Emmy-winning Sex and the City actress Cynthia Nixon threw her hat into the New York gubernatorial race two weeks ago and, since then, she been traversing the state, stumping for a variety of issues. While the usual suspects parse her stance on subways, minimum wage, and women’s/LGBTQ rights, I am going to focus (to the… Continue reading Cynthia Nixon on Education: Look At What She Did, Not What She Says
“They were bullshit!” said my Dad. I burst out laughing . My soft-spoken father, who most often could be found reading history books and playing chamber music when he wasn’t teaching social studies at John Bowne High School in Flushing, so vehemently negative about the courses he took while earning his M.A. in education! At… Continue reading “Why Would Anyone In Their Right Mind Lower Standards?”: Charter Schools Win a Round
I grew up on Long Island. My entire education from kindergarten through graduate school was facilitated in schools on Long Island. I live on Long Island still. It is fair to say that Long Island, with all of its pervasive racially, socially, and economic-segregated neighborhoods and schools, is not only a part of New York… Continue reading More Police Presence In Our Schools Is NOT The Answer!
Last week our new blogger Tina Posterli, a parent on Long Island, described her frustration with New York State’s teacher evaluation system. For those catching up, Gov. Cuomo, the State Legislature, and the Board of Regents originally signed off on an accountability system that would link 50 percent of student outcomes on standardized tests to… Continue reading Gov. Cuomo: “Only 38 percent of the students are graduating at class-level, but 99 percent of teachers are doing well.” What’s the Fix?
That’s Mike Petrilli of the Fordham Foundation in an article published last night on PoliticoPro. In this deep dive into the regression of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s commitment to education reform, Eliza Shapiro surveys the last three years of education politics in the most segregated state school system in the country. Because this piece is only… Continue reading “The rollback of education reform in New York has been the most dramatic in the country.”
Recently, the results of two new studies prompted me to delve deeper into the complex world of how effectively our teachers are being evaluated in New York. Collectively, the studies show that despite states’ efforts to make evaluations tougher, principals continue to rate nearly all teachers as “effective,” and when principals are asked their opinions… Continue reading If All The Teachers of Honors Courses Are “Effective,” What’s Up With These A.P. Test Scores?
Mayor Bill de Blasio won. New York City families lost. Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie get, straight from my hometown, a big fat Bronx cheer. Early Thursday morning the Senate approved a bill that grants NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio two more years of control of the… Continue reading Who are the Winners and Losers in Albany’s Decision to Extend Mayor de Blasio’s Control of NYC Schools?
“Free” college is in the news these days because New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, with the support of Hillary Clinton, triumphantly signed a bill that will waive City and State college tuition for families earning less than $100,000 a year. That makes it a perfect time to take a critical look at what New York City already… Continue reading Double Dipping: How “Free” College Forces Students To Take the Same Course (and Taxpayers to Pay For It) Twice
My post last week urging New York parents to say “yes” to the state standardized tests generated many comments, mostly from angry suburban parents. I thank all of you — after all, the primary purpose of New York School Talk is to elevate authentic voices in this ongoing conversation about how to improve the quality… Continue reading Where I Respond To Comments From My Last Post on the “Opt-Out Movement”
If you’re a parent like me, at the start of each school year you eagerly learn all about the course content your child will study, the enrichment opportunities available, the field trips your child will take, and the school supplies your child will need as you brace yourself for that evening’s trip to Staples. If… Continue reading Beyond Staples: How Parents Benefit from School Accountability
