Is Re-Opening Schools a Political, Science-Driven or an Emotional Decision?

* “If we don’t re-open schools another generation of students will be doomed to a life of poverty and the poorest, must vulnerable parents will burdened with childcare expenses; if our economy doesn’t revive a depression paralleling the Great Depression is inevitable.”

* “We have to follow where science leads us, testing, contact tracing, social distancing, masks, and not allow politics or emotions to dissuade us.”

* “I’m afraid, I know too many people who died or who spent weeks recovering and months later are still suffering, until there’s a vaccine I’m not going back to work or allowing my children to go to school.”

*”I go to work every day, I have no other options, I have to pay my rent and feed my family; teachers say they love our kids; not enough to be willing to go to work, as I do.”

School opening opinion varies widely.

As tropical storm Isaisis blows by torrential rain interrupted by glaring sunlight flashes by, sort of like the school opening discussions of the moment.

For weeks the Board of Regents, the Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio dueled over who would make the school reopening decisions.

The governor appointed a commission, the Board of Regents gathered up a few hundred stakeholders, the mayor selected his commission. The Board of Regents/State Education Department issued their 149-page school opening guidance requiring that each of the 700 school districts in the state submit a plan for every school (4400 schools, 1800 in New York City). The New York State Department of Health issued  guidance, the governor announced he would make his decision on school opening “the first week in August,” and set a metric, COVID positive testing below 5% (as of 8-3-20 COVID positive testing was at 1%).

To the best of my knowledge the only district that failed to submit a plan was New York City, the city submitted the outlines of a plan, Read here.

At his Monday (8/4) press conference the governor said, “… the final decision on whether kids will head back in September will be up to parents;” I guess he means if parents don’t like the local plan they can opt for full remote or home-schooling for their children. The governor went on to say, “Where you have a district with multiple schools, they have to address the plan for every school … If you don’t have the details for each school then you don’t have a plan, because how can a parent make a decision, and it’s not just New York City — it’s any school district…. A district could have a uniform plan for the schools in its system, but they would need to work out the logistics for how each school is going to things like testing in order to track the virus.”

Does the city plan to survey parents in each of the 1800 schools? Is it conceivable that some schools will offer a hybrid model and others a remote model? Is the failure to inform the Department that you are opting out by the August 7th soft deadline the only evidence of supporting the school plan? The plan you have never seen?

The Re-Opening Plans were posted on school district websites and many school boards hosted parent meetings to answer questions.  See a school opening plan for a small district (one K-8 school with 700 kids) here.

On Monday evening the school district hosted a virtual session for the community and welcomed questions about the plan, the meeting lasted over two hours, and, Tuesday the district posted the Q & A   on their website , in English and Spanish.

A neighboring school district (Read here)) posted their plan, and included a parent survey:  35% feel comfortable sending their children back to school, 25% not comfortable, and the remainder somewhere in the middle.

The elements of the New York City Plan that the mayor announced and that appear on the site include a 3% COVID positive test metric to trigger all remote, COVID testing available to all staff prior to school re-opening, a process on how schools respond to COVID positive students and staff, and fails to address many, many other questions. The city cannot provide a school nurse for every building (the plans above have school nurses on staff), the overnight deep cleaning without additional custodial staff appears unlikely, and, the supervisory and teacher unions are “doubtful” that the city can address all the outstanding issues before school opening; the first day for students in NYC is Wednesday, September 10^th.

The instructional models, aka, which days are kids in-school which days at home, a hybrid, in-person/remote model is still being discussed, although the chancellor has a preference,

Principals and school leadership teams will compare the different programming models to the specific needs of their students and communities to select a best-fit model. However, the Chancellor has identified certain models as “Chancellor Recommended” so that there is greater consistency for parents across the system.

What does “greater consistency for parents” mean?  There are 1800 different schools, why not allow schools to craft models that meet the needs of the students in their schools?  See the “key tenets” of the programming models here.

While the NYC planning is fluid, without many key elements resolved will the plan satisfy parents and teachers?

A week ago at the American Federation of Teachers convention Randi Weingarten and Dr. Anthony Fauci had an hour chat; Dr Fauci answered questions from teachers and nurses across the nation. (Listen to the discussion here). As I talked with teachers who listened to Dr, Fauci some were comforted and other discomfited by his comments. Science provides facts, not advise.

Urban school districts across the nation are opening with remote only instruction and have COVID positive rates far, far above New York City rates:

Los Angeles seven day average COVID positive testing rate: 8.8%

Chicago seven day average COVID positive testing rate: 5.4%

Houston seven day average COVID positive testing: 14.1%

To answer my initial questions: for teachers and parents a visceral, deeply emotional quandary; for the governor and the mayor, the political implications can be career making or career ending. For the governor very high marks can dissolve if he supports school openings and the COVID positives spike, for the mayor, a mayor who continues to be bashed by mayoral contenders and the conservative media, and by his own stumbles, a chance to resuscitate his mayoralty.

In my opinion the governor who wanted to be the ultimate decision-maker appears to be backing away. The mayor is desperately looking for friends, to “satisfy” parents and teacher/supervisor unions and a Board of Regents/State Education Department without the capacity to review plans for 4400 schools could be the scapegoat.

For the unions assuring a safe opening for their members and students is paramount. The Israel early school reopening disaster is resonating,  The UFT, the teacher union is demanding,

For school buildings to reopen, school communities need:

• Voluntary testing for all students and school-based staff returning for in-person instruction.
• A rolling testing regimen in every school community for adults and student volunteers to identify those infected with the virus but asymptomatic.
• The results of these tests should be available within 24 hours.
• A dedicated group of contact tracers to investigate who else has been exposed when an adult or a student in a school contracts the virus.
• A school nurse in every school building.
• Evidence that the protections and procedures outlined in the plan have been implemented, including the testing and upgrading of ventilation systems, and the necessary staff and supplies to deep clean the buildings every night.

Stay tuned.

Listen to the Almanac Singers, “Which Side Are You On”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEwE0R_7TDc

What Happens When a Teacher or Student Tests COVID Positive? and Other Unanswered Questions from School Leaders and Teachers: Safety, Organization and Instruction [Updated]

“You don’t encourage teachers to care for, love and respect their students by disrespecting educators and placing their lives at risk.” (Eric Nadelstern, former Deputy Chancellor, NYC Department of Education)

Half of the members of the Miami Marlins baseball team have tested positive for COVID   putting into question the viability of the entire baseball season.

Could the same happen in a school?

A New York Times opinion essay asks the right question, “What Will Schools Do When a Teacher Gets Covid-19, and encourages school districts to answer the question.

At the virtual AFT Convention Randi Weingarten and Dr Fauci answered questions from teachers:  Watch here,  Fauci repeated what he has been saying; school opening decisions are local and depend on scientific data and safety protocols.

A highly regarded pediatrician who have been in the forefront of treating COVID infected children, in a NY Daily News writes,

, In accordance with the American Academy of Pediatrics, I believe in-person instruction should occur as much as possible, and certainly in areas, including New York City, where the percent COVID-positive tests are less than 5%. Parents and educators alike need to understand that we are at least a couple of years away from a widely-used COVID vaccine. Two more years of young children attempting to learn through screens would be a pandemic of its own.

Teachers lives versus children’s futures: a Hobson’s Dilemna.

School leaders are struggling with choosing hybrid instructional models, do we “satisfy” parents or do we select a model that we feel is the instructionally sound?

School re-opening plans are due by July 31, the governor has announced he will determine a school opening “go/no-go” the first week in August and the mayor says he will determine school opening latter in the summer.

The NYC Public Advocate, Jummane Williams and the NY City Council Education chair, Mark Treyger is calling for a delayed opening, a phased opening.

School staffs are fearful, even though the COVID contagion rates in New York are very low; fear can be rational or irrational. You have a better chance of being struck by lightening than being in a plane crash, the fear of flying is irrational, you are still fearful.

Fear stimulates a chemical response in your body, and unresolved fears,; fears over long periods of time are harmful,.

Your body is meant to return to its normal state after this response, so when exposed to cortisol for long periods of time, your body can have long-term effects, including diarrhea, nausea, colds, high blood pressure, migraines, asthma, and heart attacks

School leaders and school staffs have long lists of questions, unresolved questions and there appears to be a yawning gap between school personnel and the decision-makers, the core questions from the folks who will actually be in schools and the school districts and State Education Department leadership.

I asked a number of school leaders: below is a sampling of the numerous unanswered questions,

Safety [Department of Education releases guidelines:  priority testing for all school staff prior to the opening of school and guidelines for responses for positive tests for staff members or students and contact tracing – read here ]

Will on-site COVID testing be available for all school staff members? [Yes]

If a staff member or student tests positive what are the protocols?  Will the school go all-remote for 14 days and not reopen until the staff member/student tests negative? [click above]

My school is in one of the highest COVID zip codes in the city: can the school become a COVID testing site?

If a parent tests positive will the parent(s) child/children be quarantined for 14 days? [see above]

Will every school building have a school nurse?

Will schools be provided with PPP equipment?

Organization:

If too many teachers in my school are approved for “medical accommodations” how will I be able to provide in-person instruction?

Under the best circumstances it will take over an hour to temperature check all students and adults entering the building: will there be specific guidelines re who can check temperatures?

If a parent refuses to have their child checked for temperature or refuses to allow their child to wear a mask; what the protocols?

If a student or staff member has a temperature of 100 degrees or over do we send them home?

Some parents indicate they intend to home school their child, do we mark the child absent?

If parents consistently bring their children on the “wrong” day what are the consequences?

Instruction:

Is there a waiver procedure if our school wants to use another hybrid instructional model?

Are there staffing templates available for each hybrid instructional model?

Can different teachers provide in-person and remote learning for the same class?

Is there research on the effectiveness of models? Is in-school Monday/Wednesday/Friday and remote Tuesday/Thursday and flipped the following week, or, Monday/Tuesday in school and Wednesday/Thursday remote and flip Fridays, or one week in-school and one week remote more effective?

Should we follow the grade curriculum or move, if possible, to a project-based learning mode?

School leaders are adrift.

When the governor ordered a state-wide shutdown schools had to repair the proverbial aircraft in flight; we don’t know the “learning loss,” probably significant, and, the poorest kids lost out the most.

With a COVID positive testing rate at about 1% (way below the 5% rate set the governor weeks ago) the governor will undoubtedly give districts a thumbs up.

The long list, the very long list of unanswered questions from the very folks in the trenches is beyond disturbing.

The recent report from the NYC Independent Budget Office paints a bleak picture, without the passage of the pending HEROES bill, a bill that contains dollars for state and local governments as well as schools New York State may be facing, according to the governor a mid-year 20% cut in the budgets, according to the IBO a $2.3 billion cut in education.

Families are confused, teachers are confused and frightened and school leaders confused, frightened and angry; they desperately want to do the right thing, if only someone would tell what that is ….

Listen to FDR’s First Inaugural Address, “We have nothing to fear …”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHFTtz3uucY

New York State Tip-Toes Toward a Measured School Opening with Significant Local Input and a Long List of Unanswered Questions.

As the President and the Secretary of Education call for a full school reopening, with threats aimed at states that are more cautious, the fifty states and 14,000 school districts consider the options.

John Hopkins University posted a reopening policy tracker, a user-friendly source that enables the user to click on every state and organization and view whatever documents they posted.  Impressive!!

