IT'S TIME TO OCCUPY THE PEP THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9TH, 5:30PM

Just off a conference call. Activity around this has been intense. I'm not sure what I can write about but there's lots to say at some point. What has emerged are 3 strands: The UFT, CEJ and ODOE and some coalition-building going on between them --- things have still not been hammered out but post Feb. 9, depending on what the UFT decides to do (lots of mixed signals) I will have a few things to say.

Tweed has a backup plan in case of disruption where the meeting cannot continue. They will retire to a reserve room in Brooklyn Tech and hold the meeting there we have learned. Maybe invite a few slugs to join them to make it "public." Does that violate the Open Meeting Law? Hmmmm.

If I say more I will have to kill you. This came from ODOE which has been drawing 50 people to every Sunday meeting.

IT'S TIME TO OCCUPY THE PEP 

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9TH, 5:30PM

Brooklyn Technical High School, 29 Fort Greene Pl (between Fulton and Dekalb) in Brooklyn

Near the Nevins 2/3/4/5 or the Dekalb B/D/N/Q/R 

https://www.facebook.com/events/104521729674642/ 

Background
On Thursday, February 9th, the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) will hold an open meeting and then a vote to close down dozens more schools. The PEP is an un-elected 13-member body (the majority of whom are appointed by Mayor 1% Bloomberg) whose decisions dramatically affect the lives of the 99%. Every time a vote for school closings has come before the panel, they have voted on behalf of their puppeteer, Mayor Bloomberg. No matter what impassioned students, parents, educators or elected officials have said in the past, the PEP has ALWAYS voted against the people. PEP meetings are open to the public. 

We, students, parents and educators from the 99%, invite you to join us in having our OUR OWN VOTE on the fate of our schools. 

If you don't believe Mayor 1%'s puppet board should be empowered to make decisions about our schools, come help us OPEN THE MEETING UP! In October, the panel walked out of their meeting and we held our own meeting. Click here to see how it went down. Now, let's do it with thousands!

Ways YOU can Occupy the PEP:

 Option A: Are you a student, parent, educator or elected official from a school that the PEP has targeted for closure? Members of your school community should plan to use THE PEOPLE'S MIC to speak out about the mayor's policies and about your school! To see how the people's mic works, click here.

EXAMPLE: I am here because the panel shouldn't be voting without the community's consent to close down schools. In my school...

EXAMPLE: I am here because the mayor has it all wrong, and because he wants to take over space in our public schools to hand it over to charter schools. Our school is an amazing community...

EXAMPLE: I am here because what is happening here is wrong! Because the people have spoken and they say enough is enough!...

Or you can plan a song, performance, or skit. Every school that the PEP plans to vote on will have a chance to speak out and use the people's mic. Please practice! The people's mic can be tricky and you have to speak in short phrases of three to seven words and wait for people to respond. But it's a powerful tool that can change the balance of power in the room! Let's use it!

Then the PEOPLE (not the puppet panel) will vote on the state of your school!

Option B: Not from a closing school? Well then we need your help to support the occupation of this undemocratic meeting! There are definitely ways you can participate. We need your voice to help amplify the voices of those speaking on behalf of their schools. We also need folks to sit near the aisle to protect the people's mic. And we're asking folks to wear shirts or stickers that identify who the occupiers are and what we stand for. For example, you might consider wearing a shirt or sticker that says "Student Against School Closings" or "Parent for Community Control of Schools", etc. There will be speeches, performances, skits, signs to hold, and more! Join us.

Please contact occupythedoe@gmail.com with any questions. Let's open up the PEP and put the decision making power where it belongs—with the people!

What do do about new Bloomberg PEP Puppet Judy Bergtraum

How sad. With that family history.

Has Bloomberg closed Murray Bergtraum yet?

How will Judy vote when he decides to close Edith Bergtraum?

Wait, wait, don't tell me.

...Diane Ravitch

She was at the last meeting and voted the Bloomberg party line. She did not speak. No questions or comments. I can't see how she was well informed enough to even vote. With the current governance model it doesn't really matter what qualifications his appointees have.  ---Non-Puppet Patrick Sullivan

And if the school boards become extinct?
"I’ll find some other way to get involved," Bergtraum promised.

NOTE: Not that she thinks it bad for school boards to become extinct.

Background: Bloomberg Puppet (and possible crook) Joe Chan Resigns from PEP

How to treat new Bloomberg PEP appointee Judy Bergtraum, a former teacher (now a lawyer) and the daughter of Murray and Edith, both teachers who had schools named after them? Some people are calling on escalated personal attacks (including home and business demos) to hold the puppets who vote whatever Bloomberg wants accountable.

Not that all reports on Judy Bergtraum are bad. Here is Leonie's report.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

News flash! The mayor appoints someone qualified to sit on the Panel for Educational Policy!

I am surprised that the DOE has not yet released any biographical information for Judy Bergtraum, the new member of the Panel for Educational Policy, whose appointment was announced several weeks ago.  She is from a well-known and educationally prominent Queens family, and until recently, was a Community Education Council member and president from District 25. 

Her mother was Edith Bergtraum, a teacher at Public School 143 in Corona for 25 years, who was also member of Community School Board District 25 in 1974 for 19 years. After her death, an elementary school in Queens (PS 165 in District 25) was renamed in Edith's memory.

Her father was Murry Bergtraum, who was a member of the NYC Board of Education from 1969-1973, first as its VP and then its president until his death in 1973.  He also has a school named after him: Murry Bergtraum HS for Business Careers in lower Manhattan, site of several loud and contentious PEP meetings.

Judy is a former teacher who became a lawyer, has worked in city government, was a school board member and then CEC member & president, and now is Deputy to the Vice Chancellor of the Office of Facilities Planning, Construction and Management at CUNY.

Unlike most of the mayoral appointees to the PEP, she has a long-standing interest and experience in public education. She appears to be the most qualified mayoral appointee to the PEP since it was established.  

A short interview with her in the Queens Tribune from several years ago is here; her professional resume is here. Her email is Judy.bergtraum@mail.cuny.edu

And this from someone who has worked with her:

What I can say about Judy Bergtraum is she is devoted to helping schools and education. As President of the Community School Board and the the appointee to the CEC she was effective and objective for the most part. I hope that on the PEP she considers things the same way as if it were D25. we worked very well together as she knew the parent factor was key to success. She is organized and is not afraid to go outside the box. Hopefully things have not changed that much.

Jane

Maybe there are miracles but if I get a chance at a PEP I think I will ask Judy directly if she has any idea what Bloomberg's minions have done to destroy the fabric of education at the school named in her dad's memory. She ought to have a chat with Chapter Leader John Elfrank. When the day comes as Diane Ravitch says above, will she vote Murry Bergtraum as a school out of existence like so many of the other large schools?

 Queens Tribune: http://www.queenstribune.com/archives/featurearchive/feature99/20/index.html

Judy on-Duty

Judy Bergtraum had very little choice but to get involved with education. It’s in her blood. "Both of my parents have had schools named after them. PS 165 in Flushing (Bergtraum’s alma mater) is called the Edith K. Bergtraum school, and there’s a high school in Manhattan named after my father," Bergtraum said.

After graduating from Forest Hills High School, Bergtraum (naturally) pursued a teaching career, instructing both regular and special education. But educators, she soon realized, were not the people making important educational decisions. Administrators were.

"I was once told by a prominent political figure that as a female, if I wanted to work in government, one way I could do it was to become an attorney. What he meant was that women, who don’t really have a leg up in government, can gain equal footing with an attorney’s title."

Now a law school graduate, Bergtraum says she has "the best of both worlds." She got that government job, serving as Deputy Commissioner for Deputy Citywide Administrative Services for the City of New York, and continues to work for children as a member of School Board District 25, for which she ran again as an incumbent on May 18.

And if the school boards become extinct?

"I’ll find some other way to get involved," Bergtraum promised. 

==================
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 the right for important bits.

NYC Police Turn Ugly Since Occupy Movement Began

I've generally been pretty supportive of the police, viewing them as fellow public workers and members of the same class - ergo - the 99%. But since Occupy Wall Street a switch seems to have been turned on for all too many cops who seem to take the Occupy movement as a personal affront. I understand as members of a paramilitary organization you have to follow orders. But when you do so with relish and glee that takes it to another place.

Now we are not just talking about how they treat protesters, We are talking about attempts to control the coverage by the press which just might document some of the transgressions that are taking place. I know of one guy who has been arrested twice - both times (luckily) on tape despite police attempts to stop journalists from documenting the story. Now this is a slight smallish guy who was using a cell phone to film and was beset upon but a load of police bullies.

I had my own minor wrestling match with some of the overwhelming security at the Dec. 14 PEP meeting where the press was more hassled than I've seen in almost a decade of covering PEP meetings. I was standing inside a white square for the press but leaving when there was something to cover in the auditorium and was continually warned, even threatened with being ordered to leave. At one point I was standing in the box when incredulously 2 security guys came out and penned me in. There was a look of intense satisfaction on their faces. The enemy was vanquished.

I heard one female cop say after people walked out, "Now they'll engage in civil disobedience outside" when nothing of the sort was occurring. I turned the camera on her and she walked away.
Since this was a PEP meeting I felt safe to photograph the cops, which seems to make many of them extremely nervous. After all, as NYC teacher Brian Jones said, "What public body has to meet to talk about our schools under armed guard....maybe some of that budget can be shifted over. No matter how many police you bring here that's a sign of your unpopularity."

Here is a video compilation I made to demonstrate the extent of police presence at the Dec. 14 PEP meeting including some of my interactions: http://youtu.be/xa-OQGuMXhI



The NYC police seem to be doing everything they can to deny people press passes. I have tried for years to get an official press pass as a reporter for The Wave. They give you a phone number to call, which I have numerous times but never get a response.

Here is a frightening account of a journalist who was arrested.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/12/19/snatched-for-photographing-michael-bloombergs-cops/

37 Hours in Lock Up

Snatched For Photographing Michael Bloomberg’s Cops

by STANLEY ROGOUSKI

I was taking photographs of the police arresting Occupy Wall Street demonstrators at the December 12 Winter Garden flash mob, which had been organized in solidarity with the port shutdowns on the west coast, when I found myself targeted. “That one,” I heard a voice say in a brutal “New Yawk” accent, realizing that a senior police official was pointing me out over a row of people, “he goes. He goes.”
All at once I felt like a high school quarterback getting blitzed by the 1970s Oakland Raiders. Five police officers, all much larger than my 5’11” and 190 pounds, crashed through a line of protesters, photographers, and Rude Mechanical Orchestra band members and slammed me to the marble floor of the Winter Garden. To my horror, I realized that they had body slammed me down on top of my Nikon D200 and bag of lenses, and, to my even greater horror, I also realized that they went out of their way to interpret my reflexive movements to protect my camera equipment as resisting arrest. “Stop resisting,” one police officer screamed at me as I lay pinned to the floor under 1700 pounds of New York City’s finest, “stop resisting.” “Metal cuffs,” I heard one of them scream. “Metal cuffs. Put the metal cuffs on this fucking guy.” Recovering from the initial shock, I realized that I was handcuffed to a chair with a row of 17 other people, 10 men and 7 women, under arrest for “criminal trespassing” and “resisting arrest.” Almost all of us were members of the Occupy Wall Street media team or independent photojournalists known by the police to be sympathetic to the Occupy movement.
The next 36 hours and 55 minutes would be aggressively impersonal, an attempt to use the tediously bureaucratic day-to-day operation of the criminal justice system to give legitimacy to a snatch and grab operation by Michael Bloomberg’s “personal army designed to cow the independent media into leaving the coverage of Occupy Wall Street to Fox, the New York Post, and The Daily News.
---------

Nobody save maybe a New York Post reporter or three believes that Occupy Wall Street is dangerous. At the very worst, New Yorkers unsympathetic to the Occupy movement see it as an aggressive nuisance, but therein lies the problem. Ray Kelly the crew cutted junior league Stalin who sometimes masquerades as a police commissioner in a democratic state, has milked the terrorist attacks of September 11 over the past decade in a way that makes George W. Bush and Dick Cheney look like amateurs.  In his mind, anything that even slightly inconveniences his department, the last defense against two more planes crashing into the skyline of Manhattan, needs to be gotten rid of, even if that thing is the First Amendment.
That New York is indeed a difficult city to govern, that it does have problems with traffic, sanitation, and crowding, problems that have to be managed by a very large and powerful city bureaucracy, means that threats to democratic liberty come not as blatant reaction, but as “necessity,” as the compromises we have to take to keep the overcrowded metropolis humming along. Creeping totalitarianism in what should be the most colorful city in America comes off as strangely gray and banal. Kelly, the police commissioner, whose department can now shoot down planes and conduct intelligence operations overseas, and Bloomberg, the Napoleonic little billionaire who was able to spread around enough cash to buy off all opposition to his stealing a third term in office, have successfully convinced most New Yorkers that they and only they can make the trains run on time.
The propagandists at Fox, the Daily News, and the New York Post have, in turn, seized upon this “necessity” as a way to attack Occupy Wall in the name of the financial industry. The interests of the authoritarian Bloomberg, the Stalinist Kelly, the “1%” and their PR departments in the corporate media converge into at least one important directive. The state, the municipal government of New York City, and the NYPD must hold veto power over who is and who is not a legitimate journalist, who can and who can not take photos at a public event. Ray Kelly, thus, becomes more important than the Dean of the Columbia Journalism School in determining what about Occupy Wall Street is reported on, and what is ignored. Anybody who even passively defies this de facto form of censorship risks getting thrown in jail.

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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 the right for important bits.

PEP: Same Old, Not Same Old

Updated: 12:30PM
Read Leonie's take: Last night's PEP meeting approving a further expansion of the DOE (Department of Eva) and Walcott's falling poll numbers

Occupy the DOE was out in full force at tonight's PEP Meeting despite attempts to keep the public away by holding the meeting in Queens. -----Gloria Brandman, GEM/ICE

What kind of public body has to meet about our school under armed guard?- Brian Jones

I have so much to report with video to go that I don't know where to start. I've spent a lot of time trying to put something together but will have to do it in multiple posts. The UFT other than getting some buses (a good thing that helped attendance) stayed under the radar with a few officials hanging out - they seem to back away when having to confront the Moskowitz machine.

See the video of the opening Mic check here or at you tube.

So what looked to many like just another PEP meeting where people get up and rail at/plead with the slugs on the Panel (except Patrick Sullivan and an occasional voice of independence from another borough) only to be ignored (which was the SAME OLD last night) the new factor was the combination of forces (mostly teachers with some parents) that constitute the "Occupy the DOE" movement which has been in existence for about 6 weeks.

Why go to PEP meetings when the outcome is predetermined? It is the one time a month where all the forces battling ed deform can get together in a setting where they can take the fight to the horse's mouth, often in front of the press. The PEP and the outrageous conduct of the puppets is an organizing tool to grow the movement. The 1% understands that and that is why they moved the meeting. I believe that did affect attendance but there is another opportunity every month.

Enormous police presence connected to fear of Occupy
This issue was addressed by Brian Jones in this video: http://youtu.be/yPiNqcKSDm4

Certainly the Occupy movement and the ODOE in particular has lead to a high degree of police presence and I spent much of the evening arguing with police over where I could be.

On one side of the auditorium, they actually set up gates to pen in the press and on the other side, where I spent much of the evening, not wanting to be penned in, one crowd control plain clothesman said, "Don't you know what a press box is," pointing to the 2 white boxes on the floor? "I've been covering these events for almost 10 years and this is the first time I saw a box on a floor."
"Things have changed since Occupy Wall Street," he said.
"So this is as much about containing the press as in controlling the audience," I said. He wouldn't respond. As we were talking, 2 cops came up with these barriers and penned me in. Jeez, the attention being paid to control, control, control. I spent some time just turning the camera on the cops themselves, which made them very nervous. (After the walkout with the group gathered outside holding a meeting, the cops stood almost arm to arm in front of the building as if to block re-entry but when I turned my camera on them, the moved out of the way - I have to say, that I have generally had friendly feelings towards cops, but since OWS some have turned nasty and intimidating and I'm not thinking positively - I told a bunch they are on the wrong side - I know they are only doing their jobs but there are ways of doing it without being nasty.)

When I went up the aisle later to get footage of Eva Moskowitz and her (all white) crew the same guy came over and told me to go back to my box, claiming there was a complaint about me. "She is a public figure and I have a right to cover her," I argued. "This is about showing favoritism."

There were some new rules with threats to remove people for shouting out. And there was a confrontation when they tried to remove Leia Petty and were shouted down (I'll have video up of this confrontation later).

Passionate voices from schools under occupation/Low Key Success
As usual, there was much eloquence from the schools themselves from teachers and parents while Success, knowing the outcome, only brought along a relatively few people.

See this revealing interview with 2 somewhat cagey parents who are reluctant at first to even admit where they live - which turns out to be Brownsville and not Bed-Stuy where the Brooklyn Success school is located. Eva can cast as wide net - or has to - to fill her schools. But when you spend $1.6 million on advertising, you do catch some fish.


http://youtu.be/rbGIAgpTEdw

There is some irony here when you notice these pics I took of Eva and her not exactly diversified crew.

If you look carefully in the back row (or back of the bus) you can see a few parents who were there to speak for Eva  – there is some irony when Black parents are being used to get Eva a school full of white kids with parents who are avoiding schools with Black children.)

Growth of Occupy DOE is Key
Some people measure growth in thousands but as I said at the meeting last night, I have been there from almost the beginning a decade ago when I was often one of few voices standing up challenging their policies. Then came the GEM years since 2009 when we tried to deal with closing schools and charter co-locos with a relatively small handful of people - and give credit to GEM for getting a lot of this started. While getting worn out, we also made loads of alliances towards building a movement of opposition. We also did a lot of performance art at these meetings.

These alliances  – working with NYCORE and Teachers Unite, with support from the traditional caucuses like ICE and TJC (which have not been as active as groups in this aspect of the movement - but then again, many key ICEers have been working full time with GEM) – have begun to blossom, especially when tied into the Occupy the DOE movement, where a coalition have been holding organizing meetings every Sunday afternoon. Alliances with various parent groups around the city when they come under attack have been fruitful. Eva's move into Cobble Hill has been a gold mine of amazing people - teachers and parents. The key will be whether these people remain active - so far in the past once the school-level battle was over, we saw no more of many people. Hopefully, the Occupy concept has mobilized a greater number of people. To me this is the key outcome so far but we have to wait and see.

A special shout-out to NYCORE which has brought a great number of young teachers to the table (they are meeting tonight at 6 at NYU and I bet there will be at least 50 people there.) If you check the video I posted of the Mic Check to start the meeting you will notice how many there are. And notice that these are teachers - young teachers - unafraid of going head to head with their ultimate boss, Dennis Walcott.

The closing down of Walcott's little shindig in October (Video of Occupy PEP), followed by the General Assembly meeting on the steps of Tweed (OWS Comes to the DOE: General Assembly on Steps of...) gave some legs to the growing movement.

So when I see hundreds of people shlepping to Queens I get optimistic. The Occupy movement seems to have given organizers a mechanism for moving and activating people.

I really love Eva (and you can see it is mutual) because she alienates so many people and really is at the fault line of how political influence dominates ed decision-making and is such a great organizer for us. With her is Jenny Sedlis, her PR person who has to do so much damage control (other charters hate Eva too) she is kept hopping all the time and is paid accordingly. Strangely, Jenny and I have  a nice relationship. Hard to explain how we can be on opposite sides and get along. I know after reading Michael's comment that PR people know how to play people. We had a long talk at last year's Gotham Party and I didn't see her as a phony. My philosphy is to not make things personal but focus in the political. But when I detect a phony I do make it personal (like I increasingly feel about Walcott). I told Jenny I would hire her to do PR at Ed Notes. But when will public schools get PR people at 6 figure salaries?

 When the crew walked out I followed them and filmed some of the outside stuff but went back in for a while. I left before the vote. Here are some pics. More later.

Noah Gotbaum from CEC 3 - Yes, Victor and Betsy

Check Out: State Supreme Court's overturning of Peter Lamphere's "unsatisfatory" rating that appears on the front page of this week's Riverdale Press: http://bit.ly/rXLLoV . The DOE wants to appeal and fire Peter, an outstanding math teacher (they have to go to the Philippines to get math teachers but want to fire a top level guy who was being persecuted politically). I castigated Walcott at the PEP on this last night.


