The Nation: The Absurd NY Tabloid Propaganda War Against de Blasio's Reasonable Charter School Policies

...The New York Post's false attacks on de Blasio and charter schools.... The Nation

I have more on the anti-Eva counterattack -- but with no strong response from de B it all goes for naught. How weak is de Blasio/Farina turning out to be? I predicted that charters won't pay one dime in rent. RBE at Perdido points this out and how deB is already pretty much a one-term mayor --- guess who will challenge him? I say Eva.

Here is the article from The Nation. I'll follow with Juan Gonzalez' piece soon.


reprinted at alternet

March 6, 2014  |  

 

This article first appeared in the Nation and is reprinted here with their permission.

Last week, the de Blasio administration declared war on charter schools, at least according to the New York Post. Governor Cuomo rushed to the barricades, telling a rally in Albany yesterday: “We are here today to tell you that we stand with you.… You are not alone. We will save charter schools.”  Families for Excellent Schools, who organized the rally, claimed the Mayor's decision was met with universal opposition and characterized the move as the back end of a quid pro quo with the teachers union for endorsing the mayor.

Wondering what actually happened? The de Blasio administration released a memo reviewing forty-nine co-location decisions made last fall by the lame-duck Bloomberg administration. A co-location is when two schools occupy the same building, and it’s been a controversial aspect of the charter-school movement. Many charters, which usually serve fewer special ed or bilingual students than regular public schools, get free rent on space in the regular public schools that charter advocates so often disdain--often space that the regular school needs..

De Blasio’s chancellor, Carmen Farina, set aside four of the decisions that won’t take effect until the 2015–16 school year to give more time for study. It ordered thirty-five of the forty-five remaining plans implemented. It called for one to be revised. And it cancelled nine planned co-locations. Six concerned regular public schools, which also often co-locate. Three were for charters.
All three of those cancelled co-locations were for charters proposed by Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy network. Her defenders see that as proof that the mayor, a long-time critic of Moskowitz, was singling her out. But given the aggressive expansion plans of the Success network, it’s not that surprising that she has a large presence on the list. 

Moskowitz will now need to find space for those students, including some already attending Success Academy’s Harlem 4, which had outgrown the two other co-located sites it was using. Given that Success Academy is rolling in money—Moskowitz reportedly pulls down $475,000, more than the president of the United States—it seems likely she’ll come up with something. Contrary to the shorthand way some have reported it, de Blasio didn’t rescind the schools’ charters—he couldn’t—he just said they can’t use public school space.

(And for the record, the teachers’ union did not endorse de Blasio but his chief rival Bill Thompson in the Democratic primary. The UFT did back de Blasio in the general, along with the rest of the universe.)

Overall, fourteen charter-school co-locations—including five Success Academy ones—got the green light from Farina.

Full disclosure: I’m a charter-school parent. 

Oh, oh -- read about that aspect here.

----

But mostly it seems like everyone is just playing to the script. Charter-school advocates have been waiting for de Blasio to drop a daisy cutter on them. And they’re reacting as if he did, when in fact his administration rendered a pretty modest and narrow decision, especially given the sprawling ambition of the Bloomberg-authorized co-location wave it was reacting to. The de Blasio DOE’s touch was so light, in fact, that Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Public Advocate Letitia James have said they’re going ahead with a lawsuit to challenge some of the co-locations the de Blasio administration approved.

Unfortunately, that will just perpetuate this unproductive argument about charter schools. It’d be better to move on, treat charters as the minor part of the system they are, and figure out what to do for the 94 percent of public school kids who don’t attend charters. The lawsuit just gives the governor another opening to swoop in and “save” charter schools. Yawn.

Sorry, it is better not to move on and allow these cancers to grow inside public schools.

Read Next: Joseph Featherstone reviews a new book by charter school advocate-turned-critic Diane Ravitch.

Support and Criticism for de Blasio from from Anti-Charter Wing

How weak can they get? I voted for de Blasio in the primary because of the poor options. But when it came to the general election I just couldn't do it and wrote in the name of a real reform Staten Island activist who is running for the state board of regents. I'm so glad my instinct that deB would cave won out.

Perdido Street School  
De Blasio Caves To Eva - That didn't take long, did it? City education boss Carmen Fariña retreated in the charter schools fight on Friday, saying the city is now searching for spa...

Raginghorseblog

Moskowitz Again Uses Children As Political Props and Tabloids Cheer - For the third time in as many years, Eva Moskowitz, czarina of the Success Academy charter school empire and heroine of the campaign to privatize our publi...
Leonie Haimson writes:

See Interview w/ Fariña below by Juan Gonzalez below where he writes: “She’s even studying the facts. In the case of PS 149, for example, the Education Department officially projected that the co-location of Success Academy would produce enrollment at 132% of capacity. What idiot bureaucrat plans for an overcrowded school?”

Sorry to say 12 of the co-location proposals that she is allowing to go forward will push the school building to 100% utilization or more; which we know is an underestimate of the actual level of overcrowding, since the Blue Book utilization formula does not properly capture the need for smaller classes, art and music rooms, programming of lunch at reasonable hours, access to the gym, or the need for specialty rooms for mandated services to students with disabilities.

See the PEP agenda for even more co-locations to be voted on in May.

http://schools.nyc.gov/AboutUs/leadership/PEP/publicnotice/2013-2014/SchoolProposalsMay62014PEP

http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/1DD21B74-8CFD-415B-8200-7F9F3B324068/160134/EISRevisionX030Colocation_vfinal.pdf

Under the “revised” co-location of American Dream charter into PS 30 in the Bronx, the building is projected to go to 123-141% capacity!