For example, see the Texas plan here and the New York University, Guidance on Culturally-Responsive Sustaining School Openings here.

New York State is complicated and confusing. The governor, who was granted wide-ranging emergency powers by the legislature appointed a “Reimaging Education Task Force” and, at daily press conferences emphasized again and again that he will decide on whether or not schools re-open. The chancellor reminded us that the State Constitution places education under the leadership of the Board of Regents.

The State Commissioner, after a number of regional meetings with representatives from across the states, presented the state plan to the Board of Regents. See plan here

A few hours later the governor held his press briefing and laid out the data points required for school reopening, by region. The specifics of the plan will be determined by the school district, and approved by State Education Department (SED) and the governor. The Board of Regents and the governor seem to be somewhat in conflict: does the governor decide on the “health and safety” and State Ed on the education plan?

Watch the governor’s press conference here.

The governor made it clear, abundantly clear, that the first week in August he will determine “go/no-go” based on data points by state region.

Later in the day the NYS Department of Health released a 23-page “Guidelines for School Re-Opening” here,

New York City has released a detailed plan, very detailed, planning for a hybrid reopening and schools will select from a number of school scheduling models. See models here.

In New York City any parent can opt for full remote.

In spite of trepidation, parents and teachers are nervous, concerned; perhaps fearful;  the state is inching closer and closer to a re-opening with the details left to local school districts.

For parents and teachers the overriding issue is safety.

• Can meaningful instruction take place in an environment with social distancing and mask wearing?  Can you actually enforce the rules with younger children?  In many schools only small percentages of parents returned surveys, will parents abide by the staggered school schedules?  Will the staggered school schedules reduce attendance?
• Can schools actually enforce daily temperature taking at entry? Can schools clean using appropriate cleansers every day?
• What are the protocols if a staff member, student or family member of a student tests positive?
• Will testing be made readily available to staff members?
• When will the “accommodation” guidelines/application (request to remain fully “remote”) be available for staff?
• What happens if many more staffer members apply then are required?
• Who funds required protective personal equipment (PPE)?
• Are there plans for childcare for staffs?

Who answers these questions?  For many (most? all?), the answers will be made at the local level; with 700 school districts in New York State the burden on smaller school districts will be overwhelming. The larger urban districts are facing severe budget cuts; will they have the dollars to fund the additional safety requirements?

To remain fully remote when the contagion rates are low and declining is difficult to defend. One outstanding question is how you define “safe for children, families and staff.”

To the question of school reopening Michael Mulgrew, the leader of the UFT, the New York City teachers union gave a “qualified yes.”

Schools can reopen, but only when they are safe for students, their families, and the staff.

The current proposed reopening plans for New York City public schools – based on state and CDC recommendations – call for no more than 9-12 people in the average classroom, meaning that most schools will have to create cohorts of students who alternate between in-class and remote learning. Everyone in school will be masked, and there will also have to be extensive cleaning, testing, and contact-tracing protocols.

All of the scheduling plans are complicated to implement and present logistical challenges for working parents, but we believe a blended learning model is the best option under the circumstances. The (New York City) Department of Education is working with principals to develop more detailed plans, particularly the best instructional strategies for the most vulnerable students.

Mulgrew is correct: the area that has been neglected, sorely neglected is the question of instruction

Eric Nadelstern, a former deputy chancellor, reminds us,

Eric Nadelstern | July 8, 2020

The DOE plan for reopening schools has tackled the question as if it is a managerial problem rather than an instructional one. The first problem that demands solution is which instructional approaches can be equally effective if students are in school, online or a hybrid of the two as pandemic safety will require at different times during the COVID crisis. Once determined, then the managerial issues fall into place.

Should the leadership at the state and local levels have explored the most effective remote and/or hybrid models before determining the questions of the models?  The answer is obvious

For better or worse the education decisions (scheduling models, curriculum, etc.) will be made at the local level.

While the fog is lifting the questions still far outnumber the answers.

The End of the School Year: Confusion, Uncertainty, Fear and Chaos

This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but with a whimper.

TS Eliot

  Chris Hayes

@chrislhayes

“Do policymakers realize that without full time school this fall, parents are screwed and everything will fall apart? I get that it’s a hard problem! I don’t know the answer, but anything approaching “normal” is not possible for working parents while homeschooling”

Will New York State be in Stage 4 by September and can we look forward to a return to regular school?

Is an upsurge in COVID inevitable as we begin to open up the economy?

Is Chris Hayes (2.1 million twitter followers) right? Will “everything fall apart” if we end up with anything less than fulltime school?

BTW, who decides whether schools will re-open? And what an “open school” would look like?

Betty Rosa, the Board of Regents Chancellor reminds us that the NYS Constitution uses the term “governed” ….

The corporation …, under the name of The Regents of the University of the State of New York, is hereby continued under the name of The University of the State of New York. It shall be governed and its corporate powers, which may be increased, modified or diminished by the legislature

 State education law grants the power to “advise and guide …all districts … in relation to their duties and the general management of schools” to the commissioner.

 He shall have general supervision over all schools and institutions  which  are  subject to the provisions of this chapter, or of any statute  relating to education, and shall cause  the  same  to  be  examined  and  inspected,  and  shall  advise  and  guide  the  school  officers of all  districts and cities of the state in relation to their  duties  and  the  general  management of the schools under their control.

 However, tucked into the 2020-21 Enacted Budget is a section that gives the governor sweeping authority,

… broad emergency powers to temporarily suspend or modify statutes, local laws, ordinances, rules and regulations during periods of disaster emergencies,

 The governor has issued over 200 Executive Orders, the latest requiring fourteen day quarantines for visitors from high COVID states.

