Perdido Street School:
Perdido Street School Week
Arne Duncan Says New York Is One Of Two States NOT Eligible For Testing "Flexibility"
Yesterday I posted that it seemed ironic Arne Duncan was now giving states flexibility around testing and teacher evaluations since his DOE had just threatened New York State in June that de-linking teacher evaluations from student test scores would result in New York losing nearly $300 million in Race to the Top money.Well, tonight we learn that Duncan is saying New York is one of two states that
Eva Moskowitz Puts Out Trial Balloon On Mayoral Run
Norm Scott at Ed Notes Online has written numerous times that Eva Moskowitz is setting up her charter empire in various neighborhoods around the city to use as a base of operations for a mayoral run.We got some evidence last night that Norm may be right:Mayor Moskowitz?In an interview last night, Eva Moskowitz, the founder of Success Academy Charter Schools and a former city councilwoman, would no
NYCDOE, Mayor Bloomberg Threw Away $356 Million In Federal Repayments For Special Education Services Because Of Sloppy Accounting
Juan Gonzalez in the New York Daily News: City public schools lost $356 million during the past three years in federal Medicaid payments for special education services because city and state officials failed to properly apply for reimbursement, the Daily News has learned. “Red tape and bureaucracy should not stand in the way of (the city) being reimbursed for the vast array of services provided,”
AUG 21
Duncan Threatened NY Over Test-Based Teacher Evals, Now Says "Fine For Another Year"
Back in June:New York might lose out on $300 million if last-minute negotiations on teacher and principal evaluations untie Common Core test scores from final ratings, federal education officials warned Tuesday.That’s how much New York is due to receive to implement a new evaluation system as part of its participation in Race to the Top, a competitive grant program launched by the U.S. Department
Andrew Cuomo: "I am the government, but I'm not my own campaign."
You can't make this stuff up: Gov. Cuomo passed Thursday morning on saying whether he'll debate Fordham law professor Zephyr Teachout before the Sept. 9 Democratic primary. The hands-on Cuomo said he's leaving the decision to the campaign. "I'd leave that to the campaigns to work out, whatever they decide," said Cuomo during a soggy appearance at the state Fair opening in Syracuse. When
New NYSUT Leaders Revive Their Own Pensions
Norm Scott at Ed Notes Online reported this story last night:NYSUT officers got their pals, Klein and Skelos, to pass this law giving them leaves of absences at full pay, all of it pensionable, and get Cuomo to sign it at the speed of light - for the NY State legislature.AN ACT to amend chapter 675 of the laws of 1984 relating to providing fringe benefits for certain employees of school districts
Campaign To Drive Down Confidence In Public Schools A Success
The headline in the PDK/Gallup poll released yesterday was how much support Common Core has lost with both the general public and parents of children of school age.But we shouldn't lose sight of these poll findings either:The wide-ranging survey also showed that trust in the nation’s public school system has evaporated, as a consistent majority of Americans approve of charter schools that operate
AUG 20
NY1, Time Warner News Send Debate Invitations To Cuomo And Teachout
From State of Politics:NY1 and Time Warner Cable News in Albany are inviting Gov. Cuomo and his Democratic rival, Zephyr Teachout, to a live, hour-long Sept. 2nd debate that will air statewide and be hosted by NY1 Political Anchor Errol Louis and Capital Tonight Anchor Liz Benjamin. Invitations have also been sent to Rep. Kathy Hochul and Tim Wu to participate in a separate debate for Lieutenant G
Common Core On Life Support
Here's the second poll this week showing the public has turned against the Common Core:While more people know what the Common Core State Standards are than last year, a majority of them oppose the standards, according to the 46th edition of the PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools. Overall, the wide-ranging survey found, 81 percent of those polled said they had heard
Remember When Frank Bruni Thought "Won't Back Down" Was A Great Movie?
