40,000 Educators Will Have APPR Scores Recalculated BY NYSED After Errors Are Discovered

From the NY Times:

More than 200 teachers and principals received erroneous scores from New York State on a contentious measurement that ties their performance to how well their students do on tests, according to state documents obtained by The New York Times.

The error, which affected a small percentage of scores for the 2014-15 academic year, could be another blow to the practice of linking educator performance to student exams, a system that has come under fire in recent years.

A letter sent to district superintendents on Friday said that certain test results had been excluded from state-provided growth scores — which track student performance on state exams — for less than 1 percent of the more than 40,000 educators who received such feedback.

These are the erroneous scores they're admitting to - you can be sure there are others.

And of course it's not the fault of the incompetents at NYSED or the incompetent governor:

The state Education Department attributed the error to a contractor, American Institutes for Research, a behavioral and social science research group based in Washington, and said the blunder affected principals and certain teachers whose growth scores included schoolwide measurements of student performance. (Teachers whose scores incorporated only their own students’ tests were not affected.) The letter said the problems occurred “almost exclusively” in grades nine through 12.

The end result is this:

Scores for the more than 40,000 educators would be recalculated at the contractor’s expense; the higher score would be the one that counts.

The system is so complex, so inexplicable, that when a teacher sued over her test score component, NYSED twice refused to show cause for her ineffective rating on the component (here and here.)

NYSED is owning up to the erroneous scores, but you can bet if there were an independent accounting of the evaluations from an entity outside of the state without something riding on the outcome (i.e., some ed reform-linked group or some entity on the state payroll), they'd find more.

And yet, we STILL have this system in place, with teachers having 50% of their ratings linked to so-called student performance as measured by state tests and/or local tests - despite the claims that there is a "moratorium" on using test scores in the evaluations.

The system is rotten to the core, yet it seems as if it will live forever.

MaryEllen Elia's Great Idea To Shorten Testing - Put The Tests Online!

This week NYSED Commissioner MaryEllen Elia acknowledged at least one problem with the state tests - they're too long:

Elia then proceeded to list a number of the reasons why a parent might want their child to opt out — and seemed to agree with at least one of them.

“I’ve had teachers tell me the tests are too long. I’ve had them say they don’t think they’re matched to the standards. We’ve done a lot of work in matching and looking to see that that’s done,” she said. “But I would tell you, I think that they are long.”

Today the Times-Union reports she has a solution:

To help with test fatigue, the state is rolling out a pilot program with a handful of school districts to allow kids to take the tests online, the commissioner said. This would help with certain sections on the exams like essays, and also provide quicker proficiency results.

Oh goodie - dunno about you, but I work in a school where the bandwidth restrictions can sometimes make it tough to check email, let alone have a bunch of students online taking the state tests, so I fail to see how this "solution" will work.

Also, given the mess that other states have had with online testing, given Elia's track record of incompetence in her former gig in Florida, and given NYSED's poor handling of the Common Core rollout and the Endless Testing regime in general, I'm skeptical she's competent enough to pull her "solution" off.

The more I see MaryEllen Elia in action, the more I think, "It's John King all over again - but without the charm!"

She also made some remarks about APPR that were absurd and insulting - we'll have more about that later.

NYSED Commissioner Elia Should Have Been "Intimately Involved" After Students Died During Her Tenure In Hillsborough

Jessica Bakeman at Capital NY reporting on NYSED Commissioner MaryEllen Elia's "I'm Not Listening" tour:

Often referring to her own experience as a 45-year teacher and administrator, New York’s new education commissioner delivered a simultaneously supportive and tough message to district leaders and parents from some of New York’s worst schools on Wednesday: Fix the schools, or the state will step in and do it.

...

“One of the things that we can’t do is ignore the situation,” Elia said during a speech at the conference Wednesday evening. “We can’t go any longer—and I won't go any longer—and ignore the situation in New York, where we have persistently struggling schools or struggling schools without making the kinds of necessary changes that are allowed under this legislation.”

...


“I am going to be intimately involved in saying, I believe schools and districts are legitimately working on making these necessary changes,” she said. “But in the converse, if I don’t see that, I will be intimately involved in your school districts. Because we can’t allow students to move forward without the supports they need for success.”

This tough talk stuff is meant to make her come across as competent and in charge, it's meant to scare local districts into going to the max with what the receivership law allows, it's meant to let districts know that an activist commissioner is in Albany.

Alas, if only MaryEllen Elia had been so competent, in charge and activist when children died under her watch in the Hillsborough school district and Elia did nothing to fix the problems except try and hide them.

As such, I'm going to run a previous post from May 28 about Elia's complicity in and cover-up of the deaths of three children in the Hillsborough school district and ask our intrepid new NYSED Commissioner why she wasn't "intimately involved" in fixing the problems that led to the first student's death so that subsequent students didn't have to die too:

Complicity And Cover-Up: MaryEllen Elia's Failure Of Leadership In The Deaths Of Hillsborough Students

The tragic stories of Isabella Herrera, a 7 year old who died in 2012 while on a Hillsborough school bus, and Keith Logan Coty, a 6 year old who died of a brain hemorrhage in 2014 after getting sick at his school, suggest the kind of leadership we'll get from new NYSED commissioner MaryEllen Elia.

Then Hillsborough superintendent, Elia never took responsibility for the failure of district personnel to call 911 in a timely manner when Isabellea Herrera was found unresponsive on a Hillsborough school bus.

In fact, Elia did all she could to deflect responsibility from herself and the district and cover-up district complicity in the child's death because of an outdated policy that had school bus drivers call dispatchers instead of 911 in an emergency.

As Joe Henderson of the Tampa Tribune wrote, if not for a lawsuit from the Herrera family, the circumstances of the girl's death - a direct consequence of school district policy continued under Elia - would not have come to light:

For all the community outrage over circumstances that contributed to the death of 7-year-old special-needs student Isabella Herrera, consider this: If her parents hadn't filed a federal lawsuit over the way her case was handled, the public still wouldn't know there was ever a problem.

There wouldn't be a task force to study ongoing problems with how issues with special-needs students are addressed.

School bus drivers would continue to follow the 21-year-old policy of calling dispatchers instead of 911 in an emergency such as the one that led to Isabella's death.

Six of seven members of the Hillsborough County School Board would still be in the dark about what happened that January day on the bus taking Isabella home from classes.

Life would go on just always. Except, of course, for Isabella and her family.

She had a neuromuscular disease that made her neck muscles weak. She was supposed to have her head back as she sat in her wheelchair, but she tilted forward and it blocked her airway. When it was discovered, the driver called dispatch and the aide on board called Isabella's mother.

By the time Lisa Herrera arrived and dialed 911 herself, her daughter was blue and unresponsive. She was pronounced dead the next day.

But Superintendent MaryEllen Elia didn't make the news public. She relied on a sheriff's office investigation that she said found no criminal wrongdoing, and appeared to let it go at that. During an interview last week, I asked why she didn't release the news. She fell back on the sheriff's report.

