Passion

"These guys must be crazy," I was told by someone I know. He was referring to those who keep fighting no matter how bleak things look. "Why would someone of retirement age stuck in the rubber room not just retire," he said? I can't explain it but I understand it. I could add: Why fight Unity Caucus? Why stand up to BloomKlein when they own the world, including the press?

I had no easy answer for my friend but I thought of that guy standing in front of the tank in Tianamen Square. Or the people who stand up for human rights against Putin in Russia no matter how many of their friends are killed. Or any number of people throughout history who were mad as hell and wouldn't take it any more.

I thought of this as I was watching the academy award foreign language winning film The Secret in Their Eyes (Argentina) on Friday. One review states:

"A thoroughly entertaining murder mystery, The Secret in Their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos) stars Ricardo Darín (Nine Queens) as a retired prosecutor who can't let go of a 25-year-old rape and murder that he considers still unsolved, but solvable."

Benjamin, the detective, is relentless in pursuing answers. But the movie is really about passion. His 25 year unrequited passion for his married boss, who may have had similar passions (they keep you guessing.) The unending passion of a husband for his murdered wife. Benjamin's alcoholic sidekick Sandoval helps track the killer by figuring out he is a passionate soccer fan. "You can change almost anything," he tells Benjamin. "But you can't change passion. It will always win out."

Maybe that passion is what explains so many unexplainable actions by so many people. And thank goodness for these crazy, passionate people. If not for them we would all be living like the zombies in that revolutionary Apple commercial at the 1984 Super Bowl. Or like the drones at Tweed.

Add On
I saw Bogart in "Have and Have Not" last night and there is a similar relationship between him and the Walter Brennan character who also makes a case for drinking, just as Sandoval did.

The Howler Ravished by Ravitch

The Daily Howler, who taught in Baltimore for many more years than Michelle Rhee, did a 4 part series on Ravitch which is very critical from a certain point of view. He posits the question: if Ravitch was wrong once, who is to say she isn't wrong again? Lots to digest here and I don't necessarily agree, but I'm making it available all in one place for people to peruse and criticize. His final conclusion is certainly worth pondering:

Long ago, we liberals quit on this topic. We left the field to conservatives, to business types, to “educational experts.” (We left the field to Wendy Kopp!) Those people actually seem to care. Your side is AWOL, uninvolved.

I've been pondering this idea about the UFT/AFT. Shanker abandoned "this topic" when he supported the Nation at Risk in '82, backed the Clinton Goals 2000 in the 90's and after his death when the Feldman/Weingarten team supported NCLB. In other words, fighting for full funding for public education instead of looking towards market-based low-cost gimmicks like incentives. Looking at outcomes rather than incomes for solutions. Take a look at Rolan Fryer's mea culpa at John Thompson's post at TWIE where Fryer says, " "’To my surprise, incentive programs that rewarded process seemed to be more effective than those that rewarded outcomes." DUHHH!

The battle for real ed reform from teacher unions ended almost 30 years ago, leading them down the path of trailing the ed deformers. And yes, there was a Ravitch/Shanker alliance through much of this standards/accountability process.

Read it all at Howler on Ravitch

Bill Perkins Charter School Hearing: The Longest Day

Updated, Friday, April 23, 7am and 8am

Just back from the Perkins charter school hearings. Shades of January PEP hades.

I took almost 8 hours of video - it didn't end until after 9pm I think - and I was the last speaker with about 6 people in the room. I just read the Gotham live blogging by Anna and Maura at Gotham along with comments. In the live blog they lost some necessary background (or being so young they missed some subtle points). Also in the attempt to be balanced there is some tipping and not enough skepticism over some things pro-charter school people say and some extra skepticism over what some anti-charter people say. It is nice David Cantor gets to testify to Gotham privately. Why don't I get to do that too? And actually taking the questions of Assemblyman Michael (I want vouchers - along with buying an Edsel) Benjamin seriously- give me a break.

For Gotham to make this the lead based on a typically biased article in the Post is tipping:

Rise & Shine: Could charter stance push Perkins out of office?

Was this the take away from 12 hours of hearings? I call it tipping. If people want to go there just watch the army of people who come out to defend Perkins if he comes under attack from Wall Street (see below.) I NEVER get involved in political campaigns but I would for this one.


Here is what I remember - I'll add to it in the morning if more comes back to me. (I WOKE UP AND ADDED A BUNCH).

I got there at 10am. The street around 250 Broadway was filled with a bunch of Harlem Success Academy people demonstrating.

Peter (I assume Goodman from the UFT - and father of the former UFT middle school charter principal) left this comment at Gotham.

Got to 250 Bdwy at 8 am … room was full and no one allowed in … charter school parents (?) arrived with anti-Perkins, anti-UFT signs, and young white guys in suits clearly in charge. I asked they who they were and who they represented, they scurried away.

TV crews identifying themselves as “independent” media were doing interviews. Saw NY1, WNYC, NY Teacher reporters interviewing … after an hour the “picketers” left.

Take whatever Goodman has to say with a grain of salt but I also saw signs of these HSA "shadow" organizers at previous events.

I was able to get in with my press pass from The Wave and some HSA charter school people, having seen me at various meetings, started screaming about it but the guards let me in.

Got up to the packed hearing room but as press I was able to squeeze my teeny camera and tripod down in front - thanks to UFT pfotog Jack Miller for making room for me - he was working hard all day. By the way, the room had a fair number of Unity Caucus UFT people so it looks like they filled the seats while Harlem Success was outside demonstrating. There were lots of complaints from HSA people about favoritism showed to the UFT but there were also plenty of non-UFT community anti-charter people present too.

I caught the end of Diane Ravitch and she was fabulous. Mulgrew did a good job - except when he had to waffle on the performance of the UFT charters - but he even didn't do too badly on that. He was so much clearer that Weingarten ever was so it was a breath of fresh air - and his wise guy attitude served him well when he came under attack. I liked his performance and shook his hand as he left. Next came the NYSUT guys and I turned off the camera to save tape but so much of their testimony on charter school malfeasance was so compelling I turned it back on.

The $10,000 UFT contribution to Perkins came up when Perkins asked Mulgrew to check his pockets to see if he was in there. I watched the Post's hitman Carl Campanile as this exchange took place. I was going to go over and ask why he didn't look into how much money pro charter school politicians received but he works for the Post (which also had Yoav Golen there - pretty interesting to have the same event but I think I also saw Rachel Monahan and Meredith Kolodner from the Daily News who did that story on charter school malfeasance that was referred to so often during the hearings, so this is considered a pretty big event.


One of the state senators, Craig Johnson, was totally pro-charter, so the pro-charters got their digs in through him. He was pretty well prepared and Mona Davids accused him of being a shill for the charter school association. An assemblyman from Harlem named Michael Benjamin was also pro charter - his questioning was somewhat ridiculous but it is so long ago I forgot why - I just knew I was seething to question him and break him down. Oh, I remember - he attacked the UFT over not supporting the community in 1968 - real grandstanding since the mayor got control because of perceived problems with community control.

Will the NY Post report how much money these guys got from pro-charter forces? I think someone said Johnson got $65,000, a paltry sum compared to the UFT giving Perkins 10 G's. By the way, I took some video of Post reporter hit man Carl Campanile when he wasn't taking notes on some testimony that might damage his boss.

Magnificent Mona (no longer moaning) Davids was there with her crew of charter school parents who are on our side (one person active on Leonie's list came over to whisper I should be nice to MM since she has shifted - I am being nice though we still disagree a bunch.) They talked about parent and teacher rights at the charters and stressed that they wanted to protect teacher rights to assure they speak out against the abuses of charters since they were the only ones willing to stand up for the kids and some were fired. That was the very reason for tenure in the first place and many of us have been arguing that it is teachers who defend kids, not supervisors who often are the ones who want to cover up.

There was some contention when John White and the SUNY and State Ed Dept reps were on the panel discussing how charter schools get approved and monitored, with most of the fire directed at White. In previous testimony, Councilman Jackson talked about how his constituents were getting calls and mail about charter schools, even at private numbers and Perkins wanted to know how that information got into the hands of the direct mailing company - Vanguard- that has a contract with the DOE. One of the few times I ever saw the usually inflappable White (one of the Tweedies parents seem to despise the most) show signs of sweating.

