A little lady who could end up having a big say on mayoral control

who should rule the schools

January 29, 2009

A little lady who could end up having a big say on mayoral control

by Elizabeth Green, at 4:47 pm

Leonie Haimson, executive director of Class Size Matters, leading a press conference. (Photo courtesy of Haimson)

She is privately (and sometimes not-so-privately) loathed by allies of the Bloomberg administration, dismissed as a rabble-rouser whose loud protests represent just a tiny segment of parents. Yet Leonie Haimson, the executive director of Class Size Matters, who targets the administration on the issue of class size and on other subjects, has powerful allies.

Take just one case: At the State of the State address this year in Albany, Haimson sat in a seat many rows ahead of Schools Chancellor Joel Klein. Did she steal the chair from an unsuspecting innocent? No, it was the gift of Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan, the chair of the education committee, who selected Haimson as her single guest.

“I just love her,” Nolan said. “I feel she’s a real honest advocate and a fellow parent.”

Nolan disclosed this story yesterday in a telephone call. I had just posted a note from Robert Bowen worrying that the teachers union will be the only critical voice heard in the debate on mayoral control. Did Nolan think that was true? I asked.

“Look, I’m a graduate of the school system, and I’m a parent,” Nolan said. “I intend to be as involved as I can be in every aspect of this bill: behind the scenes, in front of the scenes. The person that’s been the treasure for me has been Leonie Haimson.”

The close relationship could elevate Haimson to a powerful role in the backroom deals that ultimately will determine whether the law is scrapped, renewed, or — as increasingly seems likely — revised in some way. In 2002, when the mayoral control law now on the books passed, then-Assembly education chair Steve Sanders was a lead architect

Of course, Haimson herself has often worked closely with the union. But she says she receives no funding from the union, and she helped form a parent commission on school governance that includes some critics of the union, including Bowen. The commission has not yet released its recommendations, but they’re sure to include strong attempts to check the mayor’s power over the public schools.

Haimson said that her bond with Nolan is built on their shared experience as public school parents. “Cathy gets it,” she said. “She has a kid in the public schools, and she understands how parents feel.”

http://nyceducator.com NYC Educator

I’d hang her picture in my classroom, if I had a classroom.
http://sinksalive.blogspot.com KitchenSink

Ms. Haimson is a wonderful champion for children, but sometimes she gets her facts mixed up in her rhetoric, especially when it comes to charter schools. She doesn’t seem to understand that charter schools are public schools, serving public school students, for free.

On her website, she has posted some data about class size in district public schools before and after sharing space with charters. While she points out,

“This data, provided by the Department of Education, reveals that of the 22 schools that currently share space with charter schools, in every borough of the city except for Staten Island, only two schools did not experience a significant increase in class size in at least one grade level, and usually several grades after charter schools were placed within their buildings. ”

Unfortunately for her case, a cursory examination of the data, located at http://classsizematters.org/Charter_School_Sites_Avg_Class_Size.color.xls, reveal that more grades experienced a DECREASE in class size after charters came in. Thirty-six grades at thesee schools went down in average class size, some significantly; twenty-nine went up.

Most telling, the average class size for all grades and all schools in her own data set DECREASED from 22.6 before sharing with charters, to 21.9 after sharing with charters.

What is the opposition to charter schools, Ms. Haimson?
http://www.classsizematters.org Leonie Haimson

I have nothing against charter schools — as long as they don’t take valuable space from regular public schools. There is no doubt that all the new charter schools and new small schools crammed into other public school buildings have made it far harder for existing schools to reduce class size. In a recent survey, 27% of NYC principals said that overcrowding in their buildings had been made worse by new schools or programs inserted into their buildings. Moreover, these new schools often take up critical cluster space, specialty rooms, and rooms needed for intervention services.

Moreover, most charter schools are allowed to cap enrollment and thus class size at lower levels — which is a source of much of their success. If the administration had plans to bring some of the same advantages to all public school students, that would be acceptable; but they don’t. Instead, they are intent on perpetuating a zero-sum game, in which charter school students benefit at the expense of others. And that is simply unacceptable.
Ann Kjellberg

DOE is kidding themselves if they think Haimson “represents” a “tiny segment of parents.” Representing parents is not her job, but there are certainly hundreds of active parents in NYC for whom she has been an invaluable source of information and a cherished ally. The arguments she musters, and their formidable statistical support, reinforce views passionately held by the majority of involved NYC parents, often the fruit of hard experience of the school system under the current administration. We did not need Haimson to arrive at these positions, but she has certainly added tremendously to their sophistication.
http://www.mbpo.org/uploads/StillCrowdedOut.pdf Michael D. Markowitz, P.E.

“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”
– Sen. Daniel P. Moynihan. Leonie lays out the facts that the official (and highly paid) opinon-shapers don’t want you to hear. For a prime example, check out Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s report, “Still Crowded Out,” per website link, behind which Leonie was a driving force. Gotta love her “pitch” that Mayor Bloomberg has… built more stadium seats than school seats. Home run, I tells ya. One would like to think the Powers That Be would THANK her for bringing such matters to their attention.
http://www.sinksalive.blogspot.com KitchenSink

Yeah, I may complain about her opposition to charter schools which I still don’t understand, but there’s no question she has raised big issues that would otherwise be swept under the rug. And “Still Crowded Out” along with “Crowded Out” are excellent reports by the boro prez. I didn’t realize she was behind these.
Mary

I was all for the school accountability buck stopping somewhere rather than being tossed around like a flaming piece of paper, so was open to Bloomberg holding that buck (like he needs more). However, I’m angry he prioritized one sports’ stadium over NYC public schools. While I don’t agree with her on some issues, I appreciate Ms. Haimson for calling foul on this one.
James Eterno

Leonie is the best advocate for the students in the New York City school system. As a teacher, I am so glad she does what she does. I wish she was the Chancellor.
Celia Oyler

Class Size Matters and Leonie Haimson offer advocacy I can count on. I share all her postings with my soon-to-be-elementary-school teachers. Thank goodness she has chosen to dedicate her energy, brilliance, and focus to the common good! We need more public control of public education; we need to hold the DOE accountable to the public!

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who should rule the schools

January 29, 2009

A little lady who could end up having a big say on mayoral control

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