She also says: “She won’t keep approving small schools that only require more high-paid supervisors to run them.”

But most every new school she is approving require not just more space, but more administration, including high-paid principals, etc., wasting money on bureaucracy that could go to hiring teachers for smaller classes.  We have seen a huge explosion of spending on out =of-classroom positions the last ten years, with a sharp decline in the number of teachers, causing ever-increasing class sizes.

RELATED: BILL’S ORPHANS

What idiot bureaucrat plans for an overcrowded school?

Click here: Gonzalez: Mayor de Blasio is not being overly harsh on charters, he's just not letting charter administrators do w

Gonzalez: Mayor de Blasio is not being overly harsh on charters, he's just not letting charter administrators do whatever they want

In the battle with Eva Moskowitz over charter schools, Mayor de Blasio is only restricting Moskowitz's power and putting limits on her control over the interests of city school children.

Comments (3)

David Handschuh/New York Daily News

Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña said that under the Bloomberg administration, Eva Moskowitz could do 'whatever she wanted.' Not anymore.

Nothing personal, says Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña, but there will be no more favored treatment for Eva Moskowitz and her Success Charter Network.
During an extensive interview Thursday, Fariña explained her decision on whether to move ahead with 45 new schools the Bloomberg administration had approved to open this September in public school buildings.
In the end, Fariña gave the green light to 36 of those co-locations, including 14 new charter schools — a number some public school advocates consider too high.
RELATED: CUOMO TURNS HIS BACK ON CITY KIDS
Fariña even approved five of eight new charter schools sponsored by Moskowitz’s Success Academy network.
In only one case did she deny a planned expansion of an existing school — killing Success Academy Harlem Central Middle School’s plan to move 194 middle school students into PS 149 on W. 117th St.
So the notion being bandied about by Moskowitz, and in newspaper ads and television commercials sponsored by the charter school lobby, that Mayor de Blasio is “axing” charter schools and denying parents the program of their choice is pure nonsense.
RELATED: CHARTER SCHOOL RUMBLE: EVA MOSKOWITZ VS. MAYOR DE BLASIO
It’s just that Moskowitz doesn’t get to call the shots anymore. “She was allowed to do whatever she wanted” in the past, Fariña said, but the days of “favorite treatment” are over.
Our new chancellor is actually listening to all sides .
She’s even studying the facts. In the case of PS 149, for example, the Education Department officially projected that the co-location of Success Academy would produce enrollment at 132% of capacity.
RELATED: BILL’S ORPHANS
What idiot bureaucrat plans for an overcrowded school?
“The people who did these space assignments were not educators,” Fariña said.
From now on, she will apply four criteria in reviewing proposed co-locations. She won’t put elementary and high schools in the same building. She won’t keep approving small schools that only require more high-paid supervisors to run them. She won’t approve co-locations that require expensive renovations of school properties.
RELATED: MAYOR DE BLASIO IS JUST LIVING UP TO CAMPAIGN PROMISES
And, most importantly, she won’t allow reduced services or seats for special education students.
“These are the most vulnerable and highest needs kids in our system,” Fariña said, but “they were the first kids to lose space or be moved” under the prior administration.
No one is happier about her policy change than the parents and staff at the Mickey Mantle school, a program for autistic and emotionally disturbed children that was slated to lose space and seats to the proposed expansion of Success Academy.
RELATED: CHARTER SCHOOL FAMILIES LEFT SEARCHING
“Our school already lost a music, a theater arts and an art room the past few years,” said Barry Daub, principal at Mickey Mantle. Those losses happened to make room for Harlem Success 1, launched in the same building in 2006.
Mickey Mantle would have lost enrollment and even more space if Fariña had approved the Success Academy expansion.
“We would be doing physical and occupational therapy in the halls,” Daub said.
Yvette Santana, whose grandson Aaron Cruz is a fourth-grader at Mickey Mantle, is furious at the way parents and children are being pitted against each other.
“We don’t want to throw anybody out, but it’s not right to take away the programs our children have,” Santana said.
Fariña’s people say the four middle schools in the 22-school charter network Moskowitz already operates have enough empty seats to absorb the 194 students from Success Academy.
No child is being denied an education. It’s just that one charter network is no longer getting everything it demands.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/gonzalez-de-blasio-letting-charters-article-1.1713687#ixzz2vIfrQoFS

Zakiyah Ansari: Fed up with Cuomo - But is She Fed Up With UFT Assault on NYSUT Leadership for opposing Cuomo?

		Join Zakiyah's Fight! Click Here To Sign The Petition Demanding Governor Cuomo Fully Fund Public Schools in NY State Dear Norm, I want to pass along this email from Zakiyah Ansari, public school parent and Advocacy Director for the Alliance for Quality Education. She is furious with the governor's abandonment of public schools in this state, and you should be too.  Read her story, and sign her petition: Best, Greg Basta Deputy Director New York Communities for Change I'm angry! Governor Cuomo claims to be the “students' lobbyist,” but his actions tell a different story. For the last four years, he has severely underfunded New York's public schools leaving public school students with limited opportunities and diminished abilities to compete. Then, just this week he vowed to divert funding to privately-run charter schools, which make up only 3% of the student population in the state. He cannot call himself the students' lobbyist when he has ignored the needs of 97% of the students in this state.  We need a Governor that will serve ALL students, not just 3%. I've created a petition that is calling for the Governor to fulfill his constitutional obligation to all students by fully and fairly funding public schools. Click here to sign! For the last four years, Governor Cuomo has kicked our public schools around like a soccer ball. He has forced them to make painful decisions, like having to choose between offering music classes or Kindergarten. This is absurd! Schools shouldn't have to choose between the very basics and students shouldn't be missing out on vital opportunities. It seems that Governor Cuomo is more concerned about appealing to his re-election campaign donors, like the Wall Street backers of privately-run charter school, than the students of New York who he claims to be a lobbyist for. I will not stand idly by while he undercuts the future of a generation of students! Will you join me in holding him accountable to his constitutional obligation to educate every student? Sign the petition.  In solidarity, Zakiyah Ansari, Advocacy Director of the Alliance for Quality Education

CamiGate II - Continues to Threaten Tenured Newark Teachers

Just read this horseshit.
Effective means you had 6 weeks training from TFA. Remember that contract Randi and Cami signed a year and a half ago? Why not just ignore it? The waiver she is asking for apparently violates the modified state tenure law, but why quibble?

---

From: Superintendent Anderson
Sent: Friday, March 07, 2014 11:32 AM
To: Teachers - ALL
Subject: Update

Dear Teachers,

As I have shared in many conversations, brown bag lunches, press articles, and informal briefings over several months, NPS is facing a serious budget shortfall. As student enrollment has fallen dramatically and is projected to continue falling, we must make difficult decisions. I assure you, we delayed teacher layoffs as long as possible by making cuts to central and administration budgets. But, we are at a point where we must plan for the future and, unfortunately, that will require reducing the size of our teaching force to match the size of student enrollment.

Layoffs are difficult and I realize that some of you will be personally affected. Unfortunately, we have no other choice.  As a result, I am now trying to make sure that as we conduct them, we do so in a way that is least disruptive to our students’ learning.

Current state regulations would make this bad situation even worse by forcing us to completely ignore teacher effectiveness in making layoff decisions and consider only years of service. Therefore, last week, the district asked the New Jersey Department of Education to make performance a key factor, alongside years of service, when making decisions about teacher layoffs.

If the state grants our request, we could ensure our most successful teachers—many of you who have served our city for years—remain in the classroom. I have heard personally from many effective teachers (and national research would support) that good teachers want to work with colleagues who push them to be better. We also know that good teachers have a life-long impact on students. I believe including performance as a key factor is the best thing to do for students and teachers.

Whether or not you agree with me on this issue—and I realize that some of you may not—I want to be clear that we will need to conduct layoffs even if the state does not grant our request. You are likely to have many questions about when layoffs will occur and how many people will be affected. While we don’t have the answers yet, I wanted to reach out to you as soon as possible with the information I do have.

I promise to keep you updated along the way as we learn more specifics. My staff and I will also be hosting Q&A sessions in many schools over the next several weeks and months to update you and clear up any misinformation. Look for more details about these events soon.

During this difficult time, I know you will stay focused on the students in your classrooms and for that I thank you. As always, I deeply appreciate everything you do on behalf of our students every day.

In Service,

Cami

Brooklyn Community Education Councils Slam De Blasio Giveaway to Moskowitz and Other Charters

The Community Education council of District 20 and 21 invites all community members to join them at I.S. 96 Seth Low to Rally on Friday, March 7, 2014 at 2:30 PM.

Imagine if these communities and the principals closed all the schools in these 2 districts so people could attend the rallies.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Community Education Council District 21 calls on Chancellor Farina and Mayor de Blasio to reverse the decision to implement co-location plan for I.S. 96, Seth Low, and I.S. 281, Joseph B. Cavallaro.

            Last Thursday’s announcement regarding the continuance of charter co-locations at I.S. 96, Seth Low, and I.S. 281, Joseph B. Cavallaro, is a major setback for our community.  There was such hope that Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Farina would finally listen to the voices of parents and community members.  Many of us now feel only disappointment and frustration. In the fall of 2013, the Community Education Council District 21 passed two resolutions opposing both co-locations, we have rallied, gone to both PEP meetings and still our voices were not heard.  2014 had such potential for parents and yet again, we have been pushed to the side.  We have been given a promise that they will do things better in the future.  What about the children and their families that are already attending I.S. 96 Seth Low, and I.S. 281, Joseph B. Cavallaro, don’t they count too?  I understand that they based their decisions on families that applied for seats for September 2014 and the deadline was coming.  Our children’s educations should not be about deadlines.  We provide excellent educational opportunities for all children in this district and have seats in our traditional public schools for the children who have applied.  More time should have been taken to visit and speak to schools, families, and community members regarding the co-locations. There is no need to rush putting two more elementary schools in our district. We have and always will supply a high quality education for every child in our district’s traditional public schools.   Mayor de Blasio's plan is to provide full day, high quality Pre-K programs to
53,000 students in 2014. With two elementary Charter school co-locations opening in 2014 in our district, what middle school space can the Chancellor guarantee will be available for these students in the future?

            It’s time to come together once again as a community! Let our voices be heard loud and clear “We say NO to the co-locations decisions on I.S. 96 and I.S. 281, Joseph B. Cavallaro”. The Community Education Council District 21 calls on Chancellor Farina and Mayor de Blasio to reverse the decision to implement co-location plan for I.S.96, Seth Low and I.S. 281, Joseph B. Cavallaro.

The Community Education council of District 20 & 21 invites all community members to join them at I.S. 96 Seth Low to Rally on Friday, March 7, 2014 at 2:30 PM.

