City Prepares to Spend Nearly $1 Billion on Education Consultants as it Fires 4,100 Teachers by Rachel Monahan - NY Daily News

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As the city prepares to lay off 4,100 teachers, the Department of Education is planning to spend nearly $1 billion on consultants next school year, a new analysis shows.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer blasted the agency's budget as a "black hole" and took issue with the 6% increase on consultants, after his office pored over the latest budget documents.

"There are a whole lot of troubling increases that have nothing to do with spending money in the classrooms," said Stringer, noting the city's plans to lay off teachers was "political gamesmanship" and the "solution" may lie in the $20 billion Education Department budget.

"This is a black hole that gets darker and deeper as time goes on," he added.

"It's time to shine some light on what these services really are."

Stringer's analysis, which agency officials dismissed, found the agency is increasing its spending on consultants under the central administration budget by $25 million - with $23 million of the increase spent on computer services.

The analysis also found increased spending on consultants to recruit teachers by nearly $1 million - while the city is cutting teachers.

Education Department officials have said that it's necessary to continue recruiting teachers to shortage areas like special education even during cuts.

City Education Department officials rejected the analysis, saying that most of the consulting budget is for required services and directly goes to serving students with disabilities.

"The Borough President either fails to recognize an important fact about these consultant costs or he is intentionally misleading people," Chancellor Dennis Walcott said. "The truth is that over $840 million of the $981 million he cites are dedicated to direct services for our students with the vast majority going towards our students with disabilities which are services that are required under the law."%A0

Agency officials also disputed that the computer contracts are increasing so steeply, saying instead that they underestimated expenses last year.

Jose Gonzalez, whose sons Alvaro, 10, and Allan, 9, attend Public School 73 in the Bronx joined a protest against budget cuts held yesterday at City Hall.

"We want a better education for our children. How are we going to do that?...They're really wasting money on consultants and contracts," said Gonzalez, a member of the Coalition for Educational Justice.

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott Pulled Over by Cops, Now Cops Under Investigation By Yoav Gonen and Chuck Bennett - NYPOST.com

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It's not surprising to me that Walcott didn't hear the turn signal, he never heard NYC public school parents when they complained about Joel Klein and the NYC Public School system when he was Deputy Mayor...

Two cops assigned to an elite Queens anti-crime unit are facing an Internal Affairs probe for allegedly not properly identifying themselves after pulling over Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott in his city-issued vehicle, officials said yesterday.

Walcott, who is credited with creating the NYPD's "Courtesy, Professionalism, Respect" slogan in the early '90s, complained directly to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, sparking the investigation, officials said.

Shortly before midnight Thursday, the two cops, a police officer and a sergeant, pulled over Walcott, who was not driving, a few blocks from his Cambria Heights home, for what sources described as having tinted windows and making a left turn without signaling.

"When Chancellor Walcott asked the officers to please tell him why they had been pulled over, the officer responded that they had failed to use a turn signal. Chancellor Walcott told the officers that this was incorrect as he heard the turn signal," confirmed his spokeswoman, Natalie Ravitz.

He also identified himself as the schools chancellor and former deputy mayor, Ravitz said.

"After the officer ran the license and plates, the officer returned the driver's license and said they were free to go. At this time Chancellor Walcott asked the officer for her badge number," Ravitz added. "The officers were in plainclothes and did not identify themselves."

Neither Walcott nor his driver was ticketed.

The two officers told Internal Affairs last night they did provide their shield numbers and accused Walcott of being difficult.

" 'You have no right to pull us over,' " Walcott allegedly barked according to the officer, sources said.

News & Notes from NY Senator Joe Addabbo - 15th Senate District

SENATOR ADDABBO STATEMENT ON ACTING CHANCELLOR DENNIS WALCOTTAPPEARING BEFORE SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

NYS Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. (D-Howard Beach), a member of the Senate’s Education Committee, released the following statement:

The visit by Acting Chancellor Dennis Walcott to the NYS Senate Education Committee was both promising and encouraging for the Department of Education and the children in the school system. I stated at the meeting that I look forward to working with Mr. Walcott through the fiscal, policy and administrative challenges that face our public schools. I have known Mr. Walcott for over 15 years and have always found him to be professional and dedicated to public service.

SENATOR JOSEPH P. ADDABBO, JR. STATEMENT ON PIA’S ELIMINATION FROM AMERICAN IDOL

NYS Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. (D-Howard Beach) released the following statement on last week’s elimination of contestant and Howard Beach resident Pia Toscano from the popular TV show:

“Pia’s elimination from American Idol was shocking and premature. If I had the chance to give Pia a message, it would be to express my appreciation for her God-given talent, for exciting a community and for touching the hearts of millions of people around the country. I am so proud to have Pia within my district.”

ADDABBO: WE HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO IN SECURING AREAS TEN YEARS AFTER 9/11

Senate Revisits Public Protection Concerns

NYS Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. (D-Queens), who serves as ranking Minority member on the Senate’s Veterans, Homeland Security, & Military Affairs Committee, participated in this past Friday’s public hearing on Homeland Security 10 years later after September 11, 2001, to listen and respond to testimony on public protection since the terrorist attacks. Among the attending witnesses were Peter King, United States Congressman and Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security; Michael O’Meara, Executive Vice President of the Metropolitan Transit Authority Police Benevolent Association; Richard Daddario, NYPD Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Counter-terrorism; and Douglas Zeigler, Director of Security for the Metropolitan Transit Authority.

