Leonie Haimson Goes to School and Finds Tweedie Implementation of Common Core Is a Disaster Movie

So, amongst all the inherent faults of the Common Bore, we have the totally inept Walcott-led Tweedies showing once again that they would find getting out of a paper bag a significant challenge.

Heeeeere's Leonie:

I toured school yesterday where majority of students are ELLs, either in dual language or transitional bilingual:

- Most teachers said that they were lacking Common core texts, workbooks and/or teacher guides;

- Meanwhile there were many big boxes in library full of materials that were excess or the wrong stuff, but that DOE said could NOT be returned;

- NONE of the Common Core materials are written in Spanish, making it impossible to teach literacy according to the dual language or bilingual model.

Thus there were classes full of students, some of them just arrived to the country, and others with IEPs, who were struggling with materials that they had NO chance of being able to read.

Add to this that the grade level of some of these Pearson texts are already way above the grades assigned them, even for fluent English speakers (see Clara Hemphill on this), for example, Charlotte’s web in 2nd grade; and an informational text on spiders for 4th grade, full of VERY difficult vocabulary and densely packed prose that I had difficulty getting through.

This is a perfect example of how the Common Core’s standardization model and difficulty level seem totally misguided – especially for ELL students and kids with IEPs, who have also assigned these materials.

Leonie Haimson

Change the stakes parents responded:

Teachers at my son's dual language school were concerned about this problem last winter, and seemingly nothing was done to address it. HST policies and now Common Core rollout have been incredibly damaging to dual language programs (which,as we know, have very strong evidence of success on many indicators of learning.) 

-----
My son's school started using a a "common-core-aligned" math series this year.  I'm not sure whether or not there is a Spanish edition, but there is definitely not an English edition :-).

Pardon the sidetrack, but the definition of "core aligned" (based on my limited sample) seems to be "random quotes and references to sections of the common core standards sprinkled throughout the the text, with no discernible connection to the pages on which they appear."  If what I've seen is in any way representative, common core is nakedly nothing more than an excuse to sell the same old books in a new wrapper.

Will UFT Frustration Post-Bloomberg Speech Lead to Distruptive Acts?

Increasing support seen for this week's Fight Back Friday events from the UFT with signs some schools are encouraged to go further.

There are signs that the UFT, feeling boxed in on the ed evaluation issue, is beginning to strike out at WalBloom in various disruptive ways. Some speculate the militant activities of the people who have challenged the leaders is pushing the leadership. Some say they have reached a level of frustration and are just striking out to make a point.

There was the hastily called action at last week's PEP (UFT members protest at PEP meeting, then walk out en masse), with robo-calls to members that didn't have much impact but the union brought out its loyalist Unity Caucus honchos to create various disruptions at the meeting before walking out (it was interesting to see our crew from GEM/TU/NYCORE/ODOE/ICE standing shoulder to shoulder with them).

Then there was there confrontation between Walcott and UFT Queens borough rep Rona Freiser along with Dermot Smyth at the PS 215 closing school hearing Friday night (Walcott Takes Heat From Parents, Teachers and UFT Officials at Contentious Closing School Hearing (PS 215) in Rockaway).
where they followed my suggestion to use mic check to get their point across when Walcott didn't let then speak. His "this is  not a UFT chapter meeting" comment is priceless and an indication of how own growing frustration at being thrust into being the front man for a sinking operation by Bloomberg to rescue him from the Cathie Black debacle (which Walcott and the PEP supported all the way).

Now today a phone call comes in from a SIG school that the level of militancy is rising to a fevered pitch with indications that the UFT is pushing things such as calling for assistance from Occupy DOE to use mic check when confronting DOE officials, who always like to play the innocent "don't kill the messenger" role while putting the knife in your back.

Well, apparently, some teachers are pissed off enough to want to kill the messenger. We will report details --- maybe with some video --- if things break.

If the leadership actually releases its Unity chapter chair people (who often try to hold the most militant people back) to take things to another level we may see it as a temporary way of getting Tweed's attention by turning up the heat. 

In the past, the UFT was telling its people to avoid our branded FBF events, even changing the term to Friday Fight Back. But I'm beginning to hear a different tune emerging. There is not question a greater sense of urgency and militancy is emerging (later I'll tell you about the amazing group of parents I met on Sunday at our film showing).

Here is an email from a John Dewey teacher:

STOP SCHOOL CLOSINGS!

Please support our schools as the DOE tries to get rid of committed, experienced staff, close schools, and bust the union. If anyone can attend the community meetings where the superintendents come into the school and only report the negative data about our schools. We need support. Get involved. FDR is having their meeting Monday, Tomorrow at 5:30. Dewey is having ours on Tuesday at 5:30. Post any others so we can all support each other and call 311 and talk to someone who can log your call as you voice your opinion of these school closings and the job Bloomberg and Walcott are doing.

Also, attend the Fight Back Friday Rallies if you can. Dewey is having one every Friday. Details to follow.


Thanks,
In Solidarity,
xxxxx xxxxx
Dewey Teacher

Here is our FBF announcement:

School Closings, Increased Charter Co-locations, Larger Classes, Merit Pay, Firing Half the Staff at 33 Schools AND A Flawed Teacher Evaluation System...

The Education Mayor?

It's time for the first Fight Back Friday of 2012

(soon to be occupy Friday??)

THIS FRIDAY: JAN 27th: 

        PROTEST OUT IN FRONT OF YOUR SCHOOL!

                 LEAFLET AROUND YOUR SCHOOL!

OR JUST......

WEAR BLACK!

Fliers and stickers and such to follow.

PLEASE FORWARD AND POST EVERYWHERE!!

  Please respond to this email or email: 

FBFCommittee@gmail.com

if you think your school might participate.

Or to ask for more info or help in planning an action.

We want to get coverage for all the actions and let the public know that parents and teachers are fighting back!

Last spring over 50 schools participated on several Fridays. It’s a great way to build solidarity among your staff, reach out to parents and students and to begin to create the coordinated city-wide effort we all know is needed.

It is time for rank and file teachers, parents and our students to move towards becoming ungovernable.

Mayoral control, the attacks on our livelihoods, and on our students' education will not end simply because we want them to. 

