Assemblymember Mark Weprin Reports to the Community

Assemblymember
Mark
Weprin
Reports to
the Community

Spring 2008

Mark Weprin Unveils
Five-Point Plan for NYC Schools

	Assemblymember Mark Weprin blasted the Department of Education for issuing report cards that evaluated schools based on one year’s test results and for the extreme emphasis on high-stakes testing in our schools.

The School Governance Law that granted control of the New York City public schools to the mayor expires on June 30, 2009; as a member of the Legislature that will act on the law, Assemblymember Weprin has written the following Five-Point Plan for New York City school governance.

1. Keep Mayoral Control
Mayor Michael Bloomberg succeeded in introducing accountability to the school system, but the Department of Education (DOE) has gone beyond the scope of what the Legislature intended to allow. We must maintain mayoral control, but with significant guidelines and protocols in place. The next School Governance Law should delineate the authority of the Mayor, Chancellor, and Community School District Superintendents.

2. Restore the Role of Local School Districts
The Legislature passed the School Governance Law with the requirement that New York City maintain the Community School Districts and Superintendents. However, the Chancellor has stripped the Superintendents of their authority. We need to re-empower Superintendents and re-establish the Community School Districts to function as the Legislature intended.

3. Accountability for Teachers and Principals
Our principals and teachers need to be held to high standards and evaluated with a broad-based accountability system, not judged solely by students’ scores on standardized tests. Reliance on standardized tests to judge teachers and principals has turned our schools into test-prep factories. Instead, comprehensive school assessments should be based on a combination of visits and independent evaluations by education experts, surveys from parents, teachers, and principals, frequent engagement by the Superintendent and district staff, and test scores.

4. Focus on Technology
We must utilize twenty-first century technology to allow schools to fully integrate the daily classroom with the school community. Every classroom should have computers with internet access, Smart Boards that allow teachers to post content material online, and a website through which parents with authorized access can find out what their children are learning and what their assignments are. If students are late or absent, their parents should receive automatic electronic notification via e-mail, telephone, or text message.

5. Foster Parent Involvement
The more parents become involved in schools, the more children will learn. We should maintain the Parent Coordinators, who have served as an invaluable link between parents and principals, humanizing the corporate machine. In addition, Community School Districts should have staff members who are dedicated to working with parents and maximizing their connections to their children’s schools.

BUDGET ALERT
Assemblymember Weprin fought for a final state budget that provides $644 million more for New York City schools. The new state budget continues a commitment to the four-year Campaign for Fiscal Equity plan.

Celebrating Lunar New Year

Assemblymember Weprin was a guest at the annual Lunar New Year celebration at Public School 203Q, The Oakland Gardens School. Mr. Weprin donned traditional Asian attire for the event, as did many students, teachers, parents, and Principal Carole Nussbaum. The festivities included student performances, Asian cuisine for lunch, and a beautifully decorated school.

left to right: Executive Vice President Jack Friedman, Queens Chamber of Commerce; Assistant Principal Leslie Wechsler; Teacher Voula Angelidakis; Senator Toby Ann Stavisky; Assemblymember Mark S. Weprin; Principal Carole Nussbaum

SPRING
CLEANING

The New York City Department of Sanitation’s Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling is holding spring cleaning events in all five boroughs. The Department will accept electronics for recycling; it will also collect gently used clothing and linens for those in need. In Queens, the event will take place on Saturday, May 3, 2008, from 8 AM to 2 PM, at St. John’s University. Go to Alumni Hall Parking Lot, at the corner of Utopia Parkway and Union Turnpike; cars enter at Gate 4 on Union Turnpike and 175th Street. For more information, call 311 or visit www.nyc.gov/wasteless.

Meeting with Local Health Care Workers

Local members of 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East visited Assemblymember Weprin in his district office to discuss healthcare funding in the annual state budget. Mr. Weprin often meets with groups and organizations both in Albany and in New York City.

Career Day at Queens High

At Queens High School of Teaching, Liberal Arts & Sciences, Assemblymember Mark Weprin participated in a special Career Day program. Speaking to students, Mr. Weprin described his role as a state legislator and encouraged the young people to consider exploring careers in public service.

left to right: Councilmember David I. Weprin, Assemblymember Mark S. Weprin, Assistant Principal Eric Contreras, Senator Frank Padavan

Assemblymember Weprin’s Lawn Litter Law is now in effect. The law prohibits distributors from leaving advertising materials (fliers, circulars, pamphlets, menus, handbills, etc.) on the property of residents who have posted signs indicating that they do not wish to receive such material. The New York City Department of Sanitation will enforce the law. For your convenience, there is a Lawn Litter Law sign on the back of this newsletter. You may post it on your property if you do not want to receive distributed advertising materials.

Mark Weprin Appointed to
Ways and Means Committee

New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has appointed Assemblymember Mark S. Weprin to serve on the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. The powerful legislative committee is responsible for reviewing and acting on all expenditures that require the approval of the Assembly. Ways and Means oversees the formation of the annual state budget as well. “I am grateful to Speaker Silver for his support,” said Assemblymember Weprin. Mr. Weprin also serves as Chair of the Assembly Committee on Small Business and on the Codes, Insurance, and Judiciary Committees.

Queens Economic Outlook Conference

Assemblymember Weprin was a panelist at the Queens 2008 Economic Outlook Breakfast, sponsored by the Queens Chamber of Commerce and Sovereign Bank. Mr. Weprin, who is Chair of the Assembly Small Business Committee and a leading advocate for business development in the state, spoke to the gathered business people and answered questions from members of the Chamber.

left to right: Thomas Iadanza, Metro NY-NJ Commercial Division Executive, Sovereign Bank; Queens Chamber of Commerce President Albert F. Pennisi; Assemblymember Mark S. Weprin; Brendan Dugan, Metro NY-NJ Division Chairman, Sovereign Bank

Cracking Down on Hate Crimes

The Legislature recently passed a law that adds the noose to the list of hate symbols. In recent months, after the appearance of a noose on the grounds of a high school in Jena, Louisiana, there have been several disturbing incidents involving nooses being used as hate symbols, including two in New York State. There was a noose in the locker room of a police station in Hempstead, Long Island and another on the office door of a Columbia University professor in Manhattan.

In response to similar past incidents involving swastikas and burning crosses, the Legislature made the use of those symbols a crime when a person uses them with the intent to harass, annoy, threaten, or alarm another individual. This year, the Legislature added the noose to the list of unacceptable hate symbols.

In accordance with the
Weprin Law Chapter 585 of 2007

DO NOT PLACE
UNSOLICITED
ADVERTISING
MATERIALS
ON THIS
PROPERTY

Place this sign on your property to
avoid receiving unsolicited advertising.

**Click here for a printable version**

Assemblymember Mark Weprin
ALBANY OFFICE: Room 626 Legislative Office Building • Albany, New York 12248 • 518-455-5806
DISTRICT OFFICE: 56-21 Marathon Parkway • Little Neck, New York 11362 • 718-428-7900
E-mail: weprinm@assembly.state.ny.us

Back