US Education Secretary: NY Needs Charter School Reform

Mayor Bloomberg visits Kings Collegiate Charter School with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. (Spencer T. Tucker)

US Education Secretary Arne Duncan visited some of the top charter schools in Brooklyn yesterday, calling them models for national education. "You guys are about the best. You're amazing," he told the Kings Collegiate charter school. "This is the most wonderful school. You're setting an example for the entire country." Duncan, who is backing legislation that would put billions towards saving teachers jobs, said that charter school reform is necessary if New York wants to win Race to the Top funding, the deadline for which is June 1st. He told the Post, "This is an extraordinarily close competition. In the first round, New York lost 13 points [on federal grading of applications]. Does New York want to [just] compete or does New York want to win?"

Duncan's visit didn't come without its fair share of controversy. The American Federation of Teachers was upset that Duncan had included PS 65 on his itinerary. Several teachers have left the school in the past year, claiming principal Daysi Garcia was disrespectful. We hear it's like a straight up Fight Club in there! Members of the United Federation of Teachers also handed out pamphlets titled "A Tale of Two Schools," pointing out that students at IS 588, which shares a building with Kings Collegiate, did not score nearly as high as their charter school peers, and argued there needed to be reform that addressed the achievement gap.

The state Senate has already approved a measure that would raise the cap on charter schools, but it still needs to pass the Assembly and get signed by Governor Paterson before the June 1st Race to the Top deadline. Mayor Bloomberg also supports the bill, and so does one Kings Collegiate fifth-grader, who called getting more home work "Awesome!" Kids these days...

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By Jaya Saxena in News on May 19, 2010 2:56 PM

Comments [rss]

Polemicist

What we need is a federal law that bans the unionization of government workers.

Irrespective of how this will actually help us reform the educational leviathan, it's necessary for our continuing deflationary depression.

Teachers must make less as everyone else makes less. There is no time to argue with unions.

btw, watch the film The Cartel. The teachers union in New Jersey is hilarious! To think these parasites think this game is going to continue.

BDS=(Boycott.Divest.Sanction)

ahh Kids these days...

Jaya, you're good at cheer leading the party line but you need to work on skeptism and critical thinking. Maybe Signlore can you help you.

http://scienceblogs.com/mikethemadbiologist/2010/05/charter_schools_and_privatizat.php

http://nycrubberroomreporter.blogspot.com/2010/01/juan-gonzales-on-nyc-charter-school.html

fuboy

This kind of makes sense. Mayor B. takes control of the school system, lowers standards, screws with administration and has test scores manipulated. So, NYC public schools start looking horrible.

Now, charter schools are the only good options for students because he's crippled the public system, and the city will have to pay far less to educate the population.

Good long term plan for an evil overlord.

markedman

Haha yeah, cause NYC public schools looked great before Bloomberg.

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

They aren't any better and now that he privatized the systems, classes are overcrowded and some even taught in trailers why developers and hedge funds make a bundle of charter schools. Look at the European countries with the best math and sciences and they are all public not private schools.