PEP Tuesday Night/CEC Members/Parents Urge Tish James to Press Co-Loco Law Suit

I am going to be there and film. Rumor is that Eva is bringing the Success people out to enforce the idea that their 194 kids are more important than autistic kids they want to throw out at PS 149 and the Mickey Mantle special ed school -- and backed by millions of dollars for commercials - which could have been used to get the 194 kids a building of their own.

This was just sent by Leonie Haimson:

Dear CEC members and parents:

The signed letter in support of the Council Speaker and Public Advocate continuing the lawsuit vs. 35 co-locations previously approved by the PEP is below.  Meanwhile, there is a PEP meeting tomorrow night in Brooklyn – and we hope you can attend.  PA Tish James will be there, as will be members of the media.  Info here:

Panel for Educational Policy Meeting

–

Tuesday, March 18, 2014 at 6 PM (come early if you want to speak)

Prospect Heights Campus

883 Classon Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11225

2,3 to Eastern Parkway or 4,5 to Franklin Avenue.

If one or more of you would be able to read aloud our letter, that would be appreciated. CEC members are allowed to speak first.  Please email me if you are willing.

Hope to see you there, and please forward to others especially those parents at the affected schools  thanks Leonie

AN OPEN LETTER TO

PUBLIC ADVOCATE TISH JAMES

AND CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER MELISSA MARK-VIVERITO

WE NEED YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!

_______________________________________

Dear Public Advocate James and Council Speaker Mark-Viverito:

Let us begin by thanking you for your longstanding support of all public school students and all public school parents.  You have been outspoken supporters of parents and teachers having key input into shaping the schools our children attend.  You have been outspoken supporters of reducing class size, alleviating school overcrowding, and working to implement our children’s right to a sound basic education.  Unfortunately, despite the change in administration, we continue to need your assistance in achieving these goals.

Under the administration of Mayor Bloomberg, the Department of Education pursued a reckless program of closing schools and starting new small schools and charters, and inserting them into existing  buildings were schools were already located, oblivious to their impact on students and the existing schools and programs.

The DOE under Bloomberg ignored the nearly unanimous complaints of parents and the objections of administrators and teachers, and approved hundreds of co-locations that caused more overcrowding, the loss of critical classroom space, as well as art, music and science rooms, caused children with disabilities and learning issues to be pushed out of the rooms required for their mandated services.  The creation of hundreds of new schools also caused a sharp increase in administrative spending and bureaucracy, concurrent with a sharp decline in the number of classroom and a sharp increase in class size.

In the last months of the Bloomberg administration, the DOE pushed through 45 co-locations, ignoring the input of communities and the harmful impact of these proposals on students and school communities. 

We were thrilled when you, along with others, sued to void this massive round of co-locations, and waited patiently, as you did, with the hope that Mayor de Blasio would reverse most if not all of these plans. 

He has not done that, and instead chose to go ahead with most of these proposals, many of which will have devastating effects on existing schools.   We oppose 35 of these proposals, 16 of which will push the building at or above 100% utilization, according to the DOE’s own figures. 

If the Blue Book formula was accurate and pegged to reasonable class sizes, as well as allow sufficient space for special education services, art rooms, music and science, and adequate access to lunchrooms, libraries, and gyms, every one of these co-locations would be seen as pushing the existing schools into unacceptably overcrowded conditions.

This is why 35 of these co-locations must be reversed.

1. In every case, they will either result in an increase in class size, or make it impossible to reduce class size in the future, despite the fact that class sizes in many grades are now the largest in 15 years and the mayor has pledged to reduce them significantly by the end of his term. Moreover, the state’s highest court has concluded that the class sizes of NYC students must be lowered for them to receive their constitutional right to an adequate education.

2. They will hinder the ability of schools to address the needs of students requiring special education services by providing adequate space, as well as the ability of schools to address the learning needs of English language learners. 

3. They will also restrict the amount of space available to expand preK, an important program and one of this administration’s top priorities.

4. Because the DOE has in recent years redefined a full-size classroom as only 500 square feet, down from 750 square feet, and the building code requires 35 sq. ft per Kindergarten student and 20 sq. ft. per student in other grades, many of the classrooms in these schools will trigger violations in the building code, risking children’s safety.

5. In all cases, the addition of new schools requires the creation of new, unnecessary bureaucracy with excessive numbers of administrative positions when resources could be better used on instruction.

6. None of these damaging impacts on safety, learning conditions and/or spending are reflected in the Educational Impact Statements.

7. In cases involving co-location of charter schools, the allowance of rent-free space results in their receiving more funds per capita than non-charter schools, creating inequities within school buildings, with two classes of students, one with smaller classes, more resources and programs, and the other with larger classes, and fewer resources and programs.

8. In all cases, the DOE has ignored the input of parents, community members, and Community Education Councils, who have opposed these co-locations for the reasons cited above and more.

To be sure, these proposals were approved only because the public hearing process was a sham, the public input process was a sham, and because the Panel for Educational Policy rubberstamped them without serious review.  In all cases, the voices of parents were not heard, and this was unlawful.

We urge you to proceed with your lawsuit and to see that the process going forward adheres to the law.  We pledge to join you in that effort.

Sincerely,

Leonie Haimson, Executive Director, Class Size Matters

John Englert, Co-Chair, Citywide Council on Special Education

Shino Tanikawa, President, Community Education Council District 2*; member of DOE “Blue Book” Taskforce

Bryan D'Ottavi, President, Community Education Council District 8

David Goldsmith. President, Community Education Council District 13*

Tesa Wilson, President, Community Education Council District 14; member of DOE “Blue Book” Taskforce

Felicia P. Alexander, President, Community Education Council District 16

Heather Ann Fiorica, President, Community Education Council District 21

Deborah Perkins, President, Community Education Council District 22

Alicia Hyndman, President Community Education Council, District 29

Sam Pirozzolo, President, Community Education Council District 31

Naila Caicedo-Rosario, President of Community Education Council District 15  

Adam Wilson, Vice President, Community Education Council District 15

Eduardo Hernandez, Ph.D., Treasurer, Community Education Council District 8

Barbara Denham, Treasurer, Community Education Council District 3

Tamara Rowe, Member, Community Education Council District 2*

Olivia Rychter, Treasurer, Community Education Council District 1

Ben Greene, CPAC Representative, District 13; 1^st VP, Community Education Council District 13

