Envisioning the Urban School System of the Future

So, this is the future. A future which is not linear, but a circle back to the past.

With all the heavy-handed Wall St./hedge fund/Gates/Walmart/Broad money, how do the relative pipsqueak unions compete for public support? The unions are outspent and outflanked. The "choice" argument will win out, while suburban parents are free from choice as they get some say in determining what kind of schools their kids go to.

Another funded anti-public ed film is coming this fall.
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount_vantage/waitingforsuperman/

When a trailer opens up with Michelle Rhee, you know what's coming.

The onslaught continues. With the teacher unions fighting a rearguard action and not confronting things head on, there are few forces to counter the propaganda.

What we are faced with is nationwide chains of charter schools with a cinder of a public school system left.

It will take a generation - at least - for the reality of what has been done to have an impact.
When there are no teacher unions left for them to blame. When they find that no matter how much they churn the teachers they will always have teachers who are not supermen and women. When student performance will be stagnant. When parents begin to see "choice" as bogus as their "choice" is limited to a few massive charter chains.

And we will have to start all over again in trying to rebuild a public education system with a semblance of public oversight.

Here is a picture of the urban school landscape of the future:

A few big charter chains, all increasingly controlled from national headquarters, thus totally removing local control of schools in any manner servicing Black and Latino/a students who will be trained in the testing culture to prepare them for jobs in the employ of the largest job creators in the nation - Walmart and McDonalds.

You see, what the parents of the "scholars" who charter schools are telling will all go to college are not being told is that only a quarter of future jobs are for college grads. They are also not assuring them of funding for their scholars to go to college.

Suburban white kids and parents have a totally different experience, actually preparing them for the college level jobs by offering a broader educational experience not grounded in test prep.

For example, KIPP will have a nationwide chain of charters where policy will be controlled from headquarters.

So will Harlem Success with their own policies.

Multiply this by all the competing chains. Imagine a neighborhood where parents will have a choice - of the different charter schools which will use the lottery to limit who gets in. Look for special education focused charters which will take the onus off these schools having to accept the most difficult students.

Small, independent charter schools will be gobbled up as the big chains compete for their teachers and students and funding sources. (One small scale Harlem charter school operator at the Perkins hearings was even lamenting the fact that he had to compete with the Harlem Success juggernaut.)

Of course there will be some public schools left to take the unwanted. Remember the old "600" schools that used to exist?

Remember the days when there was no union and teachers earned paltry salaries while having no rights?

We will be back to the beginning.

Add-on: Many charter school people don't think much of Eva
I was hanging out with a friend who left a public school to teach in a charter. We agree on so many things and I will explore these areas of agreement in the future. We could start with, "I would never work in a school controlled by Eva Moskowitz."

Extraordinary Interventions

This early morning's Hearing Voices on NPR had a wonderful presentation about a Washington DC student's journey and the extraordinary intervention it took to help him get to his destination.

Getting Out is the story of Jesse Jean whose father murdered his mother and committed suicide when Jesse was 2 years old - in front of him. Jesse tried to avoid all the "stuff" that happens to kids on the streets of Washington and luckily met these 2 ladies - Teri and Tony who I believe worked for some White House connected group - who took him under their wing. I mean seriously under their wing. Like it led to their becoming his legal guardian. A more down home version of The Blind Side. (I liked the movie, but want to read Michael Lewis' book.)

[You can hear an mp3 audio file of Getting Out.]

I post this story for 2 reasons. First because it indicates that even with this extraordinary intervention - including a partial scholarship to a boarding school that costs $28,000 a year - there were still some touch and go moments. Meaning - things like charter schools are merely a drop in the bucket as solutions relative to the overwhelming issues so many kids face.<

The second reason is that there were a few times when I was on the edge of temptation to take a similar extraordinary intervention path with a few kids over the years that I grew close to but just couldn't bite that bullet. One of the students ended up shot in the head 5 times while selling drugs in the wrong territory at the age of 18 - and that after serving 3 years in prison and fathering a child. I spent a lot of hard time thinking at his funeral. It was like I had seen a truck heading for a child in the middle of the street and was helpless to stop the accident from happening.

Some of the kids I worked with in that era of the late 80's to early 90's did experience an extraordinary intervention by a high school teacher in Williamsburg Brooklyn who took in loads of kids to live with her, her husband and a band of adopted kids from just about every nationality. They are some of the true heroes in this world. My particular student was a top-level basketball player and a very nice kid who avoided trouble when he could. Things basically turned out all right though they might have anyway. But even with that level of intervention, the academic problems never went away and college was not his thing.

I was peripherally involved with these kids - attending their basketball games, taking them to sporting events and having them out to my house - but learned a hell of a lot from the experience, understanding just how far I was willing and able to go as a teacher. In the world of today's ed deform that teacher who took kids in to live with her would have her effectiveness judged by her test scores.

When I hear these stories I often think of what it would take and would even echo Joel Klein in with my own call for No Excuses - but on whose part? If you listen to the program - a well spent 52 minutes, you have to ask about focusing only on academic "outcomes" without all that goes with it. What is needed is a lot of extraordinary interventions and this society only wants to take the cheap way out.


Hearing Voices from NPR® Getting Out: The Education of Jesse Jean
Host: Katie Davis of Neighborhood Stories
Airs week of: 2010-05-05 (Originally: 2009-06-03)

Audio will be posted here by 2010-05-12.

“Getting Out” (52:00) Katie Davis

Go to school, keep your grades up, go to college. That’s what we tell kids — over and over. What if just leaving your apartment, and walking up the block is risky? What if it feels safer to stay home, play video games, keep a low profile. When you do go out, head somewhere safe, like the teen center, the basketball court. That was the world of African American teenager, Jesse Jean.

Jesse lived a half a block from host Katie Davis in their Washington DC neighborhood. He was lucky enough to get a scholarship to a private boarding school and brave enough to take it. Katie kept in touch with Jesse, as he moved into this new world. We hear three stories covering seven years, starting in summer, 2001.

Jesse’s Stories on NPR: 2002 Turning the Corner (photos) | 2004 Beyond Myself (photos) | 2008 An Urban Teen Beats The Odds.

Add On
Last week, CBS Sunday Morning did a similar story about the lives of 2 guys living parallel lives in Baltimore at the same time- Same Name, Two Different Stories

One is a Johns Hopkins graduate and the other is serving life in prison. Both grew up in the same neighborhood and share the same name, Wes Moore. Russ Mitchell has the story of how their lives diverged so drastically.

There are a lot of nuances to this story. One Wes had his father die when he was 4. But his father was a journalist and don't lose sight of that very important point as to where this Wes was coming from. His mom just might have gotten into a charter school lottery while the other Wes probably would never have gone to a charter school or been tossed out.

Here is the roughly 10 minute video.

His story is similar to Jesse's and the Wes Moore who is not in prison has written a book called The Other Wes Moore. Here is his web site.

Rally/Hearing to stop the charter co-location of Clinton Middle School - Monday, May 10, 5:45PM, Followed by Public Hearing

Please Forward Widely!

