The Chalkboard

2010-03-05T05:49:00.004-05:00

Today's New York Post has an op-ed article (here) by me that discusses New York State's federal Race to the Top application being named among the sixteen "finalists."The state Board of Regents and Education Commissioner did all they could to effectively position New York for a federal grant from this $4.35 billion competitive grant fund. But they cannot legislate. Today's Post op-ed urges the

Charter School Teachers and UFT "Spin"

2010-03-04T21:57:00.013-05:00

The charter school teachers pictured above were "applauded" by fellow teachers at a United Federation of Teachers delegate meeting on February 24, as reported in New York Teacher (here).And what were these charter school teachers being applauded for by their colleagues? Why, for "backing the UFT's effort to reform" state law to supposedly bring more transparency to charter schools and make them

New York in the "Sweet Sixteen" Race to the Top - Who Knew!?

2010-03-04T19:17:00.007-05:00

The U.S. Department of Education today announced the "finalists" for Round 1 of the Race to the Top competition for its $4 billion pot of money. New York is one of 16 finalists (15 states and D.C.).Now, it's better to be in the running than not -- or is it?Today's announcement awards no money; that's still five weeks away, in mid-April. Since there were 40 states and D.C. in the competition, a

New York Times Magazine Profile on Quality Teaching with NYCSA Trustee, Doug Lemov

2010-03-03T21:00:00.008-05:00

This Sunday's New York Times Magazine includes a lengthy article entitled "Building a Better Teacher," by Elizabeth Green, the editor of GothamSchools.org. It's previewed on-line here and features Doug Lemov, the head of the True North Public Schools Network, a division of Uncommon Schools, which operates high-performing charter middle schools in Rochester and Troy.This also is Ms. Green's first

So Conventional: "Law & Order" Attacks Charter Schools

2010-03-01T22:44:00.015-05:00

Charter schools have truly arrived.The teacher unions attack them.Elected officials attack them.Now, the television series, "Law & Order," in its twentieth year, attacks charters during the new episode aired Monday evening.Law & Order's executive producer, Dick Wolf, is getting more shrill with each season, using his show for political attacks and cementing stereotypes. Charter schools are now in

More Wine! (For the Children) - Ed Reform? Nah.

2010-03-01T16:45:00.053-05:00

Should the Captain be let into the grocery, too?For the Ed Blob, it probably beats real reform. For most of New York's education establishment, wine trumps reform.In an impressive display of letterhead from the state's education blob, the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and it's largest chapter, the UFT of New York City; together with their press release partners, the Campaign for Fiscal

Prospective State Finalists for Race to the Top Grants

2010-02-28T20:31:00.008-05:00

The U.S. Department of Education this coming week is expected to announce which states are finalists for the first round of federal Race to the Top grants.Tom Carroll of the New York Foundation for Education Reform & Accountability reviewed each of the 40 state applications and predicts what he believes will be seven states likely to get awards. Hint: New York is not among them.Mr. Carroll's

Anti-Charter Columnist's Eva Obsession Continues

2010-02-27T12:11:00.012-05:00

Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez is obsessed with Eva Moskowitz, a former member of the New York City Council and now charter school founder and operator.This obsession predates my postings on The Chalkboard, the first of which discussed this very topic in early March of last year (here). Mr. Gonzalez's problem then was that private sector folk chose to pay Ms. Moskowitz well for creating and

Gov. Paterson is Not Running for Governor

2010-02-26T11:05:00.009-05:00

Governor David Paterson will announce today that he is not running for Governor this year. It's everywhere in the news.The Governor's administration is engulfed in a scandal involving allegations of interference in a domestic violence dispute involving a top aide to the Governor. This bombshell story was reported in the New York Times this week (here). The interference allegations involve the

New Covenant Charter School Likely Closure - "Symbolic" Indeed

2010-02-24T19:32:00.026-05:00

The Albany Times Union today reported (here) on yesterday's vote by the SUNY Charter Schools Committee to close New Covenant Charter School at school year's end. This is likely to be reaffirmed and made final by the full SUNY Board next month.TU education reporter, Scott Waldman, has done excellent, fair-minded reporting on the situation surrounding New Covenant, including capturing the personal

Independent Budget Office Study - Reaction from Charter Opponents

2010-02-24T18:44:00.008-05:00

The New York Times' "City Room" blog by reporter Sharon Otterman discusses the IBO study (here).Patrick Sullivan, member of the Panel on Education Policy appointed by the Manhattan Borough President, commissioned the report. He is not a fan of charter schools and is content with them getting less funding: "the concept when charters were created is [sic] that charters should be less expensive."

