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'Soviet' schools if mayor control is lost, says Mayor Bloomberg
BY Kenneth Lovett, Frank Lombardi and Rachel Monahan "You want to talk about what would happen; just take a look at what happens when no one is in charge," said Bloomberg, calling for the Senate to pass the bill the Assembly has approved. "If the Senate passes something that differs by one word or more it is saying to the city: We want to resurrect the Soviet Union, we want to bring back chaos." Bloomberg fumed. "What [the senators] are doing is just saying to the parents, the students and the future of our city - 'We're going to destroy you.' That's the only possible explanation." "We don't mean that we will return to the pre-2002 system," the memo continued, saying instead that system would grind to a halt. "Community school boards will exist, but they will have no members - and will thus be incapable of taking any action," the memo says. They said there will be no hiring, no firing and no way to run summer school. "We cannot allow New York's 1.1 million public school students to be hurt by the chaos and irresponsible behavior we are seeing in Albany," he said. Stringer proposed the mayor and fellow borough presidents prepare to appoint the Board of Education next Wednesday - and place Chancellor Joel Klein in charge. "He would cause the chaos." The proposal to reconstitute the board and give the power back to the chancellor is one that former Board President and Controller William Thompson suggested.
Come to Order! Not a Chance, if It’s Albany
By DANNY HAKIM Democrats sneaked into the Senate chamber shortly after noon, seizing control of the rostrum and locking Republicans out of the room. Republicans were finally allowed to enter about 2:30 p.m., but when they tried to station one of their own members on the dais they were blocked by the sergeants-at-arms. So then something extraordinary — and rather embarrassing — happened. The two sides, like feuding junior high schoolers refusing to acknowledge each other, began holding separate legislative sessions at the same time. Side by side, the parties, each asserting that it rightfully controls the Senate, talked and sometimes shouted over one another, gaveling through votes that are certain to be disputed. There were two Senate presidents, two gavels, two sets of bills being voted on. “This is turning into the worst reality TV show ever: ‘I’m a Senator, Get Me Out of Here,’ ” said Thomas R. Suozzi, Nassau County executive and former Democratic candidate for governor. “Jon and Kate are fighting less than these guys “ Gov. David A. Paterson had called the senators to the Capitol Tuesday, urging them to find a way to end a 31-to-31 standoff that had halted legislative action for more than two weeks. Mr. Paterson said the Senate’s behavior “disgusts me.” “I have been a public servant here for over 20 years,” Mr. Paterson said, adding, “The conduct today was farcical.” By the end of the day, Democrats had passed 14 bills and Republicans had passed 85. But not even the governor could say whether any of the votes were valid, or who was in charge of the Senate. The senators will gather again on Wednesday for another special session called by Mr. Paterson, who has vowed to keep doing so, every day, until the sides resolve their differences. Most of the bills taken up Tuesday were local or routine: Democrats approved a hotel tax increase in Tioga County; Republicans designated May 17 as Thurgood Marshall Day. Because all 62 senators were present in the chamber at the beginning of the sessions, each side claimed that it had the necessary quorum to conduct business and said the other side was voting yes by not voicing opposition to any of its bills. Patricia E. Salkin, director of the Government Law Center at Albany Law School, said, “There is no right answer because there’s no precedent, because this hasn’t happened before.” The galleries at the Capitol were packed for Tuesday’s session, with aides, lobbyists and others watching rapt as the bizarre scene unfolded. Democrats scored a tactical victory by seizing the official Senate gavel, which is large and made of black walnut, its whack echoing through the chamber with authority. Senator George H. Winner Jr., who was presiding over the Republican session, was left to peck the table in front of him with a small gavel used by Republicans for their private conferences. “It’s better than the eyeglass case I was using before,” Mr. Winner said. At times, the proceedings grew heated. After Democrats declared the chamber “at ease,” or on a break, Mr. Winner called a Democrat, Ruth Hassell-Thompson, out of order for standing and speaking to a colleague. She whipped around. “Don’t you dare tell me I’m out of