MONDAY MAY 10th 4:45PM

Rally/ Hearing to stop the charter co-location of Clinton Middle School.

Last chance for public comment before co-location is put to a vote at the next PEP meeting on May 18th.

The American Sign Language School

223 East 23rd Street between 2 & 3rd Aves.

PS347/47 is the only dual language American Sign Language and English public school in the country. It is a school with a long history of servicing the Deaf/Hard of Hearing community. The school is broken up in 2 parts a High School (47) and a lower school for grades pre-k - 8 (347). In addition to these school the building currently houses PS138 a school for students with disabilities and is partly occupied by Quest to Learn, a small middle school of about 70 students, which will be vacating its spot this year.

The DOE is proposing that The Clinton Middle School for Writers and Artists, a school of about 300 students replace Quest to Learn. The proposal has The Clinton School occupying the science labs which would mean required Regents science classes could not be offered to students. This would also cause issues of safety as grades K through 8 would need to occupy the same floor and share a total of 3 toilets, increase congestion in the hallways, and have classroom size increase while classroom space would be decreased, since the proposal calls for small conference rooms to be made into classrooms.

The students, teachers and staff need the space to communicate. ASL is a visual language that requires movement through space. One needs to be able to see the speaker in order to understand and respond. This is not possible by sitting in rows. Why is the DOE making 4 schools suffer at the will of 1?

See Kolodner piece in the Daily News

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/05/09/2010-05-09_doe_deaf_to_needs_schools_hearingimpaired_students_losing_space_race.html


The Take Away
These attacks are continuing and GEM is fighting back.

What can you do?

GEM meeting of schools organizing Committee: Tuesday 5pm Cuny Grad. Center

WHAT: GEM school organizing Committee

WHEN: Tuesday May 11th, 5pm

Where: CUNY grad. center ROOM 5409 BET. 34/35th street on 5th ave. TRAINS: 6, R, N, F, D, Q, B, V

Folks, things are getting serious and we need to step up the pressure and the actions. Our union is not doing the organizing work a union should be doing so it is up to US!

GEM(grassroots education movement: http://grassrootseducationmovement.blogspot.com is working on organizing on the school level to fight back against the attacks on public education and to fight for a more just, equitable and community based education system in our city.

We are working with any teacher who wishes to start a fight back committee in their school, or just wants to get discussion going among staff and parents about issues affecting their schools.

GEM members are planning for a pre school picket early in June against budget cuts and are inviting others to take action the same day in a show of solidarity across the city. If you are interested in learning more about this action or about how to start conversations among your staff or just want to learn about what GEM is up to and how we can support you in your school please come on Tuesday. If you are interested but can't attend the meeting please respond by sending an email to gemnyc@gmail.com.

Final Days of Pakter Hearing- Monday and Tuesday

Ed Note:

For those who have not seen a 3020 hearing, here is your chance. This is a special case in that the hearing officer is Douglas Bantle who is fair minded and gives the defense a chance. There's a lot of back story here about DOE attempts to settle on certain conditions. It seems they know they have a good chance to lose this one. So they are pulling out every stop. I'm not sure what it is safe to write about, so I will be cautious at this point. An important note is that with all the backlog of cases and the need to resolve many of them under the new rubber room agreement with the corresponding need to hire many more hearing officers, Bantle is being "fired."

Note also that there are no penalties for DOE officials caught in lies.

As I have been warning people, start taping EVERYTHING. Pre and post observations and even your own lessons where you are being observed.

PLEASE POST - Reporters, Journalists and Bloggers - PLEASE POST
For Immediate Release

On Monday, May 10, at 10 AM --

For the first time in the history of NYC Dept of Education Teacher Trials, a State Hearing Officer has requested and will allow an accused NYC Teacher to play secret tapes in his possession to prove his innocence.


This is a ground breaking event and will prove beyond any doubt that former

'Teacher of the Year', David Pakter, was falsely accused of wrongdoing by the NYC DOE.

No member of the media, Legal community or anyone interested in Justice can afford to miss this unique, first ever milestone in the history of the long struggle by NYC Educators to receive fair treatment and "Due Process" at the hands of the 23 Billion Dollar New York City Dept of Education.

Where: 49 Chambers Street, Manhattan 6th Floor

When: 10 A.M.

Who: Hon. Douglas J. Bantle, Esq. - Presiding

Christopher M. Callagy, Esq. - for the Defense

Philip Oliveri, Esq. - Prosecuting for NYC



*************************

Note: New York City teachers have been removed from their classrooms and schools for decades based on the flimsiest heresay, fabricated allegations and bogus charges. Often the teacher is totally innocent of the accusations but is at the mercy of a system that makes proving one's innocence difficult if not impossible.

The NYC Dept of Education will present Witnesses who despite being under Sworn Oath, will lie with impunity and not hesitate to commit the most outrageous acts of Perjury knowing that there is virtually no price to be paid if caught.

On Monday, May 10, at 10 A.M.

for the first time in history, a courageous and independent Hearing Officer, sitting in Judgement to decide a highly Decorated Educator's fate, will allow David Pakter to have a fair shot at Justice.

The Honorable Douglas J. Bantle, Esq. will permit the accused to let the entire public learn the Truth by playing a tape recording proving "who" said "what" and "where" and "when".

The Hearing Officer and the Attorneys will all hear what those who accused Mr. Pakter said - or did not say- from their own lips.

The great French writer,Victor Hugo, once said:

"There is no force on Earth so powerful as an Idea whose time has come."

That time is 10 A.M. on Monday, May 10

at 49 Chambers Street, 6th Floor, Manhattan.

Be a Witness to History.

_______________________________________

Warning: the 6th Floor Receptionist has been known to falsely inform the Public there is NO Pakter Hearing scheduled.

Do Not Leave. Demand to speak to an Official. mily:Times New Roman;font-size:180%;" >"There is no force on Earth so powerful as an Idea whose time has come."

That time is 10 A.M. on Monday, May 10

at 49 Chambers Street, 6th Floor, Manhattan.

Be a Witness to History.

_______________________________________

Warning: the 6th Floor Receptionist has been known to falsely inform the Public there is NO Pakter Hearing scheduled.

Do Not Leave. Demand to speak to an Official.

*************************************

Juan Gonzalez: Big Banks Making a Bundle On New Construction as Schools Bear the Cost

“Wealthy investors and major banks have been making windfall profits by using a little-known federal tax break to finance new charter-school construction,” Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez write in the New York Daily News. “The program, the New Markets Tax Credit, is so lucrative that a lender who uses it can almost double his money in seven years.”

See video at Democracy Now.

Reminder: Leonie Haimson gives Juan Gonzalez the Skinny Award on May 20. You are invited.(Support Class Size Matters with a $75 or $100 contribution.) Details here.

By the way, which newspaper in NYC has the most intrepid ed reporters - named Gonzalez, Kolodner and Monahan?

A Perfect Example of the Results of the Ed Deform Movement

Another gem from one of the Daily News dynamic duo of Monahan and Koldoner. They embarass the NY Post reporters just about every day, considering the News and Post have similar editorial positions.

