NY Times: Proficient, Proshmicient, So What's the Big Deal?

Leonie lays waste to the editorial staffs of the Daily News and NY Times while praising excellent Daily News reporters. But at least the News told the truth while not mentioning the fraud perpetrated by BloomKlein. And didn't the NY Post actually mock the DOE's credit recovery program? When Bloomberg won a third term I told people this may turn out to be a blessing in disguise as he will still be on office when the shit starts hitting the fan. Better duck.

Here are some excerpts from Leonie's post:

What are the chances that now that Bloomberg has successfully won his battle to retain nearly unlimited control over our schools, and is in the midst of his third term, the editors of the News and the Times will apologize to their readers, and admit that the smell they’ve told us was roses was really an artificial chemical, successfully concocted to fool them? Don't hold your breath.

The Daily News editorial board finally gave up today, and admitted that the city’s big gains in state test scores over the Bloomberg era have been a vast mirage, in an editorial called Harsh lesson for N.Y.

In August 2009, when Bloomberg was pressing for extension of mayoral control of the schools and his own re-election, the Times published a credulous story that recounted the steep increase in state test scores without directly quoting any of the skeptics; and also incorrectly used the DOE’s preferred date of 2002 instead of 2003 to claim improvements on the national exams called the NAEPs.


The article omitted any of the abundant evidence that the state exams and their scoring had become easier over time. (See my critique of their August 2009 article, NY Times falls in line with the Bloomberg PR spin control; and the response from Times editor, Ian Trontz: The NY Times response, and my reply. See also Wayne Barrett's take on our critique of the Times.)

When do people like Brent Staples who often writes Times editorials on education start to hang their heads in shame?

Read Leonie's full piece:
Harsh lessons for the editors of the Daily News and NY Times

And Steve Koss' comment:

It is moderately heartening to see the Daily News editorial board finally publicly concede what so many of us have known for so long: the "extraordinary gains" in Math and English Language Arts proficiency of Grade 3 - 8 children in NYC public schools as ostensibly measured by the annual NYS examinations has in fact been nothing but smoke and mirrors. In fact, it has all been a con, a sham, a massive educational fraud. Too bad that it took eight years and a lecture from someone in Albany to discover something that was already well-known, even among the paper's own reporting staff! This isn't some sudden discovery, except apparently to the folks sitting around the Daily News editorial board table.

Yet even the Daily News's editorial concession is shameful, striking the bloodless note of an anonymous, monolithic, Kafkaesque bureaucracy with its "mistakes were made" impersonality. Consider that the NY Daily News has been one of the biggest cheerleaders for mayoral control of NYC's public schools, often arguing the importance of accountability as one of its major justifications. The logic is inescapable, yet the Daily News refuses to follow where it so obviously leads: to the Mayor's office and that of his prime henchman, Joel Klein.

If after eight years, editors at the Daily News are willing to concede that there has been virtually no progress in the city's public education system, then they cannot avoid the logical consequences of their own arguments -- ACCOUNTABILITY.

Time to cut that City Hall cord, guys. Time to man up and call out the folks who've wasted billions and built an entire regime of reporting, incentivizing, school closures, and curriculum manipulation around a mirage. Time to admit that a mayor and schools chancellor who brought us all those incredible test score gains not only brought us nothing, they've done incredible, possibly irreversible harm to the city's children and its educational system as well. Most of all, it's time to face the facts: you (and most NYers) were played.

Steve Koss

Jean Shepherd

My wife called me this morning from her car to tell me NPR was running a repeat of the Harry Shearer ten year old tribute to Jean Shepherd. As teenagers growing up in the East NY section of Brooklyn, my friends and I went to sleep with the transistor radio under the covers listening to Jean Shepherd spin tales of his childhood and early adulthood. If you saw Christmas Story, one of the funniest movies ever, that is Shepherd's work – Ralphie was the Shepherd protagonist.

Today they had the first hour (next Sunday at 7am will be part 2). The show ended with a great story where they took Shepherd's entire corps of expert coders and put them in a beginners course - in coding. They all played dumb and became the worst students ever. If you've dealt with the BloomKlein DOE you will see familiar patterns. Think of some idiot professional development telling you stuff you know. Maybe Shepherd and his buddies are models. Just play dumb. Duh- Does "differentiated instruction" refer to those instruction manuals in 4 languages?

Take a look through the archives to see if you can find the show and also look on the net for some of Shepherd's broadcasts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Shepherd

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Seattle

---yes many funny things happened on the way to Seattle but this is about a funny thing that happened at the Rockaway Theatre Company where I happen to be the videographer (because they can't find anyone else).

Last night "A Funny Thing ...." opened As in all shows at the RTC it is NOT TO BE MISSED. Chazmond J. Peacock one of the great young actors at the RTC plays Pseudolus, the Zero Mostel role and is wonderful. I've seen Chaz do Jud in Oklahoma and and Mr. Bumble in Oliver. He has been on the national tour of Oliver and recently played Mingo in the 75th Anniversary tour of Porgy and Bess. This guy is a PRO!

Last night, as an experiment, I grabbed my new little camera that I used in Seattle to see if it would work out in a theater with variable lighting and also to test the sound with the mic I was using in Seattle. I'm still figuring it out but not too bad.

Watch Chaz in the opening number – "A Comedy Tonight" - and just try to stay away.




Direct you tube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZFD-b4DGXg

You likee? You can make reservations at the RTC web site:
http://rockawaytheatrecompany.org/

Or contact me and I'll get you tickets. We have a crew going this Friday. Join us.

Some of this stuff is Broadway quality.
Only $20 ($15 for seniors) and free parking.
At the Post Theater in Fort Tilden right over the Gil Hodges bridge.

The RTC is very influenced by current and retired NYC teachers. The Board of Directors has at least 4, many direct and act in the shows (one of the young actresses in this show teaches 6th grade at a Brooklyn elementary school) and some of their former students who were in their shows in school have been in RTC shows. By the way, most of the band are teachers, many at Forest Hills HS.

One of the wonderful things they have done is mixed all ages into a souffle that works incredibly well. Teens who started out with the RTC and are now in their 20's are still around and hang with the people who are - ahem - almost approaching my age. If you watched the video you can see the mix. Most of these people are regulars.

-------------
Afterburn
And oh yes, they want me to audition for the Murray the Cop role in The Odd Couple in December. If I do and get the part it would be my first time in a play. Oy! The heartburn is starting already - maybe something Murray might say?

Frank Caiati is another young actor who does wonders on stage. He is teaching another acting course at the RTC starting Sunday Aug. 1 (10-11:30) through Sept. 26. I've taken 3 classes with Frank so far and they have all been wonderful. Frank is around 23 years old, a grad of Kings Borough HS and Brooklyn College and always lights up the stage. If you want to dabble in acting and also have a great time, come on down (fee is $150.)

The UFT at the AFT - Part 3

Whenever we have a UFT election campaign here in New York, people ask, "Why a 10 page book of names on the ballot? What is this delegate thing with 800 names for Unity? How can we be electing delegates (to the DA) when we elected them in the schools?"

I try to explain that the 800 people they elect are for the AFT convention every 2 years and the NYSUT convention every year.

They often go off shaking their heads in confusion.

And therein lies some of the significance of the Bill Gates appearance at the AFT last week. The news and blog reports have raised that event to a higher level of consciousness in the minds of the more active and engaged UFTers. Seeing Randi in action in the videos and the 800 Unity people who were elected in March cheering her on made an impression.

Remember how during the election campaign the word coming out of Unity was how relieved they were when Randi left? Now they had a real teacher who would function differently than Randi. We tried to tell people that there would be no difference, that Mulgrew was chosen for the very reason that he would present a different face, but behind the scenes nothing would change.

Insiders tell us how Randi left UFT Counsel Carol Gerstl in charge of managing Mulgrew.

Remember when Bloomberg announced Mulgrew agreed with him when he decided to not give the raises back in May and even the Times reported the union had agreed? It took hours for Mulgrew to respond. The reason for the delay was that the UFT had to wait for Randi's response.

New boss, same as the old boss. And "The 800" (Into the valley of death rode The 800) who rose up to cheer Randi and Gates numerous times provides ample evidence.

UFT Coverup Over Columbia Secondary School - from INSIDE THE UNITY CAUCUS

"Did Mulgrew and Ellie Engler cover up for the principal at the drowning school? That is what was being discussed all day yesterday in a furious exchange of emails and phone calls at 52 Broadway." - INSIDE THE UNITY CAUCUS

"Roughly 10 teachers filed unrelated complaints about Mr. Maldonado-Rivera with the United Federation of Teachers after the drowning on June 22. [UFT Chapter Chair] Mr. Nalley said he was upset that those complaints had not been part of the investigation, but union officials said they had not yet forwarded them to the city." -- NY Times, July 17, 2010

DUHHHHHH! What else is new? They were all too busy preparing how to sing Na, Na, Hey Goodbye to the people leaving the Gates appearance in Seattle.


Our favorite Unity mole takes another swipe after this story. Last week DA MOLE predicted a shakeup at UFT HQ, which could be titled, "Mr. Casey Goes to Washington, Mr. Barr Goes to Albany and Mr. Mendel Returns to Staff Director.

So, who knows what Da MOLE really knows. But this one certainly looks interesting given the excellent piece today from Jenny Medina at the Times - WOW- the Times gives the teacher point of view - over the drowned student at Columbia Secondary School. Her article and the piece from Da MOLE also reveal fault lines within the UFT and how it has abandoned teachers. Before we get to Da MOLE, here are some choice tidbits from Medina's article:

The fallout has bred resentment among some teachers who say they believe that the two administrators deserved harsher punishments.

The drowning and its aftermath have also unearthed long-simmering tensions between some teachers and Mr. Maldonado-Rivera, who they say can be an unfair and unyielding boss.

“I think the teacher was a scapegoat in order to keep the administration’s jobs intact,” said Chris Jones, who teaches social studies at the school. “It’s symptomatic of the entire attitude — all the weight and blame is placed on teachers. There was none of ‘This is what you should be doing, this is what you should not be doing.’ We were all on our own for these trips.”

[A teacher] said she complained of other safety hazards at the school, like allowing hundreds of students to walk down five flights of stairs to the gym unsupervised. She said several physical education classes were taught by college interns rather than certified teachers in Mr. Maldonado-Rivera’s effort to expand sports offerings.

“The faculty are so outraged, not specifically by the incident even,” said Chance Nalley, a math teacher and the chapter chair of the teachers’ union at the school. “We are outraged that we had been so patient and long-suffering, and we’re mad that we didn’t deal with things sooner.”

Several teachers have left the school, frustrated that they did not have enough support from the administration, which they said would constantly demand that they take on more responsibilities and work longer hours — often without extra pay.

“I worked 12-hour shifts, which was not enough for Jose, and he went so far as to ask me to come on the weekend,” said Carla Cota, who left the school after two years to teach at a private boarding school in Tucson. “He made it clear that if that couldn’t happen, he couldn’t foresee my future at the school.”

Roughly 10 teachers filed unrelated complaints about Mr. Maldonado-Rivera with the United Federation of Teachers after the drowning on June 22. Mr. Nalley said he was upset that those complaints had not been part of the investigation, but union officials said they had not yet forwarded them to the city.

Let's see - teachers forces to work 12 hour days and weekends? Forced to take dangerous field trips without prep? Interns teaching regular classes? Did I miss any? All things the UFT supposedly knew about.

The UFT response was due to - choose one A) Ineptness B) Disinterest C) They're on the wrong side (as Da MOLE indicates) - or all of the above.

Naturally the first year teacher was fired while the AP is still working - as a teacher- and the Principal remains. Did we hear from the DOE that he couldn't be fired due to tenure? Didn't principals give up tenure years ago? Or is the DOE blaming non-existent tenure as an excuse to not fire a principal? Not that we are saying people have to be fired at all over a terrible tragedy. (One day I'll tell you about time I took my class to Coney Island - without a chaperone - just me and 27 kids - and yes some did get wet. Hope statute of limitations has run out.)

Well, here is the report on the repercussions from -

INSIDE THE UNITY CAUCUS (ITUC)

Did Mulgrew and Ellie Engler cover up for the principal at the drowning school? That is what was being discussed all day yesterday in a furious exchange of emails and phone calls at 52 Broadway. Top union staffers even reached out to Randi to get Mulgrew out of his pickle-or was it to hang him? Mulgrew doesn’t know which back stabber on his staff to trust. Engler is “this close” to Randi.

Today’s Post said teachers sent the UFT information about safety issues-before the drowning- involving the principal but that the union did not forward to the complaints to DOE.

For real?

So the family should know they can now sue Mulgrew because he covered up for the principal (nothing new there; his motto is “Principals Rule. Teachers Suck.”)

The question is what did Mulgrew and Engler get out of the deal? Jobs at the schools? Jobs at other schools?

This is a major, major cover up story. Mulgrew has no interest in going after horrible principals but this time it appears to have bitten him on his ass.

What did Mulgrew and Engler ( a non-teacher by the way) know and when did they know it?

The Times and Wall Street Journal reported that two days after the drowning, teachers met at the UFT and gave the union documents about the principal, which the union kept at 52 Broadway and did not forward to Condon!

Is this a bad movie?

Mulgrew allows a teacher to get fired but doesn’t demand that the principal walk the plank?
Wow- all this for double zero raises?

Mulgrew and the a..s s.. kissers in his circle must be getting more out of these cover ups than flying on the mayor’s jet.

This is what happens when Mulgrew hired a CSA person as his Chief Bottle Washer.

Teachers should post the documents they sent to the UFT.

Follow-up the story at Norms Notes with commentary from Steve Koss and Leonie Haimson
Harlem principal got tenure after deadly beach trip where student Nicole Suriel drowned

Bill Gates at the AFT - 1984 - UPDATED

UPDATE: July 17 2pm

This comment from TFA Friend... This comes from 1984? Wow, I wasn't even born yet. -- made me think I have to do some background on the historical perspective of the Orwellian year 1984 and the brilliance of the Apple commercial in that context - an attack on the corporate culture of IBM - Gates and Microsoft were just a short time away from replacing IBM as the monopoly power. There is so much irony in that commercial, which was shown only once at the Super Bowl. It was the first shot in Apple's introduction of the mouse and the graphical interface on the MAC - revolutionary. More irony in that Gates copied all the ideas from the Mac for Windows - another term for the graphical interface. So the idea to use that commercial to parody the Gates appearance at the AFT seems magical.

Reminder to the younger gen - Orwell wrote "1984" in 1949 pointedly directed at the totalitarian regimes - Hitler, Stalin, etc . and how they controlled the minds of people. When we actually reached 1984, the corporatization was becoming more of a threat, as we have seen in education.

I may put up a longer historical retro this weekend on Norms Notes and link back here.



July 17, 1am
The brilliant idea was hatched over dinner Sunday night in Seattle with George Schmidt and some CORE members — to use the famous 1984 Apple Super Bowl commercial, an intro to the Macintosh and a takedown of IBM and Microsoft, to parody Bill Gates' appearance at the AFT convention where Unity Caucus drones cheered him on while a small band resisted. What a perfect metaphor for what occurred. Monday AM I emailed David Bellel with the idea and voila, by the time I got home Tuesday morning he had it ready. A few refinements on my end and here it is. All you Gates Windows supporters, come on over to the Mac and see how easy all this stuff is to do. Enjoy!




URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYQzoDy_ocA

Antonucci - the 13th Russian Spy?

I often call out Mike Antonucci on his selective research and reporting - always designed to show teacher unions at their worst - with the words, "I know, Mike, I know, showing the other side of the coin is not your beat." It is his beat to show a union stealing a dime while ignoring when people running schools steal millions.

I like this comment by Leonie Haimson on his latest work for EdNext:

I wonder if Antonucci and/or Ed Next will next analyze how much the Billionaire's boys club, plus DFER, ERN, EEP and all their associated networks of hedge fund networks spent on lobbying and campaigns. Don't hold your breath!
.....I'm sure these conservative groups far outspend the teacher unions in the category of "research" as well.

This story reminds me of the NY Post making a big deal over UFT campaign contributions to Bill Perkins while ignoring the massive charter school contributions to politicians who support charter schools. (Have the attacks on Perkins by charter school proponents and the fact that they are funding his opponent in the primary caused him to disappear from the charter school wars?)

Mike is a funny guy and here he tops himself.
From the press release (Norms Notes):

Antonucci follows the money and the impact it has on policy.

Which money is Antonucci following? He must be a slow reader as he apparently hasn't gotten to Diane Ravitch's chapter on The Billionaire Boys Club. Now there are a few bucks he should be following that have real influence on policy. Ahhh, not his beat. Just make the union nickels and dimes look like boogeymen.

He gets into Jon Stewart hilarity territory with this one:

"The Long Reach of Teachers Unions: Using money to win friends and influence policy,” featured in the Fall 2010 edition of the Education Next journal, Antonucci also reveals that teachers unions have become a force in matters beyond education policy, including weighing in on domestic policy issues such as taxation, healthcare, gay marriage and redistricting.

“The unions’ influence over education policy is well known, but their influence over government is not. Teachers unions are by the largest political contributors,” said Antonucci.

Gee, he left out the real influence we have - whether to use Charmin or Scott toilet paper. Oh, sorry, I forgot. We don't even have a say in that.

Yeah, this Race To The Top stuff and non-unionized charter school takeovers shows just how much teacher unions influence policy. I must be living in an alternate universe.


Leonie continues:

See new EdNext analysis by Mike Antonucci of how much teacher unions spent on political campaigns in 2007-8. Full study here:

http://educationnext.org/the-long-reach-of-teachers-unions/ You can also comment on the page if you register first.

Press release (Norms Notes)

Interestingly, despite all the fear-mongering from the NY tabloids, in NY State, the NY teachers unions spent less than $5 per teacher on politics, compared to more than $100 per teacher in states like Oregon($356.60), Colorado ($173.98), Montana ($141.74), Utah ($140.60) and South Dakota ($132.15). California spent $41.21 per teacher, and even Texas outspent NY ($2.24 compared to $2.18).

NY was outspent in most of the 22 "right-to-work" states like Texas; (for a list see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-to-work_law) in which cannot compel teachers to pay union dues. The only states that spent less per teacher were DC, Florida, Georgia and Vermont.

The article also points out that the NEA supports EPIC and Great lakes research institutes, which have issued critiques of some of the unreliable studies that were financed by the Gates, Broad and Walton foundations.

Or for that matter, the Hoover Institute, the conservative "think tank" that publishes Education Next, ( full disclosure: Ed Next published a radically edited letter from me without my consent a few years back.)

I'm sure these conservative groups far outspend the teacher unions in the category of "research" as well.

Leonie Haimson

UFT at the AFT - Part 2

When the UFT held a meeting for delegates at 52 Broadway a few weeks before the AFT convention (according to Unity insiders this meeting violates labor laws - as does any meeting of Unity or New Action on official union property) they harangued them with words like, "You don't represent yourself, but 200,000 UFT members."

Sure. What they are at the AFT to represent are the policies of a small group at the top. Certainly members are not represented. For example, Arthur Goldstein as chapter leader of Francis Lewis HS, the 2nd largest HS school in the city with 300 members could not be a delegate - unless he joined Unity - and then he would be forced to vote the way he was told - not by his chapter but by the leadership.

Even though ICE/TJC got only 9% of the vote - or however we would calculate the votes for the AFT- one could argue they should have gotten a proportion of the delegates. Even 50. Even New Action which ran a slate of their own even if they endorsed Mulgrew should have gotten a share too. Would that make the AFT and UFT more representative of the members views?

But not in the winner take all system of the autocratic UFT/AFT.


What did it cost to send 800 plus Unity people to Seattle?

Each delegate was given $2000. Do the math. If you add in the extra people who were invited as guests and the staffers, I get $2,000,000 of our dues. At a minimum. Add in the costs of the NYSUT Convention in Washington DC a few months ago and the numbers are staggering.

Last Sunday we ran into a delegate from Wisconsin - one of 2 out of 20 they could afford to send. She carried the votes of 10 delegates.

In other words, the UFT could have sent Mulgrew by himself to vote the entire block of votes and save 2 million bucks. Why not? Unity has caucus discipline and everyone is required to vote the same way.

Well, we know why not. These trips are one of the things that keep the Unity faithful, well, faithful. So faithful that even if they agree with us, they will hoot and cheer people like Gates and lead the flock they represent to the slaughter (make sure to read Arthur Goldstein and Sharon Higgins on the sidebar).

The UFT/DOE Agreement on School Closings

People have been asking for commentary on the agreement between the UFT and DOE yesterday on the closing schools. I was at the Gotham Schools office yesterday providing background on the AFT convention when I heard. I'll get to it later, but from what I know of the UFT and how it functions, people are screwed over the long run. I can't think of one agreement they have made over the last 10 years where people aren't screwed- of course the Unity flacks will talk about money. Which is exactly the point. The UFT sells people off for money. People are always willing to take the money because they don't see the long-term consequences, especially when the union uses a total full court press to convince them while the voices opposed are drowned out even if they eventually prove to be right.

People are horrified at what has been allowed to happen to the public education system. No matter how bad in the past, the current deforms have cut a path of destruction. What horrifies people even more is how much the UFT/AFT has cooperated when they could have led the forces of resistance.

I'll have more from James Eterno later.

Commentary from
NYC Educator: UFT Listens to Gates, Gives Up

Gotham links:
The city and union agreed to a plan for housing new schools. (GothamSchools, Daily News, NY1, Times)

12th Russian in Spy Probe Was Microsoft Employee

Truth stranger than fiction? You just can't make this stuff up. Or can you?

CORE Rocks, Unity S_cks! - Part 1

Photo by George Schmidt

I have a lot to write on this topic but won't throw it all at you in one shot. Here is Part 1.

There were a lot of subtexts at the AFT convention in Seattle. Some emphasized the Detroit led BAMN (By Any Means Necessary) slate running against Randi's Progressive/Unity Caucus, but given the overall platform of BAMN and skepticism if not outright hostility of other left activists this is not a long-term building block to challenge Weingarten. I'll do more on the left at the convention and their impact at some other time.

More interesting was the role being played, and that might be played in the future by the newly elected CORE (Caucus of Rank & File Educators), a 2 year plus old caucus in Chicago that won a run-off in the recent elections against the UPC (Unity allied).

No matter where you ran into or listened to CORE members, they issued warnings about the disaster of the ed deform program on a system after 16 years, warnings that mostly went on the deaf ears of Unity and their national clones.

I was sitting with a national reporter at the press table and he assumed that the CORE leadership, based on their militancy in defense of teachers would naturally align with BAMN. Thus, he was somewhat surprised when new Chicago TU President Karen Lewis ran on Randi's Progressive Caucus platform as a VP while other CTU delegates ran with BAMN. One UFT leader asked someone in CORE, "Don't you have caucus discipline?" I guess not.

I explained to the reporter that if Lewis didn't run with Progressive which was destined to win (and did win with 95% of the vote), then Chicago for the first time in history wouldn't have a member of the AFT Executive Board council. To not have Local 1 (the UFT is local 2) as part of the council would be embarrassing for the AFT. Soon after arriving in Seattle, negotiations began between CORE and the Progressive Caucus. Reports surfaced that there were demands that at least 50% of the CTU delegates must join Progressive. CORE balked. In the end I believe 3 joined.

More interesting - when the election results came in, Karen Lewis finished with the second hightest total. Professional Staff Congress' (New York based) Barbara Bowen finished with the highest total. Bowen's caucus defeated the Unity supported caucus many years ago and is considered a left dissident group even though Bowen is in Progressive. At the Progressive Caucus meeting I attended Bowen consistently battled them, often against Leo Casey.

So, what does that say when the two VP's with an agenda that is not in alignment with Randi get the highest votes for VP? I'll let you mull that one over while I work on Part 2.

In the meantime, when it came to the Gates speech/walkout, CORE held a meeting to decide what to do. There was some division. The majority decided to remain in the hall, wear their red CTU hats and sit on their hands as a silent protest against Gates. Those that wanted to walk out were asked to remove their hats so as not to represent the CTU. A very democratic solution. As a matter of fact one of the leading people in the protest was a CORE member.

George Schmidt has a good article on Substance with a reprint of the late Gerald Bracey's comments on Gates and a reprint of Gates' speech. Here is his photo of the CTU delegation (around 145 strong) during the Gates speech. Karen Lewis is on the left in the red skirt.




http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?section=Article&page=1529#comments

Many of the members of the Chicago Teachers Union delegation, including President Karen Lewis and Financial Secretary Michael Brunson (above) remained in the hall during the walkout protesting Gates's speech. They then sat silently listening to Gates while delegates from some other union locals, especially New York City, gave Gates a standing ovation even after he promoted charter schools, merit pay, and an end to tenure in his speech (see speech). Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.

If the teachers at the convention had any idea how much money Gates has put into developing non-unionized charter schools

There has been much ado about something over the Gates appearance at the AFT convention, which Ed Notes covered along with Chicago-based Substance (more than a little bit of fun hanging with George Schmidt for 5 days - and it was an honor to have one of the newly elected CTU officers tell me we are two of a kind. Here is a link to a piece on the Substance site a few days before the convention

Praising New Orleans for busting the New Orleans union. Attacking Houston public schools while praising KIPP's anti-union charter schools... Why should this man address the AFT convention Friday? Bill Gates in his own words in a June 29, 2010 Chicago speech

By John Kugler - July 6th, 2010

Two weeks before his scheduled speech to the national convention of the American Federation of Teachers, billionaire Bill Gates was in Chicago to address the The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (http://www.publiccharters.org). The meeting, . . . More

Read the other pieces as they come up at Substance.


Sharon Higgins (The Perimeter Primate), who came through long distance from Oakland to help prep the Gates leaflet - Bill Gates- Vulture Philanthropist: A Trojan Horse in the AFT Hours (download the pdf.) at the AFT convention sent this comment. Let's point out that Sharon is NOT a teacher (for those ed deformers who think only rank and file teachers are critical) but an activist parent who has been so supportive. Sharon had cut out about a third of my usual verbiage. We may send her all our leaflets to knock off the wordiness. (The leaflet did get quoted by a right-wing think tank. (Gates Leaflet Makes News.)

The Perimeter Primate has left a new comment on your post "AFT Gates- California teacher chastises Randi for ...":

If the teachers at the convention had any idea how much money Gates has put into developing non-unionized charter schools, and that his vision includes an extreme reduction in the membership -- and power -- of their union, they might not have been so willing to cheer for him.

But like most Americans who aren't studying what is really going on, I'm sure 99.9% of the teachers were uninformed and clueless. They behaved like the people they are: typical Americans who were super-excited to see a famous celebrity. Seeing Bill Gates in person was the thrilling part of the convention that they later told their families about.

As an urban public school parent, supporter of teachers, and pro-public school activist, I believe that the larger concerns the resisters have are perfectly valid and deserve to be acknowledged and discussed -- at a venue other than in blogs. The opponents of today's "ed reform" desire to be heard but are constantly being ign ored and shut out. They aren't wealthy enough to pay Charlie Rose to do a five-part series on their side of the story, like Eli Broad can.

Just because the resisters are fewer in number at this time, does not make their concerns any less valid; I suspect they are going to turn out to have been the bellwether.

Bill Gates is an unelected individual who has been manipulating public policy from behind the scenes by making use of his extreme wealth. His lack of willingness to engage in a transparent, public debate with people who oppose what he is doing -- and who do have legitimate opinions, concerns, as well as data and historical accounts to present -- is what makes it necessary for the resisters to react in a loud and angry way.

It appears to me that Weingarten is aiding and abetting Gates' undemocratic ways.

If Bill Gates is truly interested in doing what's best for America's public school future, he should purchase one hour of pr imetime airtime and present a show featuring himself debate Diane Ravitch.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

There is a lot more stuff flying about Gates' appearance. NYC Educator has been doing one superb piece after another - go look at them all over the last 10 days or so. Here is a goodie:
Technical Difficulties and another on the Randi/Unity/AFT slavish bowing to Gates: We're Havin' a Party. There are many teacher comments of outrage at Randi's actions.

Nate G a member of CORE/Chicago tweeted that Randi did some comparison to Gandi to justify Gates appearance at the Illinois state breakfast: Twitter feed on Gates appearance at AFT convention

Leonie did a powerful piece at Huffington: most dangerous man in America.

And followed up on her listserve with:suggestion for all and question to teacher re Gates' comments

Gary B. laid waste to Gates and the DOE with humor at the NYC Parent blog: The Eleventh Agent

And of course there's the great David B photoshop job that captures the essense with Randi (Eve) tempting Adam (AFT teachers) with the Gates apple. - Randi the Temptress.

Prepare yourself. Parse the language of Gates, even in this speech which he moderated somewhat for the audience. Gates' end game is to tie your salaries to the performance of your kids.
Go forth and read it all. Everything you can. Prepare yourself to battle the Unity machine scum who will invade your schools and will justify the entire scenario. Pass around the videos I made to your colleagues. I still think our union leaders are the real Trojan Horses.

The Underbelly: Teacher Pay Linked to Student Evaluations

"If I were a veteran teacher in Hillsborough, I would take to the hills, now!" Leonie Haimson


There was much talk and excitement post Gates speech about Bill Gates and the AFT Innovation Fund. Hillsborough was a major point of contact - or attack. Read Leonie's post carefully to see where this is headed. Pay scales based on the results on tests. It is worth checking out Valerie Strauss' posts at WaPo.


I also have some links to Ed Week and EIA from AFT and NEA - though as always, EIA is anti-union and Ed Week's Sawchuk has to be parsed.

My huffington post piece has been reprinted by Valerie Strauss and is in her WaPost blog today:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/teachers/bill-gates-troubling-involveme.html

please go there and leave a comment!

See also in today's Post the article below; which sort of proves my point.

Since January 2008, more than 250 Gates grants have targeted causes such as charter schools, testing research, data systems, science and math education and common academic standards...

Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who has recruited some key aides from the charity, described the foundation as "one of many stakeholders really interested in seeing things get better. I appreciate their commitment and stick-to-itiveness. They're in this for the long haul."

So the Gates foundation is one of the key stakeholders; but where are public school parents? Nowhere to be found.

The Wapost reporter goes into length about the new Gates-supported teacher eval system in Hillsborough:

Every year, teachers here will be evaluated on a formula based on student achievement gains (40 percent), principal observation (30 percent) and peer observation (30 percent). By 2013, a four-tier pay scale will take effect that will reward high performers regardless of their academic degrees or years of experience -- a major break from precedent. Veteran teachers will be allowed to remain in the seniority-based pay scale or opt into the new one. New teachers will not have a choice and will be subject to more rigorous scrutiny before gaining tenure.

I predict the system will be totally unreliable; as based 40% on test score gains, (which fluctuate wildly from year to year, and are reliant on many factors out of the teachers' control. ) Only 30% will be based on peer evaluation, by full time teacher"evaluators" expert in using "data", and none on the views of parents and/or students, who obviously don't count in these people's minds.

And as all merit pay schemes have shown so far, it will be an awful waste of money and probably wreck morale as 20 year veterans will see their incomes slide up and down.

Also see this, not from this piece but another; http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/tenured-or-not-hillsborough-targets-weak-teachers/1083411

"Hillsborough officials told the foundation they expected to fire at least 5 percent of the district's 8,500 tenured teachers each year for low performance, once a new evaluation system is established. ....With more precise evaluations, they predicted rating at least 15 percent of all teachers as "performing well below expectations" and in need of further support or dismissal."

If I were a veteran teacher in Hillsborough, I would take to the hills, now!

Leonie Haimson

Gary Babad - The Eleventh Agent

Gary hits another home run. He left out the 12th agent, a certain union leader.

July 12, 2010 (GBN News): Ten Russians recently deported from the US for spying were apparently not the only such agents living here undercover. GBN News has learned that at least one more Russian plant remains in this country but was not publicly exposed.

According to Russian intelligence sources, the eleventh agent is a high profile American billionaire philanthropist. The sources, who go by the pseudonyms Boris and Natasha, told GBN News that this individual had been secretly placed in the US during the Soviet era. His mission was to amass an immense fortune, then use it to undermine the American way of life. Even after the fall of the Soviets, he continued to fulfill that role, using billions from his charitable foundation to destroy the US public education system by promoting unproven, radical educational “reforms” like replacing public schools with charter schools, and sabotaging the careers of experienced teachers by basing their evaluations on questionable data such as students’ test scores.

More at The Eleventh Agent

Randi the Temptress

I popped up in bed early this morning with this Adam and Eve vision.
A short time after an email to David Bellel, he delivers a beaut.


David also did the Eva M as a tapeworm eating schools from within - George Schmidt came up with that at dinner last night.
Another idea - the famous Apple commercial from the 1984 Super Bowl where the screen is smashed. We redo it with a teacher from a group like CORE in Chicago racing towards a screen of Gates speaking to the AFT. Those drones all have Unity signs all over them. Any film makers willing to take on this challenge?
Sharing ideas with colleagues from around the nation made this trip worthwhile plus the continuing contact. We met a bunch of these people last year in LA. Now talk of meeting someplace next summer.
Shutting down for some boat rides in Seattle. We'll be on red eye tonight.

AFT Gates- California teacher chastises Randi for actions at Gates Protests

AFT Gates- Randi chastised for actions by California teacher



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

Breaking into the Progressive Caucus

July 12, 2010

When I attended the AFT convention in Washington in 2004 with Loretta and Gene Prisco we were surprised when we heard that membership in the Progressive Caucus, the national version of Unity Caucus, was open to all. We joined and were able to attend the first meeting and see how they going to manipulate the rest of the convention. No one said anything to us about being there.

Thus, when I got to Seattle, I asked if that was still the policy and was told it was - all I had to do was pay $20 and I was in. So when Unity hack Washington Sanchez saw me and came over to challenge my right to be there, I was mildly surprised.

"How did you get in here? You have no right to be here," he said. He asked me to show credentials.
"What right do you have to ask me for credentials," I said?
"I am a member of this caucus and have the right."
"No you don't. Only officials have the right."
"You're saying I'm nothing," he whined. "Is that what you are saying?"
"In your case you are nothing."
He walked off in a huff.
I knew that Sanchez was a low level (and low life) do nothing Queens special rep who people I know complain often about his arrogance and incompetence - a guy who as a full-time union employee has no qualms about booing and hooting at opposition speakers at UFT delegate assemblies while on union time. HE would have no clue about national caucus policies. He would follow orders to march off a cliff.

Two minutes later he reappeared with UFT Staff Director Leroy Barr.
I expected Leroy as a top union official to know the rules.
"You have to leave," Leroy said. I just sat there. "You have to be a member to be here."
"I got in didn't I? Only members can get in."
"Come on Norm, we can do this inside or outside. Come outside and talk."
I didn't move.
"Then show me credentials."
"Who are you? Are you an official here? Why should I show you credentials?"
He and Sanchez walked off in a huff. Two minutes they were back with a Sergeant at arms. I showed her my credentials. "You are a visitor and not a delegate," she said. "I don't know if you can be here."
"I asked that question when I paid my $20 and they assured me it was OK or why else would I pay?"
She said she would check. She never came back.

I moved to the back of the room. Whispers. People pointing. Lots of hostile stares. Some friendly nods and a few nice words.
Michael Mendel stopped by to chat. As usual we talked sports. He said, "You are really topping yourself being here, Norm. I really don't care, but you really aren't supposed to be here." I told him the open policy and he seemed truly surprised.
Then retiring UFT grievance head Howard Solomon. "Why are you here? This is a private meeting." Not in a nice way.
Then UFT middle school VP Richard Farkas: "Norm, does this give you reciprocity to attend Unity Caucus meetings?" Rich at least seemed to be having fun with this.
Finally, I get slapped on the shoulder.
It was Randi: "Norman, I see you joined the caucus. You must miss me."
Randi also seemed surprised that I could be there.
"I think you miss me more," I said. "I joined because you finally convinced me. Best 20 bucks I ever spent."

So with the top UFT officials either unaware or not expecting someone to take advantage of a loophole in Progressive Caucus policy, don't be surprised to see that policy modified in Detroit in 2012. And other policies like restrictions on the movement of visitors like they have done at the DA.

I realized that this is the first AFT convention that Randi has run - she was elected in 2008 at the end of the convention. Given her history of taking what was an undemocratically run UFT and doubling the lack of democracy in such a way as to make Al Shanker look like a paragon of free thought, expect an even higher level of tightening in the future.

Unity Caucus and Democracy

It is one thing to spend two hours a month at a UFT Delegate Assembly with the Unity Caucus horde. It is quite another to spend 4 days surrounded by them and their allies from around the nation.

One of the Chicago/CORE crew told me: After spending days dealing with these assholes I completely understand and sympathize with what you New York guys face.

One correspondent said: I am still trying to get a mental picture of a DA on steroids but all I see is Randi with extremely large muscles.

He's almost right about the muscles. Randi came up huge for her side, so much so that even her opponents were impressed. She had been looking a bit shopworn and a bit bored in New York but she was as confident and relaxed as I've ever seen her.

The master of manipulation had every base covered. She was tireless, running to breakfasts to meet with state delegations and then most of the day running the sessions - with 8 mics to call on, it could have been confusing. But nothing seemed to deter her or dampen her spirits.

Given all of this, nothing has changed in terms the policies of the AFT which have gotten so much press for Randi the last few days while leaving her membership behind

So at down times it sets one to thinking about the essence of democracy.

Time and again, we heard Unity Caucus people talk about how democratic the process is at the AFT and in the Progressive Caucus (the national version of Unity). When I attended the Progressive Caucus meeting we heard about how decisions are made in the caucus. Jeff Zahler and Peter Goodman made those points publicly. The more you are a one-party system; the more you talk about democracy. How funny that this is the first AFT contested election since 1974 (the Progressive Caucus won with about 95% of the vote).

So let's see how these decisions were made.

Unity issues marching orders weeks ago
A few weeks before the AFT convention, UFT leaders convened a meeting of the 800 delegates elected in the March election to get them ready. The meeting took place at 52 Broadway. This was not a meeting for the delegates to have an open discussion and debate the virtues of the resolutions that would come up. No, it was a meeting to dictate to 800 people how they would be required to vote based on decisions made by the top of UFT/AFT officialdom.

With well over 200 of the delegates being new, there was some level of surprise. They knew they signed a paper that they would adhere to caucus discipline on decisions made. But some of them didn't know they would have absolutely zero say in how these decisions were made.

Staff director Leroy Barr gave them training on how to use Robert's Rules to assure control over meetings. Leroy kept getting it wrong and had to be corrected numerous times, but no matter.

Jeff Zahler, who has a lot to do with running the caucus - and the national version of Unity - the Progressive Caucus - harangued them with the fact that for the first time since 1974 there would be a slate running against them. This was serious he told them even though those in the know understand it was not. We know they just don't want to win but they want to win with a 100% so as to make sure an opposition never gets traction and remains dispirited. (Remember that Zahler had Unity spend a fortune to red bait ICE-TJC pres candidate Kit Wainer in the 2007 election even though they were assured of an overwhelming victory. And he got up at the DA to brag about it.)

The big prep at this meeting was for the teacher evaluation reso #5 that caused so much comment.

During the debate over a reso titled "Keep Supernaturalism out of the Science Curriculum." The resolves declare supernaturalism is not a scientific endeavor and inappropriate for inclusion in science curriculums, affirms the teaching of evolution and opposes the teaching of creationism and intelligent design. At the Progressive caucus meeting it became clear they were not supporting the reso. The word "supernaturalism" seemed to bother them. Unity's Jackie Bennett who usually makes sense didn't in this case. I told her I was surprised - I didn't catch everything in her response, but it was something about how this was a democratic body. I laughed and repeated the story about the Unity Caucus prep meeting, telling her "Jackie, one day we must have a discussion about the essence of democracy." [I wasn't allowed into the committee meeting that dealt with this the next day so I didn't hear the debate there but the recommendation of the committee was non-concurrence.]


Democratic centralism is when a party or caucus exerts discipline - all members must follow every decision made even if they disagree. That is the way Unity runs.

Now I can live with that because a group has the right to make its own rules. If you don't like the policies then leave. But at least if there is democracy operating you can make the case that you have a fair shot to convince people and if you lose you lose.

But Unity internally itself is not run as a democracy. People at the top decide and issue orders. There is no real debate or when there is it is minimal. No one wants to get up and disagree even if they don't.

The higher ups don't worry and feel free to banter. Talk to Unity secret dissidents - yes there are some. "The watch us and who we are seen talking to," say some of the low level people who are paranoid about losing their privileges. Yes, there is paranoia both ways.

"So what," you might ask? "This is a private body that people can or cannot join. If they choose to be a member of Unity they must think they are getting something for it no matter how it runs."

I beg to differ. This is the body that has run the UFT and AFT since the 1960's in basically a one party system. If Unity had open discussions in a democratic manner instead of slavishly following the policies decided on by a tiny oligopoly, even if they followed democratic centralism, the union would be a better place. Instead we see most follow any policy without thought and also some extremely bright people turning and twisting to adjust their thinking to the party line. If it changes, they change. We know that there are more Unity people than one would think who object to the policies of cooperation with the Gates/Broad world. But they are left to leave anonymous comments on blogs or whisper as they pass by, "You are doing God's work."

This 1984ish type scenario is what has dragged our union deep into the muck of ed deform.

Video - Bill Gates at the AFT: Bringing in a Trojan Horse

Who is the real Trojan Horse?

Here is a rough video of low quality I put together very quickly. First a small demo outside before the speech, then Randi's intro of Gates to rousing cheers, the most vociferous from most of the 800 Unity Caucus people who were there on our dues, the walkout to Unity led jeers and the song na-na-hey-hey-goodbye, selections from Gates' speech with some commentary from me, and the final demo outside as people left. Here is the direct link if it is slow loading:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6Ezri0pVOg

An Ex-Unity Caucus Member Issues a Warning

"The UFT/AFT has caved to this educationally unsound pressure time and time again and need to be stopped. We should be following Diane Ravitch and the NEA, not a union that has consistently worked with power to sell out the students and teachers, the majority of whom live in poverty, of New York City."

An ex- Unity Caucus chapter leader

I encourage you to stop the AFT leadership from continuing to follow Bloomberg, Duncan and the major media outlets down the wrong education reform path. AFT/UFT leadership has always demonstrated a willingness to sell out the membership and students of color for their own personal gain and success.

I write to you today not as a disgruntled ex Unity delegate but as an educator who’s first and foremost concern has always been to ensure that poor Black students receive the same education and opportunities as students of means. I am glad that I do not have to ignore what I know to be right to support UFT leadership and follow my team leader as delegates were told on in June. Make no mistake about it, as a UFT/Unity delegate, there is no voting other than the way one is told to vote. The UFT/Unity delegation works very hard to get their way on everything at the conventions. By packing the committees with their people and having a contingent of delegates ready to line the microphones, it is an orchestrated effort to enforce their way. Trust when I say delegates follow along for many reasons, none related to education or any common sense education reform. Now they are poised to lead us further down the path of the quick fix in education which will allow the achievement gap to flourish not close.

Since taking control of public schools in New York City, Bloomberg has had one goal in mind. He wants his legacy to be the man who solved the problems in public education, specifically closing the achievement gap between Black and White. He had only 8 years to accomplish his goal he set out on quick fixes, not once doing what was necessary to truly close the achievement gap. He identified teachers as the problem, and in turn, closed large high schools, created test requirements for promotion and advocated for charter schools. Now with an additional four years in office he has been given the opportunity to continue and influence more people.

Any rational educator in NYC knows his tests are the new word for social promotion. One can score a Level 2, enough for promotion to the next grade without even reading a question on the 6th grade ELA and 7th grade Math Exams. Yet UFT leadership has stood beside Bloomberg and declared social promotion has ended.

To truly close the achievement gap Bloomberg and his followers would have to acknowledge poverty and those disadvantages associated with it that affect children’s ability to learn. Children in poverty enter school far behind in their exposure to reading and language than their advantaged counterparts. These deficiencies persist throughout their lives in public school as schools have traditionally not provided the necessary resources to bring children of poverty to the level of their peers in the early grades. To remediate for this, in elementary school, would require the kind of tax money; no urban district has yet been willing to spend.

We come to this point today where many states have passed legislation tying test scores to teacher evaluation. Now the AFT wants to officially make it union policy to support this. There are 2 major problems with this.

The first is when administrators/teachers are rated or paid based on test scores and credit accumulation they will reach those goals by any means necessary, as I have seen firsthand for many years. The second problem is the way in which the UFT justifies their actions. The UFT says that the observation/evaluation system is broken. They negotiated the rules yet somehow it is not working.

It is not working because the UFT have allowed Bloomberg/Klein to run roughshod over our contract specifically Article 21D. I requested information from the Department of Education (DOE) under the Freedom of Information Law, as to the amount of U-Ratings for the past 30 years and how many were sustained and overruled. I expected to see a huge increase in both U-Ratings and the number sustained under Bloomberg/Klein. It is unfortunate that the DOE has yet to find the information from May when I made the request.

It is also unfortunate that the UFT has also failed to secure this information. Despite the UFT Delegate Assembly passing a resolution regarding U-Rating appeals in 2007 the UFT has never followed through. The resolution says they will seek applicable data from the DOE, canvas members and analyze the information. I have not seen any evidence this was done. Email to UFT officials went unanswered.

If the UFT were to admit the contractual language has been abrogated they would have to do something. By ignoring the fact that our U-Rating appeals under Bloomberg/Klein have been sustained at an unprecedented rate, they have perfect justification for their resolution on testing and teacher evaluation. They may continue to convince the membership the system does not work and therefore having a percentage of your evaluation based on tests is a great advance. I have seen firsthand the tyranny of the observation and rating system under Bloomberg/Klein, carefully orchestrated under the guise of supervisory discretion. I am a chapter leader and I have received U-Ratings and according to the UFT I should be happy that 40% of my evaluation will be based on test scores? Oh and with new categories instead of just Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory.

I want what I have always wanted since setting foot into my first urban public high school 12 years ago. Essentially to provide students in poverty with the education and tools they need and to guarantee they have the same education and opportunity I had in my public school experience. Mostly I would like to see public education live up to its responsibilities to educate all equally. In ten years in the south Bronx I have not seen it, nor have I seen Bloomberg or Duncan suggest they will do anything to secure this right. I have seen each blame teachers and advocate for tests as measurement of student progress and more incendiary, teacher effectiveness.

The UFT/AFT has caved to this educationally unsound pressure time and time again and need to be stopped. We should be following Diane Ravitch and the NEA, not a union that has consistently worked with power to sell out the students and teachers, the majority of whom live in poverty, of New York City.

Updated Again: AFT Update - and Gates as the Most Dangerous Man in America

Update 2: July 11, 1am PST

The morning session is over and we are pre-Gates, but this came in from Leonie Haimson:

Hope its not too late to create a buzz at Seattle…please share!

The most dangerous man in America is taking the stage at the AFT conference in Seattle today:

Watch out, America! You have nothing to lose but your public school system, at the hands of the richest man in the country who, like a spoiled child carelessly playing with toys, breaks one after another.

check it out at

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leonie-haimson/the-most-dangerous-man-in_b_641832.htm

Key debates on educational issues
[I have video of it all so won't go into tremendous detail.]

The most controversial issues on education were up for debate this morning. Reso # 5 on teacher evaluation was supposed to be the most contentious. Randi/Unity prepared carefully. A few weeks ago the Unity delegation met in NY and were told this was the crucial reso and were prepared to manipulate in committee and at the floor debate.

Chicago vs NYC was a key background. Chicago/CORE people were a little taken aback at some of the tactics used at the committee meetings on Thursday. At the main sessions one CORE/CTU teacher after another were the key people standing up to Unity/Progressive Caucus, telling of the experience of being in the belly of the Duncan/Daly beast.

Today on Reso 5 the mics were packed with Progressive Caucus people until Randi pulled the democracy issue and "allowed" 2 people - CTUers it turned out - to speak against some of the language that they said opened up teachers to attacks. But then the question was called as we always see in NYC.

Chicago and NYC cooperate
On the closing schools reso we saw a different scenario. A UFTer/Unity got up to amend the reso and everything she said was on the mark. The next speaker was from Chicago/CORE - local 1 - and thanked local 2 for working with them to strengthen the reso. Both speeches were very powerful.

I spoke to CORE people after and apparently there were some intense negotiations between the two big powerhouse locals to find some common ground. And they did.

What is playing out here is a baptism of the Chicago group just a few days after taking power in the union. I have been very impressed with the number of quality people. One after another you speak to are articulate and educated on so many issues. CORE clearly has done a great job of educating, organizing and mobilizing. In two years at Detroit they will be prepared.

But that won't stop Randi from trying to coopt them, something she is so good at doing.

To be continued

------
Everyone wants part of the GEM banner - well, not everyone

Speaking of co-opting. New Action's Jonathan Halabi is here. Now don't get into a snit. New Action did not get delegate positions. He is here as college prof delegate - PSC. As some of you know he is not my favorite person for his constant ICE bashing - he was even overheard doing it in a bar the other night. You know, "the ICE opposes everything mantra" - like mayoral control, merit pay, measuring teachers by data - stuff like that. Stuff that the UFT has supported.

When there was discussion about the Gates protest today and people talked about holding up the GEM banner, there are reports Halabi balked, saying GEM was sectarian or something like that. Ridiculous. Though GEM has many ICE people in it, it has attracted people from every active group in the UFT. Not New Action of course. GEM has not been active within the UFT very much and is not a caucus, one of the reasons so many ICE people who feel there is a need for a broader movement than just a caucus have jumped on board. New Action on the other hand sticks to the narrowest of issues and does little more than function as a completely owned subsidiary of Unity.

In defense of ICE/GEM
Pretty ironic that Lisa North and Gloria Brandman, two key ICE people have been amongst the leaders of the the AFT P&J committee which Halabi has been hanging around. And they have been on the UFT Peace and Justice Committee. And the UFTers to stop the war.

Other ICEer/GEMers: Fiorillo is one of most respected voices out there. As is John Lawhead. Julie Woodward has been relentless in holding the UFT's feet to the fire. Arthur Goldstein is chapter leader of the second largest school in the city and is one of the leading voices in defense of teachers with his columns at Gotham Schools. Eterno and Kaufman have been enormously respected for their strength and knowledge of the contract. And John Elfrank chapter leader of Murray Bergtraum. And the retirees: Ellen Fox, Loretta and Gene Prisco, Vera Pavone who co-wrote the review of the Kahlenberg book with me - and she did most of the work. It's late. I'm sure I'm forgetting people. Jeez! The nerve to disparage the work of these people.

How else have we been able to build alliances with just about every group in the city - teachers and community activists? From NYCORE to Teachers Unite to TJC. And parent groups around the city. People I meet here from all over the nation know our work and want to stay in touch. Ed Notes received over 2000 hits in the last 3 days alone.

We have links nationwide. Chicago CORE are allies and we've been spending time with them. Karen Lewis know our work. And the Washington DC crew with Candi Peterson and Nathan Saunders who are here. Detroit called us when they were taking action. LA people are in touch. We linked to a group in Philly on this trip. Now, quick - name New Action activists who have done anything close to this work.

Who do they call? GEM
Halabi may carp about ICE and GEM but he and New Action have been invisible while GEM/ICEers have been at numerous charter school co-location and school closing meetings supporting teachers and parents and building alliances. When they need support they call us. And we have been there for them.


Well, anyway, given all this, today he impressed me - for about 2 minutes. He got up to speak against a reso that everyone supported. It had language on credit recovery and some other issues and he was nervous but extremely articulate. I will get the video up when I can (I am very backed up on the videos). What he said is important to us in NYC.

And he did put up a very good piece critical of Weingarten on the first convention day.
AFT Convention in Seattle Day 1

Maybe there's some hope for some people in New Action. I respect and like New Action's Arjun Janah who today wrote a great poem about Bill Gates which I will post.

After burn
I was hanging with Stephen Sawchuk today and we had some good chats. I really didn't know his work 'till this week but I will take a closer look.

He was chosen to do a private interview with Gates post-speech. We talked about what he would ask and I am looking forward to seeing what he writes. Meanwhile follow his posts at: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/


I got to watch his computer while he went to meet with Gates. Maybe next time we switch and I interview Gates- hear that Janet Bass (who as AFT press chief was extremely gracious throughout the week- in case you didn't know I am here as press for The Wave - I think there is a Rockaway somewhere in the Pacific Northwest).

While I was baby sitting his computer I ended up in the midst of what looked suspiciously like a Unity Caucus meeting about voting in the AFT elections. I wasn't asked to leave as almost everyone was gracious - only Sandi March was nasty - but what do you expect? I was extremely pleased when Alan Lubin came over to say hello. Alan is one of the most respected union officials I have met. He was once Dist 32 rep and then Brooklyn boro chief. He is VP of NYSUT for quite a while. I had heard he was ill but he looked great. He just retired. No matter how much we all disagreed politically, Alan was always a mensch, never making things personal, always with a quip. It is funny but many of the old guard Unity people do not look at this as war. But I find many of the Unity relative newbies are rabid.


From two observers, one of them associated with the Chicago Teachers Union Twitter feed on Gates appearance at AFT convention

Reports from Seattle Locals

We've run into some Seattle activists and they are posting reports of the Duncan confrontation yesterday. First a bunch of us met at Wild Ginger restaurant a few blocks from here - about 50 people. Another group led by the Detroit teachers and BAMN - the people running against Randi's Progressive Caucus - organized a bus to go to Aviation HS and confronted Duncan. He met with them for a half hour. This action alone makes them look more qualified than the Randi bunch.

Since we were prepping for the AFTP&J meeting on education at 4:30 (Randi extended the general session from 4:30 to well after 5 and we could have gone with BAMN) we went back to the hall. I asked Steve Conn later if they had video and he said someone did so we are waiting. (I tell all groups not to do anything without getting some video.) Here are some reports. Make sure to check out the web links.

7/9/10
Report from Seattle teacher Bob Murphy

I got to Wild Ginger at appx. 11:45.

I. I saw City Council Member Tim Burgess stroll up, he saw my sign and we chatted quickly - he frequents the 36th LD Dems - so I chewed his ear off about the reform stuff
(1. I'll do anything for kids anytime anywhere)
2. my school is over 60% FRL,
3. MY KIDS NEED, I need, MY KIDS NEED, HELP -- not powerpoints, not consultants, NOT consultants, NOT powerpoints...)

He mentioned he was there for Arne ("opps!" I think he thought, real quick!)

II. Some woman was texting & she's a Detroit teacher, & she asked me if I was the Arne protest - I gave here the cliff notes of all known information, she texted some people, more people showed up ...

III. some guy Norm Scott from NYC was there, as were some other teachers from NYC, he was doing video stuff for them ... (he is on the "to:" line)

IV. MORE people showed up, some people who are good at chants were making up chants for Arne's lunch - there were about 30? 40? 50? of us in front of Wild Ginger ...

V. people left to go to Aviation High,

VI. many / some of the people are with the AFT Peace and Justice Caucus,

There is a meeting of their caucus TODAY from 4:30 to 6:30 i

the caucus is http://www.aftpeaceandjusticecaucus.org/

VII. there was talk of doing some something tomorrow when the great Gates delivers from the throne - I do NOT know what, when, where, how,who ...

I presume it will NOT be singing his praises...??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf0vJiyeLIo

a. I am going to go to this afternoon's thing at 4:30

VIII. Personal Note - you can say a lot of things about New Yorkers, and, as a Red Sox fan and son of Massachusetts I'll never defend them, BUT - these people know how to get stuff done.

Bob.

Report from Seattle parent activist Dora Taylor

And yes, the Chicago, Oakland and Detroit teachers know how to organize. On the other hand, they have all been through this for a few years now and see what is happening to the students. They are frustrated and beyond mad.

As Karen Lewis, the Chicago Union President, said last night, this "rotting" of our public school system has to stop first in Chicago where it began and from there continue throughout the country.

She's an awesome speaker by the way.

Anyway, that will all be on my post.

Dora

Architecture 101
http://archforkids.blogspot.com/

Seattle Education 2010
http://seattle-ed.blogspot.com/

and our new website
Seattle Education 2010
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Edweek Gets Schooled at the AFT

Reporter Steven Sawchuk has an interesting report on the caucuses at the AFT. It's pretty good but he is a little off base on some of it. We had a short chat before I had to leave and I tried to leave a comment on his blog but had some problems. So I'll touch on some of what I know here.

First, there's this from Sawchuk:

"Like any other union, the AFT is a democratic, political organization." I don't blame any reporter for making this mistake because they don't know the infighting that goes on. But the AFT is no a democratic organization. Name an organization that has not had a contested election in 36 years? I mean Iran is more democratic. Kim il Jung uses the AFT manual for political control. And never forget – Al Shanker had the bomb before either of them.

Now those of us who have been at Delegate Assemblies for years know the drill. But the Chicago people at their first convention are getting a rude awakening. First at the committee meetings yesterday and then on the floor today where the massive numbers of NYC delegates from Unity Caucus had a total plan for eliminating any resos or amendments they didn't like. Or rather Ms. Micromanagement Randi didn't like (there's no democracy in Unityville either).

They have specific people assigned to each area - even the designated "I call the question on all matters before the body" to stifle debate. There was one guy yesterday named Steven Kaplan I believe who was so thrilled at how he carried out his assignment he leaped in the air (I have to find that video). I mean it is not every day that you get to call the question in front a national audience.

So at last night's CORE party so many people were talking about the "machine". They were really shocked that Unity - Progressive Caucus nationally - of which I am now a proud member for the year - till they change the rules next time in Detroit to make sure I am not - would bother to go to so much trouble given the reality that they wouldn't lose many things even if they let democracty play itself out. I heard the expression "dirty politics" more than once. To us in NYC it's not dirty - it's institutional.

Second point with Sawchuck

But there's also a group called the AFT Peace and Justice Caucus. Though admittedly much smaller than the Progressive Caucus, it is not at all happy with the idea of teacher evaluation scores based even partly on student test scores. "Evaluation & Pay Based on Test Scores? ARE YOU ANGRY? Many AFT locals have agreed to teacher evaluation plans based on unreliable student test scores," a flier some of its caucus members have been handing out reads. It is also, apparently, unhappy that the union is welcoming Bill Gates this Saturday to the convention, deeming it "A Trojan Horse in the AFT House."

Nice plug for our side, though my GEM/ICE pals Gloria and Lisa are very active in P&J I have been bombarding them all week with questions that I won't repeat publicly. Sawchuk says:

the Peace and Justice Caucus got a boost recently with the election of Karen Lewis in Chicago. She emerged out of a group there that shares philosophical similarities with the Peace and Justice Caucus

He is right there but then he found out that Karen Lewis has joined the Progressive Caucus - but there are some interesting reasons which I have on background which I will share with Sawchuk and maybe you tomorrow.

Sawchuck closes with:

CLARIFICATION: I should have stated earlier that the Peace and Justice Caucus, unlike the Progressive one, is not actually a political caucus. It is, however, closely aligned to a new political caucus called "By Any Means Necessary" that is going to try to run a different slate of candidates in tomorrow's elections.

Now this one is tricky. There are many Progressive Labor people in AFTP&J and I don't think the vibes between PL and BAMN are all too cool. I could tell when we had the demo against Arne Duncan at a restaurant at noon today and BAMN sent a message that their chartered bus to Duncan's next appearance was leaving. Not one PLer budged and I saw a few sour faces. I started exploring the differences tonight at the all hands on deck party at the Sheraton where all the players are in the room but am not sure what will be on and off the record.

Now I think P&J people may vote against Weingarten but I detect some ambivalence about BAMN but don't know enough to figure it all out.

Getting late - gotta get up early to hear the candidate speeches which will take place starting at 8:30. BAMN was forced by the Unity machine to be up first to make sure no delegates can hear them. Democracy anyone?

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After burn
We hung with some Unity people today and heard a funny. When they were being whipped up into a frenzy at a meeting a few weeks ago to prepare for this convention by Jeff Zahler one of the things that came up was, "Can Randi come back to NY if she loses the election?" Now we know that this is not possible but it seemed Unity Caucus members were being driven to work hard for the Progressive Caucus slate by being threatened with Randi's return if she should lose.

Or maybe she would just go back to the classroom and put in another 6 months.

I can see her coming ashore now. Now there's a turn of the screw.

Still Sleepy in Seattle

Before heading back to the convention floor here is a brief summary of this morning's events.

Randi was running her first AFT convention - she was elected 2 years ago but the incumbent ran it - so this was a UFT Delegate Assembly on steroids. Imagine instead of listening to Randi for an hour and a half you has to sit there for 3 days. Oy!

Just as I got in Randi started dancing. Aw shucks, Randi, I didn't know you felt that way. But it turned out the AFT has added more members to be sold out. Watch the video see if you can spot some old Unity friends.



Then it was off to Wild Ginger restaurant to protest Arne Duncan's lunch with Senator Patti Murray and others. We had a rousing crew and I got some footage but unfortunately my mic failed and I lost most of the sound. So I won't bother to put any of it up. Mic is fixed for the AFT P&J meeting this afternoon where I am supposed to speak about conditions in NY for 5 minutes. It should only take 30 seconds.

Randi showed a video supposedly about how the affilates were fighting back (smart of course) around the nation. But of course it was all about Randi. Randi goes to California. Randi goes to Florida. Randi goes to Detroit (where the next AFT convention will take place in 2 years - can't wait to see how many Unity slugs want to opt out of that gig.) Remember how many pics of Randi in the NY Teacher? This was new age video with her all over 3 screens. Oh, yes, the local unions had a few shots of them. Then every local in the video got up to thank Randi.

Missing? Washington DC where Randi cancelled the union election and Chicago. Behind the scenes Randi is doing what she does best - trying to woo a potential opposition group with political offers - this is playing out right now in the floor so I have to get over there.

I'll have more in this space later on some observations.

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The Bill Gates leaflet is finished. Shortened and sweetened by Sharon Higgins. Thanks for input to Susan Ohanian, Leonie Haimson, Diane Ravitch's wonderful quotes, Lisa North, Gloria Brandman, NYC Educator, Gandi, and Homer.

Bill Gates: Vulture Philanthropist