UPDATE on Perkins/Smikle - PERKINS WINNING BIG - Charter school lobby goes down in flames

Last Update Sept. 14, 11:30pm
Perkins well over 70%. Reports coming in from victory party. Wish I were there.

Sept 14 - 2:30 pm
Report from Perkins/Smikle Harlem Battleground: Vote for Basil the Plant

A correspondent reports:

I'm in Harlem canvassing for Bill Perkins with other parents. You have to see Basil Smickle's canvassers, he hired crack heads to canvass for him by wearing Vote for Basil t-shirts!!!! LOL. I'm not joking, he is paying them $200-$300 a day. Come see for yourself. That's a great use of the charter lobby money.

People might end up writing in Basil Paterson, David's dad when they see the Basil shirts. Or just the plant.

Just in - don't know if it will work. Direct audio from the Perkins/Smickle battle. Hear how they are getting paid - cash off the books.

Drat - didn't upload.

Will Smickle be smiling after Tuesday primary?

Let's hope not. Harlem State Senator Bill Perkins is being punished by the Hedge Hogs for calling for more oversight of charters. Note below that Gotham Schools financial backer Ken Hirsch chipped in. And Governor Patterson endorsed Smickle. The charter school lobby has become one of the major threats to public education in this nation and the Perkins/Smickle primary is the epicenter.

I usually don't get involved with politicians but since last summer when I went up with GEM to defend PS 123 and other Harlem schools from the Evil Moskowitz invasions, I began to run into Perkins' people. Then Perkins' assistants (all of whom were incredibly impressive) started meeting with some of the GEM and CPE people in weekly meetings and he stopped by to chat quite often.

I filmed most of his charter school hearings in March and was actually the last speaker at 9pm. If there is one politician you contribute to, Bill Perkins should be the one. I may even go up there on Tuesday to see if I can help out.

Upper West Side (Manhattan for non-New Yorkers) parent activist Noah Gotbaum will be hosting an event for Perkins at his apartment tomorrow (Sunday). See below.

One of our sources sent this in:

Perkins also publicly said Paterson should resign after it was revealed that he called the girlfriend of his aide to talk her out of filing domestic violence charges. 

Paterson, Wright and many in the Harlem establishment were angry at Perkins for saying Paterson should not have interfered or worse yet cover up a possible domestic violence crime.

Smikle is desperate. After he loses on Tuesday, he should put in an application to start a charter. Zero investment, guaranteed revenue source and he'll make more money.  Be interesting to see if all his funders will be as supportive when he tries to sit at their table and have a slice of their charter pie.

Charter lobby last hour contributions to Smikle.  Petry's wife and Gotham Schools funder, Ken Hirsh. I guess they'll be contributing even more money in the next few days so that Smikle can pay off Wright, democratic clubs and other politicians after he loses on Tuesday.

Keith Wright is a Harlem Dem leader who is supporting Smickle.

A81115	FRIENDS OF BASIL SMIKLE FOR NEW YORK STATE SENATE	09-SEP-10	KAREN PETRY 260 W. 72ND ST. NEW YORK, NY 10023	$3,000.00
A81115	FRIENDS OF BASIL SMIKLE FOR NEW YORK STATE SENATE	09-SEP-10	KENNETH HIRSH 114 W. 13TH ST. NEW YORK, NY 10011	$2,500.00

Articles published Friday re Perkins/Smikle race and others funded by the charter lobby.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/nyregion/11charter.html

http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/Albany/20100911/204/3361

 

TO ALL OF THE INCREDIBLE LISTSERVE EDUCATION WARRIORS: PLEASE JOIN US THIS SUNDAY AND/OR CONSIDER MAKING A DONATION ON THE LINK BELOW IF YOU CAN’T BE THERE. THANKS!  NOAH

Dear Friend,

This coming Sunday, September 12 I will be hosting a fundraising brunch at my home for our State Senator, Bill Perkins.  Bill Perkins has been a great State Senator; one who never backs down in his fight for basic justice, equality and helping those who need it most.  Bill has been especially effective in the area of education, fighting against school overcrowding, consistently promoting increased parental rights, and constantly reminding the City and State education authorities that ALL of our kids deserve a great education – including English Language Learners, transitional and homeless kids, kids with Special Needs, the 97% of our kids who don’t attend charter schools.  In the face of fierce opposition from the Charter School lobby – who are the primary funders of Bill’s opponent - Bill effectively led the fight for increased transparency and oversight for all of our schools, and for a level playing field and fair resource allocation for our public schools.

Bill also led the fight in the State Senate for the law to reform our public authorities like the MTA, and to take their operations out of the shadows, making sure their finances are scrutinized and that they are serving the people. He sponsored the new clean air law to reduce the sulfur content of home heating oil that will make it easier for New Yorkers with respiratory conditions to breathe, and it will help reduce acid rain. And Bill Perkins has been a voice for change in Albany – immediately calling for the ouster of Hiram Monserrate and working to bring new leadership following last summer’s Senate gridlock. You can find out more at his web site www.BillPerkins.org.

Bill Perkins has put together a broad based grassroots campaign that has earned the support of leaders like Jerry Nadler, Scott Stringer, Danny O’Donnell, Linda Rosenthal, Bill Thompson, Bob Jackson, Inez Dickens and important groups representing environmentalists, tenants, parents, the disabled, health care workers, teachers and leading voices for reform.

