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	<title>The Wonkster &#187; Education</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/category/education/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
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	<description>A blog about the views and spews of editorialists, bloggers and other unsavory opinionated New Yorkers.</description>
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		<title>Cuomo: Carrots and Sticks for Schools</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/17/cuomo-carrots-and-sticks-for-schools/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/17/cuomo-carrots-and-sticks-for-schools/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:23:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye on Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work and Labor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[andrew cuomo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[board of regents]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gov. cuomo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[john king]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor Bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael bloomerg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael mulgrew]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ne york state department of education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york state budget]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york state united teachers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[state of the city]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[teacher evaluatin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[united federation of teachers. race to the top]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10468</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Two weeks after he signaled his intention to focus on education, Gov. Andrew Cuomo today filled in some of the details and inserted himself squarely in the dispute over teacher evaluation.
In his budget address Cuomo confirmed that, as announced previously, the state would up its aid to districts by 4.1 percent or $805 million next [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Two weeks after he <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/Education/20120117/6/3668">signaled his intention</a> to focus on education, Gov. Andrew Cuomo today filled in some of the details and inserted himself squarely in the dispute over teacher evaluation.</p>
<p>In his <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/17/budget-highlights-from-cuomos-office/">budget address</a> Cuomo confirmed that, as announced previously, the state would up its aid to districts by 4.1 percent or $805 million next year for a total of about $20 billion.</p>
<p>Unlike last budget year &#8212; when the governor cut spending across the board regardless of a district&#8217;s needs &#8212; the increase would be weighted toward higher needs areas. These parts of the state will receive 76 percent of the hike and 69 percent of all school aid, according to Cuomo&#8217;s  <a href="http://www.budget.state.ny.us/pubs/executive/eBudget1112/fy1112littlebook/BriefingBook.pdf">Budget Briefing Book</a>.This means New York City stands to gets almost $6.4 billion next year, an increase of 2.6 percent over the approximately $6.2 billion it is getting this year.</p>
<p>Districts also would be able to compete for some $200 million in special state grants, under a New York version of the federal <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/index.html">Race to the Top</a> program.</p>
<p><strong>The Road to the Money</strong></p>
<p>But Cuomo put a big condition on all the additional money. To get it, districts will have to come up with a new evaluation system for teachers.</p>
<p>Details after the jump.<br />
<span id="more-10468"></span></p>
<p>Not a single district has yet implemented a new evaluation system as required under the state&#8217;s Race to the Top grant from the federal government, Cuomo said. The dispute has <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/york-state-faces-losing-1-billion-federal-education-funds-teacher-evaluation-issue-article-1.1006256?localLinksEnabled=false"> jeopardized</a> up to $1 billion in federal funding for New York schools.</p>
<p>Cuomo said the reason to change the way the state grades its teachers goes beyond financial considerations. &#8220;If we&#8217;re serious about education, we have no choice. This is the way to improve education,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Cuomo outlined a three-step plan to make a new evaluation system a reality.  First, he said, <a href="http://nyust.org">New York State United Teachers</a> and the state <a href="http://www.nysed.gov">Education Department</a> must end the legal wrangling over evaluations and agree to a new system incorporating observations, students achievement (test scores) and more. (The union successfully sued the state to halt such a plan last summer.)</p>
<p>If they can&#8217;t do it, Cuomo will propose a system.</p>
<p>The districts then will have until September to implement the state&#8217;s evaluation plan. Any that fail to do that will not qualify for the state&#8217;s competitive grants.</p>
<p>And finally &#8212; and this is huge &#8212; any districts that one year from today have not implemented a system will lose their chunk of the 4 percent increase in state education aid. This puts teacher evaluations smack in the middle of the state&#8217;s budget process.</p>
<p><strong>Bloomberg&#8217;s Bluster</strong></p>
<p>In pushing for his change, Cuomo picked up the mantle of the so-called reform movement that, he said, has shifted the country to a greater focus on students and their achievement (and, critics say, to an excessive reliance on test scores). He invoked both President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush.  And he styled himself as a champion of kids. &#8220;This was not supposed to be about the adults. It was supposed to be about the children,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>For all that, though, he did not single out teachers for criticism. In fact, he said, they &#8220;deserve the best evaluation system and help when they need it&#8221; as well as rewards and bonuses.</p>
<p>While that puts him at odds with the teachers union, it represents a very different tone from that used by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in his <a href="http://http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/searchlight/20120113/203/3667">State of the City speech</a> last week. Bloomberg then blamed teachers for the impasse over evaluations. In his comments on Cuomo&#8217;s speech today, he kept up that refrain.</p>
<p>&#8220;The governor has made it clear that he is determined to be a champion for our students – and that he will not allow the teachers union to drag its feet any longer on implementing new teacher evaluation systems across the state. I hope the [United Federation of Teachers] will not recklessly jeopardize hundreds of millions of dollars for our schools by insisting on endless obstacles to removing ineffective teachers from our classrooms,&#8221; Bloomberg said in a <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&amp;catID=1194&amp;doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2012a%2Fpr023-12.html&amp;cc=unused1978&amp;rc=1194&amp;ndi=1">statement</a>. He seemed not to notice that Cuomo had said he would not allow &#8220;adults&#8221; and the &#8220;bureaucracy&#8221; &#8212; not just the union &#8212; to drag their feet.</p>
<p>Michael Mulgrew, the president of the city&#8217;s teachers union, though clearly thinks he has spotted a bit of sunlight between Bloomberg and Cuomo. Earlier this week, Mulgrew <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/nyregion/cuomo-and-bloomberg-on-attack-on-teacher-evaluations.html">told the Times</a> that he has &#8220;“no disagreement with the governor over the evaluations,” and welcomes his involvement. As for Bloomberg, though, Mulgrew accused him of &#8220;political grandstanding.&#8221;</p>
<p>Mulgrew even has tried to enlist Cuomo as a kind of ally, <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2012/01/ny-statewide-teacher-evaluations-on-the-skids">saying</a>, according to the Daily News, that the governor&#8217;s proposal provides &#8220;all the more reason why Mayor Bloomberg and the Department of Education should come back to the negotiations they walked out on and work to resolve the remaining issues.”</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, in his speech Cuomo did address Bloomberg&#8217;s plan for the city to remove up to half the teachers from struggling schools &#8212; whether the union likes it or not and even if it costs the city millions of dollars. The state education department, which is independent of the governor , gets to rule on that, not Cuomo.</p>
<p>For his part the state education commissioner, John King, struck a conciliatory note with the union today saying in his <a href="http://statepolitics.lohudblogs.com/2012/01/17/education-commissioner-welcomes-cuomos-proposals-hopes-they-will-spur-negotiations/?utm_medium=twitter&amp;utm_source=twitterfeed">statement</a> that  the department and the union should use the next &#8220;30 days to have a healthy public debate on evaluations.&#8221; The department, he said, is ready to sit down and start talking.&#8221;</p>
<p>The city &#8212; justifiably or not &#8212; broke off its negotiations with the city teachers union on Dec. 30. At least officially, those discussion have not resumed.</p>
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		<title>Bloomberg and Quinn on Cuomo&#039;s Budget</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/17/bloomberg-and-quinn-on-cuomos-budget/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/17/bloomberg-and-quinn-on-cuomos-budget/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:40:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye on Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work and Labor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[andrew cuomo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christine Quinn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NYS Budget]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10461</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn have major praise for Gov. Andrew Cuomo&#8217;s 2012-2013 fiscal year budget. “This is the strongest state budget that New York City has seen in a long time. With this new budget, Governor Cuomo is establishing a stronger financial basis for a more vibrant and healthy New York,&#8221; [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn have major praise for Gov. Andrew Cuomo&#8217;s <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/17/budget-highlights-from-cuomos-office/">2012-2013 fiscal year budget</a>. “This is the strongest state budget that New York City has seen in a long time. With this new budget, Governor Cuomo is establishing a stronger financial basis for a more vibrant and healthy New York,&#8221; Quinn said in a statement.</p>
<p>“Governor Cuomo put forward a budget that demonstrates a bold commitment  to tackle some of the toughest challenges facing our great state. He  has my strong support,&#8221; said Bloomberg in a statement.</p>
<p>Bloomberg hasn&#8217;t had the smoothest relationship with Cuomo so far but the Mayor is especially pleased with Cuomo&#8217;s plans for mandate relief and pension reform.</p>
<p>“The Governor’s push for mandate relief and pension reform could save  the City billions in the long term,&#8221; Bloomberg&#8217;s statement continues. &#8220;New York City spends more than $8  billion annually – more than 12 percent of our budget – on pension  costs, more than we spend on the operating budgets for the Police, Fire  and Sanitation Departments combined. Without a new pension tier, which  will not diminish the retirement benefits of a single current employee,  taxpayers will continue to spend more and more on pension costs, leaving  less and less for public education, public safety, job creation,  affordable housing and other critical services.</p>
<p>Here are Quinn&#8217;s and Bloomberg&#8217;s full statements: <span id="more-10461"></span></p>
<p>Statement by Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn</p>