NYC Independent Budget Office Confirms Charter Schools Get Less Funding

2010-02-24T16:55:00.012-05:00

The New York City Independent Budget Office -- as in, independent of pro-charter Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Klein -- issued an analysis today (here) that calculated the funding inequity between charter schools and district schools. No surprise: charter schools do indeed get less than district schools in New York City, including charters housed in free district-provided space.According

SUNY Charter Committee Votes to Close New Covenant Charter School

2010-02-23T12:19:00.016-05:00

The State University of New York Board of Trustees' committee on Charter Schools just after noon time today voted to close New Covenant Charter School at the end of the school year. The committee's vote was 3-to-1, with committee chairman Pedro Noguera voting against closure.Interestingly, the SUNY Board Chairman, Carl Hayden, participated in the discussion and urged the committee to close the

Playing Jekyll and Hyde with Charter Schools

2010-02-22T07:14:00.017-05:00

NYSUT plays Jekyll to local charters;while performing Hyde in state CapitolThe Buffalo News editorial board on Sunday weighed in on the issue of the New York State United Teachers agenda for unionizing teachers at charter schools (here), and admonished that the union's effort could turn charters into the kind of district schools from which charter parents removed their children.The editorial

Race to the Top Failure Recounted

2010-02-20T11:49:00.035-05:00

The old saying, "success has many fathers while failure is an orphan," does not apply to New York's failure to get a strong Race to the Top bill enacted last month.Looking back, this failure has at least a couple of major culprits; Governor David Paterson is not fairly among them.The New York Times series of highly critical articles on Gov. Paterson this week goes too far in its assessment of his

R.I. Schools Superintendent Imitates The Donald

2010-02-19T13:58:00.014-05:00

"You're Fired!"- even in public ed.I posted a guest blog on the NY Education Reform Blog (here) which discusses the Superintendent of the Central Falls School District in Rhode Island, Frances Gallo, summarily firing the entire staff at the district's high school.The state labeled this school as one of the worse performing in the state, and the teachers union refused to implement several reform

Teacher "Rubber Rooms" in NYC a Mutual Purgatory

2010-02-18T18:00:00.012-05:00

I commented as a guest blogger on NY Ed Reform Blog (here) discussing the unfortunate likelihood that little will change regarding the "rubber rooms" for New York City teachers under discipline - or awaiting a discipline hearing.Both the Department of Education and the United Federation of Teachers have use for this purgatory, and neither side is likely to fundamentally alter their position on

NYC "Millions" for Charter Buildings? Actually, it's Charters Paying "Millions"

2010-02-16T08:41:00.024-05:00

Charter schools do not get facilities aid - a common complaint made on The Chalkboard and everywhere else.Several other states have provided support to charter schools for facilities, including formula-based funding. New York State has done nothing like that; instead it's given minimal competitive grants to some charter schools.Yesterday's Daily News article (here) by reporter Rachel Monahan

Charter Schools Getting the $haft - and the Gap is Widening

2010-02-13T11:17:00.009-05:00

Today's New York Post has a column by me (here) discussing the funding inequity between charter schools and district schools.For starters, charter schools have always gotten less--about one-third less--than districts on a per pupil basis primarily from the lack of facilities funding. This has now been made worse by the state-imposed funding freeze on charter schools at 2008-09 levels, which Gov.

Senator Ambiguous: You Can't Straddle on Quality Education

2010-02-12T08:06:00.058-05:00

Come home, Senator;charter kids need you!Senator Antoine Thompson of Buffalo has not had a good week. No, he was not the senator who got expelled; that was Sen. Hiram Monserrate, who obviously had a much worse week. But Sen. Thompson could not get his story straight about how he voted on the Monserrate expulsion - at one point saying he "did not vote yes." Actually, he was not among the eight

New York State Senate Expels Member (the First in 149 Years)

2010-02-10T08:38:00.041-05:00

See ya. He's no Lincoln; rather, he's the first senator expelled since Lincoln's presidency.State Senator Hiram Monserrate of Queens yesterday became the first legislator in New York to be expelled by his fellow senators since Abraham Lincoln was President. Now an ex-Senator, Monserrate was convicted of misdemeanor assault charges committed against his then (and still?) girlfriend in December

Governor Paterson Keeps Charter Funding Injustice in Place

2010-02-10T08:16:00.003-05:00

Governor David Paterson released his 21-day amendments to his proposed 2010-11 Executive Budget yesterday and kept the charter funding freeze in place for next year -- at 2008-09 levels. New York Charter Schools Association President, Bill Phillips, issued a statement yesterday on the Governor's action here.The pleas of more than 3,000 charter supporters in Albany last week did not persuade the

Phil Rumore Shows Ethical Side Toward Charter Schools

2010-02-09T16:51:00.040-05:00

Union Leaders Disagree on Charter Tactics: BTF's Phil Rumore & NYSUT's Dick IannuzziLobbying for [anti-charter] provisions while seeking to organize local charter schools would be "a conflict of interest," [Phil] Rumore said.-- Buffalo News, Tuesday, Feb. 9thBuffalo Teachers Federation president, Phil Rumore, has never liked charter schools and has mostly shown no interest in organizing their

One Charter Remains from the Regents Half

2010-02-08T19:51:00.013-05:00

State Ed building in AlbanyWhere Regents meet monthlyThe Regents committee on Elementary, Middle, Secondary and Continuing Education today approved five more charter schools, each opening by this fall:-- Bushwick Ascend (Brooklyn CSD 23);-- Cultural Arts Academy (Brooklyn CSD 18);-- Challenge Preparatory (Queens CSD 27);-- Democracy Prep - Harlem (Manhattan CSD 5); and-- West Buffalo Charter

More About NYC Teacher "Rubber Rooms"

2010-02-08T08:14:00.010-05:00

Hanging out in the "Rubber Room"at full pay, doing nothing.The New York City "rubber room" for teachers who were removed from the classroom amid allegations of misconduct, but whose union contract protects against being fired, continues to get the attention of the New York Post, including from columnist Andrea Peyser (here).The Post uncovered another sensational case of a teacher seven years in