Written and edited by Norm Scott:
EDUCATE! ORGANIZE!! MOBILIZE!!!
Three pillars of The Resistance – providing information on current ed issues, organizing activities around fighting for public education in NYC and beyond and exposing the motives behind the education deformers. We link up with bands of resisters. Nothing will change unless WE ALL GET INVOLVED IN THE STRUGGLE!
When the news about Cuba and the US hit yesterday I was reminded about a trip I took with Paul Baizerman during Easter vacation in 1978 or 1979. A lot of people are surprised we could go legally and openly for a brief window of time but Jimmy Carter's opened the door a crack and travel opened up until Regan became president.
I remember getting to the airport and there was no listing of the flight - we had a special code. In addition, the plane was sort of hidden in an outpost of Kennedy airport - not near a terminal. It was clear why -- elements of the Cuban exile community - known as "gusanos" - or worms in Cuba and in the American left -- often threatened violence and were considered terrorists by the left - though not by the American government.
Since it was school vacation time a number of people on the trip were connected to teaching, but there was also a variety of adventurers. It was a one week trip and we went to 3 locations - a day at the beach, a smallish city - I think Marisol and 3 days in Havana at the end where we stayed at the Hilton and were fed with so much food we wondered if we weren't eating up the entire food supply of the city.
We were told we could roam anywhere in Havana, the only restriction being we couldn't take photos of anyone in uniform or of a military installation. And roam we did, though there were no real stores other than some cigar places - and both of us being cigar smokers we loaded up.
Paul spoke fluent Spanish, so I got to "converse" will all kinds of people through him. Paul could sort of pass for Spanish. Paul didn't act like a regular tourist -- he engaged the bus drivers in conversation, helped them unload the luggage and sat with them when we ate. Some people on the tour whispered he was a Cuban spy put on the trip by the government.
We were very interested in the education system. Cuba guaranteed everyone a 6th grade education and over the almost 2 decades since the revolution, had raised literacy enormously. They built many schools in the countryside and kids were sent to them out of the city and resided there during the week. They had 2 shifts - one worked the fields while the other went to school and then they swapped. Every kid wore a simple uniform - white shirt and color-coded pants/skirts -- red for elementary, blue for middle school and mustard color for high schools. The amount of money invested in their kids just in the clothing was impressive - as were the number of school buildings.
I went there not being anti-Castro and after this trip I could see that there was little comparison between Cuba and much of the rest of Central America where oppressive dictatorships reigned that had little interest in increasing literacy for the entire population or even health care. We visited a clinic and had a discourse on the Cuban medical system which has always been lauded even by Castro's enemies.
Yesterday I heard the commentators say that Cuba has had 55 years of dictatorship - or as Brian Williams so ignorantly put it - since they had democracy. Batista was democratic? Oh how the Cubans must have missed all those Mafia run gambling casinos and all the other ills -- let's support going back to the days of poor medical care and low literacy - like so many nations the US supported.
I took 10 rolls of kodachrome slides and when we got back Paul put together a slide show which we showed around. Unfortunately Paul died in 2011 and I have no idea where those slides are so I have no photos.
Paul kept going back to Cuba for decades, often illegally by going through Canada and got to know some very high government officials. He made contact with people in the film industry and we showed some Cuban films here. He also worked with the Cuban trade union organization and helped create an exchange program with US trade unions - I think he took a high official of the steel workers union with him on some trips. Paul would travel around Cuba on his trips making speeches. I was hoping to go with him with a video camera 5 or 6 years ago but it never happened.
A trip with Paul Baizerman was a unique experience. A few years later I spent 2 weeks driving around Mexico with Paul one summer. I'll tell that story one day. Paul was a mentor of mine in so many ways. I should write more about him -- every activist in the UFT over a 30 year period knew him and even today when I see some people in the UFT they bring up his name. One of my goals was to get him and Julie Cavanagh together and we had a date - Memorial Day, 2011. But Julie's husband had a medical issue that day and I had to call Paul to cancel. That was the last time I spoke to him as he died while I was in New Zealand in Dec. 2011. People still tell me that if he were around and active, the opposition in the UFT would have a very different look because Paul was a game-changer.
Every negative story on charters school scams helps a bit. Just like the Teach for America (Campaign Against Teach for America is Working) exposures have hurt their recruitment efforts, eventually some scandal or outrage will be so great there will be such serious calls for reforms and restrictions even the political scum that support charters will start running away.
A top official in the New York State
Comptroller’s Office has urged regulators to require more transparency
on charter-school finances. The response has been, well, nonexistent.
by Marian Wang ProPublica, Dec. 16, 2014, 3:13 p.m.
New York State's First
Deputy Comptroller Pete Grannis, shown in April 2010, has contacted
regulatory agencies and the mayor's office about charter-school finances
and says he has gotten "no response whatsoever." (Mike Groll/AP Images)Add another voice to those warning about the lack of financial
oversight for charter schools. One of New York state's top fiscal
monitors told ProPublica that audits by his office have found "practices
that are questionable at best, illegal at worst" at some charter
schools. Pete Grannis, New York State's First Deputy Comptroller, contacted
ProPublica after reading our story last week about how some charter
schools have turned over nearly all their public funds
and significant control to private, often for-profit firms that handle
their day-to-day operations. The arrangements can limit the ability of
auditors and charter-school regulators to follow how public money is
spent – especially when the firms refuse to divulge financial details
when asked.
