Exciting election results & former NYC parent leader Khem Irby elected to Guilford school board!

Last night’s elections were fascinating. The NY State Senate is clearly in Democratic control for the   first time in years – the Dems only needed to flip one seat and they flipped eight.This will likely have a substantial impact on education funding and charter school policies in the state.

Khem in her NYC days

Lots of progressive new Governors won across the country who strongly support public education, and of course the House returned to Democratic control, aided by three House seats that flipped in NYS: Brindisi, Delgado and Max Rose here in NYC.

In nearby Newark, the voters approved a return to an elected school board vs. mayoral control, with the support of the Mayor of Newark Ras Baraka who said , “I do not want that power,” he said. “I want the people to have that power.” Too bad our Mayor isn’t that evolved.

And in news that is special to many of us here in NYC, Khem Irby, former parent leader in D 13, won her school board election in Guilford County- the third largest school district in North Carolina:

Current school board members held their seats in most of the Guilford County Board of Education races based on complete but unofficial returns.  The one exception is the 6th District, where Democratic challenger Khem Irby won in a tight race over incumbent Wes Cashwell, according to complete but unofficial results.

Chicago will also likely return to an elected school board after more than twenty years of mayoral control, as approved last session by both houses of  the IL Legislature and their newly elected Governor supports it.

Yay democracy in action.  And congrats to Khem!!!!

Julie Cavanagh and Khem Irby on the new film, An Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman

Speaking out about the myths behind charter schools, unions, and the importance of parent rights.

Khem Irby, Brooklyn parent leader, at the Deny Waiver rally

I stand here today in the spirit of my female ancestors, such as Harriet Tubman, the mother of the Underground Railroad, Sojourner Truth, the mother of women’s rights, and Phoebe Hearst, the mother of the National Congress of Mothers, representing the Mothers’ Agenda of NY.

Most mothers are their child’s first instructor. We are very careful about who has our children’s ear. We are very careful about who is influencing our children and the direction that they are going. The Chancellor must be an accomplished and the lead instructor for New York City. The waiver as given was an abuse of power.

Unfortunately, the focus has only been around the $23 billion dollar budget that is attached to our children. Ms. Black can only be accountable for the money and not the children.

As a parent, I am requesting that Ms. Black, show the taxpayers the $23 billion. Show the parents of New York City how it will be redirected into their child’s classroom. Show us how you’re going to make the state and city comply with the Campaign for Fiscal Equity court victory, to give our children their fair share to reduce class size.

Show the parents how you will bring equity to each and every school in the city, not just charter schools. Show us how you’re going to support our teachers and our administrators. Show us how you’re going to encourage the hedge funders to reinvest in our neighborhood schools. Show us how you’re going to eliminate no-bid contracts and put a cap on vendor services. Show the parents and teachers of New York City the money. Is she willing to work with the City Comptroller’s office?

The appointment of Cathie Black by Commissioner Steiner poses the question, who will be accountable and is it okay to break the law? In the case of the future of 1.1 million children, there is no more time to guess and experiment. The needs of the many children outweigh the qualifications of Cathie Black.

I say, Commissioner Steiner, you are now accountable. The Mothers’ Agenda of NY will be looking to you, as you have given the children of NYC to Cathie Black. Will this mean a boarding school type education reform will come to our schools? Will this mean two teachers in every classroom? What kind of professional support will Commissioner Steiner offer Ms. Black as well?

Lastly, I call upon the state legislators to seriously participate in restoring community control and supporting true democracy. They have allowed the Mayor too much power.

Listen up, mayor and the NY Times

The Times ran an editorial last week, "Parents need to know", which claimed that NYC parents didn't understand how the weak state exams had been "shortchanging students" and that they did their "children no favor" when they disrupted a Panel for Education Policy meeting on Monday. This was after the PEP chair, David Chang, refused to let them speak in response to a long, deceptive power point that claimed, despite the collapse of the state test score bubble collapse, that the schools had made great progress.

The editorial also excused the state test score inflation by stating, "Weak state tests are a chronic problem throughout the country — one that education departments are only beginning to come to grips with." Oh please. The NY test score inflation has been obvious to nearly all objective observers since at least 2007, despite the fact that it conveniently allowed the mayor to claim great improvements during his campaigns for the renewal of mayoral control and re-election, illusions that were bought hook line and sinker by the mayor's allies on the Times and the other editorial boards.

The editorial ended by claiming that the schools have nevertheless been "narrowing the performance gap between white and minority students." Yet the gold standard, the national exams called the NAEPs, show no narrowing of the achievement gap in any grade or subject since the Klein regime began. Truly, the Times editors "need to know" and start living in the real world, for they, along with the chancellor and mayor, have lost all credibility, and should stop criticizing parents while displaying their ignorance of what's really going on in our schools.Our mayor, who famously said people could "boo him at parades" if people didn't like his educational policies, will likely see more booing of his Panel of Eight Puppets in the months to come, unless he wakes up and starts to listen.