Tonight at Tweed

200 parents from the Put the Public Back in Public Education Coalition will attend tonight's Panel for Educational Policy meeting at the Tweed Courthouse to call on Chancellor Klein to listen to the public and stop the reorganization of the New York City's schools.

The public wants fair funding, accountability and quality teaching in all schools. But Chancellor Klein refuses to listen as he moves forward with a proposal that won't accomplish those goals. Instead, we're getting more internal reorganization of the org chart and chaos for parents, teachers and students.

Coalition for Education Justice parent leader Lenore Brown asks the question,

"Why not follow the lead of City Council Speaker Chris Quinn on middle grades and establish a task force composed of key stakeholders to examine best practice from around the country, hear testimony from parents, students, and teachers, and come up with a widely agreed upon and comprehensive plan to, once and for all, transform public education in New York City?"

Tonight's protest comes after a Quinnipiac poll found widespread public dissatisfaction with how parents have been shut out of New York City's schools (via the Politicker). The key numbers:

Voters disapprove 43 - 33 percent of the job Schools Chancellor Joel Klein is doing.

This poll and tonight's protest both show a continuing and clear desire for the public to have a say in how our public schools are run.

Mayor Bloomberg, are you listening?

Sign the petition.

Technorati tags: Working Families Party | Education

Mayor Bloomberg, Please Listen

Mayor Bloomberg was busy this weekend responding to frustrated parents who want a say in their kid's education and the city's latest school reorganization. From the New York Times:

The Bloomberg administration has been battered with criticism over its handling of the schools in recent weeks, from parents irate over midyear changes to school bus routes and from a coalition of elected officials and parent and community groups who say they were not sufficiently consulted about plans to further restructure the school system.

We're already making progress in bringing the Mayor to the table. From the Daily News:

Since he was reelected in 2005, Bloomberg has had few Sunday events other than parades. For a mayor who has staked much of his legacy on turning around city schools, his appearance at New Jerusalem and Mount Moriah AME Church in St. Albans came after a rough week.

Last week, more than 1,000 parents and activists rallied against the Education Department's reorganization plans and complained their opinions are being ignored.

And even Chancellor Klein is finding it harder to downplay parents' concerns. From a Daily News interview with the Chancellor:

[Klein:] "That said, I know we need to do a better job. Many parents have completely legitimate concerns, and we need to hear those more clearly. I want someone to be able to report directly to me so that if parents believe something isn't working, we hear it and respond to it at the highest levels."

But parents won't be satisfied until we're heard. From the New York Post:

[Bloomberg's] comments about reforming the schools were met with lukewarm applause.

And we need to keep speaking out, or else we won't get a say. From NY1:

So despite whatever confusion there might be, this reorganization plan is moving ahead full steam with schools expected to choose within the next two months their path for September.

The public wants a say in what goes on in New York City schools, and we'll continue to mobilize until we're heard. Parents are ready to talk. Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein, please listen.

Technorati tags: Working Families Party | Education

It's a Drumbeat

Is it full crisis mode at City Hall?

Wednesday's massive Working Families public schools rally forced Mayor Bloomberg to preemptively rush out with a new parental engagement staffer at the Department of Education.

Chancellor Klein reacted to the rally by performing an ostrich-like maneuver, planting his head firmly in the sand:

"I don't accept your numbers," said Klein. "There were about a thousand people but there weren't many parents there. And I've met more parents in these last months to talk about these issues."

Klein's mood won't be improved by reading Andrew Wolf's column in the almost-always supportive NY Sun:

The Working Families Party and the teachers union president, Randi Weingarten, a powerful influence in Albany, have formed a coalition of local elected officials - including Comptroller William Thompson Jr., a possible 2009 mayoral hopeful, and a bevy of City Council members - that is calling for an education overhaul of its own making. Although not all in the group are seeking a complete rollback of mayoral control, many say the system needs to change drastically.

or from this piece of friendly-fire from the Charter Schools Association:

People are indeed fuming. I've been getting emails from all sorts of people who attended this week's Working Families Party/UFT rally, most of whom are arguing that dismissing the collective anger as the mere political work of the unions isn't doing the frustrations justice. Even the Bloomberg administration, which from day one has proudly thumbed its nose at any suggestion that public support is necessary in school reform, seems to understand the gravity of what is playing out right now.

All this prompted Daily News columnist Bill Hammond to blog late today: "How far [h]as the worm turned on mayoral control of New York City's public schools?"

It doesn't have to be this way. All parents want is a seat at the table. They're ready to talk; they just need Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein to agree to listen.

Technorati tags: Working Families Party | Education

What Do 1,500 People Look Like?

If you came to the Working Families rally for public schools Wednesday night then you know the answer to that question.

And if you weren't at St. Vartan's Cathedral Wednesday night then you missed seeing 1,500 parents, teachers and students gather with elected officials to voice their growing frustration with the recently announced reorganization of New York City's schools and a lack of voice in how decisions in the schools are made.

