NY Times Pulls Race Card in Report on Charters While The Guardian Exposes Sham Astroturf Protests

Recently a crowd of protesters disrupted a speech by Elizabeth Warren. The activists might have seemed grassroots, but they weren’t... The Guardian, Billionaire-funded protest is rearing its head in America
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/27/billionare-funded-protests-america

But the NY Times (intentionally) fell for it as evidenced by this biased front page article in the Nov. 27, 2019 edition of the Times: Minority Voters Chafe as Democratic Candidates Abandon Charter Schools. 
The NYT doesn't raise the issue: Why is there a charter school industrial complex designed to make a lot of money for a lot of people using kids as a device.

[Addendum since publication - Ravitch on the same subject: Robert Kuttner (and I) Challenge the New York Times Slant on Charter Schools By dianeravitch November 29, 2019]

Contrast the reports from the Times and the Guardian:

NYT:

Outside the Atlanta studio where the candidates were assembling for Wednesday’s debate, more than 300 people chanted “Our children, our choice” to the drumbeats of a marching band from a KIPP school. The next day, black and Latino charter school parents shouted the same refrain at Ms. Warren as she tried to start a speech about race in Atlanta. .... Since 2016, public polling has shown a widening divide on charter schools between white Democrats and their black and Latino peers. White Democrats’ approval of charter schools dropped to 27 percent from 43 percent between 2016 and 2018, according to a poll conducted by Education Next, a journal based at Harvard that is generally supportive of charters. Black and Latino approval for the schools remained basically steady at about 47 percent for each group.

Hmmmm - does this mean the majority of parents of color do not approve and why is that downplayed - note how misleading the NYT headline is: Minority Voters Chafe as Democratic Candidates Abandon Charter Schools

I don't expect anything less from NYT reporter Eliza Shapiro who shows bias in her reporting since she was at Politico - When she moderated a debate on charters I attended with Carol Burris as one of the participants challenging charters, I saw clear evidence of bias so I never trust her ed reporting --- at times Trump is right about NYT fake news -- NYC education activists have known that for decades.

Guardian:

Last week, Elizabeth Warren went to Atlanta to give a major speech about issues of concern to black women. Her speech touched on knotty, existential topics such as the legacy of slavery, institutional racism, voter suppression, mass incarceration and reparations. But the next day’s headlines overwhelmingly focused on the fact that the speech was interrupted by a loud group of pro-charter school protesters.
We were supposed to be talking about challenging centuries of institutional racism, but now we’re talking about charter schools. How did that happen? If you suspect that some sort of nefarious action that can be traced back to plutocratic billionaires is involved – well, of course.

The protesters themselves were, by all accounts and appearances, a group of concerned people who passionately oppose Warren’s plan to bolster public education and crack down on the charter school industry. But they did not all materialize in the crowd together in matching shirts by chance. Their existence was orchestrated by pro-charter school groups that are funded by an array of billionaires, including Netflix founder Reed Hastings, art and philanthropy titan Eli Broad and, most prominently, the Walton Foundation, controlled by the staggeringly wealthy family that owns Walmart. Thus we are all forced to deal with the spectacle of classic tactics of grassroots protest being coopted and fueled by a tiny group of the very sort of people that such tactics were developed to target in the first place.

NYT: their [charters] waiting lists swelling into the hundreds of thousands. ​
What bullshit about waiting lists - charter propaganda. The reporters should ask to see these lists. We know there are empty charter seats in Eva schools here in NY.

And are there also massive waiting lists for some public schools?

Why White Parents Were at the Front of the Line for the School ...

https://www.nytimes.com › nyregion › beacon-high-school-admissions-nyc

Nov 15, 2019 - 

One more bit from the Guardian to highlight how easy the charter lobby can distract from real issues:

One of the emotional backbones of Warren’s speech was the story of the 1881 Atlanta washerwomen strike – a relatively little known incident in labor history that she was no doubt inspired to cite by the union leader Sara Nelson’s recent speech on the same topic in front of the Democratic Socialists of America convention. Yet what should be a shining example of radical ideas rising to mainstream prominence in a presidential campaign has been pushed to the bottom of most news stories in favor of the charter school ruckus. This points to the fact that astroturf campaigns don’t have to be very sophisticated, or even very secret; they just need to make enough noise to weasel their way into a 30-second TV hit to get the job done.

 Oh, and Howard Fuller is one of the biggest pieces of crap and indicative of the slime the charter industry attracts.

Read both articles in full below.

======

Billionaire-funded protest is rearing its head in America

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/27/billionare-funded-protests-america

Attributing the Opt Out Movement to Union Influence is Just Plain Bad Reporting -- ahem, NY Times

They're (NYT) a disgrace to journalism. Assuming most of the 200,000+ kids opting out have two adults in their household, we are talking about perhaps half a million public school parents, who by definition are not sitting around with time on their hands randomly wondering what trendy cause to get involved in, who are rising up in civil disobedience against the state's education policies -- and the Times yawns... Jeff Nichols, parent activist, Change the Stakes

Ho hum ….NY Times story http://nyti.ms/1JnXatn  buries the lead and finally gets to NYS opt out numbers in paragraph 19. Doesn’t interview a single parent. And doesn’t even really explore the rift between NYSUT and the UFT which is perhaps the only interesting angle to the story. ... Leonie Haimson

I was surprised–and disappointed–by the front page story in The New York Times on Tuesday, April 21, which reports that opting out is union-led and union-driven.  That was not the case in New Jersey, where the union got involved only late in the game.  The national effort led by Peggy Robertson says it has received no support from either teacher union. The Times’ story cites analysts but no parents.↵... John Merrow

This article completely misrepresents the reality. The "opt-out movement" in Nee York State has been parent-led, with ever-increasing involvement by teachers and only very recently some union participation. It is not now and never had been about unions "encouraging parents to opt out." This article could only have been written by someone who has been paying no attention at all or who has done kind of pro-"reform" agenda. It leaves the uninformed reader with the impression that self-promoting unions don't care about "accountability" measures designed to protect the poor. Hundreds of thousands of parents in revolt, leading this movement, and this is what the Times has to say? Unbelievable.... Jeff Nichols

The New York Times Misses the Story: Opt Out Came from Parents, Not Unions....  Diane Ravitch

I emailed with one of the reporters before the story was written and gave her the names of some of the parent leaders of the Opt Out movement, some of whom have spent three years organizing parents in their communities. Jeanette Deutermann, for example, is a parent who created Long Island Opt Out. I gave her the names of the parent leaders in Westchester County, Ulster County, and Dutchess County. I don’t know if any of them got a phone call, but the story is clearly about the union leading the Opt Out movement, with nary a mention of parents. The parents who created and led the movement were overlooked. They were invisible. In fact, this story is the only time that the Times deigned to mention the mass and historic test refusal that cut across the state. So according to the newspaper of record, this was a labor dispute, nothing more. Not surprising that this is the view of Merryl Tisch, Chancellor of the Board of Regents, and of everyone else who opposes opting out.

