Coming Soon to a Nation Near You: “Greece” is the Word, or More Likely, "DEFAULT"

Just think of it. Debt is manufactured by investors and they get paid first at the expense of the rest of the population. I say screw them. Let them put their money in a bank at 1% interest like I have to. Or a mattress, which might be the best bet --- as long as you don't have bed bugs. Or maybe bed bugs are a good bet to guard your money.

Writing this final column of the school year for The Wave (www.rockawave), I used material from a previous blog post. There is really quite a difference for me in doing a blog vs an attempt at a cohesive limited word count piece for publication. I probably should pay more attention to blog posts but am too impatient. While limited in space, this certainly makes more sense than the original.



Coming Soon to a Nation Near You: “Greece” is the Word, or More Likely, "DEFAULT"

By Norm Scott

Under a rational ruling class, one that responds to the demands of the citizenry, the energy in the street can be channeled back into the mainstream. But once the system calcifies as a servant of the interests of the corporate elites, as has happened in the United States, formal political power thwarts justice rather than advances it. --- Chris Hedges 

It is clear. With both parties abandoning labor we no longer have a rational ruling class that controls the people by handing out just enough goodies to keep people at bay. Instead we have two parties sucking at the money tree. Without unions to counter balance through the force of millions capable of shutting things down, it is “Katy bar the door.” Just look at charts that match the decline of unions since the 70’s with the growing and massive income gap.

I live near a school and the other day as I was taking out the garbage I ran into a teacher packing boxes into her car. “Cleaning out your room already,” I asked? “No. I just found out I was excessed – there were 4 of us.” She has been teaching 8 years and is now threatened with being thrown into the ATR pool, her professional career thrown into turmoil due to the UFT failure to protect the orderly process inherent in seniority. A total of 3600 teachers were excessed city wide while thousands of new teachers are being hired. Chaos. They say, “all politics is local” but the dots do connect to global.

I had a discussion with a Faux FOX Facts (FFF) supporter the other day in which he glowed about our democratic ability to vote. I pointed out that our "choices" are made by the ruling class. He didn't get it. So I gave him a "choice" of cereals. Rice Krispies or Cheerios. "But I want something else," he said. "Too bad. I have dictated your choices.” We do not live in a democracy but a plutocracy, an ancient (and modern) Greek term meaning “political control of the state by an oligarchy” –  rule by the rich. The problem in this country is that everyone is under the illusion they will be rich one day.

We hear how we have to work the politicians – like lobbying for tiny laws will get us somewhere. So call your assembly person and tell them you don't want mayoral control while the charter/edu-industrial complex lobby throws big bucks at them. I'm sick of hearing it. The only way to lobby these clowns is to throw thousands of bodies in front of them. Then we have something to talk about.

Speaking of Greece, I'm increasingly in favor of default in Greece given the phony debt servicing scam that is forcing people to eat cat food. Maybe I don't say this often enough but I am in favor of capitalism. But not rapacious capitalism. At the very least I am a left-wing social democrat. But events are moving me further to the left. I have been focused on the education scene but there is a bigger picture and education is but one small piece of the deal.

Paul Krugman had a piece on Greece as a victim.

So, about those Greek failings: Greece does indeed have a lot of corruption and a lot of tax evasion, and the Greek government has had a habit of living beyond its means. Beyond that, Greek labor productivity is low by European standards — about 25 percent below the European Union average. It’s worth noting, however, that labor productivity in, say, Mississippi is similarly low by American standards — and by about the same margin. On the other hand, many things you hear about Greece just aren’t true. The Greeks aren’t lazy — on the contrary, they work longer hours than almost anyone else in Europe, and much longer hours than the Germans in particular. Nor does Greece have a runaway welfare state, as conservatives like to claim; social expenditure as a percentage of G.D.P., the standard measure of the size of the welfare state, is substantially lower in Greece than in, say, Sweden or Germany, countries that have so far weathered the European crisis pretty well. So how did Greece get into so much trouble? Blame the euro. 

We have a lot more than the euro to blame. The entire crisis is about debt servicing and the workers are the ones who have to pay. A recent piece in the Times made this point by a Greek leftist leader: “It wasn't us who weren't paying taxes, it was the elite -- the 1% -- or the 10%.”

Just think of it. Debt is manufactured by investors and they get paid first at the expense of the rest of the population. I say screw them. Let them put their money in a bank at 1% interest like I have to do. Or a mattress, which might be the best bet --- as long as you don't have bed bugs. Or maybe bed bugs are a good bet to guard your money.

Chris Hedges made some great points:  

Those who have the largest megaphones in our corporate state serve the very systems of power we are seeking to topple. They encourage us, whether on Fox or MSNBC, to debate inanities, trivia, gossip or the personal narratives of candidates. They seek to channel legitimate outrage and direct it into the black hole of corporate politics. They spin these silly, useless stories from the “left” or the “right” while ignoring the egregious assault by corporate power on the citizenry, an assault enabled by the Democrats and the Republicans. Don’t waste time watching or listening. They exist to confuse and demoralize you. The engine of all protest movements rests, finally, not in the hands of the protesters but the ruling class. If the ruling class responds rationally to the grievances and injustices that drive people into the streets, as it did during the New Deal, if it institutes jobs programs for the poor and the young, a prolongation of unemployment benefits (which hundreds of thousands of Americans have just lost), improved Medicare for all, infrastructure projects, a moratorium on foreclosures and bank repossessions, and a forgiveness of student debt, then a mass movement can be diluted… once the system calcifies as a servant of the interests of the corporate elites, as has happened in the United States, formal political power thwarts justice rather than advances it.

            A blogger [RBE] commented: “The Wisconsin recall debacle is the final stamp on the ‘dead game of electoral politics.’ Occupy.” Occupy indeed. The power is in the streets. We have to learn from the police tactics that managed to disrupt Occupy Wall Street by organizing not to lobby politicians but building structures that enable people to resist. And unions are our best bet. The problem with most unions is that they are in the hands of a small version of an oligarchy, undemocratically run and shutting out voices of criticism. Our own UFT is one of the worst. And the UFT controls the national union, the AFT, run by Randi Weingarten.

