Why is the UFT Ignoring This? Thoughts on Turnaround

REVEALING COMMENTS FROM 2 NYC PARENT ACTIVISTS:

I found it interesting that Elaine could not produce for me the language in the grants that mandates an evaluation system—you’d think the chief of turnaround would have it ready at hand, since that's what they're using to argue their hands are tied by the feds.

Why is the UFT ignoring this? --- Thoughts on turnaround, state and federal guidance.
 - email from parent activist Paola de Koch

Mulgrew was very up front w/ me that he supports continued if ameliorated mayoral control and wants to look at other cities where it is going well...

Yet his toadies near the top of the org will proclaim he is NOT! Are they misled? out of loop? guilty of wishful thinking?

----- Anon Parent activist in response to Paola

I cannot imagine they [the UFT] didn't see this coming and I find it very troubling that Mulgrew brushed off my question about the turnaround at the CEC presidents dinner. There's something that doesn't smell right here because you’d think they would be all over the "mass firings" required by the turnaround model. But they clearly are not-- although individual teachers at the turnaround schools are giving heartbreaking testimony about finding initiatives they spearheaded in the EIS’s for the” new schools” all the while not knowing whether they will be called back in the fall.  ---Paola

If you are confused about why the UFT functions the way it does, Vichy anyone?

You have to follow the bouncing ball on this email exchange between 2 parent activists who are scratching their heads at the UFT response, or lack of on the turn around model. One has to ask why a parent (as so many have been doing) is doing the basic kind of work the UFT should be doing?

Paola de Koch started the ball rolling with questions about the DOE implementation of the turn around model after conversations with the chief DOE office on that issue. Her entire email is the last item. (It's a bit long so I put it below under the ******).

Another parent (B) responded with this:

March 26, 12:02 PM
Excellent work- wow!

Can we try to get UFT attorneys on this?

Does anyone know Carol Gerstel well enough to reach out to her? I know Leonie does...as does David Bloomfield....

I was at that first OPA briefing last June where the restart model was introduced- turnaround too? and the DoE explained they'd need UFT buy in on the evaluation piece but were confident they'd get it before the deadline and were creating a turnaround CFN just for these EPO's or something like that- I have to find my notes because I may have garbled this...

Paola: 12:14PM

I certainly don't know Carol but I'm not sure how reaching out to the UFT attorneys will help. I cannot imagine they didn't see this coming and I find it very troubling that Mulgrew brushed off my question about the turnaround at the CEC presidents dinner. There's something that doesn't smell right here because you’d think they would be all over the "mass firings" required by the turnaround model. But they clearly are not-- although individual teachers at the turnaround schools are giving heartbreaking testimony about finding initiatives they spearheaded in the EIS’s for the” new schools” all the while not knowing whether they will be called back in the fall. I raised the issue of budget-busting ATRs vs. same allegedly lousy teachers recirculated through the turnaround schools with Elaine-- the pat answer is that the teachers will be "a better fit" !

I better stop before I have a fit!

Paola

Parent B responds at 12:23PM

I know, I know- the UFT is either an incredibly stupid and careless organization ((there may be some of that operating here) or there is a whole series of deals; horse trades; parries, feints and thrusts being played out on so many levels that we outsiders (and I include the membership and 90% of the UFT employees here) are not aware of that come into play in these "negotiations" and position formulations.

Mulgrew was very up front w/ me that evening that he supports continued if ameliorated mayoral control and wants to look at other cities where it is going well...

yet his toadies near the top of the org will proclaim he is NOT!

Are they misled? out of loop? guilty of wishful thinking?

Between doE and UFT we are all sunk- look at the past 10 years.

The 5 men in a room- (adding Mulgrew and Bloomberg to the traditional 3) has been a disaster for our schools, kids and communities.

No matter the personalities of say the UFT head or the Governor, etc the outcome is just plain disastrous.

Why parents and teachers don't rise up is beyond me!

************

Original email from Paola de Koch

March 26, 11:35 AM

Good morning all:

-- DOE makes it up as they go along, but they do have help from the state.

Here is the original (2010) state guidance document on the SIG grants and the four school improvement models:http://www.p12.nysed.gov/accountability/TitleI/sigfieldguidance.html

The New York State Education Department will provide LEAs with SIG grants under 1003(g) to facilitate implementation of one of the following four school intervention models in Tier I and Tier II schools:

• Turnaround: Phase out and replace the school with a new school(s) or completely redesign the school, including replacing the principal and at least half the staff.  
• Restart Model: Either convert a school to a charter school or replace a public school with a new charter school that will serve the students who would have attended the public school. Under certain circumstances, districts may also enter into contracts with the City University of New York or the State University of New York for them to manage public schools.
• Transformation: Similar to the turnaround model, but with a requirement for an evaluation of staff effectiveness developed by the LEA in collaboration with teachers and principals that takes into account data on student growth, multiple observation-based assessments, and portfolios of professional activities. Evaluations would serve as the basis for rewarding effective teachers and removing ineffective teachers after ample professional development opportunities. A school that opts for a transformation model does not close but rather remains identified as persistently lowest-achieving until it demonstrates improved academic results. 
• School closure: Close the school and enroll the students who attended the school in higher achieving schools in the LEA.

Note, by the way, that DOE keeps conflating the models and the SIG grants, which are two separate and distinct things. You (probably – even this is not certain) cannot have a SIG grants without a model, but you certainly can have a model without SIG grants.

I found it interesting that Elaine could not produce for me the language in the grants that mandates an evaluation system—you’d think the chief of turnaround would have it ready at hand, since that's what they're using to argue their hands are tied by the feds.   I went back and found the final US DOE regs published in Federal Register and updated guidance for the SIG grants:

http://www2.ed.gov/programs/sif/2010-27313.pdf
 http://www2.ed.gov/programs/sif/legislation.html#guidance

On a quick read, I cannot find the evaluation requirement but it's pretty dense stuff so that doesn't mean it's not there or cannot be construed as being there (will review more closely later).  The most likely scenario, though, is that the evaluation was a requirement added by the state (that's probably why the person who spoke with Noah attributed it to John King).  And note that the evaluation requirement is not in the restart model (which was applied in some of the schools now subject to turnaround), not even at the state level.  BTW, the PEP voted on Tuesday to fund the EPO’s there were given contracts under the restart model so they can continue working with the schools even after they go to turnaround.  Conclusion? 1) it's not really a matter of money or federal requirements; 2) they find the money if it's a matter of paying off private contractors (which may have been the fiscally prudent thing to do anyway in view of breach of contract suits).

 One thing to keep in mind: the language re: evaluations in the state guidance document is pretty ambiguous.  Although it explicitly says the transformation model requires “an evaluation of staff effectiveness” that would serve as the basis for rewarding/removing teachers, it's not clear at what point the evaluation system must be in place (the guidance recognizes that at least the reward part will occur “later in the process”).  What the guidance is unambiguous about, however, is that for transformation (and turnaround) model, “the principal must be replaced prior to the start of the 2010-2011 school year. There is no exception for retaining the principal was been in the school for more than two years.”  So what about Barry Fried, “longtime principal” of John Dewey HS, whom many wanted out as an ineffective leader a few years ago but is still in place even though the school went into transformation? I am sure there are similar situations elsewhere.  Yes, they make it up as they go along, picking and choosing the mandates they feel constrained by.

 Also, on page 2 of the guidance document, the state says that the funding is "contingent on the LEA's demonstrated capacity to implement the selected models and an approved application and budget that includes sufficient funds to implement the selected intervention fully and effectively in each school."  A reasonable construction of this rather opaque language is that NYC DOE must have demonstrated that it had money set aside to implement the models regardless of whether the federal funding came through.  If I'm right, the public is once again being taken for fools by DOE.

Enough boring, picky stuff for now.  But why is the UFT ignoring this?
Paola

I'm going to add this comment from Gary Rubinstein on Gotham Schools re: turnaround:

Gary Rubinstein wrote: Mass Insight is a company has has made millions of dollars by convincing districts that they hold some magic secrets to school 'turnarounds.'  Certainly every school can improve with more resources and better management, but most schools won't improve by that much because they are already doing a 'good' job under the constraints they face. But any plan should be the 'least invasive' necessary.  Why fire more teachers than you have to, considering that the instability that results from massive staff turnovers has adverse affects on students? So the Mass Insight guy says that it is better to err on the side of too much firing.  He admits, though, that there is 'nothing magic about 50 percent,' which is something everyone knows but I'm glad to see someone from that perspective saying it. For the US DOE SIG grants, which they are currently touting as a great success, 75% of the schools chose not to fire half their staffs.  So even with the option to, they didn't because they knew that this would not be the best way to 'turn around' these schools.  Such reckless activity would likely make the schools worse.

Friday, March 30, 4:30pm - UFT Chapter Elections: Advice for Candidates

Friday, March 30, 4:30pm

Even if you are a current CL and Delegate – join with others who have had it with Unity and want to take back the union one school at a time.

I know a lot of people focus on the big tent UFT elections which will take place in 2013. As someone who has been deeply involved in the past 3 elections I will make the claim that the upcoming school level elections for chapter leader and delegate(s) are way more significant.

This is where Unity Caucus not only consolidates its control over the Delegate Assembly but also assures that information from the opposition will never reach the overwhelming majority of teachers but locking down the mailboxes.

Even when there are schools with opposition chapter leaders, Unity sends in the district reps to make sure all teachers in the system get Unity lit. (An illegal act by the way in the use of union employees).

The chapter leader job (which I did for 3 years with great enthusiasm) is a big one. To do it right requires some skill. I learned a lot on the job. Now some people working with the State of the Union groups are organizing events for those interested in running this spring for CL or delegate (a much lighter requirement --- attend a DA once a month and report back). This group intends to be a support group for CLs in organizing their chapters by sharing successes and failures

Here is the announcement -- come even if you are a current CL and Delegate. Join with others who have had it with Unity and want to take back the union one school at a time.

Thinking about running for chapter leader or delegate (or know someone who is) but need help with your campaign?

Not sure what building a strong chapter would entail?

Friday, March 30, 4:30pm – Happy Hour – Discuss the ins and outs of a successful campaign for Chapter Leader and of building a stronger chapter. 

Shades of Green Pub - 125 East 15th Street

4/5/6/N/R/Q to Union Square 

Feeling Demoralized?
A strong union chapter can counter demoralization


In this year’s annual MetLife Survey of the American Teacher, teacher satisfaction has hit a 20-year low point. Teachers nationally are feeling more demoralized than ever, and New York City is no exception.

 
Building strong union chapters in our schools is one of the best ways to counter this demoralization. Through an organized, active chapter teachers are empowered to work together with colleagues to fight for positive working conditions for ourselves and learning conditions for our students.

-------------------

I'm not making this meeting as other working groups of the State of the Union are meeting on the West Side at the Skylight Diner (34th St and 9th Ave) at 4:30 to work on a variety of issues. I'm interested in questions of how to build a caucus with a democratic structure -- the nuts and bolts.

Class Size Rise, UFT Sighs

One of the basics of Ed Notes which began publishing in 1997 has been class size and I brought it up at the UFT numerous times, often to a tepid response. That was why when we formed ICE in 2003 a major plank was calling for the UFT to put class size at the top of negotiating demands. They laughed at us.

Back in the fall of 2000 I put up a reso at the delegate assembly calling for the NY Teacher to publish every single instance of class size violation.

At that time Randi and I were getting along and she even gave me her mic to make the reso (I caught her cold). It was voted up. The NY Teacher published these numbers -- for 2 years and then stopped.

So when this article is published at Schoolbook my evil brain always wonders why not focus on this issue given that the UFT has the capability to gather this data very quickly through its network? I'll leave it to others to figure out why.

We do know that the ed deformers disparage class size, so the response from Tweedles is expected. (Hey Barbara Morgan, how many kids were in your classes when you went to school?)

Elementary Students in Large Classes Tripled, Report Shows

Finally, Krugman Mentions Ed Deformers – but Leaves Out Obama

Updated: March 27, 2012, 9AM

NY Times columnist Paul Krugman is one of my favorites. After Obama was elected he was a noted critic of the administration’s economic policy. Lately he's focused his lens on the Republicans and the right wing backers of the tea party. Clearly he has shifted to making it clear that there is a stark difference between the two parties. Not so fast. Certainly not when it comes to education.

For quite some time many of us have been hoping Krugman would address the ed deform privatization movement. In his March 26 column he does so for the first time but in the broader sense of the right wing Koch Brothers control of organizations such as ALEC, which would privatize your teeth if it could. He even ties their influence to the Florida Stand Your Ground Law which is getting so much attention in the Trayvon Martin murder.

Many ALEC-drafted bills pursue standard conservative goals: union-busting, undermining environmental protection, tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. ALEC seems, however, to have a special interest in privatization — that is, on turning the provision of public services, from schools to prisons, over to for-profit corporations. And some of the most prominent beneficiaries of privatization, such as the online education company K12 Inc. and the prison operator Corrections Corporation of America, are, not surprisingly, very much involved with the organization. 

Ahhhhh! Finally he mentions schools and the K12 online scam.

ALEC’s claim to stand for limited government and free markets is deeply misleading. To a large extent the organization seeks not limited government but privatized government, in which corporations get their profits from taxpayer dollars, dollars steered their way by friendly politicians. In short, ALEC isn’t so much about promoting free markets as it is about expanding crony capitalism. 

And in case you were wondering, no, the kind of privatization ALEC promotes isn’t in the public interest; instead of success stories, what we’re getting is a series of scandals. Private charter schools, for example, appear to deliver a lot of profits but little in the way of educational achievement. 

Yes, we do get that most charters perform worse than comparable public schools. But why does Krugman ignore the role Obama and the Democrats have played in the push for privatizing public education along with Arne Duncan, Cuomo and Rhambo Emanuel (who makes Bloomberg look benign)? With all the right wing attacks on everything Obama does or says you will not see many negatives on his ed policy – unless from Ron Paul and other state righters. Republicans and the Koch Bros. won't attack Obama's ed policies, because they not only agree with most of them but actually formulated many of them.