Hey - teachers. Time to secretly record your faculty conferences. Let's embarrass the hell out of principals from hell.

From Leonie Haimson:

One more unreliable factor in the DOE’s totally unreliable school grading system, the fact that the survey results cannot be trusted. Even if principals did not berate teachers into giving them higher ratings, it is likely that teachers and parents will do so, in fear that the school will be closed down.

I love the defense of DOE, that most teachers are honest, because 25% of them report they don’t trust their principals! What does that say about DOE’s method of grooming, selecting and training principals!

One thing is sure, as the principal was taped saying: “We live in a toxic political environment in the Department of Education,"

And what about this? “We will not tolerate any attempt to manipulate survey results," said Danny Kanner, an Education Department spokesman, before bashing teachers for making the recordings. !!!!

Principals feeling pressure to get A's putting pressure on parents, teachers to give them

BY Rachel Monahan

Daily News

May 5, 2010

These principals may be the real grade-grubbers.

Across the city, principals are under investigation for pressuring parents, students or teachers into giving them good reviews on the secret surveys that gauge school satisfaction.

Just a month after the Daily News obtained a recording of a Brooklyn principal threatening teachers for giving her shoddy reviews, another tape has emerged of a principal instructing teachers on the importance of giving high marks.

"If you give us low grades and that attacks our progress report grade, the school's going to close," Principal Mary Prendergast of the High School for Youth and Community Development says in a matter-of-fact tone.

She also notes that she considers the survey to be "stupid, quite frankly," and tells her teacher to "politically be smart."

"We live in a toxic political environment in the Department of Education," she explains. "I'm not putting this in a memo because these are the kind of things that can be misinterpreted."

Prendergast isn't alone. Yolanda Ramirez, principal of Public School 38 in Brooklyn, was caught on tape last year berating her teachers for giving her lousy reviews.

And education officials confirm they are investigating other cases of principals giving instructions on the surveys, which account for 10% of the A-to-F grades given to schools and are used to determine bonuses.

Contacted by The News, Prendergast acknowledges she's looking to improve her new small school's scores and that the threat of closure is a real one her teachers are generally aware of. But, she said, she wasn't trying to pressure her underlings.

"How does a principal advocate for doing the best we can without making it look like we're skewing the results?" she asked.

Education Department officials said they don't think there's "widespread" pressure on the surveys, noting 24% of teachers last year said they didn't "trust the principal at his or her word."

"We will not tolerate any attempt to manipulate survey results," said Danny Kanner, an Education Department spokesman, before bashing teachers for making the recordings.

But at PS 34 in Queens, a current and a former teacher charged their principal freaked out after they gave her poor reviews two years back, then tried to convince them that better reviews would mean a bigger bonus. Principal Pauline Shakespeare denied the charge through a secretary.

At PS 345 in Brooklyn, teachers charged the principal tried to scare them with the prospect of closure - but backed off after the school's report card grade rose. Principal Wanda Holt denied the allegations before hanging up on The News.

Weingarten Interferes in DC Union Elections

History has taught us that autocrats will never give up power and will resort to illegal means to keep absolutism intact. I would bet my pension that even if some miracle occurred and the opposition won an election here in NYC, the Unity machine would find ways to invalidate the election. (When the opposition once won the high school VEEP position in the mid-80's, Unity delayed his seating for a year by claiming illegalities in an election they ran - and won the right for a do-over.)

Ed Notes has been reporting on the Washington DC and Chicago teacher union elections. Both cities are hotbeds of potential activism and if Nathan Saunders and/or Karen Lewis (CORE) were to be elected, would indicate potential trouble for AFT President Randi Weingarten. Not that she has to worry too much with the NYC Unity Caucus machine being able to control the NY state NYSUT which in turn controls the AFT. But we know that Randi wants ZERO OPPOSITION and will do what she can to undercut the ability of these candidates to win.

In Chicago there are 5 or 6 caucuses running and Randi will wait out what is sure to be a runoff. If CORE is one of the two left standing, just watch the AFT jump into the fray.

Washington DC is a particularly interesting case where both Randi and Michelle Rhee's reps are on the line if Saunders should win. So now we hear the AFT is "getting involved" in the DC election.

With elections in Washington DC about to take place, the AFT goon squad is out to undermine them. They found some excuse and there is talk about including the contract vote ballot in the same envelope as the election ballot. If true, why are we not surprised here in NYC?

There is also some talk (see EIA report below) about the AFT using the excuse that not enough people are on the ballot for AFT delegates to the Seattle convention (supposedly 4 are running and there are 20 positions) and that is reason enough to postpone the elections. (Unity sends 800 on a junket but other locals who can't afford to send a full complement often send fewer people with each entitled to vote for the rest. In other words, since Unity votes as a block, we could send 1 delegate who can cast 800 votes.)

The real reason is that Randi/Rhee/Parker are anxious to get the contract vote done before the election, which if Saunders wins will kill any chance of the contract Randi and Rhee want. With problems over the private money being assured, it is clear that the election will be done beforehand and Randi is trying to figure out a way to undermine it.

Is anyone surprised that Randi is more aligned with Rhee - remember my basic rule - ignore what Randi says, watch what she does? So here is Nathan Saunders' piece in today's TheMail.


Is AFT Undermining DC Teachers? by Nathan Saunders,
WTU Presidential candidate


Intense public school budget hearings on April 30 evidenced the significant impact WTU teachers have on the city’s budget. Charter school advocates presented the government a demand letter for comparable wages to the WTU Tentative Agreement (TA), or they would seek court action. A magnanimous Chief Financial Officer Gandhi refused to certify the TA’s financial soundness while simultaneously scaling back other programs and possibly raising taxes to reduce a $530 million deficit.

The 1960’s legislation allowing exclusive representation of DC’s Public teachers was theorized to encourage mutual cooperation yielding increased workplace productivity.

Unfortunately, some of the industrial labor union’s ills and social injustices, such as paternalism, permeated the teachers’ union movement.

Oftentimes national union interests will attack local dissident opinion by influencing union elections, producing propaganda, and controlling issues. All the while repeating, ad nauseam, “We never get involved in local issues.”

Amazingly, this is like the letter the American Federation of Teachers sent home to all DC teachers implying that the May 2010 elections will probably be delayed. Federal legislation, the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, was created to combat union member abuses involving violations of free speech, violence, and elections tampering. It forces elections every three years and gives union members a special bill of rights akin to the US Constitution.

Empowering WTU teachers in democratic management and advocacy for themselves and their students is an often neglected education reform that is affordable. Paternalism is most dangerous in teachers’ unions, as it makes teachers feel trapped with two bosses — the DC Government and the AFT/WTU — their own union. Union democracy is suppressed.

The AFT should not be involved in the May 2010 union election or the upcoming contract ratification vote, as their ability to exercise self-control will deter additional controversies and challenges. The federal Department of Labor should be involved.

Unfortunately, the president of the AFT parent union, Randi Weingarten, is deeply entangled in election shenanigans, potentially stalling WTU’s election schedule past its constitutionally required May 2010 date. Her beneficiary is WTU President George Parker the embattled negotiator of the Rhee/Parker tentative agreement. The agreement was supposed to harvest elections benefits of 20 percent pay raises, without members knowing most would probably be terminated or that a portion of the raises was financed with blood money of wrongfully terminated teachers, and the only job security in the deal belonged to Chancellor Michelle Rhee.

The problem with Weingarten’s election meddling is that it makes DC teachers more vulnerable. Teachers are about to deal with hundreds of year-end layoffs, a hard summer fight to support a mayoral candidate and leaving approximately eighty other elected positions unfilled (Elections Committee, Delegates to the Maryland State AFL-CIO, and others). It smells to high heaven.

Any desire to place an election ballot with a contract ratification ballot in the same envelope is selfish and belittles the WTU’s members’ intelligence. Common sense, time, and economic realities may have broken up the Fenty/Rhee/Parker/Weingarten playbook, but law and the WTU’s Constitution require a paternalistic AFT to step aside and to allow dues paying members to vote on their future — now.

---------

Here is Mike Antonucci's take - at EIA. Remember, he is an anti-teacher union guy always looking to pick at the bones of union ineptitude, but he does cover issues no one else does.

Union Elections Are Contests Between Apathy and Ignorance

Eduwonk reports that the upcoming election for the presidency of the Washington Teachers Union has a problem – not enough WTU members want to be on the election committee. For that matter, not enough WTU members want to be delegates to the AFT convention. As a result, AFT is going to provide “assistance and limited oversight.”

Problem solved, right? Not exactly. WTU Vice President Nathan A. Saunders, who is running against incumbent George Parker, says he didn’t ask for, nor does he want, AFT intervention. He believes AFT is deeply invested in Parker and is trying to guarantee a win for him.

“It is absolutely crazy,” Saunders said. “The AFT can’t hold an impartial election.”

Pro Charter Tax Exempt Orgs Enter Political Fray - and Violate the Law

A compilation of postings from NYCEdNews Listserve for any legal eagles out there:


Received a beautiful colored flyer supporting NY State Senator Craig Johnson on Education paid for by Education Reform Now.

https://www.mediamezcla.com/campaign_engine/4.0/process_cc.php?id=www.edreformnow.org

Nowhere is the word "Charter School" mentioned or the market forces that are supporting them. It would appear that these market forces are funding free promotions for their elected supporters. Yet when they solicit contributions to the organization, they claim they are tax-deductible. Is that legal, anyone?


This is not the first time this sort of thing has happened; remember Juan Gonzalez’s discovery that Al Sharpton’s political organization was provided funds by Harold Levy’s hedge fund, after first passing it through a 501C3?

According to Education reform Now’s 2008 Form 990 (“tax” return for non-profits) (p. 3), they’re a 501(c)3 and do not engage in “direct or indirect political campaign activities on behalf of or in opposition to candidates for public office.” (http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2008/203/687/2008-203687838-056e8bda-9.pdf). Their website does say contributions are tax-deductible.

The IRS code prohibits 501(c)3 organizations from engaging in most forms of political activity (see below from IRS website).

You’ll need to collect the campaign flyers and file a complaint with the IRS. I believe any citizen has standing to file a complaint but I would imagine Sen. Johnson’s opponents would have more resources and motivation.

http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=163395,00.html

The Restriction of Political Campaign Intervention by Section 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Organizations
Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity. Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes. Certain activities or expenditures may not be prohibited depending on the facts and circumstances. For example, certain voter education activities (including presenting public forums and publishing voter education guides) conducted in a non-partisan manner do not constitute prohibited political campaign activity. In addition, other activities intended to encourage people to participate in the electoral process, such as voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, would not be prohibited political campaign activity if conducted in a non-partisan manner. On the other hand, voter education or registration activities with evidence of bias that (a) would favor one candidate over another; (b) oppose a candidate in some manner; or (c) have the effect of favoring a candidate or group of candidates, will constitute prohibited participation or intervention. The Internal Revenue Service provides resources to exempt organizations and the public to help them understand the prohibition. As part of its examination program, the IRS also monitors whether organizations are complying with the prohibition.

Murrow's Bruckner Swam Against BloomKlein/Ed Deform Grain

UPDATED 12pm

The NY Times piece on the death of Saul Bruckner, founding principal of Edward Murrow HS, one of the most successful high schools in the nation, contains nuggets of his philosophy towards how to treat students and teachers, nuggets that indicate he probably was not a happy soldier in the regime of ed deformers BloomKlein.

And indeed, reports had surfaced when he retired in 2004 that the Klein regime did not care for Bruckner and the feeling was mutual. Some anecdotes have emerged that since he left Murrow is just not the same but that would be expected. Even if he remained could he have continued to swim against the ed deform grain? I hope he left some thoughts behind for future ed historians on the contrast to his ed philosophy. Of course, the freedom he offered did not work for every child and I don't know to what level he devoted school resources to those situations for kids who had trouble handling it. (Some of his teachers were the most critical and argued for more discipline and less freedom.) Ditto for teachers. I would love to get stats on whether in his 30 years how many teachers were sent to rubber rooms or U-rated.

Whether you read the entire article or the excerpts below I chose to highlight the Bruckner style, make note of the Diane Ravitch quote.

he stood near the entrance each morning, greeting by name many of the thousands of students who swirled by him. Like his well-tailored clothes and quiet manner, it served as a small reminder of the formality of an earlier era of public education in a school known for its progressive, free-wheeling spirit.

That mixture of big think and little think — the ability to manage the bureaucracy and politics of a urban high school of 4,000 students while remembering student names, picking up litter from the hallways, and continuing to teach a class nearly up to his retirement — was what set Mr. Bruckner apart as a principal, and made him a legend at Murrow.

_____

Even when it came under criticism, he refused to bend on one of the hallmarks of Murrow — the scheduling of free periods for students during the school day so that they could gather in groups in the hallway and socialize, a practice some teachers believed led to increased cutting.

“Most schools treat kids and teachers like infants,” he told The New York Times in 1988, when interviewed amid clusters of reading, talking and flirting students. Treating them like adults, he said, “reduced the tension” between social groups sometimes found at other schools.

“In most schools, there is an emphasis on order,” he said in a later interview. “Here the emphasis is on freedom.”

_____

Much about Murrow seemed different. There were no bells to mark the end and start of classes. Instead of two semesters, Murrow had four, so that students could choose more classes, many on collegiate-sounding topics like magical realism or broadcast and entertainment law. The practice, he believed, encouraged grade-conscious students to take academic risks.

Honors classes, like his own Advanced Placement American History class, were open to all students who wanted to attend, by lottery, regardless of academic record. If you wanted to be there, he figured, you would do the work, teachers recalled.

Mr. Bruckner’s observations of new teachers were thorough and nerve-wracking. One new teacher, Georgia Scurletis, recalled how he chose a particularly boring lesson on grammar to observe, standing inscrutably at the back of her class. Afterward, he criticized her gently, telling her that when the Torah is read, “it should be with a bit of honey on the tongue,” she recalled

_____

[Diane Ravitch] noted that Mr. Bruckner had a long period of apprenticeship before becoming a principal, serving as a teacher, department supervisor and assistant principal, beginning in 1956. His status as a “master teacher,” helped him attract, retain and train his staff. “There are not many principals left from the old school,” Ms. Ravitch said.

One last point. Murrow did cull from the best kids in the system. Call it creaming. But when you look at the other principals running top level schools like Brooklyn Tech (remember Leo McCaskill?), Teitel at Stuyvesant and the utterly awful Valerie Reidy at Bronx High, Bruckner stands out like a shining star. But I wonder how he would have dealt with a school like Thomas Jefferson, my alma mater, in East NY.


I'm adding Leonie's comment:

Many believed him to be one of the finest NYC principals, and who showed clearly how a large school can not just work, but excel.

According to someone who knew the school well, it also “embraces experimentation, creative approaches to teaching and that treats students with respect and dignity. If I had grown up in NYC, it is the HS I would have wanted to attend.

So many parents from Manhattan and Queens have told me that they wish they had an option of a large, progressive school like Murrow in their boroughs. Bruckner's leadership made a huge difference.”

Be sure to check out the readers’ comments on the page.

Insulting the UFT’s Executive Committee While Mulgrew Skips Open Mike

Guest Editorial

By Philip Nobile

I intended to hand President Mulgrew a copy of my contrarian essay on the rubber room agreement at Monday’s (May 3) Executive Committee meeting. The cover letter read:

Would you please consider publishing my essay “Out of the Rubber Room, Into the Pyre” in the New York Teacher and post it as well on Edwize?

I also request that you respond to my questions in a companion article in the same spots.

As you will read, there is widespread dissatisfaction in the TRC’s with your agreement with Chancellor Klein.

Regrettably, you chose to negotiate in complete secrecy without consulting the reassigned. You can begin to remedy this mistake by calling us to a meeting as Randi did in October 2007.

Thank you.

But the President was late for the 10-minute Open Mike that opens every meeting. Only three cabinet members were present in addition to Secretary Michael Mendel who ran the show.

I was the first of four speakers—three rubber roomers and a delegate. I had a lot to squeeze into 2 min. and 30 sec. And it would be my one and only shot. Annoyed at my routine of exposing the leadership’s many failures of nerve, Mendel changed the rules: no more serial appearances. Open Mike was closed but for a single time a term.

In Mulgrew’s absence I shifted my plan of attack. I began by noting the censorship that chokes the union, meaning the limits on speech at Executive Committee meetings and the gagged NEW YORK TEACHER which has not carried a story on TRCs since October 2007. Apparently, this was too much for a Committee member. When I said “I came here tonight …, he finished my sentence “… to insult us.”

“There is so little dissent in this body,” I replied, “that you take criticism as an insult.” Mendel asked for silence even if I was not telling the truth. (Thanks a lot, Michael.)

I went on to say that the TRC agreement was flawed by Mulgrew’s failure to consult with us rubber roomers and contrasted this neglect with the hundreds of rank and file members involved in the contract negotiations. With seconds ticking away, I mentioned my Jeffersonian request regarding publication and response in THE TEACHER and read the first of the seven questions for Mulgrew embedded in my essay: “Will you meet with current rubber roommates and seek to renegotiate terms deemed unfair by them?”

Did the assembly erupt in applause and shouts of “Long live union democracy and death to UFT surrender to corrupt DOE investigations”? You wish.

The highlight of Almost Open Mike was Elvira Sacco, a recently sprung roomer from my home port, Brooklyn’s Chapel St. TRC. She blasted the union for failing to protect teachers from the Chancellor’s rogues, daring to say. “I am ashamed to be a member of the UFT.” Now that’s an insult, but right from the heart. If the Committee was provoked, they did not reveal it.

As if on cue, Mulgrew walked in after us four Voltarians were done. Mendel stepped aside as the President gave his report. Although I resent Mulgrew’s stonewalling—he refuses to answer my emails—he seems like a nice guy. The affection from the audience was palpable. TRCs were off the table, of course. Instead he updated the meeting on the Senate’s vote on the charter cap, which he dismissed as dead-end. Then he played a smart UFT radio commercial, starting today, deploring the politics of teacher bashing in a time of crisis. He warned that the Mayor’s executive budget, to be released on Thursday, would be “a catastrophe,” adding that there was “no respect or trust” for the DOE boys in Albany. Then he dashed out. I was tempted to follow and make my case in private as he waited for the elevator. But I stayed in my seat, against type and avoiding spectacle. I left it to Mendel to pass on my papers.

A lone and friendly committeeman consented to pursue my meeting proposal with Mulgrew. I had less luck with a second committeeman, a former foxhole buddy and Chapter Leader, who once helped me thwart a sleazy principal who tried to fire me for flunking too many students. This ex-stalwart defended Mulgrew’s reluctance to discuss the TRC agreement with disgruntled roomers, saying that he was probably too busy. “But what do you really think?” I asked, “Off the record, should he meet with us?” Nothing doing. He refused to venture an opinion. “You’re better than this,” I said, recalling his past solidarity. This was a painful moment. Walking away, he replied, “You wouldn’t say that if you knew what I was doing.”


Ed Note Afterthought
Where have the New Action Exec Bd members been all this time while rubber room people have to scrounge for their 2.5 minutes?

It seems that Mulgrew (and Weingarten before him) make sure to skip the open mic opening of the meetings and only make their appearance when it is over. I'm still not sure why Nobile wants to meet with Mulgrew.

Also looks like a new Mulgrew cult of personality is beginning to grow in Unity. That will lead Mulgrew down the Weingarten path to unglory.

The Smartest Ed Deformers in the Room/NY Senate Passes Charter Cap Lift

Having seen the play Enron which I wrote about here, I was looking forward to see the documentary Enron, the Smartest Guys in the Room and low and behold, there it was on CNBC the other night. As Enron was plotting to cause havoc with the California energy system, we heard how often Choice - or cherce as Ralph Cramden would have said - was used to justify playing trader with peoples' lives by using rolling blackouts to push energy prices beyond the stratesphere.

Sound familiar?

"Choice" is the buzz word of the ed deformers who have pumped up charter school parents to get up at meetings and talk about how it is their right to have cherce. This is part of the same bait and switch used by Enron, which if it hadn't gone kaput, would be joining Broad, Gates and Walmart in the charter school gold rush. When there are no more public schools to rape and charters are the only game in town, they will pull plugs all over the place to cream not only kids but as much public money from the system as they can.

Then we'll be seeing stories about black boxes and raptors. Can't wait for the play "Charters."

Add-on
There's a lot of to-do over the NY State Senate passing a bill to lift the charter school cap by a vote of 45-15. With the threat of charter school/Wall Street money flowing into local political races, we are seeing how charter schools are a political movement, not an educational one, a point I made in my testimony at the Perkins hearing as I was looking at 3 HSA parents.

I mean, if you have your kids in a charter school already, why are you so willing to be used as a political wedge to get more charters? Altruism for your fellows who didn't make the lottery even if you know that there can never be enough charters that can handle all the kids, especially those who are left behind in special ed?

The big battle will be the Perkins Senate seat and watch it get dirty as charges of white money and white paternalism invading Harlem start flying around. Don't be surprised to hear references being made to a certain uncle who had a certain cabin down south in pre-civil war times.

Sign the petition to vote no on lifting the cap:

http://www.change.org/petitions/view/vote_no_to_raising_the_cap_on_charter_schools

Here is an excerpt from the Daily News:

The state’s powerful teachers unions accused Senate Democrats of caving in to charter-school advocates, who have threatened to spend $10 million to unseat at risk senators if they did not pass the bill, reports Glenn Blain of the DN's State Capitol Bureau. Union leaders vowed to hold the vote against lawmakers in the coming election season.

United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew dumped on the news this way:

"It’s a shame that the Senate has spent its time passsing a one-house charter bill that has no chance of becoming law, instead of concentrating on solving the budget crisis that threatens the education of millions of public school children across the state,” he said.

Assembly spokesman Dan Weiller said only, "This legislation, like all legislation, will be reviewed through our normal committee process."

Two senators were excused from the vote: Thomas Morahan (R-Rockland County) and Ruth Hassell-Thompson (D-Westchester).

The No votes were:
Neil Breslin
Tom Duane
Liz Krueger
Ken LaValle
Velmanette Montgomery
Suzi Oppenheimer
Frank Padavan
Bill Perkins
Stephen Saland
Eric Schneiderman
Jose Serrano
William Stachowski
Toby Ann Stavisky
Andrea Stewart-Cousins
Antoine Thompson

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2010/05/state-senate-passes-charter-sc.html#ixzz0mur2jvJT

For more on the impact of private money determining public ed policy, see my previous post (and follow the links as I've moved a big chunk of it to Norms Notes.) Rhee in a Nutshell

Rhee in a Nutshell

Modified 9am, May 4

I'm back in NYC but I still have DC on the brain. I know that the NY State Senate passed a lifting of the charter cap and Resisters are screaming for action but I have to keep going back to DC where 35% of the schools are charters and what is going down there - or not going down due to resistance - is a precursor and national trend setter. I subscribe to Gary Imhoff's fabulous TheMail and get daily updates on the general scene in DC, always looking for RheeGate stories. Today he has some doozies, including Candi's post that I referred to this morning, but I am including it again anyway.

Gary makes the very important connection about the union election - if Nathan Saunders wins it is a big loss for Rhee and may be the stake driven through her heart that will send her back to Sacramento to defend her fiance against any further charges by female students at the charter school he runs. One of the interesting sidelights is: who is Randi Weingarten rooting for in the election? George Parker who Rhee prefers or Saunders? Bet your pension she would take the Rhee/Parker team in a heart beat as a Saunders victory is a harbinger of bigger troubles that might be coming down for her AFT stewardship from other urban centers under attack by the Ed Deformers while local AFT/Unity Caucus type affiliates remain humble and crumble in their path.

Alan Assarsson delves into the dangers of private funding of and its impact on public policy, one of the more effective pieces I've seen. Here are a few extracts for people who don't read these things through (shame).

This insertion of private dollars into the DCPS budget calculations has inherent problems that need to be studied closely. The conditions placed by these foundations for their continued financial support not only impact our schools, but directly inject themselves into our city’s electoral process that will focus on education issues more than any other election in recent times.

These foundations may not be citizens of the District of Columbia, but they still may have an effective vote in our election.

--------

by accepting conditional money, we also inviting upon ourselves the unacceptable dilemma of having to choose between educational priorities that we determine are in the best interests of our children and the divergent priorities of private foundations

-------
the four foundations (Broad, Arnold, Walton, and Robertson) have been funding only public charter school alternatives, and have not supported labor unions that would represent teachers or administrators...

May 2, 2010

Fatal Flaws

Dear Flawless Correspondents:

It’s almost time to write my “told you so” column, crowing about how I saw Michelle Rhee’s fatal flaw years ago, before anyone else wrote about how she would self-destruct as Chancellor. Almost time, but not yet. Her fatal flaw, or at least one of them, is one she shares with Mayor Fenty — an inability to work with anyone else, to collaborate, to consult. Instead, she and he both insist that everyone else must follow them and their plans, and do so at full speed without taking the time to think, to consider, to read, or to question the wisdom of those plans. That flaw was evident again at last Friday’s council hearing into the DC Public Schools budget, when both Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi and Rhee testified.

Gandhi, who epitomizes collaboration and consultation, and who is gentlemanly to a fault, said that he could not certify that the contract Rhee negotiated with the Washington Teachers Union was fiscally sound because of the restrictions on the grant agreements with the foundations funding it. But he said that he was working with the Chancellor, and that he was sure she would identify savings within the DCPS budget to make up the shortfall. Skeptical councilmembers pressed him on where those savings would come from, on what they were, and Gandhi kept saying that Rhee was working with him and that he was sure they were making progress. Finally, he was asked directly whether Rhee had presented any budget savings to him at all to that date, and he had to admit she hadn’t. Then Councilmember David Catania, aggressively pursuing the mayor’s agenda of shifting all blame to the CFO’s office for “miscommunication” between Rhee and the CFO, kept asking the current Chief Financial Officer for DCPS, George Dines, if he had any written communication proving that he pressed Rhee for more access to DCPS decisions and decisionmakers. Catania got increasingly accusatory until Dines pulled from his files an exchange of E-mails in which he had asked to attend the chancellor’s senior staff meetings and was rebuffed and told he would be invited when he was wanted. Gandhi and his assistants testified for four hours without having been sworn in; when Rhee and her subordinates stepped up to testify, they were immediately sworn it. That says volumes about who the councilmembers trust, and whom they don’t. The other remarkable revelation last week was that the city was now attempting to renegotiate its agreements with the private foundations that have agreed to finance some of the costs of the teachers’ contracts. The city’s negotiator is not Chancellor Rhee or any of her staffers; not the Deputy Mayor for Education, Victor Reinoso, who does not seem to have any other job duties these days; not even Mayor Fenty, who claims that education is his top job priority but does nothing to prove it other than to show up for photo opportunities for construction projects. No, said the city’s contumacious Attorney General, Peter Nickles, he claimed he is doing the negotiations, because of course school contracts fit within his job responsibilities.

Washington Post columnist Valerie Strauss, who likes and admires Chancellor Michelle Rhee, has written a remarkable column that explains why Rhee is more of a problem than a solution for DC’s schools, http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/dc-schools/smoke-and-mirrors-in-dc-school-1.html#more. For everyone who is sick and tired of reading my tirades over the past three years about why she would turn out this way, take the time to read the lament of a disappointed supporter. “So what have we got? A powerhouse of a superintendent who is bent on doing whatever she thinks she has to do to achieve her goals. Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem to understand — still — that reforms only work when the people who have to implement them are on board. She can make bold pronouncements and she can start all kinds of new programs. But if she keeps damaging her own credibility, it is not likely that she will be in the city for the very long term to see that the reforms are put in place.” And Robert McCartney breaks his long streak of uncritical praise of Rhee with a column today acknowledging a few of her faults, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/01/AR2010050102974.html; and says, “Writing this is a comedown for me.”