It would not be as easy for the corporate blood suckers if unions were in the hands of the rank and file as in Chicago where an epic battle is shaping up in the fall between Democratic Mayor (and former Obama Chief of  Staff) Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Teachers Union. Rahm decided to extend the school day by 20% but pay teachers 2%. Over 90% of the teachers voted for a strike despite new draconian laws that were passed to hinder them from striking. They are garnering a lot of community support, the key to winning this battle.

I will be making my first visit to Detroit this summer for the AFT convention where we can expect an outpouring of support for the Chicago teachers from around the nation. As this is my last column of the school year I will try to update any readers who manage to wade through my columns with an update in early August. In the meantime you can follow events on my blog (ednotesonline.com). Have a great summer.

Bikram Yoga in Times Square

Weds. June 20

 Gee, it will only be 95 degrees at 12:30 today for Bikram yoga with about 5000 people in Times Square. I hope I don't get chilly as I am used to 100 degrees. Look for me at Broadway and 43rd St. or check out: http://www.livestream.com/timessquare.

I will be wearing a Hot Yoga Rockaway Beach that Anita Ruderman, my yoga instructor gave us. I'll do anything for a free tee-shirt.

Then I will try to catch a cool movie before heading over to the Change the Stakes meeting at 5:30 where I will sit as far away from everyone as I can.

I did this last year and it was just an amazing experience. These are pics I took from my spot on the sidewalk outside the Marriott. I spent the whole class wishing I were sipping bloody marys in the bar.

Rajashree Choudhury will be teaching. She is married to Bikram -- I took 4 days of hell -- er workshops with them both about 14 years ago. She really is an amazing teacher.

You can read my report from last year: I'm Hot, You're Not: The Longest Day Redux 

Here is the announcement if you want to rush on down:

Christine Quinn Party Hosted by Rahm's Bro Emanuel

If the UFT ever goes near endorsing Quinn, scream like hell.

The glamorous candidacy of Christine Quinn
	City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has a fund-raiser for her mayoral campaign in Los Angeles this weekend, with talent agent Ari Emanuel serving as one of the hosts. Recently, Quinn announced she's writing a memoir, which will come out months before the mayor's race. She has been the subject of profiles in Elle and the New Yorker.

===============

The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

Greece is the WORD - or is the WORD "DEFAULT" - Coming Soon to a Nation Near You

...the next groundswell of popular protest—and there will be one—will be labeled as “unexpected,” a “shock” and a “surprise.”
 ...the next groundswell of popular protest—and there will be one—will be labeled as “unexpected,” a “shock” and a “surprise.”
---Under a rational ruling class, one that responds to the demands of the citizenry, the energy in the street can be channeled back into the mainstream. But once the system calcifies as a servant of the interests of the corporate elites, as has happened in the United States, formal political power thwarts justice rather than advances it. --- Chris Hedges

It's clear. We no longer have a rational ruling class. They're trying to sell Obama as the rational one. Have you checked a public school near you lately, especially if you live in an urban area?

I had a discussion with a Faux FOX supporter the other day in which he glowed about our democratic ability to vote. I pointed out that our "choices" are chosen by the ruling class. He didn't get it. So I gave him a "choice" of cereals. Rice krispies or cheerios. "But I want something else," he said. "Too bad." I have dictated your choices.
We DO NOT live in a democracy but a plutocracy or oligarchy -- I forget my terms.

All we hear is how we have to work the politicians. Like lobbying for tiny laws will get us somewhere. So call your assembly person and tell them you don't want mayoral control while the charter/edu-industrial complex lobby throws big bucks at them. I'm sick of hearing it. The only way to lobby these clowns is to throw thousands of bodies in front of their offices. Then we have something to talk about.

I'm increasingly in favor of default in Greece given the phony debt servicing scam that is forcing people to eat cat food. Maybe I don't say this often enough but I am in favor of capitalism. But not rapacious capitalism. At the very least I am a left-wing social democrat. But events are moving me further to the left. I have been focused on the education scene but as in my morning post, there is also a bigger picture. And here is the even bigger picture.

Paul Krugman had a piece on Greece as victim

So, about those Greek failings: Greece does indeed have a lot of corruption and a lot of tax evasion, and the Greek government has had a habit of living beyond its means. Beyond that, Greek labor productivity is low by European standards — about 25 percent below the European Union average. It’s worth noting, however, that labor productivity in, say, Mississippi is similarly low by American standards — and by about the same margin.

On the other hand, many things you hear about Greece just aren’t true. The Greeks aren’t lazy — on the contrary, they work longer hours than almost anyone else in Europe, and much longer hours than the Germans in particular. Nor does Greece have a runaway welfare state, as conservatives like to claim; social expenditure as a percentage of G.D.P., the standard measure of the size of the welfare state, is substantially lower in Greece than in, say, Sweden or Germany, countries that have so far weathered the European crisis pretty well. So how did Greece get into so much trouble? Blame the euro.

I think it we have a lot more than the euro to blame. The entire crisis is about debt servicing and the workers are the ones who have to pay. A recent piece in the Times (I can't remember by whom) made this point by the Greek leftist leader: It wasn't us who weren't paying taxes, it was the elite -- the 1% -- or the 10%.

Just think of it. Debt is manufactured by investors and they get paid first at the expense of the rest of the population. I say screw them. Put your money in a bank at 1% interest like I have to do. Or a mattress, which might be the best bet --- as long as you don't have bed bugs. Or maybe bed bugs are a good bet to guard your money.

RBE had a great quote from Chris Hedges on his blog: Hedges

Words of wisdom:

In every conflict, insurgency, uprising and revolution I have covered as a foreign correspondent, the power elite used periods of dormancy, lulls and setbacks to write off the opposition. This is why obituaries for the Occupy movement are in vogue. And this is why the next groundswell of popular protest—and there will be one—will be labeled as “unexpected,” a “shock” and a “surprise.” The television pundits and talking heads, the columnists and academics who declare the movement dead are as out of touch with reality now as they were on Sept. 17 when New York City’s Zuccotti Park was occupied. Nothing this movement does will ever be seen by them as a success. Nothing it does will ever be good enough. Nothing, short of its dissolution and the funneling of its energy back into the political system, will be considered beneficial.
Those who have the largest megaphones in our corporate state serve the very systems of power we are seeking to topple. They encourage us, whether on Fox or MSNBC, to debate inanities, trivia, gossip or the personal narratives of candidates. They seek to channel legitimate outrage and direct it into the black hole of corporate politics. They spin these silly, useless stories from the “left” or the “right” while ignoring the egregious assault by corporate power on the citizenry, an assault enabled by the Democrats and the Republicans. Don’t waste time watching or listening. They exist to confuse and demoralize you.
The engine of all protest movements rests, finally, not in the hands of the protesters but the ruling class. If the ruling class responds rationally to the grievances and injustices that drive people into the streets, as it did during the New Deal, if it institutes jobs programs for the poor and the young, a prolongation of unemployment benefits (which hundreds of thousands of Americans have just lost), improved Medicare for all, infrastructure projects, a moratorium on foreclosures and bank repossessions, and a forgiveness of student debt, then a mass movement can be diluted. Under a rational ruling class, one that responds to the demands of the citizenry, the energy in the street can be channeled back into the mainstream. But once the system calcifies as a servant of the interests of the corporate elites, as has happened in the United States, formal political power thwarts justice rather than advances it.
...
The physical eradication of the encampments and efforts by the corporate state to disrupt the movement through surveillance, entrapment, intimidation and infiltration have knocked many off balance. That was the intent. But there continue to be important pockets of resistance. These enclaves will provide fertile ground and direction once mass protests return. It is imperative that, no matter how dispirited we may become, we resist being lured into the dead game of electoral politics.

RBE says: The Wisconsin recall debacle is the final stamp on the "dead game of electoral politics."

Occupy.
I left this comment that indicates some rethinking on my part of where our union leaders will land.

The power is in the streets. We have to learn from the police tactics to disrupt OWS. It will not be as easy if the unions are in the hands of the rank and file. The leadership will fight like hell to preserve their power but even they are in danger. In the past they were partners with the ruling class which saw them as very useful and gave them stuff as part of the deal. But the current situation will lead even sell-out union leadership to move but all very slowly. Chicago will be the test case for the new movement if the strike hits in September.
The ruling class will try to stamp out the union bit if it can't it will offer crumbs and then vilify them for not taking them. If the CTU truly has grassroots support it will withstand the assault. Even Randi and the AFT will be forced to support them though she will try to broker a deal like she did when the transit workers were on strike and she helped get them to back down.

I've been trying to get a discussion going in MORE over how to view the current leadership and their vassals New Action (but even they are getting restless), especially given that MORE will run against Unity and New Action --- unless New Action has had enough and decides to renounce its alliance with Unity and rejoin the Movement. I'm not proposing this but in fact if New Action and MORE ran a joint campaign for the 6 high school exec bd positions they could actually win them. And maybe the middle schools too. But with Unity guaranteeing New Action 8 seats on the board, jobs at the union and other frills (meeting space, etc) it is hard to believe New Action would chose to join the land of the living.

In fact we are all moving left, or should be. 

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The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

Pearson Protest Video by Jaisal Noor

I've been waiting for Jaisal Noor's video of the June 7 rally against field tests at Pearson. I also have footage but he is a real pro.

Growing National Movement Against "High Stakes" Public School Testing

http://youtu.be/gbdTheK9uqY




You know I can post 10 times a day but don't want to wear you all out. Diane Ravitch gets away with it and has been going wild. But she has a cat that wakes her up at 5. I can't keep up with her but I urge you to subscribe to her blog which is covering so much ground.

This one might tickle your fancy: A Letter from Jill Biden to You


Maybe we should start a movement called "Educators NOT for Obama, We Won't Get Fooled Again."

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The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

Daily Roundup: Under Bloomberg, Police and Educators, Same Fate

The institutional culture that once allowed police officers to use their judgment has dissipated.... Asked whether data are fudged, another officer, who prepares his captain for the daily CompStat briefings, says, “there is no way the command can possibly beat last year’s figures without doing so.”

-- John Eterno

Sound familiar to teachers?

Unlike Diane Ravitch, whose cat wakes her up at 5 AM so she can pump out 5 blogs, my cat just sleeps and I don't get up until 6:30, but brimming with blogging ideas. Then I check the NY Times, email and blog roll and hours later have still not blogged. Not only that, I forgot all those brimming ideas.

So I'm trying a morning roundup -- it is already 8:15 and I still have to get to the gym. And play with my cat. So here are some catchup items.

The privatizing of American society Does not stop with education. Aren't teachers being asked to produce quotas of sorts? "here are the test scores we need, go get 'em." The major difference is that the police data reports are not being made public. In fact if Bloomberg is going to argue for TDA's to be public why shouldn't the public getting a ticket or being stopped and frisked have access to the quota report of the cops they are dealing with?

Police face same bad deal as teachers: quotas
Ok, they're not privatizing the police -- yet. Though in Bloombergville the NYPD might as well be privatized, as he himself has bragged he has the NYPD as his own private force. Jamaica HS chapter leader James Eterno's brother John, a retired cop, had an opt-ed in Monday's NY Times, Policing by the Numbers.

THE pervasive use of stop-and-frisk tactics that have deeply alienated racial and ethnic minorities in New York City is only one symptom of a broader dysfunction in the Police Department. The overwhelming pressure on officers to write summonses, make arrests, stop pedestrians and motorists with little or no justification, and downgrade crime reports reflects the deterioration of effective management under Raymond W. Kelly

It is worth heeding what Detective Frank Serpico, testifying on police corruption, told the Knapp Commission in 1971: “The department must realize that an effective, continuing relationship between the police and the public is more important than an impressive arrest record.” 

Eterno's book, “The Crime Numbers Game: Management by Manipulation,” has received good notices. Michael Powell in the Times also did a piece featuring John.

Stop and frisk is becoming a hot item and give credit to Mulgrew and other unions for being part of the silent march on Sunday (Thousands March Silently to Protest Stop-and-Frisk Policies).

