A View from the Trenches of the War on Teachers in New York City Schools

----Or The Gotcha Culture at the NY City Department of Ed.

by Matt Frisch

July 5, 2010

Imagine for a minute that we live in a culture in which we are judged solely on the basis of our shortcomings- our strengths, talents, past experience and accomplishments all have no bearing on how we are judged by the world at large. One tiny slip, one miscue, one weakness and we are labeled a failure for all the world to see. Now, imagine that we are forced to submit to other people’s highly subjective criteria of what constitutes an error or a weakness and that the criteria are constantly in flux but the decisions of those sitting in judgment over us are nonetheless final and irreversible. This is not the stuff of science fiction or a nightmarish prediction of the future; this is now. This is the culture created by 8 years of mayoral control of the NY City school system.

The mayor and chancellor have spawned a generation of principals and assistant principals who are encouraged to consolidate their own power in their buildings by bringing in their own people and by pushing out independent-minded veteran teachers. The arsenal of weapons at the disposal of these aggressive administrators to use against non-conforming teachers is virtually limitless. Any infraction, no matter how insignificant, can serve as the pretext for disciplinary action. The stakes in this unfair fight are the teacher’s mental health and livelihood.

Allow me to describe how this blood sport is played in the elementary schools. A principal decides that he wants to get rid of a teacher. Perhaps the teacher has questioned the principal’s pet professional development program as irrelevant to the most pressing needs of the students. Perhaps the principal just needs to meet his quota of unsatisfactory ratings. In any case, the principal drops by the teacher’s room and notices that a student is sitting by himself rather than with the group. The principal asks the student why he is sitting by himself and the boy says, “The teacher says I talk too much.” The principal leaves without a word to the teacher. This “incident” leads to a disciplinary meeting and invariably to a letter in the teacher’s file saying that students must not be excluded from lessons and ending with the dread word- “unsatisfactory.” Or imagine that a teacher on the principal’s hit list has a sick parent or child at home, has to take a phone call and is seen by an administrator with a cell phone to his ear during class time- another negative letter to file. All principals need are two of these critical letters and it is well within their authority as supervisors under the NY City Department of Education to rate that teacher’s work, over the entire school year as unsatisfactory. There is nothing the teacher’s union can say that can change that decision, as long as the principal has adhered to the letter, if not the spirit, of the UFT contract.

These are just two examples of the awesome power principal’s hold over teachers. As I said earlier, the grounds for rating a teacher’s performance as unsatisfactory are only limited by the breadth of the administrator’s creativity. Today’s administrators are not held back by any quaint notions of collegiality with teachers or by an understanding of the realities of teaching that might be gained through experience. Graduates of the DOE’s Leadership Academy are for the most part young and inexperienced. Their primary motivations for becoming principals are the salary and the power, rather than any desire to make a difference in kids’ lives. They go about their work of consolidating their power and doing their higher ups’ bidding without ambivalence or scruple.

A year or a career’s hard work are trashed because of a cell phone conversation. The profound, perhaps life-changing influence a teacher has had on his students, the important lessons he has taught, the way he has shared aspects of his own personality and given his students a safe space to explore and express their own unique qualities- all of this is beneath the notice of these young, ruthless administrators. All that matters is that on March 15th, the teacher was seen drinking a hot beverage during class time or on April 6th, he took his class to the front of the building to see the daffodils during the “writer’s workshop” timeslot.

Principals are impervious to any excuse for an infraction, once they have you in their sights. And they are all powerful. Who can a teacher turn to when he is caught for example with his head on his desk during a preparation period and is accused of sleeping during the prep? Unless the principal’s accusations violate specific rights guaranteed in the teachers’ contract with the DOE, the UFT cannot come to the teacher’s rescue and he is at the mercy of the principal.

The new breed of principals is not weighed down by any ethical baggage. They don’t believe in anything other than consolidating their own power and protecting their own sorry skins. They do what they’re told by higher-ups; they aggrandize themselves and punish anyone who rocks the boat. Principals fear two things- low test scores and angry parents. Test scores are not a problem because the tests are so dumbed down and curved up that nearly every student is judged above average. Never mind that 4th graders don’t know their multiplication facts and can’t write a grammatical sentence- the Department of Education in conjunction with the test publishers can virtually guarantee that almost every student will pass.

The risk posed by angry parents is tougher to manage. The short term solution that most principals choose is to dispense with discipline in the school. Incidents short of violence causing serious injury or bringing weapons to school are swept under the rug. No consequences for the rule breaker; a few pat assurances to the parents of the injured party and on to the next incident. No one takes a stand and no one is the wiser. This approach allows the principal to steer clear of the shoals of angry parents for the short term but the atmosphere in the building gradually deteriorates, a little each day. Disrespect and roughness toward classmates and teachers alike become the norm and sooner or later something really bad will happen. But by then, no one will connect the dots between this one isolated incident and the overall lack of discipline or leadership in the building.

All the discipline that principals could implement, in a uniform and consistent manner, with students is inflicted, in a capricious, self-serving way, on teachers. Kids go to the principal’s office with a swagger because they know that nothing they do, short of really hurting someone or bringing a weapon to school, will get them into any real trouble. Teachers go to the principal’s office with their hearts in their hands because unsatisfactory ratings for two years in a row can get you terminated. Bloomberg/Klein’s new graduates of the Leadership Academy are the system’s hit men. The more veteran teachers they can bring down, the higher their star rises.
Principals can make limitless errors without any real consequences. Scheduling can be haphazard, communication with staff can be sporadic and their scores for trustworthiness on the school environment survey can be abysmal but none of this will pose an obstacle to the principal’s advancement. It almost seems the more dysfunctional a building, the more the DOE likes it.

Principals are given broad financial discretion. They can hire more assistant principals than the number of students can justify, they can sign up for intensive, costly professional development that no one wants, they can hire an endless procession of substitute teachers so that regular teachers can engage in endless reinvention of the wheel and there are no repercussions from above.

Students can’t write or do arithmetic? Again, no problem as long as they pass the dumbed-down tests. The more counter-intuitive and convoluted the professional development program, the more popular with principals. How better to keep teachers jumping through hoops with the wool pulled tight over their eyes than with an emperor’s new clothes circus of professional development swirling around them. When professional development is on hiatus, the “mushroom” theory of management- keep ‘em in the dark and feed ‘em sh*t- takes up the slack.

Without any real accountability for poor administration, what’s an ambitious young principal to do to keep his edge? Bullying veteran teachers makes a good substitute for real leadership. It allows principals to feel like tough administrators and win accolades from superintendents and network leaders without making any substantive changes to the corporate-friendly status quo. Do as you’re told; follow a few simple rules spelled out in the teachers’ contract; check your humanity, sense of fair play and sound educational principles at the door and you’re set for life. That’s all the Department of Education asks of its new principals. This is the Kafkaesque culture that we immerse our children in when they go off to elementary school each morning.

Matt Frisch
frischome@aol.com

Tell Randi to Follow the Constitution in DC and Hold Elections

Dear AFT member:

Please CUT AND PASTE the email script below to AFT and DC CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS. Please remember to remove the word forward in the subject line and CUT AND PASTE only the email script and senders names. Don't forget to sign your real name as a UFT/AFT member. Please forward this email to teachers at your school and encourage them to write the AFT.