Olaiya Deen, Member, Community Education Council District 3

Eduardo Hernandez, Ph.D.Treasurer, Community Education Council District 8

Gloria Smith, President of District 75 President Council and 1^st Vice President, Citywide Council of D75

Linda Dalton, Member, Community Education Council District 21

Randi Garay, Member, Community Education Council District 21

Joyce Finger, Member, Community Education Council District 21

Ericka Williams, Member, Community Education Council District 29

Tricia Joyce Chair, Youth and Education Committee; Community Board 1*
Michelle Kupper, Community Education Council District 15

Josh Karan, former President, Community Education Council District 6

Evelyn Feliciano, Parent Leader District 10; Member, Bronx Community Board 5

Monse Santana, Title I chair, PTA Tompkins Square MS*, and District Leadership Team, District 1

Christine Kroening, PTA President, I.S. 78 Roy H. Mann School

Vishnu Mahadeo, PTA President, Richmond Hill High School

Irene Abraham, I.S. 78/P312 Parent

Carlos M. Lopez Garcia, SLT Chair, Safety Chair & UFT Chapter Leader, PS 30X

John Lawhead, ATR Teacher, District 21

Harlan Mathieu, Former Teacher, PS222Q; District 30 Parent PS78Q, IS227Q

Julie Fraad, Former Assistant Principal, Secondary School for Law, District 15

David Rosenberg, Public School Parent, PS3 PAC

Deborah Alexander, Member, Community Education Council 30

Alexandra Zisimos Lopez, PTA President, Seth Low Middle School

Jim McKay, Parent, BNS/District 15

Angelica Salgado, Parent and SLT Member, PS143 District 24

Kent Atkinson, PS 106,123K D32; Retired TSI

Juanita Laboy, District 15

Dinine Signorello, Parent, LMC/PS 3/District 2

Beth Bernett, Former Public School Parent

Maureen Pricci, Retired Teacher, PS184, District 1

David Dobosz, Parent, Retired Teacher and Education Activist, District 14

Tanya Pollard, Parent, P.S. 107, District 15

Kari Steeves, Public School Parent, District 6

Annette Brown, Public School Parent, I.S. 59 Springfield Gardens, District 29

Tina Schiller, Public School Parent, District 2 

(* for identification purposes only; list in formation)

 

Evaluation Law Suit on Poverty: NYSUT Leadership Supports Rochester TA

Interesting news here given that Adam Urbanski is supporting the Mulgrew/Revive takeover of NYSUT. Will Rochester delegates to the April 5 NYSUTRA vote for  Iannuzzi/Stronger Together because of this support? Ravitch reports:

Rochester Teachers Sue State Over Teacher Evaluations

by dianeravitch

The Rochester Teachers Association is suing the state over its teacher evaluation system, alleging that it does not take into account the impact of poverty on classroom performance.

RTA says the evaluations are "junk science."

"ALBANY, N.Y. March 10, 2014 – The Rochester Teachers Association today filed a lawsuit alleging that the Regents and State Education Department failed to adequately account for the effects of severe poverty and, as a result, unfairly penalized Rochester teachers on their APPR (Annual Professional Performance Review) evaluations.

"The suit, filed in state Supreme Court in Albany by New York State United Teachers on behalf of the RTA and more than 100 Rochester teachers, argues the State Education Department did not adequately account for student poverty in setting student growth scores on state tests in grades 4-8 math and English language arts. In addition, SED imposed rules for Student Learning Objectives and implemented evaluations in a way that made it more difficult for teachers of economically disadvantaged students to achieve a score of “effective” or better. As a result, the lawsuit alleges the Regents and SED violated teachers’ rights to fair evaluations and equal protection under the law.

"SED computes a growth score based on student performance on state standardized tests, which is then used in teacher evaluations.

"Nearly 90 percent of Rochester students live in poverty. The lawsuit says SED’s failure to appropriately compensate for student poverty when calculating student growth scores resulted in about one-third of Rochester’s teachers receiving overall ratings of “developing” or “ineffective” in 2012-13, even though 98 percent were rated “highly effective” or “effective” by their principals on the 60 points tied to their instructional classroom practices. Statewide, just 5 percent of teachers received “developing” or “ineffective” ratings.

“The State Education Department’s failure to properly factor in the devastating impact of Rochester’s poverty in setting growth scores and providing guidance for developing SLOs resulted in city teachers being unfairly rated in their evaluations,” Iannuzzi said. “Rochester teachers work with some of the most disadvantaged students in the state. They should not face stigmatizing labels based on discredited tests and the state’s inability to adequately account for the impact of extreme poverty when measuring growth.”

"RTA President Adam Urbanski said an analysis of Rochester teachers’ evaluations for 2012-13 demonstrated clearly the effects of poverty and student attendance, for example, were not properly factored in for teachers’ evaluations. As a result, “dedicated and effective teachers received unfair ratings based on student outcomes that were beyond their control. The way the State Education Department implemented the state testing portion of APPR adds up to nothing more than junk science.”

Revive NYSUT (Pallota/Mulgrew) OK With Non-Union Pre-k While Rolled by Sellout Dems on Charter Support Bill

The IDC exists to allow Cuomo to regularly triangulate progressive voices out of any legislative actions. Dick Iannuzzi knows this and was actively working to undermine the IDC structure. Andy Pallotta well............

Stronger Together supporter

Dick Iannuzzi "[pre-k] teachers would be unionized workers and employees of the school district. Therefore, they would be obligated to be represented by the collective bargaining units." Where does Revive NYSUT slate stand on this? Andy said, "We'd be happy to have them as members," and Andy's staff responded, "The real issue is to ensure that you have high-quality pre-K, that it's connected to standards and curriculum, that you have highly qualified, certified teachers in those programs, not to get distracted by that issue."

I received these communication below earlier today. IDC Democrats working with State Senate Republicans just put a royal screwing with a big charter giveaway bill. Their newest member, Tony Avella, in 2009 was with us in trying to stop an Eva invasion of PS 123 in Harlem. But he was running for mayor. I guess changing your politics whenever is OK. Shame on Tony.

