Main Aim of Ed Deform? Reduce Cost of Teacher Salaries and Benefits

Another reason to come to the State of the Union Conf. tomorrow: The UFT refuses to recognize and educate its members as to what is really going on with ed deform.

Michael Solo from John Dewey HS and I were on a Brooklyn public access cable TV program last night -BRIC- (taped for later showing) discussing the issue of teacher evaluations. I had to race over there after taping a remarkable forum on charter schools hosted by PS 24 with a panel consisting mostly of people who were in our film. About 25 parents came out which was quite impressive. They got an earful. I'll put up the video but right now I am busy finalizing my presentation of the UFT 101 workshop for the State of the Union conference tomorrow (last day to register online).

Back to the BRIC show. The game plan came into even clearer focus to me as we chatted about removing half the teachers at the schools, only as principal union head Ernie Logan said, to be replaced by low-salaried newbies while the senior teachers are thrown into the ATR pool. The excuse of gaining $55 million in order to spend $180 million to cover the costs of ATRs looks insane.

But not insane if the long-term plan is to gain a massive reduction in teacher salaries and benefits. Then it all makes sense. We all know that the biggest costs in education are teacher salaries and benefits. Imagine if you could cut salaries in half. And get short-term teachers who will never get a pension. In a decade you could radically restructure the education budget so you can funnel the money saved to your favorite consultants and business partners. Give more to the Joel Klein/Rupert Murdoch tandem at Wireless Generation.

Bloomberg is a long-term investor. Use the costs of the ATRs to create outrage. Have you noticed the sleazy NY Post targeting on a few teachers? That is just the opening in the campaign. As we get closer to the summer watch Cuomo chime on about the outrage of paying these people and calling for changes in state law allowing them to end LIFO. Just watch that assault. Right now the DOE is spending money on field supervisors for ATRs. Imagine that. Subs being rated. Pleas by to the UFT to get involved result in "But no one was U-rated." Yet.

And of course, along comes their partners in crime, Teach for America. This morning's blog was triggered by Mark Naison's post below.

Teach for America and the Transformation of the US into a Low Wage Nation

More and more, Teach for America seems to be an instrument for union busting by local school districts. Here's the scenario: A local school district is having budget problems. They lay off, or fire veteran teachers, then bring in Teach for America to replace them. The school districts saves millions of dollars in labor costs, short run, and even more money in the long because of reduced pension costs. The students lose because teachers who devoted their lives to their profession, and live in the community, are replaced by sojourners trained for five weeks who rarely stay beyond their two year commitment. But the community also loses because a sector of the local labor force which has decent pay and benefits is destroyed, thereby making it easier for employers in the private sector to keep wages low. Make no mistake about it, union busting, though it may reduce the tax burden on residents of municipalities and states, accelerates the transition of the United States as a low wage nation ruled by a wealthy elite of CEO's and managers. Teach for America, by actively accelerating this transition, is doing deadly damage to the young people it is trying to help by insuring they graduate into a labor force where work opportunities, for all but a small minority, are low paying and insecure. Those young people who seek to become part of this once admirable organization need to very carefully examine what its role in the United States social and economic system is TODAY


http://withabrooklynaccent.blogspot.com/2012/02/teach-for-america-and-transformation-of.html

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FEB. 4- STATE OF THE UNION: TIME TO FIGHT BACK Register at: http://stateoftheunionconference-estw.eventbrite.com/

See Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on the right for important bits.

Eva's PAC gave $10K to Cuomo

The NY Post goes crazy when they find the UFT gives money to candidates. Why don't we demand public schools get their own PACs to compete with charters?

Thanks to Leonie Haimson

http://www.elections.ny.gov:8080/reports/rwservlet?cmdkey=efs_sch_report+p_filer_id=A83683+p_e_year=2012+p_freport_id=J+p_transaction_code=F

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FEB. 4- STATE OF THE UNION: TIME TO FIGHT BACK Register at: http://stateoftheunionconference-estw.eventbrite.com/

See Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on the right for important bits.

Angel Gonzalez on AFT/UFT/NEA Collaboration

Angel lauds the work of Lois Weiner in his email below.

(Lois will be doing 2 workshops at the SOTU conference:What Does Social Justice Unionism Look Like in the UFT and Pushing Back on Deskilling Teachers' Work.)

