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Thursday, August 1, 2013
Network for Public Education Update: Tony Bennett Left His Heart in Tallahassee
Lots of good stuff in this update on Tony Bennett, the Chicago Teachers Union protest against ALEC on Aug. 8 (darn, we're not getting into town until the 9th), and Diane Ravitch's new book.
NYC Supervisor: Barbara Morgan is getting what she deserves
I said "Ms. Morgan you work for the DOE what the hell are you doing here defending [Moskwitz]?! She steals money from our public schools by opening non-unionized charter schools which profit off our kids." ... NYC Principal
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| Oops! Did it again. Don't open your twitter. |
This just in from a school principal in response to our Weiner press chief Barbara Morgan post (Unflappable Weiner Press Spokesperson Barbara Morgan Flaps)
I was happy to see her get her comeuppance. She is an arrogant, mouthpiece for the neo-liberal deformers (and perverts) she represents.
She got upset that they say she had a thin resume? She never did anything of substance but talk the party line whatever the marching orders – Klein, Cerf, Weiner...
I met her at a rally against Moskowitz.
I asked Moskowitz:
"How do you justify paying yourself half a million dollars a year to run 3 schools when I am a principal and don't make that and when my sup't has dozens of schools and only makes 170,000?"
Eva just made a bored annoyed face and then Barbara Morgan who was observing everything runs over, jumps in and says "I will answer that!! She does not take a pension like you and the sup't so it is just another way of looking at compensation."
I asked her "Why are you answering for her? Who are you?"
She says "I am Barbara Morgan. I work for the DOE Press Office."
That really pissed me off as I was there as part of a Community Rally AGAINST the unwanted $ucce$$ Charter vultures.
I said "Ms. Morgan you work for the DOE what the hell are you doing here defending her?! She steals money from our public schools by opening non unionized charter schools which profit off our kids."
Look at this crowd-
FROM THIS COMMUNITY, not the twenty folks bussed in from harlem by Eva Moskowitz -
THEY DONT WANT THE SCHOOL.HERE IN THIS DISTRICT.
The parents are against it, the unions are against it and most importantly the CEC is against it.
I asked Ms Moskowitz a question and you jump to her defense.
Why would you do that as a n employee of the DOE? Are you here as an apologist for $UCCE$$ ? If so it shows a serious bias in favor of Charter schools over Public Schools which we have been alleging all along. You should be speaking up for me as a NYC PUBLIC SCHOOL principal not this corporate raider/privateer.
Ms Moskowitz walked off during this exchange as she knew full well the City was merely holding the Mandated Community hearing and that the City's decision was predetermined...
When she was gone Ms Morgan changed faces and says "well I understand that you are a union Rep and I respect that. I am from New Jersey and have a brother who is in a union"...
Two-faced foul-mouthed hypocrite. I don't wish ill on people. Life is too short. But when her brother can't get work or medical benefits he can thank soul-less empty-vessel spokespeople like his sister.
SFA, Scabs for America: How Much Heat Will Chicago Newbie TFAs Be Facing?
...when faux Democrat/ Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel fires thousands of teachers and hires TFA grads to teach kids, that's something else altogether. In fact, TFA is now enabling the unemployment of working people. They are making their likely idealistic young college grads into scab labor. Their insane defense, that the jobs were eliminated and they are taking newly created jobs, is nothing more than a semantic game, unworthy of anyone capable of serious discourse. ...NYC Educator: TFA Becomes Scab for America
SFA. I like it. Has a beat and oh so true. I'm so happy there are people like NYC Educator writing about issues I thought of writing about but was just too lazy. So, as usual, NYC says things in a few words that would take me 10 times as long. Glad this is not paper.
I think Walton Foundation gave another 20 million to SFA in LA and Newark (Walton foundation donates $2 million to Newark Teach For America), in addition to the $3 mil Randi Weingarten pal Bill Gates gave to our pals at E4E, a branch of Scabs for America.
I am wondering how the laid off teachers of Chicago who will not have new jobs, will react. I know these SFAs will be new members of the Chicago Teachers Union so the CTU itself is in an awkward position, but will wildcat groups of laid-off teachers and the parents and communities that support them target these 5-week trained teachers in the communities where they teach with an information campaign asking if their kids are better off with teachers with scant training while their former veteran teachers are on the unemployment line.
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On another TFA front, Leonie Haimson takes them to task for putting their barely-trained teachers in so many special ed classrooms, where the most difficult kids to teach are located.
The biggest scandal of Teach for America?
There has been much discussion and debate about how Teach for America undermines our public schools by encouraging the deprofessionalization of the teaching force, and “perpetuates systemic inequalities” especially in urban schools. In many districts, TFA has used its political clout to get its recruits hired, as in Chicago, while thousands of experienced teachers are being laid off. Gary Rubinstein, a former TFA corps member, has been a fierce critic of the inadequate training that the organization provides. Edushyster recently wrote that the TFA has become a primarily a “placement agency” to staff charter schools rather than public schools – and in the process is fueling the privatization movement.
