Ed Deform Debunked: DC's public schools go from success story to cautionary tale

Critics view the problems, particularly the attendance issue, as an indictment of the entire data-driven evaluation system instituted a more than a decade ago when then-Mayor Adrian Fenty took over the school system and appointed Michelle Rhee as the first chancellor. Rhee's ambitious plan to clear out dead wood and focus on accountability for teachers and administrators landed her on the cover of Time magazine holding a broom. But now analysts question whether Rhee's emphasis on performance metrics has created a monster.... Top News

 Another find from Fiorillo:

Good to finally see, even if you have to go al the way to the very last paragraph to see the name Michele Rhee mentioned... Still, articles like this will be the coffin nails of test-based "reform" ---- Michael Fiorillo

From day 1 of the ed deform miracles  those experienced in working in schools knew they were bullshit.


http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20180617/92fb606c-ea5e-4e9d-a1a5-c330cacf73dd

By ASHRAF KHALIL

From Associated Press

June 17, 2018 7:42 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — As recently as a year ago, the public school system in the nation's capital was being hailed as a shining example of successful urban education reform and a template for districts across the country.

Now the situation in the District of Columbia could not be more different. After a series of rapid-fire scandals, including one about rigged graduation rates, Washington's school system has gone from a point of pride to perhaps the largest public embarrassment of Mayor Muriel Bowser's tenure.

This stunning reversal has left school administrators and city officials scrambling for answers and pledging to regain the public's trust.

Exploring Implications of Washington DC Union Election

 “It was a referendum on many fronts,” said Saunders, who received 380 votes to Davis’s 459. “They want more aggressive change than what I was dishing out.” ...Nathan Saunders, defeated Presidential candidate.

We commented on the election the other day (Candi is Dandy as Her Slate Wins Washington DC Union Election Runoff With Saunders).

Interesting how Saunders characterizes "change." Change from Randi-model union of collaboration on sell-out contracts that offer money to buy givebacks towards one of resistance: see Chicago, Newark. Too bad I can't include NYC here. Is it the conditions here that stymies any opposition or are there things a group like MORE should be doing that it is not? I'm torn between both thoughts and want to explore this at the MORE retreat at the end of the month.

Below is an article with some interesting analysis.

Saunders was elected in 2010 after accusing then-WTU President George Parker of being too cozy with management. In office, Saunders sought to strike a cooperative relationship with Henderson, an approach he said was necessary to stay relevant and push for teachers’ interests at a time of nonunionized charter schools’ quick growth.

Having gotten to hang out with Nathan and Candi and be very impressed, we cheered their election at the time (sorry too busy to find all the links but if interested check the archives by searching the blog.) So it took very little time for Saunders to change his tune and play Randi's song. I was astounded.

In recent weeks, Saunders said he was close to finalizing a contract that would include salary increases and provisions that would allow for longer school days and a longer school year. Henderson supports those provisions.

Saunders said negotiations over that contract will fall to Davis, who said she would not comment on how she plans to proceed until she sees the pending contract language.

Davis said one of her first priorities will be to reverse Saunders’s agreement to change the terms of early retirement for teachers who lose their jobs because of budget cuts or school closures.

I would point out that the vote totals are so low there is not much in the way of organizing the winning people have to work with. Note how the constitution calls for the new leadership to take control by July1 but that is being ignored. In the last contract Randi and the AFT intervened in postponing the election that eventually put Saunders in power so Randi could use the old corrupt leadership to get a contract done before a newer supposedly more militant leader could take control. Boy would the worm turn if it is now Saunders who gets to hold on to power to get a new contract done, though his statement seems to negate that.

Of interest is the impact nationally on both the AFT and NEA, both complicit in the ed deform agenda. If I get to it later I'll post some good stuff on the NEA convention currently going on in Atlanta. In the meantime read Raging Horse (Bill Gates Continues To Purchase Major Teacher Unions and At Discount Rates).

Nathan Saunders, D.C. teachers union president, defeated in runoff election

By Emma Brown, Published: July 2 E-mail the writer

Washington Teachers’ Union members voted Monday evening to unseat their incumbent president in favor of a candidate who promised to more forcefully challenge school system management.

Veteran teacher and WTU activist Elizabeth Davis defeated Nathan Saunders with 55 percent of the vote in what both candidates said would be a game-changing election for the union, which is negotiating a new contract.

President of D.C. teachers’ union is defeated in runoff election

Emma Brown JUL 2

Elizabeth Davis beats Nathan Saunders in what both are calling a game-changer for the union.

“It was a referendum on many fronts,” said Saunders, who received 380 votes to Davis’s 459. “They want more aggressive change than what I was dishing out.”

Davis’s running mate, Candi Peterson, was also victorious Monday in her bid to serve as the union’s general vice president, a position she held under Saunders until they had a falling out in 2011 and Peterson was forced out. Peterson, a social worker, writes a blog that has been fiercely critical of Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson and her predecessor, Michelle A. Rhee.

It is not clear when Davis and Peterson will take over: They say immediately, citing union bylaws, but the WTU elections committee has said it won’t happen until Aug. 1.

In recent weeks, Saunders said he was close to finalizing a contract that would include salary increases and provisions that would allow for longer school days and a longer school year. Henderson supports those provisions.

Saunders said negotiations over that contract will fall to Davis, who said she would not comment on how she plans to proceed until she sees the pending contract language.

Davis said one of her first priorities will be to reverse Saunders’s agreement to change the terms of early retirement for teachers who lose their jobs because of budget cuts or school closures. That agreement with the school system, signed in December, shortchanges veteran teachers, Davis said.

“I hope that Chancellor Henderson will understand that the relationship with the union will have to change in some respects,” she said.

Henderson said in a statement that Saunders had been a “valued partner” and “great advocate for both teachers and students.” She offered congratulations to Davis and said she looked forward to working closely together.

Saunders was elected in 2010 after accusing then-WTU President George Parker of being too cozy with management. In office, Saunders sought to strike a cooperative relationship with Henderson, an approach he said was necessary to stay relevant and push for teachers’ interests at a time of nonunionized charter schools’ quick growth.

Davis, a longtime WTU activist, said Saunders ignored teachers who wanted a stronger voice pushing back against some of Henderson’s decisions, including her closure of 15 schools and her use of “reconstitution,” in which all teachers at a school must reapply for their jobs.

“We do not plan to be a roadblock to school reform or play to the stereotype of a union that blocks improvements, but we do not plan to be silent” on such issues, Davis said.

Davis added that teachers want more input in running the union and a stronger voice in shaping issues that affect teaching and learning, including curriculum, instruction and school climate.

“Teachers want the WTU to be less controlled by one person and more engaged with the full range of issues impacting teachers, students and schools,” she said. “We campaigned on a platform that said the union can be much better.”

Candi is Dandy as Her Slate Wins Washington DC Union Election Runoff With Saunders

Another election result not favorable for Randi Weingarten. While Nathan Saunders was a critic of Randi's sellout contract deal with Michelle Rhee years ago, he seems to have walked over the line since being elected as President of the DC union -- though this feeling comes from instinct rather than hard facts. He certainly didn't bring a sense of democracy to the DC union.

