Marjorie provides some preliminary analysis here. James Eterno and Jeff Kaufman will take a closer look and report on the ICE blog later. As she points out, the DOE and the union are feeling the heat. Marjorie and gang made powerful presentations at PEP on Monday. And they continue to go to UFT Exec Bd and Delegate Assemblies to put pressure on the union. Maybe the powerless in the UFT are finding ways to nudge the elephant in the room.
I don't see anything about the RTRs who are to be fired on Dec. 5th.
Marjorie Stamberg reports:
Today, the DOE and UFT signed off on a "side agreement" on the ATRs, which was presented to a special Executive Board tonight and approved. This is a complicated document, with various financial incentives for principals to give positions to ATRs, while maintaining the framework of the contract and budget structure which continually generate new ATRs. I'm attaching the agreement here, so everyone can read and discuss it. (See Norms Notes.)
Importantly, it was announced that the UFT rally to support the ATRs is still on for November 24th at 4:30 at Tweed. (This was despite some feelers earlier in the day about possibly changing the "venue" away from Tweed; we said no way.) The DOE is clearly feeling the heat for not placing teachers "as the city confronts the current fiscal crisis." So our organizing is having an effect. Let's redouble our efforts to mobilize in the schools and get everybody out!
The fact that the DOE signed off on language that says the ATRs are a "pool of available, qualified, experienced teachers" undercuts Klein's trash campaign in the media where he has tried to scapegoat teachers for a situation the DOE created. While the DOE agreed to "in good faith pursue hiring ATRs," we repeat our central demand that there be no new hiring until all ATRS who want positions are placed.
The side agreement provides for some formula of partial central funding and budgetary incentives that might encourage principals to place ATRs. However, the central principle that the principal has the sole right to hire whomever remains. The endless excessing due to reorganization of schools and programs will continue. And Joel Klein in the DOE press release says he's still pursuing his thwarted obsession to "terminate" ATRs.
There's also a paragraph that keeps the door wide open for "provisional" placements of ATRs who could then be excessed again at the end of the school year.
At the Executive Board, Roz Panepento, former Chapter Leader at ASHS (before we were re-organized into GED-Plus), spoke powerfully, saying the side agreement reminded her of what happened in D79 a year ago, when hundreds of teachers were excessed. The agreement just had too many loopholes, she said, and the union should be fighting for a moratorium on new hires until all ATRS who want positions, are placed.
We have struggled long and hard to defend ATRs. We know well --"If we're not ATR now, we could be soon." So the struggle continues, and we're having an effect. Let's keep the heat on.
Bring a delegation from your school, and see you November 24th.
Majorie
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
UPDATED: DOE Press Release on ATR Agreement With UFT
UPDATE:
RALLY IS ON!
READ THE ENTIRE MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT AT NORMS NOTES.
ICE CONTACT EXPERTS WILL DO ANALYSIS LATER.
Look for follow-up posts from Marjorie Stamberg.
Department of Education AND United Federation of Teachers Reach Agreement on Absent Teacher Reserves (ATRs)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 18, 2008
New Measures Create Financial Incentives To Hire ATRs
United Federation of Teachers (UFT) President Randi Weingarten and Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein today finalized an agreement designed to improve the placement processes and procedures for teachers and other UFT personnel in the Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR). Teachers whose positions have been eliminated—for example, when a school closes—and who are not able to find regular positions are placed in the ATR pool and work as full-time substitutes. The agreement, which was approved unanimously by the UFT Executive Board on November 18, creates substantial financial incentives for schools to hire teachers, guidance counselors, social workers and attendance teachers from the ATR pool. In addition, Chancellor Klein will urge principals to fill vacancies with personnel from the ATR pool before considering other candidates. This agreement does not call for the forced placement of any personnel.
“This is a terrific agreement,” said UFT President Randi Weingarten. “These experienced and qualified people have essentially seen their careers put in a holding pattern due to student enrollment patterns or the closing of schools. They have been struggling to find permanent jobs in large part because schools have been opting for less experienced personnel at lower salaries. By eliminating the financial obstacles, we should see more ATRs being permanently placed, which will be good for children and save the school district money. This is an agreement worth trying, particularly with these troubling economic times.”
“Today’s agreement with the UFT creates incentives that encourage principals to voluntarily hire qualified teachers in the ATR pool to fill school vacancies, thereby reducing the cost to the City of maintaining excessed teachers on the payroll,” Chancellor Klein said. “This agreement is part of our very serious effort to minimize cuts to schools and classrooms during these hard economic times. At worst, if no additional teachers are hired from the ATR pool, it’s cost neutral. At best, if principals find qualified teachers in the ATR pool to fill vacancies in their schools, it could save us millions of dollars. And, importantly, it preserves principals’ right to choose the teachers in their schools. While we continue to believe that teachers in the ATR pool should not be permitted to stay on the payroll indefinitely, this agreement represents a needed step forward.”
Under the terms of the agreement, schools that hire one of the educators in the ATR pool after November 1 of each calendar year will receive two subsidies. The Department of Education (DOE) will pay the difference between the ATR’s actual salary and the salary of a starting teacher, and then, in subsequent years, will continue to pay the difference between the actual salary and the subsequent steps on the salary scale. This subsidy will terminate once the excessed employee has been in the position for eight years. The DOE will also give schools that hire an ATR an additional lump sum equal to half of a new hire’s salary.
Principals who are willing to hire ATRs but not permanently place them can instead hire ATRs on a provisional basis. In those cases, schools will pay the educators’ actual salaries. If a principal and ATR decide the ATR should be placed permanently, the school will receive the subsidies. If the ATR is not permanently placed, the ATR will return to the ATR pool at the end of the school year.
After one year, the DOE and UFT will evaluate whether this agreement is benefiting schools.
“I am pleased that the DOE and the UFT were able to work together and find common ground on this critical issue of reducing the number of unplaced excessed teachers,” Chancellor Klein said. “I expect principals will actively and in good faith first consider qualified candidates in the ATR pool when filling open positions.”
“I want to thank the ATRs who have continued to press this issue and all of the teachers who took part in the ‘Let Us Teach’ campaign,” said Weingarten. “By using the ATR pool to fill vacancies, millions of dollars can be saved and thousands of kids get the benefit of these great educators. This is a solution that works for everyone.”
RALLY IS ON!
READ THE ENTIRE MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT AT NORMS NOTES.
ICE CONTACT EXPERTS WILL DO ANALYSIS LATER.
Look for follow-up posts from Marjorie Stamberg.
Department of Education AND United Federation of Teachers Reach Agreement on Absent Teacher Reserves (ATRs)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 18, 2008
New Measures Create Financial Incentives To Hire ATRs
United Federation of Teachers (UFT) President Randi Weingarten and Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein today finalized an agreement designed to improve the placement processes and procedures for teachers and other UFT personnel in the Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR). Teachers whose positions have been eliminated—for example, when a school closes—and who are not able to find regular positions are placed in the ATR pool and work as full-time substitutes. The agreement, which was approved unanimously by the UFT Executive Board on November 18, creates substantial financial incentives for schools to hire teachers, guidance counselors, social workers and attendance teachers from the ATR pool. In addition, Chancellor Klein will urge principals to fill vacancies with personnel from the ATR pool before considering other candidates. This agreement does not call for the forced placement of any personnel.
“This is a terrific agreement,” said UFT President Randi Weingarten. “These experienced and qualified people have essentially seen their careers put in a holding pattern due to student enrollment patterns or the closing of schools. They have been struggling to find permanent jobs in large part because schools have been opting for less experienced personnel at lower salaries. By eliminating the financial obstacles, we should see more ATRs being permanently placed, which will be good for children and save the school district money. This is an agreement worth trying, particularly with these troubling economic times.”
“Today’s agreement with the UFT creates incentives that encourage principals to voluntarily hire qualified teachers in the ATR pool to fill school vacancies, thereby reducing the cost to the City of maintaining excessed teachers on the payroll,” Chancellor Klein said. “This agreement is part of our very serious effort to minimize cuts to schools and classrooms during these hard economic times. At worst, if no additional teachers are hired from the ATR pool, it’s cost neutral. At best, if principals find qualified teachers in the ATR pool to fill vacancies in their schools, it could save us millions of dollars. And, importantly, it preserves principals’ right to choose the teachers in their schools. While we continue to believe that teachers in the ATR pool should not be permitted to stay on the payroll indefinitely, this agreement represents a needed step forward.”
Under the terms of the agreement, schools that hire one of the educators in the ATR pool after November 1 of each calendar year will receive two subsidies. The Department of Education (DOE) will pay the difference between the ATR’s actual salary and the salary of a starting teacher, and then, in subsequent years, will continue to pay the difference between the actual salary and the subsequent steps on the salary scale. This subsidy will terminate once the excessed employee has been in the position for eight years. The DOE will also give schools that hire an ATR an additional lump sum equal to half of a new hire’s salary.
Principals who are willing to hire ATRs but not permanently place them can instead hire ATRs on a provisional basis. In those cases, schools will pay the educators’ actual salaries. If a principal and ATR decide the ATR should be placed permanently, the school will receive the subsidies. If the ATR is not permanently placed, the ATR will return to the ATR pool at the end of the school year.
After one year, the DOE and UFT will evaluate whether this agreement is benefiting schools.
“I am pleased that the DOE and the UFT were able to work together and find common ground on this critical issue of reducing the number of unplaced excessed teachers,” Chancellor Klein said. “I expect principals will actively and in good faith first consider qualified candidates in the ATR pool when filling open positions.”
“I want to thank the ATRs who have continued to press this issue and all of the teachers who took part in the ‘Let Us Teach’ campaign,” said Weingarten. “By using the ATR pool to fill vacancies, millions of dollars can be saved and thousands of kids get the benefit of these great educators. This is a solution that works for everyone.”
BUILD SCHOOLS, NOT PRISONS
NYC Comptroller Bill Thompson joined a lawsuit to prevent the city from re-opening the Brooklyn House of Detention, which prompted this from Miami teacher Paul Moore whose school is threatened with closure. He talks about life and death in the school zone, issues just slightly more important than insane accountability systems.
"Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind." --Plato, The Republic
A system of strict accountability for children reigns in Florida. They begin to answer to men with power under this system at the age of 9 or 10-years-old. No matter the circumstances of the child's life-poverty, racism, neglect, abuse, malnutrition, special needs, the constant threat of violence-no "excuse" is accepted. FCAT failure is always punished! And as they grow older, both the fortunate and the wounded, Florida's children never escape the pressures of accountability unless their parents are wealthy enough to afford private schooling.
The last regular session of the Florida Legislature slashed the state's education budget by $2.3 billion and appropriated $305 million to build three new prisons.
FUND THE SCHOOLS, CLOSE PRISONS!
One teacher's testimony
Town Hall Meeting, Miami Carol City Senior High School Auditorium,
November 10, 2008.
My name is Paul Moore and I have been teaching social studies here at Carol City High for 26 years. The testimony I will give comes from my own experience at this great school. I do believe though that it reflects the experience of educators in great schools across the country.
It is wonderful to have our district's esteemed representative on the Miami-Dade School Board Mr. Wilbert "Tee" Holloway and the honorable Mayor of Miami Gardens Shirley Gibson here with us today--again. These two community leaders are an enduring part of the Chief's family.
Nothing needs be said to them. I would however like to address some remarks to our guest from the Florida Department of Education Mr. Jeffrey Hernandez.
Even though you come here not to praise us but rather to threaten us with state sanctions, welcome to our home Mr. Hernandez. You are here today because you have looked at scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test and based on those scores alone, decided that Miami Carol City High is a failing school. I must tell you that I could not care less about changing your mind. You are just carrying water for much more powerful men. But I do want to tell you some things about us and ask you to relay a message to your bosses.
Three of our graduates have died in Iraq. When Donnie Dixon, Class of '88 was killed he left behind a wife and their four children. Joe Polo, Class of '95 was younger than Donnie when he died in combat. Joe didn't have any children but he was engaged to be married when he returned to this community after his second tour of duty in the war zone. Charles Sims, Class of '02 was the youngest of our fallen warriors. He was a fresh faced 19-year-old, less than six months out of this school's JROTC classes when he gave his life for you and me and this country. How many young men like Donnie, Joe, and Charles would a school have to produce to get off your list of failing schools?
A teacher was shot at Miami Carol City High last year. In fact we just observed the anniversary, Nov. 6, 2007, when Sergio Miranda and Maria Vives went across the street to smoke a cigarette during their lunch break. Someone came out of the public housing there and shot Mr. Miranda. The bullet lodged near his spine and, as you might imagine, the whole incident severely traumatized Ms. Vives. To this day our colleague undergoes difficult rehabilitation sessions several times a week. But when he is well again Mr. Miranda has pledged to return to this school! When he comes back he will be reunited with Ms. Vives who returned to her students in a matter of days. How much courage and dedication must teachers demonstrate to get off your list of failing schools?
Many of our students live in or near the 33054. A local newspaper recently analyzed crime statistics and made a startling announcement about the neighborhood adjacent to our school. The 33054 is the most dangerous place to be young in all of Florida. The Miami Herald found
that inside the boundaries of zip code 33054 the children and young people live under the most severe threat of violence to be found anywhere in this state. Are there any schools in those upscale suburban neighborhoods on your list of failing schools? (Note: 274 Florida schools are deemed failing by the federal Department of Education. The state Department of Education asked for a special dispensation for some schools and not others.)
Two of my brothers in the teaching fraternity here at Carol City, Mr. Hafter and Mr. Adler, joined me to teach two and three social studies classes at a time in this auditorium in recent years. All our senior students would pass through here during the week. Let me tell you about just five from the Class of 2006. A particularly quiet young man named Evan Page used to come in here for class. A few days after Thanksgiving 2005 Evan was shot to death outside the Checkers where he worked after school. Anthony Elias attended class in this auditorium. The other students called him "Yellowman" because of his light complexion. He was quite popular with the girls. I don't know, something about him being "fine". Anthony was killed with an assault rifle. Sherika Wilson Lynch took her social studies class in this auditorium. She was a student and the beautiful young mother of a baby she named Ahmani. Her baby was 16-months-old when she died. One day Sherika was coming out of a convenience store in the 33054. When she was gunned down a carton of milk for Ahmani fell to the sidewalk beside her. Brian Dupree was once a fun-loving jovial presence in this auditorium. His father is a security monitor in the school. Brian was shot and died just outside his father's home.
