PEP Video Highlights

How do we go to teachers and say you need a masters degree and we’re going to ignore the fact that a masters degree is needed for chancellor and most important how do we go to a student in the sytem to study and work hard and pour their heart and soul into their education and build a record of accomplishment and when the big jobs come up if you don’t go to the right cocktail party you’re not going to be considered….I’ve been her 3 years and sometimes this feels like a front seat on a show called “The Death of Democracy.”…every day we get a little bit stronger---- PATRICK SULLIVAN




Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/

John Dewey HS in Brooklyn, NY Initiates Fight Back Fridays

Threatened with being closed down after being fed a poison pill by the NYCDOE of having the very programs that have attracted generations of students eliminated, an influx of students from other large high schools in Brooklyn and budget cuts, the John Dewey school community has implemented a Fight Back Friday series of before school rallies on Stillwell Avenue beginning at 7:15. If you are in the neighborhood stop by or honk as you drive by.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y3tXGAxCOs

______________

Join the Grassroots Education Movement and the Real Reformers at the November 16 PEP meeting at Brooklyn Tech at 5:30 as they perform the rap song "Will the Real Reformers Please Stand Up!" in front of the school as a prelude to the meeting.

PEP Boys and Girls: First Reactions

I know I'm a bit late with this but I had to get some serious beach time in today. And then out to dinner. And then the Yankee game. 

Here are some reactions to the PEP meeting of August 30 to makeup for the disrupted one of Aug. 16. There were various groups there and some parents and teachers blew bubbles and launched balloons during the fuzzy math presentation. I will have my own report tomorrow after the video is processed.

Lower East Side parent activist Lisa Donlan talks about the Tweed spin:

And what of the years of the crowing and spinning and lying that Klein and his mouthpieces have done in the media and political mailers over this false bubble of smoke and mirrors progress?

Let's collect all of the quotes where he (and the Mayor who appointed him) take credit for the increase in scores, and claim these as evidence of the improvements they (and mayoral control) have brought to the "old' supposedly corrupt and dysfunctional system before these miracle workers came to show NYC AND THE REST OF THE NATION AND THE WORLD how its done.

Did we tell them so?
Oh yes- we did.
So the "we did not know", "it is the state's fault" excuses are not valid.

Don't forget the exchange for autocratic mayoral control was supposed to be accountability.

Who is accountable in NYC?

When will these guys stop excusing themselves- with "this takes time"? "give us time" " we have further to go" ?

8 years and counting and no evidence of improvement or progress?

Yet they close schools, fire teachers, make kids repeat grades, give out bonuses, open unproven charters and new small schools (to the detriment of the nearby schools) on much less data, over much shorter windows.

A child who started in First grade in 2003 when Klein imposed his (first of many) visions on our schools is in 8th grade now.

Can we give those children " more time"? Can we "push them to reach a higher standard"?

If they are not just liars and fakes, if they mean a single word of what they say, they will resign immediately, admitting failure and corruption and dysfunction.

Failure to own up to this debacle is proof to me that this whole "reform" is not a sincere effort to change the conditions of children in our poorest communities. It is a mere power grab and co option of a large public budget for political aims.

They have shown that this is really about adults and what is good for them!

A teacher responds:

Preach it lisa. If bloomklein hadn't used test scores to justify ramming their agenda of closings, charters, and accountability down our throats it would be a lot easier to simplify the testing issue. The truth is they knew those numbers were an illusion and they manipulated the public using that faulty data to promote their free market ideology at the expense of our children. (While cutting budgets, narrowing the curriculum, attacking teachers, restructuring how many times, and expanding the top brass positions at the doe... Criminal!)

Lisa Donlan then says:

And just last night at the PEP Shael Suransky the latest Accountability Czar dared to justify the last 8 years of mayoral control and the test score debacle because "the old school boards used to steal from district budgets".

Can someone please run a comparison:  old school board scandals- net worth from 1995-2002 vs: DoE's no bid contracts, sweetheart deals, theft,  corruption,  Conflict of Interest, double dipping and hidden or untraceable budget line items from 2003- 2010?

I bet the money handed over to Harcourt Brace, CBT McGraw and IBM for Aris, standardized tests,  test prep material , interim tests in that period far outstrips any printing deals to relatives  or old school pianos that were taken home,  etc

Lots of familiar elements here, including conflict-ridden board and principal once hailed as a "Champion of Children" apparently absconding with millions.

I was pretty pissed when Shuransky made his low ball comment about districts steaing in the old days. Of course there was theft but as Lisa points out it was penny ante stuff compared to the BloomKlein big time crooks. Lisa was responding to this story:

L.A. Unified moves to close charter school over alleged misuse of $2.7 million

An audit finds that the founding principal at NEW Academy Canoga Park allegedly misused or misappropriated money, depositing funds into an Ameritrade account and claiming payments to a nonexistent company.

