blasio And Farina
I want to note before I start quoting meteorologist Craig Allen and weather personality Al Roker that I "first-guessed" the decision to leave NYC schools open last night when it was announced.You can see that post at this link, but here is some of what I wrote:Why would Farina announce schools are opened tomorrow so early tonight before the storm hits, even as both Nick Gregory of FOX an
Craig Allen: Worst Of The Snow To Come, No Time To "Play A Hero"
Just heard Craig Allen on WCBS 880 that the worst of the storm is yet to come, we will be getting heavy bands of snow through late morning or early afternoon before the rain line finally hits the city.He actually said this is no time to play a hero just because a boss, like the NYC school system, wants you in to work.Allen is no hysteric and usually downplays hype around storms, so when he says th
We May Be Heading Into The Heaviest Snow Of The Day
Many of the TV stations were downplaying snow totals last night, so perhaps that gave Farina and de Blasio cover to announce schools were going to be open no matter what, but the heaviest snow of the day is supposed to be the 6 AM-10 AM hours and according to one meteorologist on the weather board, that heavy snow is still on track to hit.Again according to the weather boards, the radar shows the
FEB 12
Chancellor Farina Announces NYC Schools Are Open For Thursday February 13
I can't believe they're calling a school day beofre the snow even starts:NEW YORK (WABC) -- The Department of Education announced that New York City Schools will be open Thursday. With the storm expecting to hit overnight, crews are already preparing roads in Manhattan. Mayor de Blasio also declared a hazardous travel advisory for Thursday. He will keep schools open like he did during the last big
Sid Caesar
His death was announced today - he was 91.His influence was long-lasting:Albert Einstein was a Caesar fan. Alfred Hitchcock called Mr. Caesar the funniest performer since Charlie Chaplin. Television comedy in its early days was dominated by boisterous veterans of vaudeville and radio who specialized in broad slapstick and snappy one-liners. Mr. Caesar introduced a different kind of humor to the sm
Cuomo: No Raises For Human Services Workers For Sixth Straight Year So That Rich People Can Get A Tax Cut
There's a special level in hell for a governor who operates this way:ALBANY, N.Y. — The Cuomo administration has proposed keeping pay flat for the sixth straight year for caretakers of the disabled and others at state-funded nonprofits. Most Assembly members, in response, have signed a letter calling for the 2 percent cost-of-living increase in the final negotiated budget for the next fiscal year.
To Go Or Not To Go?
The National Weather Service raised the forecast of snow totals to 8-12 inches for the city late this afternoon, but those totals are supposed to come in two waves - heavy overnight snow that leaves 4-8 inches in the city, then turning over to rain (or even a dry slot for a while), then back to snow again in the evening for another 4 inches or so.When I heard the 8-12 inches forecast, I figured ev
Cuomo Full Of Crap Over Super Bowl Jobs
Dan Goldberg at Capital NY:The day before the Super Bowl, Governor Andrew Cuomo sent out a press release touting the economic impacts of the big game.It said that an estimated 1.5 million people visited Super Bowl Boulevard during four days and that spending by visitors will generate an estimated $280-300 million in economic activity in New York State. Those numbers came from Empire State Developm
Cuomo Says "It Ain't About The Money" When It Comes To Education
Cuomo in the WSJ:New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday said the theory behind a new lawsuit seeking more money for New York schools was flawed because he said more money didn’t equal better academic results.“We spend more than any other state in the country,” he said. “It ain’t about the money. It’s about how you spend it – and the results.”Newsday reports on one set of results that sound pretty g
What Are The Chances Of A Snow Day?
It is sounding like it is going to be a mess tomorrow - 6-10 inches of snow, starting around midnight and continuing heavily through the rush hour, then transitioning into sleet for the afternoon before turning back to snow in the evening.The timing of this leads me to believe that there is a chance even NYC schools will be closed tomorrow.Of course every other school in the region other than Eva
The Cost Of Common Core And The Race To Top Reforms
From State of Politics:New Yorkers for Students’ Educational Rights, an education advocacy group, is suing Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the Board of Regents and state Education Commissioner John King, claiming the state has systematically shortgaged the public school system by failing failing to comply with an agreement that followed the landmark Campaign for Fiscal Equity Ruling of 2006. The suit, filed in
FEB 11
Board Of Regents Look Like They're Caving To Cuomo On APPR
Looks like Merryl Tisch got the message from Andy Cuomo on APPR:The full state Board of Regents had second thoughts about the most high-profile proposed reform to the Common Core implementation as announced on Monday: a mechanism that would allow teachers whose evaluations are imperiled by low student test scores (20 percent of a teacher’s score) to claim that the deficient scores were due to impr
StudentsFirstNY Jenny Sedlis Says "Special Interests" Must Not Be Allowed To Delay The Common Core
Because anybody who is not on board 100% with the education reform agenda is, of course, a special interest:“We must not allow criticism manufactured by special interests to turn back the clock on teacher evaluations and higher standards,” StudentsFirstNY executive director Jenny Sedlis said.The irony of a Gates/Broad/Bloomberg-funded organization unaccountable to the people of this state which ha
The Common Core State Standards Themselves Are Flawed
A commenter in at the Times Union:What both the Regents and Cuomo have a blind eye to is that the standards themselves are flawed. Until they accept this fact, the parents will never rest. They are the ones who have to directly deal with the abuse of their children being foisted under the guise of reform. Neither of them stops this. A delay of testing repercussions is a panacea to the unions, a fe
