Breaking: NY State Ed Department Releases 2014 Test Results (Fred Smith Parody)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York State Education Department Releases April 2014 Test Results:

Students Statewide Make Progress Meeting Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS)

Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch and State Education Commissioner John King, Jr. announced gains in English and math this year.

They made the announcement outside Kipp Tech Valley Charter School in Albany.  Consistent with the aims of Common Core, the school web site says Kipp “opened its doors with the promise that hard work would lead to academic success and the road to college.”

Core-aligned assessments were initiated in 2013.  The 2014 tests provide the first chance to weigh student performance against the Common Core baseline established in 2013.  The percentage deemed proficient this spring was higher in English and math for grades 3-8 combined.

The CCLS are integral to the Regents Reform Agenda to develop the critical thinking and analytic skills of students and deeper understanding of math.  More rigorous tests identify which students are ready for college and careers and which will need academic help to succeed after high school.

Tisch said, "These results vindicate New York’s efforts to aggressively implement higher standards, more accurate assessments, a more content rich curriculum and a teacher evaluation system to support teaching excellence."  She noted that teachers, principals and superintendents worked extraordinarily hard to launch the Common Core.

King said, “This work for college- and career-readiness, citizenship-readiness, helping students be prepared when they get to college, so they don't end up in remedial courses—this is ultimately a patriotic endeavor.” 

In a departure from past practice, the Department is not providing information on overall changes in percentages or scale score comparisons with previous results.  Deputy Commissioner Ken Wagner explained that the decision was made because of the upset caused last year by releasing results that appeared to show a large decline in performance.  Unfortunately, the public took this negative progress to mean that schools were failing, although students faced very demanding assessments.

As the core-aligned exams were being rolled out, the Chancellor and Commissioner were reassured by a panel of privately-funded Regents Research Fellows and outside testing experts that the instruments were properly developed and valid.

The 2014 data show gains by minorities, English Language Learners, students with disabilities and districts in all need/resource categories.  Each Big 5 city also improved, as New York City outpaced the others.

Wagner added several points about the 2013 and 2014 exams:

·   Data processing was completed in June, enabling SED to analyze and release the results in 27% fewer days this year.
·   The 2013 Technical Report has just been posted.  It will allow researchers to study the quality of last year’s foundational Core exams.  While this is more than a year after the test was given, SED wanted the information to be accurate and provide a “transparent baseline.”
·   A year ago, to calm parents who felt the tests were too long, he did an item analysis concluding that students had enough time to finish the exams. Parts of it will appear in the 2013 Report. 
·   Nevertheless, the 2014 tests were shortened. This concession is contrary to SED belief that having more items lets a wider range of performance indicators be tested at varying degrees of difficulty.
·   Revealing all items would expose embedded field test items, precluding their use on future exams. But SED has posted more items online this year despite concern that disclosure encourages too much time to be spent on test preparation.
·   While some objections to giving students stand-alone field tests in June may have merit, this approach is a necessary, if less than ideal, complement to embedding items.
·   Kentucky, the first state to administer core-aligned testing in 2011, saw a 2% rise in reading and math proficiency the next year.

The Commissioner acknowledged how perplexed he and the Chancellor are, knowing that after No Child Left Behind, the “tragic achievement gap” persists.

King said we are still in a transitional mode and do not know the precise course testing will take over the next few years as our standards evolve into multi-state standards.  There will be continuity, however, because Pearson will remain the test developer after its five-year contract expires in 2015.

In reflecting on the work being done here, Kentucky Education Commissioner Dr. Terry Holliday said, “New York has shown great leadership in raising the bar on student outcomes to the level of college- and career-readiness.”

The Chancellor reminded New Yorkers that “since the idea of the Common Core began to take hold in 2010, there have been signs of positive movement—evidence that pursuing the Core was wise—in spite of a few growing pains.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

union predicts "slight rise" in test scores this year

http://ny.chalkbeat.org/2014/08/08/uft-predicts-small-gains-ahead-of-next-weeks-test-score-release/#.U-jR-2P3UQt

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/city-students-math-reading-test-scores-teachers-union-estimates-article-1.1897661

see also Fred Smith on unusually high no. of “clunkers” on 2013 exams

http://www.citylimits.org/conversations/265/testing-and-transparency
Reasons behind Fred Smith parody - see below the break

Common Core: Gary Stern on Manipulating Test Outcomes Through Cut Scores

Maria Baldassarre Hopkins hit the nail on the head: "There are ways to make the numbers do what you want them to do." There was nothing democratic about the way the Common Core was written and forced on the schools. This story will get uglier and uglier as corporate politicos use their manipulated message of failing public schools as a diversion from the real issue of poverty. Reminder: Here's how the New York Times editorial board gushed over the first round of New York's Common Core testing... Ohanian Comment at newspaper site

I disagree with panelists who they believe that once teachers are trained, scores will substantially rise. They will not... Carol Burris

"A small shift in the cut scores means a dramatic difference in the number of students at different levels," said David Dickerson, an associate professor of mathematics at SUNY Cortland who took part. .... Teachers and college professors on the cut-score panel were paid $175 per day, and all panelists were reimbursed for expenses. — Gary Stern, The Journal News

Susan O has been pumping stuff out the past few days and I'm finding it hard to keep up. Take it easy on us old guys Susan. And you're taking away my beach time.

