Teacher Union Sellout on Charters in Minnesota - supported by AFT

Those of us who are MFT members had no say in the creation of the Guild even though we actually are the union, and now we continue to subsidize our own demise...

Frankenguild, Part 2: The Sellout Continues

An excellent blog post at PEJAM echoing the policies of our union's inability to fight off the charter assault because they have jumped into the charter business themselves. When I brought this up to a UFT employee a few weeks ago she responded, "Oh, that is Randi's fault." Duhhhhh!

Conflict of Interest?
According to Dylan Thomas, "Mill City [charter school] joins the small but growing portfolio of the Minnesota Guild, a non-profit charter school authorizer sponsored by the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers. When it launched in 2011, the Guild was the first union-backed charter school authorizer in the country."  The Guild's first charter school opened this past year in Isanti, Minnesota, and the MN Department of Education has authorized Mill City and three other charter schools to open in Minneapolis this fall, under the sponsorship of the union created Minnesota Guild.

The current president and lobbyist (also a former president) of MFT not only created the Guild, but continue to serve on its board of directors.  Every charter school they sponsor pulls more students from Minneapolis Public Schools (or other public schools) which eliminates unionized teaching positions.  How can the president of the teachers union defend the rights of the union members who elected her, and at the same time create schools that threaten those same members' job security?

Brad Blue and the Guild operate out of an office in the MFT-owned building and pay no rent.  MFT's brothers and sisters working as janitors and engineers in Minneapolis Public Schools have their SEIU local office in the same MFT building, and they pay rent.  Those of us who are MFT members had no say in the creation of the Guild even though we actually are the union, and now we continue to subsidize our own demise.

Union Leaders Have Joined the Privatizers
Two years ago I wrote about the Minnesota Guild of Public Charter Schools, an organization created four years ago to sponsor charter schools.  The Guild was created by Lynn Nordgren, the current president of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT), and Louis Sundin, a former president of MFT and its current lobbyist.  The funding for this enterprise came from the American Federation of Teachers' (AFT) Innovation Fund, which itself received money from the Gates Foundation.  All of this was done without a discussion or vote by the rank-and-file members of MFT.

Read full report:

Frankenguild, Part 2: The Sellout Continues

Fred Smith Compares UFT Delegate Assembly to Buffalo Board Meeting on Ravitch Blog

I would say the “trouble-makers” I have known, those who would give discomfort to the comfortable, have strong faith in labor and unionism and are deeply troubled by the state of the UFT.  ... Fred Smith

Fred Smith reacted to a story on the Diane Ravitch blog.

Buffalo: Teachers Union Official Thrown Out of Board Meeting When He Tries to Speak

Fred Smith

February 6, 2015 at 4:20 pm

Terrible. How is this episode any different or more outrageous than when UFT Pres. Mulgrew and his henchman shout down, bully or use faux procedural tactics to silence dues paying members in NYC who disagree with them at meetings or do not accept their party line?

Linda responded
 

Reply  Linda says: February 6, 2015 at 7:02 pm

Were the proposals/candidates rejected in NYC, more likely to secure stronger tenure protections, fewer high stakes tests etc. than the UFT strategies/leaders?
It’s a tangential issue but, I’m curious about your opinion.

Reply  Fred Smith says: February 6, 2015 at 8:17 pm

I’m not sure I’m addressing your concerns about politicians I think. Here’s where I was going.

As I understand it second hand, meetings held at UFT headquarters, involved union delegates and/or chapter leaders. Among them were individuals who felt the union, which has been run forever by a self-perpetuating leadership (i.e., the Unity slate) elected under procedures that make it virtually impossible to unseat the top echelon, did not think the UFT was doing enough for the rank and file members.

These “dissidents” wanted the chance to address bread and butter issues, including the teacher’s contract and protection of members from arbitrary mistreatment; and the leadership’s heretofore ineffectiveness in fighting back against charter schools that have been taking away space and resources at the expense of traditional public schools; and perceived sell-out tendencies that sacrifice principles for “a place at the table;” and the mealy mouthed positions taken by said leadership against the misuses of student test data tied into the indefensible inclusion of test scores in convoluted, ever-changing teacher evaluation formulas. Then too, there were the overriding questions–based on past history–of union governance and the undemocratic way Unity controlled the floor at these meetings–arbitrarily denying speakers a voice, not even a discouraging word to be heard.