If you're the parent of a special-needs student, though, you would have liked to know there was a problem. I should say, is a problem. There have been three other issues with special-needs kids just this year, including the recent death of a student with Down syndrome who wandered away unnoticed and drowned.

The Herrera family filed its lawsuit a few days after that — about nine months after Isabella died. Now we have a task force, and a policy change allowing bus drivers to call 911 if the situation warrants. As school board Vice Chairwoman April Griffin told The Tampa Tribune though, "It goes way, way deeper than that. But I think it's a start."

This would be a better start: Expand the task force to probe the circumstances of why it took a lawsuit to bring this to a head. This isn't a witch hunt, but there has to be accountability.

What happened in the aftermath of this tragedy was at best a case of bureaucratic bungling.

When a child dies, a leader doesn't fall back on official reports and policy excuses. A leader gets to the bottom of things and then lets everyone know what went wrong so it doesn't happen again. A leader asks uncomfortable questions about the culture in a school system that values policy and procedure over good judgment and common sense.

That didn't happen here. And if not for a lawsuit, no one would have known.

Two years later, another child died after Hillsborough school staff failed to call 911 in a timely manner:

TAMPA — Keith Logan Coty played baseball, soccer and football. He was a principal's honor roll student in the first grade at Seminole Heights Elementary School, his mother said.

He'd had a heart murmur, but the doctor had cleared him, his mother said.

He died a year ago at age 6 of a brain hemorrhage, and a lawsuit filed Friday blames staff at his school for failing to call for help quickly enough. The lapse is especially unfathomable, lawyers say, as the issue of timely 911 calls was cited in another high-profile student death in a Hillsborough public school.

"How many kids under the care of this school district must die before the district gets it right?" lawyer Steven Maher asked, announcing the federal suit in a news conference Friday.

Exactly a year ago — Jan. 17, 2014 — Keith began feeling sick after lunch, the suit says. He went back to his classroom about 12:24 p.m., complaining to his teacher about a severe headache. She told him to lie down. He did. Then he started vomiting.

About 12:51, the teacher called Keith's mother, Kaycee Teets. There was no sense of urgency in the voice mail message she left, which Maher played at the news conference. It simply asked Teets to pick up her son because he was throwing up.

Before Teets could arrive, another school employee entered the room and found Keith lying on his side, making a gurgling sound with foam streaming from his nose. "His lips were blue," the suit said. The school nurse was summoned. Although Keith was unresponsive, the suit alleges the nurse did not perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation; nor did she use the defibrillator at the school.

About 12:58 p.m., a worker in the front office called 911. The information given to the 911 operator was confusing, the suit alleges. At one point the caller said Keith was breathing. His mother insists he was not.

When an emergency vehicle arrived at 1:03 p.m., Keith was "in the corner, visibly blue, not breathing, and unresponsive." Paramedics were able to resuscitate the child, and they took him to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa.

A scan revealed he had a brain hemorrhage. But, according to the suit, no one told the doctors about his headache, information Teets learned hours later when she spoke with Keith's teacher. Not suspecting a neurological problem, doctors focused on possible cardiac issues instead.

Keith "went without oxygen for at least 10 minutes as a result of the delay in commencing CPR," the suit alleges. He stayed on life support long enough for his organs to be taken for donation, and he was pronounced dead later in the day.

The suit, filed days before Superintendent MaryEllen Elia could face a School Board vote on terminating her contract, is reminiscent of a suit the same firm filed in 2012, also involving a child alleged to have died after emergency treatment was delayed.

Isabella Herrera suffered a neuromuscular disability and was on a school bus when she stopped breathing. No one called 911 until Isabella's mother arrived. The school district ultimately settled that lawsuit for $800,000.

The Herrera suit was filed in federal court, alleging a civil rights violation; rather than a negligence suit in state court, where the award would have been limited under sovereign immunity. Maher was trying to prove a districtwide lack of training and care so severe, it amounted to a level of indifference toward disabled students that qualified as discrimination.

This time, Maher said, the 911 policy and procedures amount to discrimination toward all of Hillsborough's 200,000 students.

The district argued in the 2012 suit that there was no pattern of indifference. And, after the drowning death of a second special-needs child that same year, Hillsborough revamped its training of staff, particularly those who care for disabled children.

But 911 calls have remained a source of confusion. While Elia quickly stated there is no prohibition against calling 911, administrators sometimes advise staff to let the front office make the calls. Phone service is not always reliable in the classrooms, they say, and it's easier for emergency workers to find the office than a particular classroom.

Maher and Teets said that makes no sense to them.

"I would call 911. There would be no question," Teets said. "Any person would do that. I walked into a classroom and found my child, blue on the ground."

Stephen Hegarty, the district's spokesman, said, "I cannot comment on pending litigation."

Maher said his firm is asking for monetary damages, but did not specify the amount.

Where are the great leadership qualities Elia supposedly has in the aftermath of these tragedies involving Hillsborough students?

If one student dies as a result of the failure of staff to call 911 in a timely manner, wouldn't you think a "great leader" would put together an effective protocol so that such a tragedy wouldn't happen a second time?

Elia instead did her best to cover up the circumstances surrounding Isabella Herrera's death - something that was noted when Elia was feted with a commendation by the Tampa Bay City Council after she was fired as Hillsborough superintendent.

Mary Mulhern, a council member who voted against the commendation for Elia, told the Tampa Tribune:

"MaryEllen Elia was fired by her employers — by her boss, the School Board," she said. "I can't think of another case where someone gets lauded and celebrated after they've been fired from a job that is a public responsibility. … When you are responsible for the lives of children, I think one strike is too many."

Elaborating, Mulhern cited the deaths of three students:

• 7-year-old disabled student Isabella Herrera, who died in January 2012 after suffering respiratory failure aboard a school bus. A bus video show that the driver and an aide did not call 911, but used a radio to try to reach their supervisor, as was protocol, then called Herrera's mother, who arrived and called 911. The School Board, most of whose members were unaware of the death until the girl's parents sued, agreed to pay $800,000 last year to settle a federal lawsuit.

• 11-year-old Jennifer Caballero, who had Down syndrome and drowned in a pond behind Rodgers Middle School after wandering away from a crowded gym class in October 2012. The school district agreed to pay a negotiated settlement estimated at more than $500,000. Investigations led to three firings and several resignations at the school. The district also took steps after the deaths to improve safety for special-needs students on buses and in school.

• 6-year-old Keith Logan Coty, who died a day after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage in January 2014 at Seminole Heights Elementary School. In a lawsuit, his parents accuse the school district of being indifferent to student safety and of discouraging staffers from calling 911 in emergencies. The district denies the allegations.

"If somebody dies, it goes to the top," Mulhern said. In the Herrera case, she said, "her employers didn't know this happened for nine months. … For me, that's enough. That's three strikes."

Mulhern said she didn't "disagree that (Elia has) done very good work over 10 years," but the concerns about student safety were overriding for her.

"The powers that be in Tampa and Hillsborough County just circled the wagons around this powerful person," who, Mulhern noted, had the authority to give out contracts. 

Say what you will about former NYSED commissioner John King's flaws as a leader - covering up district complicity in the death of a student and a failure to fix emergency protocol for 911 calls involving students weren't on the list.

