Not up to the impact of James' galvanizing speech at the Oct. 15 PEP where she laid bare the DOE policy of inequality. Here she does some posturing and I hated her use of the charter standard use of "scholars" -- is she coopting them? But she rises to the occasion at the end with her call of "We want our schools back."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYwb_mCehTY
>
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
PS 196 WINS
Co-loco tonight off PEP agenda. Keep up the fight everyone.
Cheers,
Norm Scott
Twitter: normscott1
Education Notes
ednotesonline.blogspot.com
Grassroots Education Movement
gemnyc.org
Education columnist, The Wave
www.rockawave.com
nycfirst robotics
normsrobotics.blogspot.com
Sent from my BlackBerry
Cheers,
Norm Scott
Twitter: normscott1
Education Notes
ednotesonline.blogspot.com
Grassroots Education Movement
gemnyc.org
Education columnist, The Wave
www.rockawave.com
nycfirst robotics
normsrobotics.blogspot.com
Sent from my BlackBerry
Video: PS 196K Rallies Against Co-Loco
Another unreported rally at a public school with an overflow crowd at the hearing following the rally - schools that can't close for half a day to march over a bridge to demonstrate their opposition to fundamental Bloomberg ed policies. Go add up all the people at all the local school-based rallies and see if that doesn't top the charter rally where parents were told they had to attend while their children were dragged out of their schools for the day.
I taped this Oct. 21. I assume PS 196 will be in the house tonight at the PEP.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGEsgyM-nyI
I taped this Oct. 21. I assume PS 196 will be in the house tonight at the PEP.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGEsgyM-nyI
Fred Smith On the Empress Tisch
What clear and astute observations... Loretta Prisco
Fred, thanks for this scathing and brilliant portrait. Helps me make sense of my visceral reaction of horror at her presentation. So much feigned reasonableness and caring. So little capacity for hearing the truth.... Jeff N
Yes, Fred- so right on! Let's not forget that the "flawed accountability system" she is replacing is one SHE is responsible for and defended.... Lisa D.There are a lot of posts coming today(ala Ravitch) so duck. In the world of ed deform, there are not many people I despise more than Merryl Tisch. So how nice to see this.
Change the Stakes had a big crew testifying at the Flannigan hearings yesterday (details later).
Our man Fred Smith was there with some perfect comments on Merryl Antoinette.
Some observations about Chancellor Tisch's performance at the Education Committee hearing yesterday:
~ She thinks that being soft-spoken can disguise her haughtiness and pernicious policies.
~ Tisch throws in a few spontaneous remarks that pass for wit to show that she's loose, the epitome of grace under fire and not totally rehearsed.
~ Answers begin by identifying with the questioner ("Yes, I know because when I taught... I'm concerned about ELL kids. My family were immigrants too... Being poor is no fun. I can remember a Tuesday when I forgot my wallet, my chauffeur had the day off and the maid was late....) Yes, I've walked many a mile in your Louboutains.
~ She has a fondness for setting up false choices in order to suggest bold leadership : We could have adopted the Common Core or remained with a system the failed to prepare our students for college. (By the way, she apparently realized that graduates needed "remediating" at community colleges in 2010. Somehow the problem had eluded all the Regents and had even gone undiscovered by Her Regency for 14 years.)
[Digression: Tisch's use of the word remediating smacked me between my ears. Sounded like irradiating. Did someone say sterilizing?]
~ Anyway back to the dichotomies: We could have taken the RTTT money or.... (fill in the blank). We could have gone backward or forward, left or right, bad or worse and we chose knishes over cyanide.
~ When the Queen gets an unexpected question to which she cannot give a practiced response she will invariably begin her answer with the placeholder "So... followed by a repeat of the question. So, you want to know why we didn't announce forums in New York City. In fact, that was part of our plan all along and we'll hold forums in all four or five boroughs. If there were six boroughs, we'd schedule one there, too.)
~ Thank you for inviting me and giving me a chance to address these important concerns. There's no place I'd rather have been.
