Parents Present Pearson With $38 Million Invoice for Use of Child Labor for Field Tests

VISIT CHANGE THE STAKES

Press Contacts:

Kemala Karmen optout@parentvoicesny.org                              
Janine Sopp   janinesopp@gmail.com

For Immediate Release

Parents Create Invoice to Showcase the True Cost of NYSED/Pearson’s “Stand-Alone” June Field Tests:
$37, 991, 452

“The State Education Department Should Be COLLECTING from Pearson, Not Handing Out Our Tax Dollars for Tests of Dubious Value!”

New York City – Concerned parents, who wonder why it should be assumed that their children would serve as uncompensated research subjects in a commercial R & D product development process, have drawn up a bill, payable to the people of New York State, for the creator of the stand-alone field tests, Pearson LLC.

To arrive at a “Balance Due” of $37,991,452, parents calculated the value of their children’s free labor, including the opportunity costs of lost instructional time and resources, and added these to the real costs to schools of administering the June tests. They unveiled the invoice at a press conference held in front of Tweed Courthouse on the morning of June 6th. At that time, they also announced that at least 37 New York City schools had parents opt their children out of the tests; on Long Island, more than 30 schools saw test refusals. Organizers were also aware of resistance at 4 schools in the Westchester and Hudson regions. [List of schools at end of this document.]

The design for the invoice, which originally enumerated only the services provided to Pearson by one child, emerged in the lead-up to 2012’s parent-coordinated campaign against the tests.  It encapsulated the resentment parents felt; their children were being inducted into a study without their parents’ informed consent, and without any direct benefit to the students or their schools. “If Pearson wants to use my daughter to ‘field test’ during the school day,” opined Brooklyn parent Johanna Henry, “they will have to pay us, and they need to get in touch with me in order to negotiate a fair price.  I will use the money to provide my child an enjoyable and relevant learning experience.’”

This year, as parents continue to fight the field tests, the invoice has been expanded to reflect that NYSED gives away to for-profit Pearson the services of 434,000 3^rd through 8^th graders (a number derived, in part, by assuming average class size). These services would be worth $32,550,000 (if child labor were legal), an amount roughly equal to the sum ($32,136,276) that New York State has contracted to pay Pearson for 5 years of test development. Moreover, the State essentially donates to Pearson the salaries of the teachers ($1,541,250) and assistant principals ($753,519) who coordinate and administer the tests.*

Former DOE analyst Fred Smith, who provided technical assistance with the invoice to parents from grassroots groups Change the Stakes and ParentVoicesNY, was alarmed. “Usually corporations and foundations make charitable contributions or donations

to public institutions or to support public works,” said Smith.  “Here, SED has arranged it so that we, the client or end-users are giving away time, money and opportunity to the benefit of a private company.”

The invoice also includes a line for taxes that the state could be collecting from Pearson for its unreimbursed expenses. The tax bill alone comes in at more than $3 million, a scenario that especially rankles during a time when schools are being asked to do more with less. “Our schools are being cut to the bone, but city and state education officials always manage to find staggeringly large sums of money for all these tests and test prep materials,” claimed Sharmeela Mediratta, a Queens parent whose daughter did not take the field test.

Organizations who contributed to our list of 2013 field test opt outs include: Change the Stakes, ParentVoicesNY, Restore Education Funding – Nyack/Valley Cottage, Time Out From Testing, Long Island Opt Out (list in formation)

# # #

Schools Where Parents are Participating in the Field Test Boycott

This list is growing, as not all schools have administered tests yet and we are not in touch with all schools where opt outs are happening. At this point there are 37 in NYC and at least 34+ outside of the city. (Long Island submitted the names of districts rather than individual schools, of which 30+ saw opt outs)

Schools in New York City

  East Village Community School

Neighborhood School

Earth School

  PS 40/Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Ella Baker School

Institute for Collaborative Education

  PS 75/Emily Dickinson

 PS 87/William Sherman

  Central Park East I

  PS 173

  3 schools in District 3 who wish to remain anonymous

  PS 8

PS 9 - Teunis G Bergen

 PS 11 -Purvis J Behan

PS 132 - The Conselyea School

PS 257 - John F Hylan

PS 15 - Patrick F Daly

PS 29 - John M Harrigan

PS 39 - Henry Bristow

PS 58 - The Carroll School

MS 88 - Peter Rouget

PS 107 - John W Kimball

The Brooklyn New School

PS 154 - Magnet School for Science and Technology

PS 230 - Doris L Cohen

PS 261 - Philip Livingston

PS 295 - Studio School of Arts and Culture

PS 321 - William Penn

The Children's School

 New Voices Middle School

 MS 447 - The Math and Science Exploratory School
 MS 448 - Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies
 PS 139 - Rego Park

 JHS 157 - Stephen A Halsey

 PS 122 - Mamie Fay

Outside New York City

Lenape Elementary, New Paltz, NY

New Paltz Middle School

Nyack Middle School

Upper Nyack Elementary School

Long Island Schools or Districts:

North Merrick

East Meadow

Bayport Blue Point

Middle Country

Hauppauge

Miller Place

Valley Stream Central High District 1

East Meadow

Seaford

Riverhead

Lynbrook

Northport

Bellmore Merrick

Mt. Sinai

East Islip

Sachem Samoset Brentwood UFSD

Middle Country

# # #

** Anatomy of a Giveaway

Invoice to Pearson:

Figuring that half a day will be devoted to the field tests and administrative logistics:

For half an AP's daily salary = $753,519.  That's 3,614 x $208.50.

For half a Teacher's daily salary = $1,541,250.  That's 12,330 x $125.00.

ABC Coverage: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/video?id=9129701

Dangerous Liasons: TFA Recruiting for CECs in NYC

Some CEC's have resisted the ed deform agenda and with calls for some checks and balances on mayoral control by giving more power to CECs the vulture groups are looking at taking control of these last vestiges of official resistance -- and expect the Tweedies to assist them in anyway possible.

This just in from Leonie Haimson (see our post on the de-zoning issue -- Tweed Dezoning Push: The Ed Deform War on the Neighborhood School While UFT Silent.

In February, TFA was recruiting for CEC candidates below; perhaps they are watching the dezoning fight or anticipating a more powerful CEC in the future.

Watch out!  Wendy Kopp is married to Richard Barth, head of KIPP and most of their recruits in NYC are now placed in charter schools, which are growing fast in NYC and also have sky-high attrition rates.  The faster the expansion of charters in NYC the easier it will be for TFA to expand their base in NYC.

See also this article, about the push to get TFA alumni in “leadership” posts across the country: http://prospect.org/article/teach-america%E2%80%99s-deep-bench

Excerpt: Since its founding, TFA has amassed some 28,000 alumni. Two have made Time’s “Most Influential” list: its Chief Executive Officer and founder, Wendy Kopp, and former Washington, D.C., schools chancellor and StudentsFirst founder Michelle Rhee. Others have gained prominence as the leaders of massive charter operations, like KIPP Schools and New Schools for New Orleans. And TFA alums are currently the heads of public schools in Newark, D.C., and Tennessee.

What about the other 27,000-some-odd people? That’s where Leadership for Educational Equity, or LEE, comes in. LEE was founded in 2007 as a 501(c)4 spin-off of Teach for America to provide resources, training, and networking for alumni who are interested in elected office or other extracurricular leadership positions. Its goals are ambitious: by 2015, as its standard job posting reads, it hopes to have 250 of its members in elected office, 300 in policy or advocacy leadership roles, and 1,000 “in ‘active’ pipelines for public leadership.” If all goes as planned, LEE could shift control over American education reform to a specific group of spritely college grads-turned-politicians with a very specific politics.

From: New York Alumni Team - Teach For America <nycalumni@teachforamerica.org>
Date: February 20, 2013, 5:23:02 PM EST
To:
Subject: Are You a New York City Parent? Get Involved in Education in Your Community!

To view this email as a web page, go here.

If you are a parent, or know someone who is, here is an opportunity to get involved in your community: Education Councils: There are two ways to join a New York City Education Council. First, you may be appointed by your respective Borough President. Second, and more commonly, if you live in a DOE public school district AND you are a parent AND your child attends a DOE public school in NYC, you may be eligible to serve on either: i) a Community Education Council or ii) a Citywide Education Council. Education Council members are selected once every two years. For more information or to apply, visit http://nycparentleaders.org. Your application must be received by March 13, 2013.  In April, there will be at least one "Candidate Forum" per district council. These forums present an opportunity for candidates to meet and speak to parents and designated "selectors" from their community in order to discuss why they should be selected to serve on an education council. In May, final selections are made. If you intend to apply, please let us know at nycalumni@teachforamerica.org.   If you are interested in receiving assistance with the application process, please contact Dahni-El Giles of Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE) at dahni-el.giles@educationalequity.org.  For more information on Education Councils, click here. Best, The New York Alumni Affairs Team

Who Do You Trust, Your Principal or Your 3rd Graders?

In the midst of shame: The single best evaluation I ever received and more value from a child than I ever got from a supervisor.

My vote goes to the 3rd graders -- hands down. I know we are all having some fun at this provision in the John King dictum and given the understanding that King's motives are designed to degrade the teacher, I would trust the views of kids about me as a teacher even though it can be oh so easy to manipulate them, which was not beneath me. Don't all teachers do some manipulation? 

Teachers should be willing to learn from their kids. I always did listen to my kids  --- I tried very hard to have a comfortable environment in my class -- when you are in a self-contained classroom for 5 hours a day you better have. But I also know I had some arrogance as a teacher and maybe knowing they were evaluating me might have made me a tad more sensitive.

I was also arrogant enough to think that if a teacher did not have the support of their kids they must have lacked something (I think in today's times that may not be operative but depends on where you are and who is running your school.) I would say the same for parents and in fact I would love to see what parents think about me as a teacher and would probably learn a lot. One of my best evaluations came from the parent of the very best and smartest kid I ever had -- she went to Johns Hopkins in a 6 year medical program. A few years after she left my class I ran into mom (natch, a dream parent- single mom with 3 awesome kids) and her youngest on the subway and when it seemed possible I would have that child in my class the next year she seemed so happy. That made me happy -- an evaluation of sorts. But smart kids' parents are easy to please.

We hear a lot about the disruptive child but reality is that the overwhelming majority of kids are not disruptive.

I'll never forget one story where I learned one of my biggest lessons from a child. It was a Friday afternoon as a mass prep was ending and I went down to pick up my 6th grade class --- it was not the top class -- in the midst of auditorium chaos, with the AP (who I liked a lot) trying to get things organized. For some reason I was pissed at him that day and one of my girls did something innocuous but I reported her to the AP --- just to bug him (a nasty bit of personal pique on my part). And he hauled off screaming at the little girl, leading her to tears. I felt like shit, but nothing as bad as later that evening.

The phone rang and I heard sobbing. It was Beatriz -- "Why did you do that Mr. Scott?" I started to apologize. She hung up on me. Actually slammed down the phone. What a weekend in guilt hell. I tried to make it up to her for the rest of the school year and we ended up with a good relationship.

In the midst of shame, the single best evaluation I ever received and more value from a child than I ever got from a supervisor.

Tweed Dezoning Push: The Ed Deform War on the Neighborhood School While UFT Silent

You want to dezone them because you want space for charter schools.... Eva Mosklowitz was promised 40 charter schools by Joel Klein...... Tory Frye, District 6

What does dezoning mean?  Eliminating the right of any child to attend a school near his home and implementing a system of “choice,” where parents would list preferences, and their child could be assigned by lottery to any school in the district... NYC Parent blog

dezoning will do nothing do improve the quality of education.  By forcing kids to attend schools far from home, in fact, dezoning would likely lessen parental involvement, dramatically diminish the ties between schools, local elected officials and the communities in which they sit, and certainly drive up busing costs, which are already one billion dollars a year citywide.

Dezoning would also eliminate the sole legal power of the CECs currently have – which is to approve changes in zoning lines – and allow DOE to close any neighborhood public school and put a charter school in its place; something Joel Klein tried to do as Chancellor in 2009,  until he was blocked by a lawsuit.  He refused to put his proposals before the CECs in District 3 and 23 , knowing they would turn him down.  Instead he sent a letter to all the parents in the schools he had wanted to close, recommending that they transfer their children to charter schools or other public schools nearby.  Two of these schools got “A”s on the DOE school progress reports shortly thereafter.... NYC Parent blog

Has anyone heard from the UFT on this important issue? Any attempt to get some pushback going? The UFT bragged a few years ago about going to court because the DOE tried to close 2 schools that were the only ones left in their zone and won which is what sparked the Tweed de-zoning plan in the first place.
 
Here's another story basically ignored by the NYC ed media as they suck at the teat of the ed deformers.

The assault on neighborhood schooling has been the lynchpin of ed deform and from Day 1 the destruction (and villification) of the geographically based districts has been a priority. But a provision in the law giving Bloomberg control of the schools kept the district format but Klein undermined what he could with reorganization after reorganization -- regions, some other crap I forgot the name of and finally, the current corrupt network system where you find schools in each network scattered all over the city.

Why destroy neighborhood schools and the system of local support? To kill any resistance to the privatization schemes that allow alien charters to invade and to control the vast patronage inherent in the school system. There are billions to steal -- er -- be made.

I've been meaning to report on the efforts of the DOE to dezone the school system district by district. THIS IS HIGH PRIORITY ON THE TWEED AGENDA SO ASK YOURSELF WHY?

Well, it seems that there are certain laws that put a crimp on their plans in places with zoned schools and thus by dezoning they are no longer under those laws.

They can't just dezone unilaterally because the local district CECs -- the last vestige of the concept of a geographical unit of school --  must approve -- thus their recent attempts to create dysfunction in the CECs ---

They've been going around from district to district over the past few years --  I know they tried to dezone the Dist 27 middle schools - I attended and taped a hearing - and the CEC said NO.

Here Tory Frye of Change the Stakes exposes their sham in District 6. Watch her take apart that whiny slug from Tweed.

http://youtu.be/pn64S8iSiXA




From Leonie's blog on the district 5 story:

Warning to parents and CECs considering dezoning and video from D5 hearing in Harlem

At the end of the school year and towards the end of the Bloomberg reign,  DoE has been hurriedly proposing to dezone Districts 4, 5, 6 (twice), 7 (unzoned into two large preference zones this year), 12, 13, 14, 16, 17 and 23 (unzoned for MS this year).  In order to achieve this, the Community Education Councils in these districts have to approve.

More from Leonie on the district 5 story with lots of video:

D5 hearing in Harlem

NY Daily News

Harlem parents oppose local 'dezoning' plan

City wants to make all elementary schools open for application. 'Neighborhood' school would be a thing of the past.

By Tanay Warerkar / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Published: Tuesday, June 4, 2013, 8:35 AM

Updated: Tuesday, June 4, 2013, 10:41 AM

5

1

0

Print

Norman Y. Lono/for New York Daily News

De-zoning plans have been protested in the past. Now it's Harlem's turn.

Harlem parents blasted a city proposal to de-zone elementary schools Monday night, calling the plan the wrong course for public education.

Dozens of parents heard the de-zoning presentation by the Department of Education, but there was little trust between the bureaucrats and the public, which responded with guffaws, sneers, sighs, and screams at every turn.

“De-zoning will destabilize the powerful parent community we have built in this neighborhood,” said Tory Frye, 43, an opponent. “This new process further aims to keep parents ignorant and separated from the school system.”

There are 26 elementary schools in District 6. Students are guaranteed admission to their local school or could apply for admission to one of the eight "choice" schools.

The city proposal would essentially make all 26 schools open for application for any student in the district.

The city claims that 98% of students had gotten into their top three choices of schools in areas where de-zoning has already been implemented.

The public was not allowed to address the education officials -- that will happen at a true public hearing later this month -- but parents argued the current system already gives enough choice to the community.

“The idea that my child would randomly assigned to one school makes me very uncomfortable,” said Chantelle Bradford-Gerber, 39, whose older son started elementary school last year. “Lumping together all the schools in one district will leave more parents unsatisfied, and influence what happens in the classroom.”

Frye said she felt the city's true motive to de-zone school districts was to get rid of struggling schools to make room for new charter schools. The Bloomberg Administration has encouraged the growth of charter schools, but a Department of Education official did not specifically cite charter schools as the motivation for the de-zone plan.

“We truly believe this program will increase choice and provide equal access to everyone in the community,” said Yael Kalban of the Department of Education.

But few in the crowd -- beyond a small group of parents holding identical banners supporting de-zoning -- believed her.

The meeting was so heated that it will be continued Tuesday morning at PS 8, 465 W. 167th St. at 9 a.m. RELATED: HARLEM RAILS AGAINST SCHOOL DE-ZONE PLAN

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/harlem-parents-blast-city-dezoning-plan-article-1.1362430#ixzz2VGRx1HK6

Anthony Weiner's racially divisive attack, and apology, unearthed and broadcasted

My last WAVE column took some shots at Weiner for his education program. I didn't get time to do a follow-up on why I, a former supporter, am increasingly disturbed by Weiner. Funny when I was talking to a cormer colleague, now 81 years old, and compared Weiner to Clinton, she said "What Weiner did is much worse than Clinton. Possitively creepy."

Well, here is an incident I had no memory of. Watch lots more stuffed get flushed out as the people who want him out of the race turn up whatever dirt they can.

I just came across this from the increasingly indispensable daily update from Azi Paybarah at Capital NY. I didn't embed the video from MSNBC but you can watch it at: http://capitalnewyork.com/article/politics/2013/06/8530627/anthony-weiners-racially-divisive-attack-and-apology-unearthed-and-

Anthony Weiner's racially divisive attack, and apology, unearthed and broadcasted

Related stories

• The return, again, of Anthony Weiner's 'Dinkins / Jackson agenda' flier
• MSNBC welcomes Weiner back, with some caveats

• F.A.Q.: What does it mean for the Democrats to have Anthony Weiner gone?
• Is Anthony Weiner past the punchline phase yet?

• 

By Azi Paybarah

12:57 pm Jun. 3, 2013

This weekend, MSNBC's Steve Kornacki took another look at a professionally crucial episode in Anthony Weiner's past, producing a piece of literature Weiner distributed in his 1991 Council race which helped him capitalize on racial tension from the Crown Heights riots to win.

Kornacki also got his hands on a hand-written apology letter Weiner wrote to the target of that flier, Adele Cohen.



In the letter, Weiner promised to call her in order to deliver his apology "in person." That conversation never took place, according to Cohen.
The flier is a remarkable artifact. Produced days after the race riot in Brooklyn, it said, "The David Dinkins and Jesse Jackson coalition wants you to vote for Adele Cohen" and "If Adele Cohen and her ultra-liberal agenda gets into the City Council, she'll owe it to the Dinkins/Jackson Coalition. And that's a debt we'll have to pay for."

In the apology letter, Weiner wrote that the mailing was "wrongheaded and the manner was just plain dumb. I regret the harm it did to you … I made a mistake that cannot be undone. I have to live with it. I'm sorry you do as well." He added, "I hope that in time, I will have the opportunity to redeem myself to you and to the many others who are rightly angry with me."
The incident shows a side of Weiner that is little known to younger and more liberal voters (the kind who tend to watch MSNBC) who have gotten to know him, through his made-for-YouTube rants on the floor of Congress, combative interviews on Fox and regular appearances on MSNBC, as a staunch progressive.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Congratulations to Kornacki's producer Jack Bohrer, the historian (and, like Kornacki, occasional Capital contributor) who found the original flier.
The whole segment, which features a very New Yorky panel made up of Blake Zeff, Errol Louis, Howard Wolfson and L. Joy Williams, is worth watching.

Teachers Comment on King Dictum

Great comments are rolling in to many of the blogs and to Ed Notes directly.

Jeff Kaufman
One of my favorite parts of the arbitration decision was commented on by the UFT official spin. When deciding how many arbitration slots should be added to the current 175 authorized by our CBA. King, in his decision, noted that this was one of the biggest stumbling blocks to an agreement. When the talks broke down in January the UFT asked for 250 additional expedited arbitrations. This is for over 75,000 teachers. At the hearing they asked for 1000. The DOE initially offered 150 but at the hearing offered zero. Guess what King decided?
What this demonstrates is that the Union never cared about protecting its members and only when there would be a record made of the demand decided to look like they cared.
Why not have a rally to allow Mulgrew to absorb all of the credit for this incredible sellout?
----------

Hi Norm,

I am very concerned for my colleagues with the onset of the imposed evaluation plan.  While reading many of the news articles and blogs, I remembered how principals at one time was pushing the SMART goal approach.

The more I read about the 20 points that are based on SLOs and how principals will ask teachers to set goals for each of their students (HS) and the percentage of student will pass the Regents, the more it sounds like the SMART goal that teachers detested because of the excessive paperwork.

I remember how the union fought against the SMART goal and told teachers to send a push-back email to their principal.  Here's the push-back email that the union encouraged teachers to send to their principals back in the fall of 2009.

Date

Principal’s Name
Bronx School
Bronx, NY

Dear Principal’s Name:

I have read your memo/letter/email of [date] in which you instruct me to input into the school’s database weekly, monthly and annual instructional goals or SMART goals (list items that you are instructed to do; this is a sample list)  for every student I teach.

As always, I will do my best to comply with your instructions.  However, to complete this task, I need to know:
1.     what time during the school day I should use to complete these tasks;
2.     where I will be able to access a computer connected to the school’s database during that time.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely yours,
Teacher's Name

I did a search on your blog and found this teacher's frustration posted regarding the SMART goal.  The dejavu is the part where is states that “By September 27, 2011, 100% of teachers will have MEMORIZED the names and proficiency scores of ALL students within the target proficiency ranges, along with each students proficiency score.”

http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2011/09/report-from-field-race-to-bottom.html

This reminds me of principals like Grismaldy Laboy-Wilson, who taught for ONLY two years, became a principal at the age of 24, and taught a social studies class as a principal, where she had a passing rate that was less than 70%, will be one of the principals to abuse the new evaluation plan. 

http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2010/11/whatever-it-takes-how-to-get-grad-rates.html#comment-form

I feel that these are the blogs that I would like for you to repost to remind everyone out there that the new evaluation plan may not be the best thing out there after all.

MORE Comments on Eval Plan

MORE Statement on Evaluation Plan

3JUN

UFT Rank and File Says King’s Evaluation Plan Bad for Teachers, Students

While Micheal Mulgrew launches a campaign to convince the membership that the new teacher evaluation system is designed to help teachers improve and give them a professional voice, Bloomberg is proclaiming victory. The truth of the matter is, this evaluation system is bad for educators and the children they serve: the system requires a tremendous amount of additional work with no compensation, time or otherwise. It will create an even greater climate of fear and effectively ends tenure as we know it; putting all educators who partner with parents to advocate for the best policies for children at risk. This system places too much value on testing and is flawed in its high stakes premise. Educators are best positioned to evaluate and assess our students and teachers, not imposed tests, not junk science, not pre-packaged rubrics.    Julie Cavanagh, Elementary School Teacher & Chapter Leader P.S. 15 Brooklyn

The day has finally come. State Education Commissioner John King has imposed a new teacher evaluation deal on New York City.  UFT president Michael Mulgrew’s attempts to claim a victory in the face of defeat are hardly convincing. In his letter to the membership Mulgrew says “Here is the bottom line: The new teacher evaluation system is designed to support, not punish, teachers and to help them develop throughout their careers. That is what we will be fighting for as this plan is implemented.” Given the enormous amount of money the DOE has spent trying to fire our colleagues over the last few years, it’s credulous to suggest that this system will be about “supporting” teachers. The media has honed in on the point that Mulgrew wants to avoid: tenure has been seriously weakened, and it will be easier to fire teachers who are seen as “ineffective” based on flawed standardized tests.

We knew already from State Education Law 3012-c, which was supported by the UFT leadership as part of Race to the Top, that two years of ineffective ratings means a teacher is presumed to be incompetent. In the new termination process for tenured teachers, the burden of proof will shift to the teacher, unlike the current system where the burden of proof is on the Department of Education to prove incompetence.[1]

King’s release states: “Teachers rated ineffective on student performance based on objective assessments must be rated ineffective overall. Teachers who are developing or ineffective will get assistance and support to improve performance. Teachers who remain ineffective can be removed from classrooms.” In other words, there will be more testing for our students and tests will be the ultimate determinant of a teacher’s effectiveness.  According to the outline of the plan, “Each school will have a committee comprised of an equal number of teachers and administrators who will determine, along with the principal, which assessments each school will use,” however the plan states that principals may reject this committee’s recommendations and apply their own default measures. In many schools, this is exactly what will happen.

Only 13 percent of all ineffective ratings each year can be challenged on grounds of harassment or other matters not related to job performance. Is the UFT comfortable trusting that the other 87% of ratings of “ineffective” will be based solely on teacher performance? Given the new principals Tweed is pumping out of the Principal’s Academy and their “fire your way to success” mentality, our union leadership has left us in an extremely dangerous situation.

The union leadership is pleased that the rating system will be using “the complete Danielson rubric, with all 22 points.” The potential for abuse of this complex and multifaceted rubric is enormous.

“This system will lead to educators teaching to a rubric,” says Mike Schirtzer, UFT Delegate at Leon M. Goldstein High School in Brooklyn.  ”Pedagogy is a craft which no two teachers do the same, yet can still be equally effective.  This new scheme will limit teachers creativity in the classroom and our ability to differentiate styles in order to reach a diverse set of learners. Our greatest concern is the amount of time this will take from teachers to properly prepare for their classes, due to all of the assessments and/or SLO’s that need to be created, the committees need to be formed and countless hours of professional development dedicated to Common Core and Danielson, two directives that have no scientific evidence of increasing learning.”

In addition to the onerous micromanagement of the Danielson rubric, observations will be more frequent and at least one will be an unannounced observation. This is problematic, as without pre- and post-observation conferences, administrators will likely be unaware what scaffolding the teacher has done beforehand, and are likely to penalize teachers because they don’t have this information.  Mulgrew says this is not a “gotcha” system, but in practice it most certainly will be.

The new system also includes a pilot of student surveys. This encourages grade-inflation and a lack of discipline in the classroom. Research shows that student surveys don’t work in high-stakes settings. The use of such surveys poisons the relationships between teachers and students, who now in addition to their test scores bear even more responsibility for the future of their teachers’ careers.

Crucially, this agreement will not include a sunset provision, unlike districts in other parts of the state. The sunset provision was a key sticking point in negotiations, as the UFT was hoping it would be able to renegotiate the terms of this plan under a new and presumably friendlier mayor. The current deal is in place for the next four years at least, and can only be re-negotiated in collective bargaining within the framework of State Education Law 3012-c.

The mayor and his henchmen have been gloating effusively. The mayor’s statement said “Commissioner King has sided with our children on nearly every major point of disagreement we had with the UFT’s leadership, while also rejecting the UFT’s long-held demand for a sunset provision.” Dennis Walcott said he was extremely pleased with the commissioner’s announcement today and we look forward to implementing it.” Bloomberg advisor Howard Wolfson bragged on Twitter that the UFT was “shut out on nearly all their demands.”  No matter how the UFT leadership tries to spin it, this is a major defeat for teachers and students.

What Now?

The dropoff in voter turnout in the recent UFT election was already a sign of a disengaged and passive membership.  The new evaluation system and the way it was imposed are likely to further demoralize the rank-and-file and increase their cynicism toward the union.  The UFT surrendered our collective bargaining rights by turning over the key issue in the next contract to the State Education Department, calling for a biased state official to impose evaluations on us.

MORE campaigned for a membership vote on this evaluation system, and presented a petition with over 1,000 signatures to the December Delegate Assembly.  Unity opposed submitting this to the membership since they knew it would be deeply unpopular.  The fact that this has instead been imposed by the State Education Department means Mulgrew and the Unity leadership will have an alibi for what will now certainly be a deeply concessionary contract.  We must expose the leadership’s circumvention of membership in this process, and their contempt for the voices of their rank-and-file.

June 12 will be the day that city workers come together to demand fair contracts.  In light of the new evaluation system, one wonders what’s left to negotiate.  The key concessions, the biggest change to our working conditions in at least a generation, are already in place.  It will be crucial for UFT members to attend and discuss the magnitude of this sell-out, and the undemocratic way in which it was imposed on us.  Our next contract will inevitably include the new evaluation system.  It will also be the first time in this process that the membership has been consulted at all.  A campaign to vote no on this contract would send a signal to the leadership that the membership rejects this plan.

Everybody agrees that the key to this will be implementation.  Teachers must build active chapters that can be vigilant in calling out abuse of the new system.   A coordinated grievance campaign around particular issues of implementation can help us make the most of the 15 extra arbitration days to deal with systemic abuses.  MORE will be campaigning in the fall to organize and train chapter leaders, delegates and school activists to be effective in defending their colleagues and organizing strong chapters.

Teachers also need to unite with students and parents to call for an end to the high stakes testing regime that is central to this new evaluation system.  Students will now not only be taking high stakes state tests or PARCC assessments, but also regular “performance assessments” designed to assess teacher effectiveness.  Campaigns like the MAP test boycott in Seattle show the power of a community uniting to fight the standardized testing regime.

What this whole sad story tells us is that we can’t rely on our union leaders to deliver on our behalf.  They have conceded everything, and may now even prove unable to win us retroactive pay for the years we’ve spent without a contract.  It’s only by rebuilding the union from the bottom up, school by school, classroom by classroom, that we will begin to stand up to the corporate assault on our schools.  MORE is dedicated to a different kind of union, one where democracy and accountability replace backroom deals, where the members make the decisions that matter in their professional lives.  Join us!

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[1] If a DOE-appointed validator disagrees with the principal’s rating, the DOE keep burden of proof.  However, validators are likely to be retired principals, ain the PEP+ system, which is currently used to help fire teachers.

Thompson Pans Evaluations as Critiques (other than UFT) Roll in

Fleisher reports that Tisch and Thompson didn't speak before he released his comments criticizing the new plan.... WSJ

So this morning the City’s Gates-trained drones are hard at work developing new tests for Auto Mechanics, Special Ed, Art, Drama, Newspaper, PhysEd, and the rest.   By the way, you can forget any help to kill this plan from Randi’s boy, Mulgrew, at UFT.  He has already sent out a letter to dues-paying union members celebrating the lipstick he was able to reach over the fence and smear on this pig.  He should be recalled and sent packing, along with Weingarten... Jim Horn @thechalkface.

I don't have access to Lisa Fleischer's article as linked to by Azi Paybarah at Capital New York (Excellent daily report on happenings). I wonder if she, in addition to friction with Tisch, also contrasted Thompson's critique to the UFT leadership's joy given they will almost certainly endorse him? If anyone has access send me the article or leave it as a comment.

Check out some of the analysis going on from the blogroll. Here is a tweet from Jim Horn: Jim Horn ‏@MismeasureOfEd 11m

NY's Rube Goldberg Plan for Teacher Evaluation: http://wp.me/pJX8i-7FG  via @thechalkface.

Thompson pans evaluations, but what does his campaign chair think?		Thompson. Aleksandra Slabisz via nycma
	The state has announced a new plan to evaluate public school teachers, something that City Hall and the teachers union had been unable to agree on after months of stalled negotiations. As Lisa Fleisher at the Wall Street Journal reports, the new deal reveals some tension between a mayor mayoral candidate and one of his leading advisers. The 241-page plan was called "unworkable" by Democratic mayoral candidate Bill Thompson, the former president of the Board of Education who has as his campaign chairperson Merryl Tisch, chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents. In that latter role, Tisch oversees state education commissioner John King, who helped devise the new teacher evaluation plan. Fleisher reports that Tisch and Thompson didn't speak before he released his comments criticizing the new plan. New teacher evaluations were announced by the state this weekend. "Student test scores will make up 20 percent of their rating, while classroom observations will account for 60 percent. Principals and teachers will work together to decide how to evaluate the remaining 20 percent." [Javier Hernandez] "There’s a pattern here that speaks to Bloomberg’s hopeless impatience." [New York Post] In an op-ed, Bloomberg said the city can't afford retroactive raises for union members. [Daily News]

More links:

The Doenuts Blog

Just Some Quick Information About How the Scores will be Compiled.

 

Jersey Jazzman

Student Surveys 

• Perdido Street School

  Get Ready For Standardized Tests In Every Subject, K-12

   
• NYC Educator

  Contract Update--King Reformy John Will Impose a UFT Contract Next Saturday at 4 PM

Evaluation Deal: The Enemy, King/Bloomberg/etc or UFT/AFT/NYSUT Leadership?

Despite the awful and fairy-dust based evaluation system, despite the fact that not one UFT member was allowed a vote on it, we have been almost five years without a raise and missed the 8% pattern raise the rest of our union brothers and sisters got. I have no problem telling the emperor how I feel about that.... NYC Educator on the June 12 rally
 
Bloomberg is irrelevant. The real emperors are the people running our unions at all levels. ... Me

Posted at Jersey Jazzman blog

Pssst, kid. Want some candy for a good evaluation?... NYC Teacher to 3rd grader.

Remember the great exclamations about Mulgrew being a hero last December for withstanding the pressure from Bloomberg to give up the sunset provision? Well that's gone anyway. Ignore the selling points that any changes have to be bargained collectively. In fact isn't this a new contract anyway given the major change in language and shouldn't the members have to vote? Jeez, in Chicago they might even go on strike over this.

I'm reading "Bunker Hill" about the American Revolution and what it took for the mentality of loyalty to the mother country to change into the movement for independence and accusations of being a traitor. The early adopters -- Sam Adams -- were considered lunatics at one point -- until the day came when the majority came to see that same point of view. I make this point with respect to how we view the UFT leadership.

I understand the ed deformers and why they do what they do. They are despicable but in many ways more honest than the people running our unions. 

June 12 and 8th rallies: who are we rooting for?
I understand that telling Bloomberg on June 12 how you feel means something. But in the context of this situation that becomes a win for the UFT leadership in their deflection of their actions onto Bloomberg. So people end up cheering when Mulgrew slams Bloomberg. And that weakens the movement to create change in the UFT by creating a divided loyalty concept.

RBE at Perdido seems to get it in his just posted piece:

Carol Burris: The VAM And SLO's Are Indefensible

A comment Carol Burris made at Gotham Schools:

This is my prediction...in the end, it will all result in lawsuits because VAM and the SLOs will be found to be indefensible as measures of teacher quality. This is the full employment act for school attorneys.

Unfortunately it does not seem the UFT will be joining the lawsuits because they're too busy spinning how this is a win for teachers. You can bet they are in major CYA mode at 52 Broadway and every critique of the system will get a response from the geniuses there. I wonder, will they bring back Lyin' Leo Casey to lead the pushback?

Remember how Leo vilified Carol Burris? I would take her as my union rep over Leo any day.

I would use the June 12 event to tell people exactly what the union leadership has done to them --- I know, I know, this would be considered a no-no, even by many of my colleagues in MORE. (I'm on the fringe there too.)

In fact Bloomberg is irrelevant. The real emperors are the people running our unions at all levels. DOENuts found the latest Leo Casey ("who famously 'set the record straight' a year ago") tweet: about teachers being fired at a charter school in Seattle.

Yep!!!!!!! That's my union guys. Just change the subject and talk about Charters! Gotta love it. "Hey, my idea just totally ske-ruuued you, but check out this cool graffiti artist!". Ah. Leo Casey! Ah, humanity!

No wonder Leo got out of town in time to avoid being pilloried.

I am ambivalent about the June 12 rally and the June 8 "anti-testing" rally in Albany when key organizers are the very people who have sold us out. I point you to comments made by Sean Ahern (one of the co-founders of ICE) about the role of the UFT leadership. Assaulting the Walls of Ed Deform, NYSUT June 8 ...May 28, 2013. One thing about current and former ICEers, the thinking is way harsher about the UFT leadership  --- probably given the long time experience in watching how they operate. Many younger MOREs just haven't reached that stage yet, wanting to offer a vision of "positive alternative leadership" whereas I would attack, attack, attack.

MORE is going all out in support of the June 12 rally. At this point I am not planning to go.

Following the trail to this evaluation story and the culpability of UFT/NYSUT/AFT leaders, how do we march in support of them? At some point we have to decide if they are friend or foe. There really is no middle. I know that I am often accused of being on the fringe over my comparison of them to the Vichy mentality but once you reach that point it becomes obvious that they are often no better than the enemy and then the next step is to act accordingly: organize in opposition to them. Why not use the rallies to do so?

Thus I would go on June 12 and June 8 with the idea of telling people exactly what the leadership has done. You would be accused of being disloyal -- let's all be united today, blah, blah, blah. Sort of like saying let's march together to support America in all its wars because we need unity. Loyalty to the union does not mean loyalty to the leadership that has coopted democracy in such a fundamental way. If there were bales of tea in front of 52 Broadway I would dump them in the harbor.

At Perdido, someone asked it the UFT leadership was stupid or criminal.

I vote "criminal/Vichy."

Don't ever make the mistake of thinking MulGarten are stupid. They do not function in our interests but as mediators between the powers that be and the rank and file. What to they get? Lots of life/prof perks and power. They really have no other choice. In order to fight them they would need to educate, organize and mobilize the members which would require a democratically run union -- see Karen Lewis in Chicago where they can get the same amount of support without buying off the opposition/New Action. 

In NYC democracy is a threat to the leadership so the only way they can function is in a partnership with the rulers, hoping for crumbs which they will get at times them to help keep the rank and file under control. Neither Unity nor Bloomberg want another Chicago here and will do what it takes to keep Unity in power. That was why the bigger the opposition grows the more the rulers will give to quiet it down. I believe if MORE had gotten say 40% of the vote we would have a much better chance to have a contract.

Here is the latest output (as of 9AM) from the great bloggers on our blogroll. I urge you to take a look at them.

James Eterno:

I tried to limit the commentary because we haven't seen the full decision yet, but the evaluation system looks as bad as we thought it was going to be.

http://iceuftblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/king-decides-on-teacher-evaluations.html

• 
  Perdido Street School

  Mulgrew's Kabuki Dance

  8 hours ago
• 
  The Doenuts Blog

  Oh, John King, You Slay Me (No, I mean seriously. You're going to get me fired, dude. What's up with that?).

  10 hours ago
• 
  Jersey Jazzman

  EXCLUSIVE! First Look at NY Student Surveys for Teacher Evaluation!

  10 hours ago
• 
  Accountable Talk

  Email From Mulgrew Regarding APPR Decision

  11 hours ago 

  

  NYC Educator

  Highlights of Reformy John's New Decree

  14 hours ago

   

   Check the blog roll for further updates. The MORE response should be up at some point.