Karen Lewis Video at NYCORE: 30 Minutes of Wisdom

Rather than continuing an insider strategy that has netted so little for the rest of labor over the years, the CTU has entered into open opposition with the neoliberal wing of the [Democratic] party." --- Micah Uetricht from Strike for America: The CTU and the Democrats as quoted by Diane Ravitch.

This is an important development. And this is an essay you must read.-- Diane Ravitch

What a treat seeing Diane Ravitch signing on to the analysis that lays waste to the UFT/AFT strategy of never mentioning the word "neo-liberal" and placing the blame on Bloomberg and holding out hope to NYC teachers that once Bloomberg is gone all will be well with a Democrat in office. Sorry, Charlie. Ask Chicago and especially CORE teachers what neo-liberalism is and you will get an immediate response. Go ask the average Unity Caucus member what it means and you will get "duh."

If you viewed the video of Karen and Mulgrew at the UFT Friday night (Karen Lewis and Mike Mulgrew at Left Labor Project), this keynote at NYCORE from Saturday morning is a powerful treatise on organizing and teaching. You see how Karen was a TEACHER and these are the people we want running our TEACHER unions.

People who spend years interacting with students and parents. Leaders who know and understand what we do and can translate that into action to defend the teaching profession and public schools. She even gives some discipline tips (and I was thrilled since I used to do exactly the same thing -- tell the parents of the most difficult behavior problems what a pleasure it is to work with their children.) But most important -- and here is a lesson for MORE -- she talks about how CORE started in 2008 with 8 people studying the issues to try to understand what was happening to teachers and public education. "You need to understand your enemy in order to fight them." And the most fun --- mocking Rahm Emanuel and his stamping of his tiny little feet.


NYCORE Conference 2013 - Karen Lewis Keynote from Grassroots Education Movement on Vimeo.


Diane Ravitch just posted this which resonates with the issues raised by Karen. (Really, for long-time Ravitch watchers, how remarkable to see this coming from Diane.)

How CTU Confronted Antagonists in the Democratic Party by dianerav

This is a stunning analysis of the relationship between labor unions and the Democratic Party.

It is a must-read.

Many in education have been baffled by the bipartisan consensus around Republican ideology. Micah Uetricht is not baffled. He says without hedging that "Democrats have swallowed the Right’s free market orthodoxy whole. Much of the party appears to have given up on education as a public project."

Teachers unions, he writes, have been unable to articulate a coherent response to their abandonment.

That is, until last September, when the Chicago Teachers Union went on strike. He writes:

"The union has been unafraid to identify the education reform agenda pushed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his party nationally as an attempt to exacerbate inequalities within the education system, strip teachers of power and erode their standards of living, and chip away at public education as an institution, and to call such Democrats enemies. Rather than continuing an insider strategy that has netted so little for the rest of labor over the years, the CTU has entered into open opposition with the neoliberal wing of the party."

This is an important development. And this is an essay you must read.

I wanted to share a comment my friend made on the Friday night video that cuts to the core of some of the things Karen is talking about that distinguishes the CORE/CTU from the Unity/UFT approach: the refusal to let the enemy divide us. Divide closing school teachers from safe school teachers. Divide ATRs from the rest. Divide rubber room teachers from the mainstream. Divide small schools from large schools. What Unity does is call people like me and opposition caucuses like MORE dividers because we do not go along with whatever the leadership decides, even if it takes us over the cliff (like running charter schools -- which helps legitimize them -- and worse, co-locating them and undermining the public schools they reside in).

Karen Lewis is amazing. I only saw the initial statement you put up on the blog, but one of the things she seemed to be doing was to actually put her three maxims into effect by the way she was relating to the entire group she was addressing--both MORE and Unity Caucus people (who else was there?).
1. Unite
2. Make yourself stronger
3. Build power

Even her later statements which made Unity squirm were probably meant to do that, especially after she manipulated Mulgrew into echoing her (in the parts of his statement that was videotaped), setting up the contradiction between what he says and what the union actually does. Especially given the missed opportunity of building unity with parents/students/community when it came to closing schools.

For example, the question of union officer salary: How can union leaders really represent (and unite) teachers if our salaries [and job security] are so different from theirs, not to mention members of other unions and parents?

So, what do we have to do to make ourselves strong and unite with others? Let's start working to eliminate whatever we can that divides us (including those of us sitting in the room). Not that we necessarily believe that Mulgrew himself can be "united", but there were many others in the room.

The MOREs in the room Friday night looked at each other and covered their mouths as Mulgrew said stuff echoing Karen that was so far from reality, we felt we were in a comic book.

Here is one more quote from the Micah Uetricht article:

the union has put forth its own vision of reform, both at the bargaining table and in the streets through their engagement in mass action, their September strike, and their formal policy recommendations. It is a vision that explicitly rejects the Democratic Party’s education agenda and offers a strong program to shore up public schools as a public good–stronger than any reform proposals by the two major national teachers unions.

 You mean Randi's "Share Your Lesson" doesn't quite cut it?

Sat March 24: Register for 2012 NYCoRE Conference!

Location: Julia Richman HS campus - 317 East 67th St.

Starting 8:45 (oy!) but come when you can. This is my 3rd Saturday in a row of getting up early for an all-day event. But I am off all week. What amazes me is how many working teachers are doing all this political work for NYCORE, GEM, TU, ODOE, etc. [Don't miss the rally this Thursday at the NY Post.]

And most of them are on the young end, for those vets who vilify the next-gen of teachers, mistakenly thinking they are clueless and even more clueless ala E4E.

I always find it funny how any event put on by E4E gets coverage (esp by Gotham Schools) while major events put on by the NY Collective of Radical Educators (NYCORE) are ignored even when NYCORE draws so much higher numbers and has so many more supporters than E4E.

I've been going to these all-day conferences for years (mostly so I can attend the after-party where I can feel young again -- well almost --- and no, I I do not suck the blood of young teachers when it gets dark). It is quite a day with hundreds of educators gathering for a number of workshops.

The GEM film, The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman, will be shown (at 11AM I believe). By the way, a check came in yesterday for $200 from the Georgia Federation of Teachers and the film is being shown at Mohican Sun by the Conn. Ed Assoc the weekend after next. And yes, the UFT boycott continues.

The GEM initiated high stakes testing committee, "Change the Stakes" will also be doing an afternoon workshop.

I will be there to tape during the day, including the keynote.
The final conference program is online

Last chance to register in advance for 2012 NYCoRE Conference this Saturday, March 24!

(There is on site registration too!)

NYCoRE Conference 3/24/12 http://www.nycore.org/conference Date: Saturday, March 24, 2012 at 8:45 AM (ET) Location: Julia Richman Education Complex, 317 East 67th Street We hope to see you Saturday at NYCoRE's 3rd Annual Conference.  A couple of announcements and reminders to make the day a success! The final conference program is now online.  WHAT A LINE UP! If you are coming, we recommend reading it over now and trying to make decisions about which sessions you want to attend.  The workshops are first-come first-serve, so get to your room early as they will be closed when full. We are happy to provide a delicious breakfast and lunch.  However, coffee has proven difficult on our end, so if you require a hot beverage to get you going in the morning - we recommend picking up a cup on your way in. Please arrive EARLY!  The keynote is going to be one of the highlights of the day!  Kevin Kumashiro will be discussing his new book Bad Teacher in which he breaks down how the mainstream framing of teachers is masking a broader attack on public education.  He will be joined by youth actors from the Bronx's DreamYard Action Project.  As always, we will open with a powerful performance by an Urban Word Poet. You will be sorry if you miss it!  Please be sure to arrive by 8:45-9:00 so you can register, have a pastry/bagel and get situated. Another new highlight this year is that our collaboration with DreamYard Action Project has resulted in creating new ways to better engage young people at the conference.  From a youth open mic lunch to more youth-led and -centered workshops, we are excited about this development.  There will be a flier with more details available at the youth registration table. We also have amazing conference T-shirts in traditional and "girl" cuts for just $10, so bring along some extra cash.  You'll also have the opportunity to pre-order the NYCoRE/Edlib Planning to Change the World Planbook for an early bird rate at the NYCoRE table.  There are many other amazing ally organizations tabling at the conference with great resources and information on how to get involved. Please stick around for the whole conference.  We are so lucky to have a talented group of young actors from DreamYard Action Project who are closing the conference with a powerful performance. Finally, after the closing performance, we will be heading one-block away for an after conference after party to continue the conversations and enjoy ourselves.  There will be drink specials for conference attendees. Please join us!  There is still time to register, so please spread the word over facebook, twitter etc!  --The 2012 Conference Planning Committee