I hope you will join me Sunday for an informal bagel brunch -- two days before this Tuesday’s primary -- and help to make sure Bill has what he needs to get his message out in these crucial final days.  Here are the details:

Sunday, September 12, 2010,  12 – 2 pm

At the home of Noah E Gotbaum, 27 West 86^th Street, #7A (Between Central Park West and Columbus)

To RSVP and donate: http://www.billperkins.org/events/Gotbaum

 

Thanks so much!  Hope to see you on Sunday.  And if you can’t make it I hope you will consider making a donation.

All best,

Noah

Parent Richard Barr says:

For lots of years I organized the lobbying trips to the City and State electeds who represented School District 3 for our Presidents' Council.  Bill, as a Councilmember and then a Senator, always listened carefully, (as some others also did) but beyond that, engaged us in dialogue and offered opinions about how we might be effective in advocating for our issues, and attended District meetings in school auditoriums, sometimes arguing with the District Sup't. when he thought a school he represented was being treated unfairly.  (Back in the good old days when District offices had some decision-making authority).  His level of engagement seemed genuine and often went beyond that of many of his peers.

Afterburn
Riddle of the day:
Why does Smickle wake up in the middle of the night screaming EEP, EEP, EEP?

New York Charter Parents Association endorses Bill Perkins for State Senator

Contact Information:
Mona Davids Phone: 646-912-4794
President Email: mdavids@nycharterparents.org



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


New York Charter Parents Association endorses Bill Perkins for State Senator

August 23, 2010, New York, NY----- The New York Charter Parents Association (NYCPA), the first and only independent charter parent association in New York City and New York State, today proudly endorses State Senator Bill Perkins for re-election representing the 30th District.

“Bill Perkins showed the courage to stand up for parents and do what is right, without worrying about the political consequences,” said Mona Davids, founder and President of NYCPA. “All the money, attacks and threats of a challenger, funded by the charter school lobby and hedge fund millionaires, did not sway him from standing up for us. At NYCPA’s request, Senator Perkins convened the first hearings on charter schools in their 10 year existence in New York State that exposed many of the questionable practices of charter school administrators that were violating the rights of NYC children and their parents.

“It is only because of Senator Perkins that we now have charter reform with increased transparency and accountability. Senator Perkins committed what many people called political suicide, putting his political career on the line, to fight for the rights of charter parents, enhanced transparency, financial accountability and real educational reform. Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson and Senator Suzi Oppenheimer, Chair of the Education Committee, both commended Senator Perkins for his courage and credited Senator Perkins for his role in passing the new revised charter law that includes much needed charter reforms with the lifting of the charter cap.”

Mariama Sanoh, Vice President of NYCPA, and a charter school parent added, “Bill Perkins listened to the cries of charter parents whose children were being pushed out and counseled out of charter schools. He stood up for us and agreed to help us fight for our right to have parent associations in our schools, to include special needs children and English Language Learners in charters, to require that charters have monthly board meetings and to notify parents and the community of the meetings. He stood up for us and now we are standing up for him.”

Said Mona Davids, “We support Senator Bill Perkins because he is not anti-charter, but for protecting the rights of parents wherever they choose to enroll their children, whether at district or charter schools. Senator Perkins proved to us that he is not bought and paid for by the charter school lobby and we trust that he will always put parents and children first.”



About NYCPA
New York Charter Parents Association is a nonprofit organization founded to advocate for families with children in the New York State public school system - both public charter and public district schools seeking public school choice. We are the FIRST AND ONLY independent charter parent organization in New York City and New York State. We are "OF THE PARENTS, FOR THE PARENTS AND BY THE PARENTS". We are not controlled by the charter center, NYC Department of Education or any charter school therefore we put our children first before any special interest group.

CPE Convention Thoughts

Aug. 29, 2010, 7am

Background info: Coalition for Public Education (CPE) Convention Sat. Aug. 28

It seems I just rolled in from the day's events yesterday and in a sense that is almost true. I decided to drive into Manhattan for some crazy reason and had loads of trouble finding a place to park. I almost gave up and pulled into a lot but luckily asked how much for the day. "$47," I was told and I pulled right back out. I finally found a spot on some place called Herbert St. and had a long walk back to Barclay St. for the convention. But what a pleasant walk along Greenwich St. on a wonderful sunny day, past numerous restaurants with sidewalk cafes.

I got to the DC 37 building around 11:30 while Assemblywoman Inez Barron (wife of Councilman Charles) was speaking. As usual she makes so much sense it makes your hair hurt. She was a teacher and principal and besides all her political insights I find her analysis of the curriculum that is being forced down teachers and students throats in Test Prep, USA very enlightening. Barron has a vision of how students should learn and how a school should work. I also loved what she said about discipline. Talking about some of the insane "gotcha" policies today, she said, "We did what we had to do," she said. "But first we made sure the parents were on board."

Bill Perkins makes an appearance 

Harlem State Senator Bill Pekins, who held hearings on the abuse of charter schools (I taped about 7 hours) and has become the leading target of charter schools, hedge fund millionaires and the NY Post, was there in the afternoon. They dug up someone named Basil Smickle to run against Perkins. Read my posts of last week on Smickle campaign contributions from hedgehog funders:

NY Post's Carl Campanile underestimated Smikle's charter lobby contributions
NY Post's Carl Campanile Discovers Dem Who Opposes Perkins, Ignores Hedge Contributions

Perkins is not popular in parts of Harlem for complex reasons, so he is not a shoo-in. And he does have flaws. But if he loses to Smickle no politician will stand up against the charter school lobby and Eva Moskowitz, who is using her charter school parents as shock troops against Perkins, will be the big winner.  So, if there is one campaign you contribute to make it Perkins. And if you have time, check in with his campaign and volunteer. Tired and busy - just think of Evil Moskowitz and Joel Klein gloating. Or just look at this picture - again and again. Some Perkins links: here and Mona Davids endorsement  and here. [I'll be doing more on the Perkins/Smickle race soon.)


