Dear Commons Community,
Bill Thompson, Democratic mayoral candidate, in a talk last night at NYU, came out swinging against the current state of public education in New York City. While giving Mayor Michael Bloomberg credited for some accomplishments such as the development and expansion of 21st century vocational high schools, he characterized the state of public education under Mayor Bloomberg as a system where: “Parents feel shut out, teachers feel demonized,” and, “too many classrooms have been turned into test-prep centers”.
Much of what Thompson said is true and echo comments from other candidates. In the coming weeks and months as the mayoral nomination season moves into high gear and the candidates become more adamant about closing any gap in their polls, Mayor Bloomberg’s policies and especially education will come under severe scrutiny and attack. This will especially be the case until the United Federation of Teachers endorses one of the candidates. As reported in the New York Times:
Michael Mulgrew, the leader of the city’s teachers’ union, said Thompson’s speech was full of “very smart ideas” that he was sure would elicit a “positive reaction” from his members.
“He clearly has an understanding of the diversity of our city schools,” Mr. Mulgrew said.
However, Mr. Mulgrew declined to say if Mr. Thompson’s performance had succeeded in inching the candidate closer to the union’s coveted endorsement.
Tony
