Historical Perspective of Education Notes

A short history of Education Notes, its relationship to the UFT leadership, the formation of the Independent Community of Educators (ICE) and the Grassroots Education Movement (GEM) was distributed in the hard copy Dec. '09 edition of Ed Notes at the Delegate Assembly, where I have been handing it out almost every month since 1996. That's pretty much the entire Brazilian rain forest. There is a pdf available for downloading if you wish to share it with someone who has no life. (http://www.scribd.com/doc/24276475/Ed-Notes-Dec-09)

I began publishing Education Notes in 1996 at Delegate Assemblies because I was frustrated at the process that allowed the chair, usually the UFT president, almost total domination of the procedures. If you wanted to get the floor to make a resolution they had total control over who got to speak and if you were too outspoken on issues not liked by the leadership, you could easily get shut out. By distributing Ed Notes before meetings, I got to say my piece, whether I was called on or not. Ed Notes grew in size from one sheet to a 10-14-page booklet and then in 2002 when I retired, it became a full-sized 16-page tabloid published 4 times a year.

Having come out of the opposition movement to Unity Caucus in the 70’s (I was mostly inactive in the union from the mid-80’s through the early 90’s) I became active again when I replaced a Unity Caucus chapter leader in 1994 at my elementary school, which had a “my way or the high way” principal for over 15 years and we had butted heads all the time. My becoming chapter leader freaked her out and I began publishing a school newsletter, often once a week. That freaked her out even more and I began to understand the power of the press, even at the most local level.

I took a look at the opposition groups and didn’t find much that appealed to me. New Action was the major opposition caucus and was fairly ineffective though it did win support in the high schools by winning the 6 high school Exec Bd seats on a regular basis. Six out of 89 gave them little leverage and after leading the successful battle against the first 1995 contract to be rejected by the membership, they started fading. PAC, a smaller opposition group was totally focused on the teachers who were losing their licenses when they didn’t pass the teacher exams. Teachers for a Just Contract took positions I agreed with, but I thought they focused too much on a narrow range of issues.

I would attend UFT Exec Board meetings and was so frustrated at the way New Action would deal with Unity, so often cowed into submission. There didn’t seem to be enough fight in them, though a few like Marvin Markman and James Eterno were at times effective. But New Action leader Michael Shulman was the dominant player and so often seemed to throw a blanket over the Caucus.

Thus I figured the only way to create some change in the union was to appeal to what I felt had to be a progressive wing of Unity. At that time, Randi Weingarten was about to take over the union and presented herself as leading that progressive force. She reached out to me, claiming she agreed with me on so many issues, sometimes through late night email exchanges. Her people whispered that she was going to make changes in the union to democratize it and even make changed to liberalize Unity. But absolute power --- you know the drill.

By 2001, it was becoming clear that Randi was not only not liberalizing the union, but also making it more undemocratic than ever. As a small example, the new motion period ever since I became a delegate in 1971, took place immediately after the question period. Suddenly, if Randi didn’t like a resolution I was proposing, she either eliminated the time altogether or pushed it to the end of the meeting. She became more and more of a demagogue. In 2001, I became increasingly restive as she started supporting merit pay schemes and mayoral control, and I became increasingly critical of her and Unity Caucus, seeing that whatever progressive wing there might be (and I had plenty of conversations with people who came off that way) was cowed by Unity Caucus discipline. It became clear that the caucus was like a black hole. Once you went in you never came out.

Many of the positions Ed Notes took in the late 90’s - opposition to high stakes testing and the ridiculous accountability it engendered, unbridled principal power, drastic reductions in class size, support for chapter leaders under attack, a stronger grievance procedure, total opposition to merit pay, a broader curriculum not based on standardized tests began to attract some of the few independent delegates not affiliated with the other opposition groups. People like Michael Fiorillo.

The New Action Sellout
For activists in the union, the dirty deals made between Randi and New Action Caucus in 2003 whereby they wouldn’t run a presidential candidate against her in the 2004 elections and she wouldn’t run Unity Caucus candidates against their 6 high school Ex Bd candidates was a seminal event. Dissidents in New Action who opposed the deal contacted me. James and Camille Eterno, Ellen Fox and Lisa North. They were outraged at the sell-out, especially over the fact that all of a sudden, New Action members were on the union payroll.

Eterno, who had been serving as a New Action Ex Bd member for years, turned down that guaranteed opportunity. We called a meeting of the New Action dissidents and the independents I had been meeting through Ed Notes. Incredibly impressive people like John Lawhead (now chapter leader of Tilden HS), Sean Ahern, Jeff Kaufman and Julie Woodward. Added to that were some of the people who I had been active with in the 70’s: Ira Goldfine, Loretta and Gene Prisco, Paul Baizerman and Vera Pavone.

Formation of the Independent Community of Educators
Out of that meeting on Halloween 2003 came the Independent Community of Educators (ICE), which decided to run a slate in the 2004 elections and challenge New Action for those 6 high school seats, which given the fact that Unity was not running for those seats, we had a chance.

In the meantime, TJC was emerging as another group willing to challenge the Unity/New Action alliance. There were some differences and some ruffled feelings at the time but TJC and ICE united to run one group for those 6 seats, and surprise, surprise, we knocked New Action out of the box by getting more high school votes than they did. This put Jeff Kaufman and James Eterno, along with some strong people from TJC on the Board. For the first time, I saw some fight at these meetings, as Eterno now out from under the New Action blanket, teamed with Kaufman to run Randi ragged. The schlep into the meetings every 2 weeks now became worth it.

By the 2007 elections Randi was desperate to get Kaufman and Eterno out of her hair at these meetings and took her alliance with New Action one step further. She ran a joint Unity/New Action slate for 8 seats, including the 6 high school seats. Thus, every Unity vote would also be a vote for these New Action candidates. Shulman, like a porno salesman with dirty pictures approached one of the former New Action members who was with ICE and offered one of these positions. He was turned down.

Thus, New Action, which actually tells people they have these 8 seats on the Ex Bd without telling them how they got them, tries to claim they are independent. But dare them to declare their independence by running directly against ICE/TJC and without Unity support and see what they will tell you. Shulman actually has the nerve to brag that he refuses to take the double pension from the UFT he could get for his job.

In the upcoming UFT elections, ICE/TJC are running a full slate for the officers and Exec Bd, with an outside chance to win back those 6 high school seats as a beachhead on the Ex Bd to force the leadership to examine its disastrous policies on mayoral control, testing, closing schools, charter schools - you name it, they have been wrong. In response to New Action’s contention its qualified support for Unity has helped the union, I ask them to show us where. By abandoning its historic role opposing Unity, no matter how weak that was, it left a vast vacuum that ICE and TJC have struggled to fill.

ICE/TJC Candidates for HS Ex Bd
There is a superb slate running for all positions, but for now I’ll focus on the six high school candidates, who if elected will have an impact:

Michael Fiorillo is an ICE founder, when Michael speaks or writes on the educational issues of the day, people sit up and listen. He was the chapter chairman at Newcomers HS and is now the delegate.

Arthur Goldstein was recently elected as Chapter Leader of Francis Lewis HS, one of the most overcrowded in the city. Widely published in numerous newspapers and a regular at the Gotham Schools blog, Arthur has established a national reputation as a witty and incisive commenter. In his short time as Chapter leader, he has led the battle to address the overcrowding issues. His commentary on the conditions in the trailer he teaches in has embarrassed Tweed on numerous occasions.

