Posts from November 2009
Klein: Bloomberg re-election will mean a “permanent culture shift” for schools
Schools Chancellor Joel Klein congratulated Department of Education staff this morning, saying their work in the public schools contributed to the re-election of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
“Mayor Bloomberg’s continuity of leadership has led to historic achievement gains and what I hope is a permanent culture shift — creating a school system that puts the interests of students above all else,” Klein wrote in an e-mail sent to DOE employees this morning.
The note is vague about what changes schools may see, though it does mention initiatives that have just begun, including School of One, new demo schools for vocational education and the mayor’s push for more charter schools. (more…)
term limitations
November 4, 2009
Will Bloomberg’s third term bring big change to city schools?
Mayor Michael Bloomberg delivered a victory speech last night promising, among other things, that the city’s schools would see even more changes in his third term.
“If you think you’ve seen progress over the last eight years, I’ve got news for you, you ain’t seen nothing yet,” the mayor whooped, his face flush with triumph.
Despite these declarations, many observers wonder if the mayor’s greatest overhaul of the city’s schools isn’t already behind him. The last eight years have seen Bloomberg win mayoral control of schools, wrestle work rule concessions out of the teachers union in 2005, and give principals power over how they apportion their budgets. The mayor has staked his claim to a third term on the idea that he needs more time to transform the schools, but whether he’ll add a few touch-ups or knock down walls is the subject of intense speculation.
Some, like executive director of Democrats for Education Reform, Joe Williams, believe the mayor will make good on his promise of delivering more of the same, and therein lies the problem. (more…)
More goodbyes (and a hello) from the DOE press office
Another member of the truth squad is leaving the Department of Education: deputy press secretary Andrew Jacob departed the press office this week after four years there. Regular readers of this site will recognize Jacob from his comments on data, testing, progress reports and school enrollment. We expect to hear again from him soon — he starts today in his new position as a policy communications manager at The New Teacher Project.
In spite of our subtle suggestions that the DOE give us the files of departing press aides, officials said they hope to replace Jacob and they’ve already brought in a new press officer to replace Melody Meyer, who left the department a month ago. Danny Kanner, most recently spokesman for David Yassky’s comptroller campaign, has already begun work and we welcome him to the fray.
, at 12:33 pmA look at how public school parents cast their ballots
Mayor Michael Bloomberg won re-election last night by slightly more than 50,000 votes, beating opponent William Thompson by a narrow margin in an election with one of the lowest turn-outs in the city’s recent history, the New York Times reported this morning. The Times also has an interesting break-down of exit polling information. It includes a couple of figures about how New Yorkers with a stake in the schools voted:
- A quarter of voters reported that they have children in public schools. Of those voters, 55 percent cast their ballot for Thompson, with 43 percent going for Bloomberg.
- Turnout came in at around 1.1 million voters, so that works out to be about 151,000 parents casting their votes for Thompson and around 118,000 parents voting for Bloomberg.
- Around 16 percent of voters, or about 176,000 people, said that education was the one issue that mattered most in deciding how they voted. That group went to Bloomberg, 57 percent to 40 percent. (more…)
Taking bets on Joel Klein’s hypothetical successor
Mayor Bloomberg might be guaranteed four more years in office, but that doesn’t mean Schools Chancellor Joel Klein is, David Bloomfield writes in the community section.
Who might replace Klein if he leaves Tweed? Bloomfield highlights several possibilities, including Chief Schools Officer Eric Nadelstern and New Visions for Public Schools President Robert Hughes. And he’s looking for more suggestions:
, at 8:52 amAssuming Bloomberg is a lame duck, his choice of Chancellor — or a decision to keep Klein — is especially hard to predict. Since the selection of Chancellor need not be approved by the City Council or other body, the choice is largely the Mayor’s alone. So choose from the above or write someone in: The betting window is now open to name the next person responsible for educating over a million of our kids.
Leadership, Law, and Policy
November 4, 2009
Our Next Chancellor
With the mayoral election decided, it is time to speculate on Joel Klein’s successor. Yes, even with Mayor Bloomberg’s victory, the current Chancellor will soon be history.
This prediction probably assures Klein’s job into the next century (with serially-extended term limits and a hefty mayoral investment in cryogenics, it could happen!) but eight years seems enough for the Chancellor, who has a history of short-term jobs and immediate prospects as an internationally-acclaimed education consultant. Also, believe the rumor that Bloomberg traded the Chancellor’s head for the Legislature’s renewal of Mayoral Control and that a new Chancellor will help Bloomberg counter charges of third-term lethargy.
