Eva Destruction: Walcott/Bloomberg Willing to Destroy Kids to Let Success Charter Grow

A high school for at-risk kids is facing eviction from its home to make room for a well-connected charter school to expand...the city is planning to create more space in the Brandeis building by moving the Innovation Diploma Plus school to a Washington Heights building that lacks science labs and a gym...The move also means the school’s teen moms will lose access to day care because Brandeis is one of a few dozen locations where day care is provided for students -- NY Daily News

Why are they moving these HS students out now? Because if they delay a year, Eva is not sure that the next mayor will be as submissive to her will. -- Leonie Haimson

I have seen some horribly destructive behavior toward our kids by the DOE over the years, but this truly is among the worst. The school targeted to be removed is 100% Black and Latino, overage, under credited, a full 50% of whom are unwed mothers. They are in an Upper West Side location, which has been their home since the DOE included them as one of the four schools to replace Brandeis. Then, Upper West Success Charter moved in. Now they are being sent to be warehoused (and likely drop out) in Washington Heights. While their space will be warehoused until such point that the charter is ready to use it .... Noah Gotbaum

At what point does the edurati actually begin to get what's going on? On the same night Eva's husband's Citizens of the World Charter was committing an outrage in Greenpoint, Eva's agents, Walcott/Bloomberg etc were engaging in actions so brazen as to practically defy description. Thanks to the Eva Destruction title to Sean Crawley. Here are comments from Noah, Leonie and the article by Rachel Monahan.

Great article yesterday from Rachel Monahan and an incredible hearing (and rally) at Brandeis on Tuesday over the planned destruction of the Innovation Diploma Plus transfer high school by the DOE. Over 300 people showed up including 100 IDP students to demand to know why they are being kicked out of their state-of-the-art high school facility at Brandeis and exiled to a 90 year old leased factory site in Washington Heights. DOE plan as announced at CEC3 meeting - but found nowhere in the EIS nor discussed at the hearing - is that IDP's space would be warehoused now for an Upper West Success Middle school which won't be even enrolling students until 2015/2016. So why are they moving them now? Or at all?

Of note at the hearing:

- 50+ speakers, not a single one in favor of the proposal;
- DOE refused to entertain the students' question as to why they were considering moving IDP;
- Two of four mayoral candidates - de Blasio and Liu - as well as numerous other electeds against this move including Stringer, Espaillat, Duane, Farrell, Rosenthal, Rosa, Brewer, Jackson, CEC6;
- No Success Charter rep or parent in attendance (except their videographer);

I have seen some horribly destructive behavior toward our kids by the DOE over the years, but this truly is among the worst.

Sadly, beyond politics, there's another aspect at play here in moving these incredible IDP students - one which might be referred to as "reverse busing." The school targeted to be removed is 100% Black and Latino, overage, under credited, a full 50% of whom are unwed mothers. They are in an Upper West Side location, which has been their home since the DOE included them as one of the four schools to replace Brandeis. Then, Upper West Success Charter moved in. Now they are being sent to be warehoused (and likely drop out) in Washington Heights. While their space will be warehoused until such point that the charter is ready to use it.

Parents, students, and reps from 3 or the 4 other schools in the building spoke out forcefully against this move - Frank McCourt HS, Global Learning Collaborative HS, and Urban Academy Green Careers HS.

One school was completely silent and, in fact, absent: Upper West Success Academy.

noah e gotbaum
twitter: @noahegotbaum

Plan to push school for at-risk kids out, to move well-connected charter in

The city is planning to create more space for the Moskowitz charter school by moving the Innovation Diploma Plus school to a Washington Heights building that lacks science labs and a gym.Comments (4)

BY RACHEL MONAHAN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012, 9:05 PM

MARIELA LOMBARD FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Former City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz, who runs Success Academy Charter Schools.

A high school for at-risk kids is facing eviction from its home to make room for a well-connected charter school to expand, critics charge.

School reformer and former City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz sparked outrage last year when city officials turned over space in the newly overhauled Brandeis high school campus on the upper West Side to the Moskowitz-run Upper West Success Academy.

This year, the city is planning to create more space in the Brandeis building by moving the Innovation Diploma Plus school to a Washington Heights building that lacks science labs and a gym.

The Diploma Plus school serves kids who have fallen behind on completing their degrees.

The move also means the school’s teen moms will lose access to day care because Brandeis is one of a few dozen locations where day care is provided for students, city officials said.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/plan-push-at-risk-kids-move-charter-article-1.1213555#ixzz2EHL3AE4Y

MORE Press Release: Weingarten "Bar-like Exam" Proposal is Shortsighted

I was thrilled when Randi proposed going to a bar to pick up your teaching license, then MORE busts my bubble. Here's one to ya Julie, who has been involved in a twitter battle over this issue with Weingarten and Leo Casey. Julie sent this link to an important case that Jeff Kaufman turned up: NYC discriminated against black, Latino teachers which I will write a full history in a post this weekend. Ed Notes from 1997 on and ICE when it formed in late 2003 supported these teachers. The UFT didn't. What's coming next? Teachers have to take a recertification test every so many years -- treat them like old fogy drivers needing retesting? You know, prove you are up with the new times, like knowing all the new ed jargon, a crucial sign of a good teacher.

