What Can You Do To Counter the Unity Spin? Suggestions from John Powers

John Powers was part of Unity Caucus from Aug. 2009-June 2010 and has some excellent insights on basic organizing. Ed Notes exists to disseminate information and support these efforts so plug in. Our mantra is to EDUCATE, ORGANIZE, MOBILIZE. Each comes in succession. People must have information as a basis for organizing and people must be in some way organized before they can mobilize masses needed to have an impact. Thanks for the work John.

Here are a few things that you can do:

1. Start an email list and forward articles of interest...articles that challenge the "Unity Caucus" line. Members may at first experience "cognitive dissonance" but this is a wonderful opening for follow-up discussions and Q and A's. You can invite UFT activists to attend an after-school function [Norm here - feed me and I'll come] or you can invite a few people to one of the many UFT activist meetings and happenings. Start small. Set small, achievable goals. But think big. If there is a source of confusion or contention in the school with the administration, you and others can use it to help make your Unity CL stronger or if need be, marginalize him or her and show yourselves to be true unionists. 

Note: A Unity cog reading this will immediately assume I mean doing something "militant" or "reckless." However, you would be surprised how effective just a few people can be in a small or large school setting. Communicating effectively with administrators can go a long way. Politely "gumming" up an absurd policy that they would like to pass down to staff can reap many rewards. Many of us should get together to devise a tactic book that goes more in depth here with lots of examples to support each tactic. And when all else fails, “militant” actions at the school level can include informational protests outside of school in the morning and or afternoon hours. Over the past year, I pleaded with a number of Unity leaders to "take it right to the doors" of individual horror schools and principals with the aforementioned demos. Their response: Nothing. There is the new "Twilight Zone" in the New York Teacher. Not a bad start. BUT WHY NOT TAKE A STAND OUTSIDE OF EACH OF THE SCHOOLS PROFILED IN THE TZ PIECE. 

[Norm here: I had a reso up at the DA calling for these demos as far back as the late 90's. It included calling for extraordinary protections for chapter leaders from harassment.]

2. Create a "fact sheet" that shows all of the decisions and policies that Unity has created and then explain to your colleagues that this is what a Unity CL stands for. Ask your CL at the next meeting if he or she is a Unity CL. Why do so many Unity CL's keep their affiliation a secret? Is it because on some level they are embarrassed or do not want to have to pledge the party line in front of a group of people. I was a Unity CL for ten months. I immediately told every UFT member in my chapter via a letter and a follow-up discussion. Many were surprised considering my prior UFT activist work and my issues with the Unity Caucus but I explained what I believed at the time were the right justifications. Looking back I have no regrets. I am that much more informed and confident in my views today regarding Unity's inability to work towards a more democratic, bottom-up model of unionism. This flaw continues to hamper their ability to provide a strong, clear and concise vision of what K-12 education should encompass now and in the near future. It has also led them down the road of appeasement and not "compromise" as they claim. The leadership is an insulated, unimaginative, elite-minded, group of over-paid "professionals."

3. Create your own newsletter.

4. Does your CL forward or make available in some format each week's CL newsletter. If not, why not? I take mine and just forward it to every UFTer in my school and follow-up with more pointed articles of interest or commentary. This helps us to have a more informed chapter meeting.

5. Our UFT constitution says that every CL must hold at least six CL meetings per year. Does this occur? If not, why not? This should be challenged. Ultimately a CL can be recalled if he or she does not fulfill his or her duties. 

[Norm here: Let me add that holding a meeting with a union "guest" dominating the entire time and taking questions at the end to me doesn't constitute a meeting that addresses the issues we face even though "legal" in terms of the UFT constitution.]

6. Create a study group/ed policy book club (even if it is once per month).

7. Ask your CL if you and others can help him. Explain to him or her the importance of delegating tasks to other UFTers. This creates solidarity. 

8. Attend demos and rallies with a group of UFTers from your school.

9. Attend a delegate assembly with a group of UFTers from your school and collect all the literature that is handed out downstairs. Then take a seat in the new “off-site” visitor room and enjoy the show. Watch for the lack of discussion. Watch the president “filibuster’ the time away so that nothing gets done. Much of what our UFT presidents past and present discuss at DAs could be typed and presented to delegates to read while they wait for the DA to begin. A quick powerpoint presentation could also be used to minimize the excessive amount of time that is wasted on blabbing and blabbing on. Less talk. More action. If my advice were taken, delegates would actually be able to discuss, debate and vote on the many resolutions that get pushed into the trash bin of “never-never land.” A few years ago, Randi was late for a DA and Michael Mendel chaired the first half of the DA. We went through every resolution. It was amazing. Everyone felt a sense of accomplishment. Randi walked in, recognized it and declared, “hey you like that…let’s do it that way in the future.” YEAH RIGHT. I’M STILL WAITING. THE UNITY DA IS WORSE THAN OUR CONGRESS.

10. Get your older vets to sit down and talk about what teaching and learning was like before Klein, Duncan and Obama. Let them talk about the pros and cons with thenewbies. More important, have them talk about their lives, families, children, etc. Just let them talk. Newbies are not union conscious because of the Unity flaw mentioned above but also because they are young. It’s normal. It’s important to help them visualize their futures and the importance of pay, benefits, tenure and due process. This can be linked to the attack on these sacred, union principles. In other words, help them visualize, “imagine if” scenarios.

