Wednesday, July 07, 2021

ERIC ADAMS ON EDUCATION AND MORE

Now that Eric Adams has been projected to win the Democratic primary for Mayor of NYC, there is all kinds of speculation as to how he will govern the city and specifically, how he will run the schools. Adams is heavily favored to beat Republican Curtis Sliwa in November because of the huge Democratic advantage in registrations in NYC.

The Chalkbeat staff has a thorough piece on what a Mayor Adams could mean for the schools.

On the longer school year idea from Adams:

Adams has discussed keeping schools open year-round and having a permanent remote learning option — though he would not put 400 children with one virtual teacher, as he said at one point. He says he would fund online schooling by levying a data tax on big tech companies that sell private data to advertisers and others.

He would “create more flexibility for parents in how — and when — their child receives their education so that students aren’t left behind and we can much better utilize our education infrastructure,” he previously told Chalkbeat.

On police in the schools:

Changes to school policing

In the wake of massive protests against racist police violence, pressure has grown to rethink school policing. The next mayor will face major decisions about whether to reduce the role of more than 5,000 school-based officers who patrol the city’s schools — by which itself is one of the nation’s largest police forces.

De Blasio agreed to begin a multi-year process of transferring oversight of the school safety division from the NYPD to the education department, but a major part of that work — and the implementation — will fall on the next mayor.

Adams, who was in the NYPD for 22 years, has indicated that he wants safety agents to remain, but he said there should not be a “police culture” in schools.

On charter schools:

The next mayor will also decide how accommodating the city will be when charter schools request space in public school buildings.

The issue may be less relevant in the immediate future, as the city has reached the cap on the number of charter schools that can open under state law.

Still, the mayor will set the tone and determine how friendly to be to a sector that educates about 138,000 of the city’s roughly 1 million public school students, according to projections from the state education department.

Adams has said on multiple occasions that he supports charters. (A charter school advocate started a political action committee to raise money for Adams.) And while he has indicated that he favors keeping the cap on charters, he has also said that successful charters should be duplicated while failing ones shut down.

Journalist Ross Barkan has an excellent article speculating on what an Adams mayoralty will look like.

An excerpt:

Adams will be a machine mayor, one who will, like the wildly pugnacious Rudy Giuliani, be unafraid to joust with political rivals and adversarial reporters. He will have vendettas and seek to execute them as best he can. The list is long of those who have clashed with Adams, legislators and council members and activists, and they may soon learn the might of City Hall.

Adams is, unquestionably, the candidate of the working-class, having rode to victory with a dominant performance in outer borough Black and Latino neighborhoods. And he is unquestionably the candidate of the very forces who seek to plunder what little these working people have and drive them from this city. Republican billionaires, Wall Street financiers, and real estate elites bet heavily on Adams, funding a super PAC and plying him with donations, and now they will seek to cash in. For the many young progressives who bemoaned the milquetoast de Blasio, they will soon see what a mayor of capital really looks like.

Of course, the power elite of New York City could ask for little better than Adams, short of Michael Bloomberg himself. Adams is far more unpredictable and incendiary than Bloomberg, but he offers greater cover for their aims. An old white man who runs as a Republican and antagonizes labor unions is never the ideal vehicle for a neoliberal agenda; he is too easy to see through. Better to have Adams, a Black man with close ties to the largest labor unions in the city, a former police captain who is the genuine son of the working-class. The Left knows, by now at least, what they are in for.

Any thoughts from our readers?

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know what we are in for. A 0 percent raise in 22, a 0 percent raise in 23 and last be not least the good news!! A whopping 1 percent raise in 24. Wow, don't we have a lot to look forward to!

Pogue said...

End Mayoral control of the NYC DOE.

Not will to die yet said...

8:40
Yeah , just like the Early Retirement Incentive was passed.
Both things are pipe dreams.

Anonymous said...

7:53: Yay, I can finally afford to buy that rolling pin I've always wanted.

Anonymous said...