One sign of the failure of the ed deform movement has been their own silence on issues like stop and frisk. Ask people in Educators 4 Excellence why they have been silent on stop and frisk. It is fine to support Bloomberg in every single racist policy.

Just about every teen male of color will testify to being stopped for no reason. I know that from my best former students. Would white middle class parents accept what black middle class parents fear every day about their children?

ICE's Jeff Kaufman, a former cop, is very aware of the intersection of policing and education and has straddled both worlds. He and John Eterno have been doing workshops for youths around the city on how to handle themselves during a stop and frisk.

Prison privatization too
NY Times slams beyond sleaze Christie on prison privatization in 3 major articles about his ties to people who run half-way houses in Jersey that look like horror factories. Almost too disgusting to read.

Part three: A Volatile Mix Fuels a Murder

As financial pressures grow, officials are using vast halfway houses as dumping grounds, The New York Times found. At Delaney Hall in Newark, low-level offenders are thrown together with violent ones.

• Part Two: At a Halfway House, Bedlam Reigns
• Part One: As Escapees Stream Out, a Penal Business Thrives

Christie just shocked:  Gov. Christie calls for better inspections of halfway houses in wake of newspaper report


Privatization: Testing industry and common core too
Yes, just about every aspect of the ed deform agenda calls for privatization.

Yong Zhao was our guest speaker and I have some great video of him (here and here).

Here he deals with the common core which I wrote about yesterday (Common Core Ills).

The wonder drug has been invented, manufactured, packaged, and shipped. Doctors and nurses are being trained to administer the drug properly. Companies and consultants are offering products and services to help with the proper administering of this wonder drug. A national effort is underway to develop tools to monitor the improvement of the patients. The media are flooded with enthusiastic endorsement and euphoric predictions.
This cure-all wonder drug is the Common Core...

Common Sense Vs. Common Core: How to Minimize the Damages of the Common Core

OK. Gotta go play with cat, plant some plants, get ready to head into the city for lunch with 2 of my favorite retirees who were active in the union opposing Unity -- a great chance to catch up --- and we're going to the Triangle Shirt Fire exhibit at FIT afterwards and then onto the MORE steering committee meeting. Did I forget something? Oh, the gym. Drat.

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The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

Randi and Rahm

Is Randi playing on both sides of the fence in Chicago? I know, I know, you are shocked, just shocked.

Mike Klonsky reports in this blog: Axelrod's old firm behind 'Infrastructure Trust', Citibank, and attacks on CTU

All this calls into question the motives behind AFT President Randi Weingarten's recent visit to Chicago. Weingarten spoke in support of the Infrastructure Trust at Bill Clinton's Global Initiative Conference. To her credit, Randi had been in town a few weeks earlier to support and march with thousands of rallying union teachers. But now, here she was rallying support for the very forces that were attacking the CTU in a massive media campaign. According to the Sun-Times report:  

Emanuel was seated onstage next to Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, whose largest member union, the Chicago Teachers Union, [was] taking a strike-authorization vote this week, frustrated with Emanuel’s administration, which killed a negotiated 4 percent raise for the teachers last year. Emanuel has said he thinks teachers deserve a raise. His board has offered a 2 percent raise in the first year of a proposed five-year contract and no guaranteed raise after that.

Weingarten and Emanuel didn’t go near that issue Thursday.

Why not?

 Watching the Chicago strike scenario and how Randi will play it will be fascinating. If the CTU and Karen Lewis win a big victory, that undermines Randi's entire platform she has been selling for 15 years --- that militancy can't win. And it would put Karen in direct competition with Randi as a representative of teachers. Imagine an insurrection at the 2014 AFT convention calling on Karen to run against Randi for AFT president. It won't happen in Detroit and in fact Karen is a member of the Progressive Caucus, the national version of Unity. How is that possible? Well, in order to be a VP on the AFT Exec Council you have to be elected and with an essential one party system in the AFT like there is in the UFT, that can only happen if you run with Progressive Caucus. Randi tried to get Karen to sign up the entire CTU/CORE delegate faction into Progressive last time but CORE held fast an only 2 members joined I believe. Some of the rest joined with the party running against them.

Common Core Ills

We need to focus more on common core. Here are just a few tidbits followed by a discussion on the Change the Stakes listserve between parents and teachers.
----------

Susan Ohanian continues her onslaught against Common Core, which you should oppose merely on the ground that both the UFT/AFT and Tweed support it.

Frightened to the Core
R. L. Ratto
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=285

The Common Core frightens this elementary teacher. Rightfully so.

Straight Up Conversation: Common Core Architect and New College Board President David Coleman
Rick Hess
Straight Up Education Week blog
2012-06-11
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=282

Rick Hess interviews David Coleman. Don't blame David Coleman for being very efficient at what he does. Blame NCTE, IRA, NCTM, ASCD, AFT, NEA.

And this on CC:

Yong Zhao 5:09pm Jun 17 Common Sense Vs. Common Core: How to Minimize the Damages of the Common Core Read my most recent blog post: http://zhaolearning.com/?p=1214 Common Sense Vs. Common Core: How to Minimize the Damages of the Common Core zhaolearning.com The wonder drug has been invented, manufactured, packaged, and shipped. Doctors and nurses are being..

A NYC teacher writes on CC:

NY State used some of its discretionary RTTT funds to create Common Core frameworks for Pre-K. This article is one of the scariest pieces of evidence I've seen for the "war against childhood.":

http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=3161

A parent asks:

I'm coming to this a bit late; could someone point me to some materials explaining why national curricula are bad?  Looking at this somewhat ignorantly, arithmetic is arithmetic, physics is physics, biology is biology (even in the states where it's not ;-)), etc., so why oppose national standards?.  Obviously, regional content is important, but it should be possible to strike a balance without losing what's good about common standards in subjects that clearly lend themselves to such standards.  It seems to me that the core problem with the common core is not that it's national -- it's that it's bad (i.e., it's designed to be a cattle chute toward short answer tests, it's simultaneously prescriptive and vague to the point of inscrutability, it's unsupported by realistic research or field testing, etc.).  National curricula (such as those that exist in many nations considered exemplary) don't have to have these flaws.  Am I wrong in my thinking?

 Another parent replies:

That's a great question. What we're seeing with the Common Core is
that the process was so bad -- not transparent, excessively controlled
by the testing companies, etc. -- that many of the original
participants refused to sign off on the final result (see the articles
in Leonie's recent post on the Common Core).

The question I'm asking is, why do we need imposed national standards
for public but not private schools? If there's a basic principle at
stake here, that the nation as a whole has a legitimate,
constitutional interest in dictating learning goals to the nation's
children, why are some categories of children excluded from those
dictates?

Clearly there are advanced nations with national standards that are
doing fine. But this is the United States. Our great distinguishing
national characteristic is supposed to be the premium we place on
freedom, on individual rights, and the associated dynamism and
creativity of our culture -- which are real. Moreover, our
constitution supposedly delegates the regulation of education to the
states. Since our most comprehensive effort at national standards, the
Common Core, is an unfolding disaster, it does beg the question, why,
in a time of scarcity most especially, but really at any time at all,
should we violate our national traditions of pluralism, individualism
and local control of education to move towards a model that show no
signs of achieving the goals we all supposedly care about -- helping
our children become more creative, flexible thinkers ready for the
ever-changing conditions of the job markets of the future?

 And I chip in:

While it seems obvious that there are certain things that everyone should be taught -- algebra is algebra but the devil is in the details. A national curricula that is mandated vs recommended means it will be measured. And watered down by politics. Can't you see pressure to include intelligent design? Or maybe flat earth to be fair to those who still debunk the "earth is round" theory?
We all know the civil war should be taught, but I can imagine it being taught very differently in different places. Thus an argument for standardizing. But imagine the potential battles over that.

While nations like France have a centralized system we can already see how dangerous NCLB and RTTT have been destructive. The nations you talk about are not driven by destruction of public education with the aim of privatization so we need to look at common core in that context and not as a theoretical basis.

 And this idea from a parent activist in Change the Stakes:

I'm sure someone must have fully developed the following argument, but
it's just occurring to me so I'll share it for possible inclusion in
some form in our evolving position statements.

Two things are clear:

1) In order to avoid having federal and state governments destroy
public education, we must return to local control.

2) Yet there must be some sort of state oversight, or you get
situations like that unfolding in Louisiana in which anyone with a
bank of computer terminals and a few DVDs can set up shop as a school.

I haven't noticed a burgeoning movement of affluent parents protesting
the destructive interference of government in our nation's private
schools. Whatever the accreditation process for private schools, the
rich seem pretty much satisfied with the range of educational
approaches they offer. So let's govern public schools the same way.
They must meet certain very general standards to be accredited, but
after that they get to design their own curricula, choose their own
teaching materials, and make their own determinations about how to
evaluate their staff and students.

It is such an obvious injustice that no one talks about it: in our
country, the state can impose whatever draconion and counterproductive
policies it likes on parents and children who cannot afford to buy
their way out of the system through the option of private schooling,
but the affluent can bypass "standards" and "accountability" at will.
Moreover, the wonderful range of existing public schools in New York
proves that the teachers and principals in the public system are fully
capable of developing as rich and varied a range of schooling options
as those in the private system. What exactly is wrong with offering
the same freedoms to public-school parents that private-school parents
enjoy?

We as a society can choose equity in the domain of school regulation
-- and the beauty of it is it will save taxpayer money, since we can
ditch the fantastically wasteful and destructive accountability
systems now consuming billions of dollars nationwide.

Sunday on Monday, June 18 - It's a Wrap

This past week was a bit lighter on activism than the busy week of June 4. I won't bore you right up front but you can read about the week that was with some commentary below.

Here are some connections to check out from the blogs on issues I would have blogged about. If you don't check out our extensive blog roll you are missing a lot. Really, I should just cull from all the great blogs and never actually have to write anything myself.

Last Stand for Children First
Anything written on this great satirical blog out of Chicago is a howl.

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

A School Too Far: Is School Choice Unraveling Education Reform In New York City?

Marc Epstein nails the de-coupling of schools from the surrounding neighborhoods.
--------

James Eterno at the ICE blog:
CAN YOU BELIEVE WE'RE GOING TO FACT FINDING AGAIN?
And his report of the Delegate Assembly (which I still hope to report on):
SPECIAL DELEGATE ASSEMBLY: UFT ENDORSEMENTS & MULGREW RESPONDS TO LAWSUIT
-----------------

Gary Rubinstein discovers secret of charter schools that claim success:
....the strategy that charters have proved effective is:  Keep the bottom 15% of the kids away from the top 50% of the kids. What charters teach us

My comment
Some charter school charlatan will come up with this: we will take the 15% if you pay us a lot. Then they will do something analogous to the New Jersey half-way house scam the NY Times has been talking about -- cut services to the bone and treat the kids like prisoners. No one will rally care much anyway --- the operators will make a lot of money, the public schools -- whatever is left of them can compete with charters on a more equal basis, but ultimately they will disappear too since the only reason to keep them around was to service those 15%. A nice tidy package for the privatizers.
Might take another generation but it will come.
One of the big culprits in all this has been the teacher unions trying to straddle the line and refusing to challenge the very idea of charters as having that ultimate aim.

-------
Perdido Street School:

AFT, NEA Need To Pressure Obama To Stop Teacher Bashing And Race to the Top

My comment:
Before pressuring Obama we have to pressure the teacher unions. But good luck with that when dealing with the UFT/AFT a top-down monopoly of power. The only pressure they will understand is when there are thousands of teachers in the streets screaming for their heads. See Chicago. Now that union might still endorse Obama but as a local political tactic given the war that is going on in that city. Or maybe not. If they go on a strike in the fall, it will be fun to watch Obama's silence in the midst of an election campaign and a labor war in his own city. The CTU seems able to gather community support at the grassroots level -- they have been working on this since the CORE caucus was founded 4 years ago so they have foresight.

----------

Accountable Talk takes apart Walcott's arguments for giving him sole right to fire teachers accused of sex-related issues.

Love this one:

if Walcott is correct, what he is saying is that the city knowingly agrees to hire arbitrators who send sexual predators back into the classroom. And since he is in charge of the DOE, the buck must stop with him. He is as guilty as anyone of what he claims is true. 

