ICE Meeting Friday - ICE and MORE - A Lesson for New Action

At the MORE meeting with New Action last October, we offered the ICE model to New Action as a way for their people to work within MORE for our common aims while keeping their caucus alive. They rejected that offer.

ICE will be holding a rare meeting tomorrow. These meetings take place when people feel a need to talk to each other in a relaxed atmosphere where few decisions have to take place.

ICE (Independent Community of Educators) was founded in late 2003 as a reaction to the deal between New Action, then the leading opposition caucus in the UFT, and Randi Weingarten, by supporters of Ed Notes and others - ie, people invited to leave New Action for opposing their deal, which led to seats for New Action on the UFT Ex Bd and job opportunities in the union.

ICE ran candidates in the 2004, 07 and 10 elections, jointly with Teachers for a Just Contract. But both caucuses had very different ideological backgrounds and methods of operation and there was very little interaction or cooperation.

In 2009, members of an ICE committee dealing with ATRs, testing and closing schools (soon amended to include fighting charter invasions) attracted people from outside ICE, including some from NYCORE and eventually people from other charter battles, like Julie Cavanagh and the crew from PS 15. By that time the committee had been spun off into a new organization that became the Grassroots Education Movement to defend the public education system. Not being a caucus in the UFT, many segments within and without the UFT were comfortable and ultimately the UFT oriented groups began to talk to each other about a big all inclusive tent for a new caucus - which became MORE.

Merging the ideologies and interests has not been an easy process, as the lessons of the march on Staten Island proved. See my piece lambasting the undemocratic ultraleft holier than thou ideologues - The Left and Right Attacks MORE on Garner March Position: I'm Shocked, There Are Social Democrats in MORE. And I do a number on the right wing racists too.

So, anyway - here is an announcement I sent out to the listserves. I'd love to invite every Ed Notes reader - because the rice pudding is so good. But there are only a few seats left - but shoot me an email if you are interested and I'll check.

ICE is meeting  Friday Aug 29 at 4:00 pm. Please RSVP if you haven't yet dome so if you are coming as there is limited space.

ICE meetings are usually the best place to go for real open discussions on issues impacting UFT members. People actually learn. Everyone gets to speak, as often as they like. Meetings don't end until everyone is satisfied that they had a chance to share their views, think about what others are saying and followup. That learning process leads people to an ability to modify their views and compromise during the course of the meeting (except for the rigid ideologues, who often don't stay very long because after all, they know it all and have nothing to learn and are only there to proselytize their views on others.) 

Of course size matters so this is not a criticism of MORE which has more people at meetings, though some ICE people do get frustrated at the more restricted environment of MORE meetings.

James Eterno has suggested we don't just chat n chew but work from a real agenda while chewing and chatting. Darn. Here are his suggestions, supplemented by some of mine, which means we will probably still be chatting and chewing at midnight.

Eterno:

1. ICE stayed together and did not disband in 2012 as TJC did after MORE was formed. I did not want ICE to stick around so we could merely get together and eat once or twice a year. We continued as an organization with a role to play in the union and education debates independent of MORE.
Note from Norm: At the MORE meeting with New Action last October, we offered the ICE model to New Action as a way for their people to work within MORE for our common aims while keeping their caucus alive. They rejected that offer.

2. We need to pay our respects to Gene and Loretta Prisco. We lost both of these wonderful people since we last met as a group. (Those who want their comments published will be videotaped).

3. Is ICE still needed?

If ICE still exists as an organization it should say something and take 

some positions, not just be a space for Jeff and I to share our personal views.  Our purpose as an organization should be on this agenda. Perhaps we are no longer necessary and should disband as TJC did in 2012. We can still get together and eat when we want to.

4. State of MORE and ICE's part in it.  Amazing young people have bred new life into opposition to Unity in the UFT. What, if anything, does ICE want to achieve as part of this opposition? Where do we see it heading?

(Combine items 3 and 4).

5. An ICE endorsement for Zephyr Teachout in the Democratic primary. Locals around the state are endorsing her. MORE probably won't do it so why not ICE? See support statement from James Eterno on ICE blog.

Norm amendment: ICE also endorses Green Party in general election.

6. NYSUT's Stronger Together. 

A legitimate statewide opposition to Unity is forming. The entire year at NYSUT should be reviewed. I propose ICE formally support Stronger Together. Some of us are already involved so why not formalize it if ICE still wants to play an active role in the union and education worlds? 

7. Midnight special - Discussing the controversy inside and outside MORE over the march, the UFT support of the march, what could have/should have MORE done? Not for voting, but for comment: did MORE do the right thing?

Mollie Bruhn: Challenging “Waiting for Superman” in Kappan Mag

Our film was not the first nor the only thing to clue people in to the dangers of the corporate reform movement, but “The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman” has proven to be an important piece of the ever-growing pushback and effort to preserve public education... Mollie Bruhn in Kappan on the making of "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman."

This article is available at PDK for the public until end of February:
http://www.kappanmagazine.org/content/95/5/47.full.pdf+html

Watch the film here or click the tab at Ed Notes.

When Mollie isn't writing she has Max read to her.

When the editor of Kappan, the organ of Phi Delta Kappa, an international association of professional educators, contacted GEM/Real Reform Studios last spring about doing an article on the making of "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman" many of us were busy with organizing in MORE and Change the Stakes, the two branches that had emerged out of the Grassroots Education Movement - the teacher/UFT oriented MORE and the parent dominated CTS.

There was no time to get back into more film work with Real Reform Studios, especially since two key people, Mollie Bruhn and Darren Marelli were about to have a baby. I offered to start writing the article but as usual got involved with too many things. Once Mollie got settled with new baby Max and also took a child care leave, she picked up the project and did a wonderful job in chronicling the work we did. Mollie is too modest to talk about her enormous impact on shaping the film. Her article captures the great synergy the entire crew developed as we engaged many of the leading people in NYC fighting ed deform in the making of the film.

When we began making the film in August 2010, the deform movement was rising like a rocket. I feel we were amongst the first people out of the box with a powerful deterrent that helped lead the counterattack that has gained so much speed since then.

Kappan has just published Mollie's article.

Challenging “Waiting for Superman”

1. Mollie Bruhn

+ Author Affiliations

1. MOLLIE BRUHN is a kindergarten teacher for the New York City Department of Education and was an editor for “The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman.”

