The United Federation of Teachers, the union representing public school educators in the city, has always encouraged parents to take advantage of this opportunity to meet with teachers, guidance counselors and principals to learn how their children are doing in school and where they need to improve.
Students, parents and teachers across New York City are preparing for a challenging new academic year as the public school system embarks on its third major reorganization in five years.
Lots of people have been asking why, if the schools were doing so well, would the system need a third major reorganization in five years? Many questions were raised; some in public rallies and town meetings and some in print. The mayor listened and that’s why a coalition of parents, teachers and community groups recently reached an agreement with the city that addressed some of our key reservations.
Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein recently announced, with much fanfare, plans for yet another top-to-bottom restructuring of the nation’s largest school system designed to dismantle the bureaucracy and shift all responsibility for educating kids onto the shoulders of principals.
This month brought both a real high and a low for public school students. The high mark came a day before Election Day in the form of a tentative two-year contract between the United Federation of Teachers, which represents New York City's 100,000 public school educators, and the City of New York. This is great news for teachers and bodes well for the future of education here.
Most Americans agree strengthening our public schools is critical for today’s students to participate in what we think of as the “American Dream” and for our nation to compete effectively in the global economy. Unfortunately, we don’t often agree on how to do it, leaving kids hanging while policy-makers get mired in debate.