While the hearing became increasingly contentious when the topic of religious sects were being discussed, the first half of the hearing included testimony from the NYPD, MTA, the Port Authority and other public safety personnel. “The critical issues were the lack of funding allocations for improved security measures and the need for upgrading the communication systems between our safety-related agencies,” stated Senator Addabbo. It was mentioned at the hearing that some of the radios and means of communicating among the agencies were over 20 years old. Addabbo said that he intends to discuss with the Port Authority the issue of security at JFK Airport and on the Airtrain.

Congressman King spoke at great length as to how terrorist threat levels are as high as 9/11, and reiterated that these are very real threats as we approach the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Michael O’Meara gave insight as to the issue of communication between the Metropolitan Transit Authority Police and the ongoing discussions with the MTA to correct and improve radio frequency communications between MTA Police and the MTA. The radio system, according to Mr. O’Meara, has not worked since its implementation some 20 years ago.

The use and placement of security cameras on New York State tunnels, bridges and pedestrian areas was explained by Douglas Ziegler. Currently, almost 4,000 cameras have been placed within the MTA system, with the intention of more to come.

A future similar Senate hearing concerning the status of security measures since the 9/11 tragedy is being scheduled in Albany.

Together with above release, here are two complementary statements from the Senator:

Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., released the following statement on NYS Senate Homeland Security Hearing held on Friday, 8, 2011:

It was my intent to participate in a focused hearing which was to examine the security of the New York City residents, and surrounding areas, ten years after the tragedy of 9/11. Based on the testimony of witnesses and my questioning of those witnesses, my main concern continues to be the governmental funding and interaction of the entities involved in maintaining the safety of individuals, namely the NYPD, FDNY, MTA and Port Authority. I intend, as the ranking member of the Senate Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs Committee, to continue my efforts in finding the means available to improve the safety and security of people locally and throughout the city and state.

Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., released the following statement on the witness list for the NYS Senate Homeland Security Hearing held on Friday, 8, 2011:

As I have previously stated, I intended to participate in a NYS Senate hearing focused on the public safety of individuals in New York City, ten years after the 9/11 tragedy. In my opinion, there should have been separate hearings with one having witnesses from governmental entities who would testify as to their plans to secure people and another, separate hearing with witnesses of all backgrounds giving testimony on their cultural and ideological theories toward their views on Americans. The global issue of terrorism as it pertains to our safety is so complex and intricate, that I believe separate Senate hearings were warranted.

ADDABBO: STATEMENT ON SAFETY OF AIRTRAIN & JFK AIRPORT

Generally, I have a daily concern for security in and around the JFK Airport property, including the Airtrain. The gateway to millions of visitors to New York is right in our backyard and therefore, my interest in the airport’s safety measures, which are a high priority for me. I intend to continue my working relationship with the all aspects of the Port Authority to ensure the safety of my constituents. In a recent conversation with the Port Authority regarding the inoperable radio usage near the Jet Blue Terminal, they advised me that the situation is being addressed and should be resolved shortly. I plan on having advanced discussions and meetings with the Port Authority about their vision for improved security at JFK.

SENATORS INTRODUCE CLEAN WATER LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE AND VOW TO KEEP NEW YORK’S WATER SAFE & CLEAN

As new information continues to surface on the dangers of horizontal hydraulic fracturing, particularly in relation to the wastewater produced during the hydro-fracking process, Senators Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan), Ranking Member of the Environmental Protection Committee Tony Avella (D-Queens) and Joseph Addabbo (D-Queens) have introduced a package of bills that aim to keep New York’s water clean against the effects of hydro-fracking. First and foremost, the package calls for a ban on hydro-fracking. While working towards this goal, the package installs a series of necessary, common sense measures that would implement stronger regulations and heightened scrutiny that will keep New Yorkers, and their water, safe.

A series of articles produced by the New York Times has revealed that studies conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency show that the wastewater produced in hydro-fracking is far more dangerous than previously reported. Even before it enters the ground, the frac fluid used in drilling poses serious threats to the environment and human health, as it is made of a combination of undisclosed chemicals that often contain carcinogenic materials. However, as reported by the New York Times, wastewater produced in hydro-fracking grows even more dangerous once it’s blasted through rock thousands of feet below ground. There, the frac fluid picks up salts and radioactive elements, like radium, that are naturally embedded in the Earth.

To address these issues, the first three bills in the Clean Water Package will implement tighter regulation and ensure transparency so the public can be assured that proper precautions are in place to monitor both frac fluid and the resulting wastewater. The bills providing for increased regulation are absolutely necessary to provide immediate and necessary oversight to keep the public and environment safe while ample political support is gathered to establish an all out ban, which has been proposed by Senator Avella. Senator Krueger’s bill (S.425) is currently on the agenda to be voted on in the Environmental Conservation Committee on Tuesday, the 12th.

The bills in the Clean Water Package are:

• S.425 (Krueger) - Would provide greater regulation of the use of hydraulic fracturing fluids used for oil and gas drilling, including prohibiting the use of frac fluids containing chemicals that pose a risk to human health.
• S.2697 (Avella) – Would provide for comprehensive regulation of oil and natural gas operations.
• S. 4251 (Addabbo) – Would require treatment works to test waste from hydraulic fracturing operations for radioactivity.
• S.4220 (Avella) – Would prohibit the use of hydraulic fracturing in the process of drilling for natural gas and/or oil.

Senator Liz Krueger said, “I don’t see it as that great of a request to require these gas companies to inform the public on what chemicals they’re blasting into the Earth. They want us to just fall into line and not ask any questions, to just ‘trust them.’ Well, we saw what they did with Pennsylvania’s trust, and I say no. Not here, not in New York. I tend to believe that if you guard a secret with your life it’s not because you’re hiding something good or harmless, it’s because you know that whatever you’re hiding will bring negative consequences for you if it comes to light.”