order,” Ms. Hassell-Thompson, who represents parts of the Bronx and Westchester County, shouted several times at Mr. Winner. At the same time, Senator Dean G. Skelos was trying to speak from the Senate floor, complaining that the Senate’s staff would not provide them with the bill “jackets” — the official bills used to conduct Senate business. Kevin S. Parker, a Brooklyn Democrat under indictment on charges that he attacked a newspaper photographer, faced Mr. Skelos. “If they were actually in charge, they would have the bill jackets,” Mr. Parker bellowed to fellow Democrats while Republicans tried to silence him. “We’re at ease!” “Calm down,” Senator John L. Sampson, the leader of the Democratic caucus, said aloud. The dispute in the Senate began on June 8, when two Democrats joined 30 Republicans to oust Malcolm A. Smith as majority leader, leaving Mr. Skelos and Pedro Espada Jr., a Bronx Democrat, as co-leaders in a power sharing agreement. One of the dissident Democrats, Hiram Monserrate of Queens, later changed his mind, leaving the Senate evenly split. Negotiations to break the impasse have sputtered. Early Tuesday, Republicans seemed as surprised as the rest of the Capitol when Democrats took over the chamber. Some Republican staff members rushed to the chamber to peek through small windows to watch the Democrats congregating. Some reporters were able to gain access to the locked chamber through the office of Mr. Espada, hurrying through a side room where Mr. Espada’s grandson was parked in front of a television, watching the Cartoon Network. Despite the condemnation from the governor, newspaper editorialists and civic groups, senators of both parties seemed strikingly unworried about, or perhaps insulated from, public anger over the events. Several said that they have noticed only a slightly more-than-average volume of calls coming into their district offices lately, and that only a small percentage of the calls were negative. And some members seemed to almost enjoy the chaos, calling it memorable and recording it for posterity. Senator Craig M. Johnson, a Long Island Democrat, took pictures of reporters who sneaked into the Senate’s gallery with his BlackBerry camera after the Democrats had locked the chamber doors. Later, Senator Kemp Hannon, a Long Island Republican, raised his Nikon D300 to capture his colleague, Mr. Winner, speaking before a throng of cameras.
Leaders nearing deal, fractured Dems sticking point
Capitol Confidential blog Senate leaders are nearing a power-sharing accord to allow the chamber to move forward, according to a source close to the negotiations. The agreement would be in effect through 2010. There are a few remaining items left for the principals to agree on, but the leadership question seems to have been resolved. The lineup: According to the source, the challenge now is convincing the fractured Democratic conference to go along with this agreement, which would maintain Smith as the top Democrat in the Senate chamber. The leadership of the Democratic conference was one of the major stated factors that led to the Senate coup - Sen. Hiram Monserrate, one of the two Democrats that voted to oust Smith out of power, made new leadership a condition of his return to the Democratic conference. Soon after, Brooklyn Sen. John Sampson rose to become de facto leader of the conference with the title “conference leader,” with Smith remaining on as Democratic leader in title for the purposes of the Democrats’ leadership lawsuit. During the discussion over leadership, Sampson early emerged as the choice to replace Smith - the 10-member Black Senate caucus holds a significant block of votes that would have been hard to overcome in the 31-member conference. Privately, many Democratic members said that the leadership of the Senate needed to be retained by a black member, as Gov. David Paterson’s dismal poll numbers make 2010 increasingly less likely. But with the new deal, Smith remains the most powerful Democrat in the Senate, leaving Sampson leading the conference, but without any of the titles that give any real power over the Senate as a whole. It is perhaps not a coincidence then, that the most vocal critics yesterday of Paterson’s push for a deal were Monserrate, Sen. Eric Adams (close friend of Monserrate and fellow Brooklyn Democrat with Sampson), Sen. Kevin Parker (also a Brooklyn Democrat), and Sen. Carl Kruger (also a Brooklyn Democrat). As far as the terms of expiration (in many power-sharing agreements in a tied chamber, the agreement expires when one side gains a majority), Democrats want a firm deal that ignores defections (such as the June 8 coup), but contemplates elections. The GOP-led coalition wants a firm deal through 2010, irrespective of changes in the chamber.
