Astounding NY Times Editorial Spells Doom for Ed Deform: Was Brent Staples Absent Today?

UPDATED WITH LEONIE's VIEWS:

...while charter schools can be a path to excellence, they can also cause problems. Shoehorning them into existing school buildings over local objections can alienate parents and reinforce among students a harmful sense of being separate and unequal. 

Mr. Bloomberg’s schools chancellor, Dennis Walcott, called the criticism an “unconscionable” assault on the Education Department... after 12 years, this mayor’s ideas are due for a counterargument. The critiques the candidates are offering hardly shock the conscience, and their complaints about the Bloomberg administration can be heard from teachers and parents in any school in the city. ... NY Times editorial

After 12 years of outright support of Bloomberg ed policies and for ed deform in general, along with some of the worst coverage of local and national education issues (other than when Anna Phillips was reporting for a year), this editorial is a sign that the increasing messages of outrage emerging from every area of the city are reaching their mark. Staples has been the most adamant supporter of deform and a union basher to boot. I hope he brings an absence note.

 The school system has indeed gone overboard in relying on standardized testing. Tests need to be a means to the end of better instruction, not the pedagogical obsession they have become. Yes, Mr. Bloomberg has shown disdain for consultation, as in his rush to close underperforming schools without the full and meaningful involvement of affected communities. The system needs to strengthen neighborhoods’ connection to schools and reconnect with parents who feel shut out. And while charter schools can be a path to excellence, they can also cause problems. Shoehorning them into existing school buildings over local objections can alienate parents and reinforce among students a harmful sense of being separate and unequal.

Wow! What a blow to the charter shills. Actually talking about strengthening the neighborhood schools and how charters helicoptored in help destroy that concept. Yes, choice = divisive = destructive.

It is important to note that when teachers or their union complains everyone shrugs. But when it is clear that the message is not coming from the union or their flunkies it begins to hit home. And for the social justice bashers, there is a lesson -- a union that only worries about bread and butter is going down the tubes.

Make sure to read the series of article at Perdido Street School on the end of ed deform. Here is a link to one:  Ed Deform House Of Cards Falling - Ed Deformers Whining About It

 and another… Quinn Vows To End City's Participation In Field Tests

Witness Chicago where the union is leading the national counterattack by making made social justice reachouts (without the rhetoric) a prime component (along with bread and butter.) Make no mistake -- it was the work of the CTU which is the only organization with the power and outreach to make these connections, this helped create a movement.

there can be truth in applause lines. Comptroller John Liu spoke for many at the forum when he told of his frustrating inability, as a parent, to give input to school officials. And William Thompson Jr., a former city comptroller, answered Mr. Walcott in a statement on Saturday by noting the incompleteness of educational gains: “For 12 years, the mayor has vilified teachers, shut out parents, turned classrooms into test prep centers and closed community schools. We have tried those policies, and our kids are still not receiving the education they deserve.” 

Liu I believe. Thompson whose main campaign supporter is Bloomberg neighbor Merry Tisch, queen of ed deform, I do not.

The Times still has to take a shot at local control.

When Mr. Bloomberg won direct control of public education in 2002, it was a historic and necessary victory, ending a system of local districts that was grossly dysfunctional and unaccountable. The candidates should not be allowed to downplay or deny how bad things were when nobody was in charge. 

In fact there were people in charge and every ill of that system has been exaggerated (and believe me I can list every single flaw -- but flaws that could have been fixed without mayoral dictatorship). This is another propaganda war that has to be fought.

The fact that not one mayoral candidate has the nerve to talk about taking a look at a more democratic system of running schools is problematic. Until we end mayoral control -- and the UFT takes a firm stand in calling for its end -- the downward spiral will continue.

Leonie commented at the listserve:

Everyone should read the lead editorial in today’s NY Times; I will post it below for those w/out access but please also click on this link, leave a comment, and send it to everyone you know via the NYT gadget so that it becomes the most emailed and read thing in today’s newspaper:

Education and New York City’s Mayoral Race - NYTimes.com http://shar.es/ZYwVf

This editorial represents a total sea change for the NYT whose editors (and publisher/owner, whose best friend is Bloomberg’s personal investment adviser) have defended the mayor’s education policies for the last 12 years.  This is also after a week where Walcott was allowed to vent, almost uncontested, in three articles on the NYT news pages against the Democratic candidates, who want to take schools in a different direction –with Walcott claiming that they were simply in the thrall of the UFT.

Here is the key sentence in the editorial today: “The critiques the candidates are offering hardly shock the conscience, and their complaints about the Bloomberg administration can be heard from teachers and parents in any school in the city.”

Wow.  Did someone on the editorial board actually talk to a public school parent for the first time?   Or does someone on the editorial board actually send his or her kid to a NYC public school?

Astounding change!    Before this, Brent Staples who usually writes their editorials on schools, either ignored what was happening in our schools, or supported the mayor’s policies, and followed the usual narrative that the only debate that existed was between  Bloomberg vs. the UFT, who were looking out for their interests.  Parents did not exist in this world view.

Today marks the day we finally live in a city where not all three daily’s editorial boards automatically defends Bloomberg on schools.  This is a MAJOR major blow to his legacy.

Here is the editorial in full below; the only major problem in it is that it takes the usual (false) position that pre-mayoral control the districts were hotbeds of dysfunction and corruption.

For good or for ill, the Community School Boards lost much of their power in 1996, six years before mayoral control was instituted.  Due to a major change in the governance law, they lost the ability to appoint a superintendent and hire teachers and other staff.  The legislation also gave the chancellor the ability to intervene when districts failed to meet performance goals, when school board members acted inappropriately and also required greater financial disclosure by community school board members.

Otherwise this editorial is stunning and could have written by people who were actually paying attention to the reality of our schools the past twelve years.  Only question I have is where were they before?