Coverage:

See Lindsay Christ's Report: Panel Votes To Approve New Charter Schools - NY1.com 

New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/education/charter-school-approved-in-cobble-hill-brooklyn.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&gwh=809F59A531E1D9203C192A5AE6E2D0B5

NY1: http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/152547/panel-votes-to-approve-new-charter-schools

Fox 5: http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/charter-school-meeting-20111214

NY Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/vote-move-decide-fate-controversial-charter-school-locals-fuming-article-1.989384

Poll shows nyc residents approve of Occupy, disapprove of Chancellor Walcott http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/poll-negatives-nyc-schools-chancellor-article-1.991667

Gotham Schools: http://gothamschools.org/2011/12/14/other-schools-without-space-where-city-gave-moskowitz-a-home/

and a similar action in Chicago two days ago: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/education/ct-met-cps-board-1215-20111215,0,5156489.story

PEP POP III: Diary of a Mad Parent

I'm outta here…once again amazed at politics in NYC. I think I'll look for a bar. There's a reality at the bottom of a glass that makes more sense than this.

Posted by a parent activist on the NYCEd listserve, it captures the PEP ambiance perfectly:

530 PM on August 17: streets crowded with Verizon workers in red shirts; police, lined up, hands on hips, staring into the crowd, whistles and loud speakers, honking car horns, disgruntled pedestrians…New York in the midst of a strike. It looked like Lindsey era turmoil. This time though, the strikers have a lot more to lose. This is an era of big business that would make Gould, Carnegie and Rockefeller bust the buttons of the vests over their very prosperous bellies. New barons wear LL Bean or $2000.00 suits

We walked along Pearl Street, past barricades and protesters to Murry Bergtraum High School, yet another high school shrouded in scaffolding and netting… like a widow staring stoically off into space while a beloved was buried. It was time for the PEP meeting. Jeez Louise, these meetings have become so depressing!

Getting into the auditorium took a bit of maneuvering; we went up a few steps to go down a flight of stairs. I couldn't help but think of Dante's inferno..which level would we be at when we stopped? The place was a sea of red shirts…for a moment I thought St. John's was holding a B-ball rally. But no, once the chanting began I knew we weren't at a college campus rally. Organizers handed out flyers, independently people began chants….Verizon sucks!. The people united will never be divided!….Do the right thing! Kids were there, some so young their mothers carried them in their arms. Workers were there. Parents were there.

The air was electric, but the PEP wasn't. Half of them weren't there yet and DOE staff was milling around on the stage…putting out water bottles seemed to be the most that anyone was doing. More security stared out at the crowd. I am not sure what was funnier, their stares or the crowds chants.

It's 6:20 and the PEP comes to order. We begin, as usual with the Chancellor's report. The Chancellor swings into action….grabbing a mike and jumping into the well of the auditorium. It would have been impressive except for one thing….he's being ignored. He starts his report with the opening day of school, September 8th, and the place erupts. People are shouting "We know that!" Unperturbed, he moves on to sex education producing cat calls and laughter from the audience. ELA and Math scores were next. A giant screen with facts and figures hung above the audience. Shael Suransky began to intone the DOE mantra…we had an increase. ELA 1.5%. Math 3.3% The house came down! Whistles, hoots, hollers, sneers, you name it people used it. Everyone in that room knew that these numbers were a sham and a shame. Fingers were pointed at the PEP. Shouts of "Shame on you" were long and loud. Suransky's presentation, such as it was, was drowned out in the ruckus.

The PEP Sec'y droned on and on. There were changes to Chancellor's regs 670 and 755
The crowd waited expectantly. Robert Jackson of City Council was already at one mike. Others had lined up at a second mike. Signs came up. People shifted and shuffled. And then bang, there is was: the proposal to okay the estimated budget. A wave of noise swept over the audience There were 14 items in the budget proposal. Jackson wanted to know which item was the Verizon proposal? Where was the proposal? Did anyone see it? Read it? Understand it? Other speakers had questions and comments.
The contracts included money for consultants, technology and testing. Why not revise your spending priorities and put the money back into the schools? 250 principals have appealed their proposed budgets. They are facing teaching staff cuts, program cuts. Why are we paying for consultants when students are going without teachers?

The Special Investigator had found Verizon to be guilty of swindling the DOE out of millions, yet a Verizon spokesman had written to the DOE insisting that Verizon was not part of the theft committed while Willard Lanham was a tech consultant for the DOE. Verizon made millions and was accused of stealing more and now the DOE should pay them? Why not call it a wash? Verizon provides the DOE with the service, the DOE doesn't go after them for over 120 million in suspected thefts? Shouts of "Raise test scores not corporate profits" were coming fast and furious.

The noise was overwhelming the speakers. PEP members were unable to hear the budget presentation. The Manhattan Boro President rep wanted a postponement. The Queens' rep agreed. The Verizon contract which had expired in January was never rescinded by Verizon. Yet, as the Manhattan rep pointed out, Verizon could back out of the contract if the strike prevented them from acting in accordance with the agreement. So, here we are, agreeing to pay money to an organization under federal investigation for theft. Is this crazy? You bet! Is it even crazier that the PEP voted to accept this contract? Nope. Insanity means you have lost your ability to recognize reality. The mayoral appointees, all of whom voted for the contracts, were adept at ignoring reality and acting politically. They were never supposed to be real, just vote. I wonder where they keep their rubber stamps?

I'm outta here…once again amazed at politics in NYC. I think I'll look for a bar. There's a reality at the bottom of a glass that makes more sense than this.

 =================

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.

PEP Pops I - Updated with video and links to coverage

Here are some links to coverage:

GEM's Gustavo Medina has video:
Verizon Workers on Strike Pearl ST NYC
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2238572200255

Leonie Haimson:  My take on last night's PEP meeting on Verizon contract and its electric "Norma Rae" moment:  ttp://t.co/QPuVHmLL

Media coverage of the meeting from the Times, Daily News, Post, NY1.  None of it really captures the intensity of the evening, though the NY1 video comes closest with Lindsey Christ at NY1 doing her usual bang-up job.

Fox 5 NY:

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/NYC-OK-Verizon-School-Contract-20110818-APX

International Business Tribune:

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/199901/20110818/verizon-strikle-2011-contract-school-new-york.htm

Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/controversial-verizon-phone-and-internet-contract-approved-for-new-york-city-schools/2011/08/18/gIQAPbzGNJ_story.html

GothamSchools:

http://gothamschools.org/2011/08/17/remainders-amid-protest-pep-approves-verizon-contract/

Michael Solo took stills at the rally and posted them at the Fight Back Friday blog.
http://fightbackfridays.blogspot.com/2011/08/blog-post_17.html


Back story links at Ed Notes:

• Patrick Sullivan to Verizon: When will you give ou...

