Washington Knew When To Leave

It appears that Bloomberg thinks himself indispensable. Hey I give him credit for keeping New York solvent, keeping crime down, being pretty much straight forward. But what he has yet to learn is humility. He thinks that the the sh** will hit the fan if he is not around to control the sh**. This is exactly what Hugo Chavez tried to do in in Venezuela. Wait, are teachers allowed to use swear words? Must we lead a chaste life? More on this another time.

I think the days of seeing New York turn into the budget busting, crime infested, filthy city are long gone. In fact this transformation is going on throughout the US with some exceptions. Hell, even Yonkers is nicer. But like Giuliani, Bloomberg is a control freak and thinks that only he can save us from ourselves. All he is really doing is saving us from Anthony Weiner, an attention whore if there ever was one.

William Thompson seems to have the skills, the brains, and the cajones to do the job as mayor. Yeah we know that Bloomberg is worth $20 billion, but Thompson manages a combined portfolio of nearly $95 billion. Like David Paterson he is a no nonsense, no bullshit person. Best of all he actually has experience in education unlike Bloomberg and Klein.

Which is my entire issue with Bloomberg and Klein. The lack of HOTS when it comes to education, and the constant blaming the teachers tirades. Yes, I agree there are some bad teachers. But, there are a great many teachers out there who care. Or worse, did care until they found out that they had to worry about themselves and their direct deposit first, and this is what this administration has done to us, and now are just robots for the DOE. Aren't the parents the ones who are ultimately responsible for a students progress and success in school? Why not hold a press conference in City Hall and make examples of parents who never sign a report card, never ever come to conferences, never show an interest in their child's education? If the mayor is unable or unwilling to find such parents I will be more than happy to supply him with a rather long list.

Bloomberg and Klein bust our balls about attendance, why not the parents balls about showing up on conference night? I have never seen a class in my school, or anywhere with more than fifty percent of the parents showing up.

Check this out. Eight years ago I awoke on a Saturday morning to drive all the way into the Bronx for a district wide presentation on gangs. It was replete with an officer from the local precinct, elected officials, etc... Notices were sent home, fliers in every school. Ten parents showed up.

Maybe if food was served more would have shown.