In this article at Huffington Post, Alan Singer has investigated the secret, privately funded apparatus that designs education policy in New York State.
The group is known as the Regents Research Fellows, but they are not subject to any public oversight.
They are appointed by the state commissioner, funded by big foundations, and seem to have more authority than the duly appointed Board of Regents.
It is an unusual arrangement, to say the least, in that the Fellows operate outside the legal framework of state law.
Who are they?
“The initial group of Regents Research fellows included, Matthew Gross, executive director of the fund, who previously recruited business leaders to partner with schools. Gross was originally a Teach for America recruit. Other fellows were Kristen Huff, a former College Board research director who developed their advanced placement and SAT testing programs; Amy McIntosh, formerly CEO of Zagat Survey and a senior vice president at a company that provides business information, previously developed teacher and principal effectiveness strategies for the New York City Department of Education; Julia Rafal, fellow for teacher and principal effectiveness was a TFA graduate and consultant for charter schools; and Kate Gerson. Gerson is promoted as a former New York City teacher and school principal who brings legitimate educational credentials and experience to the table. The reality however is that Gerson only worked for two years at a transfer school for over-aged-under-credited students before leaving for an organization called New Leaders for Schools.
“Later fellows have included Peter Swerdzewski, a psychometrics specialist from the College Board; Joshua Marland, another a psychometrics specialist; Jason Schweid, also recruited from the College Board; Joshua Skolnick, an attorney, assumed Gross’s management and fund raising responsibilities when Gross resigned; TFA graduates Ha My Vu and Joyce Macek; Beth Wurtmann, a television reporter; Jennifer Sattem; Doug Jaffe, a lawyer; Anu Malipatil, a TFA graduate and charter school advocate who also works for the Two Sigma Investment company; and Wendy Perdomo, a New York City DOE bureaucrat with no apparent teaching experience.”
Government in a democratic society should be transparent and accountable. This group is neither.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Based on King’s rigid mindset about “data”, I’m curious if the Regents Fellows are in the shadows promoting Murdoch’s inBloom NY data collection scheme in violation of family and student privacy. It seems King has some explaining to do before he resigns.
Use social media and make the 19 pages of NYSED inBloom data points found at the link below go viral. Register complaints with superintendents, local school boards, NY legislators, Cuomo, etc. and file class action lawsuits to protect child and family privacy in the present and in the future.
Click to access engageny-portal-data-dictionary.pdf
It is sickening to read down this inBloom list, which is, of course, just another instrument for centralized command and control by wealthy oligarchs who intend to use it to create, in the education market, the equivalent of the operating system in the personal computer market–the one piece that everyone has to use (because it is not replicable) and that therefore ensures a monopoly position in soon-to-be-ubiquitous computer-adaptive educational materials.
Parents don’t want the billion dollar computer worksheets and games (adaptive materials) that Duncan, Murdoch, King and Gates are selling.
Thank goodness! Finally some information about this “Shadow” Dept of Ed–the folks who are really calling the shots in NY State, and their wholly inadequate credentials to make any decisions about teaching and learning. No wonder the Common Core/APPR/testing rollout has been such a catastrophe! Those of us who have been watching the David Coleman/Kate Gerson/Ken Slentz show for years now can attest to meeting after meeting in which their gross ignorance of even the most basic principles of school management, school leadership, and NYS curriculum and instruction have been abundantly and appallingly clear. Some of my favorite moments include: “You mean you don’t teach American history in 10th grade?” or “Singapore math is more fascist . . . ” (than what??? I am so upset now that I was distracted and missed the first part of Gerson’s comment) or Coleman’s now famous “No one gives a sh*t about what you feel.” Or dismissing the distinction between measuring “growth” and measuring “achievement” as a mere “nuance.” There have been so many precious moments . . . Of course Slentz is not a “Fellow” but we’ve watched him move to the dark side, to the point where he is now indistinguishable from the other members of this group of TFAs and Harvard educated ninnies and policy wonks. Now, if only Alan Singer would continue to dig . . .
“Or dismissing the distinction between measuring “growth” and measuring “achievement” as a mere “nuance.””
Well, even a blind and anosmic squirrel finds an acorn every now and again.
Although I’m sure that what was said was not based on logical critical thinking but just sheer luck of the tongue.
Let me add to Gerson’s ignorance: “I did not know that teachers wrote the Regents exams.” Keep digging Alan, The New York Times will never do it.
One would have to be completely anosmic not to catch the smell of oligarchical tyranny in what has happened in education not only in New York but throughout the country.
Duane:
“Anosmic” , what a great word. Thanks.
I love the last line of Singer’s article. Let’s get right on that.
” But this case is such a blatant effort to conceal the education policy decision-making process by using private funding and foundations that the people behind it including Commissioner King and Regent Tisch should be called to account and forced to resign.”
My thought is that Carol Burris and Leonie Haimson will pick up on that right away, Dawn!
Just another thing for AG Schneiderman to add to his to do list. Maybe — given that the legislature picks the regents — a little legislative hearing/inquiry is in order? Too many attachments to COLLEGE BOARD for my comfort.
