PS 106 Update: The Network Up to Ears in Coverup With a Tisch on the Chain

In addition to the Mayor in control of our schools, his appointed Chancellors, Deputies and Sups, what about the Networks that provide support and oversight, in al things pedagogical and not in the current operational structure? Bill Colavito is the NL of the old PSO CEI-PEA whose Board includes:Seymour Fliegel and Ann Rubenstein Tisch.... Lisa Donlan

Lisa Donlan has the scoop on the PS 106 the network people. Great digging Lisa. These shadowy networks need to be exposed to the public and dismantled. If schools want to form themselves into networks let's start from scratch.

The networks, full of patronage perks, are desperate to survive as Gotham reported here:

life support

November 22, 2013

Fearing change, principals lobby de Blasio to protect networks

CHILDREN FIRST NETWORK 531

COLAVITO, WILLIAM/Blaize, Joseph

WColavito@schools.nyc.gov; JBlaize@schools.nyc.gov Cluster 05 (CEI-PEA) CL53

Cluster Leader Name	Cluster Leader Title	Cluster Leader Phone
MALDONADO, DEBRA	Cluster Leader	718-935-2480

In addition to the Mayor in control of our schools, his appointed Chancellors, Deputies and Sups, what about the Networks that provide support and oversight, in al things pedagogical and not in the current operational structure?

The unseen and uncountable bureaucracy?

Bill Colavito is the NL of the old PSO CEI-PEA whose Board includes:Seymour Fliegel and Ann Rubenstein Tisch.

The Network is a vestige of the early reformy movement turned 'crat and profiteer ( not for profit version in NY) pushing school choice, running and supporting so called Mom and Pop charters, teacher merit pay, etc

Center for Educational Innovation-Public Education Association (CEI-PEA)

2005 – Present (9 years)

SENIOR fELLOW

CEI-PEA

January 2004 – Present (10 years 1 month)

Principal

White Plains High School

August 1995 – August 2002 (7 years 1 month)

Principal

Wm O'Shea Middle School

January 1985 – July 1995 (10 years 7 months)

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/william-colavito/25/12b/177

His daughter Eve is head of DREAM charter school a Harlem-based  charter darling.

The Center for Educational Innovation – Public Education Association (CEI-PEA) is a New York City-based nonprofit organization that creates successful public schools and educational programs. CEI-PEA’s staff of experienced leaders in public education provides hands-on support to improve the skills of teachers and school leaders, increase parent involvement, and channel cultural and academic enrichment programs into schools. CEI-PEA works with more than 220 public schools in the New York City area, as well as schools in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Paterson (NJ), Philadelphia and Washington, DC.

CEI-PEA came about when two respected public education organizations merged in 2000 to build a broad capacity for public school reform. CEI was first established in 1989 as a component of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research and aimed to transform public education by shifting accountability from bureaucracies to schools as a means of creating public school choice for communities. PEA was founded in 1895 and for over 100 years worked for systemic and sustainable reform of the city’s public school system. Together, the organizations’ histories mark some of the most important milestones for advancing New York City’s public school system:

1896 – Created the “Tombs School,” the first school in New York City jails.

1919 – Initiated a campaign for the first hot school lunch program in New York City.

1935 – Launched the All Day Neighborhood Schools program to test the extended use of school facilities and parent involvement.

1956 – Produced a landmark study of segregation and inferior schooling for minority children.

1974 – Began the first public school choice program in New York City’s East Harlem.

1985 – Recognized by the White House for creating “schools that work.”

1992 – Published landmark studies of small schools and operating costs that demonstrated that small schools are both educationally desirable and cost-efficient.

1994 – Became a founding partner in the Annenberg Challenge grant to create small public schools and networks among New York City schools.

1997 – Established the School Leadership Academy under the direction of Dr. Lorraine Monroe to develop and train in-service principals.

1998 – Established the first charter school resource center in New York State.

2003 – Launched Project BOOST to provide academic, social and cultural enrichment to under-achieving fourth through eighth grade students with the ultimate goal of helping them gain admission to quality high schools.

2004 – Launched an initiative to develop public school choice programs in five major cities across the United States through a multi-year grant from the United States Department of Education.

2006 – Launched new initiatives to help increase the number of quality teachers in the public schools, increase the number of effective principals by developing and mentoring assistant principals, and establishing career technical education programs for the 21st century.

2007 - Selected as a Partnership Support Organization (PSO) for New York City public schools; awarded $10.5 million federal Teacher Incentive Fund grant to launch PICCS: Partnership for Innovation in Compensation for Charter Schools.

2008 - Launched 21st Century Community Learning Center programs with three New York City public schools.

2009 - Number of schools selecting CEI-PEA as their Partnership Support Organization rises to 77.

2010 - Number of schools selecting CEI-PEA as their Partnership Support Organization rises to 118, PICCS expands to 13 new charter schools in New York City and Buffalo with $17.5 million in federal Teacher Incentive Fund grants, and a national Network of Independent Charter Schools is launched with a $2 million federal grant.

