Ed Week: Opt-Out' Push Gains Traction Amid Common-Core Testing

My lame attempt to take a selfie with a blackberry - looks gross? Blame the chicken parm and the strudel I ate tonight

Nice headline. But they quote Eva vassal Jenny Sedlis?

"While I'm sure there is some genuine parent pushback, there's no question the teachers' union ginned up dissatisfaction so that union members would not be held accountable for student learning," said Jenny Sedlis, the executive director of StudentsFirst New York, a state affiliate of the Sacramento-based StudentsFirst.

Jenny must be the one ginning up. She knows full well the UFT has to be kicked and dragged into supporting the opt out movement. Note how this article points to the 600,000 member NYSUT but doesn't point out that 30% come from the UFT which turned down the MORE attempts to support opt out - though word from the NYSUT RA is that they began to give ground to the inevitability. More on the NYSUT story - I know lots of interesting stuff, but as usual, would have to kill you if I told you.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/05/06/opt-out-push-gains-traction-amid-common-core-testing.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1-RM

Published Online: May 5, 2015

Published in Print: May 6, 2015, as Some Balk As Testing Rolls Ahead

'Opt-Out' Push Gains Traction Amid Common-Core Testing

'Opt-Out' activists set sights on hobbling states' exams

By Andrew Ujifusa

The push by activists of various stripes to have parents opt students out of state exams this spring has transformed skepticism and long-running anger over the direction of education policy into a movement with numbers and a growing public profile. Whether those activists can craft a durable and effective political movement remains an open question.

Advocates, standardized-testing opponents, and observers continue to debate the movement's true goals, the disparity between the proportion of opt-outs and their broader importance, and how much the demographics of participating parents hurt or strengthen the cause.

Recent events in New York state, where disputes over the fiscal 2016 budget ratcheted up tensions over the role of testing in state policy, show how the opt-out campaign can gain traction. After years of negotiations and disagreements with the state over evaluations, the 600,000-member New York State United Teachers called on parents to opt their children out of exams aligned with the Common Core State Standards, and tens of thousands reportedly have done so.

And in a sharp counterpoint to social-media monitoring conducted on behalf of the testing company Pearson to watch for breaches in testing security, last month a Facebook group opposed to New York state's testing posted portions of the state's English/language arts exam online.

In remarks last month, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan indicated the Education Department would intervene in states and districts with high opt-out rates. Sanctions for insufficient participation on federally required exams can include the withholding of Title I funds. Federal law requires 95 percent of students to be tested.

Many states don't have policies that specifically address opt-outs, according to a survey by the Denver-based Education Commission of the States. That uncertainty, along with many parents' anxiety over the footprint and variety of tests in public schools, has helped propel opt-outs, said Maria Ferguson, the executive director of the Washington-based Center on Education Policy, which tracks implementation of the common core and aligned tests.

"This stuff is really confusing. It does differ from state to state," Ms. Ferguson said. "People don't know what to do, and so it's like, 'We'll opt out. We'll free our children from this tyranny.' "

Searching for a Tally

Official statistics on the number and proportion of opt-outs continue to be hard to come by in many instances, but not always.

Last month, the New Jersey education department reported that for the first window of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers tests in English/language arts and math, the parental refusal rate for students in grades 3-6 was 3.8 percent. For high school juniors, who don't have to pass the test to graduate, the refusal rate was 14.5 percent. (The PARCC test is given over two testing windows.)

However, in New York, the state education department has not reported the number or percentage of parental opt-outs from the state's English/language arts and math tests, and does not plan to do so until the summer, according to spokesman Tom Dunn.

The Newsday newspaper in New York reported late last month that in two Long Island counties, roughly 32,700 students out of 67,600 eligible students in grades 3-8 (48 percent) refused to take the math test.
United 2 Counter, a group opposed to New York's common-core tests, reported in late April that statewide, there were about 193,000 opt-outs from the English/language arts test, and 151,000 opt-outs from the math exam. The statewide K-12 enrollment is about 2.7 million, with 1 million in New York City, although not all of those students are eligible to take the common-core test.

The group cites news media, union representatives, school officials, and parents as sources, but doesn't always put a name to them. Asked to what extent the public should trust the organization's numbers, Loy Gross, the group's co-founder and a math tutor in upstate New York, responded that, if anything, United 2 Counter undercounts the real tally of total opt-outs. She explained that parents involved with the group, for example, are told to count heads on three testing days and report the lowest of the three opt-out numbers.

Ms. Gross said schools have become "shackled" to the common core and aligned tests.

"These tests are not telling us anything that we haven't known since NCLB started," said Ms. Gross., referring to the federal No Child Left Behind Act. "The testing initially did give us some useful measurements. But ever since that point, it's become all about those measurements, that if we measure these kids enough, somehow they're going to grow faster."

While Ms. Gross acknowledged the NYSUT support for a boycott of the tests was an important step for the opt-out campaign, she strongly objected to the argument that unions are the true leaders of the push.

Among opt-out proponents, there's also a deep distrust of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, and state K-12 governance, she said.

"The only thing left was to starve the beast," said state Assemblyman James Tedisco, a Republican who is sponsoring a bill that would require districts to inform parents about their rights to opt their students out of the state tests, and to provide alternate activities for opt-outs. "We're not going to take it any more."

