Peter Goodman is a close observer of city and state education policy in Néw York. In this post, he describes how Governor Andrew Cuomo bypassed the state Constitution to impose his own ideas on nearly 200 struggling schools across the state.
Since the state Constitution gives the governor no role in education policy, Cuomo used the budget process for his coup.
“True to his word the Governor attached a number of proposals to the budget: extending tenure for new teachers from three to four years, another principal-teacher evaluation plan (the third in four years) and receivership, a system to deal with low performing schools.
“From April through June the Board of Regents grappled with the dense, new, teacher evaluation law: an Education Learning Summit, two lengthy and contentious public Regents meetings, thousands upon thousands of emails, faxes, letters and phone calls to the Governor and Regents members all protesting elements of the new law. Eventually the Regents approved a set of regulations that will require the 700 school districts in New York State to negotiate the implementation of the new law.
“What received virtually no discussion was receivership – a system by which “struggling” schools are given two years to improve before they are removed from their school district and placed under the supervision of a receiver, who has sweeping powers including the ability to change sections of collective bargaining agreements. The Lawrence Massachusetts receivership district is frequently referenced as a successful example of the receivership model (See discussion here and the Mt Holyoke School District is in the process of entering receivership, with strong opposition from the community and teachers (Read discussion here).
“The New York State model is directed at schools rather than school districts.
[The new law says:] “In a district with a “Persistently Struggling School,” the superintendent is given an initial one-year period to use the enhanced authority of a Receiver to make demonstrable improvement in student performance or the Commissioner will direct that the school board appoint an Independent Receiver and submit the appointment for approval by the Commissioner. Additionally, the school will be eligible for a portion of $75 million in state aid to support and implement its turnaround efforts over a two-year period.”
“In the first year the superintendent, with “enhanced authority” has to show that the school has made “demonstrable improvement in student performance” or the school board, with the approval of the Commissioner will appoint an Independent Receiver.”
New York City recently started a 3-year turnaround program, but most of them are now targeted for receivership.
What is receivership? It means the school is handed over to an outsider with sweeping powers, “including requiring that all teachers reapply for their positions.”
Cuomo has no experience or knowledge about schools, other than having gone to schools. But he is threatening scores of schools either to improve or get taken over. This is a continuation of his vendetta against public schools and their teachers. In his way of thinking, the best way to bring about change is by threatening to beat up the other. Improve or die.
“Peter Goodman is a close observer of city and state education policy in Néw York.”
According to whom?? He is on Randi’s payroll!!! And it was Randi and Mulgrew who helped get his education agenda passed. It’s easy to come out against something, then if it changes just a little, declare it a victory when it’s not. That’s exactly what’s happening here.
Cuomo is a jackass, straight-up!!!!!!
I’m not very muched surprised that Goodman forgot to note the Board of Regents were boxed in by an agreement voted on by the Heavy Hearts Assembly. He seems to also have forgotten that his boss, Michael Mulgrew, actually thanked the Assembly for approving this agreement. I realize that Unity Caucus members are not actually permitted to criticize union leadership, and that consequences include being booted from the UFT gravy train, but it’s ridiculous to blame Cuomo, when we are culpable as well. We failed to oppose Cuomo in not one but two primaries. Imagine what may have happened if we actually HELPED brilliant pro-public education Zephyr Teachout and gave New York voters a choice.
It would be great if we had leadership that did not encourage and enable such nonsense. It would be great if they would criticize and prevent it BEFORE it happened, rather than turning a blind eye, thanking the people who enabled it, and then blaming the governor, the one we were too timid to oppose when he was actually running for the job.
Right on
Very “much” surprised. Sorry
Well so what!!!!
All we do is worry about winning the arguments and telling ourselves we are somehow winning because we are on the right side. All we have done and keep doing is continually prove to ourselves we are right.
Well DUH! We all know CCSS, VAM, the entire reform agenda is nonsense and we’ve known it for years. So we have yet another observer showing how wrong their side is. The only question should be WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT IT?? The only first step is taki back our unions from the WEINGARTEN/MCGEE/MULGREW types. That’s number 1. And then we have to start being honest with ourselves. We are NOT winning. We are not bound to win simply because we are right. History is filled with losers who were right. This isn’t an intellectual fight. Nobody cares that we have won all the arguments. We are facing undiluted bold-faced capitalism. Our arguments and logic mean nothing to them. Can we please start turning our discussion to things like how we will take back our unions, how we will double-down and build on opt-out, how we will begin the uphill battle to reinvigorate a new generation of labor-minded teachers. etc etc.
I know we are on the right side of all the arguments. Continually telling ourselves how right we are is starting to smack of wasting time and energy. We need to stop thinking our victory is inevitable and doubling down on superstitious thinking like “everything is a pendulum,” and “we are bound to win because we are right intellectually.”
The universe does not bend towards justice. As Ta-Henisi Coates pointed out so clearly, the universe bends towards chaos, and that’s it.
ALOT of people died AFTER we intellectually knew fascism was ridiculous. Being right isn’t what counts. What you do about it does.
So can we please start a more focused discussion please??
You’re on the money, NYS. We MUST organize, above and beyond the levels of UFT and NYSUT, because our dues line their pockets as they turn a blind eye to our dilemma. The UFT is a toothless tiger that was bought out by Bloomberg and it continues with DeBlasio. The UFT barely lifts a finger to help teachers under the thumb of idiot drone principals from the leadership academy. Sure, they’ll file a grievance on your behalf that the principal will ignore, elevate it to level 2, where it sits in the cosmos for a few years (really) then to a level 3 for arbitration that you will inevitably lose. What about organizing before and after school, sick outs, etc to shake things up?