Don't forget to SIGN YOUR REAL NAME AS AN AFT MEMBER

Send Emails to:
rweingar@aft.org

asquire@aft.org

dstrom@aft.org

amitchel@aft.org

cc: hthomas@dccouncil.us

cc: vgray@dccouncil.us
cc: WTUElections@gmail.com

Dear President Weingarten and AFT staff:

I am an AFT Member and I am demanding that the Washington Teachers' Union hold elections immediately and restore WTU's General Vice President, Nathan Saunders salary and position. Only the WTU/AFT Constitution should be able to determine when local union elections take place. It is my understanding that the AFT has postponed DC elections and I believe this to be unfair. Members pay dues money to the AFT which should entitle them the right to vote in a timely manner. The AFT must demand that the WTU to do the right thing.

Signed,

Rochester Crew Was In the House

We met a great bunch of resistance fighters from Rochester today who made the long trip down to rally in front of Malcolm Smith's offices in Queens and Manhattan because of his attempt to get the NY State Senate to shove mayoral control down their throats. I won't go into Smith's history here - search Ed Notes and The Wave (www.rockawave.com) to find all the sordid details. You see Smith's picture when you look up "conflict of interest" in the dictionary. The Daily News sent a reporter.

James and Camille Eterno (and baby) came by to make a statement as did GEM's Diane Smith. I took some video which I will try to work on during the long plane ride to Seattle. (Big question- should I do convention stuff Thurs night or go see the Yankees?)

Some of the Manhattan parents showed up later (I didn't make that event) and here is a statement by Richard B:

I stood with the folks from Rochester in front of Malcolm Smith's 250 Broadway office today. NY 1 and WNYC radio were there. I pointed out when it was my turn that as unhappy as those of us here in NYC are about the fact that the Legislature essentially renewed mayoral control for NYC with only minor changes, over our objections, there is a level of outrageousness present in the Rochester situation which was not present in our situation, in that a legislator from another city (Smith) is attempting to get mayoral control established for Rochester EVEN THOUGH the city's own senators oppose it.

As Patrick Sullivan wrote in a post yesterday, we really ought to demand that our own senators refuse to go along with dictating to Rochester how its own school system should be governed.
RB

Weingarten delivers the goods: Tim Daly of NTP - A frequent critic praises the union head for backing bold reforms

UPDATED: Mon, July 5, 9:30pm

What else is there to say when both Michelle Rhee and Tim Daly praise Weingarten for delivering the goods. The "goods" are the heads of rank and file teachers on a platter.

David - if you read this deliver the goods - Randi's head on Salome receiving John the Baptist.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/07/05/2010-07-05_weingarten_delivers_the_goods.html#ixzz0sp41wnwP

Addendum:
Off to Seattle tomorrow morn to do battle with the forces of evil.

Contrast to the NEA- I was shocked when a close colleague over 40 years said yesterday- maybe there should be a movement away from the AFT towards the NEA. I'm not totally convinced but given the lock-down Unity holds over the AFT/UFT what's to lose?

The NEA Gets It from RBE at Perdido and

Another World from NYC Educator

July 5 Rochester Parents/Students Travel to Malcolm Smith's New York City Offices to Demand Autonomy and No Mayoral Control

UPDATED - Sun, July 4, 11pm

In NYC, mayoral dictatorship has led to parent voices being shut out; growing class sizes, manipulation of data and statistics, massive chaos and school overcrowding; school closings and privatization as charter schools are given space in district school buildings. Arbitrary and damaging decisions are repeatedly made for our kids by people who have never sent their own kids to public school.

Please join Rochester parents if you can;

Thanks, Leonie

July 5, 2010

*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***

ROCHESTER PARENTS AND STUDENTS TRAVEL TO QUEENS AND MANHATTAN OFFICES OF SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH TO DEMAND LOCAL AUTONOMY IN DECISIONS ABOUT ROCHESTER CITY SCHOOLS: NO TO MAYORAL CONTROL IN ROCHESTER

What: Press conference and rally with The Rochester Community Education Task Force. Rochester parents, students and community leaders will travel six and a half hours to Queens and Manhattan to express opposition to Senator Smith's high pressure tactics pushing mayoral control in Rochester. Senator Smith introduced a senate bill for mayoral control last month at the request of Governor Paterson. Both Rochester area senators Joseph Robach and James Alesi have refused to sponsor mayoral control legislation, as they are well aware of the overwhelming opposition to mayoral control of Rochester schools.

The Rochester delegation will be met by New York City education activists who will express solidarity based on years of failed reform under mayoral control. They are anticipated to express concern with Malcolm Smith's involvement in charter school scandals in Queens.

Part One: Visibility Event / Rally at Queens Office

Where: 205-19 Linden Blvd, St. Albans, outside Malcolm Smith's Queens office

When: 12:30pm Monday, July 5

Part Two: Press Conference at Manhattan Office

Where: 250 Broadway, opposite City Hall, Malcolm Smith's Manhattan office

When: 3:00 pm Monday, July 5

Contact: Mary Adams, representing the Community Education Task Force

Parent of two current RCSD students

585 317-2367 or 585 615-1626

Maryb_adams@urmc.rochester.edu (no access on Monday, use phone)

About the Community Education Task Force (CETF)

The task force of students, parents, grandparents, teachers, community leaders and education activists assembled in January 2010 as a coalition of groups responding to the Mayor Robert Duffy's announced plan to eliminate the elected Rochester City School District School Board and take control of the city's public schools.

Addendum from Leonie
See below message from Rochester parent activist Mary Adams; all NYC parents are invited to join her and other parents and students who are travelling all the way from Rochester to protest Sen. Malcolm Smith’s introduction of a bill in the legislature to impose mayoral control on their schools.

Right now Rochester has an elected school board (lucky them!), and neither of the Rochester State Senators could be convinced to introduce such an unpopular and un-democratic bill.

Instead, in violation of long-standing practice to allow local legislators to have priority over laws that will be imposed in their districts, Queens State Senator Malcolm Smith has introduced a bill modeled on the law that extended mayoral control in NYC, creating parent community councils with only “advisory” powers (we know what that means), and a rubber stamp board that the mayor would control through a majority of appointees.

Smith has declared that the State Senate would vote on this bill as early as Tuesday.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Smith has also received thousands of dollars in contributions from the hedge fund privateers and charter school lobby, and is under investigation for numerous ethical and legal violations.

All NYC parents are invited to join Rochester parents in protest at one or both the two events listed below; the first in front of Smith’s office in St. Albans, Queens at 12:30 PM; the other in front of his office at 250 Broadway in Manhattan at 3 PM, near City Hall. A special invitation goes to Smith’s constituents to attend these events. Let him know how you feel, about his standing in the way of democracy and the rights of Rochester parents to have a say in their children’s education.


From Mary:

We welcome SOLIDARITY SPEAKERS at either or both locations, and have not yet confirmed any for certain -- if you have a story to tell about mayoral control or about public school issues in NYC , or the Senator's charter schools, etc. we would like to have you make a brief press statement of solidarity with us. We would also like to get to know you, so maybe we can plan on a brief debrief after the event at a nearby park or coffee shop.

Thanks!

Mary Adams (parent) at MaryB_Adams@URMC.Rochester.edu
for the Rochester Community Education Task Force

585 615-1626 or 585 317-2367

Karen Lewis: Our opponents have deep pockets and shallow morals

State of the CTU Address-Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis.

