Mark Naison, professor of African American studies at Fordham University and co-foundr of the BATS, is considering throwing his hat into the ring as a write-in candidate for Governor of Néw York.
I would vote for him!
He calls his new party the Restore Recess Party.
Here is his platform:
From: mnaison <mnaison@aol.com
RESTORE RECESS PARTY- NEW YORK STATE- EDUCATION PROGRAM (Draft)
1. Restore Recess. No use of Recess or Physical Education for Test prep
2. Cut the state testing budget in half and use the money to lower class size and fund arts programs, sports programs and school counselors.
3. No Data Sharing. No information about children can be shared with anyone outside of the school district without parental permission
4 Create a new Education Policy Committee to replace the Education Reform Commission, and require it to have a majority of currently active teachers and parents
5. End the use of student test scores in teacher evaluations.
6. Cancel all State Education Contracts with for profit companies
7. Stop all School Closings- Help Schools in Trouble, Don't Close Them
8. End state support for the Common Core Standards- Leave that decision up to each individual school district.
9. Multiply the number of portfolio schools which require no tests at all. Let teachers and parents form them within the public school system, not as charters
10. Bring back vocational and technical education into every school district if parents and teachers support it
11. Withdraw from Race to the Top and take no Federal Funds that require more testing or adoption of Common Core Standards
12. Make sure all schools, especially those in high poverty areas, have strong after school programs.
13, Make Community History welcome in the schools
14. Encourage the creation of school farms and gardens
Mark D Naison
Professor of African American Studies and History
Fordham University
"If you Want to Save America's Public Schools: Replace Secretary of Education Arne Duncan With a Lifetime Educator." http://dumpduncan.org/
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Mark: You have my vote but…please add to your platform: A librarian in every school!!!!
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Wish I lived in NY so I could vote for him! Just do it Mark, we need you to bring this conversation the the forefront of our political debate.
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Amen!!!
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I would ask Mark to add funding for librarians/school libraries to his platform. As a BAT myself, and a state certified school library media specialist, I am wholeheartedly in support of his candidacy. But we know that the true inequity of the public education system is related to poverty and the lack of opportunities it affords our children. We must ensure they have access to art instruction, music instruction, and fully staffed, fully functional school libraries filled with choice reading materials: vibrant library programs can get children excited about learning and reading on ANY topic! Libraries and librarians are among the great equalizers, providing access to books, resources, technology, and assistance to all.
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I’m on board, but maybe he could actually get enough petitions to get on the Dem primary. It’s conceivable through social networking among all the dissatisfied parents to force Cuomo to pay attention.
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He’s got my vote. The recess is too damn low.
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In addition to a librarian (with the appropriate certification and educational background) in every school, let’s also insist on every school having a school nurse, school psychologist, social workers, and guidance counselors. It would also be great to see a return of curriculum supervisors in every academic or certification area–the elimination of this entire management level in our schools over the past 20 years is one of the unspoken and unnoticed tragedies in public education. There used to be a time not too long ago that every school system had supervisors for every academic subject–and these supervisors were teachers, not consultants with little or no background or teaching experience. Now we see teachers being responsible for the duties these supervisors used to perform, adding even more administrative tasks to teachers’ already overburdened schedules.
Go Mark!
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You certainly have my vote. Well said! Hope you signed up to speak tomorrow in Port Chester when the royal regents deign to come our way.
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I’d tell all my in-laws in NY to vote for you! Or you could run here in NC and I’d vote for you 🙂
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Great platform! I also agree with Mitchell that we need to add school nurses,school psychologists , social workers, and counselors so we can have the wrap-around services required to take care of student basic needs, as a prerequisite learning. I propose having these support service personnel people at the recommended caseloads of their professional organizations.
• National Association of School Psychologists: one school psychologist to 500–700 students (1:500-700) depending on level of need within the student population (http://www.nasponline.org/standards/practice-model/)
• American School Counselor Association: ASCA recommendation is 250 students per counselor (http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?contentid=133)
• School Social Work Association of America: SSWAA recommendation is 250 students per social worker (http://sswaa.org/associations/13190/files/Ratio%20Resolution%20StatementRev.pdf)
• National Association of School Nurses: NASN recommends a formula-based approach with minimum ratios of nurses-to-students depending on the needs of the student populations as follows: 1:750 for students in the general population, 1:225 in the student populations requiring daily professional school nursing services or interventions, 1:125 in student populations with complex health care needs, and 1:1 may be necessary for individual students who require daily and continuous professional nursing services (http://www.nasn.org/PolicyAdvocacy/PositionPapersandReports/NASNPositionStatementsFullView/tabid/462/ArticleId/7/Caseload-Assignments-Revised-2010)
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You have my vote from NY
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I am a teacher in MA, and I wish there was more vocal support for this kind of education platform in all states.
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You have my vote and donation.
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He’s not taking donations!
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If I resided in NY, then he would get my vote. Maybe his supporters can use our old motto from Chicago. Vote early and vote often! This strategy worked for years in Chicago, especially in 1960! I wish him the best.
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He’s got my vote.
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Hallelujah. A politician with understanding.