So, I would say the “trouble-makers” I have known, those who would give discomfort to the comfortable, have strong faith in labor and unionism and are deeply troubled by the state of the UFT. Yes, there is a certain amount of understandable self-interest in their beliefs, but I feel they are sincere when they say, “Our working conditions are our children’s learning conditions.”–which they strive to better. And I hope they grow in number and strength because one-party rule and monopolistic arrangements work against the vast majority of people kept on the outside. (The 99%?)

I hate to see the way teachers have been portrayed as bad guys. They’re not. They shouldn't be victimized by politicians who can be bought cheaply–nor by those who claim to represent them.

Heat of Corruption Flame Grows Closer to Cuomo the Crook

Silver is alleged to have benefited personally from Litwin’s spending -- and there is no dispute that Cuomo has benefited politically from that same largesse.

http://www.ibtimes.com/cuomo-officials-directed-state-loan-cuomo-donor-center-corruption-probe-1807476

Cuomo Officials Directed State Loan To Cuomo Donor At Center of Corruption Probe

The tones of surprise and outrage emanating from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s lips in the wake of the stunning criminal complaint against New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver might give the impression that the governor hovers above the fray of Albany’s transactional politics.

“I’ll tell you the truth: I was totally shocked on a number of levels,” Governor Cuomo said of the allegations that Silver used his office to help politically connected real estate developers in their state business. Cuomo has positioned himself as a champion of ethics reform, declaring that “these acts of corruption are so damning.”

But a careful review of state documents reveals that Cuomo and Silver are connected by a key figure in the scandal. Both lawmakers have a financial relationship with the same New York real estate mogul, Leonard Litwin, who has in turn relied upon them for preferential tax treatment and other government benefits.

Silver is alleged to have benefited personally from Litwin’s spending -- and there is no dispute that Cuomo has benefited politically from that same largesse.

Litwin contributed $1 million to Cuomo’s reelection campaign and another $500,000 to the New York Democratic Party, making him the largest political donor in the state. His money flowed through 27 subsidiaries of his firm, Glenwood Management. Those subsidiaries were also clients of the real estate law firm that paid referral fees to Silver. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has alleged that Silver "induce[d] real estate developers with business before the state" to employ the law firm, which in turn made payments to Silver.

Neither Cuomo's office nor Glenwood Management responded to International Business Times' request for comment about the governor's relationship with Litwin. But documents reviewed by IBTimes illustrate Cuomo’s role in the developer's state business.

The Cuomo-run New York State Housing Finance Agency, for instance, approved a $260 million state-supported low-interest loan in 2014 to finance Glenwood’s new luxury apartment building in midtown Manhattan. At the time the loan to Glenwood was approved, the NYHFA was headed by Cuomo appointee Bill Mulrow, an executive and registered lobbyist at Blackstone, a private equity and real estate firm. Mulrow was just appointed to be the governor’s chief of staff. According to NYHFA documents, Glenwood also has had other business with the agency.

Similarly, Cuomo in 2011 signed Silver-backed legislation reauthorizing a then-expired property tax abatement for real estate developers called the 421a program. Cuomo also signed an extension of that program in 2013. Litwin’s firm used the 421a program for its Midtown Manhattan project, according to the New York Times. Glenwood has also used the 421a tax break for some of its other properties in the city.

In 2014, Cuomo shut down the Moreland Commission, an anti-corruption panel that was examining the relationship between lawmakers and the real estate industry. The governor’s top aide at time, Larry Schwartz, called commission members to stop them from subpoenaing the Real Estate Board of New York, of which Litwin is the lifetime “honorary chairman.”

The 421a abatement, which costs taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenues, is set to expire in 2015. The question of its renewal -- and Cuomo's support for its renewal -- is a flashpoint in this year’s legislative session in Albany. Already, some New York City lawmakers are calling for its repeal.

National Urban League and Civil RIghts Groups PlaysTeacher Experience Game

... do they think it important for kids of color to have some portion of their teachers actually look like them vs the young, white TFA types that fill up so many positions, especially in charters?

