Wednesday, August 7, 2013

T-Day: For Deformers, Mission Accomplished

Shouldn't these tests that get students career and college ready be prevalent for students of high school, not little 9 year old boys and girls in 3rd grade? Parents of NYC, you are all being played!... South Bronx School
Today is lousy test score reveal day (LTSR) for  the tests given this past school year. Let me get this straight. You spend an entire year prepping for a test given in May and don't get the results until half the summer is over, making them absolutely useless for diagnostic purposes so you can try to fix what might be wrong?

There are a two very important comments up today, both from people connected to our Change the Stakes grassroots parent group, which issued this statement a few minutes ago.
Parents and Educators Reject Official Explanations for Dismal State Test Scores
NY State Principal of the Year Carol Burris:
What big drop in new standardized test scores really means


I'll do a follow-up later parsing both of the above to point out how many of us differ in our criticisms -- not claiming as the UFT does that teachers weren't given the tools -- basically supporting testing but only doing it right -- vs calling for an end to the use of tests in a phony accountability system.

Well, we know what the testing game is all about and it ain't children. It's about using tests to go after teachers, close schools, end tenure, de-unionize the teaching force so they can lower salaries, and create massive turnover in a temporary teaching force so they will never have to pay pensions.

Is that enough of a mouthful for you?

So will all the sturm and drang over the "failures" of the Bloomberg admin I would disagree. Bloomberg has accomplished exactly what he intended. Sure he may take a temporary hit over the low scores but he can manage the media well enough while keeping his eye on the big prize: undermine public schools (these low test results will provide some assistance) so people will want to leave in drives and head to charters which will glom onto the higher performing students and toss the remains back into what is left of the public schools.

And I don't trust one mayoral candidate to truly resist this trend, even Di Blasio or Liu. Neo-liberalism reigns.

There has been so much good commentary I can't keep up with it all. So don't miss checking in on my blogroll.

One of the best today is from our old pal SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL (Beware the Testpocolypse in New York State), who despite his personal battles has been getting back to what he does best: scathing political commentary.

Reality-Based Educator at Perdido St School asks:
Will Teachers And Schools Be Shown The Same Mercy The Tweedies Are Begging For?
Shael Polakow-Suransky on what the scores from the Common Core tests that will be released to the public tomorrow and are expected to show a sharp drop from last year mean: We all know that they wanted very low test scores this time so they can show next time that what they are doing is working.

Common Core--Being Reformy Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry 

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

A Little Andy Borowitz Humor for a Warm Summer Day - Enjoy

Mr. Bezos said he had been oblivious to his online shopping error until earlier today, when he saw an unusual charge for two hundred and fifty million dollars on his American Express statement.

Jeff-Bezos-Post.jpgAmazon Founder Says He Clicked on Washington Post by Mistake

Read more at newyorker.com

UFT History, Early Years from "City Unions", Chapter 8

We bought a few copies of this book which covers some fascinating early history of the UFT and pre-UFT with lots of detail on the political machinations and Shanker's consolidation of power. There is so much info packed into these 19 pages I have to read it again. The UFT did a great series by Jack Schirenbeck that covers some of the same ground but somewhat cleansed, as you would imagine. This lays out some of the internal battles that took place in the 60s and the formation of Unity Caucus even earlier than I thought, with details on the early strikes from the high school teachers refusing to work in night school through the early 60s.

If you go over to the MORE site there are 4 videos of last week's UFT Friend or Foe event where some history is also laid out, in particular in Ira Goldfine's video and text.

NOTE: I'm pulling the embedded pdf because it seems to slow up this site.

Get it here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/158371024/City-Unions-chapter-8

Monday, August 5, 2013

Newark Teachers Union Update: President Del Grosso Boycotts Ex Bd as Attempt to Bar Newly Elected Fails

Even when you win they try to make you lose. For those that aren't aware, NEW now controls a majority of seats on the EB and Del Grasso only won by 9 votes. Good for NEW Caucus for handing this professionally. Two background reports from Ed Notes:

NEW Caucus Shakes the Union Election Tree in ...
Jun 25, 2013
And this:  GREAT piece written by our friend Lois Weiner (author of The Future of Our Schools:
Teachers Unions and Social Justice) a co-authored by a few rank-and-file teachers.