Things between Perkins and White flared up again over Democracy Prep's Seth Andrews' threat to raise money from his Wall St. buddies to go after Perkins with Perkins trying to get White to discuss whether there should be an investigation over the involvement of someone running a NYC chartered school in the political arena. White responded that only if school funds were involved. Perkins did not come off that well in this exchange but he was getting real hot over the issue, as were his colleagues Velmanette Montgomery and Inez Barron. This allowed White to regain the high ground and he recovered to defend the DOE against Assemblywoman Inez Barron's criticism of the results city grad rate and test results, which I felt she could have done more effectively. But her track record as an educator (teacher, principal) gives her great creds and she said she would track down stats for future fisticuffs.

As I sift through the tapes, some of the White segment should go up first.

By the way, the crew from District 15 and PS 15 were shocked to actually have Velmanette Montgomery actually recognize that PS 15 and Red Hook were in her district since she has never responded to their pleas for assiatance in their battle against PAVE. Maybe a sign the heat being applied by the CAPEers from PS 15 and strong allies like Jim Devor, CEC15 head, who also testified, is having some impact.

I ran out of tape after 5 hours so I took an hour off to get something to eat (a Cubano sandwich with rice and beans) and go to J&R and buy some more tapes - and check out the new Macs. I almost didn't go back.

But I was glad I did as a bunch of good buddies were about to speak. Bill from PS 123, Lydia from PS 15 (with what I consider the single most powerful testimony of the day - this should be the tape that goes up first), Akinlabi from CPE , Jim Devor from CEC15 and a bunch of others I am too tired to remember. I have to check the video. (By the way, they streamed the entire day's testimony as a webcast http://www.livestream.com/NYSenate_CorpAuthComm and the guys taping said the entire tape will be up on the web soon.

A bunch of pro charter school people came next - Peter Murphy who Perkins tweaked often about his editorials was one.

And Harlem Link founder Steve Evangelista threw in the kitchen sink as he trashed the two public schools he taught at as the reason he started his own school. He had a whole list of what seemed from my experience to be legitimate complaints but some seemed a bit off. He complained that he had all these pullout teachers coming into his room in his former public school and wasn't allowed to talk to these people. I wonder what would have happened to him if he did? I can't conceive of a teacher who felt it important to discuss kids with colleagues not doing so.

It seems he had 2 bad schools and has used that to bludgeon the public schools, teacher unions, etc. I heard lousy testimony about a few charter schools too and pleas to not judge all charter schools based on that. Did he try to find a better public school? It would seem that fighting to make the public schools a place for people like him to work in and to serve the 98% of the kids left out of charters would be a worthwhile political fight.

As someone who felt the same type of frustrations, I was equally frustrated by his testimony that used just about every Ed Deform buzz word - my favorite was OUTCOMES. You know what outcomes are Steve? Finding out what happened to your kids in 20 years. Many of us back then and the teachers I work with now in GEM did not run off to start our own schools and serve a little corner of 2 percenters while abandoning the rest. They stay and fight and even risk their careers.

The fireworks really flew when he called Perkins a liar and Perkins responded - I have to check the tapes for details.

One interesting comment he made: he is competing with Harlem Success to some extent now - and may the best school win. It is capitalism, isn't it? But I don't think he has to worry since Eva has enough schools in Harlem - how much creaming can you - and is moving on the skim off the south Bronx.

I was the very last speaker as the rumble of people's stomachs almost drowned me out and made the point that John White extolled charter schools as performing so much better that the public schools he runs. He also bragged about the enormous demand for charter schools - from people running away from the schools his bosses manage.

I was on a panel with 3 passionate charter school parents from HSA who are very proud of their kids and their school. I said I couldn't blame them for making a decision to not have their children attend schools they see as not being the best for their children.

There were many signs at HSA supported events talking about public school failrues. But then HSA use parents in a political manner to support mayoral control - at the big HSA rally they gave out cards to every attendee urging them to support the continuation of mayoral control - giving power to the very people who were managing the schools they were running away from.

As I often say, charter schools are about political ideology, not education.

One of the parents was a very nice guy who carries a pack of 20 books around that his daughter had to read. I told him next time we would get public school parents to come with a pack of 30 books their kids had read as proof the public schools work better than charter schools. I see HSA bringing fork lifts with stacks of books to upcoming meetings.

The parent is a policeman and I asked him what would be his reaction of he worked in a high crime area and the mayor said it was his and his colleagues' fault - their union you know - if only the cops would donate a few extra hours a night just think of how many more cops on the street and how crime could be reduced. So a solution would be to set up a competing precinct down the block run by private agency but using public money.

I hope he thinks about that scenario the next time HSA does its union bashing.

Oh, yes, I pointed out that HSA brought 2 nice shiny buses and a professional videographer and sound guy to the PEP meeting. A nice piece of change - I know, I know it is private money (that could have gone to the classroom but when you have everything why waste it on that?).

As I said - political, not educational.

In the end we had a very nice chat on the way to the subway and promised to keep the discussion going.

Add-on:
On the way into the hearing I heard, "Mr. Scott" and there was a former student from my school from around 1970-71 waiting on line for some other business. She told me her son was a special ed teacher. Now get this - I also had her son as a student - in the early 80's yet - scaaary. But she had him when she was even scarier young - like young teens, so not impossible. I think he may have been in the same 4th grade class as the other kids I have recently connected up with. He went through some issues I think as a teen so this was good news - YIKES - GOOD NEWS, WORKING FOR THE DOE? That's the 2nd student from that class to become a teacher. Didn't I learn them better? So far all of the kids I've connected up with recently have done pretty well in the world. Other than the one who got out of jail after 28 years. Makes me less pessimistic.

Perkins Hearing and CAPE on PEP

Lots of people are heading over to 250 Broadway for NY State Senator Bill Perkins' hearings on charter schools. The UFT has called out retirees to be there at 8. Charter school operators are using their hedge funds to bring out their troops and community activists are breaking open their penny jars to get people out too. We will be there for part of the day with video camera.

I have 45 minutes of great footage of charter school parents speaking out against charter school lack of transparencies, abuse of children through excessive discipline and other transgressions that are getting swept under the rug. They spoke out at Leonie Haimson's Class Size Matters parent outreach session on April 10. I will put up short segments on you tube. Here is the first one:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uglWzOXPd78


Maura Walz at Gotham has a good report on the way the DOE distorts school space issues so they can shoehorn in charters. This was a topic of conversation at the PEP meeting Tuesday night. She opens with:

The head of a national advocacy group for improving school facilities is warning that a Brooklyn school building cannot support a charter school expansion plan that the citywide school board approved last night.

Mary Filardo, executive director of the 21st Century Schools Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that helps both district and charter schools plan their building space, composed a report on how space is used at Brooklyn’s P.S. 15. The elementary school shares space with PAVE Academy Charter School, which will expand in the building while it awaits construction of its own private building. Filardo’s report, prepared at the request of New York’s Campaign for Fiscal Equity, was submitted as testimony against the city’s plan at last night’s Panel for Educational Policy meeting.

Here is the latest report from CAPE on the PEP meeting.

PEP Meeting: Repeat Performance

With less fanfare than previous meetings, but all of the pointless nonsense, another PEP meeting ends predictably. The police cars outnumbered the fancy buses that brought supporters of the charter school Harlem Success Academy (in their matching orange shirts) which causes one to wonder what the DOE is so afraid of. If you need that much security at a meeting about schools something is NOT RIGHT! And it wasn’t right. It was not right to watch the mayor’s appointees mindlessly vote in favor of every co-location on the agenda. It was NOT RIGHT to watch a DOE representative whisper in the ear of a certain panel member when she did NOT agree with facts shared by P.S. 15 teachers and parents. It was not right when Kathleen Grimm defended the statements of the P.S. 15 EIS by simply parroting the very statement in the EIS. Read more about this and other nonsensical happenings here. Charter school supporters are all about school choice. One audience member compared it to selecting Pepsi or Coke. What no one seems to mention is the fact that the man who insisted on controlling our public schools for the last eight years had a CHOICE to improve all existing community schools and did no such thing. School choice is ultimately the mayor’s choice. He chose to outsource our city’s education reform to any random person/corporation who decides to open a charter school. He allows the chancellor to choose which schools to close and which schools to cram together in buildings not designed to support multiple schools, compromising the learning environment and school climate for all who attend or work in the schools. Coke or Pepsi, really? What about the notion that all parents and students deserve high quality community public schools!?!

