Andrew Cuomo has a longstanding dislike for teachers and public schools.
He made his disdain clear when he failed to appoint any current New York City educators to his “reimagine education” task force.
Why should he listen to teachers and principals when he can call Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, Eric Schmidt and other billionaires and CEOs to decide what schools should look like when they reopen?
If there is any consolation to this malign neglect, it is important to remember that Cuomo has no role in setting education policy. That job belongs to the New York State Board of Regents. According to the state constitution, the governor does not appoint either the state commissioner or the Board of Regents.
He is a kibitzer.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
No surprise here. Anyone that belongs to the billionaires’ club of Disrupters that want to get rid of the public sector hates everyone that works in the public sector.
There is no cure for the Disrupters that have been corrupted by their power and are also stupid and ignorant.
Why is he bothering with this? They could just pull out any of the op eds Jeb Bush has written over the last decade and get the same result. There’s no real “debate” in ed reform- we could all recite the recommendations right now.
Exacto.
It’s the next wave of assault and it’s going to be a big one. Concentrated in NY State to start. We’ve heard and noted the jargon and methods way too often. But not so; the Average Joe.
No question in my mind that they’re going to tell us there’s just not enough money for the pre pandemic models of education. Then add a tablespoon of “overly expensive and inefficient, anyway”, to top it off.
I notice that Randi is included in the list of players on the team, though.
This will probably open a can of worms; but didn’t she gave the green light to Gates’ CCSS initiative from the start?
Randi is not a “current NYC educator.”
Educator (n.) A term used to deceivingly describe wannabe non-teachers as someone important in the teaching and learning process.
Has the unabridged version of Swacker’s Dictionary been published yet, Duane?
I’m saying that including Randi in this task force isn’t necessarily a guarantee of teacher representation, even though she’s head of the AFT.
She/the AFT accepted quite a lot of money from Gates in exchange for endorsing and implementing the CCSS when they were rolled out.
I’m sure she had her reasons but I remember that being an issue at the time.
Randi won’t go along with any proposal that displaces teachers. It’s her job to protect them.
Good point and thanks for the distinction, Diane. I think this is a different situation than the CCSS.
Personal experience has taught me not to trust Gates or Bloomberg. Looks like Schmidt is of the same ilk.
Gawd…this is a stupid move.
I think the die was effectively cast when Governor Cuomo started parroting Betsy DeVos with the “buildings” nonsense.
These private school graduates think you yokels are too attached to “buildings”- whatever that means.
I get it, I really do. “Buildings” are expensive while a Chromebook and some junk “playlist” is dirt cheap. I completely understand why governors would prefer to wash their hands of public education completely. The one and only question is if we’ll allow them do so.
When Cuomo agrees to get rid of the buildings where he works and lives, then he could have some credibility for bemoaning our attachment to buildings. He still has multiple offices (in buildings) and the governor’s mansion. Also a building.
When Cuomo agrees to get rid of the building where he gets his hair and nails done, he will have some standing..
But not until.
Patently outrageous.
Cuomo didn’t “fail ” to invite teachers.
He succeeded in not inviting them.
Cuomo made SURE that none were included, which undoubtedly took some effort.
He’s motivated by pure unadulterated spite.
well said: he succeeded in NOT inviting them
This is off topic but why is a school superintendent saying that he wants a graduation ceremony of 190 seniors? Would parents go along with this?
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Idaho school will violate governor’s health guidelines, host graduation next week
MAY 11, 2020
Minidoka County School District officials decided to hold a group graduation ceremony May 21 for Minico High School seniors despite it violating the governor’s guidelines limiting group eventsduring the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minidoka County School District Superintendent Ken Cox told the (Twin Falls) Times-News the event appears to be allowed under the governor’s state Rebound Idaho plan during stage four because there will be a gathering of more than 50 people. The school has 190 seniors.
But the fourth stage won’t begin until June 13 at the earliest if there are no spikes in cases. The event will be in stage two of the plan if it goes into effect as expected on May 16. In that stage, public and private gatherings are supposed to be limited to 10 people or less…
Cox said only the graduating seniors and two of their family members will be allowed at the school’s football field. The ceremony will be held at 5:30 p.m.
The student and family members must arrive by vehicle, where they will wait until the student is ushered to the practice field and seated 6 feet apart from classmates, and parents are seated 6 feet apart in the bleachers.
