Political Maltent: WalBloom's Dilemma

Has Bloomberg put himself and his factotum Dennis into a corner by continuing to push for a loss of 6000 teachers while gilding all sorts of lilies - consultants, etc. - AND having a budget surplus?

Well at least I make out well in this fiasco:

The Bloomberg administration plans to announce that it will open 10 new senior centers, each serving 250 to 300 people.
 
It is pretty obvious to even the lamest observers that this is all about the politics of ending last in first out and Bloomberg is trying to browbeat the state legislature into giving him what he wants. Will the UFT refuse to panic and hold firm despite the foaming at the mouth of the NY Post, Wall Street Journal and other press sycophants?


What does WalBloom do if LIFO still exists and thousands of their newbies are forced out of the system? Can't you see the crying outrage from the E4E crowd about how the excellent teachers are being chopped? Could WalBloom actually chop the new TFA and Teaching Fellow class along with so many other people they hope to use as shock troops to undermine the union? As expected, one of E4E's funders had this to say:

Joe Williams, Education Reform Now: "No one wants to lay off teachers -- or any layoffs for that matter -- but it will be doubly cruel to our students if those layoffs remove some of the most effective teachers from the classroom because of an outdated and poorly considered law. For months, New Yorkers have called for Albany to take action on 'Last In, First Out,' and now time has run out. It's time for state leaders to act to end the practice of LIFO and help ensure the best teachers stay in the classroom during this difficult time. That's what reform means -- giving the taxpayers more for their money, in this case, the best teachers we have.  The ball is now in Albany's court."

Yes, that's the line. We don't want layoffs but the main fight is not against layoffs but against LIFO.

Can Bloomberg really ask Walcott to run a school system with 6000 less teachers?

Bloomberg's believability quotient is low, so many assume he is playing chicken. Let's say he gets LIFO killed. We know that these cuts will suddenly disappear. He doesn't care that we would say "told you so" because teachers would be screwed for eternity.

If he doesn't get LIFO done in, he has a problem. Imagine the chaos of the opening of school and the shifting of teachers all over the city? He will blame the union. But there would be massive shifting even if LIFO ended. So if LIFO still exists, what does he do? If he pulls the trigger on the layoffs, even he knows that any shred of legitimacy as an education mayor will be gone and probably mayoral control too.

There is still time for a deal to screw LIFO given this disturbing comment From NY Mag Daily Intel

Bloomberg insists he means it this time, that the money isn’t there, and that he isn’t laying off teachers to prove a point about LIFO. But if this isn’t the usual shell game, in which city tax revenues spike and Bloomberg saves thousands of jobs just before the July 1 deadline, he really is going to need an assist from Albany. There’s not much chance of the state suddenly coughing up more cash; a compromise on seniority rules or state mandates, though, should be possible. Two weeks ago the mayor and the governor had a long dinner on the Upper West Side. Perhaps today’s quieter tone at City Hall is the next step in trying to get Cuomo to pick up part of a much bigger check.

Here are the link:
Gotham: Bloomberg’s budget suggests cutting 1 of every 12 teachers; criticism is rampant. (AP, GS, NYT, DN)
And the outrage in the NY Times comments.
Leonie's update: The mayor's choice: a budget which puts children last
Urban Teacher's Nightmare: Bloomberg's New Budget Proposal along with his links: (See stories and commentary here, here, here, here, here, and here.)

Leonie Haimson: The mayor's budget proposal passes the buck and puts children last

The mayor tried to pass the buck today to the state and the federal government, blaming them for the elimination of over 6,000 teaching positions.  What happened to mayoral accountability?

And yet he added that if the state provided extra funding or mandate relief, he would not necessarily restore these positions, but he might spend it on the police or fire department instead.

He said he was “very sympathetic” to Gov. Cuomo, but he mentioned no sympathy for NYC children,  who will have to bear the brunt of these cuts in the form of the largest increases in class size in at least 30 years.  While he commented that he would not put city's fiscal "future at risk," he seems all too willing to put our kids' futures at risk instead.  This is not a budget which puts children first.

Already in the last three years alone, students in grades K-3 have experienced  class size increases of 10%; leading to the largest class sizes in over a decade.  More than a third of all Kindergarten students are now squeezed into classes of 25 or more. Why should they have to suffer any more?

He offered not a single proposal to control the huge waste in DOE contracts and consultants, which has led to numerous instances of lax oversight and corruption, including more than $3 million in stolen funds on one DOE tech contract alone, and another contract that has gone millions over budget, with allegations that a DOE supervisor was improperly involved with the consultant. 

Nor does he have any plans to cut  the growing headcount of the central and mid level DOE bureaucracies, but instead targets  all reductions to teachers? 

The city's overall spending on contracts has doubled to more than $10 billion in the last five years – with a huge part of the increase for technology.  In the next year alone, the DOE plans to spend more than half a billion dollars on technology in its capital plan, with $350 million to buy computers to implement more online learning and testing. 

Their ultimate goal seems to be depriving our students any contact with a real live teacher, but to put them all on machines instead.

The Mayor claims he has no choice, but this is yet another excuse for his lack of leadership.  He has many choices which he refuses to acknowledge:

Make the cuts elsewhere in the DOE budget, including to central, contracts, consultants and computers; draw more from the $2 billion still remaining in the city’s health care reserve; and support the retention of the millionaire’s tax, either on the state or city level. 

The city’s richest one percent are still expanding their wealth rapidly – but instead of asking them to contribute their fair share, the mayor chooses to make our kids pay the price.

Though a millionaire’s tax on city residents would also need Albany’s assent, it would be a far better campaign than continuing his  obsession with eliminating teacher seniority protections, which has little chance of being approved.

