BAPIE

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Bloomberg's Claims--Fact or Fiction?

I've been watching Bloomberg's ads on TV recently and decided to look at his claims about Bill Thompson. I looked at a New York Times article, Experts say Mayor Bloomberg's city schools ads slamming Bill Thompson features some fuzzy facts for some information.


Claim #1) Bloomberg says Thompson failed as leader of the Board of Education.
FACT OR FICTION?
This claim is false, Thompson did not lead the Board of Education. He was one of seven voters. He had no full control.

Quoted from the NYT article:
"Mayoral control of the schools did not become law until 2002, when Albany passed it during Bloomberg's first term, making comparison tricky."


Claim #2) Bloomberg says Thompson's leadership led to failing schools and lower test scores.
FACT OR FICTION?
This is not true either.
According to the NYT article and the Department of Education, reading scores went up for fourth graders by 11% in 2 years when Thompson was a member of the Board of Education. For eighth-graders, scores went down by 2%. Math scores went up by 2% for fourth-graders and stayed the same for eighth graders. Graduation rates also increased. Summer school was also put into effect. However, dropout rates did slowly climb.


Claim #3) Bloomberg says Thompson wasted billions while he was "in control" of the Board of Education.
FACT OR FICTION?
This is false.
"During the late 1990s, some experts say, it was the three or four members who often aligned with Giuliani who wielded more power than the president. The mayor, not the board, controlled the school system's purse strings.

The schools operating budget has jumped to $18.4 billion this year from $7.9 billion in 1996. It was $8.9 billion in fiscal year 1998."

I also checked out You're a Disgrace, Mayor Bloomberg! for the scoop on some Bloomberg habberdashery. Looks like a lot of people don't like him. I definitely suggest checking out the site.

In other news, the 2 train has been worse than usual lately. Yesterday the 2 train paused for 20 minutes and then stopped running between Chambers Street and Nevins Street. Of course, I have to work at Fulton Street, so instead of riding back up to 42nd Street and taking the S/N to the 5, I decided to wait. For a half-hour. Then I realized they forgot to advertise the A train that was 1 block away.

WHAT THE HECK, MTA?

So after 50 minutes I had to walk over a block and take the A train (or else I'd have to walk for 20 minutes with a heavy laptop, no no no). The MTA owes me $9 for the hour of work I missed. If I didn't have an unlimited MetroCard I'd be even angrier.

Whatever... (-_-)*
Later guys. Remember to check your facts before you vote!

♥ Chotpy

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Woo! Oh yeah, IS BLOOMBERG A JERK?

So it's been a while since I last posted.
I've been very busy with work and school and roaming around the city. I've discovered a lot of nice things and will share them with you guys!

And I still want to take fashion photos.

Anyway, very soon (hopefully today) I will upload a bunch of photos taken around the city. I feel like it would be a waste if no one saw them.

In other news, how does everyone feel about Mike Bloomberg? He's running for his third term that he forced convinced the government into letting him run for. Was there ever an election for that? I'm pretty sure it happened behind closed doors.

Is anyone rattled by the fact that WE as New Yorkers didn't have the chance to ACTUALLY vote for the new term limits?

Also, I don't really appreciate how Bloomberg seems to be segregating his print ads. Instead of general print ads, he's gone a bit nuts and separated them according to race (or ethnicity if you're Dominican). Asians for Bloomberg, Latinos for Bloomberg, Dominicans(? Is this necessary if you have LATINOS for Bloomberg? Does 'Latinos' not encompass Dominicans???), etc, etc.

I remember Obama had something similar, but it was more general and way broader, like areas of New York City, stores, and women. How do you feel about this 'divide and conquer' approach of Bloomberg's?

I think that's all the New York Rage I have for now!

Good day people!

♥ Chotpy

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