Such noblesse. Thank you, Merryl Antoinette.
Fred Smith
The Daily Howler on Frank Bruni Piece on Colorado Ed Law, Supported by Sell-Out AFT and NEA
Can we talk? In our post-journalistic culture, everyone is an expert on schools! Everyone except the people who get assigned to be education reporters..... Columnists sometimes like to pretend that they know about public schools, though it rarely seems that they do. More horribly, education reporters often seem caught in the grip of the same affliction.... The Daily Howler on Frank Bruni ed piece
Is there a more perfect example of the NY Times position on education than having people without a clue writing on education while Michael Winerip, the only writer who has a clue ends up covering fluff?
The Howler, a former teacher -- and I mean a real teacher in the inner city for a long time -- does regular hit jobs on the NY Times. Also read about Tom Friedman's trip to Shanghai with Wendy Kopp: Tom Friedman, taking dictation from experts!
What is worth noting about the Colorado ed story and the Bruni article is that our pals Randi/AFT and Dennis/NEA are supporting the law which I consider ed deform with a twist -- basically bribing the unions to support more charter schools and other deforms for some up front money which I bet will be the last thing they will see - and the end game will be fewer public schools, if any. But those of us in NYC have seen the Randi game before.
Posted: 29 Oct 2013 12:48 PM PDTTUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013
Everyone knows about schools: Frank Bruni doesn’t seem to know a whole lot about public schools.
In fairness, Bruni has never covered schools. There’s no reason why he should know much about that important topic.
Bruni doesn’t seem to know much about schools, but when has that ever stopped anyone? In today’s New York Times, he evaluates, or pretends to evaluate, a ballot measure in Colorado which would increase the state’s education funding while raising the state income tax.
Is the ballot measure a good plan? We don’t know, and there’s little sign that Bruni knows either:BRUNI (10/29/13): The state is on the precipice of something big. On Election Day next Tuesday, Coloradans will decide whether to ratify an ambitious statewide education overhaul that the Legislature already passed and that Gov. John Hickenlooper signed but that voters must now approve, because Colorado law gives them that right in regard to tax increases, which the overhaul entails. Arne Duncan, the nation’s education secretary, has said that the success of Amendment 66, which is what voters will weigh in on, would make Colorado “the educational model for every other state to follow.”The proposed “overhaul” would increase the state’s funding of charter schools. It would permit some teachers to be rehired. It would expand preschool and kindergarten programs in unspecified ways and to an unspecified degree.
It’s significant in many regards, especially in its creation of utterly surprising political bedfellows. Amendment 66 has the support of many fervent advocates of charter schools, which the overhaul would fund at nearly the same level as other schools for the first time...
[The proposal involves an] infusion of an extra $950 million annually into public education through the 12th grade, a portion of which could go to rehiring teachers who lost jobs during the recession and to hiring new ones for broadly expanded preschool and kindergarten programs. That’s an increase of more than 15 percent over current funding levels, which put Colorado well behind most other states in per-pupil spending...
According to Bruni, Colorado spends much less money per pupil than most other states. This overhaul would raise per-pupil spending by 15 percent.
Would that create parity with other states? Bruni doesn’t say. Later, Bruni says the overhaul would “direct more money proportionally to poor schools and at-risk students.”
Is this proposal some sort of big deal? We have no idea. Almost surely, neither does Bruni, who wrote an extremely vague column.
Can we talk? There’s no sign that Bruni has any idea what he’s talking about in this column. That said, it’s fairly clear that he knows a few talking points:
At one point, Bruni says there’s “no magic bullet for student improvement;” Wendy Kopp recites that bromide in her sleep. As the column proceeds, Bruni shows facility with another mandated pundit point. We refer to the places where he discusses the role of those infernal teachers union.
Bruni plays this familiar card throughout his column. Snarking nicely, he mentions the unions in five successive paragraphs.