Then there was Jeffrey Johnson, Jr. No disrespect intended but he laughed at your FCAT. Jeffrey was a brilliant young man, one of our honor students, headed for a meaningful education at St. Thomas University on a full scholarship. An aspiring lawyer, he once wrote, "I have had a lot of exposure to the legal system and its ramifications. I do not agree with all of it. But I figure they need some good guys like me who do it from the heart, not for the money. I'm so passionate about my goals because I have a hunch that I can make a difference."
Jeffrey Johnson, Jr. perished violently three days before he was supposed to graduate from Carol City High. A street outside the school bears his name now. But as one of his teachers, there has been no consolation in the many tributes paid Jeffrey since his death, until something that happened last Tuesday Nov. 4, 2008 at 11:00 p.m. EST. For the first time it made me think of Jeffrey in a joyful way. A young man like Jeffrey who did graduate from high school, a young man like Jeffrey who did go to law school, a young man like Jeffrey who did get to live out his passion to make a difference, a young man like Jeffrey was elected President of the United States!
Mr. Hernandez, please take this message back to Florida's Commissioner of Education Eric J. Smith and Governor Crist. We are among the people who loved Jeffrey Johnson and who elected Barack Obama president. Any plans you may have had when George W. Bush was in the White House and pushing No Child Left Behind are canceled! Any plans that were drawn up under Jeb Bush's FCAT system are canceled! You will never close Miami Carol City Senior High School! You will never close Edison, Central, Holmes, Liberty City Elementary, Norland, North Miami or any of the other schools on your list! We won't let you!
Paul A. Moore
Teacher, Miami Carol City Senior High School
Home of the Chiefs since '63
"Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind." --Plato, The Republic
A system of strict accountability for children reigns in Florida. They begin to answer to men with power under this system at the age of 9 or 10-years-old. No matter the circumstances of the child's life-poverty, racism, neglect, abuse, malnutrition, special needs, the constant threat of violence-no "excuse" is accepted. FCAT failure is always punished! And as they grow older, both the fortunate and the wounded, Florida's children never escape the pressures of accountability unless their parents are wealthy enough to afford private schooling.
The last regular session of the Florida Legislature slashed the state's education budget by $2.3 billion and appropriated $305 million to build three new prisons.
FUND THE SCHOOLS, CLOSE PRISONS!
One teacher's testimony
Town Hall Meeting, Miami Carol City Senior High School Auditorium,
November 10, 2008.
My name is Paul Moore and I have been teaching social studies here at Carol City High for 26 years. The testimony I will give comes from my own experience at this great school. I do believe though that it reflects the experience of educators in great schools across the country.
It is wonderful to have our district's esteemed representative on the Miami-Dade School Board Mr. Wilbert "Tee" Holloway and the honorable Mayor of Miami Gardens Shirley Gibson here with us today--again. These two community leaders are an enduring part of the Chief's family.
Nothing needs be said to them. I would however like to address some remarks to our guest from the Florida Department of Education Mr. Jeffrey Hernandez.
Even though you come here not to praise us but rather to threaten us with state sanctions, welcome to our home Mr. Hernandez. You are here today because you have looked at scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test and based on those scores alone, decided that Miami Carol City High is a failing school. I must tell you that I could not care less about changing your mind. You are just carrying water for much more powerful men. But I do want to tell you some things about us and ask you to relay a message to your bosses.
Three of our graduates have died in Iraq. When Donnie Dixon, Class of '88 was killed he left behind a wife and their four children. Joe Polo, Class of '95 was younger than Donnie when he died in combat. Joe didn't have any children but he was engaged to be married when he returned to this community after his second tour of duty in the war zone. Charles Sims, Class of '02 was the youngest of our fallen warriors. He was a fresh faced 19-year-old, less than six months out of this school's JROTC classes when he gave his life for you and me and this country. How many young men like Donnie, Joe, and Charles would a school have to produce to get off your list of failing schools?
A teacher was shot at Miami Carol City High last year. In fact we just observed the anniversary, Nov. 6, 2007, when Sergio Miranda and Maria Vives went across the street to smoke a cigarette during their lunch break. Someone came out of the public housing there and shot Mr. Miranda. The bullet lodged near his spine and, as you might imagine, the whole incident severely traumatized Ms. Vives. To this day our colleague undergoes difficult rehabilitation sessions several times a week. But when he is well again Mr. Miranda has pledged to return to this school! When he comes back he will be reunited with Ms. Vives who returned to her students in a matter of days. How much courage and dedication must teachers demonstrate to get off your list of failing schools?
Many of our students live in or near the 33054. A local newspaper recently analyzed crime statistics and made a startling announcement about the neighborhood adjacent to our school. The 33054 is the most dangerous place to be young in all of Florida. The Miami Herald found
that inside the boundaries of zip code 33054 the children and young people live under the most severe threat of violence to be found anywhere in this state. Are there any schools in those upscale suburban neighborhoods on your list of failing schools? (Note: 274 Florida schools are deemed failing by the federal Department of Education. The state Department of Education asked for a special dispensation for some schools and not others.)
Two of my brothers in the teaching fraternity here at Carol City, Mr. Hafter and Mr. Adler, joined me to teach two and three social studies classes at a time in this auditorium in recent years. All our senior students would pass through here during the week. Let me tell you about just five from the Class of 2006. A particularly quiet young man named Evan Page used to come in here for class. A few days after Thanksgiving 2005 Evan was shot to death outside the Checkers where he worked after school. Anthony Elias attended class in this auditorium. The other students called him "Yellowman" because of his light complexion. He was quite popular with the girls. I don't know, something about him being "fine". Anthony was killed with an assault rifle. Sherika Wilson Lynch took her social studies class in this auditorium. She was a student and the beautiful young mother of a baby she named Ahmani. Her baby was 16-months-old when she died. One day Sherika was coming out of a convenience store in the 33054. When she was gunned down a carton of milk for Ahmani fell to the sidewalk beside her. Brian Dupree was once a fun-loving jovial presence in this auditorium. His father is a security monitor in the school. Brian was shot and died just outside his father's home.
Then there was Jeffrey Johnson, Jr. No disrespect intended but he laughed at your FCAT. Jeffrey was a brilliant young man, one of our honor students, headed for a meaningful education at St. Thomas University on a full scholarship. An aspiring lawyer, he once wrote, "I have had a lot of exposure to the legal system and its ramifications. I do not agree with all of it. But I figure they need some good guys like me who do it from the heart, not for the money. I'm so passionate about my goals because I have a hunch that I can make a difference."
