Gotham Gazette

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Carmen Fariña

Carmen Fariña

  • New York City is Waist-Deep in a School Desegregation Conversation - How Did We Get Here?

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    (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    Earlier this week, the School Diversity Advisory Group (SDAG) released its second and final set of recommendations to integrate city schools, a significant development in the current chapter of the city’s response to deep racial and economic segregation in its school system, which is the largest in the country and home to 1.1 million students.

    This chapter began in 2014, 60 years after Brown v. Board of Education and Bill de Blasio’s first year as Mayor, when ...

  • Let Carranza Lead

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    Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    According to press reports, Mayor de Blasio, First Lady McCray, and First Deputy Mayor Fuleihan were the key decision-makers in appointing our new schools Chancellor, Richard Carranza. They now must let Carranza lead.

    De Blasio had worked with Carmen Fariña for decades, so her appointment was a no-brainer. But when it came to finding her replacement, his secretive process blew up. Alberto Carvalho, the mayor’s first choice, publicly repudiated the job after taking it, reportedly because

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  • Education Adrift: New Chancellors Needed for City School, University Systems

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    Mayor de Blasio, Chancellor Fariña & others (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    Lame duck chancellors now lead New York’s school and university systems. Governor Cuomo, who controls the CUNY board, and Mayor de Blasio, who appoints the schools chancellor, each show a shocking lack of urgency to fill these critical posts.

    This is intolerable. Education is the driver of our information age. Social progress and economic prosperity depend on a vibrant public sector commitment. The city Department of Education

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  • Max & Murphy Podcast: Education in De Blasio's Second Term

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    Ben Max, left, of Gotham Gazette, and Jarrett Murphy, right, of City Limits


    January 30, 2018 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Monica Disare of Chalkbeat-NY and Eliza Shapiro of Politico New York

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    The day after he won reelection in November, Mayor de Blasio said, "We have to achieve 3-K in the next four years...We have to get our kids reading on grade level by third grade. We need the school

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  • Celebrating ‘Renewal’ Success as We Acknowledge More Work To Do

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    Mayor de Blasio & Chancellor Fariña on a school visit (photo: Rob Bennett/Mayor's Office)


    School is back in session after an eventful December and long break. As students returned to our community schools, so many were grateful to be back where supports and resources are in place. For many of our students, community schools provide additional support services; food pantries; mental health and social-emotional learning programs; and family support aligned to what’s happening in the classroom. In other words, they focus on educating the “whole

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  • How Bill de Blasio Can Redeem His Education Record

    Mayor de Blasio town hall Cumbo

    Mayor de Blasio at a town hall (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayor's Office)


    Bill de Blasio was re-elected as mayor and will remain in control of our public schools for four more years, unless the Legislature amends mayoral control or allows it to expire in 2019. It was recently announcedthat Carmen Fariña, de Blasio’s hand-picked schools chancellor, will be leaving

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  • In the Age of De Blasio, A Bloomberg Era Small School Reunion

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    reunion photo by Chrystina Russell, former principal of Global Tech


    In July, I found myself back in the East Harlem cafeteria shared by Global Technology Preparatory and P.S. 7. The occasion for my visit was a reunion of Global Tech’s first class of eighth-graders, who were now, four years after their middle-school commencement, graduating from high school.

    I was eager to return and see how the students had fared. I knew from my ongoing contacts with the school and its students that several had endured more

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  • DOE School Survey Shows High Marks, Contrasts with Public Polling

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    Mayor, Chancellor & Student (photo: Demetrius Freeman/Mayor's Office)


    In 2007, New York City administered its first comprehensive survey on school satisfaction levels among students, parents, and teachers in the city’s vast public school system. That year, the Department of Education received just under 600,000 responses. In 2016, with the survey in its tenth year, the number of responses

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  • De Blasio School Discipline Policy Shift Causes A Stir

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    De Blasio at Brooklyn Generation School (photo: Ed Reed, Mayor's Office)


    In April 2015, the New York City Department of Education modified its discipline code and added an extra step to the process for suspending students from school. Principals are now required to receive authorization from the DOE before suspending students in grades K through 2 for any behavior or any student of any age for incidents involving insubordination, such as cursing at a teacher or refusing to leave a classroom. The change was made in an effort to

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  • Senate Holds Second Mayoral Control Hearing, Without the Mayor

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    De Blasio at City Hall on Wednesday (photo: Demetrius Freeman/Mayor's Office)


    Just one day after Mayor Bill de Blasio appeared at City Hall with a bevy of business leaders to push for extending mayoral control of New York City schools, the state Senate education committee held its second hearing on the issue right across the street. Administration officials, education professionals and advocates testified to make their case for and against mayoral control (mostly for) as state Senators demanded answers on a wide range of educational

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  • Concerns Over Proceedings as De Blasio Administration Faces Second Mayoral Control Hearing

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    De Blasio testifying in Albany (photo: Demetrius Freeman/Mayor's Office)


    It was supposed to be the grilling to end all grillings: Mayor Bill de Blasio seated at a small table, staring up at glowering Republican state Senators carrying major grudges for his work to oust them from power in the 2014 elections, all carrying the fate of his ability to enact education policy in the palm of their hands. That wasn’t what took place.

