Oh No He Didn't!

By Joe Williams Poor Rubain Dorancy had no idea what he was walking into. Dorancy, a candidate for the New York State Senate, joined tens of thousands of Americans last week in noting the importance of the Vergara v. California lawsuit. Now he’s got Mike Mulgrew in his grill. To bring you up to speed

New York Times: Obama Administration Plan Seeks to Rate Teacher Training Programs

By Motoko Rich The Obama administration on Friday will announce plans to develop ratings of teacher preparation programs to try to make them more accountable for their graduates’ future performance in the classroom. Teachers have long complained that training programs often do not adequately prepare candidates for the challenges of teaching children with varying needs

DFER-NY Releases Statement on AQE March

DFER-NY Releases Statement on AQE March Craig Johnson, Democrats for Education Reform NY Board Chair, issued the following statement on the Alliance for Quality Education’s march today in Albany: “Contrary to what you may hear from certain special interest groups, the best way to fix our schools is not just to pour more money into

DFER-NY's Craig Johnson Comments on Common Core Recommendations by State Panel

Source: New York Daily News Craig Johnson, Democrats for Education Reform NY Board Chair, issued the following statement today on the recommendations released during Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Common Core Implementation Panel: “The Common Core is essential to preparing our students for success in the high-skill economy, but it must be implemented correctly. The Common Core

DFER's Joe Williams Responds to AQE Press Release

By Joe Williams The Alliance for Quality Education should declare victory in getting Governor Cuomo to increase his support for pre-K before the overzealous advocates ruin what should be a great thing for 4-year-olds statewide with their cynical overreach. AQE is acting like a teenager who makes the case to his parents for $40 for

RELEASE: DFER-NY Statement on School Board Funding Lawsuit

Contact: Craig Johnson | 212.905.8325 | craig.johnson@mckennalong.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DFER-NY Statement on School Board Funding Lawsuit ALBANY, NY, February 11, 2014 – Craig Johnson, Democrats for Education Reform NY Board Chair, today issued the following statement on the school funding lawsuit filed in New York state: “New York currently spends more taxpayer dollars per

RELEASE: DFER-NY Statement on Board of Regents' Proposal to Delay Part of Common Core Implementation

Contact: Craig Johnson | 212.905.8325 | craig.johnson@mckennalong.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DFER-NY Statement on Board of Regents’ Proposal to Delay Part of Common Core Implementation ALBANY, NY, February 10, 2014 – Craig Johnson, Democrats for Education Reform NY Board Chair, today issued the following statement on the Board of Regents’ proposal to delay part of the state’s

The Common Core will help our children compete

By Craig Johnson, DFER New York State Director (Originally published in Newsday, November 7, 2013) Long Islanders are understandably anxious about changes in the way public school students are taught and tested. People attending community forums on the new Common Core State Standards are worried that their kids aren’t succeeding, their property values are going to

Time For Moratorium On NY Bellyaching

By Joe Williams Today’s preliminary results of the new teacher evaluation system for New York State should put to rest the bogus notion that employing more sophisticated measures of classroom performance is somehow bad for teachers. Hopefully the unproductive belly-aching about linking teacher evaluations and student learning will end soon, so that our educators and

New York Daily News: Teachers Union, Foes Learn Some Hard Lessons Following NYC primary

By Rachel Monahan Both sides of the education reform debate took a hit in Tuesday’s primary. The city’s mighty teachers union belly-flopped in its $2.3 million effort to elect a mayor. But the union’s foes are left with the unwelcome prospect of a Mayor de Blasio. Former city Controller Bill Thompson refuses to leave the