Opt Out in the black community: Meeting With a Brooklyn Elementary School PTA

Others talked about how their children loved school - until they hit a testing wall - and started not liking school in the 3rd grade. The very same stories I hear coming from white parents.... My Report from a PTA meeting.

There is a common assumption that opting out of tests in urban areas is for the gentrified white middle class - the Arne Duncan line - but also something I hear from my friends on the left.

And gentrified areas are certainly where opt out started here in NYC, with the hot beds being Washington Heights and Park Slope.

We all recognized that from Day 1 but I eschewed the supposed reasons - that the black community wanted tests and the idea they viewed the opt out movement with suspicion would turn out to be overblown as the negatives of the tests were impacted their own children. After all, just look at the outcomes of the one-test judgement in the specialty schools like Stuy and Bronx High? Not a lot of their kids make it to those schools, though at Brooklyn Tech there always was a higher level of black students (including a bunch I taught in the 70s). I think even that level has dropped in recent years.

Change the Stakes made a conscious effort to start reaching out to the communities of color -- by sending reps to speak at district monthly Community Education Council (CEC) meetings - even if they are poorly attended. Newly posted-

• Opting Out of the State ELA and Math Tests in NYC: Frequently Asked Questions

Slowly, CTS has been making headway and when a Brooklyn elementary school PTA President asked Change the Stakes to send a representative to speak about opting out to parents at a PTA meeting last week, no parent was available that morning and I was asked to represent the group.

Two parent activists from Brooklyn New School (PS 146) also signed on to join me. BNS PAC web page materials: http://www.bns146.org/content/parent-action-committee-pac.

• About Opting-out of the State Tests
• How do the State Tests Affect Children and Teachers?

About 15-20 parents showed up to the meeting and almost all of them were black. I knew the school and had assumed it was more of a racially mixed school. It is a Title 1 school. My guess is that there is a strong middle class component amongst the black parents at this particular meeting - a key group in extending the opt out movement. I'm guessing we will see opt out hit black schools in eastern Queens and possibly Canarsie before places like Brownsville and East NY.

As for the charter schools inundating the city, choice is no choice when it comes to opting out. A parent opting out in an Eva school will be opted right out of the school.

I shared some of my personal experiences with the impact of high stakes tests in my own school with a principal who pushed testing above all else. Stories came flooding back to me of how students were impacted and how my teaching was affected. The BNS parents answered questions about opting out.

It was a lively discussion. One parent talked about how her child was impacted and suffered anxiety and depression. Another said her daughter would do fine and didn't have a problem. The BNS parents said their kids would also do fine but for them there were bigger issues. They didn't expect everyone to see it that way but they were there to make sure people knew their options to opt out. Others talked about how their children loved school - until they hit a testing wall - and started not liking school in the 3rd grade. The very same stories I hear coming from white parents.

I was very impressed with the PTA president - for her leadership and her ability to articulate issues. The school is very lucky to have her and her crew.

The principal was there for part of the meeting and sent her AP over to cover the rest. Both seemed like decent people -- but who really knows. After the meeting, she asked me to take a quick tour of the school with her to demonstrate they did not do constant test prep -- she felt my presentation about my principal might have given the parents the wrong impression.

My instinct was that this a school where the PTA is not controlled by the administration. A very good thing. The PTA president asked me to drop off a dvd of our film, The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman, which I hope she shows at a future meeting. We became facebook friends and I am hoping she brings her talents to CTS and helps extend the outreach of the anti-high stakes testing and opt out movement.

She said she would see us at this Saturday's demo at Cuomo's office - and she was bringing her 3rd grade daughter.

ADD-ON:
Brownsville DID have a school with a big opt out last year! Parents from PS 446, Riverdale Community School joined with parents from BNS and Arts & Letters (Brooklyn's D13) for a joint press conference. Here is a link to video of a 446 parent at that event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7gNvimLp-k.

Dewey Principal Kathleen Elvin's Credit Recovery Graduation Scam -- DUHHHH!

The NY Post has a story today about John Dewey HS that has been all over Ed Notes for 9 months. Double DUHHHH! And I love how good old anti-teacher and union reporter Carl Campanile threads the needle:

Teaching kids takes so much effort, staffers at John Dewey HS in Brooklyn have found a quicker way to fix persistent failure rates...

Schmuck. Principal Elvin and her APs set up a fear factory and set policy and force people to adhere to it, especially the untenured - which Carl and his paper are so opposed to. Double schmuck.

Oh, la di da -- some "staffers" decided they didn't want to put effort into teaching children and out of the blue came up with a scheme. Triple schmuck.

When the DOE, which has been informed about these schemes for over a year or more -- but only when contacted by the press - and the Post is not the only one doing a story on this -- did they act like it was news to them.

Here are just a few Ed Notes posts on the Dewey and Elvin story -- in case Carl Campanile and the rest of the press want to really know what's going on.

John Dewey HS Update: Principal ...

Mar 07, 2015

Dewey has one of the highest number of ineffective rated teachers by Elvin while at the same time she claims enormous success due to fraudulent credit recovery schemes. Red flag anyone? Here are the latest comments:

 

The 12 Days of Christmas With Principal Kathleen Elvin at ...

Dec 25, 2014

Based on the comments, a major issue is a phony credit recovery scheme and some ridiculous work rules imposed by the Elvin administrators, some of whom seem to be so awful. Hearing about how these slugs continue to ...

 

John Dewey's Principal Kathleen Elvin ...

Dec 10, 2014

Gerard Papa, 61, who runs Flames, a basketball tournament and mentoring program for 700 kids ages 8 to 19, says Kathleen Elvin, the principal of John Dewey High School, closed off the school's secondary gym last ...

 

Updated: Kathleen Elvin and AP Emily ...

Sep 26, 2014

Are Elvin and Creveling the local version of ISIS, using this teacher as a hostage in retaliation for actions taken by the union - beheading the teacher, economically, by taking her job. The actions of Principal Elvin, along with ...

 

John Dewey Principal Kathleen Elvin ...

Sep 25, 2014

“We're sorry you won't have health insurance for your child and thank you for serving your country. You're fired!” • Single Mother • Iraq War Veteran • Teaching for Only Four Months This is who Elvin and the AP of English ...

 

No Change of Tone at John Dewey HS ...

Jun 26, 2014

Kathleen Elvin was sent into John Dewey HS as a closer a few years ago - to make sure to drive the final nail in Dewey's coffin and remove many of the teachers, mostly senior. But the UFT lawsuit stopped that process over ...

 

John Dewey HS Update: Popular Teacher Dies Suddenly

Dec 17, 2014

Mrs Elvin, who was behind the non-stop attack on this teacher all last year and this year, was suddenly eulogizing her over the loudspeaker, and making sure everyone knew she was so deeply, deeply saddened by the loss of ...

 The Post story below the break.

 

Watching a great teacher work: What I learned in acting class on Sunday

Since I've gotten involved in many back and front stage aspects of the theater out here in Rockaway, I've learned to appreciate live theater in so many ways - from set design, lighting, sound and the essentials of acting.

There are reasons to go see revivals because different actors - and more important, directors, bring a wide variety of prespectives to the play and the various roles.

Thus my recent visit (I'm a Mad Man About Peggy) to The Heidi Chronicles with Mad Men's Elizabeth Moss' unique interpretation was just one slice of how that play could have been presented. (The Times gave it a top-level review).

I've been taking a Sunday morning acting class at the Rockaway Theatre Company (RTC) with 28-year old Frank Ciaiti, a guidance counselor in the DOE, my 3rd or 4th class with Frank in the past 6 years. Frank was trying full-time acting when I met him and is now bringing his wide-ranging talents to his middle school in Brooklyn.

He was recruited to RTC over a decade ago as a student at Leon Goldstein HS in Brooklyn by some of his teachers there who are mainstays at RTC.

So in this class people are teamed to rehearse and perform a scene. My partner is a young NYC Queens middle school theater teacher. She chose a scene for us to do from "On Golden Pond" - where I play the Henry Fonda "dad" role - and my name is Norman, so that solves one memory issue. She plays the Jane Fonda daughter part. This is the famous reconciliation scene on the dock, with dad in the row boat and daughter on the dock. They never got a along. With great difficulty, she makes the first move. After we did a run through Frank jumped in with pointers. Since we are both static we needed a way to avoid each other so Frank told me not to look at her and to be fishing so I had something to occupy myself. I also played it with some sarcastic responses which he felt was not the way to do it -- but dad does say somethings that hurt daughter. So we do the scene and when I say these words, she starts to cry-- really cry. She tapped into something that made her emotional. Holy shit! Acting 101. She had to pull herself together. I have seen that on stage and always took if for granted. But to play an active role in it makes me appreciate acting for all it's worth. J is a wonderful actress - I've seen her in a few roles, notably as one of the stewardesses in Boeing Boeing and as one of the strippers in Gypsy. What a treat to be working with her -- and to have Frank to guide us.

There were other scenes performed today where Frank jumped in to guide people. In The Graduate, an older Mrs. Robinson had to seduce young Benjamin. The actress, a woman probably around 60 - a retired DOE teacher I believe - was working with a 23 year old - and seemed uncomfortable in going far enough to make the scene effective. Frank yelled -- "you want to screw him - every single line - even innocuous ones - must have that behind it. Stop being a Jewish grandmother." Then he tells her to touch him. She grazes his shoulder. Frank laughs. "Grab his inner thigh," he orders. I won't go on -- but this is amazing teaching.

And here is one more. Arthur Miller's "View From the Bridge" a Brooklyn waterfront drama. The 2010 revival with Scarlett Johansson and Liev Schreiber, got good reviews.

This scene is between the wife and husband - he has a thing for the Johansson 17-year old house guest and is covering it up with anger at the young guy who is pursuing her - his wife gets what is going on. Now these are 2 veteran RTC actors - he played the Joe Hardy role in Damn Yankees and she had done many roles. So it was fascinating to see how Frank broke down the spots where each of them needed to ratchet things up or down. This was like going to a literary class studying the play. Much better of course. The emotion that emerged in different ways and how Frank adjusted things to get the emotion out at different times - and how skillfully the actors responded on a dime was like opening a window into so much I have always taken for granted regarding live theater.

Tomorrow we go to see Gigi -- and I think with some insights I might not have had before today.

Add on
So I also help build the sets. Last Wednesday I was using a gas powered framing nail gun and had my hand too close when I shot the nail on an angle and the tip of the nail clipped a bit of my palm. There was little blood and I put a bandage on it and some peroxide and took some Advil. But it's been bothering me and by Saturday's end of the NYCORE conference, even though some of my favorite people were going to the after-party at 6PM I felt I had to go home and take care of it. This morning I went to a local urgent care clinic and it is infected and I got some anti-biotics and some cream. It's burning like a bitch but here's hoping flesh-eating bacteria is staying away.

Lesson learned: Keep my free hand far away from certain tools. And go to the doctor sooner rather than later --I'd take a photo of my hand but you don't want to see that.

Videos: NYCORE 2015 Justice Not Just Tests Conference Keynotes - Strong Stories and dance of The Resistance

I spent all day Saturday at the NYCORE conference at James Baldwin HS. I had some great conversations with all kinds of people. 
 

Strong Stories and dance of The Resistance


Jose Vilson



Dao Tran


Jamila Lyiscott




Erica Doyle




Lady and Crystal




Rosie Frascella



NYCORE 2015 Loco-Motion Dance, Lola, Una

Marcella Sills Replacement at PS 106 in Rockaway uses same tactics

It is clear that the Farina/deBlasio administration has followed in the path of its predecessor BloomKleinites in protecting lousy, insane principals.

