Friday, July 13, 2007 (GBN News): Given the intense interest in the upcoming Harry Potter book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, GBN News has been able to secure an advance copy, making us the only known news organization to obtain one thus far. The following is a brief rundown of the plot, which surprisingly, revolves around characters familiar to New York City parents. However, readers who do not wish to know any details of the new book before reading it themselves are hereby warned not to read any further.Read more...
NYC Public School Parents: Parents, teachers, students and elected officials criticize DoE's contract for excellence, class size reduction proposal
Many parents, teachers, and elected officials spoke out this week at public hearings on the Bloomberg administration's "Contract for Excellence." A submission of this Contract, including a class size reduction plan, is required by the state in order to receive additional state funding due to the settlement of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity Lawsuit.
Comments were limited to two minutes. We've collected some prepared statements below:
Assembly Member Cathy Nolan, Chair of the NY State Assembly Education Committee here.
Council Member Robert Jackson, Chair of the NYC Council Education and the original CFE plaintiff here.
Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters and a public school parent here.
John Elfrank-Dana, Teacher and UFT Chapter Leader, Murray Bergtraum High School here.
Seth Pearce, New York Student Union here.
Patrick Sullivan, Manhattan member of the Panel for Educational Policy here.
Ann Kjellberg, parent at PS 41 in District 2 here
NYC Public School Parents: Concerns on NYC's Contract for Excellence
Department of Education leaders held a hearing Wednesday night to collect public comment on their proposed Contract for Excellence. As the Manhattan member of the Panel for Educational Policy, I presented the following testimony on behalf of Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer:
I understand that the success of our school system has been and continues to be the top priority of the Mayor and Chancellor. While I share in the excitement about the pending arrival of this vital new state funding, I have serious concerns about the current Contract for Excellence.
Read more...
