LA Dreamin'

Some very instructive points in this article and George Schmidt's comment comparing the reactions of teacher unions in LA, Chicago and New York. Debbie Lynch won election originally with what seemed to be a reform agenda over the Chicago equivalent of Randi Weingarten's Unity Caucus, though Debbie also had long-time ties to Al Shanker.

AJ Duffy in LA also won election with a slate of various caucuses that defeated an incumbent leadership that could be viewed as a Unity Caucus equivalent. But Duffy and his team have very different political points of view than the leadership in NYC and have a long-term strategy as opposed to the very short-term goals of the UFT which always looks for the quick PR value and then runs on to the next big thing. And there's got to be a different mind set between dealing with a mayor in LA who was a teacher union organizer and Bloomberg. But the problem with handing over control of schools to a mayor is that you never know who you might end up with. That is why any governance plan requires some serious level of oversight.

From almost the day I started teaching I thought the school system (and the UFT) was in serious need of reform. To see the reform movement captured by the likes of BloomKlein and their allies like Eli Broad nationwide is due to a great extent to the collaboration people like Randi Weingarten and other union leaders who are always defensive about protecting teacher rights because they have no vision for how a school system should look and seem more intent on impressing the powers that be and the press as to how "cooperative" they can be.

Actually, I believe they are way more in line with the BloomKleins of this world than they are with the rank and file teachers. Look at the connections with the Clintons who have played a role in these "reform" movements that end up with teacher bashing. And follow the line to Clinton billionaire buddy Ron Burkle who tried to buy the Tribune newspaper chain with Eli Broad, who has so much praise for both BloomKlein and Weingarten (he gave the UFT charter schools $1 million.)

Some of our colleagues in TJC have contacts in LA and we will monitor what is happening out there.

George comments: 6/10/07
The reason Debbie Lynch was ousted was that she didn't heed the voices of the "rank and file" against these bullshit corporate "reforms." And she just lost her bid to get back into office by a huge margin because her opponents (the Chicago version of Unity) successfully portrayed her as having sold out the membership during her brief three years in office (2001 -2004). The fact it, the "mayoral control" model of corporate school reform that the newspapers all back was in place in Chicago for six years (1995-2001) under Chicago's version of Unity before Debbie ousted them by opposing their sellouts. The exciting thing in Los Angeles is that the leadership of UTLA can't fall prey to this phony fascist version of "reform" despite what all the New Democrats" and their media are saying if the membership remains active. As we know in Chicago and you've also learned in New York City, mayoral control is not in the interest of teachers, children, or democratic public schools. No matter how big the opening bribes are. Hopefully, the Los Angeles union will reverse its support based on how much we've learned already in Chicago and New York (and Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, and now New Orleans... among others).

George N. Schmidt Editor, Substance Chicago www.substancenews.com

Union leaders in a bind
Reform-minded UTLA chiefs struggle to win over teachers
BY NAUSH BOGHOSSIAN, Staff Writer

With momentum growing for drastic reform at Los Angeles public schools driven by the superintendent and mayor, the politically powerful teachers union finds itself on the front lines of a potentially divisive battle.

United Teachers Los Angeles' own crew of reform leaders is walking a tightrope between privately backing reform efforts it has long sought, while publicly defending the rights of a rank-and-file that is being described as staunchly rigid and unaccepting of change.

Led by President A.J. Duffy, the small team of advisers is keenly aware that it must quickly and smoothly work to engender the support of its membership or risk jeopardizing the unprecedented alignment of leaders to spark a revolution at the beleaguered school district.

After decades of failed reforms, achievement scores lagging well behind the state averages and dropout rates estimated between 24 percent and 50 percent, the lives of more than 708,000 students and teachers hang in the balance - and with that, the health of the city itself.

"I don't think it's the union leadership any longer. It's a battle between the leadership being more reform-minded than the membership and the membership dragging down what the leadership wants to do in political and classroom advances," said Jaime Regalado, director of the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles.

"It's a tussle with the staunchly rigid rank-and-file where the reformers are on top, but they're being held back by a fear of change in the predominant majority of members."

Los Angeles teachers, who have been on the receiving end of countless promises while little has resulted from previous reform efforts, have become mistrustful of the district even as they have wielded considerable clout in district politics.

The divide is deep, especially in the wake of the backroom deal struck by the mayor with the union leadership to create Assembly Bill 1381, which would have given the mayor a substantial role in the school district.

Maclay Middle School algebra teacher Tim Henricks, who considers himself new to the profession with seven years experience, said what he sees is a membership divided, particularly between newer teachers and their more senior colleagues.

Younger teachers seem more receptive to ideas like charter schools or getting charter-like freedoms, while those who have been in the Los Angeles Unified School District system far longer may be more complacent.

"With charters, there's more freedom to do what you want without the LAUSD breathing down your neck. But the major concern is, what happens after five years and the issue (arises) of getting rid of teachers with just cause?

"It's the parents and the teachers - nothing really gets done without that, anything that's productive anyway, that moves in the right direction. Without our support, it's going to go nowhere."

Suspicious of reform
At Cleveland Humanities Magnet High, teachers have a long record of classroom success by working together closely to help students do well in core classes.

But they said that despite getting 40 percent of their graduates last year into University of California schools, they are facing increasing pressure to follow a standardized approach.
"Teachers are skeptical of the reforms that would seemingly help them because of all the strings attached," said Gabriel Lemmon, a 10th-grade philosophy teacher in the magnet program.

"Bureaucracy should fit itself around good teaching. Teaching should not fit itself around a bureaucracy."

For Duffy, the key to winning broad support for reform is local control.

"I've seen this district reorganize every 2 years for a new reform, and teachers are tired of putting their time and energy, their hearts and their souls into reforms that are not going to bring better student outcomes and more support for teachers in the classrooms and health and human service professionals at the school sites."

Mindful of election
With a union election coming next February, Duffy and his team will likely be treading carefully, especially with the district facing a deficit that might jeopardize its ability to win further increases on top of the 6 percent raise won this year.

"The union's leaders are not strongly moving forward with any reform agenda because it's a very fine line with the upcoming election," Regalado said.

And although AB 1381 is dead - defeated in the courts, with the mayor announcing he won't pursue appeals after he secured a majority on the school board - the sentiment of a "hostile takeover" is very much alive among the members who were split down the middle on support for the legislation.

As school board officials and the Mayor's Office are working quietly to develop a plan for Villaraigosa to oversee a "demonstration project" of low-performing schools, the union has sent a clear message to them: Let the schools come to you with the overwhelming consensus of teachers or we will be forced to oppose the move.

"The mayor has a nasty habit of jumping too quickly," said one official, who asked for anonymity. "What we're trying to get him to understand through back channels and get him to do is not move so quickly."

At a recent news conference announcing the mayor's decision to give up the legal fight for AB 1381, Deputy Mayor Ray Cortines emphasized that the mayor's team will not actively "pick" schools. Rather, it will look to schools that ask for the office's involvement.

Allaying fears
The mayor, a former UTLA organizer and committed union liberal, has insisted his agenda puts teachers first. He has formed an alliance with new Superintendent David Brewer III, won majority control of the school board control and embraced union leaders. But it will take all his powers of persuasion to assuage fears of the rank-and-file.

"The public schools in Los Angeles are not going to be able to change unless you have buy-in on the part of the teachers, administrators, and parents," said Kent Wong, director of the UCLA Labor Center.

"The fact that the mayor came out of the teachers union, and the fact that he's a very persuasive, charismatic leader, the potential still exists for the mayor to play an important role in shaping the discussion on how to best improve the schools in Los Angeles and getting buy-in from the teachers to make that happen."

Villaraigosa said he believes any reform effort has to come from the "ground up, not from the top down," and that the union is "key to any effort to reform our schools." He admitted there will be challenges with the union, but he repeatedly emphasized one point: his long-standing relationship with the powerful organization.

"I've got a long history with them and we go way back, and my expectation is that we'll be able to work just fine," he said. "Challenges are opportunities and I can't tell you that there won't be some challenges, but I can tell you that I've got a long history with them, a very, very long history, and I think it's one that will provide the foundation for a successful partnership."

Need for change
Brewer insists he wants to work with the union but also made clear he means those who share the reform vision.

"Believe it or not, there are people inside the union that really understand that they need to change, and we just have to work with those people," he said.

What the mayor, Brewer and the union are seeking to achieve are the same core reform concepts: Small schools, greater local autonomy with teachers and principals having more control over budget and curriculum, and streamlining the bureaucracy to redirect those funds to classrooms.

Few can deny that teachers would embrace all those ideas, but the key to getting their support will likely come down to the process and showing teachers they are valued as professionals who have something to say about the reform proposals.

Wong said with public education on the forefront of public discourse, teachers feel under attack.

"There is a concern on the part of many teachers that their input is not being fully appreciated, so they resent it when people use the discussion about school reform as an opportunity to make disparaging remarks about teachers, that it's their fault," Wong said.
Union leaders believe their fatal political misstep was the decision to strike the backroom deal on AB 1381 with the mayor without involving UTLA's governing bodies.

Now they are working hard to educate teachers about the different reform options and what they would mean to them.

"These changes cause so much uncertainty for many teachers - we're not the most revolutionary of folk - and uncertainty causes folks to get very conservative in their thinking," Cleveland High's Magnet Program coordinator Lemmon said.

"So I don't know. I hope that we do something, but it seems that bottom-up or top-down, at the end of the day, it all seems about the same."
naush.boghossian@dailynews.com
(818) 713-3722

The Wave - School Scope Column

-- will appear in the June 1st edition

DOE To Eliminate Job Of Principal

As reported by Gary Babad (Gadfly News): In a stealth announcement, the NY City Department of Education today released the news that it will be eliminating the position of principal in all of its schools by the start of the 2007-2008 school year. Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein, weekending in an undisclosed location in East Hampton, released the announcement in Dan's Papers, a Hamptons-based give-away publication. Reached on his beach cell phone by this reporter, Chancellor Klein elaborated on the decision. "In every single one of our schools, principals draw the highest salaries. Eliminating those salaries will allow us to get the funds directly back into the classroom where the money belongs. It's a clear, simple business strategy: cut out the middle man."

How exactly will this new plan work? As Chancellor Klein explained, teachers will be able to choose from a menu of Supervision Support Organizations. "Some," he said, "called Big Bucks Supervision Organizations (BBSOs), will be funded entirely by Bill Gates. We're in discussion with him about that right now. Another option, which we're calling Throw Them A Bone Supervision Organizations (TTABSOs), might be offered by former principals. Some of our exiting principals might want to take advantage of the Memorial Day holiday to throw together a plan and submit it to us first thing Tuesday morning. And the third choice on the menu will be our Up The Creek Without A Paddle option (UTCWAP). Those teachers who opt to go the UTCWAP route can choose their Supervision Supports a la carte."

Gary does this regularly on the NYC Public School Parents blog (http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/). But BloomKlein provide oh so much material.

People not directly involved in public education tell me they can make no sense of my columns. That it’s like trying to read another language. Aside from my natural tendency to be confusing, writing about the NYC DOE under BloomKlein is like a trip through the fun house in an amusement park. Well, at least for us retirees. For people still working in the system, it’s more like Nightmare on Elm St. So what about all those SSO’s, PSO’s, ESO’s, and LSO’s? This is NOT a joke, for all you civilians who happened to accidentally wander into this column, most likely never to emerge.

Okay, okay. If you’re trapped and can’t get out, let me try to explain it in one sentence. BloomKlein destroyed the structure of the school system not once but twice and every school is now a free agent (the Yankees were bidding on one of the PSO’s) and can choose amongst all these acronyms. If you insist on knowing what all this stuff stands for –

There are three types of SSO’s (School Support Organizations):
Empowerment Support Organization (ESO): schools choosing this option will join other schools in a network and choose how to receive support
Learning Support Organization (LSO): four organizations to be led by former regional superintendents
Partnership Support Organization (PSO): non-profit groups under contract to provide services

And the winner is...

Empowerment (35% of the systems almost 1500 schools).... and amongst the LSO’s, former Region 3 Superintendent Judy Chin making a spectacular showing at 27%. Spectacular compared to the other three LSO’s. Region 8’s Marsha Lyles (12%), Laura Region 2’s Laura Rodriguez (8%) and our own Region 5’s Kathleen Cashin (7%).

Now mind you, these four gals (where have all the men gone or does Klein have a problem) were the big winners in the sweepstakes over all the other regional superintendents and were then sent off to compete with each other. (An interesting sidenote is the ethnic breakdown of the fab four: Asian, Hispanic, African-American and White.)

Had enough? Sorry, there’s more. Chin’s network is called the Integrated Curriculum and Instruction LSO, or ICI. Got it? And the others? Lyles (Community), Rodriguez (Leadership) and Cashin (Knowledge Network.)

Oy vey! Can I get out of this column? Now! Sorry poor readers, I have to take a stab at breaking some of this down.

Other than Empowerment which may be coming from the newer principals, especially the Leadership Academy trained attack dogs without deep political ties to the old districts or regions, the home boroughs of Chin (Eastern Queens), Lyles (North Brooklyn) and Rodriguez (East Bronx) broke out as expected.

Cashin was the anomaly with a base in southeast Brooklyn and southwestern Queens. She got 55 schools in Brooklyn and only 35 schools in Queens, 4 from Staten Island, 2 from Manhattan and 0 in the Bronx. What explains her poor showing? Having received favorable press for going against the grain of BloomKlein with a more structured curriculum, cooperation with the UFT hierarchy and being the darling of the right-wing critics of BloomKlein (the phonics police) one would have expected a better showing. The NY Times article made the point of how few of the schools in Region 5 went for Klein’s Empowerment Zone baby last year. Was she sabotaged from within? Or did some of Cashin's constituents vote with their feet? Who can wend their way through the Byzantine DOE system?

