Take a “whatever works” approach to education. I went to public schools my whole life. My mother was a math teacher in the system for 31 years. No one deserves more credit for making New York the middle-class capital of the world than public school teachers like her.
But that doesn’t stop me from seeing the tragedy for New York that is the loss of more than 60 parish schools in recent years. Or being impressed with the successes of some charter schools. Or being concerned about the safety of children in yeshivas.
The Bloomberg administration deserves great credit for making education a priority and putting the money behind it. But we have to end the war of words and take a simple, unifying approach to the hot-button education fights. We should not be afraid to try new things, and we should ask teachers, parents and politicians to double down on whatever works for our kids.
So much to parse here.
First, not much criticism of the Bloomberg reforms.
He credits Bloomberg for putting money to education, mildly admonishes by saying the "war of words" in the education battles must stop.
Never mentions the battles over closures, co-locations, PCB's, standardized testing, teacher evaluations, LIFO, etc.
Says we all must get unified in helping "our kids" succeed in schools.
Doesn't seem to care that the battles over closures, co-locations, PCB's, standardized testing, teacher evaluations, LIFO, etc.mean there can be no unified approach to education.
Sorry, Anthony, you've got to take a side here.
He also says he's "impressed" with the success of charter schools.
Which ones?
The ones that raise $7 million from the Wall Street criminals and hedge fund crooks like Success Academy recently did?
Given that Weiner is raising funds from the same people that Eva Moskowitz is raising funds from, you can bet not much would change in how the city handles Mistress Eva and her charter industry if he is elected mayor.
Next, notice the shout outs to Catholic schools and Yeshivas - he's going for the middle of the road Catholic and Jewish vote.
Interestingly enough, nothing has harmed Catholic schools more than the charter school industry, but Weiner seems intent to support both.
Perhaps he doesn't know charters hurt Catholic schools by stealing their students?
More likely he doesn't care and is simply trying to appeal to both Catholic school and charter proponents.
Finally let's look at his "Whatever Works" statement about education.
What does that mean - "Whatever Works"?
I guess he means that a Weiner administration will not be influenced by ideology or political affiliation in how it runs the school system.
But to me, the statement means he hasn't really thought very deeply about any of the issues that have brought about controversy during the Bloomberg years and has little to say about them.
So he issues some jive ass "Whatever Works!" slogan to cover up his lack of specifics in policy.
Of course "Whatever Works!" sounds an awful lot like corporate deform proponents slogan from a few years back "We Know What Works!", so it could be a dog whistle to the charter school industry and corporate reform movement too.
In any case, there is little in this DN piece from Weiner that makes me think he gives two hoots about education policy or children or schools.
There is little in this piece that makes me think he cares about anything other than himself and his own career.
His education slogan "Whatever Works!" might just as well apply to his own career.
He has no core principles, no core beliefs, no morals, no ethics - he's happy to use "whatever works" to advance his own career.
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