White House Begins To Strengthen Support for Education Plan

President Obama introduced his blueprint for Education Reform last Friday and Saturday detailing how his administration plans to move forward on reforming the latest incarnation of the ESEA Act, No Child Left Behind. Department of Education officials have described this as a scaling back of federal presence in good schools while applying strong intervention methods and strict mandates for the lowest performing schools in the country.

Education Secretary Arnie Duncan points out that this revision fixes the problem of dumbed down tests, an occurrence that was recorded in many states after the passage of NCLB by requiring each state to pass rigid and challenging standards.  One of the boldest moves by President Obama is a change in how Title I federal education funds is disturbed. By asking states to compete for them through grants rather than a per pupil formula the administration is ready to change “about 40 years of established formula funding and to change an accountability system that a lot of people are wedded to because it’s forced us to come to grips with the achievement gap,” said Bob Wise a former West Virginia governor who leads the Alliance for Excellent Education, a nonprofit group

Many of its detractors, especially among union leaders, have focused on changes to teacher evaluation procedures that moves away from certifying a teacher’s credentials and focusing on new systems that distinguish effective instructors by using student progress as its foundation. Both the UFT and the NEA have publicly commented that Obama’s plan will allow unnecessary micromanagement over local school district, massive teacher firings and place 100% of the accountability on teachers with little or no power to create change in the system.

While these sides fight it out take a look for yourself by downloading the President’s plan here.

Jose Peralta Named Education Reformer of the Month

Democrats for Education Reform, a nationally respected organization that encourages dialogue on education reform among members of the Democratic Party, has named Jose Peralta their “Education Reformer of the Month”  for March:

José is a product of his parents’ sacrifice and has spent a lifetime working to ensure everyone in our community has the opportunity to succeed.

A proud graduate of Queens Public schools, including PS 14, IS 61 and Flushing High School, José was the first Latino Student Body President of Queens College.

After graduating, Peralta began a career giving back to the community he loves through public service. As a community liaison in the New York State Assembly, José worked to make government more accessible to the families of Queens, solving problems and helping people in need. He then served as the Director of the Commission on the Dignity for Immigrants at the New York City Central Labor Council, representing over 1.5 million union members. Under Peralta’s direction, the Commission championed the mission of empowering all immigrants in a variety of ways, including registering over 20,000 new citizens.

In 2002, at the age of 30, José Peralta was elected to the New York State Assembly. He supports efforts to lift the cap on the number of public charter schools, as well as efforts to make sure students in public schools have access to the best quality teachers. He would make an excellent addition to NY State Senate at a time when that body needs all the smart/committed folks it can get.

Click here for the full text. Peralta is running against Monserrate in this Tuesday’s special election for State Senate.

States Are Starting To Move On National Standards

The results of a national common standards initiative were released this week by a panel commissioned through a partnership of the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. This state-lead push for national standards has been given the thumbs up by the policy planners behind President Obama’s education agenda and the recent “Race to the Top” grant competition. If adopted on a large scale, this could have lasting implications on how education is structure in 48 states (Alaska and Texas declined to participate).

Experts believe that if the report’s recommendations was adopted, its effects would completely reform how we collect data on student’s performance impacting continuous areas of debate from classroom size to charter school funding

Chester E. Finn Jr., a former assistant secretary of education and an advocate for national standards for nearly two decades had this to say:

I’d say this is one of the most important events of the last several years in American education…Now we have the possibility that for the first time, states could come together around new standards and high school graduation requirements that are ambitious and coherent. This is a big deal.

MTA: Show Me Your Books ! (Its The Law)

A new era of transparency began this Monday for hundreds of our state public authorities – whether they like it or not.

For decades these agencies were able to keep multiple sets of books that advocates dubbed a “shadow government” – books that they were not obliged to share with anyone. This practice is now history with the passing of the Public Authorities Reform Act. It requires many of these quasi-governmental corporations to be more transparent and required even to subject themselves to independent audits.

