Charter Lobby Backs Leading Candidates for NYC Mayor | Diane Ravitch's blog

Charter Lobby Backs Leading Candidates for NYC Mayor | Diane Ravitch's blog

Charter Lobby Backs Leading Candidates for NYC Mayor

The executive director of StudentsFirstNY, Jenny Sedlis, has taken a leave of absence from her job to manage a fundraising PAC for Eric Adams, one of the leading candidates for mayor. The election is this November.

Sedlis previously was the lead spokesperson for Success Academy, Eva Moskowitz’s charter chain.

The new entity plans to run digital and TV ads supporting Adams’ candidacy, without being beholden to the strict spending limits imposed by the city’s Campaign Finance Board. Ahead of Sedlis establishing the PAC with the Board of Elections, StudentsFirstNY released a poll showing Adams closing the gap with frontrunner Andrew Yang. A poll published yesterday showed Adams in the lead.

Sedlis has not begun raising money yet, but the group is hoping to secure $6 million — matching the stated aim of political consultant Lis Smith in her fundraising effort for Andrew Yang, Adams’ chief rival in the race…

“New York City’s comeback starts with Eric Adams as CONTINUE READING: Charter Lobby Backs Leading Candidates for NYC Mayor | Diane Ravitch's blog

Will the Teacher Union (UFT) “Select” the Next Mayor (and other electeds) in New York City? | Ed In The Apple

Will the Teacher Union (UFT) “Select” the Next Mayor (and other electeds) in New York City? | Ed In The Apple

Will the Teacher Union (UFT) “Select” the Next Mayor (and other electeds) in New York City?

On June 22 registered Democratic voters will go to the polls to select the Democratic candidates (and probably the November victor) for Mayor, Comptroller, Boro Presidents, District Attorneys and 37 of the 51 member City Council; a sweeping change in the governance of New York City.

You may be going the poll a week earlier (Early Voting) or cast your absentee ballot, and, you can “rank” up to five candidates (See a detailed explanation of the mechanics of the election here).

The teacher union, the United Federation of Teachers, is endorsing virtually every position on the ballot, and, has dramatically changed their endorsement process.

Rather than the union leadership choosing candidates local committees made up of school union leaders (“Chapter Leaders”) recommended candidates  (all endorsed) and the other offices Zoom interviews with thousands of teachers participating, and, casting preference on-line ballots.

On Monday, April 19th the UFT Delegate Assembly will endorse a mayoral CONTINUE READING: Will the Teacher Union (UFT) “Select” the Next Mayor (and other electeds) in New York City? | Ed In The Apple

NYC School Chancellor Leaves: The Toxic Intersection of Mayoral Control and Mayoral Politics | Ed In The Apple

NYC School Chancellor Leaves: The Toxic Intersection of Mayoral Control and Mayoral Politics | Ed In The Apple

NYC School Chancellor Leaves: The Toxic Intersection of Mayoral Control and Mayoral Politics

Richard Carranza, the New York City School Chancellor unexpectedly announced he was leaving his position.

The cognoscenti were not surprised, for months the chancellor and the mayor have been dueling; it was only a matter of time before the chancellor packed it in.

Highly effective leaders select subordinates and give them the authority to carry out their role. Interestingly a number of the mayoral hopefuls had major roles in city government: Kathryn Garcia was the NYS Sanitation Commissioner, Sean Donovan the HPD (Housing Preservation and Development) commissioner and Maya Wiley, the mayor’s counsel, all served with distinction. Micromanaging schools has a sad and long history; mayors claimed credit for positive education news and blamed and fired chancellors to deflect bad news.

Unfortunately from day one the mayor attempted to keep a tight rein on the Department of Education. He selected Carmen Farina, a retired Department deputy chancellor and friend to temporarily fill the job; she stayed for de Blasio’s entire first term. Farina’s one major initiative, the Renewal Schools, pumping mega dollars into the hundred lowest achieving schools was a dismal failure. Read here.

