Meanwhile, it turns out that we have Mayor Bloomberg to thank….

May 16

jonpeltoEducation Reform, Malloy, Michelle Rhee, StudentsFirst , , , 25 Comments

Yup,

Despite having his own full agenda of issues, it turns out that we have Mayor Bloomberg to thank for the obnoxious television advertising blitz that Michelle Rhee and StudentsFirst ran here in Connecticut leading up to the vote on Governor Malloy’s “education reform” bill.

As you may have seen, Reuters is reporting that:

“Rhee has set up StudentsFirst as a network of interlocking lobbying groups, advocacy organizations and political action committees. By law, she does not have to disclose her donors, and she refuses to discuss her fundraising.  

But an adviser to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg confirms that he provided financial backing for Rhee’s recent push into Connecticut politics.”

See the story here:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-education-rheebre84e1oa-20120515,0,7834441.story

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  • guest

    Hmm, wonder if Bloomberg knows another (sometime) New Yorker, Stefan Pryor?
    So, a mayor of a major city can seek to influence legislation in another state?

  • guest

    So, maybe going through Bloomberg is the way Pryor avoids that bothersome conflict of interest thing:
    http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-05-07/news/18259220_1_first-charter-middle-school-mayor-bloomberg-stefan-pryor

  • Linda174

    Stefan Pryor?

    Why wasn’t this looked into more thoroughly prior to offering him the top education job in our state? Seems he is another wandering carpet bagger who uses systems and departments however he sees fit to accomplish his goals, whatever they may be….I am not so sure anymore.

    • Brutus2011

      How about Garth Harries, New Haven Public Schools reform czar, is from Bloomberg’s NYC outfit? I tell you what, these guys are serious and they are working their plan. Writing on the wall, anyone?

      • anniemil

         Yes he is! Garth Harries is a Broad Superintendents Academy graduate. One of the great 3 reformers…Broad, Gates & Waltons. Harries was chief executive for portfolio development at the New York
        City Department of Education, where he oversaw the creation and
        implementation of new opportunities and choices for students and
        families, including new Department of Education schools, new charter
        schools, and Career and Technical Education programs.Yale graduate and Stanford Law. Guess that wasn’t lucrative enough. See http://www.broadacademy.org/fellows/224_Garth+Harries.html They’re ALL connected and driven to obliterate the public in public education!!

      • jonpelto

        And they will get away with destroying our education system and our children’s future unless democrats stand up them.
        Every candidate who wants our vote needs to decide which side they are on – and the compromise is joining with the enemy.
        Sent from my BlackBerry please excuss typos

  • guest
    • Linda174

      To jump-start the effort, Abu Dhabi hired over 900 English-fluent teachers from the United States, the United Kingdom and elsewhere to team-teach with local, Arabic-fluent educators.
      Now we know where to find a job when we get fired because our value added score is not good enough and students not coming to school, due to family vacations and birthdays, is now our responsibility.

      • jonpelto

        I hear Abu Dhabi is nice this time of year…

      • guest

        But the point is that Gyurko is one of the consultants Pryor hired to work on ed reform… Gyurko, LEEDS global, DSA, Bloomberg…. all converging.

      • Linda174

        They are all connected..it is all one incestuous money pool…Bloomberg is willing to invest millions just so his initiatives in NYC are supported with similar reform movements in nearby states and then when they do fail, he wasn’t the only one who promoted charters. This is more about his already inflated ego than children, teaching and learning.

        There is one thing they are all good at, Rhee included, shamelessly promoting themselves under the guise of helping poor minority children. If you have ever heard Rhee speak she has memorized certain talking points….she rarely answers questions nor can she engage in a dialogue.

        As long as she sticks to her talking points and it is her show without challenges, she performs. Overall, if you know more than she does, she is not that impressive. This really doesn’t say much for our society and our politicians.

