Feedspot, where we are on the list of top 25 NYC Education blogs and websites (readers, your tons of comments, even with me insisting you stay close to the topic, should move us higher than 15 on the list), sent me to a very good Chalkbeat article covering Governor Kathy Hochul's appearance on the Brian Lehrer show. Hochul now is inclined to sign the lower class size bill for NYC, but...
Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Thursday that she supports sweeping legislation that would establish more aggressive class size limits in New York City’s public schools, the strongest comments she’s made since the bill was overwhelmingly passed by the legislature last month.
“I’m looking closely at it. I’m inclined to be supportive,” Hochul said on WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show, adding she spoke yesterday with Mayor Eric Adams and expected a resolution in the coming days. “I just have to work out a few more details with the mayor.”
The Adams administration has opposed the bill, warning that the legislation would cost hundreds of millions of dollars a year to implement and could detract from other funding priorities. Hochul suggested that funding was a sticking point and is considering “chapter amendments” that would allow the legislation to go into effect now but with changes that would be taken up by the legislature next year.
“There might be something about a funding source or a responsibility that’s, you know, on the shoulders of the state right now — and I have to make sure I’m protecting the state taxpayers as well,” Hochul said. “So there are some loose ends, but philosophically it’s something I’m supporting.”
The bill would cap NYC public school class sizes at 20 for grades K-3, 23 for grades 4-8, 25 for most high school classes, and 40 for performing arts and phys ed. There are some exceptions and it would phase in through 2027. Only four state senators and two assembly members voted no so it has overwhelming support in the State Legislature but Hochul hasn't acted yet mainly we believe because of opposition from Mayor Eric Adams.
However, perhaps Tuesday's Senate primary election results in New York City are helping to persuade the Governor that she should sign the bill. Ross Barkan reports that progressives may not have done too well in congressional primaries (see conservacrats Dan Goldman and Sean Patrick Maloney winning and leading progressive Alessandra Biaggi losing badly) but in the State Senate, progressives did just fine. We reported on Robert Jackson's win on Wednesday over a conservacrat candidate who had a six-figure salary at the UFT. That is just one of the many left victories in the Senate.
From Barkan:
But down the ballot, in the State Senate primaries held across New York City, there was plenty of good news for progressives and socialists. The left possesses much more clout in Albany than at the national level, and after some impressive electoral performances Tuesday, there will be three members of the Democratic Socialists of America in the New York State Senate come 2023.
Kristen Gonzalez, a tech worker from Queens, beat back Elizabeth Crowley, a former city councilwoman and the first cousin of Joe Crowley, whom Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez vanquished in 2018. AOC joined DSA in backing Gonzalez, who had to contend with Crowley’s heavy spending and outside PAC support. The real-estate industry, traditionally a powerful force in Albany, also invested in Crowley to little avail: Gonzalez won easily, 58 percent to Crowley’s 33 percent, in a newly carved Queens-Manhattan district.
One socialist incumbent, Jabari Brisport, obliterated a primary challenger, Conrad Tillard, who was endorsed by Mayor Eric Adams and funded in part by major players in the real-estate industry. Tillard’s history of antisemitic and homophobic remarks surfaced in the primary, probably contributing to his decisive defeat. Brisport broke 70 percent, a huge number that illustrates DSA’s growing popularity in the central Brooklyn district. Julia Salazar, another socialist Brooklyn senator, ran unopposed. Just south of Salazar and Brisport’s districts in Brooklyn, DSA came tantalizingly close to electing another socialist to the State Senate. In a three-way contest, David Alexis took 38 percent of the vote against Kevin Parker, a moderate state senator with a history of controversy; Parker finished with only 46 percent. Had another relative progressive, Kaegan Mays-Williams, chosen not to run, Alexis may have been heading to Albany next year.
Two progressive non-DSA state senators also thwarted challengers to their right. Although he’s not a self-identified socialist, the Bronx’s Gustavo Rivera has usually aligned with leftists in the State Senate, carrying a bill to create a single-payer health-care system in New York and loudly opposing centrists such as Andrew Cuomo, the disgraced former governor. Running in a redrawn district, Rivera appeared doomed when the Bronx Democratic Party and the growing political machine cultivated by Adriano Espaillat, a more moderate representative, endorsed an attorney named Miguelina Camilo. Ritchie Torres, a young Bronx congressman who has clashed with New York progressives over the past few years, also endorsed Camilo, as did Adams. Most significantly, perhaps, major real-estate and charter-school super-PACs spent furiously to try to undercut Rivera, a pro-tenant and pro-labor lawmaker, as much as possible. But Rivera had Ocasio-Cortez in his corner as well as WFP and SEIU 1199, the powerful health-care-workers union. In the end, despite the daunting coalition aligned against him, he won 52 percent to Camilo’s 47 percent. Rivera will probably draw only closer to the left after surviving such an onslaught.