CORE took over the union on July 1.

Lewis asks the rank and file to organize parents and students at the grassroots level to defend public education.

http://vimeo.com/13012492

This message is so counter the the message given off by the AFT/UFT leadership no matter what the rhetoric.

One of the ironies is that one of the opponents will turn out to be the leadership of the AFT/UFT, a group with deep pockets and shallow morals.

This message is so counter the the message given off by the AFT/UFT leadership no matter what the rhetoric.

Is Randi Weingarten more aligned with Bill Gates than Karen Lewis? Watch her make nice to the CTU – with a dagger behind her back. The cynic in me is always active. Will Lewis, once enfolded in the pillows of power, be able to resist attempts to pull her away from her core - or CORE?

There are signs some of this occurred in LA where Duffy was not totally aligned with the core.

TWU in NYC - see stories out there on Marc Kagan, Elena's brother's disaffection from Toussaint.

The way around this is to de-emphasize the cult of personality and view the president as one of many who could serve. Any group fighting for power must take so much into account. There may be many lessons to learn from Chicago over the next few years, both positive and negative.

Girls Prep Principal/CEO Miriam Lewis Raccah resigns

A letter dated June 30 was sent to all Girls Prep parents informing them that Miriam, Founder of Girls Prep and CEO of PublicPrep has resigned. Cristina Garcia-Coleman, the Managing Director of Finance and Operations will serve as the Interim CEO while the board conducts a search for a new CEO.

Interesting news in the light of the request to SUNY for charter modification. Girls Prep and PAVE are controlled by the same forces. Spencer Robertson's wife is on the GP board.

For background check this post at Norms Notes:

The Interlocking Directorate: Girls Prep charter r...

Excerpt:

In the 7/31/09 renewal application to SUNY the cover sheets lists a management co ( CMO) at it is: PublicPrep ( contact- MLR (Miriam)
on p. it explains that founding principal Nakia Haskins left in the middle of the 2006-07 school year and that MLK was acting Principal.

p. 11 explains how in 2008 the founders of GP established a CMO to oversee the growth of a network of schools 9 GP LES, their "first replication ES", GP Bronx and the proposed MS extension.

PPN will be governed by its own Bd of trustees, led by CEO MLR who will provide extensive support/oversight.

During the next charter MLR will transition form former position as Exec Dir to become CEO of PP.

No changes to 2004 By Laws

PP incorporated in 2008 .. will officially launch in 2009 w/ opening of GP Bronx and proposed MS at GP LES, creating the first complete PP K-8th academy.

More: The Interlocking Directorate: Girls Prep charter r...

Bill Gates at the AFT: Bringing in a Trojan Horse

The chief ed deformer in the AFT hen house. But with Randi Weingarten playing the role of the Manchurian Candidate, (or the Trojan Horse herself as Fiorillo notes) those chicks came home to roost a long time ago.

Or as NYC Educator states in today's brilliant post.

Nazis Address Synagogue

Klansman Addresses NAACP Convention

.....a follow-up to yesterday's post where he catalogued Gates' persistent failures of judgement on ed policy - and touches on just one of the numerous failures of Microsoft even in the computer field. (Both of us are Apple users for a reason - and I who was a school tech since 1984, know full well the extent of so many Gates failures.)

Beginning July 8, the AFT convention will take place in Seattle. That city's favorite son, Bill Gates will address the convention. Diane Ravitch will not - she is going to speak at the NEA a few days before instead.

I wonder if the AFT leadership really wants to hear what Diane has to say since they seem much more in alignment with Gates' educational philosophy that hers.

One of my thoughts is that Gates speaking to the AFT is like the proverbial Trojan Horse (thanks to David Bellel for the graphic), though Michael Fiorillo's comment – "Gates is not the Trojan Horse; Randi Weingarten is" - may make more sense.

I will be in Seattle to cover the convention for Ed Notes, The Wave and as a stringer for Substance and will try to put up daily reports. If the Wall Street Journal or the NY Times wants a stringer I am available. I work cheap - which means nada.

Below are the 2 target posts from NYC Educator that I am cross posting to give them the widest possible coverage. They are so in the must read category as to make me insanely jealous that I didn't write them myself.

The only statement I would dispute is: "Fortunately, he'll only be addressing those teachers who've openly collaborated with him, so we won't have to worry about his converting anyone new." That may be true of the recently elected 800 Unity slugs who would vote unanimously to abolish free air if told to by their UFT masters - anything for a free trip, though recent contacts with Unity people indicate that even some of them are not happy. But then there are those 150 newly elected delegates from Chicago and others that have been in touch from around the nation who know exactly what Gates is and the role he plays in undermining public education and using his money to privatize not just schools but control over educational policy.

Ay, Caramba!

Nazis Address Synagogue

Klansman Addresses NAACP Convention

Unlikely headlines. Nonetheless, I keep reading that Bill Gates is addressing the AFT convention. It kind of makes me glad I won't be there. What the heck can Bill Gates, who knows nothing but union-busting, trendy gimmicks, and ungodly alliances with Wal-Mart, tell a bunch of teachers?

Fortunately, he'll largely be addressing those teachers who've openly collaborated with him, so we won't have to worry much about his converting anyone new. After all, UFT leadership insisted we collaborate with him on a value-added experiment back in September. Bill placed his surveillance cameras in classrooms all over the city to figure out some sort of rubric for good teaching. His lies and Big Brother techniques alienated a handful of teachers in my school to the point at which they dropped out, turning down his $1500 payoff.

Then, before this experiment even concluded, before its results were even imposed upon us, UFT leadership made a deal with the state to have value-added used to assess teachers. They promised us they'd do research. They promised us they'd negotiate how it was done. After all, there's no research whatsoever to support the validity of value-added. I suppose if you're going to do something baseless and stupid, you may as well do it carefully. Teachers will certainly lose jobs as a result of this, particularly coupled with the rubber-room agreement that makes sure they're dumped quickly and efficiently.

Last week, though, in order to avoid some of the school closings (which, if not for the UFT collaboration on mayoral control, may not have even been a consideration), the UFT agreed that a bunch of schools would begin value-added assessments next year, a full year ahead of the agreement, with no research, no planning, and no specifically negotiated plan. One might argue, since the entire notion has no validity, that there's no point fretting over a valid model.

Considering all that, why shouldn't the most destructive force in education address his collaborators? What have we got to lose? You'd hope that an AFT convention would be a place where they'd discuss a productive future for education, a vision for improving the lot of teachers.

Instead, you've got the Antichrist coming to deliver the Sunday sermon.

Ding Dong, the Kin Is Dead

Microsoft, after having invested who knows how many millions, has killed its cool new phone, the Kin. Here's the problem--no one wanted to buy it. So the Kin is kind of a modern-day Edsel. How could Microsoft, the company practically synonymous with rich guy/ educational genius Bill Gates make a mistake? It's a mystery. Why am I writing this on a Mac? Yet another mystery.

Of course, Bill made a few errors himself. There was that small schools thing, which was a great idea, except that it didn't work. Oh well, you can't have everything. What's important is that Gates is still widely regarded as an expert, despite his utter lack of credentials and his repeated willingness to support ideas that are not only unproven, but which must be repeatedly propped financially up by Wal-Mart to even exist.

