Sorry, commenters, but all the "Bloomturd" and "Bloomtard" nicknames are getting a bit played out. Thankfully, UFT President Michael Mulgrew has suggested a new nickname for the Hizzoner: "Mayor Hosni Murbarak." Here's how that one came about.
This week, an education panel largely appointed by the Mayor voted to close 22 public schools throughout the city, angering parents and teachers who question just where these newly school-less students will be learning next year. They voted to close 10 schools on Tuesday and 12 more on Thursday, where parents booed and chanted at newly appointed Schools Chancellor Cathie Black and walked out of the meeting. Bloomberg said on a radio show, "This is not democracy, letting people yell and scream. That's not freedom of expression. That's just trying to take away somebody else's rights...It's embarrassing for New York City, New York State, for America." Yes, how dare you infringe on Cathie Black's right not to get booed!
Mulgrew, who joined in the chants of "fraud" at the meetings, said of Bloomberg's statement, "It's clear that Mike Bloomberg has the same idea of democracy as Hosni. For him to bring up democracy—anything about democracy—when speaking about a (Panel for Educational Policy) meeting is beyond hypocrisy, because the last time the PEP panel said the mayor was wrong, they were fired." That's referring to Bloomberg firing three PEP members who didn't agree with his plans requiring students to score a minimum grade on state exams to move to the next grade in 2004.
One high school senior had a different idea of embarrassment. Ahmani Croom said, "I think it's embarrassing that they've decided to close the schools. I wanted to make the Department of Education feel bad. They're ruining a lot of people's lives and a lot of people's education." They seem to be doing a fine job of embarrassing themselves.