I wouldn’t count Cashin out in the long-term. After the deluge of BloomKlein, when the Thermidorian Reaction (the revolt in the French Revolution against the excesses of the Reign of Terror) takes place, Cashin may well find herself as the Chancellor when the bobsey twins are out of office.

Judy Chin's team ran a great campaign (this IS all about the kids, right?) She has a reputation as the most benign Superintendent who gave her people the most leeway and the least hassle. Most of Region 3 probably stayed put. She made the popular Superintendent of Region 4, Charles Amundson, a deputy and a lot of Region 4 went with her. (Amundsen was a major backer of the robotics program that I worked for in the region and is one of the most pleasant mucky mucks I have met.) Amundsen also has a base in Staten Island and Chin got almost half of the schools in that borough.

All the LIS’s and PIS’s and who knows what from the former districts/regions and now back to districts who are still looking for jobs (think any of them are going back to the classroom?) will gravitate to Chin, who will have tremendous hiring power over all the others.

New Vision led the non-profits with 5% but they have been tabbed as extortionists in the past as they steal entire schools when large high schools are closed. Being the bag people for the Bill Gates money certainly helps New Vision.

Changes at the UFT Too

Randi Weingarten, BloomKlein’s Consigliore, also announced changes, moving the affable Michael Mendel from Staff Director to Executive Assistant to the President and elevating attack dog Jeff Zahler to staff director to ride herd over the staff and to stamp out any opposition while Weingarten traipses away to Washington as president of the AFT, most likely in July 2008 or 2010.

Weingarten’s goal is way bigger than AFT Presidency. A national merger with the much larger NEA would put her in position to head the massive combined union that would be the largest in the nation and set her up to head the entire AFL-CIO, a unique position for a woman, especially from the non-trades.

Who will replace her in the UFT? The betting has been that it will be former Rockaway resident and long-time Wave reader Michelle Bodden, currently UFT Vice-President for Elementary School. Many UFT staffers who are tired of Weingarten’s act are hoping for the change, as Bodden is extremely popular both in the union and in the schools.

But the UFT is just as Byzantine as the DOE and the changes announced are indicative that Weingarten, following in the footsteps of her predecessors Sandra Feldman and Al Shanker, will not give up the UFT presidency when she goes to the AFT. The AFT president has little real power but lots of prestige. Power resides in the locals and the UFT is the big enchilada in the AFT. To hand over her power base even to a hand-picked successor is a risk. When Feldman elevated Weingarten there was friction between them as Feldman felt she still had the right to tell Weingarten what to do. Weingarten was quick to purge certain Feldman loyalists who did not go along with the program, but most switched in a heartbeat. Would Weingarten fall into the same trap?

The recent UFT election was very important to Weingarten in that the lack of ability of the opposition to make a real dent gave her free reign to get away with holding both the AFT and UFT positions and I'm convinced she will run for UFT President again in 2010 even if she is in Washington and will fly in to run Delegate Assemblies and put out fires.

Both Shanker and Feldman had obvious lines of succession in place so they were able to give up the UFT Presidency at some point. For instance, as far back as the late 80's it was clear that Weingarten was going to take Feldman's place and they quickly moved to get her a teaching license and put her part-time in a safe school. Weingarten has not been as far-sighted, a deep level of paranoia being one of them. But hey, absolute power corrupts absolutely and all that crap. Experienced observers of the UFT know all the signs that will point to a successor.
And the successor is..... no less than Randi Weingarten herself.

What's Richard Mills Smoking?

For many years we have called for the resignation of NY State Commissioner Richard Mills to resign for so many reasons there's no room on the entire web to list them. Aside from his rigid testing schedule and the fact that he was the culprit show issued the waiver for Joel Klein to become Chancellor, the total mismanagement of the Roosevelt LI schools under his stewardship (NY State took over only one school district and totally screwed that up) should be sufficient reason alone.

But we never realized that Mills is also a comedian, as witness the following, with my comments in bold italics:

Due to shortages of certified teachers in NYC State Education Commissioner Richard Mills is pushing for a bill to allow retired teachers to go back into the classroom for up to five years without endangering their retirement pay and would not cost taxpayers anything The Journal News in Rockland County reported on May 28th.

"We have teaching shortages in many parts of the state, in New York City," Mills said. "Between 11 and 20 percent of the teaching assignments in English (in New York City) are held by people without certification in English."

Federal law requires that students be taught by highly qualified teachers - in New York, that means, among other things, teachers with certifications in the subjects they are teaching. The reason is that children learn better if their teachers know what they are teaching, and children who learn do well on the tests that each public school child in the country now takes from third through eighth grade. Schools, school districts and educators are judged by how well their children do on the tests, so getting children the best teachers is good all around.

Usually, experience counts when it comes to teachers. [Has Mills spoken to BloomKlein lately?] Veteran teachers know all the tricks, have seen and worked with the different educational fads, have hours of extra training and a wealth of ideas that have worked in the past to get their subject across to each new class of children. [But unfortunately often insist that the contract be followed and know immediately when a principal is a bullshitter in over his/her head.]

Veteran teachers also cost a district more than newer teachers, and districts often try to balance experience against cost when planning each year's budget. [Ahh! Someone neglected to tell UFT leaders who have allowed seniority rules protecting teachers to be decimated.]

A district with budget worries can offer veteran teachers a retirement package, clearing the way for younger, cheaper labor. And in the past decade, hundreds of teachers locally and thousands statewide have taken the packages. [They haven't been clued in to how to avoid these packages - Get a compliant union to agree to changes in work rules that allow administrators to force out the highest paid teachers.]

Retired teachers are paid slightly more than 60 percent of their last three years' salary, and cannot earn more than $30,000 a year teaching in a public school in New York or risk permanent cuts to their retirement payments.

Teachers interested in supplementing their retirement can teach in neighboring states without jeopardizing their pensions. Many in this area retire in New York and start a career in New Jersey.

Mills wants to change that, to allow veteran teachers to come back to districts in need educationally and allow them to be in the classroom up to five years at the going salary, without putting their pensions at risk.

"There is a serious shortage," he said. "This is a good time to do it. It should be easier for a certified teacher who's retired to come back without penalty to their pension in shortage fields and hard-to-staff schools."

[Mills should go on the road with his act. and take the hordes of teachers who counted the seconds 'till they got out of the system since BloomKlein took over.]

Taking a shot at Bloomberg's presidential balloon

On the Bloomberg presidential balloon:
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/us/politics/10mayor.html?ref=nyregion>
Times description : Visitors "will find celebratory images of the mayor holding children and smiling amid a receptive public."

