Gary Rubinstein writes here about the new leadership of the New York City Department of Education.
He begins:
Eric Adams will become the next Mayor of New York City on January 1st. He will hire David Banks as the new schools Chancellor. And Banks will bring in Dan Weisberg as his top deputy.
Unfortunately Dan Weisberg is one of the most dangerous people in the country who could rise to be the second highest ranking administrator in New York City…
In the article from Chalkbeat, NY, Alex Zimmerman tries hard to sugarcoat the background of this controversial pick. He writes:
He has tapped Dan Weisberg — who runs an organization focused on teacher quality and handled labor issues under Mayor Michael Bloomberg — to be his top deputy. That move is likely to raise eyebrows with the city’s teachers union, which has previously clashed with Weisberg.
So what is this “organization focused on teacher quality”? Well it is TNTP which once stood for The New Teacher Project. TNTP was founded by Michelle Rhee in 1997. What started out as a Teach For America type program for training career changers to become teachers quickly became an education reform propaganda organization. In 2009 they got into funding ‘research’ and their first publication was called ‘The Widget Effect’ which argued the benefits of merit pay for teachers based on standardized test scores. This publication is still often quoted despite very shoddy statistical practices. Dan Weisberg was the lead author of ‘The Widget Effect.’ More recently they put out something called “The Opportunity Myth” about how most teachers have low expectations because they do activities that don’t completely adhere to the researcher’s interpretation of the Common Core Standards.
Fifteen years ago there were plenty of Michelle Rhee type reformers in leadership positions in school districts around the country. As that brand of reform failed to deliver results, those reformers took positions in think tanks where they could make a lot more money but where they would not have such direct power over school systems.
Back in the Bloomberg/Klein days, people like Weisberg would celebrate judicial rulings where parents would fight to not have their children’s schools shut down. Charter schools, in the wake of ‘Waiting For Superman’, were supposedly proving that all you needed to turn around a school was to staff them with non-unionized teachers. Teacher bashing was all the rage, they even had their own Walton funded movie flop ‘Won’t Back Down.’
But things are different now. Reformers are not as brazen as they once were. The charter bubble has burst a bit, though Bloomberg has $750 million that says he can revive it. But it will be hard. With the failures of projects like The Achievement District in Tennessee, it will a a tougher sell to say that we need to replicate their accomplishments. Back in the day, there would be so much talk of charters that were beating the odds with 100% graduation rates or 100% college acceptance rates. Those stores were debunked so often that even The74 hardly runs stories like that anymore. Does anyone know whatever happened to KIPP? The only charter chain that can even claim to get good test scores is Success Academy, and even reformers hardly like to talk about them since they boot (or discourage from enrolling) so many kids who might bring down their precious test scores.
So where does a teacher basher fit into the current system? As a New York City teacher with two kids in the system, I’m a bit scared to find out.
Gary follows up with anti-teacher, anti-union tweets by Weisberg, as well as congratulatory tweets from the hardcore reformers.
Hold on, tight, NYC teachers. You are in for a rough ride.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Here’s a Dan Weisberg quote, 6-4-19, from his Twitter thingie: “Unions do a disservice to the majority of their members by fighting tooth and nail to preserve pension plans that don’t benefit most members; why not back conversion to cash-balance plans in return for higher teacher salaries?” end quote Yes, he’s a Twit for sure. He sounds like Chris Christie or any other GOP/libertarian lunkhead who is opposed to social programs like defined benefit pensions, Social Security or Medicare for example.
Maybe NYC teachers should stage some kind of mass demonstration in opposition to this obvious enemy of public education and unionized teachers. Unreal!
Dan: Reform curriculum and instruction before you bash teachers. With good curriculum and sensible pedagogy, you’ll see “bad” teachers suddenly become good ones. Talk to E.D.Hirsch for elaboration of this idea.
If parents were to stand against using test scores against schools, teachers and students, it would be a stronger message. Parents should let Adams know they do not want their children to go through more failed reform policies. They should demand that the city invest in community schools as it is a much more appropriate response to the needs of young people and their families. We need to stop allowing billionaires to dictate public school policy.
Eric Adams’ biggest source of funding in the mayoral race was a group of charter school backers, led by the former spokesperson for Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy. The hedge fund billionaires gave generously to Adams.
KEY point: and one which tells the coming story very clearly
It would be more accurate to say that Wall Street and Big Real Estate were his largest donors. That these may be some of the same big financial backers of Ed reform whose primary goal is not children but killing unions goes without saying.
