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

Julie Cavanagh Defends LIFO in Response to Teach for America Attempt to Silence Voice of Rank-and-File Teachers on Today's LIFO Panel

As I reported (Teach For America New York presents: A (Biased) panel discussion on the "Last In, First Out" teacher layoff policy in New York State)  classroom teacher Julie Cavanagh was tossed off a TFA panel and replaced by the UFT's Leo Casey (if anyone goes to this event please take notes on how Leo defends LIFO, it at all).

Here is what Julie would have said if she were on the panel, followed by her correspondence with TFA officials. While I don't agree with everything she has to say I am looking forward to GEM having its own panels on issues such as LIFO and teacher evaluation systems that would make sense.



Teach for America Silences Voices of Rank-and-File Teachers on LIFO Panel

by Julie Cavanagh
Special education teacher, PS 15, Brooklyn, member Grassroots Education Movement (GEM)

April 12, 2011

Two weeks ago I was invited to appear on a panel regarding seniority rights. The panel was being organized by Teach for America. I quickly accepted the opportunity to bring the voice of the rank-and-file teacher to the issue. A few days after I accepted, I received another email and was informed that despite my interest there would no longer be room on the panel for me because Leo Casey, UFT VP of High Schools, would be joining the panel. When one of my fellow GEM members informed Leo Casey, he said he would contact the TFA folks and tell them I should be on the panel. Needless to say, the TFA folks have not responded to the email I sent to them. (See correspondence in separate cover).

Since I am a 'T' in UFT, and since there is not one full-time public school educator on a panel that is discussing the pros and cons of seniority rights for full-time public school educators, I am disappointed and disturbed. I can't help but think that the removal of the only real teacher voice from the panel is intentional. Shame on the organizers of this event for silencing the teacher voice in this conversation!

I recently had the opportunity to make the case for LIFO in a debate with a member of E4E on NY1's "Inside City Hall" (http://www.ny1.com/?ArID=134963) and would have loved the opportunity to reiterate and expand on those points tonight. Here is some of what I would be saying tonight at the TFA panel were I not dis-invited:

Before I begin, I'd like to point out that many teacher tenure and seniority laws predate the right of teachers to bargain collectively by many years. (The UFT was not founded until 1960). These laws were passed due to rampant corruption in hiring and firing practices and were designed to protect academic freedom and basic constitutional rights.

1. Seniority rights protect not only teachers, but children.
Teachers are often the strongest advocates for their children, all too often coming up against their supervisors in doing so. Without seniority rights, teachers would be susceptible to arbitrary lay-offs based on a myriad of possibilities including race, sexuality, politics, or advocacy for children and/or parents. In my more than ten years in the classroom, and in policy and advocacy work over the last several years I have seen countless dedicated and excellent educators attacked, harassed, given U-ratings, and in some cases pushed out of the school system as retribution by administrators. Children benefit from the only objective process that keeps their teachers from being silenced, unable to speak out, or defend their rights and advocate for proper learning and classroom conditions.

2. I flatly reject any evaluation or lay-off system that is tied to test scores especially the inclusion of a merit pay system.
Over the last year in particular, the unreliability of test scores have been exposed. We have seen mountains of research, including the Vanderbilt and EPI studies respectively, point out that merit-pay schemes and other test-score-based performance measures do not have a positive impact on student achievement. Standardized tests often do little more than measure socioeconomic status, narrow our curriculum and turn our schools into inhumane places that make teaching and learning horrific experiences for teachers and students alike. I left the testing grade this year because I no longer wanted to be complicit in what I consider to be the systematic abuse of my children, particularly children with special needs. I say this as a teacher with a 'teacher report card' with a 99% rating. I am all for accountability, but until we develop objective and meaningful measures to hold teachers accountable, seniority rights for lay-offs is the only way to ensure both educators and students are protected. In terms of evaluations, I refuse to be forced into a scenario where we say the current system is flawed so therefore we must quickly make changes and move to yet another flawed system. If we are going to change the way we evaluate educators, let's do it the right way. Let standardized test scores be minimized, or better yet, no factor at all in any new evaluation system. Remember, assessment is supposed to be a diagnostic tool used to drive instruction, not used as a punitive measure to determine the value of teachers, children, and schools.

3. Experience Matters.
All the research shows that experience matters. If we want to make decisions about what teachers to keep in the profession, we have to look at what the research overwhelmingly shows: teachers with five or more years experience are better for children than teachers with less than five years experience. The Star Report highlights this particularly well because it does not just rely on test scores (which I mentioned already I question) but it also looks at adult income levels (not that I believe making money is the key to happiness, but it certainly is a key to survival and therefore the most basic measure of success). *(Research on teacher experience can be found at www.parentsacrossamerica.org.)

