For Immediate Release
Mayor calls for improving CTE, ending social promotion for 8th graders
Jan 17, 2008 6:33 PM
Mayor Bloomberg in his seventh State of the City address on Jan. 14 called for ending social promotion for 8th graders, as he had already done for 3rd, 5th and 7th grades. Declaring that “college isn’t for everyone, but education is,” he also proposed an overhaul of vocational and technical education in high schools and college. He created a panel that will include former Mayor David N. Dinkins to come up with recommendations. He said that he would give principals Web-based tools to help them make tenure decisions “rigorously, fairly, and based on student learning and progress.” Saying that “the economy appears headed for difficult times,” the mayor warned that spending cuts will be needed but he offered few details.
UFT President and Municipal Labor Committee Head Randi Weingarten on Mayor Bloomberg’s State of the City Address:
On Economic Issues:
“Labor has always played a constructive role in working with the city to find solutions in both good times and bad times, and we stand ready to discuss the economic issues facing the city and to offer both revenue and expenditure solutions.
In order to act as partners, we have to be treated as partners.”
On Education Issues:
“We applaud the Mayor for seeking to bolster Career and Technical Education, a cause the UFT has championed for years in working with businesses that partner with schools to develop such programs. It is extremely important for all students to have the skills needed to do well in the new economy, and academic performance levels of CTE students have been impressive. The graduation rate for CTE students is higher than non-CTE students, as is the percentage of students going on to college. With more businesses looking outside New York City for the skilled workers they need, it is imperative that we expand CTE schools and programs to help keep our city workforce competitive.
“We agree with the Mayor’s proposal to expand the ban on social promotion to the eighth grade. Our educators, particularly high school teachers, have always opposed social promotion (My predecessor, Sandy Feldman, raised it as an issue many years before Mayor Bloomberg). We know all too well that passing failing students ultimately leaves them unprepared to function in society. Our teachers work hard to prepare students to become well-adjusted, responsible and productive adults, and we can only hope that the two conditions that make these policies work are part of this implementation. First, principals will back teachers when they hold students accountable and, second, the students held back will be provided the supports they need to succeed.”
“The Web-based program for principals to help make tenure decisions speaks to the DOE’s apparent reliance on technology to compensate for the fact that, under the current structure, there are few, if any, managers who can help principals make this decision. Given that evaluation of teachers is a mandatory subject of bargaining, typically dealt with in contract negotiations -- and since the contract was resolved in November 2006 and the tenure law debate resolved in April 2007 -- it appears that this is an implementation, not a policy decision.”