Noel, a parent of a pre-k child, writes on the nyceducationnews listserve:

It's too bad that those "celebratory images" couldn't be put side by side with some decidedly less celebratory images of parents and teachers rallying together yesterday. For one short moment there was a coalition that could have made a large public statement against Bloomberg's "reforms", a statement that would have been impossible to ignore. That coalition was broken in exchange for a handful of supposed concessions that have already turned out to be empty, and the net result was a loss in morale, a loss of collective energy, and the loss of an opportunity to stop this juggernaut which is rolling through New York City and on to
Washington, furthering the reach of this disastrous "accountability" that is sucking the last life out of our democratic public education system.

I know this is just stating the obvious, but next time there's an opportunity to work together on such broad terms, if there is such an opportunity, I hope the parties involved will be a little less short-sighted and a little less easily placated.

Why is the UFT promoting BloomKlein's survey....

... while parent groups are urging a boycott...

Was a question asked by a middle school Chapter Leader who received this from the UFT hierarchy:

Dear Colleagues:

Today at a press conference the mayor and chancellor announced that School Learning Environment Surveys will be distributed this week to all teachers, to all parents and all secondary schools students.
According to the Department of Education, the surveys “are designed to reflect the experiences, attitudes and perceptions of members of our school communities and to provide information each school can use to improve its learning environment. Survey results will be reported to schools this summer and factored into the new school progress report in the fall.” The survey is anonymous and voluntary.

UFT President Randi Weingarten said these surveys “are an important first step in engaging parents, educators and students in the most important conversation we can have:
How to improve our children’s education. There was a good process for drafting the survey and we had a lot of good input., particularly in the area of protecting confidentiality.
“The information that will be gathered is extremely important – but it must be valued and addressed. Listening is good; we have to make sure our voices are heard.”

Therefore, we urge you to tell the teachers in your school that it is very important to take the time to complete the survey.

Michael Mendel
Director of Staff

A high school Chapter Leader just called upset that the survey is going to be used to gather negative information about schools to be used against them.

Remember Weingarten's own words about the Tweedledees:
"They are assholes not to be trusted." So why trust them and support them on this? Especially when parent groups have said that important questions like those related to class size were deliberately left off the survey. I have always questioned whether Weingarten's commitment to class size was true or just part of a PR blitz to be used for political advantage. Why? Because she ignored the issue when we raised it in Ed. Notes and at the DA until fairly recently. True commitment to class size would mean when it is left off the survey, you do not tell people to cooperate.

Deal Announced on Reorganization: Did BloomKlein Blink?

The UFT Exec. Bd. will meet on Monday, April 23 to rubber stamp the just announced deal between BloomKleinGarten and various so-called parent reps, though those actually elected in various regions seem to have been left out of the process. A special Delegate Assembly has been called for April 25 to do the same. A memo was sent out by the UFT saying the May 9th demo is postponed. Read: Cancelled. The chance to finally give people an opportunity to vent their anger and frustration at Tweed seems to have gone up in smoke.

It was increasingly clear. The foment concerning the May 9th demo at Tweed involving leading parent groups and the UFT as a follow-up to the Feb. 28th rally was putting BloomKlein on the defensive. The alliance of parents and teachers and community elements had to be broken by them. BloomKlein will get a reprieve from what would have turned out to be a embarrassment that would force the national and local media to reevaluate their adulation of the BloomKlein "reforms." What a lost opportunity to take the fight against the corporate model to the next stage. If you read all the way through this , you will also see that BloomKleinGarten have also driven a wedge between what looked like a united front that was forming. Divide and conquer used to perfection.

That rally, which was billed as a means to fight the reorganization for the 3rd time in 5 years rather than an attack on the negative impact of control of the school system in the hands of this mayor or any future mayor, could have been used as a springboard to force BloomKlein into further concessions. There is nothing in the agreement described below that reverses any of the incompetent, self-serving, misdirected, cruel, etc. policies that have so damaged the school system and many of the people - parents, teachers, children - in the educational community.

Except for a few instances, the wording is full of the kind of promises to consult, recommend, participate but contains little or no elements that bind the very people at Tweed who have engendered such distrust in the past.

On the surface the agreement does look like a win on the funding formula that penalized schools with high salaried teachers, at least for the next few years. I might be wrong here, but I seem to remember Klein saying all along they would not implement it right away. But there are wrinkles.

The NYTimes says this on the funding plan "compromise":

"The change means that when a veteran teacher paid nearly $100,000 a year retires, a principal can hire a similar teacher or hire a rookie for about $50,000 and use the remaining $50,000 for other expenses."

If this is true, will a principal chose a senior teacher or take the 50 grand? This seems like little change in reality

Not trusting BloomKlein on anything, seems to force them to hold off. We think. Who knows what they will actually do and I recommend watchdogs keep a very close eye on them. On the other hand, I believe that many Kleinite principals won't hire senior teachers anyway for a lot of other reasons than just salary (look what has been going on in the schools for years with attacks on senior teachers who might actually want to see the contract, what is left of it, enforced.) They can get away with it because the UFT gave up so many seniority protections in the contract.

From Day One of BloomKlein, the UFT has been more miffed at the fact that they were not allowed to sit at the table like they had done with the old BOE than they were at the decimation of the union at the school level. When I hear people say BloomKlein want to kill the union they are wrong. They only want to kill the union at the bottom, which they have managed to do in so many places. They want and need the current UFT leadership at the top to do exactly what they have done in this case: kill a potential rise in militancy on May 9th and control and deflect any signs of militancy that might arise. So many people are angry at Tweed both among parents and teachers that this rally promised to be unique - possibly the first such joint action in a long time, if not in history.

The sentiment was rising against mayoral control. We have said all along that the UFT has always, and will continue to back mayoral control, albeit with minor modifications. A further sign was in the UFT supported Spitzer's comments in favor of mayoral control today, where he erroneously stated he would veto any attempt to kill it, deliberately misleading people as there doesn't have to be any law to kill it. It sunsets automatically and we revert to the old system unless the legislature renews it.

The basic idiocy of the reorganiztion plan is still in place. And the fact that the continued idiocies that will result from mayoral control seem guaranteed to continue in perpetuity. Nothing has changed for the people in the school community from the past 5 years. I don't care what they say or what committees they form. They do not believe that reducing class size will have the same impact spending money on professional development will. That is their mantra, inherited from Anthony Alvarado. They will say one thing and do another. To put any trust in Tweed given their record is a mistake. What I find funny is that they can say they are going to do A,B,C,D horrible things and they drop D and everyone cheers like it's a victory.

BloomKlein blinked, on the surface. But they showed a nimbleness in responding that none of their opponents have shown. The may have broken the parent coalition uniting against them with the UFT. The actions of the UFT are not surprising. It is a shame that there are so-called parent reps who scrambled for the crumbs dealt out by BloomKlein just to get a seat at the table. But who will be the real long-range losers? Bet on the rank and file teachers and parents, along with the students.

The statement below by Tim Johnson, who made such a strong statement against mayoral control at the Feb. 28th rally, indicates that non of the elected parents took part in this deal (unless behind closed doors, a violation of the very openness some of them have been calling for.) Following this statement are the DOE and then the UFT press releases.