4. The attack on LIFO is quite simply union busting.
The corporate reformers who are behind the attack on LIFO and interestingly behind the two organizations featured on the TFA panel (Students First and E4E) are quite simply anti-union. A blind belief in the free market does not allow them to see beyond their own needs and benefits; it colors their lenses green with one central focus: money. Cost containment and unfettered top-down control are at the roots of the attack on LIFO and anyone who tells you otherwise either doesn't understand the issue or is engaging in misdirection. Getting rid of teacher protections is the only way that corporate reformers can continue to privatize our public education system. Unions are the only institution that can stand in their way, along with the voting public who are growing more aware of the true intentions of the corporate reformers. I believe there are well-intentioned people who support ending LIFO — dedicated teachers who inevitably have had to work with a teacher who was not as dedicated as them, as one example. But the drive to end LIFO (and the funding for it) is not coming from these teachers or from well-intentioned individuals. Rather it is born out of a national movement to change our school system into a 'portfolio', into a consumer-driven, profit margin aware, business-like entity. We are entering very dangerous territory. Just look at the number of stories emerging of abusive principals who target certain teachers who stand up to them or do not pay the proper fealty. When this happens to even one teacher it brings a cloud over the security of every teacher. Even if your current principal is fine, there are enough loose cannons out there and it takes just a change in leadership to turn a "safe" school into a school from hell. Let us remember why we have unions: protection. Let us remember why we must have these protections: a history of child labor, unsafe conditions, unfair wages, no healthcare, no pension or other retirement support mechanisms. Instead of attacking teachers for having union protections, we should be demanding that ALL workers have these protections.

5. Ending seniority rights will have a disproportionate and negative impact on our disappearing black and Latino educators.
Does racial discrimination still exist in our society? Contrary to what E4E's position paper on this issue falsely claims, under the Bloomberg Administration our Black and Latino teachers have been disappearing at an alarming rate (new hires of Black teachers dropped from 28% to under 14% over 8 years). Seniority rights is one of the last protections we have that we know for sure will maintain the tragically low number of Black and Latino teachers we have left. In a system that serves more than 80% children of color, it is unacceptable that more than 70% of its educators are white. In addition to this issue, we already have an attrition problem here in NYC, more than 40% of our teachers leave with less than six years in! Knowing the value of having Black and Latino teachers for Black and Latino students and knowing the value of experienced educators, it is quite shocking the focus is on how to get rid of teachers easier, rather than on how to attract and retain teachers in general, and particularly, teachers of color.

6. There is no legitimate evidence that seniority rights as a system-wide determinant for lay-offs has a negative impact on our public education system.
Yes, you can find anecdotal evidence to hold up a given less experienced educator next to a more experienced educator and say, given these two, the less experienced educator looks better. But system-wide the research clearly shows that is not true. When difficult decisions like layoffs must be made (which I would argue in this case are unnecessary and manipulated for political reasons) they have to be made on a system-wide basis — in the collective interest. We are moving into dangerous ground when the individual assumes more importance than the collective. The nature of our work as educators makes us very interconnected. How we value our schools, our teachers, and workers' rights are important factors in making sure we preserve our ability to build a society rather than simply a random assortment of individuals in competition with each other. Schools must be collaborative places. Schools must be places where educators feel safe to speak up and speak out.



Finally, let me talk about what I am for, and I hope that folks will join in this conversation, because if we don't propose the kinds of systems we would like for evaluations and lay-offs, the issue will be decided for us by people who have little knowledge or understanding. I will keep my thoughts very simple. Please, please share yours:

1. Lay-offs
We should maintain seniority rights for lay-offs because it is the only objective way to release and re-hire teachers in an orderly and rational manner. The research shows that system-wide this is what benefits children because experience matters. This is the only way to ensure that lay-offs are not used politically or economically in order to cleanse the system of either outspoken or experienced/more expensive teachers. LIFO also protects even fairly new teachers, assuring even 2nd and 3rd year teachers they will keep their jobs over some first year teacher with "connections" while assuring an orderly call-back in case there are layoffs (which in fact there rarely ever been in the entire over hundred year history of the NYC school system.)