There is an interesting anomaly when Obamacare comes under such attacks but the removal of local power from running their own school systems and the forced expenditure of enormous funds on unnecessary testing and teacher evaluations and down your throat curriculum materials is ignored and even praised. Both the Obama administration and the right wing privatizers want to eliminate elected school boards, especially in urban areas and hand dictatorial power over to the mayors – a perfect scenario for the privatizers to use their billions to gain control over the schools.

Sadly, Krugman lets the Democrats as perpetrators of school privatization and the charter school movement off the hook.

Charter School Parents Speak Out Against Abuse

The paternalistic/racist attitudes behind charter schools are increasingly being revealed as many former charter school parents are recoiling in horror at the methods being used to modify the behavior of children of color. A word to our teacher readers --- charters are not all about an attack on you and the union but on the kids and parents and communities. Don't forget that and only talk about it from the teacher point of view --- it is not the message we want out there. Every teacher is a PR person for the response to ed deform --- with family, friends etc. Broaden your message and reframe the debate. When ed deformers say we are about adults and they are about children, throw it back in their faces.

Check out: A former KIPP teacher comments on her experience and "At KIPP, I would wake up sick, every single day"


So here is an interview I filmed for our movie with 2 former Achievement First Brooklyn parents with Leonie Haimson doing a wonderful job of interviewing (not my strength). And I give Leonie full credit for insisting that we set up these interviews and insisting we MUST include some of this in our film. In fact it was the last interviews we did before finalizing and I think they really cinch our message. But we could only squeeze in a few sound bites. You really have to watch the entire hour and a half. People in Providence used this footage to battle attempts by Achievement First to take over parts of the system.

Here, out pals in Seattle are using the footage to fight off the charter school movement. Watch them directly on vimeo for better playback:

http://vimeo.com/30227766
http://vimeo.com/30238788

Achievement First Charter School Parents Speak Out : A must watch

Posted on March 25, 2012 by seattleducation2011 | Leave a comment

 

I have read and heard stories about charter schools that are geared toward minority students, as most are, but this is the first time that I have watched in-depth interviews of parents who had their children in these charter school franchises.
“Behavior modification training” is a term that one parent described her son’s first experience in this charter school.

May Taliaferrow, Former parent at Achievement First, Brooklyn, NY starts out as an avid charter school supporter but finds parents are shut out and children are subjected to severe discipline and ends up telling her son how sorry she was for putting him the school.

Achievement First Charter School Parents Speak Out: Why they removed their children Part 1 from Grassroots Education Movement on Vimeo.

“My child was made to sit on the floor until he
‘earned’ a seat.” A revealing interview on how all too many charter schools view children of color when it comes to discipline: total repression.
When Leslie-Anne Byfield “won” the lottery for a charter school in Brooklyn she felt her prayers for her child’s education had been answered. Until the horror stories began.

Achievement First Charter School Parents Speak Out: Why they removed their children Part 2 from Grassroots Education Movement on Vimeo.

Check South Bronx School for his stuff on hedge hog Gideon Stein (Gideon Stein Looks Down His Nose From His Balcony).

And let me point out to those out there who feel we are wasting our time and spitting against the wind, these are some of the fruits of our efforts. Yes. even a few people can nudge the needle.

By the way, here is a poster for an upcoming screening in LA:

After burn

You know one thing I can say about my teaching --- and I never claim to have been a fabulous teacher --- I absolutely made sure my kids got as much joy out of being in my class as I could manage. I know, I know. School should not be about joy but about pain. Sorry. Not in the grades I taught -- 4-6. It is not that I didn't spend a lot of time teaching but I also gave the kids lots of space to talk to each other and to me. I felt my class was one of the most socialized I saw. A friend who visited said I was the most relaxed teacher she has ever seen. Do you think that has an impact on kids who might already have some tension in their lives?

I did do test prep and all the stuff we did in the 70's. But my admins--- old timers, while they weren't always happy with my methods felt I was a good enough teacher to trust me. But a new data princess principal who took over in 1979 changed all that with enormous pressure to get scores. And yes the school rose but the learning didn't. That's where I became a foe of the future of ed deform -- in 1979. After that year I began to consider ways out of the classroom even though I taught in the self-contained room (in the old days that did not mean spec ed but the classroom tchr as opposed to a cluster or pull-out program) until 1985 when I left for 2 years to get an MA in computer science -- a decision I believe prompted by the lack of freedom to teach. When I got back in '87 the principal who did not want me to teach a test grade enticed me out with the promise of a computer cluster. I did not hesitate for long and did the next decade doing that which I enjoyed but it was nowhere close to being a real teacher in a class of kids for an entire day and entire year -- the most grueling and exhilarating experience.

Afterburn 2

I have written about how the son of ICE's Vera Pavone has a best selling novel as a first time author. Chris Pavone was on NPR yesterday. Listen here.

