Friday, March 24, 2006
Anyone Tape NY1 Last Night?
I dozed off on the couch during NY1's "Inside City Hall" last night while NYC Councilman Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan, "I'm not there yet on charter schools,") and Sen. Steven Saland (R-Poughkeepsie, "I'm really, really not there on charter schools,") were going on and on about the Campaign For Fiscal Equity case.
But I woke up in a bit of a haze later on in the show and could have sworn I witnessed two charter school parents making two other "elected parent representatives" from the NYC schools look like a bunch of baboons. Was I dreaming this? If anyone has a tape, I'd love to watch it again in a more coherent state.
Part of what I thought heard went something along these lines, but again I was a bit out of it:
NYC PTA Power Mom: We shouldn't lift the cap on charter schools because charter schools are only serving a very small segment of the student population.
Charter School Mom: Well, one reason they only serve a small segment of the student population is because there's, uhhhh, a cap, you ignorant slut!
The "ignorant slut" part was probably just my hazy/wishful thinking, but as a parent in NYC schools, I have to say the performance of the elected parent representatives was an absolute embarrassment last night. Note to NY1 producers: You're better off inviting someone like Carmen Colon as a guest - someone who has respect for the real struggles parents have finding decent schools for their kids, rather than people rattling off talking points they don't even seem to understand.
At one point the NYC PTA Power Mom even chastised the charter school moms on the panel for not "coming to the table" with other NYC parents. Good grief! Just what they need.
One other interesting tidbit: The brief discussion between the various parents on the panel was interesting. If you know anything about groups like the Chancellor's Parent Advisory Council and the United Parents Association it's that they talk about smaller classes with the same sort of breathlessness that other people talk about multiple orgasms. Interestingly, both charter school parents last night noted that one thing they liked about charter schools is that they often are able to provide smaller class sizes and a more close-knit school setting. And yet these PTA-types continue to have this disdain for the creation of more schools with smaller classes. What's up with that?
But I woke up in a bit of a haze later on in the show and could have sworn I witnessed two charter school parents making two other "elected parent representatives" from the NYC schools look like a bunch of baboons. Was I dreaming this? If anyone has a tape, I'd love to watch it again in a more coherent state.
Part of what I thought heard went something along these lines, but again I was a bit out of it:
NYC PTA Power Mom: We shouldn't lift the cap on charter schools because charter schools are only serving a very small segment of the student population.
Charter School Mom: Well, one reason they only serve a small segment of the student population is because there's, uhhhh, a cap, you ignorant slut!
The "ignorant slut" part was probably just my hazy/wishful thinking, but as a parent in NYC schools, I have to say the performance of the elected parent representatives was an absolute embarrassment last night. Note to NY1 producers: You're better off inviting someone like Carmen Colon as a guest - someone who has respect for the real struggles parents have finding decent schools for their kids, rather than people rattling off talking points they don't even seem to understand.
At one point the NYC PTA Power Mom even chastised the charter school moms on the panel for not "coming to the table" with other NYC parents. Good grief! Just what they need.
One other interesting tidbit: The brief discussion between the various parents on the panel was interesting. If you know anything about groups like the Chancellor's Parent Advisory Council and the United Parents Association it's that they talk about smaller classes with the same sort of breathlessness that other people talk about multiple orgasms. Interestingly, both charter school parents last night noted that one thing they liked about charter schools is that they often are able to provide smaller class sizes and a more close-knit school setting. And yet these PTA-types continue to have this disdain for the creation of more schools with smaller classes. What's up with that?
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