11. It may be possible to activate some older vets precisely because they are nearing retirement and feel that they have nothing to lose and that they can go out fighting and setting an example for the newbies and all otherUFTers at your school. 

12. Create a film series. Perhaps it can be held at your school or in your home. Screen important films related to unionism (“Norma Rae”?). Show “Waiting for Superman” and “The Lottery” in order to discuss charter schools and the push to privatize education. Consider some of the films related to the economic crisis like “Capitalism: A Love Affair” and “Inside Job” and pose questions that force UFTers to think about why the working class has to bare the brunt of the budget cuts if Wall Street is to blame (amongst other things/institutions). Supply UFTers with information about Andrew Cuomo and his desire to go after our pensions. If you create a film series or a book club, etc., you can ask others to help you organize and prepare for the events. All of this helps to build solidarity and teaches some prerequisite skills related to activism. I am exhausted. I will stop here. I will reflect more and perhaps present a Part 2 later. 

Better yet, perhaps other UFTers can chime in and further develop, revise and organize my initial thoughts above.

Happy Holidays!

In Solidarity, 

John Powers

After hearing lawyers optimistic Cathie Black's waiver to be overturned

"Munkwitz, representing Steiner and the state, countered that Black has exceptional experience in dealing with large organizations, collaborating, leading, engaging diverse stakeholders, building relationships and managing facilities and money."

Munkwitz has got to be kidding.Managing facilities? She couldn't manage even one school. And how about her experience dealing with "large" organizations -  like 2000 employees compared to the NYC schools with - 130-150,000 and a million kids and 1500 schools?


http://www.examiner.com/government-in-new-york/after-hearing-lawyers-optimistic-cathie-black-s-waiver-to-be-overturned

After hearing lawyers optimistic Cathie Black's waiver to be overturned
* December 24th, 2010 4:16 pm ET

A lawyer for parents challenging the appointment of Cathleen P. Black to be the next city schools chancellor says he’s optimistic his client’s will emerge victorious.

Lawyers for the parents appeared in court in an Albany court room yesterday arguing that Black lacks the required educational experience or academic credentials to serve as head of the nation’s largest schools system.

Judge Gerald Connolly did not immediately indicate when the court might rule, but Attorney Norman Siegel said he and other attorneys received an E-mail from the judge last night asking for cell phone numbers where they could be reached over the holidays. He said that makes him think that a
ruling is likely to come next week, before January 3, when Black is scheduled to take over the reins.

Under state law and related regulations, school superintendents have to have a master's degree or higher, 60 hours of graduate work, a professional certification and three years of teaching experience.

However, the education commissioner can grant a waiver to the "exceptionally qualified" candidate that has "training and experience that are the substantial equivalent of such requirements."

Lawyers argued that Education Commissioner David M. Steiner’s waiver of requisite education and experience was “arbitrary and capricious” and therefore unlawful.  Siegel acknowledged that Steiner has discretion, but that such discretion must be in compliance with the law.

Attorneys for parents and teachers say that there are two key legal issues in play – first that Black lacks a graduate degree, a requirement that he believes can’t be waived and second that the basis for the waiver was flawed because Steiner relied on the skills of others in deciding to grant the waiver.

“One of the overriding clouds over the court room was the right of public officials to act independently,” Siegel told Examiner.com.  “We’re not asking the court to second guess a public official; rather we’re simply saying that they have to act within the bounds of the law – when they fail
to do so it’s the role of the judiciary to intervene.”

Siegel said he is optimistic that his side will emerge victorious, especially because the defendants conceded his key legal argument.

“Not only did David Steiner’s waiver say that Cathie Black would be relying heavily upon staff, but when asked about that by the judge, [Deputy Attorney General] Kelly Munkwitz conceded that point,” he said. “That alone could mean victory for us.”

Munkwitz, representing Steiner and the state, countered that Black has exceptional experience in dealing with large organizations, collaborating, leading, engaging diverse stakeholders, building relationships and managing facilities and money.

"What Ms. Black didn't get in the classroom, she got in the scope of her career," Munkwitz said.

Siegel, one of four lawyers fighting Black's waiver says that regardless of which side wins, he expects an appeal to be filed.

Examiner.com will continue to bring you the latest developments in the controversy surrounding the appointment of Cathie Black as New York City Schools chancellor.

Mona Davids on Ross Global Charter School

Mona is quoted in an article on Ross Global, Ross Global Charter: In Battle Over NYC Charter School, It's Heiress vs. Parents which I posted on norms notes. Here is a follow-up comment from her. Of course we disagree about the concept of charters which Real Reformers oppose as destructive of public education.

This is a poor performing, mismanaged, badly governed charter. There are many more out there in NYC.

Even the DoE's charter school office (which provides poor oversight of schools they authorized, which is why NYCPA got the legislature to strip them of authorizing new charters) said,

"The Ross Global Academy Charter School has not achieved sufficient academic success, and is not a sufficiently viable organization," education officials wrote in the report.

Read the full report submitted to the Regents last week at:
http://www.nypost.com/r/nypost/2010/12/23/news/media/NYCDOECSORGARenewalReport2010.pdf

It's unfortunate it took five years for the DoE to act. There are DoE authorized charters in their 2nd, 3rd and 4th year that need to get shut down now. With the same issues as RGA, poor academic achievement, high student attrition, teacher turnover, leadership turnover, financial mismangement, cronyism, huge conflicts of interest and dysfunctional boards.

DoE is going to let those corrupt failing charters continue to operate with public funds even though they're failing our kids - because these schools have 5 years to experiment and destroy our kids futures.

Lastly, there are good charters in NYC, but you don't hear about them because they're busy educating all our kids, respecting parents and student rights, and working with their communities.

Best,
Mona


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

Getting to the Crux - or Crud - in Ed Deform

As Jonathan Kozol observed in an article in Harper's:

Some years ago, a friend who works on Wall Street handed me a stock-market prospectus in which a group of analysts at an investment-banking firm known as Montgomery Securities~described the financial benefits to be derived from privatizing our public schools. "The education industry", according to these analysts, "represents, in our opinion, the final frontier of a number of sectors once under public control" that "have either voluntarily opened" or, they note in pointed terms, have "been forced" to open up to private enterprise. Indeed, they write, "the education industry represents the largest market opportunity" since health-care services were privatized during the 1970s. Referring to private education companies as "EMOs" ("Education Management Organizations"), they note that college education also offers some "attractive investment returns" for corporations, but then come back to what they see as the much greater profits to be gained by moving into public elementary and secondary schools. "The larger developing opportunity is in the K-12 EMO market, led by private elementary school providers", which, they emphasize, "are well positioned to exploit potential political reforms such as school vouchers". From the point of view of private profit, one of these analysts enthusiastically observes, "the K-12 market is the Big Enchilada".

(http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/08/page/0011)

And as a companion piece:

Five Educational Myths (used to fuel ed deform)

  1)  It all happens in the classroom.

      Learning requires reinforcement through homework and studying, otherwise, whatever is taught in the classroom will not be retained. This is one of the reasons for poor test results.

 

  2) The teacher is the most important factor in learning.

     Student attitudes, motivation and effort are the most important factors in learning. If these factors are lacking, no teacher will be successful. Test scores are primarily a reflection of these factors.

 

  3)  More money will improve education.

     Education budgets have been continually rising for many years will little results. NYC has an education budget of approximately 20 billion. Federal money has been increasing to schools. Student attitudes, motivation and effort are the factors which money can not buy.

 

  4) Smaller Learning Communities (including smaller schools) will improve education.

    Smaller Learning Communities have been around since the 1980's with little results. It is a cosmetic fix as class sizes are generally no different than other schools. Smaller Schools (last ten years) only get better results when student populations are changed. In ten years, smaller schools will combine and the large comprehensive high school will return due to poor results and cost effectiveness.

 

 5) All children must be prepared for college.

   Many students have no desire to go to college and due to their own choices, lack the skills necessary. We see evidence of this in the extremely low CUNY 2 year and 4 year graduation rates. High schools must focus on the needs of these students by primarily preparing them for the workforce.

 

James Calantjis

Educator

Deny Waiver Hearing Videos

Last Update:Sunday, Dec. 26, 8:45pm

I'm putting up unedited videos of sections of the hearings as they process. If I have time I'll pull extracts.

Here is the 28 minute Norman Siegel presentation - he went third but since I am working with and documenting the Deny the Waiver Coalition, I am giving it priority.
http://vimeo.com/18152230

One thing - I felt that there was an acceptance of sorts that Black's experience in managing large corps was a real asset - it was never pointed out that the largest number of employees she managed was arounf 2000 as opposed to the 130,000+ NYCDOE. Not even close.

Here's the State Attorney General and City Corp Council defense of Black - so you can see just how lame it is. http://vimeo.com/18154003

Roger Wareham presentation: http://vimeo.com/18162396

Eric Snyder presentation: http://vimeo.com/18169037

Rebuttals from all sides: http://vimeo.com/18169854

Banned in Jamaica (HS)

Jamaica HS, long on the target list of the DOE for closing, has a story to tell. And here the students tell it in a play exposing educational apartheid in the building. Ironic given yesterday's PBS Newshour report on how Joel Klein has chopped the large schools. The report partially told the other side about how kids not accepted to the small schools went on to the nearest large one but left out the story of how small and large co-exist in the same building with one school clearly favored over the other.

What's interesting is that the students from both ends of the stick wrote this play and were stopped from performing it. I hope we can get people to sponsor performances around the city - maybe as one person suggested, on the steps of Tweed or in front of City Hall.

The ICE blog where Jamaica HS chapter leader James Eterno often blogs about the situation at the school (STUDENT PLAY BANNED) and Valerie Strauss at WAPO had details.

