NY1 Reporter Gets A "C Grade" For Her Question to the Mayoral Candidates On the Mayor's Speech

A Safe Question Vs. the People Right to Know

The problems from the question NY1 reporter Courtney Gross asked the mayor candidates was that it was too general. The question she did not ask the candidates is what would they do to solve the teacher evaluation dispute between the teachers union and the city, that is costing the city $60 million dollars in federal education funds. The NY1 report allowed the pols to duck the important issue of the loss of federal education funds and the teacher evaluation conflict, while protecting their hope of getting the union's campaign endorsement and support. Elected Officials Criticize Bloomberg's Approach To Education In State Of The City Speech (NY1)

"I think the lone ranger approach to education reform just doesn't ever seem to work, and to use this forum to go after teachers in a very hostile way just is not going to get us the changes that we need," said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. "Rather disheartening that he almost threw down the gauntlet against our teachers, who have already been through a great deal of anti-teacher rhetoric where City Hall takes credit for everything that goes right in schools and blames teachers for things that aren't going so well in school," said City Comptroller John Liu. "This struck me as an attempt to set up a line between them and talk about differences rather than unify," said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, known as a Bloomberg ally, took a different tact. She said the mayor set forth an aggressive education agenda and that it was up to the teachers union to respond.* BP Stringer's Statement on the Mayor's State of the City Address