It will take mass mobilization at the school and city-wide level. 

We need to end the privatization of Public Education through charters and merit pay!

 End the destructing of education through the abuse of high stakes testing!

Say NO to school turn-arounds that will destroy school communities, our student's education and the lives and careers of our colleagues.

WE MUST DEMAND AN END TO MAYORAL CONTROL!

PARENTS AND EDUCATORS MUST HAVE A CONTROLLING VOICE IN EDUCATION!

JOIN SCHOOLS ALL OVER THE CITY ON JAN 27TH!

And please let us know that you will be participating!

Here are some times articles covering FBF in the past. We have had lots of other coverage as well.

 And the FBF Blog from John Dewey HS. 

They have an action planned for this Friday as well.

http://fightbackfridays.blogspot.com/

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/19/fighting-closure-of-a-high-school-on-the-brink/http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/makeshift-groups-rising-to-oppose-cuts/

in solidarity

sam

for the rank and file Fight Back Friday committee

-------------


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.

How Did Educators 4 Excellence Gain Access to Official DOE Teacher Emails?

There is but one conclusion that can be drawn from the NYC Department of Education’s last minute walk out of negotiations over a teacher evaluation system for 33 schools placed in the Transformation and Restart models: it was always Tweed’s intention to refuse to enter into an agreement for teacher evaluations.  -- Leo Casey at Edwize

I don't often read Edwize but Leo Casey has an excellent piece exposing the sham of Tweed's game-playing on evaluations and lays the blame right on them (though as always I never thought the UFT should have given even a wedge on teacher evaluations given we're dealing with snakes --- though I hate to insult the snakes).

Teachers at some of the 33 SIG schools have been getting emails from the 5th Columnists* at E4E at their official DOE email addresses. Reminds me of the handover of Tweed's handing over private parent info to Eva Moskowitz's Success Charter to help them recruit. It's almost funny how groups like GEM have warned people not to use DOE emails for political purposes since that would give the DOE an opportunity to go after them. I guess it's Katy bar the door now that E4E has broken the barrier of misuse of official DOE emails. So if you ever get hassled if you happen to blast out an email to colleagues here is your precedent.

I would go beyond and if you get such an email maybe lodge a complaint about misuse of DOE emails. Or better yet call E4E's Lauren Goldberg at 212-279-8510 ex. 18 to tell her what you think of this blatant political opportunism of making it look like the DOE was not responsible.

E4E which purports to have teacher interests at heart is exposed by this fact from Leo's post:

why is a 90% rate of principals recommending tenure, at the end of probation “a joke,” but a 99.5% rate of turning down U ratings appeal perfectly acceptable?

 Yes, we are the 99.5% that loses U-ratings appeals.

Funding cuts to John Dewey
______________________________

__
From: Lauren Goldberg [mailto:lgoldberg@educators4excellence.org]
Sent: Mon 1/9/2012 6:19 PM
To: [teacher at John Dewey HS]  (21K540)
Subject: Funding cuts to John Dewey

Dear ------ ,

I'm reaching out because I came across your name on a staff list from John Dewey. [trans- thanks Dennis for stopping by our office with the list]

I am reaching out to your staff because the School Improvement Grant funding from the state is in jeopardy. This is because the DOE and UFT cannot agree on teacher evaluations. Teachers at several of the 33 schools have written an open letter to Chancellor Walcott and President Mulgrew to urge them to come to an agreement [trans. but we won't criticize our meal tickets for walking out of negotiations] and allow the SIG funding to be restored. We are helping them to get the word out. [sure, we are helping THEM - as if THEM materialized out of nowhere].

You can read and sign the letter at www.restoresigfunding.com .

Please let me know if there is anyone else from John Dewey that I could reach out to.

Thank you for your daily work in the classroom, and for standing up for your students and your profession.

Best,

Lauren

Lgoldberg@educators4excellence.org, Outreach Director, Educators 4 Excellence, 212-279-8510 ex. 18

I'll close with this from Leo:

one conclusion is inescapable: Mayor Bloomberg decided that he had no intention of negotiating in good faith with the UFT over the subject of teacher evaluations. The plan was always to blow up the negotiations required by law, with a strategy of then trying to pressure Albany to change the teacher evaluation law and allow the DOE to continue its kangaroo court U rating appeal process. From the beginning of this process, he and his devotees at Tweed were acting in bad faith.

Read In Bad Faith at Edwize

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_column

Walcott Visits District 6: A Parent Report

I used to praise Joel Klein for his ability to alienate people - he really was our best organizer. At the very least I thought Walcott would have the ability to deflect people. But it is turning out he has that old Klein magic touch.

UPDATED Friday, 11/11, 6PM
Leonie posted Tory's email on the NYCParent blog with links, etc.

Dennis Walcott infuriates parents once again, this time in District 6

On Thursday November 10, the Community Education Council in Northern Manhattan hosted a Town Hall meeting with Chancellor Dennis Walcott.  The CEC prepared an excellent power point containing key data about the district, along with specific questions for the Chancellor.  It was a contentious meeting, according to all reports; see the Gotham Schools story.  Unfortunately, despite lots of PR spin about "partnering with parents," there is no evidence that Walcott is willing to listen to parents and shift away from the wrong-headed and damaging policies of his predecessor, Joel Klein, including repeated budget cuts, class size increases, worsening overcrowding, preferential treatment of charter schools with continued co-locations , and incessant testing. Here is the account of the meeting from Victoria Frye, CEC 6 member and public school parent:  

We described the issues facing our schools: too little resources to provide a quality education; overcrowded schools; disgraceful school conditions; budget cuts; co-locations; THE LIST GOES ON!

Tonight the District 6 CEC hosted a Town Hall with Chancellor Dennis Walcott.
We described the issues facing our schools: too little resources to provide a quality education; overcrowded schools; disgraceful school conditions; budget cuts; co-locations; THE LIST GOES ON! 

