Albuquerque screening of "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman" Is a Hit

One of the major goals of the film has been to activate people. And the results have been overwhelming as educators and parents all over the nation - and beyond - have been organizing showings in libraries, schools, community centers and actual theaters as below - does that qualify us for academy award consideration? But really, the fact that 143 people came out on a Saturday (with others turned away) is a sign that the ed deform game of trick or treat is failing and inspiring a counter reaction. I got back from Chicago to this wonderful email to GEM from a teacher in Albuquerque:

I just returned home from a sold out screening of TITBWFS----we got a fantastic response!  I ordered a copy from you several weeks ago after I read about the movie on Susan Ohanian's website.  When I ordered the movie, I called Keif, the owner of our local independent movie house, Guild Cinema, to see if they would be interested in screening the film.  Keif generously agreed to screen it at his one available slot which was today.  Keif promoted the movie on his website and weekly newsletter, while I told and emailed everyone I knew.  The small theater holds 140 people.  143 people got to see it while several were turned away!  I printed the Real Reform pamphlet along with some websites to inspire change and distributed these to the audience.  The movie received a healthy round of applause at the end.  Many people stayed for the short discussion afterwards.  Those who stayed were deeply moved by the movie and wanted to send it to our elected officials and show it to their school communities.  I stressed the importance of communicating the message of the movie to everyone we know. 

Keif charged $3 for tickets today---he kept $1/ticket for the theater, and donated the rest to GEM.  I will be sending you a check for $285 next week.  It was an overwhelming success and I thank you for your good, profoundly important work.

Francesca Blueher
Instructional Coach
Montezuma Elementary School
Albuquerque, NM 

Susan Ohanian who has inspired people as a leading resistance fighter for a long time (and will be marching with GEM in DC on July 30 the Save Our Schools march sent me this email to her from Francesca.

Dear Susan,
I have been wanting to write you for some time about how much I have been inspired by your website. Since I started getting your blog a few months ago, I have devoured every newsletter----the articles provide me the necessary fuel for speaking out about the ravages our schools are presently undergoing---thank you.

I just got home from the Albuquerque screening of "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman", which I helped organize. I first learned of this film from your website and ordered it immediately. The screening was an enormous success. Following is the letter I sent to friends and family informing them of the screening and the note I sent to Grassroots Education Movement today after the screening.

Again, thank you for your righteous, revolutionary work!

Francesca Blueher

Dear Friends and Family,

I am so excited to invite you to the Albuquerque premier of the teacher made documentary, The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman ("TITBWFS"). This film passionately underscores ideas of true educational reform which come from teachers, students, and parents, while detailing the ravaging effects of poverty on children and their education. This is an independently made movie that depends on interested individuals to show it to their communities. I ordered the movie and the Guild Cinema kindly agreed to show it on July 9th at 1:00 pm.

Please let me tell you a little bit about why I was compelled to bring this movie to Albuquerque. As a teacher and Instructional Coach at Montezuma Elementary I have seen first-hand the impact that current educational reforms are having at our university area school. The combined effects of federal policies (No Child Left Behind) and poverty are devastating to our children. When my own children went to Montezuma 20 years ago, 35% of our students received free or reduced lunch. Today, over 76% percent of our children qualify for the Free and Reduced lunch program. Over one third of our students have a Body Mass Index percentage that puts them in the obese category. In the last 10 years, more of our children have been impacted by a parent or parents who are incarcerated. CYFD social workers are weekly visitors to our school, sometimes seeing 2 or 3 children from different families in one day. This is why I thought it important to bring this film to the Albuquerque community.

Following is a small press release for the film:

The Grassroots Education Movement presents a new documentary, The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman, written and directed by New York City public school teachers and parents, in response to Davis Guggenheim's highly misleading film, Waiting for "Superman". Waiting for "Superman" would have audiences believe that the current educational reforms of free-market competition, standardized tests, destroying teacher unions, and the proliferation of charter schools are just what this country needs to create great public schools while The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting For Superman highlights the real-life experiences of public school parents, students, and educators and shows how these so-called reforms are actually ravaging public education. The film discusses the kinds of real reforms in schools and in society as a whole that are urgently needed to truly transform education in this country.

I strongly feel that when we have a greater awareness of our educational policy and how it affects our children it can be the key to implementing true educational reform (smaller class size, healthy school lunches, a rich, culturally relevant curriculum for all students) that is good for our children. This is where you come in. Please come and view this movie to look at a different perspective of school reform. Keif, owner of The Guild Cinema, is generously showing the documentary there at a minimal cost to you---$3.00---the majority of which will go to the organization that made the movie. Here are the details of the screening:

The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman
Saturday, July 9th
1:00 pm
Guild Cinema
3405 Central NE
$3.00/ticket

The movie will end at 2:15, discussion/questions after

Please share this information with anyone you know who is concerned about our childrens' future. Let me know if you have any questions.

Francesca Blueher
Instructional Coach
Montezuma Elementary

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Tenure Extensions Lead to Growing Disaffection of Young Teachers - What Say You E4E, TFA?

And now it's some of the high-quality, newer recruits - the same ones the administration was trying to save from layoffs - that are being pushed to other careers or jobs elsewhere because of the crackdown. Department of Education officials haven't released numbers but acknowledge that they expect an increase in extended probation periods after setting out new standards last November. --- Rachel Monahan, Daily News

E4E ought to come out with a public statement decrying the process, if their members feel it is invalid. --- Leonie Haimson

Isn't this process what E4E was advocating? They just didn't think it would affect them. - ---Diane Ravitch

Yeah, funny how folks' criteria become much more thoughtful and sophisticated when it is their job on the block.  --- jmb

We have been predicting for months that the numbers of teachers leaving the system will be much higher than predicted based on sources in the schools who told us teachers who were told how good they and ended up having tenure extended were outraged enough to walk away from a system more dysfunctional than anything experienced under the old status quo.

Numbers we are hearing are that 50% of 3rd year teachers did not get tenure or were extended. I hear FDR HS in Brooklyn only gave tenure to 4 out of 16 (or was it 20?) teachers.

Don't underestimate the importance of the Daily News stories by Rachel Monahan, who has been on this case for a month or more - we've been waiting for these reports but Rachel probably had to wait until the official results are in. Philissa Cramer of Gotham Schools also has been on the case.

We have no such qualms about waiting for facts and have been hearing for the last two months on the growing denial/extension to a 4th year of tenure. This will turn into bad news for both the DOE and their allies in Educators 4 Excellence and Teach for America.

 "The irony is that a lot of these teachers were teachers that the city paid millions of dollars ... to recruit," he [Mulgrew] noted, referring to Teaching Fellows and Teach for America.