Abstract

A group of New York City public school teachers, angry about the depiction of public schools in ‘Waiting for Superman,” decide to make their own film about the realities of the current education reform movement. They persevered even though they had no budget when they started and lacked a background in filmmaking. ‘The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman’ was released in May 2011 and has proven to be an important piece of the ever growing pushback against corporate education reform. 

You can read it here:
http://www.kappanmagazine.org/content/95/5/47.full.pdf+html

Here are a few pics.

GEM's Julie Cavanagh Debates KIPP's Mike Feinberg on Charters

Costco's monthly magazine, Costco Connections, with a circulation of 8 million, contacted GEM a year ago asking us to debate on the issue of teacher seniority. I wrote that piece in opposition to E4E leader Sydney Morris (GEM/E4E Debate Seniority in Costco Mag: I Go Manno.... ). This year Costco was kind enough to come back to us on the charter issue and they suggested Julie Cavanagh do the article based on her role in opposing the charter school movement. In the August issue Julie debates KIPP co-founder Mike Feinberg.

Julie wrote the piece in June while in the last month of her pregnancy but she would have done it while Jack was being born if she had to.

Here is the direct link: http://www.costcoconnection.com/connection/201208#pg1

Vote online:  costcoconnection.com

Or email:  debate@costco.com include your address, and phone #

UPDATE: Read Gary Rubinstein: What they teach the new CMs about public vs. charter schools

INFORMEDdebate

CHARTER SCHOOLS are independent, tuition-free elementary or high schools that receive public money and private donations. They are not subject to some of the rules, regulations and statutes that apply to traditional public schools but are held accountable for delivering certain academic results.

Supporters say that charter schools offer a greater range of educational choices, more innovative programs and a higher quality of education than traditional public schools. Since charter schools are created by the communities in which they operate they can provide exactly what the community needs, supporters add.

Critics argue that charter schools do not necessarily produce better academic results and that public schools also have innovative programs. Charter schools consume critical tax dollars, they add, money that would be better spent in our traditional public school system.

What do you think?

from an expert in the field:


Mike Feinberg is co-founder of the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), a charter school system (www.kipp.org).

THERE IS NO SUCH thing as a silver bullet for public education. Charter schools are merely one promising tool in our ever-expanding tool belt of approaches to K–12 educational reform. These autonomous public schools provide a testing ground for innovation, where ideas can be tried, refined and then shared with educators from across the public school system.

When we started KIPP, we weren't trying to solve all of America's education challenges; we simply wanted to set up our students for success in college and in life. Our plan? Hold classes from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, every other Saturday and three weeks in the summer; have teachers set high standards and be available via cellphone after hours; and focus on teaching both academics and character. Eighteen years later, with 109 charter schools in 20 states across the country, 84 percent of our eighth-graders go on to college.

Charter schools are based on a simple horse trade: Freed from the strictures of the traditional district system, public charter schools can use innovative new ways to engage and support students. If they don't meet goals outlined in their charter agreement with their sponsor, or authorizer, they can be closed. When done right, advancements don't stay within charter schools' walls; they spill out, sparking a vibrant dialogue among public educators. That way, the best school practices can reach many more students than charter schools would be able to serve on their own.

Cross-pollination between charter schools and traditional district schools is paying off. The Houston Independent School District's Apollo 20 program is implementing best practices from KIPP and YES Prep and other charter schools in struggling district schools, and the Spring Branch Independent School District in Houston is partnering with KIPP to start new schools within schools modeled after our practices. This spring, officials from 18 urban school districts serving more than 3 million students entered the eight-month-long KIPP Leadership Design Fellowship, a federally funded program designed to share best practices and explore how to cultivate visionary leadership in public schools of all kinds.

High-performing charter schools over the past decade have shattered the myth that your ZIP code defines your destiny. To understand the true value of charters, it's important to look at not only the results, but how they are proving what is possible for public school students across the country. 

---------

from an expert in the field:


Julie Cavanagh is a teacher, member of the Grassroots Education Movement and co-producer/narrator of The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman (http://gemnyc.org).

CHARTER SCHOOLS, in theory, appeared to be a good idea. Unfortunately, the charter school landscape has evolved into a politically charged campaign that aims to impose the same business-minded approaches that took our country to the brink of economic disaster in recent years.

In the past, race, gender, financial and/or immigrant status, or whether one had a disability, were the determining factors in access to a quality public education. The promise of one common public education system was to make these factors moot, to eliminate the access gap and to provide educational opportunity for all.

We have fallen short of that promise. Charter schools, however, do not bring us closer. In fact, they threaten years of progress in educational policy that have brought us closer to the goal of a free, fair, high-quality, integrated public education system.

Charter schools are not public; they are education corporations, many run as chains, and some for profit. Charter schools admit children only by lottery and counsel out children who do not adhere to their rules or standards. Charter schools serve far fewer English-language learners, students with special needs and those who qualify for reduced-price and free lunch as compared with public schools. Public means there is public oversight; charter schools are their own independent boards of education, and are overseen by boards of appointed, not elected, members with no or minimal parental involvement and empowerment.

Charter schools are not more successful or innovative than public schools. They have significantly higher staff and student attrition rates, which contradicts claims of high student achievement. Test scores increase as charter schools counsel out the neediest students. Yet, a study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University of 2,403 charter schools across the country showed that 80 percent of charter school students performed the same as or worse than students in public schools.

Access to a high-quality public education is a basic human and civil right; it is not something that should be won in a lottery. Instead of creating winners and losers, as the business model of competition and choice ultimately does, we should focus on the real reforms that will finally achieve the promise of one free, fair, high-quality and integrated public education system.

Find out more about this topic on the Web

Change the Stakes and GEM Invitate you to high stakes testing meeting this Wednesday

The Change the Stakes Committee formed by GEM last July has picked up a massive head of steam in fighting high stakes testing both locally and nation-wide. You know our theme in GEM has been: we have to do things like make a movie defending teacher and union rights and fight testing and teacher evaluation reports, etc, etc, etc because the UFT doesn't.

Thanks again for your support of the petition to Give New York State Parents the Right to Opt Their Children out of High Stakes Testing.

Anyone interested in joining other parents and educators working to challenge high stakes testing is invited to the next meeting of the NYC-based Change the Stakes Campaign this Wednesday.