See the follow-up interchange between Marge Colb and Martine Guerrier, a clear sign that BloomKlein has broken the parent united front that was forming by divide and conquer. That Martine would respond in this way -- attacking the elected CPACs instead of standing for their involvement is a clear sign of what we thought all along the role she might end up playing.

Statement released from Tim Johnson, CPAC (Chancellor's Parent Advisory Council)

Dear CPAC Members/Friends:

I released the following statement today in response to the Mayor's press conference announcing an agreement between the City, the UFT, & other organizations:

"This agreement provides no relief for disenfranchised parents, who were once again denied a seat at the table. Not one elected parent leader stood with the Mayor today. Our fight for full empowerment for public-school parents continues."

Tim Johnson, Chairman
Chancellor's Parent Advisory Council (CPAC)

Marge Kolb email:

After reading about the agreement the city reached with teachers and parents regarding the reorg and fair funding, I emailed Martine Guerrier on Thursday night and had the following exchange with her:

Dear Martine:

I'm wondering why there is an announcement of an agreement between parties, including parents, on the reorganization and yet the Chair of CPAC, Tim Johnson, has posted the statement (above).

What parents were involved in the discussions among parties? I went to the CPAC meeting last Thursday and there was no announcement that parents were invited to discussions with the Mayor and/or Chancellor. I, as a CEC member, know of no invitation for CEC members or even
just CEC presidents to participate in talks.

Marge Kolb

Reply from Martine: The parent from CEJ may not have been featured highly enough.

Then Marge wrote: I don't know what CEJ is. And are you saying there was ONE parent involved in the discussion? And, why wasn't it the Chair of CPAC which is the CHANCELLOR'S PARENT ADVISORY COUNCIL?

Martine replied:

NYC-CEJ (CEJ) is a coalition of PUBLIC SCHOOL PARENTS citywide who have been fighting to improve our schools alongside CPAC for our kids. They are just as valid in representing parents as you are and it is wrong to belittle the participation of any parent organization
representative. I believe it is a good thing to have many parent organizations involved and representing important issues, even if they are not CPAC. It is time to support the opening of doors to more parent representatives and voices. There is plenty of work to go around, so I am glad to see progress in recognizing parent leadership from other parent organizations.

You can disagree with me, but I believe it is about time that more parent leaders are recognized.

As an aside... ACORN, AQE, BEC (one of many organizations in CEJ), WFP, Small Class Size Coalition, UFT, and others who are part of the announced taskforce have been members of the parents rights movement for a long time. Please let me know: Is it your position or CPAC's
that these groups are not really valid representatives of the school community?

My final reply of the night:

Dear Martine:

My position is that the DOE and/or State Legislature have over the years insured parent involvement in the public school system by forming the Chancellor's Parent Advisory Council (pursuant to Chancellor's Regs) and the CECs (pursuant to state law) - both of which are made up of parents ELECTED to represent other parents citywide. Why then would the DOE fail to involve parents from either of these groups in very important discussions about the organization of the school system, especially since CPAC and a number of CEC's have raised concerns and questions (many of which remain UNANSWERED) about the reorg and the fair funding proposals?

Marge Kolb

DOE Press Release (with some comments by me in italics below some sections)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 117-07
April 19, 2007

MAYOR BLOOMBERG, CHANCELLOR KLEIN, UFT PRESIDENT WEINGARTEN, THE NEW YORK IMMIGRATION COALITION, ACORN AND OTHER PARENT AND STAKEHOLDER GROUPS ANNOUNCE RENEWED COMMITMENT TO WORK TOGETHER TO IMPROVE THE CITY'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Teachers Union Supports Department's Fair Student Funding Plan and English Language Learner Strategies

City Commits to Work with Teachers and other Stakeholders on Class Size, Parent Engagement, and Middle School Initiatives

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein, and United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten today announced a renewed commitment to work together to strengthen and implement key reforms to bring greater accountability and equity to New York City's public schools. The Mayor was also joined by City
Council Speaker Christine Quinn, City Council Education Committee Chairman Robert Jackson, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition Chung-Wha Hong, NY ACORN Executive Director Bertha Lewis, and Irania Sanchez representing the Coalition for Economic Justice and Make the Road by Walking. In particular, the
City and the Union announced agreement on a Fair Student Funding proposal that will correct historic inequities in school funding, while also ensuring continued stability for all schools. They also announced new collaboration on a range of other issues including teacher tenure, class size, parent engagement, and middle school improvement.

"I strongly believe in the need for mayoral control and a clear line of accountability running all the way up to the mayor," said Mayor Bloomberg. "But I also believe in bringing people together around a common goal. The Chancellor and I appreciate all the people who have come together today behind these initiatives. I think they will make a big difference for our schools and our students."

"After weeks of public discussion and debate, we have today a set of criteria that will strengthen our schools and provide a better educational experience for families and students. Working with the Mayor's office, teachers, advocates and the Council, we have put together a work plan to lower class size, support educators, protect English Language Learners and improve our middle schools, with the full engagement of parents and school communities," said Speaker
Christine C. Quinn.

"Since the mayor's State of the City address we have voiced areas on which we agree and disagree. I am pleased we have reached agreement on some of the major instructional and funding issues that affect our 1.1 million students and the more than 100,000 educators who serve them - and on the mechanics to continue the dialogue," said United
Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten. "The bottom line is how we help kids. Listening to parents and teachers is the vehicle to accomplishing that."

In his January 2007 State of the City speech, Mayor Bloomberg promised to correct decades of inequity in school funding by adopting Fair Student Funding, which will fund schools based on the number and needs of students. Since then, the Chancellor, his staff, and Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott consulted with almost 6,000 people at more than 100 meetings throughout the City in order to gain feedback and refine the proposal. Based on these conversations, as well as those with the Union over the past week, a series of refinements have been made.
These adjustments include:

* A "hold harmless provision," which assures that successful schools will not be destabilized by reduction in funds. Schools will carry forward their hold harmless from 2007-2008 to 2008-2009.
(Hasn't Klein been saying they will have a few years of grace all along?)

* A commitment to fund schools so they can continue paying for existing faculty, even as their salaries increase in the future. This protection will be available to all faculty positions where it is currently available (i.e., "base teacher" positions).
We've seen "commitments" ignored so many times in the past our heads are spinning.

* Allowing schools to keep any "hold harmless" funding from the current year that is connected with teachers who choose to retire or leave a school. This provides schools with the financial ability to replace departing teachers with other senior teachers.

In addition, the Administration will invite the Union, as well as the New York Immigration Coalition, and the Annenberg Institute at Brown University, to become members of an advisory group that will analyze the impact of Fair Student Funding and recommend refinements over time. While the Administration and the Union agreed to work together to implement FSF, the UFT continues to believe that using "actual teacher salary" as a consideration in hiring decisions under the Open Market Transfer System is impermissible under the teachers' contract and has filed a grievance to that effect.