Dennis Walcott, Debunked
--------------
 Diane Ravitch who has a new toy with her new blog where she is prolific sent this link to a hilarious 11 minute video that features a conversation between a teacher and supervisor that nails the essence of the ed deform view of teachers.

Race from the Axe




 ------------

Ms. Katie's Ramblings

Rahm's Longer School Day Tearing an Elementary School Apart
Another great blog out of Chicago



Ed Notes posts over the past week (in reverse order):

• Pre-K Destruction: It is "children last " with the...
• Bill Gates Tells Us Why His High School Was a Grea...
• A Happy Happy Hour - We Want MORE
• Carol's Garden
• A Sign of the Times? Unity Chapter Leaders Losing ...
• TODAY! Join MORE June 16th for Happy Hour and Grea...
• Remarkable Video From Railroaded Rubber Room Teach...
• Portelos Wins Chapter Leader Election from Rubber ...
• Ravitch on Chicago
• UFT "Neutrality" in Jeffries-Barron Race is Suppor...
• NBC Bias on Deborah Kenny HVA Charter Scam and NY ...
• Tuesday: Three Events Today - Press Conf on DOE Sp...

Here is the week that was -- if you're interested

Monday June 11: Hang out at home

Tuesday June 12: I work with a group called Active Aging that produces a TV show at Manhattan Neighborhood Network and we are doing a story on an artist/musician/and lots more named Leo Witlarge --- what an interesting guy and it should make a great story. He lives on Bushwick Ave. in what could pass for a museum. Check out some of his work: www.witlarge.com.
In the evening it was off to Leonie Haimson's Skinny Awards dinner, which was packed, mostly with people I didn't know. The UFT had a table for 8 and I knew a few of them. I got to talk to a very interesting, a 2nd or 3rd careerer in the 9th year in our wonderful system working at a closing school. She said she has worked in a number of different jobs and systems and the NYCDOE is the most dysfunctional. "Intentionally dysfunctional," I told her to assist in its destruction so it can be privatized.

Weds June 13:  Only item was the UFT Delegate Assembly where I offered free dvds of our movie on condition of holding a screening in the school. Twelve people took me up on it. Even though online, we want people to see it in groups and that is why we ordered another thousand. Check it out if you haven't seen it and let me know if you want to hold a screening in your school and I'll get you a dvd.

Thurs June 14 - Flag Day. I think we used to get off when I was a kid. New air conditioning system installed, just in time for the small memorial/party we are holding for my dad this Thursday when it will be 97 degrees.

Friday June 15 -- electrician came to hook up the system. Interesting conversation about unions with the worker doing the installing. His whole family are union but he works for a private contractor, a guy who used to coach his teams as a kid and also a grad of Brooklyn Polytech. When the boss came by we had a nice chat --- a real down home guy with a great sense of humor. He even custom made a few small brackets I needed for another job, right on the spot.

Saturday June 16 -- The gala MORE happy hour.

Sunday June 17 -- out to Philadelphia area for our niece's fathers day invite. Two kids aged 4 and 1. They did lots of chasing around. And there was some water flying around. Got into the usual discussion with her father in law who is adamant that Obama is a socialist. If he only read what the left is saying about Obama as the ultimate supporter of capitalism.

Throughout the week there were lots of visits to my dad's apartment -- we have to have it cleared out by June 30. Put up a note there was free furniture available and the calls have been coming in. Need a 40 year old stereo system?

Pre-K Destruction: It is "children last " with the DOE.

NY Times bias: The only way SchoolBook lets you respond is through Facebook. Why? Many people do not use this social media.

We've seen how Tweed, the enemy within, purposely denies pre-k growth for public schools, their very lifeline, so they can favor charters by creating "demand." This message was sent by GEM/ICE/MORE member Pat Dobosz, a pre-k teachers in Williamsburg after reading this article at Schoolbook:

More Pre-K Seats Open for Bid, Starting Monday – SchoolBook

Bill Gates Tells Us Why His High School Was a Great Learning Environment

Hi Norm,

I'm a regular reader.  I wrote the piece below for a chat board:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002807175 & someone told me I should send it to education bloggers, so I am.  Feel free to use it if you think it's of interest.

Bill Gates Tells Us Why His High School Was a Great Learning Environment

Bill's high school was Seattle's most elite private school, Lakeside, current tuition $28K (not including food, books, bus, laptop, and field trips).

A bargain, compared to some eastern private schools, but about equal to the median income of all US workers:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/20/us-incomes-falling-as-optimism-reaches-10-year-low_n_1022118.html

Lakeside has a lovely campus that looks kind of like a college campus:






- Faculty is nearly equally balanced between men & women (i.e. Lakeside pays well);
- 79% of faculty have advanced degrees;
- 17% are "faculty of color" (half the students are "students of color," cough, Asian)
- Student/teacher ratio: 9 to 1
- Average class size: 16
- High school library = 20,000 volumes
- 24 varsity sports offered
- New sports facility offers cryotherapy & hydrotherapy spas
- Full arts program with drama, various choruses, various band including jazz band, chamber orchestra

Bill says Lakeside was great because the teachers pushed the students to achieve (and when you push students to achieve, of course they do, especially when you challenge them to read your college thesis and your ten favorite books -- what student wouldn't rise to such a fascinating challenge...):

Rigor absolutely defined my Lakeside experience. Lakeside had the kind of teachers who would come to me, even when I was getting straight A's, and say: "When are you going to start applying yourself?" Teachers like Ann...One day, she said: "Bill, you're just coasting. Here are my ten favorite books; read these. Here's my college thesis; you should read it." She challenged me to do more. I never would have come to enjoy literature as much as I do if she hadn’t pushed me.

Bill says Lakeside was great because the education was relevant to real life:

Relevance also was a big part of my Lakeside education. The most common image of a bad education is a sullen kid, slumped in a desk saying: "When am I ever going to use this?"
The teachers here did everything to make their lessons matter....Years before other schools recognized the importance of computers, the Lakeside Mothers Club came up with the money to buy a teletype that connected over the phone lines with a GE time-sharing computer...