There was mucho schmoozing going on all day. Some of the GEM film crew were there doing interviews for the film we are doing. I interviewed Sam Anderson of the CPE and Black Educators, who way too many people are not aware of. I don't know him personally and have only had limited contact with Sam but he is always so incredibly articulate and knowledgeable I can talk to him forever. But he had duties to take care of for the convention so we only had a brief interview. I am going to meet him in Brooklyn and he is going to give me a tour around the public school that is being closed and also the new charter school going up nearby to replace it.

Then I spoke to Harlem parent activist Bill Hargraves. See Bill in action leading a walkout at a Harlem Success Academy so-called public hearing - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7bb1OrfbAE. Bill always drops loads of goodies.

Finally, I managed to corale Magnificent Mona Davids, the charter school parent activist who has been demanding parent rights. She had some important things to say. So much great footage, so little time. (Her endorsement of Perkins made news.)

I was on an afternoon panel with Leonie Haimson, Special ed parent activist Patricial Connelly and the legendary Jitu Weusi of 1968 strike fame (and beyond). This part of the CPE event will need a separate post.

Outside Schmooze
As often happens, the follow-up to these events often turns out as interesting as the event itself. A large group gathered outside towards the end - around 4:30 - and just kept chatting. It seems ed activist are so wrapped up they can't stop. Lots of fun talking about the security we will face at the upcoming PEP meeting on Monday night (at LaGuardia HS near Lincoln Center.)

We finally broke up and I was walking with 2 parent activists (who shall remain nameless). They said they were getting something to eat and I who can't miss a meal hogged my way in. It was around 5pm.

When we left the diner at 8PM we had laughed our way through salads and burgers and some fabulous sharing of info. Boy do I get gossip, but of course they would have to kill me if I spilled.

I wasn't through yet it seems. I got a call from my wife's 20-something cousins who were taking the ferry from New Jersey to meet some of their cousins in Chinatown. So after a long walk to my car, I spent a half hour stuck in traffic getting there. Luckily one of the parents came along so we could continue to plot - 3 hours just isn't enough, you know. I finally connected with my relatives around 9pm. Their 5 cousins from Florida, Long Island and Manhattan joined us.

So now I wsa surrounded by 7 twenty somethings with platter after platter of delicious food coming out. There were 2 teachers amongst them, one of them at a private school in Manhattan, so there was some ed talk, but mostly sports- thank goodness.

"Didn't you just eat," some of you might ask? Never stopped me - notice my belly when you see me. But at least I didn't join them at the follow-up half-nighter in a bar.

I rolled home at 11pm when my wife reminded me I had to go feed my friend's cat.

No matter how hard I tried, Oreo wouldn't discuss ed deform.

AFTER BURN
As always, there were a batch of GEM and ICE people at the CPE - I counted at least 7-  to show support. GEM and Ed Notes shared a quarter page ad in the CPE journal. There is some irony in that at least one of the active CPE folk is connected to New Action, which as usual had no presence. At one point this past year before the UFT election there was some unfriendly fire directed at James Eterno.
New Action head Michael Shulman was later invited to speak to a CPE meeting, part of the Unity/New Action campaign to disparage ICE. It was something I was not happy that the CPE allowed this underhanded stuff to take place at the time and still am wary of that element of the CPE. I don't hold it against the CPE, but I hope the hypocrisy is noted.

Double Burn
I have to miss my acting class this morning. One of my frat brothers' daughters is getting married at 11:30 in Long Island. Last week I auditioned for one of the card playing roles in The Odd Couple at the Rockaway Theatre Co's December production.

I originally was going to go for Murray the cop but he seemed too affable.

When I read the part of the nasty, sarcastic, wise cracking Speed, I said "Eureka."

NY Post's Carl Campanile underestimated Smikle's charter lobby contributions

If you read my last post last Saturday night about NY Post reporter Carl Campanile's distorted reporting on the Bill Perkins/Basil Smikle NY State Senate primary, here is some more info that has come in over the transom from our readers.


UPDATE FROM KEN LIBBY:

Kenneth Libby has left a new comment on your post "NY Post's Carl Campanile underestimated Smikle's c...":

This provides a bit more info on Basil's donors:

http://dferwatch.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/basils-backers-mainly-charter-supporters-and-some-real-estate-moguls/

He's taken in about $160,000 in donations. A bit over $100,000 comes from hedge fund/charter backers. Another $25k or so comes from real estate folks.

-Ken

For our new readers, Perkins held hearings on charter schools and the hedge fund/charter school crowd got upset. So they dug up Smikle to run against Perkins.

A couple of points on Smikle fundraising:

According to the Wall Street Journal analysis,

"More than half of Mr. Smikle's contributions came from pro-charter donors."

http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB10001424052748703720504575377701262805436.html

Below is a listing of $105,000 in Smikle contributions, all with Charter School and Real Estate connections.