Video from PEP meetings where the PEP was slammed by CEC 21:   http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2014/03/brooklyn-rally-friday-to-oppose-de.html

EvaGate: Media Worm Turning on Moskowitz - and Cuomo

...what is potentially precedent setting is Moskowitz’s possibly using taxpayer money given to her school for the purposes of educating kids and using it instead to finance a political protest that deployed those kids as lobbyists for her agenda. Also precedent setting is what this does to the definition of the very term “public school.” Remember, charters are privately administered but they are still classified as public schools for the purposes of taxpayer funding. Yet, Moskowitz is asserting the unilateral right to close her network of ostensibly public schools for the specific purposes of lobbying on behalf of her private organization’s political and economic agenda.... 
...Cuomo proudly attended Moskowitz’s rally, endorsing the possible use of taxpayer money to fund such political protests. Similarly, much of the media coverage hasn’t even bothered to mention the possible illegalities involved in such a move....
 Imagine a traditional public school’s principal unilaterally shutting down his school for a day and then using the school’s buses to take the student body to a political protest demanding more money for that principal....
...What’s different here is the use of an ostensibly public institution – and possibly public dollars – to lobby for private interests, and to do so in a way that uses children as the lobbyists. It is a prospective precedent that no doubt has the school privatization movement and the for-profit education sector rejoicing.... David Sirota

Well it's about time that someone in the media has started paying attention to the crucial illegal, immoral, child abusing actions of Eva Moskwowitz, Cuomo and the charter lobby. Let's hope they rejoice no longer. Always expect them to take the extra mile -- sort of like closing a bridge to traffic for political retaliation.

http://pando.com/2014/03/06/charter-school-leader-pushes-kids-to-become-her-personal-lobbyists/

Charter school leader pushes kids to become her personal lobbyists

By David Sirota
On March 6, 2014

Charter schools have long been loved by the private sector, and the rich. And for good reason.

They are technically public schools, and so they receive lots of public money, but they are privately run, often by for-profit companies. Their ratio of administrative spending to instructional spending is often higher than the ratio in traditional public schools. Though that has left charter schools typically performing no better than traditional public schools, it has translated into a taxpayer-subsidized gravy train of spending on unproven technology from education corporations; it has raised the prospect of major private profits for investors; and it has delivered outsized paychecks for those who run charter networks.

Charter schools have provided much the same jackpot to lawmakers. As just one iconic example, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has traded support for charter schools for massive campaign contributions from the same financial industry that has funded the movement to privatize the public school system. As part of the bargain, Cuomo has at once demonized public school employee pay, while promoting charter school leaders like Eva Moskowitz whose taxpayer-subsidized salaries are far higher than their public school counterparts.

As if all of this wasn’t troubling enough for the future of public education, now it seems the charter school movement is asserting the right to unilaterally shut down their schools and turn kids into campaigners and lobbyists for the charter school industry, potentially at taxpayer expense. Indeed, earlier this week, the New York Daily News reported that Moskowitz, a national charter school icon, announced classes would be cancelled at her 22 taxpayer-subsidized schools and “that hundreds of parents and students will be bused to Albany to protest” on behalf of Moskowitz’s charter school network.

The purpose of the protest was to amplify Moskowitz’s demand that her privately run, publicly funded company be allowed to expand into existing traditional public schools and use public buildings without paying rent. Among other things, that would provide an infusion of public revenue to pay Moskowitz’s $475,000 a year salary. It would provide such an infusion of public cash even though Moskowitz is trying to prevent public officials from auditing her network’s finances.

What is big news here is not a wealthy education entrepreneur using her own political clout to protect her own economic interests. That’s standard operating procedure in American politics.

No, what is potentially precedent setting is Moskowitz’s possibly using taxpayer money given to her school for the purposes of educating kids and using it instead to finance a political protest that deployed those kids as lobbyists for her agenda. Also precedent setting is what this does to the definition of the very term “public school.” Remember, charters are privately administered but they are still classified as public schools for the purposes of taxpayer funding. Yet, Moskowitz is asserting the unilateral right to close her network of ostensibly public schools for the specific purposes of lobbying on behalf of her private organization’s political and economic agenda.

To fully appreciate the significance of the move, consider a hypothetical. Imagine a traditional public school’s principal unilaterally shutting down his school for a day and then using the school’s buses to take the student body to a political protest demanding more money for that principal. That would almost certainly generate a backlash, involving everything from parental outrage, legislative hearings into misuse of public funds and even potentially a criminal probe. And if it happened in New York, it would almost certainly earn a slam from Cuomo.

But that’s not what happened this week. Instead, Cuomo proudly attended Moskowitz’s rally, endorsing the possible use of taxpayer money to fund such political protests. Similarly, much of the media coverage hasn’t even bothered to mention the possible illegalities involved in such a move. Indeed, the only prominent mention of the precedent seems to be coming from New York City councilman Daniel Dromm, who announced he will hold an oversight hearing into “the legality of a school leader closing schools for entirely political purposes.”

Of course, private corporations have long used their workforces and their economic power to try to influence politics. What’s different here is the use of an ostensibly public institution – and possibly public dollars – to lobby for private interests, and to do so in a way that uses children as the lobbyists. It is a prospective precedent that no doubt has the school privatization movement and the for-profit education sector rejoicing.

