“The school is the primary unit for delivery of services to students and parents, and should also be the primary decision maker for all matters large and small. And who better to make decisions about curriculum, instruction, assessment, budget expenditures, purchases, et al than those who know each kid’s name, their families, and the communities they comeContinue reading “Time for Mayor Mamdani to be Bold, Time for a Bottom Up School System”
Tag Archives: education
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”
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”
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”
The Portrait of a Teacher
In the fall of 2019, I attended an SED/Board of Regents regional meeting that began the discussion of Graduation Measures followed by COVID, a blue-ribbon commission, endless Zooms, finally Regents Exams optional replaced by the Portrait of a Graduate competencies assessed by a range of tasks, the tasks to be determined. What is the PortraitContinue reading “The Portrait of a Teacher”
City and State Education Summit: Lauding the Present and an Uncertain Future
City and State is a wonderful source of local and state news, every morning brief summaries with links pop up, flip through, links into what you’re interested in, for a news nerd like me a nice way to begin the day, City and State also runs what they call summits, the leading voices in a range ofContinue reading “City and State Education Summit: Lauding the Present and an Uncertain Future”
Is Teaching an Art or a Science?
If I use the same brand of golf clubs as Scottie Scheffler or use the same tennis racket as Novak Djokovic will it improve my game? Obviously, nonsense. How about if my parents were superb athletes? Maybe. How can I assure my children will be successful athletes? or musicians, or dancers? Maybe gene splicing, CRISPR Continue reading “Is Teaching an Art or a Science?”
Should the “Portrait of a Graduate” Soft Skills Replace the Regents Exams?
The US Department of Education is gone! Half the employees have been fired with the remaining probably on their way out. According to Trump we don’t need a USDoE, states can run our education system, of course, states have always run our education system, every state has a department of education, a governing board, usuallyContinue reading “Should the “Portrait of a Graduate” Soft Skills Replace the Regents Exams?”
How Will the Big (not so) Beautiful Budget Bill Impact NYS and NYC Budgets?
The thousand-page bill squeaked through the House and the Senate and signed into law by the president. See the details of the law here. Estimates are the bill will substantially impact NYS, … a big financial impact for New York and its health care system. State officials estimated the House bill would cost the state and itsContinue reading “How Will the Big (not so) Beautiful Budget Bill Impact NYS and NYC Budgets?”