Mike Bloomberg in Teachers Under Attack!, by Mike Spina

On Education: Included among celebrity philanthropists who fund schools

Gov. Christie made an appearance on Oprah with Newark Mayor Cory Booker to accept a $100 million gift from Mark Zuckerberg, who started up the wildly successful social network Facebook. Zuckerberg's appearance on Oprah Winfrey was just one of the latest examples of celebrities or wealthy philanthropists jumping on board the education bandwagon. Bill Gates and his wife Melissa, of Microsoft fame, have been contributing to education through their foundation for years. So has NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and even Sam Walton, the owner of Wal-Mart, has established a foundation to give away money.

What is disturbing, however, is the ease with which celebrities and national figures have disparaged public education. What do they know about the issue other than what the read or hear? The last time any of them probably stepped in a classroom was when they attended high school. I don't pretend that there aren't problems in urban schools. But let's leave the education business to the educators.

Source: Teachers Under Attack!, by Mike Spina, p.142-143 Feb 17, 2011

On Education: Pushed for mayoral control of city school system

Bloomberg has the power to make policy decisions concerning his city's schools. The single biggest reason that a mayor should not control a school district is that it would put too much power in the hands of the single chief executive of both the city and its schools. It is a recipe for disaster because the mayor in control will be primarily obligated to govern the city first, and that could come at the expense of the school system.

The perfect example [is that] Bloomberg is anticipating municipal cuts that could amount to a billion dollars [of reduced state aid]. Bloomberg has already warned that a cut of that magnitude would mean that he would have to lay off as many as 15,000 teachers in the city. That figure amounts to the number of teachers that NYC has hired over the past 5 years.

Bloomberg has already called for the power to terminate ineffective teachers first. The NYC teachers' union has strongly condemned Bloomberg's call for the abolition of tenure and his layoff plans.

Source: Teachers Under Attack!, by Mike Spina, p.162-163 Feb 17, 2011

The above quotations are from Teachers Under Attack! How NJ Governor Chris Christie's Personal Vendetta Against Teachers Will Destroy Public Education by Mike Spina. Click here for other excerpts from Teachers Under Attack! How NJ Governor Chris Christie's Personal Vendetta Against Teachers Will Destroy Public Education by Mike Spina. Click here for other excerpts by Mike Bloomberg. Click here for other excerpts by other Governors.
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