NYC Comptroller John C. Liu Statement on Possible Teacher Layoffs...

City Comptroller John C. Liu stated the following in response to inquiries about his reaction to Governor Cuomo’s proposal regarding teachers:

“Rather than attempt an end-run around collective bargaining, as the Mayor has tried to do, Governor Cuomo has stood up for both the city's children and the rights of union members.

“The Governor has continued to insist that the state budget he has proposed should not require local layoffs, despite the fact that the Mayor has threatened to lay off thousands of teachers and send class sizes skyrocketing, even if the state comes through with major new revenues for the city.

“The Governor has also taken a creative approach to developing a new and more objective standard to measure teacher effectiveness – a methodology developed by State Education Commissioner Steiner and the teachers' union that helped ensure New York's success in the national Race to the Top competition.

“New York is not Wisconsin, and the kind of leadership Governor Cuomo has shown on these issues stands as an example to other states where critical services and workers' rights are under assault.”

Senator Addabbo Reports to His District on New York's Race to the Top Award

Member, NYS Senate’s Education Committee, Made Reform & Funding a NYS Priority

NYS Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., is pleased to report to his people that New York is among the nine states and the District of Columbia that will receive more than half a billion dollars in federal stimulus education funding under round two of the Race to the Top (RTTT) grant program. The Department of Education officially announced the winners on Tuesday, August 24. Congress appropriated $4.35 billion for the Race to the Top Fund.

The 10 winning applicants have adopted rigorous common, college- and career-ready standards in reading and math, created pipelines and incentives to put the most effective teachers in high-need schools, and all have alternative pathways to teacher and principal certification.

New York will receive $696.6 million from the grant program to implement 27 State projects over the four-year grant period. It is estimated that $477 million will pass through directly to local school districts, allocated as follows:

• $348 million will be awarded in subgrants to participating Local Education Agencies (LEAs), comprising 50 percent of the RTTT budget.

• $106 million will be awarded as Supplemental Funding for LEAs and $23 million will be awarded to LEAs that do not receive a share of the 50 percent of the State’s grant award (see above).

• Additional projects within aforementioned amounts in support of Race to the Top initiatives will be identified upon receipt of work plans and budgets from the LEAs.

The remaining $219 million will be spent on various projects. The largest projects are those directly affecting all LEAs and those that build the capacity of educators and directly support the development and launch of new, foundational systems. These include: curriculum models, adopting standards and K-12 formative assessment; instructional improvement system construction and rollout, and integration of higher education, the External Technical Assistance Center for Innovation and Turnaround; and the competitively awarded Full-Service School Model Fund.

There is statewide support for the Race to the Top plan. Around 86 percent of LEAs have signed on to the plan, representing 98.2 percent of students in poverty in New York State.

Noting that New York placed 2nd overall in Phase II of the competition, Senator Addabbo said, “My congratulations really go out to all families with schoolchildren in my district, in Queens County, and around our state, now that New York is one of nine states, along with the District of Columbia, that made the cut from originally 35 states, then 18 state finalists, in the Race to the Top competition.

“During this second round of the application and selection process, the Senate passed bills to raise the charter cap from 200 to 460, reform charter schools, improve teacher and principal evaluation and invest in implementing a data system to track individual student performance. We worked with the New York Congressional Delegation, the state’s executive and legislative branches, the State Education Department, Mayor Bloomberg, Chancellor Klein, and teamed up with our education and labor community at NYSUT, UFT and the charter movement for one goal -- to make the grade for our kids, win this money, and lead them toward a bright and prosperous future.

“Despite the current economic shortfalls faced by our state and our city, I will continue to work hard to ensure that education funding is always a top budget priority. My constituents and all New Yorkers deserve to have top-notch schools that prepare their kids for the challenges they’ll face in a fiercely competitive 21st century global economic environment. This new funding will give them a solid foundation for academic success and help a new generation of leaders and achievers emerge in our Empire State.”

Senator Addabbo intends to continue to monitor the allocation of the near $700 million dollars for our schools.

Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan on New York Winning Race to the Top Funding

“As a parent of a public school student, I know how much this money is needed,” said Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan. “As Chairwoman of the Assembly Education Committee, I know Race To the Top money will go a long way in helping New York renew and renovate our education system. Assembly members worked hard to come up with key legislation that would meet the test. With the leadership of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and the guidance of State Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch, we worked together successfully to pass this complex legislation that allow us this win this money.”

Obama Defends Sweeping Education Reforms in Face of Criticism from Minority and Teachers' Groups - Democracy Now!

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President Obama took on critics of his administration’s sweeping education reform plan on Thursday in a nearly hour-long speech at the National Urban League’s 100th anniversary convention. His address came on the heels of news that New York public school students are not performing nearly as well as prior state tests had revealed. We speak with Diane Ravitch, the former Assistant Secretary of Education under George H.W. Bush, and Leonie Haimson, executive director of Class Size Matters.

Randi Weingarten Accuses Ed. Dept. of Protecting 'Pet Programs" - by Stephen Sawchuk - Teacher Beat - Education Week

The Dept of Education should be required by Congress to drop the Race to the Top boondoggle...Duncan needs to drop RTTT...It's a scam, it's unethical and it's totally irresponsible during this bad economy...

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The feisty president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, called this morning to give me an earful about the debate on Capitol Hill over the $10 billion edujobs fund.

As my colleague Alyson Klein reported extensively yesterday, some of those dollars would be funded by offsetting appropriations for the Teacher Incentive Fund and the Race to the Top. Now, Weingarten is furious that the Department of Education wants to preserve those programs.

"The department was all for saving jobs until it was their pet programs or pet projects that have to share in some of the pain," she said. "I'm very upset. You have an immediate, well- documented harm to children, because of budget cuts. Everyone's been trying to talk about that. All of a sudden, Congress was forced to come up with offsets, and [Rep. David] Obey did and made sure nobody was insulated, and you have this hew and cry."

To be clear, the AFT preferred the former, $23 billion version of the jobs bill that did not raid other pots of education funds. But with that bill no longer an option, the union supports the bill Rep. Obey has advanced.

Weingarten noted that continuation grants aren't touched under these proposals, nor are formula programs like Title I. The programs slated for cuts "are limited pots of money, they're not going to be spread evenly, whereas the education jobs fund goes to all states and all districts," she said.

Her union, as Alyson reported, is opposing an effort by some moderate Democratic lawmakers, like Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., to get the administration to seek cuts elsewhere, fearing it might derail the edujobs bill.

Mayor Bloomberg Pushes Albany Leaders On Charter Funding by Celeste Katz - The Daily Politics - NY Daily News

More lies by Bloomberg on charter schools and their Wall Street benefactors...

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As the battle continues over education funding (and Gov. Paterson's veto thereof this week), it's worth posting this letter Mayor Bloomberg recently wrote to Albany leaders, pressing them to maintain school funding for schools -- charters and otherwise.

In the letter, the mayor points to "Transforming The High School Experience," an MRDC report detailing how NYC schools are improving graduation rates.

He urges the state legislature to treat all children fairly -- regardless of whether their parents have chosen to send them to traditional public schools or charter schools.

James Merriman, CEO of the New York City Charter School Center, also made this point (obviously to support his own interest, but who can blame him?) to me in a phone interview while I was up at the State Capitol:

"The mayor in his letter sets forth the principle that we consider critical which is that all children regardless of whether they attend a district or a charter school, should be treated equally and the funding should be equal. We’re happy the mayor has made that clear that this is his position. Obviously, there’s a lot of work to be done to reach a point where that principle beomes reality, and we’re certain the mayor understands Albany’s endgame, which we undersatnd to be that while they have lifted the cap on charter schools at the gunpoint of Race to the Top, their clear [intent] is to try to starve charter schools of funding so new charter schools won’t be created. We’re working with the mayor and our friends in Albany to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Read for yourself:

Charter School Letter to Gov Paterson, Speaker Silver and Senator SampsonCharter School Letter to Gov Paterson, Speaker Silver and Senator Sampson

Send a Message to Congress to Prevent Damaging Increases in Class Size, NOW..! by Leonie Haimson - The Huffington Post

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All over the country, school budgets are being slashed to the bone and teachers are being laid off, leading to sharp increases in class size next year.

But we still have a chance to minimize these damaging effects on our schools.

Representative Obey, head of the House Appropriations committee, has introduced an amendment in Congress that would save thousands of teacher jobs , using funds drawn from the federal "Race to the Top" grant program, subsidies for charter school expansion, and teacher merit pay.

None of the programs that the Obey amendment would cut back on are research-based, according to the National Academy of Sciences, which has pointed out how these experiments may have negative effects on our schools.

Unlike reducing class size, these policies also have little support from most public school parents or educators. Meanwhile, the Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the US Department of Education, has reported that providing smaller classes is one of only three reforms that has been proven to work through rigorous evidence.

So please tell your member of Congress today that you strongly SUPPORT the Obey amendment to save teacher jobs, and that cutting back on the risky federal expansion of high stakes testing and charter schools would be a great way to do this, by calling the Congressional switchboard at (202) 225-3121.

For more on the Obey amendment, see Education Week here.

You can also check out our earlier letter to Obama and Congress from parents across America about the importance of listening to parents and reducing class size and our piece in EdWeek about the way in which the US Department of Education has shut out parent voices from the debate over education reform.

Follow Leonie Haimson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/leoniehaimson

Why the Charter Cap Bill Should Not Become Law by Leonie Haimson & Mona Davids - GothamSchools

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As parents and advocates, we are convinced that the bill being promoted by the charter school lobby to raise the cap on charter schools would seriously harm the city’s children who attend both district and charter schools.

We have seen how the city’s charter school operators have misused public funds for their own private ends because of lax financial oversight. We have seen how too often, children enrolled in charters have received inappropriately harsh discipline, and have been suspended or “pushed out” of school, especially those with learning issues or disabilities. We have seen how the city’s Department of Education has pitted parent against parent in fighting over space, in a school system that is badly overcrowded. And we have seen how both the DOE and charter school operators have deprived parents of a voice in how their children are educated.

Unlike the bill earlier passed by the Assembly, this bill would bar the State Comptroller from auditing the books of charter schools, despite the financial scandals that have erupted in New York and throughout the country regarding conflicts-of-interest, self-dealing and misuse of public funds. It would continue to allow for-profit management companies to try to make a buck off our children, despite the cuts that are decimating school budgets. And it would deny parents from having any say in where these schools are located, intensifying bitter battles that already are ripping communities apart and leading to more overcrowding and the loss of critical cluster spaces and libraries.

Class Size Matters and the New York Charter Parents Association have developed a framework of shared principles for district and charter parents, calling for enhanced accountability, transparency, and protection of parent and student rights at both sets of schools. (Read our framework at the end of this piece.)

For example, all charter schools should be required to have a Parent Association, as well as a parent sitting on their boards of directors. In our work, we’ve found that right now, many New York City charter schools disallow PAs, including all those in the Uncommon Schools chain, including the school that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan visited last week.

The rules that govern charter schools’ operation should be posted online; now it takes a costly Freedom of Information request to obtain this basic information. Community Education Councils should reserve a seat for a charter parent, and CECs as well as parents at existing schools should have the authority to approve charter school sitings inside their school buildings.