I hope to meet some of our NEW colleagues in Chicago this weekend.

All,

THANK YOU to all who came out last Tuesday (July 30) to the NTU Executive Board meeting.  

At least 15 NTU members showed up, and a number actually spoke up and participated, sharing both feelings about the NTU, and offering suggestions and proposals for change.

This was GREAT!  We hope MORE will come out and participate in the future.  The more NTU members come out, pay attention, and get involved, the stronger we will be.  

Details:
The meeting was both tense and productive at the same time.  

President Joe Del Grosso, after calling the meeting in early July, attempted to cancel it on the morning of July 29.  But the majority of Executive Board members convened anyway.

President Del Grosso did not attend the meeting, and some NTU staff attempted to keep newly elected E-Board members from entering the building, and attempted to stop the group from meeting.  Once inside, however, a quorum of the E-Board DID meet and conduct a 
meeting.  

One new motion was passed, extending the two motions passed by the quorum of E-Board 
members at the June swearing in.  It is a motion setting a calendar of dates for Executive Board meetings for the upcoming year.  The motion reads:

Per the June 28 motion to establish a calendar of Executive Board meetings, that NTU President use every Wednesday AFTER NPS Advisory Board Business Meetings as the meeting dates for NTU Executive Board,  beginning at 5 pm, to be amended as necessary."


Dates are as follows:
2013   September 11
            October 9
            November 13
            December 11
2014            January 8
            February 12
            March 12
            April 9
            May 14
            June 11
            July 9


While these dates have not yet been agreed to by President Del Grosso, the quorum of E-Board members in attendance were unanimous in their support for the motion and dates.  

After that motion was debated and passed, the Executive Board had a general discussion of
issues that they hoped to address, and members (non-E-Board members) contributed to the discussion.  

In conclusion:

If these dates hold, they will be the first time in years (probably more than a decade) that the NTU Executive Board has had a monthly schedule of when meetings will occur, and that those meetings will be openly advertised to the membership so that members may attend and speak.

A HUGE STEP FORWARD!  

In Solidarity,
Newark Education Workers Caucus
(NEW Caucus)
Facebook.com/NEWCaucus

PS 29 Parents Call Out Principal From Hell Jennifer Jones Rogers

.....she came with a smile on her face and poison in her veins... Ms. Jones was argumentative disrespectful, and rude to every parent that I have ever spoken with. ... Dennis, parent at PS 29.
The comments have continued to fly over at SBS blog -- over 150 so far, including Rogers' mother and husband who made what I consider a threat (more on that in follow-up posts.)

Here I will extract some comments from parents -- I didn't find one parent comment defending the principal. In my experience, this outpouring of parent outrage is somewhat unique, as was the support coming from the greatest politician in this city, Tony Avella.  (Video: State Senator Tony Avella Calls for Rogers Removal). There were a number of parents at the press conference and a bunch of teachers who I kept off camera due to the vicious retaliation Rogers engages in. You know that many Leadership Acad principals like Rogers go after and alienate teachers but often manage to manage parents. Not in this case apparently. Rogers didn't learn all her lessons at the Lead Acad.
I am the father of a former student of ps 29. Ms. Jones was argumentative disrespectful, and rude to every parent that I have ever spoken with. The teachers hated her not only because she is unqualified as a principal and leader but because she came with a smile on her face and poison in her veins. Any child that was marginal was deemed special needs by a principal who is more special needs than any child. PS 29 lost so many respectful qualified educators due to the shrew Ms Jones. Principal Jones needs to be removed so that our children can get the education they deserve in a proper environment. Let the teachers who have worked in her schools speak.What a shame that we have lost so many quality teachers. How is it possible that so many teachers are wrong and that this one principal is right. Get her out and give the children the opportunity to learn from time tested qualified teachers. In jennifers defense she is not the only problem the whole dept of ed is a disaster. She is just one of the tentacles.My daughter has since been removed and sent to be educated in a catholic school. Good Bye PS 29............
Dennis
Anonymous said...
WHEN IS THE SECOND RALLY TAKEN PLACE
IN SEPTEMBER ? I NEED TO TAKE A DAY OFF FROM
WORK TO JOIN THE TEACHERS. CAN THE
BRONX PEOPLE HELP WITH THE SUPPORT TOO ?

