CEJ Front and Center

"The NYC Coalition for Educational Justice (CEJ) is organizing a parent-led movement for educational equity and excellence in the city’s public schools. We are a citywide collaborative of community-based organizations and unions whose members are parents, community residents and teachers. Together, we are fighting to ensure that every child in NYC receives a quality and well-rounded education."
 
Few news reports on the closing down of the PEP meeting for the first time in history gave credit to the
Coalition for Educational Justice (CEJ) for being the force behind the organizing effort that brought out over 100 parents and community activists to the meeting. (See my videos here and here and -----one more uploading later).

Monday night's events are a strong sign of CEJ's recent activity where they seem to be trying to take the lead in forming a broader citywide parent coalition than exists within CEJ (already a coalition of groups - see About us).

Love 'em or hate 'em

The more I talk to people about CEJ the more contradictory reports I get. One of my best ICE/GEM pals works with them and has a lot of praise for the work they do. Other activists out there are not so sanguine. I have had little contact with them so I don't know much.

They are backed by the Annenberg Institute or some offshoot. That means some funding and other organizational support. Meetings are held at their headquarters. I don't know the exact relationships. My friend tells me they have brought together some fantastic parent activists from various boroughs. People really rooted in their communities.

CEJ developed a relationship to the UFT. The ed deformers try to paint them - as they do any actions against them - as tools of the UFT. I don't know exactly how deep this goes. If someone checks a recent LM-2 they might find some UFT funding. I haven't had time. I commented in my reports of the PEP meeting that the UFT seemed to have zero presence. Does that mean that had no behind the scenes role? Don't know. The kind of militancy exhibited seems so far from where the UFT has been.

St. Vartas Church 2007 event recalled
There is some distrust of CEJ due to the famous deal they and the UFT made with Tweed in April 2007 that seemed to kill what looked like a major opposition forming against BloomKlein as a result of the St. Vartas Church meeting of Feb. 28, 2007 where a call went out for a massive May 1 demo against Tweed. Many feel that if that rally had taken place politicians wouldn't have been so willing to go along with the renewal fo mayoral control two years later.

It was clear that the move to kill May 1 was led by Randi and the UFT - see, they don't only sell out teachers. But CEJ took some hits from other Tweed resisters who wanted more militancy.

St. Vartas Retrospective
Leonie introduced me to Diane Ravitch February night - I filmed a brief interview with Diane but the noise was deafening - and to Patrick Sullivan (who I only knew from the blogosphere). I had been bugging Leonie to start blogging and she happily informed me Patrick was going to get it going. The wonderful NYC Parent blog was the result.

I filmed part of that amazing event and put some up on you tube.

NYC City Councilman Robert Jackson at Feb. 28 Rally

Tim Johnson Critique of BloomKlein Reorganization Scheme

I never really wrote it up in a way that would give us a useful historical perspective from my point of view. But one of Leonie's first posts on the new blog was an excellent summary:

Rally to Put the Public Back into Public Education

Here are a few of my posts in the aftermath of the deal in April 2007 - which many characterized as a sell-out.

Say It Ain't So Martine
Deal Announced on Reorganization: Did BloomKlein Blink?
A unique opportunity has been missed


Has CEJ taken a lesson from the St.Vartas/May 1 events?

It certainly seems like they have. Remember that in March 2007 BloomKlein were reeling and were willing to deal. So CEJ got something out of it. But over the last few years Tweed has turned deaf ears to them. So they have begun to ramp up their activities.

Yesterday (Tuesday, Aug. 17) they held a meeting where many politicians showed up, including major future mayoral candidates Bill DiBlasio and John Liu.

I didn't attend but reports are filtering in, both pro and con. DiBlasio seemed to turn people off with his "let's not look back and play the blame game - we have to look forward" position. Sure, Bill, tell that to Tweed who play the blame game every minute of the day - as long as they are not the ones being blamed.

Brooklyn Assemblyman Hakim Jeffries was the one who really seemed to galvanize the crowd with a much more militant stance. He wants Tweed to be held accountable (the Assembly will be holding hearings) and put forth a "those who live by the accountability sword should die by the accountability sword."

There were lots of others there, including Carol Gerstl from the UFT. She was/is Randi's counsel at the UFT - in essence she holds/held - who knows what's going on there - the same position Randi was hired for when she came to the UFT. One of our Unity moles claim she is Randi's eyes and ears and reporting back on Mulgrew and his crew. Was her presence there as an observer or as the UFT point person?

Is CEJ organizing for the long term or angling for another deal with Tweed?

Ahhh. That is the question of the day. We do know that if the UFT is involved deeply they don't want any militancy and will go for any crumb Tweed puts on the table - a knish would suffice.

So, yes, there is some suspicion out there about motives. Other parent groups are hesitant to jump on board with full support until there are clear signs CEJ is willing to stay the course and engage in a battle to put a stake through the heart of mayoral control once and for all.

We know where the UFT stands - they will bluster and blather - but will support mayoral control no matter what they say.

IS CEJ willing to go in a direction radically different than where the UFT wants them to go? That will be the million dollar question.

Some parent/community groups are not willing to wait for an answer. Thus there is another meeting called for tonight. CEJ will be there as one of the 25 or so groups (including GEM) that are taking part. I'll be back with some reports tonight or tomorrow.

Meanwhile, here are some links on CEJ

web site

Platform

More PEP Video - PEP members walk off the stage to taunts and jeers of parents, followed by parents holding their own meeting

Before I get to the video, I want to comment on Beth Fertig's coverage on WNYC. Was I at the same meeting? First the estimate of 50-60 parents is half of what is reported in the NY Times and Daily News. It's like BloomKlein report test scores.

Then comes this:

"Normally, the public waits until the end of the meeting to speak, after all other topics have been discussed. But the 50 or 60 parents who attended the meeting at Murry Bergtraum High School in Lower Manhattan didn't want to wait that long."
"Whose schools? Our schools!" they chanted, as the panel's chairman David Chang stated, "We have to do something. This is disorderly."Despite his pleas, the parents continued shouting for about half an hour.

Oh, poor David Chang, who is a pathetic creature of BloomKlein.

And oh, those spoiled parents. Can't wait till the end of the meeting after countless power points drive people into a death sleep?

There is no "normally" at the PEP. The public is often offered a chance to comment after an agenda item. And when requests and demands from the public are made they often give in. Not this time, though. They only wanted their spin to be spun and hopefully the press would leave before parents got to speak.

Notice no mention that the testing agenda item was never advertised, nor were people allowed to sign up for that specific agenda item before the meeting - since it was kept off the public agenda - and were forced to sign up for the general discussion (I know- I had #3). In fact when we walked in we were somewhat shocked to see that testing would be on the agenda.

Nor is there a mention that PEP member Patrick Sullivan made a request that parents be allowed to comment. Such requests have often been honored in the past.