Senator Avella added, “Perhaps our greatest resource as New York City residents is the clean, unfiltered and refreshing water we receive every time we turn on our faucets. It is clear to me, that until we can be assured that the practice of hydro-fracking presents absolutely no threat to New York’s residents and their drinking water, we must completely ban fracking.”

Senator Addabbo said, “Today, I join my Senate colleagues, Tony Avella and Liz Krueger, to support their respective bills, which together with mine, would amend the environmental conservation law, requiring new regulations from the DEC. My new bill authorizes the DEC Commissioner, after hosting a public hearing, to force regulations requiring treatment facilities handling wastewater to test for radioactivity levels. The DEC will identify tests to be performed on the water, including ingredients found within the hydro-fracking fluids, and would prohibit the acceptance, treatment or discharge of hydro-fracking-produced waste. This was in response to EPA and drilling industry studies that concluded radioactivity in drilling waste cannot be fully diluted in rivers and other waterways.”

There are many ways this wastewater puts human health and the environment in danger. In other states, wastewater is often stored in open pits until transported for ultimate disposal, but chemicals evaporate from these open pits, contributing to air pollution. Even prior to fracking, the trucks are carrying the fluids in high concentrations, and are subject to leaks and spills, causing contamination of surface waters. The fracturing fluid left underground can migrate or seep through fractures in underground formations, cracks in well-bore casings or through abandoned wells, polluting groundwater.

As has been made clear by a number of incidents related to natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, high-volume hydro-fracking continues to present unacceptable risks.

ADDABBO: GOVERNOR SIGNS BILL INTO LAW EXTENDING UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE BENEFITS THROUGH 2011

Extended Benefits Will Provide Relief for 166,000 New Yorkers

NYS Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. (D-Queens), a member of the Senate’s Labor Committee who supported the measure, is pleased to report to his constituents that Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law a measure that extends federally funded unemployment insurance benefits throughout 2011. This bill, S.3928, amends the Labor Law to allow New York to take advantage of provisions contained in the recently enacted Federal Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 by modifying provisions concerning unemployment insurance extended benefits.

The extension would have expired early this spring, giving people who lose their jobs up to 80 weeks of unemployment checks instead of up to 93, for people now on the unemployment rolls, said the Senator. Without this new law, the state would not be able to continue to pay a total of 93 weeks of benefits and would have forfeited $620 million in federal payments to the unemployed, negatively impacting approximately 166,000 New Yorkers.

Since 2009, New York State has participated in a two-year, federally funded unemployment insurance program. In December 2010, the U.S. Congress extended the federal program by an additional year. The governor’s legislation amends New York State law to allow the state to qualify for the additional third year of the program.

Under the program, benefits for all private sector and nonprofit employees are fully federally funded. This act is effective immediately and “shall be deemed to have been in full force and effect on and after February 1, 2011.”

Added Addabbo, “The unemployment rate in Queens is about 8.5 percent; it’s between 8.9-9.2 percent for New York City, and 8.7 percent for our state overall. While some reports have noted that the worst of the long recession has ended, many of my people have been seeking jobs for the past year, and for some, almost two years. The governor requested quick legislative action, which has allowed us to access federal funds to assist those on unemployment. This law will give them a safety net as they continue to pursue time-consuming and daunting efforts to re-enter the workforce.” The senator is hopeful that future extensions of unemployment benefits would be unnecessary due to an improving economy and new jobs in the city. “The main goal is to find people stable employment,” Addabbo concluded.

An Open Letter on Behalf of Public School Parents to Chancellor Dennis Walcott by Bill de Blasio - Huffington Post

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To Chancellor Walcott:

For the past nine years our schools have been run by a top-down bureaucracy that too often alienates public school parents. To your great credit, you have said that you want to engage parents and communities more than in the past. But you have also said that you plan to stay the course on the Bloomberg administration's education policies and practices. I believe you have the background and experience to finally bring parents into our school system, but I know you will not be able to do it by maintaining the status quo.

I am a public school parent and I have talked with parents all over our city who are tired of the Department of Education treating them like problems instead of partners. They are looking for a chancellor who has the independence to bring real change to our school system. To accomplish this goal, I believe you must immediately take on three pressing issues facing our schools today: reforming the DOE's closed off, bureaucratic process for closing and co-locating schools; fully supporting the parents of students with disabilities; and most importantly, saving the over 4,600 teachers who will be fired under Mayor Bloomberg's budget.

As our growing student population has required more and more schools to share space through co-locations, the DOE has resisted listening to parents' concerns and suggestions at every turn. Last year my office produced a report exposing how the DOE's top-down policies completely left parents out of the process, an approach that can result in critical school spaces being lost and students being squeezed into disjointed schedules. The DOE initially agreed to adopt several of our recommended reforms, including engaging more thoroughly with parents and community members when a school is being considered for co-location or closure, but so far they have not fully followed through. The Brandeis complex on the Upper West Side houses four schools, including the Frank McCourt high school, which was brought in by the community this past September. Now the DOE is threatening this progress by forcing a new schoolinto the building, a decision that could cost Frank McCourt students their science labs, classroom space and music programs. Going forward, you should be willing to adjust the DOE plans based on legitimate concerns on the ground, including finding alternate locations when a co-location simply does not work.