It never seems to occur to Bruni that many teachers in Colorado may know more about these proposals than he does. Judging from the column itself, we will venture a guess: it’s possible that everyone in Colorado knows more about this proposed overhaul than Bruni.
Bruni doesn’t seem to know much about this “overhaul,” but he managed to kill a column this way. Last Wednesday, Tom Friedman did a similar paint-by-the-numbers column about the Shanghai public schools.
Friedman didn’t say there’s no magic bullet. He said there’s no “secret.”
Can we talk? In our post-journalistic culture, everyone is an expert on schools! Everyone except the people who get assigned to be education reporters.
Last week, Motoko Rich did a news report in the Times about a somewhat recent set of international test scores. In the early 1990s, Rich graduated summa cum laude from Yale. That fact seems a bit surprising to us, because 1) she seems to know little about public schools, and 2) she seems to have a hard time composing coherent reports about even the most basic topics.
Her editor is part of this too! For our previous post on the topic, click here.
Last week’s news report struck us as especially incompetent. That said, you live in a post-journalistic world. In the next few days, we’ll look at the way this New York Times education reporter covered a very basic topic, the kind of topic which is being discussed pretty much all the time.
Columnists sometimes like to pretend that they know about public schools, though it rarely seems that they do. More horribly, education reporters often seem caught in the grip of the same affliction.
We thought Rich’s report was especially weak. Tomorrow: Back to the future!
MORE Weekly Update #73: Protest Colocations at the PEP on October 30th!
Protest Colocations at the PEP on October 30th!
October 30, 2013
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Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Oct. 30 PEP: Parents, Teachers, Clergy and Students to Rally for End To School Closures and Co-Locations
Gotta switch mind-sets after the last post and focus on the PEP at Prospect Hts HS. I will be there to get what footage I can. First a rally, then let's go in a sign up for 2 minutes of speaking time and support the schools under assault.
From MORE:
Attached is the final flier for Wednesday's PEP in Brooklyn at Prospect Heights HS. Print some copies and bring them at 5:30 for the Funeral Procession of Schools that have been closed! Then come into the PEP horror show. Wear your MORE T-shirt. Wear a costume. Wear a Mask. Bring instruments. Be there.
From Save Our Schools:
Parents, Teachers, Clergy and Students to Rally for End To School Closures and Co-Locations
Will hold Funeral of Schools before NYCDOE Panel for Education Policy meeting to remember 168 schools closed under Bloomberg and look forward to a new era of equitable public education policy
New York, NY - On Wed., Oct. 30th at 5:15 community supporters of public education will gather outside of the Prospect Heights Campus at 883 Classon Ave in Brooklyn to hold a funeral for all the schools shuttered under the Bloomberg administration. Fathers Michael Sniffen and Chris Ballard of the Church of St. Luke & St. Matthew will officiate the festive Dia de Los Muertos-style ceremony.
Participants include the Movement of Rank-and-File Educators (MORE) Caucus of the UFT, Change the Stakes, Class Size Matters, the Paul Robeson Freedom School, and allied groups.
###
Not 'till the fat lady sings
Six of us piled into a van today to go down to Philadelphia to say goodbye to a dear friend and political pal of over 40 years. Our friend had decided to enter hospice care just 2 days ago at his daughter's home after months in the hospital. I expected the worst but got the best. Our friend though weak, was as eloquent and lucid as he always has been at political events, often dominating the room. How often new people would come over to me and say, "That guy was wonderful - funny and smart and making sense." And he made sense today, casting these words of wisdom (I'm paraphrasing).
I'm a glass half full guy. Our friend to me looked better than I had seen him since he went into the hospital almost 3 months ago. I expect to go back and say goodbye again. And maybe again. I don't believe in miracles. But I do believe in the concept that someone at total peace like our friend seems to be will get some kind of rebound - most likely temporary, but who knows? I'm a guy who thinks that one day we can take the UFT from below by winning over a majority of schools. Some people would give our friend better odds.
I will write further about the almost incomprehensible medical story we've witnessed over the past 8 months. But not 'till the fat lady sings. And here's to the fat lady coming down with a very sore throat.