2011 – Number of schools selecting CEI-PEA as their Partnership Support Organization rises to 147, which makes our PSO larger than a majority of urban public school systems.

Over the past decade, CEI-PEA has advanced school and system-level reforms, including:

• Selected by 147 public schools to serve as their Partnership Support Organization in New York City’s new school system that allows principals to select their preferred support organization from within or outside of the school system.
• Awarded three Teacher Incentive Fund grants totaling almost $30 million to develop the Partnership for Innovation in Compensation for Charter Schools program with public charter schools in New York City and Buffalo.
• Launched the Network of Independent Charter Schools to support teachers, administrators and charter school trustees develop best practices and collaborate with one another and to help independent “mom and pop” charter schools succeed.
• Restructured more than 45 large schools into sets of smaller learning communities to increase accountability and accelerate student achievement.
• Created and developed more than 40 public charter schools by helping schools with applications, renewals, Board development, facilities development, and resource development.
• Developed a network of more than 220 public schools to identify and adapt best practices through inter-visitations, study groups, peer workshops, and conferences.
• Launched Project BOOST, a comprehensive after-school program that has led to increased admissions of mid-level performing middle school students into quality high schools.
• Partnered with four New York City middle schools to implement the ECASS: 21st Century Community Learning Centers. These Centers, which are funded through three-year 21st Century Community Learning Center grantsfrom New York State, were established in 2008 and use an innovative plan to accelerate students’ academic progress and youth development.
• Created an assistant principal leadership development program to train and develop assistant principals to better support curriculum and instruction in their schools.
• Led a national public school choice program funded through a three-year grant from the United States Department of Education and implemented in major cities in the northeast and midwest.
• Helped launch school reforms in Argentina, Chile, Israel and Great Britain that adapt best practices from CEI-PEA’s work wtih U.S. urban school systems.
• Established online resources and communications tools for public schools, including www.indiecharterschools.org, which delivers blogs, message boards, information hotline, a resource library and videos of promising practices for independent charter schools as well as any educator interested in leading-edge practices in public education.

CEI-PEA is led by nationally-recognized educators who have all worked in public school systems as teachers, principals, superintendents and central administrators. CEI-PEA provides both direct technical assistance and network-based assistance to help improve the skills of teachers and school leaders, increase parent involvement, and channel cultural and academic intervention programs into public schools.

Miracle in East Harlem: The Fight for Choice in Public Education

by Seymour Fliegel (Author) , James MacGuire (Collaborator)

In 1973, Community School District 4 in East Harlem was, by many parameters, the worst school district in New York City. Only 16% of the students read at grade level, and truancy was rife. Fifteen years later, 63% of students were reading at grade level, and parents from outside the district were enrolling their children in its schools. How a small band of educators accomplished the feat--which garnered for one principal a MacArthur prize--is exhaustively recounted by Fliegel, who served as the first director of District Four's Office of Alternative Schools, and MacGuire, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Among the dramatis personae are a cavalcade of Board of Education figures, including ex-school chancellor Anthony Alvarado and present chancellor Joseph Fernandez. The authors present a depressing picture of Board of Ed politics and bureaucracy. The key to District Four's success, we're shown in this inspiring study, was the establishment of mini-schools with specialized curriculums and allowing students to choose which school to attend.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

More on the outfit here:

Categories of Programs & Initiatives

• School Networks
• Services to District-based Public Schools
• Services to Charter Public Schools
• After-school and OST Programs
• Public Outreach & Engagement
• School-Community Partnerships

All Programs – Listed Alphabetically

• Career Technical Education
• CEI-PEA Luncheon Series
• Charter School Technical Assistance Center
• Colman Genn Lecture Series
• ECASS: 21st Century Community Learning Centers
• Financial Literacy
• Leadership Development
• Network of Independent Charter Schools
• Partnership for Mental Health
• Partnership Support Organization for NYC Schools
• PICCS: Partnership for Innovation in Compensation for Charter Schools
• Project BOOST
• Restructuring of Large Schools into Smaller Learning Communities.

Someone

Fearing change, principals lobby de Blasio to protect networks

Videos: PS 106

The fancy prom.



video I shot at the school on Jan. 13, 2014

Farina Punts on PS 106 Story

Teachers ought to try working the hours PS 106 principal Marcella Sims did and see if they get the same reaction from Farina. What I find outrageous by the coverage is the ignoring of the way Sills destroyed the careers of teachers. Once again the DOE seems to be sliding into a "defend principals" at all costs. Shame.