Barkan then covers Jackson's victory and his final sentence of that paragraph says it all:
Insiders predicted Jackson would lose; instead, he crushed Vasquez 58 to 33. Given his margin of victory, Jackson will be further incentivized to work with progressives in Albany. Real-estate and charter lobbyists may not get their phone calls returned.
After Tuesday's victories for the left, progressives may not be in the mood to have their class size bill altered by Hochul. Senator John Liu who is the main sponsor of the bill to lower class size in NYC reacted to Hochul in the Chalkbeat piece:
“The governor should sign the bill now since the school year is about to start, and as is since the bill was passed nearly unanimously by both chambers of the legislature,” state Sen. John Liu, the legislation’s main sponsor, said in a statement. Asked about the governor’s suggestion that the bill be tweaked, a spokesperson for Liu wrote in an email that “the legislature can easily override a veto and therefore would not be inclined to accept the governor’s request for a chapter amendment.”
Elections do have consequences, ladies and gentlemen. Sometimes they are actually positive.
58 comments:
She also supports all 6 million conservative voters leaving NYS.
Love and tolerance roflmao...
But if she gets that, I'm guessing the tax base won't support reducing class size, plus millions of children with conservative parents will have left, so...
Still, I think math is the r-word now so there's that.
So Hochul is doing a good job? Is that what you mean?
LOL> As the dues payers keep electing Mulgrew.
But why? Students perhaps?
NYC is the best-funded big school district in the country, but test scores are about average compared w/ other large cities and below the national average.
@matt_barnum
+
@reemadamin
explore why that might be:
https://ny.chalkbeat.org/2022/8/26/23319844/new-york-school-spending-test-scores-disconnect
Correct. And this is what we voted for.
Can honestly say I have never heard a Fed Chair say "there will be pain to households and businesses" as they fight inflation.
No contract/raise from Mulgrew. Economy tanking from Biden.
Crime out of control from Adams and Hochul.
The loopholes that result in higher classes than whatever the cap is will come to light after November. Districts with room will be fine. No room will be one of the loopholes. Hochul is doing this for votes which is fine if it lowers class size but I’m not holding my breath for these losers in Albany to get it done and have it fully and permanently implemented.
“I’m inclined to be supportive”
🤦♂️
Well, thank you, Raymond Reddington.
What a pol.
Barkan is slippery.
Gustavo (my new state senator, after redistricting) was opposed by everyone Barkan mentions. But the new district is about one third Riverdale, and two local Riverdale politicians, Jeffrey Dinowitz (State Assembly) and the child he installed in the City Council, pulled out all stops to defeat Gustavo. And failed.
What is it with Barkan? DSA? Hates the Working Families Party? He's got a weird, not very trustworthy, lens.
Jonathan
Yes, there will be a clause in the bill that will say "when possible." So if you're in a co-located school, don't expect any lower class sizes. Also some schools will have to go 10, 11, 12 periods to accomodate the lower class sizes. It's not all black and white.
I just heard from a friend that Fox News reported Randi Weingarten believes white teachers should be laid off first. I’m not a Fox News person, but knowing Randi, I believe that this Fox News broadcast may be true.
I’m not crazy about this governor, but she’s a hell of a lot better than Cuomo and she will be better than any Republican who could be a governor here in New York. In my opinion if you’re a teacher or a retired teacher you’re going have to have to hold your nose and vote for her. As a conservative independent retired teacher I am.
Satan's backkkkkkkk she wants 4 million plus to leave and talks about dictator. The projectionist and party of hypocrisy forced 2-5 year olds to wear masks. Mandating vaccines or no job and that's not dictatorship? Another installed lunatic. NYC is in hell now. In 1-2 years another 50,000 plus students will leave the DOE.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/08/25/dc-coronavirus-vaccine-mandate-workers/
Not me. This is simply election pandering.
DSA victories are positive?
Showing your true colors again, James. Last summer, it was cheerleading for authoritarian lockdowns and mandates; now you’re happy that some DSA candidates won.
You must really be enjoying that cushy pension to not feel the bern of high inflation and a declining standard of living for us working tax mules.
It’s all good though. See you on the bread lines!