Such setups are a real problem, Grannis said. And the way
he sees it, there's a very simple solution. As a condition for agreeing
to approve a new charter school or renew an existing one, charter
regulators could require schools and their management companies to agree
to provide any and all financial records related to the school. "Clearly, the need for fiscal oversight of charter schools has intensified," he wrote in a letter to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
last week. "Put schools on notice that relevant financial records
cannot be shielded from oversight bodies of state and local governmental
entities." It's a plea that Grannis has made before. Last year, he sent a similar letter to the state's major charter-school regulators – New York City's Department of Education, the New York State Education Department, and the State University of New York. He never heard back from any of them. "No response whatsoever,"
Grannis said. Not even, he added, a "'Thank you for your letter, we'll
look into it.' That would have been the normal bureaucratic response." We contacted all three of these agencies and the mayor's office for comment. None of them got back to us. The charter-school debate in New York, as elsewhere, is politically
fraught. De Blasio's cautious stance on charters has put him at odds with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose financial backers include some big-dollar charter-school supporters. The state comptroller's office has faced repeated lawsuits from charter groups and operators challenging its authority to audit charter schools. To Grannis, though, his efforts aren't about politics. His office is
"agnostic on charters," as he put it. His office also audits the
finances of traditional public-school districts, he pointed out. "We're the fiscal monitors. We watch over the use or misuse of public
funds," Grannis said. "This isn't meant to be anti-charter. Our job is
not to be pro or anti." Grannis has not yet gotten a response from the mayor's office about the letter he sent last week. As to the charter-school regulators who got his letter the year
before? He's still puzzled why they wouldn't be more interested in a
possible fix, or why the charter regulators never bothered to respond. "I honestly don't know," Grannis said. He said he's going to send another round of letters to them. Related coverage: Read about how some charter schools "sweep" nearly all their public dollars directly into private firms, or our piece on how a chain of charter schools is channeling millions of public education dollars to for-profit companies controlled by the schools' founder. If you have information about charter schools and their profits or oversight — or any other tips — email us at charters@propublica.org.
Was the death of [Teacher K] a case of slow murder by an arsenic-like administration, some teachers ask?
Now this deadly gang of so-called administrators have surely- through the terrible stress they put all targeted teachers through- contributed to the premature death of Ms. [K], a wonderful Foreign Language Teacher, who passed away over the weekend. Mrs Elvin, who was behind the non-stop attack on this teacher all last year and this year, was suddenly eulogizing her over the loudspeaker, and making sure everyone knew she was so deeply, deeply saddened by the loss of [Teacher K]! What a miserable and transparent hypocrite- she should be known as "The Widow/Widower Maker"!
Elvin, no one believes a word you said [regarding the death of [Teacher K], a teacher under immense harassment by the Elvin admin] today. You must think we're all fools. We know what action you and your goons took.
The heartless ghouls spit out by Tweed over the years continue to stalk the system. I've learned to spot the type from so many teachers' descriptions. Clearly, one of the first things the principals are taught is how to apply pressure to older, often somewhat ill in some way, teachers by giving them more physically demanding assignments that will wear them down. I hear too many stories of teachers dying on the job.
These articles on ed notes regarding John Dewey HS
and the actions of the administration there continue to be amongst the most read and commented on at Ed Notes. Here are some more comments:
Today at 8:30 am the school was notified of the passing of a current Spanish teacher. It was a very unexpected loss. The teacher, an older woman with a severe back issue was very well liked by teachers, not so much by the administration. In fact, it is safe to say that she was one of the teachers with a "bulls-eye" on her back...She was forced to teach in multiple rooms, despite having mobility issues. In other schools with other Principals, her life might have been made easier but not at John Dewey. Here she was forced to use a cart to bring her materials from room to room. Here she was given the toughest of classes and when she asked for help, she was told that no one would respond anymore, that it was her issue. Here she was, taking a car service to work in the name of dedication, and yet she was on the short list for removal....I thought that I had heard everything and seen everything, but today was a real eye opener....We work in the most hostile environment with an administration that has an agenda that is shameful. I hope this teacher rests in peace...and I hope that we get help soon.....
