Last Saturday, I attended a forum on public schools organized by Jackson Heights Parents for Public Schools. Thanks to the appearance of superstar Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes, the event drew some of the city’s leading education stars, such as State Senator Robert Jackson, who has been leading the fight for increased state funding for the city’s public schools for many years. There were other elected officials and representatives of advocacy groups, including Carol Burris of the Network for Public Education and Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters. There were also eloquent advocates for bilingual education, a popular issue in this largely Hispanic neighborhood.
AOC is the member of Congress for Jackson Heights. She was there to listen and learn.
I arrived about an hour early with my son-in-Law and grandson. We went to the nearby heavily trafficked Roosevelt Avenue but quickly realized that there was nowhere to get a slice of pizza, our usual fast food, but many places to buy tacos. My 12-year-old grandson showed off his excellent Spanish, while Grandma could barely remember her high school Spanish. What was most striking about Roosevelt Avenue was that it was thoroughly representative of the new multicultural America that frightens Trump. Side by side are Spanish, Asian, and Arabic shops, peaceably coexisting. I suddenly thought of Reagan in Berlin, standing in front of the Berlin Wall, saying, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” I wanted to say, “Mr. Trump, come to Roosevelt Avenue in the borough where you were born and see the new America.”
Before the event started, I had about ten quiet minutes with AOC. She is warm, comfortable in her skin, somewhat taken aback by her sudden fame, and unpretentious. When I walked in, she jumped up and hugged me as though we were old friends. Or her grandmother.
When the event got underway, the mood in the room was one of unity and purpose. The 400 or so who crowded into the meeting hall were there to support public schools.
There were cheers for more funding, smaller class sizes, less emphasis on testing, and more bilingual education.
Liza Featherstone and Jessica Blatt offer a good summary of the meeting here.
There was much talk about the importance of parents taking action by opting out of state tests. NYC has one of the lowest opt-out rates in the state, in some part because parents are warned that they won’t be admitted to the middle school or high school of their choice without test scores. It was a bit jarring to hear AOC say that she was treatedin the Yorktown schools as in need of remedial education because she was Hispanic, not mainstream, but, she said, “a-high-stakes standardized Test” revealed she was in the 99th percentile. No one stopped to point out that she could not be referring to any high-stakes test used for accountability purposes because they don’t rank by percentile. They classify students as 1, 2, 3, or 4. Her teacher must have given her a no-stakes individual test that produces a percentile ranking for diagnostic purposes. Well, she can’t know everything about everything. None of us do.
The only controversy occurred during the Q and A session.
Someone asked AOC what she thought about Mayor deBlasio’s interest in changing the entrance exams for admission to the city’s most select high schools. Almost on cue, a group of protesters stood up and held signs saying that any effort to change the entrance exams would be “anti-Asian bias.” It was a tense few moments, and AOC wisely responded that the issue was one that dividedpeople who should be in the same camp, fighting for better schools, and that the issue was the inevitable consequence of a “scarcity mentality.” Why aren’t there good high schoolsfor everyone?
Several members of the panel told their stories. One was Jessica Ramos, the newly elected State Senator, who said she passed the single high-stakes exam that is the sole requirement for the top high schools but chose a local high school and received an excellent education. Ramos was very impressive. A parent, Kemala Karmen, said that her own child likely could have passed the exams but choseto go to a nonselective high school, is being well educated there, and has been accepted by good colleges.
All in all, it was a very satisfying day. The enthusiasm for local public schools was very strong. The eagerness to join together to make them better was palpable. All of the electeds turned out and spoke up, pledging to support public schools.
The people of Jackson Heights felt happy that they have so many top-notch elected officials working for them.
This is democracy at work.
Diane, THANK YOU!
And thank you, AOC.
I don’t understand people who want to pit one person against the other. Oh forgot … DIVIDE and CONQUER.
We cannot let the yahoos do that to us.
When I began work as a teacher in New York in 2003, the U.S. census had just reported that residents of Jackson Heights spoke 76 different languages.
Wow. What an awesome place to live!!!
Really good Indian food out there, especially the Jackson Diner, which features fresh dosas with its lunch buffet.
Does that include Brooklynese? 😂
Sure! Brooklynites can board the G train and head right over to Queens.
When I was a boy, almost all of my neighbors had genes from either Europe or Africa, many had both. All spoke English. This was the way in my south. My wife graduated from a Nashville school that was much the same.
Now there are over 70 languages in her Nashville school. It sounds like a formidable task for a teaching staff.
It’s a great neighborhood, if you can deal with the 7 train and the packed underground trains.
You New Yorkers who know which trains go where really annoy me! I just hop on and hope I’m going in the right direction.
