April 2, 2012 - A Giant is Lost: Fortunato (Fred) Rubino

UPDATE: Previous Ed Notes on IS 318: Ed Notes Online: In Defense of IS 318

Fred Rubino -- captured from video at Success Charter Hearing, April 2011

I am truly saddened to inform you all of the passing of our Superintendent and brother Fortunato  "Fred" Rubino.   Freddy was truly THE BEST our city has to offer! ----- Email sent to District 14 principals, April 2, 2012

I received the call early this morning from a teacher at IS 318 with the news that former principal and current District 14 Superintendent Fred Rubino had died of a heart attack early this morning. Shock waves are reverberating throughout the Williamsburg/Greenpoint community and beyond.

Why do I feel like I did the day John Lennon died?

I knew Fred more by reputation than personally since his early days as a teacher at IS 318 in the 80's but got to chat with him in later years when he was an AP and then principal. Fred had been offered numerous principal jobs and often was pulled from the school for months at a time to help fix schools in trouble. But he was loyal to the school and waited years for his mentor Al Fierstein to retire before taking the principal job.

When District 14 Supt James Quail retired 6 weeks ago, Fred was appointed as Superintendent --- as a matter of fact on Feb. 16 the night of the 2nd co-location hearing at MS 50. People in the district were so relieved that Fred was appointed and would be able to offer the district some cover from the attacks of the privatizers.

A major going away party was thrown for Fred by the IS 318/District 14 community. I am now kicking myself for not going to honor him.

Fred was a behind the scenes voice opposing ed deform. We have lost possibly the only Superintendent in the NYC schools who would have been willing to defend us against the onslaught of the privatizers. He was opposed to co-locations and to the closing of schools.

We not only lost a great guy, a wonderful family man and one of the more decent people but also a great educator and a warrior on the right side of the ed wars fence.

IS 318 was a school in great demand because of the array of programs the kids were offered. The chess team won the national championship beating out even the top private schools. A film about the team was premiered at the SXSW Film Festival, a very big thing. Here's the site: http://www.brooklyncastle.com/ and an article: Greenpoint Gazette:Chess-in-the-Schools: Brooklyn IS 318 National Champs

The school not only has chess, but robotics, sewing, yoga and more. One of my friends who was attacked over her low TDA in fact teaches these special programs full-time.

When slime bags from the Daily News went after the school and Fred a few weeks ago for the fact that IS 318 doesn't score as high as others and has a higher % of teachers with low TDAs, they naturally ignored reality.

Whereas most schools would never have extensive programs like yoga and sewing and robotics but use the time for test prep, IS 318 is into educating the entire child. Which is why it is so popular among the parents in the district.

Is it a surprise that the press would attack an outspoken principal who defends teacher union rights as this Gotham Schools piece from last March points out?

1. With tenure decisions under scrutiny, a principal tapes his own .

   gothamschools.org/.../with-tenure-decisions-under-scrutiny-a-princip...

   Mar 21, 2011 – Last year, when Fortunato Rubino, the principal of a high-performing Williamsburg middle school, wanted to grant tenure to one of his teachers, ...

I looked for some video of Fred. Here is a very brief clip of Fred challenging Success public relations flack Jennie Sedlis at a co-location hearing when she claimed they had 1400 signatures --- very brief at 3:17-20 of this video I caught him calling out:




You can also see Fred applauding Brian De Vale when Brian tried to present Cathie Black with a teddy bear at her Dist 14 appearance in Feb. 2011: at 6:27 of this video: http://youtu.be/ibwyGXD3CI4. 

I grabbed a still of Fred applauding with delight.

I have a 30 minute clip where Fred challenged Tweedies at the same meeting at the 28 minute mark where he questions whether Tweed listens to the community and asks the CEC if they are ever listened to. https://vimeo.com/21717003


It turns out that my yoga teacher is best friends with Fred's sister-in-law. She was equally shocked when I told her this morning. "Every one of the people in that family were known for giving so much to people. Whatever someone needed they were there for them," she told me this morning. His sister-in-law who I know always spoke of Fred with reverence. He always went beyond the call of duty.

At a recent meeting, Fred came over and whispered, "Norm, you're ruining me. I  waste an hour a day reading your blog with all the links. Keep 'em coming."

I will Fred.

We have not only lost a great man but warrior in the battle for public education.


Follow-up stories:

Fred (Rubino) and Frank (Freeman)

Assailed Teacher didn't know Fred at all but writes a moving tribute:

Fortunato Rubino: Profile of the Possible


 

Trayvon Discussion at Family Event

An interesting discussion that may be indicative of the kinds of discussions going on all over. But note that the neutral party who had not heard of the case if only getting the FOX Facts without counter arguments might have gone the other way.

Location: Family birthday party for one year old. Many people of all ages attend.

Players:

• Conservative right winger (RW): 60 yrs old
• YGen, 30 years old, with no interest in politics who doesn't follow news but who often sides with the right/pro business point of view. No knowledge of Trayvon Martin case.
• Left winger, late 60s.