CONCERN PARENT. MY CHILD IS ENTERING
4TH GRADE AND WE NEED TO GET EVERYTHING
IN PLACE ASAP ! WE NEED A PRINCIPAL !

I JUST HEARD ALL ABOUT THIS YESTERDAY I WISH I WAS AROUND. THANK YOU SOUTH BRONX FOR ALL YOUR HELP !!!

She is a horrible Principal. She is condescending and rude. She took an innocent issue with my son and made it into a sexual issue. I was told from a family member that was a teachers assistant at PS 29 about all the sex talk that went on there between the teachers and Ms. Jones. She must have sex on the brain and assumes the kids do as well. He was questioned about his living situation at home and if he has ever seen or heard anything sexual from his parents. I was told to take him to a therapist from their parent teacher coordinator for a boyish prank. Seriously?? They were warned never to question him unless we (both mother and father) were present. After that we were called in for every little thing. He started to struggle after she started to bully him for every little thing. I am so happy he is out of that school. He did great until she came in. I really wish I knew all of this when he was attending the school I went to as a child. I would have pursued having her investigated. Get her out before more children suffer under her unprofessional ways.
And a former student chimes in:
Jonathan said...
Principal Jones,

You are the reason that I, Jonathan C was not able to graduate 5th grade with my friends from Kindergarten. Because of you I had to graduate with kids I barely knew. My yearbook is full of photo shopped pictures because of you! My only mistake was telling my mom what you did to me in school and you made my life MISERABLE at PS 29Q. So miserable that I begged my mom to take me out. Before the incident I loved going to school, seeing my friends, and teachers whom I grew up with. So what is it that you are proud of? The success of children leaving your school, making students cry?
You are so bad tempered and rude. You should really change your ways. What you did cannot be undone and unfortunately for me I could never have a chance at my 5th grade dance, trip, or graduation. When you are in elementary school all you look forward to is becoming that cool 5th grader and experience what graduates have told you about. You took that away from me! Don’t continue. You probably have the greatest memories of your elementary years why DENY us of ours?
FYI, my cumulative record shows a consistent rating of 3’s throughout my education endeavor at PS 29Q respecting school community, respecting rules and regulations. Not one suspension or detention.

Of course I wasn't perfect but neither ARE YOU! We all make mistakes and the important lesson is to learn from our mistakes.

Former student,

Jonathan C.

The Howler Howls at Maureen Dowd for Puff Piece on Quinn

The Daily Howler does quite a number on Maureen over her Sunday Review column on Quinn (Who’s That Candidate in the Teal Toenail Polish?), which I found rather strange in a number of ways given what Dowd often writes about: Weiner's weiner. Or Clinton's weiner.

I officially call on all mayoral candidates to reveal the color of their toenail polish (mine is purple in case your wondering.)

Some highlights:
Yesterday morning, Maureen Dowd profiled Christine Quinn, the current front-runner in the race for mayor of New York City. This wasn’t the normal piece by Dowd. Nor was this ridiculous profile Quinn’s fault. It started on the front page of yesterday’s Sunday Review, an extremely high-profile placement. Inside, on the actual op-ed page, it ran beneath a large color photo of Quinn.

As she started, out on page one, Dowd told us something Quinn supposedly wants us to know. We include Dowd’s pitiful headline, which appeared on the front page of the Sunday Review:
DOWD (8/4/13): Who’s That Candidate in the Teal Toenail Polish?
According to Dowd, Christine Callaghan Quinn “wants to be seen as a member of the fighting Irish.” Dowd didn’t explain how she knows that, though it could be an electoral advantage in Irish-inflected New York.

