Teacher Defends Small Schools and Others Respond

A teacher emailed GEM asking for a correction to a leaflet that he felt equated small schools with charters. Here is the original and some reactions:

I received an email from GEMnyc supporting a protest of school closures. I agree with everything in the email, except for the inclusion of small schools in the statement below:

"The little known secret behind charter schools and small schools is that they steal the highest achieving students from district schools, and turn away ELL, Special Education, and struggling students."

I work at a small school. Our incoming class of students were all level 1 and 2. We are just as frustrated as other schools regarding the siphoning away of higher level students by selective schools, whether they be charters or others. The issue is not with the size of the school, but the selectivity of the school. Why should some schools be able to select their students and others not?

Please correct this error. It is hard enough to defend the existence of our school without misinformation being propagated by the "good guys."

Responses:

I disagree w/ this.
I understand that there are dedicated teachers at small schools, who are doing a great job and are equally frustrated. However, the 'attack' or criticism is not on individual small schools, but the strategy of using small schools to dismantle and undermine public education. Small schools, in the larger context, are a piece in the privatization puzzle.
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I do think there is a context here for that statement in that the small schools movement has been as much a political one as educational if not more. If the charter school cap gets lifted many of them will be swept away too. I think we need to figure out ways to create small school environments within larger structures. That will not happen unless more power resides in the hands of teachers.
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I tend to agree. The small schools are not the same as charters. More nuanced wording is needed by us. Since there are ways in which the small school movement is supporting privatization and union busting, but, like he says they are also suffering much the same fate as other schools at the hands of charters etc.
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I think an important point is that breaking up a big school into smaller schools doesn't fix it. I started at my school while it was a [large high school] during the time it was being phased out for being a "dangerous" and "failing" school. The folks in the [wehite upscale] neighborhood couldn't wait to get their hands on the school (there is a racist element to this which I won't get into now). Once it was restructured. Long story short - [the old school] hasn't been in the school for at least 4 or 5 years and if you ask the folks who have been there for 20-30 years, things were BETTER under [the old school]. More discipline, more classes being offered, tech classes (auto shop, for example), a bilingual program. And now my school, I fear, could be on Bloomberg's chopping-block. We suffer from the same "failings" as many of the other schools that are being closed - declining enrollment, F's on Student performance, C's and D's on our report card, etc. Making a big school small doesn't fix the problems. What breaking up a big school does is divide an conquer the teachers in a building, weaken the chapters, and if Bloomberg gets his way, gets rid of senior excessed teachers.

Weekend Comings and Goings

WBAI Monday 7:45AM:
Mark Torres of the CPE and I will be discussing Patterson call for lifting charter school cap

Lots of weekend wrap up stuff and I didn't get to half of it.

Charter Schools: The Privatization of Public Education?
I missed this video on charter schools last week on the NYCPublicSchoolParent blog. Brian Jones of GEM and Bill Perkins and others:
http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-charter-school-critiques-separate.html


Smith rally last Friday and meeting Monday night
Smith H.S. rallied 100 people to fight against Bloomberg's attempt to close this invaluable gateway for many Bronx working class students. Students led the chants and pleaded passionately to save Smith and its many vocational programs that provide lifelong careers. Many graduates have earned jobs that service our communities and have even helped build the new Bronx Yankee stadium. In this video , Danny Escobar pours his heart out in the school's defense. Smith has nurtured him as a family and is giving him carpentry skills that are provided nowhere else.

Click to view video by Angel Gonzalez
Save Alfred E. Smith High School - A Gateway for Students


Barrett reveals Thompson as Dirty
The next time you read a New Action leaflet bragging about how they were the only caucus to endorse Bill Thompson, suggest people read this revealing Wayne Barrett piece in the Voice about Thompson's girlfriend/wife museum scam and how Bloomberg helped out.


On DOE playing politics with school grade structure
Teacher:
One of these schools...is very close to my school. It will be a 5-8 school and my principal is worried about losing more 5th grade students. We have already lost one of our 5th grade classes to charter schools. She said the charter schools should not be allowed to have the 5-8 span of grades. (It takes students from both elementary AND middle schools). Also, we have a student who was just readmitted to our school from a charter school. He gave us a hard time from K-4th grade. The mother said that they called her every day to come pick him up or come sit with him in school. The charter school suspended him to home. My principal said how can charter schools suspend kids to home and the public schools cannot? The boy is even more of a problem now. Evidently he was made to wear different colors and sit by himself in class and lunch. If other students talked to him, they received demerits.

On Governance
Parent:
Why would we allow independent and self-governing parent bodies to be regulated literally to death by an autocratic repressive administration that has no moral or operational credibility with parents, students or teachers after 7 years of abuse, neglect and harmful politically-motivated policies? I think the time for working with the powers that be to explain that this initiative won't work, that the consequences of that policy to schools, children families, will be dreadful, followed by ripple effects of harm and months of all of us crying " I told you so" are over. The whole point of mayoral control has been to stave off any democratic process and to be able to ram an agenda down the public's throat. If you had any doubts as to what that agenda may have been, in case you got caught up in the rhetoric and spin, I hope the January PEP agenda with 8 regulations and 22 school closings makes it clear now. Mission accomplished!


Reminder: Norman Thomas Demo and rally
If can remind your contacts of the Demonstration to prevent the phasing out of Norman Thomas it would greatly be appreciated. Demonstrate at Norman Thomas before the hearings on Monday, January 11 between 4 and 5 PM.
It is IMPERATIVE that we convey this message to all our contacts inside and outside of the school. What we say as a body will have a greater impact than what we say inside during the hearings on Monday. Show your support for Our School and Chapter Leader by getting to the picket line and demonstrating to prevent this tragedy from occurring. REMEMBER -THE JOB YOU SAVE MAY VERY WELL BE YOUR OWN! This is not a fear tactic IT IS QUICKLY BECOMING THE REALITY. BLOOMBERG AND KLEIN HAVE DECLARED WAR AGAINST US! EAST 33RD ST, AND PARK AVE. #6 TRAIN-IN SOLIDARITY, NICK LICARI


Bloomberg School Closings Draw Ire

"They dropped a bomb on the schools without any notice,” said William McDonald, a Queens parent and a leader of the Save Our Schools Coalition, a group that opposes the school closings. “The principals didn’t know. The teachers didn’t know. The parents didn’t know.” Full story:
http://www.indypendent.org/2010/01/07/school-closings-2


This is a story that might have legs as we attempt to link these students up with the closing schools activist students.

THE URBAN YOUTH COLLABORATIVE HAS INVITED OUR STUDENTS TO JOIN THEM IN THE FIGHT TO STOP THE MTA CUTS TO STUDENT METROCARDS.

From Caitlyn Ervin of the Urban Youth Collaborative-

This Monday, the Urban Youth Collaborative is hosting a meeting FOR students, led BY students, to come up with an action plan around cuts to student Metrocards. Attached is the flyer—please encourage your children to attend, and forward widely!

Every student deserves to get to school safely and for FREE! And the new proposed cutting of student metro cards by the MTA will hit low-income students of color the hardest. Students need to be at the front of the movement to STOP THE CUTS! This is why UYC is having a Student Union meeting where all students from New York City are invited to come learn about how this issue can potentially affect them and their families, and brainstorm together on how we’re going to fight to stop the cuts.

When: Monday, January 11th @ 5pm
Where: Trinity Parish Hall 74 Trinity Place

Emergency citywide PARENT CONFERENCE on School Closings set for Jan. 16th(

This is being organized by parent activists: The conference planning committee includes Lisa Donlan, Shino Tanikawa, Khem Irby, William McDonald and Monica Major; all active parent leaders from Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. Teachers and students will be involved. The UFT changed its MLK event with Bloomie buddy Calvin Butts from Monday to Jan. 16 but these guys were out there first.

The Busy Bees at the DOE

The Tweed gang has a busy schedule in the process of undermining the public school system they are supposed to manage and improve. I put up on Norm's Notes the DoE release of all the goodies they have planned for so many schools. Nothing to do with education, of course.

Proposals for Significant Changes in School Utilization

The ultimate goal of course is to be left with no schools to manage. All Tweed will do is close schools, open new ones, place charter schools in buildings, and move schools from building to building (I asked David B to come up with something for us to chuckle about.) Thanks to Patrick Sullivan for the info.

Today- Brooklyn FIRST LEGO League Qualifying Event

COME ON DOWN

I've been involved in FIRST LEGO Robotics in NYC and nationally - even internationally (as a referee in Tokyo two years ago), since I retired. The tournaments have grown each year as more schools get involved. It is one of the best things I've done. My role is to liaison with the teacher/coaches.

FIRST puts on tournaments all over the world. FLL is for ages 9-14. There are over 16,000 teams in every neck of the world. All competing in the same type of events. The season culminates with the World Festival in April. I went to one in Atlanta and it was quite an experience.

This year's theme is SMART Moves, relating to building and programming robots using LEGO that can navigate through various transportation issues. See more here.

Today is the first of 5 borough tournaments to chose teams that will qualify for the NYC championship at the Javits convention center in March. The Brooklyn tournament is taking place at Polytechnic/NYU in downtown Brooklyn on Jay St. It is free and open to the public and you get to see what all the excitement is about.

I'll be there most of the day so stop by and say hello.

Tomorrow is Staten Island at Wagner College. Next Saturday (Jan. 16) is the Bronx event at Lehman HS and the week after (Jan. 23) is Queens at Aviation HS followed the next day by Manhattan at CCNY.

Follow events at my robotics blog: http://normsrobotics.blogspot.com/

BCHS Closing Hearing: Why Can't They Fix Us?

Columbus HS Alum Reports on Jan. 7 Meeting

Richard Barr sent this to the nyceducation news listserve:

I went to Christopher Columbus H.S. in the Bronx (my alma mater) last night for the joint hearing that DOE arranged about closing the school and also one of the small schools that share the building, Global Enterprise H.S., (which was started during the Bloomberg-Klein regime.)

The auditorium was packed, and everyone who spoke during the first 2 hours, while I was there -- the local elected officials, the B.P.'s rep., the head of the community board, administrators, teachers, union reps (teachers and principals unions), students, alums -- everyone was passionate in their defense of the schools, their opposition to the closings, and their criticism of the DOE.

Heartfelt testimony included statistics refuting the DOE's charges that the schools were failing, charts showing graduation rates above the city-wide average, information about successful coping with over-crowding, high percentages of special needs students and new-arrival students who enter not speaking a word of English. The words of praise in the DOE's own recent progress reports were cited as direct contradiction of the words they now use in their closing rationales.

People spoke about how they have not received help and support from the district office or DOE central. It was pointed out that DOE claims of having consulted with the "stakeholders" about this were bogus, because when personnel at Global asked widely who had been consulted, they could find no one who had. Several people suggested that clearing space for charter schools was the likely explanation for this DOE plan. One student, choked up with tears, said that the closing would shut the door to his future.

The building looked to be in great shape, inside and out, with lots of informational and inspirational signs and college posters all over the walls. It was maybe in better shape than when I attended, and since it opened in 1938, it is now well more than twice as old as it was then.

If PEP votes to close these schools after a hearing like this, it will be a chilling example of how an irrational dictatorship rides roughshod over the near-unanimous opinions and desires of practically all aspects of the communities it supposedly serves. If all the B.P. reps on the PEP, if they each wish to keep their schools open, make common cause for the meeting on the 26th ("Don't vote to close my schools and I won't vote to close yours") and the vote comes out 8 Bloombergs for closing, 5 B.P.'s against, it will demonstrate how unfair the make-up of this group is, and ought to result in lawsuits against the closings.

Richard Barr

School Closing Hearings Turning into Perfect Storm

We predicted back in the fall that a 3rd term for Bloomberg would turn out to be his disaster. Hubris will take the Tweedy gang down the road to oblivion.

