Merryl Tisch, chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, harshly criticized one of Mayor Bloomberg’s signature initiatives, the school support networks.
“Me, if I were going to take over the school system, I would look heavily to change the networks,” Tisch said during a panel discussion hosted by the nonprofit group, PENCIL.
“I think the networks have basically failed children who are [English-language learners],” added Tisch, who is due to defend the state’s education policies at a state senate hearing Tuesday. “They have failed children who have special needs.”
Under the $90 million network system, principals choose from about 55 Department of Education or nonprofit-run support providers, which assist schools with teacher training, budgeting and more.
This is important, as the Boston Consulting Group (a management consulting firm) advised the Philadelphia School Reform Commission to replicate the Bloomberg networks,
Why BCG was impressed by the geographically dispersed networks is anyone’s guess.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
She has no moral authority to speak out about anyone’s failure given the way in which her policies have torn apart the fabric of public schooling in NYS.
LikeLike
Tisch has no moral authority to do just about anything.
LikeLike
I’m sure many know the networks were merely a cost cutting program. Schools purchased different levels of support as budgeted by each school. If a school developed some issue that was not covered by the contract the administration had to find answers elsewhere if possible. Overall it was a real disaster in my opinion. Basically schools were left without the kind of support that a big well funded bureaucracy could provide. The district superintendents offices were much more helpful (relatively speaking) than the networks created by Bloomberg/Klein.
LikeLike
However, the district suoerintendent’s no longer have any power. During the Quality Review, the superintendent was “not impressed” with the principal’s handling of the school. She was apprised of several untoward situations that arose with the principal. When time came to rate the principal, and the school, the principal got the network leader to come to the school to defend her. After hours in a huddle behind closed doors, the principal walked away unscathed.
LikeLike
It’s not one or the other – under the district structure it was commonplace for districts to be packed with politically connected cronies – some districts were high functioning, others corrupt to the core – a few networks are popular with “users,” others are sharply criticized, for example, the fourteen International High Schools, schools all serving students in the country four years or less and scattered throughout the city belong in a single cluster, the transfer high schools, schools who take overage, undercredited kids belong in the same networks.
The next administration should design a service model that serves the needs of students not the bureaucracy.
Top down, overly bureaucratic districts are not better than defused networks.
LikeLike
In the latest news, the NYC DOE is now seeking to have schools without buildings…
http://gothamschools.org/2013/10/30/city-preparing-to-open-a-high-school-with-no-walls-of-its-own/
I’ll give that it’s “innovative” but then again anything that seems half baked or crazy is innovative now. Could you then sell off school real estate for these crowd-shared corporate rented spaces? A student could have their very own cubicle to go learn at alongside real professionals doing real work.
LikeLike