What     Change the Stakes Meeting
Where    CUNY Graduate Center, 34th Street and 5th Avenue, Room 4204 (the Urban Education Lounge)
When    Wednesday, May 9th, 5:30-7:30 PM

For more info on Change the Stakes please visit the website or email changethestakes@gmail.com.

For more information on the upcoming boycott of June field tests please visit Time Out From Testing.

Thanks again,

Andrea from the Change the Stakes Campaign

 Here is the TOFT petition on field testing to the crooks at the NY State Ed Dept:

It has come to our attention that the State Department of Education (SED) wants our children to work for the testing company, Pearson.  Right now our children are being tested in English, math and science. They have spent many hours prepping for and taking these tests. This year the tests are much longer because Pearson Publishing has embedded field test questions in the existing tests.  These questions do not count toward your child’s grade but rather help Pearson write future tests.

The SED has awarded a $32 million contract over the next 5 years to Pearson. The DOE is mandating every school to give stand alone field tests the week of June 5th. Our children have become lab rats for this multi billion dollar testing company.

Parents want to boycott the field tests. In NYC we have 5 short weeks to get going.  We hope that many of you can convince your schools’ parents to join in and tell your principal that there should be no field testing that week. We would rather that the week of June 5th be devoted to real learning rather than test taking devoted to aiding a testing company do its job.

We have posted on our website at www.timeoutfromtesting.org both a parent letter and a boycott Fact Sheet for you to use (Spanish versions will be up soon.) The fact sheet is a way to enlighten your parent body since we have learned that most do not know about the field testing. In addition, parents are signing the letter and handing it in to their principals so that their schools don’t give the tests. Please let us know if your school is on board. We hope there will be many schools boycotting. To the best of our knowledge since these are field tests, there will be no ramifications for our children, our teachers or our schools.

Feel free to write us or call if you have questions.

Regards,
Jane Hirschmann and Dani Gonzalez
917 679 8343             646 701 4014

One on One With Diane Ravitch and Deb Meier

Diane Ravitch and Deb Meier knock it out of the park in an interview with GEM for the upcoming film, The Inconvenient Truth Behind High Stakes Testing.

Diane Ravitch will be on Brian Lehrer today to counter the infomercial interview he did with Michelle Rhee last week. I'm a fan of Lehrer and though he did toss in a few tough comments, there was no real challenge to Rhee, though a parent and principal did get in a few shots. At one point Brian called her Dr. Rhee, maybe confusing her with Dr. MengeRhee, the German butcher of WW II.

Well anyway, when I heard she was going to be on, I rushed to edit the interview I did last week with Diane for our new movie (The Inconvenient Truth Behind High Stakes Testing).

What a treat! building Bridges one-on-one with Diane Ravitch and Debbie Meier, the two rock stars of the real reform movement within a few days of each other. (One dream is to get them next to each other and just turn on the camera.) Both interviews cover a lot of ground with Deb talking about the impact on kids and Diane on policy, really the essence of what they both do so well.

Diane was between trips for a day or two and was so gracious in giving us time last Monday morning. Our meeting was scheduled at Brooklyn Borough Hall for 10AM so I got there 20 minutes early. It was a beautiful day and there were little green tables in front of the steps so it made sense to not waste her time searching for an indoor location (when Debbie and tried it at Starbucks the noise was impossible). Besides, the setting with a park in the background looked so good.

It didn't take me long to notice it was a bit windy. And not much longer before a 40 mile an hour gust practically blew me away. OMG! The film crew will kill me if I mess this up. I pulled a table over to the side of the steps to give us some shelter and I also had a remote mic - luckily since I often use a mic mounted on the camera. You can hear the wind, but most of the interview is clear except for a few spots where the wind gusted.

Diane arrived promptly at 10 wearing a cool leather jacket and jeans. She truly did look like a rock star. She said we should have done the interview in front of 110 Livingston St., the old DOE HQ and a major topic of one of her books but we figured we would have to buy a condo first.

With the wind tousling her hair she shakes, rattles and rolls through 20 minutes of comments on high stakes testing. (I tried to edit out my whiny voice where possible.) See below for the Deb Meier interview. where she nails what education should be about. I also had the treat of talking to her off camera about open classrooms as Deb was a hero of mine when I was teaching and struggling with that concept in the 70's.

https://vimeo.com/40501011



And in case you missed it, here is my 10 minutes with Deb Meier a few days before which I wrote about previously here.


http://youtu.be/owi2SKa4EA8

Teacher Evaluation Nightmare Updated - Forum - April 17

GEM, Class Size Matters and Parents Across America along with the GEM high stakes testing committee, Change the Stakes, are sponsoring this event on Tuesday, Apr. 17.

The idea for this event emerged out of a GEM steering committee meeting in Feb. We  postponed once because the UFT announced it would be doing some protest on March 15 which turned out to be the usual nothing.

The Change the Stakes committee has evolved into a strong parent influenced group with a lot of opt-out action. Leonie has some good stuff about it: NYC Teacher supports parents opting their children out of standardized testing and wishes she could as well!

And The Assailed Teacher also posted: The New Civil Disobedience

A great panel has been recruited headlined by Carol Burris and joined by NYC teacher/writers/bloggers Gary Rubinstein (see his blog) and Arthur Goldstein and joined by leading parent activist Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters. After the panel speaks we will try to come up with strategies for fight back.

Julie Cavanagh will moderate. Independent filmmaker and reporter Jaisal Noor and I will be taping (I will also be doing interviews for our new film on high stakes testing. See my interview with Diane Ravitch.)

This is not just a sit, listen and ask a question event but has a working component to develop strategies to create the kind of rational policy we are not seeing out of the UFT and NYSUT.

NEW SPEAKER ADDED: Khalilah Bran, Teacher, Bushwick Community High School, a school threatened with closure: Bushwick Community High School’s supporters protested its planned turnaround. (GothamSchools, NY1).

More on BCHS:

This Is Arguably the Most Disgusting Failure of Metric-Driven ...

mikethemadbiologist.com/.../this-is-arguably-the-most-disgusting-fail...

Apr 4, 2012 – Michael Winerip has a great article about Bushwick Community High School, a transfer school–essentially the last stop for failing students.

Teacher Evaluation Nightmare !
          a forum on testing, teacher evaluations and our schools

Tuesday, April 17 at 5:30 PM

Murry Bergtraum High School Auditorium

411 Pearl Street, Manhattan

(Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall Station 4,5,6 -Fulton Street Station 2,3 - Chambers Street Station J)

Come to a Meeting to Discuss: Why are the new teacher evaluations bad for teachers, students, and families?