Let's call them out. The bad reporting was done by Kate Taylor and Motoko Rich -- why talk about quality teaching when we can't get quality reporting? Or is it bad NY Times pro ed deform ideology operating here?

There's a segment of the mainstream media that is framing the opt out movement as something spurred by the teacher's union, and as such, claiming that it is due to the fact that we want nothing of a fair evaluation. We need to work on our counter frame, since our leadership will not do it... Newsday will go down in history as being on the wrong side of history. It's no coincidence that articles are incorrectly framing the opt out movement within the teacher's union. The tests are NOT valid. I think he needs a few responses.
http://www.newsday.com/opinion/columnists/lane-filler/where-the-opt-out-argument-goes-wrong-1.10310189
Jia Lee, MORE

The bad reporting here is by Lane Filler. His Newsday piece has this little stupid nugget:

NYSUT has 600,000 members. How many of the kids who opted out are the children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews of those members? How many more are related to the 300,000 Civil Service Employees Association members in New York, or the other public union members (cops, firefighters, postal workers, etc.) who might support NYSUT out of solidarity? So how many of the families whose kids opted out actually had no dog in this fight?

 Jeez. I emailed Lane - feel free to do so too: lane.filler@newsday.com

The largest component of NYSUT is the UFT with 1/3 of the members and the UFT has stood firm in support of common core, testing, rating teachers based on testing and opposing opt out. Just ask Mulgrew.

I have been part of genuine grassroots opt out parent and teacher movements for over 3 years. We are opponents of the people running our union. To claim the opt out movement is union inspired is just plain bad reporting. Karen Magee came so late to the game. The Long Island opt out movement was going strong before Magee uttered a word and her words only seem to resonate with the anti-union press. Parents do not listen to NYSUT. In fact the strongest small local component of NYSUT that favors opt out is the wing that opposed Magee's election as NYSUT president last year. It is pointless to talk about the union at the state of local level when you really know so little about what is going on.

Better coverage is here, on NY1 by the always reliable Lindsay Christ, a former teacher by the way.http://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2015/04/21/leaders-of--opt-out--movement-celebrate-as-sentiment-against-high-stakes-testing-grows.html

If you watched the NY1 video, note parent Charmaine Dixon, a PTA president who invited Change the Stakes to address a meeting and I was one of the reps who spoke - and really enjoyed doing it. I owe Charmaine a NYC Opt Out tee shirt.

UPDATE: Also see WPIX TV report: http://pix11.com/2015/04/22/next-up-math-new-york-students-face-2nd-round-of-common-core-testing/

John Merrow chipped in today on the opt out story - he has come a long way since his NY Times op ed years ago attacking the shit out of teachers and their unions.

As we reported on the NewsHour last month, it’s a ‘perfect storm’ that has brought together the left and the right, generally with very different motives but with a common purpose: slow down or stop the testing machine. Sweeping generalization: Most on the right want to get rid of the Common Core State Standards and anything that smacks of federal control; most on the left believe schools test too much, and this is their moment to draw a line in the sand. As one CCSS testing opponent said, “We are not anti-testing; we are against these tests.”

John has a good blog post today:

Dear Friends and other readers,

Who’s behind the opt out movement?  The New York Times says it’s the teacher unions; my eyes and ears suggest otherwise. But, more to the point, something is happening out there, and it’s an opportunity to rethink the path we are on.  The central question: Just what aspect of education do we most care about holding accountable: students, teachers or schools?  Of course they’re connected, but we have to choose the one that matters most.  The feds and many others in the US focus on using student scores to evaluate teachers.  Other countries assess students in order to assess students!  But what would happen if we focused on holding schools accountable? Is there a pathway to ’Trust but Verify’ in education? I hope you will take a look at this short piece. Here’s the link: http://bit.ly/1ID1K71

Thanks, and best wishes,

John

John Merrow
President,
Learning Matters, Inc.
212.725.7000 x104

My blog:
http://takingnote.learningmatters.tv/

The Influence of Teachers:
http://amzn.to/qLS7JT

Is NY Times Incompetent Ed Coverage Intentional?

Do reporters at the New York Times know that cheating occurs? We’re fairly sure they do! Just last Tuesday, a news report in the Times ran beneath this headline:“Closing Arguments Begin in Test Cheating Trial of 12 Atlanta Educators”. In the past few years, cheating scandals have been so huge that even our most famous newspapers have managed to report them. But by force of habit and dint of culture, reporters still fail to connect the dots when it comes to a topic like this.

Has Governor Cuomo thought about this? We don’t have the slightest idea! Our mightiest paper, the New York Times, seems disinclined to ask.... Daily Howler

One of my fave topics is the biased, but mostly no-nothing reporting on education - and probably most other issues. The tabloids have long-time ed beat writers who get to know the local ed scene but often distort their reporting to reflect editorial. The Times has a different tactic - inexperience - sort of a tfa for ed reporting. People who really know the beat, like Mike Winerip or Anna Philips, are pushed out for new blood that doesn't have a clue. Why? Because the more experience, the more the ed deform scam becomes clear and if honest, a good reporter can't really distort the issues in favor of the deformers.

Leonie has a good piece on her blog: NYC Public School Parents:
Is the tug of war on education policy between liberal "reform proponents" and the unions, as the NY Times argues, or the 1% and nearly everyone else?

in the process of writing about this ideological battle, the reporter, Maggie Haberman, characterizes Democrats for Education Reform, one of the principle hedge fund-backed lobby groups as a “left of center group,” which is absurd.  For some reason, DFER has managed to persuade reporters that it has any liberal credentials, despite the fact that as Diane Ravitch pointed out, the California Democratic Party has repudiated it.  

Parents Across America wrote an open letter to the NPR ombudsman in 2011, objecting to the fact that Claudio Sanchez, the NPR reporter, had called DFER a “liberal” organization, while quoting their criticism of the progressive participants in the anti-corporate reform Save Our Schools march in DC.   

We also pointed out that DFER’s founder, hedge fund operator Whitney Tilson, admitted that the only reason he put “Democrats” in the organization’s title and focused on convincing Democrats to adopt their pro-privatization agenda was that GOP leaders were already in agreement with most of their positions.

And the Howler takes the Times to task on reporting on the evaluation issue where he raises the purposeful ignoring of cheating as a factor -- go test some of Eva's charter kids at random in June - or September.

Haimson - Prepare to Be Really Sick - Comment on NY Times Mag Moskowitz Puff Piece by Daniel Bergner

Six teachers spoke to him as well as several parents. I was 100% honest with him. We were completely ignored. Many of things I talked about were the main things he focused on here. Conveniently left out.... Teacher at Mickey Mantle school where Eva attempted to evict the special ed children

Below is a comment by Leonie Haimson, followed by teachers who spoke at length to Daniel Bergner and realize they wasted their time.

NYT Mag shows itself to be again the worst media outlet in the nation when it comes to education; a totally one-sided puff piece on Success charters that is almost an exact replica to the biased piece they ran by Steve Brill on the same subject in 2010. Even replays the name of his book Class Warfare. I had to keep looking at it to make sure it wasn’t published in 2010. Obviously the editors have learned nothing since then. Again, all opposition is manufactured by the union, the battle over space is a personal grudge match between de Blasio and Moskowitz, they didn’t mention the high attrition rates of teachers and students at the school, nor did they interview a single parent or teacher in a co-located school. Just awful . One of the worst pieces of crap I have ever read. http://t.co/PpeFvBMkCb

Comment on FB from a Teacher at the Mickey Mantle school --

Wow! What a complete piece of shit! (I'm a little pissed at the moment.) I spent over 45 minutes talking to this reporter and a couple of others spoke to him as well. None of what we said made it in and as usual it's praise Eva and poor Eva with all the truth left out. She only has schools in co-located schools with room? Bull! That's just one thing. My rant can go on and on with truthful points that he denied his readers and general public. I know I shouldn't be surprised because there is a continued love affair between her and mass media. $$$ talks and the general public is clueless. So of course the teacher bashing will continue and roses will be dropped at her feet. I'm furious!.... Teacher at Mickey Mantle School

More teacher voices:

• I couldn't read the whole thing I got sick to my stomach. NOTHING from you or other teachers who have to share with her made it in???

  
  
• Nothing. Six teachers spoke to him as well as several parents. I was 100% honest with him. We were completely ignored. Many of things I talked about were the main things he focused on here. Conveniently left out. Hope he is on Twitter.

  
  
• What a jerk. I'm so glad I didn't interview with him.

  
  

The Trouble With Frank Bruni

How far are we from the day when Whoopi, Campbell and the rest of the ed deform crowd flat out blame the death of Michael Brown on bad teachers?

Joining the anti-teacher fray is former NY Times food writer Frank Bruni, another clueless NY Times columnist writing on education (see David Brooks, Thomas Friedman, Joe Nocera, Brent Staples, and even one bad column from the great Paul Krugman).

I think we need VAM for food columnists. How about basing it on how many calories you gain? 

I was going to do my own assault on Bruni yesterday, but, always a day behind and a dollar short, Arthur Goldstein and Lois Weiner have said it all.

Another argument bigots favor is, "I'm not a bigot. I know some of those people." And waddya know, Johnston has teachers in his family. So he must be totally objective. And Bruni writes for the NY Times. So he must also be objective, with no ax to grind whatsoever. Doubtless it's mere coincidence that he was a guest at the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Campbell Brown, and that he failed to disclose it.... full piece at NYC Educator

Lois Weiner, writing at New Politics, sends an

An open letter to Frank Bruni about tenure for NYC teachers

Dear Frank Bruni,
            I enjoyed your restaurant reviews in the NY Times. Reading your descriptions of the food and ambiance allowed me to experience vicariously many restaurants. We seem to have a similar sensibility -- about food.  You seemed not to allow  restaurant publicity and PR to influence your ratings or judgment, maybe because you know good food and the restaurant business thoroughly enough so that you could see through hype.
            But that’s not the case in your columns on educational issues, in particular your analysis of tenure, which reads like the talking points from Teach for America and Students First, groups funded by billionaires who aim to transform schooling in ways they think best - that is, best for them and profits.... An open letter to Frank Bruni about tenure for NYC teachers.


           

The Daily Howler On NY Times Confusing Farina Story

Do you understand that story? We don’t! If the school [PS 6] was so good when Farina was assigned there, why did it need a “renaissance” or an “upward swing?” If Farina was tasked with bringing the school “to an even higher level of performance,” why did it need to “blossom?”
... Daily Howler

While I generally liked the Javier Hernandez story on Farina, I to was puzzled by this contradiction the Howler points to. Here it is in full. I love it when he takes down the Times -- which is about every 5 minutes.




The attempt to report skool newz: In a report from today’s front page, Javier Hernandez profiles Carmen Farina, Mayor de Blasio’s choice to head the New York City schools.
In the following passage, Hernandez describes a promotion Farina received after she was identified as an outstanding teacher:

HERNANDEZ (1/15/14): Ms. Fariña’s results had caught the attention of top New York education officials, who in 1991 offered her one of the most difficult jobs in the school system: principal of P.S. 6, a 900-student school in the heart of one of the country’s wealthiest ZIP codes.
The elementary school had long been synonymous with prestige and academic excellence; it counted former Mayor Robert F. Wagner, the rock star Lenny Kravitz and the actor Chevy Chase among its graduates. The challenge was bringing P.S. 6 to an even higher level of performance without alienating a demanding group of parents: doctors, lawyers and building superintendents among them.

Already, we’re puzzled. As described, it’s hard to imagine how P.S. 6 could have been “one of the most difficult jobs in the [New York City] school system.”

That said, the report only becomes more puzzling as Hernandez labors on. Eventually, he writes this:

HERNANDEZ: P.S. 6 blossomed under Ms. Fariña, surging to become one of the city’s top 10 schools in reading and math scores, which Mr. de Blasio trumpeted in announcing her appointment as chancellor. But it is difficult to say how much she contributed to its renaissance.
The school’s upward swing began before Ms. Fariña arrived, city testing data shows. During her tenure, there was also an influx of wealthier families and a simultaneous decline in the number of poor children.
In 2001, the year Ms. Fariña left the school, 7 percent of students came from impoverished backgrounds, compared with 12 percent a decade earlier. And the proportion of white students had grown to 80 percent, from 72 percent.

Do you understand that story? We don’t! If the school was so good when Farina was assigned there, why did it need a “renaissance” or an “upward swing?” If Farina was tasked with bringing the school “to an even higher level of performance,” why did it need to “blossom?”
Presumably, no deadline pressure afflicted this piece. Hernandez’s writing just doesn’t make sense. Editors at the New York Times routinely miss such problems. 

Mitoko Rich, Still Clueless at the NY Times, New Recruiting Campaign: Is TFA Losing Campus Status?

If teaching is such a wondrous profession, why is the inspirational [Taylor] Mali a former teacher?.... The Department of Education is unveiling this plan in partnership with Microsoft, State Farm Insurance and the Advertising Council? Everyone knows that Microsoft now rules the world of education. That said, what in the world does State Farm Insurance have to do with public school issues? ..... Would you turn to “the good hands people” to figure out the best way to run schools?....The notion doesn’t seem to faze Rich, whose work has begun to strike us as a possible parody of some kind....Is Rich a satirist of some kind? If so, we apologize for our previous complaints about her peculiar reporting. ....  The Daily Howler

If you can’t do, teach. The three best things about teaching? June, July and August.  ... Motoko Rich, NY Times

Where do I start with this one? Jeff Kaufman forwarded the NY Times piece below early this AM and I stored it away for publication. Then John Lawhead sent this "compare and contrast" quotes on TFA from Randi and Gary -- guess which one is critical of TFA?

"I think TFA has done a lot in terms of elevating the profession of teaching and elevating the importance of public education and education generally...." Randi Weingarten.

http://theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/11/why-isnt-harvard-training-more-teachers/281432/

"They are all accessories to a $300 million annual fraud funded, in part, by taxpayers, and which has, I’m sorry to say, contributed to the weakening of the pubic school system which has, in turn, hurt innocent kids and, yes, their hard working teachers." ....Gary Rubinstein

http://garyrubinstein.teachforus.org/2013/11/15/my-advice-to-tfa-staffers-quit-for-america/

Does Randi every get chaffing from straddlign the fence?
As I said in the headline: TFA is selling the idea that they turn away enormous numbers of people. Reminds me of the phony charter school "demand" list which leaves seats in charter schools empty.

Then this afternoon's post from The Daily Howler takes on the Rich piece too, leaving me with no work to do but copy and paste. Life is sweet. Unfortunately he doesn't touch on this interesting combo of groups in Rich's article:

Seeking to combat such sentiments, the Department of Education — in partnership with the Advertising Council, Microsoft, State Farm Insurance, Teach for America, the nation’s two largest teachers’ unions and several other educational groups — is unveiling a public service campaign this week aimed at recruiting a new generation of classroom educators.

You should click on the link and read the entire Howler piece, but here are some morsels:

The New York Times checks in with State Farm!

Posted: 21 Nov 2013 08:53 AM PST

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013

How to improve public schools: In this morning’s New York Times, Motoko Rich discusses a plan to lure top college grads into teaching careers.

We offer one other note about this new campaign. In this passage, Arne Duncan makes it fairly clear where the idea comes from:

RICH: Taylor Mali, a poet and a former teacher, provides the inspirational voice-over that evokes some military recruitment ads. “Teachers today are breaking down obstacles,” he says, “finding innovative ways to instill old lessons, proving that greatness can be found in everyday places.”

If teaching is such a wondrous profession, why is the inspirational Mali a former teacher?

That said, a lot of our biggest problems are found in elementary schools which serve low-income kids from low-literacy backgrounds. Would our problems in those schools be solved by attracting teachers with stronger academic records? We wouldn’t feel real sure about that.
..... is it possible that Finland’s educational success has been somewhat overrated?  How might we improve the schools which serve our low-income, low-literacy kids? We have some basic ideas about that.

Below the break: Rich's entire piece.

NY Times to Adopt TFA Model: Will Fire all Reporters With More than 2 Years Experience

"Strong newspapers can withstand the turnover of their reporters," declared the Times on its editorial page. "Experienced reporters grow tired and less effective."

Ed Notes satire

New reporters will undergo two and a half weeks of training before being sent to locations like Syria and Egypt. An extra week of training will be required to cover the White House.

"Novice reporters will receive constant feedback from their bureau chiefs," said the editorial. "Reporters with the lowest 20% of readership of their articles will be terminated."

The Times will adopt the "two claps and a sizzle" celebratory chant for reporters whose stories go viral.

The Times is actively searching for a 27 year old with at least 3 years on the job to run the paper.

===
Afterburn
RBE at Pedido:

“It’s two claps and then a sizzle.” 

I dunno, maybe I'm a fool.

I never wanted to go on to something "better."

I like working with students in a classroom.

I think it's important to have experience at this job.

I have gotten better every year I have taught (I start my 13th year next week.)

The social and emotional learning skills I have picked up over the years as I have grown older myself have really helped me as a teacher.

I know how to reach students better now than I did in my first few years - sometimes that means academically (okay, that way of teaching isn't working, let's try this way...), sometimes that means emotionally (diagnosing what is holding a student back and then finding a way to begin helping the student through that issue...)

This is not the skill set a third year 24 year old TFAer has.

The Howler on Times Test Editorial: The New York Times had a very poor week

Does [editorial writer Brent] Staples have expertise in education? There’s no sign that he ever covered education, or that he knows any more about the topic that your neighbor’s pet duck.

That editorial was loud and unintelligent. When it comes to the public schools, this highly self-impressed board has been and remains a long-running joke—a long-running public disgrace

The Times is a fatuous, low-IQ paper. Powerful forces in our culture work to obscure that key fact ..... The Daily Howler

The alleged drops in scores!

Posted: 10 Aug 2013 08:03 AM PDT

SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 2013

The end to a very poor week: In our view, the New York Times had a very poor week.

.....notable was Thursday’s editorial about New York City’s new test scores. 

“Some candidates are looking for ways to blame Mr. Bloomberg for the drop in scores?” Pathetically, that seems to be true, but the editors don't seem to understand the key point—no one can be blamed “for the drop in the scores,” since there hasn’t been any “drop in scores” in any meaningful sense.

There is no way to compare this year’s passing rates to last year’s passing rates, since they emerged from completely different tests. That is a bone simple point, but the editors don’t quite seem to get it. Despite this, they demand that teachers improve the children’s reasoning skills!

More at: The alleged drops in scores!

NBC Bias on Deborah Kenny HVA Charter Scam and NY Times Trip Gabbriel Trips on Vouchers

NBC's Brian Williams is a shill for charters and ed deform

Student attrition at HVA is huge...the 66 5th graders in 2007-2008 have shrunk to just 16 9th graders in the 2010-2011 school year.  This is a 75% attrition.  In that same time, the district that the school is in went from 904 5th graders in 2007-2008 to 1313 9th graders in 2010-2011.  That is a 45% growth....  Contrary to what she preaches, teachers are her lowest priority

Why would you believe anything reported on NBC? Even more outrageous was the puff piece NBC's Today show and Brian Williams did in an interview with Harlem Village Academy founder Deborah Kenny. Leonie has done a few pieces on the school and today Gary Rubinstein tears it all apart.

An outrageous puff piece NBC's Today show and Brian Williams did on Harlem Village Academy founder Deborah Kenny. Leonie has done a few pieces on the school and today Gary Rubinstein tears it all apart. Really, if you want to see the entire charter sham exposed this is a must read piece.If NBC were fair and balanced they would have Gary or Leonie on to give the counterarguments. But NBC may be even less "fair and balanced" on school deform than even Faux FOX.

Here is Leonie's comment:

Great piece from invaluable Gary Rubinstein on the fraud that is Deborah Kenny and her charter school Harlem Village Academy. Kenny is all over TV promoting her new book, interviewed by the likes of Brian Williams and other reporters who never bother to check the stats or uncover the truth.

I would put quotes around reporter in this case. Just take this stat from Gary:

Gary Rubinstein's TFA Blog

It takes a village

 Excerpt:

The reason I need to debunk miracle schools is because lawmakers use them as examples of why it is good education reform practice to close down failing schools and fire their teachers.  My purpose is to show that the good test scores, if they really have them, come at an even greater cost.  The more I can show that the ‘miracle’ schools aren’t any better than the failing schools, maybe people will be more outraged when ‘failing’ schools are shut down. The latest ‘miracle’ school getting a lot of attention is Harlem Village Academy Charter School.  The founder of the school, Deborah Kenny, recently published a book about her experience, called ‘Born To Rise.’  The school was featured on NBC with Brian Williams.

 Gary also deals with their bogus claims on regent success and teacher turnover. He contacted a former teacher at HVA who has blogged about the school. Here is her entire comment which reveals ao much.

When a school is truly great, teachers want to keep teaching there year after year.  So it should be telling that in this school over the past three years the amount of staff turnover was 2007-2008 53%, for 2008-2009, 38%, and for 2009-2010, a whopping 61%.  By comparison, the teacher attrition for the entire district in 2009-2010 was just 19%.
To me, this teacher turnover is the most alarming statistic of all.  So I tracked down a TFA alum named Sabrina Strand who taught for one year there.  Sabrina wrote an excellent blog post called ‘I’m no Superman.’  I asked her if she would give more details about her experience, and here is what she wrote:

I am more than happy to tell the truth about HVA, at least how it was when I left after the 2006-2007 school year. I’m really glad you’re dedicated to exposing the truth behind the whole TFA/charter school charade. It is very much a charade, an elaborate, expensive smoke & mirrors. HVA, as I knew it, was one of the worst offenders of creating and sustaining the myth that teachers can solve everything. Waiting for Superman infuriated me because just like HVA – just like Deborah Kenny – it sent the message that good teachers should be martyrs, not people with lives and passions of their own that happen to also be talented and passionate about educating children. I am not a martyr, and as I titled my op-ed, I am also not superman. But yet many would say I am a very good teacher. In Deborah Kenny’s world, that would be impossible.
During the 2006-2007 school year at HVA, I taught huge classes of 5th graders who were poorly behaved. The administration was weak and ineffective. Everyone, including the principal and the dean, was so stressed out that there were often medical problems. I used to take the bus up to Harlem with my co-teacher and best friend at the school, Johanna Fishbein, and we would often cry on our way to work.
The working conditions at the school were plainly unreasonable. They took advantage of young, idealistic, competent teachers; they squeezed and squeezed until there was nothing left to give, even our dignity. Deborah Kenny is LARGELY to blame for this, as we were all desperately trying to play our parts in the Deborah Kenny play – one where she produced and directed but never wrote or starred in the productions. I have zero respect for that woman. The only time she actually came into the trenches is when she was preparing the kids for some dignitary’s visit. At that time, she would talk to them like they were slow kindergarteners, and when she left, they would all ask me who she was. That’s how connected she is to the school. Yet when President Bush came to laud our teachers’ efforts for earning the highest math test scores in the city, it was Deborah who schmoozed and gave the tour, Deborah who took the credit.
Deborah Kenny and her Village Academies take advantage of budding teachers, often crushing their spirits in the process. Though we barely made more than NYC public school teachers while working seven weeks over the summer, teaching on multiple Saturdays, and averaging 12-hour work days during the week, Deborah pays herself the HIGHEST SALARY out of any charter school executive in NYC (that stat was recently published in The New York Post). She makes almost nine times as much as her teachers who are doing all the real work, the hard work, that lands her in the press so often and helps her send her own kids to tony private schools. Her “vision” is a bunch of bullshit – basically, work your teachers to death, and you’ll see results. Sure, and you’ll also see a lot of unhappy teachers, and a lot of people leaving your school and vowing to never come back.
The year I left, my entire fifth grade team left with me. Deborah refused to write letters of recommendation for any of us. Contrary to what she preaches, teachers are her lowest priority and she never has their best interests at heart. In fact, this whole thing started when her husband tragically passed away from leukemia, and she needed a massive project to keep her grief at bay. That project was Harlem and its children. She developed her miracle solution about holding teachers accountable after she had already latched onto this “save the poor black children” project as a desperate attempt to find new purpose in her life. I admire that tenacity and resilience, but not what has become of it.
No school with a 60% teacher turnover rate should be praised in the press as the model for other schools to follow. Now that I’ve taught in a relatively stable independent school for four years, I see that a school’s real success comes from its sense of community. When teachers are leaving left and right because they’re being asked to perform superhuman feats for little compensation, the idea of “community” essentially vanishes. All that holds Village Academies together is Deborah Kenny’s unrelenting ambition and greed.
Feel free to use any or all of this in your blog post. I am absolutely, 100% done with the TFA and charter school world, and I have no fear of burning my bridges. I’m one of the lucky ones; I moved across the country and found a teaching job that calls to my soul instead of giving up on education altogether like many of my peers did after their horrific experiences at HVA.

NY Times weak piece on vouchers
With the news that Michael Winerip is leaving the ed beat at the NY Times we know that the paper has basically abandoned adequate ed coverage on both the local and national ed beats. Today's Trip Gabbriel piece on the Romney Voucher program has so many holes, the space shuttle could have passed through it on its recent journey. How can you write an article on vouchers and totally ignore the failed voucher programs already in existence, as pointed out in Diane Ravitch's book where she has a whole section on the Milwaukee failed voucher program (p. 130-31):

When a team of reporters from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel examined the voucher schools... they uncovered unanticipated problems. Applicants to run voucher schools did not need any particular credentials, nor did their teachers. The journalists visited 104 out of 115 voucher schools (nine voucher schools would not let them in); they found good schools and awful schools. [many religious schools --Ed:  using public money to support religion, a major purpose of the voucher movement]. 
The reporters judged that about 10 per cent... were excellent, and the same proportion showed "alarming deficiencies."
...on the whole, the reporters concluded that "the voucher schools feel, and look, surprisingly like the schools in the Milwaukee Public Schools District."...This was not the momentous result that voucher advocates had predicted."

In other words, let's destroy the fabric of the public school system for no real gain while opening up the ability to open schools by any charlatan or religious entity.

==========
The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

On Anna Phillips, Fiction Writing, MORE Chapter Leaders, My Dad's Apartment

NY Times misses the boat on Anna Phillips

I ended a long day by racing over to catch the tail end of ex NY Times reporter Anna Phillips' going away party last night at Half King Bar on 23 St and 10 Ave. Last year around this time Anna said goodbye when she left Gotham for the Times. Now she is saying goodbye again as she heads down to Tampa where she will get to work for a real newspaper, the St. Petersburg/Tampa Bay Times.

Why a real newspaper? They were smart enough to hire Anna for a full-time job with full benefits, while the the NY Times missed the boat. Imagine the Tampa Bay Times getting our top notch ed reporter (Anna will be covering everything including the Republican convention --- people at the party offered to chip in to get her a gun since people packing will be allowed into the convention ---but no hand grenades) --- while the Times has to shift a guy who covered the NYPD to education (well maybe totally appropriate in the police/militarized schools under Bloomberg. Another guy who will take years to understand what the hell is really going on in education. Well, at least Anna took me to lunch on the Times expense account. Instead of ordering a tuna on rye I should asked to go to Peter Lugers.

The Times is showing what a joke they are when it comes to covering education with a revolving door of people who have to learn the ed beat.

Anna is one of the best reporters who was such a quick learner and had as much experience and depth of knowledge as anyone in the business. When she started with Gotham 3 years ago she offered to take me to dinner in exchange for my sense of how the UFT works. Three hours later, she staggered out of the restaurant and I had barely grazed the surface. But she is such a quick learner she did get the nuances, something even reporters with years of experience ----I'll be nice today and not mention them --- never get.

That the Times didn't recognize Anna's talents is a sign of their decline.

I had tried to take a cab from the east side but 23st was closed for resurfacing --- amazing how choked the traffic was at 9PM and I ended up walking. I ran into David Bloomfield on the way and he said there was still a remnant left at the party and I was glad to see a bunch of NYC ed reporters --- there were also a few stray UFT slugs (always courting the press to cover what sellouts they are) and some charter school people who never let an opportunity to schmooze the press go by.

I was happy to reconnect with Gotham leading lights Elizabeth Green and Philissa Cramer. We had a very nice chat. You know I have been critical of Gotham's coverage at times, in particular the attention given to E4E while ignoring other activist groups. It is good to have face-to-face chats so you get the other point of view. Obviously fund-raising is a major issue for Gotham --- if they had loads of money to pay reporters Anna could have remained --- and I think she did her best work there due to the freedom she had vs the straight jacket at the Times. Elizabeth and Philissa weren't aware of the new caucus MORE (though I gave Anna and Elizabeth a heads up on what was coming well over a year ago) ---- they said don't assume they know everything going on given their limited resources and invited me to pitch stories to them, as I imagine many groups do, especially the low-life charter lobby (sorry). But I am never comfortable selling stuff while I am willing to give certain reporters leads. We parted with good feelings (I hope) on the subway.

I did pick up one tidbit -- that Michael Winerip is leaving the Times. Or was pushed. Another blow and sign of their downfall. Many people have been predicting that given the quality of his writing on the side of real reform. How tempted am I to cancel my sub?

 ------

 Cleaning out my dad's apartment
Anna's party was the end of the day and with subway service being what it was didn't get home until after midnight. I'm still trying to fully sort out an 11 hour piece of my day yesterday once I left my house around 1pm. I started by spending an hour working on cleaning out my dad's apartment which was sealed by the police because he lived alone when he died last week. It took me a week to get it opened. It is a large apartment with two bedrooms and two baths and a very big living room and dining area. My dad took over the apartment when my aunt died. He was living with her and taking care of her. Every cop who was there marveled at the size -- especially when I told them he paid $1200 a month. I'm sure that will triple. One new thing I learned about my dad is that he loved to use shoe trees. There are tons around, so if anyone needs a shoe tree.... well, 2 shoe-trees, guaranteed a right and a left.


MORE Chapter Leaders and Delegate meeting
Then it was up to the MORE meeting at 4:30. I got there early and sat at a small table, figuring how many people are going to show on a late Thursday afternoon? Well, as more and more people drifted in, the tables kept growing. Almost all of them had been elected, some over entrenched Unity Caucus people -- one guy with about 75% of the vote. Some are still running. The tables kept growing until they extended all across the room. We had to break into two groups. I know he is internet shy but it was so great to have the support of the always awesome Bruce Markens, one of the heroes of the UFT for being the only district rep elected repeatedly despite Unity attempts to unseat him --- until Randi finally got so fed up she eliminated district rep elections entirely.

With so many new people, we had a great session sharing advice on chapter organizing, communication, etc. Bruce and I and Kit Wainer laid out how the consultation committee should work -- it isYOUR meeting, not the principal's and YOU set the agenda and decide who should attend. (More on this another time.)

I'm excited that this group is shaping up as a support network for chapter leaders and delegates. You might think the UFT would offer this but the reality is that they do offer some good training, it is limited to chapter leaders --- and they use these trainings to recruit people into Unity, people who really have little idea as to what Unity is. But that closes them off to the alternate groups like ICE and TJC were (both are working with MORE and will not run in UFT elections again). The District Reps are the key gatekeepers and manage the CLs to make sure there is little voice of opposition, holding "support" over their heads. These are mostly young teachers who are jumping into the union so some kind of support network from experienced CLs like Kit, Bruce, James Eterno, Jeff Kaufman, etc will be very useful. This group will get together again I think on August 16. I urge anyone who is a current or future CL or delegate to come on down.

Fiction Writing

Then it was off to my 7PM fiction writing group which I have been part of since its inception 6 years ago. We read 3 pieces each session in advance of the meeting and critique them. Now other than Ed Notes (which the UFT and Tweed consider fiction) I haven't really been writing much for this group. There are some very talented people in the group, with a couple of novels and self-help books published. Mary Hoffman who I recruited to the group, used to teach with me and is a high level and serious writer with a published book of short stories and some novels hopefully on the verge. That meeting ended at 9 when I headed over to say goodbye to Anna.


================
The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

Samantha Sherwood, Another TFA/E4E Sob Story in the NY Times

The E4E/TFA direct pipeline to the press operates full force. Another pathetic TFAer goes begging for her job by attacking senior teachers. NY Times outdoes the NY Post.

An undisguised puffpiece, extolling a TFAer facing layoffs; would it be so much better to lay off an experienced committed teacher instead? What BS. Of course, any and all layoffs are wrong, but this is ridiculous. A sign that the NYT is back squarely in the mayor’s camp? - Leonie Haimson

The other day, I asked a bunch of young teachers in schools packed with young teachers worried about layoffs if teachers in their school are talking about ending LIFO as a solution: "Absolutely not, they responded," a clue about how much this article is about WalBloom PR. - Norm Scott

Here we go again. Just as I predicted (LIFO Math), the sob stories about the young - Teach for America - which automatically translates into idealistic - and a member of E4E - not because she is idealistic but because she wants to save her ass from being laid off.

Today, on the front page of the NY Times which is clearly joining the WalBloom campaign against LIFO. Too bad reporter Fernanda Santos is being used in this campaign. Frankly, it undermines her credibility as a reporter. Where are the sob stories of ATRs who have become fodder? Or the politically U-rated for union activity like Peter Lamphere? Let's see a front page NY Times story on these people who will become the major targets if LIFO disappears. I challenge Fernanda Santos to compare Sherwood and Peter as teachers.

The most outrageous statement by Sherwood?

Most of all, she wants to be judged on performance, not time on the job. “I’ve gotten nothing but satisfactory reviews, the school’s administrators want me to work for them, I’ve demonstrated I’m effective in the classroom,” Ms. Sherwood said. “The reality of it is,” she added of more experienced teachers, “there are people out there who just got settled in and aren’t doing their jobs.”

How does Sherwood know there are people who aren't doing their jobs? Does she see them in her school? Unlikely, given this:

The school where Ms. Sherwood works, Mott Hall V, on East 172nd Street in the Soundview section, is typical of those that would be hit hardest by the cuts. It is relatively new (it opened in 2005), and its staff is made up primarily of junior teachers; the principal, Peter Oroszlany, said 60 percent of them had spent five or fewer years in the classroom.

So how does a reporter like Fernanda Santos just allow a blatant statement attacking senior teachers just go by without eliciting exactly how Sherwood knows that? She will toss off the usual E4E attack on ATRs (most of whom exist due to closing schools) or U rated (ignoring the political attacks on teachers like Peter Lamphere).

(By the way, I seem to remember that the Mott Hall franchise of schools are not just average schools, but I could be wrong.)

Note the formula in this story: the kids are poor - free lunch, etc. A list of all the things Sherwood has done for the school. We could match every E4E with a GEMer doing as much for their schools. How about a story about someone like Michael Fiorillo, Julie Cavanagh, Sam Coleman, Lisa North, Liza Campbell etc. and what they do for their schools? Or the young teachers threatened with layoffs who support LIFO and started petition by 5 year teachers and under (Petitions to Support LIFO and Seniority: Five Year...)? A story on teachers who even though threatened support LIFO would seem to be much more interesting.


Here's another nugget:

She[Sherwood] works Saturday mornings to help students prepare for the state’s standardized tests..

Note the impression left is that she is volunteering when in fact there are teachers all over the city who get paid to come in on Saturday. There is no way Sherwood would be coming in on Saturdays as so many teachers do to supplement her low salary? Never for the young TFA idealistics.

Here's a brief section. Read on until you gag - or go gaga. And one more question: will Sherwood get tenure with so many 3rd year teachers having tenure extended for a 4th year? Just curious.

New to Teaching, Idealistic, at Risk for Layoff

By FERNANDA SANTOS

Published: May 10, 2011

Samantha Sherwood had lofty aspirations when she settled on a family-studies major at the University of Connecticut, like redrawing welfare rules or weaving together a sturdier safety net for people in need. She figured that she could change the world in big, broad strokes, and that she might pick up a fancy title and ample salary along the way.

Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times

Samantha Sherwood became a teacher through a program that puts top college graduates into poor schools.

Ms. Sherwood, 25, could lose her job under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's budget.

-----

Instead, Ms. Sherwood, 25, joined up with Teach for America, the program that puts top college graduates into the nation’s most poverty-stricken schools, deciding that the best way to make a difference would be, as she put it on Monday, “to be there, where the rubber meets the road.” Ms. Sherwood called layoffs “a Band-Aidfix” for the city’s budget problems, but said that if they were necessary, performance should decide who got to stay and who had to go. Last year, she joined Educators 4 Excellence, a group of teachers who advocate for merit-based pay, an evaluation system that takes into account students’ test scores, and the strengthening of tenure requirements.

Nice link to E4E. BARF TIME!!

NY Times Makes (another) Ed Boo-Boo

But Leonie was on the case:

In the future, I would hope that the editors of the Times might try a little harder to look at the data with a more discerning eye, and not swallow the distortions of the Department of Education. Perhaps they might even refer to independent experts who could dissect the data if they find it too difficult to interpret it themselves.  They owe it to their readers.  There is little point in trying to cover the NYC public schools if they continue to prove themselves so incapable of weighing the evidence objectively and presenting the facts with a more practiced eye, rather than simply regurgitating what is handed them by the spinmeisters at Tweed. After all, if the Daily News and the NY Post can do it, why not the Times?

 She wrote all about it at her blog:

The NY Times issues a correction, too little and too late.

An article in the NY Times magazine two weeks ago, on April 10 , about Middle School 223 in the Bronx, written by Jonathan Mahler, contained the following passage describing student achievement gains under Joel Klein:

“Since 2006, the city's elementary and middle schools have seen a 22-point increase in the percentage of students at or above grade level in math (to 54 percent) and a 6-point increase in English (to 42 percent).”

Upon reading this statement, I immediately knew it to be untrue. There has been little or no improvement in student achievement in NYC since 2006 – or even since 2003, when the Klein first implemented his policies, according to the most reliable national assessments called the NAEPs. 

In fact, after the NY State Education Department recalibrated the exams, increasing the scale scores needed for proficiency this summer, in response to overwhelming evidence that the state tests and their scoring had gotten much easier over this period, the percent of NYC students at or above grade level actually dropped precipitously compared to 2006. READ IT ALL AT: The NY Times issues a correction, too little and too late.

Poor Jonathan Mahler, who called me when he got the assignment and I directed him to Leonie and offered to put him in touch with real teachers. But he went astray and got lost to the data munchers at Tweed. A good lesson for any reporter looking to do a serious article in education in NYC - and beyond.

But really, which side do you expect the NY Times to be on? NYC Educator also wonders about that Dennis Walcott full-page puff piece on Sunday:

Conciliatory?

The NY Times declares that new Chancellor Dennis Walcott has a knack for conciliation. Certainly Walcott is charming and well-spoken. And he has asked for a new tone, something that would go a long way toward easing the toxic relationship between Tweed on the one hand, and parents and teachers on the other. Unfortunately, and not noted in the three page article, Walcott has been part of this administration every step of the way.

Furthermore, he's embraced Mayor Bloomberg's insistence on sidestepping the contract by eliminating reverse-seniority layoffs. In case you're on the fence on this issue, note that the city is sitting on a 3.1 billion dollar surplus, ridding the city of 8.2% of working teachers will save only 369 million, and there is, in fact, no need to lay off anyone at all.

You wouldn't know that from reading the article. After 9 years of failed programs from Bloomberg and company, do they really merit yet another puff piece? Shouldn't the press alert us to these things?

A free press ought to be a bulwark against billionaires like Mayor Bloomberg and their propaganda. When I read pieces like these, I wonder where the analysis is.

Feel free to offer your own.

------------
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. Recent items:

• Charters Toss 23%
• Pedro Noguera Advice for Walcott
• Critiquing "The Cartel" and "Waiting for Superman"...
• Real School Reform
• NYC Parents Union Says: Don't Vote for Puppets
• A crisis for teachers union reformers?