Cami Anderson Supported Charter Calls Off Public Hearing - ICE's Jeff Kaufman Led Opposition to School

 A Joint Hearing scheduled for Thursday evening for the colocation of a new charter school for just released incarcerated students and other "disconnected youth" was abruptly cancelled by the proposed school. A Charter School Association representative stated that the failure of the new proposed charter to obtain a principal caused the sudden withdrawal for the application while others understood that the pressure by local civic leaders and Aspirations High School staff brought to bear was too much for the DOE and the proposed Charter.- 

MORE at ICE blog: UFT Chapter at Aspirations HS Stops Charter School in Its Tracks

Hit the Road Cami- with new best friend, or sibling,  Chris Christie

New Newark Superintendent Cami Anderson was involved in this school. Are they pulling back because she left as Supe of Dist. 79? (In case you're not following, her bio is the usual ed deform suspect: Teach for America official plus other hazzerai.)

Or was it the strong opposition from the UFT chapter and community as intimated in the ICE post?

UPDATE:  COMMENT FROM JEFF:

Could be. But I think this model is dead. Privatizing this segment of public education may have gone too far. When I spoke to the SUNY Charter rep yesterday she understood that the proposal was fast tracked because of political considerations and little thought was given to how the school would actually function. While I’d like to feel it was our pressure that stopped them I believe they knew it would fail.

Jeff

How nice to cancel the hearing about an hour before. Jeff Kaufman was going to lay it on them. I posted previous stuff from Jeff, who is chapter leader of Aspirations - Jeff Kaufman on Joint Hearing for Charter School

An interesting sidelight is that Aspirations seemed at one time to be a hotbed for E4E - they held a mixer that Jeff attended: Up Close and Personal With An Opposition

Here is the cancellation notice:

Good afternoon all,

The Department of Education just received notice from the ROADS Charter School Board that it will be requesting a planning year and will not be ready to open its new school, ROADS Charter School I, until the 2012-2013 school year.  As a result, the DOE is considering revising the proposal to co-locate ROADS Charter School I in Building K894 beginning in September 2011. 

In addition, the hearing that is to be held tonight on the proposal will be cancelled.  A DOE representative will be coming to the school to discuss this and to answer any questions from the community.  We apologize for the inconvenience this late notice may have caused. 

The DOE is currently discussing the matter with the ROADS Charter School Board, as well as other stakeholders in Building K894 and the community.  If the DOE decides to revise this proposal (i.e., to propose that ROADS Charter School I open in Building K894 beginning in the 2012-2013 school year), a revised Educational Impact Statement will be issued and a new joint public hearing will be held. 

Thank you again for your cooperation and apologies for any inconvenience.

Have a good night.

Best,

Izaak

Izaak Orlansky

Portfolio Engagement Specialist

New York City Department of Education

212-374-6811

AFTERBURN
I might have some more stuff soon on some backdoor stuff between Jeff and some key UFT officialdom. Really an interesting and developing story which we are monitoring.

Brooklyn UFT Rally Today at Slimebucket Marty Golden's Place

This event began with action out of the Leon Goldstein HS chapter, led by Teacher for a Just Contract's Kit Wainer. The UFT Brooklyn borough office jumped on board. I'll try to get over with my camera even though I know I will have to see some of my least favorite Unity hacks.

Win a Kindle: E4E celebrates teacher appreciation week by urging joining an org dedicated to eliminating seniority protections and devaluing the benefits of experience

UPDATES: 

My principal told me that the CFE wanted to have a meeting with a group of us. She showed me the email to her.  It was NOT from CFE, but it was from Educators 4 Excellence.  Evidently they are emailing principals to get THEM to set up meetings of teachers for them!  I told her it was NOT CFE, but this group that was funded by Gates and wanted to get teachers to support ending seniority lay-offs and merit pay.  She said that she would discard the email.

Is E4E given access to principals' DOE emails? To what extent is the DOE assisting E4E?

NOTE REGULAR PROFILES OF E4E BY THEIR "PARTNERS" - FOX AND WALL ST. JOURNAL

 

E4E in the News:

• Co-Founder Sydney Morris talks to FOX News' Good Day NY about Teacher Appreciation Week and the importance of asking teachers what they think when it comes to education issues.

• The Wall Street Journal profiles E4E Member Evan Piekara's classroom, as he finds a teachable moment for his middle school students in Bin Laden's death.

Have a free drink as paid for by hedge fund operators and other privateers. "free drinks, appetizers, and the chance to win great prizes for you and your classroom.  E4E will be raffling off teacher supplies, gift cards, and Kindles."

I'm always willing to help out my friends at E4E

Subject: E4E Happy Hours Friday - Union Square and Bronx- win a Kindle

Dear E4E Members, Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!  To celebrate you, your hard work, and your dedication to students, E4E is hosting two Teacher Appreciation Events this Friday, May 6th. Launched by two Bronx teachers in March 2010, E4E was founded to be a voice for teachers in education policy - a voice that helps to elevate our profession and improve outcomes for our students. Please join us, get involved, and share E4E with your colleagues over free drinks, appetizers, and the chance to win great prizes for you and your classroom.  E4E will be raffling off teacher supplies, gift cards, and Kindles. Help us grow the E4E movement - bring your colleagues, get extra raffle tickets! These events continue E4E's commitment to connect like-minded educators from across the city and provide a forum to share your voices. Please join us. We will be hosting events in the Bronx at G Bar and in Union Square at Revival. Please feel free to forward the RSVP link to interested colleagues and friends. Details are below: Teacher Appreciation Happy Hour in the Bronx Where: G Bar, 579 Grand Concourse When: Friday, May 6th (3:00 - 5:30pm) RSVP: Join us at G Bar  Teacher Appreciation Happy Hour in Union Square Where: Revival, 129 East 15th St. at Irving Park When: Friday, May 6th (4:00 - 7:30pm) RSVP: Join us at Revival  Thank you for the hard work that you do every day for New York City students. You have the most important job in shaping our country's future. Please know that you are appreciated. All our best,  The E4E Team

Who We Are | Sign Our Declaration | Tell a Colleague

Tisch Family Connections to K12 Board and Charter School

K12’s board is headed by Andrew Tisch, co-chair of Loew’s Corp,  the brother in law of Merryl Tisch, who is in turn, the head of the NYS board of Regents. Meetings of the NY state education department are often held in the Loew’s headquarters, which is run by Merryl’s husband,  James.  http://www.loews.com/loews.nsf/OfficeOfPresident.pdf

The NYS Regents are currently considering eliminating all seat time requirements, and to allow the rapid and essentially unregulated expansion of online learning. In addition, K12 has submitted a charter application to the Regents/NYSED, called “NY Flex charter school” in D2, that has gone through the preliminary approval process by NYSED.  (EDNote: Pedro Noguera who is considered by many to be on the anti-ed deform side chairs the SUNY charter committee. There have been charges he approves every charter request.)

In  an earlier iteration/application, K12 was clearly running the school, now the application has been revised to indicate that the school will “contract” out with K12 for services, including curriculum, assessments, teacher training, and other support and services as requested by the Board and staff of the school.   

This recasting of the application is to avoid legal conflicts w/ the new NY state charter law which bars for-profit companies from operating charter schools. Here is an article about this controversial issue: http://www.citylimits.org/news/articles/4185/pedagogy-and-profits-charter-school-bid-raises-questions

Great reporting by Idaho paper below on the financial ties between the new Gov. of Idaho and the online tech industry. 

The Milkens’ privately held Learning Group LLC is the largest shareholder of K12, owning 24 percent of the company. Another Milken employee, Nina Rees, gave Luna $500. Rees and Luna worked together in the Education Department, where Rees led innovation efforts. Rees also advised Vice President Dick Cheney and the Romney campaign. She now is a senior vice president at Knowledge Universe Education, a California-based holding company chaired by Milken, with stakes in more than 50 education companies, including K12. http://investors.k12.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=214389&p=irol-govBio3&ID=170658

How much difference this reformulation makes, legally, is something hard to discern, but people should keep their eyes on this application:

K12 Classroom LLC, (“K12”) a subsidiary of K12 Inc., will be collaborating with us. K12 Inc. is an education company with a ten year history of providing outstanding curriculum and educational services to students in grades K-12. K12 will provide most of the school’s curriculum. In the 2009-2010 school year, K12 served almost 70,000 public school students through collaborations with public entities in twenty-five states and the District of Columbia. Since their inception in 2000, they have developed over 21,000 lessons of engaging curriculum—lessons, video, assessment, learning games, labs, textbooks, workbooks, and digital instructional resources that promote mastery of core concepts and skills for students of all ability levels. Their approach combines cognitive science with individualized learning and is well-suited for New York Flex. In addition to curriculum, the Board will specifically contract with K12 for assessments, teacher training, and other support and services as requested by the Board and staff of the school. Consistent with law and best practice, the Board and staff will retain the final authority for all decision-making, management, and operations including curriculum and personnel issues.

http://www.p12.nysed.gov/psc/documents/ProspectusReviewSummaryBrief3.1.11.xls

http://www.p12.nysed.gov/psc/documents/PostedNYFlexLOI.pdf

http://www.p12.nysed.gov/psc/documents/NewYorkFlexProspectus8.16.10.pdf

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/02/20/1535065/a-reform-plan-a-long-time-in-the.html

Tom Luna's education reform plan was a long time in the making

How Tom Luna’s co-workers from the Bush administration — and the private education companies they now help run — positioned Idaho’s schools chief to make changes that the for-profit education industry may cash in on

STORIES BY DAN POPKEY - dpopkey@idahostatesman.com

Copyright: © 2011 Idaho Statesman

Published: 02/20/11

MORE TWEED TECH SCANDALS:

• GothamSchools

  NEWS: Rise & Shine: Another DOE tech contractor under investigation
• 
  
  Perdido Street School

  TOP DOE Official Under Investigation In Conflict Of Interest Scandal

Jeff Kaufman on Joint Hearing for Charter School (Roads) - Cami Anderson Was on the Board of Roads

ROADS Charter School was fast tracked toward Charter approval. The school is proposed to be a school for “disconnected youth” specializing in students released from incarceration and/or homeless. ROADS is cosponsored by District 79 and Cami Andersen, the superintendent of District 79. Anderson, just announced as the new Superintendent of Newark Schools, sat on the Charter’s School’s Board during its formation. It is not clear what her connection is currently to the school as she does not appear on the EIS list of board members. - Jeff Kaufman

Jeff Kaufman sent this about his school being invaded few days ago while I was away. The hearing is tomorrow, May 5, but we are doing a presentation on charter schools to an undergrad education class in Staten Island so I can't be there.

A proposed Charter School is trying to take the space occupied by the closing EBC/ENY High School for Public Service and Law. The following is a brief background of the building (K895) and the schools that have occupied it.

Back in the early 90’s the East Brooklyn Congregations (a consortium of Christian and Jewish religious organizations in East Brooklyn) sought to cause the BOE to provide smaller neighborhood high schools as an alternative to the larger and increasingly violent neighborhood high schools in East New York and Brownsville. While proposals languished in the Board the creation of a new school did not occur until a shooting at Jefferson High School.