This commenter compares the actions of the police in the Garner case to the actions of the Dewey admin in the Foola Karas death as some in admin try to pin blame on actions of students:
Yes, [Teacher K] a thirty year veteran teacher ( 53 years old) died over the weekend...and while she was alive- instead of the administration celebrating her courage and tenacity to come to work everyday in obvious discomfort, they seemingly systematically denied her support in the form of any kind of disciplinary action against her students; slowly trying to build a case against her for dismissal. [APX] just recently wrote to her "I'm here to support you whenever you need it - after writing her ineffective!!!! One student pulled her phone out of the wall last spring so she couldn't call for deans and was back in class the following day! I heard [APY] even came in to her room recently and in front of the class shouted "I'm finished...I'm not coming back in here anymore!" How is that for giving the kids a green light to do whatever they want? First [APY] you allegedly talk the police out of giving a summons to a kid caught with a five inch knife and now this??? Resign. K' life could have been so instructive to the kids in the way someone deals with adversity instead she was isolated and made into a punching bag. And some of the FECKLESS AP's were ruminating about how the kids might feel guilty about it? And the grief counseling was done by Elvin supporters who side with her interpretation that the administration's actions had no impact on K's sudden demise but that she was suffering and sick? Eric Garner would have probably died of a heart attack sooner or later after all he WAS in bad shape but the rough and dismissive arrest tactics and subsequent disinterested EMS response caused his death. And to compound Elvin's effects....the kids ARE INTERNALIZING the guilt!!!! Anybody knows, Elvin that kids need consequences and your statistic mongering restorative justice has deprived them of an important life lesson and perhaps irreparably harmed them with the death of this person on their consciences'. They should be informed that it was NOT their fault but your statistic padding policies. Kids will be kids and they will push as far as they can and it was up to YOU as the instructional leader to provide those boundaries not use their behavior as a cudgel against a "teacher target" to build a case and rest assured we have the evidence. We can only hope that the K family seeks appropriate legal remedy and believe me many of us our lining up to be deposed. And for the rest of you who still support and finagle for Elvin out of fear or self interest...one question. How do you still look at yourself in the mirror?
I'm attending a 3020a hearing (which I will write about after the case is over) who is being threatened with termination by a younger version of the Dewey principal. Worst of all, the current principal looking to take his job is a former teacher-colleague in the school who planned the action against him as one of her first acts as principal. This teacher's health is also not great and there is some worry about the toll this is taking on him. And believe me - he had one of those jobs in an elementary school teaching around 200 kids a week where his impact as a teacher on the kids is minimal - he is basically a prep giver. So to go to the extent his former colleague is going must mean she developed a hate for him even though he says they always had a good relationship before she became principal.
A sign TFA is losing its attraction - from Gary Rubinstein blog
Teach for America is having trouble recruiting candidates to teach in
New York City schools and will close its New York training site in
anticipation of declining numbers, the organization’s New York City
leader told program alumni on Friday. “Teach For America is in the midst of a challenging recruitment year,”
Charissa Fernandez said in an email, attributing the difficulties in
part to “a contentious national dialogue around education and teaching
in general, and TFA in particular.” http://ny.chalkbeat.org/2014/12/12/as-recruitment-dips-tfa-leader-says-new-york-training-site-to-close/#.VI8REpY8LCQ
A lot of credit goes to people like former TFAer Gary Rubinstein for his blog and posts like this: Bait-and-Switch For America
After moving their office
out of NYC for ostensibly the same reason…letter linked to below only
available to Politico pro subscribers.
TFA ASKS FOR HELP: Teach
for America has always prided itself on attracting such a flood of
qualified applicants that it can afford to be ultra-selective. This
year, however, the nonprofit is struggling to recruit as many applicants
as it would like, despite bumping up outreach to veterans, mid-career
professionals and others outside its traditional target market of
college seniors. So TFA is asking for help. It's asking its alumni,
supportive teachers, partner school districts and college administrators
to send out emails, tweets and Facebook posts urging talented
individuals to apply to TFA. The organization has even provided sample
language: "Bring your passion to the classroom ... Teach." Or: "Schools
deserve large groups of diverse talent to choose from, and that's where
you come in."
- The group would like recruiting help
from "everyone who can help the cause" spokeswoman Takirra Winfield
said. It's not that TFA has completely run dry: It's received more than
26,000 applications so far this year. But that's less than anticipated -
so much less that TFA's leaders estimate they could fall short of their
goal for the 2015 corps by as much as 25 percent. In a letter to
partner school districts, co-CEOs Elisa Villanueva-Beard and Matt Kramer
attribute the downturn to a better economy, which means college
students have more career options, and to "an increasingly polarized
public conversation around education" that's "challenging the perception
of teaching as a stable, fulfilling profession." Another factor: The
"polarization" around the merits of TFA itself, they write. Their
letter: http://politico.pro/1GpBlcm.
Go to this edition >> http://www.politico.com/morningeducation/1214/morningeducation16476.html
This ad for a March 28, 2009 conference to
save public schools at John Jay College in NYC, illustrates a prime example of
the manipulation of the community by charter school advocates. The
Harlem Success Schools led by Eva Moskowitz has pushed its way into
public school spaces with the support of the NYC Department of
Education. The push by Bloomberg and Klein to support charter schools
is an admission of their failure to solve the problems that exist in
public schools.... Ed Notes, March 26, 2009
Almost 6 years ago this was a scary event - chanting and hectoring - the future of the death
of public schools.
I taped this event and made this ad on for a conference we were planning the eve of the founding of the Grassroots Education Movement - in fact, this conference was the event that made GEM a viable organization. Kudos to the amazing Angel Gonzalez whose organizing abilities came to the fore.
