Mayor-for-life wannabe Bloomberg is rapidly becoming the poster boy for those who question Arne Duncan's mantra of mayoral control of the schools. Bloomberg has lately been throwing fits and striking out wildly against any and all who question his autocratic one-man rule over public education. Now he's even launched a personal assault against renown educator Deborah Meier and her relationship with NYU's prestigious Steinhardt School of Education.
Writes Wayne Barrett in the Village Voice:
The protracted battle between Mayor Bloomberg and senate Democrats -- featuring the mayor's comic Neville Chamberlain attempt to liken the Dems to Nazis -- revolved around the original amendment's language, which proposed that the parent funding go to NYU's Metropolitan Center for Urban Education. The Bloomberg negotiators, according to a senate source, threw a fit at the thought of it.I pointed out in last Wednesday's post, that the Mayor was claiming that state Democrats were trying to "shower enemies of mayoral control" with $1.6 million, and slamming Meier. The mayor's "enemies" in this case are simply those trying to educate and prepare parents for their rightful role as educational change agents.
"The mayor got his facts wrong," says Meier, who has authored articles questioning Bloomberg's school achievement claims. "But even if he got his facts right, it would have been disgraceful to block the funding for the reasons he said. He needs a little understanding of academic freedom." Meier called the Bloomberg/Klein denial of the funding "blackmail," accusing them of "threatening anyone out there who disagrees with their version of mayoral control."
One problem with Duncan is that he unquestioningly accepts Bloomberg's rigged statistics and appears to base nationwide policies on them. The mayor's enemies include everyone and anyone who dares to suggest there be checks or balances on his educational dictatorship.
ReplyDeleteAs Mr. Thompson has brought to light in his recent attacks on the Emperor’s education policies, the sole reliance on statistics to judge teacher quality only hurts the students. Students are pushed through school to keep the graduation rates up and the drop-out rate down. Principals working to receive a bonus and keep their jobs pressure teachers to pass students and grade standardized tests liberally.
ReplyDeleteYou're right jj. But none of this speaks to teachers teaching or students learning. It's only about measuring.
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