For Immediate Release
December 5, 2012
 
Contact:  media@morecaucusnyc.org
            
 
                             
Randi Weingarten "Bar-like Exam" Proposal is Shortsighted
 
Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers President and former United Federation of Teachers President, has been talking up a proposal that would require a national certification exam for teachers, much like the bar requirement for lawyers.  The proposal, which she first raised at the Aspen Institute, has received much attention, especially from the corporate reform crowd, who support it.
 
"It is shocking that our national union leader is proposing a national high stakes exam for educators, while at the same time leading a national campaign supposedly against the overuse of high stakes testing for students," said Julie Cavanagh, NYC teacher and UFT presidential candidate with MORE caucus.  "What we know about these kinds of exams is that they sort, deter, and discriminate.  Unfortunately, Weingarten's proposal reinforces the teacher quality problem myth and the idea that high stakes standardized tests can promote high quality teaching and learning."
 
Cavanagh continued, "Instead, we need proposals that offer authentic solutions for attracting and retaining quality, experienced educators.  We know that, apart from class size, the most important in-school factor that positively impacts student achievement is teacher experience.  That experience cannot be predicted or captured in any test score."
 
"Standardized exams tend to be racially biased," said Brian Jones, MORE's candidate for UFT Secretary. Jones added, "Over the last several years we have seen a sharp decline in the number of Black and Latino/a educators in New York City, Chicago, and across the country.  Our union leadership should be proposing alternatives that assist in the recruitment and support of Black and Latino/a educators, and historically speaking, standardized tests are better instruments of exclusion than inclusion."
 
"Exams such as the bar are useless when it comes to ensuring preparation for the work force. Randi of all people should know this since she passed the bar and has described it as meaningless and irrelevant," said Kit Wainer, Executive Board candidate with MORE caucus.  Wainer furthered noted, "Beyond issues of validity and bias, we know what these types of exams measure:  how much one prepares for the exam.  There is no evidence to show an exam such as the one Randi is proposing will in any way help to better prepare teachers; testing doesn't produce or impact positive outcomes, they simply make some people a lot of money."
 
MORE caucus, The Movement of Rank and File Educators, stands firmly against a national exam for teachers and stands for policies we know will actually help our profession and the children we serve:  smaller class sizes, more rigorous and fully funded lead teacher programs, as well as mentoring and support to develop and retain experienced educators, especially in the first three years of teaching. 

NY Times on The Wave and Rockaway Film: Together We Will Rebuild

The NY Times has been doing some great articles on Rockaway. Today they made me kvell. I was so happy to see the first post storm issue last week. I just hope it survives the storm.

City Room: Newspaper Born of a Fire Is Back in Ink After a Storm

By VIVIAN YEE

Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times The Wave, the weekly newspaper in the Rockaways, has resumed printing after Hurricane Sandy ruined its offices. On Wednesday, Susan Locke, the publisher, worked on the computer, while Sandy Bernstein, the general manager, tried to keep the phone lines working.

Never has the name of The Wave, the weekly newspaper of the Rockaways, seemed so apt.
“Wave of Fire, Wall of Water,” read the headline atop The Wave on Friday. It was its first print edition since Hurricane Sandy sent over four feet of water crashing through its offices on Rockaway Beach Boulevard five weeks ago, forcing the newspaper to stop publishing for the first time in its 119-year history.
Like everybody else fighting to recover from the storm, many of the employees had lost almost everything. Like everyone else, they needed cars, electricity and a dry place to sleep.
Like other local companies, The Wave has had to cut back on labor. It may be in the news business, but it is also a small business, and the staff members knew it would live or die by how quickly they could start putting out a newspaper again.

More on The Wave story

The makers of the film below, Friends of Rockaway, focus on the Belle Harbor/Neponsit/Rockaway Park section from 149th to 116th Street, the most economically advantaged area in Rockaway. Yet you can see even in this area there are many people without the resources to get back on their feet without help. What makes this an interesting area is that you find city workers -- police, fire, teachers, sanitation and doctors, lawyers, corp execs etc. living in this area. There is some diversity, mostly people from China or India/Pakisatan. Black and Latino/as mostly live in poorer areas downtown. Just in case you were thinking that Rockaway is an all white area, as the film seems to suggest whereas the majority of people in Rockaway are not white. Many live in public housing but quite a few own homes further downtown and must have gotten hit quite hard. We don't see all that much about people who live in the 80's down through the 20s. I would hope someone is doing a film about those areas.

At the UFT Exec Board meeting I met an African-American woman who lives in the 20s while I was talking to Queens Borough Rep Rona Freiser who lives in Long Beach. We're all in the same literal and proverbial boat it seems.