See Afterburn for background on the break between former allies Peterson and Saunders.

Candi Peterson reports on her blog.

http://thewashingtonteacher.blogspot.com/

Jul 1, 2013

Washington Teachers' Union President Nathan Saunders Loses Run Off Election to Davis

Davis(right) Slate wins WTU 2013 Run Off Election.

By Candi Peterson

Washington Teachers Union President, Nathan A. Saunders loses to Elizabeth Davis (known as Liz) in the July 1, 2013 WTU Run Off Election. With Saunders defeat by a margin of 459 to 380, Saunders was forced from his union post. Saunders narrowly defeated Davis in a first round balloting of the WTU election last month, but failed to win a 51% majority which led to a run off election between the two top candidates.

 In addition, Candi Peterson, former WTU General Vice Preisdent who was summarily dismissed by Saunders in 2011 before her term expired paired up with the Davis slate, in a bid for election to her former post. Peterson defeated her opposition, Keith Spinner by a margin of 470 to 360 in the WTU Run Off.

According to the WTU Constitution and by-Laws, the winners are due to take office on July 1st. More details will be forthcoming.

Afterburn

I've known Candi Peterson through blogging and from various conferences for many years. Candi was the chief blogger opposing Michelle Rhee from the day Rhee took over as Superintendent, risking her career. When a conference of various activists opposing ed deform was brewing in LA in July 2009 and they were looking for someone from Washington I put them in touch with Candi who came to that conference which included a big crew from Chicago's CORE and from the LA T Union plus people from San Francisco and Seattle, plus of course Sally Lee (Teachers Unite), Megan Behrent (TJC), and myself (GEM/ICE).

Candi attended that conference with Nathan Saunders who was a dissident VP at the Washington TU who was fired by the president George Parker who has since become an ed deform slug. They decided to run for office in the next union election and in fact won that race.

Thus when we met again in the summer of 2011 in Chicago (this time I was with Julie Cavanagh, Lisa Donlan, Gloria Brandman and Angel Gonzalez), they were in charge of the DC union. On our last day we hung out in a restaurant with Nathan and Candi and were all having a great time. But a short time later there was a major dispute between them and Saunders "fired" Peterson, forcing her back to working in a school. Her powerful blog had not been as active while she was a union official so she tried to resurrect it.

I'm hazy on the rest of the story but today's report is a happy result for Candi and the hard work she has always been doing to defend the educators in Washington.

Video a Microcosm of Rhee DC Legacy

 The video below is a microcosm of one of the goals of ed deformers - to drive a wedge between teachers and parents by any means necessary. You will continue to see this story repeated over and over - even the same words will be used in just about every city under the attack of the ed deformers.

But guess what? It just ain't working. Check out Sue Peters at HufPo: From the Fall of Cathie Black to the Mirages of Michelle Rhee: A Bad Month for Corporate Ed Reform. And last night was a rough one for Harlem Success Academy in District 14. The lies no longer are working. I will report on that event later.

The 6 minute video has it all: an imposed decision from the top, a young ed deform principal put in charge of a middle school who came from an elementary school and had not been a principal before. She was "Rhee-like with an outright disdain for the teachers and the other adults who worked at the school." On the first back to school night with parents and teachers and some students - the new principal comes in: Parents and students: "I'm the hip-hop principal. I want to let you know it's parents and us against the adults in this school, including the teachers."

From Rhee First: The Sad Legacy Under Rhee

This gripping video shows community members tell the tragic story of how Rhee failed to heed the warnings of teachers, parents, police, and community members, and the chaos that followed in their school.  The Hart school story underscores the kind of non-collaborative model of education reform that Rhee believes in, despite her rhetoric to the contrary.  Yet she continues to spin her tales of illusory successes. In an article today in the Huffington Post, Rhee said:
“I know some of my decisions were unpopular and generated what some might call bad press…….. but making real change requires decisive action. Let’s examine my decision to close 23 schools where enrollment numbers were low, as was academic performance levels. In the end, the kids got to go to better schools that were still in their neighborhoods”.

This video tells an opposite story–one among many such stories that deserve to be heard.

----------
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.

Saunders and Peterson Win DC Election

YIPPPEEEEE! Our pals in DC won the union election. The AFT is getting to be interesting with Karen Lewis and Nathan Saunders. Too bad our pals in Puerto Rico pulled their 40,000 teachers out of the AFT in 2003. We might have seen some interesting action in Detroit at the next AFT convention in 2012.

Miami teacher Paul Moore posted the news with this:

Getting Rid Of D.C.'s WTU Quisling For Rhee

And Quislings they are. Weingarten and Mulgrew and the entire Unity AFT/UFT crew.
 
When reported on the NYCEdNewsListserve Leonie Haimson wrote:

With Rhee, Fenty and now Parker gone, it is a new day in DC.

 Daley going too in Chicago, as well as their schools CEO, Huberman.

 Klein leaving, but not Bloomberg unfortunately….NYC is the unluckiest of the three.

I responded with:

Another union victory for the anti-Weingarten forces in the AFT.

NYC is unluckiest of the 3 because we still have Unity Caucus running the UFT.

See video I did of Nathan Saunders and Candi Peterson at the AFT convention in Seattle this summer.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=EdNotesOnline#p/u/5/v4wo0viVzT0

Both Nathan and Candi were out in LA in the summer of 2009 when a bunch of Real Reformers (union too) met with the LA teachers union and a group from CORE in Chicago when their hope of winning the union election was slim.

The UFT/AFT ineptness (or collaboration) is creating a more militant movement within the teachers union nationwide. Detroit may be next.

There is a lot of back story here and Ed Notes has been on top of the DC story. Just look in the archives around April and May to see how Randi used a ruse to cancel the elections which were due to take place before the vote on the contract she negotiated with Rhee because she feared a Saunders win would jeopardize the vote.

Now of course the vote totals were very low and a lot of hay will be made of that but if Nathan and Candi put together a democratic union we will see these numbers go up.

WAPO reporter Bill Turque has been on top of the story in DC in a fair manner. This comment from his article is worth noting: 

With his defeat by a margin of 556 to 480, Parker joins Rhee and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) as the third major figure to effectively be forced from office by political fallout from the 2007-2010 school-reform movement.

Here is Candi's first report. (click on the link to read Bill Turque's full story).

Finally!

Candi Peterson, blogger in residence and WTU General Vice President (effective December 1, 2010)

The Saunders slate won in the Washington Teachers' Union run-off election Tuesday evening at the AFT headquarters. This is the second win for the Saunders slate. We were the highest vote getter in round one of the WTU election on October 27. Given that WTU's Constitution required slates receive a 51% margin to win, a run-off election was held between the top two slates; the Saunders and Parker slate.

As I have often written about, this election has been a long protracted battle after another. To jog your memory, former" holdover" union president George Parker refused to step down and turn over union documents to the WTU Elections Committee. As a result, WTU elections were not held in May as required by our union's constitution. Long story short, AFT intervened as the WTU administrator and conducted our union elections. Fast forward to Tuesday evening and the Saunders slate can claim a victory with Nathan Saunders as the next WTU President, Candi Peterson, as the next WTU General Vice President and a host of committed and hard working Executive Board and Board of Trustee members.

Tonight we are humbled by all of the support and look forward to building a participatory union democracy committed within the next 30 days to publishing a membership and delegate assembly meetings for SY 2010-11; approving a WTU strategic plan to address IMPACT evaluations, job security and legal issues; meeting with AFT President Randi Weingarten; meeting with DC Mayor-Elect Vincent Gray to discuss IMPACT teacher evaluations and other educational issues affecting teachers, parents and students; meeting with City Council Chairman-Elect Kwame Brown to discuss IMPACT teacher evaluations and other educational issues, meeting with the 266 wrongfully terminated teachers to discuss an immediate change in their legal strategy; meeting with retired teachers and others who have been affected by the loss of retroactive pay and benefits under the new contract, hire personnel experts and human resource consultants to assist with a teacher evaluation tool, review all outstanding grievances and arbitrations, and revamp WTU's image and legal strategy to be proactive, progressive and productive.

Our slate looks forward to taking the helm and becoming the education-union leaders that DC teachers and school personnel deserve.

I hope you will check out Bill Turque, Washington Post writer's coverage on "Washington Teachers' Union President George Parker loses run-off election" (click on title link for story).

Rhee Legacy in DC: Nathan & Candi Got the most votes, now to a runoff

From Bill Turques blog

Breaking: Saunders forces Parker into WTU runoff

George Parker's five-year run as Washington Teachers' Union president is at risk, based on the preliminary count in a WTU presidential race with a stunningly low turnout. Nathan Saunders, the union's general vice president, edged Parker 334 to 313, forcing a runoff between the two former running mates turned bitter foes. Rules require that the winner get a 51 percent majority. Phelps High School teacher and veteran union activist Elizabeth Davis received 196 votes, and H.D. Cooke teacher Christopher Bergfalk got 38 votes.

All three challengers have been critical of Parker's leadership during the chancellorship of Michelle A. Rhee, and contend that he gave too much ground in negotiations for the contract that was signed and approved by teachers this past summer.

What will Randi Weingarten do? If Nathan and Candi win and she loses another city to her critics the next AFT convention in Detroit in 2012 will turn interesting, though with the NYC Unity machine, no worries. However, her prestige would take a major hit. So look for all stops to be pulled out supporting the hapless Parker. Randi might have to personally go to every DC teacher home to lobby. Follow the drama on Candi's and Bill Turque's blogs.

Are YOU Fired Up About the DC Firings???

Mimi certainly is at. It's Not All Flowers and Sausages  A few excerpts on classroom observations and a dump on value added.

Should our education system tolerate inadequate and ineffective teachers?  Um, no.  (Duh.)  As a teacher I could barely tolerate inadequate and ineffective teachers...they make the jobs of rockstar teachers that much harder and do NOTHING to improve the educational outcomes for children.  In fact, I'm sure some of them are subtracting opportunities and knowledge from children, but that's just a hunch.

Should teachers be held to high standards as professionals?  Of course they should.  We are not idiots, and we can handle high standards as we are professional individuals who not only work hard to do our best everyday in our classrooms but actively seek out ways to improve our practice.

Should all of us be treated like morons because a few of us blow?  Should we be subjected to checklists of discrete skills that masquerade as the only markers of good teaching?  Should we work in fear that someone is going to catch us *gasp* spending an extra ten minutes on our science lesson, thus rendering us task OFF time and, as a result and according to many Checklists of Effectiveness, INeffective?

I take issue with the system of evaluation (IMPACT) which utilizes both "value added" (buzz word alert!) test score data and classroom observation.

I will leave the discussion of "value added-ness" to my colleagues out there who enjoy discussing and tearing apart numbers (Skoolboy, care to weigh in??) and will now focus on the reliability of classroom observations.

Now I know I am only a sample of one, but in my experience, observations have been canceled at the last minute, scheduled at the last minute, absently watched and blatantly hi-jacked.  Let's see, there was the time that my administrator suggested that I post a chart that she was sitting in front of at the time.  (Way to go powers of observation!)  Then there was the time I was told, "Let's just skip it all together.  You're fine."  Or the time when my suggestions for follow up were cut and pasted out of another colleague's observation report, AND considering we taught different grades and were observed in different subjects, were less than relevant or helpful.  Ooo!  How about the time I begged for feedback on my teaching and was told, "No."

Can we please base my salary and job security on that? 'Cuz it seems like fun.  Like a big old carnival game or something.  But more rigged and with no stuffed prize at the end.

Read the entire piece at It's Not All Flowers and Sausages 


And of course you can follow the Rhee in DC story directly from Candi at http://thewashingtonteacher.blogspot.com/

Listen to Your Elders: A Young DC Teacher Who Supported Rhee, Gets the Message

Candi Peterson gets a letter from a former critic. I've always thought that one of the scams in Teach for America has been the fact that they know full well if a teacher stays in a public school much beyond 2 years they will go over to the "dark" side. Thus, get them into charters or into so-called educational "policy" positions, anything but - horrors - a long term teaching career in the classroom. I mean, why waste all that "talent" on actually teaching kids for too long a time.

Since most teachers, especially young ones, don't get to see a lot of other teachers work, it is easy for an evil admin with a vendetta to target some teachers and make everyone think they are awful through in internal public relations system. Note the teacher's closing: I need to find this one teacher I thought was so terrible three years ago and apologize, because now I see.”

Letter From A Second Year DCPS Teacher

Candi Peterson, saveourcounselors@gmail.com

Having grown up in a family with much older grandparents, I always valued the opinions and words of wisdom from my elders. I learned early on that wisdom and life experience bring much needed insight and it pays to listen to your elders. I think some people often refer to it as going to the school of “hard knocks.” Several years ago I met several younger teachers who overwhelmingly supported the Washington Teachers’ Union’s infamous red and green contract proposal mainly due to the hefty salary increases. I couldn’t help but realize they didn’t even know the half of what they were embarking upon. Little did I think that I would ever be able to convince them about what was happening on our educational landscape. The Washington Teacher blog was born out of a desire to offer another view point to union members like them about how the red and green proposal would strip DC teachers and school personnel of long earned tenure and seniority protections and almost always lead to termination, amongst other things. Needless to say, due to elevating this issue, the red and green proposal soon became history.

Much to my surprise, I received an E-mail from one of these teachers, who is now a second-year teacher. Several years ago, she along with her cohorts chastised me on blogs and in person for not supporting Rhee’s reform model and the WTU red and green tiered proposal. This teacher’s recent correspondence gives new meaning to the colloquialism “listen to your elders.” I am thankful that she was able to write me, share her story, and admit that she made a mistake. I don’t believe that I always know what’s better, but like my elders before me I have been there, done that, and have a T-shirt with my name on it. I am sharing this E-mail from a teacher. I believe her E-mail offers a glimpse into what many DC teachers are currently experiencing under Chancellor Rhee’s reform model.