EBC worked with the Board to open two schools for the area, one in East New York and one in Bushwick. The school were housed together for the first years at 1495 Herkimer Street which was renovated at considerable public expense. The building had been a sewing factory and had been abandoned. A lease was negotiated with the private landlord and has transferred private ownership until the present. The lease has been renewed every four years.

Both schools were originally part of the District 79 (the alternative high school district) and as the schools grew Bushwick found a building on Gates Avenue. They are still at that building.

EBC continued at 1495 Herkimer and was transferred to the Brooklyn High School District sometime in the early 2000’s. The school’s population ran between 500 and 800 students which were comprised of, primarily, students from the immediate area, many within walking distance of the school.

After a couple of years on and off the SINI list Klein announced, in December 2007 that EBC would be phased out by June 2011. Each year another grade was removed from the school and the space left vacant. Currently there are less than 30 students who regularly attend.

In May 2008 the new school, Aspirations High School, was announced to take over ¼ of the building in September 2008. Aspirations was planned to be a transfer high school (to serve over aged and under credited high school students). The first year was a struggle as I taught at EBC just down the hall from the new school. The entire staff was young and female with most being TFA and no prior education experience.

In June 2009 I was excessed from EBC and agreed to join the faculty at Aspirations.

While there has been some prior tension between the teachers, administration and the CBO (Child Welfare League) with a change in CBO leadership a better working relationship developed. Still the school suffers from low attendance, (just above 50% on average), low graduation and regents passage rates and a significant group that ages out of school before obtaining a diploma. The school received an F for its Progress Report.

Since the announcement of EBC’s phase-out a number of rumors have circulated about the school or program that would take their vacating space. While groups of people would tour the space there was nothing mentioned until I happened to notice on the DOE website that ROADS Charter School was being proposed for the space. This occurred in the middle of March 2011. The notice was dated March 3, 2011.

When I spoke to my principal about it he said that he was against siting a charter in our building but there was nothing that could be done.

The original notice on the web for the Joint Hearing was scheduled for April 14, 2011. Upon information and belief no notice, other than the web posting, was provided to anyone at Aspirations (except the principal). On April 15 an amended notice was published on the website and a paper copied and given to the students. No instruction concerning what was supposed to be done with the paper was ever given and most, if not all of the notices were thrown away. Additionally it was the day before the Spring recess and attendance was well below 50%. There is no function PTA nor SLT at Aspirations. The notices and amendments can be found on http://schools.nyc.gov/community/planning/changes/brooklyn/TransferK894

The UFT Chapter at Aspirations almost unanimously voted against the siting of the proposed Charter School.

ROADS Charter School was fast tracked toward Charter approval. The school is proposed to be a school for “disconnected youth” specializing in students released from incarceration and/or homeless. ROADS is cosponsored by District 79 and Cami Andersen, the superintendent of District 79. Anderson, just announced as the new Superintendent of Newark Schools,  sat on the Charter’s School’s Board during its formation. It is not clear what her connection is currently to the school as she does not appear on the EIS list of board members.

It is extremely clear that 1495 Herkimer was chosen by the DOE and ROADS due to the expected lack of political opposition to the school. There is little doubt co-locating this school with a school consisting of a struggling at-risk population will cause great hardship to the current public school.

Disconnected youth should be integrated into their former neighborhood school, not segregated as proposed. Our experience at Community Prep, a public school based on this model should teach us that these schools do not work and harm the communities in which they are situated. Not only will the students at the proposed Charter school be at further risk but we can expect an increase of violence and gang activity in the building.

Raging Horse Sends Up Christie Harvard Appearance

I'm hopefully on a plane back from Paris as you read this. It's been hard to keep up with everything while I was away, but I wanted to get this link in on Christie at Harvard, along with this citation from an old and prescient Michael Fiorillo piece at Ed Notes (excuse spelling stuff - french spell check doesn't quite work out.) Sorry, I can't make any fat jokes about Christie since I ate enough here to be almost his size.

From Raging Horse blog:

For more on Harvard’s relationship to labor read Michael Fiorillo’s excellent piece, Ivy League Union Busting, then and Now at  http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2010/09/michael-fiorillo-at-nyc-educator-blog.html

So, Chris Christie, the grotesques Governor of New Jersey,   visits Harvard Graduate School of Education and is embraced as one their own.

If nothing else, the friendly reception that this vicious vulgar clown received from grad students and staff at this pinnacle of higher education provides yet another clear example of how thoroughly and mindlessly liberal institutions have abandoned and betrayed the working people of this country, and how completely and uncritically they have embraced the suicidal, neo-fascist policies of the corporate state.
Central to those polices is the total destruction of labor unions and with them, worker rights. Central to the total destruction of labor unions is the total destruction of America’s teacher unions.
Christie’s reception by these students  is especially disturbing because of the fact that their Harvard degrees and the built-in old boy and old gal networks that such degrees provide will just about guarantee these very students  will be “fast tracked” into positions of influence and power –   that much faster  if they’re singing corporate hymns.
Christie and the Harvard Graduate School of Education dwell, apparently in an enviously untroubled, strangely one dimensional and curiously microscopic world. 

MORE

Send In the Clown (Don’t Bother, He’s Here.)

Journalistic Ineptness: Untamed Teacher Chronicles Incompetence of NY Post Reporters

I remember a nasty email I received from NY Times education reporter David Herzenhorn objecting to how I characterized one of his stories. And there are reporters who complain when I criticize them publicly. "Why didn't you tell me privately," they ask? My, how sensitive.

You should really follow Untamed Teacher as she turns charges of teacher incompetency on its head by tracking the errors of omission and commission by NY Post reporters:  http://untamedteacher.blogspot.com/

And what do you think about how every dumb and biased report in the NY Post gets a link with a lead at Gotham Schools?

Given the nature of the attack on teachers I suggest you check the work of the journalists reporting on education. How many events are so poorly covered, often with misinformation and certainly misinterpretation?

Here at Ed Notes we will do our best. I suggest teachers and parents start evaluating the reports of the reporters covering stories they were involved in. Were you quoted accurately? Were your words distorted? Let's have an eval system for the press. Personally, I think bad reporting harms society way worse than bad teaching.

Ed Notes Exclusive: Last Known bin Laden Interview

Posted: Tuesday, May 3, 12:30 AM
Modified: Thursday, May 5, 5AM

Paris, France

It was a strange request - at first look. Being the point person for people interested in getting a copy of "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman" I've been contacted by people from all over the nation who had found WFS an disgusting film. But this one came from abroad. "I'd like a copy of the dvd," said the voice on my cell phone. It was heavily accented. I asked where to send it. "I can't give you my address but I'd like you to hand deliver a copy to me in Paris." He whispered his name. "It can't be," I said. "You're living in a cave." He laughed with that distinctive chuckle we have come to know and love. "Says, who? I'm living better than that Obama you knucklehead."

"Why do you want our movie?" He saw Guggenheim's film and thought it really sucked. "These Canada and Rhee people make my skin crawl," he said. "And BloomKlein? The worst!" He gave me a meeting time and place. So off I went to Paris.

We were due to meet on Monday, May 2 at 10AM at the McDonald's on the Champs Elysee. When I woke up to the news of his death I figured I had wasted a trip. But I'm a "bottle half full person. So I had a croissant. And another. I strolled over to the meeting place for the hell of it.  Lo and behold there he was munching a Grand Veggie Mac.

"Obama spoke last night. I thought you were...." I started to say.

"What a joke. Show me the body. That's what everyone was designed to think. I had a body double take my place when I was tipped off on the plan by The Donald. Everyone thinks this stunt won Obama the election. But when The Donald pulls his October 2012 surprise - mainly me -  we'll see who's boss then. We figure with The Donald as president, Al Qaeda wins hands down."

"I'm looking forward to seeing your film," he said. "I hear you have some vicious shots of Michelle Rhee, which is one of the reasons I'm so interested, aside from the fact that the ed deformers are so disgusting."

"Why," I asked?

"Who do you think will be running Al Qaeda while I'm out of commission," he said as he walked off up the Champs Elysee towards The Arch De Triomphe.

2012 Election Cancelled

Obama Buoyed by 100 Percent Approval Rating

 

Geoffrey Canada and Harlem Children's Zone: Julie Cavanagh Lambasts NY Post Puff Piece

Before you get to Julie's takedown of Canada, here are a few more  reactions to this NY Post "ad" for Canada (read it below the fold).
On the lottery as PR:

Leonie Haimson:

“Geoff has described it as one of the only days of the year he does not look forward to coming to work,” Harlem Children’s Zone spokesman Marty Lipp said. “It’s a real roller coaster of emotions. It starts off celebratory, with parents shouting and beaming that their kids have gotten in. As we get to the waiting list and the room empties, it gets terribly sad. The parents’ hopes for their kids’ future just crash, and you can see the sadness etched in their faces.”

 So why have a public lottery at all?  This is a PR stunt and terribly abusive.  Besides, there are several studies showing the HCZ results are not that good, despite all the money spent, and many say it is a badly run organization.

Diane Ravitch:
  Why not just send a letter in the mail, as Gail Collins suggested after seeing Waiting for Superman? This is a marketing ploy.

Julie Cavanagh

The lottery and all of it are marketing ploys, it is so disgusting.
 
Two things from this article that really send me over the edge:
 
1. They are acting like this is some big discovery and original concept that our schools, especially in more vulnerable and underserved neighborhoods, should be centers of community.  PS 15, my school which was forced to give up its space to a charter, has a medical clinic and dental clinic through our partnership with Lutheran, offers mental health services, ged programs, nutrition and cooking programs, a wrap around partnership w/ Good Shepherd services, etc.  The DOE's budget cuts and co-location policies put all of these things at risk and providing these kinds of services and programs to our community has become more and more difficult, even though we have been doing these things for years (except the dental clinic, we were fortunate enough to obtain that about two years ago). In the article they claim this project is a "first for NY"- that is complete BS, there are amazing public schools in NYC, including mine, who do all of these things and are fighting hard to maintain these programs and wish they could do even more.  Instead of being supported we are starved and undermined by the DOE.
 
2. Look at the details of the school that is being built:  two story library, dance room, on and on.  These are things that are considered shared space or extra space at our public schools and can be taken away from public school children, but yet they are boast worthy when we are talking about HCZ.  This same oxymoron exists in our community; the DOE has given PAVE 30 million to build their own state of the art facility with all kinds of "extras" that we have been forced to give away and deprive our children of.
 
ALL of it, from the instructional footprint, to the lottery, to the so-called waiting lists, to the funding/stealing taxpayer dollars, all of it is nothing more than a scam, a shell game, wrapped up in marketing ploys and the goal is very clearly to transfer our tax dollars, and our public education system, into private and corporate hands.  One only need to look at what has happened at PS 15 to know the truth; a school doing everything right, and we were forced to give away the space we uDiane Ravitch:sed for the very services and programs Canada gets rave reviews for as well as millions in matching funds.  The only difference is we actually have had an "A" for four years while serving ALL children (with a 37% sp ed population and over 20% ELL population), while Canada serves far less needy children, kicks out the ones who don't make him look good and gets a "C" on his school report card.
 