Now, of course, we're talking about charter schools, the most recent panacea, the magic bullet that will change everything just like all the previous magic bullets failed to do. Bill's billions will see to that. With Eli Broad, the Wal-Mart family, and all the faux-Democrat hedge fund managers, they continue to push non-union charters as ways to get our children accustomed to working long hours with no play time--just as they want them to do as adults.

For our children, though, the ones who will be left with even fewer decent job opportunities, Bill's latest wide-eyed golly gee whiz venture may not prove to be an Edsel after all.

Indeed, it could be the Titanic.

Has UFT/AFT Given Up Pretense They Are Opposed to Individual Merit Pay?

Teachers for a Just Contract has a pretty good analysis where they claim that agreements between the UFT and the DOE has broken down the so-called barrier between school-based merit pay and individual merit pay, something the UFT/AFT (which will endorse these schemes officially at next week's convention in Seattle) said it would never do. But they said they would never do a lot of things. I put the TJC position up on Norms Notes- "ANOTHER TABOO VIOLATED: UFT AGREES TO INDIVIDUAL Merit Pay..." which elicited this comment from a chapter leader:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post

What's missing from TJC's analysis, which is very good, is that UFTers who are selected for this merit pay scheme will be directly and or indirectly helping management rate their union brothers and sisters and potentially getting them fired. What other union would do such a thing. Can you think of one? This is the result of years and years of appeasement and a failure to build a strong, informed, democratic union.

The UFT is participating in the ruling elite's desire to crush teachers' unions, privatize public education and regiment teaching and learning through the use of data, high stakes testing and new teacher evaluations. All of this might be labeled as follows:

THE DICTATORSHIP OF UNIFORMITY!!!

The UFT understands this but like so many other unions today is unwilling to challenge Capital. Why? They believe they can temporize the situation. They believe they will "get through this." This can only be classified as self serving, infantile and unrealistic. The President of our country is leading this attack on education. Where is our vision? What are we fighting for? We are always "fighting" against something? What is our program and how do we communicate this to our members and the community?

Is the UFT afraid of events "catching fire" if they truly try to educate and mobilize our union? Are they afraid of losing power? Are they afraid of being crushed by the ruling elite, by Wall Street?

These are amazing times. What will be done?

Sincerely,
A Lonely CL by the Sea

--------
Afterburn: Later we'll delve into signs there will be an ATR "agreement" - sellout - before long.

Yvette Felarca Opposes Weingarten for AFT President - First contended election in AFT since 1974

UPDATED: June 30, 12pm


We heard from Berkely Ca. teacher Yvette Felarca who will be running against Randi Weingarten for AFT president next week at the AFT convention in Seattle.

Hi Norm,

It would be great if you could send my campaign flier and invitation to run with my slate to the listserves.

I especially appreciate it if you get the info. to particular people who you think might be interested in running, whether they're coming to Seattle or not (they can still run).

And of course, if you're a delegate, I need your vote!

Thanks again.

--Yvette

Only delegates can vote- and we know that with 800 Unity slugs going at our expense, they will control the convention. But it will be interesting for future reference just how well Yvette does. Maybe having Bill Gates be a feature speaker will spur people to vote for her.

Unity Caucus held a meeting last week for THE EIGHT HUNDRED to tell them how to vote and to train them on monaipulating Roberts Rules to their advantage (I'll do a follow-up on this meeting later). Apparently they were spreading some hysteria about the Felarca candidacy even though they know Randi can't lose in such an undemcratically controlled union.

One of the things the Unity crew told the delegates was that this was the first contested election since 1974 when Al Shanker ran against the incumbent David Selden, who had been Shanker's mentor. (I seem to remember some other elections but can't pin them down.)

The story of that 1974 election is chronicled in a Wiki which is a must read.
It talks about the ideological underpinnings over the Vietnam War where Shanker was the war hawk and Selden was opposed.

I was at that 1974 convention in Toronto and got to ask Shanker some questions at the candidate forum. Whenever I had the chance, I asked Shanker why he favored guns over butter. The next year a bunch of us went to Hawaii for the 1975 convention to hand out The Case Against Shanker, a pamphlet we wrote. (Our Unity pals were thrilled.)

Remember, the 1975 convention was a short time before the 1975 financial chrisis devastated the NYC school system. My guns/butter questions to Shanker grew more pertinent.


Ed Notes will be in Seattle covering starting on July 6 and through the 11th.

Here is s section from Yvette's leaflet, which is posted below- click to enlarge or email me at normsco@gmail.com for a pdf.

Education Must Be a Right –
Our Children Are Not for Sale

Save Dr. King's Vision for America

• Organize Independent Mass Actions and Build the New Student-Led Civil Rights Movement to Defend Public Education from Pre-K Through College
• Stop Relying on the Democrats to Save Us
• End "Race to the Top" Now – Release All Federal Funds to States Based on Need
• No More Charters, No Vouchers
• Save Public Education: Stop Union Busting, Get Rid of Arne Duncan Now
• Build Independent, Integrated, United Teacher/Student/Community Action to End Legislative Attacks Against Teachers and Black, Latina/o, Immigrant, and Poor, Working-Class and Middle-Class Students of All Races
• All Our Students Can Learn and Excel – Reject High-Stakes Testing & Market-Economy-Based School Reform Plans
• Stop Teacher Bashing. Defend Our Union's/ Teachers' Dignity, Ability, & Character

The Verdict is in: Obama is NOT FDR - How About Hoover? Or LBJ?

A Hooverville from the 1930's

"Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it."

Some think of this as a hackneyed expression.

I live by it.

(Actually, Santayana said: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," a statement that can be applied to world and personal histories.)

As a history major in undergrad and grad school my sense of current and future events is rooted through links to what I understand about the past. Having studied the Great Depression of the 30's, I have always been worried about The Big One hitting again, probably one of the reasons I have always been very fiscally conservative waiting like some spinster for deflation to strike once again.

But all those years I was reassured that it couldn't happen again - Glass-Steagall and all that stuff, you know. But with the complicence of the free-market Democrats - Clintons and the rest of the skunks - in the 90's, and the Bush/Chaney crew this century, we may be getting into the same territory.

I monitored the lost decade and beyond in Japan. How the nikkei - the Japanese Dow - was once close to 40,000 in the late 80's and is less than 10,000 today. People in Tokyo were walking away from their highly priced apartments as the real estate market crashed.

When the crisis here hit in 2007/8 and the market tanked, followed by a supposed recovery, I was remembering my history lessons. That after the 1929 crash, the market rebounded. The full depression didn't hit until 1932. So by my accounting, we are somewhere in 1930 or 31.

So whenever I get into big political arguments - mostly with my wife's family, many of whom will vote for Sarah Palin over Obama no matter how much they protest - and they talk about coming threats of inflation (Obama will just print money they say) - I always say I'm holding onto my cash - or rather continue to sleep on whatever I can stuff into my mattress.

I'm a very big fan of Paul Krugman, who always makes sense to me and Monday's column (The Third Depression) made a lot of sense. He is predicting that with the world-wide retrenchment in lieu of stimulus spending, we are headed for what he calls the third really deep depression. He feels that the deficit can be solved while a deflationary spiral cannot. He reminds us that as the FDR spending spree began to bring us out of the depression in 1935/6, FDR was worried about the Republican attacks for the 1936 election and was also convinced it was time to deal with the deficit. So spending was cut- and whammo - right back into the much by 1937. It took WWII to bring us out of it.