It looks like the IDC [Independent Dem Caucus] is working to screw us (again)...

On the MAC The Senate Majority [(Republicans + IDC)] is poised to pass a budget resolution which includes: --Giving tax credits to wealthy donors via a back-door voucher scheme -- the intent is to use public funds to finance the costs of a non-public school education;

--Increasing per-pupil funding for charter schools which comes directly out of public school coffers; and
--Providing NEW facilities funding for charters and forcing co-locations of charter schools – displacing public school students – and directly benefitting Success Academy C.E.O. Eva Moskowitz

CALL YOUR SENATOR NOW - 1-877-255-9417. Press 2 to speak with your New York State Senator.
https://mac.nysut.org/stop-plans-to-abandon-public-school-children

It is important to remember who in NYSUT Leadership was calling the IDC out back in October for failing to deliver on our agenda and who was apologizing for them? How do you spell A-N-D-Y?

We will have to continue settling for legislative defeats and inadequate compromises until Andy realizes the IDC are not our allies. The IDC exists to allow Cuomo to regularly triangulate progressive voices out of any legislative actions. Dick Iannuzzi knows this and was actively working to undermine the IDC structure. Andy Pallotta well............

If you have not yet read the article in Capital New York, read it it will be enlightening.

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/politics/2013/10/8535024/nysut-head-says-idc-alliance-didnt-work-gets-corrected

Beth Dimino on Facebook on the pre-k issue:

I guess unionization does equate to quality for some labor leaders? This is an affront to what all unionists believe and Dick responded as such.

Collective bargaining is a right and is why we have the highest quality public education in New York State.

We are a union that believes in collective bargaining as a fundamental right to advance worker, civil and human rights -- [Andy's]  "we'd be happy to have them as members" does not reflect the reality that collective bargaining is not something nice to do for workers but something that advances our collective mission of fairness on behalf of all workers and their families.

Why would these workers want to organize w NYSUT in the future when we are unwilling to fight for their fundamental rights now?

Labor Leader, Dick Iannuzzi "teachers would be unionized workers and employees of the school district. Therefore, they would be obligated to be represented by the collective bargaining units"

Where does Revive NYSUT slate stand on this? Andy said, "We'd be happy to have them as members," and Andy's staff responded, "The real issue is to ensure that you have high-quality pre-K, that it's connected to standards and curriculum, that you have highly qualified, certified teachers in those programs, not to get distracted by that issue."

REALLY?! Read below for all the facts!

Labor leader : Pre-K first, unionized teachers second
By Jessica Bakeman
5:00 a.m. | Mar. 14, 2014
ALBANY—The statewide expansion of pre-kindergarten proposed by Governor Andrew Cuomo would likely require using a mix of union and non-union teachers.

But traditional teachers' unions don't plan to fight to include all pre-K teachers in their ranks, at least initially. Whether pre-K teachers are unionized is a distraction from the more important point, which is a need for high-quality programs, a statewide union leader said.

Since the 1990s, New York has tried to implement a universal pre-K program, but the funding was never there. Today, half of the state's four-year-olds are enrolled, mostly in half-day programs. The state spends about $400 million annually on the program, which includes classes in schools as well as in community-based organizations, like Head Start centers or YMCAs.

Only about 40 percent of pre-K teachers, those who teach in schools, are eligible for the salary and benefits collectively bargained by traditional teachers' unions. The other 60 percent work in the C.B.O.s; some are covered by other unions but make far less than their public-school teacher counterparts, despite having the same qualifications, and the rest have no union protections at all.

Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City mayor Bill de Blasio have put forth competing proposals for funding pre-K, and both are contingent on using C.B.O.s to expand. In Cuomo's statewide plan, there simply isn't enough money to use all unionized teachers; in de Blasio's proposal for the five boroughs, C.B.O.s would make up in space what public schools lack.

Labor leaders in New York said expanding access to pre-K is more important than ensuring collective-bargaining rights or wage parity for all teachers.

“The real issue is to ensure that you have high-quality pre-K, that it's connected to standards and curriculum, that you have highly qualified, certified teachers in those programs, not to get distracted by that issue,” said Steve Allinger, legislative director for New York State United Teachers, referring to whether pre-K teachers are unionized.

Allinger said the expansion would help union members by ensuring that students are more prepared to succeed when they enter the K-12 spectrum.

Although it doesn't appear that NYSUT is going to make unionizing pre-K teachers an issue in the potential expansion, “We'd be happy to have them as members,” said Andrew Pallotta, executive vice president.

NYSUT president Richard Iannuzzi, though, seems to be out of sync with his colleagues Allinger and Pallotta, who run the union's legislative efforts. Tensions have been high at NYSUT, since Iannuzzi is facing a contested election next month, during which he will face a slate of challengers that includes Pallotta.

Iannuzzi said his interpretation of both proposals is that they are attempts to add a new grade to the “continuum of education” and would therefore utilize unionized public-school teachers.

“What we would expect to see, both in New York City and statewide, would be that a really universal pre-K program would be part of the public school program,” he said, “in which case [teachers] would be unionized workers and employees of the school district. Therefore, they would be obligated to be represented by the collective bargaining units.”

There are 5,615 pre-K teachers in New York, as part of the state's current program, according to state records. Of those, 3,221 work in New York City.

Sixty percent of pre-K teachers statewide work in C.B.O.s, and 40 percent are in public-school classrooms. The breakdown is the same in New York City.

Three-quarters of pre-K teachers statewide are certified by the state Education Department. In New York City, that figure is 61 percent, because teachers who are on a “path to certification” are allowed to teach while pursuing their education and training. In the rest of the state, 94 percent of pre-K teachers are certified.

While nearly all C.B.O. teachers in New York City are in some type of union (though not traditional teachers' unions), that's not the case in other cities. In Rochester for example, there are 105 full-time equivalent pre-K teachers, 45 in schools and 60 in C.B.O.s. Of those 60, 58 are certified, but only 21 are unionized.

Assembly edcuation committee chair Catherine Nolan, a Democrat from Queens, said there are inherent differences among pre-K programs offered in different settings, “and some of those differences are OK, because that's the history of it.”

