What If? The State of Education on September 10, 2001

Published in The Wave (Rockaway Beach's Community newspaper), Sept. 16, 2011 (www.rockawave.com)


The State of Education on September 10, 2001
by Norm Scott

Imagine if I issued a call for a series of radical reforms of the public school educational system that would turn every school in the nation into the equivalent of the most elite private school. How about class sizes under 20 for every single child in the system – 15 for the earliest grades? A highly trained assistant teacher in each classroom. Classrooms stocked full of supplies. A rich and varied curriculum, that includes travel to far away places. And one-on-one tutoring for every child that needs it. How about a laptop for every child? Every single child in this nation offered a world class education.

You're saying: This guy must be nuts. Doesn't he know the nation is broke and the political system is in shambles? But what if I had issued this call on September 10, 2001? Or September 10, 1991? Or '81? There would have been the same basic reaction - you're nuts - too expensive, an impossible dream.

Yet, after September 11, 2001 an estimated three trillion dollars or more materialized seemingly out of nowhere to fight two wars and fund an immense security machine from airports to just about every aspect of peoples' lives. And these costs keep rising every single day.

So, without going into the politics of it all, there is some indication here of where the priorities of this nation lie. Since I started teaching in under-resources schools in 1967 in the midst of the Vietnam War I have raised the issue of the immense defense department budget compared to what is spent on education. When that war ended there was no massive shift of money to education. There was still a cold war to fight. When that war ended in the late 80's and we entered what looks today like the enormously prosperous 90's, I didn't notice tons of money in the schools.

Then came September 11, 2001 and all hope for that world-class education was doomed. Today, the US spends more on defense than the combined total of every nation in the world.

Instead, we have seen a so-called education reform movement that has focused the blame on the teachers and their unions – in actuality a third war funded by billionaires.

Let me backtrack a bit for those new to the school wars. Over the past decade there has been a radical shift in the debate on education towards a business model market-based school system – urban schools only, of course – based on competition between schools and teachers, primarily through the push for charter schools, mostly non-unionized and stocked by many newbie teachers, often recruited from Teach for America which offers a 6 week summer training course before turning these recruits loose on the schools (most TFAers leave teaching after their 2-year commitment). Schools are branded as failures and closed down based on standardized test scores. Teachers are given merit pay or fired based on these scores. Charter schools competing for the same children are opened next to or within public schools to offer so-called "choice." Private management companies, some for profit, are brought in to manage charters and even some public schools. Enormous sums are spent on testing and data management while starving the classrooms. Anyone bringing up poverty or other outside school conditions is branded as an apologist for teacher unions or an excuse-maker or a supporter of the status quo.

The system was first implemented in Chicago in 1994 and we have had this system in place here in NYC since Bloomberg took over the schools in 2002. George Bush codified things nationally with No Child Left Behind (NCLB) around the same time. Obama has not only adopted this extreme appliance of capitalism to the schools whole cloth but extended it with Race to the Top which forces states to grovel for federal ed money by imposing narrow prescriptions on state education departments to conform to the corporate reform agenda. Not exactly a socialist, this Obama guy.

What has been the outcome? Disaster. Applying a business model that almost brought the nation's economy down in 2008 has had the same impact in education. City after city has been wracked by test cheating scandals. The Big One hasn't hit NYC - yet. (It is interesting that Bloomberg and Klein removed the erasure analysis monitoring system when they took over, claiming it - ahem - cost too much.)

Who are these people pushing the agenda? Bill Gates, Eli Broad, the Walton Family, Rupert Murdoch, and numerous hedge fund managers - you know, all those millionaires and billionaires who have demonstrated so much concern about poor kids. David Sirota writing in Slate calls it: The bait and switch of school "reform": Behind the new corporate agenda for education lurks the old politics of profit and self-interest.
Google the article for some enlightenment on what is behind the curtain.

We have branded these people as ed deformers while the people putting forth the ideas in the first paragraph are "Real Reformers." It is a David vs. Goliath battle but as the defects of the ed deformers continue to show up daily, there are more and more defections from their camp, with Diane Ravitch being the biggie and celebrities like Matt Damon joining the cause, thus giving the RRs a puncher's chance.


Choice in schools but not in politicians
Ed deformers throw around the words "school choice", as if people were shopping for varieties of corn flakes in a supermarket. So I found the recent local political races affecting us in Rockaway interesting. Wave editor and former teacher Howie Schwach said it as well as anyone in last week's edition – The Least Objectionable Candidate. Schwach just about everything objectionable in each of the 4 candidates. Convinced me.

I too held my nose as I voted. As I wrote in my last column I felt I really had little choice when it comes to my core issue - education. I did receive a nice call from Phil Goldfeder who said I would be surprised. Of course he used the ed deform stock expression - we must hold on to our talented young teachers – which I told him is code for an attack on teacher seniority protections. He said he didn't realize that. We'll see where he stands when Bloomberg comes after "Last in First Out" this year. He promised he would hold the line.

If Anthony's Weiner had still been running against Bob Turner instead of the hapless Weprin, I still would have has little choice since Weiner also supported the ed deform program. (By the way, if Weiner hadn't self-destructed I'm not sure he would have won given that Turner had 40% of the vote the last time.) Turner of course a MOC - More Objectionable Candidate since he doesn't believe in government and drinks tea. But I do expect him to support putting a Jerry Springer show in every pot.

Excellent Analysis of ATR Issue from Marjorie Stamberg

Today will be a busy posting day with so much information coming in, so if you can catch up over the weekend.
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LAST UPDATE: 11:15 - I forgot to include a link to some excellent ATR sardonic wit that our pal NYCATR posted: The Love Letter of Ms. R. ATR - NYCATR welcomes a new contributor, Ms. R. ATR.  We predict that she'll be a star. 

ALSO DON'T MISS: The Nobile-Barr Virus continues to rage

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Here is a great analysis of the ATR situation from Marjorie Stamberg. Marjorie and I disagree on a bunch of issues but on the ATR situation she has been on target from Day 1. In fact Marjorie, along with John Powers, were the orginators of the movement to battle for ATRs years ago. They were both part of District 79 when it was dismantled in 2008 and so many colleagues became ATRs. They organized a rally in front of Tweed that so threatened the DOE and the UFT that they signed a new agreement on ATRs the day before the rally and then the UFT tried to divert people from the rally to UFT HQ with a wine and cheese party - which I taped - that led to a resolution at the DA banning taping (see the video links below Marjorie's post).

Marjorie puts a rational list of demands on the table. As we build the GEM ATR committee, we will take a good look at these demands and create an ATR lobbying effort within the UFT.

In a convoluted way, the actions of Marjorie and John helped initiate GEM. John was coming to ICE meetings and and at times so did Marjorie to get us to support her efforts. Angel Gonzalez and I went to the ATR meetings they were holding and ICE publicized the events. But after the rally in November 2008 there seemed to be few plans for further action. So we formed an ICE ATR committee at an ICE meeting in December 2008. John Lawhead made the connection that ATRs were mostly created by closing schools which were affected by high stakes tests - so we expanded the committee to cover all these issues and held our first meeting in January 2009. How that evolved into the current GEM is a long and convoluted story. If interested, read it here: A History of the Grassroots Education Movement.