OTHER AGREEMENTS

Teacher Tenure
In his January State of the City address, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the City would strengthen the criteria by which the Department of Education awards tenure to ensure that teachers who receive tenure deserve it. The Department is forming an internal committee to develop the criteria for which teacher tenure will be granted, and will invite the UFT to participate in this process.
What does 'participate" mean? What if there's no agreement? Does UFT have veto power? Bet not!

Class Size
After the New York State Education Department issues class size regulations, which are expected within weeks, the City's Education Department will work with the UFT and other stakeholders such as New Yorkers for Smaller Class Size to develop a joint set of recommendations on how best to implement the regulations.
If they are truly joint and not unilateral then this might be a win.

Parent Engagement
The DOE will create a committee next week to design improved processes for parent engagement. The committee, led by the department's Chief Family Engagement Officer, will encourage the City Council, ACORN, the Coalition for Educational Justice, and other appropriate stakeholders to participate. The committee will focus on recommending steps to improve parent engagement and ensure that all schools have a functioning School Leadership Team, comprised of teachers, parents, and other members of the school community.

Who decides on the "appropriate" stakeholders? Recommendations are just that. If they were to be trusted that migh be ok. But are they to be trusted?

English Language Learners
The Department of Education will significantly increase the weights for English Language Learners to reflect the specific challenges these students face. The Department will ensure that English Language Learners with low academic achievement will receive additional support.

Middle Schools
As part of the Department of Education's effort to improve middle school education and results, the department will consider the recommendations of Speaker Quinn's middle school task force. If the Chancellor accepts the recommendations, the DOE, in conjunction with the Center for Educational Justice, the City Council, and other
stakeholders, will work together to implement the proposals in at least 50 schools.

Consider? Trust?

Student Success Centers
Working with the Urban Youth Collaborative, the Department will explore the idea of developing Student Success Centers, designed to work with high school students to increase graduation rates and help prepare students for college and careers.

Again a word like explore, expect unilateralism.

UFT Press Release

Union, parents, city reach agreement on reorganization

New York City teachers, parents and students have finally been heard.

The UFT and our coalition partners have come to an agreement with the city on some of the most troubling issues in the DOE’s latest reorganization plan, including school funding, tenure, class size, parent engagement, ELL funding and a middle school strategy.

We believe the agreement, which was announced at a Thursday (April 19) afternoon press conference, will protect members and avert the destabilizing effect of the new funding formula on schools.

In addition, the agreement will give educators, parents and others a continuing voice in decision-making through several new central committees and revitalized School Leadership Teams.

UFT President Randi Weingarten said she still has qualms about some aspects of the reorganization. She said, "We believe in additional funds for the kids traditionally left behind, but not at the expense of schools that work. This agreement eliminates all the economic incentives to destabilize good schools."

In light of the agreement, we are calling for a special meeting of the Delegate Assembly on Tuesday, April 24, at 4:15 p.m. at UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway to discuss the next steps in our work.

Please make every effort to attend. The details of the agreement will be discussed.

Say It Ain't So Martine

Martine Guerrier has been appointed "chief family engagement officer" at Tweed

(I'll give a report on last night's raucous anti-Klein meeting later in the day.)

I read recently that BloomKlein, upon taking over the DOE bought off every potential parent who could emerge to oppose them in local areas with parent coordinator and other jobs. We basically heard the sounds of silence for quite a while. Certainly there was little or no parental presence at PEP meetings (except for special occasions), the one place where voices of protest could be raised publicly.


As a coalition of parent and community voices began to be heard again (and I give an enormous amount of credit to Leonie Haimson and her list for helping to bring some of these voices together) BloomKlein seems to be trying another round of the "buy them off" tactic.

I like and respect Martine Guerrier and I'm sure she feels she can do more on the inside, a classic error people make. She has (had) been the one voice on the PEP that seemed to question (gently) some of the actions of BloomKlein. She was often one of the only ones to question Klein on a number of issues. I haven't attended PEP meetings regularly but some of Martine's votes on controversial issues increasingly were tied to the politics of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, an ally of Bloomberg. I used to like Markowitz since his student activist days at Brooklyn College, but not after his sell-out so Ratner City and total suck-up to Bloomberg. (Hey Marty, fuh-ged-about-it!)

Naturally, one would expect this since Martine owed her position on the PEP to Markowitz' appointment. Her one big vote against the promotion policy when Bloomberg fired the PEP who opposed him ( he couldn't fire Martine because she was a borough appointment) was the highlight. Markowitz apparently gave her free reign on this, while the Staten Island borough Pres, fired the SI rep at that time.

I don't remember all of her votes, but I do remember an unsettling pattern of support for Klein's policies seemed to be emerging. And Klein always bent over backwards towards her. She does command a great deal of respect with her demeanor and intelligence.

But Martine is not the first person of this ilk to be co-opted and will now be drawn into the maw of the DOE, joining people who had a rep for integrity like James Leibman, forced to sit in as an acolyte at Klein press conferences, in the midst of buzzing Blackberries, never to utter her own thoughts again without filtering through hordes of press agents. In other words, the sounds of silence.

See original post from Leonie Haimson to her listserve and email from DOE here.

WANTED: NYC DEPT of EDUCATION

Posted on nyceducationnews listserve.

Also check out: Jim Horn's

Bloomberg's Corrupt Headmaster of School Privatization

Cerf and Klein, Time to Resign

See today's Times article on the outrageous lies and misinformation by Cerf and Klein (sounds like a vaudeville act.) Even the picture they used of Klein is awful, a sign the press is turning on them.

"Hey Klein, It's Time to Resign" was the title of a column I wrote a few years ago. His time is coming.

See my post on Cerf's nap at Klein's press conference a few weeks ago when he announced the reorganization.



In a photo I took at the press conference, it appears as if Christopher Cerf, one of Klein’s newest appointees, might have been napping, or as the caption says on my blog, “Christopher Cerf dreams of ways to turn the NYC school system into a subsidiary of Edison.” Cerf was the CEO of Edison Schools, a fading for-profit corporation that looks to milk money out of public schools. Hey! The stock tanked and Cerf needed a job. Where else but in BloomKleindom?

Edison was once in the forefront of the ideological struggles as the right wing attempt to dismantle public education. Under Cerf’s leadership, Edison once made a run at NYC schools but was beaten back by the UFT and parent groups. Now they have the chief Edison wolf in the henhouse. So, it was not surprising to read in the Daily News a day after the press conference:

"The world's largest for-profit school operator yesterday expressed interest in being a part of the massive school reforms laid out this week. While Chancellor Joel Klein pitched his sweeping school overhaul to business leaders and educators yesterday, he said that he expected mainly universities and nonprofits to apply for the private contracts available under the reforms. He acknowledged, though, that legally he can't exclude for-profits, adding that, "I don't expect the for-profits will apply, but that's up to them. But Edison Schools - the controversial for-profit group that attempted to take over five failing city schools in 2001 - would "certainly be interested" in reviewing opportunities and seeing "whether it would be a good fit," company spokeswoman Laura Eshbaugh said yesterday."

