Dear Commons Community,

Yesterday, I attended the CUNY/SUNY TeachNY event at the Great Hall of City College, a cathedral-like space that seats over 1500 people.  If you have not been to the Great Hall, it is one of the more interesting rooms in New York City.  Designed by the architect, George Post, it houses a huge mural by Edwin H. Blashfield’s titled The Graduate, sixty-foot high stain-glass windows, and the polished remains of two, twenty-foot high pipe organs. 

The CUNY/SUNY TeachNY was an afternoon of discussions regarding teacher education.  It was remarkable to see CUNY Chancellor J.B. Milliken, SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher, and NYS Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia in the same room, all giving talks about teacher education.  Topics included clinical practice, the teacher profession, and future directions. It was the sense of many of us attending that the NYS Department of Education is getting ready to roll out new initiatives aimed at strengthening teacher education programs.

It was a worthwhile afternoon in a great setting.  My congratulations to University Dean Ashleigh Thompson and all those who coordinated the day’s activities.

Tony