Earlier in the year as I arrived at the majestic State Education Building I noticed a crowd waiting at the entrance, and they suddenly pushed past security, rushed into the building unfurling banners and raced through the halls demanding a meeting. They were anti-vaxers, protesting the requirement that children are vaccinated for specific diseases before enrollment in school. Eventually they met with members of the Regents who told them they were picketing the wrong building; vaccination requirements were the domain of the Department of Health.

Should decisions relating to school opening health issues be made by the NYS Department of Health?

.Governor Cuomo appointed a Reimaging Education Task Force, New York City Mayor de Blasio a school re-opening Advisory Committee and the Regents identified a few hundred education leaders from every constituency across the state.

The State Education Department has held four regional meetings, “guidance” from experts and many resources for parents and schools (see here)

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published “guidance” for schools, as well as the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association also issuing in-depth guides.

The CDC guidance is clear,

• Lowest Risk: Students and teachers engage in virtual-only classes, activities, and events.
• More Risk: Small, in-person classes, activities, and events. Groups of students stay together and with the same teacher throughout/across school days and groups do not mix. Students remain at least 6 feet apart and do not share objects (e.g., hybrid virtual and in-person class structures, or staggered/rotated scheduling to accommodate smaller class sizes).
• Highest Risk: Full sized, in-person classes, activities, and events. Students are not spaced apart, share classroom materials or supplies, and mix between classes and activities.

How much “risk” do teachers and parents think they want to expose themselves  and their children too?

Chris Hayes is simply wrong. As states rushed to re-open, Texas, Florida, Arizona and other COVID cases exploded. Ironically New York State, the first state to confront the explosion is now one of the few states that appear to have corralled the spread of the virus.

New York City is slowly and carefully crafting plans with many, many questions to be answered:

• Temperature checks at entrances for adults
• Protocols for COVID positive staff and students
• Testing prior to the beginning of the school year for all staff
• School cleaning
• Protocols for “at-risk” staff members, and
• Social distancing school models, i. e., alternative days, alternate weeks, others.

As school districts cobble together plans advocacy organizations are releasing instructional and teacher training suggestions for September, the Center for NYC Affairs  plan here  and the NYU Metro Center is hosting a virtual conference here.

As the school community inches towards a re-opening plan Mayor de Blasio announced the possibility of layoffs, and UFT President Mulgrew responded,

On June 24, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he would play to lay off up to 22,000 city workers to fill the budget gap left by the coronavirus pandemic.

In response, UFT President Michael Mulgrew issued the following statement: 

There’s a “thank you for your service” during the pandemic — a layoff notice for thousands of city workers who created an unparalleled virtual education program, staffed the clinics, drove the ambulances and kept other city services going.

The New York City budget is due June 30^th, neither the Mayor nor the City Council wants an Emergency Financial Control Board; a budget will be in place.

The governor, after reviewing state revenues as of July 1, under his emergency power can adjust the budget, aka, further reductions or release of additional funds.

The HEROES bill is stalled in the Senate, without the passage of the bill a bad situation will undoubtedly continue to deteriorate.

The September re-opening plans are overwhelmed by the specter of layoffs.

Sleep late Monday morning, remember the “rules,” exercise, meditate, improve your remote learning teaching skills, take long walks on beaches or the country, just another chapter in your memoirs.

A dark song performed and written by a friend …..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7EAnbCzMH8&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR3DA8HizYiGJhEuFN4Rum-pwMMJRgUkDpSIwOLp4mC4oYoSawPx9fFUA1U

Can We De-Police Schools and Assure Safety for Students and Staff?

A world turned right side up … the grandchildren of the civil rights demonstrators of the sixties seized the day, injustices centuries old bubbled and erupted, maybe our quiescent world is changing.

In New York State a number of police accountability and transparency concepts rapidly passed the legislature, signed by the governor and became law.

Cries of “defund the police” were heard across the nation, n some school districts zero tolerance and armed police are commonplace in schools.

The sharp criticism of the police is not new; the Black Lives Matter in Schools movement has been calling for “counselors not cops,’ as part of their platform.

School policing is looked upon as repression,

School policing is inextricably linked to this country’s long history of oppressing and criminalizing Black and Brown people and represents a belief that people of color need to be controlled and intimidated. Historically, school police have acted as agents of the state to suppress student organizing and movement building, and to maintain the status quo. Local, state and federal government agencies, designed to protect dominant White power institutions, made the intentional decision to police schools in order to exercise control of growing power in Black and Brown social movements

 In New York City the de Blasio administration removed police from schools and ended the position of Youth Officer in precincts. If there is a situation requiring police principals are instructed to call 911, no longer any special treatment.

School suspensions have been dramatically reduced as well as the length of suspensions.

The reaction to accusations of over-policing has been calls for sharp reductions in police budgets, and, in New York City the elimination of scanning and the movement of the supervision of School Safety Officers from the police back to the Department of Education. (See NYU Metro Center blog)

During this moment of nation-wide opposition to police killings of Black men and women, we should consider ending two longstanding NYC public school security policies–the NYPD’s control of the city’s School Security Agents, and the imposition of metal detectors in selected city schools.

  Kathleen Nolan, Police in the Hallways, (2012) spent a year in a high school in the Bronx and paints a dreary picture of a school oppressed by a “culture of control,” leading to frequent summonses and arrests,

         Although a variety of policies and practices were part of the culture of control inside xxHS, the most central was the systematic use of order-maintenance-style policing. This included law-enforcement officials’ patrolling of the hallways, the use of criminal-procedural-level strategies, and the pervasive threats of summonses and arrest

Will the removal of scanning improve the quality of life for students?

In the midst of the pandemic we see states opening their economies in spite of spiking numbers of infections: a triage, weighing increasing fatalities against the wishes of voters and the revival of the state economy.

Is the removal of scanning the equivalent?

In early 1990’s the Board of Education decided to place scanners in twenty schools. The principal of one of the schools, Thomas Jefferson High School, objected vociferously, her students must not be treated as criminals. The Board relented and Jefferson was removed from the scanning list. A year later a student was fatally shot in the school.

