Issues & Ideas

City University of New York students: Struggling, frustrated yet hopeful

Dear Mr. Green,
I am a recent graduate from the City University of New York (CUNY) -- the wonderful college school system that has made huge strides to produce college-educated professionals from all walks of life. Many of my colleagues from the CUNY system are struggling in a tough economy with loans being choked off, unemployment rising and higher tuition costs.

Education

I am opposed to mayoral control of education. If there is the slightest chance that Bloomberg will be re-elected, mayoral control must be ENDED. If we get a new mayor, it must be modified.
Bloomberg and Klein run the Department of Education like a business. It isn't. We need the input of teachers and parents.
They make good schools look bad and bad schools look bad. Yes, test scores have gone up. But, in order to make them go up, all they do is spend a lot of time on test preparation.
Them make one size fit all. It doesn't.

Child Obesity

In the past ten years, obesity levels have doubled in the United States. More than half of adult New Yorkers are overweight or obese, and nearly half of all New York City elementary schoolchildren are not at a healthy weight. Obesity can begin very early in life. In fact, in New York City, 1 in 5 kindergarten children is obese.
Being overweight is not about looks. Many serious health problems are related to being overweight or obese, such as asthma, depression, diabetes and heart disease.
What are we going to do?

Mayoral control of public schools

What is Mark Green's stance on Mayoral control of public schools?

Education Funding and the Blame Game

I understand that with the current economic crisis, everyone and every department will feel the pinch. Yet, when it comes to the debilitating cuts to education, I feel like all I hear are politicians saying, "Don't blame me, it's the other guy's fault." Rather than finding real solutions or laying out a real plan on how to "do more with less" they are more concerned with finding someone else to blame. We must have a strong public advocate who will breakup these petty school-yard fights and keep our government honest and on task.

Education Funding