Mulgrew must have had his tongue firmly planted in his cheek. Do you think the UFT is rushing out to help these teachers out?

Wasn't it just a short time ago we heard from Wallslug and Bloomcrud and yes E4E about how important it was to end tenure and seniority protections to keep these excellent (because they are TFA and young) teachers?

There are some interesting nuggets. Rachel went to Aspirations HS in Brooklyn a few weeks ago to talk to Chapter Leader Jeff Kaufman and some of the teachers. Jeff has been keeping us informed  about some of the goings on at the school, where a young principal (other sources beyond Jeff who knew him at Columbus HS and other venues describe him an asshole) recruited lots of TFA teachers, who basically helped run the school. The principal pushed Educators 4 Excellence with the staff and many supported E4E - initially. He hired almost all young women and used to call them Matt's Harem. Nice. What does E4E, which organized a mixer for Matt's Harem think of that? (Read Jeff's account: Up Close and Personal With An Opposition and his follow-up analysis of the E4E lies and misdirections: “White Paper” on a Roll: How Ed Deformers Distort ...  Also his piece  on how some of the E4E and TFA people began to show their union consciousness: UFT Chapter at Aspirations HS Stops Charter School...

Some people think Jeff has been off-line but he has been doing the scut work of basic chapter organizing.

Rachel writes:

At Aspirations High School in Brooklyn, three of the school's founding teachers, all recruited through Teach for America or Teaching Fellows, were told they need to serve another year before being considered for tenure. They say none had been observed in the three years since they arrived at the school, even though it's a requirement for tenure. At a meeting with a superintendent, they said they were told that because the school received an F on the high-stakes report cards, they should not expect tenure. The teachers say the decision is galling because they helped build the new small school over the last three years, filling in the gaps for a principal who was new to the job - and who has decided to leave after this year. He didn't respond to requests for comment.

Jeff has told me so many goodies about the whole scene there. The role the UFT played through slimeball Distict Rep Charlie Turner and HS VP Leo Casey in their attempt to undermine Jeff is a classic story - I have the emails somewhere but I may do a video interview with Jeff to flesh out the whole story.

Philissa wrote:  but there's more to this story than it reveals

At Aspirations High School in East New York, many teachers did not have any formal observations from their principal, teachers said. None of the eight Aspirations teachers up for tenure this year received it; instead, their probationary periods were extended.
One of them, Samantha Love, said she had finished her third year at the transfer high school with increasing confidence in her abilities. Following the city’s new guidelines, she put together a portfolio that included detailed statistics about her students’ Regents exam passing rates; evidence that she had improved her instruction; and proof that she helped run the school, even earning thousands of dollars in grants to buy supplies and pay for a class trip to Washington, D.C.
But she learned that she did not receive tenure the same day she turned in the portfolio, before the school’s superintendent could have reviewed it. Jeff Kaufman, the teachers union chapter leader at Aspirations, said the extensions came as a surprise because the principal never told the teachers their tenure was in jeopardy.
Love and Kaufman say Aspirations teachers were told that they were not eligible for tenure because their school received an F on its most recent progress report — one of just nine high schools to do so.
In fact, the city does not have a policy of prohibiting tenure for teachers in F-rated schools, Mittenthal said.
Along with some of her colleagues, Love and other teachers at Aspirations are members of Educators 4 Excellence, the group of young teachers that advocates for tougher evaluations and changes to layoff rules. “I do believe we should be examining our personal effectiveness, and I don’t think [tenure] should just be a given,” she said. “But the way the process is being carried out is not an objective assessment.”

Duh, Samnatha! Not an objective assessment? Your group admits there are no value-added models that are fair but still advocates for using them. What about the unfair U-ratings given to so many people in just as an unfair manner? The leaders of E4E admits there might be unfair U-ratings but so what if some innocent people get chopped.

Come on Samantha, when do you stop showing your love of E4E, which has been caught with its pants down. Is it possible that even E4E's Ruben Brosbe, who blogs at Gotham, was either denied or extended tenure, as SBS is reporting -  Is Th-Th-Th-That All Ruben? Go tell E4E to issue a statement on where they stand on tenure denials. E4E has invited people to

Spend your summer break with E4E! We will be hosting events throughout July and August. Join us on Wednesday, July 13 for the first in a series of roundtable policy discussions on different issues.

• What: Roundtable Discussion on Teacher and Principal Evaluations (Dinner will be provided)
• Where: E4E's offices at 333 W. 39th Street, Suite 703
• When: Wednesday, July 13 from 6:30 - 8:00pm
• RSVP: Join us for the summer's first roundtable discussion!

 Hey, free food on E4E. All you have to do is sign the pledge in blood.

No wonder TFA wants go get their people out of the schools in two years before objective reality hits so they can go off spouting how much they know about fixing education. They become tenure bashers before having to go through the process themselves. I haven't talked to one teacher whether TFA or not who doesn't want tenure and the protections it offers them.

The bottom line is the principal who pushed E4E to his staff and recruited all these teachers lied to them about why he had to deny them tenure and screwed them in the end. I'll do another post on the Aspirations story after I speak to Jeff. Here are some more comments on the tenure situation:

Leonie Haimson:

Definitely the case that fewer teachers are getting tenure and many are being delayed with third years…Superintendents are often the ones deciding tenure (belying principal autonomy) and they have been told by Tweed only to allow a certain number in schools each year. Lots of good teachers are very disaffected and say they will go elsewhere -  they are sick of being abused by a system that does not accord them the respect they are due.

NYC Educator had some comments: Tenuous Tenure in NYC

Retired UFT Bronx District Rep Lynne Winderbaum said:

I have yet to see any sign that the Department of Education gives a darn if they retain teachers or not. They do not believe this is a skilled profession and, regardless of what they say, promote the sense that anyone can teach and teachers are totally replaceable. They are indifferent to the loss of talent be it veterans or idealistic new teachers. I swear they think they can maintain the same standard of instruction no matter how much they abuse and disrespect their teaching staff and how many leave.

They are wrong. But it no longer matters in this system.

Read Daily News article:

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2011/07/07/2011-07-07_new_york_city_awarding_less_tenure_to_young_teachers_in_public_school_systems_ed.html#ixzz1RSimwKk9

And Gotham piece:

Instead of giving or denying tenure, city is deferring decisions (click headline for original article)

AFTERBURN
Look for an upcoming post about a great venture from a new group of young teachers:
New Teacher Underground
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Short Commentary and Labor Notes Coverage of Chicago Conference

Yesterday was a chat n chew day. I want to report more about what we chewed and chatted about (how about that stuffed deep dish pizza with enough calories to feed a third world country for a week) but I'm at the airport working off my phone. Maybe tonight. But for now check this out from Labor Notes' Mark Brenner who is NYC based and I got to meet for the first time. I'll fix format problems when I get home.