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ADDENDUM FROM JAMES ETERNO: She says 19 schools aren't closing because of a court order. This does not sound right. We lost in court and are closing. Please clarify what she means.
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Marjorie Stamberg's Notes on the Absent Teacher Reserve

Permanent Positions and Full Rights for ATRs!

Below are some notes based on conversations with teachers who have been living in the surreal world of ATRland. According to the UFT’s latest figures, some 1,500 of our colleagues are caught in this limbo, where their rights are trampled on.

In the 2005 contract with the NYC Department of Education, the UFT agreed to allow principals to select the staff at “their” schools. It was also agreed to abolish the UFT job transfer list, where a teacher whose school was closed, or who wished to change schools, could transfer to an opening on a seniority basis, by license area.

 Many of us opposed this at the time as a dangerous attack on teachers’ job security. The upshot was the ballooning of the Absent Teacher Reserve consisting of teachers who have been “excessed” through no fault of their own, as the DOE capriciously shuts down and reorganizes schools as part of its program of charterizing, corporatizing and privatizing public education.

Teachers in the ATR pool have been made into scapegoats by the media which claims that they are “bad teachers” who should be fired and are supposedly costing NYC taxpayers millions of dollars to sit around doing nothing. These claims are bald-faced lies in the service of a union-busting agenda.

In fact, as a recent audit by NYC Comptroller John Liu’s office shows, 95 percent of all ATRs are working in schools, three-quarters of them are teaching, and almost half of those who have been in the ATR pool for two or more years have been assigned to the same location for at least two consecutive years! (“Audit Report on the Department of Education’s Utilization of the Absent Teacher Reserve Pool,” September 6, 2011). They are only in the ATR limbo because principals don’t want to pay their salaries.

Our ATR colleagues need the support of all teachers. As every teacher knows, “If You’re Not an ATR Today, You Could Be Tomorrow!”

Last spring it was urgent to fight against Mayor Bloomberg’s threatened layoffs of thousands of teachers. Due to our fight-back, the mayor was unable to change the “LIFO” (“Last In First Out”) seniority rules which are a basic union protection. Bloomberg had to back down on his layoff threats which would have paralyzed the schools and been disastrous for students.

Today we must demand that the more than 800 school aides and other staff who have been laid off be returned to work. And we need to come to the aid of our ATR colleagues under attack, out of elementary solidarity and to protect the jobs of all teachers and staff.

Stymied in its efforts to lay off teachers, the DOE simply “excessed” them. There would be hundreds more placed in the ATR purgatory except that a court order is still blocking DOE efforts to close 19 schools.

At recent so-called “job fairs,” ATRs turned out in the hundreds, but the principals refused to even bother to turn up to interview or hire. This profound contempt for ATR teachers is part of an organized media campaign instigated by the DOE.

Starting on September 15, principals have been told to place ATRs in all vacancies and long-term absences in the schools. So one thing we can do right now is to report all vacancies to the union chapter leaders, especially where there are ATRs in the same school.

According to the citywide agreement, after one year ATRs who have provisional positions should be offered a permanent assignment if the principal and the teacher agree that there is a “good fit”. However, many principals don’t want to hire an experienced teacher, conscious of his or her rights, when they can get two new hires for the same price. There are many ATRs who have been working in the same position year after year, and yet the principal still refuses to give them permanent assignments.

ATRs who are not given provisional positions are to be treated as subs, and moved from school to school wherever there is a need. Clearly this is an agenda to harass these teachers out of the system!

Back in 2008, when the DOE recklessly reorganized the GED program in District 79, “excessing” hundreds of teachers, we demanded that every teacher in the ATR pool must be given a permanent position. We must continue to demand that today. After the 2008 fight in D79, including a demonstration of more than 200 UFTers in November of that year, the ATR issue has not gone away, despite the toothless “Side Agreement” with the DOE.
 

The UFT must insist that:

·        Schools place all ATR teachers before any new hires are placed.

·        ATRs should be given permanent assignments with full rights.
There are also a number of things that the union can and should do, now.

·        There should be regular citywide UFT meetings for ATRs to discuss together, and to get the latest information from the UFT leadership. In addition, we call on the UFT to form a special ATR functional chapter so that teachers placed in this terrible situation have representation and advocates to demand that they be placed and their rights be respected. At present there is no body in the UFT that has this task, and ATRs are mostly left to fend for themselves.

·        Even within the framework of the present contract, the union can and should provide oversight and encouragement to principals to request the ATR be kept in the school, and not bumped from place to place. This requires advocacy on a case by case basis. It is obvious this is only good pedagogy to have a teacher familiar with the school administration, the faculty, the students, and the individual curricula.
In addition, ATRed teachers have raised a number of the many unresolved questions about their situation:


·        ATR union rights
What provisions are being made for ATRs to express their rights as full dues-paying UFT members. Where are their voting rights in the UFT chapters? This is particularly acute if these teachers are being moved from school to school.

·        Evaluations
 If ATRS are in numerous schools throughout the school year, how will they be evaluated? It is hard enough to be in a single school without a permanently assigned classroom, But when one is never in a school long enough to develop rapport with the students as well as collaboration with a principal, the other teachers and the school staff, how can a teacher possibly get a satisfactory rating?

·        Paychecks

Many teachers do not have direct deposit. What is the procedure for receiving their paychecks in a timely fashion? Who is responsible and where will the bi-weekly checks be sent for pick-up?
·        What evidence is there for assuming the statistics will be any better by June 2012? It is clear that principals still have huge economic pressures on them which forces them to go for the lower-paid and lower-seniority teachers. There is also evidence of systematic age discrimination which the UFT has not directly fought.
Overall, we must make clear:

With the budget cuts, there has been much talk about larger classroom size. There is no need for overcrowded classrooms with almost 2,000 teachers available to fill full-time positions. There is talk of lack of space. Again, except for certain districts in Queens where the DOE has failed to build new schools despite plenty of forewarning, this is an artificial shortage, created by the DOE’s campaign to hand over available classroom space to charter school “co-locations.”

Even though thousands of students and parents, particularly from the African American, Latino and Asian communities most affected, have loudly (and repeatedly) denounced this attack, Bloomberg and his minions at the DOE keep up their school-wrecking operation. But they can be stopped if we use our power and act together.

Marjorie Stamberg
UFT Delegate
Member, Class Struggle Education Workers
September 15, 2011

Breaking News: Leo Casey Admits He Was Wrong About Bill Gates

UFT's Leo Casey in his review of Brill’s book finally admits Bill Gates is no friend to teachers and has “become outspoken in his anti-teacher pronouncements"  (as though this was a recent development.) -- Leonie Haimson

UPDATED FROM COMMENT AREA: This one really nails one of the ideological aspects:

Michael (above) is exactly right. It's a disgrace. What makes Leo's "turnaround" so unpalatable to me is that I don't believe that Leo believed what he thought and wrote in July 2010. He uses a certain leftist, ivory-tower, screed that paints all those who oppose the Unity/UFT program (lots to talk about there) as being rigid, moral purists or antiquated vanguards of the left. Leo has always understood the "evils" of Gates; his goal is to spin it all to help allow Unity to find wiggle room for further appeasement and capitulation. Contrary to what others may feel, Leo Casey is the most important Unity man in the UFT. He is Unity's "brain," organizer and "spin-master." If you don't believe me, consider the following: Why does Randi want him to move to DC and work with her? And this is absolutely another sound bite from a soul-less man named Leo.

Leonie Haimson takes down Leo Casey in this post to the NYCEnews Listserve.

But before you go on, review this video I made of the walkout at Gates's speech at the 2010 AFT convention in Seattle as they were booed and hooted at by delgates led by the Unity Caucus delegation from NYC. Watch Randi say how proud she is of them.



 

UFT's Leo Casey in his review of Brill’s book finally admits Bill Gates is no friend to teachers and has “become outspoken in his anti-teacher pronouncements"  (as though this was a recent development.)

In July 2010 in same blog, Casey attacked me for calling Gates the most dangerous man in America – absurdly comparing me to a member of a primitive tribe “ who develops rigid and inflexible conceptions of the politically impure, and then devotes nearly all of its energy to attacks on every possible source of pollution of the politically pure, no matter how minor a threat it might be.”

Never mind that Bill Gates was not a minor threat to teachers or to public education, but a very major threat, making this point hard to swallow.

But he went on:

To borrow Henry Ford’s attack line against Walter Reuther for a headline that describes Gates as “the most dangerous man in America,” as one blogger did during the AFT convention, is to indulge in a form of hyperbole that quickly shades into unrecognizable caricature. While there certainly is enough in the educational stance of a Gates to take issue with, this sort of discourse is more in the vein of a sectarian calling out “Impure! Impure!” than it is a serious political engagement. In its rigid identification of the politically impure and its promiscuous definition of the political enemy, it has all the marks of a sectarian politics of self-marginalization.

So I guess I marginalized myself by telling the truth about Gates .  Not clear exactly what the AFT did by inviting him as keynote speaker, which Casey posed as entering into a “dialogue” with him.   You can’t talk to Gates w/out letting him be your keynote speaker?  Is that the best way to establish a dialogue or instead a sign of submission?

In any case, his original attack column and a follow-up one where he tried to defend his position got loads of negative responses, without me having to say a word.  Seems like most of the teachers who commented agreed with me that inviting Gates was a sell-out.  Check them out. 

But I guess that he has figured out that even playing nicey –nice w/ Gates and inviting him to speak at the convention did not pay off.  Now Casey writes:

Teachers and teacher unions have not sought out this class warfare. To the contrary, the American Federation of Teachers made an effort to establish a dialogue with Bill Gates, inviting Gates to address our last national convention in Seattle. This overture had its critics, but it would be a serious mistake for unions to talk only to those who agreed with us. By the same token, we need to be honest about the results of our efforts at dialogue: Gates has become outspoken in his anti-teacher pronouncements. There’s not much left to discuss when he assumes such a posture.

Okay, does that mean he won’t be invited to next year’s conference?

Also check out the novelty film we made modeled after the 1984 Apple Commercial which ironically was attacking IBM - who dey? - while a very short time later Microsoft almost wiped Apple off the map as they became the new IBM.





Social Note:
Off to see Andrea Boccelli in Central Park. If it doesn't rain.

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

GEMers Join ATRs at Washington Heights Job Fair to Enthusiastic Response as DOE Insanity Escalates

James Eterno has a new post at the ICE blog indicating just how insane the ATR problem is becoming:

DOE ESCALATES ITS WAR ON EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONALS

Tuesday was the day for the latest ATR job fair where experienced teachers had to line up for what we have been told were very few positions. Next week there will be another one of these pseudo hiring halls.

Meanwhile back in Jamaica High School, there is nobody covering the library as the librarian was excessed and has been assigned as an ATR to a school in Long Island City. Therefore, the library is closed most of the day; it is only open because there are no classrooms available so some teachers, including myself, are teaching there. In addition, 35 classes at Jamaica are oversize as our phasing out school is squeezed into a smaller part of the building.

I was also informed by another friend who was excessed from Jamaica that she has nothing to do at her new school. 35 oversize classes at Jamaica with no librarian and teachers are sitting around as ATRs in other schools doing nothing. How can the DOE, the union, the press and the public allow this to happen?

Read it all here:

Yesterday there was a mandatory job fair for Manhattan and Bronx ATRs (posted at NYCATR blog). The GEM ATR committee has 3 members present, one an ATR herself. They distributed a leaflet to ATRs (see a modified version at the end of this post) and the response was incredibly positive. GEM began receiving responses from ATRs through the evening.

The GEM ATR teacher sent this:

I was totally not expecting the enthusiasm with which I was greeted. People were putting their hands out to me to take the flyer. Many people responded to my statement of trying to organize atr's, because the uft is not, with, good, thank god, great, oh thank you so much....

Following is an account by GEM's Angel Gonzalez, where he reports an astounding number - that over 50% were Black and Latino. (Sign the diversity petition letter to Mulgrew - link on side panel.)

Sept. 13, 2011
Washington Heights Armory, 169th Street Manhattan

Over 300 ATRs (excessed teachers) lined up for another DOE sponsored job fair where most will not find permanent jobs. It was another one of those summer mandatory futile job searches where ATRs are obligated to attend and where only a few will land a job. Most at today's job fair were clearly senior veteran higher-paid excessed teachers and over 50% were Black and Latino.

Principals generally will hire the younger inexperienced teachers who are paid less and tend not to know their labor rights -- thus more compliant to the whims of administrators. Many of those young teachers are graduates of the Teach For America pool where they are inculcated with anti-union and anti-veteran teacher propaganda. Principals, facing mounting budget deficits and cuts, would be foolish to hire seasoned teachers who earn salaries between $80 - 100K yearly when the bargain is to hire two at those prices! The deck has been unfairly stacked against older higher paid ATRs.

At his job fair today, some expressed the hope that maybe the city will offer them an early retirement buyout. Others shared anger at the UFT leadership for abandoning them in the 2005 contract which
bargained away their right to seniority rights transfer. Now starting in October, those ATRs cannot find a steady classroom job will become substitutes who will be assigned weekly to different schools in their districts to cover for absent teachers. This agreement by the UFT with Mayor Bloomberg to turn ATRs into traveling subs can force many to quit due to the untenable and unpredictable situation.

Bloomberg persists in seeking to eliminate tenure and the just "Last In First Out-LIFO" state protections. Should layoffs occur, without these protections, ATRs will be surely the first targeted for firings. Be on the look-out also for Bloomberg's allies in our schools --- a nefarious group called
E4E (Educators for Excellence) is aggressively organizing to win over the hearts and minds of our newer teachers in this deceptive anti-tenure and anti-experienced teacher campaign that unjustly and cruelly blame them, instead of government, for the problems in our public school.

In Chicago and Washington DC excessed teachers are given from six to nine months to find placements or else are fired. We can't let this happen here too. We can't allow our brothers and sisters to be dumped like collateral damage in this charter-privatization assault of our schools. Excessed teachers should be guaranteed a job elsewhere as was the case prior to 2005. As schools continue to be closed to replaced with charters, hundreds more of ATRs will be created. It is estimated that it costs today the city $100M yearly!

