Ed Notes Redux: Why I Left New Action by James Eterno

I should not be surprised that the newer activists who are teaching 15 years and less often don't have a full understanding of the historical context behind many issues. Recently there has been some discussion inside MORE about New Action and I see the need to connect some of the dots. I am going back into the Ed Notes print archives for some stories and here is one from James at the founding point of ICE where he left NA to help create ICE and wrote this piece for the January 2004 edition of Ed Notes.

Ed Notes: Jan. 2004

New Action/Unity in Corrupt Bargain
Why I Left New Action!!!
by James Eterno, UFT Executive Board

Since 1824, historians have debated and criticized an alleged corrupt bargain that made John Quincy Adams President of the United States, even though he had fewer votes in the general election than Andrew Jackson.  In exchange for the presidency, Adams supposedly agreed to dole out a patronage job to Henry Clay if he would prevent Jackson from securing the White House. Adams was elected President by the House of Representatives where Clay was a leader, and soon after Adams appointed Clay as his Secretary of State.  This little bit of presidential history is being repeated in UFT politics, except now the corrupt bargain is being made before the union’s presidential election.

A deal between the two main caucuses (political parties) has been reached.  New Action has agreed not to run a candidate for president against Randi Weingarten in next spring’s UFT Election but they will run a slate for other positions.  How can a political party (NAC) run in an election and not run for the top office?   Would any citizen vote for the Democratic Party’s Vice Presidential candidate next year if the Democrats decided not to run a candidate for president against Bush, but a Democrat ran for VP?  If NAC is not opposing Randi, why run at all?  What will be their slogan?  “Randi and New Action. Perfect Together.”  Anyone who votes for NAC will be voting for a fraudulent opposition and essentially supporting Weingarten. 

In return for not running against Weingarten, Randi’s Unity Caucus has agreed to open up part time union jobs for New Action (NAC) members and to not run candidates against NAC’s six High School Executive Board candidates in the upcoming election.  Unity also agreed to have an organizing committee that includes NAC members to organize weak chapters and to have a bipartisan UFT Action Committee formulate an action plan. Finally, Unity will support a change to the UFT Constitution to allow a caucus to replace its UFT Executive Board members if seats become vacant between elections. These cosmetic changes will not exactly alter the Union’s fundamentally undemocratic structure.

This modern UFT version of the corrupt bargain has convinced me to end my eight year association with New Action.  I joined NAC in 1995.  NAC leader Michael Shulman helped me a great deal when I became chapter leader of Jamaica High School in 1996.  Furthermore, since 1997 I have been elected three times by the high school teachers, with NAC’s endorsement, to the UFT Executive Board.  My resignation may cost me my Executive Board seat, but I would rather lose my seat than to be involved in a sham election.

Shulman, NAC Co-chair David Kaufman and their cohorts believe that the UFT is in a war with Bloomberg/Klein and we all have to pull together and support our president to fight the common enemy at City Hall.  Shulman is half correct.  We are under attack from the city, but NAC’s leaders are wrong because we have an obligation to challenge a UFT president who might not even try to truly fight City Hall.

Bloomberg/Klein have: eliminated the Education Evaluators, virtually ended sabbaticals, laid off paras, imposed double period block programming without our input, imposed 50 minutes of extended time in most schools twice a week in violation of our Contract as well as State Law, deprived us of the right to choose the best approach to how we teach in many classrooms, and they are refusing to hear safety grievances.  These are just a few of the many indignities that have been heaped upon us.  The UFT has filed grievances, had a rally and gone to court but meanwhile Klein continues to abuse us.  Weingarten is not winning the war and I wonder if she really wants to clash with the city.

Ask yourself the following fundamental question.  Do you think Weingarten/Unity will risk dues check-off (the union’s right to automatically deduct $37 in UFT dues from each of our paychecks)?  Automatic dues check-off could be lost if we have a real job action.  A job action could deprive the Union of the funds that support its huge patronage system.  I hope my fears are unfounded; however I seriously question whether the UFT leadership will encourage anything more from the membership than symbolic actions, and without a full scale mobilization, Bloomberg/Klein can continue to mistreat us.  Therefore, it is crucial that we have a real choice for UFT president in 2004.

Had Britain followed New Action’s logic and backed its prime minister during World War II, when they were not winning in 1940, Neville Chamberlain (appeasement’s great champion) would have remained at the helm and Winston Churchill would never have ascended to power.  The UFT needs a Churchill now and not a Chamberlain.  At least we should have the option to vote for a different line of attack.

Traditionally, New Action took a militant approach to unionism.  Strong, valid criticism of Unity/Weingarten for allowing our union to be weakened to its current state was what led to NAC winning the high schools in the last four UFT Elections.  However, since the last UFT Election in 2001, NAC has moved closer to Unity, although there have been bitter disagreements within New Action.  At some point last summer [2003], Shulman and Weingarten met and the corrupt bargain was proposed.  Later in the summer a majority of New Action’s Executive Board, despite a great deal of strong dissent, agreed not to run a candidate for president in the upcoming election.  With the corrupt bargain in place, Unity and New Action are now virtually interchangeable.  Hundreds of rank and file New Action members never heard about this deal.  I resigned from NAC as I could not conceive of supporting such a bogus election scam.

