Friday, June 11, 2021

TAKE THE CITY'S MEET THE MAYOR QUIZ

The City has a Meet the Mayor Quiz. I urge everyone to go there and take it. It has 61 questions and while I don't think it is perfect, you will get a rough idea of where the candidates stand on issues compared to you. 

My first choice according to the City quiz is Maya Wiley. That's a bit strange since one of her major issues is defunding the police which partly involves moving school safety back to the DOE which the officers mostly don't want. I think defunding the police would not be helpful to NYC for obvious reasons. People having opportunity in life does bring crime down but not having enough police officers is not the way to make neighborhoods safe. Guess I'm a moderate on this issue. Wiley may not be my first choice on public safety, however Wiley is very good on many education issues. She wants to lower class sizes and empower School Leadership Teams. This is from her website:

Give parents and students a greater role in school governance by granting more power to School Leadership Teams (SLT).

This is needed. She also favors checks on mayoral authority over schools which would be another step forward.

Create a Commission on School Governance with parent, student, community & advocacy representatives to establish stronger checks and balances and more methods for institutionalized parent, student and community input and decision-making.

How about an elected NYC school board as about 93% of the school systems in the country have? I could never understand why this was out of the question in NYC.

The main problem with Wiley is her resume which makes it kind of hard to put much faith in what she says. It is difficult to trust her to keep her word as she was a standard MSNBC DNC cheerleader and worked for Mayor de Blasio as a lawyer.

From GothamGazette from a few years back:

Two weeks ago, Mayor Bill de Blasio and his government legal counsel, Maya Wiley, declared that a new classification had been granted to five outside advisers of the mayor, shielding communication between de Blasio and those advisers - three of whom represent clients with city business - from certain public disclosure requirements. In doing so, de Blasio provoked heightened scrutiny, even some ridicule, of his relationships with these “agents of the city,” as Wiley called them, including the question of whether they should be subject to the same conflict of interest and financial disclosures required of top city officials.

You can read more on Wiley's lawyer for de Blasio time here. Some of it is cringeworthy. This is strange but her limousine liberal background where she and her partner pay for private security in their neighborhood means she is really not that serious about cutting the NYPD and this is merely campaign rhetoric.

Scott Stringer finished second on the quiz for me even though he is the UFT's one and only choice. I have already commented on Stringer here and concluded my posting with mixed feelings but I certainly can rank him one or two in what is not a very strong field. I like his education positions and his views in other areas such as public safety are actually rational. For example, listening to actual police officers:

Establish mechanisms to receive feedback from both the community and frontline officers and incorporate these surveys into the management and oversight of precincts. 

If we actually heard what the actual officers are thinking, we may be able to push through sensible reforms.

On the other hand, Stringer having Bloomberg flunky-charter school supporter Micah Lasher as his campaign manager puts up a huge red flag. In addition, when the Board of Education returned to a majority of Borough Presidents for a while in 2009, Stringer as Manhattan BP led the push to make sure Joel Klein stayed on as Chancellor when Stringer had the power to take a stand against Bloomberg style ed deform. Stringer did appoint for most of his tenure Patrick Sullivan to the Panel for Educational Policy who was a great friend of public schools and my school in particular. 

My view on the recent sexual misconduct allegations against Stringer from alleged incidents from many years back is that the women should be listened to and taken very seriously but Stringer and everyone else deserves due process.

It is interesting to note that one group within the UFT that says they stand with survivors is not even considering what Stringer says on the issues in their mayoral campaign literature. Personally, I believe that isn't fair as people deserve every chance to defend themselves. Accusations should not be sufficient to destroy someone's career. This group suspended its own members without any due process back in 2018. They haven't come far in three years apparently on fairness but we can still hope for a brighter tomorrow within the UFT opposition.

I think I will vote Stringer 1 and Miley 2 or the other way around. I'm undecided on the order but it really doesn't matter as the chances of the race coming down to the two of them is almost zero. Wiley has surged to second in a recent poll. I have no idea why the UFT isn't pushing for a second endorsement now with Stringer so low in the polls. The left seems to be consolidating around Wiley. The AOC endorsement certainly gave her a big push. Art Chang came in third for me on the City Quiz but he doesn't have a prayer and his plan for an IEP for every student is totally unnecessary.