Yesterday there was a Town Hall meeting at St. Francis Church on 129th St.
I hear all the agencies were there but reports of Rapid Response which will pay for basic heat, hot water and electrical is very slow with 2500 on a waiting list. Luckily we have the resource to pay up front with the hope of getting all or most of it back from flood insurance. We just don't see how people can wait for RR with winter coming.

When people came out to volunteer I urge them to go help out further downtown -- the lower the street numbers, the more help people may need.

Check in with Occupy Sandy on Rockaway Beach Blvd around 110th St.

My Speech at UFT Exec Bd Urging They Take a Dive Off Edu Cliff and Not Succumb to Cuomo Blackmail - And I Get Sick From the Food as a Reward

OK. I plead guilty to breaking my own rule -- avoiding UFT Ex bd meetings. But since MORE had a meeting in the neighborhood beforehand on Monday night, I figured I might as well head over for the free dinner. And then I thought I might as well call up and ask for a few minutes of speaking time on the ed eval cliff which James Eterno talked about on the ICE blog and got lots of comments (LOOKING INTO THE CRYSTAL BALL ON THE NEW EVALUATION SYSTEM & CONTRACT).

I came equipped with research. Carol Burris (LOOKING INTO THE CRYSTAL BALL ON THE NEW EVALUATION SYSTEM & CONTRACT) and Gary Rubinstein (VAM gets Slammed: Teacher Evaluation Not A Game of Chance). A principal and a teacher who point out the junk science of VAM and the entire ed eval process. It is interesting that when you bring up the deficiencies of VAM you get doubletalk (from Randi/AFT/Mulgrew/UFT) or blank states (E4E).

Well, I'm happy to report that all I got as I spoke to the UFT Exec Bd were E4E-like blank stares. Here is an audio of what I said.



Also uploaded at: http://youtu.be/jMXcMK3Ve20

I suspect the UFT will cave, despite my attempt to buck up their spines.

I heard one report about a visit from some UFT officials who were using the Walcott/Bloomberg threat of layoffs as a wedge to weasel out of standing firm. I mean why should WalBloom have to do the heavy lifting when they have the UFT leadership to do it for them? Look for them to be in your school soon selling the same old song. RBE at Perdido St. School has a good take on these threats (Walcott's Threats To Fire Guidance Counselors And Social Workers, Cut Programs "Unconscionable") where he concludes:

I am of the opinion that the UFT leadership, having already caved to the governor last February on this crap, will cave to Chancellor Walcott come late December.
What they ought to be doing is framing the issue exactly the way NYC Educator framed the issue here - the UFT wants a fair, rigorous evaluation of teachers, not a system that is rigged, inaccurate and baseless.
Unfortunately they've been letting Walcott and the corporate reform-friendly editorialists frame the issue for them.
So I suspect they will come to the membership in a couple of weeks and say "Gee, we wanted to hold out for a better system, but we were getting killed in the papers and we just couldn't allow Walcott and Bloomberg to put through these cuts, so welcome to APPRville."

RBE's prediction is coming sooner than even he thought. Expect a visit soon to your school to soften the blow. Of course the UFT leadership has to do all this as the UFT election season is about to open, which gives me a sneaky suspicion they may use Sandy as an excuse to push the election timetable back a few months to give things time to settle while they send their Unity troops into the schools to "splain" things. I mean, do they really want ballots going out a week or 2 after the disappearance of the Feb. break?


I rarely even bother going to UFT Exec Bd meetings because talking to Unity clones is such a waste of time. But they have this time at the beginning of the meeting where any member can call in advance and get time to speak, a practice initiated by an email exchange I had about 8 years ago with Randi Weingarten where I suggested a bigger role for members at these meetings but which she turned into a basically useless exercise for people to vent at an EBrd that is not interested in listening. I was the first to use this venting time and did so repeatedly until I finally gave it up – for religious reasons - I was worried I would violate the "Shou not kill" commandment. Or I had to stay home to do my hair. At the very least, I used to get a good meal out of going to these meetings. Actually, in some sense of irony, they held their meetings on the same days that the PEP met and I actually had more fun razzing Uncle Joel than Randi, so I shifted my activities to the PEP even though you couldn't get a cookie -- and at that time was the only one from the UFT there other than a few other stray teachers.

Well, after I spoke this past Monday to zero reaction, I made sure to eat, which after all was my original purpose in going. Well, I have been suffering from some heart burn recently but the mashed potatoes and pasta went down OK, though that giant, slathered with greasy sauce rib was a bit much -- and a bit much on my shirt too (if I ever eat without getting stuff on my clothes I'm throwing a party.) I went to get dessert and the meeting ended before I came back. Did Mendel want to get home to see the giant game? Well so did I. The long trip on the train to my car in Brooklyn and the rest of the way home was fine. The Giant game was fine until it wasn't. And at the moment things began to go downhill for Eli, my stomach began to go downhill too. And then the headache came. And the chills and cold sweat and a full night of barfing -- every time I thought of that giant saucy rib I had to run off to toss. Finally I got some real sleep early in the morning and spent most of Tuesday achy and sleepy. I went to sleep at 4PM and went through the night, waking up Weds. at 8AM, real late for me. Hell, I need to be up early as I still have sheet rock to blast.

