On the Jan. 27 Rally and GEM

THE RALLY ON THURSDAY JAN. 27 AT 4:30 PM ON THE EAST SIDE OF CITY HALL PLAZA NEAR TWEED IS ON - REALLY A MUST ATTEND EVENT BECAUSE IT IS TRULY FROM THE GRASSROOTS. MOST ACTIVIST GROUPS IN EDUCATION ARE INVOLVED - AND EVEN THE UFT IS A CO-SPONSOR - WHICH MEANS THEY HAVE TO PAY 50 BUCKS - I HOPE THEY HAVE IT AFTER PAYING RANDI 200 GRAND IN SICK PAY.  THIS IS NOT A UFT CONTROLLED EVENT. THEY HAVE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH ORGANIZING OR RUNNING IT - THEY DID MENTION IT IN THE CHAPTER LEADER UPDATE.


BEST OF ALL, WE EXPECT SOME OF THE KIDS FROM THE JAMAICA HS PLAY TO PERFORM. ALSO LOTS OF SINGING - AND MAYBE SOME DANCING TOO - I'M FOR A CONGA LINE AROUND TWEED - THIS WILL BE A FUN RALLY WITH SPEAKERS MINIMIZED SO BE THERE OR BE SQUARE.

Follow events on these blogs

School Closing Coalition Blog 
http://stopschoolclosings.wordpress.com/

http://fightbackfridays.blogspot.com/

ATTEND THE D3 RALLY AND DOE CO-LOCATION HEARING 

TONIGHT

http://education.change.org/petitions/view/stop_the_co-location_of_success_academy_charter_school_in_the_brandeis_high_school_building

If you have specific additional comments you'd like to make, they can go to D03proposals@schools.nyc.gov.

Brandeis HS Campus (145 West 84^th St. between Columbus/Amsterdam)

5-5:30pm – Rally in front of Brandeis to support regular D3 schools

6pm – DOE Public Hearing on the Brandeis/Success co-location  proposal

Speaker sign up begins 5:30 and ends 15 minutes into the hearing; public comment will be taken until all speakers are heard, but you must sign up if you wish to speak. 

Jan. 25, 2011
Let me begin this joyous day with the wonderful news that Rahm Emanuel has been knocked off the ballot in Chicago - temporarily I imagine - how can all that Eli Broad/Donald Trump/Bloomberg money etc. money not be able to buy the state supreme court - see one Cathie Black waiver ruling.

Yesterday I attended the final prep meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee to Stop School Closings and Charter Takeovers which is running the Jan. 26 rally. I counted at least 20 people. I'll post separately about the rally and why it is important. But I wanted to talk about how impressed I am with the people working on this - absolutely professional in every way - sound, martials, organized program, press, etc. So many groups involved - and I'm meeting new (and old) activists.

They held a phone bank at Teachers Unite on Sunday and called hundreds of people. These are full-time teachers and giving so much time and effort. I almost feel embarrassed for how comparatively little I am doing. On the home I was with a young second year teacher who just seems to be getting involved - first time I met her. She talked about how overwhelming teaching was and just how tired she always feels. I can see why we lose so many people - it is not just the teaching that is wiping people out - but all the other crap. My advice - keep being active politically with the growing Real Reform movement - even though it takes time it will provide the fuel you need to work in this system - and you will be working with some of the most amazing people I've ever met.


GEM has been the driving force in organizing the rally
GEM has become a force in the city. Last January it played a major role in the demo at Bloomberg's home. (Can't GEM do stuff in warmweather?)

The Grassroots Education Movement (GEM) is about to hit its second anniversary since holding its first meeting at a diner with 4 people 2 years ago. Angel Gonzalez had come to ICE for support for the teachers union in Puerto Rico a year before and told me when he retired he would join me in political activity. "Sure" I thought. Everyone tells me that. But he did and joined ICE. But he felt ICE wasn't moving fast enough and did too much talking and not enough action (we are not youngsters, you know).

Angel suggested a committee of ICE designed to focus on ATRs, closing schools and testing and it quickly added people from NYCORE and other groups outside ICE and soon took on a life of its own. We held an all day conference on a Saturday in March 2009 which attracted a crowd. Up to that point I couldn't imagine organizing such an event but Angel pulled it all together - finally, someone with real organizing skills. And we followed up with a conference on charter schools at PACE in April and in May a march from Battery Park, past the UFT and on to Tweed. We attracted about 75 people. (Angel was wearing me out.)