All the above is true; but in my mind, the most shocking aspect of the organization is how in many districts, including NYC, raw TFA recruits are assigned to special education classrooms almost exclusively --because this is the biggest shortage area. See the recent Independent Budget Office report on p. 24 – showing that 80 percent of TFA recruits in NYC public schools in 2010-11 were working as special education teachers; and 68 percent of Teaching Fellows (a similar program for mid-career recruits, run by TNTP).
That to me is the biggest scandal. Instead of doing something to stanch the outflow of special education teachers assigned to those children who clearly need teachers with the MOST training and experience, TFA and TNTP fill in the gap, year after year, with the least-trained recruits, who only stay one or two years and perpetuate the problem.
Read more: The biggest scandal of Teach for America?
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Chicago teacher Katie Osgood has been hammering TFA and her letter to new recruits got a lot of play. Here is her follow-up at Schools Matter/The Chalkface
More at: http://atthechalkface.com/2013/07/24/why-my-students-do-not-need-teach-for-america/Why My Students Do Not Need Teach for America
July 24, 2013 ByWow, there has been such a flurry of stories and discussions in regards to Teach for America and its destructive role in education today. I suppose my letter to new recruits played an important part in calling into question this organization, striking a chord of truth. TFA has gone into full-time PR mode with a blur of speeches and blogs from the co-CEOs, puff pieces from TFA alums, and even a Q&A from TFA Chicago’s Executive Director. I am glad this dangerous organization is finally getting real scrutiny, and I have much more to add to the discussion at a later date, but today I want to speak from the heart.
Well, that's it for TFA bashing today. On the positive front, a 4 year TFAer who has begun to attend MORE events said at our meeting yesterday, "I've been looking for a group like MORE for 4 years." Hey, TFA, keep recruiting sharp people like her who, even though a minority of teachers who will stay in the classroom, will find their way to MORE and help us build.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
E4E Gets Another $3 million from Gates Foundation
They just got $3M more from Gates
http://www.gatesfoundation.
Great news for NYC teachers. Now you can invite E4E to buy your school lunch and order caviar.
http://www.gatesfoundation.
Great news for NYC teachers. Now you can invite E4E to buy your school lunch and order caviar.
Date: July 2013
Purpose: to support teachers to be leaders in policy development and implementation.
Amount: $3,000,695
Term: 36
Topic: College-Ready
Regions Served: GLOBAL|NORTH AMERICA
Program: United States
Grantee Location: New York, New York
Grantee Website: http://www.educators4excellence.org
Unflappable Weiner Press Spokesperson Barbara Morgan Flaps
After repping Klein, Chris Cerf, and Corrie Booker, Barbara just might have been better off at Ed Notes. (I pay in cookies.)
She was my favorite Tweedie, always friendly and calm no matter how heated things became. She was at so many meetings that I videotaped you'd think she was really on my staff. I loved how the numerous Klein flacks twitted around at meetings massaging the ed press (except me) -- and how massage-able they seemed to be. Barbara was one of the best masseuses.
Now she is all over the local and national news. Oy!
Read her rant.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/07/top-weiner-aide-trashes-intern.php
She went ballistic -- not it seems over the internal stuff the intern leaked – but over the attack on her for having a thin resume. Klein, Booker, Cerf, Weiner -- maybe not thin but certainly slimy.
Of course, Barbara is a PR person and her own PR is the most important thing, so the attack on her by the intern cut deepest. But some commented that she was doing a great job in a very difficult situation. Now she may be toast, not just as Weiner's press chief but her career will take a serious hit. But not to worry. Barbara has backers in high places. My suggestion: she use them to get her a job teaching 3rd grade in the South Bronx.
I'm thinking of tweeting her a pic of my junk.
I'm pretty sure she won't be upset.
Principal From Hell Jennifer Rogers: Parents Call for Her Ouster at Press Conf Aug. 1, 11AM
Press Conference
Aug 1st
11 am
PS 29
125-10 23rd Ave
College Point
Principal : Jennifer Rogers
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
What Next From FOX? Challenging a Jew for Daring to Write About Jesus?
“You’re a Muslim, so why did you write a book about the founder of Christianity?” Ms. Green asked..... FOX Newsreaders of a fundamentalist/Evangelical persuasion are furious that a Muslim published a book about Christianity’s origins.”... NY Times
Today's NY Times business section has an interesting article, which in the context of my spending the past month reading Jeremy Scahill's "Dirty Wars" makes some interesting connections run through my brain.