Angel will be making a presentation as part of the UFT 101 workshop I am organizing for the State of the Union this Saturday where he will present a point of view that we both hold that the teacher unions have been collaborationists on much of the ed deform we have seen. I should point out that many critics of UFT policy do not necessarily hold the same point of view. Some think they have just made bad judgements (which can be linked to the lack of democracy and discourse within the union). Others see it as a top-down bureaucracy functioning in their own self-interest. Really, there are elements of truth in all of these.

But what interests some of us is the ideology behind the UFT/AFT that makes them collaborationists? I mean, what do they have to lose in resistance? I'm not guaranteeing answers on Saturday, but view that as a beginning of opening up dialogues within the UFT/AFT that have been kept under the thumb of Unity Caucus for 50 years. I am proposing that we hold a series of workshops this spring and summer exploring many of the issues we never get to talk about in the union.

Angel sent this to various listserves:

Dear Education and Labor Activists,

Finally! Some fresh, excellent and incisive analysis of the AFT, NEA and powerhouse local UFT sell-out business unionism presented by Lois Weiner at http://newpol.org/node/579. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Lois.

Lois is on point with so much here and hopefully will generate lots of discussion and debate among education, school, labor, parent, community and teacher union grassroots activists.

It is very timely given that so many educators are rising up to fight back against so many of the disastrous manifestations of corporate neo-liberal assault such as charter-privatization of our public schools, school closings masqueraded as reforms (such as the NCLB/Race to the Top transformations, restart, or turnaround models), the increasing imposition of irrelevant high stakes testing, punitive fraudulent student/teacher/school evaluation methods, merit pay schemes, mayoral dictatorial school governance, etc. etc. etc.

Many of us are sick and tired of this AFT/UFT/NEA collaboration with the Wall street corporatization/privatization agenda for our public schools, the teacher bashing, and the rapid disappearance of teacher and worker labor rights!

Here in our NYC UFT/AFT and across the US, within progressive teacher “union” and education groups, activists are searching for ways to transform their school unions and truly build teacher unions that will fight for, and promote the interests of all the sectors of our working class school communities.

This article indeed contributes toward bridging the analysis gap and can help us rethink and shape our practice accordingly. Hopefully, we can help deepen this critique, analysis and push the debate needed as we develop tactics and strategies in our work to occupy our schools and the bankrupt unions.

"Educate, Agitate, Organize and Mobilize at all our schools."

Angel Gonzalez

Grassroots Education Movement – GEMnyc.org

FMPR (Puerto Rico Teachers’ Union) Support Committee

Teacher Unionism Reborn | New Politics

newpol.org

FEB. 4- STATE OF THE UNION: TIME TO FIGHT BACK Register at: http://stateoftheunionconference-estw.eventbrite.com/

See Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on the right for important bits.

Reports on New York students walkout and Legacy HS Hearing

First, a trip to the eye surgeon, lunch and a matinee

Yesterday my wife had her left eye cataract surgery, 2 weeks after doing her right eye. She now has perfect vision and can see without glasses, which she's been wearing since she is 4. (So she actually can see what she married.) Today we had a follow-up appointment with the eye surgeon to make sure all was well. I originally intended to head back home and go back to the city later for the rally at Union Square and the meeting at Legacy HS tonight.

But the weather was too perfect -- Feb. 1 and 60 degrees was amazing -- so we walked down to the half price ticket line near Times Sq just to see what was available. We got there before 11:30 and there was no line. And they had Porgy and Bess for the first time (they said) with center orchestra tickets --- really as good seats you can get even in the best circumstances. What is going on here? Is the fact there was no line and perfect tics to a great show an economic indicator?

Well, we had two and a half hours to kill so we spent a half hour doing our favorite thing --- looking for a restaurant where we could kill at least an hour and a half. We ended up at Joe Allen on restaurant row -- first time we've been there in about 20 years. It is still restaurant week so I had the 3-courser despite my diet. Pulled pork and fries. I won't even get into the details of the brownie covered with vanilla ice cream.

On the way over we ran into my wife's former boss' wife who was going to the same show with advanced tickets in the mezzanine for probably double what we paid. That makes any show so much more enjoyable. (I am my 94 year old father's son who doesn't enjoy food unless he gets it at a bargain).

Well the show was perfect --- not the original P and B but a somewhat controversial modified version. I tried to entice my wife to go down for a peek at Union Square but no go. Anyway the tweets from Gotham followed by Leonie's tweets from the Legacy hearing gives a pretty good picture. Do you get a feeling things are beginning to crumble for WalBloom? Not to worry though. They will leave as much destruction as they can before they leave and humpty will not be put back together again.

First -- Rachel Kromidas just posted a good story at Gotham with a great pic:

Students from three boroughs protest school closure policy

Here are her tweets:

gothamschools GothamSchools

Juan Pagan, a Legacy parent, plays guitar at the closure protest. yfrog.com/ocibcocj

4 hours ago

gothamschools GothamSchools

Students from CUNY and Hunter College have joined Legacy. No sign of more high schools, but Gompers, Lehman and Irving are expected to show.

4 hours ago

gothamschools GothamSchools

"These are the schools that are closing," students chant, unrolling a banner list of closure and turnaround schools. yfrog.com/g0vv0kqjj

5 hours ago

gothamschools GothamSchools

An #OWS supporter is teaching students how to do a #miccheck. The call back is: "We are the school, we deserve a chance."

5 hours ago

gothamschools GothamSchools

The throng of students gathers on Union Square steps, while police officers, activists and park-goers look on. yfrog.com/kih9htfj

5 hours ago

gothamschools GothamSchools

Last night a handful of Legacy students sat in Irving HS for its closure hearing. "We are all a community, we support them," one told me.

5 hours ago

gothamschools GothamSchools

student organizer estimates 300 from Legacy are here. "I don't get it, why are they closing the school?" X-ing guard at 5th and 14th asks.

5 hours ago

gothamschools GothamSchools

crowd of Legacy students are walking toward Union Square protest. line stretches almost the length of block. Some chant: Save Our Schools.

5 hours ago

gothamschools GothamSchools

Students from Legacy High School for Integrated Studies are gathering outside their Union Square school. yfrog.com/es27rixj

5 hours ago

Leonie from the hearing:

leoniehaimson leonie haimson

New principal of legacy only has1 yr of data; how can DOE evaluate her leadership or Schl progress?

20 minutes ago

leoniehaimson leonie haimson

Speaker quinn's rep reads letter signed also by congressman Nadler state sen Duane & AM Glick asking Doe to keep Schl open

33 minutes ago

leoniehaimson leonie haimson

Mark Sternberg says not happy to be at closing schls hearing

48 minutes ago

leoniehaimson leonie haimson

Someone calls out Doe is low performing why don't we shut u down?

56 minutes ago

From Jaisal Noor (look for his video in a few days).Across the country cuts to education are threatening programs and services. Texas school officials say arts and culture programs could get hit after lawmakers approved a $4 billion drop in public education funding. And in Los Angeles, the city’s long-running Adult Education program - which serves many from the city’s immigrant and low-income communities - could be virtually wiped out if a current budget proposal is approved. But the cuts are also prompting action. In New York, high school students have called for a city-wide walkout today to protest the latest round of school closings and budget cuts. Community News Production Institute Reporter Jaisal Noor visited some of the schools taking part and brings us this report.

Listen here.

Download audio file


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FEB. 4- STATE OF THE UNION: TIME TO FIGHT BACK Register at: http://stateoftheunionconference-estw.eventbrite.com/ See Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on the right for important bits.

Update: Walcott Turns Tail at Town Hall in Bronx After Students Do a Mic Check

UPDATE: Weds. Feb. 1 5:30AM - fleshing out last night's brief report:

There weren't quite enough people to pull off the whole thing, but that didn't stop the Chancellor and the DOE from packing up in a matter of minutes. That's all it took.  --- anon. report 

I took this photo at the PS 215 closing school hearing. Ironic, eh!

Increasingly, people are not willing to allow the Tweedies to go about spouting their propaganda message and more such confrontations are expected. As this statement shows, when the DOE doesn't have the capacity to stop this they will just walk out. In the report received below, note this:  

"Jose Vargas (Bronx UFT) who came to the meeting looking for Occupy DOE folks. He wants to collaborate with us and make sure we're all on the same page." 

Sure. The UFT wants to make sure to control the page with their message. Not the first time the UFT has made noises about cooperation but behind the scenes we see something else operating. The union surely is planning something for the Feb. 9 PEP where over 20 schools will be voted closed. Union tactics in the past have included various disruptions followed by a walkout, but no attempt to disrupt the meeting to an extent where it can't go on. We'll see on Feb. 9.

Back in August 2010, the Coalition for Educational Justice CEJ), which is organizing today's Union Square protest (Protest Mayor 13% Weds. Feb. 1 3-6PM) followed by a attendance at the Legacy HS hearing at 6pm, shut down a PEP meeting but hasn't tried that again. Their plans for Feb. 9 are unclear but my guess is they will coordinate with the UFT. CEJ is funded by the Annenberg Institute (Norm Fruchter) and there are close ties to the UFT.

At the first sign of resistance, Walcott and crew jumped ship at the District 9 town hall at Evander Childs Campus in the Bronx last night, blaming the mic checkers. A group of 7 students --- some reports say from Lehman HS ---- read the following statement:

Mic Check:

Chancellor Walcott, the DOE and Fellow Community Members,

We are the forgotten voices, effected by this failed education policy.

We are the future leaders of the nation.

The DOE and mayoral control has failed public schools in NYC

THe PEP and budget cuts have failed public schools

Chancellor Walcott is a puppet for this failed administration

We are more than a budget item

We are the future of our generation

This systematic attack on our public schools will not stand!

Closing our schools is not the solution.

Fix our schools, don't close them!

The people united will never be defeated.

Some members of the audience were not happy at the use of mic check because they wanted their say and there was some individual discussions going on regarding this tactic. This has become an issue for internal discussions. Experienced activists who have become tired of pushing on deaf ears also have to take into consideration that people just exposed to having their school closed actually feel that they can reverse things if they get the ears of officials and this tension is expected to continue. An education campaign as to the history and intents of the ed deformers running the DOE is an important component.

Here is an excerpt of a report discussing this issue received from a participant:

Because it wasn't a crowd of people who came to specifically protest school closings the DOE tried very hard to blame US for shutting down the meeting and behaving "disrespectfully." The students were great and there were a lot of interested and supportive folks who we were able to connect with after and explain ourselves too, some of whom were excited about getting involved. The media eventually came long after the DOE left and the students may well make the evening/morning news. We need to think about being very clear with parents who want their voices heard that they can use the people's mic and acknowledge that some parents (like some of those tonight) won't feel that the people's mic is an "appropriate means" of communicating with the DOE (even though we know that no matter what anyone says they won't listen). Lastly, Jose Vargas (Bronx UFT) came to the meeting looking for Occupy DOE folks. He wants to collaborate with us and make sure we're all on the same page. As one parent put in a follow up email, "only in the Bronx." Ever onwards!  

-------
Here was the original message I reported last night-- Tues. Jan. 31, 2012 - 9PM
This just came in from a Bx teacher (unconfirmed):

Students and teachers from Lehman HS shut down the meeting with a MIC check!  Many teachers there from various schools cheered them for shutting up the Chancellor!  Walcott could not continue to feed the public his well rehearsed lies.

Well, we can only hope it's true. The time has come to kill the messenger. Shut down everything. Why even let them spill their baloney?


Postscript: This just came in:

Jose Vargas is full of shit.  I can't believe for one minute that the Bronx office has done the work to organize.  I worked there for 3 years and they don't have the organization.

Daily News Report

James Monroe Adams IV for New York Daily News

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott opted to adjourn a meeting with high school students at Evander Childs Tuesday night.

School organizers were forced to abruptly end a meeting at a Bronx high school Tuesday night when it was interrupted by angry students, causing Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott to leave.

Students at Evander Childs in Williamsbridge jumped from their seats, yelling about the city’s “failed education policies.”

The students disrupted the meeting about a half-hour after it began, saying it was payback for a meeting last week at Herbert H. Lehman High School, where students were only allowed 30 seconds to speak about their closing school.

“They don’t even care about what we say,” said student Jesse Aponter, a junior at Lehman.

After a five-minute attempt to calm the rowdy crowd, the meeting was adjourned and Walcott left.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/dennis-walcott-abruptly-ends-meeting-bronx-high-school-angry-students-interrupt-article-1.1015110#ixzz1lB4v64hL

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FEB. 4- STATE OF THE UNION: TIME TO FIGHT BACK Register at: http://stateoftheunionconference-estw.eventbrite.com/ See Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on the right for important bits.

The Whole Truth About Charters @ PS 24K Feb. 2

This event it open to all.

Teachers and parents at PS 24 in Sunset Park will be holding an informational session on charter schools using clips from "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman" and other materials. I'm expecting to tape the event and put it up online. If other schools want to hold an event similar to this email me and I'll put you in touch with the organizers. Of course the UFT should be doing this all over the city but they don't want to step on too many toes. Why should your school do this? If you don't see the handwriting on the wall where one day masses of schools will be replaced with non-union charters it is time to wake up.