<p>“This is the strongest state budget that New York City has seen in a long time. With this new budget, Governor Cuomo is establishing a stronger financial basis for a more vibrant and healthy New York. By appropriately reducing spending, the Governor is reforming the way state government allocates taxpayer dollars. I strongly commend Governor Cuomo for this budget. I am confident that working with the Governor and the State Legislature, we can ensure New York&#8217;s prosperous future.”</p>
<p>STATEMENT OF MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG ON GOVERNOR CUOMO’S BUDGET ADDRESS</p>
<p>“Governor Cuomo put forward a budget that demonstrates a bold commitment to tackle some of the toughest challenges facing our great state. He has my strong support.</p>
<p>“The Governor’s push for mandate relief and pension reform could save the City billions in the long term. New York City spends more than $8 billion annually – more than 12 percent of our budget – on pension costs, more than we spend on the operating budgets for the Police, Fire and Sanitation Departments combined. Without a new pension tier, which will not diminish the retirement benefits of a single current employee, taxpayers will continue to spend more and more on pension costs, leaving less and less for public education, public safety, job creation, affordable housing and other critical services. Further, the Governor’s budget will reduce onerous local Medicaid costs by limiting – and then eliminating – the rate of growth in the City’s Medicaid bills in the years to come.</p>
<p>“Governor Cuomo also has proposed two important justice system reforms we have been seeking: a sweeping, progressive reform of our juvenile justice system and the expansion of DNA collection. Our administrations have worked closely together to forge an agreement that will transfer responsibility for all but the most seriously delinquent youth from State to City care, enabling more young people to stay closer to their families and transition into productive lives in their communities. And expanded DNA use can help solve more crimes and prevent wrongful convictions.</p>
<p>“Most urgently, the Governor has made it clear that he is determined to be a champion for our students – and that he will not allow the teachers’ union to drag its feet any longer on implementing new teacher evaluation systems across the state. I hope the UFT will not recklessly jeopardize hundreds of millions of dollars for our schools by insisting on endless obstacles to removing ineffective teachers from our classrooms. The Governor has rightly said he will not tolerate this and will help deliver rigorous teacher evaluations for our State and City.</p>
<p>“The Governor’s priorities are the right priorities for the State and I will be working with him to move his agenda forward. We will be reviewing the details of the budget over the coming days and I look forward to testifying before the Legislature next week.”</p>
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		<title>Alliance For Quality Education Commends Cuomo</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/17/alliance-for-quality-education-commends-cuomo/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/17/alliance-for-quality-education-commends-cuomo/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:19:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye on Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alliance for Quality Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[andrew cuomo]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10456</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Alliance for Quality Education issued this statement on Gov. Andrew Cuomo&#8217;s proposed budget:
School Aid and Competitive Grants
&#8220;We commend Governor Cuomo for restoring $805 million in school aid; these funds will help students throughout the state.  The exact distribution of these funds and how much is prioritized to high need and average need school districts [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Alliance for Quality Education issued this statement on Gov. Andrew Cuomo&#8217;s proposed budget:</p>
<p>School Aid and Competitive Grants<br />
&#8220;We commend Governor Cuomo for restoring $805 million in school aid; these funds will help students throughout the state.  The exact distribution of these funds and how much is prioritized to high need and average need school districts will take a few days to evaluate. We are greatly concerned that almost one-third of these funds could be distributed based on competition between school districts which has the potential to create a system of educational winners and losers among our students.  It is important to note that last year the state moved backwards on its commitment to quality education by enacting huge classroom cuts that resulted in larger class sizes and narrowing of the curriculum.  Students need the budget to focus on restoring these classroom cuts for all, not only for those whose schools win at a competition.”</p>
<p>Cost Savings through Centralizing School Bus Purchasing<br />
“Governor Cuomo has proposed a new cost savings initiative that would centralize the purchasing of school buses through a single statewide contract. This is the type of cost saving initiative from the state we need to see more of and we commend Governor Cuomo for providing the leadership to advance this type of common sense cost savings solution.”</p>
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		<title>UFT Wants Mediation With City</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/13/uft-wants-mediation-with-city/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/13/uft-wants-mediation-with-city/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:51:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye on Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor Michael Bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael mulgrew]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10452</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The United Federation of Teachers is holding a press conference at 3:15 p.m today to announce that it asking the state labor board to mediate talks with the city because of the breakdown over teacher evaluation talks and the Mayor&#8217;s insistence in his State of the State speech that he will unilaterally move forward with [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The United Federation of Teachers is holding a press conference at 3:15 p.m today to announce that it asking the state labor board to mediate talks with the city because of the breakdown over teacher evaluation talks and the Mayor&#8217;s insistence in his State of the State speech that he will unilaterally move forward with a teacher evaluation system in low performing schools. Here is the full press release:</p>
<p>Teachers Union Asks State to</p>
<p>Order Mediation in Evaluation Talks</p>
<p>UFT seeks order from state labor board that would</p>
<p>force city to take part in mandatory mediation</p>
<p>on new teacher evaluation system</p>
<p>UFT President Michael Mulgrew holds news conference to announce that in the wake of the city’s walking out of negotiations on a new teacher evaluation system, the union has filed an impasse petition with the state’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB).  If PERB finds that an impasse exists, it will appoint a mediator and force the city to participate in attempts to resolve the issue.</p>
<p>WHEN:           Friday, January 13, 2012      3:  15 p.m.</p>
<p>WHERE:         52 Broadway, 2nd floor</p>
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		<title>Cuomo Weighs in on Race to the Top</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/10/cuomo-weighs-in-on-race-to-the-top/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/10/cuomo-weighs-in-on-race-to-the-top/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:49:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye on Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[andrew cuomo]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10441</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Secretary Duncan’s report saying New York is on the watch-list for  failure is yet another warning that the inability of school districts  across the state and their unions to come together has jeopardized the  quality of our kids&#8217; education. New York State’s students are now in  danger of losing hundreds of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&#8220;Secretary Duncan’s report saying New York is on the watch-list for  failure is yet another warning that the inability of school districts  across the state and their unions to come together has jeopardized the  quality of our kids&#8217; education. New York State’s students are now in  danger of losing hundreds of millions of dollars because of the failure  to devise a teacher evaluation system that works,&#8221; Gov. Andrew Cuomo just said in a statement released in response to a warning from the federal Education Department that the state has failed to meet certain obligations in the Race to the Top program that doles out millions of dollars in federal grants. Here is the full statement from his office: <span id="more-10441"></span></p>
<p>&#8220;As I said in my State of the State Address, this state is facing a crisis in our education system and how we hold our schools accountable for their performance in educating our children. We cannot allow a system to continue where we spend the most of any state on education, but rank only 38th in results. It does a disservice to both the student and the taxpayer.</p>
<p>We have a system that protects the massive education bureaucracy rather than focusing on investing in our classrooms. The forces that protect this bureaucracy have stymied reform at every turn, and as a result, hundreds of millions of dollars in education funding are now at risk.</p>
<p>One of the tasks set forth by the original Race to the Top competition was simple – design a teacher evaluation system that holds teachers accountable for their performance. Without a doubt, the system the state designed to accomplish this goal has been a failure.</p>
<p>Secretary Duncan’s report saying New York is on the watch-list for failure is yet another warning that the inability of school districts across the state and their unions to come together has jeopardized the quality of our kids&#8217; education. New York State’s students are now in danger of losing hundreds of millions of dollars because of the failure to devise a teacher evaluation system that works.</p>
<p>We need to achieve both short term and long term reform of this failed system. I will pursue such reform aggressively.</p>
<p>In the short term, I call on the State Department of Education, local school districts and the union leadership to expedite their negotiations on a teacher evaluation system to prevent the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.</p>
<p>Over the long term, we need to overhaul the system and change the law on the books. The Assembly-led legislation in 2010 protected the teachers union at the expense of the students and instituted a system that was destined to fail.</p>
<p>Despite the powerful interests working to protect the status quo at the expense of our students&#8217; success, this state must become a national leader in student performance.&#8221;</p>
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		<title>Alliance for Quality Education Reacts</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/12/06/alliance-for-quality-education-reacts/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/12/06/alliance-for-quality-education-reacts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:59:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye on Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alliance for Quality Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Billy Easton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gov. andrew cuomo]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10378</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Billy Easton of the Alliance for Quality Education said that the deal reached by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders today is a step in the right direction. He does not blast the deal but seems to reserve judgement.
