De Blasio-A Bloomberg Clone?

De Blasio was standing at the podium talking about the state of emergency and telling everyone who did not have to go out to stay home.  After much BS he got to schools.  From what I gathered, in his mind, schools are day care centers for people who need safe places for their children while they work.

CBS news was great.  While he rambled on about how the city was up and operating fine, they kept showing stalled trucks, cars sliding all over the place, parents struggling to get to school and a jackknifed bus on Queens Blvd.

The arrogance he and Farina showed was no better than the arrogance Bloomberg and Walcott showed during their reign of abuse.  If this is any indication of what the next four years will be like, the city is still in trouble.

Dennis Walcott College Office

I've been thinking and maybe I have been wrong.  Since Walcott became chancellor so many kids have walked through those college office doors, kids who never would have done so before.  True, they could barely read and write.  They knew no arithmetic.  They took bogus on line classes, had friends complete computer assignments and got rewarded with parties for just showing up.  They believed everyone owed them and that all they had to do was breathe to graduate, but they did graduate and go on to college.  Under Walcott, colleges are filled with remedial classes, more than ever before.  Few graduate, but hey, he was not a college chancellor so that as not his responsibility.

Under Walcott the college office has been turned into a joke.  Even bright kids are not prepared for university study because high school does nothing.  To get everyone to pass, courses were watered down to nothing.  Kids did not learn study and thinking skills.  Passing was a snap, no studying was required.  I know so many who flunked courses their freshman year because of this lack of preparedness (and don't forget the ones who failed because they had no business being in college in the first place.)

Then again, there could also be a Dennis Walcott Trailer Park of Education.  There is mold, faulty bathrooms, leaky ceilings and plenty of other unsavory conditions.  He also excelled in keeping up the quality of the education environment.

Jeff Spielvogel College Office

I just heard about something very disturbing.  It seems the college office at a large neighborhood school is being named after Walcott, a man who did nothing but puts his lips to Bloomberg's rear and lower the standards of NYC high school graduates.  Oh wait, he did more.  He instituted policies that drove experienced, excellent teachers form the classroom, put young incompetents in charge and insisted proven innocent teachers were sex perverts.

Many years ago the college office had a fantastic counselor, Jeff Spielvogel.  He was the only college counselor and worked long hours advising and helping students.  He also ran AP exams, was in charge of graduation and ARISTA and I am sure lots more that only he and his staff knew about.

Jeff Spielvogel did more for this school than Walcott but he wasn't a politician.  No one would gain politically for naming the office after him.  And, that is sad.  The truly great ones go unnoticed.

Walcott is a graduate of that school, but that does not mean it needs to honor him and, if the people in charge of the naming have any morals, they will reconsider this and name the office for a person who honored it.

Walcott Dry Your Crocodile Tears And Face Facts

 



Newsflash to Dennis Walcott--in his too long term, Bloomberg has made the level of education in this city an all time low.  Walcott should dry his tears and look at the system today and compare it to the one that educated his children and, if he can't see a difference, he needs to go back to school.

Back when Walcott's daughter was a student at Francis Lewis HS, learning mattered.  She had to go to class, do homework and pass rigorous regents exams.  If she didn't cut it, there were repeater classes and summer school.  There was no boot camp and no chances to get her friends or to pay someone to answer online questions for her.  She worked and her teachers made sure she worked and learned.  I'm not sure, but  she might have been in an algebra class of mine.  I don't think Walcott would have had any problem with the quality of education she received.  And, since she is a success today, that reinforces what I am writing here.

Many kids today graduate without being able to perform simple arithmetic operations, write a coherent paragraph, or even be able to read.  Under fear of having their schools closed, Principal's are getting everyone out.  Kids are taking 8 regular classes, 2 after school classes, Saturday classes and then doing credit recovery work online.  None of this makes any sense.  A child who could not do well with 5 classes certainly can't handle a course load like this.  My former AP thinks every teacher should be able to have 100% of their classes passing.  This is hardly a reasonable goal.  I've had kids say to me, "If I don't pass, you can get fired."  Teachers have to pass them, whether they deserve to pass or not.

Bloomberg's reign has created an era of entitled students who think showing up half the time is enough.  I see this in the college.  The secretary told me the tale of students walking in, demanding to see the chairperson because their teacher refuses to give them extra credit to make up the homework they did not hand in, the tests they failed and the classes they missed.

I'm not a teacher worried about my job.  I've left the system.  I've had enough with the bull that passes for education reform.  I've had enough of the bright kids getting mediocre educations so everyone can pass.

Walcott, wake up and listen to those Democratic mayoral candidates.  I've been in the system.  They know what they are talking about.

Racial Divide In Education



Proctoring a remedial final I look up and see seven black faces, seven Hispanic faces and one from southeast Asia. Hey Bloomberg and Walcott, exactly what is it you did to fix the racial divide in NYC schools? I'm not seeing things too equitably now.

DOE Hot Shots

Saw this sign and thought of all the people running the DOE right now.

RTTB

I covered a friend's remedial math class in the local community college this week.  This class consists of September's freshman who did not pass the math entrance exam.  The school offers them a five-week FREE opportunity to take this non credit course, a course which would cost the equivalent of a 5 credit course, so they can start working on their degree immediately.  Some of them realize what a gift they have been given and are diligently working to master the material they did not learn in high school.  (Thank-you Bloomberg for the education you have provided.)   Unfortunately, there are others that are just going along their merry way, following the path they were on in high school, assuming that things will still be given to them and they will be passed along no matter what. One boy arrived an hour late for a three-hour class and then had the audacity to sneak out early.  Several turned a 15 minute break into a 35 minute break and were annoyed that I began teaching while they were out.  Most expected me to hand them graph paper.  When I explained the homework assignment on the back of the curriculum they had received, many said they never got it.  One girl spilled her juice and then disappeared for 40 minutes.  I thought she had gone for paper towels (which would have taken less than five minutes to find) but returned with empty hands.



My buddy Chaz just posted about a young man, a recent high school graduate who never learned a thing about responsibility and was fired from a job he needed to support his son. The RTTT and NCLB has created a nation not even fit to pour coffee.  Something must be done quick or America will find itself enslaved to the rest of the world. 

WALCOTT--SHOW YOUR STUFF AND DO SOMETHING TO CHANGE THIS TREND IN EDUCATION.  YOU ARE A NYC HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE.  YOUR CHILDREN WENT TO NYC PUBLIC SCHOOLS.  STOP BLINDLY FOLLOWING BLOOMBERG.  HELP SAVE THIS CITY'S FUTURE..

Something Is Wrong



When a chancellor says there are times a 7-year old should be handcuffed.  While he will look into the matter, the Principal will not be removed.

Not saying she should be, but how can he make a blanket statement like that before looking into the incident.

NYC--we are in big trouble with people like this leading our education system.