Thank you to the PEP members who questioned the faulty Educational Impact Statement and who voted against the co-location of PAVE Academy within P.S. 15K! I wonder how much longer we must wait until this “process” in fully exposed for the sham it is.

Charter School Parent Scripts Trash Joel Klein Management

One of the consistent themes at last night's PEP from many parents at Harlem Success and PAVE calling for choice was how BloomKlein managed public schools had failed their children, their other relatives and goodness knows who else. It is pretty funny to watch. One HSA parent, an entrepreneur/businesswoman told us about her awful zoned school when she was a kid growing up in Harlem, a school with a horrible principal. She moved back to Harlem and said the same principal was still there 20 years later. There were lots of signs saying "Don't reward failure." Did anyone see Moskowitz' emails to Klein trashing his management of the schools and calling for the kinds of changes that would improve schools for all kids, not just lottery winners?

Another theme was the talk about the number of people on the wait lists. So how come HSA has to send out glossy recruiting brochure after glossy recruiting brochure if there are so many people on the wait list? It's known as building false demand.

This has been on the sidebar of Ed Notes for a few weeks:

Upper West Side Parent Comment on HSA Mailings

Last school year, at a D3 CEC meeting, outraged parents brought with them the HSA mailing that featured photos of a peeling, worn public school door and a shiny, freshly painted charter school door; the text asked where the recipients would rather send their kids. I feel like that was the first HSA mailing that many of us received & it was so outrageous that I think I saved one. John White was at the meeting and didn't have much to say about HSA's 'message,' but when asked why public schools didn't get funds and assistance to do the same glossy PR, he promised the K-2 school under discussion that they would receive comparable DOE help marketing themselves (...that has, to my knowledge, not materialized). At a subsequent meeting, when the mailings kept coming, parents asked what list they were on and who exactly had access to their children's info. The CEC said that mailings were done by a service which printed labels with names of public school parent s/children in the zip codes the sender selected. We were told that the actual names and addresses never went to HSA but were affixed to the mailers by the mail house.

I have been receiving these mailings (in duplicate!) for two years in your friend's same zip code; I always send them back marked return/remove from mailing list, which of course never works. The latest came today: "Around here, every child is college material."

Unity Caucus Engages in Randi Bashing

Reports are coming in quite a variety of sources about mid to low level Unity Caucus people trashing Randi Weingarten and extolling the heroic attributes of Michael Mulgrew. Did this great ad commisioned from David Bellel reach deep into the Unity psyche? Don't bet on it.

That they are all hitting at once is a sign that these are not isolated incidents, but a result of some higher up decisions, probably to protect Unity's flank as the Washington and Detroit situations deteriorate and she is up to her ears in the middle of selling them out. I even got one report that there was talk of throwing Randi out of the Caucus. One ICEer asked: What role, if any, does Michael Mulgrew have in this? Is it the Young Prince slaying the Old Queen to consolidate his authority? And, if so, does it suggest some independence on his part? I am not ready to cede that the UFT can show independence from the AFT unless Mulgrew has ambition beyond the UFT. Just watch the 800 Unity hacks vote up every single Randi initiative in Seattle for a sign.


These reports are almost too funny for words, but Michael Fiorillo found some:

If it's true that Unity people are now going around speaking ill of Randi, then their hypocrisy and cowardliness is despicable. Where were these people when she was undermining the union and the public schools? Well, we all know, don't we? They were uncritically cheering her on, and hissing those who spoke up. Wilhelm Reich had a great phrase for it: "At your feet, or at your throat."

Best,

Michael Fiorillo

Another correspondent echoed Michael:

My Unity friend is saying the same thing, but wont ask Randi critical questions while in Seattle [at the AFT convention which our dues are paying the freight for 800 Unity slugs to go and vote as one.]

A third point of view was a bit more sympathetic to Randi's plight:

When she was in NY, it seemed as though she could control things more - the spin, the players, etc. She had a machine that could get out to the schools and sell just about anything. When she got to Washington, it all seemed to break loose and she lost total control. The attacks on public education became more outrageous. I am sure she is not at all happy with what she must deal with.

You know those 91 percenters? They will see Mulgrew go in the same direction as Randi as the walls crumble since he has no long-term answers. Watch panic set in if the charter school cap gets blown and the UFT starts to hemorrhage members. Don't forget, Randi was very popular for a number of years. I wonder who they are thinking about to replace Mulgrew next decade?

Signed
A Proud 9% Dissenter

Add On:
Just back from the PEP meeting at Prospect Heights HS in Brooklyn. Evil Mousekewitch came out with 2 shiny new buses filled with people wearing orange Julius colored tee-shirts. She also brought along a 2 man videographer team. Almost felt like a Bar Mitzvah. Nice spending of that hedge hog money flowing in.

Our buds from PS 15 were out in force and they made the usual great points. PAVE was there too and between them and the HSA crowd, we heard some deep stuff: choice, blah, blah, blah, I pay taxes and demand space in any public building I want to occupy (how about Gracie Mansion since it's not being used), blah, blah, blah, all kids are scholars, we are graduating in 2120 (ask Evil if she is also paying for college), choice is a biblical, the devil UFT is the problem - Job 1:12; Job 2:6-7. Blah, blah, blah.

City Councilwoman Inez Dickens rouses the crowd at PS 123 over the tactics of Eva Moskowitz' Harlem Success Academy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EncSUpMNzrg

See video from later in the meeting at GEM
Charter School Invasion Hearing At PS 123 Harlem - Dist.5

Why Did the UFT Cancel Harlem Charter School Protests?

That is the question of the day as UFT strategy becomes just a bit clearer.

We reported on April 15 on the UFT district 5 rep Dwayne Clark's call for a picket this past Monday morning before school at the following schools. Here was the announcement Clark sent out:

UNITED FEDERATION OF TEACHERS CHARTER SCHOOL INVASION PROTESTS MONDAY APRIL 19, 2010@ 7:15 A.M. PS 197M SCHOOL ENTRANCE
Chapter Leaders of PS 175, PS 92, CAH, PS 194, PS 197, PS 123, and PS 133:

The UFT is engaging in an action on Monday, April 19th in the morning before school begins. We are asking that your school have at least 3 - 5 members leaflet outside your school because you have a Charter school in your building or geographically located near your school. This campaign does not involve the entire District but your school was selected. I will be providing you with flyers at Friday's Chapter Leaders meeting for Monday morning distribution. Please start speaking to your members to volunteer to leaflet outside your school. Your support in this endeavor is greatly appreciated. I will see you on Friday. COME OUT AND MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

I wrote this last Thursday:

With Harlem being the epicenter of the invasions, there seems to be a stronger UFT response coming with this announcement from District 5 UFT rep Dwayne Clark. Is this the usual UFT holding action to give the impression of a response to keep GEM and the CPE from making inroads? Or is it a legitimate turn in direction regarding charter schools on the part of the UFT? Or are we seeing a local action on the part of Dwayne Clark who must clearly be perturbed at what is happening to the schools in District 5? (Last summer a retired UFT District Rep was at the rallies). Note the language used below borrows from GEM by calling it a "charter school invasion" instead of the DOE term "co-location" the UFT has been using.

Can GEM, the CPE and the UFT work together on these charter school issues? GEM member Antoine Bogard is the chapter leader at PS 197 and is supportive of this UFT initiative. While I don't think the leadership is changing direction (the UFT charters are like any other avaricious charter and looking to expand), I do think that we all can work locally together. The GEM ally CAPE group in PS 15 has maintained a good relationship with the UFT with the idea that they will take all the support they can get in their battle against Goliath.

People on GEM noted the use of GEM lingo: "charter school invasions," pretty strange coming from the UFT since they have 2 charter schools invading space in public schools in East NY. (Hmmm. Maybe GEM ought to pay a visit to these schools and protest the UFT invasions.)