RW: Explains case to YGen using FOX Facts: Trayvon attacked Zimmerman, was suspended 3 times for drug possession. Jumped Zimmerman who had nose broken and blood on head. An eyewitness has come forward to corroborate Zimmerman.

RW sympathetic to Zimmerman. Using FOX Facts.

LW: Terms RW account as FOX Facts. Explains to YGEN chronology of event from Zimmerman phone call through Trayvon call to friend that he was being followed who told him to run but he said he wouldn't. Also that video of Zimmerman going to police station showed no marks on him.

RW: Kid was suspended for drugs -- 3 times.

LW: "Drug" was Marijuana -- turns to GENY -- a noted offiicianado of the use of that substance ---what would have happened to you?

GENY: In my day (over a decade before) I would have been suspended every day. They are going crazy now with these inspections. Totally unfair to students.
"Was the kid on the guy's private property?"

RW: No

LW: Even if Trayvon attacked what about his self-defense when being followed?

GENY: He had no right to confront the kid--- he is responsible no matter what happened between them. Case closed.

Discussion ends. 

April Fool No Joke: Tier 4 Pension Last Calls

The best the UFT could do on this middle of the night assault by the NY State Legislature on pensions by creating a Tier 6 was to tell people to get themselves into the system by today, April Fools. There were long lines.


Of course, as the ed deformers execute their plan they don't really expect many teachers to spend enough years to get a pension.
Pics and comments from a former NYC teacher.
Pension comparison by Loretta Prisco (Independent Community of Educators).

Teacher Comment:
The future public sector workers in NY are going to be screwed as of today, April 1 (oh, I wonder if Albany is giving us a bad April's Fools Joke).

Anyway, the pictures are depressing. So many people were lined up at 65 Court Street waiting to enroll with BERS (board of education retirement system, for those who do not know what it stands for).

Comparison of Tier 4/6

Credited Service

Tier IV

1.67% per year for those with less than 20 years of credited service

2% per year of service for those with 20 to 30 years of credited service

1.5% per year of service for each year of credited service beyond 30 years

Tier VI

1.67% per year for those with less than 20 years of credited service

For those with 20 or more years of credited service, 35% for the first 20 years plus 2% for each year of credited service in excess of 20 years

Full Retirement

Tier IV – age 57

Tier VI – age 63

Vest after

Tier IV – 5 years

Tier VI – 10 years

 

Contributions

Tier IV                                           Tier VI

4.85% for 10 years                         No contribution cutoff

                                                      Salary up to $45,000 – 3%

                                                      Salary $45,001 to $55,000 – 3.5%

                                                      Salary $55,001 to $75,000 – 4.5%

                                                      Salary $75,001 to $100,000 – 5.75%

                                                      Salary greater than $100,000 – 6%

 

Final Annual Salary (FAS)

Tier IV

Average of 3 consecutive years but the average in one year can’t exceed the average of the other two years by more than 10%

Tier VI

Average of wages earned during any continuous period of employment for which the member was credited with 5 years of credited service. However, wages earned during any year used cannot exceed the average of the previous four years by more than 10%  

NYC Teacher Unpacks Common Core vs. 50 Banned Words

When the DOE banned 50 words were they channeling George Carlin's - 7 dirty words you can't say? 

I was asked to post this from a teacher I know who I'm keeping anonymous because of being out front on criticizing the DOE on TDAs. (No need to give the DOE any ammo.) Here is a contrast between the banned words and some gruesome stuff in the common core which is being pushed by the ed deformers and the AFT/UFT like some drug. Really, when you think of drug pushers how much difference is there?

Common Core Excerpts: Appropriate or shocking?

by Anonymous

While the NYCDOE is busy banning words under the guise of "sensitivity," they are simultaneously expecting 8th graders to read about identifying the bodies of women who have been raped, murdered and disfigured.

Disconnect?  You decide.

-----

A recent piece on CBS news disclosed that the NYCDOE has requested 50 words not be included on standardized tests.  Banned words include:  birthday, divorce, Halloweeen, homelessness, homes with swimming pools, poverty, slavery and nuclear weapons.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/03/26/war-on-words-nyc-dept-of-education-wants-50-forbidden-words-removed-from-standardized-tests/

Meanwhile on the other end of the spectrum.....

NYC teachers have been instructed to "unpack the Common Core".  This year, ELA and math teachers are supposed to administer performance tasks to their students. 

If you download the 8th grade ELA "bundle" from the DOE website, you will see that teachers have been instructed to investigate forensics.   It reads in part, 

http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/05F0FE33-6EDA-4CBB-8610-E9ADF016F009/0/NYCDOEG8LiteracyForensicAnthropology_Final.pdf.    

      You are a forensic anthropologist. You are taking your dog for a walk, and he breaks free and sprints down the block. When you catch up with him, you find him digging in the dirt. Your dog pulls out what looks like a bone. Upon further investigation, you realize your dog has discovered the remains of a human body. As a forensic anthropologist, you must identify the body. What steps will you take and with whom will you consult?

       Write an informative/explanatory essay in which you explain the steps you will take and the people you will consult. In your text, be sure to:

• Explain at least three steps you will take (after calling the police to report the body) and write reasons for these steps. In other words, explain: why will you take these steps and why take them in this order?
• Explain who you will consult and write your reasons for consulting these people.

