PS 50M Hearing CPE1 Parents Read Letter From PS 50 Teacher

"Renewal dollars were not spent on what we needed and suggested like reading and math specialists to support our students." ... PS 50M hearing, Feb. 12, 2018

But why listen to actual teachers on the ground? Just spend renewal dollars on more PD.

Three amazing parents from CPE1 showed up at the PS 50 hearing to share the reading of a letter written by a teacher chronicling the intentional destruction of the renewal school. "Support" meant outsiders including highly  paid consultants walking around and giving next steps.... Support meant being sent to an abundance of PDs without being given time to absorb..." etc, etc etc. PS 50 was closed down at last week's PEP.

No support to reduce class size, of course. Farina doesn't believe in that -- PD = the problem are the teachers.

Like if I was in one of those schools with a masters in reading and say 15 years in the system I needed more PD instead of real assistance by allowing me more time with individual kids.

I spoke to a PS 50 teacher at the PEP last week and he said he couldn't speak for fear of retaliation. That many do not think the district UFT has their backs does not help.

By the way -- who did Farina put in charge of renewal schools? The awful former Brooklyn HS Supt Amy Horowitz who lied and misled people. The UFT people knew how awful she was but sat silently while she misdirected support for renewal schools I would bet to some of her pals who made a few bucks. Now she is going to run some other program at the DOE into the ground.



https://vimeo.com/258661827

Video: PS 50M Plus Teacher Stories of Abuse by Principal and Supt Estrella

PS 50M Students Call on DOE to Really Support Them

This is a follow-up to my earlier School Scope column on PS 50 -- School Scope: Similarities in Proposed Closing of Local PS 42, PS 50M (East Harlem) Expose DOE Misinformatio.

Here is some video I processed from that hearing. A parent, a former student, as is his wife, pleads for his 3rd grader in the school and a teacher checks off how the DOE officialdom intionally destroyed PS 50 mainly by putting in a destructive principal, then replaced her less than a year ago with someone who seems competent but had the rug pulled out of her - she was not even given a chance to improve the school. We know this is about dumping teachers and most kids and making room for gentrification and charter invasion. The teacher points out how renewal money was wasted on school cosmetics. I include emails below from former staff.

For years we've known that some principals are put in as closers -- PS 50 is a prototype.



https://vimeo.com/256967332

========

Ps/Ms 50 got a new principal, Ester Quiñones, after being designated a renewal school. That first year, they got resources and upgrades to the school. Attendance went up. Kids did better on the tests — and then Ester started taking people out. Harassing and retaliating against teachers, withholding information from SLT, telling fams they would not enroll children in the school. Now, the schools is under enrolled and staff is mortified because they have had several teachers put through 3020a’s. 

The same week Monika Garg was taken out of CPE1, Ester was also reassigned — and Ellen Johnson was put in. Ellen came from the district office. Some people say that she is there to finish off the job, while others say she is just as frustrated as they are w Estrella and she feels like she was taken advantage of. They had a C30 but Estrella still has not appointed her. Supposedly HR is taking forever.. I don’t trust any of them!

=======

I attended a PA meeting with the PS/MS 50 families and all I say is that they are really hurt... hurt by the system... hurt by their community. I want to very clear that our support of their community has nothing to do with CPE2 and CPE2 acquiring their building. I would go hard for CPE2 to get a building where all of their families fit... but the question here is, who has access, where is the equity/opportunity, what process/protocol was followed, are these families receiving support and/or information to make this transition. My questions lies on how the DOE chooses and supports leaders that don't include the community. 

The CEC3 has the same questions when it comes to the closing of Wadleigh.

The CEC5 has the same questions when it comes to the charter take over and lack of choice for their families. 

We can't disappear because we won. We have to keep raising our voices when it comes to these educational injustices. 

I hope we can keep the momentum going and live up to our name.

=====
I  went to the Department of Education (DOE) and the United Federation (UFT) of Teachers asking them "whom/who do I go to in order to obtain a transfer from P.S./M.S. 50M?" Several persons at both places suggested my UFT District Representative. I do not feel safe under the supervision of the Principal (Ester Quinones) at P.S./M.S. 50 M. Ms. Quinones placed several distressing acts against me. My principal ignored and complained about my disabilities, Teaching Licenses and teaching abilities, She bullied, retaliated and humiliated me in front of students and faculty members. Finally she threatened my future employment as an appointed DOE employee. I am extremely uncomfortable with her unprofessional supervision. Please help me Ms. Silva in working in a less threatening atmosphere so I can teach my students in a peaceful  and safe environment.

------

I am a teacher at P.S/ M.S. 50, The Vito Marcantonio School, for seventeen years of excellent work with the children I service. I have been continuously being harassed by the principal, Ms. Ester Quinones, under the direction of the superintendent, Ms. Estrella Alexandra.  I've filed  grievances and harassment paper work which the superintendent declined to entertain.  I love the community I work in, however the administration is trying destroy my dignity and undermine my expertise. Please help me and others who are being intimidated in our school.


My experience at PS. 50

Good evening , I was a teacher at PS 50 from 2014 to 2015. My experience at  PS 50 was horrid.  I came into the school with lots of energy and enthusiastic ready to teach. Little that I know that I would have the worst experience as a new teacher at the Department of Education working under Quinones.

I left PS 50, because of the way she had treated me. She discredited me as a person I felt threatened and bullied.  Great  leaders don't  put people  down.  Great leaders  teach  so some day they can follow  their foot steps.

In Spring 2015 , she came into my classroom to observe me. At this point in the school year I understood what I thought she wanted to be seen in the classroom. However, I was wrong. She  called me in the office a couple of days after the observation.   I  stated to her "should I have my UFT representative with me. "   She replied  "should you?"  I sat down as she closed the door behind her and proceeded to chastise me about my hand written  lesson plan  She took my lesson  put  it towards my face back and forth and told me "you call this a lesson." She stated she showed my lesson plan to the superintendent.  She  said that the  superintendent wanted me out the building.   She also told me  to look for another  career  or go to the open market.

When she told me the superintendent wanted me out the building I didn't know how true that was.  When she dismissed me out of her office I immediately went to the UFT rep and complained about what she did to me.  Working at PS 50 was a living hell for me. I'm now suffering  from  anxiety.   I am working  building my self esteem.  Unfortunately, this was one of many incidents I had with Ms. Quinones.

Which I  thank God everyday that I was able to find another school that appreciates me and and realizes that I am a good teacher.      PS. 50  deserves a great leader, not a bully. 

-----

Good Morning Esteemed Council Members

My name is xxxxxxx and I am a licensed, special education teacher who has worked for the NYCDOE for 18 years. I have dedicated my whole life and career in teaching those who really need the extra assistance, only to have my complaints be ignored by the superintendent Alexandra Estrella.

I am at PS/MS 50 also known as Vito Marcantonio School which is a renewal school supervised under the same superintendent Alexandra Estrella. Ms. Cynthia Rochez was the principal when I arrived to PS/MS 50 and she was fired two weeks before Christmas in December of 2014. Ms. Estrella promised the staff that she would find a suitable principal in which she replaced Ms. Rochez with Ms. Ester Quinones. Enclosed please read the following attachments which outline the events that I have experienced by Principal Ester Quinones and how the superintendent is aware of them and has done not one thing to resolve any of these issues.

PS 42: “We Will Prevail! -The WAVE Front Page

Great story by WAVE Assistant Editor, Ralph Mancini. I'll be posting video footage as I process it.

A few previous Ed Notes posts on PS 42:
PS 42 Hearing - UFT Puts Skin in the Game
School Scope: PS/MS 42 Closing Drama –

“We Will Prevail!” 

School community refuses to give in on PS/MS 42 closure

Ralph Mancini  | on February 15, 2018

[Chapter Leader] John Krattinger led the charge against DOE forces that are looking to shut down PS/MS 42 at Tuesday night’s public hearing. Photo By Ralph Mancini

A green-shirted cavalcade of teachers, students, and other community members lobbied Department of Education officials to keep PS/MS 42 open during a public hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 13.

United Federation of Teachers (UFT) chapter leader John Krattinger rallied the troops by charging the DOE of blatantly silencing people’s voices by failing to immediately notify elected officials of their decision to shutter the Arverne-based facility, also known as The Robert Vernam School.

“If elected officials weren’t notified, what makes you think they’re telling us the truth?” asked Krattinger in rhetorical fashion while also mentioning that NYC Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña issued positive reviews of PS/MS 42 less than 12 months ago.

“The truth has reared its ugly head—gentrification has come to zip code 11692,” he exclaimed. “They want to take it away from our kids and give it to other kids,” Krattinger added, referring to what many have called the DOE’s agenda to see PS/MS 42 closed to clear the lane for two new incoming charter schools that will reportedly be zoned for new homeowners and apartment dwellers in the more affluent Arverne By The Sea community.

Those living in the poorer surrounding communities would be left out in the cold, according to Krattinger and several other teachers.

The school activist continued his rant by calling attention to the statistics that single out the Beach 66th Street location as the sole Renewal school among 20 others with a rating of “good.”

To that end, Krattinger and other faculty members mentioned that the numbers indicate that PS/MS 42 has shown 122 percent growth in English Language Arts (ELA) over the past school year and a 166 percent surge in math over the same stretch.

Undaunted by the DOE’s claims that the school’s level-one percentages among its student population in both ELA (50 percent) and math (60 percent) far exceeds borough-wide totals, Krattinger promised those in attendance that he and his fellow teachers “have moved mountains and will continue to do so.”

“Mark my words,” he declared, “we will prevail.”

Parents also weighed in, including Rhonda Williams, Lechelle Gulley and Millisa Lenihan, who felt as though their sons and daughters were being treated like second-class citizens.

Attendees at the PS/MS 42 meeting vociferously opposed the DOE’s decision to close their school by shouting, “Save 42” in unison. Photo By Ralph Mancini

Williams peppered the DOE panel with questions regarding the type of staff that will be slated to replace the current faculty staff.
She wondered why her school was on the list of sites that are slated to be replaced when data proves that PS/MS 42 is ahead of six other K-8 Renewal schools from an overall performance and progress perspective.

“How about giving us some help? How about giving us the proper education other schools are given? It’s ridiculous. Our children can learn. They’re not failures,” she insisted.

Fifth-graders Hasson Smith and Demetrius Weekes both professed their love for their environment and their teachers, as well as seventh-grader

Leilani Dyer, who felt her school wasn’t offered ample time to show real improvement.

Fellow seventh-grader Nigel Adu, however, elicited a hearty round of applause for relating how his teachers have guided him to persevere and overcome an assortment of obstacles he once had as a special education student.

“If this school wasn’t here, I don’t think I would be where I am right now,” he concluded at the end of his allotted time at the podium.

Community activist Queen Makkada lobbed a series of verbal attacks against Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña by calling her a “bully” and “law breaker” along with apprising the crowd that the DOE leader didn’t follow civil rights law in endorsing multiple school closures in Rockaway.

Toward the end of the meeting, Danielle McGuire, a PS/MS 42 teacher, expounded on the topic of time that was previously introduced by Dyer. She noted the site’s governing agency had promised to afford the school three years to grow and develop, but has now reversed course.

Less than 24 hours after Tuesday night’s hearing, The Wave learned that Fariña would be visiting PS/MS 42 Thursday afternoon to unveil her plans for a new facility slated to supplant the current school.

When Krattinger was contacted by The Wave to comment on the chancellor’s appearance, he reported that neither teachers nor parents would attend the presentation.

He further remarked that the DOE’s last-minute decision to schedule a meeting at 4 p.m. was another “dirty deal” on their part to keep faculty staff away as the school heads into its mid-winter break that same day.

An official verdict on the fate of PS/MS 42 and other Renewal schools takes place on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at Mary Bergtram High School, located at 411 Pearl St. in Manhattan. The event will kick off at 6 p.m.

PS 42 Hearing - UFT Puts Skin in the Game

https://vimeo.com/255732748

Leroy Barr at PS 42 hearing

What a remarkable hearing last night at PS 42. I have some amazing video. Deputy chancellor Elizabeth Rose was on the dais -- pretty remarkable - and Farina is supposed to come to the school this Thursday at 4PM to explain to parents about the new schools being opened. All apparently due to the firestorm the school community has created, which has led to an enormous presence of the UFT, especially from the Queens borough office, now led by Amy Arundel -- and I give her credit for the response. Almost the entire office staff were at the hearing last night.

What a pleasure to interact with some of these parents, some of whom I've gotten to know since I began covering the story.

Leroy Barr, who has been attacked - unfairly some believe (Mike Schirtzer on BLM Reso: A Plea for More Unity in Our Union)
- for his position on Black Lives Matter week, stood up strong for the black lives being ignored by the DOE at PS 42, which is 72% black. I'll note that many of Barr's critics have not turned up at one closing school hearing, where black lives matter is under attack by the DOE, as of this point. See -Virtue Signalling.
 
When Rose began to speak, the entire teaching staff put tape over their mouths and turned their backs to her.

Parent comments were spectacular comments. The UFT chapter leader said the new schools were not for our children.

Rose at the end for the first time seemed to guarantee every child in the school a seat but it was fuzzy if that was only for kids who are in the zone. Some parents from other zoned schools raised that point.

When someone shouted out about the teachers, Rose ignored them -- kids can stay but teachers not --- it is so clear what this closing is about -- parents brought up questions about new teachers coming into the neighborhood who don't know the children.

The NAACP made comments about going to court for civil rights violations. Rose squirmed a bit at that.

More videos to come over the weekend and I will post them as I process them, but off for a few days of Valentine Day celebration.

School Scope: PS/MS 42 Closing Drama – NAACP Jumps into the Fray

I wrote both of these pieces for the Feb. 9 edition of The Wave. I went on the bus with the PS 42 people going to the NAACP press conference Thursday afternoon. They had a spirited group rally in front. A UFT official from the Queens office showed up and somehow we got invited to go in as there as a monthly meeting of the boro pres education advisory council taking place at 6. So the press conf never did take place and will instead take place this Tuesday (Feb. 13) at 5PM at the school before the 6 PM hearing.

As part of the CASCADE group to fight closing schools, we have been attending hearings and offering support. The UFT has shown some activity - Leroy Barr came to PS 42 on Thursday and is supposedly coming to speak on Tuesday - and probably Amy Arundel and others from the Queens office will be there. I can raise issues about what the UFT is not doing but will leave that alone pending the outcome --- there is hope they can play a role in saving the school. If they do I will praise them to the sky.

-->

School Scope:  PS/MS 42 Closing Drama – NAACP Jumps into the Fray

By Norm Scott

Last week I pointed to the political, not educational, irrationality of closing schools that are viewed to be performing poorly. In this follow up I hope to demonstrate there are other factors than mere educational performance behind the decision to close PS/MS 42. I’m writing this on Feb. 6 so I can’t report on the outcome of the NAACP press conference at Queens Borough Hall on Feb. 8 at 5PM. A bus is leaving from the school at 3:15. Email rvernam66@yahoo.com to reserve a seat. And come to the hearing at the school on Tuesday, Feb. 13. There will be food at 5PM and sign-up to speak at 5:30.  It should be some evening, better than the political battles on cable TV. PS 42/MS 42 community vs. the DOE --- more exciting than the Super Bowl.

