Looming Battle: Mulgrew vs Iannuzzi For NYSUT Leadership - Split Over Cuomo Endorsement?

Oh, the tangled web at NYSUT and the UFT. A very intriguing story is emerging in what has been viewed as a monolithic UFT dominated NYSUT (NY State United Teachers). Some of this is hearsay and we may have follow-ups with new information and new interpretations over the next few days. But here is what we have heard so far. (WARNING- YOU MAY HAVE PROBLEMS WADING THROUGH THIS WEB -I'M STILL WORKING MY WAY THROUGH IT ) BUT IF YOU HAVE INFO LEAVE A COMMENT).

Few have questioned that the UFT/Unity Caucus has been running the state teachers organization, NYSUT, since it was founded in the 70's and Al Shanker installed Tom Hobart as a front for President, with himself as Exec VP. The UFT/Unity leadership has always wanted the NYSUT president to be someone from outside NYC to give the impression that the UFT isn't in complete control -- Unity Caucus in NYC has about one third the total NYSUT delegates -- the very same 7-800 Unity people that were elected in the winner-take-all UFT election in March 2013.

I should point out something I recently learned: that the statewide caucus is also called Unity - the only game in town - in other words, there is no equivalent like MORE to run against it in elections. This is similar to the national AFT where Unity is known as the Progressive Caucus, also pretty much the only game in town.

When Hobart retired Dick Iannuzzi was installed as President and the UFT's Andy Pallotta, a Bronx Unity Caucus staffer, as Exec VP. The other 3 VPs are split with 2 from outside NYC and one from the local NYC Unity. The other NYSUT VP from the local NYC Unity Caucus is Maria Neira, who has always garnered the respect of most UFT members, even those from the opposition.

Let me give you some more background. When Randi Weingarten emerged as Sandy Feldman's successor c. early 1990's, the highly respected Alan Lubin (many of us in the opposition also liked him) who was the Brooklyn Borough head and a popular choice for Sandy's heir apparent was "kicked" upstairs to NYSUT as Executive VP. But it turns out this position is the real power in many ways in NYSUT in that the person in charge controls the massive amount of COPE money going to politicians. More important than the president in some eyes, Lubin had free reign on the use of this money so he was a major power broker in Albany.

But Alan had a heart condition I believe and retired -- (I saw him at the AFT convention in Seattle and he looked great and here's to continued good health to him.) So that was how Andy Pallotta was elected Exec VP - the NYSUT elections are every 3 years with the next one taking place this April at the NYSUT convention which will be held here in NYC at the Hilton April 4-6, 2014.

With Lubin no longer riding herd and Andy Pallotta viewed as somewhat of a weak link, Dick Iannuzzi assumed a stronger role in managing the COPE money and didn't give Andy the same unlimited range Lubin enjoyed. Lubin supposedly despises Iannuzzi and remained a prop to Andy as resentment soared. The story is that Dick put a 50 grand limit to Andy's spending.

Then there was what seemed some head-scratching differences between NYSUT and the UFT arising when Dick Iannuzzi began to take some positions against the evaluation system, common core and raising a greater share of criticism of the State Ed Department - Tisch and King in particular with his call for "no confidence -- while Mulgrew was relatively silent. In essence, Mulgrew has been forced to take a more critical stance than he might have wanted to. (See Eterno's DA report on the MORE and ICE blogs where James' call for a non-endorsement of Cuomo was rejected by the Unity faithful - and to see just how bad Cuomo is for us read the daily reports at Perdido Street School.)

Then there's the Cuomo endorsement factor. Iannuzzi seems flat out opposed to a naked Cuomo endorsement. Then this came in over the transom.

On November 21, 2013, Andy Pallotta, in charge of legislative action, used Vote Cope money to make a $10,000 donation to "Cuomo 2014". The purposes of this was to purchase an entire table at Cuomo's birthday celebration.  An entire table, in lieu of just sending one or two people (or none!).  This was done without Iannuzzi's knowledge.

Word is that Mulgrew is backing a slate to run against Iannuzzi and all the VPs (including the UFT's own Maria Neira who seems to be backing Iannuzzi with the exception of Andy Pallotta. They have a hand-picked candidate to oppose Dick (more on all that in a follow-up.)

Then the other day an anonymous Twitter account and Facebook page was created with the handle @ReviveNYSUT.  They are calling for a change in NYSUT leadership. The tweets are anti-Iannuzzi and seem to be coming from people who would normally be allied with us but insiders have challenged them for being phony shills for the Mulgrew/Pallotta team since they attack Dick but not Andy. We received this message:

THE ACCOUNT IS ANDY PALLOTTA.  The Mulgrew/Pallotta crew is behind it.