When Obama was elected in the midst of an economic crisis - the major reason he won - I wrote:

Will Obama turn out to be a great president or a failure? An FDR or a Herbert Hoover, who had an even lower approval rating than W? It could go either way. When you think of great presidents, they seem to emerge only in times of crisis. Think there are just a few lurking? FDR ran for president with a very different agenda than he ended up enacting due to desperate times. He showed the kind of flexibility that was needed. Policies that had a major impact for generations.

The only thing I have to fear is fear of Obama's dependence on the same old, same old Clinton people, who come out of places like Goldman Saks when we need some truly radical thinking.

Well, that THAT question has been answered and we know he is certainly no FDR. If Krugman proves to be right, Obamavilles will spring up all over the nation - similar to those shantytowns of the 30's (there was one in Central Park). At least Obama is calling for more stimulus spending, so he will not be looked at in the same exact light as Hoover, who was fiscally conservative.

Obama may be more LBJ than Hoover: Will he run in 2012?
In addition to the possibility of a depression, we can't expect a war to bring us out of it. Because we are in a war. And have been for 9 years. A war that is doomed to fail. Vietnam-like quagmire, anyone?

LBJ was elected overwhelmingly in 1964 and was viewed as a shoo-in for 1968. Let's view the 2012 election in that same light.

Obama is much weaker than LBJ at a comparable time after the election. We are still in 1966 territory. So let's project this scenario:

• Democrats get smashed in 2010 mid-term elections.
• We sink into economic crisis ala Krugman.
• The war gets worse and worse as Obama removes some troops for political purposes and body bags accumulate. The right attacks him for being weak. The left is totally disgusted.
• It becomes pretty clear he cannot win in 2012.
• Sarah Palin kicks Mitt Romney's ass all over the place and looks to be a real possibility to be the Republican nominee.
• Rampant fear races through the nation at the prospect she will be president.
• Enormous pressure is put on Obama to withdraw.
• Hillary Clinton comes to the rescue and becomes the Democratic nominee.
• Election 2012: Palin vs. Clinton.

How much more fun can a politcal junky have?

That is if you are observing from your new residence in Canada.

Class Size Victory in Chicago

The Chicago management tried to use threats of class size increases to get parents riled up against teachers but the new Chicago Teacher Union leadership - CORE and the parent -PURE- alliance held.

Leonie sent this:

Even though the Chicago Teachers Union has no power to negotiate class size limits, they may end up w/ smaller class sizes than we have in NYC!

A (partial) victory for the new CTU leaders and for teacher-parent cooperation:

From PURE:

http://pureparents.org/index.php?blog/show/First_and_partial_victory_for_new_CTU_and_for_parentteacher_cooperation

First (and partial) victory for new CTU and for parent-teacher cooperation

No to 37!

It really didn't take that long - CEO Huberman has already backed down on the 37/35 in a classroom threat.

Elementary class sizes are back to 2010 levels, though Huberman is still saying that high school class sizes have to go up from 31 to 33.

And he thinks the teachers should make up the rest of the supposed deficit by giving back the 4% pay raise called for in their contract.

To their great credit, the Raise Your Hand group, which CPS had invited to join Huberman at the press conference, disagreed, according to the Sun-Times, saying it was up to "lawmakers and Mayor Daley, not teachers, to work on filling the remaining budget gap."

Parents and teachers working together - so far, so good.

Listen to Your Elders: A Young DC Teacher Who Supported Rhee, Gets the Message

Candi Peterson gets a letter from a former critic. I've always thought that one of the scams in Teach for America has been the fact that they know full well if a teacher stays in a public school much beyond 2 years they will go over to the "dark" side. Thus, get them into charters or into so-called educational "policy" positions, anything but - horrors - a long term teaching career in the classroom. I mean, why waste all that "talent" on actually teaching kids for too long a time.

Since most teachers, especially young ones, don't get to see a lot of other teachers work, it is easy for an evil admin with a vendetta to target some teachers and make everyone think they are awful through in internal public relations system. Note the teacher's closing: I need to find this one teacher I thought was so terrible three years ago and apologize, because now I see.”

Letter From A Second Year DCPS Teacher

Candi Peterson, saveourcounselors@gmail.com

Having grown up in a family with much older grandparents, I always valued the opinions and words of wisdom from my elders. I learned early on that wisdom and life experience bring much needed insight and it pays to listen to your elders. I think some people often refer to it as going to the school of “hard knocks.” Several years ago I met several younger teachers who overwhelmingly supported the Washington Teachers’ Union’s infamous red and green contract proposal mainly due to the hefty salary increases. I couldn’t help but realize they didn’t even know the half of what they were embarking upon. Little did I think that I would ever be able to convince them about what was happening on our educational landscape. The Washington Teacher blog was born out of a desire to offer another view point to union members like them about how the red and green proposal would strip DC teachers and school personnel of long earned tenure and seniority protections and almost always lead to termination, amongst other things. Needless to say, due to elevating this issue, the red and green proposal soon became history.

Much to my surprise, I received an E-mail from one of these teachers, who is now a second-year teacher. Several years ago, she along with her cohorts chastised me on blogs and in person for not supporting Rhee’s reform model and the WTU red and green tiered proposal. This teacher’s recent correspondence gives new meaning to the colloquialism “listen to your elders.” I am thankful that she was able to write me, share her story, and admit that she made a mistake. I don’t believe that I always know what’s better, but like my elders before me I have been there, done that, and have a T-shirt with my name on it. I am sharing this E-mail from a teacher. I believe her E-mail offers a glimpse into what many DC teachers are currently experiencing under Chancellor Rhee’s reform model.

“Hi, Candi, It’s been a long time since I’ve written on your blog, but I read it faithfully. It took a long time but I have to say, you and DCPS teachers have been right about so many things. At my school the teachers are very supportive of me, a still-new second-year teacher. I have struggled with writing and teaching effective lessons, managing student behavior, and organizing my classroom. However, I am new, motivated, and teachable. I left a better-paying career to teach. So you would think the administration would value my attitude and willing spirit. This administration heaps criticism on me and has not offered mentoring to me, nor has it ordered coaches to come into my room to model lessons. The administration takes incentives from my students (recess, field trips, computer use, daily prizes) but blames me for having an ineffective behavior plan. Having a master educator observation has been encouraging to me because the difference between my fall and spring observations showed significant progress. However, I am so disillusioned with my administration that I don’t think I even want a post-conference for my last principal observation. The only reason I haven’t broken down psychologically is because of my friendship with God, who sustains me, and because I have seen the administration belittle and humiliate other teachers at the school so I know it’s not all about me. Teachers have walked out (and others have threatened to walk out) of staff meetings. Turnover is high. Teachers are pitted against other teachers during meetings. Teachers on your blog have been saying all along — it’s not so much the teachers as it is the parents and the administration. I once was blind. I don’t know what my plans are for next school year, but based on my principal’s IMPACT scores, I may not be in DCPS. My heart was really set on helping the most disadvantaged students in DC. Moving to another school system won’t be so hard for me because of my age and lack of children who depend on my income and health insurance. However, I feel for teachers at my school who are older, sometimes parents, and either leaving DCPS or considering leaving. They have told me that it is really a leap of faith. I regret, though, having gotten my feet wet in DCPS then moving to the suburbs. The first two years are when teachers make the bulk of their mistakes. There’s a huge learning curve those two years. Now I may have to take all that knowledge gained at the expense of DCPS’ students to the ’burbs. I need to find this one teacher I thought was so terrible three years ago and apologize, because now I see.”