I blogged about the incident here, take a few minutes and read, one of my better efforts.

What is lacking is asking students and staff: do they feel safe in schools?  Have the de Blasio reforms made schools safer?

Max Eden uses student and teacher school climate surveys, an annual collection of data by the Department of Education, over 80% of students and staff complete the surveys; in “School Discipline Reform and Disorder Evidence from New York City Public Schools”    2012 –2016 (March, 2017) Eden challenges the impact of the reforms and concludes,

 … [schools] where an overwhelming majority of students are not white saw huge deteriorations in climate during the de Blasio reform. This suggests that de Blasio’s discipline reform had a significant disparate impact by race, harming minority students the most.

How do we reconcile the positions of advocates, both inside and outside of schools with the data reflecting the views of large percentages of students/staff inside of schools?

UPDATE: How do students feel about the impact of School Safety Officers in schools? See article from Chalkbeat  here.

To add to the complexity, the de-policing of schools advocates and electeds (many running for office next year) demanded that SSO supervision be removed from the police department and moved back to the schools, to the principals.

The Police Commissioner immediately agreed, the move would remove $300 million from his budget without the loss of a single police officer.

The Speaker of the City Council, Corey Johnson agreed with the concept, without speaking to the union leader, who unleashed a scathing attack calling Johnson a racist

There are 5,000 SSO’s, 90% are of color, 70% are women, many live in the neighborhoods of the schools in which they work, and many have worked in the schools for many years.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew was aghast, as the Department is struggling to maintain services, struggling to create a school opening scenario, struggling to prevent a wave of layoffs, ” … this is not the time to consider dramatic and possibly disruptive changes in school security.”  The SSO’s are currently being used to hand out masks, to work in the feeding centers, working in communities,  distributing informational materials and answering community questions.

The weekly “Stated Meeting” of the City Council was held today, and, the question of “defund the police” was defined as transferring dollars from the police budget to fund “safety net” programs in the most CIVID impacted communities, Council Speaker Johnson made it clear that Mayor de Blasio has resisted.

The budget must be agreed upon by the Mayor and the Council by June 30^th, if the Mayor and the City Council fail to agree on a budget a Financial Control Board can replace the Mayor and the Council in making financial determinations and the Governor would no qualms about becoming the “de facto” mayor.

When elephants fight, it is the [New Yorkers] that suffer, [amended African Proverb]

States, counties and cities are facing catastrophic budget shortfalls; unemployment rates not seen since the Great Depression and uncertainty over the re-opening of businesses and schools.  Each day as expenditures exceed revenues the deficits widen,

While the state budget was approved on April 1, under his emergency powers the governor can adjust the budget, in other words the budget is malleable; depending on revenues the budget can be adjusted after the July 1^st.

A bill, the HEROES Act passed the House, it provides over $1 trillion for a wide range of supports.

Will the HEROES Act  pass the Senate? And, if so, how will the Senate change the House bill?

The current House bill would be a life-saver for New York City as well as cities across the state (See proposed $$ to each city here). Speculation is that the final bill will not come before the Senate until late June and will look considerably different than the bill that passed in the House.  The final bill has to “satisfy” Senate leader McConnell, the Republicans and the President.

In a normal year the Mayor and the City Council Speaker would be deep in discussions over the final budget. New York City, since the sweeping governance changes in the late eighties, is a “Strong Mayor,” system. The Mayor has wide discretion over the allocation of resources, the Council, aside from approving the budget; its powers are limited to land use and the holding of hearings.  (Read a fascinating account of New York City governance and the emergence of the current configuration here).

Corey Johnson, the leader of the Council is a candidate for mayor.  Scott Stringer, the Comptroller, is also running for mayor, as well as the Eric Adams, the Brooklyn Boro President and who knows who else …. Andrew Yang? The ranked-choice primary will be held in June, 2021.

Taking “shots” at a weakened term-limited mayor is de rigueur in the world of politics.

Stringer calls for a $1B cut in the NYPD over four years by attrition and using the funds for community programs (Read presser here).

Meanwhile the Independent Budget Office (IBO) paints a bleak picture of New York City’s economy over the next few years,

The coronavirus pandemic has put New York City in the worst economic crunch in decades, with 22% of residents currently out of work and City Hall mired in a nearly $9 billion budget gap.  

 The state government in Albany is facing an even more dire fiscal situation than the city. Rather than providing assistance to the city, the state has looked to the city for fiscal relief. The state budget adopted last month includes hundreds of millions of dollars of cost shifts from the state to the city, including a direct raid on the city’s sales tax revenues. In short, New York City is facing nearly unprecedented challenges as it struggles to maintain budget balance, protect vital services, and provide a safe and healthy environment for individuals who want to live, work, or visit here

After the police clashed with demonstrators and widespread looting occurred the governor threatened to remove the mayor. Can the governor remove the mayor?

(See the text of the City Charter and State law below)

 “What happened in New York City was inexcusable,” Cuomo said during his Tuesday press conference, unprompted. “I have offered the National Guard; the mayor has said he can handle it with the NYPD. My option is to displace the mayor of New York City and bring in the National Guard as the governor in a state of emergency and basically take over … the mayor’s job. You’d have to displace the mayor.”

One would hope and expect that electeds: the governor, the mayor and the candidates will work together to restore the city, to make the city into a better place. We are in a moment in time when sweeping change is possible. Change is inevitable, and change can be disruptive, not all change make education better.

• David Kirkland, NYU Metro Center, “How can we center equity and racial justice when schools open”
• Governor Cuomo “Reimagining Education,    “The Council …can answer key questions about what education should look in the future using new technologies and to develop a blueprint to reimagine education in the new normal”
• Randi Weingarten suggested capstone projects in lieu of traditional end year testing
• Minneapolis, Portland and Denver are removing police officers from schools.