As ATRs and as UFT members we will need to organize ourselves and mount the necessary political pressure to defend tenure and to restore seniority transfer rights. Clearly no UFT officials or UFT organizers were present on the lines today to promote, defend and organize in the just interests of ATRs.

A few blogs in the defense of ATR nightmare stories have emerged. Check out NYCATR.blogspot.com and post your stories and perspectives. Suggest pro-active fight-back strategies against this humiliating situation that should never have been allowed to happen.

GEM ATR Committee organizers, including Bob Godfried and Angel Gonzalez, were at today's job fair distributing leaflets and sharing our views.

ATRs R Us! Join the fight-back.
Be on the look-out for our upcoming meetings.

Angel Gonzalez
Contact GEM-ATR committee at: GEMNYC@gmail.com

A newer generation Chapter Leader asked Angel a question:

One thing...I was wondering if you could write about seniority rights transfers.  I don't know exactly what that is, but I know that it is an important piece of the ATR puzzle.

Angel responded:

Good question on important right that teachers had in UFT contracts prior to 2005 contract (when was voted up because carrot of $100K was dangled and now DOE and UFT collaborate to ensure most will not get that $$$$). Seniority rights transfer = if you were excessed you would bump someone else in that license at your school or someone else at another school in your district schools.  You would be guaranteed a job elsewhere and seniority in the system played a role.  The principal could not reject you. Obviously, as with all contractual clauses there are problems.  But those would need to be worked out. Don't know all the legaleeze and exact contractual guidelines of the past --- folks in ICE/uft are (esp. James Eterno) who is working with our ATR comm.

Firefighters and police have this seniority rights if their stations are closed.   It is only fair and common sense for a community to have the best experience workers to provide services.

Being an ATR is a scary and humiliating experience.  Heard that one teacher in Canarsie threw herself down stairs (seeking to collect compensation) since she could not fathom herself as wandering atr going as sub from school to school.

Here is a version of the leaflet handed out at the job fair. I'm going to make some copies and hand it out at the citywide chapter leader meeting this afternoon.

Attention ATR’s – What’s REALLY going on here?
Help fight off the destructive actions of the DOE done in the name of "school reform", as well as the poor decisions of the UFT leadership resulting in the loss of job protections and the unwarranted closure of over 100 of high schools (& middle schools) over the objections of parents, students, alumni, teachers, community, etc. The Bronx & Manhattan has been particularly hard hit - we've lost every community high school with the exception for De Witt Clinton, which survives only due to their powerful alumni association. Many of these high schools were around for 75-100 years educating generations of New Yorkers.
Bloomberg developed a "final solution" to purge the system of senior teachers: close large community middle and high schools, eliminate seniority transfer, require principals to consider salary in making staffing decisions. These actions created a large pool of ATR's (unassigned teachers in the Absent Teacher Reserve). A critical component of this strategy is the repeal LIFO ("Last In-First Out" state civil service seniority protections) which would result in the firing of ATR's who are unable to secure regular teaching positions on the open market. Despite Bloomberg's vigorous efforts, the state legislature did not abolish LIFO, thus creating the unusually large pool of unassigned ATR's. With the failure of this strategy, the DOE is trying figure out what to do with all these, mostly senior ATR's. The current strategy appears to harass them by using the unassigned ATR's to cover absences, in lieu of the day-to-day subs. In October they will be moved around each week to different schools. Expect a new assault on LIFO this year.

If your only sources of information are the D.O.E dispatches from Tweed, the UFT newspaper or the compliant mass media, you are not getting the whole picture. Please check out blogger NYCATR" - with lots of useful information for ATRs: http://nycatr.blogspot.com/. Also, look into list of other teacher activist blogs on the right sidebar for more insights. An excellent blog for ALL teachers to get an overview of what's really happening is, "Education Notes Online." ednotesonline.blogspot.com

The Grassroots Education Movement, a group of educator activists, has formed a committee for those working as ATR’s. Our goals include providing information to people in this position and organizing this very vulnerable group. We expect to hold a meeting soon. Contact: The Grassroots Education Movement - gemnyc@gmail.com

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

An ATR Sends Mulgrew a Letter

Good Day All!

As most of us know, the board has an inaccurate count of just how many ATRs are out there, and being that twenty-five plus schools were shuttered/given over to charters, it is fair to say there are far more then a mere 1200! For I doubt highly that all those teachers in the 25 schools were permanently placed, and I know for a fact that there are numerous colleagues of ours, who, like myself have been floating around for the last five years now since this mess began!

That being said, I sent a letter to Michael Mulgrew, (which has yet to be responded to), requesting information on how the ATRs are supposed to be evaluated for our end-of-year assessment. This is a very SERIOUS issue because with the new "agreement" on how ATRs can be used/placed many will have the possibly of having anywhere from 3 to 10 different supervisors! As it stands at the moment ATRs are being assigned for periods ranging from one to three months at any given location, with the possibly of being moved afterwards! So what criteria could possibly be used to evaluate them, since more than likely they will not be given teaching assignments and more than likely used as subs and to do scut work. Given that the three "U's" and you're out is being pushed-HARD, this needs to be clarified immediately!!!!!

If anyone out there has some information, please share it, and also do raise this issue, educators are under attack in every possible area and this seems to be just another tactic to trim our ranks, especially with 2,000 NEW TEACHERS having been hired for this school year!!!!!!

Collegially,

(Name redacted)

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

Seeing Zombies - and Not at Tweed

Peggy, Zombie drummer, Carol

It was a long day yesterday and all because of The Zombies.

No, I wasn't at Tweed but at the Jimmy Fallon show last night. And therein lies a tale.

I was a fan in the 60's. But the band disappeared in 1967 just as they released "Odessey and Oracle" an album that has become a classic.  Ron Argent formed Argent and Colin Blunstone did something else. A few years ago there was a 40th Anniversary (March 2008) reunion. Our friends Mark and Peggy called to say they bought all of us tickets. Only problem was the concert was in London. So we went. They performed the entire Odessey and Oracle album as the entire band was together for the first time since they broke up. Oh, what a night.

We saw them in July in NYC. By that time Peggy was a major Zombie groupie and when she saw they were appearing again in London that April, off we were again.

I wrote about it.

We caught another Zombies concert like we did in London last March and in NYC in July. One of their most famous songs, She's Not There, was clearly written with Randi Weingarten in mind. I discovered the original lyrics in a dusty Zombie archive in the British Museum.

Well, no one told me about her
The way she lied [about the 2005 contract]
Well, no one told me about her
How many people cried [ATRs, in the rubber room, and in Washington DC]
Well, it’s too late to say you’re sorry [for agreeing to merit pay, longer days and year, potty duty, etc.]
How would I know, why should I care [hell, I'm retired]
Please don’t bother trying to find her
She’s not there [or here- thank God]....

When Peggy heard the Zombies were coming to NY she got in touch with her daughter's friend who works on the Jimmy Fallon show and suggested they book the Zombies. And so they did. And so we got tickets for last night and a tour backstage and we got to hang out until they came out after the show - and a chat with the drummer. My puss even got on TV a few times. I have to watch the episode again to see how awful I look (the 4 of us were by far the oldest in the room and I was the oldest of the 4- so that makes me....).