It wasn't even called GEM until after that rally. In the first stage of evolution from an ICE committee into a broader based group we conceived of ourselves as a coalition of groups - a place where ICE, TJC, NYCORE, Teachers Unite and some parent activist groups could work together.

A big chunk of ICE people got involved, especially with the closing schools and charter invasions hitting us full in the face while also trying to deal with the upcoming 2010 UFT elections. The UFT seemed less important to many of us - and that might explain why we did so badly - we just didn't have the heart to waste our energies in a campaign to dent Unity.

In the summer of 2010 we went up to Harlem to support the teachers and parents at PS 123 which had been invaded by Moskowitz and met a bunch of activists, some with the Coalition for Public Education (which formed late that summer) and also State Senator Bill Perkins and some of his aides.

In July 2010 we were contacted by CAPE, a PS 15K based teacher/parent group fighting a charter invasion in their school. Kismet. GEMers came out to support them and the partnership has brought their activism and skills into the broader work and eventually some of CAPE's key people (Julie Cavanagh and Alev Dervish) began to work with GEM.

Brian Jones and Julie Cavanagh on the "set" in Williamsburg

This past summer, Julie and I decided to develop a film responding to Waiting for Superman and were joined by another key GEM person (a person at a school that was invaded by a Moskowitz charter but I'm keeping him nameless - he has become the key editor and partner on the film, allowing me to take a lesser role). And then by Brian Jones who was on the panel on national TV with Rhee, Weingarten and Canada. Brian and Julie are narrating the film. We're calling it "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman". GEM's Gloria Brandman is doing the outreach and publicity. We are doing a sneak preview of a rough cut in mid-February.

The idea of Real Reformers was hatched and we held a rally at the opening of Waiting for Superman. We also have attended PEP meetings in force - how many years did I go there all alone just waiting for the day we would stand up to them in force. The fact that there is a new face on the people opposed to ed deformers - younger, dynamic activist teachers who in many cases are critical of the UFT - is a force to be reckoned with. Note recently that the Real Reformers are actually starting to get some press.

Naturally, GEM has had some growing pains - trying to set up a democratically run organization in the midst of the chaos the ed deformers have brought to the schools. After the PEP hearings on Feb. 1st and 3rd I hope we take stock of where we stand as an organization and continue to develop a democratic structure that is flexible enough to handle growth.

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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.

Jan. 21 Rally at Bloomberg Home Update

A recently activated teacher organizing for the Jan. 21 protest at Bloomberg home writes:

Hey Everyone,

I made it to three schools yesterday and put flyers out on several blocks in. But today, at a workshop, [ x] and I spoke to the teachers at the end. Some knew, some did not about what is going on. Everyone left with the web address. A couple said they are alarmed and their schools will be at the mayors' block rally. It felt good to know the message is growing.

Please if you can stop at a school on your way to work and give them the message and the flyer! Momentum is slowly catching on.

Wake up all the schools and teachers you cross.

Mayor’s Critics Sue to Protest Outside His Home

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/critics-of-mayors-school-policies-sue-for-right-to-protest-outside-his-house/

January 13, 2010, 2:03 pm  Updated: 4:24 pm --

By SHARON OTTERMAN
NYTimes CityRoom Blog

A group that opposes charter schools and school closings filed a lawsuit against the city on Tuesday for “unconstitutionally and without any legal basis” denying its request to protest on the sidewalk outside the Upper East Side town house of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

The plaintiffs are two students from William H. Maxwell High School in Brooklyn, which is slated to close for poor performance, and a parent and teacher from Public School 15 in Red Hook, Brooklyn, an elementary school that shares space with the PAVE Academy Charter School. The city has proposed to allow PAVE to remain in the school for five more years, as it grows to include kindergarten through eighth grade, and teachers and parents at P.S. 15 have been furious.

“Our voices haven’t been heard, so we thought that the best way for the mayor to hear us would be for us to take our voices to his block,” said Julie Cavanagh, a special education teacher at P.S. 15. “There have been rallies at Tweed, and the individual schools, and its been a complete deaf ear.” (The former Tweed courthouse is where the Department of Education’s main offices are located.)

The protesters want to march back and forth along both sides of 79th Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues, in single file, on Jan. 21, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Mr. Bloomberg lives on the north side of the street. While the New York City police have frequently turned down permits to protest on the north side, in 2003, they allowed a group protesting the closure of firehouses to march on both sides.

The plaintiffs decided to press the issue as a civil rights matter. The suit, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District, argues that just as protesters are able to march outside Gracie Mansion, where mayors normally live, so too should they be able to protest outside Mr. Bloomberg’s house, where he conducts political activities like receptions and fund-raisers.

On Tuesday, the Police Department offered a compromise: the protest could proceed on the south side of 79th street, Ms. Cavanagh said. The plaintiffs turned down the offer, saying the city should not be able to pick who protests on the north side.

A lawyer for the city, Gabriel Taussig, said in an e-mailed statement, “The Police Department’s refusal to agree to a demonstration procession on the sidewalk in front of the mayor’s residence and its proposal that the event take place on the street and sidewalk across from the mayor’s residence was a lawful and appropriate accommodation to the protesters’ desire to exercise their First Amendment rights while at the same time assuring that safety and necessary access can be maintained at the mayor’s residence.”

Norman Siegel, the former executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, is representing the protesters, along with Herbert Teitelbaum, the former executive director of the Commission on Public Integrity.

“The larger issue is clear: Can a public sidewalk be transformed into a private enclave because the mayor of New York lives there?” Mr. Siegel said. “The answer is no.”

Mr. Siegel said he expected a ruling from Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein on Friday.

Storming Tweed

July 6 rally photos by John Lawhead posted on Facebook.

Councilman Charles Barron at the gates of Tweed

Crowd surges up steps of Tweed as Barron urges people to take back "our" building since mayoral control has expired.

State Assemblywoman Inez Barron tells crowd she opposes mayoral control


Sam Coleman of GEM and NYCORE speaks eloquently about the impact of high stakes testing

Some guys never know when to take off their hat. ICE's Sean Ahern taking notes and Lisa North (in green shirt.)

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

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

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

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

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

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


This is my personal view and not necessarily of GEM:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reports and pics will be posted starting tonight.

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

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

STOP NYC SCHOOL CLOSINGS: May 14

SHARE BOTH SIDES OF THIS LEAFLET:
Please forward, copy & distribute widely. Attend our weekly organizing meetings - contact us for details. (Send an email to gemnyc@gmail.com for a pdf.)

STOP NYC

SCHOOL CLOSINGS

May 14, Thur 3 - 7PM

Gather at Battery Park (Trains to Bowling Green)
& Walk to the Dept. of Ed. (Chambers & B’way)
Protest TWEED & the Mayor!

Fully Support Neighborhood Schools - Restore Teacher Seniority Rights
No Mayoral Control - Smaller Class Sizes - Stop High Stakes Testing
The UFT Contract MUST address these demands!

Sponsor: Grassroots Education Movement - GEM to Defend Public Education

Endorsers: Independent Community of Educators, New York Collective of Radical Educators, TAGNYC, Teachers for a Just Contract, Teachers Unite

FIX PUBLIC SCHOOLS: DON’T PRIVATIZE!

The Bloomberg/Klein Dept. of Education (DOE) are removing the “PUBLIC” from NYC public education. The defenders of unchecked privatization, like those involved in the current downfall of corporations– have now set their sights on education. Greed and corruption have brought our economy into recession; what will they bring to our children?

Since the Mayor took control of the DOE in 2003, the abuses of undemocratic power are evident:

· Charter schools have become the new “voucher” programs of today: repackaged and resold. Companies like Wal-Mart, the hedge fund - Plainfield Asset Management, and countless conservative think tanks have donated to its promotion. And what strange bedfellows have emerged: Newt Gingrich, Al Sharpton, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and even the UFT’s Randi Weingarten. Public schools have long been the prize of greedy privateers, and this time, using the rhetoric of the civil rights movement, they are convincing those unaware of their true intent. Never mind that a AFT study of NAEP data on charter schools have shown a significant DECREASE in reading and math scores compared to public schools.