"If the new standards had been in place for the class of 2009, the city’s graduation rate would have been roughly 45%, instead of the nearly 60...

Jenny Medina has a pretty good piece in today's Times. Titled "New Diploma Standard in New York Becomes a Multiple-Question Choice" it lays waste to some of the BloomKlein distorted stats. Here are some highlights:

The new requirements do not take full effect until the class of 2012 graduates. What is clear is that if they were in place today, New York City’s graduation rate would almost certainly drop after years of climbing steadily.

Currently, the state awards two basic kinds of diplomas. The tougher one, called a Regents diploma, requires scores of at least 65 (out of 100) on five Regents exams: in English, math, science, global history and United States history. The other type, called a local diploma, requires a 65 on three of those tests, and a 55 on the other two. In two years, the local diploma will cease to exist. Students who want a diploma but have not passed all five tests by the end of senior year will have to retake the missed tests in a following year or seek a G.E.D.

And now the most telling points (my emphasis added):

If the new standards had been in place for the class of 2009, the city’s graduation rate would have been roughly 45 percent, instead of the nearly 60 percent that city officials boasted of, according to city statistics. Among black and Latino students, barely more than one-third would have qualified for diplomas.

A Regents diploma is supposed to signify that a student is prepared for college. Today, most New York City graduates who enroll in an associate degree program at a City University of New York college need to take remedial courses there.

Read it all because it is an important article that over time undercuts the ed deformers - and their enablers in the UFT /AFT - which I will get to on a follow-up post.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/28/education/28regents.html

Now, add this piece from Chaz on credit recovery, which Leonie posted on her listserve (the most influential ed listserve in existence) and you get the bigger picture of the ed deform scammers.

DOE's New Idea For "Credit Recovery" Double Credits For Summer School.

In the DOE's never ending quest to artificially raise the graduation rate of the high schools, Tweed has come up with the idea of splitting summer school into two three week sessions and giving the students double credit if they take both sessions. It is bad enough that many of the students don't have to show up during the year and are given "credit recovery courses" to artificially inflate the high school graduation rate. Now the DOE has quietly approved "credit recovery" for summer school by allowing students to get full credit for a semester by showing up for just three weeks. Students that show up for the entire six week course will get credit for both semesters or double the credit that summer school had previously allowed.

Over the years the DOE has approved the "credit recovery program" without so much as a guideline on what is "credit recovery". Principals, who are under pressure to raise graduation rates have gone to great lengths to use whatever means that are necessary to push out students to artificially raise the graduation rate and increase not only the school grade but to receive a financial bonous to the Principal as well. For example, the Principal at Lehman High School was accused of doing just that. I am sure every struggling high school in New York City can look at their own school and see abuses of the "credit recovery program". While the State has promised to look into the practice in New York City, So far the State has done little or nothing about these abuses. It is more important to artificially raise the graduation rate then to give a student a meaningful education. It is all about the numbers not about the quality of education.

Tweed's "children last" continues.

A DOE Favored Principal Takes A Hit - Way too Late: Where Was the UFT?

Leonie Haimson has done yeowoman work at the NYC Parents blog this weekend following up on the retired - suddenly retired - Principal of JFK HS in the Bronx after he learned he was being investigated a few months ago based on the misuse of money by staffers. (He was then hired as a principal in Pleasantville, NY. Good luck, guys!)

Saturday's Daily News reports that Anthony Rotunno, who retired as principal of Kennedy HS last month, allowed staffers to improperly spend money from student bake sales on parties, among other financial improprieties, according to a new audit from State Comptroller DiNapoli.

teachers despised Rotunno, and in 2005 charges were made by many English teachers at the school that he had improperly student Regents scores to passing. When the DOE finally finished their “investigation” they concluded that he did change scores, but that this was perfectly okay. So much for accountability at DOE!

Michael Winerip wrote in 2006 about the resolution of these allegations, backed up by written evidence of changed scores:


So far, only one person has been punished, Maria Colon, Kennedy's union representative, who was the first to speak out publicly about the changed scores. She was removed from Kennedy and assigned to a holding room pending a hearing on her case. Her crime? She allegedly used a school fax to send a Newsday reporter documents revealing the scoring changes.

A few months later, Winerip wrote a follow-up column, called "Cheapening the Cap and Gown," about new accusations made by guidance counselors that Rotunno had allowed kids to graduate without the required credits.

Read it all at: Anthony Rotunno, and the culture of "accountability" at Tweed: read "anything goes"

The NY Times' Elissa Gutman had done a puff piece in 2004 lauding his “tough guy” approach but the Times ignored it when Rotunno destroyed her career. (Ironically, today Gutman has a piece on a principal who takes the opposite approach to "tough Guy".)

Note Leonie's mention of pal Maria Colon, who was placed in the rubber room for exposing the scandals. Maria was the chapter leader and to my mind the lack of strong UFT response in cases of chapter leaders coming under attack (see Peter Lamphere at Bronx HS of Science) is one of the lynch pins of the DOE assault on teacher rights due to the failure of the union to protect people. Anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that many principals are being trained to go after "non-cooperative" chapter leaders but the UFT has no answer for chapter leaders in defense - it would probably take something the union has no stomach for - job action. Or at the very least, declaring to the DOE - NO DEALS. NO DEALS ON ANY ISSUE (MERIT PAY, TEACHER EVALS, ETC.) UNTIL YOU STOP TAKING OUR PEOPLE HOSTAGE!

Leonie followed up with this:

More on Anthony Rotunno and the culture of "empowerment" at DOE

More on this in today's Daily News:

Pleasantville School District officials said it wasn't until they saw the Daily News' front-page story Friday that they learned Rotunno was in charge of a school where staffers ran a giant swindle. "Reference checks were extremely positive and no wrongdoings of any nature were reported," the statement says...

But Kennedy PTA President Robert Bosolet Sr., said he long suspected staffers were plundering the students' account. "Each year, there were always kids complaining that they did fund-raising, and they never saw a dime from it," fumed Bosolet, whose triplet sons graduated this year.

"Every time an event happened, and we asked where did that money go, we were never provided with that information."Bosolet said he e-mailed his concerns to the Department of Education, but he couldn't provide evidence.

A DOE spokesman said it "hadn't received a credible accusation of financial mismanagement at the school" prior to the audit.

And then a link to blogger jd2718 (Rotunno and JFK High School Investigations: A History) where a piece written by former Bronx HS District Rep Lynne Wynderbaum who had preceded Maria Colon as UFT Chapter leader at JFK is posted. Lynne is one of the UFT/Unity Caucus staffers who had a clue but unfortunately when UFT top-level policy is to do little the soldiers have to go along. She is now retired.

Lynne writes:

There have been at least four major investigations into allegations involving Mr. Rotunno since 2004 by the Department of Education’s investigatory arms, the Office of Special Investigations, the Special Commissioner of Investigations, and the Auditor General. Each time, the investigators returned with a finding of no guilt. I do not know what it took to get the state comptroller’s office to finally step in, but it can reasonably be said that if the Department of Education’s investigators had conducted fair investigations, this principal’s wrongdoing could have been revealed years ago.