• Patrick Sullivan Warns on DOE/PEP Violations on Co...
• UFT Officially Joins PEP/Verizon Aug. 17 Protest
• Catless
• A Midsummer Night's Scream - Picket PEP Over Veriz...
• Verizon: Corporations Are People Too - Mitt Romney...

There is a Members Relief Fund.  It is a Solidarity Fund that other union members can donate to. If you would like to make a contribution, you may do so online at
www.cwa-union.org/hardshipfund <http://www.cwa-union.org/hardshipfund> <http://action.cwa-union.org/salsa/track.jsp?v=2&c=ziooN8QM91JNw9BsD1JCF1%2BeiKI2mOZl>

This is especially important as the video testimony of a mother on strike below highlights, these folks will lose their healthcare at the end of the month.




Ed Notes Report
I'm sitting here in the middle of the night with a noisy fan whirring and making a sound that sounds an awful like "What's didgusting union busting," a common refrain we heard throughout the evening.

Aside from the fact that the Panel for Educational Policy Bloomberg rubber stamps would vote up the Verizon contract there was much significance in the events today where thousands of striking Verizon workers joined with teachers and parents in a rally outside Murry Bergtraum HS followed by attending the monthly PEP meeting of the rubber stamps. Seeing them come off the Brooklyn Bridge en masse was thrilling. And what guts to strike in these times against one of the most powerful corporations. And so many workers all over the city. I ran into a whole bunch on 34th St. at 12 noon. I just cannot conceive of the UFT doing anything that could come close.

Just a few points in this post - I'll supplement later with some video I took.

1. Educating CWA members on the disastrous ed deform policies of Bloomberg
What these members of the Communications Workers of America, many of them parents of students attending NYC schools, witnessed was what we ed activists have been
witnessing for almost a decade - a corporate agenda that ignores the voices of parents and teachers - and the public at large. We couldn't have done more to raise the consciousness of a significant and influential group of people than the PEP and their increasingly slimy shill Dennis Walcott accomplished for us. Let's hope the CWA and Verizon workers remember last night when mayoral control comes up for renewal.

2. Building grassroots rank and file teacher/Verizon worker alliances
Lots of wonderful interactions between the mostly GEM/ICE/Teachers Unite people and rank and file CWA workers. This was not between union leaderships (more on that below.) GEM, TU and NYCORE reps joined picket lines over a week ago to show support.

3. The organizing/initiating role GEM played
Yes, the very idea to team the strike and the PEP Verizon vote came out of the GEM internal listserve 2 weeks ago and caught on with other groups like wildfire. There were many groups that signed on but only a few actually turned out people. Between GEM and ICE I counted at least 15-20 people, a nice showing for such relatively tiny orgs.

One thing I noticed was how stoked some of the people who started working with GEM recently were over the ability of the group to make things happen. (I haven't written about it but the high stakes testing meeting on Monday attracted quite a crowd and got an amazing amount of work done.) Sometimes I am amazed myself since my experience in ICE has been so much more think tank than action. There is some need for both I guess and the most action oriented people in ICE have been attracted to the work in GEM, which after all started out as an ICE subcommittee.



4. The UFT - almost rising to the level of being pathetic
You know I am trying my best not to bash the UFT but how can I pass after yesterday's shameful performance? Even I had been fooled when I heard they had signed on - or at least Leroy Barr sent out a letter urging people to join in. (UFT Officially Joins PEP/Verizon Aug. 17 Protest.)

By the way, soon after, New Action signed on too - but I saw only one NA person there - but now they can brag about how they took part- by the time they massage the story they will have organized the whole thing.

So Mulgrew spoke outside and he spoke well. Hr made sure to bring a photographer and a NY Teacher reporter and a few people who work at the UFT. I expected hundreds. I counted maybe 10. But worst of all, when it came time to go into the PEP and fight it out with the Bloomscum, the UFT totally disappeared. Not a one. Whereas GEM went in with a strategy and organized speaker signups for people from all the groups, there was zero UFT presence. Shouldn't someone from the leadership of the UFT have spoken at the PEP instead of just outside?


I did whatever video I could with my flip-like camera 'till I ran out of battery power. Even though I had some good news today about my broken wrist, it was a long day in the city for me and my wife has been picking me up at various subway stops so I had to leave at 7:30 just as Julie Cavanagh was raking them over the coals - I think someone else may have caught it. I'll put up some videos of first the rally outside and then the PEP itself later.

Patrick Sullivan Warns on DOE/PEP Violations on Contracts as Walcott openly Flouts Law

UPDATE: Daily News on Verizon $60 million contract

Verizon Scam and DOE $60 Million Contract

This letter to parents from Manhattan PEP member Patrick Sullivan outlines many of the issues which are sparking a rally/protest at Bergtraum HS this Weds. at 5pm preceding the PEP meeting. If you missed the background briefs we posted read these firs in reverse order:

• UFT Officially Joins PEP/Verizon Aug. 17 Protest
• A Midsummer Night's Scream - Picket PEP Over Veriz...
• Verizon: Corporations Are People Too - Mitt Romney...
• Support Verizon Strikers: NYC Teachers From GEM an...

Read the report detailing Verizon's theft of money that should have gone to our children.http://www.nycsci.org/reports/​04-11%20Lanham%20Rpt.pdf www.nycsci.org

How is Patrick's insistence that law be followed under Walcott the snake regime? Where is the press on outright violations of the law? A teacher sneezes on a kid and it makes the front page of the NY Post.

I was on the Contracts Committee when we started with the new law.   I fought to get access to the actual contracts.   It was only with sustained pressure from Stringer and a letter from AMs Nolan and O'Donnell that they relented. 

Under Walcott we've lost all that ground and then some.  The contracts are not drafted until after the PEP approves them.

When I complain loudly they say I am "inappropriate" and ask Stringer to remove me.

Monica -yes, they have the votes so they figure nothing matters.

Dear Parents,

I have received many emails with inquiries or concerns about the contracts agenda for the Panel for Educational Policy meeting on Wednesday the 17th.  I'd like to update everyone on my understanding of these issues based on my discussions with DOE:

First, one comment on process.   When the PEP was first granted approval authority over contracts we established a committee to review the contracts in detail.  The Contracts Committee met publicly to question DOE staff and discuss contract specifics.   Recently, Dear Parents,

I have received many emails with inquiries or concerns about the contracts agenda for the Panel for Educational Policy meeting on Wednesday the 17th.  I'd like to update everyone on my understanding of these issues based on my discussions with DOE:

First, one comment on process.   When the PEP was first granted approval authority over contracts we established a committee to review the contracts in detail.  The Contracts Committee met publicly to question DOE staff and discuss contract specifics.   Recently, the chairs of the Contracts Committee, mayoral appointees selected by the PEP chair, have refused to hold the public meeting.  The Committee has not met at all under Chancellor Walcott.   The DOE has also begun asking for PEP approval before contracts are drafted.  In effect, rather than ask for approval of a contract, we are asked for blanket pre-approval of a potential contract based upon an outline of what's envisioned.  This reduction in transparency has hampered the PEP's ability to assess the contracts and carry out our responsibilities under state law.