Please take the City Quiz for yourself. I would like to hear about who the folks who read here support but I gather many of our vocal commenters won't have rankings like mine. There should be some Fernando Mateo/Curtis Sliwa fans among our commenters.

Note that Kathryn Garcia, Andrew Yang, and Eric Adams were not in my top five, and I won't rank any of those three in my rank choices as all three of them would not look favorable to UFTers. Curtis Sliwa even finished ahead of one of those three on my list from the Quiz. 

36 comments:

Michael Gatton said...

Wiley and Stringer as well. Waiting until the last polls before deciding on the other choices. I think Wiley will outlast Stringer in the elimination rounds, so it may not matter which one you put 1st or second - can't see it coming down to those two in the final round. I agree UFT should/should have endorsed a second choice.

Anonymous said...

Wiley, Stringer too.

Anonymous said...

Don't worry about the commenters here. They don't vote in the city. They hate New York City.

Anonymous said...

Only some of us hate nyc. But that could change with the right mayor. Bad for teachers doesn’t mean bad for nyc. Another progressive would be the nail in nyc coffin. So in reality, those of us who hate nyc are rooting for the same candidate as James. What do you know....finally agree with James.

Anonymous said...

Wiley/Morales/Stringer.

David Suker said...

Who is going to fight grade fraud? I just got off a Zoom call with my department and these so called teachers were talking about passing seniors with cumulative grades with 50 and above. The guy chairing the meeting was saying he would feel uncomfortable if they went below that, but exceptions were being discussed for kids with IEPs. I had to hang up because I didn’t spend my entire career fighting DoE abuses to be part of this. Where do I report this? I should have taken a video of the call and sent it to the NY Post.

David Suker said...

The survey was too long. I liked Yang as a person from last nights debate.

Anonymous said...

Has any ATR been notified of upcoming assignments yet? Isn't it supposed to come out today?

Anonymous said...

Adams has said on record that he wants year round schooling.

Anonymous said...

Reminder only Registered Democrats can vote. In the Democrat primary.
The key is registered.

waitingforsupport said...

Wow...Garcia, McGuire, Adams and stringer..

Anonymous said...

9:34: June 18th we find out where we will be forever.

waitingforsupport said...

@ David
Maybe Check and see if the zoom call was recorded but make sure students names aren't mentioned. Maybe tell ben chapman of the daily news. Say you must stay anonymous.

Bronx ATR said...

Wiley, Chang (who is this?!), Stringer

Anon2323 said...

AOC is an utter moron who cannot even debate, let alone help her poor grandma in Puerto Rico where republicans raised 100,000 for. She costed 25,000 jobs in new york, is opposed to Israel, has no idea how the middle east works. Yet, her endorsement holds weight 🤮🤮🤮. This is 🥜🥜🥜 job Wiley.

https://nypost.com/2021/06/10/maya-wiley-wont-say-if-she-would-let-cops-keep-guns-during-mayoral-debate/

The crazy part is I would rather have her than Diblasio.

Only people hate nyc are the socialist marxist dems, people like dibalsio (fuck face)and cuomo who have ruined this city, look in the mirror, the dems run this shot city the dems turned it into 💩💩💩💩💩💩!

Anonymous said...

@9:34 AM - My understanding is that principals will be notified 6.11.21. Those in the ATR status on 6.18.21.

Anonymous said...

@10:54AM - Forever and ever......

Anonymous said...

Yang Gang.

Anonymous said...

Couldn't care less who becomes mayor. From here on out it's 130K base with 20-30K in coverages, sixth classes, per session, grading, Saturday school, summer programs, etc. This is INCREDIBLE! ATR's still complaining. People on here still complaining. It's so sad that so many of you are miserable. No mayor is changing anything. When the large high schools got broken down into parts it was over. Divide and conquer. But that's ok, it's all about the money right now.

Anonymous said...

@11:44 Thank you for your reply. I'm asking because according to Hiring Updates for 2021-2022 School Year memo, "The Office of Talent Management and Innovation will review cases of the small percentage of ATRs in D96 (in excess) for legal reasons and will individually discuss these cases with principals before they are placed at the schools by Friday, June 11th." So I am wondering if anyone has heard. Any update would be appreciated.

David Suker said...

Thanks Waiting.

David Suker said...

$20,000 to $30,000 is 370 to 550 hours of work per year extra. Even if it was doing nothing I wouldn’t take it. I’m happy with my base.

Anonymous said...

943. And Mulgrew will agree and declare it a victory and still get 86% of the vote every subsequent fucking election cycle.

Anonymous said...

9 43 stated that Adams wants to open our schools all year round... OK fine but just one thing...when Adams sees how much its going to cost the city of NY to be open 12 months he might just change his mind...shame that we seem to have lost Stringer who really is the best candidate for the job out there..no doubt but we are living in corrupt political times and he was hit with bogus nonsense from 30 years ago....the fact that people fall for the nonsense is quite amazing and it shows that we really have an uneducated masses out there who are gullible and the politicians know it.

Anonymous said...

ATR Supervisor and NYCDOE admin Justin Stark is still on NYCDOE payroll teaching remotely, while teaching at a Yeshiva in Queens.....

Theft of services.

Will anyone investigate this?

Anonymous said...

Thought that a 12 month school calendar had to be approved by NYS ED Department. The next NYC Mayor must have some kind of cordial relationship with the next NYS Governor.—when was the last time that ever happened? Rudy G and Pataki?

Anonymous said...

Is it possible that moron could actually get year round schooling? Even if Mulgrew agreed we are still part of the NYSUT. How could we have a year round schedule but upstate and Long Island not? Adams is delusional, I hope.

TJL said...

I'm happy for you 11:48 but where's this happening (I don't expect specifics)? There hasn't been any of that for over a year. And good luck finding a Principal who will pay a 6th class instead of just doling out coverages to whomever (to the detriment of students not to mention a strong chapter doesn't let it happen.) Count your blessings you got a good thing going.

Anonymous said...

I am not 11:48 but my principal does pay out anywhere from a few thousand to $40,000 in fake per-session hours to the teachers who are either related to him or teachers he considers his "friends." These teachers hand in time sheets, month after month, and do nothing to earn the thousands. They do very little teaching during the day, too.

Those of us who care about the school and the students are thrown a few bones, but nothing close to the thousands given to the "team players."

If you are an immoral person and willing to toe the party line of corruption and failure, there is a lot of free money to be had in the NYC schools.

As for mayor, I will go with Curtis or Fernando.

Anonymous said...

7:12: Don't worry, the scales of justice tip one way or another, but eventually they even out.

Anonymous said...

712 towing the democrat party line here in nyc. I’ll stop towing when they stop rewarding me with $$$$. As for morality.... so woke Meisha is immoral? She sanctions it all.

Anonymous said...

Anon, you mean us Socialists that fight and march for a better NYC, a better and just system? Understand the people that you speak of, don't just blindly spread your hate. Take a moment to realize no actual Marxists/Socialists are in the Democratic party. They, just as the Republican party, are our opposition, and they both stand in the way of progress. As usual, we Socialists have zero representation. The primary is just a choice of capitalists, some with progressive ideas (which are just patches to a broken system), but capitalists none the less. Even AOC, the little liberal that scares you so much, is just a capitalist. You won't be able to red bait your way out of this failed State.

waitingforsupport said...

7:12 am "if you are...willing to toe the party line of corruption and failure there is a lot of free money..."
And 11:21 am responds with "she sanctions it all." We're still waiting for you to direct us to
the document you signed stating that is a requirement. Until you provide it we will just say it's your interpretation and/or as 7:12 am stated, "if you're immoral".

Anonymous said...

Got it, Meisha’s immoral. Just like Richard, Carmen etc....

waitingforsupport said...

They aren't alone

Anonymous said...

Immoral...... it’s amusing that anyone thinks that someone calling you immoral means something. Some people use their God to justify throwing gays off a roof in their country. They think they’re moral and are ridding their country of immoral homosexuals. Morality is all relative. In other words, no one really cares about other people’s definition of what is and isn’t moral.