So, probably cursing the chances of anyone listed below (and I deny that intent), who are the likely candidates to become the next Chancellor of the nation’s largest public school system?
Paul Vallas: Vallas has headed school systems in Chicago, Philadelphia, and the Louisiana Recovery School District, where he now works. (more…)
Headlines
November 4, 2009
Rise & Shine: Bloomberg wins third term by just 50,000 votes
- Mayor Bloomberg has won a third term, but by a much smaller margin than anyone anticipated. (Times)
- Harlem Children’s Zone founder Geoffrey Canada was key to keeping Obama away from the race. (Times)
- President Obama and Arne Duncan are plugging Race to the Top in Wisconsin today. (USA Today, AP)
- Bronx mom Mona Davids is a one-woman advocacy group for charter schools. (GothamSchools)
- Brooklyn’s PS 261 is requiring students to spend 15 minutes a day practicing penmanship. (NY1)
- “Precious,” a new movie about a city student, shows how hard it is to depict teaching on screen. (WNYC)
- Readers write in with addenda to Susan Engel’s proposal for improved teacher training. (Times)
- The Wall Street Journal picks up on the recent study that finds benefits to charter school competition.
nightcap
November 3, 2009
Remainders: Coffee and a snack on election day
- Bloomberg bought “coffee and a snack” from a school bake sale after voting today.
- Matthews says Arne Duncan (and all ed secretaries) did more good out of office than in it.
- China ousted its minister of education over anger about school quality and jobless graduates.
- Middle and high school students can get the swine flu vaccine for free beginning this Saturday.
- Using test scores to evaluate teachers will lead to constant turnover in schools, Ravitch writes.
- Ed in the Apple writes there are many missteps that Mulgrew could make in contract negotiations.
- There is such a thing as too much parent involvement, one teacher writes.
- Mayoral control is well and good, but we need more Joe Clarks writes Eduflack.
- Norm Scott wonders how he would have fared with a former student in the current system.
- Weingarten said a new report on attracting and developing good teachers is “disrespectful.”
- LA students mourn a classmate who was shot after leaving a homecoming football game.
- And it’s okay to scream at students, maybe even necessary, just not a lot.
meet the parent
November 3, 2009
A charter school parent gains prominence as loyal opposition
Mona Davids and her daughter, a sixth grade student at Equality Charter School in Co-op City. (Photo courtesy of Mona Davids.)
A Bronx parent who went from charter school foe to cheerleader in under a year is now at the middle of a debate over how to organize charter school parents.
Mona Davids has rapidly gone from being an unknown public school parent in Co-op City to being known by key players in the debate over charter schools and among the highest ranks of the Department of Education. She pops up everywhere from charter school board meetings and charter renewal hearings to district Community Education Council gatherings. She was even featured in a television advertisement for Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s reelection campaign, in which she blasted rival William Thompson’s education record.
A year ago, Davids was on the other side of the battle. As co-president of the parent association of P.S. 160 in the Bronx, she broke the news that the DOE was considering putting a new charter school, Equality Charter School, in the same building. Davids, whose daughter attended the district school, initially helped lead parent protests against siting the charter school there.
But after learning more about Equality Charter, Davids suddenly reversed course, sent in her daughter’s application to the charter school and began helping the charter recruit other students.
As she began to organize parents for Equality Charter School, Davids said that she recognized a flaw in the way charter schools are set up in New York City. Davids was accustomed to working within the structures set up by the Department of Education to involve parents in traditional public schools, mechanisms like School Leadership Teams, Community Education Councils and District Family Advocates. (more…)
experimental education
November 3, 2009
Nearly 100 schools sign up for Gates-funded teacher quality study
A two-year project to study what makes a teacher good or bad is taking root in some of the city’s schools after struggling to bring teachers on board.
The United Federation of Teachers and the city’s Department of Education announced in September that they had joined forces to promote a study of teacher effectiveness paid for by the Gates Foundation. The $2.6 million project, called Measures of Effective Teaching, will look at ways of measuring teacher quality beyond using test scores.
A UFT special representative, Joseph Colletti, said 96 schools, most of them high schools, have signed onto the project. The goal is to have 100.
“They run the gamut from very high performing schools to schools that are challenged, from senior staff, to new staff,” Colletti said.
Though UFT president Michael Mulgrew enthusiastically supported the project, his eagerness took some time to trickle down to the union’s membership. The DOE changed its mid-October deadline for applications to a rolling deadline after too-few teachers applied. (more…)
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