With each, Dennis Walcott got up and...spouted the party line:

• "The reality is that in this economy there will be mid-year budget cuts."
• "With shrinking budgets, leaders must be creative."
• "By creating school choice we are allowing the market place to drive the issues."
• "I respect Joel Klein tremendously. I think the world of Joel Klein."
• "There are no plans in our capital budget for a new facility for Mott Hall*."
• And then something along the lines of: "your D6 schools are so bad that we will not replicate or grow them; we will simply bring in [charters that really know how to educate your D6 children."

What to say?
OCCUPY. IT IS THE ONLY WAY.
* The only program for gifted D6 IS students and a national model. 

Victoria (Tory) Frye, member CEC6

Absurdities and Kneecapping

 Dear Absurdists and Kneecappers,

 Did you see this headline: NY Post Comes Out Against School Grades: These grades flunk

It is becoming increasingly clear that Schools Chancellor Joel Klein is doing no one any favors -- not the public, and certainly not himself -- by assigning letter-grade report cards to city schools. The jerry-rigged system for determining the grades obscures more than it reveals. Thus, the information the cards impart is worse than misleading -- it's virtually useless. And the charter-school movement -- an unambiguously bright light in the city school system -- is particularly ill-served by the letter grades. 

Unambigously bright light? They must suffer from severe pupil dilation.

Poor babies. They're favorite pet charters didn't do so well on the grading system. It must be flawed. But then again we knew that all along. Of course Michael MulGarten stepped into it with this one:

The teachers union -- which detests both the competition from charters and the use of tests to hold teachers accountable -- hopped on the new grades with both feet.
Traditional schools' edge in grades means "either the strategy Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein have touted for so long -- the creation of more charter schools -- isn't working, or that the entire progress-report methodology, which relies almost completely on standardized test scores, is flawed," crowed union boss Michael Mulgrew.

Tweed was quick to point out that the UFT's own charter got a "D" with the comment, "those in glass houses shouldn't cast stones." The UFT charters have suffered one disaster after another with numerous changes in leadership. I actually agree with the Tweedies here. We told the UFT not to get into the charter school game because they would never be able to take a position opposed to charter schools or be able to lead a real fight back for public education if they did. And so they did (get into the game). And so they don't (lead a fight back).

 

Leonie Haimson commented:

Even the NY Post, owned by Murdoch and close buddy of Bloomberg and Klein admits that the school grades are so absurdly unreliable they should be eliminated.

The straw that broke the camel’s back for them this year appears to be the way charter schools got lower scores on average this year.

The jerry-rigged system for determining the grades obscures more than it reveals. Thus, the information the cards impart is worse than misleading -- it's virtually useless.

 Followed by Steve Koss

It's difficult not to guffaw over the absurdist inconsistency in the Post's "new position" on school report cards, what with their having gone from its greatest shills to sudden detractors simply because they disagree with its outcome in respect to the system's assessment of charter schools.

What's even more astonishing is that they either don't see or don't care to see the other astonishing inconsistency in their revised position on the school report cards. If after having spent countless millions of dollars and doubtless reflecting the professional genius of innumerable experts on education, the end result is so inconsistent and unreliable that even the Post's troglodytic conservatives want to throw out this type of reporting at the aggregated school level, what could possibly make any sentient homo sapiens think that INCREASING the granularity of these measurements to the teacher/classroom level will be any better?

Likely without the faintest sense of what they've done, the editors at the Post have kneecapped their own already-indefensible position with regard to value-added analysis and evaluation of teacher performance. After all, if the geniuses at DOE and their wasted millions couldn't do it right for entire schools (where aggregation enables at least some degree of the margin for error to wash itself out), how on earth can it be done for a third-grade teacher with just 25 or 30 children in a classroom?

What could be more better than seeing the Post's editorial troglodytes unknowingly clubbing themselves in the knees without even realizing they're doing it?

Steve Koss

Did Tweed Give Principals a Quota on Holdovers in Attempt to Bump Summer School Numbers?

UPDATED: June 18, 8am

THIS MIGHT NOT BE AS BAD AS IT LOOKED. HERE IS A MEMO FROM A PARENT:

Here is what the principals were told. It is actually a good policy.

"principals may presumptively promote two students without portfolio review by Community Superintendent; any additional promotion recommendations require that the principals send portfolios for review to Community Superintendents."


In the their own version of Monopoly, the NYCDOE seems to have given principals the equivalent of 2 Get out of Jail cards, at least based on this email I received from an elementary school teacher.

Norm, I wonder if this is happening all over the city:

As you know, principals were notified which students did not pass the state tests. There weren't given the actual scores, they just got a list of students with the phrase they "did not meet standards" next to their names. My principal was told she could only appeal two students of the few that did not get the benchmark test score. Even though more than two could have had portfolios assembled to appeal for promotion! How is that legal? Of course children who did not meet standards must attend summer school! Is the city trying to fund summer programs? I just wonder what other nonsense the DOE is cooking up in relation to the test score nonsense, considering twice as many students as last year did not meet the so-called criteria!!!

I was reading this on the train home from the rally yesterday when 3 teachers from an elementary school in Brooklyn got on. I showed them this email and they said it was true. That a 2 child limit for exemptions from being held over throughout the system, no matter the size of the school or the number of kids in danger. Hey, got to fill those summer school slots. Summer school is part of the ed deform blueprint and we can't go outside those lines.

Let us know if this is true in your schools. Better yet, if you can get ahold of any directive, send it along. Right now we are hearing that district supt are telling this to principals. Are they trying to hide the paper trail?

Bad photoshopping by me so don't blame David.
STRIKE THAT. DAVID CAME ACROSS WITH ANOTHER BEAUT!

-----
Make sure to check out recent posts on Norms Notes. Lots of juicy articles.
CORE Update: Emergency Board Meeting 6/15/2010
Class Size Versus Teacher Raises in Chicago

Pondering Legal Implications of Value-Added Teacher Evaluation

Did Times' Medina Accuse Klein of Racism?

When I read this late last night, I blinked.
Buried in Jennifer Medina's story on the ten thousandth reorganization at Tweed is this:

Santiago Taveras, who less than a year ago was appointed the deputy chancellor of teaching and learning, will now be in charge of community engagement. Mr. Taveras has been one of only two Hispanic members in Mr. Klein’s cabinet; there are no African-Americans among the department’s top officials, and all of those who received salary increases in the latest change are white. About 70 percent of the system’s students are black and Hispanic.