Read: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-charter-20100831,0,3493919.story

Here is NY1's Lindsay Christ's story and video of the PEP meeting:

Parents, DOE Go Head-To-Head Over Test Scores

By: Lindsey Christ

http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/education/124669/parents--doe-go-head-to-head-over-test-scores/

Communication broke down Monday during a meeting that was supposed to allow parents and school officials to share opinions on state test scores. NY1's Lindsey Christ filed the following report.
On Monday night, the Department of Education was prepared to hear from angry parents --- and there were plenty.
The meeting, held on Manhattan's Upper West Side, started quietly, as DOE officials explained that the state raised the bar for proficiency this year, which is why so many fewer city students passed. But when the public comment period began, the auditorium got louder. Forty people signed up for two minutes at the microphone, and they were angry.
"Real harm has been caused. Testing-Gate has caused harm to students, parents and tax payers," said David Bloomfield of the College of Staten Island.
"Pretty much we feel that we've been lied to in terms of the score of the test. They were saying that we had a higher score and then we find out that isn't true and a lot of schools have been closed because of that," said parent Elbibio Molina.
This was the second time the DOE had tried to address this issue. The first time, two weeks ago, angry parents shut down the meeting when the panel refused to even consider a motion to hear public comment.
Only half the panel members showed up for the rescheduled meeting Monday and parents said that was another indication of how little their voices are heard. By the time Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and his deputies spoke, parents shouted over them, walked out en masse, and turned their backs to the stage. In the end, both officials and audience members claimed the other side just wouldn't listen.
DOE officials say students have still made progress even though according to the new standards, many fewer students are proficient. But parents who attended the meeting say they want a better explanation for the lower scores.

PEP Meeting: Stop Bloomberg test fraud Monday, August 30, 2010 - 5:30pm

Location: LaGuardia High School, Amsterdam Ave. btw W. 64th St. & W. 65th St.: A, B, C D trains to 59 St.-Columbus Cir. or #1 to 66 St.-Lincoln Ctr.; map http://bit.ly

Think the testing scandal is outrageous? Come out the PEP meeting on Monday! Let em' know!

What: PEP meeting
Where: LaGuardia High School, 65th and Amsterdam, A, B, C D trains to 59th or 1 to 66th.
When: Monday August 30th, 5:30.

Welcome back to another fun year of hard work and loud protests.

As everyone knows the DOE and Bloomberg were recently exposed for 8 years of out and out lying about the progress that NYC public school students have been making on standardized tests. We doubt that anyone on this list serve was surprised.

However the indignation and actions that have bubbled up (no pun intended) over the last few weeks in response have been exciting to see. At the August 16th PEP (panel for educational policy, the mayor's rubber stamp for his educational policies) the DOE presented an explanation of the test scores and hundreds of parents were not having it. They closed the meeting down. Watch below.

They are going to try to make their presentation again this coming Monday, August 30th. We are hoping for an even bigger turn out, especially of teachers, to let the panel and the DOE know that no one is buying their nonsense.

Please come if you can. Try to get in early and sit front and center.

Let's start this year off right!

NYCORE

Patrick Sullivan's comments at the last PEP meeting after the DOE presentation trying to explain the testing fiasco.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_TGCwlaIYY [3]

Parents response after being denied the right to speak back to DOE's presentation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvnnzqC8lb4 [4]

In Spanish with English subtitles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej7vkvI3roc [5]

Join our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/NYCoRE [6]

Follow us on twitter: nycore3000

PEP Video August 16, 2010 Part 3

More raw footage. A child goes up on the stage and security removes him. The crowd reacts. Khem Irby and Patrick Sullivan speak. The PEP members return for another try but still want comments on testing to be at the end. Crowd will have none of it. They get a lecture from a PEP member. Chang adjourns the meeting. People say they will be back.

All 3 parts are at the GEMNYC blog:

Also at you tube. Part 3 URL: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bOMY3BKCdI 

More PEP Video - PEP members walk off the stage to taunts and jeers of parents, followed by parents holding their own meeting

Before I get to the video, I want to comment on Beth Fertig's coverage on WNYC. Was I at the same meeting? First the estimate of 50-60 parents is half of what is reported in the NY Times and Daily News. It's like BloomKlein report test scores.

Then comes this:

"Normally, the public waits until the end of the meeting to speak, after all other topics have been discussed. But the 50 or 60 parents who attended the meeting at Murry Bergtraum High School in Lower Manhattan didn't want to wait that long."
"Whose schools? Our schools!" they chanted, as the panel's chairman David Chang stated, "We have to do something. This is disorderly."Despite his pleas, the parents continued shouting for about half an hour.

Oh, poor David Chang, who is a pathetic creature of BloomKlein.

And oh, those spoiled parents. Can't wait till the end of the meeting after countless power points drive people into a death sleep?

There is no "normally" at the PEP. The public is often offered a chance to comment after an agenda item. And when requests and demands from the public are made they often give in. Not this time, though. They only wanted their spin to be spun and hopefully the press would leave before parents got to speak.

Notice no mention that the testing agenda item was never advertised, nor were people allowed to sign up for that specific agenda item before the meeting - since it was kept off the public agenda - and were forced to sign up for the general discussion (I know- I had #3). In fact when we walked in we were somewhat shocked to see that testing would be on the agenda.

Nor is there a mention that PEP member Patrick Sullivan made a request that parents be allowed to comment. Such requests have often been honored in the past.

The DOE shills get two paragraphs while Sullivan's eloquent response is ignored.


So much for the so-called "liberal" press.


Part 2 of our coverage on you tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvnnzqC8lb4

More video to come later.

Parents Close Down PEP - Commentary and First Video (more coming)

Photo Anna Phillips, Gotham Schools, -see goofy guy with camera

August 16, 2010, 6am

There was no Panel for Education for Educational Policy meeting at Murray Bergtraum HS last night. Or at least barely a glimmer of one before parents organized by the Coalition for Educational Justice (CEJ) shut the meeting down. The meeting will be rescheduled, undoubtedly with a lot more security.

The meeting began with a Power Point report using Tweed fuzzy math to try to discount the awful publicity BloomKlein have been receiving over the results of the recent tests showed that the nationwide accolades tossed at the NYCDOE by ed deformers has been more than a little over done. I like to call it the, "At least we're better than Rochester" defense.