Over the course of the night we heard from a lot of great speakers. While there were to many for me to quote them all, here are a few that stuck in my head. United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten talked about the need to engage the community:

"I hope that tonight we will help the Department of Education learn that both the creation of good policy and the execution of it are achieved by engaging people who have a stake in the outcome. The people gathered here tonight care deeply about our schools. We can help make our schools better and stronger if we are given the chance."

Chancellor's Parent Advisory Council Chair Tim Johnson explained the high turnout:

"Parents have turned out in record numbers tonight because parent organizations have been systematically disenfranchised and treated with contempt by this administration. Parents need to be welcomed and respected throughout the school-system bureaucracy."

Though it came as no surprise, one person who didn't come was Mayor Bloomberg. From Working Families Party Co-Chair Bertha Lewis:

"Once again, they got the whole thing backward . . . If they were serious about engagement, they would have come here tonight, listened to what these people had to say, and engaged them in the process of developing a plan to make things better."

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. laid out the challenge going forward:

"We owe it to the people gathered here tonight to hear their concerns and do our best to make sure the Department of Education hears them. We know that schools don’t work unless parents, teachers and students are all involved, engaged and committed. We need to get this right."

The topics that people wanted to talk about included:

• lack of engagement with parents, students and teachers
• excessive focus on restructuring and lack of focus on instruction
• restoring the balance between teaching and testing
• the need for smaller, safer classes
• making sure the Campaign for Fiscal Equity funds are spent on programs to improve academic achievement.

Here are some pictures from the night, head over to the WFP flickr account for even more.

















Technorati tags: Working Families Party | Education

An Invitation to Mayor Bloomberg

Earlier today Mayor Bloomberg responded to tonight's Rally for NYC Public Schools by announcing a new initiative (the appointment of a new parental engagement staffer, I believe) intended to give parents a say in the process. I don't have any more details because the announcement was made without, um, any public involvement.

Working Families Party Co-Chair Bertha Lewis extended an open invitation to Mayor Bloomberg to start a real dialogue:

"Better late than never. While we applaud the Mayor for realizing - mere hours before a major community meeting on the schools - that something is deeply wrong with the relationship between the Department of Education and parents, it unfortunately is another example of what the system's stakeholders are angry about, which is lack of consultation before new initiatives are announced.

We would encourage the Mayor and the Chancellor to start a real engagement process tonight by coming to St. Vartan's Cathedral at 6:30 and listening to the concerns of parents, teachers, children and others who care deeply about our city's schools."

Will Bloomberg accept? Stay tuned for details.

Technorati tags: Working Families Party | Education

Rally for NYC Public Schools Tonight

It's time for the public's voice to be heard again in our public schools. Tonight at 6:30pm, at St. Vartan's Cathedral on 2nd Ave, parents, teachers and students are rallying to tell Chancellor Klein to stop the proposed school reorganization and listen to the community.

The New York City Department of Education has put out another proposal to reorganize our schools, but they're not consulting the public or accepting public input. That's three major reorganizations in five years, and the public has NEVER been consulted about ANY of these reorganizations, even though each reorganization is chaotic and destabilizing for parents and teachers and for our kids. This from a Chancellor who repeatedly claims to want to bring stability to the system.

Instead, the Department of Education only listens to its consultants. That's taken us to a point where they can't even get our children TO school, much less do the right thing once they are there.

The school bus debacle is a perfect example of what has gone wrong. The Department of Education was warned - repeatedly warned - about potential problems with cutting bus service. They ignored the warnings and did it anyway, and the rollout was a disaster. We need to make sure this stops happening.

But the school bus debacle is also a powerful example of what can happen when parents, teachers and students stand together and demand change.

The Department of Education doesn't like to admit when it's wrong, but there's a growing outcry among parents, teachers and kids that things aren't right with the way our school system is being operated.

This lack of basic respect for parents and kids has sunk relations between parents and the school system to their lowest level in many years.

That's not healthy for our kids, our teachers or our schools.

It's time for the Department of Education to let the public in and start listening to us.

We need to see a real change in the culture of the Department of Education. Parents have been complaining about a lack of voice for years, and those complaints have only grown louder with each passing year and each new reorganization. We need to see parent's concerns reflected in the Department of Education's plans.

Teachers and parents have repeatedly called for reducing class size, for school safety programs, for universal pre-kindergarten, for transforming our middle schools and for building effective pathways to college.

Our kids need stability and quality instruction, not more structural change. But the Chancelor's reorganization plan doesn't include any focus on what actually happens in the classroom. Whatever happened to instruction?

Let's see a real "Marshall Plan" to turn around low-performing middle schools.

Let's see a humane balance between teaching and testing.

Let's put the public back in public education

That's why tonight at 6:30pm at St. Vartan's Cathedral on 2nd Ave, parents, teachers and students are rallying to tell Chancellor Klein to stop the proposed school reorganization and listen to the community.

Working Families Party Co-Chairs Bertha Lewis and Bob Master will kick things off, and we'll hear from students, parents, teachers, United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, NYC Comptroller Bill Thompson, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, NYC Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, NYC Central Labor Council Executive Director Ed Ott and more.

Join us tonight at 6:30pm at St. Vartan's Cathedral on 2nd Ave between 34th and 35th Streets (take the 6 train to 33rd St).

Technorati tags: Working Families Party | Education