My wife is convinced something was put in my food while I was speaking and the blank stares were really smirks at knowing what I was in for. She thinks I should take a food taster if I ever go back to an Exec Bd meeting. Hmmm, I hope she isn't getting any ideas.

--------------------
Back to reality: Check out

Arthur Goldstein on Schoolbook:

No Value in Value Added

By Arthur Goldstein

Critics beat the drums against any kind of value-added metric in a final deal on teacher evaluations despite an assumption by both department officials and union leaders that some percentage of a teacher's performance review will be based on student test scores and other measurements. Read More »

Leonie Haimson:

From the invaluable Bruce Baker of Rutgers. See esp. letter from NYSED below, approving a district teacher evaluation plan but then threatening to impose a “corrective action” plan if any component of its evaluation system, either its 20% based on local “assessments or the 60% based on observation etc does not does not “correlate” highly with a teacher’s growth scores, based on the state exams.  These growth scores have already found by the consulting company that devised them to be biased against educators who teach kids with low prior scores.

In order, test scores do trump all. With this pronouncement, no rational teacher or principal should want to work in a school with a high-poverty population, or teach low-scoring kids, and/or students with disabilities. A bigger disincentive could not be devised to work in high-needs schools – exactly the opposite of the ostensible goals of the so-called “reform” movement.

schoolfinance101 posted: "This post is a follow up on two recent previous posts in which I first criticized consultants to the State of New York for finding substantial patterns of bias in their estimates of principal (correction: School Aggregate) and teacher (correction: Classro"

Respond to this post by replying above this line

New post on School Finance 101

It’s time to just say NO! More thoughts on the NY State Tchr Eval System

by schoolfinance101

This post is a follow up on two recent previous posts in which I first criticized consultants to the State of New York for finding substantial patterns of bias in their estimates of principal (correction: School Aggregate) and teacher (correction: Classroom aggregate) median growth percentile scores but still declaring those scores to be fair and accurate, and next criticized the Chancellor of the Board of Regents for her editorial attempting to strong-arm NYC to move forward on an evaluation system adopting those flawed metrics - and declaring the metrics to be "objective" (implying both fair and accurate).

Parents Opposed to Citizens of the World Charter: Hundreds, Parents in Favor: 4

The NY State Dept. would allow the Hitler Youth Charter to breeze through and not only would they authorize the Ku Klux Klan Charter School for Racial Harmony but they would wash the sheets.  -- Norm at charter hearing

I actually made it to the Hearing on the proposed co-location of Citizens of the World Charter School in JHS 126 tonight and it was great seeing so many old pals from District 14 where I spent my entire career. Citizens of the World charter is the brainless child of Eric Grannis, Eva Moskowitz husband in their attempt to take over the lucrative vigorish in the gentrified areas of Brooklyn. I've been to so many of these hearings -- this one by the useless -- actually, harmful, State Ed Department charter authorizing agent which lost its beard with the departure of Pedro Noguera could no longer defend their actions in authorizing anything. As I pointed out in my speech -- I was the final speaker -- they would allow the Hitler Youth Charter to breeze through and not only would they authorize the Ku Klux Klan Charter School for Racial Harmony but they would wash the sheets.

Video of some very good speeches is being processed, though the sound system will drown out a lot of it. I just loved the complaints of Believe Charter which co-locates IS 126 after invading 3 years ago with such arrogance but now is feeling the heat from the Moskowitz clan. They may feel they have time but they will get eaten by the bigger charter chains too. If they don't get closed by the DOE first. As I pointed out, what is being sold as choice eventually turns into no choice. But in this case we may be seeing that the Eva hold over WalBloom may influence what schools get closed. With Williamsburg being inundated with charters, close down Believe (which not only should be closed but never should have opened with its crooked leader stealing everyone blind.) You know, it is funny hearing so many people for so many years opposing co-locations but pleading that they are not against charters. Tonight councilman Steven Levin actually called for a moratorium on charters. But wait for the video tape if it comes out.

There were the usual charter chain suspects who all look like clones, with the obligatory pushy parent leading the way -- a white woman clearly who exhibits all the symptoms of being on the payroll or expect to get her kids into what she thinks is a private like school and not have to pay tuition. And then a couple of ladies who seemed earnest but programmed.

One point: the area around IS 126 always has been mostly white -- it is Greenpoint, but that demographic has shifted from conservative Polish/Italian to liberal gentrified and many of these white people, fierce supporters of local public schools and very anti-charter,  have led the fight against Moskowitz and Grannis.

Here are some more pictures with video to follow in a day or two.

Diane Reyna

The face of the crooks from SUNY

CEC14 Stirling leader Tesa Wilson

The face of Citizens of the World future parent - sends kids to private school now -- why not feed off public charter trough?

2 faces of Citizens of World -- Was Eric afraid to show?

Patrick Walsh: A Talk on Education, Democracy and Freedom: The Unspeakable Price of Corporate Education Reform

Patrick will use Pearl Harbor Day to bomb the ed deformers into submission. I went to Patrick's talk a few years ago -- and I even taped it -- when full power is back I promise to put it up. Such valuable points doth the man make.

Mary House

 

For the past two years, as part of the Catholic Worker Friday Night Lecture Series, I have given talks on the corporate and oligarchic campaign to expropriate the American public school system, corporatize all aspects of education, and obliterate the teachers’ union all in the name of “education reform.”  The campaign continues unabated.

 

This year I will be speaking on what I perceive to be the price of said “education reform” on our already anemic democracy and the unspoken motivations, ideological as well as monetary,  behind it.

 

The talk will be held at Mary House on December 7, 2012 and begin at 7:45.  It will last about 45 minutes and be followed by a Q and A.

The event is free and all are welcome.

Mary House is located at 55 East 3^rd St, NY, NY 10003 between 1^st and 2^nd Ave near the F train as well as the 4, 5, and 6 trains.

Telephone: 212 777 9617

Hope to see you there.

 

 

Hearing on the proposed co-location of Citizens of the World Charter School in JHS 126

I'm trying to make this tonight to tape. This is Eva's husband's school.

Below is a good report on the Gates charter scam from Leonie.

Hearing on the proposed co-location of Citizens of the World Charter School in JHS 126

Wednesday, December 5, 2012  6pm - 8pm (5:30 to sign up to speak) 

JHS 126 • 424 Leonard Street• (across from McCarren Park pool)

Join US Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, NY State Assemblyman Joe Lentol, NY City Council Member Stephen Levin, NY City Council Member Diana Reyna, NY State Senator Martin Dilan, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Community Board 1, and the District 14 Community Education Council in saying NO to the co-location of Citizens of the World Charter School in District 14!

Citizens of the World Charter School plans a large elementary charter school with enrollment targets of 55% white families.  Citizens of the World intends to open their charter elementary school in the building currently used by JHS 126 and the Believe Northside Charter High School.

Our school district has no need for more elementary schools! All of our elementary schools are under-enrolled. We have 8 magnet schools offering our families a variety of options, and 7 elementary charter schools, far more than the City average. We DO NOT NEED another elementary charter school!

Our District needs Middle Schools! JHS 126 is finally under excellent leadership and deserves a chance to grow in its current location. This school deserves the support of the community and the Department of Education, not to be forced to share its space and resources with another privately-run charter school!

This is bad planning for our school District, yet under Mayoral Control laws, the community has no real input into the decision-making process. 

Let the Department of Education know our community will not allow a privately-run charter school from Los Angeles take precious space away from our students, and enrollment away from our District neighborhood schools!

Our school buildings are a precious community resource, not free real estate for privately run charter schools! 

Please stand up and let your voice be heard- 

Wed, Dec 5  6pm - 8pm (5:30 to speak) 

JHS 126 • 424 Leonard Street• (across from McCarren Park pool)

note: even if you can only attend for an hour, please come to this hearing - children are welcome!

 

From NYC Parents blog

Charter school expansion in NYC: common ground or battleground?

Past ads for Eva's charters ((DNAinfo)

According to today's New York Times, the Gates Foundation is giving $25 million to seven cities, including NYC, to encourage charter-district “collaboration.” The Gates spokesperson claims, “It’s pretty clear there is more common ground than battleground.”  Of course, the pro-charter, pro-privatization Gates people would like to convince NY Times readers and the public at large that this is true.

Unfortunately, the Times reporter did not feature any quotes from New York City parents or advocates who might have a different perspective.  

From today’s Daily News, the relationship seems like a battleground still; though one in which the charter schools get preferential treatment from their patron, DOE.  Eva Moskowitz demands science labs for all her Success Academy charter elementary school kids; but  at-risk HS students will lose their science lab as well as their gym in the Brandeis HS building because she wants to expand her school into their territory. As a result,  students from the Diploma Plus High School are being pushed out into a leased building in Washington Heights without these facilities.

Truly, the situation in NYC is like a “Middle East war” as Eva herself put it years ago, saying "Dividing land ain't pretty”.  Especially when like Eva, you have unlimited resources, political pull, and ruthless expansionism in your sights.

 

 

E4E Roundup: Giddey-up Doggie

DFER and Gates and Whitney better ask for their money back as E4E could barely muster much of a group at their first rally. The best line from Evan Stone: we lost a few to lesson planning.