When Manhattan PEP member Patrick Sullivan, who has been the strongest voice in opposition to the BloomKlein policies, said after the presentation, "Frankly, what I heard was an attempt to protect the reputations of the people responsible," the audience erupted into wild cheers.

"I could say a lot more, but what's important to me is to hear from the public what their concerns are for one of the worst debacles in the history of the public school system." Sullivan then called for a motion to allow the public to speak on the issue immediately rather than have to wait until the general public comment time at the end of the meeting when many people are already leaving. Bronx PEP member Anna Santos seconded the motion.

It was ruled out of order.

I put up a video of Patrick's comments and the immediate reaction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_TGCwlaIYY -

The audience than rose with shouts of "Let us speak" and then proceeded to shout out further attempts to continue the meeting. Members of the PEP then walked off the stage to huddle behind the curtain like failed wizards trying to decide what to do next.

Meanwhile, parents used a small bullhorn to hold their own version of the meeting as one parent after another came up to speak.

Some members of the PEP skulked back out to try to reason with an audience that was beyond reason. Actually, it was more of a scolding. They were having none of it and continued shouting. At one point a child went up on the stage to try to use a microphone and she was practically pushed off the stage by burly security guards. That inflamed the crowd even more.

You will see TV and press reports, but they are a bit incomplete.

We have lots of video and GEM and Ed Notes and CAPE are working to put together a comprehensive video like we did the other day. We'll get as many parent statements up during the rump meeting they held as we can by tomorrow.

See Patrick's report at the NYC Parent blog:

Last night's Panel for Educational Policy meeting was another unfortunate example of how the mayoral appointees on the Panel repeatedly show disregard for both the law and the public school community they are supposed to serve.

The public agenda issued prior to the meeting contained no indication that the Panel would consider the enormous controversy surrounding the state testing debacle, yet a fifteen minute session was added for a DOE staffer to present a defense of the administration's record in student achievement.

Read it in full:
PEP Chairman Chang Blocks Vote on Public Comment, Violates Bylaws

News coverage in the Times here and News here.

For the front-page story that likely led to the preparation of the DOE's defensive presentation on testing results, see the Times: Triumph Fades on Racial Gap in City Schools.


Afterburn

About CEJ
CEJ, connected to the Annenberg Institute, has been organizing parents, often in alliance with the UFT. There was zero UFT presence at last night's meeting, perhaps indicating a greater degree of independence from the UFT on the part of CEJ.

I hark back to the famous St. Vartas church events - Feb. 28, 2007 - where a major coalition seemed poised to challenge BloomKlein with a massive May 1 demo, but were accused of selling out after the follow-up agreement between CEJ, the UFT and the Mayor and Joel Klein in April, 2007. 

Here is a selection of some of our posts at the time.
Say It Ain't So Martine
Deal Announced on Reorganization: Did BloomKlein Blink?
A unique opportunity has been missed

GEM/ICE in the house
Gee, there was no presence at all by the UFT or their bought off opposition, New Action. But there were at least 6 GEM/ICEers in the house covering the event and supporting the parents. You remember ICE - that group that does nothing but complain according to the New Action/Unity slugs. 'Nuff said.

Here is ICE/GEM Michael Fiorillo in a comment he left at the Gotham Schools post.

After years of willful ignorance, the state ed department, Regents and editorial boards were forced to dance around the fact that the test scores were bogus, and manipulated for the political benefit of the mayor and his agenda. Then, their deception and self-deception revealed, everyone pivots and comes up with their "now we have to see how to spin this so it can somehow be turned to our advantage" bit.

Presto! We are now told that, even though the tests and scores were invalid, we're making progress anyway (how so, if your vaunted "metrics" are worthless? Oh, and sorry, but we're closing your schools anyway), "although we have a lot further to go," and we're going to whip those kids and teachers into shape so they can meet the New and Improved curriculums (McGraw-Hill thanks you!) coming down the pike.

And somehow we are to believe that the New and Improved testing regime will not be used as a club against teachers, and will not be gamed for the political advantage of the ed deformers.

Ignored and treated with contempt by the Mayor, Chancellor and their lapdogs on the PEP, ignored and treated with contempt by the Mayor's media echo chamber, parents decided to assert themselves last night in an effort to change the terms of debate and show their outrage over the lies they are told and the dispossession they face.

Condescended to and shut out from having input into decisions that affect their children's lives, having resources stripped away in favor of private charter schools, perhaps the parents' "disruption" of a sham, perfunctory, propagandistic hearing was a greater example of democracy than being docile participants in their own disenfranchisement.

Patrick Sullivan on PEP highlights from Tuesday on Staten Island:

The mayoral bloc + Staten Island had nine members so they swept all the votes easily.

Chancellor's report --

All about grad rates. I asked about abuse of credit recovery, discharge rates, cheating/regrading on Regents. Chancellor dismissed all these concerns, said they'd be happy to disclose whatever data is relevant but said they don't can't measure the extent to which credit recovery is used.


Changes in utilization, co-locations and closures --

These items drew extensive public comment:

* Move of University Heights HS to the South Bronx
* The Eagle Academy siting in IS 59, Queens
* Charter school in Goldie Maple School, Queens
* New school in Washington Irving HS building, Manhattan


Anna Santos from the Bronx was in a car accident and could not attend. She is doing fine. A large contingent of people from the University Heights School community protested the move of their school off the Bronx Community College campus and the failure of DOE to find them suitable space nearby. In Anna's absence, I read a statement on her behalf stating opposition to the move of University Heights HS and closure of the construction trades program at Alfred Smith HS.