The DOE shills get two paragraphs while Sullivan's eloquent response is ignored.


So much for the so-called "liberal" press.


Part 2 of our coverage on you tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvnnzqC8lb4

More video to come later.

Parents Close Down PEP - Commentary and First Video (more coming)

Photo Anna Phillips, Gotham Schools, -see goofy guy with camera

August 16, 2010, 6am

There was no Panel for Education for Educational Policy meeting at Murray Bergtraum HS last night. Or at least barely a glimmer of one before parents organized by the Coalition for Educational Justice (CEJ) shut the meeting down. The meeting will be rescheduled, undoubtedly with a lot more security.

The meeting began with a Power Point report using Tweed fuzzy math to try to discount the awful publicity BloomKlein have been receiving over the results of the recent tests showed that the nationwide accolades tossed at the NYCDOE by ed deformers has been more than a little over done. I like to call it the, "At least we're better than Rochester" defense.

When Manhattan PEP member Patrick Sullivan, who has been the strongest voice in opposition to the BloomKlein policies, said after the presentation, "Frankly, what I heard was an attempt to protect the reputations of the people responsible," the audience erupted into wild cheers.

"I could say a lot more, but what's important to me is to hear from the public what their concerns are for one of the worst debacles in the history of the public school system." Sullivan then called for a motion to allow the public to speak on the issue immediately rather than have to wait until the general public comment time at the end of the meeting when many people are already leaving. Bronx PEP member Anna Santos seconded the motion.

It was ruled out of order.

I put up a video of Patrick's comments and the immediate reaction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_TGCwlaIYY -

The audience than rose with shouts of "Let us speak" and then proceeded to shout out further attempts to continue the meeting. Members of the PEP then walked off the stage to huddle behind the curtain like failed wizards trying to decide what to do next.

Meanwhile, parents used a small bullhorn to hold their own version of the meeting as one parent after another came up to speak.

Some members of the PEP skulked back out to try to reason with an audience that was beyond reason. Actually, it was more of a scolding. They were having none of it and continued shouting. At one point a child went up on the stage to try to use a microphone and she was practically pushed off the stage by burly security guards. That inflamed the crowd even more.

You will see TV and press reports, but they are a bit incomplete.

We have lots of video and GEM and Ed Notes and CAPE are working to put together a comprehensive video like we did the other day. We'll get as many parent statements up during the rump meeting they held as we can by tomorrow.

See Patrick's report at the NYC Parent blog:

Last night's Panel for Educational Policy meeting was another unfortunate example of how the mayoral appointees on the Panel repeatedly show disregard for both the law and the public school community they are supposed to serve.

The public agenda issued prior to the meeting contained no indication that the Panel would consider the enormous controversy surrounding the state testing debacle, yet a fifteen minute session was added for a DOE staffer to present a defense of the administration's record in student achievement.

Read it in full:
PEP Chairman Chang Blocks Vote on Public Comment, Violates Bylaws

News coverage in the Times here and News here.

For the front-page story that likely led to the preparation of the DOE's defensive presentation on testing results, see the Times: Triumph Fades on Racial Gap in City Schools.


Afterburn

About CEJ
CEJ, connected to the Annenberg Institute, has been organizing parents, often in alliance with the UFT. There was zero UFT presence at last night's meeting, perhaps indicating a greater degree of independence from the UFT on the part of CEJ.

I hark back to the famous St. Vartas church events - Feb. 28, 2007 - where a major coalition seemed poised to challenge BloomKlein with a massive May 1 demo, but were accused of selling out after the follow-up agreement between CEJ, the UFT and the Mayor and Joel Klein in April, 2007. 

Here is a selection of some of our posts at the time.
Say It Ain't So Martine
Deal Announced on Reorganization: Did BloomKlein Blink?
A unique opportunity has been missed

GEM/ICE in the house
Gee, there was no presence at all by the UFT or their bought off opposition, New Action. But there were at least 6 GEM/ICEers in the house covering the event and supporting the parents. You remember ICE - that group that does nothing but complain according to the New Action/Unity slugs. 'Nuff said.

Here is ICE/GEM Michael Fiorillo in a comment he left at the Gotham Schools post.

After years of willful ignorance, the state ed department, Regents and editorial boards were forced to dance around the fact that the test scores were bogus, and manipulated for the political benefit of the mayor and his agenda. Then, their deception and self-deception revealed, everyone pivots and comes up with their "now we have to see how to spin this so it can somehow be turned to our advantage" bit.

Presto! We are now told that, even though the tests and scores were invalid, we're making progress anyway (how so, if your vaunted "metrics" are worthless? Oh, and sorry, but we're closing your schools anyway), "although we have a lot further to go," and we're going to whip those kids and teachers into shape so they can meet the New and Improved curriculums (McGraw-Hill thanks you!) coming down the pike.

And somehow we are to believe that the New and Improved testing regime will not be used as a club against teachers, and will not be gamed for the political advantage of the ed deformers.

Ignored and treated with contempt by the Mayor, Chancellor and their lapdogs on the PEP, ignored and treated with contempt by the Mayor's media echo chamber, parents decided to assert themselves last night in an effort to change the terms of debate and show their outrage over the lies they are told and the dispossession they face.

Condescended to and shut out from having input into decisions that affect their children's lives, having resources stripped away in favor of private charter schools, perhaps the parents' "disruption" of a sham, perfunctory, propagandistic hearing was a greater example of democracy than being docile participants in their own disenfranchisement.

NEW VERSION: Educational Dysfunctionality and Discrimination in the World of Bloomberg/Klein

Discriminatory and Destructive Precedents Set PS 15 and PS 188/94 State Education Commissioner Appeals

Cross posts with CAPE (http://capeducation.blogspot.com/) and
GEM (http://grassrootseducationmovement.blogspot.com/)

Joel Klein disregards decision by State Ed Commissioner regarding Girls Prep charter school expansion while students with autism are forced to move. As outrage mounts, he reverses himself. But the controversy over basic decisions to favor charter schools while discriminating against special ed children won't go away.

We updated the video after Klein declined to use emergency powers to move the autistic children - for now.

And we now have commentary to go along with the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCYJRj4sMTk


Discriminatory and Destructive Precedents Set PS 15 and PS 188/94 State Education Commissioner Appeals



Over the last week we have heard and seen tremendous outrage over Chancellor Klein’s evoking of emergency powers, disregarding Commissioner Steiner’s ruling in the PS 188/94 appeals case. Local and State politicians have had no fear, and have minced no words, making clear their opposition to Klein’s abuse of power in evoking an emergency clause to allow Girls Prep Charter to stay in the PS 188 building despite the impact on the children with Autism at the school. Klein has recently backed down from this position, now stating he will not use emergency powers, but rather look for an alternate place, for at least a year, for Girls Prep Charter School. In a press statement the DOE continues to claim that there is more than enough room in the PS 188/94 building and maintains not a single child with special needs will be displaced. The DOE’s lack of understanding for and consideration of children with special needs continues to be astounding. For both schools, and for potential co-location sites across the city, what has been lost in the fray over these process and power positions, are the destructive and discriminatory precedents set in Steiner’s decision to dismiss the PS 15 appeals case completely, and his ignoring of the merits in the PS 188/94 case he supported.