With tweets like this:

1. Sashammy ‏@Sashammy 2h

   @CNYTeacher @ReviveNYSUT & because they call for change yet leave one of our most ineffective "leaders" in place
2. Sashammy ‏@Sashammy 12h

   @ReviveNYSUT @NYSUnionTeacher @nysut nice try. take pallotta off your slate then come talk to me about grassroots.

And to top it off, a new Facebook page appeared called  ReviveNYSUT Lies which is calling out the supposed Mulgrew choice to oppose Iannuzzi, Karen Magee:

At tonight’s ED 15-16 meeting NYSUT Presidential candidate Karen Magee said nothing to her constituents about running for NYSUT President. Nothing! Does this mean she is afraid that she doesn’t have the support of her region?? Maybe she feels that she doesn’t need it because she has the support of the UFT or maybe the UFT has not given her permission to talk about it yet.

And this:

Good News: There are some independent candidates looking to run for the Executive Vice President position if he does not resign soon.

There could be a contested election for NYSUT leadership with Mulgrew leading the charge against Iannuzzi.

Officers and Board Of Directors

Officers At Large

• 
  Richard C. Iannuzzi
  President
  Executive Board Member
• 
  Andrew Pallotta
  Executive Vice President
  Executive Board Member
• 
  Maria Neira
  Vice President
  Executive Board Member
• 
  Kathleen M. Donahue
  Vice President
  Executive Board Member
• 
  Lee Cutler
  Secretary Treasurer
  Executive Board Member 
   
  NYSUT Election District Directors:
   

  NYSUT Election District Directors

  Of 84 election districts -- 53 plus 31 at-large, UFT connected - the names I recognize - and I may be missing some -- total 21 - all of them the usual suspects. Those who won't support the Unity move against Iannuzzi may face opposition for their position.
  

  • 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

   

My Old District in the News

Oy, the stories I could tell. There was a time when some people urged me to start my car by remote control.
But these stories are a bit beyond the pale and surprised even jaded old me --- except .... never mind.

Educator Who Allegedly Sexually Abused Students Ran for City Council

By Meredith Hoffman on September 9, 2013 9:19am 

@Merhoffman

http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130909/east-williamsburg/educator-who-allegedly-sexually-abused-students-ran-for-city-council

Juan Martinez was accused of sexually abusing students at Progress High School.

View Full Caption

New York City Campaign Finance Board

EAST WILLIAMSBURG — The well-regarded educator accused last week of forcing his student to give him oral sex in his Williamsburg office ran for City Council twice and has ties to prominent North Brooklyn politicians, sources and public records revealed.
He also previously led the entire North Brooklyn school district and served on the community advisory board for Bushwick's Woodhull hospital, sources confirmed.
Juan D. Martinez, 51, sexually abused students at East Williamsburg's Progress High School while leading an after-school program he founded there in 2009 and 2011, an investigation by the Special Commissioner of Investigations for the New York City School District alleged last Wednesday.
And Martinez — whose alleged actions were denounced by the Department of Education as "reprehensible" last week and whose case is now being examined by the Brooklyn District Attorney's office — not only had a position of power within the school, but he has a history of influential roles in the district.
Martinez ran unsuccessfully for office in North Brooklyn's 34th District in 1991 and 2001, receiving donations from Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, the United Federation of Teachers, and dozens of staff from the Department of Education and Woodhull Hospital, campaign finance records show.
And just last year in politics Martinez worked on State Assembly candidate Jason Otano's campaign, whose kick-off party Martinez co-hosted along with other members of the North Brooklyn political sphere, according to sources and a Facebook invitation.
Martinez "is considered a North Brooklyn power broker...[who] used his position as the head of Progress, Inc. to not only boost his own political career but those of many others as well," a source with longtime knowledge of the neighborhood said.
Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez donated $100 to his campaign and the UFT contributed $1,000 in 2001, records show, and Martinez collected a total of $183,083 for his campaigns.

Progress High School is part of the Grand Street Campus on the corner of Grand Street and Bushwick Avenue. The former assistant principal allegedly raped and molested students in his office in the school.