Washington Irving HS community protested the siting of another school in their building which will curtail their growth and recovery.

Goldie Maple Academy community opposed the insertion of a new charter school in their building. In a very moving public comment, the daughter of Goldie Maple explained how she had been asked to come defend the charter school but having heard the testimony of the parents, students and teachers from her mother's school was torn about what should be done.

There was some excellent statements from the public. Monica Ayuso was great. Unfortunately, there were few people left when we finally got to the Panel discussion and vote.

With regard to charter schools and co-locations, I argued that it was clear from the night's comments and from the Chancellor's extensive correspondence with Eva Moskowitz that decisions about schools were being made by the Chancellor, his senior staff and charter operators without input from or consultation with the community. Klein and I had some back and forth until Chairman Chang cut off the debate.

All the votes on the above schools as well as the co-location of Democracy Prep in Manhattan's PS 92 passed with 9 "yes" and with 3 "no" votes or abstentions.

There was a bitter debate from public commenters over Eagle Academy. Members of the IS 59 community complained about the lack of consultation and about how the do-over vote was rescheduled at the last minute. Queens, having obtained significant concessions on the co-location, supported the proposal. Manhattan and Brooklyn abstained.

Regulations --

All passed with little comment. I thanked Mike Best for the improvements to the A-655

Contracts --

I asked about the use of Title II funds for training non-public school leaders and Kathleen Grimm assured me they had no prerogative to spend the money otherwise, that it was a required pass through.

I complained about the lack of process and disclosure for the bus contracts.

Bus contacts passed with my one vote against, all other contracts were passed unanimously.

Patrick

Dee made this comment:

Anti Public School, Anti Union, Anti Public School Teachers Charter School Message at PEP

CAPE and GEM and a few parent activists were few voices heard

Check back for updates and links to other stories later

"Where is the UFT?" was a constant refrain we heard last night from reporters and even from some of Klein's Tweedies. Good question as the massive charter school outpouring of parents imprinted an anti public school message, with lots of teacher bashing.

The biggest message left to every public school teacher and parent who supports public schools and every political operative there last night was the utter failure of the UFT, the only agent capable of standing up. But that is nothing new as the UFT did nothing for this meeting, feeling I guess it had done enough on Jan. 26.

There is a lot to say about the contrast between the Jan. 26 and Feb. 24 PEP meetings. The former dominated by the pro public school debate, with the enormous booing of Joel Klein
Ed Notes was handed out at the UFT Delegate Assembly on Wed. Feb. 24 warning them that their presence was needed to counter the massive charter school outpouring at the Feb. PEP. Mulgrew's pathetic response was that he wanted to end the meeting by 6 so people who wanted to go can leave. Useless. They needed to be there at 4. The entire DA should have convened in front of Fashion Industries HS. I'm including the Ed Notes pdf below.

In some ways there was joy in hearing the very people who cheered Joel Klein last night, in contrast to the massive booing he received on Jan. 26, made a strong impression that the schools he was in charge of were not up to the level of charter schools he is pushing. I thought there was great irony in that parent after parent talked about the failures their children faced in his schools.

I left around 10 and the meeting went till 12. There are reports surfacing of the meeting and I am processing some video to post here later in the day of the wonderful statements made by CAPEers, and parents Lisa Donlan and Khem Irby.

Ed Notes Feb 2010

Feeling Peppy: The Meaning of January 26

Updated, Feb. 5, 8am
[Jan. 26 activated people in a way we have not often seen. See a parent voice of defiance at the top of the EdN sidebar. If that is one voice of many out there (an interesting sidebar is that high school student leaders attended the GEM meeting on Tuesday) then this could be a game changer.]

I wrote the column below about the implications of the Jan. 26 PEP meeting for publication in today's Wave newspaper in Rockaway a few days ago and even since then things have been moving forward. One of the most significant things about the UFT lawsuit is that the NAACP has joined in. BloomKlein have been playing the race card and the trick is turning against them. Their panic mode response has been to unleash the press in an attack on the NAACP and use their stooge Dennis Walcott as front man.

I didn't have the space to write about it, but a major outcome (and don't the Ed Deformers love to use that word) of the Jan. 26 PEP is the constant pounding the charter school movement took, in particular from people of color. (I'm efforting to get some of that video up). That seems to have been a turning point in the debate on charters. Note these two posts on Norms Notes

Charter Schools' Political Success is a Civil Rights Failure

and the headline from the Amsterdam News:

EDUCATION WAR

....“We’ve been patient. We’ve tried to reason,” continued [NYC NAACP head Hazel] Dukes. “To me, they are hell-bent on knowing everything that is good for the children. That’s disrespectful to the parents, to the community and to our children.”


In the last few days, people, even politicians - sometimes they're people too - have been contacting GEM with requests for sit downs. We're proud that GEM was a strong voice opposing and exposing charter schools for what they were - attempts to undermine public education and divide local communities.


Feeling Peppy: The Meaning of January 26
by Norm Scott

The event inspired exhilaration and despair, disappointment and hope. One day books may be written about it. Class Size Matters' Leonie Haimson called it "the ugly naked face of mayoral control," referring to the now legendary January 26 meeting of the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) at Brooklyn Tech HS. Nine and a half hour meetings can get pretty ugly. I got on the speakers' line at 4:30pm on Tuesday and didn't walk out until 3:30am Wednesday.

