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How is the SIG different from the RttT grant? Both grants have the same four models. Is Arne imposing the $300 million SIG on these supposedly ” PERSISTENTLY LOWEST ACHIEVING SCHOOLS ” because NY did not win the RttT grant the first round? Why am I very suspiciously of Arne’s intention of giving $300 million to NYS?

Watch out and read between the lines! Something is not right.

34 of 57 in NY are “persistent” in NYC?

How long has Klein been in charge?

What were their School Progress Report grades over the last three years?

Here’s the list (per GS links to links):
http (colon) //www (dot) scribd (dot) com/doc/25552634/Persistently-Lowest-Achieving-att-a-finaL

SIG is formula driven, not competitive, however. States must apply and the application is limited to the four options and NYS is partnering w/ Mass Insight, check out their plan, it is quite precise.

MM,
As always, you bring such valid point to this blog. Klein has been the chancellor since 2002. Have his flavor-of-the-term reforms improved the schools?

The chancellor has reorganized the District schools so many times that I have a better chance of finding Waldo than finding answers from the reorganized district organizations that were previously reorganized. If schools are persistently low performing, shouldn’t the blame go to the chancellor since it’s his responsibility to ensure that schools are provided the necessary support in every aspect?

If I were to make as many changes to my grading policy and classroom rules as the chancellor does to the NYC school system, parents would ask the principal to have me remove or have me terminated immediately (if on probation). Yet, the school system will be encountering its 4th reorganization or R to the 4th power, where Klein will make it exponentially impossible for schools to succeed.

I noticed that on the list of these persistently low performing schools, 4 of the schools on the list are the schools deemed for phase out, but the law suit has halted their phase out. Therefore, should those 4 schools truly be on that list since they did not receive any support from Klein and the DoE? Are the other 30 NYC schools also victim of overcrowding and lack of support from the DoE because of receiving students, who are not from their district, from other phased out schools.

Klein understood that the domino effect of phasing out schools and burdening other schools would be in his favor. Close schools, bring in charter schools, weaken the union, and destroy public education. It’s nothing more than a clever, dastardly plan of tearing up the school system bit by bit.

We must stop blaming each other and start holding ourselves all accountable for student learning. We have had decades of the “blame” game and no action. We need to build teacher and school leader’s capacity to work as a team. Lets work on finding a solutions so our students can learn to read, write, think and speak correctly. Teachers with administrators must work together with students and parents to move schools. The DOE is supporting schools but the staff must be willing to work together to improve student achievement. We work for our students!

After reading the EdWeek article, I’m still confused why you would give a school district millions of dollars to implement “school closure.” Does that money get to go to opening up new schools?
School closure doesn’t sound like much of a turnaround strategy to me.
Maybe I’m completely missing something here.

The State has partnered with Mass Insight (www.massinsight.org) to implement a turnaround model. The State and local districts will have to decide which schools become part of the Mass Insight cluster, which schools are closed.

Whether charter schools replace the closing schools will be determined by the cap law. Actually the next, and perhaps final round, of charter school approvals will take place in early June … applications are due May 5th, there are 18 charters remaining under the current 200 cap

NYSED’s Reading First grant application to USDOE also described exactly how it would allocate funds to districts. According to the USDOE OIG audit, NYSED got the money and then gave it out without regard to the process in its approved RF grant application. The NYCDOE applied to NYSED for RF funds. According to an audit from the NYC Comptroller, the NYCDOE then gave RF money to schools without regard to the process in its approved RF grant application. To make things even worse, the NYC Comptroller also reported that the NYCDOE wasted a full 10% of its RF grant on an “unusable” RF web site and couldn’t account for well over 50% of the OTPS funds it claimed it spent on RF.

Since USDOE did exactly nothing to make NYSED give back the RF monies it gave to districts which shouldn’t have received them, and since USDOE and NYSED did exactly nothing to make the NYCDOE give back the RF funds it wasted, as well as those apparently misappropriated, why on earth should anyone think that USDOE will do one single thing to insure that NYSED and NY districts actually do what their SIG grant applications say they’ll do?

The NYCDOE RF score reports I’ve seen were simply horrible. We haven’t seen NYSED’s RF scores for NYS overall, which is a fine indicator of the fact that they, too, were horrible. So it’s unlikely that USDOE can defend its failures re RF and NY by claiming that at least the money went to do some good for some of the kids who probably needed it.

USDOE will give NYSED a lot of SIG money. NYSED will give the NYCDOE a lot of SIG money. Both will spend it however and whenever they choose and to hell with their grant applications and alleged negotiations with unions. And USDOE, when put on notice that this is what they’ve done, will do nothing about it.

USDOE should just send NYSED a check w/a note saying “do what you want with it.” Much will be wasted or stolen; little will actually wind up doing kids any good and USDOE won’t care.

Flunk Duncan.