“I think we're going to have a lot of models to have a successful UPK,” she said. “Do I think everyone should get as much money as possible? We always want people who are well educated to be well trained, well compensated, but there are clearly going to be differences.

“If we can move the ball forward with more UPK money, we'll cross some of those bridges later,” Nolan added.
Senate Labor Committee chair Diane Savino, who is a member of the Independent Democratic Conference and from Staten Island, said concerns about whether teachers would be unionized as part of the pre-K expansion is “putting the cart before the horse.”

She said there are often circumstances where workers in the public and private sectors earn different salaries and benefits for the same services. For example, child protective services employees working for non-profits make more than those working for city agencies, she said.
“Those agencies have often been the pipeline,” she said, adding that early-career employees might start working for the city and graduate to the non-profits when they gain more experience.

With pre-K, that pipeline is a problem, said David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center and an expert on a New Jersey program that's seen as a national model for high-quality pre-K.

He said an equitable universal pre-K program should offer uniform quality across settings. In New Jersey, the C.B.O.s struggled to keep teachers, because once they were more experienced, they would leave to work in a public school, where they could make more money.

“You're going to have to confront the issue of comparable pay and benefits in each setting in order to keep that quality,” he said. “You can't have a situation where one program has certified teachers who are making substantially less than the public school program down the street, and that's really the issue of funding.”

Elizabeth Lynam, vice president and director of state studies for the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan research organization, said historically, the state has used C.B.O.s to keep pre-K costs down.

“What we've seen in the current program is that the non-profits have not been able to implement a lot of the quality requirements because they don't pay the rates to do it,” she said. “It's hard for [C.B.O.s] to be out in the labor market with $10 to $15 dollar-an-hour wages and think they're going to get people with masters' degrees.”

G.L. Tyler, director of political action for DC 1707, a union that represents child care workers in New York City, said after three years in a C.B.O., a pre-K teacher with the same qualifications is making almost $20,000 less than one in a public school.

He said C.B.O. teachers have been organized since the 1970s and fighting for wage parity for that long.

“I've been with the union for 20 years, and there has always been a lot of our members who want to remain in the C.B.O.s, because they enjoy working with 2, 3, and 4-year-olds,” he said. “It has to be a certain dedication to do that, and they have it. But they should be paid more for it.”

Noah Gotbaum: Bloomberg Pro-Charter Land Mines

Carmen should extend the public school application deadline, reinstate local school sign up, ensure that parents are guaranteed their local zoned school and kill this for next year. An on-line option is good, but it should just be an additional option, not a backdoor, 4th term way to install "choice" systems and charters. As important, Carmen should affirmatively kill the sweatheart deal which Joel Klein set up for Eva Moskowitz, and end charter schools' access to our kids' private info via Vanguard. Immediately.... Noah Gotbaum

The de Blasio administration on education is being made to look like a babe in the woods. Many of us involved in the weeds of the charter struggle full well have known what was going on - with the 2 pushed October PEP charter co-loco giveaways and the pre-k and kindergarten online scam forced registration for kids entering school for the first time. By taking away in-school registration designed to help the charters, they conspired to give charters a first crack at kids. Now it's Kindergarten Connect on-line registration for school that allows the DOE to turn over private data to charters.

We've written about the PAVE charter pre-k scam. 

See:

• This is new….The PAVE Pre-K contract is listed as ...
• May 31, 2013
• Yesterday we reported on the outrage of PAVE charter being handed 400 grand by Tweed to help them steal pre-k kids from the local public schools in Red Hook, which have had their requests to expand their own pre-k ...
• PAVE Charter Pre-School ScamJun 24, 2013 Yesterday we reported on the outrage of PAVE charter being handed 400 grand by Tweed to help them steal pre-k kids from the local public schools in Red Hook, which have had their requests to expand their own pre-k .
• NYCDOE Charter Hits Keep Coming on PAVE ...May 06, 2013 You see charters aren't supposed to have Pre-K. But if pre-k kids go to a great public school like PS 15 they won't want to leave to go to semi-dysfunctional PAVE. So PAVE is trying the oft-used ploy used by Eva's Success ...
• DOE Allows Charter Schools to Set Up Stealth Pre-K programs to ... May 30, 2013

Need I say, "where is the UFT?"

Noah Gotbaum from Community Education Council 3 comments:

Columbia Spectator calls out issues with the ideologically-driven new elementary enrollment system, Kindergarten Connect. Set up, haphazardly, in the final weeks of Bloomberg regime to take effect in first two weeks of deBlasio administration - with enormous repercussions going forward. Already paying dividends for the charters as they got their desperately wanted direct link to the public school applications.

The charters also now have, for the first time, immediate access to private information of every prospective K student since the K-connect system and contractor, Vanguard, collects the information centrally and turns around and immediately sells it for the charter schools direct mail marketing services. And now Vanguard has more than just names, addresses and grades; it is able to sell the charters the use of detailed, real time information about our kids personal traits and parent preference information, all of which K-Connect accumulates and Vanguard administers.

Little wonder then that charter applications are up and the lobby is crowing http://www.nyccharterschools.org/content/nearly-30000-applications-flood-online-portal. And applications will continue to rise since another feature of K-Connect was to truncate the public school timetable to close on February 14 - a full month sooner than last year. This will shut out many more public schools applicants who are now even easier pickings for charters, since they now have an extra 2 months prior to the formal charter applicaiton April deadline to use the K-Connect private data and recruit K parents out of the the public schools.

This K-connect boobytrap set up by Bloomberg, further serves to undermine de Blasio's Universal Pre-K plans by giving the charters phony ammunition of enormous demand which they then use to claim that they and not Universal Pre-K, should be funded. K-connect also undermines deBlasio's Community schools initiative by servering the enrollment and automatic placement connections
between entering K parents and their local community school, instead moving the process exclusively on-line or in "Borough Offices."

