ALBANY—Governor Andrew Cuomo featured education initiatives prominently at his State of the State address Wednesday, but never mentioned the controversial Common Core curriculum standards and the growing unrest among teachers and parents over how the state rolled them out.
“The biggest education issue that concerns parents and teachers and students is the Common Core, and the failed implementation of Common Core,” said Richard Iannuzzi, president of New York State United Teachers, after the speech. “The absence of a comment about that is almost deafening for me.”
...
Several lawmakers also pointed to the governor's silence on the Common Core in statements they released after the speech Wednesday.
“Unfortunately, the Governor failed to propose a fix for the botched Common Core implementation or to protect students’ data privacy,” Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti, a Westchester County Democrat, said in a statement.
Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski, a Democrat from Rockland County, said he shares Cuomo's hope to boost technology in schools, but “we also need to address concerns surrounding the Common Core implementation. I will work with my Assembly colleagues to ensure this is a priority.”
Opposition to the Common Core is bipartisan. Assemblymen Brian Curran and Chad Luppinacci, Long Island Republicans, also blasted the governor for failing to introduce a plan to improve Common Core implementation.
“We must also take steps to address and refocus the Common Core curriculum,” Lupinacci said, “so that our children continue to receive an education which sets them on a course to be leaders in our nation and the world.”
Cuomo's response to all the criticism over Common Core and his failure to even acknowledge the problems in his State of the State address?
A spokesman for Cuomo declined to comment.
That says everything you need to know.
Cuomo is going full speed ahead with the ed deform agenda, regardless of opposition and criticism.
There's so much money involved, so who cares what the vulgar masses think?
ReplyDeleteThat's what the merit pay proposal was about - that was a proposal aimed at his hedge fundie backers.
DeleteMr. Mediocre...current governor...nothing to see here...move along...has no chance for Presidency...then again...being mediocre...?
ReplyDeleteWe told you so. Full speed ahead and read Mulgrew's omments to get totally sick.
DeleteRecent comments by Mulgrew? I haven't seen him weigh in on CCSS, VAM, APPR or inBloom recently. Do you have a link for these comments? I'd like to see what the official UFT response is.
DeleteSheriff Andy wants to run for the WH in 2016, that's for sure. But he has many enemies and has been known to treat his opponents to the bludgeon. Wouldn't be surprised to see a bridgegate of his own here in NY State - maybe not over a bridge and traffic, but definitely a scandal about political retribution.
DeleteFrom the UFT Weekly Chapter Leader Update:
DeleteThe governor also called for a “teacher excellence fund,” with $20,000 bonuses for the most effective teachers. UFT President Michael Mulgrew said if the money could be used as part of a new career ladder for teachers, it would be something that the UFT would support. If, however, it is all about individual merit pay, the union would not support it. “We will have to see the legislation,” he said.
As I stated on the ICEUFT blog, Mulgrew would not call it merit pay but what else would this be if you need to be rated highly effective in the ridiculous new evaluation system to get the money? Note the term individual merit pay in the Mulgrew comment.
Thanks, James. Managed to miss this news. Yes, that sounds like Mulgrew signing on to merit pay, but calling it something else.
DeleteCan't wait for AFT and NYSUT to tell the membership how much money they have given to Cuomo. Also waiting for them to tell us to vote for Andy because he is a friend to education.
ReplyDeleteOr the scare tactics, that if we don't support Sheriff Andy, bad stuff will happen. Truth is, bad stuff has happened despite (or perhaps because of) our unequivocal support of Andy. Not as bad as Wisconsin or Illinois, it's true. But still, bad.
DeleteReally, what could be worse? Andy gave us RTTT, APPR, CCSS, an armaggedon formula for teachers.
ReplyDeleteHe refuses to denounce John King and Merryl Tisch's impervious styles.
His big time backer, UFT's Michael Mulgrew echoes Cuomo's merit pay proposals. Sure, the operative phrase is "bonus". Please, don't play us for dumb.
I would characterize the pension mess in Illinois as worse, and I would characterize the more direct attack on unions in Wisconsin as worse. Not here to defend Sheriff Andy, but he hasn't gone directly at your right to unionize nor the pensions of already retired workers. He may get there, but he isn't there yet.
DeleteThe following definition of FASCISM belongs to Robert Paxton.
ReplyDeleteThe education deform movement fits most of the characteristics of this definition.
"Robert Paxton argues that fascism is "a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion."
1) Excessive preoccupation with community decline
The education reform movement falsely presents a decline
in American Public school education. (Diane Ravitch)
2) Humiliation.
There has been widespread humiliation of teachers and the teaching profession by government controlled media and fascist politicians. One New York based fascist politician went so far as to equate the UFT with the gun control lobby. This type of bullying and humiliation is a key characteristic of fascism. There has been a widespread contagion of bullying and humiliating teachers and the teaching profession.
3) "Unity, energy and purity.... in uneasy but effective collaboration of traditional elites." The collaboration of IVY League trained elites such as A. Duncan, E. Moskowitz, B. Obama, B. Gates, M. Rhee R. Weingarten energetically collaborating in secret to ruin the teaching profession with unmanageable mandates such as VAM, Common Core... fits well with Paxton's definition. They are acting in concert in order to capitalize and profiteer from the National Education expenditures without legal restraint.
4) "abandons democratic liberties and ....pursues without ethical or legal constraints goals of internal cleansing..."
The government of NY has ignored the civil rights of students (InBloom and data privacy) , has abandoned democratic principles (King and Tisch have ignored the complaints of parents, Cuomo has conducted his educational reform without any due diligence or fair political input,...). Internal Cleansing means the goal of firing teachers for political reasons and the repression of free speech. ( for instance DOE vs Portelos)
The Education Deform movement fits Paxton's definition of Fascism.
Well put - the "cult" aspect of the deformer movement really resonates. Uniforms, armbands, songs, chanting, snapping fingers, ruthless intimidation of students (and parents too, at least at Eva Moskowitz's schools) - all veer into a disturbing reality.
Delete