But one advocate for the use of test scores in teacher evaluations said that without the self-interest motivating NYSUT, the opt-out campaign would lose critical fuel."While I'm sure there is some genuine parent pushback, there's no question the teachers' union ginned up dissatisfaction so that union members would not be held accountable for student learning," said Jenny Sedlis, the executive director of StudentsFirst New York, a state affiliate of the Sacramento-based StudentsFirst.

This year, New York legislators charged the state education department with overseeing a new teacher-evaluation system. Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch subsequently announced her plan to extend the deadline for implementing new evaluations from this November to September 2016. Ms. Tisch has urged parents not to opt their children out of testing, but she also vigorously opposes the idea that the federal government should respond to high opt-out rates by withholding funding from schools.

'Bootleggers and Baptists'

Just where the movement will ultimately lead is an open question.
Without a broad strategy that covers the full range of tests beyond common-core exams, Ms. Ferguson said, opt-out proponents' success may be limited.

But significant ideological divides may actually help the opt-out push in certain ways. According to Dick M. Carpenter, a professor of leadership and foundations at the college of education at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, the opt-out movement fits the "Bootleggers and Baptists" phenomenon articulated by economist Bruce Yandle. In this environment, groups that typically disagree sharply about issues, like liquor smugglers and religious anti-liquor activists, unite in their position toward a certain policy, like "blue laws" that restrict alcohol sales.

Similarly, opt-out can appeal to conservatives, who see the test as an intrusion of government, and liberals, who believe the tests hurt schools without helping instruction, Mr. Carpenter said.

For example, last month the Colorado Senate gave preliminary, bipartisan approval to a bill that reduces state testing to the minimum required by the federal government.

"It's an issue that's getting a surprising amount of attention in a relatively short period of time," Mr. Carpenter said.

Coverage of the implementation of college and career-ready standards is supported in part by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Vol. 34, Issue 29, Pages 1,16-17

Eterno Reports on Unity Rejection of rights for ATRs, Some history and video of the Nov 2008 Wine and Cheese ATR Rally

In the end a couple of the New Action people voted with the ATRs while the remainder of the New Action representatives and the Unity rubber stampers all voted with Barr and Ross against the ATRs having equal voting rights... James Eterno, ATRS GET PLENTY OF SUPPORT BUT NOT FROM UFT OFFICIALS, posted on ICE blog

It's hard for me to believe this report that some New Action EB members did not vote for the ATRs. Maybe James didn't see them cowering in the corners. (One of the really good guys in New Action, retiree Doug Haynes did support them.) Good I wasn't there because I would have confronted them. Well, this reaffirms the strong decision made by MORE to have nothing to do with New Action until they renounce their dirty deal with Mulgrew - which they won't. That their reps on the EB didn't support this unanimously is outrageous - word is that New Action leaders Shulman and Halabi voted with leadership. Shulman and Halabi called for liaisons in the borough offices as opposed to elected reps.

So typical of New Action - watch in the next election, where they will have Mulgrew at the top of their ticket, they will brag about how they support ATRs. Portelos was at the meeting last night -- let's see what he says about his pals in New Action refusing to support the ATRs.

MORE put up a reso last fall at the DA calling for the ATR chapter and were chastised by New Action leaders for not consulting them or doing it strategically. Charlatans have been selling alliances with New Action and promising that New Action would use its seats on the board to support ATRs - and other issues. (Maybe a reso at the Ex Bd or the DA calling on the UFT to actually support discontinued teachers instead of holding bogus rallies?)

When ATRs were created, ICE had James Eterno and Jeff Kaufman on the Ex Bd and they stood up strong against the creation of ATRs - the strongest voices opposed. Luckily, New Action did not have EB members in those years.

I know some people will be pissed at me for what I have to say below - but --

I would like to head to the AFT for an appeal. Is anybody with me?....Eterno

ATRs rally at Tweed - Nov. 2008 - it should have been at the UFT

Well, I guess going to the AFT to have Randi rule on this would make some people happy. Sorry, James, I'm not into the Einstein def of insanity -- doing the same thing over again and expecting different results. Maybe having the AFT reject this will make a few political points - but to whom?

While I generally support James Eterno, I don't agree with legal action without street action to back it up. There's a lot more to fight for for ATRs than just having their own chapter. It would be a first step in asserting their rights -- but to me, how many ATRs are in a position to be willing to assert their rights?

I believe that once the charter cap is lifted and Farina starts combining more schools, there will be even more ATRs coming. Will they disappear into some vapor?

Here's my challenge to the the leaders of the ATRs. Go out and find every ATR you can and create a functioning organization. I used to hand out leaflets directed at ATRs with a meeting announcement at the DA asking the CLs to give them to the ATRs in their school. People actually showed up at some of these meetings through these leaflets. (We did this with rubber room people and called for a rally that the Unity/UFT leadership coopted.)

Show up at the UFT with a couple of hundred people and surround the building. If there are ----- whatever the number of ATRS there are --- where are they when it comes to political action? I imagine a batch showed up yesterday at the Ex Bd -- still not enough people willing to engage in this battle.

ATRs go to so many schools. Are they educating people about how the union is run? Are they making contact with people in all these schools as a way to develop a ground game for the opposition? Maybe I'm missing something, but what I hear is mostly silence, except from a few people. First create a real organization of ATRS.

