Eva in desperate scramble to meet enrollment targets is assisted by the DOE

UPDATED Sunday, March 25, 11 PM---

I have long heard that schools suspect that the NYC DoE's Enrollment Office is under-enrolling schools for several years and then using the declining enrollment trend, that they create and control, as justification for colocation or closure. ---
Lisa Donlan

Where is the press on issues such as this?

 

For those fighting introduction of charters or raising the caps on the number of charters, here is some powerful ammunition: http://schoolfinance101.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/snapshots-of-connecticut-charter-school-data/

Snapshots of Connecticut Charter School Data schoolfinance101.wordpress.com In several previous posts I have addressed the common argument among charter advocacy organizations ...

I keep adding info to the bottom of this post as it comes in. Really worth checking out.

Originally posted Sat., Mar. 24, 11PM

The latest headlines are that Bloomberg will meet his goal of starting 50 more charters before he leaves office. But what if he gives a charter party and no one comes? Well it's very simple, see. Just have Tweed send out kindergarten rejection letters to parents applying to local public schools in areas with a new charter coming in that people don't seem to want to send their kids too, thus putting them in a position of being forced to choose the charter.

This came in from a parent in Williamsburg:

Considering Success Academy's massive ramp-up of direct mail and advertising in just the past week here in Williamsburg, it seems obvious that, despite her claims of receiving 700 applications for her new Success Academy Williamsburg, Eva's in a desperate scramble to meet her enrollment targets.

Now we hear of a new tactic from the DOE: An SLT parent at a local public school informed us that the DOE is suddenly FORCING all non-magnet schools to issue rejection letters to all non-zoned students applying for K -- even though most local schools have plenty of kindergarten seats! The letter reads that the child has not been given a seat but has been placed on a wait-list.

So while magnet and district-wide (CHARTER) schools are able to offer acceptance letters, and have done so this week, parents may get rejections from great local schools that HAVE SEATS!

I have never heard of this, but it feels like it has the Success Academy stink all over it. Anyone have any insights?

Complaints can be directed to es_enrollment@schools.nyc.gov.

 The other day Leonie nailed them in this blog post:

Aggressive marketing by charter schools, soliciting applicants

The Bloomberg administration and the charter school operators always claim that in the rapid proliferation of charter schools across the city, they are merely responding to parent “demand” but this ignores the aggressive recruiting methods they use to build up their “waiting lists.”  Eva Moskowitz has hired paid recruiters to “poach” students for her Success Academy charters, as in the video below, outside PS 261 in Brooklyn.  Not to mention her extensive and expensive advertising campaigns, in which she spent $1.6 million dollars on marketing efforts alone in 2009-2010, amounting to $1,300 per incoming student.

This year, there is evidence that Harlem in particular has become so oversaturated with charters, that they have been forced to go far afield to solicit applications.  Parents as far away as lower Manhattan have receiving mailings from Democracy Prep and Harlem Link.     

More at:  Aggressive marketing by charter schools, soliciting applicants

 Jassica Bouvier of GEM put this summary together:

Last week, NYC parent Lucinda Rosenfeld wrote an op-ed regarding the effect of Success Academy Charter Schools’ marketing strategy and its detrimental impact on already struggling public schools. Yesterday, the organization issued this letter written by a Success Academy parent on the Upper West Side defending the high “demand” for Success Academy and “debunking” the claims made in the op-ed regarding the central role that charter schools play in school segregation.

We wanted to sum up some of the parent and teacher responses to the organization’s letter fresh off the presses this morning (Thank you Lisa Donlan for summing up the criticisms so coherently!):

The letter’s author claims that there is high parent demand for Success Academy in Cobble Hill. It would do us good to remember that the charter process centers on one question: can the school meet its target enrollment?

In fact, the whole support/demand piece of the charter application is all about reaching larger enrollment numbers.  The charter must do aggressive outreach to ensure that the school can meet its enrollment targets. If there is community opposition the charter must address it, changing its proposal if necessary to encompass or address any objections. This means the school risks missing its targets. There simply is not enough demand for these “choices,” which is why some charters are scaling up to capture market share dominance and break into new market segments.

And here is Lisa Donlan's comment in full:

So then why did UWS not meet its enrollment goals this year?

Has the charter authorizer SUNY CSI monitored this?

Because that is what the charter process is all about- can the school meet its target enrollment?

In fact, the whole support/demand piece of the charter application is all about reaching that goal- the charter must do outreach to ensure that the school can meet its enrollment targets.

If there is community opposition the charter must address it, changing its proposal if necessary to encompass or address any objections THAT MEAN THE SCHOOL RISKS MISSING THE TARGET ENROLLMENT.

That is the measure of success for a charter, initially.

After that it has to be financially sound (or cook the books enough that the fraud is not caught by the auditors/authorizers), and meet its performance goals ( self defined in the charter).