Education Reform: The Real Deal
By Mark Brenner, Labor Notes

Tired of being scapegoats for all the ills of the public schools, 200 teachers from 15 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Mexico were in Chicago July 6 for the National Conference to Fight Back for Public Education.

The attendees—and there were more of them than organizers had expected—came for a variety of reasons. All were upset about the attacks on teachers and students. Some were already leading fights against the attacks as reform officers in their locals. Many wanted to find out how fights were being carried out in other cities. Others were dissatisfied with their locals or their national unions.

Rob Panning-Miller, a Minneapolis high school teacher, said he wanted to hear from the horse's mouth how various "reforms" such as charter schools and new forms of teacher evaluation are playing out on the ground for classroom teachers. What he hears from his union's national leaders about changes in particular cities, he said, is often quite different from what teachers in that city have to say.

Many at the meeting saw a lack of leadership in their national organizations, the NEA and AFT, which have reacted to the demonization of teachers by endorsing too many elements of President Obama's "Race to the Top" agenda for schools. That agenda relies on standardized testing, substitutes merit pay for seniority, strips teacher tenure, ousts teachers deemed "ineffective," and privatizes public schools by converting them into non-union charter schools.

The effect is to place the many burdens of poor communities at teachers' feet and to encourage school districts to break the rules to show progress—as scandals over cheating on tests in D.C. and Atlanta have shown.

Panning-Miller ousted a 22-year incumbent when he ran for president of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers in 2006. Now an executive board member, he said teachers in the Twin Cities are grappling with the spread of charters. "The district is essentially saying, 'We don't know how to educate your children, so we're giving up and contracting out,'" he said.

No Joy in New York
Kelley Wolcott, a Brooklyn high school teacher, was motivated to attend after seeing the way her union, the United Federation of Teachers, navigated this year's city budget negotiations.

New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg slashed $1 billion from services—after extracting another $60 million in concessions from teachers. Schools will see 2,600 teaching vacancies go unfilled as well.
Bloomberg had threatened for months to fire 4,000 teachers.

"It was devastating to see how the UFT operated, to see the lack of democracy," Wolcott said. "They didn't care about people who had real things to offer."

Wolcott came to Chicago after spending two weeks in a tent city, dubbed "Bloombergville," erected outside New York's city hall to protest budget cuts. Now she's convinced activists like herself need to do more to transform the union.

"We want our union to serve the membership and the city as a whole," she said, adding that union leaders are "more sympathetic with the political agenda in D.C. or Albany than what their members want or need."

Nowhere was that more clear to attendees than in this week's headlines. Their conference was the day after the National Education Association's annual convention, during which the union officially joined the AFT in endorsing a type of teacher evaluations that have led to mass firings in places like D.C.
Although the NEA convention endorsed Barack Obama's 2012 presidential bid, Rosa Jimenez, a Los Angeles high school teacher, was skeptical that putting more union resources into elections was a winning strategy. "Look at what's happening in California," she said.

The state returned to Democratic control with Governor Jerry Brown's victory last November, but Brown won't close corporate tax loopholes or tax the rich, and signed a budget that trimmed $3.4 billion from education.

"We put so much money into elections and it isn't working," Jimenez said, advocating more money from the national unions to the locals to train teachers to be organizers.

Inspired by Reform Victories
Wolcott said she was inspired by reform efforts inside union locals in cities like Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Chicago, where the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE) [1] swept elections for top office in the Chicago Teachers Union last year. "It's a real ray of hope, that we can fight back from the grassroots against this campaign to destroy us," Wolcott said.

CORE hosted the conference, organized together with Progressive Educators for Action (PEAC) [2], the reform caucus inside the Los Angeles Teachers union.

Even where reformers have won power, they haven't been able to beat back all the attacks that hurt teachers and students, as both PEAC and CORE members testified.

Chicago's mayor just rescinded teachers' scheduled raises, while state legislators passed a bill weakening seniority, advancing performance evaluations that could be tied to student test scores, and erecting high hurdles before teachers can strike. The Los Angeles teachers union agreed to a contract this month with four furlough days. The schools will lose 2,000 library aides and counselors.

Where to Find the Money
 But the Chicago Teachers Union is engaged in a campaign with potential. The union is targeting the financial sector, saying that rather than take advantage of deals made in flush times, Bank of America and other big banks should renegotiate financing contracts that are costing the school system $35 million a year.

After the conference, participants rallied with the CTU at Bank of America. The union held a march and rally after meeting with the banks the day before.

The union is also demanding that the city reshape its spending priorities. Chicago drains $250 million yearly from schools and doles out cash to politically connected developers and big banks through a "tax-increment financing" scheme, which was supposed to subsidize development in blighted areas but instead handed out millions to build luxury housing and big-box retail stores.

"There are over 100 schools that don't have stand-alone libraries because Chicago's elected officials are spending millions on political patronage and calling it economic development," said Jesse Sharkey, CTU vice president.

The union has rallied teachers, parents, and community members to mount actions, including taking over the showroom floor of one of the largest TIF recipients, a Chrysler dealership in Chicago's tony Gold Coast. A CTU-sponsored People's City Council Meeting—a community town hall—drew 1,200 parents, teachers, and students and 15 council members yesterday for a listening session.

An Ordinary Teacher....

....Talks to Teach for America

 

Thanks to (now former) NYC teacher James Boutin for this:

Interesting take on TFA from a former NYC school teacher.

http://www.stonepooch.com/ablog/?p=1
 

The piece not only drills deep, but the comments/debate goes even deeper.


Here is one of the latter side-bar comments that nail what teachers do and the skills they acquire:

I agree with this entire article save one point: teachers have very marketable skills if they decide to leave teaching. I know: I did it and I was hired because of those skills. I have the ability to manage 20 – 30 unwilling people; I can motivate them and explain tasks to them in a timely manner. I can preplan and be flexible when things (a fire drill, a last-minute assembly) go wrong. I can shift my communication style instantly to match the situation, from slang with the students, to authoritarian, to placating a frantic parent. I can present my ideas clearly and succinctly, able to get to the crux of the message. I am a great record-keeper and my attention to detail is spot on (I started teaching in the days before electronic grade books and had to tally all scores by hand!). I understand how people think and respond. I can get along with all types of people, even those (parents and students alike) who openly dislike me. I can maintain my professional calm in the face of irrational anger. My time management skills are superb, because with only 50 minutes to complete my day’s lesson, I am aware of the value of every second. Finally, I am compassionate and caring and want to see those around me succeed, so I will be a fantastic team player in an environment. In return, all I ask is for a little recognition–one thing that many teachers have to go without, as their students often only realize the value of a great teacher many years later.

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Lots of goodies here today: 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.