How can we organize to change them?

Speakers: Carol Burris: L.I. Principal, one of the co-authors of the principals’ letter against evaluating teachers by       student test scores, which has been signed by nearly 1,400 New York principals. Leonie Haimson: parent activist and  Exec. Director of Class Size Matters   Gary Rubinstein: Math teacher at Stuyvesant High School and critical analyst of the Teacher Data Reports Arthur Goldstein: E.S.L. teacher and  chapter leader at Francis Lewis High School in Queens

Come hear speakers  explain how the new evaluations will work and the implications for students, teachers, families, and education.  Join the discussion of how we can organize to change the final outcome.

Co-sponsored by: Grassroots Education Movement, Class Size Matters, and Parents Across America 

Blog  :   http://gemnyc.org/  or email:   gemnyc@gmail.com 

For more information about  the negative effects of high stakes tests or opting your child out of high stakes testing, please visit: http://changethestakes.org 

GEM's Mollie Bruhn Keynote at Connecticut Educators Association

GEMers Mollie Bruhn and Julie Cavanagh were invited to give the keynote at the Connecticut Educators Association on March 31, 2012.

Mollie posted an account of the CEA event (at Mohican Sun, those lucky dogs) on the Real Reform Studio web site which is named: The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman:

Direct link: Connecticut Education Association Hosts a Screening, 3/31/12

The GEM/RRS team at CEA, March 31

I talk about the amazing Julie all the time but have not talked enough about Mollie, an 8th year Teach for America alum who "gets" it. Mollie (on the right in the pic) is one of the smartest, logical and organized people I've met and played a major role in shaping The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman. One day I'll tell the full story but suffice to say, Darren, Julie and I thought we had a roughly completed film in Feb. 2011 after 6 months of work. Lisa Donlan and Mollie got more involved at that point and took a close look from the outside. Lisa brought her years as a parent activist to the project and Mollie brought another teacher voice. She hadn't been working on the film in the initial stage even though Real Reform Studios is in her apartment but then played a major role in restructuring the film and refining the message. We ended up shooting more footage and rewriting portions of the narrative, along with redoing many of the graphics and research presented in the film (one of its strongest aspects.) 

I can't say enough about the collaborative process we went through in creating the film and how that process worked out so well. We are excited to be starting another film about high stakes testing and will keep you posted. Diane Ravitch was kind enough to give me an hour of her time this morning for an interview and Deb Meier gave me an interview last week.

Here is Mollie's full speech to the CEA, a wonderful affirmation of the concept of the importance of a public school system and how charters undermine that concept.

I am very excited to be here today. I want to start by thanking CEA for having us here and for their wonderful support of our film. Before we see a portion of the film (which you will all get a copy of today), I want to tell you a little about myself--how I became interested in teaching, and how I developed a strong belief in the power and importance of our public education system.

I normally spend my days sharing a classroom with 25 loving, curious, needy, energetic and frequently clumsy 5-year olds. So, it is refreshing to be surrounded today by so many adults. I can be confident here that their won't be any bathroom accidents, any tangled laces or any debates over who has the "best" pencil. Speaking to my Kindergarten students is rarely a challenge, as they tend to think everything I say is just amazing. While I don't expect this audience to be as easy to wow, I do hope that you'll carefully consider the critical topics Julie and I want to discuss with you today.

I am a product of public education. Growing up in Lincoln, Nebraska, I attended wonderful public schools from kindergarten through high school. Back then, in the late 80s/early 90s, the educational landscape was relatively simple and easy to navigate. While some families in my community sent their children to private schools, the overwhelming majority stuck with public schools- the public system was well-respected, relatively well-funded and well-run. While I benefited greatly from my public education and worked with many inspirational teachers along the way, I never really contemplated the importance, purpose or relevance of public education in our society.

Then, in 2000 I moved to NYC to attend NYU. Like most college freshman I had no idea what I wanted to study and the idea of even contemplating a career was downright nauseating. But, then I landed a work-study job working as a tutor in a local public school classroom. I had always connected well with children (I'd worked summer jobs at daycares and done a substantial amount of babysitting) but I had never been on the real teaching side of a classroom.

When I began tutoring, I was immediately impressed by the way the classroom teacher commanded the attention of her students. They seemed to be mesmerized with her words and she carried herself with such direction and purpose. I was encouraged by her passion for her work but also saw how demanding and challenging it could be--especially given the diverse group of learners in her classroom. With each visit to her first grade room and with each new interaction with a student, I found myself thinking more and more about moving in a direction that might lead me to be in front of a class one day.

As I continued with my studies I found myself drawn to both philosophy and psychology and, in particular, coursework where we explored the relationship between democracy and education.

I began, for the first time, to really think about public education as a necessary condition for a just, productive and healthy society. Our democracy, as Abraham Lincoln so powerfully put it in 1863, was designed to be a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. And the only way a democracy such as this can function is if the people are prepared to participate. I began to see the public education system as the most important democratic institution in our country. What better way to ensure an informed, active public than to provide free public education to all? I began to study the works of celebrated educators like Paulo Freire, John Dewey, Myles Horton and Deborah Meier and was inspired by their collective commitments to using education as a catalyst for social change. I thought, the classroom--that's where it is. That's where the most important work happens, and I want to be there.

By the time graduation rolled around, I was excited to take all of my academic contemplations and put them to actual use in the real world. So, I began searching for a teaching job. I hadn't actually graduated with a teaching certificate as I had focused my studies in Philosophy, psychology and Urban studies. Thus, I found myself unqualified to work for the NYC DOE, but then I came across some job listings for charter schools. I had heard of charter schools but didn't really understand what they were. I knew they called themselves public schools and accepted students by some sort of open lottery. I naively, but enthusiastically, took an assistant teaching job at a brand new charter school. I hoped that I could contribute to the school's vision, make a sizable impact with the students and eventually move on to be a lead teacher.

Like many charter schools, mine was one with an unfortunately inexperienced administrative team. Our principal had only one year of experience and had never actually worked with our schools young kindergarten and 1st grade population. I expected to have a leader who could mentor and guide me, but I found myself stuck trying to figure things out on my own. I asked tough questions, probed for insights and challenged my colleagues to think critically about our work.