Renewal’s ideas were untested, and, almost from the start, the program was hobbled by bureaucracy and a tight timeline imposed by a mayor eager to show on a national stage that schools could improve without censure, CONTINUE READING: NYC School Chancellor Leaves: The Toxic Intersection of Mayoral Control and Mayoral Politics | Ed In The Apple

Mayoral Candidates Need To Speak Out on New Round of Charter School Expansion – wearepcaps.org

Mayoral Candidates Need To Speak Out on New Round of Charter School Expansion – wearepcaps.org

Mayoral Candidates Need To Speak Out on New Round of Charter School Expansion

An Open Letter From PCAPS Leaders

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With charter school advocates pressing for a new round of expansion there is a need for those who would lead Philadelphia to address what this will mean for public education in our city.

We believe the following points need to be recognized:

1). Charter expansion comes at a cost. This year, charter schools will cost the district $750 million—one third of the district’s school budget. Charter schools represent huge stranded costs and make it nearly impossible for the school district to plan and assess the savings that an economy of scale brings. This is occurring at a time when the District is facing an ongoing deficit and school budgets are going without adequate staff, classroom supplies and academic offerings to give our children a high quality education. Fraud, lack of transparency and mismanagement are serious problems in the charter sector because of a lack of regulation. Thirty million dollars have been lost as a result and this is surely the tip of a large iceberg. No further expansion should be allowed until a serious regulatory regime is established.

2). There is no compelling evidence that the growth of charter school sector has produced a school system that has better outcomes for students. Given that traditional public schools have been starved of resources, it is not surprising that many parents have opted for charter schools. However, like regular public schools, charter performance varies considerably with poverty being the single greatest CONTINUE READING: Mayoral Candidates Need To Speak Out on New Round of Charter School Expansion – wearepcaps.org

Forum on mayoral control, vote on gifted test and BLM in schools this week | Class Size Matters | A clearinghouse for information on class size & the proven benefits of smaller classes

 Forum on mayoral control, vote on gifted test and BLM in schools this week | Class Size Matters  | A clearinghouse for information on class size & the proven benefits of smaller classes

Tonight’s forum on mayoral control, vote on gifted test and BLM in schools this week

Jan. 31, 2021

I’ll be speaking tonight Sunday at 8 PM with other teachers, parents and advocates at a forum on how mayoral control or our schools should be changed– more here, including how to sign up and/or watch on Facebook live.

• An example of the problems with this governance system is how last week, the Mayor tried to push through the renewal of the unreliable and invalid Pearson test for giftedness, which luckily was defeated by an 8-7 vote of the Panel for Educational Policy – the first time in the history of the PEP that a DOE contract has been rejected.

Though even the Chancellor admitted that the admission process was “pedagogically unsound”, the main argument the administration made for the renewing the contract was it was too late to do anything else. This is despite the fact that numerous problems with the program and admissions process had been discussed for years, including at a PEP meeting last spring.

You can read a leaked DOE memo from July after the PEP discussion took place, which also suggests what the DOE may be planning to substitute for this test could be worse. The unconscionable delay in decision-making has been a repeated feature of our schools under de Blasio, who also postponed closing the schools last March when the Covid crisis was at its height, and delayed planning for their reopening till mid-July. Mayoral control has been touted as a more efficient form of governance, but it’s been any but efficient under this Mayor, as I point out in my (postponed) testimony to the NYS State Assembly.

Mayor de Blasio says he intends to go ahead with some sort of selection process for four-year-old kids this year to be admitted to the gifted program anyway; we will see if and how he maneuvers this. Already the Staten Island Borough President James Oddo has fired his appointee for voting against the Pearson contract, so it is possible that the Mayor could bring the contract back for another vote next month.

Any supposedly independent board where representatives can be fired at will is not an independent board at all.