Well how much fun did the crew we helped organize for the E4E rally have yesterday? Given we did this ad hoc in 24 hours our turnout which included such luminaries as Fiorillo, Bloggers Raging Horse and South Bronx School, members of MORE and Change the Stakes, I think we had more real teachers there than E4E.

I went there with the intention (and a leaflet) with the goal of educating some of these people who I felt were duped. But upon short conversations I realized they are not duped. They are people who are out of the classroom or about to be out of the classroom.

One of our guys wrote this:

It is interesting when thinking about the event this afternoon about just how contradictory E4E's messages were. As some of their signage suggests, some of their members are craving meaningful support like the rest of us, while some of them want higher salaries and others just seem to be misguided elitists whose claims of support for unionism is so obviously ridiculous when it becomes clear that they support the erosion of due process protections and seniority rights that are basic principles in unionism.

Below the text are some photos taken by Michael Solo, who teaches photography at John Dewey HS. Michael rode shotgun with me on the way in and back.

As the speeches started with Evan Stone and I was doing some video I basically lost it when he started talking about the sad loss of the $300 million -- "Will you demand the money be used to reduce class size," I screamed, knowing full well the DFER/GATES/Students Last masters will never let E4E talk about class size, a no-no in ed deform. I did have one decent conversation with a guy who seemed like a real teacher, asking him if he felt reducing class size would make a difference. His response was right from the book: studies show that it helps in elementary schools, not as much in middle and high schools. Jeez, all they can do is quote studies or stats -- what about you and kids? If you were a high school teacher do you think it would make a difference if you had 27 instead of 32 in each class? Imagine: in 5 classes a day, 25 less kids, 25 less papers to mark, 25 less parents to be in touch with. Oh, I get it. It is only about student outcomes, not teacher workload and how that affects teaching.

I do have video but as usual am way behind others. Below the links to blogs about yesterday's events are links to videos Pat Dobosz shot. I'm heading over to a MORE meeting and then to my first UFT Exec Bd meeting in years, where I may eat enough to give me more heart burn than I need.

Raginghorseblog

The Ignorant and the Egregious: Educators 4 Excellence Hold a Rally

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South Bronx School

E4E's Eric Cartman Goes Silent on The Crack Team

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Chaz wasn't there but blogged about it.

Chaz's School Daze

The Typical Education4Excellence Member - Clueless

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Neither was RBE but here is the usual good stuff.

Educators4Excellence Group Members Even Dumber In Person

 Here are Pat's videos.

[20121202021513 Dec. 2, 2012] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfnOETdbdnw

[20121202022423 Dec. 2, 2012] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HfAApU0N9M

[20121202022759 Dec.2, 2012] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGFuk-o27V4

[20121202023143 Dec 2, 2012] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY0vjGMMnbo

[20121202030653 Dec. 2, 2012] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqS-LBMF1kw

[20121202030913 Dec. 2, 2012] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgq7LCILjd4

[20121202031401 Dec. 2, 2012] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7jZCKtYVW8

Fiorillo and Walsh tag team

Who's that fat guy? Gloria is behind me.

Poor Evan looks miserable

Change the Stakes Invites You to a Conversation with Bill Ayers, Tues. Dec. 4, 5:30

I love pal'n around with Bill Ayers. Over the past few years seeing him at NYCORE events has impressed me.

There was a time when I was not a fan not because of his politics but because I heard from George Schmidt he supported some of the early tenets of ed deform (who knows, maybe because of his politics). But so did Ravitch, et al and we don't hold political grudges. You know how much I respect George's opinion and given the success of the Chicago Teachers Union with pretty much all progressive forces uniting behind them, there is a good sense of unity all around. So I am really hoping to get out of my Sandy shell and make it to this event.

Now given this Ayers' open letter to Obama, I'm concerned about how Sarah Pallin will handle this obvious break.

Please join us and share with those who would likely be interested.

In An Open Letter to President Obama, Bill Ayers writes,

“Education is a fundamental human right, not a product. In a free society education is based on a common faith in the incalculable value of every human being; it’s constructed on the principle that the fullest development of all is the condition for the full development of each, and, conversely, that the fullest development of each is the condition for the full development of all. Further, while schooling in every totalitarian society on earth foregrounds obedience and conformity, education in a democracy emphasizes initiative, courage, imagination, and entrepreneurship in order to encourage students to develop minds of their own. “

http://www.good.is/posts/an-open-letter-to-president-obama-from-bill-ayers

On Tuesday, December 4, join educational theorist, Bill Ayers, for an informal conversation about the current state of education in America, and how advocates, activists, concerned parents, teachers, students and citizens can respond.  How can those affected by the current policies and the Ed Reform agenda push back and save public education?  How can those on the receiving end of such policies organize and come together as a united force?   What is happening in other cities, like Chicago, that can be an inspiration to others?  What is a vision and a pedagogically sound alternative that will lead to a just society?  