Eva in desperate scramble to meet enrollment targets is assisted by the DOE

UPDATED Sunday, March 25, 11 PM---

I have long heard that schools suspect that the NYC DoE's Enrollment Office is under-enrolling schools for several years and then using the declining enrollment trend, that they create and control, as justification for colocation or closure. ---
Lisa Donlan

Where is the press on issues such as this?

 

For those fighting introduction of charters or raising the caps on the number of charters, here is some powerful ammunition: http://schoolfinance101.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/snapshots-of-connecticut-charter-school-data/

Snapshots of Connecticut Charter School Data schoolfinance101.wordpress.com In several previous posts I have addressed the common argument among charter advocacy organizations ...

I keep adding info to the bottom of this post as it comes in. Really worth checking out.

Originally posted Sat., Mar. 24, 11PM

The latest headlines are that Bloomberg will meet his goal of starting 50 more charters before he leaves office. But what if he gives a charter party and no one comes? Well it's very simple, see. Just have Tweed send out kindergarten rejection letters to parents applying to local public schools in areas with a new charter coming in that people don't seem to want to send their kids too, thus putting them in a position of being forced to choose the charter.

This came in from a parent in Williamsburg:

Considering Success Academy's massive ramp-up of direct mail and advertising in just the past week here in Williamsburg, it seems obvious that, despite her claims of receiving 700 applications for her new Success Academy Williamsburg, Eva's in a desperate scramble to meet her enrollment targets.

Now we hear of a new tactic from the DOE: An SLT parent at a local public school informed us that the DOE is suddenly FORCING all non-magnet schools to issue rejection letters to all non-zoned students applying for K -- even though most local schools have plenty of kindergarten seats! The letter reads that the child has not been given a seat but has been placed on a wait-list.

So while magnet and district-wide (CHARTER) schools are able to offer acceptance letters, and have done so this week, parents may get rejections from great local schools that HAVE SEATS!

I have never heard of this, but it feels like it has the Success Academy stink all over it. Anyone have any insights?

Complaints can be directed to es_enrollment@schools.nyc.gov.

 The other day Leonie nailed them in this blog post:

Aggressive marketing by charter schools, soliciting applicants

The Bloomberg administration and the charter school operators always claim that in the rapid proliferation of charter schools across the city, they are merely responding to parent “demand” but this ignores the aggressive recruiting methods they use to build up their “waiting lists.”  Eva Moskowitz has hired paid recruiters to “poach” students for her Success Academy charters, as in the video below, outside PS 261 in Brooklyn.  Not to mention her extensive and expensive advertising campaigns, in which she spent $1.6 million dollars on marketing efforts alone in 2009-2010, amounting to $1,300 per incoming student.

This year, there is evidence that Harlem in particular has become so oversaturated with charters, that they have been forced to go far afield to solicit applications.  Parents as far away as lower Manhattan have receiving mailings from Democracy Prep and Harlem Link.     

More at:  Aggressive marketing by charter schools, soliciting applicants

 Jassica Bouvier of GEM put this summary together:

Last week, NYC parent Lucinda Rosenfeld wrote an op-ed regarding the effect of Success Academy Charter Schools’ marketing strategy and its detrimental impact on already struggling public schools. Yesterday, the organization issued this letter written by a Success Academy parent on the Upper West Side defending the high “demand” for Success Academy and “debunking” the claims made in the op-ed regarding the central role that charter schools play in school segregation.

We wanted to sum up some of the parent and teacher responses to the organization’s letter fresh off the presses this morning (Thank you Lisa Donlan for summing up the criticisms so coherently!):

The letter’s author claims that there is high parent demand for Success Academy in Cobble Hill. It would do us good to remember that the charter process centers on one question: can the school meet its target enrollment?

In fact, the whole support/demand piece of the charter application is all about reaching larger enrollment numbers.  The charter must do aggressive outreach to ensure that the school can meet its enrollment targets. If there is community opposition the charter must address it, changing its proposal if necessary to encompass or address any objections. This means the school risks missing its targets. There simply is not enough demand for these “choices,” which is why some charters are scaling up to capture market share dominance and break into new market segments.

And here is Lisa Donlan's comment in full:

So then why did UWS not meet its enrollment goals this year?

Has the charter authorizer SUNY CSI monitored this?

Because that is what the charter process is all about- can the school meet its target enrollment?

In fact, the whole support/demand piece of the charter application is all about reaching that goal- the charter must do outreach to ensure that the school can meet its enrollment targets.

If there is community opposition the charter must address it, changing its proposal if necessary to encompass or address any objections THAT MEAN THE SCHOOL RISKS MISSING THE TARGET ENROLLMENT.

That is the measure of success for a charter, initially.

After that it has to be financially sound (or cook the books enough that the fraud is not caught by the auditors/authorizers), and meet its performance goals ( self defined in the charter).

