Tying Up Loose Strings

Some thoughts based on a variety of input coming in.

Aug. 26, 2010

Why Did Louisiana Not Get Race To The Top?

Louisiana lost out to the Race To The Top is that so few school systems statewide were willing to collaborate with the Louisiana Department of Education.  Why?
Because they have had an up-close view of what happened in New Orleans when the state took over the system and privatized schools, abolished democratic control of local schools, and replaced veteran teachers with temporary untrained teachers.  New Orleans was a beachhead for the anti-democratic forces of privatization, and the market reformers who see democracy as an obstacle to progress tried to impose limits are board authority statewide. They also were more likely to see the research that shows virtually no change in the rate of student performance before and after the takeover. Ultimately, Louisiana lost the Race To The Top because local schools officials learned from experience that trading democracy for technocratic top-down control is a bad deal.

Lance Hill, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Southern Institute for Education and Research
Tulane University

Rachel Maddow is in New Orleans tonight and while she didn't address how they privatized the school system, her show addressed the housing issue where homes for the poor were knocked down in favor of gentrification. Same issue in essence. She and a guest talked about privatization and the pushing out of the poor.

Now that ties in with the bogus super duper success of the New Orleans schools since they basically wiped out the public schools and the teachers union with it. Paul Vallas, who ruined Chicago and  Philly was brought in to bring in a Katrina like disaster to the school system. By the way, he is leaving. But he said that no more than 60% of the schools should be charters. Of course, they got rid of poor people but they have calculated there is enough left that they don't want sullying their charter schools with.

AJ Duffy on The Mind of a Bronx Teacher radio show - NOW
 http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bronx-teacher/2010/08/27/the-mind-of-a-bronx-teacher

An excellent discussion with Duffy, a Brooklyn native by the way who used to hang out on Ave J - is talking about the situation in LA. Now we know that he seemed to be waffling - Randi is getting credit for this in her adoring ed deform press - but he is talking about the flaws of value added. He was diplomatic when Bronx Teacher made an anti UFT comment.

Duffy just made a very good point. Some teachers in LA started off saying, "Sure, I'm a good teacher. Let them come in and evaluate me any way they want." Then they found out that some of the best teachers they know were not coming up roses in the Value-added system the LA Times is using to expose teachers.

Uh-oh. He is talking about self policing out profession. We can't self police until we along with community people get to pick the school admins.

A call from blogger Queens Teacher. Hi QT. (I wanted to say hello but couldn't log on.)
Now he's talking about why the short time teachers are so favored by ed deformers - no health care or pension costs. They can give them decent salaries but it forces them to teach dumbed down curriculum through Open Court systems.

He says: "They're doing away with a wonderful profession."

Ahhh. "The same people who push "smaller is better" - small schools, etc. - deny class size is important. A contradiction. We should throw this back at them (I'm paraphrasing here)."

Bronx teacher says he went to small high school. All the teachers knew him. Bad break for them.

Some great original reporting by SBS. He spoke to LA Times reporter Jason Felch who did the story.

Mr Richard Buddin And Jason Felch Man And Wife

NYC Teacher Expresses A Perfect Level of Outrage

"We had to find a way to change the educational direction of Mayor Bloomberg and [Schools] Chancellor [Joel] Klein," said United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew. "That's what we used Race to the Top for."

The quote above from a Daily News article on NY winning RTTT funds led to this response from on the NYC Education listserve:

Huh?  Aren't many of the 'programs' that Race to the Top will fund expanding and extending the educational direction of Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein?  Am I missing something?  

This statement is similar (in its duplicity) to the one teachers received when we were notified about how the UFT "saved" teachers choice; we should be oh, so thankful, for $110. 

Considering I have spent about $800 on my classroom this week in preparation for the school year, I'm not feeling too thankful.  And while $700 million in education funding sounds great, I am thinking I am not going to be too thankful for my "teacher report card" tied to student test scores, more emphasis on testing, expansion of the leadership academy, more charter co-locations... on and on.  I wonder if, at the very least, teachers will finally get some pencils with that $700 million?  For that I would be mildly grateful... throw in some paper and I might not know what to do with myself.

By the way, a NYC teacher told me she was out spending almost a thousand dollars of her own money. Apparently two charter school teachers overheard that public school teachers get $110. They expressed outrage at the unfairness of it all.

Jim Callaghan Goes Missing: UFT Deletes History

At the Labor Research Association dinner in March 2008, Randi Weingarten calls Jim Callaghan "one of the best historians in New York" and thanks him for helping write her speech, then introduces him to the crowd.

The disappearance of Jim Callaghan 

Go to UFT .org, then to the NY Teacher and type in Lee McCaskill, the vicious principal who Callaghan investigated and exposed - it led to his being removed.

The site claims Callaghan's Brooklyn Tech story is there but when you try to open it, no luck. Here is what it says:

Teachers the real heroes at Brooklyn

As principal of Brooklyn Technical HS, Lee McCaskill was a schoolyard bully, harassing and intimidating teachers, inventing bogus charges of corporal punishment and insubordination, and driving brilliant teachers out of the school.

Click on the link and you get this:

Page Not Found

Sorry, the page you requested could not be found.
If you typed in the address, check that it was typed correctly. The page may have been moved to a different location on our Web site. You can try searching for it using our site's search engine.
Please click this link to alert us to the missing page. By sending us this broken link e-mail, you are providing us with vital information to quickly remedy the problem.
We will either fix the broken link or tell you that the file you requested has been removed from the Web site.

They have cut Callaghan down to 41 stories over 13 years with lots of other stories by others going back 10 years.

Callaghan is being DELETED and DISAPPEARED

What next, a bond fire burning old NY Teachers with aricles by Callaghan?

Stop by and tell them to restore the links.

Summing up how Mulgrew views unions for writers as opposed to other workers:

From Steve Brill Story on teacher unions in Sunday Times mag, May 2010:

Next to Mulgrew was his press aide, Richard Riley. “Suppose you decide that Riley is lazy or incompetent,” I asked Mulgrew. “Should you be able to fire him?”
“He’s not a teacher,” Mulgrew responded. “And I need to be able to pick my own person for a job like that.” Then he grinned, adding: “I know where you’re going, but you don’t understand. Teachers are just different.”

Are writers different than carpenters? In the world of Mulgrew they are.

Here's something by Callaghan still up there. Read it while you can:

http://www.uft.org/news/teacher/labor/remember_jack

http://www.uft.org/news/teacher/feature/no-stopping-them-now 

Steiner and Tisch: Race To The Top Hostage Photo

A Scary Thought: These People Run the NY State Ed Dept.

Let's see now. Meryl Tisch - yes that family - owns Giants and all kinds of stuff. Also Bloomberg next door neighbor - we picketed her too at our January '10 demo a Bloomberg's house. She also does Passover with Joel Klein. Very non-partisan.

And David Steiner who used to be at Hunter College - you know the place. Lower 4 year grad rates than some high schools that were closed. And remember how Hunter and Joel Klein tried to team up to take over the Julia Richman complex on 2nd Ave and 67th St - one of the multi-school buildings that has actually worked since the early 90's.

Photo from Gotham Schools

Labor Dept. Rules Randi Take Over of Nurses' Union Illegal

“The trusteeship appears to have been imposed to prevent disaffiliation,” according to the ruling. “It is the Department’s position that it is unlawful to impose a trusteeship for the purpose of preventing.”


But too late to help displaced union leaders.

Last year we reported on how Randi Weingarten sent in the AFT goons to invade the offices of a nurses local in Portland Oregon after they held a meeting to discuss disaffiliation from the AFT (see below for links). We had been contacted by one of the people in the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals Local 5017 (OFNHP).

Now, this was beyond outrageous. Hold a meeting to discuss disaffiliation and get 20 people invade your union and put you under trusteeship.

(Included in the goon squad was the head of the UFT Nurses' chapter Ann Goldman, whose husband is Jerry, the former Manhattan borough office President - he was supposedly the only high level UFT employee ever fired though no one will talk about the reason. Their son was supposedly hired by the PR dept - the entire family was taking down around 400 grand in our dues money.)

Randi must have remembered the time when the AFT lost 40,000 members when the Puerto Rico teachers union left the AFT in 2003. The leader of that walkout was Rafael Feliciano, who called the AFT "dues sucking vampires" or something like that. (Feliciano is a pal of our own Angel Gonzalez and we have had the opportunity to meet him numerous times - Angel is in PR right now getting film and stories to bring back.) Search this blog for "puerto rico" and find all our stories.

 Diane Lund-Muzicant reports in her Oregon based Lund Report:

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) took control of the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals Local 5017 (OFNHP), establishing a trusteeship, after the union tried to hold a special membership meeting to consider disaffiliating from AFT by amending its constitution. 

To protest, Kathy Geroux, the deposed president, filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor in Seattle.

On Aug. 10 – a year after receiving the complaint – the U.S. Department of Labor determined that the trusteeship violated Title III of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959.

“The trusteeship appears to have been imposed to prevent disaffiliation,” according to the ruling. “It is the Department’s position that it is unlawful to impose a trusteeship for the purpose of preventing.”

Six months earlier, in February, the Department notified AFT of its findings, but decided not to file a lawsuit, according to Mike Shimizu, regional director of public affairs, who said, “The trusteeship was not recognized by us.”

Now here's the rub. The Labor Department withheld the ruling to protect Randi according to the people displaced. They claim the ruling came after the AFT convention in Seattle to keep it from becoming an issue. Shows you which side the ruling bodies are really on, which is what I tell my friends who want to got to court all the time.


Diane Lund continues

Yet lingering questions remain, particularly for Geroux, a cardiology nurse at Kaiser Sunnyside Hospital, who’s convinced the ruling was purposely withheld until after AFT’s national convention in Seattle last month.

“Had we known,” she said, “it would have been a big victory for us; we would have mustered hundreds of people to show up at that convention. They (AFT) would have been scared to face us. Up until then, they kept up the conversation about the bad things we had done. ”

Geroux considered running again for president, but feared she’d be demonized by AFT. “They (AFT) played this like a fine instrument,” she said. “They didn’t want me back in; that’s why this information was withheld from me.”

If the Department of Labor’s decision had been announced earlier, all the former officers would have walked right back in, said Carol Posluszny, who retired recently from Kaiser as a licensed clinical social worker. “What happened was illegal,” she said.

Bing Wong, a clinical lab scientist at Kaiser, is convinced the Department of Labor took sides by showing its non-partisan leanings.

But in the end, Geroux who was president for 8 ½ years feels victorious – the ruling, she said, proves she did nothing wrong by holding an emergency meeting last July to talk about disaffiliating.

“They wanted us out; it was all built on untruths and was a cover-up,” she believes. “Otherwise we would have created the domino effect and taken other unions with us. Now they’ve taken the union back in time; it will take them a decade to catch up. No way will they ever let the local disaffiliate.”

In the small world department, I was on a subway train in Manhattan in July 2009 and saw a couple and their daughter trying to decide what stop to get off. I offered to help. I asked where they were from. "Portland, Or" the woman said.

"Funny" I said, "I was just writing about takeover of a union by the AFT a few hours ago."

"Local 5017," she said. She was Diane Lund-Muzicant on a NY vacation with her family. She said she was going to try to interview Randi about the situation while in NY. She never got that interview.

Come on now, what starts were aligned for that? It turns out Diane is a leading health care writer and puts out the Lund Report. So I subscribed and that's how I heard about the Labor Department ruling, which of course you will not read about on any UFT/AFT or mainstream press.


Here are links to my reports on local 5017, including my July 20 '09 report of the subway meeting with Diane.

Randi Goes to Portland As AFT Threatens Local Considering ...

Jul 11, 2009

Portland OR--At 9am Tuesday July 7, approximately 20 representatives from American Federation of Teachers Healthcare national offices arrived at Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals Local 5017 and put the health care ...

Education Notes Online: AFT Hack Attack on Portland Local 5017

Jul 13, 2009

On July 7, 2009 Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, Local 5017, a small healthcare local in Portland, Oregon was taken over by its parent union and put under trusteeship. We want Local 5017 back! ...

Randi In Portland (OR) and a Weird Subway Meeting

Jul 20, 2009

Kathy Geroux, who was removed as president of Local 5017, declined to comment. But she and union leaders released a statement defending their actions, saying the bylaws allow special meetings. "We believe that everyone on the executive ...

AFT Takeover Sanctioned By US Labor Department

Oct 21, 2009

I foresee road trips in my future, though Randi jokingly invited me to go to Oregon with her at the Ex Bd meeting the other day. My bags are packed, Randi. .. Education Notes Online: AFT Hack Attack on Portland Local 5017 (Jul 13, 2009) ...

Today's Hot Links: Doofus Duncan and John Merrow too

August 25, 2010
 
There is so much valuable info coming in. Check Gotham's Rise and Shine, but they can't do it all.

From Susan Ohanian's daily posts. Yes, she does this every day. And her comments to go with the articles are spot on.

So many great links, so little time. I highlighted the ones I am most interested in. Doofus Duncan, the NY Mag article on testing and the Seattle parents on Gates. And I always love it when John Merrow, who applauded the LA Times for publishing teacher names and scores, gets taken down. I can't resist a few comments on Merrow:

* Deborah Meier: "Shocking, awful, embarrassing–especially since I have long admired you both--Grant and, John. I often thought Grant's thinking cool/cold/logic without the common human touch, but I also respected the insights that flowed from his logic. I just can't believe you and he wrote that junk, John. What do you think it does to kids, families, human beings--even if the test evaluations were a good measure. Nobody in the field of testing would argue for it--as you surely know."

* Diane Ravitch: "The naming of names based on dubious measures is truly disgraceful. I am disappointed and shocked to see you endorsing this approach."

I'm shocked that Meier admires Merrow and Diane is shocked. Merrow is a long-time ed deformer and I've gone after him a bunch of times. (See after burn below for a selection of my hits on him.)

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Can Our Schools Run on Duncan?
David Moberg
In These Times
2010-08-23
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.php?id=4029

This article gives a good rundown on how Secretary of Education Arne Duncan 
pushes Chicago's ineffective reforms on America's children.

Wishful Testing

New York Magazine
2010-08-20
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.php?id=4031

New York Magazine takes a look at Mayor Bloomberg's school reform.

 
The Lines of Influence in Education Reform
Dora Taylor
Seatle Education 2010
2010-08-23
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=9450

A Seattle parent connects some dots on Gates money.

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Taking Note of John Merrow and Grant Wiggins
Joe Bower
For the love of learning blog
2010-08-22
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=737

MORE if you have time

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Carvers Bay enlists ninth grade: Freshmen all put in JROTC
By Gina Vasselli
The SunNews.com
2010-08-23
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=9449

The entire freshman class at Carvers Bay High School has been automatically 
enrolled in the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, a military-sponsored 
program that trains high school students in military discipline and concepts.

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To the editor
Don Perl
Washington Post
2010-08-24
http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1252

Don Perl rebuts Podesta's dangerous rhetoric.

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Personal to the Los Angeles Teachers Union
Sam Smith
Undernews
2010-08-23
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=738


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Uniting 4 Kids
Uniting 4 Kids
Facebook
0000-00-00
http://susanohanian.org/show_yahoo.php?id=575

Take a look at Uniting 4 Kids.


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What some teachers don't want you to learn
John Diaz
San Francisco Chronicle
2010-08-22
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.php?id=4030

The editorial page editor of the San Francisco Chronicle gives an enthusiastic 
thumbs up to the Los Angeles Times. He invites reader comments.

After Burn

John Merrow Cover Blown

Aug 07, 2008

Merrow chaired an online conference this week on what to do about NCLB. Lots of familiar faces: Sol Stern, Randi, Ravitch, Cerf, Finn, Hess (American Enterprise Institute) and lots of others- Alexander Russo's TWIE has pics of them here ...

http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/

 

John Merrow - Only an Idiot...

May 12, 2008

...would overlook Merrow's one-sided coverage of education on the News Hour With Jim Lehrer. (What other news are they doing one-sided reporting on?) A supposed non-commercial station, which always pleads for money because they claim to ...

http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/

 

John Merrow, NCLB - and Randi Too

Aug 11, 2008

I post a few snippets from this discussion on NCLB, narrated by pbs's John Merrow, Education Correspondent for The newshour with Jim Lehrer and President of Learning Matters Incorporated, as a warning. Should you wish to inflict more ...

http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/

 

Are Merrow Reports on PBS Fair and Balanced?

Feb 27, 2008

Are the Merrow reports and podcasts fair and balanced? He's based in NYC. When will he take on the bloomklein story or is that too delicate in that he might have to actually hear the voices on these listserves? ...

Regulation of the Chancellor/ We Told You So!

We are cross posting this piece from our pals at CAPE (Concerned Advocates for Public Education) who have been fighting the brave battle of Red Hook in Brooklyn at PS 15 over the invasion of PAVE charter school. They have fought, and continue to fight, valiantly. They have gone out to other schools facing charter school invasions and have helped them in any way they can, including putting together a 50 page toolkit on how to fight back (email me for a copy). Is/Was it worth the struggle? See their latest below. If the UFT had the fightback qualities of these teachers and parents....
Also posted on the GEM blog.

Regulation of the Chancellor/ We Told You So!

No really, we told them so!

Over the last year parents and teachers have detailed the numerous and egregious errors with the Department of Education’s so-called policy and procedures in regards to co-locations. We carefully outlined the flaws as we advocated for our schools in two appeals filed by P.S. 15 parents with Advocates for Children to the State Education Commissioner. We revealed how the New York City Department of Education violates their own policies and bylaws as they champion free space for charter schools at the expense of public schools throughout the city. Some examples include:

1. Educational Impact Statements that declare “no impact” The DOE has been publishing practically identical and weakly written Educational Impact Statements for every school affected by co-location that declares, in every case, the there is enough room for both schools in the building.

2. Mathematically Challenged Instructional Footprints that disregard special education services and ESL services. The information in the EIS is, of course, is based on an also flawed “Instructional Footprint” that declares the amount of space schools and their services deserve.

3. Not properly notifying the public of the changes to their school. The date/time and place for public hearings about co-locations is buried on the DOE’s website, further isolating affected families who are unable to regularly access a computer (as if checking the DOE website is first on anyone’s list.)

Which leads to memo number A-190 a regulation from school’s chancellor, Joel Klein that states: SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN SCHOOL UTILIZATION AND PROCEDURES FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS HOUSING MORE THAN ONE SCHOOL

And guess what changes are being proposed? Yes…

The quotes below come directly from the proposed changes to the regulation. These proposed changes are strikingly similar to every phone call, email, letter, and statement we shared at public hearings.

When parents, teachers, advocates, and local policy makers outlined these flaws we were ignored, denied, and in many cases insulted by Department of Education staff. Students at P.S. 15 and schools all over the city suffered from the way co-locations have been occurring throughout this city and we continue to suffer. Many public school communities watched as the charter school in their building was completely renovated, while their school did not even get its yearly coat of paint. Each year, teachers packed their entire classrooms up to move, to make room for the charter school as the “Footprint” allocated more space. It was the parents and community members who helped publicize the public hearings, using their own money for fliers and copies. To top it all off, our appeal was overturned, we were told we are wrong!

Meanwhile, it is clear that the work we have done has indeed brought about changes, well “proposed” changes to the way the DOE does its business. However, we must keep an eye out for shenanigans, as we know how keen this department is at finding loopholes, exceptions, and new ways to exploit laws, policies and procedures, even ones they themselves write!

Here are some of the proposed changes. Does anything look familiar to you?

#1: Changes to the Educational Impact Statements:
“guides for use in creating Educational Impact Statements (EIS) are added; EIS filing requirements are clarified and provide that the EIS must be posted online and filed in hard copy with the PEP, affected CECs, community boards, superintendents, SLTs, and certain other bodies, as applicable, with hard copies available at affected schools.

#2 Changes to the Instructional Footprint:

“It should be noted that the Citywide Instructional Footprint (the “Footprint”) is in the process of being revised. Such revisions include modifications to the definition of a full size classroom to align the Footprint with the Enrollment Capacity Utilization Report (the “Blue Book”). Certain upward adjustments to room allocations will also be made. The revised Footprint will be made publicly available shortly.”

#3 Changes to the way the public school buildings have been treated:

“…any capital improvements or facilities upgrades made to accommodate charter schools in DOE buildings in excess of $5,000 must be matched by improvements or upgrades of an equal amount for all DOE schools in the same building; a process by which charter schools must apply for Chancellor’s permission to perform capital improvements or facilities upgrades to charter school space in DOE buildings is established; and the statutory right to appeal charter school co-locations and Building Usage Plans to the Commissioner of Education is added.”

The full text is here:http://schools.nyc.gov/AboutUs/leadership/PEP/publicnotice/A190Reg_Oct2010

click here to read the entire document.

Address all questions and/or comments to:

Name: Gentian Falstrom
Office: Division of Portfolio Planning
Address: 52 Chambers Street
Email: RegulationA-190@schools.nyc.gov
Phone: (212) 374-2471

Date, time and place of the PEP meeting at which the Board will vote on the proposed item under consideration:

October 7, 2010
6:00 p.m.
New World High School
921 E. 228th Street
Bronx, NY

UFT/AFT: Think Like Vichy

Where I pose the question: Is Diane Ravitch our De Gaulle?

I've been criticized from all sides for my comparison of the UFT/AFT leaders to French Vichy in WWII (make sure to click this link if you are unaware of the historical context before reading on.) Even some of the anti-Unity buddies say I am going too far. The union after all, they claim, is still ours no matter how distorted their policies and accusations of collaboration go too far.

I don't agree.

I've been intending to clarify my position - I am not comparing them to Nazi sympathizers - but to a way of thinking.

Peter Goodman, UFT/AFT shill who will justify any policy, has been leaving droppings on his own Ed in the Apple blog and on Gotham.

Goodman made this "I surrender" ("je me rends" in French) comment:

From Seattle to Boston, from Florida to Chicago, from LA to NY, educational policy is undergoing a sea change. It is supported by the President and the States, it is accountability, core standards, free market driven: testing, ratings/remuneration by student achievement, value-added, charter schools, etc. Diane Ravitch and other scholars strongly oppose, however, the electeds are supportive across the nation. If the Republicans sweep to victory these policies wouldn’t change, the fed dollars would stop flowing. Teacher unions can either vigorous oppose and isolate themselves, they are powerless to change these policies, or, attempt to cooperate and modify policies. It is easy to blame Weingarten or Mulgrew, the same policies exist in every state and every major city.

I really gag every time I read this, but here is my reasoned response, something I am not known for.


In France in WWII there was a choice. Oppose the Germans unequivocally or compromise - in Goodman's words  - "they could either vigorously oppose and isolate themselves, they are powerless to change these policies, or, attempt to cooperate and modify policies."

The French resistance chose the former, the Vichy government chose the latter. DeGaulle vs. Petain. After all Vichy reasoned, "The Germans were dominant." Vichy asked, "Do you want to be totally under their boot or have us there to modify their policies? We know they want to kill all the Jews but we can save at least some of them."

I am not calling anyone a Nazi sympathizer but I am using the most graphic example I can think of what I would call "The Vichy" mentality. A way of thinking that is so prevalent coming from the very forces that had the ability to put up a fight but instead think like Vichy.

Unions can fight for what is right for teachers and students and if done in a moral and democratic manner, they will not only not be isolated but will win people over to what is clearly right to so many educators and increasingly the public (see new leadership in Chicago). In fact it is the leadership of the AFT and UFT that is becoming isolated not only from its own membership but from the astute non teaching community.

It may look like the summer of 1940 in Europe to many. Maybe having Diane Ravitch (our De Gaulle?) not only join but help lead the resistance is akin to the US entering the war.

When Diane Ravitch and others break with your policy it is clear that it is you who are on the wrong side of history.

You can follow the thread here to see the comments go back and forth.

Wishful Testing in this week's New York magazine

Posted on NYC Parents blog:

Check out the just-published piece in NY Magazine called Wishful Testing, featuring the comments of Steve Koss, blogger here, and which analyzes the state test score bubble, Campbell’s law, the over-hyped Harlem Village Academy, and connects the dots.

Between this, the recent Robert Kolker piece on the national craze of scapegoating teachers, and features by Jeff Coplon on Eva Moskowitz’ chain of charters and school overcrowding, the magazine has shown itself to be most valuable in dissecting the Bloomberg/Klein mirage.

Especially as compared to the New Yorker and the New York Times Magazine, whose reporting on the subject has been execrable.

PEP Video August 16, 2010 Part 3

More raw footage. A child goes up on the stage and security removes him. The crowd reacts. Khem Irby and Patrick Sullivan speak. The PEP members return for another try but still want comments on testing to be at the end. Crowd will have none of it. They get a lecture from a PEP member. Chang adjourns the meeting. People say they will be back.

All 3 parts are at the GEMNYC blog:

Also at you tube. Part 3 URL: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bOMY3BKCdI 

Daily News Editorial Doesn't Get Truth About MulGarten

A Daily News editorial (The UFT's worst nightmare: Public can see how well Los Angeles teachers teach) urges UFT leader Michael Mulgrew to shape up and be more like Randi:

And here's the beauty part: Randi Weingarten, who once led the city's United Federation of Teachers - and now heads the national American Federation of Teachers - is siding with Duncan. She told the paper that parents have a right to know how well their children's teachers are rated on appropriate employee evaluations. Now, she's not for the newspaper releasing that information to the general public, but she does want it to get into the hands of principals, and moms and dads.

Where does her successor at the UFT stand? A Mulgrew press aide issued this statement:
"The recent debacle around state test scores in New York makes it obvious that relying on test scores to make high-stakes decisions about students or teachers is a bad idea. Parents and teachers expect much more of their children's education than standardized tests."
Asked to be more responsive as to whether Mulgrew agrees or disagrees with Weingarten's position on transparency, the spokesman responded: "Our statement is our statement."
And obstinacy is New York's problem.

The Daily News editorial board should be reading Ed Notes know that MulGarten are 2 sides of the same coin and if Mulgrew isn't parroting the exact words Randi is using, it is because they have decided it is not politically tenable internally in the UFT to do so straightforwardly.

But make no mistake, Mulgarten's words belie their current and future actions.

signed
Nostradamus Norm

What Role Did Randi Play in LA Teacher Head Waiver on Teacher Evals?

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten met with district and union officials during a visit to Los Angeles this week. She has been in favor of revamping teacher evaluations and has helped negotiate contracts that use test score data as one of multiple factors in instructors' reviews.

Yes, add LA to the Randi sellout tour. (I need a photoshop person to change 2009 to 2010 - and beyond.)

We received a few emails this weekend on the reactions in Los Angeles to the LA Times threat to publish the names and student scores of teachers as a means to identify what they are terming ineffective teachers in the narrow sphere of high stakes testing.

One email was titled "Et tu Duffy" referring to reports that LA Teacher union president, who had initially called for a boycott of the LA Times, was wavering on the willingness of the union to accept test scores as one of the factors in evaluation teachers.

United Teachers Los Angeles President A.J. Duffy told hundreds of his members Friday night that he is "ready, willing and able" to create a new evaluation system for instructors that is "good for kids and fair for teachers." He indicated this might mean using student test scores as one measurement of teachers. Duffy, who has steadfastly said he opposes the use of student test scores to evaluate teachers, appeared to soften that stance...

Here is another email titled "There she goes again" from a disgusted NYC chapter leader puts the blame on Randi Weingarten. 

I just sent you an article from Saturday's LA Times that says Randi met with the union pres. there and convinced him to start evaluating teachers on value added measures. I don't know if he called off the boycott of the LA Times for publishing the names of those teachers, but it seems likely they will. This is depressing. Hardly anyone is fighting back.

I put up the articles on Norms Notes: LA Teachers union agrees to reopen talks on evaluations

LATA Union election coming 

In the backdrop of all this is an upcoming union election in LA early next year. I put up some interesting info on Norms Notes with analysis of the upcoming elections by Andy Grigg.
Los Angeles Teacher Union Election Update


Duffy election in 2005 gave us hope

Many of us were cheered when AJ Duffy was elected as part of a reform movement, one of the early signs rank and file teachers were having enough of the assaults on their profession, even as far back as 2005. He won re-election 3 years later by a wide margin, though voter turnout was extremely low (contrast that to extremely high turnout in Chicago a few months ago.)

AJ Duffy is term limited and a new president will be anointed next year. He will have served 8 years.  Supported by a few influential reform minded caucuses who backed Duffy for president, he was not exactly in the same place as these more CORE-like groups. But they gained many seats as part of the union.

My visit to LA in July 2009
I gained a bit of insight into the LA situation when I went out there at the end of July 2009 to meet with activists from 5 cities. A bunch of bonds were formed. (Many of us reconnected in Seattle at the AFT convention earlier this summer -check my archives from July 6-13, 2010 and beyond for numerous reports. There wasn't a big contingent from LA in Seattle because they are mostly NEA, but we did see a few people.)

That we met for 3 days at the LATA headquarters - think 52 Broadway - was remarkable. Even more remarkable was that Duffy wasn't aware we were meeting there until the 2nd day and he came into the conference room to say a few words. He seemed uncomfortable. In NYC where Unity controls the whole enchilada, such a scene would be inconceivable.

Duffy heads a coalition group called United Action. One of the leading caucuses is PEAC (Progressive Educators for Action - the most CORE like group) but not powerful enough to take power by itself. Duffy is not part of PEAC, which has led to some tensions. PEAC was the group behind setting up the meetings we had.

I got to hang with some great PEAC people during my visit and they seem to have an extensive network. I learned that Julie Washington, who was a PEAC caucus member would be a leading candidate to replace Duffy. She is currently a VP. She did not attend any of the July meetings.

An important point - there is a coalition without one caucus in control as happened in Chicago. We heard about the tensions that existed between Duffy and some of the forces that made up the leadership. I asked why PEAC didn't run its own candidate and they said they didn't feel they were strong enough to win on their own.

Did CORE learn a lesson in LA?
Chicago's CORE, then barely more than a year old, sent a strong 6 or 7 person contingent to LA. We got to meet Washington DC's Nathan Saunders and Candi Peterson, who I knew from blogging. There was a rep from San Francisco and three of us from NYC (including an ICEer and TJCer and Teachers Unite). The LA crew numbered over 15.

The sessions were intense and serious concerning the attacks on public education.

After the conference ended I spent an entire day with 4 leading CORE members. We were invited to breakfast at one of the most active teachers in LA and we chatted about many issues. We may have touched on the idea of forming coalitions vs. running as a caucus, an interesting choice groups have to make.

Remember. At that point the idea of CORE actually winning the election on their own was a glimmer. They had a choice I imagine - with 5 caucuses running - to unite in a coalition with one or more of them. They could have made a deal with Debbie Lynch who was much better known than Karen Lewis and I bet there was some gnashing of teeth in some quarters of Chicago when they went out on their own. In retrospect, they made the right decision.

Where will LA teachers stand?
Will PEAC go the same route in LA? There are already 3 candidates for president. Julie Washington as a PEAC member had also grown close to Duffy I was told. So there may be some tensions out there. Will the attack by the LA Times on teachers force them into a more radical mode or make them capitulate. This election will tell a lot about the state of mind of the rank and file teacher in the urban schools under assault by ed deformers.

What up for NYC?
After the recent UFT elections, anti Unity activists here in NYC have been analyzing and rethinking the traditional caucus situation. I can't tell where things are going but plan to have some analysis of my own - something I have been planning to do since the election ended in April but haven't had time.

NY Post's Carl Campanile underestimated Smikle's charter lobby contributions

If you read my last post last Saturday night about NY Post reporter Carl Campanile's distorted reporting on the Bill Perkins/Basil Smikle NY State Senate primary, here is some more info that has come in over the transom from our readers.


UPDATE FROM KEN LIBBY:

Kenneth Libby has left a new comment on your post "NY Post's Carl Campanile underestimated Smikle's c...":

This provides a bit more info on Basil's donors:

http://dferwatch.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/basils-backers-mainly-charter-supporters-and-some-real-estate-moguls/

He's taken in about $160,000 in donations. A bit over $100,000 comes from hedge fund/charter backers. Another $25k or so comes from real estate folks.

-Ken

For our new readers, Perkins held hearings on charter schools and the hedge fund/charter school crowd got upset. So they dug up Smikle to run against Perkins.

A couple of points on Smikle fundraising:

According to the Wall Street Journal analysis,

"More than half of Mr. Smikle's contributions came from pro-charter donors."

http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB10001424052748703720504575377701262805436.html

Below is a listing of $105,000 in Smikle contributions, all with Charter School and Real Estate connections.

Smikle has reported contributions from less than 10 people who live in the district, totalling $4,100.

ACKMAN, WILLIAM A 1 W 81ST ST NEW YORK, NY 10023	6,000.00	HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER
BUCK, CHRISTOPHE E 14 EAST 90TH ST NEW YORK, NY 10128	6,000.00	CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER , BIG CONTRIBUTOR TO CHARTER SCHOOLS
CURRY, ELIZABETH 499 PARK AVE NEW YORK, NY 10022	6,000.00	MOTHER OF BOYKIN CURRY HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER
CURRY IV, RAVENEL B 106 CENTRAL PARK SOUTH NEW YORK, NY 10019	6,000.00	SON OF ELIZABETH CURRY HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER DFER MEMBER
DAVIS, ANTHONY 257 W 17TH ST NEW YORK, NY 10011	5,000.00	ATTORNEY CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER DFER BOARD MEMBER
FELDSTEIN, ANDREW T 20 TOMPKINS ROAD SCARSDALE, NY 10583	6,000.00	ATTORNEY CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER
GREENBLATT, JOEL 245 MIDDLE NECK ROAD SANDS POINT, NY 11050	4,000.00	HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER DFER BOARD OF ADVISERS
GRIFFIN, AMY M INFORMATION REQUESTED ,	6,000.00	WIFE OF JOHN A. GRIFFIN, BILLIONAIRE AND PRESIDENT OF BLUE RIDGE CAPITAL HEDGE FUND, FORMERLY OF TIGER MANAGEMENT, JULIAN ROBERTSON’S HEDGE FUND.  BIG SUPPORTER OF CHARTER SCHOOLS THROUGH THE AMY AND JOHN GRIFFIN FOUNDATION.
HADAR, ERIC 770 LEXINGTON AVE NEW YORK, NY 10065	5,000.00	REAL ESTATE TYCOON VERY INTERESTED IN HARLEM REAL ESTATE AND PROPERTY IN MANHATTAN SUPPORTER OF COLUMBIA USING EMINENT DOMAIN
LEDLEY, CHARLES H 3 AVERY STREET BOSTON, MA 02111	5,000.00	HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER DFER BOARD MEMBER
LEWINSOHN, JONATHAN 2211 BROADWAY NEW YORK, NY 10024	3,000.00	LAWYER AND WORKS FOR HEDGE FUND. CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER
LEWIS, EDWARD INFORMATION REQUESTED ,	6,000.00	CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF HARLEM VILLAGE ACADEMIES CHARTER SCHOOLS.
MAYER, RAFAEL 1175 PARK AVE NEW YORK, NY 10128	5,000.00	HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER DFER BOARD
NOVOGRATZ, MICHAEL E 1345 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS NEW YORK, NY 10505	6,000.00	HEDGE FUND BILLIONAIRE DFER BOARD OF ADVISERS
PETRY, JOHN 260 W 72ND ST NEW YORK, NY 10023	6,000.00	HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER DFER BOARD OF ADVISERS; ERN BOARD
PITTELMAN, CAROLE 1385 YORK AVE NEW YORK, NY 10021	5,000.00	REAL ESTATE TYCOON
ROBBINS, LARRY 767 5TH AVE NEW YORK, NY 10153	5,000.00	HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER
ROSENSTEIN, AARON N INFORMATION REQUESTED ,	3,000.00	HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER
SACKLER, JONATHAN D 1 STAMFORD FORUM STAMFORD, CT 06901	5,000.00	HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE BOARD MEMBER OF ACHIEVEMENT FIRST CHAIN OF CHARTERS FATHER OF MADELEINE SACKLER, MAKER OF PRO-CHARTER FILM, THE LOTTERY
WEPSIC, ERIC KARL 255 W 84TH ST NEW YORK, NY 10024	6,000.00	HEDGE FUND MILLIONAIRE CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER
Total Contributions:	105,000.00	ALL BUT $10,000 FROM CHARTER SCHOOL LOBBY/SUPPORTERS

NY Post's Carl Campanile Discovers Dem Who Opposes Perkins, Ignores Hedge Contributions

In the "Slow News Day" Category

It took a massive investigative effort, but Carl Campanile has managed to dig up a Democrat who supports the charter school backed opponent of Harlem State Senator Bill Perkins. Hailed as a possible Pultizer Prize winning story, the Post ran a story with the startling revelation that "The executive committee of Frederick Samuel Democratic Club -- co-chaired by Assemblyman Wright -- backed Smikle in an 11-7 secret ballot vote for the nomination." 

Wow! Perkins is in real trouble when 11 out of 18 members of this massive club turn against him. Has anyone checked to see what monies Wright got from charter school supporters?

 Perkins spokesman Richard Fife pointed out:

"Interesting you make a news item out of an executive committee of a club supporting Smikle in a split vote. From most every other grass-roots group in the district, Bill Perkins won an overwhelming vote from their members."

The Post won't be sending Campanile out to make a list of all the clubs that have supported Perkins.  The story makes this comment.


"Hedge fund managers and other charter-school financiers have donated about $60,000 of the $150,000 raised by Smikle."

Nice chunk of change. The UFT gave Perkins $9000. You know, when unions do it there's a conflict of interest. But hedge hogs? Nada.

Want to know why Joel Klein always favors charter schools and David Steiner ruled against PS 15 in Red Hook in favor of PAVE Academy run by Spencer Robertson, a billionaire's son?

Here are some campaign contributions from hedge fund charter school supporters Carl won't be reporting:

Kenneth Libby reported:

ERN’s largest donation to date (that I’m aware of) is a $250,000 gift from the Robertson Foundation. The foundation was started in 1996 by Julian Robertson, the former hedge fund manager of Tiger Management.


Although Tiger Management is no longer around, they still have an active foundation (the Tiger Foundation) funded by Robertson and other former Tiger Management employees.
Below is a summary of education-related donations from the Robertson Foundation and the Tiger Foundation. Notes: only donations over $10k are included.

Read the ugly details at Norms Notes:

Spencer's (Robertson) dad gave DoE $5mil and the Charter Center $3mil in their last filing. Wow...

Who Will Cast the First Stone?

by Norm Scott
Posted Aug. 20, 2010, last revised, Aug. 21, 9am.

Arne Duncan today announced a one billion dollar supplementary Race To The Top competition. 

The winner will be the first state to have a teacher with extremely low test scores stoned to death. "This technique has been highly successful when used by the Taliban," said Duncan. "While we don't have data – for obvious reasons  – we are guessing that test scores have improved in the areas of Afghanistan where this has been tried."

"Brilliant," proclaimed The Wall Street Journal.

Brent Staples of the NY Times was more reserved. "While this is not a proven tactic to close the achievement gap, we feel the plan holds a lot of promise."

Duncan explained the details. "The money will come from private funding so it will not cost the government a cent – other than the cost of the stones, which we will provide. We will have an auction and the winner will get to cast the first stone."

Hedge fund millionaires and charter school operators, whose teachers are exempt, were already lining up for the bidding war. Bill Gates and Eli Broad are expected to have the advantage.

"We will insist that the people most hurt by the teacher chosen to participate will play a major role in the stoning. Children and their parents MUST be included as part of the process," said Duncan.

"Children First," proclaimed Joel Klein in dissent. Klein later rescinded when Duncan said New York City would be one of the cities allowed to compete. Klein said he would go along with the plan to allow the highest bidder to be the first to toss a stone but clung to a Children Second program. Mayor Bloomberg offered to pick up the cost of the stones to give New York an edge.

AFT president Randi Weingarten was critical. "We don't feel this is productive. Teachers need a seat at the table and should be part of the process in choosing the teacher to be stoned."

Weingarten made the  point that the union had managed to convince the Obama administration to put a limit of one stoning a year.

"Outrageous," said UFT high school VP Leo Casey. "Incredibly, they wanted to stone 10 teachers. TEN!" he screeched. "But we stopped them in their tracks."


After burn
For a critical look at the LA Times article revealing teacher names:
http://californiawatch.org/watchblog/test-scores-and-ethics-outing-teachers-1097#comment-3634

For support see John Merrow, PBS correspondent- a sign of where Gates funding controls the debate on public TV and radio

Friends,
The LA Times article linking teachers by name with student scores has caused a firestorm among educators and reporters, but I maintain that every savvy person has known for years--long before bubble tests and so-called 'value added' measures, which teachers were cutting it, and which weren't. Think how hard parents fight, and always have, to get certain teachers for their kids. I think administrators are getting off lightly here--they've known who their bad teachers were but haven't done enough to retrain them or move them out of the profession. It's not 'the big bad unions' that deserve all the blame, much as some would like that to be the story. Here are my thoughts, and some strong disagreements from readers too:  http://bit.ly/9t6Eq9  Please respond on the blog itself.
Thanks, and best wishes,
John

John Merrow
Education Correspondent,
PBS NewsHour, and President,
Learning Matters, Inc

All the Letters Not Fit to Print in the NY Times

Hi Norm,
Very frustrating that the same people who misled the public on student achievement are still calling the shots. Attached are 3 letters I wrote the the Times that they weren't interested in. Perhaps you could put them in the blog.
Matt

Three recent letters that the New York Times did not see its way clear to print.

Responding to “Parents Need to Know,” editorial, Aug. 18, New York Times

Parents and students as well as every New York City taxpayer have every right to be outraged over the Chancellor's handling of the school system. For the past 8 years, the chancellor and mayor have bragged about the spectacular gains of our students under their leadership. In fact, by any objective measurement, our schools are failing to provide even a basic education to a majority of students. You give the impression that the chancellor requested the realignment of the 3rd-8th grade tests. If that were the case, he would not hesitate to heed the results and resign immediately. Billions have been thrown away on 4 rounds of reorganizations, garbage data analysis and smoke and mirrors professional development schemes. The PEP has no right to expect parents to sit quietly while the same people who have bamboozled us for the last 8 years deny any responsibility for failing to create the conditions for a sound education for public school students.

Matthew Frisch


Responding to "Triumph Fades on Racial Gap in City Schools", 8/16/10, New York Times

The numbers indicate that the impact of mayoral control on NY City's public school students has been an equal opportunity failure- basic skills as measured by the 3rd-8th grades state tests have suffered across racial and ethnic groups. Those who started off the neediest are mired there still. This trend is not confined to city schools. Student achievement as measured by the newly invigorated state tests, is stagnant throughout the state. So perhaps we cannot single out the mayor and chancellor. The blame lies with the mind set that expects a quick return on the investment we make in our young people. The system demands instant payback in the form of high test scores. Students, teachers and schools have to be constantly proving themselves. Under this kind of pressure, who has the time or patience to build a strong foundation in the basics when children in other schools might be racing ahead? The result is middle and high schoolers who can't spell or do arithmetic. What's needed is a sensible curriculum and an end to the mind set that puts unrealistic goals and empty slogans ahead of the needs of our students.

Matthew Frisch

Responding to: When 81% Passing Suddenly Becomes 18%, by Sharon Otterman and Robert Gebeloff, Sunday, August 1, 2010, New York Times

An Accountability Moment

Elementary school teachers knew that the rising test scores were illusory. We were forbidden to teach a sensible curriculum and as a result, our students' basic skills in reading and math had, on average, declined. How could they possibly be meeting expectations if they lacked the basics? There was abundant corroboration that the state tests were unreliable. The city's National Assessment of Educational Progress scores were flat while scores on the state tests soared. The percentage of freshmen at CUNY needing remediation has been rising; SAT scores have been falling.

It's time for a thorough accounting of the money that has been thrown to the wind by the mayor and his Department of Education. What is the total cost of the endless reorganizations; the bloated central bureaucracy; the testing and data obsessions that have proven so delusional; the no-bid contracts; the emperor's new clothes professional development schemes?

This is a massive fraud, costing 10s of $millions. Despite constant claims by the mayor and chancellor, our public schools have deteriorated over the 8 years of mayoral control. Could it be that the people who have been cooking the grading books and mismanaging our schools for the last 8 years will continue in the driver's seat? Taxpayers are entitled to a full-scale investigation of the test score fraud. NY City's public school students are entitled to a sensible curriculum and to educational leaders who have a successful track record teaching it.

Matthew Frisch

Matt is a NYC teacher

Parents and Teachers Prepare for the Gathering Storm

I reported on Tuesday's meeting called by CEJ - one of the leading parent organizing forces in NYC - in yesterday's post (CEJ Front and Center). Parent and teacher activists from around the city were at that meeting. That so many major NYC politicians like DiBlasio and Liu showed up is a sign of CEJ's growing influence.

Last night many of the same forces - minus the politicians - came together again on the upper west side to hash over where things stand on building a movement to not only challenge BloomKlein but to build an alternative vision of ed reform. Organizations and individuals. Teachers, parents, community activists. Some I met for the first time. The intelligence and commitment in the room was like a force of nature.

Naturally the CEJ-led PEP disruption of Monday night was a backdrop to discussions of short-term and long-term goals.

As someone who is an activist and a semi-journalist/muckraker/nudge and general pain in the ass, I have to be careful about reporting on a meeting like this so I will say very little. I won't even identify the organizations or individuals but I can say that GEM and ICE (you know - those do nothings that Unity and New Action always talk about) were in the house with a bunch of people.

Some people want to focus on programmatic issues - gaining support from politicians, what can be won from the DOE to provide support for students and parents, etc. While others support this they also want to go further. I won't go into details yet as we wait to see how things develop.

Should BloomKlein be worried? I won't go that far yet. Up to now they have successfully managed to buy off and divide many parent and community activists while also defanging the UFT.

So a coalition of activist parent organizations and those representing teachers not under the thumb of the UFT, along with individuals is not an easy thing to put together. But the group decided to meet again next week, a very good sign.


AfterBurn
As important as the meeting from my perspective, was the dynamic group of parents, teachers and activists that hung out at a pizza joint on Columbus Ave. after the meeting. There were howls of laughter that practically stopped traffic as people came up with one idea after another on doing creative things at meetings and on you tube.

The fun continued down in the subway as we laughed all the way home.

I came home and crashed at 1am only to find that people had gone home and continued to send put hilarious ideas through the night.

I know we are all nuts, but this war against the ed deformers is becoming a passion for a lot of people and new troops are signing on all the time.

It is one thing to attend a meeting, but real unity is often fashioned in the social aftermath where people begin know and trust each other. Last night was such a building block.


After burn 2
I can't believe how many parents are taking their kids out of charter schools. One parent said last night: It is better to home school your child than leave him in that school. Look for this to become  a big story in the upcoming year. The counter revolution has begun.

Stapling NY Times Ed Deformer Brent Staples

Culled from the NYC EdNews Listserve:

Another disappointing Times editorial which shows that Brent Staples lives in a fantasy world, one concocted by Bloomberg and Co. Perhaps instead of saying “Parents Need to Know” he should figure out that he needs to know the truth.

Leonie Haimson

Editorial: Parents Need to Know Published: August 18, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/opinion/19thu3.html


Did Brent Staples read the front-page story in the New York Times on August 16, with the headline: "Triumph Fades On Racial Gap in City Schools".."A Blow to Bloomberg"..."After Testing Threshold Is Reset, Latinos and Blacks Fall Back." Did he not read the statement by the statistician in the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, who said that there had been no narrowing of the racial achievement gap? Guess not. 

Diane Ravitch

I spoke to Brent Staples of the Times editorial the day after the meeting. He sought me out. I explained that people just wanted to speak on the issue that there were already five public comment sessions, one each for every other item, that the bylaws allowed us to ask for a vote to open the floor, that waiting until the end of the meeting would have meant 2-3 hours, that the accountability office presentation was never on the agenda in the first place and should have been itself approved by a member vote and that even a vote on my motion was illegally denied. We needed to hear from parents who had been told for years their kids were doing well but now weren't and hear what they thought we should do to meet the needs of their kids. I never thought the PEP chair would act so deliberately to suppress the public voice.


Staples said the parents there "did children no favor". Well, I told my sons the next day that the moms who picked up a bullhorn struck a blow for freedom and for the right of every public school family to be heard and that I was grateful to them for their support.


Perhaps we should just get used to the fact that the wealthy publishers of old media are inextricably bound to the mayor and chancellor and will support him regardless of what law or rules he violates.

Patrick Sullivan