Newark Teacher on Christie, Cami... Sirota Hints at Christie in Handcuffs

... I don't care about community criticism. We run the school district in Newark, not them....Governor Chris Christie

Ras Baraka, a mayoral candidate who is also Central High School’s principal, said Christie "told the truth at least."
"He does run the school district, not us. That’s why we need to get rid of him," Baraka said Wednesday. "To say that he doesn’t care about what Newark residents think shows that he doesn’t represent Newarkers."
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/09/christie_to_newark_we_run_the_school_district.html)

Recipient of New Jersey pension deal housed charity run by Gov. Christie's wife. "Time to put the cuffs on Chris Christie -- not for the bridge scandal, but for this," Michael Moore.... 

And what a fine job running the Newark schools the state of New Jersey has done over the past few decades. Here a Newark teacher comments the clergy condemnation of Cami Anderson and Marie Corfield's petition to oppose Christie as the keynote speaker at Rowan College. I hope all the ed majors boo.

The nearly eighty Newark clergy members are to be commended for resurrecting their moral voices in condemnation of State Superintendent Cami Anderson's One Newark Plan. The part of their message that stuck in my craw, however, is the pandering to the education reformers regarding support of data driven instruction.

Newark teachers have spent the week pondering the outcome of Anderson's equivalency request to waive tenure and seniority laws in order to "right size" the district. Acting Education Commissioner David Hespe has inherited the request from his predecessor Chris Cerf who has migrated to the greener pastures of Amplify. Have any pink slips gone out for the massive layoff? What is the deadline to notify teachers that they will not be employed by the Newark Public Schools in September? Noticeably absent from the public square is reigning AFT Queen Randi Weingarten. Is she in Finland checking out highly performing schools and exemplary teachers, which are reportedly found there in abundance?

Marie Corfield has issued an all call for signatures on her petition requesting the President of Rowan University to reconsider his choice of Governor Chris Christie as keynote commencement speaker. Sorry Marie, but the last place I need my name right now is on a petition criticizing Chris Christie. Hopefully, there are others out there who are not in my company skating on thin ice.

Allow me to cut to the chase. Will the multitude of clergy have a meaningful impact on the community discourse in Newark? It gives me a measure of comfort to know that I am not wandering alone in the desert during Passover. As far as our governor is concerned, Chris Christie could not be less interested in what anyone in Newark has to say. Should Chris Christie under the cloud of state and federal investigations be paraded around as an exemplar for our youth by delivering commencement proclamations? Will the modern day pharaohs end my enslavement to the State of New Jersey control of the Newark schools? In the words of the spiritual, "Go down Moses and let my people go!"

A Newark Teacher

Baraka praises Ministers Fight for a Moratorium on One Newark School Reorganization Plan

Statement by Ras Baraka

“Nearly one year ago, the City Council passed my resolution calling for a moratorium on all of Cami Anderson’s public school initiatives. A year later, Ms. Anderson continues to run away from input by Newark citizens and continues to carry out her relentless drive to

close our neighborhood schools.

Today, the ministers of Newark have joined me in calling for a moratorium on the destructive One Newark Plan to close our schools, a plan already being implemented against the will of the people of Newark.”

While we're on Christie, David Sirota takes this shot -- I bet Cuomo is also up to his ears in stuff like this.

Chris Christie's $300m Pension Proposal Broke State Anti-Corruption Laws  David Sirota April 18, 2014 PandoDaily Recipient of New Jersey pension deal housed charity run by Gov. Christie's wife. "Time to put the cuffs on Chris Christie -- not for the bridge scandal, but for this," Michael Moore.

Susan's Sunday Special

Some good reading for a Sunday morning from Susan Ohanian.

The fact that the announcement I sent out yesterday never arrived is a sign of the site's current troubles. Sometimes it works fine; other times it is very slow loading. Thanks to Eric's hard work, we are moving to a new server. But this takes time and money so please be patient.

I know I could go with one of those free blogs but I cling to the notion that the 'search' possibilities offered in the system Eric has devised are invaluable. This site started in 2002. My intent was to record the outrage. Just call me Madame Defarge. But in addition to the incidents of outrage, this site contains a lot of important research. I happen to think the new research: 'Common Core Timeline with the Feds' is important. It provides evidence of the deception, bribery & coercion practiced by the US Department of Education from the get-go under the Obama/Duncan leadership.
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=695

Just be patient when the site is slow to load. We'll get it back to full speed as soon as we can.

Thanks to Stephen Krashen, my words appeared in the New York Times last week. Steve is one of the few people I know who's always willing to credit others.

Cartoons
Scorecard
http://susanohanian.org/cartoon_fetch.php?id=917

War on public schools
http://susanohanian.org/cartoon_fetch.php?id=916

Common Core n'est pas. . .
http://susanohanian.org/cartoon_fetch.php?id=915

The Real Gap
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_cartoons.php?id=1022

The Working Poor: College Profs
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_cartoons.php?id=1023





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Common Core Timeline with the Feds
Susan Ohanian
blog
2014-04-17
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=695

Here's what Arne Duncan has said about Common Core over the last few years.

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Revising the SAT To Make It Even Worse
 James W Loewen

2014-04-15
http://susanohanian.org/show_commentary.php?id=1166

Van Loewen explains why the proposed changes to the SAT will make it even worse.

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To the editor
Stephen Krashen
New York Times
2014-04-17
http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1665

Of course I'm delighted that Stephen Krashen got this letter into the paper--pointing out what the real problem is.

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Idea of New Attention Disorder Spurs Research, and Debate
Alan Schwarzapril, with Ohanian comment
New York Times
2014-04-12
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1803

There's a new diagnosis on the market to get children in line: sluggish cognitive tempo. The condition is said to be characterized by lethargy, daydreaming and slow mental processing.

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Privacy concerns nix New York student-data plan
Associated Press
Wall Street Journal
0000-00-00
http://susanohanian.org/show_yahoo.php?id=854

InBloom, a Gates project, is left without clients.

Say Wha? Rhee Hubby Kevin Johnson Leads NBA Union Search

This is as funny an article as you can read today. Charter slug Kevin Johnson getting involved in NBA union is as unbelievable as having  Bill Gates keynote an AFT convention.

N.B.A. Players Reset Union Search With Kevin Johnson as Point Man

His tenure has not been free of controversy; in 2012, he was fined $37,000 by the Fair Political Practices Commission for failing to report $3.5 million in donations he solicited for charity organizations. As a supporter of charter schools — he is married to the former Washington public schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, a staunch education reformer — he has faced strong opposition in Sacramento from public-school teachers’ unions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/18/sports/basketball/nba-players-reset-union-search-with-kevin-johnson-as-point-man.html?hpw&rref=sports&_r=0

Norm in The Wave: High Stakes Testing Opt-Out Movement Takes Off

Published Friday, April 18, 2014 www.rockawave.com


High Stakes Testing Opt-Out Movement Takes Off
By Norm Scott

Stories of numerous parents in the city and around the state who have begun a revolt against high stakes testing by having their children refuse to take the tests have recently broken into the mainstream media. Even school principals in Brooklyn and Manhattan have led post-ELA test rallies outside their schools over the impropriety of many of the tests based on the common core curriculum. Quite an achievement by organized groups of parents and progressive teachers who just a year ago were being deemed “oddballs.”

Yes, we are in the midst of the high stakes testing season and the education wars keep heating up between the real reformers who want to make schools inviting spaces for children, teachers and parents and the corporate style ed deformers who are trying to turn the nations schools into a mini-me of the corporate model. High stakes tests and the common core nationally imposed curriculum have become the battle ground. The corporate mentality feeds on “data” and with few economic resources to fight against the billions on the other side, real reformers are using the opt-out movement as a “deny them the data” campaign.

The more than a decade old battle has morphed as many parents of younger children have seen how the focus on tests damage their children psychologically and educationally as schools focus more and more time on test prep. Once the tests are over (in a few weeks) everyone breathes a sigh of relief. The change of atmosphere in schools is palpable. Trips, projects, more interesting curriculum become more common. But there is also a cost as the sense of the school year being over is felt in early May. Teachers start disappearing to be sent to other schools to mark the exams, the results of which are not known until the summer, thus becoming useless as a tool for the teachers to use to improve their current students’ learning.

A word of explanation. I am not talking about removing standardized tests from the equation, but to de-emphasize them in the use as a one snapshot a year of a child’s learning to make judgments about them, their schools and their teachers. And I am not talking about the kinds of tests high school kids take to get into colleges where there can be intense pressure. I am talking about subjecting 8-year olds to the same kinds of pressure we used to reserve for 17-year olds high school kids (and increasingly people are thinking we should not be doing that to them either.)

A few years ago I was part of a group of teachers and parents who founded ChangeTheStakes.org (CTS) to inform parents around the city of the impact high stakes testing was having on their childrens’ education. CTS has put out a series of materials to support parents who want to opt their children out the tests by addressing issues of whether their child will be promoted or get into the middle school of their choice if they don’t take the test (new rules protect these children from retaliatory actions). Also on the agenda has been is what the children will be doing while the others are taking the test. Some school systems require those children to “sit and stare” in the same classrooms – do nothing. There has been a revolt against those policies with calls on schools to provide meaningful activities.

There is still time to opt out of this year’s math tests. If you are a potential opt-out parent you can contact CTS at changethestakes@gmail.com or check out the website.

Teachers are also beginning to take a stand. Some NYC teachers at the Earth School on the Lower East Side have formed a group called “Teachers of Conscience” and have refused to give the tests. teachersofconscience.wordpress.com.

Teacher asks for help for research project at Channel View
Were you a resident of the Rockaways during WW II, or served in WW II? Would you consider being interviewed about your experiences? We are seeking individuals to share their memories of life during WW II. Channel View School for Research’s 8th grade students are exploring life during wartime and the impact it had on the Rockaway residents. We are also investigating the imprint Fort Tilden has left on the peninsula and are petitioning the National Park Service to consider why it is worth preserving. Please contact Annette Malloy at (718)634-1970, or AMalloy@schools.nyc.gov if you are interested.

Video - Mike Schirtzer - Too Big for Japanese Doors

Wall Street Journal on ATRs: Deconstructing the Inherent Bias

The ATR Issue Heats Up as astro-turf Ed Deformer groups (E4E, Students First, TNTP) Attack on all fronts. 

Educators 4 Excellence-New York, an advocacy group of more than 8,000 teachers... Leslie Brody, WSJ

WTF-- E4E is a group that has practically zero representation in NYC schools despite massive amounts of funding and full-time organizers, yet is given credence in this article. I bet MORE, a true grassroots group, has more visibility. 'Nuff said about the impartiality of the WSJ piece on ATRs, which also quotes astroturf groups like Students First (Jenny Sedlis, Eva's former pit bull?)

Now here is an important point:

The ATR issue is non-negotiable in terms of a time limit.  Case closed.  We already won this with the awful 2005 arbitration panel.  This has been settled and the ed deformers keep bringing it up as a way to do an end run around tenure. Most ATRs get hired provisionally because principals don't want to keep people who become senior in their school after their one provisional year.  Lots of excessed people.  Most are hired provisionally from year to year.  Some are placed permanently (usually less senior) while some have rotated for three years and been ATRs for longer..... Chapter Leader at a closing school

Yes boys and girls. We have a contract that keeps ATRs in perpetuity. We gave up valuable real estate in 2005. As my pal says, "Case closed." Yet as he says, the ed deformers, having gotten their pound of flesh a decade ago, want even more. There is more on this point and the info will probably appear on the blogs soon.

I know ATRs are unhappy and want some resolution. Do does the DOE. So does the UFT.

There are solutions but not one that includes a time limit being pushed by the ed deformers is acceptable and the UFT has not varied from that position. I know I was one of the people thinking they would sell out, I am moving to James Eterno's position that they will not sell out on time limits, no matter how much pressure put on. (A lesson for the UFT was Chicago, where ATR time limits were major organizing tools for CORE -- MORE in NYC would be in a similar position -- but I am not rooting for time limits to help as an organizing tool.)

When the WSJ's Leslie Brody contacted me about getting the word out to ATRs that she was doing an article on them I wrote her that I was always suspicious of the press, but especially of a Rupert Murdoch-owned publication. Though they always claim there is a firewall between editorial and reporting, I don't believe that.

They start off with a bias and what they want is some quotes from ATRs to try to show impartiality.

While warning them about this, I did notify my listserves. ATR Dave Levin did talk to her and is quoted, though he told me the more pertinent things he said were not included... "of course she didn't use the good stuff and I'm not surprised she picked out the juicy quote but it's OK. I explained to her that the groups like student first were not student first."

In my correspondence with Leslie, when I brought up that salary was an issue, Leslie was misinformed in claiming the DOE picked up the salary. I sent her response to Chaz for clarification. Chaz refused to talk to her but wrote a piece on ATRs and sent it to her (The Reason Why ATRs Should Be Put Back Into The Classroom. It Helps Student Academic Achievement). Chaz pointed to the Fair Student Funding formula as a major culprit and he clarified the point on picking up the salary.

There is a deliberate misconception that the DOE picks up part of the ATR salary if a school selects an ATR to fill a leave replacement or vacancy.  The DOE only picks up the difference in salary between the ATR and the salary of the teacher the ATR is replacing for the first year only!   If the school decides to pick up the ATR for the second year the ATR's salary must be included in the average teacher salary of the school and comes out of the school's budget.  Therefore, very few, if any, ATRs are picked up the second year since it will cost the school money.

Note not one word on this important issue in the article. But plenty of quotes from the ed deform astro-turfers.

And there is the most egregious partisan issue -- the refusal to fully identify who these groups represent - including the owner of the WSJ. They are all funded by the same sources and have echoed every single partisan note of the ed deform platform. TNTP which also makes money from pushing new teachers has a dog in the race -- get rid of ATRs and they get a lot of business.

Note that Leslie did not ask for a quote from ICE or MORE, grassroots groups independent from the UFT line.


Here is the article below the jump - or click here.

Teachers Unite Membership Drive

I was one of the first members of Teachers Unite and continue to support the work of the organization. Jose Alfaro was an early distributor of Ed Notes when I took it citywide in 2002 at Fannie Lou Hamer HS (it was only a publication for the Delegate Assembly for the previous 5 years). Teachers Unite provides the space for people like Jose to continue doing the work he did before he retired.

What's Your Story? José Alfaro I considered becoming a teacher in 1970, when I graduated from college, but my conflict with the traditional ed department at my college and the anti-child conversation I found in the staff cafeteria where I did my student teaching dissuaded me from teaching.  In contrast I ended up working as a youth organizer for United Bronx Parents, one of the key organizations in NYC working for community empowerment in the schools. There, one of my responsibilities was advocating for students and their families in the schools. In the mid 80's my son began attending the progressive schools in east Harlem and I eventually began teaching at the high school, Central Park East Secondary School. Teaching was great, but it also prevented me from continuing my community organizing, so when I was asked to return to my role as a social worker and help develop Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom H.S. in the Bx. I jumped at the opportunity. Little did I realize that the needs of the students meant that my position presented many challenges, but I was emotionally hooked and today, even though I've retired I continue to work at Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School part time seeking to develop the use of restorative practices at the school as well as in other schools. Since I became an activist in the late 60's I've always stressed the importance of working collectively in an organization with people from whom I can learn and build with. I've been involved with different education organizations throughout the years, but with Teachers Unite I've had an opportunity to combine my training as an education advocate with my training as a therapist through the work we do around Restorative Practices. My vision for public education is that schools become significant learning centers that address the multiple needs of the community. This means deepening critical thinking skills, using authentic assessment in lieu of standardized tests, provide a rich variety of ways to explore intellectual, artistic and physical interests, make available culturally relevant health and mental health services, and become centers of youth and community empowerment. *          *          *          *          *          *          *        Your generous donation to Teachers Unite sends a message of encouragement to educators who take action to end school pushout and racial injustice. Our members are not only speaking out, they are acting out! They help schools organize Restorative Justice Teams. They collaborate with youth organizations to change the city's School Discipline Code. They produce media and resources that envision a humanistic approach to student discipline. They transform their own school cultures and advocate to the DOE and UFT for help with doing so. We have to show parents and young people that teachers are opposed to social and economic injustice.  Please click here to donate today!

http://changethestakes.wordpress.com/2014/04/16/3186/

Change the Stakes Responds to New DOE Promotion Policy

April 16, 2014 · by Change the Stakes · Bookmark the permalink. ·

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                          
Contact: Jane Maisel or Nancy Cauthen, changethestakespress@gmail.com

By announcing that state test scores will no longer be the primary factor in promotion decisions, the NYC Department of Education has taken an important first step toward eliminating the educational harm caused by high-stakes testing. Change the Stakes applauds the DOE for making this long overdue change.  The previous policy, which was overwhelmingly opposed by educators, researchers and parents when approved 10 years ago, was misguided and detrimental to student learning.

The parents and educators of Change the Stakes strongly support the basic premises of the new policy – first, that teachers who know students best should drive promotion decisions, and second, that those decisions should be based on a holistic assessment of student performance throughout the year. But we firmly believe that state test scores should not be used at all in promotion decisions. These standardized assessments were never designed for this purpose.

To facilitate implementation of the new promotions policy, Change the Stakes urges the DOE to:

• Communicate this important change directly to parents to ensure they understand that the process will be substantially different this year.

• Clarify as soon as possible how the “promotion portfolio” will be developed and evaluated in a way that ensures fairness and equity across districts while offering individual schools some flexibility.

• Designate a citywide office parents can contact with any questions or concerns during the first year of implementation of the new policy. This will help promote transparency, accountability and parental engagement.

• Identify funding and other resources to support more intensive, high-quality student support services for those identified as needing support throughout the year.

To build on this positive initial step toward reducing the high stakes associated with standardized testing, we urge the DOE to remove state test scores from consideration in middle school and high school admissions.

Finally, Change the Stakes calls on the governor and the NYS legislature to take immediate action to remove one of its most damaging high-stakes testing policies– using state test results to evaluate teachers. This policy, known as APPR, is based on junk science and has been criticized by a wide coalition of educational experts, and is just as misguided as promoting students based on test scores. Additionally, APPR and its associated test-driven policies have depleted budgets needed to serve the real needs of students.

###

Change the Stakes (changethestakes.org) is a group of New York City parents and educators promoting alternatives to high stakes-testing.

Ed Deformer Hedge Funders Looting Public Employee Pensions

So when you invest your pension money in hedge funds, you might be paying a hundred times the cost or more, you might be underperforming the market, you may be supporting political movements against you, and you often have to pay what effectively is a bribe just for the privilege of hiring your crappy overpaid money manager in the first place. What's not to like about that? Who could complain?... Matt Taibi, Rolling Stone.