 

De Blasio Wasting His Charter Election Mandate - It is Time for He and Tish James to Make a Stand

Candidate de Blasio promised he’d start charging well-financed charter schools that got rent-free use of space in public schools. He did not like the idea of two different sets of kids getting different educations under the same school roof. One group gets a quasi-private school with no overhead in public school space.
Grade that F — for favoritism.
Mayor de Blasio is just doing what he promised to do during campaign... There has been a lot of barking over Mayor de Blasio's plans to tax-the-rich to fund pre-K and take a hard line on charter schools that take resources from public school students. But that's what got him elected in the first place... Daily News columnist Dennis Hamill

Finally, a piece that makes this point. Didn't he defeat pro-charter Joe Lhota with 75% of the vote? How inept politically on his part. But Michael Powell in the Times has the wrong take on the ineptness.

He decided last week to let most plans for charter expansion go forward — save for three schools run by Ms. Moskowitz. As a result, many dozens of children are without schools for next fall. Credit is due the mayor. With this decision, he succeeded at the devilishly difficult task of making a martyr of Ms. Moskowitz.

WTF, Michael. You mean deB's mistake was not giving in to everything she wanted? No, his big error is NOT going on the attack -- pointing the money she spends on advertizing, her salary which is higher than his, the chancellor and the president. Or her voracious attacks on schools she occupies. There is just so much stuff out there. But we get silence.

And the charter lobby alliance with Cuomo may well cow the other charter critics like Public Advocate Tish James, who is holding a meeting Saturday regarding this issue (Tish James Calls for March 8 Meeting: Dear CEC, PTA presidents and Elected Officials Impacted by Co-Locations)
and will "update" people on the status of the lawsuit she and City Council speaker Mark-Viverito filed but put on hold. My guess is that they are both being scared off. The James powerful speeches at the PEP meetings (here and here) seem to be turning into little squeaks. Just to remind you, let me run the first James clip from the Oct. 15 PEP.



Dennis Hamill seems to be the only media person who gets it.

So this week, it’s charter schools.
Every week, his sore-loser critics want Mayor de Blasio to break another campaign promise to those who elected him.
De Blasio, a progressive Democrat, ran on a platform of complete reform of the NYPD’s out-of-control “stop, question and frisk” policy under Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. Joe Lhota, his Republican opponent, promised to continue the policy and reappoint Kelly.
The city went to the polls and gave de Blasio about 75% of the vote.

And when de Blasio appointed Bill Bratton police commissioner to implement stop-and-frisk reforms, the mayor’s “shocked, shocked” critics painted him as a Socialist Sandinista who is inviting a return to the bad old days of the crack epidemic.
They wanted de Blasio to break his campaign promise.
This is ridiculous. Especially since under de Blasio/Bratton, this city has already enjoyed a 21% dip in murders during the first two months of the year.
De Blasio the candidate promised to tax the rich a paltry sum to help fund universal prekindergarten in public schools.

When Mayor de Blasio moved to keep that promise, his critics had a meltdown. They preferred a different plan suggested by Gov. Cuomo, who, in an election year, must appeal to a much broader statewide electorate.
De Blasio’s critics got headlines. But they are the minority who either voted for his opponent or did not have the civic pride to vote at all.
Now de Blasio’s sore-loser critics demand he break this campaign promise, too.
And this week, it’s charter schools. 

Candidate de Blasio promised he’d start charging well-financed charter schools that got rent-free use of space in public schools. He did not like the idea of two different sets of kids getting different educations under the same school roof. One group gets a quasi-private school with no overhead in public school space.
Grade that F — for favoritism.
De Blasio’s critics like to point out that many charter school students are minorities. So what? So are most New York City public school students.
The mayor’s critics even resort to making this a contest of how many people show up at rallies in Albany. One thousand people at a pro-de Blasio prekindergarten rally as opposed to 7,000 at an anti-de Blasio save-the-charter-school rally. Both are laughable numbers out of a public school system of 1.1 million students.

But Dennis Hamill gets this part wrong too. People showed up at the Moskowitz rally because SHE WAS ALLOWED TO CLOSE HER DAMN SCHOOLS AND FORCE PARENTS, STUDENTS AND STAFF TO ATTEND.

Not one word about that outrage in the press. What if de Blasio closed Brooklyn schools tomorrow so they could support the rally at Seth Low? Oh, would the press be screaming. 

Hamill finishes with a powerful point.

The only rally that mattered was the election last November.
De Blasio ran as a liberal Democrat on a progressive platform against Lhota. The choice was clear: Turn left or turn right.
De Blasio won in a landslide.
Some rich and powerful people don’t like the people’s choice of taxing the rich for pre-K. The police union doesn’t like the new stop-and-frisk policy. Parents of charter school students don’t like de Blasio’s new policy.

But the people have spoken.
The bottom line is: De Blasio was elected to reform stop-and-frisk, tax the rich to fund pre-K and curb the freeloading charter schools in public school buildings.
Now his sore-loser critics want him to break all those campaign promises.
Which would make de Blasio a phony and a liar to all those who elected him.

The NY Times' Michael Powell has a different slant. While absolutely correct on the inept de Blasio politically on the charter issue, Powell focuses on the Cuomo factor.

“Cat in Albany Is Outfoxing New York City’s Mouse”: “Credit is due the mayor. … [H]e succeeded at the devilishly difficult task of making a martyr of Ms. Moskowitz.” http://goo.gl/h8IY1m

Maybe the problem was with the metaphor.

Mayor Bill de Blasio took office and talked “progressive,” with ambitious plans for an income tax on the wealthy and an increase in the minimum wage. He rallied unions and activists and parents, and the sense was of a dog howling, and putting on notice the bigger dog in Albany.

Two months later, it turns out that the more apt metaphor was of cat-and-mouse.