We were curious why PS 241 and PS 30, which both have HSA Evil Mousekawitch schools in them, were not included. Teachers at PS 241 contacted Clark and leaflets were dropped off soon after. We received this email from a PS 241 teacher later that day:

PS 241 added themselves to the UFT protest as we were blatantly left out. However upon receiving more info on the "protest" as well as the fliers UFT wanted to have us hand out we realized it all was a sham. The UFT organized no such protest. They want us to do their bidding and work for them. The fliers spoke about how the UFT is working to support charters and wants to organize with them. We refuse to participate as this is not a real protest. We will not help the UFT to recruit members from the charters they have not protected us from!

The next day, the UFT cancelled the protests.

So this is what these "protests" are all about. Trying to get the public school teachers in a building to help organize charter school teachers by telling them about all the benefits of UFT membership they are missing. I mean, how can they live without paying a thousand bucks a year in UFT dues for all that great representation?

Actually, we still do support the idea of unionizing charter school teachers, but how much gagging do these teachers at public schools have to go through?

At the PS 15/PAVE hearing the other day, the teachers took a different tack. There is such enmity towards the PAVE administrators, they have been reaching out to PAVE teachers and building alliances and will be urging them to go union. The UFT leadership may see this as a win-win. The ambivalence for those PS 15 teachers who agree with so much of what we have to say about the UFT is how to sell a it to the PAVE charter school teachers. Clearly, the teachers at PS 241 and other Harlem schools are having a problem doing that.

REMINDER: Tonight is the PEP meeting at Prospect Hts HS on Classon Ave in Brooklyn (across from Botanic Garden) where the PS 15/PAVE and PS 123/Harlem Success invasions will be decided. We will be there taping.

I am processing a video of the PS 123 hearing from April 12 which will be up this afternoon of Councilwoman Inez Dickens speech. GEM has a video up of a different part of the meeting on the blog.

Washington DC Confidential: Nathan Saunders Candidacy for Union President is the Wild Card

I've been trying to keep up with the constantly breaking story in Washington DC with lots of duplicity to go around from the Fenty/Rhee side and the Parker/Weingarten union side. But is is dissident candidate for president of the teacher union Nathan Saunders whose wild card candidacy seems to be driving the truck. Naturally we owe a lot to our blogging buddy Candi Peterson, who we got to hang out with at our 5 city ed deform resistance conference in LA last July. We also got to meet Saunders, who has the potential to be one impressive union leader. Let's start here:

4/16/10

Today George Parker, WTU President and Randi Weingarten, AFT President announced their plans to reopen new filings for the RIF'd teachers lawsuit as reported by Loose Lips. What appears strange to me are the premeditated series of events below.

The WTU tentative agreement was signed by Chancellor Rhee and WTU President George Parker on March 19, 2010, the very same day that George Parker withdrew the legal appeal previously filed by the WTU on behalf of RIF'd teachers.

Adding even more insult is the fact George Parker didn't seek the required approval from the WTU Executive Board to withdraw this legal appeal, until six days later on March 25th. These coinciding dates appear all too convenient.

Don't you think this is worth further inquiry by your newspaper, station, blog or organization ?

Candi Peterson
WTU Board of Trustees

I put up 2 posts on Norms Notes with lots of stuff from around DC for you to peruse. One from Candi Peterson Reports on Rhee in DC and the other a series of reports from TheMail put out by Gary Imhoff of DC Watch: DC Watches Rhee and Fenty in The Mail with lots of calls for Rhee's resignation.

I don't know if I have all of this right, but I'm sure Candi will correct me where I am wrong.

Let's look at the timetable. With contract talks stalled for years, the Rhee crew and DC president and Weingarten ally George Parker are getting nervous about a possible Saunders win in the upcoming election. So suddenly an agreement is reached to entice teachers into big raises in exchange for giving up - well - pretty much all rights of protection. But as usual, Randi and crew disguise as much as possible.

In the background are the layoffs of teachers last fall, many of them with seniority because Rhee claimed budget cuts. But she hired lots of new teachers for the fall term who remained on the job.

Now Rhee is saying there was a mistake and the money was there. Then it isn't. Then it is. Let's not forget that loads of ed deform private money is part of the deal. Money that will disappear once teachers are suckered into the big raises and then find themselves RIFed out of a job.

OK, we know what Rhee is all about and I believe she was purposely sent into DC to set a precedent for the nation by the Ed Deformers because it was the weakest link at the union level.

But I want to focus on the actions of Parker/Weingarten, which should be so familiar to us here in NYC. The day the contract was announced, they withdrew the law suit against Rhee for firing the teachers. When the lies about the budget shortfall were uncovered, Randi was supposedly pissed and wants to restore the suit. Here are 2 links from Gotham on this aspect:

• D.C.’s CFO and Michelle Rhee are sparring over whether the school system’s surplus exists.
• Randi Weingarten said she’s “really disgusted” by the D.C. situation, and the union is going back to court.

Sure, Randi, you're REALLY DISGUSTED. No match for the disgust you left here in NYC.


Randi/Parker actions are all about trying to redirect teachers from the Saunders militant candidacy. There are no caucuses in DC so it is mano o mano.

Here are some posts from Nathan Saunders.

First a piece that exposes the Weingarten/Parker deception

Statement by Nathan A. Saunders

Wrongfully Terminated Teachers Should Seek Restitution and Damages

Washington, D.C. - On Tuesday, April 13, 2010 DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee disclosed her lie against 266 wrongfully terminate teachers which she has secreted for months. WTU President George Parker was present and silent. Our responsibility as honest brokers, fellow teachers and union members is to make sure those wrongfully terminated teachers and their families receive what we all would want- a new non AFT and non WTU affiliated attorney for restitution of all rights and privileges with damages. We now know that our fellow teachers’ hardship and blood money is the base funding for the Rhee and Parker tentative agreement (TA) - a scheme for national glory not local progress.

One week prior to their televised tentative agreement press conference under AFT’s watchful eyes, Parker orchestrated the withdrawal of WTU’s DC Court of Appeals challenge to Rhee regarding the 266 wrongfully terminated teachers. Parker and Rhee’s collusive behavior is not coincidental, but intentional.

From inception, Parker’s filing of the wrongfully terminated teachers lawsuit was late, incomplete and did not protect all of the teachers’ rights. He did not use critical information gleamed from exhaustive DC City Council hearings and curiously did not require Chancellor Michelle Rhee under oath. Teacher court spectators were humiliated. Rhee has a free hand to abuse because of Parker’s weak representation, slovenly behavior and reactionary leadership. He cannot represent teachers in any manner because he is not trustworthy and Rhee can depend on it. Two years ago, I, as a WTU fiduciary agent, took public action by charging senior AFT officials, Parker and Rhee with collusion. It centered on Parker helping Rhee to discipline (terminate) certain teachers, clandestine agreements and abusing DCPS personnel records. Fighting for teacher job security and rights has been difficult when opponents use high priced press agents, billionaires, and anti-union foundations with more access to AFT than to dues paying members. As the millions at stake have increased, old union tactics of threats, salary reductions, and violence are becoming more commonplace in WTU.

Today, Parker attempts to backtrack with a public statement announcing his outrage with Rhee’s revelations. She could not have done it without his support. As the General Vice President, I am calling on all teachers to boycott future Tentative Agreement presentations. If a ballot for ratification ever arrives- VOTE NO. AFT’s undisclosed conflict of interest to WTU members exists by receiving funding from the same or similarly situated foundations desirous of funding WTU’s teacher raises (AFT’s Innovation Fund).

This TA is not educationally or fiscally sound, and yields future economic opportunities for the individuals and organizations other than DCPS teachers and children. Neither George Parker nor Michelle Rhee is worth jeopardizing any teacher’s economic security or students’ success. Teachers should focus on IMPACT teacher evaluations- Rhee’s new terminating tool- whereby hundreds will lose their jobs quickly. Any attempt by Parker to blame Rhee solely for this debacle without acknowledging his culpability is another repeat offense against DCPS teachers and students.

Here Saunders analyzes the contract:

DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee and WTU President George Parker announced a tentative agreement (TA) after three years amid protests of a group of wrongfully terminated teachers and now former union members, who lost their medical benefits, life insurance, and voting rights. Since that time, the news media has been regurgitating the well prepared press package without investigation or analysis. Despite their unfounded reports of soon-to-be-rich public school teachers, the TA delivers less. Teachers have not received mailed copies of the TA and the Internet version at WTUlocal6.org does not include the side agreement letters, yet it advertises “the entire” TA.