Every year the DOE closes and co-locates dozens of schools, upending educational environments for thousands of students. Far too often these major decisions are conducted in a vacuum, where the views of parents are treated as an obstacle to implementing policy decisions, instead of important feedback worth serious consideration. The DOE nearly shut down P.S. 114 in Brooklyn after failing to remove its principal, Maria Peñaherrera, who had driven the school into debt and reduced its academic performance. Led by PTA President Crystal King, the parents fought back, joining local elected officials and my office, which produced a report tracing the DOE's history of ignoring concerns from parents about Principal Peñaherrera for years. At the eleventh hour the school was saved, but this last-minute reversal would never have been necessary if the DOE had just been willing to listen to the P.S. 114 community from the start. Continuing a policy of closing schools first and asking questions later will only widen the gap between your agency and parents. Instead, I urge you as chancellor to use closure as a last resort, following a real effort to give struggling schools support, including teacher training.

There are over 165,000 students with disabilities in public schools. Their parents face greater challenges than many others, but instead of being helped by the DOE they too are often forced to fight against its bureaucracy. Elisa Gravitch from Staten Island has a ten year-old son named Kyle who is on the autism spectrum. At his elementary school, Kyle was in an Autism Spectrum Disorder NEST program, which creates a balanced and supportive learning environment. As his elementary education came to an end, Elisa wanted the DOE to put Kyle in a middle school that would provide the same educational and social supports. But for over a year the DOE repeatedly ignored or dismissed requests from Elisa and other parents with children in the program. It took public intervention by local officials and my office for the DOE to finally hear these parents out and put their children in the school that best fit their needs. With everything parents of students with disabilities already have to deal with, it should not take a year-long lobbying campaign for their voices to be heard. Under your leadership, the DOE will be implementing an important reform effort to make all community schools more inclusive to students with disabilities. In order to make these reforms work, you must be more supportive than your predecessor of parents of students with disabilities and willing to take their input.

Finally, the most immediate issue facing our school system today is the mayor's proposal to fire over 4,600 teachers. This threat is not a new one; this is the second budget cycle that the mayor has threatened to eliminate thousands of teachers, and then changed his mind seconds before the clock ran out. But while this year's budget dynamics make the prospect of serious layoffs far more real, the mayor has made it abundantly clear that his agenda puts the repeal of Last In/First Out before everything else. I believe we need a new system for evaluating teachers that accounts for student performance, but prioritizing this political fight over keeping teachers in the classroom is too great a risk to take. You need to show independence from City Hall by working first to stop thousands of teachers from being laid off instead of pursuing the mayor's political agenda.

You will most likely be the last DOE Chancellor of this administration. This is a real opportunity to improve upon Mayor Bloomberg's education legacy and to finally end the history of tension between parents and our school system. Giving parents a real voice in policy decisions, providing them with the support they need and asking them to contribute to their children's education will make our schools better. I hope you will join me in working with parents and all education stakeholders to make this vision a reality.

Bill de Blasio is Public Advocate for the City of New York.

Statement by Public Advocate De Blasio on Chancellor Cathie Black Stepping Down

“For too long, the Department of Education has failed to close the achievement gap and to meaningfully engage parents. I have known Dennis Walcott for many years, and he has a history of being open and accessible to the stakeholders in our education system. As a public school parent and as a public servant, I will work with him and challenge him to right these wrongs.”

Heckuva Job, Blackie by Arthur Goldstein - GothamSchools

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Incoming Schools Chancellor Cathie Black visited overcrowded Francis Lewis High School a few weeks ago. She came with her entourage from Brooklyn, and was therefore an hour late. She stayed only 40 minutes, as she needed to run off somewhere else. Admittedly, I lack the organizational skills of a publishing executive (let alone someone about to run the largest school system in the country). Yet even I know how long it takes to get from Brooklyn to Queens.

Ms. Black got a good look at the principal’s office. It’s a great office. There’s a desk, a computer, a sitting area, and a full conference room. She didn’t see the trailer. (The trailer is not so great, but after considerable effort, I got it a desk.) She didn’t see our dual-national champion JROTC program, or meet our award-winning science students. She didn’t meet our parent representatives. She didn’t see our kids struggle to get to class at peak time, the half-classrooms we had to create to accommodate the overflow, or the kids who run around in the cold and the dark because we haven’t got sufficient gym space. She didn’t see kids eating lunch at 9 a.m., but she joked to some kids about it.

Cathie Black was there, in fact, because those kids are student activists who got themselves on NY1 and invited her. It was good public relations for her to show up (and PR seems to be the one thing Tweed is good at).

This was a good opportunity for Ms. Black to reach out, as relations between teachers and the DOE grew absolutely toxic under Joel Klein’s tenure. Nonetheless, she didn’t ask to meet me (I was out teaching in the trailer), and she didn’t ask to meet any other teachers either. She did say she opposed tenure for teachers, but it’s unlikely that was her opening salvo at mending fences.

Having missed Ms. Black, I spoke to the kids who met her. One told me she seemed rehearsed, and that her crack about the 9 a.m. lunch period seemed planned. I was told she didn’t answer questions directly, that she gave “politician’s answers,” and that she didn’t have “the sense of an educator.” Another said she seemed sincere about wanting change, but in a business-oriented, and not educational, way. This student felt she was a bad choice for chancellor, and said she could not give one instance in which she had helped a student.

Faced with a question about undocumented students, she had no reply whatsoever. Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott answered for her, and the kids felt he was there to rescue her. They seemed to like him very much — one told me he should have been chancellor.

Still, the kids learned a lot. They learned that the incoming chancellor could come to the second largest school in the city, speak to a handful of kids who’d gotten on TV, and not bother with their teachers or parents at all. They learned that an utter lack of qualification makes no difference as long as you go to the same cocktail parties and gala luncheons as Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

On the other hand, they also learned the power of the press. I hope they remember that, because when the richest man in New York City is also mayor, it’s one of their most effective resources. Mayor Bloomberg can defy term-limit laws city voters twice affirmed. He can get fellow billionaires Eli Broad and Bill Gates to finance campaigns promoting what I’ve termed mayoral dictatorship. He can find ways to appoint his buds to jobs for which they are not remotely qualified.

