Ed Notes Online: Out of the Heat, Into the Fire

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Out of the Heat, Into the Fire

We came back late last night from a week in Delray Beach where you couldn't get more perfect weather. It was so good and we had so many people to see we only got to one movie.

After doing the stuff you need to do upon returning from a trip it was after 1AM when I turned on the TV before going to sleep and there was Bruce Springsteen on the Jimmy Fallon show doing his new rallying cry Death to My Home Town in an amazing performance and a real assault on the 1%. We could apply every word by just changing the title to "Death to My Public School."

This is the first time staying in Delray after over 20 years in West Palm or Singer Island and this is a very different place than most of East Coast South Florida. A real combo of young and old ---- and not many early bird specials - so many restaurants, so little time.

I have a killer tan and I got to see some old pals from my Brooklyn College fraternity when 7 couples went out to dinner. Lots of talk about how we were Animal House before there was an Animal House. There was only one other career teacher, though two others were teachers for some time. One of them became a top level old board of ed mover and shaker and the other left after 15 years to open a highly successful business. The rest: accountant, US foreign service, cancer surgeon. So sad as we talked about at least 3 guys who have died young, two from probably heart attacks and one from an accident.

Speaking of which -- young -- a word that gets further and further away from me with today being my 67th birthday. And noticing my overhanging belly I better wrap this up and get to the gym.

Bernie the cat had to spend a week alone for the first time but now that he is over 5 months old we figured he could handle it. Even though our friend came in to feed him and play with him twice a day we got a pretty good greeting so I imagine he was lonely. Can there be a 2nd cat in our future? Maybe after our next trip in April.

I spent hours at the beach or on the terrace reading -- very deep stuff --- a bio of Mick Jagger. Since I've been reading Keith Richard's autobio but the book was too big to take with me I figured I'd give Mick equal time. I learned a lot of useless celebrity information.

I did get to start "Water for Elephants" on the last day. I wish every student could capture the excitement in fiction that is better than watching a movie but so many people are not reading fiction because "it is not true." When I think back to how I tried to teach reading to kids who were mostly behind I put at the top of the list of things I tried to do was to share my excitement at reading. Other than kids who have structural/physical issues I still believe that if we focused on love of reading and provided lots of space and time for kids to just enjoy we would solve much of the reading issue. But we've gone in the other direction with high stakes tests and rating teachers (how many teachers will take a chance and just let kids read for love of reading, the single best way of teaching reading?).

I'm sure the above paragraphs will lead the usual Unity slug suspects to tell me how I can thank the union for my retirement and ability to take these trips. So I say "Thank you" in advance for a Tier I retirement that has not been available to any UFT members who started working after 1973.

Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman Screenings while UFT continues boycott

I just found out that today there is a screening in Minneapolis with Brian Jones as the guest speaker.

Last nite this message came from Diane Ravitch to Julie, Brian and Leonie:

The Louisiana School Boards Assn showed Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman. Your fame spreads!
Diane

Diane has had a major impact in spreading word of the film (showings coming up in Tuscon, Austin TX and on Long Island to name just a few.) The UFT leaderships continues its boycott. One of the surprises to me is how the film seems to be inspiring people to act, which is a major message with Julie's final comment, "The hero is you," echoing the theme song written by her husband Glen. But then again, the UFT doesn't really want people to act until and unless they tell them to so the boycott makes sense from their point. What I don't get is why teachers who read this blog are not arranging showings in their own schools.

Diane is in Louisiana to counter former Tweed ghoul John White who reigns supreme and where Karran Harper, Royal who appears in our film, is battling him every inch of the way.

Summing up the week: Sorry too much happened but check the post for the last week and the blogroll.

I did try to follow all that is going on with the TDRs, charter co-locos, etc. I don't have a feel yet for what happened at Thursday's PEP both inside and outside though I got a sense through the twitter feeds.

The North Brooklyn alliance to oppose Moskowitz invasion is very active with pressers and law suits. See below for links to videos.

My post earlier in the week about the press conference on the proposed bill to have CECs vote on charter co-locos (The Real Story Behind UFT Push for Legislation on Charter Co-locations) did bring some angry responses from some allies for disparaging the attempt to curb charter co-locos. My main aim was to focus on the UFT leadership's role in the process and the role they generally play. In fact, the charter lobby is telling its people this bill will go nowhere but I focused on not including the closing schools issue. I'll try to do a follow-up to try to explain what is behind the way the UFT leadership operates --- I get clearer on the consistency of their actions as time goes by.

I am trying to pack too much into this post and just can't manage any more. Better get my ass to the gym before I have to get a crane to lift me out of my chair.

March 1, 2012 Southside Community Press Conference:

(ALSO SEE: Los Sures)

Video by GEM/ICE Pat Dobosz

http://www.youtube.com/my_videos

Council Member Diana Reyna speaks against Success Academy (English)

[20120301050304 March 1 PEP] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rpN732H8aA

Arthur Schwartz, lawyer filing a suit against the co-location of success Academy into JHS 50

[20120301052931 March 1 PEP] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YvZ3LO_1Ys

Luis Garden Acosta is critical of charter schools that do not serve ELLs and special needs students. Janine Sopp speaks about the travesty that the DOE is.

[20120301052133 March 1 PEP] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeXn2y1wORw

Why the Southside community coalition is boycotting tonight's PEP, Patrick Sullivan, Antonio Reynoso

[20120301051445 March 1 PEP] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBQ19lXWybo

Evelyn Cruz on behalf of Nydia Velaszquez

[20120301051010 March 1 PEP] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF8FIirJb0g

Students Speak Out: Dream Yard Project

[20120301053215 March 1 PEP] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPpFljGhyKI

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March 10 - STATE OF THE UNION PART 2: TIME TO FIGHT BACK ----

See 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.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: Welcome back.

I wish I could have made it to Thursday's protest as well, but it's been nothing but work, hospital and home for me.

But at least you're back in time for March 10 and I shall be as well.; Saturday, March 3, 2012 at 1:51:00 PM 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