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brave new world
June 30, 2009
Your guide to the uncharted post-mayoral control landscape
It looks like Governor Paterson’s 7 p.m. extraordinary session failed to renew mayoral control. Mayor Bloomberg has already put out a statement (read it in full below) condemning lawmakers for “being held hostage to partisan politics.”
We’ve published a guide to the uncharted territory of a post-mayoral control world. Here’s a summary:
1. The borough presidents and the mayor convene a new city Board of Education.
2. The Board of Education members elect a president among themselves and begin receiving salaries.
3. The Board of Education selects a chancellor.
4. The Board figures out how to make money flow.
5. Community school boards form.
6. District superintendents are appointed.
Please note this all ideally occurs before the start of summer school tomorrow morning.
The mayor’s full statement:
“I said this afternoon that today, June 30, 2009, would be a day that will tell us an awful lot about our State Senate. Sadly, that has turned out to be entirely true. Like millions of New Yorkers, I had hoped that when push came to shove, our Senators would muster the courage to rise above partisan gridlock and do what’s right on school governance, our sales tax, and so many other issues. Unfortunately, they did not. The fact is, there is broad, bi-partisan support for the school governance bill, but it’s being held hostage to partisan politics. All we want is all 62 Senators to come together and take a vote. Because the Senate refused to act like a responsible body today, come tomorrow, sadly, the lawyers take over in New York City schools. Every decision – from personnel decisions to policy decisions – will be subject to litigation and uncertainty. But make no mistake about it, we will not allow Albany dysfunction to padlock our school buildings or cancel the summer school sessions our kids need to get ahead.
“The Senate’s failure to act today also cost us at least $60 million in lost revenue. That’s what it costs the NYPD to support 600 police officers for a month, or what our Department for the Aging spends to keep all 305 Senior Centers open for eight months. The $60 million the State Senate cost us today could potentially mean layoffs that would hurt families when they can least afford it, and will certainly mean cuts to services that every New Yorker needs.”
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July 1st, 2009 12:00 am
July 1, 2009, 12:00 AM: MONEY can’t buy you love…or control of the schools
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July 1st, 2009 12:05 am
No rioting or Soviet Union stuff to report in District 10 so far . . . stay tuned.
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July 2nd, 2009 10:11 am
I’ve always been amazed at the level of jealously of Mayor Bloomberg’s wealth. I guess you all should’ve worked harder in your own lives. No one GAVE the Mayor any of his wealth — he worked for it and there’s no shame in that, Ellen. In fact it foremost among our American values and what we teach in our schools each day.
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July 2nd, 2009 10:24 am
Dissenter,
I have no problem with Bloomberg’s wealth. Nor with the American dream.I DO have a problem with him using his wealth to corrupt our democracy. Don’t you?
There are millions of hard-working Americans who are not billionaires? Are you suggesting they’re lazy? That Bloomberg is a harder worker? What value being taught in the schools are you refering to? If it’s not on the test, they ain’t teaching it.
If anything, “money can’t buy you love,” IS a value that should be taught in the schools. Then again, under Kleinberg, good test scores can buy you money.
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July 2nd, 2009 11:22 am
I have seen you post numerous times suggesting my son’s test scores and all the other childrens’ tests scores in New York City have been doctored, and yet you have not one iota of proof of this? Your approach is like our former President George Bush– if you say something enough times, then it must be true. And for that matter, if my son’s test scores have been somehow doctored, then all the kids in New York State’s test scores are doctored. Give me a break!
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July 2nd, 2009 11:50 am
D,
Assuming you’re referring to me, but I’m not sure because your comment seems to be a non sequitur: I never suggested “doctoring” in terms of any individual’s test, and certainly not on such a personal level.
I HAVE cited NUMEROUS other news stories, both on GothamSchools and the NYDailyNews as to serious and legitimate questions about:
a) Teaching to the test,
b) Repeat questions,
c) Fiddling with the break points between “3″ and “4″,
d) a DOE program to pay kids for getting good test scores, and moreover…
e) The NYCDOE and the Mayor playing GAMES with the test results to justify their autocracy.None of which is to allege that individual kids’ tests have been mis-scored. But perhaps the rising scores are due to the tests getting easier or easier to predict: http (colon) //www (dot) nydailynews (dot) com/ny_local/education/2009/06/07/2009-06-07_can_you_do_these_math_tests_with_easier_exams_this_year_news_puts_you_to_challen (dot) html
When there have been stories about cheating, such have been extremely rare and localized. And other than enforcement, NOT a policy matter per se about testing in general.
Sorry, but the Big Lie trick is Kleinberg’s, not mine. Got United Colors of Benetton Mailing?
P.S. No need to put words in my mouth casting personal aspersions about anyone’s family. I hope nothing but the best for you and yours, and all 1.1 million NYC kids. Cheers.
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July 2nd, 2009 1:11 pm
So Michael M in other words, if it were the case, as it was like in the year 2000, when like only 35% of NYC kids were passing State tests, were you arguing that the tests were too easy then or perhaps doctored or too difficult? The logic just does not hold.
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July 2nd, 2009 4:42 pm
No one is arguing for a return to 2000. No one. The issue at hand is the accuracy of the brag points from 2002-2009, and the implications for 2009 onward.
Or would you like to talk about how many “graduates” need remedial classes to enter college?
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July 3rd, 2009 11:29 am
Dissenter:
I don’t think anyone wrote that test scores are being “doctored,” which implies changing answers, although that has happened on occasion, according to news reports. When I say that most of these test scores are invalid, I mean that teachers know much of what is on them and so drill the children on the exact items ahead of time. In my 42 years of teaching I was a witness to this year after year. The tests that your child takes are likely not secure. That means that they are often left in teachers’ rooms for several days and are given by classroom teachers who don’t have proctors. There are a thousand and one ways a teacher can “help” a child on a test without touching an eraser. A similar test, with many items exactly the same, is often given year after year. “Teaching to the test” has become widespread since No Child Left Behind and is probably being practiced in every district in the nation. This is why state scores are so much higher than the scores on the National Assessment of Educational Propress (NAEP) which ARE valid. “Teaching to the test” does not mean teaching to the curriculum, which is what teachers should be doing. It means teaching to the exact items on a test, which invalidates it. If your child attends a very high-achieving school, this practice might not be occurring, but it is prevalent in low-performing schools that face severe sanctions for low test scores. If you want to know how your child is really doing in school, go to a teacher’s supply store, purchase a grade level test and administer it. You’ll have an idea of how he is doing.
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Mapping the Budget Cuts
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