What "Master" Teacher Would Go Work In A "Struggling School"?

NYSED released a list of 144 schools around the state that have been placed into receivership, with 61 here in NYC:

The New York State Education Department announced on Thursday that 144 underperforming schools, nearly half of which are in New York City, will enter receivership, a new designation that puts pressure on the de Blasio administration to show improvement at the city’s most troubled schools, and to do so quickly.

The program was one of several education reforms hammered out during budget negotiations this spring. Under the deal, schools are placed into two categories, “struggling schools,” those in the bottom 5 percent of schools in the state for three years, based on measures like test scores and graduation rates, and “persistently struggling schools,” which have been in that bracket since 2006.

For the first years of receivership, the superintendent — or, in the case of New York City, Carmen Fariña, the schools chancellor — will be the receiver. As receivers, they will have the authority to make changes, like lengthening the school day or year and requiring teachers to reapply for their jobs.

Struggling schools will have two years to make “demonstrable” improvement in areas like graduation rates and attendance; persistently struggling schools will have one year to do so. If they do not, an outside receiver, like a nonprofit group, will be chosen by the district superintendent or chancellor to oversee the schools. That receiver must be approved by the state, which has set aside an additional $75 million for the schools.

The list of those schools is here.

There are an awful lot of Queens high schools on that list.

Also a lot of schools in Buffalo.

Here is initial thrust of the program while these schools remain in local receivership:

Under the receivership law, a school receiver is granted new authority to, among other things, develop a school intervention plan; convert schools to community schools providing wrap-around services; expand the school day or school year; and remove staff and/or require staff to reapply for their jobs in collaboration with a staffing committee.

But the ultimate goal is "independent receivership," i.e., an outside entity brought in by NYSED to take over these schools from the local district and convert them to charter schools.

That will happen for schools deemed "persistently struggling" after one year where they are deemed by the state of not improving.

Schools deemed "struggling" have two years before "independent receivership."

And just who are these independent receivers?

Independent receivers, who can be an individual, a not-for-profit organization, or another school district, have sole responsibility to manage and operate the school and have all of the enhanced authority of a school receiver.  Independent receivers are appointed for up to three school years and serve under contract with the Commissioner.
 
As with Persistently Struggling Schools, the independent receiver appointed by the district must be approved by the Commissioner, and the Commissioner will make the appointment if an acceptable receiver is not selected by the district.

NYSUT was busy praising new NYSED Commissioner MaryEllen Elia last week, but her first big step this week is aimed at firing teachers and privatizing schools as allowed by Cuomo's "Schools Death Penalty Budget of 2015."

Harris Lirtzman left an astute comment on the efficacy of this reform program:

Every single one of these schools is in NYC, Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, Syracuse, Albany or Islip/Bellevue in Long Island. Jeez, that's really a surprise.

We all know that the only example where "receivership" supposedly does anything for struggling schools is the short-term and very limited improvement in the Lawrence, MA school district. As with every other element of the reformista program--which claims to prize "data," "accountability," "evidence" and "research" above all else--none of that really matters when the reformistas just want to do something.

Beyond that, where are all the magical teachers going to come from to staff these schools when their current rosters get dumped into the ATR in New York City and straight fired everywhere else? Will the State give the "receivers" special wands and hocus-pocus powers to make magical teachers appear from thin air? What "master" teacher anywhere would transfer to any of these schools when the State accountability system will turn a "master" teacher into a "developing" teacher in one year?

Indeed, what "master" teacher would go teach in one of these schools and end up "developing" or "ineffective" the next year under the state's punitive, test-centric teacher evaluation system?

It's, to continue with one of Andrew Cuomo's favorite analaogies for what should happen to "bad schools," the "death penalty" for a teacher's career, since two years of consecutive "ineffective" ratings can get you fired and three years of them will get you fired.

Cuomo's "Death Penalty Program" for struggling and persistently struggling schools is going to bring a lot of destabilization in the next couple of years before most of these schools are ultimately turned over to independent receivers and privatized.

And of course that was always the goal of Cuomo's reform plans - to "bust" the public school "monopoly," to destabilize public education and to privatize public schools.

Sheldon Silver Easily Re-Elected Assembly Speaker

From Nick Reisman at State of Politics:

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was re-elected Tuesday evening to the top post of the Democratic conference in the chamber.

Silver will be formally re-installed as speaker, a job he’s held since 1994, when the 2015 legislative session begins on Wednesday.

The closed-door vote of the Democratic conference was a relatively no-drama affair. The only no vote was newly elected Brooklyn Assemblyman Charles Barron.

Several rounds of applause could be heard outside of the room where Assembly Democrats were meeting.

Silver did not address the corruption investigation from the federal government stemming from payments he’s received from a law firm.

 ...

Silver and his Democratic conference may clash this year with Gov. Andrew Cuomo over his stated plans to reform the state’s education system and vest more power in policy making the governor’s office.

At the same time, some conference members are restive after Cuomo played hardball over a legislative pay raise that did not materialize.

The leaks to the NY Times that alleged Silver is under investigation by a federal prosecutor that occurred right before the start of the new legislative session were clearly meant to destabilize Silver - not only going into the new legislative session but also going into this vote.

Obviously that didn't work - Silver still has control of his conference.

If you're a teacher or a public education advocate hoping for some pushback against Cuomo's education policy power grab, you should be happy Silver's still got control of his conference.