Verizon Contract

The DOE has explained that rather than conduct a procurement for a provider of fixed line and data telecom services, they've decided to piggyback on an existing city contract with Verizon.  My concerns with this contract are two-fold:

First, there has been no resolution of the overbilling issue stemming from the alleged fraud perpetrated by a DOE consultant.  The Special Commissioner for Investigation's report explained that Verizon, through it's silence facilitated the fraud.  Verizon has agreed to return any inappropriate profit but has not yet done so.   I don't believe we should enter into a new agreement with Verizon until they resolve this issue to our satisfaction.  The sums involved are considerable, especially compared to the significant budget cuts to the classroom.

Second, Verizon and the unionized workforce of the landlines divisions that would deliver services to our classrooms are engaged in a protracted labor dispute.   I have concerns about whether Verizon can actually provide the services we need given this dispute.  I am skeptical that with limited staff to maintain landlines and data services that our schools would get appropriate priority compared to Verizon's commercial customers.   A failure of telecom services would present a considerable risk not only to the smooth functioning of our schools but a safety risk to our children.

Given these issues, I have asked DOE to defer consideration of this contract and instead initiate an procurement exercise to identify the best provider of the needed services in the present circumstances.

EPO Contracts

The Chancellor has announced his intention to outsource management of a limited number of schools to Educational Partnership Organizations.  The Chancellor has this ability under Ed Law 211-e.   That law requires the relationship with an outside entity to be strictly delineated in a contract.  DOE procurement staff have asked the PEP to vote on these contracts without actually seeing them.  Citing a lack of time, they have told us no contacts will be available before Wednesday's vote.   This excuse is not acceptable.  The DOE needs to draft the contracts, come to terms with the EPOs and then provide them to the PEP for approval.  I will not allow our children and staff to be placed under the leadership of outside management without the DOE and their partners demonstrating absolute adherence to the terms of the law.


Borough President Stringer's office and I will continue to engage the DOE on these issues and I hope to have a more encouraging update in the near future.

Patrick J. Sullivan
Manhattan Member,
Panel for Educational Policy / NYC Board of Education 

UFT Officially Joins PEP/Verizon Aug. 17 Protest

See our previous report on this event with the official statement we put out with other groups endorsing: A Midsummer Night's Scream - Picket PEP Over Verizon Contract/Support CWA Strike - Weds. Aug. 17, 5PM


Well sometimes actions emanating from the grassroots gets a reaction from the UFT leadership.

A week ago an internal memo circulating within the Grassroots Education Movement suggested an action protesting the outrageous contract with Verizon (which had cheated the DOE in a previous contract but is refusing to pay back the money unless the contract is renewed) and support for the Verizon workers on strike at the upcoming Panel for Educational Policy meeting this Weds. Aug. 14 at Murray Bergtraum HS.

An announcement was drawn up and other allies of GEM began to  sign on. We contacted leaders at the Communications Workers of America asking them to join us at a 5PM rally outside Bergtraum and received an enthusiastic response (there is a massive Verizon building adjoining Bergtraum). Last night this memo circulating in the halls of the UFT came through.

Dear colleagues,
This coming Wednesday, August 17, the city’s Panel for Educational Policy will vote on a $120 million DOE contract with Verizon to wire schools. Please join a picket and protest at 5 p.m. outside the meeting at Murry Bergtraum HS for Business Careers at 411 Pearl St. in Manhattan. See map for directions.

Despite making billions of dollars in profits in the last four years, Verizon is waging an unprecedented attack on the wages and benefits of its 45,000 unionized employees in its landline division. The company wants its workers to start contributing to their health care premiums while freezing pension contributions for current employees, eliminating traditional pensions for future workers, limiting sick days to five a year, and eliminating all job-security provisions.

According to the Special Commissioner for Investigations, Verizon was also implicated in a recent DOE corruption scandal. His office states contractor Ross Lanham stole millions from the education system through a false billing scheme for wiring schools. The Special Commissioner of Investigations and further wrote that “Verizon concealed from the DOE and law enforcement that they got millions of dollars in contracts through Lanham….”
Take a stand against our scarce education dollars going to private contractors like Verizon. We hope to see you at the protest on Aug. 17.

Sincerely,
LeRoy Barr and Ellie Engler
UFT Staff Directors

Clearly this PEP was not on the UFT leadership's radar screen until it bubbled up from the bottom, I view the reaction as a positive development towards working with the UFT hierarchy when we all can agree. I know they are not going to reach down deep into the membership to mobilize (they are focused on the Aug. 27 rally in Washington DC) but do expect the usual suspects - some union employees and top-level Unity Caucus people to be there. We can only hope the UFT leaders use their control over the communications apparatus to inform the members why supporting the CWA and opposing the Verizon contract is important.

But don't be surprised to see the UFT try to marginalize groups like GEM which started the ball rolling. Maybe more on this aspect in follow-ups.

Groups supporting action at PEP so far:
BYNEE, Class Size Matters, CPE-CEP, Grassroots Education Movement, New York City Parents Union, New York Charter Parents Association, NYCC, NYCORE, S.E.E.D.S, Teachers Unite, Independent Community of Educators, The MANY, Teachers for a Just Contract (list in formation)

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

A Midsummer Night's Scream - Picket PEP Over Verizon Contract/Support CWA Strike - Weds. Aug. 17, 5PM

Join BYNEE, Class Size Matters, CPE-CEP, Grassroots Education Movement, New York City Parents Union, New York Charter Parents Association, NYCC, NYCORE, S.E.E.D.S, Teachers Unite, Independent Community of Educators, The MANY, Teachers for a Just Contract (list in formation) this Weds at 5pm.

Verizon has admitted to overcharging us as a result of alleged fraud by a middleman but is not willing to make us whole. They will only negotiate and want their contract renewed first. - Patrick Sullivan

Wow, are these guys at Verizon crooks, stealing money out of the mouths of babes, all with the compliance of WalBloom and the PEP, which wiil vote to hand them piles of more money on Weds. Aug. 17.



Protest Verizon DOE Contract at PEP/Support Verizon Workers on Strike

On Wednesday, August 17, the Department of Education's Panel for Education Policy will vote on a $120 million two year contract with telecom giant Verizon to wire our schools.   There are at least five good reasons to strongly oppose this contract ( see below.)

At the same time the PEP will be voting on a spending plan that will sharply cut our school budgets - for the third year in a row - and lead to even larger classes.

Join us at the PEP meeting near City Hall to protest this immoral and possibly illegal contract. 

 Whether you can join us or not, please  send the message below to the members of the PEP.

