by Eric Benzel

Hello, again, North to South Friends.

It has been a while since my last post, as August was a month off for my program here. We started classes last week, and I am back in ‘business’ as it were. I start observations at schools around the city this week and am excited to be bringing you all many stories of success and failure. Until then, I thought I would post a brief update of the important news from the last month that will be affecting my career as a teacher here in NYC.

The month started with lots of reflection as I considered what I would do if my own ‘value-added’ metrics were published in a major local newspaper (if interested, read a high-powered response. Later I celebrated with fellow New Yorkers at the news that NY won just under $700 million in funding from Race to the Top (sorry Colorado). A New Yorker turned Coloradan wrote a letter about his own doubts about the reform conversation (ala Diane Ravitch). Honestly, I keep going back and forth. Last night I attended a small, yet well publicized gathering of teachers that added to my confusions. Perhaps most importantly, New York passed comprehensive anti-bullying legislation including sexual orientation and gender identity (only the 10th state to do so).

Now, September.