The more you learn about MaryEllen Elia and her "leadership," the more you see the big mistake the Board of Regents made by hiring her as NYSED commissioner.

Also, the more you learn about Elia as a person, the more you see how appropriate her nickname - MaryEllen EVILia - is.

MaryEllen Elia should have been "intimately involved" in fixing the 911 protocol after the Herrera death.

Alas, she covered up the death instead, keeping the news from six of the seven school board members, and tried to evade responsibility for the matter by relying on the sheriff's report that there was no criminal wrongdoing in the case.

Elia didn't change the protocols for how Hillsborough staff took care of the safety of special needs students until after the death of a second child, Jennifer Caballero, in the wading pool.

It took the death of a third child, Keith Logan Coty, before she finally addressed the 911 protocols.

Considering her failure of leadership and humanity in the deaths of these three children while she was superintendent of Hillsborough, how dare MaryEllen Elia lecture anybody about anything?

There were plenty of opportunities for her to be "intimately involved" in changing the way Hillsborough staff handled safety issues for special needs students or 911 protocols and Elia did nothing but hide the district's complicity in these deaths and try and evade responsibility for herself.

Finally, how dare the Board of Regents hire somebody with this kind of track record on safety issues for children under her care - not just the incompetence and bungling of the safety issues but the willful covering-up of district complicity afterwards?

Cuomo's Dannemora Press Conference Disrupted Efforts To Capture Escaped Criminals

Fred Dicker in the Post:

Cuomo’s surprise arrival at a still-unfolding escape scene a week ago Saturday generated considerable national publicity for the governor, but distracted investigators at a time when the full facts of the escape were not yet known, the sources said.

“Cuomo actually disrupted the early search efforts when he arrived at the ‘command center’ on Saturday and refused to enter the room until everyone was removed except state employees,’’ said a longtime law-enforcement figure who has regular contact with many involved in the search effort.

“Cuomo’s aides came in and threw out the US marshal, the sheriff [David Favro, like Cuomo a Democrat] and others who were there to help coordinate the search effort.

“And they did it without even saying ‘Thanks for your help,’ or such, just, ‘Get out so his highness can enter.’

Ken Lovett at the Daily News reports some are saying Cuomo's budget cuts are partly to blame for the prison escape:

Cuomo has been front-and-center publicly since the two dangerous inmates dug their way to freedom.

But critics have already begun questioning whether prison staffing and overtime issues played a role in the first escape from a New York maximum security prison since 2003.

The Plattsburgh Press Republican reported that two guard towers at Clinton Correctional were left unmanned because the Cuomo administration was pressing for cuts in overtime.

That paper and the Albany Times Union also reported that a request to lock down and search every cell at the prison after a melee days before the escape was turned down because of overtime concerns.

“There’s enough dots connected to raise eyebrows and people are beginning to question if this is a problem of the governor’s creation,” said one insider. “The prison break could end up being an even bigger headache for him once the prisoners are safely captured. It ties into what he’s doing with the agencies and their budgets.”

Cuomo did the full morning Monty after the escape, going on as many "news" shows as he could to play "Tough Guy" and show Americans how "in charge he is.

But the longer this story goes, the more damaging it becomes to Cuomo.

It exposes him as an incompetent gloryhound whose policies helped bring about this mess.

Cuomo better hope they catch these dudes soon - the longer they're free, the more scrutiny he and his administration are going to get.

Cuomo Blames NYSED/Regents For The "Massive Chaos" And "Utter Failure" Of The CCSS Roll Out, But Is Okay With Them Developing Evals

A Perdido Street School blog reader comments on Governor Cuomo's "The state test scores are meaningless for students" statement:

Another question Cuomo needs to explain is why he would turn over the development of regulations regarding teacher evaluations to an education department that had not done a good job in implementing his beloved Common Core Standards. You cannot make this nonsense up--NY State public education has been turned into one huge fiasco by the deformers. Every time they open their mouth they spout more complete non-sense then go off and hide until after another legislator is indicted (taking the pressure off them to explain their nonsense). Usually, they only need to wait a week, or two before they can stick their head out again!

You really can't make this nonsense up, as the commenter says.

Here's what Cuomo said about NYSED and the Regents regarding the Common Core roll out in June 2014:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo insisted teacher evaluation adjustments remain a top priority in the final days of the legislative session, adding that the problems over the Common Core implementation lay at the feet of the state Department of Education.

“We’re working on a bill that would make adjustments to teacher evaluations,” Cuomo said at a news conference. “We’re literally working on them as we speak.”

Cuomo added it’s the state Education Department’s roll out of Common Core, however, that has created the effect of needing to change the evaluation law, which is tied to Common Core-based testing.

The state budget agreement slowed the roll out of Common Core implementation for students, and Cuomo earlier this year said he wanted to make adjustments to the 2013 teacher evaluation law accordingly.

“In truth, the reason we’re in this situation is because the Board of Regents and Mr. King didn’t handle it,” Cuomo said, referring to Education Commissioner John King. “That’s how we got here. These are problems that have developed because of the improper roll out of Common Core in my opinion. We addressed the issues with the students and now we’re trying to address the issues with the teachers.”

This wasn't the first time Cuomo went both barrels at NYSED and the Regents over Common Core. Here was Cuomo's comments in February 2014:

ALBANY—Governor Andrew Cuomo took another shot at the State Board of Regents Thursday, blaming the education policy makers for “massive chaos” that he said has resulted from their implementation of the Common Core standards in New York.

Cuomo said he agreed with a protester's sign that proclaimed there was no proof the Common Core would help students.

“Yeah, I'm with them,” Cuomo said, referring to the protester. “The Common Core is being implemented by something called the Board of Regents. I have nothing to do with it.

“The Board of Regents supervises the State Education Department, and I don't appoint anyone to the Board of Regents, either,” Cuomo continued. “So I'm sort of where the parent is, standing outside with a sign. And by the way, I would hold the same basic sign that the parent is holding. I think the way they have implemented Common Core has failed utterly. There is massive confusion, massive anxiety and massive chaos all across the state. It may have been a good idea, but you need a good idea, and then it has to be done properly."

The Regents and SED brought "massive chaos" to the state education system via their "utter failure" in rolling the standards out, but he's swell with them developing a new evaluation system on an intractable deadline.

You really can't make this nonsense up.

Incompetence At NYSED

From the Buffalo News:

Eager to bolster its nursing program, D’Youville College in fall 2013 asked the state Education Department to approve a new accelerated bachelor’s degree program that would train nurses in about a year. 

A year and a half later, the college still has not received the approval. 

D’Youville officials now wonder if they’ll have enough time to market the new program and recruit students for this year’s fall semester. 

“It has been an enormous challenge,” said Arup K. Sen, vice president for academic affairs at D’Youville. “When we send it to State Ed, we’re pretty much at their mercy. The reviewal process should be 30 days. Not months. Not years.” 

D’Youville tailored the program for college graduates looking to change careers. With nursing jobs in high demand, college officials anticipated a strong response. So when the college proposed the program, officials hoped to offer the program the following fall.

