Submitted by Michael Meyers, May 16, 2007 17:33

Reading your reporter's story about yesterday's CEI-PEA luncheon at which Chancellor Joel Klein spoke and took questions, I did not think I was in the same forum as the one reported on.

For one, I did not think your reporter's article about Chancellor Klein's presentation at yesterday's luncheon forum represented accurately the audience's response to questions raised about the so-called Arab school or for that matter about the general trend of the New York City public school system toward serving ethnic and national origin "constituencies." Indeed, I was the one who asked the Chancellor about the Arab school and tied my question to the system's policy of "Balkanization." His answer did not satisfy and did not sway me or, I dare say, the many in the audience who told me afterwards that the Chancellor did not answer my pointed question.

Nor did Chancellor Klein really answer my query as to whether it was his judgment that the system is now free of the historic and persistent blockades (namely the teachers' union and related contractual impediments) to the achievement of his student performance tied to teacher accountability goals. I would say the Chancellor punted on both questions, with a "trust me" disposition in a climate and time of considerable distrust when we see public officials pandering to ethnic tribes in the guise of "multicultural" education, and also failing to follow through on their promises to strip the union contract to the bare essentials. The latter is an exercise in double talk because the Chancellor insisted that we start evaluating teachers by measuring students' performance but as he knows the teachers' union insist that "out of school factors" (such as dysfunctional families, no books in the home, no culture of learning among minority students, etc.) are the "real" roadblocks to raising students' academic achievement levels. Time is running out on the Bloomberg/Klein reforms--which have been inadequate at best, and piecemeal because they have not yet slain the twin dragons of paternalism and teacher ineffectiveness that rule our school system.

Michael Meyers, Executive Director

MANHATTAN

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