Top state officials responded publicly and with distress today to a New York Times article detailing anti-Semitic incidents in the Pine Bush school district.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the State Police and Division of Human Rights would investigate the allegations. He also wrote to State Education Commissioner John King asking for a full accounting of whether the state knew about the allegations and, if it did, what it had done — but the education department said the allegations were new to it, as well.
The article describes a lawsuit against the tiny upstate district by several families who say anti-Semitic speech and actions by some students were brushed off by school officials. The district’s Jewish superintendent until this summer, a transplant from New York City’s schools, said he did not think he could change “years of inbred hatred” among local students and questioned why Jewish families would move to an area with so much anti-Semitism.
"The alleged behavior is nothing that should ever be tolerated in our schools," Cuomo wrote in his letter to King. He added, "I fully expect the State Department of Education to be forthcoming to parents across New York State regarding the Department’s knowledge of these reprehensible acts and what, if any, steps have been taken to ensure Pine Bush students of Jewish origin can attend their school without being subject to anti-Semitic attacks.”
King’s office responded quickly. A top deputy, Elizabeth Berlin, wrote to Cuomo’s education secretary, De’Shawn Wright, to say that the entire department was “personally repulsed” by the report and would assist with the investigation.
Berlin also said King had directed the department to work with the New York Center for School Safety and the regional superintendent “to determine an immediate course of action to protect students.”
The incidents in the Pine Bush school district, if true, are repulsive, that's for sure.
But Sheriff Andy Cuomo has an interesting reaction to the NY Times story.
He goes after John King and SED.
He wants to know if anybody at SED had any knowledge of these incidents and demands to know if any steps have been taken to put a stop to them.
Now I don't doubt that Cuomo wants to put a stop to this story right now.
That means getting to the bottom of the allegations and making sure the incidents stop.
I mean, rampant anti-Semitic bigotry in the Pine Bush school district would put a crimp in his re-election campaign next year, not to mention his 2016 White House dreams, and Sheriff Andy cannot abide that.
So he clearly wants something done about it.
But I find the tone of the letter he sent to John King interesting.
This is not the kind of letter a politician sends to a friendly functionary that is meant to signal to the public governing officials are on top of things, don't you worry.
Rather, this is the kind of letter a politician sends to a functionary he wants to scapegoat for stuff after a paper trail has been created.
Would Cuomo have sent a letter with such a tone to King pre-Poughkeepsie?
Does the tone of this letter signal Cuomo has had enough of NYSED Commissioner King and his SED modules and is looking to use the Pine Bush school district anti-Semitism charges as a reason to dump him?
Even if King was unaware of this, the tone of the letter was indicative of a possible cover up. This is a CYA moment for both Cuomo and King. But Cuomo is definitely putting some pressure on King. And with more and more superintendents and parents calling for a slow down of CC, Cuomo may have to follow the lead of other districts across the nation.
ReplyDeletebtw, Joshua Starr I hear in on a list of possible candidates for chancellor. He was the first superintendent to call for a 2 year moratorium on testing a year ago. And his teachers are not evaluated by the test. He uses what in my opinion is a balanced and fairer method called PAR. So he wouldn't be a bad choice although he recently contracted with some company to measure "happiness" in students.
PS: This whole incident can't look good for Tisch either with her ties to the Jewish community.
DeleteAlso Nan Rich has promised she would put an ending to the over use of testing in Florida on her first day in office. btw, Crist was the one who ordered F-CATS.
I agree, Tisch can't be happy with the Times story. The cynic in me says she really doesn't care about the actual incidents themselves, only how they play in the media. Same goers for Cuomo. But King will now be getting pressure to prove SED had no inkling about this mess in Pine Hurst and if there is even a glint of light between SED's explanations and the facts as they come to light, I bet Tisch and Cuomo use this as an excuse to send King packing. He's a liability at this point, and Pine Hurst gives them the perfect opportunity to dump him. It's the Regents' call, of course, but I have little doubt that if Cuomo decides King must go, King will go.
DeleteI am with you on this one. I am no supporter of King, but I do not think he would have any reason to delay taking action to put an end to antiSemitic incidents. As Cuomo is aware New York has a large politically active and vocal Jewish community.
ReplyDeleteI would say this about SED's alleged lack of knowledge about these incidents. SED functionaries spend so much time on testing and teacher accountability and the like, it makes total sense that they had no idea any of this was going on. Because they don't really care about this sort of thing - they care about testing and data and teacher accountability. That's where their values lie - not in making sure every school district in the state works on social and emotional issues that underlie problems like the ones Pine Bush apparently has.
DeleteOops - meant to write "Pine Bush" above. I'm half brain dead after a week of Common Core fun and hijinks and can't seem to get the name of the district right.
DeleteThese incidents, statewide, are not uncommon.
ReplyDeleteHowever it seems some teachers were very quiet about it which is what disturbs me. Especially the teacher who did not take down the swastika in his room for over a month. This should be a Federal hate crime investigation.
DeleteI agree - any teacher who stood by while this occurred has to be called to account. I stand for NO bullying in my class, no cliques where some students are made to feel excluded or less than. I certainly would not stand for any sign of racism or anti-Semitism in my class or my school. And if school officials above me thought I was wrong, that racism or anti-Semitism was okay, then I would find another place to work - after informing both state officials and the media about the matter.
DeleteThe cynic in me says she really doesn't care about the actual incidents themselves, only how they play in the media. Same goers for Cuomo. But King will now be getting pressure to prove SED had no inkling about this mess in Pine Hurst and if there is even a glint of light between SED's explanations and the facts as they come to light, I bet Tisch and Cuomo use this as an excuse to send King packing
ReplyDeleteBINGO! As always you knock it outta the park. This is what we call a teachable moment for Lil John I think. Eventually, you outlive your usefulness, morph into a liability and the hacks you appointed you will disappoint you since you are no longer able to forward their cretinous agenda. Johnny we hardly knew ye.
You got me thinking a bit, Sean, and I have decided that there is no way King and SED officials could have known about the Pine Bush incidents because they are too busy with other stuff:
Deletehttp://perdidostreetschool.blogspot.com/2013/11/what-did-nysed-commissioner-king-know.html