Use textual evidence from two of the four texts. The texts you should use are ones we've read previously. They include:

• "What is Forensic Anthropology?" by R.U. Steinberg
• "Dead Men Talking: Solving Crime Through Science" by David Kohn
• "Identifying the Victim" by Angela Libal
• "Giving Faces to the Lost" by Angel Libal

On p. 40 of this document which provides an example of what a student who scores a 4 should be writing, it says the following:

In the case of Mwivano, whose face had been cut off after being raped and murdered by her cousin, a forensic anthropologist and artist used her skull to reconstruct a model of her face (i.e., facial reconstruction).

The book "Giving Faces to the Lost," which is supposed to be read during this unit, contains a case study of two boys who found a bag containing "the decomposing remains" of a young woman who had "...been cut into pieces with the skin of the face removed."  Later it reads, "Since the skull contained crucial evidence - the marks of the knife the murderer had used to cut off the victim's face - a copy of the skull was made with computer scans and lasers."

http://ewittperformancetasks.wikispaces.com/file/view/Givingfaces.pdf

Appropriate or shocking?

=====
More on Common "Gore" as Pogue calls it in a comment from NYCDOENUTS:

Common Core -Read This; You May Laugh Or Cry 

Flabby to the ‘Core’

By Boston Herald Editorial Staff | Saturday, March 31, 2012 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Editorials

PAVE Charter Anti-PS 15 Graffiti

What are they teaching the kids at PAVE Academy which shares a building with PS 15 in Red Hook?

The day after I wrote this about PAVE and PS 15 (Having Lunch With Spencer Robertson of Pave Charter)  this was seen around the school building:

PS 15: DO NOT PASS

Mayoral Control - 15 Years of Failure in Chicago

Before you check out this very important report published in Feb. 2011 -

Here is a reminder of where Mulgrew and the UFT stand on mayoral control no matter what they say for the public at large and internally:

Mulgrew was very up front w/ me that he supports continued if ameliorated mayoral control and wants to look at other cities where it is going well...

Yet his toadies near the top of the org will proclaim he is NOT! Are they misled? out of loop? guilty of wishful thinking?----- Anon Parent activist

So when the Unity hacks come around saying the UFT will oppose mayoral control ask them to list the cities where it is going well.

Really useful for the coming battle here.

Here is the exec summary and recos.

Email me for the entire report: normsco@gmail.com

Videos: Brooklyn Automotive HS closing Hearing

Report from Pat Dobosz:

Many alumni spoke about the school. The DOE was charged with not providing stability and funding to the school, setting it up to fail.  Below are a few of the speakers. I had more, but the quality of the video was poor because the sound system was terrible.

I did these videos on behalf of GEM (Grassroots Educatiom Movement).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HevguhYOxFE

1967 graduate: The DOE has not put resources into this school.

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

Teacher: He said he was going to speak until he was done. Watch the security come up to him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZDzcRsUnLg

2011 Graduate: Give us the money.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMMmCTfRCJI  

CSA Rep: Bloomberg's DOE Speaks about the Turnaround Model for schools.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgzinbXWtWI

1968 graduate and present teacher: This has always been a family....You had a trade... and you could go to college.

    

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeSMWTTy540

Rep from Councilman Steve Levin's office: ...should be discussing creative solutions...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkbzPLZpgXIv=kwdLfhe5epw

UFT Vice President of CTE, Sterling Roberson: Two minutes is not enough.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwdLfhe5epw

Teacher; Had 21 supervisors in 18 years. The last two principals were removed from the building and yet they got jobs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RhpDfbmB-A

UFT Rep: Which side are you on?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxHZJISSaAQ

David Dobosz: Southside Community Schools Coalition

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNz8H6OBOS8

Mother of a current student: We can't let the DOE tell us how to raise our children academically.

Here is Gotham Schools' report on the Automotive Hearing:

NYCDOE and Gotham Schools Back E4E Dribble

One of my GEM/ICE colleagues attended a Professional Development workshop last week when the person running the workshop started passing out leaflets promoting an E4E event. Just how much cooperation is E4E getting from the DOE?
When my friend objected the workshop leader said she had no idea what E4E was all about. It is not clear how she got the leaflets but I'll let you guess.

Of course Gotham Schools reported (check out the comments) on the E4E salary report, as expected while ignoring the NYCORE all-day conference (March 24) that attracted 400 people attending 50 workshops with Chicago based professor and author of "Bad Teacher" Kevin Kumshiro as the keynote speaker along with student poet Amani Breanna Alexander: (See videos at: http://vimeo.com/39179678 and http://vimeo.com/39214616.)

The conf was run by volunteers and people actually PAID money to attend. No Gates/DFER funding here.

Really, how do you compare what E4E does with NYCORE ---- with much greater outreach and effectiveness? (NYCORE meets 3rd Friday of every month).

And check out all the activities by GEM and the State of the Union (which attracted over 200 people who paid on Feb. 4) and another 70 at the March 10 working group meeting. None of us have staff or funding yet accomplish so much more than E4E.


The Inside Co-location blog which chronicles what an Eva Moskowitz invasion of a school looks like also had a visit from the E4E gremlins and points out that E4E and Success Academy share the same web campaign manager info that Gotham manages not to report.

From the blog:

Last week, these unauthorized flyers mysteriously appeared in all faculty mailboxes, advertising free drinks to entice teachers to a meet-and-greet. The event sponsor was Educators 4 Excellence, a group founded by young teachers. The corporate-funded group shares a web campaign manager with Success Academy, as well as a decidedly anti-union stance.




So below is the E4E update --- monthly events to try to keep themselves appearing relevant. 

The next one -- on April 17, the same evening as the GEM Teacher Evaluation event with speakers Carol Burris (LI Principal opposing the tchr eval), Francis Lewis HS CL Arthur Goldstein and well-known blogger Gary Rubinstein, amongst others. (Look for our announcement soon.)

Upcoming Events

New York

April 17 Speed Networking  6:30pm E4E Offices

333 W. 39th Street, Suite 703, New York, NY 10018

Gee, Speed Networking -- a crucial issue facing us all. 

Guess E4E is running out of topics to lure Gotham into covering. 


AFTERBURN: Gotham ignores GEM film too


And if you read Gotham you would never know about our movie which has gone all over the world (we just got an email from New Zealand with an offer of $200) and with the NYC public library ordering 20 copies and with showings around the nation and the city (except for the UFT.) That we alone have not only produced 8000 dvds while people all over the world are making copies and give it and all rights away (and have received enough donations to cover all costs so far) is not a story?


Try to tell me that Gotham's willful ignorance about our film with attacks the corporate deformers is not connected to fear of loss of funding from these very same people.

By the way -- do you think a review would appear in Gotham given that the people who made the film are well-known teacher/parent activists in NYC?


Here are just a few upcoming showings we can keep track of:

•Saturday, March 31st. CEA New Teachers Conference, Connecticut.

•Saturday, March 31st, 11:00AM. 400 Maryland Ave SW, Washington DC. Occupy the DOE in DC, as part of the United Opt Out movement to end punitive public school testing. Click here for more information.

•Saturday, March 31st from 2:30 – 4. Baldwin Public Library, 3322 Grand Ave, Baldwin, NY (between Sunrise Highway and Merrick Road).
•Tuesday, April 10th at 6:30 pm. Towles Montessori Intermediate School at 420 E. Paulding Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46816.

Fred Smith: A History Lesson as NYC School Tests Near

Our pal Fred Smith continues drilling deep on high stakes testing. Fred is a member of the GEM spinoff Change the Stakes Committee. See our blog at:
http://changethestakes.wordpress.com/


A good reminder of past high-stakes failures from Fred at http://www.citylimits.org/conversations/168/school-testing-drama-are-students-center-stage-or-a-sideshow

Next month, city students take the standardized tests on which their progress, and perhaps the fates of their teachers and schools, depend—all amid a debate over testing that, this writer observes, is nothing new.

By Fred Smith

Thursday, Mar 29, 2012 

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In 1980, a promotion policy was put forward by Mayor Ed Koch, who wanted to be known as the education mayor and judged by student test performance. He championed a promotion/retention effort built around results obtained on the citywide test. He talked about returning to tough standards. He received favorable press for this bold initiative.

Decisions on promoting children would be based on their performance on the city's annual reading and math tests. Score a year or more behind and you'd be retained in fourth and seventh grade, the so-called Promotional Gates.

Koch’s chosen chancellor held obligatory hearings, where mothers and fathers raised rational arguments against the policy: unreliable data; not enough highly-skilled teachers to reach kids in a way the schools had been unable to before; the harmful, disruptive impact keeping kids back would have (the specter of "bearded 7th graders"); the lack of an appeal process; and the likelihood of insufficient funding to support the program.

The school system didn't listen to parents. But it did listen to its bean counters.   An arbitrary cutoff score was initially set for each Gates grade to separate students who met the promotion criteria from others who would be eligible for retention. Based on preliminary data, the budget office projected how very high the cost would be for the instructional services needed by so many low scorers, including money for prescribed summer school. No problem, the administration effectively said. The cut-off points for holding kids back were immediately lowered—literally, a new bottom line—and a more affordable plan adopted. So much for standards.

The chancellor then asked the city's 32 school districts to tell him what practices worked best in reaching the holdbacks. Clearly, this was a policy in search of a program. The mayor and chancellor, having rejected input from the public and not thought out the consequences, lurched ahead.

Three or four years later, five independent studies came out concluding the program had come up short largely because of the very problems parents had warned about. The Board of Education stuck by its own statistics and hailed the program's success, distorting test data to show an exaggerated rate of promotion after summer school. However, by 1984, the city had quietly begun phasing out the program. In short, Gates (no relation to Bill) was a failure.