Both appeals targeted two distinct areas of complaint. First, that the DOE did not follow proper procedures as dictated by the change in school utilization portion of the Mayoral Control Law, particularly in terms of meeting the standard and intention of the law regarding the Educational Impact Statements, which was further defined by the Mulgrew decision. Secondly, both appeals made substantive complaints, detailing how the DOE made arbitrary decisions when it came to building and space utilization and allocations; largely ignoring the needs and legal mandates of students receiving special education services as well as disregarding the space needs of all students.

The DOE was required to respond to the complaints laid out in the parents’ appeals, and their claims were shocking. In their responses the DOE charged that even though the law requires outreach efforts to maximize public notification and input, they are not required to provide Educational Impact Statements to parents other than through the internet, email and principal notification. Steiner’s agreement with these claims now limits the DOE’s burden to notify the public. Considering many of these co-locations are targeted in isolated, lower socio-economic, under resourced neighborhoods, the majority of parents and community members will not be notified of potential co-locations and the impact on their children, as was the case in the PS 15 community.

Further, regarding Education Impact Statements, the DOE claimed they were not required to specifically outline a space plan for the co-located schools or detail the impact specifically. Steiner agreed with this logic citing the PS 15 EIS stated there may be some impact on enrichment programs and non-mandated services, but that the DOE felt there was more than enough space in the building and that a space plan would be created later with the schools’ building council. To be clear, Stiener used a document of questionable validity to justify his ruling. For this and many other reasons, these justifications are unacceptable. This decision flies in the face of the Mulgrew decision and permits the DOE to provide vague and self-serving assessments and justification of school space and impact. Under this decision, Educational Impact Statements must only state the DOE’s assessment of available space in the building (based on faulty utilization and instructional footprint allocations) and claim that there is enough. They are not accountable for in any way explaining where affected programs will go. For PS 15 this has meant the loss of a science lab, special education office, and several classrooms forcing multiple out-of-classroom providers (mandated and non-mandated) to share space, often at the expense of student privacy and optimal learning conditions. It has meant loss of enrichment and the down-scaling of intervention programs because there are no rooms in the building that are not programmed throughout the day, including the cafeteria, gym, and auditorium. None of these specifics were required to be included, according to the DOE and Steiner, in the EIS, and apparently none of these losses are considered significant enough to define the DOE’s judgment as arbitrary. One wonders if Steiner, Bloomberg, or Klein would have allowed these impacts on their own children.

Among the litany of alarming assertions by the DOE, upheld by Steiner, none is more striking than the claim that designated space is not required for special education related services and that stairwells and hallways are perfectly acceptable spaces for students to receive related services. Steiner did not even address the substantive issues regarding these claims in his decision. His only attempt to address the parents’ challenging the merits of the DOE’s co-location proposal was to say that he, “…could not conclude that the (DOE’s) decision was arbitrary…(because the) DOE denies the assertions and contends…the building can support both schools.” For students at PS 15 this will mean speech in the backs of classrooms or in shared classrooms and physical therapy, occupational therapy, vision and hearing therapy in hallways, stairwells, and corners contrary to the students’ IEP mandates. Is this putting Children First, or Charters First?

In the DOE’s appeal response they state, “Sharing space is central to New York City’s strategy for school improvement.” This “strategy” sets up a competition for scarce space and resources where special education students will apparently be on the losing end. As we have seen in multiple co-location proposals, PS 188/94 included, special education children can simply be moved and shuffled around to benefit charter school access to public school buildings. It begs the question: what was the intention of the state law allowing charters access to public school space for lease? It is doubtful the intention was to take utilized space away from existing public school children in order to provide essentially free space and significant start up cost savings to charter schools.

The claims by the DOE in both appeals cases, and the written decisions by Steiner, leaves parents, and teachers, at odds with the DOE, while they try to advocate for the services their children need and deserve. Destructive and discriminatory precedents have now been set by these appeals: the DOE can engage in a public hearing process where no one is actually heard and meaningful consideration is not given. In the PS 15 case alone, there were over 1,700 written and oral comments given opposing the continued co-location in the building, contrast that with less than 200 in favor of the proposal, yet the proposal was approved and upheld with no regard for the true impact on PS 15 students, particularly the special education population at the school which makes up over 30% of the student body. The precedent has been set that no significant attempt to notify the school community is required, nor is any consideration for the delivery methods that would best serve the community in question. The precedent has been set that Educational Impact Statements need only explain what may be affected in a school due to a co-location with a claim by the DOE that surely, there is enough space no matter what the students, teachers, parents, or the numbers show. The precedent has been set that space need not be allocated for special education services and children can get these services in hallways, stairwells, and in the backs of classrooms regardless of health and safety hazards or what would be the optimal learning conditions for the child as dictated by their IEP. The precedent has been set that space for intervention and enrichment programs, the kinds of programs that every child deserves, do not require allocated space.

Much must be done as a result of these appeals. Policymakers on the local and state level must improve legislation regarding change in school utilization laws and the law that allows charters access to public school buildings. Changes must be made to the DOE’s bluebook utilization formula and instructional footprint to include proper space allocations for our children, particularly children with special needs. Ultimately however, the only truly meaningful policy decision to protect public education and our children will be the termination of mayoral control. Unfortunately, our politicians have not had the courage to stand up to Bloomberg and the wealthy forces behind the education deform movement and take any meaningful action, instead they have lined their coffers with hedge fund and charter school money and allow these discriminatory practices and policies to continue at the expense of our children.

Parents and teachers must unite and fight the forces that seek to dismantle public education, which is happening at the expense of our neediest and most vulnerable children. Make no mistake, what has taken place at PS 15 and at PS 188/94 will now be precedent for far reaching education policy in this city. With the charter school cap lifted, we will see a growing number of co-locations and we will continue to live in an era of governance by lawlessness, where dysfunctionality and discrimination are common place, where charters and profiteers come first instead of our children and where mismanagement and neglect of real public schools become the hallmark of this Mayor’s education reform agenda.


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Is it your time to get involved? Join other resisters to ed deform.  Come to the Panel for Edcuation Policy meeting tonight at Murray Bergtraum HS - 411 Pearl St. (see sidebar for details). Sign up at 5:30 for speaking time.