It didn't take them long to do that thing. Closing 22 schools in one felt swoop and thinking that scheduling all the hearings right on top of each other would be a classic coup of disaster capitalism of the shock doctrine type. Instead it may be turning into a perfect storm of their own making.

The press has been racing around to cover all these events. The poor gals of Gotham are being run ragged. Maura has to schlep to Beach Channel ("you come to all of those meetings in the city from HERE? she asked) and to Jamaica last night. Yoav from the Post and Lindsey from NY 1 was at both events too. And poor Tweed PR Anne Forte too, who had to endure the slings and arrows as timekeeper at BCHS but was given a break last night by boss David Can't(or) who came along to try to manage the press. Even Dennis Walcott came by to watch the show at Jamaica.

And what a show it was. How interesting that local politicians who have been silent as the dOE closed so many schools are now coming out of the woodwork to condemn them. At both meetings I attended every Queens councilman supported keeping the schools open. Erich Ulrich, a Republican from Howard Beach and a Bloomberg admirer (he practically held up a cross to fend me off when I suggested he come to our demo at Bloomberg's house on Jan, 21) has surprisingly led the effort, getting every Queens councilperson to sign off on supporting the schools. Last night 3 of them told us they were Jamaica High grads.



Even one of my favorite whipping boys, Queens PEP member Dmytro Fedkowskyj, made a decent statement (too late for today's Wave column which goes after him again as a rubber stamp. I told him we will be looking for him to stand up for the Queens schools with his vote on Jan. 26. "Why can't you be more like Patrick Sullivan," I said? His answer is embargoed.

Now the best thing happening was the connection Jamaica chapter leader James Eterno and I made last night between BCHS student leader (see his video in the previous post) and Jamaica HS student leader Rachel Ali (I think) who met for the first time last night and within an hour formed a student union of closing schools and will attend every school closing hearing from now on to try to meet other student leaders. They will try to get many of them to come to the Jan, 21 rally, which Rachel promoted last night.

In the perfect storm brewing, this may turn out to be the biggest wave of all. Though one never knows how these student things turn out since the politicians are already trying to deflect it. Chris just called to say he is going to Ulrich's office for a meeting. How long before he and the others get a meeting with either Bloomberg or Klein or both? And will they accept anything less than keeping their schools open. By the way, both Chris and Rachel are 18 and seniors, so their stake in keeping the school open is coming from a perspective of students for whom the schools has worked.

Don't you just love it when the Tweedies use their "only 46% graduated" data? What about these 46% for which something worked? Sure, go ahead and take away the school that they feel nurtured them in the name of the nameless 54% who did not? When the alumni and current students get up to speak, watch people like John White and Kathleen Grimm, who would run screaming from a classroom, try to keep their eyes off their Blackberries while pretending to listen. It is all about children, not adults, right?

I thought of something last night about how these closings are an attack on the students, and not only the most struggling. They are an attack on that 46% who do succeed. Imagine those kids who are sophomores and have to spend the rest of their school careers in a dying and downsized school? They may be the biggest victims.

And then there is the fact that an alternative to closing a school is leadership change. Yea, like change the principal. One teacher on a video I put up from the Dec. PEP said that they have their third principal in 4 years and this guy is the first one who had real experience and knows what he's doing, so give him a chance.


Hey Norm-cannot believe that over 30 people got up to speak and NOT ONE made mention that the slimy ass principal was not in the room to go "down with his ship". Shows you how stupid and or chicken ass we all are. If someone had guts, they would have challenged him to step in the room to say something. What some of the teachers should have realized is that he was leaving them up the creek w/o a paddle. Knowing this, and it was evident, they should have suggested a change of leadership!! How dedicated can the man be if he is unwilling to step into the room to defend his staff?

In some schools, like Columbus, principals are standing up. But for those who won't and play the Tweedie game, here's what I'll put my money on. The students will be sent to overcrowded schools with long subway and bus rides, teachers will become ATRs and sent who knows where, but the school leadership will land on its feet, maybe even to take down another school? Or is that part of the plan all along?

And then there's the UFT, which last night tried to lay their "Tweed mismanagement line" on. I pointed out that this is not mismanagement but superb management of their intentions to end up having no responsibility for any public schools, because there will be none left.

Student Chris Petrillo Defends Beach Channel HS

Student Chris Petrillo responds to DOE Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm after she gives one of the reasons for closing Beach Channel HS as the lack of students who want to go there. He ticks off program after program that the DOE cut, inluding the oceanography program which attracted him enough to come out to the geographically isolated Rockaway from his home in Ozone Park.

Beach Channel HS Meeting, Jan. 6 2010

There is so much to write about and show you from the two hours of video I took at last night's meeting but I can only give a short report as I've been working in the video and have to leave to go to Jamaica HS hearing tonight. Some GEMers will be covering the Columbus meeting in the Bronx and we should be getting reports. up by the weekend.

The most remarkable thing about the BCHS even last night was the students- current and former who spoke eloquently and passionately about their school. Student leader Chris Petrillo did a 20 minute presentation over the initial objections of Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm after City Councilman Erich Ulrich asked. (He is turning out to be an interesting guy even though a Bloomberg admirer. He showed up with a petition signed by every Queens Council member urging that the schools not be closed.)

I have so much good video of Chris and am editing it in various ways to make what he had to say as effective as possible. The segment I am working on now was his response to Grimm's statement that students don't want to go to BCHS. Chris went through program after program cut by the DOE that would drive students away.

James Eterno, CL of Jamaica HS was there and he and Chris spoke. Chris expressed interest in going to their meeting tonight to link up with the activist kids from Jamaica. I spoke to his mom last night and she said it would be fine. Chris just called to ask if he can get a ride home with me if he goes and it looks like he will be there. He is also anxious to link up with other student activists at closing schools and Seung Ok from Maxwell is putting him in touch with a student there. Oh, and I met with a sophomore on Tuesday at the Academy of Environmental Science who had asked me for help making a video to defend his school (I put out a call and 3 filmmakers responded) and he is also interested in linking up. There are some amazing kids out there and meeting them makes so much of this worth while no matter what happens.

