Peter Goodman

Mamdani and Education: A Paint Job or a Rebuild?

With a few days to go a widely used betting site, polymarket.com reports 95% of the bets are on Mamdani to win and latest polling results agree see here. While it’s never over till it’s over I think the only question is whether Mamdani receives a majority of the vote, remember, not ranked choice voting, aContinue reading “Mamdani and Education: A Paint Job or a Rebuild?”

Mamdani’s (Proposed) Education Transition Team

It’s traditional for newly elected mayors to appoint transition teams to coordinate the transfer from one administration to the next. De Blasio set up a tent on Chambers Street and invited community input. I attended the education event, community activists espousing their thoughts, more “show and tell”,” de Blasio actually interviewed chancellor candidates in theContinue reading “Mamdani’s (Proposed) Education Transition Team”

How Would a Cuomo Victory Impact Education (and the governing of the City)?

A three way race with the most recent poll showing Mamdani leading Cuomo by 13 points, see the polls here. One of the highly regarded pollsters writes, Caroline Soler Polling researcher There have not been any new polls since Eric Adams announced he was ending his re-election campaign in September, but the move is unlikely toContinue reading “How Would a Cuomo Victory Impact Education (and the governing of the City)?”

The Portrait of a Graduate: 21st Century Skills or a Knowledge-Based Curriculum

Aside from a few sentences, education has played virtually no role in either the primary or the current mayoral campaigns. Cuomo yes and Mamdani no on charter schools, Cuomo yes, Mamdani no on mayor control, no policy papers (aside from Cuomo’s 25 Point Education Plan released in May) and Mamdani’s recent announcement to end GiftedContinue reading “The Portrait of a Graduate: 21st Century Skills or a Knowledge-Based Curriculum”

Tik Tok: Five Weeks Until the November 4th Mayoral Election

The mayoral election has been unpredictable and weird. The polling in the Rank Order primary had Cuomo winning in the final vote transfer, Mamdani won in the first transfer by 12%. Why was the polling so wrong? A poll depends upon identifying a stratified random sample of “likely voters,” and asking the sample their candidateContinue reading “Tik Tok: Five Weeks Until the November 4th Mayoral Election”

The Confluence of Teaching and Learning: The Center for Assessment Annual Conference

Why do states require schools to test all students in grades 3-8? In 2001 newly elected President Bush signed the bipartisan, widely praised No Child Left Behind law (NCLB) The law has driven classroom instruction ever since, states determine standards, school districts/or schools choose curriculum and classroom teachers design lessons to reflect state and federalContinue reading “The Confluence of Teaching and Learning: The Center for Assessment Annual Conference”

Mamdani, Cuomo and Charter Schools

In December, 1998 Governor Pataki called a lame duck session of the NYS legislature with two items on the agenda: the creation of charter schools and a substantial raise, guess what happened. The Board of Regents (BoR) and the Charter School Institute, part of SUNY, are authorizers. Charter Schools fall into two categories, the networkContinue reading “Mamdani, Cuomo and Charter Schools”

OMG!! Joel Klein Rips Mamdani

Former NYC School Chancellor Joel Klein rips mayoral candidate Mamdani in a Free Press post, “How Zohan Mamdani Could Kill NY Schools,” Klein certainly tried to kill the schools, and almost succeeded. Mayor Bloomberg ,Trump-like, decided to tear down the Board of Education. Crying corruption he ran to Albany who meekly dissolved the Decentralization ModelContinue reading “OMG!! Joel Klein Rips Mamdani”

Post Labor Day: The Race for NYC Mayor Begins

Vacations over, no more lounging on a beach, back to work, schools open and mayoral candidates begin the sprint to November 4th. A two person race: Mayor Adams polling in single digits, a 68 year old three time elected governor versus a 33 year old Assembly member virtually unknown prior to the June primary. AContinue reading “Post Labor Day: The Race for NYC Mayor Begins”

Does the 25th Amendment to the Constitution Provide a Process to Remove a President from Office?

In our history eight presidents have died in office, four by natural causes (Harrison, Taylor, Harding and Roosevelt), four assassinated (Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy) and one resigned (Nixon). After the assassination of President Kennedy questions arose about presidential succession and Congress amended the Constitution adding the 25th Amendment dealing with presidential succession including successionContinue reading “Does the 25th Amendment to the Constitution Provide a Process to Remove a President from Office?”