"I am so happy to be here and out of that place (the hospital). If you ever have the opportunity like I have -- to end your life in a place you want to be, with people who love and support you, grab it, hold on to it and don't let it go."Words to live by.
I'm a glass half full guy. Our friend to me looked better than I had seen him since he went into the hospital almost 3 months ago. I expect to go back and say goodbye again. And maybe again. I don't believe in miracles. But I do believe in the concept that someone at total peace like our friend seems to be will get some kind of rebound - most likely temporary, but who knows? I'm a guy who thinks that one day we can take the UFT from below by winning over a majority of schools. Some people would give our friend better odds.
I will write further about the almost incomprehensible medical story we've witnessed over the past 8 months. But not 'till the fat lady sings. And here's to the fat lady coming down with a very sore throat.
Speakers to testify at NYC's Senate hearing on school issues
I was going to go to the Portelos hearing today but I'm in a car heading to Philly - don't worry, I'm not driving. My alternate was to go to the Flanagan hearings today where many of our allies from Change the Stakes and Class Size Matters are testifying today.
The unholy trio - Tisch, Mulgrew and Walcott, all pushing the same drug in different doses lead off. There's even an E4E slug listed. (Did he get a day off from school?) This is a Gotham schools report.
Speakers to testify release for NYC’s Senate hearing on school issues <http://gothamschools.tumblr.com/post/65372447202/speakers-to-testify-release-for-nycs-senate-hearing-on>
Senator John Flanagan's office released a final roster of speakers <http://gothamschools.tumblr.com/post/65372447202/speakers-to-testify-release-for-nycs-senate-hearing-on> who will testifytomorrow today at a New York State Senate hearing in New York City.
New York State Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch will be on the hot seat to start off the hearing, the fourth — and final — event that Flanagan convened this fall to probe the merits of sweeping policies ushered by Tisch and the State Education Department in recent years. Tisch will be joined by SED Legislative Director Nicolas Storelli-Castro.
The next two spots go to United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew and city schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott.
In all, 27 speakers are scheduled to testify. They include parents, advocates, researchers and teachers. The hearing is expected to cover a variety of issues facing schools, from state testing policies, to teacher evaluations, to privacy issues around student data.
Tomorrow's hearing will take place tomorrow in the Senate Hearing Room at 250 Broadway in downtown Manhattan. It's expected
Two rival advocacy groups are planning simultaneous rallies before the hearing gets started at 10:00 a.m. The first is being organized by New York City-based parent groups Class Size Matters and Change the Stakes, which have been critical of the state's reforms. Starting at around the same time — and not too far away — will be advocates and parents from StudentsFirstNY, which lobbied for tougher state teacher evaluations, and Families for Excellent Schools, which organized a pro-charter school march across the Brooklyn Bridge earlier this month.
Here is the list of those expected to testify tomorrow, according to Sen. Flanagan's office:
New York State Education Department/New York State Board of Regents
Chancellor Merryl Tisch, New York State Board of Regents
Nicholas – Storelli-Castro, Governmental Affairs, NYSED
United Federation of Teachers
Michael Mulgrew, President
NYC Board of Education
Chancellor Dennis Walcott
Parents
Lisa Shaw
Nancy Cauthen
Karen Sprowal
Jan Johnson
Specialists
Deborah Rayow, Vice-President, Core Curriculum and Credit Recovery <http://gothamschools.tumblr.com/post/65372447202/speakers-to-testify-release-for-nycs-senate-hearing-on> ,
Edgenuity
Ms. Nathalie Elivert, StudentsFirstNY
Ms. Tenicka Boyd, StudentsFirstNY
Advocacy
Leonie Haimson, Executive Director, Class Size Matters
Zakiyah Ansari, Advocacy Director, Alliance for Quality Education
Testing
Dr. Monty Neill, Ed.D., Executive Director, FairTest
Marco Battistella, Member of the Steering Committee of Time Out FromTesting
NYC Charter Schools James Merriman, CEO of the NYC Charter School Center
Student Privacy
Sheila Kaplan
Council of School Administrators
Ernest Logan, President
Mark Cannizzaro, Executive Vice-President
NY Alliance for Public Education/Save Our Schools
Tracy Pyper, Co-Chair, NY Alliance for Public Education
Rosalie Friend, NYS Information Coordinator, Save Our Schools
Teachers/Principals
John Owens, Teacher and Author
Fred Smith, Retired Member of NYC Department of Education, Testing
Department
Nicholas Lawrence, 8th Grade Teacher and Educators 4 ExcellenceMember
Special Education
Stephen Boese, Executive Director, Learning Disabilities Associationmof NYS
Ellen McHugh, Citywide Council on Special Education Higher Education
Dr. Ruth Powers Silverberg, Ed.D Associate Professor, Coordinator,
Post Master's Advanced Certificate Program <http://gothamschools.tumblr.com/post/65372447202/speakers-to-testify-release-for-nycs-senate-hearing-on> for Leadership in Education, College of Staten Island, CUNY
The unholy trio - Tisch, Mulgrew and Walcott, all pushing the same drug in different doses lead off. There's even an E4E slug listed. (Did he get a day off from school?) This is a Gotham schools report.
Speakers to testify release for NYC’s Senate hearing on school issues <http://gothamschools.tumblr.com/post/65372447202/speakers-to-testify-release-for-nycs-senate-hearing-on>
Senator John Flanagan's office released a final roster of speakers <http://gothamschools.tumblr.com/post/65372447202/speakers-to-testify-release-for-nycs-senate-hearing-on> who will testify
New York State Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch will be on the hot seat to start off the hearing, the fourth — and final — event that Flanagan convened this fall to probe the merits of sweeping policies ushered by Tisch and the State Education Department in recent years. Tisch will be joined by SED Legislative Director Nicolas Storelli-Castro.
The next two spots go to United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew and city schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott.
In all, 27 speakers are scheduled to testify. They include parents, advocates, researchers and teachers. The hearing is expected to cover a variety of issues facing schools, from state testing policies, to teacher evaluations, to privacy issues around student data.
Tomorrow's hearing will take place tomorrow in the Senate Hearing Room at 250 Broadway in downtown Manhattan. It's expected
Two rival advocacy groups are planning simultaneous rallies before the hearing gets started at 10:00 a.m. The first is being organized by New York City-based parent groups Class Size Matters and Change the Stakes, which have been critical of the state's reforms. Starting at around the same time — and not too far away — will be advocates and parents from StudentsFirstNY, which lobbied for tougher state teacher evaluations, and Families for Excellent Schools, which organized a pro-charter school march across the Brooklyn Bridge earlier this month.
Here is the list of those expected to testify tomorrow, according to Sen. Flanagan's office:
New York State Education Department/New York State Board of Regents
Chancellor Merryl Tisch, New York State Board of Regents
Nicholas – Storelli-Castro, Governmental Affairs, NYSED
United Federation of Teachers
Michael Mulgrew, President
NYC Board of Education
Chancellor Dennis Walcott
Parents
Lisa Shaw
Nancy Cauthen
Karen Sprowal
Jan Johnson
Specialists
Deborah Rayow, Vice-President, Core Curriculum and Credit Recovery <http://gothamschools.tumblr.com/post/65372447202/speakers-to-testify-release-for-nycs-senate-hearing-on> ,
Edgenuity
Ms. Nathalie Elivert, StudentsFirstNY
Ms. Tenicka Boyd, StudentsFirstNY
Advocacy
Leonie Haimson, Executive Director, Class Size Matters
Zakiyah Ansari, Advocacy Director, Alliance for Quality Education
Testing
Dr. Monty Neill, Ed.D., Executive Director, FairTest
Marco Battistella, Member of the Steering Committee of Time Out FromTesting
NYC Charter Schools James Merriman, CEO of the NYC Charter School Center
Student Privacy
Sheila Kaplan
Council of School Administrators
Ernest Logan, President
Mark Cannizzaro, Executive Vice-President
NY Alliance for Public Education/Save Our Schools
Tracy Pyper, Co-Chair, NY Alliance for Public Education
Rosalie Friend, NYS Information Coordinator, Save Our Schools
Teachers/Principals
John Owens, Teacher and Author
Fred Smith, Retired Member of NYC Department of Education, Testing
Department
Nicholas Lawrence, 8th Grade Teacher and Educators 4 ExcellenceMember
Special Education
Stephen Boese, Executive Director, Learning Disabilities Associationmof NYS
Ellen McHugh, Citywide Council on Special Education Higher Education
Dr. Ruth Powers Silverberg, Ed.D Associate Professor, Coordinator,
Post Master's Advanced Certificate Program <http://gothamschools.tumblr.com/post/65372447202/speakers-to-testify-release-for-nycs-senate-hearing-on> for Leadership in Education, College of Staten Island, CUNY
Sandy Redux: Norm in The Wave
I've been a little too busy to do regular blogging the past few days and I am not reporting on lots of stuff going on. Tomorrow (weds) night is the 2nd of the Bloomberg forced co-loco PEP meetings. I'll report on that tonight as there are some interesting events going on before the meeting.
I just finished my column which will be published Friday, Nov. 1. Last week The Wave published a spectacular reprise of the Sandy experience. Here is what I just wrote.
I just finished my column which will be published Friday, Nov. 1. Last week The Wave published a spectacular reprise of the Sandy experience. Here is what I just wrote.
The Ebb and the Flow
By Norm Scott
October 29, 2013, 9AM
Kudos to all at The Wave for the spectacular special edition
last week. Let’s see, what was I doing at this time a year ago today? Watching
water from the morning tide come up my street, which is on the bay side. Upon
seeing that some people on my block grabbed some things and left. How much
worse can it get, I thought, especially when we took a walk down to the beach
at noon and all the water had receded?
“It doesn’t look that bad, “ I said to my companion. I went home and
blogged “The Real Perfect Storm” (http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-real-perfect-storm.html)
which included a piece of video I shot that afternoon (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUt4Y0L9oTg&feature=youtu.be). I ended the piece with, “Next high tide is 8PM tonight, the big one where we expect to take in some water. The idea is to turn my basement into a swimming pool.” Little did I know that with water up to the basement ceiling swimming was not an option. Writing that sometime around 3PM on October 29 shows just how arrogant and insular I was about the dangers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUt4Y0L9oTg&feature=youtu.be). I ended the piece with, “Next high tide is 8PM tonight, the big one where we expect to take in some water. The idea is to turn my basement into a swimming pool.” Little did I know that with water up to the basement ceiling swimming was not an option. Writing that sometime around 3PM on October 29 shows just how arrogant and insular I was about the dangers.
The effects of the storm go deep and trigger many memories. On
August 1, 1979 we took title to our house. Our next door neighbors came over to
introduce themselves. Born and bred in Rockaway, where they had a business,
they had raised three children. Over the years we became friends despite the differences in our ages – they are now in their 80s – a very robust
80s I dare to say. As newcomers to Rockaway, refugees from East New York and
Flatbush in Brooklyn, their visit, along with others on the block, made us feel
welcome.
They left the day before Sandy to stay with friends and over
the next few days we were their only source of information, mostly bad news –
“don’t even think about saving your car.” They were not able to move back into
the house they had lived in for almost 50 years until the spring and went to Florida. When
they returned in April to a house restored they had made their decision. A few
weeks ago they moved out, headed for Florida for the season with no plans to
come back to Rockaway. While this move was probably inevitable, the Sandy experience
was the decision-maker.
Sometime this week new neighbors will be moving in, not
newcomers but leaving one Rockaway house for another – a young couple with deep
Rockaway roots and three very young children. On that August day in 1979 when
we took title, one of the people down the block who came by to say hello was
the aunt of one of our new neighbors. The ebb and the flow.
A Tale of One City?
Returning to my theme of the past few columns about
inequities in Rockaway. I had written about the new “Doctors of the World” free
clinic that is opening two days a week: Rockaway health, where over 20% of the
population has no health insurance,
being equated health-wise with the poorest areas of the world. Last week
WNYC continued their Life After Sandy
series with a piece titled, In Public
Housing, Temporary Boilers Are Here To Stay (For A While). The story focused on the situation facing some
residents of the Hammel Houses.
Catherine Darby, an
elderly resident of the Hammel Houses in the Rockaways, said when she turns on
the “warm” tap in her bathroom, cold water comes out about half the time. To
draw a bath, she has to boil water on her stove. The next step is particularly
tricky, because Darby uses a walker. She places the pot of hot water on the
seat of the walker, then maneuvers it from the kitchen, down the hall, to the
bathroom. “That’s what I do," Darby said. "It’s a lot, but if you
want to wash up, you don’t want to be smelling. You got to wash.” Like many
residents, Darby believes the temporary mobile boiler that now serves Hammel is
unreliable. The structure looks jerry-rigged, consisting of a large plywood
house and a truck with Texas plates, which emits clouds of steam. Weeds are
growing beneath the wheels.
With so many Rockaway residents living in public housing
damaged by Sandy, that is a story that must be told. Rockaway post-Sandy problems
are not all about how high we need to raise our houses. The little potshots at
de Blasio who actually at least talks about addressing these problems (I’ll
believe it when I see it) show a Rockaway insularity that does not benefit us
in the long run. Let’s not just tell a tale of only one city.
Rockaway Theatre
Company
The reopening of Fort Tilden gave the RTC an opportunity to
put on “Boeing Boeing” for the final 3 performances that were postponed due to
the shutdown. (Video highlights, https://vimeo.com/75933374). The day after the
final performance, Tony Homsey led a crew to take down the old set and start
putting up the new one for a reprise of “Inspecting Carol” one of the funniest
shows the RTC has done. Look for details in The Wave.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Ravitch on MSNBC
I haven't seen this yet but am reposting from the Ravitch blog for the Ed Notes archives. The discussion about charter schools has been changing - just see this:
http://m.nydailynews.com/1.
Top 16 NYC charter school executives earn more than Chancellor Dennis Walcott - Daily News
http://m.nydailynews.com/1.
The interview and panel discussion were broken into three segments which do not follow one another sequentially online for some reason, so here are the direct links to all three parts.
Part 1) The Case Against School Privatization
http://www.msnbc.com/melissa-
http://www.msnbc.com/melissa-
Part 2) How Charter Schools Can Lead to Disparity
http://www.msnbc.com/melissa-
http://www.msnbc.com/melissa-
Part 3) Poverty and Its Impact on Education
http://www.msnbc.com/melissa-
http://www.msnbc.com/melissa-
Saturday, October 26, 2013
UFT Used $250K COPE Money to Support Gambling
The United Federation of Teachers deposited $250,000 in the account from two of its political action funds.... Capital NYThanks to Jeff Kaufman for this.
Oh what fun. Having COPE money spent not on fighting ed deform but promoting gambling. I didn't know Paul Egan liked the dice so much. I took a shot in a recent Wave column at my City Councilman, Republican Erich Ulrich, for promoting casinos and asked how much he got from them.
By the way, people trying to leave COPE often are ignored. The right way is to never leave but get a change in contribution application and write in a nickel. Now I am generally in favor of COPE -- if we had a democratically run member-driven union instead of a slush fund for the leadership to use as it sees fit.
Tear down that wall, Mr. Mulgrew.