Smikle has reported contributions from less than 10 people who live in the district, totalling $4,100.

ACKMAN, WILLIAM A 1 W 81ST ST NEW YORK, NY 10023	6,000.00	HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER
BUCK, CHRISTOPHE E 14 EAST 90TH ST NEW YORK, NY 10128	6,000.00	CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER , BIG CONTRIBUTOR TO CHARTER SCHOOLS
CURRY, ELIZABETH 499 PARK AVE NEW YORK, NY 10022	6,000.00	MOTHER OF BOYKIN CURRY HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER
CURRY IV, RAVENEL B 106 CENTRAL PARK SOUTH NEW YORK, NY 10019	6,000.00	SON OF ELIZABETH CURRY HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER DFER MEMBER
DAVIS, ANTHONY 257 W 17TH ST NEW YORK, NY 10011	5,000.00	ATTORNEY CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER DFER BOARD MEMBER
FELDSTEIN, ANDREW T 20 TOMPKINS ROAD SCARSDALE, NY 10583	6,000.00	ATTORNEY CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER
GREENBLATT, JOEL 245 MIDDLE NECK ROAD SANDS POINT, NY 11050	4,000.00	HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER DFER BOARD OF ADVISERS
GRIFFIN, AMY M INFORMATION REQUESTED ,	6,000.00	WIFE OF JOHN A. GRIFFIN, BILLIONAIRE AND PRESIDENT OF BLUE RIDGE CAPITAL HEDGE FUND, FORMERLY OF TIGER MANAGEMENT, JULIAN ROBERTSON’S HEDGE FUND.  BIG SUPPORTER OF CHARTER SCHOOLS THROUGH THE AMY AND JOHN GRIFFIN FOUNDATION.
HADAR, ERIC 770 LEXINGTON AVE NEW YORK, NY 10065	5,000.00	REAL ESTATE TYCOON VERY INTERESTED IN HARLEM REAL ESTATE AND PROPERTY IN MANHATTAN SUPPORTER OF COLUMBIA USING EMINENT DOMAIN
LEDLEY, CHARLES H 3 AVERY STREET BOSTON, MA 02111	5,000.00	HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER DFER BOARD MEMBER
LEWINSOHN, JONATHAN 2211 BROADWAY NEW YORK, NY 10024	3,000.00	LAWYER AND WORKS FOR HEDGE FUND. CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER
LEWIS, EDWARD INFORMATION REQUESTED ,	6,000.00	CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF HARLEM VILLAGE ACADEMIES CHARTER SCHOOLS.
MAYER, RAFAEL 1175 PARK AVE NEW YORK, NY 10128	5,000.00	HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER DFER BOARD
NOVOGRATZ, MICHAEL E 1345 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS NEW YORK, NY 10505	6,000.00	HEDGE FUND BILLIONAIRE DFER BOARD OF ADVISERS
PETRY, JOHN 260 W 72ND ST NEW YORK, NY 10023	6,000.00	HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER DFER BOARD OF ADVISERS; ERN BOARD
PITTELMAN, CAROLE 1385 YORK AVE NEW YORK, NY 10021	5,000.00	REAL ESTATE TYCOON
ROBBINS, LARRY 767 5TH AVE NEW YORK, NY 10153	5,000.00	HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER
ROSENSTEIN, AARON N INFORMATION REQUESTED ,	3,000.00	HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER
SACKLER, JONATHAN D 1 STAMFORD FORUM STAMFORD, CT 06901	5,000.00	HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE BOARD MEMBER OF ACHIEVEMENT FIRST CHAIN OF CHARTERS FATHER OF MADELEINE SACKLER, MAKER OF PRO-CHARTER FILM, THE LOTTERY
WEPSIC, ERIC KARL 255 W 84TH ST NEW YORK, NY 10024	6,000.00	HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER
Total Contributions:	105,000.00	ALL BUT $10,000 FROM CHARTER SCHOOL LOBBY/SUPPORTERS

The Smartest Ed Deformers in the Room/NY Senate Passes Charter Cap Lift

Having seen the play Enron which I wrote about here, I was looking forward to see the documentary Enron, the Smartest Guys in the Room and low and behold, there it was on CNBC the other night. As Enron was plotting to cause havoc with the California energy system, we heard how often Choice - or cherce as Ralph Cramden would have said - was used to justify playing trader with peoples' lives by using rolling blackouts to push energy prices beyond the stratesphere.

Sound familiar?

"Choice" is the buzz word of the ed deformers who have pumped up charter school parents to get up at meetings and talk about how it is their right to have cherce. This is part of the same bait and switch used by Enron, which if it hadn't gone kaput, would be joining Broad, Gates and Walmart in the charter school gold rush. When there are no more public schools to rape and charters are the only game in town, they will pull plugs all over the place to cream not only kids but as much public money from the system as they can.

Then we'll be seeing stories about black boxes and raptors. Can't wait for the play "Charters."

Add-on
There's a lot of to-do over the NY State Senate passing a bill to lift the charter school cap by a vote of 45-15. With the threat of charter school/Wall Street money flowing into local political races, we are seeing how charter schools are a political movement, not an educational one, a point I made in my testimony at the Perkins hearing as I was looking at 3 HSA parents.

I mean, if you have your kids in a charter school already, why are you so willing to be used as a political wedge to get more charters? Altruism for your fellows who didn't make the lottery even if you know that there can never be enough charters that can handle all the kids, especially those who are left behind in special ed?