View Full Caption

DNAinfo/Meredith Hoffman

Martinez also served as the president of North Brooklyn's School District 14 for five years, sources confirmed, and he served on Bushwick's Woodhull Hospital community advisory board.
Martinez — who was accused of the abuses along with the former assistant principal of Progress High School, who was also accused of rape — was also the founder of Progress Inc., the after-school program at Progress High School where he worked during the alleged incidents.
Martinez, whose case has been referred to the Brooklyn District Attorney's office, did not answer multiple calls requesting comment, and the United Federation of Teachers and Woodhull Hospital did not return calls and emails requesting comment.
Otano also did not respond to emails requesting comment.
A spokesman for the Brooklyn District Attorney's office said they were looking into the case, and the Department of Education did not comment on the new findings but said Martinez was ineligible for jobs with the agency following the release of the Special Commissioner of Investigation's findings.
A spokesman for Velazquez would not comment on questions about her affiliation with Martinez, but said she called on the DA's office to "thoroughly and carefully review the findings."
“We all have a responsibility to keep our children safe. The...report raises troubling allegations and, if proven true, there can be no tolerance for this type of behavior," the Velazquez spokesman said. "Should the DA determine there is evidence supporting the report’s findings, the parties involved must be held legally accountable.”

Andrew Theodorakis/New York Daily News

William Abreu, 44, formerly an assistant principal at Progress High School in Brooklyn, has been indicted on charges accusing him of raping a 17-year-old girl in 2009 who had recently graduated from the school.

Two educators at a Brooklyn high school were arrested Wednesday after being indicted on charges they each forced a teenage girl into engaging in sex acts with them, authorities said.
William Abreu, 44, formerly an assistant principal at Progress High School in Williamsburg, is accused of raping a 17-year-old girl, who had recently graduated from the institution, in his office in 2009, according to city investigators.
Juan Martinez, 51, a former administrator of an after-school program at the school, is accused of compelling a 16-year-old student to perform oral sex on him in 2011, investigators said.

Both men were collared by police on Wednesday morning after grand juries returned indictments against them based on extensive investigation by authorities.

Special Commissioner of investig

Juan Martinez, 51, a former administrator of an after-school program at Progress High, was indicted on charges that he forced a 16-year-old student to perform oral sex on him in 2011.

The Department of Education’s Special Commissioner of Investigation Richard Condon found evidence that the men committed the vile acts, a determination that tipped off a police investigation, authorities said.

Documents from a report prepared by Condon in 2012 detailed how Abreu and Martinez allegedly colluded to force the two victims to submit to the sexual conduct and to keep quiet about it afterward.
RELATED: TO SIR, WITH LUST
The two victims came forward following the 2012 report, and their cooperation led to the indictments against the men, officials said.
Abreu was ordered held in lieu of $25,000 bail when he was arraigned on the indictment Wednesday. He was indicted on a single felony count of third-degree rape. He was also charged with misdemeanor raps of third-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.

Google

Progress High School for Professional Careers in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Martinez was being held in lieu of $35,000 bail. The indictment against him included three felony counts — criminal sex abuse in the first and third degrees, and sexual abuse in the first degree. He also was hit with misdemeanor counts of third-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.
RELATED: MUSIC TEACHER ADMITS TO MOLESTING STUDENT
Abreu was canned by the DOE in November 2013. Martinez was barred from the school following Condon’s report.
Both men pleaded not guilty at arraignment Wednesday.
Frederick Spiegel, an attorney for Abreu, said his client denies the charges. “He’s a family man. He’s been a working man his whole life.”
Spiegel noted that Abreu is married and has four children; his wife was in court with him on Wednesday.
Martinez’s lawyer said his client professes his innocence.
bchapman@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/2-ex-educators-indicted-sex-acts-students-article-1.1580991#ixzz2qip7lnb8

PS 106 Update: Retired Teacher Writes to Farina About Principal Marcella Sills' Leadership

When will Farina end the misery? If this were about teachers they would be out of there in the blink of an eye. Let me point out once again, that this information has been out there for many years and the NY Post missed it -- until their pals BloomKleinCott were gone. And by the way, that licensed librarian who put so much into the library and the school and was a wonderful teachers is a friend of mine. (There's even more to that story that makes Sills look even more disgusting than she even appears here but I won't go there now.)

Was this school in a devastated area of Rockaway flourishing before Sills arrived? Surely not. But it was a solid school community that Sills as a Leadership Acad grad went in to consciously destroy. In my world that is a criminal act.

Chancellor Carmen Farina 52 Chambers Street New York, NY 10007 January 16, 2014

Dear Chancellor Farina,

I am a retired Reading/ Writing teacher of District 27Q. I worked at P.S.106Q for about twenty-two years, providing AIS under six principals. (I have enclosed my resume so you have an idea of who I am, and how I have served the children and staff in my district.)

I must tell you how thrilled I was to hear that the new Chancellor of NYC DOE was a person of integrity that “came up through the ranks” of the education system. It is this fact, and your reputation of course, and the recent revelations in the media, that have inspired me to pen this letter to you.

I am one of the teachers who was unfortunately disrespected, abused and suffered greatly under the incompetent leadership of Principal Marcella Sills at PS 106Q. As a matter of fact, at this writing I am still involved in a grievance against Ms. Sills going back to 2009 and awaiting resolve of the issue. Ms. Sills neglected to sign and send in a Medical Leave form that I completed and gave to the payroll secretary. Ms. Sills actually claimed that she never received it. This is a grave untruth and I have a signed statement from the school payroll secretary, stating that she indeed gave her the form for signature. As a result of Ms.Sills’ negligence and deliberate retribution, I now suffer the consequences of possibly losing this grievance.

This would result in a loss of three months of pension monies. I am currently repaying the DOE for minus attendance days of my last year of service, during which time I struggled with breast cancer and underwent several surgeries.

I and my colleagues were quite disheartened by the appointment of such an unknowledgeable and incompetent school administrator (graduate of the PLA), to PS 106. It is the opinion of the majority of staff, those who left, were forced out or chose to retire as early as possible from PS106, that this Principal was unintelligible, dishonest, uninterested in the students and their well- being, and simply vicious toward others.

We did make several attempts to follow protocol via the UFT, to gain DOE notice of what was happening at PS 106, but alas to no avail. None of the staff members could understand how Ms. Sills remained in her position after exhibiting pedagogically poor judgment in decision making and a lack of basic pedagogic knowledge; (not to mention the inability to write or speak coherent and grammatically correct English). We have all been appalled at what the NYCDOE considered an appropriate “leader” of an educational facility.

After Hurricane Irene flooded our Early Childhood Academy, we were never asked to submit any lists of professional and teaching materials that were destroyed. Nor were we asked what we needed in basic supplies for our classrooms. Surely, any competent school administrator would have done so, and would have attempted to obtain resources from the DOE and community at large. I can’t even begin to list the injustices to the children, parents and staff of PS 106, that were incurred as a result of ineffectual leadership over a period of eight or more years.

While serving on the SLT, we were never privileged to see a copy of the budget for PS106. It was as if we were lame duck committee members. We felt that our school should have had a financial audit under Ms. Sills, but it never happened. We were told there were no funds for supplies in the past few years, despite the fact that Ms. Sills ordered in hot breakfasts and lunches for staff and a catered BBQ at the end of the school year, which took place on the schoolyard.

There are a few catering places that refused to deliver to our school again, after Ms. Sills did not remit the incurred expenses. In the past three years, parents were requested to purchase reams of copy paper along with their children’s school supplies, so that teachers could duplicate teaching materials. What happened to all the funds amassed from the daily sale of ice cream at the school? Why weren’t these funds directed to purchasing a store of school supplies for families that could not afford to purchase any for their children?

Under Ms. Sills as principal, parents were asked to pay $12 to cover the costs of buses and a movie ticket for a June excursion to a movie theater. (Note: there are no free buses in June.) Was it an educational event? Was it an appropriate film for all grade levels? Can Pre-K and Kindergarten children sit that long in a movie theater? Was it necessary to send the entire school to a movie on the day the fifth grade had their stepping up program, (which was out of the building)? This is an example of how funds were disbursed at PS 106.

Ms Sills chose to close the PS106 Library. The library was sorely needed as a source of available free books to our students, many of whom were not taken to the Public Library by their parents. For several years, the library remained unused and the licensed librarian on staff was assigned to a classroom. What happened to the allocated funds to purchase new books for our library?

The IEP teacher hired personally by Ms.Sills, a friend of her mother’s, is totally unknowledgeable and incapable of the tasks required of his position. Yet, he is there as one of the Principal’s “cheer leaders”. This can be validated by all personnel involved with assessment, SBST, and Special Education.

On a personal note, for one entire school year, Ms. Sills refused to list my name on the Organization sheet and did not allow me to provide needed AIS services, in what was perceived as retribution for filing a grievance with the UFT. I did receive my salary for the year, but the students in the primary grades did not receive any support instruction in literacy that year. The grievance went as far as meeting with the Principal at the American Arbitration Association in New York City.