You can't have a serious level of experienced teachers if you undermine basic teacher security. Thus, this statement by the Urban League caught my eye. But we know all about the Urban League -- the NY chapter was headed by Dennis Walcott before he descended into hell in the Bloomberg administration.

Students of color and low-income students are twice as likely to have inexperienced teachers, as compared to their white and affluent peers. ESEA reauthorization must bring greater transparency and focused action to increase equity in the availability of critical educational inputs, including but not limited to funding, equal access to advanced coursework, and equal access to effective and experienced teachers.” ... National Urban League following the road to ed deform in statement " NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE JOINS COALITION OF CIVIL RIGHTS AND EDUCATION ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS IN RESPONDING TO SENATE ESEA DISCUSSION DRAFT"

Therein lies the rub - the contradiction between using the words "effective" and "experienced."This was Joel Klein's ploy -- in the early days he went after seniority transfers - with Randi's support - because they supposedly shortchanged students as experienced teachers drained out of badly run schools -- and that was vastly over-rated -- but let's point out that teachers didn't run away from schools that were well-managed in even the poorest neighborhoods -- the problem was that so many of them were poorly managed and under-resourced.

Once Klein got what he wanted -- seniority transfers broken, he went after senior teachers.

You can't play the teacher "quality" game when it's based mostly in test scores --- attacks on tenure undermine the stability of the teaching profession ---- other than the temp TFA types -- people who enter teaching for a career are attracted by such ugly words as "pension" and "tenure" protections. You can't have a serious level of experienced teachers if you undermine basic teacher security.

Deformers have been playing the game of speaking out of both sides of their mouths -- calling for experienced teachers for kids fo color while doing everything they could to undermine experienced teachers -- just look at the outcomes in the heart of ed deform -- much younger, inexperienced teachers. And by the way -- they have also managed to chop up experienced teachers of color, a fact ignored --- do they think it important for kids of color to have some portion of their teachers actually look like them vs the young, white TFA types that fill up so many positions, especially in charters?

The full statement below the fold.

Principal to Jia Lee - Woman of the Year!!!

Subject:   Woman of the Year!!!

Jia,
We have never met but I have seen you mentioned by my friend Norm Scott on his EdNotes blog.
I just watched the  video (https://vimeo.com/117989096) of your testimony in DC to the. Senate... Powerful, elegant, sincere and beautiful!
I was encouraged by the Senator from Rhode Island who summed up RTTT perfectly, none of the money came to the schools. And now Cuomo wants to duplicate it here in NY tying any funding increase to similar reforms .
Anyway, I was proud of you as both a veteran NYC educator and union man.  You are an amazing young woman.
We could use more like you!   Sadly, too many folks take their rights  benefits and profession for granted, as we watch reformers chip away at it all.
Thank you for speaking up and representing us so well,
Brian De Vale
Principal
P.S. 257 /
Chairman
Council of Supervisors and Administrators
Community School. District  # 14

And here is a message from Brian to all of us:

We call these LI republican state senators and Assemblymen whose constituents have signed the petitions and tell them:

"you guys want to expand charters because you assume that it will only impact NYC. Well we work in NYC but live in your district. As charters explode because they offer extended day (day care) until 6pm many parents go and we lose money in our budgets. Our principals let people go, us, and we can't afford to live out here". 

Thousands of teachers in live in. Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties. They need to mobilize. We have shard this message with Sen. Martins, Flanagan,  Boyle and others.
My school has collected over 1000 signatures please email the petition around and ask folks to fax or deliver them to their local state Assemblymen/Senators:

-->

STOP CUOMO AND HIS WAR

 ON PUBLIC SCHOOLS!

We are against the Governor’s immoral attack on public school students and teachers.  SAY:

1.     NO increase in Charter schools.  There are already too many Charter Schools in New York City and there are 100 available spots for charters in the rest of the state.  Nobody is applying because they are not wanted.  Charters were meant to be a few lab sites around the state to establish best practices, NOT an alternative system of hundreds of schools.  Cuomo’s goal is to privatize the New York City public schools in order to break their unions.