Angel Gonzalez and I tried to create such an organization through GEM in 2010-11 - I kept a detailed list of ATRS and emailed them regularly. We had gone to hiring halls with leaflets and set up meetings as an organizing tactic -- Angel has a PhD in how to organize people -- it is not though legalisms or social media. It takes boots on the ground. I called a meeting and over 40 people showed up and 25 showed to a follow-up. Then some sniping at me started and I decided I was not going to get into the weeds and withdrew my organizing activities, which frankly took a hell of a lot of time.

The response from other people was almost funny. The original ATR organizers viewed our actions as a threat. And TJC tried to set up its own competing ATR group. Perfect examples of why Unity will always win.

ATRs in the past - the initial batch - seemed more militant.

In Nov. 2008, Marjorie Stamberg and John Powers organized ATRs and created an event that shook both the UFT and the DOE. The problem was that they let it die that day - like the demo was the end game. That abandonment led Angel and I to create an ICE ATR committee that turned into GEM.

Now here is some ATR power -- 6 years ago in 2 parts. Just the threat of this rally forced the UFT and DOE into some contract agreement and the UFT tried to kill this rally by holding a wine and cheese event at the UFT - and managed to lure people over there -- including the New Action people - of course -- look for some of them in the video.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ac-Ul1m8-0 - posted Jan, 2009.

On November 24, 2008, teachers without positions, known as ATRs, held a rally at Tweed. They had forced the UFT to endorse the rally but in the interim the UFT signed an agreement with the DOE. The leadership called for an information meeting at UFT HQ, a mile away at the very same time the rally was due to start. Mass confusion. I taped the UFTHQ while David Bellel did the rally. The back story is how desperate UFT leaders were to suppress the tape I made. In fact, today at the Delegate Assembly they will pass a gag rule to try to prevent future embarrassment.
MAKE SURE TO SEE PART 2: The SLOW March Up Broadway - where Randi tried to convince me to give her my tape.



Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG4xrbgiGqU - Posted Jan. 28, 2009

On November 24, 2008, teachers without positions, known as ATRs, held a rally at Tweed. They had forced the UFT to endorse the rally but in the interim the UFT signed an agreement with the DOE. The leadership called for an information meeting at UFT HQ, a mile away at the very same time the rally was due to start. Mass confusion. I taped the UFTHQ while David Bellel did the rally. The back story is how desperate UFT leaders were to suppress the tape I made. In fact, today at the Delegate Assembly they will pass a gag rule to try to prevent future embarrassment.



Why can the UFT reject these appeals for a chapter for ATRS? Because they can.

Here is James' compete report from last night's meeting.

http://iceuftblog.blogspot.com/2015/05/atrs-get-plenty-of-support-but-not-from.html

ATRS GET PLENTY OF SUPPORT BUT NOT FROM UFT OFFICIALS

A fairly strong contingent of Absent Teacher Reserves and our supporters were at the UFT Executive Board last night.  I was given the honor to represent the ATRs and Leave Replacement Teachers as we made the case for having a UFT Chapter with representatives of our own choosing.

Leroy Barr and lawyer Adam Ross represented the UFT and they made what all consider a case that was laughable at best and truly pathetic at worst.  They claimed that ATRs have an equal chance of winning elections at schools that some of us just got to today. In addition, when we are moved to the next school, they both said with a straight face that we can still be the Chapter Leader for the school we are just passing through this May.  The audience of ATRs and our friends just chuckled and had to be told to be quiet.

In the end a couple of the New Action people voted with the ATRs while the remainder of the New Action representatives and the Unity rubber stampers all voted with Barr and Ross against the ATRs having equal voting rights.

As one observer put it: ATRs have democratic rights on paper but not in reality.

I would like to head to the AFT for an appeal. Is anybody with me?

  Executive Board Appeal

May 4, 2015 

My name is James Eterno; I am a Temporary Leave Replacement Teacher at Middle College High School in Queens but with no permanent assignment.

I’m here tonight because there are many union members who happen to be Absent Teacher Reserves, Leave Replacement Teachers or Temporary Provisional Teachers have no chapter and therefore are being denied fundamental democratic union rights that are guaranteed in federal labor law. 

Pretend you are on a business trip to Hawaii for a month or even a little longer.  Do you think you should have a right to vote for who the governor of Hawaii should be since you happened to be there on Election Day? 

Do you think you should be eligible to run for governor of Hawaii because you happened to be in the state on Election Day? 

Both of these situations are completely ridiculous.  But this is basically the kind of chapter election system for ATRs the leadership of this union proposed and this Executive Board recently approved in the Chapter Election Guide and Bylaws for this spring’s elections. 

ATRS and Leave Replacement Teachers vote at the school we are just passing through in May even if the school has an election in June and we are no longer there. That violates the federal law. 

ATRs, Leave Replacement Teachers and Temporary Provisional Teachers are supposed to run for chapter leader or delegate from those same schools we are just passing through this May. This is absurd and also flies in the face of the federal law. 

Since the Delegate Assembly is the highest policy-making body in the union, it must be elected.  This is what the Landrum Griffin Federal Regulations say concerning eligibility to be candidates and to hold union office: 

Every member in good standing is eligible to be a candidate and to hold office subject to reasonable qualifications in the union’s constitution and bylaws that are uniformly imposed. 

  

Is it a reasonable qualification that if I want to serve as a delegate or chapter leader, I have to run for office in a school where I have absolutely no right to a job in that school when my term of office would begin in July? Past union policy has been that once a person is removed permanently from a school they are no longer the chapter leader, particularly after 3020a cases are settled and a person becomes an ATR.  That is why Mr. Portelos is no longer chapter leader at his school.   

Is there now a change in policy where people can serve as chapter leader if they no longer are in a school? That might help to stop vindictive principal excessing of our chapter leaders but if that is the new policy, I would like to know why Mr. Portelos is not chapter leader at his former school and why he can’t run again there?  

The whole policy of us voting in schools we are just passing through makes a mockery of democracy.  Remember, federal regulations say qualifications have to be reasonable and uniformly imposed.  Clearly the regular members of a chapter have an automatic advantage over ATRs in chapter elections.  That is not reasonable and certainly not a uniformly imposed regulation. 

In the past we were always told that ATRs can’t get our own chapter because we don’t want to institutionalize and thus accept what is a temporary position.  This argument was always weak but now it is completely mistaken because the UFT embedded a whole Section 16 into the contract that concerns ATRS. We have weaker due process rights; we are compelled to go on interviews, some for jobs which don’t exist and we are forced to resign if we happen to not check our emails and miss two interviews.  Due process be damned for ATRS.  Some even can be denied interviews by the Chancellor.  (Now with out of time schools coming, a new category is being created that looks like year to year ATRs.)  We are embedded. There is even a temporary group of teachers that was recently assigned to a chapter; Peer Validators. They exist in the contract for only two years and yet they were sent to the teachers assigned chapter.  Only ATRs are constantly told no. 

ATRS/Leave Replacement and Temporary Provisional teachers have been asking for almost a decade for our own chapter with a chapter leader and delegates to deal with our unique status.  I don’t know too many executive board members who have walked in our shoes. Functional chapters such as the guidance counselors use the chapter leader in the building they are at and then can call on their own elected central guidance chapter leader and delegates when needed for unique guidance issues.  Several categories of teachers including teachers assigned and teachers of the home-bound have their own chapter leader too.  If you continue to insist the temporary nature of the position is a problem, we have a solution:  We can put in the bylaws that we will dissolve the ATR chapter if all of the temporary provisional, leave replacement and atr teachers are placed. We can even make it one of our goals. The citywide Ed Evaluator chapter was dissolved.  We too can be dissolved if some sanity returns to the Board of ed and we no longer exist.

As for this evening, without wanting to show any disrespect, I was told that Leroy Barr was chosen to make the report on our election complaint.  Leroy spoke passionately against an ATR chapter in October at the DA and he rejected my arguments in November when we met for our equal voting rights. His lack of objectivity on this subject presents a conflict of interest. 

I would like to close by asking an important question: If this body rejects our very reasonable request for fair voting rights and equal rights to serve in office for ATRS, Leave Replacement Teachers and Temporary Provisional teachers, then we will go up the ladder to the AFT who we have already contacted and then to the Department of Labor who I have spoken to and they are interested in our case. Some, not me, are going to go to PERB too.  The UFT is going to waste a large amount of time, money and effort fighting against its own members because we want to vote and serve in office in the same way as everybody else. Ten or twenty delegates and a chapter leader won’t make much of a dent in any caucus majority at the DA so why is anyone afraid of us?  We want to have the same voting rights and rights to hold office as all other UFT members. Save that money, time and effort by giving us fair democratic rights.  Create a chapter for us tonight. 

Does Prof Eliot Brenowitz = Kristof as an idiot commenter on education?

Ed Deform is like calving glaciers -

In his letter, Professor Brenowitz quickly agreed with Kristof’s daring premise. He said American kids have displayed a “continued dismal performance in math.” He [Brenowitz] went on to blame this state of affairs on—who else?—our brainless public school teachers.... France and Germany didn’t take part at the Grade 8 level that year. Germany took part in Grade 4 math. Despite the fact that they can’t count, American kids outscored them.... Daily Howler

I drool almost every time the Howler takes a shot at the ed deform press and its biased reporters: Kritsof, Brooks, Brent Staples and the other NY Times ed deform slugs, though ed deform is getting battered to and fro -- think of them as climate change deniers -- keep modifying their theme to conform with their initial premise - it's the fault of the teachers, stupid.

And Howler puts out the facts on how our kids scored on these international tests, something the deformers try to avoid as much as climate changer deniers avoid the shrinking glaciers.

By the way - did you see the studies about poor children moving to better neighborhoods and improving the outcomes? It must be that those teachers are better, even though everyone ignores the fact that in the most affluent, high scoring neighborhoods, they are mostly union members.


http://dailyhowler.blogspot.com/2015/05/supplemental-professor-brenowitz-plays.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheDailyHowler+%28the+daily+howler%29

Supplemental: Professor plays the Finland card!

Posted: 04 May 2015 11:55 AM PDT

MONDAY, MAY 4, 2015

Kristof is hailed again: Last Sunday, Nicholas Kristof authored the biggest cherry-pick in the history of such endeavors.

For our previous report, click this.

Who knows? Maybe Kristof plowed through those eighty-eight different test items to do the deed himself. Maybe the cherry-pick came from a 19-year-old research assistant, whose work he didn’t bother to check.