What NYC needs is democracy in the form of an elected school board. Teachers unions can have a small influence on the election to a school board seat in comparison to the millions of dollars poured in by billionaires. That’s better than no influence at all on the election of a mayor.
More pass the trash?
Sickening.
The new male vanity- heavy stubble.
And fangs.
Ouch.
Some Damn Poet, I’m laughing so hard my teeth almost fell out.
JCGrim: TMI 😆
Sounds positively horrendous. Thankful informed teachers like Rubenstein are able to keep us aware in advance. Hopefully he will be a DeVosian figure whose support of terrible programs will lead to more awareness of their idiocy.
Might most teachers not benefit from pension plans because so many leave the profession so quickly…thanks at least in part to Reform-based teacher evaluation?
Gary’s replies on Twitter are hard for Mr. Weisberg to answer.
Why am I not surprised about who Eric Adams would pick. The story of his election a hit job on his Pro Union progressive opponent . Done by billionaire Real Estate mogul Trumpster and tax cheat Steve Ross. As well as the CRT / PBA crowds fear mongering on crime . Which is at lower levels than when Bloombucket called NYC the safest big city in America.
NYC is moving back to the pre – de Blasio public schools era. I have no doubt that the NYT will offer nothing but praise for the pro-reform education policy for the next 4 years, amplifying shoddy “studies” pushed by ed reformers about how this new DOE is wildly successful and ignoring anything that will hurt the false narrative that the new pro-reform DOE is wonderful. A 180 turn from how they covered education under de Blasio.
I never understood the bashing of Mayor de Blasio by progressives. I voted for him in the first Mayoral primary specifically because of his position on public education issues and I was reasonably satisfied. It didn’t surprise me that the rabidly pro-charter NYT would be pushing false narratives bashing de Blasio for “hurting poor kids” because he wouldn’t let a charter evict low income disabled children so that the low-income children whose test scores make a greedy charter CEO look good could thrive. But I did not expect the progressives to also be blind to all the good and only focus on the compromises and imperfections (the Renewal program was a good idea that like many good new programs experienced glitches as it began and instead of recognizing it, the whole program was mischaracterized as a massive failure and massive waste of money – it was not). De Blasio’s DOE started programs to diversify schools and addressed the admissions policies of specialized high schools but they were always minimized as not enough. Always the focus on what he didn’t do, not what he did.
Maya Wiley was my top choice in the Mayoral primary because she was the most viable pro-public education candidate (no comment on Scott Stringer). The others were equally bad and I knew that ed reformers would run the DOE. I just hoped I was wrong. I still hope Dan Weisberg turns out to have some integrity but I won’t hold my breath.
Welcome to the post-DeBlasio era. Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone?
On the other hand, I still hope Eric Adams can make some changes in the NYPD since he was the only candidate who seemed likely to be able to take that on. Maybe he will turn out to be a coward, but I’d rather have an ed reformer Mayor who takes on the NYPD than an ed reformer Mayor who kowtows to the NYPD.
NYC public school parent
Perhaps your mistake is to equate the NY Times with a Progressive publication. It is not “The Nation”. Center at best in its economic reporting in spite of some Liberal opinion witters. And Center has moved Right for 40 years . Witness the hit Job on inflation if you had any doubts . Only the NYT can find with a straight face ,someone who still owns a 1963 impala and spends a 100k on gas a week at $7.79 a gallon! ( Sarcasm noted but not much.)
Scott Stringer should get mention. Project Veritas had nothing on the hit Job done on Stringer . The attorney for his first and second accuser was on the Payroll (retainer) of a Related Industries(Steve Ross) front construction Company. She defended these companies from claims of sexually abusive treatment of female construction workers. The day before the first allegations were announced their Web Site gets scrubbed of her name. The last thing Trumpster Steve Ross wanted was a Pro Union Mayor not in the pockets of NYC Real Estate Developers which even deBlasio was.
As for Adams, the headlines in 2009 -2011 were that Murders in New York City were at rates not seen since records were reliably kept . Bloomberg crediting himself for the continued progress. He declares NYC the safest big city in America . . In spite of the Pandemic murder and crime was lower in 2020 than it was in those Bloomberg years .Sadly the dramatic drop in 2021 was after the Primary. Murders dropping every month past May.
Adams did not run on Police reform , he ran on the perception that as an ex cop he would be tough on crime vs the Progressives.