We all hear the HSA spin that it is the "assault" ( I suppose driven by the UFT, according to the false spin) that caused parents to flee, that it was the law suit that put getting public space in danger (like it did for Girls Prep in D1) that caused otherwise willing parents to run away.

But more spin and lies will not cover up the facts. There simply is not enough demand for these "options" which is why some charters are scaling up to capture market share dominance and break into new market segments.

I predict that, as these charter chains expand, and the potential demand levels out or even declines, as the myths /marketing/ PR and spin are exposed as such, not only will enrollment drop but so will "performance".

There just won't be enough suckers born every minute that produce high test scores and bring few needs for the charter chains to keep afloat.

If and when they go bust, they 'll very likely have taken our public education system with it.

 No doubt the Evas and Erics and Curry Boykins, the lawyers, hedge funders and ambitious pols will be long gone, hopping onto the next sexy thing to fuel their coffers and careers.

Lisa

And then there is this news about the replacement for Pedro Noguera on the SUNY charter authorizing board as the scum-sucking NY Post issues a warning. Initial commentary by Leonie.

Important development in charterland

New head of SUNY charter committee, replacing Noguera, is Ken O’Brien, who was the strongest voice in opposition to the co-locations of the SuccAcademy chain at the last televised meeting. Acc. to article below, in the letter in which he accepted appt, O’Brien wrote:
“I am committed to making certain that we do not let charters, which constitute 2.5 percent of New York’s school population, dominate our committee agenda,” O’Brien said in a letter accepting the appointment.
He also said the policy of allowing charter schools to share building space with traditional public schools — which has fueled protests and lawsuits — needs to be revisited.
I strongly suggest that all communications w/ SUNY institute be copied to both O’Brien and McCall in future. They have got to hear clearly how the co-location fiasco is undermining our public schools. Here are the emails:
trustees@suny.edu and carl.mccall@suny.edu and ken.o’brien@suny.edu

Charter jitters over new chief
By ERIK KRISS and CARL CAMPANILE
Last Updated: 6:58 AM, March 23, 2012
Posted: 12:59 AM, March 23, 2012

A college faculty honcho and union man has been tapped to head the powerful State University panel that approves charter schools — setting off alarm bells from advocates who fear charters will face more resistance.
SUNY Chairman Carl McCall appointed history professor Ken O’Brien, president of the University’s faculty senate, to lead the SUNY board’s committee on education and college readiness.
The panel recommends whether to approve or reject new charter- school applications.
O’Brien is a member of the Union of University Professions, which is the college affiliate of the K-to-12 teachers union that opposes charter schools.
“I am committed to making certain that we do not let charters, which constitute 2.5 percent of New York’s sc hool population, dominate our committee agenda,” O’Brien said in a letter accepting the appointment.
He also said the policy of allowing charter schools to share building space with traditional public schools — which has fueled protests and lawsuits — needs to be revisited.
Sources in the charter community — fearing retribution — expressed their worries about the O’Brien appointment anonymously. They likened it to putting the fox in the hen house.
But McCall insisted O’Brien’s union affiliation is not significant.
McCall also noted that O’Brien has been a member of the panel that has routinely approved more than 90 charter schools.
“Ken is a professional educator who has been open-minded on charter-school issues,” he said.
“Everyone on the board has been supportive of charter schools . . . I don’t know why charter -school advocates would be concerned with him.
“All you have to do is look at his record.”

Lisa Donlan follows up with:


I would like to know more about these tactics to intentionally shrink, in order to better destroy, our public schools as well as to  squeeze them out and replace them with charters.

While Eva is the force behind the most high profile and ambitious of the charters chains , she is not alone to use these tactics.

Clearly there is a handbook of best practices that the charter operators, private companies all,  share with each other, or at least imitate closely.

And it is also evident that OPP and Chancellor Walcott, like Joel Klein before him, are blatantly favoring charters schools that do not operate on an even playing with their district counterparts on so many levels.

Besides additional funding; political clout and access;, support by monied think tanks, foundations, politicians, education officials and the main stream media; the very policies and operations of the DoE are setting up our district schools to fail.

I have long heard that schools suspect that the NYC DoE's Enrollment Office is under-enrolling schools for several years and then using the declining enrollment trend, that they create and control, as justification for colocation or closure.

Has anyone else heard anything about this issue?

Is there an expedient way to investigate or FOIL the enrollment information? DoE can claim it is a function of "choice" but since their methods and algorithms are far from transparent, it is hard to believe them in this instance.

The overall lack of transparency and authentic data leaves the DoE open to these kinds of suspicions,  that one can not help but believe, after all the evidence of cooked books and biases DoE has employed to advance a political agenda.

There should not be continued or revised Mayoral control for a myriad of reasons, the least of which is autocracy has precluded public access to completely transparent data.

Except of course in the case of the politically motivated release of the flawed Teacher Data Reports!

Lisa

UFT- Oh, Woe Is Me, But Let's Look on the Bright Side

UFT Chapter Leader Update, March 23

Thanks to UFT members, Lobby Day is once again a success

We'll be letting you know exactly what we gained, but in the meantime we:

Urge members to join pension plan before Tier 6 arrives on April 1

One of our great successes on lobbying day was that our efforts stopped Tiers 7-12, at least for now. Another success is that we limited the UFT members allowed to go to lobbying day only to those who gave to COPE - and by the way, don't blame this disaster on us but on the scumballs in your schools who didn't give to COPE or don't give enough -- if you chapter leaders don't get your asses moving on COPE collections, we are going to overturn your school's election and get someone in your school who can collect COPE money. How are we going to be able to pay for those hotels and meals when our crew goes up to Albany.

PERB agrees with UFT on appointing mediator for stalled talks on 33 schools

This is a big one for us. It will give those teachers in the schools some hope and also keep them off our backs  -- until the schools close and those not hired go into the dark hole of ATRs, never to be heard from again.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew responds to the mayor’s loan forgiveness plan

UFT President Michael Mulgrew sent a letter this week to Chancellor Dennis Walcott in response to Mayor Bloomberg's stated plan to give teachers in the “top tier” of their college class $25,000 to repay their student loans. Stressing the importance of balancing the need for retention of highly qualified teachers with the need for recruitment,

Another big one for us. The Mayor really wants this and we can get some crumb back.
As for telling the mayor no loans until every single ATR is hired, exactly what is an ATR again?

Schoolbook:
Concerned that lawmakers could pass a state budget that eliminates teacher training centers in public schools, the city’s teachers’ union is pressing Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to restore the financing.


Oh, shit. One of our patronage biggies where we get to pick 140 people for jobs. We promise that holding on to teacher center positions is the line in the sand for us. If we have to give up LIFO and -- you know -- those people going from school to school every week after we signed that agreement last June --- starts with an A or a B -- no problemo.

ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES PASSAGE OF “NO AUDIENCE LEFT BEHIND” BILL

David Frankel is a teacher now working in a community college in Colorado. He has given permission to circulate this hilarious essay.

June 7, 2015


ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES PASSAGE OF “NO AUDIENCE LEFT BEHIND” BILL

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

Secretary of Comedy R.N. Dukowsky announced the passage of the administration’s signature comedy reform initiative, “No Audience Left Behind” (NALB). “This comes in response to our nation’s ongoing comedy crisis,” Secretary Dukowsky said. “For most of our history, American comedy has been the envy of the world. In the past several decades, however, American comedians have been falling behind their international peers. While we still score highly in ethnic humor and political satire, our performance in the basics – especially married-couple jokes and family-based situation comedy – has fallen to near the bottom of the pack compared with other developed nations. Unless we improve, we are a nation at comedic risk.”

In response to this crisis, the federal government plans to move aggressively. “The government has been conducting long-term studies of Best Comedic Practices,” says Secretary Dukowsky. “We have found that there is enormous variation in how our comedians are trained. There are no national standards; no set repertory of means and methods; and, most of all, no quantified structure of accountability. As a result, we see enormous variation in the nation’s comedic performance. While New York City and Los Angeles seem to perform robustly on international exams, in Utah and Idaho, audiences are chronically ‘left behind.’ We cannot tolerate that sort of achievement gap.”

The centerpiece of the new proposal will be a regime of standardized testing “with real carrots and real sticks,” as the secretary puts it. “Every year, every American comedian will have to demonstrate proficiency in core comedic competencies. Did you know that there are some comedians who show almost no utilization of pratfalls and fart jokes? Others who know nothing of under-deoderized frat boy humor? Even some well-regarded practitioners have shown a tendency in public performance just to ‘do what they think is funny.’ It would be irresponsible of us to let that continue. It is time for American comedy to become data-driven.”

Some American comedians expressed confusion about certain aspects of the plan. “They want us to tell the same jokes in every venue?” said Shecky Dangerfield, a standup veteran. “Those bar mitzvah gigs are gonna get a little blue.” Others questioned other aspects of ‘best comedic practices.’ “Before the show, we’re supposed to put all our punchlines up on a blackboard,” said Phillippa Diller. “I’m a little worried about the element of surprise.”

Secretary Dukowski, as well as the heads of the Gates, Walton and Broad Foundations, who are heavily funding the new program, dismissed these questions as “bureaucratic inertia.” “A lot of people are used to doing things the old way, and we know the old way doesn’t work,” said the secretary. “Every day, some Americans are going into comedy clubs and not laughing. Every day, some Americans’ humorous potential is not being developed. If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” As Bill Gates put it at the same press conference, “We are attempting to bring expertise from outside the world of comedy in order to enhance its productivity. Most comedians are not familiar with psychometric measures and do not have a well-developed business model. The answer is to tap the dynamism of America’s most successful business leaders.”