Into the Slime With Sharpton/Klein/Bloomberg

New revelations and timeline of Sharpton, Klein and Bloomberg's political machinations

Today, in the Daily News, Adam Lisberg reports that Mayor Bloomberg gave $110,000 to Al Sharpton in 2008, apparently to gain his assent for overturning term limits, money that was laundered through the Education Equity Project, Joel Klein’s vanity non-profit that supposedly works for education reform.

This revelation comes on top of the earlier finding that Sharpton received a secret contribution of $500,000 from a hedge fund to join EEP in the first place, funds that were washed through Education Reform Now, a pro-charter lobbying group, to help him avoid federal indictment for tax fraud.

Check out our timeline of relevant events at:

http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-revelations-and-timeline-of.html

Callaghan Posting Status

Based on some new information I temporarily removed the Philip Nobile/Jim Callaghan post from last night. Post comments here for now until I put it back up. I'll put up the comments that did come in later on.

Is Wall Street Journal Ed Reporter Barbara Martinez Really Steve Brill in Drag?

Leonie seems to think so:

Pro-charter spin by WSJ; very Steve Brill-esk, unfairly comparing the test scores at Girls Prep to PS 188.

Why not compare them to the autistic kids, while you're at it?

About Girls Prep "The girls are mainly black, Hispanic and poor. Some live in homeless shelters; many live in public housing near the school. "

Really. How many homeless kids at Girls Prep? As of the latest available data, 5 out of 218, or 2%

How many homeless kids at PS 188? 46 about of 406 --11%.

How many LEP at Girls prep? 2% How many at 188? 17%

How many free lunch at Girls Prep? 50% how many at PS 188: 97%!!!!

When are these reporters going to check their facts!

But the test scores at Girls prep are better; so perhaps those PS 188 and autistic kids deserve to be on the streets.

Klein Loses On a Charter

Chancellor's Powers Appear Weakened

By BARBARA MARTINEZ

See: Wall Street Journal Biased Story on Girls Prep

Revised: Educational Dysfunctionality and Discrimination in the World of Bloomberg/Klein

Update: Aug. 15. 9am - Following this bouncing ball is getting tough.


We've pulled the original video and added new footage. It will be released Monday morning.


Comment by Lisa Donlan:

AFC filed a request for a stay along w/ their compliant on March 27th, a good three weeks before GPCS held their admissions lottery that admitted the new students now part of this emergency.

DoE countered that no stay was necessary since nothing would be done before the summer.

This is not an emergency - it is the total failure to plan for a loss, as opposed to the autocratic cramming their way down everyone's throat that the charter and DoE big cheese are accustomed to under mayoral control.

This is the result of 8 years of  tyranny w/ no checks, no balances.

At the first set of checks- as determined by 6 judges and the NYS Education 

Commissioner- DoE evokes emergency powers.

This is not quite over- DSoE has reserved the right to call this an emergency if this new last minute plan does not work.

Rather than having 6 or more months to make a plan B the DoE and GPCS now have less than a month to solve this emergency of their own making.

Update: Aug, 13, 8:30pm
Reports coming in that Klein backed down due to threat of an injunction by Advocates for Children. See links and comments below video.


UPDATE: Aug. 13, 6PM
Our video is out for 2 hours and Klein reverses course. What power!
NY Times:
Klein Reverses Course on Girls Prep and Emergency Powers

Posted Aug 13 4pm

Joel Klein disregards decision by State Ed Commissioner regarding Girls Prep charter school expansion while students with autism are forced to move.


Special ed parents voice their displeasure at the machinations that discriminate against their children in favor of charters.



REVISED VERSION GOING UP SUNDAY

Rachel Monhan in her 2nd story of the day tells us about the Advocates For Children threat.

On Leonie's listserve:

Ellen comments:
Although I can give AFC a lot of credit for taking on this issue please remember it was parents, lead by Jessica Santos PTA President of the school for youngsters with autism (P94), who contacted AFC. Her name is on the appeal to Steiner and on the response from Steiner. Without a parent who had the good sense.... and nerves of steel... to contact AFC, this action could not have occurred.
The P.R. spin the DOE has been trying to work in the public arena, that rabid anti-charter school and pro-union types, were the cause of all of this ruckus is so off-putting. A parent started the action. Others joined in.
But, like many other NYers, I am waiting for the other shoe to fall. Where will the Space Cadets strike next?

Dee says:
I read an article saying that AFC had threatened to go for a restraining order.  I'm thinking the NYCDOE knew its position re the "emergency" was a loser.  It hadn't mentioned any emergency in its papers opposing AFC's original petition to NYSED/Steiner.  Klein started saying he'd use his powers due to an emergency immediately after Steiner's decision came down.  NYCDOE may have essentially lost its right to claim there was an emergency because it hadn't cited it in the original papers and couldn't demonstrate any real emergency which had arisen so shortly after Steiner's decision came down.

It might have been faced not so much with another litigation, but rather, essentially being held in contempt of Steiner's decision because there was no real emergency.  To be found in contempt isn't good, but to be found in contempt re the welfare of a program for children with autism would be a total p.r. disaster.

NYCDOE is probably going to wind up in a lot of trouble re forcing disabled kids to receive related services in closets, open hallways, and the like as it is.  This might have been a straw that would break the federal overseer's back, so to speak, and ... NYCDOE could face losing a lot of federal $ if found in contempt.

Dee Alpert

Mulgrew Does the Purge: The Jim Callaghan Firing at the UFT

UFT calls cops on 13 year reporter Callaghan. Claim he was fired for attempting to unionize NY Teacher. It goes even deeper than that. (Read Rachel Monahan's report below my comments.)

There's going to be lots of mud flung around over Callaghan's firing. If you are amongst the few people who read the NY Teacher, you may have noticed that Jim was the only real investigative reporter. He was the guy who exposed principals from hell. I have lots of background information that I won't go into all in one post.

In Rachel Monahan's Daily News piece today (see below) we learn the UFT actually called the cops to have Callaghan removed. Reminds me of the principal at my former school who had a parent call the cops to arrest a teacher over nothing – but why would be expect the goons at the UFT to behave any differently?

Insiders have been telling me for years that calls on the NY Teacher to expose the actions of principals or to go after BloomKlein in a serious way have been rebuffed by the union leadership and that Callaghan was one of the more vocal voices calling for more exposure.

Callaghan was a member of the 3 person so-called UFT SWAT team created by Randi to go into rubber rooms along with Betsy Combier and NY Teacher reporter Ron Isaac who used to be the notorious Red Hog blogger who defended the 2005 contract in exchange for a job. Isaac had run with ICE for middle school Executive Board in the 2004 elections but sold out for filthy lucre.

Unfortunately, I've never been able to get confirmation from Callaghan because he has refused to talk to me for many years. I was never clear why because other NY Teacher staffers have been very friendly but I suspect it was because of ICE attacks on the SWAT team as being a joke. Reports from rubber room people as to the effectiveness of these 3 were mixed.