NYCORE Conference: Whose Schools? Our Schools! Bill Ayers' Keynote

Taped on March 26, 2011



Watch directly on vimeo if video plays slowly here:

NYCORE Conference: Whose Schools? Our Schools! Bill Ayers' Keynote from Grassroots Education Movement on Vimeo.

Also check out:

FMPR & UPR NYC Forum of Mar 18 youtubes

Posted by: "Angel Gonzalez" gee.lee21@verizon.net   gee.lee21

Fri Apr 15, 2011 6:49 am (PDT)

For Youtube Videos on:
The FMPR and UPR Forum at Resurrection Church, South Bronx of March 16, 2011

part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAP-fv87RBU&feature=player_embedded
part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAP-fv87RBU&feature=player_embedded
part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti8NsTY1YDk&feature=player_embedded

Angel F Gonzalez

Puerto Rico - Solidarity Network
http://prsolidarity.blogspot.com/

For PR & NYC School Struggles -
Go to my Youtube Account: Pitirrefili

Pal'n Around With Bill Ayers - updated

UPDATED: Sunday, March 27, 7AM

Shhhhh! Don't tell Sarah Pallin who I was pal'n with. Well, not exactly pal'n. Ayers gave the keynote speech at the NYCORE conference today and I taped it. But in Sarah's world that's all it take to be pal'n.

Ayer's presentation along with artist Ryan Alexander-Tanner, was both political and pedagogical, pointing to new ways we should view the classroom and approach teaching. But rather than get deeper into it, I'll wait for the video to be ready - Ayers said it was OK to put it up.

I didn't get home until 8:30 and I left here at 7:15AM. But don't think it was all workshops and speeches. We all hit the local bar for a post-conference celebration of an exciting day. I mean hundreds of activists, some from all over the nation, but many NYC school teachers, often very, very young. There is some hope since so many of our newer brethren gave up a Saturday for this conference, which had the theme, "Whose Schools? Our Schools!" I've got a bag of tee-shirts I bought with the slogan on them and can't wait 'till summer to wear them around. I made sure to get one extra large since I am aiming to be the poster boy picture in the New Oxford American Dictionary which added the slang phrase "muffin top."

I attended a workshop run by Teachers Unite focusing on the union where a key topic was organizing at the school level. I got a kick when one teacher talked about her chapter leader who I know is one of the worst Unity slugs: pals around with one of the awful principals and can always be counted on to remove any material critical of Unity from teacher mailboxes. TU has a chapter building toolkit for helping people out.

In another workshop we showed about 15 minutes of our upcoming "Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman." The buzz was out there as many people seemed to know about it. I was approached by some pretty high level institutions that were interested and we gave out forms for people who want to hold house parties - you can even invite me over too - if you have food that will get me to my muffin top goal.