Next week the administration intends to roll out “No Sibling Left Behind” to reform the nation’s parenting practices. In the words of White House Press Secretary Lorna Givens, “We’re very excited by the opportunities that can be created by data-driven parenting. Stay tuned.”

State of the Union Upcoming Activities

Just heading off to an ICE meeting where we will discuss what role we will have as things move forward with the still unnamed State of the Union which includes people from all the groups plus lots of new folks. Let's not underestimate the difficulties of putting together a brand new entity in the midst of the chaos of the ed deform attacks and the always shifting messages put out by the Unity Caucus/Uft leaders. A key is to build trust in each other while negotiating a range of interests and positions. That is why things have been so slow in developing with SOTU.

ICE, given its roots in Ed Notes, has always stressed education --- analyzing events rather than action. Other groups look more to action. Some like GEM blend both. One thing is clear --- you can"t do much without a committed core of activists who are willing to do the hard work. Thus I view the first stage not as a mass movement but in terms of a one or two hundred on the same page with trust in each other.

One reason the action at the NY Post yesterday was "successful" despite a low turnout was this building of a  sense of working together. Going to the bar afterwards is just as important. Here are more upcoming related activities with the Nycore conf leading the way tomorrow.


Hello all SOTU Activists: 

Thanks to all who came out to the successful picket of the New York Post yesterday!

There is a number of important activities coming up in the next week.  If you would like to help with a SOTU table at the NYCORE conference tomorrow, please reply to this email (we will have signup sheets and membership cards there).

The planning committee meeting on Monday is open to all SOTU activists, and will help to set the agenda for our first general membership meeting on April 21st.

Please check out the following upcoming events:

 

Saturday 3/24 All Day  NYCORE Conference,

Among other great workshops, check out SOTU-led workshop entitled  

Building Your Chapter: How Do You Organize at the School Level?

Vanguard High School - 317 East 67th Street - 6 to 68th St.

http://www.nycore.org/conference/

Monday, 3/26 5-7 PM Planning Committee meeting 

CUNY Graduate Center, rm 5414 

365 5th Ave - 6 to 33rd or N/R/Q/F/D/B/M to 34th

Friday, 3/30, 4:30 PM General Working Committee meeting
Starlight Diner, 9^th Ave and 34^th Street
(1/2/3A/C/E to 34th)

Friday, 3/30, 4:30 PM Happy Hour for potential CL's / Delegates,  
Shades of Green Pub - 125 East 15th Street

(4/5/6/N/R/Q to Union Square)

And don't forget to put in your calendar: 

Saturday, 4/21 Membership Meeting from 12-3 pm, Location TBA

NY Post/ McGraw Hill Protest Photos

Video coming soon. Small group but spirited. 

PEP Notes From March 21

We had tickets to a play last night so I didn't make it to the PEP which was focused on charter co-locations. Every co-loco turns more people into opponents of ed deform so in that cloud is a silver lining.

It took me a long time to realize the value of Twitter as a basic news source. So before and after the show I was able to follow the PEP and OWS stuff and the Million hoodie march for Trayvon Martin at Unions Square. (Interesting that on the way home around 9PM there was an announcement that the Q train was skipping Union Square due to a police investigation). See the video with Brian Jones posted on the Coalition for Public Education blog. Also see Jose Vilson and Miss Eyre at NYCEducator on this issue. (I'll do a separate post later).

Gotham tweeted on the PEP all night -- they are here:

On PEP agenda: Co-locations and a “restart”-related contract

And Patrick Sullivan did some too. Here are Patrick's and a few more under the #PEP321 hash tag.

Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

Asked DOE general counsel to review law, see if MCS charter in violation of law requiring charters to serve Eng lang learners #PEP321

1h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

Worst of #PEP321 mayoral bloc replicates Manh Charter School despite admitted concerns that the school serves no ELLs on Lower East Side.

2h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

RT @SaveSatellite #PEP321 Patrick sez you are taking advantage of public schools with these #colocation s

2h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

RT @gothamschools 5 police surround teacher shouting over #PEP321 discussions. She refuses to leave; they back off http://pic.twitter.com/veUoCygy

View photo

2h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

RT @SaveSatellite #PEP321 why are we moving 2 success academies in one building so there will be 6 elementary schools in one building?

3h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

Great coverage of last night's Panel for Educational Policy by @SaveSatellite and @gothamschools using hashtag #PEP321

11h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

Highlight of #PEP321 Spring on 24th Street http://yfrog.com/ocazbxhj

View photo

11h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

Contracts for CUNY fail at #PEP due to recusals of mayoral bloc appointees with CUNY ties.

Shael Channels Leo at HST 101 Event

I was struck by the similarity in his [Shael] remarks to the way that Leo Casey, playing his usual role as the left face of the union leadership, tried to sell the evaluation deal.   

---- Peter Lamphere, commenting on the HST 101 debate Monday

#HST Shael: echos Leo Casey argument that stand tests not as crucial. Who wrote whose script?  --- my tweet at the event

Remember how Leo Casey defended inviting Bill Gates to be keynote speaker at AFT convention that they were entering into a "dialogue" with him?  ---a parent activist

Before I get into the similarity between the lines being put out by Shael and Leo -- affirming my contention that there is a lot of commonality of interests between the UFT and Tweed --- ie, getting rid of vet teachers, closing large high schools which the UFT consistently supported until recently, the upcoming joint support of Quinn for mayor by both Bloomberg and the UFT, that the UFT role is to be an intermediary between ed deformers and the rank and file rather than an absolute advocate --- putting out the line "if we are not part of the conversation"---yada, yada, yada --- I want to raise this diversion.

I ran into a top-level principal who loves the job [less and less] and gets raves from teachers yesterday ---whom I barely know and have had few discussions with on education who said "Shael is ________ [very uncomplimentary]." I was surprised as this person is not someone I would expect this from.

So when even a guy like Shael (who comes off as a reasonably nice guy -- a real educator who has sold out, as opposed to the bloodless Mark Sternberg who channels John White) put out there by Tweed to sell their crap has little credibility with high quality principals, that is a sign of their abject failure at all levels. The principal continued, "By the time Bloomberg leaves the system will be in such shambles it will take 20 years to put something back together and by that time I will be far, far away."

So, about the similarities between the Shael and Leo lines on ed eval ---to such an extent that I was surprised Monday night. If you have a chance check out the video –

HST 101

Part 1: http://vimeo.com/38901880 (1 hour)

Part 2: http://vimeo.com/38919400  (51 minutes)L

Listen to Shael (I hate writing his hyphenated name) and tell me he doesn't come off like Leo Casey, whose credibility with people at the school level has suffered a similar fate as Shael's has at the same level. I don't mean the usual suspects like me but people who have not been active before but highly respected teachers who are aware of the debates like Assailed Teacher who are viewing Leo more and more like principals view Shael the shill.

In part 2, Peter's partner Dao Tran -- they were there with their daughter -- speaks about the impact of high stakes testing on their school where trips are banned in pre-k.

Here is Peter Lamphere's full take, posted March 20.

The forum last night in Brooklyn was excellent - kudos to the parent networks that organized it.  Shael certainly got grilled by a variety of angry parents, principals and teachers about the nature of the testing regime. 

He, of course, played his usually role as the Bloomberg education regime's left face, by reminding parents how many progressive schools Bloomberg had opened up and mentioning his "doubts" about the system as highlighted by Anna Phillips in her writeup (below).  However, he stuck to his guns that Bloomberg administration had generated more of a dialogue about learning in the schools by their emphasis on "results" (how can a dictatorial regime that brooks no opposition be said to have a dialogue?), and the potentially progressive nature of the critical thinking tests that they were in the process of designing (or paying Pearson millions to design).

I was struck by the similarity in his remarks to the way that Leo Casey, playing his usual role as the left face of the union leadership, tried to sell the evaluation deal.  Both of them emphasized the benefits of multiple measures, focused on how few teachers would really be evaluated by tests (because value added will supposedly only be calculated for English and Math teachers), and touted the idea that the "local 20%" would not be based on standardized tests.

There was a particularly revealing moment on this angle when Elijah Hawkes talked about the particular rigorous portfolio assessment that the students at his former school go through (they are part of the Consortium, a group of schools that use student presentations of projects instead of the Regents).  Shael used this to talk about the value of performance-based, but not portfolio, assessment as part of a potential local evaluation deal.

I believe the eliding of portfolio based assessment with "performance based" tests is a key sleight of hand that will be pulled in the coming year as the city and the union try to sell whatever they come up with as an evaluation deal. When I questioned Leo Casey on his blog about what kind of "performance based" option he thought the union could negotiate with the city for the "local 20%," he basically said that something along the lines of a Social Studies DBQ essay from the Regents was on the table before talks broke down in December.  

So the much touted, higher-order thinking that Shael would like to promote and that the union thinks it can sell, turns out to be exactly the same as the Regents' exams that have been hammering our students for years.

However, if teachers and parents continue to show the kind critical engagement that the audience did last night, which didn't have any patience for Shael's salesmanship, we have nothing to worry about.

Here is Anna Philips' report on the debate at Schoolbook.