The episode should have served as an historical object lesson for the current administration. Instead, Mayor Bloomberg has recited the “let’s end social promotion" mantra in every grade. He took credit when the number of holdbacks almost vanished in 2009. Their near-disappearance was because the cut-off scores needed to reach “Level 2,” the threshold of promotion, had been set so low that kids could advance to the next grade by guessing. The mayor was too busy to acknowledge this fact as he ran for re-election to a third term.

In 2009, Albany was finally forced to admit its exams lacked rigor and that tough standards had to be imposed. So, the state and its test publisher increased the number of items required to pass in 2010. Many more students wound up in Level 1, the lowest performance category, making them eligible for additional services. Upon that news, the Board of Regents approved a waiver: Districts wouldn’t have to provide such costly help. As had happened under the Koch administration, which scaled back its own standards in the face of fiscal constraints, city students who needed extra support did not receive the services to the extent they should have. Once again, budget trumped need.

But the Bloomberg administration has done more than echo the Koch administration's mistakes on the use of standardized tests to govern promotion. It has expanded on them. High-stakes test data have become the basis for denying tenure to teachers and rating their effectiveness via complicated value-added formulas that give major weight to how well their students do on statewide exams whose scoring in recent years has been anything but reliable. And flimsy test results have been overextended to generate school report cards, identifying and justifying which will be closed, restructured, turned around, etc.

All but invisible amid these furies, the troubled promotion program has been relegated to secondary or tertiary status, an ironic outcome, perhaps—one showing how education has devolved from focusing on the children to a preoccupation with administrative and organizational matters.

Fred Smith

But the voices of parents that were long ago ignored never died. Unaddressed concerns have grown louder about how testing and its misapplied results have damaged education. A spectrum of resistance is emerging now among parents who question and conscientiously object to putting their sons and daughters through the testing wringer. The proposals range from advocating that informed parental consent be a pre-condition for testing, to more boldly opting out of a program some see as inimical to learning, to flat-out calling for a boycott of next months' test.

We shouldn’t forget that our current raging debates started in the classroom. Somehow I feel a mixture of ambivalence and perverse consolation in knowing that children hold in their hands the most potent weapon in education today: the No.2 pencil. Armed with this, they fill in circles on answer sheets that control the fate of teachers and schools, as well as their own.

===
AFTER BURN

Confused about what might happen if you decide to opt your child out of high stakes testing in New York this year?  Opting out is not for everyone, but if you have already considered this (or if you want to learn about other ways to challenge high stakes testing):


- Check out our new flier at www.changethestakes.org
- For additional information on how to opt out visit http://nystoptesting.blogspot.com/
- And if you have already decided to opt out contact us at changethestakes@gmail.com


Please repost the petition demanding a non-punitive opt out process on Facebook and share via email, Twitter, etc.

http://signon.org/sign/give-new-york-state-parents.fb1?source=s.em.cr&r_by=1228146&mailing_id=3021

Thanks for your support! 


Andrea from the Change the Stakes Campaign

Did Rhambo Blink in Settlement with CTU?

UPDATED WITH NEW INFO (in blue): Friday, March 30, 9AM

From Substance:

Fight back against Longest School Day a major feature of the Board of Education meeting

The battle in Chicago over the longer -- or linger -- day will go on despite the settlement as Rhambo Emanuel wants to impose a longer day but without having to pay the teachers other than a small pittance. Earlier in the year he engaged with a pissing contest with the union, trying to go around then by offering individual schools bribes if they would adapt the longer day this year instead of next. They mmanaged to get 13 schools to vote for it (with one school reporting that a custodial worker broke a tie vote.

The union jumped in and stopped the bleeding pretty quickly which was a real defeat for Rhambo. Despire what some would consider union busting on the part of teachers at the 13 schools who voted for the longer day or were coerced into it (where's Justice Alito when we really need him) the union sued the Chi DOE violated basic collective bargaining rights.

So they settled and the teachers will get a raise. Did the union get everything? Probably not. But they didn't cave and given the assault the union has undergone in Chicago over the last 2 decades this is only a beginning. Lots of people think a strike is possible in the fall when the full implementation of the longer day goes into effect without matching pay. I'll do more on this aspect --- a whole bunch of NYC activists are heading to Chicago the weekend of May 5-6 for the Labor Notes conference which will focus on the strike issue.

Said CPS spokeswoman Becky Carroll: “We choose to focus on the classroom, not the courtroom and this settlement is an attempt to avoid the courtroom.”

Yes. that means they knew they would lose so they settled. I guess the CTU could have waited them out but is saving the ammo for the big fall battle. Another reason I feel is that these 13 schools in essence went against union policy and by putting some money in the pockets of the teachers at these schools is a way to win them towards the value of the union. Assume next year that Rhambo and his minions will make enormous attempts to split the union, with faux E4E groups and Teach for America spewing forth how they are about children while the union is about adults.

Here are 2 articles, the first from George Schmidt at Substance.

Chicago Teachers Union reaches settlement on pay for 'Pioneer School' teachers

John Kugler - March 29, 2012
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) have settled a long-running dispute over CPS’s unlawful implementation of a longer school day at 13 neighborhood schools without properly compensating the teachers for the extra hours of work. The agreement was signed by both parties following the Board of Education meeting on March 28, 2012.