Check back tomorrow morning for some video of BCHS and this weekend for Jamaica HS.

In the meantime read Maura's report at Gotham.

Beach Channel supporters lay out their case against closure

Save Alfred E. Smith Career & Technical Education High School

What: Public hearing regarding proposal by New York City Department of Education to phase-out AES HS

To see the proposal click here

To learn more about AES and the proposal click here

When: Public Hearing: Monday, January 11, 6:00pm

Public Hearing Rally: Friday, Jan 8th, 3:30 - 4:30pm

Where: Rally & Public Hearing will be at Alfred E. Smith CTE High School

333 East 151 Street, Bronx

For directions click here

Subject: Save Alfred E. Smith Career & Technical Education High School

Alfred E. Smith Career & Technical Education (CTE) High School is one of the public schools proposed to be phase out by the NYC Department of Education (DOE) due to poor graduation rates. The DOE's Panel for Education Policy (PEP) states that Alfred E. Smith CTE HS will be phased out without replacement. We welcome change, but phasing out our school is not the answer and unacceptable; not having a plan that involves the continued use of the building to educate the economically disadvantaged South Bronx students in pre-engineering, plumbing, carpentry, electrical, HVAC, and automotive mechanics is disgraceful. A phase out would mean no freshman will enter the shop classes in September 2010. The teachers will be released, shop classes will be increasingly underutilized and eventually nonexistent. As a result, plumbers, electricians, HVAC mechanics, carpenters, automotive mechanics and pre-engineers no longer be trained at AES. Phasing out Alfred E. Smith HS and eliminating its unparalleled Career & Technical Education component is unequivocally a mistake and not the solution to the problem, here are quantitative reasons why:

Read more at Norms Notes:

Save Alfred E. Smith Career & Technical Education High School

Whither Beach Channel: some politics is local, but not all

Tonight there will be a school closing meeting at Beach Channel HS. I just submitted this for my Wave column which includes yesterday's post (revised - "My guess is the UFT's strategy is to try to save 2 or 3 schools and pull a Bush by having Mulgrew land a jet, exit and declare, "Mission accomplished.")

With the Panel for Educational Policy, the Bloomberg rubber stamp poor excuse for a NYC board of education due to vote on each of the 22 closing schools at the January 26 meeting (6PM, sign up to speak at 5:30), which was moved from Staten Island to Brooklyn Tech, expect lots of action. The UFT is organizing an action and has gotten a permit for the park across the street from Tech for a rally at 4:30.

The new mayoral control law passed this summer forces Tweed to go through a process before closing schools, so there are meetings taking place at all 22 schools during the first two weeks of January. The one at Beach Channel was held on the evening of Jan. 6, after this column was submitted. I'm taping it for you tube but don't expect much more than some venting. Hopefully the Beach Channel staff/student/parent nexus will turn out for the Jan. 21 and Jan. 26 demos where there is some chance to make a dent en masse.

It is important to be aware of the big picture and the Education deform plan: use any means to move as much of the public education system into private hands. Beach Channel is a victim of that plan. The elimination of neighborhood, zoned schools under the so-called – "doesn't everyone have the right to have choice" propaganda – is a way to destroy attachment to local schools and community and open them up to charter franchises to run the schools. It is as close to their cherished voucher system as they can get. And bet that someone is making money on these schemes.

These fights have to go beyond Beach Channel and tie in with struggles of other schools. Without a citywide fight back for all schools, something the UFT refuses to take on – preferring to let each school fight it out on their own – one school at a time will be picked off until there are few schools left under public management. This is truly a citywide, indeed, a nationwide, fight to maintain what will become an endangered species –schools under the oversight of taxpaying citizens.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Politicians: Watch what they do, not what they say.

Given the above, there are still battles to fight on the local level. Audrey Pheffer, Eric Ulrich and Lew Simon all spoke up at the first Beach Channel meeting in December, but will they put themselves on the line to keep the school open? Lew in his Wave column spoke about "our wonderful superintendent Michelle Lloyd-Bey," who clearly drinks out of the Tweed Kool-aid trough and put on a shameless performance - and it was a performance - at the Dec. meeting. I know you're a politician Lew, but give me a break! The UFT did send out a local email urging teachers to go to the Jan. 6 meeting and asked them to call politicians to support the school. Pheffer is at (718) 945-9550 and Ulrich at (718) 318-6411.

There are a few politicians who have been missing in action. First and foremost is Queens Borough President Helen Marshall (718) 286-3000 who appointed Dmytro Fedkowskyj (pepofqueens@yahoo.com) as the Queens rep to the PEP. He has been as big a rubber stamp as any Bloomberg flunky. It is time he stand up at the Jan. 26 and vote NO on closing Beach Channel and Jamaica HS and he should support the schools struggling to stay open in other boroughs. There is talk about holding demos at the businesses and homes of the PEP members along with the borough presidents who control them who won't stand up for their communities. Marshall and Brooklyn's Marty Markowitz are particular targets (the Bronx and Manhattan Borough Presidents have appointed people who resist BloomKlein).

In case you forget, we have our own Geraldine D. Chapey, the elder, who has been silent as a member of the State Board of Regents. Her reappointment in 2008 after 20 mute years on the Regents left a lot of people scratching their heads. Let's hear her speak up to save the last neighborhood high school left in Rockaway. Send her a love note at RegentChapey@mail.nysed.gov

Finally, there's State Senator Malcolm A. Smith at (718) 528-4290 who has his own charter school just salivating for the Beach Channel building. There has been speculation that is one of the reasons for BCHS being closed. I know, I know, you've been hearing for years that Peninsula Prep is getting its own building. All charter schools have that line. If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on PPA occupying space in BCHS within two years. By the way, PPA is connected to the Victory Charter school national chain, which takes chunks of money out for "services." Victory's CEO is Peg Harrington, who was in charge of all the high schools in pre-BloomKlein days. You know, those schools she ran that are being dubbed as dismal failures. Go figure. Everyone manages to get on the gravy train.

