Another anti-Klein petition keeps its argument short and simple

CORRECTED: The original version of this post reported unconfirmed details about the origins of StopJoelKlein.org. The site was created by a collection of groups including Time Out From Testing but not including any New York City public high schools, a creator, Jane Hirschmann, said.
Considering the opposition Joel Klein has engendered in his seven years as chancellor, it’s surprising that no one registered the domain name StopJoelKlein.org until last week.

But it wasn’t until Nov. 10 that somebody registered the domain name. That was the same day the New York Times profiled Klein as a front-runner for appointment as U.S. Secretary of Education. StopJoelKlein.org is now being used as a petition to oppose a Klein-led U.S. Department of Education, although the site does not make public the number of “signatures” it has received or who has signed on.

Unlike another petition that appeals directly to President-elect Barack Obama to rule Klein out because the chancellor is not a career educator, StopJoelKlein.org is directed at New York City’s congressional delegation and focuses on Klein’s record as chancellor. The site argues with just four bullet points that “the reputation of Chancellor Klein’s administration is based on myth, not reality.”

No sponsor is listed on StopJoelKlein.org. But according to information provided when the domain name was registered, the site shares an administrator, Daniel Gillmor, with the Web site for Time Out From Testing. Time Out From Testing, which opposes the standardized testing that has grown more high-stakes under Klein’s leadership, says on its Web site that it is “supporting petitions” to prevent Klein from being promoted but doesn’t explicitly claim ownership of StopJoelKlein.org. Gillmor, the person who is listed as the site’s administrator, did not return phone calls Friday.

From the site:

The last seven years of the Klein administration has seen not a NYC “miracle” but rather:

  • a public relations exercise camouflaging the systematic elimination of parental involvement;
  • an obsessively test-driven culture;
  • a growing atmosphere of fear, disillusionment, and intimidation experienced by professionals; and bhgv
  • a flagrant manipulation of school data in contradiction to study after study and results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).