It was really a fun evening with the highlight being Time of the Season. Here is the direct link of the video doesn't work.



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.

A Parent Activist New to the Movement Shares Her Thoughts

I only met Janine Sopp last spring at a CEC District 14 meeting in Williamsburg where her daughter goes to school. She urged parents to fight the budget cuts. Since then we in GEM have grown increasingly close to Janine. She jumped into the work of the GEM testing committee and recently joined the GEM steering committee. Her insatiable desire to find out about everything and share what she learns with everyone is inspiring. Meeting people like Janine is why I'm still involved in this mishegas 9 years after I retired. Here is an email she sent out expressing her wonder at what she has and is continuing to learn.

To Friends, Family, Parents and Teachers I have been in touch with regarding Education,

Welcome back to PS 2011-12. I hope you all had a wonderful summer. What seemed to be slow in arriving was quite enjoyable for my daughter and myself once it kicked in. The cold spell with hurricane-like rains sent a little chill down my spine thinking about the upcoming long and cold season, but the heat of last week helped me relax a little into the more gentle transition toward the fall season.

Now back to school, some of you may be thinking about what this new school year will bring. After putting a tremendous amount of energy into the issues around budget cuts during the spring, I began to learn and understand that these cuts were just the tip of the iceberg as to the state of affairs of our Public Education System. I guess having a child IN public school makes one become aware of these surroundings. Little did I know that much of what is happening is due to policies put in place long before my daughter was born by the Bush Administration, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), in 2001. At this time because I did not have a child in school I was not thinking about education. Now, it seems like the only cause I can find the time for. The learning curve has been dicey at best, but I spent the summer reading and meeting and have a much better handle on why things look the way they do.

If you are (still) my facebook friend, you have seen my posts. If I had time, I'd become a blogger, but there are others who do this extremely well. Though delighted by the teacher my daughter has and our love for her school, I can hardly believe that the circumstances that we now face daily are such a travesty. That the stakes are so high to not only her, but to her beloved classmates, teachers and the survival of her school. Not to mention the 1.1 million school children in NYC, NYS and far beyond in our nation.

I did not sit down to write this while simply preparing to forward this particular petition, but I was moved to give you the back story of what I have come to understand. Some of you may already know what our kids are facing, others may not, or simply might agree with how things are. I make no judgement because we all perceive things differently and have different needs. I only share what I am learning because if you feel as though something does not feel right to you, you are not alone. If you feel that the priorities of your school (or all schools), it's curriculum, the Department of Ed's focus, the issues surrounding high stakes testing, the concerns of your child regarding these tests, the lack of funds, the 10 minute recesses, the loss of art, music, etc., the increase in class sizes and the general state of education is just not right, you are NOT alone.

I did not realize when I began to find my voice and look for support that there are many, many organizations already working on these issues. There are websites, blogs, books, internet radio shows, facebook pages, the list is endless. I felt like I found a wealth of information just because I was looking. Maybe you are afraid that if you do share your opinion or begin to discuss these concerns you will be met with negativity from others (teachers, principal, parents, spouse, etc.) Or maybe you don't think anyone else shares your concerns and you will stand out like a sore thumb. I know I have and do, even with people I seem to have so much else in common with.

It has not been easy to come to terms with the information I have attained. I suppose if it was happening to someone else, maybe in another town or country, I could turn away and just keep my life going. But this is not the case. It is happening in my school, in my town, and with my child. It is happening in my State and in our Country. What I see is not right in my eyes. What I feel goes against the grain of all I believe in for my child, our children and what all children should have. I have never felt so much passion for anything in all my life, and believe me, my passions run deep. I have been interested in world affairs for a long time, but this one, this one that affects our kids, has me in knots.

I realize I cannot save the world (tried that before). And I realize this is a long journey to freedom. This world will likely not become the vision I have in mind, at least not in my lifetime, so I have accepted I may never see the changes I'd like to see while my child is in school. But since there are children younger than her, and many more who haven't been born yet, I can only hope that at some point in time, the way we educate (the masses of) children will be very different than they are today. I also believe that if we do not step up now, we will have tremendous trouble bringing Public School Education back on a healthy track (much like Global Warming?)

Having said all this, I guess I am asking those of you who would prefer not to receive my emails to kindly just let me know. I won't be offended because it will ease the guilt I tend to feel about taking up unsolicited space in your inbox. But for those of you who want to share in learning more, discussing some and possibly taking steps toward making changes, please raise your hand by emailing me back. If you don't respond, I'll just keep sending you my news until you tell me to stop. Sometimes it just helps to learn a new piece of information and you don't need to do a thing. Knowledge is Power as I see it.

Other than this, what I really meant to do was just share this. I look forward to seeing you around.

All the best,
Janine

Postcript:
A little over a year ago, Julie Cavanagh asked me what my goal was in all this. I really don't have goals and  don't look too far ahead. Long term for me is about a day. I thought about her question and finally responded, "My goal is to find 50 more people like you." Basically, I'm a talent scout.

Since then I've met people like Janine and Liza Campbell and her crew in NYCORE and the New Teacher Underground. I view "growth" of a movement not in thousands but in double digits - a relatively few key organizers and activists who will go forth and organize and find more organizers and activists. Now, when you start putting these people together you eventually get to spontaneous combustion.

Let me give you one example. In December 2009 I introduced teacher Julie to parents Leonie Haimson, Lisa Donlan and Khem Irby. Boom. The combination of people of this quality working together is like splitting the atom. So I'm incredibly optimistic from my very narrow point of view at the growth in opposition to the ed deformers. If I were Bill Gates, I would be scared. Very scared.

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

The Jim Callaghan Files: The UFT and Race at the Top

I'm going to be putting out a series of posts by former UFT NY Teacher reporter Jim Callaghan who was fired in the summer of 2010 for attempting to unionize. I'm not going to claim I agree with everything Jim has to say but they deserve an airing.

I once told Randi Weingarten she had done more to promote people of color than any UFT leader before her. I was referencing the UFT Exec Board and what looked like a lot more diversity in Unity Caucus. So this is a very interesting commentary from Callaghan on the UFT and race at the top (not bad, eh - the old brain cells are still functioning). I never thought of race being a factor in the UFT but Jim from his unique perspective gives one food for thought. It reminded me of this point:

Jim left out that the original heir apparent to Randi was the very popular Michelle Bodden (who seemed to really think like a teacher), the elementary school VP, the highest ranking black in the union hierarchy. Elementary school teachers, mostly chapter leaders, who attended her meetings told me they were the most useful and least political (in pushing the union line) meetings. Then one day Bodden was replaced by Michael Mulgrew and disappeared into the UFT elementary charter school as principal . Hmmmm!

Weingarten and Mulgrew refused to let me write a story about Racqnel James, a black teacher at Fordham  HS for the Arts who was railroaded-accused of leaving a death threat in the principal's mail box two years ago by the principal Iris Blige. When the main accuser turned on Blige and wanted me to write the story clearing James, Weingarten and Mulgrew refused and refused to let me take a vacation day to attend her trial.