Meet The New York Times’s Editorial Board »

Whining Walcott in Blatant Misuse of Position Subjects 2000 Administrators to Political Harangue

Mr. Walcott’s speech seemed intended to be a rallying cry before a  friendly crowd, but the response was muted. While his calls for  preserving the authority of principals and eradicating nepotism were met  with applause, some principals seemed uninterested in his message... 
NY Times on Walcott speech at May 18 principal conference 

Many principals despise the Tweedies with a passion and are not unhappy to see them go. Do you think principals of NYC public schools are actually happy to see their space given away to charters which get favored treatment? Every principal I know speaks of Tweed with disdain so I am not surprised Walcott didn't receive a rousing response even from these hostages for the day. Word is that Bloomberg relaxed city gun laws to get them there.

Mr. DeVale, an opponent of mayoral control, said he thought Mr. Bloomberg and Mr. Walcott were too authoritarian in their approach. “I sat and listened to a political lecture from an administration I have no interest in,” Mr. DeVale, who is a union representative, said after the speech. ...
NY Times on Walcott speech at May 18 principal conference 

Renel Piton, the principal of Brooklyn Lab School, said he shared Mr. Walcott’s concern about the candidates for mayor and did not want them to “gut reform for the sake of gutting.” Still, he said he was surprised the chancellor chose to use a speech at an academic conference to weigh in on a political battle. “We need to focus on what’s going on in schools,” Mr. Piton said. “I don’t come on a Saturday to listen to their views on the candidates.” ...... NY Times on Walcott speech at May 18 principal conference 

What a load of BS ... the entire day had become a political indoctrination exercise not an educational nor learning event and I was there to learn.....an attendee

Whining Walcott used what was billed as an educational event to hector administrators of NYC schools, many of whom were forced to attend while others were offered a  summer compensation day in exchange for attendance, a blatant and possible illegal misuse of educational funds. (Imagine if a teacher called in parents and then used the occasion to proselytize for personal politics. Oh, they already do that at the Eva Moskowitz schools.)

The political agenda was primary as Walcott hosted what some say was an anti-UFT union bashing-Fest disguised as principal conference. There's some irony in that while most principals, especially Leadership Academy types, agree with the anti-union agenda, many principals also despise the Tweedies with a passion and are not unhappy to see them go. Do you think principals of NYC public schools are actually happy to see their space given away to charters which get favored treatment?

One attendee said:

The chancellor made a big political speech about why the next mayor can not be allowed to do anything against the reform agenda and how the UFT can not rule education and teachers should not be protected. Some of the newbie knuckleheads laughed, not realizing the very same system will be used to fire them.

The Times article reported:

Even the Department of Education’s chief academic officer, Shael Polakow-Suransky, waded into the political fray, urging principals to support efforts to overhaul the school system. Mr. Polakow-Suransky said he was so distraught by the attacks on the campaign trail that he called the chancellor of the Washington school system, Kaya Henderson, for advice.

The despicable Shael was so upset at attacks on Tweed policies by mayoral candidates that he asked for advice from DC Chancellor Kaya Henderson who was Michelle Rhee's assistant eraserhead and is now covering up the cheating scandal?  Kaya Henderson will send Shael an emergency supply of erasers. Or maybe a shredder to erase all the malfeasance and misfeasance that the new occupants at Tweed might discover.

Apparently Walcott brought in Mike Johnston, Colorado State Senator,  "another dirtbag to bring up Memphis spirituality and quotes the bible in rationalizing education reform," said one attendee. "He wrapped these policies around Martin Luther King and the bible story of the good Samaritan," outraging one principal who challenged Johnston by saying King was in Memphis to support union workers for a contract not education reform and Jesus was a carpenter so would be a union man.

Johnston also talked about firing the weakest teachers using basketball as an analogy.  One questioner reminded him that we can accurately assess how mny baskets players score while tests are always full of errors so we don't this need junk science..

A veteran principal said he has "fired teachers and doesn't need 10000 rubrics and data to get rid of bad teachers."

While Walcott tries to stave off total irrelevancy, what is going on is the fast and furious fall of ed deform. Think of the Mad Men opening of the guy falling out of a building. Ed deform is being dashed on the rocks below and they are getting very nervous.

So of course this is not just about NYC but team it with the Chicago union election where 80% of the teachers in an election where 60% voted for a militant anti ed deform leadership the signs are there. Front groups like e4e  and their supporters try to claim that teachers really support ed deform but are held back by their union. Chicago with a lot of younger teachers proves that wrong.

Leonie Haimson had some choice comments on Whining Walcott's speech:

So among the absurdities of Walcott’s speech is that schools will get their budgets on Friday Before the city budget is passed?

He claims that the candidates’ positions are geared towards “appeasing” the union, endless proposals that would benefit the teachers’ union, but not our students and these candidates would have us consign the students who attend them to an awful status quo, and send their students into the world without the benefit of a good education.

Right. No mention of how unpopular Bloomberg’s policies among voters, with only 22% trusting him more than the union to do right for the kids, compared to 69% trusting the union more.  Boy, that must gall him!  But he and Bloomberg deserve every ounce of disrespect and distrust they now receive, considering their lies, their distoritions, and the way they have run roughshod over parents and communities for the past 11 years.

“We cannot return to the days before college and career readiness was part of every lesson plan, every coaching session and every parent’s demand for their son or daughter. This is something no administration before us ever took on, and it’s a cornerstone of our reform policy.”
What? No previous administration ever cared about making kids prepared for college?  What incredible nerve.

Try telling the parent coordinators hired by you— with about $75 - $80 million in central funding—that we’re not serious about parent involvement.“ Sure, ask the parent coordinators or anyone who works in our schools and they will agree that the DOE isn’t serious about parent involvement!

Can’t wait for the NYT coverage of this, their article today (as well as a few days ago) transcribed  Walcott’s absurd claims without analyzing them was just retweeted by none other than Michelle Rhee.

80Michelle Rhee ‏@MichelleRhee 52m

W/ @MikeBloomberg, NYC has been a leader on #edreform. To turn back those reforms would be a mistake that hurts kids http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/18/nyregion/schools-chancellor-to-strike-back-at-candidates-critical-of-mayors-policies.html?ref=nyregion …

Well below the fold is the entire NY Times report WITHOUT much analysis. It's good that Hernandez spoke to some principals who are willing to speak out but there is much to dig out here given the fact the CSA has lined up with the UFT on many issues.