John Lawhead, now chapter leader at Tilden high school, was an ICE founder. He contacted me when he found a copy of Ed Notes in his mailbox at Bushwick HS and wrote some articles. His depth of knowledge on educational issues, particularly on the high stakes testing, is astounding. I went with him to a conference of activists opposing NCLB (remember the UFT/AFT was supporting it) in Birmingham Al, back in early 2003 and hobnobbed with the national resistance to NCLB and high stakes testing. There is not one ICE meeting that goes by that John doesn’t say something that puts things together in a way that makes me say “Aha!”

I’ve known the TJC candidates for years, but I’ll leave it to them to provide more details in their campaign literature.

Kit Wainer, chapter leader of Leon Goldstein HS in Brooklyn for many years, was the ICE/TJC presidential candidate in 2007. Every time I hear him talk at a meeting, he makes complete sense and says it in an amazingly impressive manner.

Marian Swerdlow, who was a long-time delegate from FDR, has been a stalwart of the opposition for almost 20 years. She is as good as anyone I’ve met in breaking down an issue and analyzing it. For years Ed Notes published her awesome DA minutes, which she is still producing. They are not to be missed. If for nothing else, it is worth seeing her on the Ex Bd for those delicious minutes. Imagine the impact Swerdlow, with her ability to think on her feet, would have when Unity tries to pull its shenanigans.

Peter Lamphere, chapter leader at Bronx High School of Science, has been engaged in an epic struggle with a horror story of a principal. Peter was one of the leaders of the 20 math teachers who filed a complaint over harassment. He is as impressive in a public forum as anyone I’ve seen.

Formation of GEM
I must conclude with an account of the origins of the Grassroots Education Movement (GEM), which has been leading the battle against charter, schools and school closings. GEM emerged out of an ICE committee addressing the ATR issue in Jan. 2009. Spearheaded by John Lawhead and Angel Gonzalez, a recent retiree who had been part of the FMPR group supporting the teachers in Puerto Rico and had come to ICE for help and joined, the committee began to address the issue of the roots of the ATR issue by bringing together NYCORE people who were fighting high stakes testing and people from closing schools (it was Lawhead who put these concepts into a neat package for us). GEM held a conference and a march from Battery Park to Tweed last spring and during the summer worked up in Harlem to support the teachers and parents being invaded by Eva Moskowitz’ Harlem Success schools. In a short time, GEM has become recognized throughout the city as the group to go to for support, since the UFT has left such a vacuum.

....to be continued

PEP Boys (and Girls) December Meeting: Cracks Show in the Bloomberg/Klein Monolith

That was some meeting last night and as usual, there is so much to say and so little time. At least three reporters were there: Gotham's Anna Philips, the Times' Jennifer Medina, and the Daily News' Rachel Monahan so we will be getting reports from them I assume. Thanks to all three for helping guide and escort this old man partway home after the meeting on the #2 train from so far north in the Bronx I thought I was in Canada. They really need to hold a PEP meeting in Alaska where Klein can declare, "I can see data from here!"

One interesting thing was the number of young teachers, some from TFA and the TF programs who stood up for their schools. It wasn't just the older teachers who are outraged. These are the very people the ed deformers were counting on to be their shock troops. I was with some of the reporters on the way home and we ran into one of the teachers, a 3rd year TFA who remained after her commitment to stay at her school. Her school in the first year also closed. She said she wanted to stay in the NYC system and now that is doubtful. BloomKlein first went after the older teachers and now are eating their own young.

There is a lot more to report. The crooked bus company contract. The contract for professional development. And the space allocation bull. Patrick Sullivan was even more magnificent than usual, joined at times by Bronx rep Anna Santos. For the first time we saw the Bloomberg/Klein rubber stamps crack a bit as they tabled some of the issues. The Jan. 26 PEP will be a doozie as the passions and anger are running rampant. No more easy street for this gang.

The number of people defending their schools was awesome. Even Leo Casey wasn't bad, though he always sounds like one big whine. I do find it disingenuous for Casey to complain that closing schools is just a real estate grab (Ed Notes, ICE and GEM should have copyrighted the idea) when the UFT is engaging in its own real estate grab with two charter schools occupying space in public schools.

There was one candidate for UFT president present and it wasn't Mulgrew. James Eterno was there. He didn't bring his 6 month old last night as he did to the Jamaica HS rally the night before. Kara is becoming one serious activist. (See the link on the sidebar to the pics posted on the GEM blog.)

The piece resistance goes to GEM's Angel Gonzalez who took over the meeting as James Eterno and another ICE member held up the ICE/NYCORE banner we used in a demo last year. That video will be coming soon.

GEM and CAPE and others are discussing holding a rally at chez Bloomberg or City Hall on Jan. 21 as a warm-up to the rubber stamps on the PEP. Imagine staff and students from all the closing schools paying Bloomie a personal visit! Let's hope it happens.

Here is the first video I made of a student, teacher and the principal giving a magnificent defense of Columbus HS. Go get em gang!




Leonie put up this video made by the staff of Columbus on the NYC Education News blog.

A wonderful piece of work and I urge other schools on the closing list to do the same.

Save Columbus High School!

Leonie writes:
I hope everyone reads Christine Rowland's excellent piece on the unfair and destructive proposal to close Columbus HS at GothamSchools and then joins the Facebook group to Save Columbus.

Read DOE's totally inadequate "education impact statement" calling for the school's closure, and send in your comments to the DOE. Be sure to email them as well to all the PEP members (their addresses are to the right).

Then come to the PEP meeting where the school's closure will be voted on, along with more than thirty other closings and changes in school utilization, at Brooklyn Tech on Jan. 26, and make your voices heard!

Delegate Assembly Reaction 2: Seung Ok

Seung called a Point of Order, asking to be allowed to speak as someone from a closing school. Not one person called on was from a closing school. The Unity pre-DA rehearsals must have gone quite well. Nina Tribble was assigned to call the question to close debate, a job shared by people like Washington Irving's Greg Lindahl and our own Beach Channel's Dave Peccoraro. Some Unity idiot keeps commenting how rude Seung is. Wish we had a video (and maybe we do) of Mulgrew's condescening attitude towards Seung. He might as well have called him "boy!" Mulgrew was also pretty obnoxious with Kit Wainer, one of the true gentlemen. And TJC's Nick Licari, who you would want in the foxhole on any day of the week, was also denied the chance to address the DA because even though he led Norman Thomas for 20 years, is no longer a delegate. Sure, they let deputy mayors and politicians speak, but not Nick. I never saw Mulgrew in action much before now, but he may make us wish for Randi. Hmmm. Is that why she picked him?


Here Sueng is issuing a call to arms to pay a visit to Bloomberg at City Hall or at his home on Jan. 21. Get out the tea and crumpets Mike.

Seung Ok, Maxwell HS

I just came out of the UFT Meeting, and it looks like teacher's union leadership are selling out those schools in danger of closure. In fact. they didn't even allow me, a teacher from Maxwell HS and another teacher from Norman Thomas, to even get a chance to talk to the assembly. They talk the talk, but they absolutely do not want a citywide rally.

How is it possible, that they pass a resolution on school closings without asking for the opinions of the schools that are being closed? The resolution they passed tonight is so weak, the best they can come up with is a rally at the PEP meeting in Jan. 26 at Brooklyn Tech. How many New Yorker's even know what the PEP is? It will be too late by then! They voted down the idea of a citywide rally before that date.

Before people get the wrong idea, and start fuming about how the teacher delegates could allow this - let me explain a little about UFT politics. The same way Michael Bloomberg acts with intimidation and undemocratic rule, Michael Mulgrew (the president of the UFT) acts towards the Delegate Assembly. He learned his trade working under Randi Weingarten.