He can downsize the sanitation department and act surprised when snow doesn’t get picked up. But when he and Cathie Black try to do the same to New York City schools next year, having learned nothing from either the snowstorm or the disasters that visited city schools in the 1970s, they’ll have to contend with not only outraged teachers and parents, but also young people like those from our school, who aren’t afraid to get in front of a camera and speak their minds.

We need more brave souls like these kids, and fewer fronts for hedge-funders and billionaires. Thus equipped, New York City could move toward real substantive improvements for not only schools, but also the city as a whole.

Debate Over Mayoral Control Continues by Conor Greene - Forum News:

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With the state law granting the mayor full control over city schools set to expire, the debate over the system is underway in Albany and in town hall meetings, including one hosted by Senator Joseph Addabbo last week in Middle Village.

A 2002 vote by the state legislature established the school governance system known as mayoral control, which allowed Mayor Bloomberg to abolish the local board of educations and hire a chancellor to run the public school system. However, due to a sunset provision, the law expires on June 30 unless lawmakers renew it.

“This is an opportunity to make this process a better process,” said Senator Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) at last Wednesday’s town hall session, which was also attended by Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, who oversees the city’s Education Department for the Bloomberg Administration. “The legislature shouldn’t vote without input” from residents and other stakeholders, added Addabbo.

Walcott called himself a “firm believer in mayoral control” and said there have been “significant improvements in the system” since it was established seven years ago. He cited areas such as test scores and the number of seats created through new construction as examples of progress made since Mayor Bloomberg was granted full authority. “The bottom line for me is accountability, transparency and parental involvement.”

However, many of the parents, teachers and officials who spoke later in the meeting argued that mayoral control has stifled their voices, making it hard to seek out answers from administrators and has left local superintendents with little power.

Jo Ann Berger, who has three children in PS 153 in Maspeth, said parents have been relegated to “leaving voicemails and never getting a call back” when they seek information from administrators. “There is little to no response to parents… There is no place a parent can to go” due to the elimination of local offices, she added.

Berger also took issue with the Bloomberg Administration use of test scores to gauge progress, especially since students spend three months prepping for the exams. “That’s what you are basing our performance on? I don’t think that’s fair,” she said.

Another bone of contention for many is the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP), which was formed along with Community Education Councils after the Boards of Education were abolished. Under the old system, the mayor appointed two of the seven Board of Education members, while he appoints eight of the 13 PEP members.

That has led critics to argue that the members don’t hold real power – especially after three members appointed by Mayor Bloomberg were fired in 2004 for questioning a Department of Education plan. At last week’s hearing, Dermot Smyth, a teacher at IS 5 in Elmhurst, said that the teacher’s union supports mayoral control, despite several “little flaws we’re looking to address.” He argued that the panel needs “independent voices who can work collaboratively with the chancellor” instead of political appointees.

Ozone Park resident and blogger David Quintana agreed that the mayor’s appointment of eight of the 13 PEP members means “he has a slam dunk on anything he does.” He called the local school boards “the most basic form of democracy we have.” Instead, they have been replaced with “powerless” local Community Education Councils. “Parental involvement has gone down the drain under this administration.” To prevent the PEP from being controlled by the mayor, the teacher’s union has suggested that the city comptroller, the public advocate and City Council speaker each appoint a member, leaving the mayor with five appointees.

Marge Kolb, president of the District 24 PTA Presidents’ Council, said there “needs to be a lot of adjusting” to the current system. She agreed that PEPs “should not be controlled by the mayor” and argued that some members should have educational credentials. “I don’t know where the mayor came up with the curriculum he purchased, but it wasn’t in consultation with educational professionals,” she said.

Former Assemblyman Michael Cohen, who was in office for the initial vote granting mayoral control in 2002 said he was “very uneasy voting for this bill [because] it is giving the mayor absolute control over the system.” Instead, he agreed that the city needs “accredited educational professionals to make educational policy.”

Community Board 6 District Manager Frank Gulluscio said his office has received numerous complaints from parents who feel the current system has stifled their opinions. “We want to be heard. We don’t just want lip service,” he said echoing the complaints his office has heard regarding mayoral control.

The harshest criticism of the evening towards the Bloomberg Administration’s governance of the school system came from Juniper Park Civic Association President Robert Holden, who accused officials of lying to the public.

“At one time I was for mayoral control. Then I saw the mayor in action. Then I saw Deputy Mayor Walcott in action. They just do as they please,” he said before criticizing the city’s decision to build a high school in Maspeth despite strong community opposition. “You just completely lie. You don’t tell the truth, you hide things,” he said to Walcott. “We have a dictator who says you will have this whether it’s good or not.”

Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) said that city officials “really don’t have much oversight on how [the $22 billion budgeted for education] is spent.” She also argued that the current system “doesn’t give fair representation” to community members. She also hears “a lot of complaints” about students being “taught for tests.”

“I do believe for the most part that the quality of education has improved over the years,” said Crowley. However, she added that much of the gains are because elected officials have made education “a top priority” for funding.

A recent Quinnipiac University poll shows that New Yorkers support mayoral control, with 55 percent saying the system should continue.