The final workshop I went to (there were scads of them) was a standing room only on slaying the 5-headed hydra - the monster of ed deform. I worked in a break-out session with one current NYC teacher and 3 student teachers. As we talked it became so clear that the attempt to destroy neighborhood community schools, particularly at the high school level where these schools barely exist, but also at all levels by the use of charter schools which draw from a wide area outside the neighborhood, is a major cause of the instability and we all strongly endorsed a strengthening of the neighborhood school concept - I think we will see this theme emerge in the coming debated over continuing mayoral control. Another issue raised by one young lady was her discomfort with being forced to sell going to college as the only way to success considering so many poor kids don't have the means to pay for it or their aptitudes or interest level seems low. But she didn't want to be accused of the crime of low expectations, where the penalty is death of your career (I know one teacher who spent 15 months in the rubber room for making a comment to someone that was interpreted as low expectations and reported to the principal.)

Everyone at so many workshops seemed to want to talk about the union response, or lack of, to the ed deform attack. Lots of frustration a-building it seems. The Unity leadership always seemed capable under Randi to race around putting out fires. But now are there so many fires to put out. And Mulgrew just does not that seem that interested (or paranoid as Randi was) - figuring that with 90% of the vote in the last election he has plenty of ice left to skate on.

I heard a superb analysis of why the UFT won't mobilize even in the face of Wisconsin like attacks from one very savvy participant. It goes like this:

In order to fight back UFT/Unity would have to mobilize membership. If they mobilize the membership the level of activity will rise to the point Unity control will be threatened. I chipped in with: The Prime Directive: maintain control. Not only for personal reasons of power and money. They have an ideology that works to motivate their actions.

The discussion got into that ideology a bit with a few points of view being put out there but that's too deep to drill in this post.

A point was made that by building a rank and file that will be activated (which Unity doesn't want to see happen because it is a threat) the leadership can be pushed into more action from below.  "Victories" were pointed to - minor victories- but they give hope.

I took a counter point. I don't want to waste any time or energy trying to convince the UFT hierarchy to do anything. I just don't have enough faith in the UFT leadership to trust that they have good intentions. My view is that whatever actions they are forced to take because of ferment from below are aimed to distract and misrepresent and divert militancy. They want total control and you can't build a movement based on total control that can only be held onto by killing the very democratic structures that are crucial to mobilizing the members.

Basically, I prefer to see the internal critics within not call on the UFT do anything. Instead, just build, baby, build. Build a rank and file movement from the school level up. Unity will try to kill the fires but if you build enough of them they won't know where to turn. Every time you go to the leadership they will tie you up and delay you. Not to say that we don't raise resolutions at the DA as a way to bring issues in front of the delegates that have an independent mind - even those in Unity.

One of the problems I found over the years I've been working with ICE is too much of a sense of talking to the head and not the body - too much time going to Exec Bd meetings where there is no one to convince. Too much time addressing issues to the leadership. I don't believe in writing letters to Mulgrew to make him do something.

If a serious R&F movement develops (as it did so quickly in Chicago) an enormous struggle will ensue over the very life of the union. I've said this before, but Unity/UFT/AFT would rather see the union go into massive decline than give up power. I mean, I've seen people scratch their heads over Randi's actions - "Why would she not fight when faced with a loss of so many members to charters?"

The answer: They prefer to rule a remnant of the union rather than see even a strong union in the hands of others- others which will always include some leftists whom the UFT hierarchy so despise and red bait all the time.

My fear is the upcoming generation of activists will underestimate the UFT/AFT leadership, which will fight dirty in every way possible while they as social justice activists will be honest and open about what they do. I say, "Be careful out there. Be very careful!"
_____________


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.

Whose Schools? Our Schools! Register for NYCORE Conference- March 26. 2011

Is this another event that will be ignored by the press while E4E gets extensive coverage?

If you read Gotham Schools you would never know that NYCORE - NY Collective of Radical Educators - exists. A group with outreach at least 5 times that of E4E. A group that gets 60 people to each membership meeting, mostly young teachers. A group that at last year's conference had at least 400 people attending, with lots more expected this year.

