Zohran Mamdani: Presidential Candidate or One-Term Mayor
Running for office is exhilarating, cheering crowds, racing from event to event and Mamdani, a virtually unknown state legislator not only defeats a three term governor, he defeats the pollsters, he built an army of door knockers and this year his coattails carried unknown DSA members to victories against well established incumbents. He became a…
Are Mulgrew and Mamdani “Going to War?”
Hours after the para pay bump became law the City announced it was challenging the law in the courts. The pay bump was introduced in the City Council over a year ago, hearings, numerous tweaks and a final approval 49-0. The Mayor could sign, veto or allow the bill to become law, he chose the third…
Why did the NYC Standardized Test Scores Dive?
Standardized testing has a long history, a very long history. China has the world’s oldest and most influential history of standardized testing, originating with the ancient imperial civil service examinations (keju) over 2,000 years ago. This merit-based tradition evolved into the modern Gaokao (National College Entrance Examination), shaping global concepts of educational testing and social…
Ownership of Practice: Can Teachers, School Leaders and Parents “Seize the Reins” and Create Collaborative School Cultures
It’s August, for teachers a few more weeks of leisure or a summer job, or creeping anxiety, For the chancellor and his team planning for his first school opening in an environment where education is way down the mayor’s list. Running for office is exciting, cheering crowds of supporters, endless “high five-ing,” and the exaltation…
Can Mamdani Survive as an Affordability and a Socialist Mayor?
A line in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, “misery acquaints us with strange bedfellows,” and I add, “visa – versa.” On the night of June 25th, the Democratic primary, the Mamdani endorsements rolled to victory, victory against incumbents, with virtually unknown candidates. Mamdani has coattails even when he wasn’t on the ballot, Michael Lange, whose Narrative Wars…
Mulgrew v Mamdani: Does the Mayor Want to “Go to War?”
The Public Employee Relations Act (PERB), known as the Taylor Law, named after chairman of the commission that drafted the law, sets guidelines for public employee labor relations, all public employees in New York State can form unions without management interference, collective bargaining guidelines embedded in the law, all contracts remain in “full force and…
Building “Mature Relationships” Within the UFT: “Agreeing to Disagree”
Have you wondered why the UFT chose as its name the, “United” Federation of Teachers? The UFT was the result of a merger between the Teachers Guild, akin to today’s DSA and the High School Teachers Association, the Teachers Union, further to the left was decimated a decade earlier by the Feinberg Law, a law…
Navigating the Shadowy Hallways of City Hall: How Will the Mayor Respond to the Para Pay Bump?
Zohran, Elle and his inner circle. in the back room of a bar in Astoria, are probably debating the conundrum: how to respond to the para pay bump bill …. On Thursday, July 16th the City Council approved, by a 49-0 vote the paraprofessional pay boost, council member after member praised the bill. praised the work of…
Is the Mamdani Brand A Ripple or a Tsunami?
Is the face of election politics undergoing a generational change? In the June, 2025 Democratic mayoral primary the pollsters predicted a Cuomo victory in the last Ranked Choice Voting transfer, Mandani won in the first transfer. In the November 2025 general election, pollsters once again predicted a Cuomo victory, Mandani won with a majority. In…
Kudos to UFT Leadership: Understanding the Art of Politics
Many decades ago the Delegate Assembly determined contract bargaining demands at monthly meetings, delegates would step to the microphone and move to add a demand, an up or down vote, the list of demands was long, very long. A delegate asked, “Al, if we get everything, how much would it cost?” Shanker stepped back from…
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Ed in the Apple: Blogging on the Intersection of Education and Politics Title 