State Senator Joseph Addabbo, Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott and Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley listen (top photo) as residents weigh in on mayoral control. The Forum Newsgroup/photos by CONOR GREENE

Committee On Education Debates Mayoral Control Of Schools by Grace Rauh - NY1

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A packed crowd attended the first of five public hearings over mayoral control of city schools in Queens on Thursday, as Education Chancellor Joel Klein continued to press for extensive school faculty cuts. NY1's Grace Rauh filed the following report.

When Mayor Michael Bloomberg hits the campaign trail, he'll be touting his record at City Hall, and that includes his takeover of the city schools.

But with the mayoral control law up for renewal, top education aides are already making the case.

"It's very important to me, and it's very important to the future of the city that the mayor be held accountable for the decisions about the school system. The model that doesn't work is if you have divided authority," said Schools Chancellor Joel Klein.

State legislators have final say on whether the law stays in place, and Assembly members on Thursday conducted the first of five hearings on the contentious issue.

Some of the toughest criticism is coming from parents, who complain they are shut out of the centralized school system.

"It's not saying that everything we say is right, but we have to be brought to the table. Unfortunately, too often, that's the problem. We are not at the table," said Zakiyah Ansari, a concerned parent.

"The mayor and Chancellor Klein serve as dictators. There is no open dialogue between them and the parents," said David Quintana, a concerned parent.

But education officials dispute that claim.

"I think they have more information and more access than ever before. Are there things we can do to improve it? We are always listening and looking to improve the system," said Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott.

Bloomberg's top Democratic opponents in the mayor's race support mayoral control, but that doesn't mean it won't become a campaign issue. City Comptroller Bill Thompson already has said parents need more say over the schools -- an opinion shared by other lawmakers.

"For the most part, parents are not feeling involved in the process and the schools are not being involved in the process. There's a real disconnect and that's got to change," said Queens Assemblyman Mark Weprin.

Debate on the issue is sure to intensify as lawmakers near the deadline to renew the law.

An Apparent Heir to Weingarten Emerges at N.Y. Teachers Union by Elizabeth Green -- The New York Sun

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Having been elected president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten is saying she has no current plans to leave her other job as president of the AFT's New York City local, the United Federation of Teachers. But she is indicating who her preferred New York City successor is: a former high school English teacher known as a fighter and an independent thinker, Michael Mulgrew.

Ms. Weingarten named Mr. Mulgrew the union's new chief operating officer in a memo sent to union officers yesterday evening. The promotion makes him the no. 2 person at the United Federation of Teachers, which calls itself America's largest union local, and puts Mr. Mulgrew in a strong, though not guaranteed, position to become the union's fourth president when Ms. Weingarten decides she is ready to leave.

Ms. Weingarten has been UFT president for 10 years. She was elected president of the American Federation of Teachers on Monday at the union's annual convention in Chicago.

UFT presidents also must be voted in, but both previous presidents were handpicked by their predecessors and groomed for the roles before standing for election. Traditionally, holders of the job have been powerful in shaping both the city's education policy and its broader politics.

Asked how long she will remain president of the New York City union, Ms. Weingarten said her main concern is making sure the UFT remains strong.

Whether Mr. Mulgrew proves he can do that is an open question and his main challenge.

In an interview with The New York Sun earlier this year about who would succeed her, Ms. Weingarten said, "Anybody who thinks that they can just walk into New York City and become the next Randi Weingarten is smoking something."

Several people at the union who were long considered likely successors to Ms. Weingarten have ended up falling out of the running.

Yet now Mr. Mulgrew's star appears to be rising — and the timing of his rise, just as Ms. Weingarten is taking on a national role, could make him the last man standing.

At the same convention where Ms. Weingarten was elected president, Mr. Mulgrew became for the first time a vice president of the national American Federation of Teachers; the same thing happened to Ms. Weingarten when her predecessor, Sandra Feldman, was elected AFT president.

In an interview with The New York Sun, Ms. Weingarten said she is modeling her steps on Ms. Feldman's transition plan.

Mr. Mulgrew is known in the union as a "fighter" who stands out for being bold enough to stand up to Ms. Weingarten when he disagrees with her.

A Staten Island resident, Mr. Mulgrew began his career in construction, where he belonged to the carpenters union. He became a teacher in 1990, starting as a substitute.

By 2005 — after more than a decade teaching English at a career and technical education high school on Coney Island, William Grady — he was being elected vice president of the union.

In recent months Mr. Mulgrew's profile has risen inside and outside of the union. He led the union's efforts to fight threatened school budget cuts, standing in for Ms. Weingarten at press events, traveling to Albany with her, and being introduced to the union's allies and partners.

Among his new contacts is Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, who yesterday praised him as a "forceful" advocate, saying the two have a "great relationship."

Following in Ms. Weingarten's footsteps, Mr. Mulgrew seems already to have won the disdain of the union's internal opposition caucus, the Independent Community of Educators, or ICE.

An ICE leader, Jeffrey Kaufman, said Mr. Mulgrew allowed the department to get its way in its overhaul of special education schools. Ms. Weingarten's memo cited Mr. Mulgrew's work in that effort as a reason she promoted him, saying he forced the department to protect teachers' rights.

Others at the UFT praised Mr. Mulgrew. "I think he's extraordinarily talented and the right person," a union vice president, Leo Casey, said.

Mr. Mulgrew declined several requests for comment.

Letter to the Editor - Wants Action On Schools - Queens Gazette

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To The Editor:

I hope that everyone involved with our public schools has enjoyed the "Spring Break" with their children and families. It is presently time for a clarion call to action.

Now that our children have returned to school, it is imperative that we turn our attention to working together diligently to stop the potentially devastating education budget cuts that lame-duck Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed in next year's New York City budget.

The shortsightedness of Mayor Bloomberg is shameful at best. It's hard to believe that he and his staff (Deputy Mayor [Dennis] Walcott and [Schools] Chancellor [Joel] Klein) feel it is in the best interests of our city to shortchange the educations of our children, especially in this era of job and market competition on a global scale.

One budget cut I would propose is that the DOE reduce their over-bloated press/public relations department (over 15 employees making over $150,000) which is used to spin the truth and convince the citizenry of New York City that the Mayor and the Chancellor are doing a great job when all the rational evidence points to a completely contrary view. The DOE public relations spin-meisters are only outnumbered in city government by the Mayor's Office itself.

Mayor Bloomberg has failed our children with his power grab for Mayoral control of the school system.

Parents and education advocates have been successful through lobbying, phone calls, letters and in unity with the "Keep the Promise" coalition to stop the funding cuts to education in the New York state budget and we must do the same in the New York City budget.

Governor David Paterson and the state legislature ha[ve] seen the light to restore all the education cuts to the recent state budget and ha[ve] fulfilled their obligation to deliver the second installment of the four-year funding increase commitment to resolve the CFE lawsuit, along with strong accountability measures.

I strongly believe that we must keep the pressure on our city elected officials, especially the city council, who must negotiate for the full restoration of education funding with the Mayor before they vote to approve the city budget by the mid-June deadline. This was the message and the rhetoric voiced by councilmembers at the recent "Keep the Promise" rally at City Hall.

I am writing to inform you that according to the Department of Education, that Chancellor Joel Klein will inform all principals about their proposed school budget cuts for next year during the week of May 6.

The worst case scenario is that up to 8 percent of their budgets will be cut, in addition to previously enacted cuts by our "education" Mayor.

Mayor Bloomberg has already cut education funding directly from our schools in the current 2007-08 fiscal year by 1.7 percent or $180 million and has proposed cutting an additional 8 percent or over $600 million in Fiscal Year 2008-09. This is a total cut of over three-quarters of a billion dollars in education funding.

I feel that it is essential that we successfully lobby the city council to reverse the Mayor's cuts and restore all education funding for our children to successfully achieve their full career potentials.

Parent groups throughout the city are calling for a "Mobilization Week" (during the week of May 19 to May 23) to lobby elected officials. The "Keep the Promise" coalition is also planning additional advocacy activities to pressure the Mayor and city council.

As one part of the "Mobilization Week", all parent and advocacy groups (Parents Associations, President Councils, Teachers, etc.) are asked to engage and lobby the members of the New York city council who represent their respective school districts.

I would strongly urge that parents contact all of the members of the city council delegation from Queens (Councilmembers [Joseph] Addabbo, [Tony] Avella, [Leroy] Comrie, [James] Gennaro, [Eric] Gioia, [Melinda] Katz, [John] Liu, [Hiram] Monserrate, [James] Sanders, [Helen] Sears, [Peter] Vallone [Jr.], [Thomas] White and [David] Weprin) to set up lobbying appointments in their district offices, invite them to your Parents' Association meetings and make phone calls and send letters to them, as soon as possible.

In addition, parents and all concerned citizens should send letters and lobby Mayor Bloomberg's office, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, city council Speaker Christine Quinn, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, City Comptroller William Thompson, Jr., city council Education [Committee] Chair Robert Jackson and city council Finance Committee Chair David Weprin.

I would implore all concerned parties [to] participate in other activities, such as planned rallies and show their support by attending the overnight vigil at City Hall which is being organized to send a clear, strong message to Mayor Bloomberg and the city council that funding cuts to education are totally unacceptable to the voters of this great city.

The time for inaction and civility is over- it's important that all interested parties and individuals are fully engaged and that we make a concerted activity between now and when the city council votes on the city budget in June so we can win restoration of the education budget for the future of our children and our city.

The time for action is now. We can't let our children down!

Sincerely,

David M. Quintana

Ozone Park

The Pencil Portfolio by Andrew J. Hawkins - City Hall News

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The law that gives Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Unaff.) complete control of the city's 1,100-plus public schools expires in a little less than 13 months, but Dennis Walcott, the deputy mayor of education, is barely sweating.

Walcott, who also serves as one of Bloomberg's top education negotiators in Albany, is confident state legislators will reauthorize the five-year-old law. But with more than a year left to negotiate the terms, Walcott said he is concentrating instead on improving graduation rates and student performance.

“Right now our goal is results, results, results,” he said, sitting in a conference room at City Hall, his eyes narrowing behind a pair of throwback horned-rimmed glasses.

Especially in the wake of the Sean Bell verdict, Walcott’s public presence of late has been through his role as the most senior African-American member of the administration, going beyond his education portfolio to advise and assist the mayor in this racially charged situation.

But most of his time and energy is devoted to ensuring the continuation of mayoral control past the end of Bloomberg's term, in the hopes of securing a key part of the mayor’s political legacy. That means the private conversations with those who will ultimately make the decision, the public testimony and the constant effort to make the system as strong as possible going in to the review process next year.

After six years of mayoral control, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum (D), Albany legislators, Council members and the teachers union are all looking to weigh in on the debate, which has sharply divided many New Yorkers. Over half a dozen reports and assessments on school governance are slated to come out before the State Legislature even takes up the issue.

Mayoral control could mean the difference between success and failure, Walcott said. A product of New York public schools, he believes today's system is the best that has existed in decades. Higher math scores, smaller class sizes, safer schools and more choices for families are all products of Bloomberg's ability to run the system from City Hall.

But opponents of mayoral control contend that the policy shuts parents out of the debate over school reforms. With the law set to sunset next year, many parents, politicians and educators are pushing for greater checks and balances and a larger role for parents.