Angel and I went up to Harlem for a rally Eva was holding where they were giving away food and prizes and it drew a thousand people, including the corporate and political scum like Joel Klein and Bloomberg and Walcott.
At this point the group that turned into GEM was still an offshoot of a committee ICE had formed to address the issues of ATRs, high stakes testing, closing schools and the charter invasions - the 4 basic pillars upon which GEM was built. This group was the first time people from various NYC ed orgs like ICE and NYCORE had worked together. And we can't forget ISO (International Socialist Organization) which jumped on board early on and whose members helped organize meetings and events.
I had a lot of footage but in the process of
switching computers seemed to have lost it. Luckily I salvaged this bit
for the ad.
I have seen it for myself. They walk around and get signatures. They
recently asked me and gave me a flyer in front of my house. I know for a
fact, that application workshops were set up in Brighton Beach Private
Prek's for success academy in bensonhurst. Many of the children
currently attending SA Bensonhurst are from these private mostly Russian
daycares..... A Parent
And then this gem came in - the facebook page was taken down
-->
Today we launched our Golden Plunger Award. Each week, the boys
or girls will have a chance to win the Golden Plunger Award for keeping the
cleanest bathrooms! The weekly winners will have the award displayed by their
bathroom as a reminderof all their hard work!
We want to make sure that our bathrooms are clean
and sanitary for your scholars all day long. Please speak with your scholars
about putting toilet paper in the toilet, flushing the toilets after use,
washing their hands completely after use, and throwing the paper towels in the
wastebaskets. Hygiene and cleanliness are extremely important for keeping healthy!
John Elfrank-Dana has led a valiant effort to defend the teaching staff. They have also been hammering the union leadership for more support.
Murry Bergtraum chapter should be quite proud. Myself and about six other chapter representatives came and spoke quite articulately about the hell we've been living through and the unfair ratings of almost 40% of the staff. Mulgrew was there along with the vice president of high schools and special reps. We know the tricky part is trying to get ratings changed en mass. That's going to be hard but our fight is worth it. The meeting lasted two hours.
John just sent in this update:
The Danielson framework and Advance in general are not abusive principal-proof. The truth is they can rate your Measures of Teaching Practice so low that even if your MOSL (student test performance) is Effective it will drop you down into Developing or Ineffective territory. Principals and APs can cherry pick facts on observations justifying a lower rating. They don't want to video teachers because they don't want facts that contradict their version of events. It was a mistake for the UFT to agree to leave videoing these lessons at the discretion of the administration. A downright blunder. And make no mistake about it, while a Developing rated teacher is supposed to get the same treatment as an Effective teacher, short of the Teacher Improvement Plan, we have more and more evidence they are being discriminated against in hiring, for per-session opportunities and C6 activities. Yet, these Developing rated teachers have no direct recourse like those rated Ineffective. It's a work in progress but our meeting with the UFT yesterday was informative for BOTH sides of the table- the rank and file and the UFT leadership.
John posted this to the MORE chapter leader listserve recently.
Chapter Leaders: We have a new principal at Murry Bergtraum after ousting the last two for being bullies. The year started off with some optimism. I didn't have to file Art. 19 grievances for basic information like program masters, teacher grids or Galaxy Table of Organization budgets. Even got her to reverse herself on a Step 1. That doesn't happen very often. But, the other day a former and much beloved teacher came by the school to visit an expectant teacher on her prep during 8th period. The principal told security not to let him in and emailed his principal to inform him that, to the effect, "Were you aware Mr. X, was visiting our school during school hours?" She assumed this teacher was on a PI or was cheating on school time somehow. The teacher, it so happened, was done with moot court and was on his duty-free lunch. This is actually the third time this kind of thing happened where someone invited by staff was not allowed in, escorted out and/or had their principal notified. That was the last straw. Any of you have similar stories? I sent the following to the Chancellor and Superintendent as well as the staff. Chancellor, Colleagues, Friends, Expats: Today one of our most beloved former teachers was turned away at the door. He was visiting one our colleagues on her free period. This is someone who did his student teaching here, was a student of mine at Fordham getting his masters, served several years here as a teacher and was a lead teacher whom the Superintendent was very impressed by. He was coming from Moot Court 8th period on his duty free lunch at the end of the day. Not only was he told to leave but the administration emailed his principal to report that he was here, trying to get him in trouble. How low can you go?
A short selection of previous posts on Bergtraum below the break.
-- make some calls to see if they weren't just walking by and signed something on a subway station. Report on how many vacant slots in Success charters.
And since the link to this DN piece by Chapman was posted on Chalkbeat, let's see a bit of that kind of reporting from them too.
I've maintained from the very beginning that these numbers are bogus and that part of charter transparency is making these lists available. Since charters get public funding why are these demands lists not foilable?
More than 6,000 families have already applied to Success Academy, which operates 32 city schools. The demand for a charter school reached an all-time high last year, with more than 16,400 families vying for fewer than 3,000 spots.
The contracts are an example of
how the charter schools sometimes cede control of public dollars to
private companies that have no legal obligation to act in the best
interests of the schools or taxpayers. When the agreement is with a
for-profit firm like National Heritage Academies, it’s also a chance
for such firms to turn taxpayer money into tidy profits....“It’s really just a pass-through for for-profit entities,” said Eric Hall, an attorney in Colorado Springs.....When Charter Schools Are Nonprofit in Name Only
I sardonically joke during trainings, that I can give school leaders the 2 step secret to the high test score performance; recruit high achievers and kick out the “bad” kids. Unfortunately, there is truth underlying the joke, which echoes across all sectors of American education. And while some laugh at the joke, others frown, and a third group is taking notes.I am a lawyer and I wrote or reviewed many of the sections of this charter years back, including admissions, and I know there is no fracking admissions test, and as a fairly empowered Black man, I have learned its best to just listen sometimes, without betraying my credentials, and see how far people will go.... As someone who has worked with charter schools for the better part of two decades, I do see the subtle and not so subtle ways that schools can and sometimes do manipulate the student bodies coming in to increase the test scores coming out, or to more generally serve “their kids”.... charterspook
This link came to me through an email. I'm not sure who wrote it but this guy pretty much lists just about every method charters use to control admissions.
A long time ago in a land far away, I went to enroll a foster child, let’s call her Keasha, in a charter school. She needed a good school; that was smaller, more personalized. Brushing aside the fact that I did not have any legal authority, we asked the woman at the desk about enrollment. She explained that the school may not have any spots for the particular grade, described the school culture in fairly negative terms, under-emphasizing the clubs and after school, and noting that many students resented the closed campus, where they could not leave for lunch. I still asked for an application. She then told Keasha that she needed to take an “admissions test”, a series of math problems. An “admission test” or other preconditions to enrollment in a charter school is illegal, they are public schools and, by law, must admit any student who applies if there is space, holding a lottery if there are more students than spots. Full disclosure, I am a lawyer and I wrote or reviewed many of the sections of this charter years back, including admissions, and I know there is no fracking admissions test, and as a fairly empowered Black man, I have learned its best to just listen sometimes, without betraying my credentials, and see how far people will go.
NYS Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE) – www.nysape.org
NYS Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE) – www.nysape.org
John King Resigns: Parents & Educators Call for a New Direction from the Regents and
Demand NO Interference from Governor Cuomo
Late Wednesday, the New York State Education Department announced that Commissioner John King is resigning effective the end of this year to accept a new post in Washington as an advisor to US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
Last year NYSAPE, parents, and educators from around the state called for Commissioner King to step down. After many months of frustration and outrage from parents and educators across New York State, the chapter closes on an embattled commissioner who failed to address legitimate serious concerns.
Eyes from all corners of the Empire State now turn on Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch, the Board of Regents, and the legislature to ensure the next commissioner represents the substantial change in direction that public school parents demand from a responsive government that serves the people. NYSAPE calls for the Regents to adopt an open, inclusive selection process and stresses the importance of input from parents, educators, and other stakeholder groups in appointing a commissioner who will be more accountable to the public at large.
Governor Andrew Cuomo will also be watched very closely to ensure he does not overstep the constitutional authority of the Regents and interfere in any manner with the selection of a new commissioner of education. For innumerable reasons, New Yorkers are very glad to live within a NYS Constitution that does not grant Governor Andrew Cuomo authority when it comes to oversight of education in New York. They will be watching very closely both Governor Cuomo, who called public schools a "monopoly" to be broken, and his private backers with financial interests in the privatization of our public schools.
.
Westchester County
“It is time for the Board of Regents to move in a very different direction. The Regents dismal track record of refusing to heed warnings and address significant parental concerns with excessive testing, student data privacy, and school privatization leaves no room for error with the selection of the next commissioner and must not allow for any interference from Governor Andrew Cuomo or his backers,” said Lisa Rudley, founding member of NYSAPE and Westchester County public school parent.
New York City
“John King was the most unpopular commissioner in the history of NY State. He showed no respect for parents, teachers or student privacy. Ironically, he was intent on protecting his own privacy, and routinely withheld public documents; our Freedom of Information request of his communications with inBloom and the Gates foundation is more than 1 ½ years overdue. His resignation is good news for New York state; hopefully he will be unable to do as much damage at the US Department of Education,” Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters.
Thanks to your incredible support, we have surpassed our goal of $10,000
to help schools practice transformative justice and decrease the
suspensions that lead young people into the School-to-Prison Pipeline.
Ed Notes has learned that the CIA was behind the move of John King. Having demonstrated he could run an effective torture program for students and teachers based on high stakes testing and tortuous standards, the CIA jumped at the opportunity to embrace his skills as a way to recover public standing from the recent revelations about their torture program, especially given the fact that so much of it failed to gain useful information.
"This is a win-win," said a CIA source. "Water boarding and rectal infusions never worked but a constant barrage of testing is guaranteed to get results. With so many teachers running screaming out of the profession and so many kids throwing up during testing, it was clear that we've been barking up the wrong torture tree.
"We also looked at John King's success in pushing charters to destroy the public school system. He will be devising charter terrorist groups. Every terrorist deserves a choice.
"And who better than John King to make this work? If I were in ISIS and Al Qaueda I would be packing up and leaving - fast."
Given the difficulties poor besieged Eva Moskowitz expects to face in getting space from Mayor deBlasio, she search for space for her ambitious 100 school plan has led her to an agreement with ISIS for space in Syria, Iraq and who knows where else?
"Eva is a perfect fit for us," said an ISIS (ISIL, IS) spokesman - "you didn't expect a spokeswoman, did you" he said? But while we were on the subject we reminded the ISIS (ISIL, IS) representative that - shhh - Eva is a woman. "She won't even have to wear a burka. For our compadre, Eva, whose tactics we study religiously, everything is possible. But we need to move fast as Kim Jon-un is also hot on the trail with a serious offer. His only condition is that she must stop calling herself 'Jon-un Maximus' when she stops by to visit."
The Ed Notes June 26, 2014 post about much despised John Dewey HS Principal Kathleen Elvin (No Change of Tone at John Dewey HS: Principal Kat...) has made the top 10 all-time posts on Ed Notes with 5495 hits of as today, with 151 comments.
Today this story surfaced about the queen of mean sticking her fingers into a 40 year after school basketball program for inner city kids. Reuven Blau in the DN does a pretty good job of telling the story. She claimed the gym was in use Sat. from 9-12 but it was stone cold empty the entire time. One must wonder why she would put the screws on a program that has been at John Dewey HS for 40 years. But it is in the DNA of queens of mean.
But then again there was this Dec 6 comment:
Why was the Department of Education’s Office of Investigations (OSI) in
the building all day Wednesday interviewing so many people?
Why indeed? (head on over and read some of the love notes to Ms Elvin.)
The Flames have developed enormous community and political support. If Elvin continues to peddle her bullshit there may be a bigger backlash than she expects, especially if OSI - which we all know is a politically oriented operation - is sticking its nose into her operations.
Foul! Brooklyn hoops group says it's getting booted from home court
The leader of a well-known Brooklyn youth basketball group is whistling a foul on a city principal, saying the kids were abruptly tossed out of their longtime home in a Bensonhurst high school in the middle of the season.
Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily NewsGerard Papa, leader of Flames, a community basketball group that says they are being kicked out of their practice gym.
The leader of a well-known Brooklyn youth basketball group is whistling a foul on a city principal, saying the kids were abruptly tossed out of their longtime home in a Bensonhurst high school.
Gerard Papa, 61, who runs Flames, a basketball tournament and mentoring program for 700 kids ages 8 to 19, says Kathleen Elvin, the principal of John Dewey High School, closed off the school’s secondary gym last Saturday morning, leaving 90 youngsters stranded.
And she’s blocking future Saturday morning games due to a scheduling conflict.
“It’s our home,” Papa said. “What am I supposed to do with these kids for the balance of the season?”
Elvin told the group the space was needed for use by the Public Schools Athletic League.
“We will continue to juggle our Dewey schedule when possible to accommodate the Flames, but right now there just is not enough gym space to handle all of our needs at the same time,” Elvin told Papa in a Dec. 5 email.
Papa said the auxiliary gym was actually empty Saturday morning.
“They practice in the big gym,” he said of the school’s teams.
The school is also hosting a robotics competition on Dec. 20, which will use most of the first floor, including the two basketball courts and the cafeteria, Elvin said.
The school is required to give priority to its own programs and activities, said Department of Education spokeswoman Yuridia Pe na, adding that the city would work to accommodate the basketball program as best it could.
Papa said he should have been warned about the scheduling conflict before the season started in November, rather than finding out on the day itself.
Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily NewsFlames, a community basketball group led by Gerard Papa (top right). The group’s alums include former NBA star Stephon Marbury and current Charlotte Hornets shooting guard Lance Stephenson.
“At the beginning of the school year, she should have called us in — and maybe we could have figured something out,” he said. “She let me send out thousands of cards announcing registration.”
The retired lawyer started the basketball tournament in 1974, and has been using Dewey’s gym as its home for 40 years. The group pays about $10,000 in fees to rent the gym each year, operating on a week-to-week schedule.
The group’s alums include former NBA star Stephon Marbury and current Charlotte Hornets shooting guard Lance Stephenson, who both attended Abraham Lincoln High School in Coney Island.
Flames brings together kids from low-income families and various city housing projects throughout Brooklyn .
Some travel more than an hour to attend the two-month training program and tournament.
Officials from the Brooklyn Borough President’s Office and City Councilman Mark Treyger’s office are trying to broker an agreement.
“Everybody is trying to make this work,” said a source familiar with those talks.
Papa has no plans to look for a new location in middle of the season.
“If your wife doesn’t let you in the house tonight you can go to a hotel, but it’s not your house,” he said. “They don’t legitimately need the space.” rblau@nydailynews.com
Everyone
should be skeptical of any person or group running to the front
claiming to speak for, and have the demands of, a rising movement barely
two weeks old.