Unfortunately, the biggest losers in the corrupt bargain are the members of the UFT.  We could be deprived of a serious choice for UFT president in 2004, an election that will determine the future direction of the Union.  That is of course unless some rank and file group can come together and save the day by nominating a viable alternative to Weingarten to run for president.

This modern UFT version of the corrupt bargain has convinced me to end my eight year association with New Action.  I joined NAC in 1995.  NAC leader Michael Shulman helped me a great deal when I became chapter leader of Jamaica High School in 1996.  Furthermore, since 1997 I have been elected three times by the high school teachers, with NAC’s endorsement, to the UFT Executive Board.  My resignation may cost me my Executive Board seat, but I would rather lose my seat than to be involved in a sham election.

In the UFT election held in March 2004, James Eterno, running for HS Ex Bd on the newly formed ICE/TJC slate won the HS seats from New Action (as part of the corrupt bargain, Unity did not run) thus ushering in a 3 year era of militant opposition to Unity/New Action policies on the EB led by James and Jeff Kaufman. In the 2007, 10 and 13 elections, Unity and New Action cross endorsed candidates to make sure this would not happen again. But in the 13  election, MORE got within a few hundred votes of capturing the 7 HS EB seats from the NA/Unity slate.

Don't think there isn't some heavy worry going on over at NA/Unity HQ over this possibility and developing strategies to counter the possibility that MORE could win any EB positions in the next election.

Susan Ohanian: Liar! Liar! Pants on Fire! War on the New York Times Embrace of the Common Core

OHANIAN: Choose the best answer:The New York Times education coverage proves once again that  Cherry-picking is

a) the last refuge of scoundrels
b) the last refuge of the lazy
c) a) and b)

We must hold the press as accountable for bad reporting as they want teachers to be held accountable if not more so since bad reporting (NY Times on Iraq) leads to catastrophes.)

Susan is ever relentless -- note -- some people are giving me credit for writing stuff I post that others have written. I indent and often put the words of others in red.

THIS ENTIRE POST IS FROM SUSAN OHANIAN as she joins the crowd in savaging Bill Keller.

at
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=558

Funny this cartoon runs at the New York Times the same day as Bill Keller's outrageous ode to the Common Core, attacking all critics as wingnuts--and worse.

http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=558 

Liar! Liar! Pants on Fire! War on the New York Times Embrace of the Common Core
by Susan Ohanian
AGHHHHHH! Well, at least New York Times editorial remains consistent, proving once again that you can lead a reporter to evidence but can't make him think. Keller was executive editor at the New York Times from 2003--2011, where he was a leading supporter of the Iraq invasion. Although he has since returned to his status as writer, he remains infected by the Times editorial bias on education policy. It seems significant that Keller's father was chairman and chief executive of the Chevron Corporation.
Keller employs a deliberate strategy of welding opponents of the Common Core with the lunatic fringe. Note that no progressive who opposes the Common Core is mentioned. No superintendent of schools opposing the Common Core is mentioned. No researcher opposing the Common Core is mentioned. No parent opposing the Common Core is mentioned.
Here are just a few of Keller's misrepresentations, fabrications, and downright lies:

• the Common Core, a project by a consortium of states...
  *** Send in the $$$$$ Yes, states signed on. . . because a whole lot of Federal money was at stake; there was a lot of heavy arm-twisting coming out of the US Department of Education.


• the Common Core was created with a broad, nonpartisan consensus of educators
  ***Liar! Liar! Pants on Fire!
  ***The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation dumped hundreds of millions into the creation of the Common Core.
  ***David Coleman and Susan Pimentel, Common Core chief architects and edupreneurs, are NOT educators.


• The backlash began with a few of the usual right-wing suspects...
  ***Plenty of noted researchers and practicing educators--representing diverse pedagogies-- have spoken out against the Common Core. Just because the New York Times ignores them doesn't mean they don't exist. And just because it's convenient for the New York Times to call on the Thomas B Fordham Institute over and over and over and over for soundbites doesn't mean they're anything but a partisan shill masquerading as a think tank.


• Bill Bennett, thoughtful Republican defends Common Core
  ***When Common Core defenders need this resurrection, you know they're in trouble.


• When a reporter resorts to a Michael Petrilli quote in three different paragraphs, you know he isn't doing his homework.


• When a reporter uses quotes from two different people at the same neo-conservative think tank, you know he lacks due diligence.
  ***Michael Petrilli: executive vice president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
  ***Kathleen Porter-Magee: Senior Director of the High Quality Standards Program at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute


• The claim: item picked "at random" from the Common Core. . .
  ***Cherry-picking is the last refuge of the scoundrels, especially when you announce that it's "at random." For starters, Keller doesn't mention that the Common Core dictates that ALL children read the same grade-level text--and if they can't read it, then they listen to the teacher or a partner read it, meaning kids reading below grade level are denied access to text they can read for themselves.


