Category Archives: Uncategorized

In the fall of 2019 I attended a regional meeting to discuss a major initiative: Graduation Measures, a comprehensive review of graduation requirements including student assessment and at the top of unspoken list for schools: Is the state abandoning Regents examinations?  I sat at a table with a high school superintendent, a principal and aContinue reading “Don’t Throw the Regents Review Books Away Yet?”

Are those vultures circling over Gracie Mansion? At the November UFT Delegate Meeting Michael Mulgrew addressed Mayor Adams plans for drastic budget cuts, and asked whether the delegates were ready to “go to war,”  Adams’ announcement was not a surprise, all mayors are required to release a November Plan, (See the 300 plus page CityContinue reading “Pas de Deux: The Budget Dance Begins”

Of all the blog posting I’ve written over the years the blogs dealing with “speech” are the most frequently accessed. The genocidal Hamas attack and the Israeli response have been reviled by both supporters of Israel and supporters of Palestinians; rallies. demonstrations and marches have erupted across the city, including by students, Chalkbeat wrote, InContinue reading “Does the First Amendment Protect Teachers from Retribution for Controversial or Unpopular Speech?”

Four years ago I traipsed to Ft Hamilton High School for a Regional Meeting addressing Graduation Measures in New York State. A few hundred of us were directed to sit at tables, I sat with a superintendent, a principal and a few parents. We watched a few videos, listened to a comments by Board ofContinue reading “Board of Regents Punts the Blue Ribbon Commission Report on Graduation Measures”

Over 100,000 teachers, paraprofessionals and other titles represented by the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) will be receiving mail ballots in the triennial union elections. Union elections are frequently contentious and in the midst of COVID especially so. The UFT is the collective bargaining agent in New York City, in other words they negotiate theContinue reading “The Teachers Union (UFT) Election:  Making a Decision in Perilous Times”

One of the wonders of New York City is the New York Historical Society, a museum, a library and the host of dozens of presentations by the nation’s leading historians, researchers and thought leaders. I attend the sessions that suit my tastes. Earlier in the week I listened to Richard Haas, the president of theContinue reading “Civics Education: Can Teachers Pass the Baton and Save Democracy?”

UPDATED (April 1, 11 am) State lawmakers were sent home yesterday, with a budget vote possibly coming on Monday. If the budget is not signed into law before 4 p.m. on Monday, the state comptroller’s office is prohibited from distributing paychecks to state workers. Bail reform remains the big issue separating Gov. Kathy Hochul, Assembly SpeakerContinue reading “The “Three Men in a Room” Rule Albany, Can Mayor Adams Get a Seat at the Table?”

It was the early nineties, and my school was held up as an example of school turnaround, more kids graduating; more Advanced Placement classes, all the metrics were increasing. The principal praised the staff, talked about curriculum changes, and somehow failed to mention he had hired a bi-lingual Russian guidance counselor and the resulting influxContinue reading “Searching for the Golden Ring: The Merry-Go-Round of Education Policy Initiatives”

(Snarling) “It’s all politics!” If you ask the average person to define “politics” you’ll probably hear, “underhanded,” “deceptive,” “dishonest” as synonyms. How many would respond “the democratic process by which you achieve policies?” Libraries are devoted to political science, from Plato to Aristotle to Machiavelli to Locke and Hobbes to our founding fathers.   Machiavellian isContinue reading “The Race for Governor and Mayoral Control: The Intersection of Policy and Politics”