“Hi, Candi, It’s been a long time since I’ve written on your blog, but I read it faithfully. It took a long time but I have to say, you and DCPS teachers have been right about so many things. At my school the teachers are very supportive of me, a still-new second-year teacher. I have struggled with writing and teaching effective lessons, managing student behavior, and organizing my classroom. However, I am new, motivated, and teachable. I left a better-paying career to teach. So you would think the administration would value my attitude and willing spirit. This administration heaps criticism on me and has not offered mentoring to me, nor has it ordered coaches to come into my room to model lessons. The administration takes incentives from my students (recess, field trips, computer use, daily prizes) but blames me for having an ineffective behavior plan. Having a master educator observation has been encouraging to me because the difference between my fall and spring observations showed significant progress. However, I am so disillusioned with my administration that I don’t think I even want a post-conference for my last principal observation. The only reason I haven’t broken down psychologically is because of my friendship with God, who sustains me, and because I have seen the administration belittle and humiliate other teachers at the school so I know it’s not all about me. Teachers have walked out (and others have threatened to walk out) of staff meetings. Turnover is high. Teachers are pitted against other teachers during meetings. Teachers on your blog have been saying all along — it’s not so much the teachers as it is the parents and the administration. I once was blind. I don’t know what my plans are for next school year, but based on my principal’s IMPACT scores, I may not be in DCPS. My heart was really set on helping the most disadvantaged students in DC. Moving to another school system won’t be so hard for me because of my age and lack of children who depend on my income and health insurance. However, I feel for teachers at my school who are older, sometimes parents, and either leaving DCPS or considering leaving. They have told me that it is really a leap of faith. I regret, though, having gotten my feet wet in DCPS then moving to the suburbs. The first two years are when teachers make the bulk of their mistakes. There’s a huge learning curve those two years. Now I may have to take all that knowledge gained at the expense of DCPS’ students to the ’burbs. I need to find this one teacher I thought was so terrible three years ago and apologize, because now I see.”

DC Union Leader George Parker Sends a Message - Pins Weingarten as Culprit in Election Mayhem

The AFT will do anything it can to keep Nathan Saunders from becoming President of the Washington DC union. They lost Chicago and don't want things to spread too far. This message from George Parker nails the AFT as the reason the scheduled elections for May were postponed. Randi knew her little sweetheart deal with pal Michelle Rhee would be endangered if Saunders won.

WTU ELECTION OF OFFICERS

The WTU is aware that several candidates seeking to run for a WTU elected office have distributed misleading and inaccurate information regarding the AFT’s postponement of the May 2010 election of WTU officers (Aril 29, 2010 membership letter form AFT President Randi Weingarten) and the WTU constitutional process for setting the new election schedule. Within the next two weeks, the WTU Executive Board will send a letter to the homes of all WTU members to provide you with correct and accurate information regarding the election process and the new fall schedule for election of WTU officers.

Michelle Rhee to NYC Teachers: Be More Like DC,

D.C. school chancellor Michelle Rhee says New York must learn from her groundbreaking union deal

I've been getting emails from teachers today who read the Michelle Rhee piece in the Daily News, where she has this quote, which needs no comment from me:

Use Randi Weingarten. I don't like to get in the middle of someone else's negotiation and I know that there is a long and complicated history between Weingarten and Klein. However, based on my experiences negotiating with Weingarten, she is very much able to see the direction the nation is heading in and the fact that unions need to be a part of the solution. Both Klein and Mulgrew should lean on her.

I posted it on Norms Notes:

See Accountable Talk: Rhee-Ductio Ad Absurdum

Perdido Street School: Much Ado About Rhee

Chaz' advice:
Michelle Rhee - Worry About Your Own Failed Administration And Schools. Mind Your Own Buisness When It Comes To Negotiating Our Contract.

Washington Post Attacks Rhee Critics: From DC- themail

Self-Dealing

Dear Complainants:

Let’s review. Chancellor Michelle Rhee negotiated millions of dollars of grants from foundations that were given to the DC Public Schools on the condition that the leadership of DCPS not be changed — in other words, that she remain employed as schools chancellor (themail, April 28). Civic activist Robert Brannum, president of the DC Federation of Civic Associations, believed that it is self-dealing and a conflict of interest for a government official to negotiate grants from foundations to government that are conditional on her continued employment. He filed a complaint with the Office of Campaign Finance, seeking a ruling on the propriety of her actions, and the OCF found sufficient grounds in his complaint to open an investigation.

In response, the Washington Post published an over-the-top, shrill editorial that is nothing but a personal attack on Brannum for daring even to raise a question about Rhee who, it asserts, must not be questioned,http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/07/AR2010060703784.html.

The Post’s editorial board asserted that, “It’s hard to think that anyone could conclude that Ms. Rhee sought these monies to ensure her continued employ [sic] as schools chancellor.” Since the letters of agreement all make the donations conditional on her continued employment, it is hard to think that the editorial board really finds that hard to think. It is much more reasonable to believe that the Post is simply protecting one of its favorites from having to live up to the standards of conduct that it would apply to other public officials. The Post gives Rhee credit for soliciting these funds for DCPS, while at the same time pretending to believe that Rhee had nothing to do with them— with seeking them, with negotiating their terms, or with accepting them under those terms. The Post correctly notes that the foundations’ letters of agreement were not given directly to DCPS, but were in fact given to a nonprofit organization, the DC Public Education Fund, with the express purpose that it would funnel them to DCPS. The DC Public Education Fund was set up by Mayor Fenty and Chancellor Rhee to advance their educational plans and interests and to raise money for their programs. The only purpose of the DC Public Education Fund’s involvement in the grants is to shield DCPS from the legal ramifications of accepting the grants directly and from the open public scrutiny that would ensue. The pretense that the Public Education Fund is independent of DCPS and Rhee, when it operates in their interests and at their direction, may be enough to provide a legal smokescreen to allow Rhee to deny self-dealing, but it is far from clear that that pretense is good enough to succeed. That is a question that can only be answered by the kind of thorough investigation that the Post seeks to discredit in advance.

The Post accuses Brannum of making “half-baked allegations,” and it prejudges the investigation at the end of its editorial by saying that, “it’s disheartening to see this kind of small-minded hounding of those who seek to better reward teachers who do a good job helping children learn. There would seem to be no better way to discourage public service than to turn the District into a place where no good turn goes unquestioned.” That’s bad enough, but in the past three years we’ve become used to the Post’s judgments about local politics being based purely on its being a cheerleader for the Fenty-Rhee-Nickles administration rather than a fair and disinterested observer. What’s worse is thePost’s actions since. After it denied Brannum the opportunity to reply to its editorial, Brannum sent the E-mail printed below. As a result, the Post published (online only, and not linked to from the editorial) the item athttp://voices.washingtonpost.com/local-opinions/2010/06/good_reason_to_investigate_mic.html. The online item purports to be by him, but in fact was drastically rewritten by someone at the newspaper. The paper has so little confidence in its judgment and reasoning that it has denied him an opportunity to reply in print and in his own words to an editorial that attacked him and his motives personally.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

###############

Post Declines to Print Editorial Reply
Robert Vinson Brannum, rbrannum@robertbrannum.com

On Tuesday, June 8, The Washington Post published an editorial (“School Daze,” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/07/AR2010060703784.html) reacting to my request for an investigation of DC Public Schools (DCPS) Chancellor Michelle Rhee. The editorial was critical of me for requesting a DC Office of Campaign Finance investigation of Chancellor Rhee for possible conflict of interest in the tentative contract agreement (later ratified) between DCPS and the Washington Teachers’ Union.

My request for an investigation was not motivated by politics, but rather by a public citizen’s desire to promote a principled public policy, which the Office of Campaign Finance determined to be credible. It was deemed a “cogent statement of facts alleged to constitute a violation,” with a “reasonable cause to believe that a violation has occurred.” Moreover, DC Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi, previously praised by the editorial board and others in the media as impeccable, alluded in testimony before the council these private donor funding conditions were unacceptable and he could not certify the tentative agreement.

Most reputable newspaper editorial boards, after singling out someone for editorial rebuke, particularly a private citizen, would print a response. Not so with the new reform-minded editorial board of The Washington Post. The editorial board of The Washington Post not only declined to print an initial response from me, it also has declined to print a shortened rewrite. Rather than permitting me to express my thoughts in my own words, the editorial board offered to print its own shortened rewrite expressing my thoughts of its rebuke of me. I believe I should be able to speak for myself. Even Ms. Katharine Weymouth, Publisher; Mr. Andrew Alexander, Ombudsman; and Mr. Howard Kurtz, Media Critic, should find this refusal unacceptable. [Finished online athttp://www.dcwatch.com/themail/2010/10-06-09.htm#brannum]

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Civic Activism
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com

As someone who, over the past twenty years, has closely monitored the work of the DC Board of Elections and Ethics and the Office of Campaign Finance, and who has filed numerous complaints with both bodies, I could not let the current controversy concerning the complaint Robert Brannum filed with the OCF on June 2 regarding School Chancellor Michelle Rhee go by without comment. Bill Turque reported in Tuesday’s Washington Post,http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/07/AR2010060703046.html: “The District’s Office of Campaign Finance will investigate a complaint, filed by an outspoken critic of Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, alleging that Rhee violated the law by soliciting donations from private foundations that reserved the right to pull their funding if there was a change in the school system’s leadership. Cecily E. Collier-Montgomery, the office’s director, told Robert V. Brannum on Friday, in response to his complaint, that there was ‘reasonable cause to believe that a violation has occurred’ and that ‘a full investigation is warranted in this matter.’”

The media response has been troubling. Jonetta Rose Barras wrote in her June 7 column in The Examiner, titled “Slaying the Chancellor, Sacrificing the Children,” http://tinyurl.com/2532rzb, that DC residents should “question the competence” of OCF for investigating Brannum’s complaint. She went on to write that “it’s all politics,” and to argue that Brannum’s complaint aims “to derail Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s reelection, including discrediting his education reform platform and sullying Rhee’s reputation.” JoAnn Armao, in her June 8Washington Post editorial, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/07/AR2010060703784.html, writes, “it’s disheartening to see this kind of small-minded hounding of those who seek to better reward teachers who do a good job helping children learn. There would seem to be no better way to discourage public service than to turn the District into a place where no good turn goes unquestioned.”

Under District law, a citizen has a right to file a complaint with the DC Office of Campaign Finance if and when they believe the District’s campaign finance and/or ethics laws have been violated. After an initial review and inquiry of the complaint, the OCF’s director and general counsel only then make the determination as to whether to launch a formal investigation. Under OCF’s process, frivolous or unfounded complaints do not result in a full investigation. In the past, I have filed complaints involving public officials with the OCF and, indeed, in the past the Washington Post has always welcomed “independent” investigations of public officials by the OCF (especially Marion Barry). I am truly concerned that, if the media chooses to ridicule citizens who file complaints, however motivated or justified those complaints may be, it may have a chilling effect on the willingness of citizens to come forward and report violations of the District’s campaign finance and ethics laws.

Chance of Losing? Just don't hold an election: Randi Weingarten Ally Follows Course in DC

Typhoid Randi

[Washington DC teacher union president] George Parker REFUSED to provide the necessary information so that the elections committee could proceed with union elections. Now that's a way for Parker to stay in office.

Now if you New York teachers think this doesn't apply to you - after all Mulgrew, one of the 12 most effective labor leaders, [according to City Hall News] - won 91% of the vote because he talked like he was effective - the same type of shenanigans will take place if there is ever a contested election here. After all, Randi Weingarten is involved on Parker's side. She was quick to have the AFT intervene over a relatively minor issue on the constitution of the election committee, using that as an excuse to postpone the elections to give her pal Michelle Rhee time to get a vote on a new contract before Parker opponent Nathan Saunders could win an election and use his pulpit to campaign against the contract.

Randi won that round but then there was this pesky thing called an election that was SUPPOSED to still take place. A pro Saunders slate was elected to the NEW election committee.

Randi and Parker have to engage in these tactics because they don't have their own pet phony opposition like New Action to endorse the incumbent (like New Action has done in here in 3 straight elections and will continue to do forever) and create a distraction for the members. But I'll write more about how NYC differs from other cities in a future post.

See Candi's Peterson's Post:

No WTU Elections For You: If President George Parker Has Anything To Do With It

Now with the Chicago runoff between the Unity-like UPC and the chief opposition, CORE due to take place this Friday, observers are keeping an eye out for the kinds of procedural games the AFT (which has a full-time staffer assigned to work with the UPC) and the UPC might play. I would bet that they already have a procedural protest planned and all written up and ready to go just in case CORE, which ran a dead heat with the UPC in round 1 and has been endorsed by the caucus leaders of the next two finishers, might win on Friday. In round one over 30 ballot boxes were not picked up by the AAA and instead delivered by UPC staff people. This is Chicago. So CORE might have done even better.

Guess where such a protest goes? Why to Randi at the AFT. In 2004, the AFT clearly supported the UPC even though there were some serious doubts. So if there is a protest of Friday's election by the UPC people will be watching what the AFT does very carefully. Since CORE has a real base, unlike so many opposition parties which are heads with no bodies - see NYC for example - and if the election is stolen watch for a massive explosion in Chicago.

The election also has some impact on the AFT convention in Seattle on July 7-11. If CORE wins and sends 150 delegates - I know this pales in comparison to the Unity 800 - but if they start linking up with delegates opposed to Randi's taking the AFT down the ed deform road, there will be national implications.

But of course the real national implications for a CORE win would be for the Obama/Duncan program. Coming right from the belly of the ed deform beast of 16 years of mayoral control, having a group consisting of a lot of young, activist teachers take power would shake the tree. CORE has stood up over it's two plus years of existence against school closings and battled the charter school influx which has reduced the number of Chicago teacher union members from around 34,000 to 28,000. CORE stands firmly against the Race to the Top crap that the AFT is dishing out to help get laws changed.

Note how the press and the blogs have ignored this story. Anti-union "reporters" like Mike Antonucci who will expose a union leader for sneezing without using a handkerchief, seems to have forgotten where Chicago is despite the lovely reminders I send him.

And Alexander Russo, who writes the TWIE blog (which I don't read regularly but have not seen any reports on the Chicago election) along with the District 299 blog about Chicago education even though he lives in Brooklyn, also has precious little about the election on that blog. Living in Brooklyn must make it tough to cover. He should read George Schmidt's Substance so he would know what's going on. And all of you should too to see what the Unity-like UPC is willing to pull to hold onto power, with the support I might add of the Chicago power structure and behind the scenes, the AFT.