The guy who is fighting for public education trounced someone who has IDC roots and is getting tons of money from the charter school crowd that wants to privatize education. I am supposed to be upset that Jackson won? No, Jackson's reelection is tremendous news.
James, you say he fights for education. That’s very broad. What fight that directly benefits teachers, besides class size, has Jackson taken on? Has he fought to end APPR/ danielson? What are his thoughts on race and layoffs (like Minneapolis)? Will he fight for equity like Minneapolis? Thanks.
My school does not have the physical space for the lower class numbers. Many of the classrooms are used by multiple classes already. Is the office of enrollment going to send fewer students? There is a bad smell of hidden details/agenda here from both the politicians and the UFT.
Anon2323 union workers won that round, so what are you bellyaching about this time?
7:13 why can't you do your own research and do a simple google search?
Oh God, Judicial Watch. Seriously? Such a surprise. They're only backing seniority layoffs because they are against anything that may benefit black people or liberals. You can't be serious bringing them up as if it's a good thing.
Jackson has been a friend of public education since 1992 when he was the lead plaintiff in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit. He fought on the side of public education throughout his years on the City Council where he was chair of the Education Committee and was a strong defender of public schools. He wasn't elected to the senate until 2018 so he had nothing to do with the Danielson. He lost twice prior to 2018 after being term-limited out of the City Council. Jackson had to beat a well-funded, pro-charter school Independent Democratic Caucus member who caucused with Republicans to win his senate seat. We are finally getting the foundation aid from the state at the proper level in no small part due to Jackson's unwavering advocacy. He also wants there to be accountability that the state money actually gets to the classroom for mayoral control to continue. If you don't see Jackson as a friend to public education, you aren't looking.
7:13 also asks about race-based layoffs. I am totally 100% opposed to the concept of layoffs being based on anything but seniority. Layoffs based on race are very divisive, unfair, and probably unconstitutional. I do see the irony of the conservative group, Judicial Watch, who constantly fights unions now backing seniority layoffs.
I understand from Norm Scott's libertarian friend Mike Antonucci that another district in Minnesota set the precedent for layoffs based on race that Minneapolis is now following and they add in gender. This is from Antonucci:
"The district in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, has a similar protection for probationary educators, which the union president said has saved the jobs of 12 teachers over the past five years. He also said it could allow the district to retain male teachers instead of women if the demographics warranted it."
https://www.the74million.org/article/analysis-teacher-layoff-exemption-is-based-on-race-but-not-the-way-you-think/
I oppose layoffs to try to make the profession more male too. Making up for past discrimination has to be done on the hiring end and not against people who are on the job and are union members already. Programs that encourage minority hiring such as trying to help paraprofessionals by paying for classes to become teachers or school secretaries I strongly support.
Layoffs based solely on seniority is very tricky, even though I would benefit from it. Organizations like to play games and layoff those who are close to collecting retirement. It also benefits those who are friendly with administration. On the other hand if someone is an ineffective teacher who does nothing for or with the students, should they take priority over someone who is really connected to the students. I dunno.
Whites act as if they have never benefitted, or don't continue to benefit, from race based policies. It is more insidious and unspoken, but it happens. Many people don't even want it to be corrected on the hiring end. All for them, nothing for anybody else. Just like the hypocrisy of Republicans who are so against people getting a $10K loan forgiven, when they've pocketed tens of thousands in COVID Aid. It's just unconscionable.
Layoffs and dismissal based on performance are two completely separate issues. If someone is not doing their job properly, administration has tools to handle it that are very strong, particularly if we are talking about teachers who are non-tenured.
10:13 Republican voter here.
Businesses were forced to lockdown. No one forced student loans. Money went to workers of the closed business. If it lined pockets of the wealthy, I’m all for taking it back. However, it’s not the 10k that bugs me. It’s the 250k for a married couple that bugs me. A couple making 250k can pay their own debt. A single living in Kansas making 125k can pay their own debt too. What bugs me even more than that is there is no end to this. Back in my olden times days you invested in your future by taking on student debt. You got a better paying job with college. Room and board in a private non Ivy League college in ny was about 7k per year in the mid 80s. At 3% inflation that should be about 20 grand now. But it’s more like 45-60 grand now. If your future income can’t beat your student debt, why the hell are you going to college? What’s happening is not sustainable and it screws the working class. Lower taxes for those making under a certain amount would be a better policy. So would allowing bankruptcy. This is a vote bribe that will not solve the real problem. With that said I really do hope it helps those who are struggling but I’d like to see non college educated workers get a break too.
