Dennis Walcott

Twenty NYC Middle Schools' Days To Be Extended, Kids Will Probably Not Be Happy

Our collective inner child is kicking and screaming over this story. But our collective adult self is affirmatively nodding in agreement that maybe this will actually help students. Growing up sucks. Yesterday, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Education Chancellor Dennis M. Walcott announce ... More >>

Some Public School Students Will Sit Out State Tests This Week in Protest

"These tests are harmful. They do nothing but stress us out and take away precious learning time. They don't make learning fun, they are all-consuming. ... We do not learn from these tests. Do we not go to school to learn?" Owen Hotaling, a freckled fifth grader in a sweatshirt and a bright red kn ... More >>

Gov. Cuomo Has Decided: The State Will Take Over Teacher Evaluations

Looks like State Education Commissioner John King wasn't kidding. Yesterday, the Associated Press was informed by an anonymous Cuomo administration official that, in his 30-day budget amendments coming up this week, the governor will position Albany to be the central arbiter of a still-not-disclose ... More >>

State Ed Head John King Is Not Waiting Any Longer For A Teacher Evaluations Deal

But can you really blame him? After the collapse in talks between the Mayor's Department of Education and the UFT last month, Albany went ahead and extended the deadline for yet another month for the City (and other areas - it's just not us!) to come to some sort of agreement on teacher evaluations ... More >>

City Can (But Won't) Play Its Part in Bus Strike

We're damn-near a month into the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181's bus-driver and matron strike, and the city is still pretending like it doesn't have everything to do with why this mess continues to drag-on. The union, politicians and parents are begging the city to at least come to the table ... More >>

Here's Why Bloomberg And The UFT Couldn't Come To A Deal On Teacher Evaluations

It's official: as of yesterday afternoon, the teachers union and the Mayor's education officials both walked out on negotiations for a teacher evaluations deal worth millions. That means that the January 17th deadline has come and went, placing New York State out of Race to the Top fund consideratio ... More >>

The Million(s)-Dollar Deadline For Teacher Evaluations Is Here, And There's No Deal

January 17th is the last day New York City education officials have to solve this teacher evaluations dilemma that's blocking millions of dollars in grants. And that day is upon us.Yesterday, the Mayor's Department of Education met with the United Federation of Teachers to create a last-minute solu ... More >>

Poll: New Yorkers Heart Police Commissioner

Everybody loves Raymond. A Quinnipiac University survey of 1,332 residents of New York City made public today gives the commissioner a record high 75% approval rating. This is Kelly's highest rating to date. A large majority of voters--across gender, race and party lines--would prefer that Ray Kel ... More >>

Students and Families Suffer Most In Bus Strike and City Has Itself to Blame

As more than 8,000 school bus drivers and matrons formed picket lines around the city this morning, some 152,000 students and their families were forced to find alternative means of transportation in the pouring rain. Jackie Ceonzo, mother of a 17-year-old autistic son, had to find a way to get her ... More >>

If NYC Public Schools Lose $300 Million In A Week, You Can Thank Politics

Forget about the fiscal cliff in Washington; the kids of New York City are about to jump off one, too. In less than ten days, New York City's public school system stands to gain or lose nearly $300 million of the $700 million allotted to New York State under President Obama's "Race to the Top" prog ... More >>

Staten Island's NRA Flare: Council Senselessly Votes For Putting Armed Guards In Schools

When Wayne LaPierre spoke to the world in the wake of Newtown, viewers and media folk alike gawked at the NRA chieftain's worldview. Twitter was abuzz with anger as LaPierre proposed fighting guns with guns, swiftly condemning video games and the rest of Society for the violence at hand. Not to ment ... More >>

UPDATE: Parents, Students and Community Not Sure They Have Real Voice in School Co-Location Process

UPDATE: Anyone who fought against the recent round of co-locations can now rest assured that they never had a say in yesterday's Panel on Educational Policy's vote. The PEP voted late last night to approve every co-location proposal up for consideration. The approvals came after hours of impassione ... More >>

Mayor Bloomberg Wants More Control Over Sexual Misconduct Cases in Schools

Mike Bloomberg announced a new piece of legislation this afternoon that would give the mayor, via the city's school chancellor, more power to dismiss teachers who engage in acts of sexual misconduct in the classroom. You'd think that inappropriate sexual behavior form teachers is something everyon ... More >>

Teachers' Union Prez Mike Mulgrew Hit With Woodshop Sex and Blackmail Accusations