The families who moved out during the pandemic got a taste of better schools and safer neightborhoods. Adams is not the mayor who will attack them back to the city. People who earn a better salary will continue to leave the city. The families that do remain will turn to catholic or private schools.
Governor declared emergency for gun violence. 90 % if blacks on black crime or minorities. This is not a debate. It is a fact. Protests against police and defund the police movement has caused this. It is up to Adams now to achknowledge that violence will continue unless respect is restored to the police officers. Yes, we was a cop too. He know who and where the gun violence is happening.

Anonymous said...

You mean a ny democrat is pretending to be for the working guy? Shocking.

Anonymous said...

Can you talk about Curtis Sliwa’s views on education?

Anonymous said...

I am a DC37 member. We just received a communication yesterday that although the current Mayor squashed the ERI, this would be the top priority after Adams takes charge. So we'll see what next summer brings!

Anonymous said...

Yes, end mayoral control. First teachers need to get the uft to agree. (I no longer capitalize the uft, for obvious reasons.)

Anonymous said...

The legal restrictions (Taylor Law) teachers right to strike are human rights violations:

From the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner:

GENEVA (9 March 2017) – Further to the Human Rights Council side event on freedoms of association and of peaceful assembly in the workplace which took place on Monday 6 March, and on the occasion of a key meeting of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, is recalling that the right to strike is a fundamental one enshrined in international human rights and labour law, and that its protection is necessary in ensuring just, stable and democratic societies:

“As the 329th session of the Governing Body of the ILO starts today, I wish to reiterate the utmost importance of the right to strike in democratic societies.

As stated in my 2016 thematic report to the General Assembly (A/71/385), the right to strike has been established in international law for decades, in global and regional instruments, such as in the ILO Convention No. 87 (articles 3, 8 and 10), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (article 8), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (article 22), the European Convention on Human Rights (article 11), and the American Convention on Human Rights (article 16). The right is also enshrined in the constitutions of at least 90 countries. The right to strike has in effect become customary international law.

The right to strike is also an intrinsic corollary of the fundamental right of freedom of association. It is crucial for millions of women and men around the world to assert collectively their rights in the workplace, including the right to just and favourable conditions of work, and to work in dignity and without fear of intimidation and persecution. Moreover, protest action in relation to government social and economic policy, and against negative corporate practices, forms part of the basic civil liberties whose respect is essential for the meaningful exercise of trade union rights. This right enables them to engage with companies and governments on a more equal footing, and Member States have a positive obligation to protect this right, and a negative obligation not to interfere with its exercise.

Moreover, protecting the right to strike is not simply about States fulfilling their legal obligations. It is also about them creating democratic and equitable societies that are sustainable in the long run. The concentration of power in one sector – whether in the hands of government or business – inevitably leads to the erosion of democracy, and an increase in inequalities and marginalization with all their attendant consequences. The right to strike is a check on this concentration of power.

From the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner:

Anonymous said...

Not only are we subjected to human rights violations (right to strike),
are labor is exploited (non payment for spring break 2020.)

There are many pundits on this blog who prefer to ignore these facts and prefer to whitewash them. Their passivity a result of a kind of mindless obedience to faux liberal ideologies.

We should file Human Rights Complaints with various international organizations such as the UN so as to embarrass the federal and state government regarding their Human Rights violations.

James Eterno said...

TWU Local 100 filed a complaint with the International Labor Organization and won in 2011 saying that the Taylor law prohibition on strikes was a human rights violation. It violated international law.

We have maintained since then that the unions should push for a change to the law.

Anonymous said...

James:

Accept these facts:

Teachers are subjected to unfair labor practices such as the Taylor Law (Human Rights violation) and non-payment of wages.(Spring Break pay).

These unfair practices should not be minimized in any way or whitewashed as inconsequential.
They handicap us by setting a tone of weakness with our employer.

Erica said...