James, that's true, but since Principals may not want to go through the lengthy process of dismissal they could use the opportunity of a "layoff" to get rid of people they don't like. The tools may be very strong, and they are also very cumbersome. And I have seen where black teachers are gotten rid of much quicker than white teachers and not because they're any worse, but because a black Principal may not want to be accused of reverse racism. You saw it happen in Queens with the devil incarnate Ayetiwa. I hope he pays for all he's done and how he fucked up a lot of careers, some because his little girlfriend had her nose of joint.
The DOE has done it again. Article in the Post today that Namita Dwarka was promoted to Deputy Superintendent. The shit rises to the top. https://nypost.com/2022/08/27/controversial-nyc-principal-namita-dwarka-promoted/
Poor white trailer park community probably gets more consideration than middle class and upper class blacks. I remember in Judge Bruce Wright's autobio he tells the story of how he was in a hospital emergency room after experiencing heart palpitations. He hears the nurse tell the doctor that the Judge is in the next room. The looks at him, and the white drunken bum on the next bed and thinks the bum is the Judge. ROFLMAO. Puhleeze.
Speaking of grade fraud, which Hochul, Adams and Banks ignore…
https://nypost.com/2022/08/27/controversial-nyc-principal-namita-dwarka-promoted/
Regarding Dwarka, I wouldn't give a crap where she went, as long as she left a school that I was in. She's going to Queens South, and Bryant is in Queens North. Good riddance. Maybe now the workers there can really be forthcoming and help the investigation against her.
This is all incredulous! Dwarka...promoted, Swinton...promoted, my principal corrupt as can be; I am surprised she is not promoted.....yet. Politicians in bed with the UFT! How can anyone take the DOE seriously? I cannot blame anyone for being pro charter school!
Dwarka....promoted, Swinton...promoted. What a joke!
People for Integrity
Another thought: this article misses the real story: who are the principal’s supervisors and what directives are they dishing out. D.30 high schools was under Watts at one point who demanded 💯 credit accumulation 100 attendance 100 graduation rate. So does Supt Ross
Principals of schools with lower performing students are harassed and humiliated and accused of not having structures and systems for student success. Toxic activities like operation graduation and attendance support under Paulin and Ross make the message clear.
Even though she said her good-byes, it doesn't sound like Dwarka's promotion is final, so let's see if it really goes through.
Leonie Haimson
Dwarka’s scandals go back years. In 2013, she confined more than 20 students with behavior problems in a moldy outdoor trailer that looked like a shipping container, where they stayed the whole day while teachers took turns going in.
What's wrong with having structures and systems for student success in place? We've had operation graduation but I didn't realize that was driven by the superintendant. Not even sure what it is. I remember in my old school they would have a teacher or two sign a waiver saying that the student had shown proficiency in a particular subject, and that they had attended tutoring so that they could get a regents waiver. I cannot tell a lie, I signed it once for a kid I couldn't even stand but I wasn't coerced or anything, the guidance counselor asked me to do it, and I really did for "the team". At another school they are more formal in the process. There's a roundtable discussion and waivers are signed by several people. One student was listed in the yearbook and walked and everything and I know for a fact they didn't even have half the credits, and not all of the Regents.
That's why the dropout rate for college students is so high, and of those who do graduate, it takes more than four years. The students can not cope with the rigors of a college education. It's no joke.
Nice work with those dues. Uft is really fighting those corrupt principals.
2:39, yeah right. I'm sure it would get so much better if we didn't pay dues.
There’s the excuse. It would be worse. Settle for nothing. Get nothing.
What’s next after Dwarka promoted? Kwait being named a superintendent?
The funniest thing is they used to date lol
Dwarka getting promoted could be the newest low in whatever is a pathetic city.
Fia davis in Bronx also was promoted had a 36% trust rating and was very shady.
https://gothamist.com/news/new-superintendent-picked-to-lead-bronx-district-faced-sexual-harassment-charges-in-former-role
Don't be surprised friends when we see Dwarka as chancellor in a few years.
And the article says that Dwarka isn't under investigation. Lol. If she's not under investigation then those folks who issued the fake grades will be. This is like a bad B movie. Anyone still believes there isn't a system working to harm this nation?
Gotta have reliable ppl in key positions!
That is how social democrats bring us closer to Communism.