Chicago Notes

Last Update: Sunday, July 10, 2011, 3AM

GEM At LaCASITA

Friday, July 8, 2011, 6AM

Chicago

As usual, I'm the only one up. We are still 4 people in the suite - one person left and another took over the cot (I have the fold-out couch). Two more are leaving tonight. (I haven't asked my roomies and colleagues from NYC if I can mention their names so I am staying mum for now - though you might see some you know in the pics I've been posting the last few days.

Today is sightseeing day. We may connect up later with Puerto Rico Teachers Union President Rafael Feliciano, who was one of the major stars of the National Educators' Conference to Fight Back for Public Education. Jeez, they're all still sleeping. This place serves one mean breakie and I can't wait to hit that waffle iron.

There's no way I can report on the details of the conference because there was too much incoming info for me to process. Thus, I was perfectly comfortable being the official videographer, a role I like more and more as I don't have to think beyond pointing the camera and pressing a button. I will probably start putting up snippets of what I taped when I get back home on Saturday.

It is certainly interesting to hang out with leaders of unions who have progressive visions of union reform and how to effectively fight back for public education. I was surprised when Chicago TU President Karen Lewis ended her speech at the opening by pointing to me and saying the first thing she does every morning is go to Ed Notes so she can know what's going on in NYC. (I will put up video soon). Earlier, a teacher from Kansas City told me the same thing. And yesterday a union leader from Canada said he subscribes. That was funny because I've been thinking of cutting back. Darnit!

A bunch of people hung out yesterday for more chewing the fat after which we hit a local bar where I was sitting with Washington Teacher Union leaders Nathan Saunders and Candi Peterson, who is an old blogging pal. We are meeting up again at the SOS in Washington DC.

In many ways the formal meetings are not as important as the side conversations and the after hours hanging out in bars. I have quite a load of stuff to report on some of the interesting things I learned. Ooops - they're up so gotta go eat soon.

Here are a few quick points:

CORE as a caucus is an awesome operation with awesome people. Mostly young activists - one of the key people in setting up this conference is a 25 year old 2nd year teacher. How different from Unity for a caucus in power. They all proudly wear their CORE tee-shirts. And how interesting that they try to keep the leadership of the caucus in the hands of classroom teachers and somewhat separate from the Chicago Teachers Union. Thus, CORE was the host, not the CTU and they have an amazing amount of top-level activists who do an awesome amount of work.

There were lots of people from Los Angeles - mostly from a caucus called PEAK. Very impressive people. They're doing a lot of work there around the teacher evaluation and other issues. And of course, there was our gang from NYC, always a great crew to hang out with. GEM was there in force but there were other groups represented too. (I'm trying to be careful about naming groups and names since I've been reprimanded in the past - you know who you are.)

There are things I can talk about and other stuff probably left off the table for now.

After the bar, George Schmidt of Substance* (the model for the tabloid print edition of Ed Notes c. 2002-4) took us over to the Whittier school where parents have been sitting in at the attached community center and library which offers so much to the community and the city is trying to tear down. I have some great interviews with the parents and George does lots of commentary. Film being processed and I will put something up when I get home. For now, here are some stills I put into a slideshow.

Here is a report on the conference from George Schmidt's Substance:

Union activists develop many strategies at CORE’s National Conference to Fight for Public Education

By David R. Stone - July 9th, 2011 

About 150 activists from across the United States — mostly union teachers — gathered at the “National Conference to Fight for Public Education” in Chicago on Wednesday, July 6, 2011.
 


Earthy Girl commented:
We must have just missed you at Whittier, Norm. We were there early afternoon. Here are my pictures.
You can use any of them if you want. Email me if you need a direct attachment.
http://flickr.com/gp/good4kidz/a5mvZ2/. I've seen a lot of sadness in my life but this broke my heart. I kept thinking 'This is the USA? This is the best we can do for our children?'
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Chicago: Teachers from Around Nation Rally at Banks

 No time now for details but the conference was powerful yesterday, followed by a march and rally at the banks. Here are a few pics - look at the previous post for the slide show.

Washington Teachers Union Pres. Nathan Saunders

Chicago Teachers Union Karen Lewis

Angel Gonzalez, GEM

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Julie C live tweets from Chicago Plus Slideshow from Opening Speakers

Julie is tweeting at #Chicago @jcavanagh15

Here is a down and dirty slideshow of the  opening meeting.

Chicago Chats/UFT Giving Up Co-Location of Charter - With a Little Help From Friends

Weds., July 6

We just woke up to the news that the UFT made a deal with Christine Quinn to move its charter out of a public school in East NY Brooklyn into a new building - with the help of $2 million. At least that is the way the NY Post is framing it. But watch the UFT try to spin this one to teachers after they lost teachers choice - my 3 roomies are already screaming about it. The argument that other charters are already getting money for new buildings is a lame excuse. "This is our union" they are saying and we have been screaming about not only the co-loco issue but the fact that charters are destroying the fabric of the public school system. (See the Post article below.)

"This is capital fund money that should NOT be going to charters, it should be going to building more public schools," said GEM's Julie Cavanagh (one of the directors of the critically acclaimed film "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman", who has been battling the invasion of her school, PS 15, while also being critical of the vast amounts of public money being funneled to charter schools to the detriment of public schools.

Note how this is revealed when school is out - not a word at the Delegate Assembly - note how "council aides said the grant was being discussed months before negotiations with the Mayor."

This cements the idea that the UFT will endorse Quinn for Mayor and also continue to support mayoral control. I may just bet my Tier 1 pension on it.

Chicago news
We were up late last night at a dinner hosted by Chicago Teachers Union caucus CORE - Caucus of Rank and File Educators. For those not aware, CORE is sort of the Unity Caucus of Chicago in the sense that they are in power. CORE people are proud to show their colors as opposed to Unity which tries to hide the fact they they even exist from the members - except during elections.

People were coming in last night from all over the nation and conversation flowed around many issues, but the NEA endorsement of Obama was causing quite a stir. I'm sure that will come up again today at the conference. It is interesting that the NEA convention just left town and remnants will be at the conference today.

Oh, in case you haven't been following,  I wrote about it yesterday:

In Chicago for National Educators' Conference to Fight Back for Public Education

My 3 wives are dragging me down to breakfast. More tonight. Maybe some video.

Here is the NY Post piece:

$weet deal on UFT charter

By SALLY GOLDENBERG

Last Updated: 3:46 AM, July 6, 2011

The City Council awarded $2 million to the politically powerful United Federation of Teachers for its Brooklyn charter school amid intense negotiations with the union to avoid teacher layoffs.

Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Brooklyn Councilman Erik Dilan sponsored the allocation, to be distributed in Fiscal Year 2013.

