ANNOUNCING THE DEATH OF BROOKLYN COMPREHENSIVE NIGHT HIGH SCHOOL

Read press release at Norm's Notes.

Travels to a Distant World

by Norman Scott

They say traveling to far away places can be broadening. But sometimes the longest journeys are not measured in miles.

An invitation to attend a luncheon sponsored by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research required preparations worthy of a trip to the Himalayas.

Generally perceived as being right wing supporters of privatization efforts and often leading the attacks on public schools and teacher unions, their mission statement is “to develop and disseminate new ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility.” The lead quote on their web site is by Rudy Giuliani. Better get the full battery of shots.

The luncheon featured Christopher Cerf, the Deputy Chancellor for Organizational Strategy, Human Capital, and External Affairs for the NYC Department of Education. That mouthful of a job description tells you a lot. As an educational writer I have criticized and satirized Cerf, the former CEO of Edison Schools, a for-profit company that milks money from the public schools. Cerf has been featured recently in the press for all kinds of fun things, like trying to hide not selling his stock in Edison and only doing so surreptitiously when it became clear this fact would be revealed. I had published a photo on my blog of Cerf seeming to be dozing at one of Joel Klein’s press conferences. Klein is his boss. I better bring a food taster.

The luncheon was being held at the University Club on 5th Ave. and 54th St. Always prepare for journeys by reading your travel guide. Mine said:
“Designed by Stanford White this is the city's grandest clubhouse. With its deep rustication, grand proportions and superb craftsmanship, it is the city's finest Italian Renaissance palazzo-style structure. As impressive as its exterior, the interior of the building is splendiferous with rich marbles, gilded columns, fine woods and excellent murals by H. Siddons Mowbray. The three most impressive rooms are the reading lounge on the elevated first floor overlooking Fifth Avenue, the magnificent third-floor double-height dining room that stretches the length of the building's side street frontage, and the enormous, vaulted library. In 1987 the club admitted women.”

Hey! Change takes time in far away places. I better get a 2nd set of shots.

I dressed carefully. Digging out my best and darkest corduroy jacket, I desperately searched for a pair of matching corduroy pants that would give the rough impression I was wearing a suit. I found something. It was black. Sort of. I put on a black button down shirt worn over a black tee-shirt with white lettering that said “Quantum Samurai Scorpions” given to me by the robotics team at Aviation high school. In case of violence, I would rip off my jacket and shirt and use the scorpion on my shirt to back them away. But I would be helpless if they resorted to blowguns that shot voucher darts. I added black sneakers disguised as shoes for quick getaway and I was ready to go.

On my way down the street, my feet began to slip on the ice from the storm the day before. Back to the house to change into my tan-with black-border waterproof hiking boots that I had bought for last year’s trip to Costa Rica but hadn’t worn since. I could kick my way out of there if attacked. My outfit complete, I was off to the B train with a change for the V at 47rd St. I practiced my moves in the subway.

I approached the University Club with stealth, searching for a way in. I used my passport to get past the outer-borough-denizen filtering system. Then past the next six doormen — after a brain scan designed to seek out alien thoughts — like any inclination to oppose the conversion of every public school in Manhattan into condos.

I approached the next barrier, a man in a red jacket whose first words were, “You need a jacket and tie,” looking at me like I had just been scraped off his shoe. I opened my coat and said, “I have the jacket. One out of 2 ain’t bad.” He didn’t smile. “The invitation didn’t say anything about a tie,” I whined. “We have ties in the back,” he said, looking down at my hiking boots.

I was going to ask him where I could change money since I heard they used a currency I was not familiar with — millions. I’m pretty much a ten and twenty man. I thought better of it.

I went to the cloakroom to check my dark, down coat, which left feathers clinging to my corduroy. I tried to cover up the ketchup stains still lingering from last night’s fries. The guys at the checkroom sent me to the back to pick out a tie from a rack of rejects. I chose a lovely school tie – blue field with yellow markings, some of which looked to be moving. I made the tie in the mirror in the lobby while sneering people passed me by. Finally, I was ready for combat.

The Manhattan Institute luncheon was on the 7th floor, not one of the three grand rooms, but c’est la vie — maybe next time. I got off the elevator and approached the lady at the entry desk sitting with a pile of nametags in front of her. I expected mine wouldn’t be there, sure the people from the Department of Education, who’ve have been tracking my every move, would try to keep me away. But there it was. It had a safety pin on the back. I looked around to see where other people attached their tags so I wouldn’t make myself stand out by having a nametag out of place. For a moment, I thought of showing my defiance by putting it where it was guaranteed to get noticed. Not a good idea. Damn safety pins.

I entered the room. Lots of wood and twenty-foot ceilings with painted angels hovering over clouds, looking down with looks on their faces like they had to pee. I was one of the first ones there even though it was 12 o’clock. I forgot to be fashionably late. There was a table with drinks. Wine. A glass of red would calm me down and then I could stand in the corner and observe the species, getting in touch with my own Jane Goodall. Mingling was not going to be happening for me today.

The lady in front of me asked the server what the white wine was. “Chardonnay” was the response. She snorted and said, “I’ll take red.” “Red for me too,” I echoed. She turned and smiled. I said, “I really want Merlot but am afraid to ask since that wine movie trashed the Merlots.” “I like Merlot too,” she laughed. We spoke about wine and schools for the next ten minutes. Turned out she was also a fugitive from NYC schools, but had risen considerably higher than I, becoming one of the rulers and shakers before she retired to become CEO of a company setting up charter schools nationwide. We exchanged contact info and I was off to my corner to listen and observe. I heard lots of breathless, “We’re just waiting for the charter schools cap to be lifted.” The public Ed gravy train will be long indeed.