Whoa! That is a HEAVY statement coming from the Times in the midst of an article like this. Medina should do a story on the enormous drop in the number of African-American teachers in the 8 years of BloomKlein. See our May, 2008 post on this issue: Racial Policies at Tweed: Disappearing Black Teachers.

Leonie Haimson said:
So much for Joel Klein’s claim to be a great civil rights hero of our time.

She had more comments on the article:

I don’t get the headline of the Times article, which is reprinted here ….does the mandated curriculum change? I don’t think so.

Generally, I don’t see this as a big change in the DOE’s laissez-faire attitude, generally allowing principals to run their own schools however they like, including violating the law, as long as test scores go up. Clearly the educrats care not at all about teaching and learning, having eliminated that division entirely.

Clearly, they care not at all about the impression that the bureaucracy at the top and the salaries are increasing while they are threatening massive layoffs to teachers.

The outrageous thing is they are pretending that the following is their rationale for these changes:

“New school governance legislation has increased external oversight. Sustaining our reforms will require us to redouble our commitment to an open public dialogue."

Come on! That’s like justifying the proposal on laying off senior teachers by saying that it give parents more power, when we know quite the opposite is true.

See also http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/outrage_as_school_bigs_boo_bosses_qwwuXKRfUWC9hjkVUHBLEJ and http://www.ny1.com/6-bronx-news-content/news_beats/education/117637/latest-doe-shakeup-comes-at-a-cost/

Ed Notes Prediction:
Klein will be hiring an African-American within the next half hour.

Add-On
Alternate headline: A Deputy Chancellor in Every Pot

Tweed Power to the Parents: Hand out a button

A major part of the Ed Deform neo-liberal program is to totally disenfranchise the major stakeholders - parents and teachers. For teacher readers of this blog, I am posting some parent reactions so you know you are not alone in facing Tweedle takedowns.

In the light of the Tweedie position of "Deputy Chancellor for Community Engagement" the following question was asked on the NYCEd listserve:

What the implications for the currently existing parent involvement/engagements structures and staff?

Some responses:

That they neither engage or involve parents. Have you been made aware of the current elections for the Citywide Council on Special Education or the Citywide Coouncil on English Language Learners? Do you realize that only 4 candidates for the CCSE positon showed up at the Brooklyn hearing and no one for the CCELL? Are you aware of the fact that there were only a few people in the audience and only one person was from a Presidents Council? The cost of this fiasco is 25,000.00 dollars. It may be a pittance in the scheme of things but it would pay for an aide in some school that needs one.
Another use of the position would be to quell any dissent from the community...but that is too Machiavellian. heaven help this poor son of a gun.

Power to the Parents my eye!

Another parent says:
The reason for this fiasco is that “Power to the Parents” is a contractor. They’re a bunch of recent Ivy-league grads who know nothing about the communities they’re supposed to recruit from and even less about how to find and engage public school parents as they’re recently out of diapers themselves. Their only virtue is that—when they were initially hired at least—they cost less than KPMG.

A few of us from the Manhattan High Schools Presidents’ Council dealt with them extensively when they were first hired (for the 2008 CEC elections); they came in totally clueless and, even with lots of hand-holding, were almost comically ineffective. Suffice it to say that a big part of their communication plan was the distribution of “Power to the Parents” buttons.

I have a file on all this, which I intended to dig up anyway in advance of Thursday’s WNYC forum on education coverage, which I will attend. I first got ticked off at WNYC—and specifically Beth Fertig—for her fawning, uncritical coverage of “the first online election” even in the face of emails from actual parents detailing how DOE perpetrated a fraud on the system.

Paola de Kock

MORE COMMENTS:

The NY Times, parroting DOE spin, says: “[t]he moves are intended to give principals more power to determine what kind of instruction they use at individual schools, rather than using only suggestions developed in central offices.”

Without a trace of irony, the article goes on: “The changes underscore a substantial shift that the department has made under Mr. Klein, who early in his tenure focused on centralizing control of the system and developing a uniform citywide curriculum.”—or, more succinctly, much to-ing and fro-ing at DOE.

DOE is also doubling the number of Deputy Chancellors (from four to eight), and “spending nearly $500,000 more, although it is possible other positions will be eliminated.“ Not exactly chump change in a system where PAs must chip in to buy paper and lab supplies. And, in the world of education, the number of administrative positions does not get reduced—ever. That’s the lesson of every RIF that’s ever taken place in higher education and it won’t work any differently here because the people who do the actual teaching—be they professors or teachers—are at the bottom of the educational industrial complex food chain. Back to DOE. The most interesting question to me is what exactly will Santi Taveras be doing as Deputy Chancellor for Community Engagement beside providing some color to DOE’s top echelons? (where, the Times notes, there are no African-Americans and only one other Hispanic). I was hoping—partly because Mr. Taveras is a genuinely nice guy—that he’ll be supervising OFEA, but it looks like Martine will continue as mistress of her domain. Instead, we learn from Klein’s “Dear Colleague” letter that “Santi will work closely with the Panel for Educational Policy and other external-facing offices to engage and work with stakeholders.” It sounds like he’ll be trying to convince parents DOE really cares—a job at which the current “engagement” officer evidently failed.

Paola

Reactions to Playing Musical Chairs at Tweed

More changes announced Monday. I won't bore you with details but only reactions.

Leonie's take:

Greenberger jumping up to COO…looks like Photo has been demoted to head of finance.
Marc Sternberg, former TFA and principal of Bronx Lab, founded in 2004, only six years ago, now head of Portfolio Planning; Where is John White? Demoted? Fired? Who can tell?
No longer any office of Teaching and Learning (at least they’re honest about this; they haven’t had any interest in teaching and learning in years.) And poor Santi Taveras now definitely out of the swing of things:

As part of the DOE’s broader effort to bring the perspective of public school families and community partners to policy decisions, Chancellor Klein will create the new position of Deputy Chancellor for Community Engagement and appoint Santiago Taveras, who has served for the past year as Deputy Chancellor for Teaching and Learning, to that role.

But perhaps in order to assuage the hurt feelings of all of these guys, they will all be given the rank of Deputy Chancellors!