As a new school we had many growing pains. One major school-wide issue was classroom management. As is the case with most groups of kindergarteners, we had a wide range of abilities and school readiness. Some students had a difficult time adjusting to the school routines and our overly long school day (730 am to 5 pm). A few of these students continued to struggle as the months went on, and our administrative team actually advised their families to take their children elsewhere to be educated. While our principal did not overtly “kick” any students out of school—he certainly made it clear that our school would no longer be a good fit for these families. This surprised and disappointed me greatly. The genius of our public education system is that everyone is guaranteed an education—no one can be turned away. But, as I learned, in the charter world, the schools were far from public.

As the year went on, I grew more and more frustrated with the environment around me—the discipline system felt harsh and punitive; the school culture seemed to ignore the social needs of young children and the day was much too long for their young minds. I raised concerns in staff meetings and tried to make the best of my situation. Then, one day, my principal called me into his office and without warning informed, me that I was being let go. Just like that. Fired. I had signed a contract with the school, but, like those of most charter schools, the contract made me an at-will employee, basically giving my employer the right to fire me for any reason at any time. When asked for the reason, I was informed, simply, that I “had asked too many questions.” Since I wasn’t a member of a union, like public school teachers are, I was on my own. I had no recourse, no ability to appeal the decision and no one to reach out to.

Initially, I felt heart-broken. While I hadn’t necessarily been happy at the charter school, I had been putting forth unbelievable effort each and every day. Over time, I realized that my hasty dismissal--however unjust--was actually a blessing in disguise. It allowed me to take a step back and examine what I wanted, which was to work in a real public school where I would have the support and backing of a union and have the opportunity to work in tandem with experienced educators. I went back to school and eventually found myself a job teaching Kindergarten at a public school in the South Bronx.

My first year was incredibly challenging. I wish I could stand up here and give you some magical 3-step, no-fail, secret method for being an effective teacher. But, teaching is an art, and it takes on a different form with each individual teacher. The advice I would give to new teachers--and what helped me the most, is to be:
-patient with yourself
-reflective and honest about your practice
-accepting of where your students are--academically, socially and emotionally.

There are often external pressures telling us where our students "should" be and it is easy to transfer that pressure over to our students. Students will show the most growth when we meet them where they are--when we accept them, understand them and nurture them. Now, in my 8th year as an educator, some of my work has gotten easier. My instincts have improved; I've learned to be more flexible; I've found more and more effective ways of delivering lessons. But, the work and the challenge never ends, and I never cease asking myself what I can do better.

While it took me some time to find my way here, I feel very proud to be a public school teacher. Today the landscape of education is rapidly changing, as many in power seem to have lost sight of the purpose of our public education system. We see politicians promoting charter schools and privatization, talking about "choice" and laying blame on our dedicated teaching force. Now may not be the easiest time to be a public school teacher but perhaps it is one of the most important times. Our public education system needs determined individuals who are willing to honor it, support it and defend it. I commend you all for being a part of it and wish you the best of luck in your careers. Believe every day that our work is important. Remember that we change lives every day. And recognize that what we are doing will help ensure, in the words of Lincoln, that "government of the people, by the people and for the people, shall not perish from this earth."

 

Sign the Damn Petition on High Stakes Testing

Liza and Janine are two of the fab activists in GEM. Liza is a 4th year teacher and Janine is the parent of a 7 year old. They work with the GEM High Stakes Testing Committee.

Hello!

Elementary school parent Janine Sopp and I were interviewed on WBAI's radio show Education at the Crossroads tonight. We spoke with host Basir Mshawi about the damaging effects of high-stakes testing and gave folks information about how to sign the petition that demands an opt-out option for parents as well as the immediate halting of any plan for K-2 testing.  You can listen to the show in its entirety here: http://archive.wbai.org/show1.php?showid=eatcrossr We speak about half an hour in, and beforehand there were some activists from the Bronx speaking about the work they are doing to fight the school closings. It's a great hour overall.

In less than one week the testing committee of the Grassroots Education Movement collected over 600 signatures on our petition; our ultimate goal is to collect the names of thousands of concerned citizens across the state and present them to the state legislature and the DOE in early April. Please take a moment to sign!  Only your city and state will be posted on line.

So many of us are concerned about the damaging effects of excessive high-stakes testing, and there is a growing momentum to put an end to them nationally.  Because there is so much money to be made with this type of testing, it is important to think very strategically about how to build a movement and demand a change in policies.  It is important to bring informed and experienced teachers and parents into the creation of a more broadly based assessment to show that there is no need to use these high stakes tests as a way to measure success. Parents should have the right to opt their children out of these tests and demand a more accurate assessment to provide a true snapshot of learning that's going on in a school rather than use them to make high-stakes decisions. Parents should have a right to say that they do not want their children and their children's education influenced so heavily by these exams.

We hope that you will sign and share! http://signon.org/sign/give-new-york-state-parents?source=c.em.cp&r_by=1929140

Sincerely, 

Liza Campbell

Eva Walks Out When Facing the Heat

 I have a lot of material on the push-back Eva received on Saturday when she pulled a bait and switch - applying for a charter in Dist 13 and after approval trying to push into the more middle class and gentrified Cobble Hill in District 15. (Where are you Pedro Noguera who heads the SUNY authorizing body that grants Eva her charters?)

See my previous reports:

Eva Shut Down By Parent Leaders in Cobble Hill - Meeting Over

Jim Devor Report on How Eva Shut Down Her Own Meeting and Ran Out

Push back there was from parents from both Dist. 13 and 15 - many of them parents members of GEM have been working with.

Below is the video shot by Gotham Schools. Notice how Eva can hire not only a 2-man professional videographer team but also a professional photographer (who I recognize from other events I attend). How come no one in the press even raises that question? Check out my previous post on how Success Academy spends per child for recruitment (Exposing Success Academy Marketing Strategies Harmful to the Public Good).

I have lots more personal reports from all the GEM people who attended with some discussion about whether there should have been a disruption which did not seem planned but a spontaneous outpouring of outrage. Eva like all bullies can't seem to face the heat when she doesn't have control. She will now move these meetings to private homes. It has to be understood that she is using public money to build a political machine - just watch those buses at PEP meetings. But I am betting she is finding her pickings in the Black community are running dry as the parents and communities at co-locos are pushing back and she is looking for white people to build her machine.

