Consider this my resignation of membership for E4E and the corporate driven ideology which binds this organization as a supporter of the Common Core and it’s test driven oppression of learning.... A NYC Teacher and FORMER member of E4ESo, E4E is trying to organize a force to support John King and Meryl Tisch and is urging its "people" to turn out in support to counter what is sure to be a vocal opposition. This teacher has had enough. I always say, the harder these characters push their ed deform crap the more they shoot themselves in the foot. The reality for those E4E people who actually are teaching and facing the Danielson rubric and common core in action is that it basically sucks. Good luck to E4E - maybe try starting a chapter in Detroit.
Dear Jonathan [Schleifer],
I am writing in regard to the E4E letter to Commissioner King stating “We are writing to thank you again for your leadership over the last two years in making New York’s teacher evaluation law benefit teachers and students across the state—and to urge you to make good on that commitment again as you develop a teacher evaluation system for New York City.”
I think the recent video and protests against the Common Core, and the state being forced to apply for waivers to allow developmentally disabled students with an IQ of 60, exempt from state tests. The issue of Danielson, with an untested rubric, and one which does not suit teachers or students of disabilities is central in the error of congratulating Commissioner King. Where was the foresight? Did anyone at E4E ever project the negative consequences of evaluating impoverished students (solely to determine “teacher effectiveness”) and essentially sanctioning teachers who serve them? I think not. Did anyone at E4E ever reflect to see how the Danielson Rubric may sanction educators? I think not.
Consider this my resignation of membership from E4E and the corporate driven ideology which binds this organization as a supporter of the Common Core and it’s test driven oppression of learning.
Regards,
Here is the E4E call to action:
On Mon, Dec 9, 2013 at 2:26 PM, Jonathan Schleifer info@
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Educators 4 Excellence: An Independent Voice for Teachers
December 11
- Brooklyn: Medgar Evers College, 6:30-8:30 PM
- Bronx: Evander Childs Campus, 6:00-8:00 PM
RSVP here to join E4E at one or more of the town halls.
- Manhattan: Spruce Street School, 6:00-8:00 PM
If you can’t attend the town halls, you can engage in the conversation on Twitter by following @Ed4Excellence. We’ll have teachers live tweeting each event. By replying to them or mentioning them in a tweet of your own, you the too can join the conversation and have a voice at the discussions.
Looking forward to hearing from you -
JonathanJonathan Schleifer
Executive Director, E4E-New York
3 comments:
Last week, a Los Angeles teacher wrote an
article about how she defected from
Educators for Excellence, and a bunch
of other such groups. Her name is
Lisa Alva Wood:
http://accomplishedcaliforniateachers.wordpress.com/2013/12/06/la-edreform-coalition/
For the last couple years or so,
Lisa, a teacher activist, has been
one of the handful---and I can truly
count them on one hand---who
allied herself with corporate reform.
She's been a member of Educators
for Excellence, Teach Plus, the
United Way, Teachers for New
Unionism, etc. .
She's also been quoted in articles for
the corporate reform propaganda
org L.A. SCHOOL REPORT.
At the same time, she's also
maintained her to ties to UTLA,
her local teachers' union.
Well, that contradiction just
came to a head, and she's
cutting all her ties with corporate
reform (except for her participation
in a holiday educator-recognition
event sponsored by United Way,
which will be the last thing
she will do with this group.)
Lisa goes into detail about
"Road to Damascus" conversion
experience, and how it
happened during the "corporate
reform" astroturfers' conference
call that planned the
demonstrations to save Deasy
that are described by Ellen Lubic
in another blog post:
Here Ellen describes the astroturf
rally that this conference call led to:
dianeravitch.net/2013/12/06/ellen-lubic-corrects-ben-austin/
CONTINUED--- PART 2
Here's Lisa describing the call
as a reason for her quitting:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
LISA ALVA WOOD:
"I QUIT. I had to.
"Hopefully, you’ve never picked up
the telephone and felt the hair
stand up on the back of your neck
as you realized who was on the
phone and what they were talking
about, felt your heart empty out
and felt dread and despair flooding
in.
"I have, twice.
"The first time, it was my ex-husband.
"The second time, it was the United
Way of Los Angeles. I phoned into
a conference call that wasn’t what I
expected, and it ended my
relationships with the Partnership for
Los Angeles Schools, Teachers for
a New Unionism and Educators for
Excellence, and put some others
in the doghouse.
" ... "
"All of this (the Ipad fiasco) is
chronicled in the press, but I mention
it to set the stage for a little feint that
John Deasy pulled on October 24,
2013, right after the iPad scandal and
right before he was going to be called
in for his own job evaluation.
"It was the last straw. Although I
had publicly stuck up for him after
a UTLA poll of 16,000 educators
rendered a 91% 'no confidence'
vote, I lost all faith in him with the
iPad situation, and had to face
some very hard realities about
reform groups in LA.
"The call confirmed some of the
most discouraging talk I’d heard
or read, and some of my most d
isappointing experiences. After what
I heard, I couldn’t stay any longer."
CONTINUED --- Part 3
- - - - - - - - - - - -
The conference call Lisa described
was originally supposed to be a
discussion about Local
Control Funding, but instead
was about "Saving Dr. Deasy:
- - - - - - - - - -
LISA ALVA WOOD:
"When I called in, I heard a roll call
of 51 educational, community or
political groups whose sole
purpose on the call was to support
John Deasy in his fight to keep his
job.
"The news that Deasy was
threatening to quit had changed
the topic and galvanized the group.
These good people were planning
to skip school to show support at
the October 29 Board meeting.
They were bringing students and
teachers to testify in his favor.
"I was… flabbergasted. I didn’t
have the heart to even make the
roll call. By the time they got to
'anyone else?' I was too intimidated
and overwhelmed to say, 'Here.'
I didn’t know what affiliation to claim.
"Long story short, these folks made
a huge showing outside the morning
Board meeting, while 35,000 union
members were busy serving the
needs of our youth.
"It was a much needed wake-up call.
"I began to realize the extent of the
ignorance and hubris that fuels many
ed-reform decisions, as well as the
extent of my own ignorance. The
addition of businessmen and
socialites to a board I sat on made
sense suddenly, as did their
posturing and pronouncements.
"If you’ve ever heard people mis-
speaking about things you know
intimately, or talking about you when
they thought you weren’t listening,
you know how pained I was and still
am. I couldn’t speak then and have
just found the words, now.
"Some of the groups in the pro-Deasy
rally - Students First, Green Dot,
KIPP LA – were to be expected,
although they have no business in
LAUSD’s superintendent evaluation.
"Others made me gag in wonder –
Goodwill of Southern California?
Inner-City Struggle? LA Education
Partnership? I thought we were
friends!
------------------------------------
One of the key things that turned
off Lisa is that this astroturfers
were engaging in wholesale slander
against UTLA, whose teachers are
contractually forbidden from
attending this rally during school
hours.
------------------------------------
LISA ALVA WOOD:
"They weren’t talking about me,
personally, but they clearly saw
themselves as supporting their
hero, a hero whose arch-enemy
is my union, UTLA. It was, and
is, very difficult to understand
why they need to draw a
protective circle in the sand
around John Deasy. (Speculation
is rampant, but facts are hard to
come by).
"The bottom line for me personally
is that there are too many good
people distracted by too many
superfluous groups. The best
place for an educator to protect
and promote public education is
the teachers’ union. Over time,
for better or for worse, the union
is the educators’ bastion and it
is set up via a democratic
process in which any member
can participate. If UTLA needs
to be more positive and
professional, we need to make
it that way ourselves, but that’s
another story."
and on it goes...
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