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DL21C's Education Committee provides its participants with an in-depth
look at NYC's education system through exposure to leading education
advocates, reformers and policy makers. The goal is to increase
our knowledge of the system, its players and reform options so that
we may effect positive change for NYC children.
DL21C's Education Commitee is a small subset of DL21C's membership
that meets regularly in informal settings to have in-depth discussions
with policy advocates, public officials, political operatives and
community leaders who are specialists in an aspect of the public
education system of The City of New York. The goal of the committee
is to to mobilize an informed pro-public education constituency
and effect positive change. Please join us in our venture to work
our way through this notoriously complicated, but critically important,
part of our government.
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DL21C's Education Committee is in the process of planning and
organizing events for the 2007-08 school year. Topics include:
- Another Re-Org: True Innovation or Re-Arranging the Deck Chairs?
- Charter Schools: Any Impact?
- Schools within Schools: The Small School Movement Gets Big
- Green Schools
- Economics and Education
- Teacher Retention and Recruitment
- What Happened to Vocational Ed?
"Calling NYS Senators to Make a Decision on Education Funding"
On April 6, 2006, DL21c partnered with Citizen Action of New York (CANY) and the Alliance for Quality Education (AQE) for an evening of high impact phone-banking.
After our March 2 event with Melorra Sochet, Deputy Director to the NYC Council's Commission on the CFE lawsuit, and our March 16 phone-banking session where we connected numerous New Yorkers directly with their state senator's offices, the DL21C Education Committee is energized and on the move!
In case you have not heard yet, in reaction to the Campaign for Fiscal Equity ("CFE") lawsuit, the State's highest court ruled that NYC schools have been systematically underfunded by the State and gave the legislature a year to remedy this injustice by reforming the state's education funding system. Governor Pataki and the Senate Republican Majority refused to address the Court order. The impasse on this issue led to a complete breakdown of the legislative process in 2004 and the latest state budget in history.
In an effort to make sure that the Court's recommendations are heeded by the Legislature, AQE is undertaking a multi-tiered grassroots organizing effort in targeted swing Senate districts in New York State . The goal is to force the State Senate to pass legislation implementing the court order statewide by calling citizens that are constituents of State Senators who oppose school funding reform. The calls are effective and fun. With the automated dialing systems, the people we call get immediately patched through to the State Senator's Office by pushing a button. At the end of the evening shifts, their voicemail boxes are full, and at the end of an afternoon shift, we've bombarded with so many calls the office can barely function - if this doesn't compel them to fund our city's schools, nothing will!
For more information on the Alliance for Quality Education, please visit their website at www.aqeny.org. For more information on the Campaign for Fiscal Equity court case, please visit www.cfequity.org
Melorra Sochet on the CFE Lawsuit
On Wednesday, March 2nd, the DL21C Education Committee hosted "The Campaign For Fiscal Equity (CFE) Lawsuit: A Once In A Life Time Opportunity to Improve NYC Schools" featuring Melorra Sochet, Deputy Director, New York City Council Commission of CFE.
The CFE case has been caught in legislative and judicial battles for more than 10 years. In the latest round of judicial decisions, a three member panel of referees recommended that New York State provide NYC, on an annual basis, with an additional $5.6 billion dollars in operational funds. Just last week, the referees determinations were affirmed by the trial court judge.
Come and learn about the CFE case and hear how the City Council's CFE Commission is developing a meaningful educational reform plan for NYC.
Prior to her current position, Melorra Sochet worked as a Senior Assistant Child Advocate at New Jersey 's Office of the Child Advocate, a Fellow at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a Senior Planner at the Vera Institute of Justice and a Senior Staff Attorney at the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights.
Randi Weingarten on Education Reform
On Thursday, February 3rd, theDL21C Education Committee hosted Randi Weingarten, President, United Federation of Teachers for, "A Union Perspective on the Teacher's Contract...or Lack Thereof!"
NYC has not renewed its contract with the UFT since May of 2003. What does thismean for the teachers, schools, children and community?" Randi Weingarten, a mainstay of the New York City Education world, spoke about her point of view on Education Reform and how Mayor Bloomberg has performed on the one issue he says is most important for his reelection...Education.
Eva Moskowitz on "Ending Social Promotion"
September 22nd
"ADDRESSING THE RECENT CHALLENGES TO CHARTER SCHOOLS"
featuring Kristen Kane, CEO of the Office of New Schools and Joe Feldman, Director of Assessment and Accountability for the Office of New Schools, New York City Department of Education
About the Issue
The recent study of charter school effectiveness and the impassioned response by researchers and educators have raised awareness and interest about charter schools and their effectiveness. New York City Chancellor Joel Klein maintains that charter schools are a crucial element of his Children First initiative to reform public education in the city. The theory behind charter schools is that they allow school professionals the freedom to make responsible choices, enable us to hold these professionals accountable for their students' results and ultimately lead to a refashioning of the traditional paradigm of how schools function. Although charter schools enroll fewer than 1% of New York City 's public school students, they are both a lightening rod and a rallying point for teachers, politicians, and parents of all philosophical stripes. In this session, Kristen and Joe talked about how charters work and why the DOE believes charters have become so important to the future of New York City public schoolchildren.
About the Speakers
Kristen Kane, Chief Executive of the Office of New Schools , is responsible for the implementation of the Chancellor's new school strategy. Prior to joining the NYC Department of Education, she worked with New Schools Venture Fund developing an operating plan and investment strategy for the Charter Accelerator Fund. Before that she was an equity research analyst at JPMorgan responsible for the coverage of the K-12 education sector. She received her undergraduate degree at Yale and her M.B.A. from Stanford.
Joe Feldman, Director of Assessment and Accountability for the Office of New Schools , manages the oversight and evaluation of Chancellor-authorized charter schools. He was the founding principal of Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School in Washington D.C. , and before that was an assistant principal in New York City and a social studies teacher in Atlanta . He received his undergraduate degree from Stanford and an Ed.M from Harvard.
April 15, 2004
"Mayor Bloomberg's 'End to Social Promotion of Third Graders' --
Education Reform or Political Lip Service?"
DL21C's Education Committee hosted New York City Council Member and Education Committee Chair Eva Moskowitz, who spoke about "Mayor Bloomberg's 'End to Social Promotion of Third Graders' -- Education Reform or Political Lip Service?"
Councilmember Moskowitz gave an enlightening talk and moderated an animated discussion on the prudence of Bloomberg's plan to spend $51 million primarily on summer school for third graders who fail the citywide end-of-year exams. The councilmember basically asserted that the summer school and related investments are unlikely to make a difference. She suggested that efforts to improve literacy and other student performance measures need to start with younger students, namely kindergarten, pre-k and support for even younger children's school preparation at home. The councilmember also touched on a range of issues related to education reform, including labor union contracts, class size, and special education.
Excerpts from related articles :
NYC Schools Chancellor Joel Klein: ".'No one wants to hold students behind. So, large numbers of students are promoted even though those students are not prepared for the next grade. The result is that many students are passed through the system from one grade to another without the necessary preparation and skills. These students typically fall further and further behind until they ultimately leave school unprepared.' That assessment makes a lot of common sense. Who could be in favor of pushing students ahead without the skills needed to succeed in the following grade? The question that goes unstated by advocates of ending social promotion is whether social promotion is the cause of school failure or merely a symptom of a larger set of problems facing the schools. Experience in New York City and other large school systems suggest the latter. Previous attempts, here and elsewhere, to end social promotion have yielded marginal results at best and have served to divert attention and resources from more systemic approaches to school reform." Gotham Gazette, February 2004.
NYC Council Education Committee Chair Eva Moskowitz : "'My view of the mayor's plan [third-grade retention] is that it's too little, too late. Ours is 'Start at the beginning.' . . . There is particular enthusiasm for coming up with strategies that give kids a fighting chance earlier on." She added that the Bloomberg-Klein plan "isn't going to work.'" Village Voice, April 12, 2004 .
"In a hearing convened two weeks ago, Eva Moskowitz , (D-NY) chair of the education committee, proposed a resolution calling upon the Department of Education to reconsider. Her resolution essentially proposed that the policy remove teacher judgment and input, that test scores may not lawfully be used as the sole criterion to determine advancement within the educational system, and that the policy's tenets run contrary to a consensus of educators." Amsterdam News, March 18, 2004
"A resolution sponsored by Eva Moskowitz , the chair of the Council Education Committee, called promotions and retention decisions based solely on how a child scores on one test "a shortsighted and abusive policy that turns classrooms into 'prep centers' and runs contrary to the collective wisdom of the research community." UFT.org, April 26, 2004 .
October 16, 2003
Charlie Butts, former Ohio State Senator and President
of The
Parent-Child Home Program, spoke about the documented
benefits of providing support to parents and guardians of pre-school
aged children in economically disadvantaged communities on how to
educate and play with their children. Charlie explained how this
type of support has enormously improved high school graduation rates
for students around the country and is a viable approach to bridging
the education gap.
More on Parent-Child
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To join the Education Committee, please contact
DL21C at contact-dl21c@dl21c.org.
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