The funds -- part of a $375 million capital-projects budget -- will be used to plan "a potential new building that would incorporate the UFT charter schools with a community center and health clinic" in East New York, union spokesman Peter Kadushin said.

The union's charter school shares space with traditional schools, and the money would help the school relocate to an independent location.

Council aides said the grant was being discussed months before negotiations with the UFT to avert Mayor Bloomberg's threatened 4,100 teacher layoffs.

The UFT and the council signed off on a deal to avoid layoffs by giving up a year of teacher sabbaticals, making both the union and Quinn look like victors in the budget battle.

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Privatization Outrage in Detroit!

The transformation of Catherine Ferguson Academy into a for-profit charter is an attack on the students, educational staff and population as a whole. It is part of a nationwide trend to undermine public education and privatize schools. Detroit, as Obama’s education secretary said, is “Ground Zero” in education “reform”—that is, the looting of public education by corporations and Wall Street speculators.

Detroit’s Catherine Ferguson Academy to be Privatized
What is Evans Solutions, Inc.?

By Nancy Hanover- wsws.org21 June 2011

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/jun2011/evan-j21.shtml

A protest of the closing of the Catherine Ferguson Academy, a Detroit school for pregnant teens, became a victory
celebration. Actor Danny Glover speaks as Dalisha Thomas, 17, with daughter Kendall, listens.
REGINA H. BOONE/Detroit Free Press

Detroit Public Schools’ Emergency Financial Manager Roy Roberts announced last week that the Catherine Ferguson Academy (CFA), as well as two other alternative schools, the Barsamian Preparatory Center and the Hancock Preparatory Center, will be transformed into for-profit charters run by the Detroit corporation Evans Solutions, Inc. (see “An attack on public education: Detroit’s Catherine Ferguson Academy to become for-profit charter school”).
 

The survival of the nationally acclaimed CFA has been hailed as a victory by the Detroit political establishment and its supporters. The fact that the school has been transformed into a charter has been deliberately ignored or downplayed. It is quite possible that the closure announcement was a smokescreen, with the charter deal waiting in the works to be presented as a “victory.”
 

This sordid deal is, first of all, about money. All three schools were targeted for charterization because their per-pupil costs exceeded Michigan’s state aid formula. DPS receives about $7,600 per pupil from the state and an additional $500 million from grant funds. The cost to run CFA was $12,619 per student, with Barsamian requiring $35,636 per pupil, and Hancock $31,689. EFM Roberts has stated that converting CFA to a charter will reduce spending by $2 million.
 

The Barsamian and Hancock Prep Centers did not receive the press attention of Ferguson. They provided students who have been expelled from the Detroit Public School system with additional support, including counseling geared to the development of social skills and conflict-resolution services.
 

Evans Solutions is a for-profit Education Management Organization (EMO). One of its first tasks will be to brutally slash spending, a necessary step toward making the schools profitable. This will require eliminating crucial services and slashing wages for teachers.
 

The aims of Evans Solutions can be deduced from a look at the company’s current portfolio of schools. Evans now runs the Blanche Kelso Bruce Academy, begun in 2001 with two sites, and now expanded into six locations. These schools are designated “strict discipline academies.” They only serve those young people who are required by law to attend them, due to adjudication by the legal system.
 

The only educational experience Evans Solutions currently has is with this law-and-order model. The company also works closely with “faith-based” operations such as the Samaritan Center, St. Jude Center and the Don Bosco Hall.
 

In a 2007 court settlement, Evans Solutions paid out a $47,500 settlement to Doris Bennett, who was fired by the company after she revealed to her supervisor that she had breast cancer.
 

Blair Evans, the owner and superintendent of Evans Solutions, started his career in juvenile incarceration before entering the charter business in 2001. His ability to get control of CFA and the other schools is connected to his longstanding connections with the Democratic Party and the county police.
 

Blair Evans’s older brother, Warren Evans, has held the positions of Detroit Police Chief, Wayne County Sheriff and Chief of Operations for the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. He ran for mayor in the wake of the resignation of Kwame Kilpatrick. Evans oversaw the construction of the new juvenile detention center in Detroit, which contracted his brother’s Blanche Kelso Bruce charter for its education services.
 

In his 2009 election campaign, the elder Evans crudely stated, “I don’t care what you do to the [DPS] curriculum…the biggest problem with DPS is public safety.”
 

Most notoriously, Warren Evans was forced to resign as Detroit police chief after deploying the TV reality show “The First 48” to film a raid that resulted in the death of seven-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones in 2010. Stanley-Jones was first burned by an incendiary flashbang grenade, then shot by police.
 

Warren Evans’s ex-wife was former Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings, a close ally of the city’s former mayor, Democrat Kwame Kilpatrick.
 

Public School Academies (PSAs) or charters were first legalized in Michigan in 1994. Wayne County Regional Educational Service Agency (Wayne RESA), the agency that charters Evans Solutions, Inc., approved its first PSA in 1995. It now oversees 90 schools with 53,000 students, about 17 percent of the county’s 313,000 public school students.
 

According to the annual report, “Profiles of For-Profit Education Management Organizations,” put out by the National Education Policy Center, enrollment of students in for-profits nationally is growing at a rapid pace. Since its study began, the number of schools managed by for-profit EMOs has increased from 131 to 729. At present, 31 states have authorized the operation of for-profit EMOs.
 

Michigan is, by far, the state with the highest number of for-profits, at 185. The NEPC report also notes that while Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is a crude indicator of school competence, of the schools managed by for-profits, 47 percent, or nearly half, failed.
 

The transformation of Catherine Ferguson Academy into a for-profit charter is an attack on the students, educational staff and population as a whole. It is part of a nationwide trend to undermine public education and privatize schools. Detroit, as Obama’s education secretary said, is “Ground Zero” in education “reform”—that is, the looting of public education by corporations and Wall Street speculators.

In Chicago for National Educators' Conference to Fight Back for Public Education

I got into Chicago on an early flight and you may not be hearing much from me over the next few days since I am hanging out until Saturday. But I will try to put up some updates and even some video if possible.

I'm excited at the development of this July 6 conference which will gather activists from all over the nation. I've been involved with the planning of the event since March and it has all come together.

Here is the schedule for the conference:

http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=bkq8upcab&oeidk=a07e3xak34sa0d7cfb4

We have a large contingent from NYC going representing a variety of organizations. I count at least 6 GEM people going and a bunch from other orgs in NYC. Four of us are sharing a suite, so expect lots of pillow fights.

Off to do some sightseeing and eating. I'm looking forward to hanging with George Schmidt. We just were howling over George's very funny and on target review at Substance of his favorite new teacher movie "Bad Teacher."

I'm not sure why, but he included this pic of GEMers at our rally at the premiere of "Waiting for Superman". What a crew! I think I spot some of my roomies. Better go get the pillow!