D’Youville officials are not the only ones frustrated by the long wait to get approvals from the department.

College and university officials across New York have complained that such delays are common for the state Education Department. It routinely takes six to nine months – and sometimes more than two years – for the government department to complete reviews.

“They have to speed up the process,” said Satish K. Tripathi, president of the University at Buffalo, which currently has seven new program submissions under review.

Cuomo has proposed ending the SED review process for new college programs but the Board of Regents and SED doesn't want that and it's unclear if the legislature will support Cuomo's proposal.

In any case, I can't wait to see how long it takes for NYSED to work out Governor Cuomo's vaunted new outside observation plan for the state's teachers.

As things stand now, NYSED has a reputation for neither speed nor accuracy.

Hey, what's a couple of years when you're reviewing something?

Cuomo Rescue Vehicles Need Rescue Themselves

I read this Times-Union piece on Governor Cuomo's rescue vehicle fleet as emblematic for his education policies:

The governor, a longtime mechanic with a penchant for fast cars and motorcycles, told state officials to purchase four "high-axle" rescue trucks to be assigned to the State Police and posted at security facilities and airports around the state, ready for his use on a moment's notice.

Yet there's no record that the vehicles have been used to rescue anyone, or are even suitable for that purpose. Their effectiveness in floodwaters and snowstorms is also questionable, according to two former officials in the state's Homeland Security office.

The International trucks are two-wheel drive and have low ground clearance that makes them vulnerable to washing away in the very types of floods that threatened Cuomo's vehicle four years ago, an official said.

"It was all an exercise in futility," the former official said, declining to be identified out of concern of antagonizing the governor. "No matter what you did, those trucks weren't going to clear 30 inches of snow or 25 inches of water. There was concern expressed to the governor — because of the high center of gravity and low clearance — that in running water those trucks could turn over, and none of that was received well."

...

The trucks purchased after the 2011 tropical storms were dubbed "All-Weather Response Coordination" vehicles in a "guidelines document" drafted by the executive branch. The document said the goal was "to ensure that New York state has the standing capability to access areas where normal vehicular traffic access is challenged or denied by weather or post-disaster conditions in order to support state executive coordination with county/local executives and public safety officials, as well as support the extrication of persons affected by the incident as needed," according to guidelines drafted by the state.

But those trucks have low beds that make them unsafe to transport anyone not lying down, and performed so poorly in snow that DOT officials installed ballast to increase traction.

...

 In February 2013, a nor'easter dubbed Nemo by meteorologists dumped more than two feet of snow on eastern Long Island. One of the governor's all-weather rescue trucks was being "repositioned" for use by Cuomo in the wake of the storm when it became stuck in the heavy snow. It had to be pulled free by a midsized communications van with a winch and was not used that day, according to a former Homeland Security official.

Here's a photo of Governor Cuomo's rescue vehicle being itself rescued:

So once again, we have Governor Cuomo micromanaging something - in this case, "All Weather Response Coordination" (i.e., purchasing state vehicles) - doing it badly, then refusing to listen to others when he's told he he's wrong ("There was concern expressed to the governor — because of the high center of gravity and low clearance — that in running water those trucks could turn over, and none of that was received well.")

This is emblematic for the Cuomo administration education policies too.

Told over and over again his APPR teacher evaluation system is garbage and the state tests junk, he doubles down on both for a "strengthened" teacher evaluation system.

We're going to need a rescue vehicle for schools after Cuomo gets done with them, just as Cuomo's rescue vehicles need rescue themselves when it, you know, snows.

Cuomo Tells Observer-Dispatch: I Want Teachers Fired

From the Utica Observer-Dispatch:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo slammed opponents of his plan to overhaul the state’s teacher evaluation system at a recent meeting with the Observer-Dispatch Editorial Board.

 Right now we have a 99 percent effective rate for teachers,” he said. “That can’t be when 30 percent of the students are effective.”

...

 “You would fire a teacher?” Cuomo asked rhetorically. “Yes I would, because education is about the student, and if you have data that shows the teacher is not effective and you can’t help the teacher become effective, yes I would.

The 30% "failure" rate for students comes from the Common Core tests the state rolled out before they rolled out a curriculum or teaching materials to go with it.

But that's not stopping Cuomo from using this jive point to try and drive his agenda home.

It's not working so far, however.

As the Siena polled showed yesterday, only 10% of New Yorkers blame teachers for the problems in public schools and the public backs teachers unions over Cuomo 48%-36% in the "war of words" between the two.

There are still some things NYSUT and the UFT ought to be doing to further drive down Cuomo's numbers on this.

One thing they should be doing is running ads explaining how incompetent and inept the Common Core roll-out from the Regents and NYSED was, use Cuomo's own words about that roll-out against him (he called it "flawed and mismanaged from the start" in a statement), then explain to the public that the 30% failure" number Cuomo's using to bash teachers is as a result of the Common Core tests the state rigged for high failure rates.

Cuomo's numbers are already pretty dismal around many education issues.

With a coordinated effort from NYSUT and the UFT, they could drive them down even more and make Cuomo regret he took on this battle.

NYSED Commissioner John King Vows To Bring The Chaos, Confusion & Anxiety Of New York's Common Core Roll-Out To A National Audience

From Jessica Bakeman at Capital NY:

ALBANY—Outgoing state education commissioner John King hopes to help school leaders in other states navigate the difficult transition to the Common Core standards and related standardized testing in his new position as the second-highest ranking official in the U.S. Department of Education.

Two years ago, under King’s leadership, New York became the second state to begin testing students on material aligned to the more difficult math and English language arts standards. New York launched the new assessments years ahead of most other states, which will begin administering the tougher exams this spring.

...

“In some ways, the hardest part of the transition is when you’ve given that first set of assessments that reflect higher standards and the state has to confront lower scores and the reality that there’s such a large gap between where we are and where we need to be,” King said during an exclusive interview with Capital. “I’ve encouraged my colleagues to do the best they can to prepare parents, communities, the public for those lower scores. We certainly tried to do that in New York and most importantly pointed to what it means: It isn’t to say that students learned less during that school year but rather to say that this is a realistic picture of where we are relative to college and career readiness.

 “It is a place where I hope that I can be helpful, certainly to my colleagues around the country,” he said.

Oh, yeah, John, you'll be extremely helpful to your colleagues around the country as they see what NOT to do as they rollout out Common Core and the attendant tests that come with the standards.

It was Governor Cuomo who characterized the implementation of Common Core by John King's NYSED as "massive confusion, massive anxiety and massive chaos all across the state."

Parents and teachers across the state criticized King and his NYSED, Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch and her Board of Regents, over the mess that is Common Core and the Common Core tests in New York.

King refused to accept any of the criticism and responded with his own passive aggressive hostility, first canceling future town halls with parents, then sitting stone-faced through rescheduled ones after Regents Chancellor Tisch forced him to attend them.

