Why There's No Money for Schools While We're Fighting Over Crumbs

Before you read on, think about whether you see the UFT/AFT make any connections to lack of money and the kind of information below. Actually, don't waste your time. You won't find much. In fact, the UFT/AFT has generally been war hawks - UFT definitely since the 60's and AFT from the time Shanker took over in 1974 (I was at that convention in Toronto). Now of course there were denuded resos against the recent wars - well after popular opinion began to turn - when they broke out there were resos of support.

Maybe I'm hanging around with lefties too much, but it is hard to refute the analysis that a major role union leaders play in this country is to be severely anti-left (Leo Casey was throwing around the Trotsky/Rosa Luzemberg names to disparage UFT opponents at Saturday's Left Forum) and make sure left ideology never gets an airing within the halls of the union.

Now you will hear Unity Caucus leaders say that it is pointless to raise the issue of defense or the war budget because that is not winnable so why raise it? (Casey also talked about the need for "wins" though I can't imagine what UFT "wins" he can bring up.) How about using the bully pulpit to educate the membership and the public? How about running an ad with the info below? Oh, horrors, no!

From Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish:

The United States fired 110 missiles on Saturday at Libya, at a cost of $81 million or about 33 times the amount of money National Public Radio receives in grants each year from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which the House of Representatives wants to de-fund in the name of austerity. 

Michael Moore tweeted:
MMFlint

We fired over 100 Tomahawk missiles into Libya this weekend @ over $600K-1M a missile. Each missile would pay for 12-20 teachers in US.

From www.uslaboragainstwar.org

ARE YOU FACING JOBS CUTS AND SLASHED SERVICES BECAUSE OF A STATE BUDGET DEFICIT?

WE NEED NEW PRIORITIES

Stop Funding Wars

Move the Money to Save Jobs and Services

Check Out and Join the New Priorities Network

(www.newprioritiesnetwork.org)

Compare the Cost for War for Each State

with its Budget Deficit in 2011

(All amounts are in billions of dollars for 2011)

          Paid for Iraq and Afghanistan*                    Deficit

          California:            $21.8                                   $19.7**

          Florida:                   $9.5                                    $4.7

          Indiana:                  $2.6                                    $1.3

  Iowa:                       $1.3                                    $1.1

          Maine:                   $0.5                                     $0.9

          Michigan               $4.6                                     $2.0

          Mississippi:           $0.7                                      $0.7

          New Jersey:          $7.9                                      $10.7

          New York              $15.5                                    $8.5

          Ohio:                      $6.0                                      $3.0

  Pennsylvania:        $6.6                                      $4.1

          Wisconsin:             $2.7                                      $3.4***

*    amount of federal taxes residents of the state paid in 2011 that went to war

**  other estimates of CA’s deficit run as high as $25.4 billion

         *** Wisconsin deficit is for a two-year budget cycle

Sources:

Spending on the war: National Priorities Project 

<http://costofwar.com>

Deficits: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

 <http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=711>

Table prepared by the Center for Study of Working Class Life

State University of New York at Stony Brook

www.workingclass.sunysb.edu

www.uslaboragainstwar.org

Email: info@uslaboragainstwar.org

1718 M Street NW #153

Washington, DC 20036

Check out Norms Notes for Former US Rep. Alan Grayson makes some important points on the US position on Libya—

Chicago Teachers Union Takes on Issue of Money Diverted to Wealthy

We reported on this story last night (Chicago Teachers Union Member Arrested After Leading Protest Over Tax Issues). 

I'm following up below with the more in depth report from George Schmidt and Substance. A member of Chicago's CORE is expected to be at the GEM meeting today. (Next GEM Meeting March 21: From Wisconsin to Puerto Rico to New York).

When the staff director of a major teacher union is arrested protesting the shifting of money intended to go to poor communities into the hands of wealthy businesses that is news. I mean it is not news that massive amounts of money go to the wealthy - it is news that a union is taking this issue head on.

Actually, this gets to the heart of why the UFT appears so toothless. Other than recently when Mulgrew called for taxes on Wall St., the UFT has kept a line drawn between where the money really goes and the money for public services. Wisconsin and other attacks seems to be pushing even the reluctant warriors into action.

The rally at City Hall and march to Wall St. this Thursday (Mar. 24) at 5PM ought to make a splash.

I guess I am stoked a bit from spending all day Saturday at the Left Forum, especially enjoying the response to Leo Casey's presentation - and redefinition of public schools to suit UFT policy. I'm waiting to process the video before commenting further.

SUBSTANCE REPORT

Two protest leaders arrested at Grossinger Cadillac after peaceful protest... Chicago Teachers Union and allies launch campaign to return TIF money to schools

Garth Liebhaber and George N. Schmidt - March 20, 2011

More than 250 people, from teachers and hotel workers to community activists and public school students, rallied and marched on March 19, 2011, protesting the fact that Chicago's TIF money has been going primarily to the city's wealthiest corporations, taking hundreds of millions of dollars from the public schools (and other millions from other public institutions).

At the time Barack Obama appointed Arne Duncan to export the Chicago Plan for corporate education reform to the entire USA, Chicago had more than 160 public schools without libraries for the children. The cost of testing during one of the last year's of Duncan's regime could have equipped every Chicago public schools with a library and expanded libraries in every existing schools. Above, the sign listing CPS schools without libraries in 2011 couldn't hold the names of all the schools. In the background in the above photo, Jen Johnson of CORE leads chants using the bullhorn while Al Ramirez takes a brief break from the videotape of the event as it moves north on Clybourn Ave. Substance photo by Garth Liebhaber.For more than a quarter century, under two mayors, Chicago has generated hundreds of millions of dollars from "Tax Increment Financing" (TIF) programs that were supposed to benefit blighted communities — but most of the dollars went to some of the city's most powerful corporations, leaving the inner city communities further behind as the national and local economy weakened. The March 19 protests were aimed at bringing the truth about the TIFs to the corporate centers where the TIF dollars were directed, according to CTU sources.