School Scope: DOE Decisions on Shutting Down Schools Political, Not Educational

Publishing date: Friday, Jan. 26, 2018

School Scope:  DOE Decisions on Shutting Down Schools Political, Not Educational

By Norm Scott

I reported on the magnificent PS 42 closing school info session in a recent column (the hearing is Feb. 13 at the school and I urge anyone who actually reads this column to come see how a school fights back) and followed up by attending the IS 53 session (not as exuberant but still significant – their hearing in Feb. 7 which I cannot attend) the next night where I had a chance to join the students, teachers and parents who defended the school in speaking. Many valid points were made at both schools about the seeming arbitrary nature of  the decisions to close down schools that are branded as “failing” whereas the criteria being used seem to be moving targets with the outcomes influenced more by political than educational issues.

Charters coveting space is often a factor, as is gentrification, both seeming to be operating factors in the decision to close the two Rockaway schools. In 12 years Bloomberg and his Chancellor agents Joel Klein and Dennis Walcott (yes the same guy running Queens libraries -   one of the political outrages since his boss Bloomberg did more harm to the library systems of this city than any mayor in decades) closed 150 schools and opened scads of new ones, with some of them ending up on failing lists. De Blasio and Chancellor Farina promised something better. While the numbers of closings are far less, they still have the same negative impact on micro communities.

The so-called “Renewal” schools – those branded as failing but given three years to improve – have come under severe attack by the forces of privatization funded by numerous hedge fund billionaires who would like to see entire public school systems turn into non-union privatized charters drinking at the trough of public money. They did that in New Orleans to disastrous effect. Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has used her billions to create another disaster in the state of Michigan while nearby Ohio suffers one charter scandal after another. Well, actually so does Arizona, California, Florida  – well I could go on but I will spare you the dirt. If interested, Google “charter school scandals” and watch the stuff spill out of your screen, like this lovely headline from the May 8, 2017 edition of Business Insider, “Are charter schools the new Enron scandal?” Oh, what fun!

You might see commercials from an astroturf group like Families for Excellent Schools – FES – I refer to them as FEH!!!! They are oh so concerned with the poor children in these renewal schools and also love to attack the teachers who are forced to reapply for their jobs or else get tossed into the permanent substitute ATR pool. Of course let’s blame the teachers, as if the people running the DOE from the top to middle management have played no role. No one’s head rolls for putting in lousy administrators to run schools or the many awful Superintendents appointed under Farina who are supposed to supervise them. I watched District 27 Supt. Mary Barton sit there stone-faced at both Rockaway hearings while children and parents pleaded for their schools.

Last week I taped an amazing event in East Harlem (District 4) – not the outright closing but the combination of two schools in one building – an elementary school, PS 7 and Global Tech Prep, a middle school. GTP was set up as a special school focused on tech in the very poor East Harlem community. The founding principal left and a teacher trusted by everyone in the school was supposed to take over to continue the vision of the school. But last April he was denied tenure and left – he is now at Harvard – and chaos reigned. Thus Farina and her Dist. 4 Supt agent of destruction, Alexandra Estrella, doomed both schools to a death spiral so they could execute a naked power play. I have loads of videos on my blog of the remarkable students challenging the DOE reps at a hearing and calling them “monsters.” Monsters indeed!

If you still think these decisions are educational and not political, check this out. Some renewal schools have been rescued and are now in a program called “RISE.” JHS 80 in the Bronx is one such school spared the ax despite repeated reports that its principal, Emmanuel Polanco, is a horror story but is being protected. Sue Edelman, one of the top education reporters in the city despite working for the often despicable NY Post, reported that JHS 80  “is an educational hellhole. Despite receiving millions in extra dollars and services, the 655-student Norwood school suffers from out-of-control students, filthy, unsafe conditions and thuggish administrators who try to keep the horrors under wraps, insiders have told authorities.” ... NY Post, Jan. 6, 2018.

Sue is by the way the niece of my former next door neighbor, Jean Mirkin, of Mirkin Vision Care fame on Beach 116^th St. So Sue comes from good genes. Or Jeans.

Norm’s genes are always on display at his blog, ednotesonline.com.

Stop Closing Schools: School Scope and Videos - Rockaway - PS 42 and IS 53

There are about 4 hours of videos. It was a busy week last week and another one coming up over the closing schools issue. We have a here.

Delegate Assembly tomorrow and a big hearing at Global Tech in Harlem on Thursday. More on that outrage later. My School Scope is below the videos - which I intend to cut up into smaller segments. My own little piece of video is

PS 42 Videos

Part 1:
https://vimeo.com/250650942


Part 2: https://vimeo.com/250662998
Part 3: https://vimeo.com/250698838
Part 4: https://vimeo.com/250724680

IS 53: https://vimeo.com/251005346

Here is my upcoming column in The WAVE, published January 19, 2018:

School Scope:  Closing Schools: Bad for Students, Parents, Teachers and Community

By Norm Scott

Black Lives clearly don’t matter to DOE officials and the Mayor despite the rhetoric.

