Perdido Street School:
What Andrew Cuomo Has Done Is A Lot Worse Than What Rick Perry Was Indicted For
Perdido Street School Week
What Andrew Cuomo Has Done Is A Lot Worse Than What Rick Perry Was Indicted For
Ross Ramsey of the Texas Tribune:A Travis County grand jury on Friday indicted Gov. Rick Perry on two felony counts, alleging he abused his power by threatening to veto funding for the state's Public Integrity Unit unless Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, who had pleaded guilty to drunk driving, stepped down.It appears to those on the governor’s side of the argument that he has th
Why Did NYSUT Endorse The Pro-Charter, Pro-Voucher Jeff Klein?
From State of Politics:Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeff Klein on Friday touted his endorsement from the New York State United Teachers union. “I’m honored to have the endorsement of NYSUT, whose membership works hard each and every day on everything from shaping young minds in our public schools to educating adults in our colleges and universities. I’m committed to being a voice for
De Blasio, Farina Full of Shit On Test Scores
The lede of this Eliza Shapiro piece at Capital NY:Mayor Bill de Blasio and schools chancellor Carmen Fariña on Thursday praised the slight improvement in citywide test scores while reiterating their shared ambivalence toward testing in general. At a press conference at the Brooklyn Brownstone School to announce the scores, de Blasio said, "This is a good day for the whole New York City schoo
AUG 14
You're A Winner If You Predicted A Slight Increase In NY Test Scores
As many of us predicted, NYSED and the Board of Regents rigged the state testr scores this year to go up slightly so they could point to "progress":One year after scores plummeted following the state’s adoption of Common Core-aligned tests, city students collectively outpaced the rest of New York on both the math and English exams. In math, 34.5 percent of city students met or exceeded t
NYSUT Backs Indicted Senate Republican
Your union in action:There was also no consensus among union leaders about the effort to flip the Senate into Democratic hands – a push that largely originated with unions during the labor-backed Working Families Party’s debate over whether to endorse Gov. Andrew Cuomo or Fordham Law Prof. Zephyr Teachout. In a deal brokered by NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, Cuomo ended up endorsing a Democrat-controll
Education Reformers Turn On Michelle Rhee
Mostly because she sucked:StudentsFirst was hobbled by a high staff turnover rate, embarrassing PR blunders and a lack of focus. But several leading education reformers say Rhee’s biggest weakness was her failure to build coalitions; instead, she alienated activists who should have been her natural allies with tactics they perceived as imperious, inflexible and often illogical. Several said her bi
NYSED To Release Common Core Test Scores Today
From WIVB:BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - The tests are over, and soon we will know the outcome of round two of Common Core testing. New York will release the results Thursday. Students took the math and English tests in April. This is the second year of the controversial testing standards. New York students scored lower last year than they typically do on standardized tests. The results are important beca
Common Core "Expert," Candidate For Wyoming State Schools Chief, Now Says She Opposes CCSS
The Common Core rats are jumping as far away from the sinking Common Core ship as possible:Before Wyoming adopted the Common Core State Standards in language arts and math in 2012, state schools chief candidate Sheryl Lain worked for a private organization to train teachers how to use the standards to help their students learn to read.Lain, 70, an instructional leader in the Wyoming Department of
AUG 13
Why Is Cuomo In Israel When Parts Of Long Island Are Under The Sea?
Newsday tonight:Long Island commuters were struggling Wednesday evening with the aftermath of the historic weather event that earlier dumped double-digit amounts of rainfall across parts of Long Island, flooding roadways, rail lines and basements.The epic rainfall -- the National Weather Service's Upton office said 13.27 inches poured down between 11 p.m. Tuesday and 10:30 a.m. Wednesday -- overwh
Guard Violence At Rikers Grew Under Mayor Bloomberg
Does this get added to Mayor Bloomberg's "legacy"?The portrait that emerged from the report on Rikers Island by the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan last week was of a place with almost medieval levels of violence, meted out with startling ferocity by guards and their superiors. The two-and-a-half-year investigation, which focused on the abuse of teenage inmates by correction
New Pro-Common Core Message Push Not Going So Well
Late last month, pro-CCSS advocates and supporters announced they had enough of losing the Common Core message wars to Common Core critics and opponents and were going to start a new message blitz that was sure to turn things around:Supporters of the Common Core academic standards have spent big this past year to persuade wavering state legislators to stick with the new guidelines for math and lan
AUG 12
Why Is Andrew Cuomo Still Trying To Knock Zephyr Teachout Off The Ballot?
The NY Times editorial board says Cuomo should stop trying to get her kicked off the ballot and instead debate her:New York State voters rarely have enough real choice on their ballots, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo seems determined to keep it that way. Ever since another Democratic candidate for governor, Zephyr Teachout, arose on his left, Mr. Cuomo has tried to throw her off the primary ballot on the s
The Lesson I Want To Take From Robin Williams' Death
The nation is in shock over the news that Robin Williams killed himself yesterday.You can see it on the TV, in the newspapers, on social media - the coverage of Williams' death is everywhere this morning and the recurring pattern in that coverage is shock that Williams would take his own life.But I'm not in shock over the news of Williams' death.The darkness that lived inside Robin Williams that u
AUG 11
Judge Rules In Favor Of Zephyr Teachout In Ballot Challenge - Cuomo Will Appeal
Well, that didn't take long.We learned a little while ago that a judge has ruled Zephyr Teachout can stay on the Democratic Primary ballot:A challenge to Zephyr Teachout's ballot status brought on behalf of Governor Andrew Cuomo is invalid, a state Supreme Court judge ruled today. Teachout, a Fordham Law professor who first challenged Cuomo for the nomination of the Working Families Party, success
Charter School Sector Looks To Cuomo To Get Rid Of Charter Cap
Eliza Shapiro reports charter school operators are getting nervous that they're getting close to the charter cap and are looking to either get the cap raised or eliminated completely in the next budget battle:Emboldened by their legislative successes last session, thank to help from Governor Andrew Cuomo, charter leaders and groups are in the early planning stages of launching a unified push to ge
Cuomo's Legal Troubles - It's What We Don't Know That Matters Most
Two pieces out on Cuomo's legal jeopardy today, one by Jeff Smith at Politico and the other by Blake Zeff at Capital NY, both of which report Cuomo is in some trouble over the Moreland mess. Jeff Smith at Politico says Andrew Cuomo's got serious problems because now that he's given them the open, prosecutors could be looking into anything:Andrew Cuomo is in serious trouble. Preet Bharara, the hard
AUG 10
Cuomo To Leave Country
Governor Andrew Cuomo is loath to leave the State of New York, having made very few trips out of state during his time as governor, so it's always news when this happens:New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a delegation of state legislative leaders are scheduled to fly to Israel this week in the governor's first international trip since taking office in 2011, according to a person with knowledge of the
Why Would Michael Mulgrew Get So Violent In His Support Of Common Core?
As has been around on the blogs for awhile and surfaced in the Daily News this past week, UFT President Michael Mulgrew told AFT Convention attendees he will "punch in the face" and "push into the dirt" anyone who takes Common Core from him: Some people have asked why Mulgrew was so animated in his speech in support of Common Core and so violent in his language describing what
AUG 09
Cuomo Pushes Back Hard Against Bharara From Behind The Scenes
US Attorney for the Southern District Preet Bharara warned Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to stop tampering with potential witnesses in his Moreland Commission investigation a couple of weeks ago, but that hasn't stopped Cuomo from meddling in the matter.After the Bharara warning, Cuomo said the U.S. Attorney had made it clear that “on going public dialogue is not helpful to his investigation,” and the