For what it’s worth, Dowd seems to want us to see Quinn that way too! She played Quinn’s ethnicity early and often. In the middle of the column, she referred to Quinn’s “Irish temper.”

Dowd’s piece about Quinn was so inane that even Times readers complained. This sardonic commenter offered a nice summary of Dowd’s latest paralyzed effort:

COMMENTER FROM CONNECTICUT: Dear Ms. Dowd, I am to assume you’re endorsing Ms. Quinn for the job? I live in Connecticut and am interested in the mayoral race only as a spectator. The main points I come away with are:

a. Ms. Quinn apparently has a temper and uses it
b. Her favorite movie is "Dirty Dancing"
c. She has a weight problem
d. She used her influence to have an ambulance help an aide
e. She wears teal nail polish
f. Most importantly, she's NOT Mr. Weiner

She's obviously qualified to be mayor of NYC. Bring on the voting!
The sardonic reader captured the contents of Dowd’s vacuous profile. Around the continent, other readers filed complaints about the latest garbage from Dowd, which ended with the headline-worthy “get” concerning toe polish:
COMMENT FROM MASSACHUSETTS: Toenail polish color? Is this going to be the election season of "too much information" for every candidate?

COMMENT FROM JARAMA VALLEY: This is a puff piece worthy of People Magazine.

COMMENT FROM NEW YORK: Toe nail polish? Bubble baths? What's your favorite TV program? When did the Times editorial page become Tiger Beat?...At some point someone needs to talk about the issues and not useless nonsense. This was a missed opportunity and actually almost sexist in its tone.

COMMENT FROM CONNECTICUT: Boy, am I glad I moved out of NYC! Toenail color is important? How about a piece on what each of these folks proposes to do?

COMMENT FROM ATLANTA: An entire column, and no issues...Will she spend 4 years working on toe nail polish?

COMMENT FROM NEW JERSEY: After reading this column, I know even less about the mayoral race than before I started.

COMMENT FROM EDMONTON, CANADA: What did we learn about the woman, beside her "coppery" something, I guess her hair? What positions? What problems? What solutions, other than keeping [Weiner] out of office? What does she believe in? What does she fear?

Why did I read this cotton candy? Why was it written? And what did I learn?

COMMENT FROM NEW YORK: I have zero interest in what color toe nail polish a politician wears. I have zero interest in if they take bubble baths or not (I can't imagine asking LaGuardia that question). I only care about how they are going to keep the streets clean and safe and the city moving forward. Anything else is not my business and definitely not my interest.

This column reduced Ms. Quinn into a political Kardashian. That was probably what her team wanted but I learned nothing about her plans from it.

COMMENT FROM HOUSTON: Annice Parker has thrived as Houston's mayor. The fact she is gay doesn't have any bearing on her ability to lead. Aside from that, this piece is pure fluff, Ms. Dowd.
Just for the (truly pitiful) record: In the hard-copy Times, a sub-headline appeared on Dowd's piece: “Can Christine Quinn vanquish Carlos Danger?”

Bill de Blasio Makes His Move - Will UFT Members Move With Him?

Mr. de Blasio argues that Ms. Quinn and Mr. Thompson have been either unwilling or unable to sufficiently challenge the legacy of the mayor and the city’s corporations over the past decade. .....Mr. de Blasio’s message, despite the excitement it has drawn from liberal luminaries like Alec Baldwin and Howard Dean, has alarmed many business leaders and Bloomberg aides.
Describing what he calls a “tale of two cities,” rife with inequalities in housing, early childhood education and police tactics, he promised those gathered at the Brooklyn bar that this year’s mayoral race was “going to be a reset moment. A major reset.”
Mr. de Blasio can barely contain his fury over what he sees as the central contradiction of the Bloomberg years: a mayor who routinely unleashed the power of government to change New Yorkers’ personal behavior repeatedly balked at harnessing it to change their economic circumstances. “You can see it; there is a bright line,” Mr. de Blasio said. “On health and the environment, he is Franklin Roosevelt. On economic justice, he’s Adam Smith. He turns into a free marketeer.”
.... NY Times
Today's NY Times had an intriguing pro de Blasio article with a nice photo of him, his wife and State Senator from Harlem/Upper West Side, Bill Perkins (our hero years ago for challenging the charter school lobby with a full day of hearings).
Now that Anthony D. Weiner’s campaign has imploded, Bill de Blasio, the public advocate, is drawing new energy and voter interest to a candidacy that presents the most sweeping rejection of what New York City has become in the past 12 years — a city, he says, that is defined by its yawning inequities. “We are not, by our nature, an elitist city.... “We are not a city for the chosen few.”  It is the campaign season’s riskiest calculation: that New Yorkers, who have become comfortably accustomed to the smooth-running, highly efficient apparatus of government under Michael R. Bloomberg, are prepared to embrace a much different agenda for City Hall — taxing the rich, elevating the poor and rethinking a Manhattan-centric approach to city services.  
And there has been favorable coverage of de Blasio's wife, Chirlane McCray. Interesting development, especially for educators with the UFT making a desperate push for Bill Thompson, an historically flawed candidate being run by people like Merryl Tisch and Al D'Amato.

Add the recent Wayne Barrett revealed stuff about Thompson connections to the guy who destroyed Bed-Stuy Interfaith Hospital. Plus Thompson's jumping on the "stop and frisk" bandwagon when he saw that Weiner was way more popular amongst black votes than he was. [I don't have time to find all these links on ed notes but the always reliable RBE at Perdido Street School has most of them:
Plus some of his great commentary on the race in general.
Mulgrew Stumping With Thompson, Attacks Weiner/Spitzer

RBE at one point said that Thompson was as bad as Quinn.

I imagine the business community, Bloomberg hacks and much of the press will engage in an all out assault to make sure Thompson and not de Blasio gets into the runoff with Quinn. But they can't be seen openly to be on the same side of the UFT - which readers of Ed Notes full well know has been my claim all along - so they will obfuscate and attack Thompson in mild ways.

I know there are aspects of de Blasio's history as president of the District 15 School board pre-mayoral control that may come up.  His  interesting marriage where his wife is black and a former lesbian seems to be playing well at this point --- will she get the black and gay vote for Bill?

de Blasio talks about the free-market concept pushed by Bloomberg and just about all the candidates that if an institution can't stand on its own feet it should close. He seems to be for doing what it takes to keep health care institutions open.
In a mayor’s race crammed with celebrity razzle-dazzle, historic candidacies and tabloid turns, a gangly liberal from Brooklyn is quietly surging into the top tier of the field by talking about decidedly unglamorous topics: neglected hospitals, a swelling poverty rate and a broken prekindergarten system.
One very interesting point is that the page one article continues on a page with this article about a Bronx park and compares it to the funds going to the HiLine (For Decades, Fighting to Rescue a Bronx Park From Disrepair). 
“This is a disgrace,” Mr. Diaz said. “We still haven’t seen what we were promised. The time has come and gone. And that’s only talking about capital improvements. When you look at park rangers, comfort stations and other amenities, we seem to be shortchanged.”
The city’s Department of Parks and Recreation portrays Playground 52 as an example of good policy and volunteerism. When asked about the poor conditions, Zachary Feder, a department spokesman, said designers were working on plans to build a skate park and renovate a basketball court. The scope of further renovations would be determined after a public hearing. Mr. Feder said the playground was cleaned daily by department crews, who also swept water off the courts. But numerous visits over the last several months showed the opposite.
“If this was downtown, this would be fixed A.S.A.P.,” said Dayshawn Holmes, 14. “That’s where the money is in New York. They don’t care about us playing basketball here. Downtown, they’d have glass backboards.”
 You mean a city official lied to the reporter about cleaning the park? Shocking.

The de Blasio article makes much the same point:
Zoning changes have encouraged sky-piercing condominiums with multimillion-dollar price tags, but Mr. Bloomberg vetoed a bill requiring paid sick leave for working-class New Yorkers. By the city’s own measure, 46 percent of residents are poor or near poor, but the mayor scoffed at plans to compel companies that receive city subsidies to pay higher wages.

While a social justice oriented group like MORE at this point is not focused on the mayoral election (given its tiny size and outreach MORE's opinion or actions are irrelevant) my sense has been both inside MORE and amongst outraged teachers generally, was that John Liu followed by de Blasio were the best choices for UFT members. With Liu gaining no traction, many pro-Liu educators are moving to de Blasio.

Now I know that even internal critics say that the UFT is also social justice. But its choice of Thompson given de Blasio's social justice oriented positions shows which side the union leadership is on. Our point has been that only of the union strongly allies itself with community forces does it have a chance to resist the ed deform attacks. The Chicago TU is under assault, as it has been for 15 years, but they only have a chance to survive through their organizing efforts both internally and externally. Right now even with lots of flaws, de Blasio might be the candidate to bridge those gaps though I don't trust him either in the long run if he gets into office.
In a city that is endlessly congratulating itself for its modern renaissance — record-low crime, unmatched crowds of tourists, streets refashioned in European style — a day on the campaign trail with Mr. de Blasio is a reminder of unaddressed grievances and glaring disparities.
And this is not just about the poor, but the working middle class.
A young husband and wife, both employees of the city, told of their shock at being unable to afford a home in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, an evaporating refuge for middle-income buyers. “Now even the gentrifiers are getting priced out by gentrifiers,"....
Do inequalities that affect most of the kids teachers have to deal with interest teachers in terms of getting into a battle to improve the lives of our kids? Their living conditions affect our teaching conditions is clear to everyone. But what can we do about it?  We know that E4E and TFA say we can overcome poverty with good teaching and ignore outside factors. Where MORE differs is that we say YES to good teaching -- not by the way the test-driven teaching E4E and TFA support, but engage in both a fight to give us the rights as teachers to make judgements and teach the whole child, while also engaging in the broader struggles.

An open attack on the Bloomberg negatives will gain and lost people. A perusal of the NY Times metro article today has some interesting stuff about the state of Bloomberg's city in the outer boroughs where de Blasio is aiming his arrows.
At the heart of Mr. de Blasio’s appeal, according to interviews with his supporters and political team, is a willingness to deliver an unvarnished and unstinting critique of the Bloomberg era in spite of polls that show a majority of New Yorkers believe the city is heading in the right direction under the mayor’s leadership.
It is a strategy, he said, that hinges on a pervasive sense that, for all of New York City’s bike-path charms and pedestrian plaza allures, its denizens are deeply uneasy about inequalities that remain unchecked by City Hall. 

.... wherever Mr. de Blasio travels these days, resentments toward Mr. Bloomberg’s New York tend to tumble out of voters’ mouths. A woman stopped to rail against wealthy foreigners who are buying luxury apartments, but rarely inhabiting them. “We don’t want to be like those European cities where rich people fly in once a year and nobody really lives there,” she told him. 

A man who is H.I.V. positive complained to Mr. de Blasio about the absence of a rent cap on housing for AIDS patients, which he said left him homeless. 

A student lamented the city’s class stratification, saying that the city “needs a mayor for the 99 percent, not the 1 percent.” 

Inside Mr. de Blasio’s campaign, aides talk about the need to simultaneously recognize Mr. Bloomberg’s triumphs, on issues like the smoking ban, and tap into a widespread desire for a change. “The remedy verses replica theory,” as one adviser put it, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the adviser was not authorized to disclose strategy. 