Vote Blue!
waitingforsupport @7:16 I had to read it again, and I guess it could be interpreted that way. It says she's not named but I didn't originally take it that she wasn't being investigated. Can you imagine being the teacher who this student was talking about "In one, an 18-year-old Bryant student admitted she regularly skipped a government class, had failing grades, and even missed the final exam — yet received a passing score of 65 to graduate." There is probably nothing in writing specifically telling this teacher to pass the students it was just "the tone of the emails". I know precisely what those emails sound like, let's meet tomorrow, bring your outreach log, curriculum map, unit plans, attendance logs, etc, etc. It's coercion. Next time I'm going to bring folders and folders filled with fake pages since they never look at the stuff anyway. I may even wear ear plugs and nod every now and then so I don't have to listen to the nonsense. LOL!
Dwarka is a Conservative and so is Adams is a moderate, hardly a socialist.
Chaz would be rolling in his.... if he knew this petty bitch got a promotion.
https://chaz11.blogspot.com/search?q=dwarka
http://chaz11.blogspot.com/2015/02/namita-dwarha-another-leadership.html
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/queens-teacher-targeted-whistleblowing-settlement-article-1.2456069
Leonie Haimson
NYCMayor is completely responsible for case dragging on thru the courts rather than heeding demand by @NYCCouncil to negotiate budget mod. There is more than enuf money in budget to provide for the children of this city,” @LDBarbieri.
https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-school-budget-lawsuit-will-likely-drag-past-start-of-academic-year
@9:42 pm. Lol. The DOE tries to be slick and you have to be slicker. You are spot on with how their game is played i.e. let's meet tomorrow blah blah blah. Oh i will be there with all of my documents. You know what else I had--my cellphone. It was set to record. I also sent an email summarizing the little meet up and asked, "let me know if you want me to pass this student despite their not passing this class" . Needless to say I didn't change any grade. The coercion or i like to call it bullying is real. They just retaliated and I survived it. I sleep well at night with my integrity intact and my pension nice and fat. Lol. And one of the admin is facing the music in the media. I don't like to laugh at others turmoil but you sleep in the bed you make.
@2:01pm. I have never heard of a student who walked without 44 required credits. Students with an IEP can graduate with an IEP diploma (no regents/rcts) but they MUST meet the credit requirements. I don't know what kind of school you worked at. Sounds like clown school. Ps no disrespect to you. Just saying.
@9:11pm. So the educators who use the excuse "the doe says to pass everyone" are the reliable people who are bringing us closer to communism?
waitingforsupport, I agree about the clownery. Lol. I asked the AP about this because I had looked at this student's record just before graduation, and I know she hadn't met the requirement. She mentioned something about the female going to another program. I think what it is, other than those who are getting the fake waivers, they are not really graduating but they are walking, and being added to the number of graduating students, even though they don't actually get a diploma. It's crazy.
@1:14pm. If a student walks across the stage they MUST have:
A. 44 required credits and 5(min) passing regents/rct/waivers (general diploma) OR
5. 44 required credits (IEP) diploma.
Now any school that allows a student without the above to publicly walk across the stage to receive a diploma and be declared a graduate, has broken the law. Consequences and repercussions will ensue LMAO.
Lol. They get 44 credits-even if they don’t earn 44 credits.
Ok. I'm talking about HAVING 44 credits. How they came getting them is a different conversation.
Waitingforsupport @10:05, that's why I didn't even respond to their kneejerk response "get but didn't earn". I specifically said they didn't have (nor earn) 44 credits. It was a show, a lie and as you say illegal. The student walked, was declared a graduate and was counted in graduation numbers. I know they weren't given the credits because a couple of years another student went through the same thing. Walked, in the yearbook, declared a graduate. In his case I saw him in a night school program making up credits. Real shady shyt going on.
Mayor Adams has been telling activists who protest for more school funding to "pray." Today, @SahalieD reports, dozens of religious leaders sent a letter saying they did, and they still want a bigger education budget.
https://www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2022/08/eric-adams-said-those-complaining-about-budget-cuts-should-pray-religious-leaders-said-s-not-enough/376474/
https://www.amny.com/politics/parents-hochul-veto-class-size-bill/
🤦♂️
^ A group of over 1,000 New York City parents, guardians and other stakeholders have signed a petition asking New York State Governor Kathy Hochul to veto a NYC class size mandate bill which would require smaller class sizes in public schools.
“While this administration strongly supports lower class sizes, unless there is guaranteed funding attached to those mandates, we will see cuts elsewhere in the system that would harm our most vulnerable students in our highest-need communities,” a City Hall spokesperson said last Thursday.
Chu and other supporters of the petition also believe that these expenses will also force DOE schools to cut programs like special education services, academic tutoring, mental-health services, school-safety agents, after school programs and programs like Summer Rising and 3K.
[ Then this goes back to the whole funded not funded debate. See John Liu. See billions in govt $. ]
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