New York City Drops Loser School Strategy

In a clear repudiation of everything that Gates, Broad, and the Waltons stand for, New York City officials have returned to some semblance of sanity after a long reign of educational terrorism.  

May the contagion spread.  From the NYTimes:

Mayor de Blasio Won't Back Down from Support for Public Schools

Despite a multi-million ad campaign by corporate welfare queen, Eva Moskowitz, and tough rhetoric from the Wall Street's charter empire stooge, Governor Cuomo, the Mayor will not back down.  

From the Wall Street Journal:

In a speech at Riverside Church in Harlem, the mayor said he failed to clearly lay out his decision in February to approve more than a dozen charter schools but roll back the expansion of three that were approved in 2013 under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“I didn’t measure up when it came to explaining those decisions to the people of this city,” Mr. de Blasio said, adding that he sought to “shake up the foundation” of education in New York City.

After enduring weeks of blowback from charter school advocates and their supporters, the mayor said he would “work in good faith” with charter schools.

At the same time, he doubled-down on his plan to focus resources on traditional public schools, a significant shift from the Bloomberg administration.

“The answer is not to find an escape route that some can follow and others can’t,” he said, referring to charter schools, which serve about 6% of the city’s 1.1 million school children. “The answer is to fix the entire system.”

From the pulpit Sunday, Mr. de Blasio worked to take control of the issue’s narrative. He spoke in conciliatory terms and called for New Yorkers to come together to solve what he said is a crisis in public education.

. . . . .

De Blasio: Not Just Another Bullshitter

It has to feel like Spring in New York in the middle of a snowstorm:  a progressive mayor elected to serve the people that Wall Street predators and casino capitalists forgot.  From DNAInfo New York:

". . . . De Blasio sparked a political showdown earlier this month by rejecting Cuomo's offer to provide $1.5 billion for universal pre-K across the state over the next five years. Instead of using state funds to create thousands of new pre-K seats in the city, de Blasio wants to increase taxes on the city's most affluent residents, which he said would guarantee a more reliable funding stream.

Some education advocates, as well as de Blasio insiders, say the mayor is wise not to rely on state-based universal pre-K funding, since Albany has a long history of making pre-K promises it can't keep.

The advocates say Cuomo's $1.5 billion promise sounds worryingly similar to commitments made by former governors Pataki, Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson that fell through as budget priorities changed.

In 1997, Pataki promised hundreds of millions of dollars to fund universal pre-K across the state starting the following year, pledging a seat for every 4-year-old within four years.

However, by the 2001-02 school year, the state was spending just $207.4 million on universal pre-K, less than half of what was originally supposed to be allocated, according to a report by the Citizens Budget Commission. . . . ."

NYC Parents' Message to Bill De Blasio

Will he hear their voices?