This Wednesday on "Talk out of School" with Mark Cannizzaro

Join us on Wednesday, April 8 from 10-11AM on WBAI 99.5 FM or at WBAI.org for "Talk out of School" where I will talk to Mark Cannizzaro, president of the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, about what's happening with remote learning, cancellation of spring break and use of Zoom, DOE refusal to release mortality rate, what should happen with student grades, tenure decisions, and more!

Please also call in with your questions at 212-209-2877.

Listen to previous episodes of "Talk out of School" here, or wherever you get your podcasts!

Letter from CSA President Mark Cannizzaro to principals

I thought this letter to NYC principals from Mark Cannizzaro, President of the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, the principal union, was terrific -- with advice that we should all listen to, no matter what our respective roles, whether administrator, teacher or parent.  Feel free to share it widely. -  Leonie Though I have been actively involved in CSA’s communications over the last two weeks, I wanted to personally share my appreciation for your heroic efforts as well as a few thoughts on what comes next. Since late last week, the CSA felt that the closing of our schools was a drastic but necessary step to safeguard school communities and slow the spread of COVID-19 in our city. Therefore, while aware that transitioning over 1,700 schools to distance learning in just a few days would be a near impossible task, we strongly advocated that the mayor do so. Since then, as expected, you have been inundated with information and directives that have been sometimes confusing and conflicting, sometimes unrealistic and have often left you with unanswered questions. Through it all, you have been the calming, positive and steady presence your staff needs. You have instilled confidence and trust in them even when your own confidence was shaken. I recognize it, the chancellor recognizes it, and we both thank you!   With all the confusion, I would like to offer some clarity. Your primary responsibility over the next several weeks is to do the best you can to provide your students with quality learning opportunities. It is understood that some schools and some individual teachers are much further along than others in their distance learning capabilities. You will not be disciplined if you are unable to accurately or completely fulfill every expectation or strictly adhere to deadlines outlined in the DOE’s “expectations memo.” You are not expected to offer the same level of supervision as you are able to during the typical school day. You and the assistant principals should be checking in on staff and offering support and ideas for how they can best serve students. You do not, however, need to concern yourself with scrutinizing teacher schedules and other minutiae. Continue to encourage and remain a source of strength for your teachers. Be available for them, model as best you can, and be open to their feedback and concerns. While not under the roof of your building, I know you will find innovative and real ways to keep your community connected for the benefit of your students. We are in unchartered territory and everyone understands it. The goal is not to recreate a normal school day given that the sudden changes in our lives and routines are anything but normal. The goal must be to provide some semblance of stability and learning for our students while paying careful attention to their social and emotional health. In turn, we must acknowledge the anxiety and fears in the adults around us and provide an outlet for them as well.   Finally, you must take care of yourself.  When things speed up, you must slow down.  Make sure you do the things that bring you peace of mind and body so that you can be present for those who look to you for guidance.    Please know that CSA will be by your side throughout this process and that we are diligently working to bring clarity and get your questions answered. Please feel free to reach out to us at any time and, in the meantime, just do the best that you can!

You and your team have done a great job thus far, and I know you will continue to do so. It is an honor to represent you! Stay safe! ­­­­­­

Highlights of Mayoral candidate education debate sponsored by principals union

credit: Epoch Times

Last night there was a lively education debate sponsored by the CSA, the principals union, with all the Democratic mayoral candidates and Tom Allon, who is running as a Republican.  I was busily tweeting throughout.  

Except for a rather tiresome exchange as to who had the best public school  alma mater, it was an interesting discussion, well moderated by Liz Willen of Hechinger and Pedro Noguera of NYU.  ( In case you’re interested, Liu went to Bronx Science; Allon attended Stuyvesant;  Bill Thompson graduated from Midwood HS;  and Bill De Blasio’s son attends Brooklyn Tech. Chris Quinn said she wasn’t “smart enough” to go to Bronx Sci or Stuy but actually she grew up on Long Island.)

Each of the candidates had his or her high points:

·         Bill de Blasio got the biggest applause of the evening; when he said that come January, Eva Moskowitz of Success Academy Charters will no longer “have the run of the place”; i.e. be running the school system in the city;

·         Chris Quinn pointed out that there's no evidence that merit pay for teachers works;

·         Tom Allon said we need an expanded capital plan and innovative ways to finance school construction to reduce overcrowding;

·         John Liu pointed there was no evidence that the schools had improved under Bloomberg by our test scores on the national exams called the NAEPs;

·         Bill Thompson said that the past ten years of damaging policies were the result of non-educators running the system, and that we need to focus on improving schools rather than closing them, as happned in the Chancellor’s district when he headed the Board of Education.

They all liked community schools and wrap-around services, as promoted by the UFT (though I'd like them to confront the reality that there is little or no room in most of our schools, which are already hugely overcrowded); they all said there was too much testing; they all promised to consult parents and teachers more; and most of them supported a moratorium on school closures and co-locations, all that is, except for Quinn and Allon, who said the implementation of these policies could be improved. 

There was a general consensus that the obsession with small schools by this administration was misguided,; and most agreed that the networks aren’t working and we need our geographically based districts back.  The only one who differed on that point was Quinn, who maintained that some principals liked their networks, and they should be able to keep them if they wanted to; though there didn’t seem to be many principals in the audience who agreed about this.  It turned out (as I suspected) that she was talking about the New Visions network, which has been fierce in protecting its revenue and turf.  Tom Allon and De Blasio also got into an argument about whether De Blasio’s plan to raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for Universal preK would cause rich people to move out of the city (there’s no evidence for that, by the way.)

 At one point, Liz Willen asked the question of a student at Wagner MS named Sophia: what would they do about the chronic problem of excessive class sizes?  De Blasio said we would have to wait for the CFE money to come in.  Liu said the city had enough money to solve this, if we made it a priority. The others didn’t think there was much hope and seemed stuck in the status quo; extremely disappointing considering smaller classes are the number one priority of parents and a constitutional requirement, according to the State’s highest court.

Anyway, if you want more detail you can check out my tweeting at @leoniehaimson at twitter.com or see the articles at Epoch Times and  GothamSchools.

Debate on Mayoral control; check it out!

Check out the first hour of the Feb. 2 forum on Mayoral control, sponsored by the Queens Civic Congress.

Participants included Dina Paul Parks, Senior Policy Advisor to Deputy Mayor Walcott; Phyliss Bullion, Council of Supervisors & Administrators; Carmen Alvarez, VP of the UFT; April Humphrey, Campaign for Better Schools; and Rob Caloras, President, District 26 Community Education Council, and me, Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters. The debate was moderated by Elizabeth Green of Gotham Schools.

Towards the end of the clip, there's a real disagreement about whether the Chancellor has changed the principal selection process; thankfully Carmen Alvarez was there to back me up that power has indeed been taken out of the hands of school leadership teams!

Dina Paul Parks also insisted that there is genuine CEC and district input into the decision to close and open new schools -- please let us know in the comment section if you think this is the case, or not.

Carmen also describes some of the UFT's recommendations that had been released that day; for the entire report, check it out in pdf. News accounts of the UFT's proposals were published today in the GothamSchools, NY Times, and the Daily News.