• Finally, on my latest Talk out of School podcast, I spoke to Brian Jones about Black Lives Matter in School, to take place starting tomorrow Feb. 1-5, in schools throughout the country, including NYC. Brian is a former NYC public school teacher who now works at the Schomburg Center as the Associate Director of Education. On the show, he explains what BLM in School movement is all about, and places its demands and principles in historical context. It’s a fascinating discussion; there are also a link to some lesson plans in the resources section of the podcast site.

Talk to you soon,  Leonie

 Forum on mayoral control, vote on gifted test and BLM in schools this week | Class Size Matters  | A clearinghouse for information on class size & the proven benefits of smaller classes

Ed Notes Online: Today 8 PM Zoom - Get Our Damn School System Out of the Hands of Incompetent and clueless Mayors Once and for all #ourcityschools #endmayoralcontrol #cancelthemayor SUNDAY 1/31 @ 8PM

Ed Notes Online: Today 8 PM Zoom - Get Our Damn School System Out of the Hands of Incompetent and clueless Mayors Once and for all

Today 8 PM Zoom - Get Our Damn School System Out of the Hands of Incompetent and clueless Mayors Once and for all

Almost 20 years under the mayoral dictatorships of Bloomberg and de Blasio. It's time to put an end to it. School governance starts at the top but ends with someone in your school looking over your shoulder. Get a piece of the action.

Daniel has assembled a great cast for this event and there's only room for a few more - but it will be streamed live on FB too - but the Zoom is so much more fun. Register here: http://tinyurl.com/reimagine2

So many old friends from years of struggle against Bloomberg: Sam, Vern, Leonie, Bonita and some newer friends from more recent battles: Kaliris, Queen, Kim and maybe some surprises. 

 

Leonie on her blog

The deep flaws and persistent problems with Mayoral control are even more evident to many people, given the de Blasio’s push to have the Pearson contract for the gifted test approved, and when it failed last night at the PEP, even among many of his own appointees, his insistence to continue this controversial program anyway.  Teachers of NYC are sponsoring a discussion of what alternative governance system would be best on Sunday at 8 PM.

We continue our collective journey to build a coalition of community right-holders to Reimagine Our City Schools.

 

You won't want to miss this ... #ourcityschools #endmayoralcontrol #cancelthemayor  SUNDAY 1/31 @ 8PM - REIMAGINE OUR CITY SCHOOLS: ALTERNATIVES TO MAYORAL CONTROL LIVE ZOOM EVENT

IF YOU HAVEN'T RSVP'D FOR the TEACHERS OF NYC 'REIMAGINE OUR CITY SCHOOLS' ZOOM EVENT, DO IT NOW.  ONLY A FEW MORE SPOTS AVAILABLE.   Tomorrow, we continue our collective journey to build a coalition of community rights-holders to Reimagine Our City Schools.  This Sunday, January 31, at 8 PM we will discuss viable 21st-century alternatives to mayoral control that democratize school governance. No one person should have unilateral control of our New York City public schools. This is a must-attend event if you want to reclaim our city schools for our New York city children and neighborhoods. Join education activists and family advocates from The People's Board of Education and the Parent Commission as they share their comprehensive recommendations.  Join like-minded educators, parents, and leaders championing fundamental change of our public schools that anchor our city's communities. RSVP for the Zoom discussion at:  http://tinyurl.com/reimagine2 We only have 100 spots available if you want to be part of the interactive Zoom session. So, register now.  as they share their visions for schools FOR AND BY THE PEOPLE. You will also be able to watch the live stream on our Facebook page. You can watch it live tomorrow at: facebook.com/teachersofnyc Please share with your networks. :) In solidarity and struggle, DAN ALICEA Teachers of NYC

Ed Notes Online: Today 8 PM Zoom - Get Our Damn School System Out of the Hands of Incompetent and clueless Mayors Once and for all

NYC Public School Parents: Reimagine our City Schools: alternatives to Mayoral control on Sunday at 8 PM

NYC Public School Parents: Reimagine our City Schools: alternatives to Mayoral control on Sunday at 8 PM

Reimagine our City Schools: alternatives to Mayoral control on Sunday at 8 PM

The deep flaws and persistent problems with Mayoral control are even more evident to many people, given the de Blasio’s push to have the Pearson contract for the gifted test approved, and when it failed last night at the PEP, even among many of his own appointees, his insistence to continue this controversial program anyway.  Teachers of NYC are sponsoring a discussion of what alternative governance system would be best on Sunday at 8 PM.

