Mercedes Schneider Dissects Sol Stern's Lack of Knowledge on Common Core

Stern, I have to tell you– you are so out of the loop... Mercedes Schneider

Sol Stern has been a sparring partner for many years - since the days when he went after teacher seniority as the worst thing to happen to public education. Sol is a delightful adversary. But we have had some blow-ups over the years-- at one point he called me dishonest and said he had way more respect for Randi's honesty than mine. They must be growing shrooms on the upper west side.

Sol was kind enough to get me invited to many Manhattan Institute luncheons where I got to hobnob with charter scum - until I asked too  many questions of Chris Cerf -- the only one in the room to challenge his ridiculous assertions. In those days Diane Ravitch was also at some of those MI events. (One time she came by and whispered in my ear, "go get 'em.")

Sol, rightfully, went wild when Joel Klein imposed Diana Lam on us with her insane curriculum that banished phonics. Sol sees red when confronted with progressive education -- I am by nature a progressive educator but also a realist and a big fan of teaching phonics -- when needed by certain children. I termed Sol as part of "the phonics police." Sol is a fan of Core Curriculum and E.D. Hirsch is Moses. (Which is why Sol was a fan of Kathy Cashin who implemented core curriculum -- but so was Diane Ravitch for some of the same reasons.)

The bitter break between Sol and Diane has at times turned personal. Mercedes in her blog on Sol termed it an  "ugly post criticizing education historian Diane Ravitch."

At one point Sol and Diane Ravitch were allies -- in fact in those days I was part of the attack crew on Ravitch over her advocacy of what turned out to be ed deform. I remember when Diane was given the John Dewey Award by the UFT there were national outcries from the true reformers like the late and great Jerry Bracey and Susan Ohanian - some asked me if we were setting up a picket line at the Hilton. Jerry seemed ready to fly in from Oregon.

When Diane turned on the deformers and became the chief spokesperson for real reform, much rending of garments took place. I hope Sol has a good tailor.

I read Mercedes superb post taking Sol's defense of the Common Core last week and wanted to blog about it - but today Diane has beaten me to it. Oh, the joy!

Schneider Schools Sol Stern on the Common Core

by dianeravitch

Many years go, when I was a Fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, I got o know Sol Stern, who has been at that think tank for many years. Sol has an interesting history. Back in the radical 1960s, he was an editor at the leftwing Ramparts. At some point, he had a political-ideological conversion experience, and he became a zealous conservative. He is a journalist, not an educator. He writes about what interests him. Ten years ago, he wrote a book advocating school choice, called Breaking Free. In 2011, he wrote a book about Israeli-Palestinian relations, called "A Century of Palestinian Rejectionism and Jew-Hatred." one thing about Sol Stern: He has strong opinions.

At the moment, his strong opinions are focused on fervent advocacy for the Common Core. Stern thinks that the Common Core implements the ideas of E.D. Hirsch, Jr. Hirsch believes that kids should learn lots of background knowledge, which will not only make them smarter but enable them to read and understand increasingly difficult text. I agree that background knowledge matters, so long as it is developmentally appropriate, that is, comprehensible to the child. And I don't see Comon Core as the fulfillment of E.D. Hirsch's vision. After all, David Coleman--widely acknowledged as the "architect" of he Common Core--advocates "close reading," in which a student deciphers text without reference to any background knowledge. One example would be a student reading the "Gettysburg Address" without reference to or knowledge of the Civil War or Lincoln or the battle it commemorates. I think Hirsch would insist that context and background knowledge are crucial for comprehension. I am not sure that Stern understands the Commn Core standards but he has now made it his business to defend them and to attack those who doubt their excellence.

Stern got into a heated debate with Peter Wood, the president of the National Association of Scholars, who does not believe--as Stern and Arne Duncan insist--that development of CCSS was "state-led." They have other differences, but it is amusing to see Stern, one of our most conservative education commentators, defend Duncan and CCSS.

Now comes Mercedes Schneider to dissect Sol Stern's take on the Common Core. It's fair to say that she knows a lot more about the Core than Sol Stern. Stern doesn't really understand that the CCSS does not embody Hirsch's Core Knowledge. And it must surely pain him to realize that one of he best-selling books about the Common Core was written by Lucy Calkins of Teachers College, one of Stern's arch enemies (he hates Balanced Literacy, loves phonics).

Bottom line: CCSS has created strange alliances.

Astroturf on Steroids - Raging Horse Blog Exposes the Truth About "Higher Achievement NY"

Higher Achievement New York...yet another deceitfully created billionaire backed front group passing itself off as “grass roots ” and roping in just enough innocent faces to fool those who don’t know any better.... a public relations project disguised as an education advocacy group. 

As Higher Achievement New York is comprised of more established and experienced fronts such as the Gates Foundation’s Educators4Excellence and Mike Bloomberg’s Students First NY, one should expect an extraordinarily high level of obfuscation, distortion, and shill like behavior.

when King appeared in lower Manhattan the two fronts showed up in tandem and one heard silly testimonial after silly testimonial from one 24 year old “ex teacher” (currently employed by Students First New York) after another about how Common Core is just about the answer to just about every problem in the known universe, bizarre statements by E4E teachers of the almost supernatural power of the Common Core, and, most cynically, insinuations that rejection of the Common Core was merely disguised racism.

As a teacher in PS 149, one of the schools that Cuomo essentially gave to the charter school empire of Eva Moskowitz, the homage to the Tough Guy governor’s giveaway goes right to the gut.
 
I... found one of the families for excellent schools was none other than Walton family of Wal-Mart fame, not widely known for being particularly fond of people speaking for themselves. I looked further and found out that Families for Excellent Schools shares an address with the New York division of Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst.
Question: Weren’t front groups once generally regarded as sleazy, unethical and even sinister enterprises? If so, how and why did this change ? And what does this change say about how we have changed ?

Read the entire post at:

A Busy Day for Billionaire Backed Front Groups

April 10, 2014

Julie Cavanagh With MORE Statement of Support for Today's Parent Rally to Protest Cuomo Charter Giveaway

The charter school giveaways in last week’s budget were nothing short of a death sentence for the sustainability of New York City’s public school system:.... Julie Cavanagh

Were you happy when you saw Eva close her schools and use kids and parents blatantly for political purposes? And were you happy that Cuomo pandered to their illegal rally?
Today is the chance to counter that rally with real grassroots parents, not Eva's forced march. Don't complain about charter giveaways and takeaways of public school buildings when they come for your school.

Some estimate this bill will cost the UFT between 10 and 20 thousand members over time (don't worry about the Unity leadership - they'll make it up in dues.)

The charter lobby, which loved mayoral control under Bloomberg, has now instituted Governor control. Unfortunately without a whimper from the mayor or the UFT. Some might ask how the UFT, whose very own charter stands to benefit from this law, can just lie down.

Julie Cavanagh wrote the MORE statement of support for the rally, posted on the MORE site.

Stand Up, Fight Back for Public Education

Join parents, students, educators and community members at this important rally on Thursday at 4:00. Meet in front of the steps of the New York City Public Library @5^th Ave. and 41^st Street with a march to Governor Cuomo’s office to follow. On Facebook here:https://www.facebook.com/savenycpubliceducation

By Julie Cavanagh

Teacher/Chapter-Leader P.S.15k

Last week charter schools received a windfall to the tune of tens of millions of potential dollars in free space, either in a public school or in a city-subsidized private space, more per pupil funding than public schools, and an essentially unfettered ability to expand at the expense of existing public schools.

The charter school giveaways in last week’s budget were nothing short of a death sentence for the sustainability of New York City’s public school system:

• The financial burden of providing and paying for charter school space and services for co-locations will be crippling. This will be especially difficult once the cap of 200 charter schools is reached. There are 52 charter schools left on the cap in NYC, but there will be “more” because existing charters can expand grades without being included in the cap. So, for example, if a charter opened as an elementary, it can expand to include middle school and/or high school grades without a cap deduction. In addition, the Cuomo-led legislation to provide space to charters — only in NYC — is an unfunded mandate. The city is required to find the resources to pay. Only after $40 million is spent on private charter rent, will the state contribute to an undetermined amount of assistance. We need funding policies that will support the facilities and space needed for the approximately 94%[i] of public school children learning in overcrowded and substandard facilities.
• Charters schools receive MORE per pupil funding than public schools. This creates even greater inequity in our school system favoring the approximately 6% of NYC’s school children who currently attend charter schools. Combine that with the millions in private funding charters receive from millionaire and billionaire donors who have an interest in privatizing our education system and the goal becomes clear: undermine and dismantle every child’s right to go to the school of his or her choice. The new policy will force students fill out an application, win a lottery, and adhere to undemocratic governance and a set of rules that leave families vulnerable to discrimination and push-out, not to mention increased segregation in an already segregated school system. We need policies that seek to create equity and increase the integration of our school system, not make it worse.
• The language in the budget seems to suggest that an existing charter in a public school cannot be prevented from expanding, which it will do at the expense of the existing public school. We need policies that seek to expand our existing public schools. There are many more public schools serving ALL of NYC’s children well and those schools and their best practices should be held up as models. Charters, by contrast, serve far fewer of our neediest children while boasting achievement numbers similar to public schools. The overwhelming majority of New York City families choose public schools and their rights should be respected and protected. They should not be forced into charters.
• The new law requiring charter space puts the expansion of public schools in New York City at risk because it encourages charter school expansion over the expansion of public schools. New York City schools have some of the highest class sizes and most overcrowding in the state. We need support to help end this crisis, not make it worse.
• The financial sustainability of our school system is at risk. As more public dollars are funneled into education corporations and charter schools, fewer public dollars are available for our public schools. At a certain point, and I have heard the “tipping point” is 10% enrollment in charter schools in NYC, we will reach a financial crisis that will make it impossible to balance the funding needs for both charters and public schools, thus allowing the kind of wholesale transfer of public schools to charter operators as we have seen in New Orleans and Philadelphia.

Governor Cuomo not only allowed the charter school windfall to be central to this year’s budget, he was one of, if not the, architect(s). The self-proclaimed “student lobbyist” is truly a charter-hedge-funder lobbyist beholden to campaign dollars in an election year and further influenced by his national political aspirations.

Legislators from around the state, save a brave few such as my own state Senator Montgomery and Harlem’s Senator Perkins whose constituents have experienced the horrors and inequity of charter co-locations and expansion first hand, said precious little and took no stand in rejecting this budget.

Our Mayor, who ran on putting an end to the favor of charters at the expense of our public schools and received a clear mandate to do so by the voters in our city, was at the very least powerless to stop the giveaway and at worst raised no vocal objection, perhaps considering funding for universal Pre-K a worthy enough win, even though charters will also have the right to open Pre-K.

Our own United Federation of Teachers did not mount a fight back against this. In fact, their poor policy choices have made it difficult for UFT leaders to do since they have co-located two union-run charter schools themselves. New York Communities for Change has withdrawn its participation in the parent-led co-location lawsuit, a lawsuit that seeks to charge charters rent for use of public space — a policy that will now be illegal in New York City if the provision in the state budget is not changed.

The true student-lobbyists, parents, students, rank-and-file educators and community members, must stand together to demand full funding and support for our public schools. We must make it clear that an investment in a system that serves ALL children that is governed by the people (however flawed in a system with mayoral control), not private unaccountable and non-transparent interests, is vital to the health and success of our children.

We must stand together and demand the schools our children deserve: facilities deserving of the wealthiest nation in the world, rich and well-rounded curriculum and services, experienced and supported educators, smaller class sizes, and the right to attend a neighborhood public school that is excellent AND open to all.

My school community experienced co-location first hand. We were fortunate to mount a fight back that ended our co-location. However, that win was bitter sweet, because the charter, PAVE Academy, was awarded more than 20 million dollars in precious capital funds to build its own building in our neighborhood. We also engaged in a less-known fight back for another charter expansion in our neighborhood, a charter that sought to further segregate the neighborhood by creating a “boutique” charter targeted at the gentrifying population of Red Hook. Thankfully that charter was not approved. We have learned from both of these experiences that charter space support and expansion in communities results in a negative impact on the community itself, causing unnecessary strain and tension, as well as on the existing schools, and in our case, a school that was and is a high quality option. But equally important, because these issues were at our doorstep, we also understand the deep systemic issues surrounding charters: the drive to privatize our public education system, the impact of charter push-out, the impact of a two-tiered system where one school is privileged over another, and the bigger picture of the undermining of public education and all that entails from worker protections, to funding, to the way children are treated.

MORE stands in solidarity with the approximately 94% of families who want high quality neighborhood schools for their children. We cannot achieve the promise of public education if the funding, facilities and services we need to provide are at-risk. Please join us and families across the city and send Governor Cuomo a message this Thursday: you are not our student’s lobbyist. You do not stand for children. You stand for your own political interests fueled by charter school dollars and we will hold you accountable!

[i] Charter school enrollment in 2011-2012 was 47,780 (according to www.nycsca.org’s report for capital fund projections) out of approximately 1.1 million school children in New York City., yielding an approximate 4% enrollment in charter schools at that time. Cited numbers currently range from 3%-6%. The New York City Charter school Center states approximately 70,000 children attend charter schools in NYC . Based on this information this post estimates current charter enrollment at 6% and public school enrollment at 94%.

Videos: Unity Caucus Bullies Jeer Protestors Opposed to Bill Gates at the AFT - Randi Eggs Them on - Chastised by Delegate

[Your actions] made me feel that Bill Gates was more important than our brothers and sisters.... delegate to Randi Weingarten, Seattle, 2010...

Given what happened at the NYSUT RA this past weekend with the Unity bullies in action, here are 3 videos I put together at the AFT Convention in Seattle in July 2010 showing that their behavior was not that unusual.

Video 1 - David Bellel and I recreated our version of the famous Apple lemming commercial take down of IBM. You can see the original here:

Apple 1984 Super Bowl Commercial Introducing Macintosh Computer (HD)

Here we replace IBM with Unity Caucus and the dissident is CORE from Chicago.

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYQzoDy_ocA




And here is the video I put together of the walk out and jeering from Unity Caucus with Randi grinning with glee. She was chastised by a delegate from California the next day -- that video below this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6Ezri0pVOg



http://youtu.be/mkSSSYQuIcs

The NYC Anti-Test Teacher Rebellion Grows - PS 29 in Brooklyn's Cobble Hill - Farina Territory

Posted on the Ravitch blog. Also - PS 261 in the same neighborhood is holding a rally and forum tomorrow - Thursday - Janine and Fred from CTS will be on the panel. The UFT will probably start trying to take credit for these revolts when in fact they have done nothing to encourage and support the teacher rebellion.

Let me make one prediction which I will make time and again -- the test scores will rise dramatically through NY State Ed manipulation of cut scores to make it look like things are beginning to work. That is the reason getting results takes till summer -- they have to figure out what scores they want for maximum political impact.

Brooklyn Teachers Saw the Common Core Tests, and They Say NO! by dianeravitch

Parents are not allowed to see the Common Core tests. Teachers do see them. Here is what the teachers at PS 29 in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, say about the tests.

Dear Diane,

WOOHOO! Don't you feel we've reached a turning point? It is amazing to see all of the incredible acts of resistance bubbling up all over the country!

Thank you,

Michelle Kupper
CEC 15 member
Parent, PS 29 Brooklyn

----

At PS 29 in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, teachers could not wait any longer to speak their minds about the tests. For too long, they had felt the curriculum growing more restricted, the pressure mounting to get their students to perform, and an increasing dissatisfaction with the profession they so love. A group of six progressive teachers wrote a strong position paper on testing with the intention of moving the conversation along in the neighborhood and forging a path of resistance against the testing machine.

Last year, a forum was held at the school about high-stakes testing. Teachers voiced their concerns about the high-stakes nature and growing prominence of the exams. This year, a group of like-minded teachers and parents came together to form an Education Action Committee. The teachers on this committee drafted the resolution and presented it to the staff as test prep was getting underway. They had the resolution ready to go before the tests began. Out of respect for the community and the families helping to ready their children for these stressful exams, however, they decided to delay its release until after the exams were over. It became clear - with the ELA’s incredibly developmentally inappropriate content and ambiguously worded questions – that they could wait no longer to go public with their sentiments.

They advocate for parents to join the movement against high-stakes tests; they advocate that parents raise their voices and take meaningful actions such as contacting legislators and making informed decisions for their children about the tests; and they advocate for parents to gain a better sense of teachers’ sentiments about high-stakes tests and make public the conversations about tests that have been happening in private for years.

The full resolution is below. Thank you to the growing throngs of parents, students, and educators all over the country raising their voices TOGETHER!

PS 29 Teachers Resolution

April 4, 2014

Over the past decade, standardized tests have taken on greater importance in New York’s public schools. New York City’s students now take state ELA and math exams in grades 3 through 8, and their performance on these tests is linked to promotion, middle- and high-school admissions, teacher evaluations and school progress reports.

Because the tests are now aligned with the Common Core State Standards, they have become more difficult, resulting in much lower passing rates across New York City and State. The tests have also become longer: elementary school students will spend between seven and nine hours taking the state tests this month and next, and students with testing accommodations may have to sit for as many as eighteen hours of testing this spring. Moreover, during March and April, students in testing-grade classrooms can spend up to three hours per day preparing for the state tests.

As teachers, we feel the impact of these changes in our classrooms. In testing grades, the anxiety that students and teachers have about the state exams is palpable. Some students break down in tears during testing and related test-prep sessions, knowing that their performance impacts not only their promotion to the next grade, but also their chances of getting into choice middle and high schools.

Compounding the emotional turmoil, teachers in testing grades must narrow their otherwise rich curricula in order to make room for test prep. Subjects like social studies, word study and read aloud are cast aside, and valuable social-emotional learning and exploration must be limited in order to make sure that students are ready for the exams come spring.

High-stakes tests require that teachers narrow not only their curricula but also the skills they emphasize. As teachers in testing grades prepare students for the state exams, they must often put aside their emphasis on skills like elaboration and creative thinking in order to teach kids to write formulaic responses and find the one right answer.

Even the lower grades have been affected by these high-stakes tests. The pressure to prepare students for their upcoming years of testing has cut time for exploration and play. Additionally, that pressure has increased the need for students to meet, at times, developmentally inappropriate milestones in reading and writing.

Beyond the scope of individual classrooms, high-stakes tests have significant consequences for a school as a whole. As teachers are pulled from their programs to accommodate the proctoring and scoring of exams, a number of critical support services, ESL periods, ICT classrooms and specialty programs are disrupted for nearly a month.

When used correctly, we believe that assessment is a powerful tool. At PS 29, we constantly assess our students, collecting meaningful data that informs our day-to-day instruction. Unlike the high-stakes tests, our assessments improve the education we provide.

Across grades, we feel with great certainty that the rise of standardized testing—and most specifically, its high-stakes nature—has eroded real student learning time, narrowed the curriculum and jeopardized the rich, meaningful education our students need and deserve.

As such, we, the undersigned, believe that it is crucial for teachers to raise our voices on these issues, and we resolve to stand together to advocate for the elimination of the high-stakes nature of standardized tests.

Sincerely,

Kim Van Duzer
Leah Brunski
Rachel Knight
Peter Cipparone
Sara Thorne
Susannah Sperry
Liz Sturges Cosentino
Carolyn Rivas
Sophia Soto
Kristen Adamczyk
Sarah McCaffrey
Mollie Lief
Chantelle Luk
Melissa Bandes Golden
Frank Thomas
Jackie Lichter
Tristram Carver
Jessica Albizu
Hana Pardon
Lisa Cohen
Dan Turret
Lauren McGivney
Adam Gerloff
Bradley Frome
Izzi Kane
Molly Dubow
Kathy Nobles
January Mark
Jasmine Junsay
Nadira Udairam
Aaron Berns
Monica Salazar-Austin
Rachel Certner
Alice Pack
Marisa Noiseux

MORE's Jia Lee in The Nation

For Lee, all this number crunching is the antithesis of a progressive education. Kids do need some basic academic skills, Lee says, but in the context of a well-rounded pedogagy, “[for] educators who believe strongly in…. developing the whole child—you see these tests as trying to turn the child into some kind of number based on artificially set standards.… that, to me, goes against the very reasons why we go into this profession.”... The Nation

The MOREistas just keep coming. Notice how you don't see old fossils like me representing the face of the opposition. How am I going to find time to write about all of them? (Don't worry Mike, your turn will come.)
If I were in Unity Caucus I might be worried enough to boo too.

http://www.thenation.com/blog/179214/teachers-and-students-opt-out-defy-testing-machine

Fred Smith, Ode to Loyalty

Ode to Loyalty

Loyalty is one of those words.
Like respect. It must be earned.
Else we are one with grazing herds.
Loyalty is a choice, I have learned.

Power rests easy when masses comply.
Conformity is the rule of the bosses' game.
Don't think too hard or notice the lie.
Their only reform is more of the same.

"Are you a team player?" they always ask.
To which you must give an unflinching "Yes!".
It means you'll follow any order, do any task.
Say "Depends on the goal." and they say "Next."

Truth is what we seek, feel and understand.
When did we lose the right to think and speak?
Loyalty to principles, yes. Not to command.
That's the highest oath we're bound to keep.

~Fred

Lauren, I'll have what you're having

District 2 principals fight back! Parents, Rally with your school on Friday morning vs awful State ELA exam

Oh da protests continue against state exams. The deformers who put out those pro Eva ads are going to take a shot at reversing the anti-common core movement with a bunch of ads -- our pals at E4E, Students - barf- First, etc are involved in that. The tests suck, parents are pissed, kids are bummed, teachers are stressed-- there ain't no turning this train around.

Posted at Leonie's NYCParents Blog.

District 2 principals fight back! Parents, Rally with your school on Friday morning vs awful State ELA exam

See letter from most of the Elementary school principals in Community School District 2 below; D2 takes up a large slice of Manhattan from the southern tip to 96 St. on the East Side and the 50's on the West Side, with a small chunk of the Lower E. Side taken out.

Note: the letter mentions "product placements":  Among the trademarked products in the ELA exams this year were not just Nike and Barbie mentioned below; but also Lifesavers, Ipods, Mug Rootbeer, Singer Sewing Machines, IBM and FIFA, trademark of the International Soccer Federation, each with the TM after their name and below the reading passage. Mug Rootbeer, Fifa and IBM were also in the exams last year.

Community Action: Join Principals  in Speaking Out Regarding the NYS English Language Arts Exam Friday, April 11th, at District 2 Schools

Dear District 2 Families,

Community School District 2 represents a richly diverse group of school communities and it is not often these days that we have an opportunity to join in a shared effort.  Last week, and for several weeks prior, every one of our upper grade classrooms devoted hours of instructional time, vast human resources, and a tremendous amount of thoughtful effort to preparing students to do well on the NYS ELA exams and, ultimately, to administering them.  Only a handful of District 2 families even considered opting out, and we are not advocating families do so, specifically because we believe our students are well prepared for the rigor and high expectations of the Common Core and our schools have worked hard for several years to adjust our curriculum and teaching to support students in meeting those expectations. 

We had high hopes for what this year’s tests would bring and assured families that they would reflect the feedback test makers and state officials had received from educators and families regarding the design of the test following last year's administration.  Our students worked extremely hard and did their very best.  As school leaders, we supported teachers in ensuring that students and families kept the tests in perspective – they were important, but by no means the ultimate measure of who they are as readers, students, or human beings. We encouraged them to be optimistic, and did our best to do the same.  Frankly, many of us were disappointed by the design and quality of the tests and stood by helplessly while kids struggled to determine best answers, distorting much of what we'd taught them about effective reading skills and strategies and forgoing deep comprehension for something quite different.   

Last Friday morning, Liz Phillips, the principal of PS321 in Brooklyn, led her staff and her parent community in a demonstration objecting, not to testing or accountability or high expectations for kids, but to these tests in particular and, importantly, to their high stakes nature for teachers and students, and the policy of refusing to release other than a small percentage of the questions.  500 staff and parents participated.

By Friday evening some officials were dismissing the importance of their statement, claiming that Liz and her community represented only a tiny percentage of those affected, implying that the rest of us were satisfied.  Given the terribly high stakes of these tests, for schools, for teachers and for kids, and the enormous amount of human, intellectual and financial resources that have been devoted to them, test makers should be prepared to stand by them and to allow them to undergo close scrutiny.

Many District 2 schools will be holding demonstrations this week, making sure our thoughts on this are loud and clear and making it more difficult to dismiss the efforts of one school.  On Friday morning, April 11th, at 8:00am, we invite our families and staff to join District 2 schools in speaking out, expressing our deep dissatisfaction with the 2014 NYS English Language Arts LA exams and the lack of transparency surrounding them. 

Among the concerns shared by many schools are the following: The tests seem not to be particularly well-aligned with the Common Core Learning Standards; the questions are poorly constructed and often ambiguous; the tests themselves are embargoed and only a handful of select questions will be released next year; teachers are not permitted to use (or even discuss) the questions or the results to inform their teaching; students and families receive little or no specific feedback; this year, there were product placements (i.e., Nike, Barbie) woven through some exams. We are inviting you and your family to join together as a school community in this action, helping to ensure that officials are not left to wonder whether our silence implied approval.  

Yours truly, District 2 Principals

Adele Schroeter, PS59; Lisa Ripperger, PS234; Robert Bender, PS11; Tara Napoleoni, PS183; Jane Hsu, PS116; Sharon Hill, PS290; Amy Hom, PS1; Lauren Fontana, PS6; Jennifer Bonnet, PS150; Nicole Ziccardi Yerk, PS281; Susan Felder, PS40; Alice Hom, PS124; Nancy Harris, PS397; Kelly Shannon, PS41; Nancy Sing-Bok, PS51; Lisa Siegman, PS3;  Irma Medina, PS111; Terry Ruyter, PS276; Medea McEvoy, PS267; Darryl Alhadeff, PS158; Samantha Kaplan, PS151; David Bowell, PS347; Lily Woo, PS130; Jacqui Getz, PS126; Kelly McGuire, Lower Manhattan Community MS

Video - NYSUT Update: MORE's Lauren Cohen and Mike Schirtzer Rock the House

The video you have been waiting for. I'm so proud of our MORE next-generation union activists. Lauren and Mike are the new rock-stars. Lots of comments over at NYC Educator as to the level of Lauren's petiteness (UFT-Unity Caucus Demonstrates How It Handles Dissent) ....

I have never viewed Lauren as petite because from the day I met her I viewed her as a giant. When she was so desperate to get away from a beast of a principal she was ready to quit and go teach in Korea - but on her resume she put down she was an activist and test resister - "I don't want to work for a principal who wouldn't want someone like me." And she found such a principal in Liz Philips. To me that makes Lauren a giant.

As for Mike -- my adopted son will get a separate post.

Here is a summary MORE posted on you tube:

The NY United Teachers union is comprised of more than 1,200 local unions across NY State. This year the Movement of Rank-and-file Educators (MORE) ran six candidates for the Board of Directors. NYSUT Elections have been uncontested since 1979. The six candidates pooled their speaking time and were represented by Lauren Cohen and Mike Schirtzer. Behind them were James Eterno, Julie Cavanaugh, Francesco Portelos, Jia Lee from MORE and our union sister from Port Jefferson Teachers Association Beth Dimino.

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MOREcaucusNYC

Join our and subscribe to our news at http://www.morecaucusnyc.org

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbkqXmDz62Y&feature=youtu.be

Thursday - Rally Against Cuomo - 4 PM

Lots of forces gathering for the big march and rally on Thursday to Cuomo's Manhattan office. Are you pissed off at Cuomo? BE THERE!!!!

NYSUT Election Update: Message to Revive: Now that you broke it, you own it

Well, Revive certainly broke NYSUT with the claim that the Stronger Together leadership wasn't militant enough -- one very big joke. So now they own it.

And Revive will come under the very same attacks they used on Stronger Together starting ---- yesterday. Even with 100% of the Unity block voting for him, Revive's Martin Messner won with 53.7% of the weighted vote while Stronger Together incumbent Lee Cutler came in with 46.3%.

In fact the Julie Cavanagh vs Mulgrew numbers (Julie Cavanagh Defeats Mulgrew Outside NYC With 52.3% of Vote) show just how soft the support for Revive is -- let's split the baby -- say half of Julie's votes were due to people knowing her and the other half anti-Mulgrew. So even the big cities had some clear drift toward the Stronger Together candidates.

James Eterno at the ICE blog (REVIVE WINS; MORE DOES VERY WELL OUTSIDE NYC) shows how Stronger Together incumbent Lee Cutler beat Martin Messer (whose tweets put him in slug territory) with 70% of the vote outside NYC. James explains:

A detailed look at the numbers for the election, which we have said was run on as tilted a playing field as a UFT election, shows it was much closer than most people expected.  Outside of New York City, Revive candidates either lost or only won by a small margin.  The difference in this election was the New York City UFT Unity Caucus bloc of votes. 
These Delegates are bound by their caucus obligations to support the decisions of their caucus in public and union forums (the so called Unity loyalty oath) so we knew 34% of the vote (the percentage the UFT has in this election according to what we looked at) was going to Revive from the start. That is a healthy head start.
For Secretary-Treasurer, Revive's Martin Messner won with 53.7% of the weighted vote while Stronger Together incumbent Lee Cutler came in with 46.3%. We got to know Lee Cutler during the last month and found him to be a decent guy who did a pretty good job as an officer. We are not surprised that he won a huge percentage of the vote outside of New York City. Let's look at some of the details.
There were 328,014 weighted votes that were cast in the election for president.  It was less for other offices which is not unusual in any election. Since 34% of the votes were from the UFT and this was a non secret ballot, we can safely assume that all of the UFT votes were for Revive's Martin Messner.
Outside of NYC we can conclude there were 216,489 weighted votes by simply subtracting 111,525 (34% of the total weighted votes cast) from 328,014 (number of weighted votes cast for president).  Now subtract from Messner's totals the same NYC 111,525 weighted votes from his 175,790 total and he is left with 64,275 votes while Cutler keeps all of his non NYC weighted votes which add up to 151,526.  Outside of NYC, where the election is not a top down mandate from Michael Mulgrew, Cutler won easily with 70% of the vote to Messner's 30%.
The same holds true if we take out the NYC votes from the other officers. Stronger Together's Maria Neira, Kathleen Donahue, and of course Dick Iannuzzi won easily outside of NYC. It was also very competitive outside of the city for Arthur Goldstein against Andrew Pallotta for Executive Vice President.

NYSUT Election Update: Julie Cavanagh Defeats Mulgrew Outside NYC With 52.3% of Vote

Michael Mulgrew and Julie Cavanagh replayed the 2013 UFT Election here at NYSUT for an at large Board of Directors seat.  Mulgrew garnered 197,081 weighted votes while Cavanagh received 93,830. 

Now take out the 111,525 NYC Unity votes (I think we can safely assume that no NYC Unity voter would vote against Mulgrew in an open ballot) and Mulgrew is left with 85,556. Cavanagh keeps her 93,830 . The percentages work out to 52.3% for Cavanagh and 47.7% for Mulgrew.
Outside of NYC, Julie Cavanagh defeated Michael Mulgrew!.... James Eterno, ICE blog

James' full report where he does some of the math at:

NYSUT ELECTION RESULTS: REVIVE WINS; MORE DOES VERY WELL OUTSIDE NYC

Of course James is doing some extrapolation here. But the results were remarkable for MORE, which was not on the Stronger Together slate - even with the big cities stacked for Revive, when it came to individual battles there's lots to mull over.

From what I hear, based on her appearance Saturday at the NYSUT RA (she didn't speak, ceding her time to Lauren Cohen and Mike Schirtzer) Julie is still a rock star -- MORE was originally approached by people in the state partly because of Julie's status -- but she has been very busy with Jack, who will officially hit the terrible Twos in July. (No one is waiting for summer more eagerly than Julie.)

Her name carried some serious weight and according to James' analysis got more votes than Mulgrew outside of the NYC Unity Caucus block.

For those who think the NYSUT rift will be healed soon, they are blowing smoke. Stronger Together did not disband and will be holding a meeting soon. What used to be a solid NY State Unity Caucus block at the AFT convention (July 11) will now be split into 2 camps - roughly a 60-40 split. Since the minority caucus pins much of this on Randi Weingarten/Mulgrew, if there is any serious opposition to Randi on national policy and even a serious candidate against her in the election, watch some fur fly.

NYSUT Update: MORE's Lauren Cohen Stands Up to Bully Tests and Bully Unity Slugs

Yesterday morning I watched from the audience as Lauren Cohen, a petite young woman from the UFT MORE caucus, got up and addressed the NYSUT Representative Assembly as a candidate. When Lauren mentioned the UFT-Unity Loyalty oath, my 800 brothers and sisters from UFT-Unity tried to drown her voice with loud boos. The moderator had to get up and explain that it was not in the best traditions of public forums to prevent people from speaking. Lauren stood calmly, and continued undeterred after waiting a moment for the noise to subside. She demonstrated grace and thoughtfulness, neither of which was evident in the audience that saw fit to shout her down in the full view of UFT President Michael Mulgrew. ... NYC Educator, UFT-Unity Caucus Demonstrates How It Handles Dissent

The MORE presence and the Unity response exposed goon tactics to the entire state... even some Unity people were embarrassed and came over to Lauren to apologize. I believe Peter Goodman, one of the 800 Unity delegates, is urging unity after they split the state. Consequences, consequences, consequences -- you reap what you sow....Ed Notes

You mean THIS Lauren Cohen -- not that long ago, seemingly a bit shy -- gets booed, waits calmly and then rocks the house. Thus the power of being in a group like MORE - watching the growth of wonderful new leaders like Lauren.

