Mamie Till Mobley

"There was an important mission for me, to shape so many...young minds as a teacher. God took away one child but...(gave) me thousands. And I have been grateful for the blessing." Mamie Till Mobley

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Michelle Rhee a public school parent sends her own to private elite school

Michelle Rhee moved to Nashville, Tennessee closer to ex-hubby a states education commissioner, while She enrolled one of her own children in an elite private school. When an online newspaper asked whether her children attended a public or charter school three months ago, Rhee responded simply that She was a "public school parent."

Public education reformer Michelle Rhee not completely a ‘public school parent’ http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/public-education-reformer-michelle-rhee-completely-public-school-parent-article-1.1302949?localLinksEnabled=false

Sunday, March 24, 2013

EXPERT SEES LITTLE CHANGE IN CITY SCHOOLS How are things going in the Buffalo Public Schools? It all depends on who you ask.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Sequester cuts in education

President Barack Obama signed the Budget Control Act of 2011, and on Friday he signed an order authorizing the government to begin canceling $85 billion from federal accounts for this fiscal year. Here what it means for education: Education $633 million cut from the Department of Education’s Special Education programs $184 million cut from Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research $71 million cut from administration at the Office of Federal Student Aid $116 million cut from Higher Education $86 million cut from Student Financial Assistance Here is letter Obama administration Deputy Director for Management Jeffry D. Zients sent to Speaker of House of Representatives John A. Boehner

Obama seeks Democratic control of House to press agenda : http://wapo.st/Zb66vf

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Teach for America proposal squashed in Buffalo

Buffalo Board of Education meeting last night was heated after security guards had to escort would be board member Carl Paladino out for criticizing the slow response of School Board members to the problems at one of the schools involving sewage backup and the impact the environmental problem is having on the health of students and school employees, teachers from the Math, Science and Technology School that had complained on Wednesday. Also, the contract to hire 60 Teach for America recruits over a two year period 30 starting this summer and 30 more next year was squashed at the School Board meeting last night not enough votes or as Buffalo News education blogger Mary Pasciak wrote about the meeting last night " too many unanswered questions and too little time to resolve them" according to Board members Ralph Hernandez, West District and Jason McCarthy, from the North District. So it's back to the drawing board for M&T Bank Chairman and CEO Robert G. Wilmers who supported the arrival of the young fresh out of college recruits to teach in Buffalo schools. Hernandez is running for a third term in the upcoming school district seats up for grabs this year. The nominating petitions drive started in February and with Carl Paladino throwing his hat into the political arena once again, the Buffalo Board of Education elections will be a lively one. Lou Petrucci, Park District Rep. is not running this year told Paladino when he got a telephone call from the ex-gubernatorial candidate who had won the most votes from the South Buffalo District he plans to run in. Hopefully, philanthropic largess of NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg similar to what he contributed to the Los Angeles California School Board race does not happen in the City of Buffalo. Imagine, Bloomberg gave a $1 million dollar donation to help support his school reform agenda as far away as in California! With donations from these hedge fund loving billionaires the average joe run for a school board seat across the nation will be a thing of the past.

The College and Career Girls Prep Charter High School letter of intent approved expected to open 2014

The State Education Department issued its 2013 Preliminary Review/Approval Round 1 Letters of Intent that have been accepted and invited to submit a full application for a charter school during the month of February 2013. There were 27 letters of intent for charter schools many of them in New York City with several in the upstate NY region Rochester and Buffalo City School District. The College and Career Girls Prep Charter High School in the Buffalo City School District had as a lead applicant Dr. Constance M. Moss and Co-Applicant Marvel E. Ross-Jones. Planned grades and enrollment in each year 96 students in 9th grade 2014-15 up to 364, in 2018-19 by adding a grade level each year. It did not respond to any proposed management or organizational partnership. Also, named as the Applicant Founding Group and Initial Board Members are: Dr. Moss, Mrs. Bradley, Sonia S. Burgin, Dr. Ramelli L. Choate, former school board member, Dr. Catherine Collins, Barbara Davis, Dr. Margarita L. Dubocovich, Elnora B. Grice, Reine Hauser, Joyce Hwang, Rev. Darius Pridgen, Sylvia E. Wright, and Michael V. Wright. The first application the group submitted on February 2011 had been withdrawn and it was suppose to be located in Niagara Falls, NY. The second revised application submitted on February 2012 also was withdrawn for other problems and again revised in July 2012 and withdrawn citing other issues and finally the letter of intent February 2013 resulted in the College & Career Girls Prep Charter High School appearing on the State Ed Website approved to move on to the next phase of the application process. The mission of the charter school is to prepare the female graduates to enroll in higher education. The target population is 81% eligible for free and reduced lunch program, 14.7% students with disabilities and 10% English Language Learners.

Whitney Tilson (3rd background)

Whitney Tilson (3rd background)
"Let’s be honest: we need a lot more well-off, well-educated white folks with a personal stake in both charter schools and education reform in general if we’re going to take reform to the next level, both politically and operationally.Whitney Tilson, hedge fund manager and major funding angel for the school privatizing Democrats for Education Reform, thinks there’s not enough rich, educated white folks.( Preaprez) click photo to his blog.

Arne Duncan

Arne Duncan
U.S. Secretary of Education, click photo