It is enough to drive you mad! --
Julie Cavanagh
 
 

So Much Incoming, So Little Time

In the educational battle ground, we often feel bombarded by info. The instinct is to duck, but there is so much good stuff on our side that is anti ed deform, we can only smile even if all we can do is read headlines without the content. Do you think the ed deformers have overplayed their hand? Arrogance and power begets an equal and opposite reaction. Ooops! I think an apple just fell on my head.

Here is a only a small selection. Click away.

• school bd mtg occupation (youtube)
• Parents Upset with Leadership at KIPP Academy in KC
• FW: Chicago Tribune disses PAA and our position on the parent trigger
• State Actions Endanger Teacher Quality
• Parents Across America: Jean-Claude Brizard is leaving his post as Rochester Superintendent to become head of Chicago schools.
  
  Here is a video of parents, teachers, students and community members warning Chicago about their new schools CEO.  PAA has chapters in Chicago and Rochester, and our members have supported each other and shared information.  http://bit.ly/mMIJc5
   
• Rochester city newspaper discussing whether public should be involved in search for new superintendent.

  rochestercitynewspaper

  
  

  http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/news/blog/2011/04/The-superintendent-search-and-the-public/
   
• Ravitch Cited: http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110430/EDIT07/304309994/1147/EDIT07

video: Student Activist Khaair Morrison blasts Bloomberg for denying kids their rights at Francis Lewis High School:  http://bit.ly/mG4BCc

 *************

Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest:
Here are the latest:

Bill to end mayoral control from Inez and Charles Barron

Everything's Not Up-to-date at KIIP In Kansas City

Rachel Maddow & Lansing, MI mayor on threats to schools, democracy

Are schools failing, or are they being failed?

I'm Boycotting change.org due to deceptive Rhee petition attacking teacher protections

 Parents Across America http://goo.gl/KAA3w 

Response from the Change.org “help desk” re deceptive Rhee petition

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Apr 30, 2011 1 Comment ›› leoniehaimson Goldenberg’s earlier post on this matter is here. If you’d like to weigh in on whether change.org should continue diverting nearly ALL signers of progressive education petitions  to Michelle Rhee’s, promoting the elimination of  teacher seniority protections, deceptively entitled “Save Great Teachers,” send a message to ben@change.org and cc. nonprofits@change.org  Also check out Rheefirst.org on more on the Rhee record.


from Michael Paul Goldenberg, PAA member to Change.org: You’ve likely received other messages informing you of the exchange I recently had with the head of the Michigan Senate Education Committee that was spurred by my mistaking an anti-seniority petition from Michelle Rhee and her associates for one that was actually about SUPPORTING Michigan teachers and public education.
That petition was unceremoniously thrust in front of me in rapid fire order after I’d signed a different petition via your site. Normally, I’m rather circumspect about putting my name to something, but somehow the fact that it SEEMED on the surface to be in favor of something I do support (quality education) and that it came via your organization misled me.
In future, I will be very hesitant to consider signing other petitions that come my way from Change.org lest I be similarly sucked into supporting Rhee or anyone like her. I consider her to be one of the most dangerous, dishonest people with a loud voice in the fight to privatize US public education. Her group, “Students First,” is hypocritically named and has nothing to do with what it would like to mislead the public into think it is focused upon. Ms. Rhee is about Ms. Rhee and Ms. Rhee’s career and bank account.
Rhee’s absolute failure to properly investigate the cheating scandal she helped cause speaks volumes about her lack of principles and willingness to do anything to keep herself in the public eye as another fraudulent “miracle worker.” The only miracle about Ms. Rhee is that she’s still getting away with it. If your group allows her to mislead your readers, I’m afraid you’re going to lose quite a lot of support, at least if I have anything to say about it.
Sincerely, Michael Paul Goldenberg
—-
from Arturo Holloway, The Change.org Help Desk:  Hi Michael,   Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on this.  We fully realize the current education debate is a complicated one,  with many people that feel strongly about Students First — both in support and opposition.  As an open platform that enables social change organizations to promote  causes to people around the world, Change.org doesn’t take a position on the means or tactics those organizations use to achieve their goals. You can read our full client policy here:
http://www.change.org/about/client_policy
Thanks again for getting in touch about your concerns. I’ve made sure your communication was shared with the appropriate people on our team.
Best Regards, Arturo

Success Returns to District 14- Wants to Add 3 more schools: Report of April 28 Meeting with CEC

Saturday, April 30:

As a follow-up to the post earlier this morning:

You can't go anywhere in District 14 without tripping over an elementary school. PS 147 where I taught is within no more than a 10 minute walk - or less - than 4 other elementary schools. But Eva is coming anyway because people want "choice." Ah, "choice" - the buzzword of corporate raiders everywhere. But the end game will be no choice - that's free market capitalism, isn't it? Drive out until you have a monopoly. Just check how we have gone from choice in phone companies after the Ma Bell breakup back down to basically ATT and Verizon. Here is a report from an ed notes correspondent on the follow-up CEC meeting, our final entry of the week of "Eva and District 14." The story will go on as things are brewing that will send more strong messages to the powers that be.

Everyone spoke so boldly on April 14 and showed the folly of Eva and her academies. However, Foster was back last night asking for three more co-locations "either for D13 or 14" as was Beginning with Children (Mr. Flowers) asking for another school that they wanted to co-locate. A DOE rep from Portfolio on Charters was also present. (She was not introduced.) There was hardly a soul in the audience. Three CEC members and I asked questions/made comments. The upshot was that D14 does not need any more elementary schools. One male CEC member kept asking why our public schools were not being funded and expanded. The DOE rep said she was not there for that discussion. People want "choice" (that should be a four letter word). Much discussion went on, but it was made clear that the community did not want more elementary schools. Our community schools are on the whole doing well; we have high parent satisfaction; we are meeting the needs or our community were the general agreements of the questioners.

