Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio rolled out an “all-star” brain trust today that will work to implement his ambitious universal pre-kindergarten agenda.
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This was not the first time Mr. de Blasio held a press event at a childcare center to promote the centerpiece of his policy platform: a tax hike on the city’s wealthiest residents to pay for universal pre-K. While his last Manhattan stop came during the course of the heated campaign, Mr. de Blasio was in Harlem today to unveil his six-person “working group,” a collection of childcare professionals and old allies that would be tasked with making his plan a reality by September 2014.
“This is an all-star team. You could not ask for a stronger group to help us prepare and get the word out,” Mr. de Blasio told the reporters. “We can and will make sure the largest number of kids are served.”
The working group is composed of: Jennifer Jones Austin, Mr. de Blasio’s transition team co-chair; Elba Montalvo, founder and president of the Committee for Hispanic Children and Families; Josh Wallack, a leader at the Children’s Aid Society and Mr. de Blasio’s former legislative director; Sherry Cleary, executive director of the New York City Early Childhood Professional Development Institute; Gail Nayowith, the executive director of SCO Family of Services; and Nancy Kolben, executive director of the Center for Children’s Initiatives.
Their initial efforts are expected to center on developing plans to recruit, train and retain educators, secure space for thousands of additional children and research the best pre-K practices from programs across the country, Mr. de Blasio said. He hopes to grow the city’s pre-K program from 20,000 to 80,000 students.
“This really is about giving every child a right to a good education,” the mayor-elect said. “We have the opportunity right now to achieve this … We are here to stay. We are going to make this work.”
When asked about the potential hurdles in Albany getting taxes raised to pay for his pre-K program, de Blasio noted he won with 73% of the vote - a mandate if ever there was one and polls show the public supports raising taxes on rich people to pay for the pre-K program.
Still no word on what he plans for the rest of the education system or who he plans to lead it.
Eyewitness News at 5 had a segment that touted the Mayor's SAT achievement as he was boasting of this accomplishment from students at NYC high school. The report was not at all factual as it claimed that the number of students passing the SAT has doubled since 2002. This may be true but what is not mentioned is that the city is now paying for students to take the exam and the percentage may be less. If you only count the umbers passing but many more students actually take the exam what does this prove other than another fraudulent claim by the mayor? Check it out I believe the reporter was Art McFarland.
ReplyDeleteThere is no "passing" rate for the SAT. If Art McFarland was a journalist as opposed to a stenographer, he would know that and say the mayor is full of shite when he claims SAT passing rates have gone up under him. As my high school Latin teacher used to say "No such animal!"
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