2. Evaluations
We must empower school-communities. We should look at Deb Meier's work in some of her pilot schools, and consider those models. I believe in school-based boards that are comprised of parents, teachers, school staff, and administration. I believe these boards should have oversight over teacher evaluation, administrator evaluation, and budgeting. I believe evaluations should be judged based on classroom observations, student input when appropriate, parent satisfaction, and some measure of data. I would like to see a teacher evaluated based on authentic student reading levels over a period of time along with portfolios of student work showing students' individual growth and progress rather than the snapshot we get from standardized test scores.

The views expressed here are my own.
Please feel free to contact me to continue the dialogue: gemnyc@gmail.com.

SEE MY LIVE BLOGS FROM THE PANEL DISCUSSION AND FOLLOW-UPS

At TFA LIFO Panel Part 1

TFA LIFO Panel Part 2

TFA LIFO Afterthoughts -Part 1- and Response to Gotham Report

Ed Notes in Bid Against Bill Gates for Educators 4 Excellence's Sydney Morris

 

Correspondence between Julie Cavanagh and TFA LIFO Panel Organizers

Invite
Hi there,
Brian De Vale who is a principal here in New York City recommended that we get in touch with Ms. Cavanaugh regarding a panel discussion on the LIFO Teacher Lay-off policy here in New York that Teach For America is hosting for our alumni teachers and principals. It will be held at the Urban Assembly School for Design and Construction on Tuesday April 12th at 6:30p.m. Given her outspoken, grassroots work in schools and on school issues to date, we think she would bring a thought –provoking perspective to the conversation and would like to invite her to join the panel. Could you please forward this request to her? Much appreciated! The panel currently consists of the following people and will be moderated by Lindsey Christ of NY 1:

Dr. Pedro Noguera (NYU)
Eric Lerum (StudentsFirst)
Educators 4 Excellence

We imagined the success of this conversation rooted in having a voices that represent all sides of the debate around LIFO policy to create a lively and thought-provoking conversation for the folks that attend. Ms. Cavanagh would be a great addition. I look forward to hearing back from her.
Best,
Deepa

Deepa Purohit
Coordinator, Alumni Affairs
Teach For America - New York
(Email) deepa.purohit@teachforamerica.org
www.teachforamerica.org

Dis-invite:
Hi Julie,
Thanks so much for your interest in participating in our panel. We had originally invited Michael Mulgrew from the UFT and did not hear back from him till this weekend. He has a scheduling conflict but has asked Leo Casey (VP, Academic High Schools) to represent him and the UFT. So, at this point our panel is full. My apologies as we did not have this information when gauging your interest on Friday. We hope that you are still able to attend the event, however. We would love to have you. We'll also be doing more events over the year and definitely keep you in mind should you want to participate formally in the future.
Thanks,
Jeff

My reply:
Hello,
I understand the procedural dilemma here, however I do think it is unfortunate that a rank and file member of the UFT, who has much stronger views on this issue that are not represented on the panel, is being bumped off after having been invited (I didn't express interest, I was asked).
I don't intend to sound curt here, however, it is disappointing that a panel which is being billed as a full discussion including all perspectives on lifo, will not be so, as the representatives on your panel will not fully defend seniority rights, which I, and the overwhelming majority of educators in NYC and beyond, fully support.

Thank you for the original invitation.

All the best,
Julie Cavanagh

District 6 Feb. 16 Shael Suransky - the DOE operating concepts pertaining to Teaching, Learning, & Accountability: Teacher-activist Julie Cavanagh will respond

NOTE: Just heard from Julie - she is real sick and can't make it. Suransky also postponed. Even to be rescheduled in April.

Josh Karan a parent leader in District 6 (Washington Hts) has established a program to engage parents in the educational debate.


Tomorrow's session will have Shael Suransky and GEM/CAPE's Julie Cavanagh presenting.

Deputy Chancellor Shael Suransky will present the DOE operating concepts pertaining to Teaching, Learning, & Accountability, to which teacher-activist Julie Cavanagh will be responding. 

Next - March 7:

DOE Charter School Division Chief Recy Dunn will present the DOE view on the value of Charter schools, to which Mona David will respond.

Josh described the program with the hope it will be emulated in other districts:

The purpose of the program is to provide a roadmap for parents --- to enable them to see a way from here to there, after first defining what the here and there mean for them:  Examining what kind of education parents want for their children, and exploring what currently is being provided.  Presently many parents struggle to do any of this -- understand the current system, articulate what they believe the system should provide, and assert what their role should be in the crafting of a different system, operating under different structures, provision of resources, and values.

This is intended to be a pilot program in my District.  Hopefully it will continue, so that after a few years, in time for the 2015 next round of School Governance legislative consideration, there will be 150 to 200 trained and motivated parents in District 6 who will provide leadership to mobilize our community for a different direction for educational policy. 