The LoHud editorial board described King's engagement with parents and teachers at these forums:

For many in the Lower Hudson Valley, a lasting image of outgoing Education Commissioner John King will be of him sitting impassively at Port Chester Middle School in late 2013. The school auditorium was packed with hundreds of parents, teachers and others. Speaker after speaker stood up to decry the rapid rollout of the Common Core standards and new state tests. King appeared to listen, but said little and gave no ground. Most importantly, he didn't show a pinch of interest in connecting with parents, acknowledging their concerns or even making them feel as if they had been heard.

...

The Port Chester forum came shortly after King had canceled another series of statewide forums, claiming they had been co-opted by "special interests." To John King, anyone who questions or criticizes the state's top-down education "reform" agenda is an outsider who is not committed to seeing kids learn. Parents and educators who find flaws in sweeping curriculum and teacher evaluation changes are portrayed as lazy, excuse-making haters.

 This isn't the case, of course. Many parents and educators in this region have offered reasonable, passionate and often convincing arguments against the growing state focus on testing, data-crunching, and evaluating teachers with a formula that is easily picked apart. But King has not been willing to engage his critics. This position has enraged many and created a bizarre stare-down between the state Education Department and many school districts that are supposed to be part of the same team.

Given his track record of failure here in New York State as education commissioner, the only "help" King can provide other education leaders around the state is as a symbol of hubris, overreach and incompetence.

That is, unless the rest of the country wants the "massive confusion, massive anxiety and massive chaos all across the state" that King brought here to New York.

And that's pro-Common Core, pro-testing Andrew Cuomo characterizing King's CCSS implementation that way, not some member of the opt-out movement or other critic of education reform policy.

Does John King's Departure From NYSED Signal A New Era With Less Reforminess?

From the Politico Morning Education update:

Andy Smarick of Bellwether Education Partners noted that King is one of many education reform-oriented state chiefs to step down, like New Jersey's Chris Cerf, Tony Bennett of Indiana and Florida and most recently, Tennessee's Kevin Huffman. "He ... helped define this era of tougher standards, common assessments, rigorous educator evaluations, and new state-level accountability systems," Smarick said. "Their departures seem to be signaling the end of this period of bold state chiefs and major state-level reforms. If other states are a guide, we should expect King's replacement to be a non-controversial, known commodity in New York, possibly a current district superintendent." 

- "Increasingly, it appears that today's governors won't be hiring a new wave of prominent national reform figures to serve as state chiefs," Smarick added. "I'm concerned we're entering a period of reform retrenchment: The battles over Common Core, new tests, tenure reform, and more may have left today's governors with little appetite for a new round of K-12 fights."

I'm pretty sure that, given Governor Cuomo's promise to "break" the public school "monopoly" through charter school expansions and ever-more "rigorous" teacher evaluations tied to testing and Regents Chancellor Tisch's concurrence that she wants to see an "aggressive" expansion of charters in the state, we'll see a replacement for King who is as reformy as King was.

Quite frankly, I think King was pushed for the ineptitude he has shown over the Common Core roll-out and the tone deafness he has displayed in dealing with public criticism.

The last straw was when King's NYSED granted a charter school to a con artist named "Dr" Ted Morris Jr. who had lied about his credentials and work experience during the application process.

Chancellor Tisch didn't name King in her deflection when she said it wasn't her fault, but she prominently did name King's NYSED in that statement of her own defense.

So King's out less because of his reforminess (or notoriety for it) and more for the spectacular public failures he has had over the last year with Common Core (which Cuomo blamed him for), parent engagement (think Poughkeepsie) and the "Dr" Ted Morris Jr. fiasco (charter school to con man, NYSED refuses to take responsibility for the mess.)

They'll look to replace King with somebody who's on board the Reformy Express, they simply wanted to clear the decks of King and start fresh.

The new NYSED Commissioner may not be as prominent a reformer as John King was, but you can bet Cuomo and Tisch are not going to look for anybody who isn't on board with their "Break The Public School Monopoly" agenda.

NYCDOE Tech Consultant Arrested For Cocaine Trafficking - Why Is Bloomberg Not Blamed?

This would be one of Bloomberg's vaunted tech consultant hires:

Two Bronx men, including a city Department of Education tech consultant, were busted by the feds for cocaine trafficking, authorities said Friday.

Yinmi Rodriguez, 27, who has been employed in a Bronx high school since 2008, used city computers to track the UPS delivery of the dope from Puerto Rico to the Bronx, officials said.

More than 11 pounds of cocaine were"intercepted" by police.

Rodriguez has been on leave from his DOE gig since April 2013.

Let's see, Bloomberg's NYCDOE hired a guy who beat a teenager to teach teenagers and a guy who used NYCDOE computers to track cocaine shipments.

Let's imagine what stories the press would write if these were de Blasio's hires.

And yet, as always, Bloomberg is let off the hook - no accountability for the "Accountability Mayor."

Brooklyn Tech Story Is Not About Tenure - It's About NYCDOE (And Bloomberg) Incompetence

Teacher bashers will make the "Brooklyn Tech/Pervert Teacher story" about teacher tenure and teachers unions but it's actually about NYCDOE incompetence.

How did he get hired to work with children or teenagers when this was in his background?

Mr. Shaynak was living in Havre de Grace, Md., on Oct. 3, 2005, when an 11-year-old named DeVonte Watson was playing outside his home across the street. He was throwing rocks; one apparently hit Mr. Shaynak’s house, and Mr. Shaynak then came across the street and confronted the boy.

Mr. Watson, now 20, his older sister and his father said that even though Mr. Watson apologized, Mr. Shaynak beat him and threw him to the ground. The boy had to go to the hospital, and the Watson family was granted a restraining order against Mr. Shaynak for six months. Although a criminal charge was filed against Mr. Shaynak, he was not convicted. The charge was later expunged.

“I feel like somebody who would do that to an 11-year-old should not have become a teacher,” DeVonte Watson said.

The Daily News says the NYCDOE was "aware" of Shaynak's arrest prior to his employment as a NYC teacher:

Education officials also acknowledged they were aware of Shaynak’s 2005 arrest in Maryland — although they would not say if they knew the target of his rage was the 11-year-old Havre de Grace boy.

He was hired in August 2008 despite a background check that turned up the arrest because there was no conviction in the case, officials said. The court document was revealed during a fingerprint check.

No doubt Campbell Brown and a host of other anti-tenure individuals and entities will use this case to try and rally a horrified public against teacher tenure and due process protections.

But the real story here is, why did the NYCDOE hire a man who had been arrested (though not convicted) with beating an 11 year old, a man who had had a restraining order against him for six months as a result of those alleged actions, without looking further into his case?

I don't think an individual having an allegation against them in the past for something automatically disqualifies them from NYCDOE employment, but I do think it means the NYCDOE should check the individual out and get to the bottom of the allegation.

There's a reason there are background checks for teachers, including fingerprinting checks - it's to see if anything comes up in an individual's background that would disqualify them for employment with the NYCDOE.

My feeling is, had the DOE done even a rudimentary check of the Maryland incident, they would have come to the conclusion that Shaynak should not have been hired as a teacher.

But they didn't do that rudimentary check.

They simply hired him.