“ AQE applauds the Assembly Majority and Senate Minority for consistently advocating tax fairness and adequate revenues. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Billy Easton of the Alliance for Quality Education said that the deal reached by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders today is a step in the right direction. He does not blast the deal but seems to reserve judgement.</p>
<p>“ AQE applauds the Assembly Majority and Senate Minority for consistently advocating tax fairness and adequate revenues. We appreciate the fact that the Governor and the Senate Majority are responding to the demands of the 99% of New Yorkers for tax fairness. However, we are concerned that $2 billion in revenues does not fully address the $5 billion hole created by the elimination of the existing millionaire’s tax,&#8221; said Easton in a statement.</p>
<p>Easton goes on to say that the plan will be judged on whether it allows the state to restore cuts made to schools.</p>
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		<title>The Union on School Cuts</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/11/01/the-union-on-school-cuts/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/11/01/the-union-on-school-cuts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:09:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[charter schools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[class size]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dennis Walcott]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael mulgrew]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city schools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[uft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Federation of Teachers]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10277</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With the city facing a multibillion dollar shortfall – and the Bloomberg administration demanding further cuts, the United Federation of Teachers went on the offense today, with a study it says shows that fiscal constraints already have taken a toll on the city&#8217;s more than 1.1 million students. 
A survey of union chapter leaders (perhaps [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>With the city facing a multibillion dollar shortfall – and the Bloomberg administration <a href=" http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/bloomberg-letter-budget-cuts-layoffs-20111005">demanding further cuts</a>, the <a href=" http://www.uft.org">United Federation of Teachers</a> went on the offense today, with a <a href=" http://www.uft.org/press-releases/one-million-city-students-schools-hit-budget-cuts">study</a> it says shows that fiscal constraints already have taken a toll on the city&#8217;s more than 1.1 million students. </p>
<p>A survey of union chapter leaders (perhaps not the most objective of sources) found, the UFT reports, that 74 percent of elementary schools have seen class size increase this year. The number of students in a class rose at 61 percent of the middle schools reporting and 59 percent of the high schools.</p>
<p>More than half of elementary schools responding have scaled back services to help academically struggling students, and almost two thirds cited reductions in supplies. In general, the chapter leaders at high schools cited fewer effects from cuts than those in elementary schools. And despite Chancellor Dennis Walcott&#8217;s pledge to focus on improving middle schools, 63 percent saw their afterschool programs curtailed and 59 percent lost extracurricular activities.</p>
<p>While the administration enthusiastically supports charters schools, which often offer after school and or weekend programs, it has ramped back efforts to expand instructional time for students in its conventional public schools, according to the report. About 60 percent of schools at all levels reported cuts in afterschool programs, and about 40 said weekend programs had been reduced.</p>
<p>In a statement on his union&#8217;s report UFT president Michael Mulgrew said, &#8220;Based on our survey, an estimated 91 percent of our school population &#8212; nearly 1 million children &#8212; are in schools where budget cuts are having a direct and immediate effect on their education.&#8221;</p>
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		<title>Sleep Over on Wall Street</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/10/20/sleep-over-on-wall-street/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/10/20/sleep-over-on-wall-street/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:13:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Parks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fox News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MTV]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NYPD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Occupy Wall Street]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Real World]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10204</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thought Occupy Wall Street had jumped the shark when MTV started trying to cast protesters for the Real World? Well think again, because OWS just got even more main stream in a way that will almost certainly send Fox News anchors into stuttering tirades.
Break out your sleeping bags kids! Parents for Occupy Wall Street is [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thought Occupy Wall Street had jumped the shark when <a href="http://www.ivillage.com/real-world-hopes-cast-ows-protesters/1-a-394734">MTV started trying to cast protesters</a> for the Real World? Well think again, because OWS just got even more main stream in a way that will almost certainly send Fox News anchors into stuttering tirades.</p>
<p>Break out your sleeping bags kids! <a href="http://www.parentsforoccupywallst.com/ ">Parents for Occupy Wall Street</a> is holding a &#8220;Family Sleep Over&#8221; on Friday at 4 p.m. until 11 a.m. on Saturday morning. A similar event was planned last week but canceled do to the <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/economy/20111017/21/3621">(cancelled) eviction and clean up</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;Occupy Wall Street is a place for everyone, including families. At the Family Sleepover, families and children will find arts and crafts, a children’s music sing along, a pizza party, and a bed time story,&#8221; reads a statement released by organizers.</p>
<p>The group has already made the New York Police Department aware of the event and parents will wear shirts to identify themselves as being affiliated with the sleep over.</p>
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		<title>Education Councils: Weak by Design</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/10/03/education-councils-weak-by-design/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/10/03/education-councils-weak-by-design/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:20:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Electoral Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community education council]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city department of education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city schools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[panel for educational policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[patrick sullivan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scott stringer]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10184</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Whatever else it has and has not done, the system of mayoral control of schools as practiced in New York City must have set some kind of record for the creation of toothless bodies.
The chief one of course is the Panel for Educational Policy, which as Patrick Sullivan, a member, wrote on New York Public [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Whatever else it has and has not done, the system of mayoral control of schools as practiced in New York City must have set some kind of record for the creation of toothless bodies.</p>
<p>The chief one of course is the <a href="http://schools.nyc.gov/AboutUs/leadership/PEP/default.htm">Panel for Educational Policy</a>, which as Patrick Sullivan, a member, <a href=" http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2011/09/bloomberg-education-record-stained-by.html">wrote</a> on New York Public School Parents, routinely rubber stamps Department of Education contracts – even ones dripping with corruption such as the <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/29/bloombergs-technology-pit/">agreement</a> with <a href="http://www.fta-llc.com/main/Index.aspx">Future Technology Associates</a>.  </p>
<p>The impotence of the PEP is hardly surprising – Bloomberg always vowed the body would not do anything.  But committed parents across the five borough hoped the <a href=" http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/CEC/GPInformation/CommunityEducationCouncils/one.htm">Community Education Councils</a>, heirs to the former Community School Board – might function a bit better. They were, alas, wrong.</p>
<p>A report released by four of the five borough presidents  (all but Staten Island James Molinaro), Pubic Advocate Bill de Blasio and parent leaders, tells some of the sad history of the councils under this administration, focusing to a large extent on the <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/05/10/elections-and-education/">repeatedly botched election</a> for members in 2011.</p>
<p>To remedy this and other ills, the report calls for major changes in the current two-tier voting system, where parents first cast an advisory vote and then leaders of parent organizations in the respective area make the final choice. The borough presidents et al would replace that with an actual election among parents. They would also improve training for council members, call for the councils to do more outreach and revise the council&#8217;s responsibilities. (Now the most meaningful thing they do is approve school zones within the district, influencing which neighborhood sends its children to what school.)</p>
<p>Perhaps most notably, the report&#8217;s writers would take the responsibility for the councils away from the Department of Education and give it to an independent nonprofit or government body.<br />
<span id="more-10184"></span></p>
<p>&#8220;It’s time for us to give [the councils] a role in our city&#8217;s public schools &#8212; and to unleash the full, untapped potential of our CECs,&#8221; Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said in a statement accompanying the report.</p>
<p>That is precisely what the administration does not want. As far as the administration is concern things are pretty, pretty good just the way they are.</p>
<p>Just look back to the fight over <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/measuringup/20090427/209/2897">renewing mayoral control</a> of schools in 2009, the administration staunchly resisted governance changes. It used its substantial muscle and money no doubt to block a modest proposal to have the PEP members serve fixed terms. The mayor would still have controlled an overwhelming majority – he just couldn&#8217;t fire them on a whim. (Something, of course, that he has done.)</p>
<p>There is no reason to think the mayor is not happy with the Community Education Council as they now stand – except of course that the effort to keep them weak sometimes kicks up some negative publicity – as happened with the elections last year. When it comes to the panel and the councils, the administration has gotten what it wanted. </p>
<p>&#8220;Parents feel that their voices have been diminished, not strengthened, by the current system,&#8221; Stringer said in his statement. </p>
<p>Well, yes, that was the idea, wasn&#8217;t it?</p>
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		<title>Bloomberg&#039;s Technology Pit</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/29/bloombergs-technology-pit/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/29/bloombergs-technology-pit/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:24:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tech]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10177</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Another day, another disturbing revelation about the city&#8217;s handling of its technology contracts.