ALBANY—Gambling companies account for the vast majority of the $2.075 million raised by a pro-casino PAC, campaign disclosures show.Here is a comment on the ICE listserve:
As we reported on Thursday, owners of the race-track slot parlors in Yonkers and Tioga contributed to the effort, as did track-casinos in Saratoga Springs ($250,000) and the Aqueduct site in Queens ($500,000). Other contributors include the Pequot tribe ($100,000), which runs the Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut and is interested in developing a new resort at the old Grossinger's site, as well as the real estate investment trust that developed New Roc City in Westchester County. The United Federation of Teachers deposited $250,000 in the account from two of its political action funds.
The PAC has so far spent $360,000 on digital advertising, mail advertising and production of a pair of ads released Thursday.
Who's feelin' lucky this morning?
Two to one odds if you raised a delegates' card to bring up this "investment" during the question period you'd be treated like you don't know the first thing about "growing the economy" or the critical need to "bring prosperity" to upstate New York.Why does our union need to ingratiate itself to another elite club with a scheme to create more winners and losers (and mostly losers)? Because it's really not our union anymore. It's a racket with rich friends.
Portelos Chapter Leader Recall Attempt Fails - Again
I heard teachers looking to recall me were disrupting lessons today to remind educators to vote. Remember not voting, was a vote in my favor. Disrupting lessons? I’m not happy.... I’m here. You have my email and my number. I am still your chapter leader.....
Francesco PortelosWell, there goes the case the DOE is trying to prove. That Portelos is a loner. And dangerous. And feared and shunned by the staff he used to work with. So in a school with an abusive principal and a few of her henchslugs who spew real fear and loathing, they still can't manage to uproot this guy from his basis of support.
I can't wait to see those slugs testify. (Next hearing date: Tues., Oct. 29, 10AM.)
http://protectportelos.org/todays-recall-election-result/#lightbox/0/
The third attempt recall me as UFT Chapter Leader failed as well. I’m not happy though. I’m not doing a “nanny-nanny-poo-poo I’m still the chapter leader” post here. I’m not happy, because there is a group that is not willing to work with us at IS 49. I have emailed them and called and asked that we all work together, but that is not what they seem to want.
I heard teachers looking to recall me were disrupting lessons today to remind educators to vote. Remember not voting, was a vote in my favor. Disrupting lessons? I’m not happy.
In any case, let’s move Forward…shall we? We have a lot of work to do and a big rally on Monday to oppose the co-location of Eagle Academy in our school. Stop the Co-Location info.
I’m here. You have my email and my number. I am still your chapter leader.
Should anyone at IS 49 want to go for a fourth attempt, let me make it a little easier.
Download this attachment, print, fill out and sign it. Otherwise assist the rest of us or get out of our way. www.is49uft.org
Friday, October 25, 2013
MORE's Paul Hogan in The Riverdale Press: Common sense, not Common Core
It is dangerously easy for education administrators to lose sight of the needs of the students they are supposed to serve when one’s daily reality never involves firsthand work with students.The Common Core in District 75 is an abstraction for some who see the world of education only in terms of theory.However, Common Core is an added distraction and superfluous obstacle for those professionals in the trenches who are serious about bettering the lives of the young people in their charge.Those individuals have enough obstacles to deal with. ... Paul Hogan, Riverdale Press
Paul Hogan is a member of the United
Teacher’s Federation caucus of the Movement of Rank and File
Educators. He is a retired public school teacher who taught for 27
years in District 75.
I learned some educational jargon bullshit from reading Paul's piece.
By Paul HoganPosted 10/17/13The article in the Oct. 3, edition of The Press entitled “Special ed teachers find new curriculum a challenge,” throws a welcome light on a profoundly troubling aspect of the Common Core curriculum: Its oafish insistence that the educational needs and characteristics of all children are essentially identical.District 75 is devoted specifically to the education of students with severe and profound disabilities. Still, Deputy Superintendent Barbara Joseph appears to defend the extension of Common Core to classrooms throughout the district.
Dismissing the concerns of classroom teachers that Common Core is a poor match for children with severe disabilities, Ms. Joseph says, “You have to be able to do backward designing. You have to be able to unpack that standard. You have to meet the student at their functional level.”Full article.
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