We continue our collective journey to build a coalition of community right-holders to Reimagine Our City Schools. 

This Sunday, January 31 at 8 PM we will discuss viable 21st-century alternatives to mayoral control that democratize school governance.  

This is a must-attend event if you want to reclaim our city schools for our New York city children and neighborhoods.

Join education activists and advocates from The People's Board of Education and the Parent Commission as they share their visions for schools FOR AND BY THE PEOPLE.

Meet like-minded educators, parents, and leaders championing fundamental change of our public schools that anchor our city's communities.

RSVP for the Zoom discussion at: 

http://tinyurl.com/reimagine2

We only have 100 spots available if you want to be part of the interactive Zoom session. Register now!

You also be able to view the livestream on the Teachers of NYC Facebook Fan Page.

NYC Public School Parents: Reimagine our City Schools: alternatives to Mayoral control on Sunday at 8 PM

NYC Public School Parents: Josh Karan on Mayoral control

NYC Public School Parents: Josh Karan on Mayoral control

Josh Karan on Mayoral control

Tomorrow on Dec. 17, the NY State Assembly Standing Committee on Education will hold hearings on Mayoral control tomorrow, starting at 10 AM.  You can view the hearings live streamed here.  Testimony is by invitation only. 

Josh Karan was a member of the Parent Commission on School Governance, whose 2009 report is posted here.  Other documents created by the Commission, as well as summaries of the proposals of other organizations at the time, are posted here and in this google drive folder, in case you'd like to check them out.  Josh wrote the following about this issue.

NYC Public School Parents: Josh Karan on Mayoral control

Ed Notes Online: Should Two Decades of Mayoral Control End? TEACHERS OF NYC TO HOLD VIRTUAL EVENT SUNDAY EVENING 8PM

Ed Notes Online: Should Two Decades of Mayoral Control End? TEACHERS OF NYC TO HOLD VIRTUAL EVENT SUNDAY EVENING 8PM

Should Two Decades of Mayoral Control End?

TEACHERS OF NYC TO HOLD VIRTUAL EVENT SUNDAY EVENING 8PM

The de Blasio mis-leadership of the school system has put the control of the schools in the hands of one person on the table for discussion. 

Thank you for registering for "REIMAGINE: OUR CITY SCHOOLS (1) - December TONYC Meet-up". Please submit any questions to: theteachersofnyc@gmail.com 

Date Time: Dec 13, 2020 08:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

RSVP: tinyurl.com/reimaginersvp

Sunday night this will be a fascinating event organized by Teachers of NYC. 

 

 

James Eterno is supporting the event Sunday night:

TEACHERS OF NYC TO HOLD VIRTUAL EVENT ON MAYORAL CONTROL SUNDAY EVENING 

Teachers of NYC are a group to watch. They are holding a Zoom event on Sunday evening on ending mayoral control of NYC schools. Note that Mike Schirtzer, the one UFT Executive Board member not afraid to ask tough questions to UFT President Mulgrew, will be on the panel as will Class Size Matters' Director Leonie Haimson. I will be attending and so should you if you are able.

Yes, Teachers of NYC [not a caucus] is worth keeping an eye on as they bring a rank and file perspective to the table.  The panel includes current and former parent activists Leonie Haimson and Kaliris Salas-Ramirez, Kim Watkins chair of Community Education Council 3 (upper west side), UFT Ex Bd member Mike Schirtzer and two people I am not familiar with, Shamel Lawrence and Dr. Shawn Ruks. 

  

Our opposition to mayoral control from 20 years ago while the UFT leadership supported it

From the earliest days of rumors of mayoral control taking over our schools in the year 2000 we as Ed Notes have been opposed. 

