Mulgrew Promises Action to CPE1 Parents (some with children) Who Flood UFT Ex Bd Meeting

Mike Schirtzer—MORE--Resolves to remove resolution on CPE 1 from table.
No debate.
Voted down on party lines [Unity Party voted it down, only MORE in favor].....  NYC Educator, UFT Executive Board April 24th, 2017 CPE 1 in the House -

CPE1 Parents in shock at Apr 24 UFT Ex Bd as Unity refuses to take reso of support off the table.

In his brief report, Michael Mulgrew promised action on CPE1. We'll wait and see -- the UFT refuses to publicly call for Garg's removal despite the massive accumulation of evidence. Even her own CSA seems to be raising issues -- a rep asked Farina to publicly defend Garg with reasons and all she said was that there was another side. (Some of the real reasons for resisting were laid out in my post last night that personal pique may be playing a role -- Deb Meier, Jane Andrias, Two Former CPE1 Principals Question Farina/DOE on Intentional Destruction.

The UFT Exec Bd meetings, moribund for so many years, have  turned into high drama at times this year as MORE/New Action have teamed with various groups to bring their grievances directly to the UFT Ex Bd meetings, often using a combo of the pre-meeting speaking time for non-EB members and the question and motion period by the MORE/NA high school reps.

Last night was another remarkable event, made so by the largest group of parents yet to show up --- as Arthur wrote after the MORE meeting on Saturday - "I have sat with some of the most intelligent and persuasive people I've ever met, and I'm persuaded that this school was created with a mission that's being perverted by its current leadership." Amen.

As a skeptic about the worth of winning these EB seats - after all, you are speaking to Unity Caucus -  I must say that the MORE/New Action reps have made these meetings worth attending again. Real debate has taken place, which you don't see at Delegate Assemblies. And the leadership has been responding, sometimes in positive ways. Our crew pre-meeting an hour before the EB meeting gets everyone ready - these pre-meetings are open to anyone and there is lots of back and forth.

A key has been Arthur Goldstein's blogging full minutes of the meetings, often within hours, the first time where an open airing is taking place. (This is tedious work and kudoos to Arthur -- I once tried to do it and gave up.)

Another aspect has been doing what ICE began to do a decade ago -- bring various  constituencies to these meetings -- sign up for speaking time and have our people ask pertinent questions or bring up resos -- all turned down, severely modified or tabled by the leadership --- see Arthur's great blog post:  Contrary where he points out that our people have supported almost all Unity resos while they automatically turn down ours -- sort of like the Republicans saying they won't give Obama any victories.

But nothing has galvanized these recent meetings until large numbers of CPE 1 parents began to show up, some with very young children. Now let's say right out that they have been treated with the utmost respect and courtesy by union leaders. The other angle has been bringing current and former CPE1 teachers to sign up for the 10 minute pre-meeting speaking time (parents as non-UFT members don't get to speak). In fact, UFT Secretary Howie Schoor who chairs the meeting gave people 18 minutes to speak yesterday. Howie has shown a lot of sensitivity and flexibility. EB meetings have (mostly) remained civil.

I believe the fact that Mulgrew only shows up to give his report and then leaves has made these meetings more civil. But in response to the CPE1 parents and teachers yesterday, Mulgrew spent some time chatting with them before and after his report. Whether he will take action is up in the air but they were very happy to have some conversations with him. After the meeting Leroy Barr remained to talk to them for some time.

A group of current and former CPE1 parents spoke before the meeting last night and were very effective.

But one of the most unusual was a speech by a teacher from another school who worked under Garg when she was an assistant principal at Pan American HS and repeated a list of admin atrocities. She told me she has proof of every one and I hope to publish some of them. She told me she never speaks in public but once she heard stories about Garg as principal of CPE1 she felt she had to speak out. She had never expected Garg would rise to the level of principal. Before reading what Garg has been doing, she assumed Garg's actions were based on following orders by the horrible Pan American HS principal Minerva Zanca, who by the way is still working in the DOE as a guidance counselor. She said she had to speak out to stop people like Garg.