I become a mingler after a glass of wine on an empty stomach takes effect. I floated around looking at nametags. There was the former CEO of one of the major financial firms in the world. Dismantling public schools is hot with the corporate types — they can say they served humanity. I saw two reporters I knew. Someone tapped me on the shoulder. “Norm, good to meet you. I feel like an alien.” It was JB. We knew each other from a common listserve we are on but it was the first time we had met. There were other aliens whose names I recognized. It turned out there were more people there for the free lunch than I imagined. We banded together like Custard’s army at the Little Big Horn.

Finally, we were called to lunch. Chicken and dessert. And a roll. Not top shelf. The wine had gone to my head. I sat at a corner table with someone I knew from years before. Cerf made his outrageous presentation to much clucking from the audience. I disagreed with 99% of it. When the question period came, I raised my hand in vain. Just as I was about to rip off my jacket and shirt and start using Quantum Samarai moves, I got called on for the last question of the day. Needless to say, there won’t be a next time.


This article was originally written as a travel piece for the LostWriters web site and can be accessed at: http://www.lostwriters.net. It also appeared in print in The Wave on Feb. 23, 2007.

Camille Johnson, ICE-TJC candidate for Secretary

View Camille's video as she speaks on the UFT Election.

First Step (Salary) to Last - Quite a Journey

An interesting debate broke out on ICE-mail over the gap between first and last salary steps. I've heard arguments on all sides (as you can see, there may be more than 2 sides to the question.)

Sean writes:
Higher salaried teachers are in this predicament due to the Unity Caucus' bargaining strategy over the last 30 years which has deepened the division between those at the top of the pay scale and the median salaried teacher.

In Most NYS school districts, median teacher tenure is between 10-15 years. In NYC its 5-6yrs. The difference between the median salaried teacher and the top salaried in NYC is unequaled anywhere in the USA. Hence the endangered higher salaried teacher which Unity had relied upon for support over the years and on into retirement is now exposed and vulnerable, an endangered species, as a consequence of Unity's misleadership.

Unity boasts that it has achieved near parity with suburban districts. This is not an straight up lie when the pays scales alone are compared side by side but it is nevertheless a fraudulent misrepresentation of the prevailing situation on the ground. It obscures Unity's bargaining strategy over the years which has created the precarious sitting duck situation now faced by members at top salary.

The actual median salary paid in NYC (represnting that of a 5-6 year teacher) is much lower than the than the actual median salary paid to a suburban teacher who usually has between 10-15 years on the job. The higher salaried teacher is a comparative rarity in NYC, and if our bosses have anything to say about it, they will become even rarer.

It was 8 years to top pay in 1974 now its 22. A living wage is a living wage whether you are 30 or 55. A solidarity approach puts a living wage for all in first place, not the slice and dice, divide and control policies of the "Unity" caucus.

What does the opposition propose now that the corporate reformers seem inclined to buy two teachers for the price of one? It is an important question because it is about overcoming the disunity that the Unity caucus has institutionalized within the salary schedule.

I think the charge of "age discrimination" is a false flag that diverts attention from the ridiculous disparity between the top and bottom of the pay scale. It diverts attention from a lousy contract that offers no positive job quality enhancements for senior teachers who have skills and knowledge acquired through a lifetime that need to be preserved and passed on.

There are not unlimited resources and there never will be. Any management responsible for budgeting will be faced with the same choice; Two for the price of one? Why not? This would be the case whether you have democratically elected school boards or corporate/centralized/mayoral controlled bean counters making such decisions. How did we arrive in this pickle and how to get out?

Bring up the bottom to meet the top? Bring down the top to meet the bottom? What's the solution?

From a labor perspective you aim for solidarity. Unity's pay scale divides the members. Most members don't stay for more than five years(low salaries, lousy conditions anyone?).

Why should a step 5 teacher support another member who makes twice a much, has a paid off house that has appreciated considerably, earned a degree when it was either free or inexpensive, has a quarter million $ in the TDA, voted for Unity these past 20 years and never cared much what happened to the teachers behind them in line to retirement not to mention the majority who pack it in by their 5th year)? This is the solidarity deficit that is Unity's legacy.

The charge of "age discrimination" is not applicable and diverts attention away from Unity's divisive approach to salaries. Its not the "age" of the teacher, it's the longevity increases that have put higher salaried teachers into a vulnerable position even as they welcomed these increases!

Longevity increases should be gradually rolled back into steps 1-8 in lieu of pay increases for those at the top rate. Sure this is going to arouse criticism from the top salaried but what is the alternative? Short of that or in combination, percentage increases should be replaced by flat rate across the board increases that will also tend to gradually compress the salary gap.

Reward seniority through job enrichment and an array of choices that utilize the knowledge and skills of the experienced educator and free them from the full class load to be mentors and school leaders as they see fit. Rewards for seniority should be more weighted towards enhancing job satisfaction than in the gold ring that Unity has over the years dangled before their loyalists. ( assuming of course that top compensation is at an acceptable level which I think $100,000 is)

I did not see in the rank and file program or in the contract negotiations a demand from the the rank and file opposition for an alternative bargaining strategy that would lead to the compression of the pay scale. This is a bit of a Gordian Knot that Unity has created for its own self preservation. I think this is only one piece of the UFT reform puzzle but It merits a closer look and a bold stroke if the opposition is to evolve out of its perennial gadfly role.