Education Notes Summer 2001- {when Giuliani was mayor and demanding mayoral control}

Education Notes Editorial:
Do Not Give This Mayor (or any Mayor) Control Over The School System

The plan put forth by our union leaders to give the Mayor effective control of the school system by allowing him to appoint 6 out of 11 members from an expanded Board of Education (to be chosen from a blue ribbon panel headed by the state education commissioner) puts us on a very dangerous path. Naturally, Mayor Giuliani, proving once again he is an ignoranus (see next page for a formal definition), immediately trashed the plan. The arguments put forth at the June 4 [2001] Exec. Bd. meeting focused on the issue of making the Mayor accountable and creating common ground for providing resources to the schools. Results in other cities with Mayoral control were cited. It was also surmised that this plan would be a way to take some of the testing pressure off classroom teachers.

Ed. Notes contends that more pressure will be placed on classroom teachers as Mayors use test scores in their elec- tion campaigns. Given the choice, will these politicians put enough resources into classrooms to help children really learn? Or will they take the politically expedient way out by calling for more tests and more blame on teachers when children don’t produce? Allowing politi- cal forces to control what we teach and how we teach is already taking place. Mayoral control will only make the situation worse. We should be calling for the professionalization of teaching, which should give teach- ers more control over the schools, not less.

The UFT was prepared to give freack'n Rudolph Giuliani control of the schools and they rushed to hand it over to Bloomberg. I warned the UFT leadership. Now you should note that the recent Mulgrew calls for modification of mayoral control is not far off the June, 2001 plan.

The late George Schmidt when he read the piece above issued a warning to the teachers in the UFT about mayoral control CONTINUE READING: Ed Notes Online: Should Two Decades of Mayoral Control End? TEACHERS OF NYC TO HOLD VIRTUAL EVENT SUNDAY EVENING 8PM

NYC Educator: School Leaders Who Never Learn Believe Students Can't Either

NYC Educator: School Leaders Who Never Learn Believe Students Can't Either

School Leaders Who Never Learn Believe Students Can't Either

It's hard to overstate the lack of vision and foresight of Mayor Bill de Blasio and Chancellor Richard Carranza, but they continue to trip all over themselves day after day. The mayor just finished announcing that the one-third of students who signed up for in person learning, at least those in lower grades, might be able to attend five days a week. Evidently, that's the only way that students can catch up with Whatever It Is they need to catch up with.

Don't worry about the fact that it's likely impossible. The impossible is no barrier to Carranza or de Blasio. The important thing is to open the schools no matter what, as de Blasio tries to salvage his reputation as someone who is not simply a hapless and bumbling hack. We watched him stumble through a humiliating campaign for the Presidential nomination, one in which he won no more delegates than my dog did. (In fairness, my dog is much cuter than de Blasio will ever be.)

De Blasio spent the early part of this school year dithering with ridiculous, unworkable plans, Now that they've crashed and burned, he's finally opening slots for the virtual content specialists that will likely not be needed at all. He's reopened schools up to grade five in the face of an exploding pandemic. His principled stand to close schools when the city hit 3% positivity now lies trashed with every other principle he's abandoned. The question is no longer whether these buildings will close again, but when. I only hope it's soon.

Meanwhile, he and the chancellor have other genius ideas to tinker with. In Tweed World, no one learns anything from actual events. Take this pandemic, for example. It doesn't actually mean anything, and students will acquire CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: School Leaders Who Never Learn Believe Students Can't Either

NYC Educator: Sense, Nonsense, and de Blasio's DOE

NYC Educator: Sense, Nonsense, and de Blasio's DOE

Sense, Nonsense, and de Blasio's DOE

Things are at a new level now, yet agaon. Every time you think the DOE has outdone itself, it does something else to show you that the last thing was nothing. The NY Post reports that UFT members who don't consent to testing will be removed from payroll. That would be surprising if it weren't for the fact that this was agreed to back in September. 