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FEB. 4- STATE OF THE UNION: TIME TO FIGHT BACK Register at: http://stateoftheunionconference-estw.eventbrite.com/ See Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on the right for important bits.

Protest Mayor 13% Weds. Feb. 1 3-6PM

Shuffling high-needs students from school to school has not addressed fundamental educational issues.

MAYOR 13%

Under Mayor 13% the schools in the city with the fewest Black, Latino and low-income populations prepare students for college at more than four times the rate of our schools with the largest number of Black, Latino, and low-income students.

Under Mayor 13% his plan is to close about 80 schools, on top of 117 schools already closed.

JOIN in Solidarity 

Student & Parents Rally

against school closings 

& 

Bloomberg's failed education reform. 

Wednesday, February 1

3-6 pm 

Union Square

Check out: www.facebook.com/mayor13percent 

Mili Bonilla
Coalition for Educational JusticeAnnenberg Institute for School Reform  

Cell: 347-901-1049
www.nyccej.org

www.edvox.org

Protesters to Gather in Union Square to Rally Against "Mayor 13%" and School Closings Policy

Students, parents, advocates, community members: Mayor’s school closings policy and 10 years of “reforms” have failed; time to listen to New Yorkers

Just 13% of Black and Latino students ready for college under Bloomberg

Shuffling high-needs students from school to school has not addressed fundamental educational issues

Students from closing schools, CUNY students, public school parents and community members will rally in Union Square on Wednesday to protest Mayor Bloomberg’s closing schools policy and failed “reforms”, and demand he change course to fix an education system in crisis before he leaves office.

Poll after poll shows that New Yorkers disagree with Mayor Bloomberg’s education policies and don’t believe he’s achieved real results as mayor, yet his administration continues to double-down on failed “reforms” such as the mass closings of schools that move high-needs students around rather than meet their educational needs.  In fact, more than 50 schools are now on the block for closure, and 25 of them will be voted on in February alone.   

The rally will be followed by a hearing at Legacy High School near Union Square, where a community of parents, educators and students have been fighting to keep their school open.  Much like other schools on the closing list, Legacy has very high rates of high-needs students, yet has been threatened with closure instead of offered help.

The rally and hearing follow a press conference today where four major candidates for mayor– including the City’s Public Advocate, Manhattan Borough President, and the current former Comptroller – blasted the mayor’s school closings policy, and questioned whether high-needs students were being “lost” when schools are closed.  These students – self-contained special education, over-age and other historically lower-performing students – make up a smaller percentage of student populations at many of the new schools founded by the administration.

Other student populations – particularly low-income students of color – have also not fared well under the Bloomberg Administration.  In fact, parents and students have labeled Mayor Bloomberg as “Mayor 13%” for his administration’s failure to prepare 87 percent of black and Latino students for college.  Just one-in-four students overall are prepared for college under Bloomberg, and just 39 percent of public high school graduates last year reported they would be attending four-year colleges the following fall.

Quick facts on Legacy High School:

- School has a new principal who started in the fall of 2010 

- 25% of incoming students are over-age, compared to 5% citywide

- Students have an incoming academic level of 2.6, compared to 2.94 citywide

- 20% of students are in special education, compared to 10% citywide

-83% of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, compared to 74% citywide 

WHEN:           Wednesday, February 1^st – 3 PM

(DOE hearing on Legacy HS scheduled for 6 PM)

WHERE:         14th Street and Union Square – in front of the horse statue facing Broadway

(Hearing at Legacy HS – 34 W. 14th St.)

WHO:             Parents, teachers and students angry with DOE from schools set to be closed, chanting and holding signs.  Schools attending include Legacy, Lehman, Gompers, Gateway, Washington Irving.  They will be joined by CUNY students, including Students United for a Free CUNY, New York Students Rising (NYSR), and students from John Jay, Hunter, BMCC, Brooklyn College and Brooklyn Tech.

Know Your Rights - Response by Jeff Kaufman

At the State of the Union conf this Sat. Jeff and James Eterno will be doing a Know Your Rights workshop which will include issues related to principal abuse, incompetent or uncaring union officials (why so many come to Jeff and James), your rights as an activist/organizer, and other issues raised in a Q and A. Their workshop is scheduled for after lunch.

