When the System Breaks Down

On his worst day, when he yielded more post 9-11 power than any other police leader in the nation and knew how to use it,  Raymond Kelly, th...

Activists, Would-Be Teachers, Consider Rally for Teacher Shortage in NYC Area

Greenburgh, NY - Frustrated with their lack of employment prospects, activist would-be teachers met last night to determine their next cours...

New Eval System Slowly Taking Shape

Lots to talk about from NYSED's suggested proposals to the new new evaluation system (see the PowerPoint here). They vote tomorrow and ...

Because An ATR By Any Other Name Would Feel Just As Bad

'A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" is a frequently referenced part of William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet ...

Three Apps That Will Help You Be BYOD Ready From Day One

This morning's New York Times brought some terrific news for me; the long imposed ban on the use of cellphones in city school is soon co...

Why Teachers Won't Receive Their Final Scores Until the Following Year

Update: The DOEs own PowerPoint confirms this (look on the fifth slide: "All teachers receive summative rating by September of the fol...

Just Some Quick Information About How the Scores will be Compiled.

Since writing this piece about the initial press release, I've had an opportunity to look over the full decision. There is way too much ...

Making Sense Of the New Eval System

Update(and warning): the details of the plan have been released since the writing of this piece, leaving some of it inaccurate (local 20 wil...

Let New York City Residents Vote on the NYCDOE Budget

Except for here in the city (and four other places), today is a very big day across the state. Today, school districts across much of the st...

Congratulations To the UFT for Going to Bat for Francesco Portelos!(?)

Bloggers don't have breaking news. They have these "OMG"moments that they just have to share. According to Francesco Portelos...

MORE After the Election

Losing elections for such a long period of time has got to be a hard thing to tolerate. I guess that's why some folks forget what a good...

How Many Tenured Teachers Does New York City Have?

Yeah. That's actually a question I'm asking you! The total number is difficult to find. I know that one pro-reform website claimed t...

What Is A Doenut?

Folks who read this blog tend to call me doenuts. Folks who read it and know me call me John Doenuts. While they're both cute and cheeky...

'Closing Schools' is Big Business

First, a little seemingly unconnected history from a history teacher. Bear with me for a moment.  You've probably never heard of Jacobo ...