It's true that Silver's got all kinds of scandals swirling around him the last few years, but he's seemingly the only thing standing ever so slightly in the way of Cuomo imposing his agenda 100% onto the state.

As such, despite the scandals, I'm glad Silver's still in control.

Yeah, he's put Tisch into power and yeah, she remains there because of him - that's a real problem.

But he's also the only real counter to Cuomo in Albany on so many important issues - including public education.

Keep an eye on that last point Reisman makes about Assembly members being "restive" over Cuomo playing hardball on a legislative pay raise.

I saw some people say that could play out badly for Silver, with some members blaming him for the lack of a raise.

Given the vote tonight, that seems not to be where Assembly members are putting the blame or their "restive" feelings.

Michael Bloomberg: Compulsory Military Service Can Solve Public Education Problems

Michael Bloomberg made this stunning pronouncement at West Point a few months before he left office:

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg backed compulsory military service at an event last year, according to a report from Capital New York.

“I've always thought the only solution to our education problems in this country is compulsory military service, where if you do nothing else but teach people what they should have learnt in the public school system, you would make an enormous difference in this country,” he said.

The mayor was speaking to a group of young cadets at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., less than two months before he left office. Capital obtained a video of the event through a Freedom of Information Act Request.

Does this mean the public school system should be teaching children:

A) How to march?

B) Do jumping jacks at 4 in the morning?

C) Fire weapons?

D) Pilot drones?

E) Invade countries?

F) Take orders and be sent to the stockade when they don't follow them?

No disrespect to people in the armed services, but just what does Bloomberg think compulsory military service can teach children that public schools should have taught them but didn't?

The military is one thing, public schools are another.

No wonder Bloomberg loves "No excuses!" charters like KIPP, Uncommon Schools and Success Academies so much.

They treat the children like they're in the army, making them march up and down the halls and stairs silently, turn on a dime when teachers snap their fingers and otherwise impose "discipline" onto the children.

Bloomberg's ultimate fantasy is a country where everybody takes orders.

That's clear from the statements he makes and the way he ran the city.

New York Goes From 8th To 20th In Education Performance Under Andrew Cuomo

Interesting piece of data in Pedro Noguera's Time-Union opinion piece decrying the Cuomo budget:

With Gov. Andrew Cuomo emerging as a champion of charter schools, what does it mean for the 97 percent of students in New York who attend public schools?

Outside major cities, most people have never heard of a charter school. They are focused instead on their local public school, where the situation is often quite disturbing.

There are a lot of problems, including the botched rollout of the common core standards, but the key problem is funding. More than 90 percent of school districts now receive less operating aid from the state than they did five years ago. Some wealthy school districts are able to cope with less funding, but most districts have had to increase class size and make cuts to cuts to art, music and foreign language, as well as advanced placement and honors courses.

We now have two systems of education in New York: In prosperous communities, we have well-funded, high-performing schools; and in less prosperous communities all across the state, we have under-funded schools and struggling students.

This widening gap is the main reason New York's ranking for overall education performance has dropped from 8th in the nation when Cuomo took office to 20th today.

No one in Albany has a plan to address the funding inequality that is the root of this problem. Instead, the governor has chosen to focus on charter schools as if they were the answer to all problems.

In fact, Cuomo is exacerbating the problem with budget after budget, sticking districts with more and more mandates even as he starves them of more and more money.

And don't think this is a mistake on Cuomo's part - he is quite literally the governor of charter schools only and his plan is to make as many traditional public schools fail as he possibly can and hand them off to his charter school operator buddies and his Wall Street/hedge fundie buddies.

I think this is the piece that some people are missing with Cuomo's budgets and mandates - they're part of an intentional strategy to undermine and destroy the public school system in the state and bring privatization to areas outside of NYC.

De Blasio Puts Diane Ravitch On Inaugural Committee

This is a good sign:

.@deBlasioNYC puts @DianeRavitch on his inaugural committee
— Lisa Fleisher (@lisafleisher) November 30, 2013

Again, putting a few pro-traditional public school advocates on his transition team and inaugural committee does not guarantee a pro-traditional public school agenda for his administration, but it surely is a good sign.

He could have put a DFER like Resham Saujani (whom he hired as deputy public advocate) or a Students First figure on these teams.

He chose instead to put friends of traditional public schools there.

A very good sign.

Poor, Poor Eva

colleague jokes "Eva Moskowitz didn't get a spot on the de Blasio transition team. bummer.”
— Azi (@Azi) November 20, 2013

Maybe next time.

Gotham Charter Schools notes no teachers on the transition team, no UFT heads - but some good, solid friends of public schools, IMO:

The committee includes Zakiyah Ansari, the Alliance for Quality Education’s advocacy director and a leading critic of the Bloomberg’s education policies; Cynthia Nixon, an actress who herself has worked with AQE; and Kim Sweet, a special education advocate whose organization has repeatedly sued the city under Bloomberg. All are public school parents.

Commenters at GCS complaining there are no teachers on the team.

Well, teachers didn't join the de Blasio band wagon until late in the parade - especially the teachers unions.

Transition team members are usually awarded to friends and allies.

Alas, the UFT was neither of those to de Blasio until very late in the game.

So I'm not surprised there isn't a teacher on the team.

But don't sweat it.

Transition teams don't mean much in the grand scheme of things.

Hell, Obama had progressive educators on his transition team, but look how that turned out.

See who de Blasio picks for chancellor.

That will be the best indication of what kind of administration we get.