I spent a fair amount of time in that neighborhood in a prior life.
Greg,these ret is to use asubway map. They are really good. Oneof the great things about NYC is that you really don’t need a car to see most of the city.
@ GregB Out of towners should explore NYC by city bus at first. And look out the window and see not only where you’re going but where you’re passing through. Subways are faster but can distort your sense of direction and distance because you can’t see where you’re going.
And I agree, it’s a great neighborhood. Have loved my culinary adventures in that area.
Come now the 7 train just got a state of the art Signal upgrade. NY’rs are tough to please.
I haven’t been out there in years. I’m sure the 7 is a total dream nowadays.
GregB
So here is your quick lesson. All trains go North and South. Irrespective of the fact that some go East and West.
Uptown is going away from Brooklyn. And Downtown is heading toward Brooklyn. You say I want to go to Manhattan what do I care about Brooklyn tough luck all trains start in Brooklyn whether they actually ever touch the Borough. So a Northbound or Uptown 7 train is heading to Flushing from Brooklyn even though it now starts at 34th and 10th Avenue and never went anywhere near Brooklyn. The numbered trains are IRT and the lettered trains are IND and never the two shall meet without a stairway or passage. Which still makes this the most complex and flexible system in the world because most other systems have lines that hardly ever touch at all.
Now if you are thoroughly confused think how life is as a New Yorker.
You live in the only City in the world that could invest billions to intentionally cause delays and then not receive thanks for doing so.
But hell if you can make it here you can make it anywhere. Even Jeff Bezos decided he could not take the heat. And they were going to give him his own helicopter pad so that he would never be confused by the Subway.
Joel, you remind me of why I like to walk as much as possible whenever I’m there! Plus it’s just nice to be able to walk in an American city—very rare.
It sounds like a great event, and it is good to know that this rising star is in favor of strong public education. I am surprised that AOC would have been flagged for compensatory education due to her surname. New York state has had some of the clearest guidelines for determining services for students. The home language survey determines eligibility for screening for bilingual education. It does not mean the student automatically qualifies. It simply means the student can be screened if a second language is spoken at home.
Compensatory reading and math are determined by previous standardized scores or recommendation of classroom teachers based on observable performance and a recommendation of the student study team. This is not a special education team. It is an intervention team. While this system is generally accurate, a few new students, overwhelmed by a recent move or change, can result in a false eligibility for a brief period. However, when the student adjusts to the school climate, it becomes clear that a student does not need compensatory services. The student is then dismissed, but generally after the standardized test is administered. The system is designed to keep students from falling through the cracks, and it generally works. It seems as though her brief stint in compensatory service has not held her back.
Thank you for this. It is great that education issues are hopefully coming to the forefront nationally. I hope this leads to the democrats/independents running for President having to take a real stand.
“It was a bit jarring to hear AOC say that she was treated in the Yorktown schools as in need of remedial education because she was Hispanic, not mainstream, but, she said, “a-high-stakes standardized Test” revealed she was in the 99th percentile. No one stopped to point out that she could not be referring to any high-stakes test used for accountability purposes because they don’t rank by percentile.”
I think AOC’s experience is not uncommon. Many bright students who would otherwise been ignored in public schools — not just because they are Hispanic or African-American but sometimes just because they are quiet — were given opportunities they might not have had. There is something to be said for having a way to recognize that teachers may be misjudging students because of their own biases or simply lack of time. The point is not to make these tests a high stakes reflection of the school or teacher or student. The point is to use them the way they have been used in the past (i.e. Iowa Tests given decades ago) and the way private schools use the CTP4 exams. Not to compare schools or even the teachers within the school. They don’t say “this teacher had 50% of her students get the highest stanine and this teacher had 60%, so the second teacher is far superior.
But those Iowa and CTP4 tests were not designed so that students would “fail” – they were designed to try to learn a little more about where the student might be. So the questions – while not perfect – were not intentionally tricky.
If a student who is overlooked gets a very high score, as AOC did, that should get a teacher to check his or her biases. If a student who is outstanding gets a very low score, it doesn’t mean that student isn’t still outstanding – it just gives the teacher one more tool to check to see if it is just a bad day, a personal issue that might be worth pursuing, some learning disability. etc. But the scores are looked at in context, with everyone understanding that whether a student scores in the 70th % one year and the 50% the next year means nothing.
Agreed.
Different districts and schools have use different tests for different uses. The state exam is not the only high-stakes exam. If a test is used for placement and tracking as AOC explained in her case, it is a high-stakes exam.
