Leonie Haimson filed a Freedom of Information Act request for fairly simple information: she asked for the accountability reports on the top officials at the NYC Department of Education. The bad news: there are none. No one at the top is held accountable. Their performance doesn’t matter. It is not measured. They have no growth scores..

Categories Bloomberg, Michael, New York City

35 Comments Post your own or leave a trackback: Trackback URL

Michele says:

June 24, 2013 at 7:57 pm

Accountability is for little people.

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Robert D. Shepherd says:

June 24, 2013 at 8:00 pm

Under the new regime, there are two classes–the lords and the proles. Proles are accountable to the lords, not vice versa. That’s the whole point.

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- Ellen Lubic says:
  
  June 24, 2013 at 8:23 pm
  
  How did America devolve to feudal times? Haimson is an eye opener for anyone who thinks we are a free nation of laws.
  
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  - Harlan Underhill says:
    
    June 24, 2013 at 9:45 pm
    
    We SHOULD be a free nation under the laws of the constitution. What are you doing to take back America for freedom?
- Michael Fiorillo says:
  
  June 25, 2013 at 6:06 am
  
  To get my freedom back, Harlan, I’m going to take your advice and renounce my union membership and defined benefit pension.
  
  That’ll show ’em.
  
  Reply
  - Harlan Underhill says:
    
    June 25, 2013 at 9:10 am
    
    It’s a dilemma for individual flesh and blood. But I see no other way out of the debt. If you were in fact serious, you could resign from the union. Converting the defined benefit pension to something more ethically stable requires a procedure, but I don’t think it’s in place. But when your state goes bankrupt (e.g. for example, Detroit, where the emergency manager is thinking of cutting pensions and moving all retired city workers on to Medicare), you may wish you had been serious.
    
    Even in the private sector, where unions are completely legitimate, in my view, the legacy costs did destroy GM and Chrysler, and Ford undertook buyouts for it seems years to regain its freedom to act. You are very blithe about the ability of an overgrown state funding its pensions by debt to sustain itself JUST because it made promises to its retirees. When the money’s gone, it’s gone. If Democrats would just stop plundering the tax payer and vote in favor of economic growth, SOME, but not all, of the cash crunch would be ameliorated.
    
    Your ironic sarcasm does get at a truth, even though you present it as proof of a ridiculousness.
  - Linda says:
    
    June 25, 2013 at 9:18 am
    
    So says the King of Ridiculousness!
  - Harlan Underhill says:
    
    June 25, 2013 at 9:47 am
    
    Say what?
  - Michael Fiorillo says:
    
    June 25, 2013 at 10:36 am
    
    I take that “proof of a ridiculousness” to be a satisfactory description of your analysis.
readingexchange says:

June 24, 2013 at 8:01 pm

So … the buck stops … where?

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wgersen says:

June 24, 2013 at 8:02 pm

Over my 29 years as Superintendent I never worked for a Board that wouldn’t have fired me with cause if I hadn’t evaluated my immediate subordinates and they, in turn, hadn’t evaluated their direct reports.

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drext727 says:

June 24, 2013 at 8:10 pm

Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Texas Education.

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Patricia Herrmann says:

June 24, 2013 at 8:10 pm

It is all done behind closed doors with a few people in power. Pat

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Jersey Jazzman says:

June 24, 2013 at 8:11 pm

So here’s what I propose:

Every member of Jeb! Bush’s “Chiefs For Change” should release their own evaluations, and the evaluations for their senior staffs, immediately.

If they refuse, they should be subjected to freedom of information laws. If their evaluations are still protected, at least there will be a record that the documents actually exist.

Accountability begins at home.

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drext727 says:

June 24, 2013 at 8:12 pm

Remember the rule…”#h!t rolls down hill”. The little man is always at the bottom holding the bucket.

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- Robert Rendo says:
  
  June 24, 2013 at 8:26 pm
  
  drext727,
  
  I’ll be holding not a bucket, but my metaphorical machete, rifle, and canon.
  
  Reply
  - drext727 says:
    
    June 27, 2013 at 8:29 pm
    
    Fight On Brother…I’m right there with you…
Teacher Alvin says:

June 24, 2013 at 8:20 pm

always has been that way, he who has the money makes the rules to play the game

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TruthtoPower says:

June 24, 2013 at 8:42 pm

Anyone interested in this problem really should check out the Nevada System of Higher Education. NSHE makes the New York City Board of Education look like the most accountable system in the world.

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FLERP! says:

June 24, 2013 at 8:50 pm

“NYC Public School Parents: Independent voices of New York City public school parents.”

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Joel says:

June 24, 2013 at 9:12 pm

Well, that’s a HUGE surprise.

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Mom from District 2 says:

June 24, 2013 at 9:13 pm

For the past few years New York City has asked school families to fill out a satisfaction survey. The number of surveys turned in affects the school’s letter grade (“parent participation.”) This year for the first time they asked us to rate the job being done by the commissioner and the BOE (my only less-than-stellar rankings.)

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George Buzzetti says:

June 24, 2013 at 9:50 pm

The Fish Rots from the Head and that is why most problems are caused by administrators including breaking the child abuse laws as the do at LAUSD. We have massive files on such. Soon time for the D.A.

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Dufrense says:

June 24, 2013 at 10:10 pm

Sadly, I suspect a lack of accountability is rather common in ed deform-happy cities and states these days.