Ms. James was fired and two years later, after being indicted for a misdemeanor -think Tucson- still hasn't had a trial. The Bronx D.A. - elected with help from the UFT - has asked for 17 postponements. Blige was later fined for telling her A.P's to recommend Unsatisfactory ratings  BEFORE  teachers were observed.

The main decision makers at the UFT are almost all white.

While people like Mulgrew and his top staff make $200,000 to $300,000 per year, the starting salary for a secretary is $23,000 –constantly abused by Hickey – they are almost all black and Latina women.

Weingarten filed a phony lawsuit years ago claiming that firing para professionals – black and Latinas- was racist. After she got her headlines, she dropped the case.

The $50 per day free UFT parking spots given as rewards to UFT insiders are given predominantly to whites. That is a $100,000 per year- the cost of parking downtown – perk to Unity Caucus loyalists – money that could have been used to upgrade the salaries of the low paid mostly Black and Latina staff.

When a long time UFT Unity Caucus activist – a black woman, complained about shakedowns and fraud in the Staten Island rubber room by security guards, Weingarten and Barr ordered me out of the room- which is a five minute drive from my house. Weingarten had told me to investigate, but a Brooklyn UFT official -who was sending my emails to the DOE- wanted the probe closed down. The company guards who were working the racket  are employed by a company owned by a billionaire who is a close friend of the mayor. So much for loyatly to a black woman.

Weingarten and Mulgrew fired or demoted five consecutive black writers, forced out a competent black lawyer, took the Safety Dept. away from a black man and replaced Leroy Barr- a black man -with two whites because Weingarten said he was incompetent. He was allowed to keep his title and salary.

Mulgrew fired his press secretary - a black man with 19 years experience at the union who used to appear as a union spokesman when Sandy was President, with a white guy (Dick Riley- Maureen Salter's friend) who had quit the union years before right after his five year pension vested to go to work for Harold Levy. The black man was given a bullshit title in the communications department. Randi had once told a staff meeting she made a mistake in passing him over all those years. [Ed note: Riley has been back and forth at the UFT like a yo-yo.

Anyone see a pattern here?

On Election Day, 2008, -I was suspended for two days without pay because Weingarten, my editor Deidre McFadyen, staff directors Barr and Ellie Engler, Garry Sprung, CFO David Hickey were off the wall with rage  that I sent a pro-Obama article to UFT staff the week before the election - which writers were always allowed to do. Weingarten was still bitter about her close pal Hillary losing and wanted to sabotage the Obama campaign. Weingarten refused to allow the members to vote for the 2008 presidential endorsement because her internal polling showed overwhelming support for Obama. She promised Hillary it was in the bag with the executive board.

When it appeared to UFT staff that there was a predominantly black presence in the rubber rooms, Weingarten and Barr refused to let me do the story.

When a progressive black woman sought the UFT endorsement for a City Council race in Staten Island, Weingarten endorsed a conservative Democrat in 2005 who later backed Bloomberg. She repeated this shanda in 2009, endorsing and even more Conservative Democrat. The black woman won.

Weingarten and Mulgrew sold out Bill Thompson for mayor in 2009 -like she did with Carl McCall for governor, telling the Unity Caucus that Bloomberg promised her two, four percent raises- using public funds as a bribe- if the UFT stayed out of the race. The members clearly were for Thompson. Have Teachers noticed the increased take home pay as they come up to two years without a contact?

Coming soon: Callaghan blows the lid off the collaborations between the UFT and DOE as he's pulled off stories that might embarrass Bloomberg cronies and Weingarten shares pre-pub copies of one of his stories with Dennis Walcott.

More ATR Outrage

I received a phone call on August 30th informing me that my program had been cut and I was now excessed. I had been at the school for 10 years teaching business and computer classes. What I discovered was that the principal wanted to hire a friend's husband who had been laid off from his job. The class codes were changed from business to social studies to allow this man to take my job. This man is a day to day sub! How can the union allow this? I filed a grievance but the union has given me little hope of winning! I am angry and frustrated! Now, after 17 years of service, I feel I have been thrown out as garbage. ATR's have little rights! I am nervous of an uncertain future and do not know where to turn for help and guidance since all I hear is "Well, you still are getting paid!"

Angry ATR

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

An ATR Speaks Out: How UFT Abandons Chapter Leaders

The more you look at the UFT agreement on layoffs that abandoned so many ATRs to a life of Ronan (See- Revolt Brewing in ATR Ranks/GEM ATR Support Group) the more it stinks.

But James Eterno was pointing that out on June 28 the day after the UFT Delegate Assembly rose to cheer Michael Mulgrew for preventing layoffs (CITY BUDGET BEING BALANCED ON THE BACKS OF UFT'S ATRS). Our thought: UFT scammed again.


James followed up with a post on how he was gagged at the DA when he tried to raise warning flags (A DELEGATE ASSEMBLY THAT LEONID BREZHNEV WOULD HAVE BEEN PROUD OF).

I keep raising the issue here about people even inside the opposition in the UFT disagree with me when I say the UFT leadership is Vichy-like collaborator, not inept and bumbling fools. But I am also admonished for not offering people who see things the way I do an alternative - what a union that would defend members while also fighting for a just school system for teachers and students could look like. Here is one comment from one of my colleagues:

I think this is good norm. If ed. notes is going to go down this road, I think it would be good to also provide a vision for what the union could be. To me the more egregious failures (or more disgusting betrayals) are not the petty theft, but the collaboration on sickening contracts that Randi supports, or the co-sponsorship of a merit pay program in NYC. . . . etc.  As well as calling out the fact that the absence of internal organizing IS a unity strategy. That they don't do any internal work to build the unions democratic strength IS a corrupt policy, much worse than the cost of a hotel room. And, my 2 cents, as you are calling them out on things, remind people of the work that our orgs ARE doing with no funding, to organize and mobilize the rank and file. We want to get people used to thinking about what COULD be and how they can be part of making that happen.

This is from a teacher half my age and I guess I'm just too much of an old war horse to make that point but I should include this vision with every post critical of the UFT because there is a new generation of activists.

Here is an account of union betrayal from another new gen member of the GEM ATR committee.

I was elected chapter leader of a Bronx high school in January 2003.  After many years of dealing with a recalcitrant principal I found myself a victim of harassment and Unsatisfactory ratings.  Thankfully I participated in the PIP Plus program and my principal was unable to 3020-a me.

She was however successful this summer when she improperly excessed me on July 21.  I knew then it was improper as our programmer sent an email stating we had 750 students and needed 4 social studies teachers.

I was unable to resolve this issue before the first day of school, due to a UFT on vacation.  I was told by the Bronx office on July 26 that everyone was on vacation and I would have to wait until the first day of school.  I question how the DOE can excess people and the UFT has to wait to the first day of school to do anything.

After spending a long day at the school I was told to report to, I trekked to the Bronx office to file a grievance.  I spent a half hour with two full time staffers, the High School District Representative and another who specializes in grievances. Despite my attempts to explain to them that people with less seniority had been excessed it took that time for them to get it. 

I explained that my school’s budget showed 4 positions for social studies and I am the 3^rd most senior. They both said this was not a violation of the contract and if there is no violation there is no grievance.  Both of the staffers said they could not access the school budget online and I asked to get on my email where I had the budget.  Once they saw it the said they could file a grievance.  They did not tell me what I learned later that evening.