• the Common Core leans on traditional methods that have proved themselves over time.
  ***Where's the beef? Show us the research supporting the use of New Criticism with kindergartners--or students in any other grade.
  ***Show us the research support for the training of students to abandon their voice and write like insurance salesmen.


• The Core does call for schools across the states to deliver their lessons in the same sequence.
  ***Teaching as a lesson delivery system gets at the core of what's wrong with New York Times education coverage.


Keller's piece below:
War on the Core

Jim Horn New Book: The Mismeasure of Education

The book is now available at online bookstores.  Amazon and Barnes & Noble  have it, but the best price is at the publisher, Information Age: $39.15.  Description below is from the publisher.
From the publisher, Information Age:

http://atthechalkface.com/2013/07/16/the-mismeasure-of-education/

Published 2013
With new student assessments and teacher evaluation schemes in the planning or early implementation phases, this book takes a step back to examine the ideological and historical grounding, potential benefits, scholarly evidence, and ethical basis for the new generation of test based accountability measures. After providing the political and cultural contexts for the rise of the testing accountability movement in the 1960s that culminated almost forty years later in No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, this book then moves on to provide a policy history and social policy analysis of value-added testing in Tennessee that is framed around questions of power relations, winners, and losers.

In examining the issues and exercise of power that are sustained in the long-standing policy of standardized testing in schools, this work provides a big picture perspective on assessment practices over time in the U. S.; by examining the rise of value-added assessment in Tennessee, a fine-grained and contemporary case is provided within that larger context. The last half of the book provides a detailed survey of the research based critiques of value-added methodology, while detailing an aggressive marketing campaign to make value-added modeling (VAM) a central component of reform strategies following NCLB. The last chapter and epilogue place the continuation of test-based accountability practices within the context of an emerging pushback against privatization, high stakes testing, and other education reforms.

This book will be useful to a wide audience, including teachers, parents, school leaders, policymakers, researchers, and students of educational history, policy, and politics.

REVIEWS
"When the Obama Administration decided to spend the billions it got for schools as part of the stimulus package to launch the Race to the Top program and the NCLB waivers, forcing many states to adopt teacher evaluation based on changes in student test scores, leading experts warned that this “value added” system did not have a reliable scientific basis and would often lead to false conclusions. This sobering and important study of the long experience with this system in Tennessee (where it was invented) shows that it did not work, was unfair, and took attention away from other more fundamental issues." Gary Orfield Distinguished Research Professor, UCLA, Co-Director, Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles, UCLA

"If The Mismeasure of Education offered only its penetrating new look at Conant and Coleman, it would be worth the price. But that’s just the beginning. Horn and Wilburn uncover the obsessive instrumentalist quantification and apocalyptic rhetoric soapboxed by both liberal and conservative political elites. Their autopsy of value-added accountability reveals the pathology of ed reform’s claim about teachers not being good enough for the global economy." Susan Ohanian Educator, Author, Activist

"A well-researched (and frightening) look at examples of shameful pseudoscience in America, the latest manifestation of which is value-added assessment for determining teacher competency... A well-documented and thorough analysis, inescapably leading to the conclusion that student test data cannot be used to determine teacher effectiveness. A must read for policy makers enamored of the idea that value added assessments will do what is claimed for them. They do not!....An excellent and scholarly history of how we got to an educational-testing/industrial complex, now promoting invalid assessment strategies that are transforming education, but not for the better. A scary book that should be thoughtfully read by those who value America’s greatest invention, the public schools." David Berliner Regents' Professor Emeritus, Arizona State University

"The Mismeasure of Education is a magnificent work, an elegantly written, brilliantly argued and erudite exposition on why the “what,” “how” and “why” of effective teaching cannot be adequately demonstrated by sets of algorithms spawned in the ideological laboratories of scientific management at the behest of billionaire investors... This book will serve as a sword of Damocles, hanging over the head of the nation’s educational tribunals and their adsentatores, ingratiators and sycophants in the business community... The Mismeasure of Education will have a profound resonance with those who are fed up with the hijacking of our nation’s education system. This is a book that must be read by everyone interested in the future of our schools. It is a book that advocates real educational justice, for student, teachers, administrators and the public; it is informed by impressive scholarship and compelling argument. It is surely to become a classic work." Peter McLarenProfessor, GSEIS, University of California, Los Angeles, Distinguished Fellow in Critical Studies, Chapman University

Common Bore Hysteria: Branding Common Core as Right Wing Conspiracy While Ignoring the Left

I have read the Times consistently my entire adult life and I do not recall a single instance in which two writers [Bill Keller, Paul Krugman] wrote essentially the same article two days in a row on the same subject... Raging Horse

Port Jefferson rally last Sat.

Our pal, Raging Horse (another great MORE member blogger) has followed up other great bloggers on the NY Times hysteria over defending CC (New York Times Editorials Reveal A Complete Ignorance of Common Core).