Diane Ravitch, an education professor at New York University and an opponent of mayoral control, points to poor reading and math scores in 4th and 8th graders from 2003 to 2007 as evidence of the shortcomings of mayoral control.

And those are not the only problems she sees.

“Did the mayor or the chancellor resolve to investigate the cause of the flat reading scores?” Ravitch wrote in an email. “No, they did not. Did they promise to install a better reading program? No, they did not. Did they admit that the reading program they mandated across the city at great cost was a failure? No, they did not.”

Ravitch predicts that the State Legislature will reauthorize mayoral control, but with caveats.

“There should be a restoration of some form of democratic governance in education and some ability by the public to limit no-bid contracts and get real accountability by the education authorities,” she wrote.

But Walcott said any effort to limit the mayor's management of the schools would be regressive.

In his frequent trips to Albany to talk with state lawmakers, he said the concerns he hears are mainly parochial, and not about the system as a whole.

“Obviously there's an overarching issue in reauthorization,” he said, “but in my interaction with them, in my engagement with them, it's really around a lot of the district issues.”

If anything, mayoral control has improved policy discussions between lawmakers, school administrators, parents, teachers and community leaders because it has made the system more transparent and less bureaucratic, Walcott said.

Raised in Queens by a social worker and an exterminator for the city's Housing Authority, Walcott worked as a daycare instructor and a kindergarten teacher before becoming the executive director of the Harlem Dowling's West Side Center, a social services non-profit. He started during the height of the crack epidemic.

Those who know him from that role say he still carries the experience with him.

“Dennis is both a social worker and an educator,” said Dorothy Worrell, the center's current executive director. “Without a doubt, he's from the trenches. And he doesn’t hesitate to go back into the trenches when he’s needed.”

In 1990, Walcott was tapped to head the New York chapter of the Urban League, where he launched countless new services for the disadvantaged.

Bloomberg appointed him deputy mayor of policy in 2002. At the start of the second term, Walcott transitioned to deputy mayor of education and community development, overseeing the Department of Education, the Department of Youth and Community Development, the City University of New York and the New York City School Construction Authority.

Walcott has weathered several crises over the years—from the school bus fiasco of 2007, to accusations of school security officers using excessive force with some students, to the fierce debate surrounding metal detectors in schools.

Throughout all, he has retained his trademark calm air about him, said City Council Member Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan), chair of the Education Committee and an opponent of mayoral control.

“I have not known Dennis to yell or scream or get emotional sometimes like I do,” said Jackson, who has known Walcott since his days at the Urban League. “And over the past several years, he’s gotten smoother and more in tune with the bureaucratic processes.”

But their disagreements, including those over proposed education cuts, have cooled Jackson's opinion of Bloomberg, and, as a result, his opinion of Walcott.

“Dennis maintains the status quo,” said Jackson. “I don't think that he’s making waves. And I don't think that in his position the mayor would want him to make waves.”

On the contrary, Walcott said he has been working with the mayor to radically change the education system in the city, improving outcomes for students and raising graduation rates, which Walcott says are “getting better and needing to get better-er.”

Like most in the administration, Walcott hesitates to reflect too much on his career post-Bloomberg, preferring instead to stress the intimidating workload he has in the remaining 19 months.

But there was one job Walcott said he would consider: principal of a rough-and-tumble high school, like Morgan Freeman’s character in Lean on Me.

“It's a different kind of job,” Walcott said wistfully. “Because I'd be right there directly in the heart of what I've been talking about my whole life."

City Comptroller Honored At Annual Teachers' Union Gala - NY1: Education

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Thousands of current and retired teachers, as well as elected officials (and parents), packed the Hilton Saturday for the city teachers' union annual gala.

One city official got the group's highest award, while others became the target of potshots for how they're running the city's schools.

This year, the United Federation of Teachers gave its highest award to City Comptroller Bill Thompson, former Board of Education president and mayoral aspirant.

Union president Randi Weingarten says Thompson is an ally in checking the mayor's near total school control.

"He is sometimes the only watchdog we have," she said.

Thompson immediately laid out his agenda, starting with big audits of no-bid education contracts he says need some going over.

"These contracts reflect questionable fiscal management with impacts that ripple through the education system," said Thompson.

Weingarten, the victor in a nasty legislative fight that stopped the mayor from tying teacher tenure to student test scores, blasted what she calls Mayor Michael Bloomberg's go-at-it-alone approach.

Her criticism came while the mayor's school chiefs, Chancellor Joel Klein and Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, sat within feet of the podium.

"I don't know why, but for whatever reason, the Bloomberg-Klein administration has shut the community out," said Weingarten.

Walcott and Klein deflected Weingarten's criticism, calling it public posturing. They say behind the scenes they work very closely with the teachers union.

"It's both public posturing, but it's also capturing the belief of some of the people out there," said Walcott. "They don't just want input; they want to be decision makers, but frankly decision rests with the mayor and chancellor."

Klein said student achievement and teacher salaries are way up, with top pay over $100,000 a year.

"We have a disagreement about tenure," said Klein. "It's a real disagreement. She pushed back. It's part of mayoral accountability. People can push back."

Important decision makers are listening. A member of the Board of Regents, the state's high court on education, said this about Weingarten's speech.

"It's a wake up call for the city," said Betty Rosa, a member of the Board of Regents, about Weingarten's speech. "To realize we need collaboration, we need community, and complete comprehensive input is an eye-opener."

An important indication of where other Albany decision makers might be, with the state law on mayoral school control up for renewal next year.

- Michael Meenan