By the way, at the SLT meeting, Garg said she worked for great Principals and learned a lot -- from Zanca she sure learned how to play the race card and divide people.

Check out Garg's mentor:

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Sues New York City Department Of ...

https://www.justice.gov/.../manhattan-us-attorney-sues-new-york-city-department-edu...

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Jun 9, 2016 - ... And Retaliation At Pan American International High School ... States has filed a lawsuitagainst the NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF ...

In Lawsuit, U.S. Says Queens School Discriminated Against 3 Black ...

https://www.nytimes.com/.../in-lawsuit-us-says-queens-school-discriminated-against-3-bl...

Jun 9, 2016 - Pan American International High School, in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens, where a federal lawsuit claims that three teachers suffered a ...

Federal lawsuit claims NYC allowed discrimination at Queens high ...

abc7ny.com/education/federal-suit-claims-nyc-allowed...high-school/1378606/

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Jun 9, 2016 - It said the discrimination occurred during the 2012-2013 school year at Pan AmericanInternational High School. The lawsuit said the victims ...

Queens principal targeted 3 black teachers for poor reviews - NY Daily ...

www.nydailynews.com/.../queens-principal-targeted-black-teacher-poor-reviews-article-...

Jun 10, 2016 - The civil rights unit Bharara's Manhattan office filed the lawsuit accusing ... Pan AmericanInternational High School in Queens, where Zanca no ...

U.S. Attorney Sues DOE in Alleged Discrimination Case at Queens ...

www.ny1.com/.../u-s--attorney-sues-doe-in-discrimination-case-at-queens-school-.ht...

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Jun 10, 2016 - The U.S. Attorney announced a lawsuit against the city education ... and retaliation at Pan American International High School in Elmhurst.

Lawsuit Alleges Queens High School Principal 'Ruthlessly Targeted ...

atlantablackstar.com › National

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Jun 9, 2016 - A bombshell lawsuit, released Thursday, reveals the appalling ... teacher” at the Pan American International High School in Queens, New York.

NYC School Discriminated Against Black Teachers: Federal Lawsuit ...

www.nbcnewyork.com/.../NYC-Discrimination-High-School-Black-Teachers-Pan-Am...

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Jun 9, 2016 - A New York City School is in big trouble with the Feds. The U.S. Attorney claims in alawsuit that the Pan American International High School in ...

Feds sue DOE over alleged discrimination of black teachers at ...

www.timesledger.com/stories/2016/25/elmhurstsuit_2016_06_17_q.html

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Jun 16, 2016 - The school, the Pan American International High School, is in the ... The lawsuit also says allegations Zanca engaged in discrimination and ...

Principal who said black teacher 'looked like a gorilla' sued for ...

nypost.com/.../principal-who-said-black-teacher-looked-like-a-gorilla-sued-for-discri...

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Jun 9, 2016 - ... as black teachers at a Queens high school were tormented by a kind of ... black educators at the Pan American International HS in Elmhurst, ...

Feds sue former principal of Elmhurst high school and city for racist ...

qns.com/.../feds-sue-elmhurst-principal-and-the-city-for-allegedly-making-racist-rema...

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Jun 9, 2016 - The lawsuit alleges that Minerva Zanca, who led the Pan American International High School at 45-10 94th St. for three years, filed negative ...

CPE1 Update: Parents Emerge, The Press - WSJ Reporter favored Over NYT, Leonie on SLT Meeting, Breakfast with Parents

The truth is despite all his promises and talk about how unlike Bloomberg, he would listen to parents, our supposedly progressive Mayor Bill de Blasio and Chancellor Carmen Farina have been just as high-handed and dismissive of their concerns.... Leonie Haimson on SLT Meeting: https://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2017/04/amazing-evening-parents-and-teacher-sit.html

Parents came out an unfurled their banner.

April 7, 2017: 2PM

I'm just back from spending the day so far at CPE1 for the rally and the emerging by the people who spent the night in the auditorium. (See my earlier report --Parents Occupy Auditorium - Central Park East 1 Update: Rally, SLT Meeting and Overnight Stay Surrounded by Police)

I got there at 8:30 and there was a rally in front of the school. They ended occupation and came out for a press conference at around 9:30. I am putting up some brief video excerpts on my FB timeline. Go check them out.

