Parent, Student, and Teacher Protesters Win Right to Rally on Bloomberg’s Block

This is all over the internet already (ICE, CAPE, NYC Parents) but I might as well put it up for those too lazy to hit the links. Ed Notes was in the [court] house today trying to take notes as the case proceeded but the brain works faster than the hand and Julie really is becoming an expert press release writer.

I was pretty fascinated by the case preceding ours where a minor Madoff character named Anderson was sentenced to 90 months. He looked sort of old and pathetic and suffers from all kinds of stuff. When his lawyer said he was 64 I got the willies since I'm just 6 weeks shy of turning 65 (gulp). But I do get my half fare card. And senior citizen access to every movie theater. And social security. And hardening of the arteries.

Well, this thing is building, with even some politicians coming (we won't tell the UFT which ones since they would call and try to dissuade them.)

Knock, knock, UFT. Are you home? Ignoring this protest because it's at your buddy Bloomberg's place? That old sham you've been pulling that somehow it's all Klein's fault and Bloomberg is the good guy is wearing a bit thin. Mismanagement my ass. These "mismanagers" have run rings around you. Look within for the true mismanagers.

All along, I thought we were organizing a protest at Bloomberg's place in Bermuda. Had my shorts all ready. Next time.

Oh, and at the meeting at Norman Siegel's office Thursday night, he told the teachers involved they have a lifetime guarantee of his support if the BloomKlein admin makes any attempt at retaliation. Not knowing I was retired, he turned to me and said, "you too." Almost makes me want to go back to work. Almost, I said.

For Immediate Release

January 15, 2010

Contact: Julie Cavanagh, 917-836-6465, juliereed15@hotmail.com

Norman Siegel: 347-907-0867

Herbert Teitelbaum: 518-441-9412

Parent, Student, and Teacher Protesters Win Right to Rally on Bloomberg’s Block

Victory for the first amendment and for those struggling to protect public schools from closures and charter school invasions!

Today, Judge Alvin Hellerstein delivered a ruling granting parent, student, and teacher protesters, who are members of The Emergency Coalition to Stop School Closures, the right to protest on Mayor Bloomberg’s block in New York City. Judge Hellerstein ruled that we live in a democracy, and to the greatest extent possible, we have to find ways to protect our citizens, while not compromising the constitutional rights of others, to demonstrate and express their views. He went on to say that in assessing those values, he found that First Amendment rights support the kind of orderly and peaceful protest the plaintiffs sought to organize. Judge Hellerstein also added that the plaintiffs have the right to a peaceful picket to express their views in relation to important educational policies, particularly the increase in charter schools in the city. Attorneys Norman Siegel and Herbert Tietelbaum successfully argued the case.

“We are very pleased with the Judge’s decision. It is a major win for the right of New Yorkers to peacefully protest including on East 79^th Street where the Mayor resides,” attorney Norman Siegel.

“This is a victory not only for the plaintiffs, but for all who want to express their views to elected representatives,” attorney Herbert Tietelbaum.

“I am proud our efforts were successful and that we can take a stand in front of the city and the mayor to prevent the closing and phasing out of our school. Most of all I am happy we can voice our opinion on the city pushing out students in need in order to make room for charter schools and small schools that are very selective,” Khalilah , student, Maxwell High School.

“I am humbled that a homemaker from Red Hook, Brooklyn can take a stand against City Hall and win. The struggle to save our schools and public education is just beginning. Please join us on January 21^st on the Mayor’s block to send a message that says no, to the expansion of charter schools in schools like my children’s, P.S. 15 in Red Hook, Brooklyn. We also say no, to the ill defined school closings that pave the way for more charter schools and continue the dismantling of public education,” Lydia Bellahcene, parent, P.S. 15.

“Today is historic for protesting in the City of New York. I am so proud to stand with the parents and students I serve as we fight not only for our right to organize, but as we advocate to protect and preserve public education in our great city. It is not lost on me as an educator that this decision was made on Martin Luther King’s birthday. His legacy of peaceful and loving activism captures the culture of our school, P.S. 15. It is in this spirit that we bring our voices and concerns to the Mayor’s block in the hopes that there, we will be heard,” Julie Cavanagh, teacher, P.S. 15, “We want to thank, with much admiration and respect, Mr. Siegel, Mr. Tittelbaum and their staff, for their tremendous hard work and their dedication to protecting not only our rights, but the rights of all New Yorkers. I also want to thank the amazing parents and students I am so proud to stand behind and support.”