Mr. de Blasio’s campaign platform is unabashedly interventionist and progressive. His most eye-catching plan would raise the income tax rate to 4.3 percent from 3.87 percent on earnings of over $500,000, to pay for universal access to prekindergarten.
Now, an overcrowded system leaves tens of thousands of lower-income residents without access to full-day programs, setting back the early education of a generation, Mr. de Blasio argues. The campaign says the 11 percent increase in the marginal tax rate would amount to about $2,120 for a family earning $1 million.
In conversations with voters, Mr. de Blasio argues that Ms. Quinn and Mr. Thompson have been either unwilling or unable to sufficiently challenge the legacy of the mayor and the city’s corporations over the past decade. 

But his determination to emerge as the unrivaled liberal in the race has entailed a moral showmanship that may repel as many voters as it endears. He was arrested a few weeks ago during a sit-in to protest the latest closing of a city hospital.
“That,” Mr. de Blasio said of his arrest, “is certainly not in the Michael Bloomberg playbook.”

MORE Update 63: How Do We Fight For a New Contract? Summer Series Thursday 4PM



Movement of Rank & File Educators

Weekly Update #63 - August 4, 2013

COMMITTEES:

Media Committee
media@morecaucusnyc.org
Monday, Aug. 5, 9:30 AM
Starbucks
370 7th Ave @ 31st

High Stake Testing Committee
testing@morecaucusnyc.org

Steering Committee
steering@morecaucusnyc.org
Meeting minutes here

Contract Committee
contract@morecaucusnyc.org

Newsletter Committee
news@morecaucusnyc.org

Chapter Organizing Committee
chapters@morecaucusnyc.org
Mon, Aug. 12, 10:30AM
Cafe Mercato, 648 Broadway
Meeting minutes here

STAYING IN TOUCH: 
Comments? Suggestions?
Email update@morecacusnyc.org with items for future updates

Want more info?
Click below to join our listservs:
News (announcements/articles)
Discussion (debate/back-and-forth)
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Thursday, August 8:

How Do We Fight for a New Contract?


RSVP and share on our Facebook event

4-7 PM
Local 138 
138 Ludlow St
(betw. Rivington & Stanton) 

The UFT leadership’s only fair contract strategy is to influence the Democratic mayoral primary in hopes that the new mayor will feel obliged to the UFT.  However, after the election, the UFT will have no leverage over the Mayor, leaving teachers in a weak position to negotiate.  The lack of real UFT mobilization has given the DOE the green light to violate our contract, increase the number of observations, and use partial observations against teachers.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION!
  • Why union contracts are good for educators and the public
  • Strategies for winning a contract that can protect us from the worst aspects of the new evaluation system
  • How do we protect educators' and students' rights?
  • Supporting teacher professionalism and checking administrative power
BONUS: Watch Chicago teachers sing "(When There's a Contract, Then) Call Us Maybe" during their 2012 contract fight.

DON'T MISS OUR FINAL SUMMER SERIES SESSION:

August 22: The First Days of School: How to Build an Active Chapter
 

2013 MORE Summer Series:
 Discuss, Debate, Educate!

Fast Food Worker Strikes Gain Traction
"An injury to one is an injury to all."  Help support striking fast food workers as they fight for $15/hr and the right to unionize.
  • Sign Fast Food Forward's "Can't Survive on $7.25" petition here
  • Watch John Oliver of "The Daily Show" tear into critics
  • Front-page coverage in The New York Times
 

How Are We Doing?

The MORE media team has been working hard to revamp the website.  Your feedback is welcome!

Email more@morecaucusnyc.org with comments and/or suggestions.

Join UFT at March on Washington

The Movement of Rank and File Educators encourages all UFT members, education activists, and all those who are concerned about the future of democracy and justice in this country, to attend the March on Washington, DC on August 24th, 2013. UFT members and their guests can travel for free on UFT-sponsored buses.

UFT members and their guests can register for free rides on UFT-sponsored buses here.
 

Volunteers needed!

MORE is looking for members to help with website design, proofreading, treasury, fundraising, and planning social events. Please reply if you can help out.

Also, consider attending the meeting of the media committee:
Monday, Aug. 5, 9:30 AM
Starbucks
370 7th Ave @ 31st
Moving?