Teachers simply want to back to their classrooms in a safe environment, and we have yet to define safe.

I suspect some of the elements of remote teaching, can be incorporated, adding remote parent conferences to in-school conferences, one on one remote learning to reinforce in-school learning, remote conferences in lieu of out of school meetings, etc., and probably more.

If, however, the decision-makers, continue to bicker, to try and use the crisis for political advantage schools can slide into an abyss.

“The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.”

Dante Alighieri

 

Its Friday; gray and rainy, listen to Rhiannon Giddens, “Leaving Eden,” a poignant song in troubling times, one of my favorites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcCmg9Oj9XM

 

The Removal of a Mayor in New York State

“The mayor may be removed from office by the governor upon charges and after service upon him of a copy of the charges and an opportunity to be heard in his defense. Pending the preparation and disposition of charges, the governor may suspend the mayor for a period not exceeding thirty days.”  (NYC Charter)

“The chief executive officer of every city and the chief or commissioner of police, commissioner or director of public safety or other chief executive officer of the police force by whatever title he may be designated, of every city may be removed by the governor after giving to such officer a copy of the charges against him and an opportunity to be heard in his defense.  The power of removal provided for in this subdivision shall be deemed to be in addition to the power of removal provided for in any other law.  The provisions of this subdivision shall apply notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of any general, special or local law, ordinance or city charter.” (NYS Law)

 

 

Its Friday; gray and rainy, listen to Rhiannon Giddens, “Leaving Eden,” a poignant song in troubling times, one of my favorites.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcCmg9Oj9XM

The Enigmatic Governor of New York State: Presidential Pretender or a Model Governor for the Nation?

In San Francisco, in the summer of 1984 at the Democratic National Convention, Mario Cuomo, the governor of New York State delivered an iconic speech, a revival of the progressive spirit of the FDR New Deal years,

 A shining city is perhaps all the President [Reagan] sees from the portico of the White House and the veranda of his ranch, where everyone seems to be doing well. But there’s another city, another part to the shining city—the part where some people can’t pay their mortgages and most young people can’t afford one. Where students can’t afford the education they need and middle-class parents watch the dreams they hold for their children evaporate. In this part of the city there are more poor than ever, more families in trouble, more and more people who need help but can’t find it.

 Even worse, there are elderly people who tremble in the basements of the houses there. And there are people who sleep in the city’s streets, in the gutter, where the glitter doesn’t show. There are ghettoes where thousands of young people without a job, or an education, give their lives away to drug dealers ever day. There is despair, Mr. President, in the faces you don’t see, in the places you don’t visit, in your shining city.

Watch the speech here.

 The speech thrust Cuomo pere into the front ranks of contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination; in 1992 he seemed to be on the verge of declaring his candidacy, he was hours away from jumping on a plane to begin his campaign in New Hampshire. Unexpectedly, at an Albany press conference he declared he had decided not to run.  The speculation: why he decided not to run  has been endless.

Cuomo fils, in his third term as governor, as was his father, denies he has presidential ambitions. His daily press conferences are national news, he has skillfully guided the state through the swamps of Republican Washington politics, and, and is slowly moving the state towards a staged re-opening, he is “presidential,”

The state still teeters on draconian budget cuts without an infusion of federal dollars, Cuomo addressed the issue, and, with the Republican governor of Maryland issued a plea for funding for states, to pay police, firefighters, school teachers and sharply criticized the last bailout bill for shoveling money to the largest corporations who used the funds to boost their stock prices. Andrew called for a massive infrastructure program to rebuild highways and airports and schools; without assistance states face draconian cuts and the loss of jobs,

The governor and the state budget director have unilateral power to reduce aid to school districts and localities mid-year if the state doesn’t meet projected revenues.   The next revenue report is due from the State Comptroller’s office on Friday.

Last week, it seems like longer than that; Cuomo announced a 100 member blue ribbon commission;  Eric Schmidt, Google CEO (2001-2011) will lead the re-imagining of the state economy, Schmidt appeared briefly by webcast to say he would focus on issues such as “telehealth, remote learning and expanding broadband access.”

Cuomo also announced he would partner with the Gates Foundation to “re-imagine education in New York State,” with a comment,

“The old model of everybody goes and sits in a classroom and the teacher is in front of that classroom, and teaches that class, and you do that all across the city, all across the state, all these buildings, all these physical classrooms — why with all the technology you have?”

The Gates Foundation in a statement said,

“[We are] committed to work with New York State on its efforts to ensure equitable access to education for its students in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and will soon provide more details about the partnership.

Thousands of e-communications filled the governor’s mailbox opposing any relationship with Gates.

The governor, in the spirit of the FDR New Deal has become the nation’s governor; partnering with other governors across the political spectrum, partnering with legislators , fighting the virus and pushing to revive the national economy.

At the peak of the crisis, not enough ventilators, no enough PPE, not enough health professionals Cuomo averred,

“We have to get the private and public [health care] systems working together in New York in a way they never had before …  The distinction between private and public hospitals has to go out the window. We’re one health care system.”

 The underlying issue: dollars.  If public and private hospitals coordinate can the state retain the same level of services and lower costs? Create a private-public hospital partnership.

In my view Cuomo is seeking to control Medicaid expenses thorough reorganization of hospitals in the state. Maybe he’s right.

Education is another major item in the state budget.

Every year a combination of parents, school boards, teacher unions and legislators fight to increase state education funding.  Cuomo has grumbled, “we spend more per student than any other state and graduation rates and student progress is way down the list of states.’

Does Cuomo have a plan to use remote learning to control education costs?

