Posts Tagged 'Michael Bloomberg'

Special Education

Published May 8, 2015 New York CIty Department of Education Closed
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Special Ed for 12 years under Bloomberg was devastated. It was if he took a bulldozer to special education under the guise of reform. Children with special needs suffered the most.

Klein empowered principals and ignored children, emboldening incompetent principals. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, it is impermissible to recommend services based on the availability of the program or personnel, space, budget or administrative convenience. But that is what happened.

Under de Blasio and Fariña, it should be possible to reverse the damage done to thousands of children during the Bloomberg years of neglect. But there needs to be real, enforced controls on principals piling extra work on special education teachers and professionals without providing adequate time. And our students with special needs should be freed from Cuomo and Tisch’s cruel testing requirements.

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Special Ed under Bloomberg

Published July 22, 2014 New York , New York CIty Department of Education Closed
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(from the New Action leaflet distributed at the June 2014 Delegate Assembly).
For a printable version click: June 2014 Leaflet Front and back

Special Ed Under Bloomberg

“I want you to love your job again.” These were the words of Carmen Fariña to special education teachers, school psychologists, social workers, speech therapists and other related service providers.

Special Education for 12 years under Bloomberg has been devastated, to say the least. It was if Bloomberg took a bulldozer to special education under the guise of reform. And the children with special needs suffered the most.

Children’s’ needs were totally ignored in the interest of cutting the budget. Klein empowered incompetent principals who had no time for individual students’ special needs. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, it is impermissible to recommend services based on the availability of the program or personnel, space, budget or administrative convenience.

Bloomberg’s policies on special education bordered on child abuse and neglect! Often parents and staff had to advocate for the appropriate programs and related services for their children through the Special Education Complaint Form. Impartial Hearings spiked 300%. Caseloads for school psychologists and school social workers increased considerably, causing a rise in work disputes! Increased paperwork and SESIS forced special education teachers and providers of related services to interact more with computer monitors than with children.

Under the new de Blasio Administration and new Chancellor Carmen Fariña, it should be possible to reverse the damage done to thousands of children during the Bloomberg years of neglect. We need directives from the new administration to reverse the Bloomberg era abuses. Then, with the proper funding for programs, services and materials, the most vulnerable in our system may finally receive the services that will best serve their needs, and teachers, school psychologists, social workers, speech therapists and other providers can again love their jobs.

Mayoral Control – The Verdict is in!

Published October 28, 2012 New Action , New York CIty Department of Education , NYC Closed
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(from the June 2012 Delegate Assembly)
Click Leaflet 2012 June for printable version

The Bloomberg/Klein years have been an absolute disaster for education, our members, our students, our parents, our communities, and our schools. For New York City educators the verdict is in – we cannot suffer three more years of mayoral “mis” control of our schools. The last time the UFT faced this question, we put together a Task Force. It engaged 1,200 educators, parents, students, elected officials and community groups in numerous public hearings. The Task Force concluded that its primary goal was “passing legislation in Albany which will change the system of governance to make it work better students, for teachers and for schools.”

The Task Force recommended:

 

  • Checks and Balances to prevent abuses of power in the current system
  • Real Voice for Teachers, Parents and the Community to restore school and district leadership teams to the rightful place as leaders of educational and budgetary decision-making.
  • Rule of Law to stop the DOE from simply ignoring the parts of state law it finds inconvenient.;
  • Transparency and Accountability to end DOE’s practices of. arbitrary school closings and other secretive practices.


But after the Task Force recommendation, President Weingarten agreed to give the mayor absolute control over the PEP which has decided the fate of scores of schools.

The UFT is NOW reconstituting the Task Force to examine mayoral control.

NEW ACTION HAS ALREADY CONCLUDED THERE’S BEEN ENOUGH “TINKERING” WITH MAYORAL CONTROL.We call for an end to mayoral control of the school system. We should not place our faith in the next “friendly education” mayor. We are calling for an end to mayoral control!

We do not oppose the call for another Task Force. They may come to the same conclusion. HOWEVER, New Action will not participate in yet another Task Force.

It is in the interest of the educational community to conclude that mayoral control of the schools has been a disaster. We call for an independent panel of people, fairly and democratically chosen with background and knowledge in education. The precise make-up of the new panel should be determined after broad discussion and consultation with all stakeholders.

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Content of signed articles and comments represents the opinions of their authors. The views expressed in signed articles are not necessarily the views of New Action/UFT.
March 2023
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