Placement is diagnostic. Very different from exams that label kids a 1-4 with no reference to what they can and cannot do. The kind of test she describes would not have been used for promotion, retention, or graduation. We have different views of “high stakes.” I took Iowa tests and there were no consequences attached to the score. First time I ever disagreed with Leonie. I do so at my peril!
Maybe insisting of a rigid ed code definitions obscures a broader understanding of the circumstances AOC faced and how that test changed the trajectory of her life. Could the stakes have been higher?
According to AOC’s biography, she started out her education in Yorktown Heights in kindergarten in the mid ’90s. She would not have been given any standardized tests at that time, only a placement test which is a screening, not a high stakes test. Standardized tests did not start until third grade in New York State in the ’90s. The standardized testing craze arrived with NCLB.
While I do not know the details of Ocasio-Cortez’s placement, I do know at no time was a student’s surname a legitimate reason for providing any compensatory service in New York.
My thought too, but I did not know she started Yorktown in K.
I don’t know for sure if it was K or 1st. The article stated that she moved when she was five. In either case she would not have been taking a standardized test in those days in either grade.
I always enjoyed Perth Amboy NJ. Union county NJ has the largest cuban-American community outside of Dade County FL.
If not for the picture signs, you would not know who sells what.
There was a Pizza place right on Roosevelt and 86th street. But they may serve Empanadas as well and the street food at Junction Blvd is probably better.
AOC is right we should be adequately funding K-U so that all students have an equal opportunity to succeed. We should be talking about every progressive Idea that raises the living standards for the vast majority of Americans and lessens inequality. Which in itself would improve our schools. Unfortunately, AOC has become a target for the right to attack. Can you tell me a time that Red Scares did not work in this country? I hear from people every day about Venezuela who could not point to it on a map; no less understand the complex set of circumstances that have left that country a wreck. The only time I know we were able to overcome the Red Scares was the thirties. There is nothing that AOC proposes that is too left for me. The problem is creating the inertia to get there. Had Obama not pushed for Romney Care the Great Recession would have killed the employer-provided system. Perhaps we might by now be ready for real change.
Unfortunately, the circumstance of the thirties that propelled us forward was the middle being wiped out. As long as the middle or upper middle feels that they have more than the working class, they will fight like hell to preserve what they have. When have they not viewed class struggle as the poor trying to steal their cookies? Like those Asian parents who see testing as an advantage to maintain their advantage. Or as Dean Baker pointed out today the Super-rich game college admissions legitimately the merely rich were caught in this scandal. But the middle and the upper middle who can afford the zip codes with the advantaged schools or the tutors for test prep. Never will admit their advantage.
More funding for city schools means less funding for my schools. Unless of course taxes are raised. But the Blue States with their higher taxes and a stronger commitment to Public Goods; just saw their taxes raised by the Republican Tax plan that limited SALT deductions. Will their citizens see it as an assault by Red State Republicans or will they attack the spending on Public Goods in their relatively progressive States. Certainly, they will not be open to increases.
So what will it take to move the Country forward?
But hey they just released the world happiness survey those Scandinavian Countries not one of which is Socialist or calls themselves Socialist are all on top.
“Can you tell me a time that Red Scares did not work in this country? ”
On the contrary. The first real paper I ever wrote in my college experience was an exhaustive look at the history of anti communism in America. I got three hours honors credit, working with a guy who became a sort of father to me. I found no evidence that there was ever a time when Americans did not react negatively to communism.
Imagine my surprise, therefore, when accusations of Russian involvement in the last election cycle did not have monumental effect but was laughed off by a right wing suffering from historical amnesia.
yes; SELECTIVE historical amnesia
Roy,
I agree. The deep paranoia about Russia and Reds simply evaporated when Trump was the one who seemed to be in bed with KGB Master Putin.
Roy Turrentine
I believe that was what I said with the exception of the1930s when in spite of the attempts to portray the New Deal as Communism the programs resulted in tremendous popularity for FDR and the programs.
By 1947 Taff Hartley was enacted over a Truman veto as unions were portrayed as the enemy at home, union leaders had to take loyalty oaths, while Communism was the enemy abroad. So can I get a few extra credits or is it to late to apply them. (That is a joke). As for Russia, I believe it has not been a Socialist State since 1991. However, I doubt half of the Trump base knows that or ever cared. I get asked all the time why a lefty like me attacks Russia. The reason they voted for him Brown and that works on many levels.
Yes, Joel, I intended to agree with you completely. Even in the 1930s, New Deal opponents tried to play the communist card to prevent using unemployed people to create better public places. Then they were not as successful, perhaps.
Agreed, Joel.
I think we were on 82nd street and I forgot to bring a coat, so we didn’t walk far.
