GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

• For the first time, seniors at city high schools will have to go to school all day this year. (Insideschools)
• Rudy Giuliani says the greatest regret of his mayoralty was not reforming the city’s schools. (Larry King)
• The world of competitive Scrabble has been rocked by a small-time cheating scandal. (Gawker)
• Mark Fusco says bringing the community into his classroom helped his students a lot. (GS Community)
• Andy Rotherham argues that Mitt Romney’s vice president pick matters little for education. (Eduwonk)
• An English teacher says the debate over whether algebra should be required is misplaced. (SchoolBook)
• The U.S. DOE is making it very hard for small districts to compete in RTTT-District. (Politics K-12)
• A UFT analysis links charters’ suspension rates, shrinking cohorts, and rising pass rates. (Edwize)
• This year, NBC News’s three-day “Education Nation” summit is focusing on solutions. (NBC)
• ClassDojo, a website that helps with classroom management, is growing more popular. (Teacher Beat)

As we reported last week, the education advocacy group New Yorkers for Great Public Schools has been laying low this summer. But in its first big splash, the group is directly attacking the financial ties of StudentsFirstNY, an advocacy group that prompted them to form in the first place earlier this year.

In a report scheduled to be released tomorrow, the group dug into the political contributions of people who are supporting StudentsFirstNY and StudentsFirst, an associated national organization headed by Michelle Rhee.

In the report, titled “Students First Romney First”, the group calls out supporters of both the local and national organizations for also supporting Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. Supporters of both StudentsFirstNY and StudentsFirst have contributed over $2 million to either the Romney campaign or third-party super PACS that support Romney, the report says.

The report focuses on people who sit on StudentsFirstNY’s board who either work for Romney or have helped fundraise for his campaign. That includes two members who used to back President Obama but have since crossed party lines. Hedge fund managers Daniel Loeb and Paul Tudor Jones, who founded the Robin Hood Foundation, have been vocal critics of the Obama administration for its handling of the national economy. After originally supporting him in 2008, they have recently helped fundraise to defeat him in the 2012 election.

(more…)

Inside a Columbia University building, hundreds of teachers rubbed shoulders while chatting up recruiters from 80 schools.

A late-summer city teacher recruitment fair bustled with newly-trained Teaching Fellows and experienced teachers still looking for jobs yesterday.

But no one was lined up to talk to leaders from Food and Finance High School shortly after 4 p.m.

The school has top marks from the Department of Education and a graduation rate that far exceeds the city average. But the fair was less than fruitful, recruiters said, because they only have one position available: a social studies job that is subject to city hiring restrictions.

“All of these young candidates are coming in bright eyed, and yet there’s a freeze on history,” said Joseph Clausi, the high school’s recruiter and an assistant principal. “They come here with these great resumes, and we can’t even talk to them.”

His was among close to 80 schools attending the fair. Others, like Pelham Academy of Academics and Community Engagement, a Bronx middle school the Bronx Theater High School, and representatives from the New Visions Network of schools had lines snaking around the rows of booths set up in an auditorium at Columbia University.

 The city has been slowly lifting its three-year-old hiring restrictions, which have limited the numbers of new teachers who can compete for jobs with teachers currently in the city’s system. But there is still a hiring freeze on some teaching areas and subjects, such as high school social studies and regular elementary school positions.

The event was open only to city teachers hunting for new positions, as well as Teaching Fellows, Teach for America recruits, and teachers from outside the school system who had registered with the Department of Education. City officials told principals not to advertise the time or location, which were once posted on the internet but later removed. (more…)

Later this week, when the Department of Education announces the number of teachers who received tenure last year, it’s likely that the tenure rate will be lower than ever.

It used to be that virtually all teachers who completed their third year were awarded tenure, which confers added rights. But ever since Mayor Bloomberg vowed to end “tenure as we know it” in 2010, fewer teachers have gotten tenure each year. Last year, fewer than 60 percent of teachers up for tenure received it; most of the rest had their probationary periods extended, sometimes for a second time.

But for a group of teachers who were told earlier this year that their tenure recommendations were being rescinded, there is better news. They’ll be receiving tenure after all.

In June, GothamSchools reported that tenure-eligible teachers working in some struggling schools were having their probationary periods extended, even when the superintendent, who is supposed to make the final call, agreed with their principal’s recommendation for tenure. (more…)

• A new study found that Los Angeles students who entered new schools saw their test scores jump. (AP)
• New Yorkers whose parents brought them the country illegally can now apply for work papers. (NY1)
• Police made about four arrests a day last year in schools. (GothamSchools, Post, SchoolBook, WSJ)
• Two students who chronicled the closure of their school, Paul Robeson, need financial aid. (Daily News)
• A city-run summer program is aimed at boosting high school students’ tech skills. (GothamSchools)
• Juan Williams: Schools that use technology well could fix a struggling education system. (WSJ)