Number of NYC schools with coronavirus-infected staffers rises to 150

The number of NYC schools where staffers have tested positive for COVID-19 ballooned to 150, including 108 where infected staffers came into contact with colleagues.

DOE officials again refused to disclose the total number of  teachers and administrators who have been quarantined for 14 days since reporting to buildings on Sept. 8

At IS 51 Edwin Markham in Staten Island, about 70 staffers — more than the 50 previously admitted — are now forced to isolate until Oct. 1.,  teachers told The Post.

“It was a s–t show,” said a source familiar with the coronavirus catastrophe. About half the faculty and all administrators have been exiled. “No one is running the school.”..

https://nypost.com/2020/09/26/number-of-nyc-schools-with-coronavirus-infected-staffers-hits-150/

The short list for NYC’s next schools chief

...Outsiders:
Josh Starr, the ex-superintendent of Montgomery County, Md., and Stamford, Conn., schools was a runner-up to Fariña last time and is still a national leader in progressive education administration circles. He possesses New York roots and played a brief role as school-accountability czar during the Bloomberg administration...

https://nypost.com/2018/01/15/the-short-list-for-nycs-next-schools-chief/

April 3rd: Cybercivility Task force meetings are open to the public

The new Cybercivility Task Force will meet for the first time to help MCPS develop strategies, identify resources and develop tools for schools, parents and community members that encourage conversations about cybercivility.  

The task force consists of 40 students, parents, staff and community members. Its members represent a wide range of expertise and interests and reflect the diversity of the MCPS community. MCPS received more than 220 applications. 

The first meeting will take place on Thursday, April 3, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the media center of Richard Montgomery High School. The task force meetings are open to the public and regular updates will be posted on the Cybercivility webpage. 

NYC Superintendent of Schools Vows to Get Rid of "Learning Cottages" within Five Years

Kudos to Carmen Farina.  The new Superintendent of NYC schools publicly vows to get rid of all of those awful trailers -or in MCPS speak - the "learning cottages" within five years.

In the nation's largest school system, more than 7000 school children are learning in portable, temporary spaces.  Ms. Farina acknowledges the tough budget situation in NY, and all the challenges that accompany her new job.

A snip from the article:

Shortly after he took office, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg vowed that New York City would get rid of all “transportable classroom units” by 2012. But today, 7,158 students, most of them in the beginning grades, are still learning in them, a testament to the struggle to keep up with rapid neighborhood growth, as well as to the magical powers of Liquid Nails and duct tape.

Undaunted by the city’s failures, the new schools chancellor, Carmen Fariña, has vowed to rid the schools of trailers within five years, though, at the same time, she is also trying to find space for thousands more students expected to enter the system as Mayor Bill de Blasio expands prekindergarten. And the state budget deal reached last week is quite likely to make the task even harder, since it compels the city to find room in public school buildings for new charter schools, or help pay for their space costs. 

You can read more here.

The [then] mayor is behind the effort to get kids out of trailers?   And the school system is BUYING more land?

Amazing.

Even if the space shortage isn't totally solved, at least in NYC they are really trying.

Hey Ike and Josh - can you make the same commitment to the students of Montgomery County Maryland?  

.@mcpssuper How to Apologize: Anne Arundel Co. School Superintendent Sorry for Weather Call

“There is no question that if we had it to do over again, we would arrive at a different outcome. I certainly regret the way things played out Friday morning, and I pledge to you that we will work harder than ever to try to ensure such an unfortunate situation doesn’t arise again.”

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Anne-Arundel-Co-School-Superintendent-Sorry-for-Weather-Call-239758571.html?_osource=SocialFlowFB_DCBrand

NYPost: Schools Chancellor Candidate [Joshua Starr] Under Fire

One of the candidates being eyed by Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio to become the city’s next schools chancellor is under fire from Maryland parents for failing to aggressively crack down on teachers accused of molesting students.
Montgomery County Superintendent Joshua Starr faces questions over his school district’s handling of a music teacher who was charged in August with sexually abusing 14 female students in a kindergarten-to-second-grade elementary school over an eight year period...

continues at link:

http://nypost.com/2013/12/09/schools-chancellor-candidate-under-fire/

Parents Protest Pearson

Finally.

Parents are saying "no" to Pearson tests.  Instead of having their children participate in field testing of Pearson exams, parents are keeping their kids home.

The objection?  They want tests that evaluate whether a student knows the material taught - and not whether or not the teacher stays employed.

Well done parents.

Don't you just love the Big Apple Parents?  

MoCo parents - take a lesson.

From the article:

“I want my school to use tests to help instruction, to help find out if kids don’t know fractions,” she said. “I don’t want my child to feel like her score will decide if her teacher has a job or not.”

Ms. Chajet is one of a small but growing number of parent activists in New York City opposed to the system’s emphasis on high-stakes testing. Many of them took part in a boycott of the field tests in June, when parents at 47 public elementary and middle schools of the 1,029 tested had their children sit them out. In their eyes, it was a win-win situation: Children who skipped the field tests did not risk punitive action or potential harm to their school’s grade on the city’s progress reports, while their parents could make a statement against the tests.

Read the rest here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/education/dear-teacher-johnny-isnt-sick-hes-just-boycotting-the-test.html

Artificial Turf: NYC Steps Up

The New York Times is reporting that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has signed a bill that...

"requires the parks and health departments to work together in ensuring a thorough review of materials going into future playing fields. The new law also establishes a nine-member advisory committee, appointed by the mayor and the City Council speaker, which will review the type of material proposed for any playing field and make suggestions for alternate materials. Its recommendations will be nonbinding but will be posted online."

This is good news for the children of New York, and the waterways that are the recipients of the lead, carcinogens, heavy metals and other material that drain into the water with the used ground rubber tire material (GRT) from which these turf fields are manufactured.  To find out how much GRT is in your field, search 'Artificial Turf' on this blog and read through the articles.  And to see what it looks like, well, just take a look at the photo here.

Oh, and that icky black stuff all over your kids' sneakers? the stuff that gets on the rug? That is the carcinogenic artificial turf being tracked into your home.

Kudos to the Safe, Healthy Playing Fields Coalition in Montgomery County (MD) for working on this public health issue.  Now, its time for the Montgomery County Council to step up.