-
Sponsored Links
Follow Us!
Author Archives: Ahmed
Duncan Opens Wavier The Flood Gates For States Seeking Education Mandate Relief
With lawmakers on both sides of the ideological divide unable to come together on terms for a re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (most recently renamed “No Child Left Behind” in 2001) State Education Departments began to apply in earnest to Sec. Duncan for exemptions from the school rating and student achievements benchmarks written into the language of NCLB. States have expressed their fear that schools (and students) will be unfairly labeled as failing – some states facing as much as 85% of their school districts labeled as “in need of improvement”. On top of that, not meeting those benchmarks will carry with them penalties that could hold up badly needed federal funding for local school districts already … More >>
Tagged Duncan, education reform, ESEA Act, No Child Left Behind, obama, schools, waviers
Leave a comment
Open Seat Project: We Did It!
When you join the Manhattan Young Democrats, there is never a shortage of ways to get involved. Whether your focus is on an issue, a candidate or the party, we provide opportunities to join committees, create campaigns and make your positions heard. In the end, it’s always the work of those who volunteer that make the campaigns as successful as they are. One of our projects that exemplifies that strength and now has become a bi-annual tradition for MYD is the Open Seat Project. Beginning in 2009, The Open Seat Project was created to address our concern that hundreds of seats within the New York County Democratic Party structure remained vacant year after year. The position we’re specifically speaking about … More >>
Tagged open seat project
Leave a comment
City Council Set To Debate On A Living Wage Bill This Thursday
Unions, affordable housing groups, progressive democratic clubs and faith-based institutions are just a sampling of the partners that make up the diverse LivingWage NYC Campaign, a broad-based coalition that has been fighting to secure a better standard of living for many of New York City’s working families over the last year. Despite a growing opposition movement funded by business interests embolden after their defeat of the sick-leave bill earlier this year, LivingWage NYC received a bolt of momentum when Speaker Christine Quinn announced that a hearing would be called for this Thursday May 12th at 1pm at 250 Broadway, 16th floor to debate bringing the legislation, titled “Fair Wages for New Yorkers” Act, to the floor for a vote.
Tagged christine quinn, economic development, jobs, living, living wage, new york city
Leave a comment
Local Community Education Councils Gather Dust As Seats Go Unfilled
While newly-minted New York City School’s chancellor Dennis Wallcott travels the public school system to visit classrooms and promote a calmer debate between parents, teachers and education administrators, WNYC reports that one of the integral partners of that conversation, parents, have expressed less interest in joining their local district community education councils – a nine person committee that exists as an avenue for parental input though has only advisory powers. Reasons cited for this falloff in applications (only 341 people expressed interest in 425 available seats) include the non-binding effect of their eventual decisions and prior restrictions that have now been lifted such as the exclusion of PTA presidents. By extending the deadline for applications to April 22nd DOE officials … More >>
MYD Education presents: How Prepared Are Our Teachers? Preparation Methods in the 21st Century – Tues April 12th
When we look at traditional teacher education programs versus alternative teacher preparation programs, we see that our current system for holding U.S. teacher education programs accountable does not guarantee program quality or serve the needs of schools and students. The need for increased accountability among programs that prepare teachers has been a subject of intense debate and controversy, especially so in respect to teacher evaluations.
Tagged curriculum, Teacher For America, teachers, UFT
Leave a comment
Republicans Hide Behind Budget Woes To Avoid Moving On Redistricting Reform In Albany.
Despite a pledge to New Yorkers throughout the state to pursue comprehensive reform aimed at stripping the politics out of redrawing election districts, State Republicans have dug in and refused to debate any one of the bills that have been submitted by lawmakers to address this issue. I mean take your pick: Senator Gianaris, Assemblyman Jefferries and even Governor Cuomo all have presented bills to make the process more transparent and bi-partisan but Senate Majority Speaker Dean Skelos has time and again avoided the issue citing concern over the growing budget deficit as the main focus for his conference and that undertaking any other legislation could be harmful to getting our books in order. While I wouldn’t want to ask … More >>
Tagged dean skelos, Democrats, Gustavo Rivera, independent redistricting, koch, mike gianaris, republicans, signthepledge
Leave a comment
