The Elusive Search for the Ultimate Magic Bullet
From “Why Johnnie Can’t Read” (1955) to Decentralization (1971) to Mayoral Control (2002) and A Nation at Risk (1983) one magic bullet after another. Bush junior No Child Left Behind (2002) and its offspring, the Every Child Succeeds Act (2016), add in the Common Core (2010) leading up to phonics and the Science of Reading and…
How Will the November 3rd Midterms Impact the Upcoming Contract Negotiations and Beyond?
As the clock ticks down to November 3rd diesel prices continue to soar, Iran is a forever war, mortgage rates climbing, Republican candidates ask the president not to campaign in their district, a number of journalists comment on the upcoming election The MAGA Flag is in Tatters, , listen here, worthwhile. In the Spring of…
The Upcoming UFT Contract Negotiations: “Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail”
The current UFT Contract “ends” November 28, 2027 and the UFT has begun the negotiations process. Negotiation sub committees reflecting all the titles, 700 members have met and will continue to meet to create bargaining demands.that reflect the views of the members. First, a primer: under provisions of the Public Employee Relations Act, commonly called the Taylor Law labor…
Why Is Polling Wrong So Often?
A week or so after an election the NY Times carries an article trying to explain why the polls were wrong, let’s explore: what is a poll? A poll is a “random, stratified sample” of prime voters at a particular time and place. Who are prime voters and how do we know? Ballots are secret,…
Mulgrew v Mamdani and the Office of Collective Bargaining
The Constitution requires the “advice and consent” of the Senate (Article 2, section 2, clause 2), hearings and a vote to confirm probably hundreds of members of the executive branch, from cabinet members to ambassadors and on and on. The Mayor of New York, appoints, or reappoints about three hundred positions, without any approval, the…
“We Exist in a Marketplace of Favors,” The World of Realpolitik
We are a contentious species, we bicker, at times dissemble, and at the same time speak of ethics and morality. In classrooms, twenty-five hundred years later we regal Socrates as a great teacher, and forget he was condemned to death for teaching the youth of Athens to think critically (Socrates needed a union!). We just…
What Are the Most Serious Problems Confronting NYC Schools? Segregation? Too Many Small Schools? Chronic Absenteeism? Homelessness?
Every August City & State, an online news aggregator hosts an Education Summit, in the Holocaust Museum at the Battery, hundreds gather to engage each other and listen to education policy makers from the city and the state. Our new Chancellor Kamar Samuels was the keynote speaker, days after the reading scores kerfuffle, after increasing…
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…
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