Dear Commons Community,

A new survey released by the New York Department of Education indicates that parents are overwhelmingly “satisfied” with their children’s public and charter schools.

“The results suggest high overall satisfaction with the city’s schools, as 95 percent of parents report satisfaction with their child’s education,” boasted the press release during what was Chancellor Carmen Fariña’s first full year chancellor.

One observer commented that “Education experts said this shouldn’t be surprising, even if there’s growing dissatisfaction with larger issues like high stakes testing and the increasingly difficult Common Core standards.

“This follows national data that parents tend to like their individual schools and teachers, but think less of the state of education generally,” David Bloomfield, education professor at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center said.

People are generally satisfied with the micro-level of their school and their children’s teacher but may take issue with the bigger picture of where the education system is heading, he said.

“That’s just the way it goes,” said Bloomfield, noting that people also generally report satisfaction with their local politicians too while complaining about the bigger picture state of politics.

No school saw less than 70 percent of parents satisfied with their children’s education.”

It is has been my contention that the value and worth of public education should be determined by the parents of the communities in which the schools operate. The testing and assessment policies of the U.S. Department of Education as well as many state education departments in recent years have been seen as unwanted interference.

Tony