Only Unity Caucus would boo someone who loves puppies.

There was much irony in the massive booing on the part of Unity Caucus goons and slugs as MORE NYSUT candidate Lauren Cohen began her speech Saturday at the NYSUT RA. I wasn't there but I heard she mentioned the Unity Caucus loyalty oath, prompting boos and shout of "No MORE".

Lauren was a victim of Unity Caucus perfidy way before Saturday, suffering, until she escaped, for years under an abusive, bully principal who has driven a number of staff, parents and children out of the school, all while the UFT/Unity leadership twiddled (and continues t twiddle) its thumbs. Thus Lauren has suffered a double dose of abuse from the union leadership, which by the way, made bogus claims it defends chapter leaders at the March Delegate Assembly. While Lauren was not CL, the previous gaggle of CLs at the school came under the evil eye of the principal -- again the UFT did nothing.

Both Lauren and her pal Jia Lee, also a MORE NYSUT candidate and a fugitive from the same school, came to MORE as a result of the abuse they suffered at that school and to Change the Stakes due to their stand against testing policy.

Below is Lauren in a shot from TV on Friday outside her new school, PS 321, making a very public stand against testing at the rally. She was also interviewed on TV. Less than 24 hours later, she was standing in front of her Unity Caucus fellow UFT members being booed.

This is the way of the goon mentality we face in battling against the evil empire (video will be up soon.) Booing one of the teachers with the guts to stand up to all bullies - the kind of person who would never be tolerated in the caucus. MORE continues to attract people like Lauren. I will highlight some of the others this week.

A photo of the MORE crew at the NYSUT RA with friends-- and many more were made over the weekend as the MORE presence and the Unity response exposed their tactics to the entire state.

Arthur Goldstein, next to Julie Cavanagh, the indomitable Beth Dimino, far right, Mike Schirtzer and Francesco Portelos, back-center next to James Eterno, to the right of Sean Ahern. Jia Lee, center (blue) next to the always awesome Megan Moskop. Others - Joan Heymont, Don Doyle, Sal Notera, Rob Pearl (VP Port Jeff Stn TA)

Teachers Win Special Ed Complaint Against Murry Bergtraum Principal Lottie "Neutron Bomb" Almonte....

...can clear a building faster than flatulence from a herd of cattle.  Look at my school, Murry Bergtraum High School. Nearly 1/3 of the staff split because of the principal. I call her “Lottie Neutron” (as the neutron bomb kills people put leaves buildings in tact). ... John Elfrank-Dana, Chapter Leader

John has been vigilant as a chapter leader.

Dear Bergtraum Community,

Attached are the results of the special education complaint filed by me and several of your colleagues. And again, the letter was opened before I received it, even though it was addressed to me. 

John

And US Postal service tempering to boot.

Here is the pdf of the State Ed Dept ruling:

Special Ed Complaint Findings NYS

Today: Don't Tread On Educators Workshop in Brooklyn, 5-8PM

Are you an educator who:

• Feels their career has been derailed?
• Bullied in the workplace?
• Overloaded and underappreciated?

Are you burnt out?.....COME GET FUELED UP!

You are not alone. We are taking back our careers.

--> UPDATE:
-->

There is an informal talk from 5pm-6pm with Mary Compton and MORE before the DTOE Event. All are invited. Mary is the past President of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) in the UK, webmaster for teachersolidarity.com and co-editor with Lois Weiner of the "Global assault" book. She's key in an emerging global network of teacher union activists.

Join our Don't Tread on Educators support group by emailing a blank email to DTOE+subscribe@googlegroups.com

Paul Robeson Freedom School 520 Clinton Ave, Brooklyn, New York 11238

School

---

join@paulrobesonfreedomschool.org

Get Directions

---

Accolades for 3 Teachers Test Refuseniks

If Unity Caucus could have booed Jia Lee, one of MORE's candidates at the NYSUT RA this past weekend, they would have. But Jia had ceded her time to Laura Cohen, who was booed by the Unity 800 (UFT-Unity Caucus Demonstrates How It Handles Dissent).

Valerie Strauss reports on Jia and colleagues' remarkable letter of conscience to Carmen Farina.

Three teachers from P.S. 364 Earth School in New York have informed their administration and Chancellor Carmen Fariña that they will not proctor Common Core state standardized tests this year — or ever — saying in a letter (see below) that they “can no longer implement policies that seek to transform the broad promises of public education into a narrow obsession with the ranking and sorting of children.” They join a small but growing number of educators who are taking a strong stand against high-stakes testing, in Seattle last year, Chicago this year and in other places. The three teachers — Colin Schumacher, Emmy Matias and Jia Lee — are part of a group called Teachers of Conscience, who have issued a position paper (which you can see below). The three have the outspoken support of their principal, Alison Hazut, and of parents opting out their children from the tests (and more than half of the families at P.S. 364 are doing so). Hazut has assigned these teachers to work with students who are opting out on independent writing, math, reading, and art projects during the tests. Contrast that with the “sit and stare” policies some other principals have enacted, which essentially force kids who are opting out to sit in their chairs during the test administration and do nothing but look around......http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/04/04/teachers-refuse-to-administer-standardized-tests/

And more accolades for Jia from fellow Change the Stakes and MOREistas.