There are 3000 delagates in NYC, yet they meet in a room at the UFT that can only fit 800, and they want it that way. They stack the room with employees of the UFT union, many of whom don't even teach anymore. So they win every single vote that Mulgrew wants. In tonight's debate about an amendment for citywide rally, Michael Mulgrew called on 8 of his cronies to argue against this admentment in a row (which breaks the rules of the UFT union constiution). The UFT leadership does NOT represent the views of the majority of the rank and file teachers!

So it is up to us. They may have a few powerful people, we have the truth and thousands of people on our side. Imagine, if you will, the communities of all 22 closing schools entering Manhattan and rallying in front of the Mayor's apartment residence. He wants to mess with our community? We will go into his neighborhood...and shout our lungs out, until people realize, that he is not the civil rights leader he portrays himself to be.

Now the DATE is set. Some have decided that Thursday, Jan 21st is a great day. It's a 5 days before the PEP will make their decision!

So set the calendar, and tell everybody.....parents, students, teachers, cousins of teachers, cousins of cousins - to keep THURSDAY, JANUARY 21st open. We are going to rally, either at Bloomberg's residence or City Hall. Please visit our blog at ........to see more information as the date gets near.

http://grassrootseducationmovement.blogspot.com/

= Lay off our schools!!

UPDATE: Seung appeared on WBAI Thursday eve and here are some reviews:

Great job on WBAI this evening, Seung! Informative, persuasive and powerful. The students you had with you were extremely well spoken and exemplified why Maxwell should not be closed! Gloria

Seung, you were great! You really told it like it is and certainly painted a terrific picture of Maxwell. I am truly in awe of you. Peter

Beach Channel Meeting Video #2

Wave editor and former teacher Howard Schwach and Ed Notes' editor and Wave education columnist Norm Scott raise questions about what happens to teachers and students when the school is closed and why the responsibility only falls on the shoulders of the school.

I won't comment much as the video speaks for itself. Note who the UFT contract states - a contract agreed to and forced down our throats by the UFT leadership – that 50% of the teachers have the RIGHT TO APPLY and IF QUALIFIED will be considered. Shameful. Who are the mismanagers? the DOE or the UFT? Howie, who taught for over 30 years and is a great ally for teachers to have in running an influential newspaper, raises points about where kids and teachers will go asks, "If they are not qualified how could they be teaching?"

By the way, the Lloyd-Bey who responds to me played a major role in the closing of Far Rockaway HS, so her claim she had no part in what kids ended up at Beach Channel is false. In addition, she talks about responsibility to the kids who don't graduate, but what about responsibility to the 50% who do graduate?

(I have an hour of tape but you tube only allows 10 minute segments.)



Note: Video quality has been reduced to shorten loading time.

UFT Delegate Assembly Reaction 1: Michael Fiorillo

....writes an open letter to UFT President Mulgrew:


Hello Michael,

I attempted to get the floor on a point of personal privilege today, not to make the DA chaotic, but, as someone who always signs his blog posts and comments, claimed that a contract was already in place. You stated that I and others like me who've made the same claim should be "ashamed" of ourselves. You also lumped my opinion pieces with "leaks" of union strategies to an unfriendly press. Since I couldn't speak there, I'll respond here:

- It's true: I have said in numerous forums that I believed there was a tacit or explicit understanding. In fact, I still believe that was so, but that objective conditions created a temptation for Bloomberg to renege that was too strong for him to resist. And after all, why shouldn't he renege? Your predecessor gave him pretty much everything he wanted: silence on term limits that equalled assent, continued mayoral control - which would not exist at all if she had not initially supported it - and "neutrality" in the mayoral election that guaranteed the mayor's re-election. Was it so unreasonable for someone, living in the Age of Impunity that we do, to think that the Union might not have insisted on something in return? Are you saying that the UFT leadership gave those things to the mayor without extracting the promise of something, perhaps even a contract? Would that be so far-fetched?

In fact, things are even worse than I surmised. Think about it: either the Union gave Bloomberg everything he needed to continue his attacks against teachers and the public schools, while not even asking/demanding something in return - which is what you seem to be saying - or it had what "somebody" thought was a deal and got stabbed in the back, on the assumption that it was too weak to retaliate? Which sounds worse?

So, I'm far from ashamed of myself. Randi Weingarten should be ashamed for making these catastrophic decisions over the years, in a vain attempt to ingratiate herself with our enemies. And while I don't think that you, as a comparative newcomer, bear the same degree of responsibility as her, you've supported and spoken for those policies in public, and as President they now belong to you. And what's far worse, the membership must live and work under them.

- Your comparison of me and others to those who leak information to the Post, News or other publications is borderline slanderous and McCarthyite. There is no comparison whatsoever to be made. I sign every piece I write, and it's clear to all that I am voicing my opinion, which people are free to accept, reject or ignore. This is totally different from surreptitiously feeding information to the press, which I have never done. For you to suggest they are the same is a smear.

- And by the way, as for the "security" of information given out at the DA: isn't it axiomatic that nothing is said at an open union meeting that is not expected to make its way back to the Boss? Come, now.

So, we will see how things progress, or regress. As long as the Union accepts the premises of the people who are clearly trying to destroy us and privatize the system, here and nationally, we'll continue to lose ground. There's no changing that, and I will continue to write and speak up about it.

Sincerely,

Michael Fiorillo
Delegate, Newcomers High School


Ed Note:
I'm going to post a series of reactions to the UFT Delegate Assembly yesterday, including mine. I'll keep them separate for easier reading but number them. Feel free to jump in. (At the same time as the DA, ICE/TJC Presidential candidate James Eterno was leading the fight to save Jamaica HS. Francis Lewis HS CL Arthur Goldstein (ICE/TJC candidate for HS Exec Bd) was there to support James and had this comment:

James was great.  Passionate, compelling, excellent.

Michael Fiorillo, is another ICE/TJC candidate for the HS EB and wouldn't you want he and Goldstein along with the ICE's John Lawhead and TJC's Kit Wainer, Marian Swerdlow and Peter Lamphere on the EB after the upcoming election? So if you are in a high school, start alerting your colleagues to check the ICE/TJC box on the ballot when it is received in March - don't also vote for any individual candidates if you check this box or your vote will be invalid. In the last election well over a thousand votes were invalidated.

Jan. 26 PEP Meeting Moved from Staten Island to Brooklyn Tech

Reported by PEP member Patrick Sullivan who thanks everyone for asking for the move.

Seung Ok: What Drives Us

Seung Ok, delegate from the soon to be vanished Maxwell High School, wrote this brilliant piece at the NYC Education News listserve. He will be appearing on WBAI's Education at the Crossroads on Thursday night at 7pm. Seung has been one of the leaders of the fight back at Maxwell and has also stood up to Michael Mulgrew at the UFT Delegate Assembly. If Unity had a couple of hundred fighters like Seung, we wouldn't be in this position. I'm just glad ICE and GEM has him. Seung will be running for a Vice Presidential position in the upcoming UFT elections.


For all my anger, I will straight out say, that it's not malicious intent on Bloomberg's part nor those of the billionaire boys' club to propose the closure of community schools for replacement with charter schools.

Charter schools and "small schools"are nothing more than a theft of all the talented students of district schools and putting them in one place. So these billionaires walk into these charter schools - and they say to themselves, "Oh my god, black and brown kids can learn? ". We at district schools have always known that there is a core group of students in every grade level of every neighborhood that excels - those that become surgeons and engineers and lawyers.