In a surprise, near the end of the two-hour peaceful rally and march, Chicago police arrested two of the leaders of the march, disability rights activist Amber Smock of ADAPT and Chicago Teachers Union Staff Coordinator Jackson Potter. Both spent four hours in the 18th District police lockup two blocks from the Jenner school before they were released on their own recognizance late in the afternoon.

READ MORE: http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=2114&section=Article
  

NOTE: COMING WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23: co-blogger M.A.B.on talking to charter school parents

Remember Mulgrew Telling us to send thank you letters to Cuomo?

Click below for full story on norms notes.

The contributions from Mr. Koch and his wife Julia to the Cuomo campaign totalled $87,000; In comparison Koch only spent $43K on Gov. Scott walker of Wisconsin.

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Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on right for news bits.

Liza Campbell Captures the Spirit of Fight Back Friday

At the Left Forum yesterday I heard a teacher tell all about how Fight Back Friday in her school brought the staff together in a way they hadn't seen before. Almost the entire staff wore black - "to take their school back" (I've even heard of some principals wearing black in unity). It turns out this is the same school that in a piece at Gotham's Community Center (which many people do not read due to Ruben irritation) GEM/NYCORE's Liza Campbell talked about. One of 3 on a campus, they have reached out to the other schools and things are moving toward actions taken by the entire building. Let me point out that these are mostly young teachers far from the madding ME4ME slugs.

Links to FBF: http://fightbackfridays.blogspot.com/ and www.grassrootseducationmovement.blogspot.com

Liza wrote a fab piece. Here is a short shot:

Tenure protects teachers who defend their departments from harassment, inform parents or DOE officials about negligence in their school, or who have personal or political disagreements with principals. Protections and contractual agreements make schools better places to work, which means lower teacher turnover, happier teachers and thus happier students in turn. A sign outside the capital in Madison, Wisc., last week made the case for teacher protections clear: “My Working Conditions Are My Students’ Learning Conditions.”

In response to the relentless attacks, Sam Coleman, a member of both the Grassroots Education Movement and NYCORE came up with the idea of supporting schools in organizing school-based actions for educators, parents and students across the city who wanted to push back. He named his intitiative Fight Back Friday. The idea also developed because there was an urgency for more actions at the local level, yet the UFT leadership seemed unwilling or unable to take on organizing of that kind.

On Friday, Jan. 21, members of my school community participated in our first Fight Back Friday. We joined parents, school staff and community members across the city to raise awareness about, and stand in solidarity with, schools facing closure and co-location votes at upcoming Panel for Educational Policy meetings. The theme for the day was “Wear Black and Take Our Schools Back.” Nearly all of my colleagues wore black on that day. It was an incredibly unifying experience that was better for staff morale than anything I could have anticipated. Over 30 schools have participated in Fight Back Fridays since the movement began last year. Each individual school’s action takes on a different tone depending on the particular concerns that are most pressing for that school, but they all heighten dialogue and raise awareness about critical issues facing education right now.
The next Fight Back Friday is planned for March 25, and it will focus on some of the most pressing issues facing public education. These include the devastation that would be caused by layoffs and budget cuts, plus the importance of teacher protections like tenure and seniority in making schools stable and rich environments for children. The message for the day is, “We are all Wisconsin! Same Struggle, Same Fight.” I have heard this sentiment, which refers to the battle against union rights started by Wisc. Gov. Scott Walker, expressed repeatedly from teachers in my school, and we have decided we don’t want to wait any longer to start educating our communities and mobilizing ourselves.

READ IT ALL:
Anticipating Fight Back Friday

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AFTER BURN: WHAT IF?
What if Bill Gates or DFER made an offer to Gotham to pay or subsidize the salary of the reporter they are looking to hire to replace Maura Walz? Of course they will say, "We're not looking to influence the reporting in any way." But maybe they follow with, "I have the perfect person in mind." Well, whatever, you get a picture of how the press can be subverted - but I can't imagine Gotham going for such a thing.

Now, Accountable Talk has thrown his hat in the Gotham job ring

I don't know if you've heard, but GothamSchools is hiring! This is huge news for a small time blogger like me--my chance to make the big time! I hope you, my faithful readers, won't mind if I audition right here? I know the three of you are skeptical. I can hear you thinking: "Mr. Talk writing for Gotham? Why, he's pro-union, anti-Unity, and borderline socialist!" Never fear. I'm willing to be employed by a hedge fund manager for a price, which is one of the main qualifications for this gig.

MORE AT: Mr. Talk Shoots for the Big Time

Hey, ya never know.

Chicago Teachers Union Member Arrested After Leading Protest Over Tax Issues

UPDATED: March 21, 7AM
I got to hang with CORE's Jackson Potter in LA a few years ago when the idea of taking over the Chicago Teachers Union was just a glimmer. It was Jackson who gathered the original group together that became CORE and he is a major organizing force along with having amazing political savvy. He and Karen Lewis were the co-chairs of CORE (think of a non-evil Unity Caucus until the election when CORE elected 2 co-chairs who are classroom teachers. Imagine having Unity chaired by rank and file teachers instead of the Jeff Zahlers of this world.

Currently Jackson is the Staff Director of the Chicago Teachers Union - the same position people like Tom Pappas and Leroy Barr occupied(y) in the UFT. Ok, OK, you can stop laughing at the very thought that they would engage in the kind of action Jackson led.