“We certainly have the authority now to recommend that board members be censured, that they be warned and in the most extreme cases, we can recommend to the governor or to the local appointing authority that board members be removed from office,” said David Kidera, Acting Director for the Independent Authorities Budget Office.

But this information isn’t just for government officials like Liu or DiNapoli. The information is also going to be available online for anyone with an internet connection and a whole bunch of time ! Click here for your chance to play junior auditor.

IBO Conducts Study On Charter Versus Public Spending

In a request by Patrick Sullivan, the Manhattan Borough president’s appointed representative to the Panel of Education Policy, the Independent Budget Office (IBO) focused their latest audit on per pupil funding allocations of taxpayer dollars to charter versus public schools.

The final results, with no surprise, were murky as to whether there is a clean cut winner or loser. Charter school supporters were more than eager to point out that despite claims made by their detractors, children in charter schools actually received less funding per head. The differences ranged from $305 for charter schools students on city owned property and shot up to $3,017 for schools that reside in private buildings. Charter school spending was compared to an average spending per pupil of $16,678 for a traditional public school student.

However public school defenders led by UFT President Michael Mulgrew shot back saying:

The difference between funding for public schools and charter schools in public buildings is negligible; when you add in the private funding that many charter schools get, I’m sure that we’ll find that many charter schools have resources that are well beyond those of public schools

Also the IBO notes the benefits of pass-through services provided by the Department of Education, especially those charters housed within already existing public schools. This arrangement allows them to avoid paying for much of the operational costs involved in maintaining a private building. Read more

Food Policy Is Next On The Plate For Some NYC Democrats

Public officials are making good on promises made last year to take a long look at food policy in New York City. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn included this topic in her recent State of the City address and spoke about the impact our local food industry has on economic development:

One of our strongest business sectors is food manufacturing. It’s a five billion dollar industry that employs tens of thousands of New Yorkers.

Last year, working with Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito, we began helping even more of our best cooks start their own businesses. Many of them can’t afford their own industrial kitchen space. So this summer we’re opening a brand new shared kitchen in East Harlem.

Working with Council Member Margaret Chin, we’re developing a proposal for a brand new public market for regional foods.

Public markets like these serve as major tourist attractions and centers of economic activity for other cities. Pike Place in Seattle is home to nearly 200 businesses and 5,000 jobs, and it attracts an average of 8 -10 million visitors a year. New Yorkers are hungry for those same opportunities.

Quinn is not alone. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer is another Democrat who recognizes the importance of a uniformed approach to how food is handled, which is why his office has released “FoodNYC: A Blueprint for a Sustainable Food System” (click here to download pdf), a comprehensive plan for everything from sustainable food processing to  food education, a first for New York City. In a recent press release Stringer said

By devoting serious attention to our food system, city government can in one stroke improve public health, sustainability, and job creation. In recent years, there’s been growing interest in this issue, but we’re still left with a grab bag of disjointed, independent initiatives.  Now, with the help of hundreds of dedicated New Yorkers, the document we’re releasing today will for the first time present a single, comprehensive vision for food policy in this city.

Anna Lappé, food policy expert and author of Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It added:

This report puts New York City at the forefront of an exciting movement across the country in which citizens are developing practical solutions to fixing our broken food system while improving our health, boosting the economy, and healing the environment

In a city known for its selection, its palette and its appetite, pragmatic approaches to protecting our food sources should bring big rewards in the future.

Races In 2010 Are Going To Be Trouble For Both Sides

It’s no surprise that with the current stagnation in the Senate and a  fear of an anti-incumbent backlash, some Democrats are increasingly worried of what this November might mean for the balance in Congress and the future of President Obama’s legislative agenda. However before we all start assuming the worst, Nate Silver points out on fivethirtyeight.com, that Republicans have races of their own that are going to need some defending:

Even if Republicans can recruit a good candidate in Washington or New York, and make smart decisions in California, and win the toss-ups in places like Illinois, and not screw up any of the seven or so races in which they appear to be favored, they also have to make sure that Democrats don’t take over any of their own seats. And this is the factor that the market may not be properly accounting for. The Democrats are competitive right now in Missouri, Ohio, New Hampshire, and Kentucky, could become that way in North Carolina and possibly Florida, and there’s an outside chance they could get a wild card of their own like Arizona. In most of these races, you either have a Republican (in an anti-establishment year) who is more a part of the establishment than his opponent, primary dynamics that could lead to the selection of an inexperienced or too-conservative candidate, or both.