There was some press there this morning - NBC, CBS, NY Times - Kate Taylor was there last night too. There was muttering by some over the disappointing reporting she has done on education in general and on her previous report on CPE1 - like having a link to the website of a principal supporter but not the savecpe1 site. So they don't expect much -- like if 20 people speak against Garg and 5 for she will include a quote from one on each side, thus inferring an equal split.

So it was interesting after the press conf when they went back into the school to meet with YAUDOES - Yet Another Useless DOE Slug -- that someone said to wait outside to speak to Leslie Brody from the Wall St Journal who is a good reporter. How interesting that people seem to mistrust the so-called liberal NY Times and have more faith in Rupert's WSJ.

I'm more skeptical but when Leslie arrived I listened in to her questions and she was the only reporter who really seemed interested in what has made CPE a progressive school -- stuff came out that I wasn't aware of. Now the article she writes will be small and probably won't include much if any of what they said, but at least she asked.

She had already left when the people who spent the night without sleep came out from the meeting and packed up to go home and get some sleep.

I spoke at length to a guy named Bruce, who was a teacher at CPE1 and then the principal at CPE2 who filled me in on some remarkable stuff (his wife still teaches at CPE1). We are same gen and talked about the old days and found we knew lots of people -- he was in Teachers Action Caucus - TAC - which morphed into New Action and we know lots of people in common. He did look so familiar. And after he left I asked his last name and it is Bruce Kanze who I did really know back then. Bruce told me today the essence of the problem is that they just don't trust teachers and CPE1 did - until Monika Garg showed up as an agent from the DOE to destroy them. (I'll go more into this teacher trust issue, especially when I address the CPE2 principal support for Garg.)

A few parents went off to get some breakfast and invited me along. I got some education. One left after an hour. The other and I spent another hour or more talking about so much stuff my head is crammed. I learned so much about the real shit Monica pulled from day 1 and how betrayed parents like this, who moved into the area partially to get into CPE1, are -- also about the political and racial situation around East Harlem (she is white) and so much more beyond the CPE 1 story -- about immigrants and daily panic they feel every day when they wake up - if they can sleep at all- some too sensitive for me to get into.

Oh, the depths of this story. I feel like that reporter for This American Life - the people doing the Serial series - especially the latest must hear S-Town Podcast - shit town https://stownpodcast.org/

Yes, the DOE is Shit-Town in spades --Serial people, come calling if you are looking for a story for next time.

I may have more later tonight or tomorrow morning. I am going to head over to see my Unity slug pals at their little junket at the Hilton on 54th and 6th Ave. It is 3PM and I missed the Stronger Together meeting. Tomorrow I will meet up with Arthur and we will have some fun.

In the meantime, read Leonie's great report on last night's CPE1 SLT Meeting.

https://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2017/04/amazing-evening-parents-and-teacher-sit.html

Video: Stop Abusive Principals - April 6 - 4:30 PM - Central Park East1 Parents to Issue No Confidence in Principal Monika Garg

Join the battle against abusive administrators - don't just leave comments about how bad things are -- come out and be inspired by these amazing parents who are standing up for their teachers under attack. April 6 at 4:30 PM - 1573 Madison Ave. at 106th St.
 
There is a lot of info in this report. CPE1 is a special progressive

school started by Debbie Meier - who is one of the top educators in the nation - remember that Diane Ravitch and Debbie began doing a sort of blog together to argue their differing views on education. Since the 70s I admired Debbie and thought about how great it would be to teach at her school -- but I felt I didn't have the skillset as a teacher to work in a school like that. So understand, these are very special teachers who take on the challenge of working at CPE1 and t come under assault by a vicious principal is like one of those ice bucket dunkings.
I got to meet Debbie a few times and once interviewed her and her views of children and how they learn were amazing - she then introduced me to the great voice of early childhood education, Nancy Paige Carlson, (Matt Damon's mom).

Debbie is celebrating her 86th birthday on April 6 and asks that we help her by showing up at the CPE 1 rally at 4:30 - or earlier.
1573 Madison Ave. at 106th St.