This time it&#8217;s the latest chapter in the scandal involving computers at the Department of Education. The company the department paid $75 million to do technical work on its purchasing, payroll and finance systems – Future Technology Associates &#8212;  bilked the city [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Another day, another disturbing revelation about the city&#8217;s handling of its technology contracts.</p>
<p>This time it&#8217;s the latest chapter in the scandal involving computers at the Department of Education. The company the department paid $75 million to do technical work on its purchasing, payroll and finance systems – <a href="http://www.fta-llc.com/main/Index.aspx">Future Technology Associates</a> &#8212;  <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204138204576599404035575830.html">bilked the city</a> out of at least $6.5 million, according to a <a href="http://www.nycsci.org/reports/09-11%20FTA%20Report%20letter.pdf">report</a> by Richard Condon, the city&#8217;s special commissioner of investigation.</p>
<p>Among other things, Future Tech set up shell companies and then vastly inflated its claims of how much those companies charged. So the Department of Education was being charged between $55 and $110 an hour for work that actually cost Future Tec $10 to $14 an hour.</p>
<p>Concerns about Future Technology have been circulating for some time.</p>
<p>According to a letter-report from the city comptroller&#8217;s Bureau of Audit, given to Gotham Gazette today (posted <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/pdf/futuretechassociates.pdf">here</a>), in 2005 the department submitted a request that Future Tech get a no-bid contract. (No-bid contracts at the Department of Education have <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2009/05/19/a-lesson-in-school-contracts/">raised concerns</a> in the past.) &#8220;This request appears to have contained inaccurate and misleading statements from FTA, which, if DOE had known, should have precluded FTA from being awarded this contract,&#8221; says the report from the comptroller&#8217;s office, which went to  Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott and Condon&#8217;s office.<br />
<span id="more-10177"></span></p>
<p>The executive director of the department&#8217;s Division of Finance &#8220;provided an unsupportable vote of confidence for FTA, indicating that it had the ability and integrity to provide the specific services,&#8217; the letter report by Deputy Comptroller Tina Kim says. But, it continues, the department did not do proper research, which would have shown FTA was a new company with &#8220;no prior business record by which it could be judged.&#8221;</p>
<p>In addition, the reports says, the city did not follow standard business practice in letting Future Tech use Tier Technology employees who were then working as consultants at the Department of Education. And it found Future Tech did not submit time sheets as required by the agreement between the company and the city. Because of this, Kim writes, &#8220;we could not verify that time records were accurate and concluded that time records totaling $1.7 million (pertaining only to billing invoices provided) were paid in contravention of the board&#8217;s stated policy.&#8221;</p>
<p>All of this becomes less surprising than it might otherwise be when one learns, as Juan Gonzalez of the Daily News <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2011/09/29/2011-09-29_alleged_massive_fraud_by_future_technology_associates_was_like_taking_millions_f.html">reminded</a> readers today, that the chief of financial operations during this time was one Judith Hederman, who, investigators say, was romantically involved with Jonathan Krohe, one of the two owners of Future Tech. Investigators in Condon&#8217;s office believe that Hederman tipped off Krohe whenever the department seemed to be having doubts about the cost of the project. </p>
<p>Hederman <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2011/05/13/2011-05-13_education_dept_official_who_oversaw_43m_contract_resigns_amid_corruption_investi.html">resigned</a> in May.</p>
<p>But Hederman, Gonzalez notes, was not the only department of education official involved with Future Tech. Vincent Giordano, now retired, reportedly engineered the no-bid contract. And when Gonzalez first questioned what Future Tech was up to – noting the company had not track record or even, apparently, an office, Photeine Anagnostopoulos, who was the Department of Education&#8217;s chief of operations, defended the company&#8217;s arrangement with the city. &#8220;Their rates are better than competitive,&#8221; she told the reporter. &#8220;You don&#8217;t have to bid every plumbing job in your house because you know what [the] rates are.</p>
<p>Anagnostopoulos <a href=" http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/01/22/2011-01-22_2nd_school_deputy_chancellor_resigns_since_black_hire.html">resigned</a> last year, the day after Cathie Black was appointed chancellor. </p>
<p>Condon has referred his findings to prosecutors. </p>
<p>Prosecutors have already turned their attention to another city technology project, the CityTime computerized timekeeping system for city employees. Last December, federal prosecutor <a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/computing/it/nyc-bigtime-citytime-fraud-charges-ripples-on">charged</a> four consultants to the city with operating a fraudulent scheme that ended up bilking the city of $80 million as CityTime&#8217;s cost soared by more than tenfold. </p>
<p>And this summer, they added to the list, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/28/nyregion/criticism-for-citytime-project-grows-as-a-manager-is-arrested.html?_r=1">charging</a> an executive with <a href=" http://www.saic.com/">Science Applications International Corp.</a>, which oversaw CityTime, with taking more than $5 million in kickbacks. </p>
<p>Only a few days before, discussing CityTime on his radio show, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, &#8220;We actually did a pretty good job here, in retrospect.”</p>
<p>And there may be further problems on the horizon. Last week, the Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/nyregion/bloombergs-computer-project-for-personnel-data-leads-to-waste.html?scp=2&#038;sq=techology%20city%20bloomberg%20adninistration&#038;st=cse">reported</a> that a $66 million project to computerize city personnel information had already mushroomed to cost $363 million and, according to the Times, &#8220;the work is far from done.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;It was a runaway project,&#8221; Raj Agarwal, the city official who once tried to mange it, told the paper. </p>
<p>And in this case, too, there were warning signs about the New York City Automated Personnel System or Nycaps. In March 2003, the administration&#8217;s own contract monitors warned, &#8220;No sense of economy, efficiency or value is evident in any area of the project,”</p>
<p>On Monday, the City Council <a href=" http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/nyregion/city-council-to-investigate-bloombergs-personnel-project.html?scp=1&#038;sq=technology%20city%20council&#038;st=cse">announced</a> it would investigate cost overruns on the project, and a number of officials expressed dismay that a major technology project had once again been over budget and underperforming. In additional to probing Nycaps, the council will reportedly consider a bill that would require the administration to tell City Council when a project is over budget – and explain why.</p>
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		<title>The Year&#039;s School Report Cards</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/23/the-years-school-report-cards/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/23/the-years-school-report-cards/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:02:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[black and latino male initiative]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[clsoing school]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dennis Walcott]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city department of education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[school progress reports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[school report cards]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10148</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In what has become an annual ritual, the Department of Education has today released its latest school progress reports, often called school report cards, today. (For links to summaries and individual school reports, go here.) 
Today&#8217;s release covers only elementary and middle schools. The department will issue high school reports next month.
Once again the department [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In what has become an annual ritual, the Department of Education has today released its latest school progress reports, often called school report cards, today. (For links to summaries and individual school reports, go <a href=" http://schools.nyc.gov/Accountability/tools/report/default.htm#FindPR">here</a>.) </p>
<p>Today&#8217;s release covers only elementary and middle schools. The department will issue high school reports next month.</p>
<p>Once again the department has tweaked the oft-criticized annual reports. For one the grades seem to have stabilized somewhat from the time when the results would gyrate wildly from year to year, completely baffling parents. This year, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2011/09/23/more-schools-are-struggling-city-progress-reports-show/">according to the Times</a>,  79 of the 1,219 schools dropped by two or more letter grades and 55 rose by two or more.</p>
<p>As part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg&#8217; s initiative on black and Latino males, a school now gets extra points for making significant progress with students in that group whose prior performance has put them in the lowest third academically. (A school, though, does not lose points if it fails miserably with black and Latino boys.)</p>
<p>The number of schools with low grades has increased again. Based on their 2010-11 performance, the department says, 25 percent of the schools received an A, 35 percent B, 30 percent C, 7 percent D and 3 percent flunked. This still might seem generous, but it certainly represents a change from 2009 when, in the midst of the mayor&#8217;s re-election campaign, his Department of Education <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2009/09/02/almost-straight-a-schools/">decided</a> 84 percent of elementary and middle schools deserved As and only two – that&#8217;s two school, not 2 percent – flunked.</p>
<p>This time around, according to Gotham Schools, the city decided in advance how many schools would get each grade.</p>
<p>The increase in schools getting D&#8217;s and F&#8217;s means more schools could be considering for closing, thought the departments says that that will not necessarily translate to more schools being shut down. Earlier this week, School Chancellor Dennis Walcott <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/20/walcott-takes-on-middle-schools/">said</a> he would look to close persistently failing middle schools as part of his efforts to bolster education in grades 6 through 8.</p>