For the uninitiated, the PEP is the rubber stamp NYC Board of Education. The mayor gets to appoint eight out of the 13 members who serve at his pleasure. Each of the five borough presidents appoint one and even these people are often forced to go along with the mayor because the BPs are so dependent on the mayor for their budgets. Until recently, only Manhattan's BP Scott Stringer had the cajones to appoint someone (Patrick Sullivan) who would stand up to the Tweed goons on a consistent basis. By the end of this PEP meeting, 3 other borough reps had joined Patrick, including our own Dmytro Fedkowskyj, who said, “There very well may come a time when I will raise my hand in support of one of these schools being closed. But I am not there, not because I think closing a school should never be a considered choice, but because I think in order to get to that point, we must first ensure that it is the last choice."

Leonie, who attends an enormous number of meetings, thought this one "was one of the most inspiring and awful events I have ever witnessed. Inspiring because there were thousands of people there to protest the closing of 19 schools, and hundreds spoke out, for more than eight hours: eloquently, angrily, passionately and intelligently, about why their schools should not be closed and why the administration's blind and reckless policies would hurt our most vulnerable children. These English language learners, special education students, poor and homeless, will likely be excluded from the new small schools and charter schools that will replace their schools, and will undoubtedly be discharged in huge numbers as these schools phase out, never to receive a fair chance at a high school diploma. Parents, students and teachers cited facts and numbers, personal experience, trenchant analysis and damning evidence of the DOE's malignant neglect and botched statistics."

Inspiration came from the fact that 2000 people came out to the meeting, with the UFT organizing 50 buses. Hundreds of articulate spokes persons -numerous students, teachers and parents, many young, black, Latin/a. "I'm not a failure," proclaimed one student and after another as they listed their accomplishments and how their school had helped them. Loads of alumni, many in college, also came to support their schools. Many seemed to take the branding of their school as "failing" as a personal affront.

Paul Robeson seemed to have the largest and most organized contingent, along with Jamaica HS and Columbus. In my rough calculation, the size of activity in the school community seemed related to how much the school principal supported them. The Beach Channel turnout seemed very low in comparison. I'll leave you to form your own conclusions. Did you know leadership change was an option to closing Beach Channel, but was not considered?

Most of the activists in the NYC branch of the growing Resistance to the market based education deformist policies of BloomKlein showed up. The Grassroots Education Movement (GEM), one of the groups I helped found a year ago which has been one of the leaders of the Resistance, came out in force with their banner, whistles and high energy. They sat with the mostly Black and Latino/a group, the Coalition for Public Education (CPE), and alliances were being built throughout the meeting.

In addition to the closing schools, the meeting rubber stamped a five year extension of the PAVE charter school (whose founder is the son of a billionaire who gave $10 million to Bloomberg projects) within the PS 15 building in Red Hook despite the pleas of the parents and teachers from the Concerned Advocates for Public Education (CAPE). While being severely disappointed at the deaf ear of the PEP, they came out swinging a few days later: "...one month, culminating in one nearly 12 hour meeting, can both be inspiring and depressing, both a confirmation of our belief in humanity and a questioning of it. If we were spiritually empty, if we were cynical, we would believe that 'the people' should just give up, clearly the game is fixed. Luckily we are not, instead we vow to fight, until our last breath, to protect and preserve public education for our children."

I've been attending PEP meetings since the early years and they mostly took place in a sea of anonymity with little attention being paid by both the press and the public. The January PEP and the December PEP before it have drawn much greater attention with lots of press coverage. This outpouring of interest has shone a light in the dark corners where the roaches gather and hopefully there will be greater scrutiny, though don't be shocked if they try to bury these meetings in the furthest corners of the galaxy (anyone for a meeting on Alpha Centauri?)

Joel Klein and civil rights? Not
Of the significant outcomes of this meeting, none will prove more long term than the breaking of BloomKlein's' manipulation of the Black community, where the claim that closing the achievement gap (sure, by lowering standards, credit recovery and juking the stats) is the great civil rights issue of our time and they are leading the struggle. All the years of Klein traipsing to Black churches every Sunday to cultivate the community came down around his ears on Jan. 26 as one person of color after another condemned Tweed as being divisive and racist, repeatedly using the term "separate and unequal" in relation to the DOE's favoring charter over public schools. When Bloomberg's appointee chairman David Chang turned the mic off on a speaker from the NAACP, as pointed out by Patrick Sullivan, the shield set up by BloomKlein seemed to have been seriously breached.

Klein tried to recoup by appearing on a black radio station, leading one black parent to write "Shame on you KISS FM. Another wrote, "Joel Klein had the nerve to go on KISS FM radio station and try to explain why he is shutting down schools in the Black Community... Joel Klein should be indicted for what he has done to education in New York City. He has been allowed to have 4 major reorganizations. He has shut down the Chancellors district. He has closed over 90 schools and plans to close at least 100 more over the next 4 years. Our students are not failures, they were failed by the Billionaire Mayor and the unqualified Chancellor."


The beginning of a death spiral for mayoral control?
Many people had their first exposure on January 26 to the frustration of seeing hundreds of speakers have their voices ignored. Some felt helpless and walked away in despair. But for many the learning experience through mass activism energize them and may start the ball rolling toward ultimately putting a stake through the heart of mayoral control.

There is no better example than our own BCHS student activist Chris Petrillo. As the vote for Beach Channel closing went through he was in tears at having failed to save his school. NY 1 reporter Lindsay Christ asked him why he was so upset. "My parents met as students at Beach Channel," he said (school closings ignore the important role schools play as community anchors). By the time I dropped Chris off at his house close to 4am, he was back on his feet, ready to fight.