Why aren’t there good high schools for everyone?
While I appreciate AOCs question, I’m not sure access to (just) a good school is what the protestors are after in this case.
I some how doubt that the people whose kids go to Stuyvesant or one of the other elite high schools would ever be satisfied if their kids went to just a good school.
They want them going to one of a very small number of ELITE high schools.
And the protestors don’t want any changes to the current admissions policy at ELITE high schools that might impact the chances of their own kids getting in.
Any attempt to remedy the current seriously nonrepresentative admissions at ELITE schools (eg, only 7 African American students got into Stuyvesant out of 895 spots) will never be acceptable to the protestors and it’s not clear why AOC should even try to make them happy.
Personally, I find it absolutely pathetic that some people are whining about changes to what is quite clearly currently a racist admissions policy.
And that some of them are playing the anti-Asian card to maintain the status quo is most pathetic of all.
Is anti-testing the same as anti-Asian?
David Coleman loves tests and I admit I’m anti-Coleman. Is he Asian?
Eva Moskowitz loves tests and I’m also anti-Moskowitz. Is she Asian?
Michelle Rhee loves tests and I’m anti-Rhee. Wait, that proves it! I guess I AM anti-Asian!
SomeDAM Poet,
Are you on the west coast? The issue is a lot more complicated and comments like “what is quite clearly currently a racist admissions policy” only exacerbate matters. AOC gets this. For all you know her father supports the SHSAT-only admissions policy which worked for him. Certainly there are African-American and Latinx alumni of specialized high schools who still support SHSAT-only admissions (although they also support better test prep, K-8 schools, etc.) And there are others of all backgrounds, including Asians, who understand that the SHSAT-only policy — which was not designed to be intentionally racist — has led to specialized high schools which are segregated and thus changes in the admissions policy need to happen.
You probably don’t realize this but changes are already happening, which the expansion of the Discovery program, with up to 20% of the seats at those schools reserved for disadvantaged students from disadvantaged schools. Is it enough? Nope, but it is a start, and it is still being met with anger (but the DOE is doing it anyway and had to fight a lawsuit to do it).
What impresses me the most with AOC is she is so wise, does her homework, and understands that those protesters weren’t protesting because they were racist — they were protesting because they are working class or poor fighting for the same crumbs. Many of them feel that the SHSAT-only admissions is what made it possible from them to go from very poor to middle class or even wealthy.
AOC knows they are not the enemy and she is trying to talk to them so that they can understand this isn’t about pitting working and middle class folks against the poor.
“the SHSAT-only policy — which was not designed to be intentionally racist — ”
The SHSAT-only policy was created in direct response to educators, administrators, elected officials, and parents asking why black and Latino students who demonstrated academic excellence in K-8 were being rejected from Bronx Science and Stuyvesant. Knowing that the admissions practices would be changed if it were left up to the city, a Bronx assemblyman and a Republican (lol) senator quickly rammed Hecht-Calandra through the legislature.
Given the surrounding circumstances and the language used to support the law I am not sure how anyone can say it wasn’t passed with clear racist objectives.
Tim,
Why do you use a fake email that includes the name of the Albert Shanker Institute when you have no connection to that group?
It does not have to be a conscious policy to be racist.
Testing has a long history of being racist, whether it be tests for voting, tests for jobs, tests for admissions or just IQ tests (which were ALL about racism from the getgo)
And as I said above, the issue is not simply about good schools because for some people good is not good enough.
What I think is very unhelpful is for people to continue to deny this.
But no one should just take my word for it
http://www.nea.org/home/73288.htm
*In terms of the achievement gap, I’ve stated the achievement gap is a racist idea. The academic achievement gap is based on standardized tests, and those tests have been proven again and again to not measure intelligence. For us to believe that there is a racial gap, and that black children are achieving at a lesser level, basically means believing that white children are intellectually superior. The assimilationists say no, it’s not that. They’ll say Black children are capable, it’s just about putting different teachers in those classrooms… We need to say that we don’t accept that gap because the tests are not valid, and intelligence is subjective. *
Racist Ideas in America
A Q&A with prize-winning author, NEA Higher Ed member Ibram X. Kendi
Q: This book challenges a common perception about racism, specifically that racist ideas propel racist policy. You say it’s the opposite—racist policies have propelled racist thinking. Can you explain that?