2.    NO new Teacher Evaluation System.  New York State just passed a new evaluation system last year.  Students and teachers deserve stability.  Cuomo has become a tool of the billionaires and hedge funds who want  to lower their taxes through “education reform” policies.

3.    NO change to tenure.  Police officers and fire fighters remain on probation for 18 months.   Teachers are already on probation for 3 years.  Cuomo’s move is designed to cheat young people out of a pension and career by kicking them out before they can become permanent.

-->

NAME	ADDRESS	E-MAIL

Bill and Melinda Gates' Faux Theories Exposed: Paving The Road to Hell — And Other Gates Foundation Initiatives

As Bill Gates sees many of his health and education initiatives go up in smoke -- oh, if only those billions had gone into reducing class size -- Daniel Katz joins other bloggers in ripping apart the basic premises under which Gates operates. (And let's never forget his best friend Randi.)

For instance, Melinda Gates makes this asinine statement:

It may surprise you–it was certainly surprising to us–but the field of education doesn’t know very much at all about effective teaching. We have all known terrific teachers. You watch them at work for 10 minutes and you can tell how thoroughly they’ve mastered the craft. But nobody has been able to identify what, precisely, makes them so outstanding.

Katz answers by pointing to just how much the field of education knows about effective teaching -- but those darn pesky kids and lousy school administration plus any number of factors get in the way.

 What does Mrs. Gates risk missing in her ten minute assessment?

• The lesson that worked very well in the first period but worked far less well in the third period.
• The day when the lesson plan was simply off base.
• The work that teacher did outside of the classroom determining what students knew, selecting teaching and learning strategies that would help them build upon that, figuring out what would help the teacher know the students had learned.
• ANY of the uncertainty in the previously described process and the necessity to pivot if that uncertainty disrupts the plan.
• How the teacher self assesses and with what information.
• The week when that teacher has sick children at home, cannot get enough sleep, and has little time to plan.
• The week disrupted by excessive standardized testing or mandatory field tests of examinations.
• ANYTHING, really, beyond being impressed by Razzle Dazzle without thinking about substance.

These points by Katz really resonate with me --- at times I thought I had the best of times as a teacher -- and a few hours later -- or even the next period - I was the worst. No one can tell me that I would not be a better teacher in a class of 22 than in a class of 30 - or that I was often a better teacher in the morning than in the late afternoon. That was why I tried to get schedules that piled up morning teaching. When we had late lunch at 12:30 if I had an afternoon prep I would go straight on from 8:40. After lunch I had to work so much harder to focus the kids --- the breaks broke the magic.

Paving The Road to Hell — And Other Gates Foundation Initiatives

Towards the end of last year, the Seattle Times provided coverage of the Gates Foundation’s report on the tenth anniversary of its global health initiative. After a decade of effort and a billion dollars invested, Bill Gates admitted that despite the investment he had been “pretty naive” about how long it would take to significantly improve public health outcomes in the developing world. Most notable was Gates’ admission that the problems in his approach were not merely ones about overcoming scientific hurdles, but rather they seriously underestimated the challenges of implementing highly technological “solutions” in countries where the majority of the population lack secure access to routine infrastructure which, in the words of Dr. David McCoy of Queen Mary University in London, are “the barriers to existing solutions.”
Both Peter Greene of the Curmudgucation blog and Anthony Cody of Living in Dialogue have written excellent pieces on this somewhat quiet but very important admission by Bill Gates.  Greene astutely notes that Gates’ realization of his limitations does not actually lead him to understand why his approach is flawed:

Gates wants to use systems to change society, but his understanding of how humans and culture and society and communities change is faulty. It’s not surprising that Gates is naive– it’s surprising that he is always naive in the same way. It always boils down to “I really thought people would behave differently.” And although I’ve rarely seen him acknowledge it print, it also boils down to, “There were plenty of people who could have told me better, but I didn’t listen to them.”
The non-success of Grand Challenges is just like the failure of the Gates Common Core initiative. Gates did not take the time to do his homework about the pre-existing structures and systems. He did not value the expertise of people already working in the field, and so he did not consult it or listen to it. He put an unwarranted faith in his created systems, and imagined that they would prevail because everyone on the ground would be easily assimilated into the new imposed-from-outside system. He became frustrated by peoples’ insistence on seeing things through their own point-of-view rather than his. And he spent a huge amount of money attempting to impose his vision on everybody else.

