Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, March 1, 2014

3-1-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School: 

Perdido Street School Week





Oldie But Goodie: Why Eva Moskowitz Is So Outraged By De Blasio Opposing Her Charter Expansion Plan
A Perdido Street School post from August 27, 2013:DNAinfo: Eva Moskowitz Plans To Open 100 News Success Academy Charter Schools From DNAinfo:WILLIAMSBURG — The controversial charter network Success Academy plans to open 100 New York schools in the next decade, DNAinfo New York has learned.The charter chain already has 20 schools in the city with another seven slated to open next year, despite fier
Christie Plans To Use Government Employee Pensions To Distract From BridgeGate Scandal
Because when all else fails, bash the government workers and their pensions:It sounds counterintuitive: A Republican governor entangled in an imbroglio over his combative style girding for an ugly spat with government workers and their Democratic allies over New Jersey’s unfunded pension costs. But this is a Classic Christie Clash — a fight on behalf of forgotten taxpayers, challenging sacred cows


Supporting De Blasio On The Charter School Issue
Michael Fiorillo on the war Eva Moskowitz, Andrew Cuomo and the media launched against Bill de Blasio over the charter school issue:Public school teachers, parents and students are in a tough position here. While De Blasio has not been as strong as people hoped - no surprise to many readers of this blog, I imagine - he nevertheless is making some efforts to right the grotesque inequities caused by
Now Andrew Cuomo Loves Mike Bloomberg And His Education Policies
When former NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg was in office, he was frequently at odds with Governor Andrew Cuomo.It was a territorial thing - both of these grown up little boys like to be the center of attention and don't much like when someone else is getting some at their expense.Thus the Cuomo-Bloomberg relationship was rife with tension and neither of these guys seemed to much like the other. With Blo
Governor Cuomo Not Bothered That Charter School Teachers Are Not Evaluated With His APPR System
While defending the charter school sector today in a less than subtle dig at de Blasio, Governor Cuomo was forced to respond to the loophole that allows charter schools to keep from evaluating their teachers with the governor's teacher evaluation system:Gov. Andrew Cuomo did his best to weigh in on the decision by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration to cancel “co-location” agreements with three

YESTERDAY

The Phony "War On Charters"
That's the frame that Eva's getting on the stories today - de Blasio is waging a "war on charters.Saw that frame in the Post.Heard it on WCBS 880 too.NYC Educator says WNBC 4 ran with the same frame.It's Eva's frame, plain and simple.That's called stenography, not journalism, and that's what you're seeing around a lot of the Eva stories today. Let me know when de Blasio starts closing charter
Governor Cuomo Pushes Mayoral Control Of Schools In Cities Around The State
Governor Cuomo, who last week told us he has nothing to do with education policy, is this week pushing to give some mayors around the state control of school districts in their cities:ALBANY – If Mayor Byron W. Brown wants to take control of the Buffalo school system, he is going to have to spend political capital – and taxpayer money.Property taxpayers in Yonkers, whose mayor exerts influence ove
Eva Moskowitz Holds Children Captive To Get Parents To Stay For Anti-De Blasio Press Conference
From Ed Notes:Eva Moskowitz held a press conference today in our school- for free- all the while utilizing NYC DOE property (and our sound system) while blatantly refusing to follow DOE protocol. She did not obtain the proper permits for holding a press conference/rally inside the building, let in press without prior approval from the DOE and risked the safety and security of all the children in t

FEB 27

Poor Eva
Love the frame from the NY Post on this story - De Blasio starts his war on charter schools:The de Blasio administration is blocking the opening or expansion of three Success Academy charter schools run by Eva Moskowitz. The charter schools received approval last year from former Mayor Mike Bloomberg to operate rent-free in existing city buildings starting in the fall. But at de Blasio’s behest, t
Chancellor Farina May Get Another Beautiful Day
There is the possibility of a major storm early next week that could make for an interesting school day on Monday.Here's the National Weather Service from this morning:from upton...MODELS HAVE COME IN BETTER AGREEMENT ON A POTENTIALLY SIGNIFICANTSTORM WHICH SHOULD IMPACT THE AREA FROM SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAYNIGHT. THE ECMWF HAS TRENDED FARTHER OFFSHORE WITH ITS SURFACELOW...AND ALSO TOWARDS A
Andrew Cuomo Looks To Help State Senate Stay Republican
Tony Avella joined with the Republican-leaning "Independent Democrats" yesterday, so the chances of the State Senate going back to the Dems is fading fast, but the NY Times reports Governor Cuomo may also be helping to try and keep the State Senate Republican:ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has raised an imposing $33 million, is riding high in the opinion polls and is expected to cruise to

FEB 26

Chancellor Farina Says Make Light Of The State Tests To Relieve Student Anxiety
Beth Fertig at NYC:As city teachers prepare for the second year of more difficult state exams, Chancellor Carmen Fariña urged them to lighten up a little. In her weekly email to principals, the chancellor acknowledged teachers and families might be stressed about the state assessments in April. Her advice? "A good way to ease these concerns, especially for younger students, is to share Judith
Governor Cuomo Says There Should Be A Superhero Named After Him
Try not to take a sip of any liquid while reading this:Super Mario, meet Super Andrew.Gov. Andrew Cuomo today suggested a new superhero based on his stint as governor, while taking a break from budget negotiations in Albany to announce a deal to film a new series based on the Marvel comics characters in New York.“It just occurred to me as I was sitting here, there’s a sequel here … I can see it: B
Eva Moskowitz Only Closes Success Academies When She Needs Kids For A Photo Op
Students at Success Academies don't get too many days off from school - except when Eva Moskowitz needs them for political reasons. New York City charter school leaders are planning a massive rally at the state Capitol next Tuesday, as they pivot their advocacy to Albany afer failing to make progress with the de Blasio administration.About 2,000 students and parents from New York City and upstate