The Fight Over Teacher Evaluations
In the Times article on Cuomo's shrill reaction to the Regents CCSS delay recommendations is this:A working group of the Board of Regents on Monday recommended several changes to how the state’s schools use the Common Core. It did not call for a moratorium as legislators have done, but it proposed letting teachers who earn the poorest evaluations — “ineffective” — to raise the bumpy Common Core ro
Chris Cerf Leaving As New Jersey Education Commissioner
Probably got nothing to do with BridgeGate, but another member of the Christie crew is slinking out:New Jersey Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf, who pushed for charter schools to give parents more choices and helped draft a landmark tenure law with the state’s powerful teachers union, is stepping down at the end of this month, according to a report in The Record.The newspaper is reporting t
Cuomo's Common Core/APPR Dilemma
Sheriff Andy got shrill with the Regents today over their announced changes to the state's ed reform agenda - particularly over the changes announced around teacher evaluations:After the Regents approved an action plan for improving implementation of the Common Core standards, Cuomo honed in on a regulatory change that would temporarily cushion educators whose evaluations were negatively affected
FEB 10
Regents Say They're Feeling The Pressure
From Newsday: High school students across New York will not have to meet higher passage requirements on new, tougher state exams in order to graduate until 2022 under recommendations approved Monday by the Board of Regents. Those students currently were scheduled to start taking Regents exams based upon the Common Core academic standards this spring. The policy-making board's action means they wil
Reaction To The Regents Recommendations On Common Core And APPR Teacher Evaluations
So the Regents reaffirmed the importance of Common Core but delayed the timeline of full implementation to 2022. You can read the Regents press release here.The Regents recommendations seemed to make nobody but some members of the legislature happy.Here was Cuomo's response:“Today’s recommendations are another in a series of missteps by the Board of Regents that suggests the time has come to serio
Chris Christie Helicopter Rides Probed In BridgeGate Scandal
Interesting story from the Post:The New Jersey legislative committee investigating the Bridgegate scandal will probe records of helicopter rides Gov. Chris Christie took to see if he flew near Fort Lee while lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge were closed, sources told The Post.Lawmakers also want to know if the New Jersey governor took a ride with then-Port Authority exec David Wildstei
Randy Credico To Challenge Andrew Cuomo In Democratic Primary
Not sure this is the best Cuomo challenger around, but nonetheless here is the story:Comedian and activist Randy Credico, a “Tonight Show” veteran and subject of the Laura Kightlinger documentary “Sixty Spins Around the Sun,’’ says he’s “definitely” going to challenge Cuomo in the Democratic primary this year. “I’ve got the financial backers to do it, and we’ll get the votes of the progressives in
Today's Board Of Regents Meeting
From the Daily Politics update this morning:From our Ken Lovett in Albany: * It’s not that often that a Board of Regents meeting can be called “much anticipated.” But give the controversy surrounding the implementation of the Common Core curriculum, today’s meeting could get interesting. Very interesting. State lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called for delays and changes or they vow to
5 Year Old Student Leaves Charter School Unattended
The Daily News: In a case reminiscent of the tragic death of autistic teen Avonte Oquendo — who disappeared from school months before his body was found in Queens — a 5-year-old disabled boy managed to slip out of his Brooklyn charter school and walked more than a half mile home with a stranger, the Daily News has learned. Malachi Nelson, whose cerebral palsy causes him to drag his right foot, was
FEB 09
Mulgrew Writes The Times
A letter to the editor from Mulgrew:Re “Teachers’ Push for Back Pay May Pinch City” (front page, Feb. 5):The question for New York City is not whether it can afford to pay competitive salaries to the teachers of the city’s more than one million schoolchildren, but whether it can afford not to.How can we have a world-class school system as long as the city has the largest class sizes, the neediest
Let's Change The Name Of Of The CCSS To "Common Cuomo Core New York State Standards"
There has been so much negativity and opposition to Common Core arising around the country that some states are thinking about changing the name of the Common Core State Standards to something else even as they keep the standards themselves mostly intact.Florida, for example, has changed the name of the Common Core State Standards to the "Florida Standards," making some 37 clarifications
What A Surprise That A "Blended Learning" Course Is A Disaster
Mayor Bloomberg loved all things techie - especially when it came to replacing humans with computers or computerized programs.So of course we got all kinds of computerized nonsense in the NYDOE during his 12 years in power and one of the more infamous was the iZone, which was a highly-touted education program that was supposed to combine online learning with classroom learning into an highly effec
FEB 08
66% Of NYS PTA Survey Respondents Oppose Common Core, 88% Say There's Too Much Testing
Rebecca Klein at Huffington Post:According to a recent survey conducted by The New York State Parent Teacher Association (PTA), a vast majority of parent and teacher respondents said that students have been more stressed out over test-related issues than in previous years.The survey shows that 78 percent of students in grades 1–12 who receive additional educational support as a result of a disabil
Some Reaction To Cuomo's Common Core Panel
Here are some comments left at the Capital Confidential reporting Cuomo's Common Core panel announcement:Once again the Bully of New York fails to include the real experts in the field. Educators have been saying all along what is best for student achievement but it has fallen upont deaf ears. Sorry knuckle dragger but educators are not the blame here. Education policy has been and is set by the R