And here in NYC? We seem to be at least 3-5 years behind, but if you watch what Mulgrew has done in the two plus months since his 91% victory, you can see what is coming.

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About the graphic:
The other day, Michael Fiorillo branded Randi Weingarten "Typhoid Randi" for spreading toxicity through union compliance with the ed deform agenda. Just a few words to David Bellel and "Voila!"

Weingarten Interferes in DC Union Elections

History has taught us that autocrats will never give up power and will resort to illegal means to keep absolutism intact. I would bet my pension that even if some miracle occurred and the opposition won an election here in NYC, the Unity machine would find ways to invalidate the election. (When the opposition once won the high school VEEP position in the mid-80's, Unity delayed his seating for a year by claiming illegalities in an election they ran - and won the right for a do-over.)

Ed Notes has been reporting on the Washington DC and Chicago teacher union elections. Both cities are hotbeds of potential activism and if Nathan Saunders and/or Karen Lewis (CORE) were to be elected, would indicate potential trouble for AFT President Randi Weingarten. Not that she has to worry too much with the NYC Unity Caucus machine being able to control the NY state NYSUT which in turn controls the AFT. But we know that Randi wants ZERO OPPOSITION and will do what she can to undercut the ability of these candidates to win.

In Chicago there are 5 or 6 caucuses running and Randi will wait out what is sure to be a runoff. If CORE is one of the two left standing, just watch the AFT jump into the fray.

Washington DC is a particularly interesting case where both Randi and Michelle Rhee's reps are on the line if Saunders should win. So now we hear the AFT is "getting involved" in the DC election.

With elections in Washington DC about to take place, the AFT goon squad is out to undermine them. They found some excuse and there is talk about including the contract vote ballot in the same envelope as the election ballot. If true, why are we not surprised here in NYC?

There is also some talk (see EIA report below) about the AFT using the excuse that not enough people are on the ballot for AFT delegates to the Seattle convention (supposedly 4 are running and there are 20 positions) and that is reason enough to postpone the elections. (Unity sends 800 on a junket but other locals who can't afford to send a full complement often send fewer people with each entitled to vote for the rest. In other words, since Unity votes as a block, we could send 1 delegate who can cast 800 votes.)

The real reason is that Randi/Rhee/Parker are anxious to get the contract vote done before the election, which if Saunders wins will kill any chance of the contract Randi and Rhee want. With problems over the private money being assured, it is clear that the election will be done beforehand and Randi is trying to figure out a way to undermine it.

Is anyone surprised that Randi is more aligned with Rhee - remember my basic rule - ignore what Randi says, watch what she does? So here is Nathan Saunders' piece in today's TheMail.


Is AFT Undermining DC Teachers? by Nathan Saunders,
WTU Presidential candidate


Intense public school budget hearings on April 30 evidenced the significant impact WTU teachers have on the city’s budget. Charter school advocates presented the government a demand letter for comparable wages to the WTU Tentative Agreement (TA), or they would seek court action. A magnanimous Chief Financial Officer Gandhi refused to certify the TA’s financial soundness while simultaneously scaling back other programs and possibly raising taxes to reduce a $530 million deficit.

The 1960’s legislation allowing exclusive representation of DC’s Public teachers was theorized to encourage mutual cooperation yielding increased workplace productivity.

Unfortunately, some of the industrial labor union’s ills and social injustices, such as paternalism, permeated the teachers’ union movement.

Oftentimes national union interests will attack local dissident opinion by influencing union elections, producing propaganda, and controlling issues. All the while repeating, ad nauseam, “We never get involved in local issues.”

Amazingly, this is like the letter the American Federation of Teachers sent home to all DC teachers implying that the May 2010 elections will probably be delayed. Federal legislation, the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, was created to combat union member abuses involving violations of free speech, violence, and elections tampering. It forces elections every three years and gives union members a special bill of rights akin to the US Constitution.

Empowering WTU teachers in democratic management and advocacy for themselves and their students is an often neglected education reform that is affordable. Paternalism is most dangerous in teachers’ unions, as it makes teachers feel trapped with two bosses — the DC Government and the AFT/WTU — their own union. Union democracy is suppressed.

The AFT should not be involved in the May 2010 union election or the upcoming contract ratification vote, as their ability to exercise self-control will deter additional controversies and challenges. The federal Department of Labor should be involved.

Unfortunately, the president of the AFT parent union, Randi Weingarten, is deeply entangled in election shenanigans, potentially stalling WTU’s election schedule past its constitutionally required May 2010 date. Her beneficiary is WTU President George Parker the embattled negotiator of the Rhee/Parker tentative agreement. The agreement was supposed to harvest elections benefits of 20 percent pay raises, without members knowing most would probably be terminated or that a portion of the raises was financed with blood money of wrongfully terminated teachers, and the only job security in the deal belonged to Chancellor Michelle Rhee.

The problem with Weingarten’s election meddling is that it makes DC teachers more vulnerable. Teachers are about to deal with hundreds of year-end layoffs, a hard summer fight to support a mayoral candidate and leaving approximately eighty other elected positions unfilled (Elections Committee, Delegates to the Maryland State AFL-CIO, and others). It smells to high heaven.

Any desire to place an election ballot with a contract ratification ballot in the same envelope is selfish and belittles the WTU’s members’ intelligence. Common sense, time, and economic realities may have broken up the Fenty/Rhee/Parker/Weingarten playbook, but law and the WTU’s Constitution require a paternalistic AFT to step aside and to allow dues paying members to vote on their future — now.

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Here is Mike Antonucci's take - at EIA. Remember, he is an anti-teacher union guy always looking to pick at the bones of union ineptitude, but he does cover issues no one else does.

Union Elections Are Contests Between Apathy and Ignorance

Eduwonk reports that the upcoming election for the presidency of the Washington Teachers Union has a problem – not enough WTU members want to be on the election committee. For that matter, not enough WTU members want to be delegates to the AFT convention. As a result, AFT is going to provide “assistance and limited oversight.”

Problem solved, right? Not exactly. WTU Vice President Nathan A. Saunders, who is running against incumbent George Parker, says he didn’t ask for, nor does he want, AFT intervention. He believes AFT is deeply invested in Parker and is trying to guarantee a win for him.

“It is absolutely crazy,” Saunders said. “The AFT can’t hold an impartial election.”

Down in DC

I've been out of NYC for a few days visiting family and friends and doing lots of sightseeing in the Washington DC area. Just behaving like a typical tourist and trying to ignore the constant drum of ed news. But of course that's impossible. On the way down we stopped at a rest stop in Maryland and there was a Unity Caucus slug on the way to the NYSUT convention in DC, one of those coincidences where you think you are getting away from it all. My wife would have strangled me if I made any attempt to get near the convention.

