Eva's Nightmare and Eva's Gift to MORE: Mindy at Cipriani Fundraiser

UPDATE: Mindy reports on the demo at the MORE blog. Here's a short excerpt:

I broke out my dressy clothes, some earrings, and my red lipstick for last night’s fundraiser for Eva Moskowitz. I was not a guest. As a mere teacher, I could not afford to attend the Third Annual Spring Benefit that began at 6:30 pm. Cocktails and dinner were served and of course you needed to dress to the nines. Since Cuomo was busy puffing away on cigars in Cuba, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries from Brooklyn took over as the keynote speaker. Other guests included Eli Broad, Campbell Brown, Katie Couric, Daniel S. Loeb, even our ole school  chancellor Joel Klein. Seats started at $1,250.00 and tables began at $15,000.00. I wasn’t there to party, I was there to make some noise.

Hakeem Jeffries -  I remember him working with us to get rid of Cathie Black. What am ed deform slug he has turned out to be.

Eva and the charter movement in general are the gift that keeps on giving - to groups like MORE. Eva's attempt to stamp out the special ed kids in Mindy Rosier's school last year flipped Mindy's activist switch - and she's one of the key people running MORE today. And it so happens that Patrick Walsh

(Raginghorseblog: DFER Illuminates Hidden Dangers of Opting Out) is the Chapter Leader of the other school in the same building. So 2 top-level MORE activists in the same building staring down Eva's "let's make 'em pee in their pants" staff.

I was supposed to go to the big anti-Success/hedge funders rally last night but wasn't feeling up to it. I also missed an anti-charter rally in south Brooklyn and will be missing today's big opt out rally in Prospect Park at 4PM. Is old age catching up? But Mindy was there along with some other MOREs. Mindy will write up a more detailed account later and send more pics --- here is her quick report:

MOREs in the house: Mindy and AJ

Last night's protest outside of Cipriani's is now def one of my favs. Everything from the first plan of action to the protest itself. We were heard loud and clear and we definitely annoyed people. We were allowed to literally protest right in front of the entrance....though after about 20 minutes, the put the "pen" around us so that their guests could enter and not have to walk through us. I post lots of pics last night and NYCC and Hedge Clippers posted lots of pics and videos as well. I did my very first mic check last night.


The hedgeclippers helped organize this and here is some stuff from them on Eva's operation.
This report received this headline at Capital NY

Union-backed report looks at Success Academy donors

Do they ever say that about ed deformer backed reports?

http://hedgeclippers.org/hedgepaper-10-the-double-standard-of-success-academy/#.VTYjGUtTbco.facebook

Hedge Fund Hypocrisy: The Double Standard of Success Academy

Success Academy – the charter-school chain and political launching pad for anticipated mayoral candidate Eva Moskowitz — is a favored charity for many hedge fund managers.

But beneath their rhetoric about fighting poverty and supporting academic achievement is a real double standard. It can be seen in two key ways:


1) Many of Success Academy’s hedge fund board members contribute to political causes that harm the population that Success claims to serve.2) Success Academy’s hedge board members would never allow their own children to be subjected to the harsh disciplinary policies of the charter chain.

This is the first report of its kind to examine the hedge fund hypocrisy at Success Academy. It also reveals the more than 50 hedge fund managers and hedge fund spouses who have notable ties to Success Academy.

HEDGE FUNDS HURT THE COMMUNITIES SUCCESS ACADEMY PURPORTS TO SERVE

The April 20 Success Academy gala at Cipriani is expected to turn out dozens of hedge fund titans — whose self-congratulatory support of Success Academy may well be the only thing they do all year that could possibly be construed as giving back to poor communities of color.

Fair-share tax policies and fewer tax loopholes for the rich would help communities more than charity

In an economic landscape defined by the devastation hedge funds have wrought on New York jobs, and the influence they have bought in Albany, we should be demanding more from the hedge fund elite than a bit of charity.

Fair-share taxation and closing lucrative loopholes would help low-income communities far more than the sprinkling of charitable donations offered up at the Cipriani gala.

The wealthiest 0.01% of New Yorkers currently report an average of $69.6 million in yearly income, with hedge fund managers making up a nice chunk of that 0.01%.
Because they earn money from their ownership in the limited partnerships that control wildly-profitable hedge funds, New York City-based managers are taking advantage of the “carried-interest” loophole in the New York City Unincorporated Business Tax that gives their businesses lower tax rates than car repair shops, bodegas and independent neighborhood restaurants and bars.
Closing the carried-interest loophole in New York City would yield $200 million in additional revenue per year, according to the New York City Independent Budget Office.[1]
Hedge fund managers further stand to benefit from other absurd handouts given to them by their buddies in the Cuomo administration—tax breaks on luxury yachts,[2] the elimination of the corporate minimum tax,[3] and special tax breaks for luxury condo owners.
Hedge fund tax breaks and special treatment rob New Yorkers of funds that are vitally needed to restore equitable funding for New York’s public schools, which right now falls far short of the level mandated in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit.[4]

Hedge Clippers has recommended a full set of fair-share revenue policies for Albany and New York City that would raise between $3.1 billion and $4.2 billion every day to help fund schools, affordable housing and transportation that would help provide a foundation of prosperity and economic stability for struggling New York families.[5]
We’ve also recommended elimination of tax loopholes for yachts and private planes[6], and a significant increase in the minimum wage[7] – both of which have been opposed by billionaires and hedge funds.

Political attacks and virulent racism – that’s not support for New York communities

Success Academy serves a population that’s over 70% African-American, with 82% of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch. But many of Success Academy’s wealthy supporters spend much of their lives attacking the very populations that Success serves.

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HEDGE FUND MANAGERS WOULD NEVER LET THEIR OWN CHILDREN BE SUBJECT TO THE HARSH DISCIPLINARY POLICIES USED BY SUCCESS ACADEMY

It’s a disturbing sort of paternalism: billionaire hedge fund managers are feverish in their promotion of Success whose disciplinary policies Success Academy’s backers would never dare subject their own children to.
Hedge fund elites send their offspring to the best prep schools in the country, where they don’t have to worry about standardized test performance, never mind worry about it so much that they wet themselves.
Children at these elite schools break the rules without consequence, and aren’t subjected to the criminalization of childhood behaviors that occur at Success, where students are suspended at alarming rates for minor infractions.[19]
On the contrary, the children of the wealthy are practically encouraged to break the rules—and their parents are there to sue when they get suspended or throw alternate proms when they get caught with marijuana.[20] [21]
We decided to examine three schools where, according to press accounts, some of Success Academy’s wealthy backers sent their own children. The only metric where Success Academy compares favorably is in the compensation of Eva Moskowtiz, who fits right in with the headmasters of these elite schools.[22]