Our schools are being McDonaldized, which is appropriate since McDonald's is one of the largest employers in the nation and all that test prep going on is not about getting kids to go to college, but to train them to work the cash registers and not overfill the milk shake containers.

Resistance is NOT Futile: Paying Bloomberg a Visit on Jan. 21, 4-6:30

Revised Jan. 6 for The Wave

People involved in education as parents, teachers and even students have been so outraged at the actions of BloomKlein and the Tweed Toadies, and their anger has barely been contained. In recent weeks an outlet for these passions has opened up with the idea that a rally at Bloomberg's residence on Thursday afternoon from 4-6:30 pm would be an excellent way to a) demonstrate to the city and the nation that there is a growing resistance to the education deform movement, with a focus on the school closings and the charter school invasion of public school spaces and b) give participants a sense of unity and purpose for future struggles by having one big party in the streets near Bloomberg's residence (17 East 79th St).

And future struggles there will be, with the next one coming just days later on Jan. 26 at the Panel for Educational Policy meeting where all 22 announced school closings will be voted on. The meeting will be held at Brooklyn Tech HS.

One major difference in the two rallies is that the UFT is organizing the PEP rally and ignoring and actively discouraging the Jan. 21 event, which has groups like the Grassroots Education Movement (GEM), the Concerned Advocates for Public Education (CAPE), the Independent Community of Educators (ICE) and Teachers for a Just Contract (TJC) amongst a growing list backing the rally at Bloomies.

In addition, schools are signing on. Parents and teachers at PS 15 in Red Hook and Jamaica HS have endorsed the rally and some of the closing schools may form committees to support it - if they don't get scared off by the UFT, which has the ability to use less than subtle blackmail - "we won't help you fight if you support this." But people have seen the UFT do nothing, absolutely nothing to save schools from closing in the past, though this outrage of throwing 22 schools in their face by the DOE seems to have forced them to act. My guess is the UFT's strategy is to try to save 2 or 3 schools and pull a Bush by having Mulgrew land a jet, exit and declare, "Mission accomplished."

The Jan. 21 rally is significant in that people often waited for the UFT, the elephant in the room to act first. This time parents and teachers have been saying, "Screw the UFT. They hold their big, boring rallies with boring speakers and then go home without accomplishing anything other than use the event for narrow PR purposes" instead of building a strategy to fighter over the long run.

CAPE, GEM, ICE, and TJC are also organizing around the Jan. 26 PEP rally, but felt that something had to be done in advance of the PEP meeting when the rubber stamp panel will undoubtedly vote in favor of closing the schools. Bloomberg's residence as opposed to the same old City Hall/Tweed rallies seems to be capturing people's imagination. As Jamaica's chapter leader James Eterno told me, "The students want to go to Bloomberg's house."

That students are getting involved can turn out to be BloomKlein's biggest nightmare. You have to watch them react when students get up at meetings (see the video I put up of BCHS student leader Chris Petrillo) and criticize them (as opposed to the disdain they show to teachers). They sit up and pay rapt attention in an attempt to demonstrate that they are interested in "children first." A famous power house attorney is providing legal assistance since the police are violating First Amendment rights by trying to shift demos at Bloomies' to 5th Ave by Central Park where there might less people impacted. Some people worry about numbers. The organizers are not. They see this as a start, the first in a series of actions that may begin to make the case against the education deformers.

What can you do?

BE THERE. And not alone. Bring every teacher and parent and student you know who is plain fed up.

Download the pdf below and hand it out in your schools. Contact me directly at normsco@gmail.com if you have questions.

Note: Come to the GEM organizing meeting for both the Jan. 21 and Jan. 26 rallies today at CUNY at 4:30, rm 5414 or 5409.Bring id.

Jan 21 Rally

Michele Rhee to Close the Washington Redskins Due to Lack of Improvement

Since being declared a TINI - Team In Need of Improvement 3 years ago, the Washington Redskins have been steadily declining despite numerous leadership changes (Spurrier, Gibbs, and the recent scorn of Zorn). With Tweed in NYC proving that leadership change is not the preferred option to closing schools, DC school Supe Michelle Rhee, who has made closing schools an art, has invoked her extraordinary powers and decided to close down the Redskins completely and replace it with a charter football team. "Everyone should have choice when it comes to rooting for teams," said a spokesperson for Rhee, who will be playing quarterback for the new charter team. The team, to be called the Rhee-Jets, will only be drafting players who have never been injured and who score a 3 or 4 on an intelligence test. The Gates Foundation will pay the salaries and Eli Broad will become team president. He declared that the 50 percent of the cheer leaders would be able to apply for the new team, but only if they were qualified.

Panel for Educational Policy, Dec. 2009: Teachers Defend Their Schools

The last in a series of videos from the Dec. PEP meeting, here are a variety of teachers, many of them on the younger side, expressing their outrage at the closing of their schools.

In the past we had seen more senior teachers (ahem) expressing their outrage at Tweed policies, so I view this video as a sort of watershed as these seem to be the very people the DOE was courting and senior teachers were lamenting how they would never stand up. Well, here they go. Inevitable. More will do so until there is a real movement. You doubt it? The ed deformers have so little resistance they will just keep deforming until people can't take it anymore and will act. See CORE in Chicago as a model of what's coming to NYC.

