The school board of Ossining, New York, passed a resolution opposing the confirmation of Hohn King. The Ossining board endorsed the resolution passed earlier by the Patchogue-Medford school board.

Categories Education Reform

16 Comments Post your own or leave a trackback: Trackback URL

NYS Parent says:

February 25, 2016 at 3:46 pm

Where were they during 7 years of Arne Duncan’s unconstitutional abuse of power?
King has been neutered by the ESSA. Who cares about this underachieving sock puppet?

LikeLike

Reply
- Dienne says:
  
  February 25, 2016 at 4:08 pm
  
  Exactly. The only difference between King and Duncan is that King is likely to be more openly abrasive, unlike Duncan’s bumbling, good ole boy, “aw, shucks” sort of manner. The policies will be the same though.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
NYSTEACHER says:

February 25, 2016 at 4:33 pm

So some random school boards in NY are saying they don’t want King?

Ok.

I’m all for exercises. It’s healthy I guess, even when they are exercises in futility.

Does anyone think these statements against King will matter even a little?

Many school boards are hard at work doing reformers bidding by opening their arms to technology in classroom initiatives and the like.

Just seems a bit weird that they think anybody would care.

King was a disaster on steroids in NY. Now he’s Sec of Ed. Somehow people don’t see this as our side kinda sorta losing…..and bad. School Boards making statements, just like our side’s narrative in general: nobody cares.

LikeLike

Reply
- NYS Parent says:
  
  February 25, 2016 at 4:41 pm
  
  They are just tinkling INTO a gale force wind.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
- dianeravitch says:
  
  February 25, 2016 at 5:53 pm
  
  NYSTEACHER,
  Disagree. If dozens or hundreds of school boards spoke up, they would be heard.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
- RageAgainstTheTestocracy says:
  
  February 25, 2016 at 6:18 pm
  
  John King is irrelevant. The nomination is moot. The school boards of NYS are wasting their time complaining to the feds. Under the new ESSA they are much better off focusing their energies on the BOR in an attempt to dissolve Cuomo’s Rgents Reform Agenda. NYS now has the freedom to END PUNITIVE TESTING forever!
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
schoolgal says:

February 25, 2016 at 7:22 pm

It seems another display of apathy by union officials and the majority of teachers will result in King’s rise to power. If every teacher in this country let their senators know they will not get reelected, I bet King would be out the door.

I am sick and tired of a few fights for the many.

LikeLike

Reply
Chiara says:

February 25, 2016 at 7:55 pm

Bad news on Hillary Clinton. Alice Walton donated 353,000 to her “victory fund”

She’s the Walmart heir who spends all that money promoting privatizing public schools, unless there;s another “Alice Walton” from Bentonville Arkansas with 350k to throw around 🙂

I really hope Clinton doesn’t mislead voters on public schools like Obama did.

It’s not fair to voters to run as a public school supporter and then get elected and work on behalf of privatizers. It’s dishonest. If Clinton wants to replace public schools with fee for service contractors she should have the courage to run on that.

http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00586537/1047317/sa/ALL/2

LikeLike

Reply
Robert Rendo, NBCT says:

February 25, 2016 at 8:54 pm

I just want to say to all on this blog that I am an educator at Ossining, and I am fiercely proud of our Board – which I just learned about today – standing up for what is right and just.

In life, it’s not always about what you get, but it is ALWAYS about “process” and remaining pro-active.

When we shrink away from our convictions because advocating gets to be too much of a heavy lift, or because we don’t get immediate gratification, we give away our power to many other individuals and institutions who simply don’t deserve it.

What the Ossining BOE did was courageous and dripping with integrity, not to mention, they set an example for others; and yes, even adults need role models from item to time.

I don’t know what the outcome of this will be, but I do know I feel ever more motivated to fight against injustices and incompetence. I am proud to be part of the Ossining community of parents, teachers, administrators, students, and miscellaneous but critical stakeholders who are willing to stand up and speak about what is right for children and society at large.

John King, who has had nominal experience as an educator, has got to go, and hopefully, he will do so gracefully. And yet, it might not be prudent for me to hold my breath.

As for Ossining, I fully uphold the position paper the BOE wrote, and urge others to do the same . . . . Sign on. Adopt your own position paper. Form a group. Flock in numbers. Voice yourself assertively and seriously. Keep tabs on your politicians and talk to them. Let them know who you are.

You count.

You count more in numbers . . . .