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- DeeDee says:
  
  June 25, 2013 at 1:46 am
  
  You should see charter schools. The CEO has ZERO accountability and a job for life. They always need to fire someone and hold them “accountable” but lo and behold they are never fired because they rule with impunity. Pathetic.
  
  Reply
SherleyKurtz says:

June 24, 2013 at 10:37 pm

Hello!

I want to first thank you for your work. I am working to do my part in Ohio, but I worry it is not enough. These are scary times for education.

I wanted to send a copy of this article your way. The Cleveland Plain Dealer has published the Value Added Scores for over 4,000 Ohio teachers (by name and district) who have been evaluated for the past two years based on data from a single test. The article clearly states that they know the data is flawed, but, as they say “…it was more important to provide information – even if flawed -to help parents understand their child’s education…” (In the “Why We’re Publishing Teachers Value Added Data.” )

This is unbelievable to me. Providing parents with flawed information does nothing to help our students or teachers. It makes parents anxious as they try to navigate the world of education without fully understanding what it all means.

Thank you for keeping us all aware and up-to-date. It is critical we understand this “reform movement” from all angles -across the United States.

http://stateimpact.npr.org/ohio/2013/06/16/grading-the-teachers-search-value-added-grades-for-4200-ohio-teachers/

Sherley Kurtz, Centerville, Ohio

Sent from my iPad

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- duckmonkeyman says:
  
  June 24, 2013 at 11:46 pm
  
  Yes. I posted similar to this blog “about” page. I am trying hard to think of a profession where performance reviews are publicly displayed with the hopes of humiliating people to “improve”. And trying harder to find a profession where it is acceptable that the data be knowingly incomplete and flawed.
  
  Note “Columbus on the Record” and “Sound of Ideas” did a fairly balanced discussion of the Ohio value-add system. Google these shows for archives.
  
  Reply
retiredbutmissthekids says:

June 25, 2013 at 2:51 am

This is in reply to Harlan–way up there. I have to agree with you this time, Harlan.
What, indeed are we DOING? Unlike most Chicagoans (probably), I find it pathetic that the streets were absolutely jammed with people (for hours) due to the Blackhawks win. Where are thousands (yes–it needs to be THOUSANDS) of people
protesting the closing of Chicago Public Schools? Yes, Harlan, sad to say, TOO many people only care about the mundane–celebrities (ooo, Kim & Kanye just had a baby!!), sports and other things that really have nothing to do with their lives–AND we
have to pay an arm & a leg to go to any sports event or entertainment venue.
In fact, in another post today (the one about the return of Rudy Crews to NYC), the subject of pensions (& the doing away with them–for teachers) came up. Sad to say, when we have protests, the numbers just don’t show up. Some people even complain about getting e-mails, asking for simple phone calls, or forwarding information. (That’s why there’s a delete key!)

Like my wise (union!) Dad always said, “He who hesitates is lost.” I have always remembered it, and might I add, “He/she who moves not at all loses.”
Unfortunately, that lack of movement causes us all to lose.

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- Duane Swacker says:
  
  June 25, 2013 at 5:39 am
  
  “Some people even complain about getting e-mails, asking for simple phone calls, or forwarding information.”
  
  Yep, been written up for emailing about educational policies due to complaints by “go along to get along” administrative ass kissers. Their time is coming sooner than they think and that which I’ve been trying to enlighten them about will soon bite the very asses of the ass kissers. And then will they listen? No, they’ll still be toadies.
  
  Reply
  - Harlan Underhill says:
    
    June 25, 2013 at 8:59 am
    
    Sounds so very Dantean. Into which circle do they go?
  - Duane Swacker says:
    
    June 25, 2013 at 1:30 pm
    
    HU,
    
    21st level! See my Devil’s Dictionary of Education entry:
    
    Karmic Gods of Retribution: Those ethereal beings specifically evolved to construct the 21st level in Dante’s Hell. The 21st level signifies the combination of the 4th (greed), 8th (fraud) and 9th (treachery) levels into one mega level reserved especially for the edudeformers and those, who, knowing the negative consequences of the edudeformers agenda, willing implemented it so as to go along to get along. The Karmic Gods of Retribution also personally escort these poor souls, upon their physical death, to the 21st level unless they enlighten themselves, a la one D. Ravitch, to the evil and harm they have caused so many innocent children, and repent and fight against their former fellow deformers. There the edudeformers will lie down on a floor of smashed and broken ipads and ebooks curled in a fetal position alternately sucking their thumbs to the bones while listening to two words-Educational Excellence-repeated without pause for eternity.
  - Harlan Underhill says:
    
    June 26, 2013 at 12:32 am
    
    I like it, especially the punishment.
- Harlan Underhill says:
  
  June 25, 2013 at 8:57 am
  
  I share your sadness. There’s a book, which I haven’t read, but whose title resonates: AMUSING OURSELVES TO DEATH.
  
  Reply
Linda says:

June 25, 2013 at 7:39 am

Even if they had evaluations, Bloomberg would have paid an agency to write what he wanted them to write. It would have been a sham either way.

Let the teachers, students and parents write their own evaluations of the edufrauds.

The NCAQ issues their press release….the National Council for Administrator Quality (or insert your reformy title here: chief, commissioner, director, bullshit artist).

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Corinne Driscoll says:

June 25, 2013 at 10:03 am

Isn’t that true everywhere? I have lost count of the blunders and careless behavior of the administrators in the Syracuse City School District central office. Always demanding that teachers and building principals jump and drop everything when they get a brain “storm”. Then it doesn’t work, or they just forget about it, and pretend it never happened. Who rates them? No one.

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