Flanked by parents, teachers, and community leaders, CTU vice president Jesse Sharkey (above at microphones) spoke during the protest rally prior to the March 28, 2012 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.
As reported in August and September 2011 in Substance. CPS unilaterally implemented the Longer School Day Pioneer Program beginning on September 26, 2011, with the last implementation date in January 2012, at a total of 13 schools. To induce teacher cooperation, CPS paid teachers up to $750 stipends and up to $150,000 to each school that participated in the program.

The CTU filed Labor Board charges, alleging that the Longer School Day violated its bargaining rights, and the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board unanimously voted on October 20, 2011 to seek injunctive relief blocking CPS from implementing the program at any of other 600+ public schools whose staff is represented by the CTU, and referring the initial 13 schools to a hearing before an Administrative Law judge. Rather than face a court fight, CPS agreed not to impose the longer school day at any more schools this school year.

“Today’s settlement is a great victory for collective bargaining in Chicago, and a step forward for the Chicago Public Schools,” says CTU President Karen GJ Lewis. “The longer school day will give CPS students the schools they deserve only if sufficient resources are devoted to making it work, including fair compensation for teachers. We have serious reservations whether CPS will devote sufficient resources system-wide to maintain reasonable class size, educate the whole child, provide robust wrap-around services, and provide quality facilities. But CPS makes its first good faith step in that direction today.”

Today’s settlement resolves the fate of the 13 schools. The agreement effectively guarantees those teachers the same salary for the 2011-12 school year that teachers will receive next school year when the longer school day is implemented system-wide. Under the agreement, CPS will initially pay over $300,000 in prorated payments of up to $1,500 for each teacher employed at the 13 schools.

CPS has also agreed that when the labor contract is concluded for the 2012-13 school year, these teachers will be paid the difference between this year’s compensation (including the $750 stipend and $1500 settlement) and next year’s negotiated salary. The effect will be that the salaries negotiated for next school year – when Mayor Rahm Emanuel imposes the longer school day at all CPS schools – will be paid to the teachers at the 13 schools retroactively for this year.
 --------

Chicago teachers, district settle lawsuit over longer school day pilot

BY ROSALIND ROSSI Education Reporter rrossi@suntimes.com March 28, 2012 6:58PM

Teachers in Chicago public schools that agreed to pilot a longer school day starting this past fall will be paid an extra $1,500 under a deal announced Wednesday.

The settlement between Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union resolves a CTU lawsuit accusing CPS of illegally circumventing the collective bargaining process in its attempts to forge ahead with a longer day pilot.

CTU officials agreed to drop their suit in exchange for extra payments within the next 30 days of $1,500 for teachers in schools that started a 1 1/2 hour longer day in the fall, and an extra $750 for those who started a longer day in January.

CPS also agreed to pay teachers at the 13 schools the difference between this year’s compensation and next year’s if a higher salary is ultimately negotiated for next school year. Contract talks have gone on for several months.

The new $1,500 is on top of an extra average of $1,500 the typical CPS teacher received for working in a longer-day pilot school, starting in September. More than 200 teachers were affected, union officials said.

CTU President Karen Lewis hailed the deal as “a great victory for collective bargaining.’’

Said CPS spokeswoman Becky Carroll: “We choose to focus on the classroom, not the courtroom and this settlement is an attempt to avoid the courtroom.”

ALSO NOTE:

Professors challenge CPS push to evaluate Chicago teachers based on 'growth' models

By George N. Schmidt - March 27th, 2012 | 1 comment

One hundred local academics representing virtually every major college and university in Chicago and the Chicago area came together on March 26, 2012 at a press conference. The purpose was to oppose CPS teacher evaluation . . .

Having Lunch With Spencer Robertson of Pave Charter

It isn't often I get to go to lunch with a billionaire. Or rather, the son of a billionaire. Especially the son of a billionaire (recently deceased Julian Robertson) who can say to dad, "Buy me a charter school (PAVE) that I can implant in a highly successful public school (PS 15) while I wait for you dad to get your pal Bloomberg to give me mucho millions to build my own building, even if it comes down to using public money to the tune of $75,000 a student."

Well, today was that day. I popped over to PS 15 to take Julie Cavanagh to lunch --- I want to make sure that the baby coming in 3 months is being well fed. But Julie assures me "no problem" as she's eating everything in sight -- except meat. (Boy what I would give to see her chomp into a burger.)

As I was checking in I had a few young people in front of me who were clearly not "public school." You know the type if you have a charter school in your building. The very pale type. And thin. And dressed a certain way. Clearly PAVE was recruiting new teachers  --- maybe a bit of teacher turnover going on?

Well, Julie and I headed over to the diner across the street and there was Spencer with about 8-10 "recruits" sitting at a table. Was it my eyes or did they all look alike? Do they have a cloning machine over there? Actually, they all looked like a version of Spencer  - 15 years ago. Guess what? Not one that had the same skin shade as the children that go to PAVE.