Numbing Nuts
Then I get a phone call from a reporter on Saturday asking me if Mulgrew called Klein "Numbnuts" at the NYSUT breakfast on Friday. Do they have tracking devices on our cars? Actually, I know this reporter because a relative lives next door to me. She said she had read on Ed Notes that Mulgrew was referring to Klein in that manner at the April 21 DA. I told her I wasn't at that meeting but she reminded me that Philip Nobile had written that report. I'm glad someone knows what's being published on this blog. I had to hang up as my wife was giving me THAT look, but I figured with this being the NY Post, some kind of hit job was coming on the union and Mulgrew. There was a report in the NY Post yesterday that mentioned me and Ed Notes and it was not as bad as I thought it would be. I personally like the Post reporters and we know that editorial influences the reporting. But at the Daily News, where the editorial opinion often matches the Post, reporters like Meredith Kolodner and Rachel Monahan somehow manage to get so many things right.

By the way, before going on, I am finding a lot to like about the way Mulgrew has dealt with issues - on the surface at least, though if you read the ICE blog (see top of the sidebar for a link) there is lots of consternation over the rubber room agreement and the way Mulgrew went about it. That is not surface so all the things I like may be more style than substance. I have had very little contact with Mulgew and got a chance at the Perkins' hearing to see him in action and felt he handled himself pretty well. I will work on getting some tape up when I get back.

I was certainly happy to see Mulgrew announce they were going to run a primary against Bing for putting up that recent law over seniority. "He is dead to us" was the kind of thing those of us who saw the UFT endorse incumbents who knifed us in the back have been looking for. And they held a demo at Ruben Diaz' office as reported by Under Assault.


I didn't get to see Rhee in DC, but it was close
We are staying in Bethesda and were taking the train into the city every day. On Saturday they held a memorial for the principal who was found dead in his house in a space near the train station. Michelle Rhee was the main speaker. Lots of press coverage according to local news but we escaped in time to avoid it.

Rhee has real problems with her private funding sources (Broad, Gates, Walton - all those stellar citizens of Ed Deform – for the proposed contract putting conditions on the money. Candi Peterson's guest blogger raises some serious issues for DC teachers about this all being about a bait and switch: teacher get offered big raises to entice them into signing a contract while also signing away seniority protection rights and - whammo. Candi asks: "Should the WTU Tentative Agreement ever get ratified by our union members, will you still be around to collect your pay raise or will you be among those on the unemployment line ?" Read More.

One of the articles that came across my Blackberry this weekend was an article from a Rhee supporter who trashed her in so many ways I was drooling. But I can't locate it right now. Probably a WAPO article. If anyone comes across it send me the link and I'll update it here.

Goldstein on Bill Gates and Measures of Effective Teaching
Speaking of bait and switch, Arthur Goldstein is siting the Bill Gates teacher effectiveness initiative (A Bill of Goods), jointly sponsored with the UFT, as a B&S tactic. Tell teachers one thing but do another. Like video tape them. Arthur raises some wonderful points and Under Assault parses them (Goldstein on Gates.) I'd like Mulgrew a lot better if he ended any contact with Gates.

Video taping teachers
I do want to say something about video taping in the classroom. Back in 1969, Elaine Troll, my teacher trainer - there was money in those days to have someone full time to deal with the new teachers - asked me it I would take part in an experimental program to video tape lessons and then analyze the tapes as to the types of questions I was asking and the type of responses I was getting. The idea was to judge the effectiveness of my questioning technique - I had to categorize them to see if I was making kids think rather than give simple responses. Pretty daring for that time - think video on the late 60's. If you read Arthur's piece, sound familiar? I guess the tapes could have been used for nefarious reasons to judge me - but I wanted to be judged. I didn't view administrators as "gotcha" people but as looking to improve my effectiveness as a teacher. In today's world and what the ed deformers have wrought, even if they were well- intentioned, we as teachers have to say "Hell No!" Good for Arthur - who I had a hand in converting from a Windows to a MAC user. Remember, every MAC bought is one less dime in Gates' pocket (not that Steve Jobs thinks any better of us).

There is so much more to write about that's happened since I've been away - like questions about how charter schools mark the recent exams as opposed to how public schools do it and questions on charter school data - like to they EVER take real attendance - so many exempt from scrutiny of the ATS system. All kinds of goodies which will just have to wait since I'm getting THAT LOOK AGAIN.


Oh, and I do want to talk about sightseeing in DC (maybe tonight when I get back) and all the things we saw- I realize I have not been a tourist in DC for a long time, though I have been her for demos and meetings (last being the AFT convention in 2003, Sandy Feldman's last speech, which I liked very much). The museums we saw were just wonderful (and FREE) and we were excitedly filling in our cousins and friends who live here and are so blase about it. But when they come to NYC we can be just as blase about not going to any tourist attractions there. Maybe we could swap museums with DC and I could go down there and enjoy MOMA without having to pay $20 to get in.

Washington DC Confidential: Nathan Saunders Candidacy for Union President is the Wild Card

I've been trying to keep up with the constantly breaking story in Washington DC with lots of duplicity to go around from the Fenty/Rhee side and the Parker/Weingarten union side. But is is dissident candidate for president of the teacher union Nathan Saunders whose wild card candidacy seems to be driving the truck. Naturally we owe a lot to our blogging buddy Candi Peterson, who we got to hang out with at our 5 city ed deform resistance conference in LA last July. We also got to meet Saunders, who has the potential to be one impressive union leader. Let's start here:

4/16/10

Today George Parker, WTU President and Randi Weingarten, AFT President announced their plans to reopen new filings for the RIF'd teachers lawsuit as reported by Loose Lips. What appears strange to me are the premeditated series of events below.

The WTU tentative agreement was signed by Chancellor Rhee and WTU President George Parker on March 19, 2010, the very same day that George Parker withdrew the legal appeal previously filed by the WTU on behalf of RIF'd teachers.

Adding even more insult is the fact George Parker didn't seek the required approval from the WTU Executive Board to withdraw this legal appeal, until six days later on March 25th. These coinciding dates appear all too convenient.

Don't you think this is worth further inquiry by your newspaper, station, blog or organization ?

Candi Peterson
WTU Board of Trustees

I put up 2 posts on Norms Notes with lots of stuff from around DC for you to peruse. One from Candi Peterson Reports on Rhee in DC and the other a series of reports from TheMail put out by Gary Imhoff of DC Watch: DC Watches Rhee and Fenty in The Mail with lots of calls for Rhee's resignation.

I don't know if I have all of this right, but I'm sure Candi will correct me where I am wrong.

Let's look at the timetable. With contract talks stalled for years, the Rhee crew and DC president and Weingarten ally George Parker are getting nervous about a possible Saunders win in the upcoming election. So suddenly an agreement is reached to entice teachers into big raises in exchange for giving up - well - pretty much all rights of protection. But as usual, Randi and crew disguise as much as possible.

In the background are the layoffs of teachers last fall, many of them with seniority because Rhee claimed budget cuts. But she hired lots of new teachers for the fall term who remained on the job.

Now Rhee is saying there was a mistake and the money was there. Then it isn't. Then it is. Let's not forget that loads of ed deform private money is part of the deal. Money that will disappear once teachers are suckered into the big raises and then find themselves RIFed out of a job.

OK, we know what Rhee is all about and I believe she was purposely sent into DC to set a precedent for the nation by the Ed Deformers because it was the weakest link at the union level.

