education
A poll finds most N.Y.U. faculty oppose big expansion plan, but are open to changing their minds
A poll of New York University faculty, the results of which were released yesterday, has found that a majority of them oppose the school's ambitious expansion plans. But there are reasons for the administration to hope they may yet move faculty to their way of thinking. More
(3)Quinn confirms that she's open to sharing teacher evaluations, to Weingarten's surprise
This morning, a Post article said of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn that she was "the only prospective candidate who left the door open for the public to get access to teacher evaluations."
I highlighted that fact in a tweet directed at Randi Weingarten, who is the head of the national teachers' union in Washington and who, for years, held the same position in New York City. More
(1)Stringer, Thompson and de Blasio explain their version of mayoral control, and Bloomberg mocks it
An an education panel discussion this morning, three Democratic mayoral candidates said they would like to renew mayoral control of New York City public schools, but wanted to see it amended in order to guarantee more input from teachers and parents. More
Bloomberg, unsalaried mayor, on teachers: 'You take the king's shilling you become the king's man'
Mayor Michael Bloomberg this morning said that because teachers work for the public, the public deserves access to their evaluations.
"There's the old story, you take the king's shilling you become the king's man," said the mayor. "Well, if you work for the public, that's your employer and they want to know things." More
StudentsFirstNY versus the teachers union: 'It's one group of adults fighting with another group of adults'
There was a small but potentially significant little tactical moment last night when the new head of a pro-charter-school organization went on NY1 to talk about the organization's coming battles with the United Federation of Teachers, stated the premise, and had it batted away by the host. More
Bloomberg says it's too bad there's an all-Democratic mayoral field for 2013
This morning, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he knows of no Republicans or independents seriously considering a run to succeed him, and because of that, the next mayor will be chosen by a very small group of people.
The mayor was responding to a question about his education policies, and whether he had any expectation that the Democrats bying to succeed him in City Hall would continue them. The mayor's chief Albany lobbyist, Micah Lasher, is leaving the administration to lead a new political advocacy group, called StudentsFirstNY, to counteract the influence of the United Federation of Teachers on the election. More
(1)N.Y.U.'s Alicia Hurley takes on intransigent neighbors, explains how they will sell faculty on the big 2031 expansion plan
"The community always said, 'we want a plan, we want a plan,'" Hurley said. "This is the only plan we can present."
"We've spent the last 20, 30 years building our facilities around the community," said Hurley. "Do I think it's right to just continue growing in the community and not try to absorb some of this on our own property? No, I don't. I think it's time to really consider more carefully how we should be expanding. We're trying to isolate it." More
(7)With a new Juilliard scholarship in his name, Ron Carter looks back on his own education in music
Ron Carter is in the mood to reflect about process and education as he prepares to star in a Juilliard gala fund-raiser Tuesday night at Alice Tully Hall. The proceeds will go to a scholarship the school is naming in his honor. More
At N.Y.U., faculty form a group to protest big 2031 expansion, and the Sexton administration stays mum about it
"Here's a project where just to service the debt would cost as much as the entire tuition revenue of the school," a professor in N.Y.U.'s Stern School of Business, who has joined the faculty group, told Capital. "And that seems completely absurd."
And at the other end of that debt repayment, some faculty see a bleak future.
"What we're looking at," professor Mark Crispin Miller said, "is turning the institution into a school for rich dummies." More
End of a Queens empire: The sun sets on Jack Curran's era of disciplined basketball dominance at Archbishop Molloy
Kids these days. Curran cares about these kids, he even loves these kids. But God, this new generation— which, if you ask Curran, goes back 20 years or so. They get too comfortable too quickly. They’re complacent. Failure is too palatable because there’s always a handy excuse.
“They’re into making excuses for themselves because they wanna think they’re perfect,” Curran told me before the playoffs began.
“Dr. Spock started that. Parents telling kids that if they throw a brick through a window, that’s OK, because they’ll get a new window. You need to let your emotions out, you know?”
(3)As Duncan, Bloomberg and others meet in D.C., Weingarten notes she's in the classroom
Right now, Obama's education secretary, Arne Duncan is hosting a panel discussion in Washington about urban education reform with several mayors from across the country, including Michael Bloomberg, Rahm Emanuel of Chicago and Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles. More
Bloomberg on public teacher evaluations: Parents have the right to know, and anyway you asked for it
Asked today about a proposal by New York State Board of Regents chancellor Merryl Tisch to change state law to prevent the public release of teacher evaluations in the future, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, "I would be opposed to any law that tried to restrict parents' right to know." More
(2)With varying levels of triumphalism and caution, local news sifts through newly released (and controversial) teacher rankings
Manhattan Institute's Marcus Winters argued in a piece in the News, which published only some of the data: "What’s important now is that New Yorkers read them cautiously. Unfortunately, not everyone is likely to heed this advice." More
Teacher evaluations are released, with a caveat
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration released several years worth of public school teacher evaluations this afternoon. The results aren't inspiring, with more than 500 middle school teachers consistently rated in the bottom fifth percentile. But, as the Times notes, there's a huge margin of error on these evaluations, bolstering the argument of teachers unions that it's unfair to release them.
One news outlet, Gotham Schools, said they won't post individual teacher evaluations because of that reason, and that the public could easily be misled if the data isn't carefully explained. More
A rally against the N.Y.U. expansion plan, but this time it's students and faculty holding the signs
"This is a moment of historical importance," said N.Y.U. professor of media, culture, and communications Mark Crispin Miller at yesterday's rally. He described a 50-year history of neighborhood protests against N.Y.U. expansion plans.
"Never before has the faculty stood with the community," he said. "We're standing with the community now."
Miller is helping to lead a new group that calls itself the NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan, or NYUFASP, which was one group involved in organizing the rally. (The "Sexton Plan" is a nickname for NYU 2031, which comes from the name of its foremost proponent, university president John Sexton.) More
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