Food writer Frank Bruni has written another teacher-bashing column, a habit of his ever since they gave him op-ed real estate at the NY Times, though to be fair, there are quite a few other teacher-bashers on the Times op-ed page as well, so maybe Frank's just trying to fit in with his more famous compatriots in neo-liberalism.In any case, NYC Educator dispensed with Frank's argument here and I do
Cuomo Remains Hidden In The Shadows
A few of us on Twitter were wondering if anybody has seen Andrew Cuomo since he returned from his Israel trip.It seems like every morning, this is schedule (as it is for today):Gov. Andrew Cuomo is in New York City with no public schedule.And why not stay hidden and work things from the shadows?It certainly isn't hurting his poll numbers, as the latest Quinnipiac Poll shows this morning:Cuomo cont
AUG 19
NYCDOE Finally Kicks Yuppie Sports League/Drinking Organization From DOE Property
Meant to post about this a few days ago:The city has once again revoked the Lower East Side permits for an adult sports league residents say was using school properties to run an “alcohol-driven” social league.ZogSports, a co-ed league for young professionals in cities across the U.S., had been hosting several kickball games each week at MO25 145 at Stanton St. and P.S.142, at 100 Attorney St. Not
One Crooked Politician Stumps For Another Crooked Politician
She's back from the political dead:Gov. Cuomo's Women's Equality Party rallied today at City Hall to tout its massive signature-gathering effort ahead of November's election, but it was one woman who ended up stealing the show.Former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, in her first visit to City Hall since leaving office last year, made a surprise appearance at the rally, where she had a starrin
NYSUT, Other Unions Already Endorsed Andrew Cuomo In Spring
Jimmy Vielkind at Capital NY:ALBANY—In one sense, the AFL-CIO's decision Monday not to endorse Andrew Cuomo's re-election is bigger than it looks. That's because the union's decision, sources say, was partially the result of heavy lobbying from other labor groups that are snubbing or actively opposing the governor.The union's decision is somewhat smaller in terms of the likelihood that it will hav
Support For Common Core Continues To Drop - Even In Reform-Friendly Polls
Who will UFT President Michael Mulgrew punch over this very disheartening news for Common Core supporters?Anybody watching the escalating battle across the country over the Common Core State Standards and aligned standardized testing will hardly be surprised by a new national poll which reveals a significant loss of support over the last year — especially among teachers, whose approval rating drop
AUG 18
Remember, Union Leaders Did Their "Endorsement" Work During Working Families Party Convention
I keep hearing some NYSUT people brag how NYSUT refused to endorse Andrew Cuomo for governor and am hearing from the same people that NYSUT is making sure the AFL-CIO does not endorse him either.All of this is fine, dandy and absolutely meaningless. I want to remind everybody that when it mattered, when Andrew Cuomo absolutely needed the union leadership - including the newly minted NYSUT leadersh
Time For An Investigation Into New York State's Test Score Results, Data Tracking
Two stories from over the weekend show that the statistics and data issued by NYSED Commissioner John King and his merry men and women in reform at SED cannot be trusted.First, as I posted yesterday, the NY Post covered how NYSED lowered the cut score levels on this year's state Common Core exams, an act which resulted in slightly higher test scores:State officials touted increases in scores on to
AUG 17
NY Post Covers NYSED/Regents Scam On Test Scores
The NY Post called NYSED Commissioner King and Regents Chancellor Tisch on their test score scam.Because it is such an important story, here it is in full:State officials touted increases in scores on tough Common Core exams this year but failed to reveal that they had lowered the number of right answers needed to pass half the exams. The state Education Department dropped the number of raw points
How Much Longer Can Michael Mulgrew Stay In Power?
The UFT has signed on as a co-sponsor for the Rev. Al "Rent-A-Collar" Sharpton's anti-police brutality march and it's not sitting well with the police unions who are now openly savaging UFT President Michael Mulgrew in the media:In an open letter to The Post, the spitting-mad boss of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association ripped his teachers-union counterpart Saturday for the “disgracefu
AUG 16
No Wonder Andrew Cuomo And Billy Joel Are Friends
From the NY Post:The Piano Man is really The Electronic Keyboard Man.A tipster who peaked under the lid of Billy Joel’s Steinway grand piano tells me there are no strings inside. The 88 ivories are connected to an electronic synthesizer.“The fans don’t know it. They love him and pack the place, but the grand ‘piano’ he has onstage is just a shell with no guts,” said my source.A Joel spokeswoman sa
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