The NY Post has yet another oped on how great Joel Klein and charter schools are, again from Eva Moskowitz, nearly identical to her oped in the NY Sun.
In a piece worthy of any comedy routine, among the best lines are these.
"Suppose you ran a school and you had some good ideas you wanted to try. Then imagine that you couldn't try those ideas because dictating your policies were people hundreds of miles away who'd never visited your school and didn't have any experience running one."
Eva did have experience going to school, so that is why she feels she should run one. Even law makers in Albany went to schools once and have as many qualifications as Eva does. And poor Joel. He's never had the joy of running a school himself. Or a school system. But why not give him the largest school system in the nation as a playpen?
Now according to Eva, the public schools in Harlem suck. You know, all that red tape. But...but... Eva... Hasn't Joel Klein been running all these schools for 7 years? Isn't it his red tape? Here's a funnier line:
"Remarkably, Chancellor Joel Klein, despite these handicaps, has made meaningful improvements to the public schools over the last seven years. But he's being forced to fight with one hand tied behind his back."
Poor Joel, suffers with having to give teachers 50 minute lunch hours and some prep time. And health care. Now we know why all those schools in Harlem are failing. Bet those Catholic schools where teachers make half what public school teachers do are making out ok. Boy, if Joel could only get that hand untied we would really see improvements.
Just to be clear on this, Moskowitz -- CEO of Success Charter Network -- has three kids.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know how old they are and if they are of the right age to be enrolled in the charter school she's running?
If the school fits (so to speak), has she then enrolled them?
If the kids aren't the right age to go there, have any of her friends enrolled their kids at the school?
Have even any of her colleagues enrolled them there?
I'm serious about these questions and looking for answers.
They are not of the age to attend her school, and they do attend public elementary school
ReplyDelete...and it's pretty incredible that you are willing to question of 3,600 Harlem parents. If they weren't poor and mostly African-American, I wonder if you'd be questioning their wisdom and calling the leader of the schools they want "evil." This smacks of the sort of arrogance that black people encounter all the time when white people try to dictate how they should want to live.
ReplyDeleteWow, this post is way off! First off, teachers unions do cause problems! I say this as a member of a teacher's union myself. These unions are inflated bureaucracies that protect INEFFECTIVE teachers. Need proof? Teach at an inner city school for a year and watch how people who have no business calling themselves educators stay in the classroom to the detriment of their students.
ReplyDeleteSomeone needs to have the courage and power to fire these people and replace them with passionate, data and results driven teachers. Guess who prevents that from happening? Teachers' Unions! That's exactly the problem with teacher's unions. They don't realize that while they represent teachers, their actions ultimately affect the education (or miseducation) of thousands of children.
Oh and real mature by mocking Moskowitz for losing an election that was practically bought for Stringer by the union. So she lost! Big deal. At least she has moved on to actually create the change our city schools need. What has Stringer done to help our school kids?
What really irks me is whenever there is someone out there with new ideas and a passion and mission for real education reform he/she is always shut down by the naysayers who claim to have the interest of "the poor kids" in mind. Please, get off your high horse! All the parents (and grandparents) I know that actually send their children to these charter schools feel so fortunate and happy that their kids are getting a chance at a good education that would otherwise not be available to them. So before you try and speak for these families, why don't you actually get to know them first.
This kind of "I-know-what's-best-for-public-schools-and-inner-city-kids" nonsense is just as annoying as when veteran teachers and principals resent groups like Teach for America and the NY Teaching Fellows for filling the vacancies in their schools that would otherwise be filled with inept and pessimistic teachers.
Here's another tip...Go and visit the Harlem Success Academy and then form your own opinion as to whether it is a school that is helping or hurting kids. I bet you will see that there is nothing evil about it.
There's so much crap in your comment you need a laxative to remove it.
ReplyDeleteEva admits in the NY times article recently that they tell parents who will not give the school a lot of time that is not the place for them. Can we do that in public schools?
Check states without effective teacher unions and see how the education system works. Not too well.
'passionate, data and results driven teachers'
ReplyDeleteSounds like a pr machine quote to me. I've taught for many, many years in an inner city schools and a good school leader does not tolerate lousy teachers no matter what.
By the way -data and results- how chilling.
How about teachers who create creative thinkers and people who learn how to think for themselves as opposed to spitting out rhetoric that they've been indoctrinated to hear?
Lord save us from the brainwashed robots!