Superintendent, Quail pointed out the positives in D14 schools even as he said he had to represent Tweed. He asked, "What does under-served mean?" No one can seem to define this, but the charters say they go into underserved communities. Ms. Wilson (CEC 14 Pres) ) asked Foster what her schools offer the community that is different. She could not give an acceptable answer. Our district 14 schools are declining in population and as children are lured to charters, the public schools lose funds and ultimately programs. All of the schools are planning K-8 charters and it was argued that what is needed in the community are more good junior and senior high schools. There was a lot of dialogue and questioning as well as criticism. This is a Portfolio Planning review phase. If anyone wants to comment they should do it by tomorrow (within 48hours of the meeting) at CharterSchools@schools.nyc.gov I feel that people need to keep coming to these types of meetings to have their voices heard before final decisions are made.

Harlem/Brooklyn Success Academy Video Week Finale

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Boy, time is flying. End of April already.

I hope you've seen some of the videos I've been posting from the District 14/Success Network meeting on April 14. This is the finale. A good question is why when so many charters have impacted on Williamsburg, Success has raised so much opposition? I'm not sure but I may seek to find out some answers. Whatever the reasons, it has been fun to watch. As Success now attempts to add 2 more schools we will watch carefully to see if the resistance crumbles.

Today's video is the final one I processed. CEC 14 asks why Success didn't reach out to CEC 14 or why there are not math or reading scores listed for HSA (how are they claiming their schools are such a success?). She reads a letter from Leticia James representing Dist 13 and 14 calling for no more charters in either district. I wonder what other charter chain operators think of Eva who may be killing the golden goose for all of them.

http://youtu.be/o3IxuKRtg9w

Another deeply sad night at the PEP - Leonie Haimson Report

 
Last night's PEP meeting was as disappointing and deeply sad as all the others. 

Walcott came out in the audience, in an obvious PR move designed for the cameras, to say that he intended to listen to parents and to ask that there be civility in return. 

Yet as the educrats put forward their stupid, destructive, and irresponsible proposals, one after another, there was little indication that any of them had listened to a single word the audience had to say, and one after another, they were rubberstamped by the Mayoral appointees on the PEP, with no consideration of parents' views or their children's needs.

In fact, Walcott and the Tweed educrats continued on their mad and irresponsible course to undermine the quality of our public schools.

First up the capital plan, with new seats cut by almost 50% compared to the November plan; despite that now one quarter of all elementary schools now have waiting lists for Kindergarten next year.  Last fall, the DOE finally admitted that we needed more than 50,000 new seats just to keep up with new development but there are only 28,000 in this new plan.

Though Kathleen Grimm admitted that the need had not suddenly disappeared, she  insisted that this is all the city can afford to spend, despite the fact that the economic situation has IMPROVED since Nov., the state reimbursement was NOT capped, and the DOE intends to spend $540 M next year alone on new technology alone.

Despite Walcott's claim that there would be a change in attitude, the result was the same arrogance and refusal to consider the obvious overcrowding crisis and the need for more seats.  The plan was approved without any questions, except from Patrick; and the PEP mayoral appointees voted like the puppets they are, in lockstep to approve.

Then there were hundreds of parents/students/teachers begging for their transfer school – Bronx Academy High School  -- to be saved.   The students, some of whom were in tears and had been sent there from other closing schools, were eloquent, explaining how  the school had turned their lives around.  And as usual, total arrogance and refusal to consider their choices from the Walcott and the educrats at Tweed, with the mayoral appointees voting in lockstep to close the school.

Parents from IS 303 in Brooklyn – bringing petitions with 11,000 signatures, pleading that Coney Island Prep charter not be allowed to invade their school and take their kids classrooms away. And as usual, total arrogance and refusal to consider their choices from the DOE, and the mayoral appointees, voting in lockstep, like the puppets they are.

See GS story below.