Mr. de Blasio has taken the role of the impulsive mouse, demanding this cheese and that, and not quite knowing how to end his game. And Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has taken the role of the big cat who can treat the mouse kindly — and, with a whack, send it tumbling back into its hole.

Evidence of the mayor’s diminished state came on Tuesday, when he took his crusade for a tax to fund universal prekindergarten to an armory in Albany a few blocks north of the Capitol. The turnout was not much to boast of, and it was made up mostly of union members who were in town to lobby for various causes.

Continue reading the main story

Related Coverage below the jump

Chris Pavone's "The Accident" Gets NY Times Rave Review

Mr. Pavone writes: “First the web devoured book clubs, then magazines, and now its maw is agape, ravenous, ready to swallow the whole bloody publishing business.” Luckily, unputdownable books like Mr. Pavone’s help keep the business alive and well... Janet Maslin, NYTimes

Chris, who is my long-time friend Vera Pavone's son, hits another home run with his 2nd novel. Since I am way behind on my reading, I didn't get to read his first novel, The Expats, until 6 months ago and it was even better than I thought it would be -- not my usual genre. Chris is appearing at a book signing at a Barnes and Nobles next week but I will be deep into the final rehearsals of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying before our March 14 opening.

Chris Pavone, whose novel "The Expats" won an Edgar Award. Credit Nina Subin

THE ACCIDENT

By Chris Pavone

385 pages. Crown Publishers. $26.

 

Books of The Times

By JANET MASLIN

 Chris Pavone managed to turn his experience in book editing and living in Luxembourg into an Edgar-winning spy novel, “The Expats.” With “The Accident,” he matches that first novel’s nail-biting level of excitement while continuing to write about what he knows. “The Accident” is a thriller about publishing, and if that sounds like an oxymoron, Mr. Pavone is very good at rendering it wildly dramatic.

Continue reading the main story

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/06/books/the-accident-a-new-novel-by-chris-pavone-of-the-expats.html?ref=books&_r=1

Tish James Calls for March 8 Meeting: Dear CEC, PTA presidents and Elected Officials Impacted by Co-Locations

Letitia James is making some noise, but it remains to be seen if that is all it is. The meeting announcement doesn't seem to call for de Blasio to revisit the recent decisions and announces an update on the law suit against co-locos. My guess this is not a good sign.

With de Blasio waffling and shaky on the charter/co-loco issue - see Ravitch - The Big Lie about Mayor Bill de Blasio and Charters - Ravitch gently chides him for handing Eva and the charter lobby almost everything they wanted. Their strategy is working in pushing him off the agenda he was elected for.

The question before the Mayor is whether he will continue to fund a dual school system--one sector able to choose the students it wants--and the other sector serving all. He is trying to have it both ways, and it doesn't work. He gave the charter lobby almost everything it wanted, and they still came after him as if he had given them nothing at all. ...Ravitch

I can't make it as there is a MORE meeting on Saturday followed by a happy hour (MOREistas LOVE happy hours). Here is the James email:

Dear CEC, PTA presidents and Elected Officials Impacted by Co-Locations,

I am writing to invite you to a working group meeting with Public Advocate Letitia James and the plaintiffs of the co-location law suit regarding the status of the Department of Education’s (DOE) planned co-locations.

The meeting will take place this coming Saturday, March 8 from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM at 195 Montague Street, 3rd floor, Brooklyn.  Please rsvp to bsherman@pubadvocate.nyc.gov no later than Friday, March 7^th.

During the meeting, we invite you to share your concerns regarding the process related to Education Impact Statements and engagement with the larger school community around shaping policy and priorities in districts citywide. We will also use this meeting to update you on the status of our co-location lawsuit and review a suggested set of principles to be given to the DOE as criteria to be used moving forward for future co-located schools.

We will then have an open meeting to hear from all parents, teachers, SLTs, CECs and elected officials.

Lastly, we will be holding a press conference to share our new principles with the public and invite you to join us to display our unity in calling for an amended colocation process that strengthens schools and builds a better community.

We look forward to meeting with you on Saturday,

Best wishes,

Letitia “Tish” James

New York City Public Advocate

Event Details

Date:               Saturday, March 8, 2014

Time:               10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Location:         195 Montague Street, 3^rd Floor, Brooklyn

*****Press Conference will immediately follow the event*****

Agenda

10:00 AM – 11:45 AM          CEC, PTA Presidents and Elected Officials Meeting w/Public Advocate James

12:00 PM – 1:30 PM             Meeting to hear from parents, teachers, SLT’s, CEC’s and elected officials

1:45                                         Press Conference       

 

DOE Gives UFT Ed Foundation Over Million $$ Contract to Implement

 Contract Agenda Item 13

Professional development for schools that adapt the New York State P-12 common core learning standards vendor name: UFT-Educational Foundation, Inc. 

Annual amount $1,223,646 Options (renewal options) : none

http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/2E3F10A7-9BC0-4807-8152-A0226C4A0F7C/160165/March182014Agenda.pdf

To be voted on at March 18 PEP at Prospect Hts HS.

Chicago: Testing Opt-Out Capital

In some cases, principals have told teachers they will be arrested if they leaflet parents on the public sidewalks outside their schools, even though the teachers are distributing the materials on their own time.

The explosion of the Chicago Opt Out movement comes despite orders from CPS administrators -- usually "Chief Officers" of the school system's 13 so-called "Networks" (which are what Chicago's sub-districts are currently called -- to principals demanding that the principals bully the parents and children into rescinding opt out forms which have been submitted by the parents.