I'll have more later but what an amazing meeting at the UFT Ex bd last night as 20 CPE1 parents and teachers showed up as MORE/NA presented a reso in support which was tabled by Unity slimebags who ignored what was happening at CPE1 for a year and half until we made them face this issue. They say they will show up this Thursday to make a show of support. But they won't pass a reso.

The reso is at the MORE site:

morecaucusnyc

Reso to Support CPE1- Tabled by UFT Leadership 

Arthur has minutes of the meeting: 

NYC Educator

UFT Executive Board March 27th--We Love CPE1 But Won't Pass Resolution of Support
Here is a great video made by a CPE1 parent:
https://youtu.be/YKFBEHwMON8



Join CPE1 Parents and Teachers As They Say "No Confidence" in Principal

Thursday, April 6th at 4:30pm
Central Park East 1 - 106th  Madison (entrance on Madison)
FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1506717109361942/

CPE 1 parents and teachers have been fighting an abusive principal, Monika Garg, for more than a year. Garg has carried out a campaign of harassment and retaliation against teachers; both the UFT chapter leader and delegate found themselves facing investigations and removed from the classroom after speaking out. Parents say that Garg has caused harm to their children by conducting unnecessary and invasive interviews of very young children, removing trusted teachers without warning, failing to provide support and undermining the school's unique pedagogy. Garg has lost the trust and support of the vast majority of parents and teachers - with more than 70% signing a petition for her removal last year. The DOE's own school survey shows Garg with the lowest level of trust in the whole city and the steepest declines in both parent and teacher satisfaction. Despite appealing to the Chancellor, the Panel for Educational Policy and the Mayor personally, our situation remains unresolved.

Once again, CPE1 parents and teachers are mobilizing to have their voices heard. At the school SLT meeting on April 6th, parents will be presenting a statement of "no confidence" backed by the majority of parents and demanding decisive action to address their concerns. At 4:30pm, parents and teachers will be holding a press conference and rally outside the school in support of those inside the SLT meeting.We need your support! The issues that CPE1 are facing are not unique. All over the city, parents and teachers lack democratic recourse to have their voices heard, while administrators are protected. We have to fight back.

Please note: By law, SLT meetings are open to the public. If you are able to arrive before 4:30pm and join parents and teachers inside the SLT meeting (which starts at 3:30), please sign in and come up to the 2nd Floor art room to join us.

CPE1's principal has to go

Parents and fellow teachers have come to the defense of a victimized educator in the latest battle to shake a New York City elementary school, writes Peter Lamphere.

March 30, 2017

Parents and fellow teachers show their support for a Central Park East 1 educator (Save CPE1)

Video of CPE 1 Parents Hammering Farina for Supporting Principal Monika Garg

We posted this yesterday: UPDATE: Central Park East 1's Monika Garg is the WORST principal in NYC Based on NYCDOE's own criteria

Now here is some video from last week's PEP of parents going for Farina's jugular. Thirteen minutes of heaven. Oh, the joy!

Stories floating around that Farina has always been jealous of CPE founder and McArthur genius award winner Debbie Meier, a true educator who has always been consistent in her putting the interests of children first, unlike Farina. So Farina, before she retires, is making sure Debbie's legacy won't survive.

By the way - saw Marilyn Martinez last night at the UFT Ex bd meeting. She is firm and holding up -- they told her outcome should take 40 days.

https://youtu.be/6EF4F8lBPbo

Parents at Central Park East 1 Issue Press Release Calling for Removal of Principal Monika Garg

....the petition has been signed by more than 58% of current families. More than 1,700 supporters have also signed, including educational experts, NY Senator Bill Perkins, former New York City Councilman and Education Committee Chair Robert Jackson, former NYC Councilman and Education Committee Chair Robert Jackson, education professor and activist Dr. William Ayers, and large numbers of former teachers, family members and students.... Parents of CPE1.