An Education Week article asks, “How Effective Is Online Learning? What the Research Does and Doesn’t Tell Us;” research is clear, online learning is less effective than in-person learning, especially for at-risk students.

Cuomo’s rather anonymous education advisory committee  except for national teacher president Randi Weingarten, a resident of New York City, is devoid of New York City educators, a slap at Mayor de Blasio, who just appointed his own education advisory committee.

Bill and Melinda Gates are well aware of public criticism, and, after major stumbles the Foundation has moved in different direction.

We certainly understand why many people are skeptical about the idea of billionaire philanthropists designing classroom innovations or setting education policy. Frankly, we are, to; Bill and I have always been clear that our role isn’t to generate ideas ourselves; it’s to support innovation driven by people who have spent their careers working in education: teachers, administrators, researchers, and community leaders.

But one thing that makes improving education tricky is that even among people who work on the issue, there isn’t much agreement on what works and what doesn’t.

Is the governor using his new found role, his national popularity, to create a pathway to the White House? To reduce funding for education in the state? Or, is he a model for the nation?

Cuomo’s favorability polling is off the charts.

Am I being too cynical?

Is he still the bully simply using the crisis for his own political benefit?

Mario Cuomo’s 1984 speech is as relevant today as in 1984, perhaps more so, the nation desperately needs a leader to meld our nation together, to lead our nation out of the current morass.

Could Cuomo be that leader? Or, is he Geppetto, pulling our strings?

How will school districts determine local budgeting priorities?

Governor Cuomo announced that New York State schools are closed till the end of June, 4800 schools in 700 school districts, CUNY, SUNY and private colleges. Over 4 million students scattered across the state. The decision whether summer schools will be open will be made by the end of May and September openings will be driven by the data as well as whether you can practice social distancing in a school environment. (Watch full press conference here )

Cuomo acknowledged that school opening questions must be addressed: school busing, social distancing in classrooms and the rambunctious nature of kids.

New York City teacher union (UFT) president set a high bar in a Change.org petition,

• Widespread access to coronavirus testing to regularly check that people are negative or have immunity
• A process for checking the temperature of everyone who enters a school building
• Rigorous cleaning protocols and personal protective gear in every school building
• An exhaustive tracing procedure that would track down and isolate those who have had close contact with a student or staff member who  tests positive for the virus

 National Public Radio (NPR) listed nine pre-conditions for school openings and a 3-minute interview with UFT President Michael Mulgrew. (Read/Listen here)

Chancellor Betty Rosa announced the formation of a task force of stakeholders to guide the decision about the re-opening of schools,

“In the coming weeks we will form a statewide task force made up of educational leaders, including superintendents, principals, teachers, parents, school board members and other stakeholders, to guide the reopening of our schools.  By working together with these partners, we can ensure that our children’s educational, developmental and overall wellbeing is considered during this important discussion.

“We look forward to working with the Department of Health and sharing recommendations with Governor Cuomo’s New York Forward Re-Opening Advisory Board.”

The people who are never mentioned and are at the heart of school openings are the district budget folks. They may have different titles, Assistant Superintendent for Finance, Deputy Chancellor for Financial Services, or some other title.

New York State has a 2% cap on school district budget increases (except New York City) and the budget must be approved by voters in the district, in the past, at a May district election, at the same time school board members are elected. This year the school budget vote has been postponed until “after June 1.”

In my years “in the trenches” I was the program chairman, I scheduled students in a 5,000 plus student high school, of course, under the guidance of the principal. How many course offerings? Class size? How many counselors? Deans? As budgets changed from year to year the configuration of the school changed. As the district union rep I sat in on budget meetings, the deputy superintendent was a magician, moving dollars from category to category, maximizing direct services to classrooms.

In a normal year the state budget is passed by April 1 shortly thereafter the state provides budget runs, the amount of dollars for each district. Property tax revenue plus state dollars equal district dollars and budgets are allocated among the schools in the district. A budget is created, registered voters cast their ballots.

This year is unique.

I imagine budget directors are planning a number of scenarios: bad, worse and worst.

I would begin: can I staff all classrooms keeping the current class size? If not, ranking cuts from non-classroom services in order of priority: after school programs, including sports, class trips, professional development, etc. Worst case scenario: lay off teachers and increase class sizes.

You can utilize zero-based budgeting, start with zero and add services according to a pre-determined set of principles,  a bilingual aide in a first grade classroom before an after school arts program;  Advanced Placement  classes or a counselor?

The community is going to vote on a budget before a decision is made over whether schools will be open in September: social distancing, daily temperature-taking, over night school cleaning, etc., what is the cost of these required actions prior to opening schools? Later school openings?  How can I budget for the costs without knowing the pre-opening requirements and the costs?

How will the governor’s hundred member re-opening advisory council interact with the yet to be announced Board of Regents stakeholders group?

Will the governor be prescriptive, or, will school districts have attitude?

These decisions can rip schools and districts apart, pitting parent against parent and teachers against parents, non-parents against parents, with national political politics hovering over all the decisions.

One careful, very careful step at a time.

How will the decision to re-open schools be made? What will re-opened schools look like?

“You can’t bring back a life; you can start a new business”

 “There’s no on/off switch”

Sunday morning Mayor de Blasio outlined his “Restart” proposals (See here  on Twitter) and a few hours later Governor Cuomo outlined his “Reimagine” Plan (Read here).

Perhaos, just perhaps, de Blasio and Cuomo could shake hands, virtujally of course, and work together.

Both plans are light on education,

De Blasio appointed a task force that will report out a draft proposal by June 1^st, Cuomo spoke in general terms about a phased re-opening based on two weeks of positive data, aka, the curves continuing to decline.

Cuomo mused about the whether schools should open in the summer. Summer schools to make up for remote learning losses, and, acknowledged that we were unprepared for the instantaneous switch from classroom instruction to remote learning.