I heard a fascinating hour long interview with Reza Aslan on NPR last week about Jesus the man. Aslan pointed out that Jesus the man was never a God and in fact, coming from a poor working class family, was probably fairly lowbrow and in fact a Jewish fundamentalist radical, which is the way he died. Not a Christian, but one of a long line of Jewish radicals like Marx. Trotsky, et al. Not that he actually said that, but it is great to see fundamentalists -- be they Christian, Jew or Muslim, sweat.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/30/business/media/odd-fox-news-interview-lifts-reza-aslans-biography-on-jesus.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0
Odd Fox News Interview Lifts Reza Aslan’s Biography on Jesus
By JULIE BOSMAN
Reza Aslan, the author of “Zealot,” a provocative new biography of Jesus, has found an inadvertent ally in generating book publicity: Fox News.In an interview on Friday that was by turns bizarre and uncomfortable, Lauren Green, a host from “Spirited Debate,” a weekly Fox News webcast, pressed Mr. Aslan on the question of why, as a Muslim, he would choose Jesus as his subject.“You’re a Muslim, so why did you write a book about the founder of Christianity?” Ms. Green asked.“Well, to be clear,” Mr. Aslan said, his eyebrows lifting up in surprise, “I am a scholar of religions with four degrees, including one in the New Testament, and fluency in biblical Greek, who has been studying the origins of Christianity for two decades, who also just happens to be a Muslim.”The nearly 10-minute video clip quickly entered the Internet bloodstream on Saturday after it was posted on Buzzfeed with the irresistibly clickable headline, “Is This The Most Embarrassing Interview Fox News Has Ever Done?”Since then, the Buzzfeed page featuring the video has been viewed nearly four million times. Mr. Aslan quickly amassed an additional 5,000 Twitter followers. On Monday, Random House, Mr. Aslan’s publisher, said the interview had clearly helped the book: in two days, sales increased 35 percent.On Friday, “Zealot” was in the No. 8 spot on Amazon.com, the nation’s biggest seller of books; by Sunday, it had hit No. 1.Random House is rushing to meet the surge in demand for the book. On Monday, the publisher ordered 50,000 copies, bringing the total to 150,000 copies in print by the end of the week.An investigation of the historical Jesus, “Zealot” has been praised by many reviewers since its publication on July 16. In a review in Tablet magazine, Adam Kirsch called “Zealot” a “coherent and often convincing portrait of who Jesus was and what he wanted.”But some conservative critics have suggested that the book is not a work of scholarship, but merely “an educated Muslim’s opinions about Jesus and the ancient Near East,” as John S. Dickerson, an opinion columnist, wrote on FoxNews.com last week.The reaction to the book has spread to Mr. Aslan’s Amazon page: on The Atlantic Wire, Alexander Nazaryan pointed out that browsing through dozens of one-star reviews on Amazon revealed that “plenty of readers of what seems to be a fundamentalist/Evangelical persuasion are furious that a Muslim published a book about Christianity’s origins.”The book was already selling steadily before the FoxNews.com interview on Friday. Since the release of “Zealot,” Mr. Aslan has hit the publicity circuit, discussing the book on “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, “Morning Joe” on MSNBC and “Weekend Edition” on NPR. “Zealot” had its debut at No. 4 on the New York Times print hardcover best-seller list that will appear in print on Aug. 4.In a telephone interview, Mr. Aslan said that in three weeks of his book tour, he had received an “overwhelmingly positive” response to his work, and that it was anything but an attack on Christianity.“I hope that people recognize that your faith, as Jesus said, is supposed to be built on a rock, not on sand,” he said. “I guess my message is: Relax.”Mr. Aslan was born in Iran, moved to the United States with his family as a child and later earned degrees from Santa Clara University, Harvard and the University of Iowa. He is an associate professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside.Book Passage, a bookstore with two outlets in the Bay Area, hosted Mr. Aslan for a signing last week. Karen West, the director of events, said more than 250 people attended it. But the Fox News interview, she said, has exposed the book to consumers who aren’t regular book buyers.“It’s moved now out of the NPR realm and it’s gotten into the broader culture,” she said.A spokeswoman for Fox News did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.Mr. Aslan said that after reading Mr. Dickerson’s essay on FoxNews.com, he was prepared for a similar line of attack from Ms. Green.He was so eager to promote the book on Fox News that his publisher tried — in vain — to secure an interview spot on “Fox & Friends,” a morning show.“I’ll be perfectly honest — I’m thrilled at the response that people have had to the interview,” Mr. Aslan said. “You can’t buy this kind of publicity.”
Perdido Street on Thompson: Political Hack And Walking Conflict Of Interest
After a closer look at Thompson's political record and associations, he is no less a crook and a hack than Quinn herself. And to be honest, I'm not so sure he isn't worse than Quinn. .... RBE
Councilman Jumaane Williams explained mayoral hopeful Bill Thompson‘s race relations speech by musing about his poll numbers among black voters. “I think he originally felt that certain segments of the population were going to go with him automatically. He started looking at polls and seeing that wasn’t happening,” he said. “Thompson’s trying to have it both ways without putting any skin in the game.”
Reality-Based Educator nails it. Remember how the UFT first endorsement in 2001 was one Alan Hevesi?
This is so good I am printing it and adding it to my sandwich for lunch.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Bill Thompson - Political Hack And Walking Conflict Of Interest
With the Anthony Weiner poll plummet made official by yesterday's Quinnipiac poll release (Weiner dropped to fourth in the race; 53% of New Yorkers say he should drop out), I am starting to turn my attention back to the candidate whose policies I can live with who will be most effective at taking on Christine Quinn in a runoff.
