GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

Question: If you’re Chancellor Joel Klein, how do you celebrate not having to lay off your newest 4,400 public school teachers?

Answer: By partying with a few dozen of those rookie teachers, of course.

Chancellor Klein spoke to public school teachers, most of them recent hires, hours after Mayor Bloomberg announced there would be no teacher layoffs.

By “partying” I mean sipping what looked to be Coke while addressing a small crowd of young teachers at a Hell’s Kitchen bar. The teachers were a sympathetic crowd: Brought together by Educators 4 Excellence — a group created by teachers who hope to influence the public debate over seniority and teacher evaluations — the teachers gathered Wednesday evening to hear Klein speak. (more…)