Teachers’ rights in the contract are ambiguous and vague, and use unresolved terms. The words “tenure” and “seniority,” while preserved, are irrelevant, as their meaning is gutted and without substance. A troubling section is Performance Based Pay; it is incomplete and states it will be developed later — yet Performance Based Excessing is oppressive — establishing quick terminations within sixty days. For Rhee, the contract is specific, binding, and punitive; for teachers, it is incomplete, indefinite, and unenforceable. Rhee has made the jobs of the DC city council, mayor, foundations, and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) child’s play with Article 40, et. seq. (P.103):

ARTICLE 40 - SUFFICIENT FUNDS

40.1 The Parties agree that all provisions of this Agreement are subject to the availability of funds.

40.2 Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as a promise that Congress, the DC Council, or any other organization shall appropriate sufficient funds to meet the obligations set forth in this Agreement.

40.3 DCPS agrees to provide financial certification that DCPS can meet the obligations of this contract before moving toward final approval. The parties agree that the failure to provide the funds to meet the obligations of the Agreement pertaining to base salary, benefits (defined as the provisions governing optical, dental and legal benefits), and mutual consent, is a material breach of contract by DCPS. The consequences of that breach will be settled by a court or an arbitrator, unless otherwise negotiated by the Parties.

The TA creates no financial liability on any entity. It does not have the full faith and credit security of the DC government. As a result, teachers are not guaranteed a 21 percent raise or a 0 percent raise but teachers will jeopardize 100 percent of their current salary. Because of Article 40, CFO Gandhi could approve the TA’s financial soundness without using his calculator, that is, if he and others (DC city council and the US Congress) are as eager to shortchange teachers as Rhee and Parker. Article 40 language is an entirely new low standard to WTU contracts. Nothing is certain including the bonus, the base salary, the promise or the requirement for the DC Government to even appropriate the funds! Teachers risk everything without any assurances. Article 40.1 and 40.2 are failure to pay escape clause provisions which would cause any breach of contract lawsuit to wilt. Article 40.3 is unnecessary gibberish as all breach of contract issues are court adjudicated based on common law principles. The “Article 40 style trickery” permeates the entire TA. Those believing the courts would not allow a bad deal to exist must think again. Courts do not inquire into the value of promises negotiators make to one another. The number or quality of promises made by DCPS or WTU is not the business of the court. Therefore, teachers could ratify a bad deal and have no legal recourse.

Rhee’s education philosophy translates into “terminating teachers helps children,” and teachers voting for ratification will be endorsing her. Churning teachers in and out of classrooms will affect students negatively. Some voters for ratification may be seduced by Wal-Mart and Enron foundation money, but they could join ranks of the DC unemployed. Teaching jobs are hard to find even for experienced, certified teachers — ask the protesters. With the DC government running a $530 million deficit and calls to reduce DCPS spending, ratifying an unsecured, non-pensionable, and unenforceable TA could create hundreds of unemployed teachers. Most teachers, who are committed to students’ well being, the teaching profession, and their family’s economic security, will say no to ratification.

Ed Notes Does Culture

The last few days have been packed with cultural stuff. Plays, a movie and lots of eating out. But I found time to take this picture of my flowering sand cherry or plum in front of forsythia with a New Dawn redwood in the background. I could stare at this all day.

First I should apologize to the students at NYU's Wagner School who hosted the wonderful rubber room movie premiere Friday night for implying when I wrote about it that lots of students came because the movie was free and for the free food. I was confusing my motivation with theirs since I ate more than anyone. One commenter put me in my place.

As a student at NYU Wagner, I would like to offer that many of the students attending the Rubber Room event care deeply about education issues and are interested in eradicating failed education policies. In fact, it was students studying education policy at NYU Wagner that approached the filmmakers and made the event available to the public. Almost all of the daily events that occur at the Puck building are free for students and are followed by a reception but yet do not have as large of a student turnout. I would hope that education activist would look to students as potential allies in their causes as opposed to questioning their commitment.

This comment reflects some of the tension between people who study education policy and those who practice it by teaching but I'm sure there is some common ground to explore, which I'm looking forward to doing. GEM even had a request from an NYU grad student for an internship which threw me a bit but I recommended that GEMers look into it seriously.

One more thing about the Rubber Room premiere. I was introduced to two people who work for the DOE in a fairly responsible capacity. They read this blog apparently. They were delightful to chat with and made the case that they are all not ogres. That they try their best in a difficult situation to actually help people. My policy is to give people the benefit of the doubt. I try to maintain decent relationships with some people at Tweed no matter what the rancor. I know that not being in the line of fire at the schools makes it easier for me to do this.

Oh yeah, the cultural stuff.

Thursday we went to see Bogart in a 1952 movie called "Deadline USA" at the Film Forum and it was so apt to some of the politics of today. The theme was a serious newspaper edited by Bogart (The Day) that is being sold to a rag --- reminded me of the NY Post. The Rupert Murdock like owner was going to just eliminate the competition by closing the paper. Bogart uses his paper to expose a mobster before his paper goes under. His passionate plea to the judge for a free and diverse press should be a mantra today in a sea of pro-BloomKlein and pro ed deform coverage. Funny but "The Day" was modeled on the NY Times but in reality when it comes to ed coverage often functions as a semi-rag (compare the superior Daily News coverage and I have to locate Leonie's devastating take down of the Times in a recent email). And of course I was reminded of the one party Unity control of the means of communication in the UFT. Just think of Bogart at the Delegate Assembly.

After the film we walked crosstown to meet Lisa Donlan for dinner on the lower east side - Frankie's on Clinton street- very nice meal.

And then we all walked a few blocks to see my former student Ernie Silva's one man show at La Tea theater on Suffolk Street. I put up an updated report on the show - Ernie informed us tonight he was voted the best show. I told him last night there is a market for teachers to see this and all ed deformers should be forced to see it.

Friday I went into the city for the premiere of the rubber room movie which I reported on here.

Saturday we saw a preview of "Enron" a new musical about the rise and fall and it was pretty well done and political but there are no characters you could root for. It was pretty creative and I would recommend if you can get TDF. Now, I want to see the documentary, "Enron, the Smartest Guys in the Room."

Our friends' daughter moved into a new apartment on east 73rd St on Saturday and we went to take a look at what looks like a $1400 a month closet, followed by dinner at a place we just walked into that turned to be spectacular - Persepolis on 2nd Ave between 73rd and 74th - Iranian food with an owner who was wonderful - went around to all the tables and sat down and chatted and sent over free drinks. Great food- middle east but more subtle - a least that's what my wife the food expert (she watches the Food Network all the time so she must be an expert) said, so I'll buy it.

Today went over to the Rockaway Theatre Company to see "The Rabbit Hole" directed by Frank Caiati who I've taken acting classes with. Frank, an Actors Equity pro, got his start at Leon Goldstein HS and is a recent Brooklyn College graduate. The play got great reviews on Broadway in 2006 (Cynthia Nixon and John Slattery of "Madmen" fame along with Tyne Daly) and Frank did a great job in casting and staging the play at the RTC. It is a powerful drama of great loss and its impact on a family. As usual, RTC has nailed another one in its first show of the year. It has one more weekend to run - next Friday and Saturday night and Sunday matinee (Check out the RTC website) and even though I saw it through the lens of my video camera, I enjoyed it more than Enron.

That community theater is willing to tackle a serious drama like the Rabbit Hole is a tribute to the sharp crew running the theater, mostly current and former NYC teachers, by the way. Not that they are always wise. Susan Jasper reminded me today they are expecting me to audition for one of the card player roles in the "Odd Couple" this December. I told her only if I get to smoke a real cigar on stage.

I did manage to get in 2 hot yoga classes and some time on the treadmill since Friday, so I am not a total wreck.

Ernie Silva Show an Allegory for Why Achievement Gap and Teacher Quality Are Phony Issues, Updated

UPDATE: Sunday, April 18, 2010, 11pm

I updated this post today. I saw the show for the 2nd time on Thursday the 15th and it got better and better and I got a few more insights. My wife and Lisa Donlan were with me and we all got to vote for Ernie as the best in the show. There were more "kids" from the old neighborhood there and it was a pleasure meeting Sam C. who wasn't in my class because he moved into the area in the 5th grade. He told me his daughter just graduated from PS 147 last year and he has another kid in the school. Lucky Klein didn't close them down yet and open up a charter. I also ran into a familiar face - one of our robotics coaches who grew up with Ernie. The connections astound me.