The big battle will be the Perkins Senate seat and watch it get dirty as charges of white money and white paternalism invading Harlem start flying around. Don't be surprised to hear references being made to a certain uncle who had a certain cabin down south in pre-civil war times.

Sign the petition to vote no on lifting the cap:

http://www.change.org/petitions/view/vote_no_to_raising_the_cap_on_charter_schools

Here is an excerpt from the Daily News:

The state’s powerful teachers unions accused Senate Democrats of caving in to charter-school advocates, who have threatened to spend $10 million to unseat at risk senators if they did not pass the bill, reports Glenn Blain of the DN's State Capitol Bureau. Union leaders vowed to hold the vote against lawmakers in the coming election season.

United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew dumped on the news this way:

"It’s a shame that the Senate has spent its time passsing a one-house charter bill that has no chance of becoming law, instead of concentrating on solving the budget crisis that threatens the education of millions of public school children across the state,” he said.

Assembly spokesman Dan Weiller said only, "This legislation, like all legislation, will be reviewed through our normal committee process."

Two senators were excused from the vote: Thomas Morahan (R-Rockland County) and Ruth Hassell-Thompson (D-Westchester).

The No votes were:
Neil Breslin
Tom Duane
Liz Krueger
Ken LaValle
Velmanette Montgomery
Suzi Oppenheimer
Frank Padavan
Bill Perkins
Stephen Saland
Eric Schneiderman
Jose Serrano
William Stachowski
Toby Ann Stavisky
Andrea Stewart-Cousins
Antoine Thompson

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2010/05/state-senate-passes-charter-sc.html#ixzz0mur2jvJT

For more on the impact of private money determining public ed policy, see my previous post (and follow the links as I've moved a big chunk of it to Norms Notes.) Rhee in a Nutshell

The Passion of NY State Senator Bill Perkins

School Scope Column in The Wave: Friday, April 30, 2010

(Ed Note: The first section is an expanded rewrite of a posting from a few days ago, now tied into the Bill Perkins charter school hearings.)

Passion

by Norm Scott

"These guys must be crazy," I was told by someone I know. He was referring to those who keep fighting no matter how bleak things look. "Why would someone of retirement age stuck in the rubber room not just retire," he said? I can't explain it but I understand it. Why stand up to BloomKlein when they own the world, including the press (except the Wave, of course)? Or the UFT leadership?

Not that there is any comparison in terms of danger, but I thought of that guy standing in front of the tank in Tiananmen Square. Or the people who stand up for human rights against Putin in Russia no matter how many of their friends are killed. Or any number of people throughout history who were mad as hell and wouldn't take it any more.

I thought of this as I was watching the academy award foreign language winning film The Secret in Their Eyes (Argentina). One review states: "A thoroughly entertaining murder mystery, The Secret in Their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos) stars Ricardo Darín as a retired prosecutor who can't let go of a 25-year-old rape and murder that he considers still unsolved, but solvable."

Benjamin, the detective, is relentless in pursuing answers. But the movie is really about passion. His 25 year unrequited passion for his married boss, who may have had similar passions (they keep you guessing.) The unending passion of a husband for his murdered wife. Benjamin's alcoholic sidekick Sandoval helps track the killer by figuring out he is a passionate soccer fan. "You can change almost anything," he tells Benjamin. "But you can't change passion. It will always win out."

I find many Humphrey Bogart films fall into this category. In "Deadline-USA" he edits an independent newspaper standing up to the mob while it is being sold to a Rupert Murdock type publisher who will kill the paper so his sleazy NY Post prototype will have a monopoly. Bogart gets the gangster in the end but loses the paper. However, his speech to the judge about the need for a democracy to provide divergent points of view is a must see. In Hemingway's "To Have and Have Not" Bogart is a seemingly cynical boat captain who does the right thing by his rummy helper (Walter Brennan) and a woman on the loose (Lauren Bacall), finally standing up to the WWII German tyranny by helping resistance fighters. And then there is Casablanca, my favorite movie of all time, where Bogart (Rick) jumps off the fence and begins a beautiful friendship with the resistance.

Maybe passion is what explains so many inexplicable actions by so many people. And thank goodness for these crazy, passionate people. If not for them we would all be living like the zombies in that revolutionary Apple commercial at the 1984 Super Bowl. Or like the drones at Tweed.


The Passion of NY State Senator Bill Perkins

Speaking of joining "The Resistance", a national network has been forming to fight the attacks on public education with lots of action in Florida (where some teachers engaged in a sick-out), Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington DC where a dissident, Nathan Saunders is running for president and if elected would throw a spear at a dirty contract deal being set up by Superintendent Michelle Rhee and AFT President Randi Weingarten.

With it being open season on politicians, NY State Senators have been amongst the most ridiculed in the nation. Our own Malcolm Smith, Pedro Espada and recently deposed Herman Monserrate are prime suspects. But then comes along Harlem State Senator Bill Perkins, who gives you a little faith.

Perkins, you see, has been one of the lone politicians to swim against the charter school tide, not only in NY but perhaps the nation - including President Obama, whose market-based support for undermining the public school system takes him as far away from being a socialist as possible.

Pretty gutsy stuff for a Harlem politician to push back against the policies of the most popular president in history in the Black communities. And Perkins has been vilified. The sleazy NY Post has been rabid, with up to three articles, editorials and columns a day attacking him for holding hearings examining the activities of charter schools.