Nothing like a quick sex scandal to spice up a beautiful Sunday afternoon. In a 73-page lawsuit filed by a Manhattan teacher, the President of the United Federation of Teachers prez Michael Mulgrew, known for his heated relationship with Bloomberg's Education Department, has been accused of having ... More >>

Bloomberg Unveils Plan for New Schools, Mum On Education Ideas of Mayoral Hopefuls

Yesterday afternoon, Mayor Mike Bloomberg joined Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott to unveil the city's plan to open 54 new schools this fall -- which the mayor touted as an important step in the reform efforts he began when he took control of the school system at the start of his administration. ... More >>

Mike Bloomberg, Albany Dispute Release of Teacher Ranking Data

Will teacher rankings be made public? This is a complicated question, and will likely be decided soon by New York pols. But first, a bit of background. Remember that various media outlets published in February 18,000 New York City teacher ratings, after the United Federation of Teachers lost a len ... More >>

Legal Loophole OK's Creepy New York Teachers

Nobody likes a loophole - law and order is often thwarted by technicalities, usually favoring the unjust players involved and screwing the rest of us. But what's more frustrating than a legal shortcut? One that involves children.Over the past three months, 14 cases involving 16 different teache ... More >>

Bronx Principal Teaches Students Lesson in Cheating

For some students the idea of a principal who bumps up your undeserving performance might be great. None of the work, all of the credit. For most (hopefully) that educator would seem to be setting an incredibly poor example. Though, say, giving students credit for courses they didn't even take might ... More >>

Teacher Data Released, Criticized; Nelson Mandela Hospitalized; Strong Winds Coming Through the City

Data rating 18,000 New York City teachers was released Friday, but not without strong caveats as both teachers and education leaders warned of flaws. Teachers are evaluated based on how much value they add as evidenced by change in student performance on standardized tests relative to measurement o ... More >>

Mayor Mike Bloomberg Talks Fashion, Flirts With Diane von Furstenberg

With the clock ticking on his time in office, Mayor Mike Bloomberg is making sure he earns some cool points during his final term. He kissed Lady Gaga. He chilled with the cast of Gossip Girl. Now, he's talking fashion. Similar to his love of the teeny bopper television hit, Bloomberg's love of ... More >>

It's Christine Quinn's Turn! Mayoral Hopeful Delivers State of City Speech

Sam Levin​This story might sound familiar. A mayoral hopeful gets on stage and delivers a speech about the state of things. The elected official takes the opportunity to set the groundwork for a mayoral campaign -- appealing to future voters through announcements of new initiatives and prior ... More >>

Evaluate Teachers? Let Students Also Do It

Governor Cuomo has political capital—why waste it on more reliance on standardized testing?

Bloomberg and Walcott Are School Dropouts

Standardized tests 'tried-and-untrue' method of measuring students' learning

HAVE A DREAM

Then wake up and go to BAM

Potential School Bus Drivers' Strike 'Outrageous,' Bloomberg Says

​Mayor Bloomberg just held a press conference with NYC Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott and Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo to address a possible strike by the city's school bus drivers that would affect 152,000 kids. Bloomberg described the proposed strike as "just outrageous" and said ... More >>

The Bleak Future for NYC Students

More evidence emerges that the Education Mayor flunked

Bloomberg Schools Flunk the Constitution

We're raising a generation that doesn't know its rights

Mike Bloomberg Marries Advisers Jonathan Mintz and John Feinblatt at Gracie Mansion

​This blogger has been to a lot of weddings. This blogger, however, was keenly excited to see 1. Mayor Bloomberg marry someone, someone not his daughter or a former mayor (the two types of people he had once vowed he would only marry), and 2. To partake, even in a small way, in the first same- ... More >>

Bloomberg: Black Parents Fail Their Kids

Osama, Obama Mix-Up Is Because of 'Bin' in Laden; NYC Reporters Fight at City Hall

Above is a newscaster confusing the names "Osama" and "Obama" three times within 30 seconds. She's far from the only one! In fact, it happened enough times in the media that the Columbia Journalism Review decided to look into why. Also in a Friday edition of our daily Press Clips media column: Repor ... More >>

Chancellor Walcott: Change That Kids Can Believe In?

Is the new broom actually just, 'another mouthpiece for the mayor'?