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  • An Office of Civil Rights for New York Education

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    U.S. Education Secretary John King (photo via USDOE on flickr)


    Educational civil rights in New York are once again front and center.

    The Civil Rights Project at UCLA calls New York City the most segregated

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  • In Albany, De Blasio Argues for Mayoral Control Extension

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    De Blasio testifies in Albany (photo via @KellyCummings)


    Mayor Bill de Blasio received a generally friendly welcome from Senate Republicans throughout several hours of testimony in Albany on Wednesday during a hearing on mayoral control of city schools. De Blasio was peppered with questions regarding issues such as special education, charter school co-locations, mental health services, and school space, but the issue of mayoral control as a governance structure was addressed head on only in limited doses.

    For his part, de Blasio touted gains in

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  • Senate Schedules De Blasio for Two Hearings on Mayoral Control of City Schools

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    De Blasio makes a school appearance (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    The New York State Senate announced on Thursday afternoon that it has scheduled two hearings on mayoral control of New York City schools. Republicans who control the chamber have questioned Mayor Bill de Blasio's education policies, which are far different from his predecessor's, and only agreed to a one-year extension last year.

    Mayoral control is set to expire June 30, and the two hearings - one in Albany and one in New York City - will occur in May. In his Executive Budget, Governor

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  • The Week That Was in New York Politics, Jan. 25-29

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    photo: Stanley Kubrick via Museum of the City of New York


    Gotham Gazette's Week in Review, Friday January 29

    PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Mayor de Blasio and others during last weekend's blizzard, via The Mayor's Office on flickr; De Blasio testifies in Albany, also ...

  • The Week Ahead in New York Politics, October 26

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    New York City Hall


    What to watch for this week in New York politics:

    This week will be dominated by the World Series, we know that. The New York Mets begin their quest for the title against the Royals in Kansas City on Tuesday night, followed by another game in KC on Wednesday and then games in Queens on Friday, Saturday, and, if necessary, Sunday. If the series continues, games six and seven would be the following Tuesday and Wednesday (Nov. 3 and 4) back in Kansas City. On Sunday,

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  • In Effort to Ensure Sound Education, City Battles Student Homelessness

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    De Blasio speaks, with DHS' Taylor foreground (photo: Demetrius Freeman/Mayor's Office)


    This summer saw the city’s street homeless population become a tabloid sensation, with Mayor de Blasio seemingly forced into addressing the increase in homeless people on New York sidewalks. With shelters overflowing despite the city opening dozens of new ones, and a typical warm-weather increase in those who prefer the street to the often dangerous conditions of those shelters, the mayor announced several

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  • Measuring the Mayor’s Education Agenda

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    De Blasio at a parents' night (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office via flickr)


    There are three main data points by which New York City mayors are usually judged on their management of city schools: state standardized test scores; and rates of student graduation and college-readiness. As Mayor Bill de Blasio is now in his second year at the helm of the city’s 1,800 schools and 1.1 million

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  • The Week Ahead in New York Politics, August 31

    New York City Hall

    New York City Hall


    What to watch for this week in New York politics:

    This week looks like another relatively quiet one as we head toward Labor Day weekend and then what promises to be a busy September. That's not to say that things will be silent this week, as there are always things happening in New York politics. We give you a few things to watch for and then a bit of a September preview of upcoming political events.

    One thing to keep an eye on this week is that we are in the

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  • What is Flanagan Looking for From De Blasio on Mayoral Control?

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    Sen. Flanagan, right, celebrates with the governor (Governor's Office via flickr)


    Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan has made it no secret that he lacks confidence in Mayor Bill de Blasio's handling of the New York City schools. Made clear when the state recently extended de Blasio's control of city schools for just one year, on Monday in a New York Post op-ed Flanagan

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  • The Week Ahead in New York Politics, June 8

    New York City Hall

    New York City Hall


    What to watch for this week in New York politics:

    EYES ON ALBANY: It's crunch time in Albany - and one big sign of how important a week it is: the state Legislature is in session FOUR days this week, as opposed to the three that has most often been the case in the post-budget legislative session that began in early April and is due to end on June 17 (a week from Wednesday). There are seven days of session left on the calendar between this week and

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  • The Week Ahead in New York Politics, May 26

    New York City Hall

    New York City Hall


    What to watch for this week in New York politics:

    EYES ON ALBANY: The Legislature is back in session on Wednesday and Thursday this week, two of the final 12 days until session is due to end Wednesday June 17. Will there simply be a big end-of-session deal as in years past? Will there be compromise reached to extend New York City rent regulations, the 421-a real estate tax

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  • Debate Over Evaluations Leaves Teachers Frustrated

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    Governor Cuomo (photo: Governor's Office via flickr)


    A room full of high school students was answering questions on an excerpt from Stephen Hawking's "The (Elusive) Theory of Everything." The result of the exam could significantly affect their academic future. Also hanging in the balance: the evaluation their English teacher would receive - as well as those to be received by their art, Spanish and music teachers.

    "The test is designed to fail both us and the students," said English teacher Jennifer Onopa. In

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