I find it distasteful that at a march for a murdered man, I couldn't go
two feet or longer than 5 minutes without someone trying to give me a
political newspaper or flyer."
This writer comes from a different angle at a different class but it has the same passion as above. I find myself in tune with the author.
Posted on Facebook (I haven't checked in with the author yet, so for now it's anon.)
Everyone
should be skeptical of any person or group running to the front
claiming to speak for, and have the demands of, a rising movement barely
two weeks old. A lot of these people are simply the non-profits
rebranding themselves and creating believers by dominating Twitter and
social media. I've always been creeped out by control freaks and
there are no bigger control freaks than these types. They shame radical
activists. They pretend no other voice exists. They hated on
us for our aiming at Bratton from day 1 because it put them in a weird
position with Mayor de Blasio--with whom they had close links. They
shared the same goddamn PR firm as him, for christs sake.
You'll now see them claiming to speak for all of us, just like Sharpton
(who they've supported numerous times). But they won't attack the Mayor
or the city council--at all--and that'll be your first clue. They're
the gatekeepers who protect the political institutions right in front of
our faces. There is no one solution or one set of demands to
this problem with police and the system it protects. Everyone should
take a piece and dismantle it. We'll work on Bratton & Broken
Windows for now. But whatever you do, don't let these nonprofits run the
show.
When the drug maker Genentech
introduced a major product in 2006, it found itself in an awkward
position: persuading eye doctors to start using its new more expensive
drug instead of a popular cheaper version that the company already sold. Ophthalmologists had been enthusiastically using the company’s cancer drug Avastin, which cost about $50 a dose, to treat a common eye disease in the elderly, wet macular degeneration. Then Genentech introduced Lucentis, a nearly equivalent drug that cost $2,000 a dose and was approved specifically to treat the disease. Use of Lucentis took off, and it has become one of Medicare’s
most expensive treatments — costing the federal government about $1
billion a year — even though several studies have concluded Lucentis has
no significant advantage over its cheaper alternative..... Paid to Promote Eye Drug, and Prescribing It Widely, New York Times
My dad suffered from wet macular degeneration and was practically blind for years but very functional in most ways. For years I took him to a retina specialist who injected his better functioning eye 3 times with Lucentis. It didn't cost us a thing but hoo boy - when the medicare statements arrived I was astounded at the over $1800 bill - for each injection. I had heard Lucentis was a sort of miracle for macular degeneration - it in effect cauterizes the area where the leakage is taking place. It doesn't reverse macular though.
So the NY Times article in yesterday's business section of the NY Times was, excuse the expression, an eye opener. But I should have known as a simple search shows a long history of exposing the story.
Apr 9, 2014 - Credit Michael Nagle for The New York Times ... The most expensive drug, Lucentis, which is used for macular degeneration, as well as for ...
Nov 3, 2010 - The rebates were used to promote the drug Lucentis even though another ... outlining the program that was obtained by The New York Times.
20 hours ago - Lucentis, at $2,000 a dose, is similar to Avastin, at $50 a dose. Continue reading ... Credit Michael Nagle for The New York Times .... He says he is not influenced by the money he receives in compensation for his time. “People ...
Oct 4, 2011 - asked Dr. Feig. So even though he laments it, he is starting to use more of the expensive product, Lucentis, instead of the cheaper one, Avastin ...
Apr 28, 2011 - New York Times ... The trial compared the effectiveness of Lucentis,
a drug approved to treat one ... While this did not translate into a
difference in vision at the end of one year, the time point measured in
the trial, it might do so ...
Mar 5, 2014 - Instead, they said, the companies had tried to “channel demand toward the much more expensive drug Lucentis, through an artificial distinction ...
Apr 11, 2014 - The Globe reports that Lucentis is more than six times more costly than an ... BU Today: The New York Times analysis of recently released ...
Some teachers didn't go to rallies last Thursday afternoon, instead using the opportunity to organize a teachable moment after the school day ended. I'm not going to put a value on what this teacher did vs others. Many people I know felt it imperative to get to some of the rallies. They had deep seated reactions to what happened and had to express them. Kudos to all of them. Unfortunately, some seemed interested in using the rallies to promote their tiny sectarian organizations. As someone commented, "I find it distasteful that at a march for a murdered man, I couldn't go
two feet or longer than 5 minutes without someone trying to give me a
political newspaper or flyer. Makes me want to scream!"
Here is a report from a teacher on how he dealt with the story in his school. Wish I had been there.