What: Picket and Protest 

Where: Murry Bergtraum HS, 411 Pearl Street, Manhattan (4/5/6 or N/R to City Hall / Brooklyn Bridge)

When: Wed. August 17, 2011 at 5 PM

Why?  Verizon is shortchanging their own workers and stealing from schoolchildren!   Say no to more giveaways to private contractors and more wasted spending on technology while are class sizes are increasing! Tell the PEP to vote down the Verizon contract with the DOE!

Take a stand against the increasing portion of our education budget that is wasted on private contractors and for-profit vendors, like Rupert Murdoch's Wireless Generation.

Sponsored by:  BYNEE, Class Size Matters, CPE-CEP, Grassroots Education Movement, New York City Parents Union, New York Charter Parents Association, NYCC, NYCORE, S.E.E.D.S, Teachers Unite, Independent Community of Educators, The MANY, Teachers for a Just Contract (list in formation)  

And please send the following email to the PEP; feel free to change wording and/or add details about the conditions in your child’s school:

Dear PEP member:

Please vote no on the $120 million contract with Verizon. Here are five good reasons:  

1.    45,000 Verizon workers are currently on strike, as management has demanded a long list of concessions, cutting their health benefits, pensions, and sick time – givebacks amounting to $20,000 per worker. Meanwhile, the company has $100 billion in revenue, net profits of $6 billion, and Verizon Wireless just paid its parent company a $10 billion dividend. The top five company executives have been paid more than a quarter of a billion dollars over the last four years.  This is yet one more corporate attack on the middle class. Why should the city be contracting with such a greedy and unethical company?

2.    Verizon is seriously implicated in the recent scandal in which the Special Commissioner of Investigation found that a consultant named Ross Lanham in charge of school internet wiring stole $3.6 million dollars from the city  through a false billing scheme, and that Verizon “facilitated this fraud.” Though DOE admits that “Verizon is in discussion with the DOE regarding repaying of the overcharges,” the company has not yet agreed to pay back any of this money, and the case has been referred to the US attorney’s office for possible prosecution.   Why should DOE reward Verizon by paying the company more millions?

3.    In the same document in which the DOE outlines the contract, there are twenty other instances listed of suspicious or illegal behavior on the part of Verizon, triggering numerous investigations.

4.    All NYC public schools are already wired for the internet; but according to the DOE, this second round of wiring is for high-speed internet and hi-definition video  to facilitate the expansion of online learning and computerized testing.  This is occurring at the same time as budgets are being cut to the bone, schools are losing valuable programs, and class sizes are rising to the highest level in over a decade.  A quarter of our elementary schools are so overcrowded they had waiting lists for Kindergarten.  It is outrageous that in the midst of this budget crisis, the DOE should be spending $120 million for unnecessary technological upgrades when children do not have seats in their neighborhood schools.

5.    Finally, this contract with Verizon began on January 1, 2011, and DOE is only now asking for the PEP  to approve it “retroactively.”  But there is no allowance for retroactive contracts in state law, unless the chancellor finds that due to an emergency, it is necessary for “the preservation of student health, safety or general welfare” and provides a written justification.  This was never done in this case.  Thus, this contract with Verizon is likely illegal on the face of it.  

I                 I hope you will vote your conscience, and reject this outrageous contract, 

(                             (name, address)

Send this message to: llbryant@inwoodhouse.com; jchan@dbpartnership.org; pepofqueens@yahoo.com; FFoster@schools.nyc.gov; thernandez@samvill.org; patk.j.sullivan@gmail.com; okotieuro@yahoo.com; JKay3@schools.nyc.gov; EMarti@schools.nyc.gov; Dperuggia@schools.nyc.gov; majorm766@gmail.com; gittepeng@yahoo.com; Lnieves01@gmail.com

Thanks, and please forward this message to others who care,

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.

PEPSQUEAKS

Well of course the Bloomberg PEPSQUEAKS came up small once again last night. I left with Lisa Donlan and Julie Cavanagh around 10-something and we hit a bar on Lafayette S.t where we ran into other PEP fugitives. But I'll have to delve into the PEP details later. These late nights and all this activism just isn't leaving me any time for thoughtful blogging. When I got home around 12 last night, I realized I had left my video power pack and battery plugged in by the stage and I couldn't download the video without it. Oy! A trip back to Tech? Was the meeting still on? A check at Gotham and sure enough, there was Anna Philips still going at it. A few text messages back and forth and she found it. So now I have to head into the city to pick it up. And maybe some lunch and a movie. Thanks to Anna for this big favor. I owe her a scoop. I might have a goodie for her reward.

Before I leave, let me say that not everyone was happy with the UFT-led walkout and I'm in the process of sorting all that out, even my own feelings. I'm listening to all sides. NYC Educator was in the house and walked out (The Party's Over). 

I was thinking that they might all come back in and totally disrupt the meeting to such an extend that business couldn't be conducted, sort of what a parent group did on August 16. See my reports and videos:

• More PEP Video - PEP members walk off the stage to...
• Parents Close Down PEP - Commentary and First Vide...

Parent activist Lisa Donlan got into Michael Mendel's face during the walkout telling him that the PEP and all the other mayoral control crap is their RoseMary's baby and how dare they claim their own creation is illegitimate and then walk out leaving the people from PS 9K battling the DFER-led charter robots alone? We stayed to try to support them and I trailed after the green-shirted paid DFER gang even as they tried to run away from me and refuse to answer questions - but I got video of them distributing food - hey Joe Williams, with all the billionaires supporting you can't you afford to get something better than sandwiches?

It's even more fun listening to Lisa (who along with GEM's Gloria Brandman did a redux of the puppet show and the song "Which Side Are You On" when they spoke after the walkout, which really could have had an impact if the people had stayed) after a drink.

Here is a comment she made this morning:

The momentum that has been building for a year, died when the UFT and their followers walked out, leaving the victims of the closings and co-locations alone with the PEP and the astroturfed ERN coached charter folks. What exactly was accomplished by that stunt?

Other than making it clear that some give marching orders and the rest mostly march when told?

After all, the groups that led the walk out are now declaring the governance structure broken beyond repair- which is ironic because they are the very same groups that asked for this tweaked version of Mayoral control.

 Now its not working?

 Really?

What did last night do to advance any cause or strategy?

What are you proud of exactly?

See some of her other comments this morning below the fold.

Of course, this has been a tumultuous week. Monday's mostly student rally ending in a civil disobedience action opened things up with a bang (Video of CEJ Rally and Civil Disobedienc...)
followed by Tuesday's PEP meeting - Ed Notes links here

• And Now Folks, For the Entertainment Portion of Ou...
• Poison Pep Pills
• More PEP
• PEP Report

Gotham Schools blow-by-blow Feb 1 account with Anna Philips on the gun:

and of course last night's follow-up. Here are Gotham links - see especially Anna Philips' marathon effort: The Panel for Educational Policy voted to close 12 more schools. (GS, Times, DN, Post, NY1, WSJ). And make sure to read the comments.