Carmen should extend the public school application deadline, reinstate local school sign up, ensure that parents are guaranteed their local zoned school and kill this for next year. An on-line option is good, but it should just be an additional option, not a backdoor, 4th term way to install "choice" systems and charters. As important, Carmen should affirmatively kill the sweatheart deal which Joel Klein set up for Eva Moskowitz, and end charter schools' access to our kids' private info via Vanguard. Immediately.

noah

noah eliot gotbaum
noah@gotbaum.com
twitter: @noahegotbaum

NYSUT President Iannuzzi Condemns Treatment of Students Who Opt Out of Tests

Iannuzzi, who taught fourth-grade for most of his 34-year teaching career, said "sit and stare" is not only educationally unsound, but the practice will end up being a distraction for those students who are taking standardized tests.

The biggest threat to the ed deformers is the growing parent opt-out movement. (Our amazing group here in NYC, Change the Stakes, is one of the groups leading the charge.) Iannuzzi, heading the Stronger Together slate in the upcoming NYSUT elections against the Mulgrew backed Revive slate, is taking some good stands on a number of issues.

NYSUT blasts 'irresponsible' Regents message on 'opt out'

ALBANY, N.Y. March 12, 2014 – New York State United Teachers today criticized the Regents for failing to act to protect students from educationally unsound "sit-and-stare" testing policies adopted by a number of school districts, saying the Regents' silence sends an irresponsible message and unacceptably puts children "inside the crossfire of the testing debate."

In a strongly worded letter to Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch and the other Regents, NYSUT again condemned the practice of "sit and stare," in which school districts refuse to make alternative arrangements for children whose parents choose to 'opt out' of state standardized testing in grades 3-8 and, instead, force the students to sit at their desks and stare blankly at the walls for up to 10 hours over three days.

• Neira letter to Regents (PDF)

The State Education Department, in guidance to districts last week, tacitly allowed the practice, issuing a directive that, "Schools do not have any obligation to provide an alternative location or activities for individual students while tests are being administered."

NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi said the union stands firmly with parents who choose to 'opt out' their children from state tests. Iannuzzi, who taught fourth-grade for most of his 34-year teaching career, said "sit and stare" is not only educationally unsound, but the practice will end up being a distraction for those students who are taking standardized tests.

"Punishing or embarrassing children because their parents exercised their right not to have their children participate in tests they consider inappropriate is, frankly, abusive," Iannuzzi said.

NYSUT Vice President Maria Neira said school districts look to the State Education Department and Regents for sound guidance on testing issues but, again, the Regents are falling short.

"The moral responsibility to treat all students with dignity resides with school personnel and these personnel need guidance from SED on this important issue," Neira wrote, noting while SED's position may pass legal muster, "The State Education Department is sending an irresponsible message on such a deplorable policy as 'sit and stare.'"

Neira called on the Regents and SED to show leadership and instruct districts to provide alternative locations or activities for students whose parents choose to 'opt out' of state testing. "Your silence on this important educational policy issue continues to foster an atmosphere of distrust with parents and educators around the state," she wrote.
New York State United Teachers is a statewide union with more than 600,000 members in education, human services and health care. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.

How to Make a Fool Out of Yourself: I Do It the Company Way at Rockaway Theatre Production of “How to Succeed…”

Opening night is Friday, March 14, 8PM - YIKES -

OK, it's put up or shut up time. After weeks of rehearsals we have hit dress-rehearsals - until midnight.

I have a total of 4 lines and am in a bunch of production numbers where I try to hide behind the other guys. I love working with this mainly very young cast - even with some high school kids who already know a hell of a lot about the theater. I'll get into details about some of the wonderful guys and gals I've been meeting, as well as the RTC usual suspects. Lots of teachers involved too.

There are 2 performances this Saturday - a 2PM matinee and 8PM evening performance. I had a big conflict as March 15 (The Ides) is the NYCORE conference and Bree Picower recruited me a year ago to tape the keynote in the morning. I really love this conference and usually stay right through the after party lasting 'till 8PM. But the roar of the greasepaint calls and I must leave for the matinee, thus missing the Change the Stakes workshop which I had hoped to tape. But I think that professional film maker Michael Elliot who is working on some opt-out stuff for CTS will be there.

Here is the poster and if you want to venture out to Rockaway here is the web site to get tickets. (If you are coming to see me make a fool out of myself, I won't be in the March 23 Sunday matinee due to a previous commitment.) http://www.rockawaytheatrecompany.org

Here is my column for Friday's Wave, followed by some cute rehearsals pics.

For The Wave (www.rockawave.com), March 14, 2014

I Do It the Company Way at Rockaway Theatre Production of “How to Succeed…”

By Norm Scott

Is it 2 steps to the right and a turn? Or 2 steps forward? And what is that lyric we need to do it on, again? What’s the cue for us to go onstage? Thus I go pleading for answers from my fellow actors  as I try to get things straight in my head for my musical comedy debut in the Rockaway Theatre Company production of the venerable corporate sendup, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”

I am usually behind the video camera at RTC shows, other than my acting debut 3 years ago in “The Odd Couple,” an 8-character play. “How to Succeed…” is an entirely different experience – a vey funny musical comedy with a large cast of around 40. Most members are in their teens, twenties or early thirties, with a sprinkling of forty-somethings. Having just turned 69 I sort of stand out. The only person anywhere within a decade of me is the RTC jack of all trades, the always amazing Cliff Hesse, who plays J.B. Biggley, the boss of “World Wide Widget” (WWW) whose fling with a young floozy almost brings down the entire corporation.

“How to…” is the Abe Burrows 1961 Broadway production and 1967 film send-up of corporate culture which made a house-hold name of Bobby Morse, playing the young window cleaner who uses a How-to book to guide him to through the corporate maze, and Rudy Vallee playing J.B. Biggley. Much of the choreography was done by Bob Fosse. Both “Madmen” and “How To…” have large ensemble casts of corporate executives and secretaries, with the expected hints of the shenanigans and rampant sexism that goes on in those pre-feminist times.