You are 100%on point. What I am seeing here is the same reaction ( on a different level) as parents who aren’t “sure” that the CommonCore is a bad thing, or profess that “we don’t now how we can stop it anyway” and then they bury their heads in the sand. I’m tired of complaining and since there doesn’t seem to be much desire to unite and fight, flight from public schools seems to be the action that I can take ( and have already taken with one child.) Let’s work for a solution and stop our self righteous “we are right” platform because it’s not getting us anywhere. Those that know we are right either don’t care or have so much power that they are not threatened until we actually organize and wield some sort of backlash ( beyond the opt-out.)
So let’s organize! Yet, I don’t read of anyone rallying to the cry.
Fed Up, the best organization right now and the most powerful is the Opt Out movement. It does not have a single head. It is grassroots, springing up from parents, educators, and students.
There are Resistance organizations against the RheeFormers. Join one or more and do a little Goggling to discvoer what they have already done. Here’s a sampling of what’s going on (with links):
United Opt Out
http://unitedoptout.com/
For FairTest, click on the link for “ACT NOW”
http://www.fairtest.org/
Teachers, Unions, Students Build Trinational Movement Against Neoliberal Education
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/24558-teachers-unions-students-build-trinational-movement-against-neoliberal-education
One Year Since Our Test Boycott, Fight Against Corporate Education Reform Just Beginning
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/01/10/one-year-our-test-boycott-fight-against-corporate-education-reform-just-beginning
BAT (Badass Teachers Association)
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/01/10/one-year-our-test-boycott-fight-against-corporate-education-reform-just-beginning
Momma Bears
http://www.mommabears.org/blog
Inside the Mammoth Backlash to Common Core – Mother Jones
“I want to know how many parents here are aware that the goal of the Common Core standards isn’t to prepare our children for world-class universities—it’s to prepare them for community college!” An off-duty police officer approached, and Small began to shout. “You’re sitting here like cattle!” Out came the handcuffs. “Hey, is this America?” Small bellowed, as he jostled with the officer. “Parents, you need to question these people! Do the research!”
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/09/common-core-education-reform-backlash-obamacare
Lloyd, you can add the Network for Public Education to your list.
What’s that saying, “I’m bad.”
Sorry, I forgot, but I did write a post about all the options here: Saving Public Education and Democracy—teachers, parents and children, you are not alone
And again mentioned it here:
Welcome to the wunnerfool world of Emergency Managers.
Schools cannot be turned around without cooperation from the children who are the students and support from their parents/guardians.
That cooperation means the children must pay attention, ask questions, do the work, go to tutoring when needed, ask teachers for help before school, at lunch or after school when teachers are available. And of course the most important thing kids can do is read outside of school hours and I’m not talking about homework. I’m talking about reading books, real books, for entertainment.
Have you ever seen the media studies of what kids do on their own time? That information available online if you use the right terms in your Google search. I’ve seen the data from those studies.
Outside of school, the average American child spends about 10 hours of the day/night doing everything but homework and reading. The average child watches sevearl hours of TV daily, texts their friends, plays video games,listens to music, etc.
> 80% of Americans 16 and older say they read at least occasionally for pleasure
> 56% say they read at least occasionally for work or school. Workers and students dominate this category (Ahh, subtract 56% from 100%—-what is the other 44% doing when they should be reading for work or school?)
How about this piece in the NY Times
If Your Kids Are Awake, They’re Probably Online
“The average young American now spends practically every waking minute — except for the time in school — using a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device, according to a new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation. … Those ages 8 to 18 spend more than seven and a half hours a day with such devices, compared with less than six and a half hours five years ago, when the study was last conducted.”
And what about the parents?
“Among the professional families, the average number of words that children heard in an hour was twenty-one hundred and fifty; among the working-class families, it was twelve hundred and fifty; among the welfare families, it was six hundred and twenty. Over time, these daily differences had major consequences, Hart and Risley concluded: “With few exceptions, the more parents talked to their children, the faster the children’s vocabularies were growing and the higher the children’s I.Q. test scores at age 3 and later.”
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/01/12/talking-cure
And idiots like David Coleman, Bill Gates, Arne Duncan and Governor Cuomo think tougher standards for teachers and using VAM to rank and yank is going to make up for all of the above?
Hey, I have bad feet and I’m getting too old to go out with the pitchfork mob, but all you younger folk who are angry enough to take to the streets with boiling tar and feathers, I’ll be cheering you on.
One of my kids is in a school that will be in one year of receivership under the Superintendent in September. If she is unable to “turn around” the school in one year, receivership will “go elsewhere.” I am watching this closely because no one seems to know what that “go elsewhere” thing means.
I do know that the school has been trying mightily for years to turn itself around, so I believe it will be impossible for the Super to change anything in a year without fudging numbers or cheating. Maybe that is the point – set them up to fail.
I know there are lots of things this school could and probably should be doing differently. But, oh, how I would love to see SED come in and provide advice and encouragement on how to do this. In my 5 years with kids in this school, I have only seen SED swoop in, tell us that the school stinks, and say you better improve. Oh, and by the way, you have to fill out 500 more pounds of paperwork because you are a failing school.
What can we do to either fight this or make receivership work to the students’ benefit?
I wish Sandra Lee would make something semi-homemade that Cuomo chokes on.
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Texas Education.