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who should rule the schools
November 24, 2008
Pro-mayoral control group has new name and will get a blog, too
The nonprofit pro-mayoral control advocacy group that was originally titled MASS, for Mayoral Accountability for Student Success, is now called Learn NY, and its official first day of existence is today. The group has close ties with the Bloomberg administration, but it is not being funded by the mayor, officials said in a background press conference with reporters this morning.
Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters has already done impressive digging into the group’s media strategy. A spokesperson for the group confirmed to me today that the blog commenter Haimson noticed voicing his passion for mayoral control is indeed on the payroll of Learn NY. Brian Keeler, an online-media specialist who ran unsuccessfully for state senate in 2006 with the help of a following he built at Daily Kos, has been posting positive comments on this blog, Leonie’s, and others. He is also an employee of the Web design firm that built Learn NY’s Web site and will write a regular blog on the site, the spokesperson, Julie Wood, said.
Something that will surely be asked — especially by critics of mayoral control and the Bloomberg administration, including Haimson — is how much of a “MASS” organization Learn NY really is. This is an important question to ask, for sure, just as it will be important to ask of groups opposing mayoral control. The question in this case is difficult to answer, partly because the pro-mayoral control forces have been circling for a while, but with some unexplained zig-zags.
First, there was the news, from Adam Lisberg at the Daily News, that a pro-mayoral control campaign was being led in part by Emma Bloomberg, Mayor Michael’s daughter and an employee of the Robin Hood Foundation. The foundation invests in charter schools that are generally strong mayoral control supporters. Then, Jenny Medina and Elissa Gootman reported in the Times that a campaign would be called MASS; that it was expected to have Deputy Chancellor Christopher Cerf serve as informal liason to the Bloomberg admnistration; and that Geoffrey Canada, the CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone and chairman of MASS’s board, would recruit additional board members.
Now, MASS is calling itself Learn NY; has the same original three board members; and is disavowing all ties to the Bloomberg administration (though its leaders say that they have had conversations with administration officials). The group is also staking out a position that tacitly accepts two of the most-repeated criticisms of Mayor Bloomberg’s rule of the schools, pushing for a way to increase parental involvement and for a way to increase transparency and access to data.
Here’s the key excerpt from Canada’s introductory op/ed, published in Sunday’s Daily News:
There is more data available now than ever before, but parents and citizens deserve to have full confidence in its accuracy. An independent organization should be formed to analyze school performance and policy effectiveness. There should also be increased fiscal transparency, with audits to ensure that money is going toward children and learning.
The Department of Education has not done nearly enough to engage parents. Parents should have more notice before major decisions, like school closings or the cell phone ban, are made. And they should be given forums to voice their opinions - not merely free-for-all complaint sessions, but substantive discussions that are taken seriously. The DOE should establish community engagement benchmarks to monitor progress toward greater involvement of parents.
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November 24th, 2008 7:45 pm
Why do I envision Canada saying this while sitting on ventriloquist Bloomberg’s lap?
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November 24th, 2008 7:49 pm
This is only part of the ongoing, outrageous Bloomberg strategy to dominate media coverage, propagandizing his work rather than allowing an unweighted public dialog. This is a frightening misuse of public power, however clothed as private advocacy. Another example is an October 29 Education Week “Commentary,” co-authored by an Education Week Board Member no less, which featured Klein bemoaning his supposed failure to tell the administration’s story. My Letter to the Editor follows:
“To the Editor:
“I laughed in disbelief at “Telling the Story of School Reform” (Commentary, October 29). The description of Chancellor Klein bemoaning a supposedly inadequate communications strategy is ludicrous. The NYC Department of Education has spent millions, and funneled millions more in private dollars, in a ceaseless media campaign to buy public support for its supposed reforms, backed by suspect data that many observers — including Education Week bloggers Eduwonkette and Diane Ravitch — have debunked. It has successfully spun press reports, spied on opponents (including Prof. Ravitch), and recently killed a negative NY Daily News story by interceding with its publisher after editorial approval. Please spare us the crocodile tears. Bloomberg/Klein have brought Orwellian tactics to public discourse over our schools. If districts are to tell stories of reform, they should be true and responsible to public, rather than political, interests.
David C. Bloomfield”
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November 24th, 2008 8:34 pm
When are they launching the blog, and what’s its name?
Thanks.
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November 24th, 2008 10:19 pm
Canada’s “movement” is not making much of a first impression. Hire a guy to write your op-ed, build a website and then go around the internet leaving simplistic rah-rah comments about how great Joel Klein is? Is that all there is? A guy? Reminds me of those rich guys who hired Joe Williams to front for them pitching charter schools.
Maybe Canada himself should set up some time to talk to parents with kids in the public schools or even just attend one of those hearings held by the State Senate where people come from all over to rip the mayor and chancellor.
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November 25th, 2008 11:45 am
The refusal of Canada or Hatch to report the sources of this group’s funding call into question their credibility in admitting the need for more “fiscal transparency” when it comes to our schools.
As does the manner in which Brian Keeler, the group’s media consultant, went around leaving anonymous comments on the NYC parent blog and others, exclaiming how wonderful the system is and how it should be preserved, while only disclosing his identity after we had publicly speculated that he worked for this new organization, whcihc does not bode well for this group’s commitment to the goals of accountability and transparency.
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November 25th, 2008 3:22 pm
So many blogs to check with so much subterfuge behind them…I’m not too sure I have the time. I’ll just stick with Gotham Schools – you’re a great one-stop source for ed news! p.s. No one paid me to say that!
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May 16th, 2009 5:40 am
Вот так,согласен с предыдущими ораторами
Споки Bye -
August 30th, 2009 9:47 pm
How long have you been blogging…your good at it.
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November 16th, 2009 5:05 pm
What I find most interesting in the comments is that most of us admit that this process works, even from a buyer
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January 6th, 2010 6:44 pm
What a wonderful place to learn! Far too many traders want to trade without first finding a effective education in forex. This is undoubtedly why 95% of traders lose. It just doesn’t make any sense to risk your money on something you know so little about.
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January 8th, 2010 4:39 pm
Please explain it a little more, if possible ? Akvaryum
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February 2nd, 2010 10:20 pm
Great Post Of The Day 02-02-2010…
And the winner of best post of the day is presented to……
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