But it’s not yet time for me to crow. That will have to wait a month or two. Because Rhee has promoted the contract as her signature achievement, she has made it into a referendum on her. That has shifted the balance of power, and for the first time given power to teachers over her. If they don’t approve of the contract, if they vote against it, that will be a vote of no confidence in her and make it almost certain that she will find an excuse to leave office. And there’s not as much to vote for in the contract as press accounts make it seem. Teachers’ jobs are still at risk, at the whim of an arbitrary and vengeful administration; their raises are not as guaranteed and secure as they have been described; those raises have been purchased at the cost of the jobs of their fellow teachers who were fired last October; and the much-touted “performance bonuses” are illusory, will-o’-the-wisp promises. Moreover, when the teachers vote between the current president of their local, George Parker, and his opponent in the election, Nathan Saunders, who said all along that Rhee couldn’t be trusted, it will be a second teacher referendum on Rhee. The third referendum will come over a longer time period, when the economy improves and there are better job options both for current DCPS teachers and for the inexperienced teachers whom Rhee prefers (and who are taking the jobs now because they can’t get work in their preferred professions). Who will want to work for Michelle Rhee at DCPS then?

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

Read the other stories at Norms Notes More From TheMail in DC

Leonie invitates you to second annual "Skinny" - not Broad - Awards dinner: Diane Ravitch, Juan Gonzalez, Norman Siegel, Robert Jackson

Help support the amazing work Leonie and Class Size Matters does. Ed Notes will be there covering the event. Don't miss it. (Okay, so I am dense and didn't get the takeoff on Eli Broad awards.)

When: Thursday May 20 at 6:30 PM

Where: Jasmine Restaurant at 88 7th Avenue

(between 15th-16th St.)

A fundraiser sponsored by Class Size Matters

Please join us for a very special evening where we will honor three heroes who provide us with the real “skinny” on NYC schools:

Juan Gonzalez, Daily News columnist

“Hold the city accountable”

Robert Jackson, NYC Council Education chair

“Tireless fighter for our schools”

Norman Siegel, attorney

“Peerless defender of parent rights”

A rare opportunity to celebrate these three individuals and enjoy a three course dinner with wine.

Special guest: Diane Ravitch, recipient of last year’s Skinny award

Tickets: $100 -- Patron

$75 – Supporter

To order tickets or donate online, please go to http://www.nycharities.org/events/EventLevels.aspx?ETID=1489

And please forward this invitation to your friends, Leonie

Down in DC

I've been out of NYC for a few days visiting family and friends and doing lots of sightseeing in the Washington DC area. Just behaving like a typical tourist and trying to ignore the constant drum of ed news. But of course that's impossible. On the way down we stopped at a rest stop in Maryland and there was a Unity Caucus slug on the way to the NYSUT convention in DC, one of those coincidences where you think you are getting away from it all. My wife would have strangled me if I made any attempt to get near the convention.

Numbing Nuts
Then I get a phone call from a reporter on Saturday asking me if Mulgrew called Klein "Numbnuts" at the NYSUT breakfast on Friday. Do they have tracking devices on our cars? Actually, I know this reporter because a relative lives next door to me. She said she had read on Ed Notes that Mulgrew was referring to Klein in that manner at the April 21 DA. I told her I wasn't at that meeting but she reminded me that Philip Nobile had written that report. I'm glad someone knows what's being published on this blog. I had to hang up as my wife was giving me THAT look, but I figured with this being the NY Post, some kind of hit job was coming on the union and Mulgrew. There was a report in the NY Post yesterday that mentioned me and Ed Notes and it was not as bad as I thought it would be. I personally like the Post reporters and we know that editorial influences the reporting. But at the Daily News, where the editorial opinion often matches the Post, reporters like Meredith Kolodner and Rachel Monahan somehow manage to get so many things right.

By the way, before going on, I am finding a lot to like about the way Mulgrew has dealt with issues - on the surface at least, though if you read the ICE blog (see top of the sidebar for a link) there is lots of consternation over the rubber room agreement and the way Mulgrew went about it. That is not surface so all the things I like may be more style than substance. I have had very little contact with Mulgew and got a chance at the Perkins' hearing to see him in action and felt he handled himself pretty well. I will work on getting some tape up when I get back.

I was certainly happy to see Mulgrew announce they were going to run a primary against Bing for putting up that recent law over seniority. "He is dead to us" was the kind of thing those of us who saw the UFT endorse incumbents who knifed us in the back have been looking for. And they held a demo at Ruben Diaz' office as reported by Under Assault.


I didn't get to see Rhee in DC, but it was close
We are staying in Bethesda and were taking the train into the city every day. On Saturday they held a memorial for the principal who was found dead in his house in a space near the train station. Michelle Rhee was the main speaker. Lots of press coverage according to local news but we escaped in time to avoid it.

Rhee has real problems with her private funding sources (Broad, Gates, Walton - all those stellar citizens of Ed Deform – for the proposed contract putting conditions on the money. Candi Peterson's guest blogger raises some serious issues for DC teachers about this all being about a bait and switch: teacher get offered big raises to entice them into signing a contract while also signing away seniority protection rights and - whammo. Candi asks: "Should the WTU Tentative Agreement ever get ratified by our union members, will you still be around to collect your pay raise or will you be among those on the unemployment line ?" Read More.

One of the articles that came across my Blackberry this weekend was an article from a Rhee supporter who trashed her in so many ways I was drooling. But I can't locate it right now. Probably a WAPO article. If anyone comes across it send me the link and I'll update it here.

Goldstein on Bill Gates and Measures of Effective Teaching
Speaking of bait and switch, Arthur Goldstein is siting the Bill Gates teacher effectiveness initiative (A Bill of Goods), jointly sponsored with the UFT, as a B&S tactic. Tell teachers one thing but do another. Like video tape them. Arthur raises some wonderful points and Under Assault parses them (Goldstein on Gates.) I'd like Mulgrew a lot better if he ended any contact with Gates.

Video taping teachers
I do want to say something about video taping in the classroom. Back in 1969, Elaine Troll, my teacher trainer - there was money in those days to have someone full time to deal with the new teachers - asked me it I would take part in an experimental program to video tape lessons and then analyze the tapes as to the types of questions I was asking and the type of responses I was getting. The idea was to judge the effectiveness of my questioning technique - I had to categorize them to see if I was making kids think rather than give simple responses. Pretty daring for that time - think video on the late 60's. If you read Arthur's piece, sound familiar? I guess the tapes could have been used for nefarious reasons to judge me - but I wanted to be judged. I didn't view administrators as "gotcha" people but as looking to improve my effectiveness as a teacher. In today's world and what the ed deformers have wrought, even if they were well- intentioned, we as teachers have to say "Hell No!" Good for Arthur - who I had a hand in converting from a Windows to a MAC user. Remember, every MAC bought is one less dime in Gates' pocket (not that Steve Jobs thinks any better of us).