...two days after a sizable anti-Common Core rally in suburban Port Jefferson, Long Island, the venerable New York Times saw fit to publish not one but two editorials in two days, not merely praising the Common Core State Standards, but attempting to reduce almost all criticism of it to right wing nut jobs like Glenn Beck and the Tea Party. To make matters worse, the editorials were written by Times heavy hitters Bill Keller and, sadly, Paul Krugman. Both articles reveal Keller and Krugman to be completely ignorant of both the Common Core Standards themselves, their genesis, as well as to the ever widening and deepening political opposition to the entire billion-dollar Common Core campaign.

Boy that Port Jefferson rally is scaring the b-Jesus out of the

deformers, as it the general revolt on Long Island, including the Supe in Rockville Center (Carol Burris' turf). Deformers (Diane Ravitch's blog
A Hero Superintendent in Long Island Says: “To Hell with These Scores. They Do Not Matter” -) are using "Glenn Beck hysteria" to try to scare the left into jumping on board. And anti-common core Lawn Signs urging parent to opt-out? Holy shit! We - teachers and parents and anyone who gets what ed deform is all about -- need to play a role in making a massive opt-out movement happen. (Change the Stakes will be leading the way -- next meeting is Tues, 5:30.) If I were running the union I would print a million of these things and blanket the state.

But instead we get this: Mulgrew "Frightened" By Opposition To Common Core with this comment by RBE:

Why should a debate over Common Core frighten you, Mike? Oh, right - I remember now. You head the UFT, an organization which eschews debate, shuts down opposition within the ranks and otherwise works to quell anything and anybody that isn't AFT- and UFT-leadership approved. Well, get ready for a frightful year, Mikey. ... APPR and Common Core are your babies. You were, God help us all, in at the conception of both. 

(Can someone photoshop Randi and Mulgrew as parents giving birth to CC and APPR?)

If one tracks back opposition to the CC it is clear that the uprising came from the left, not the right, which came late to the issue. Witness Susan Ohanian's campaign from DAY 1 years ago. And Leonie Haimson. And I remember when in the initial stages Diane Ravitch took a neutral "wait and see" attitude to study the issue before moving firmly into the "left" wing of opponents.

Ed Notes too took an early stand against CC not because I did any studying or thinking deeply but because of the groups and individuals who were humping it: Duncan/Obama, Gates, Randi, Walcott -- you know when the union and Tweed push something with a heavy hand it is time to run.

(Sorry I don't have the time to find links to the above -- I need to spend time on my deck contemplating my backyard while watching things grow (or try to). Every individual plant needs some cheer leading. And we are also doing some Fringe Festival plays over the last few days.)

Back to business. Right wing states are pulling the plug on support for the CC while the left rallies parents to start opting out -- deny the beast as Karen Lewis told us in Chicago two weeks ago (video will be up this weekend.)

I did a mid-term summary of the bloggers on the issue when Krugman spoke: Jumping All Over Paul Krugman on Common Core

And NYC Educator jumps in with a 3rd NY Times columnist: Charles M. Blow Joins NY Times Common Core Lovefest.

It looks like, in the space of a week, three NY Times columnists have come out swinging in favor of the Common Core. The latest is Charles M. Blow, who I'd previously found thoughtful and worthwhile. His opening salvo informs us we are not keeping up with other countries, yet our lower test scores align precisely with our disgraceful higher poverty levels. 

Back to Raging Horse:

by insinuating that most opposition to the CCSS derives from the far right, the articles are simultaneously an insult to the hundreds of thousands of educators from coast to coast who distrust or even loathe the Common Core and all that it stands for — particularly the very real fear that intrinsically related high stakes testing combined with junk science testing will lead to their termination — as well as to leading education scholars and activists such as Diane Ravitch, Lois Wiener, Gary Rubinstein, Leonie Haimson, Arthur Goldstein, Carol Burris, Anthony Cody, and Susan O’Hanian, to name but a few. Both Keller and Krugman seem oblivious to them all.

For his sake, I hope Krugman, always the most prescient and intrepid of the Times scribes, was drunk when he wrote it so that he might be excused for employing such extravagant or even silly language such as “ entirely praiseworthy” to describe a subject he clearly knows absolutely nothing about. 

Read all of it here.

Political Tidbits: Norm in The Wave, August 23, 2013

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Political Tidbits

By Norm Scott
www.rockawave.com

School Scope began as a column about education. Since Sandy, it has morphed into a mish-mosh. Today I have politics on my mind.

Erich Ulrich in The Wave: “Where have all the hospitals gone?” Did he ask Michael Bloomberg, who he has supported? Fran Lebowitz answered Ulrich’s question: “He thinks of himself as the public health mayor. How many hospitals closed under Bloomberg? Hospitals: that’s public health. Smoking, soda, salt? That’s private health.” Peninsula’s closing was related to free market health scams and St. Johns is in trouble (sorry, next time I fall off a bike and break something I’m going to Maimonides). Ulrich mentions a plan by surging mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio (my leading candidate because Liu or Albanese can’t win – I’ll elaborate next time) calling for the State to use $10 billion in Medicaid savings to modernize hospitals. “Is this the solution,” Ulrich asks? “Maybe not,” he says while applauding de Blasio for suggesting it. Nice way to take a stand. Is Ulrich reluctant to hold government responsible for providing such a basic public service as health care, the usual Republican “let the free market determine?” If Rockaway doesn’t have a hospital it must be our fault because there are not enough rich people to pay for it. What is Ulrich’s plan? Would he support raising taxes on millionaires so Rockaway could have decent health services? Government should be as responsible for health care as it is for fire, police and schooling (fast fading under Bloomberg’s privatization scheme).

Bill Thompson told The Wave how much he cares about Rockaway. He will “explore” reactivation of the Rockaway Beach LIRR line. Translation: study the issue, then toss in to the circular file.  Speaking of Thompson and hospitals, reporter Wayne Barrett exposed ties between Thompson and another millionaire scam artist whose actions have led to the threatened closing of Interfaith Hospital in Bed-Stuy, Thompson’s own neighborhood. Blogger Reality-Based Educator, a NYC teacher told the story in this  headline: “Bill Thompson - Political Hack And Walking Conflict Of Interest.” (http://perdidostreetschool.blogspot.com/2013/07/bill-thompson-political-hack-and.html).

Anthony Weiner, on a visit to The Wave said, “Why do you believe [personal behavior is] relevant to the job of mayor?” Let me get this straight. You engage in risky, insane, irresponsible behavior that blows up your career and harms your family and others in incalculable ways, and you want us to trust you with the lives of 8 million people? I couldn’t care if it was your sexting or the awful way you treat people who work for you or your arrogance. No thanks. But I will say that I like Weiner’s ideas on Rockaway transportation (Weiner has a proven record of having good ideas that he could not execute.) I agree – give up the mythic battle to restore the LIRR line but instead fight to improve what we have - an extra express track and express A trains. (Get rid of the shuttle - Why not an A leaving and returning to B. 116^th St every hour?)

Scott Stringer for Comptroller over Spitzer. Ok, so he couldn’t manage to run a bar 20 years ago but he wants to manage our money. But for an education issue nut like me there are 2 factors that will make me vote for him. As Manhattan Borough president he appointed Patrick Sullivan, the major voice opposing Bloomberg ed policies, to the school board (Panel for Educational Policy). That would be deemed sufficient for me. But he also defeated evil Eva Moskowitz 8 years ago. She might be running for mayor now instead of opening up charter schools while trying to destroy neighborhood schools. But the thought of having her run the city is even scarier – I’d vote for Weiner over her. Besides, if Eliot Spitzer wins, how much pension money will be invested in houses of ill repute? Well, if that would earn 8%....

Leticia James for Public Advocate: Not many people know of her and her chances of winning are not great but I’ve admired her for some time for her stands on charter schools invading public schools and other issues. See her dynamic speech at the December, 2012 Panel for Educational Policy meeting (www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tURc0tBGXw) where she says, “This is nothing more than an attempt to beat the clock to the end of this administration to privatize public schools and bust unions.” If you are involved in education in any way, as teacher or parent or activist or concerned citizen, Tish James is the way to go. (Besides, chief opponent Daniel Squadron is being shilled by the increasingly sleazy Chuck Shumer. 'Nuff said.)

I almost forgot about SCHOOL STUFF.  By now you heard about the disastrous drop in test scores which puts the Bloomberg ed deform back to ground zero as the achievement gap between white/Asian and Black/Latino kids is where it started when Bloomberg became education dictator 12 years ago. Parents will be able to find out the exact scores this week and the fur will fly. It’s all due to the Common Core (or bore) which aims to have every child in the nation doing exactly the same thing at the same time (just joking – sort of). With all the test prep and so many kids vomiting on the tests, we expect the parent opt-out of the test movement (you can opt out you know) to grow this year. If interested, contact changethestakes@gmail.com. The next meeting is Aug. 28, 5:30 at CUNY (34^th St and 5^th Ave – bring id).

Sweetest words of the week: Poll: 2/3 of NY'ers Say Schools Same or Worse Under Bloomberg.  Norm blogs at ednotesonline.com.

Lamenting left attack on de Blasio from the differing left prespectives

We know that the 1%, charter slugs and many others, including the Merryl Tisch/UFT, are jumping on de Blasio for obvious reasons.

These comments popped up on ICE-Mail. First an attack from the right.

I guess people are afraid of him
Click here: De Blasio downtown fund-raising galas eyed as illegal campaign contributions - NY Daily News

Then this lament about the left attack on de Blasio:

Here's the Left (Old? New? Occupy?) doing what is has always done so brutally well— finding fault with one of its own who has ventured outside the cabal.