Doubts About High-Stakes Tests and Their Effect on Teachers

 

Thursday, 5PM: Educators Stand Up to Murdoch's NY Post

IT'S TIME TO MAKE A STAND. SHARE THIS WITH PEOPLE YOU WORK WITH AND TEACHER CONTACTS AND SUPPORTERS.

Thursday, March 22, 5PM at News Corp HQ: Meet at 30 Rockefeller Center.

Email me if you want the pdf for your school: normsco@gmail.com

Every UFT member who can make this should be there. 

If you're asking why the Post and not the Times, we start with the most sleaze first, though given that the Daily News sent a reporter and fotog to my friend's door on a Saturday morning makes them just as sleazy.

Let's make this clear -- this is NOT an action of the UFT (though it wouldn't surprise me to see them glom onto this) but of the Occupy DOE group with the support of pretty much all the activist groups.

The still unnamed State of the Union which includes activists from all the groups is also supporting.

Come! Spread the word!

Educators Stand Up to the NY Post!

Protest the New York Post's Decision to Publish Faulty Teacher Data Reports, Ties to Education Deform, and Distribution of Vile and Bigoted Pseudo-Reporting to Our Schools

The New York Post despicably published the Teacher Data Reports of some 1800 fourth through eighth grade teachers, with full knowledge of their many flaws from inaccurate class rosters to statistically irrelevant sample sizes and the massive opposition to their focus on high stakes standardized testing as the only means of assessing teachers and students. The Post's parent company, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, has a history of connections to the worst actors in the movement against teachers and students, including hiring former New York City Chancellor of Schools, Joel Klein. This only adds to the already outrageous free distribution of the New York Post, a racist, sexist, pornographic rag of a newspaper, to our public schools.

Join Occupy the Department of Education for a protest at News Corporation's Headquarters, and a tour of the publications that betrayed our teachers and students through the publication of teacher data reports.

Thursday, March 22

5:00 PM

Meet at 30 Rockefeller Center

Wear Black to mourn the "death of teaching" and your "scarlet number" to show we won't be shamed!

Follow on Twitter #scarletnumbers

RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/387880417906717/

PPA gets temporary restraining order to halt closure!

I have just been informed that Queens County Supreme Court has granted Peninsula Preparatory Academy Charter School a temporary restraining order that puts its planned closure decision on hold. The case will be heard next week. This may be the first time such a thing has happened, as far as I know.
Josmar Trujillo
Peninsula Prep PTO Co-President
646 732 7734

Loretta Prisco On TDRs

A doctor offers you medicine for a very serious illness, perhaps fatal. She says there is a success rate of 99.9 percent, but it may advance the illness. Do you take the medicine?

Ah, but wait – before you swallow the first pill, the doctor tells you that there is a 53 point margin of error. Are you thinking twice about it?

The lawyer will take your case, assuring you that there is a 98% chance that you will win – a big time lawsuit – and asks for a payment of $10,000. Good odds, you jump, which line do I sign on? Did you write the check yet? You might want to put the pen away - there is a 53 point margin of error.

And so it is with the Teacher Data Reports released by the DOE to the world. There is a 53 point margin of error with the data! A teacher’s career will rest on a score that can be seriously flawed.

Some say that the data is valuable if calculated correctly. But I would like to dig deeper. Too often we read of the education “miracles” in Texas, Georgia, and D.C., only to find the massive cheating and dumbing down of tests that went on. Even here in the Empire State, scores had to be recalibrated.

Should a teacher be evaluated? Absolutely! How does one rate a teacher? That is another article. But we know how not to rate a teacher –by standardized tests. Common sense dictates that publicly humiliating and shaming a teacher will not improve teaching and learning. The Board on Testing and Assessment of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences has warned that the data that will be used to evaluate teachers are so unstable that the that they cannot be considered fair or reliable enough to make operational decisions about teachers.

I always wondered why a student who was a high achiever in 4th grade could fall below standard in 5th. If a child is reading successfully, really reading, not test prepped in 4th grade, he should be successful in 5th, not “forget” how to read well. Most of us who are readers in our adult life did not lose our ability to read when reading instruction stopped at some point in school.

I always wondered why a student who was not a successful reader after attending school 10 months a year over 7 years, could go to a 6 week – half day summer program and voila, become an achieving reader. This, although out of the 30 half days, several days are spent testing, the teacher may have been absent at least one day, and the student out a few more. Do we hire magicians for summer school? Why not cancel year round school and send all children to school for a 30 day summer program? Imagine the money we would save!

Standardized tests are not any more than even the testing companies agree - a measure of a child’s ability on a particular day and should not be used, as the only measurement of a child’s ability or a teacher’s competence.

These are the dark days of education. We pummel our teachers and deny children the joy of learning and the opportunity to become life long learners and critical thinkers.
Diane Ravitch is absolutely right. “We will someday view this era as one in which the nation turned its back on its public schools, its children, and its educators.”

