New York Daily News
“Thursday night, Mayor de Blasio will be sharing his take on the state of our city, highlighting what he claims are improvements across the five boroughs. But for many families living in neighborhoods with struggling schools, the state of our city is anything but strong. These families deserve a mayor who will put their children first, and do the hard work to turn around our failing school system. Their stories paint the real picture of the state of our city.”
Education Week
“Over the next week I’m going to be writing about some of the key education policy issues bubbling up in the states in 2016, with examples drawn from the local advocacy work our 50CAN network engages in every day across the country.
In this first post, I want to spotlight a recurring issue in one state that makes a larger point about the education world: When it comes to ensuring all kids receive a high-quality education, advocacy isn’t optional. Even when policies are having a real, positive impact on students and communities, educators face daily, fight-for-your-lives battles to simply continue their work serving students. Supporting these leaders and the families they serve takes committed advocates who never give up.”
NY State of Politics
“Nearly 90 percent of voters say corruption in New York’s state government remains a serious problem, but a plurality of voters believe Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s top priority in 2016 should be education, according to a Siena College poll released on Monday.
The poll found Cuomo’s favorability rating holding relatively steady with voters, 52 percent to 43 percent. His job performance rating, last month clocking in at a negative 39 percent to 59 percent, now stands at 42 percent to 58 percent, the poll found.”
New York Post
“Who will control New York City public schools on July 1?
The question has become a referendum on Mayor de Blasio’s leadership. De Blasio requested permanent mayoral control of the schools last year. In June, an unimpressed state Legislature renewed it for a single year.
De Blasio was essentially on probation.”
Chalkbeat NY
“The contest to head New York’s Board of Regents and lead a new era of state education policy is heating up.
Regent Betty Rosa from the Bronx said she wants the job, while Regent Roger Tilles of Long Island said he is not actively campaigning, but would like the position. Lester Young, a Regent from Brooklyn who has been at the forefront of an effort to improve education for young men of color, has also been floated as a potential candidate.”
The Washington Post
“Education experts have long viewed teacher turnover as a negative factor that erodes student achievement and contributes to an unstable school environment. But a new study of IMPACT — the controversial D.C. Public Schools teacher evaluation system that has been accused of contributing to the city’s higher-than-average turnover — suggests that not all turnover is created equal.
The departure of teachers who score poorly on IMPACT is actually a good thing because student scores on math and reading tests tend to improve substantially after such teachers depart, according to a working paper to be published Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research.”
New York Post
“Give Mike Mulgrew fresh points for chutzpah. In his never-ending quest to crush the competition — public charter schools — the United Federation of Teachers chief is calling on Albany to impose stiff penalties, even closure, on charters that don’t meet quotas for ‘high-need’ students.
The big irony? The UFT itself admits that charters are teaching a lot more of these kids than they did just a few years ago.
As The Post’s Carl Campanile reports, from 2008 to 2014, city charters doubled their percentage of enrolled students whose primary language isn’t English. And students with disabilities rose from 10.2 percent to 14.5 percent.”
BAEO
“Black parents, educators, elected officials, clergy, students and other community leaders must remain strong advocates for high-quality educational options inside schoolhouses, at school board meetings, and inside state capitals, affirms a new report released today by the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO)- a national education advocacy organization. The release of the report coincides with National School Choice Week (NCSW) and underscores the need for more high-quality education options for Black children across the country.”
By Nate Bowling
“I want to tell you a secret: America really doesn’t care what happens to poor people and most black people. There I said it.
In my position as a Teacher of the Year and a teacher leader (an ambiguous term at best), I am supposed to be a voice and hold positions on a host of ed policy issues: teaching evaluations, charter schools, test refusal, and (fights over) Common Core come to mind. I am so sick of reading about McCleary (Washington’s ongoing intragovernmental battle for equitable funding for K-12) I don’t know what to do with myself. But, increasingly I find myself tuning out of these conversations. As a nation, we’re nibbling around the edges with accountability measures and other reforms, but we’re ignoring the immutable core issue: much of white and wealthy America is perfectly happy with segregated schools and inequity in funding. We have the schools we have, because people who can afford better get better. And sadly, people who can’t afford better just get less–less experienced teachers, inadequate funding and inferior facilities.”
New York Post
“It helps to be in the good graces of the king — or, in this case, the queen.
As Yoav Gonen reported in Wednesday’s Post, Carmen Fariña has spent years handing out job opportunities to Patricia Peterson, the daughter of a close Fariña friend.
Peterson got three promotions between 2002 and 2005, when Fariña was a superintendent and deputy chancellor under then-Chancellor Joel Klein. Fariña pushed two of the promotions — and created the position for the third.”