On January 9, I videotaped (see below for links) the closing school informational session at PS 42 (there will be a hearing at the school on Feb. 13 at 6PM). The auditorium was packed with hundreds of parents, students, teachers, local politicians and community members, mostly people of color and all opposed to the closing. UFT officials, led by Queens Borough leader Amy Arundell, were also present. There were 70 speakers. The meeting and pre-meeting rally lasted over 3 hours. DOE’s District 27 Superintendent Mary Barton sat in front of the room stone-faced the entire time – shades of the ghouls of Joel Klein years, led by the infamous John White, now head of the state of Louisiana schools. It was if nothing had changed from the Bloomberg years. DOE officials looking on obliviously while children and their parents and teachers pleaded to keep their community intact. The school has clearly struggled academically but has managed to triple its growth from what was obvious from the meeting and the rally before, PS 42 is vibrant  and the closing of the school, to be replaced by two new ones, will fracture that community. Patricia Finn, principal for seven years, received so  many accolades I could see her blushing from across the room. But raves for her humanity and caring, in education based on the numbers, doesn’t count for much. Many parents and teachers pointed out that area of Rockaway is gentrifying and the DOE wants to move out the poorly performing students (and teachers) and open up space for new arrivals from the additions to Arverne by the Sea. 

The next night I attended the closing event for IS 53 in Far Rockaway (the closing hearing at the school is on Feb. 7 at 6PM), a school shared with another public school, Village Academy, also under academic threat. VA may absorb some of the students, but not all. Lurking within the IS 53 building is Eva Moskowitz’ Success Academy, always in an expansive mode. People said Success is already measuring their space before the February 28 vote at the Panel for Educational policy. No crystal ball needed to see the future. Village Academcy will be squeezed and Moskowitz gets the building to add to her growing empire, a school system within a school system. A school system known to push out poor performing students and kicking them back into the public schools.  Last year we saw the same thing happen to JHS 145 in the Bronx, with a Moskowitz school in the building pushing to expand. De Blasio promised to stand up to charters, Instead he has figured out a slick way to hand space to charters by closing schools they covet.

Parent groups have pointed out how the DOE did not give the closing schools the kind of support they needed, like lowering class size for the most in need students. Instead they got consultants and PD up the kazoo. Stories abound on how the people on the ground in the schools were not consulted but dictated to – reinforcing the sense that they are the ones at fault. From what I saw in the spirit of the staffs of PS 42 and IS 53, teachers are incredibly proud of their work and many parents and students echo those feelings.

What closing a school does is destroy an educational community. One parent asked at IS 53, pointing to DOE officials, “What is your responsibility? Where are you accountable for not providing the resources to the school? For diverting so much money to wasted resources that didn’t impact the students?”

While UFT officials were at both hearings to show the staff they back them the union must take a proactive stand in support. The UFT is playing its cards close to its vest when it should be standing up against all school closings and backing the schools to the hilt. Usually the union helps by getting buses for the Feb. 28 hearing at the PEP where the vote will be held when schools show some resistance despite knowing full well the vote is predetermined. The union needs to put more public and private pressure on the politicians to try to move the PEP vote in the direction of the schools.

Norm feels the pressure all the time and also posts the PS 42 and IS 53 videos at ednotesonline.com.

Success Academy Invasion: DOE Closes Rockaway School (IS 53) To Open Way for Eva Takeover

Rockaway Parent Mariya Ultsh said she believes that DOE plays politics when it comes to school closures. "My money is that charter schools will sweep in and once again [special] interest groups will get a payday at the expense of our children... The WAVE, Dec. 22, 20017

Since Success Academy already has space in MS 53, we can pin the decision to close it as tied to the general pattern we have seen about Success occupation and the ultimate closing of one or more schools in a building. Ultimately Eva and Success will control a massive amount of real estate -- and don't you foresee the day when they will generously offer to take those buildings off the hands of the city to save us money?

Are there any other closings tied to Eva's schools either current or planned?

Note the comment by Councilman Donovan Richards whose office donated nearly a million dollars to the school, the benefits of which will accrue to the already rolling in dough Success charter chain.
PS 42 is also being closed and Richards will be holding a rally on Jan. 10 before and maybe at the closing hearing at PS 42 - at 6:30. The MS 53 hearing will be held Jan. 11 at the school, also at 6:30. PS 42's PTA president, Kevin Morgan, is organizing a bus trip to Albany on Jan. 9 -- call him for more info at 347-410-3061.

Last year many of us fought (unsuccessfully) against the closing of JHS 145 in the Bronx, claiming it was closed to make way for  Eva Moskowitz, already in the building, to ultimately take over the building even though there are still schools housed in the building.

