Comments on: Rise & Shine: Vetting training consultants is up to city principals

By: Mr. Flerporillo

Mr. Flerporillo — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 20:18:00 +0000

PD days can definitely mess with parents’ schedules, I agree. On the issue of quality, I’d defer to the teachers who use the services. Do they think they’re worthwhile? If not, what are the alternatives? Not all work done by “consultants” is useless, unless the consultants are from McKinsey & Co. (Another top-billing “consultant” is the American Museum of Natural History — those bloodsuckers!)

And on the issue of money, I’d like to know what portion of this $100 million is federal money earmarked for professional development.

By: Michael M. (parent still)

Michael M. (parent still) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 20:09:00 +0000

I’ll take option 3: that there’s no data on which programs work, and which don’t.

Per the article: “”“If teachers are going to have to show results, why would it be okay for the people who teach them not to?””

AND option 4: PD days wreak havoc on school calendars for kids’ families.

By: Mr. Flerporillo

Mr. Flerporillo — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 18:58:00 +0000

What disgusts you most — that the DOE pays for professional development, or that it pays “consultants” to do it?

Interestingly, the second-highest paid professional-development consultant last year was . . . . the United Federation of Teachers Educational Foundation.

By: Eliminate Consultants

Eliminate Consultants — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 18:17:00 +0000

Seriously, almost 100 MILLION on consultants?
One word — DISGUSTING!!

How in the world does NYC get away with this, and with no shame?

By: Ellen

Ellen — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 18:01:00 +0000

I am confused by your last sentence.
“they don’t yet demand student outcome proof bc that would knock out the vast majority of the vendors and [.....] may not be appropriate.”
What’s appropriate is that someone correlate actions and reactions. If teachers are judged by their students performance, why aren’t vendors judge by their performance: on time delivery, effective equipment or staff development, a sustainable, measurable increase in student performance?
This is just silly! If you bought a device to use at home, you would do the research and vet the vendor…PC Richards, Best Buy, whatever.
If you wanted to learn to dance you would do some research and pick a dance program that met your requirements.
With all of the stuff that is required of teachers and other staff, why would a system as large as this not use a central purchasing department to review, offer guidance and RATE the vendors? Please don’t tell me the system is too big. What does General Motors do? Why does COSTCO consistently provide quality items? If I were a vendor and had a shot at delivering services to 1700 sites, I’d be damed sure to try for the contract.
What do these people do?

By: GGW

GGW — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 17:39:00 +0000

“Whatever (CTU President Lewis) needs, we’re going to do our best to make sure she gets it,” said Nathan Saunders, president of the Washington D.C. Teachers Union. ”If she needs people, we’ll send people. If she needs bullets, we’ll send bullets.”
Um…

By: Guest

Guest — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 15:16:00 +0000

they do vet vendors and put them through laborious contract process

they dont yet demand student outcome proof bc that would knock out s majority and sometimes in fact often may not be appropriate

By: Ellen

Ellen — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 11:55:00 +0000

Why doesn’t the DOE vet the vendors? Because there are so many? That sounds like a five year old who says it’s too hard to learn the alphabet…. there’s too many letters.
In the private sector, which all of the edu-crats love to refer to as an example, businesses make sure their PD is directed towards their needs and make sure to do a proper vetting prior to the actual contract signing. Maybe the DOE needs to pare down it’s vendor lists…or rate the vendors on the list. And word of mouth is not the best way of judging a company’s worth to you as a resource, fact is, or should be.
How can folks at the DOE continue to get away with, ask the principal? What do they do?