Duncan-Bloomberg event
11.25.2009

Despite the rainy weather, early morning start, and day-before-Thanksgiving scheduling, the CAP event with Secretary Duncan and NYC Mayor Bloomberg was standing room only.??Going in it wasn't at all clear what the actual purpose of the event was (Ed Trust's Kati Haycock was on the panel as well). As it turned out, it was a stage for Bloomberg to make some important announcements.

Secretary Duncan's opening speech was generally his ARRA/RTT talking points--not bad by any means, just not hot-off-the-presses new. Of note, he once again name-checked Louisiana for its strong use of data. He also said that RTT isn't so much about states competing with one another as it is about each state building consensus within its borders for major change.

Mayor Bloomberg made the big splash, announcing six steps he intends to pursue--reforms, he believes, that will help his city's students but also better position his state for RTT funds.

  1. Higher salaries for high-performing educators and those in tough-to-staff subjects

  2. Ending seniority-based layoffs

  3. Reforming (not ending) tenure to allow for the removal of low-performing teachers (and addressing the "rubber room" problem)

  4. Raising state content standards

  5. Lifting the charter cap to allow for 100 new schools over four years and giving charters access to facilities

  6. Turning around 10 percent--not just 5 percent--of the city's lowest-performing schools and ending the "absent teacher reserve pool"

Each of these is a significant and very welcome initiative. Kudos to the mayor and Chancellor Klein.

Politically, it's worth noting that this is a mayor, not a governor or legislator, pushing his state in the right direction on RTT. This point was underscored several times when he noted that he needs the legislature to act. Moreover, in a real news-making moment, he said that if the legislature doesn't address the charter facilities issue, he has authorized Klein to sue and use the courts to get this done.

Unfortunately, during the public Q&A, neither the reporters nor audience members asked Duncan what he thought about these proposals (maybe a reporter cornered him after the event--watch for this in the forthcoming articles).

Since Duncan didn't have new announcements himself today, I suppose the purpose of his presence was to lend silent moral support to Bloomberg's speech. Certainly, it would have been more powerful had Duncan said, "Yes, this is exactly what states and cities should be doing." But his being there was worthwhile symbolism, emphasized his priorities, and got several major news outlets there.

This combined with Bloomberg's laudable proposals made for a very good event, especially on a sleepy, pre-Thanksgiving morning.