Remarkable Video From Railroaded Rubber Room Teacher Exposes Bloomberg Claim on Quality Teachers

Let's not discount the role, or lack of, that UFT/Unity Caucus played at IS 49 SI where one of their own, Richard Candia, not only sold out to the principal Linda Hill, but worked with her to go after Portelos supporters. That Portelos is in a supposedly defunct rubber room for almost 2 months on unspecified charges should be a major embarrassment for both the UFT and DOE.

Has the DOE picked the wrong victim or not?

Here is a wonderful video Francesco Portelos made of his work. The DOE will probably make this video one of the charges against him. Can't wait to peruse all the other videos of schools and kids at work. So take a look and see what the children of IS 49 SI are being denied by the DOE, Mayor Bloomberg, Dennis Walcott and all Tweedies who claim they want quality teachers.

Just a few clips of my accomplishments before I asked about the school's finances. That question began a 5 month saga filled with hostility, harassment, betrayal, investigations, defamation of character, slander and more retaliation that eventually caused me to be removed from school. What am I charged with? That is a good question, but it has been over 45 days since I was sent to a small Rubber Room (that doesn't exist) and I still have no clue as to why I was removed. The only clue lies in some documentation I obtained that shows financial misconduct by the administration. Good call on removing me as I seem to be the biggest threat to uncovering who has their hand in the student's cookie jar. Can you hear me now?

See Portelos lessons for students and teachers:

Francesco Portelos is awaiting unspecified charges and if you read his blog you will see just how trumped up there are whatever they may be. He is luckily tenured and entitled to a hearing before being fired. Otherwise he would be long gone.

Time clock at Network HQ in Ozone Pk

Does anyone in the press think that paying a qualified teacher to sit in a rubber room while getting full pay while there is a long-drawn out investigation --- possibly to be followed by charges and a 3020a dismissal hearing that will cost the DOE hundreds of thousands of dollars --- all because Portelos exposed one of "theirs" -- a principal - and we know they are sacrosanct.

The fact that Portelos won the chapter leadership from the isolation of the rubber room -- and not just a rubber room in Staten Island, but in Ozone Park at the corrupt Network
See: Winning the Union Chapter Leader position from the Rubber Room.

See story of photo at left: “Stay away from him….he’s a “Blogger”!


While in the rubber room in Ozone Park he has begun to expose the farce of the network that supports Linda Hill -- another set of high paid rats.

Let's not discount the role, or lack of, that UFT/Unity Caucus played at IS 49 SI where one of their own, Richard Candia, not only sold out to the principal Linda Hill, but worked with her to go after Portelos supporters. (See Portelos Story). Until Portelos blew the story wide open, the UFT will allow a principal to get away with murder. A lone teacher fighting back and paying the consequences did more than the entire union to open up this can or worms.

UFT borough leaders urged Portelos not to run for chapter leader. Worried he was too independent? He insisted they follow the rules in running the chapter election and he won. I'm sure they also urged  him not to go public, but he did and is getting results. If the DOE dares to file 3020A charges in an attempt to fire him he will open the hearings to the public and press and we will see the trial of the century which will expose the DOE.

Where is the press on this story of railroading? Would the public be supportive of attempts to fire tenured teachers if stories like this were actually made the press?

When Portelos requested the right to go back to school to collect his personal items he was denied and told to make a list. Instead of demanding he be allowed into the school -- even after school --- after all, he is such a danger --- the UFT told him to just make a list despite this has never happened before. So he did:

I checked and have not found any reassigned educator ever being prevented from getting their personal belongings. I totally forgot that I was a threat to national security. They continue to break the mold with me and I’m flattered yet again. I was told “this is the first time I have seen DOE prevent a reassigned employee from making arrangements to pick up personal belongings in person.” Am I a threat to national security OR a threat to the security of some skeletons in the closet (A closet I might have a key to).
Here it goes….