When inside Unity moles began to post while we were in Seattle (and I tracked many of these IP addresses as coming from Seattle - so it was truly insiders) there was one post that struck me as odd. It was so full of praise for Callaghan, it was as if he had written it himself. A Unity slug then followed up by actually charging that JC wrote it. So I was immediately suspicious that someone was trying to put a hit on Callaghan.

At the same time Betsy Combier was fired from the UFT. That she has been silent is unusual and there are reports that she had to sign a non-disclosure agreement when she got the job at the UFT.

There is some deep background stuff I have access to about Betsy's hiring and firing that might relate to Callaghan's firing but I am holding off until I nail it all down. I have heard that one person in particular at the NY Teacher has been after Callaghan's job for a long time and is a prime suspect. I know this individual and am not surprised at all.

Now insiders have been coming out with anonymous comments and with other inside information. I can't confirm it all but as usual will throw it all out there.

Here are some of the comments from last night's posting announcing the firing, where someone claiming to be a NY Teacher staffer attacks Callaghan followed by another staffer defending him. Since there are not that many staffers it shouldn't be hard to sort things out.

Here are a few comments:

"Why aren't the writers unionized? It goes back to Shanker. Norm, do you remember why? The Shanker bio went into it but I forgot what it said."

Shanker got a ruling that higher level staffers are classified in a way that exempts them from being unionized. I got into this because in Chicago, CORE, the new guys in charge of the union, are left with legacy staffers from the old party in power because they are in a union. I heard thst UFT district reps at one time were lobbying for a union but Shanker sent in the spies and they killed it.

Here is another:

JC was a very good investigator and writer. If he was fired it has to be due to internal politics at the UFT. Just as Ron Davis was demoted for no apparent reason Jim was let go as Mulgrew is purging the UFT of anyone he suspects who will not be beholding to him. Watch the new rep's and staffers who are hired. Mulgrew is a thug, Jim's quotes in the news article are true. Someone should let the cat out of the bag regarding Dave Hickey the former PBA staffer who has a big say at the UFT. Investigate how he was fired from the PBA for kickbacks regarding health benefits and how he is now lining the pockets of Mulgrew and Barr. Maybe Jim should write about that.

The Dave Hickey story has legs and I got it directly in a phone call from a Unity insider just a few weeks ago. Any good investigative reporter should be able to uncover how Hickey was escorted out of the PBA and Randi was practically at the door to meet and hire him. If one checks the LM-2 reports they will find that Hickey makes over $200,000 a year - check that out because I am too backed up to do it now.

Some paper in NYC should get smart and hire Jim Callaghan immediately as an investigative reporter covering the DOE and UFT. (Callaghan by the way, broke the story about abusive principal Leo McCaskill at Brooklyn Tech, among many others.)

Now here is one full of fun stuff:

I work at the UFT and Jim talked to me and others about joining a union and he showed me the letter from his lawyer to Mulgrew saying he was starting a union for those of us who are have no rights-in a union! Several of my colleagues were afraid to join because they were worried that Mulgrew would fire them-for joining a union at a union! How prescient were they? 

The previous post is typical Mulgrew/Hickey COINTELPRO Nixon dirty tricks, which Mulgrew is famous for. 

Ron Davis, a pro among pros, is black. Natalie Bell, a talented, well-liked black writer was fired by Deidre McFadyen with made-up stories and told to get out of the building in a half-hour. They wouldnt even let her take her stuff.

Get people to leak you the McFadyen memos to her staff about time and attendance---- worse than any principal in the system. She is a tyrant and a liar and a nasty back- stabber and has given another full-time reporter no work to do for the past year- This is dues money down the drain! And Mulgrew let's her do it.

Jim's firing- with no due process and cops, is exactly why writers here need a union. Yesterday, the lawyers Adam Ross and Carol Gerstl (Joe Bruno's "very close" pal) told the NY Teacher staff that we are not allowed to talk about Jim! Even if he dies? 

Everyhing else from the Mulgrew schemers and scammers are lies, like they lied about Ron Davis ONE YEAR after Randi made him press secretary after he worked for her and Feldman for 18 years without one blemish. Everyone loves the guy -except and Mulgrew who hated Davis for no apparent reason. 

I and the others at the paper as well as the hundreds of people Jim has helped over the years- on his own time and not for the paper-will testify at the NLRB, the EEOC and in Jim's lawsuit. Deidre hates "seniors" because they are independent and talk back to her. She always has to be right. 

Post her salary if you have the LM 2 forms.

I hope Jim writes about all the financial sleaze going on here. It will be a Pulitzer Prize. D.R.'s staying home all day, faking time sheets with their principals (It's called stealing publlic monies), the booze in people's offices, the lies Mulgrew and his flunkies tell members. Jim will be busy for years exposing these rackets.

P.S. How do you steal from cops? 

Jim also told me he has videos of Randi calling him one of the best historians in New York and her ace investigative reporter. She also told 40 ALJ's -who he helped organize-"the consiciense of the union."

Jim's firing- and the low life way Mulgrew handled it-is so filled with irony because Jim is the champion of the underdog and Mulgrew is the protector of lousy principals. 

Read BRill in the Times a few months ago when Mulgrew admitted he doesnt think his "at will" staff should be in a union!

Find out how much money -tens of thousands- Randi and Mulgrew cost the union in overtime for non-UFT printers because they cant make the deadlines!

Here's a fun one:

she[mcfayden] ... has given another full-time reporter no work to do for the past year-

Who could this be? Has anyone seen one word written by Ron Isaac recently? Maybe as anonymous postings on blogs, but certainly not in the paper he is getting paid to "write" for.

Ironically, Jim Callaghan's last piece is published in the NY Teacher I received yesterday has a photo of the teachers at PS 193 doing their dance in front of the school. I shot that video and there is a link in the story to you tube but not directly to the video itself. Here is the link the NY Teacher conveniently left out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v5u9-D_Rtg

Here is Rachel Monahan's story in the Daily News. 

Writer Jim Callaghan says UFT booted him for trying to unionize his colleagues

BY RACHEL MONAHAN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, August 13th 2010, 4:00 AM

Mecea for News

Jim Callahan (above) says he was fired from the United Federation of Teachers for trying to unionize his writer colleagues.

The city's powerful teachers union fired a staffer Thursday for trying to organize his colleagues, the spurned worker said.

Longtime staffer Jim Callaghan, 63, who wrote speeches for UFT presidents and articles for the New York Teacher newspaper, was booted from headquarters Thursday afternoon.

And he's convinced his firing stems from his efforts to unionize fellow writers working for the union.

"[Teachers union president Michael Mulgrew]'s the most hypocritical person in the school system right now," Callaghan said. "He doesn't want us to have the same rights as teachers."

Union officials strenuously denied the firing was related to any unionization drive, saying Callaghan's dismissal was related to "serious behavior issues."

Callaghan isn't buying it, though, and intends to take his case to the National Labor Relations Board, as well as filing an age-discrimination suit, he said.

The UFT veteran, who said he'd been with the organization for 13 years, was fired at 1p.m. and told to get out, he said. After cops were called, he was later allowed to pack up his things, he said.

The NYPD confirmed that officers were called to the union's headquarters at 52Broadway at 1:03 p.m. to resolve a dispute. No one was arrested.

Callaghan gave the Daily News a copy of a June 7 letter from his lawyer to Mulgrew, which said Callaghan feared retaliation for his work encouraging fellow writers to join a union.

UFT spokesman Peter Kadushin rejected Callaghan's claims that organizing led to the firing.

"We responded to Mr. Callaghan's attorney citing Mr. Callaghan's failure to live up to professional standards in his office behavior," Kadushin said.

Kadushin also noted that "the overwhelming majority of people who work at the UFT are represented by unions, including Local 153 OPEIU, SEIU Local 32BJ, Local 94 Building Engineers and Local 1L Amalgamated Lithographers."

Callaghan called his ousting particularly hypocritical since Mulgrew recently blasted the firing of teachers who had been organizing at Merrick Academy Charter School in Queens.

rmonahan@nydailynews.com

UFT Firing of NY Teacher Reporter Jim Callaghan

See the Daily News article on the firing.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/08/13/2010-08-13_i_was_kicked_to_curb_by_bully_union.html#ixzz0wTPuI9ES

What a Union Can Do: 'Hey Barack!... Race to the Top Is a Crock!'

MAKING FOR A VIBRANT UNION:


IN THE 2ND ARTICLE, NOTE THE HEALTHY INTERNAL DEBATE IN CORE, SOMETHING THAT CAN NEVER HAPPEN IN UNITY IN NYC. CAN YOU EVEN IMAGINE THE UFT LEADING SUCH AN ACTION?

But then remember- CORE is a caucus within the Chicago Teachers Union - the caucus that runs the union but not the union. There is an important difference and it looks like they know what they are doing.

Organized by CORE, Chicago teachers and others protest Obama's education policies during August 5, 2010 Chicago visit

Sharon Schmidt - August 07, 2010
Substance - http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=1583&section=Article

Chicago's Labor Beat covered the CORE demonstration against Race To The Top during Barack Obama's visit to Chicago and has produced another video scoop covering a major Chicago story. This time, the Labor Beat video is covering the August 5, 2010 protest during Brarack Obama's fundraising visit to Chicago.


Part of the protest against President Barack Obama's education policies picket the Chicago Cultural Center on August 5, 2010 while the President spoke inside at a Democratic Party fundraiser. Substance photo by Susan Zupan.In addition to showing the large and militant protest against President Obama's policies during the President's recent Chicago visit, the video features a speech by teachers Nate Goldbaum (editor of the CORE newsletter) and Carol Caref discussing what is wrong with "Race To The Top."

"You're not going to fire your way to good schools..." says Caref, responding to an editorial that appeared in the Chicago Tribune that day, criticizing new CTU President Karen Lewis for demanding due process for teachers who have been declared "unsatisfactory" by often corrupt principals.

To view on YouTube, readers can cut and paste the following into their browser:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM_WqraHAsU

The Labor Beat introduction to the video follows:

"As President Obama spoke inside Chicago's Cultural Center on Michigan Ave. on Aug. 5, 2010, outside a group of Chicago Public Schools teachers and other public workers protested. They were demonstrating against the Race to the Top (RTT) policies that Obama (and his Secretary of Education Arne Duncan) is pushing nationally in dismantling public education and attacking teachers unions. The demo was organized by the Caucus of Rank And File Educators (CORE, coreteachers.org) and also attended by CTA workers. 6:30 min..."

Teachers, other workers protest President Barack Obama's 'Race to the Top' during President's Chicago visit on August 5, 2010

Substance Staff - August 05, 2010
http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=1582&section=Article

More than 100 teachers organized by CORE (Caucus of Rank and File Educators) protested the visit of President Barack Obama to Chicago on August 5, 2010. The teachers assembled with picket signs at the Chicago Art Institute and then marched down Michigan Ave to the Chicago Cultural Center, where Obama was speaking. Signs read criticisms of Obama and his education plan.

Teachers were not the only people protesting. They were joined by anti-war activists and other union members, including some from the Chicago Transit Authority who had previously been under attack from Mayor Richard M. Daley and current Chicago Schools CEO Ron Huberman (who was President of the CTA until Daley appointed him to the CPS job in January 2009).


Nate Goldbaum, a Chicago elementary school teacher and editor of the CORE newsletter, spoke to the August 5 crowd outside the Chicago Cultural Center while Barack Obama was featured at a Democratic Party fundraiser inside. One of the signs read: "Hey Barack! Race to the Top is a Crock." Substance photo by Susan Zupan.The plan for the protest was approved unanimously at a CORE meeting at Chicago's Operation PUSH headquarters on July 26, a week earlier, and was implemented by CORE members while the caucus was undergoing reorganization. After a lengthy debate, CORE members (more than 100 of whom were at the July 26 meeting) voted unanimously to protest during one of the fundraising parts of President Obama's visit. The CORE members defeated suggestions that the protests be held at President Obama's Chicago home, which is four blocks from PUSH in Chicago's Hyde Park-Kenwood community.


Members of the protesting groups march on the sidewalk on the Michigan Ave. side of the Cultural Center on August 5, 2010. Substance photo by Susan Zupan.Following the July 26 decision, there was heated debate about who should protest and how much the protest should denounce Obama's education policies (as opposed to just discussing the policy called "Race To The Top").


The group first assembled at the Art Institute of Chicago at Michigan and Adams Streets. Then it marched (above) to the Chicago Cultural Center at Michigan and Randolph three blocks to the north. Substance photo by Susan Zupan.Obama's Race To The Top is being viewed by a growing number of people as an attack on public education, while the demand that public school districts across the USA embrace charter schools, a form of privatization, is highly controversial.

CORE distributed hundreds of copies of a factsheet (above) downtown during the August 5 protest. The leaflet distributed by CORE not only outlined problems with the President's education policy, but also explained the situation in Chicago, where CORE leaders, now serving as officers of the Chicago Teachers Union, are facing off against Chicago Board of Education attorneys. The Board is demanding concessions from the CTU.

Prior to his election as President of the United States, Barack Obama was an Illinois State Senator and United States Senator from Illinois. He was elected President in November 2008. One of his first cabinet appointments was to designate the controversial Chicago Schools Chief Executive Officer Arne Duncan to be U.S. Secretary of Education. Duncan began serving in January 2009, and by the summer of 2009 he had published the basic elements of "Race To The Top", which bore a strong resemblance to the failed "Chicago Plan" for so-called "school reform." 

CAPE: Mayoral Control is Governance By Lawlessness… It is Time to Put an End to the Bloomberg-Klein Ed Deform Agenda!

Mayoral Control is absolute power that corrupts absolutely. It is a license to push destructive and discriminatory policies touted by this Mayor and Chancellor, which will be rubberstamped by a PEP whose majority is selected by the Mayor himself and given the directive to "serve at his pleasure". 
---Concerned Advocates for Public Education

PS 15 in Red Hook was the school State Ed Commissioner Steiner ruled against when he ruled against the expansion of Girls Prep. Here our pals at CAPE respond. I'm cross posting.


Mayoral Control is Governance By Lawlessness… It is Time to Put an End to the Bloomberg-Klein Ed Deform Agenda!
 

The PS 188/94 and PS 15 recent appeals to the State Education Commissioner prove once again that Mayoral Control amounts to nothing more than governance by lawsuit, a construct where parents, students, and teachers will find themselves at a great disadvantage, and will almost always lose, when seeking what is best for the public education of our youth.

Commissioner David Steiner’s decisions in both cases, the Department of Education’s responses in both cases, and the outrageous actions of Klein evoking ‘emergency powers’ in the one of Steiner's findings set dangerous and destructive precedents for our schools and students when it comes to school and space utilization and allocation.

As a result of Steiner’s decision and the responses and actions of the DOE:

· Space allocations are not required for related services for special needs students or for ELL students.
· Stairwells and Hallways are perfectly acceptable spaces for students to receive educational services.
· Negative impacts on existing public school students, specifically removing space for enrichment, intervention, and other mandated and non-mandated services to benefit a charter school, is perfectly acceptable.
· Educational Impact statements do not have to be provided to parents in paper form or through the mail. Notification to families and communities need only be made through the internet or through the school’s principal with no additional resources provided by the DOE.
· Educational impact statements do not have to specifically identify the impacts or losses on students in terms of space or programming due to a co-location.
· Educational impact statements do not have to show how space will be allocated; a space plan can be completed after the co-location is approved.
· Providing opportunities for hearings and public input where no one is actually heard or considered meets the standard of the law.
· When a legal decision is made that favors parents, students, and teachers, the DOE will find a way to get around it.

Mayoral Control is absolute power that corrupts absolutely. It is a license to push destructive and discriminatory policies touted by this Mayor and Chancellor, which will be rubberstamped by a PEP whose majority is selected by the Mayor himself and given the directive to "serve at his pleasure". When in the rare case, the Administration is legally challenged on a issue, there is a loophole to declare emergencies in order to override whatever decision displeases the Chancellor. This is not putting Children First, as their self-heralded initiative claims, this is putting ideology first, an ideology rooted in free-market principles that further reinforce the roles of privilege and subordination in our country and pervert our public education system, the pillar of our democracy. Local and State legislators must take action to end this corrupt governance system and put legislation in place and advocate for policies that protect public schools and our neediest and most vulnerable children.

Join Grassroots Education Movement in the Struggle to Protect and Preserve Public Education! Check in this week for further video and analysis regarding the DOE’s outrageous actions and claims regarding co-locations @ ednotesonline.blogspot.com, capeducation@blogspot.com and grassrootseducationmovement@blogspot.com

Want to create a community-based advocacy group in your school? Contact capeducation@gmail.com for an advocacy toolkit and information on GEM’s school-based organizing committee.

Together we can stop the dysfunctional and discriminatory education policies of Bloomberg and Klein!

Politicians and Parents Criticize Joel Klein's Use of Emergency Powers to Favor Charter Over Autistic Children

I just sent this story over to The Wave. It will be published Friday, August 13. I tried to write is as a straight news story - with my slant of course - rather than as the usual Ed Notes rant. Last night my writers group, which includes a former newspaperman, used some of my blog posts to make suggestions. Really useful stuff that I will try to implement.


Politicians and Parents Criticize Joel Klein's Use of Emergency Powers to Favor Charter Over Autistic Children

by Norm Scott

August 11, 2010

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein was charged with favoring charter schools run by billionaire power brokers over the needs of autistic children at an August 9th press conference called by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.

Held under the arch of the Municipal Building at One Centre St., Stringer was joined by City Council members Rosie Mendez and Robert Jackson and State Senator Daniel Squadron, along with parents of the autistic children affected.

Girls Prep charter school has occupied space in PS 188 on Houston St. on the lower east side. The school building also contains P94, a school for autistic children. Increasing demands for space by Girls Prep, all of which have been granted by Klein, has squeezed the children in the two public schools in the building. P94 had been moved around the building numerous times. Autistic children often find it difficult to handle changes. By allowing Girls Prep to expand to the 8th grade within PS 188, the children would have to be moved again.

State Education Commissioner David Steiner issued a ruling to Klein to stop the expansion of Girls Prep Charter, ruling that it discriminates against the special education students of P94. Steiner had commented in his ruling that Klein could override his decision by invoking the emergency powers granted to him under the mayoral control renewal law passed by the NY State Legislature in August 2009. And that is exactly what Klein did — invoke emergency powers.

The outcry was immediate. "[Sheldon] Silver Calls Klein's Girls Prep Decision 'Blatant Abuse' of Emergency Powers" blared one headline. The lower key NY Times headline read: "Chancellor Declares an Emergency to Sidestep State Ruling and Expand Charter School."

Parents spoke at the press conference. "I'm upset at the lack of respect given to the educational needs of my son and the other 50 children in that building," said P94 parent Jessica Santos. Corina Lindenberg, a representative of CEC1, the local school board in the area said, "[Klein] clearly favors a school that is hedge fund fueled opposing a school that truly serves the children that have the most needs.... not just autistic children but children that are living in poverty that are living on the streets. Look at Girls Prep if they have these kinds of students. They don't."

Springer told a story of a meeting he held with DOE officials where they made assurances on the Girls Prep issue that satisfied him. A day later, Klein pulled the emergency powers rip cord. Stringer seemed pretty frustrated with Klein and the DOE but kept talking about holding meetings with Tweed. When asked about the fruitfulness of these meetings with the DOE if they constantly renege and are willing to break the law Stringer said they have to keep meeting to try to change the policies since nothing can be done until mayoral control comes up for renewal in a 2013.

State Senator Daniel Squadron said, "The problem is we have an exemption in the law that it seems the Department of Education wants to drive a Mack truck through."

LowDownNYC, a local Manhattan paper, commented on both Silver, who is the leader of the State Assembly but was not present at the press conference and Squadron:

"The Girls Prep controversy marks the first time the chancellor has invoked his 'emergency powers' since Albany renewed mayoral control of New York City’s schools last year. That legislation was the result of a deal brokered by State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and co-sponsored in the Senate by Daniel Squadron. Last fall, Squadron addressed skeptical parent activists, who were worried the mayor and chancellor would continue (in their view) to ignore community input about local schools. Squadron told them the new law included provisions that would assure DOE accountability to parents. As a co-sponsor of the legislation, Squadron said, he would make sure the Education Department respected the letter as well as the spirit of the law."