Jeffrey Johnson, Jr. perished violently three days before he was supposed to graduate from Carol City High. A street outside the school bears his name now. But as one of his teachers, there has been no consolation in the many tributes paid Jeffrey since his death, until something that happened last Tuesday Nov. 4, 2008 at 11:00 p.m. EST. For the first time it made me think of Jeffrey in a joyful way. A young man like Jeffrey who did graduate from high school, a young man like Jeffrey who did go to law school, a young man like Jeffrey who did get to live out his passion to make a difference, a young man like Jeffrey was elected President of the United States!
Mr. Hernandez, please take this message back to Florida's Commissioner of Education Eric J. Smith and Governor Crist. We are among the people who loved Jeffrey Johnson and who elected Barack Obama president. Any plans you may have had when George W. Bush was in the White House and pushing No Child Left Behind are canceled! Any plans that were drawn up under Jeb Bush's FCAT system are canceled! You will never close Miami Carol City Senior High School! You will never close Edison, Central, Holmes, Liberty City Elementary, Norland, North Miami or any of the other schools on your list! We won't let you!
Paul A. Moore
Teacher, Miami Carol City Senior High School
Home of the Chiefs since '63
Speculating on a UFT/Tweed Side Agreement on ATRs
There has been some speculation concerning tonight's UFT Exec. Bd meeting over some kind of agreement with Tweed urging principals to hire ATRs. Will the union leadership, which had been forced by a vote of the October Delegate Assembly into holding a rally (now a candlelight vigil), announce an agreement and cancel the rally?
Will the DOE exempt the school from being charged for a higher priced teachers by suspending the fair school formula that penalizes a school for hiring more senior teachers?
And if so, for how long? What good would it do if it was only for one year?
And what of the teaching fellow RTRs due to be fired on Dec. 5?
If there is an agreement, look under the rug for the bugs because Tweed gives nothing away for nothing. But there is pressure with budget cuts coming to get the ATRs placed. Maybe a face-saving gesture on both sides.
The UFT will trumpet it as a big victory. But if there is any victory, it would be due to the activities and pressures put on the union by the Ad Hoc committee for ATRs and RTRs.
We'll have reports tonight.
Will the DOE exempt the school from being charged for a higher priced teachers by suspending the fair school formula that penalizes a school for hiring more senior teachers?
And if so, for how long? What good would it do if it was only for one year?
And what of the teaching fellow RTRs due to be fired on Dec. 5?
If there is an agreement, look under the rug for the bugs because Tweed gives nothing away for nothing. But there is pressure with budget cuts coming to get the ATRs placed. Maybe a face-saving gesture on both sides.
The UFT will trumpet it as a big victory. But if there is any victory, it would be due to the activities and pressures put on the union by the Ad Hoc committee for ATRs and RTRs.
We'll have reports tonight.
Thousands join march over school class sizes....
....read a recent headline.
No. This is not in New York City.
Or anywhere in the USA...
.....where teacher unions are more concerned with collaboration on schemes like merit pay and modifying teacher tenure (see one Randi Weingarten speech to the National Press Club on Monday Nov. 17 - we'll be posting these pearls of wisdom later) than in organizing to reduce class size. (Watch them tell us how this is not going to happen with all those billions reserved for bailouts.)
Fred Klonsky had some thoughts about what union leaders are thinking when Ken Swanson, head of the Illinois Education Association referred to Michelle Rhee as "an agent of change" rather than a union buster. "Shouldn't our union leadership be able to tell the difference," Fred asks?
Ok, give up? Why it was in Ireland where they marched to protest budget cuts.
Posted at Norms Notes.
No. This is not in New York City.
Or anywhere in the USA...
.....where teacher unions are more concerned with collaboration on schemes like merit pay and modifying teacher tenure (see one Randi Weingarten speech to the National Press Club on Monday Nov. 17 - we'll be posting these pearls of wisdom later) than in organizing to reduce class size. (Watch them tell us how this is not going to happen with all those billions reserved for bailouts.)
Fred Klonsky had some thoughts about what union leaders are thinking when Ken Swanson, head of the Illinois Education Association referred to Michelle Rhee as "an agent of change" rather than a union buster. "Shouldn't our union leadership be able to tell the difference," Fred asks?
Ok, give up? Why it was in Ireland where they marched to protest budget cuts.
Posted at Norms Notes.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Is There a Deal on ATRs Between the UFT and Tweed?
The UFT will hold a special Executive Board meeting Tues, Nov. 18 at 6PM at 52 Broadway with the sole agenda item being:
Special order of business: Side agreement to encourage principals to hire ATRs.
Special order of business: Side agreement to encourage principals to hire ATRs.
Report on Panel for Education Policy meeting (Monday, February 17).
Read Marjorie Stamberg's report below on tonight's surreal PEP meeting at Tweed. ATRs, rubber rooms (Jeremy Garrett from the Rubber Room movie was there filming), angry special ed parents because the special ed discussion was removed from the agenda because Jim Liebman had to explain the Aris system, and more. I mean, I didn't get home 'till almost 10:30. I did some taping but the battery ran out just as Leonie was about to talk. But I did get Patrick Sullivan suggesting Jim Liebman tends to drone. I think 
Liebman's droning drained my battery.
I spoke and read sections of this piece in today's business section of the NY Times about how Circuit City tried to save money by getting rid of its most experienced higher priced employees and is now bankrupt. A must read for its parallels to the policies at Tweed.
Well, let Marjorie tell the rest of the story.
Tonight’s PEP meeting was a vivid demonstration of the way in which the Department of Education is trampling underfoot the most heartfelt concerns and interests of students, parents and teachers. There was an outpouring of anger--from teachers confined to the “Rubber Room,” from parents and advocates for Special Education, from the ATR teachers denied positions, and from students fighting against military recruitment in the schools. Below is a brief summary of the ATR remarks shortly. But first…
The outrageous treatment of those who had come to speak on the point on “Special Education Update” was breathtaking. They, and everyone else had waited patiently for well over an hour as the Chancellor’s close associate Jim Liebman (architect of the totally bogus school report cards, supposedly based on dubious high stakes tests) droned on about the new ARIS “accountability” system. Then someone from the DOE budget cuts office unveiled a power point presentation about the “four buckets” (I kid you not, this is the way they think) where cuts will take place. When they finally got to the Special Education point, for which parents and advocates had prepared for weeks, the Chancellor suddenly ruled there was no time, the point was off the agenda until a future meeting.
People stormed angrily out of the meeting and we were all aghast that a schools chancellor would just blow off the concerns of children with disabilities! Later, an advocate for the children reluctantly came back and spoke during the public comment session. Ms. Connelly, from the Citiwide Council on Special Education, said it was a sad commentary that the Chancellor’s Panel was doling out the same cavalier treatment that special needs students too often find in this society.
Several people from the ad hoc committee to support the ATRs spoke, including myself, Angela De Souza, and Roz Panepento. We noted that the vendetta against ATRS was part of an assault on teacher tenure, and that parents should be outraged that at a time when classes are larger than ever, teachers are being kept out of classrooms. We emphasized the November 24 rally, demanding a hiring freeze until all ATRS who want positions are placed and that there be no firing of teaching fellows. Our central message is “Let Teachers Teach”—The DOE should stop vilifying and victimizing the teachers who are the heart of public education.”