And GEM - Grassroots Education Movement - another group that has attracted teachers with a decade and under in the system also gets nary a mention. I guess it takes getting money from Bill Gates to make the grade.

2011 Conference

Overview
Join educators, parents, students, activists, and community members from across the city and beyond for a one-day conference focused on exploring the connections between education and social justice.  This conference is an opportunity to network, inspire one another, and build a movement.


Conference 2011 Theme: Whose Schools? Our Schools!
 
The challenges currently facing our educational system can be daunting and discouraging. Critical thought and effective pedagogy seem to be buried under the flood of calls for “accountability” and “increased test scores.” But in the face of all these challenges, educators are working together with youth, parents, and community activists to keep the fires of critical thinking and curiosity alive. Committed educators know that there is no silver bullet, no magic wand, and no place for rescue from above. We know that the true superheroes are those who work every day with dedication, creativity, and compassion. We know that we change lives not with promises of rescue, but by working in solidarity with youth and their families to be our own heroes and heroines.

This conference is an opportunity to get together and share how we are doing this, in our classrooms, our schools, and our communities. Join us in celebrating the daily courage of educators in our city and beyond. Join us in networking, connecting, and building a movement of educators and community members who care about social justice.

REGISTRATION | SCHEDULE | WORKSHOPS |

2010 Conference – 2010 NYCoRE Conference Program

Teachers as Organizers @ NYCORE

Nothing will change in the UFT or the DOE unless teachers get active and involved as organizers and agents of change starting at their own school level, whether in the classroom or in the UFT. A

And there will be little change unless younger teachers get involved. We often find very dedicated teachers are wary of the union or outrightly hostile, viewing it as anti-children. While we have been extremely critical of the UFT, we are also extremely pro-union and feel an influx of these teachers into a movement for change within the UFT will have an impact. We must reverse some of the anti-teacher union propaganda. But we must also build a more progressive union to make their involvement more meaningful.

So if some of these teachers float on by this blog,I ask: Feel isolated in your school environment? Change begins by starting to work with other people who feel like you do. Here is an opportunity to get started through the upcoming NYCORE ITAG (Inquiry to Action Group) on labor.

I and Angel Gonzalez from ICE (Angel's 4th year teacher daughter has been working with NYCORE this year) are going to attend as many of these Thursday evening sessions as possible, starting with Jan. 22, which we hope we can combine with the big conference on organizing in the UFT at CUNY (details later in the week.)

The duality of NYCORE's announcement below which ties union organizing to the classroom experience has some interesting possibilities. I have questions myself as to exactly what this might mean.

NYCORE's announcement:

What organizing lessons can we learn from the labor movement in order to create a collective work ethic in our students and ourselves? This inquiry to action group will provide a setting for educators to reflect on the role that educators play as organizers in their classrooms and as union members. We will explore how power dynamics affect our government, communities, school system, schools and classrooms through analyzing labor organizing strategies and campaigns as a way to break down power dynamics for us as educators and for examples to share with our students. We will discuss readings, ideas, and materials to help us find new ways to bring these ideas into our classrooms and connect our students to current movements. In addition to looking at global and local collective actions and campaigns, we will explore some turning points in the history of the UFT and challenge ourselves to reflect on our own orientation to the union as individuals and as part of a collective of social justice educators.

Facilitators: Rosie Frascella is a former labor organizer, a teacher at the High School for International Business and Finance and a member of NYCoRE working group NYQueer.

Seth Rader is a teacher at the James Baldwin School and a core member of NYCoRE.

Click on leaflet to enlarge

Location: James Baldwin Academy, 351 West 18th St
Dates: Thursdays 6-8PM.
1/22, 1/29, 2/5, 2/12, 2/26, 3/5, and the finale on 3/13.

Register at NYCORE and check out the other ITAGs.

Want to know more?
On Friday Jan. 16 from 6-8, NYCORE will be holding an ITAG kickoff event at NYU.

Contact them for details.