A few days later Chris called from the press conference at the UFT, where the NAACP and many other groups had joined the UFT in filing a law suit contending that "the department violated state law by failing to do the required analysis of how school closings would affect the more than 13,000 students who would potentially be displaced, particularly special needs students; by failing to analyze the effects of the closings on other already overcrowded public schools nearby; by failing to give communities and interested groups appropriate notice of local public hearings; and by failing to answer questions at public hearings."

I have 5 hours of videotape from the meeting, which I have been putting up on my blog (http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/). One of the fun pieces to watch is Joel Klein undergoing five minutes of booing and howling while he tried to give his opening statement. Come on by get a cathartic experience as you watch.

PEP Jan. 26: NAACP Mic Turned Off, Sullivan Makes His Point

In this 3:37 second extract, Patrick Sullivan chastises David Chang after mics are turned off from speakers from the NAACP.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR0eHLefS5k

Excuse video quality: Lousy location to shoot from - constantly having to move around to avoid blocking isles, bad lighting, cheap camera and downsized quality for faster processing.

Commentary on the UFT Bogus "It's DOE Mismanagement" Campaign and Tonight's PR PEP Rally

UPDATED (see last paragraphs): 11am.

It ain't over 'till its over could be the theme of tonight's PEP meeting at Brooklyn Tech, which will be covered live by NY1. People pretty much assume that with the mayor controlling the majority of PEP votes and even some borough reps joining in, there is no way to reverse the vote. Thus I find it interesting that the UFT, the enablers of mayoral control, is urging people to go to the meeting to protest (respectfully).

Then what? The UFT will tell people you put up a good fight but there is nothing we can do. And they are right - from their capabilities. But as our rally on Jan. 21 at Bloomberg's house (ignored by the UFT) indicated, there are people who will not give up the fight. And groups like GEM and CAPE are leading the way.

Yesterday, the Bronx UFT held another poorly organized event at the Bronx courthouse. The had less people than we had at Bloomberg's. How pathetic. Tonight there will be a big turnout, not because of the UFT but because teachers, parents and students at 20 closing schools see it as their last chance to effect a change. Maybe the pressure will cause a few Bloomberg PEP members to waver a bit. But I doubt it. They have no interest in children.

The UFT will make hay of the photo-op and claim: "See, we tried" before folding up its tent. Oh, we will see more events for PR purposes. There is an election to get through and they have to make sure no ICE-TJC candidates slip through onto the executive board to raise sticky questions.

In this video of my speech at the Jamaica HS closing school hearing on Jan. 7, I address the issues of privatization and discuss how the UFT claims that the closing schools are a result of mismanagement is bogus. In fact, BloomKlein and the privatizers are very adept at managing the undermining of public education. The true mismanager is the UFT, which has been their handmaiden.

Could tonight's PEP vote to endorse the closing of the schools and to extend the PAVE charter school be pretty much a fait accompli if the UFT had used every ounce of its energy to stop mayoral control in its tracks? I don't only mean the renewal this summer, but the original implementation back in 2002. Could they close schools so easily and dump the teachers out (the real reason for the closings) if the 2005 contract had not ended the seniority system? Could they undermine the public schools so easily if the UFT had taken a firm stand opposing charters and had not in fact opened its own charters in public school buildings?

I make the point in the speech that this privatization movement is occurring in urban centers all over the nation. Does anyone believe the UFT is not aware of this? Certainly they are. As far back as the day Weingarten came out for mayoral control in May 2001, I put an article by George Schmidt on the Chicago debacle on the table of every single UFT Executive Board member at the meeting that night. Ed Notes from that point on and ICE beginning with its formation in Nov. 2003 and GEM from its formation last year have consistently pointed to this national attack. But the UFT chooses to intentionally keep the membership uninformed and tries to make it look like it is Joel Klein's mismanagement and not part of a national movement by the privatizers.

What can be their motives to intentionally mislead the membership? I have my ideas, but I'll leave it to the readers to come up with your own ideas.

PEP Reports from Eterno and Sullivan

ICE/TJC presidential candidate James Eterno, a chapter leader who defends his school and teachers to the hilt, reports on the Panel for Educational Policy (the joke Board of Education) meeting in Queens last week. Joel Klein said kitchy-koo to James and Camille's 4 month old daughter Kara.

JAMAICA TELLS PEP ABOUT BUDGET CUT IMPACT

Then there were two

Patrick Sullivan, Manhattan PEP parent rep, gives his report on the NYC Public School Parent blog. Patrick has been joined by Bronx parent rep Anna Santos in standing up to BloomKlein.

http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2009/11/doe-demands-consultants-get-additional.html


Excerpt: Across the city, people school leadership teams are working hard to close growing budget gaps while the Chancellor and his team are squandering millions of dollars.
A contract with Hanover Foods to provide canned ravioli to schools passed 9-3. I voted against the contract because new DOE specifications resulted in only one bidder and a price increase of 41% amounting to $1.1 million in additional cost over three years. While nutritional standard are important, the upgrade was not significant enough to warrant the additional expense. For example, we were told the new specifications called for lower sodium but the reduction was minimal: from 880 mg per serving to 770.

A NY1 report had this nugget:
"The fact that there is only provider of ravioli is kind of absurd," said Panel for Educational Policy member Patrick Sullivan. "We are clearly doing something wrong, and my concern here is that we have to be aggressively taking cost out. Not looking for ways, or acting like we have abundant funds to be buying gourmet ravioli."