 

Where is the accountability of Superintendent Lloyd-Bey who covered up for Sills for a decade? A teacher called today to tell me about how Sills removed her from her licensed reading instruction job and when she wrote letters to everyone, including Joel Klein she was called in to meet with Lloyd-Bey and Cashin who some say was Sill's protector. Cashin told Lloyd-Bey to offer the teacher the same job at another school for the rest of the year to shut her up. The teacher took the job but when she came back to PS 106 the next year Sills left her off the organization sheet the entire year and an experienced teacher in reading support spent most of the year sitting at PS 106 doing nothing but getting paid. All this known by Lloyd-Bey and Cashin. Nice work if you can get it,

'Students are learning' at P.S. 106, Fariña says

By Eliza Shapiro
8:10 p.m. | Jan. 13, 2014
Despite "significant room for organizational improvement," schools chancellor Carmen Fariña said Monday evening, P.S. 106 is functioning.
Fariña issued a statement after she dispatched deputy chancellor Dorita Gibson to visit the school, which the New York Post reported was a rat-infested wreck where the principal is rarely seen and students spend the day watching television.
Fariña said a field staffer will visit the school weekly to ensure that organizational changes are implemented. "We are going to relentlessly support this school and marshal our resources until we see the results we expect from our students," she said.

PS 106 Update: Councilman Donovan Richards Blames Sandy in Attempted Sills Coverup

Reporter to parent: Do you know the principal?
Parent: I've never seen her.
Reporter: You've never seen her? How long has your child been in the school?
Parent: Over a year.
Reporter turns to me and shakes his head with an incredulous look..... Ed Notes/WAVE coverage, Jan. 13, 2014

BloomKlein empowered principals. So, what’s a little forgery? ... Ed Notes/The Wave, Feb. 2008

PS 106: Desolation Row

I just returned from PS 106 where reporters told me City Councilman Donovan Richards was trying to cover principal Marcella Sims' ass by blaming school lack of resources on the Sandy storm. Richards does not seem aware of the many years of complaints about Sills' decade-long transgressions.

I was also interviewed in my house this morning by Telemundo TV -- love to see how I look in Spanish -- keep an eye out and let me know.

Some pics I took this afternoon -- my pal Joel drove me down due to my bad back and we were joined by a former teacher pushed to the edge by Sills --- I kept turning around to see if she stopped smiling.

The press is there

Sandy-damaged trailer - DOE did nothing

Principal Sills' hideaway

Sills' special parking spot

One reporter said they are hanging out until Sills walks out -- but she has her BMW tucked away on the side of the school inside a locked fence. I told him he may have a long wait - maybe she has a tunnel.

I will post more later as info has been coming in showing Supt. Lloyd-Bay is up to her ears in coverup. And a teacher just called saying she actually met with Kathy Cashin about this school when Cashin led Region 5 and in essence hired Sills - though we think Lloyd-Bay was the mover. She said Lloyd-Bey sent over district goons to mess with her. Other teachers may be calling soon too -- I am funneling them to the reporters I meet who I like.

Sue Edleman in the Post did a follow-up today - see below - about the cotillions parents had to shell out for. One reporter told me a parent was getting him pics of Sills in her fancy gown.

I also thought you might find this piece I wrote for The Wave Feb 8, 2008.

Norm in The Wave:

by Norman Scott

There’s a story floating around about a recent visit Randi Weingarten made to PS 106 in Rockaway to address the issue of whether Principal Marcella Sills deserves designation as one of the UFT’s top ten “Principals from Hell.” Weingarten was not happy when she was forced to go upstairs to sign in, Sills’ way of showing her who was the boss. Weingarten said she was going to complain about the way Sills treats teachers (and most other people) to good buddy Kathy Cashin, who appointed Sills. Lot of good that will do since Cashin is currently fairly powerless (we’ll see where she stands when the post BloomKlein smoke clears) while running a Learning Support Network where she has to hustle to get client schools.

At least one teacher at the school claims there are records of observations in her folder signed by her that never took place, and that she never signed.

If you believe the stories going around the school community, there may well be more than one teacher involved.

The Wave worked on that story in June (2007?), at the end of the last school year, but the teacher involved, who acknowledged to a Wave editor that Sills had indeed forged the teacher’s name to bogus evaluations, refused to go public, saying that the school investigator was going to take care of the problem and she did not want any further trouble from bogus ratings.

BloomKlein empowered principals. So, what’s a little forgery?

I had my own run-in with the haughty Sills a few years ago. She sure is a snappy dresser – I guess she doesn’t have to worry about little kids clutching at her with affection. I came to the school to give teachers leaflets from the opposition caucus, ICE, and she denied me access to the mailboxes, one of the few principals in Rockaway to do so. She used the term, “Not in MY school.” I should have asked to see her deed.

Ironically, the literature was critical of Randi Weingarten and the UFT leadership. But no matter how critical of Weingarten I’ve been, when it comes to the Battle of the Queen Bees, I’m rooting for Randi on this one.

And Sue's NY Post article today below the break
http://nypost.com/2014/01/13/worst-principal-forced-poor-kids-to-pay-for-bizarre-bash/

Exclusive: PS 106 Library Funds Diverted by Sills as Llloyd-Bey Ignored Complaints

I'm heading down to PS 106 right now for The Wave - I was just interviewed in my house by Telemundo who sent their truck over to the school. I just got a call from a teacher who told me how the school was allocated about 3 grand a year for books but the books never arrived. Someone complained to Superintendent Michelle Lloyd-Bey every year and she did nothing. So no wonder there is no functioning library - beside the fact that a highly qualified librarian was working in the school.

Farina Responds to NY Post on PS 106 Rockaway Story Which Was 6 Years Behind Ed Notes/WAVE Stories

Capital NY is reporting that Carmen Farina is already responding to the Post story on PS 106 in Rockaway (see below) in contrast to how Tweed, Region 5 and Superintendent of District 27 Michelle Lloyd-Bey not only ignored but protected Marcella Sills when we wrote about PS 106 and its Leadership Academy principal in the past - March 11, 2008.

One of the stories about Sills I wrote about was her forging a teacher's name on a fake observation. The teacher was so outraged she called the cops and notified the higher ups. It seems Sills wanted to give the teacher a low rating but never observed her so she just made one up and signed it for the teacher. The upper uppers protected Sills.

Oh, and where was/has theDistrict 27 and Queens UFT been on this decade old story? Well, Randi did do a show visit but no follow-up.

PS 106 Redux.   I have links in that story to a running account I kept on PS 106 news on my other blog, here.

I have a friend who left teaching rather than work one more day under Marcella Sills, her career in ruins from a nasty, vindictive Sills who took money specifically geared to a program and used it to -----fill in the blank.

But this story is not new to us.
Read it all but here are some quotes from my March 2008 ednotes piece:

Will the PS 106 story ever die? Guess not. There’s so much going on – much of which we can’t write about to protect people from retaliation. To summarize: My Feb. 8 column (Queen Bee Meets Queen Bee) talked about Randi Weingarten’s visit to the school where she was not given the warmest welcome by principal Marcella Sills, who has created a war-like atmosphere in the school between her and many teachers and teachers and parents. We also reported the charges by teachers that she forged their names to observations that never took place. A week later, The Wave printed a story abut a parent protest over some things Weingarten supposedly said at the meeting (PS 106 Parents: UFT Says 'Sabotage Test Scores'), which was looked at as a vote of confidence in Sills, though few parents attended the protest (the PA president pointed out the low turnout was due to the short notice given to parents who have to work.) Some teachers feel the “protest” had Sills’ fingerprints all over it. Teachers report that of the things Sills did upon taking over the school was drive out the old PA and put in her own brand, but this is standard operating procedure for many principals in schools without a very active parent base.

Sills is a graduate of the dreaded Leadership Academy, where prospective principals are trained with an attack dog mentality to go after experienced (higher salaried) teachers using certain techniques that may include water boarding. Baum better wear a scuba mask. You know the drill: immediately target some teachers for harassment, mostly senior, to put fear into the rest of the staff and start forcing people out. If you have to use forgery, go right ahead. Bring in younger inexperienced, teachers who will be easily intimidated.

So how funny to read Susan Edelman's "expose" in today's post regarding PS 106 principal Marcella Sills -- by the way, appointed when Kathy Cashin was in charge if Region 5. Let's call out the network and Superintendent Michelle Lloyd-Bey, one of the major sluggettes in the DOE for a very long time -- we wrote a lot about her too in the past but these people just seem to linger for ever no matter what they do.

Sue Edelman adheres to the Post support for darling Joel Klein and Tweed who put Sills into power and empowered her to live the life of a Queen Bee. And she doesn't call out any of the people who should be questioned. (Watch the Post try to pin this on Farina and de Blasio.)

Superintendent

LLOYD-BEY, MICHELE

and the network people.

CHILDREN FIRST NETWORK 531

COLAVITO, WILLIAM/Blaize, Joseph

WColavito@schools.nyc.gov; JBlaize@schools.nyc.gov Cluster 05 (CEI-PEA) CL53

Cluster Leader Name	Cluster Leader Title	Cluster Leader Phone
MALDONADO, DEBRA	Cluster Leader	718-935-2480

Someone should also question Kathy Cashin to see what she knew and when she knew it.

Here is the Capital City Hall piece on Farina response:

Fariña sends deputy to P.S. 106 after 'Post' report

By Eliza Shapiro
7:20 p.m. | Jan. 12, 2014
Schools chancellor Carmen Fariña will send a deputy chancellor to P.S. 106 on Monday in response to a New York Post article that called the Far Rockaway school the city's "worst."
In a statement released Sunday, Fariña said she spoke with Mayor de Blasio about the report on Sunday and will have deputy chancellor Dorita Gibson report back on the conditions at P.S. 106 as soon as possible. "What was reported in today's news account is unacceptable, and if true will be immediately addressed," Fariña said.
The Post reported that the school's principal is often absent and that students spend most of the day watching movies.
Read the Post story here: http://goo.gl/YEH4ap

And the NY Post piece below the break.

My Comment on Ravitch Defense of Randi

Diane,
I support your choice in defending Randi (Why I Defend Randi). When you changed your mind the turnaround has had an immense impact. But you as an academic affected policy. Randi's positions had a direct impact on the working conditions of teachers. As a union leader her pushing of positions that turned out to be wrong emasculated the union membership's ability to fight back against the forces attacking public education. She bears some major responsibility in helping enable NCLB and especially RTTT.

As members of the local union she led for a decade and the national union she now leads we have an obligation to question the kind of decision making that led to so many turn-arounds on poor decisions that not just affect us theoretically but the very nature of what public education has come to mean. I can speak as one who as far back as the late 90s and early oughts urged the Randi to take a position on high stakes testing with resolutions I put up at the Delegate Assembly only to get the most adamant defense of those practices that have so harmed us. I should point out that I raised the story of Chicago where the process began in 1995 and by 2002 around the time Arne Duncan replaced Paul Valas we had enough info to make an informed decision. Yet Randi continued to make deformer decisions and crippled the one organization with the resources that had the capability to lead the fight. With this latest turnaround my sense is she should hold a Chris Christie like press conference and apologize to every AFT union member for the entire enchilada of errors. I would forgive her but never trust any of her decisions in the future to be correct, given her past.

One of my teacher friends just posted this:
"Good that she's changed her mind. But she needs to use her position to ACT. She needs to speak to Obama and Duncan. She needs to sit down with Cuomo and Tisch and King. She needs to pull our districts out. She needs to apologize for the horrible contracts she helped negotiate. We in the trenches have this CCLS yolk around our necks. Our children are being crippled academically and teachers are being rated under them. Those, like Randi, who can should get to those powers and get education...public, private and otherwise back on track and demand the funding and changes in economics that will make education the best it can be across this country. Sitting on a panel defending herself is not going to bring about change!"

Susan O's Saturday Night Special

Just made my self-imposed deadline to try to post an Ohanian piece on Saturdays.

We have a couple of cartoons:
Get on the Bus! http://susanohanian.org/cartoon_fetch.php?id=871
Love of Books Never Stops http://susanohanian.org/cartoon_fetch.php?id=870
Susan
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 Data Amok: Pearson's aimsweb Behavior Module
Jim Horn  and Susan Ohanian
Schools Matter
2014-01-05 http://susanohanian.org/data.php?id=535
Beware of Pearson bearing solutions. This is very scary.
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Test Your Knowledge of Common Core Regionalisms
Susan Ohanian
blog
2014-01-05 http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=653
How well does this test of Common Core regionalism reveal where you're from? Answer the questions to find out.
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Chicago School Rations Bathroom Visits to Help Prepare for Common Core Tests
Anthony Cody with Ohanian screech
Education Week: Living in Dialogue
2014-01-04 http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=652
This administrative memo, offering another use for stop watches besides DIBLES testing, is so ignorant it is almost funny.
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New York Parent to Mrs. Obama: Save Our Children!
Jill Berardi
Diane Ravitch blog
2014-01-03 http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=651
A mom's plea to Mrs. Obama to help save kindergartners from an hour of Common Core homework a night.
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Common Core backlash casts shadow on future testing in NC
Lynn Bonner
News & Observer
2014-01-02 http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=650
The North Carolina legislature in its budget prohibited the Board of Education from spending any money on new tests linked to the standards. Now what? Of course the arguments of wanting to know how their children rank nationally are hypocritical and I explain why.
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State Deal To Give Media Organizations Student Data Alarms Privacy Experts
Ann Dornfeld
KUOW.org
2013-12-19 http://susanohanian.org/data.php?id=533
In the continuing saga of Bill Gates doing what he damn well pleases, the Foundation has given a grant to the Seattle Times to mess around with Washington State student test data.
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To the editor
Stephen Krashen
Wall Street Journal
2014-01-09 http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1629
Stephen Krashen's fine letter reminds us that people oppose the Common Core for very different reasons.
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This Dad Transformed A Daily Routine Into A Magical Way To Love His Kids. I Can't Stop Smiling!
Megan McCormick
Distractify.com
0000-00-00 http://susanohanian.org/show_yahoo.php?id=849
In 2008, David LaFerriere decided to surprise his kids at school by drawing on their lunch sandwich bags. The results will make you smile.
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Effects of Inequality and Poverty vs. Teachers and Schooling on America’s Youth
David C. Berliner
Teachers College Record
2013-12-01 http://susanohanian.org/show_research.php?id=544
Berliner concludes that poverty should never be an excuse for schools to do little, but poverty is a powerful explanation for why they cannot do much! I applaud his conclusion that we should concentrate on getting people decent jobs and reducing inequality in income.
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----------------------
Order the CD of the resistance:
"No Child Left Behind? Bring Back the Joy."
To order online (and hear samples from the songs) http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/dhbdrake4
Other orders: Send $15 to
Susan Ohanian
P. O. Box 26
Charlotte, VT 05445

Sexy Bitch-gate: Fred Smith - A Sonnet on SED’s Glorious Ineptitude

King's Sexy Bitch Quizzes are to NY what Christie's Traffic Problems are to NJ!.. CTS listserve

Just when you think it can't get any better after the NYSUT call for a no confidence vote on John King, it does.