There is so much more to write about that's happened since I've been away - like questions about how charter schools mark the recent exams as opposed to how public schools do it and questions on charter school data - like to they EVER take real attendance - so many exempt from scrutiny of the ATS system. All kinds of goodies which will just have to wait since I'm getting THAT LOOK AGAIN.


Oh, and I do want to talk about sightseeing in DC (maybe tonight when I get back) and all the things we saw- I realize I have not been a tourist in DC for a long time, though I have been her for demos and meetings (last being the AFT convention in 2003, Sandy Feldman's last speech, which I liked very much). The museums we saw were just wonderful (and FREE) and we were excitedly filling in our cousins and friends who live here and are so blase about it. But when they come to NYC we can be just as blase about not going to any tourist attractions there. Maybe we could swap museums with DC and I could go down there and enjoy MOMA without having to pay $20 to get in.

The Ballad of Evan and Sidney

Boy are these guys getting coverage - from all sides. First ,Gotham gave them creds and then mention in the NY Times. On the good guys side, Accountable Talk joined Chaz and South Bronx School with his post the other day. One of the things AT points to is the slick E4E web site.

It's certainly nicely done, as it should be--it's powered by Media Mezcla Campaign Engine, which provides tools for politicians to run campaigns. I wonder how two low-salaried teachers managed to put up a website using expensive software that politicians use in their campaigns? A suspicious person might infer that these two fine newbie teachers somehow managed to hook up with powerful, moneyed pols, but we all know that couldn't be, could it? In any case, one of their goals is to join the "debate" on how to improve schools, apparently by eviscerating them. Toward this end, they have a blog that does not accept comments. So much for debate.

People often ignore things from experienced teachers like AT, Chaz and SBS- just gripers they think. Curmudgeons. So how much do I love it when Miss Eyre, who blogs at NYC Educator, and is more of Evan and Sidney's generation than ours, exhibits some tech saavy of her own with this comment over at Accountable Talk:

The plot thickens:

http://www.networksolutions.com/whois-search/educators4excellence.org

I wonder why two obviously proud young educators would wish to keep the registrant name of their website private. After all, we know their names! Evan and Sydney! Just two squeaky-clean kids puttin' together a little PAC, havin' a little fun! Right? Right?

I checked some of the clients of Media Mezcla Campaign Engine:

Education Reform Now
www.edreformnow.org

Harlem Success Academy
www.harlemsuccess.org

Democrats for Education Reform
www.dfer.org

Ahhh, the usual suspects.

But then again there is this:

State Senator Bill Perkins, New York
www.billperkins.org

I don't see the web site or blog as all that fancy and it seems you don't need a lot of tech skills to do it. So why pay for Media Mezla when you can do it for free?

Charter Operator Dirty Tactics (With DOE Complicity) Undermine Public Schools

Updated: 8am with new info from PS 241, Harlem


One of the basic tenets of the Ed Deform movement is the fragmentation and destabalization of local community schools. Why? To remove the stake locals have in their public schools. Note how charters can draw from a much wider catch basin than zoned public schools. (The destruction of community is an issue we must explore further - but see Lois Weiner's video where she spoke after Diane Ravitch at NYU and explored so many implications of "The Plan" at http://www.blip.tv/file/3425447/). We hope to have Lois as a guest speaker at an upcoming GEM meeting.

The tactics used are many. One of the key issues that arose at the Perkins charter school hearings was the confrontation between Perkins and John White over the release of student information to charter operators. I have some good video of this which will be up in a few days.

Another lesser known tactic is to redirect pre-k kids from the public school they attend into the charter kindergarten by making it more difficult for parents to register their kids in the public school.

We first heard about this from our friends at PS 123 in Harlem where this tactic shunted kids to Moskowitz' Harlem Success and ended up reducing PS 123's pre-k population from (I think) 3 classes to 1. By the way, HSA at PS 123 has an illegal pre-k (not part of their charter) but calls it something else.

Before you know it, Moskowitz will be finding out the names of every pregnant woman and trying to enroll their kids before they are born.

Here is an email I received from a high school teacher who is shocked at these tactics.

Hi Norm,

I’ve met you a few times. I thought of you when I heard the information I am about to tell you. I have a very good friend who teaches a pre K program in Brooklyn. She told me that parents of children in her class are receiving letters saying that their child is accepted at______ (whatever the local charter school is).

There are several problems with this charter school tactic.

These parents never applied to the charter school.

How are the charter school operators getting names and addresses of these parents if they never applied to this charter school?

Someone, somehow, is supplying this operator with names and addresses from the pre K database. Is this even legal?

This friend also told me that the school that houses the program she works in used to automatically enroll any Pre K kid in the kindergarten once they are old enough. This year, this same school is making parents re-register their kids in the school if the parents want them to go to kindergarten in the same school.

Why is this new procedure now in place?

My friend is advising parents to be careful with charter schools, and that they should visit the charter first, ask a lot of questions, and not jump to enroll their kid even if the charter is aggressively soliciting “business”. What do you think? My friend is very upset and disturbed, since this charter operator is trying to lure kids away from her school, and using her program as a jumping-off point. Thanks for any ideas you can offer.

I asked my friend to ask a parent if she could actually take a look at one of these letters. She hasn’t actually seen one, but the parents, whom she has a wonderful relationship with, were complaining to and questioning her about these letters.

Another teacher writes:

The DOE is also sabotaging our Gifted and Talented program...they are offering kids who pass the test who are currently enrolled at my school, other schools - NOT mine.


And another just sent this:

You might want to add that at 241 DOE took away PreK to severely affect enrollment. We have many families who need and want PreK and are struggling to get their kids in any PreK which has now resulted in our losing these kids for Kindergarten and forever! Enrollment sabotage is real and thriving here!

We are responding and will contact the local political forces, who are strong anti-charter school people in the area.

Then got this:

Norm a friend of mine got one of these letters from LaCima Charter in Dist 16. I will ask her for a look. Can we ask for their lottery results? I believe that we should demand that the CEC and President's Council to be required to sign off with a passed resolution on their application to ensure the community is well aware and most importantly the parents in the community are saying yes to them.

The Takeway
By the way, let me not get away without a shot at the UFT (the Unity slugs are all down in Washington DC at the NY State United Teachers conference - just so you know why your local slug is not in school - I ran into one of them yesterday at a rest stop in Maryland). Why are teachers finding out about the DOE/charter school tactics from parents and not from their union so they can mount a defense? But then again, the UFT has its own charter school (one of the major errors they have ever made) issues to deal with.

That is what GEM is doing. Trying to assist these schools where they can in the absence of the UFT. Don't get me wrong here. We welcome the UFT if they get moving and will work with them in mounting a defense. But first they must raise the alarm system wide about what is happening so teachers can begin to educate and organize the parents and other teachers in their schools.