It is not the new paint of charter schools, nor the potpourri they put in bathrooms - nor the first year teachers whose energy and fortitude is burnt out within a few years working in a charter school. The secret of it all is the top level students that they privately entice from our neighborhood schools. Charter schools get a list of all the level 3 and 4 students from the data banks of the DOE. But these billionaire hedge fund managers who fund these charter schools are clueless of that fact. To them, they see black faces - and based upon all the negative stereotypes in movies that they viewed in their lives - the fact that minority students can excel at all seems a miracle. But, how much time did they ever spend in a neighborhood like East New York or Harlem - it could be counted in a matter of hours. They leave a charter school feeling exuberant as if they discovered some fountain of youth - that the rest of society somehow overlooked.

The following is the reason why small schools and charter schools devastate regular district schools. Let's use common sense...... people are followers; there is positive peer pressure and negative peer pressure. The more years I spend as a teacher dealing with kids, the more I'm convinced, that kids and adults are very much the same....people are followers. Kids buy the latest sneakers, even though it's way overpriced. Adults buy BMW's even though it's the most expensive to repair, and their reliability is worse than other cars. When you take the top students from district schools, you are in essence, removing the positive role models of students who need that extra push to say - hey, this is what I should strive for. You are removing the student leaders, the positive middle class and professionals from a neighborhood that offer a growing child an alternative to the gloom and doom of negativity: gangs, drugs, teenage pregnancy, and drop out rates.

Because Michael Bloomberg and his billionaire's club have a perspective that if you are not the elite 1% of society, graduated from a four year college, and able to cash checks with a multitude of zeros following it......you are a failure - that the majority of inner city students- who face hurdles unimaginable to Mr. Bloomberg and Mr. Klein....and yes - President Obama too (who has grown up in Hawaii and attended top private schools) are failures as well.

The reality is that education benefits those at many levels of what society deems "successful". If we only considered those successful, as reaching a certain data driven endpoint - this would mean that Donald Trump has reached nirvana That Mr. Trump is the ultimate goal of what every human society has deemed worthy of representing human kind as it's zenith. If that's true, then the majority of us folks living happy and product lives are losers.

The main argument for closing a school, is that less than 50 percent of the students graduate in 4 years. USA Today has documented that only 53 % of all 4 year universities graduate their students in 6 years. Should we phase out these universities as well? The era of the data driven religion is among us.

What happened to the carpenters and barbers, to the plumbers and fireman, to the janitors and to the sanitation workers - to whom each day of our lives, we depend on to make up this grand society? And what about the artists and musicians that we ask to remind us that humanity has a unifying and loftier goal than increasing our stock portfolio. How many of us turn to a Mozart, a Bob Marley , a Dylan, a Marvin Gaye - every day we ride the trains or crawl through traffic to remind ourselves that there is something other than data driven bottom lines. Well, under Bloomberg's world, where arts and music programs are cut for a schools to stay intact and meet its math and English data criterion - the reality is only .......numbers, numbers, numbers!

Can we remember that Woody Allen dropped out of film school, and that Einstein dropped out of college? Can we remember that Mr. Obama had moments of doubt as a young high school student - doing drugs and cutting class and that a strong mother had to be there for this insecure youth - to guide him to his potential? In the cold business world of Mayor Bloomberg: NO - either you make the mark now in the prescribed path, or risk phasing out.

Well, Mr. Bloomberg represents that cold and unfeeling bottom line. The same logic that made decent folk sell mortgages to people they knew could not afford it. It is that same logic that made people lie about revenues in Enron, in the biggest accounting fraud known in our history. It is the same logic health insurance companies use to deny coverage to millions of Americans.

The truth is, that Michael Bloomberg is only one man. And the fact that one man has so much sway in public policy has nothing to do with his ideas nor his morality than the massiveness of his money. The reality is that the percentage of Americans with college degrees in the 2005 census is 27 %. You know what that means? The majority of us live fulfilling lives even though we don't meet Mayor Bloomberg's Orwellian version of society. The majority have wonderful families, own homes, and live our lives - without a college degree - and yes, maybe - can you believe it, without graduating high school in 4 years.

We have to stop accepting mind numbing data as if they were infallible. After all, a 100 percent of humans who drank milk eventually died. Why do we all assume that a high school degree in 4 years, is exponentially greater than one attained in 5 years. Do corporate interviewers ask whether a college grad took 5, or 6 years to get their degree? If students in our public school system live in shelters and foster homes, living below the poverty line, and struggle to attain a high school diploma in five years - doesn't that deserve even more credit than a Bloomberg or Klein that was all but expected to go to college in four? Doesn't that child show even more character, drive, and unhoned potential than a Bloomberg? Or, are we going to end up as that society that vacuously praises the dollar amount of a Paris Hilton, a George Bush, a Bernie Madoff, and yes.....a mayor.

Seung Ok

Ed Note: I only have known Seung since last April, but have rarely met someone with a more impressive fighting spirit. And he brings so many skills to the table as an organizer, writer and speaker. That he was in the system for 11 years before emerging gives me hope there are lots more Seung Ok's out there.

Tweed's Shameful Performance at Beach Channel High School Closing Meeting

There is so much to say about the meeting last night where Tweed sent people who had few answers to parents, teachers and students. I was there with Howie Schwach, editor of The Wave (#10 in NY Magazine's Reasons to Love Living in NYC) to cover and have about an hour of tape. Here are 3 students. Chris wants answers and asks "why didn't you fix us?" Ingrid says there will be more dropouts if they close the school, especially with the loss of free transit for students. Another student wants to know why the PEP meeting to decide the fate of the school will be held in Staten Island. Oh, the hypocrisy. Michelle Lloyd-Bey who played a big role in closing down Far Rockaway is all about data and stats. Clearly, human issues don't count, but she talks about the "concern" for the students.

I have some good stuff from politicians and teachers and Howie and I. More over the next few days.

UFT Resolution on Closing Schools: Is it all talk?

UPDATED 1pm:

When the announcement to close Lafayette HS in Brooklyn was made a few years ago, Randi Weingarten said it was right for the school to be closed. That was despite the fact that a known incompetent principal who was often laughed at in the Leadership Academy was appointed as principal. Sources say that even within the Academy, people were incredulous and knew that she was purposely appointed to kill the school.

But this happens so often as to make almost seem a policy. Some of the schools being closed have such awful leadership appointed by Klein that the teachers don't even want to fight to keep them open.

You're on your own kids

Thus in the context of UFT policy in the past of putting up weak objections and little real fight against closing schools (the national credibility as partners in the ed deform movement must be upheld) we have the recent announcement of over 20 school closings as an in your face move by BloomKlein towards the UFT. "We dare you to do something," they are saying.

The UFT has never used any real political capital to fight for keeping schools open, saying the fight has to come from within the schools. But philosphically, the union has been willing to agree to join in the judgement that some schools are bad without holding the managers of the school system truly accountable. Nice work. Help BloomKlein dig the hole (2005 contract) and stand by while they shovel in the dirt.

We must also factor in the numerous ATRs that are being created as a factor, all of whom have to be paid even when their schools are closed. The school closings are part of the assault as a way to create so many ATRs that public pressure will build for the UFT to give them up. Maybe declare a fiscal emergency as a way to get the dysfunctional legislature to take some action to force the issue. Who knows what they have up their sleeve, but they seem to have left the UFT like a whirling dervish spinning itself into the ground. What you get from always playing defense.

Someone at the ICE meeting Friday night said Mulgrew almost looks like Neville Chamberlain wanly holding up a "Peace in our time" sign. I thought more of Stalin who was shell shocked with the Germans invaded Russia in June 1941, thinking he had made peace with Hitler and could trust him to keep to his word. "Thompson for mayor," anyone? Remember how Mulgrew and Paul Egan at the DA said they couldn't endorse Thompson because they had to do what's best for the members. How's that working out guys?