A:That was something I certainly believed, going into the book, that racist ideas drive policy, and I didn’t think I was going to turn it on its head. That wasn’t my intent… I wanted to write a history of racist ideas, a history of America, and show how the historical context produced these people, who produced these racist ideas. That led me to figure out the motives behind why they were producing these racist ideas. I found, over and again, that these producers were not ignorant. They were not hateful. Many of them were the most brilliant minds in American history. And they typically were producing these ideas to defend existing racist policies. The disparities were in place, their effects were profound, and these racist ideas were an attempt to normalize and justify those racist policies.*
http://www.nea.org/home/70133.htm
// End of wrote
My comment: in other words, the racism is not necessarily conscious, but baked into the policies (eg, use of standardized testing) which in many cases have been going on for a long time
SomeDAM Poet,
You are preaching to the choir : ) I acknowledge your very good points and I think SHSAT-only admissions is wrong.
“the racism is not necessarily conscious, but baked into the policies (eg, use of standardized testing) which in many cases have been going on for a long time”
Mayor de Blasio’s proposal to change admissions to specialized high schools is more or less based exactly on that idea. And look how despised he is. de Blasio had the courage to take this on — something that was going to get him almost no political mileage and a lot of hate — and all people can focus on is how disappointed they are in all his policies. Hardly any politicians are standing with him. Oh, they give lip service to change. It reminds me of people who say “thoughts and prayers” after a massacre and adamantly refuse to address gun control and if a democrat dares to so something he is attacked as not working with anyone else and just “pushing through” a policy instead of working together. You know, working with all the Republicans who absolutely refuse to do anything except offer “thoughts and prayers”.
That’s what happened to de Blasio when he offered a proposal that addressed everything you posted. How dare he not “get more input” from the people who have insisted for the last 5 years that the equivalent of “thoughts and prayers” (i.e. “free test prep and fabulous K-8 schools for everyone) is the ONLY change they will allow.
AOC — in addressing those parents — might not have entirely supported de Blasio but you will notice she didn’t decide to get some political mileage by bashing him the way both progressives and the right wing like to bash him.
Look around and tell me which progressive people in public education are doing anything to help de Blasio get SHSAT changes? Because I don’t see it. Instead they bash de Blasio for “not doing this the right way”. Because we are supposed to think that the people who have insisted for 5 years (really for much longer) that the only thing that can be done is the equivalent of “thoughts and prayers” haven’t been “consulted”.
Compared to most progressives on this issue, AOC was a breath of fresh air. She didn’t try to demonize de Blasio and his proposal and that perhaps is the start to making change happen. Otherwise it will be “thoughts and prayers” (i.e. “test prep and better K-8 schools”) forever.
So glad you had a good experience. She reminds me of people like Dolores Huerta and Bobby Kennedy with her fire and vision. I have not met her but I did have encounters with Dolores and Bobby.
I will post the videos on March 22 and you can watch her in action close up!
Thank you!!
Amen
Thank you for being there and for speaking so clearly and wisely, as always. Very much agreed on the beauty of Roosevelt Avenue! And finally, please seriously consider speaking out publicly, and soon, about the chilling effect on opt out that Mayor de Blasio and the NYC DOE have had, and very disappointingly continue to have under Chancellor Carranza. The DOE has amped up its threatening language in its annual mixed message about opt out, using academic screens that they just celebrated removing in D15 to scare parents into taking these tests. Mayor de Blasio regularly speaks inaccurately on the air when questioned on WNYC’s Ask the Mayor (I believe the term is ‘gaslighting’) and despite concerns being earnestly brought to him and his DOE year after year, he remains intractable on this. Let’s at least deprive him of the ability to pretend it isn’t so. Thank you!
Thank you, Megan. I am very disappointed in Mayor deBlasio for his refusal to support parents who opt out of state testing. By law, it is their right, but the Mayor actively opposes opting out and regularly issues warnings about what will happen to parents who exercise their right to do so. In the suburbs, excellent districts are now fighting the state because of their opt out rates being “too high.” Instead of respecting the rights of parents, Commissioner Elia threatens and bullies and tries to intimidates parents and superintendents. The Patchogue-Medford district on Long Island received a threatening visit from state inspectors who told the district superintendents Dr. Michael Hynes that he was not allowed to remain in the building while the inspectors met with the staff to give them instructions on how to reduce opting out. The State Education Department is acting like the Gestapo of education.
Diane,
As a parent skeptical of state tests (but not necessarily an opt outer), I have not seen the Mayor actively opposing opt out and regularly issuing warnings about what will happen to parents who exercise their right to do so.
You are correct that the Mayor hasn’t done anything to specifically support the opt out movement, nor has he said he supports it. But I have never felt – as a parent – that opting out would be anything but a personal decision that I could easily make if I wanted to make it. As far as I can recall (and perhaps I’m forgetting something), the Mayor may have said something like he recommends parents take the tests or there is a value to tests, but never did I feel as if he was “warning” parents.
In fact, I was under the impression you didn’t even need state test scores in 4th or 7th grade because all middle and high schools were supposed to admit students who chose to opt out. Am I wrong about that or did it change? The Mayor certainly is trying to change middle school admissions to take the pressure off of parents by creating middle school choice schools that admit students only by lottery. There is a great one that is very popular in District 15.
I would not characterize de Blasio’s position on opt out as actively discouraging it. If anything, at least in my neck of the woods, it is now much easier to opt out of state tests without feeling that you are giving up your child’s chance for a middle school you like. That wasn’t the case when the movement first started.
The mayor has total control of the Education Department. His last chancellor actively opposed opting out. She would not have done so without his support. NYC has the lowest opt out rate in the state,because principals are warned that opting out will hurt their schools. Students are warned that they need the scores to get into the middle school or high school of their choice. Bloomberg made NYC an all-choice District for middle schools and high schools. I attended a book release for Jesse Hagopian’s book “More Than a Score,” which is anti-testing. I asked the mayor directly if he supported opting out, and he laughed.
Yes, I agree that de Blasio is not supporting the opt out movement in any way. And I agree that in NYC a lot of parents opt in to the state tests. But I think if you asked many of them it was not because they felt that their child would be punished for opting out. Perhaps the principals feel the heat from the DOE and they are pressuring parents. And perhaps it’s worse in low-income schools where parents may not be aware of their rights and principals are pressuring them. But it would not surprise me if most college educated professional parents knew their child could opt out but didn’t actually want them to opt out.
At the same time,I think most of these parents would say they are happy that de Blasio has enacted a lot of policies that mean those tests are far lower-stakes than they used to be. There are some very good lottery-only admission middle schools now and de Blasio is running pilot programs in some districts so that a student’s score is irrelevant to applying to a middle or high school. Even if that isn’t supporting the opt out movement with words, it does support it by making it much easier for parents to opt out.
You and Megan are absolutely correct that de Blasio could support opt out a lot more. But I do think it is easier than ever for a parent to opt out and some of that is due to the Mayor’s policy changes.
Look, I endorsed DeBlasio at a crucial point in his first campaign. He sought me out. I was flattered. Once he was in office, I never again heard from him. Very foolishly, he and Farina never cleaned house. Almost all of Klein’s holdovers hung on. He launched his Renewal program, relying heavily on pricey consultants, never reducing class size. It mostly was a waste, a failure. Universal PreK is very good, but most problems remain untouched.
I’m very disappointed in this mayor. He should have brought in a fresh team with new thinking.
I agree with you that de Blasio could have been much better. You are absolutely right in your criticism.
I guess I focus more on what he did do — and is trying to do with specialized high school admissions and diversifying middle schools with pilot programs — than his failures. To me, his failures in Renewal schools were in service to trying to make things better — not because he did not care at all about but thought it seemed like a good policy. And some – but not the majority — of those schools did get better. And if nothing else, kids and families got free dental and eye care and other services. I was glad that de Blasio didn’t try to blame the teachers or look for easy scapegoats for the renewal failure. I’m sorry de Blasio was too inexperienced or inept to execute it better in every school and that it only seemed to help in a few. But I’m not sorry I voted for a Mayor willing to try it.
I was mostly posting about opt out, however. I know and respect some parents who are very involved in opt out and I am grateful for their success. But many fellow parents I know just don’t want to opt out and it’s not because we feel pressure from the Mayor. I think some parents in some schools may actually feel pressure to opt out from other parents (although I always tell them that is nonsense).
I personally believe de Blasio should neither encourage nor discourage parents from opting out or having their children take the test, so if Megan feels he is actively discouraging it, that is wrong but I just haven’t seen it. And I support de Blasio’s policy changes that make it possible for kids to opt out without it affecting their choice of middle/high schools.
Thank you so much, it is very meaningful to have this reality acknowledged. The State Education Department indeed is acting poorly and the NYC DOE is not only aiding and abetting, but amplifying their intimidation tactics. I hope that it is okay to share your response more widely? We are working feverishly to compel the mayor and his new Chancellor to inform all NYC parents on the facts around the tests and our right to boycott them.
Whatever I write here is in the public domain. Use it if you wish.
Thank you for speaking with such clarity and honesty here, Diane. I’m not sure if you have any idea how much it means to hear this reality acknowledged so explicitly – we are drowning in Orwellian spin, here in NYC. In response to NYC Public School Parent, I wonder what school/part of the city your experience is grounded in, because there is very much a tale of two cities here, and while some NYC families are very much made aware of their right to opt out, it is just the opposite in most NYC schools, including those most representative of our city’s demographics. The marching orders to tamp down opt out are explicit and in many schools parents are given blatant misinformation about not only opt out but the impacts and quality of the tests, about which educators have been widely sounding the alarm for years.