See videos here:

Ed Notes Online: Videos JHS 145 Hearing: Farina Closing 145

Note this point made by teacher Jim Donohue:

Is Attempt to Close JHS 145, a Political Giveaway to Eva Moskowitz? ...a full 3 weeks before the DOE’s closure proposal even becomes official, and 2 months before the PEP vote takes place, and despite the DOE’s claim that the closing has NOTHING to do with the charter school, Success Academy’s website has begun advertising for applicants to its new middle school, opening in 2017, at JHS 145. In recent weeks, Success Academy staff members have been measuring our classrooms, apparently 100% confident that the PEP will rubber stamp our demise in March.... JHS 145 teacher Jim Donohue

The recent list of closing schools includes IS 53 in Rockaway, where Eva planted her flag in Rockaway a year ago despite there being 3 other schools in the building.

See Alan Singer on the failure of de Blasio/Farina renewal program.

Here is a DNA piece on the original Eva invasion:

Success Academy Moving Into Far Rockaway School After City Approves It
https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20151125/far-rockaway/success-academy-moving-into-far-rockaway-school-after-city-approves-it

By Katie Honan | November 25, 2015 5:23pm

@katie_honan

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FAR ROCKAWAY —The city approved the co-location of a Success Academy school inside a local middle school building that currently houses three schools, despite concerns from the community over space issues.

The Success Academy Charter School, run by former City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz, plans to open inside the building at 10-45 Nameoke St. for the 2016-2017 school year, the DOE said.

The charter will start with kindergarten and first grades, then add a grade each year until it hits the fourth grade.

They estimate they'll reach approximately 500-600 students by the 2019-2020 school year, and also expressed an interest in universal pre-k, according to the DOE. 

They'll share space in the building with M.S. 53 and Village Academy Middle School, as well as a special school for students serving long-term suspensions that exceed five days, officials said. 

The move — which will be the charter school group's third in Queens — has been criticized by parents and elected officials, who say the building is already overcrowded and isn't a good fit for younger students. 

Councilman Donovan Richards said in a statement that the Panel for Educational Policy ignored the community's concerns, which were shared throughout the process, most recently at a hearing on Nov. 17.

"While I am not opposed to welcoming charter schools, such as Success Academy, into the Rockaways, it is unfair to the students and educators who already deal with inadequate resources to have another school come into the building causing division within the hallways," he said in a statement after the deal was approved.

He added that charter schools should be in their own buildings, a thought shared by many who spoke at the Nov. 17 hearing, according to the DOE.

One person worried the new charter school wouldn't be able to serve the district's special education students. 

Another commenter asked where there was room in the building for Success Academy "if students were being taught in closets," according to a summary of the hearing.

According to the DOE, though, the building is under-utilized, with only 45 percent of the building currently in use.

The school's move into the building won't impact any classes or extracurricular activities, the DOE said, or M.S. 53's participation in the "School Renewal Program," which provides extra help to students and teachers.

The Success Academy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Closing JHS 145 So Eva/Success Academy Can Get Entire Building

Arturo Toscanini

Dear Jim [Donohue], 
You and the other teachers, parents and the students, both current and graduates [JHS 145X - Arturo Tosconini School], knocked it out of the park. The next meeting will be at the school, but guess what, the DOE hasn't told us the date yet. Please stay tuned--when we get the date we would love you all to turn out. There were several local reporters there, along with Kate Taylor, who has taken an interest! The community is speaking up, and they're not happy with the DOE's "proposal."
--------Jane Maisel to teacher Jim Donohue for his heroic fight to save his school

Look Eva, I give up. You can have whatever you want in the future. I'll close any school you need. I got Carmen on the case. ... Bill de Blasio 

-- Ed Notes Fake News - but maybe not.

Eva wants this building

Are school closings politically motivated? Is the closing of JHS 145 a sop to Eva in an effort to blunt some of her opposition to de Blasio's upcoming election campaign - maybe even a little? A sort of bribe? You won't hear much of a peep in protest from the UFT. Did anyone see a UFT presence at last night's hearing to defend the school? If they did I will retract this part of the comment.

Testing expert Fred Smith on today's NY Times piece:

Plan to Close or Merge Schools -- JHS 145 in Bronx is pictured. Prof. Aaron Pallas quoted.

Regarding mergers: At this time, with all of school reorganizing by Bloomberg and renewing by deBlasio, what are the post-merger findings--Is there improvement (considering test data and other data) in School A and B, declines in both schools, or a mixed bag? My guess is that the picture is blurry or the data insufficient to draw conclusions, but the City will continue to merge without clear evidence of benefit.

Reporter Kate Taylor commented:

The schools to be closed are all low-performing, to be sure. In the 2015-16 school year, only 8 percent of the students at J.H.S. 145 passed the state reading tests, and only 3 percent passed the state’s math tests. Even so, it is not clear that they are necessarily the worst among the schools in the program. All of the six schools met at least one of the goals assigned by the city last year. Some are being closed for low enrollment as well.  

Aaron Pallas is  quoted in the article:

Aaron Pallas, a professor of sociology and education at Columbia University’s Teachers College, said, “The fact that the city thinks that it needs to do this for six out of the roughly 80 or so left suggests that things are not going as well as they’d like.”