over protest

April 29, 2011

City panel votes to close three more schools, bringing total to 27

by Anna Phillips

Three more schools will begin closing next year, following a vote by the citywide school board last night that brought the total of schools closed this year to 27.
Members of the Panel for Educational Policy voted to close two transfer schools — Pacific High School and the Bronx Academy High School — as well as P.S. 30, an elementary school in Queens.
It was Chancellor Dennis Walcott's first panel meeting since Mayor Bloomberg named him to the post. Walcott said he hoped to change the tenor of the meetings by answering parents' questions and publicly debating policy issues at a deeper level than his predecessors did.
Walcott began the meeting by walking down from the stage and into the crowd, where he promised parents, teachers, and students that he and his staff would respect them.
"You will never hear me be disagreeable with you," he said. "The one thing we understand is these are emotional issues for you…the approach we're going to take moving forward is be responsive to those issues even when we don't agree."
If audience members heard Walcott's plea for civility, they betrayed no signs. The boos and catcalls that have peppered panel meetings for months reappeared last night, as did animosity between charter school supporters and the district schools they will have to share space with next year.
Wearing light blue shirts, parents and teachers from Coney Island Prep Charter School sat across the aisle from parents of students and teachers at I.S. 303, who wore orange shirts. Per tonight's panel vote, Coney Island Prep will move into I.S. 303′s building next year, claiming classrooms that the middle school's teachers said they need for high-needs special education students, but that city education officials have decided they can do without. Throughout the evening, parents and teachers from the two schools traded shots over which was the better school and why the charter school couldn't move to another building.
Of the three schools that the panel voted to begin phasing out next year, Bronx Academy proved the most controversial. A large group of students, parents, and teachers attended the meeting tonight to defend the school against closure, citing its students' improving credit accumulation and Regents passage rates.
In the last seven years, Bronx Academy has seen four principals come and go. It is currently on the state's list of persistently low-achieving schools. Yet in September, the school began the process of transforming itself. It was given a new principal, Gary Eisinger, and it formed a partnership with Good Shepherd Services, a community-based organization that offers students counseling and support. Bronx Academy also switched from semesters to trimesters, allowing students to 18 credits a year instead of 14.
"I've worked in transfer schools, and I've never seen a principal work this hard," said Kevin Towns, an advocate counselor with Good Shepard. "The data you're [the DOE] using is from the old regime. These people have been here eight months — let's be real."
But Department of Education officials said that they had seen enough of the school's progress to decide that it wasn't enough to justify keeping Bronx Academy open.
"The principal has come into a tough set of circumstances, and you do see the impact of his leadership in that school," said Deputy Chancellor Marc Sternberg. "Even if there has been improvement, it's well below what we expect to see. And well below what we see across transfer schools citywide."
Senior Deputy Chancellor Shael Polakow-Suransky said that only two-thirds of Bronx Academy students were showing up to school every day and only a quarter are passing their Regents exams. Many students are still earning too few credits to graduate on time, he said.
"What I'm seeing is the culture in that school has changed and that is powerful and that is what has generated the positive energy, but the academic expectations have not changed," Polakow-Suransky said.
Anita Batisti, who directs Fordham University's school support organization, which oversees Bronx Academy, said she couldn't understand why the city would want to close an improving school.
"I ask you, please give us more time," she said.
Monica Major, the panel member appointed by the Bronx borough president, said the DOE was rushing to close a school that was just beginning to show signs of improvement. Although Major proposed that the panel table its plans to vote on the school's closure, her motion was voted down. The panel also voted to open a new transfer school called Bronx Arena that will replace Bronx Academy.
"Marc, I'm really hoping Arena only gets eight months, the same amount of time you gave this school," Major said to Deputy Chancellor Sternberg.
Asked after the meeting whether eight months would be enough time to judge one of the city's 11 transformation schools — many of which have been given new principals and support after years of little progress — Walcott sidestepped the question.
"We can't tolerate slow, incremental change," he said

Leonie Haimson

Parents Across America/Class Size Matters

New York, NY 10011

212-674-7320

leonieh@parentsacrossamerica.org

www.parentsacrossamerica.org

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leonie-haimson

Rally at Francis Lewis HS Today at 4PM

Let me take a brief break from out coverage of the Success Charter Network Traveling lie and misrepresentation show to bring you a message from Arthur Goldstein, chapter leader of Francis Lewis HS, the school that Dennis Walcott graduated from and which he has sat by over the last 9 years as it has double the number of students with many crowded in trailers. Did Walcott ever have to eat lunch at 9AM?



Date: Friday, April 22, 2011, 7:34 PM

It is very important that we all stand for our school on Friday, April 29th, right out in front at 4 PM. Let's tell Mayor Bloomberg that we are serious.  We will have some special guest speakers, including Senator Tony Avella and UFT President Michael Mulgrew. Please wear your UFT shirts. This is what they are for. If we don't stand up for ourselves, I guarantee no one else will.

We're in the Daily News.

Here we are at yournabe.com.

WPIX put Lewis on TV.

Chancellor Walcott is not worried about class size, a good thing, because his clever plan to lose 8.2% of working teachers will certainly cause class sizes to explode. He estimates this will be by 1-1.5 students per class. That's ridiculous, and even if it weren't, I've counted hundreds of classes at maximum in our building alone.

Here we are in the Queens Chronicle,  in the Queens Courier, and in another piece from the Chronicle. 

When Walcott said, in response to my question, the budget was so bad we couldn't afford to waste the 3.1 billion dollar surplus on teachers, I pointed out that Bloomberg estimated the savings in the reduction of the education workforce to be 369 million, a fraction of the surplus. He spoke for a long time, but did not respond directly.

From the UFT:

The annual Open Market Transfer Plan period began on April 15. The plan offers all pedagogues and paras access to job openings throughout the city through an online registration process. During this period, which ends August 7, you do not need a release from your principal to change schools. You may even apply to schools without current openings, and your application will be kept on file until an opening occurs. The Open Market Q & A on the UFT Web site offers more information about the process. Also, please note that full-time and part-time physical therapists and occupational therapists can now use a separate online application system to apply for vacancies on the open market this year. A letter from the DOE is going out to all OTs and PTs with details about vacancies and how to apply.

Best regards,

Arthur

CEC District !4 Meet Harlem/Brooklyn Success Academy Video Week - Juan Martinez, Former School Bd Pres Raises a Few Questions

Friday, April 29, 2011

Make sure to watch this video when you get back from the wedding - look for me in case I decide to fly over.

This interchange is priceless. Juan Martinez asked if Success would share the names of those 1400 Brooklyn parents. Hey, if they are going to claim the right to expand due to "demand" based on these people who signed up, they should have to share the names and we should be able to ask people if they just signed up for information. At the end there's even a section with some old retired teacher who put down the video camera for a few minutes.

http://youtu.be/D2q1yJK6Lfo

CEC District 14 Meet Success Charters - Public School Teachers Challenge Eva Minions on Choice and Turnover

Thursday, April 28, 2011
Reminder: Tonight is the PEP at Prospect Hts HS where loads of charters will be shoehorned into public schools. GEMers will be there. Join them.

In this video:
I was so proud of my old school when these 2 teachers, Ben and Michael, stood up and challenged HSA. Too bad the sound is not good, so listen carefully. I only met these guys once or twice but how nice to see the next generation of teachers who "get it."

http://youtu.be/U61evGTBF8g