I am at a Comfort Inn in Rocky Mount NC, an hour out of Raleigh. I didn't think I could do all the driving in one day so I cancelled my reservation at the Marriott for tonight but in actuality found the drive pretty easy - just me alone blasting the music and singing along - if my wife were with me we would have seen road rage.
But I wanted to get readers caught up on the fast moving CPE 1 story which I posted this morning: 

#savecpe1 - Support Legendary Debbie Meier Founded Central Park East 1 in Battle to Remove Monika Garg, Abusive Principal
Things are heating up as the story is getting out. I have a lot more to write about this especially on how Garg pulled the race card as a way to divide parents, which unfortunately a few parents fell for. Attacking the school's diversity and claiming progressive education is not beneficial to children of color is just part of the attack - she should be fired for that alone as it is racist to say children of color are somehow not able to deal with a progressive education that the rich kids in private schools get.

For Immediate Release

For more information contact:

Kenya Dilday: kdilday@gmail.com

Kaliris Salas Ramirez: ksalasramirez@gmail.com

Jennifer Roesch: (917) 319-7008; jenroesch@gmail.com

More information at www.savecpe1.org

Parents at Central Park East 1 Launch a Website and Petition Drive to Defend Their School’s Progressive Practices and Remove Principal

The website and information about the petition can be found at www.savecpe1.org

East Harlem, NY. April 13, 2016---On April 8, a group of parents at Central Park East 1, a 41-year old elementary school that is the oldest progressive school in Harlem and the first formed by legendary educator, Deborah Meier, launched a website: SaveCPE1.org. The website — savecpe1.org — which has received nearly 8,800 page views since launch-- is part of an effort to defend the school’s core progressive practices and asks parents and supporters to sign a petition calling for the removal of the current principal, Monika Garg. Within four days, the petition has been signed by more than 58% of current families. More than 1,700 supporters have also signed, including educational experts, NY Senator Bill Perkins, former New York City Councilman and Education Committee Chair Robert Jackson, former NYC Councilman and Education Committee Chair Robert Jackson, education professor and activist Dr. William Ayers, and large numbers of former teachers, family members and students.

Parents cite several reasons that they believe Principal Garg is not a suitable leader at Central Park East 1:

• In March, Monika Garg, principal for nine months, interviewed several very young children as part of investigations of veteran teachers and staff. The parents of these children were not notified before or after these interviews. One parent discovered interviews had taken place when her child was found crying at night without explanation and subsequently revealed it. It is only through parents coming forward that other parents were able to know to ask and appropriately support their children. The school counselor was unaware of the interviews and thus unable to provide support. Principal Garg has failed to respond to several parents who have asked who was present during the interviews or for transcripts. Some of these investigations are based on charges that are two years old and involved interviewing 7-year old children about events that took place two years earlier. While parents understand that investigations are an unfortunate part of school life on occasion, they believe that the way these interviews were conducted and the subsequent lack of respect for parent concerns showed extremely poor judgment.
• Principal Garg has no experience in progressive education, no experience in early childhood education and minimal experience in elementary education. Central Park East 1 has a rich and well-documented history of progressive education and an approach based on individualized instruction and assessment. Principal Garg has consistently implied that the schools style of education is not suitable for “black children and poor children” as it is practiced at CPE1. This is contradicted by several quantitative and qualitative measures that have been well-documented and highlights of which are available on the website.
• Veteran teachers have described their working conditions as intolerable. Several have considered leaving. Since many members of the staff issued an open letter to the community detailing their concerns with the principal’s leadership, multiple investigations have been initiated against veteran teachers and several have had other disciplinary measures taken against them.

These are just some of the reasons that a majority of parents feel that the current principal must be removed in order for the school to move forward. This decision was not taken lightly and follows months of attempts to get answers from the Principal and District Superintendent Alexandra Estrella. Their has been a consistent pattern of lack of communication and disrespect for both parents and staff. Parents do not feel that the district has been responsive to their concerns and that is why their petition is addressed to the mayor and school chancellor.

The website, savecpe1.org, offers an extensive timeline detailing the pattern of administrative mistreatment over time. It also provides just a few samples of more than 20 testimonials from families about what a Central Park East 1 education has meant for them and their children. It explains Central Park East 1’s unique curriculum and pedagogy as well as its success - as measured by the Department of Education’s own metrics.

