GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

If the UFT’s television ads are really as effective as Mayor Bloomberg says, the status of teachers is set to rise with the newest one.

An ad that aired late last month took aim at the mayor’s education record, and last week, Bloomberg blamed the attack for his low public approval on education.

The ad premiering today takes a softer approach by focusing on the hard work of teachers and not even mentioning Bloomberg’s name. Titled “Better Future,” the ad showcases four teachers working with students and meeting with parents.

“My students inspire me, and they should inspire us all,” says Christine Wong, a special education teacher who works in Manhattan. (more…)

The United Federation of Teachers is turning up the heat on Mayor Bloomberg with a new television ad marking mayoral control’s double-digit birthday.

In a separate ad appearing in print today, the union is also continuing its appeal to parents in the ongoing fight over teacher evaluations.

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The city teachers union and Joel Klein’s education advocacy organization are engaging this week in a televised game of one-upmanship over layoffs, and the advocates seems determined to win the war for airtime.

Both the union and the advocacy group, Education Reform Now, debuted television advertisements this morning, and ERN just announced that it will begin airing a second commercial this week as well.

The union’s ad targets Mayor Michael Bloomberg, arguing that the mayor is pushing for layoffs while ignoring both parent wishes and the city’s financial realities.

“I don’t know what Mayor Bloomberg’s agenda is, but he should stop playing politics with our kids,” a Harlem parent, Candace Frazer, says in the ad.

The spot also argues that teacher layoffs are unnecessary because the city is carrying over a $3 billion surplus from last year. City officials dispute that figure, claiming that the rollover is not enough to cover the deficit caused by state budget cuts.

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Education Reform Now — the advocacy organization now chaired by former Chancellor Joel Klein — unveiled a TV spot today that shows relatively senior teachers arguing against seniority.

The ad’s debut corresponds with Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s escalating campaign against the “last-in, first-out” law that requires the city to lay off teachers according to their seniority. It shows three city teachers with between four and 21 years of experience in the New York City schools saying that if the city has to lay off teachers, it should do so based on merit. The ad doesn’t say how the city should define merit, or what constitutes a great teacher, questions that the city will have to confront if the law does change. It also doesn’t name the city’s teachers union, like its previous more aggressive ads. (more…)

An issue that dominated California’s Prop 8 battles is reappearing in New York: whether legalizing gay marriage will have an effect on what children are taught in schools.

In an ad campaign by the Empire State Pride Agenda, a pro-gay marriage group, State Deputy Secretary for Education Duffy Palmer assures people that should marriage equality legislation pass, New York teachers would not be forced to teach children about gay marriage.

A group that opposes gay marriage legislation around the country, the National Organization for Marriage, taunted California voters last November with the idea that children could be taught to embrace gay marriage. In one televised ad, a girl arrives home from school and greets her mother with the news that, according to her teacher, boys can marry boys and girls can marry girls.

The Empire State Pride Agenda predicted that similar ads would appear in New York, and they were right — the National Organization for Marriage released their ads yesterday. The Palmer ad, which was designed to preemptively combat the National Organization for Marriage’s ad campaign, was released in early May and is online-only. In it, Palmer, a former Empire State Pride Agenda board co-chair, tells parents that marriage of any sort has never been, and will never be, a part of New York State’s curriculum. (more…)