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		<title>Walcott Takes on Middle Schools</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/20/walcott-takes-on-middle-schools/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/20/walcott-takes-on-middle-schools/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Sep 2011 16:15:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10137</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s no secret to anyone who has spent time in city schools, had an adolescent or been one that middle school is where things begin to go awry for many students. Test scores fall, behavior problems develop and many students begin to fall so far behind that they never catch up – and simply leave [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It&#8217;s no secret to anyone who has spent time in city schools, had an adolescent or been one that <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article//20070604/200/2195">middle school</a> is where things begin to go awry for many students. Test scores fall, behavior problems develop and many students begin to fall so far behind that they never catch up – and simply leave schools a few years later.</p>
<p>The city has mounted various, often half-hearted <a href="http://www.council.nyc.gov/html/releases/081307msinitiatives.shtml">efforts to combat this</a> – and none have accomplished much.</p>
<p>In his first major policy speech as chancellor, given this morning at NYU, Dennis Walcott focused on the issues of middle schools, ticking off a panoply of problems in grade six through eight and acknowledging his department must do more to address them. (This post is based on the prepared text of Walcott&#8217;s speech, available <a href="http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/mediarelations/NewsandSpeeches/2011-2012/msspeechatnyu92011.htm">here</a>.) To do that, Walcott plans borrow a page from the Bloomberg administration approach to high schools by <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/education/20110131/6/3460">closing failing schools</a> and opening new ones. The administration claims success with this, but the policy has been controversial and has many critics.</p>
<p>In his speech, Walcott vowed to open at least 50 new middle schools in the next two years. Some will be charter schools, Walcott said.</p>
<p>On the flip side – closing schools – Walcott said, &#8220;We will hold our middle schools to the same tough standards we hold our high schools. If a school is failing, we will phase it out.&#8221;</p>
<p>More on the plan after the jump.<br />
<span id="more-10137"></span></p>
<p>In other struggling schools the city will implement the federal <a href=" http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/us/02obama.html">Turnaround model</a>, which keeps a school open but changes much of the staff. The chancellor said he would apply for up to $30 million in federal money to put Turnaround in place at 10 schools starting next fall.</p>
<p>Acknowledging that few principals and teachers aspire to work in middle schools, Walcott said the city would create a &#8220;new class of <a href=" https://www.nycteachingfellows.org/Default.asp">Teaching Fellows</a> to work in shortage areas in middle schools and create additional pathways to encourage teachers to work in middle schools.&#8221; And he wants the <a href=" http://www.nycleadershipacademy.org/">Leadership Academy</a> and other places that develop principals to look for and develop administrators to work in middle schools as well. </p>
<p>In addition, Walcott said more middle schools would participate in the <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/education/20100918/6/3369">iZone</a>, the city&#8217;s highly touted but basically unproven method to make more use of technology in classrooms. And he said, to help middle school students meet the new <a href=" http://www.corestandards.org/">Common Core</a> standards being put in place across the country, the city will spend $15 million on nonfiction books for these schools.</p>
<p>Interestingly Walcott did not discuss reconfiguring middle schools – a change that has attracted a bit of popularity around the country. The city does have some schools that go from kindergarten through grade eight – and others that start at grade six and run through the senior year of high school. But for now, at least, it appears that most city adolescents will attend a three-year middle school, for better or for worse.</p>
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		<title>Levy&#039;s Legacy at Bronx Science</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/16/levys-legacy-at-bronx-science/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/16/levys-legacy-at-bronx-science/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:19:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bronx hihg school of science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harold Levy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mayoral control]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city oublic schools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[valerie reidy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[william stark]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10130</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Times yesterday had an  interesting story on the exodus of teachers from the prestigious Bronx High School of Science. According to Anna Phillips, eight of the school&#8217;s 20 social studies teachers decided not to return this year, sending the turnover rate at what one would think would be a desirable to teach to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Times yesterday had an <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2011/09/15/bronx-science-sees-exodus-of-social-studies-teachers/"> interesting story</a> on the exodus of teachers from the prestigious Bronx High School of Science. According to Anna Phillips, eight of the school&#8217;s 20 social studies teachers decided not to return this year, sending the turnover rate at what one would think would be a desirable to teach to 19 percent, five percentage points higher than for the city as a whole.  Phillips traces the discontent back at least as far as 2005 – but actually it dates before that to the pre-mayoral control days and the region of now largely forgotten Chancellor Harold Levy. </p>
<p>Back in the Giuliani administration in 1999, Stanley Blumenstein announced his retirement as principal of the selective public school. A search committee unanimously recommended William Stark, an administrator and social studies teacher serving as interim president, to fill the post.</p>
<p>Levy, a graduate of Bronx Science, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/28/nyregion/chancellor-blocks-top-choice-for-bronx-science.html?src=pm">balked</a>, reportedly wanting a scientist to fill the post, not an educator &#8212; although there was never an indication that any top scientist even wanted the job. Levy  asked the committee to find someone else. </p>
<p>Levy was a corporate lawyer when he was named chancellor and, like Cathie Black a decade later, needed a waiver to become chancellor. (He now works in finance and raised eyebrows in 2009 for a <a href="http://articles.nydailynews.com/2009-04-01/news/29435670_1_national-action-network-sharpton-education-equality-project">$500,000 contribution</a> to Al Sharpton.)</p>
<p>To many observers his handling of the situation at Bronx Science was a classic indication of what can happen when people with little experience running schools control them.  Faculty and parents disputed Levy&#8217;s notion that a scientist would be the best pick for the job. &#8220;Running a public high school, they say, is more like running a fine restaurant than a political campaign, a foundation or a college. At Bronx Science, they say, the importance of spin and public relations pales compared with the mundane ability to deal with cantankerous union officials, powerful custodians and 2,700 needy, if talented, adolescents,&#8221; the Times wrote.<br />
<span id="more-10130"></span><br />
 Levy called for more candidates leaving Stark to stew. By the time he finally decided maybe Stark was the best candidate after all – months later – Stark had <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2001/02/07/2001-02-07_acting_hs_chief_hired_-_too_.html"> taken a job</a> with well-regarded public school in an affluent Long Island community.</p>
<p>A Daily News editorial <a href="http://articles.nydailynews.com/2001-04-11/news/18180622_1_edison-schools-schools-chancellor-harold-levy">summed it up</a> this way: &#8220;Levy effectively nixed the choice [of Stark]: He wanted a Nobel laureate. An Einstein type to order pencils and supervise custodians. Bottom line: Levy never found his genius, a fed-up Stark took a job on Long Island and Bronx Science suffered.&#8221;</p>
<p>With no scientists having presented themselves for the post, Levy then <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/13/nyregion/biology-teacher-at-bronx-science-is-new-principal.html?src=pm"> appointed</a> Valerie Reidy, like Stark, a teacher at Bronx Science.</p>
<p>&#8220;What a folly the whole thing is because Bill Stark was infinitely better, and they chased this really talented person out,&#8221; one teacher told the Times.</p>
<p>Reidy, the New York Sun&#8217;s Andrew Wolf <a href="http://www.nysun.com/opinion/showdown-at-bronx-science/14560/">wrote</a> was &#8220;on no one&#8217;s short list to assume the top job. But she found herself in the right place at the right time, proof of the Peter Principle, which holds that in a hierarchy, employees rise to the level of their incompetence. &#8221;</p>
<p>By most accounts, things since have not gone well – even after Mayor Michael Bloomberg named Joel Klein to replace Levy and assumed control of the schools. So far the Department of Education seems to be standing by Levy.</p>
<p>In 2008, math teachers filed a complain against an assistant principal, reportedly an ally of Reidy&#8217;s, accusing her of harassment and arbitrary decision-making. An arbiter recommended that the assistant principal and a teacher at odds with her both be reassigned; the department rejected that suggestions. </p>
<p>Whether the latest will spur a change is anyone&#8217;s guess but many writing in to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/posts/66-ask-two-school-leaders-about-their-experiences-with-character-education">comment</a> on Phillips&#8217; article hope it will. One, Geoffrey Nutter, who taught there for a year, wrote, &#8220;I loved my students, they were great. My coworkers were smart and hardworking. But I have never met anyone as cruel and petty as Principal Valerie Reidy, from whom I had to endure threats, intimidation, and ultimately denial of tenure and the end of my public school teaching career in New York City.&#8221;</p>
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		<title>More Testing for Schools</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/31/more-testing-forschools/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/31/more-testing-forschools/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:44:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10024</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the wake of the closing of a Bronx schools contaminated with a toxic chemical, two advocacy groups and eight members of the City Council have written to Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott demanding immediate testing of city school on leased property and a public disclosure of he results.