The Wall of Silence About NYC's Rubber Rooms

This guest column is by Jennifer who sent this to the NYCORE listserve. Her raising the rubber room in the context of social justice and humanitarian activism is an important angle to consider as she challenges radical teachers to address the issue. NYCORE's increasing interest in labor/union issues is a very welcome addition to the debate.


Rubber Rooms are the most glaringly obvious example of the Bloomberg Administration disregard for Human Rights. The "buzz" is that talking about the rubber rooms is dangerous. Teachers and organizations that deem themselves radical won't even breach the subject.

What does this say about us as Teachers, Social Leaders, Humanitarians and/or Activist when we sit back silently and allow the current administration to use rubber rooms to destroy innocent Teachers,Whistle blowers and students lives.

The public has been made aware of the Rubber Rooms by a few journalist and media outlets who have been willing to share the story but to-date there has been little to no activism around the issue of the Rubber Rooms by the Teachers.

The guestimation is that over 1000 Teachers are languishing in rubber rooms all over the city yet, they too remain virtually silent about this national tragedy.

A big rally was held for the plight of the ATR's but their story is just the tip of the iceberg and nothing compared to the unethical use of rubber rooms as a political weapon against Teachers and their student.

The current crisis of Rubber Rooms and our silence as Teachers about their illegal use is saddening.

This story and the silence we are maintaining about it is one of the greatest shames of the city today and we teachers, as a whole are helping to perpetuate its deadly impact.

When I think about the reality of the part Teachers played in the deep south during the Civil Rights Movement of the 60's, I'm reminded that in truth, it was the Teachers who were the last ones to join in the fight for justice and humanity for African Americans back then.

In Alabama at the height of struggle, students began to become anxious to join in the city marches against Jim Crow. As they gathered among themselves at their schools, they began to become more and more agitated about remaining in the schools while marches against the system were taking place in town.

It was Teachers and their Administrators who under fear of losing control of the students, locked the gates to barricade them inside. In response, students jumped over school gates and joined the marches and propelled the Civil Rights Movement forward.

Teachers are we on the wrong side of history again? What example are we really setting for the children when we lay silent about the current administrations' use of Rubber Rooms and why do we do it?

Jennifer

SICK OF THE TESTING MADNESS? Come out with NYCoRE to fight testing!

Get involved!

Come out on Wednesday, October 15th to the UFT delegate assembly. Justice-not-just-tests is going to be leafleting and talking to UFT delegates from schools all over the city about the problems with high stakes testing. We need to get our union on the right side of this issue. Meet us outside the UFT building, 52 Broadway, near Exchange place, anytime after 3:30 till 6:15-6:30.

Please RSVP to sam_p_coleman@yahoo.com if you plan to come or have questions.

NYCoRE

Justice Not Just Tests

Ed Note: Education Notes and ICE members have been working with NYCoRE and its subgroup JNJT on a number of projects. A number of us attended last week's "Get to Know NYCoRE" meeting and it was a pleasure to see a group of committed younger teachers who are prepared to go beyond the classroom to create a movement for change.

We support this initiative, which is coming from younger teachers who entered the system recently and are now taking a good hard look at how the UFT has been operating. Future activities will be the distribution of the JNJT pamphlet opposing merit pay, focusing on schools that have voted for merit pay and reinforcing those schools that voted against.

We have also been working with Teachers Unite on some of their initiatives in getting teachers to work in their communities and also to get them more active in the UFT.

This is not about caucus politics or running in UFT elections. It is about building a broadbased movement for progressive change in education, a big component of which includes changes in the UFT, the elephant in the room.

NYCoRE Announcement--Plan book campaign in final stages!

With the new school year just beginning, we wanted to take a moment to update you on our campaign to promote Planning to Change the World, the social justice teacher’s plan book. We have sold more than 1,700 books nationwide, and orders are continuing to come in. We also received another great review on tolerance.org (http://www.tolerance.org/teach/current/event.jsp?ar=956).