Here is the report on the meeting from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

They Shout Down Former Manhattan Councilwomanhttp://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=27&id=47108
By Mary Frost
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

COBBLE HILL — Waving signs and shouting out questions, parents from local schools interrupted an information session held Saturday by a charter school planning to move into Cobble Hill. The meeting, held at the Carroll Gardens library, broke up before head of Success Academy charter schools, former Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz, could deliver her planned presentation.
When Moskowitz told the crowd, “Children need the arts,” several indignant parents called out, “You’re taking away arts from our children!” When she said that parents of special-needs children should have more options, the crowd hissed. 
“You’re hissing at special-needs children?” Moskowitz asked.
“You don’t let special needs kids into your schools!” the crowd roared.
Many of the protesters said they feared that Success Academy Cobble Hill — to be co-located inside a building at 284 Baltic St. that already houses three public schools, including Brooklyn School for Global Studies — will disrupt existing programs and drain resources from their children.
“Why don’t you open in District 13 where they need schools?” other parents asked. Success Academy has been accused of pulling a “bait and switch” by applying for its charter in District 13, then switching to District 15 after the charter was approved.
“This information session is for parents. We’ll answer questions at the end,” Moskowitz said as the crowd grew increasingly bold in expressing their concerns.
“Go ahead and talk! Get to the point!” said one impatient father who had come to hear details about the school. As Moskowitz continued to speak in generalities about her experience on the City Council and her goals for Success Academy, the man continued, “You’re talking about yourself and not the school!” At that point Moskowitz ended the official meeting — though parents continued to talk amongst themselves.
One group, The Grassroots Education Movement, announced (via the “people’s microphone”) the screening of the anti-charter school film The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman (Nov. 9, P.S. 261, 6 p.m.).

Parents React
“I’m personally happy with the way Eva left,” said Ismene Speliotis, parent of children who attend P.S. 447 and P.S. 261. “The way she left the meeting is the way she should take Success Academy and leave the neighborhood.”
“It’s not about being anti-charter,” she said. “It’s about finding a building for the charter school. Global Studies is really trying to become successful. They just renovated — there’s still scaffolding. Instead of putting in resources to make it a successful local high school, they’re putting in another elementary school.” Global Studies underwent a $2 million transformation in 2010, going from an F assessment to a B in the process. “They should go where they want to go,” she said, “but they should get their own facility.”
But another mom, Rachael (she didn’t want her last name used), said she was disappointed that Moskowitz didn’t finish her presentation. “I’m just here to learn,” she said. “It’s a joke. We’re not allowed to go to a forum to learn about something. We have a right to understand our options.”
“I’m disappointed at the level of vitriol,” said Devon Jarvis, a parent. But he said it was understandable given that Success Academy originally applied to open in District 13 and 14, not Cobble Hill’s District 15. “There was no public commentary meeting. We read in the newspaper that Eva Moskowitz was putting a charter school in my middle school. She needed to apply in District 15 — the result is public commentary here, at the wrong meeting,” he said.
“It’s a real threat to our schools,” said Dorothy Barnhouse. “They have a bigger budget, and they’re living rent free in our public school. I’m not opposed to charters — I’m opposed to co-locating charter schools in public schools because of the inequities that result,” she said. “They take the library, the science classroom, the dance studio and the pull-out spaces for speech therapy and small group instruction.”

A ‘Great Option for Parents’
Success Academy schools faced similar opposition before they opened on the Upper West Side. Several families from that school appeared at the meeting to back the school.
Mike Suchanek, whose child attends kindergarten at the West Side Success Academy, said in his experience the school is a “great option for parents. I’m thrilled we had a choice.” He said that his child didn’t get into the zoned school in his neighborhood because of overcrowding. But “I don’t know enough about the co-location issues,” he said.
Another West Side parent, J.C. Renners, is a strong backer of Success Academy. “We’re thrilled with the education our daughter is receiving.”

SOS Photos/Links

I keep trying to do a long piece on SOS but just can't type for that long. Maybe tomorrow.

Here is a slide show I made of the fab GEM workshop at SOS.
A GEM workshop on “Building a Grassroots Movement to Defend Public Education” to a packed room of more than 40 people at Thursday’s conference.  See the montage of the year in review we showed here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vge-rx6QXgQ




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At the GEM blog Julie Cavanagh lists her SOS Top Ten Event Highlights 
(Driving Miss Daisy in drag is not one of them)

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Michael Solo pics at Fight Back Friday blog
http://fightbackfridays.blogspot.com/

Photographs of the Rally & March

https://picasaweb.google.com/113455396360021548056/SaveOurSchoolsRallyMarchSOSJuly30thWashingtonDC?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCN_orJTslIClKg&feat=directlink

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GEM photos on Shutterfly
http://sosmarchgem.shutterfly.com/4

A few highlights

Liza also hurt wrist in bike incident. Matching Fall Risk bracelets

The GEM car crew

Watching movie on bus going home - photo by Brian Jones

Some Coverage - compiled by Michael Solo at GEM's  Fight Back Friday blog:

News Coverage of the SOS Rally & March

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teachers-march-on-washington/2011/07/30/gIQAz48zjI_story.html

http://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/sosrally/index.html

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2011/0730/Save-Our-Schools-March-a-teacher-revolt-against-Obama-education-reform

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-07-30/us/us.teachers.sos.march_1_teachers-standardized-testing-rallies?_s=PM:US

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-brown/matt-damons-powerful-educ_b_914420.html

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/07/30/37rally_ep.h30.html?tkn=YVRFUJcg2N4yicgNzbtJMSPvdf72iF2K%2B8%2F9&cmp=clp-edweek

http://www.americanindependent.com/196416/thousands-come-out-to-teacher-rally-in-washington-protest-obama-and-decade-of-bad-policies

http://dailycensored.com/2011/08/01/teachers-as-radicals-after-sos-what-now/

http://gothamschools.org/2011/08/01/matt-damon-criticizes-eva-moskowitzs-charters-at-d-c-rally/

======
Mark Naison,  Notorious PhD, comments on an ed deformer commentary on his rap at SOS:

Here is a You Tube version of my "Achievement Rap" as performed at the Save Our Schools March in Washington

The commentary is critical and sarcastic, but I have always felt, as a writer, that bad publicity is better than no publicity and I guess I should take the same attitude toward my emerging "career" as a rapper.