Last night's UFT Exec Bd meeting passed a resolution on closing schools that will be discussed and voted on at the Delegate Assembly tomorrow. It has a lot to say and we can agree with many points. But lots of resos on closing schools have been passed and nothing has changed. No line in the sand is ever drawn. The UFT promotes and supports the actions of individual schools but does not tie them all together, which is were the critics of Unity Caucus stand. The TJC/ICE/GEM reso calls for a citywide rally, either at City Hall or Tweed before the Jan. 26 PEP meeting, no matter where it will be held. We even held a discussion about going to Bloomberg's home for a rally and a smaller ad hoc contingent may actually try and do that.

Whether the UFT supports a central rally or not, one will be held even if it is small as a way to give all the schools a chance to gather together and express their outrage. A proposed date has been chosen, though I am embargoed from releasing it until after the DA. The UFT leadership will be given an opportunity to get on board or be left behind.


UPDATE from Marjorie Stamberg:

A brief note about the discussion at the E-board last night.

They will present a resolution on closing schools. Many whereas-es, long, with detailed information on the DOE's phony statistics. Several "Be It Resolved" clauses, the last of which is a liquid formulation calling to mobilize the UFT membership in support of the schools which are fighting the closings.

What does this mean? The maximum they will go, as one of the ad com people said in the floor discussion, is a loose call for a "Day of Solidarity" which will be 5 separate boro rallies, i.e, diffuse, no citywide mobilization that would pose a real showdown with the DOE. .

Mulgrew's report centered on UFT "mobilizing" its members to call every elected official in the universe, because they will respond to the community's wishes, if they wish to be re-elected. He did stress strongly it must be with the parents, students, "the community"; that the UFT cannot act alone. True enough , but little said about the UFT mobilizing its enormous infrastructure in joint ACTION with parents, unless by action they mean keying up cell-phone numbers.

A remark by Leo Casey struck me as key to understanding their thinking. He said (this is a paraphrase) that we want to make the cost so high to them in closing the schools, that they will think twice before doing it again. I.E. -- they're going to let it happen, after making some noise.

As I've mentioned, I think the UFT bureaucracy has finally realized that mayor and the DOE is coming after them like a two-ton truck, and they have to do something. But they are clueless, and fearful, as to what any real mobilization would look like. Because they are beholden to their "partners" in Albany, and Washington.


You can read the full UFT reso at Norms Notes.
UFT Proposed Resolution on School Closings for Dec. 16 DA

The Save Jamaica HS Facebook page is up to 2293 members.

Move Jan. 26 PEP Out of Staten Island to Central Location

UPDATE from PEP member Patrick Sullivan:

The Bronx rep, Anna Santos, and I asked for the meeting to be moved to a Manhattan location near mass transit. We are waiting for a response from the PEP Chairman David Chang.

But keep those sigs coming in.

There are no closing schools in Staten Island, yet the Jan. 26 PEP meeting that will decide the fate of over 20 schools from other boroughs is being held there. We need your help to try to move the meeting. Copy and paste the petition below, sign it and electronically send it back to me at norscot@aol.com. Or print it out and circulate it and then send it to 518 Beach 134 St. Belle Harbor, NY 11694. You don't have to include any more info than your name if you do not wish to.


Dear Chancellor Klein:

cc: Michael Best


We urge you to move to a more central location the Panel for Educational Policy meeting that will decide the fate of 36 schools, many of which are slated for closure, as well as a host of critical regulations that relate to parent involvement and the role of parents and teachers in decision-making at the school and district level.


We object because this time and location — January 26 at 6 PM on Staten Island — does not afford stakeholders and members of the community who will be most affected by these momentous decisions a reasonable opportunity to be heard.


The site would take more than an hour and a half to get to for most NYC parents, students, and teachers, making it impossible for those with daytime responsibilities to get to the meeting in time to comment.


To hold such a meeting in a location and time inaccessible to overwhelming majority of NYC students, teachers and parents is wrong and legally suspect.


We ask that you respond to this request as soon as possible.



SIGN HERE: Name, (parent or teacher?), school, district, office or organizational affiliation if any:

Norm Scott, Retired teacher, Education Notes, ICE, GEM



Thank you.

From James Eterno: ACTIVATE YOURSELF THIS WEEK TO SAVE JAMAICA!

James Eterno is running for President of the UFT on the ICE/TJC slate. But if you don't see him around doing much campaigning, he has other fish to fry. Like trying to save his school. His fighting spirit is one of the reasons so many people support him.

GO GET 'EM JAMES.

UFT
Jamaica Chapter News
December 14, 2009

ACTIVATE YOURSELF THIS WEEK TO SAVE JAMAICA!

PHONE BANK LATER TODAY TO BUILD FOR WED RALLY

Everyone must do their part this week if we are to have any chance of saving Jamaica High School. Today (Monday) we will be going to the UFT offices at 97-77 Queens Blvd at around 5:00 p.m. to use their phone banks to call every parent, UFT member who lives in this area and anyone else who might be able to help with our rally on Wednesday.

Please see me or a member of the Save Jamaica Committee as soon as possible today (Monday) so we know who is coming. The Committee is Maria Giamundo, Tanya McKetney, Debbie Saal, Julia Schlakman and a few others. We need as many people as possible tonight so that this job is something we can finish within a reasonable amount of time. Please help.

On Tuesday, four of us will be meeting with Assemblyman Rory Lancman and Council Member Jim Gennaro. We will make the case to save Jamaica to these politicians.

ALL HANDS ON DECK FOR WEDNESDAY’S RALLY & MEETING

`Wednesday, we need everyone to be here at 5:30 p.m. for a rally preceding the so called information meeting that will take place in the auditorium at 6:00 p.m. The rally and meeting are not optional in my opinion. While the UFT is not your employer and as such we cannot compel attendance at the rally and meeting, I would term it a moral obligation. This is our biggest challenge yet as a UFT Chapter and we need our biggest turnout. We have to show the DOE we really care about our school by rallying outside the school at 5:30 p.m. and then by filling as many seats in the auditorium as possible. Our power is collective and not individual. We can kiss Jamaica goodbye if all of us aren’t there: staff, also parents and students.


LOG ON & EMAIL THE PEP & STATE REGENTS

The Public comment period on the proposal to close Jamaica is now open. Every, UFT member, DC 37 colleague, parent, student or friend of Jamaica High School needs to go onto the site and email the Panel for Educational Policy with your opposition to the closing of Jamaica. Please students, no text message language; use proper language in the emails. The state regents are also meeting today and they should also be notified.


TELL THE CHANCELLOR HOW YOU FEEL ON THURSDAY

You can email Chancellor Joel Klein at any point but you can talk to him personally on Wednesday after our meeting here. He will be at PS/IS 266 on Wednesday. The location is 74-10 Commonwealth Blvd. in Bellerose (Glen Oaks/Frank Padavan Campus), Thursday, the Panel for Educational Policy will be meeting in the Bronx at 6:00 p.m. at New World High 921 East 228th Street.


I will be there and as many of you as possible should join me. The next big date will be January 7, 2010 when the public comment period will be held at Jamaica. Finally, the PEP will vote on our fate at a meeting on January 26, 2010 on Staten Island. We are attempting to have the meeting moved to a more central location. Go to sign the online petition.

Also on Thursday - rally at Norman Thomas HS in Manhattan there is a rally to save Norman Thomas HS. That’s at Park Avenue and 34th Street. We should support them.

[ED. NOTE: See more on protest in our post: Defend Your School]

James Eterno
UFT Chapter Leader,
Jamaica High School


Move Jan. 26 PEP Out of Staten Island to Central Location
Tell Joel Klein to move the Jan. 26 PEP meeting out of Staten Island.
Click the link above and copy and paste the letter and circulate or sign and send back to me.