If you have read the Wave over the past few months on the activities of Malcolm Smith and his Peninsula Prep charter school, you know what "activities" I'm talking about. Scandal after scandal has emerged about these schools that put our tax money into the hands of private interests with little or no oversight. Their partners in crime at BloomKlein headquarters are aiding and abetting them by favoring charters over the public schools they run, especially with the co-location shenanigans where they purposely declare a public school underutilized - see our own Goldie Maple here in Rockaway, where parents have attempted to push back.

Perkins leads an emerging line of resistance coming from Black and Latino/a communities undergoing the charter school influx. Harlem is the epicenter, with 28 charters, and more Harlem politicians are joining Perkins.

Hedge fund managers and other Wall Street types who led us into the world of financial meltdown support charters. (Why miss an opportunity to get their fingers on public funds?) Democracy Prep charter school founder Seth Andrew is so outraged at Perkins that he is calling on his buddies on Wall Street to raise a massive amount of money to defeat Perkins who is running for reelection this year. In what may shape up as the modern equivalent of "The Battle of Hastings" in 1066, the Norman conquest of Britain, Wall Street backed armies, joined by charter school advocates, will invade Harlem this summer in an attempt to knock Perkins off as an example to any politician who might dare to question how charters are misusing public money. I know of at least one Norman who will be there standing with Perkins.

Perkins' hearings were held on April 22 and started at 8am. I was the last speaker when it ended at 9pm. Boy, was I hungry, since I got there at 10am with my trusty little video camera and tripod. See some amazing parent voices on the ednotesonline you tube channel. http://www.youtube.com/user/EdNotesOnline

Bill Perkins Charter School Hearing Videos - Parent and Community Voices

New You Tube channel: ednotesonline

Today's NY Post is already throwing up candidates to oppose Bill Perkins. They will raise lots of money. But they will be facing people in the streets like the speakers here.

This particular panel was very inspirational. The ed deformers should be nervous, very nervous.

I know all of the people speaking here except Sonia Hampton, who is a delightful discovery for me. Many of the things they say will blow you away. It is growing voices like these from the community that is the biggest form of resistance to BloomKlein since no one cares much what teachers say. A very important point is that the ed deformers and charter school forces cannot accuse them of being tools of the UFT. Some work with GEM. But just watch them all in action and try to tell them they are a tool of anyone. [Still being processed from this batch: Jim Devor and Rosie Mendez which will be added to this post later.] Also, don't forget to check out my video in the post below this - I was the last speaker at around 9pm. I spoke after 3 HSA parents spoke. Nice people and we had a good chat afterwards. But I challenge the HSA political machine supporting BloomKlein and mayoral control while at the same time attacking the failures of the very school system they are running.


Lydia Bellahcene, Parent PS 15K. Lydia was there all day - from even before I arrived at 10- with her young child, who just may be the best behaved child I have ever seen in my life. Lydia makes an awesome presentation here. I've gotten to know her through the PS 15/PAVE battle and she is one of the main CAPEers. She never ceases to amaze me. That the actions of BloomKlein have led to activating her and people like her is a sign of their ultimate failure.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU-n8OvBhao


Khem Irby, Parent District 13, Brooklyn- another awesome parent advocate. Khem is always there for everyone. She makes a statement for Leonie and for herself.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1FYsHYo0ww


Sonia Hampton, Parent PS/MS 149, Harlem. This is the first time I've seen Sonia and my mouth fell open at her testimony. I wanted her to go on forever.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47MJUHScfuo

Bill Hargraves and Akinlabi Mackall do a lot of community organizing in a number of spheres including the Coalition for Public Education, which has been exploring opportunities to work together with GEM.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkHfkNtX4ss

Add-On:
These parent and community voices have been so strong and it's been a pleasure getting to know them over the past year. Ed Notes has often been looked at as a voice for teachers. But since I began teaching I had the utmost respect for many of the parents I met. I can honestly say I had fantastic relationships with the parents of the kids in my class. I worked very hard at it. The first day of school I gave them my phone number (see KIPP, we did it 40 years before you). That built trust and helped enormously, though they rarely called. Kids were very rarely able to divide me from their parents or use them against me. It had a big impact on their behavior and created an extremely positive climate for all of us. Teachers must find ways to create links to parents, both educationally and politically. Without a joint alliance, the forces of BloomKlein and neoliberalism, which has a basic aim of sowing divisions, win out.

I started a new you tube channel - ednotesonline - and future videos will no longer be listed under norscot2, though you can still access the 77 videos I already posted there. Other videos will be posted at the GEMNYC you tube channel.

If traffic gets too heavy for all these videos and slows up the blog, let me know and I will pull them and leave just the links to you tube.

All videos must be 10 minutes so I had to do some trimming to get them in. So if you see yourself and a bit is missing that is why.

Coming in next batches: Magnificent Mona and cohort charter school parents rake over charter school operators, followed by the John White interrogation on how charter schools get parent info.

Bill Perkins Charter School Hearing Videos -Norm Scott

I was Last and Least
But since I took the footage, I get to put my video up first.
I spoke after 3 HSA parents spoke. Nice people and we had a good chat afterwards. But I challenge the HSA political machine supporting BloomKlein and mayoral control while at the same time attacking the failures of the very school system they are running.




More videos in next post

Bill Perkins Charter School Hearing: The Longest Day

Updated, Friday, April 23, 7am and 8am

Just back from the Perkins charter school hearings. Shades of January PEP hades.

