Here’s an interesting artifact of information from what seems like a mounting rebellion within the New York City public system against the Department of Education. Minutes ago, I received an email from the PTA of the public school our children attend. It was a statement from the leader of the UFT (the city teachers union) basically denouncing the Mayor and the DOE for not closing the schools. A taste of the tone: “The mayor is recklessly putting the health of our students, their families and school staff in jeopardy by refusing to close public schools.”
Now, this is from the PTA, which is by definition a parents’ organization. Looking closely the email is not sent out by the DOE email system which sends out formal information from the school. It’s sent by a platform used by the PTA. But that system is highly, highly integrated with the city school system. Probably like PTAs in your community, the PTA is not really a private or independent organization.
This is my surmise. I’m going by no direct information. But based on my knowledge of this school and information emerging from the rest of the city, it seems highly likely that this email was sent out with at least the passive sign off of the school’s teachers or administration itself.