‘Thankfully I participated in a conference call that night with someone who knows the contract far better than full time UFT staff.  I learned all I need to do is send a Right to Return letter under Article 17, Rule 8.

Does the UFT staff not know the contract or are they just unwilling to help?  Clearly ATR’s need a group to organize and protect themselves because the UFT has been derelict in their duties.

CONTACT THE GEM ATR COMMITTEE: EMAIL GEMNYC@GMAIL.COM

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

Revolt Brewing in ATR Ranks/GEM ATR Support Group

CONTACT THE GEM ATR COMMITTEE: EMAIL GEMNYC@GMAIL.COM

I felt like I was an extra in Chushingura, a Japanese play about the forty-seven samurai who took revenge after the forced suicide of their lord Asano Nagamori. Asano had drawn his sword in the Shogun's castle after being humiliated by the chief of protocol. Forty-seven of his samurai who had become ronin after Asano's death, waited two years to exact vengeance. (Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, p. 404 vol. 1, ISBN 4-06-931098-3)

Read Marc Epstein's great report writing at NYC ATR

New York City Ronin Teacher, by Marc Epstein

THEN READ THE INVITATION TO ANOTHER WASTED BUT REQUIRED HIRING HALL FOR ALL MANHATTAN AND BRONX ATRS IN WASHINGTON HEIGHTS BELOW THE FOLD.



One former ATR commented:

Up in Washington Heights???? Are they KIDDING? If that isn't proof that they are trying to harass ATRs into quitting, I don't know what is. If I had to go to that thing, I'd be looking at at LEAST 2.5hrs to get home. At least Citifield was more central to everyone, and there was parking. Though, I think the job fair would have been much better if they had opened the bar in the VIP lounge and offered drink specials with every ATR placement. Probably would have had everyone placed in an hour if they did "Two Free Drinks with Every Placed ATR."  Certainly would have made it more fun.

I get a report from a newly retired teacher that there were 5 newbie teachers in her math department while experienced ATRs are floating around. The UFT deal with the DOE only calls for the principal to have interviewed some ATRs before hiring newbies. We're not sure he did but what difference does it make if he wanted newbies anyway?

GEM brings ATRs together
The Grassroots Education Movement has been holding conference calls with ATRs to gather information and the situation is turning ugly as teachers from the closing schools are sent hither and yon. We have been funneling people to the great voice of the ATRs at the NYCATR blog (links on sidebar and in our blogroll). 

And Jamaica HS chapter leader, ICE's James Eterno, has joined in the calls to offer advice as people tell as many horror stories about the UFT (you're lucky to have a job) as the DOE. In our last call James informed an ATR who was excessed illegally that she must file a "right of return" letter ASAP - something the union reps neglected to tell her. 

James, who represents 30 excessed ATRs from Jamaica HS (even though they are gone from the school with the union mute they have nowhere else to go)  has some advice for ATRs at the ICE blog:

The DOE has the right to send ATRs on interviews during the regular school day.

The DOE does not have the right under current conditions to assign anyone out of his/her district/superintendency. For example, a high school ATR in Manhattan should be assigned to a Manhattan High School and not to an elementary school or an ATR in District 28 should not be assigned to a school in District 26.

Finally, anyone in excess should know that according to contract Article 17 B Rule 8 that there is a right of return to the school in which the person is excessed. Feel free to use the sample letter below that all excessed teachers

Read it all at the ICEUFT Blog

BRIEF ATR SUMMARY


I'll be doing lots more on the ATR situation. Also read Chaz's School Daze

The DOE Is Encouraging Principals To Hire TF and TFA Teachers While Experienced Teachers Are Not Even Granted Interviews. "Children First". Really?

If you are in touch with an ATR have then touch base with me. NYCATR has offered his blog as a place to tell their stories as I will do here too.

Here is the next so-called hiring hall from the faceless bureaucrats at the DOE.
May the Ronin revolt and slay the oppressors.

From: Atrassignment
> Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2011 7:37 PM
> To: Atrassignment
> Subject: Mandatory Teacher Recruitment Fair for ATRs assigned to the Bronx and Manhattan
>
> Dear Teacher,
>
> Welcome back to a new school year! While the school year is getting underway, we want to let you know of an upcoming event to meet with principals who have vacancy needs for teachers. On Tuesday, September 13, 2011 the New York City Department of Education will be holding a mandatory recruitment fair for teachers in the Absence Teacher Reserve (ATR) pool assigned to schools in Bronx and Manhattan. Unlike hiring events held throughout the summer, as a teacher in the Reserve pool from one of these boroughs, you are required to attend this event, which is being held from 1:00 p.m. (specific check-in times below). You will be expected to stay until the end of the school day and encouraged to stay until the end of the event at approximately 4:00 p.m.

Morning Commentary - September 9, 2011

Friday, Sept. 9
Every morning I wake up to a slew of email with so many interesting items I would love to share. But by the time I get through them and part of the NY Times, it is almost noon. Such is the tough life of a retiree. So today I decided I would begin a morning post and add to it as I read things and try to post it no later than 10AM. We'll see how long this lasts.

I just did two tweets:
NYT reports new fossil- apelike with human features. New species dubbed Australapithecus RickPerry.

NormScott1 Norm Scott

@nancyflanagan Duncan to Ravitch: What am I going to do about Detroit? Ravitch: give it to KIPP. Arne pract falls off chair laughing

Me, say something in 140 char? I may get the hang of it one day. 

I had to add these 2 great posts from NYC Educator:

Increase in Homeless Students Attributed to Bad Teaching

Walcott Offers Valuable Lip Service to Civility

Today:
I'm working on the Jim Callaghan Files - so much stuff - call it the Jimi-leaks. But it's a busy day so I may not get something up until tomorrow.

I've been invited to attend and speak at a screening of our film, "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman" at a NYC high school – shhhh. Don't tell Walcott. The teachers are opening the school year in what seems like an exciting fashion - doing a documentary series. They're showing Michael Galinsky's great film "The Battle for Brooklyn" in the morning and our film in the afternoon.

(Our film is also being shown in Denver at The Equity in Education Film Festival this month:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/193439. Thanks to Susan Ohanian for the tip.)

Then I have to race home to video "Crossing Delancy", another great show at the Rockaway Theatre Company at Fort Tilden.

My wrist is healing enough to allow me to do more but I still have a long way to go. Yesterday's phys therapy session really took a toll but I'll never have full flex unless we really work it. Yesterday was 9 weeks since the July 14 break. Nice summer!

I realized that the Ed Notes Online blog passed its anniversary date at the end of August 2006. So I am into my 6th year now. I do want to point out that Ed Notes had a pre-blogging life for almost a decade as a newsletter, then a newspaper that I began in 1997, pretty much when Randi Weingarten's became the head of the UFT, a real archive of history - from my point of view of course. I put out an edition almost every month until I began this blog - which with this post reaches 3099 - plus another 375 in draft mode. "Write a book," people tell me. I would try but then I would have to give up being an activist and hunker down and concentrate. I'm too ADD - which is getting worse with age - to do that. Working with so many younger activists who actually remember things, I often have to ask, "What was I supposed to do again?" I put the words "Bedpan check" in the subject line so they know what's coming.
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For a real hoot, check out the trailor for the Yes Men - http://theyesmenfixtheworld.com/
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Great Daily News article on Testing and Cheating with links to all the cheating scandals (the big one has not hit NYC yet and WalBloom will do what it takes to make sure whatever surfaces is tamped down - the culture of Atlanta exists here and people act the same in response to such a culture all over.)