A student play blasting N.Y. school reform is banned

By Valerie Strauss

Fourteen students from two New York City schools -- Jamaica High and Queens Collegiate -- wrote an impressive play about school reform under Chancellor Joel Klein and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, based on the classic play “Antigone.” They were rehearsing to perform the play -- complete with music, visual projections and lights -- when they were told that their principals had decided not to allow them stage it. The play, titled “Declassified: Struggle for Existence (We Used to Eat Lunch Together,” was banned.
According to a teacher who was working on the project with the students, the principals sent word that they were uncomfortable with criticism of Klein and Bloomberg, and they would not allow the Dec. 17 scheduled performance to go on in the Jamaica High auditorium.
It's hard to even fathom the thinking that went into the decision to stop the kids from performing a clever work that they created and that expresses their opinion of school reform that has affected their lives.
Eight years of business-driven reform under Klein were centered around standardized tests used to grade schools, and many of the troubled ones were either broken up into smaller schools or closed. Klein repeatedly pointed to rising test scores as evidence of his achievement, but recent revelations that the scores rose because the tests got increasingly easy to pass burst that success bubble.
The decision to ban the play shows a fear of upsetting authority -- not exactly the civics lesson you'd want kids to learn in an American school.
The students were inspired to write the play in part by a blog post by Jamaica High School teacher Marc Epstein, called "The Triumph of Academic Apartheid." It details how Jamaica High, a storied school, was slated to be closed (along with dozens of other schools) based on what Epstein explains were faulty data and assumptions.
For those interested in reading the work the kids wrote, here it is. It's not too long, and worth reading.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/school-turnaroundsreform/a-student-play-criticizing-sch.html#more

The Teacher's Side of the Banned Play

Huffington Post has printed Brian Pickett's account of the banned play at Jamaica High School. He is the teacher of the after school drama course that included students from both Queens Collegiate and Jamaica HS.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-pickett/student-play-censored-for_b_801032.html

DWC: Albany Road Trip

Thurs., Dec. 23, 7PM


See NY1 Story here and AP story here.

Just got back from Albany for the Deny Waiver Coalition Cathie Black Waiver law suit. I got up at 4AM so I will old off on the details of the court case and leave it to the video which is being processed tonight. And therein lies a tale.

I was told the other day to fax a request to tape and asked Chris Owens, one of the parent plaintiffs if he could take care of it and he did a great job but as of last night I hadn't received word from the court. Early this morning before I left I had an email from Chris with the letter attached. I printed them out and it turned out to be very lucky I did.

I left at 4:45 to pick up Lisa Donlan on the lower east side. Got there at 5:20. Lisa was loaded down with coffee, carrot cake and truffles. We hit a rest stop at around 7:30 where she treated me to the big meal with hot cakes at McDonalds (over 1300 calories - called my wife to give her the news and tell her to reinforce the floor boards.)

Hit Albany by 9AM, parked and headed to court house. Chris had told me I couldn't bring a camera in and he was right - I had to leave it with security - even my voice recorder.

Got to court room - 3 cases - Eric Snyder - parent, Roger Wareham and Norm Siegel. Siegel wasn't there yet - so I went up to clerk and asked about my faxed request to tape. She said she didn't get it. I gave her my copy - she said she'd go show it to the judge.

Judge Connolly came in with my letter and announced my request would be first on the agenda but he was waiting for Siegel and his partner Herb Tietelbaum. When they came he asked if anyone objected to my taping and of course the people suing didn't.

The reps defending Black - from  State Attorney General and NYC Corp council had differing responses. The former said no objection as long as I had proper press credentials but the Bloomberg rep of course objected because little ole me with my tiny camera shooting from the back would - as Noah Gotbaum tweeted:

They said the videotaping: "doesn't benefit the dignity of the court" (!)  You can't make this stuff up...

Judge Connolly, who seemed very reasonable and fair throughout, asked me to do a short presentation on my credentials. I wasn't exactly prepared but I said I was ed editor of The Wave and was also covering for the Chicago based Substance for print and video. Also that I had been chronicling ed events on video for a possible documentary. He asked how long it would take me to get ready and I said 5 minutes to go down. Mona Davids tweeted:

Bloomberg's lawyers are objecting to Norm Scott videotaping and recording the hearing. AG's office has no objections.

Yes, to democracy!! The judge approved Norm Scott's request despite Bloomberg's attorneys objections!!!!

Go Norm. Yippee!!!!

A woman also asked to tape and even though she didn't ask prior permission he was lenient and we raced down to get our stuff. We were joined by a woman who introduced herself as the NY Times' Sharron Otterman, whose work has been impressive, especially on Cathie Black, so it was a pleasure to meet her.

Here are some pics I took and this afternoon"s press release.