Maybe Kristof got the cherry-pick from some advocate of “education reform” and he just typed it up!

Wherever it came from, the cherry-pick was amazingly egregious. And Kristof tied it to an ugly insult about the way “Johnny can’t even count.”

This morning, the ridiculous paper for which Kristof works published four letters about his brilliant column.

The first letter came from Professor Brenowitz. Incredibly but inevitably, the professor did it again:

Carol Burris and John Oliver on Testing and Common Core

Two great pieces from very different sources. Remember how Oliver's piece about net neutrality turned the debate around last year? Well this brilliant 18 minute video just might do it for high stakes testing.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Standardized Testing (HBO)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6lyURyVz7k&sns=em


And Carol Burris nails it once again in her Answer Sheet WAPO article.

Why the movement to opt out of Common Core tests is a big deal

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/05/03/why-the-movement-to-opt-out-of-common-core-tests-is-a-big-deal/

By Carol Burris
New York opt-out is reverberating around the nation. The pushback against the Common Core exams caught fans of high-stakes testing off guard, with estimates of New York test refusals now exceeding 200,000.
It was evident that the state would be far below the 95 percent federal participation rate as soon as the 3-8 English Language Arts tests began. When math testing started, the numbers climbed higher still. In the Brentwood School District, a 49 percent opt-out rate for ELA rose to 57 percent during math tests. These rates defy the stereotype that the movement is a rebellion of petulant “white suburban moms.” Ninety-one percent of Brentwood students are black or Latino, and 81 percent are economically disadvantaged. Brentwood is not unique–Amityville (90 percent black or Latino, 77 percent economically disadvantaged) had an opt-out rate of 36.4 percent; Greenport (49 percent black or Latino, 56 percent economically disadvantaged) had an opt-out rate that exceeded 61 percent; and South Country opt outs (50 percent black or Latino and 51 percent economically disadvantaged) exceeded 64 percent. New York’s rejection of the Common Core tests crosses geographical, socio-economic and racial lines.
There are also reports that student opt-outs were suppressed by administrators in some districts, who called in non-English speaking parents and pressured them to rescind their opt-out letters. Parent activist Jeanette Deutermann states that she “was contacted by dozens of NYC teachers who were horrified by the scare tactics being used on parents in their schools, to coerce them into participating in this year’s assessments. Language barriers and the absence of a social media presence resulted in a lack of knowledge about their rights to refuse the test. Teachers reported that administrators exploited this language and information barrier, telling parents that their children would not be promoted if they refused, or that they simply had no right to refuse. This is blatant discrimination at best.”
Despite attempts to suppress opt out, refusal rates were over three times last year’s 60,000, and activist parents are already planning to increase numbers next year. The opt-out movement is spreading across the nation. PARCC opt out is taking off in Colorado, New Jersey and California, especially among high-school students.
As the Refuse the Common Core Test movement grows, the three people who are the most responsible for causing New York’s rebellion—Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and Chancellor Merryl Tisch—are commenting on opting out, each with their own unique spin.
During a discussion with Motoko Rich of The New York Times, Arne Duncan threatened federal government intervention if states did not meet the 95 percent participation rate. Assuming that Duncan is not planning to call in the National Guard to haul off opt-outing 8 year olds, the only possible “sanction” would be withholding funds. That would surely lead to court challenges forcing the Education Department to justify penalizing schools when parents exercise their legitimate right to refuse the test.–an impossible position to defend.
During the same interview, Duncan said that his own children, who attend school in the non-Common Core state of Virginia, do not see the test as “a traumatic event.” He insinuated that “adults” are causing “the trauma,” thus furthering the stereotype of “the hysterical mom” that those who oppose opt-out often evoke.  Before jumping to the conclusion that New York parents are the problem, Mr. Duncan might want to compare the Virginia tests his children take, to the New York Common Core test.
Here is a sample from the Grade 6 Reading test that was given in Virginia last year to measure the state’s Standards of Learning (SOL):

“Julia raced down the hallway, sliding the last few feet to her next class. The bell had already rung, so she slipped through the door and quickly sat down, hoping the teacher would not notice.
Mr. Malone turned from the piano and said, “Julia, I’m happy you could join us.” He continued teaching, explaining the new music they were preparing to learn. Julia relaxed, thinking Mr. Malone would let another tardy slide by. Unfortunately, she realized at the end of class that she was incorrect.”

That is certainly a reasonable passage to expect sixth-graders to read. You can find the complete passage and other released items from the Virginia tests here.
Contrast the above with a paragraph from a passage on the sixth-grade New York Common Core test given this spring.

 The artist focuses on the ephemerality of his subject. “It’s there for a brief moment and the clouds fall apart,” he says. Since clouds are something that people tend to have strong connections to, there are a lot of preconceived notions and emotions tied to them. For him though, his work presents “a transitory moment of presence in a distinct location.”