[PS 106Q Principal] Legions is married to the brother of a PS 106 dad who was friendly with Sills. The staff fears she is bent on retaliating against Sills’ detractors... NY Post

Sometimes the Post does some good things. It was only when they exposed Marcella Sills - for all the wrong reasons - that she was removed from the school and is still probably on the payroll in some cushy DOE version of supervisor rubber rooms - though would anyone be shocked to find she was still being used in some nefarious fashion? My beef with the Post was that the years of Sills' onslaught on teachers was left out of the story -- it was teacher whistle blowing that led to the story being told -- and believe me, there were years of ignored whistle blowing by the DOE and most of the press -- except Howie Schwach and I in The Wave.

Now we find her successor and apparent friend has been put in place to wipe out the anti-Sills whistle blowers. [Sills by the way came into power under the Kathy Cashin administration in Region 5 - Dist. 27 and 19].

Ed Notes had gads of stories in Sills and PS 106. Supt and Sills protector Lloyd-Bey was forced into retirement but I do not believe it was because of that but due to her not being on the Farina team. Here are a few ed notes recent posts -- use the search box to see years of them.

Marcella Sills Was a Humanitarian by Being Absent and Late

Feb 23, 2014

I read the misconduct report and could not believe the lies Ms. Sills put forth. I am a former teacher at this school and I was actually glad when she wouldn't arrive. I would have time to teach to the students needs. When she ...

Exclusive - Ed Notes Online - Blogger

Jan 13, 2014

Ms. Sills has not really cared about students well being or academic progress. She has a political hierarchy she has developed to intimidate teachers and parents. Meetings were held by parents to address the over-priced ...

Ed Notes Online: PS 106 Update: Retired Teacher Writes to ...

Jan 17, 2014

I am one of the teachers who was unfortunately disrespected, abused and suffered greatly under the incompetent leadership of Principal Marcella Sills at PS 106Q. As a matter of fact, at this writing I am still involved in a ...

Ed Notes Online: PS 106 Update: Councilman Donovan ...

Jan 13, 2014

And a teacher just called saying she actually met with Kathy Cashin about this school when Cashin led Region 5 and in essence hired Sills - though we think Lloyd-Bay was the mover. She said Lloyd-Bey sent over district ...

New ‘School of No’ principal drawing ire of teachers

http://nypost.com/2015/03/22/new-school-of-no-principal-drawing-fire-from-teachers/
Post story below the break.

The Opt Out movement is a bomb set off at ground zero of ed deform

Opt out nukes ed deform

Teacher led fight backs against ed deform have generally been a dud and parents have never been organized enough to make a major impact. But common core and high stakes testing has galvanized resistance from both the left and the right. Despite the billions in astroturfed money going to spread ed deform, we are seeing a growing counter-reaction.

And we also are seeing the stages of a major reaction against charters - the more they push down people's throats the more scandals. Eva who pushes choice doesn't give her parents a choice to opt out.

Even PBS reported on the opt out movement - yesterday at the NYCORE conference I challenged some Chalkbeat people to cover that movement in a serious, in depth manner.

I'm going to follow up with my report of my meeting with a PTA in a Title I school but for now let me repost a Ravitch blog that had the Fair Test report:

FairTest: Test Resistance Goes Viral

The Opt Out movement is spreading like wildfire. It is led by parents, not unions, though some union locals have voted to honor the wishes of parents. Parents understand that the tests are designed to fail most children. They understand that test prep and testing are stealing time from instruction. They aren’t commanded by anyone. They are listening to their children

This message was written by Bob Schaeffer of FairTest:
Normally, FairTest sends out these news clips summaries once a week, early each Tuesday afternoon. With school standardized exam season now in full gear, however, the flow of stories about testing resistance and reform actions is accelerating rapidly. This special edition — with updates from more than half the 50 states over just three days — reports on the first, too-modest steps by policy makers across the U.S. to respond to the growing grassroots pressure for assessment reform.

As more students opt out, parents demonstrate, school board members pass resolutions and polls show strong public opposition to test misuse and overuse, we are confident that there will be many more updates by next Tuesday and in the coming weeks.

Exposing the New Orleans privatization sham where "Choice" turns into no choice

Our stories can help stop this madness! As other cities plan to copy the New Orleans model, it's very important that the voices of parents who are finding that their children are seen as acceptable collateral damage in a market based education system.  Please share these parent voices widely and often. ... Karen Harper Royal from the belly in the beast, Parent Voices from New Orleans: http://bit.ly/

In the topsy turvy world of ed deform, destructive hurricanes are a good thing - if they wipe out public school systems. Karen started out as seeing charter schools as an option. She found out real fast what they were all about.
Here is a post from today dealing with the consequences of charter school failure.

Punishing Children for Charter School Failure in New Orleans

I've found myself in the unenviable position of having to say "don't close this charter school."  Here is an article and my recent blog piece that explains my predicament. 

Article:
http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2015/03/why_is_an_activist_who_has_fou.html#incart_most_shared-opinions

My recent Blog post: http://bit.ly/FixNOLA

NOLAChoice2

Here is a video of Karen I did at the Parents Across America debut event in New York with Leonie introducing Karen 4 years ago.




If you meet parents who extol charters, send them to Karen.

MORE's Mindy mocks Cuomo at Crooks and Liars blog

What is it with these MORE's, writing, speaking, organizing, leading - all over the place.

Credit: DonkeyHotey

t

As a long-time special education teacher, I have been disheartened by Governor Cuomo. Back in January, he laid out his plans to reform public education which included an overhaul of how we are evaluated.

Gov. Cuomo Declares War On Special Education

By Mindy Rosier 

 

http://crooksandliars.com/2015/03/new-yorks-governor-cuomos-war-special

 

Hey, Norm, why do you keep doing this stuff when you can put your feet up and rest?

To get to know people like Mindy.

 

DOE reverses contract - Leonie Haimson wins another one -- who will stop this lady?

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's LEONIE

In a startling reversal, the city’s Department of Education has canceled a $637 million contract it approved only a month ago for a private firm to provide computer services to all public schools, the Daily News has learned.
The Panel for Educational Policy voted on Feb. 24 to award the five-year contract — one of the costliest in school system history....
The critics jumped into action after Leonie Haimson, director of the watchdog group Class Size Matters, came across a tiny reference to a proposed $1.1 billion contract for Custom, one that was published on the school system’s website less than two weeks before the Feb. 24 meeting.
Haimson quickly alerted Public Advocate Letitia James and Helen Rosenthal, head of City Council’s contracts committee.... NYDN

Leonie never stops working. She needs to give herself a Skinny Award this year.

“It is good news for taxpayers that the city decided to stop this egregious contract,” Haimson said. “Now we need institutional reforms, including a new law requiring the Department of Education to publicly disclose all proposed contracts at least one month before being voted on.”

I can't even talk about some of the amazing stuff Leonie has done. Can someone do a Superhero logo with a big L or H or both on it?

After City Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal threatened a City Council oversight hearing, aides to de Blasio and Fariña began to reconsider their actions.

In a startling reversal, the city’s Department of Education has canceled a $637 million contract it approved only a month ago for a private firm to provide computer services to all public schools, the Daily News has learned.
The Panel for Educational Policy voted on Feb. 24 to award the five-year contract — one of the costliest in school system history — to Long Island-based Custom Computer Specialists, Inc.
But on Thursday, the agency unexpectedly notified Custom that it was rescinding the award, rejecting three other competing bids, and will instead seek new requests for proposals.
The Department of Education “believes that its objectives can be better met by a new procurement that affords greater flexibility,” David Ross, director of contracting for the city’s schools, said in a letter, a copy of which The News obtained.
“It’s better to get things done right than to get them done quickly,” one city official said.
The about-face marks an unusual admission by the de Blasio administration that it botched a major initiative.
It follows a flurry of meetings in the past few weeks between school officials, City Hall aides, and a handful of elected officials furious at the way Custom was chosen.
The critics jumped into action after Leonie Haimson, director of the watchdog group Class Size Matters, came across a tiny reference to a proposed $1.1 billion contract for Custom, one that was published on the school system’s website less than two weeks before the Feb. 24 meeting.
Haimson quickly alerted Public Advocate Letitia James and Helen Rosenthal, head of City Council’s contracts committee.
Both immediately demanded more information from the Education Department. They especially wanted to know how Custom had been chosen, since the firm had previously been cited in a criminal probe for looking the other way while a corrupt school system consultant stole millions of dollars from the city.
School officials only made matters worse by waiting until the eve of the Feb. 24 vote before releasing any details about the contract. Those details showed Custom had been selected despite lower bids from two other competitors.
Even more surprising, they announced at the eleventh hour that they had somehow managed to negotiate a sharp reduction in Custom’s final price — to a still-whopping $637 million.
At the actual actual vote, several members of the educational panel openly complained about the lack of transparency from school system staff and questioned the rush to award the contract.
Ross and Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña told them the city could lose up to $23 million in federal reimbursements for Internet funds if the contract was not in place by the end of the March.
But with Rosenthal threatening a City Council oversight hearing and with several Panel for Educational Policy members still unhappy following their vote, aides to de Blasio and Fariña began to reconsider their actions.
The Education Department heard from the panel “as well as elected officials, about their concerns regarding the procurement process and decided that issuing a new restructured procurement . . . will allow us to reach the best possible outcome,” Ray Orlando, the schools system’s financial chief, said in a statement.
“I’m happily stunned the administration actually listened to our concerns and acted on them,” Rosenthal said.
“It is good news for taxpayers that the city decided to stop this egregious contract,” Haimson said. “Now we need institutional reforms, including a new law requiring the Department of Education to publicly disclose all proposed contracts at least one month before being voted on.”

Lower Manhattan schools networked to rally together

I consider this significant -- the UFT historically liked to keep schools as independent islands to give them greater control. MORE people tried networking in areas where they could -- and the UFT was in - suprisingly - or maybe not due to the threat Cuomo posed. Let's see what happens after the deal is done.
In the meantime if you want to get out of the snow Friday afternoon:

Hi everyone! We're having MORE's downtown meet-up tomorrow 5:30pm at Karavas Place, 164 W4th Street. Let's regroup, strategize and get ready to fight back against Cuomo's education agenda!... Alexandra Alves

MORE's John Antush reports:

The Villager article on the Day of Action, featuring extensive coverage of the march and rally at Washington Square park and MORE members at PS 2 and City As School.  We did our own press release and outreach, got permits, and did the whole nine yards with a march and rally. We focused on the Standardized Testing issue and the importance of having alternatives to standardized testing. This was done from the ground up, within our school communities. I'm hoping we can build on this sense of camaraderie to form a real D1 & D2 council of UFT members that can support each other school-to-school, have regular meetings, and carry out educational events and actions. 

http://thevillager.com/2015/03/19/schools-take-to-the-streets-to-protest-cuomos-reforms/

Schools take to the streets to protest Cuomo’s reforms

March 19, 2015 

Students, staff and parents at P.S. 41, the Greenwich Village School, rallied on Thurs., March 12, against Governor Cuomo’s school reform plans. Photo by David Allee

BY ZACH WILLIAMS  |  Teachers, students, parents and administrators across the city rallied on March 12 against Governor Cuomo’s education agenda.

Particularly vexing for opponents are proposed reforms announced in January that would make standardized-testing scores 50 percent of teachers’ evaluations, as well as grant them tenure only after five consecutive years of “effective” ratings under the plan.

In response, union representatives, as well as teachers, students, and staff from dozens of city schools, participated in demonstrations throughout the day, mostly on a school-by-school basis. In Lower Manhattan, actions were scheduled at a half-dozen schools south of 14th St.

These included the Neighborhood School and the Earth School in the East Village, Downtown’s Spruce St. School, P.S. 2 Meyer London School in the Lower East Side, and P.S. 3 and City As School High School in the Village.

For teachers and students at City As School, the governor’s proposed changes are at odds with the alternative high school’s effort to boost student achievement through internships and student projects rather than more traditional pedagogical approaches. About 100 people associated with the high school congregated near its entrance on Clarkson St. in the afternoon, then marched to a “teach-out” in Washington Square Park.

“Standardized testing can’t judge what we do,” said Marcus McArthur, an English and social sciences teacher at the school. “We are here and we are raising and creating innovators not test takers. We got the next great generation of poets and authors and artists and scientists — and the tests, they have nothing to do with that work.”

Momentum continued for their cause over the weekend when Public Advocate Letitia James held a rally at City Hall on Sunday criticizing Cuomo’s pairing of increased funding with the proposals.

Cuomo announced education reforms in January that would make $1.1 billion in new funding contingent on the state Legislature approving his plans. In addition to the changes in teacher evaluations and tenure, the new approach would also require that, if a school fails to show adequate progress through student test scores for three consecutive years, then another school district, nonprofit organization or a “turnaround technocrat” — as the critics put it — would take over management of the “failing” school.

Under the current teacher-evaluation system, 40 percent of teacher scores are determined by student growth based on assessments or tests — with half of that from state evaluations, and as much as 20 percent over all from “locally determined” measures that Cuomo is seeking to eliminate. The remaining 60 percent of the scores comes from observations of teachers, which vary by school district.

City As School students and staff held a press conference in front of the Clarkson St. school, then marched up to Washington Square for a rally. Photo by Zach Williams

According to a February 2015 report from the Governor’s Office, there is a stark disparity between teachers rated as effective — more than 90 percent statewide in the 2013-14 school year — and the amount of students judged proficient in English and math in state testing, roughly 35 percent and 31 percent, respectively.

Four local Manhattan schools below 14th St. were labeled as “failing” in the governor’s report: Henry St. School for International Studies, Marta Valle Secondary School, P.S. 15 and University Neighborhood Middle School.

“How can so many of our teachers be succeeding when so many of our students are struggling?” the report asks.

Cuomo’s education plan also seeks to raise the cap on charter schools in the state by 100 from 460, as well as make the cap apply statewide rather than by region. Under the current limit, New York City could only add 24 more charter schools.

Mayoral control of New York City schools, which is due to expire this year, would also be extended for three more years under Cuomo’s proposal.

Many people at the City As School demonstration, as well as others across the city, voiced suspicion that Cuomo’s plan would benefit corporations more than students. They urged the governor to visit more local schools and to address student poverty instead of overhauling the teacher-evaluation process.

During the City As School rally last Thursday, current and former students spoke about how traditional education had failed them until they arrived at the Clarkson St. building’s nurturing environment. One current student said she had a troubled experience at another school due to her ADHD. But she said that, thanks to the encouragement she received from teachers at City As School, she now plans on attending a local college after she graduates.

The Washington Square Park rally also was an opportunity to highlight the need for curriculum flexibility, especially at schools like City As School that serve students who have experienced difficulties elsewhere, noted Principal Alan Cheng.

“People had a chance to talk to our students, talk to our staff, to be able to understand what it is we do,” Cheng said, “our interdisciplinary courses, our project-based learning, our internships and the kind of impact we’ve been able to have on youngsters in our city.”

NY Post: Cuomo Numbers Drop on Ed Plan Despite Our Idiot, Biased, Assinine Assault on Teachers and the Union

And the same to you Student First, DFER, Eva, etc.

What does this tell us about the ed deform chorus with their millions of dollars?

Go ahead and read all these reports - I can't bear to do so myself - and see if anyone raises the idea that all these astroturf ed deform orgs with their millions of bucks - and the bullshit rally in Albany - can't not only move the needle in their direction, but have managed to move the needle in reverse.

A NEW LOW

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s statewide approval rating fell to 50 percent – the lowest it’s been since he took office in 2011 – largely due to his proposed education policy changes, according to a Quinnipiac University poll. The poll released Wednesday shows just 28 percent of voters approve of the governor’s actions on education.

• Capital NY,
• Wall Street Journal,
• NY Daily News,
• DNAinfo,
• NY1,
• The Journal News,
• NY Post
•  

EVERYONE HAS AN OPINION

The New York Daily News published a round-up of guest columns on the education policy initiatives being pushed by some of the most powerful players with seats at the table. Whether it’s mayoral control of city schools, changing the teacher evaluation system, raising the charter-school cap, increasing overall education funding, turning around low-performing schools – everyone has an opinion.

• Mayor Bill de Blasio,
• Jim Malatras (Cuomo’s state operations director),
• Chancellor Carmen Fariña,
• UFT President Michael Mulgrew,
• Success Academy Charter Schools founder Eva Moskowitz,
• CSA President Ernest Logan,
• Teacher Suraj Gopal,
• Teacher Sharon Paradis,
• Pa

Cami Anderson, in Newark, Uses Terror Tactics Against Union Leader

Cami Anderson and her mentors - Christie and Joel Klein - are out and out criminals and should be the ones charged with trespassing.

Bob Braun's Ledger

THE ORGANIZATION DIRECTOR OF THE NEWARK TEACHERS UNION--has been charged by the Newark school administration with "defiant trespass" after he visited a school that was involved in a personal tragedy with serious implications for staff--the death of a 6-year-old child, apparently from meningitis. John Abeigon learned of the charges against him only after receiving letters in the mail from lawyers offering to represent him. Abeigon, a NTU vice president who could lose his teaching licenses if convicted, visited teachers at the school--permitted by the NTU contract--and had called attention to the failure of the administration to clean it after the death of the child. The state administration of the district, led by Christie-appointed superintendent Cami Anderson, had falsely reported that the child had not been in school for 10 days before his death and therefore posed no threat to children and school employees. It turned out, said a spokeswoman for Anderson, that the child had been in school when he was contagious. Abeigon's critical remarks of the handling of the charges have been met with criminal charges. More about the incident as part of the continuing failure of Anderson to keep good attendance records in a later blog.

The Heidi Chronicles: I'm a Mad Man About Peggy

There was no way my wife was going to drag me to a matinee on a cold day like today especially to see Wendy Wasserman's The Heidi Chronicles - except for the fact that Madmen's Elizabeth Moss stars. And what male (or female) fan of Madmen isn't in love with Peggy Olsen? It is hard to imagine - me being an actor of sorts - well the non-speaking part sort of actor -- how Moss could make such a leap from TV and even movies to a giant role like Heidi, who is the center of every scene in the play and holds it all together. But oh boy does she pull it off.

My wife urged me to stand outside the stage door and pepper her with questions on her way out about that child she had in
season 1. But it was cold and Junior's cheesecake beckoned from across the street.
Hmmm, let's see, cheesecake, Peggy, cheesecake, Peggy, cheesecake, Peggy.........

I'll leave it to you to guess which one won. (Still a madman about you Peggy.)

Susan Ohanian's Mid-Week Musings

Damn. Now I have to stay awake another hour reading all this great stuff from Susan.

Hit the links.

 What the world needs NOW:

a)
http://susanohanian.org/cartoon_fetch.php?id=1001

b)
http://susanohanian.org/cartoon_fetch.php?id=1000

In solidarity for ethical teaching and the ability to say 'No!'

Susan

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Wrong-Headed Common Core Testing
Susan Ohanian
blog
2015-03-18
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=796

Smarter Balanced assessments pushes 4th graders to write in the 'It was a dark and stormy night' genre.

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Parents, Protect Your Children from the Smarter Blanced Test
Susan Ohanian
blog
2015-03-18
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=794

Consider the terrible test prep that will be inflicted on children to prepare them for this nonsense.

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Vermont State Board of Education Statement and Resolution on the Appropriate Use of SBAC Standardized Tests and School Accountability
Resolution
Vermont State Board of Education
2015-03-17
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=793

This resolution uncoupling accountability from Smarter Balanced testing passed unanimously.

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Organized Confusion: PARCC Hypocrisy, Bullying, and Fear-Mongering in Chicago Public Schools
Troy LaRaviere
blog
2015-03-15 http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=791
A Chicago principal stands up to his boss and defends the right of students to opt out of PARCC.
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Smarter Balanced Guide for Spying on Students
Susan Ohanian
blog
2015-03-14 http://susanohanian.org/data.php?id=585
Smarter Balanced test security instructs schools to follow students on Twitter and Facebook. And more.
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Pearson, NJ, spying on social media of students taking PARCC tests
Bob Braun
Bob Braun's Leger
2015-03-13 http://susanohanian.org/data.php?id=584
Here's evidence of just how much a Big Brother Pearson has become.
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Privacy Pitfalls as Education Apps Spread Haphazardly
Natasha Singer with Ohanian Comment
New York Times
2015-03-12 http://susanohanian.org/data.php?id=583
Teachers are wildly using so many apps that 'guarding against the potential pitfalls -- data breaches, identity theft, unauthorized student profiling -- is a herculean endeavor.'
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To the editor
Stephen Krashen, USC Professor Emeritus
US News & World Report
2015-03-12 http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1752
Excellent, whistle-blowing letter.
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Law Schools Face New Rules on Reporting Graduates’ Success
Jacob Gershman
Wall Street Journal
2015-03-18 http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1936
Law schools face scrutiny for their practice of funding jobs for graduates, a move that can boost their position in the U.S. News rankings.
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Tisch Must Go -- Bill Cala to State Board of Regents
Bill Cala and Norm Scott
EdNotes Online
2015-03-16 http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1935
A lifetime education leader asks for ouster of longtime New York State Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch.
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Why Walton Has Stopped Funding  Milwaukee
Alan J. Borsuk and  L.S. Hall
MilwaukeeInside Philanthropy
2015-03-13 http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1934
The Walton Family Foundation is pulling out of Milwaukee, 'redirecting' its money mill to places they believe are 'most ripe' for their aims.
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When the Market Drives Reporting
Susan Ohanian
blog
2014-03-17 http://susanohanian.org/show_research.php?id=569
A small look at the bias in the Education Week narrative.
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Children's Books for the One Per Cent
Eric Schulmiller
The New Yorker
2015-03-11 http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_news.php?id=921
Very funny. Very clever. And early childhood reformers aligned with the Common Core won't 'get' it.

As “Right To Work” becomes law in Wisconsin, a reminder of its inventor’s racist past

Old-school racism at the heart of anti-unionism? Who would have ever thought?... Michael Fiorillo

http://pando.com/2015/03/13/as-right-to-work-becomes-law-in-wisconsin-a-reminder-of-its-inventors-racist-past/

As “Right To Work” becomes law in Wisconsin, a reminder of its inventor’s racist past

By Mark Ames
On March 13, 2015

On Monday, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker signed into law the controversial anti-union “Right To Work” bill, following weeks of protests in Madison. Right To Work laws are designed to kill unions by mandating “open shop” workplaces, allowing workers to work in unionized workplaces, without paying union dues.

Wisconsin is historically one of the most pro-union, progressive states, home to the legendary “Fighting Bob” LaFollette, and the only community-owned nonprofit NFL football team— so gutting unions in labor’s historical heartland is like what Russian homicide detectives call a “control shot” — the point-blank bullet to the head that makes sure the bleeding target on the ground never breathes again.

It’s also gratuitous, like doing donuts on road kill, when you consider how close to extinction labor unions have fallen over the years. Only 6.6% of private sector workers are in unions today, down from a peak of 35% in the mid-1950s. It’s only thanks to public sector unions—which Scott Walker destroyed in Wisconsin in 2011—that the overall percentage of the workforce that’s unionized is 11.1%. California, which has rejected “Right To Work” laws in the past, has the largest number of union members in the country —  2.5 million workers — though as a percentage, California ranks sixth highest.

Which reminds me of two things: First, Scott Walker proves that pranks don’t work. Four years ago, when Walker first waged right-wing jihad on Wisconsin’s public sector workers, an old comrade of mine, “Buffalo” Ian Murphy, pulled off the single greatest phone prank ever. Posing as billionaire David Koch’s voice, Murphy managed to swagger his way past Gov. Walker’s aides and into the governor’s handset for a long 20 minute call, which revealed Walker as a grotesquely slavish Koch towelboy. Four years later: Walker is a top presidential contender, the Kochs are worth over $100 billion, Koch-backed groups passed “Right To Work” in Wisconsin…and “Buffalo” Murphy is an ex-con, jailed in 2013 for brandishing an unconcealed, fully loaded dildo at a mob of homophobic religious fanatics. As the saying goes, “The Koch is mightier than the prank.”

The other thing Walker’s RTW law reminds me of is some unfinished business I have with the number one national organization behind the law: The National Right To Work Committee.

A couple of years ago, I wrote an article for NSFWCORP (since acquired by Pando) exposing the ugly, racist roots of the whole “Right To Work” movement, tracing it back to the brains behind “Right To Work”: Vance Muse, the loonie anti-Semitic, anti-black Texan who coined “Right To Work” in the early 1940s, and worked Karl Rove-like to push through the first “Right To Work” laws in the South in the 40s and early 50s. Since a lot of people these days are not in tune with labor union struggles and what “right to work” laws even mean, my article exposing the KKK racist who started “Right To Work” created a bit of a PR headache for the union-busting movement.

Countering Arne Duncan Slander: Opt-Out movement grows into new communities in NYC

I may have a new career. I will be going to a PTA meeting at a Title I school in Brooklyn to rep CTS tomorrow. Parents at another Brooklyn Title I school asked CTS to send a rep this morning but I couldn't make it. The "only white middle class opt out" line is beginning to break.

I have been maintaining that it is only a matter of time before the opt-out color line is broken. Black and latino/a kids are even more messed up by high stakes tests. The middle class in those communities supposedly support tests. I think that may turn into a myth.

The hard work of parent-oriented groups like the state-wide NYSAPE and the NYC based Change the Stakes (CTS) is beginning to pay off. Arne Duncan slammed opt-outers as white suburbanites who didn't want their children to be subject to his test based mania - they see it as child abuse. While we have seen the opt-out movement strength in certain communities like Park Slope and Washington Heights, the organizing work of NYSAPE and CTS is beginning to reach into other parts of the city. CTS made a decision last year to do outreach into these communities.

• Spread the Word: GET YOUR NYC OPT OUT T SHIRTS

Parents from Title 1 schools have been in touch asking for us to send representatives to their PTA meetings to inform them of their rights to opt-out and to demolish some of the mis-truths and distortions some school and district administrators are telling them.

• New Voices Principal Frank Giordano Confuses Parents...

In fact I've been drafted to cover one of these schools and bring information to a PTA meeting because many of the CTS ladies are tied up this week (though now I think some parents from Park Slope are joining me).

If this grows deeper into those communities, that will be a sea change. Even some of my colleagues in MORE seem to buy into the line that opting out is a white, middle class thing.

The other day I heard Republican NYS Assemblyman Jim Tedisco on NPR making a presentation on testing and common core that could come from Susan Ohanian. I almost choked when he said "follow the money" and mentioned Gates and Pearson. And here is the story on the bill he proposed on March 16:

• Bill empowers parents to opt out of Common Core tests

Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, R-Glenville, who turned out to be the top contender in the Assembly on the "Stop Common Core" ballot line in 2014, announced new legislation he is drafting: the Common Core Parental Refusal Act. This legislation would require school districts to notify parents about their right to opt-out of Common Core standardized tests for students in grades 3 through 8.

Where are the Democrats? With their pals in NYSUT and the UFT I guess.

Leonie Haimson has been busy as usual:

Bookstore in Oneonta NY: books for kids to read while opting out of the state tests.  NYSAPE suggested the list and supplied the sign.

A CTS parent sent this regarding administrator obstructions:

I am so steamed today b/c at our school's meeting for parents getting ready for tests, admin. would not share the DOE Parent Guide. There should be copies available for parents. Though I asked beforehand. Luckily I prepped another parent to tell the other parents b/c I could not make it. And, this is after we all marched together around the school on Thurs. But more parents than before have asked for info about opt out and the fifth grade parents might be ready to try now.

She includes this letter.

To the City Council:

As a parent in a public school for the past six years, and as a strong proponent of refusing state ELA and math tests, I ask that you require specific information about opting out of state tests, steps detailing how to do so, and an outline of
consequences, be shared with parents at the start of each year in the Parents' Bill of Rights.

The Parent Guide at http://schools.nyc.gov/Accountability/resources/testing/default.htm is difficult for parents and guardians to find and, to my knowledge, has not been widely shared. Families who want to make an informed decision about whether or not to allow their children to take the tests are unable to do so. At a time in which the DOE wants to engage parents more fully, and work together in partnership, every step should be taken to give us information that we are fully entitled to. It is every parent or guardian's right to determine what is best for their child, and not providing clear information to all parents, early in the school year, is unacceptable.

Schools ask permission to take our children's photos. to take them on field trips, and to participate in sports or dance classes. However, for the state tests, which have stakes that are higher than ever and cause tremendous disruption to the schools, the burden is upon parents and guardians to search for information in order to opt out or refuse.

Please pass this bill (Res. 577-2015), so that all parents have equal access to opt-out/refusal policies.

Add on: Opt-out is causing panic at the DOE

My sons teachers told me today I can't opt out for the state testing this year. They said the principal will require them to go to summer school and they will have to do a project. Is this true? Last year my son was able to opt out with no problem.

And then this:

I'm choosing to opt my son (8th Grade, NYC public school in Manhattan)out of the upcoming ELA exam.  I wrote a letter to his principal explaining my views and expressing my desire to opt him out.  Today I get a phone call from his school saying that due to new DOE policy, I need to have a meeting with the school administration to discuss the matter before they will exempt him.  Never heard of this policy, do you know if this is legal or legitimate?