A Matt Taibi Rolling Stones article was being re-circulated today and it is mind blowing to see how the very people who back Success Charter, Student First, DFER are taking massive cuts to mis-manage public employee pensions while trying to destroy the unions. One of the most outrageous piece of info I learned was that workers, the press and the public have no right to find out how their funds are invested by these hedge hog characters who claim that is "proprietary" info. Matt points out that the AFT did put out a list of these hogs and got hammered for doing so.

Go forth and read this entire Oct. 2013 piece - if you have the stomach for it.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/looting-the-pension-funds-20130926page=5#ixzz2z6uEXQzI

NYSUT in Sea of Red Ink

On paper, the union reported a $30 million deficit on its most recent 990 IRS form. Union officials say that cash shortfall was really less than $8 million. Either way, it’s a flow of red ink that union officials acknowledge continues today.... Capitol Confidential

In Chicago when CORE took over - after running on a promise to reduce salaries of union officials - they found the union $4 million in debt. After one year (Karen Lewis took an big cut in pay) - the debt was basically wiped out.

We may have tilted towards Stronger Together over the victorious Revive, but both are responsible for this mess. It is not just the super high salaries over 300 thousand but note the familiar UFT names taking their share -14-20 grand each for many of the Unity Caucus leadership. Many of them also get a cut from the AFT budget too. So we are paying some of them 3 times. You'll see some very familiar names.

Don't look to them to do what CORE did in Chicago. 

A major threat to teachers here in NYC is how NYSUT legal which provides NYC teachers with free legal, will be affected. Some insiders think that with the UFT firmly in charge at NYSUT, and not having shown the highest interest in teacher defense, NYSUT legal will be the first to get hit by cuts.

Here is the article from Capitol Confidential, followed by the 2010 report (what numbers will the 2013 report show?) which points to a 35,000 drop in members since 2008 -- with the new charter laws hitting us look for a bigger acceleration of that loss.

[By the way -- the UFT is also facing massive debt - which they are covering up -- but don't look to any salary reductions there either].

NYSUT has been squeezed along with the school districts that employ its members, said E.J. McMahon, a senior fellow at the fiscally conservative Manhattan Institute. He said NYSUT has a direct financial interest in lifting the cap.
“The union exists to deliver benefits to its members, including pay increases,” he said. “Their focus all the time is getting more and the tax cap limits the more.”

On paper, the union reported a $30 million deficit on its most recent 990 IRS form. Union officials say that cash shortfall was really less than $8 million. Either way, it’s a flow of red ink that union officials acknowledge continues today.

NYSUT has 600,000 members. It estimates 35,000 educators have lost jobs since 2008 as school districts across the state laid off staff, a process expected to accelerate under tax cap restrictions.

NYSUT had 507 employees as of August 2012, including 26 who worked part time. The forms show the total amount the union spent on salaries, benefits and other compensation rose to $110 million from $96 million in a year, according to its most recent 990 IRS form, which is dated September 2010 to August 2011.

About 300 employees earned gross salaries of more than $100,000, according to NYSUT’s latest federal LM-2 disclosure forms, dated September 2011 to August 2012. Of that number, about 15 employees earned more than $200,000.

NYSUT990 by Scott Waldman

Jean Anyon "Radical Possibilities" Updated

Read about the late Jean Anyon's enormous impact at Kiersten Greene's  Mediated blog: How Do I Even Express…

Just got this from the publisher. I ordered a review copy which I will share with anyone who will write a review.

If nothing changes, urban school reform is doomed to fail

Routledge publishes a thoroughly revised and updated new edition of Jean Anyon’s classic Radical Possibilities that addresses poverty and school reform.

The core argument of Jean Anyon’s classic Radical Possibilities is deceptively simple: if we do not direct our attention to the ways in which federal and metropolitan policies maintain the poverty that plagues communities in American cities, urban school reform as currently conceived is doomed to fail. This edition picks up where the 2005 publication left off, including a completely new chapter detailing how three decades of political decisions leading up to the “Great Recession” produced an economic crisis of epic proportions. By tracing the root causes of the financial crisis, Anyon effectively demonstrates the concrete effects of economic decision-making on the education sector, revealing in particular the disastrous impacts of these policies on black and Latino communities.

Going beyond lament, Radical Possibilities offers those interested in a better future for the millions of America’s poor families a set of practical and theoretical insights. Expanding on her paradigm for combating educational injustice, Anyon discusses the Occupy Wall Street movement as a recent example of popular resistance in this new edition, set against a larger framework of civil rights history. A ringing call to action, Radical Possibilities reminds readers that throughout U.S. history, equitable public policies have typically been created as a result of the political pressure brought to bear by social movements. Ultimately, Anyon’s revelations teach us that the current moment contains its own very real radical possibilities.

“For over three decades, Jean Anyon has been one of the English speaking world's most powerful intellectuals on the subject of education, and this revised edition solidifies her legacy.”—Lois Weis, State University of New York Distinguished Professor, University at Buffalo

Jean Anyon was a professor of social and educational policy in the Doctoral Program in Urban Education at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and the author of the best-selling and critically acclaimed Ghetto Schooling: A Political Economy of Urban School Reform. 

Radical Possibilities

Public Policy, Urban Education, and A New Social Movement, 2nd Edition

By Jean Anyon

Published March 6th 2014

Pb: 978-0-415-63558-5: $41.95

http://www.routledge.com/9780415635585

Parents Who Fought Off School Resistance to Opt-Out Led to Modifed Policy

The students were told by one teacher if they opted out, they would not be part of the "culture" of the school. They would be different and not be able to be part of the after-test celebrations. We wanted to meet with the principal but at this point we were simply getting the party-line and things were moving too slowly (the ELA test was in just three weeks). Two parents from the school set up a community wide meeting and invited Janine Sopp to come and "educate" us on what was exactly entailed with opting out. We brought our kids (who at this point were conflicted as they didn't want to be "different" from their peers). We left the meeting pretty sure we were going to opt out and my kids were DEFINITELY interested in opting out. The more they heard the madder they got. We wrote up careful notes from the meeting and presented those to our principal and the PTA.... Brooklyn parent

It is not easy for a small minority to stand up, especially if you and your kids are turned into outliers. This great story came in from a  Brooklyn elementary school parent. I get where teachers are coming from -- if your job were on the line based on test scores and if your high scoring kids talked about opting out, you just might get that sinking feeling.

Kudos to these parents, their kids and the school principal for willing to listen and modify the policies.

There were several families interested in opting out but we felt unsure. We were at first met with resistance by the principal but especially by the teachers and even the PTA. This was new territory for our school because nobody had spoken of opting out before. The students were told by one teacher if they opted out, they would not be part of the "culture" of the school. They would be different and not be able to be part of the after-test celebrations. We wanted to meet with the principal but at this point we were simply getting the party-line and things were moving too slowly (the ELA test was in just three weeks).

Two parents from the school set up a community wide meeting and invited Janine Sopp to come and "educate" us on what was exactly entailed with opting out. We brought our kids (who at this point were conflicted as they didn't want to be "different" from their peers). We left the meeting pretty sure we were going to opt out and my kids were DEFINITELY interested in opting out. The more they heard the madder they got. We wrote up careful notes from the meeting and presented those to our principal and the PTA. He then set up a school-wide meeting and spoke from the administration's side and we were there as informed parents from the Opt Out side. It was a good conversation with probably 50-60 people. We reassured the principal and the staff that we were worried about harming our school (a school we all care about) or teachers but felt this was really important for parents to stand up. The principal did agree that things were changing so quickly and that the commissioner really is looking to the parents and not the teachers for the lead. He asked us to please, just let him know soon so he would be able to think about staffing on those days. Once we had the reassurance that our kids were going to be included in school activities and not punished, 10 families opted out of 5th grade (and others from the third grade). The kids spent the mornings with their "buddy classes" helping them with their reading.

For a first year and pulling the momentum together just a few weeks before the ELA we think this was a success. Many parents of 2nd graders looked to us for guidance and cheered us on.

Friday before vacation we got a school-wide email from our principal:

The staff and I share some of the feelings that you may be reading in the newspaper. The PTA is creating a page on their website that allows parents to access many resources related to State testing so thta you can be informed about information from the State and discussion or events that are happening around the city.

I just looked and that page is not up yet but it is a positive sign of open dialogue and transparency. We learned the importance of engaging the principal and working together with the school. Additionally, I know many parents who have left the choice up to their kids. We learned the importance to inform our kids in order to make that decision. (The more the kids heard the night of the community meeting, the more committed they were to not participate in this test).

It does take courage to be the minority and stand up for what you believe is right. Some people need others to step up first (are you that person?). It takes courage to ask our children to be different from their peers and stand apart. Finally, it takes courage and trust on the part of the principal and staff. Our principal is new and has no tenure and I believe he was courageous in NOT trying to silence us, NOT trying to dissuade us and ultimately said "I have to be neutral but I am here to support families who make that decision."

How Bloomberg/Klein Undermined a Voluntary Integration Program on the Lower East Side

Lisa Donlan has been telling the story for many years. Now this recent report condemning the NYC school system as one of the most segregated in the nation validates what Lisa has been reporting. This is from Community Education Council 1 on the LES.

Below are captions from NYS segregation report talking specifically about District One:

http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/integration-and-diversity/ny-norflet-report-placeholder/Kucsera-New-York-Extreme-Segregation-2014.pdf

p 22

A district-wide voluntary integration program, consisting of the elimination of school zoning and employment of diversity-based lotteries for oversubscribed schools, was implemented in CSD 1 in 1989 and approved by the Board of Education shortly after.

Today, New York City public school system is, by far, the largest in the country, with racial enrollment varying greatly across schools and CSDs. Despite this diversity, prior voluntary integration initiatives have slowly declined, transformed, or been eliminated over the years, as more color-blind and market-based educational policies and programs have stepped into place. As a result, this city has failed to address student racial isolation, support the pursuit of diversity efforts and integration initiatives, and possibly increased school segregation across the city.

page 24

After Bloomberg centralized the Department of Education in 2003, the department’s central admission office began to replace the quota system being used in CSD 1 with a blind-lottery system.

In 2007, the same year of the Parents Involved ruling, the diversity-based preference system completely ended and has yet to be reinstated or modified (e.g., using set asides for free and reduced lunch students or English language learners) despite continual community requests and increases in school racial isolation.76 Around the same time, the DOE told individual schools that they could no longer give preference to low-income students.

Failure to address student diversity not only influences racial and socioeconomic segregation, but also can impact students’ educational opportunities and outcomes. For example, a recent Schott Foundation report showed the drastic disparity by race for students across New York City CSDs on opportunity to learn conditions: the opportunity to attend a high-performing school in the district, the opportunity to be taught by an experienced and highly educated teacher, and the opportunity to be tested for Gifted and Talented eligibility in kindergarten.77

Indypendent Comprehensive Coverage of the Common Core/Opt-Out Movement

Common Core resistance reflects an awareness of the metastasis of standards-based reforms into broader swaths of the American school system. “The changes in public education beginning to touch suburban communities, white or black” says Royal, “have touched us already in urban communities.” 

Opt-out parents like Brooklyn New School parent Elsass, who is white, acknowledges this dynamic. “We’re somewhat insulated from what’s happening at other schools,” she says, citing Brooklyn campuses where arts have been eclipsed by test-focused instruction. “It’s pushing us down a bad road for education.”

There is a silver lining, though. According to Slekar, Common Core resistance has opened dialog between cities and their vanilla suburbs. More affluent parents, Slekar says, “have finally burst out of their bubbles and see the harm that’s being done in the cities.” Royal considers it “good entrée for them into the whole problem of what public education has become.”

In this light, Jose Vilson sets his sights beyond the Common Core battle. “If there is a resolution to the Common Core,” he wonders, “do all the other things — the racism, classism, sexism that are pervasive throughout a lot of communities — go away? Will you keep fighting for those people that are marginalized by these situations?”.....

The Common Core and Its Discontents, The Indypendent

Jose's point is important. We are seeing the building of increasingly strong alliances that will be long-lasting and will lead to fighting together.

These articles touch on the entire enchilada, especially tackling the race issue as related to the CC. Excellent quotes from a number of people we've worked with, including Jose Vilson, Karen Harper Royal, Janine Sopp. We had the race discussion re: white middle class parents being more likely to opt out in Change the Stakes. That led to a decision to go out to communities through making contact with the local district Community Education Councils and we've already seen some results. My position has always been that all kids -- kids of color and whites are abused by the high stakes testing regimen -- it's a matter of connecting to parents throughout the city.

And the follow-up article this week points to these alliances being built:

Around a thousand New York City students opted out, thanks to the organizing efforts of grassroots parent groups like Change the Stakes. This spring the group helped rouse parents not just at progressive campuses like the Brooklyn New School, but in traditional public schools like PS 446 in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn and PS 140 in the Bronx.

At PS 446, over 80 percent of tested students opted out of the exams. “We felt like this benefitted our kids more than anything else,” says Latoshia Wheeler, a PS 446 parent and opt-out organizer. “They’re wasting a lot of money and resources that they could put back into the school.”

The work of CTS is so exciting -- often to me more than the union work. I am on the Steering Committee but play a minimal role. What a pleasure to see these amazing parents lead the way -- and also to see CTS becoming slowly but surely a more diverse community. Here are links to the Indy articles and a note from Janine.

The Common Core and Its Discontents, The Indypendent, April 4 2014

Finding Common Cause on the Common Core, The Indypendent (follow up article), April 9, 2014

Janine Sopp has been tireless in racing around to every community she can reach. Poor Kya - has been to more meetings - either she will be an activist like her mom or never want to see a meeting when she grows up.

Janine, whose coming out as an activist I am proud to have witnessed, writes:

Greetings Friends and Allies,

Here are two recent articles published by The Indypendent that focus on the ever changing, ever growing and constantly evolving movement to fight high-stakes testing. Journalist Owen Davis interviewed numerous sources on the past and currently unfolding events and actions these recent months and weeks has been a most responsive and reflective reporter. He sees our collective efforts as "one of the most important movements in education justice of the moment."

Change the Stakes has been a major participant in this movement along with countless other organizations, parents and teachers who are responding in their communities and adding to the growing numbers of opt outs as well as bringing awareness to the larger issues around high-stakes testing.

As a member of CtS as well as one of many parents on our school's PAC (Parent Action Coalition), I've met with scores of parents who are organizing in their own ways. CtS was mentioned in the follow up article, but parents from BNS (PS146) met with the PS446 community to speak with them about their plans to opt out. When communities begin to understand they have the right to make these decisions for their children, teachers and schools, it is amazing what can happen. I share this because parents everywhere can become the inspiration and support for others. CtS enjoys and hopes parents and teachers will plug into the network we have become, but we are not the only vehicle by which parents can get involved.

This is what we see when an independent media outlet can help tell the story, where the deeper issues that are the underpinnings of these reforms are allowed to be voiced, so please share these articles widely. And remember, you can still opt out of the math exam! Hope to see you on April 24 at the rally where all allies will stand together to REFUSE high- stakes testing.

Janine

Parent member of CtS, parent at PS146

Newark Teacher Responds to an Ed Deformer

"When trust is low-as it is presently in Newark, there are not enough data decks, community presentations, evidence, research, or Power Point presentations, to keep good people from reading bad things into evolving plans developed by outsiders, who are perceived as less interested in helping children than in building their resumes for personal gain. In a bifurcated, oppositional, often contentious city, where people have been lied to and ripped off for generations, by people and organizations who claimed to be here to help, who can blame them for being upset by people who seem to represent those very same interests, now looking to close their schools, ruin their neighborhoods, and take their children and their jobs?"

Ross Danis
President and CEO
Newark Trust for Education

A Newark teacher responds:

Ross Danis, you can show us Power Point presentations until the cows come home and we will not believe them. Mark Weber aka Jersey Jazzman and Bruce Baker have crunched all the numbers and they have concluded once again that charter schools in Newark serve less needy children and achieve no better outcomes than the public schools they are to replace.

How dare you characterize Newark as "... a bifurcated, oppositional, often contentious city..."? Why would you shoot an arrow into the heart of the community? Novelist Philip Roth began his love affair with literature at The Newark Public Library. Legendary jazz singer Sarah Vaughan and Whitney Houston were born in Newark.

The Newark Museum was the place where Miss Carol taught me weekly art classes before I even started school. My mother bought me my white sixth grade graduation dress at Hahne's. I graduated from a university in Newark. I have spent a crucial chunk of my career teaching Newark children.

In Newark, people will answer you back before you finish offending them. The same kid ready with a smart remark will offer a helping hand. The major distinction between squad captain Ross Danis cheerleading his band of reformers and the Newark community is soul.

A Newark Teacher

DOE Use Arrest Tactic to Stop Teachers Stop Teachers Who Fight Back Publicly

The nest of vipers that is DOE legal has grown like a cancer and infested the NYPD where cops arrest fellow unionists for protesting abusive administrator tactics.

We've been waiting for the LH case to go public since the Portelos arrest a few weeks ago for his satiric blog post. In many ways this is even more egregious -- a principal who ends a first year teacher's career with a Discontinue and then is repeatedly challenged by the teacher for doing so goes out and charges the teacher with harassment and the NYPD arrests the teacher. Even though the ridiculous charges are dropped, the chilling nature of this tactic must be exposed. Lydia spoke at the PEP the other day about her D without talking about her arrest (See speech at: LH Speech on DOE Discontinue Black List). She may go back next time to share the arrest story. Let Carmen Farina and the de Blasio PEP appointees hear these stories -- and note how the UFT buries them too.

By the way -- you can tell the Post is somewhat sympathetic to a teacher (for a change) by this wonderful photo of L - instead of trying to make her look like a criminal. Sue Edelman has been doing some good work -- though I still never trust the Post.

UFT Astroturf AQE Wants "Credit" for Horrendous Cuomo Ed Budget with Charter Giveaway

At certain critical moments in labor struggles, things really do evolve to the point of it all being about Them and Us.

Them: so-called reformers, made up of edu-preneurs, privateers, malanthropists, PR flacks and advocates, opportunists, naifs, parasites and political enablers: the entire reform-industrial complex. Them.
Us: classroom teachers, students, parents and supporters of public education and the public good. The Union, in its truest, most practical and most aspirational sense. Us.
Weingrew is Them

..... Michael Fiorillo, comment at NYC Educator

The Governor should give credit where credit is due; it was the hard work of parents, students, teachers and the State Assembly leadership that allowed for a $1.1 billion increase....Alliance for Quality Education

I responded to the above quote from the AQE email below:

You've got to be kidding. So you're doing a victory lap for the giveaway of the school system to the charter lobby? Shameful.

Many people are fooled by groups like AQE. One of the leading voices from one of these groups sends a child to the UFT charter school, co-located in a public school. Really, what a game, what a sham.

Billy Easton has sold out repeatedly to the UFT/pro-mayoral control/pro-charter (when it suits them) agenda.

And AQE played no role that I could see in the anti-Cuomo charter giveaway rally the other day.

Time for everyone to declare themselves in the battle for public education -- all in and if not you are on the other side.

James Eterno posted this analysis of the threat of the charter movement on the ICE blog:

PARENT ACTIVIST SAYS PUBLIC EDUCATION MAY WELL BE DOOMED IN NYC BECAUSE OF CHARTER DEAL

For Immediate Release: April 10, 2014

Contact: 

Billy Easton, Executive Director, AQE
beaston@aqeny.org / (518) 461-9171

RELEASE

AQE Slams Governor Cuomo's Victory Lap on School Aid 

Governor Cuomo Wrongly Claims Credit for 5% Increase in School Aid That He Stood Against

ALBANY, NY - Following Governor Cuomo's speech on the 2014-15 state budget in Monroe County, Billy Easton the Executive Director of the Alliance for Quality Education released the following statement: 


"Governor Cuomo is taking a victory lap on the state budget, but when it comes to school aid he is claiming credit for a victory for which he provided zero leadership. The Governor should give credit where credit is due; it was the hard work of parents, students, teachers and the State Assembly leadership that allowed for a $1.1 billion increase. The legislature added $500 million to the Governor's lousy proposed budget, and every other year he has consistently underfunded our schools. Let's be clear, the '5% increase' in funding that Governor Cuomo is touting was won despite his opposition, and not because of his efforts," said Billy Easton.

###

About AQE
The Alliance for Quality Education is a coalition mobilizing communities across the state to keep New York true to its promise of ensuring a high quality public education to all students regardless of zip code, income or race. Combining its legislative and policy expertise with grassroots organizing, AQE advances proven-to-work strategies that lead to student success and echo a powerful public demand for a high quality education.

www.aqeny.org

LA Teacher Gains Public Support for Standing Up to Student Disruptor

Groundswell of support for teacher who wrestled disruptive student to the floor shows the public is fed up with the disciplinary problems and bureaucracies that impede education....
When the cellphone video made the evening news, the student's family was offered support by the district's superintendent — who publicly chastised Black and placed the teacher on leave.... For many of us, this goes beyond whether the teacher should have resorted to wrestling moves to handle a student challenge. It's about scapegoating a profession that's under siege right now....Are teachers equipped to manage the fallout of social issues that play out in their classrooms?..... LA Times

This is actually a shocking story. We know how this story ends here in NYC - the teacher is rubber-roomed and branded a monster - and if tenured, brought up on 3020a charges. There were times in my school where teachers had to take action when a child was creating a dangerous situation. When a school has poor mechanisms for coping with discipline issues beyond the teacher's capability, a teacher is left defenseless -- as are the other kids.

Uproar over classroom scuffle reflects a profession under siege

Groundswell of support for teacher who wrestled disruptive student to the floor shows the public is fed up with the disciplinary problems and bureaucracies that impede education.

A cellphone video of Santa Monica High School teacher Mark Black restraining a student in his classroom went viral. (KTLA)

By Sandy Banks

April 11, 2014, 4:14 p.m.

At this point, it may not matter much to the public what actually went on in that Santa Monica High classroom where a teacher was recorded wrestling a student to the floor.
The 58-second cellphone clip recorded by a student went viral this week, turning the teacher and the student into symbols of what's wrong with public schools:
Defiant students. Overwhelmed teachers. Feckless administrators. Knee-jerk policies with no room for common sense.

"We're in the middle of a cultural change, and this case reflects that shift," said Shawn McMullen Chen, a high school teacher for 25 years. "The teaching environment feels more corporate now; very litigious, very careful, very impersonal...It's not easy to make the human connection you need to reach kids."

Investigators in Santa Monica are trying to sort out what led to the classroom tussle. Here's what we know so far:
Wrestling coach Mark Black was teaching science when he scolded a student for walking in and out of the classroom. Classmates suggested the trips had something to do with marijuana. When Black threatened to call security, the two wound up nose-to-nose and the student shoved the teacher. Black responded with a series of wrestling moves and restrained the student on the classroom floor.
When the cellphone video made the evening news, the student's family was offered support by the district's superintendent — who publicly chastised Black and placed the teacher on leave.
That prompted a public uproar that shows no sign of easing.
School officials have been flooded with emails. Social media erupted with expressions of indignation, hailing Black as a hero thrown under the bus by bureaucrats who don't recognize the value of good teachers.
This week, police arrested the student, Blair Moore, 18. He's been charged with possessing marijuana and a weapon (a box cutter) on campus, and threatening and using "force or violence against a school employee" — all misdemeanors.
That turned up the heat among the teacher's supporters. Hundreds have pledged to show up Sunday for a Santa Monica rally dubbed "Community Peace Gathering celebrating Mark Black and all teachers who step up for their students." Almost 23,000 have "liked" a "We Support Coach Black" Facebook page, created by former students.
"What was he going to do, turn his back?" posted the mother of a junior at the school. "Brave man...I feel my son is in good hands if all the teachers are like him."
::
Black is a legend at Santa Monica High — a revered wrestling coach, beloved teacher and father figure to students.
But the outsized support, from people across the country and around the world, probably has less to do with Black's history than with his new maverick status — the teacher who took a stand that preserved his authority in the classroom.
The incident has parents worked up; it's an unsettling peek behind closed doors on a big urban campus. No one wants their child in a classroom where teachers and students are apt to wind up rolling around on the floor.
But teachers told me they have few options to deal with disruptive students: You call security and hope help arrives before the disruption robs students of too much learning time or someone in class gets hurt.
They resent the perception that teachers are to blame for classroom management problems; that if they're skilled in keeping students engaged, no one will act up.
"Teaching has a lot more gray than most people understand," said Chen, an English teacher at Mira Costa High in Manhattan Beach. "You can have 17 kids who really want to do great things, and five or six who act out. You want an open, collaborative class. You don't want to be too strict... It's a tough tightrope to walk."
Many public schools — including Los Angeles Unified campuses — aren't allowed to suspend students anymore for what's considered "willful defiance."
"You'll send a kid to the office, the administrators don't want to deal with it, they send him back to class," Chen said. That's undermines teachers and destabilizes their classes.
For teachers, the public support for Black feels like vindication.
"It's an indication," Chen said, "that there is some possibility the public really does understand what a difficult job teaching is."
::
I understand Supt. Sandra Lyon's gut reaction. The video of the classroom struggle is alarming to watch. But just as alarming is the idea of a student peddling weed in class.
For the district superintendent to respond to one and ignore the other suggests the depth of the problem.
The official investigation into what happened is supposed to wrap up before spring break ends next week. But the public discussion ought to continue, and look at the broader issues the incident may reveal:
What does the groundswell of support for Black say about our expectations of public schools? Are teachers equipped to manage the fallout of social issues that play out in their classrooms? How do we keep vulnerable students from drifting off track?
Moore was on the baseball and track teams as a sophomore; two years later he's allegedly carrying drugs in his backpack. Did something go wrong that school officials should have noticed and could have attended to?
The superintendent has backed off her original stance, which many found offensive. But she ought to explain why she leapt to the presumption that the teacher was the villain.
For many of us, this goes beyond whether the teacher should have resorted to wrestling moves to handle a student challenge. It's about scapegoating a profession that's under siege right now.
We need to train and trust teachers to manage their classrooms — so students can focus on learning, not disturbances that call for cellphone cameras.
sandy.banks@latimes.com
Twitter: @SandyBanksLAT

