{"id":6604,"date":"2026-08-15T11:06:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T11:06:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6604"},"modified":"2026-08-15T11:06:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T11:06:42","slug":"mike-mulgrews-dirty-game-blaming-mamdani-for-disastrous-reading-scores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6604","title":{"rendered":"Mike Mulgrew’s dirty game \u2014 blaming Mamdani for disastrous reading scores"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

We\u2019re on Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s side on this one: United Federation of Teachers chief Mike Mulgrew is trying to blame this year\u2019s dismal public-school scores on state reading exams on how the Department of Education administered the literacy curriculum this past year.<\/p>\n

Read more DeSantis\u2019 replacement, DSA push, ethics scandals and redistricting shakeout: What to watch in Florida\u2019s primary election<\/a><\/p>\n

The new NYC Reads started phasing in under Mayor Eric Adams, but Mulgrew now whines, \u201cThe DOE needs to make sure each school has a clear instructional plan,\u201d including \u201cstreamlining what schools are doing\u201d and \u201celiminating unnecessary paperwork and assessments.\u201d <\/p>\n

This is a blatant \u201cnot our fault\u201d offensive by the union boss, after kids in grades 3-8 saw a 6% drop in their English scores from last year, with more than half in grades 3 to 5 rating not at all proficient.<\/p>\n

OK, we don\u2019t think much of Mamdani\u2019s plans for the public schools, but a significant part of that is his refusal to confront the mess the UFT has made of the system by protecting outright incompetents and opposing any <\/em>form of teacher accountability.<\/p>\n

Notice Mulgrew\u2019s gripe about \u201cunnecessary assessments\u201d: Teachers unions (and the State Education Department bureaucracy they now effectively control) despise <\/em>objective exams that reveal how little the kids have learned. <\/p>\n

And the DOE bureaucracy plays along, too: In particular, it\u2019s delaying the release of the data on how students at the city\u2019s public charter <\/em>schools did on those same exams.<\/p>\n

The Success Academy network has revealed that 91% of its scholars rated proficient in English, 96% in math; few other charters will do that well, but it\u2019s an extremely safe bet that they\u2019ll put the DOE schools to shame. <\/p>\n

This is why city charter enrollment rises year after year, while the DOE\u2019s rolls shrink: The charter sector, with over 150,000 students, now accounts for 16% of the city public-school K-12 population. <\/p>\n

Read more Baby Gabriel, saved from abortion, deserves the chance to fight for his life<\/a><\/p>\n

But Mulgrew\u2019s blame game requires him to pretend that DOE administrators are what stop his members from matching the charters\u2019 results, so he says of the literacy curriculum, \u201cWe\u2019re not going to support it if they want to implement it the way they did this past school year.\u201d <\/p>\n

First, the Mamdani DOE denies making any changes or adding new requirements on teachers.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Second, what does it even mean <\/em>to say the UFT won\u2019t \u201csupport\u201d teaching children to read?<\/p>\n

Actually, those test scores suggest the union\u2019s already <\/em>anti-literacy.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s so pathetic: DOE classes don\u2019t even start until Sept. 10 this year because Mulgrew negotiated a contract that entitles teachers to two prep days after Labor Day before the kids show up; under Mayor Mike Bloomberg, educators had to return before<\/em> Labor Day for that classroom prep.<\/p>\n

Success schools are already back, as are several other charters: The largely non-union sector knows kids need every day of learning possible. <\/p>\n

Mulgrew & Co. get paid good money \u2014 six figures, with the whole summer off \u2014 to produce good results.<\/p>\n

Read more Jersey Shore town bans minors from beach, public spaces in curfew crackdown<\/a><\/p>\n

He should shut up and teach.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a blatant “not our fault” offensive by the union boss, after kids in grades 3-8 saw a 6% drop in their English scores from last year, with more than half in grades 3 to 5 rating not at all proficient.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nMike Mulgrew's dirty game \u2014 blaming Mamdani for disastrous reading scores - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6604\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mike Mulgrew's dirty game \u2014 blaming Mamdani for disastrous reading scores - 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