Mr. Portelos’ Incomplete List of things he brought to the lab in 5 years

1. 1 Set of silver magnetic pens from Brookstone
2. Painting of a frog splashing into water in suspended animation
3. Painting from Salvadore Dali “The Persistence of Memory”
4. 2 white battery chargers
5. 1 White PVC trajectory air pump prototype I was designing to teach trajectory (priceless)
6. 1 microwave
7. 1 refrigerator
8. 1 tuppeware with red lid of 1/4 full of Nescafe
9. 1 tupperware with red lid with some sugar in it
10. 1 Staples “That was easy!” Button
11. 1 Rii wireless mini keyboard
12. 1 larger wireless keyboard with string
13. About 6 chips of Ram DDR 512 and 1GB
14. 1 Hammer with gray and yellow handle
15. 1 Ratchet screwdriver (black)
16. 2 screw drivers Phillips and Flathead
17. 1 Logitech webcam blue not black
18. 2 robotics team shirts
19. 1 IS 49 white polo
20. 1 set of eyeglasses in black case
21. 4 AA rechargeable batteries
22. 2 AA rechargeable batteries
23. 1 Philadendron plant..alive!
24. 2 Boxes of straws ( about 300)
25. 2 boxes of pipe cleaners
26. About 15 styrofoam pipe insulation covers
27. 1 blue sign on door with quote from  Portelos
28. 1 broken digital camera
29. 1 broken Roomba
30. 1 broken xbox
31. 1 large paper airplane that says Aerodynamics on it.
32. 1 hydro car that runs on water
33. 1 large gray collapsable laundry mesh basket
34. 3 cable covers
35. 1 white mirror
36. 1 Gray foam nerf USB missile launcher
37. One Desktop PC with sticker that says MV on it. No DOE parts in it.
38. 2 DigiPort to HDMI connectors
39. 2-3 finger LED flash lights (experiment I was working on with infrared sensors)
40. One bag of Green felt pieces (about 30)
41. 4 Renuzit deodorizers
42. 1 approx 7″ diameter tupperware with blue lid. May still have food in it, but my mother in law has been asking for it.
43. 2 Water bottles
44. One black stapler. Swingline I believe
45. My son Alexander’s Birth Announcement
46. An old AOL 56K Turbo CD (funny right? 56K was called Turbo) I show it to the kids and compare to the 50Megabits/sec connection… a staggering 892.85% increase in residential download speed.
47. A box of 100 nerf darts (don’t ask, but science and engineering were involved)

Portelos has done the following since he was placed in the rubber room:

…since April 26, 2012:

1. I had an article published in the NY Teacher paper
2. I brought to light that rubber rooms (the process) still exist
3. I filed for a US Patent on our website faceshop.me
4. I refused to bend to pressure from additional harassment from DOE employees
5. Found hard evidence showing heavy financial misconduct at my school
6. Registered for additional courses for my Leadership in Education program.
7. Continued revamping and testing my educational social media site fridgework.com
8. Made some really good contacts. I mean really, really good contacts.
9. Made some really bad enemies. I mean really, really bad enemies. (not really an accomplishment)
10. Filed for Whistle Blower Protection and gave a 2 hr testimony to SCI on my saga
11. Put in a run for UFT Chapter Leader in my school.

If you need to catch up on this story, check the Portelos blog. http://protectportelos.wordpress.com/

Also here are the previous Ed Notes posts on the case:

Portelos Wins Chapter Leader Election from ...

Jun 14, 2012

Portelos Wins Chapter Leader Election from Rubber Room. What could be more embarrassing for a principal who railroaded a teacher into the rubber room than to put up a candidate to oppose him and lose? The old sell-out ...

Catching Up: ATRs, Portelos Story, GEM Film ...

May 17, 2012

Lurking behind all this is the perfidious behavior of IS 49 Chapter leader Richard Candia who, his cozy relationship with principal Linda Hill and the threat posed by Portelos' run for chapter leader, conspired to undermine ...

Francesco Portelos: Teacher Under Assault by ...

Mar 20, 2012

Sunday at the robotics tournament at the Javits Convention Center I had the opportunity to meet and chat with Staten Island teacher and coach Francesco Portelos of the IS 49 SI team. He is the father of a 10 month old with ...