TIME CHANGE TO NOON Tuesday: Join us in support of Teachers College graduates who are protesting inside their graduation ceremony

Everyone is encouraged to come out to support this action, and if you live close to 112th and Amsterdam, please consider attending this rally.  If you cannot attend, please sign and share these petitions.

PARENTS/CITIZENS LETTER:

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/ny-state-parents-support-3

http://education4.org/re-imagining-tc/ny-state-parents-support-tc-protest/

TEACHER LETTER:  http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/teachers-college-take?source=c.fwd&r_by=7801280

REMINDER

PUBLIC SCHOOL PARENTS AND CONCERNED RESIDENTS--ACTION ALERT

Join us in support of Teachers College graduates who are protesting inside their graduation ceremony. 

Tisch, Chancellor of Board of Regents, who is the driving force behind high stakes tests in NY state, 

is scheduled to be a speaker and to receive a medal for distinguished service. She should not receive these honors.

Bring a sign expressing your complaint with Merryl Tisch--

Teachers College Convocation

Tuesday, May 21

St. John the Divine, 112th and Amsterdam

Manhattan, NYC

1 train to 110th St.

be there 12 noon

Stand with us! It will take an hour of your time.

• We are against Tisch's policy of high-stakes testing statewide

• They are demoralizing to public school students and teachers

• They are not imposed on private schools, which her children attended and where she taught

•  Tisch promotes the proliferation of charter schools instead of quality public schools

Press coverage ends, and ceremony begins, at 9:30. 

UFT Tilts to Thompson: Tisch, D'Amato, New Action Overjoyed, de Blasio branded as"Left" While SEIU Endorses him

 3-card monte scam

This [1199/SEIU de Blasio] endorsement is a direct slap to Thompson. The African American candidate getting all those rich white people to support him politically and financially doesn't get 1199's endorsement because those members know who Thompson will represent if he is elected mayor.   ... Reality Based Educator

Better dead than red .... UFT policy since inception, c. 1960

Until the past week I was betting on the UFT backing de Blasio given some reports from the inside. But recent days have seen a decided shift to Thompson so I'm willing to bet the farm based on certain smoke signals. Unless the SEIU endorsement makes the UFT hierarchy take a pause.

But if a UFT Thompson comes about look for an interesting battle between UFT and SEIU. (And where will DC37 come down?)

Peter Goodman's Ed in the Apple blog is a good bell-weather of where the UFT is heading, though you have to read between the lines.

De Blasio, also a public school parent, continued to attack Quinn, over her support for a third term, and called her the “Bloomberg Lite” candidate....

Yes. we all hate Quinn. And I know the UFT people like de Blasio. But here's the clincher.

Is DiBlasio too far to the left? Will he “turn off” the middle of the road voters? Will he mobilize the business community to make an all-out effort for Lhota? (Lhota is about at the same level as Bloomberg was at this time in 2001)

Left? The usual Unity hack scare tactic. ("Progressive" would not do, I guess.)

Is Goodman trying to frighten the members who might support de Blasio (remember the lack of support for Mark Green in 2001 that gave us 12 years of Bloomberg). As if the business community is not already supporting Lhota.

Don't forget that de Blasio is the only candidate to take on Moskowitz and the charter network head to head. The UFT is often too scaredy cat to go there. (They argue that criticizing charters will hurt their attempts to organize charter teachers -- interesting in that Karen Lewis slams charters and still organizes teachers with success and 80% of the teachers in an election where retirees don't vote chose Karen yesterday.)

Reality-Based Educator reporting at Perdido Street School:

De Blasio Gets 1199 SEIU Endorsement

Local 1199 SEIU, which represents 200,000 healthcare workers, will make the announcement official on Monday.

The decision -- which could provide de Blasio a surge of grassroots support -- is the most significant union endorsement yet in the race.

Officials at the union said that its 150-member executive board voted unanimously to support de Blasio -- the first time that has happened in any citywide race in more than 20 years. They also said they made their choice a month earlier than expected, with hopes it would prompt other unions to follow suit. This endorsement is a direct slap to Thompson. The African American candidate getting all those rich white people to support him politically and financially doesn't get 1199's endorsement because those members know who Thompson will represent if he is elected mayor. 

Back to Goodman, who has an entire paragraph with a brief bio of Thompson, including this attempt to sugarcoat a guy who ran one of the worst campaigns in history against Bloomberg in 2009.

 Time and time again he rapped the Bloomberg administration and in the strongest terms said he would hire an experienced educator as chancellor. The audience applauded as he criticized Tweed, policies made by a staff without much school experience, and, “not a lot of diversity.”

You mean rapping Bloomberg's policies is what got Bloomberg's next door neighbor and ed deformer supreme, Merryl Tisch, to be Thompson's campaign chairperson and D'Amato and his pals to support him with big money while Merryl's husband is backing Lhota?

Oh, give us a break. They're playing 3-card monte with us.

What about Thompson's time as President of the Board of Education before the fall? He was backed by Giuliani for President and during his tenure we saw the first case of a non educator getting a waiver to be Chancellor (Harold Levy), thus setting a precedent for the past 4 chancellors. NOW he wants an educator for Chancellor?

With many UFT members supporting de Blasio for what they see as a more progressive program (progressive = left in the old war hawk UFT), Goodman's comments opens up the whispering campaign UFT staffers and Unity hacks will be using to try to tame the members who support de Blasio, most of whom will ignore them anyway. Teachers who are clued in despise Tisch and her flunky John King. So go sell Thompson to them.

Only a big backlash internally -- watch the UFT Delegate Assembly this Wednesday for clear signs -- which Unity hacks get up to speak and whether they make the very same comments Goodman is making. Unity Caucus DA Speakers Bureau will be meeting a day or two before the DA to plot strategy. Message to Stuart Kaplan --- we'll be watching you.

I see the entire Thompson campaign with support from Merryl Tisch whose husband is supporting Lhota as a bogus campaign to put forth the weakest candidate so Lhota has a shot. Come on, D'Amato, even with his anti-Lhota comments?

Even anti-political people like me who believe every politician will sell us out may just vote de Blasio for spite. 

What a trio of support: the UFT, Tisch and D'Amato. Hello Mayor Lohta.

Here are some more signs of UFT for Thompson:

• RBE reports: Merryl Tisch Hosts "Women For Thompson" Fundraiser On June 12 - Weingarten To Attend

Tells you everything you need to know about what kind of mayor Bill Thompson will be.

• Thompson is the only one written about in the update the UFT sends out:

http://www.uft.org/press-releases/mayoral-candidate-bill-thompson-outlin...

Mayoral candidate Bill Thompson gave a speech today outlining his vision for the city’s public schools and slamming Mayor Bloomberg’s education policies. Among the goals cited by Thompson, a former head of the Board of Education, were expanding the city’s prekindergarten programs and the number of Community Learning Schools, an initiative that was launched by the UFT.

See the movie opening next fall: Mark Green, Part 2.

And one more thing from Goodman's alternate reality:

I think the final endorsement will be driven by the “straw votes” at the borough meetings and the attitude of the delegates at the May 22nd meeting.

Sure, Peter, the vote of the people who attended the borough meetings, which probably look like a Unity Caucus Delegate Assembly, will decide.

Oh, and watch the walking dead in New Action, which actually crowed about how they endorsed Bill Thompson last time and attacked MORE for not doing so despite the fact that MORE didn't even exist, brag that it is their influence over Mulgrew due to their support that got the endorsement for Thompson.

New Action campaigning for Thompson

Astoria Queens District 30: SUNY CHARTER SCHOOLS INSTITUTE SHOULD REJECT SUCCESS ACADEMY PROPOSAL TO OPEN SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT

WHEREAS, Success Academy’s average rate of annual student suspensions for the schools for which data is publicly available is well over three times higher than the rate of annual student suspensions in all of District 30,  
WHEREAS, Success Academy’s average rate of teacher turnover for the schools for which such data is publicly available is well over twice the rate of teacher turnover in District 30, and such teacher turnover robs students of a stable instruction population and systematically prevents the creation of a stable school community ---- CEC, District 30

Resistance to Eva grows and even if battles are lost, the ability of Success to wage long term war will be affected. Resos like this, while not binding (unless mayoral control is tweaked enough), they count as public anti-Eva comments and eventually wend their way into public consciousness while they also force the Eva publicity machine to put out fires in many locations.

But we are aware of DOE and external forces coming attempts to control the powerless CECs (except for their ability to gain some press) and in fact to start placing charter school adherents onto these boards - as has happened with the ed deform slug Brian Davis in Dist. 6.

At the May 16, 2013 Calendar Meeting, CDEC30 unanimously approved the following resolution:

 

RESOLUTION #96

CALLING ON THE SUNY CHARTER SCHOOLS INSTITUTE TO REJECT SUCCESS ACADEMY’S PRELIMINARY PROPOSAL TO OPEN SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT 30

AND CALLING UPON NEW YORK CITY TO REJECT ANY REQUEST BY

SUCCESS ACADEMY FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL SPACE IN DISTRICT 30

WHEREAS, District 30 is proud to be host to many excellent and successful public schools, including several well-considered charter schools; and

WHEREAS, on March 21, 2013, Community District Education Council 30 passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on all school closures, phase outs, and charter school co-locations; and

WHEREAS Community District Education Council 30 continues to be opposed to co-locations of charter schools in district schools without the approval of the district; and

WHEREAS, along with adjoining District 24, District 30 is one of the most overcrowded districts in New York City, such that at the request of City Council member Julissa Ferreras the DOE convened a task force to collaborate with the community to establish long-term solutions to address overcrowding, which task force held its first meeting on April 25; and

WHEREAS, District 30 is currently operating with an average building utilization rate of 104 percent; and

WHEREAS, New York City Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott has conceded that “Overcrowding is an issue we take seriously,” and

WHEREAS, the overwhelming majority of charter school seats in District 30 are in private buildings which serve to provide additional seats for students in this overcrowded district; and

WHEREAS, Success Academy has stated in its application to the SUNY Charter Institute that it only intends to open a school in District 30 if it can co-locate in a district school, with no acknowledgement that District 30 is already overcrowded and lacking in space for the schools already in the District; and

WHEREAS, serious concerns have been raised concerning student and teacher safety at schools co-located with Success Academy schools as a result of Success Academy’s performance of construction work without DOE approval; and

WHEREAS, District 30 has 13 elementary schools rated an “A” in their most recent New York City Department of Education Progress Report, which is over half of the elementary schools in District 30, and eight schools for which Progress Reports have shown improvement over the past two years; and

WHEREAS, District 30 offers numerous options for parental choice including, but not limited to, no less than five dual language programs, with a sixth opening next year, three district-wide gifted and talented programs, a citywide gifted and talented program, a sought-after NEST program,  several magnet schools, and five other charters schools each with its own theme; and

WHEREAS, District 30, along with District 24, has one of the fastest growing populations of immigrant students in the city, with dozens of languages being the native tongues of students and their parents including but not limited to Bengali, Arabic, Chinese, Urdu, Punjabi, Greek, Tivetan, Nepali, Albanian, Philipino/Tagalog, Portuguese, Hindi, Polish, Korean, Serbo-Croatian, Russian, Turkish, Japanese, French, Romanian, Haitian Creole, Thai, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Gujarati, Indonesian/Bahasa, Pashto, Italian, Burmese, Farsi, German, Bosnian, Tamil, Armenian, Slovak, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Czech, Yonba, Belorussian, Telugu, Macedonian, Hebrew, Swedish, Tigre, Dutch, Georgian, Malayalam, Dzonghka, Bihari, Malay, Slovenian, Guarani, Hausa, Lithuanian, Marathi, Uzbek, Visayak, Bambara, Cham, Fulani, Ibo, Malagasy, Mongolian, Niger-Congo, Sindhi, Turkman, Twi, Afrikaans, Azerbaijani, Baluchi, Estonian, Khoisan, Loma, Maltese, Mandinka, Nahuatl, Native American Languages, Norweigan, Romansch, Shluh, Sundanese, Swahili, Tamazight, and Yoruba; and

WHEREAS, Success Academy has not made its petitions, enrollment materials, parent contracts, or other documents available in any languages other than English and Spanish; and

WHEREAS, Success Academy’s average rate of annual student suspensions for the schools for which data is publicly available is well over three times higher than the rate of annual student suspensions in all of District 30, despite the fact that such figures reflect only suspensions of students in grades K-6, whereas District 30’s suspension rate includes students in grades K-12; and

WHEREAS, Success Academy’s average rate of teacher turnover for the schools for which such data is publicly available is well over twice the rate of teacher turnover in District 30, and such teacher turnover robs students of a stable instruction population and systematically prevents the creation of a stable school community; and

WHEREAS, Success Academy has not shown that there has been any significant number of applicants from District 30 to any of its schools.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Community District Education Council 30 hereby calls upon the SUNY Charter Institute and the New York State Board of Regents to REJECT Success Academy’s preliminary proposal, and any subsequent proposal made by Success Academy to open a school in District 30; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Community District Education Council 30 hereby calls upon the New York City Department of Education, the Panel on Education Policy, and the Chancellor of the New York City Schools to REJECT any request by Success Academy to be co-located in any public school building in District 30.

VOTED AND UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED: May 16, 2013

                       

Regards,

Gail Cohen

Administrative Assistant

Community District Education Council 30

28-11 Queens Plaza North, Room 520

Long Island City, NY 11101

718-391-8380

718-391-8500 (fax)

Visit CDEC30 on Facebook! Just copy and paste the link below.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Long-Island-City-NY/CDEC30/228546964309

 

Hypocrisy and Protest Over Merryl Tisch Teachers College Award

There are activists in the educational community and TC alumni who are debating whether to call for a protest of the Merryl Tisch award at your graduation [May 21]. While there are different opinions on this topic, they are all asking if there will be a protest from the graduating students. They realize that you are entering teaching at a very difficult time and they admire your courage. They are hoping that as beginning teachers you can find small ways to protect both the children and our profession by protesting the horrible anti-child and anti-teacher policies pushed through with Race to the Top funding.  ... Professor Celia Oyler, Teachers College

This story has been brewing for weeks and I've been waiting for it all to flow before compiling links and comments. What to do at graduation? Disrupt? Silent protest? Some of our contacts in the grad school and TC alum have been debating the issue internally and so far no firm decision has been made.

Some TC grad students also took part in the AERA Arne Duncan demo in San Francisco recently. I know that some might be concerned about showing civility no matter what the outrage (When Davids Boo Goliaths Do They Lack Civility?) and I'm guessing from internal list serve comments that at most we may see a turning of backs as the award is being presented while an outside protest is still being discussed.

Change the Stakes posted:  NYS PARENTS SUPPORT TEACHERS COLLEGE  PROTEST AGAINST PRESIDENT SUSAN FUHRMAN AND CHANCELLOR MERRYL TISCH

There is a direct conflict of interest: as president of Teachers College, Susan Fuhrman also serves on the board of directors of Pearson PLC; she is paid a substantial sum of money each year and, through stock ownership, directly benefits from Pearson contracts.  One such contract is Pearson’s $32 million contract with the New York State Education Department as the vendor for grades 3-8 ELA and math tests. Surely Fuhrman’s tie to Pearson is an act of gross impropriety if not an illegal conflict of interest.... It was President Fuhrman’s decision to honor former TC alumna Merryl Tisch.

Teachers College is supposedly a progressive education institution, but is apparently run as a dictatorship by Susan Fuhrman. (There's lots of stuff floating around about her style coming out of the TC student and faculty ranks so any protest is not just about the Tisch award.)

Susan Ohanian points to the incestuous relationship between Pearson and NY State Ed, linking to comments from Fred Smith:

Here's another signal of how the public is being taken out of public education--which has become a field of schemes for private profiteers like Pearson. 

New York State Education  Department & Pearson Hold Hands to Call the Shots: Fred Smith - http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1608

Diane Ravitch headlined: Teachers College to Honor Doyenne of High-Stakes Testing

It's not only about Tisch and high-stakes testing, it is also about her being one of the leading ed deformers running the State Board of Regents as a dictatorship. She decided on State Ed Commissioner David Steiner, who went down in infamy for granting Cathie Black her waiver and the current ed deform slug John King.

There are so many great commentaries emerging on this issue I can't keep up with all of them. Diane posted this powerful piece from a TC Prof: Professor Oyler: An Open Letter to My Students.

[Tisch's] actions while Chair of the New York State Board of Regents have wrought incredible damage upon our noble profession. Merryl Tisch has ushered through the Board of Regents many policies with which I vehemently disagree; these include: decoupling teacher certification and master’s degrees from university-based teacher education (approving Relay Graduate School of Education); allowing InBloom to collect and sell private data on each K-12 student in New York State schools; and requiring all school districts to tie teacher evaluation to Value Added Measures based on student test scores.... If I were at the graduation convocation, I would wear a sign on the back of my robe. It would probably say, “USING STUDENT TEST SCORES TO RATE TEACHERS DISHONORS US.... I couldn’t be silent. I would feel complicit; my silence would be condoning the award.... I cannot sit silently while teachers across this country are being viciously attacked and demeaned by the junk science of VAM..

How interesting that college professors like Dr. Oyler brand VAM junk science while our own union defends it.

Our pal Fred Smith and Change the Stakes colleague has a piece up at Schoolbook:

It is a dark day when Teachers College, a venerable institution of learning, engages in actions that are contrary to the values it has upheld and nurtured for more than a century but that day has arrived....
Its founding vision was to train teachers to work effectively with the children of New York City’s poor by understanding and furthering the many ways that children are capable of learning. Individual differences were respected, cherished. The words progressive and humanitarian were embraced by Teachers College.
Unfortunately, the unilateral decision by T.C. President Susan Fuhrman to honor New York Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch next week at the school’s convocation defies this tradition. 

Fred goes on to eviscerate not only Tisch but Fuhrman:

Fuhrman has reportedly received almost $1 million in the form of stocks and fees (as “non-executive independent director) from Pearson, the state’s current test publisher. And closing the circle, Pearson not only has a five-year $32 million contract with the state to test 1.2 million students in grade 3 to 8 each year in reading and math. It has taken over gatekeeping programs that assess who is qualified to be a teacher and whether their performance as teachers is satisfactory. So T.C. trains the teachers, the state hires and evaluates them and Pearson thrives — monopoly style — on this neat arrangement.

Here's the link for the national teacher petition calling on TC to rescind the award for Merryl Tisch: http://petitions.moveon.org/s...

And the link from TC alum Carol Burris:
The letter of concern of alumni can be found here:
http://education4.org/re-imag...

While most people are not willing to go this far on the Tisch story I have no qualms and I have had many occasions to use the photo below. RBE did touch on this in Tisch And Teachers College

I wanted her to run for mayor because I wanted to find out more about her family's connections to K-12 Inc. and the for-profit education industry as well as the family history in the cigarette business.

Tisch Family Connections to K12 Board and Charter School

Closing Schools: 3 Day March in Chicago Plus Lee Sustar Analysis

Above, left to right, Al Ramirez, CORE co-chairman, Kristine Mayle, CTU Financial Secretary, Karen Lewis, CTU Preisdent, Michael Brunson, CTU Recording Secretary, Jesse Sharkey, CTU Vice President, and Nate Goldbaum, CORE co-chair. Substance photo by Howard Heath.

Three years ago at this time all these guys were teaching. I really think it takes being in the classroom during the ed deform movement to get people to a stage where they refuse to accept the tenets of ed deform, as our leaders at the AFT and the UFT have done so readily. I know Al and Kristine from hanging out with them in LA in 2009 and have gotten to know the others over the years.

I'm doing a lot on the Chicago story because it has so much relevance for all teachers. Their union election is tomorrow in the schools (so unlike here - some people think it is a reason they have a higher turnout but also an opportunity for a party like Unity to cheat --- but then again how much more can they win by?) Also retirees don't vote.

The action against the closing of 54 schools begins the next day with a 3-day march. While it is clear Emanuel was going to close many schools no matter what, some of our Unity Caucus slug-like comments tried to paint the closings in this light: see what you get for being militant rather than "cooperative" like we are?

They filed suit over the closing schools. Here are reports from anti-CTU press (Times, Sun-Times).

Well the Unity-like opposition to CORE ran the union into the ground as was pointed out by Jim Vail in our posts last night. (Critic Endorses CORE and Lewis in CTU Elections While Trashing AFT and Randi-like Opposition).

I assume CORE is expecting to win. Hopefully BIG. The opposition is such a joke let's hope the CTU members get it. Imagine here in NYC that MORE were to win and Unity comes back in the next election running on a campaign of opposing many of the things they did that caused them to lose in the first place. Like can't you see Unity attack that we didn't eliminate ATRs?

• Eterno at ICE blog endorses Lewis: CHICAGO TEACHERS NEED TO REELECT KAREN LEWIS TOMORROW

George Schmidt, who will be in NYC for the weekend and we are hanging out Sunday morning for the inside scoop, posted Lee Sustar's analysis from the Socialist Worker on Substance.

CTU election on May 17, 2013 pits CORE against the 'Coalition to Save Our Union'... The issue is who has held the line for Chicago teachers during a year when American Federation of Teachers locals have been in retreat across the USA

I love it when people make the analogy to the failing AFT/UFT strategies. (Just check the outcomes in Washington, Newark, Detroit, NYC, Baltimore, Hartford and pre-CORE Chicago).

Sustar (who I sit with in the press section at AFT conventions and is a delight to chat with as he is so knowledgeable) opens with:

The challengers in the Chicago Teachers Union's (CTU) May 17 elections accuse union President Karen Lewis and the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE) leadership of "squandering" last September's strike and giving ground on pay, health care, pensions and seniority.
Lewis and other CTU officials never shied away from addressing the problems in the agreement that ended the nine-day strike. As Lewis often puts it, "It was the contract we could get." But the truth is the Chicago teachers' strike successfully resisted the corporate education reform juggernaut on all the key issues--and strengthened the contract in other areas. 

HERE'S A look at the key issues: Pay
, Job security, Pensions, Health care, Union power in the schools, 

Get the details at Substance.

 

	Stand Strong for Our Schools
The Three-Day March for Educational Justice in Chicago ctunet.com/ourvoice Saturday, May 18 Sunday,    May 19 Monday,   May 20 The mayor and Board of Education want to destroy 54 school communities. This will be the largest destruction of schools in U.S. history. We need our neighborhood schools and we should all fight together to save them. Join parents, teachers, students, public school workers, clergy, activists and others in the threeday citywide march across the city. They want to divide us. But this is our city, our schools, and together, we’ll use our voice to tell the mayor and the world that we intend to fight back. Learn more and sign up at: CTUNET.COM/OURVOICE

Critic Endorses CORE and Lewis in CTU Elections While Trashing AFT and Randi-like Opposition

It's called the inside game - the American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten has worked it well while signing away teachers rights and jobs throughout the recent years of massive education privatization.... CORE came to power doing the exact opposite - to fight the business - political establishment to stop school closings and its massive attack on teachers' union rights.    

The current AFT and old UPC deals were only a slow, painful downward slide for unions.. Jim Vail, Second City Teacher

The caucus running against CORE is frighteningly Unity Caucus like. Read
Jim Vail who has been an internal critic inside CORE and in fact is not running with them in this election. So his endorsement and comments, both admiring and critical, are worth considering, especially in relation to the Randi Weingarten-like crew running against Karen Lewis. Vail picks them apart with a scalpel.

If you read some of the Unity Caucus trolls' comments on the MORE, ICE and Ed Notes blogs you will see how much they follow the line of CORE's opponents.

Below are some select quotes from Vail's last 3 posts which you can read in full at these links (really well worth reading - he also lobs some criticisms at CORE which you can read if you click the links.)

• Second City Teachers Endorses CORE By Jim Vail Sec...
• CTU VP Candidates Debate a Repeat By Jim Vail Seco...
• CTU Candidates Debate Over Before it Began By Jim ...

CORE has shown it is willing to fight the privatization of public education - namely charter schools.  Vice presidential candidate Mark Ochoa, who served as financial secretary of the old United Progressive Caucus, said it loud and clear in the debate last week - it seems CORE is against charter schools. Really Mark?  Are we supposed to follow the American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten and continue to support charter schools because that is what the ruling class wants?  That is what the machine democrats want? Does it matter that charter schools are merely privatized services to oust unionized teachers so they can pay teachers less, and give banks and others more public monies? That is the whole reason behind the so-called "under-utilization" lie. Bill Gates and others are giving Chicago and other cities lots of money to open charter schools and destroy the teachers union.

Now, here is what the opposition caucus tried to get across in their message. We are going to make deals at the top and save jobs.  We have proven that getting along with the mayor will translate into a world of far less pain than what is in store for you with another three years of CORE.

Presidential candidate Tanya Saunders Wolffe did say she can negotiate better in the "suits" than the streets. But it was fighting in the streets that gave us unions and worker protections in the first place. The current AFT and old UPC deals were only a slow, painful downward slide for unions.


 ----
Wolffe (Lewis' opponent) said the solution is to work more closely with politicians (former CTU president Marilyn Stewart once boasted she consulted Mayor Richard Daley before agreeing on the contract), and work more closely with the Chicago Public Schools to develop programs like fresh start with a CTU - CPS turnaround that prevents firing the entire staff (an initiative started by former CTU president Debbie Lynch).

It's called the inside game - the American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten has worked it well while signing away teachers rights and jobs throughout the recent years of massive education privatization.  

(Weingarten doesn't even see a problem with working hand in hand with the enemy, inviting Bill Gates to be a keynote speaker at the AFT convention in Seattle.  Gates is currently putting up millions of dollars for more charter schools to destroy union jobs and is actively promoting the end of teachers pension system!)

CORE came to power doing the exact opposite - to fight the business - political establishment to stop school closings and its massive attack on teachers' union rights.  

Here is an interesting section on standardized testing regarding teachers refusing to give the tests from the report on the Vice-Presidential debate between CORE's Jesse Sharkey and opponent and former union official in the old guard UPC, which given their history of sell-outs, makes Ochoa an example of the height of chutzpah.

The first question for the VP candidates was should the teachers boycott the standardized tests? Ochoa was cautious in his response, stressing any resistance should be decided by the union as a group and first negotiated at the table. Sharkey, on the other hand, said unequivocally that the union should organize a boycott of the high stakes testing (Sharkey once noted his kindergarten son had to take over a dozen standardized tests). While Sharkey won points with the crowd with his clear and forceful answer, the current CTU leadership has actually taken the route Ochoa preferred. Rather than organize a testing boycott, Sharkey and the CTU have been gathering information in the testing committee.

Given the realities of having to run for re-election, I would think trying to get teachers to organize a boycott of the tests would need to wait to see the level of support Lewis has. A resounding victory would be a sign that Chicago teachers are ready for more action.

The CTU has jumped in with full support for the teachers in Seattle boycotting the test, so look for something to start brewing on that end. There is a fine line between political realities and purism and walking that line is not easy. But as Vail points out repeatedly, there are enough victories to provide hope in fighting for public ed that doesn't exist elsewhere. People like Jim Vail won't get everything they want but maybe just enough.

I Echo Jersey Jazzman in Support for CORE in CTU Election on Friday

Aside from everything else, just look at the ed deformers supporting Karen Lewis' opponents: The soon to be owned by Koch brothers Chicago Tribune and Fox News. And it a group like MORE were to ever seriously challenge Unity you would see the same type of reaction from the local ed deformers to those "anti reform radicals."

In Chicago they vote in the schools on one day - Friday May 17. Poll watching is in important factor. They have a much higher percentage of voters than here in NYC and retirees have no impact on the election. George and Sharron Schmidt are coming town this weekend and I'm getting together with them for breakfast Sunday morning so I hope to get the firsthand scoop.

There is no point in my writing something when someone like Jersey Jazzman does it so well.

Karen Lewis for CTU President

Up until now, I've stayed out of the internal politics of teachers unions. I outlined my many reservations about the Newark contract, but I didn't feel it was right to tell teachers to vote it up or down. I had my preferences in the New York City teachers union elections as well, but I kept my mouth shut, because I didn't think I had anything to add that was helpful.

But I'm going to make an exception today: Chicago teachers, please re-elect Karen Lewis as the President of the Chicago Teachers Union.

No one has done more to make unions relevant again than Karen Lewis. The Chicago teachers strike was a wake-up call to monied corporate interests everywhere; they learned, the hard way, that organized working people are a force not to be trifled with. That strike never would have happened without the brains, skills, and resolve of Lewis.

Chicago teachers, you need someone who is going to stand toe-to-toe with the likes of the obnoxious and odious Bruce Rauner and the insufferably smug and hypocritical Rahm Enamuel. Karen Lewis has proved, time and again, that she is not in the slightest bit intimidated by these foes of the working class and Chicago's children.

Now, I'm all for a spirited campaign with a sincere debate about the record of the incumbent. Unfortunately, that doesn't appear to be what Chicago's teachers are getting:

During the contract negotiations last summer, Karen Lewis established the "Big Bargaining Team," and designed it to be inclusive. That team included Tanya Saunders Wolffe and Mark Ochoa. Today, both of them are claiming that the CTU leadership failed to negotiate a "moratorium" on school closings. But they didn't mention that during the months they were actually with the union's leadership at the bargaining table. Nor have they admitted, although they will soon have to, that it was illegal for the Chicago Teachers Union to bargain over school closings (a management right) unless CPS agreed to it, and CPS didn't. [emphasis mine]

It's really easy for these Monday morning quarterbacks to come in and complain that Lewis didn't get them everything they think they deserve. But there's little doubt, give the dysfunction of the CTU before Lewis took over, that things would have been far, far worse were she and her team not at the reins. Lewis's CORE slate has shown they can get the job done; the other side may (or may not) mean well, but they simply aren't ready for the big game.

And if you need further proof that the plutocrats are afraid of Lewis, simply look at the fawning treatment Lewis's opponent has received from corporate media shills like the Chicago Tribune and Fox News. For me, that alone is enough reason to vote for Lewis.

Chicago teachers, I hope you understand how lucky you are to have this woman as your local's president. I hope you understand how many teachers outside of Chicago wish they had a strong labor leader willing to stand up for their rights. I hope you appreciate what Lewis means to the rest of us outside of Chicago. I saw Lewis speak to a group of teachers in New York City, and it was like watching a rock star; she is that beloved, and she is that good.

Do yourself a favor, Chicago: vote Karen Lewis and the CORE slate this Friday.

Teachers Send a Message

I've been meaning to share this funny piece since I saw it on Accountable Talk blog on Teacher Appreciation Day. Ok, I know it's so far from social justice unionism as the far side of the moon, but funny just the same.

http://youtu.be/9T8ovblvQM0

NATIONAL TEACHER PETITION: Tell Teachers College to take a stand for REAL teaching and learning! No award for Merryl Tisch!

In the field of slime that is corporate deform, I put Merryl Tisch pretty high up on the list. That bastion of so-called progressive education, Teachers College, is giving Tisch an award at their graduation ceremony this month. And TC President Susan Fuhrman is quickly closing in. Many people are not happy. You'll be reading a lot more about this story in the next week. Some people may not prove to be civil. I wonder if there will be apologies issued.

On May 21, 2013 Teachers College plans to give an award to the Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, Merryl Tisch. Given Tisch’s role in promoting the use of high stakes standardized testing in our schools, this award would be an endorsement of Tisch’s record. That’s why I created a petition to Teachers College, which says: 

“As public school teachers, we, the undersigned, are shocked to learn that one of the premiere institutions of teacher education, Teachers College at Columbia University, will give a “Medal for Distinguished Service” this year to the Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, Merryl Tisch. 

As Chancellor, Tisch has committed New York State’s public schools to high stakes testing, and has personally advocated for standardized test scores to be used for promotion, school closures, and teacher bonuses. These policies are devastating our schools and the teaching profession. 

Furthermore, we are extremely concerned that the current president of Teachers College, Susan Fuhrman, serves on the board of directors of Pearson PLC, one of the largest companies responsible for the development of high stakes standardized tests. Pearson’s $32 million contract with the New York State Education Department represents an unfortunate conflict of interest for Presi dent Fuhrman. 

Now, more than ever, we need Teachers College to stand for authentic teaching and learning, for child-centered curricula and assessments, and against the creeping privatization of our public schools. 

No award for Merryl Tisch!” 

Click here to add your name to this petition:

http://signon.org/sign/teachers-college-take?source=c.fwd&r_by=7801280

Help E4E, No One is Noticing

I'm beginning to feel sorry for the deformers at e4e. You don't even read much about them in the press. Even Gotham Schools seems to have run out of excuses to promote them. No one seems to be noticing them and poor Jonathan keeps sending out almost daily pleas to please pay them some attention. You see, they have all this stuff to give away and not enough people want their stuff. And think of how the Tweedies do their best to gain entry for e4e into schools.

Now they did have the opportunity to test their mettle and the popularity of their message by running in the UFT elections but I believe you need more than 20 people on a slate to run. They had the money to buy slick ads to get people to vote for them but how embarassing for them that a grassroots organization like MORE with no money would have beaten them in the elections.

Well you have until tomorrow to get e4e to treat your staff to lunch - and use the opportunity to expose exactly where they are coming from.


From: Jonathan Schleifer <info@educators4excellence.org>
Sent: Mon, May 13, 2013 6:03 pm
Subject: Last call!

Trouble viewing this email? You can View this Message Online

Educators 4 Excellence: An Independent Voice for Teachers

Check out the inspiring note sent from a teacher in the Bronx thanking her colleaegue for having high expectations for teacher leadership. And read why a Queens teacher appreciates Ms. Fahrenkrug for advocating for students and teachers: These stories are being shared because teachers invited our team to visit their schools to appreciate coworkers. You and your colleagues deserve to be recognized too. If you want to celebrate your coworkers, there’s one more day to nominate your school for a Teacher Appreciation Celebration. Help us share the amazing work you and your colleagues are doing for your students with the broader E4E community. To nominate your school for a free Teacher Appreciation Celebration, please complete this brief survey. Let us know by TOMORROW, May 14, and we’ll do all we can to make it work. Best, Jonathan

Fred Smith on Pearson Mergers and a Poem

Fred and others have been tracking the Pearson merger machine. See below Fred's poem. It has been noted that the Penguin- Random House merger involves Bertelsmann, the company that Klein left (most likely tossed) before he was rescued by Bloomberg and made chancellor.

Pearson continues to merge with other publishers and business partners. I just got a Pearson key chain as a prize in my CrackerJack box.

And with Pearson's buyout of Hallmark, I fear there will be a special line of cards to celebrate April Testing Day and the annual Jolly June Field Test Festival. To wit:

To Our Favorite Teacher

Thank you for all you do
Every day of the school year,
Getting us ready to pass each test,
Telling us we need not fear;

Getting us past the stress we feel,
Wiping away our doubts and tears,
Assuring us this is the way to go
For college success and good careers.

Long live Pearson and SED,
Grand masters of our fate;
Another year is coming
and the best tests yet;
We can hardly wait.

~Fred Smith

Merger update: European Commission clears Penguin Random House combination

April 05, 2013

Pearson and Bertelsmann today announce that they have been notified by the European Commission that it has approved the proposed merger of Penguin and Random House, without conditions.
The two companies announced their agreement to combine Penguin and Random House in October 2012. The proposed merger is currently under review by a number of other regulatory authorities around the world.  To date, approval has been granted by the US Department of Justice in the US, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and The New Zealand Commerce Commission. Pearson and Bertelsmann continue to expect the transaction to close in the second half of 2013, after all necessary approvals have been received
Following completion, Bertelsmann will own 53% and Pearson 47% of Penguin Random House. It will encompass all of Random House and Penguin Group’s publishing units in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa, as well as Penguin’s operations in China and Random House’s publishers in Spain and Latin America.  Pearson and Bertelsmann believe that the combined organisation, the world’s leading consumer publishing company, will have a stronger platform and greater resources to invest in rich content, new digital publishing models and high-growth emerging markets.
ENDS

For more information

Pearson

Simon Mays-Smith/ Tom Glover: + 44 (0) 207 010 2310

Penguin

Toby Jones: + 44 (0) 7977 191 686

How Did I Get Top Billing Over Matt Damon?

But I'll take it.