How are these folks any different than lobbyists? This is lobbying taken to a new level.
I’ll support this kind of setup when the teachers’ union gets to set up a “consulting” shop in the education department alongside the Meryl Tisch’s team.
Thirty years of covert lobbying by Republicans and business leaders under the guise of the “non-profit” ALEC and now we’ve got Democrats demonstrating that they can do the same thing, only with even more cunning, since it’s happening right under our noses in the guise of the state Department of Education. I have no disposable income or I would file lawsuits. Is there no one with money that cares about public education enough to sue??? (I’ve given up on waiting for the ACLU and Common Cause to take action.)
When the very politicians, business leaders and people employed in leadership positions in education who are calling for the accountability of teachers and principals are themselves unaccountable, that is a double standard and it is intolerable. Even worse, when the people who are making decisions about the lives of children and educators have gained the power to do so not by democratic processes or because of merit, but by stealth and because of cronyism and the influence of the almighty dollar, that calls for an investigation and consequences. Thanks so much to Alan for getting the ball rolling on this! Keep at it!! –And those with money, please file lawsuits…
CT:
Since 1975 the Governors of NYS have been
Carey (D)
Cuomo (D)
Pataki (R)
Spitzer (D)
Paterson (D)
Cuomo (D)
How did the Republicans in NYS influence Carey and Cuomo?
Who said this was about governors? The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has had less to do with the executive branch than with the legislative branch of state governments. ALEC is a lobby that writes conservative and pro business laws for Republican legislators to introduce in statehouses across the country. They have been doing so covertly since 1973, but they were such a clandestine organization that few people even knew they existed, until it came out last year, with the Trayvon Martin case, that they were behind the Stand Your Ground laws. Then it became known that they wrote much of the privatization legislation that has been passed in state legislatures across America, including laws that promote the expansion of charter schools and vouchers aka “opportunity scholarships”.
See “The United States of ALEC” http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-united-states-of-alec-a-follow-up/
I think the Democrats topped the stealth of ALEC by including the Regents Fellows lobby right under everyone’s noses, within the state DoE, but cleverly positioned by its source of funding to be beyond the reach of regulatory oversight.
CT:
Either one of two situations holds: The duly elected Governor and Legislators of NYS have endorsed education policies that are compatible with those advocated by ALEC or ALEC has somehow shanghaied the education policy process and caused to have implemented policies that the Governor and Legislators are opposed to. The former seems to be a far more likely and parsimonious explanation. You are going to need a lot more evidence than the make-up of a Board of Regents Advisory panel – many of whom appear to be Democrats – to prove the latter case. Is Cuomo that emasculated vis a vis both the Legislature and ALEC? Has Obama also been captured by ALEC? Why is it not simpler to believe that elected officials are pursuing, perhaps mistakenly, policies they see as addressing deficiencies in our education system.
It seems to me that highlighting and publicizing potent articles like Haertel’s on the inappropriate use of VAM to evaluate teachers, as Diane did earlier today, will likely be far more intellectually honest and effective at modifying mistaken policies than arguing grand conspiracy theories.
I would think that an avid proponent of business such as yourself would be able to readily recognize that it’s not a conspiracy theory, it’s a business plan.
Cuomo is what used to be called a moderate republican and not a progressive democrat. Also the Senate has been controlled by republicans. This is actually shocking and shows that business can control a so called liberal state lie New York. We are very close to a Fascist government in the US. Only the people can rescue the government from business control by being active . Politicians that work for all of the people need to be elected and supported. Neoliberal , trickle down, policies have to be defeated before they totally destroy our country.
“trickle down”
Let’s call a spade a spade, it’s “pissed on” economics. The capitalists piss on you and then charge you for a promise (never kept) to lend you money (at lone shark rates) so that you can clean up and go buy new clothes using their credit card so they can charge you even more usurial like rates.
But, But,But, But,But, But,But, But. . . .
You don’t have to deal with the capitalist mobsters, that’s your choice! said the mob boss.
Duane:
But, But, But…
3 – 4% mortgages are hardly loan shark rates. As for credit card companies, they are predators but then they are doing unsecured lending. What would you charge?
jackiebass:
Mario was not a progressive? In what way is Andrew a moderate Republican? And the NY Assembly has been controlled by Democrats for 30 or so years.
The primary issue is that Republicans and Democrats are on virtually the same page in regard to public education policies, from the federal government on down to states and cities.
CT:
That does appear to be the case. Why do you think that is?
The same reason why Democrats bailed out and did not prosecute corporate leaders for their nefarious business practices which led to the 2008 economic meltdown any more than Republicans did: because neoliberal policies and quid pro quo practices are entrenched in both parties.
Maybe we need to determine what date NYS signed the contract with Pearson and then see when all these people bought their Pearson stock.
Do we actually know they have Pearson stock or are you making an educated guess:) How can we find out? I FOILed all the NY AG documents regarding Pearson and have all the dates.