You don't see Mulgrew wanting to punch people in the face over stuff like this. I do and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=733

(Also see another Susan piece I posted at Norms Notes on New Leaders, New Schools Scams - Another Ed Deform Crook).

Common Core: Who's on track for college and who is not?

Carol Corbett Burris, Principal at South Side High School, Comment:
Gary, thank you for doing this reporting. You are remarkable for your willingness to follow up on stories that are important and difficult to cover. The college readiness information that was shared with the group came from a NYSED sponsored study that said SAT scores which when combined equal a 1630 indicate "college readiness". Nationally, 32% of all seniors get that score. It is no surprise that 33% were proficient on the tests. That standard is needlessly high.

I disagree with panelists who they believe that once teachers are trained, scores will substantially rise. They will not.

Teacher Comment:
The most important statement in this article is that the tests by Pearson were incredibly bad. They were, and continue to be, terrible. My third graders took a reading test where it has been confirmed the stories they had to read and respond to were on a fifth-sixth grade reading level. How does that do anything but frustrate children? These tests are invalid in my opinion and that of most educators. They cannot give useful information about what our children can and cannot do. We need to speak up and demand fair testing. Imagine if as an adult you prepare for the LSAT to take the bar exam (which is shorter in duration than the 3rd grade tests BTW) and when you show up to take the test you have been given the MCAT instead and when you don't do well you are labeled as lacking proficiency in the subject matter. That is what is being done to our children. We must end this pointless, endless testing.

"There are ways to make the numbers do what you want them to do."--Maria Baldassarre Hopkins, assistant professor of education at Nazareth College in Rochester

by Gary Stern, gstern@lohud.com

Within weeks, the state Education Department will release results from the second round of new math and English tests, and tens of thousands of parents will again try to decipher the state's 1-4 scoring system.

How does the state determine the crucial break between a 2, which means that a student is not quite proficient in, say, fifth-grade math, and a 3, which signifies that he or she is on track for college?

These scoring scales were set last summer by a group of 95 educators that the state gathered at a hotel in Troy for several days. Teachers, administrators and college professors from across New York signed confidentiality agreements and were given the task of setting the cuts between 1 and 2, 2 and 3, and 3 and 4 for the new tests. But the scores would be widely questioned and even ridiculed after one-third of New York students were deemed to be on pace.

Revised With Vichy Notes - #AFT 14 Video - Leo Casey At the Bat - Don't Let Tea Party Seduce You From Supporting Wonderful Common Core

No one seems to care why progressives are against the Common Core.  ... Susan Ohanian

UPDATE: I'm reposting Leo's speech at the AFT where he brands common core opponents as tea party influenced after reading Susan Ohanian's comments on the Bobby Jindal/ John White battle in Louisiana. Leo comes down on the side of White, the ghoul of closing schools here in NYC under Joel Klein.

My posting of the Mulgrew "punch in the mouth" speech has caused a lot of comment, as much about the issue he chose to get "livid"" about. Certainly he is not angry about the numbers of discontinued teachers, or the political assault on teachers by principals who are members of the CSA, the UFT's pals.

One of the themes I have tried to prove over the years, even to most of my colleagues in the opposition movement, is that our union leaders are not on our side - that they are collaborators with a Vichy mentality - that they are in many ways hired hands - akin to agents - whose job is to manage the members and make sure the course of the union never veers towards the kind of militancy that might in any way threaten the power structure - a dirty deal for rank and file. And for those who say "sue them" for running their scams, I point out that the courts are part of that power structure, with judges coming from the same ranks.

Here are Susan's comments on the article in the AP, followed by my original post.

Dispute over Common Core gets personal
Ohanian Comment: Governor Jindal's opposition to the Common Core is likely based in his eying a Presidential run in 2016. Conservative opposition to the Common Core was fed by an overreach by President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan when they equired states that wanted to apply for federal Race to the Top funds to either adopt the standards or adopt comparable ones that would be judged "college- and career-ready."
No one seems to care why progressives are against the Common Core.
by Melinda Deslatte, Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- The clash over whether Louisiana's public schools should teach to the Common Core education standards has devolved into a bitter public feud that will have one-time political friends sitting on opposite sides of courtrooms.
Dueling lawsuits have been filed. An ethics complaint is in the works. Contracts are being audited. Accusations have been lodged of illegal behavior, ethical impropriety and political pandering.
And while the attacks grow more personal, major questions about the educational path of the state's public schools remain unanswered with students returning to classrooms in the next two weeks.
The upheaval started in June, when Gov. Bobby Jindal issued executive orders seeking to undermine use of Common Core and its associated testing.
The Common Core standards are grade-by-grade benchmarks of what students should learn in English and math. They have been adopted by more than 40 states and were once championed by Louisiana's Republican governor.
Supporters of the standards praise them as a better method for preparing students for college and careers after high school. Critics say the standards are untested, raise privacy concerns about data-sharing and damage state autonomy.
Jindal now opposes Common Core as a federal intrusion into local education, echoing the concerns raised by tea party groups around the nation.
But while the governor changed his mind on the standards, a majority of members of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, or BESE, still support Common Core, along with Jindal's hand-picked state education superintendent, John White.
State lawmakers also refused to jettison Louisiana's use of the standards earlier this year.
When Jindal suspended the testing contracts, he said the education department didn't follow state procurement law and needed to seek competitive bids for the work. But he also said the move would help to get "Louisiana out of the Common Core."
White and BESE President Chas Roemer said the governor overstepped his legal authority.
Roemer accused Jindal of trying to govern by executive fiat and of changing his position on Common Core to bolster his support from conservative organizations for a possible 2016 presidential bid.
Education groups and business organizations that once were allied with Jindal accused him of political gamesmanship and misuse of his oversight of state contracts. Jindal's Division of Administration accused White, his department and BESE of refusing to follow state contracting laws and a pattern of possible contracting improprieties.
Seventeen state lawmakers who oppose Common Core - but who couldn't persuade their colleagues to shelve the standards - filed a lawsuit alleging the state education board and the education department didn't follow state law in enacting the standards.
Parents, teachers and organizations who support Common Core filed a lawsuit of their own, claiming Jindal's violated the Louisiana Constitution by meddling in education policy that should be decided by the Legislature and implemented by BESE. The education board has joined in that lawsuit, with even two of Jindal's board appointees agreeing to sue the governor.
Hearings for both lawsuits are scheduled for mid-August.
Outside the actions in District Court, Common Core opponents also say they intend to file an ethics complaint against White and several BESE members, raising questions about conflicts of interest and ties to organizations that they say hold "undue influence" in education policy.
BESE member and Common Core critic Jane Smith, the only Jindal appointee to vote against suing the governor, posted a message on Facebook talking of planned audits and alleging ethics violations in the Department of Education.
White issued a letter a few days later, saying he felt he was being personally attacked with suggestions of "unfounded malfeasance" within his office. He defended his support of Common Core and testing aligned with the standards, outlined how he's reimbursed for travel expenses and speeches to outside groups and said he's notified the ethics board of each transaction.
The nonpartisan Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, a government watchdog organization, said the situation has reached a "crisis level" and blamed the governor for causing the educational chaos.
Whether the feud is rooted in education policy or politics, there doesn't appear to be a quick resolution on the horizon for those most affected by its consequences: Louisiana schoolchildren.
___
EDITOR'S NOTE: Melinda Deslatte covers the Louisiana Capitol for The Associated Press.
— Melinda Deslatte Associated Press
August 03, 2014

This may be worse than Mulgrew's speech. Immediately after his speech, Leo went right to the Mendacino vinyards to pick grapes.

Gypsy Pics - One Last Time

Farmhands - only pic on this page I didn't take

I am a hoarder - never throw anything away - so I have these pics on my hard drive and want to delete them to make room. So, I just use Ed Notes as a dumping ground. What other purpose does it have?

I set up the camera and let it roll when I went backstage

The orchestra pit

Chowsie played by Nick

Baby June

Louise - growing up

Chinese restaurant scene

Baby June grownup

June and Louise sing about Mama getting married

Louise and Tacoma finale

Everything's Coming up Mama Roses

The Torreadoras

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Not this way

Who cares if she can play the trumpet?

Boy, they gotta gimmick

Go out and strip, girl

Cast party - Franky (right) and John with prop for Godspell

Catherine with gift for Director Susan

John after dancing

Vergara Update: Chetty, Chetty Gets Banged, Banged in Teachers College Refute

Over the last decade, teacher evaluation based on value-added models (VAMs) has become central to the public debate over education policy. In this commentary, we critique and deconstruct the arguments proposed by the authors of a highly publicized study that linked teacher value-added models to students’ long-run outcomes, Chetty et al. (2014, forthcoming), in their response to the American Statistical Association statement on VAMs. We draw on recent academic literature to support our counter-arguments along main points of contention: causality of VAM estimates, transparency of VAMs, effect of non-random sorting of students on VAM estimates and sensitivity of VAMs to model specification... TC Record

How nice to see Raj Chetty, who was a witness against the teachers in the California case, taken down. Do you think someone will call for him to lose tenure due to shoddy research?

Chetty is one of those hired hand research thugs from Harvard who "proved" that teacher quality based on VAM can affect a child's lifetime earnings. Of course their (purposely) shoddy work is coming apart at the seams.