The Marist poll from last week and yesterday's Quinnipiac poll release show us that the two candidates with a good chance to make the runoff against Quinn are Bill Thompson, the former NYC comptroller, and Bill de Blasio, the current Public Advocate.
Read it all: http://perdidostreetschool.
Though many teachers I know favor Liu or even Sal Albanese, the default position will be Thompson or de Blasio, who I don't particularly love either. But if I were voting today that is where my vote would go. Just don't ask me what I think tomorrow.
The Little Theater That Could: Rockaway Cafe: The Comeback - Final perfomances this weekend
UPDATED with links:The press will race to New Jersey to cover anything related to Sandy recovery, but other than the local paper, The Wave, no one outside of Rockaway seems to have noticed the awesome talent demonstrating one of the clearest signs of Rockaway's comeback.
Here are a few numbers from the brilliant choice of music focused on the storm and the recovery using Credence Clearwater Revival, Billy Joel and The Beatles, amongst others. https://vimeo.com/71311581
I was rocking right along at both performances I taped as one of the videographers at the Rockaway Theatre Company - (I even acted on their production of "The Odd Couple" -- no I was not capable of playing Oscar or Felix and luckily had the role with the least amount of lines. ) I'm going back Friday night to tape it again. I never get tired of the work of the RTC and even worked with chief carpenter and set designer Tony Homsey in helping rebuild the stage -- he even let me use the nail gun -- and I didn't kill myself.
Last October they put on a fabulous Simon play, "Brighton Beach Memoirs" which closed the day before Sandy hit the theater so hard it couldn't reopen until last week in a spectacular and moving way. Here is another clip that if you have time this weekend (Fri, Sat at 8 and Sunday at 1) come on down.
tickets at: www.rockawaytheatrecompany.org. Or email me and I'll hold them for you. The best $20 ($15 if a senior) you will spend this weekend.
By the way, NYC teachers play a major role at the theater from basically running it to acting and the band consists mostly of NYC teachers. Another clip to whet your appetite.
https://vimeo.com/71167899
Rockaway Theatre Company Update
By Norm ScottFor The Wave, to be published Friday, August 2, 2013
The little theater company that could came roaring back to life over the past two weeks, bringing a good chunk of Rockaway comeback spirit with it with its opening production “Rockaway Café – The Comeback” at its refurbished theater which sustained serious Sandy damage. Susan Hartenstein in last week’s Wave (Hallelujah Rockaway Theatre Company! http://www.rockawave.com/news/2013-07-26/Columnists/From_The_Artists_Studio.html ) captured the spirit of the RTC and its unique Fort Tilden WWII vintage theater. “Rockaway Café is our story,” Hartenstein wrote. “A story told with great humor and poignancy. Cleverly weaving contemporary rock and pop songs and standards with original choreography, and based on an original concept by Susan Jasper and John Gilleece, we are taken from disaster to aftermath to daunting struggles to hard-fought triumphs and exuberant hope for the future. Opening night the waves of emotion and pleasure flowing back and forth between the talented cast and the highly receptive audience and the bonds within those groups were palpable.”For an all-volunteer operation - from carpentry, set design, costumes, music, acting, dancing, singing, management, creativity – just think of an applicable word and apply to RTC – to not only come back so soon, but to do it with such verve and vigor while also rebuilding the theater is beyond remarkable. And the great band lead by Jeff Arsberger does not get mentioned often enough. They can play at my Bar Mitzvah in my next life anytime. Never forget the amazing local talent we have here in Rockaway and our extension in South Brooklyn where between the areas most performers seem to come from.Nancy Re Cregan in a letter last week said, “The show features great "storm" songs like "Umbrella," "Bad Moon Rising," and "Let the River Run" just to name a few. There is also an original version of "I Will Survive" that recaps the strong character of Rockaway, Breezy, and Broad Channel.” The words were written by RTC stalwart Susan Jasper.Here are links to some video I shot at the Friday and Saturday performances last weekend featuring some of the dynamic talent (young, teen, young adult, adult, and my generation – old.)I dare you to watch them and not come to one of the 3 performances left this weekend: Fri., Sat at 8PM, Sunday at 3PM.Reserve tickets at: www.rockawaytheatrecompany.org.Soon after Sunday’s performance, new sets will be built and rehearsals will begin for the next show, Boeing, Boeing, opening September 20.
Andy Borowitz: Weiner Names New Campaign Manager
NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—One day after his campaign manager quit, the mayoral candidate Anthony D. Weiner named his penis to the post, telling reporters, “He was already making most of the major decisions, anyway.”More:
In announcing the new appointment, Mr. Weiner lavished praise upon his penis, calling him “a tough hombre” who “cares about the struggles of ordinary, middle-class New Yorkers.”
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2013/07/weiner-names-new-campaign-manager.html?mbid=nl_Borowitz%20%28155%29
Saturday, July 27, 2013
George Schmidt: Why every Substance reporter should be proud of the work we've done
[We] knew that at the May 22 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education, we were going to witness one of the greatest anti-democratic and racist attacks on public schools since Alabama Governor George Wallace declared "segregation now and segregation forever" while trying to block the integration of the public schools of Alabama more than a decade after the Brown decision. Wallace was there along with several other Southern governors -- from Virginia to Texas -- who were following the same course, but less flamboyantly. Remember: The attacks on desegregation in the Southern schools were also an attack on public education. ... George SchmidtI'm inspired just reading this.
There was a time -- 2001-2004 when I hoped Ed Notes could be like Substance but got sidetracked with the formation of ICE. I wonder if I hadn't gone in that direction and just kept developing Ed Notes as an independent ed news source for NYC teachers if that wouldn't have been more valuable an organizing tool. But I do know myself -- I don't have the patience, the organizational ability, the organizing ability, the reportorial skills, and lots more missing --- including the ability to recruit a staff --- that George has had for the past 40 years. So it was done.
A group of 10 MOREs are heading to Chicago in two weeks for a conference. Very much looking forward to seeing and hanging out with George.
July 27, 2013
Colleagues, comrades, friends, and others...
1. REASONS FOR SUBSTANCE PRIDE... As your proud editor, I spent half the night working editing the two great reporting jobs by Marybeth Foley and Susan Zupan that are now on the top of the Home Page at substancenews.net -- and I'm still not finished because I want to add a dozen more photographs to help our readers understand each in context.
As the summer of 2013 began, just about everyone who had experienced the 2012 - 2013 school year in Chicago was either tired, exhausted or more than "all of the above." We had all achieved a great deal, from the Chicago Teachers Strike of 2012 through the fights against the school closings. But after CORE won the great victories in the May 17 Chicago Teachers Union election, it was soon clear that the ruling class was not going to lighten up in their struggle to privatize as many of Chicago's real public schools as possible as soon as possible. Virtually all of us knew that at the May 22 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education, we were going to witness one of the greatest anti-democratic and racist attacks on public schools since Alabama Governor George Wallace declared "segregation now and segregation forever" while trying to block the integration of the public schools of Alabama more than a decade after the Brown decision. Wallace was there along with several other Southern governors -- from Virginia to Texas -- who were following the same course, but less flamboyantly. Remember: The attacks on desegregation in the Southern schools were also an attack on public education. So the hypocritical votes of the six members of the Chicago Board of Education at the May 22 meeting to close 49 schools and "co-locate," "turnaround," and screw more than a dozen others (while simultaneously adding more to the charter schools) was no surprise.
At the same time, we began hearing from people in Connecticut after a court there ruled that Paul Vallas didn't have the credentials to be a school superintendent in that state. And that's what I want to remind us of today...
2. SUBSART AS A 'FIRST ROUGH DRAFT OF HISTORY.' One of the reasons why it has become so important for those of us who report for Substance to do our jobs quickly, thoroughly, and with lots of graphics within a day or two of the event we are reporting (or analyzing) is that we are forced to move on quickly. Tomorrow we have new stories to report. We are covering the most important "beat" in the struggle for democracy and public education in the USA today: Chicago. The integrity of our reporting enables people to go "back" and find information they can't get anywhere else. The Vallas situation is one case in point I'd like to share (again). We began out presence on the Web (at the "old" site, substancenews.com) in early 2002 with our special issue, "The Paul Vallas Hoax" at the time Vallas was trying to get the Democratic Party nomination for Governor of Illinois. We were just learning to use the Web, and had to make major revisions in our web site to fully utilize the capacity of the Web to do graphics. We didn't get that capacity until 2007. Since then, we have all learned almost as fast as we need to keep up with the technology. Over time, most of us have mastered digital photography (remember when we used to share those one-use Fuji cameras, and when Kodak was King?) as well as honed our reporting skills. At the same time, I've learned how to edit better, especially how to maximize the "search" tagging for all of our stories. As a result, over time we are contacted more and more as people across the USA (and some from elsewhere on Earth) look for the alternative history of "school reform" in Chicago. The latest is Bridgeport, where the Vallas Hoax is in a new iteration.
But the key is that every day our reporting, tedious as it may be, brings in the latest chapters. We miss more stories nowadays than we can cover, but that's a tribute to the organizing in Chicago (and elsewhere in some cases). We might have covered more of the dozens of school closing hearings, and recent protests, but we are still covering as much as anyone.
Which brings us to...
3. THE FEDERAL COURT CASE AGAINST SOME OF THE CLOSINGS. The current federal court case against some of the school closings (because they are a violation of the ADA and IDEA) is just the latest in the court cases we have had to cover (or miss) going all the way back to our landmark 1980 case (S.U.B.S. v. Rohter) which established our right to sell Substance in Chicago's public schools. Susan Zupan's coverage of that case was doubtless stressful, but the fact is we are now the only news organization that has complete coverage (to date) of that very very important case. Reading the reporting (and virtually having a front row seat to the testimony, which the reporting "brings alive"), I knew that over time, despite its length, our reports would be central to people's understanding of the case. I had heard from others in addition to Susan that the Board's witnesses were weak and duplicitous, but only after reading the report on Markay Winston's doubletalk did I fully realize what that means. And as you can see from the way I've shared graphics to highlight the history of Winston's ascension to the "cabinet" in Chicago from her Cincinnati roots, we are the only news organization that can tell a story in context as well as with the facts.
4. THE BOARD MEETINGS UNDER RAHM'S REGIME.
Never underestimate the willingness of tyrants to expand their tyranny. As Marybeth Foley is reporting this month, for the first time I know of, fewer than half the total number of speakers signed up to speak at a monthly meeting of the Chicago Board of Education actually got to speak. As we've reported, almost exclusively, under David Vitale the Board has worked overtime, and sneakily, to undermine every aspect of public participation. At the same time, they rehearse their talking points and smiles proclaiming over and over and over that they want more "transparency." Etc. BlahBlahBlah...
Thanks for making this a wonderful summer, despite the nastiness we are organizing against and reporting about...
George Schmidt, Editor
DON'T GET DISCOURAGED.
I Won't Post Video of Amateur Actor/Teacher's Mock Chippendale Routine in Review: Campbell Brown Might See It
Sometimes people take off their shirts, and I don't personally see anything awfully wrong with that. It's certainly not grounds for dismissal... NYC Educator.Paranoia will destroya.
Guilty!
I taped the wonderful Rockaway Theatre Company's review, "Rockaway
One of the young teacher/actors was part of a group of 3 bare-chested male dancers performing a mock Chippendale's stripper routine. I immediately thought, given stories like these, the hundreds of DOE lawyers trying to justify their jobs scouring the world for anything teachers might do in private life that could be used against them for a witch hunt trial might just glom onto this.
After the show the teacher asked me what I thought. "That could get you fired," I told him and another teacher-performer, both young and in the system for less than 10 years. I said I was going to put up the entire video, but not for public consumption. (Though I will put up individual numbers.)
They looked at me like I was nuts. "Not for doing that," his female companion said. Both are wonderful, top-level teachers in decent schools and loved by their students and their administration. It is beyond their conception. "You don't know how nuts they are in the DOE," I said.
I hate to be the Grinch and maybe the chances of this happening are infinitesimal but being an activist in World War T keeps you looking over your shoulder.
Besides, Campbell Brown might just be at the beach in Riis Park and wander into the theater. Which by the way, you all should do too. Get tickets here: http://www.rockawaytheatrecompany.org/lorem-ipsum-event1/
Afterburn
NYC Educator reported on this the other day.
Apparently a teacher in Merrick, Long Island appeared shirtless in some stupid reality show, and resigned under pressure from administration. The News appears sympathetic to his cause, as am I. Sometimes people take off their shirts, and I don't personally see anything awfully wrong with that. It's certainly not grounds for dismissal.
Friday, July 26, 2013
High Turnout at MORE Summer Event Overflows the Space
One new attendee chapter leader said she wishes school was on now so she could share this with her chapter. The presenters really explained the different viewpoints of how to view union leadership so well...They just kept coming and coming last night to see our UFT: Friend or Foe event on the lower east side. To such an extent that some of the MORE crew went out to the bar to make room for newcomers attending a MORE event for the first time. Well over 60 people I hear. I won't go into the details -- MORE will post text of the presentations while I process the video -- I had some audio problems and will see how it comes out.
Last year we had 60 people for the History of NYC Teacher Unions event Michael and I did. (See [CORRECTED LINK] video here.) With little historical context or info out there, the people in ICE who lived that history are important voices to counter whatever spin the UFT/AFT puts on things.
When we post yesterday's text/video I hope people take a good look at it. What was great about yesterday was the variety of views we had.
And of course, Gotham Schools continues its boycott of MORE events so bogus E$E can be promoted as the alternative to Unity, which when push comes to shove is really closer to them than to MORE.
After all, they both support most of the following:
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- supporting the teacher accountability ed deform mantra - the evaluation mess
- signing on to "we must get rid of bad teachers" as a solution
- variations of merit pay schemes
- mayoral control
- common core
- charters and co-locations
- rating and grading schools and generation of phony statistics on graduation rates, dropouts, all resulting in….
- Closing schools (which the UFT supported through the end of 2009 and still supports to some extent), destroying neighborhood schools, dezoning, eliminating comprehensive HS and availability of electives for the vast majority of HS students. Forcing children to travel longer distances.
- tepid defense of reducing class size, which ed deformers disparage as a solution
- the contract and agreements in 2005 that coupled school closings with the burgeoning population of ATRs who started off as in-house subs and ended up as the wandering unwanted. Leading to the forcing out of thousands of older and experienced teachers.
- charter schools, co-location (the union had 2 co-located charters), unequal treatment from DOE. The growing corps of temporary, non-unionized at-will teachers.
- the growing segregation of the student body—the wanted vs. the unwanted
- denial of tenure to newer teachers (year after year extensions, discontinues from principals with a grudge -- no rights for non-tenured and increasingly restrictive rights for tenured teachers who are now facing even the end of that protection
- a grievance procedure in the toilet
- multi pension tiers
Thursday, July 25, 2013
July 25 4-7PM - MORE Summer Series: How Should We View the UFT/AFT Leadership?