Loretta Prisco is a founding member of the Independent Community of Educators (ICE)

Videos: High Stakes Testing 101

UPDATED:
I removed the short 13 minute video and am replacing it with the full video - a 2 parter. I may still have to edit part 2 tonight so look for a new URL for part 2 by tomorrow.

High Stakes Testing 101 

Part 1: http://vimeo.com/38901880

Part 2: http://vimeo.com/38919400 

Sean Feeney was very impressive, as was Elijah Hawkes, the founding principal of James Baldwin HS who has left to move to Vermont. A nice contingent of teachers were there to support him. A friend who worked at Tweed and has met him and was very fond of him called me earlier in the day to make sure I said hello. Elijah's gentle manner came off so well. It was a pleasure to meet him.

There were some criticisms today that the debate and Q & A were too teacher centric and didn't deal enough with the impact of HS Testing on kids.

In prepping for the debate, Julie Cavanagh and I started discussion of a new GEM film based on HST and even though I did not fulfill my assignment to get interviews last might, the project will move ahead even with Julie about to reach the last 3 months of her pregnancy. We expect the rest of the Real Reform Studio crew to be part of the project, along with some new faces.

I had fun tweeting last night, pointing out that Shael's nose was growing every time he lied or distorted the truth -- which IS lying --- up until the Q and A when I had to manage the camera (and not too well as you will notice). I know there are actually Shael fans out there because he comes off as reasonable --- if you heard him last night you would think the gang at Tweed were real reformers. I don't buy it and though everyone seems to despise Mark Sternberg, I don't separate them. A Tweedie is a Tweedie.

See below the fold --- as usual with tweets in reverse order.

Gotham Schools report: City’s accountability czar fields criticism at forum about testing

Tweets below:

Francesco Portelos: Teacher Under Assault by Principal Linda Hill

UPDATE: Former students put up Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/ProtectPortelos

This is both an old and a new story.

You can't break Mr. Portelos!

Sunday at the robotics tournament at the Javits Convention Center I had the opportunity to meet and chat with Staten Island teacher and coach Francesco Portelos of the IS 49 SI team. He is the father of a 10 month old with another on the way. I found him one of the most engaging people I spoke to that day.

Before I go any further, I want to say that the teacher/coaches involved wit FLL robotics are amongst the most dedicated teachers I know. Francesco was giving up his entire Sunday (8AM-5PM)without being paid a dime.

I had been informed that he was under attack by his principal Linda Hill because he had asked a question at a Leadership Team meeting about the budget. I had heard he had a web site www.protectportelos.org but had not had a chance to check it out.

He told me decided to get more involved in activities outside the classroom. He became a UFT delegate and joined the School Leadership Team. He made it very clear: he can stand up to any heat and is willing to go to the mat no matter what happens, so read below with that in mind. He is one determined teacher to stay the course. If they try to fire this guy he will be the poster boy for LIFO and tenure.

One more thing. The role his UFT chapter chair who has stabbed him in the back and supported the principal. Think the CL is Unity Caucus? Wouldn't surprise me.

It turns out that the NY Post on Sunday had a page 4 article by Sue Edelman featuring his story and he wasn't happy that it opened with, "A teacher with a chip on his shoulder..." Given that Francesco was coaching the robotics team it should read, "computer chip."

He told me the principal had an investigation of him launched but he has no idea what it is about.  One day they showed up at his door and confiscated his school computer. They asked for his laptop and ipad. He told them since it was a half day they were home. So they ESCORTED HIM HOME to pick them up. Really unbelievable.

Now I know Sue Edelman (her aunt lives next door) and I called her with my outrage over why the Post wasn't at Javits doing a story about the kind of work Francesco and most teachers do (we had 82 teams there). I pointed out that he is a Polytech (one of our main backers) grad, a trained engineer who left the field to teach, which he has been doing for almost 5 years. (Thank goodness for tenure-- special note to e4e jackasses). Can you imagine how valuable he is to the school? But with asshole principals running around who think they are kings or queens, the mere fact of asking a question about the budget can lead to an attempt to destroy you.

Sue said the Post was actually sympathetic to him and said they would send a photographer. I never saw one --- must have slipped through the cracks.

Also, Cynthia R. Fagen who co-wrote the article came to Francesco's home one day in the usual slimy "60 minutes" style. I warned Sue as I am warning all reporters. Pull a surprise visit like these hit jobs on teachers and we will start publishing where you live and invite teachers to visit you when you get quotes wrong -- as almost every holier than thou reporter often does. When I raise this they have the nerve to say, "we're just giving the teacher a fair chance to respond." How about a phone call or a request for an interview? 

