Teachers, Technology, & Tweed. How Does The School System Thrive Academically With Fewer Teachers? According To Tweed It Is Simple, Add Technology.

Going into the 2011-12 school year the New York City Public Schools will have nearly 8,000 fewer teachers than it had in 2007-08. With student numbers staying relatively stable, the schools have seen class sizes rise dramatically despite a lawsuit that required the State to reduce class sizes. It is expected that class size increases will be 2 to 4 additional students for the 2011-12 school year. The result will only weaken any academic progress by the students who most need individual attention that comes with lower class sizes.

By contrast, the headcount at Tweed has been increasing and even when they promised to reduce the Central Bureaucracy, Tweed failed to do so. In fact, the headcount actually rose! Now it seems Tweed has come up with a solution for having less teachers and rising class sizes, they have budgeted $900 million dollars for technology! Yes! Technology like the $79 million dollar SESIS program that is nothing but a headache to everybody who tries to access it. Or the $81 million dollar ARIS program that many schools have given up using. How about the wi-fi wiring of schools that cost millions of dollars, including $3.6 million dollar fraud by the consultant, only to be obsolete at completion. How many more millions are being spent on online credit recovery courses such as "Castle Learning" and the $120 million dollars on the expansion of the IZONE program which allows students to ignore seat time in school, while still passing and getting a bogus diploma? Yes, Tweed has decided that less teachers in a classroom and overcrowded class sizes is easily remedied by the false band-aid of technology. Remember, it is not about student academic achievement but the graduation rate, no matter how unprepared the student is for life as an adult.

Remember, in the world of the DOE it is Tweed and their technology consultant services first and children last!