How that aligns with the need to cut the bureaucracy, who knows?


And from an astute and knowledgeable high end contact with connections.

So Marc Sternberg is the new boss of Portfolio (Charter school expansion ) office at DOE among 1000 other things.

He is listed as a White House fellow working for Arne Duncan .. my reading of the white house fellows program says they may not be paid but are paid by the white house fellows program..so do we now have a white house employee actively engaging in running the NYC portfolio office while NYS has still already reached its cap on charter schools? This would be what I would expect but it seems totally biased as the man taught only 3 years then went for an MBA and wound up working for Victory Charter schools... the whole thing seems like a conflict of interest when you consider that the Office of portfolio development decides on what spaces are to be given to charter schools... very disturbing and seems problematic. I see it as more of the charter invasion from Obama through Duncan and their Democrats for Education reform friends right through to Bloomberg Klein and the Business world's charter movement- dangerous rich enemies to be feared.

Shouts at Rally on City Hall Steps: "Klein Must Go"

Just as Jitu Weusi is about to speak, Joel Klein goes by and gets greeted.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIN2ZtYJohs

Did Tweed and the Leadership Academy Pull the Plug on New (and old) PS 84 Principal?

The Sordid Hand of Tweed and the Leadership Academy at PS 84 revealed, how they throw their own under the bus.

Tweed worried over how actions at PS 84 will affect the Latino community's support for Bloomberg.

The PS 84 community objects to another LA grad:

This the second “in a row” inexperienced graduate of the School Leadership Academy to be assigned to P.S. 84. THE LATINO AND AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILDREN OF P.S. 84 CANNOT CONTINUE TO BE USED AS A TRAINING GROUND FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF RAW, UNTESTED “POTENTIAL” PRINCIPALS TRAINED BY THE ACADEMY. Would you have sent either of these candidates to Stuyvesant? How would you expect those parents would react?

Principal of PS 84 resigns

When the Leadership Academy grad principal of PS 84 in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn suddenly resigned last Thursday afternoon (Sept. 17), Tweed moved quickly to appoint another Leadership Academy grad as interim acting principal. The appointment was made from the very top levels of Tweed and the Leadership Academy, with James Quail, the District 14 Superintendent being notified but having no say.

With the new version of mayoral control supposedly giving back some powers to the local superintendents, this is a clear sign that Tweed will continue to go around them.

Parent activist Lisa Donlan has discovered that there is a line of LA grads (38) longer than the line at a Kennedy runway on July 4th weekend waiting to be placed and that they are being forced down people's throats.

But wait, this story gets better and better.

The teacher union response
On Friday morning (Sept. 18), a scheduled union meeting was taking place before school began. The union was under a new and more aggressive leadership, mostly in response to the tactics of the old principal, one of the Leadership Academy fave types - young, aggressive and with a mission to decimate the union and any organized parent opposition. She failed in that task, but that is for a follow-up story.

Even though it was her last day in the school, she felt comfortable interrupting the union meeting by bringing her replacement in for an introduction. The chapter leader, expressing years of frustration at the arrogant actions of this principal said, "Sorry, we are having a union meeting" and shut the door, sending a message that milquetoast unionism was at an end at PS 84. Later, at a luncheon for the new principal, the teachers went in to introduce themselves. They were impressed by the new guy's willingness to meet with the UFT reps immediately on Monday to discuss all issues of their concern,

The community response
In the meantime, lots of stuff was going on in the community. There is no official PTA at PS 84 because no elections were held in the spring. Sources say they were told it was not necessary by people in the office of family engagement. (There needs to be a lot more investigation of the political role Martine Guerrier's operation plays at the local level.) Maybe someone at Tweed knew of the coming resignation (there was an investigation going on) and didn't want any PTA interference in their plans, so they "discouraged" elections so there would be no functioning PTA.

But that didn't stop active elements in the old PTA from contacting local community forces, who came to the school on Friday (Sept. 18).

Former PTA president Jaime Estades and long-time District 14 activist Juan Martinez, founder of Progress HS based at Eastern District HS campus in Williamsburg, met with the principal, who had been an AP at Legal Studies, another HS at that campus that had its principal removed, before entering the Leadership Academy, but seems to have had no previous contact with them).

They told him in no uncertain terms they did not want him as the new principal as imposed on them by Tweed. It was nothing personal, but a process that brings in a total outsider with no elementary school experience and without any consultation with any of the interested parties was just not acceptable.

They raised concerns about the fact that the school is overwhelming Latino/a and the process didn't give them an opportunity to urge the placement of a supervisor who had been part of the community and had a similar background to the children. They also pointed out that the current Assistant Principal was a long-time teacher at the school and would have certainly been a natural choice as interim acting principal, especially considering the fact that the Tweed appointee had zero experience in elementary schools.

That the current AP who spent her career at the school and who would have made for a seamless transition was not even a consideration certainly creates suspicions about Tweed intentions, which we view as twofold:

1. getting someone in with no ties to the school or community to make sure there is no stakeholder in trying to keep PS 84 from being a target for closing or for charter school invasion
2. cutting into the 38 person Principal Academy ATR list – where's the press when supervisors get paid for nothing?

There was some back and forth and the principal said a few things that have come back to haunt him.

Before I go on, I want to say that the teachers and some of the parents have nothing bad to say about this guy and in fact in the last week he has impressed people with an attitude totally different from his predecessor. But it's less than a week and people say all kinds of things. Besides, the process is under discussion, not the person.

They send a letter to Klein
I won't get into the details of exactly what he said (you can read it all at the link to the letter sent by the parents below), but when he was asked how he could deal with a community of children he was not familiar with, he responded he was used to dealing with foreigners. While he meant it fairly innocuously and the people present understand that and bear him no ill will, they used his response to make a point about having someone who has been involved in the community branding their kids as "foreigners". The upshot was that a letter was sent to Joel Klein and released on listserves with 10 points opposing the appointment, one of the key points being:

This the second “in a row” inexperienced graduate of the School Leadership Academy to be assigned to P.S. 84. THE LATINO AND AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILDREN OF P.S. 84 CANNOT CONTINUE TO BE USED AS A TRAINING GROUND FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF RAW, UNTESTED “POTENTIAL” PRINCIPALS TRAINED BY THE ACADEMY. Would you have sent either of these candidates to Stuyvesant? How would you expect those parents would react?

