Talk Out of School

Daniel Alicea interviewed long-time radical activist, teacher, writer, and scholar, Dr. Sam Anderson about the struggle for community control of the school governance of New York City public schools. We discussed the trajectory from the experiment of Ocean Hill-Brownsville to decentralization from 1969-2002, and the advent of present-day mayoral control of NYC schools.

NY1, NYC phasing out separate gifted classes NYTimes on Local 372workers: They Kept Schools Running as Covid Raged: ‘We Had to Be Here’ NY State & NYC Joint Education Committee Oct. 5 hearings on the city's spending of additional state and federal aid to schools Class Size Matters testimony at the state hearings 

Resources:  Audrey Watters new book, published by MIT Press, “ Teaching Machines: The History of Personalized Learning ”   Latest NY Times article on the current state of the vaccine mandate for teachers and school staff New New York State Senate bill requiring a remote learning option for NYC students and AM NY article about it NYC Public School Parents on the new interim computerized assessments...

Resources: NYC DOE school reopening plan Class Size Matters testimony on the plan The Major Problems with NYC's School Reopening Plan Video: Rabbis urging vaccination Air purification: Intellipure model that DOE purchased for $43 million lacks HEPA filters, and independent experts rank the model among the most expensive and least efficient on the market. Testing protocol : Los Angeles schools are...

Press NYC - http://pressnyc.org Osterholm Update: COVID-19 -  https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/podcasts-webinars/episode-66

Resources: NY Times -  As Schools Prepare to Reopen Fully, Covid Safety Rules Are in Flux Mark Cannizzaro, CSA President - Letter to Mayor de Blasio Chalkbeat - ‘A two-tiered level of safety’: Some NYC schools can follow social distancing, others cannot NY Times - Los Angeles and Chicago schools to mandate teacher vaccinations Joanne Golann - Scripting the Moves, Princeton Univ. Press Uncommon Sch...

UFT: 50 Years:  https://www.uft.org/files/attachments/uft-50-years-book.pdf   The Teacher Rebellion by David Selden   https://www.amazon.com/Teacher-Rebellion-David-Selden/dp/0882582356   Schools Against Children: The Case for Community Control   https://www.amazon.com/Schools-Against-Children-Community-Control/dp/0853451621   Blackboard Unions  by Marjorie Murphy   https://www.amazon.com/Blackboa...

The new City Council class size bill ( Int. No. 2374 ) The 72 schools in the DOE’s “class size” pilot Five myths of Mayoral Control Information on vaccination sites next week in schools for children 12 and up Contract for Excellence hearings next week, including their locations Talking points for parents and teachers who attend these hearings  

------------------- Resources: - UFT: 50 Years:  https://www.uft.org/files/attachments/uft-50-years-book.pdf - The Teacher Rebellion by David Selden https://www.amazon.com/Teacher-Rebellion-David-Selden/dp/0882582356 - Schools Against Children: The Case for Community Control by Anne Rubenstein https://www.amazon.com/Schools-Against-Children-Community-Control/dp/0853451621 - Blackboard Unions  by M...

Resources: Gotham Gazette, In Mayoral Primary, Spending in Support of Adams More Than Combined Total for Garcia and Wiley on how Eric Adams campaign benefitted from millions spent by pro-charter school PAC Chalkbeat, NYC’s budget deal pilots smaller class sizes, dedicates millions to COVID learning loss NYC DOE summary of their Academic Recovery Plan Tom Loveless’ book, Between the State and the S...

Resources: -  The Right Has Chosen Critical Race Theory as Its New Boogeyman to Scare Voters – by David E Kirkland - Honesty on critical race theory – by Dianne Ravitch - What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is It Under Attack? - By Stephen Sawchuk 

Resources: Class Size Matters’  video  on why class sizes should be reduced in NYC schools Bronx Parent Leaders Advocacy Group Facebook page The group’s  concerns  and a Chalkbeat  article  on their advocacy. Ross Barkan’s new  book , The Prince: Andrew Cuomo, Coronavirus, and the Fall of New York Ross Barkan's newsletter,  Political Currents