It was Ernie's final performance in NYC. He is heading to Chicago and I will let the gang there know he is coming

Ernie called yesterday and he is heading back to LA Monday. He will be back this summer and I hope we can hang out a bit. Last night he and a bunch of the old gang got together for dinner - 3 girls I haven't seen in 25 years. I would have love to see them. Ernie would like to do Fringe NYC and since I volunteer there I hope to get him noticed. They are wrapping up this years' shows for the August festival, but maybe next year I can get all you guys out to see him.

Ernie just sent out a message on Facebook:

Heavy Wins NYC's "The ONE" Solo Festival!!!!!

R. Ernie Silva

Heavy Like the Weight of a Flame has WON N.Y's 2010 "The ONE" solo show Festival!!!!!!!!!!!!

GO ERNIE!

REVISED FOR THE WAVE - April 16, 2010 edition
April 14

I had to cut words for the print edition and this version reinforces the concept that less is more. See info at the end for Ernie's final 2 shows. A bunch of us are going Thursday night. The show is part of a contest and Ernie is in the running to win, so if you go don't forget to vote.




I never write about former students by name because of privacy issues unless they give me permission. But when they are out there performing an autobiographical show about their lives...

So I watched my former 4th grade student Ernie Silva perform his powerful one-man show, "Heavy Like the Weight of a Flame," with a different eye. As his former teacher and a member of the education deform resistance movement, I saw things that a casual viewer might not see. The show reinforced what every experienced teacher knows: it is not the so-called achievement gap or "teacher quality is the most important element" - blah, blah, blah - but the street gap faced by most Black and Latino kids compared to the daily life experience faced by middle class kids.

Ernie's story may be unique but it is also in many ways typical of kids growing up in the projects and on the streets of Williamsburg in the 1980's. There was lots of danger all around. Ernie faced it all. Shots fired at a party with one slicing a hole through his shirt. Being stopped by cops pointing guns in his face. Drugs, drugs, drugs - everywhere - in his own house where he was the youngest of 13 children and his brother, destined to die young, was a heavy user. And the other brother in prison who also died. He ended up riding freight trains across the country.

Ernie became a street performer doing break dancing when he was 12 and still a 6th grader. One thing led to another over the next few years and he started doing stand up. His bio states he became an obscene hooky player and started using his train passes to travel around the city looking for comedy clubs instead of going to school (he attended Murray Bergtraum HS). I won't get into the rest of his journey that led to a scholarship to a graduate acting program at USC. He lives in LA now.

Ernie did not face the so-called achievement gap in reading. He was in one of the two best classes I ever had in terms of academic skills (either 1982 or 1983) in terms of achievement and 75% of the children in that class (which I only got because of a threatened grievance) were reading on or above grade level. They wouldn't have been in that class otherwise since classes were grouped strictly by reading scores. Their math was probably not as good but generally they were at a pretty high level. What needs to be pointed out is that most of these kids walked into school as 4 year olds (the top level neighborhood kids usually attended pre-k) with some level of skills and the teachers nurtured these skills.

Ernie talks about how he was a voracious reader. Shakespeare and he was the only one in his house who watched Masterpiece Theater. Friends and family told him: "You can't change things with all that garbage you read" and "knowledge is dangerous and raises questions." Mostly these questions took the form of "What the f!"

Ernie's teachers through elementary school were experienced teachers who were at the top of their game. That class was pretty much together from pre-k through 6th grade. The bottom classes also had the same teachers and the academic results were very different.

There were only 2 classes on the grade in those years at my school as we had lost lots of population due to tenements being torn down - which by the way automatically raised our scores as the project families were more stable than the tenement kids. Ernie was a project kid. The difference in reading ability between the top and bottom classes was very wide. One of the best teachers in my school had the other (bottom) class and she told me she had a tough time that school year. Thank goodness for the UFT contract or my principal would never have given me that class without my threat to grieve it. The next year we reversed positions as the contract demanded. My principal generally violated the contract and I was one of the only teachers who demanded my rights be honored.

I attended the show with Dina, another student from the same class, who I hadn't seen in 25 years. We caught up during intermission. He taught in NYC high schools for years and keeps track of his former students. He was the best math student I ever had and one of the brightest students. He and his sisters' journeys are also interesting and instructive and illustrate how very bright kids in places like Williamsburg have to take routes - like through the military - that middle class kids don't have to face.

I know that anecdotal stories are not considered "data" but the follow-up stories teachers who spend many years in one community hear inform their knowledge and understanding of what it will take to make real changes and why so many of us are ed deform resisters. Joel Klein and Teach for America tell their minions there are no excuses and they often end up discounting trying to address the "street." This is misleading to young teachers who must have an understanding of the "street" and how it transcends the question of reading and math score data. Having such an understanding - which only comes to white middle class teachers through years of experience and involvement in the lives of their children - is a building block toward becoming a more effective teacher.

I want to stress that I also do not believe in making excuses. Teachers have to believe in every student's potential and do their best to help them fulfill that potential. But there are bigger issues that must be addressed that are way beyond the teacher. Indeed, it was that understanding that pushed me into political activism by my 4th year of teaching. It was the first time I became active – the 60's passed me by – and my activism was driven by the kids.

During our reminiscences with Dino, he had lots of memories of my classroom (my giant room) and the trips - the time I loaded him and 5 other kids into my car and took then to my house after school as a reward for good behavior, how he was car sick and barfed in my driveway – sure ways to get a SCI investigation today - I hope the statute of limitations have expired.

Contrary to the Ed Deformers, I do not take the position that teachers are the major influences in these kids' lives, but are small pieces of a very large jigsaw puzzle.

Seeing Ernie perform was special for me. He managed to work my name into the show ("Mom, my teacher Mr. Scott, gave me an A on my science exam today").

I didn't go out with Ernie and his crew after the show, though invited. The other former student joked that he was waiting for me to leave before lighting up because he didn't me to see him smoking. I thought I was a pretty casual teacher and things like that wouldn't matter. But teachers have an impact in ways that are beyond our imagination.


Ernie has two more shows left (Weds Apr. 14 and Thurs Apr 15 at 8pm) before he heads back to LA and I may see it again on Thurs). His show is part of the 5th annual The One Festival at La Tea theater at 107 Suffolk St. The cost is $20. If Joel Klein and any other ed deformers want to go it is my treat.


Add-Ons:
I just got this email from Lisa Donlan that touches on the issues raised here discussing the
"soft bigotry of low expectations and the belief that the condition of poverty compromises human development is what we need to reform since we see this belief manifest in schools where teachers believe they can not teach kids who are not ready."

My response is that poverty determines where you grow up and that has more of an impact than schools or teacher expectations.


*I will add the story later of why I had to grieve for that class and all the manipulations my principal went through to screw me.

Fiorillo on Free Marketeers Invasion of Schools

The response to Diana Senechal's article at Gotham Schools, "Why Teaching Experience Matters" has been intense. There's been a some back and forth between Michael Firoillo, myself and Ken Hirsch. This comment by Fiorillo is worth sharing, but you should get on over there and check out the debates.

Fiorillo responds to Hirsch

1) It has much less to do with "market participants" who behave badly, than with a system that enables,encourages and enriches them, and with the encroachment into realms where its hold was not previously absolute. Over the past thirty years, as finance has become an ever-greater percentage of the economy, we've seen a corresponding polarization of incomes, and a increasing degree of capture of government by financial interests.

The issue isn't that these are Bad People - although the are MANY bad actors out there - but that, rather than functioning in its legitimate role as tightly controlled mid-wife to productive investment, finance instead extracts an ever-increasing amount of the national income by means of interest, fees, royalties, rents, on ever-more abstruse financial vehicles, many of which are of
negative social utility (except, of course, for their issuers and traders).

It may sound strident to use words like "parasitic" and "predatory," to describe the so-called "free market" financial system, but can anyone who reads this site contest the fact that the most outlandish paranoia of the most vulgar Marxist has been confirmed and exceeded by the pillaging that we learn more about every day? This isn't just some bad apples, but a system based on many levels of deception, self-deception included. The financial industry is increasingly
sociopathic, and enriches itself at the expense of other sectors of the economy and society at large. It needs to shrink, and we should start by putting it on a very short leash in the schools.