Some of my points about the UFT relative silence are being fought out in the comment section where Under Assault says:

I admire the individuals staffers who fight, and told them so. My problem is that the UFT is not using its enormous weight to expose all the levels of misconduct that has become commonplace in the DoE at this time. How many hundreds of professional educators have to lose their careers before the UFT plants its feet on the ground and says: Not on our watch.

Unity hacks back with this comment by Rick Mangone:

The UFT has repeatedly fought the DOE and complained in the media and in court about the unfair practices by the DOE when needed.

Jeez Rick, give us a break. Wouldn't Lynne's piece have looked nice in the NY Teacher? What about using the UFT bloated PR machine to actually tell the world something useful?

JD2718 follows with (my emphasis added):

It’s one thing to complain about the DoE’s unfair practices – we do do that, though less than we should. Those happen at the school level, and centrally. It is quite another to expose the anti-teacher bias of the investigative units, which Lynne has done here. Lynne documents a pattern of ignoring misconduct. Some might conclude that that pattern was in and of itself misconduct. We need to speak openly about the conduct of the investigators. Thank you, Lynne.

I thank you too Lynne. I don't blame you and I bet you were willing to push against the UFT leadership resistance to making a big case out of the DOE unfair practices but hit a stone wall. And as an Exec Bd New Action member I would hope JD2718 would make the "less than we should" point at every single meeting until they stopped doing less than they should. Since I don't go to EB meetings I don't know what New Action does there but from past history New Action leaders are reluctant to go too far in pushing the UFT leaders since the entire caucus is so dependent on the support of the leadership.

Under Assault responds with:

Again, when you say “We need to speak openly about the conduct of the investigators,” who is the “We” ? Whistleblowers have certainly spoken out, and so have a number of brave CLs and DRs. The opposition caucuses and practically all of the edblog community has been consistently, comprehensively and tirelessly speaking out. The great big missing “We” that has most certainly NOT been speaking out is the entire leadership: Randi Weingarten then, Michael Mulgrew now, plus most members on the union’s successive executive boards. They couldn’t because their strategy — top-down from the getgo — has always been clandestine deal-making and preemptive participation. As long as they stay this course, we’re going down.

I won't hold my breath that we will see much of a change in the way the UFT functions.

--------------
There is another scandal that the NYC Parent blog discusses:

Leadership, empowerment and accountability according to the Chancellor...not to mention tax fraud

----------
On the other hand, I was originally suspicious of Sunday's NY Times piece in the Metropolitan section by Elissa Gootman that appeared to be another puff piece on a principal in the Bronx (posted at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/nyregion/27principal.html?ref=nyregion)

But then I got an email from a trusted source who has talked about this principal before. Here is his email:

I've spoken about the school and the principal, but this is a chance to see it for yourself. It's exciting for us. We were on a planning retreat when it came out.

Nice article. Even better video.
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010/06/25/nyregion/1247468129846/eighth-grade-prom.html?ref=nyregion

If this guy is the real deal, there's nothing like tossing off the Rotunno slime and taking things in a better direction. But if it turns out to be another puff piece you would have to wonder what can be believed in the Times. Mike Weinrip is no longer doing ed columns to contradict the puff pieces.

I have some questions about a u-rated teacher in my school

UPDATED: June 27, 10pm

SEE UNDER ASSAULT COMPANION PIECE: Branding


This came in over the transom. Email me or leave comments if you have answers:


A teacher came to me -teaching less than 10 years; tenured. Got all S's, except this year: U rating.

Showed me the 5 or 6 observations, and I couldn't tell which they were considering "formal" or "informal". I believe some were meant to be informal because they filled in after
PRE-OBSERVATION: n/a

They did not include one observation in this back up material. It was an "S" observation.
Apart from that, they made the standard weird comments — like saying the kids were not engaged, yet they attached the paperwork that showed that the kids were in fact quite engaged and doing the assignment.

Can anyone help me with some of these questions?

1. The UFT website says to contact the dist. office for help. Are they actually going to do something for you, or is that a waste of time?

2. Art. 21. (Due Process) says in the last clause (D.3) that: " 3. Teachers who receive doubtful or unsatisfactory ratings may appeal under Section 4.3.1 of the by-laws of the Board of Education." I don't think it's talking about probationers at this point, correct? If so, do you do this with the district's help, or on your own?

3. How can you tell what's formal and what's informal? Is there a special "procedure" they've not followed if you can't tell the difference between one observation report and another?

4. Is the district going to do that with or for this teacher when he/she contacts them?

5. Where does it stay that if you get a U rating your salary freezes on a certain step? I can't find it.

BloomKlein's Very Own Gusher: Spill, Baby Spill

by Norman Scott

School Scope Column
The Wave, June 25, 2010
www.rockawave.com

You don't have to drill a mile down into the ocean or run a drilling rig into oblivion to create the disastrous muck of an oil spill. Or go to The Gulf to see the impact. We have our own education version of the disaster right here in the NYC Department of Education, better known as "Tweed" for the courthouse built by the original corrupt politician known as Boss Tweed.

The Tweedies are at it again with the umpteenth reorganization. Let's see now. First we had districts. Then regions. Then no regions. Then districts again. But only sort of. How about empowerment zones? Then no empowerment zones. There were those LSOs, LMOs, LSMFTs. How about just plain LOSERS?

The latest craze are Childrens First Networks where all women network leaders are strong, the men who do the bidding of Klein good looking and the children are above average - way above average after taking the rediculous NY State tests rigged to make BloomKlein look good. Support services have been reorganized from districts to regions to boroughs and now into these networks. Truly, almost no one has a clue but the prime directive is that jobs must be found for all. Just make sure no one gets so pissed off they spill the beans that BP is a master of competence compared to Tweed. BP chief Tony Hayward for Chancellor, anyone?

NY Politicians create own version of the spill
Let's never forget that the reason BloomKlein have been able to send globs of muck onto the shores of the schools is because they were handed the reins through the overwhelming endorsement of the politicians in both the city and state. Now we know the NY State legislature is considered one of the most dysfunctional political bodies in the world, finishing in a tie with Kyrgyzstan. (The Obama administration considered swapping the NY State Assembly with the Kyrg version, but was turned down in the interests of better government - for the Kyrgs.)

We are real lucky here in Rockaway to have some of the leading lights of the legislature and their current and former pals in Congress - Malcolm Smith, Gregory Meeks, Floyd Flake. The NY Times has been paying particular homage to our crew. The front page of the June 18th edition focused on Flake, the leader of the pack with this headline: "2006 Sale of Ministry Property Positioned Queens Pastor to Gain Riches." They devoted a full page - a full page - with pictures and all sorts of sidebar goodies on the financial manipulations that went on around a senior citizen center. There was a whole lot of political influence with Bloomberg and even Elliot Spitzer. The best part to me was reading that court clerk Gloria D'Amico - the same Gloria D'Amico who signs our call to jury duty notices - was a key person signing off on the deal. The added detail was that her son was one of the partners in the Flake deal. The next time you get a jury duty call from Gloria, write her a few choice words.