We all hear the HSA spin that it is the "assault" ( I suppose driven by the UFT, according to the false spin) that caused parents to flee, that it was the law suit that put getting public space in danger (like it did for Girls Prep in D1) that caused otherwise willing parents to run away.

But more spin and lies will not cover up the facts. There simply is not enough demand for these "options" which is why some charters are scaling up to capture market share dominance and break into new market segments.

I predict that, as these charter chains expand, and the potential demand levels out or even declines, as the myths /marketing/ PR and spin are exposed as such, not only will enrollment drop but so will "performance".

There just won't be enough suckers born every minute that produce high test scores and bring few needs for the charter chains to keep afloat.

If and when they go bust, they 'll very likely have taken our public education system with it.

 No doubt the Evas and Erics and Curry Boykins, the lawyers, hedge funders and ambitious pols will be long gone, hopping onto the next sexy thing to fuel their coffers and careers.

Lisa

And then there is this news about the replacement for Pedro Noguera on the SUNY charter authorizing board as the scum-sucking NY Post issues a warning. Initial commentary by Leonie.

Important development in charterland

New head of SUNY charter committee, replacing Noguera, is Ken O’Brien, who was the strongest voice in opposition to the co-locations of the SuccAcademy chain at the last televised meeting. Acc. to article below, in the letter in which he accepted appt, O’Brien wrote:
“I am committed to making certain that we do not let charters, which constitute 2.5 percent of New York’s school population, dominate our committee agenda,” O’Brien said in a letter accepting the appointment.
He also said the policy of allowing charter schools to share building space with traditional public schools — which has fueled protests and lawsuits — needs to be revisited.
I strongly suggest that all communications w/ SUNY institute be copied to both O’Brien and McCall in future. They have got to hear clearly how the co-location fiasco is undermining our public schools. Here are the emails:
trustees@suny.edu and carl.mccall@suny.edu and ken.o’brien@suny.edu

Charter jitters over new chief
By ERIK KRISS and CARL CAMPANILE
Last Updated: 6:58 AM, March 23, 2012
Posted: 12:59 AM, March 23, 2012

A college faculty honcho and union man has been tapped to head the powerful State University panel that approves charter schools — setting off alarm bells from advocates who fear charters will face more resistance.
SUNY Chairman Carl McCall appointed history professor Ken O’Brien, president of the University’s faculty senate, to lead the SUNY board’s committee on education and college readiness.
The panel recommends whether to approve or reject new charter- school applications.
O’Brien is a member of the Union of University Professions, which is the college affiliate of the K-to-12 teachers union that opposes charter schools.
“I am committed to making certain that we do not let charters, which constitute 2.5 percent of New York’s sc hool population, dominate our committee agenda,” O’Brien said in a letter accepting the appointment.
He also said the policy of allowing charter schools to share building space with traditional public schools — which has fueled protests and lawsuits — needs to be revisited.
Sources in the charter community — fearing retribution — expressed their worries about the O’Brien appointment anonymously. They likened it to putting the fox in the hen house.
But McCall insisted O’Brien’s union affiliation is not significant.
McCall also noted that O’Brien has been a member of the panel that has routinely approved more than 90 charter schools.
“Ken is a professional educator who has been open-minded on charter-school issues,” he said.
“Everyone on the board has been supportive of charter schools . . . I don’t know why charter -school advocates would be concerned with him.
“All you have to do is look at his record.”

Lisa Donlan follows up with:


I would like to know more about these tactics to intentionally shrink, in order to better destroy, our public schools as well as to  squeeze them out and replace them with charters.

While Eva is the force behind the most high profile and ambitious of the charters chains , she is not alone to use these tactics.

Clearly there is a handbook of best practices that the charter operators, private companies all,  share with each other, or at least imitate closely.

And it is also evident that OPP and Chancellor Walcott, like Joel Klein before him, are blatantly favoring charters schools that do not operate on an even playing with their district counterparts on so many levels.

Besides additional funding; political clout and access;, support by monied think tanks, foundations, politicians, education officials and the main stream media; the very policies and operations of the DoE are setting up our district schools to fail.

I have long heard that schools suspect that the NYC DoE's Enrollment Office is under-enrolling schools for several years and then using the declining enrollment trend, that they create and control, as justification for colocation or closure.

Has anyone else heard anything about this issue?

Is there an expedient way to investigate or FOIL the enrollment information? DoE can claim it is a function of "choice" but since their methods and algorithms are far from transparent, it is hard to believe them in this instance.

The overall lack of transparency and authentic data leaves the DoE open to these kinds of suspicions,  that one can not help but believe, after all the evidence of cooked books and biases DoE has employed to advance a political agenda.

There should not be continued or revised Mayoral control for a myriad of reasons, the least of which is autocracy has precluded public access to completely transparent data.