The Opt Out of the ISAT campaign is distinct from the Boycott Campaign, in which teachers are refusing to administer the ISAT tests. So far, two elementary schools (Saucdeo and Drummond) have announced that their teachers have voted not to administer the tests, while individual teachers at dozens of other schools have confirmed to Substance that they will not administer the tests, usually for what amounts to "conscientious objection.".... http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=4854&section=Article

Great reporting from George Schmidt in Chicago. Note that CORE, the caucus that runs the union - as opposed to the CTU itself - is leading the charge. That would be like Unity doing something like this --- Ok, you can stop laughing.

Chicago parents begin movement to opt out of tests. Stay tuned, the number of opt-outs grows each day. (Visit the article at Substance to see the long list of opt-out schools)
OPT OUT NEWS: Parents at more than 74 Chicago elementary schools have opted their children out of the ISAT tests by the evening before the testing program, which begins March 4, 2014
George N. Schmidt - March 03, 2014
http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=4854&section=Article
Parents at at least 74 Chicago elementary schools (out of roughly 500) have requested that their children be opted out of the ISAT (Illinois State Achievement Tests) testing program as of March 3, 2014. The update on the number of schools where opt outs have been verified was provided by the Chicago Teachers Union on the even of the testing cycle, which is scheduled to begin on March 4, 2014 and extend through March 14. The number of individual children who will be opting out of the test exceeds 1,000 (including the two sons of this reporters, whose elementary age sons attend O.A. Thorp Elementary School).
The Opt Out of the ISAT campaign is distinct from the Boycott Campaign, in which teachers are refusing to administer the ISAT tests. So far, two elementary schools (Saucdeo and Drummond) have announced that their teachers have voted not to administer the tests, while individual teachers at dozens of other schools have confirmed to Substance that they will not administer the tests, usually for what amounts to "conscientious objection."
The explosion of the Chicago Opt Out movement comes despite orders from CPS administrators -- usually "Chief Officers" of the school system's 13 so-called "Networks" (which are what Chicago's sub-districts are currently called -- to principals demanding that the principals bully the parents and children into rescinding opt out forms which have been submitted by the parents. The ISAT program only applies to elementary children, and none of those who have asked to opt out is older than 14 years old to Substance's knowledge. Opt Out is a right of parents.
The pressure on parents to rescind opt out letters has been growing since the movement to Opt Out has grown. Principals have also threatened teachers who have encouraged parents to opt out their children. The threats have included unpaid days off and other sanctions. In some cases, principals have told teachers they will be arrested if they leaflet parents on the public sidewalks outside their schools, even though the teachers are distributing the materials on their own time.
More than 40,000 Opt Out leaflets have been distributed by members of the Caucus Of Rank and file Educators (CORE), since the Opt Out movement began a few weeks ago. Many parents and teachers have also gotten the leaflets duplicated at their own expense. A CORE fundraising benefit at Chicago's Second City helped raise the money to pay for the leaflets that have been helping to build the movement.

The list (alphabetized) as of the end of the school day on March 3, 2014 was the following. The ISAT is only given in the elementary schools, but some high schools (listed at the bottom of the list) have "academic centers" which serve seventh and eight graders.
The Opt Out movement is also being built by several community and parent groups, including More Than A Score, PURE, Parents 4 Teachers, Raise Your Hand, and other groups too numerous to list. Parents and teachers expect the Opt Out movement to expand after thousands of children see their fellow students opting out when the testing program begins on March 4, 2014.

Website URLs.
More Than A Score: http://morethanascorechicago.org/.
PURE (Parents United for Responsible Education): http://pureparents.org/
CTU PRESS RELEASE ISSUED ON MARCH 3, 2014:
ISAT BOYCOTT SPREADS TO 74 SCHOOLS... Parents choose education over indoctrination by opting their children out

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Stephanie Gadlin. March 3, 2014 312/329-6250
CHICAGO - Despite repeated threats and miscommunication from the school district, parents at 74 Chicago Public Schools are opting their children out of the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT). Teachers at two schools, Saucedo and Drummond, said they intend to boycott the low-stakes test when it is to be formerly administered on Tuesday. (Source: More Than A Score: http://morethanascorechicago.org/).

Via robo calls and other scare tactics, CPS officials are telling parents that that if too many parents have their children opt out, the district faces losing state and federal funding. Catalyst Chicago, an independent publication dedicated to education, says: "Loss of such funding is unprecedented and at most it could trigger reallocating funds, but even that is highly unlikely...."

Students are not legally obligated to take the ISAT and parents have the legal right to "direct the upbringing and education of their children."

Dear Ms. Kopp - from a Newark Teacher

Dear Wendy Kopp,

I am in a bit of a jam and I thought maybe you could help me out. State Superintendent Cami Anderson has announced plans to lay off one thousand Newark Public School teachers over the next three years. I do not yet know if I am on the list, but understandably I am feeling very nervous.

It occurred to me that Teach for America could be the solution to my problems. I would like to apply for a teaching position in Newark. I hold a BA from a state university and a standard teacher's certificate. I have over twenty years teaching experience in diverse multicultural urban environments. I have taught every grade from prekindergarten to twelfth grade. My strengths include excellent communication skills and the ability to work well with people from different cultural backgrounds. I would be willing to attend Relay Graduate School of Education at their Newark campus to upgrade my pedagogical skills and I am anxious to move into the Teacher's Village under construction in Newark to form closer relationships with my colleagues.