Wearing capes and name tags that read "I am a public school teacher, talk to me" New York teachers (above) protested the premier of the teacher bashing movie "Waiting for Superman" on September 26, 2010, in Manhattan. Substance photo by John Lawhead.

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Winerip on Jamaica HS and CL James Eterno, Video of Student Doreen Mohammed, James Liebman Returns as the Class Fool

James Eterno, Jamaica's representative to the teachers' union, has been portrayed in the news media as a man who cares more about preserving jobs than - as the mayor never tires of saying - "putting children first." That is not how Kevin Gonzalez sees it. For Kevin, Mr. Eterno is the United States history teacher who stayed late to tutor his students, helping Kevin earn a top score of 5 on the Advanced Placement test.
Doreen and Gerard definitely feel put first. Jamaica had no college adviser this year - until October, when Mr. Eterno stepped in. "Before Christmas break he stayed late to make sure everything was perfect to send to the colleges," Gerard said. "Mr. Eterno went way beyond." After Doreen was accepted to Columbia, she spoke with people at the admissions office. "They told me how Mr. Eterno kept calling them about me and faxing them stuff," she said. 

(And let me remind people that James has a little 2-year old of his own at home.)


Here is a video I shot of Doreen Mohammed speaking at a press conference at Tweed in support of the NAACP/UFT suit about how the DOE denied her school resources - and she also talks about James who was there) and the other teachers at the school who supported the students. Many of these, James included, will soon be ATRs vilified by the DOE and Educators $ Excellence. Children first indeed.



http://youtu.be/J1vpqAMtmAQ

One of the myths perpetrated by ed deformers is that being a strong union rep is incompatible with being a strong teacher. Mike Winerip in today's amazing article on Jamaica HS with the above paragraph on James Eterno (who I should point out was the candidate who ran for UFT president against Michael Mulgrew in the 2010 UFT elections) certainly punches a whole in that myth.

I've been working with James Eterno in ICE for the last 8 years. Everyone knows James is an outstanding union Chapter Leader and a passionate defender of his school. But while I pretty much assumed James was a great teacher, he was often too modest to talk about things like that he was the teacher of the year at Jamaica HS a few years ago.

I have always thought that union activists should merge their defense of teacher rights with their defense of children. I always used to criticize James for separating the two. In the campaign for president of the UFT, if James hadn't been forced to spend all his time defending his school, I had hoped he would have brought in the experience of working with students and how it informed his activism. I met with a young 2nd year teacher/activist the other day and we both could agree that the kids were the best part of the job. I still think so.

Some conspiracy theorists might surmise that this comes out on July 4 when nobody is around to read it. Not I. Wait - on second thought.....

Here is Winerip's must read piece.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/nyregion/a-failing-school-not-to-these-students-at-jamaica-high.html?ref=nyregion http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/nyregion/a-failing-school-not-to-these-students-at-jamaica-high.html?ref=nyregion

After Burn
One of the things I liked about the way Julie Cavanagh framed the issue was that having strong teacher rights made her strong in advocating for the kids and parents in her school. Now that she has become chapter leader we will see people like her and Eterno bringing these issues to the fore.

After Burn2: James Liebman returns for a class fool performance

As James S. Liebman, the Columbia law professor who developed the city report card, wrote in an e-mail: “Good high schools aren’t satisfied when just a few kids get into strong colleges. They aim for all kids to do so.” Education Department officials point out that the graduation rate at Jamaica has stayed at about 50 percent for years.

But it is also possible that the deck has been stacked against Jamaica High, that the 15 “worst” high schools have been packed with the students with the worst problems. According to an analysis by the city’s Independent Budget Office, these schools have more poor children (63 percent versus 52 percent citywide), more homeless students (6 percent versus 4 percent), more special-education students (18 versus 12). For 24 percent of Jamaica High students, English is a foreign language, compared with 11 percent citywide.

The “worst” high schools are sent the eighth graders who are the furthest behind: their average proficiency score on state tests is 2.6 out of 4, compared with 2.9 citywide, and more of these students (9 percent versus 4 percent) are over age, suggesting they have had to repeat grades.

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Attrition Will Be Worse Than Anticipated/Haimson Speech at PEP on Class Size

I believe the attrition will be worse than indicated. I was speaking to a teacher of over a decade who said she is not going back. She has until August to let them know and will wait for the last minute. Her disgust was so apparent - she said she would only go back if by some miracle her Leadership Acad principal (she used the expression Leadershit Acad princ) was gone. What kind of job will she look for? Anything she said. The teaching job is just not worth the stress. This is a top level 2nd career teacher who would rather take a meager pension than continue to put herself through the pain.

I hear stories of other people- especially those who had their tenure extended by a year for clearly political reasons - the principal or superintendent trying to demonstrate how vigilant they are being while they admit to the teacher their teaching is OK. Stories are that 50% of the teachers did not get tenure or were extended. Sources tell me many of these young teachers are livid and are OUTAHERE!! Some of them are - or were - supporters of of the Gates funded anti-teacher group Educators $ Excellence (no matter what they say), which makes believe there are no politics in the system.

The reality is that this is exactly what the deformers want to happen as it helps push the temp teacher/peace corps concept that they are aiming for where there will be no need for pensions at all and where most teachers will be at extemely low salaries.

The lessons of making a job that was stressful to begin with into a 24/7 stress factory will lead to a lower level teaching staff than the ed deformers started out with. Unfortunately we will have a mostly privatized/deregulated system where proof can be hidden and it will be another half a generation before the counter reformation takes hold,  though there are already signs of it beginning.

The above was my comment after Leonie Haimson posted this:

Though the worst was averted, the city budget deal is still only a very partial victory for our kids.

In essence, the deal came about because the city finally acknowledged what the many have long warned:  Bloomberg's failed policies and the worsening conditions in our schools have persuaded even more teachers to leave voluntarily than usual, which mitigated the need for layoffs. 

Nearly half of the 6,100 teaching positions that the budget cuts would eliminate will still be lost -- an estimated 2,600 -- through attrition, and these teachers will not be replaced, despite rising enrollment.  This will certainly lead to the fourth year in a row of increased class sizes in our schools and probably even sharper increases than have occurred in more than a decade.

Children in the early grades will experience the worst of it, as Kindergarten enrollment is rising especially fast.  Grades K-3 will suffer the largest class sizes in twelve years--with an even larger class size equity gap between NYC children and those in the rest of the state. 

All this, despite Bloomberg’s original campaign promise to reduce class sizes in grades K-3, a court decision in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case and state law passed in 2007 requiring that the city lower class size in all grades, several audits showing DOE misusing millions of dollars of state class size funds,  and a growing body of research indicating that smaller classes lead to more learning, narrow the achievement gap, and are a significant determinant of success later in life.
Another problem with this deal is it sets the stage for yet another budget battle next year; in which the interests of children will again be pitted against those of millionaires as well as Tweed bureaucrats with flawed priorities. 