– Robert Rendo, NBCT

LikeLike

Reply
- John Ogozalek says:
  
  February 26, 2016 at 4:57 am
  
  I agree, Robert. School boards and administrators, teachers and parents should be applauded for standing up for what is right. What’s been done in recent years to our pubic schools and our children nationwide has been a train wreck in slow motion.
  
  Here in Sullivan County, New York, I read that the Eldred Central School Board passed a resolution last month calling on Governor Cuomo, Commissioner Elia, the Board of Regents and State Legislature to, “…re-examine public school accountability systems in New York State, and to develop a system which uses multiple measures and does not require extensive standardized testing, more accurately reflects the broad range of student learning, and is used to support students and improve schools…”
  
  Diane could not be more correct. If hundreds of school boards spoke up, they would be heard. Hats off to my colleagues and their school leadership in neighboring Eldred, New York.
  
  The full text of the resolution is located on the school district’s website. There’s a lot more in there. Here is the link: http://www.eldred.k12.ny.us/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=1&ModuleInstanceID=2518&ViewID=047E6BE3-6D87-4130-8424-D8E4E9ED6C2A&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=5874&PageID=1
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
First Grade Teacher says:

February 25, 2016 at 9:08 pm

Bravo Ossining!!

LikeLike

Reply
Tim says:

February 26, 2016 at 7:40 am

BREAKING: the mother of the seven-year-old victim in the PS 194/Osman Couey physical abuse case announced the filing of a $6 million lawsuit against the NYC DOE, principal, and assistant principal; people who viewed the video of the abuse describe it as being much worse than what was previously reported.

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160225/east-harlem/mom-plans-sue-city-after-7-year-old-allegedly-attacked-by-teacher

The victim’s mother said her son is now “scared of everything” and wakes up every night thinking that Osman Couey is coming to attack him again.

According to the Reverend Kevin McCall, who works with the civil rights group National Action Network and has been advising the family, the video recording shows Osman Couey lifting the seven-year-old child up and throwing him to the ground–not once, not twice, not three times, but four times. Eventually another teacher intervened to stop the attack.

Fortunately, media outlets and the victim’s attorney have filed legal paperwork requiring the NYC DOE to preserve the video of the attack and to make it available to the public.

The victim’s mother said school officials did not tell her about a teacher picking up and violently shaking and throwing her child for more than five weeks after it happened. They also attempted to gaslight and mislead her, telling her that the child had been acting out, as opposed to suffering from the aftereffects of the attack and serial bullying from other students. The school also took the shocking step of removing the child from his regularly scheduled math class where he would be in contact with Osman Couey, opting to send him to sit in a kindergarten or first-grade class instead, forcing him to miss math instruction for more than a month.

The NYC DOE’s large in-house public relations and media team characterized Osman Couey’s behavior as being “deeply disturbing” but did not provide any details about his long history of yelling at and grabbing/shoving children. They confirmed that the department will not attempt to terminate him for cause, but will rather wait for the outcome of his criminal trial. In the meantime, Osman Couey will continue to receive his full $105,142 salary.

As of 7:35 am EST, a search for “Osman Couey” on NYTimes.com did not return a single result. You can read about “New York’s Next Hot Neighborhood” and an essay on how annoying little kids can be while riding the elevator, though.

LikeLike

Reply
- Duane Swacker says:
  
  February 26, 2016 at 8:39 am
  
  And this has what to do with the topic of the post? Diane has an email address that you can email this sort of thing to.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
- Tim says:
  
  February 26, 2016 at 10:25 am
  
  That’s a fair point, Duane, although I don’t recall seeing you similarly admonish the many, many regular commenters who do the same thing.
  
  It’s a big, important story, even if the New York Times and Diane don’t want to address it, and given the sheer volume of comments here regarding a video of a teacher verbally berating a student, I know that Diane’s readers want to be kept up to speed with issues involving the maltreatment of students.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
- NYS Parent says:
  
  February 26, 2016 at 11:02 am
  
  Just keep it in perspective tim. There are over 1,000,000 students and about 140,000 teachers in the NYC public school system. One bad apple doesn’t spoil the whole bunch. And as we are seeing the system will serve up justice along with due process. And to be sure Farina and Mulgrew will not come the the defense of this teacher if guilty.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
- Robert Rendo, NBCT says:
  
  February 26, 2016 at 8:15 pm
  
  BREAKING: Tim is a jerk and desperate for attention.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply