Ed Notes Online: School Closing Hearing Dates and the Fightback

Sunday, January 1, 2012

School Closing Hearing Dates and the Fightback

On Feb. 9 the PEP will vote to close these schools no matter the passion or data or whatever.

People are needed to attend these hearings at the school, to make contact with people at the schools and get people out to the Feb. 9 meeting at Brooklyn Tech.

In addition, there is the question of the status of the 33 turnaround schools if the money disappears though I don't think the DOE can manage to close these schools in time given certain limits. And think of all the ATRs created that they have to pay.

So why bother if the result is predetermined? Let's build the movement so one day they will not be able to get away with it. But numbers are needed.

How is the resistance being organized? The Occupy DOE meetings on Sundays have become a key organizing mechanism. ODOE has shown the potential to bring out enough people to have a real impact.

Next meeting: Sunday Jan. 8. Here is the leaflet which we want to get into the closing schools. Try this link if you want to download it and/or print.

An attempt will be made to hold a large rally and march focused on the school closing and charter co-locations and now, maybe even the turn-arounds. More details as this develops.

What about the UFT? It is not clear what the strategy is. Another law suit? Previous suits did little or nothing to save schools except temporarily since they were based on the DOE not following procedures, which Tweed has made sure to take care of. They will assist schools that show signs of fighting back - possibly by paying for buses to get to the Feb. 9 PEP. But as we found out last month, these buses have to leave at a certain time and many people who signed up to speak don't get a chance.

Will the UFT call out the troops for the Feb. 9 PEP? Will they stage a walkout like they did last year on Feb. 3?

Now given the reality that the PEP will vote to close the schools, why speak? Since GEM has been doing these events for the past 2 years we have found people want their say, which puts the ODOE people who have experienced years of frustration and might want to try to shut down a meeting in something of a quandary. If we can get people from these closing schools involved we might be able to evolve a strategy that satisfies all.

Mic-check is a powerful tactic - if there are enough people - where the PEP puppets can be overridden and the people who want to speak can get to do so. Again. something to be worked out.

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School	Boro	Hearing	PEP
Legacy School For Integrated Studies 34 West 14th Street New York, NY 10011	M	February 1 at 6:00 p.m.	2/9/2011
Washington Irving High School 40 Irving Place New York, NY 10003	M	January 31 at 6:00 p.m.	2/9/2011
Manhattan Theatre Lab High School Building M490 122 Amsterdam Avenue New York, NY 10023	M	January 24at 6:00 p.m.	2/9/2011
Samuel Gompers Career And Technical Education HS 455 Southern Boulevard Bronx, NY 10455	Bx	February 2 at 6:00 p.m.	2/9/2011
Gateway School For Environment Research and Technology 1980 Lafayette Avenue Bronx, NY 10473	Bx	January 27 at 6:00 p.m.	2/9/2011
Jane Addams High School For Academic Careers 900 Tinton Avenue Bronx, NY 10456	Bx	January 25 at 6:00 p.m.	2/9/2011
Grace Dodge Career And Technical Education High School 2474 Crotona Avenue Bronx, NY 10456	Bx	February 3 at 6:00 p.m.	2/9/2011
Aspire Preparatory Middle School*	Bx
International Arts Business High School – Building K470 600 Kingston Ave Brooklyn NY 11203	B	February 3, at 6:00 p.m.	2/9/2011
Academy Of Business And Community Development 141 Macon Street, Brooklyn 11216	B	Jan 31, at 6:00 p.m.	2/9/2012
Knowedge and Power Preparatory Academy Middle School--Building K117, 300 Willoughby Ave, Brooklyn 11205	B	Jan 24, at 6:00	2/9/2012
P.S. 019 Roberto Clemente* 325 South 3rd St, 11211	B	January 18 at 6:00	2/9/2012
P.S. 022* 433 St. Marks Ave, 11238	B	January 24 at 6:00	2/9/2012
Middle School For The Arts* 790 East New York Ave 11203	B	January 12 at 6:00	2/9/2012
General D. Chappie James Middle School* 76 Riverdale Ave 11212	B	January 23 at 6:00	2/9/2012
J.H.S. 296 The Halsey School*	B
P.S. 215 Lucretia Mott* 535 Briar Place 11691	Q	January 20 at 6:00	2/9/2012
P.S. 014 Cornelius Vanderbilt* 100 Tompkins Ave 10304	SI	January 25 at 6:00	2/9/2012
The Ana Gonzalez Community School 125 Covert St 11027	B	February 1 at 6:00	2/9/2012

Academy for Young Writers
hearing Jan 9 at JHS 50
183 South 3rd Street, Brooklyn 11211 PEP January 18 AND

Brooklyn success Charter 4 co-location at JHS 50 (address above)
hearing Jan 17 PEP Feb. 0

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CHICAGO SAME STORY:

Fight School Closings & Turnarounds

CORE-istas:

Please attend the following hearings on school closings and turnaounds.

Also, join the Facebook Event and spread the word.

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Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on the right for important bits.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: Also:
Academy for Young Writers
hearing Jan 9 at JHS 50
183 South 3rd Street, Brooklyn 11211 PEP January 18 AND

Brooklyn success Charter 4 co-location at JHS 50 (address above)
hearing Jan 17 PEP Feb. 0; Sunday, January 1, 2012 at 1:46:00 PM EST
Ruby Claire said...: Thanks...a lot for the dates.

Education questionnaire; Monday, January 2, 2012 at 1:31:00 AM EST

"A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

What media call "philanthropy" for the public schools are actually seed monies to establish a private "market" in publicly-financed education - an enterprise worth trillions if successfully penetrated by corporate America. Cory Booker, one of the "New Black Leaders" financed by the filthy rich, is key to creating a "nationwide corporate-managed schools network paid for by public funds but run by private managers.

"Ed Reformers" want to cash in on public education and to control its content and outcome, not improve it. Provide great education? Baby boomers had as close as this country has ever gotten to it when we were growing up. The Ed Reform Movement has no interest in seeing such a well-educated, democratically astute population ever again.

http://blackagendareport.com/content/cory-booker-clear-and-present-threat-public-education

History of the UFT Pre-Weingarten Years

This award-winning series of articles by Jack Schierenbeck originally appeared in the New York Teacher in 1996 and 1997.

Naturally, from a certain point of view. But, despite certain biases, Schierenbeck, a great guy, was one of the best NY Teacher reporters so this is worth reading. Jack suffered a debilitating stroke many years ago (I used to get secret donations to ed notes from him through a 3rd source.)

This chapter looks interesting:

Class struggles: The UFT story, part 3

“The schism in the union over radical politics [is] a major reason for stalling the growth of a teacher union for decades.” Revolutionary politics and ideology take center stage, as the original Teachers Union becomes a battlefield, pitting leftist against leftist and splitting the union.

Clarence Taylor's "Reds at the Blackboard" focused on the old Teachers Union which disbanded in 1964 after suffering from anti-left attacks.

Of course for another view, check out the review at New Politics of the Kahlenberg Bio on Shanker by Vera Pavone and me: Albert Shanker: Ruthless Neocon

Effective Union Organizing

A video series put together by Jason Mann from the British Columbia Federation of Teachers about social media and how to use it for effective union organizing.

The first series was called New Media For Union Activists Roadmap and it's still available on-line at:
http://www.newmediabootcamp.ca/welcome/
I watched some of them and need to rewatch as they are loaded with information.

The second series started last week and it's called "Online Campaigning for Union Activists"

You can sign up for this free series at :
http://act.bcfed.ca/online-campaigning-for-union-activists/

You Don't Have A Choice - Join the Revolt

Ex-Harlem Success Teacher Comments on Eva the Diva

Ex-HSA Teacher has left a new comment on your post "Fear and Loathing at Evil's Harlem Success Empire ...":

I am a former Harlem Success teacher. Not many people who work/worked for her like her very much. I once made the comment that she is very nice when I first was hired. Two of her closest colleague responded immediately almost in unison, "Eve is not nice!" Over time I realized that there was a lot of political games going on. Another colleague once said to me that he was tired of "being part of a political campaign." Sending out 15,000 applications for only 400 seats in a school is reprehensible. The money that paid for those mass mailings could have paid the yearly salary of another teacher not to mention the heartache of all those parents who applied but did not get a spot. She does good work trying to give disadvantaged students a quality public school education but at a great cost to staff AND the school's educational budget! school budget.

Davis Guggenheim Compared to Riefenstahl

“Waiting for Superman" is the second most intellectually dishonest piece of documentary work I have seen. It is surpassed only by Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will," the pro-Hitler propaganda classic, in that regard. Uses personal narratives of adorable children to create narrative suspense that overrides public policy discussion with pure emotion in unscrupulous attack on teachers and their unions, among others

Timothy Tyson
Professor of African American Studies and History
Duke University

How Teaching Experience Makes a Difference

Even as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Michelle Rhee and others around the nation are arguing for experienced teachers to be laid off regardless of seniority, every single study shows teaching experience matters. In fact, the only two observable factors that have been found consistently to lead to higher student achievement are class size and teacher experience, so that it’s ironic that these same individuals are trying to undermine both.
- Leonie Haimson on Parents Across America web site

Full article with charts here.

Weingarten/Gates Foundation announce drone-driven teacher evaluation

According to a press release issued by the Gates Foundation, the AFT and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, these three have entered a ground-breaking partnership to evaluate teachers utilizing the drone technology that has revolutionized warfare in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. A bird-size device floats up to 400 feet above a classroom and instantly beams live video of teachers in action to agents at desks at Teacher Quality Inspection Stations established by the AFT and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

When asked if the drones were authorized to drop bombs on teachers who exhibit inadequacy, Chester E. Finn, Jr., president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, replied, "Don't be ridiculous. Gates money puts other methods at our disposal."

Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.5-million-member American Federation of Teachers said the powerful union has signed on to the drone project...

More at Substance

The Real Reason Behind Push for Standardized Tests: It's All About the Adults

On standardized testing in our schools

A must read article about the standardized test industry.
Written by an insider who has worked as a test scorer, the article outlines a multinational industry based on an army of temporary workers paid by the piece at $0.30 to $0.70 per test, translated in the need to grade 40 tests per hour to make a $12 salary. The article goes on to show how the companies gauge the grading "results" based on the need to ensure new contracts to continue profiting off of our youth. The original article is from Monthly Review. Here it is on Schools Matter blog.

http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2010/12/on-growing-use-of-corporate-test.html

Parallels between America today and Germany in the 1920's and early 30's

"Resentment and obstruction are all the right wing in America have to peddle. Their policies are utterly discredited. Their ideology - even by its own standards - is a sham. They are so bereft of leaders, their de facto leader is a former drug addicted, thrice-divorced radio talk show host. That is literally the best they can muster. But they have built a national franchise inciting the downwardly mobile to blame the government, not the right, for their problems, exactly as Hitler did in the 1920s."

The US Is Facing a Weimar Moment

Published on Sunday, March 15, 2009 by CommonDreams.org

Chicago View of Unity/UFT on Charters

After many meetings and debates, the Chicago delegation succeeded in working with the New York United Federation of Teachers, Local 2 (UFT) to push the AFT to take stronger stands on charter school accountability and school closings — though many delegates from Chicago would have liked the language to have been even stronger.

Generally speaking, the New York delegation represented organizing charters as the best model for handling their role in reshaping unions, despite the fact that according to many reports few charter schools in New York have been organized as is the case in Chicago. This logic is the same touted by the Progressive Caucus of the AFT. The few that have been organized are a part of the UFT local though they have separate contracts negotiated with the help of UFT. The Chicago delegation reflection the mindset that allowing new charters to continue to proliferate while attempting to organize existing charters is an end game in which public schools and the union lose.

Jen Johnson, CTU, Local 1 in Substance

Ed Notes Greatest Hits: HSA Rally and Founding of GEM

SEE MY VIDEO ON HARLEM SUCCESS RALLY 2009:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEp7rg_L5JI

Angel Gonzalez and I attended that rally and used the footage to promote our conference on Mar. 28, 2009, which is where the concept of a group like GEM emerged. Until then we had basically been a committee of ICE working with the NYCORE high stakes testing group. The actions of Eva and crew helped spawn GEM. Mommie Dearest!!

I have more video somewhere. I was hoping to get Leni Riefenstahl to edit it but she died. We would have called it "Triumph of the Hedge Fund Operators."

Ed Notes Extended

Sunday, January 1, 2012

School Closing Hearing Dates and the Fightback

2 comments: