Naison Calls for John King's Removal

We've had 3 DUD NYSTATE Ed Comms in a row since 1995. Time to move on.

Dear Speaker Silver and Assembly Member Nolan

    It is time to remove John King  Education Commissioner of the State of New York. Commissioner King purposely decided to score state tests in such a way as to insure that the majority of the students in the state failed. The result was collective humiliation- of ELL students, of special needs students, of students living in poverty- and intimidation of the state's teachers, who future careers will be determined by these scores. The test results were a conscious, malicious "set up"-- and a power grab- by the Commissioner to close more schools, remove more school boards, and put more power in the hands of the state government at the expense of local school districts.

    This is an abuse of power by an unelected public official.  All throughout the state, teachers, parents, students and concerned citizens are rising up to say that excessive testing is squeezing the heart out of public education in our state, driving out the best teachers and principals, and destroying the confidence and morale of our most vulnerable students.  It is time elected officials heard their voices. It is time those who serve the public say no to policies that when all is said and done, amount to collective child abuse.

  I understand that some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the state support Commissioner King's policies. However, I urge you to hear the voices of all those quietly suffering because, through no fault of their own, they, their children and the students they teach, have been labeled "failures."

  Please work for Commissioner King's removal and put in his place someone who actually listens to the voices of teachers, principals, parents and students.

Sincerely

Mark D Naison

Professor of African American Studies and History

Fordham University

Carol Burris on Problems with APPR and the English Regents

Wouldst our union do a tenth of the work Carol is doing to expose the

Marching on NY State Ed Dept

bullshit from the crooks at the NY State Ed Department, the leaders of whom if justice is ever served, would be removed in handcuffs. Carol suggests writing them. My suggestion would be to go after them with pitchforks.

Please consider sharing this with principals, teachers, union reps and parents who would care about this.  So much of this is not known or understood.  It will be good to spread this with all who are effected by this plan.
Janine Sopp

Recently, Commissioner King imposed an APPR plan on New York City teachers. When you look at the plan, you see that the scoring band ranges for the first two categories( student growth), are dramatically different from those used this year. For example, this year's scoring bands for Ineffective range from 0-2. But NYC teachers will have an Ineffective range of 0-12. Likewise, this year Effective starts at 9, but for NYC teachers it will start at 15.

Why? Because the score band that is being used for APPR scores  has serious problems that cannot be addressed through negotiations. For example, if you get the rating of 'developing' in all three categories and the scores are on the low end of developing, you will be rated INEFFECTIVE overall.

Despite the fact that this is known to SED, they have yet to honestly address it or speak about it. What is the right thing to do? Have this year's APPR scores not count, and certainly not have scores shared with parents. It is yet to be seen if the NYC "fix" will even work.  I know this stuff can be hard to understand, (which is probably what SED is counting on), but this needs to come to light.

You can read my explanation of the problems here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/06/18/new-problems-with-new-yorks-teacher-evaluation-plan-found/

On another note, a South Side English teacher, Chris Webster, did a great job explaining how the passing and mastery cut scores for the ELA Regents were manipulated and wrote to John King about the problem. You can read his letter here:

http://roundtheinkwell.com/2013/06/22/english-teacher-the-high-stakes-testing-agenda-is-shameful/

A NYC assistant principal shows how this change made the ELA passing rate in his school dramatically drop

http://gothamschools.org/2013/06/21/broad-concerns-about-harsh-ela-regents-conversion-charts/

Is this preparation for next year's Common Core ELA exam?  The problems that are being caused by the so-called state reform agenda are staggering, as are the tax dollars being wasted. It is now officially summer, and you have a bit more time. Write to the Regents. Write to the legislature. Let them know what the first year of APPR was like. Let them know what testing is doing to your students. You can find all of the email addresses that you need on www.newyorkprincipals.org

If you send me your emails to the Regents, Commissioner, Governor etc, I will post them so that others can see them as well. 

Thanks 

Carol 

follow me on twitter @carolburris