It is my contention that the deepest, tectonic forces at work in so-called education reform are part of that same tendency to loot and pillage, and that in fact public education and Social Security are seen as El Dorado by many. That's not a personal attack on any one individual, but an observation about how the system has been set up to work, and how people have been "incentivized" to benefit from what history will show to be an era of social vandalism.

2) You and other venture capitalists are of course free to comment and become involved with issues regarding public education. You're free to open your own schools, although I don't see why the public should subsidize them. The problem is your implied equivalence between the involvement of average citizens and the likes of Eli Broad, Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg and others further down the food chain. Let's speak openly about this, and like adults: there's absolutely nothing comparable between them, and let's not pretend there is.

Ed deform malanthropists do more than just comment: they use their immense wealth, augmented by decades of tax cuts and deregulation, to establish a corporate/philanthropic/academic/PR complex that is able to train cadre, fund friendly research and set the terms of debate. That's a significant difference. In fact, they are now insinuating themselves deeper into the day-to-day running of school systems, as cash starved cities and localities rely on them. We are seeing private interests becoming directly involved in the finance of education, as in Washington DC.

It's my contention this is not a healthy thing, as it turns children's education into a commodity, reduces possibilities for democratic engagement and shrinks the public sector.

See all comments on this post here:
http://gothamschools.org/2010/04/06/why-teaching-experience-matters/#comments

Rubber Room Movie a Hit With Audience

With the recent publicity over the UFT/DOE settlement, last night's premiere of "The Rubber Room" at NYU's Puck Building attracted such a large audience, the screening had to be held in three separate spaces. That the settlement came a day before the premiere was not lost on the participants. Since the film was getting so much publicity it seemed to act as a spur to the UFT and DOE to avoid further embarrassment.

The audience was an interesting mix of current and former denizens of the RR, activists associated with the RR, and a large number of young people who are undoubtedly students. I was curious why they attended. Was it the very idea of a free movie? But then I saw them bring out the wine, cheese and cookies at the follow-up reception and the answer was clear.

The film moved smoothly through 75 minutes. There was so much potential material to use and so much to focus on, that making these choices where to go with the theme must have been very difficult. One thing everyone seemed to agree on: Joel Klein comes off looking like a total ass. If I were doing the film I might have gone in other directions, but there is not doubt the film is entertaining. In the Q&A afterwards, Jeremy Garrett and Justin Cegnar said they used the most interesting people. I can understand that. I sat through 3 hours of one of their interviews with a 5 year denizen of the RR and they used about 5 seconds of that footage. I don't blame them.

The film does make the point that RRs have existed for 20 years but doesn't go into some of the reasons behind the rubber room intensification under BloomKlein as a way to create enough fear at the school level as to make the union ineffective. One New Action/Mulgrew apologist blogger was already celebrating (prematurely): "A huge obstacle to rebuilding, or building from scratch, real chapters in the scores of mini-schools – the threat of being rubber roomed – that obstacle is history." Sure, dream on.

In the Q&A it was clear that people believed that though the rooms as an entity may be gone, the fear and loathing entailed in unchecked power in the hands of principals may continue. Of course people are counting on the time limits (60 days) to be adhered to. Of course the current time limits (6 months) were not adhered to. Will teachers be told to file a grievance? I didn't look closely enough but if someone finds a monetary penalty for the DOE for NOT adhering to time limits, let me know.

We have been in touch with the filmmakers Jeremy Garrett and Justin Cegnar almost since the beginning of the project. They attended an ICE meeting and some of their initial trailer had many ICE member comments embedded. They have this great quote from ICE's Gene Prisco at their Five Boroughs web site: "In American jurisprudence you have the right to know the charge, who made the charge and to defend yourself. This is a system designed by Kafka and carried out by Mussolini." I wish that made it into the film.

There's a short segment in the film with Jeff Kaufman but by and large, the film stays away from the actions of the union and focuses on a group of the more interesting and colorful people who were affected.

The film makes some important points while also being entertaining. There were quite a few burst of laughter from the audience during the film and I had a sense people really enjoyed watching it. There are a few uneven spots and some of the early sequences were a bit confusing to people who are not involved with all the aspects of education in NYC. There was a lot of titling on a black screen. That is a choice filmmakers must make as an alternative to having a narrator. From my own experience it seems that when you have a paucity of good b-roll action footage, the choices Jeremy and Justin made seem to make sense.

There is an interview with Randi Weingarten whose appearance caused some snickers in the audience, a hilarious sequence where an outraged UFT member is seen screaming about the union as the camera pans to Randi holding a bull horn and looking like a deer in the headlights as she didn't know how to respond to the outburst.

I filmed the same sequence Jeremy did from another angle since this event was filmed at the ATR rally in November 2008, the day of the notorious wine and cheese party at the union HQ that attempted to subvert the ATRs waiting at Tweed, where I was attacked by Randi for filming. As a matter of fact, Jeremy also tried to film that event and wasn't allowed, so he waited outside while I was shooting in the room. (That event led to the DA passing a reso that no filming was allowed.) Jeremy headed over to the rally at Tweed while I filmed the scraggly march of what UFTers were left from 52 Broadway up to Tweed, where the outraged ATRs were awaiting Randi. If you haven't seen that yet, check it out.

The Video the UFT Doesn't Want You To See: The ATR Rally


Add-Ons
See Rachel Monahan and Meredith Kolodner with a sympathetic RR piece in the Daily News
Kimani Brown waited in the rubber room for 1 1/2 years; he hopes for faster justice for others

Note: Meredith was working at The Chief years ago and did an interview with one of my colleagues who was arrested and railroaded into the RR 3 years ago and is still there.

See Chaz for his take and comments. Mine was:
I believe that principals still had to get permission from above to send someone to RR. They were always supported. Now the question is what the network will do. Has anyone seen any enforcement penalties for the DOE? What they did accomplish is breaking up the mass of the RR and putting individuals in more isolated places. As one RR person said to me at the premiere of the movie last night: it will be harder to organize or get info out to people. Most RR people initially go into a real funk and the union doesn't do much for them other than to tell them to wait it out with the argument they are getting paid. So for some it will be worse. Isolation. Now we know how these arbitrators work and how someone who rules too much for the teacher is let go - see the Pakter guy Douglas Bantle who is being let go and seems like the fairest guy I've met. By the way, what ever stopped the DOE from hiring more people all along? Someone should keep count and get a list of these people and when they work.

Click here: "Law & Order" episode to feature teacher rubber rooms - NYPOST.com

Check back later for a clip I shot of Jeff Kaufman commenting on the rubber room which I am trying to locate.

Report from the Rubber Room

By Philip Nobile
April 16, 2010

“Everytime Klein gets in trouble, he trots out the rubber room,” thundered Brooklyn Borough Rep. Howie Schoor yesterday in the 25 Chapel St. TRC. He denounced the DOE’s archipelago of Devil Islands as “a tool to attack the UFT.”

His tirade was introduction to the grand announcement that rubber rooms, Klein’s Bay of Pigs, were history. No longer would the Chancellor have us to kick around when things went bad for him.

Oozing solidarity, Schoor lamented the fates of many of us who have sat around for weeks, months, and years waiting. as in pre-Magna Carta times, to learn the nature of our crimes and to confront our accusers in a due process hearing.

He said that the agreement to streamline the investigation and prosecution of UFT members was opposed by Klein but embraced by the Mayor. Why? Because the TRCs became a public scandal. Full pay for no work, costing the city $50 million a year, was too crazy to last.

Schoor listed the key reforms. For us already reassigned, we would be offered mediation without possibility of termination (a miraculous concession) or a hearing guaranteed to finish by December 31 (enabled by hiring more arbitrators).

Alleged malefactors in the future would be guaranteed inquiries of no more than 60 days. Teachers accused of incompetence would be charged within 10 days. If not, they would be returned to their classrooms.

Starting in September, all reassigned members would be put to work in some fashion in schools or DOE offices. Further details, Schoor said, would be available in the text of the agreement posted on the UFT website.

The not entirely unexpected news aroused the expected gamut of emotions—liberation from a space of official disgrace, relief from threat of termination, apprehension that speeded up reforms would come at the expense of fairness, and anger that the UFT had allowed TRC to flourish without much resistance.