Well, Julie and I had a jolly good lunch. Spencer did not pick up our check, though the recruits probably got a free lunch. Then they were off to the tour of the wonderful things PAVE is doing with the kids. On the way Spencer pointed to a former student at PAVE, now back at PS 15 (one of many), explaining the parent did not agree with the PAVE policy of hiking test scores by holding over scads of kids so each succeeding year they take a test geared for kids a year younger.

As a matter of fact I hear that PAVE had so few kids in the 4th grade due to so many holdovers in the 3rd grade which led to some parents moving their children back into PS 15 -- they had 12 in a class NS  had to merge the classes in mid-year. I guess the sales pitch changed from low class size as they turned one of the rooms into an art room and now are trying to sell parents on PAVE on their art program.

I wonder if on the day of parent recruitment Spencer will be treating them to lunch in a restaurant. Shouldn't cost too much.

The way PAVE is going, when the millions of dollars for the new building, which as I mentioned now amounts to $75,000 per child, we may see that number rise to $100,000.

Well, gotta run. On my way into the city to meet Michael Fiorillo for Korean barbecue. (I'm locking up my cat Bernie before I leave). Maybe we'll send Spencer the check.

You think eating out twice in one day is too much? If Julie won't eat meat I'll do it --- for the baby, of course.

AFTER BURN
MONDAY- APR. 2.6:30 at NYU
See Leonie in action as she kicks Charter Center James Merriman's ass. And clips of both movies. Yummie. I may go in early to eat.

Is there an Inconvenient Truth behind Waiting for Superman?

 

Why is the UFT Ignoring This? Thoughts on Turnaround

REVEALING COMMENTS FROM 2 NYC PARENT ACTIVISTS:

I found it interesting that Elaine could not produce for me the language in the grants that mandates an evaluation system—you’d think the chief of turnaround would have it ready at hand, since that's what they're using to argue their hands are tied by the feds.

Why is the UFT ignoring this? --- Thoughts on turnaround, state and federal guidance.
 - email from parent activist Paola de Koch

Mulgrew was very up front w/ me that he supports continued if ameliorated mayoral control and wants to look at other cities where it is going well...

Yet his toadies near the top of the org will proclaim he is NOT! Are they misled? out of loop? guilty of wishful thinking?

----- Anon Parent activist in response to Paola

I cannot imagine they [the UFT] didn't see this coming and I find it very troubling that Mulgrew brushed off my question about the turnaround at the CEC presidents dinner. There's something that doesn't smell right here because you’d think they would be all over the "mass firings" required by the turnaround model. But they clearly are not-- although individual teachers at the turnaround schools are giving heartbreaking testimony about finding initiatives they spearheaded in the EIS’s for the” new schools” all the while not knowing whether they will be called back in the fall.  ---Paola

If you are confused about why the UFT functions the way it does, Vichy anyone?

You have to follow the bouncing ball on this email exchange between 2 parent activists who are scratching their heads at the UFT response, or lack of on the turn around model. One has to ask why a parent (as so many have been doing) is doing the basic kind of work the UFT should be doing?

Paola de Koch started the ball rolling with questions about the DOE implementation of the turn around model after conversations with the chief DOE office on that issue. Her entire email is the last item. (It's a bit long so I put it below under the ******).

Another parent (B) responded with this:

March 26, 12:02 PM
Excellent work- wow!

Can we try to get UFT attorneys on this?

Does anyone know Carol Gerstel well enough to reach out to her? I know Leonie does...as does David Bloomfield....

I was at that first OPA briefing last June where the restart model was introduced- turnaround too? and the DoE explained they'd need UFT buy in on the evaluation piece but were confident they'd get it before the deadline and were creating a turnaround CFN just for these EPO's or something like that- I have to find my notes because I may have garbled this...

Paola: 12:14PM

I certainly don't know Carol but I'm not sure how reaching out to the UFT attorneys will help. I cannot imagine they didn't see this coming and I find it very troubling that Mulgrew brushed off my question about the turnaround at the CEC presidents dinner. There's something that doesn't smell right here because you’d think they would be all over the "mass firings" required by the turnaround model. But they clearly are not-- although individual teachers at the turnaround schools are giving heartbreaking testimony about finding initiatives they spearheaded in the EIS’s for the” new schools” all the while not knowing whether they will be called back in the fall. I raised the issue of budget-busting ATRs vs. same allegedly lousy teachers recirculated through the turnaround schools with Elaine-- the pat answer is that the teachers will be "a better fit" !

I better stop before I have a fit!

Paola

Parent B responds at 12:23PM

I know, I know- the UFT is either an incredibly stupid and careless organization ((there may be some of that operating here) or there is a whole series of deals; horse trades; parries, feints and thrusts being played out on so many levels that we outsiders (and I include the membership and 90% of the UFT employees here) are not aware of that come into play in these "negotiations" and position formulations.

Mulgrew was very up front w/ me that evening that he supports continued if ameliorated mayoral control and wants to look at other cities where it is going well...

yet his toadies near the top of the org will proclaim he is NOT!

Are they misled? out of loop? guilty of wishful thinking?

Between doE and UFT we are all sunk- look at the past 10 years.

The 5 men in a room- (adding Mulgrew and Bloomberg to the traditional 3) has been a disaster for our schools, kids and communities.