Leonie wrote:
Yesterday a parent, Anna Shah, found a link on the NYSED Resources page to a series of tests, including one called the "Sexy Bitch" exam, and blogged about it here. Beloq is a screen shot of the NYSED page as of yesterday.

The last line links to this page, where you can see a series of inappropriate "tests", including the "sexy bitch" exam. After much tweeting and public discussion last night, NYSED has taken down the entire Resources page.

It appears that NYSED has vetted its "resources" about as carefully as its exams and curriculum modules. Anna will be on WNBC news tonight talking about this, yet another instance of SED's supreme carelessness.

Leonie, Fred and the crew from Change the Stakes were on the case with Fred commissioned to write "an ode to NYSED's #Pineapple, #EngageNY sex chat line and #sexybitch exa.

And Fred came through with flying colore, which Leonie posted here: http://shar.es/9OnT1  and I do below.

Leonie wrote:

Pei-Sze Cheng of NBC Manhattan did some interviews and the piece is supposed to run tonight (Saturday) on NBC! Please take a peek and share the info - this is getting big!

ICYMI, Commissioner King Endorses "Sexy Bitch" Quizzes as Fun Test Prep For NY Students!

NYSED took the website and the pages down and tried to erase the evidence, but all the facts, evidence and screen shots have been memorialized on my blog!...

Btw, the entire resource page on NYSED's site is gone -- getting a "page not found" message -- but here it is so we can remember. ;-)

Here is pure Fred Smith

A Confession and A Sonnet to Ineptitude

Folks, before I attempt a feeble effort to relate SED’s latest fiasco with past embarrassments, there’s something I must confess.  As my test score reveals, I’m an honorary sexy bitch (HSB, if you will). So, I’m outing myself before my name and results are published in the tabloids.

The beauty of the SB test is that it is computerized and provides instant results and a personal message:

“You got 115 points.  Congratulations! We hereby bestow upon you the honorary title of 'Sexy Bitch.' We are quite proud of your ability to manage through life. Odds are you are intelligent, successful, witty, popular, well-cultured....and, most important, you are one sexy bitch! Call us and you can come along for Lesbian Night any time that you want!”

I’m aglow in my boa. I responded to the test’s 10 items randomly and I scored 115—enough to cross the threshold of sexy bitchiness. Imagine if I really tried; I could have been a Level 4 diva. And since the test is now core-aligned it means that late in life, I’m 2^nd-career ready or prepared to go back to college without the need to take a remedial course in bitchiness.

The thing about Lesbian Night and the fact that I don’t own stilettos makes me a bit skeptical about the validity of the test.  Don’t get my nails done either.  But I’m giving away too much information about my biases and ignorance concerning the habits of SBs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Sonnet on SED’s Glorious Ineptitude

The Pineapple story was one big mess

About a sleeveless fruit that couldn’t race.

So bad it was deleted from the test;

A screw-up bringing Pearson much disgrace.

Last year Tom Dunn was called on to explain

Engage New York’s odd tech help innovation.

Seems folks were seeking log on help in vain,

But got engaged in sex line conversation.

And now we learn EngageNY was hacked

So Tisch will set up a web site task force

To prove ‘twas not security they lacked

Let crude tests pose as Common Core resources

But this is InBloom’s well-deserved death knell.

Thank you, Leonie. Ring the final bell.

May soccer moms from everywhere rejoice,

And special interests from Poughkeepsie smile,

And New York City raise its mighty voice.

What’s right still wins every once in a while.

~fred

Is Mulgrew Left Twisting in the Wind With NYSUT/Iannuzzi Move for No Confidence in John King?

Is NYSUT/Iannuzzi a stalking horse for UFT/Mulgrew?

[NYSUT President Iannuzzi] said the NYSUT Board of Directors will meet within the next two weeks, and he feels confident they will approve his request. The resolution will then go before the union’s full representative assembly in April – assuming, Iannuzzi said, that if by that time its call for a three-year moratorium on using Common Core exam results for so-called “high-stakes decisions” on teacher evaluations has not been heeded. -- NYState of Politics

NYSUT has been among the loudest critics of the state's rollout of the tougher standards and has pushed for a three-year moratorium on using student scores on Common Core-aligned for “high stakes” decisions, like teacher evaluations.... Capital NY 

Note how the UFT, the elephant in the room, is left out of the discussion. The press doesn't try to get a comment from Mulgrew or speculate on the implications?

Will the UFT/Unity crowd go along? Of course is the obvious response -- doesn't Unity control NYSUT? Isn't Mulgrew using Iannuzzi as a stalking horse so he doesn't have to take responsibility? Hmmm. Velly interesting. Maybe not.

Something interesting is brewing. Mike Mulgrew has expressed his love man crush for John King and deep affection for Merryl Tish over the years. Remember: Richard Iannuzzi is not from NYC and is not homegrown Unity, though he could not have got elected as president without Unity support. The UFT has always allowed the NYSUT president to come from outside the city -- Iannuzzi is from Long Island - but control many of the mechanisms within NYSUT -- check out the web page for details: http://www.nysut.org/about/board-of-directors - 
but for those who don't, see the end of this piece for the rogues gallery - how many Unity people do you know?

So if Shelly Silver doesn't push the 3-year moratorium on common core, Iannuzzi says he will bring this to the NYSUT Rep Assembly - April 4-6 at the NY Hilton where 800 of our fave Unity slugs get a free junket with meal money. I never go to these but this one might be fun.

Here are 2 reports:
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/01/8538595/union-president-calls-no-confidence-vote-ed-chief


http://www.nystateofpolitics.com/2014/01/nysut-will-seek-no-confidence-vote-on-king/


Officers and Board Of Directors of NYSUT


Officers At Large
president richard c iannuzzi
Richard C. Iannuzzi
President
Executive Board Member
  executive vice president andrew pallotta
Andrew Pallotta
Executive Vice President
Executive Board Member
 vice president maria neira
Maria Neira
Vice President
Executive Board Member
  vice president kathleen donahue
Kathleen M. Donahue
Vice President
Executive Board Member
 secretary treasurer lee cutler
Lee Cutler
Secretary Treasurer
Executive Board Member
Election District Directors
Donald Benker
E.D. 1
Executive Board Member
 
Janet Utz
E.D. 2  
Thomas Parker
E.D. 3  
Joseph Sweeny
E.D. 4 
Adam Urbanski
ED 5
Executive Board Member
 
Michael Herlan
ED 6  
Sylvia Matousek
E.D. 7  
Diana Giffune
E.D. 8 
Jeanette Stapley
E.D. 9  
Anthony McCann
E.D. 10  
Kenneth Smith
E.D. 11  
Stacey Caruso-Sharpe
E.D. 12
Executive Board Member
Kathleen Taylor
E.D. 13  
Paul Ellis-Graham
E.D. 14  
Karen Magee
E.D. 15  
Jeffrey Yonkers
E.D. 16 
Kenneth Ulric
E.D. 17  
Barbara Hafner
E.D. 18  
Christine Vasilev
E.D. 19  
John Mansfield
E.D. 20 
Tim Southerton
E.D. 21  
Paul Pecorale
E.D. 22  
Antoinette Blanck
E.D. 23  
Karen Blackwell Alford
E.D. 24 (UFT) 
Jose Vargas
E.D. 25 (UFT)  
Evelyn DeJesus
E.D. 26 (UFT)  
Rona Freiser
E.D. 27 (UFT)  
Arthur Pepper
E.D. 28 (UFT) 
Emil Pietromonaco
E.D. 29 (UFT)  
Anthony Harmon
E.D. 30 (UFT)  
Bob Astrowsky
E.D. 31 (UFT)
Executive Board Member
 
Catalina Fortino
E.D. 32 (UFT) 
Paul Egan
E.D. 33 (UFT)  
Michael Mendel
E.D. 34 (UFT)
Executive Board Member
 
LeRoy Barr
E.D. 35 (UFT)  
Iris DeLutro
E.D. 37 (City & Private Higher Ed.) 
Steven London
E.D. 38 Steven London  
Ellen Schuler Mauk
E.D. 39 (Community Colleges)
Executive Board Member
 
Edward Quinn
E.D. 40 (State Higher Ed. – UUP)  
Rowena Blackman-Stroud
E.D. 41 (State Higher Ed. – UUP) 
Thomas Matthews
E.D. 42 (State Higher Ed. – UUP)  
Philip Rumore
E.D. 44  
Catherine Savage
E.D. 45  
Matthew Hill
E.D. 46 
Loretta Donlon
E.D. 51 (Retiree)  
Joan Perrini
E.D. 52 (Retiree)  
Thomas Murphy
E.D. 53 (Retiree)
At Large Directors
Kristin Sterling
E.D. 1 & 3  
John Burns
E.D. 2 & 44  
Eileen Healy
E.D. 4 & 46  
David DeFelice
E.D. 5 & 6 
Paul Farfaglia
E.D. 7 & 8
Executive Board Member
 
Rod Sherman
E.D. 9 & 10
Executive Board Member
 
Dona Murray
E.D. 11, 12 & 45  
Carla McLaud
E.D. 13 & 14 
Patricia Puleo
E.D. 15 & 16
Executive Board Member
 
Selina Durio
E.D. 17-20  
Edward Vasta
E.D. 18-19  
Nadia Resnikoff
E.D. 21-22-23
Executive Board Member
Richard Farkas
E.D. 24-25  
Howard Schoor
E.D. 26-27  
Carmen Alvarez
E.D. 28-29  
Michael Mulgrew
E.D. 30-31
Executive Board Member
Janella Hinds
E.D. 32-33  
Sterling Roberson
E.D. 34-35  
Barbara Bowen
E.D. 37-38-39
Executive Board Member
 