During the Q & A, this correspondent asked Schoor why the UFT did not protect teachers from the corruption of OSI investigators in league with hostile principles who are primarily responsible for condemning members to reassignment (though the DOE is the ultimate decider). Schoor was reminded that the DA passed a resolution against “biased” OSI probes last May and that Schoor himself had said that most rubber roommates were victims of “trumped up charges.”

Schoor passed the query on to Special Rep Arthur Solomon who handles all OSI cases in Brooklyn. Before Solomon spoke, he was reminded of his past lectures to chapter leaders, saying OSI was stocked with rogues and should not be trusted. Yet he and Special Reps like him offer little real advocacy at the earliest, delicate stages of investigation when our fates are set in motion.

Solomon routinely advises members to keep quiet during OSI interviews and refuses to share copies his interview notes until hearings.

Solomon was defensive in reply. He revealed that two OSI cops were recently fired and hinted that he was to blame. “I am vocal and articulate in the interviews,” he said. "I have been active with the Director [Candace McClaren] and have made some inroads. Anyone represented by me knows that my job is to protect your job.”

Tell that to Peter Principe, a former Brooklyn dean repped by Solomon during a strange corporal punishment interview with OSI investigator Dennis Boyles. According to Principe, Boyles said “It’s my job to find you guilty. You don’t pay my mortgage. The DOE does.” Solomon testified at Principe’s 3020a hearing last year that Boyles had chilled their conversation with an a priori declaration of his client’s guilt. But Solomon’s witness counted for nothing against Boyles’s denial and his own neglect to produce incriminating notes or any other exculpatory evidence like a contemporary letter of protest to Director McClaren. No inroad in this case. Consequently, and perhaps unnecessarily, Principe was terminated.

In sum, the disappearance of rubber rooms is a revolutionary achievement for the UFT, but as Diderot would say if he were a member, teachers will never be free until the last rogue DOE gendarme is strangled with the entrails of the last cruel Chancellor.

Lois Weiner: What's right - and wrong - in Diane Ravitch's new take on school reform

I could subtitle this piece, "It's neo-liberalism, stupid." We have long noted how the UFT/AFT disguises the ed deform attack on public education as being personality driven or due to local events. Rhee is bad. Klein is incompetent. Detroit has nothing to do with Washington DC or NYC. Sure, Michelle Rhee was not sent into DC as an advanced guard to set an example that could be used nationwide. For the 91 percenters who think Mulgrew is different, watch the UFT/AFT delegates performance at the convention in Seattle this July. GEM will have people there to take notes. At least Ravitch takes us on a national tour and creates links for us to follow. That takes us part of the way towards forging a national resistance.

Lois Weiner, who we hope to have as a guest speaker at an upcoming GEM meeting (she's out in Chicago now speaking to CORE), puts the Diane Ravitch book in perspective in the New Politics journal. You can see a video of a recent event where Weiner and Ravitch appeared at this link: http://www.blip.tv/file/3425447/

Susan Ohanian, who has been writing about this stuff for over well over a decade, commented: I agree with Lois Weiner that we should applaud much of Diane Ravitch's critique of school reform in Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice ARe Undermining Education. I think her book is on target with many valuable insights in the New York City and San Diego chapters and mostly on target about the Billionaire's Club. But I also agree with Lois that what is missing is a critique of liberalism and an exposure of the savagery of capitalism.

by Lois Weiner

Five friends, none of them teachers, have called to tell me they heard about Diane Ravitch's new book and her change of heart about the school reforms she advocated for a decade. "Lo! She's saying what you've been telling us!"

The publicity for Ravitch's book has certainly put her incisive critique of the reforms (privatizing education; using standardized tests to measure everything; looking to "choice" and charter schools drive improvement) in the news.

But it is revealing that Ravitch's book uses none of the scholarship that radical critics of NCLB published about the reforms she supported. Instead, she goes back and reinvents the wheel. (Susan Ohanian has traced the foundations that contributed $125,000 to the writing of the book.)

I noted in panel at New York University in which Ravitch, Edward Fergus, and I appeared, Ravitch should be commended for her courage in criticizing the extremely powerful think tanks and figures (the "Billionaire Boys Club") with whom she previously hobnobbed. Her drive to set the record straight on how the reforms are destroying public education should be welcomed.

Still, it's important to note what she gets wrong and why. In the book she explains being "caught up" in the widespread "enthusiasm" for market reforms. She will not, however, name this as the neoliberal project. By the political yardstick she uses in the book, the American Enterprise Institute is a "well-respected conservative think tank." Someone whose first job in New York was at The New Leader [pdf file], where she learned all about left sectarian politics and met Max Shachtman, (as she noted in our exchange before the panel), knows enough to name capitalism's latest iteration.

Ravitch won't name neoliberalism as the problem because it would force her to confront facts she'd rather ignore. Like the fact that 70% of the new jobs being created only require a minimal education. Or the fact that her idea of a great education is the Houston schools of her youth, a school system that was racially segregated.

Ravitch's very unpersuasive agenda to beat back the neoliberal assault is a return to the post WW2 welfare state, pre-Brown versus education and those messy social movements that created the culture wars. She wants a kinder, gentler neoconservative restoration, one shorn of neoliberalism's savagery. Her solutions include having parents (meaning minority parents) teach their kids how to behave right and read to them at home.

As I said in the panel, this solution won't do. I share Ravitch's critique but to halt this juggernaut we have to see the international dimension of the project and its roots in capitalism's appetite for greater profits from a workforce that competes in a race to the bottom.

Neoliberalism's project to privatize education and destroy the teacher unions (though perhaps they'll be permitted to exist in name only, in the West) can't be defeated with Ravitch's solutions. Diane will have to come on board with her radical critics if she's serious about reversing the destruction she describes so well in her book.

— Lois Weiner
New Politics
2010-04-11
http://newpol.org/node/292

We Are In Deep Doo Doo
Lois Weiner
Borderland transcription of NYU speech
2010-04-11
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.php?id=3955

Borderland has provided a transcription of Lois Weiner's trenchant
observations at the NYU  Radical Film and Lecture Series.

Watch for the Snarks and Boojums on Rubber Room Agreement- Updated

Updated 11pm, Apr 15

The announcement is coming soon, but I wanted to make a few points of prediction.

NBC reports the following:

• A teacher will only be able to be removed from a classroom for 60 days. If by then the teacher has not been charged, he or she can return to the classroom unless there are serious accusations involved.
  
• The deal gives the city greater ability to suspend teachers without pay in more severe cases, and saves taxpayers from spending $30 million a year to pay teachers to essentially do nothing.
  
• The hearing process will be expedited in part by hiring more hearing officers to adjudicate. In less serious cases, there will be an expedited hearing process in which the case will be resolved in three hearings over a period of two weeks.

The key is who doesn't get paid in the more "severe" cases. Look for these to be expanded to a wide level - like anything having to do with a child. I'm not talking things like sexual charges (which is already a reason to not get paid - and teachers have been exonerated based on false charges). I'm thinking things like ANY physical confrontation. Who knows what else? Will there be enough ambiguity to give the DOE wide latitude not to pay people?

And what are "serious" accusations? Does anyone trust the UFT to assure bullet proof protections? Will they tell you to file a useless grievance?

See the report on the ICE blog: The Rubber Room Deal: Breakthrough or Missed Opportunity


TAGNYC commented:

After building up public sentiment against teachers who 'sit doing nothing on the taxpayers dime", after repeating over and over in the press that it is the 'teachers' who delay the due process process", after making sure that voices contradicting this lie- the DOE has total control over how long a person sits in a Reassignment Center-are never aired in the media, after watching the UFT abandon teachers and others' within the schools, now the DOE and UFT have once again entered into an agreement that will turn teachers into ATRs more quickly, does not address the arbitrary and unchecked power of principals to remove UFT personnel for 'a good reason , a poor reason, or no reason at all" (employment at will), and will of course not hold arbitrators to any standard of ethics in rendering their decisions. Will these new hearings be any different than the kangaroo court that hears appeals of U ratings? (Remember, Weingarten was going to address this.) The problem is WHY teachers are being put into reassignment rooms.


ATRs- beware. See the April 13th piece in the NY times reference a bill to change how lay-offs occur.

TAGNYC