Resources: NYC Public School Parents -  Controversy Over Comments of Mayoral Candidate Eric Adams on Class Size Class Size Matters - Report with charts comparing positions of Mayoral candidates on public education DYCD -  Info on how to apply for Summer School NY Daily News -  NYC school officials struggle to plan for fall school opening — task ‘extremely difficult’ and sometimes ‘impossible’

Resources: Citizens' Committee for Children  Survey of NYC Youth How to urge legislative leaders  to pass  A. 7447 / S.6296 , the bill that would require NYC schools to start lowering class size. Advocates for Children new report,  Police Response to Students in Emotional Crisis Call Advocates for Children of New York’s Helpline number at (866) 427-6033 , Mon-Thursday 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.for any f...

Resources: Mayor de Blasio’s  announcement  on Morning Show that there would be no remote learning option next year NYC Chancellor Meisha Porter’s  letter to families  about DOE reopening plans Randi Weingarten’s May 13 speech, Return, Recover and Reimagine: Toward A Renaissance in America's Public Schools.  Video here ,  transcript here. Gothamist,  Social Distancing Requirements Will Be Pivotal...

Resources: Registration  for NYC Kids PAC Parent Action Conference co-sponsored with Class Size Matters NYC Kids PAC website Information on voting in NYC  with deadlines for registration etc.

Resources: Panel for Educational Policy agenda  for May 18 meeting and  contract list ; instructions on how to listen or  comment here . Daily News article on proposed closure of PS 88 in the Bronx. NY Times 2006 profile  of Kathleen Cashin and her work as a Superintendent and Regional Superintendent. Regent Cashin’s  op-ed  on what happened in her schools when class size was reduced.

Resources: Danny Dromm’s activism in  advocating for gay rights  and on  the Rainbow Curriculum Mayor de Blasio’s  budget proposal for FY 2022 City Council’s  budget response Regent Kathy Cashin’s  Daily News op-ed  on the importance of lowering class size NYS Senate bill  S. 6296  to require NYC to update their class size reduction plan Class Size Matters report on DOE over-payments for charter s...

Resources: Mayor de Blasio’s agreement to  fully fund schools’ Fair Student Funding  (FSF) formula next year Local Law 17 of 2019  to create a Fair Student Funding Task Force that would release a report by Sept. 30, 2019 with recommendations on how to improve the FSF formula; which was never released Testimony of Shino Tanikawa , member of the FSF Taskforce, on how the FSF formula discourages smal...

Resources: Daily News - More state foundation aid funding for the next three years Daily News - Parental consent required for state tests in NYC schools this year Gotham Gazette - NYC Dept. of Education overspending on charter school rent and underspending on matching funds to public schools President Biden’s proposal on increasing federal aid to schools Class Size Matters/NYC Kids PAC on how addi...

Resources:  New Class Size Matters report  on overspending on charter facilities and underspending on public school matching funds Daily News article ; and  WCBS TV segment  on the lack of matching funds. AQE:  Send a letter to Gov. Cuomo and state leaders  on protecting students in the state budget by taxing the ultra-wealthy More on  Outward Bound NYC public schools , including  MS 839 . Gothami...

Resources:  Class Size Matters  testimony  on why DOE should use federal funds to lower class size, for the sake of social distancing and stronger academic/social support; also our fact sheet  on the issue. Panel for Educational Policy webpage ; you can sign in here to listen and comment tonight, March 24, starting at 5:30 PM, and also next month on April 28. Tom Sheppard, PEP member can be reache...

Resources: Panel for Educational Policy meetings and agendas Panel for Educational Policy members Class Size Matters’ Testimony on the Five myths of Mayoral control

US Department of Education decision to reject states’ request for waivers from mandated standardized testing Leaked DOE memo from July 2020 on the gifted program. National polls from Morning Consult and Pew show a majority of voters believe teachers should be vaccinated before schools reopen My blog on why Biden should focus on getting teachers vaccinated rather than making them administer standar...

National poll showing majority of voters believe teachers should be vaccinated before schools reopen US Department of Education decision to reject states’ request for waivers from mandated standardized testing Politico - NYPD plan to hire 475 School Safety agents this year NY Times - Schools and districts elsewhere in the nation moving school police offers from police to school control and diverti...