Patrick hints he will sign tax hike
By Matt Viser and Frank Phillips Governor Deval Patrick said yesterday that he intends to sign the Legislature’s overhauls of the state ethics laws and transportation system, claiming two more victories in his bid to remake Massachusetts government and all but acknowledging that he will in turn support a sales tax increase. The two bills, along with a revision of state pension laws he signed this month, give Patrick much of what he has asked of lawmakers this year. In a 20-minute interview in his office yesterday, the governor was clearly happy with the progress and his ability to influence his colleagues in the Legislature. “We have a very ambitious agenda,’’ he said. “We’re going to keep driving that agenda.’’ Yet Patrick now faces a thorny political problem as he heads into next year’s reelection campaign. He has said he would agree to lawmakers’ plan to raise the sales tax only after they agreed to significant government reforms. Now that they have done that to his liking, Patrick is all but compelled to sign a provision in next year’s state budget to increase the sales tax from 5 percent to 6.25 percent, which will surely draw heat from his opponents and some voters. Speaking at a late-afternoon press conference, Patrick did not say explicitly that he would sign the sales tax measure, but he strongly suggested he would do so. It was clear yesterday that Patrick’s political advisers were hoping to capitalize heavily on what they see as major legislative accomplishments and that they plan to try to use the momentum to dominate the agenda on Beacon Hill in weeks to come. Patrick was already talking yesterday about additional overhauls of education, criminal records laws, and state sentencing laws, and he may get another chance to push his plans for casino gambling. The press conference seemed to hint at the administration’s strategy to use these bills for political advantage. It was highly coordinated, with poster-board signs that pronounced “Delivering Landmark Reform’’ and listing check marks next to what Patrick considers his major achievements in changing how state government operates. Patrick also made a point of addressing “you, the people of the Commonwealth.’’ House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray were not invited to share the limelight, although the governor acknowledged them several times as he stood alone at the podium. Several lawmakers said Patrick has no right to claim any political victory, asserting that he was merely pushing them to approve legislation that was already in motion. “He’s going to have a press conference saying how he’s done all this wonderful work,’’ state Senator Scott Brown, a Wrentham Republican, said on the Senate floor before yesterday’s event. “It wasn’t him. It’s us.’’ Last week, the House and Senate approved legislation that would overhaul the state’s transportation system, dismantling the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and reconfiguring a confusing array of agencies that operate the state’s roads, rail, and bridges. For the past week, Patrick would not say whether he planned to sign the bill. There were several technical details that Patrick wanted changed, and lawmakers were working on those last night. Patrick is expected to sign the legislation at an event today in Springfield. Meanwhile, the House and Senate unanimously approved changes yesterday afternoon to state ethics laws, strengthening enforcement, levying higher penalties for campaign finance violations, and banning nearly all gifts to public officials. Patrick said he would sign the ethics law within the next several days. “Let’s bring hope back to Massachusetts,’’ said state Representative Peter Kocot, a Northampton Democrat and a chief architect of the ethics bill. Patrick took a major political gamble, which is now paying off, when, on the morning of April 27, he released a letter to legislators threatening to veto the sales tax increase unless they first approved changes in transportation and ethics laws that he found acceptable. Top lawmakers, taken by surprise by Patrick’s public scolding, were incensed. DeLeo used Patrick’s threat as a rallying cry for House members to buck the governor and back his leadership instead, and several hours later 108 lawmakers, enough to sustain a veto, stood in favor of raising the sales tax. The Senate followed several weeks later with a similar vote. But Patrick kept hammering away at his themes of reform, pushing the message in e-mail messages to supporters and YouTube videos. Through it all, the governor was able to use the bully pulpit of the corner office to tie four pieces of legislation together: the budget, and the bills on ethics, transportation, and pensions that would otherwise have been considered in isolation. “It was a risk, but he seems to have pulled it off,’’ said former governor Michael S. Dukakis, a Democrat who gives Patrick credit for getting his agenda enacted, even though he disagrees with his transportation plans. “Whatever you think of the details, I think it was a predictably reasonable position.’’ The victories come at a critical time for Patrick, who is laying the groundwork for his 2010 reelection campaign. Maurice Cunningham, a political scientist at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, said that Patrick has a political edge that few governors have had: He can go back to voters and rightfully say he succeeded in pushing lawmakers to adopt his reform agenda, the central promise of his 2006 campaign. “The circumstances presented themselves, and he has played it skillfully,’’ Cunningham said. The shift in Patrick’s political fortunes arrives as potential challengers are emerging. State Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill is considering running, either in the Democratic primary or as an independent. Many Republicans are pinning their hopes on Charles D. Baker, the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care chief executive officer. Both men said they will decide by September. Christy Mihos , the wealthy convenience store executive who ran as an independent in 2006 but garnered only 6 percent of the vote, is also ramping up to run as a Republican.