And remember, this was the vaunted Bloomberg NYCDOE, the uber-competent DOE run by our uber-competent former billionaire-mayor.

Nonetheless they hired a guy in 2008 who had been arrested (though not convicted) for allegedly beating an 11-year old in 2005 without questioning anything about his background.

I bet Campbell Brown and the rest of the tenure-bashers never get around to asking how it is the Bloomberg DOE hired this guy with the 2005 arrest in the first place.

They'll be too busy using the story to push for the end of tenure for all teachers - even the ones without any previous arrests or allegations against them for anything.

NYSED Releases District-By-District Principal/Teacher Evaluation Ratings Nine Months Late

Jessica Bakeman at Capital NY:

ALBANY—Teachers and principals in New York's large, urban school districts received lower ratings on the first year of state-mandated evaluations than their counterparts in other districts, according to data released Thursday by the Education Department.

...

The state education department released data in October 2013 showing statewide averages for teacher evaluations. At that time, commissioner John King said the district-by-district ratings would be released to the public, as required by law, by “late fall or early winter” 2013.

Capital informally requested the data on multiple occasions, but the department stalled, citing privacy concerns about individual teachers. The information released on Thursday follows a request by Capital in June for records under the state's Freedom of Information Law.

“Today's release of evaluation data will enable New Yorkers to see, for the first time, the results of their schools' teacher and principal evaluations,” department spokesman Dennis Tompkins said in a release. “The goal of the evaluation process has always been to improve teaching and learning by targeting professional development where it is most needed in order to improve student outcomes. When teachers and principals receive the right tools to improve their practice, their students benefit—it's really as straightforward as that.”

NYSED promises the district-by-district ratings by "late fall or early winter" 2014.

It's now August 28, 2014.

They're at least nine months late with the data.

Even longer if you hold them to the "late fall" deadline they offered last year.

How trustworthy is data that is this late?

Just why is the data this late?

And who does the SED flack think he's kidding when he says "When teachers and principals receive the right tools to improve their practice, their students benefit—it's really as straightforward as that"?

The data is so delayed, I could have had a kid faster than they got this released publicly.

More evidence of the APPR sham and the sheer incompetence of the educrats at SED.

Mayor Fulop Continues To Screw Up Snow Removal In Jersey City

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop is so busy giving lectures at Rutgers and announcing an endorsement in the Newark mayor's race that he just can't seem to do his job as mayor of Jersey City.

As I posted on Sunday, citizens of Jersey City have been irate over the city's poor snow removal program, bombarding the city's Facebook page with complaints like this one from yesterday:

My street is so bad couldn't get out of my spot to take my daughter to daycare and go to work. I was stuck half in the street and half in a spot. A tow truck happened to come by and wasn't able to pass so he dragged me out. I went around the corner to Patterson St and it was a sheet of ice. ALLL ROADS SHOULD HAVE SNOW REMOVAL. No fire truck would be able to turn down streets like Pierce Avenue.

Or this one from yesterday as well:

This is a joke. My street wasn't plowed on Friday and it hasn't been plowed today. It's a solid 4 inch sheet of ice. I don't care if you're out of salt. You can at least plow. And we wouldn't be in this mess if Fulop would just hire workers to shovel the drains clear since so much did melt on Friday but had nowhere to go so it just re-froze. Iv'e been trying to call the stupid Resident Response line for days now and it always takes me to the voicemail no matter when I call. He's a terrible mayor.

Fulop declared a snow emergency on Sunday and requested residents refrain from driving in the city because he couldn't get the ice and snow removed from the city's streets, further angering residents of Jersey City who had to get around the city.

He finally announced a full snow removal plan that was to commence on Tuesday February 17:

Snow Removal Operations to Begin Tomorrow on Main Thoroughfares; Residents Reminded to Not Park in Front of Hydrants or Within 25 Feet of an Intersection

Mayor Steven M. Fulop in coordination with the Office of Emergency Management announced today that City will begin implementing a snow removal plan for the main thoroughfares and commercial districts that will have the snow hauled to vacant City, County and State property.

Commercial and main streets are being targeted, as these areas provide access to the daily needs of residents such as supermarkets, banks, pharmacies and other small businesses and services. Clearing these areas will also improve conditions for emergency responders to move throughout the City.

"We thank residents for their patience during what has been one of the harshest winters on record," said Mayor Fulop. "With everyone's cooperation, this can be a seamless process that will help improve the mobility of both pedestrians and motorists as well as ease parking conditions."

According to the NJ.com, here's how that snow removal program is going:

For days, Jersey City residents clamored for the city to remove the mountains of snow from last week’s nor’easter – and the storm before that, and the storm before that. The snow piles have effectively turned parts of Bergen Avenue into a one-way street in either direction, and they are making it impossible for some residents to find parking spots.

But now that crews are finally at work using snowplows and dumpsters to pick up and remove the snow, motorists are griping that the daytime operation is clogging city streets. Traffic backed up on Montgomery Street about half a mile yesterday as crews removed snow near Summit Avenue, and Journal Square was bumper to bumper yesterday afternoon and this morning as crews disposed of snow in that section of the city.

Alexandria Jerez, 32, of Fairmount Avenue, is among the motorists fuming over traffic snarls caused by snow removal. She said Bergen Avenue was a nightmare yesterday and Summit Avenue was “pretty bad” today.

"It was ridiculous," she said. "It was so ill-planned."

Ward C City Councilman Rich Boggiano said his phone was ringing all day from residents complaining about the traffic problems in Journal Square. Snow removal, Boggiano said, should have happened in the late morning and early evening, not during rush hour.

“It’s a disgrace,” said Boggiano, who has been generally critical of the city’s snow response.

City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said the city opted to carry out snow removal during the day instead of at night because the noise would be a "huge quality of life issue."

“While we understand that traffic has resulted from the snow removal, we are working as fast and as smartly as we can to remove the snow without further disrupting everyone's lives,” Morrill said.

Fulop has been busy announcing an endorsement of Ras Baraka in the Newark mayor's race and giving a lecture at Rutgers that many see as publicity for a future run for governor.

Meanwhile back in Jersey City, the mayor oversees a snow removal program that is, in the words of Ward C City Councilman Rich Boggiano, "a disgrace."

Mayor Steven Fulop should spend a little less time playing politics and a little more time tending to his city management.

Life In Steven Fulop's Snow-Ridden Jersey City

Mayor Steven Fulop's Jersey City government has issued a warning to Jersey City residents today Sunday, February 16th, 2014:

The City is working to remove snow from corners and has implemented a snow removal plan to haul snow to vacant lots owned by the City, State and County. Today, with the snow from last night and the freezing temperatures, icy road conditions persist. Because of the regional salt shortage, Jersey City has implemented additional measures to supplement including the use of liquid brine and sand but is asking residents to please stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary and to seek alternative means of transportation.

One alternative mode of public transportation - the PATH train that runs from Newark to World Trade Center - is unavailable to Jersey City residents looking to get the hell out of Fulop's snow and ice-clogged Jersey City because the Port Authority has shut it down every weekend for the rest of the year:

Much to the chagrin of residents, PATH weekend closure of the World Trade Center (WTC) and Exchange Place stations is set to begin tonight, Friday Feb. 14 and weekend closures for these stations will continue most weekends (Friday nights through early Monday mornings) throughout 2014 with the exception of major holidays.