Too little and years late for the UFT on Testing

Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010,

I commented earlier this morning - or late last night post Jets win - J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS -  on Monday's NY Times "too little, too late article" on the testing crisis in NY, reposting Leonie Haimson's marvelous take down - with samples of interchanges with the Times and examples of how other newspapers did more to expose the issue over the last 3 years, with a little clip from Casablanca on the Louis Renault Award. See

NY Times Shocked, Shocked Over BloomKlein Claims on Reading Scores

One issue I didn't deal with was the role of the UFT on testing.

If I had time I would go back into the Ed Notes archives and show you how from the very beginning of Ed Notes in 1996 I was putting the high stakes testing issue on the table at Delegate Assemblies. I had a high stakes testing principal from 1978 and saw all the evils - in fact, though I loved teaching elementary self-contained classes, her policies ultimately led me to leave the infantry of teaching and become a computer cluster after 18 years. She as happy to get me out because I wasn't doing enough test prep to her satisfaction. But the more TP I had to do the less satisfied as a teacher I was. So I was bringing my experience to the DA. At one point I made a reso and in my speech talked about how high stakes testing had wiped out social studies and science in the elementary schools - and I was surprised to see the place erupt in applause. This must have been around 1999.

The Times piece only had these comments about the role of the UFT:

Teachers pushed back, saying they could gauge their students’ performance better than any mass-produced tests could......Each new policy was met with denunciations from the teachers’ union or from education experts like Diane Ravitch. Ms. Ravitch, a supporter of standardized testing when she was an adviser to the Clinton and Bush administrations, became one of the biggest critics, arguing that schools were devoting too much time to the pursuit of high scores. “If they are not learning social studies but their reading scores are going up, they are not getting an education,” Ms. Ravitch said in 2005, as the mayor coasted to re-election.

 The union only pushed back for internal political reasons - to make the teachers - and the naive NY Times - think they were pushing back. Yes, classroom teachers and Diane pushed back. But the union only did so rhetorically. They supported mayoral control, refused to push back on the social promotion issue when it was clearly done for political reasons, did very little about the onslaught of micro management and the increasing focus on testing and test prep.

Randi took a full page ad in the NY Times to celebrate the great increases – that everyone knew were due to test score inflation – when they were released. Trying to eat from the gravy boat while trying to claim she hates the taste - even though it's dripping down her face.

I put this up on the nyceducation news listserve yesterday:

Also left out of the story is how Randi and the UFT jumped in to grab a share of the credit for the high scores, joining BloomKlein in front of the cameras here and in Washington when they won the Broad prize, grabbing bonus money for the scores and agreeing to have teachers rated on the basis of the tests scores.

The UFT tried to claim teachers deserved a raise due to the results.

I wrote at the time "Does that mean a pay cut if scores go down?" What a slippery slope.

Now some people think with MulGarten in charge there is a new deal at the UFT because he has made noises about the tests. Randi did too. So did Obama. Watch what they do not what they say.

The UFT/AFT was the only truly organized force that could have blown this scam out of the water from Day 1 but instead has chosen to play footsie with the ed deformers. It is now too little too late. History has passed them by.

But history has not passed Real Reformers by - though MulGarten is trying to steal this idea to claim the union are RR's when in fact they are closer to ed deformers in terms of their support for so much of ed deform.

NY Times Shocked, Shocked Over BloomKlein Claims on Reading Scores

Yes, let's give the NY Times the Captain Louis Award. You just had to hold your sides laughing at the front page story NY Times article on testing (Oct. 11). "Warning Signs Ignored" is the title and the NY Times was the leading ignorer. No one is really responsible you know. It sort of just happened. All on its own. Regent head Meryl Tisch? Former State Ed Comm Dickie Boy Allen? All innocent bystanders. The best quote: From Test Prep Queen Kathy (Who Me?) Cashin.

As a superintendent in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, Kathleen Cashin had seen several schools improve throughout the early part of the decade. But when she saw the sudden jump, she said, she was shocked.
“I said to my intimate circle of staff, this cannot be possible,” Ms. Cashin recalled. “I knew how much effort and how much planning any little improvement would take, and not all of these schools had done any of it.”
But Ms. Cashin, who retired in February, held her tongue at the time. Asked why she did not take up her concerns with Mr. Klein or his deputies, she said, “I didn’t have their ear.” 

Excuse me while I take a minute............$##&*())()*))___
That felt better. I actually knew teachers at PS 193k when Cashin was principal (oh, boy) before heading Dist. 23 (in the status quo days), then Region 5, before Klein chose her as one of the 4 super superintendents, using her rising test scores at each post to rise further herself (there were even rumors she would replace Klein). And she didn't have anyone's ear. How sad. Actually, she is sort of a real educator (that's another story) who was shunted aside for the business model (Laura Rodriguez, one of  the other 4 Super Supes, won the brass ring and is now the DOE token educator in charge of something or other.)

Well, I'll go no further because Leonie Haimson savages the Times for years of non reporting on the testing fiasco. You can read it over at the NYC Parent blog too but I am printing it here too. I sent over a comment to the listserve that is was too little and much too late for the UFT, but I'll leave that for the next posting.

Too little and much too late, the Times finally reports on the state test score scandal

In yesterday’s front page story, entitled "On NY School Tests, Warning Signs Ignored," the NY Times recounted the history of the state test score inflation that left its own deficient reporting conveniently off the hook.

Anyone who was paying attention knew at least as far back as 2007 that there was rampant test score inflation, primarily through articles by Erin Einhorn and other reporters at the Daily News. These articles, which themselves relied on analysis from testing experts like Fred Smith, revealed that the test score inflation started as early as 2002, with questions and scoring becoming easier over time.

See this 2007 article on our blog by Steve Koss, relating the ingenious experiment done by Einhorn in which she gave the 2002 and 2005 math tests to the same bunch of children, with the results showing that the 2005 exam was much easier, a fact also reflected in the changing "P" values of the questions over time. Or this follow-up Einhorn article, where leading testing experts called for an independent audit, which of course did not occur until three years later.

Today’s NY Times article omits any mention of the Daily News’ earlier exposes – which brought attention to this issue to the wider public – and instead recounts as meaningful that a few individuals who supposedly had doubts about the apparent rise in test scores, like Pedro Noguera and Kathleen Cashin, didn’t directly mention them to Klein– as though he might otherwise not have noticed the evidence that was splashed all over the Daily News!

The article also lets Regent Merryl Tisch off the hook, claiming that “We came in here saying we have to stop lying to our kids,” without mentioning that throughout this period, she was Deputy Chancellor of the Regents, and yet did and said nothing.

(See my critique at the time of their August 2009 article, NY Times falls in line with the Bloomberg PR spin control; and the response from Times editor, Ian Trontz: The NY Times response, and my reply.)

Read Leonie's entire piece by clickingon this link (she has updated it.)

Too little and much too late, the Times finally reports on the state test score scandal