This article/blog reveals some interesting stuff about NYC Democratic primary mayoral candidate Bill Di Blasio, and the ensuing comments show the Left at its feeding frenzy best, i.e.,  We should abandon Di Blasio (who has a chance of actually becoming mayor) because he is proof that politics, indeed, do make strange bedfellows (bedpersons?), and unearth ( in order to "support") the Green Party candidate who has zero chance of really impacting on the lives of New Yorkers, let alone zero chance of becoming mayor:

http://louisproyect.org/2013/08/16/a-dossier-on-bill-de-blasio/

And a response - which is where I am coming from -- maybe vote for him but still thinking of Sal Albanese (see below). I was thinking of Liu until tonight when we were out with friends, a businessman who dealt with Liu -- not good things to say about honesty. Put your Weiner out there in tweets or try to screw someone -- character still counts for me.

While I may bring myself to vote for De Blasio in the primary, in what universe is he "one of its (the Left's) own?"

He was campaign manager for a carpetbagging Hillary Clinton, and while he may not be as openly vicious and contemptuous of us as Bloomberg - because he happens to need us at the moment - don't think for a minute that if elected he will not be sat down by some Worthy from the New York City Partnership and be told how the world works concerning the schools, zoning/real estate, control of the police, etc.

And he will do what they want.

De Blasio and Bruce Ratner are not strange bedfellows, but power center and affiliated political  broker.

The problem is not the Left cannibalizing its own - which it does do - but liberals and pwogwessives continually deluding themselves about the poses these characters assume during election season. 

Anybody remember "Hope" and "Change?" That didn't turn out too well, did it?

Just as Abby Hoffman said, "Don't buy advertising: make news," the Left should be saying, "Don't pay attention to candidates, make them pay attention to you."

Then these comments about Sal who just maybe is the protest vote even if he can't win. I really don't think the outcomes based on the choices we have will be as different as people think. Best case to teach that lesson is: de Blasio wins and turns into Bloomberg light.

On August 8 (two weeks ago), The NY Times published an editorial about the status of the Albanese campaign:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/09/opinion/what-about-sal.html?_r=0

August 8, 2013

What About Sal?

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

On Tuesday night voters in New York City will be able to watch a live televised debate in the Democratic campaign for mayor. Five candidates were invited: Christine Quinn, Bill de Blasio, William Thompson Jr., John Liu and Anthony Weiner. Sal Albanese was not.

He didn’t meet the eligibility requirement for the debate, which WABC-TV is co-sponsoring with Univision, The Daily News and the League of Women Voters. Invitations were sent in April to the candidates who at the time seemed likely, in the sponsors’ judgment, to raise enough in donations to qualify for matching public funds under New York’s campaign-finance law.

Mr. Albanese, a former City Council member, might eventually qualify for public funds but hasn’t yet, and organizers felt sure in April that he wouldn’t — so he’s out. Mr. Albanese complains that the organizers bent and broke their own rules — first by adding Mr. Weiner, who wasn’t around in April, and then by keeping Mr. Liu, who has no public funds (the New York City Campaign Finance Board voted this week to withhold money from the Liu campaign, citing evidence of fund-raising violations).

Mr. Albanese notes that another big exception was made for the Republican debate, which has only three candidates, two of whom, John Catsimatidis and George McDonald, are not taking public funds. Organizers figured Joseph Lhota couldn’t debate himself, so they invited everybody. They did the same with the comptroller debate between Scott Stringer and the self-financed Eliot Spitzer.

This is a shabby way to treat Mr. Albanese. Yes, he is low in the polls, but he has been a thoughtful contributor to this long, lively campaign. Shame on the organizers, especially the League of Women Voters, for not standing up for Mr. Albanese. They should let voters hear about his plans to fix the schools, his ideas on mass transit, sanitation, public safety, parks. If there is room for only five candidates, then drop Mr. Weiner.

EIA Reports: Weingarten Attacks “Austerity-Mongers” in Speech at Jamaica Resort

Weingarten chose an unfortunate time and place to go after the heartless money-grubbers. The biggest issue currently facing the 24,000-member Jamaica Teachers Association is the disappearance and apparent embezzlement of at least $52 million from its accounts.  ... Educational Intelligence Agency

The big Weingarten stories are her comments on St. Louis (where she wants to help fire "bad" teachers) and Philadelphia where schools are getting the royal screwing from Democratic politicians the AFT local SUPPORTED. Oh well. But this snarky (as usual - which is what we love about anti-union Mike Antonucci) post about Weingarten in Jamaica is so criss.

Note that Randi argues that poverty is important. Did she call for family incomes to be factored into VAM? Just curious since I am a bit out of touch. Let me know if she did.

Mike has the video of Randi up on his site.

Weingarten Attacks “Austerity-Mongers” in Speech at Jamaica Resort

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Intercepts

A listening post monitoring public education and teachers’ unions.

• About Mike Antonucci

Weingarten Attacks “Austerity-Mongers” in Speech at Jamaica Resort

Written By: Mike Antonucci - Aug• 22•13

 

American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten delivered the keynote speech last Monday at the annual conference of the Jamaica Teachers Association, held at the Sunset Jamaica Grande resort in Ocho Rios. She used the occasion to draw parallels between AFT’s situation and that of the JTA.