Here is one response to Sean. What do you think?

The problem I have with his argument is that it is based on the fact that NYC teachers as a whole do not last very long. He accepts this as a given and then uses that to argue that the negotiating strategy needs to change as a result of this so that more of our increases are spent on salaries on the lower tiers then on the upper tiers.

He ignores the historical fact that for most of our years people didn't leave the system as a whole early in their careers and to me the main reason for that is that the attacks on teachers were focused in only some parts of the city while most teachers were immune. This longevity of the teaching force is why the salary schedule was stretched out from 8 to 22 years over our careers--people mostly stayed until retirement.

To me the discussion then becomes do you deal with the underlying weakness that the UFT has placed teachers in vis a vis an aggressive DOE or do you throw up your hands and accept that as fact and change salary negotiating strategy to take this reality into account.

Of course there is no doubt that there is a need to return the schedule to a shorter time frame between minimum and max and also to insure that newer teachers are receiving a fair early salary. With the new contract entering teachers will be earning more than 45,000 -- certainly not enough for what a nightmare they have to face but much more reasonable if this were a humane system to work in.

ICE-TJC WIN!! They WIN!!!!

— the lottery for ballot placement and for the NY Teacher.

ICE-TJC won top spot in the lottery for the order on the ballot and in the NY Teacher in 2 separate drawings. Bob Astrowski represented Unity and in both instances he picked the ICE-TJC slate number 1. I chose 2nd and in both cases picked Unity. New Action came up last by default -- they had no rep present -- probably too busy with their UFT jobs.

Astrowski is being sent to run the retired teacher chapter in Antarctica.

Testimony of John Lawhead

New York Immigration Coalition Panel

Oversight Hearings on the DOE's Small Schools Initiative

New York City Council Education Committee

February 16, 2007

Good morning. I'm John Lawhead and I'm a teacher of English as a Second Language at Samuel J. Tilden High School in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. I've been a teacher in city high schools for eleven years. I want to thank Chairman Jackson for holding these hearings and the New York Immigration Coalition for inviting me to join their panel. I'm here to discuss how immigrant teenagers in my school community are being affected by the Department of Education's small schools initiative.

Tilden has a large population of recently arrived immigrants. We have students from Latin American, the West Indies and West Africa. The vast majority of the students in our school who are learning English come from Haiti. In the months since the current school year began Tilden has taken in between 75 and 80 teenagers newly arrived in the country. In school jargon they are called “over the counter” students. A major part of my teaching schedule is spent with these students.

A couple of days ago at the start of one of my afternoon classes I observed a group of Haitian students standing by a window. They were completely entranced as they watched snow falling into the street outside. Their sheer awe and the silence in which they stood watching the event amused me and I started to joke about their innocence. One boy protested, stepped away from his classmates, and said that he'd already seen snow -- sometime last week.

Yesterday the mood had changed. The students were sullen about the weather. They were surprised at how quickly the snow had turned hard and ugly. There was even the sense of a general disaster. During the morning, Nancy and Jude, a brother and sister in the same class, arrived very late and out of breath. There were wearing visitors' badges from Kings County Hospital. Their mother had left for work early yesterday morning and she fell on the ice and broke her leg. I savor knowing these kids and sharing the ups and downs of their early days in the U.S.

I'm not here to complain about the bad weather my students are experiencing. They are living the brave life of immigrants. I want to speak about the kind of educational welcome they receive in this city and how the new schools initiative that is being implemented at Tilden shows an abhorrent lack of planning to meet their needs.

The planned phase-out of Tilden High School will bring to an end to one of the last Haitian Creole bilingual programs remaining in New York City. According to the current directory of high schools¹ there are only three other bilingual programs for Haitian Creole speaking students. The other high schools where Haitian Creole programs are offered, Midwood, Clara Barton and John Dewey are all severely overcrowded. Midwood, which is the closest in proximity to Tilden is presently about 180 percent over capacity. John Dewey, is similarly stressed and according to a recent press report,² is expected to be put on the DOE's list of impact schools in the near future.

Tilden itself experienced the effects of other large schools closing and the deflection of incoming 9^th graders to neighboring zoned schools. Some of our current students come from neighborhoods where other bilingual programs were dismantled, such as Wingate and the Erasmus campus. A few years ago Tilden made news when its population increased by 20 percent as it accommodated students from other parts of Brooklyn.

What does it mean to lose bilingual education? By this approach recently arriving immigrants benefit by learning new subject knowledge and skills in their native language while also learning English for a substantial part of the day. Bilingual education puts students' previous knowledge and reading skills to ready use. Research has shown that when students are receiving good instruction in their native language, they get new background knowledge that helps make the English they hear and read more understandable. As a result the use of the students' first language accelerates their learning of the type of English they need for school.³

For adolescent youth bilingual programs provide a basic psychological support. On a personal level they are gratified to be able to use their native language for academic purposes. It allows them feel more like the adults they are becoming rather than babies who must grope for basic words and structures of English the entire school day.

Teenagers who have recently immigrated need such support. Adolescence is typically a difficult stage of life. Young people experience many new inner conflicts during their teen years as they strive to develop integrated personalities. They have a need to share what they know and who they are fluently. Granted this is not always possible for immigrant children of every language background. But it makes no sense to destroy a program that does provide such opportunities and support, especially when nothing even remotely similar has been proposed to take its place.

Immigrant teenagers need stable schools with caring teachers. They also benefit from the cross-cultural experiences that are possible in a large school. I'm glad to have my students in a school with students of different language backgrounds, include many native-English speakers. Tilden affords them the chance for social interaction with American-born peers in many settings.

To single out one instance, some of my students and former students are on Tilden's varsity football team. Sidney Lowens, Kerby Janvier and Lominy Pompee formed part of starting offensive line and special squads last fall. Lominy also served as kicker. Their great blocking and hustle helped carry the Blue Devils into the city playoffs under their coach Peter Waterman. There are other students in the football program of Haitian and West Indian background. The three I named are recent immigrants with low to high intermediate-level proficiency in English. I believe it's safe to say that until a few short years ago they had neither watched nor played American football. At some home games I found the bleachers crowded with other Haitian students who watched the games. Many were on their way to play soccer afterwards and had yet to fully grasp even the point of a football game. Yet they appreciated it as a school event involving classmates and friends.

The interaction of students and school community is a two-way street. As students who often have a strong intrinsic motivation to learn recent immigrants provide a good influence for other students in the school. I'm often stopped by teachers of the mainstream content areas who tell me what great contributions the former ESL students are making in their classes. At Tilden the ESL students participate in book clubs, art exhibits, dance shows and science fairs, collaborating and sharing their talents with American-born students.

Our school benefits students who are learning English in many ways which the city doesn't bother to track or elicit views about. There is much available data collected by the school from the moment families arrive with over-the-counter students. Parents and guardians of students identified as English Language Learners are given a mandated orientation that requires they view a video presenting both bilingual education and the English immersion approach. The parents are then given a survey to confirm their preference of instructional approaches. These steps were established under Chancellor Harold O. Levy and were meant to gauge the extent to which bilingual education might be substituted for by English immersion. Each year the parents of new students at Tilden have been unanimous in choosing our bilingual program.

The plan to phase-out Tilden beginning September 2007 shows an marked indifference to available DOE data with regard to the success of Tilden's bilingual program. The recent School Quality Review described a school with a new principal that was making great strides in improving the school. They praised the principal for her good use of data to adjust and change the schools academic programs. They also noted that the school was meeting New York State Standards for English Language Learners as shown by scores on the Regents exams that were 16 percent better than the citywide average. As noted above, there are also many other indicators of success that could be found in a careful evaluation of the school.

It is clear that given the overcrowding of many neighborhoods New York City needs more high schools. It also is seems evident that in a city that has become fixated on short-term goals there must be a redesign of education to better meet students’ needs. I would applaud the efforts of small schools planners to design schools where students' interest in real learning can be rekindled. Our schools should once again embrace such goals as civic participation, research projects, creativity in art and music, cross-cultural awareness, good habits of mind, vocational training with experts from the trades, and all the things that can make the school experience a joy but have been undermined by the current emphasis on pressure, fear and achievement scores.

But these newly designed schools deserve their own buildings. It is sad the way small schools planning teams are being used as pawns in a process to close large schools. It is time to question what the real agenda of the small schools initiative is. New Visions for the Public Schools which has overseen the funding of the small schools initiative claims that “local partnerships” are an essential component of successful new schools. In fact, not only has there been no community input into the decision to phase-out Tilden, there was not even any planning for such participation. The date the announcement was made to close Tilden followed by a week and a half the deadline for submitting proposals for the new schools that would replace it. Since 2001 New Visions has shown itself to be a conduit for private corporate funding always and a seeker of community partnerships seldom or never.

This is not a grassroots process. Finding such community partnerships would first of all involve honesty and plain speaking. It would require a thorough evaluation of what is working or not working in existing schools, not blanket condemnation and unsupported promises of sudden success. It would above all necessitate a close examination of the school’s population and its needs.

Instead, the discussion of the reasons for the closing which followed the announcement of closing has been a one-sided promotion of the small schools approach to education, and very selective results, anecdotes and testimony. The Office of Small Schools chooses not to showcase other less flattering aspects of the small schools initiative such as the rampant turnover of the principals and staff of small schools. One press report recently found a small school in which 80 percent of the staff were in their first year. In other words, most of the teachers in that school were still learning how to teach. Instead, it chooses to trumpet preliminary conclusions from a study funded by same organization that brought the small schools initiative to the city in the first place, the Gates Foundation.

All this hype and fanfare brings to mind the Haitian proverb, Move dan gen fos si banan mi. Even rotten teeth can feel mighty when they sink into a ripe banana. In recent years the large high schools have been served a much coarser fare than soft fruit. The larger schools have been burdened with overcrowding, split scheduling, oversized classes, inadequate facilities and budget cuts. They are assigned students with long-term absences, learning disabilities, emotional impairment, borderline intelligence and low English proficiency. In exchange for their effort to educate a broader population these school face official disparagement of their progress, a kind of disownership really, as the mayor and chancellor describe them in the most general terms as inherently unmanageable, complacent and impersonal while this same leadership relentlessly promotes its own pet projects, corporate-style school leadership, small schools and charter schools, which it subjects to minimal scrutiny.

Closing large schools means closing the books on accountability. It means closing the books on the DOE's broken promises to our students that they come first. It lets the DOE distract attention and escape from having to own up to the results of its policies of neglect, which include abysmal citywide drop-out and graduation rates.

My colleague, Deycy Avitia, in her testimony⁵ to this Council will quote a recent speech by Chancellor Klein in which he rejects “incrementalism.” He suggests that tinkering with programs and looking for gradual improvement is too timid an approach. Instead, he demands bold leadership that makes all the improvement a matter of one fell swoop.

Such a viewpoint is anathema to the work schools do. It demonstrates a lack of interest in finishing what has been started or evaluating what is working and what is not working in the new initiatives. School improvement like real learning is a gradual development.

At Tilden we are committed both to students who thrive at once in our school and also to the late-bloomers who will require more than four years to graduate. “Late bloomer” is educational term and a long-standing concept. It suggests than learning is in many ways a natural process that every human being is endowed with. The buds of flowers do not just open upon command. Educators much have patience to watch them open. As teachers we tend to the flowers and do our best to provide space and appropriate nutrition for young intellects. The real learning that we believe in is not merely a set tricks that one performs for someone else. It's what you do for yourself.

There are teachers at Tilden who believe in real learning and real school improvement. That is the reason we are fighting this arbitrary and devastating plan to phase us out. We have spoken out at many forums across Brooklyn and also in Manhattan and the Bronx. Last week we held a well-attended Town Hall meeting to discuss the closing of Tilden and its impact on the school community.⁶

Mr. Chairman I urge you to support the efforts of the parents, students and educators at Tilden High School. We intend to finish what we’ve started with all of our students, including the city’s newest immigrants.

References

1. 2006-2007 Directory of the New York City Public High Schools, Department of Education of the City of New York.

2. Dewey H.S. Teetering on an Uncertain Future,” Bay News (2-8-07).

3. Stephen D. Krashen, “Bilingual Education Accelerates English Language Development,” 2006. http://www.sdkrashen.com/articles/krashen_intro.pdf

4. “Readin’, Writin’ and Rookies. Inexperienced Teachers Fill City Schools,” New York Daily News (1-29-07).

5. Testimony of Deycy Avitia, Educational Policy Associate, New York City Immigration Coalition to the City Council Education Committee (2-16-07).

6. See also www.allout4tilden.com for links to news reports of Tilden High School parents and teachers speaking out.

Posted by Leonie Haimson on nyceducationnews listserv, Feb. 19, 2007

Who Is the Fairest Teacher of Them All?

Thanks to Dave

Sopranos-DOE Family Values

Pseudo-Intellectualism: http://dbellel.blogspot.com/

When a Rose is Not a Rose

I've put up articles posted by Leonie Haimson related to Joel Rose's scams, Edison and Christopher Cerf on the Norm's Notes archive blog. Note how the NY Times has the least consequential article buried in the Metro briefing. Is there any institution in this city that has its nose buried more up Bloomberg's butt than the NY Times? Next they'll be printing articles about how Bloomberg's enemies have weapons of mass destruction. Oh! They've been there, done that already. Where's Judith Miller when they need her?

Coming soon:
My account of the Manhattan Institute luncheon at the University Club (which didn't admit women until 1987) featuring Christopher Cerf and the corporate ed-speak nonsense he spouts. Just about any NYC teacher can challenge this guy to a debate and whip his ass. I am issuing an official Education Notes challenge to the Manhattan Institute to set up a true dialogue with Cerf or anyone else they choose to debate key educational policy issues someone like Leonie Haimson, myself or any number of capable people I can think of to defend public education.
Hey guys, no guts, no glory.


Cerf preparing for the debate. His ideas are even fuzzier than he is.







Note to Unity clones:
Don't even suggest Randi Weingarten to defend our side. I've seen her on panels with these characters and all I can say is - weak weak weak!
But just watch the Manhattan Institute take up the challenge and chose Weingarten to debate Cerf. They know an easy mark when they see one.

Teachers Battle To Keep Tilden Open - The Chief

Yesterday at a Manhattan Institute luncheon featuring Christopher Cerf, he said throwing money at educational problems should not be looked at as the only solution. I got to ask him a question as to why the DOE NEVER throws money at a school. "Why not throw lots of money at Tilden with a lot more teachers, guidance counselors, social workers, etc. instead of closing it," I asked?
He had no response. Naturally.

See the full Chief article at my archive blog, Norm's Notes

LA Lessons for Teacher Union Dissidents?

The excerpts below are from an article in the LA Times about the dissident movement that took over the LA teachers union in the Feb. 2005 elections. The United Action slate did not have to face a massive machine-like Unity but still, their election was a surprise. Union rules were apparently democratic enough so that they could challenge for control of the Exec. Bd.

Unity makes sure that they can control the board through at-large voting where the entire union votes including retirees for Ex bd at large (43), functional chapter (14) plus the 11 officers that are members of the Exec. Bd. That's 68 out of 89 leaving the opposition only a chance to win the elem (11) ms (5) and hs (6) EB positions. A very long shot to win all of these though New Action won the MS & HS in the early 90's. If the day comes that these 22 positions are won by the opposition, meaning serious outreach to elementary schools, it would be a sign of significant change in that these 22 positions represent the 80,000 active teachers. But it shows you how even if the opposition won the overwhelming support of the majority of teachers, they would only control 1/4 of the Executive Board.

Unity democracy inaction.

One of the interesting points about the featured activists is that one or both of them have political ties to some people in our local TJC and one of them was once in a teamsters group in California called Teamsters for a Just Contract.

Another is the dicotomy in activist groups over the strict trade union (attention only to meat and potato issues) vs. the social justice questions. We have had that debate in ICE and things flared at one point on the blogs with UTP over the emphasis on some of these issues. The debate is ongoing, one of the best things about being involved in democratic groups, as opposed to being in Unity where your lips are sealed. And all too often, your mind.

The full article is posted on my other blog, Norm's Notes

A radical change for two union militants

The former dissidents, now powerful insiders, shaped the tough tactics that got L.A. teachers more than just a raise.

the deal's details — particularly its mandate for class size reduction and new job protections for union activists — reflect the long-standing emphasis by Pechthalt, Jordan and their allies on broadening UTLA's advocacy beyond salary and benefits.

UTLA's more aggressive stance is personified by A.J. Duffy, the dapper, occasionally bombastic union president who communicates with the membership and tussles with the press. But according to people both inside and outside UTLA, the strategy has been shaped by the little-known Jordan and Pechthalt, self-described "union militants" who now hold key leadership posts.

Jordan, a top staffer, and Pechthalt, a vice president, have long ties to activist politics and to Villaraigosa, a former UTLA staffer who once represented Pechthalt in a grievance against the Los Angeles Unified School District. Along with Duffy and two other allies, Pechthalt and Jordan were unexpectedly swept into power in elections two years ago by a membership frustrated at stalled contract talks.

Their dissident status had been cemented over two decades. They staged demonstrations without the approval of union leadership. They supported bilingual education when California voters didn't, opposed standardized testing as it became popular and questioned whether homework was necessary. They published a newsletter criticizing the labor movement and their own union, particularly its focus on electing school board members to secure power and good contracts.

Instead, they said, UTLA should reinvent itself as the base for a social movement that would engage in aggressive organizing of parents and communities, confront even friendly politicians and use militant tactics rarely employed by staid public employee unions.

"UTLA has never realized its full potential, which is to organize at schools, with teachers, parents and the community," Pechthalt said. "We need to create a broader movement for public education."

But this approach has caused alarm among some in the union and in political circles. Rank-and-file teachers and even other UTLA officers suggest that in their zeal to change the organization, the new union leaders have neglected some of the nuts and bolts of unionism.

"UTLA is a labor union and has the structure and mechanisms and funding and politics of a labor union," said Warren Fletcher, a union chairman at City of Angels School downtown, who has been both ally and critic of Pechthalt and Jordan. "I'm concerned that we're approaching things from the perspective of some sort of grand movement."

We both developed the same sort of emphasis, a first principle that the activity and organizing of the membership of a union, rather than the leadership, is the key to power," Brenner said.

"Joel and I developed a critique of the narrow trade union perspective," Pechthalt said. "With the tightening of the economic pie, the only way to challenge that was to build a broad-based social movement for public education."

During UTLA's last strike, a nine-day walkout in 1989, Pechthalt and Jordan organized a rally in Exposition Park with Villaraigosa's help. In 1992, Pechthalt led a one-hour wildcat strike at Manual Arts High School, which included 30 teachers and 1,500 students, to protest cuts. The district tried to discipline Pechthalt; Villaraigosa guided his successful grievance.

About the same time, Pechthalt and Jordan began publishing A Second Opinion, a newsletter that frequently criticized UTLA. Among their contributors were other dissidents, including Julie Washington, now a vice president, and David Goldberg, now union treasurer.

"We need to once more begin transforming the image of teachers as friendly Caspar Milquetoast do-gooders into a unified, mobilized and proud bunch of unionists," Pechthalt and Jordan wrote in August 2004.

By then, Jordan was running a campaign to take over the board of directors and three officer positions with a slate of dissidents called United Action. The slate did not field a presidential candidate, and did not think Duffy, the only challenger to incumbent John Perez, stood a chance.

Though campaigning for the union presidency on his own, Duffy found he agreed with Pechthalt and Jordan on the need for militancy; United Action endorsed Duffy, and vice versa.

Their timing was good. In February 2005, the frustrated membership elected the entire slate, including Duffy.

SOS Tilden Rally - Feb. 6, 2007

Pictures from the rally.
See commentary posted on this blog below in "Deconstructing the System, School by School"
Check out http://www.allout4tilden.com/



John Lawhead on the right presents reasons Tilden should remain open.







School psychologist Kimberly Partington























Principal Diane Varano

UFT Election Notes - Feb. 14, 2007

Happy Valentines Day to all!

UFT election petitions were turned in this past Monday. Getting this organized is quite a task and thanks to Ira Goldfine, it all got done for ICE. Having TJC as a partner made the process so much easier. ICE and TJC have their own style of working and we haven't wasted a lot of time trying to coordinate the activities of both groups but have been able to easily work things out when we have to.

Getting involved in an election is not a simple thing and involves a major outlay of resources that small groups consisting of mostly working teachers don't always have to give. Many ICE'ers are very active in their schools as chapter leaders with a large membership to serve and others like John Lawhead at Tilden and Peter Bobrick at Lafayette are trying to keep their schools open. Some are active in groups like "UFT'ers to Stop the War." There was a certain reluctance, but once the petitions were out in January, the old election blood began to run. There was really no choice. Leave TJC out there to battle the New Action/Unity alliance alone?

Compared to the last election 3 years ago when ICE was just weeks old trying to form a group in the midst of an election campaign, getting people to run for key positions this time was a breeze. There is something to say for going through a previous experience to learn a few lessons. Having TJC come up with half the candidates made a big difference and coalition building was one of the lessons everyone learned last time. There's still a lot more to learn.

The petitioning process can be tedious but it also gives people an opportunity to engage in conversations with people in the schools. Core ICE'ers went out to their schools and as expected came through. But this time we sent out petitions to people who are not directly involved with ICE, many of them part of the Ed Notes network. The response was fantastic.

When we needed to hold mass signings, people in the schools responded. In some schools there were lots of people willing to give up their lunch hours to sign masses of petitions. Similar events took place at Port Richmond HS, home base of our friends from the UTP, Jamaica HS and PS 193K, where the incredibly popular chapter leader Yelena Siwinski, running on the ICE-TJC ticket for one of the top eleven officer positions, organized things. Seeing how colleagues in her school feel about her was affirmation that with people like Yelena on our side, whatever the outcome, we are making progress in building a progressive alternative to Unity.


Teachers from Francis Lewis HS hold a signing party.

I joined Arthur Goldstein, ICE-TJC candidate for Executive At-Large, at Francis Lewis HS and the response of people I met in the school to the campaign was wonderful. Their obvious respect and admiration for Arthur makes us proud to have him running with us.

With James Eterno as the popular chapter leader at Jamaica HS, there is no doubt as to the allegiance of the school. The announcement that they will be an Impact School seriously jeopardizes their future, but with James at the helm, the teachers there will have the very best representation they can get.

What can you say about the UTP gang at Port Richmond? They have been a breath of fresh air with their in your face attitude. Joe Mudgett who works with the UTP over there and also has his own point of view at ACT was a great help in getting things organized along with chapter leader Jeff Brace. We are proud to have both of them running for Ex. Bd at-large on the ICE-TJC ticket.

Petitions kept coming in and we went far over our limit. One school gave us 35 signatures and specifically asked us "Will you protect us from retaliation by the union?" It shows the fear there is out there as Unity has allowed the DOE to run rampant and people are frightened of both the DOE and Unity. Does Unity check the petitions to see which schools have helped us to see where opposition strength lies, then target them for special attention with extra visits from District Reps and other union officials to reinforce the Unity line? What do you think? We didn't turn in some petitions from certain schools that support us but want to lie in the weeds.

Not that more attention from the union is a bad thing. Remember — they are basically a PR machine that will dash off to fight what they perceive as a fire and schools that work with us often get better service. But people new to the political game do not know that. Weingarten takes disagreement with her as a personal insult but her response is to try to win people over rather than retaliate. Not necessarily a bad thing and it is what makes her so effective in managing the membership's anger. (Her skill will be hard to replace if she goes to the AFT in the summer of '08. Even if she doesn't give up the UFT Presidency, which is what I believe, she will not be here that often to race around from school to school.)

A perfect example was Ron Isaac, alias Redhog, who ran with ICE 3 years ago because he was so disenchanted with the union and got us most of the signatures for middle school. Soon after the election, he went over to the dark side (or maybe that was his plan all along) and was welcomed with open arms after he became a shill for the 2005 contract and began to worship Weingarten. He ended up with a job with the NY Teacher as Weingarten's personal reporter when she visits schools.

Was Isaac's defection a gain for Unity? Why am I smiling?

To be continued.

Ron Isaac stalking -- er-- covering Weingarten at the SOS Tilden rally on Feb. 6

Another ICE'er in the Times

One of the best things about being associated with ICE have been the phenomenal people I've had the chance to work with. It is no accident that so many ICE'ers have appeared in the news over the years based on engaging in activities in their schools related to improving the educational environment for their colleagues and their students.

Jeff Kaufman was punished for assisting an incarcerated student at Riker Island with getting his college credits. Maria Colon for exposing changes in Regent scores by the administration of Kennedy HS. Today, James Eterno is quoted in the Metro section of the Times condemning Jamaica High School's being named an Impact School by the DOE. Another Surge by the DOE.

John Lawhead also appeared in Sam Freedman's column in today's Times. Unfortunately, little of what I am sure John told Freedman about the closing of large schools appeared in the article. (As I've written before, hanging out with John after I met him through Ed. Notes, made the idea of getting a group of similar people together. ICE was the result.)

While Freedman makes some very valid points, the article leaves out so much. John (who has had the most impact on the positions we in ICE have taken on the large school controversy) has been on the small schools/large schools issue for many years, having experienced the closing of Bushwich HS and now Tilden. He wrote an article on the issue for Education Notes as far back as 2002.

The quote used below -- the only one from John in the article --

“Education involves trade-offs; it always does,” said John Lawhead, who has taught English as a Second Language at Tilden for three years. “But those trade-offs, in breaking up the big high schools, should be discussed publicly so you know what’s being lost as well as what’s being gained.”

leaves out all the great stuff John has to say about these tradeoffs. John as part of SOS Tilden is trying to save the school and there is not a hint of that signficant movement in the article. With so many immigrant students who will now have to float around as nomads there will be a massive impact the closing of these schools will have on whatever large schools are left in the area, the DOE version of the domino theory.

