Comments on: Thompson: Grade tampering shows Bloomberg oversells success

By: Bill Thompson (New York) « Puzza…

Bill Thompson (New York) « Puzza… — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:46:14 +0000

[...] ^ http://gothamschools.org/2009/10/29/thompson-grade-tampering-shows-bloomberg-oversells-success [...]

By: Justice

Justice — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:11:40 +0000

The only ones that could attest to the game of Ms Saraceno are Hanna Thacht and Dyanand Sugrim from Media Communication HS in Manhattan who aided her in changing the grades so much that in less than 4 years the Media Communication school’s grading went from an “F” school rating published in all of the Manhattan Newspapers to an “A” school. If the investigation system was a serious one, they should start by investigating those who worked with her previously and figure out many things that the rest of the world know…

By: Michael Fiorillo

Michael Fiorillo — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:43:59 +0000

With apologies to author Mary McCarthy in her literary feud with Lillian Hellman: Everything they say is a lie, including the words “and” and “the.”

By: I noticed that...

I noticed that... — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:24:00 +0000

Churn, churn, churn all you diploma mill schools! We don’t educate. We fabricate!

By: Pogue

Pogue — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:42:49 +0000

The Cheatership Academy

By: Michael M.

Michael M. — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:33:18 +0000

Re Cerf’s comments: Of course there is ZERO accountability for the bogosity of the Shool Progress Reports.

By: Leonie Haimson

Leonie Haimson — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:35:25 +0000

I love Cerf’s comments. Message to principals: Lie, cheat or steal; doesn’t matter to us, as long as you get those test scores up!

By: QueensParent

QueensParent — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:45:31 +0000

EG to me your additional detail makes the story even worse. So they report the allegations, they don’t like that the investigation is taking a while, in other words, they want the principal tarred and feathered quickly, so they call the media? Wow, I’d like to see teacher misconduct hearings go this way. The rubber rooms would be empty.

By: Elizabeth Green

Elizabeth Green — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:39:09 +0000

QueensParent, as you'll see in our story, the teachers at Lehman did report the grade-changing to the Office of Special Investigations. They came to us only after losing hope that OSI would issue a finding. From Anna's story: The teachers approached GothamSchools after some of them had submitted the same transcripts to the Office of Special Investigations, but had not heard back for months and assumed the investigation was dead. The DOE says it is still investigating the matter.

By: QueensParent

QueensParent — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:21:59 +0000

MM I’ve called to SCI at least 10 times with the things I see going on in schools. We’re all supposed to be reporting waste, fraud and abuse in the school system.

By: Michael M.

Michael M. — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:13:30 +0000

QP,
Where’s BLOOMBERG’s sense of outrage?

Not even the usual, “If the charges are true” caveat?

Keep those bogus bonuses rolling, New York.

Would you call CSI (sic) if you saw something showing up Kleinberg’s Wizard of Oz act?

By: QueensParent

QueensParent — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:05:48 +0000

Well Bill Thompson is stupid. I understand there’s an investigation going on but talk about trying a person in the media! He’s already reached a conclusion when the investigation had begun. I’m very wary here. If these teachers were so concerned about what was going on then why didn’t they report it to the Special Commissioner of Investigation instead of the papers? I know I’ve called SCI more than a few times about conduct I have seen at schools during my involvement on the school and district PA. In any event haven’t we had enough of this “guilt by association” type argument that he puts out: “well since one principal may be abusing his authority then it means THE ENTIRE SYSTEM is bad.” What a grim view Bill Thompson has of our school system, certainly not the outlook or qualifications one should possess to lead it.