The school could have shut down the terminal, or they could have tightly regulated who got to use it. Instead, they opened it up. Instead of teaching us about computers in the conventional sense, Lakeside just unleashed us...

Lakeside introduced me to computers. They allowed me to teach a class in computers. They hired me to write a scheduling program. It didn’t have to work that way. They could have hired an outside computer expert to do the scheduling system. Teachers could have insisted that they teach classes on computing, simply because they were the teachers and we were the students...

Bill says Lakeside was great because of relationships:

Finally, I had great relationships with my teachers here at Lakeside. Classes were small. You got to know the teachers. They got to know you. And the relationships that come from that really make a difference...

Relationships include the ones developed in Lakeside's Global Learning Program. Bill thinks it's important that rich kids see how poor people in other countries live...poor neighbors in *this* country, not so much...

I’m really excited about the Global Service Learning Program, which will send Lakeside students on extended trips to developing countries to learn about the people and the issues they face...I believe if we could get the same kind of visibility for health problems around the world, so that rich people saw millions of impoverished mothers burying babies who died from causes we can prevent—we would insist that something be done, and we would be willing to pay for it...We need to see what’s happening—only then will we stop ignoring our neighbors and start helping them.

Bill says: I want as many students as possible, from as many different backgrounds as possible, to enjoy a Lakeside education.

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/speeches-commentary/Pages/bill-gates-2005-lakeside.aspx


Bill is funding financial aid for talented students who can meet Lakeside's rigorous entrance requirements.

Bill is funding schooling for "ordinary" students too -- but what does Bill want for these "ordinary" students?

Bill says for ordinary students, class size doesn't matter:

http://www.alternet.org/story/149232/where_does_billionaire_monopolist_bill_gates_get_off_saying_bigger_class_size_and_fewer_teachers_is_the_education_solution/?page=2

Bill is funding Teach for America, because for ordinary students, teacher training and advanced degrees don't matter, 5 weeks training & a BA is plenty:

http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=2163§ion=Article

Bill is funding high-stakes testing, which stresses students, teachers and schools and crowds out class time & district money for actual teaching, the arts, and sports. Ordinary students don't need those things.

Bill is also funding Common Core, which will dictate a national curriculum to the extent that every school in the country will be on the same page of the same book or computer program at the same time. So no chance for students to be "unleashed," or go with the flow of the students' interests, as was Bill's lucky experience at Lakeside.

Once Common Core is instituted there will be even more standardized tests -- high-stakes standardized tests in every subject!! At least 20% more testing time!! And these tests will determine whether a student passes or fails, whether a school passes or fails, and whether a teacher has a job or not.

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/04/the_common_core_the_technocrat.html

Bill thinks when schools and teachers fail his tests, the school should be dissolved, the teachers should be fired, and someone else should come in and give it a shot, perhaps in a charter school open to anyone on a lottery system.

Because stability and relationships aren't so important for ordinary students as they are for the kind of students who go to Lakeside.

Maybe the charter school can rent a church basement, or "co-locate" in a public school and push the public school students into classrooms located in supply closets or down in the boiler room.

Because decent facilities don't matter so much to ordinary students.

Bill Gates wants to keep a central database of all student information:

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/

Far from allowing students to be "unleashed" & learn through "relevant" experiences like Bill did, Bill Gates is funding Orwellian electronic devices which will monitor students' attention to his canned lessons, and cameras in classrooms to make sure teachers are sticking to the canned lessons:

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/06/wiring_our_students.html

Bill is going to make a lot of money on all the things he's imposing on ordinary students...but that's another OP. Suffice to say that Bill's schools won't be hiring students to write computer programs for them, or anything else. They'll be hiring private contractors for big bucks.

What can we conclude from the kind of education Bill supports at Lakeside and the kind of education Bill supports for ordinary students? Not only Bill, but all the rest of the elite prep-school educated "Education Deform" crowd?

I think it's pretty obvious.

 

 

A Happy Happy Hour - We Want MORE

MORE Happy Hour: They just kept comin' and comin' with even more stories of Unity Caucus chapter leaders being driven out of office when challenged.

I got home last night from a great evening out with people who turned out for the Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE - morecaucusnyc.org) first ever Happy Hour at Druids Bar. A great mix of people, from a small group of retirees like me to experienced teachers to lots of under 5-year people. And a good balance -- high, middle and elementary. I didn't know a whole bunch of people - a good sign that some people are coming out of the woodwork. I'm still cautious as always as I've been through some of this before.

They just kept comin' and comin' with even more stories of Unity Caucus chapter leaders being driven out of office when challenged. Unfortunately, the number of schools still make up a relative blip and Unity still controls the bulk of the schools. But there may be places out there where Unity was overturned that we do not know about yet.

Then there is this email from an old pal, an independent retiree who was a chapter leader:

found the unity chapter leaders losing in this election interesting.  Of course, some schools did not even post the notice or inform their staff of elections.  Oh well.... business as usual.

Next year's Delegate Assemblies should be interesting, with a big turnover. MORE is ordering tee-shirts for affiliated CLs and Del to wear. What Unity will do is hold new chapter leader training and use the district reps to try to recruit as many people into the black hole of Unity as they can, thus gagging them and shutting them off from MORE.

With general UFT elections coming with the campaign season beginning in January 2013 and the election at the end of March, that adds to the interest. Of course, the way the union is structured and with New Action running to split the opposition vote, there is little chance to win anything.

BUT
 As we've been saying for many years, the chapter elections are more important. You can't even hope to win anything without a ground game --- schools and districts. That is a long haul, but as Unity and Mulgrew demonstrate an inability to defend the public schools, more and more teachers will be turned off. Think Chicago 5 years ago.

I heard one story yesterday about a large high school election where a transferee in the first year in the school ran a militant campaign and won. Of course the Unity person challenged the election --- really unbelievable --- and the borough office upheld the challenge - of course, not the first time -- count on the borough office to uphold any challenge by a Unity CL who lost. In the next round 1/3 didn't vote, 1/3 went to the challenger and the Unity and another candidate split the other 1/3. So the Unity person got 1/6 of the total school vote and the person we know doubled it. Frankly, I was called by this person weeks ago and given the situation described I didn't think there was a chance to win, given it was the first year in a large school.