MORE FROM LISA DONLAN

And Now Folks, For the Entertainment Portion of Our Program - PEP Video: GEM Real Reformers Sing and MCA Steppers

Some lyrics:

They don’t know how to teach history,
they don’t know how to teach biology,
They don’t know much about science books,
they don’t know much about the cuts we took,
but they do know how to close down schools,
we’re fighting back you know that we’re not fools,
What wonderful schools they could be.

They know a lot about charter schools,
and that they think that merit pay is cool,
..Parents, teachers, students know there’s more
They know there’s more than just test scores
What wonderful schools these could be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbVojmHITR4






See Cathie Black buckle when faced with jeers - look how nasty and annoyed she is. How much more abuse can she stand?
http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/education/133278/chancellor-black-criticiz

Also see commentary here: (Daily Politics, City Room)

Poison Pep Pills

The good thing about print journalism and writing a regular column is that you have to get your thoughts together in some orderly way, as opposed to ranting and doing stream of consciousness on the blog. The deadline for my semi-monthly Rockaway newspaper Wave columns is Wednesday at 9am. How to summarize last night's PEP in a thousand words? I began at 7:30am and just about hit the deadline - ok, so I missed by 10 minutes. (Boy, I think back to those 350 word compositions we had to write in school and how painful pulling every word was.)

I have a lot more to say about the UFT and Moskowitz strategies. Maybe after breakfast. Or lunch. Or the gym. Jealous? You can retire after 35 years. Or if it's up to Cuomo and Bloomberg, maybe not.

I copied the Gotham Schools links to stories about the meeting:
The city school board voted to close 10 schools. (GothamSchools, Times, Daily News, Post, WNYC, NY1)

Poison Pep Pills

by Norm Scott

February 2, 2011

With so many schools being closed this year by the Department of Education – 26 at last count ­– and charter co-locations – the word the DOE uses while I use "invasion" (one commentator compared them to bed bugs) there seems to be a Panel for Educational Policy meeting every day. Actually, there are two this month and two in March. Memories of last January's marathon ten hour horror story meeting where 19 schools were being closed still haunts people. So  now will we have two 5-hour marathon horror story meetings? Not so fast.

The Feb. 1 started at 6pm and ended at 1am. I gave up by 10:30 and headed home (which might explain some wobbly grammar in this column). This meeting was billed as a big confrontation between the UFT, which had called a pre-hearing rally akin to the one last January that packed Brooklyn Tech and led to a massive round of booing during Joel Klein's speech and Eva Moskowitz' Harlem Success Academy machine which followed up the next month with busloads of parents who cheered Joel Klein while spending the evening talking about how they need charters because the school Uncle Joel ran were so awful. But Eva loved Joel because he gave her whatever she wanted. Rumors she had him locked up in her basement with a ball in his mouth have not been confirmed but I suspect the real reason he left the DOE to earn millions as a propagandist for Rupert Murdoch was to get out from under Eva.

Well, the UFT decided to postpone their rally supposedly because the weather report was bad from Feb. 1 to the Feb. 3rd PEP (where the final nail is expected to be driven into the coffins of Beach Channel and Jamaica High Schools, among others). I don't think it was the weather but a strategy to avoid a major confrontation with the HSA parents. One of my colleagues in the Grassroots Education Movement commented: "I think their moving the rally date from the 1st to the 3rd is a tactical  disaster (compounding the fiasco of their wider strategy).  Moskowitz will able to dominate the hearing (hopefully the D3 parents will out mobilize them), the vote will happen and the result will dominate the news cycle - leading to demoralization and decreasing turnout for Thursday."

Eva didn't postpone anything and showed up, depending on the reports, with either hundreds or thousands of busloads and food for them all. How many buses does that take and what did this all cost? Money that could have gone towards getting her own buildings instead of take overs of public school space. But she has a political, not an educational agenda. She is pushing into white middle class areas where public schools are overcrowded and the massive Brandeis HS campus, which already has four high schools in it, is her target. There was a lot of pushback from just about every upper West Side politician and parent leader. The community board voted 40-0 against Eva and every single PTA lined up against her. But the final outcome of the Bloomberg-dominated PEP was a foregone conclusion (Egypt's Hosni Mubarek often complains he allows way more democracy than Michael Bloomberg does) and Eva prevailed again, but leaving in her wake another neighborhood of people filled with outrage. This time she picked the wrong neighborhood and look for some severe hostility from parents who want more high school space at Brandeis but will be denied as Eva expands her school grade by grade and pushes out some of the existing high schools - which I predict at least two will be set up for failure so they can be closed and have their space given over to Eva over the next few years.

The UFT did show, but mostly with staffers. At times it seems there are almost enough of those to fill a few busloads. I didn't see food for them but then again many of them have UFT credit cards. They did have blue tee shirts to counter Eva's orange ones. The UFT shirts said, "Chancellor Black Do Your Homework" on the front and "Fix Schools = A+, Close Schools = F". Okay, a little lame but at least there was a sense of some pushback at the charter juggernaut.

One of the highlights of the evening occurred when my pals in the Grassroots Education Movement ­– who term themselves the "Real Reformers" – did their usual thing, wearing their red capes with a big "RR" on the back and this month singing "What a Wonderful World This Could Be" with lyrics like "They don't know much about history....but they do know how to close down schools..."

Battle over public schools escalates with civil disobedience

Joel Klein called the misnamed "achievement gap" the "civil rights issue of our time." Fighting back against the ed deformer strategy of forcing the closure of many inner city schools to make way for favored privately controlled charters is the real civil rights issue of the time. On Monday January 31, I attended a rally of mostly NYC  high school students near City Hall  and Tweed focused on the forced closing of schools as part of the drive to privatize by short-changing these schools of resources. Shouting “Fix Schools, Not Just Close Them" and "What does democracy look like? This is what democracy looks like" two New York City Council Members and dozens of parents and youth were arrested for blocking traffic at Chambers and Centre Street following the rally. Council Members Jumaane Williams and Charles Barron were among those arrested. 

Students began a march to the precinct but on the way they were told that the police, to curtail the march, took the arrested to another precinct. The event was organized by the Coalition for Educational Justice, consisting of community-based organizations, and the Urban Youth Collaborative. I put up a 14 minute edited video of the rally, excerpts from speakers, the push into Chambers St., the arrests and the follow-up march to the police station. Fabulous stuff from a great bunch of students who did us all proud.  You can view the video at

http://vimeo.com/19443862

I'm loading up the camera for the next PEP meeting on Feb. 3rd where the UFT promises to come out in force. By the time you read this you might be hearing about a major disruption of the PEP at that meeting to attempt to stop the vote to close the schools. Or not.

Above blackout due to CIA censorship of sensitive material. B

When Norm is not spending his life videotaping PEP meetings, he blogs at ednotesonline.blogspot.com

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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.