No matter the personalities of say the UFT head or the Governor, etc the outcome is just plain disastrous.

Why parents and teachers don't rise up is beyond me!

************

Original email from Paola de Koch

March 26, 11:35 AM

Good morning all:

-- DOE makes it up as they go along, but they do have help from the state.

Here is the original (2010) state guidance document on the SIG grants and the four school improvement models:http://www.p12.nysed.gov/accountability/TitleI/sigfieldguidance.html

The New York State Education Department will provide LEAs with SIG grants under 1003(g) to facilitate implementation of one of the following four school intervention models in Tier I and Tier II schools:

• Turnaround: Phase out and replace the school with a new school(s) or completely redesign the school, including replacing the principal and at least half the staff.  
• Restart Model: Either convert a school to a charter school or replace a public school with a new charter school that will serve the students who would have attended the public school. Under certain circumstances, districts may also enter into contracts with the City University of New York or the State University of New York for them to manage public schools.
• Transformation: Similar to the turnaround model, but with a requirement for an evaluation of staff effectiveness developed by the LEA in collaboration with teachers and principals that takes into account data on student growth, multiple observation-based assessments, and portfolios of professional activities. Evaluations would serve as the basis for rewarding effective teachers and removing ineffective teachers after ample professional development opportunities. A school that opts for a transformation model does not close but rather remains identified as persistently lowest-achieving until it demonstrates improved academic results. 
• School closure: Close the school and enroll the students who attended the school in higher achieving schools in the LEA.

Note, by the way, that DOE keeps conflating the models and the SIG grants, which are two separate and distinct things. You (probably – even this is not certain) cannot have a SIG grants without a model, but you certainly can have a model without SIG grants.

I found it interesting that Elaine could not produce for me the language in the grants that mandates an evaluation system—you’d think the chief of turnaround would have it ready at hand, since that's what they're using to argue their hands are tied by the feds.   I went back and found the final US DOE regs published in Federal Register and updated guidance for the SIG grants:

http://www2.ed.gov/programs/sif/2010-27313.pdf
 http://www2.ed.gov/programs/sif/legislation.html#guidance

On a quick read, I cannot find the evaluation requirement but it's pretty dense stuff so that doesn't mean it's not there or cannot be construed as being there (will review more closely later).  The most likely scenario, though, is that the evaluation was a requirement added by the state (that's probably why the person who spoke with Noah attributed it to John King).  And note that the evaluation requirement is not in the restart model (which was applied in some of the schools now subject to turnaround), not even at the state level.  BTW, the PEP voted on Tuesday to fund the EPO’s there were given contracts under the restart model so they can continue working with the schools even after they go to turnaround.  Conclusion? 1) it's not really a matter of money or federal requirements; 2) they find the money if it's a matter of paying off private contractors (which may have been the fiscally prudent thing to do anyway in view of breach of contract suits).

 One thing to keep in mind: the language re: evaluations in the state guidance document is pretty ambiguous.  Although it explicitly says the transformation model requires “an evaluation of staff effectiveness” that would serve as the basis for rewarding/removing teachers, it's not clear at what point the evaluation system must be in place (the guidance recognizes that at least the reward part will occur “later in the process”).  What the guidance is unambiguous about, however, is that for transformation (and turnaround) model, “the principal must be replaced prior to the start of the 2010-2011 school year. There is no exception for retaining the principal was been in the school for more than two years.”  So what about Barry Fried, “longtime principal” of John Dewey HS, whom many wanted out as an ineffective leader a few years ago but is still in place even though the school went into transformation? I am sure there are similar situations elsewhere.  Yes, they make it up as they go along, picking and choosing the mandates they feel constrained by.

 Also, on page 2 of the guidance document, the state says that the funding is "contingent on the LEA's demonstrated capacity to implement the selected models and an approved application and budget that includes sufficient funds to implement the selected intervention fully and effectively in each school."  A reasonable construction of this rather opaque language is that NYC DOE must have demonstrated that it had money set aside to implement the models regardless of whether the federal funding came through.  If I'm right, the public is once again being taken for fools by DOE.

Enough boring, picky stuff for now.  But why is the UFT ignoring this?
Paola

I'm going to add this comment from Gary Rubinstein on Gotham Schools re: turnaround:

Gary Rubinstein wrote: Mass Insight is a company has has made millions of dollars by convincing districts that they hold some magic secrets to school 'turnarounds.'  Certainly every school can improve with more resources and better management, but most schools won't improve by that much because they are already doing a 'good' job under the constraints they face. But any plan should be the 'least invasive' necessary.  Why fire more teachers than you have to, considering that the instability that results from massive staff turnovers has adverse affects on students? So the Mass Insight guy says that it is better to err on the side of too much firing.  He admits, though, that there is 'nothing magic about 50 percent,' which is something everyone knows but I'm glad to see someone from that perspective saying it. For the US DOE SIG grants, which they are currently touting as a great success, 75% of the schools chose not to fire half their staffs.  So even with the option to, they didn't because they knew that this would not be the best way to 'turn around' these schools.  Such reckless activity would likely make the schools worse.