As parents, we need to redouble our efforts to pressure our political leaders, including the Governor, the Mayor and the Speaker of the City Council, to adequately fund our schools and provide NYC children with their right to smaller classes and an equitable chance to learn.

Leonie Haimson

Leonie Haimson makes the best and most persistent case for low class size as she did at the June 27 PEP meeting. Here is a video of her speech:

Why Does Diane Ravitch Hate Children?

Just brilliant satire---

America's education reform movement -- the most significant reform movement in the history of this planet -- is just concluding another amazing school year.  Politicians of all stripes and parties have come together to say, "We will not accept inferior teachers destroying the lives of our children anymore".


With grim budget cuts necessitating layoffs, we are reminded once again that seniority based layoffs make as much sense as saying that U2 should have to keep Bono as their lead singer just because he's been with the band for 30 years and has tenure.


For the past 30 years, education reformers have had to fight the forces of the status quo, but in that time we have agreed that certain changes must be made to education:

• The business principles that have made our economy great should be applied to our schools as well.
• We need a common curriculum 
• We need frequent standardized testing
• We need a longer day and school year to allow more time for increased test prep
• We need a rich curriculum focused like a laser on only math and reading
• We need an end to tenure and LIFO policies
• Younger perkier teachers are superior to the old saddle horses who too often dominate public education.
• The best teachers for poor inner city students are young, preferably Ivy League educated young people from well to do families.
• Charter schools are superior to public schools because they can council students into leaving and public schools must teach everybody.
• We should fire the bottom 1/3 of all teachers every year.

These points are the hallmark of true education reform. They bind together Joel Klein, Michelle Rhee, Chris Cristie, Arne Duncan, and myself.  Several forces of the status quo have naturally opposed these moves, but lately one of the worst critics has been Diane Ravitch.

READ ENTIRE PIECE AT: http://laststand4children.blogspot.com/
Why Does Diane Ravitch Hate Children?

Charter School Attrition Exposes BS of Supposed High Grad Rates

Take a look at these examples of charter school attrition. C.A.S.I.L.I.P.S. does excellent work.
https://sites.google.com/site/casilips/graduation-rates

I'll just throw up - I mean that literally and figuratively - just a few charts (we feature similar charts taken from Edwize in out film that wow the audience.) Go to the site to see a gaggle of them.

I'm picking on SEED in Washington DC because it was featured in Waiting for Superman as the nirvanna of charter schools. See the trailor where Davis Guggenhein left out some inconvenient truths:
http://www.seedschooldc.org/page.php?pid=64

Wowie - ONE HUNDRED PER CENT GRAD RATE - if you just manage to lose a bunch of kids who might not have graduated along the way.

Actually, don't get me wrong. I think the SEED concept of boarding during the week (like they do in the Cuban PUBLIC SCHOOL System) is great. But let's be honest about the whole thing.

Here is the way SEED has been described in all the hype:

SEED School of Washington DC

From an August 13, 2010 webpage with video segment on the NewsOne website
"In a neighborhood where only 33 percent of students make it through high school and few go on to college, the Seed School in Washington DC is making a difference to get its youngsters on the road to success.  Most students entering the Seed School do so three grades below grade level. Upon entry, students are set up in dormitories during the week and allowed to spend weekends at home. This year, the school proudly reported a 100 percent graduation and college acceptance rate."  A video segment on SEED from MSNBC can also be viewed on this webpage.

Here's the bad news:

GET LOTS MORE CHARTS HERE:

CASILIPS - Citizens Against Special Interest Lobbying in Public Schools

The Gallery of "100% Graduation Rates"

All the schools mentioned below have been publicized as having "100% graduation rates." Each of the graphs below shows the enrollment of a cohort of students (class) as these students pass from 9th grade to 12th grade over a 4-year period. In each case, the number of students in the cohort group drops significantly from 9th grade to 12th grade, indicating large attrition. Yet the schools were able to claim "100% graduation rate" on paper by recording all students who departed as "transferring" to other schools by "choice."  It is questionable whether enough followup was done to ensure that these departing students really did continue their education.  Further, it is not clear why a high school should be so completely absolved of responsibility for attrition.  A better way of measuring graduation rate is needed.

Message from Teacher in England on the Strike

Sent to a friend:

Our public sector workers got a lot of bad press for striking.  Lots of teachers I know went on strike, but I didn't as my union hasn't voted for that at this stage.  One of our main issues (along with the similar issues you face) is that of our pensions.  We have two perks in teaching - good holidays and a good pension.  Our salaries do not equal our other professional counterparts, but knowing we would have a good pension have kept teaching unions quiet for a long time.  Unfortunately, the pension we all signed up to is being destroyed and the governement is asking us all to pay around £100 a month towards it, whilst our final pension will on average be worth £50,000 less! 

Who knows what will happen, but our current conservative government don't respond well to strikes (remember the miners of the 1980s!). 

The world isn't how it should be.  I'm currently marking GCSE religious studies papers and the main essay question is; "You should always stand up to unjust governments".... do you agree?  Quite apt at the moment eh?

Hope the cause is a success and things start to change for both sides of the Atlantic!

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Where did all the money go?

I just came across this laying on my computer messy desktop - I think this was a leaflet from Staten Island that Loretta Prisco sent - this was given out on the SI ferry by her.

Since 1980 the economy has doubled in size, yet adjusted for inflation, most wages have barely increased. So…Where did all the money go?

Almost all of it went to the super rich. The top 1% used to take home 10% of the nation’s total income, now they take home more than 20%.The super-rich have 40% of the nation’s entire wealth.    

With wealth, comes political power-especially power to lower their tax rate. Pre- 1980, the top tax rate was 70%, now it’s less than 35%. Much of the super rich’s income is capital gains on which they pay 15%.

Tax revenues are less than 15% of total revenue creating: the deficit, overcrowded schools, roads sacrificed, limited library hours, firehouses and senior centers closing, cuts in senior and youth programs and much more.

Instead of joining together for jobs and wages, many workers are scared and are competing for jobs and wages. Union vs. non-union, private vs. public, native born vs. immigrant.       

   

The middle class can no longer borrow as before, nor do we have the purchasing power to get the economy growing, which means… the only way to grow a strong economy is to keep a strong middle class.                                                   (edited from Robert B. Reich)

So…where can we get $$$? - $4.7 billion?