Phillip H. Smith
E.D. 40-41-42
Executive Board Member
Joseph McLaughlin
E.D. 51-52-53  
Shelvy Young Abrams
At-Large
Executive Board Member
 
Margie Brumfield
SRP At-Large  
Sandra Carner-Shafran
SRP At-Large
Executive Board Member
Catherine Rienth
SRP At Large  
Deborah Paulin
SRP At-Large  
Anne Goldman
Health Care At-Large  
Stephen Rechner
Private Sector Higher Ed At-Large 
Andrew Sako
Community College At-Large  
Morton Rosenfeld
At-Large National Unification 

Video: Diane Ravitch at PS 15 in Red Hook, December 11, 2013

Here is the release of the video shot by Darren Marelli of this wonderful event.

A Conversation with Dr. Diane Ravitch at Red Hook's PS 15, December 11, 2013 with an introduction by Carmen Farina.

The PS 15 community was so thankful for Diane Ravitch having taken the time to speak and it highlights her deep commitment to neighborhood schools. While she has recently come under criticism for not offering solutions, she not only offers a plethora of solutions in her book, but also visits communities across the country, and like she did at PS 15, praises what we all know are the solutions for our schools: collaboration, parent empowerment, rich programming and curriculum, and educators who work, despite obstacles, to create schools that are centers of community. And also with much appreciation to Carmen Farina for her participation and chairing "Friends of PS 15 Committee for the last three years and for her participation in this event.

https://vimeo.com/m/81959289

Lisa Donlan on Charter Co-Locos, Rent and More

"The Republican Democratic agenda in Washington doesn't even scratch the surface of the inequities facing more than a million children in our public schools," de Blasio DID NOT say in a statement after Cantor's remarks. In his statement, de Blasio DID NOT call the national Republicans' Democrat's stance on education a "dangerous philosophy that turns its back on public education, and it has failed many times before." ... WHAT DeB Left out

Of course NY State law requires that all charters pay rent. Bloomberg made an exception for his buddies... Rosalie Friend

Let's be clear -- parent choice overwhelming rejects charters school co-locations in public school buildings but in the world of ed deform only a certain minority of parents backed by billionaires get "choice."

Lisa Donlan (parent activist from the Lower East Side -CEC1) responded to my post De Blasio to Eric Cantor: Go Screw Yourself where DeB took a major shot at Republican ed policy, leaving out his compadres in the Democratic Party - esp given that at the very moment Cuomo was proposing the very Republican program deB is opposing. I posted it late last night and sometime in the middle of the night I woke up thinking: every single thing deB said could be applied to most Democrats. But we are giving Bill a big pass on this given that he IS a Democract as is Mark-Viverito, so let's leave room for so-called progressives.

Back to Lisa, who so often dashes off responses on listserves that are almost perfect stand alone blog posts. If she wasn't so busy I would work on her to co-blog here at ednotesonline as she brings a much-needed parent/community activist point of view. My commentary is embedded in [ ].

How many school districts give away space (esp of the magnitude and RE value of NYC) to privately managed charter schools? Klein invented the practice and led the way, actually using "free rent" as an enticement to encourage charter expansion in NYC as recounted here:

http://www.saintannsny.org/dev/images/alumniInTheFieldSaintAnnsSchool.pdf

In 2002, Mayor Michael Bloomberg won control of the city’s school system and asked to be judged based on his reform of it – something which most NYC politicians dismissed as political suicide. His first act was to appoint as Chancellor Joel Klein, a public-school kid from Queens whose stellar career included heading the Justice Department’s attack on the  Microsoft monopoly. 

To introduce choice and accountability into the system, Bloomberg and Klein  encouraged the creation of 45 charter schools within the city. A charter school is a public school [NOT IN MY BOOK] – there is no tuition, and most of the funding comes from the state. But it is run by a board of private citizens and operates under a charter that can be revoked for  poor performance. 

Intrigued by this, I met in the fall of 2002 with Chancellor Klein to ask whether he was serious about letting private citizens run public schools. “Serious?” he asked at our 

first meeting. “We need public charter schools to show the other public schools how  accountability works. Would it be easier for you to start if I gave you free space in a public school building?”

Funny how Bloomberg's election and popularity were used to justify so many bad policies and practice yet when the shoe is on the other foot the same cheerleaders take the opposite stance.

Lisa

Yes, Lisa. They all wanted mayoral control - Students First and all the ed deform crew pushing it up the kazoo. So when a mayor exercises choice they don't like they go wild. I am not supporting deB's continuation of mayoral control here because even with a mayor you might like we don't want all the decisions in one hand -- can you imagine the pressures this guy is under from every special interest -- good, bad or ugly --

I don't want that kind of system where people with the most say or influence or money get their way. Imagine a system where the Student Firsts of this world had to lobby 32 different school entities?

Ahhh, the good old days where we saw the special interets (including our pals at the UFT) having to race to every part of the city.