Earlier this summer, the Department of Education shut [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In the wake of the closing of a Bronx schools contaminated with a toxic chemical, two advocacy groups and eight members of the City Council have written to Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott demanding immediate testing of city school on leased property and a public disclosure of he results.</p>
<p>Earlier this summer, the <a href="http://schools.nyc.gov/default.htm">Department of Education</a> <a href="http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-08-06/local/29878513_1_toxic-chemical-tce-industrial-building">shut</a> <a href="http://www.thebronxnewschool.org/">Bronx New School</a>, which had operated in a leased former industrial site in Bedford Park. Walcott has <a href="http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/education/145374/parents-unsettled-by-cancer-scare-at-bronx-elementary-school">admitted</a> the department knew of the contamination since January but <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/19/walcott-promises-more-testing-for-toxins/">did not tell parents</a> until eight months later. The school had apparently never been tested before – although students attended classes there for two decades.</p>
<p>While other cases may not be quite that egregious, as Melissa Checker <ahref ="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/Environment/20110817/7/3586">reported in Gotham Gazette last month, Bronx New School, also known as PS51X, is hardly an isolated case. The city now leases more than 90 properties –&#8211;many of them former industrial sites &#8212; for schools, and the regulations regarding leased properties, as opposed to those for sites the city owns, are lax, to say the last. Schools on leased sites, Checker wrote, do not have to undergo environmental review under the <a href="http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/357.html">State Environmental Quality Review Act</a>, and the city does not have to keep the public – including parents, staff and students –- informed about its plans for building or monitoring those schools or remediating any hazards at the site.</p>
<p>In the letter, <a href="http://www.nylpi.org/">New York Lawyers for the Public Interest</a>, <a href="http://www.nycommunities.org/">New York Communities for Change</a> and the council members seek to address some of these issues, focusing on 31 schools whose leases are up for renewal. The city does inspect school when their leases come up for renewal, although a schools spokesperson told Checker only that the inspections would take plan within eight weeks – not necessarily before the school year begins.</p>
<p>More and the letter after the jump.<br />
<span id="more-10024"></span><br />
The letter demands that the first phase of testing of the sites of the 31 schools and their indoor air quality  be completed by the time school <a href="http://schools.nyc.gov/Calendar/firstday2011">starts</a> on Sept. 8 and that the results of that testing be made public. </p>
<p>In addition, the groups and officials want the department to disclose the results of its testing on 65 schools whose sites have been renewed since 2002.</p>
<p>&#8220;Recent events bring into sharp focus the need for stronger environmental review and increased transparency at all currently leased sites,&#8221; the letter said, adding &#8220;Waiting for lease renewals to trigger even basic environmental investigation of these sites, in some instances have left children and school employees vulnerable to potential toxic chemical exposure for decades.&#8221;</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s the full letter:</p>
<p>Dear Chancellor Walcott:</p>
<p>We write to express our serious concerns regarding the environmental conditions of leased school sites in New York City.  Recent events at PS 51X make clear that there must be a more transparent and comprehensive environmental review process for all leased school sites.</p>
<p>As you know, in early August, the Department of Education (DOE) informed parents and school staff that PS 51X would be closing due to unsafe levels of trichloroethylene (TCE), an industrial solvent and a human carcinogen. Subsequently, we learned that the DOE performed initial sampling at PS 51X in January and found levels of TCE ten times above the New York City Department of Health (DOH) guidelines. Testing in March and April continued to show consistently high levels of TCE.  Incredibly, the DOE waited over seven months before notifying appropriate parties and school employees of the test results.</p>
<p>We have also learned that, even though PS51X was sited on severely contaminated property, the DOE conducted no environmental reviews or testing on it for the first twenty years that PS 51X operated as a school. Allowing children and school staff to occupy the building under these conditions demonstrates a shocking disregard for the health of the building’s occupants, particularly in light of the fact that TCE exposure is linked to a range of serious health risks that only increase with length of exposure.</p>
<p>Although egregious, the actions and omissions that occurred at PS 51X are consistent with DOE practice at leased school sites. These recent events bring into sharp focus the need for stronger environmental review and increased transparency at all currently leased sites. The DOE’s practice of performing environmental audits of leased school sites only when the leases come up</p>
<p>for renewal is seriously deficient. Like PS 51X, many of the current school leases are long-term leases entered into many years ago with minimal environmental review. Waiting for lease renewals to trigger even basic environmental investigation of these sites, in some instances have left children and school employees vulnerable to potential toxic chemical exposure for decades.</p>
<p>This policy also contradicts the DOE’s claims that all leased sites undergo thorough environmental review. Unfortunately, the DOE continues to fight measures to increase oversight and accountability of leased school sites and as a result, parents and school staff are routinely kept in the dark about environmental conditions that pose serious health risks in both the short and long-term.</p>
<p>In light of the foregoing, we demand that the DOE undertake the following actions:</p>
<p>1.      Conduct immediate indoor air quality testing of all 31 existing leased school sites that have not undergone any environmental review to date. Testing should be conducted according to the New York State Department of Health (DOH) Vapor Intrusion Guidance document and completed prior to the first day of classes on September 8th. If any sampling results exceed the screening levels outlined in Matrix 1 of the DOH guidelines, the DOE must notify all appropriate parties including parents and teachers to determine further action. Because vapor intrusion varies significantly over time, follow- up testing should be conducted during the heating season, as recommended in the NYS DOH Guidance document.</p>
<p>2.      Conduct and complete Phase I environmental site assessments at the 31 leased school sites prior to the first day of classes.  If any Phase I review indicates the need for a Phase II review, this must be initiated immediately and completed as soon as is practicable. In determining further action based on the results of the Phase I and Phase II reviews, all appropriate parties must be notified including parents and school employees. </p>
<p>3.      Publicly disclose all preliminary indoor air quality results and any documents relating to the Phase I environmental site assessments at each of the 31 school sites prior to the first day of classes. These documents must be disclosed in an easily accessible format such as an online repository. </p>
<p>4.      Publicly disclose all documents relating to the environmental review, investigation, and remediation of the 65 school leases that have been renewed since 2002 prior to the first day of classes. To be clear, while we are entitled to this information through a FOIL request, the significant delay associated with such requests combined with the imminent start of the school year require immediate disclosure.</p>
<p>Protecting the health of our children requires that the DOE act with far greater urgency and vigilance in ensuring the environmental health and safety of our schools. Parents have a right to know their children are attending safe, healthy learning environments.</p>
<p>Sincerely,<br />
 Dawn Philip<br />
Staff Attorney, Environmental Justice Program<br />
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest<br />
 John Kest<br />
Executive Director<br />
New York Communities for Change</p>
<p>Gale A. Brewer<br />
Council Member, 6th District</p>
<p>Margaret Chin<br />
Council Member, 1st District</p>
<p>Vincent J. Gentile<br />
Council Member, 43rd District</p>
<p>Robert Jackson<br />
Council Member, 7th District</p>
<p>Letitia James<br />
Council Member, 35th District</p>
<p>Melissa Mark-Viverito<br />
Council Member, 8th District</p>
<p>Rosie Mendez<br />
Council Member, 2nd District</p>
<p>Deborah Rose<br />
Council Member, 49th District</p>
<p></ahref></p>
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		<title>DiNapoli vs. Murdoch</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/28/dinapoli-vs-murdoch/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/28/dinapoli-vs-murdoch/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 28 Aug 2011 16:53:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye on Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ARIS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[joel klein]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york state department of education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[news corp.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[no-bid contract]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[phone hacking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[race to the top]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rupert murdoch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Susan Lerner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thomas DiNapoli]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wireless generation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10005</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You might have missed this as you were taping your windows yesterday: The Daily News reports that State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has rejected the state Department of Education contracts with Wireless Generation. The educational tech company is owned by Rupert Murdoch&#8217;s News Corp. &#8212; and as a result under the purview of former Schools Chancellor, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You might have missed this as you were taping your windows yesterday: The Daily News <a href=" http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2011/08/27/2011-08-27_state_hacks_ed_contract_with_murdoch_firm.html<br />
">reports</a> that State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has rejected the state Department of Education contracts with <a href=" http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2011/08/27/2011-08-27_state_hacks_ed_contract_with_murdoch_firm.html<br />
">Wireless Generation</a>. The educational tech company is owned by Rupert Murdoch&#8217;s News Corp. &#8212; and as a result under the purview of former Schools Chancellor, now Murdoch consigliare Joel Klein.</p>
<p>In rejecting the $27 million deal, DiNapoli cited the <a href=" http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/phone-hacking">phone hacking scandal</a> that has shaken Murdoch&#8217;s British newspaper empire &#8212; and Britain&#8217;s government as well. &#8220;In light of the significant ongoing investigations and continuing revelations with respect to News Corp., we are returning the contract with Wireless Generation unapproved,&#8221; DiNapoli&#8217;s office wrote to the Education Department.</p>
<p>The education department blasted DiNapoli&#8217;s move, with a spokesperson accusing the comptroller of having &#8220;allowed political pressure to get in the way of vital technology that would help our students/&#8221;</p>
<p>The state was prepared to use part of its federal <a href=" http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/index.html">Race to the Top</a> money to pay Wireless Generation to develop software to track student test scores, achievement and so on, creating a system similar to the Achievement Reporting and Innovation System, or <a href="http://schools.nyc.gov/Accountability/resources/aris/default.htm"> ARIS</a>, that it developed for the city schools. </p>
<p>Even before the phone hacking scandal, the deal <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/06/09/9672/">did not meet the smell test</a> for many. The contract was a no-bid deal, even though many other companies <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2011/07/31/2011-07-31_rupert_ripoff_alert_16_firms_were_up_for_27m_doe_deal_murdoch_will_get_bidfree.html">reportedly expressed interest</a> in it.<br />
<span id="more-10005"></span></p>
<p>As chancellor, Klein had long been a booster of Wireless Generation, then an independent company, even as many complained of problems with ARIS. Two weeks after Klein left the city education department and inked a multi-million dollar deal with Murdoch, News Corp. bought Wireless Generation.</p>
<p>The deal with the state &#8220;raises all kinds of red flags,&#8221; Susan Lerner, executive director of <a href=" http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2011/06/company-overseen-by-joel-klein-poised-to-clean-up-with-27m-no-bid-nyc-contract">Common Cause New York </a><a href=" http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2011/06/company-overseen-by-joel-klein-poised-to-clean-up-with-27m-no-bid-nyc-contract">told</a> the Daily News in June. &#8220;It just smacks of an old-boys club, where large amounts of public money are spent based not on &#8216;is this the best product?&#8217; but &#8216;I know this guy and I like him and I want to be sure he makes a lot of money.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
<p>The city and state teachers unions &#8212; never fans of Murdoch or Klein &#8212; have been <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/05/murdoch-in-the-schools/">pressing the state</a> to reject the contract. </p>
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		<title>Walcott Promises More Testing for Toxins</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/19/walcott-promises-more-testing-for-toxins/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/19/walcott-promises-more-testing-for-toxins/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:42:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=9992</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[By all accounts last night&#8217;s meeting in the Bronx between schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott and parents is unlikely to settle the rising concern about the contaminated site of the Bronx New School –- and the problem of polluted schools overall.
