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
—
[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
###
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.