I helped organize this discussion based on what I see as various points of view regarding the union leadership in the UFT/AFT. It will take place at Local 138 (138 Ludlow St, a block and a half north of Delancey.)
There have been internal debates for years in ICE, GEM and MORE on this issue. How far does an opposition caucus go in criticizing the leadership? Does it risk blow back -- feeding into a sense of anti-unionism, especially from the newer generation of teachers who often enter with an anti-union bias? How do you try to compete for power in the UFT without being critical? How does MORE manage to counter the so-far successful propaganda campaign over the last 2 decades that it is the mayors (Giuliani and Bloomberg) who are the problem, not the people running our union?
One MORE member sent me this question:
Other questions that have come up:
Some in MORE think that the leadership can be pressured, but instead of playing the inside New Action game, organize enough rank and file and the leadership will be forced to respond.
Some think the UFT leadership cannot really be pressured to change direction, given their history of capitulation and even when they look like they are doing something right, that is only on the surface. In fact they coopt the language of the critics (what they say) but don't actually do anything very much different (what they do).
Peter Lamphere, formerly from TJC and now a major cog in MORE, will be giving us the benefit of his long-time activism in the UFT and will touch on many of these issues in his presentation.
I hear all the time, even from newbies: if only we had Al Shanker instead of Randi and we would have a militant fighting union. As a 43 year activist I don't buy that line and in fact believe that there is a direct line ideologically from Shanker, through Sandy Feldman through Randi and Mulgrew.
Ira Goldfine, my colleague from the 70s and a founder of ICE in 2003 will do a presentation going back to the late 60s through the 90s pre-Randi to show this connection. That Randi did not in fact take the union in another direction. Shanker started the give back ball rolling as far back as 1972, the last time we got a good contract.
The UFT/AFT/Unity leadership has made it easy to be critical based on their support for so much of ed deform. Here is a partial list compiled by Vera Pavone who is doing one of the presentations later today focusing on the UFT since mayoral control.
Remember, the early attacks under BloomKlein in 2002 led to the alliance between Randi and New Action which accepted the "we must support the union leaders in this time of crisis," thus ending their role as the leading opposition caucus in the UFT after 12 years since they merged in 1990 when Teachers Action Caucus (founded in 1968) and New Directions (1976) merged. Thus in reality, the dirty deal ended 35 years of history of there being a recognized opposition that proved throughout the 90s through the 2001 election that they could win at least some executive board seats on their own without Unity support. Now there is hope that MORE can rise from the ashes to create a vibrant challenge to the leadership.
Recently there have been blogs on this issue by people like Diane Ravitch and Unity flack Peter Goodman who left a comment on the NYC Educator blog (To Bobblehead, or Not to Bobblehead)
In Diane's post, My Friend Randi Weingarten which garnered over 250 comments, mostly critical of Randi and some of Diane for posting this (I think it was a good thing she did), she said:
I found one interesting comment supporting Diane's post (which also do) saying that maybe Randi will listen to Diane and stand up more for us due to Diane's influence.
This is an astounding statement, hoping an academic and advocate not connected to the union is supposed to influence the national leader of one of the two national teacher unions to stand up for us rather than sit on the fence (at best) or at worst, stand on the other side. Witness her most recent call for the "bad" teachers to get out of the profession, which NYC Educator (Getting Rid of "Bad Teachers") and Perdido (It's Time To Fire "Bad" Union Leaders Like Randi W) dealt with.
So, come on down later today if you are interested in jumping into this discussion, which I am sure will not be the end of it.
There have been internal debates for years in ICE, GEM and MORE on this issue. How far does an opposition caucus go in criticizing the leadership? Does it risk blow back -- feeding into a sense of anti-unionism, especially from the newer generation of teachers who often enter with an anti-union bias? How do you try to compete for power in the UFT without being critical? How does MORE manage to counter the so-far successful propaganda campaign over the last 2 decades that it is the mayors (Giuliani and Bloomberg) who are the problem, not the people running our union?
One MORE member sent me this question:
How do we connect our members to our union and help them to understand its importance and galvanize them to get involved-- how do we overcome the disenfranchisement and disconnectedness and instead convince people our union is actually a force for good and justice locally, nationally, and globally?My thoughts are how do we do the above with a union leadership that at best can be considered ineffective and at worst collusive with our enemies? I won't get into the whys and wherefores of this time but maybe some answers will emerge later today.
Other questions that have come up:
What strategies and tactics should an opposition caucus use in relating to the union leadership? Should the opposition work with the leadership? If so, when, how and under what terms? If it's going to be critical, what kind of tone should be maintained? If the decision is to criticize/attack the leadership, then how should it be done, while making it clear to all that The Union is always to be supported? In other words, how can the leadership be separated from the Union in the eyes of the rank and file? And should it?Given the power balances in the UFT do you attempt to lobby the leadership towards better policies? That's pretty much what New Action does. They have no grassroots and they play the role of a loyal opposition -- not even an opposition given that they could not win one position in an election without Unity support.