Ms.Sills, however, did not appear and claimed she had a family emergency. Please be aware, that Ms. Sills was at school instead. The city had to pay the cost of the appointed meeting. At the beginning of the next school year, Ms.Sills gave me the use of a small storage closet to use as an instructional area. I was able to make use of the space until the Fire Department declared it unsafe for children.

It is probably not beneficial to continue to list more examples of what appears to be poor leadership; you may be well aware of other examples yourself. I feel certain you will conduct a thorough investigation, including the apparent cover-up by District 27 leadership, of Ms. Sills’ actions and her gross incompetence as a principal of a NYC school.
 
Thank you for your ear.
Respectfully,

Miriam Baum Benkoe Retired Reading Teacher 

PS 106 Update: Why There's No Payroll Secretary

Who is responsible from above Marcella Sills after a decade of this kind of stuff? Will the NY Post blame Farina?

From a source:

Our last payroll secretary who had retired teturned to PS 106 part time after being begged by [Principal] Sills to return. But Sills was so nasty to her and treated her with gross disrespect. Finally the payroll secretary told her she was leaving due to the way Sills treats her and speaks to her. On her way out of the office  the secretary got a call from Sills who screamed at her to leave her school building or Sills would summon the police!  No school secretary lasted under Sills and there hasn't been a payroll secretary nor any other at PS106 in several years. Sills actually placed school aides in the office and assigned them to secretarial duties including handling confidential files and paperwork.

Press Advisory from City-As-School present recommendations on the future of NYC education for Mayor Bill de Blasio at “Performance-Based Education”

This was organized by my friend and fellow MORE steering committee member John Antush. John's mind never stops working.


City-As-School High School
16 Clarkson Street  New York NY 10014
Alan Cheng, Principal

For Immediate Release: January 8th, 2013
Contacts:  Kimberly Acosta (student): kimberly.acosta.13@cityas.org

Naomi Richards (student)
John Antush (Teacher): Johna@cityas.org
Tel: 212.337.6884

Press Advisory

City-As-School High School students present recommendations on the future of NYC education for Mayor Bill de Blasio at “Performance-Based Education” Conference.

Students from the “Economics and Education” class at City-As-School will host a school-wide “Performance-Based Education Conference” where they will highlight their recommendations for the future of the public school system. Mayor Bill de Blasio, Chancellor Carmen Fariña, elected officials, and other guests have been invited. Students will also showcase what performance-based education looks like through both large and small scale performances held in the auditorium and various classrooms within the school.

These presentations are representative of the performance-based model that City As School follows which includes portfolio presentations and hands-on internships throughout the city.

Student recommendations include:

• 1. Give Alternatives to Standardized Testing; 
• 2. Provide More Access to Performance-Based Education; 3. Replace Suspensions with Social Intervention; 
• 4. Provide Adequate Funding for the School System. Students will be available for interviews to talk about their experiences.

Where:  City-As-School High School 16 Clarkson Street  New York, NY 10014

When: Friday, January 17th, 2014.

9:45am-10:45am - Auditorium

Students present a sum up of their recommendations for Educational Policy.

Creative performance by students from a class called “Immigration Today.”

10:45-11:45 - Workshops in various classrooms.
Students present papers and lead discussion on their educational policy recommendations.

In other classrooms students present projects and papers from classes and internships.

11:45-12:15pm, Art Show and Refreshments.
#
--
Resource Coordinator,
City-As-School High School
212-337-6884

The Daily Howler On NY Times Confusing Farina Story

Do you understand that story? We don’t! If the school [PS 6] was so good when Farina was assigned there, why did it need a “renaissance” or an “upward swing?” If Farina was tasked with bringing the school “to an even higher level of performance,” why did it need to “blossom?”
... Daily Howler

While I generally liked the Javier Hernandez story on Farina, I to was puzzled by this contradiction the Howler points to. Here it is in full. I love it when he takes down the Times -- which is about every 5 minutes.




The attempt to report skool newz: In a report from today’s front page, Javier Hernandez profiles Carmen Farina, Mayor de Blasio’s choice to head the New York City schools.
In the following passage, Hernandez describes a promotion Farina received after she was identified as an outstanding teacher:

HERNANDEZ (1/15/14): Ms. Fariña’s results had caught the attention of top New York education officials, who in 1991 offered her one of the most difficult jobs in the school system: principal of P.S. 6, a 900-student school in the heart of one of the country’s wealthiest ZIP codes.
The elementary school had long been synonymous with prestige and academic excellence; it counted former Mayor Robert F. Wagner, the rock star Lenny Kravitz and the actor Chevy Chase among its graduates. The challenge was bringing P.S. 6 to an even higher level of performance without alienating a demanding group of parents: doctors, lawyers and building superintendents among them.

Already, we’re puzzled. As described, it’s hard to imagine how P.S. 6 could have been “one of the most difficult jobs in the [New York City] school system.”

That said, the report only becomes more puzzling as Hernandez labors on. Eventually, he writes this:

HERNANDEZ: P.S. 6 blossomed under Ms. Fariña, surging to become one of the city’s top 10 schools in reading and math scores, which Mr. de Blasio trumpeted in announcing her appointment as chancellor. But it is difficult to say how much she contributed to its renaissance.
The school’s upward swing began before Ms. Fariña arrived, city testing data shows. During her tenure, there was also an influx of wealthier families and a simultaneous decline in the number of poor children.
In 2001, the year Ms. Fariña left the school, 7 percent of students came from impoverished backgrounds, compared with 12 percent a decade earlier. And the proportion of white students had grown to 80 percent, from 72 percent.

Do you understand that story? We don’t! If the school was so good when Farina was assigned there, why did it need a “renaissance” or an “upward swing?” If Farina was tasked with bringing the school “to an even higher level of performance,” why did it need to “blossom?”
Presumably, no deadline pressure afflicted this piece. Hernandez’s writing just doesn’t make sense. Editors at the New York Times routinely miss such problems. 

Leonie on MSNBC On Why Charters Should Pay Rent

My appearance on MSNBC and Daily News oped: Why de Blasio is right to charge rent to co-located charters:

A  shortened version of the oped below is published in today's Daily News; along with the StudentsFirst opposing view. Also below is my brief appearance Saturday on Melissa Harris-Perry Show  on MSNBC. 
--Leonie Haimson

During his campaign for mayor, Bill de Blasio promised to focus the city’s energy and resources on improving our public schools instead of encouraging the further growth of privately managed charter schools.

More at http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2014/01/my-appearance-on-msnbc-and-daily-news.html
 

NY Post Editorial Tries to Shift Blame for PS 106 From Bloomberg to de Blasio

It was pretty clear to me that with the history of PS 106 having been out there (on ednotes and The Wave) for over 6 years) Sue Edelman and the Post waited until the real culprits were out of office and could no longer be held accountable.

Mike Bloomberg’s education policy wasn’t perfect, or PS 106 wouldn’t have fallen through the cracks as long as it did. But Bloomberg was pretty clear about what he wanted to do with failing schools: He wanted to close them down.... NY Post Editorial

This was as clear a hit job as we've seen. In as an astounding an editorial one can imagine, the NY Post today managed to ignore a decade of BloomKlein mismanagement of schools like PS 106 and protection for principals like Marcella Sills who as a Leadership Academy (Klein's Rosemary's baby) went after teachers with a vengeance.

It was pretty clear to me that with the history of PS 106 having been out there (on ednotes and The Wave) for over 6 years) Sue Edelman and the Post waited until the real culprits were out of office and could no longer be held accountable before publishing the story so they could now say:

All of which makes PS 106 an excellent field trial for de Blasio’s education “reforms.” If he and his chancellor are unwilling to close down a school as rotten as this one, surely they have an alternative that will turn things around quickly. We emphasize quickly — because children stuck in failing schools today can’t afford to wait years.
Chancellor Farina says the situation at PS 106 is “unacceptable.” The mayor admits it’s “deeply troubling.”
But it’s something else, too: It’s their problem now. And they’ll be judged on whether they can fix it.

Maybe Farina and de Blasio will come up with the kind of solution other than closing the school: remove a principal that was allowed to rise on the very back of the BloomKlein deforms that defended almost any principal no matter how awful and bring in the resources that a real principal will know how to use for the benefit of the children instead of for a personal political agenda like Sills did. (We'll get to the library destruction story another time.)

PS 106: Telemundo Video Report - Including Me Not Speaking Spanish

Reporter Pablo Gutierrez got in touch after googling my articles on PS 106 from 2008 (something Sue Edelman of the Post didn't do) and since he and his cameraman were on the way out to Rockaway they stopped over at my house to interview me. Then these hard-working guys spent the rest of the day around the school and caught Marcella Sills leaving. I can't understand Spanish but they got a bunch of parents to speak.

I hear Sills was with her lawyer -- it must be Take Your Lawyer to School Day.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3_vtDw4VBc



Here are some more stills:

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.