New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he does not agree with Judge Sonia Sotomayor all the time, but agreement should not be standard for approving judges (0:25).
“Let’s choose to advance, not retreat,” said Randi Weingarten, the newly elected president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), who held a press conference on Education and the Economy today. Weingarten continued, “with the exception of vouchers, which siphon scarce resources from public schools, n issue should be off the table, provided it is good for children and fair to teachers.”
The mayor of New York City, Michael R. Bloomberg (I-N.Y.), enthusiastically introduced Weingarten as a woman who brought great educational reform to new York City, increased teachers salaries across the board by 43% since 2002, eliminated forced transfers to more challenging schools, and balanced out the number of experienced teachers at each school.
Weingarten said the federal No Child Left Behind Act “has become a stand-in for real discussions at the state and national levels about a robust education policy that prepares our children for the 21st century,” and offered several suggestions for education reform. These included providing universal early childhood education, expanding teacher induction, and having schools offer social services throughout the day such as child care, night classes, dental and medical care, and after school services.
Weingarten also supports teacher tenure, but said it isn’t “a guarantee of a job for life.” She supports peer monitoring and review programs in order to ensure tenured teacher quality. In regard to differentiated pay, Weingarten supports paying more to teachers who take on additional responsibilities, work in hard-to-staff schools or subjects, and who are mentors for their fellow teachers.
During his speech to the World Bank about “Building Better Cities,” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg answers a question about how the police force in New York City has been so successful at reducing crime. We have tried to allocate the police department to problem places with problem people, he says, instead of putting them “where people scream the loudest.” He says that the police department reflects the community in respect to demographics. That is “key,” because it is critically important that people feel “the police officer understands you.” It’s a two way dialogue, he says, and without that, crime fighting is not effective. (1:30)
In his speech to the World Bank about “Building Better Cities,” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says there are four values that have helped transform New York. Harnessing the forces of immigration and globalization, tapping the power of innovation, instituting rigorous and accountable governance, and having the independence to take on ‘entrenched interests’ when they stand in the way of progress. (:27)
New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg addressed the World Bank Employees on “Building Better Cities: New York’s Experience in Urban Transformation” at World Bank’s Urban Sector Day. He said they should be proud of the difference they were making to society. For the first time in human history, he said, most of the world’s population is in cities as opposed to urban areas.
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