Fans of the AMC show “Madmen” will instantly recognize the similarities to “How to…” clearly an inspiration. Brilliant casting of that show has an older (and much heavier) Bobby Morse playing the big boss of the advertising agency. I had never appreciated just how funny the play is, satirizing the corporate culture with brilliant songs like “The Company Way” and “A Secretary is Not a Toy,” where WWW 2^nd-in command Bratt, played by excellent actor and Leon Goldstein HS teacher Steve Ryan, admonishes the men that a secretary is not “to fondle and dandle and playfully handle in search of some puerile joy.” The secretaries, played by an amazing collection of beautiful women that will take every guy who sees the show’s breath away, reply with “A secretary is not a thing wound by key, pulled by string. Her pad is to write in and not spend the night in…”

As one of the ensemble cast of executives I have 4 lines which, thank goodness I only have to remember one at a time. I also have to dance and sing, neither of which I can do very well, in some big numbers, including the famous “Brotherhood of Man.” Doing two things at the same time is pretty much beyond me at this point so I don’t add a third by chewing gum.

I can’t say enough about the professional level of theater the crew at the RTC puts together. They do everything that Broadway productions do. Being involved in a big production lets me see how the sausage is made. There are so many aspects of the theater that go beyond what you see on the stage. Set design and construction  – I have the honor of being part of the crew assembled by the great Tony Homsey, watching Susan Corning – one of the best actresses I’ve seen at RTC – handle the wonderful costuming – just wait ‘till you see these gals dressed in office-60s garb, musical director Richard Louis Pierre who also makes sure the hi-tech sound board is working, the lighting by Andrew Woodbridge and of course the direction of John Gilleece and Producer Susan Jaspar who gave a guy like me this unique opportunity. (There are many more people to mention by far).

How else would I find myself at a post-rehearsal late Friday night cast party doing the Zumba on state ‘till 1 AM with people young enough to be my grandchildren? Excuse me – I gotta go ice my knees.

Opening night is Friday March 14 and it runs for 3 weekends (Friday nights – Mar. 14, 21, 28, Sat nights – Mar. 15, 22, 29 – all at 8PM and 2PM matinee on Sat. Mar 15, and 3PM on Sun Mar 23 and Mar. 30.)

If (editor) Kevin (Boyle) lets me, I’ll do a follow-up next week about how I survived both a matinee and evening performance on March 15. If you come to the evening performance, bring me some Advil.

Norm still takes time from his budding acting career to write his daily blog at ednotesonline.org.

These secretaries are not toys.

The Paris originals

Note that guy center right with the big belly

Portelos Arrested and Released After 30 Hours in Holding Cell As Asst. DA Tosses Case

Note to DOE Legal: How do you spell D-I-S-B-A-R?
Ramifications of tactic of having teachers arrested for fighting back will be felt.

I can just imagine the judge getting as big a laugh as Francesco got as he snookered DOE Legal into taking an outrageous action against him by involving the NYCPD in what was clearly a joke posting that he hacked into the DOE payroll system and gave himself a raise claiming he hacked in using Dennis Walcott's logon using the password kittensRcute. (How to “Hack” the DOE Payroll Portal and Give Yourself a Raise).

That either sent the crack DOE tech team into a panic given they seem to think Portelos can control their computers using smoke and mirrors. Or the real panic may be DOE legal thinks it will lose the case and not get Portelos terminated, so they came up with this attempted scam, which P is adding to his federal lawsuit. The boy may own the DOE by the time he is finished, and maybe part of the NYPD.

At first I felt P had gone too far with his post, given that he was expecting a ruling on his case. I urged him to keep this stuff under wraps until his decision came through. But when he pointed out that a Louis Scarcella like detective was apparently working as an agent of DOE legal by going after teachers who defended themselves things began to fall into place.

Will Portelos end  up owning this apartment?

In another breaking development he just informed us that SCI has backed his claims that the DOE was lying when it claimed he used his computers at work for his real estate business, something we heard repeatedly from DOE Legal attorney Jordana Shenkman, hopefully soon to be disbarred.

SCI just released a statement indicating the real estate files were not found on my desktop but rather printed from the internet. http://bit.ly/1fqlESa

Portelos 3020 a Proceeding letter - 3 11 14-1.pdf

dropbox.com

Here are some of his postings on Facebook.

Francesco ForEducation Portelos  
Thank you all for your concern and texts. Just got out of jail around 7pm. Was arrested Monday morning due to trumped up charges by the DOE lawyers and held for 33 hrs. Sleeping on cell floor and handcuffed was an experience. The DA dismissed all charges.
 
Thanks everyone. We are adding to Federal lawsuit. Break me? I was lying on the filthy floor smiling thinking what wall I will post the shields and law degrees of those involved. As I was finally called out to leave, cell mate gave me fist bumps and one yelled out. "Don't forget to write about us teach. Keep fighting."

There is a Panel for Educational Policy meeting at Prospect Hts HS Tuesday March 18 at 6PM. Maybe call on Farina to wipe out DOE Legal and start all over again so they can go after teachers who should not be in the classroom, instead of whistle blowers.

Media Fawns Over Eva Moskowitz Lies

I always love Eva Moskowitz because in the long run her over reaching is bad for the charter movement, which I am interested in destroying. So here's to Eva as her outright lies get some exposure, although not mainstream -- yet.

Another winner from Ravitch.

Fact-Checking Eva’s Claims on National Television

by dianeravitch

This article, which I co-wrote with Avi Blaustein, an independent education researcher, was cross-posted on Huffington Post.

It explains that Eva Moskowitz's Success Academy charters do not serve the most disadvantaged students in New York City; that her school in Harlem (Success Academy 4) that will not expand is NOT the highest scoring school in the state; and that her schools have few, if any, of the highest-need special education students and a high attrition rate.

By Diane Ravitch and Avi Blaustein

The battle between NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and Eva Moskowitz, CEO of the Success Academy charter chain, has blown up into a national controversy, covered on national television, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.

Mayor de Blasio had the nerve to award the Moskowitz chain only five of the eight charters that it wanted, and Moskowitz has been on the warpath to get all eight, even if it means pushing kids with disabilities out of their public school classrooms.

What is missing from the controversy so far is any interest on the part of the journalists in basic facts. Instead, what is happening is a public relations battle. Moskowitz has attacked Mayor de Blasio in multiple media appearances, and no one in the media has bothered to check any of her claims.

Let's fill that gap.

On MSNBC's Morning Joe, Ms. Moskowitz claimed that Success Academy 4 in Harlem is the "highest performing school in New York State in math in in fifth grade." This is obviously an odd metric to use in judging a school. Picking out one subject in a single grade should raise suspicion among the media, but it hasn't.