Reportedly, the Senate bill was passed due to the aggressive lobbying of Education Reform Now, whose board is made up almost entirely of hedge fund operators who are holding out the promise of campaign dollars in exchange for legislators’ votes. These hedge fund operators do not have children in city public schools, and have made false claims in their lobbying efforts. Their ads, claiming that if the state passed a “few common sense education reforms,” New York could receive $700 million in federal funds to help prevent budget cuts to schools, are plastered all over the internet.

The reality is quite different. Even if New York won a portion of these funds, known as Race to the Top, the rules are quite restrictive as to what they can be spent on, as Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm said at a City Council hearing on May 14. The funds cannot be used to fill holes in the state or city budgets, whether to prevent damaging increases in class size or the threatened elimination of 6,400 teaching positions.

Their deceptive tactics are also revealed by a flyer that Education Reform Now produced and distributed for Long Island State Sen. Craig Johnson, a prominent supporter of lifting the charter cap, who does not have a single charter school in his district. Yet the flyer does not mention the issue of charter schools, presumably because his suburban constituents would not favor their expansion, but instead praises his efforts to increase education funding “to reduce class size,” though we can find nothing in his record focusing on this issue.

We believe strongly that the cap on charter schools should not be lifted without more transparency, accountability and rigorous protections of the rights of all parents, students, and taxpayers. If the Senate bill became law, corruption and abuse would continue to flourish and the parent voice would continue to be silenced. Most important, it would damage the conditions under which our children learn.

Leonie Haimson is the Executive Director of Class Size Matters. Mona Davids is the Executive Director of the NY Charter Parents Association.

Read Class Size Matters and NY Charter Parents Common Principles

New York, Teachers Agree To New Evaluations - 1010WINS.com

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New York's powerful teachers unions have agreed to change the way teachers are evaluated, eliminating one of the obstacles that cost public schools $700 million in federal "Race to the Top" funds earlier this year, union and New York City officials said Tuesday.

They say the unions and the state will propose a new evaluation system that would include four categories other than just "satisfactory" and "unsatisfactory." Teachers rated ineffective for two straight years could be fired after exhausting appeals they can make under the current evaluation process.
obama
The Obama administration had offered the funding to schools that took measures to improve instruction, and more effective teacher evaluations was an element.

The new agreement is subject to approval by the state Legislature. The New York State United Teachers union and the United Federation of Teachers have great sway among lawmakers and if the labor groups approve, lawmakers are expected to go along.

"Now, all eyes are on the Legislature," said NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi. "It's a step in the right direction. We want to see accurate and fair evaluations that use student learning in a meaningful way."

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said he hasn't yet seen the proposal, but the lack of union support was one of the weaknesses in the state's Race to the Top application. If the two sides agreed to this proposal, he said it would be "difficult" for lawmakers to interfere, he said.

"To continue our investment in our children and our future we need to improve our score for Race to the Top," said Senate Democratic majority leader Johns Sampson. "The Senate will act as soon as possible ... to pass this agreement into law."

The evaluation system could make it easier for school districts to fire unfit teachers. There is no provision to use it in any kind of pay system based on merit.

"The proposed evaluation system will help ensure that we have an effective teacher in every classroom and an effective leader in every school," said state Education Commissioner David Steiner.

Teachers would be measured on a 100-point scale. Twenty percent of an evaluation would be based on how students improve in standardized test scores -- a measure long opposed by the teachers' unions. Their argument in part was that many factors -- poverty, home life and more -- contribute to low test scores and are often beyond the means of teachers to fix.

Another 20 percent would be based on local test scores and the rest would be on traditional evaluations of teachers in the classrooms by principals and other teachers.

"It's a step in the right direction. We want to see accurate and fair evaluations that use student learning data in a meaningful way," David Cantor, a spokesman for the New York City Department of Education, said of the agreement.

"The current teacher evaluation system doesn't work for teachers -- it's too subjective, lacks specific criteria, and is too dependent on the whims and prejudices of principals," said UFT President Michael Mulgrew. "We worked with the state Education Department to create a more objective system that would apply across the state, with strict limits on the role of standardized tests."