Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, June 19, 2014

6-19-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School:







Harlem Success Academy 1 Has 44% Graduation Rate, 56% Attrition Rate
Eva Moskowitz and her backers like to tout a 100% graduation rate at her schools, but as Norm Scott points out in an Ed Notes piece, it's not a 100% graduation rate when 56% of the students disappear from the school before graduation:The longer Success Charters are in business, the more they get exposed. This one is big. I'm sure the remaining 32 kids out of the 73 who began 8 years ago are fine.


Federal Prosecutor Closes In On Chris Christie
Big news out of Esquire:Paul Fishman, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, wades through the sewage of Christie’s stewardship. Two sources with intimate knowledge of the case say Fishman’s pace is quickening -- he has empaneled a second grand jury, and the U.S. Justice Department has sent assistant prosecutors and FBI agents to work the case.  “What’s taking the most time,” according to one source, “

Cuomo Tweaks APPR, Insists New York Remains A "Leader" In Holding Teachers Accountable
Capital Confidential details the program bill Cuomo released today, along with explanatory memo, that tweaks the APPR teacher evaluation system:Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s program bill tweaking teachers evaluations related to the Common Core rollout has been released. The legislation would for two years protect teachers or principals rated “ineffective” or “developing” if that score was due to poor perfor


How To Take On The Bullies On The Board Of Regents And At NYSED
Sandra Stotsky exhorted parents to not let themselves be bullied by the state educrats who are pushing the CCSS/Endless Testing agenda down the throats of children all over the state.But as Patrick Sullivan pointed out in a comment, it's difficult to bring about changes to the state's education policies when the Regents have the full support of the Democratic majority and NYSED Commissioner John K


Sandra Stotsky: Don't Let Yourself Be Bullied By State Education Officials
Jessica Bakeman at Capital NY:ALBANY—A former Massachusetts state education official who has emerged as a national critic of the Common Core standards told parent-lobbyists at the Capitol on Tuesday that they should fight for their rights and empower their older children as activists. Sandra Stotsky, who helped developed Massachusetts' academic standards when she served as association commissioner
Why Hasn't NYSED Commissioner John King Been Fired?
Statement yesterday from Governor Andrew M. Cuomo:“We’re working on a bill that would make adjustments to teacher evaluations,” Cuomo said at a news conference. “We’re literally working on them as we speak.”Cuomo added it’s the state Education Department’s roll out of Common Core, however, that has created the effect of needing to change the evaluation law, which is tied to Common Core-based testi
6-18-14 Perdido Street School Week
Perdido Street School: Cuomo's "Fix" For APPR Teacher Evaluation Is No Fix At AllUnder Cuomo's reported "fix" for his APPR teacher evaluation system that holds teachers accountable for tests that don't count for students, teachers will still receive low ratings - there will just be a "safety net" on the forced firings:Under a proposal that Gov. Cuomo is supporting in