We met one of the teachers who spoke on the subway platform after the meeting. She is a TFA alum. Her first school in her first year was closed. She felt she found a home in her new school and now this school is being closed. "They say TFA's won't stay but I expected to keep teaching here. But with this happening so often I don't know if I will. I want to teach but probably not here." She is a much needed math teacher. The other teachers were equally impressive in defending their schools. The URL is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEYJsrUVo1s or watch it here:

Vanguard is the company that gives the charter schools the lists of children

A teacher writes:

We learned at a recent faculty meeting that Vanguard is the company that gives the charter schools the lists of children to contact. This was discovered after one of our families was contacted shortly after they enrolled at our school.

http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/DF1BA404-927F-47FE-8EE1-74D6245F7C99/70288/ContractItemsforNovember122009PEPAgenda.pdf


See also at Norms Notes

DOE’s response to Jim Devor, head of CEC D 15 –

saying that the joint hearings on changes in school utilization and closings do not preclude questioning – contrary to what the DOE public notices may say. Hope other parents, CECs and SLTs take heed.

DEC PEP Meeting on Logan Bus Contract

Attorney Steven Shore asks a few questions and Patrick has a few things to say. They are handing a no-bid contract to people who got the contract by paying bribes. Ana Santos raised some good questions about where are the ratings of the company and there was a response. I had to turn off the camera to save battery and tape so I missed some stuff. The DOE guy talking gave the bus company a B rating (Logan rated 11th in safety out of 24 companies) and the entire audience broke into laughter. This bus contract story is not going away.

Stage Struck

Today I completed a 10 week acting course at the Rockaway Theatre Company with actor/director Frank Caiati with my first acting performance in front of an audience. Thank goodness that is over. My monologue was a major rant from "Talk Radio" where I did 2 pages of yelling at the radio audience.

I'd been walking around my house ranting and fuming over my lines. And in my car, screaming at the radio. And in the bathroom - I won't go there. On the subway – in a silent mutter, or I don't think I would have survived.

Frank is about 23 years old and it is already my third class with Frank. I love learning stuff from someone young enough to be my grandchild. The first class I took with Frank two years ago consisted of short 2 person vignettes. In the second class we did a scene with a partner. I played a totalitarian cop who has to intimidate a prisoner, played by a strapping 21 year old. When it wasn't working, Frank handed my a large kitchen knife to wave as I did the interrogation and it did the trick. The kid still runs away when he sees me on ths street. That's what makes Frank a great director, in addition to a great actor.

This class was different. All eight of us did monologues. Frank created a little half hour show, with lighting and stage cues, etc. For the first time I felt a real part of a theater production. Then he told us to invite friends and relatives. I could have lived with that. But then he invited the entire Rockway Theatre Company world. Gulp!

I've been the videographer for the RTC for a few years and have been able to see up close and personal just how incredibly talented so many of the participants are. And these participants cover actors from 6 to 70. And wonderful sound and lighting and stage designers and all kinds of theater talent. I and my fellow classmates were expected to go in front of these almost (and in some cases actual) pros and perform? Double Gulp!!

No one ever has accused me of being shy. I've gotten up to speak in front of large audiences numerous times, though rarely to make a speech or anything like that. And what more critical audience can you find than 30 sixth graders? All day, every day, for an entire year?

But even though teachers do a lot of acting, I found preparing a piece - and mine was pretty long, lasting between 5 and 7 minutes depending on how panicky I was – for a live audience was a very intimidating thing to do. I've always been fascinated by what it took to do live theater and could never imagine myself doing it. Until today.

The class was supposed to end two weeks ago but we were snowed out. A reprieve. I really hadn't nailed my lines. So I spent the last two weeks really working at it. And though I pretty much got them all, I always managed to miss a few every time I practiced. But the good thing about a monologue is that you don't have to worry about flubbing your lines and mess someone else up. You can always cover up.

And that is what I had to do today. There were over a hundred people in the audience, including my Jets football buddies, who were only there because the Jets game was moved to tonight (YEA JETS!) The Priscos from Staten Island braved the icy winds (the theater is out at Fort Tilden where icicles form as you go from the parking lot to the building). And my wife and some friends. And many of the actors I had been watching with such admiration were looking up at me as I took hold of the phony mic simulating a radio show.

Motivation was easy. I imagined Michael Bloomberg was the audience. I was pretty much sailing along, ranting and raving. With lines like, "You're pathetic, I despise each and every one of you" I could have been speaking at a PEP meeting (except you Patrick.)

At the end, there is a sequence of epithets that I had to spit out - yellow-bellied, spineless, disgusting, etc. I had nailed them in both dress rehearsals earlier in the day. But this time I lost my way in the middle - somewhere around "quivering" and "drunken." So I just said anything that came to mind. I thought I really messed up. But people said it wasn't noticeable.

What a relief to get this over with. People were asking me if I was going to audition for a play. I'm not ready. And the time involved is almost incomprehensible, (though with people like Angel Gonzalez being retired and willing to race around the city organizing, I have plenty of time now). One of the directors did say she has a good role for me as one of the card players in the "Odd Couple" next November. Better start brushing up on my poker game.

(I have some video and will put up the link in this spot later so those masochists who want to see it can judge my rant on a scale from 1-10.)

When has a governmental agency before financed a study, as DOE has done in this case, to publicize its own relative incompetence?

Here is a follow-up to our last post Study Commissioned by Tweed Demonstrates They Can't Run Schools as Effectively as Charter Managers

UPDATE:
Make sure to check out Caroline from SF comments on that post and this post as she adds some interesting info and in fact casts some doubts on the truth of the press release. Caroline blogged about it at: http://tinyurl.com/yaxmheq


I posted the piece to Leonie's NYC Ed New listserve and there was a rousing debate that included Leonie, Steve Koss, Diane Ravitch, Deb Meier and others (a pretty good crew- and for those who support the ed deformers, consider the quality of the opposition). Diane compared it to Macy's telling people to go to Gimbels (I suggested a better comparison for the DOE would be Crazy Eddie). There were questions as to whether this was the Caroline Hoxby study.

Steve Koss says:

I don't believe [this is] the Hoxby study. Further down in the email thread is something sent to Norm from the P.R. firm (Larson Communications) that apparently works for Stanford/CREDO announcing a conference call on January 5 for their new report from a study that, it is explicitly stated, was commissioned by the NYCDOE. This appears to be a study directed specifically at NYC schools, charter and public, and (oh surprise of surprises) that the charter schools are better. I guess they (CREDO) doesn't intend to release the study for anyone to read or critique until after they've had their own chance to spin its findings -- maybe after that, it'll be available for those of us who haven't already sold out.

At this point, I don't see why Klein doesn't just throw in the towel, declare all of the public school real estate up for grabs, and "auction" it off to whomever wants to run charter schools. That's their consistent message -- it's not about choice, it's just about privatizing and de-unionizing. Then they could close down the DOE entirely and just leave a skeleton crew to oversee buying and selling of the rights to run a 100% charter/privatized school system.

Steve Koss


Leonie adds

I'd like to know who funded the CREDO study; is it also coming out of our taxpayer dollars?

DOE not only gives space for free to charter schools, but a host of other financial subsidies, some of them on a purely voluntary basis, and some preferentially to charter schools students (like transportation, which every charter school student has a matter of right.)

The other services that NYC charters receive for free are summarized on our blog at http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2008/09/charter-school-funding-per-child-much.html

School facility
Utilities- heat/electricity
Student transportation
Food services
District for Committee on Special Educations (CSE) Evaluations & Referrals
Assessment & testing accommodations
Safety & health services
Technology integration and infrastructure
Student placement and transitional services
Human resources (limited)
Integration policy (e.g. such as middle & HS choice process, promotion, shared space, etc..)
Public hearings
Serve as authorizing entity


There may be more as well as this list came from Michael Duffy of DOE and we know how forthcoming they are with transparent financial info.

Yet even this list caused Patrick Sullivan among others to estimate that charter schools probably receive a higher per student share of city funding than regular public school students, since the average amount that our schools receive for each gened student is about $8000, while charter schools receive more than $12,000 per student. They also are immune to mid-year cuts, as far as I know, which many principals say are the most damaging of all.

None of this financial analysis, of course, includes the hefty additional funding that most charter schools receive from private donors and foundations.

Charter schools receive more proportional space in buildings as the DOE instructional footprint admits. They are also allowed to cap enrollment and class size at any level they want-- which is the biggest advantage of all, in my mind. I have spoken to charter school teachers who said they left DOE-run schools specifically because they were provided with much smaller classes.

Though the NYC charter school lobby continually grouses about being unfairly underfunded, in the Tom Toch piece for Education Sector on charter management orgs, (that was partially censored to omit the most critical information, leading Toch to leave the organization that he had co-founded) a NYC charter school operator admitted that the financial subsidies they receive in NYC are very helpful:

http://www.educationsector.org/usr_doc/Growing_Pains.pdf

With the annual funding that they get in New York City (some $12,440 per student, plus additional local and federal monies, a sum that Achievement First estimates to be between 80 percent and 95 percent of the funding that the city’s traditional schools receive), Achievement First’s New York schools are able to operate without philanthropic subsidies once they are fully enrolled, says chief financial officer Max Polaner—in sharp contrast to Amistad in New Haven. Says CEO Toll: “We expanded into New York because of Klein and because the dollars are doable.” But such partnerships have been rare, because school districts are wary of losing students and revenue to CMOs, and charter networks have wanted to preserve their independence.

In NYC they have put charter schools, supposedly temporarily, into newly constructed school buildings like Sunset Park HS, which is of questionable legality because these schools were built with 50% state matching funds -- funds that by law cannot be spent on charter school construction.

I have also looked at the financial statements of charter schools that do not include any estimate of the value of these myriad "in kind" contributions or subsidies from DOE -- which is contrary to good accounting practices that demand such estimates.

Ironically, the only NYC schools to really benefit from the CFE decision may in the end be the charter schools; because they can use the extra per pupil funding to provide the conditions that the court said would be necessary to afford children their constitutional right to an adequate education, including smaller classes. In contrast, since 2007, when the state granted additional aid to settle the CFE case, class sizes have significantly increased in our regular public schools, due to the malfeasance and mismanagement of Bloomberg and Klein.

This leads me to Steve's point: when has a governmental agency before financed a study, as DOE has done in this case, to publicize its own relative incompetence? Or in this case, their malignant failure to remediate the conditions that the state's highest court said would be necessary to provide a sound basic education?


Leonie Haimson

Study Commissioned by Tweed Demonstrates They Can't Run Schools as Effectively as Charter Managers

That's my spin on this story.

The NYCDOE commissions a study that shows how bad the schools they manage are doing relative to charter schools. We must be stuck in the TV show "The Prisoner."

Subject: Media Advisory: New Stanford Study Finds Success at NYC Charter Schools

Dear Norman:

A new report by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University commissioned by the New York City Department of Education found that charter schools in New York City are demonstrating significantly better results for their students in reading and in math than their traditional public school counterparts. New York City charter schools are demonstrating better results for students overall, and for several key groups, including Blacks and Hispanics in both reading and math, for students who had not previously done well in traditional public schools, for students in poverty in reading, for students enrolled for at least two years or more in reading, and for all students in math regardless of how long they were enrolled.

CREDO director Dr. Macke Raymond will be participating in a conference call on January 5 to discuss the specifics of the report and what their results mean for policymakers considering changes in education policy.

Below is information about the call. Please take a moment to respond to this email or call me at (916) 273-9559 if you have questions or plan on participating on the call.

Best regards,

Chris Bertelli

Larson Communications for CREDO at Stanford

Media Advisory

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 1, 2010

Contact: Chris Bertelli

LarsonCommunications

(916) 273-9559 (o)

(916) 216-1705 (m)

NEW STANFORD STUDY FINDS NEW YORK CITY CHARTER SCHOOLS PROVIDING SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER RESULTS IN READING, MATH

WHAT: A new report by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University found that charter schools in New York City are demonstrating significantly better results for their students in reading and in math than their traditional public school counterparts.

The CREDO at Stanford report was commissioned at the request of the New York City Department of Education in July, 2009, following CREDO’s national report released in June, 2009, entitled, “Multiple Choice: Charter School Performance in 16 States.” That report was the first detailed national assessment of charter school impacts.