“The decision reaffirms the rights of citizens to protest on a city sidewalk, and prevents the mayor from turning a public city street into his own private front yard. Furthermore, it will allow parents, students, teachers, and members of the 22 communities affected by school closures to have their voices of discontent heard by the Mayor,” Seung Ok, Teacher, Maxwell High School.

“The right to demonstrate is not a given, it must be fought for, and we must be vigilant,” Gustavo Medina, retired teacher, Jamaica High School.

Parents, students, and teachers will hold their peaceful protest on both the North and South side of Mayor Bloomberg's block; East 79st, between 5th and Madison Avenue on Thursday, January 21st, between 4-6:30 pm. Protesters will meet at 5th avenue, on the southwest park side of the block, which will be the staging area and starting point of the protest. In the event of an appeal from The City of New York, the protest will continue on January 21^st, in compliance with the NYPD.

Media Contacts:

Lydia Bellahcene: lillytigre@yahoo.com, 347-463-9809, PTA PS 15- 718-330-9280

Julie Cavanagh: juliereed15@hotmail.com, 917-836-6465

Seung Ok: possitivelypessimist@gmail.com, 646-244-4468

Norman Siegel: 347-907-0867

Herbert Teitelbaum: 518-441-9412

Khalilah Dickerson- 347-264-4527/lilahmissco@hotmail.com

Richard McDonald- 347-445-3927/mcdonald_richie@yahoo.com

Parents, Students, and Teachers Fight for the Right to Protest on the Mayor’s Block

Tuesday, January 12, 2010
NYC

Parents, Students, and Teachers Fight for the Right to Protest on the Mayor’s Block

Today, attorneys Norman Siegel and Herbert Teiteleaum filed papers in United States District Court, Southern District, on behalf of a parent, two students and a teacher who are members of The Emergency Coalition to Stop School Closings, to hold a protest on the Mayor’s block on the Upper East Side on January 21st.

The Emergency Coalition intends to hold a city-wide protest on the Mayor’s block, on January 21, 2010 from 4:00-6:30. Parents, students, and teachers view this as their First Amendment right and vital to have their voices heard regarding the unfair and destructive educational policies being proposed by the NYC Department of Education.

“The Bloomberg Administration is undermining our schools, without any compassion or understanding of how these policies will affect our children. It’s time for parents to stand up and say no! We refuse to take it anymore. Our schools are the lifeblood of our communities, and we will take our voices and our struggle to the Mayor’s block in the hope that there, we will finally be heard,” Lydia Bellahcene, Parent, PS 15, The Patrick F. Daly School, Red Hook, Brooklyn.

“ My school, as well as many of the others that the city wants to close, are doing as well as we can given the continued budget cuts, overcrowding, and the other challenges we face. What we need is more support, smaller classes, and more programs to engage us, not to be closed down and replaced by small schools or charter schools which will make us travel many miles away or exclude us from attending,” Khalilah Dickerson, student, Maxwell High School.

"I feel it's important to rally on the mayor's block, because he needs to hear how students and the community really feels about school closures. Our school has been making progress, so it is wrong to close a school that is improving. The mayor seems to be making decisions without listening to us, the ones he claims to be helping. This is why we want to march on the Mayor’s block - so he can hear our voices loud and clear, " Richard McDonald, student, Maxwell High School.

“The Bloomberg Administration’s current policy of school closings and charter school invasions highlight a clear intent to dismantle public education. Stakeholders from the affected school communities, insist we have the right to protest on the Mayor’s block to prevent our communities from being divided and disenfranchised.” Julie Cavanagh, Teacher PS 15K, Representative from CAPE, Concerned Advocates for Public Education, a parent and teacher coalition at PS 15K.

“The average New Yorker believes that the Mayor has been enacting reforms that better the education of the 1.1 million students in our public school system. By protesting, we want to expose the fact that school closures and the threat of closure have done immense harm to these students' education. Closures have caused the flight of quality teachers from high needs areas, stripped curriculums of all but mindless drilling for high stakes testing, brought corruption in the form of credit recovery and social promotion, and set the way for a two tiered system under charter school disparity.” Seung Ok, Teacher Maxwell High School.