Three weeks ago, the Department of Education announced it would shut the Bedford Park building because [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By all accounts last night&#8217;s meeting in the Bronx between schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott and parents is unlikely to settle the rising concern about the contaminated site of the <a href="http://www.thebronxnewschool.org/">Bronx New School</a> –- and the problem of polluted schools overall.</p>
<p>Three weeks ago, the Department of Education <a href=" http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-08-06/local/29878513_1_toxic-chemical-tce-industrial-building">announced</a> it would shut the Bedford Park building because high levels of trichloroethylene, or TCE, had been found on the site. </p>
<p>The department learned of the unsafe levels in January; it did not tell parents, the principal or the staff until this summer. And although the school has been on the former industrial site for about 20 years, no record exists of it ever having been tested before.  And there may be other untested schools as well. </p>
<p> Walcott has said the city is checking another 31 schools whose leases are now up for renewal and <a href="http://gothamschools.org/2011/08/18/amid-p-s-51-toxin-concerns-city-to-speed-environmental-testing/#disqus_thread"> plans</a>  to complete the tests by early next month. It has not released the names of those schools. </p>
<p>Melissa Checker <a href=http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/Environment/20110817/7/3586>wrote</a> in Gotham Gazette this week that,  while the city must conduct environmental reviews of any property it purchases for a school, it does not have to check out land or buildings it leases. As a result, Dawn Philip an attorney with <a frehttp://www.nylpi.org/">New York Lawyers for the Public Interest</a> told Checker,  &#8220;Parents, school staff and community members often have no idea that a leased school site sits on top of contaminated property and, more importantly, what the [Department of Education] has done to eliminate any health risks.&#8221;<br />
<span id="more-9992"></span><br />
And Checker notes, the problem will probably grow. The city now leases more than 90 school properties but as it searches for more space, it is likely to enter into more lease arrangements – many of them for former industrial properties that could be polluted.</p>
<p>At the meeting, NY1  <a href="http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/education/145374/parents-unsettled-by-cancer-scare-at-bronx-elementary-school">reports</a>, Walcott apologized for keeping parents in the dark about a possible danger to their children for eight month. He said he was taking three steps: &#8220;One, by apologizing to all of you, two, by saying this will not happen again. Three, as a result of this, the process and protocol for this will change around the notification to parents. And it should not have happened that way.&#8221;</p>
<p>While Walcott took responsibility for the failure to disclose the TCE levels at the school last winter, the test results <a href=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/walcott_sorry_about_toxin_alert_Ds6siW0kSNvYlxZRN4CNTL>came in</a> during Cathie Black&#8217;s brief tenure as chancellor,.</p>
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		<title>Slight Rise in Test Scores</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/08/slight-rise-in-test-scores/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/08/slight-rise-in-test-scores/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:01:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=9962</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In 2011, the second year of more rigorous scoring of state standardized tests, achievement dipped slightly across the state, according to figures just released by the state education department.
After taking a battering last year, when the state recalibrated the scoring, the city saw a slight increase this year. Some 43.9 percent of students in grades [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In 2011, the second year of more rigorous scoring of state standardized tests, achievement dipped slightly across the state, according to <a href=" http://www.oms.nysed.gov/press/3-8MathELATestScores.2011.html ">figures just released</a> by the state education department.</p>
<p>After taking a battering last year, when the state recalibrated the scoring, the city saw a slight increase this year. Some 43.9 percent of students in grades three through eight met or exceeded the state standards in English &#8212; up from 42.4 percent last year. In math, 57.3 percent met or exceeded the math standard, an increase from  54 percent in 2010. This is still far less than the number meeting standards under the old – allegedly dumbed down – system.</p>
<p>Mayor Michael Bloomberg is set to provide more details – and undoubtedly some healthy spin – later today. We&#8217;ll bring you ore then.</p>
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		<title>Murdoch in the Schools</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/05/murdoch-in-the-schools/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/05/murdoch-in-the-schools/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:08:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tech]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=9956</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The city and state teachers union are stepping up their opposition to the awarding of a state education contract to a company owned by Rupert Murdoch. 
The unions have not been big fans of the beleaguered press mogul – or of former Chancellor Joel Klein, who now heads education technology (and damaged control?) for him. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The city and state teachers union are stepping up their opposition to the awarding of a state education contract to a company owned by Rupert Murdoch. </p>
<p>The unions have not been big fans of the beleaguered press mogul – or of former Chancellor Joel Klein, who now heads education technology (and damaged control?) for him.  And the deal has been <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2011/06/company-overseen-by-joel-klein-poised-to-clean-up-with-27m-no-bid-nyc-contract">raising eyebrows</a> since June when the Daily News&#8217; Rachael Monahan <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2011/06/company-overseen-by-joel-klein-poised-to-clean-up-with-27m-no-bid-nyc-contract"> reported</a> that the state Department of Education was about to award a $27 million no-bid contract to <a href="http://www.wirelessgeneration.com/">Wireless Generation</a> to develop a system for the state similar to the city&#8217;s Achievement Reporting and Innovation System or <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/education/24aris.html?scp=2&#038;sq=achievement+reporting+and+innovation+system&#038;st=nyt">ARIS</a>.</p>
<p>Klein had been a big promoter of Wireless Generation during his days as chancellor. Two weeks after  he left the city to take a mega-lucrative deal with News Corp., the Murdoch company bought Wireless Generation. Admittedly Klein himself worked for the city, not the state. But the ties are there –- and the former chancellor certainly stands to benefit from a deal that, in the <a href="http://www.wirelessgeneration.com/">view</a> of a Forbes blogger, &#8220;smack of cronyism.&#8221;</p>
<p>The phone hacking scandal has  raised further doubts. In their letter to  Merryl Tisch, chancellor of the state Board of Regents, and state Education Commissioner John King Jr., <a href="http://www.nysut.org/cps/rde/xchg/nysut/hs.xsl/index.htm">state United Teachers</a> president Richard Ianuzzi and Michael Mulgrew, head of the <a href=http://www.uft.org>city teachers union</a>, stressed those concerns. Parents and educators, they wrote, question &#8220;the wisdom of allowing a News Corp.-owned company to have access the the personal data  of students from all across New York.&#8221;<br />
<span id="more-9956"></span><br />
Perhaps taking a dig at Klein &#8212; who is <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/12/joel-klein-news-corps-investigation">leading</a> the company&#8217;s own probe of its alleged misdeeds, the letter continued, &#8220;That News Corp. chose to launch its own investigation rather than open itself to outside scrutiny only furthers the mistrust that people are feeling and raises serious questions about News Corp./Wireless Generation with  respect to transparency, oversight and accountability.&#8221;</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Monahan <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2011/07/31/2011-07-31_rupert_ripoff_alert_16_firms_were_up_for_27m_doe_deal_murdoch_will_get_bidfree.html"> reported</a> last weekend that a number of other companies had expressed interest in the contract with the state &#8212; raising further questions about why the deal was done on a no-bid basis. </p>
<p>Agency officials told Monahan they decided not to pursue other vendors because of the &#8220;extremely challenging time line&#8221; for the project, since it needs to meet a fall 2012 set in the state&#8217;s federal Race to the Top grant. Given that, Wireless Generation may not be the best bet. As the city rolled out the system, there were <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/education/24aris.html?scp=2&#038;sq=achievement+reporting+and+innovation+system&#038;st=nyt">widespread delays</a>.</p>
<p>The state comptroller still needs to prove the contract</p>
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		<title>Bloomberg and the Achievement Gap</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/04/bloomberg-and-the-achievement-gap/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/04/bloomberg-and-the-achievement-gap/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Aug 2011 19:34:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Civil Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Demographics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=9939</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Mayor Michael Bloomberg&#8217;s announcement earlier today of a major initiative to help young black and Latino men today, includes a big focus on education. Few would debate the wisdom of that.