Change the Stakes invites you to join Bill Ayers as he shares his knowledge and experience.  We look forward to discussing and creating ways to change the course of education as he has requested of President Obama.  What will these next four years look like for education and how can we help influence them?  

Tuesday, December 4 from 5.30-7.30

The Performance Studies studio @ NYU*

721 Broadway, 6th floor

(*BRING PHOTO ID)

RSVP:  changethestakes@gmail.com

E4E Astroturf Rally Today to Pressure UFT to Cave on Ed Evaluation and Not Go Over the Ed Deform Cliff

I just got a call from E4E begging me to come…they said it’s their first rally."

I got this yesterday as one of those "thousands" of supporters E4E claims. Let's see how many come today. They only got 150 to come see Walcott the other day even with the offer of free drinks and snacks. And those included some of our pals who are being careful to not ID themselves since they will be tossed in the future if they do (E4E Bans People From Walcott Event Today.) Some of us are heading over to the rally to check it out -- free coffee at 2PM and maybe do a little education on VAM.  I really hope we go over the Cuomo induced evaluation cliff. (See Eterno and Kaufman today on the ICE blog).

And despite getting help from the DOE in gaining entry into schools to put their crap in mailboxes (later I'll publish the photo ID from Washington Irving campus -- I'll take pic today so we can get a positive id.)


E4E is desperate to get people to their first rally ever today.

Do you think DFER and their other funders will call in chips if E4E can't deliver?

We are the change makers. We are the ones that turn non-readers into lovers of books, a writer of simple sentences into an essayist. We can use those same skills to be a part of this conversation and policy-making.--- Kate Schuster. E4E

OK. Don't gag.

This will he the third rally set up by astroturf orgs like Students Last and some other phony group of students from Columbia, SFER --- (betcha Bloomberg slug Mikah Lasher is involved) who marched from the UFT to Tweedle Dee the other day (see below for that joke) who are worried the UFT may let us go over the ed deform cliff in January if they don't surrender to the Cuomo threat to take away state funding if they don't, as outrageous a demand as the Republican's are making over the fiscal cliff which actually would be a good thing, especially if they dump all the Race to the Top money.

A MORE member urged people to go to the rally today with the leaflet I made up:

It is a great way to promote and inform on this issue and we might even win some converts. E4E is very slimy and dishonest. I don’t think a lot of the people who they have been able to corral really know and fully understand what they’re about and armed with this info it really lays it plain and offers a way for people to get more info at the upcoming forum.

Those from MORE who are able to attend should wear our shirts so nobody thinks we are with E4E who tend to wear those lime green shirts. My gut says this will not be that well attended by their people though FAUX News might still cover it.  I don’t want anyone thinking the counter protest is part of their rally.

A blogger wrote about the recent E4E meeting with Walcott and left a link on my post. Interesting report:
http://commonal.tumblr.com/post/36809345728/educators-for-excellences-almost-quiet-war-for

Of course when it comes to making real change for their kids E4E is absent. Well one can't have too much fun. Why should I clean out my basement when I can get a free beanie that you say Kate wearing. Kate, you convinced me and some of my pals in Change the Stakes, which is fighting for real reform and will hand out a leaflet with the Carol Burris article (Carol Burris With a Lesson for E4E and the UFT) asking some fundamental questions of E4E:

• ·      WHY DOES EDUCATORS 4 EXCELLENCE PUSH FOR A FAULTY EVALUATION SYSTEM THAT USES THE JUNK SCIENCE OF VALUE ADDED MEASURES TO MIS-JUDGE TEACHERS? 
• ·      WHY DOES E4E IGNORE THE ADVICE OF TOP LEVEL EDUCATORS LIKE CAROL BURRIS? 
• ·      SUPPORT THE 700 TEACHERS WHO HAVE SIGNED A PETITION CALLING FOR A DEMOCRATIC DISCUSSION AND VOTE IN THE UFT ON THE NEW EVALUATION SYSTEM: WWW.IPETITIONS.COM/PETITION/NEW-UFT-EVALUATION

 Well, here is Kate's missive. Love that beanie Kate.

My name is Kate Schuster, and I am an elementary ESL teacher at PS 38. Last Tuesday I attended an E4E event with over 150 teachers and Chancellor Walcott, to discuss evaluation. As a result of the event, and the urgency of the issue, I will be rallying tomorrow and I want YOU to join me. 

Here is a quote from my recent blog post about the event that explains why I am rallying:

“We are the change makers. We are the ones that turn non-readers into lovers of books, a writer of simple sentences into an essayist. We can use those same skills to be a part of this conversation and policy-making. This is why I am attending E4E’s “Move Beyond Satisfactory” rally this Sunday at City Hall. The rally is our chance to tell the DOE and the UFT that teachers want a better evaluation system administered by school leaders who are well trained to support our teaching.”

Please stand with me on Sunday. The rally will be a ton of fun and it's incredibly easy to get to. Plus you’ll get one of the sweet beanies I’m wearing in the picture above!