This could be a game-changing turning point for the movement! My deepest thanks, Jia, for all you do. You're an amazing woman, teacher, mother, leader!... Nancy Cauthen, Change the Stakes

Jia, Together this letter and position paper are not just brilliant and definitive. For me they constitute the best single piece of news I've seen in the two years Anne and I have been involved in this movement. Now that parents are opting out in significant numbers, the next step is for teachers to "come out" and speak truth to power. You are in the absolute vanguard of that movement, and together parents and teachers will bring the "ed deform" to a halt and begin truly restoring public education in this country. Bravissima!!!!!!!! And THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

.... Jeff Nichols

Jia, Emmy and Colin,
This is spectacular and you are very brave to do this!.. Jane

Jia is the best parent, teacher, union leader! I stand with her any day every day.. Mike Schirtzer

Jia, Emmy, Colin--you have taken us to a new level.  Your letter belongs in the Smithsonian.... Fred

Excellent letter Jia, you really are exceptional! .... Diana

This is historic and courageous of the three of you. Also kudos to your principal who is giving support,  and to the brave parents and students who are taking a stand against for forfeit  assessment/education. Your letter should be in every major publication across the nation....Pat

 

On DIscontinue - MORE's Paul Hogan - Mr. de Blasio: Tear Up This Blacklist

My fellow MOREista retiree Paul Hogan urges you to sign a petition against the DOE blacklist, where any principal has the power to ruin a non-tenured teacher's entire career with a swoop of a computer stroke. Paul is another outstanding MORE activist, thoughtful, analytical, smart -- the kind of person MORE is attracting in greater numbers. Paul often gets up early and stands in front of schools in cold weather handing out MORE materials in order the spread the word.


http://paulvhogan.wordpress.com/2014/04/05/mr-de-blasio-tear-up-this-blacklist/

Mr. de Blasio: Tear Up This Blacklist

5 Apr Was Bill de Blasio’s dad blacklisted in the 1950s? Well it sure looks that way.

Long story short, Warren Wilhelm Sr., government analyst , was dragged before a McCarthy-era committee in 1950 and 1953, interrogated about suspect activities, interests, and affiliations, and then stripped of his security clearance.
“Over the next several years, the case resurfaced as Mr. Wilhelm was considered for promotions,” the New York Times reported in 2013.

Apparently the promotions didn’t come. Bill’s dad, who’d been awarded a Purple Heart for his WWII battlefield heroics, didn’t talk much about his difficulties with the Loyalty Board to his family. But the Wilhelms left Washington for greener pastures after 1953, and he seemed to struggle thereafter in almost every way imaginable. It seems reasonable to assume, then,  that Mayor Bill de Blasio understands, as few others can, the malignant power of the blacklist.

It’s a question of some immediate relevance . Currently making the rounds is an online petition asking that the Mayor’s schools chancellor put an end to a Bloomberg-era policy of blacklisting-for-life probationary teachers who are “discontinued” ( “fired”, in plain English) from their initial DOE assignment.

The petition makes the obvious point that school principals should base their decision to retain or to discontinue a new teacher on strictly *pedagogical* grounds.   Yet, this does not happen often.

So, apart from pedagogy, what else would matter? Well, politics, for one; both in the local ( i.e. within the school) sense of the word and in the more general sense.

Religion, race, and ethnicity, for another. ( All of the “old reliables”; rolled into one, for clarity’s sake.)

Sexual orientation and gender. (“But there are LAWS against that sort of thing.” Yeah. Right. PROVE it.)

Cronyism and nepotism. (I myself saw a probationary teacher, primary support for two minor children, discontinued — and consequently blacklisted throughout the system —thereby making room on staff for an administration-insider’s newly-credentialed relative.)

Personality conflicts, unrelated to work performance. (Grow-up, folks. It happens all the time.)
The petition itself provides an excellent example of how the process actually works:
“Then, several months later and out of the blue, it happened. Without even realizing it, Jennifer crossed Principal Higgins by questioning some change in assignment and a preparation period she felt she was owed. Suddenly, Jennifer stopped receiving “satisfactory” observation reports and began receiving several “unsatisfactory” ones. Principal Higgins then rated Jennifer unsatisfactory for her first year final rating. Jennifer was devastated. It didn’t make sense. The students and parents liked her. She received unofficial praise from the assistant principal, but to Principal Higgins Jennifer didn’t differentiate instruction. She didn’t have coherent lessons and didn’t demonstrate knowledge of resources.
http://www.change.org/petitions/katherine-rodi-save-the-careers-of-discontinued-teachers
 450 NYC probationers were discontinued in the last two years.  

The real killer here though is the *blacklist*. Discontinued NYC probationers have all spent years ( and tens of thousands of dollars) in preparation to get as far as they got: studying for undergraduate and , in many case, graduate degrees; jumping through all kinds of testing and licensing hoops.  Suddenly… because of something so trivial as a personality conflict with a supervisor… they are essentially banned-for-life from the profession for which they trained. Under the blacklist, no other principal in the 1,700 school NYC sysytem may hire them. There is only one public school system in New York City. Just as there was, in the 1950s, for Warren Wilhelm …..and many, many others… only one federal government.

One of the most striking and promising things about New York City’s new mayor is his intriguing resume’. In an era when government policy is shaped for the most part by shallow suburban prep school dilettantes, de Blasio’s bio smacks of something real.


But there it is. The blacklist. It’s cultivator and guardian is the NYC’s Department of Education, that bottomless pit of  nepotism, patronage, mendacity, mindless cruelty and absolutely incomparable bureaucratic dysfunction.
The question right now is: will Mayor de Blasio do something about it?
http://www.change.org/petitions/katherine-rodi-save-the-careers-of-discontinued-teachers

Read Paul's complete post as he explores the impact of the blacklist on de Blasio.
http://paulvhogan.wordpress.com/2014/04/05/mr-de-blasio-tear-up-this-blacklist/