Kudos to Josh for his proactive efforts. I can't make the event but it should interesting to see how Julie, a special ed classroom teacher in a school invaded by a charter interacts with the 2nd in command of the school system. If you go (sorry, I don't have the location) send a report.

I put up the entire program at Norms Notes:  District 6 Parent Advocacy Training Program

Julie Cavanagh on The Dangers of Edu-Philanthropy: Education's Trojan Horse

Julie Cavanagh

Special Education Teacher in Red Hook, Brooklyn and a member of CAPE (Concerned Advocates for Public Education) and GEM (Grassroots Education Movement).

Published at The Huffington Post, Dec. 24, 2010

The season of giving is upon us. In the month of December, most Americans find themselves ignited with a civic spirit and generously give of their time, their talent, and their treasure. At my little school in Red Hook, Brooklyn we aim to make giving a value that is present throughout the year. Our school, and hundreds of schools across New York City and the country, participate in the Penny Harvest, a Common Cents program.

The Penny Harvest is a program that is aimed at igniting the civic spirit of a new generation and teaches children about the importance of philanthropy. Students harvest pennies throughout the fall. Common Cents turns those pennies into dollars and the children turn those dollars into good deeds. Common Cents awards each school's "Student Roundtable" a grant. Roundtable students engage in a democratic process to identify local and global needs and design service projects and make donations to causes they, and their school as a whole, feel are important. Students at my school have assisted BARC animal shelter here in Brooklyn, they have created a certified bird habitat, and have started a GRRReen Campaign at our school, which includes holding an annual GO GRRReen festival to increase their community's environmental awareness.

The children in my school have certainly learned what philanthropy is through our partnership with Common Cents; we have been named a School of Excellence because, school-wide, our children engage in a myriad of service projects and programs, which ultimately empowers them to make a positive difference in their world. From my perspective -- as an urban educator -- empowerment is the most important element of a program that serves children and families who have historically been disempowered. All too often, decisions are made for subsections of our citizenry without their input; often, the decisions being made do not wholly benefit those they are intended for. If only we worked to empower those that have been so often left behind, we could engage in policy discussions that would move our society forward. Instead, we ignore the actual stakeholders, particularly when it comes to education policy, creating results that are often not beneficial to the intended targets.

As the saying goes, "Nothing about us, without us," and I love those who have added to the end, "...is for us."

Our students are well on their way to becoming engaged, and thoughtful citizens. They have learned that everyone has something to give, no matter how small. More importantly they have learned that giving is an act that reminds us all of our interconnectedness; that our efforts should be spent benefiting the many, not the few, and that when even one of our citizens suffers, we all suffer. The grown-ups who largely consider themselves philanthropists today, particularly edu-philanthropists, could use a lesson from my students.

From Gates, to Broad, to Bloomberg, edu-philanthropists have been pouring their time, talent and treasure into education. They tout themselves as education reformers, but, largely, their dollars are not simply good deeds. Instead, their gifts are thinly veiled attacks on our public education system. Edu-philanthropy is education's Trojan horse.

Read more: The Huffington Post

Do Teacher Unions Have the Cooties? - Julie Cavanagh at the Huffington Post

A Real Reformer has a few things to say

If not for NYC teachers like Julie Cavanagh I would most likely be out grazing in the pasture of early bird specials and daytime bus trips to Atlantic City.

Having met Julie only 15 months ago through her work with Concerned Advocates for Public Education (CAPE) in Red Hook, I have to say that I have been more than impressed - impressed at the idea that a teacher just a shade over 30 with a decade of experience is out there with a whole bunch of other same gen Real Reformers doing what so many older teachers who I hear putting down the younger gen of colleagues do not believe is possible – mounting a defense of teacher unions from the perspective of a teacher in the trenches. And with a social justice twist.

One thing I have come to know. My usual habits of meandering around issues at tasks and at meetings and losing focus is not something to be tolerated. The constant refrains: "Is that the most productive use of your time?" and "Stop interrupting people." Nice to be lectured to by someone over half your age. But I am definitely more productive – when prodded. Fear does work.

Julie has helped CAPE organize a wonderful crew of teachers aligned with parents in the Red Hook community to fight off the invasions of the PAVE charter school clones. CAPE's work has impressed the activist education community throughout NYC with its passionate defense and pride in their public school. Many consider their school and community one of the most successful examples of a truly organized teacher/parent advocacy group. The 50 page "Advocacy Toolkit" that emerged from their own experience was produced to assist other schools facing charter co-locations had people dropping their jaws in awe. Check out the index:

1. Educating and Advertising…
· Create a press release
· Create a blog
· Contact the media
· Create a newsletter
· Advocacy Resources
2. Organizing…
· Create an advocacy group
· Community Organizing
3. Mobilizing...
· Create a petition
· Create a form letter
· Contact Policymakers
· Community Mobilizing
4. Information to share

(I can send you a copy if interested.)
 