Impacts to World Trade Center to Newark (WTC-NWK) and NWK-WTC service:

• The last departure from WTC is 11:55 pm, arriving at NWK at 12:17 am.
• The last departure from NWK is 11:20 pm, arriving at WTC at 11:42 pm.
• There are no impacts to WTC-Hoboken (HOB) and HOB-WTC service.
•  The last departure from WTC is 10:56 pm., arriving at HOB at 11:06 pm.
• The last departure from HOB is 11:11 pm., arriving at WTC at 11:21 pm.
• The World Trade Center and Exchange Place stations will be reopened each Monday at approximately 4:45 am.
• The first departure out of the WTC will be the 5:10 am train to NWK.
• The West Concourse at WTC, providing underground connection to Brookfield Place, will remain open and accessible during these weekend outages.

Mayor Steven Fulop ran for office last year on a reformer campaign platform to rid Jersey City of the corruption and cronyism of the former mayor, Jerramiah Healy (who just narrowly missed indictment when a whole bunch of politicians were arrested for corruption in 2009 - including the Hoboken mayor and the deputy mayor of Jersey City.)

Alas, Jersey City's issuing desperate pleas for residents to "stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary" a day after a few inches of snow fell and to "seek alternative means of transportation" when at least one of those alternative means - the PATH train from Newark to World Trade Center - is shut down makes me think Steven Fulop is in over his head as mayor of this city.

Some of the commenters on the Jersey City Facebook page echo that sentiment:

The roads are TERRIBLE out there, especially Summit ave through the heights. Be careful, everyone.

Drivers traveling on Westside Avenue and turning onto Woodlawn Avenue please slow down. Icy conditions on corners. We have seen several cars skid off the road.

How about clearing side streets!

All side streets in Harsimus Cove area are treacherous!! Please come up with a plan...there is more snow coming tomorrow overnight. There is little to no parking in an already congested area, and people can't get around.

Yes side streets are horrible the busses are getting stuck on McAdoo and it was horrible to get to work

Downtown needs salt, whatever, at all intersection BAD BAD ICE 3 crashes in less an hour.

6 Storms Later Wowwwwwwww really on the Job here in Jersey City N.J

Alternative means of transportation? Like the PATH train? Oh, right...it's not running to WTC over the weekend.

We need side street snow removal! No parking causing people to park crazy! Ice every where let's find away to hire some people give them shovels and let them remove side street snow something like clean up project men and women will work! Quick grant or something this will help a lot 

Horrible conditions in Jersey City. The crosswalks are impassible!

The whole city is bad not just downtown the heights, every area of the City of Jersey City is bad. Cars, trucks n buses are getting stuck n accidents are everywhere. If they say stay off the roads, that dont mean drive. Be careful n please listen Stay Off The Roads.

Didn't do a Gd job yall suck it's so sad that a lot of people sipping n falling because yall not doing yall job or doing a half job if yall don't want ur job give it to someone that really need it.

If this is the best that we get from our local government. .then we are in big trouble.
PS some of us have no choice..we have to work because of our profession...

 I just had no choice and drive someone to dialysis.. If you don' t need to go out don't the roads are solid ice. There was just a four car accident on Marin Blvd and Grand Street.

 We need something done! People work so we take public transportation But that is slow, and they can't even get around correctly Plus cars are parked in the way of real snow removal Soo again hire people pay volunteers whatever you have to do so we can get around the City.

I agree with many of the above posters. ALL of Jersey City is bad with all the snow and ice. To top it off, people are not shoveling (for whatever reason). My husband works nights, he isn't driving the car because the roads are terrible. Waiting for the bus has become a joke because they are WAY behind schedule due to the road conditions...
IMO, despite there being a salt shortage, I believe that there was not enough salt purchased to begin with. In all my years of living here (my entire life), I don't recall JC ever having a salt shortage of this magnitude. Also, I've seen previous administrations work out plans to have the enormous piles of snow hauled away sections at a time. Nothing done so far with the 20 plus inches of snow. It looks at though JC is located somewhere in the Arctic somewhere. Can we please have some real answers about what is going on???

 The crackheads in jsq run this city better

Jersey Journal columnist Augustin Torres has more on the Fulop response (or perhaps I should say, lack of it):

It snowed this week and not everyone is happy with the cleanup. Elected leaders receive report cards from their constituents based on residents' perception of what role their leaders' took on their behalf. Fair or not, in Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop's case, it's starting to look like he needs remedial work.

Remember when Superstorm Sandy hit, Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer made sure she was on TV talking to members of the National Guard, consoling residents or she was on social media telling everyone what she was doing and how they could get help. It didn't hurt to have Gov. Chris Christie visiting.

Despite a TV news shot of Fulop removing his jacket and picking up a shovelful of snow "like a Marine," I received about a half-dozen calls from folks who want to publish angry letters about Jersey City's snow job. Everyone tells me what they plan to write and I have to remind some that this is considered a family newspaper.

Most people are aware that the city ran out of road salt. The salt situation was so problematic that during this week's nor'™easter, when one Jersey City Improvement Authority official asked the county government to borrow some salt, he was rebuffed like he'™d asked for something not on the dinner table, say county sources. No one has road salt, in fact, and the county approved an emergency appropriation of $204,000, if they can find some, having already spent about $300,000 on rock salt. There's a sneaking suspicion in my mind that the rock salt suppliers are taking a page out of the OPEC nations' playbook.

City residents' main and justifiable whine is about post-storm snow removal.

Essentially, they say there are mountains of snow and ice on curbsides making it difficult to move about in the neighborhood without falling or getting wet. Every block has its own frozen parallel mountain ranges with their own small lakes at intersections. Nothing is going down the catch basins, several people pointed out. "Years ago, the city would pay people about $10 each, per catch basin, to clear them of snow and debris," said one Greenville old-timer.

Snow removal is an expensive proposition. It could cost about $250,000 a day to have a private vendor help with the work, and it could take a day just for clearing out a block or two. With this much snow, there are not many places that can handle the snow load. City Councilman Richard Boggiano suggests just dumping it in the Hudson River, despite legal bans, because of the extraordinary amounts. I'm sure New York City doesn't do it

I tried calling and texting the mayor to get a response but to no avail. The snow mountains must be blocking my signal.

One of the commenters at the JC Facebook page says Fulop is on vacation on the Vail ski slopes and can't be reached for comment.

I cannot confirm or deny whether Fulop is in town this weekend.

But I can say that if he is on the Vail ski slopes, he could have saved money on the air flight and ski lift fees and spent the weekend skiing down Grand Street right here in Jersey City.

A Failed Test By De Blasio And Farina

I want to note before I start quoting meteorologist Craig Allen and weather personality Al Roker that I "first-guessed" the decision to leave NYC schools open last night when it was announced.

