Newly elected New York Mayor Bill de Blasio made waves, recently. He nixed the establishment of two new charter schools and halted the expansion of another.
Widespread protest followed, with over ten thousand people showing up to express their frustration and ire. The charter chain under de Blasio attack, Success Academy, has been very successful increasing student test scores, and can boast a waiting list of five applicants for every school opening.
So why would the mayor be against them? What would make him so against this non-radical form of education reform?
Well, de Blasio received the overwhelming support of teachers’ unions during his campaign for office. Teachers’ unions are no fans of charter schools, which gain some of their advantages by not being hampered by union contracts.
Sure, the mayor’s heavy-handed slap at charter schools may simply be a political payoff to the teachers’ unions, but couldn’t there be something more to it?
Last May he directed his metaphorical guns at the head of the Success Academy, former New York councilwoman Eva Mosokowitz. “It’s time for Eva Moskowitz to stop having the run of the place,” he promised the United Federation of Teachers at a mayoral candidates forum. “She has to stop being tolerated, enabled, supported.”
Knee-capping the less politically muscular charter school folks to please the immensely powerful public education unions is indeed classic patronage politics. But maybe de Blasio’s personal animus also shows his true colors, his commitment to undercut any successful competition to the governmental way of doing things.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
9 replies on “Nixing Success”
A protest of 10,000 people. Politicians usually react to that by saying “is that all you got – 10,000?”. And they get away with it.
It’s beyond time for people to start realizing that the people running the Democrat party are nothing but crypto-communists who envy success in others and, beyond that, will eventually do ANYTHING to ensure they stay in power. The more they keep people down and ignorant, the more power they have.
People that so blatently succeed without government are threats to government. People might start thinking that they don’t need governing hardly at all and try to govern themselves. De Blasio didn’t kiss all that butt to go back to working for a living.
Well said by ya’all: NowYouKnow,IheartDagney and Drik .
I think Paul has Blasio’s number, but good.
Watching Public Education implode though is similar to watching an explosion of an unsafe building in slow motion.
As an ex-pat New Yorker, it is painful to see a progressive bone head in office. I have taught in charter schools here in Los Angeles & far & away the education is superior. Public schools are over crowded, under funded & so left leaning in their teaching agendas, that kids can continually be advanced without even the ability to read. I have tutored college students who can’t read their freshman assignments. This would never happen from a charter school. The teaching is too hands on in smaller classes. The kids are challenged, provoked & engaged to learn. I have never seen such enthusiasm in pre-teens & teenagers as in Charters. Many of our future leaders will spring from them. But DeBlasio is more concerned about the same Dem B.S. tax the wealthy & despise them as well as condemn anything that isn’t of & from the government. So sad that this moron was elected.
“Public schools are over crowded, under funded”
I have yet to see a major city public school that was under-funded. All of them are over-funded, but the money is pissed away by school boards who pay superintendents enormous salaries and benefits, by overpaid administrators who hire large numbers of inefficient staffers, and by teachers unions that make it nearly impossible to fire teachers, even those who verbally abuse students. Those teachers receive full pay for doing nothing for the year or two it takes to fire them.
DeBlasio and Democrats show they do not support good education for students, especially poor students. They just support funding teachers unions whether they do a good job of teaching or not.
That’s going to hurt them in elections.
DeBlasio is 9was) supported by a Muslim leader – (I forgot the name) and Ms. Mosokwitz is obviously Jewish. Hence, whose ass does one kiss?
Also, Charter schools can throw out unruly students, and can pick and choose. Public schools cannot. Students who are in charter schools also, usually, have parents who are concerned with their child/children’s education. Often, unfortunately, the parents of public school children could not give a damn less. Why study, become 18 and go on welfare.
Maybe he could pay her to be less successful?