CREDO and NYC Department of Education officials will discuss the report on a conference call for media.

WHO: Dr. Macke Raymond – Director, CREDO at Stanford

WHEN: Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 11:30 a.m. EST

WHERE: Via conference call, 888-645-4404 or 201-604-0169, no password required

About CREDO at Stanford University

CREDO at Stanford University was established to improve empirical evidence about education reform and student performance at the primary and secondary levels. CREDO at Stanford University supports education organizations and policymakers in using reliable research and program evaluation to assess the performance of education initiatives. CREDO's valuable insight helps educators and policymakers strengthen their focus on the results from innovative programs, curricula, policies or accountability practices. http://credo.stanford.edu

Happy New Year, UFT Elections, UFT Survey and a Chilling Klein Interview

This morning I sent out an email to the Ed Notes email list as a follow-up to a recent post (Ignore the UFT Elections At Your Own Peril) on the UFT elections where I tie the percentage of votes the ICE/TJC slate receives to the amount of fightback we will see from the UFT.

Now I am not a big fan of UFT elections because the process is so tainted. Nothing much will change until there is an uprising of the rank and file. Small caucuses cannot really do it on their own. But if Unity, as usual gets over 80% of the vote, they will see it as carte blanche to sell out more of what little is left.

Note a few responses from long-time chapter leaders.

First, one tells us of a survey from what seems to be the UFT checking on just what people would be willing to give back.

The second talks about Joel Klein's interview with NY 1 where he goes after rubber room and ATR people. The solution for him to end the ATR impasse is legislation. So their strategy if the UFT shows spine is an end run, just like Michelle Rhee did in DC.

Don't put it past them and don't put it past our so-called friends in Albany to sell us out (with UFT complicity) due to the budget crisis. It happened in 1975 and could easily happen again.

Here's what I wrote:

Happy New Year! I hope your vacations have been restful.

I've been meaning to send this commentary out to the Ed Notes mailing list, but the school closings and charter school invasions of public schools has taken priority. So let me remind you that UFT election season is at hand and ICE/TJC is running against Unity Caucus and their partners New Action.

The UFT has been the handmaiden of the BloomKlein administration. The seminal 2005 contract opened the door to a privatization and anti-union scheme which the UFT, with its own charter schools, has been incapable of reacting to in an effective way.

I believe that a significant vote for ICE/TJC in the UFT elections could inject some militancy into the spine of the leadership. If not, they will face the growth of a stronger movement that may eventually threaten their gravy train.

If you are not yet an ATR or feel that is not in your future, think again. In Chicago, over 6000 teachers out of 35,000 have disappeared. The pressure on the UFT to give up the ATRs will be intense.

I hear from so many of you how terrible conditions in the schools are and how ineffectual if not outright complicit the UFT has been.

Now is the time to step up.

What can you do?

Run on the ICE/TJC slate.
Many beg off saying they don't have time. The reality is that there is little to do other than putting your name on the ballot. We can run your for a position that has little chance of winning in case you are worried about obligations if you should win.

Help with the petitioning campaign.
We need help in getting petitions signed. It will not take a lot of time for you to pass them out in your schools.

Hand out the literature
We will be sending out to people in your schools and to your email lists.

Remind people to vote by mailing in their ballots
In March when ballots go out, remind people to vote and check the ICE/TJC box on the ballot - that is all they should check as other marks on the paper can invalidate the vote. Some people want to vote for people they know individually but then also check the slate box. Voting for individuals AND a slate invalidates the ballot and last time well over a thousand ballots were tossed.

I received some chilling responses.

From an elementary school chapter leader who signed up to run:

I got a telephone Market Research Survey about a week ago that was clearly a UFT survey seeing what we were willing to negotiate. Some of the questions were would you give up seniority for a raise and do you think it's ok for the state to double the cap on Charter Schools. Very scary and I think you're right that these are issues that can lead to us all losing our jobs.

A recently retired middle school chapter leader sends along segments from Joel Klein's interview with NY 1 ed beat reporter Lindsay Christ which he terms "chilling":

Lindsey Christ: But the state of New York is the one that's competing and there are some state laws that could potentially get in the way. The first deadline is January 19. Do you think New York will make change in the next couple of weeks?

Klein: I hope so. Obviously, that is up to the Legislature. It now costs our city almost $50 million a year to keep teachers in the "rubber room."

Christ: So these are teachers [in the "rubber room"] who have been accused of potential wrongdoing, there is a very long process before they can either be acquitted or dismissed.

Klein: A very long process. Sometime it takes seven years. I mean, it is a ridiculous process. We need a quick process, one that gets people evaluated in a meaningfully way, and either out of the system or back in the classroom, but not a process where for five or six years someone doesn't work and they are getting paid by the taxpayers. That's ridiculous.

Christ: There is also another group of teachers who are getting paid full salary who don't have permanent teaching positions. Those are teachers who have lost their jobs because their schools have closed down or because of budget cuts but have not actually been fired and are just waiting for a new job in the system. With all of these school closures announced this year, there are going to be a lot more, potentially, of these teachers. How do you see that pool of teachers going forward? Is the city going to keep supporting it, even though they don't have permanent positions?

Klein: I hope not. Some of those teachers doing incredibly good work, most of them get rehired. Those that don't, I think there ought to be a time period where teachers either find a job or have to leave the system. I think it will put a real incentive on these teachers to look for a job. Quite a few of them really don't look for a job. And it will also enable us in a meaningful way to say to people, "Okay, a reasonable time has come and you haven't been able to find a job in the system."

Christ: What's a reasonable time?

Klein: Well, the number the mayor used was a year, and that sounds reasonable to me.

Christ: This is something you have to get in the union contract?

Klein: I think it should be done by legislation. This is important to us, to make sure that if someone isn't rehired then they must exit the system. We can't afford to pay for teachers, particularly in tight budget times, for teachers who aren't fully and gainfully employed at a school.