I wish him well but will not hold my breath till he is elected. Too much money in politics these days to “buy” elections. “The best government money can buy.”
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He has stated in he is not necessarily in it to win, but to be a voice and a face for the anti-deform movement.
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I’d vote for him, too. The party would probably garner support from the far right and far left. Who knows – we might even win!
Beth
Sent from my iPhone
>
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I’ve started a petition to stop the implementation of the Common Core as a requirement for RTTT money. I’m hoping that we can get 100,000 signatures in the next month. I know this might not be the right place to put it but I really want to get the word out. Click on this link to be taken to the petition. It will not be public until it gets 150 signatures.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/stop-mandatory-implementation-common-core-standards-condition-race-top-funding/YWY1FlL2
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I am sure this is a joke and publicity gimmick, but it does raise some interesting questions.
So how much does New York State actually spend each year on assessments? Does Prof. Mark Naison indicate this figure anywhere?
PARCC assessments are reputed to cost $29.50 per pupil for Math and ELA. In NYS, there are approximately 2 million students in Grades 3 through 12 plus about 700,000 in K-2. NYS education budget is $19000 per student or a total of $75 billion in State and Local spending. There are some additional payments by the Feds but they only spend $107 billion for the entire country. You can all do the math, but halving the testing budget is not going to go very far.
I wonder whether he has read this:
Click to access 11_assessment_chingos_final_new.pdf
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I would vote for him if I lived in New York. Maybe he’ll win and New York will become the “education state” and other states around the country will take notice and realize that he is implementing what school used to be about and the students are truly learning and they will go back to truly educating their students, too.
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Strong argument for cloning… clone Mark Naison and send him to Indiana! We need someone in the Restore Recess Party in Indiana!!!!
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He’s got my vote and many in the school communities around the state.
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Naison has my support, too.
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It is possible. There was a teacher in Indiana that took down Tony Bennett even though he had millions in his campaign fund compared to her $30,000. When you get teachers behind you remember they will get parents, grandparents and the local community behind you also. It is not as far fetched as you may think. Mark, call Glenda Ritz and get some campaign advice, then go for it!
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Not my state, but my quick thoughts on each item:
1. Support
2. “half” is such a clean, round number that this sounds like it was just pulled out of thin air. Why not 60% or 40% or 80% or 30%? Or maybe he has an argument to back up 50% and I just haven’t seen it. Also, I support lower class size, arts programs, and sports programs. I’m skeptical about the value of school guidance counselors but I like psychological counselors.
3. This one seems crazy to me. For example, shouldn’t state & federal government know how many students attend a given district?
4. I wonder how active this committee would be. If it is a major time committment I’m skeptical that you’d get any good teachers as members. In general I’m opposed to the proliferation of committees and subcommittees and counsels and commissions in government.
5. I go back and forth on this one.
6. What specifically is a “State Education Contract”? Maybe the state shouldn’t have any education contracts period (with for-profit or non-profits) and leave that up to the districts.
7. I don’t know enough about this area. What about in areas of population decline?
8. Do they only get to decide between Common Core vs previous state standards, or do they get total autonomy in choosing what standards to have?
9. I don’t like the idea of “no tests at all”. Maybe no multiple choice tests, or maybe no tests factored into grades. And who decides where in the district to put the portfolio school, and on what criteria?
10. Sounds good
11. Sounds good. How much money is at stake if a district opts out?
12. Ok, but how?
13. Ok, but how?
14. Sounds good.
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These are the comments I left on the BAT page to the many teachers lining up to support this “candidacy”:
While this is all fun, amusing and carries some potential for publicity; there are those of us campaigning for office with the desire to actually win. That is by far the best means to effect real change.
We MUST raise money, submit petitions, beg for volunteers, campaign and all the other things that come with being a real candidate. It is a little disheartening to see the many BATs lining up to support a virtual campaign, when so very few are willing to help with a real political campaign.
I’ve said my piece about Facebook warriors a number of times, so I won’t rant on it now. Suffice it to say, if you think support of a virtual campaign is adequate contribution to the cause; think some more.
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If his agenda gets the attention of decision makers in NYS,
then his proposal is worthwhile. As they said in Lil Abner – “Put
’em back the way they was.” Fully staff the schools, take a new
look at the old curriculum and exams, eliminate the Regents
requirement for graduation, and expand vocational programs. Also
analyze why certain populations are failing (learning disabled,
non-English speaking, poverty, physical disabilities, etc.). A good
start to fixing the problem.
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Let the campaign begin! My vote is with you or anyone you support.
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Would love to see Mark run if he is, in fact, interested. My Cuomo conundrum
Is that while he’s sold out education, he’s managed to keep a moratorium on hydrofracking in my area. Am afraid that voting for an opponent may mean the beginning of the end for the water supply in and around Binghamton, NY. So, as a teacher, am caught between two issues that hit me where I live. Would like to see him voted out for his snide treatment of teachers, students and parents throughout the state, however am also very afraid of a Republican candidate who could use education to get elected and sell us out to natural gas companies. Therefore, would love to support a serious alternative – but only if serious.
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