You’ll find a map, including all nearby subways, and the details below.

Sunday, December 2nd at 2PM
City Hall Park
Swag and coffee: 2PM
Start: 2:30PM
Finished: 3:00PM 

Hope to see you there,

Kate

There are better reports on the faux Columbia student protest than this slanted one - I saw one but can't find it so if you do leave a comment with the link. Did DFER buy off the Columbia Spectator?

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Students lead protest of Department of Education’s inaction

Stalling on the part of the New York City Department of Education could cost the city’s schools system $300 million in federal funding.

By Sophie Gamez

Columbia Daily Spectator

Published November 30, 2012

Sophie Gamez for Spectator

More

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Tags

News, Sophie Gamez, David Brann, Sophie Gamez, Schools, Students for Education Reform

Columbia students led a crowd of 75 in a march from the United Federation of Teachers building to City Hall on Thursday, calling on education officials to act quickly to increase funding for city schools.
The New York City Department of Education has not yet come to a consensus on how to evaluate its teachers, and if it does not by Jan. 17, the schools system will be out of contention for $300 million in federal funding.
The Columbia chapter of Students for Education Reform organized the protest, which hit home hard for a number of students.
“I have three sisters that are being put through public schools. I am a project of New York City public schools, and a well-funded public school system is what we need,” Floyd St. Bernard-Springer, CC ’14, said. “I’ve tutored in Harlem. I know what it looks like—really bad schools.”
“The students need the funding that is being held up in politics. I can see what more money would mean to the students, and politics just needs to get out of the way,” Sharene Hawthorne-Rene, CC ’14, said.
In New York, 60 percent of a teacher’s evaluation is based on administrator observations, 20 percent by students’ standardized tests scores, and 20 percent is left to districts to decide a method of evaluation. The city has not yet determined what that final 20 percent should be.
Jeffrey Henig, a professor of political science and education at Teachers College, said, “I don’t put stock in the likelihood that the money won’t get here. It is partly designed as pressure on the negotiations—while it is a lot of money, it is not a lot of money compared to the size of the overall budget.”
The $300 million would be a 4 percent increase in funding for the DOE.
SFER has been planning for the night for the last month—handing out fliers, making Facebook announcements, getting permits, and tabling in Lerner Hall—all in the name of putting pressure on the DOE to make Governor Andrew Cuomo’s January deadline.
President of Columbia’s SFER chapter Benji de la Piedra, CC ’14, said, “Planning this rally took up a lot more effort than I had initially expected. Just getting in those hours behind the keyboard and putting in all of our free time—and on the side going to classes.”
As the rally wound down, the club’s leaders said it was worth it.
“There was one child talking about how he needed money in his art class and it was something that manifested itself every day in his life and he knows that we can do better, and he was there with his own handmade sign—it was just beautiful,” Leah Metcalf, BC ’14 and SFER’s general body chair, said.
Across the street from the protest’s starting point at the UFT building in Lower Manhattan, members of Student Worker Solidarity began a counterprotest.
Club member George Joseph, CC ’16, said, “I am with a grassroots protest and we are protesting against this protest because it was an anti-union protest, saying we should give into Governor Cuomo’s extortion requests.”
George said he and his fellow protesters believe that making teacher evaluations more reliant on standardized testing could adversely affect teachers’ job security in low-income areas, where test scores are lower.
But the SFER protest far outnumbered the counterprotest.
With students’ schedules so busy at the end of the semester, de la Piedra said he was heartened by the turnout. “I think it’s awesome seeing Columbia students going out into the city and doing something and getting involved in local politics on that level, going on a march, literally making your voice heard. We go to Columbia University in the City of New York, so it’s nice to see that we go to school in this city.”
“I was at the caboose and it was so exciting when people joined that we hadn’t advertised to, people walked by and cheered, a car drove by and honked—it was really great to see how people responded to our message,” Metcalf said.
news@columbiaspectator.com

Randi Bar Exam Proposal Raises a Bar to People of Color

Weingarten continues her history of joining the "it must be the teachers' fault" parade with this proposal. Randi is so desperate to come up with an idea, any idea, that she can try to sell showing she is a willing participant in deform. Actually fighting back like the Chicago Teachers Union is not in her DNA.

Very smart, and insidious, of Weingarten: she's selling it as a way to blunt TFA.  Is there any question that "the best and brightest" will be able to pass such a test? They've been passing them all their lives. -- Michael Fiorillo

I remember how the Kahlenberg bio book says one of Al Shanker's proudest achievements (other than destroying trade unionism around the world) was the career ladder for paras which brought so many people of color into the system. This is the final nail in that coffin and in essence reinforces the TFA whitening of the teacher staff as this truly extends the bar to the people from poor communities who can be great teachers (I've seen many of them) though not great test takers. Ed Notes always took the position performance as a teacher should be a major determining factor rather than a high stakes test.

Union proposes ‘bar exam’ for teachers