I took almost 8 hours of video - it didn't end until after 9pm I think - and I was the last speaker with about 6 people in the room. I just read the Gotham live blogging by Anna and Maura at Gotham along with comments. In the live blog they lost some necessary background (or being so young they missed some subtle points). Also in the attempt to be balanced there is some tipping and not enough skepticism over some things pro-charter school people say and some extra skepticism over what some anti-charter people say. It is nice David Cantor gets to testify to Gotham privately. Why don't I get to do that too? And actually taking the questions of Assemblyman Michael (I want vouchers - along with buying an Edsel) Benjamin seriously- give me a break.

For Gotham to make this the lead based on a typically biased article in the Post is tipping:

Rise & Shine: Could charter stance push Perkins out of office?

Was this the take away from 12 hours of hearings? I call it tipping. If people want to go there just watch the army of people who come out to defend Perkins if he comes under attack from Wall Street (see below.) I NEVER get involved in political campaigns but I would for this one.


Here is what I remember - I'll add to it in the morning if more comes back to me. (I WOKE UP AND ADDED A BUNCH).

I got there at 10am. The street around 250 Broadway was filled with a bunch of Harlem Success Academy people demonstrating.

Peter (I assume Goodman from the UFT - and father of the former UFT middle school charter principal) left this comment at Gotham.

Got to 250 Bdwy at 8 am … room was full and no one allowed in … charter school parents (?) arrived with anti-Perkins, anti-UFT signs, and young white guys in suits clearly in charge. I asked they who they were and who they represented, they scurried away.

TV crews identifying themselves as “independent” media were doing interviews. Saw NY1, WNYC, NY Teacher reporters interviewing … after an hour the “picketers” left.

Take whatever Goodman has to say with a grain of salt but I also saw signs of these HSA "shadow" organizers at previous events.

I was able to get in with my press pass from The Wave and some HSA charter school people, having seen me at various meetings, started screaming about it but the guards let me in.

Got up to the packed hearing room but as press I was able to squeeze my teeny camera and tripod down in front - thanks to UFT pfotog Jack Miller for making room for me - he was working hard all day. By the way, the room had a fair number of Unity Caucus UFT people so it looks like they filled the seats while Harlem Success was outside demonstrating. There were lots of complaints from HSA people about favoritism showed to the UFT but there were also plenty of non-UFT community anti-charter people present too.

I caught the end of Diane Ravitch and she was fabulous. Mulgrew did a good job - except when he had to waffle on the performance of the UFT charters - but he even didn't do too badly on that. He was so much clearer that Weingarten ever was so it was a breath of fresh air - and his wise guy attitude served him well when he came under attack. I liked his performance and shook his hand as he left. Next came the NYSUT guys and I turned off the camera to save tape but so much of their testimony on charter school malfeasance was so compelling I turned it back on.

The $10,000 UFT contribution to Perkins came up when Perkins asked Mulgrew to check his pockets to see if he was in there. I watched the Post's hitman Carl Campanile as this exchange took place. I was going to go over and ask why he didn't look into how much money pro charter school politicians received but he works for the Post (which also had Yoav Golen there - pretty interesting to have the same event but I think I also saw Rachel Monahan and Meredith Kolodner from the Daily News who did that story on charter school malfeasance that was referred to so often during the hearings, so this is considered a pretty big event.


One of the state senators, Craig Johnson, was totally pro-charter, so the pro-charters got their digs in through him. He was pretty well prepared and Mona Davids accused him of being a shill for the charter school association. An assemblyman from Harlem named Michael Benjamin was also pro charter - his questioning was somewhat ridiculous but it is so long ago I forgot why - I just knew I was seething to question him and break him down. Oh, I remember - he attacked the UFT over not supporting the community in 1968 - real grandstanding since the mayor got control because of perceived problems with community control.

Will the NY Post report how much money these guys got from pro-charter forces? I think someone said Johnson got $65,000, a paltry sum compared to the UFT giving Perkins 10 G's. By the way, I took some video of Post reporter hit man Carl Campanile when he wasn't taking notes on some testimony that might damage his boss.

Magnificent Mona (no longer moaning) Davids was there with her crew of charter school parents who are on our side (one person active on Leonie's list came over to whisper I should be nice to MM since she has shifted - I am being nice though we still disagree a bunch.) They talked about parent and teacher rights at the charters and stressed that they wanted to protect teacher rights to assure they speak out against the abuses of charters since they were the only ones willing to stand up for the kids and some were fired. That was the very reason for tenure in the first place and many of us have been arguing that it is teachers who defend kids, not supervisors who often are the ones who want to cover up.

There was some contention when John White and the SUNY and State Ed Dept reps were on the panel discussing how charter schools get approved and monitored, with most of the fire directed at White. In previous testimony, Councilman Jackson talked about how his constituents were getting calls and mail about charter schools, even at private numbers and Perkins wanted to know how that information got into the hands of the direct mailing company - Vanguard- that has a contract with the DOE. One of the few times I ever saw the usually inflappable White (one of the Tweedies parents seem to despise the most) show signs of sweating.