When students are moved to the football field for the ceremony, they will be seated 10 feet apart. The school board chairman will place the diploma holder on a table and step back before the student approaches. Photos will also be taken.
Students and their family members will be asked to wear masks, but it will not be required.
The Rupert Police Department and Minidoka County Sheriff’s Office will help keep people spaced apart, Cox said…
Read more here: https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/education/article242649961.html?#storylink=cpy
https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/education/article242649961.html
He’s a kibitzer with a lot of budget power. Tech billionaires know how to buy policy influence, so I am not feeling too consoled.
There is no online daycare. The buildings will remain.
I thought Fortnite was online daycare.
Of a sort. But the kid is still in the house. Parents need them out –a major fact that Gates, Cuomo and the other edu-futurists seem to have overlooked.
ponderosa:
Virtual learning child and teen care facilities. Small classes staggered throughout the day.
Former teachers working as monitors now, ensuring that the students remain on screen task (“Cheez-it snack time if you finish!”).
Salaries and benefits reduced due to reduced need for teacher expertise in terms of assessment, lesson planning, testing, etc.
Not jokOmg, unfortunately.
I can picture that being tried. But kids will hate it –they want to look at and interact with each other, not a screen. And screens still aren’t as good at commanding attention and imprinting learning as a good live teacher. Plus individualization has this intrinsic and significant downside: the elimination of communal experience –e.g. no more shared jokes about the Diet of Worms, or the shared sorrow of The Great Gatsby. It’ll be hard to sell this model. Why doesn’t Gates get behind building a corps of solid teachers instead of all these hopeless workarounds?
“I can picture that being tried. But kids will hate it –they want to look at and interact with each other, not a screen. And screens still aren’t as good at commanding attention and imprinting learning as a good live teacher. Plus individualization has this intrinsic and significant downside: the elimination of communal experience –e.g. no more shared jokes about the Diet of Worms, or the shared sorrow of The Great Gatsby. It’ll be hard to sell this model. Why doesn’t Gates get behind building a corps of solid teachers instead of all these hopeless workarounds?”
I hate being cynical, but 20+ years of living under this relentless “school reform” push has done a number on me. And Bill Gates/Mike Bloomberg (and others) have been at the forefront from the beginning.
These are my opinions, of course. Always open to debate:
1) The three power brokers we’re talking about really don’t like unions. Unions get in the way. This creates a problem in building a corp of solid teachers. Real pros expect a decent wage and benefit package. And teachers want a voice in the programs that they’re administering. It’s a very unique field of expertise.
2) They think kids will “get used to it”. I think that they really believe in their product as a decent basic for the general population. The smart ones will do well and the others won’t. As is true in the standard model of classroom education. Want something better? Save up and send your kid to private school. Social Darwinism.
3) Most importantly in my mind: they are not educators. They’re not even tech geniuses. They are extremely successful businessmen who were in the right place at the right time and used that timing to their enormous advantage. And now, sharp businessmen that they are; they see a huge opportunity to further their agenda. The economic impact of this pandemic will create shortfalls in every public budget. Time to “trim the fat”.
Are you currently teaching? If not, you may not be watching, in real time, the failure of online learning. In my suburban district, only about 60% of kids are participating. And we’re delivering far less content to that 60%, so net learning is way down. This echoes what has happened in online charters. Online is the way of the pandemic, but it is not the way of the future.
I retired this past January.
We’re actually in agreement, ponderosa: the kids are not well served by this form of learning in the long term. It’s a good stopgap during this period of confusion. Could work well in other individual applications as well.
I was the tech guy for our 6 sites for a long time. Up until I retired. Large grants helped usher us into the digital realm of education.
Teachers were wary and unconvinced at first, but they eventually accepted and enjoyed the technology as a tool that they could include in their repertoire. Then it started (and continues) to become a mandatory part of the daily lives and routine. Moving more towards the teacher serving the tech. Many are becoming wary and unconvinced, again.
I think Gates and Co believe that this is all a part of the natural progression. That teachers, kids, and parents will eventually “come around” and accept the changes. Just like they did after the initial reluctance. And I think they’re going to do what they can to buy the time to make this mode of education into the norm.
Like I said: I’ve become cynical. I would love to be proved wrong and see an amicable marriage between the tech billionaires and the educational specialists who they’re serving.
You are right to be cynical.
Such an amicable “marriage” will never happen because techies like Gates want control and are not about “serving” anyone but themselves.
The only way this is going to end is for these people to be barred from schools entirely.
Quite frankly, I am surprised that any state governor or state board of education would want to have any relationship whatsoever with someone who met with pedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein after his first conviction as Gates did.
What message does that send?
Agreed, Poet.
Wonder if this “Reimagining…” is really his brainchild, at all. Might be the same game plan as with the CCSS. Gates offers money if you implement his agenda.
I’m seeing some very large Gates banners on FB. With a whole lotta likes. Questioning one of his supporters is eerily similar to questioning a Trump supporter.
The big tell with Gates philanthropy is that he constantly demands attention and adoration.
The Talmud defines the highest form of charity as giving without knowing who the recipient is, selflessly. Gates giving is the lowest form of charity, demanding thanks and publicity.
Selflessness would not seem to be one of Bill’s strong points.
I had an interesting chat with someone who chimed in on my FB post regarding this subject. I knew him in college. Very intelligent and a nice, thoughtful, considerate person. I’m happy to have rekindled that friendship, online.
He didn’t understand the reluctance to accept assistance from these intelligent, environmentally conscious philanthropists.
I chatted privately with him about it (out of respect) and he was very surprised to learn about Gates’ and Bloomberg’s heavy handed roles in the education reform movement. His main concerns are regarding the environment, and both of these men have done well by us in that regard.
I think one of our largest hurdles is in the area of time and attention. People have just so much time in the day to devote to pressing issues. Education is not in the forefront for a lot of people. So philanthropists like Gates or Bloomberg get a glowing bill of health in one sphere (environment) while they run roughshod over another (education).
Their supporters figure they’re doing right in education because the PR firms are savvy in their presentations.
His main concerns are regarding the environment, and both of these men have done well by us in that regard.”
That’s actually not accurate.
For example, on the issue of climate change, Gates is heavily banking on a techno fix (surprise!) Including possible geoengineering.
“Thousands of planes would fly at high altitudes, spraying millions of tons of particles around the planet to create a massive chemical cloud that would cool the surface.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/07/bill-gates-funded-solar-geoengineering-could-help-stop-global-warming.html
While this might sound great to the uninitiated , it’s little more than a temporary measure because it does nothing to deal with the CO2 in the atmosphere and merely blocks out some of the sunlight for a short period of time (measured in months or a year at most). Eventually, unless you keep injecting the aerosol (sulfur dioxide) in the stratosphere, the temperature again rises and reaches the level it would have had you never done anything.
The upshot is that once you start, you have to keep doing it essentially forever.
And it might (is bound to?) have unwanted “side effects”, which could have potentially catastrophic consequences.
Experiment on our atmosphere? No problem for the fellow who has no problem experimenting on our children in the education sphere.
It’s not really a solution at all, but lots of people buy the BS because they think Gates is a scientist, which he is not. He’s an idiot when it comes to science and most other things, for that matter.
Ugh. That’s what I get for not fact checking.
I know that some of Bloomberg’s ideas were pretty good. At least the ones that reached my ears.
Here’s an article by climate scientist Ray Pierrehumbert about “The trouble with geoengineers hacking the planet
https://thebulletin.org/2017/06/the-trouble-with-geoengineers-hacking-the-planet/#
Gates is quite literally invested in geoengineering — is, on the business end.
The former chief “scientist” for Microsoft (Nathan Myrhvold) is also in on the act.
And Myrhvold knows about as much about climate science as Gates, which ain’t much.
Pierrehumbert also took Myrhvold to task for his foolish statements about solar cells in economist Steve Levitt’s book Superfreakonomics.
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2009/10/an-open-letter-to-steve-levitt/
So, we have two clueless computer clowns and an economist (three clueless clowns) weighing in on stuff they know nothing about.
What a surprise.
Knowledge is power. Thanks. Definitely going to keep this info handy.
I believe Snowpiercer addresses the atmosphere-seeding cure. I don’t know the scientific creds of its writers.
Knowledge is only power if people respect it and listen to it.
In some cases (nuclear explosions) people have no choice but to listen, but in cases where they don’t have to listen, many people don’t.
They actually seem to revel in turning up their noses at scientists.
To people like Bill Gates, money is power.
Knowledge is just something silly scientists are interested in.
Yes.
I was just reading about How “Plandemic” has gone viral.
Reality is really getting hammered. From all sides.
Indiana is pushing online learning. My grandson has been doing that at home…but his father is a tech expert.
What happens to the many who have no WiFi or a computer? What happens to the homeless…that number is growing. They are being left behind. Does anyone in power care?
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Number of Homeless Students Hits All-Time High.
As coronavirus upends life for students around the country, Indiana educators are striving to ensure homeless families stay connected to resources for survival and support remote instruction. Families without stable housing are facing many of the same challenges as other parents: They need help finding food, paying bills, and getting their children the technology to participate in online schooling.
A record-high 1.5 million students were homeless during the 2017-18 school year, 11 percent more than the previous year and nearly double the number a decade ago, according to new federal data.
To put that in perspective, imagine a school district bigger than New York City and Miami-Dade put together, made up of children who are trailing other students—even those in poverty—by 10 percentage points or more in math, reading, and science. Eighteen percent of them have learning disabilities. Nearly that many are still learning English. Virtually all of them experience stress and trauma…
This actually comes from a different article but is important:
…Without the connection of in-person school, students with unstable housing may fall through the cracks and miss out on essential support like help getting food, rental assistance, or tutoring. Indianapolis had more evictions than any large U.S. city other than New York in 2016, according to data from The Eviction Lab at Princeton University.
Despite the high eviction rate, homelessness has been on the decline in Indianapolis, but advocates expect there could be a national increase as the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc on the financial stability of low-wage workers.Students who are homeless “are already behind to begin with. They already have struggles in life to begin with,” said Meeks, who typically works with these three boys at Urban Act Academy at School 14, a campus with some shelters in its neighborhood boundary where she spends three days per week. “Next year, we’re all going to have our work cut out for us.”…
“https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2020/02/12/number-of-homeless-students-hits-all-time-high.html”
Giuliani had very high ratings after September 11th. But look where that went. Cuomo thinks he’s now untouchable and can go back to hating on teachers and education. His arrogance will bring him down.
Some of my Pennsylvania relatives claim Cuomo is presidential material. I told them otherwise. Cuomo is merely starting his campaign early. Be careful what you wish for. With all the hype surrounding Giuliani after 9/11, he turned out to be worse than a dud.
Cuomo is already running for 2024. His new found national profile has inflated his already supersize ego.
There is always the chance that he will burst — like an engorged zit.
Exactly my thinking, Arthur
Who would have thought that Gates would be able to push the inception of the CCSS so effectively? Such a massive undertaking.
The states needed money at the time and he had plenty of it…
“…but first you’ve got to sign on the bottom line”.
We’ll be starved for funds when this pandemic is over. The trio of Gates, Schmidt, and Bloomberg will be well positioned to dole it out.
I’m not feeling very secure about this at all.
I think this is what they want for the poor. The rich families will still send their kids to beautiful, traditional private schools. The mass of humanity (people who send their kids to public schools) will have online schools. How much do these kids need to know to work in a restaurant, work for Amazon, work in a Target or Walmart, or join the military, spray insecticide on crops for Monsanto? I see plenty of smart kids working at target with no future, no relationships, spending their small paychecks on video games while living in the basement. Some are very smart, but they live in a broken civilization, don’t they?
Most of these people will be supported in the future with UBI (universal basic income). They will spend their days playing video games in their apartments/parents’ basements. The future is starting to reveal itself, and it is a “Blade Runner” or “Ready Player One” type of lonely world. Too many people, too few “good” jobs. All manufacturing has been outsourced. I am not optimistic. America is going in a direction that I no longer want to follow.
This seems accurate. However I see no will to dumb down and degrade; the degradation is just the unintended byproduct of bad policies and bad ideas. In their misguided minds, I think many leaders sincerely believe that their schemes (NCLB, Common Core, individualized computer instruction) will lift up, not drag down.
Public schools need more resources, absolutely. But they need better ideas too. Curriculum, in particular, is in a bad place, still strangled by the legacy of John Dewey and hobbled by educators’ ignorance of new cognitive science. We are totally botching the teaching of reading comprehension, for one. More of us need to read E.D. Hirsch.