Julie and some other CAPEers have jumped into the work of GEM. In a relatively short time, Julie has emerged as a prominent voice for the classroom teacher in the NYC ed real reform community: a major force behind the rally at Bloomberg's house in January (she co-signed the court papers along with Seung Ok) and the film we are working on to respond to WfS (http://www.waitingforsupermantruth.org). An organizer for the rally in front of the movie theater on Sept. 24, she even wrote the words for the song "Will the Real Reformers Please Stand Up!" A passionate advocate for many of the push button issues so many of us care about, she provides real leadership, which has so often been absent. Julie's appearance on Fox and Friends on Sept. 26 gave her an opportunity to defend teachers and tenure in the very brief time she had ("Without tenure I wouldn't be sitting here....tenure allows teachers to advocate with parents for children.")

My proudest moment: introducing Julie to Leonie Haimson.
This dynamic duo should make the ed deformers very scared indeed.

When we add some of the great people in the NY Collection of Radical Educators (NYCORE), Teachers Unite and other activists in Grassroots Education Movement (GEM), there is some hope for a movement to emerge from the new generation of teachers (please, please so I can be put out to pasture).

The common theme: Will the Real Reformers Please Stand Up!

Going national
Recently, Julie began a column at the Huffington Post. Look for it weekly.

Her first post: Do Teacher Unions Have the Cooties?

Excerpts:

Each week it is my hope to bring to you a teacher's perspective, highlighting the latest issues in educational policy with anecdotes from the everyday classroom. Please join me, in the comments section, by sharing your personal stories that bring to life the unintended, or perhaps intended, consequences of education policy and reform.

-------
We all remember "the cooties", and we expect this kind of behavior and name calling from young children. Millions of parents and teachers hide their laughter (at least I do) when the subject is perennially breached. As we engaged in a brief discussion of "the cooties" and treating each other nicely, I couldn't help but think of the national dialogue about teachers and their unions right now, and the very clear message that teacher unions "have the cooties". The assault on teacher unions has reached a fever pitch. The conversation surrounding education policy, and millions in taxpayer dollars in the form of Race to the Top, is focused not only on attacking our unions, but weakening them, if not dismantling them altogether.
--------

I am interested in reform. However, I seek real reform. Attacking teachers and their unions will not result in real reform. Let's turn our sights not on those "wealthy middle class teachers, with their cushy jobs, who retire on pensions that are a fraction of their salary," instead, we should focus on our policy makers and the corporate interests that drive their decision making. Let's stop playing schoolyard games with teachers and their unions and get real. Teachers and their unions do not have 'the cooties', we simply have and want to keep what all workers in this country should have: fair wages, health care, protections from arbitrary firing, safe working conditions, and a reasonable pension so we can live and retire at a fair wage and age.

Our children deserve real reform right now! Write to your policy makers and demand:
- Smaller class sizes
- Public Schools that are Community Centers and Serve ALL Children
- More Teaching -- Less Testing
- Parent and Teacher Empowerment and Leadership
- Equitable funding for ALL schools
- Anti-Racist Education Policies
- Culturally Relevant Curriculum
- Expanded Pre Kindergarten and Early Intervention Programs

Read the full piece at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julie-cavanagh/post_955_b_742752.html

Arthur Goldstein too
Speaking of Huffington, another great teacher activist leader - but a bit closer to my generation - is Arthur Goldstein, chapter leader at Francis Lewis HS, also has his first post up and running - a love letter to Bill Gates at the Huffington Post and a letter in the Daily News today (scroll down to see it).

Here's an excerpt from: Garrulous Mr. Gates

It's been a busy year for Bill Gates. He's been spreading his gospel far and wide. He spent 2 million dollars promoting Waiting for Superman, yet its alleged villainess, AFT President Randi Weingarten and company chose Gates to address her convention, an unlikely choice, to say the least. I'm not an education expert like Gates, so I'll comment only on a TED talk he gave last year. My experience is limited to teaching 25 years in New York City.  Still, even a layperson such as myself has to wonder where the influential Gates gets his information:

After burn
Check out the post below this for upcoming Teacher Unite events this week, starting with Lois Weiner tomorrow.