Three ATR teachers spoke very powerfully about their situation – this is the real story of how DOE arbitrariness rips up people’s lives. Here are some excerpts.
Dr. Lezanne Edmond, ATR, said:
“There are over 1,600 ATRs, who are languishing and their experience and talents wasted on being bathroom and lunchroom monitors, or substitutes, instead of being utilized in the classroom, where they need to be, doing their jobs -- teaching.
“As an educator, with a doctorate in learning styles, with over 10 years of instructional experience, as well as having contributed to over 150 students obtaining their GED, I find having the talents of myself and my colleagues squandered in such a manner unconscionable, as well as an enormous disservice to the city’s students. What needs to cease is the viewing of education as a business, and instead proceed with the business of education.
Mary Najaddene, former citiwide mentor and ATR
“We, the ATRs, are the new class or rather underclass of teachers who have masters and other advanced degrees, and many years of satisfactory service. And yet we have been told unofficially by principals, ‘I’d love to have you here, but I just can’t afford you. I can get two new teachers for your salary.’ That can’t possibly be the reward you alluded to with regard to excellence in teaching.”
Robert Bobrick , ATR at Lafayette HS, said:
“‘Why is the DOE doing this,’ people ask. They can’t understand why the DOE could be so stupid as to pay hundreds of qualified people not to work, or at least not in full-time positions. You might say it is the union contract that doesn’t allow the DOE to fire incompetent pedagogues. But I say our teaching records demonstrate that we are not incompetent, we are in excessed positions because of bad DOE policies--closing large schools instead of supporting them, over-hiring new teachers and teaching fellows. Moreover, you are denigrating and defaming through mouthpieces such as the New Teacher Project -- your most dedicated teaching and school staff.”
Liebman's droning drained my battery. I spoke and read sections of this piece in today's business section of the NY Times about how Circuit City tried to save money by getting rid of its most experienced higher priced employees and is now bankrupt. A must read for its parallels to the policies at Tweed.
Well, let Marjorie tell the rest of the story.
Tonight’s PEP meeting was a vivid demonstration of the way in which the Department of Education is trampling underfoot the most heartfelt concerns and interests of students, parents and teachers. There was an outpouring of anger--from teachers confined to the “Rubber Room,” from parents and advocates for Special Education, from the ATR teachers denied positions, and from students fighting against military recruitment in the schools. Below is a brief summary of the ATR remarks shortly. But first…
The outrageous treatment of those who had come to speak on the point on “Special Education Update” was breathtaking. They, and everyone else had waited patiently for well over an hour as the Chancellor’s close associate Jim Liebman (architect of the totally bogus school report cards, supposedly based on dubious high stakes tests) droned on about the new ARIS “accountability” system. Then someone from the DOE budget cuts office unveiled a power point presentation about the “four buckets” (I kid you not, this is the way they think) where cuts will take place. When they finally got to the Special Education point, for which parents and advocates had prepared for weeks, the Chancellor suddenly ruled there was no time, the point was off the agenda until a future meeting.
People stormed angrily out of the meeting and we were all aghast that a schools chancellor would just blow off the concerns of children with disabilities! Later, an advocate for the children reluctantly came back and spoke during the public comment session. Ms. Connelly, from the Citiwide Council on Special Education, said it was a sad commentary that the Chancellor’s Panel was doling out the same cavalier treatment that special needs students too often find in this society.
Several people from the ad hoc committee to support the ATRs spoke, including myself, Angela De Souza, and Roz Panepento. We noted that the vendetta against ATRS was part of an assault on teacher tenure, and that parents should be outraged that at a time when classes are larger than ever, teachers are being kept out of classrooms. We emphasized the November 24 rally, demanding a hiring freeze until all ATRS who want positions are placed and that there be no firing of teaching fellows. Our central message is “Let Teachers Teach”—The DOE should stop vilifying and victimizing the teachers who are the heart of public education.”
Three ATR teachers spoke very powerfully about their situation – this is the real story of how DOE arbitrariness rips up people’s lives. Here are some excerpts.
Dr. Lezanne Edmond, ATR, said:
“There are over 1,600 ATRs, who are languishing and their experience and talents wasted on being bathroom and lunchroom monitors, or substitutes, instead of being utilized in the classroom, where they need to be, doing their jobs -- teaching.
“As an educator, with a doctorate in learning styles, with over 10 years of instructional experience, as well as having contributed to over 150 students obtaining their GED, I find having the talents of myself and my colleagues squandered in such a manner unconscionable, as well as an enormous disservice to the city’s students. What needs to cease is the viewing of education as a business, and instead proceed with the business of education.
Mary Najaddene, former citiwide mentor and ATR
“We, the ATRs, are the new class or rather underclass of teachers who have masters and other advanced degrees, and many years of satisfactory service. And yet we have been told unofficially by principals, ‘I’d love to have you here, but I just can’t afford you. I can get two new teachers for your salary.’ That can’t possibly be the reward you alluded to with regard to excellence in teaching.”
Robert Bobrick , ATR at Lafayette HS, said:
“‘Why is the DOE doing this,’ people ask. They can’t understand why the DOE could be so stupid as to pay hundreds of qualified people not to work, or at least not in full-time positions. You might say it is the union contract that doesn’t allow the DOE to fire incompetent pedagogues. But I say our teaching records demonstrate that we are not incompetent, we are in excessed positions because of bad DOE policies--closing large schools instead of supporting them, over-hiring new teachers and teaching fellows. Moreover, you are denigrating and defaming through mouthpieces such as the New Teacher Project -- your most dedicated teaching and school staff.”
Union Busting 101
[The] Mayor and Chancellor are considering restoring the District's power to create nonunionized charter schools and possibly seeking federal legislation declaring the school system a "state of emergency" , a move that (the Post) reports would eliminate the need to bargain with the Washington Teachers' Union. Could their strategy be union busting ? Before you answer, here are some of the tactics of typical union busters. Sound vaguely familiar to what's happening in DC?
More tactics of union busters at The Washington Teacher.
More tactics of union busters at The Washington Teacher.
More on Detroit Union Elections: Steve Conn and Heather Miller Get Jobs Back
Both Steve Conn and Heather Miller recently go their jobs back after being fired for participating in a rally.
See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lpkyNHYZck for the press conference on the law suit.
Steve Conn was an activist in Teamsters Local 688 and Teamsters for a Democratic Union in St.Louis in the in the 1980's. He is now a supporter of the civil rights group BAMM and current candidate for President of the Detroit Teachers Union. He recently spoke on the panel on "Defense of Public Education in the USA" which was part of the AFT
Peace And Justice Caucus events at the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO convention last July in Chicago.
So what's going on in Detroit with a slate of pro Green Dot so-called "reformers" (see post previous to this) and Steve Conn running in the Detroit teacher union elections? I'm efforting to get more info and will post an update attached to this post when I do.
And of course, there is the questions of whether there will still be a Detroit if the auto industry goes bust.
See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lpkyNHYZck for the press conference on the law suit.
Steve Conn was an activist in Teamsters Local 688 and Teamsters for a Democratic Union in St.Louis in the in the 1980's. He is now a supporter of the civil rights group BAMM and current candidate for President of the Detroit Teachers Union. He recently spoke on the panel on "Defense of Public Education in the USA" which was part of the AFT
Peace And Justice Caucus events at the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO convention last July in Chicago.So what's going on in Detroit with a slate of pro Green Dot so-called "reformers" (see post previous to this) and Steve Conn running in the Detroit teacher union elections? I'm efforting to get more info and will post an update attached to this post when I do.
And of course, there is the questions of whether there will still be a Detroit if the auto industry goes bust.
The Next Line of Attack on Teacher Unions: TFA Slates Run in Union Elections?
The Detroit News is urging support for a group of pro charter school teachers who are running a slate in the Detroit Teacher Union elections. Under the title of "Reform-minded Detroit teachers deserve help" - you know the drill: "Reform Minded" is code for "the union and teachers are the problem" – the article goes on to say[Teachers] Crowley and Turner have organized the Detroit Children First slate. Made up of 19 diverse classroom teachers, it faces the current union President Virginia Cantrell and a host of other candidates.
The Children First slate's goal is two-fold: First, to begin a reform conversation among teachers who too often are ignored by the district's dysfunctional, bloated bureaucracy. Second, to create its own charter school. Its model: the Green Dot Schools, a Los Angeles nonprofit network of unionized charter high schools that is proving poor, urban and minority students can reach the same academic heights as their white and suburban peers do.
Children First? Sound familiar to Joel Klein's "Children Last" initiatives? Think there's a chance there is some connection to Teach for America?
You can read all about Green Dot's contracts with teachers in Michael Fiorillo's excellent post on ICE-mail: "The UFT and Green Dot Schools : Pragmatic Unionism or Trojan Horse?"
Is this the next level of attack – run in union elections. If we see this popping up in other cities, what organization is capable of mounting such an effort? It starts with a "T" and ends with an "A." Of course it would be surreptitious, but don't be surprised to find some high end political consultants giving such slates advice.
Will we see a pro-Rhee slate in union elections in DC? We saw lots of blog chatter this summer from some of these teachers ("Oh, my car is packed in July so I can run into school early to get ready.") One of the most vociferous pro Rhee ("I love her outside the box thinking. She has thought of a new way around the stubborn WTU - just eliminate the need to work with them altogether!") anti-union bloggers recently announced she had had it and was quitting, never to go back to teaching again.
My guess is they are wasting their time because even newer teachers who last beyond 2 or 3 years see the anti-teacher handwriting on the wall. We are beginning to see that happening in NYC was some of the TFA and Teaching Fellows are emerging from their years of learning and intense studying for their Masters to begin to want to learn more about the union.
As a matter of fact, I'm giving a presentation to a group of these teachers tomorrow at the Justice Not Just Tests group.
Of course in NYC we won't see such a slate run in the UFT elections since the UFT is in proper alignment with so much of the Joel Klein/Michael Bloomberg program. Mayor Mike is showing his appreciation by introducing Randi Weingarten at a big shindig in DC.
Randi watchers are sitting back to see how Randi, with her speak-out-of-5-sides-of-her-mouth tendencies," handles the Rhee situation. A recent NY Times article on Rhee by Sam Dillon, talked about a confrontation between Randi and Rhee.
In May, hundreds of people at a convention of educational entrepreneurs here watched spellbound as Ms. Weingarten, a commanding preseRandi? A commanding presence on stage? And Rhee challenging her from the floor? Reminds me of my old days at the Delegate Assembly.nce onstage, and Ms. Rhee, challenging her from the floor, clashed over what should happen to tenured teachers whom no schools hire.
I'll bet Randi's response to Rhee wasn' t much, though she can throw the words around to make it appear so. Appearance over reality. One thing we can expect: there will be some militant rhetoric from the AFT, but not much action.
I posted the complete Detroit article on Norms Notes.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Tweed Public Relations Head Gets Mail
David Cantor, from the Tweed PR Department, responded on the NYC Education News parent dominated listserve to some of the critical comments on Joel Klein and got an earful. Or a basket full of email. His post and responses from parents Steve Koss and Leonie Haimson (just 2 out of numerous) are posted on Norms Notes. (I'll add some more to the post as they come in.
Q & A With a UFT CL
Hi Norm,
Q: How are you? I would like to know if you have heard from any other chapter leaders/teachers about how they are so disgusted with the union, DOE, and especially the administrators. I just received the chapter leader update and the union is asking us to have a discussion with our principal about the budget cuts so classrooms are protected. Doesn't the union realize, or should I say, want to realize, that the principals will do whatever they please, including budget cuts?
A: What is there to say? The union tries to maintain the fiction that it is functioning at the school level. If a principal is benign and has a sense of fairness, then there it does, but due to the principal and not the union. Since most principals are not benign, the UFT is a head without much of a body. But they issue these directives with a prayer attached.
Q: How are you? I would like to know if you have heard from any other chapter leaders/teachers about how they are so disgusted with the union, DOE, and especially the administrators. I just received the chapter leader update and the union is asking us to have a discussion with our principal about the budget cuts so classrooms are protected. Doesn't the union realize, or should I say, want to realize, that the principals will do whatever they please, including budget cuts?
A: What is there to say? The union tries to maintain the fiction that it is functioning at the school level. If a principal is benign and has a sense of fairness, then there it does, but due to the principal and not the union. Since most principals are not benign, the UFT is a head without much of a body. But they issue these directives with a prayer attached.
Jane Addams got a D
Dear Colleagues,
Yeah, [Jane] Addams got a D.
But the fix was in, right from the start, for us to "fail."
A closer look at the "report card" reveals:
1. Our "Student Performance" (success in graduating students, in four years) score: B
Honestly, what the hell else matters???
2. Our "Student Progress" score: F
Simplified- We didn't improve enough from the B in "Student Performance."
And in case you haven't noticed- the competency of the students admitted to Addams is not the same as it was just four years ago.
(No longer are students who really want to come to Addams routinely admitted.)
3. The group of 40 so-called "Peer Schools" to which Addams is being compared includes schools that are very different than ours.
Many of the 40 are newer "mini academies" - the replacement schools for schools that were previously closed down.
These schools have much smaller enrollments, and can, to a larger extent, "cherry pick" which students are admitted and which are rejected.
The dirty little secret is that many of these rejected students are sent to… Addams (and Truman)
Remember, the big money (Gates Foundation, Broad Foundation, et. al.) and its lackeys (Klein in NYC, Rhee in DC, et. al.) is on "proving" that "traditional" "big" schools (read: us!!!) don't work.
And - surprise, surprise - this report card does just that.
Hope y'all haven't already spent that $3,000 "bonus money" that we were never gonna get, but were conned into voting for - twice.
Solidarity forever (for the Union makes us strong)
A teacher at Jane Addams HS (the Bronx)
Yeah, [Jane] Addams got a D.
But the fix was in, right from the start, for us to "fail."