James Eterno, chapter leader at Jamaica HS says: "This administration is closing schools down like they are franchises whose revenue is declining. What they don't realize is that Jamaica HS, like many of these other schools, is an integral part of its community, has had a long tradition of success before Klein was made chancellor, and despite his negative policies, is improving rapidly -- with a 15% increase in graduation rate in recent years. We will advocate for its survival even if we have to take the message to the Mayor's front door."

The Emergency Coalition to Stop School Closings is comprised of dedicated parents, students, and teachers who seek to protect and support NYC public schools from the detrimental policies of the Bloomberg Administration and are demanding that the Department of Education halt school closures and the charter school invasions that are undermining the health of our public education system.

No matter what the court decides, the Coalition intends to go ahead with their plan to protest in Bloomberg’s neighborhood on January 21st, whether on the Mayor’s block or in a nearby location. Protesters will be meeting at 4:00 at 5th Avenue and 79th street on the park side.

Media Contacts:
Lydia Bellahcene: lillytigre@yahoo.com, 347-463-9809, PTA PS 15- 718-330-9280

Khalilah Dickerson- 347-264-4527/lilahmissco@hotmail.com
Richard McDonald- 347-445-3927/mcdonald_richie@yahoo.com
Julie Cavanagh: juliereed15@hotmail.com, 917-836-6465
Seung Ok: possitivelypessimist@gmail.com, 646-244-4468
James Eterno: jeterno@nyc.rr.com , 718-268-0788

Norman Siegel: 347-907-0867

Herberet Teiteleaum: 518-441-9412

###

Resistance is NOT Futile: Paying Bloomberg a Visit on Jan. 21, 4-6:30

Revised Jan. 6 for The Wave

People involved in education as parents, teachers and even students have been so outraged at the actions of BloomKlein and the Tweed Toadies, and their anger has barely been contained. In recent weeks an outlet for these passions has opened up with the idea that a rally at Bloomberg's residence on Thursday afternoon from 4-6:30 pm would be an excellent way to a) demonstrate to the city and the nation that there is a growing resistance to the education deform movement, with a focus on the school closings and the charter school invasion of public school spaces and b) give participants a sense of unity and purpose for future struggles by having one big party in the streets near Bloomberg's residence (17 East 79th St).

And future struggles there will be, with the next one coming just days later on Jan. 26 at the Panel for Educational Policy meeting where all 22 announced school closings will be voted on. The meeting will be held at Brooklyn Tech HS.

One major difference in the two rallies is that the UFT is organizing the PEP rally and ignoring and actively discouraging the Jan. 21 event, which has groups like the Grassroots Education Movement (GEM), the Concerned Advocates for Public Education (CAPE), the Independent Community of Educators (ICE) and Teachers for a Just Contract (TJC) amongst a growing list backing the rally at Bloomies.

In addition, schools are signing on. Parents and teachers at PS 15 in Red Hook and Jamaica HS have endorsed the rally and some of the closing schools may form committees to support it - if they don't get scared off by the UFT, which has the ability to use less than subtle blackmail - "we won't help you fight if you support this." But people have seen the UFT do nothing, absolutely nothing to save schools from closing in the past, though this outrage of throwing 22 schools in their face by the DOE seems to have forced them to act. My guess is the UFT's strategy is to try to save 2 or 3 schools and pull a Bush by having Mulgrew land a jet, exit and declare, "Mission accomplished."

The Jan. 21 rally is significant in that people often waited for the UFT, the elephant in the room to act first. This time parents and teachers have been saying, "Screw the UFT. They hold their big, boring rallies with boring speakers and then go home without accomplishing anything other than use the event for narrow PR purposes" instead of building a strategy to fighter over the long run.

CAPE, GEM, ICE, and TJC are also organizing around the Jan. 26 PEP rally, but felt that something had to be done in advance of the PEP meeting when the rubber stamp panel will undoubtedly vote in favor of closing the schools. Bloomberg's residence as opposed to the same old City Hall/Tweed rallies seems to be capturing people's imagination. As Jamaica's chapter leader James Eterno told me, "The students want to go to Bloomberg's house."