The article points out that his blog:

chronicles a worsening tiff that started when Portelos accused Hill of breaking the chancellor’s rules by not sharing the school’s $7.7 million budget with a panel of parents and staff tasked with reviewing it, a charge the DOE denied Friday. Soon after, Hill slapped Portelos with three letters in 10 days charging him with unprofessional conduct and insubordination. She accuses him of screaming at and cursing a fellow teacher — which he denies — sending a mass e-mail to staff without her approval and staying in school past 5:30 p.m. without her written permission.

Francesco stays in school working so late, he has been locked in once or twice.

Note the DOE denied the charge but there seems to be some proof in the years of School Leadership minutes which were just sent to me. It is 38 pages and if anyone wants to check them out email me and I'll send you the pdf. (See below).

You tell me if you think the Post article is favorable to him when it says, "

An IS 49 insider called Portelos “a loose cannon.”

Did they try to find a favorable quote? That is favorable?
Here is the caption from the article

ONLINE IRE: Francesco Portelos (above) has outraged IS 49 principal Linda Hill (below) by airing in-school disputes on the Web.

Is that caption amazing. He drew HER ire?


The story just took a leap when an email was sent out to a bunch of press people. Again, email me at normsco@gmail.com if you want a pdf of the minutes.

Sat March 24: Register for 2012 NYCoRE Conference!

Location: Julia Richman HS campus - 317 East 67th St.

Starting 8:45 (oy!) but come when you can. This is my 3rd Saturday in a row of getting up early for an all-day event. But I am off all week. What amazes me is how many working teachers are doing all this political work for NYCORE, GEM, TU, ODOE, etc. [Don't miss the rally this Thursday at the NY Post.]

And most of them are on the young end, for those vets who vilify the next-gen of teachers, mistakenly thinking they are clueless and even more clueless ala E4E.

I always find it funny how any event put on by E4E gets coverage (esp by Gotham Schools) while major events put on by the NY Collective of Radical Educators (NYCORE) are ignored even when NYCORE draws so much higher numbers and has so many more supporters than E4E.

I've been going to these all-day conferences for years (mostly so I can attend the after-party where I can feel young again -- well almost --- and no, I I do not suck the blood of young teachers when it gets dark). It is quite a day with hundreds of educators gathering for a number of workshops.

The GEM film, The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman, will be shown (at 11AM I believe). By the way, a check came in yesterday for $200 from the Georgia Federation of Teachers and the film is being shown at Mohican Sun by the Conn. Ed Assoc the weekend after next. And yes, the UFT boycott continues.

The GEM initiated high stakes testing committee, "Change the Stakes" will also be doing an afternoon workshop.

I will be there to tape during the day, including the keynote.
The final conference program is online

Last chance to register in advance for 2012 NYCoRE Conference this Saturday, March 24!

(There is on site registration too!)

NYCoRE Conference 3/24/12 http://www.nycore.org/conference Date: Saturday, March 24, 2012 at 8:45 AM (ET) Location: Julia Richman Education Complex, 317 East 67th Street We hope to see you Saturday at NYCoRE's 3rd Annual Conference.  A couple of announcements and reminders to make the day a success! The final conference program is now online.  WHAT A LINE UP! If you are coming, we recommend reading it over now and trying to make decisions about which sessions you want to attend.  The workshops are first-come first-serve, so get to your room early as they will be closed when full. We are happy to provide a delicious breakfast and lunch.  However, coffee has proven difficult on our end, so if you require a hot beverage to get you going in the morning - we recommend picking up a cup on your way in. Please arrive EARLY!  The keynote is going to be one of the highlights of the day!  Kevin Kumashiro will be discussing his new book Bad Teacher in which he breaks down how the mainstream framing of teachers is masking a broader attack on public education.  He will be joined by youth actors from the Bronx's DreamYard Action Project.  As always, we will open with a powerful performance by an Urban Word Poet. You will be sorry if you miss it!  Please be sure to arrive by 8:45-9:00 so you can register, have a pastry/bagel and get situated. Another new highlight this year is that our collaboration with DreamYard Action Project has resulted in creating new ways to better engage young people at the conference.  From a youth open mic lunch to more youth-led and -centered workshops, we are excited about this development.  There will be a flier with more details available at the youth registration table. We also have amazing conference T-shirts in traditional and "girl" cuts for just $10, so bring along some extra cash.  You'll also have the opportunity to pre-order the NYCoRE/Edlib Planning to Change the World Planbook for an early bird rate at the NYCoRE table.  There are many other amazing ally organizations tabling at the conference with great resources and information on how to get involved. Please stick around for the whole conference.  We are so lucky to have a talented group of young actors from DreamYard Action Project who are closing the conference with a powerful performance. Finally, after the closing performance, we will be heading one-block away for an after conference after party to continue the conversations and enjoy ourselves.  There will be drink specials for conference attendees. Please join us!  There is still time to register, so please spread the word over facebook, twitter etc!  --The 2012 Conference Planning Committee