Matt Damon's Warm-Up Act: Notorious PHD‏ - YouTube
	www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FXsGH_ajAM

August 15th: High-stakes testing GEM committee builds for the school year

Subj: August 15th: High-stakes testing GEM committee builds for the school year

After an inspiring Saturday at the Save Our Schools march in which the hypocrisy and disturbing effects of high-stakes testing were front and center, it is as clear as ever that we must do something here in New York to reverse the trend of continuing to raise the stakes on standardized tests. Check out a video of Matt Damon's speech that crystallizes the damage created by the new climate of high-stakes testing and even alludes to the possibility of building a boycott.

At the first meeting of GEM's high-stakes testing committee we began the process of democratically building a campaign to expose these tests for what they are: unreliable, racist, resource-draining tools of the corporate reformers that undermine good teaching and learning and are then used as justification for closing schools, holding students back and firing teachers. Something must be done, and one lesson learned from the march is that there is a critical mass forming across the country of groups who are trying to do something to expose high-stakes testing for what it is. In New York the work that we do can be a model for the rest of the country, and for that reason and many more you should join us and become a part of building this campaign.

This next meeting will include a focused strategic planning session where we will be finalizing our goals and developing a calendar for how to build during the coming school year. We will then breakout into various action-groups focused on a range of next-steps including literature creation, building a boycott, community engagement and envisioning alternatives to our current test-based education models.

We hope you will join us.

GEM High-Stakes Testing Committee Meeting

Monday, August 15, 5pm

CUNY Graduate Center Room 5414

5th Ave and 34th St.

1/2/3 [to 34th St.-Penn Sta. (at 7th Av.)] B/D/F/M/N/Q/R to 34th

St.[-Herald Sq. (at 6th Av.); PATH to 33rd St. (at 6th); #6 to 33 St.

(at Park); M34 bus or M16 bus both via 34th St.; avenue buses.]

Sincerely,
The Grassroots Education Movement

Hillary Lustick comments on high stakes tests and the work of the GEM HST committee in the community section at Gotham Schools.

What’s At Stake With High-Stakes Testing

by Hilary Lustick
 

I know “summer” should be synonymous with things like “lying in an inner tube on a lazy river,” and I’m getting get my fair share of that. But there is just too much going on in education politics for me to close my eyes for longer than a few seconds — and too much going on in the world of teacher activism to want to.

Despite budget cuts, New York is valiantly scrounging together the money to pay for additional testing — now in the arts. I won’t bother asking whether these tests or anyone can actually assess the effects of art education on young people. I won’t even argue against tests themselves: Assessment is a precious way for a teacher to gauge what her students have learned and what she needs to teach differently.

But when we make these tests “high-stakes” for teachers — i.e., tell them that their careers depend on test scores — we give more power to a piece of paper than to the power of the human social and academic intellect. When school becomes a matter of overcoming a hurdle, a student’s learning needs become impediments to be resented, quashed, and expelled. Teachers, who among us has entered the field of education in order to expose the success of gifted students and sweep under the rug students with emotional, physical, and language needs?  Whoever you are, congratulations to you — you’re going to have a very successful career in the era of high-stakes testing.

In response to the mushrooming consequences attached to test results, the Grassroots Education Movement is in the early stages of putting together a new campaign, tentatively titled the “Change the Stakes” Campaign. (Join by signing on to GEM’s mailing list.) We’re not arguing against testing — we as educators know that assessment fits into a conscientious teacher’s curriculum. We are against high-stakes testing. We are against using unproven tests to determine the fate of students and teachers, telling students they have failed and, implicitly, that they shouldn’t try again. The tests we use are rarely developed by teachers, and definitely not by the teachers who actually know our students. As professional pedagogues, we can’t stand by that policy when there are better approaches out there.

If you think there is no model for alternatives to testing, come visit my school around the end of the term. You’ll see parents and students engaged in what we call Student-Led Conferences — highly-formalized presentations in which students share what they have learned in each of their courses and how it enabled them to produce their most quality work. Some schools have become so proficient in their versions of Student-Led Conferences that they are considered performance-based assessment schools, and in recognition the state even exempts students at some city high schools from most Regents exams. The designation, and the exemption, means these schools are trusted to assess their students on academic performance directly related to what they learned— rather than their ability to fill in the right bubble. Shouldn’t we be moving all schools toward quality student performance rather than high scores on tests not developed by educators?

GEM Statement on Cathleen Black, David Steiner, and the Appointment of Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott

Posted at the GEM blog.
(Last modified, Friday, April 8, 11PM)

It is Time to Break the Cycle

Since 2003, public school parents, children, educators, and community members have endured a dictatorial public education reform agenda that has ignored and marginalized their voices and has undermined and destabilized the schools they depend on, love, and serve. The departure of Cathleen Black highlights the incompetence, arrogance, and political nature of Bloomberg’s educational agenda; this is not about children first, but rather a blind belief in the corporate reform movement propelled by a centralized, top down system that has been destructive for our schools and our children.


It is time for a break in the power structure that has a strangle hold on our public education system; it is time for parents, children, educators and communities to have a say in the education of their 1.2 million school children.

The departure of four Deputy Chancellors in the last 100 days along with the admission by Mayor Bloomberg that the appointment of Black as Chancellor was a mistake, followed by the announced departure of the State Commissioner of Education on Thursday, makes it clear that the almost decade long mayoral control and corporate reform experiment that has ignored the voices of parents, teachers and community has been a failure for the entire educational community. The growing movements against school closings and the privatization of education have helped to expose these failures.

In the coming months our schools face severe cuts, testing is raging out of control, charter schools will attempt to expand by invading more schools, a campaign to close schools continues, dedicated educators are under attack, and our children’s education is at stake. Decisions about the lives of children, like the choice of leaders of the school system, should not be made without their parents, their communities and their teachers. We have little confidence that newly appointed Chancellor Dennis Walcott will be any more than the extension of the same policies with a different face. It is time for Mr. Bloomberg and the Department of Education to engage with parents, treat them as partners and provide the leadership and policies that truly do put children first.

The Grassroots Education Movement supports the Deny Waiver Coalition in their preference for a transparent and nationwide search process for a qualified Chancellor to run our school system. We believe that Mr. Bloomberg and our future Chancellor should fight for real reforms that will transform our public education system. They could begin with a moratorium on school closings, turnarounds, and charter co-locations. Reforms should include parent and teacher empowerment, more teaching, less testing, and the equitable funding needed to make sure our schools are responsive to, and the centers of, the communities they serve.