Defend Your School

I just got a call from a former teacher at my school who I haven't heard from for a long time. She and her husband, also a former teacher at my school turned fireman, were at dinner with an old friend who teaches at Gompers HS in the Bronx. He told them that the DOE Death Squad came to his school to tell them the news they were about to die as a school. He was beyond outrage. "I'm not going down without a fight," he said. "We have no one to talk to about this." I have just the people for you," she said. I'm about to call him.


Join the fightback with other schools

Come to the GEM meeting tomorrow - Monday, Dec. 14 at 4:30PM at CUNY, 34th st and 5th ave. rm 5414

Also - attend the Norman Thomas rally on Thursday, Dec. 17, starting at 4pm. 33rd st and Park Ave. If you are in a closing school or one to be closed in the future (many more of you than you think). Click on pic to read email for a pdf.

Support the joint TJC/ICE/GEM resolution on school closings at the DA this Wed.


The UFT and School Closings

This just came in from a chapter leader at one of the few large high schools left:

Will we see Michael Mulgrew and other big UFT Brass there at the Norman Thomas demos, or any other demos at other closing schools? The CL Update in mentioning closing schools but fails to say what UFT central will do. It said Mulgrew offers the UFT's “full support”. Can anyone tell us what that means? Why not setup the fax blitz like they did for school budget cuts? We could hit the City Council and state legislators for a start. In our contract with the DoE in PAGE ONE it states: "…the Union and the Board mutually agree to join together with other partners in the redesign and improvement of our schools, INCLUDING CLOSING those that have failed and supporting their restructuring." How long has that been in there? Why have it in there? I know NCLB and SURR have their requirements, but why should we have that in there knowing full well the DoE closes schools not on the SURR list or required under NCLB. Maybe the new contract should stipulate that such schools cannot be closed/reorganized without the consent of the UFT. Fat chance.


The UFT policy of school defense is to treat each school individually and not to bring schools together city wide and fight en masse. While the individual struggles to organize staff, students, parents, alumni and community forces is crucial, without taking things to the next step by bringing it all together, this is a losing strategy that might lead to win a few battles, but lose the war.

Note how UFT shills like Peter Goodman tosses out the same UFT line in a piece called How to Fight Your School Closing: A Carefully Constructed, Interactive Grassroots Campaign Can/May Save Your School where he doesn't mention one thing the UFT could do to save your school. In other words, it's all on your backs. How typical. Goodman in another recent piece talked about failed leadership in this piece Piscis Feteo ex Caput: Failing Schools Are Caused By Failed Leadership at the Highest Levels, Deflecting Responsibility to Principals and Teachers is Cowardly. but naturally leaves out the failed leadership of which he is part of in the UFT that enabled the ed deformers to deflect responsibility to teachers.


Read Randi in NY Times and gag
The Detroit teachers contract is devastating - I don't have the details handy but it is a catastrophe for teachers and the union. But here is what Randi has to say about it:

Randi Weingarten in a New York Times ad appearing in the Sunday December 13 edition of the Week In Review on p. 5

What Matters Most: Detroit Teaches America a Valuable Lesson

“…This tentative agreement includes several reforms that will drive the enhancement of school achievement, including school based bonuses, peer assistance, and review and a new, comprehensive teacher evaluation system. At the same time, both parties recognize the severe financial conditions of the district and sought innovative approaches to saving money. Teachers, who are also struggling in these tough times, are being asked to sacrifice - by agreeing to a reduction in pay received now and deferring pay increases until the third year of the contract. Teachers will receive a bonus when leaving the district. The players also recognized the need to address skyrocketing health care costs and agreed to measures that will save the district millions…

I've been saying it for years. That the UFT/AFT are enemies of teachers.


But there is hope: Schools Fight Back
Schools are organizing and we'll chronicle as much as we can while working with GEM, ICE, TJC and others to bring people together for joint actions.

Jamaica High School
I can't say enough about the work Chapter Leader James Eterno has been doing, along with the rest of a supportive staff and student body. As you know, James is the ICE/TJC candidate for president of the UFT against Mike Mulgrew and may be too busy to do much campaigning. But the UFT election is secondary to trying to save Jamaica HS. What I want to point out is that James, like so many other ICE/TJC candidates are amazing fighters (remember, James was part of the most militant crew that left the moribund New Action when they sold out and helped found ICE). They have spine, something so much of Unity Caucus and New Action is missing.

I will do more on Jamaica - over 800 students and alumni have signed onto their Facebook page and there is a meeting at Jamaica this Weds, Dec. 16 at 6pm (the UFT DA is at 4pm). Today there is a great column by Jamaica NY Times sports columnist George Vecsey, an alum, who interviews , Nyles Bynum an all-American student athlete now playing at Temple, titled

In Defense of His Old School

He [Bynum] played football and basketball at Jamaica, was on the honor roll all four years, and was an academic all-American as a senior. He described how one teacher monitored the academic progress of athletes, how coaches encouraged him to study, how guidance counselors helped him apply to college. He ticks off their names, lovingly, starting with Sue Sutera, the tennis coach and mentor to the past generation. “Twenty-five years — and I ain’t going away,” Sutera said last Thursday at a meeting of Jamaica supporters.

Vecsey says:

Whenever I have returned over the past decade, the school has consistently seemed clean and orderly and remains so under Principal Walter G. Acham, a strong presence who carries out board policy and praises the tradition of Jamaica, volunteering, “This is a special place.”

Under a new law, the city must observe a 45-day review period, including a hearing at Jamaica on Jan. 7. The decision will be made by the Panel for Educational Policy at a public hearing Jan. 26 on Staten Island, a location that does not amuse some people in Jamaica. “High school is the best time of your life,” Bynum said. “I’ve always wanted to come back, but it would be hard to come back to some satellite school.”

Over 2000 members of Friends of Jamaica HS on Facebook. Join.


Columbus HS ask people to send letters to the NY State Ed Dept

The way the accountability is structured presumes that a school receives a fairly constant population guided basically by urban geographic and socioeconomic factors that change extremely slowly over time. This is not the case for Columbus - we have received a major influx of the highest needs students that has left AYP and absolute 4 year graduation rates a virtual impossibility. We are not a failing school - although we can and do always strive for improvement - we have many students who graduate over 5, 6, and 7 years. Our most recent 7 year statistics are a graduation rate of 81.5% (NYC average being 72.2%) and our drop out rate was 18.2% (city average 27.8%). Many of our students, and notably our English Language learners who arrive in their junior or senior years with no English take far longer to pass Regents Exams - particularly English.

Our population is mobile and vulnerable and needs to be supported rather than crushed. The DoE plans to replace Columbus with an existing school (KAPPA) from district 10. The students from this school are much lower need than those at Columbus, in fact they are lower need than the prestige programs already housed on the campus. This is one more step in the segregation of students that has been going on for that last 10 or so years - bringing in a large number of high ability students from this existing school in September and having no place for our special needs students and recent immigrants who will then be sent to a more distant large high school.

I posted the entire letter on Norms Notes. Click below.
Columbus HS Letter to NY State Regents


Maxwell HS rally, Dec. 10:
Angel Gonzalez has put up his video of last week's rally, attended by UFT honchos, including Mulgrew, whom Angel caught applauding when Charles Barron said we should close down Tweed.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1fbzg4EUHU]

Click title to view video.
Dec. 9, 2009 Brooklyn, NY.