Sure, after hiring Cerf, Klein never, ever thought of Edison applying for the PSO’s. Don’t we need to get Edison’s value up to prove the validation of the private model by having them feed at the public trough? You could actually see Klein’s nose grow as he spoke.

Also Cerf's letter to his staff.

Bloomberg Builds Stadiums, Not Schools

from Leonie Haimson listserve

We have plenty of resources to do the job in NYC. We are not living in Afghanistan but in the richest city in the world.

We would have solved this problem long ago if the business elite sent their kids to public schools rather than sitting in box seats in Yankee stadium.

While saying there’s no room, the city is still selling off a perfectly good school building that could house 1,000 high school students for $1 in Harlem. Numerous buildings on Governor’s island that could house thousands more are sitting empty. Shea stadium is being rebuilt in its parking lot with the help of millions of dollars of city subsidies; a high school could have easily gone into that lot years ago in one of the most overcrowded areas of the city if anyone with power had pushed for this.

Few parochial schools have been leased by DOE. Meanwhile the city has a $4-5 billion surplus, like last year, and only a small percentage of these funds could leverage double the no. of schools and new seats to be created over the next four years.

See this chart: how many seats created over the last four years:

See this: twice as many seats to be created in sports stadiums than in schools over next four years:

See also from the OMB financial plan at http://www.nyc.gov/html/omb/pdf/sum1_07.pdf

p. 57.

The chart shows city spending on capital needs for schools is now and projected to be a much smaller level for the next four years than we spent during the last year of Giuliani administration, despite a higher reimbursement rate from the state (now over 50% compared to only 30% then) and a $4 billion city surplus.

Also since the year 2000, a much smaller overall percentage of the city’s capital spending overall has gone into schools – even though in 1998, the city comptroller said that this was the neediest and most underinvested portion of the city’s infrastructure.

To reduce class size in all grades, we need at least 120,000 new seats to do the job while creating only about 63,000 – with 3,000 seats actually cut from the new capital plan.

Don’t tell me it’s impossible – all it takes is cash and commitment. LA is planning to create 180,000 new seats and has only 2/3 of our enrollment and no billion dollar budget surpluses.

See also the same OMB document, p. 9 for the amount of Wall St. bonuses in the past year alone -- $25 billion.

A simple calculation on the Bloomberg mortgage calculator shows that to fund another $4 billion to double the number of seats created over the next four years – which would be sufficient to reduce class sizes in all grades, we would need to add only $288 million in annual city spending -- less than 1/3 the amount that Bloomberg now wants to cut taxes by for next year.

The sad fact is that our kids are getting shortchanged because we are stuck with an administration that doesn’t give a damn – and too many others are letting them off the hook by wrongly assuming that the situation as somehow unchangeable and outside of anyone’s ability to challenge.

Given that the state now reimburses more than 50% of everything we spend on new school construction, in order to create about 120,000 new seats over the next four years, enough to eliminate overcrowding and reduce class size in every part of the city, this would only cost about $144 million in additional city funds – only about 1/7 the amount that Bloomberg proposes to cuts taxes by next year.

If anyone still thinks we don’t have the resources to do this, explain why.

Leonie Haimson

Class Size Matters

leonie@att.net

www.classsizematters.org

To subscribe to our newletter, send an email to classsizematters-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

THE UNKINDEST CUT OF ALL

by Gary Babad, reprinted from nyceducationnews list

January 31, 2007 (AP): Flush with their success in saving $12,000,000 by cutting out numerous school bus routes in New York City, the corporate "turnaround" firm of Alvarez and Marsal has now aimed their sights at a new cost saving target: school lunches. Starting March 1, the traditional "lunch period" will be eliminated from all New York City schools, to be replaced by an as yet undisclosed academic activity period. In announcing the change, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein lauded the new plan, stating that not only would this move eliminate a cost-ineffective program that had never turned a profit, but would add time to the academic day and thus improve test scores.

Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, as well as numerous parent advocates immediately criticized the planned elimination of the lunch period. In response, Mayor Bloomberg, when reached for comment, held that "Schools are for learning, not for eating". He added that the elimination of lunch would also obviate the necessity of students carrying cell phones to school. "We all know that the only reason parents want their kids to have cell phones is to call and ask what they want for dinner. With no lunch period, they'll be so hungry they won't care what's for dinner."

In a related story, The White House announced today that in a last ditch effort to save Iraq, the Halliburton reconstruction contract would be taken over by Alvarez and Marsal. According to spokesman Tony Snow, "If we can't beat [the insurgents] militarily, we'll cut their transportation and starve them out."

Rumsfeld Named NYC School Bus Chief

February 1, 2007 (GBN News): Stung by criticism of cuts in school bus service, New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein announced today that former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will be the new head of the DOE's embattled Office of Pupil Transportation. Klein cited Rumsfeld's experience in parrying press and public allegations of insufficient planning and resources. The former Defense Secretary's legendary PR abilities were immediately tested. In a press conference, the new transportation chief was asked how he felt about children being denied bus service due to the recent cuts. In a remark eerily reminiscent of a statement he once made about Iraq, Rumsfeld responded, "You go to school with the buses you have, not the buses you'd like to have."

In a related story, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced today that the Education Department will be looking into charges that the recent school bus cuts may be in violation of the No Child Left Behind act. She said in a statement that the Department was responding to reports that hundreds, if not thousands of children were "left behind" in the first two days of the new bus schedules.

Have a Sip Joel

Joel Klein test the Cool-aid before passing it on to the Tweed staff.


Most of the content originall in this post has been updated and moved to "The Surreal World of Tweedledom and BloomKlein" post of Jan. 28.

BloomKlein Inaction - Wed. Jan. 17, 2007

A preview of today's activities reported the night before they happen:

1pm at City Hall: Bloomberg announces sweeping changes in the very system he created without once saying there were any mistakes made that would require them to reorganize again. This time it will be boroughs. And when that fails -- hmmm. How about trying local districts?

Your erstwhile Wave reporter will be at this one (maybe):
3:30pm at Tweed: Klein holds press roundtable at a rectangular table, (but why quibble) as he explains the fantastic success of his reorganization of the schools has spawned a new reorganization, this time into even larger entities that will be guaranteed to deliver even less services than the old system. He will announce that he paid A&M consultants 200 million dollars to save a buck fifty. Having only 5 borough regions superintendents will save even more money, but of course their much larger staffs will balance that out. Every school will be forced into empowerment zones which will be monitored by DOE officials who will spend the day driving enormous distances from school to school. He will announce that A&M recommends the DOE hire chauffeur-driven cars for every LIS since that will save money. And since all schools will be empowerment schools, there will be no schools left in the boroughs for the new regions to manage. A&M recommended that with nothing else to do the boroughs invade parochial schools and try to mismanage them. Christopher Cerf will spearhead the movement to identify every school in an area of gentrification that can be sold off and turned into condos. A push will be made to get kids to stay home and be taught by private tutors. Klein will point to this plan from A&M as a brilliant way to reduce class size, which he will point out has no impact on learning, but at least this will shut Leonie Haimson up once and for all.

