Grassroots Education Movement
The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting For Superman
Charter school hearings: a study in evasion and ambiguity
Maybe they’re called for in law, but the one I went to last Wednesday in District 4 was a flimsy affair. Here is what I found on the charter school hearing law (underline mine), and someone can correct me if I’m mistaken: And this is why it is a sham: We were not told when … Continue reading
Tell Albany "No" to mayoral control
Enraged and discouraged parents, teachers and constituents are making it very clear they don’t want mayoral control to be renewed. They’ve been on the streets, they’ve been blogging and writing letters to the papers, they’ve made phonecalls, and now they’re writing to Senator Perkins. You can always write him something in your own words, but … Continue reading
Senator Bill Perkins on WBAI
Four audio clips of State Sen. Bill Perkins with Basir Mchawi Part I — Albany, 32/30 Dems in the majority; mayoral control positions explained Part II — mayoral control as negotiated so far is effectively not yet changed; school boards elsewhere, not in NYC; no-bid contracts, consultants, and mayoral control Part III — decreases in … Continue reading
"Education’s dying, Arne Duncan’s lying!"
A video on how Arne Duncan’s neo-liberal, pro-corporation plan for Chicago schools now being pushed nationwide in the form of federal grants and law is available online here. It’s produced by Labor Beat. Jackson Potter, teacher:What’s happening is these edu-preneurs like Arne Duncan is setting down with the business community, and the business community is … Continue reading
Way too late, and not in the NY Times —
But, a start. Bill Thompson’s just come out on the failed record of Bloomberg and Klein, but parents and communities are asking where he’s been all along. And, by the way, where was the union prez? These no-bid contracts, data manipulation, credit recovery and skewed grad rates have been going on for years, and then … Continue reading
At City Hall, legislators speak against mayoral control — very loudly
Click on the pictures below to see David Bellel’s video clips of the Barron/Barron/Jackson press conference at City Hall today condemning Mayoral Control. With outspoken legislators like these spearheading the campaign, the issue of mayoral control is far from settled. For the whole story, read what Ednotes posted Tuesday morning here: Praise to Politicians (a … Continue reading
PS 15 petition to keep PAVE Academy to the 2-yr agreement
GEM met with a large group of teachers from PS 15 last week and they are a wonderful group of passionate and commited educators. We find that many charters worm their way in by claiming they are looking for space, when in reality their goal is to steal the top kids and push out the … Continue reading
Unionbusting at charters?
There are points being made in a listserv that need to be said out in the open. “The city as far as I am aware is bound to pay union scale for the trades. Guiliani tried to get around this and there were large angry demos about this. Remember the Daily News pix of the … Continue reading
"Chartering"
That’s a term all New Yorkers are going to have to get used to unless they have the energy to fight. Fortunately, they won’t have to fight it all over town (yet), just in some areas. (More on the burgeoning just up on Ednotes.) I came across “chartering” for the first time on the website … Continue reading
Avella as "leading" man
After Tony Avella’s statements at the Working Families Party forum a couple of weeks ago, progressive educators seem to be backing his run for mayor. “I AM ABSOLUTELY NOT A FAN OF CHARTER SCHOOLS.” You can’t get much clearer than that. Avella will first have to topple Bill Thompson in the Democratic primary, and that … Continue reading
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