Changes in Metco protested
By Connie Paige In an effort to close the achievement gap of minority students bused from Boston and also to save money, the Lexington school superintendent has announced a restructuring of the town’s Metco program, which has led to the dismissal of its longtime director and prompted outrage among some students and parents. Parents of students in Lexington’s Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity program say Superintendent Paul Ash made the decision unilaterally, and that they want a seat at the table to help determine future directions. “Metco parents agree with the notion of wanting to provide a better education and reaching out to those children who may not be meeting an academic goal,’’ said William Huff, a Metco alumnus and parent of a sixth-grader enrolled in the program. “The way to do that is to have transparency, open communication, and partnership. Unfortunately, Dr. Ash consulted no one. This kind of unilateral decision-making will potentially have a significantly negative impact on this historic program.’’ School administrators in Arlington, Weston, and at Concord-Carlisle and Lincoln-Sudbury regional high schools said they, too, feel the pinch of rising costs and budget cuts, but there are no plans to change their programs next year. Although Ash acknowledged that declining state grants and escalating costs partially fueled his decision in Lexington, he said he also wants to improve the achievement of the entire student body, providing more collaboration among teachers and extended learning opportunities for all students, not just those in Metco. “The issue is much broader than Metco,’’ Ash said. “We want all of our students to succeed. We took a good time looking at our program and said we can improve it.’’ Ash also said he wants to keep lines of communication with parents open. “One of the things I think is extremely important is that there be a close working relationship between the superintendent and the parents,’’ he said. “That engagement is key to the students’ success.’’ Ash’s decision comes as the 43-year-old Metco program, in which 37 school districts outside Boston and Springfield participate, feels the heft of the budget ax. State lawmakers cut $1.2 million from the overall program for this academic year, and slashed it last week from $19.3 million to $18.5 million for the coming school year. Governor Deval Patrick still must sign off on the cuts. The Lexington parents said they were shocked at Ash’s plans to restructure Metco by dismissing the longtime director and replacing her full-time job with a half-time slot beginning next academic year. Ash said he also expects to replace five after-school volunteer tutors with eight certified teachers, four in literacy and four in math. Ash said the current $1.5 million state grant for Lexington’s Metco program, with 263 students, is likely to be reduced next academic year by about 4.4 percent, or $66,000, if Patrick accepts last week’s legislative compromise. Ash said Lexington is also due for an increase of $83,000 in next year’s costs for the seven buses transporting Metco students between Boston and Lexington. Ash dismissed Lexington’s Metco director, Cheryl Prescott-Walden, saying he wanted to replace her with a licensed professional with classroom teaching experience, at a cost savings of $50,000. Prescott-Walden, who has been Lexington’s Metco director for 24 years, did not return phone calls from the Globe. The executive director of Metco, Jean M. McGuire, declined to comment on the Lexington restructuring, saying through a spokeswoman it was “an internal matter.’’ Parents in the Metco program defended Prescott-Walden’s stewardship. “This is a person who has provided more support and nurturing of these kids than anybody could do,’’ said Andrea Walker, mother of two Metco high school students. “I think her role has been greatly underestimated, and I think we were undermined in the sense that we were not contacted, we were not asked for input.’’ Ash said that superintendents are empowered to make personnel decisions, and they are not done “by committee.’’ Parents said they were also concerned about ensuring that the replacement for Prescott-Walden, an African-American, would be a person of color. Ash said that would be “desirable,’’ and he would try to comply with the request. Ash described how he wants to change not only the Metco program, but also the approach to teaching in the schools. He said his reasoning is based on a report released in January 2008 examining the achievement gap between white and minority students - both those in Metco and those living in Lexington. The report showed that in the 2006-2007 academic year, African-American and Hispanic students scored lower on standardized tests, were more likely to be using special-education services, and were enrolled in fewer advanced classes than whites. A follow-up report, “Action Plan for Equity and Excellence,’’ created by the Achievement Gap Task Force empaneled by Ash and released in May, gave several recommendations to close the gap. Among them were providing Metco students with mentors and setting aside Thursday afternoons for all students needing it to receive special tutoring in literacy and math. More collaboration among teachers would also be encouraged. Huff, who served on the task force, said he applauds Ash’s educational goals, but worries that dismissal of Prescott-Walden could influence other Metco programs to do the same. However, she said, she could not predict what might happen in the future. “We live day to day,’’ she said. Judy Belliveau, finance director at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, said officials there made some staff cuts but were able to retain the Metco director. But in the Sudbury system covering kindergarten through eighth grade, the director’s position will be reduced to a two-thirds time slot. Weston’s Metco director, David Fuller, said he is hoping that fund-raising and money from the regular school budget will help keep that program intact.
Governor to propose legislation lifting cap on charter schools
Jun 25, 2009 BOSTON —
Grantee Highlight: The Cayl Institute
Clarence Little (Schott Fellow '08) was elected to the Boston AEYC Board of Directors.
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The Snap Schott is distributed by the Schott Foundation for Public Education. For more information, please visit www.schottfoundation.org. |
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