Our testing culture is out of control: No wonder so many schools are cheating

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Good class size quote from newly retired Pissed Off Teacher: On Being Back
"I had mixed feelings walking into the building today.  A couple of people were surprised to see me so I had to explain why I was back.   I loved my class, but I always love that class.  Walcott should  know, but won't admit that part of its success is its cap at 25 students.  The kids, while motivated, are not always the brightest and some have to be prodded to make it on time to period 1.  But, with 25, it is easy to keep tabs on all of them.  And, since we don't have any uniform exams, it is easy to let the kids lead the way, spend more time on the things that interest them and just let them enjoy learning the math.  It is always a class in which fun and learning go hand in hand."
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 From the great Andy Borowitz reports - you really should subscribe:

Rick Perry Needs to ‘Tone Down’ His Rhetoric, Says Kim Jong-Il

‘He Scares Me,’ North Korean Dictator Says

PYONGYANG (The Borowitz Report) – Gov. Rick Perry’s performance in this week’s Republican debate, in which he called Social Security a Ponzi scheme and took pride in executing an innocent man, “made him seem like a totally unhinged lunatic,” said North Korean President Kim Jong-Il today.

The reclusive Kim, who rarely speaks out on U.S. politics, said he was breaking his silence in this case because “quite frankly, he scares me.”

The North Korean dictator said that Gov. Perry would have to “tone down” his rhetoric considerably if he were to become a head of state.

“When you’re President of a country, you can’t go around spouting the first crazy thing that comes into your head,” Mr. Kim said.  “That man I saw onstage gave me the willies, and I don’t think I’m alone on this.”

While the North Korean dictator said there was still a chance that Mr. Perry might “dial it back a little,” watching the Texas Governor at Wednesday night’s debate left him “shaken.”

“I’ll tell you this,” Kim said, “I would not want a person like that to have access to nuclear weapons.”

Elsewhere, some Republican lawmakers said they were unable to hear President Obama’s jobs speech due to fingers stuck in their ears.

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Coverage of DC 37 Press Conference Opposing 800 Layoffs of Lowest Paid School Workers

See Brooklyn Eagle article on the press conference below.

I taped almost the entire event until it started raining. There were some excellent speeches exposing the hypocrisy of the high spending on consultants by the BloomCott administration while stripping schools in the neediest areas of the people who work in the lunchroom and put children on the buses. Who will be asked to do these jobs now? Why the teachers of course, the people who are already overloaded with so much bullshit work in addition to the teaching load which will be exacerbated by higher class sizes.

Teacher Kelly Wolcott shows school supplies for the year

Here are the first cuts of videos. City Councilman Jumaane Williams, whose arrest I wrote about. where I pointed to the reality of so many kids of color who get stopped by police so often and asked where are the ed deformers on monitoring bad police instead of bad teachers on this so-damaging an aspect of kids' lives. Williams shows up at everything and is one of our fave politicians.

Then Leonie Haimson, who needs no introduction as Noah Gotbaum paid homage to her incredible work for over a decade.

And the UFT's Michael Mendel. To some people's surprise, Michael and I have had a great relationship over the years. He goes out of his way to be civil to everyone and puts politics aside. (He even called me twice after I broke my arm.) What I love about his speech is his putting the UFT on the line on class size. Of course, always watch what they do not what the say.

Finally in this batch is UFT Chapter Leader and 9 year teacher Kelly Wolcott who has started to make a big splash on the young activist scene who talked about the importance to a school of the workers being laid off and held up the entire year's supply of paltry supplies. Kelly is a core member of Teachers Unite.

The narrators are Noah Gotbaum, whose dad Victor headed DC 37 for so many years, and Magnificent Mona Davids, who was the major organizer behind this event. More vids up in a post later tonight.

What's Worse for Black Kids? Bad Teachers or Bad Police? Or Bad Politicians?

UPDATE: Weds. Sept. 7: I'm reposting this to include the NY Times article.

Where are the ed deformers on the issue of how some police (a minority I believe - I hope) treat young men of color? Maybe those Moskowitz troops will be out there when their HSA kids are teens and instead of calling for the heads of public school teachers they will look at the bigger picture.

Councilman Says Racial Bias Led the Police to Detain Him at a Parade

reflected a pattern in which the police unfairly single out young black men.
Mr. Williams said he was stopped recently by the police in South Brooklyn while driving a new car with temporary tags; the officer, he said, “wanted to make sure it was my car.”
He said that none of these incidents would have occurred “if I did not look the way I look — young, black, with locks and earrings.”
What their arrests demonstrated, the two concluded, was a classic case of racial profiling and a policing culture exacerbated by the department’s “stop, question and frisk” policies, which critics say are aimed unfairly at young blacks and Latinos.

Sunday, Sept. 4
I got a personal call today from a local guy running for office. He will probably win so I made sure to get my 2 cents in.

We had met when he was campaigning at a supermarket and chatted about education. I guess the call may have come due to my recent column in the Wave (I Have a Feeling We May Be In Kansas---or Texas).

So we talked education. When he said, "We have to retain our best teachers," I cut him off. "That's ed deform code for getting rid of LIFO," I told him. "We don't retain 50% of the teachers - good, bad or ugly - after 5 years and all we hear about is that some 2nd year untenured teacher might be let go while a 15 year (higher paid) teacher maybe retained.

"What about lousy politicians," I said? "You will never open your mouth about another awful politician and they can cause much more harm to children than a bad teacher."

"And cops. Talk to any black kid, even the best behaved. Every single one will tell you of being stopped on the street for doing nothing. But beyond that is the way so many are talked to and treated. Like they were slime. Profiling supreme. How much more damaging to young men than the effect of a poor teacher? Where's the campaign to remove police who abuse their authority? Do I think they are a majority? Not at all. Probably the same percentage of bad teachers.

Given the above, note this Labor Day item from Chris Owens:

Paranoia Will Destroy Ya'

Today's arrest of City Council member Jumaane Williams at the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn is a reminder of the reality facing so many men of African descent in New York City:  prejudice still rules ... and prejudice within the New York City Police Department remains a lingering cancer.

Mr. Williams, a distinguished public servant who happens to be tall, dark-skinned and wears braided hair, was allegedly thrown to the ground and handcuffed when police officers refused to acknowledge his status as an elected official as he was walking in a restricted area along the parade route.

The City of New York owes Mr. Williams an apology -- specifically Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Commissioner Ray Kelly.  The Police Department owes it to all of us to examine this incident closely and make immediate changes -- again.  How many more times must this prescription be demanded?

This may be the "age of profiling," sadly, but the truth is that "paranoia will destroy ya'!"  Our greatest enemy are our own fears.  And we don't need police officers on duty in Central Brooklyn who fear the people who live there.

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