  • guest

    One more (the plot thickens… is this China Town, ed reform version, or Serpico, or what?)
    http://www.leedsequity.com/leeds_global.cfm

    • guest

      The last paragraph of the above-linked article notes that Leeds Equity raised the capital to finance the New York City Charter School Center, which, after a 6-month search, appointed Stefan Pryor as head (Bloomber appointed him):

      New
      York City, U.S.: Leading “Children First”

      From
      2002 to 2004, the New York City Department of Education launched Children
      First, a multi-year strategic planning and implementation effort to
      dramatically improve New York City’s public schools. Leeds’ Senior Vice
      President for Policy and Planning, then with the Department, managed research
      and design efforts to bring greater choice to families across New York City and
      implemented the Mayor’s charter school initiative. This charter initiative
      expanded the number, quality, and accountability of charter schools across the
      city. Through this effort, $41 million was raised to create the New York City
      Charter Schools Center, which remains the leading supporter and advocate of the
      City and state’s charter school movement.

      • guest

        This is not an exhaustive search, but on first look it seems that these entities are linked.

  • Linda174

    Read the latest ConnCon/Achievement First propaganda…if you can:

    http://conncan.org/sites/conncan.org/files/conncan-field-guide-web.pdf

    Somehow all the glowing stats for many of our students are left out…very convenient.

  • savage

    I came across this article by googling “Bill Gates destroying education.” :)   It’s by some guy who works at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. It just rang really true for me. It’s definitely worth a read. Would be interested to hear the reaction of the intelligent folks here.

    http://readersupportednews.org/pm-section/191-191/10363-american-education-is-being-deliberately-destroyed-but-why

    • Linda174

      Well, I am now depressed, but ALL must read the article posted above. This paragraph jumped out and this is not about attracting great teachers..that is a ruse.

      In other words; with teacher’s rewards and punishments based upon student test scores, the ostensible objective of improving education is supplanted by the de facto objective of inflating scores – by any means. Further, by equating ‘test prep’ with education, the art and science of teaching is reduced to a mere technical operation. Once achieved, high standards for teachers are no longer necessary and the sheer number of ‘qualified’ applicants can then be used to drive down salaries. Overt contempt for teachers, unions, and public education as a whole is on display here in vibrant color.

      • savage

        It just makes a ton of sense, right? We’re seeing them put peope who have an obvious record of throwing districts into CHAOS back into control of other districts. Isn’t Vallas going BACK to Illinois–where he already wrought havoc? As someone noted on another thread, a simple Google search reveals in five minutes that Vallas means trouble–and a LOWERING rather than a RAISING of education outcomes. Why would he be paid $1 million to go back? Because he did such a good job in the past of furthering the agenda–the deliberate agenda to DESTROY education rather than improve it.

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1847161789 Callie Burns

        he aint going back–he is going to do both jobs–thats what super heroes do—didnt ya know—Tom Burns

    • Brutus2011

      I tend to agree with the article’s conclusions. The ultra wealthy don’t even need to be US citizens anymore. They go where it serves their interests the best. I also remember how Bush II tried to push through the privatization of social security after his 2nd election…it failed and then the Wall St boys cashed out and left the public holding the bag. I do not think this full court press to privatized public education is a coincidence or is an ad hoc movement. I think it is concerted and calculated and the scary part is that it seems to gaining traction. Look at Gov. Malloy’s rhetoric and behavior over SB 24 a short time ago. I wonder though if our populace has sufficient critical thinking skills to figure this out and stop these guys in their tracks. I mean no offense but the propaganda is a tidal wave and it can confuse even the most sophisticated citizen especially when trying to survive in a difficult economy. 

      • Linda174

        It is a tsunami…their target market at this point is the urban systems….their experiment.

        Do you think this would fly in a Greenwich, Darien, Simsbury?

        Here in CT, we are revolutionary…haven’t you heard?

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1847161789 Callie Burns

      best article and most concise I have ever read–thanks–Tom Burns

  • anniemil

    According to the preview, buffoon Dannel is going to be on The Ed Show
    tonight, MSNBC 8-9PM. Or at least Ed’s covering the CT Ed reform
    situation.

    • Linda174

      Can I really watch this? He is going to take credit for HIS reform that included teachers when he had no intentions or desire to include us and he will make sure we are controlled in the future.