A Brooklyn Chapter Leader with a basically useless District Rep to ICEMail:

I received a letter to file today from my principal that I consider ridiculous. Can I file a grievance based on my right to union activity?  Here is what the letter said:

Please note as a UFT representative you have exceeded your boundaries by asking me to allow Ms. __________, to leave early because she was not feeling well.  Your words to me were, "she was afraid to come to me herself because I would not believe her." Just a reminder, I was not in contract violation because of her feelings and therefore you may not ever come to me in that manner again.  Please note your job as union representative is to come to me when I violate the contract, not when members are trying to avoid doing their job.  

First of all the member came to me because she was not feeling well and wanted to go home.  I told her to go tell the principal.  She said she didn't want to as the last time she asked the principal was very loud, yelling in the office in front of teacher and parents.  The last time the principal did not let her go (I told her she could have filed a grievance, that she has a right to go home sick...which she decided not to).  I told the principal that the member  was not feeling well and didn't want to ask her herself because last time she had talked very loud in front of parents and staff.  I told the principal that I had told her that she needed to ask the principal herself.  The principal said to tell her to come talk to her.  I did and evidently the principal told her she could go home.   Then I get this letter to file. What can I do in response?  Can she put a letter in my file because I told the principal that a member is not feeling well?  

Jeff responds:

Absolutely. File the grievance. It is absurd that you can only go to the principal on contract violations. The fact that your principal would write a letter is a clear indication of her union animus and should be responded to by grievance and otherwise. The grievance should make it clear that the contract gives the Chapter Leader a much larger role in the school than merely guard dog. The nature of the relationship is envisioned (through consultation and the like) to be cooperative and mutual benefit. I don’t know how your DR will treat this but I would try to get a petition from all of your Chapter instructing the principal how she should treat you with words to the effect that without open channels of communication your school will suffer. Depending on how far this has to go I would send the petition to the superintendent as well if the letter wasn’t removed.

The upside of the incident is that you can use it as a way to get your members less complacent and the letter, from what you quoted, doesn’t really seem disciplinary against you.

Good luck.

Jeff

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FEB. 4- STATE OF THE UNION: TIME TO FIGHT BACK Register at: http://stateoftheunionconference-estw.eventbrite.com/ 

See Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on the right for important bits.

Girls Prep Charter Suffers Financial Scandal

I love the smell of a good charter school scandal early in the morning.

Anna Phillips has a piece at Schoolbook today that is worth checking out.
We know that money can also disappear in public schools. But there are more oversights. Charters where public money is placed in private often lightly regulated hands are subject to all kinds of abuses. This one is interesting for the ties that bind.

On the board is the wife of Spencer Robinson, the billionaire's son who started PAVE in red Hook at PS 15, the only good that came out of this is the activation of the amazing PS 15 crew which includes Julie Cavanagh). Lots of hedge hogs support Girls Prep --- nice management by the Board of Directors.

Note that the alleged scam artist, Christina Garcia-Coleman, the network’s managing director of finance and operations, is also a trustee at the Spence school where Bloomberg's daughters went.

Financial Improprieties Alleged at All-Girls Charter School Network

• Girls Preparatory Charter School of the Bronx
• Spence School

Jan. 30, 2012, 3:12 p.m.

By Anna M. Phillips

A New York City charter school network has told parents that it is a victim of theft by “a senior member of the finance and operations department,” who it says used the network’s credit card to spend tens of thousands of dollars on personal items.
In a letter sent Friday to parents of students in the three Public Prep charter schools, Ian V. Rowe, the network’s chief executive, and Bryan Lawrence, the board chairman, wrote that they had discovered “financial irregularities,” but that all but $1,000 of the money would be recovered through insurance.
“Just given the context of stories about charter schools and financial issues, we decided to be proactive and let folks know that this person has resigned,” Mr. Rowe said Monday. “Believe me, I’m very upset that it occurred, but we did catch it, and the person resigned, and the schools are not affected.”
Public Prep operates three all-girls charter schools in the city, two in Manhattan and an elementary school in the Bronx.
Mr. Rowe said the network’s staff detected problems in early January. He would not specify how much money was missing.
He said the network was asking the district attorney’s office to investigate Christina Garcia-Coleman, the network’s managing director of finance and operations.
Ms. Garcia-Coleman resigned on Jan. 23. According to her biography on the organization’s Web site, she was also a board member of the network’s Bronx elementary school, Girls Preparatory Charter School of the Bronx, and resigned from that as well.
The Web site of the Spence School, a private all-girls school in Manhattan, also lists her as a trustee.
E-mail and phone messages left for Ms. Garcia-Coleman were not returned.
Here is the letter that was sent to parents:

FEB. 4- STATE OF THE UNION: TIME TO FIGHT BACK Register at: http://stateoftheunionconference-estw.eventbrite.com/


See Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on the right for important bits.

Julie Cavanagh Slams Evan and Sydney on NY Post Dishonest Evaluation Article

Gotham Schools actually linked to what could have been a paid ad but if Evan or Sydney should barf there will be a link.

I left a bunch of comments on Gotham. Julie's great comment on the nycednews listserve is worth adding. I'm away from a computer but want to share. Julie hopes the UFT leadership won't fold. I don't have as much hope. She's young and hasn't faced 45 years of folding.


ATR Philip Nobile follows with a comment posted at Gotham on the DA where Mulgrew waxed poetic about Merryl Tisch --- since then she has put a knife in the back of the UFT.
----------

I don't know why I am even responding to this because these two Gates-funded, leave-the-classroom-before-5-yrs-work part-time-fake teachers are irrelevant...

But...
This part really bugged me-
"The biggest sticking point in negotiations was the UFT's insistence on an unnecessarily arduous appeals process."
An appeals process that is fair, transparent, and independent is absolutely necessary. Without it, educators will be beholden to serving administration first rather than children and families.

Google Peter Lamphere to understand how important this is. He recently won the first of two lawsuits to overturn politically-charged and completely unwarranted U ratings. He is one of the finest teachers and people I know, and his career was almost ended because of a rouge principal. What was the DOE's response when he won this lawsuit? They were "disappointed" bc the DOE believes that independent fact finding and a judge, who both cleared Peter, are irrelevant compared to the "judgment" of the principal. There are countless Peter Lampheres out there, who, because they advocated for their students, families, and/or colleague(s) they were given U ratings, with some eventually terminated or discontinued.

Before Evan and Sydney decide to buy their next editorial, perhaps they should go back and actually teach, understand the ramifications of what they are talking about, and ask themselves this important question: is the role of teacher evaluations to subordinate teachers or is it make sure we have the best teachers we possibly can working with our children. Obviously, it is the latter. An appeals process is a key part of teacher evaluations, without it, teachers cannot stand up to unfair, immoral or illegal practices that negatively affect the people they serve.

Those who know me know, I can be critical of the UFT (leadership). In this case, I applaud them tremendously for taking a stand on this and I hope they do not fold in this new round of negotiations. Teacher protections protect children, our interests are aligned. The overwhelming majority of teachers are working tremendously hard for our kids. For those that need support, we can make them better. For those that should choose another career (and let's remember in reality this is a very, very small number of folks, not the majority as the rhetoric out there makes it seem), we can fire them. What we cannot do is sacrifice a protection for a teacher to act in the best interest of a child or colleague over the objections or threats of a politically motivated principal or Department of Education.
Julie Cavanagh

Philip Nobile with a comment at Gotham Schools:

I was at the DA in 2009 when Mulgrew explained his sellout on the 20%. The UFT had always been opposed to linking test scores with teacher ratings. Leo Casey took a very hardline. I remember a seminar at 52 Broadway during which he tied a tin can on the idea. Nevertheless, without consulting the rank-in-file on this momentous labor policy shift, Mulgrew signed a “peace in our time” pact with SED. He told the DA that the 20% solution was necessary to secure Race to Top money and that things  could have been worse. He took a bow for resisting SED’s preference for a floor of 40% , now resurrected by Cuomo and King. You don’t have to be Tom Paine to wish that Mulgrew had taken a stand before the slope got slippery.

Video: Why Attend the State of the Union?

Public education is under attack!

Stand up fight back!

The UFT leadership under Michael Mulgrew supports mayoral control, charter schools and a deal on evaluating teachers based on faulty value-added test scores. And recently, Unity Caucus pushed through a constitutional amendment that will result in an even further reduction of the voice of the classroom teacher in the union.

Do you agree?

http://youtu.be/ObZ3rdO-T3I

FEB. 4- STATE OF THE UNION: TIME TO FIGHT BACK
Register at: http://stateoftheunionconference-estw.eventbrite.com/ 

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See Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on the right for important bits.