The laughs and the comedy stylings coming from NYC Parents Union are just too much to keep up with.
Back in April, Mona Davids tweeted out that 50% of NYC can't read or write at grade level. Remember, this is before the opportunity came to take advantage of an opportunity only for Mona.
@TweetBenMax @SquarePegDem We don't care about grade promotion tweaks. We care about 50%+ that can't read & write at grade level. Fix that.
— NYC Parents Union (@NYCParentsUnion) April 9, 2014
Mona never cited her sources, just doing what she does, pulling a number out of the air and running with it.
Fast forward to two weeks ago. Mona's Minion (Hey that has a nice ring to it!) Sam Pirozzolo in a Twitter rant claimed that NYC Parents Union filed their lawsuit on behalf of the 80% who can't read or write.
@rweingarten 80% of students can't read and write. How's that reform workin out for ya?!
— Sam Pirozzolo (@SPirozzolo) July 5, 2014
So we have gone from 50% of students are not at grade level to, 80% of students can't read or write. Using Sam's words, henceforth 80% of students in NYC are illiterate.
I asked Sam for some kind of verification that 80% of students can't read or write, some kind of evidence. Sam quickly obliged.
.@SoBronxSchool http://t.co/AbX5nOhnko
— Sam Pirozzolo (@SPirozzolo) July 6, 2014
and....
.@SoBronxSchool @Marquis1906 @rweingarten you know CEJ they are UFT funded I strongly suggest you look at page 6 http://t.co/hKbyyHBvmI
— Sam Pirozzolo (@SPirozzolo) July 6, 2014
What Sam fails to realize, perhaps because he is too busy bellowing the falsehoods in his brain and too busy shoveling snow naked is that both reports he cites are based on 8th grade students. And worse, they are based on tests, standardized tests from 2013 that have been roundly criticized not just by teachers and parents but politicians as well.
These tests in New York State have been so critiqued that Governor Andy, desperate to get re-elected by a greater than 55% margin has suspended using the tests to evaluate teachers for 2 years. What does that tell you?
What Mona and her Minion fail to realize that how one does on an exam has nothing to do with whether or not one is at grade level. It just shows that that student is able to do well, or poorly, that day, on that particular exam.
Using that logic, my son, who got a 2's on last year's state Math and ELA exams should be part of the lawsuit. His grade in 6th grade for both Math and ELA were both over 90, so then what gives?
Could it be that the fact that of the 3 days of the ELA exam not one student in his class completed the exam on 2 of the days? Could it be that the tests are flawed? He felt too much pressure? There are a multitude of reasons why he, and the students of NYC and New York State didn't perform well on the tests in 2013. But of course, Mona and her Minion want to take the easy way out and blame teachers and tenure.
We here at SBSB suggest that Mona goes back to whatever it is she does and that Sam goes back and concentrates on correcting astigmatisms.
Even if it is accurate, it's not tenure that caused it. Sam's logic would dictate that 80% of the teachers be fired. The logic fails to address who exactly would replace this 80%. There aren't a ton of teachers waiting in the wings here. And there is a whole school system of leaders who gave these teachers tenure. Where is Sam's anger at that? Where is the lawsuit against the DoE for not firing these terrible teachers?
ReplyDeleteWe won't need excessive numbers of teachers any more. One hundred kids could sit in a room with a large screen and their tablets. One talented TFA would gladly facilitate their learning.
DeleteSo, if Sam is a CEC President for the last umpteen years, where's his responsibility? Children don't just up and fail all of a sudden. Where's the PU been? Oh, I forgot begging the Mayor not to fire our wonderful teachers (news article of 2010). What's changed since then
ReplyDelete