Jeff Bryant on Sloppy Education Reporting

I was at the press table with Jeff Bryant at the AFT 2014 convention in Los Angelos and found him to be insightful and enlightened on education issues. Here he takes on one of my favorite topics -- education reporting. He calls is sloppy - I call it biased. I get daily ed reports from Chalkbeat and Capital Education and just in what they leave out makes them biased. For instance, Chalkbeat covered a few rallies last week and had a headline that hundreds turned out - yes to the rallies THEY covered -- but it was clear there were rallies all over the city, some with 700 people at one school alone. In response to criticisms by Leonie Haimson (I complained too) they changed the headline to "thousands". Then they complained in a tweet that it was hundreds at the rallies they covered. But that report left out so much context that there were probably as many people who rallied that day as at the Moskowitz dog and pony show - these rallies had to take place before and after school.

I believe, intentional or not, they have different coverage if it was an Eva Moskowitz rally. Like they would leave out that their teachers are paid and their parents are told if their kids don't go to Albany it is THEIR responsibility to arrange for their care that day -- no question that the schools are left with some staff to cover for parents - the so-called parents who want choice -- not being given a real choice on the Albany trip. Thus the claims of thousands, while technically they might be true but overinflated on a number of levels -- are accepted and reported without context.

Jeff Bryant, at Alternet, takes on the non-regular ed reporters like the business reporters writing on education -- similar to the work The Daily Howler does regularly. He calls them "low information" reporters. I can almost excuse them because I see the bad (intentionally?) high information reporters in our daily papers, especially the NY Times, being more than sloppy.

How Sloppy Education Reporting Is Slowly Killing Our Schools

Most of the news media have no idea how schools run, but they write about them like they do.

By Jeff Bryant / AlterNet

March 16, 2015

 

7 COMMENTS

Be afraid, be very afraid, any time you see a reporter in the business media turn his or her attention to education and public schools. What will likely follow is a string of truisms used to prop up a specious argument, steeped in biased notions that were themselves picked up from ill-informed conversations promoted by other clueless business news outlets.
All of this chatter would be something best to ignore were it not for the fact that reporters and pundits from these outlets are often raised to prominence, labeled as "experts," and lionized by political leaders and policy makers, while real authorities on education are overlooked or completely drowned out in the babble.
Exhibit A in the case against bad reporting on education is in the Feb. 14, 2015 issue of the Economist. An article titled "Pro Choice" highlights efforts to create new school voucher programs in many states and allow parents to take money meant for public education and use those tax payer dollars to enroll their children in schools of their choice, including private schools and charter schools.
This topic has been the subject of countless research studies and is a matter of ongoing examination by numerous authorities. Yet the writer barely skims the research and consults with a bare minimum of real experts on education policy.
Had the Economist made the effort to consult some real research and talk to bona fide experts, what they would have learned is there are some very big problems posed by school vouchers, and there are much better alternatives to improving schools.
It's important to call out this article and others like it, not only because it's an example of feckless journalism, but also because it exemplifies an all too common pattern when low-information reporters tackle stories about education.

http://www.alternet.org/education/how-bad-journalism-driving-collapse-our-once-great-public-education-system

Rank and File teachers increasingly sick of Democratic party as UFT/NYSUT/AFT Continue to Pander

Our union is in many ways just an appendage, a weak one at that, of the Democratic party.  As the party sinks further into the money raising pit, don't expect to see much positive change. Democrats are not capable as currently constituted of doing much for us. Since our union bosses are a major part of the Democratic establishment, do not expect them to lead a movement to put real progressives on the ballot.  We'll need to do it ourselves at the grassroots level... James Eterno, ICE blog, BEWARE OF DEMOCRATS COURTING UNION VOTE

Two recent items caught my eye, the Eterno piecce and this
email from Roseanne McCosh on the same topic.

Hey Norm,

I got a call from the Democratic Party last night.  I politely listened to the gentleman who told me dems lost seats in the last election.  Dems who lost strayed away from the party and our president.  They want to back the best people who stay on message. The voter turnout was low.   When he was done I told him that if the democratic party showed a backbone and supported unionized teachers, then more of us would have voted for them.  But as things stand now I will not support them.  He responded with more rhetoric about Obama.  Then I told him President Obama has proven that he too is bad for unionized teachers.  His appointee Arne Duncan is a clear example of that.  He interrupted me as I was making that point and began to argue.  I told him I would wait to see how the dems behave going forward and they would have to earn my vote.  He continued to interrupt me so I told him I wasn't staying on the phone arguing with a stranger who wants my vote and I hung up.  Are there any other teachers (or unionized workers) you know of who have gotten this phone call lately?  

The absolute nerve of these people.....they turn their backs on us and then complain about low voter turnout.  I always vote....but I've gone Green Party last couple of elections....until the dems grow a backbone they aren't getting my vote.

Then James Eterno posted a great piece on the ICE blog today. The UFT/NYSUT/AFT has so tied itself to the Democratic Party -- it is so important for Randi to be able to play in that pen, they leave themselves little options.

James contrasts the Chicago Teachers Union.

Instead, we need to be more organized and much more militant. That should be our first priority but we can't stick our heads in the sand and ignore elections. Chicago Teachers are setting the example by strongly opposing Democratic anti-union Mayor Rahm Emanual's bid for reelection.  They might not win but they have earned respect for sure by forcing a runoff.

 And he attempts to answer the question raised by NYC Educator:

As for how the weakness of labor impacts teacher unions, NYC Educator did a piece about a week ago wondering why UFT/NYSUT/AFT leaders make decisions that actually harm their members. Why is our union supporting rubbish such as teachers being rated based on student test scores on standardized exams (junk science), the untested Common Core and plenty of other nonsense that the rank and file overwhelmingly abhors?  Why did AFT President Randi Weingarten make phone calls for anti-public school candidate Kathy Hochul in a contested primary last yea?  Why did Randi act as an apologist for our foe Governor Andrew Cuomo during the fall election campaign?
These questions are not that difficult to answer.
Our union is in many ways just an appendage, a weak one at that, of the Democratic party.  As the party sinks further into the money raising pit, don't expect to see much positive change. Democrats are not capable as currently constituted of doing much for us.