You can read the entire letter at Norms Notes.

This resistance on the part of the community as push back against a Tweed appointment is remarkable considering the almost total lack of community action in the BloomKlein years and may be a harbinger to come. I don't expect Bloomberg's third term to be as peaceful as the first two as school politics at the local level begin to bubble to the surface. Martine should have her hands full running around putting out these fires.


Tweed responds
Just as remarkable was the response of Tweed.

The Klein administration immediately cut off communications with the parent and community group and charged this was all a stunt to create animosity towards Bloomberg among the Latino/a community in the upcoming election, which shows you what the Children First people really have on their mind.

Now comes the part which shows it's all about public relations with Tweed.

El Diario got involved towards the end of the week (they were busy with UN stuff earlier) and called Tweed about the story.

They blamed it all on James Quail, the superintendent of District 14 who was ignored a week before over who would be principal of PS 84. "It was his appointment," the Tweed press department told the paper, claiming no responsibility, an out and out lie.

When El Diario was informed later they were blatantly lied to, they supposedly blew a gasket. An article was supposed to appear today.

The acting principal soon after announced he was withdrawing from consideration as the permanent principal of PS 84. It is pretty clear he was ordered to do so by Tweed and the Principal's Academy, which is desperate to avoid scrutiny over how they pour money into a ditch.

My guess is this has to do with the Bloomberg election and when it's over things will be back to Tweed normal time.

As I said, the principal had started winning people over in the last week. He supposedly sounds like a real educator. But I warned my contacts that it is not what he says but how he will function. PS 84 is a prime target for charter school invasion. The principal may think he is there to really address educational issues, when in fact he will be expected to make sure there will be no opposition when the charters come calling.


There is a lot more back story that I will try to get up over the weekend.
Was the resigned principal forced out? Was an investigation of the resigned principal covered up? How the UFT chapter, under brand new leadership, responded.

To understand how PS 84 is a target for charter schools, read these Ed Notes back pieces of how the PS 84 community fought off charter schools in the past.

January 12, 2009
The Impact of Gentrification on One School in Williamsburg

January 29, 2008
Victory at PS 84K: Tweed Backs Down

January 28, 2008
PTA of PS 84K Protest on Wed at noon- I spent 5 years at this school and this is beyond outrage

TODAY: March and Rally at Tweed to Take Back Public Education

This rally is the 3rd event planned by the Grassroots Education Movement (GEM), a coalition of groups active within and without the UFT. ICE and Ed Notes are part of this coalition.

At a conference held on March 28 a decision was made to hold a charter school conference on May 4 (attended by 60 people) and a rally today. There will be more events to come.

If you are coming, go to Battery Park up intil 4:30. I and a few others will be stationed in front of the UFT from 3:45 until the march reaches us at around 4:40.

Join the march in progess up Church St or go directly to Tweed on Chambers St where will have some advanced people stationed.

What's it all about?
I won't go into the reasons for why we have to defend public education against the attacks of the education deformers. You can click on the graphics to get more details. This is about forming a truly progressive education reform movement in opposition to the BloomKlein/Sharpton claim to be reformers. I find it ironic since from my earliest years of teaching I was part of a real reform movement. Now the long-time progressives are being attacked as troglodytes because we think true reform doesn't include making teachers the scapegoat.


This is my personal view and not necessarily of GEM:

Today's rally is not about numbers. It is about getting the most progressive elements in the UFT out to an event that will be joined by people from outside the union. If it was 50, it would be sufficient (think Passover Haggadah).

I do not view it as the UFT views rallies - thanks for coming, now go back to your caves till we need you again.

If it were to be 50, they would be 50 people who will not go back to their caves, but will continue to organize. Each one would have the impact of 20 or more Unity slugs, most of whom do what they do for money or other perks.

This has the potential to develop into a powerful coalition, but it will take nurturing.

What I've been observing is a growing spirit amongst broader groups of activists that is bridging the gap between younger and older teachers. Just last Sunday, a bunch gathered in an apartment in Park Slope to make poster for the rally. I always love to notice the mix of people: teachers in their 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's - and then there was me.

What are the reasons for this sudden spurt? The actions of the DOE and the lack of action of the UFT has been the a major spur to action.

I've done a lot on Ed Notes about the role the UFT plays. As the 800 pound elephant they could have stopped the ed deformer train by educating and organizing people. Instead they have chosen to play in their playpen. Though they try to deflect growing resistance by trying to wear hats on both sides of the fence, with every passing day, their words ring more and more hollow. Thus, out brief stop on the rally march at UFT HQ at 52 Broadway calling them to come out and join us.

We won't be there waiting for long. Does the UFT see this as a threat? You bet they do. Word is filtering out of attempts by the UFT to get people in some schools who were thinking of coming to back off. In the long run, the forces unleashed by their actions will turn against them.

As the newer crop of teachers are reaching their 3rd-5th year, many of the realities of the system are crashing down upon them. Some are joining with the older ATRs and rubber room people and people from schools being closed or having charters pushed into them. This has major implications if it continues to grow.

The actions of some of the active groups like ICE, TJC, NYCORE, TAGNYC and Teachers Unite has brought people out. I spent the last two Saturdays in TU workshops with over a dozen teachers, mostly on the newer end, talking about organizing within the schools. The numbers may still be small, but each person's outreach goes right into their schools and beyond. Some of these newer teachers are running for chapter leader and we are holding a session this Monday to talk about the realities of being chapter leader. We are also getting inquiries from some older people running and even some current chapter leaders are interested.

GEM in its short life is already getting inquiries from around the nation.

Reports and pics will be posted starting tonight.

Schedule
Gather at the north end of Battery Park from 3:30- 4:30.
4:30-4:40- March up Broadway to 52 where we knock on the door and ask UFT officials to join us.
4:45-5:30- Walk down Exchange Alley to Trinity Place and make a right - march up Trinity (it changes to Church St) to Warren St. Make a right to Broadway. Cross Broadway and go left half a block to Chambers. Right to Tweed.
5:30-6:30 Rally at Tweed with a variety of speakers from the rank and file.

