Incongressional

From The Huffington Post:

NEW YORK — New York City’s transit agency has approved a bus advertisement that depicts a plane flying toward the World Trade Center’s towers as they burn along with a rendering of a proposed mosque near ground zero.

The ad was paid for by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, an organization that opposes radical Islamic influence in the United States. The group’s executive director says she doesn’t find the ad offensive.

The group sued the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to demand it accept the ad, which was approved Monday.

As a member of a 9-11 family, I am disgusted. I would not like to be reminded of that horrific day by a passing bus. To use the image of such an act of hatred, in defense of blatent racism and xenophobia, infuriates me.

These people at the AFDI do not represent my views or that of my family. They are hatemongers.

Also shame on the MTA for approving ths nonsense.

To think that she is considered a political leader is an embarrassment for our country.

• Mother Jones has a great article on a conservative Republican that lost in the primaries to a Tea Party candidate. In it GOP Rep. Bob Inglis recounts his experience dealing with conspiracy theories, racism and Republican pandering.

The Race To the Top and the Blueprint for Education will not work.

These federal education policies are based on Bloomberg/Klein’s Children First agenda in New York City.  Just yesterday, it was shown that the NYC policy of testing madness, closing down schools, firing teachers and opening charters have failed.

The educational gains that were so touted, and are now being used as a national model have been proven false.  They were the result of grade inflation.   New York state had progressively lowered the passing grade year after year.

The result?  Students had been receiving diplomas without the necessary skills to enter college or the work force.   Also, students on the cusp of proficiency were promoted without being provided the necessary support for improvement.

Now it is known that only 42% of NYC students are proficient in reading (down from 69%).  And only 54% are proficient in math (down from 82%).

Non-educators have held the reins on policy decisions for far too long.  They choose to assign blame to teachers for their own failings.  They choose to ignore the input of teachers, parents and students.

This morning Mayor Bloomberg back tracked on his previous boasts. From Gotham Schools:

Talking about the definition of academic proficiency yesterday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg struck a relativist note.

“Everybody can have their definition of what it means,” he said. Later, he added: “The last time I checked, Lady Gaga is doing fine with just a year of college.”

He even asked reporters not to refer to students who score above a Level 3 out of 4 as “proficient.”…

Bloomberg has also used rising numbers of students scoring at Level 3 as a referendum on his education policies, arguing over and over again that because the rates are going up, the policies must work. Just last year, announcing that more students were “meeting or exceeding grade-level math standards,” a reference to more students scoring Level 3 or higher, Bloomberg called the results “proof” of New York City schools’ excellence.

“Our schools have made a remarkable turnaround since 2002,” he said in a press release. “New York City is now proof that you shouldn’t have to choose between living in a big city and sending your children to excellent public schools.”

New York City Charter School Center President James Merriman reacted to the poor scores and policy failure by blaming minority students.  From the New York Daily News:

“If you look at African-American and Hispanics citywide and take into account that charters serve 94% African-American and Hispanics, that probably explains it.”

I am not sure if it is either hubris or cowardice that are the impetus for these statements.  It may be a little of both.  But one the fact remains.  Accountability starts at the top.  These two “leaders” seem to be anything but.

As for the national agenda, in his speech to the National Urban League, President Obama stated that he will not budge on changes to Race to the Top by reiterating his pledge to veto any legislation that affects the program’s funding.

As I think of the harm that eight years of Children First has perpetrated on the kids, families and teachers of my city, I cannot help but dread the path we are taking as a nation.   When the destructive federal education agenda fails, who will the President and his policy supporters blame?

From NY Times:

New York State education officials, admitting that the state’s annual tests were not properly measuring student proficiency, released results Wednesday showing that more than half of New York City students were failing to meet state standards in reading, at a time when Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg boasted that more that more than two-thirds of city’s students were reading at grade level.

After researchers concluded that the state exams had steadily become easier to pass, state officials said last week that they would recalibrate the way the tests were graded, warning educators to brace themselves for a harsh wake-up call.

New York City officials said that if the passing rates since 2006 were adjusted to match the new scoring standards, the city had shown substantial progress over all. But that explanation is likely to offer little consolation to teachers and parents who must now face the reality that just more than half of city students in the third through eighth grades are proficient in math, not four out of every five, as they were led to believe last year.

I have probably been saying this for more years than I can count. This testing madness does not help our children. While they are cramming day in day out at school to perform well on high-stakes tests, they are missing out on genuine comprehensive learning.

The Bloomberg-Klein administration has pushed top down policy decisions from with little input from parents and teachers. The result is a bunch of kids being lied to about how well they are doing, teachers being marginalized, and parents being treated with contempt.

Unfortunately, I have a feeling teachers will be blamed for this.

Reality-Based Educator said it well on his blog:

Why blame the people who run the school system and made all the policy changes (how many curriculum changes and DOE re-organizations have we had since Kleinberg ate the school system whole?) when you can blame teachers who have been forced to carry out the boss’s orders instead.

However, I think this is a great opportunity for teachers, parents and students to seize the reins in the national discussion on education. Especially since so much of the Race to the Top and Blueprint for Education is modeled on NYC’s educational policies.

Our voices must be heard or we risk even further damage to our children’s future.