With the disparity between public schools and charter schools controlled by wealthy people with influence, the pressure on the politicians from parent and activist groups appears to be growing. Numerous meetings of parent activist groups are being scheduled over the next week.

"Why did Girls Prep want to expand in the first place?" asked Class Size Matters' Leonie Haimson. "The school had recently moved into dangerous territory fiscally speaking, and most likely wanted an infusion of taxpayer funds generated by higher enrollment, without having to dip into the hefty pockets of their board members," referring her readers to the SUNY fiscal dashboard for details. http://www.newyorkcharters.org/FiscalDashboard.htm

Charter schools use public tax money but are managed by private interests outside the purview of elected officials. Why is so much private money flowing into charters, which combined with the public money allows many of them to offer more services and lower class size? Haimson on her NYC Parent blog said, "Billionaire hedge fund privateers are intent on 'leveraging' their private contributions." She pointed to this comment in the NY Times by Whitney Tilson, Hedge Fund manager and an education activist promoting charters: “It’s the most important cause in the nation, obviously, and with the state providing so much of the money, outside contributions are insanely well leveraged."

Commentary on Mike Winerip Column - Updated

Update Aug.12, 8am: Susan Ohanian gets into the people running Teach Plus.

Mike Winerip's must read regular Monday ed column - this one was another full of food for thought - (Lesson Plan in Boston Schools: Don’t Go It Alone) touched on what looks like a good thing - on the surface. Even my wife who barely notices ed stuff commented that it seems like a good idea to bring in teams of experienced teachers in schools being redesigned. So let's do a little parsing:

Earlier this year Massachusetts enacted a law that allowed districts to remove at least half the teachers and the principal at their lowest-performing schools. The school turnaround legislation aligned the state with the Obama administration’s Race to the Top program incentives and a chance to collect a piece of the $3.4 billion in federal grant money.
From Washington this makes abundant good sense, a way to galvanize rapid and substantial change in schools for children who need it most. In practice, on the ground, it is messy for the people most necessary for turning a school around — the teachers — and not always fair. Often the decisions about which teachers will stay and which will go are made by new principals who may be very good, but don’t know the old staff.

Yes, the evils of Race to the Bowels of Hell. One of the themes of the article is that many experienced teachers don't want to go to these turnarounds.

Asked about applying to one of the city’s 12 turnaround schools, Lisa Goncalves, a first-grade teacher with seven years’ experience, said, “I’d be hesitant to go alone.” 

Said Celine Coggins, the chief executive of Teach Plus, which developed the idea and is financed by the Gates Foundation: “I think teachers want to know they’re not going into a school alone as a hero.”

 Bong! Bong!! Warning bells going off - THE GATES FOUNDATION. We know things like reducing class size can't be part of this solution.

So here is their supposed solution to the problem turn arounds that dump out the old and end up with scads of newbies.

And that is the simple idea behind a new program that is being used to staff three of the turnaround schools in Boston: you don’t go alone. Rather than have the principal fill the slots one by one, the Boston schools have enlisted the help of a nonprofit organization, Teach Plus, to assemble teams of experienced teachers who will make up a quarter of the staff of each turnaround school come fall. The teams will spend two weeks working together this summer. While teaching a full load, they will serve as team leaders for their grades and specialty areas like English immersion. They will work 210 days versus the normal 185 and get paid $6,000 extra a year. On average they have eight years’ experience.

I love this line:

“It’s like jump-starting a culture at these schools,” said Carol R. Johnson, Boston superintendent of schools.

Right Ms. Johnston. Follow the Gates and ed deform mantra: "it's about changing the culture of the school, not inadequate resources" and you will end up where all the other Gates initiatives are ending up.

Well, here is what I told my wife. It won't work."What would you do," she asked?

"I'd bring in the team but leave the old staff in place. See what happens if you increase the resources of the school by say 20%. Why not? Billions are being tossed down the toilet. Let Gates fund that. But he won't. Because success would prove the ed deform plan to be as false as George Washington's teeth.

Wish I Could Vote in Colorado- UPDATE: DARNIT

Update: Just saw Bennet on TV after win. Looked pretty arrogant to me. Too bad he won.

Reality Based Educator put us onto the Colorado Senate primary where Obama ed deform face Michael Bennet faces defeat today from Andrew Romanoff despite - or because of - the Obama admin pushing Bennet.

You may have read the other day in a major article in the NY Times about the disastrous deal Bennet made with the banks that is about to bankrupt the Colorado teachers pension system.

It is difficult to believe but Michael Bennet, the corporate whore Democrat backed by Barack Obama, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, hedge fund criminals like Whitney Tilson and the entire education deform industry, is on the verge of losing a primary to an insurgent who had to sell his house to get enough money to compete with the millions Bennet has raised from Wall Street and other corporate interests.

Here is how the Denver Post depicts the last full day of campaigning:

Andrew Romanoff's T-shirt shop has been working overtime in the last weeks of his insurgent campaign for U.S. Senate, churning out thousands of dark-blue "Teachers for Romanoff" and "Nurses for Romanoff" jerseys.

The one shirt you won't see between now and Tuesday's Democratic primary is "Establishment for Romanoff," and that's just the way the former House speaker's campaign seems to like it.

 Read RBE's full piece at: Taking Back Washington D.C. From The Corporate Whores

I don't trust most politicians no matter what they say but in this case I figure a defeat for Bennet is a victory for us. So I joined Andrew Romanoff's facebook page. And lo and behold, he is supported by Bill Clinton. Not a good sign since he is an ed deformer, though he tries to closet it. But it is intriguing that he goes against an Obama supported candidate. Or does he just see the handwriting on the wall an jumped on. See http://www.andrewromanoff.com/blog/entry/bill-clinton-hold-this-seat/


And in case you haven't noticed yet, some teacher bloggers in Colorado are doing more than their share. Leonie urges everyone to subscribe to their blog so we don't have to keep reposting. Here is a good one:

Walking to D.C.

Sabrina | August 9, 2010 at 3:07 pm | Categories: other school professionals, standardized testing | URL: http://wp.me/pTcsU-7T

Headlines like "Inexperienced Companies Chase U.S. School Funds" and "Schools paying for tutors with mixed track record" don't surprise Dr. Jesse Turner, a professor of reading and language arts at Central Connecticut State University. In the course of his work as director of CCSU's Literacy Center, he has witnessed and felt deep opposition to No [...]

Read more of this post

And check out a new tab at the top I'm calling CURRENT HOT ITEMS. I'm trying not to clutter the side bar with too many items but they just keep coming in. Today we have an item on Bill Gates (Teachers Pest).