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stern warning

February 2, 2009

DOE: Teachers union’s mayoral control proposal is regressive

by Philissa Cramer, at 5:44 pm

Here’s what David Cantor, the DOE’s chief spokesman, has to say about the United Federation of Teachers’ forthcoming proposal for how to reform mayoral control:

We are looking forward to a constructive discussion with the UFT about its proposals. Some of the union’s recommendations, however, would send us back to the days when making change was impossible. In particular, the union’s proposal for a central, political Board, with 13 members appointed by nine different elected officials but accountable to none, is an almost exact replica of the worst part of the old system.

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  • http://nyceducator.com NYC Educator

    Clearly Mr. Cantor does not believe in checks and balances in a democracy. That’s not surprising, given his boss has no problem overturning popular elections so he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, however he wants.

    Hardly the sort of example you want to set for children, though.

  • F Harry Stow

    Mr. Cantor’s charge that UFT’s recommendations and other proposals from experts “would send us back to the days when making change was impossible” tells me how uniformed he is about the history of the NYC Public Schools. Instead of relying on talking points provided by City Hall, he should take time to become more knowledgeable about the changes implemented by previous chancellors many of whom provided excellent leadership and accomplished a great deal.

  • Mr. Benjamin

    “Instead of relying on talking points provided by City Hall, he should take time to become more knowledgeable about the changes implemented by previous chancellors many of whom provided excellent leadership and accomplished a great deal.”

    Really? That excellent leadership certainly didn’t further student achievement, did it? Staggering low literacy rates, reprehensible graduation rates, and decades of students ending up incarcerated rather than employed.

    Yes, they did a WONDERFUL job!

  • F Harry Stow

    Mr. Benjamin, I am sorry you are misinformed. Try to do research before you post.

  • Mr. Benjamin

    F Harry Stow, I feel that I have quite some understanding of the prior leadership structures of the BOE.

    If you would be so kind, which chancellors are you referring to that positively impacted student achievement in any sustainable form?

  • F Harry Stow

    Mr. Benjamin, Macchiarola in the late 1970s and early 1980s; Fernandez in the early 1990s; Crew in the mid 1990s and to a lesser degree Cortines who served briefly prior to Crew.
    Folks like Cantor, Klein and Bloomberg focus on the headlines created by the appointed members of the Board of Education. Some members were good and many were not and caused problems for the Chancellors. Macchiarola and Fernandez were exceptional educators. Cortines and Crew were less so yet they acccomplished a great deal.

  • Mary

    Do you have concrete examples of how these former educators were good?

  • Mary

    Correction: …former chancellors, not educators…

  • F Harry Stow

    Mary, I suggest you do some research. Not difficult. Go the library or internet and search. All Chancellors prior to Levy and Klein were experienced and talented educators.

  • Tillie

    Mr. Stow,
    you keep recommending research. Why not just make your point by giving some of the examples you think are out there. I happen to agree with Mr. Cantor (and I don’t always) that the structure of the Board of Ed pre-Bloomberg made it near-impossible for chancellors to make progress. Ironically, I think the chancellors that you listed would also agree with that statement. (Maybe that’s why some of them had such brief terms?) I think there must be a way to set up checks and balances without hogtying the whole operation and without building an organization where everyone’s just looking out for their little fiefdom.

  • F Harry Stow

    Tillie, Macchiarola and Crew served five years plus; Fernandez served three and half and Cortines two.

    Many scholars over the years have critiqued the tenure of the former Chancellors. The good and the bad. It all can be found in the library or online. My expertise is soley based on having served and advised the Chancellors over many years. Look, not all the policy initiatives were successful. Test scores improved, graduations went up, dropouts went down, small schools were created many years before Klein and Gates. Some small schools worked and some did not. Test scores and other measured gains were small. The data was not manipulated for political gain, parents were involved. Why not contact the former chancellors or mayors who appointed them. Why not read some of the evulations by scholars. Cantor, Klein and Bloomberg dismiss the past with one brush. You can’t do that.

  • Loren Steele

    To the mayor checks and balances LOOKS like hogtying. I don’t think the mayor should continue to have carte blanche for every idea he comes up with. Most of his major reforms have conveniently managed to provide a nice profit for some publishing or tech corporation with little or no oversight or competitive bidding process.

  • Tillie

    Yup, I agree that there should be checks and balances, LS. I would just hate for them to look like the old ones, where everyone had to protect their own turf. I’m not sure what the new system would look like, to ensure dialogue and movement.

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