Our campaign is winding down, so if you haven’t purchased your planner yet, please do so soon on http://www.lulu.com/content/2980186.

Please help us make one final push by spreading the word to your friends and colleagues. You can download a flier here (http://www.justiceplanbook.com/justiceplanbook/planning-to-change-the-world-flier) or you can email your colleagues and direct them to the plan book website, www.justiceplanbook.com.

A huge thank you to all those who participated in this campaign. You have helped put a wonderful resource in the hands of educators across the country and bring critical funds to both the New York Collective of Radical Educators and the Education for Liberation Network, supporting our efforts to achieve education justice.

Bree, NYCoRE and Tara, Education for Liberation Network

Planning to Change the World

True ed reform will take a merger of Teach for America like fervor with social justice oriented teachers who see solutions lie way beyond the narrow "all we have to do is get better teachers and close the so-called achievement gap." Add a dolop of those who want to reform teacher unions (not the phony ed reformers who see unions that agree to do away with tenure and teacher rights as "progressive")so they battle for full funding of education and stop looking the other way when money appears magically for wars and bailouts. (Excuse the truncated version.)

Don’t forget— Order your plan book by Friday, Aug. 1 to receive a discount price.

Planning to Change the World: A Plan Book for Social Justice Teachers 2008-2009 www.justiceplanbook.com A NYCoRE and Education for Liberation Publication Dear NYCoRE Member, Planning to Change the World continues to excite educators nationwide, with almost 900 books ordered in less than three weeks. Educators from Hawaii to Canada, New York to Puerto Rico are buying this unique resource. You still have time to pre-order yours at the discount price of $14 plus shipping and handling. Orders placed by August 1 will be shipped in August. Please remind your friends and colleagues that this special offer expires in less than a week. After August 1, the price increases. All proceeds from the sale of this book support the work of the Education for Liberation Network and the New York Collective of Radical Educators. Planning to Change the World is a plan book for educators who believe their students can and will change the world. It is designed to help teachers translate their vision of a just education into concrete classroom activities. This unique resource has all the things you would expect in a lesson plan book plus: Weekly planning pages packed with important social justice birthdays and historical events Lesson plans and resources related to those dates Tips from social justice teachers across the country Inspirational quotes to share with students Thought-provoking essential questions to spark classroom discussions on critical issues Reproducible social justice awards for students …and much more BUY THE BOOK! Click Image to View Sample Pages Praise for Planning to Change The World ...an imaginative and innovative idea in the field of education...something that teachers all over the country who have social consciences will find useful. —Howard Zinn, author of "A People's History of the United States" A unique and powerful teaching tool that honors students by bringing to the forefront the stories of their communities. —Lisa Delpit, author of "Other People's Children" Useful, hopeful and visionary. —Wayne Au, Rethinking Schools Planning to Change the World, for me, is an integration of the multitude of elements that I have tried to combine…to make my classroom a transformative environment. —Cristen Chapman, public high school social studies teacher BUY THE BOOK! Planning to Change the World was created by the New York Collective of Radical Educators and the Education for Liberation Network.

Planning to Change the World

From NY Collective of Radical Educators (NYCoRE)

Planning to Change the World, the social justice teacher’s plan book published by the network and NYCoRE, is an enormous success. In the first six days of sales, we have sold more than 550 planners. We are well on our way to making this book an underground hit!

I have attached a flier that you can copy and put in teachers’ mailboxes or pass out at relevant events.
We also have a new Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=681828705360.

You can help spread the word by checking out the page and becoming a friend. If your organization or school would like to place a bulk order, please contact bree@nyu.edu or tara@edliberation.org

Remember, all proceeds from sales of this planner support the work of the network and NYCoRE, so we very much appreciate your participation in this exciting project.

Thanks.
Bree and Tara

Planning to Change the World: A Plan Book for Social Justice Teachers
Order your copy today at www.justiceplanbook.com.