Our August 24th article, Paterson Not Backing Down, drew the following response:
"Paterson has no point on the Accidental Governor claptrap. John Tyler, who became president after William Henry Harrison died after just a month into his term, was dubbed "His Accidency." He was pretty white, to put it mildly."
Alex Knepper
Race42012.com
Our article on June 30th entitled Was The Mayor Playing Hooky? drew the following response:
I visited your website, The Borrero Report, and read Was The Mayor Playing Hooky? In the piece, you quote a statement I sent you from Hector Gesualdo.
How is it that ASPIRA’s position on mayoral control of schools is so unique that you felt compelled to single it out for contempt? ASPIRA is far from alone in arguing that petty politics, corruption and academic failure were rampant under decentralization. Dozens of other community-based organizations share that view, as do several editorial boards, including that of your own paper, El Diario, whose publisher, my former editor, has been an outspoken supporter of mayoral control.
The fact is, you didn’t take issue with the substance of what Mr. Gesualdo said. What was troubling was that you took ASPIRA to task for simply going on record about as important an issue in New York City public education as there’s been in the last 30 years.
Then there’s your question, “When was the last time anyone heard ASPIRA of New York opine publicly on any education issue?” Representing ASPIRA on a panel in Albany a few months ago, with Schools Chancellor Joel Klein just a few feet away, I very publicly opined that ASPIRA sees the Latino dropout rate as a crisis requiring the school system’s immediate and urgent attention. Judging from the reaction, the audience clearly agreed with me.
Moreover, ASPIRA’s publicly delivered testimony at state hearings in the city urging legislators to extend mayoral control nonetheless expressed concern with the 40 percent dropout rate among Latino students and the lack of communication from the Department of Education to parents.
You’ll also find in reading through some of our newsletters, which are disseminated widely and available on ASPIRA’s website, that the agency is concerned with “the dysfunction of the city’s middle schools” as well as issues in city high schools affecting Latino students’ access to needed guidance and support services.
We’re not asking you to agree with us, just to respect our opinion and the right to express it.
Be well.
Sincerely,
Frank Sobrino
July 9, 2009
Frank Sobrino is Director of External Affairs for ASPIRA of New York
Our articles on the chaos afflicting Albany after the Malcolm Smith ouster elicited the following reader reactions:
