Krugman and Carr Columns in NY Times: Did Zombies Eat Waiting for Superman Director Guggenheim's Brain?

“I think so many people are seeing business and how it is conducted in the abstract that they have no idea about how these decisions play out.” - From David Carr's column, NY Times

This quote could also be applied to the abstract concepts being pushed by the ed deformers - I must have heard the word "choice" a hundred times at last week's PEP (I'm still working on the video) over  PS 20K being undermined by allowing Arts and Letters to expand from a middle school to K-8, thus competing for the same kids PS 20 serves in the very same building. So what if PS 20 kids have to eat lunch at 10:30?

My favorite NY Times columnist Paul Krugman (When Zombies Win) and business columnist David Carr in (A Lesson on Wall Street Failure) have two interesting and intersecting articles in the NY Times today that touch on many of our core issues.

First Krugman:

When historians look back at 2008-10, what will puzzle them most, I believe, is the strange triumph of failed ideas. Free-market fundamentalists have been wrong about everything — yet they now dominate the political scene more thoroughly than ever.

Krugman is talking economics, not education. Wouldn't we love for him to take a hard look at the free-market fundamentalist ed deformers. The zombies with their vast propaganda machine lined up against teachers certainly seem to be winning (though once we have our film "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman" out the tide will turn- I'm always the optimist.)

Carr touches on one of the Zombies in chief, Davis Guggenheim who made the propaganda film we are responding too.

It’s awards season again, and critics and the academy members are deciding on their top film picks of the year. But in many corners of the business community, the issue is already settled: “Waiting for ‘Superman’ ” is the year’s must-see film.
On Wall Street and on Silicon Valley office campuses, in hedge fund boardrooms and at year-end Christmas parties, it seems you can’t have a conversation without someone talking about the movie that finally lays bare America’s public education crisis. [Sure David Carr - don't let the Zombies eat your brain by believing the manufactured chrisis.]
“Waiting for ‘Superman’ ” is one thing that Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg agree on, Rupert Murdoch talks about to anyone who will listen, David Koch of Koch Industries promotes, and Paul Tudor Jones and many of his hedge fund brethren work to support. 

More Krugman extracts (with my notations linking to ed deform)

people who should have been trying to slay zombie ideas have tried to compromise with them instead. And this is especially, though not only, true of the president.  [Obama has gone way beyond zombie ideas on ed deform.]

...President Obama, by contrast, has consistently tried to reach across the aisle by lending cover to right-wing myths. [CHECK]

...And how effectively can he oppose these demands, when he himself has embraced the rhetoric of belt-tightening? [Ed Deform is all about belt tightening - go after teacher salaries and disparge class size as a factor.]
Yes, politics is the art of the possible. We all understand the need to deal with one’s political enemies. But it’s one thing to make deals to advance your goals; it’s another to open the door to zombie ideas. When you do that, the zombies end up eating your brain — and quite possibly your economy too.  [And eating your public education school system too.]

Back to Carr

“Waiting for ‘Superman’ ” follows five children and their parents as they run a gantlet to gain access to high-performing charter schools because the alternative — the public system — is a complete disaster. The film has caught the imagination of the business community because it represents a reckoning for public education and its chronic failures, making the very businesslike case that large school systems and the unions that go with them must be replaced by a customized, semi-privatized education in the form of charter schools. 

 Carr echoes Krugman when he says:

Which is odd when you think about it. If you are looking for an American institution that failed the public, made resources disappear without returning value and lacked accountability for its manifest sins, the Education Department would be in line well behind Wall Street.

By now, the notion that business is a place built on accountability and performance should be as outdated as the one-room schoolhouse. Ask yourself, what would happen if American public schools were offered hundreds of billions in bailout money? [HMMM- maybe lower class size to match private schools?] One outcome is not in the cards: its leaders would not end up back at the trough so quickly, sucking up tens of millions in bonuses as Wall Street has.
If the captains of American business are looking for a holiday movie, I have another suggestion for them. I’m not talking about “Inside Job,” which is a scabrous take on the well-documented story of how the American economy was nearly tipped over by business greed and incompetence [We must try to get the director, Charles Ferguson, to look at the ed deformers].

Nah, I’d buy them a bucket of popcorn and sit them in front of “The Company Men,” a moody and elegiac feature film starring Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones and Chris Cooper as businessmen who have a moment of clarity about how American business lost its soul.

As executives at GTX, a fictitious multinational corporation involved in the transportation business, among other endeavors, they watch as many of their colleagues are laid off to meet inflated earnings targets and as numbers get ginned up to keep the stock price growing and potential acquirers at bay. And then their turn comes.

At that point, “The Company Men” becomes a film about the loss of privilege: Porsches are sold and driven away, access to the private golf club is denied and suburban mansions go on the market. But the movie delivers, over and over, a message that far from being a center of American know-how and ingenuity, much of modern business is now preoccupied with goosing the share price and tricking up the year-end bonus — about getting over by getting by. 

all the energy and resources go into the kind of financial engineering that creates quarterly numbers that Wall Street buys into.

“They are responding to the needs of the market, to the institutional investors — the large mutual funds, the money market funds,” he said. “And when you think about it, that implicates all of us because we are all investing in the market one way or another.” 

 And the takeaway is:

“I think so many people are seeing business and how it is conducted in the abstract that they have no idea about how these decisions play out.”

 But Carr doesn't make a strong connection between the bullshit of WfS with the rest of the on-target stuff he is talking about.

Both Krugman and Carr articles are at Norms Notes: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/

Acting and Teaching - Commentary from Loretta Prisco

Below is a comment from Loretta making analogies between teaching and acting and my response.

Loretta and I met around 1971 in a group called Another View in District 14 - as elementary school teachers who became politically active due to our classroom experiences - not because of some ideology of activism. I felt we brought a certain point of view to the movement that was often high school/contract driven. We were educators first and activists second - to us the kids were the thing. I still feel that way and when teachers rail against the kids as the cause of the problems it is a turnoff - and I feel the propaganda machine lined up against us uses that as fuel. As I meet younger activists today, the ones I most connect up with are those who come out of classroom activism vs those who came into teaching with activism in mind. I'll get into it in more detail another time, but one of the reasons Loretta and I and a bunch of others helped form ICE in late 2003 as opposed to jumping onto  Teachers for a Just Contract was that we were not interested in focusing on just a contract but on teaching and learning conditions too - testing was such a basic plank for for the elementary school teachers in ICE. At that time, high school teachers, which was the bulk of the opposition in the UFT, were not affected by testing mania.


Norm,

I don't know if you meant to make a comparison between acting and teaching but it is there.
(What I Am Learning From Acting 101)

You mentioned the behind the scenes work in acting. Non-teachers do not know of the backstage work in teaching. The researching and planning, the assessing and grading, the contacts with service providers and parents. And yet, this is seen as a 9-3 job.

In acting, the memorizing of lines - teachers spent lots of time committing lessons to memory or they are reading out of a plan book! But with an experienced actor, as with an experienced teacher, it all looks so natural. But the DOE doesn't value experience. They want teachers reading from a script.

You talk about being good one day and not so good the next - or even screwing up. And so it is with teachers. We are on one day, and on the next, a lesson falls entirely flat. But teachers are expected, in this climate, to always be perfect. We are not allowed to makes mistakes - ever. Yet, we all know that we learn from mistakes. Teachers must take risks to improve their practice, or we become static.

But you didn't mention the audience factor and its effect on a performance. I have heard actors say that a vibe comes from the audience that makes their performances better. I don't have to tell you the effect that our audiences have on our teaching. Yet there is no understanding of the issues that our students face and the support and resources that they need.

Loretta Prisco

Loretta
I certainly agree about audience effect on teaching and was told that the audience could affect performances in acting. Though I didn't find that as much since I was trying so hard to focus on my lines. I did notice what got laughs and didn't get laughs in various performances - was it due to the way we said our lines or was it due to the audience? Vets tell me each audience is different.

When I used to teach computers or other clusters and did the same lesson a bunch of times I found it jelled best by the 3rd time - think of the first 2 as dress rehearsals or previews. I was able to refine things based on how kids reacted. So think of observations - most teachers are doing them for the first time.

When I was with my first class in the spring of 1969 the AP was a tough kind of guy who many teachers were afraid of - and he did not view me favorably and tried to block my getting the class - once he saw I was serious he totally changed his attitude and supported me all the way. I trusted him enough to tell him I was having trouble teaching a concept and he came in to observe - the way it should be done - not to U rate me but to see where I was missing. He then told me he would follow up by teaching the concept so I could see how it could be done. Dr. Norman Jehrenberg was his name. Unfortunately he was passed over for principal in favor of a political appointment and he left after that term and I feel I lost an important mentor. Though Elaine Troll who you very well know, was a full-time teacher trainer and acting AP - and she remained a mentor through the next year.

A third mentor at PS 16 was Joe Purviance, the guidance counsellor who often took the kids' side (Joe was Black - very  unusual in those years - and that gave me insight into looking at a situation from the child's point of view which was always useful in helping me defuse situations. Joe also was marginalized as was Troll when the new admins came in from the district UFT machine a few years later - but I was gone to a new school by the fall of 1970 - and found the atmosphere there not as open.

I feel having those voices in my ear helped make me as a teacher and I think if I had continued to have mentors over the next two decades+ I would have been a better teacher overall - I needed trusted sounding boards and instead was basically on my own the rest of my career - making both good and bad decisions.

Sometimes with all that's going on with the teaching profession today, we should also take a look within.

There's still a week left for Joel Klein to be taken out of Tweed with his coat over his head

At my farewell to Joel speech at the PEP meeting I was going to mention my 6-year old prediction but didn't feel like being that mean. Klein's deal with Rupert Murdoch whereas Klein will be profiting from policies he set as chancellor smells bad enough but in the "government is there to serve the corporation, real estate interests and the wealthy in general" political world we live in my prediction looks like it will go down in flames. I was sent this little tidbit about Pearson's "benevolent" foundation by a teacher:

I'm noticing that Pearson are the new darling publishers in the schools. I've been trying to figure out why and came across this:

http://www.pearsoned.com/press/2010/01/06/pearson-foundation-invests-3-million-to-expand-new-leaders-for-new-schools-efforts-to-transform-urban-schools.htm

 “New Leaders for New Schools has been a vital partner in helping New York City address the challenges of secondary school reform, and we look forward to continuing to work together successfully,” said Joel Klein, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education. “New Leaders’ approach in recruiting, training, and supporting principals has helped move us closer to our goal of having a highly-effective leader in every school.”

 Oh, well, Pearson will make enormous profits by using its foundation to promote policies that will ensure they get a big piece of the pie. But we have been saying all along that the ed deform movement is all about wresting control of the stupendous money spent on education out of the hands of the public - a key piece is centralizing control of the schools into as few hands as possible - mayoral control is a prime example. Imagine if companies like Pearson had to deal with 32 separate school districts.

And then I always wonder about the relationship between Klein and Bill Gates. I haven't been around schools much but I was a tech guy since the mid-80's and from what I see, there are a lot less Macs than PC's - my district was all Mac but now seems much less so. It would be interesting to hear what other tech people have to say - any pressure out there over the years to get PCs over Macs?

And don't forget the $80 million (and more I bet) ARIS boondoggle. Can't we link the Citytime scandal to that? (See the stuff RBE at Perdido Street has been doing- How The CityTime Scam Worked)

Remember, there are only a few shopping days left to get those cuffs on Uncle Joel.

Afterburn

As scandal erupts and arrests are made, warning signs for CityTime fraud were there all along

---------
Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/

Diane Ravitch Wins Moynihan Prize

Leonie Haimson Reports

Diane Ravitch was just selected as the 2011 recipient of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize, created by the American Academy of Political and Social Science to honor those individuals whose careers in the academic or public arena have been dedicated to the use of social science research to improve public policy.  The $20,000 prize was awarded in recognition of her long career of distinguished work on urban education as a researcher and public official.   More on the Prize here: http://www.aapss.org/the-moynihan-prize

Diane is a true public intellectual, someone who has engaged fully in the public arena in order to ensure that local, state, and federal education policy is informed by history, social science research and good sense.  She has also passionately advocated for the parent and teacher voice to be recognized in the national debate over education reform.   I can think of no one else in any field of public policy who is more esteemed, or who has made more of a contribution to the wider understanding of the history of public education and what should be done to ensure that all children receive a quality education.

Over the past few years, she has tirelessly written and travelled the country, cogently and persuasively arguing that the current craze for privatization and high-stakes accountability is neither research-based, nor an effective means to improve our public school system. Rather, she has pointed out how the imposition of these policies will further degrade opportunities for children, particularly the most disadvantaged students who reside in inner cities and other high-needs areas.

If it is indeed true that education is the civil rights issue of our generation, Diane is one of our most esteemed leaders in the struggle for the right of all children, no matter where they attend school, to be provided with a well-rounded and rich curriculum, high standards, small classes and experienced teachers – indeed, the same conditions as the elite have long demanded in the schools that their own children attend.

As John Dewey once wrote, "What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all of its children".  Through her eloquence, vision, and scholarship, Diane has passionately and convincingly argued that our public school system should be strengthened, rather than undermined – so that it can provide for all the nation’s children the kind of education that the best and wisest parent wants for his or her own child.

I cannot imagine a more deserving candidate for this award.  Like Daniel Patrick Moynihan himself, Diane’s vision is entirely non-partisan, transcends ideology, and is based on the best evidence and scholarship, as opposed to the latest political fads or fancies. Her immense courage and honesty has impelled her to speak truth to power, whereas lesser individuals would keep quiet or repeat the delivered wisdom. 

More personally, Diane has been a mentor and a friend to me, as well as a personal inspiration, when I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the immense power and money of the oligarchy that has come to control education policy in this country.

She will receive the prize at an award ceremony in New York on June 2, 2011.

Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/

Cathie Black Plan to Raise Revenue from Teacher Fines

Satire from The Eggplant @ Susan Ohanian
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_news.php?id=846

New York City Expects Revenue Windfall from New Teacher Evaluation System

News Item:
New York City restaurant owners say they are racking up thousands of dollars in fines because the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is conducting more frequent inspections. The city is projecting that it will collect $36.3 million in fines from food establishments in the fiscal year ending June 30; as of Nov. 17, it had collected $12.1 million. Last year, the city collected $32.9 million, up from $27.8 million in the previous year and $17.3 million in fiscal year 2006. The figures don't include fines levied against food vendors.
--"Restaurant Owners Feeling Taxed by Grading "
Wall Street Journal, Dec. 18, 2010

At a news conference held at the four-star Eleven Madison Park, new schools chancellor-in-waiting Cathie Black rolled out a new teacher evaluation plan, "One with teeth," says Ms Black, former head of Hearst Magazines.

Black announced, "It is my pledge that schools will learn from business. My new plan for teacher evaluation will keep teachers on their toes and develop a positive flow revenue stream."

Black said she was inspired by the city's restaurant inspection program, pointing out that the New York City Public Health Sanitarians conduct unannounced inspections of food service establishments to evaluate food workers' practices, including the manner in which they receive and store foods, how they process foods and the temperatures at which they cook, cool, hold and reheat food. "How can we do less with the daily practices of our child workers?" said Black, announcing an inspection system on the delivery of classroom lessons, including a system of fines to be collected for infractions.

Black announced that a team of classroom inspectors is being trained "at this minute" by a $63 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Mayor Bloomberg, standing at Ms Black's side during her presentation, enthusiastically endorsed the plan. "I told you she was a superstar manager who succeeded spectacularly in the private sector! There's no one who knows more about the skills our children will need to succeed in the 21st century economy!"

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, standing three feet behind Bloomberg and Black, affirmed, "We support transparency."

Also see
Ed Notes Exclusive: First Cathie Black Interview -...(satire)

• Video and Stories on Press Conference at Steiner R...
• Ed Notes Exclusive: Bloomberg Fallback Position if...(satire)
• Paul Moore on Unchattie Cathie and More
• Press conference at Steiner's Apartment, Monday No...
• Ed Notes Exclusive: Break In at UFT Headquarters (satire)
• NY Mets Were Set to Choose Black as General Manage...(satire)

Coming Soon From Chris Cerf: I'm Not a Crook

Gov. Chris Christie to nominate ex-N.Y. schools official for N.J. education commissioner
Susan Ohanian Comment: 

Just to keep in perspective what education "reform" means to these fellows--and to the media, Christopher Cerf, former President of Edison, the commercial outfit that has stirred up bitter controversy in 25 states, was hired in 2006 by Chancellor Klein, former Counsel to Bertelsmann, a transnational media corporation, and United States Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Education reform, anyone?

Christoper Cerf revealed that he's a fellow who has no regrets and never even says he's sorry--not even when he's caught violating ethics statutes.

Christopher Cerf was in charge of the project to measure teachers by student test scores.

Oh, and don't forget: Christopher Cerf graduated from the Broad Urban Superintendents Academy in 2004.

NOTE: It's the other Christopher Cerf, the composer of "Put Down the Duckie" for Sesame Street, who has been hired to write a "Blast Away Phuzzy Phonics" theme song for the Broad/Microsoft/Pentagon/McGraw-Hill kindergarten war games product.

Here is New York City Public School Parents on the Cerf Investigation Report. 

I had my own moment with Cerf when he appeared at a Manhattan Institute luncheon and made the rediculus comment that if we swapped the teaching staffs of a "successful" and a "failing" school we would see a big surge in the failing school and a drop in the successful school. I told him I would bet my pension against any stock options he owned that will enable him to enrich himself on the backs of poor children that there would be no impact - "try it in 10 schools to test your theory" I said. Even he looked sheepish at the bullshit he knew he was throwing around.

Tenure 101

Saturday, Dec. 17, Updated 9:30AM

Ed deformers would have us believe that the new crop of teachers are so much more concerned with issues beyond pensions and tenure. Not true.

Getting an early start on value-added testing

Do young teachers worry about tenure? You bet they do. 

One of the key people involved in the Rockaway Theatre Company is a 3rd year teacher. When I came in to the show last night she said she was contacted by the UFT to talk about the new tenure rules. "My luck," she said, "I'm a year late." She is not really worried because she knows she is good and has not had issues so far. Plus she is not teaching in a value-added testing grade. Yet. I imagine they will want to do value-added straight out of the womb so they can measure people who teach 2 year olds in day care centers. I didn't tell her about the stories that came in last year from people who didn't think they had problems until a month before they were to get tenure. One case involved a teacher who had not bowed and scraped - the main behind the scenes charge was she was not humble enough.

It reminded me of the stupid stuff I did in my tenure year - which was my 4th year teaching because I spent the first 3 under a substitute license. I was in a new school and no one knew what I could do - and I got off to a rocky start. Btu I had such confidence in myself I was arrogant. I also got involved that year in district union politics and since the district was controlled by the UFT that was dangerous territory. The acting principal was a milquetoast kind of guy but a true educator. He gave me a "U" on my first observation. I was outraged and attributed it to his covering his ass due to my political activity.

I wrote up a 10-page response for my file and pinned it over the time card. Insane. But I think his being a serious teacher for so many years, some of what I said made sense - and I think he was covering his ass to demonstrate to his uppers - he wanted to be appointed - that he made an attempt to coral me. But he didn't have the stomach for that kind of fight and I guess my aggressive response intimidated him and I got tenure. Lesson to me that I followed for the rest of my career - let the powers that be know that if they mess with me they will get the fight of their lives.

A year or two later my AP told me he was paid a visit by the UFT District Rep and the District Supt. The wanted to explore ways for him to give me a U rating. He refused - and always maintained that was the end of his chance to become a principal in District 14, though he says he never regretted his decision. In 1974 they implanted an AP with barely any teaching experience, the clear successor as principal. When the old guy wouldn't go fast enough they transferred my AP who had been propping him up and installed a district hack who took over his office and started tossing his stuff on the floor - real gangsters. He cracked in 5 days and their gal took over as principal, starting an almost 20 year war between us.

Frankly, if I were in that position today I might have played my cards in a more rational manner. But on the other hand, they thought I was so dangerous, they may have been more afraid of me than I was of them.

Acting update
A whole bunch of pals from GEM and one from the original ICE days of late 2003 came to the show last night. Glad they did as the theater pros said it was our best performance. And Frank Caiati my acting teacher was there - he had been there opening night - and he said my performance looked so much more natural and the entire play ran smoother. That is another lesson. As a play runs things begin to mesh. So going to previews and even the opening week of a play you may not be seeing it in full glory.

I was real nervous going in as when we ran lines backstage a half hour before I blew a few biggies. I feel good now - maybe because we all stayed in the theater partying past midnight - and I got a kiss and hug from the most beautiful young actress who I've long admired but never seemed to know who I am. But I expect by tonight I'll be a wreck again. And tomorrow afternoon when we close we have a cast party and I get to miss another NY Jets debacle.

What I Am Learning From Acting 101

As I prepare for tonight's performance of The Odd Couple at the Rockaway Theatre Company - the 7th of 9 with the Sunday matinee most likely being the finale of my career - I am thinking of just how much hard work this acting thing is. As Vinnie, I have the least amount of lines but trying to nail it all is continuously elusive. People are telling me the show has been very funny and well produced - RTC always does things in a professional manner - and I have not sucked - yet. There's still 3 performances to go and the main thing I have learned is that you could do it perfectly one day and  totally screw up the next. The old pros are asking me how it is to no longer be a virgin as a performer and if I am having fun. I can't say it is fun yet - maybe at Sunday's cast party I will finally relax.

What I have loved is being involved in a show from beginning to end and learning all the backstage stuff. Fascinating enough to want to do more backstage stuff. I figure my debut would also be my finale as I don't see myself chasing around doing auditions. Then last night one of the directors said he has me in mind for a part in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" if RTC reprises the 10th anniversary version they did on 2005. Let's see now, I have 4 years to prepare. Better start Monday morning.

Tonight some GEMers and ICEers may be coming. Will I ever be able to show my face at a meeting again?

Below the fold are some pics from the last 2 weekend performances.

Follow-Up by John Powers, UFT Chapter Leader

John Powers joined Unity Caucus in August 2009 and left in June 2010. John is a high school chapter leader in Coney Island.

Norm, Thanks. I'd like to add some thoughts about the DA and "demo" in the last post.

(The UFT Non-demo at Tweed, Ad Hoc Committee to Fight School Closings to Hold First Meeting Dec. 21)

1. Unity put out an article about our pensions that Mulgrew published in Crain’s magazine. Summary: It’s Wall Street’s fault and they should pay. Fair enough. How do we do it?????????????????????

2. Marjorie Stamberg made an amendment that called for a mass rally/protest/walk across the Brooklyn Bridge as a lead up to the Feb. PEP rally. It was a one-line amendment that in light of the assault on education and teachers here in NYC, was actually rather "conservative" and should have been approved by the Unity body. The amendment was full of merit because it would’ve raised the profile on “school closings” and helped build for a better turnout in Feb. It was immediately shot down when one Unity delegate rose and actually said the following: "I do not support the amendment because the original resolution is just fine." No argument. No reasons. Pure conformity. Pure party line with no substance or call for debate.

Mulgrew spoke about the amendment from the podium, which is something I believe is against "Robert's Rules." He needed to vacate the chair and come to the floor but didn’t. He said that the amendment would not preclude the UFT from holding such a walk across the bridge. YEAH RIGHT.

The other thing he did which he learned from Randi was to repeat back the words/language for amendments with a certain emphasis or lack of emphasis which is Unity code for “Don’t vote for this.” For example, a tape recording playback would reveal how his voice changed in tenor when he repeated back the phrase Marjorie used in her amendment: “escalating action” (That’s code for: “Look out, this is a crazy radical idea”)

2. The Disco Party Rally a “football field” away from Tweed: 12-14-10 @ 5:15
When the DA adjourned, I grabbed a UFT cap but declined the “glow sticks” that were given out. How much did these glow sticks that are handed out at kids’ parties cost? My sons love them. Not me. Not for a union demonstration. I was one of the first to arrive at the police pen set up for us a half a block away from Tweed.

Once again, I was assaulted by Disco Music (Gloria Gaynor’s I will Survive). I watched union brothers and sisters walk into the pen bopping and dancing. PARTY. OH YEAH. DJ spin those records. Let’s get this party started.

AM I the only one who thinks this is weird. I admit I am biased. I love rock and jazz and play the drums but I just find this so offensive. How about some heavy “symphonic” masterpieces? Or some other form of “informational entertainment” while the crowd gathers.

We are in a crisis!!! Mulgrew gave a short and powerful speech but he had to bend his arm all the way back to point to Tweed when he railed against those inside. But powerful words alone will not save the day.

I can’t help thinking how Unity continues to rewrite history and pins all of this on Bloomberg and Klein.

Isn’t it time to take ownership over the destruction of our high schools? The regimentation of teaching and learning? The lack of a clear message about what K-12 education should do and include in order to teach the whole child? No sense in going on and on.

This is why listening to Leo Casey’s tremendous speech earlier at the DoE about school closings ultimately falls flat. The DoE was helped by Unity.

3. Everyone should recall last year's PEP rally and the DA that preceded it. Mulgrew played the tough, labor union leader while Barr played the cautious negotiator. It went like this: Mulgrew: I want a circus of chaos at the Brooklyn Tech PEP rally. A circus of chaos. I want to surround the building. Barr: (15 minutes later) We want to do this right. We need to be cautious. We can't walk into any traps. (Translation: Don't listen to Mulgrew. We have to be careful about how the media perceives us. We don't want it to appear that the PEP rally at Tech was heavily influenced by the UFT. Holy Crud.)

You can expect the same thing for the next big PEP rally. Instead of educating all teachers at all levels about the closings and mobilizing them, Unity still wants to play "patty-cake" with the DoE.

Until next time,
John

The UFT Non-demo at Tweed, Ad Hoc Committee to Fight School Closings to Hold First Meeting Dec. 21

UPDATE: SEE JOHN POWERS' ADDENDUM TO THIS POST
 
Friday, Dec. 17, 2010

I'm sorry if the Lehman teachers were looking for magic bullets to keep them open but we must link the fightbacks to the political intention of school closings, something the UFT refuses to do as they too fall into the data trap of defending the schools' numbers which are so manipulated based on the kinds of kids the school is sent and the number or lack of resources. - see my comment below

Did you know the UFT actually held something or other at Tweed on Wednesday? At least there was a rumor that they would end the Delegate Assembly early on Wednesday and march over to Tweed. I couldn't be there, thank goodness (Promises, Promises).

Were they worried that a resolution on closing schools was going to be sponsored by a variety of groups? Probably not but more a sign that they are feeling some heat from the members. Thus a pipsqueak show of force. Apparently they are saving their big one-shot show of force for the Feb. PEP meeting where closing schools will have their fate sealed.

Chapter leader John Powers, who has been sending emails daily to the UFT leadership sent this to ICE-mail:

SSSSShhhhhhhhhhh. Did you hear? There is a UFT protest outside of Tweed tonight. CL's received the news. How about the rest of our membership who toils every day under the dictates of a billionaire mayor and his puppet and soon to be puppet: Klein and Black? Did they receive the news?

SSSShhhhhhhhh. There is a protest tonight. SSSSShhhhhhhh. Don't bring anyone. It might get crowded.

BLUNT.

BLUNT.

BLUNT.

No action alert on UFT homepage. No e-alert to all members.

Big Mike wants it to be a quiet affair.

SSShhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Apparently John shamed them into actually posting something on the web. And there's a rumor they actually held some kind of rally. They even have a video. From the UFT web site:

Hundreds of UFT members gathered in the bitter cold on Dec. 15 outside DOE headquarters at the Tweed Courthouse to rally against the city's plans to close 25 struggling district schools.

Hundreds? You mean they actually got hundreds out? We got 500 last year at the rally at Bloomberg's house. How pathetic - there are over 3000 delegates and .....jeez, I won't go on.

There were some interesting posts on ICE mail regarding the UFT and how they are reacting to closing schools and I highlight two of them from Marjorie Stamberg and Ellen Fox at Norms Notes.
Here are a few excerpts but head over and read all of it.

Unity caucus is trying to pick up the opposition verbiage; their motion talks of "building a grassroots movement" to stop the closings and a lot of militant talk, for them.  I also think the word got out that many of us were organizing to bring signs and present a motion at the D.A. for a UFT citywide rally, to bring together the local school-based protests against the school closings. The bureaucracy wanted to get in front of the train, before it left the station without them.- Marjorie

The original resolution calls for the DA to vote on the following final RESOLVED: THAT     in recognition of the outrage this Delegate Assembly, representing the educators of all NYC public schools, feels about the proposal to close 25 schools, we hereby adjourn this meeting and reassemble for a mass protest [emphasis mine] at City Hall and the central offices of the NYC Department of Education. 

It's fascinating to see that, at least originally, our leaders were thinking of the number of Delegates and Chapter Leaders who manage to show up on Wednesday to constitute a mass protest.  I forget what the quorum number is, but the actual number of people in attendance rarely, if ever, exceeds 1,000.  Some mass protest!  I see London, I see France!

The words of the resolution sound militant, until you realize that, once again, the UFT "leadership" is putting the onus on individual schools, rather than formulating some sort of unified response that would apply to, and draw a connection between, all of the affected schools; and would also draw all UFT members into support of the threatened schools -- not just at the February "doomsday" PEP meeting, but in some sort of sustained way.  They've had the gall to suggest, at a variety of meetings, how they're going to "offer help" to the newly attacked schools just as they "helped" the threatened schools last year.- Ellen

Read both of their full posts at Norms Notes where they also discuss the attack on large schools as part of the weakening of the union by breaking down big chapters, though Ellen points out that while the union at the school level is weakened the top leadership actually benefits from small schools because the opposition has to work harder to do outreach.

I'm fairly sure that the closing of these schools would bring Unity leadership a bit of secret joy along with just the tiniest bit of angst about losing overall union strength.  On the whole, small schools are much easier to control, and keep within the Unity fold.- Ellen

I gave a presentation at the Lehman high school's UFT meeting a week ago in which I pointed to the failed policy of the union regarding the ed deform mania for closing schools, the main purpose of which is ideological, political, economic, even a real estate grab, with Children First being Last.

No matter what is said, the very idea of charging a school with being a failure comes down to blaming the teachers and then tossing them into an ATR pool where they will be vilified (the UFT honcho in the room made sure to say at least they still have a job and that we could have had a contract if the UFT were willing to give up the ATRs.) I pointed out that it is often a job in hell and these jobs only exist because of the 2005 contract.

I pointed to the UFT "victory" in the law suit last year that kept 19 school open temporarily (15 are on the new list) because the DOE had been sloppy in following procedure. In other words, the UFT was not opposing the concept of closing schools, which they have supported since the idea gained hold almost 2 decades ago, but making sure procedures are followed.

When the Far Rockaway HS closing was announced, I got a call from a disgruntled teacher who was upset that the UFT District HS Queens rep Rona Freiser (now Queens boro rep) had come down not to help them fight the closing but to inform them of their rights (which weren't all that much). Of course Howard Schwach, my editor at The Wave and I immediately began to predict that Beach Channel HS, the other large HS in Rockaway would be next because the small schools opening at Far Rock would not take the most difficult kids. And so that has come to pass. The UFT PR machine could have made a big deal about this intentional domino effect but didn't.

I told the teachers at Lehman that if they followed the pattern of Bronx school closings the arrow would lead right to them and that the UFT should have been exposing this and using its resources to forestall the inevitable instead of rushing in with too little too late. I didn't have time to mention that the DOE intentionally sends in principals as "closers", some sharp and ambitious who know exactly what they are there for and others clueless but clearly lacking people skills that would turn so many people off the school community would have little fight left to battle. I pointed this out in my blog the other day about Murray Begtraum and Lafayette HS. (Is Murray Bergtraum Principal a "Closer?")

I'm sorry if the Lehman teachers were looking for magic bullets to keep them open but we must link the fightbacks to the political intention of school closings, something the UFT refuses to do as they too fall into the data trap of defending the schools' numbers which are so manipulated based on the kinds of kids the school is sent and the number or lack of resources. To the DOE, resources means coordinators, watchers, trainers.

What can we do?
I have no easy answers other than to get out the word and try to organize and activate people as a force within the UFT that can become strong enough to either force the leadership to do the right thing (which you know I doubt since I consider them Vichy) or even stronger to threaten their control. I will post separately on how my point of view differs from other activists opposing Unity.

An ad hoc committee to fight school closings is in the process of forming. It is holding its first meeting on Tuesday. Come on down.

Fight School Closings

NO School Closings!

NO Charter Invasions!

All are welcome to join an

Ad Hoc Organizing Meeting

to fight back against:

-school closings

-charter invasions and privatization

-school transformations/restructuring 

Tuesday, December 21st

4:30 pm

CUNY Graduate Center

(34^th St and 5^th Ave)

Room 5409

You are invited to help build this major campaign. 

Bring your ideas to this planning meeting.  

We will plan mobilizations to the Mayor's PEP meetings, to DOE hearings to close schools and to invade with charters, and to pressure City Hall and the Mayor.

The campaign will involve letter writing, petitions, media blitzes, talks, workshops, forums,videos, cultural presentations, fight-back Fridays, and much much more. 

With your involvement we can build this campaign and movement to promote quality education and stop the drive to privatize.

Promises, Promises

Thursday, Dec. 16, 10AM
Promises, Promises could be the title of a video I've been working on with clips culled from the PEP meeting the other night regarding the PS 20/Arts and Letters District 13 school controversy over co-location and space.  As I said in my goodbye video to Joel Klein - school wars will be his lasting legacy.
I heard the word "choice" mentioned every 10 seconds and also heard promises, promises from PEP people and DOE officials about how much they want to help PS 20. I'll leave the rest of the commentary to the video when it is done - hopefully today - even though I am having a tough time doing much of anything once the daylight disappears. Last night after coming home from a matinee and dinner and with so much to do I watched Rohmer's "Claire's Knee" as part of my attempt to complete his entire series of "Moral Tales." A nice followup to the immoral tales at PEP meetings.

I was pretty tired  yesterday (Weds) - no, not from attending another bullshit UFT demo at Tweed (more on that later) which I mercifully missed due to family commitments.

Now, there is another moral tale. Here's the skinny:

Wife's brother and his wife are stuck with ferry tickets from Jersey - they bought a batch to go to Yankee games but one game was postponed - and they have until Jan. 1 to use it. Total would be $80, so they don't want to eat the tickets and suggest we meet them in the city for a matinee and dinner.

Tuesday
So Tuesday I drive my wife to downtown Brooklyn to the half price line on Jay Street and wait in the car. Now this is a major pain in the ass (Hamilton Ave bridge is up and it takes almost an hour) as I have to take her home and get back to downtown Broolyn for the PEP meeting later and in addition someone wants me to meet him at 4:30 to interview me for a documentary he is doing on closing schools. There is no line and she comes back with tics for "Midnight Quartet"- $70 a ticket - HALF PRICE? - and I get on the BQE while she calls to tell them. I'm in traffic around Atlantic Ave when the phone rings. They don't like Elvis or Johnny Cash. "Can we go back," from my wife. Jeez. I also think $70 bucks to see what is basically a review and not a real play is too much. They don't take back tickets but I practically make a U-turn on the BQE while briefing my wife on how to be nice - "BEG!" I tell her. And she does a great job - unheard of- they allow her to exchange the tickets for ------

PROMISES, PROMISES???????

You mean I have to submit to more Neil Simon after having lived with him for months for my role in "The Odd Couple" (WARNING - 3 more performances left to see me in both my simultaneous acting debut and end of career). Double Jeez. "Sean Hayes from 'Will and Grace' and Kristen Chenoweth" says my wife. "Who?" I never watched "Will and Grace" once. And while I liked Kristen in a few plays, no big deal. And my in-laws will probably hate it even more than than Elvis.

But I get a great excuse to miss the UFT DA and bullshit walk to Tweed and it will only cost me ---I can't even do the math but it will be worth whatever it costs.

So we get home around 1:30 and I head out to the PEP/meet with filmmaker at 3:30. PEP, blah, blah, blah. I get home around 10 and watch the first part of Claire's Knee).

Wednesday
Off to the city at 12:15. Train stuck in tunnel and get to theater at 1:45. In-laws freezing. Seats good - Orch row T on side- but cramped - bro-in-law is 6'3".

SHOW IS BEYOND GREAT. SEAN HAYES IS AWESOME. WORTH EVERY PENNY- GO BEFORE IT CLOSES ON JAN. 2.

Freezing walk to dinner at New Orleans style Delta Grill on 48th and 9th. Delicious gumbo and po' boys. Cost: around $70 a couple. Do the math. Cost in-laws over $200 because they didn't want to eat $80 worth of ferry tickets. But am I glad they decided to do this? I'd pay double to miss more UFT phony events.

Emergency Rally Against Community Roots Charter School Tonight

SPREAD THE WORD!

Dear Parent Leaders and Community Advocates:

District 13 is under attack by Community Roots Charter School and DOE.

We need every available body tonight at our P.S. 67 located at St. Edwards between Park Ave and Myrtle. 5:30

CRCS would like to have a middle school and have taken rooms from PS 67. PS 67 has a class in a closet. While CRCS has the famous class size of 25 and two teachers they also received an F on their last progress report.

We have had enough of the DOE and their Charter Schools.

Khem Irby
See below

Dear Office of Public Affairs:

Tonight I was made aware of a hearing for Community Roots Charter School via conversation.

They would like to add a middle school in District 13.
As a member of the CEC we were not given proper notice to participate in the hearing. Was this supposed to be a joint hearing with District 13?

Also, what are they legally supposed to do in regard to the new law?

Should the creation of a new middle school option for district 13 families?

Where do they plan to expand this school?

How many rooms were allocated to them when they entered PS 67? They are using the library exclusively and have locked out the D75 and PS 67 schools.

I am requesting that you cancel this hearing in respect of the law and the district 13 community that will be impacted.

Sincerely,

Khem Irby
CEC13

I Came to Praise Joel, Not to Bury Him

 I was signing in when I heard my name.
It was Uncle Joel stopping by to say hello. "Norm, don't feel you have to praise me tonight."
"I wouldn't miss the opportunity," I said. We chatted and I reiterated that anything I say is due to political issues not personal. He seemed to appreciate it.

Here is what I said at the meeting. I included a piece by parent Richard Barr.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njdi8XunEpQ


PEP Dec 14 Norm Scott and Richard Barr

Candi is Still Dandi

As new VP of the Washington Teachers Union, Candi Peterson has a whole lot on her plate and blogging may take a back seat for a while. We wish her well. How nice to see her still standing and Rhee off to sell herself to the highest bidders.

New Beginnings

From the desk of Candi Peterson:

December 1 marked a new beginning for me as the WTU General Vice President. During the past two years as the writer of this blog, I have enjoyed confronting stormy subjects on public education with readers by my side on a weekly basis. Topics here ranged from former DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, to performance based excessing, unprincipled principals, inside teacher stories, and "holdover" union officials. I have frequently said this blog was never intended to be a permanent dwelling place and first started out with me trying to dispel myths about the red and green teachers contract proposal and later morphed into an online voice for teachers. 

 

I believe you can’t stand still in one place forever or it becomes a comfort zone. Don’t get me wrong, I'm not through with blogging at least not yet but in my new role- more of my time will be spent seeking resolutions to teachers complaints.

Klein's Final PEP Tonight: Thanks Uncle Joel for Helping Organize The Resistance - Can I Give You Another Hug?

I was watching the videos of the press conference last week on the Norman Siegel lawsuit filed by 13 parents, two of whom are from PS 15 in Red Hook and one educator, also from PS 15, a school that Joel Klein allowed to be invaded by PAVE, an intrusive charter school with backing from a billionaire supporter of Mayor Bloomberg - the ultimate use of political muscle by people who are always charging their opponents with playing politics with kids lives.
None of these three people were activists in The Resistance before. It was the actions of Joel Klein and his minions that created this incredible hot bed of activism that gave rise to CAPE (Concerned Activists for Public Education). When they found GEM, many of whom were also activated by the actions of the Klein ed deformers, on the web a year and a half ago and we all linked up - it was kismet.

So, yes, thank you Joel for your unintended consequences.

I'd give him another hug tonight but I'm saving it for day Cathie Black is on the way out. I have a feeling that she may do in three years what it took Joel eight to do.

UPDATE:

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

I Came to Praise Joel, Not to Bury Him

 I was signing in when I heard my name.
It was Uncle Joel stopping by to say hello. "Norm, don't feel  don't have to praise me tonight."
"I wouldn't miss the opportunity," I said. We chatted and I reiterated that anything I say is due to political issues not personal. He seemed to appreciate it.

Here is what I said at the meeting. I included a piece by parent Richard Barr.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njdi8XunEpQ

If Shael Was a Real Teacher He Must Have Been Invaded by Data Munching Body Snatchers

Mr. Polakow-Suransky acknowledges that the tests are imperfect, but says they are a necessary measurement tool. “To put it very simply,” he said, “how do you know that the kids are learning?”  

Tell me that a real teacher would say "How do you know that the kids are learning?" without standardized tests. Every single teacher I know has given tests that tell them if kids are learning. Or they know from how they respond in class. This is such an anti-teacher statement. Note how Shael makes it seem that the choice is between standardized tests and not tests - totally negating what most teachers have always used in class.

Shael didn't escape

Now the contradictions in today's NY Times profile on Shael Polakow-Suransky (I've got a bias against hypehated names, especially long ones) who will be 2nd in command to Cathie Back are very revealing. He went to a progressive high school and studied with progressive educator Ted Sizer at Brown University (how interesting that I meet so many Brown grads counter to Shael who are active resisters to the ed deformers). Then he worked for Eric Nadelstern who once was a real reformer people tell me.

A Tweed insider told me the two of them always talked a good game but once inside the walls of Tweed they shifted to the party data line - the judgement: ambition and self-interest.

Now Shael will offer a menu of more tests:

He has been working with officials from New York and other states to create a new kind of testing that would include essays, classroom projects and multiple-choice exams, and that would be administered in stages, perhaps at four times during the year. 

Afterburn
See the web of corruption tying the Merryl Tisch family to the testing industry at Perdido St. School - comments section.

Hillcrest HS Has 11 Assistant Principals

Cathie Black visited the Queens school, which is heavily involved with the Gates Foundation. Their idea of support never involves reducing class size or putting a lot of resources like guidance counsellors and social workers as that would contradict the ideology they push that teachers are the issue.

So "support" means more people watching and training teachers or coordinating something or other. The Master teacher who makes 30% more is a big item - the union pushes this one too. Or eleven APs, including one for data analysis. Give me a break. Analyze this!!

Here are some comments Leonie put up:

Video of Cathie Black arriving at Hillcrest at NY1; w/ lots of big smiles and glad-handing from Bob Hughes of New Visions. 

Hillcrest is the one large HS that DOE continually rolls out that is supposedly a symbol of their success in “turning around” large schools, w/ the help of New Visions of course.

http://print.nycenet.edu/ChoicesEnrollment/High/Directory/school/?sid=3298

OVERVIEW
Hillcrest is a school composed of seven small learning communities with fewer than 500 students each and two one-year immersion programs. We are a New Visions School working collaboratively with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

They have 11 APs (count em!)

http://www.hillcrestweb.com/administration.htm

Here’s a quote from their AP for data analysis: Amar Nepal, A.P. Data Analyst
ANepal@schools.nyc.gov

Hillcrest High School is committed to data driven instruction.  It is through the effective use of data that our school community can make the decisions to promote teaching and learning.  "The goal is to transform data into information, and information into insight." - Carly Fiorina

http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/education/130521/incoming-schools-chancellor-tours-queens-high-school/

--------------
Worth checking out: Steven Lazar's column at Gotham Schools:  Disconnections

Tweed and the UFT headquarters feel a world, and a mindset, apart from my daily education reality.
At my school, I am the most experienced social studies teacher; at the UFT last Wednesday, I was the youngest in the room. There are important things that go on at the UFT, and I support most of the union’s efforts, but there seems to be a large distance between what the UFT does and what I do. Likewise, I am sure some things that happen at Tweed have a directly positive or adverse effect on my school’s dally existence. But when someone said at the UFT High School Committee meeting last week that the UFT is now in a state of war with Tweed over school closures, if felt to me like a war between the Olympian gods where little thought or consideration is given to its effects, if there even are any, on the daily lived existence of most teachers and students in this city.

Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/

Is Murray Bergtraum Principal a "Closer?"

Most of you have heard about the so-called student riot at Murray Bergtraum last week when the principal ordered the bathrooms shut. A contact there told me the day the new principal, Andrea Lewis, arrived last summer, she was a "closer" – a principal intentionally sent into a school (to supposedly save it) but with so little skill at relating to people in the school community that they would become so alienated they would amenable to the inevitable announcement that the school would be closed.

The poster principal for this strategy was Jolanta Rohloff who was sent to the troubled Lafayette HS as the ultimate closer. I knew someone at the Leadership Academy, that failed Eli Broad supported principal training center that requires candidates to kill a pet dog before being allowed to run a school, who was with Rohloff and when her appointment came they howled with laughter because she had proven to be so inept. (A friend who got a transfer there went in to meet Rohloff the first day and Rohloff attacked her for getting a UFT transfer without every seeing her teach and then proceded to start U-rating her the second week of September, eventually driving her out of the school and almost ruining her career.)

I heard from a former teacher at Lehman HS a year and a half ago that the new 25,000 dollar bonus baby principal was also sent in to be a closer - and last week Lehman appeared on an endangered school list, in addition to all the cheating scandals.

See: 3rd negative study on NYC Leadership academy

So when Bergtraum students organized a protest - we are not calling this a riot but organized chaos- attention was focused on a principal who did not seem to have a clue on how to run a large high school.

In a post on the NYC Parent blog The underlying causes of rioting at Bergtraum HS,
Leonie Haimson wrote

On Thursday, December 9, students rioted in the halls of Murry Bergtraum High School in lower Manhattan. The latest straw that broke the camel’s back was the announcement of the new “executive” principal, Andrea Lewis, who received a $25,000 bonus to run the school, that none of the students could use the bathrooms for an entire day – a punishment for a fight that had broken out between a couple of students the day before.

Her announcement led to rioting in the halls. More on this at GothamSchools, which broke the story, here and here; and NY 1 has video.

But as John Elfrank-Dana, the UFT chapter leader points out below, in a missive to fellow faculty members, the anger that erupted last week was also the result of deeper issues -- the awareness on the part of students that they are receiving a “junk education.” Indeed, Bergtraum is another NYC high school in which rampant overcrowding, large class sizes, fraudulent credit recovery, and other learning conditions have worsened considerably as a result of the wrongheaded policies and educational and neglect of this administration.

John sent both Leonie and I this email. It is so powerful that it bears being sent around the ed world, as much for the way that John is standing up for both students and teachers as for what he has to say. What is clear to me - if the teachers could join the students in their activities after being treated the way Andrea Lewis, the closer - maybe Bloomberg should make her Chancellor since he is looking for a closer - they would.

Subject: So Much Junk... So Many Suits - A debrief of Last Two Days...

Many of our students chose to vent their outrage on Thursday in the form of running wild through the halls. A very dangerous situation. Hundreds participated. The principal's announcement of curtailment of bathroom access no doubt precipitated this action. Try and spin it how you like; that's the overwhelming consensus.

However, it seems to me that was just the last straw, i.e. that the revolt wouldn't have happed if it were not for a deep seated resentment brewing in the students. That resentment stems from the fact that they know they are getting junk education. They understand that they aren't getting their needs met by this system. That they need smaller class sizes, more family and guidance support, a genuine curriculum and not some cookie cutter/corporate template imposed upon them like Kaplan. They know that elsewhere in this city and country there are schools with class sizes of 12 or so, with students using the latest in computer technology to engage in enrichment activities not meaningless drill exercises and credit recovery fraud. Where teachers, who are not over-stressed and threatened by U ratings on a daily basis, are patiently providing needed individual attention to their needs. You won't find Class.com in the affluent suburbs; those parents would be outraged. They know all this, but they don't know they know it. As Palo Freire, the education theoretician, said that education is making the subjective objective. Not quite objective yet, the junk education is what the students would understand is the source of their rage.

The principal's curtailment of bathroom privileges was perceived by them as a slap in the face, adding insult to injury. It was, I believe, perceived by the students as punitive in nature and not to protect them. It was also ill conceived to create a demand overload situation for the nurse's office; which has many other vital services to provide students. While the principal does damage control with focus groups of students there's also the concern expressed by some of you that maybe she's on a fishing expedition to find evidence for blaming the teachers for the incident. If you hear of any such notion from students that this is the agenda of these meetings, do not discuss it with them or probe. Just let me know what you heard. As in my class yesterday we had a special lesson on student rights and responsibilities as well as creative and constructive ways to redress grievances. This should be the focus of moving ahead with our students.

Yesterday morning we saw a major operation of support by the UFT. Some of you met Michael Mulgrew and myself in the hallway. He brought with him a delegation of union personnel who are committed to providing the necessary means for protecting the students and staff. He sat at one end of the table, flanked by me and UFT reps, while at the other was the head of security for the entire DoE system. Present also was Glen Rasmussen, our main security liaison with the DoE and about 5 other suits from the DoE and our Network Support Group, and, of course, the principal. The discussion centered on the plans for the day and the short-term road ahead. It was understood that other volatile eruptions were likely if we didn't take appropriate action. We will meet throughout the week, myself, the administration, special reps from the UFT and DoE security to monitor and put together a more concrete plan to secure the school. Any suggestions and/or information you can share would be greatly appreciated.

At the morning meeting the head of DoE security commented that there was significant improvement in the school's security numbers (incident reports) compared to last year. Whoa! I thought, would my members really think that things have dramatically improved?! Therefore, at the end of the afternoon meeting I had to call out the "elephant in the room" that no one is talking about. I said that "morale in this school is at an all time low!" That we won't get as full support from the staff if they continue to feel harassed and intimidated by the spike in U-ratings. That many teachers fear that there will be retaliation for reporting disciplinary problems. It's because they feel the administration is out to get them. Against this backdrop the security situation in the building cannot improve.

I referred to the beginning of the school year that when, after he called for support for a classroom situation, the same teacher was told (within ear shot of his students at least) by the principal who came that he's getting a U for not having a lesson plan (forget the fact that he did, in the form of the NY lab book, but was too frazzled to point that out). That got around to the faculty the message: You ask for help with discipline and it will be held against you.

Second, that just yesterday during a class a girl's cell phone was stolen, the likely perp was asking to go to the bathroom, and the teacher, thinking on her feet, denied him. An SSA and Dean were called. The dean was reluctant to have the boy in question's bag searched by the SSA but chose instead to chastise the girl for bringing her phone to school and was going to leave it at that. Fortunately, the victim herself then went into the boy's bag and produced her phone. When the teacher went up to the dean's office to report it, another dean told her there was no need to as it was resolved. Mr. Rasmussen stated that's a Level IV infraction and should have produced an occurrence report. I will follow up. But, I am afraid this kind of thing goes on in the school on a daily basis. While I am confident MOST of our deans don't sweep things under the rug, I have to assess if we benefit at all from those who assist in keeping the school's crime numbers down.

No doubt you will hear the response: "They're gonna close the school! So, see no evil, hear no evil, say no evil!" However, they will close the school whenever they want for whatever reason they want. We could improve the stats (either by intimidation to pass 80 percent or more and/or scrubbing Regents exams scores and bogus credit recovery) or in a real way.

The DoE has closed improving school for real estate to open charter schools. All we can do is do the right thing by the school community; stand up for what is right and decent for our students and staff and be public about it. Our staff must be treated like professionals with fairness and respect, parents need to be parents and provided school support. Last and not least, the students must be given what they deserve; a quality education. Without this, we will measure success though quietly putting out fires and suppressing reports of incidents in the school while cooking the books on student achievement. Such a fraud produces a house of cards. And when that house of junk blows over, all suits in the DoE's army may not be able to erect it again.

In solidarity, John

--
John Elfrank-Dana
UFT Chapter Leader
Murry Bergtraum High School
www.Elfrank.com/UFT

I sent Leonie's and John's comments out to listserves and here are some responses which you can read below the fold. But first I wanted to mention some...

Personals
How amazing to read this link I picked up at Gotham  - An assistant principal at Grover Cleveland HS in Queens is bringing geocaching to his students. (Times) -  just a day after being introduced to this very gentleman by a very good friend of mine when they both came to see my performance at this past Saturday's "Odd Couple."

And thanks to the well wishes for my dad after the bleeding/emergency room visit Friday night - and by the way - the people in the ER were great. (I Need a Vacation). Today's visit to the dentist went well and he has his uppers with the lowers coming in a few weeks. No Peter Luger steak for him 'till then.

And finally, kudos to the principal who reads this blog and gave such a great welcome to the young lady friend of my cousin who I recommended for a job- and actually found a way to offer her some hope in a very tough market.

These Truths Are Self-Evident

There was an interesting discussion on Brian Lehrer on NPR the other day with Eric Snyder, the parent who filed the first lawsuit on the Cathie Black nomination. Snyder was challenged by Lehrer that Snyder  was interested in his own children who have a parent for a lawyer. What about the poor children of color who perhaps don't have the advantages and need the structure and standardized tests?

Snyder was eloquent in his reply. It wasn't about his kids, who would thrive under any system. Poor kids would suffer more from being branded by a test score and the kind of narrow education it takes to get there. Right on Eric. I hope to thank him for that personally if I go to Albany on Dec. 23 when the court case is heard.

People ask me how I know market based ed deforms won't work - even though it will take a generation of ruined children - and ruined teachers I might add - for us to find out - and when we do, that information will be suppressed by Gates and his clones.

I don't need no stinkin research to tell me. My instincts as a teacher who worked closely with children and as a human being tell me. I think of the way my principal tried to stop the teachers from taking trips until all the tests were completed - I continued to defy her for 5 years until she made teaching a self-contained class so distasteful I became a cluster. About 4 years ago a former student from the late 70's got in touch. She told me she used to take her own kids to the very same Central Park playgrounds I took her class to. When they asked why they didn't just go to Brooklyn playgrounds she told them, "You don't know how much those trips meant to me." Years later they told her how tired they were of hearing about "Mr. Scott's trips."

I thought about how kids from wealthy private schools - and I got to know lots of teachers from these schools from various computer user groups - has such a totally different education than the kids in the poorest areas. How the NYC museums were often filled with them while poor kids remained trapped in their neighborhoods.

I heard the same comments almost word for word from my principal in the early 80's and Joel Klein over the last 8 years: Kids need skills before they can absorb content. Of course I take the view that content will drive skills. I think of the time my kids found a book on a trip with sexual content - it was a much higher level than they were reading at. Somehow they got the comprehension. I would use anything that interested them if I could get away with it to get them to see reading as useful.


An excellent piece by Steve Nelson, head of the private Manhattan Calhoun School, has been floating around. I remember we used to meet at that school with the LOGO users group in the late 80's. One time the host teacher had to leave and she was the last one in the building other than us and a bunch of kids working on a project. She told us just to leave when we were done and they would lock up. I was astounded.

Excerpts from Steve Nelson's The Disservice of a 'Rigorous' Education

Tests, standards, accountability, economic competitiveness, managers, vouchers, data, metrics... does anyone actually care about children?

While multi-billionaires like Michael Bloomberg, Bill Gates and Eli Broad talk about tough management and data-driven reform, real children languish in abject poverty. That's unfair enough, but then we also rob them of their childhoods. Everything is about money, even their small lives. Social scientists talk about poor kids' education as an "investment" and act as though the worth of children is in their development as resources for the competitive marketplace.

Jean De La Bruyère, a 17th century French moralist and philosopher, once wrote: "Children have neither a past nor a future. Thus they enjoy the present -- which seldom happens to us." In the South Bronx or in Grosse Pointe, children are too often deprived of the present. At each end of the economic spectrum, we are pressing children harder and harder in the service of a "rigorous" education. It is not mere semantic coincidence that the word "rigor" is most often paired with the word "mortis."

As De La Bruyère wrote, the present seldom happens to us. But the present is all that children have.

It's heartbreaking to hear administrators and politicians talk about children as raw material to be crafted into productive cogs in the global economy.

Read it all: http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.php?id=4072
Yes, I am a proud teacher who worried about the present my students, many of whom did not have the best lives, had to deal with. I know I would be vilified today but I tried my best to make the year they spent with me the happiest year in school they could have. Naturally part of their present was getting them promoted (yes, Bloomberg. we did NOT have social promotion) so I did what I felt I had to do to get them test-ready - within reason. Funny, but when test time came and we did do some prep for a few weeks, it was the most miserable time of the school year.

Susan Ohanian commented:

I don't know anything about the Calhoun School of which Steve Nelson is the head. But I like their mission and philosophy, which you can read at the bottom of this piece. It's nice to know that there are some rich people who want their children to have a progressive, non-competitive education.

Steve Nelson for Chancellor: Hear, Hear!

Updated: Exclusive video: Lawsuit to Deny Black as Chancellor - in 5 parts

Updated: Sun. Dec. 12, 12PM.

This is well worth watching as parents slam the Black appointment - see espcially John Battis' comment about Bloomberg's "Cathie Black is the closer" statement and how Mariano Rivera would be a better choice.

Deny Waiver Law Suit Press Conference: Dec. 9, 2010
(Suit will be heard in Albany on Dec. 23)

Part 1: Mona Davids, Norman Siegel and Herb Teitelbaum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_PrJBagCWc

Part 2:  Hakim Jeffries, Lydia Bellahcene, John Battis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6Tjt8a8kBU

Part 3: Shino Tanikawa, Chris Owens

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfMX1zAJcKI

Part 4: Noah Gotbaum, Patricia Connelly, Norman Siegel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UhfRNmlNoY

Part 5: Wrapup
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF4TQIZHBjY

Attorney: Cathie Black will never get to serve as NYC education chief

Renowned civil liberties attorney Norman Siegel tells examiner.com that Chancellor-designee Cathleen P. Blackshould savor her time visiting New York City public schools, because she’ll never get to run them.

Siegel filed a legal challenge in State Supreme Court yesterday afternoon, arguing that Education Commissioner David M. Steiner’s waiver to allow Black, who prior to her appointment had never set foot in a school was “arbitrary and capricious.”  Siegel said that the judge scheduled a hearing for December 23rd –

Full story at:

http://www.examiner.com/government-in-new-york/attorney-cathie-black-will-never-get-to-serve-as-nyc-education-chief
 

Another story here.