While Republicans look at present events as political opportunities, reminiscing over their 8 seat Senate gain in 1994, Silver explains that the Party of NO still remains nationally unpopular and much less united this time around as they struggle with their own internal factions like the tea party movement trying to pull candidates even further to the right.

The fact New York was mentioned at all should be a sign that this year organizing has to be stronger, campaigning has to be tighter and we’re all going to have to surpass our previous efforts to get the word out on why we need to keep Democrats in Congress.

Schumer To Giants: If You Are A NY Team, You Should Practice In NY

The NY Giants organization had planned to discontinue their regular summer training at the University of Albany as soon as the practice facility adjacent to the new Meadowland Stadium was ready to go. The potential lose of this seasonal tourist staple has worried local business leaders and university officials who have been petitioning the team’s front office to reconsider.

Senator Schumer, a self described Giants loyalist, went so far as to call John Mara, the team owner, to discuss the merits of the Giant’s remaining at the SUNY campus. His office released this statement:

Holding the training camp in Albany is good for both the Giants’ morale and cohesion and the local economy.  What’s more, the training camp has become one of the favorite ways for Capital Region families to spend a summer day and, quite frankly, it is the Giants last physical link to New York State.

The New York Giants have been practicing at the University of Albany’s campus since the Dan Reeves era and the facility has benefited both the team and the region … Each year, thousands of fans come to the University of Albany’s campus to watch their Giants and pump money into the local economy … We’ve now got all of our New York teams training in Upstate and I’m committed to keeping it that way. Anything we can do to keep the fans and money pouring in is a score in my book.

According to the NFL insiders discussions between both the team and the school are looking good and it seems very likely that the team will be returning for another summer upstate.

Now Senator, is there anything your office can do to help us fix up the defense…

Weprin Defeats GOP Candidate In Special Election

When the polls closed Tuesday night for the special election to fill Mark Weprin’s 24th Assembly district seat in Queens, voters overwhelming decided that his brother David Weprin, former city councilman and ex-candidate for city comptroller was the best man for the job. Final results show that out of the roughly 6900 ballots cast, Weprin won with 62 % versus GOP candidate Bob Friedrich’s 38%.

However this victory is not as long lasting as you may think. Weprin’s win only gives him the seat through November when he’ll have to campaign again for a full term of his own. Judging by the intensity from both sides during the last few weeks of this race, a re-match in the fall is definitely not out of the picture.

Following the Bloomberg Campaign Money Trail

The NYTimes and NY POST both reports on a recent investigation opened up by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office regarding $ 1.2 million given to the State Independence Party by the Bloomberg campaign that later went to pay John Haggerty, a Republican party operative, $750,000 for his work to secure between 200 to 300 workers for poll watching activities on Election day last November.

There would be no problem with the contribution going to the Independence Party solely for operational costs. But if the funds were directed to Haggerty for services he provided specifically to Bloomberg’s campaign, such services would then be considered a campaign expenditure. If it was left omitted from their disclosure filings it could put Bloomberg’s campaign in violation of campaign finance laws.

Here’s the tricky part though. Since it was paid directly to Haggerty’s company, Special Election Operations LLC, the lack of a transparent paper trail might prove to be an obstacle

If the money was paid to a political committee, that committee would be required to disclose, in campaign finance filings, how the money was distributed. But a company might only have to reveal how its money was disbursed when it files its taxes.

He goes on to say:

So the campaign finance filings do not indicate whether the company paid poll watchers, consultants, Mr. Haggerty alone or anyone else. And that unknown information could be at the heart of the district attorney’s investigation

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