Basically, the article endoses the small school policy but is crtical of the way they are going about it. If the DOE hadn't put Roholff in as principal of lafayette and supported her through gaffe after gaffe, the school might have been changed.

Why can't there be a system where Steve Chung could have set up a program within the structure of Lafayette? The DOE (and unfortunately the UFT which basically endorsed the closing of the school and is miffed that the DOE which was supposdly working with them to set up the small schools, reneged) has control of these schools but gets away with saying "we can't fix what we control and the only way to fix it is to destroy it."

The answer is the DOE feels they have to empty out the teaching staff and the students and start all over. It's like old construction where you have to work around things vs tearing it down. It is difficult but doable. (It wan't fun when I had a new kitchen installed but I didn't tear down my house and new people move in.) The DOE doesn't want to do the hard stuff -- only things they can show as PR.

I was in Clinton HS recently - vastly overcrowded and supposedly they are doing small learning communities there now. These are unadvertized options. Small can be good but it can be done in the context of large. I don't see them breaking up Stuvesant and I bet these kids would also benefit from smaller environements.

Some stuff on John on this blog which also includes information from George Schmidt on the Chicago experience with mayoral control and small schools - useful stuff in seeing the big picture -- it's not just BloomKlein but a national movement.

NYC Educator, as usual, hits the nail on the head: Mr. Bloomberg Vs. the Aliens

Leonie Haimson also makes some great points on the article in a much more coherent manner than I do. I am posting them on the blog I set up to archive some of the work being done on her listserv.

Why use such a large picture when so little of what John has to say is part of the article. John comes out looking great but I would have used part of the space to use more of what he had to say. Style over substance.

Tilden has John's back in this photo

Why We Need Independent Voices on the UFT Executive Board

Unity Caucus is not satisfied with holding over 90% of the seats on the Executive Board.

High School teachers will get to decide whether they want to maintain the only 6 independent voices out of 89 on the UFT Executive Board by voting the ICE-TJC slate when the ballots go out on March 9th.

High school teachers who vote the ICE-TJC slate will be casting their votes for:

James Eterno, CL Jamaica HS, Exec. Bd. member for 10 years
Jeff Kaufman, CL Island Academy, Exec. Bd. member for the pst 3 years
Sam Lazarus, CL Bryant HS
Nick Licari, CL Norman Thomas HS
Marian Swerdlow, Delegate, FDR HS
Peter Lamphere, Bronx High School of Science

Unity Caucus is not satisfied with the control of 93% of the Executive Board. So they have enlisted their partners New Action to run for the 6 seats ICE-TJC presently control. The Unity/New Action candidates will be on the ballot on both the Unity and New Action lines. Their combined vote total will be tough for the ICE-TJC slate to top.

ICE-TJC needs all high school teachers to rally behind the ICE-TJC slate and stop this naked attempt to remove independent voices from the Executive Board.

VOTE ICE-TJC

WANTED: NYC DEPT of EDUCATION

Posted on nyceducationnews listserve.

Also check out: Jim Horn's

Bloomberg's Corrupt Headmaster of School Privatization

Class Size in California

I've posted a great post responding to critics of the class size reduction in California by Leonie Haimson on her listserve on another blog I set up called NormsNotes.
It's really worth checking out.

Unity Hack of the Week: Frank Desantis

Unity Caucus Chapter Leader at McKee HS in Staten Island:

For denying access to UFT mailboxes by ICE reps. They'll be baaaaack.

Cerf and Klein, Time to Resign

See today's Times article on the outrageous lies and misinformation by Cerf and Klein (sounds like a vaudeville act.) Even the picture they used of Klein is awful, a sign the press is turning on them.

"Hey Klein, It's Time to Resign" was the title of a column I wrote a few years ago. His time is coming.

See my post on Cerf's nap at Klein's press conference a few weeks ago when he announced the reorganization.



In a photo I took at the press conference, it appears as if Christopher Cerf, one of Klein’s newest appointees, might have been napping, or as the caption says on my blog, “Christopher Cerf dreams of ways to turn the NYC school system into a subsidiary of Edison.” Cerf was the CEO of Edison Schools, a fading for-profit corporation that looks to milk money out of public schools. Hey! The stock tanked and Cerf needed a job. Where else but in BloomKleindom?

Edison was once in the forefront of the ideological struggles as the right wing attempt to dismantle public education. Under Cerf’s leadership, Edison once made a run at NYC schools but was beaten back by the UFT and parent groups. Now they have the chief Edison wolf in the henhouse. So, it was not surprising to read in the Daily News a day after the press conference:

"The world's largest for-profit school operator yesterday expressed interest in being a part of the massive school reforms laid out this week. While Chancellor Joel Klein pitched his sweeping school overhaul to business leaders and educators yesterday, he said that he expected mainly universities and nonprofits to apply for the private contracts available under the reforms. He acknowledged, though, that legally he can't exclude for-profits, adding that, "I don't expect the for-profits will apply, but that's up to them. But Edison Schools - the controversial for-profit group that attempted to take over five failing city schools in 2001 - would "certainly be interested" in reviewing opportunities and seeing "whether it would be a good fit," company spokeswoman Laura Eshbaugh said yesterday."

Sure, after hiring Cerf, Klein never, ever thought of Edison applying for the PSO’s. Don’t we need to get Edison’s value up to prove the validation of the private model by having them feed at the public trough? You could actually see Klein’s nose grow as he spoke.

Also Cerf's letter to his staff.