The route and leaflet are posted on the sidebar and here: http://grassrootseducationmovement.blogspot.com/

"Shut Down Tweed" Says Charles Barron

Parents and teachers rallied at PS 150 in Brownsville Brooklyn on March 18, 2009 to protest the closing of the school and its replacement by two charter schools. NYC City Councilman Charles Barron spoke at the rally. The strategy of Tweed to divide the community is causing a push back. Later that evening we went up to the Harlem Success rally, a slick event I chronicled on my previous video. After I put up some more speeches from PS 150, I will do a short juxtaposition of the contrasting rallies, the PS 150 pro and slick Harlem Success anti-public education rally.

You want to build some charter schools, then go buy your own building.
Parental choice? Let me tell you, you don't choose the charter school, the charter school chooses you.
They're lucky we're rallying in Brownsville. The next rally, we should go down and take over the Tweed building and let them know we're not going to stay in the neighborhood.
They turned our schools into test taking mills.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8aBdcJfLD0

UFT Chaos at John Dewey HS

A result of closing so many south Brooklyn schools

The impact of closing schools is far reaching. The pushed out kids who don't make it into the more selective charter or small schools function as a sort of floating crap game, bouncing from just-closed school to soon-to-be-closed school. The next wave of large comprehensive high schools quickly become overcrowded and resources get taxed. A mentality of "we are next" sets in as administrators use the threat to drive instruction towards pushing testing and grad rates at any cost to the detriment of educational value and integrity. Teachers, worried about thrown into ATR purgatory if the school should close, start back biting at each other, even in the midst of marking exams if one should dare give a student a low score.

That this mentality should infect John Dewey HS (in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn), one of the more progressive high schools in NYC for over 35 years, shows just how far the state of the BloomKlein destructive ed reform agenda has reached.

John Dewey HS is not misnamed as so many schools are, as it offered a special brand of education to students, with a longer school day and all kinds of enrichment, so rarely found in NYC schools, actually touching on some of the educational philosophies of Dewey. It attracted kids from many parts of the city and also attracted some very dynamic teachers. The attitude was somewhat permissive: if kids roamed the halls, it was tolerated. They were socializing, not destroying.

But enter the kinds of kids forced to go there because no small school would accept them or because their families weren't together enough to figure out an alternative; kids who would never apply to a school like Dewey in the first place – and suddenly you have a different kettle of fish. The extra-curricular activities are not quite in line with their interests. Photography club, anyone?

Now don't get me wrong. The needs of these kids could be addressed, but certainly the school is not given the kinds of resources that could make a difference. Thus, schools like Dewey enter the death star spiral and become a target for the school closers at Tweed - maybe some Bloomberg contact is looking for some real estate in the area and needs the cache of charter schools to get those values up.

Recently, reports that divisiveness has reached deep into the UFT, a former proud chapter – and don't think the destructive acts on large schools by BloomKlein doesn't have this in mind.

We received this report:

The UFT executive board is revolting against the chapter leader. There are many issues, but the two most recent have to do with

(1) the lack of administration and union response to the threats by DoE to close Dewey (the DoE's most recent gripe VIA the School Comprehensive Assessment has to do with things like policy and practices regarding school entry, dress code, confiscation of prohibited items, school safety protocols, cafeteria access, etc.);

(2) The chapter leader's accusations of anti-semitism was directed against two teachers. The anti-semitism furor followed the posting of leaflets that advertised a demonstration against Israeli's attacks on Gaza. One of the accused teachers (who happens to be Jewish) claimed he didn't post or distribute the leaflets, but he was defending the right of anyone to do this.

Regarding the bullshit Comprehensive Assessment, the committee wants the school to take a strong stand on Dewey's right to fashion its own rules regarding student use of the building in the light of Dewey's history and philosophy.

The reason for safety incidents has to do with the influx of students who are rejected from all the other South Brooklyn schools that have been closed/divided/restructured/small schoolized. In the light of these immediate events plus a whole host of complaints about how the chapter leader behaved in the last year, making personal accusations against the principal and disseminating misleading information to staff, the executive board is talking about having a recall election.

Leaflets from the UFT executive board critical of the chapter leader are floating around.

And there's a leaflet from the UFT District Rep, Useless CHarlie Friedman (or UCH! ) on behalf of the chapter leader. What else do you expect from the UFT? To side with the forces that actually want to protect the Dewey philosophy and fight Tweed?

How bad can things get when a Unity stalwart not in the school urges ICE to run a candidate in this spring's chapter leader elections?

Debunking the Myth - Is Mayoral Control working for the benefit of NYC school children?

I'm not sure where this came from - probably from the NYC parent listserve - but I just found it on my desktop.

Low and behold I did find out. It was written by ICE's Loretta Prisco.

Teamed with Diane Ravitch's testimony - check post below - this devastating attack on the BloomKlein tenure will be just another that will be ignored by the press.


Debunking the Myth - Is Mayoral Control working for the benefit of NYC school children?

by Loretta Prisco

After 7 years, many answer with a resounding “No!” Yet, the spin coming from Tweed, supported by the influence of Bloomberg media, is drowning out the voices of those who have first hand knowledge.

Let’s separate the promise from the reality.

Did the system rid itself of nepotism and corruption?

Promise: Tweed promised to end to corruption and nepotism.
Reality: Same corruption, different players, now corporate lined pockets.

Five employees of the DOE were hired within a year of leaving the DOE in violation of NYC’s conflict-of-interest law. One operated a tour-bus firm doing business with the DOE while employed. 2-8-08 –Goan – NY Post.

NYC agencies must send contracts out to bid. Tweed routinely contracts out, completely ignoring the bid process. One result: A contract with Snapple and teachers and students pay a quarter more for drinks.

The DOE holds multimillion-dollar no-bid contracts with outside companies ($80 million contract CTB McGraw Hill alone).

The DOE, in a no bid contract, awarded a British company approximately $6.5 million plus travel and lodging expenses to conduct school reviews.