A closer look at the "report card" reveals:
1. Our "Student Performance" (success in graduating students, in four years) score: B
Honestly, what the hell else matters???
2. Our "Student Progress" score: F
Simplified- We didn't improve enough from the B in "Student Performance."
And in case you haven't noticed- the competency of the students admitted to Addams is not the same as it was just four years ago.
(No longer are students who really want to come to Addams routinely admitted.)
3. The group of 40 so-called "Peer Schools" to which Addams is being compared includes schools that are very different than ours.
Many of the 40 are newer "mini academies" - the replacement schools for schools that were previously closed down.
These schools have much smaller enrollments, and can, to a larger extent, "cherry pick" which students are admitted and which are rejected.
The dirty little secret is that many of these rejected students are sent to… Addams (and Truman)
Remember, the big money (Gates Foundation, Broad Foundation, et. al.) and its lackeys (Klein in NYC, Rhee in DC, et. al.) is on "proving" that "traditional" "big" schools (read: us!!!) don't work.
And - surprise, surprise - this report card does just that.
Hope y'all haven't already spent that $3,000 "bonus money" that we were never gonna get, but were conned into voting for - twice.
Solidarity forever (for the Union makes us strong)
A teacher at Jane Addams HS (the Bronx)
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Rhee in DC: Foxes in the Chicken Coop
Susan Ohanian offered this comment at her site on another article on Rhee in DC.
As usual, Sam Smith offers a concise, on-target critique.
One of the worst ideas floating around Washington is to give some high federal position to Michelle Rhee, DC school chancellor. Rhee, who has accomplished little of substance, is the media protected product of an area business community that would like to undermine public education as much as possible. Hence DC has an exceptional number of effectively unmonitored charter schools and Rhee is going after teacher tenure - not to mention teachers themselves - like a Blackwater mercenary dealing with Iraqis.
— Sam Smith
Rhee's master plan includes bribing teachers to give up tenure with a promise of raises of as much as $40,000. Sounds good until you realize the money is coming from unsecured grants from private foundations and Rhee could be gone in a short while, either through misguided promotion to the federal level or being dumped. In any case there's no tenure in the alternative to tenure.
You can find much more of this sorry story on our local site (DC City Desk) and searching for Rhee.
Undernews
2008-11-15
Radio interview blasts holes in DOE's reported 'successes'
November 14, 10:31 AM
by Lorri Giovinco-Harte, New York City Education Examiner
Full story at:
http://www.examiner.com/x-903-New-York-City-Education-Examiner~y2008m11d14-Radio-interview-blasts-holes-in-DOEs-reported-successes
by Lorri Giovinco-Harte, New York City Education Examiner
We sometimes forget that the mayor of New York City owns one of the largest media outlets in the world. This has caused many critics to question how much influence Mayor Bloomberg has over information that is reported about his office, performance, and the agencies which are under his control.
We've seen how deeply the mayor's influence runs in relation to his determination to eliminate term limits. Tom Robbins at The Village Voice refers to Bloomberg's 'Velvet Coup' in quietly influencing important media outlets in his bid. Robbins writes:
Forgive me. Mike Bloomberg would never shut down newspapers or use brutal thugs against dissenters in order to hold onto power. He doesn't have to. He buys them.
Many argue that this influence extends to information that is reported about the school system which Bloomberg also controls. Parents, educators, and students often paint a very different picture of the 'successes' which are touted in some local papers. This morning, The Daily News ran an editorial which extolled the virtues of the mayor and chancellor, proclaiming:
There must be unrelenting, sustained leadership of the kind applied by Bloomberg and Klein.
The article discusses the vast improvements in graduation rates and test scores that have occurred under Bloomberg's control.
Twenty fours hours prior to this publication, however, two educational advocates engaged in a radio interview which painted a very different picture.
Parental advocate, Leonie Haimson, and educational advocate, Norm Scott, were guests on WBAI's morning show, Wake Up Call in which they refuted many of the reported statistics and improvements touted by the Bloomberg administration about the public schools.
Full story at:
http://www.examiner.com/x-903-New-York-City-Education-Examiner~y2008m11d14-Radio-interview-blasts-holes-in-DOEs-reported-successes
Thomas Friedman’s World Is Flat Broke
From Susan Ohanian's "Outrages:"
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=8320
Vanity Fair
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=8320
Vanity Fair
[B]ased on the bad news coming out of shopping-mall owner General Growth Properties[GGP], it is no wonder Thomas Friedman is feeling crankier than usual. That’s because the author’s wife, Ann (née Bucksbaum), is an heir to the General Growth fortune. In the past year, the couple—who live in an 11,400-square-foot mansion in Bethesda, Maryland—have watched helplessly as General Growth stock has fallen 99 percent, from a high of $51 to a recent 35 cents a share. The assorted Bucksbaum family trusts, once worth a combined $3.6 billion, are now worth less than $25 million.
Maybe Friedman's fall from the billionaire's club will make him come to his senses on some of this financial and trade stuff. Maybe - just maybe - he'll start realizing that the free-market fundamentalism he's been preaching for so long has some downsides.
Friday, November 14, 2008
The Cost of Accountability
Leonie Haimson has a great wrapup on the costs of accountability, money drained from use in the classroom. Yes, the accountability movement - let's spend gobs of money to measure kids, teachers, schools, principals - for exactly what purpose? Leonie will probably put it up on the NYC parent blog but right now I have it at Norms Notes and it is a must read.
The idea of bottom line accountability makes sense in the business world. Measure success and failure by the numbers. Applying the idea to the education world however, has created an immense dislocation of resources out of the classroom, while at the same time diverting teachers from their real teaching mission. Many people have pointed out that every minute spent evaluating is a minute lost to instruction. You know, that "using data to inform instruction" crap.
See Steve Krashen We Must Be a NUT (No Unnecessary Testing) at Ed Notes.
Teachers have always used data they accumulated from testing and observation to inform their instruction.
The obscenity here is that teachers are not to be trusted - the anti-educator, no nothing mood currently dominating the educational debate in this country, as exemplified by Joel Klein and Michelle Rhee.
So let's hire people at enormous expense to provide data to teachers, data they often have little time to address. But so what if the reality of the daily teaching grind leaves little room to use this data? Just use the data to punish and reward and close down entire sections of school systems instead of trying to fix what's wrong. See CLASS SIZE MATTERS at Leonie's site.
Related:
Also see another one of Leonie's posts Would national testing really improve our schools?
And if you have some time, chack out another post at Norms Notes that expose the destructive policies of BloomKlein. Is there anything these guys get right?
LANGUAGE COMPANIES SHUT BY NEW DEPT. OF ED POLICY
Obama Forced To Reign From US Senate
Republican investigators, Fox News an Rush Limbaugh are charging that Barack Obama is being forced to resign from the US Senate this Sunday. "This is an unexpected November Surprise," said a spokesman. "Too bad we weren't aware of this before Election Day, as exposing him even a few days before, would have won the election for McCain." Republicans are calling for a special prosecutor to investigate and Ken Starr has been contacted.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Joel Klein's Perfomance: Leonie and I on WBAI this Morning
UPDATE: David B. extracted just the portion of the program with Leonie and I.
The WBAI full program segment:
http://archive.wbai.org/files/mp3/081113_070001wuc.MP3
Our segment starts at 40:43 after Miriam Makeba sings.
I think I said that Klein persecuted (instead of prosecuted) Bill Gates during the anti-trust case. The host made the interesting point that Klein did not enforce anti-trust laws much beyond Microsoft. He went for the one case that would make him look good. Why are we not surprised?
WBAI may be doing something tonight around 7:30 or 8 on the same subject. I don't know who the guests are.
It's pretty interesting the ride this is being given.
At yesterday's UFT delegate assembly there was also a discussion and a resolution. The ICE attempt to amend it to expand things beyond Klein to the genre he represents was turned down.
Good work Lisa North and Michael Fiorillo in making some important points. While we focus on Klein, the idea that Michelle Rhee would also not be objectionable should also be raised. How long before Washington parents and teachers start their own petitions? I guess she has to be there longer than a year to alienate everyone, but she's doing even better than Klein at that.
Here is the text of what we handed out.
No Klein Or His Ilk In Obama Ed Dept.
ICE congratulates everyone who worked so hard to have Barack Obama elected US President. The multitudes of teachers who donated and worked for Obama expect that we will be respected by an Obama administration. We have suffered through a quarter century of teacher bashing in this country since the infamous A Nation at Risk was published. First, there was competency testing of teachers (supported by Hillary Clinton incidentally). Then, the one-way accountability system was introduced that blamed teachers for all of the social ills of the country. This led to the high-stakes testing movement which combined with Mayoral dictatorships over schools in many of our large cities. Blaming teachers became an acceptable form of discrimination. ICE states emphatically: TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF TEACHING BASHING IS ENOUGH! We must send real educators to Washington who will support an education policy that respects our work. ICE would like to see the following motion added to the agenda today:
Resolved, that the UFT will work to see that the Secretary and Under-secretary of Education share our values and we will toil to defeat any nominee such as Arne Duncan, Michelle Rhee, Joel Klein, Paul Vallas or any other potential Secretary of Education who supports corporate style, top-down, high stakes test crazed, teacher bashing accountability.
The WBAI full program segment:
http://archive.wbai.org/files/mp3/081113_070001wuc.MP3
Our segment starts at 40:43 after Miriam Makeba sings.
I think I said that Klein persecuted (instead of prosecuted) Bill Gates during the anti-trust case. The host made the interesting point that Klein did not enforce anti-trust laws much beyond Microsoft. He went for the one case that would make him look good. Why are we not surprised?
WBAI may be doing something tonight around 7:30 or 8 on the same subject. I don't know who the guests are.
It's pretty interesting the ride this is being given.
At yesterday's UFT delegate assembly there was also a discussion and a resolution. The ICE attempt to amend it to expand things beyond Klein to the genre he represents was turned down.
Good work Lisa North and Michael Fiorillo in making some important points. While we focus on Klein, the idea that Michelle Rhee would also not be objectionable should also be raised. How long before Washington parents and teachers start their own petitions? I guess she has to be there longer than a year to alienate everyone, but she's doing even better than Klein at that.
Here is the text of what we handed out.
No Klein Or His Ilk In Obama Ed Dept.
ICE congratulates everyone who worked so hard to have Barack Obama elected US President. The multitudes of teachers who donated and worked for Obama expect that we will be respected by an Obama administration. We have suffered through a quarter century of teacher bashing in this country since the infamous A Nation at Risk was published. First, there was competency testing of teachers (supported by Hillary Clinton incidentally). Then, the one-way accountability system was introduced that blamed teachers for all of the social ills of the country. This led to the high-stakes testing movement which combined with Mayoral dictatorships over schools in many of our large cities. Blaming teachers became an acceptable form of discrimination. ICE states emphatically: TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF TEACHING BASHING IS ENOUGH! We must send real educators to Washington who will support an education policy that respects our work. ICE would like to see the following motion added to the agenda today:
Resolved, that the UFT will work to see that the Secretary and Under-secretary of Education share our values and we will toil to defeat any nominee such as Arne Duncan, Michelle Rhee, Joel Klein, Paul Vallas or any other potential Secretary of Education who supports corporate style, top-down, high stakes test crazed, teacher bashing accountability.
Emily LaGates Says - "Never Mind!"
It's really worth noting what was happening in Seattle at the Gates Foundation shindig where reporter extraordinaire Elizabeth Green gives us the full scoop. An awful lot of what Gates had to say was pure poop.
He said that while the investments created some noteworthy successes, which he said proved an important lesson — “that all students can succeed” — the overall goal of scaling up successful models was a disappointment.
“Largely, this has not happened,” he said.
Many of the 8% of schools did not succeed: Their test scores were actually lower than the average scores of schools in their school district, and their college-attending rates climbed painfully slowly, up only 2.5 percentage points over five years. A main strategy of the schools, breaking large high schools into smaller units, on its own guaranteed no overall success, Gates said.
He said the New York City small schools were an example of successes in raising high school graduation rates — but a disappointment in that their graduates were no likelier than any city student to be prepared to go onto college.
Ya mean Bill that you helped destroy entire swaths of the NYC school system and now it's "Never Mind?" Oops!
Green goes on:
Perhaps the most sensitive project will be investments to study a seemingly innocuous subject: teacher effectiveness. The touchy part is that the foundation is signaling that it will urge school districts to find ways to fire teachers judged ineffective.
“If their students keep falling behind, they’re in the wrong line of work, and they need to move on,” Bill Gates...
Following this same line of reasoning, Gates will soon announce he is closing down Microsoft for foisting the Windows Operating system on the world despite it's being a vastly inferior product to the Apple Macintosh OS. "If we keep falling behind Apple, we're in the wrong line of work and need to move on," Gates said. Microsoft will produce hair brushes from now on.
New Microsoft line of products
Skoolboy over at Eduwonkette laughed uncontrollably - Bill Gates, U.S. Superintendent of Schools at this line from Green's reportAs part of its new approach, the Gates Foundation will advocate for the politically thorny goal of national standards — and will aim to write its own standards and its own national test.
I have an idea for a national standard:
Ability to use Windows computers and all Microsoft products to the exclusion of anything resembling Apples, even if they want to serve them for lunch.
(Sidenote: I was in NYC school tech when BloomKlein took over. Think there was any favoritism towards Microsoft, which made millions?)
Skoolboy says, "Read it again, slowly: The Gates Foundation will develop its own national standards and its own national test. Does anybody else think this is a really, really bad idea? I'm delighted that the Gates Foundation has realized that throwing money at small schools didn't work, but I'm not prepared to turn over the public's interest in what is to be taught and learned to a private philanthropy, no matter how civic-minded it may be.
Hey Skoolboy, isn't Bill Gates allowed to make a few mistakes? Check out this idiot comment from CodyPT:
Ah, yes CodyPT. What we need are non-experts. I hope you get one of those the next time you go to a doctor
Mike Klonsky also has some thoughts- Gates' unveils '3 pillars' and here on the subject.
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