As Ravitch wrote in June:

Chetty and Friends Stand by their VAM

June 2, 2014 //

118

The American Statistical Association released a brief report on value-added assessment that was devastating to its advocates. ASA said it was not taking sides, but then set out some caveats that left VAM with no credibility. Can a school district judge teacher quality by the test scores of his or her students? ASA wrote this: “VAMs are generally based on standardized test scores, and do not directly measure potential teacher contributions toward other student outcomes.

I imagine hitman lawyer for Campbell Brown, David Boies, will be smart enough not to use Chetty in the NY case. Someone even suggested Chetty, given testimony along the lines of "if only California had better tenure laws as good as NY", be called for our side. But union lawyers have often proved to be dumber than dirt, so don't expect a rigorous defense of tenure. In fact, look for them to plead that they will figure out ways to help get rid of teachers, continuing a long tradition, as Eterno points out over at ICE, where our own union has helped weaken the tenure laws (LETTER TO PROTECT TENURE FROM PEOPLE WHO WEAKENED IT).
Like, does anyone think it is only 3 years when half the people get extended, sometimes for more than one year (I recently met a guy who was in his 7th year as a teacher and only got it by getting away from the witch who was his principal.

Read the report below the break.

George Schmidt on HISTORY AND HISTORY'S DISTORTIONS

Chicago's George Schmidt is one of the founders of CORE, involved in the CTU for decades and an activist against high stakes testing long before that issue came on anyone's radar -- he was fired as a teacher for publishing the horrible CASE tests - which were discontinued after his expose. His newspaper, Substance, has been a force in Chicago schools for almost 4 decades. I learned about the existence of CORE from its earliest days from reading Substance. And so did many Chicago teachers.

Next Wed, MORE will be holding a "Lessons of Chicago" event - for about the 4th time. Unless I bring it up, there is no mention that there was actually a widely distributed newspaper promoting CORE as one of the factors in their success, it has not come up before and probably won't again. George, though a leftist, is not always perceived as being on the politically correct side of the left.

There is even a reading list for the MORE event. I haven't read them, but I bet none of the readings even mention Substance and its role as one of the lessons caucuses should learn from Chicago. I'm not even sure if they mention the key lesson - the ground game CORE built that penetrated 75% or more of the schools - and even how they built that ground game. (See below George's statement for the resources for Weds.)

5. HISTORY AND HISTORY'S DISTORTIONS. As you know, I've long been rabid about people who distort history to fit their own prejudices or narratives. As the character says in The Wire: "If you got enough money, you can be any story you want." The problem is that working class people don't have the time to go around and gather different "viewpoints" to figure out where the truth is -- and to model what they do next. I have shared lots of examples of this. That's why I haven't (yet) reviewed all of the books and articles that have been published since the Chicago Teachers Strike of 2012. Basically, each in its own way is trying to hijack a history that we helped make (beginning decades ago in some cases) and bend it for the working class leaders of the new century in one direction or another. I personally realize that the ruling class's control over "narrative" is more destructive, but having helped in a few major historical events, I know from experience how important it is that we tell our stories ourselves. So that's also what will continue into the future, just as we have throughout the past.

One of the most obnoxious and dangerous things about historiography is when people limit their sources to get the viewpoint they want. A writer who clips Catalyst and Chicago's corporate media to learn about the history of Chicago's resistance -- of which the Chicago Teachers Strike of 2012 is a central part -- is distorting history, not writing it. A write who ignores the role of Substance in the resistance to corporate "reform" back in the 1990s and high stakes testing as early as 1997 and 1998 is also falsifying history. Boycotts of the poisonous tests didn't begin in Seattle in 2012 no matter now many people proclaim a sectarian version of reality. And there are many other examples...

Thanks.

I'll be talking with you as possible and see many of you next week.

George Schmidt, Editor 

Join us for a discussion with Annie Tan, CORE Activist

Wednesday, August 13th, 4pm-7pm

The Dark Horse, 17 Murray St. NYC

Near City Hall, Chambers St, WTC, $5 Drafts & Well Drinks

How to Jump-Start Your Union: Lessons from the Chicago Teachers, A Labor Notes book, available from MORE $15 solidarity price)

Strike for America, by Micah Utrecht available in hard copy or ebook from:  versobooks.com/books/1569-strike-for-america

For a short introductions, please check out “Uncommon Core,” by Micah Utrecht atjacobinmag.com/2014/03/uncommon-core-chicago-teachers-union/ or “Creating a New Model of a Social Union: CORE and the Chicago Teachers Union” by Robert Barlett at monthlyreview.org/2013/06/01/creating-a-new-model-of-a-social-union/

Re Mulgrew #AFT14 "Punch" Video: What I Told NY Daily News Reporter Steven Rex Brown

Oh, those Martians, who made stops in Seattle and Los Angeles to pick up Gates and Broad before heading for Washington DC to pick up their pal Randi. Conspiracy theories? Who me when there are so few grounds?

I told Brown flat out that I full well knew that the Daily News has an agenda in its interest in the video - to paint Mulgrew and the union as thugs as part of its anti-union bias. He didn't contradict me or even pretend that wasn't the intention. I could tell by his questions how they were going to shape the story.

I rarely trust reporters, particularly from the tabloids. So when Steven Rex Brown, who unfortunately works with that snake, Ben Chapman, asked me to call him today about the Mulgrew AFT video I posted, I did so because he wanted some context. And I gave him plenty of context, especially on this point of derision of CC critics by Mulgrew:

“I’ve heard the stories about how Eli Broad, Bill Gates, Joel Klein and a flying saucer full of Martians designed these things to brainwash us all,” said Mulgrew, mocking critics who deride Common Core as being imposed by billionaires and corporate bigwigs.

Oh, those Martians, who made stops in Seattle and Los Angeles to pick up Gates and Broad before heading for Washington DC to pick up their pal Randi. Conspiracy theories? Who me when there are so few grounds?

I told Brown how the UFT had accepted a million dollar donation from Broad for its charter school and how Broad backed the Al Shanker bio. And how Gates has funneled money to the AFT/UFT to support the common core. And oh that invite to the AFT 2010 convention.  "Do you think Mulgrew looked sort of desperate in the video," I asked Brown? "Yes," he said. "Why do you think he might be desperate? Is it possible there is loads of money somehow involved and in danger?" I always start with "follow the money."

I told Brown flat out that I full well knew that the Daily News has an agenda in its interest in the video - to paint Mulgrew and the union as thugs as part of its anti-union bias. He didn't contradict me or even pretend that wasn't the intention. I could tell by his questions how they were going to shape the story.

I told him:
"If you watch Mulgrew's defense of the common core you will see you guys are on the same side -- all the press supports the common core too. You should be cheering Mulgrew instead of attacking him."

I said my interest in posting the video is in defending the union and making it a better union by exposing the links of our union leaders to groups supporting the common core as a way to rally the rank and file to rise up and turn our union into a fighting union while his paper had nefarious reasons. As long as we were clear on where we each were coming from.

Remember the backdrop to Mulgrew's speech. The day before, Unity did a bum rush to push the Chicago people out of their seats near the microphones and reports of that left them with some egg on their faces. (Leroy Barr had pushed Sarah Chambers). And right before Mulgrew spoke it was Sarah and other CTU teachers who were very strong. So Mulgrew was doing this in some context.

Here is what I posted on July 13:

Gloria in visitor's section just texted - Unity are positioning themselves now near mikes....  Common Core debate begins

[Common Core] will die no matter what the AFT does because, frankly, it doesn’t matter.... Ravitch

UFT throw heavy hitters Mulgrew, Barr - while CORE uses their rank and file -  who are more than capable of holding their own. This is not to say that others around the nation are on the Randi team. So far only Chicago people are opposing the AFT/UFT reso.

UPDATE: See Chicago - reasons to oppose common core.

And this pic of Sarah in a Unity sandwich (though that may be NYSUT Pres Karen Magee, who is Unity clone) with hack Stuart Kaplan behind her, probably holding a bigger shot's spot or to call the question.

Anyway -
So when asked me how I felt about Mulgrew's demeanor I must have disappointed Brown when I said Mulgrew's demeanor is fine with me. I only wish he was like in defending teachers when instead his so-called anger (I forgot to tell Brown it was an act) was really being directed at classroom teachers who opposed the common fore.

I said I want that fighting spirit in a union leader (I certainly prefer Mulgrew's style to the insipid Randi's). But Mulgrew is using a phony fighting spirit on the side of the corporate interests who are pushing the common core instead of using it to defend classroom teachers. I urged him to watch the 2 classroom teachers who followed Mulgrew, Barr and Magee where they talked about the CC being tied to corporate interests, with the last speaker pointing out how it is copywrited.

Brown read back the quote he was going to use and it sounded good to me. I told him if it comes out that way (which I didn't believe it would - and it really didn't) I would get him a birthday present. I don't think so.

The Staten Island native’s fighting words left other teachers feeling insulted, however. “His style is not attacking the real enemies of teachers. He’s attacking the teachers trying to defend their children in the classroom!” said Norm Scott, a retired elementary school teacher living in Rockaway, Queens, who recorded the video and posted it to his Ed Notes blog.

 Brown had asked me about Mulgrew's demeanor, which I am fine with, not insulted. But the rest of the quote looks good to me.

Oh, and when I told him I had a lot more unpublished footage he said he would talk to people about buying it. "Sorry I said, not interested." Ah, the benefits of being a Tier 1 retiree.

More videos of heroic Chicago teachers who spoke before and after Mulgrew.

Postscript
People are telling me that the streamed video of the AFT convention seems to be missing the Mulgrew speech. I don't want to accuse them of playing the Richard Nixon card and deleting it.

Another point. Someone asked me how it worked out that Mulgrew and Barr spoke right after another -- these guys are big shots - do they have to race to the mic and stand in line? Surrogate Unity Caucus slugs do that work for them - they grab a spot at the mics and move aside for the biggies when strategically it is time for them to speak.