CTU Protest Of TIFs Leads To Arrests Of Teachers and Activists

http://progressillinois.com/quick-hits/content/2011/03/19/ctu-protests-tifs-leads-arrests?utm_source=twitter

Jackson Potter, a Little Village High School of Social Justice teacher and member of the Chicago Teachers Union, and another woman identified as Amber Smock from ADAPT were both arrested after leading 150 to 200 people -- about half of them teachers -- to march and rush in to Lincoln Park's Grossinger City Cadillac dealership as part of a rally for tax increment financing (TIF) reform. The two were arrested for misdemeanor criminal trespassing and were taken to the Near North police district.

The rally Saturday afternoon started at Jenner Elementary Academy of the Arts in the Gold Coast neighborhood, gathering teachers, students and parents, and multiple community organizations, including Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization, UNITE HERE Local 1, and the Albany Park Neighborhood Council.

The group then marched up North Clybourn Avenue, making a pit-stop at a Bank of America branch, where 20 people went inside as Potter tried to negotiate for the banking giant to sign a pledge to return TIF money.

The group then continued on to march in full force into the Grossinger car dealership. Within minutes, police arrived to usher the protesters back outside. Potter, who had tried to speak to a deskful of employees at the dealership amid the rally cries to ask for the same pledge, was arrested moments later as a leader in the rally and march.

The group targeted Grossinger because the luxury car dealership got $8 million in tax increment financing, according to CTU spokeswoman Liz Brown.

Sources tell Progress Illinois reporter Sally Ho that the dealership is already in talks with the police to drop any charges. Keep checking back for further developments.

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Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on right for news bits. Here are some of the latest:

Give threatened Bronx middle school one more chance, supporters say
 
ARIS is 80 Million Dollar Sinkhole

NOTE: ARIS=IBM, IBM Board member=Cathie Black, IBM gives Black recent 3 million dollars after she leaves Board. Does 2 and 2 = 5?

E4E Invitation to Lunch n' Learn May Violate More than Rules of Ethics

How is this putting children first? How interesting that it is so easy for E4E to use time that is supposed to be for teachers collaborating together. Think I could get into schools during those times to push GEM's message? Hey, if E4E is coming to your school, ask for equal time. I received this email from a contact.

In my anger, I just wanted to share this with you.
 
One of teachers at my school invited a woman to meet our Principal, she claims to be part of an organization that encourages teacher dialogue and a fair exchange of ideas.  Sounds great.  This is just what the doctor ordered at this time.  We need to have a place for open dialogue, that doesn’t turn into a personal shouting match.  So we invited her to talk at one of our “Lunch and Learns”. 

I received an email from her, and looked at their organizations beliefs and policies.  It was “Educators 4 Excellence”.  I called her back and cancelled her meeting with us, told her that she was deceptive by not mentioning their beliefs in LIFO, and Merit Pay during our initial meeting.  The principal wants her back, and I told her that I would be the first one protesting and heckling any attempt by her or her organization to talk with my staff. 
 
The weird part is, as I confronted the young lady, she still insisted that her organization is open to dialogue and change of ideas.  I told her that’s crap because they have a statement of beliefs that say otherwise.  She didn’t see a contradiction.
 

IT gets worse. That evening a friend tells me that Educators 4 Excellence was sponsoring happy hour drinks at the local bar for her school (with the Principal joining them of course).  They were given a voucher for a drink in exchange for their signature (that they accept the principals of the organization.)  I realized how dangerous and insidious this has become.  They are actively recruiting, using almost cult-like methods, appealing to the young teachers whose rights and futures we are trying to protect.

Naturally, some principals love the E4E message - we predicted that the DOE through the backdoor would aid and abet and promote them. I have no hard facts but why not given the political climate - if they are using Parent Coordinators to organize pro-Bloomberg parents why wouldn't they use principals to get E4E into schools to undermine the union? Kudos to my contact for standing firm.

-----

AFTERBURN

Diane Ravitch in Newsweek:  Obama’s War on Schools: The No Child Left Behind Act has been deadly to public education. So why has the president embraced it?

More evidence of a shift in the MSM, with Diane given space in Newsweek to tell the truth!  Before Newsweek was completely controlled by the deformers. If we get equal time, I think we have a real chance to save public education, because we have research and the views of teachers and parents on our side. - Leonie Haimson http://www.newsweek.com/2011/03/20/obama-s-war-on-schools.html

The Resistance Grows: Actions this week- GEM Meets Monday and FIght Back Friday

Reminder: GEM meeting tomorrow -

There's a busy week coming up for The Resistance Fighters fighting the ed deformers. I'm having trouble keeping up.

Fight Back Friday: We are all Wisconsin!  Same Struggle, Same Fight!
I was interviewed by a reporter on Friday who was asking about what we hope to accomplish with Fight Back Fridays. I told her this was a rank and file led movement coming directly out of the schools and not led and promoted by the UFT leadership as March 22 is (we support that too.) But in order to build a union from the bottom up these kinds of actions touch base with people - staff and parents and community who might not be fully informed. So far pockets of activity in long dormant schools have been activated. FBF is a grassroots movement that if it ever reached a couple of hundred schools could begin to have an impact both on the DOE and more importantly, push the UFT towards a stronger defense of public education. Interesting that the reporter didn't seem to like it when I used the term "defense from the attacks on public ed" and tried to put words in my mouth. I haven't seen any article quoting me yet - I think this was the Daily News - the reporter was covering 3 Queens schools FBF actions -Jamaica HS (see the video I posted yesterday), PS 30 and another school.

A FBF tooklit for schools to use with ready made leaflets has been created. So even if all your school does is have people wear black to take your school back or have a lunchtime teach-in on Wisconsin, sign on to the list by email Sam to get your school on the list and get the toolkit: Sam_p_coleman@yahoo.com

One other thing developing: some of the activists are turning FBF into after school Happy Hour meetups with neighboring schools. I'll keep you posted as they come in so you can pop in if one's in your area - or better still, let me know of your school happy hours so others can join.

Events this week
I had a busy last couple of weeks and have not had much time to do much blogging. I was at the Left Forum all day yesterday taping 3 panels, including our standing room only viewing of our filmed response to Waiting for Superman (The Inconvenient Truth Behind WFS) Here is what I have so far for this week. Ed Notes will try to cover as much as possible with video and commentary.

• Monday, Mar. 21: GEM Meeting at CUNY, 5PM: 34st and 5th ave, rm 5414. See the GEM blog for meeting agenda and updates. (Fightback Friday
• Tuesday, Mar. 22: EDUSolidarity- bloggers
  
  As we all know, teachers and our unions, along with those of other public sector employees, face unprecedented attacks in the national media and from local and state governments. It is easy for politicians and the media to demonize the "unions" and their public faces; it is far more difficult to demonize the millions of excellent teachers who are proud union members. Those of us who are excellent teachers and who stand in solidarity with our unions are probably no stranger to the question "Well, why are you involved with the union if you're a good teacher?" It's time for us to stand up and answer that question loudly and clearly. http://www.edusolidarity.us/
  Citywide actions in schools - Wear red
• Weds, Mar. 23: PEP meeting at Brooklyn Tech
• Thurs, Mar. 24: Day of Rage Against City Budget Cuts, Rally-5PM @ City Hall, March to Wall Street @ 6PM
• Friday, Mar. 25: Fight Back Friday - school level actions plus press conf at Tweed at 4:30
• Saturday, Mar. 26: NYCORE conference all day at Julia Richman HS campus

Did I leave anything out?

Here are some details on the GEM/NYCORE promoted actions :

***More than a dozen schools already signed on!!

To all Educators, Students, Parents and School Workers of NYC Public Schools:

 PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!! 

FIGHT BACK FRIDAY IS BACK!!

For information, or to get the Fight Back Friday tool kit, email:

Sam_p_coleman@yahoo.com

NYCORE and GEM are sponsoring actions at schools across the city.

Fight back Fridays have been happening since last June and have been growing in strength!

Next Friday, March 25, Schools all over the city will be taking actions to make our voices heard!

 We are all Wisconsin!  Same Struggle, Same Fight!

• Teacher Protections, Protect Children
• Layoffs Hurt Children
• Budget Cuts Hurt Children
• Let's Put Children First

A Fight Back Friday action can be as simple as having folks wear black and wear a sticker.“Wear black, take our schools back!”.

Schools can have informational pickets, where just a few people are out fliering about the cuts and layoffs and other attacks. Other schools will have full blown pickets before or after school, with staff, parents and students.

WHAT WE ARE OFFERING TO SUPPORT YOUR ACTION:

We will send you a “tool-kit” either by email, or you can come pick up material from mid-town on Monday. The tool kit will have fliers in 3 or 4 languages that talk about the cuts, the layoffs, the attacks on seniority etc. We have stickers that people can wear with various messages, petitions you can get signed, chants you can use and other goodies. We can send someone to meet with your staff and help you plan.

We will be sending out press releases to announce our actions as well as holding a press conference on that day at 4:30 at Tweed. We will be collecting pictures and video to spread awareness of our actions.

These actions will continue to build the base of teachers and community members willing to stand up for justice in education.

We will push our union to become more militant in the face of these attacks.

We must stop being afraid to take action. We must build a fighting union that works WITH the families we serve and that FIGHTS for justice.

WE WILL LEARN FROM EGYPT, TUNISIA AND WISCONSIN!

Email: sam_p_coleman@yahoo.com to get information or to get the tool kit.

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Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on right for news bits.

Tony Avella Joins Jamaica HS Fightback Friday Video

Join other schools around the city next Friday, March 25 with your own Fightback Friday event. Wear black to take your school back. Email Sam Coleman with your school info.

Thanks to GEM's Gustavo Medina for the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ETfEHT_tv8


Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on right for news bits.

Upcoming Events: Friday Happy Hour, Weekend Left Forum, Monday GEM Meeting

Happy Hour - Bronx UFTers - March 18 - 4PM @ Bruckner Bar & Grill

Click on pic to enlarge

Left Forum: Friday, March 18th - Sunday, March 20th

Consider Registering for the Left Forum and Check Out Two Panels Featuring Friends of CAPE!

3/19:  Showing GEM's film, "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman"
Session 1:  10:00-11:50
Panelists:  Brian Jones, Leonie Haimson, Monda Davids, Sam Anderson, and Julie Cavanagh

3/19:  Building Resistance in NYC to the Neoliberal Restructuring of Public Education
Session 4:  5:00-6:50
Panelists:  Jitu Weusi, John Tarleton, Leonie Haimson, Sally Lee, and Julie Cavanagh

Full Left Forum Schedule Here:  http://www.leftforum.org/2011/full-schedule
There are many great panels concerning the fight for public education!





Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on right for news bits.

OFIAGATE: Maura Breaks the Big One - Who's Going to Jail?

OFIA staff encouraged parent coordinators to bring “Happy Harry” parents to citywide meetings, according to the parent coordinator’s notes, rather than “Angry Sally” parents.
- Maura Walz at Gotham Schools

The DOE views and uses parents the same way so many charter schools view and use parents.  Harlem Success Academies take the cake in this department.  They use them like political pawns, tell them what to say, when to say it and how to say it.  This is the corporate reformers model for parent involvement.  The more and more our schooling system becomes privatized with charters, the more we are going to see this abuse. - comment at Gotham

Soon to be new "House of Tweed"

 
How long have we been waiting to get the slickers at Tweed caught in an out and out illegality that if fully investigated can bring down the Bloomberg house of cards? Kudos to Gotham's Maura Walz for taking the ball and running with it.

One of the first things BloomKlein did upon taking office was to put a parent coordinator in each school. Think of the cost for 1500+ schools? Now in theory it is not a bad idea but people at the time were commenting that 1500 PCs who owe their jobs to BloomKlein could be used as a potent political force to push the Tweed agenda to parents rather than pushing the parent agenda to Tweed.

As we reported here the other day (Tweed Trying to Use Parent Coordinators As Shock Troops to End Seniority) Tweed has been caught trying to use the very same parent coordinators, who are supposed to function as liaisons between schools and parents, to get parents to sign petitions ostensible to oppose budget cuts but also to end seniority/LIFO rules. Looks like abuse of power, illegal use of personnel, etc. The UFT's Mulgrew sent a letter of complaint listing the illegalities to Investigative Commissioner Richard Condon. Naturally Tweed hitwoman Natalie Ravitz (where are you David Cantor, this woman is a zombie) foisted the blame on a lower level employee.

The story came to me first back in January from a chapter leader who reported her PC was livid after attending a borough meeting organized by the Office of Information and Action (OFIA), the parent engagement arm of Tweed - it used to be called the Office of Family Engagement (OFE - or something like that under Martine Guerrier who is now working for Bloomberg at City Hall - and hopefully hanging her head in shame for what she hath done).

They were they told to look for pro-Bloomberg parents and organize them to come to PEP meetings (where other than charter school parents bused in there is nary a parent to be found supporting them). I handed the story off but nothing came of it - until Tweed swung and missed again by sending out petitions to be signed ostensibly opposing budget cuts but slipped into the petition was a call to end seniority.

The UFT caught it right away and district reps sent out a call to chapter leaders to reach out to the PCs. One of those CLs sent me an emergency email early Tuesday morning and I got the story up right away and it caught the eye of the press and I started getting calls. (At the same time, the UFT was squawking to the press.)

What intrigued some reporters more than the petition story was the little tidbit I dropped into my story about those borough meetings (Tweed held parent coordinator borough meetings and urged them to find the parents most sympathetic to Bloomberg.) Gotham's Maura Walz wrote the petition story yesterday (City renounces effort to use DOE employees to lobby on LIFO) and actaually gave me credit for breaking the story. She wanted to dig into the borough meeting story. And so she did with this blockbuster that is a must read.

staff focused on asking the coordinators to build relationships with satisfied parents who would be willing to show support for the DOE at Panel for Educational Policy meetings. “I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone, honestly, and I didn’t really trust my own ears, so I wrote things down,” the parent coordinator said.

Instead of going through this charade, Tweed should do what Khadafi does to get out supporters. Just pay people outright to attend PEP meetings to cheer for Cathie Black.

There is no question that this will go right up to Bloomberg. Out and out misuse of DOE employees for political purposes. Who knew what and when did they know it? I predicted that one day Klein would be removed from Tweed with his coat over his head. Smart guy. Got out just in time. OFIAGATE, here we come.

In honor of OFIAGATE, Lisa Donlan commented and then penned a ditty:

At the very least Ms. Hall must take responsibility for this series of inappropriate events taking place on her watch.

I say at the very least, because I have no doubt the directives at Tweed come from above. That said, under her leadership OFIA has been the most embarrassingly ineffectual and incompetent of all of the many iterations of the oxymoronic "Parent Support" functions since Mayoral control destroyed parent engagement.

Quite a hit parade that has been, too:

OFIA Mambo No 5- 

sing it with me now:

A little bit of Karen in my life

A little bit of Jemina by my side
A little bit of Tom is all I need
A little bit of Martine is what I see
A little bit of Ojeida in the sun

A little bit of Parent Support all night long

A little bit of OFEA is my refuge
A little bit of OFIA makes me your stooge!

------

And parent activist Noah Gotbaum added this:

OFIA, like every department of the DOE, is simply a partisan political extension of the Mayor and his Chancellor.   It has nothing at all to do with education nor with parent engagement, and everything to do with promoting the Mayor and the Mayor’s agenda, and quelling any dissenting or independent viewpoints. 

Thus, OFIA, while under contract to support parent involvement and to provide legislated training and support to the City’s elected parent representatives including CEC’s, and SLT’s, has not held a single CEC training session or meeting this year, nor provided an iota of guidance or basic information to these groups.  They also refuse to provide CEC’s the contact details of the PA and SLT’s reps that we, not they, are charged by New York State law to support and to oversee.  Kinda makes it tough to do our jobs.  And although Ojeda Hall has been in her position as head of OFIA since August, I don’t know of ANYONE who’s even MET her.  

It’s now more apparent than ever that the “O” in OFIA stands for “obstructionist.”  Neither OFIA, nor the DOE, nor the Mayor, should have anything to do with oversight or “support” of the parents and parent groups that they clearly disdain.  If our legislators truly are serious about increasing parental input and involvement in our kids’ schools, they will remove the DOE and OFIA from any formal involvement or role in “supporting” parent engagement.  Instead, and as agreed by the State Senate, they should replace OFIA with an independent parent training academy and support organization run by NYU or another credible educational institution/contractor.

noah

Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on right for news bits.

Film Screening & Discussion: The Inconvenient Truth Behind 'Waiting for Superman'

NOTE: This will not yet be the final version, but will be an evaluation to get some final input before we make final edits. I will be filming the discussion and some of the footage might be used in the film, so wear makeup. YOU MUST REGISTER!

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!

FILM SCREENING & PANEL DISCUSSION:

THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH BEHIND ‘WAITING FOR SUPERMAN’

@ THE LEFT FORUM
www.leftforum.org

SATURDAY, MARCH 19
10:00 AM to 11:50 AM
Pace University
New York, NY

A group of New York City public school teachers and parents from the Grassroots Education Movement wrote and produced this documentary in response to the Davis Guggenheim highly misleading film, Waiting for Superman. Waiting for Superman would have audiences believe that free-market competition, standardized tests, destroying teacher unions, and above all, the proliferation of charter schools are just what this country needs to create great schools.