By Brooklyn High School teacher Mr. S
After the grand jury decision was released on the Mike Brown case and following the protests that have taken place in new York, a few of the teachers decided we have to do something. Actually the decision to do something about racism began a few years ago when teaching my criminal law class a young lady broke down and began crying about how she was stopped and frisked on a regular basis. From that moment until now we have been struggling with what we can do to try to bring some racial justice to our school, our city, our world. This past Thursday, the day after the grand jury decision in the Garner case was announced, we decided to have an after-school discussion where our students were welcome to express their feeling on recent events in Staten Island, Ferguson, and their thoughts on race relations. I sent my principal an email Wednesday night asking to have this after-school discussion. He promptly answered back "let's have a meeting in the morning." The meeting went well, we set norms and created some questions we would use in facilitation. I did sense some hesitancy to have this after school from my administration, understandably so. They wanted to make sure it was handled in manner that would make all our children representing various view points feel safe. Carmen Farina had written a letter on Wednesday night to principals encouraging schools to have events like the one we were planning. That letter helped tremendously in allowing this event to take place as I was able to refer to it several times in our planning session. The principal asked me to make the announcement over the loudspeaker. We wanted to let our students know that teachers were having an open forum addressing this situation. I think the announcement was really critical. It let the entire school community, from students to school aides to other teachers, know that we were doing something to address the great injustice that had just occurred. In fact one teacher said when the words "Mike Brown and Eric Garner" came over the loudspeakers, many students look puzzled. After my announcement was over, the students in Ms. C's class asked what this was all about. She stopped her class and began to explain what had happened. She later told me it was the perfect teachable moment and could care less if she finished her lesson on Byzantine. This was much more important. A few English and Social Studies teachers preempted their lessons through-out the day to discuss the Brown and Garner decisions. When 3:00 came we went up to the assigned room. I was going to facilitate along with my friend Mr. G, another social studies teacher who has been very involved with all of social justice initiatives at our school. Twenty-five students walked in, a diverse group, different genders, races, and grade. Surprisingly three other teachers, one paraprofessional, the assistant principal, and the principal came as well. We made sure to greet everyone and make the atmosphere as welcoming as possible. We explained we were holding this discussion in order to have a forum where you can express yourselves, because your voice counts. The discussion was extremely passionate, engaging, and as in any good class, I learned more from the students then they could ever learn from me. One student said she was upset that her parents were arguing with her because they did not believe either case was about race. Our African-American students explained why it was about race and some of the feelings they have in dealing with police. Some students discussed how economics played a role in this, that poor people are forced to do illegal actions in order to survive. Some of our students discussed how the justice system is not just at all. Many of students there were actually most upset that their classmates did not know what had happened. We discussed what positive steps we can take as a school community. The students said they need to be better informed and do more reading, some wanted to organize or at least attend protests, and they want to really focus our school on restorative justice. An initiative that me, the dean, the Black Student union and their faculty adviser have been actively pursuing. All in all, I'm not sure if we changed anything, but hopefully at the very least we empowered our students that their voices matter. They were happy to have adults in the room listening to them and answering their questions. We need to have more discussions like this in our classes and outside of them too.
Jon Pelto from Educators Bloggers Network sent this along. You can support their work by subscribing: the brand new December/January issue of The Progressive is all about this crucial subject. Subscribers can access the digital edition here.
Fellow Education Bloggers,
Check out the great new video by Pulitzer Prize–winning cartoonist Mark Fiore: "ProfitShip! Cashing in on Public Schools."
The Progressive commissioned the short, sharable cartoon to help get the word out about the attack on public education.
This animated feature on school privatization stars little Timmy, a
kindergartner who likes his public school. Timmy gets a confusing lesson
in corporate education reform, starting with the right-wing mantra
"Public Schools have failed."
(The Bradley Foundation, a top right-wing think tank, has devoted more
than $30 million to label public education as "failing" and promote
privatization as the "solution.")
Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Mark Fiore uses his trademark humor to
show the absurdity of this argument. Despite poor results, charter
chains like Rocketship are replacing real teachers and classes like art,
social studies, and gym with a computer-aided test-prep curriculum
straight out of science fiction.
In addition, the brand new December/January issue of The Progressive is all about this crucial subject. Subscribers can access the digital edition here.
Published on Dec 8, 2014
This animated feature on school privatization stars little Timmy, a kindergartner who likes his public school. Timmy gets a confusing lesson in corporate education reform, starting with the rightwing mantra "Public Schools have failed."
(The Bradley Foundation, a top rightwing think tank, has devoted more than $30 million to label public education as "failing" and promote privatization as the "solution.")
Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Mark Fiore uses his trademark humor to show the absurdity of this argument. Despite poor results, charter chains like Rocketship are replacing real teachers and classes like art, social studies, and gym with a computer-aided test-prep curriculum straight out of science fiction.
Read more at progressive.org and check out our powerful public school activism site, publicschoolshakedown.org.
Now this deadly gang of so-called administrators have surely- through the terrible stress they put all targeted teachers through- contributed to the premature death of Ms. [K], a wonderful Foreign Language Teacher, who passed away over the weekend. Mrs Elvin, who was behind the non-stop attack on this teacher all last year and this year, was suddenly eulogizing her over the loudspeaker, and making sure everyone knew she was so deeply, deeply saddened by the loss of [Teacher K]! What a miserable and transparent hypocrite- she should be known as "The Widow/Widower Maker"!
Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News Gerard Papa, leader of Flames, a community basketball group that says they are being kicked out of their practice gym.
Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News Flames, a community basketball group led by Gerard Papa (top right). The group’s alums include former NBA star Stephon Marbury and current Charlotte Hornets shooting guard Lance Stephenson.
