Monday, November 28, 2011

NY principals revolt

On another post West End Mom wrote:

Looks elsewhere some educators are standing tall, dare I say "rising":

"Angry" New York Principals Protesting RTTT Teacher Evaluations.
Characterizing principal "revolts" as exceedingly rare, the New York Times (11/28, Winerip, Subscription Publication) reports that "President Obama and his signature education program, Race to the Top, along with John B. King Jr., the New York State commissioner of education, deserve credit for spurring what is believed to be the first principals' revolt in history. As of last night, 658 principals around the state had signed a letter - 488 of them from Long Island, where the insurrection began - protesting the use of students' test scores to evaluate teachers' and principals' performance." The Times describes the principals' opposition to the concept and implementation of the evaluations, adding, "It is hard to overstate how angry the principals who signed are."

11 comments:

Bulldog Forever said...

Wow, Mrs. Spolar and company would put all those principals on indefinite administrative leave!

Ashamed to Work Here said...

No Bulldog, I think Solicitor Weiss would seize the day and open 600+ private investigations using "Ira money."

The opportunity for the Solicitor the public doesn't even know they have - Buchanan Ingersol - to whet their appetite at $400 an hour would be irresistible.

Oh, you'd pay for it in the end, this way there's no transparency and the results can be hidden or scripted, like the Andrews report on Safety that was 1) never Board approved, 2) rejected at first draft because it was "police-ee", whatever that means, 3) has never seen the light of day 17 months later.

Old Timer said...

Never fear, folks. In PPS, only a few principals would dare sign such a document as all other old school principals were pushed into retirement. Can you imagine PELA types with such a document? Providing they can read without being told what is on the page vua Judy Johnston.

Veteran Teacher said...

Dear Ashamed:

It's hard to believe that after getting caught flagrantly violating the sunshine act in Highlands that Solicitor Weiss would effectuate such antics in Pittsburgh, but nothing about this school district surprises me anymore.

Wasn't he sanctioned by the Securities and Exchange Commission?

A Word from Bellefield said...

Never fear Bulldog, our $250,000 friends from Detroit are here to help!

From The Detroit News: Officials in Michigan are weighing how much to penalize Detroit Public Schools for persistent truancy. The problem that could cost the financially troubled district up to $25.9 million. In the past school year, attendance in the Detroit district fell below the state minimum of 75 percent on 46 days. The district says it is bracing for a loss of the full amount, though the Michigan Department of Education expects a much lower final figure. State officials say incomplete record-keeping in the Detroit district is making it difficult to determine how much to subtract from per-pupil allotment.

South Hills Stan said...

Well Ashamed 3:52, I think the Weiss business plan is solid.

So, he files suit against Allegheny County forcing the latest real estate reassessment:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09339/1018698-455.stm

Then, he still gets paid the monthly retainer for Pittsburgh's Solicitorship all the while outsourcing the work (or at least that beyond showing up at public meetings) to Buchanan at $400 per hour, winning political favor with the big boys in town.

Finally, he gets to show up for real estate appeals, which will skyrocket with the reassessment, a task for which his firm is compensated over and above the monthly retainer for Solicitorship.

What a great way to increase revenue for your law firm, all on the taxpayers' dime.

Anonymous said...

Poor Detroit..

STOP THE ATTACKS ON CITY, COUNTY & DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOL WORKERS
http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/11/28/
stop-the-attacks-on-city-county-detroit
-public-school-workers/

Flint just got taken over today. I can't believe this is the United States.

Dues Paying Member said...

Anon 7:50:

Attacks on public school workers are part of the Broad/Gates agenda.

Exactly what did the PFT expect when the Roosevelt/Lane/Fischetti/Weiss administration hired the New Teacher Project for what, something like $2 million?

Get a grip Nina, stand up for us!

Old Timer said...

Nina? Represent us? Are you joking?
She is spending a great amount of time in trying to come up with a way to squelch individuals who want to meet with faculty AFTER school hours in leading up to next year's vote.
To her and her inner circle, staying in control is much more important than helping the "little people."

Anonymous said...

Sweet heavens, if the Post-Gazette senses any opposition to kook-aid drinking, lay-'em-off-for-Gates' crowd they will run an editorial praising Nina's "courage to run."

Anything to keep a proper tax assessment (if necessary by appeal) at bay, eh?

Old Timer said...

I am a lifetime subscriber to the PG but will drop that subscription when it ends next month.

If I want news about PPS, I might as well just subscribe to Ebony's press releases. That's all the PG does.

And as long as there are no tax increases--which truly IS the solution in all of this--the PG will praise the work of "people" like Roosevelt and Lane.

Pittsburgh's teachers have forgotten more about the district's children and how they learn than people like Lane, Otuwa, Lippert, French and Fischetti will ever learn.

Shame.