·       Ending subsidies to the big five banks

·       Closing hedge fund loopholes

·       Cutting NYC contracts to the big six banks

·       Demanding the electronic mortgage recording system pay owed fees

·       Taxing the super rich 

·       Taking 1/3 of our $3 billion surplus for services

·       Restoring the commuter tax and establishing a progressive one

·       Taxing insurance companies as all other businesses are taxed

            (Suggestions from the Independent Budget Office, The May 12 Coalition).

Walcott Speech at PEP Makes Baby Cry

http://youtu.be/foRoS7nNu0Q

Tom Crean Comments at the June Delegate Assembly

Here's a follow-up to our report (Getting Physical and UFT Delegate Assembly Reports from James Eterno) on the UFT Delegate Assembly from Tom Crean, Chapter Leader of MS 218K who was the lone voice who spoke against the budget deal.

Hi Norm


As you have already stated on ednotes I was unfortunately the only speaker allowed at the Delegate Assembly against the UFT's deal with Bloomberg that averted layoffs. There was, as James Eterno has pointed out, much more that could have been said especially about the position of ATRs. I chose, however, to look at the wider question of cuts to education, how this will affect teachers as well as students and parents and how the cuts could have been stopped.


Anyway here is the gist of what I said: 

Michael Mulgrew in his report stated correctly that the budget the City Council is about to agree contains a range of cuts to social services and the layoff of 1,000 city workers. What is not correct is to suggest that the budget won't contain major cuts to education on top of all the other cuts to education in this city in recent years. We are all greatly relieved that there will be no layoffs of teachers. But the deal we are discussing implicitly accepts a reduction in the teacher workforce of 2,600 which in addition to previous cuts amounts to a reduction in the order of 8,000 teachers in the past three years. In my school, IS 218, we experienced class sizes of 37-38 in the 7th and 8th grade this year and it wasn't until well into the school year that we got partial relief in the 8th grade. With cuts this big in the workforce, our experience at 218 will be increasingly common. It may be true that our pay and benefits are not being cut in this deal but it is inevitable that, for large numbers of us, our working conditions will be further degraded.


The cuts and attacks against public education are part of a wider corporate offensive against the public sector and the working class in this country. Bloomberg is the sharp end of this in New York but Cuomo is not far behind. The question may be asked: how could we stop such an onslaught? The answer history gives us is social struggle. If you are looking for a model look at the civil rights movement. On May 12 we took a step in that direction. As Micheal Mulgrew stated previously it was good that we got out of the pens. We marched on Wall Street alongside other unionized workers and activists and gave vent to working class anger. And there are a lot of angry working class people in this city right now. From there we should have steadily escalated the resistance and made clear that business as usual was over until ALL the cuts were taken off the table [as we all know the resources are there; it's a question of priorities, those of Wall Street vs the needs of ordinary people] If necessary there should have been mass civil disobedience; instead in the end we chose to break the front of labor.


All the best,
Tom Crean
Chapter Leader MS 218, Brooklyn

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Comment on my video statement on Success blood-sucking cancer charter network

Bravo Norm!

My school is co-located with an HSA in Harlem. Every single one of our classrooms, related service and administrative offices have been moved every single year that we have been co-located with Harlem Success Academy.

This is disruptive, disrespectful and has had a destabilizing effect on our school community. Our students, parents and educators are being treated like refugees in our own school building, all in order to privilege the millionaire and hedge fund backed charter school HSA. Parents, students and teachers must re-acclimate themselves to an entirely new and different school layout every year.

These moves take place in our public school, while Harlem Success renovates the classrooms that our students have been forced to vacate. Last year HSA projected 125 kindergartners for the 2010-2011 school year, but only enrolled about 80 something.

This inaccuracy, or lie if you'd prefer, provided HSA with extra space while 4 of the related services in our public school (we serve a high needs population of self contained and English language learner populations) were forced to squeeze into a 2/3 size classroom that provided no privacy. Co-locations do not work and the privileging of charters is at the expense of our most vulnerable students, families and the public education system!

The idea that charters provide choice is an absolute joke! Our parents did not choose to have their children taught in unsafe basement classrooms (our public school students were forced into classrooms that were created in our building's basement next to a boiler room for the past two years, while HSA took all of the newest classrooms in the building) or to have their children moved around their school building like refugees. They did not choose to be second-class citizens in their own school building.

The Grand Coalition Against Teachers - and a Bonus Video of - Me at the PEP

Hey, is it July already? You mean we've passed the last day of school? My how one loses track in retirement.

...anyone who brings up out-of-school factors such as poverty is both defending the status quo of public education and claiming that schools can do nothing to overcome the life circumstances of poor children. The response is silly and, by now, tiresome. Some teachers will certainly be able to help compensate for the family backgrounds and out-of-school environments of some students. But the majority of poor children will not get all the help they need: their numbers are too great, their circumstances too severe, and resources too limited. Imagine teachers from excellent suburban public schools transferring en masse to low-performing, inner-city public schools. Would these teachers have as much success as they did in the suburbs? Would they be able to overcome the backgrounds of 15.6 million poor children? Even with bonus pay, would they stay with the job for more than a few years? Common sense and experience say no, and yet the reformers insist they can fix public schools by fixing the teachers.

The Grand Coalition Against Teachers, By Joanne Barkan - posted at TFT (The Frustrated Teacher)

 I know we're preaching to the choir here, but Joanne Barkan's article should give you much ammunition when you get into those July 4th arguments with teacher bashers. Here's the link.

Where Barkan doesn't go in this piece – and there may be follow-ups – is the motivation of the ed deformers in the "blame the teacher" campaigns:  Defanging the unions (non-unionized charters, Teach for America/Educators 4 Excellence shock troops, merit pay) - not that the unions have put up a strong fight - but at least they have the ability to bring a unified teacher force to the table. In the ed deform world each teacher is on an individual contract and competing with each other. That is the holy grail of ed deform. While luring teachers with the promise of higher pay through merit pay, they will be able to lower the average teacher salary substantially - think of the south.

This ties in to Barkan's next article on the rise of education entrepreneurship where there's a whole lot of money to be made out of education. First you kill of the only force capable of putting up opposition. Then you milk the cow until a generation later - or less - it is clear what it was all about. By then it is too late.

Thus, my intense  anger at the UFT/AFT/NEA (which opens its meetings today in Chicago) for basically laying down in front of the ed deform juggernaut. Every single UFT official talks about how they are not against charter schools or even co-locations when they are done right. When I talk to them they seem to understand what is afoot but are helpless to get in the way other than trying to make the procedure work - procedures set up in a stacked deck. Thus the law suit to "make them do it the right way." I won't get into the whys of how the union functions because that is a longer story about the ideology behind the AFT/UFT, an issue some of us will be exploring this summer in study groups.

Here is a short video of my speech to the PEP on Monday about charters.

http://youtu.be/UVBC9_YB1lE



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