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reading list
June 2, 2009
Opponents of Bloomberg, Klein compile book of critical essays
According to Mayor Bloomberg, under his leadership New York City’s schools have experienced rising graduation rates, soaring test scores, and unprecedented accountability. In blog posts, newspaper op/eds, and research papers, his critics have charged that the evidence doesn’t support those claims. Now, those critics have collected their analysis in a single volume.
The book, bluntly titled “NYC Schools Under Bloomberg and Klein: What Parents, Teachers, and Policymakers Need to Know,” is intended to “to ignite a genuine debate and dialogue about the future of the New York City public school system,” according to the introduction by Diane Ravitch, the education historian and Bloomberg foe.
Published in conjunction with Class Size Matters, the nonprofit run by activist parent Leonie Haimson, the book contains essays by 17 scholars, advocates, and politicians who have long contended that the city is overstating how much schools have improved under the current administration. In some cases, the essayists argue that the city schools have actually deteriorated in the last seven years.
Contributors include Steve Sanders, the original architect of the mayoral control law; Teachers College professor Aaron Pallas, also known as Skoolboy on this site; and New York City NAACP president Hazel Dukes, in addition to Ravitch, Haimson, and others.All of the contributors have been outspoken in their criticism of the city schools leadership. But none of the essays has appeared in its entirety elsewhere, Haimson said, and several are completely original.
Many of the topics covered in the 19 essays have also been reported about here on GothamSchools, such as discharge rates from high schools, civil rights for students, and the disjuncture between state test scores and national test results.
The book is available as a free download or a hard copy for $12 at Lulu.com, the self-publishing site. It will also be for sale on Amazon by the end of next week, according to Haimson.
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June 2nd, 2009 5:48 pm
Uh-oh, this is a book that will surely upset Mayor Bloomberg, Chancellor Klein, and their new head cheerleader, Randi Weingarten.
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June 2nd, 2009 5:48 pm
Hurray to Leonie et al. for getting this published! I’m watching from the other side of the country, but this is important to all of us. We’ve all seen the same thing going on for years now: The “miracle” school reform that emphasizes privatization, charters and teacher-bashing; the barrage of dubious and juked stats and flat-out lies; the press accepting them unquestioned and parroting them; leaders and officials across the political spectrum buying the magical thinking and promoting it. How long will this production keep being repeated before it finally becomes apparent to all that it’s not based on a true story?
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June 2nd, 2009 6:14 pm
I can’t wait to read it. Congratulations to all the authors.
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June 3rd, 2009 3:35 pm
[...] I highlighted a new book by some of Mayor Bloomberg’s most vocal education critics. Now, here’s a video put [...]
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June 4th, 2009 10:34 pm
[...] The claims of success coming out of Tweed, and the Bloomberg supported press are rebuked in a new book featuring critical essays by a range of scholars and reporters. The legislature is scheduled to adjourn on June 22nd, [...]
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