Adams will do nothing to reform the NYPD a sure way to become a political target.
Agreed, Joel. Stringer should have been mayor. The fastest way to delete a candidate is to accuse him of sexual harassment. Except, of course, Trump.
Joel,
I wasn’t joining in on the attacks on Stringer — I was just pointing out that he wasn’t viable anymore so I voted for Wiley. I agree with you about the NYT, however. Don’t get me started!
But even without the hit job, I don’t know that Stringer would have won the primary. I am sure he is a perfectly nice guy who would be a decent Mayor but unfortunately, not a lot that makes him stand out from a crowd. And, for the record, I was disappointed in how he treated the Success Academy audit. He oversaw the only outside entity in more than a decade able to actually audit what they were doing, and it took way too long and the few things he found didn’t reveal the inherent corruption of the organization. And while I realize he was limited, I thought he was content to present his minor findings without amplifying the much bigger corruption that was out there for all to see but that got ignored by the media. He didn’t want to rock the boat. He could have done a lot of good if he had gone on a media tour amplifying how his office was stymied by Success Academy from looking into all kinds of obviously concerning things.
I would have liked to see Stringer on a publicity tour for his audit saying: “We were forbidden to look into the attrition rates, even though it was clear from the fact that the 3rd grade class was only half the size of the entering Kindergarten class that something odd was going on to cause that cohort of Kindergarten students to be half the size in 3rd grade.” Or Stringer could have said: “This charter school only allowed students who came from Success Academy elementary schools and then middle schools to enter its high school — all other students were excluded. And that means that every 9th grader was certified by Success Academy as ready for high school based on their own supposedly fantastic elementary and middle school curriculum. So I was very shocked that of those 9th graders, only half were able to graduate in 4 years. Success Academy told us it was none of our business what happened to the rest of those 9th graders, and we have seen no evidence that they care what happened to the rest of those 9th grade students who are missing from their graduating class. So I can’t help wondering what they are hiding and why so many students would disappear. ”
And Stringer should have called out by name Joseph Belluck and the folks at the SUNY Charter Institute and said “I wish the media would ask Mr. Belluck why the SUNY Charter Institute doesn’t care about all the students who disappear from Success Academy. I do not understand why Joseph Belluck and the folks at the SUNY Charter Institute have not done their job and investigated any of the numerous parent complaints but continue to give a thumbs up to a charter where extraordinarily huge percentages of students who win their lottery and enroll then disappear. Joseph Belluck won’t answer me, but maybe he will answer the NYT or Chalkbeat if any of you education reporters are not too scared of billionaires who support Success Academy to ask him and keep asking him until he gives you an answer that is reasonable.”
I do think Stringer would have tried to be progressive, but I think he has even less political courage than de Blasio to go up against the powerful. I think Maya Wiley is more likely to do that.
But I am definitely not arguing the good points you made.
^^Also Joel, the fact that Eric Adams was NOT endorsed by the NYPD unions (despite being a former police officer) spoke volumes to me. He owes them no loyalty. And I do think it is likely that making sure that African American New Yorkers are not victimized by overly aggressively policing is important to him and the people who voted for him . And as a former police officer, the NYPD can’t turn their backs on Adams (well, they can and will, but since Adams is a former officer himself it just makes them look like racists.) Although whether he has the courage is still clearly up in the air.
NYC public school parent
As the City Comptroller I am not sure that was in his Job description. Take those complaints up with the Public Advocate. As it was Success accused him of a Political hatchet Job.
“We hope Success Academy will embrace our recommendations and adjust its practices. This isn’t about district versus charter schools—it’s about protecting taxpayer dollars and following the rules.”
Joel,
Was that really Stringer’s statement or are you joking? Because that statement is the lamest thing I have ever heard.
When will politicians learn that no matter how much they pull their punches and bend over backward to prove they are “fair”, and no matter how much they treat Success Academy with kid gloves, they are going to be accused of doing a political hatchet job by Eva Moskowitz and her billionaire-funded right wing propaganda arm? (Look how it destroyed John Merrow.) So I wish they would stop treating them with kid gloves and treat them like any other organization that isn’t in their privileged situation. They are going to be trashed no matter how much they pull their punches, as their reaction to Stringer’s lame comment shows. So they should stop pulling their punches already.
The Public Advocate has nothing to do with Success Academy.
But the Comptroller’s office was specifically tasked with auditing Success Academy, which gave Stringer a huge bully pulpit to talk over and over again about what he was not allowed to do and point exactly the things he was not allowed to ask about.