How about no-shows passing and students graduating unable to write a sentence? How about a studnet showing up once a week and saying it is god enough? How about no work ethic? How about no morality? No civility? Is that going to change in our schools?

The Veteran NY Teacher said...

Eric Adams does seem fairly rational and if he takes on crime that will significantly aid our most disadvantaged students (since they tend to live in the crime-ridden areas).
As far as public schools go, I think the unions can work with him.

Anonymous said...

No Erica, just do what you're told and pass them.

Anonymous said...

Don’t know too much about Sliwa’s current position on NYC public schools as he mainly focused most of political agenda on street and subway crime. He is a graduate of the NYC public schools -Canarsie HS —after being expelled from a private religious HS. While at Canarsie, there are rumors that Sliwa found his niche in life when he became a trusted hallway patrol monitor and excelled at going after students that cut class and we’re found loitering in the hallways.

Anon2323 said...

Adams is at least not a far left 🥜🥜🥜🥜 job, more center, and was even a registered republican 1997-2001. Nobody can be as bad as this pile of 💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩 fake ass scum diblasio.


Speaking of scum and 🥜🥜🥜🥜 jobs look what Randi is doing

https://meaww.com/randi-weingarten-teachers-union-president-defense-fund-bullied-crt-critical-race-theory-teachers-541855

I do agree with her in this instance, especially once fraud is exposed from the election. "Weingarten’s pledge was included in a broader call for improved civics education. She called for better lessons on how to identify disinformation and on current events"

Anonymous said...

https://nypost.com/2021/07/08/nyc-doe-removes-maspeth-principal-for-role-in-grade-fixing-scandal/?utm_source=url_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons

Educat said...

Well I sure hope Eric Adams doesn't support the garbage that b l m is selling AKA c r t. That stuff is worse than rat poison.

Anonymous said...

Once again, the victorious Adams wasn’t supported by the UFT—he must be thanking his lucky stars— and he doesn’t need the support of Mulgrew. Adams will probably follow a similar path of DeBlasio—but he might be tougher with school crime and safety and bring back student suspensions—maybe—because after all he was the law and order of all the Democratic candidates. And of course it will be very interesting with the September 2022 expiring UFT contract. Almost positive he will ask for a longer school day for instruction—at least 10 minutes more. I believe a longer school year can’t happen without state approval.

Sliwa on the other hand—sometimes sounds like your crazy uncle—he’s only 68–and he probably doesn’t have any educational policy that I’m aware of—so far—other than to probably keep schools safe—suspend or expel all.those troublemakers—including teachers.
Maybe he would appoint Bernard Goetz to safely escort students to school on the subway. He will most likely win Staten Italy come November. And Curtis still looks pretty good with that red beret on his head—it could be the same one he wore in 1979.

TeachNY said...

I’m looking fwd to this man. What’s wrong with year round school if we get the same amount of weeks off? Maybe there will be more flexibility in choosing teaching sessions. Either way, you don’t lose the summer without massive pay raise. He just can’t declare “year round school” without major negotiations. Lots of states run on year round school calendars. Could be a way to easy overcrowding as well. I’d be interested in seeing how the scheduling works out, might be nice to have 1-2 weeks off every few weeks.

Anonymous said...

I think what he means by year round school is that it will be offered to students year round. It doesn't necessarily mean teachers will be teaching year round. I think it's going to take a lot of per session.

Anonymous said...

Sliwa would focus on crime. Adams will focus on crime and education…and not in a way that benefits teachers. But hey vote blue no matter who, right?

Anonymous said...

Extra 10 min a day for 180 school days equals 1800 min. School day of 6 hrs and 50 min equals 410 min.1800 ÷410=approx 4 and a half days of work we should be paid for if he extends school day by ten min. That's approx 4k at top salary if my figures are correct. Or did I screw up calculations?

Anonymous said...

10:30 You’re assuming they’ll pay what you calculated. They could say screw you, you’re working for pennies and with the UFT blessing we once again get screwed.

Anonymous said...

educat. you dont know what that is.