Except of course in the case of the politically motivated release of the flawed Teacher Data Reports!

Lisa

UFT- Oh, Woe Is Me, But Let's Look on the Bright Side

UFT Chapter Leader Update, March 23

Thanks to UFT members, Lobby Day is once again a success

We'll be letting you know exactly what we gained, but in the meantime we:

Urge members to join pension plan before Tier 6 arrives on April 1

One of our great successes on lobbying day was that our efforts stopped Tiers 7-12, at least for now. Another success is that we limited the UFT members allowed to go to lobbying day only to those who gave to COPE - and by the way, don't blame this disaster on us but on the scumballs in your schools who didn't give to COPE or don't give enough -- if you chapter leaders don't get your asses moving on COPE collections, we are going to overturn your school's election and get someone in your school who can collect COPE money. How are we going to be able to pay for those hotels and meals when our crew goes up to Albany.

PERB agrees with UFT on appointing mediator for stalled talks on 33 schools

This is a big one for us. It will give those teachers in the schools some hope and also keep them off our backs  -- until the schools close and those not hired go into the dark hole of ATRs, never to be heard from again.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew responds to the mayor’s loan forgiveness plan

UFT President Michael Mulgrew sent a letter this week to Chancellor Dennis Walcott in response to Mayor Bloomberg's stated plan to give teachers in the “top tier” of their college class $25,000 to repay their student loans. Stressing the importance of balancing the need for retention of highly qualified teachers with the need for recruitment,

Another big one for us. The Mayor really wants this and we can get some crumb back.
As for telling the mayor no loans until every single ATR is hired, exactly what is an ATR again?

Schoolbook:
Concerned that lawmakers could pass a state budget that eliminates teacher training centers in public schools, the city’s teachers’ union is pressing Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to restore the financing.


Oh, shit. One of our patronage biggies where we get to pick 140 people for jobs. We promise that holding on to teacher center positions is the line in the sand for us. If we have to give up LIFO and -- you know -- those people going from school to school every week after we signed that agreement last June --- starts with an A or a B -- no problemo.

ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES PASSAGE OF “NO AUDIENCE LEFT BEHIND” BILL

David Frankel is a teacher now working in a community college in Colorado. He has given permission to circulate this hilarious essay.

June 7, 2015


ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES PASSAGE OF “NO AUDIENCE LEFT BEHIND” BILL

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

Secretary of Comedy R.N. Dukowsky announced the passage of the administration’s signature comedy reform initiative, “No Audience Left Behind” (NALB). “This comes in response to our nation’s ongoing comedy crisis,” Secretary Dukowsky said. “For most of our history, American comedy has been the envy of the world. In the past several decades, however, American comedians have been falling behind their international peers. While we still score highly in ethnic humor and political satire, our performance in the basics – especially married-couple jokes and family-based situation comedy – has fallen to near the bottom of the pack compared with other developed nations. Unless we improve, we are a nation at comedic risk.”

In response to this crisis, the federal government plans to move aggressively. “The government has been conducting long-term studies of Best Comedic Practices,” says Secretary Dukowsky. “We have found that there is enormous variation in how our comedians are trained. There are no national standards; no set repertory of means and methods; and, most of all, no quantified structure of accountability. As a result, we see enormous variation in the nation’s comedic performance. While New York City and Los Angeles seem to perform robustly on international exams, in Utah and Idaho, audiences are chronically ‘left behind.’ We cannot tolerate that sort of achievement gap.”

The centerpiece of the new proposal will be a regime of standardized testing “with real carrots and real sticks,” as the secretary puts it. “Every year, every American comedian will have to demonstrate proficiency in core comedic competencies. Did you know that there are some comedians who show almost no utilization of pratfalls and fart jokes? Others who know nothing of under-deoderized frat boy humor? Even some well-regarded practitioners have shown a tendency in public performance just to ‘do what they think is funny.’ It would be irresponsible of us to let that continue. It is time for American comedy to become data-driven.”

Some American comedians expressed confusion about certain aspects of the plan. “They want us to tell the same jokes in every venue?” said Shecky Dangerfield, a standup veteran. “Those bar mitzvah gigs are gonna get a little blue.” Others questioned other aspects of ‘best comedic practices.’ “Before the show, we’re supposed to put all our punchlines up on a blackboard,” said Phillippa Diller. “I’m a little worried about the element of surprise.”

Secretary Dukowski, as well as the heads of the Gates, Walton and Broad Foundations, who are heavily funding the new program, dismissed these questions as “bureaucratic inertia.” “A lot of people are used to doing things the old way, and we know the old way doesn’t work,” said the secretary. “Every day, some Americans are going into comedy clubs and not laughing. Every day, some Americans’ humorous potential is not being developed. If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” As Bill Gates put it at the same press conference, “We are attempting to bring expertise from outside the world of comedy in order to enhance its productivity. Most comedians are not familiar with psychometric measures and do not have a well-developed business model. The answer is to tap the dynamism of America’s most successful business leaders.”