“I call them ‘austerity-mongers’,” Weingarten said. “They say that education is really important, but then, when we say that family poverty makes a difference, they say that’s an excuse.”

Weingarten chose an unfortunate time and place to go after the heartless money-grubbers. The biggest issue currently facing the 24,000-member Jamaica Teachers Association is the disappearance and apparent embezzlement of at least $52 million (Jamaican) from its accounts (about $512,000 U.S.).

The teacher delegates were further dismayed when it was revealed that the extent of the fraud could, in fact, reach $112 million (about $1.1 million U.S.), as the auditor’s report showed that amount in difference between it and the organisation’s financial statements.
According to the JTA financial statements, the organisation made a surplus of $72 million for the period. However, the auditor’s report reflected a deficit of $40 million.
“How come we don’t hear of anybody being fired or anybody resigning?” one delegate questioned. Another suggested that persons be jailed for the fraud.

That’s a possible theft of $46 U.S. per member. The average Jamaican teacher earns about $18,000 U.S. annually. Four employees of the union’s account department were placed on paid leave during the investigation, with one person of interest, Marlon Francis, still at-large. He is being sought by the Fraud Squad.
It’s not known whether Weingarten offered any advice to JTA from her wealth of experience on how to deal with union fraud, but JTA seems to have learned American communications strategy pretty well. There is no mention of the missing funds on JTA’s web site.

NPE: News on Diane's Book, CPS Bulldozes La Casita in the Night, More States Starting to Question Common Core

Volume 1, Issue: #21 August 22, 2013

Inside NPE News Diane's New Book Opens Heated Dialogue CPS Destroys La Casita Under Cover of Night Philly Gets Grant for Schools to Start On Time States Line Up to Question the Common Core Tennessee Ties Teacher Licensing to Evaluations Tell NPE Your Story As the summer comes to an end, it's the perfect time to reflect on your summer experiences in the fight to save our schools. Send your story to us at networkforpubliceducation @gmail.com and you could appear in our next newsletter!