You can see that post at this link, but here is some of what I wrote:

Why would Farina announce schools are opened tomorrow so early tonight before the storm hits, even as both Nick Gregory of FOX and Lee Goldberg of WABC are talking about raising their snow totals for tomorrow?

Makes no sense to me.

We'll see what stuff looks like in the morning, but they may come back to regret calling tomorrow an open school day this early.

And:

This could turn out very badly for Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Farina.

With the storm not hitting until after midnight and with the heaviest snows expected right before and perhaps during the morning rush hour, they should have waited until 4 AM to make the call on whether schools were opened or not.

I'm heading off to bed now, and maybe when I wake up in the morning, Farina will be right and all will be swell for the morning commute.

But I've been watching the forecasts and models pretty closely, and unless Farina and de Blasio know something I don't know, there's a lot of uncertainty about the storm that has the locals mets upping their totals just as the storm is hitting that makes me think this early an open school call is foolish.

Farina and de Blasio are under attack today for the awful decision to make the open school call last night before the storm even hit - and not just from me.

Here's Craig Allen on Facebook at 8:30 AM this morning:

I cannot stress enough, if you feel you have to go to work, DO NOT leave now. Snow will be falling at rates of 1-3" per hour for rest of the morning. Late morning/afternoon mix and change should help a little. But for now, it will rapidly deteriorate into a very hazardous condition.

Horrible lack of foresight, thought and caring by NYC Schools to have kids, buses and teachers first going out now. You may have seen 1" at 5am but everyone said the worst would come just as the morning commute was beginning. Terrible decision for anyone forcing their employees to hit the road now.

6-10" by lunchtime when it should lighten up and likely mix or change; not that sleet or freezing rain is any better but it won't be as intense through mid afternoon. Hopefully this helps the evening commute home for those who did have to go out. Beware the new burst of snow likely tonight!

I'm not saying this storm will bring the City to a crippling standstill based on the latest data. I can understand their initial reluctance to do so b/c they didn't see snow on the ground. NYC politicos have never trusted meteorologists or forecasts- but we're excellent scapegoats. That's the way it's always been. And I'm shaking my head at the reason for this decision; hardly worthy of the diminished safety.

She made the decision last night before the first flake fell! She didn't even wait to see if we were going to be correct. Absolutely no conception of what the forecast was saying and that my friends is a problem all forecasters are up against.

Here was Al Roker today:

“I knew this am @NYCMayorsOffice @NYCSchools would close schools. Talk about a bad prediction. Long range DiBlasio (sic) forecast: 1 term,” the “Today” show forecaster tweeted. 

“Why are schools all around NYC closed? It's going to take some kid or kids getting hurt before this goofball policy gets changed,” Roker tweeted.

Here was Gothamist today:

The snow is literally ricocheting off of anything foolish enough to cross its path, which today apparently includes the tender faces of children forced to endure the torrential flakes as they claw their way to Kindergarten. See that lump by the curb? Is it a fire hydrant, or is it Erin from Ms. Meldishrew's art class? There's no time to find out; she's in God's hands now.

The DOE is hanging tough on its decision that schools are open today, even though field trips have been cancelled, which is really just the shittiest—not only are children deprived their long-awaited trip to the Natural History Museum or Craft Day at the Tombs, they have to trek through piles of white tar to do—what? Problem sets? In the best case scenario, exhausted teachers, weary from their own taxing commutes, will pop in a movie, which raises other problems: We could just be doing this at home, where the pajamas and the grilled cheese are.

And parents the city over were angry and hostile toward the mayor and his schools chancellor:

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Farina defended the city’s decision to keep schools open.

“The reality is that we make decisions based on what we know at the time,” she said. “Because this storm was so unpredictable, and what we heard last night is not necessarily what we saw this morning.”

She added it had “totally stopped snowing” and has turned into “an absolutely a beautiful day out there right now.”

Some viewers were shocked by her comment and expressed their strong opinions on CBS New York’s Facebook page:

Paige Katherine: It is a beautiful day if you are a penguin or a polar bear. I wonder which one Ms. Farina is……

Jc VanderPutten: I think I want to smoke whatever she is smoking. Does she realize what a complete fool she looks like for making that statement. There are cars stuck on parkways. People stuck on trains. Car accidents everywhere. But she thinks it’s a beautiful day! Idiot.

Vera Swensen: No wonder Be Blasio picked Carmen Farina as Chancellor.. She’s an Idiot just like him!!

De Blasio defended the decision to keep schools opened, saying it was a "grey area" and he had to make the call with the best information he had at the time.

I dunno what information he was looking at, but the information that was available last night was that the city would be getting 8-12 inches of snow, that the heaviest part of the snow would be in the morning hours and the morning commute would be very, very bad.

While I can understand the reluctance to close schools, at the very least the decision should have been made in the morning rather than arbitrarily the night before.

And as Craig Allen noted in his FB post, try consulting a decent meteorologist before making the call, try looking at the radar before making the call, try looking at the forecast models before making the call.

There are some decent weather people in this city who make good calls, who don't hype the weather and name their freaking storms and sell FEAR, FEAR, FEAR at every drop of rain or falling flake.

Craig Allen of WCBS 880 is one of those.

So is Nick Gregory of FOX 5.

And Lee Goldberg of WABC 7.

Both Goldberg and Gregory raised their snow totals last night, Goldberg calling for as much as 10 inches in the city, Gregory upping his totals to 9-12.

Craig Allen said at 5:00 AM this morning that the commute was going to be a bad one, told listeners not to be a "hero" and to exercise caution before going into work.  He said on both his FB page and on the air that if people felt the need to go in, they should wait until later this afternoon when the snow stopped before attempting that commute.

But Farina and de Blasio apparently made the decision last night, stuck with it and defended that decision all day today with idiotic statements worthy of Cathie Black (Farina: "It has totally stopped snowing..." and turned into “an absolutely a beautiful day out there right now..." or "Parents have to go to work. You didn't hear of any businesses in the city of New York closed down. Macy's was open. So if people can go shopping and go to work, then kids can go to school..." - statements that have made her the laughing stock of the Internet, along with her boss Bill de Blasio.)

This was an epic fail by de Blasio and Farina, one worthy of Bloomberg and Walcott, except if Bloomberg and Walcott had made this same decision that Farina and de Blasio made today, the few people out there defending Farina and de Blasio would have gone apoplectic over the call to keep schools opened.

I guarantee you, the mayor's honeymoon just went into the sewer, along with a ton of melting snow and ice, after his handling of this storm.

The lack of details in his announced budget yesterday, the calling to get his pal out of jail, his inability to get anywhere on time or make all the appointments to his administration - these are worrisome signs of a politician in over his head (or in the case of the reverend call, a politician with bad judgment.)

But the way de Blasio and Farina handled this school call - making the decision the night before, failing to revisit that decision the next morning, then defending that decision with some of the stupidest statements this side of Cathie Black - has me writing something I never thought I would write:

Al Roker is right:

I knew this am @NYCMayorsOffice @NYCSchools would close schools. Talk about a bad prediction. Long range DiBlasio forecast: 1 term
— Al Roker (@alroker) February 13, 2014

One term indeed.