FEB 25

How Is Pushing Through A Mandated Teacher Evaluation System Not "Setting Education Policy"?
From State of Politics:It’s a “silly question” to wonder who should setting education policy in New York: the governor, or the state Education Department, Gov. Andrew Cuomo argued in a radio interview on The Capitol Pressroom on Tuesday.Cuomo was responding to a Siena College poll released this morning that found a broad majority of New Yorkers — 62 percent to 21 percent — support the state Educat
Will Governor Cuomo Help His Charter School Allies?
Eliza Shapiro at Capital NY:Operators of charter schools in New York City are looking to Albany for support after failing to gain traction on a series of core issues with local elected officials or the de Blasio administration....Charter groups are beginning to plan Capitol-based actions for the next few weeks and looking to assemblymembers from city districts to push for state funding to help co-
Siena Poll On Common Core Almost Worthless
The headlines on all the stories about the Siena poll released this morning that asked New Yorkers about Common Core look something like this one from the Rochester paper:Poll: NY voters split on the Common Core, back moratorium The story starts like this:Half of New York voters believe the state should delay implementation of the Common Core, according to a poll released Tuesday.Siena College fou

FEB 24

Governor Cuomo Says Common Core "Is The Right Direction" But Implementation Has Been "Too Hasty"
Sheriff Andy Cuomo today in Buffalo:Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in Buffalo offering a summary of his executive budget proposal and talking about new IBM jobs, said the implementation of the Common Core standards has been “too hasty” and needs to be slowed down. While the demand for a slowdown of the State Education Department’s rollout of the new national standards — and the related use of tests to measure
President Obama Shouldn't Have Disparaged The Liberal Arts
A few weeks ago, Obama made fun of art history, comparing it to a useless endeavor that sentences college students who major in it to a lifetime of poverty and misery.But the NY Post has an editorial that suggests the liberal arts are not the poverty-inducing, misery-causing majors people like Obama claim them to be:In popular lore, a liberal arts major is held to be a prescription for poverty in
Wall Street Bankers, CEO For Cuomo
From the Post:Gov. Cuomo is making another pitch Monday for Republican heavy hitters to back his re-election campaign.Home Depot founder Ken Langone is hosting a “Republicans for Cuomo” event at the Harvard Club at 8:30 a.m. Cuomo will address the well-heeled Wall Street and real-estate titans and field questions.David Malpass, who ran in the 2010 Republican US Senate primary, also was involved in
Governor Cuomo Pals Up With Banker/Criminal John Mack For Wall Street Outreach
Jimmy Vielkind at Capital NY:ALBANY—Governor Andrew Cuomo is utilizing John Mack, a senior adviser to Morgan Stanley who the governor recently brought on to be an adviser on global trade, to help him navigate the titans of Wall Street, according to schedule documents released by Cuomo's office.Cuomo began regular meetings with Mack, a former C.E.O. of the investment bank, in the fall of last year.

FEB 23

Mulgrew Helps Push De Blasio's Pre-K Plan
Via State of Politics, here's a Crain's piece showing UFT President Mulgrew pushing de Blasio's pre-K plan:Ahead of budget negotiations in Albany, two of the state's most powerful labor leaders are meeting with New York City lawmakers to encourage them to push Mayor Bill de Blasio's city pre-kindergarten plan, a source in attendance said.The Friday afternoon meeting is being held at the headquarte
The Daily News Can't Wait For The Security State To Replace Unionized Doormen
The Daily News has a propaganda piece cheerleading for technology that will replace doormen while still making sure the riff-raff don't get where they don't belong: An Israeli general is at work on a “biometric security” system that he believes will have New Yorkers tossing out their keys and maybe ditching their doormen, too. Using sophisticated scanners that can recognize a person’s face, voic
How The Chinese Rig Their PISA Scores - And Why It Doesn't Matter Anyway
The next time some education reformer type spews alarmist clap trap around the PISA scores, you can lay this on them:Chinese experts are also less impressed than Truss by the Pisa scores. "Even though Shanghai students scored well on the test, this doesn't mean that Shanghai's education system doesn't have any problems," said Lao Kaisheng, a professor in the education department of Beiji

FEB 22

Many In China Hate The Chinese Education System - Even If Arne And Barack Love It!
From The Guardian:The streets surrounding Shijia primary school in Beijing were mobbed by a crowd of parents so dense that cars were obliged to beat a retreat.At 3.45pm on Friday, 11-year-old Zou Tingting, five minutes late, bounded through the school's west gate and into her waiting mother's arms. Tingting's classes were over, but her day was just beginning – she had an hour of homework, plus les
Here's What Common Core And Education Reform Will Not Fix
We keep hearing that Common Core is going to make kids the nation over "college and career ready," but that platitude assumes that there are actually "careers" available for kids to do (and get paid for) when they grow up.These days, that's a dicey proposition - as Robert Reich points out:If you ever wonder what’s fueling America’s staggering inequality, ponder Facebook’s acqui