The Bloomberg ship is sinking. The last nine years under Mayor Bloomberg has been a sea of destructive and misguided educational policies. It is time for our children to be thrown a life raft. It is time for Bloomberg to be held accountable. It is time for a sea change.

______________
See Leonie Haimson on Walcott  posted on Norms Notes where she says:

unless Walcott (and the Mayor) change course, show that they are willing to follow the law, listen to parents and other stakeholders, and alter the policies that are damaging our kids, I do not  believe that the mayor’s abysmal approval ratings will increase substantially.  I hope that this appointment means a real shift in direction, rather than simply a PR move, but we will have to see.

AfterBurn
While I agree with the tone of both Leonie's and GEM's statement, I have a different slant and won't wait and see if it's not simply a PR move because no one changes teams in the middle of the game and Walcott is on the wrong side and will not change. I don't want Bloomberg to have a final say in choosing a Chancellor or if possible, any say at all. We need separation of politics and education. Mayoral control must end ASAP. Better no chancellor than one appointed by Bloomberg. Our old friends at the UFT, which took no stand opposing Black - as outrageous as the appointment itself from my point of view – support and will continue to support mayoral control forever - with just some tweaks added. We are fighting a 2-front war. Ed deformers on one side and the UFT/AFT at our backs. Really, a 3-front war - corporate, government and our own union. We need more air support than the Libyan rebels.

Oh, and good ridence to that Meryl Tisch suck-up David Steiner. The day he was appointed I attacked him and people chastised me for not giving him a chance. They don't get that the person doing the appointing is the key, not the appointee themselves. No one appoints someone who will change the direction they want to go in. Tisch is Bloomberg's next door neighbor and had Joel Klein ask the 4 Questions at her Passover sedars. Guess which side she is on?

Ravitch debates Canada on NY1 - Oh, what a bullshitter he is.

Andy Wolfe nails them in a piece at the Daily News.
"Bloomberg seems to believe that those who toil at the hard business of educating children are the problem. He is wrong."

____________
Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on right for news bits.

A Busy Day: A Reporter, Old Friends, GEM Meets

Updated

Given the schlep from Rockaway, I try to schedule multiple events when I go into the city. Yesterday (Wednesday) turned out to be a busy day indeed.

Meet a reporter at Starbucks
First up was a meeting with a reporter from a major paper. I love it when reporters ask the right questions and are willing to probe. It could be phony but there seemed to be genuine enthusiasm as I told tales of the ATR wine and cheese rally (reporter wanted to see my videos) and other stories. Not that I expect any article from the press to reflect the depth of the discussion (we very rarely get to see what lies underneath in these articles), but at least I got a sense that the reporter "gets it." I figured it would take about 15 minutes for boredom to set in but we did 45 minutes and I was asked to meet again. If an article appears I'll talk more about it.

Lunch (my favorite thing)
Then it was off to Bar Pitti to meet old UFT war horses Merry Tucker and Bruce Markens. Bruce has always been a hero to people in the opposition because he was the only non-Unity district rep who consistently stood up to his Unity hack bosses – for over a decade. Of course that was the days when district reps were elected (by the chapter leaders in the district, mostly Unity anyway, but at least a semblance of democracy). Randi finally pulled the plug on DR elections in 2002 - and Bruce's consistently getting elected through the 90's as Manhattan HS DR was a major reason. Full disclosure: I had announced my candidacy for DR in my District in the spring of 2002. In my interview with Tom Pappas, Bob Astrowsky and Michelle Bodden I said I wouldn't retire - that caused almost as big a laugh as when I pulled out copies of Ed Notes as an example of my work as a union activist. The guy they chose used to brag how he pulled Ed Notes out of mailboxes. He's still there. Ask teachers in the District if they feel represented. Actually, in the long run, having a DR responsible to the leadership instead of the members works against the leaders, but that's a story for another time.

You can imagine that the DR story gave the reporter quite a kick.

But back to lunch. Delightful. Merry (who used to schlep around the Bronx with me distributing Ed Notes) and Bruce have done some travelling and it is always fun to catch up. After lunch, Merry was off to see her mom, a well-known activist who was married to Steve Zelluck). Barbara Zelluck, who I don't know, is seriously ill. We wish her well. I am forever thankful to Merry for introducing me to Lisa North and Gloria Brandman, amazing ICE and GEM activists.

Bruce and I walked uptown to CUNY where the GEM meeting was taking place talking union politics. (We are major wonks.) He has so many great stories and so much knowledge and history, I keep bugging him to do a debriefing on camera to leave a record of Unity perfidy.

GEM meeting
I went up to the air conditioned GEM meeting (what a great crew) which was very vigorous with lots of great reports from schools and news of the picnic at Prospect Park this Saturday to make posters for the schoolwide informational pickets on June 4. We also had some good discussions, especially on the new teacher evaluation system. Tilden Chapter Leader John Lawhead gave a mesmerizing analysis of the agreement, which I thankfully taped and will put it up in a day or two. Wonderful stuff.

We also had a good and heated discussion as to whether we work to get the UFT to act or give up on them. I'm in the latter group and pushed my Vichy analogy, but there are other points of view, which we will explore in some forums on the UFT, maybe this summer.

Next GEM Meeting: Tuesday, April 13

Come to the GEM Meeting
to Discuss and Plan Next Steps For:

The fight Against School Closures and Co-locations
Setting up School-Based Committees
Literature Needed to Help Build our Movement

Grassroots Education Movement (GEM) is a group of mostly educators that has been fighting against the charter take overs, school closings, high stakes testing, mayoral control and all other forms of the attack on and public education and the push to privatize.

Where: CUNY grad center. 34/35th on 5th ave. N, R, D, F, Q, B, W, V, 6, 2/3 trains. Room: 5414

When: 4:30 - 7

We are meeting next Tuesday to talk about next steps in the fight against charter take overs, school closings and to find concrete ways for all those concerned with education to get involved in this growing nation wide fight back. One important aspect of our work will be to build school based committees to involve educators and families in the process of educating ourselves, building a collective vision of what we are fighting for and developing a strong base of active citizens that will hold our government and corporate entities accountable for this unprecedented attack on our work, our students and their families.

If you think you might be interested in getting involved with this work, if you are curious about what it will take to win this fight, or if you just want to listen, please come on Tuesday.