Bloomberg has long patted himself on the back for narrowing the gap in academic achievement between the city&#8217;s white and Asian students on one hand [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Mayor Michael Bloomberg&#8217;s <a href=" http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2011b/pr283-11.html">announcement earlier today</a> of a major initiative to help young black and Latino men today, includes a big focus on education. Few would debate the wisdom of that.</p>
<p>Bloomberg has long patted himself on the back for narrowing the gap in academic achievement between the city&#8217;s white and Asian students on one hand and blacks and Latinos on the other. Today Chancellor Dennis Walcott <a href=" http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2011b/pr282-11.html">sounded the theme</a>. “We’ve come a long way in improving achievement for black and Latino young men, helping to narrow the racial gaps in state exams and graduation rates,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>But as Bloomberg basks in praise (and some almost fawning <a href=" http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/nyregion/new-york-plan-will-aim-to-lift-minority-youth.html?ref=nyregion">press coverage</a>) for tackling a truly tough issue, his record on ending education disparities is  &#8212; to put it charitably – mixed.  </p>
<p>The mayor noted the city had narrowed the gap in high school graduation rates between the races. And the evidence backs that up. But in myriad other areas &#8212; test scores, admission to elite high schools, admission to gifted and talented elementary programs, <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/education/20110401/6/3503">suspensions</a> &#8212; the gap has remained essentially the same or widened under the Bloomberg regime. </p>
<p>Let&#8217;s looks at the numbers – after the jump.<br />
<span id="more-9939"></span></p>
<p><b>High school graduation rates:</b> The <a href="http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/mediarelations/NewsandSpeeches/2010-2011/2010gradratesrelease61411.htm"> figures</a> compiled by the state and released by the city show an increase in graduation rates among all groups during the Bloomberg years. While 46.5 percent of all students graduated in four years in 2005, in 2010 almost two thirds – 65.1 percent – did. Black and Latino students remain less likely to graduate than their white and Asian counterparts, but the gap between groups has narrowed over the past five years: from a 23.89 percentage point difference between blacks and white  in 2005 to a 17.6 point gap in 2010.</p>
<p>Certainly some dispute how meaningful this figure &#8212; and a New York City high school diploma &#8212; is. They note, for example, that about three quarters of students entering City University of New York <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/education/20110413/6/3509">community colleges</a> last fall <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/nyregion/04remedial.html>needed remedial work</a> in at least one key area. Slicing and dicing various numbers, education expert Aaron Pallas, a frequent Bloomberg critic, has <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/same-data-different-story-debating-progress-in-nyc-schools/2011/06/29/AGBMXXrH_blog.html"> calculated</a> that of black and Latin students who entered ninth grade in 2006 and graduated, only 12 percent were considered ready for college, according to state measurement.</p>
<p>An investigation, <a href="http://gothamschools.org/2011/08/03/probe-underway-after-staff-blows-whistle-on-illicit-credit-recovery/"> reported yesterday</a> in Gotham Schools, into possible abuse of the so-called credit recovery system, which allows students to make up credits, could cast doubt on some of the graduation gains in doubt. The school in question – <a href=" http://schools.nyc.gov/SchoolPortals/06/M540/default.htm">A. Phillip Randolph High School</a> – reported an increase in its graduation rate of nearly 30 points. </p>
<p>The state is set to release data on the use of credit recovery as early as next month. &#8220;The data, which will show how widespread the use of credit recovery is, could challenge the credibility of the higher graduation rates that have taken place during the Bloomberg administration,&#8221; Gotham Schools wrote.</p>
<p><b>Standardized tests</b>:  For years -– most notably in 2009 when the mayor ran for re-election &#8212; Bloomberg and his then schools chancellor, Joel Klein, <a href="http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/mediarelations/NewsandSpeeches/2008-2009/20090601_math_scores.htm"> trumpeted</a> the narrowing gap &#8212; and increase scores overall – on the state standardized reading and math tests for third through eighth graders. But then last year, everything changed.</p>
<p>The state, in response to rising concerns about alleged dumbing down of tests, recalibrated the scoring system. That <a href="http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/education/122928/ny1-exclusive--achievement-gap-wider-than-expected--data-shows"> reopened the gap</a>, sending it back to its levels in 2003 –- before the Bloomberg/Klein reforms had taken place.</p>
<p>&#8220;Almost all of the progress that has supposedly been made since 2003 in the achievement gap has been wiped out by this new re-scaling of the tests,&#8221; Megan Hester of the <a href=" http://www.annenberginstitute.org/">Annenberg Institute for School Reform</a> told NY1.</p>
<p>As the administration released test scores last year, we <a href="href=http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2010/07/28/parsing-the-test-scores/>calculated a gap of more than 40 percentage point between blacks and Asians on math tests.</p>
<p>Parsing the numbers for the Daily News, Juan Gonzalez <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/07/30/2010-07-30_ed_scores_dont_pass_smell_test_kids_losers_in_mike_and_joels_game.html"> found</a> that in 2003, 73.3 percent of white fourth graders and 46.3 percent of black fourth graders met state standards according to the tests, for a gap of 26.9 point. Last year, the gap rose to 31.7 percent. (The 2011 test scores <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/07/29/summer-school-summer-scores/">have not been released</a>.) The gap for Hispanics increased, too, though only slightly. </p>
<p><b>High school admissions</b>: The number of black and Latino eighth and ninth graders admitted to the city&#8217;s academically elite high school has <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/02/11/racial-admissions-gap/">continued to decline</a>. This year, blacks accounted for only 5 percent and Latinos only 6 percent of those offered a place in one of the city&#8217;s so-called <a href=" http://schools.nyc.gov/ChoicesEnrollment/High/Summer+SHSAT+and+LaGuardia+Auditions.htm">specialized high schools</a> that  admit students based on their scores on one exam given in the fall. At the most selective school –<a href=" http://stuy.enschool.org/">Stuyvesant</a> – the figures were even lower: 1.2 percent for blacks and 1.3 percent for Latinos. This even though 23 percent of the students who took the exam were black and 21 percent Latino. (Together blacks and Latinos account for more than 70 percent of city public school students.)</p>
<p>The city has expanded the number of specialized high schools but at the three older ones that use the test &#8212; Stuyvesant, <a href=" http://www.bxscience.edu/">Bronx Science</a> and <a href=" http://www.bths.edu/">Brooklyn Tech</a> &#8212; black and Latino enrollments has been on the decrease since the mid 1990s. In, 1994-95, for example, blacks accounted for 37.3 percent of Brooklyn Tech students. In 2008-2009, that number had fallen to 13 percent.</p>
<p>At the other end of the academic scale, the Independent Budget Office <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/01/27/students-at-closing-schools/">found </a> that the student bodies at the &#8220;failing&#8221; school the administration moved to <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2010/12/07/more-school-closings-part-ii/">shut</a> this year were 52 percent black and only 3 percent white, compared to 31 percent and 14 percent respectively for all city schools.  (There was no significant difference for Latino students.)</p>
<p><b>Kindergarten admissions</b>: The gap shows up early. This year 11 percent of all students <a href="http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/21/more-preschoolers-test-as-gifted-even-as-diversity-imbalance-persists/#more-321639"> admitted to gifted and talented kindergarten programs</a> were black, down from 15 per cent just a year earlier. Latino youngsters accounted for 12 percent both years.</p>
<p>The Department of Education <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/nyregion/22gifted.html?scp=4&#038;sq=gifted%20andtalented%20admitted%20city%20department%20of%20education&#038;st=cse"> changed the system</a> for admitting children to the programs in 2008, in response to charges the old admissions process led to favoritism and little racial diversity. The city now relies on a test. That critics say allows wealthier families to game the system by hiring tutors and sending four-year-old to test prep classes. </p>
<p>A 2008 New York Times <a href="http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/council-will-examine-drop-in-gifted-admissions/?scp=6&#038;sq=gifted%20andtalented%20admitted%20city%20department%20of%20education&#038;st=cse">analaysis</a> found that while blacks accounted for 24 percent of students in gifted programs, their percentage would fall to 13 percent under the Department of Education&#8217;s new criteria.</p>
<p>None of this means the mayor&#8217;s focus and funding for programs aimed at reducing racial disparities does not deserve praise. It does mean, though, that after nine and a half years of Bloomberg, we also need to look at the record, not just the spin.</p>
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		<title>Regents Relief</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/03/regents-relief/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/03/regents-relief/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Aug 2011 15:18:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[regents exam]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=9929</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[High school students disappointed they could no longer take Regents exams in January will get a reprieve this year. Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced this morning that Bloomberg Philanthropies and five anonymous donors have each agreed to pony up $250,000 to privately fund the creation and giving of the subject tests in January 2012.
The state announced [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>High school students disappointed they could no longer take Regents exams in January will get a reprieve this year. Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced this morning that Bloomberg Philanthropies and five anonymous donors have each agreed to pony up $250,000 to privately fund the creation and giving of the subject tests in January 2012.</p>
<p>The state announced last spring it would eliminate the January test date to save money. High school students need to pass five of the exams to get a Regents diploma. Some 150,000 Regents exams were give last January in the city.</p>
<p>Not having the opportunity to take the exam midyear, Bloomberg said, &#8220;put thousands of prospective graduates in a bad spot and even puts their graduation in jeopardy.&#8221;</p>
<p>The donations, though, will only pay for one year; after that, Bloomberg said, the state will have to figure out how to pay for this service.</p>
<p>What was a good news announcement, though, turned prickly as reporters pressed Bloomberg to disclose the names of the donors. He refused, though did own up their being individuals who he had approached, not in government and without young children.</p>
<p>As to their names, &#8220;I don’t think it’s anyone&#8217;s business,&#8221; Bloomberg said. &#8220;They don’t want to be dragged through the press.&#8221;</p>
<p>He continued, &#8220;They don’t want their name out there. &#8230; They just want to help, not give you a story.&#8221;</p>
<p>Bloomberg said he had revealed his own name only because he&#8217;s a public official. Once he no longer is, he said his largesse will remain anonymous as well.</p>
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