Sometimes it is fun to watch the reporters as they have to listen to these farces. Keeping a straight face is tough.

Francis Lewis HS CL Arthur Goldstein, an ICE candidate for the UFT high school executive Board, also attended and we expect a report from him soon. Arthur and James were featured in a recent NY Post piece on their schools. See Goldstein and Eterno: ICE Chapter Leaders in the NY Post

By the way, check out the activity of the ICE/GEM activist crew vs the Unity machine in just about every venue. (See my previous post on the DC union strategy.)

PEP Boys (and Girls)

No rally materialized at the first meeting of the Panel for Educational Policy last night under the reconstituted mayoral control. There was some talk from the Coalition for Public Education (CPE) and GEM but nothing materialized.

There were a cosmetic few changes at the PEP. Joel Klein can no longer be the chairman of the PEP, freeing him to play with his Blackberry all night. David Chang, who has spent his years on the PEP being a bump on a log was "elected" chair.

Javier Hernandez has a report on yesterday's PEP in the Times
Newly Empowered Education Panel, Looking Like the Compliant One of Old

It had been derided as a committee of puppets, a rubber-stamp board with no clear power or purpose. So when word came from Albany over the summer that the Panel for Educational Policy would have greater power over the New York City schools, some thought things might be different.

The old days, however, did not seem far behind at the panel’s first meeting of the school year on Monday: The “ayes” were nearly unanimous, and friction was virtually nonexistent.

When Ed Notes fave Patrick Sullivan surprised everyone by nominating himself for chairman, for a second there was no "second" – until SI rep Joan Correale, who usually kow-tows to the BloomKlein crowd (the SI borough Pres is a Bloomie), figured, "what the hell" and seconded Patrick's nomination. Of course, he lost to Chang as the prearranged plan was executed.

When it came time for the Vice chair, Correale (if my memory is correct) nominated Patrick and was seconded by Bronx borough rep Anna Santos. The BloomKlein crowd then nominated Philip Barry. Patrick asked Barry, incredulously, "Philip, I'm a little surprised since you have only attended 65% of the PEP meetings over the years".

Javier Hernandez writes with tongue firmly planted in cheek:

The mayoral bloc squelched the efforts of Patrick J. Sullivan, a Manhattan parent and frequent critic of Mr. Bloomberg’s policies, to become chairman, and rejected another bid by him for vice chairman.

Instead, the panel elected David C. Chang, the chancellor of the N.Y.U. Polytechnic Institute, as chairman, and Philip A. Berry, a management consultant, as vice chairman. (As of April, Mr. Chang had attended 81 percent of the board’s meetings since 2002, and Mr. Berry 65 percent, one of the lowest rates on the panel.)

Tweed's general counsel Michael Best was chosen as Secretary and will help Chang run the meetings.

Meredith Kolodner from the Daily News was there as the panel approved $250 million in contracts at its first meeting last night. Anna Philips from Gotham Schools, as was Yoav Gonen from the NY Post. But I haven't seen any reports from them yet. [UPDATE: Anna's report- The Panel for Educational Policy returns, its imprint the same]

The emerging star of the evening was the Bronx borough rep's appointee and newbie Anna Santos, who questioned just about everything. She reminded me of Tweed's Chief Parent Engagement Officer Martine Guerrier, who did much the same in her early days on the PEP as the Brooklyn rep. Over the years she faded fast. Hopefully, Anna Santos and Patrick Sullivan will make a great team and give the rest of us two voices on the PEP.

There was a long discussion of contracts and a large group of Koreans who want geographical names of territory taken from Korea by Japan in WWII restored to their Koran names. They had lots of cameras and press with them and great tee-shirts.

Robert Jackson, the City Council education chair came by and said something that has been on my mind for years: how do they hold a monthly open meeting in a space that holds 70 people?
They close the doors not long after the meeting starts. Jackson was incensed and rightly so. On the way in we all had to line up and go through security. I set up my tripod and camera and went to the bathroom. Then the security guard wouldn't let me back in. Thanks to DOE press spokesman Andy Jacob (on my Facebook page along with boss David Cantor), who said looking at my Wave press pass, "Are you a reporter today? You can go in." Sure Andy.

A bunch of parents from a charter school were there to extol the virtues of being given "choice" which according them is everyone's right. As is their right to demand space in public schools. Trying to counter the growing bad publicity charters are getting from GEM's very effective Truth About Charter Schools pamphlet, (we handed out some copies) they kept repeating their mantra that they are public school parents.

Parent leader Kim Irby from District 13 presented an effective alternative to their view, as did GEM and ICE member Gloria Brandon. I pointed out that in most of this country parents do not have choice to spend my tax money on their own little schools, but in fact have the choice of sending their kids to neighborhood schools or pay for private schooling.

It looks like the charter school movement in NYC is organizing a presence at events to stake their claim.

I only had an hour tape for a 3 hour plus meeting so I had to do a lot of juggling and moving and shaking - this place is not only unfriendly for attendees, but for video people– and tried to get as much flavor as I could. I made sure to get Leonie Haimson's two speeches (they tape died just as she finished her 2nd one with Michael Best harassing her as she pointed out how out of compliance they are on class size reduction) and as much of Patrick as I could. I missed a lot of Anna Santos because of a pillar. We have to get her a better seat next time.

As usual, the UFT had practically zero presence. The PEP next meeting will be Oct. 20 at the Petrides School in Staten Island. I'll be washing my hair that evening.


