By Campbell Brown
New York Daily News
“The tenacious New York parents who are challenging the state in court have one goal in mind: ensuring that all of our public school children have good teachers. They know that research confirms the single greatest in-school factor in a child’s academic success is a good teacher. They believe that the state’s guarantee of a sound education for all is absolutely dependent upon — you guessed it — good teachers.”
By Jonathan Chait
New York Magazine
“Paul Farhi profiles Campbell Brown, the former CNN anchor turned education-reform activist, who is working to end strict teacher tenure protections. Naturally, this enrages teacher-union evangelist Diane Ravitch, who not only disagrees with Brown’s position, but expresses offense that anybody should listen to Brown at all:”
By Karen Matthews
The Chronicle
“NEW YORK — A month after a California judge ruled that job protections for teachers violated children’s constitutional rights, one lawsuit making the same claim has been filed in New York, another has been announced and critics of teacher tenure in other states say they are preparing litigation as well.”
By Paul Farhi
The Washington Post
“Campbell Brown used to host a program on CNN with a tough-sounding subtitle, “No Bias. No Bull.” Brown was an equal-opportunity skeptic — “spunky-yet-shrewd,” as the New York Times once described her — who called out liberals and conservatives alike during her hour on the air each weeknight.”
By Stephen Sawchuck
Education Week
“In the annals of education-equity cases, the decision in Vergara v. California was nothing less than a bombshell.
The ruling last month by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge said that aspects of California teachers’ tenure and due-process protections violated the constitutional rights of the state’s neediest children. Within minutes, advocates proclaimed it a win for students who have historically received lower-quality education; others, such as the California Teachers Association, saw it as an unbridled attack on teachers and unions.”
By Anne Michaud
Newsday Opinion
“The lineup sounds like the cast of a new “The Avengers” movie: a former CNN anchor, a former White House spokesman, and a legal team that won a landmark case in California installing a “parent trigger,” which allows public school parents to take over their schools by majority vote.”
By Michael Petro
Albany Business Review
“Six families from across New York State plan to file a lawsuit challenging teacher tenure laws that they believe, “keep ineffective, and even dangerous, teachers in the classroom.””
Opinion
New York Daily News
“Inspired by an earth-shattering California ruling that struck down teacher tenure laws as damaging to children, a group of families is set to challenge New York statutes that keep incompetent instructors in the classroom.”
By Mr. Lew Leone
NEW YORK (MYFOXNY) –
Lew Leone is the vice president and general manager of WNYW-FOX 5. He is taking to the airwaves with his thoughts on current affairs. It’s called “Lew’s View.” The views expressed are not necessarily those of the station or its employees.
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In this commentary, Mr. Leone talks about teacher tenure reform.
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Campbell Brown Addresses New York Teacher Tenure Reforms on Good Day NY
Campbell Brown, founder of Partnership for Educational Justice, was on Fox 5 New York’s Good Day NY this morning discussing PEJ’s efforts to challenge New York State’s ineffective teacher tenure, seniority, and dismissal laws that are preventing too many students around New York from having equal access to quality teachers.
http://youtu.be/wcBIzBlHbdM
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[TAPE] Mayor Bill de Blasio: “I have very little that I agree with Campbell Brown on, so you will not be surprised that I don’t smile on her approach, but that’s something she’s challenging on the state level. I said the other day, and I believe it, here in the city, particularly with our new teachers contract, we are striking the right balance…”
Campbell Brown: “I don’t think we need to make this personal, nor do I think [Mayor de Blasio] should be so dismissive of what parents are saying. This isn’t about me, this is about six parents whose kids are in failing schools, who are so frustrated and so fed up. They don’t believe that politicians are doing anything to address it, and so they’re going to the courts and they’re filing a lawsuit.”
“I think what [the City is] saying is ‘give us a chance, let us tinker around the edges’, and my view – and I think the view of a lot of frustrated parents is you can’t protect the status quo and reform the system so that it works better for kids. You can’t do both. And if you’re protecting the status quo – and the status quo is a system geared toward protecting adults, not doing what’s best for kids – then things are never going to change. “
“To be clear, some of these policies keep the most effective, best teachers we have out of the classroom. ‘Last-in, First-out’ seniority rules mean that seniority is the sole reason that if you have layoffs that you have to remove a teacher. So if you have a teacher who gets a highly effective rating and you have to do layoffs, a teacher who has a less effective rating and has seniority would stay in the classroom and the highly effective teacher would be removed. It doesn’t make sense.”
– Campbell Brown, Founder of Partnership for Educational Justice
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ABOUT PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATIONAL JUSTICE
Partnership for Educational Justice helps students, families and communities advocate for the great public schools they deserve though coalition building and legal action. All children, no matter their background or circumstance, deserve access to a sound education. The inequalities that exist in our educational system are the civil rights issue of our time. Motivated by a pervasive lack of meaningful progress in ensuring a supportive learning environment for all students, Partnership for Educational Justice challenges antiquated education laws that prevent public schools from providing all students with an excellent education. Targeted litigation will be supported by an aggressive communications campaign at the local, state and national level. Through its work, Partnership for Educational Justice will mobilize families, community stakeholders and organizations to form effective coalitions that increase pressure on legislators and other decision makers to reform our educational system.
Founded by Campbell Brown, an award-winning journalist and writer, Partnership for Educational Justice is in the process of becoming a 501c3 organization.