The Book on Joel Klein-By The New York Post

First this disclaimer- The New York Post is owned by News Corp. Joel Klein's new employer.

Here is the link to the online version of the Post story    http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/the_book_on_klein_oCcyTgh9cTYkRReDQXGb8H

    This article appeared in the December 31, 2010 New York Post on page 12. In the print copy (not part of the on-line version) there were six major events that was done by Joel Klein listed next to their dates (in a box below Joel Klein's picture).

1-Dec. 11, 2002 Creates Leadership Academy, a public/private partnership to train future principals.

2-Aug. 20, 2003 Creates position of parent coordinator at each school to improve parent engagement.

3-March 15, 2004 Tougher promotion standards approved for third-graders amid controversy: later extended through eighth grade.

4-April 11, 2006 Announces plan to rate schools with A-through-F letter grades, with serious repercussions for failing schools.

5-Jan. 29, 2007 Cuts and changes bus routes, disrupting the lives of thousands and causes an uproar.

6-May 30, 2007 Announces increases in testing- to five times a year in third through eighth grades, four times a year in high schools. 

We say that is all that The New York Post can write about Joel Klein's eight and a half year tenure, and we would like to refute all six items as a parent leader that served on the Chancellor's Parent Advisory Council when Joel Klein came in as chancellor.

#1- District 10 had a similar program in effect before Joel Klein came in, that was copied and the name changed. District 10 was a low performing district at the time Joel Klein came in, and remains a low performing district eight and a half years later.

#2- Chancellor Klein came to CPAC to see what ideas we had on this position of parent coordinator. CPAC wanted the chancellor to have trained social workers who could help parents with the needs and problems that they may have. Then Deputy Mayor Ed Skylar appearing on NY1's Inside City Hall proclaimed that principals are to busy to deal with parents, and that is why the position of parent coordinator was created. Still to this day there is no job description of the position, it is the discretion of the principal. Parent involvement drastically decreased every year that Joel Klein stayed as chancellor to its lowest point when he resigned.

#3- What was left out was that the changing of the promotion standards did not occur at the beginning of the school year as it should have, but in the middle of the school year causing problems for many.

#4- Failing schools always suffered serious consequences, such as corrective action plans to improve them before a closure program went into effect. The A-through-F school grading worked so well to get Mayor Bloomberg re-elected in 2009, that in 2010 schools received their correct grading with most dropping one, two, or three letters.

#5- This speaks for itself, but did not relay the true story of children being picked up and dropped off far from where they were previously. This happens again not at the start of the school year, but in the middle of the school year.

#6- As we have seen this year, the increase of testing has not helped as true test scores have moved no better in the Klein years than before the Klein years. 

    We must add that we wonder why the last major event of Joel Klein was listed as May 30, 2007. Just what has Joel Klein done in the past three and a half years? Maybe that was why he resigned. God save the children from the Black Plague.