At the same time, he said, “If these mergers and closures result in new schools that have a new kind of energy, perhaps different staff, perhaps a different culture, that may be better than trying to continue turning around schools that have been struggling for a very long time.”

Interesting that Aaron echoes some of the points made by the old Bloomberg DOE officials about closing and opening schools -- reality was that "successful" new schools were based on changing the student body. When you hear the word "culture" people think - teachers and admin -- but also if you reduce the % of struggling kids that can change the culture. If they redistributed some of the kids and left everything else alone, how would that work out? Like if the kids are having so much trouble why not move 20% into schools with the right "culture" and see what happens. There is "critical mass" in terms of schools.

I also question the kind of top-down "support" the schools get - at times with bad leadership -- and also maybe not a lot of input from teachers -- if they turned a school over to the teachers - why not try that in some of these schools? 

Now I am not against merging schools - after all, BloomKlein broke them up in the first place and it makes little sense to chop everything into so many little bits.

Back to Eva:

It is not only school closings that give Eva what she wants. She is aiming to take over the historic MS 50 building in Williamsburg, a school I worked in as tech support in the latter days of my career. (My frat brother, the late Lou Vidal, was the computer teacher there.) The charter front group uses PR to degrade schools in the public mind to open up space for Eva -- School District 14, covering Williamsburg and Greenpoint, is a complete "middle school desert," according to a report from StudentsFirstNY.

Pat Dobosz who is a Dist 14 community resident and retired teacher emailed:

Eva wants more school space and is making less of our D 14 schools. We have several schools that are up and coming and some are excellent. Eva is n many of our buildings and wants to increase the number of rooms she has. One school she is fighting to expand in is MS 50 that has shown academic improvement and is growing in population.

MORE's Marilena Marchetti has been on the JHS 145 case and sent this to the listserve about yesterday's school closing hearing:

This press release below is from Jim Donohue, a UFT member whose school JHS 145 in the Bronx could close. MORE proudly supported this school's fight to keep Success Academy out. As anticipated, Success is now vying to take over the entire school. They need our support at the March 22 PEP meeting where a vote on the closure will be made.....  it will be held at the HS for Fashion industries 225 W 24th Street in Manhattan.

Parent/Community activist Jane Maisel has also been on the case as per her quote opening this blog post.

Here is Jim Donohue's press release for last night's hearing.

The (Mis)-Education of Santiago Taveras - Norm in The Wave - Plus an Extra Dishing of Dirt

Santiago defending whatever at D. 14 Town Hall

I experienced one of my rare  moments of outrage last Sunday as I read the NY Times semi-puff piece on Santiago Taveras, former BloomKleinCott hit man for closing schools and now principal of Clinton HS in the Bronx. The Deputy in Charge of Closing Low-Performing Schools in NYC is Now Running One of Them). I devoted my Wave School Scope column this week to the story: (http://www.rockawave.com/node/200804?pk_campaign=Newsletter)

Diane Ravitch wrote about it (The Deputy in Charge of Closing Low-Performing Schools in NYC is Now Running One of Them).

"The irony of the article is that it features Santiago Taveras, who was the man charged with closing schools. In public hearings, he appeared stonily impassive as students, parents, and teachers pleaded for the life of their school. Taveras is now in charge of DeWitt Clinton, one of the few remaining comprehensive high schools, and he is leading the effort to turnaround the school.... His is one of 94 schools selected by the de Blasio administration for extra resources and services, because de Blasio wants to help schools instead of closing them. Taveras led the effort to close schools, now he is part of De Blasio's effort to rescue them. Flexibility is a good thing."

I wouldn't term it so kindly as being "flexible." More like "I'm a whore and will say and do anything for a gig."

Some people are even less kind to Taveras:

....this bloated son-of-a-bitch (to be polite) is supposedly "turning around" a large N.W. Bronx H.S. (my father's alma mater) which had previously been on the closing list... But when MY alma mater (Christopher Columbus, another large H.S., located in the N.E. Bronx) was threatened with closing a few years ago, and Taveras was the DOE's designated executioner, he sat and listened for HOURS at a hearing in the school's auditorium while one after another - students, teachers, administrators, parents, alums, current and former elected officials, etc. - spoke, begged, pleaded, cried - all opposing the closing of Columbus. Throughout, he sat, utterly expressionless, like a f--king oil painting, unmoved by any of it.  Apparently he found nothing intriguing that evening, unlike when he wanted back into a DOE job years later.  And Columbus was closed on its 75th anniversary.  I will refrain from writing here what I wish for him for the rest of his slimy life....RB on NYCEDNEWS Listserve

Fred Rubino, then princ IS 318

I've written about Taveras before on Ed Notes and Norms Notes, including video of District 14 principal at the time and later Superintendent (the late and great Fred Rubino) confronting him at a Cathie Black town hall. See below my column for links. Does Taveras and all other Cathie Black defenders and supporters deserve a special place in education hell?