Megan,
Thank you for clarifying. Obviously I make no claims that I speak for any experience except my own. I am very glad you brought that up because that is something I was wondering about — whether the students in schools where parents were not as affluent were feeling pressure against opting out. I absolutely agree with you that those parents should feel just as free to opt out with no repercussions as parents at schools with more affluent student populations.
As I said above, I have high regard for the opt out movement and I oppose parents feeling pressure to have their child sit or not sit for the exam. I was relating my own experience which is that it is – in practice – easier than ever to opt out because those scores are no longer required for high school or middle school admissions the way they were when opt out first started. Which I thought was a very good thing.
If the DOE is giving false information to parents in low-income public schools that isn’t going to parents in higher income public schools, that is absolutely wrong.
I know of at least one elementary school principal (surely not the only one) who has flat-out lied to parents by saying that their kids will receive a zero on state tests if they opt-out, and that those zeros will negatively impact their ability to get into the middle school of their choice.
I really wish I lived in Brooklyn. It’s the center of the universe right now. This event is all good news, tremendously good news, but the best part is knowing that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spent ten minutes talking to Dr. Diane Ravitch. AOC is not going to be fooled and jump on the privatization bandwagon. Very good news. Thank you!
At least I get to go to the Bernie rally in Los Angeles on Saturday.
Wasn’t this event in Queens? Maybe you should say the center of the universe are the former Bridge and Tunnel boroughs! (I’m old enough to remember when that is the disparaging way Manhattanites referred to non-Manhattanites like those who lived in Brooklyn and Queens.)
Queens is becoming what Brooklyn used to be before the Manhattan invasion arrived. But I still (heart) Brooklyn anyway. (And Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island and yes, Manhattan).
Big shout out to Queens! And to Long Island and OptOut. Much love to NYC.
Thank you! And LA is also a wonderfully diverse city! Enjoy the Bernie rally!
I wish people didn’t feel the need to dis the specialized high schools by saying, “My child could have gone there, but we chose something else.” People do this with G&T too. It’s disrespectful to those for whom a specialized high school or G&T program are a priority.
My daughter opted out of every NY State ELA and Math test since 3rd grade. She just got accepted to LaGuardia, and the Vocal Music program at Edward R. Murrow. (She wants to go to Murrow). LaGuardia – like many of the competitive screened schools – stated that if the student does not have state test scores it will double the weight of their grades. They were clearly true to that policy because they accepted my daughter. Opting out may actually put some students at an advantage when it comes to screened schools like Millennium, NYC Museum School, etc. that double the weight of the grades in lieu of test scores . . . especially if the student has really good grades, but is not the best test-taker.
Reflecting the Multitude
We are beautiful
You are valid
You are beautiful
We are valid
Languages we speak
Foods we eat
Music that beats
Everybody, everybody
On the streets
Captured in this moment
AOC up on her feet
Steps up the mic
All phones bright light
Up the room arena like
A beacon more than
Candle in the wind
Capturing a moment
We are the history
Of her story
We are beautiful & valid
She reflects all
Multifarious
Loved & loathed
Gifted while remedial
She warns
Beware of the incentives
To stand against ourselves
Times up to scale the structure
We are not alone
We are valid
We are beautiful
Everybody, everybody
Video: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Responds to Fox News’ Weird Obsession with Her
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Published on Mar 22, 2019
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks about congressional hearings, being an object of obsession for Fox News and interacting with her colleagues across the aisle.
………………………………………..
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Breaks Down What the Green New Deal Really Is
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Published on Mar 22, 2019
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks about the Green New Deal, showing the inner workings of Capitol Hill and her past as a science fair award-winner.
Dear Friends,
I just signed the campaign: Ask Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Co-Sponsor the Green New Deal
I ask you to add your name to this important issue. Every name that is added builds momentum around the campaign and makes it more likely for us to get the change we want to see.
Will you join me by taking action on this campaign?
https://diy.rootsaction.org/petitions/co-sponsor-the-green-new-deal
After you’ve signed the petition please also take a moment to share it with others. It is quick and easy – all you need to do is forward this email.
Thank you!
This is off topic, but there may be some justice.
………………………………………………………….
(CNN)More than 600 cities, counties and Native American tribes from 28 states have filed a federal lawsuit against eight members of the Sackler family — owners of the pharmaceutical giant Purdue Pharma LP — accusing them of creating the opioid addiction crisis through ownership of the company that manufactures the painkiller OxyContin.
Like other suits that have been filed, this one alleges the Sackler family made a fortune by using deceptive marketing to sell addictive and potentially deadly painkillers…
Just ask the GOP and Trump about how much better everything is for all of us.
Americans are more unhappy now than years ago. Do we wonder why? Lack of reasonable healthcare ignorance at the top that spreads hatred and fear. Proliferation of guns for random killings. Lack of decent food available for many. Opioid crisis and nothing being done. Media news that is just about always negative. Spreading poverty as the middle class sinks. An economy that makes lives better for the wealthy.
There are reasons for our declining life expectancy. What is Trump or the GOP doing to improve our lives? “Pull yourselves up by your bootstraps! Cut funding for the EPA, Medicare and Medicaid. Put more money into the military and ignore problems at home.
…………………………….
Americans are getting more miserable, and the statistics prove it
Posted: March 22, 2019 – 8:05 PM
Christopher Ingraham, Washington Post
—–Perhaps more concerning than the absolute gap between the two is the fact that it has grown over the years, fueled chiefly by a decline in happiness among those who say their health is poor. This suggests that illness in America is becoming more difficult to deal with and exerting a greater toll on the well-being of patients. The potential culprits here are numerous: soaring medical expenses likely play a role, as do the frustrations of dealing with private insurance companies that have a great deal of power in determining which ailments get covered and paid for.
This last finding ties back to the data presented in the World Happiness Report: Our current state of national well-being is tied, in large part, to various public health challenges. The most daunting indicator in this regard may be the ongoing decline in life expectancy: The United States in the midst of the longest ongoing decline in average life expectancy since World War I. This despite the fact that the nation is in the midst of one of the longest economic expansions in its history.
The declining life expectancy and happiness numbers suggest that the fruits of that expansion are not being distributed equally among the Americans who are making it happen….
http://philly.com/news/nation-world/happiness-miserable-united-states-sad-general-social-survey-20190323.html
Subject: Tell Congress — Mueller’s findings must be made public
Trump’s handpicked Attorney General William Barr has submitted his summary of Special Counsel Mueller’s final report.
While we can’t draw any final conclusions from Barr’s four-page summary of a two-year investigation, we do now know that Mueller deliberately and expressly stated that President Trump is not exonerated of obstruction of justice.
Americans deserve to know the full truth about the Russian attacks on the 2016 presidential election. Barr’s summary is not enough — it’s up to Congress to use every tool in its arsenal to make Mueller’s report public (including its subpoena power) and hold public hearings with Barr and Mueller themselves.
Ten days ago, 420 House members of both parties voted in support of transparency for the Mueller report. We must demand they stick to that commitment — and ensure the full report and Mueller’s underlying findings are made public. Send your message now >>
Can you join me and write a letter? Click here: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-muellers-findings-must-be-made-public?source=email&
John Dean
✔
@JohnWDean
Having re-read William Barr’s June 2018 Memo critiquing Mueller’s obstruction investigation and now his summary of Mueller’s Report, it is clear that Richard Nixon would not have been forced to resign his office if Barr had been Attorney General. Barr wants a POTUS above the law.
15.5K
10:18 PM – Mar 24, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
6,658 people are talking about this
I don’t recall AOC wanting to get rid of cows and airplanes. But, look where this came from.
This was posted from the WH:
The Green New Deal isn’t “socialism lite:” It’s a full-scale government takeover meant to reshape every aspect of Americans’ lives from Washington. The blueprint, unveiled by self-described Democratic Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), would eliminate fossil fuels completely, upgrade or replace every single building in the United States, and aim to get rid of “polluting” commodities such as cattle and airplanes.
Senator Todd Young [R-IN] is a sycophant to Trump. I am proud that AOC continues to speak out and that the GOP’ers get nervous. This is a statement he made on Young’s online newsletter to Hoosiers:
…………………………………………………
The Unreasonable, Unattainable, and Unaffordable Green New “Deal”
Last week, Democrats had a chance to vote for one of their top priorities the unreasonable, unattainable, and unaffordable Green New Deal. The so-called “deal” is projected to cost up to $93 trillion over ten years. That’s as much as $65,000 per household per year. It is a bad deal for Hoosier farmers, families, and manufacturers. It would devastate our way of life, which is why I voted against this job-killing plan.
I’m 65. My children are 35 and 37. Back in the days of their schooling many States did give tests that showed the percentile your child was in. I remember, my son was in the 0 percentile and my daughter in the 85 percentile. Please check your facts before you call someone a liar.
Back in the day, no teacher was fired, no school was closed because of your children’s test scores.
Back in the day, the federal government did not mandate annual testing of all children in grades 3-8.