Our film, THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH BEHIND WAITING FOR SUPERMAN highlights the real-life experiences of public school parents and educators to show how these so-called reforms are actually hurting education. Our film talks about the kinds of real reform - inside schools and in our society as a whole - that we urgently need to genuinely transform education in this country.

Run Time: 55 minutes

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with parents and teachers featured in the film.

PANEL:

S.E. Anderson, Black New Yorkers for Educational Excellence
Julie Cavanagh, Grassroots Education Movement
Mona Davids, NY Charter Parents Association
Leonie Haimson, Class Size Matters, Parents Across America
Brian Jones, Grassroots Education Movement, SocialistWorker.org

Register for the LEFT FORUM here:
http://leftforum.mayfirst.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=72

Learn more about the Grassroots Education Movement here:
http://grassrootseducationmovement.blogspot.com/

Left Forum: Friday, March 18th - Sunday, March 20th

Consider Registering for the Left Forum and Check Out Two Panels Featuring Friends of CAPE!

3/19:  Showing GEM's film, "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman", which features parents and an educator from CAPE
Session 1:  10:00-11:50
Panelists:  Brian Jones, Leonie Haimson, Monda Davids, Sam Anderson, and Julie Cavanagh

3/19:  Building Resistance in NYC to the Neoliberal Restructuring of Public Education
Session 4:  5:00-6:50
Panelists:  Jitu Weusi, John Tarleton, Leonie Haimson, Sally Lee, and Julie Cavanagh

Full Left Forum Schedule Here:  http://www.leftforum.org/2011/full-schedule
There are many great panels concerning the fight for public education!



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Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on right for news bits.

Joel Klein and ed deform whine refuted: Teacher tenure is not a guarantee of a lifetime job

Echoing Principal Brian De Vale message to Cathie Black: Principals can remove incompetent tenured teachers as seen in this video: Brooklyn Principal Challenges Cath...

David Bloomfield says on facebook:

Teacher tenure is not a guarantee of a lifetime job. As demonstrated by this recent decision in a termination proceeding for which I provided expert testimony, inappropriate conduct by a tenured teacher can result in termination where school and district administrators act decisively, as they should.

http://davidcbloomfield.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/bloomfield-expert-testimony-teacher-termination.

• Shawn Armor But what is 'inappropriate conduct', Breaking the law? A lot don't do that but still deserve to be shown the door..
  

  19 minutes ago ·
• 
  

  Kym Vanderbilt I think the key word is "they". They, the prinicpals really need to document and deliver. I do agree the process is too arduous, but at the end of the day, this is why we need strong admininstration.
  

  12 minutes ago · · 
• 
  

  David Bloomfield No Shawn, he didn't break the law. That's the point, as Kym wrote. Bad teachers can be shown the door; too often administrators just don't make the effort, then blame the rules they haven't followed!

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Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on right for news bits.

Tweed Trying to Use Parent Coordinators As Shock Troops to End Seniority

UPDATED: 9:30am -

A misuse of school funding and intent. Maybe even illegal.

It gets more and more outrageous. This story came across our desk over a month ago when Tweed held parent coordinator borough meetings and urged them to find the parents most sympathetic to Bloomberg. Some parent coordinators went to the teachers and complained and they passed it on to me. The story was filtered to some reporters but nothing has yet come of it because the PCs were too scared for their jobs to talk. Now this just came in from an unknown source:

Parent Coordinators were emailed the above petition for parents to sign for their Lobby Day the end of March.. When you open the attachment  you will see there is a line there asking Albany to end seniority rules of last in first out. Please get to your parent coordinators first thing tomorrow and ask them not to send that petition around.

Using the guise of budget cuts (who can be against that?), they have added the end of seniority as a tag to the petition.

New York City Public School Lobby Week March 21, 2011 – March 25, 2011

We, the undersigned New York City students, parents and community members, strongly protest the State’s proposed budget cuts to New York City public schools.

Therefore, we urge our elected leaders to:

Provide New York City with it’s fair share of state funds and restore the proposed cuts to our public schools;

Reject the State’s proposed changes to Building Aid, which will delay the construction of thousands of new school seats in our neighborhoods; and

Allow the City to keep it’s most effective teachers by ending the State’s “Last In, First Out” policy, allowing teachers to be retained based on their performance, rather than just seniority.

Go find the Parent Coordinator at your school today and point out what the DOE is doing.

Note there is no tag on this but when John Liu opens an investigation it will be traced right back to an email out of Tweed.

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The Failures of Katie Couric as a Reporter: Biased 60 Minutes Report on Zeke Vanderhoek and TEP Charters

Katie Couric after reading Ed Notes on her 60 Minutes TEP segment

REVISED Tuesday, March 15, 12:30 PM
NOTE: I revised this as my column this week for The Wave.

by Norm Scott

Katie Couric exhibited a failure of epic proportions as a so-called reporter in her 60 Minutes interview (http://bit.ly/fPqMMk) on The Equity Project charter school lead by another former Teach for America who spent his 10 minutes in the classroom, Zeke Vanderhoek. (Did you know that 30% of NYC charter schools are lead by TFA alums - talk about cult to school pipeline?) The program was an unadorned ad for an attack on teacher tenure and seniority rights and Katie jumped right in. Her next job will undoubtedly be at FOX.

They had the obligatory kid who talked about how the public school teachers didn't care about him. Gee, I've heard a hell of a lot of former charter school teachers who not only found their teachers uncaring, but actually abusive.

Vanderhoek is making his bones on paying teachers 125K a year in what amounts to a full time and full day job.  Leonie Haimson calls him a shameless self-promoter. "He is clearly a genius at self-promotion, if nothing else. Though the test scores at his school turned out to be terrible, he still managed to score a profile in 60 Minutes."