While people all discuss the low incidence of COVID in schools, compared to the population at large, it's important to note that the city has not, in fact, followed its own programs for months. Not only was UFT supposed to consent to testing, but all students in buildings were supposed to consent as well.  I recall reading somewhere that so far, only 15% of students had agreed to testing.

As if that's not enough, I've heard that in my school and others, there was a quote the testers were supposed to reach in a building, and once they reached it through volunteers, they didn't bother compelling anyone. This means that many if not all results from schools resulted from self-selection. I don't have to be a statistical expert to see that isn't random. 

So now the DOE is saying publicly that it will enforce an agreement it made three months ago. But there are quite a few holes in it. Mayor de Blasio is planning to have students up to grade 5 in attendance tomorrow, but it looks like they haven't quite caught everyone.

Students in 3-K, Pre-K and Kindergarten are exempt, but others have to bring parental consent forms on Monday. Those without parental consent or a valid excuse will be CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: Sense, Nonsense, and de Blasio's DOE

In a twist, de Blasio’s latest screw-up is not his worst | JD2718

In a twist, de Blasio’s latest screw-up is not his worst | JD2718

In a twist, de Blasio’s latest screw-up is not his worst

Over the last nine months Bill de Blasio has gotten a lot wrong. Almost every announcement has been late, off-base, and off kilter. He kept schools open when they should have been closed, he canceled break when students and teachers needed it, he announced policies without consulting teachers, families, principals, he came up with half-assed “models,” he insisted schools were opening on time, he announced without notice that opening was delayed a few weeks… His pattern – late, without consultation, lacking details, winging it, and – for the most part – wrong, without careful consideration, without real planning, without forethought.

That makes today’s announcement at least a little different. There were a couple of elements that were not completely wrong.

• Elementary schools come back 12/7. D75 comes back 12/10.

So, those dates are arbitrary. And maybe 3% was a low trigger, maybe not, but all the precents are higher today, and rising. My neighborhood, middle of the pack, is at 4.5%. My school’s neighborhood is over 6%. Announcing return dates now is – I don’t know. Really dumb? But it’s political. He got scolded by the governor and the Times’ education writer, and he’s showing them – full stop. Instead of making the best decisions for our schools, families, teachers, students, he’s showing them. Really dumb.

• High schools and middle schools are not coming back for now.

Ok, so that is more interesting. Treating different grades differently is something that needed to be CONTINUE READING: In a twist, de Blasio’s latest screw-up is not his worst | JD2718

de Blasio’s Friday the 13th Problem | JD2718

de Blasio’s Friday the 13th Problem | JD2718

de Blasio’s Friday the 13th Problem

Wind the clock back eight months. Friday the 13th. Of March. Bill de Blasio, bluster and fury but no conviction, insists that schools are staying open. It was the wrong decision (soon to be reversed). And, because it was last minute, with a last minute reversal, disruptive. The time for planning was harried and disorganized, and our schools suffered all spring as a result.

Today. Friday the 13th. He’s really still mayor? Parents and teachers and schools should “be prepared” to go remote for a short period of time.

We just finished, by the way parent-teacher conferences. Which came after “Fall Fest” activities (mostly remote) for our students. That was today. November 13. Friday.

Thinking back, our last parent-teacher conferences came after our last “Spring Fest” activities (in person). That was March 13. Friday.

I’m not complaining about moving to fully remote. I think it is necessary. I am complaining about last-minute decisions. I am complaining about the mayor’s lack of planning, and the negative effect that lack of planning has on schools, students, teachers.

I’m also repeating – none of this was necessary. Many of us, probably most of us, knew that the “blended learning” models were a mess. We knew that safety would be an issue. Some of us knew that the quarantining and spread around the Thanksgiving Holiday would be insurmountable.

Blended learning is disruptive. Shifting between in person and remote is disruptive. We need less disruption. We need careful planning. We need a mayor who plans.

And we need to move to remote – Monday sounds good. And we need to stay there until things are actually safe.

de Blasio’s Friday the 13th Problem | JD2718