I will let readers draw their own conclusions.
Meanwhile, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s reaction brought to mind Mad Magazine’s mascot, Alfred E. Neuman, whose slogan was, “What? Me worry?” Cuomo just didn’t see the big deal in opt out. After characterizing the scores as “meaningless” the governor continued by saying, “So they can opt out if they want to, but on the other hand, if the child takes the test as practice, then the score doesn’t count anyway.” Is Andrew Cuomo saying that New Yorkers are spending hundreds of millions of dollars each year on testing and wasting nearly two weeks of instructional time for “practice”? Practice, exactly, for what?
And finally Chancellor Merryl Tisch expressed dismay and confusion. Tisch, who once confessed that “the opting out kind of breaks my heart,” reminded students that it’s a hard-knock life by threatening “a national test.” When the numbers continued to rise, she said that “we” have the right to use discretion and withhold funds to districts. When that didn’t stem opt outs, she decided that threats do not work and funding should not be withheld.
In an obvious attempt to duck accountability for test refusals, she threw the Governor and NYSUT under the bus by attributing opt out to parents and kids having “ got caught in the labor dispute between the governor and the teacher’s union.”
Her unwillingness to see her own role in the testing mess immediately caused a stir. The editorial board of the Lower Hudson Journal News accused Tisch of portraying opt-out parents as “confused patsies of a labor action.” Board members observed that “the stunning success of the test-refusal movement in New York is a vote of no confidence in our state educational leadership,” and they called for Tisch to step down.
The Journal News editorial board said what Duncan, Cuomo, Tisch and other so-called reformers don’t want to hear. Opt out is far bigger than a test refusal event. It is the repudiation of a host of corporate reforms that include the Common Core, high-stakes testing, school closings and the evaluation of teachers by test scores.   These reforms are being soundly rejected by parents and teachers.
I don’t often agree with Fordham’s Mike Petrilli, but he gets that opt out is a big deal. During his podcast discussion of opt out, he concluded (at 6.43):

“If this [opt-out] thing goes national, the whole education reform movement is in serious trouble.”

I agree with Mike with one slight revision—I would take out the word “if”.

—
You may also be interested in some of Burris’s recent posts:
Will schools lose federal funds if kids opt out of Common Core tests? Fact vs. threats

What the ‘thoughtless’ N.Y. government just did to teachers
Principal: ‘There comes a time when rules must be broken…That time is now.’
‘Why do you believe you need the Common Core?’

MORE: Support ATRs (Monday at UFT Exec Bd) and Rally Against High Stakes Testing (Tues at Washington Sq Park)

Two interesting events, both of which I can't make -- this is my 30th (or more) years of working in the Brooklyn Botanical Garden Plant Sale and the next 4 days are pretty locked up - plus we are taking down the set of "Lost in Yonkers" on Monday. So this week political activity is at a minimum - until next Friday when I debate Mike Schirtzer over the issue of running in the UFT elections - I say boycott!

The MORE testing event is sure to be a good way to spend an afternoon with other like-minded people.

You can read more on the ATR issue at ICE: SUPPORT ATRS AT UFT EXECUTIVE BOARD MONDAY EVENING PROMPTLY AT 6:00 PM

Wear MORE wear to ExBd

Generally I don't feel it is worth the time to go to UFT Exec Bd meetings - been there, done that for about 8 years -- gained 10 pounds from stuffing myself with the food. Who are you talking to but Unity and New Action? I guess going there makes people think they are doing something, like anything said there means anything.

There is a token 10 minute open mic before the meeting starts - With Jeff and James on the EBoard from 2004-7, we began bringing people from the rubber room to speak out there.

By the way, that open mic was instituted one evening by Randi after a hot and heavy email exchange between us early that morning where I challenged her to open up Exec Bd meetings so members can participate -- I meant really participate in the debates, not a bogus period of time before the meeting starts that Unity has increasingly limited. I was the first and often only person to use that time for months and since no one else did I had the full 10 minutes. Now they divide the 10 minutes by the number of speakers.

I thought I was speaking truth to power but finally realized what the hell does that really mean? Finally, I stopped giving a shit about making the union leaders listen to me. The only thing they will ever understand is having hundreds of hostile teachers surround their building.

Unless people use these meetings as political events and report what happens widely, it is a waste of time. But Monday night I think it will be a political event and for those who can make it worthwhile.

Support ATRs and Rally Against High Stakes Testing

Monday 5:30-6:30pm

UFT Headquarters
Executive Board Meeting

52 Broadway in Manhattan 2nd Floor

Absent Teacher Reserves and Leave Replacement Teachers would appreciate your support. They have been asking for an ATR Chapter to represent our unique interests for a long time now.  We have filed a complaint with the UFT Executive Board concerning the Chapter Election process. ATRs are being compelled to vote and run for office at schools we are just passing through in May and might know nothing about instead of being permitted to vote for our own ATR representatives.

The UFT Executive Board will officially respond to our complaint and we will have an opportunity to voice our support.

NYC Teachers Rally & Speak Out

Against High Stakes Testing!

Tuesday May 5, 2015 @ 4:30pm

Washington Square Park

  We Speak Out For. . .

• Diverse and authentic assessments used to inform instruction. Less time spent on test prep and bureaucratic paperwork so teachers can focus on planning meaningful instruction.
• Culturally responsive, collaborative, and student-centered curriculum.
• Well-rounded and robust programs including arts, physical education, and career and technical education for all.
• Re-claiming a moral profession in unethical times.

*Spread the word  *Bring signs & banners  * Encourage you organization or chapter to endorse the event.

CONTACT US AT TESTING@MORECAUCUSNYC.ORG

Let us know if you’d like to say a few words during the Speak Out.

Sponsored/Endorsed by: MORE (Movement of Rank and File Educators)

Cartoon: Arne and Andy Force Feed Tests

Great work from Darren Marelli, who was a key member of the Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman film team. Darren and I may have some time next year to work on a follow-up.

NYSUT RA Dispells Myth of Mulgrew/Magee split

We are getting reports from our pals in Stronger Together and believe me there is no split, as I've been pointing out all along. Remember to watch what they do, not what they say. NYSUT leadership, has said some stuff on opt out that went nationwide and led to ed deform slugs being  able to charge the opt out movement as being union led. I'm not unhappy Magee said what she did, but she never took it much further. Perdido St has a balanced piece on Magee and NYSUT: Karen Magee And NYSUT In The Buffalo News.

The reality is that Magee and Mulgrew are both in statewide Unity Caucus and in the nitty gritty of the committee structure set up to recommend resos that go to the floor, Unity opposed many ST resos - we will get those details later.

A word about how those 800 NYC Unity slugs are used at both NYSUT RA and AFT conventions. Many of us make fun of them for going on junkets at our expense. But in reality, when they protest that they are there to work, they are not wrong. They are distributed on every committee and are expected to vote and in some cases get up and speak in support of all Unity positions. The committees are key structures used to control what happens on the floor and Unity (NYC) spends time strategizing on committee and floor tactics, including shutting down debate - in essence the way they run a Delegate Assembly.

Now that ST caucus is becoming a force, this will be the first time Unity has faced an organized force on the state or national level. We are hoping that ST can afford to send enough delegates to the 2016 AFT convention to join with other forces around the nation to present a real alternative to national Unity - which is called Progressive Caucus. MORE is part of a national group of caucuses that will meet in Newark this summer and if I go I will push for a presence at the AFT convention

Your local Unity slug will return to your school tomorrow.

Here are previous articles in Ed Notes on the NYSUT RA:

Are You Missing Your Local Unity Caucus Slug? 

NYSUT Update: Stronger Together - Over 500 RA Delegates Join Caucus Challenging Unity (State)

Rockaway Theatre Company Highlights - by Jim Peithman, VideoInVision

You've got to watch this 3 minute highlight video that Jim Peithman edited. Jim is the pro who does the taping at the RTC - he works for NY1 - I am the amateur. He put together this wonderful mix of highlights from the past 2 years of shows at the RTC. Today is the finale of Lost in Yonkers - I'm going back to tape for the 4th time. Yes, I'm an RTC junkie - but I also get to go the cast party after the show.

And tomorrow morning we take down the set and start building the new one for Guys and Dolls. (Then I'm off to 4 days of working in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden plant sale.)

Oh, and I am in the cast of Guys and Dolls, opening in June, playing a tourist from Texas who is visiting with his wife and gets his pocket picked - I had my pocket picked in Rome 6 years ago so it will be method acting. What I love about being in this show is that we get to work with so many great kids -- pre-teens and teens - all so responsible and reliable -- I think kids working in theater learn so much. And old folks do too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyaLtNzDKlE



And that amazing lady singing Everything is coming up roses? An ATR guidance counselor. And that gorgeous gal playing Rose -- a NYC teacher.

NYSUT Update: Stronger Together - Over 500 RA Delegates Join Caucus Challenging Unity (State)

Strong support for the resolutions from STCaucus (details later) even though Unity defeated all resos in committee but shined a spotlight on how they control and opened some eyes and gaining ST more support.

Mike Schirtzer from MORE elected to rep NYC on ST steering, solidifying bonds between ST and MORE.

Look for the first serious opposition to Unity at the state level in 40 years to grow. The next election will be in spring 2017.

I reported on this the other day.

Are You Missing Your Local Unity Caucus Slug? 800 have shuffled off to Buffalo at your expense for NYSUT convention

Arthur has a story:

A New Movement in NYSUT

Here are some pics:

 

Are You Missing Your Local Unity Caucus Slug? 800 have shuffled off to Buffalo at your expense for NYSUT convention

Message to RA Assembly this weekend from Lace to the Top:

I highly encourage like-minded rank and file teachers to join the ST Caucus. 

My message is:  Join Stronger Together to challenge the Unity state and city slugs at the state level. As we hear from the crew up in Buffalo, we'll report events. Friday night ST is calling a caucus meeting at the same time state Unity is meeting. Let's see who stands up.

Stronger Together, Tabling - I want one of those tees - Port Jeff Station union pres Beth Dimino on right

This weekend is the first NYSUT convention since last years war between the Mulgrew/Randi/Magee Revile slate which attacked the NYSUT leadership, which formed a new slate called Stronger Together (ST). They lost but are coming back stronger this year.

I would also like to see ST make a showing at the 2016 AFT convention in Minneapolis.

By the way, in the 2016 UFT elections, which I will be urging people to boycott, those 800 slugs will be re-elected just in time for the AFT convention, where they can punch those who oppose common core in the face.

The always awesome Beth Dimino has been a leader of the growing opposition on the state level. ST and MORE have been in an alliance and MORE may have a rep on the steering committee. ST wants to work with the leading opposition to Unity here in the city and when the next NYSUT election (2017 - with the same 800 Unity slugs) comes along in 2 years - here at the Hilton, I imagine, we expect to see the state and the city Unity caucuses sweating. MORE may end up running with them to make a point about the lack of democracy in the UFT. 

In the last election, Unity with 31% of the voters in the RA also had the support of the other big 5 city unions, plus the semi-slugs from the CUNY union. In the last year, there have been some changes brewing in some of those big 5 and this weekend should be an interesting test of how much progress ST is making. 

NY Teachers- join ST Caucus and bring real change to your school house

28 Tuesday Apr 2015

Posted by lacetothetop 

We represent the combined effort of parents and teachers. We are ignored by politicians and union leadership alike.

Our strength comes in our numbers and our agenda is simple- we want what is best for our children.

I have tried to hold Randi accountable and have attacked NYSUT’s leadership every time they have taken us down a path that is harmful to our children. I am but a mosquito to these people, but there is hope…

I highly encourage like-minded rank and file teachers to join the ST Caucus. In full disclosure, I am not an officer nor do I play any significant role in the ST caucus (other than supporter). I know the people that have constructed this caucus. They are student centered and share our values. I believe in them. If teachers want to bring real change into their school houses, I encourage you all to join.

ST Caucus will be present at the NYSUT RA in Buffalo. Please tell your reps that you want to join or ask them to bring back more information.

Memo from the RTC with Video clip: Lost in Yonkers is Broadway Quality - Norm in The Wave

I could go see every performance of this show and still want more. I'm going back twice this weekend. At least three of the performers are NYC teachers. Check out the video clip below to see the kind of work this little theater puts out. And current and retired teachers play a major role in making this happen.


Memo from the RTC: Lost in Yonkers is Broadway Quality

By Norm Scott
Published Friday, May 1, 2015 at www.rockawave.com

I filmed last Sunday’s matinee of the Rockaway Theatre Company production of Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers. It was my 2^nd time seeing it after taping opening night on Friday. I wanted to see it again with the rotating cast of four boys playing the key roles of Jay and Arty. On Friday Steven Wagner and Aidan Lawrence had played the roles to perfection. Could Raimondo Graziano and Andrew Feldman pull it off again? Can the little theater that could, located in isolated Fort Tilden, actually find 4 young teen actors of such high quality they could carry a major production? Kids who could play comedy and drama equally well? Well, of course, if you know the production team at RTC did you have any doubts?

Before the show began I was talking to a young couple in the audience who had discovered the RTC a year before. They gushed at having what they described as “Broadway quality” theater in their own backyard. “Going to shows on Broadway is so expensive,” they said, “and here we don’t feel we lose anything from that experience.” My wife, who attends many Broadway shows and is a very hard grader on quality theater, also attended this show and afterwards said, “I can’t imagine see this show done any better, even on Broadway.”

I’m running out of space and will write more next week, but I must mention the other equally great performances of the adults. Lynda Browning as Bella delivers a performance as powerful as Mercedes Ruhl in the movie. Steve Ryan as the gangster, Uncle Louie, was told “You were better than Richard Dreyfus in the movie,” by one audience member. And as always, Susan Corning as the frightening Grandma Kurnitz., blows everyone away with her authentic performance. I told her husband, “Aren’t you afraid to go home?” Kim Simeck and Bob Alpert played crucial roles as Eddie and Gert (I’m going to see Jessica Mintzes play Gert next Friday and Sunday). And of course bravo to first time Director David Risley, who has been such a major actor at RTC for a dozen years. The final 3 performances are this weekend: Friday, Saturday at 8PM and Sunday at 2PM. The theater was packed last weekend so call to check availability of tickets (718-374-6400).

I put up a 12 minute video clip from both performances I taped on vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/126252791.

I dare you to watch this clip and stay away.



RTC Lost in Yonkers Clip from Rockaway Theatre Company on Vimeo.

Mike Francesa Makes an NFL Draft Day Data Point We Can Apply to Teacher Ratings

I've been listening to Mike since he began on WFAN almost 30 years ago. The other day he was discussing tonight's NFL draft (Will the Jets screw it up again? I'm going to start early - Boooooo!). Every player is tested and measured at the NFL combines. Mike was complaining that too much can be made of all this data. His guest said that some teams make their draft choice based on data and not the actual player. "A football player is a football player," Mike said. "Sometimes you have to look at the person, not the data."

Data is a funny thing. We know that the Bloomberg grad rates were phony, yet they are accepted by a fawning press as real.

One of the nicest things said about me as a teacher - not to my face but to the teacher trainer in my school -- yes, Virginia, in the late 60s there were so many new teachers many schools had a full-time teacher trainer to work with them - we have regressed - was from the principal, a guy who, like most principals at the time who rose through the ranks of teacher, AP. He had dropped in to observe me and told her I was a born teacher. No data -- just watched me interact with the kids.We all knew - some years my data would be good, others not so good. In addition, there was a guy at my school who the principal loved -- this guy was a data guy -- his scores were out of sight every year -- but then again he was given the top class every year -- but still they were 2 years above level. I'm not even assuming he cheated - but that was what he focused on. I focused on other things - the whole child, lots of trips for kids who barely ever left their neighborhood. Even with the same kids I never could have gotten the scores he did because I was not comfortable teaching his way.

That is why I think that today I would not, could not, be a teacher. I would be thinking electrician or carpenter - and I can't think why Michael Mugrew would wanted to switch.