Mayor Bloomberg announced the closing of over 20 public schools. Maxwell High denounces this unfair callous attempt to privatize with charter schools. Over 250 people protested outside and then inside against the Dept of Education and the complicity of the District Superintendent. Teachers, parents, students and community are organizing locally and citywide to stop this wholesale ruthless assault on public education and school-workers.

CAPE at PS 15 Welcomes you to the Hornet's Nest

I said in yesterday's ed notes post that the DOE has created a hornet's nest at PS 15. The CAPEers have taken that ball and run with it.

"The DOE and its corporate allies isolate and identify communities they think they can overrun and outsmart. They target communities whose populations have historically had a difficult time organizing and accessing resources. We are sure they thought targeting PS 15 in Red Hook was easy pikins'... instead they did in fact unleash a hornet's nest. We are a group of parents and educators who will continue to demand to be heard, not just for the protection and preservation of our community public schools, but in solidarity to fight for the protection and preservation of public education for ALL of our children. Groups are forming across the city, advocates are joining forces.... Let's join together and stop the Bloomberg Administration's assault on public education.



Let's make the Thursday demo at Norman Thomas a pre-cursor of bigger things.

Closing the Roethlisberger Gap

Steve Koss sent along a link to this article (click headline below for full article.)

Pittsburgh School District Leads Nation In Ability To Spell 'Roethlisberger'

from the onion with some commentary:

I absolutely ADORE "The Onion" weekly newspaper, and this story from last week is one of the funniest and spot-on stories about education I have ever seen. I was practically rolling on the floor reading this, except that it's also tragically so sad in the reality of what it satirizes. The text is below.

Replace "Roethlisberger" in this story with NYS Math and ELA exams and you have a perfect and hilarious description of NYC schools under Joel Klein. The supportive comments from educational administrators sound just like the typical DOE P.R. stuff.

Gary Babad, do these Onion guys work for you? If not, maybe you should work for them!

Steve Koss

Here's a short excerpt:

"If you look at the data, our students were correctly spelling Roethlisberger only 43 percent of the time during the quarterback's rookie season," said Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who called the 2004 statistic an embarrassment. "In just five years, we have increased that number to 92 percent. That's 54 percent better than students in California, 35 percent better than those in Oklahoma, and 96 percent better than those in the Cleveland area, who tend to spell Roethlisberger by adding the letters 'u,' 'c,' and 'k' after the letter 's.'"

"The bottom line is the Pittsburgh school system is giving its students a leg up on the competition, not only in America, but throughout the world," Ravenstahl added. "Our kids correctly spelled Roethlisberger 12 times more often than all the students in Europe and Asia combined."

Get Out the Swords: DOE proposes to let PAVE stay in P.S. 15 an additional five years

"We will not rest until the truth is exposed and the agreement for PAVE to leave by 2010 is honored. If the DOE or anyone else thinks we will give up; they are mistaken… through the courts through civil disobedience, one way or another- PS 15 and public education will be protected."

Power breeds arrogance. And absolute power breeds absolute arrogance. It was clear from the beginning that when a billionaire hedge fund manager's son wants a public school building for his play school, he will get it from the BloomKlein administration. Remember when Spencer Robertson declared at the Sept. 15 CEC15 meeting that he had found a building and will move out of PS 15 as soon as he could? The PS 15 community guffawed and called him a liar. They had been facing so many lies from PAVE that nothing was believable.

And so it was. And is.

Maura Walz at Gotham posted the news at Gotham last night that Tweed was going beyond the PAVE 2 year request and would allow PAVE to stay at PS 15 until 2015 and add 5 more grades. I forwarded the news to the CAPE crew at PS 15. They are pouring out their outrage in the comments section at Gotham. Join them.

Read the full CAPE response:

The DOE Does it Again

What is clear is that if a school functions too well to close, Tweed will go get them another way: Install a cancer/charter and allow it to grow unchecked while at the same time using your power to squeeze the healthy public schools until it gets sick and dies. It reminds me of those vines that start growing up a healthy tree and feeding off it until it kills the tree and takes over what is left.

Does anyone have a doubt that by 2015, PS 15 will be gone and PAVE will be occupying the entire building?

The CAPE response opens with:

It is unclear what is more disturbing: The Department of Education’s surreptitious school space utilization and formulas, their incompetence in interpreting these very formulas, their damning disregard for what is best for children not to mention parent and community voices, their corrupted charter school movement, their deliberate defiling of public education and community public schools, or their lubricated lies that slide off their tongues dripping and oozing with Orwellian language that loudly proclaims, “we have an agenda, and we fully intend to execute it.”

Near the end, CAPE says:

This is clearly a fight the DOE wants to have: RAISE YOUR SWORDS!!!

And raise their swords they will.

We met with CAPE the other evening, as Brooklyn GEM and CAPE are putting together a series of events on charter schools. There is not one meeting we have with CAPE where we don't come out feeling the entire time was productive. This is one savvy, tough group of public education advocates. That they are in one school gives us hope there are other such groupings around. I mean, earth is not the only planet in the universe with life.

I want to thank Tweed for doing such dumb stuff that led to this group coming together and joining up with other advocates forming around the city. They have uncovered some hornet's nest. As part of a group of organizers so often frustrated by the lack of fight all too many teachers exhibit, I genuflect to Tweed for helping to create CAPE. Keep up the good work. One day you will find thousands of people pounding at your door.

Better start beefing up security. Can you spell C-I-V-I-L D-I-S-O-B-E-D-I-E-N-C-E?

One Happy Fela and Parteeee at Gotham

Wednesday was an interesting day and evening. We got home late Tuesday night from a week in Florida at Singer Island near West Palm Beach - starting with 5 cloudy/rainy days and ending with 2 beautiful days.

I had promised to help a teacher who needed a chaperon for a school trip to see the new Broadway musical Fela about Fela Kuti, an African singer and political rebel. The NY Times gave the show one of the better reviews I've seen. So I headed over to the high school on Wednesday. The class was an interesting mix. It seemed mostly white and Asian, with a few black and Hispanic kids and a few Muslim girls wearing head scarves. My co-chaperon is an activist who is about to become a teacher and though we never met, is connected to ISO and knows all the players. We had a great review of the state of ed activism on the way to the city as we reviewed all the activist groups - and they are growing by leaps and bounds. Then we all crammed into McDonald's for a quick meal before the show.

I'm leaving the school and teacher out of this because who know what evil lurks in the hearts of school and DOE administrators. There is cursing in the show - HORRORS! And sexual innuendo – YIKES! The show is based on the idea that this was Fela's final performance in his theater and he treats the audience as he would a real audience for his show. The entire audience was filled with kids and Fela is loud and stimulating, so there was noise. Lots of it. But the performers want noise. They encourage it. And the kids loved it.

After the show, the actors, including Sahr Ngaujah who alternates in the Fela role with Kevin Mambo, came out to answer questions and talk to the kids. That was after almost 3 hours of performing - and Fela is on stage for almost the entire performance. There must have been a thousand kids or more and this was so orderly as to be scary. Imagine - a class size of a thousand. Take that Leonie! I better not give BloomKlein any ideas.

Speaking of Klein, my next stop was to head downtown to the Gotham Schools blowout open invite party on Lafayette Street. But first I had to meet a visiting cousin from Oakland for a drink over on Lexington and 47th St. He is a businessman/CEO and is convinced Obama is a socialist. But his business is drilling for oil, so what do you expect? His stepdaughter recently moved to Israel and married a Hassidic Jew who is not born Jewish but converted. She was born Jewish but was not religious until fairly recently. Now my cousin and his wife, who were at the upper levels of Werner Erhard's EST lifestyle movement in the 70's - my cousin was running the organization for a while, are becoming observant Jews.

