Ed Notes Online: TAPCO/Passarella Debate Continues

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

TAPCO/Passarella Debate Continues

"I am a teacher in Queens who also has been following this. Why? Because it's disturbing. I saw it in the news on Channel 7 and googled the name PASSARELLA and SCANDAL and was lead to this blog. The entries read like a John Grisham novel. "

There is no little irony in the news today from WalBloom about the limits of a 3020a hearing for teachers from THEIR point of view. But when it comes to principal, they can pretty much do what they want --- a double -- or quadruple standard -- they get 4x the protection a teacher gets. TAPCO principal Lyn Passarella is a perfect example. I'm betting they give her a network to run --- networks, the burial ground for passing the principal lemons.

"What is disturbing is the implication that the DOE not only knew about Passarella, but probably provided the training and the knowledge for her to operate as she did. I would like to know WHO concealed her. WHO was her mentor. What organizations advised her. And most important, now that she has been exposed, are any of those parties being held accountable?"

The above quotes from a Queens teacher were intriguing for the questions they raise about the system in general under the ed deformers. We have had a few posts on TAPCO on Ed Notes over the past few years (see links below). Tapco was the highest scoring school -- until the scandals erupted. People connected to the school have been dropping by some of the posts over the years, with one garnering over 140 comments so far.

The debate has been intense, including teachers and students. Sometimes there are some rough edges. I do not censor any of it unless someone asks me to look at a comment. But I don't remember taking anything out. This debate really gets into the fabric of a school culture and can be very illuminating.

I'm bringing it up today because of this comment today from a teacher who has nothing to do with the school but was intrigued by the comments.

(NOTE: I have comment moderation turned on after a day or two because of the influx of ads, not to censor anyone. So it you post it will be up within 24 hours when I get to it.)

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Another DOE Scam - TAPCO - Theatre Arts Production...":

I am a teacher in Queens who also has been following this. Why? Because it's disturbing. I saw it in the news on Channel 7 and googled the name PASSARELLA and SCANDAL and was lead to this blog. The entries read like a John Grisham novel.

What is disturbing is the implication that the DOE not only knew about Passarella, but probably provided the training and the knowledge for her to operate as she did. I would like to know WHO concealed her. WHO was her mentor. What organizations advised her. And most important, now that she has been exposed, are any of those parties being held accountable?

Indeed the Passarella story is not just an indictment on her, but on the system she has been able to succeed in. Think about it. Her lying and cheating and cooking the books lead her school to achieve the number one ranking in the entire NYC school system. Yet from what I read, her graduates could barely survive in life after TAPCO. Bad sign.

Justice needs to be served. Is it true her hearing is not until fall? And she continues to collect that $145K? Incredible. Simply incredible. Why can't they after a 17 month investigation hear her case within a month? Or freeze her salary until it is decided? Just think of all the useful ways that money could be spent to better her school, and undue her damage!

Here are the links I found on a search of Ed Notes:

Another DOE Scam - TAPCO - Ed Notes Online - Yes

Nov 30, 2010

I find it interesting that TAPCO was discussed on this forum. Somehow, the Theatre Arts Production Co. School was rated the number 1 school in the NYC-DOE report cards this past month. When the principal announced it, ...

http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/

Ed Notes Online: That Cheat'n Principal: Passarella Removed from ...

Mar 09, 2012

I am a former staff member at the school MS/HS225, also known as TAPCO. Although I have not worked at this school for several years, I am intimately familiar with the workings of the school and its principal, Lynn Passarella.

http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/

UFT Condmened in TAPCO Fiasco - Ed Notes Online - Yes

Mar 11, 2012

This comment below from TAPCO takes the UFT Chapter Leader who was owned by the admin to task. But maybe you can't blame him considering he knows the UFT doesn't have the ability to protect his back. Do teachers ...

http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/

============
The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...: Please keep us posted on the verdict of Passarella's hearing. The fact that she's still drawing her $145,000 salary is an outrage. It's been mentioned how those funds can be used in other far more constructive ways.

The system is broken. Only in the NYC-DOE can someone like Passarella operate for so long and get away with it. Had she not overdone it and scored the top ranking school in 2010 ... she'd probably still be principal at TAPCo and still being rewarded for her underhanded activities.

Passarella and TAPCo are not alone in this. I've read of so many instances where principals act in the same, exact manner ... mostly in the Bronx, mostly in district 10.

Interesting ... perhaps it's time to look at the superintendent. Perhaps she could have questioned Passarella's "success" when the middle school in the same building is failing? Did she turn a blind eye to the illegal activities? Did she encourage it?

Someone must have taught Passarella how to scape the system -

Graduation rate - implement NO FAIL policy. Therefore, all students graduate. Check.

Attendance - have Carol and Valerie personally tell you when the attendance rate drops below 98%. Then go change the attendance personally stating, "Oh, I saw that student!". Check.

Regents - bully teachers into over-awarding points on Regents exams. Oh don't forget having teachers give answers to students (Trig Regents 2010). Check.

Quality Review - have multiple PD's and spend tens of thousands of dollars for overnight retreats at the Hilton with dinner and all-can-drink booze at Philipe Chow's. Topic of the agenda: how to fool the Quality Reviewer. Check.

We don't need textbooks, computers, school supplies, or a copy machine. We can teach in 10-15 different classrooms.

Blame the teachers when students do no work, don't come to class, text and listen to iPods. Yes, Ms. Lynn ... stomp your feet and have another t*tty attack. That works.; Sunday, June 3, 2012 at 8:11:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: This type of corruption is happening all over the DOE.; Wednesday, June 6, 2012 at 9:01:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: What can we do to prevent this type of abuse from happening in other schools?; Thursday, June 7, 2012 at 7:11:00 AM EDT
Anonymous said...: Ughhh!!!! And the sad thing is... EVERYTHING written in this post is true! Shame on you, Lynn. Shame on you.; Saturday, June 9, 2012 at 10:23:00 PM EDT
Cdkeyhouse.com said...: Interesting...But yes i agree this type of corruption is happening all over the DOE...; Monday, June 11, 2012 at 7:15:00 AM EDT

"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

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

TAPCO/Passarella Debate Continues

5 comments: