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In Praise of the UFT Staff

Over the past year the opposition caucuses have been demeaning the folks who keep the union running, for the most part invisible, the staff. The borough offices are staffed by part timers who work a few days a week supporting the full time staff who worked their way up the informal internship system. I wasContinue reading “In Praise of the UFT Staff”

A Bubbling Cauldron: Dividing Billions of Foundation Aid Dollars

The news is dominated by the Trump election, the Adams indictment, the new police commissioner, the healthcare corporation executive murder, the chancellor of the month, and, buried behind the headlines the battle over Foundation Aid, the formula that determines the distribution of state dollars to schools. A little history: New York is a property taxContinue reading “A Bubbling Cauldron: Dividing Billions of Foundation Aid Dollars”

From the Classrooms: One Army, Union Members Prepared to Fight for Our Schools and Our Students

I was chatting with a group of elementary school teachers. “Do you know there’s an election for UFT leadership in the spring?” “No” “Do you know who leads the union now and how are they doing?” One of the teachers had been a delegate, she liked Mulgrew’s opening report, said it was thorough. “Do you knowContinue reading “From the Classrooms: One Army, Union Members Prepared to Fight for Our Schools and Our Students”

An Autopsy: Did Trump Win or Did Harris Lose?

I must live in a bubble, a Harris bubble. I’m surrounded by smart, politically engaged women; this was the election of a lifetime. I was certain, a tsunami of women voters would determine the outcome. We would see an enormous turnout. Pollsters were predicting a close, a very close election, days, maybe weeks before a winnerContinue reading “An Autopsy: Did Trump Win or Did Harris Lose?”

Regents Exams Will Be Gone! Replaced by a Book Report or an Internship

“The educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people. . . . We have, in effect, been committing an act of unthinking, unilateral educational disarmament,” (A Nation at Risk, 1983) Five years ago I attended the firstContinue reading “Regents Exams Will Be Gone! Replaced by a Book Report or an Internship”

Kamala Wins as an Unexpected Tsunami of Women Voters Swamp Trump (my taro cards are never wrong)

Nate Silver writes The Tilt in the NYT, parsing polling, Nate is not a pollster, he’s a journalist (and a professional poker player) writing about polls. Polls vary from pollster to pollster, a week away from election day The Tilt, sort of, without confidence, predicts a Trump victory, In an election where the seven battleground states are all pollingContinue reading “Kamala Wins as an Unexpected Tsunami of Women Voters Swamp Trump (my taro cards are never wrong)”

Deja Vue, Again: Can Failing Schools Be Revived – the Endless, So Far, Futile Quest

/ At last Monday’s Board of Regents Meeting the State rolled out the “new” plan to “reimagine accountability” and revive struggling schools, schools in the lowest assessment categories, Targeted School Improvement (TSI) and Comprehensive School Improvement (CSI). Read the report here Unfortunately most CSI and TSI schools are well below resuscitation, and for decades magic bulletsContinue reading “Deja Vue, Again: Can Failing Schools Be Revived – the Endless, So Far, Futile Quest”

Will “Unexpected Voters” Determine the Outcome of the Presidential Election?

The self described newspaper of record, the N.Y. Times displays graphs, red lines and blue lines and comments on polls almost every day. What is a poll? A poll is a prediction of a particular event at a specific time. Newspapers, media in general, rarely discusses the methodologies that vary from pollster to pollster norContinue reading “Will “Unexpected Voters” Determine the Outcome of the Presidential Election?”

Should Governor Hochul Tell You How to Teach Reading?

In August, 2021 Kathy Hochul, the unknown lieutenant-governor of New York State replaced Andrew Cuomo, who resigned facing impeachment. Cuomo moved from “the nation’s governor,” saving New Yorkers from the COVID plague to another abuser. Entering her third budget cycle Hochul has been stumbling, bickering with the legislature as well as other stakeholders across theContinue reading “Should Governor Hochul Tell You How to Teach Reading?”