Moving?

If you are changing schools, phone numbers, or addresses, make sure we can stay in touch by updating your information with MORE.

National Student Power Convergence: Madison, WI

This weekend (August 1st-5th), hundreds of student leaders and activists converged in Madison, WI, to discuss strategies for bringing economic and social justice to their respective campuses and communities.  Shout-out to these young labor and social justice activists for fostering solidarity among national/international students and activists.

View the program, and watch footage from last year's conference at The Ohio State University.

99 Pickets Solidarity Meeting: Thursday, August 8

Join 99 Pickets, New York's worker solidarity group, for their new monthly meetings. On the second Thursday of every month, workers and organizers from campaigns around the city will join with activists to learn what's happening and plan actions to support worker struggles.

Thursday, August 8, 6-8pm
310 W. 43 St. (at 8th Ave.) in the basement
RSVP on Facebook

Potluck dinner--if you're so moved, bring a dish, snacks, or dessert!

Childcare available--please RSVP to 99pickets@gmail.com if you're bringing your children, and indicate their age(s).

Wheelchair accessible. Spanish interpretation available.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

NY1 Coverage - Today: Last Chance to See Amazing Rockaway Cafe at Fort Tilden - 3PM

Finally some press outside The Wave. NY1 was out to cover last night and here is a link to the NY1 report at one of the wonderful performers, Jacquie Caruana's facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/jacquiedollycaruana?fref=ts

The clips I put up the other day (The Little Theater That Could: Rockaway Cafe: The Comeback) also features Jacquie singing the custom lyrics to I Will Survive.






My former colleague Mary Hoffman trekked out Friday and loved it and just got a call from an old pal who saw the NY1 reports and is heading out this afternoon. I think I am being lured into going a 4th time.
 
Here's the piece I wrote this past week for The Wave.

Rockaway Theatre Company Update
By Norm Scott

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.)
https://vimeo.com/71167899, https://vimeo.com/71311581.

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.

Friday, August 2, 2013

Video: State Senator Tony Avella Calls for Removal of Jennifer Jones Rogers as PS 29Q Principal


Despite the oncoming rain, a spirited crowd of parents, teachers and supporters turned out to join Tony Avella in calling for the removal of PS 29Q Principal Jennifer Jones Rogers, a Leadership Academy principal who fits the mold of feral grads from that institution.

Here is the video of the press conference. I have some interviews on tape that are not included.




https://vimeo.com/71555440

Daily News
Angry teachers and parents are demanding the city fire a College Point principal they claim harasses and humiliates staffers. About two dozen people — including teachers and state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) — rallied outside Public School 29 Thursday to complain that Principal Jennifer Jones-Rogers is so abusive that 25 of 45 teachers have left or been forced out since she took the helm in 2010.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/parents-principal-fired-queens-article-1.1414885
Several parents and teachers in College Point want the city to end what they claim is an elementary school principal’s terror-driven reign. They said Jennifer Jones-Rogers of P.S. 29 has wrongfully placed a handful of students in special education classes without notifying parents. Critics also say the administrator’s “hostile environment” has driven away droves of teachers and has caused parents to pull their kids from the school. “It is a shame that one person can do so much harm,” said parent Linda Briones, who has since transferred her child out of the school....Educators say she has not provided a copy of the school’s budget to the United Federation of Teachers chapter president for the past two years as required.
Queens Courier -- MORE
South Bx School posted. Check out those comments.

Rally and Presser On August 1 For Removal of Jennifer Rogers, Principal at PS 29 in Queens

Jennifer Rogers, probably one of the least qualified people ever to hold the job of principal, is totally

in over her head and unqualified. Her job, which in all probability got do to her connections of her mother, Carolyn Jones (and the Leadership Academy) former principal at PS 23 in District 10 in the Bronx.

But as with being a principal in NYC, one can do anything short of murder and still retain their position. Or just read the comments here.

The students are afraid of her, the parents are afraid of her, the community is afraid of her, and so are the teachers (except the sycophants).
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