The awesome Tesa Wilson

(The NY Times piece is here.) And you can see Taveras and Cathie Black in action at that Town Hall here. http://vimeo.com/21717003. It's 28 minutes but you can scroll though for highlights. I can guarantee a few laughs as my old buddies, including CEC parent leader Tesa Wilson, in District 14 raked them over the coals.



Cathie Black and Santiago Taveras at 2/28 CEC District 14 Meeting Face Intense Questioning from Grassroots Education Movement on Vimeo.

And if you didn't click the link here is my full column - in a snappy (for me) 800 words.

Published Friday, December 5, 2014, in The Wave print edition and online (http://www.rockawave.com/node/200804?pk_campaign=Newsletter)

The (Mis)-Education of Santiago Taveras
By Norm Scott

Santiago Taveras, principal of DeWitt Clinton HS, one of the few large high schools left standing after a dozen years of the Bloomberg/Klein onslaught that pretty much eliminated similar large schools in the Bronx, was featured in a Nov. 30 NY Sunday Times Metro front page piece (http://tinyurl.com/k65nbs9). There is no little irony in the story of Taveras trying to turn around a school with so many struggling students who have been shut out of the small schools and charters. This quote pretty much sums up the Bloomberg closing school policy and Taveras' role in it.

"In recent years, Clinton has battled low graduation rates, plummeting enrollment and a climate that made many students feel unsafe. During the tenure of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, large, struggling schools like this one were regularly closed and broken up into new, smaller institutions, which the administration favored as a way to shake up the staff and give students more individual attention. One hundred fifty-seven schools, many of them large, comprehensive high schools like Clinton, were shuttered or scheduled for closing during the Bloomberg years. The public face for many of those closures was Santiago Taveras, who was a deputy chancellor."

Wait. It gets even better. "I spent time phasing out schools at the D.O.E., which is fine; I don’t regret any of that,' Mr. Taveras said of his time at the central office of the Education Department.... as hundreds of small schools opened, principals and teachers at the remaining large schools like Clinton often complained — and statistics often corroborated — that they were getting disproportionately high numbers of the most challenging students. 'It was like a light switch going off — like, oh, my gosh, where did these kids come from?' said Ann Neary, an Advanced Placement literature teacher who has been at Clinton for 10 years."

DUHHH and double DUHHHHH! Rockaway lost both its large comprehensive high schools, Far Rockaway and Beach Channel due to Bloomberg policies and Howie Schwach and I chronicled this very point in The Wave time and again. We also pointed out how the breakup of large schools took away so many options for students, as pointed out by a Clinton teacher: “We have beginning band, intermediate band and marching band; we have beginning chorus, intermediate chorus and advanced chorus; and we have those three levels in guitar....The reason we have all that is the number of students substantiates a large number of staff. When we lose students, we lose staff, and then the fewer programs we can offer.”

The latter point pretty much describes the death spiral we saw take place at Far Rock and Beach Channel. Instead of trying to fix schools, Bloomberg nuked them.

Taveras left the DOE in 2011, joining many people at Tweed, with Bloomberg's time coming to an end, who deserted the ship for an education consulting firm - every school system needs a consulting firm to give them a hundred ways to destroy a school system. Oh if only the money spent had actually gone to classrooms. Diane Ravitch asked a pertinent question when Tavaras went to the consulting firm: “Isn't there a requirement that people who work for the DOE must take a year in which they don't work for any DOE vendors? Isn't it a conflict of interest to go to work for a vendor immediately?” Triple DUHHH!

So what delicious irony that Taveras now ends up running a large high school in some difficulty but protected from being closed by the policies of Mayor de Blasio who claims he wants to fix schools, not close them - the jury is still out on that one. From some reports of former and current teachers, Taveras seems to be pursuing a “blame the teacher” attitude by forcing out senior and some tenured teachers. A former principal at the school expressed what so many educators felt about Bloomberg's policies (supported by Taveras and others of his (ambitious) ilk: "A large school like Clinton can absorb a certain number of knuckleheads, but how many knuckleheads can they absorb?” said Mr. Wechsler, the former principal, who now consults with Clinton administrators. “When you reach a critical mass of very troubled youngsters, it gets harder to recruit good teachers, harder to recruit good parents, and you get into a non-virtuous cycle. It becomes very difficult to turn it around.”

We can fix some schools by pushing kids with high needs into other schools - the solution of choice for both charter schools and many of the small schools opened under Bloomberg. Or we find ways to support those kids in ways beyond what schools have traditionally done. That costs dough. And when the dough is needed for tests, common core, consultants and blame the teacher schemes, the game of "let's move kids around like chess pieces and claim we are succeeding" will continue.

More stuff on Taveras below the break:

Pre-PEP Funeral for Closing Schools Pics

Our own Evil Eva dressed appropriately for Halloween with old nemesis Noah Gotbaum. Thanks to Pat Dobosz for the pics. A roll-call was read listing each of the over 160 schools that have been murdered by Bloomberg's hench-people at Tweed. After this people at the PEP buried the pathetic puppets of the PEP -- only 2 months left. Not that I trust de Blasio to do much given the charter lobby has such access to people who have access.

MOREistas gather

Evil and Fred Smith

My costume? Dressed as a bald guy.