# # #

#savecpe1 - Support Legendary Debbie Meier Founded Central Park East 1 in Battle to Remove Monika Garg, Abusive Principal

Sign the petition to save CPE1: http://www.savecpe1.org/petition/

I'm leaving soon to drive down to Raleigh, NC for the NPE conference over the weekend. But I wanted to get this out before I leave. I'm hoping to run into Debbie Meier at the conference since CPE was her brainchild so many years ago. I heard about that school when it opened and even thought about trying to teach there because the educational concepts fit my ideas and I was often like a fish out of water at my school.

I heard the entire story about the crap this principal, Monika Garg, has pulled and will report more details in a follow-up. Needless to say she is following the standard Principal Academy and DOE legal blueprint on how to undermine a school with veteran teachers.
The problem is that our union has no blueprint for teachers on how to respond and the teachers were overwhelmed by the constant assaults for half a year before they began to look at ways to fight back. MORE was contacted for advice and we met with some of them.

Why would so-called progressive educator Carmen Farina sanction an assault on Central Park East 1 (there is also a CPE2 under separate management) through the installation of abusive principal  Monika Garg last July who immediately set about undermining 40 years of progressive education at the school? Naturally the long-time teachers there were the first to come under attack, including bogus investigations. The UFT, district borough and central have been of little help.

Which is why some of us in MORE met with a batch of people from the school and have been offering some organizing advice over the past few weeks. We are helping publicize what they are doing. The important thing in situations like this is to assess the abilities of the people on the ground to build support from parents and community when calling for such a drastic action as the removal of Principal Monika Garg who was an AP at a high school with no experience in a progressive school like CPE1 or even in an elementary school.

As the links to the article in DNAinfo and the web site below indicate they have done quite a job in organizing. I'm not sure of exactly how much I can say at this point as to the plans but I will update as they unfold.

New Principal Ruining Legendary Progressive Public School, Parents Say

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160413/east-harlem/new-principal-ruining-legendary-progressive-public-school-parents-say

The web site with the full story:
http://www.savecpe1.org/

The petition which has almost 2000 signatures - which will be presented to Farina.
http://www.savecpe1.org/petition/

For 40 years, CPE1 has been a leader in progressive education. It was the first of the original progressive public elementary schools started in East Harlem by Debbie Meier. It has been studied and celebrated internationally and replicated across the country, but the current administration is undermining CPE1’s philosophy and purpose. CPE1 must be protected.

What will we lose if the current principal remains? 

• Our experienced teachers - the heart of our school
• Inquiry-based, child-centered education is being replaced with prepackaged curriculum
• Collaborative approach and cooperative projects  
• Individualized learning accounting for each child’s personal goals
• The understanding that art, movement and music are integral to children’s education  
• Valuable learning time lost to increased focus on “teaching to the test”
• Democratic decision-making 
• Small class sizes and small school community

The newly hired principal has no previous experience in progressive education. None. 

Why would a superintendent choose a principal with no progressive background and with limited elementary experience to lead NYC’s oldest progressive public school? 

Our veteran teachers have said that their working conditions are unbearable.  Many are considering leaving.   

Our long-time teachers are crucial to preserving CPE1.  

Administrators are interviewing our children without parents' knowledge or consent.

7-year-olds being asked to recall information on incidents occurring two years prior.  This was not the usual "calling a child into the principal's office;" interviewers included a deputy superintendent and an outside investigator.   Children were told to keep their interviews secret.

Administrators have launched investigations against our veteran teachers.

After senior teachers sent an open letter to the community expressing concerns about the principal’s actions, they have all been subjected to investigations.  Some are complaints re-opened from several years prior.  

Administrators routinely fail to answer parents' and teachers' questions. 

Parents asked the superintendent to a town hall in November to express their concerns. She said no. The principal remains silent about direct questions concerning her decisions.

---

An unprecedented number of leaders in progressive education stand ready with our community to recommend qualified individuals to the DOE and to support the success of a new principal. 

Please join us in saving our school and preserving progressive education at CPE1.