Related:
See Hernandez' report on cuts principals are being forced to make A New Meaning for Cutting Classes


Another sad NY story of a murdered young man
The murder of robotics student Glenn Wright is reported in the NY Times Fatal Stabbing of East Harlem Resident, 21, May Have Stemmed From Mistaken Identity. One of our key FIRST LEGO League planning committee members Kris Bretton coached Glenn and there are a bunch of quotes from Danny Peralta who worked with Glenn. Danny has been working with robotics and otter after school programs at East Harlem Tutorial (and is a great photographer).

I don't want to get on a high horse here. I'll just say that long-time teachers in the inner city see this type of story played so often. Good kids dying for nothing. When one touches you even through 3 degrees of separation, it makes it all the more poignant.

Stringer Puts Patrick Sullivan Back at PEP – Ed Notes Had the Video of Stringer Offer to Sullivan a Month Ago

Anna Phillips at Gotham has a report on Patrick Sullivan's appointment to the Panel for Educational Policy by Scott Stringer. Back from the recent past, citywide panel gets first member

The first PEP meeting should be the 3rd Monday of Sept at Tweed. Plan to be there to welcome Patrick back as Klein has put his phony social promotion policy as the main item on the agenda.

We pretty much knew that from Ed Notes' interview with Stringer at PS 123 on July 10 when I asked him if he was going to appoint Sullivan and he said he would if Patrick wanted it.

Stringer emerges from PS 123 as GEMers shout, "Paint the whole school" after watching Eva Moskowitz people bring large buckets of paint into the school to paint her section.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yysHjiSOmgM


Though Stringer is to be commended for his action, that does not mean we don't keep his feet to the fire on the PS 123 situation and charter schools in general.

When the DOE ruled in HSA's favor in its invasion of PS 123 on July 9, two days after we rallied there after teachers physically prevented HSA movers from removing their stuff, we held a rally up there on the morning of July 10. Tony Avella and Scott Stringer came by.

Here is my post at that time.

UPDATE: Scott Stringer Video at PS 123 After Walk-Through and Answers Questions from GEMers

In the video Stringer emerges from PS 123 after his walk through om July 10, 2009. After a speech, members of GEM question him about the influx of charters. He tries to duck and keep it to the local situation.

Here is JW's report at the GEM blog:

GEM people asked all the right questions and made all the right points.

Stringer: "We're on the case."

Stringer: "We're going to work."

But, they haven't been on the case, and they're only going to get on it if it becomes politically expedient.

You could tell there's a long way to go after Norm Scott asked:

"If Bloomberg and Klein run the schools for 7 years, they're in charge of every school, how do they manage to push the idea of a charter school, which basically absolves them of the responsibility.

In other words, isn't that an admission of their failure if they say that public schools are failing and they need charter schools. Isn't there a contradiction in that very concept?"

Stringer dodged it, claiming his purpose that morning was to see what's going on at 123 and try to figure out a solution.

Stringer: "Today's not about THAT fight."

Of course it isn't — to him. Because he and his colleagues on the City Council have watched privatization for seven years, first with the Gates money and now with the charters. The flood of no-bid contracts, non-educator corporate ideology, and inflated PR teams are not new, and it's obvious these people have bought into the process. In fact, it's in their interest to let their constituents, not to mention the entire nation, believe that the NYC school system is a model of "accountability" and "transparency," with scores going "up" and graduation rates "on the rise."


The fight that Stringer sidelined at Scott's question is the fight, no two ways about it. And it's going to have to get much louder before elected officials like Stringer get down with making quality facilities equal for all public school kids.

— JW

Videos from Panel for Educational Policy Meeting

November, 2007

Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters raises the issue of the DOE missing the deadline for releasing class size data in addition to talking about the number of seats needed in schools to accomplish serious class size reductions. Joel Klein responds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQuYTYwg7oo



Joel Klein reacts angrily to Betsy Combier's charge he doesn't care about kids when she questions him at the Nov. '07 Panel for Educational Policy meeting in NYC on why charter school but not public school kids get $44 million in busing money.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsPFU7LyJNU

Running PEP Meetings Using the Workshop Model

After watching some mind-numbing presentations by Joel Klein's staff at the November Panel for Educational Policy meeting, I suggest an alternative way of running the meetings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0wrouvzgVo

Videos from Panel for Educational Policy

I finally got to cut up all the parts of the tape I made at the Sept. PEP and post them as individual videos (all less than 10 minutes) on you tube. Here are the direct links.

Speakers from the public get 2 minutes to make their point.

TAGNYC (Teacher Advocacy Group) Speak out to Klein.
3 members do a continuous statement lasting over 6 minutes and they make their point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2LGTWXaPr0

Norm Scott on Teacher Quality at the Sept. PEP
I go over so often to talk about this issue which everyone, especially our union leaders, seems to feel is the key ingredient. Not so - teachers will fit the usual bell curve of quality, just as doctors and lawyers and all other jobs do. Lowering class size will result in an immediate uptick on teacher quality in many cases.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwsO-zoA7o0

Staten Island CEC 31 rep critiques Tweed on SLT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExhZPELoolk

Betsy Combier and Polo Colon have been regulars at the PEP and follow up here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jHY_PPNvx0


Patrick Sullivan is the Manhattan rep on the PEP (one of 5 borough appointees - the rest are appointed by Bloomberg) and can go into questioning in depth.

Patrick Sullivan and Chris Cerf on teacher turnover
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuT0ePlToR8

Patrick Sullivan and James Leibman on parent surveys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11q3uZtePCE

Patrick Sullivan at PEP on Military recruitment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI9CT8bbEtg