· The weapon of choice has been standardized high stakes testing. In the last 2 years, the DOE spent a total of $235 million on data gathering and testing for schools, students, and teachers. Money that could have been used for smaller class sizes, textbooks, and after school programs has instead been funneled into the cult of labeling schools as failing. How coincidental that corporations are contracted to assess our schools as failures, thus paving the way for even more influx of corporate control in the form of charter schools.

· The multitude of school closings have left 1700 seasoned veteran teachers (ATRs) without permanent teaching posts. Due to changes in school budgets, principal control, and the DOE’s scheduling of new teacher job fairs ahead of the ATRs, the Mayor is tactically filling schools with inexperienced teachers, who learn more about obedience to dictatorial mandates, than about sound teaching from seasoned colleagues.

· Since taking over the DOE in 2003, Bloomberg's administration has touted real gains in student performance based on "city" statistics. Yet these same defenders of the almighty data scorned the results of the NAEP testing that found no significant gains in NYC's 8th grade reading and math scores. Instead of supporting and funding needy schools, Bloomberg's main tactic of pressuring principals to perform at all costs have brought social promotion to negligent heights. It is now legal to give a year’s worth of credit to students who sit for a few days of “recovery” classes. Furthermore, important subjects like history, art, music, and physical education are cut, to slavishly drill for high stakes (and often dumbed-down) tests.

· Let’s not forget the money. In 2000, there were 7 no- bid contracts by the DOE that cost the city $693,000 dollars. Under Bloomberg’s reign, the fiscal year 2008 saw 944 no-bid contracts totaling 1.9 billion dollars. Comptroller Thompson has decried the lack of transparency in the DOE (unlike every other city agency). There is no oversight in DOE spending, and the mayor likes it that way.

Mayoral Control is up for renewal in June by the state legislature. The forces of privatization are making a nationwide campaign to push their privatization agenda. The good news is, protests are sprouting everywhere, and the truth is being spread. Come out on May 14th. Join parents, teachers, students and concerned New Yorkers to keep our children’s education …..PUBLIC!!!

PROTEST SCHOOL CLOSINGS - May 14, Thur 3 - 7PM
Gather at Battery Park (Trains to Bowling Green)
& Walk to the Dept. of Ed. (Chambers & B’way)

Grassroots Education Movement - GEMnyc@gmail.com
For info: 718-601-4901 www.ice-uft.org www.nycore.org

Note, especially to Ed Notes subscribers on Feedblitz: Make sure to check the Ed Notes side panel for daily updates and other important information.

Teachers Protest Principal Iris Blige at Fordham High School for the Arts

Sometimes, the yo-yo principals who emerge from under the rocks at Tweed go too far. The UFT got the permits and will brag about their support. But as we are seeing around the city teachers are beginning to take action. Expect to see a lot more of this as teachers get fed up. And maybe Fordham U should be taken to task for the use of its name if is it officially associated with the school for supporting union busting.

RALLY FOR JUSTICE -- RALLY FOR JUSTICE

Fordham High School for the Arts

The principal at this school, Iris Blige, is abusive, arrogant, and disrespectful of teachers. She has framed several teachers that for some reasons made her angry. One teacher has been completely devastated by Bilge’s abuse and the way Blige framed her to get rid of her. On Friday, February 13, 2009, teachers all wore black to stand in solidarity with this teacher. The situation has gotten so bad everyone is now ready to walk out. Two chapter leaders resigned because they claim that they couldn't deal with her. Blige said "the school was too small for any kind of union presence."

Join us to protest the unfounded removal of yet another teacher by Principal Iris Blige!

Demand the immediate return of Raqnel James to the classroom!

Protest Chancellor Klein's support of abusive principals!

Fight against Klein's support for principals who make false allegations!

Speak out against principals who are retaliatory and intimidating!

Schools need quality principals and real leadership!

Where: ROOSEVELT CAMPUS
500 East Fordham Road, Bronx (across the street from Fordham University)
When: Friday, March 13 , 2009
Time 4 p.m.

Directions:
Trains: No. 4 to Fordham Road then the #12 to the school, or D to Fordham Road then the 12 or 22 to the school. (Catch this bus on Valentine Avenue).

Spread the word!