#AFT14 Convention Video - Common Core Debate - Mulgrew is Going to Punch Someone in the Face

Has anyone speaking against the common core said they don't WANT standards? .... Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater? The baby is in the bath water... Pia Payne-Shannon, Minneapolis Teacher opposing common core in rousing speech at AFT convention

I extracted a 12 minute sliver from over an hour debate including the Mike Mulgrew "punch you in the face" line. Followed by Leroy Barr and new NYSUT President Karen Magee (see Randi's face as she qvells at her coup) - I didn't include all of Magee's - yada, yada, yada. I put in 2 speeches of a Chicago teacher and a rousing rebuttal from a Minneapolis teacher.

It was union leadership pushing common core vs classroom teachers opposing. I still have a load of great speeches, mostly from Chicago, which I'll put up tomorrow.

More Gypsy Pics and Vids

They just keep popping up on facebook and I can't resist posting. I may be pessimistic long-term, but optimistic short-term.

Here is a unique view of NYC teachers Steve Ryan and Kim Simek, video by Frank Verderame from the wings. They are both powerhouses, even though they often hang out with Mike Schirtzer.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr30IbliDqE&feature=youtu.be

I never got to take my pic with Caroline the cow. But Catherine is a pretty good substitute.

And Louisa too

John emerges from the front end of the cow to meet his pals

Common Core Math: Suicide Bombers + Ebola = HOLY CRAP!

The situation in the Middle East is a bit like World War I. Iraq is breaking apart, and its border with Syria exists only on maps. A Kurdistan is in formation. Jordan and Lebanon are endangered. The Israeli-Palestinian situation is threatening to produce real violence. Three Israeli youths have been kidnapped from the West Bank; another has been killed near the Syrian border. Egypt has returned to military rule. Libya teeters, Yemen is at war with itself and the once-modest Syrian uprising is the butterfly that flapped its wings to produce a hurricane.... Richard Cohen, The Enigmatic War.

Just imagine Boco Haram digging up bodies of Ebola victims and spreading fluids in all over the place - how about airplane rest rooms? Or better yet, someone working on developing an airborne version of Ebola - cough, cough? Are there people out there capable of doing this? You bet your bippy. They blow themselves up. Why not kill yourself with Ebola and create an epidemic that makes the death toll in a suicide bombing look like a play date?

And there is all that nuke stuff floating around, oh, like in Russia. Hey, if you give Ukranian pro-Russian resisters weapons to shoot down a plane flying at 70,000 feet, why not just add a few low-grade A-nuclear devices? Small stuff - you know, like the one used in Hiroshima.

With the Gaza situation creating thousands of potential suicide bombers an hour; with Boco Haram running wild in Nigeria - now infected with Ebola - is that just an accident? with stability coming unhinged worldwide - on this 100th anniversary of WWI - we are finding some of the same conditions that existed a century ago -- nations feeling they are surrounded and persecuted like Germany did then and Russia does now. China threatening its neighbors with whom we have similar mutual alliances to defend - as existed in 1914 and pulled almost every major European nation into a world war that no one seemed to want. Kim Il Un looks like a choir boy.

OK, so I am immersed in Barbara Tuchman's "Guns of August" WWI chronicle and after 150 pages, of background and dithering by all the powers even up to the final hours, the whimps have finally declared war -- and we get a good dose of the arrogance and errors that Winston Churchill - yes THAT Churchill - contributed to the mayhem to come. We have reached Aug. 4-5 1914 and the battle is about to begin - I'm in the chapter on how Turkey came in on the side of Germany - a major event and how Churchill and England screwed that up.

At the same time I am immersed in Veronica Roth's "Divergent" trilogy - an often awfully written series of young adult distopian novels about as bleak a future as one could imagine - ("Hunger Games" was much better written.)

And then there is the environment and global warming - and comets and meteors smashing into us - hey, it's been 65 million years since the dinosaurs were wiped out by a massive comet- even small stuff can cause mayhem, as we saw happen in Russia just a few years ago. Just imagine if a big one - say 3 miles -  suddenly appeared headed straight for earth within a year. Would ISIS still grab territory? Would Putin be worried about Ukraine? Hmmm - someone write a novel.

Nothing like spending a day watching 60 inches of water come up the stairs inside your house to make you pessimistic. I'm rebuilding my garden while keeping in mind what survived Sandy last time.

Given my simultaneous readings, my outlook for the world is rather bleak. No wonder billions are being spent on space and especially on the concentration on Mars - the 1% is happy to pay taxes on the space program, knowing full well doom is coming and there must be an escape plan for their descendents. I can just see it now: the Murdoch clan on Mars.

====
Supplemental:

Richard Cohen in WAPO on The Enigmatic War.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/richard-cohen-a-hundred-years-later-world-war-i-remains-enigmatic/2014/06/23/ae1cf484-fb0d-11e3-8176-f2c941cf35f1_story.html

This is a splendid time to remember the First World War. It started 100 years ago this week with the June 28 shooting of the Austrian archduke and his wife. By the end of the summer, much of Europe was engaged in a war that lasted about four years, toppled four empires, precipitated the communist revolution, created by fiat the modern Middle East, recognized Zionism, made the United States a world power and cost the lives of about 10 million fighting men. Historians are still trying to figure out what happened.