Interesting. I wonder how any people in large high schools can vote for the person representing the party that has let their schools die slow deaths with barely a peep. Do you think Leo Casey is bailing out at the right time? Any idea who will replace him?

 If you're interested in MORE touch down with the web site for details and events.
 I'm doing an event on July 12 on some UFT history and the roots of the opposition caucuses over the time I've been involved. The roots of MORE go deep.


=============
The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

Carol's Garden

Carol's Garden, a painting by one of my wife's friends

Below are a bunch of reasons I am always reluctant to leave our garden. And when I do always happy to be back. The best is to be out there reading and smoking a stogie.

The painting on the right was inspired by the garden. My wife handles the flowers and vegetables while I do the shrubs, trees and general landscaping design.

Yesterday Vera Pavone stopped by with a gift of 2 more plants while there is little space for them, but I'll manage.

I hope the weather holds for this Thursday as we're doing a memorial/party for my dad for friends and family where we will serve his favorite foods -- plus some edible stuff. He told me, "When I go don't have a funeral, have a party. I'll pay for it." I hope the check doesn't bounce (and yes we did have a funeral). I wrote a piece about my dad for my writing group and after revising it based on their input I will use it to say a few words. Very few so people can eat that Waldbaum's rotisserie chicken he loved so much.

These are from my phone and do not do the garden justice. If only I were a real photographer.... I want to share them with you before I head over to the MORE Happy hour where we will eat, drink and be merry --- and have some great conversations -- and get to see some of the new MORE logos being developed.

Took me years to figure out how to get from deck to patio and a local guy has done work for 25 years for me executed it perfectly.

An offspring from my famous oak leaf hydangea  c. 1987 which is still in my backyard - I have given cuttings to everyone and gardens all over have the babies. At that time it was rare, now all over the place.

Oak leaf next to Daphnoides blue (purple) hydrangea

Vera gave me this as a young Viburnam many yrs ago -- I had no room so put it in my neighbor's yard. Then put in a twin.

Early spring in front

An amazing vibernum - blooms all summer

Side of the house that is not often seen,

An almost dead maple when I got it at Botanic Garden plant sale many years ago. I could stare at it for hours -- and often do.

A little mountain laurel -- a few weeks of bliss

One of 3 smoke bushes I have

Climbing Hydrangea -- the first time it bloomed like this ever -- lots of work pruning to get it like this

A Sign of the Times? Unity Chapter Leaders Losing Elections

The administration at my school is livid that I won. They are punishing the staff with a lengthy sign out process and screwed up a lot of programs. Teachers were given classes outside of their license, grades they never taught before, removed from their positions etc. What can we do?

They say politics is local and when it comes to school politics it certainly is. But are we trending here given the anecdotes coming in about Unity Caucus chapter leaders who have defended the UFT hierarchy in their policies losing elections? Or are these just little molehills? Sure, local school issues are the dominating force. But remember that many Unity people follow the mantra of the union about being "partners" and all too many are with their principals.

Unity's Richard Candia from IS 49SI who sold out Portelos and the rest of his colleagues while the UFT Staten Island office looked the other way may be the poster boy of a Unity sell-out. So Portelos wins the election out of the rubber room and the principal responds by retaliating against the entire staff -- and certainly hurting children in the process.

Imagine trying to defend the UFT position on judging teachers by data --- even 20%, or 40%. Or whatever line they are selling?

Just the other day the DA passed a resolution reaffirming the protection of chapter leaders. Ha, go ask Peter Lamphere. (By the way, Dave Pecoraro who is CL of Beach Channel HS and currently in the rubber room called the question on the debate on this issue so Mulgrew could get out early -- Dave calls the question on some issue almost every meeting --- as does Nina Tribble --- these two are the designated killers of debate).

I and the late Paul Baizerman put up a reso on protecting chapter leaders in 2001 and it was turned down overwhelmingly by Unity with Tom Pappas speaking against it and saying chapter leaders have enough protections. How's that been working out Tom that you all have to REAFFIRM YOUR SUPPORT FOR CHAPTER LEADERS? [I have to dig up that reso from the archives for my report on the DA where even 5 minutes of Mulgrew's lame attempts at being cute make me wish for the ghost of Weingarten.]

Principals are also using the "excess the new chapter leader" approach if they don't like the way the election came out. Here is a note from a school in Queens where the favored Unity candidate lost the election:

Norm

We just had a chapter leader vote and the person who won is pretty militant. The principal does not like this person because he defends teachers. So the principal placed him on the excess list. If he becomes excessed who becomes our chapter leader?

I suggested calling the UFT Queens office but then asked if it was a Unity chapter leader the principal favored. Sure enough it was. Thus forget the UFT borough office which has proven time and again it prefers a suck-up Unity CL to an independent or opposition person who fights for the rights of teachers.

And so it goes.

Are you an independent? Come hang out with the crew from MORE tomorrow at 5pm. Join me in a toast to the future endeavors of Leo Casey in Washington, as Randi put it, an "exquisite choice." For us here in NYC.

TODAY! Join MORE June 16th for Happy Hour and Great Conversations

TODAY! Join MORE June 16th for Happy Hour and Great Conversations

I'm not talkin', just drinkin'. Maybe hoist one for Leo Casey on his new venture leading the Al Shanker institute into justifying charter schools. Hey, Leo, come on down!

Movement of Rank & File Educators The social justice caucus of the UFT “Our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions”

MORE

The Movement of Rank and File Educators invites you for a happy hour at

Druids Bar and Restaurant

Saturday, June 16

5 - 7 pm

736 10th Avenue

Trains: E/C/1 at 50th St.

to talk about
Everything Union!

• School closings
• turnaround models
• Race to the Top
• teacher data reports
• ATR’s
• the structure of our union: the United Federation of Teachers (UFT)
• the Unity caucus and caucuses in general
• lack of a contract
• union elections
• chapter leaders and delegates.....

and any other topic you care to discuss!

Finally got my wife's permission to go.