Greetings! Welcome to the twenty-first edition of our newsletter. This week's newsletter is overflowing with news from across the country, including the CPS demolition of La Casita in Chicago, dire budget cuts and what they'll mean for Philly's schools, and states that are starting to question whether implementing a Common Core curriculum is really a good idea. Plus, Diane's new book is coming soon, and already it is beginning to stir up heated criticism and ardent support. Read it all here!  And like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and JOIN US at our website. Diane's New Book Opens Heated Dialogue Diane's new book draws pre-publication criticism, but why are Diane and others being monitored and ignored? Diane's new book will not be released for another month, but already we are seeing a glimpse of the dialogue it may open up. After Peter Cunningam (Assistant Secretary for Communications and Outreach in the U.S. Department of Education) published 'Ravitch Redux' online, many of Diane and NPE's supporters popped up immediately to decry Cunningham's piece in blog posts and other social media (we have a list of links to particularly great pieces below).  More importantly than being "shoddy and unsubstantiated," Cunningham's piece points to a significant truth: Diane and other members of the fight to save our schools are being systematically monitored and ignored by education officials. Cunningham and others are clearly hearing the critiques posed by Diane and other members of the genuine education reform community. However, instead of listening to any opposing opinions, Cunningham and others are choosing to monitor dissenters and attack any criticisms of their corporately backed policies. In his piece 'Monitored and Ignored--Ravitch and the Rest of Us,' Anthony Cody suggests one way that we can fight this phenomenon: preorder Diane's book now, and when you do so, order an extra copy and send it to your Congress person or state legislator. We must raise our voices and change the status quo, go from from being 'monitored and ignored' to watched and listened to.  Here are some more well-written and provocative pieces we encourage you to read about the attack on Diane's book: 'Fifty Shades of Ravitch: A Book Review' by Reclaim Reform  'Just When You Think It's Safe to Go Back into the Media' by Schools Matter @ The Chalk Face  'Arne Duncan Sics His Flying Monkeys on Diane Ravitch' by NYC Educator CPS Destroys La Casita Under Cover of Night Pilsen community woke up on Saturday to find out its community center will be replaced with a private school's soccer field A dad holds a moving bulldozer away from La Casita at Whittier Elementary School. (Photo courtesy of Tracy Barrientos via Xian Barrett.) On Saturday morning, Chicagoans woke up to the sound of bulldozers approaching La Casita, the field house belonging to Whittier Elementary School in Pilsen. The demolition of the field house by the CPS caused uproar among members of the school community. Twitter and Instagram were bombarded by the tags #Whittier and #LaCasita. The Internet was quickly ablaze with pictures of parents and students protesting the demolition crews and security guards holding them back. Whittier Elementary School is not any ordinary school-it is a school with an incredibly strong community and history of intensely engaged parents.  In 2010, parents staged a 43-day sit-in to save the school's field house, which was also used as a makeshift library for the students and a volunteer-run community center. At the time, the community won and the CPS agreed to keep the field house in place. Anger over the demolition increased as new information came to light. Members of the community were outraged when they discovered that Mayor Emmanuel plans to replace the community center with a soccer field that will serve a neighboring private school, Cristo Rey.  Parents from the previous sit-in still have a letter in hand from the CPS in which it promises to renovate, not demolish, the field house. Not only did the CPS break this promise, but Mayor Rahm Emanuel ordered the demolition without even acquiring a legally required permit to do so. The CPS claims that it was within its rights to tear down the building, but many are questioning the legality of the action, pointing to the fact that the CPS felt the need to hide the demolition by holding it overnight. Despite legal concerns and previous promises, the CPS ultimately did demolish La Casita, after which members of the Pilsen community held a vigil for their beloved community center. Without a doubt, this demolition will only increase the already extremely high tensions between Chicago school communities and the CPS.  Philly Gets Grant for Schools to Start On Time Philadelphia's schools will open on time, but at what cost? The Philadelphia Student Union is one of many groups protesting major cuts in funding and staffing for Philly's public schools. This week brought with it more news on how dire the financial crisis for Philadelphia's public schools really are. Faced with a $304 million budget shortfall for the district, the city managed to receive a $50 million grant that will allow it to continue functioning. The first day of school will not be delayed, but at what cost? Parents protest that while the $50 million grant may allow schools to open, it is not nearly enough to allow schools to continue holding classes and extracurricular programs that students need. "Nobody is talking about what it takes to get a child educated. It's just about what the lowest number is needed to get the bare minimum," says Helen Gym, who has 3 children in the city's public schools. "That's what we're talking about here: the deliberate starvation of one of the nation's biggest school districts." Many agree with Grey's assessment of the situation, including Philly's public school students, who have begun to unionize and protest the district. The students argue that the city is looking for how it can spend as little as possible on public school students, regardless of whether the amount will suffice to provide the students with a good education.  To follow this story further, please visit our website, where you can also read the story 'Why America Should Care About Philadelphia's Children.' States Line Up to Question the Common Core NY, Florida, Maine newest states to hesitate on implementation FACCE is one of several groups that are protesting planned Common Core implementation in Florida. According to a recent PDK-Gallup poll, a well-regarded annual poll, most parents dislike high-stakes testing, a practice that has become increasingly implemented in recent years. This poll comes at a time when states are beginning to implement harsher standards for high-stakes testing, based on the Common Core curriculum. There have been many critiques of the Common Core curriculum, including fears that it replaces ELA curriculum substance with test prep and that its test implementation is almost exclusively in the hands of mega-publisher Pearson, a company that has committed quite a few mistakes in its testing practices and score reporting.  Up until now, higher-up officials and politicians have been largely dismissive of Common Core critiques. However, some states that have announced that they will implement the Common Core are beginning to have doubts.  In New York, critics of both the Common Core and high-stakes testing have been protesting both practices after a statewide test based on Common Core standards caused New York's test scores to drop 30% from last year. On Saturday, 1,500 people gathered in Long Island to denounce the Common Core. Now, the New York legislature is holding hearings in September to review testing practices and revisit whether the Common Core is worth implementing.  In Maine, two groups announced this week that they are looking to hold a statewide vote to repeal the implementation of the Common Core standards, a move that is the first of its kind in the country. The Maine Equal Rights Center and No Common Core Maine plan to submit a ballot measure proposal to the state to repeal the standards. In Florida, the Common Core standards have invited criticism from school communities, and a group called Florida Parents Against Common Core is urging Floridians to call state officials and protest the implementation of Common Core Standards. Furthermore, Common Core standards have caused political turmoil within the state's Republican party. Conservatives and Tea Party groups are outraged by the standards, claiming that implementing national standards is a mistake because curricular decisions should be made by state governments and local elected school boards. Tennessee Ties Licensing to Evaluations Photo by Ron Cogswell, Creative Commons license. Many states have begun to tie teacher evaluations to teacher salary and tenure, a practice that is critiqued by teachers and school communities as unfair. These evaluations are poor measurements of ability, they say, as they are based on arbitrary evidence such as students'  test scores and do not take classroom practices into consideration.  While many are arguing that teacher evaluations should play a less significant role in serving teachers consequences such as decreased salary and lost tenure opportunities, some states are actually making the stakes higher in teacher evaluations. Most noticeably, this week Tennessee announced that it plans to tie teacher evaluations to certification, taking away teaching licenses from teachers whose students perform poorly on standardized tests--a practice that has been found to be unjust. The Tennessee Education Association strongly opposed the move, and protested at hearings and forums held to discuss the plan.  The plan was approved earlier this week, but critics insist that they will continue to fight the decision. Tell NPE  Your Story   NPE wants to hear from you! We would like to publish real stories about the effects of misguided school reforms on our Friends & Allies. Please share this and send responses to networkforpubliceducation@gmail.com. Please forward this newsletter far and wide!    In solidarity,   The Network For Public Education