Stringer Puts Patrick Sullivan Back at PEP – Ed Notes Had the Video of Stringer Offer to Sullivan a Month Ago

Anna Phillips at Gotham has a report on Patrick Sullivan's appointment to the Panel for Educational Policy by Scott Stringer. Back from the recent past, citywide panel gets first member

The first PEP meeting should be the 3rd Monday of Sept at Tweed. Plan to be there to welcome Patrick back as Klein has put his phony social promotion policy as the main item on the agenda.

We pretty much knew that from Ed Notes' interview with Stringer at PS 123 on July 10 when I asked him if he was going to appoint Sullivan and he said he would if Patrick wanted it.

Stringer emerges from PS 123 as GEMers shout, "Paint the whole school" after watching Eva Moskowitz people bring large buckets of paint into the school to paint her section.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yysHjiSOmgM


Though Stringer is to be commended for his action, that does not mean we don't keep his feet to the fire on the PS 123 situation and charter schools in general.

When the DOE ruled in HSA's favor in its invasion of PS 123 on July 9, two days after we rallied there after teachers physically prevented HSA movers from removing their stuff, we held a rally up there on the morning of July 10. Tony Avella and Scott Stringer came by.

Here is my post at that time.

UPDATE: Scott Stringer Video at PS 123 After Walk-Through and Answers Questions from GEMers

In the video Stringer emerges from PS 123 after his walk through om July 10, 2009. After a speech, members of GEM question him about the influx of charters. He tries to duck and keep it to the local situation.

Here is JW's report at the GEM blog:

GEM people asked all the right questions and made all the right points.

Stringer: "We're on the case."

Stringer: "We're going to work."

But, they haven't been on the case, and they're only going to get on it if it becomes politically expedient.

You could tell there's a long way to go after Norm Scott asked:

"If Bloomberg and Klein run the schools for 7 years, they're in charge of every school, how do they manage to push the idea of a charter school, which basically absolves them of the responsibility.

In other words, isn't that an admission of their failure if they say that public schools are failing and they need charter schools. Isn't there a contradiction in that very concept?"

Stringer dodged it, claiming his purpose that morning was to see what's going on at 123 and try to figure out a solution.

Stringer: "Today's not about THAT fight."

Of course it isn't — to him. Because he and his colleagues on the City Council have watched privatization for seven years, first with the Gates money and now with the charters. The flood of no-bid contracts, non-educator corporate ideology, and inflated PR teams are not new, and it's obvious these people have bought into the process. In fact, it's in their interest to let their constituents, not to mention the entire nation, believe that the NYC school system is a model of "accountability" and "transparency," with scores going "up" and graduation rates "on the rise."


The fight that Stringer sidelined at Scott's question is the fight, no two ways about it. And it's going to have to get much louder before elected officials like Stringer get down with making quality facilities equal for all public school kids.

— JW