Next week the administration intends to roll out “No Sibling Left Behind” to reform the nation’s parenting practices. In the words of White House Press Secretary Lorna Givens, “We’re very excited by the opportunities that can be created by data-driven parenting. Stay tuned.”

State of the Union Upcoming Activities

Just heading off to an ICE meeting where we will discuss what role we will have as things move forward with the still unnamed State of the Union which includes people from all the groups plus lots of new folks. Let's not underestimate the difficulties of putting together a brand new entity in the midst of the chaos of the ed deform attacks and the always shifting messages put out by the Unity Caucus/Uft leaders. A key is to build trust in each other while negotiating a range of interests and positions. That is why things have been so slow in developing with SOTU.

ICE, given its roots in Ed Notes, has always stressed education --- analyzing events rather than action. Other groups look more to action. Some like GEM blend both. One thing is clear --- you can"t do much without a committed core of activists who are willing to do the hard work. Thus I view the first stage not as a mass movement but in terms of a one or two hundred on the same page with trust in each other.

One reason the action at the NY Post yesterday was "successful" despite a low turnout was this building of a  sense of working together. Going to the bar afterwards is just as important. Here are more upcoming related activities with the Nycore conf leading the way tomorrow.


Hello all SOTU Activists: 

Thanks to all who came out to the successful picket of the New York Post yesterday!

There is a number of important activities coming up in the next week.  If you would like to help with a SOTU table at the NYCORE conference tomorrow, please reply to this email (we will have signup sheets and membership cards there).

The planning committee meeting on Monday is open to all SOTU activists, and will help to set the agenda for our first general membership meeting on April 21st.

Please check out the following upcoming events:

 

Saturday 3/24 All Day  NYCORE Conference,

Among other great workshops, check out SOTU-led workshop entitled  

Building Your Chapter: How Do You Organize at the School Level?

Vanguard High School - 317 East 67th Street - 6 to 68th St.

http://www.nycore.org/conference/

Monday, 3/26 5-7 PM Planning Committee meeting 

CUNY Graduate Center, rm 5414 

365 5th Ave - 6 to 33rd or N/R/Q/F/D/B/M to 34th

Friday, 3/30, 4:30 PM General Working Committee meeting
Starlight Diner, 9^th Ave and 34^th Street
(1/2/3A/C/E to 34th)

Friday, 3/30, 4:30 PM Happy Hour for potential CL's / Delegates,  
Shades of Green Pub - 125 East 15th Street

(4/5/6/N/R/Q to Union Square)

And don't forget to put in your calendar: 

Saturday, 4/21 Membership Meeting from 12-3 pm, Location TBA

NY Post/ McGraw Hill Protest Photos

Video coming soon. Small group but spirited. 

PEP Notes From March 21

We had tickets to a play last night so I didn't make it to the PEP which was focused on charter co-locations. Every co-loco turns more people into opponents of ed deform so in that cloud is a silver lining.

It took me a long time to realize the value of Twitter as a basic news source. So before and after the show I was able to follow the PEP and OWS stuff and the Million hoodie march for Trayvon Martin at Unions Square. (Interesting that on the way home around 9PM there was an announcement that the Q train was skipping Union Square due to a police investigation). See the video with Brian Jones posted on the Coalition for Public Education blog. Also see Jose Vilson and Miss Eyre at NYCEducator on this issue. (I'll do a separate post later).

Gotham tweeted on the PEP all night -- they are here:

On PEP agenda: Co-locations and a “restart”-related contract

And Patrick Sullivan did some too. Here are Patrick's and a few more under the #PEP321 hash tag.

Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

Asked DOE general counsel to review law, see if MCS charter in violation of law requiring charters to serve Eng lang learners #PEP321

1h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

Worst of #PEP321 mayoral bloc replicates Manh Charter School despite admitted concerns that the school serves no ELLs on Lower East Side.

2h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

RT @SaveSatellite #PEP321 Patrick sez you are taking advantage of public schools with these #colocation s

2h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

RT @gothamschools 5 police surround teacher shouting over #PEP321 discussions. She refuses to leave; they back off http://pic.twitter.com/veUoCygy

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2h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

RT @SaveSatellite #PEP321 why are we moving 2 success academies in one building so there will be 6 elementary schools in one building?

3h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

Great coverage of last night's Panel for Educational Policy by @SaveSatellite and @gothamschools using hashtag #PEP321

11h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

Highlight of #PEP321 Spring on 24th Street http://yfrog.com/ocazbxhj

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11h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

Contracts for CUNY fail at #PEP due to recusals of mayoral bloc appointees with CUNY ties.