That has been one strange trip and getting the latest details of this journey made me over an hour late for the Gotham Party. I was not the only one. I came up in the elevator with City Councilman Robert Jackson and Jan Atwell of the NYC Council. I mentioned how his complaint at a recent overcrowded PEP meeting at Tweed that it was a farce for them to hold meetings for the public in so limited a space has given Tweed an excuse to move the meetings to Outer Mongolia. I hope he complains about that and gets them to move the important Jan. 26 meeting where school closings will be voted on out of Staten Island, which has no schools being closed, and into a central location that can be reached from all boroughs. Like a large high school in Manhattan near good transportation. (Maybe Jackson can also be our spokesperson to the UFT which moved the Delegate Assemblies years ago from Fashion Industries HS which held everyone comfortably to the UFT building where they hold a meeting with a potential 3000 attendees in a space that holds 850. Way too often you have to think that Tweed and 52 Broadway were separated at birth.)

Anyway, we missed Joel Klein's speech. And also missed Diane Ravitch reading from her upcoming blockbuster book - to be released in March. I'm glad I got there in time to see her before she left. A few Tweedies seemed pleased that Diane was pretty nice to them.

The party was loaded with some of the influential ed people in NYC on all sides. Leonie Haimson and Jennifer Jennings (Eduwonkette), her former mentor and co-blogger as Skoolboy, Aaron Pallas (with an interesting anecdote about the party), Alexander Russo, who I met formally for the first time, Arthur Goldstein. I saw testing analyst Fred Smith and Jose Vilson, who wrote about the party (and the wonderful ed blogging community we are all part of). I had met Jose at a bloggers gathering hosted by Gotham's Philissa Cramer and Kelly Vaughan when Gotham first began. Kelly was there Wednesday. She left Gotham a year ago and is back teaching- in a charter school and seems to be having a great time. For those who do not know, Kelly blogged as one of the major ed blogs that was world famous for many years. Philissa was there taking pictures and reporters Anna Philips and Maura Walz, who I formally met for the first time. And of course, Elizabeth Green was the hostess with the mostest.

Gotham financial backer Ken Hirsch was there beaming, all suited up. You can disagree with Ken 100% and still have great conversations with him even though Ken also backs Harlem Success schools.

I got to hang out a bit with some of my favorite Tweedies in the PR department. The entire cast of thousands didn't attend - the party would have had to be held in Madison Square Garden to hold them all. The leader of the gang, David Cantor, who makes enemies when he posts to listserves but makes lots of friends in person, suggested I write a memoir. Sure, David, distract me so I get off BloomKlein's back. No wonder he gets the big bucks. When I left the party he was huddled with Eduwonkette, maybe making amends for the attacks Tweed made on her when she was anonymous. David is one party guy. Andy Jacob, former Tweed spokesperson, who I also met at one of Kelly Vaughan's parties, is now working for Tim Daly at The New Teachers Project. It was noisy, but I think Andy said that Daly reads Ed Notes (search this blog to see the nice things we said about him). Clearly a masochist.

Leo Casey was there for the UFT. I am more comfortable talking to Tweedies than to Casey (who I don't talk to). At least Tweedies show you the knife when they stick it in. I got more than a few questions from people asking my opinion of Mulgrew. Some Tweedies wanted to know how Eterno will do in the election. "He's pretty busy as chapter leader trying to fight to keep Jamaica HS open," I said. "Isn't it a done deal," she said? "It's never over 'til it's over," I answered. "Does Eterno have something up his sleeve," she asked? I smiled, not wanting to give away the big secret that the staff and parents and students at Jamaica are installing secret devices to blast out anti BloomKlein slogans in perpetuity when the new schools take over.

A couple of charter school people came over to chat. They say they are mom and pop charters and wanted to know what GEM and Ed Notes and ICE are so anti-charter when they claim they are countering the awful BloomKlein bureaucracy. They say they would love to talk to GEM about this issue and bring some unity. They seem to be really bothered by the actions of GEM and CAPE. We had a lot of good back and forth and will continue the conversation.

And then there was the charter school operator of all time. The one and only Evil Moskowitz. Talking to Leonie Haimson, no less. I was watching this scene with Francis Lewis HS chapter leader Arthur Goldstein waiting for fisticuffs to break out. "Let's throw a bucket of water on Eva and see if she melts," Arthur said.

Help elect Arthur to the UFT exec board on the ICE/TJC slate and you'll get laughs like these all the time.

See links to all of Arthur's pieces at Gotham on the ed notes sidebar.

Thanks to David Bellel for the photoshopping

Postscript: congratulations to the crew at Gotham for pulling off an event that brought so many people with varying views into one space. This was not a cheap thing to do and they are asking for financial support. I am kicking in a few to make sure they keep doing the great work they do. Head on over and do the same to help keep some vestige of independent education press alive.

Public Notice: The closure of all NYC public schools

From: "Panel for Educational Policy"

Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:39:36 -0500

Subject: Public Notice: Proposals for Significant Changes in School Utilization

Notice December 10, 2009

Joel I. Klein

Chancellor

Proposals for Significant Changes in School Utilization

Please find public notices for significant changes in school utilization below. To view the notices, either scroll down or connect via the links listed here:

1. The Phase-out and Eventual Closure of Public Education in NYC

Proposal for a Significant Change in the Utilization of School Building M, Q, R, X and R

The Phase-out and Eventual Closure of all NYC public schools

I. Description of the subject and purpose of the proposed item under consideration

Beginning in the 2010-2011 school year, all NYC public schools in this city serving grades K-12, will be phased out of operation, one grade level per year at a time. Grade K will be eliminated in 2010-2011, grade 1 will be eliminated in 2011-2012, and so on until all grades are eliminated in all boroughs.

They will be replaced with any charter school operator who comes to us with a plausible proposal or any hedge fund operator who has a pet project in mind. We will continue to have sufficient seats to serve our elementary, middle school, and high school students with resources currently allocated to public schools to be repurposed for high quality charter schools throughout the city. Any future proposal to site one of these charter schools will be addressed in a separate educational impact statement.

II. Information regarding where the full text of the proposed item may be obtained.

The Educational Impact Statement can be found on the Department of Education website: http://schools.nyc.gov/AboutUs/leadership/PEP/publicnotice/Proposals+1-26-10.htm

III. Submission of public comment

Written comments can be sent to NYC citywide Proposals@schools.nyc.gov.

Oral comments can be left at 718-935-4415 (but don’t expect anyone will answer the phone; we’re too busy having cocktails with the hedge fund operators)

IV. The name, office, address, email and telephone number of the city district representative, knowledgeable on the item under consideration, from whom information may be obtained concerning the item

Name: Chancellor Joel Klein, or one of his many Deputy Chancellors, better known as the “hit men.”

Office: Office of Portfolio Planning

Address: 52 Chambers St

Email: Portfolio@schools.nyc.gov

Phone: 212-374-6677

V. Date, time and place of public hearing for this proposal.

January 13, 2010 at 6:00pm

At infinite locations throughout the city (so you and the media can only attend one hearing at most; sorry!)

There will be no question and answer period. Questions about the proposal can be directed as indicated in section IV above.

Speaker sign-up will begin 30 minutes before the hearing and will close 15 minutes after the start.

VI. Date, time and place of the PEP meeting at which the Board will vote on the proposed item.

January 26, 2010

6:00pm

Michael J. Petrides School

715 Ocean Terrace, Staten Island (It’s the furthest we could arrange for it to take place; and anyway, what does it matter? We control the majority of the seats on the PEP and can do whatever we feel like doing. Thank you Gov. Paterson, Shelly Silver and the NY State legislature!)

Posted to the NYC Education News listserve by Leonie Haimson