It is also not true. On the fifth grade state math test, the students at Success Academy 4 are, in fact, #8 in New York City (tied with another school) and presumably even lower when compared to schools across the state. The fourth grade math test scoresare #54 in New York City (tied with six other schools). The third grade math scores rank #63 in New York City (tied with 6 other schools). The school's rankings are even worse in English. The fifth grade English test scores rank #59 in New York City (tied with seven other schools), the fourth grade English test scores rank #81 in New York City (tied with five other schools), and the third grade English test scores rank #65 in New York City (tied with eight other schools).

The school is not the "highest performing school in the state" in any grade.

Moskowitz's interviewers have said that the students at Success Academy 4 are the "most disadvantaged kids in New York City," to which she assented. She has said "it's a random lottery school. We don't know who they are."

We do, in fact, know who the students at Success Academy are. They are not the most disadvantaged kids in New York City. Harlem Success Academy schools have half the number of English Language Learners as the neighboring public schools in Harlem. The students in Success Academy 4 include 15 percent fewer free lunch students and an economic need index (a measure of students in temporary housing and/or who receive public assistance) that is 35 percent lower than nearby public schools.

Moskowitz's Success Academy 4 has almost none of the highest special needs students as compared to nearby Harlem public schools. In a school with nearly 500 students, Success Academy 4 has zero, or one, such students, while the average Harlem public school includes 14.1 percent such students. With little sense of irony or embarrassment, Moskowitz has attacked Bill de Blasio for preventing the school's expansion inside PS 149. Her school's expansion would have come at the cost of space for students with disabilities. The school has already lost "a fully equipped music room ... A state-mandated SAVE room ... A computer lab... Individual rooms for occupational and physical therapy ... and the English Language Learners (ELL) classroom," due to earlier Success Academy expansions in the same building.

Moskowitz said, referring to the students in her schools, "we've had these children since kindergarten." But she forgot to mention all the students who have left the school since kindergarten. Or the fact that Harlem Success Academy 4 suspends students at a rate 300 percent higher than the average in the district. Last year's seventh grade class at Harlem Success Academy 1 had a 52.1 percent attrition rate since 2006-07. That's more than half of the kindergarten students gone before they even graduate from middle school. Last year's sixth grade class had a 45.2 percent attrition rate since 2006-07. That's almost half of the kindergarten class gone and two more years left in middle school. In just four years Harlem Success Academy 4 has lost over 21 percent of its students. The pattern of students leaving is not random. Students with low test scores, English Language Learners, and special education students are most likely to disappear from the school's roster. Large numbers of students disappear beginning in 3rd grade, but not in the earlier grades. No natural pattern of student mobility can explain the sudden disappearance of students at the grade when state testing just happens to begin.

Moskowitz made a number of other claims during her Morning Joe appearance. She said "we are self-sustaining on the public dollar alone." In fact, Success Academyspends $2,072 more per student than schools serving similar populations. This additional funding comes from donations by the very same hedge fund moguls who have donated over $400,000 to Governor Cuomo's re-election campaign (charter supporters in the financial and real estate sector have contributed some $800,000 to Governor Cuomo's campaign).

Moskowitz has said "in terms of cracking the code that's what we've set out to do." But we don't need charter schools to crack the code if the cryptographic key is to keep out the neediest students and kick out students with low test scores. Public schools could do that too. Then they too would have higher test scores and a high attrition rate. They don't do it because it would probably be illegal. And besides, it is the wrong thing to do. Public schools are expected to educate everyone, not just those who are likeliest to succeed.

Eva Moskowitz to Autistic Kids: Screw You

I'm cross-posting. I have video interviews with Noah from Monday's rally in Harlem but have to race off to Rockaway Theater to help clean the place for Friday's opening.

Noah Gotbaum: Who Are the Real Victims of Eva Moskowitz’s “Success Academies”? by dianeravitch

In an article in the New York Daily News, which has been an outspoken champion of charters schools and Eva Moskowitz's attacks on Mayor Bill de Blasio, Noah Gotbaum explains why Eva's schools are "successful": they leave out the neediest students.  Gotbaum is a public school parent and has children with special needs.

Gotbaum writes:

Eva Moskowitz is up in arms. Her schools are being “closed,” she says, and her students left “educationally homeless” by the mayor’s “war” on charters. She’s even called in the civil rights lawyers.

Truth is, it is Moskowitz and her patrons who are waging war — insisting that autistic and severely emotionally disturbed kids be forced out of their own building to make room for her high-performing “scholars.”

Contrary to the cry of the governor and hedge funders, Mayor de Blasio was absolutely right to reverse Success Academy’s co-location agreement and ensure our most vulnerable kids get needed services and a sound education.

Let’s examine the facts.

In the dying weeks of his administration, Mayor Bloomberg rammed through a record 45 new school-sharing arrangements — including 17 new charters. Late last month, de Blasio allowed 36 of these to move forward, including 14 of the 17 new charter co-locations. Moskowitz’s Success Academies network was handed five new sites. Hardly a war or personal vendetta.

Of the three reversed charter co-locations, two were for new Success charter elementary schools, neither of which has yet to accept a single student. This makes Success’ claims of “closed” schools and “evicted” students disingenuous at best.

The final charter rollback was the proposed move of Harlem Success 4’s fifth through seventh grades into the PS 149 building in Harlem, already home to PS/MS 149; the very-high-needs Mickey Mantle school, which is part of special education District 75; and another Success Academy charter.

To accommodate Moskowitz, Bloomberg’s DOE planned to move one-third of Mickey Mantle’s autistic and severely emotionally disturbed children out of the building, exiling them to three potential DOE sites long bus rides away from their northern Manhattan communities.

According to the city’s own Educational Impact Statement, the co-location would then have increased occupancy in the building for the remaining Mickey Mantle and PS 149 students to 132% — almost 400 students above the DOE’s already unrealistic “target capacity” of 1,200.
To accommodate the overcrowding, students in the public school would have been required to eat lunch at 10:40 am, but not students in Eva's charter school.