While the Times story didn't connect all these guys to the charter school games they are involved with, it did manage to dredge up the ugly Aqueduct story where Malcolm Smith was in up to his ears, with Meeks playing a role too. The story also pulled in Governor Patterson. But as readers of The Wave you know all the gory details. I hope you saw the wonderfully alliterative headline from last week: "Meeks' Non-Existent Non-Profit Profits From Public Money."

Helen Marshall refuses to yell "Fire" in a crowded school system
And then there's our Borough President who appeared on WNYC to proclaim schools in Queens were no longer overcrowded. Leonie Haimson on the NYC Public School Parent blog had this comment: "According to official DOE data (which most experts think underestimates the problem), 67 percent of elementary school children in Queens attended overcrowded schools; and 77 percent of high school students. And this does not count thousands of students in trailers. Class sizes are still increasing rapidly throughout the borough, and as of this March, nearly 800 Queens children were on waiting lists for their zoned Kindergartens."

Washington educational oil slick
Of course we can't ignore our federal government's attempt, led by Obama basketball buddy Arne Duncan, who ran the Chicago schools into the ground, to take over the nation's schools through Race to the Top. RTTT has forced school districts and unions to modify contracts to conform to the test till you drop mode of education, a system guaranteed to bring forth masses of graduates who will be adept at working the cash registers at the two largest employers in the nation - McDonalds and Walmart, one of the major backers of charter schools.

Chicago, Chicago, a wonderful town
The Duncan/Daley tandem in Chicago has so turned teachers into a hostile force, a new leadership led by younger progressive teachers has taken over the union. The Caucus of Rank & File Educators (CORE) is a two year old caucus led by the new Chicago TU President Karen Lewis who is already becoming a national voice to counter AFT president Randi Weingarten's capitulation to the education deformers. Lewis declared: "What drives school reform is a single focus on profit. Profit. Not teaching, not learning, profit."

Beach Channel stays open for an extra year, but are any future freshmen registering?
Remember that "successful" UFT/NAACP court suit to keep the 19 closing schools open that has extended their lives for a year? Joel Klein made it clear that the DOE would do whatever it takes to close these schools next year - the UFT suit was based on Tweed not following procedures in state law, so next time they will do it "right." It seems the feeling of inevitability of the school's closing has kept many 8th graders from registering. (Jamaica HS has had a similar experience.) Schools that enter the death spiral of closing down have a growing feeling of despair and a loss of services as the enemies at Tweed who are sworn to manage the schools, do exactly the opposite. While I was for the UFT lawsuit, I also felt it did not go far enough and had more than a touch of a public relations stunt (there was a UFT election going on at the time and Mulgrew's 91% - and yes I am a 9% dissenter - was padded by that suit). Anyone who has watched the slick Tweedies knew full well they would do what they could to undermine the schools but the UFT did nothing to extend the suit - like force them to do more to recruit new classes for these schools. How about a budget approaching what charter schools get to put out those slick brochures?

There was a wonderful letter in last week's Wave from Beach Channel's Drama Club Director, Marjorie Damashek Levine listing the successful events Beach Channel still has going, closing with "YES, Beach Channel High School is alive and kicking."

And so am I as I close this year's series of School Scope columns. Have a good summer and look for my daily rants on my blog: http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/

Eduwonk Takes Note of Events in Chicago as Karen Lewis is Turning into the Anti-Randi

With new Chicago union chief Karen Lewis taking office on July 1, expect her to become the anti-Randi. Eduwonk has noticed while Alex Russo who writes a Chicago blog while living in Brooklyn has his head in the sand. But both are open or closet ed deformers.

Eduwonk is Andrew Rotherham, a chief ed deformer - a Democrat who worked for Clinton so you know where the bread meets the butter - who went to some extent to challenge and expose Eduwonkette when she was anonymous.

Truth Stranger Than Fiction I

A lot going on in this curtain raiser for the new president of the Chicago Teachers Union. Here’s one:

AFT President Randi Weingarten has collaborated with Race to the Top and other White House education initiatives, even at the cost of retreating from the union’s opposition to merit pay and defense of tenure as the basis for teacher job security. But the election in the CTU–the third largest teachers’ union local in the U.S.–is a clear signal that rank-and-file teachers have different priorities.

Going along with the above as the Chicago establishment tries to challenge CORE even before they take office on July 1 here are some links from Gotham.

Chicago’s schools chief wants more than just seniority to determine layoffs. (Catalyst)

Chicago’s school board agreed to lay off teachers by quality rating, not seniority. (Chicago Sun-Times)

CORE will be sending 146 delegates to the AFT convention in Seattle (July 8-11.)

---------------
After-burn

See the Karen Lewis interview with Labor Beat:





If you haven't been following events in Detroit, Gotham has this link:
Momentum is growing for mayoral control of Detroit’s schools. (Detroit Free Press)

Now the Detroit union has also been in a state of flux and is sending 20 anti-Randi delegates to Seattle. Rest assured, the Chi/Detroit totals pale in comparison to the 800 Unity junketeers who dominate the convention.

Lisa Donlan on Legal Loopholes in Charter Law

One of the reasons focusing on the legal route - ie. see UFT suit on closing schools - is that there are always loopholes. And when there are not, they often just ignore the law and say "Bite me." And the wus politicians put their tails between their legs and skulk away after making some whimpering noises. My strategy: build organizations capable of backing up legal actions in the streets. (Even that relatively mild walkout at the HSA ameba hearing led by Bill Hargraves has some impact in terms of rallying the troops. But imagine when we can have a thousand people? Remember the Marine Park rally that stopped a charter school invasion last year? (Have to run and no time to find the link - but if you search the blog you will find it - May 2009.)

Here Lisa Donlan in a comment on the video of the walkout points out the loopholes:

I recently posted this recap of the legal issues we ran across (that DoE has run a truck through to quote our top Regent) in the charter re-authorization process. It is a way of expanding charters that escapes the latest laws and attempts at checks/balances, transparency.

I hope folks are disturbed by these legal loopholes that have benefited charters and blocked public discourse about our public schools:

SUNY only holds hearings for initial charter sitings in DoE buildings - expansions get a total exemption from the hearing process and any public scrutiny/feedback.

SUNY hearings in connection with schools’ use of NYCDOE space, only have to be held prior to the first time a charter school occupies a particular public school building.

SUNY outreach is only as good as DoE outreach- and we know how good that is (per Judge Lobis)!

SUNY does not have access to NYCDOE parents and students, backpack or mailed notice is accomplished with the assistance of the NYCDOE.

You have to FOIL renewal applications. The Institute does not at this time post renewal applications online; they are readily available through the Freedom of Information Law.

Whatever the intentions, the language of the law means that only the Chancellor's feedback is legally considered in these hearings.

Comments received from “school district” in the parlance of the Charter Schools Act means the New York City School District as a whole rather than a community school district such as CEC One. Therefore, it is the New York City School Chancellor’s comments that SUNY CSI must legally “consider”

Finally, the charter authorizers rely on the charter and DoE to tell them that there is sufficient space for the co location.

The Institute’s initial recommendation that Girls Prep’s plans for the future, which included expansion in PS188 was based on Girls Prep’s analysis of its space needs as well as the space utilization analysis and related material prepared by NYCDOE, which indicated that the space was under-utilized and that expansion of Girls Prep would not have an adverse impact on either of the other schools in the building.

Lisa Donlan