Norm Siegel

Eric Snyder

Patricia, Shino, Lisa

Mona and Patricia

DENY WAIVER COALITION . FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, December 23, 2010 CONTACT: Norman Siegel (Attorney)          347-907-0867 Herbert Teitelbaum (Attorney)   518-441-9412 Mona Davids                                 917-340-8987 Noah E. Gotbaum                          917-658-3213 Lupé Todd (for Asm. Jeffries)      917-202-0116 Cathleen Black Waiver Hearing Completed In Albany  . Public School Parents Fighting for a Qualified Chancellor See Victory in Court Challenge Against Commissioner Steiner Earlier today, attorneys Norman Siegel and Herbert Teitelbaum appeared before Judge Gerald Connolly in the Albany County Supreme Court on behalf of 13 parent Petitioners and one teacher to challenge New York State Education Commissioner David Steiner's granting of a waiver to Cathleen Black so she may assume the office of Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education.  Ms. Black was nominated by Mayor Bloomberg on November 9, 2010 to succeed outgoing Chancellor Joel Klein.  Commissioner Steiner granted the waiver on November 29. The Petitioners, including New York State Assemblymember Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn / District 57) and members of the Deny Waiver Coalition, have contended that Ms. Black does not have the qualifications necessary under New York State law to oversee the educational system that serves their children and, furthermore, that Commissioner Steiner misinterpreted State law and exceeded his authority in granting the waiver to Ms. Black. The parents, educators, and community members now await the Court's decision, which may come before the end of the next week.  Regardless of the outcome, however, the legal challenges to Steiner's waiver have already confirmed that Black's appointment by Mayor Bloomberg and the granting of the waiver by Commissioner Steiner represent a serious "disconnect" between these policymakers and the citizens they serve.  New Yorkers recognize this problem and have opposed the appointment of Ms. Black by a margin of two-to-one.  Since early November, the Deny Waiver Coalition has worked to make sure that the voices of all New Yorkers are heard.  As parent Petitioner Noah E. Gotbaum stated, "Parents and educators believe that this waiver has broken the law.  We are hopeful that Judge Connolly will hold that Mayoral control stops at the courthouse steps."  Gotbaum is the President of Community Education Council 3 in Manhattan. Norman Siegel and Herbert Teitelbaum were joined by attorneys Roger Wareham and Eric Snyder, each representing additional New York City public school parents who are also challenging the Steiner waiver.  Three separate Article 78 petitions challenging the waiver had been filed and were consolidated during the court hearing, which started at 9:30 AM.  The Office of the Attorney General and the Corporation Counsel had each responded to the anti-waiver petitions on behalf of New York State and New York City respectively.  At the hearing, Ms. Kelly Minkowitz represented Attorney General Cuomo acting on behalf of Commissioner Steiner, the New York State Education Department, the New York State Board of Regents, and the University of the State of New York.  Mr. Chlarens Orsland represented the Corporation Counsel's office acting on behalf of Mayor Bloomberg and the City of New York.  During the hearing, all sides presented oral arguments and answered questions posed by Judge Connolly. The Judge, who appeared to have reviewed all of the legal submissions thoroughly, did not specify when a decision would be forthcoming.  Observers believe that it could be handed down as early as next week. Prior to today's hearing, on Wednesday, December 22, attorneys Siegel and Teitelbaum filed their Memorandum of Law with the court in response to papers presented by the Attorney General's office and the Corporation Counsel.  The Memorandum reinforced four points that were discussed during the Court hearing. First, Commissioner Steiner could not provide a "substantially equivalent" qualification for Ms. Black that would "provide her with the requisite knowledge, skills and experience" in subject areas that Steiner himself identified as "critical," including educational standards, curriculum, staff development and turning around low-performing schools. The fact that Commissioner Steiner improperly looked beyond Ms. Black's qualifications to the qualifications of potential staff in assessing whether or not she herself possessed the necessary knowledge and experience was the second argument.  Third, nothing in the relevant State law provides for a waiver of the requirement that Ms. Black have earned a Master's degree or higher -- and she does not have one. The fourth argument was the fact that the Petitioners' challenges to the waiver are only asking for appropriate enforcement of standards put in place by the New York State Legislature and the New York State Commissioner of Education, and that the Petitioners are not requesting extraordinary action by the Court.  Siegel and Teitelbaum referenced the fact that, in 1983, Education Commissioner Gordon M. Ambach fulfilled the intent and letter of the law when he refused to grant a similar waiver request on behalf of Robert F. Wagner, Jr., who actually had more extensive education and public policy experience than Ms. Black -- who has none -- but still not enough to meet the appropriate and legislated standard for the position of Chancellor.  As Commissioner Ambach stated in his decision, "The certification requirements are intended to assure that there is proper training and experience for educational leadership.  The determination to be made by the Commissioner in any case where an exception to regular certification is requested is not whether there is potential for or promise of effective service by the candidate, but rather whether the candidate currently possesses 'exceptional training and experience which are the substantial equivalent of the stated requirements and which qualify such person for the duties of a superintendent of schools.' " To the extent that there were no surprises during the Court hearing, attorneys Siegel and Teitelbaum were cautiously optimistic regarding the outcome.  "In our Constitutional democracy, when government officials do not adhere to the rule of law, it is important for the judiciary to uphold the rule of law," said Siegel.  "We are hopeful that the Supreme Court in Albany County will grant our petition in all respects." Parents present in court today were also encouraged by the day's proceedings. Mona Davids, parent Petitioner and President of the New York Charter Parents Association said, "Today marks the beginning of a new era of parent involvement in public education. We are sick and tired of being sick and tired and we will continue to advocate for quality public schools and education leadership in New York City.  We will no longer allow the Bloomberg administration to violate our rights and education law." Patricia Connelly, Petitioner and a parent of a student with special needs in Brooklyn, stated, "I am grateful that we still have the judiciary to turn to for refuge and possible redress, even if we have to travel miles from home during the holidays to seek it." Shino Tanikawa-Oglesby, parent Petitioner, and leader within NYC Kids PAC and Community Education Council 2 (Manhattan) concluded, "Governance by lawsuit is not a good way to run our school system. I hope the Court will see the importance of our petition and recognize the implications of a negative ruling."  "Simply put, parents and educators are no longer going to accept a 'business model' which 'contracts out' our school system to hedge fund managers and other institutional interests, while treating parents and teachers as 'competitors' and excluding us from having any input into our children's educations," said Noah E. Gotbaum. Assemblyman Jeffries (Brooklyn), Ms. Davids (Bronx), Ms. Connelly (Brooklyn), Ms. Tanikawa-Oglesby (Manhattan) and Mr. Gotbaum (Manhattan) were Petitioners who could attend the hearing.  Parent Petitioners who could not attend the hearing included Hon. Chris Owens (Brooklyn), Ms. Khem Irby (Brooklyn), Ms. Lydia Bellahcene (Brooklyn), Ms. Monica Ayuso (Queens), Ms. Mariama Sanoh (Manhattan), Mr. John Battis (Brooklyn), Ms. Latrina Miley (Manhattan), and Ms. Maria Farano-Rodriguez (Staten Island), as well as teacher Petitioner Julie Cavanagh (Brooklyn). Over the objection of the Corporation Counsel's representative, the Court granted a request to videotape the proceedings, which were then recorded. # # #  Visit the Deny Waiver Coalition website:  http://www.denywaiver.com/