That students are getting involved can turn out to be BloomKlein's biggest nightmare. You have to watch them react when students get up at meetings (see the video I put up of BCHS student leader Chris Petrillo) and criticize them (as opposed to the disdain they show to teachers). They sit up and pay rapt attention in an attempt to demonstrate that they are interested in "children first." A famous power house attorney is providing legal assistance since the police are violating First Amendment rights by trying to shift demos at Bloomies' to 5th Ave by Central Park where there might less people impacted. Some people worry about numbers. The organizers are not. They see this as a start, the first in a series of actions that may begin to make the case against the education deformers.

What can you do?

BE THERE. And not alone. Bring every teacher and parent and student you know who is plain fed up.

Download the pdf below and hand it out in your schools. Contact me directly at normsco@gmail.com if you have questions.

Note: Come to the GEM organizing meeting for both the Jan. 21 and Jan. 26 rallies today at CUNY at 4:30, rm 5414 or 5409.Bring id.

Jan 21 Rally

Protesting BloomWeinKlein: GEM/ICE/NYCORE Show Some Muscle

Well, it was quite a day, as on less than 24 hours notice, GEM, ICE, the Parent Commission and others came out with a spirited crowd to PS 57 in East Harlem to protest at the Bloomberg/Klein/Weingarten/Patterson pro mayoral control.

The turnout was a sign that the GEM organizing efforts are having an impact. A little more notice and we could easily have doubled the crowd. When the day comes that we can turn out hundreds and then a thousand, we will begin to force the powers that be to take notice.

Not that they didn't take notice today. I confronted NYC Partnership's Kathryn Wilde (got her on video) and the LearnNY twinkies who wouldn't talk.

I was amazed at the people who showed, some based on an email I sent out early this morning. If they find a way to get mayoral control renewed by Tues. night (my guess is they will at least get the Senate to pass an extension of some kind) we need to grow these events over the next 4 years so that the next time mayoral control comes up the tweakers will be in retreat.

The biggest outrage was the exploitation of young people, almost all African-American, who were given signs and chants but were ordered not to comment when asked why they supported mayoral control.

Philissa Cramer from Gotham Schools was there and nails it with this comment:
"A smaller number of mayoral control supporters was organized by the lobbying group Learn NY, but most declined to provide their names or why they thought the issue was important."

James Eterno, ICE/TJC UFT presidential candidate running against Michael Mulgrew, was there to lend support and was interviewed by some of the press. Look for a profile soon at Gotham.

And of course Randi was there supporting BloomKlein with her personal PR person Maureen Salter. I got some video of them slinking away.

I took lots more video and hope to get it up ASAP. Photo above by Philissa. Graphic by David Bellel. Marina Ortiz has a wonderful album
http://www.eastharlempreservation.org/docs/Schools_demo062809/index.htm.


Here is Leonie's preliminary report.

Story at Bloomberg: If senate doesn’t extend mayoral control, lawyers will

http://gothamschools.org/2009/06/28/bloomberg-if-senate-doesnt-extend-mayoral-control-lawyers-will/

Also the following news media were there in force to interview protesters:

NY1, Fox 5, Channel 4 News, ABC-TV, the Daily News, the NY Post and others.

It was a great event; thanks to all who came. More later.

Leonie Haimson

David's raw video

Iran Uses Unity Election Counters

Ed Notes News (ENN) has discovered links between the counters used in the Iranian election and the 2005 UFT contract vote. Ahmadinejad received the same percentage of votes as did the 2005 contract. "We copied the Unity Caucus of control over UFT members to keep our population under control," said an Ahmadinejad spokesperson.

In other news, the people protesting the Iranian election just love all that Republican support they are getting. "We looked through footage of the stolen 2000 election by George Bush for protests by Al Gore supporters so we could have a model but we couldn't find anything. The footage must be being blocked by our censors," said a protester. "We did see that the press praised Al Gore for taking his medicine like a man and discouraging protests."

"But we did find lots of footage of the one million Mexican protesters over the election stolen from Andrés Manuel López Obrador in 2006 but these very same Republicans seemed to condemn the protesters and wouldn't believe a candidate America supports would steal an election. And the American press barely covered these protests despite Mexico being a neighboring country, while they are running wall to wall coverage of the protests in our country.

"American democracy really confuses us."

NYC Parents Protest School Overcrowding at City Hall, May 6

Including comments from parent activists Leonie Haimson, Patrick Sullivan and ICE/GEM's Michael Fiorillo and Angel Gonzalez.





David Bellel has a clip from ABC
http://dbellel.blogspot.com/2009/05/angry-parents-with-bone-to-pick.html