If you would consider my application despite my excessive experience, my advanced age and my last century credentials, I would be most appreciative. I believe that every child deserves to be taught by an effective teacher and a chance to succeed in life despite being born into poverty. Education is the Civil Right's issue of our generation. I pledge to relinquish one hundred years of union loyalty beginning with my paternal grandmother's membership in the ILGWU for the opportunity to turn myself into a Teach for America scab.

Sincerely yours,

A Newark Teacher 

More Protests Against de Blasio Co-Loco Decision

Press Advisory: JHS 52 families, HSEI families and CEC6 Members call for reversal of decision to co-locate M052

Families from JHS 52 and High School for Excellence and Innovation, Members of CEC6 and the District Six Pubic Education Advocacy Community call for reversal of DOE decision to proceed with co-location of M052 in Inwood, upper Manhattan.  

Press conference tomorrow morning at 9AM outside of school.  Information below. 

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY 

Contact:   Tory Frye (646) 418-6435 

                 Angela Garces (347) 553-9139

*************************************************************************************

                                             PRESS ADVISORY

*************************************************************************************

Who: Elected District Six Public School Parent Leaders
           JHS 52 and HSEI Public School Parents
           District Six Community Leaders
           Public School Advocates

When: March 5, 2014 @9AM

Where: JHS 52 650 Academy Street (Inwood, off Broadway north of Dyckman)

What: Press Conference

Why: Parents Call on Chancellor Carmen Fariña and Mayor Bill de Blasio to Reverse Decision to Co-locate M052, Housing JHS 52 and High School for Excellence and Innovation, with New Career and Technical High School in District Six, Manhattan.

Campaigning for Union Office: An Excerpt from How to Jump-Start Your Union: Lessons from the Chicago Teachers

This looks like one interesting book. I just started reading it. Here is a selection and somewhat of a blueprint for people to use. My advice for organizers: first start in your own schools with an organization sheet and some analysis of where people you work with stand. Then work within districts. Easier said than done but until we see this happening here, Unity will be in power.

Campaigning for Union Office:
An Excerpt from How to Jump-Start Your Union: Lessons from the Chicago Teachers
by Labor Notes

Labor Notes' new book, How to Jump-Start Your Union: Lessons from the Chicago Teachers, shows how activists transformed their union and gave members hope.  This excerpt tells how the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE) campaigned for top offices, and won.

It's one of the universals of organizing -- first you make a list.

Elementary teacher Alix Gonzalez Guevara remembers staying up late transferring data about each school from a district-published book into an Excel spreadsheet: region, address, how many teachers, how many students.

This became a Google document, an online spreadsheet available to everyone working on the campaign.  The schools were grouped by regions.  Within each, a couple of lead activists took responsibility to find people to do outreach at each school.

Whenever someone went to leaflet or hold a meeting at a school, they'd document it in the central spreadsheet.  They also entered their current percentage estimate of support at the school: an educated guess based on conversations with members there, what the delegate (steward) said, and how many had signed the petition to get CORE's candidates on the ballot.

A Typical Visit

24-Hour Bins One simple tool CORE came up with was the 24-hour bin.  A member would volunteer to host a plastic bin outside his or her house in a place where people could get to it at all hours -- on the front porch, for instance, or under the stairs.  The bin would be stocked with the latest flyers or posters. During the campaign there were five of these bins scattered around the city.  The system proved so handy that CORE kept using it for caucus flyers after the campaign was over.

On a typical visit, the CORE activist might spend a half-hour in the parking lot talking with teachers about the issues.

Then she would go inside, chat with the clerk, stuff the mailboxes with the latest CORE flyer, and leave a personal letter for the delegate, with a phone number if he wanted to set up a meeting for candidates to meet teachers and answer questions.

"We had a group of 20 who were available to go debate with the other caucus candidates at the schools," said history teacher Jackson Potter.  "The decentralized approach allowed us to run circles around the opposition, who only deployed the four officers."

Over the course of the campaign, the caucus hit most schools three times and some five times.  The tracking made it easier to prioritize larger schools, ones that hadn't been visited much, those where CORE's forces were weaker, or schools where the caucus wanted to build up a base of potential activists.

At caucus meetings, activists would report on the schools they had visited and pick up five or more new ones. Sometimes they would role-play, reporting what new questions they were hearing and brainstorming how to respond.

Busy, Busy, Busy

But while they were campaigning, CORE activists also continued their push to attend every school board meeting and school closure hearing.  They picketed the mayor, organized marches, and held candlelight vigils.

After all, CORE's activist identity was its campaign platform.  All the events gave the candidates opportunities to make their case publicly, tell their personal stories, and prove their words were backed up by action.

"We always made sure we wore a CORE button, a CORE shirt," elementary teacher Sarah Chambers said.  People would "look around when a school's closing, and they wouldn't see any UPC [the incumbent caucus]."

The school closure fights were the reason math teacher Carol Caref was able to get so many teachers at her school to vote for CORE.  "We were always afraid we'd be next on the list," she said.

"CORE was camping out all night in front of schools threatened to be closed, joining parents and kids," said social studies teacher Bill Lamme, "while the union was sitting on its hands and being a little too generous in their compensation packages for themselves."

To learn much more, order the book.

Putin Sites Mulgrew/Randi Takeover of NYSUT as Inspiration for Crimean Invasion

I admire the Unity Caucus operation tremendously. I only wish I had such control....My next invasion will be Brighton Beach to protect the Russian speaking population in Brooklyn.... I am looking for a condo in Brooklyn as a base of operation but the real estate prices are crazy.... Vladimir Putin