Now that we know what will happen, do I really need to cover this event?

Wrinkles in the Iron Curtain

So where was I? Oh yes, last time I was comparing the BloomKlein takeover of the NYC school system with the Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe. One of the keynotes of that system was inefficiencies and economic breakdowns, part of the reason for the fall of the iron curtain. Here is where one would expect the analogy to the NYCDOE to fall apart. After all, we have master business people running things in Bloomberg and Klein. But au contraire.

I met a businessman on my recent trip to Prague who sometimes does business with the DOE. He was asking about the impact of BloomKlein on the schools. I gave him my take and mentioned no-bid contracts, in particular the $17 million paid to the consultants Alvarez and Marsal to find savings in the very system created by BloomKlein (as I reported in The Wave – “The A&M Story Tastes Better than M&M’s” Sept. 16, 2006). He said one would at least expect that the business end would be well run. He then told me how he had considered bidding on a big contract but when he saw the RFP – request for proposal — it was clearly set up so that only one company could qualify, a company that had lost the contract at one point because of some impropriety. Thus, even bidded contracts are no bid in reality. So much for keeping costs down through competition. Don’t get me started on all the other inefficiencies perpetrated by BloomKlein.

In totalitarian systems, political correctness counts more than competence — one of the most obvious attributes of the BloomKlein takeover, where the keynote is led by the brainwashing Leadership Academy, also known as the Ministry of Fear.

And fear is central in a police-like state — recently a teacher asked me to meet him in a diner far enough away from his school so he would not be seen.

Fear doesn’t exist only at the bottom. One of the hallmarks of totalitarian systems is the climate of fear among top and middle managers over the “numbers” they are expected to produce. Bad numbers and heads would role. Five-year plans always called for increases that were impossible to meet. So they lied. The rulers could never understand why the economy was failing when the numbers coming in showed such great results. When the numbers didn’t match, the rulers just manipulated the data to show how the system was succeeding.

If you work in a school this must sound familiar. Just check the fear factor among supervisors and their supervisors right up to the regional superintendents — the almost desperation and panic at times — over test scores, grades, graduation rates, attendance and anything else that is being tracked by the data-driven ‘educators’ above. (The number of "reported" instances of changing grades grows by leaps and bounds. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/02/nyregion/02regents.html)

Whatever the numbers, they are massaged by the rulers at the DOE. This massage even goes beyond the DOE to the state level where the tests were made easier in an election year.

Collectivization, one size fits all curriculum and standardized teaching
Remember studying about the attempts to eliminate individual farms and collectivize agriculture, forcing all farmers to “forget” their knowledge of farming and use standardized state-run methods in Soviet bloc countries? No matter where it was tried, it turned out to be a disaster and always ended up in a reversal where individual farming had to be reintroduced in some form in order to feed the people. There was actually a general trend to attempt to stamp out individualism on a mass basis.

Teachers at the DOE have undergone their own form of collectivization as a one-size-fits-all curriculum was imposed, along with a standardized method of teaching to go along with standardized bulletin boards. Just listen to the similar jargon and acronyms floating around all schools. (You’re out of touch if you think a LEP is someone with a disease on a remote island.)

In totalitarian systems, there were mass book burnings. When BloomKlein took over, books — many brand new costing millions upon millions of dollars — received the equivalent fate when they were banished to school cellars to rot away unused while millions upon millions more was spent on books that were deemed by many teachers not to be nearly as useful as the ones banned.

Control the means of communication
In all top-down controlled systems, how information is presented to the public assumes a crucial role. Behind the iron curtain all press was controlled. In this country, public relations assumes a crucial role and enormous sums are spent on it, certainly a truism of the NYCDOE. But you might wonder if it is all that necessary. The NYC press, owned by business people who are “with” the program, make you think the world of BloomKlein is a Garden of Eden (though recently more and more reporters have begun to see through the mist.)

Except, of course, for the completely non-critical NY Times, which remains immune to the scandals and always manages to report just one side of the story. I used to at least look forward to the Wednesday “Education” page where Mike Winerip would report on events going on in the NYC schools. Since he left, these reports touch down anywhere in the country — except NYC. Maybe Mike stepped on too many toes.

One of the most blatant examples of slavish support by the business community was a recent glowing tribute to Bloomberg and Klein in US New & World Report, owned by Morton Zuckerman who also owns the Daily News and is vice-chair of Klein’s private fundraising “Fund For Public Schools.” Parent activist Maria Dapontes-Dougherty President, D30 Presidents' Council was prompted to write a letter to the editor.
Here are excerpts:

“Mr. Klein's premise was that ‘teachers are the most crucial people in the system’ and yet he shows them no respect and is dismissive of their opinions… Parents are philosophized and politicized as a vital component of the system, but are blocked any time they voice an opinion or try to participate. Schools cannot be run exclusively like a business, in as the ‘product’ of this business are the future minds of our country. They are our children!
“The savings in bureaucracy was utilized to create a new bureaucracy and to fill the pockets of big business catering to education. Mayor Bloomberg's partnering with private groups is costing the system millions of dollars. There was no public input in the expenditure of this public money. The cronyism and entrenched interests are now with big businesses….
“The uniform curriculum led to a massive expenditure in books and materials. There was a large increase in middle management which was the strategy for centralization of the system. After three years of this decision not really making enough of an impact there is now a strategy to decentralize with the creation of ‘empowerment Schools’. So here we are having come full circle in aging buildings with antiquated electrical systems and not enough materials. Our class sizes are bursting at the seams and [among] the highest in the country. Our middle school students still show a high percentage of low performing students and our graduation rate in high school is still a disgrace at 43%. [Massaged into 57% by DOE data managers.]
“If these two men are an example of what leaders are in our great country, then our future is dismal.”

Maria’s letter is a sign of the growing opposition to BloomKlein from parent groups, an interesting development considering the lack of opposition in the early years. Andy Wolfe explains in the NY Sun:
“Upon assuming … control, the mayor and chancellor moved quickly to win over the school system's parental establishment the old-fashioned way — by giving out jobs.
“At a May 9, 2003, press conference organized by the Department of Education, the president of the United Parents Association, Ernest Clayton, praised Mr. Klein's plans to hire parent coordinators in each school, stating that ‘this is the first time we've had a chancellor willing to make a substantial investment in parent involvement.’ Mr. Clayton, who led an umbrella organization of more than 200 individual school parent associations, was perhaps the city's best-known parent advocate.
“By July, Mr. Clayton had given up his post to take a $60,000-a-year administration job: parent support officer in Division 3 in Northeast Queens.
“In fact, many of the more than 1,200 people initially hired as parent coordinators and citywide and regional support staff came right out of the leadership of the parent groups and parent associations, effectively co-opting a key source of potential opposition.”

Now, there’s BloomKlein doing business the old fashioned way —if you can’t beat ‘em, buy ‘em.

The Wave, November 3, 2006

THE END