Here's what paid advocacy problems can look like:

http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=fb1f227100&id=80ea89421d

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Class Size Matters" info@classsizematters.org Date: Feb 12, 2014 5:05 AM Subject: Update on lousy court decision, Governor and the Regents on the Common Core

Dear folks,

1. Justice was denied late Friday afternoon as Judge Breslin of the NY

Supreme Court’s dismissed the lawsuit to prevent NYSED from uploading personal student data to inBloom. Yet is was a very weak decision as the judge did not explain how the state’s disclosure of students’ data to inBloom was either necessary nor specifically authorized by law, as required by the state’s Personal Privacy Protection Law. To read more about this disappointing decision and what is on the horizon, check out our blog.

In the meantime, please do not forget to remind your state senators to

co-sponsor Senate Bill S.5932 (unanimously passed by the Assembly last session as A.6059A) which would put strict limits on the state’s ability to share personal information with third parties and prohibit any vendor from re-disclosing such information to third parties without parental consent (as inBloom intends to do). You can get their contact information here.

2. Also on Friday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his appointments for

a Common Core Commission, to review issues and problems related to the standards, curriculum and testing. Unfortunately, many of the individuals who were appointed had previously expressed strong support for the status quo, and included several whose organizations have received funding from the Gates Foundation, which paid for the development of the standards and is pushing them hard. See the New York State Allies for Public Education’s press release for more on this issue.

Yesterday, the Regents released 19 recommendations concerning the Common

Core that were accurately described by WNYC as “tepid” and minor “tweaks.” See the NYSAPE press release and this blog post for more. This only reinforces the need for new blood on the Regents; interviews with the applicants were held last Tuesday and today. We will be asking you to weigh in with your legislators on this critical issues soon about these appointments, stay tuned.

3. If you have not already, please sign and share our petition to

Chancellor Fariña, her staff, and the Panel for Education Policy to reverse the many school co-location proposals pushed through during the last three months of the Bloomberg administration. These co-locations would cause more overcrowding in school buildings, and would take away the critical space that children need to receive a quality education. The petition can be found by clicking here.

Thanks,

Leonie Haimson Executive Director Class Size Matters 124 Waverly Pl. New York, NY 10011 212-674-7320

follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook

forward to a friend | subscribe to this newsletter