It doesn’t astonish me that Success Academy has those bad practices. It astonishes me that journalists in NYC could really be such hacks and show no interest in reporting on those bad practices. There are very few times when politicians have a reason to talk about this, and Scott Stringer was handed that on a silver platter. And he punted.
Bill De Blasio did not punt, which of course made him a huge target and likely put the fear into Stringer and others. Maybe that could have been prevented if prominent pro-public school politicians had pushed back the very first time Eva Moskowitz went on the attack — if the City Council or Stringer had been publicly demanding Moskowitz explain what special connections she used to get Bloomberg’s DOE to allow her to evict severely handicapped students from their school. If Stringer and the City Council had announced a public investigation into the favoritism that allowed a charter CEO to demand the eviction of a group of severely handicapped children, the narrative could have been about why a generously compensated charter CEO had become so heartless and greedy. But there was complete silence and no one defended de Blasio, so it was easy for the NYT to keep spinning the way Eva Moskowitz wanted them to spin.
Look, I would have been perfectly happy to have Scott Stringer as Mayor and would have voted for him higher if he had any chance. But ultimately, it came down to me having a 2nd choice of a which of the rest of the candidates – who all took their marching orders from the billionaires who control charters – did I want as my second choice? And I thought Eric Adams was more likely to stand up to the NYPD than any of the others.
I had expected whoever won to choose Eva Moskowitz as Chancellor, so I guess the fact that Eric Adams didn’t gives him an F+ instead of an F.
NYC public school parent: “I wish the media would ask Mr. Belluck why the SUNY Charter Institute doesn’t care about all the students who disappear from Success Academy.”
For all the media spotlights and feel-good stories about children with disabilities, there rarely is a story on years & years & years of blatant discrimination by charter schools. Rarely have we seen any outcry about the hundreds of children who disappeared after NOLA was privatized. Exclusion is baked into privatization.
Children who are deliberately disappeared from Success and other charters have, in their view, nothing of value to offer. The charter business views children with significant disabilities at least, as a brand failure and at worse, as a threat to safety. Children with significant challenges need not apply. Where they go is simply an externality on which Success et al., will never spend money. Not their problem.
You would think a media that holds power to account would consider charter powerbrokers who casually dispose of children an important story.
The next worse than DELTA COVID mutation should be named the “Dan Weisberg” virus.
Speaking of…”Anti-Vax Republican (William Hartmann, age, 63) Who Refused to Certify Biden’s Michigan Win, Dies of Covid” -Vice, 12-10-2021
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My worst fears about Eric Adams, despite the UFT’s endorsement of him, are already bearing fruit. > > I did understand the reasons for the endorsement in the past election, and I did vote for him as the lesser of 2 evils, but I was still worried about a former cop’s running our schools. On that point, it can’t be soon enough to end mayoral control of our NYC schools. > > Earlier this morning, I read that Adams is friendly with Bloomberg and relying on him for advice. The article excerpted below brings this whole thing full circle for me when it says that Weisberg “… handled labor issues under Mayor Michael Bloomberg.” > > As those of us who taught in NYC schools under Mayor Bloomberg and schools chancellor Joel Klein know, Bloomberg made his billions, among other things, by never having any unions in his companies. He had never dealt with labor unions and didn’t have any intention of negotiating with the UFT. > > Consequently, when our contract expired, he and his officials refused to negotiate (+ had no background which would have qualified them to know how it is done), and so we worked without a contract (which means no raise along with other problems) for several years until DeBlasio was elected mayor. Even though Giuliani before Bloomberg had managed to get 2-term limits for many city officials (in a city-wide election), Bloomberg arranged to have a 3rd term for himself (without an election – except in the City Council). That meant a longer time of no or bad relations with UFT. > > So, back to Adams, it remains to be seen and I hope that my fears will not turn out to have been justified. “Hope springs eternal … .” > > Bobbi > Bobbi Eisenberg > Chairperson, UFT Math Teachers Comm. > > PS A few days ago, with regard to something else, I recommended Diane Ravitch’s book, Reign of Error, about the damage done to our nation’s public schools by so-called “reformers”. I still recommend it. Maybe add it to your upcoming vacation reading list.
No surprise that the fellow who is head of the VAMpire organization TNTP would have veritable fangs (look closely at the picture if you don’t believe me).
Count Dracula is back and undoubtedly looking for teacher blood.
I did. He definitely has fangs!
Yes,
And here’s further proof — a notorized image of Count Dracula.
Note the marked similarities.
The only real difference is that the latter photo was taken after a night out on the town while the former was taken before.
More werewolf than vampire?
The hair is too short and too well coiffed for a werewolf.
Also, the connection with the VAMpire organization is telling if not definitive.
Werewolves don’t generally associate with vampires.
They have far too much respect for teachers.
Also, werewolves are usually more of the lone wolf type whereas VAmpires work as teams.
Finally, VAMpires can’t stand the light of day.
If you let in the bright sunshine (as Gary Rubinstein is doing), it burns.
The resemblance is downright creepy.
The resemblance is uncanny. Draining the life blood out of public schools is metaphorically how ed-reformers operate. Weisburg might view his comparison to a blood-sucking vampire as a badge of honor.
Werewolves vs VAMpires
The werewolves like the teachers
And give them great respect
But VAMpires yell from bleachers
Demand they bare their neck
Incidentally, in case anyone does not get the reference, the VAM in VAMpire refers to VAM (value added Models) which have been used to “evaluate”, shame and even fire teachers and have been supported by VAMpjrd groups like TNTP.
I am not referring to actual vampires, of course.
It’s a metaphor.
VAM in VAMpires refers to VAM (Value added Models) for anyone who doesn’t get the metaphor.
And of course, the above is all just a metaphor.
Don’t mean to suggest that anyone is literally looking for blood.
That is definitely one scary looking dude.
I don’t really believe in such myths, but I plan to sleep tonight with a cross on my night table and a clove of garlic around my neck. Just in case.
And teachers in NYCity would do well to do the same.
The Catholic teachers already have the cross protection covered.
If you live near NYC, I think your advice is quite sound.
I’m convinced, Poet.
I have devoted considerable research and thought into the VAMpire vs werewolf question as it relates to education deform.
VAMpires are all too often misunderestimated and fly around using stealth, radarjamming and other high technology which lets them evade detection and drop VAMs and other Weapons of Math Destruction (hattip to Cathy O’Neil, aka Math and) on teachers and schools.
Werewolves, on the other hand, are largely misunderstood and all too often get a bad rap.
Until you are devoured by one.
What ever happened to the Wicked Witch of the West (Michelle Rhee), by the way?
Oh yeah, now I remember. Diane threw a bucket of water on her and foiled her dastardly plan — only to have Count Dracula take up where she left off.
“I’ll get you my teacher — and your little students too! Heeee heee heee heee heee! Now, fly, VAMpires, fly!
“I’ll get you my students — and your little bee too! Heee hee hee hee heee!”
Michelle Rhee’s mother worried she was raising a sociopath. Seriously, I always felt sorry for Rhee’s daughters. She raised them with just as much abuse as she heaped on students as a teacher and principals and teachers as a Washington D.C. school district prefect. I wonder sometimes if they’re okay.
Don’t write about Rhee’s children! 😂🤣😂🤣
Rhee’s daughters attended a private school in Tennessee while she moved to Sacramento to marry Kevin Johnson. The children’s father was state commissioner of education. Not sure where they landed when his job ended.
Go Rheesy on Rhee (baby)
Be careful. Deformer zombies never die, they just rebrand.
The Rheenix
The Rheenix flies
And turns to ash
But never dies
In hunt for cash
David Banks created a network of all-boys schools- the two genders, men and earthen vessels. Clay pots don’t need educations.
The two genders: men and earthen vessels.
Ha ha ha
Making the subject pronouns “he” and “clay”
And and the object pronouns “him” and “claym” (also spelled claim)
And the possessive pronouns “his” and “clayms”
Linda, you are on a roll!
“Clay pots don’t need educations.”
Really, every time you invoke those earthen vessels, you make my day a bit brighter! I’m still laughing
Does Adams want to begin his tenure by going to war with a politically powerful teacher union? The number of charter schools in nyc are capped by state law.
Does auger well for Adams, he needs a collaborative relationship with the unions … Bloomberg blames teacher unions for his presidential run disaster and Weisberg is a Bloomberg “gift”?
I’m betting on the unions?
The teacher unions didn’t torpedo Bloomberg’s presidential ambitions. He did it himself. With help from Elizabeth Warren.
Bloomberg torpedoed his presidential ambitions the day he became Mayor of NY City.
It’s a dead end political office. A bridge to nowhere.
Anyone with more than a single neuron in their brain can see that.