Some sections of the state have low levels of COVID infections and low rates of transmission: Cuomo proposed a phased re-opening starting with low incidence sections of the state: will schools be included?

School openings must be guided by medical advice; however, the decision will be made by the governor.

The UFT started a Change.org petition with specific requirements before reopening.

The following things need to be in place when buildings reopen:

• Widespread access to coronavirus testing to regularly check that people are negative or have immunity
• A process for checking the temperature of everyone who enters a school building
• Rigorous cleaning protocols and personal protective gear in every school building
• An exhaustive tracing procedure that would track down and isolate those who have had close contact with a student or staff member who  tests positive for the virus

Will the unions, school boards and parents be involved in the re-opening decisions?

The contradiction is that until the re-start, until businesses reopen the loss of revenues to the state will result in lower and lower revenue to cities: fewer policeman, fireman and teachers.

There is a cry: tax the billionaires.

Thomas Piketty, a French economist, argues, “Billionaires should be taxed out of existence;” others argue that its illusory, billionaires create corporations that create millions of jobs for the middle class.

A lengthier debate …

The state has announced another cut, a 20% cut in the budget, and, the date for school budget votes has not been set by the governor. If the state does not re-open there could be increasing reductions after July 1.

Could the continuing low levels of revenue result in layoffs of state and local employees?

Could it lead to teacher layoffs? After the 2008 Great Recession there were teacher layoffs across the state, not in New York City.

How do you weigh the positive economic impact of  a restart versus an upsurge in COVID infections?

The governor has made it clear that there are specific data points that must be met before businesses can be reopened and the reopening will be phased in guided by “precautions.”

Tourism is a major driver of the New York City economy; under what conditions will tourists return to the city?  Restaurants are also drivers of employment; once again, under what conditions can restaurants reopen?  Without tourism and restaurants it is hard to imagine the return of pre-COVD revenues.

Federal infusions of dollars are a stopgap until the economy can be restarted and it could easily be years before pre-COVID levels of revenues are reached: fewer dollars for schools and economic woes for the city.

Let’s raise a few school re-opening questions?

How will school buses practice social distancing?

In New York City and other Big Five cities, how will public transit practice social distancing?  Will every rider be required to wear a mask?  Will teachers feel safe taking public transit to get to school?

Is it possible to take the temperature of every bus/train rider?

What will classrooms look like?

Can you social distance in classrooms?

Can kids go to school on alternate days to reduce class size by half? And only move to full days if the data moves below medically established data points.

Can secondary schools move to end-to-end sessions?  As a student my high school had end-to-end sessions, as a teacher I programmed a 5,000 plus student high school on three overlapping sessions. My first year of teaching I was on late session – 11:40 to 6:00, some teachers took college classes in the morning, other partied late into the night (without social distancing, in fact, the opposite)

Would all teachers be tested before they could be returned to the classroom?

Can schools reopen and hold regular classes with the provisions in the change.org petition?

Dr Fauci warns about a return in the fall of both the regular flu and COVID.

I agree with Cuomo and de Blasio, every step must be guided by medical evidence, and hovering is the impact economic impact on the citizenry.

Over the next month or two the questions I raised will require answers.

Check out an old labor song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8Jas7J7JLA

Stay Safe.

When Will You Feel Comfortable Sending Your Children Back to School?

It is increasingly looking like the powers that be are taking steps, albeit baby steps, to re-open the economy.

The President, reversing himself, has pushed re-opening decisions to the states; the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) recommends a phased return to normalcy.

State-by-State Reopening in Phase II. Individual states can move to Phase II when they are able to safely diagnose, treat, and isolate COVID-19 cases and their contacts. During this phase, schools and businesses can reopen, and much of normal life can begin to resume in a phased approach. However, some physical distancing measures and limitations on gatherings will still need to be in place to prevent transmission from accelerating again.

Governor Cuomo, issued another Executive Order extending PAUSE until at least May 15^th, and, coordinating decisions with a multi-state consortium of states (NY. NJ, Conn, RI, Maryland, Delaware).

Denmark is the first European nation to re-open schools, with social distancing in schools and a NY Times article reports trepidation among parents.

Parents have tough decisions.

Should I send my child to an out-of-town college? Take a gap-year? Transfer to a college near home? Colleges and parents are mulling the options  and colleges are preparing for returning to on campus classes as well as continuing remote learning.

School districts across the state are facing dramatic budget reductions. How will your district respond to the reductions? Will class size be increased? Fewer course offerings? Reductions in sports and other after school activities?  In New York City the budgeting process is in full swing. The Mayor outlined cuts in school budgets, the Mayor’s budget must be reconciled with the City Council; the budget must be in place by the end of June. School budgets will be available on April 23^rd.

The New York Times points to a disturbing study,

The study projects that students who lack steady instruction during the coronavirus school shutdown might retain only 70 percent of their annual reading gains compared with a normal year. Projections for the so-called Covid slide in math look even bleaker. Depending on grade level, researchers say, students could lose between half and all of the achievement growth one would expect in a normal academic year.

 And goes on to suggest specific policies,

A learning reversal of this magnitude could hobble an entire generation unless state leaders quickly work to reverse the slide. Any reasonable approach would include: diagnostic testing to determine what children know when they return to the classroom; aggressive remedial plans and an expanded school calendar that makes up for lost instructional time;

 Long Island Opt Out, with over 25,000 Facebook followers opposes any addition to the testing regimen.

Let’s not forget that little event on November 3^rd, the presidential election. The President is pushing as hard as he can to end re-open the economy.  The scientists worry about moving too quickly and watch a “second wave” of coronavirus “hot spots.”

How do you decide? Possibly a life altering decision for families.

In a year or two we should have a vaccine and more effective treatments as well as the ability to test everyone.

I have no advice; every parent will have to decide for themselves.