The DENY WAIVER COALITION ("DWC") is an association of public school parents and educators as well as concerned community leaders opposed to granting a waiver of employment qualifications to Ms. Cathleen Black, the proposed Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education.  The DWC also supports improvements to the Chancellor selection process.

UFTer Peter Lamphere's Article on our Union and the Crossroads that we Face

Dear Friends:

I believe this is an excellent article by UFTer, Peter Lamphere. It neatly summarizes and analyzes the state of our "Unity Caucus" led union and provides a clear picture of the "ed deform" movement's desire to bust the UFT. I would add that everyone should also access the proposed NYS draft of standards and performances. If these standards and performances are adopted, regardless of what else may happen to us, it would certainly mean the absolute end of teaching and learning as we know it here in NYC . You can access this draft at http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/pdf/DraftofNewYorkStateTeachingStandardsforSurvey2010.pdf (the only thing it doesn't call for is sleeping at our students' houses and giving them money, clothes and food.).

Peace,

John Powers

P.S. There are some UFTers receiving this email because they have Chapter Leaders who do not hold meetings nor distribute any information regarding the union and education policy. Please print this out and distribute it to your colleagues or forward it to them electronically.

Happy Holidays.   

View original article here:

http://socialistworker.org/2010/12/17/will-nyc-teachers-fight

Analysis: Peter Lamphere and Lee Sustar
======== WILL NYC TEACHERS RETREAT OR FIGHT? =================================

New York City teacher *Peter Lamphere* and SocialistWorker.org journalist
*Lee Sustar* ask whether the United Federation of Teachers is able to resist
a wave of new attacks.

December 17, 2010

WILL TEACHERS in New York City swallow the labor-management "cooperation"
that their union is promoting across the U.S.?

Over the past year, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi
Weingarten has intervened in negotiations between local school districts and
AFT locals across the U.S., pushing contracts that undermine--if not
abandon--the traditional core of teacher collective bargaining agreements.

In cities like Baltimore, Washington, D.C., New Haven, Pittsburgh and
elsewhere, Weingarten has advocated deals that undermine tenure, impose
unreliable evaluation systems based on student test scores and divide
teachers with merit pay. And if she makes it happen in New York, she'll make
it happen everywhere.

Yet coming to an agreement that Weingarten can sell to her home local, the
United Federation of Teachers (UFT), isn't so easy.

MORE BELOW THE FOLD

Media Advisory - DWC Challenge to Steiner-Black Waiver To Be Heard By Albany Judge on Thu, 12/23

DENY WAIVER COALITION MEDIA ADVISORY To:  info@denywaiver.com                      Deny Waiver Coalition       . December 22, 2010 Challenge to Steiner-Black Waiver To Be Heard By Albany Judge Parents traveling from New York City on Thursday to witness proceedings What: Attorneys Norman Siegel and Herbert Teitelbaum will appear before Judge Gerald Connolly in the Albany County Supreme Court on behalf of 13 parent Petitioners and one teacher to challenge New York State Education Commissioner David Steiner's granting of a waiver to Cathleen Black so she may assume the office of Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education.  Siegel and Teitelbaum will be joined by two other lawyers representing additional New York City public school parents who are also challenging the Steiner waiver. The Petitioners, including New York State Assemblymember Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn / District 57) and members of the Deny Waiver Coalition, have contended that Ms. Black does not have the qualifications necessary under New York State law to oversee the educational system that serves their children and, furthermore, that Commissioner Steiner misinterpreted State law and exceeded his authority in granting the waiver to Ms. Black. Three separate Article 78 petitions challenging the waiver have been filed on behalf of a diverse group of public school parents as well as one teacher, and all three will be heard. When: Thursday, December 23rd, 2010,  9:30 AM   Where: Supreme Court - Albany County, 16 Eagle Street, Albany, NY Enter through back entrance on Lodge Street; front entrance closed due to construction. Park at Crowne Plaza Hotel parking lot on Lodge & State Streets. Contact: Norman Siegel (Attorney)           347-907-0867 Herbert Teitelbaum (Attorney)  518-441-9412 Mona Davids                                   917-340-8987 Noah E. Gotbaum                           917-658-3213 Lupé Todd (for Asm. Jeffries)      917-202-0116 Visit the Deny Waiver Coalition website:  http://www.denywaiver.com/

The DENY WAIVER COALITION ("DWC") is an association of public school parents and educators as well as concerned community leaders opposed to granting a waiver of employment qualifications to Ms. Cathleen Black, the proposed Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education.  The DWC also supports improvements to the Chancellor selection process.

Microsoft Failures - do they need a value-added approach?

Last Update: Weds, Dec. 22, 1PM

Maybe Bill Gates ought to spend more time in his own backyard.

INFORMATION WEEK REPORTS

Windows Phone 7 Released

Microsoft in October entered the smartphone fray when it debuted the much-ballyhooed Windows Phone 7 operating system, designed to compete with Apple's iPhone and Google's Android. Like rival Apple, Microsoft partnered with AT&T in an exclusive agreement, and touted the OS's ease-of-use, speed, and user-friendly interface as differentiators. Hardware vendor partners include HTC, LG, Samsung, and Dell. Microsoft has not disclosed figures, but some reports show the software giant's foray is off to a disappointing start. U.K. retailer MobilesPlease told Electronista that only 3% of its sales are coming from WP7, and Android devices are out-selling WP7 devices 15 to 1. Symbian devices are also out-selling WP7 devices, though at a 3 to 1 ratio.

Windows Phone 7's failure will knock Microsoft out of consumer computing

Comment by CIO Dec 21, 2010, 04:22 AM EST

It's really the tech story of the decade.
Windows Phone 7 has flopped. This will in turn cause Microsoft to lose the tablet market. Because it has no viable mobile OS, Microsoft is forced to use its desktop OS in touchscreen slates, which doesn't work.
The end result is that Microsoft will lose its central position in consumer computing. There will be more people using portable ARM-based computing devices, rather than the dinosaur PC of yesteryear.

WANT TO READ MORE ON HOW WINDOWS LEAVES YOU SCREWED WHILE THE MAC PROTECTS YOU? CLICK BELOW THE FOLD

Global Military Spending: Why There's No Money to Reduce Class Size

Some Parents (and a few teachers) Debate UFT - Do They "Get" What NYC Teachers Don't?

"This is what teachers pay the UFT good money in union dues for.  Given the size of the opposition to the UFT's current leadership, it would appear that they find this situation satisfactory.  The UFT has been complicit from Day One in terms of everything Bloomberg/Klein have pulled off to date and as the teachers' collective bargaining agent, remains fully culpable."
- Dee Alpert, A parent on the NYCEdNews listserve

A few weeks ago a parent leader approached me and asked almost pleadingly, "Norm, why can't you come up with a candidate in the UFT that would actually represent the interests of teachers?" The parent was disgusted at the UFT's inadequate response to the Cathie Black appointment, amongst other issues. "I meet so many teachers who are unhappy at the UFT," he said. "Where are they," I asked? "It does them no good to gripe. They need to get active in the UFT and with organized groups to make a difference." He had no answer. And neither do I.

I won't get into my attempt to explain the Unity Caucus machine in 30 seconds.

Here are excerpts from a debate that took place on the UFT within a mostly parent listserve.

The debate began over a CEC 6 (upper Manhattan) reso (see below the fold) supporting the ed deformers and calling an end to LIFO (last in first out) if the expected layoffs come, an effective end to tenure. Legendary master teacher Deb Meier - who goes one on one with Diane Ravitch on their Building Bridges blog - is someone whose career I have admired and followed since my early years of teaching. The lead in quote was in response to this comment from Deb.

Fired tenured teachers can, but if there is no "tenure".  no grounds for dismissal required etc....then what?  In fact, it's wisest for principals to say very little if they don't want to keep an untenured teacher, to avoid any possibility of appeal on the basis of race, gender, union activity etc.    Tenure requires that there must be a fair process for dismissal.  The teachers in the so-called "rubber room" were there because while a principal can remove a teacher from the classroom arbitrarily, they must bring charges then  to kick in an appeals process.  The union provides a lawyer--so-to speak--to represent them in such a hearing/trial.   Generally there is an equally arbitrary deadline for such charges to be made, and the defendant then has x number of days to respond, etc.  But if no charge are ever made, and no evidence ever collected?   Then perhaps "they" hope the defendant will resign, disappear, etc.  The primary basis for being able to remove a teacher (or, incidentally any school employee including a principal) before charges and evidence are presented is given an accusation, claim, complaint that their continued presence in a class would endanger children or the school.  Is there a better way?  Of course, and the union might be to blame for the fact that it has allowed such an indefensible process to continue year after year.  The union has been insufficiently careful in guarding the human rights of its member, not too zealous!

Having had friends and colleagues who have been victims of this system and, as a result, so have their students and their families, I hope that better means are found.   Fortunately some have had sufficient clout to get heard and whose appeals have reversed charges that were frivolous or invented by an angry colleague, student, parent, or principal.  Unfortunately some have had their lives and services destroyed without any evidence of having done anything wrong.

Deb

Well said, Dee; I couldn't agree more.

At this point, I find it extremely difficult to muster any sympathy (and even less respect) for the UFT's past and current leadership.