This Week in the Voice: Juan Cáceres, Villainous Community Hero

​This week in the Voice, Victoria Bekiempis tells the sordid tale of Juan Cáceres, founder of the Spanish Harlem nonprofit CECOMEX. Cáceres is revered by many in his community as an exemplary leader, even after "being convicted of second-degree rape -- of his own daughter, from the time she ... More >>

Gabrielle Giffords Can Stand On Her Own; Yemen Protests Escalate As Pres. Says He'll Quit

​Doctors say Gabrielle Giffords can now stand on her own and walk a little bit, and is working on her gait. Her left side is fine, but she's only been able to use her right side on a limited basis. According to the Arizona Republic, Giffords is still struggling with longer sentences, mostly st ... More >>

Dennis Walcott Now Targeted By Same Gadflies Who Went after Cathie Black

​The Deny Waiver Coalition, which originally formed to oppose granting a waiver to Cathie Black, has a new target in mind: Dennis Walcott. "One week after the departure of an unqualified schools Chancellor, a new Chancellor has again been crowned without an appropriate process," the coalition ... More >>

Today in El Diario: So Long, Cathie Black

​ Community Happy that Cathie Black Gets the Boot Leaders of the immigrant community hope that Dennis Walcott, the new schools chancellor, will serve Latinos and immigrants better than the previous chancellor, Cathie Black, according to the Spanish-language daily.  Mayor Michael Bloomberg a ... More >>

Top 10 Quotes About Cathie Black's Departure

It's been a pretty eventful 24 hours on the education beat in New York City. Given how unpopular Cathie Black was before she even started as Chancellor, there was far less glee at her ouster than we were expecting. Many of her critics may be experiencing schadenfreude privately, but they weren't e ... More >>

Cathie Black Out as NYC Schools Chancellor; Dennis Walcott Will Replace Her

​Cathie Black, the highly unpopular New York City schools chancellor, who just lost her fourth deputy, will be replaced by Dennis Walcott after just about 100 days in office, NY1 is reporting. More info as it comes!

New Schools Chancellor Offers Education Experience, Waffles

​At a press conference this morning, Mayor Bloomberg announced the appointment of Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott as Cathie Black's replacement as schools chancellor. Black, who was not present at the press conference, met with the mayor this morning and offered her resignation. In Bloomberg's wor ... More >>

Cathie Black, We'll Miss You: A Retrospective

​Cathie Black, the former magazine executive turned chancellor of New York City schools, is leaving her position after only about 100 days in office. Say it ain't so, Cathie! What will we do without your hilarious gaffes? Let's hope that Mayor Bloomberg's replacement Dennis M. Walcott, the Dep ... More >>

Charles Barron on Black's Ouster: Three Months 'Wasted'

​There are few bigger critics of Cathie Black than Councilman Charles Barron, who went so far as to get arrested protesting the school closings she presided over during her brief tenure as Chancellor. Yet Barron is not taking any pleasure or claiming victory with her ouster. We caught up with ... More >>

Cathie Black Waiting for Approval From an Office That Has Said 'No' Before

Cathie Black: can she get a waiver?​Richard Mills, the same state education commissioner who gave Joel Klein a waiver to become chancellor in 2002, denied another waiver application in 2003. The reasons cited in that 9-page denial letter will no doubt impact the decision now facing Mills' su ... More >>

Our New Board of Ed: Seven Members, No Kids Now in School

It may not be around much longer, but it seems worth noting that the new seven-member city Board of Education that met last week for the first time after the mayoral control law lapsed includes not a single current public school parent as a member. The closest to having a personal vested interest ... More >>

Board of Ed Revives But, Packed with Shills, Will Do Nothing

We gotta admit, we thought it was a bluff. We assumed that when the Albany Coup senators let mayoral control of schools lapse at midnight, no one would step forward and say, "it is the time of the Judges!" But the Board of Education rose from the dead today and is meeting at the Tweed Courthouse to ... More >>

Board of Ed to Albany: Please Kill Me

The new dummy Board of Ed, set up by city officials to comply with the old school charter that went back into effect because Albany failed to restore mayoral control, got down to the business of making Dennis Walcott its "president," putting Joel Klein back in charge, and formally asking Albany to p ... More >>

Barrett: The Politics On Display At Bill Tatum's Funeral

Funerals can be about politics, especially when the deceased is as influential as Bill Tatum was. The longtime owner of the Amsterdam News drew a crowd of hundreds at Riverside Church last Friday, and most of the speakers were politicians, including the minister who presided, Rev. Al Sharpton.None o ... More >>

The Underside of Bloomberg's School Reform

How the Mayor's Top-Down Revolution Locks Out Communities

Bloomy’s New Crew Sends a Message

The New Mayor Adds—and Subtracts—at City Hall

A 10-Point Plan for Bloomy

How the Newly Elected Mayor Can Begin Reviving a Wounded City

Rudy's Milky Way

An Administration 'Of, For, and By White People' Has No Time or Room for Blacks