Couric did bring up the fact that TEP's scores were lower than the public schools in the area (only a 31% pass rate) but didn't drill too deep on that one. You know the line: it takes time to reverse the effects of those awful public schools that actually had higher scores even though they pay teachers half as much.  Or - wink, wink - just go our and cream kids with higher performing potential.

This fall, Vanderhoek proved that just about any hokey ed deform idea will get you lots of publicity. An article by Justin Snider of the Hechinger report that Leonie called "highly deceptive [by] claiming the very existence of this charter school proved that teacher quality is more important than class size."

Listen to this drivel by Snider:

The reality, though, is that of all the things we should worry about in providing a quality education to our children, class size isn't high on the list. Teacher quality matters a lot more. Zeke Vanderhoek, the founder of The Equity Project Charter School in New York City, knows this. His teachers are the most highly compensated public-school educators in the country, earning minimum salaries of $125,000 per year. How does the school afford such salaries? Because Vanderhoek decided he'd much rather have the nation's top educators teaching classes of 30 students rather than mediocre folks teaching classes of 20 students.

Mona Davids of the NY Charter Parents Association said, “He should fire himself now. Equity Project only had a 31% pass rate. Where's his accountability?”

Even the NY Charter Center, the well-funded charter school booster, admitted such in its latest report:

Naturally, Couric dragged out that old warhorse, Joel Klein to discuss the tenure issue. In a case of bad reporting, she failed to raise just a few questions she could have asked. For Katie's future reference, I will list just a few she might try the next time.

Klein is asked by Katie how you get tenure and responds:

Klein:  if you have a pulse you get tenure.... tenure is something you get for showing up.

Fantasy questions from Katie:

·      Mr. Klein, how long were you in charge of the NYC schools? Wasn't it 8 years?

·      Mr. Klein, did you realize that 60% of the current teaching corps in NYC has been teaching for 5 years or less? If you look at the totals over 8 years the number of teachers hired under your tenure might be as high as 70% (or more).

·      Mr. Klein, scuttlebutt has it that 80% of the current corps of principals was placed in their positions since you took over the NYC schools.

·      Mr. Klein, isn't it true that principals are the ones who grant tenure?

·      Mr. Klein, what do you have to say to the fact that a majority of the teachers who you claim are granted tenure for merely breathing have been granted tenure by the 80% of the principals who were appointed under your tenure as head of the NYC schools.

·      Mr. Klein, explain exactly who should be held accountable if teachers receive tenure for merely breathing?

·      Finally: How dare you Mr. Klein try to perpetrate these lies and slanders regarding tenure on the American people?

By this time Klein is sweating bullets and runs off the stage with his coat over his head - and Katie never gets to ask about the scandals and massive incompetence, things that will hopefully one day truly lead to Klein taking the perp walk with his coat over his head.

Ahhhh, real journalism is fantasyland.

END OF COLUMN

Read Leonie's full post: Zeke Vanderhoek, relentless self-promoter

 -------

Afterburn
So, how much fun was it to receive an email from CBS today touting Katie and her piece?

Hello,

This week on 60 Minutes Overtime, Katie Couric Katie Couric discusses her report on the ground-breaking New York City school known as TEP (The Equity Project), her own experience with mentoring students, and the accusation that teachers are "greedy."

To view the video, click here:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-20042201-10391709.html

Tiny URL:  http://bit.ly/eApWza
  
Let me know if you have any questions.

Jenifer Boscacci
CBSNews.com
415.344.2441
Jenifer.boscacci@cbs.com

Hmmm. I think I'll send my list of questions to Jenifer.

Leonie Haimson did some work on the segment and posted at NYC Ed News listserve:

See video of last night’s 60 min: segment on TEP Charter school, featuring Joel Klein attack on tenure and celebrating the fact that Zeke Vanderhoek fired two of his teachers – that he had so carefully recruited. One was a sped teacher from Arizona who had moved to NYC to take the job.

http://bit.ly/fPqMMk

Strangely, the segment never mentions the large class sizes that supposedly allows him to pay $125,000 per teacher; instead Couric claims the trade off was that teachers had to take on  additional admin responsibilities.

For my earlier post on this school: Zeke Vanderhoek, relentless self-promoter

It sparked a few comments:

-----

Mel:

The report says 247 kids and 15 teachers, all of whom actually seem to teach.  Ratio of about 16.5 students to a teacher. There are no quick fixes.

-----

Leonie

It’s clear from the video that class sizes are much larger than that.  Some are clearly special ed teachers and intervention specialists.

-----

Diane Ravitch
Does the school have a library? a librarian? a school nurse? a social worker? guess not. What is its attrition rate? Anyone know?

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Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on right for news bits.

Paul Moore on Wisconin and Florida

Then something happened that changed everything. There was a clap of thunder and the sleeping giant stirred...on the appointed Monday 6,300 of Miami-Dade’s 21,260 teachers called in sick. The teachers of Miami-Dade County shutdown the District’s public schools with an act of civil disobedience! Lo and behold that next Friday, Gov. Charlie Crist did a complete about face and vetoed SB6. The FEA and UTD bent over backwards to give all the credit to Crist. Teachers were urged to write “thank you notes” to the governor. Our red clothing and e-mails had carried the day.

I love that sardonic last line. Reminds of the UFT call to the membership last week to get on their knees and send Thank yous to Cuomo? Miami teacher Paul Moore exposes the fault lines of how the teacher unions function to obfuscate and distract the members from real militancy.

Recent events in Wisconsin have been a real eye-opener. Anyone in America not mesmerized with Dancing With The Stars or the latest on Charlie Sheen or their X-Box 360 knows now that a class war is on now.

When the banks and their corporate partners decided to maximize profits and globalize the economy the war was on. It was then that the US was de-industrialized and the great industrial trade unions were smashed. The United Auto Workers, the United Steel Workers, the United Mine Workers unions are just shells of their former selves now.