As a teacher, I was never much of a union person, but I respected their (idealized) role in the overall city/school relationship. Now I find myself only feeling actively pro-union when a situation appears harmful to the children and their educations, but not for the sake of the union itself. Whatever they suffer now, they have no business complaining. They made their own bed; now they can lay in it. I do feel sorry for the teachers and other members who have fought unsuccessfully against the Weingarten/Mulgrew regimes, though.

Steve Koss

________
How can 80,000 teachers just go along with bad policy?

How can so many paid professionals just allow their principals and union to profit from these reforms that harm kids, communities and ultimately the teaching profession?

Is it because, like parents, teachers are generally overburdened with work/family/economic strain and can only afford to fight the fight when it is personal, and pragmatic to fight back-- attacks on their school, their ratings, their jobs, their kids, etc?

How many teachers are engaged in NYCORE/GEM/CPE/Teachers Unite/ and other organizing efforts?

Where are the tens of thousands of teachers who fight these battles every day in their classrooms and schools?

Without an organized push back from labor how can we hope that sanity and good pedagogy will prevail?

Lisa Donlan
____

Lisa is right. I am not one to go hard at Mulgrew and the uft, but in this case I believe it is important. Lisa asks, "how can 80000 teachers go along w bad policy." The answer is our union lies to them, misleads them, and does not fully educate them. Our union right now should be educating, organizing and mobilizing, but instead they hold half-hearted, unpublicized rallies for school closures for which they have no cohesive message except that they will hold the DOE to the legal process. NYCORE, GEM, and other groups do not have the reach into schools that the uft has- it is immoral that Mulgrew and the uft are not doing more; they should be offering a vision and a clear message that our schools and our children are not for sale, that we should be fixing schools- not closing them, and that teacher rights, good working conditions, and teacher voice help and benefit our children. Sadly, we are left to fight on our own. Hopefully some of you can join us at cuny tomorrow @ 5 for an ad hoc committee meeting to plan the fight backs that must happen in the coming months... In the absence of true leadership from the uft, educators and parents must stand up, on our own, and hope that Mulgrew et al will follow.

Julie Cavanagh (teacher)
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When we spend less time attacking our imperfect potential allies we might find more--but we see to find satisfaction in "I was proved right",, rather than thinking about how else they might respond? Are you for a strike? Let's discuss the details not just pound away at the enemies of our enemies.

But that doesn't mean that I don't find the activism of the folks on this list-serve courageous and important, but I also suspect we are not always representative of those we "represent".... Political education is not so different than school education---people learn best when they feel comfortable exposing their ideas, don[t feel put in a corner as the "enemy" quickly, and are assumed to be well-meaning eve f mistaken. This may sound preachy and I often break my own rules! But let's try.

Deb
_______

The UFT has been something other than an "imperfect ally" in the class size and testing issue in NYC (and NYS). It has been complicit from Day One with the folks making these decisions to start with. I would ROTFL if someone told me that the UFT only realized this year that there was something wrong with NYSED's tests and be most surprised to find documentation regarding its exposure of this pervasive scam prior to this year.

In the women's movement in the '70's, before it allowed itself to become co-opted, the principle "only join one-issue, short-term coalitions" ruled. This was extremely effective ... but nobody made the mistake of assuming that any group with which we coalesced on a single issue was actually our friend. That's self-delusion.

Dee Alpert

__________
Dee: I agree w/ Debbie that this shrill one note, repeated criticisms are not helpful, especially when they are not accompanied by any information or facts.

The UFT is far from perfect, but the current leadership has been dealt an extremely bad hand and has been critical in terms of launching lawsuits against the DOE on class size, school closings and a bunch of other issues, when the city refuses to obey the law.

Leonie Haimson

________
Can we say the UFT was dealt a bad hand when they were asked to cut the deck before the cards were dealt, accepted the offer and stepped on everyone in the union who tried to object?

Norm
_______

I don't think it's helpful to maintain illusions about who one is dealing with and why they're there. UFT pretty much does what other unions do. Sometimes that's good for kids, sometimes it's not. Unions, typically, do what's going to make their more senior members happy and will let those with least seniority be laid off ... the latter being the folks who vote less often in union elections. But in terms of its members, one can't begin to count the individual cases in which teachers have been screwed by their school administration and their building UFT leaders have done squat about it. I've just met too many of them. There's the neighbor upstairs. And the other neighbor further upstairs. And ... I'm certainly not confining my views re UFT to the "current leadership."

For how many years did the UFT fail to push class size grievances fully, aggressively and completely ... all the way up? If the UFT had wanted to enforce that part of its contract vigorously, it could have. Didn't. And while Bloomberg's announced massive teacher layoffs, when has the UFT publicly done a snit about the NYCDOE hiring all these sub-qualified IT people and other "staff" (rather than "line") ultimately non-productive but well paid staff, vastly increasing administrative overhead ... and leaving so many line teachers vulnerable to being pushed out the schoolhouse door?

Dee
_______

A slavish adherence to “process” just gets you to a bad result more slowly.

The law is bad and it is difficult to believe the UFT just couldn't have foreseen the consequences when they acquiesced to this version of mayoral control. All you have to do is read the law without rose-colored glasses.

PdK
_________

Here is the original post from Leonie that initiated the discussion:

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

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