But I want to focus on the actions of Parker/Weingarten, which should be so familiar to us here in NYC. The day the contract was announced, they withdrew the law suit against Rhee for firing the teachers. When the lies about the budget shortfall were uncovered, Randi was supposedly pissed and wants to restore the suit. Here are 2 links from Gotham on this aspect:

• D.C.’s CFO and Michelle Rhee are sparring over whether the school system’s surplus exists.
• Randi Weingarten said she’s “really disgusted” by the D.C. situation, and the union is going back to court.

Sure, Randi, you're REALLY DISGUSTED. No match for the disgust you left here in NYC.


Randi/Parker actions are all about trying to redirect teachers from the Saunders militant candidacy. There are no caucuses in DC so it is mano o mano.

Here are some posts from Nathan Saunders.

First a piece that exposes the Weingarten/Parker deception

Statement by Nathan A. Saunders

Wrongfully Terminated Teachers Should Seek Restitution and Damages

Washington, D.C. - On Tuesday, April 13, 2010 DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee disclosed her lie against 266 wrongfully terminate teachers which she has secreted for months. WTU President George Parker was present and silent. Our responsibility as honest brokers, fellow teachers and union members is to make sure those wrongfully terminated teachers and their families receive what we all would want- a new non AFT and non WTU affiliated attorney for restitution of all rights and privileges with damages. We now know that our fellow teachers’ hardship and blood money is the base funding for the Rhee and Parker tentative agreement (TA) - a scheme for national glory not local progress.

One week prior to their televised tentative agreement press conference under AFT’s watchful eyes, Parker orchestrated the withdrawal of WTU’s DC Court of Appeals challenge to Rhee regarding the 266 wrongfully terminated teachers. Parker and Rhee’s collusive behavior is not coincidental, but intentional.

From inception, Parker’s filing of the wrongfully terminated teachers lawsuit was late, incomplete and did not protect all of the teachers’ rights. He did not use critical information gleamed from exhaustive DC City Council hearings and curiously did not require Chancellor Michelle Rhee under oath. Teacher court spectators were humiliated. Rhee has a free hand to abuse because of Parker’s weak representation, slovenly behavior and reactionary leadership. He cannot represent teachers in any manner because he is not trustworthy and Rhee can depend on it. Two years ago, I, as a WTU fiduciary agent, took public action by charging senior AFT officials, Parker and Rhee with collusion. It centered on Parker helping Rhee to discipline (terminate) certain teachers, clandestine agreements and abusing DCPS personnel records. Fighting for teacher job security and rights has been difficult when opponents use high priced press agents, billionaires, and anti-union foundations with more access to AFT than to dues paying members. As the millions at stake have increased, old union tactics of threats, salary reductions, and violence are becoming more commonplace in WTU.

Today, Parker attempts to backtrack with a public statement announcing his outrage with Rhee’s revelations. She could not have done it without his support. As the General Vice President, I am calling on all teachers to boycott future Tentative Agreement presentations. If a ballot for ratification ever arrives- VOTE NO. AFT’s undisclosed conflict of interest to WTU members exists by receiving funding from the same or similarly situated foundations desirous of funding WTU’s teacher raises (AFT’s Innovation Fund).

This TA is not educationally or fiscally sound, and yields future economic opportunities for the individuals and organizations other than DCPS teachers and children. Neither George Parker nor Michelle Rhee is worth jeopardizing any teacher’s economic security or students’ success. Teachers should focus on IMPACT teacher evaluations- Rhee’s new terminating tool- whereby hundreds will lose their jobs quickly. Any attempt by Parker to blame Rhee solely for this debacle without acknowledging his culpability is another repeat offense against DCPS teachers and students.

Here Saunders analyzes the contract:

DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee and WTU President George Parker announced a tentative agreement (TA) after three years amid protests of a group of wrongfully terminated teachers and now former union members, who lost their medical benefits, life insurance, and voting rights. Since that time, the news media has been regurgitating the well prepared press package without investigation or analysis. Despite their unfounded reports of soon-to-be-rich public school teachers, the TA delivers less. Teachers have not received mailed copies of the TA and the Internet version at WTUlocal6.org does not include the side agreement letters, yet it advertises “the entire” TA.

Teachers’ rights in the contract are ambiguous and vague, and use unresolved terms. The words “tenure” and “seniority,” while preserved, are irrelevant, as their meaning is gutted and without substance. A troubling section is Performance Based Pay; it is incomplete and states it will be developed later — yet Performance Based Excessing is oppressive — establishing quick terminations within sixty days. For Rhee, the contract is specific, binding, and punitive; for teachers, it is incomplete, indefinite, and unenforceable. Rhee has made the jobs of the DC city council, mayor, foundations, and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) child’s play with Article 40, et. seq. (P.103):

ARTICLE 40 - SUFFICIENT FUNDS

40.1 The Parties agree that all provisions of this Agreement are subject to the availability of funds.

40.2 Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as a promise that Congress, the DC Council, or any other organization shall appropriate sufficient funds to meet the obligations set forth in this Agreement.

40.3 DCPS agrees to provide financial certification that DCPS can meet the obligations of this contract before moving toward final approval. The parties agree that the failure to provide the funds to meet the obligations of the Agreement pertaining to base salary, benefits (defined as the provisions governing optical, dental and legal benefits), and mutual consent, is a material breach of contract by DCPS. The consequences of that breach will be settled by a court or an arbitrator, unless otherwise negotiated by the Parties.

The TA creates no financial liability on any entity. It does not have the full faith and credit security of the DC government. As a result, teachers are not guaranteed a 21 percent raise or a 0 percent raise but teachers will jeopardize 100 percent of their current salary. Because of Article 40, CFO Gandhi could approve the TA’s financial soundness without using his calculator, that is, if he and others (DC city council and the US Congress) are as eager to shortchange teachers as Rhee and Parker. Article 40 language is an entirely new low standard to WTU contracts. Nothing is certain including the bonus, the base salary, the promise or the requirement for the DC Government to even appropriate the funds! Teachers risk everything without any assurances. Article 40.1 and 40.2 are failure to pay escape clause provisions which would cause any breach of contract lawsuit to wilt. Article 40.3 is unnecessary gibberish as all breach of contract issues are court adjudicated based on common law principles. The “Article 40 style trickery” permeates the entire TA. Those believing the courts would not allow a bad deal to exist must think again. Courts do not inquire into the value of promises negotiators make to one another. The number or quality of promises made by DCPS or WTU is not the business of the court. Therefore, teachers could ratify a bad deal and have no legal recourse.

Rhee’s education philosophy translates into “terminating teachers helps children,” and teachers voting for ratification will be endorsing her. Churning teachers in and out of classrooms will affect students negatively. Some voters for ratification may be seduced by Wal-Mart and Enron foundation money, but they could join ranks of the DC unemployed. Teaching jobs are hard to find even for experienced, certified teachers — ask the protesters. With the DC government running a $530 million deficit and calls to reduce DCPS spending, ratifying an unsecured, non-pensionable, and unenforceable TA could create hundreds of unemployed teachers. Most teachers, who are committed to students’ well being, the teaching profession, and their family’s economic security, will say no to ratification.