There are theories galore — and an equal amount of finger-pointing. Germany was to blame, many insist. No, it was Austria-Hungary or maybe Russia. On the other hand, it could have been Serbia — or the rigidity of mobilization plans, those damned railway schedules, the romantic insanity of nationalism run amok, the assured confidence that the crisis would pass (others had) or, in the minds of some, that the working men of Europe would never kill one another so that the capitalists and the upper classes would benefit. Little about the war made much sense.

Gypsy Finale - Joy and Sadness

The Sunday matinee was our last performance - 9 out of 10 were sold out. The cast party afterwards was also a howl as the little kids did their version of the grown-ups acting. An 8-year old doing the strippers had us in stitches.

Sadly, today we struck the set and started building the set for Godspell. When a show ends it is like a school year ending - relief with sadness over the breaking up of the team - maybe a reason so many teachers use their spare time to be involved in the Rockaway Theatre Company. Some experience withdrawal symptoms. I would too - but I have all the ed crap to fill in the gap.

Mr. Goldstone surrounded by admirers - the young lady - grownup baby June - is an awesome talent - and going into her sophomore year at Fort Hamilton HS

Selfie by Kim Simek - a teacher who could be a professional actor - she delivered a performance as Louise/Gypsy Rose Lee as good as it gets

The entire cast - aged 7 to 72 - I'm 2nd oldest

Some backstage fun.

A selfie with me by John Panipinto who starred in How to Succeed...

Steve and Catherine - anchors aweigh

The Gypsy strippers

Oh, those costumes

Kim coming backstage to cheers at finale in what she termed "the role of a lifetime"

Catherine with Matt and John - Caroline the cow - Matt plays the rear end

Joe Hagopian and date

Steve really wanted to play Gypsy Rose Lee

Joe and John face off - see that young lady in background? She played Agnes - 16 years old and a natural on stage - goes to Scholars Academy in Rockaway - there were 2 other students from the school in the show

John and Jess - a teacher - in her other role when she is not Tessie Tura, the stripper

Charter School Unions: Will Teamsters Out-Organize the AFT and NEA?

Eighty teachers and guidance counselors at the Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School in Marlboro recently made history when they joined a union — but not the one you might think. They did not join the Massachusetts Teachers Association, which represents 110,000 public school educators across the commonwealth. Nor did they join the Massachusetts Federation of Teachers, which has 25,000 members. No, they joined Teamsters Local 170 in Worcester, a 4,000-member union of mostly truck and bus drivers and warehouse workers.... http://www.telegram.com/article/20140803/COLUMN73/308039953  ----An intriguing story sent by Jeff Kaufman

The national teacher unions straddled the fence on ed deform - not opposing the charter movement where the end game is a death-knell to a viable public school system -  putting forth argument that ultimately they will organize charter school teachers. If a charter school teacher asked me whether to join the UFT, I would say, "sure, can't hurt." But...

Let's examine the AFT/UFT vision using NYC as an example. At one time the UFT had a monopoly on union membership in every school in the city. That in itself was a powerful tool, though one the union has refused to use very much over the past 40 years. I don't only mean a strike - but something like passive resistance to idiot paper work, slowdowns, etc.

Now they have lost a chunk to charters -- not an overwhelming chunk yet -- but more will be coming. With the new NY State charter support law - which the UFT laid down for when it was pushed by their pal, Cuomo -- there are estimates the UFT could lose 10,000 member over the next few years.

They think they can make up the difference by organizing charter teachers, with each school having its own contract, thus diluting the power of the union. (See the alliance with Steve Barr - Randi/Mulgrew Pal Steve Barr to Head Anti-Union DFER California).

But as the article indicates, the road to organizing is not a clear one for teacher unions.

In a press release from the union, two teachers explained why they chose to join the Teamsters. Like most charter schools, AMSA hires teachers to one-year contracts and does not offer seniority. The school did not, until now, have to wrestle with the union to fire employees. "A lot of key people, award-winning teachers, were let go. That decision cannot be made in five minutes in a back room so someone else can get the job. We need a process so that everyone can feel more protected," said Lino Alvarez, a computer science and Web design teacher at AMSA.  "We looked at other unions, but decided the Teamsters was the best union for us."

Of course, the MTA now has Barbara Madeloni as its leader and will make an intensive effort to organize charter school teachers.

I am all for organizing charter school teachers. But I also think the unions should take a position to reverse charterization by focusing on the crooked and incompetent schools and rather than having them closed (and often replaced by another shell charter) they be turned back into public schools.

Without reversals, the final result will be a total balkanization of public school systems. The ONLY way to preserve the concept of a public school system is to put a stake to the heart of as many charters as possible. Hey, no one thought we would get to the moon.