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-0412-banks-samo-teacher-20140412,0,5449784.column#ixzz2yjXwoXfk

Alternatives to School Closures

Coney Island Prep Charter Schools Publicly Shame Students

“It is in their handbook that they subject their students to wear an orange tee-shirt over their uniform when they are Out of the PRIDE, when they’re not given enough money in their paycheck,” asserted CEC 21 Treasurer and local parent Randi Garay at a Parent Education Program (PEP) meeting with the Department of Education (DOE) last October. “When they’re Out of the PRIDE, they miss out on enrichment. They’re not allowed to communicate with other students and they’re not allowed to be spoken to.”..... http://www.homereporternews.com/news/school_news/exclusive-orange-is-the-new-blackboard/article_11bfa7f4-c1a5-11e3-85ad-001a4bcf887a.html

EXCLUSIVE: Orange is the new blackboard?

The salient portion of the Coney Island Prep handbook.

Image taken from the Coney Island Prep handbook.

Posted: Friday, April 11, 2014 2:13 pm | Updated: 2:17 pm, Fri Apr 11, 2014.

BY MEAGHAN MCGOLDRICK mmcgoldrick@homereporter.com 

Parents with children at Cavallaro Intermediate School, slated to co-locate with Coney Island Prep, this fall, are seeing red over the orange shirts that students at Coney Island Prep’s Coney Island campus are at times forced to wear as a disciplinary measure.

The orange shirts are the penultimate stage in Coney Island Prep’s system of discipline, which begins with a token economy called PRIDE – a system, measured in money, that allows teachers to reward and penalize students as they see fit by either awarding or deducting PRIDE dollars from students’ weekly paychecks, and which can result in the orange shirt punishment. The final stage in the system is suspension.

“It is in their handbook that they subject their students to wear an orange tee-shirt over their uniform when they are Out of the PRIDE, when they’re not given enough money in their paycheck,” asserted CEC 21 Treasurer and local parent Randi Garay at a Parent Education Program (PEP) meeting with the Department of Education (DOE) last October. “When they’re Out of the PRIDE, they miss out on enrichment. They’re not allowed to communicate with other students and they’re not allowed to be spoken to.”

The system is exhaustively mapped out. According to the Coney Island Prep handbook, students receive $50 worth of PRIDE dollars weekly, which teachers then add to or deduct from throughout the week. At the end of each week, the results are tallied and PRIDE paychecks are printed and distributed for parental signature. Students who fail to bring back their signed paychecks see $50 deducted from their bank accounts and find themselves Out of the PRIDE – a handbook-mandated consequence also visited on students who lose $20 or more in one day from their PRIDE paycheck or end their week with a $0 balance.       

Among the acts for which students receive anywhere from $1 to $5 bonuses are going above and beyond in such areas as enthusiasm, professionalism, respect and integrity, and students may receive $20 for doing an excellent job on a major assignment or demonstrating PRIDE values through an exemplary act.

On the other hand, students can lose anywhere from $3 to $10 in PRIDE dollars for infractions, including, but not limited to missing homework, misuse of materials, grooming in public, leaving their seats without permission and arriving at school after 7:30 a.m.

Higher infractions include $20 deductions for a dean’s referral.

According to CEC 21 Recording Secretary Linda Dalton, the board brought its concerns to the DOE at the PEP meeting where members were approached by a DOE lawyer who took a copy of the handbook. They have heard nothing since from the DOE about the issue.

Despite the controversy, Coney Island Prep Founder and Executive Director Jacob Mnookin stands by the system, adding that the charter school hasn’t heard any complaints from its own parents.
“It’s just a different kind of take on a typical behavior management system,” said Mnookin, stressing the approach’s similarities to thousands of behavioral management systems used in schools across the country. “We think it makes crystal clear what our expectations are and what the rewards are for excelling and good behavior, and what the consequences are for not as good behavior.” The orange tee shirts have no special significance, added Mnookin, other than orange being a school color.

According to Mnookin, Coney Island Prep will not move forward with a PRIDE dollars approach or the orange tee shirts, at its elementary school planned to be housed at Cavallaro. Instead, the charter school will implement what the leader called a “stop light system” that aims to teach its younger students the basics of good behavior.

“Every kid would start every day at green and move to yellow or red dependent on their behavior,” he explained of the system, used already in other elementary schools across the country.

Either way, the team at Coney Island Prep stands by the consequences of being “Out of the Pride.” The school’s mantra – which, according to Mnookin stands for Professionalism, Respect, Integrity, Determination and Excellence -- is also used to define a pack of lions; the school’s mascot.

“Being ‘Out of the Pride’ means that you’ve violated the norms and you’re out of the pack, out of the community” he explained, “but rather than having an in-school suspension, which we feel can take away from the educational aspect, kids can still go to class and participate in class; they just kind of sit separately until they can turn their behavior around.”

            The DOE did not respond for a request for comment.

© 2014 Home Reporter News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

More about Coney Island Preparatory

•  
• The salient portion of the Coney Island Prep handbook.
• ARTICLE: Parents fight for fair charter school funding
• ARTICLE: Mayor de Blasio approves two local co-locations despite opposition
• ARTICLE: I.S. 303 continues appeal despite ruling