Things between Perkins and White flared up again over Democracy Prep's Seth Andrews' threat to raise money from his Wall St. buddies to go after Perkins with Perkins trying to get White to discuss whether there should be an investigation over the involvement of someone running a NYC chartered school in the political arena. White responded that only if school funds were involved. Perkins did not come off that well in this exchange but he was getting real hot over the issue, as were his colleagues Velmanette Montgomery and Inez Barron. This allowed White to regain the high ground and he recovered to defend the DOE against Assemblywoman Inez Barron's criticism of the results city grad rate and test results, which I felt she could have done more effectively. But her track record as an educator (teacher, principal) gives her great creds and she said she would track down stats for future fisticuffs.

As I sift through the tapes, some of the White segment should go up first.

By the way, the crew from District 15 and PS 15 were shocked to actually have Velmanette Montgomery actually recognize that PS 15 and Red Hook were in her district since she has never responded to their pleas for assiatance in their battle against PAVE. Maybe a sign the heat being applied by the CAPEers from PS 15 and strong allies like Jim Devor, CEC15 head, who also testified, is having some impact.

I ran out of tape after 5 hours so I took an hour off to get something to eat (a Cubano sandwich with rice and beans) and go to J&R and buy some more tapes - and check out the new Macs. I almost didn't go back.

But I was glad I did as a bunch of good buddies were about to speak. Bill from PS 123, Lydia from PS 15 (with what I consider the single most powerful testimony of the day - this should be the tape that goes up first), Akinlabi from CPE , Jim Devor from CEC15 and a bunch of others I am too tired to remember. I have to check the video. (By the way, they streamed the entire day's testimony as a webcast http://www.livestream.com/NYSenate_CorpAuthComm and the guys taping said the entire tape will be up on the web soon.

A bunch of pro charter school people came next - Peter Murphy who Perkins tweaked often about his editorials was one.

And Harlem Link founder Steve Evangelista threw in the kitchen sink as he trashed the two public schools he taught at as the reason he started his own school. He had a whole list of what seemed from my experience to be legitimate complaints but some seemed a bit off. He complained that he had all these pullout teachers coming into his room in his former public school and wasn't allowed to talk to these people. I wonder what would have happened to him if he did? I can't conceive of a teacher who felt it important to discuss kids with colleagues not doing so.

It seems he had 2 bad schools and has used that to bludgeon the public schools, teacher unions, etc. I heard lousy testimony about a few charter schools too and pleas to not judge all charter schools based on that. Did he try to find a better public school? It would seem that fighting to make the public schools a place for people like him to work in and to serve the 98% of the kids left out of charters would be a worthwhile political fight.

As someone who felt the same type of frustrations, I was equally frustrated by his testimony that used just about every Ed Deform buzz word - my favorite was OUTCOMES. You know what outcomes are Steve? Finding out what happened to your kids in 20 years. Many of us back then and the teachers I work with now in GEM did not run off to start our own schools and serve a little corner of 2 percenters while abandoning the rest. They stay and fight and even risk their careers.

The fireworks really flew when he called Perkins a liar and Perkins responded - I have to check the tapes for details.

One interesting comment he made: he is competing with Harlem Success to some extent now - and may the best school win. It is capitalism, isn't it? But I don't think he has to worry since Eva has enough schools in Harlem - how much creaming can you - and is moving on the skim off the south Bronx.

I was the very last speaker as the rumble of people's stomachs almost drowned me out and made the point that John White extolled charter schools as performing so much better that the public schools he runs. He also bragged about the enormous demand for charter schools - from people running away from the schools his bosses manage.

I was on a panel with 3 passionate charter school parents from HSA who are very proud of their kids and their school. I said I couldn't blame them for making a decision to not have their children attend schools they see as not being the best for their children.

There were many signs at HSA supported events talking about public school failrues. But then HSA use parents in a political manner to support mayoral control - at the big HSA rally they gave out cards to every attendee urging them to support the continuation of mayoral control - giving power to the very people who were managing the schools they were running away from.

As I often say, charter schools are about political ideology, not education.

One of the parents was a very nice guy who carries a pack of 20 books around that his daughter had to read. I told him next time we would get public school parents to come with a pack of 30 books their kids had read as proof the public schools work better than charter schools. I see HSA bringing fork lifts with stacks of books to upcoming meetings.

The parent is a policeman and I asked him what would be his reaction of he worked in a high crime area and the mayor said it was his and his colleagues' fault - their union you know - if only the cops would donate a few extra hours a night just think of how many more cops on the street and how crime could be reduced. So a solution would be to set up a competing precinct down the block run by private agency but using public money.

I hope he thinks about that scenario the next time HSA does its union bashing.

Oh, yes, I pointed out that HSA brought 2 nice shiny buses and a professional videographer and sound guy to the PEP meeting. A nice piece of change - I know, I know it is private money (that could have gone to the classroom but when you have everything why waste it on that?).

As I said - political, not educational.

In the end we had a very nice chat on the way to the subway and promised to keep the discussion going.

Add-on:
On the way into the hearing I heard, "Mr. Scott" and there was a former student from my school from around 1970-71 waiting on line for some other business. She told me her son was a special ed teacher. Now get this - I also had her son as a student - in the early 80's yet - scaaary. But she had him when she was even scarier young - like young teens, so not impossible. I think he may have been in the same 4th grade class as the other kids I have recently connected up with. He went through some issues I think as a teen so this was good news - YIKES - GOOD NEWS, WORKING FOR THE DOE? That's the 2nd student from that class to become a teacher. Didn't I learn them better? So far all of the kids I've connected up with recently have done pretty well in the world. Other than the one who got out of jail after 28 years. Makes me less pessimistic.