Norm in The Wave: Memo From the RTC: Gypsy Update – Why Do They Do It?

Gypsy high school gals having fun before going on

Tonight is the next to last performance as the show closes with the Sunday matinee. All sold out. Monday we strike the set and start putting up Godspell.

Published Friday, August 1, 2014 www.rockawave.com

Memo From the RTC: Gypsy Update – Why Do They Do It?

By Norm Scott

After a 2nd sold-out weekend, Gypsy heads into the final stretch this weekend at the Post Theatre at Fort Tilden. (See the 2-minute highlight reel –http://vimeo.com/101617641). Last Sunday was the annual Carol Jasper Memorial Matinee. Proceeds went to the North Shore Animal League, the largest No Kill animal shelter on the East Coast. A trailer with animals for adoption was parked outside the theater throughout the afternoon. (Photo- Caroline the cow made an appearance during intermission with her look-alike dog.)

Caroline the cow and twin

Luisa Boyaggi as Mama Rose kept topping herself, getting standing ovations. I was in the lighting booth as the show ended and even the pros up there erupted in applause. Luisa’s performance is so strong I want to make sure we don’t lose sight of the amazing job Kim Simek does as the abused older mousy-like daughter Louise, who transforms into Gypsy Rose Lee, the most famous stripper in history. Kim’s acting and singing and dancing rises to the heights. I was often backstage as Kim raced in for costume changes, often assisted by the jack of all trades Matt Smilardi, whose joy in doing whatever he does is a tension-buster.

Being backstage during a show with a cast of 50 is a learning experience for anyone who wants to get the full theater experience. Think of it. Kids from age 7-12, teens aged 13-17, a gaggle of twenty and thirty-somethings, and all age ranges right up to late 60s-early 70s – like me. People racing in and out over a period of 3 hours – the actors also have a schedule of cues to follow for the set changes. I was challenged just to remember when I had to bring out and then remove a small table with a phone on it. I almost walked out by mistake in front of the audience. That a show this complicated goes off with barely (a noticeable hitch) is a tribute to the remarkable training and timing enforced by Director Susan Corning and Stage Manager Nora Meyers.

I love the back-stage banter from the age mix, often about movies, TV shows, music and the theater. The knowledge and interest about the theater expressed by even the teens is astounding. I often feel like a cultural alien. People were pouring over a book brought in by Frank Verderame (stage crew hand and playwright) on the show’s history. I learned a lot about the real story behind Gypsy and discussions took place about the show business mother verging on abuse.

Open an RTC program and see the list of behind the scenes volunteers who make this operation so professional. Almost every performer has a job and in essence have few or no days off. (Many in the large group of teachers in the show at least have the summer free.) Why do they all do it? “Love of the theater” is often the response. I think it is more than that. It is love of the sense of the community. That sense is almost a form of addiction. A 2nd home to many people. I was chatting with the remarkable Danielle Fisher, who has been doing backstage work with the RTC since she was a 15-year old teenager, a decade ago. Danielle is now an artist and graphic designer and now uses her professional skills at the RTC. It took her a decade to actually appear onstage – her first show was “How to Succeed…” Working with the RTC over 10 years has had a major impact on her life.

The same has been true with many of the “kids” now in their twenties who got their start as teens or even younger children and keep coming back for more. This is due to the wonderful Young People’s Theatre Workshops run by the RTC, which begins on Sept. 13 (in sections – ages 6-11 and 12-17) run by Peggy Page. Frank Caiati and Susan Corning will be handing the acting end, with Richard Louis-Pierre and Jodee Timpone as musical directors. Gabrielle Mangano will be teaching dance. All offering professional level instruction, but most of all, bringing the sense of community to a new generation, many of whom we will be seeing on stage for the next decade.

After last Sunday’s show, Suzanne Riggs, who does everything and anything necessary at the RTC, invited the cast to her beautiful home for a pool party. When I went home about 10PM, a good chunk of the cast were frolicking in the pool, including John Panepinto and Matt Smilardi, the front and back end of Caroline the cow, unfortunately, not in costume.

(There may still be a few tickets available for the Friday night and Sunday matinee performances.)

Norm blogs on education and other issues at ednotesonline.com, often while wearing a cow costume.

Happy 100th Anniversary to World War One

Jeez, we haven't had a World War for 75 years. Our generation are just slackers. But the way things are going there is hope.

Yes, August 1 is a big day in these parts. It was known as The Great War for 2 decades - until WWII broke out on Sept. 1 1939.

I am celebrating by reading Barbara Tuchman's "The Guns of August." I had that book for about 40 years but lost it in Sandy. So I got a copy from the library. No one really wanted the war and Tuchman takes us through the last minute frantic negotiations before total insanity set in. I'm still on the night of August 1. Can't wait to get to August 2nd. I should really get a cake with a hundred candles.

I have 25 years to find a book to read when I celebrate the 100th anniversary of WWII in 2039 when I'll be 95 - if WWIII doesn't get me first.