That hollowing out of the US has left the teacher's unions, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA) combined, as the largest national force of organized workers left. And that explains the withering attack on teachers, not just in Wisconsin, but from coast to coast which in is progress right now. The forces of globalization see more profits to be won by destroying the public schools and impoverishing teachers and other public sector workers. At the same time they seek to destroy public worker pensions and will ultimately mount a full frontal assault on Social Security and Medicare.

But right now it's organized teachers in the cross-hairs. Recently, a teacher in Oakland named Anthony Cody reacted to the events in Wisconsin in the context of the stunning appearance of President Obama with Jeb Bush at a South Florida inner-city high school. Cody, who is a National Board Certified teacher and taught science for 18-years in the inner-city, paid homage to the teachers of Florida. He wrote, "Florida teachers showed us last year how to fight this trend. They made a powerful alliance with parents, and put immense pressure on their political leaders to stop Senate Bill 6. They ultimately convinced Republican governor Charlie Crist to veto the bill. This year they have launched a campaign called Awake the State that is holding dozens of rallies across Florida to oppose the huge budget cuts that loom for schools and social services."

An insiders account from Florida would have to concede to Brother Cody that there was indeed immense pressure from teachers and their parent allies. This pressure included a massive demonstration in Tallahassee, volumes of testimony before committees of the Legislature, visits to the Legislator's home offices, a well-funded lobbying campaign run through the Florida Education Association (FEA), a mountain of e-mail and other communications to the lawmakers, the creation by parents of powerful YouTube videos that went viral on the Internet, and the wearing of red T-shirts in public schools around the State.

And SB6 sailed through both chambers of the Florida Legislature! Not a vote was changed because money calls the shots now in Florida and all the teachers and parents and people of the state can demonstrate and e-mail and vote until they're blue in the face and money will still make the law.

Getting back to our story though, as the legislation worked its way to the governor's office, Charlie Crist had made nothing but supportive statements. He repeatedly assured the bill's prime sponsor, Jeb Bush's man, Sen. John Thrasher of Jacksonville, that he intended to sign it. Never was heard a discouraging word from Crist on SB6.

Then something happened that changed everything. There was a clap of thunder and the sleeping giant stirred.

I’m not at liberty to reveal the teacher’s name, but in Miami-Dade County, the largest district in Florida and the fourth largest in the country, a former US Army Ranger and conservative Republican began calling and texting his long list of contacts with a message. “You have a doctor’s appointment Monday” went the text and Monday referred to April 12, 2010. It was a call to sick-out, in effect, an illegal strike.

Administration of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) got wind of the proposed action and began warning teachers of the dangers of it. Staffers for the United Teachers of Dade (UTD) fanned out across the District to instill the fear of job loss and even criminal prosecution in the membership. Word began to spread statewide and so the Florida Education Association (FEA) reminded all teachers that a sickout was a violation of law. Teachers should just keep on wearing their red shirts and e-mailing Gov. Crist and even if SB6 did become law teachers would still retain the right to beg for mercy.

But on the appointed Monday 6,300 of Miami-Dade’s 21,260 teachers called in sick. The teachers of Miami-Dade County shutdown the District’s public schools with an act of civil disobedience! Lo and behold that next Friday, Gov. Charlie Crist did a complete about face and vetoed SB6. The FEA and UTD bent over backwards to give all the credit to Crist. Teachers were urged to write “thank you notes” to the governor. Our red clothing and e-mails had carried the day.

Very few thank you notes went to the now retired Crist from Miami-Dade. Teachers there knew better. We had done it! We had the power! When we moved together, nothing could stop us! And they knew it too! Not a single teacher among the 6,300 MDCPS teachers from the illegal strike was fired or disciplined in any form or fashion. Administrators, union bureaucrats, teachers, parents and students just celebrated the defeat of SB6 and President Obama’s new friend Jeb Bush.

Much the same dynamic is playing itself out on a larger scale in Wisconsin today. The teachers united, an irresistible force, has become conscious of itself. Teachers shut down schools in Madison and several other districts for three days when Gov. Scott Walker’s machinations became clear. He even threatened them with the National Guard but they remain unbowed. They forced Gov. Scott Walker to resort to thoroughly undemocratic measures, the acts of a petty tyrant, to get his union busting way.

As with Charlie Crist in Florida, some are determined to give the lion's share of credit in Wisconsin to 14 Democratic politicians who crossed the state line into Illinois. It is critical that someone else get the credit because their power is the secret that must be kept from teachers around the country if the public schools are to be destroyed. Teachers in Wisconsin are now being misdirected away from their real power, the ability to shutdown and eventually to take over the schools, into dead ends like recall petitions and electoral politics. So Wisconsin may prove that we are not quite ready to win yet.

But Florida one year and a step closer in Wisconsin the next. We are about to get there!

Paul A. Moore
Teacher, United Teachers of Dade (AFT-NEA-FEA) member
Miami Carol City Senior High School

Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on right for news bits.

Rally for Wisconsin Today at Union Square and Questions About Role (or lack of) UFT/AFT is Playing

President Mulgrew: 

I was very happy to see that the union is moving forward with a city-wide day of action in solidarity with Wisconsin on the 22nd, and I understand that we need a long term strategy for effective solidarity in defense of the attacks on collective bargaining across the Midwest.  However, given the events of the last 48 hours, it seems there is an urgency for an immediate and vigorous response to the latest actions of the Republicans in Madison.   

A mention of action tomorrow (details below) in Union Square on the UFT website and in the Chapter Leader's Update tonight would help to build the momentum for the long term struggle. 

Please consider taking these steps, and I look forward to working with you on future solidarity actions.

In Solidarity- Peter Lamphere

Come out today for a mobilization in solidarity with workers standing up against the latest attack in Wisconsin. We need immediate and national mobilization to avoid a repeat of PATCO for our generation - today is a first step. - Peter