Some in MORE think that the leadership can be pressured, but instead of playing the inside New Action game, organize enough rank and file and the leadership will be forced to respond.
Some think the UFT leadership cannot really be pressured to change direction, given their history of capitulation and even when they look like they are doing something right, that is only on the surface. In fact they coopt the language of the critics (what they say) but don't actually do anything very much different (what they do).
Peter Lamphere, formerly from TJC and now a major cog in MORE, will be giving us the benefit of his long-time activism in the UFT and will touch on many of these issues in his presentation.
I hear all the time, even from newbies: if only we had Al Shanker instead of Randi and we would have a militant fighting union. As a 43 year activist I don't buy that line and in fact believe that there is a direct line ideologically from Shanker, through Sandy Feldman through Randi and Mulgrew.
Ira Goldfine, my colleague from the 70s and a founder of ICE in 2003 will do a presentation going back to the late 60s through the 90s pre-Randi to show this connection. That Randi did not in fact take the union in another direction. Shanker started the give back ball rolling as far back as 1972, the last time we got a good contract.
The UFT/AFT/Unity leadership has made it easy to be critical based on their support for so much of ed deform. Here is a partial list compiled by Vera Pavone who is doing one of the presentations later today focusing on the UFT since mayoral control.
- supporting the teacher accountability ed deform mantra - the evaluation mess
- signing on to "we must get rid of bad teachers" as a solution
- variations of merit pay schemes
- mayoral control
- common core
- charters and co-locations
- rating and grading schools and generation of phony statistics on graduation rates, dropouts, all resulting in….
- Closing schools (which the UFT supported through the end of 2009 and still supports to some extent), destroying neighborhood schools, dezoning, eliminating comprehensive HS and availability of electives for the vast majority of HS students. Forcing children to travel longer distances.
- tepid defense of reducing class size, which ed deformers disparage as a solution
- the contract and agreements in 2005 that coupled school closings with the burgeoning population of ATRs who started off as in-house subs and ended up as the wandering unwanted. Leading to the forcing out of thousands of older and experienced teachers.
- charter schools, co-location (the union had 2 co-located charters), unequal treatment from DOE. The growing corps of temporary, non-unionized at-will teachers.
- the growing segregation of the student body—the wanted vs. the unwanted
- denial of tenure to newer teachers (year after year extensions, discontinues from principals with a grudge -- no rights for non-tenured and increasingly restrictive rights for tenured teachers who are now facing even the end of that protection
- a grievance procedure in the toilet
- multi pension tiers
- paying lip service to the big
Remember, the early attacks under BloomKlein in 2002 led to the alliance between Randi and New Action which accepted the "we must support the union leaders in this time of crisis," thus ending their role as the leading opposition caucus in the UFT after 12 years since they merged in 1990 when Teachers Action Caucus (founded in 1968) and New Directions (1976) merged. Thus in reality, the dirty deal ended 35 years of history of there being a recognized opposition that proved throughout the 90s through the 2001 election that they could win at least some executive board seats on their own without Unity support. Now there is hope that MORE can rise from the ashes to create a vibrant challenge to the leadership.
Recently there have been blogs on this issue by people like Diane Ravitch and Unity flack Peter Goodman who left a comment on the NYC Educator blog (To Bobblehead, or Not to Bobblehead)
Unfortunately the union movement has spent too much time fighting internally rather than concentrating on their enemies...This is the constant Unity line to kill internal criticism for 50 years.
In Diane's post, My Friend Randi Weingarten which garnered over 250 comments, mostly critical of Randi and some of Diane for posting this (I think it was a good thing she did), she said:
It serves no purpose for those of us opposed to teacher-bashing and corporate reform to fight among ourselves. We must stand together so that we will one day prevail over those who want to destroy public education and the teaching profession. We can’t win if we are divided. I will do nothing to help those who pursue a strategy of divide and conquer. They want us to fight among ourselves. I won’t help them.There is no little irony in that this very post served to unleash a storm of comments critical of Randi. But some still seem to think deserves to be classified as someone we must stand together with given the enormous attacks on teachers and their unions. And by the way, I don't separate Mulgrew from Randi no matter how hard Unity people say they are different (style over substance in my view) -- watch what they do, not what they say.
I found one interesting comment supporting Diane's post (which also do) saying that maybe Randi will listen to Diane and stand up more for us due to Diane's influence.
This is an astounding statement, hoping an academic and advocate not connected to the union is supposed to influence the national leader of one of the two national teacher unions to stand up for us rather than sit on the fence (at best) or at worst, stand on the other side. Witness her most recent call for the "bad" teachers to get out of the profession, which NYC Educator (Getting Rid of "Bad Teachers") and Perdido (It's Time To Fire "Bad" Union Leaders Like Randi W) dealt with.
So, come on down later today if you are interested in jumping into this discussion, which I am sure will not be the end of it.
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