Eva has been playing the victim of a vendetta on national television, but the real victims are the children who are pushed aside to make way for her students.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/de-blasio-fake-war-charters-article-1.1718314#ixzz2vkuKLHpk

Friday March 14 - MORE Park Slope Happy Hour

Darn - I won't make this one as it is opening night for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying - my musical debut. (I have 4 lines).

Greetings,

We invite everyone to the MORE Park Slope Happy Hour this Friday March 14 afterschool from 4-6pm at Freddy’s Bar in the Backroom located at 627 5th Avenue, between 17th & 18th Streets in Park Slope, Brooklyn
 

Tell us about what’s happening in your school, or just share some laughs with fellow teachers and school workers after a long week of parent-teacher conferences. We're also excited to chat about what we want in a new contract.

You deserve to relax with colleagues, old and new.  Join us, have a brew and share ideas. (Earlybirds get free snacks)

When: Friday, March 14, 2014, 4pm -6pm

Where: Freddy's, 627 5th Avenue, between 17th & 18th Streets

http://freddysbar.com/

Please spread this invitation by copying and pasting, or by printing the attached paper invitation to distribute to your colleagues.  

And RSVP on Facebook  HERE

We’re looking forward to seeing you this Friday!

 

NY Times on Chris Pavone book

I've known Chris Pavone since he was 3 years old when his mom, Vera Pavone, brought him to a meeting of Another View in District 14, the beginning of a 43 year political and personal relationship with Vera and her partner at the time, Paul Baizerman. These were the guys who had the most influence on me politically and in many ways personally. I won't get into the weeds of what I learned from them -- and am still learning from Vera (Paul died 2 years ago). Vera is not only a political mentor, but also gardening, health and just about any other topic you'd choose -- except cats.

The work Vera has done in the true educational reform movement has impacted on everyone she has touched. We used to joke, "Vera knows everything." To me, her power of analysis -- her way of thinking and dissecting things has been a key and I view many things through that lens. One example was the problem I was having reviewing the Shanker bio for New Politics. I forced a reluctant Vera into the project and basically she did 75% of the work -- I'm very good at sloughing off responsibility.

Chris' 2nd book, "The Accident" has been getting extraordinary reviews (Chris Pavone's "The Accident" Gets NY Times Rave Review).

Today, the Times has another great article on Chris and the book.

Secret Agent, Book Agent, All the SameChris Pavone’s Thriller ‘The Accident,’ Set in Book World

I took note of these quotes:

He is also half of a formidable publishing power couple. His wife, Madeline McIntosh, is the president and chief operating officer at Penguin Random House and one of the industry’s most influential executives, often mentioned as a potential successor someday to Markus Dohle, the company’s chief executive.
------
Once again, Mr. Pavone decided to make a woman the protagonist, an element of his books that his publisher said had brought more female readers to the table.

“One of the things that’s inescapable about Chris is that he does women really well,” Ms. Stern said in an interview. “He understands something very true about highly accomplished women. And he’s obviously been deeply connected to a highly accomplished woman in his life.”

Not just one highly accomplished woman in Chris' life. His mom has been so important to so many people in her life.

Oh, and Vera's other son Joey deserves enormous credit for becoming a NYC high school teacher even though he had to sit through so many teacher meetings as a child.

Chris will be making an appearance Weds Mar. 12 - I can't be there due to rehearsals for Friday's opening of the play I'm in. Here is Chris' funny email. If you happen to be in Paris on March 27, check it out. But there are other places you can meet him and buy his book.

We ordered a copy and it should come today --

====

There was a time when I had dignity (at least, that’s what I told myself). But that was before I started writing novels, before I could imagine I’d ever send a note to EVERYONE I know saying something shameless like “My second novel The Accident goes on-sale tomorrow, PLEASE BUY IT, thank you.”

But that's not what I'm saying, which is instead: I'd love to see you at one of my events (dates, times, addresses below). Frankly I’d love to see any friendly face. Or, honestly, what do I care? Nonfriendly would also be fine. Especially in Scottsdale and Indianapolis, places where I don’t think I know a single person within a hundred miles, and it's sad and lonely to stand in front of an empty room, talking. So if you have any friends, relatives, or even nonviolent enemies in these areas, please encourage them to come: 

NYC: Wednesday March 12, 6:00 p.m.: Barnes & Noble Tribeca, 97 Warren St

MADISON CT: Thursday Marsh 13, 7:00 p.m.: RJ Julia, 768 Boston Post Rd

WASHINGTON DC: Friday March 14, 7:00 p.m.: Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave NW

CORTE MADERA CA: Sunday March 16, 4:00 p.m.: Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd

PASADENA CA: Monday March 17, 7:00 p.m. Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E Colorado Blvd

LA JOLLA CA: Tuesday March 18, 7:30 p.m.: Warwick’s, 7812 Girard Ave

SCOTTSDALE AZ: Wednesday March 19, 7:00 p.m., with Olen Steinhauer: Poisoned Pen, 4014 N Goldwater Blvd

AUSTIN TX: Thursday March 20, 7:00 p.m.: Book People, 603 N Lamar Blvd

LONDON UK: Monday March 24: Apple Store Regent Street, 235 Regent St

BRUSSELS BE: Wednesday March 26, 7:00 p.m.: Sterling Books, Wolvengracht 38 Fossé aux Loups

PARIS FR: Thursday March 27, 6:00 p.m.: WH Smith, 248, rue de Rivoli

VERO BEACH FL: Thursday April 3 6:00 p.m.: Vero Beach Book Center, 392 21^st St

DELTONA FL: Friday April 4, 12:30 p.m.: Deltona Regional Library, 2150 Eustace Ave

ORLANDO FL: Saturday April 5, 1:00 p.m.: UCF Book Festival

GREENWICH CT: Tuesday April 8, 7:00 p.m., with Olen Steinhauer: Greenwich Library, 101 W Putnam

NYC: Wednesday April 9 6:30 p.m.: New York Public Library, 455 5^th Ave

INDIANAPOLIS IN: Friday April 25, 10:30 a.m.: Christamore House Luncheon, Indiana Roof Ballroom,140 W Washington St

NYC: Friday May 2, 3:00 p.m.: Summer Reading Panel, Random House Open House, 1745 Broadway

Many thanks,

Chris