The Fund for Public Schools launched a two-month ad campaign bolstering administration claims that scores were rising. It is not mentioned that Klein was the fund's chairman or that the mayor's friends, including the Broad Foundation, had helped pay the $1 million cost of the ad campaign. Sol Stern, columnist


Did the additional funding we received go to the classroom?

Promise : The reorganization is sending additional funding directly to the schools.
Reality: Funding to the classroom has not increased.

Although our education budget has grown by $500,000,000 there has been a loss of over $80 million for instruction. Noreen Connell, Educational Priorities Panel.

“When I asked the Chancellor on Monday why he wanted to cut budgets for these schools (low performing), he said they were over funded and that money is not that important, anyway.” Patrick Sullivan, PEP member, 6-07

Of the city employees who earn $150,000 or more, 40% work at Tweed. NY Post

The DOE’s communications office is 29-strong, four times as many employees as worked in the press office under the old BOE. And that doesn't include the city hall press operation, which often joins in promoting new education initiatives, or the substantial public-relations and marketing services that the administration has received from companies, either pro bono or paid for by third-party private contributions. Sol Stern, columnist

Tweed employees have increased by more than 500 in the last 5 years (1,832 in 2003 to 2,337 in 2008).


Has student performance improved?

Promise: Student Performance will increase.
Reality: As Mark Twain once said, there are three kinds of lies, big lies, little lies and statistics. Tests and test results reported to the public have been manipulated.

2006-2007: The scores dropped for every grade as the students moved from one grade to the next. (Grades 3-7) in ELA.

Although NYC 8th grade ELA assessments increased, they increased all of the State. The test was decidedly easier. (NYC increased 5.5 points, Roosevelt, a failing district, increased 22 points.)

The Children First program was not introduced into the schools until September 2003. The Children First reforms had nothing to do with the large gains registered between 2002 and 2003 on the federal or state tests. Any improvements in that year should be credited to the previous chancellor, Harold Levy. The NAEP reports show that New York City public school students recorded no gains on the federal tests in fourth-grade reading or eighth-grade reading or eighth-grade mathematics between 2003 and 2007. Only in fourth-grade mathematics were there significant gains. The federal report plainly says that there were no significant gains for any group of students — white, black, Hispanic, Asian, or lower-income — during this period, except in fourth grade mathematics. Diane Ravitch, NY Sun, Letter to the Editor, March 6, 2008

To say that "performance has increased" reduces children's education to test taking. It's a circular argument: you limit the definition of education to a test score, pump up the scores by various means, then claim you've increased "performance." English teacher (Michael)


Has class size been reduced with the funding earmarked for that purpose?

Promise: The successful 12 year legal battle produced funding to reduce class size.
Reality: Wrong again. Even when you win, you lose in this system. Despite declining enrollment and almost $200 million in state and federal funds dedicated to reducing class size, there has been a relatively small drop in class sizes.


The Independent Budget Office shows that 61% of New York City’s public school kindergarten to third-grade classrooms exceeded the state’s early grade class size standard of 20 students per class last year. That target is part and parcel of the early grade class size reduction initiatives approved by the state 10 years ago… - Randi Weingarten, UFT,9-25-07


Accountability is the mantra of this administration. Who is being held accountable?

Promise: The system is accountable. At the bill signing ceremony giving the Mayor control, Bloomberg said, "give the school system the one thing it fundamentally needs: accountability."

Reality: After six years of totally controlling the schools, the only people held accountable are principals who have some decision making power and teachers and students who have none. Tweed is not held accountable.

After being elected, how does one hold the Mayor accountable?

Bloomberg's suggestion: "Boo me at parades."

“The way you treat our educators is part and parcel of the way you treat our students — constantly barraging them with narrow, deadening tests and demoralizing them with meaningless scores,” Jan Carr, Parent, Salk School of Science, letter to the chancellor.

In some cases, schools receiving A’s and B’s are failing under No Child Left Behind, which largely examines the proportion of students meeting standards.


With so many teachers retiring, are certified teachers in the classroom?

Promise: 100% of the teachers are now certified.

Reality: Some truth here – all teachers are now certified, but not all are teaching in their area of certification. Harold Levy, former Chancellor, under threat of a lawsuit by the NYS Commissioner, began the Fellows program which provided certified teachers.


With leadership a key component of good schools, how are our principals doing?

Promise: Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said the placement and performance of the graduates (of the Leadership Academy that he has initiated) has been strong.

Reality: The huge number of experienced leaders who have retired coupled with the addition of many principals who have limited or no teaching experience has left a serious hole.

After spending over $7 million, an average of $146,000 per graduate, one-third of graduates of Klein’s Leadership Academy are not leading our schools. Citywide, 23 percent of schools earned A's on their report cards, but only15% led by academy grads got A's. Despite a 5 year commitment letter, some were allowed to leave without penalty.

About half of the schools headed by Leadership Academy principals last year received grades of C, D or F in school report cards. PRINCIPAL TRAINING 'LEADS' NOWHERE ACADEMY GIVES CITY FLUNKIES Klein and Montefinist, Post, 11-11-07


How was this system reorganized? Who makes policy?

Promise: Teachers and parents on the committees helped reorganize the schools. Our schools will be transparent and welcome participation.

Reality: When a FOIL request was made, it was disclosed that neither teachers nor parents were on the committees. NYS law which mandates School Leadership Teams has been violated as all decision making as been given to principals.

The suddenness and number of these changes (to the school system) were purposefully made to produce “creative confusion” in the system, and “that in eight years we might finally see improvements. By doing the reorganization and actually causing some creative confusion in the system, it does make it harder for people to just rock back….I think in eight years you can expect the system will make adjustments." - Joel Klein, SI Advance Editorial Board, 12-03

Tweed instituted a grade holdover policy despite 20 years of research indicating that it is harmful to children.

Members of the PEP opposing the policy were fired on the evening of the vote.

Saved the best for last – in a category all it’s own.

A school in the Bronx is being closed because it got an F on its DOE report card and was said to be failing. At the same time each teacher and para received $3,000 because they made such “progress”. Now doesn’t that sound like a system that is working.

As much as we would like to congratulate Klein for a job well done for our students, the only job well done has been one in public relations.