This is an important observation because it shows that there is a flawed perspective rooted at the heart of the Gates Foundation, and while the man and the institution may be able to recognize failures, they are not inclined to understand why they have failed.  Anthony Cody also recognizes this observation as he lines up quotes from the central figures at the Gates Foundation that demonstrate little regard for the knowledge about teaching held by teachers and wonders if the “humility” earned in Grand Challenges project will translate to humility about the foundation’s approach to education reform. 

Read Katz in full here and also see

Related

Gates' Money and Privacy Activism -- Opposition to Ed. Reform Hits the MainstreamIn "Activism"

Open Letter to President Obama -- You Are Listening to the Wrong PeopleIn "Activism"

What Education "Reformers" Do Not Understand About Teaching and LearningIn "Common Core"

The Cost of Stupid: Families for Excellent Schools Totally Bogus Analysis of NYC Schools

Capital NY reported today: Families for Excellent Schools will hold a press conference calling for state takeover of 40 of the city’s failing schools.

I emailed them:

Check out Bruce Baker piece exposing their analysis as a sham - and please include a link. To only "report" on their press conference based on bogus, politically motivated "data" is only partial reporting.

School Finance 101

Data and thoughts on public and private school funding in the U.S.

The Cost of Stupid: Families for Excellent Schools Totally Bogus Analysis of NYC Schools

Families for Excellent Schools of New York – the Don’t Steal Possible folks – has just released an impossibly stupid analysis in which they claim that New York City is simply throwing money at failure. Spending double on failing schools what they do on totally awesome ones (if they really have any awesome ones). A link to their press release is here:
http://www.familiesforexcellentschools.org/news/press-release-cost-failure
And what is their astounding new evidence that validates that NYC is stealing possible by throwing money at failing schools? Well, they ever so carefully identified the 50 worst and 50 totally awesomest schools in the city, and then took the average of their per pupil budgets to show that the worst schools are substantially outspending the awesomest ones. Thus – money doesn’t matter- especially when in the hands of schools under the governance of their nemesis Mayor BDB and his possible-thieving lackeys.
Oh, where to even begin on this analysis. Let’s peel it all back a little, one layer at a time. Let’s begin with the fact that New York City a while back, under their favored Mayor Bloomberg, adopted something called Fair Student Funding. 

Read it in full as a perfect example of how political astro-turf groups like FES use phony data to cover their real intentions to degrade the public schools and promote charters and other privatization schemes.

https://schoolfinance101.wordpress.com/2015/02/03/the-cost-of-stupid-families-for-excellent-schools-totally-bogus-analysis-of-nyc-schools/

Palm Beach Post Opinion Piece Slams Testing Culture

What's so special about this? There was a time when you would never read something like this in the mainstream press, especially in Florida, one of the hearts of ed deform.

Ed deform keeps wearing thinner and thinner. There is even a piece in the business section by Frank Cerebino attacking the voucher scam: Florida’s Tax Credit Scholarship is little more than government-sanctioned money laundering.

But this piece by Catherine Martinez nails them.

Commentary: Unleash the power of school protests

http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/opinion/commentary-unleash-the-power-of-school-protests/nj3PX/

Jeffrey Hernandez, “whiz kid”; Jeffrey Hernandez, evil genius; Jeffrey Hernandez, testing guru; Jeffrey Hernandez, miracle principal — all contradictory but all attitudes held by different factions in the tumultuous year of his reign as chief academic officer of the Palm Beach County School District in 2009-10.

By Catherine S. Martinez


Jeffrey Hernandez, “whiz kid”; Jeffrey Hernandez, evil genius; Jeffrey Hernandez, testing guru; Jeffrey Hernandez, miracle principal — all contradictory but all attitudes held by different factions in the tumultuous year of his reign as chief academic officer of the Palm Beach County School District in 2009-10.
At the distance of five years, I wonder whether he had inside knowledge of what was coming statewide with the current Common Core controversy.

+Commentary: Unleash the power of school protests photo
Catherine S. Martinez is a national board-certified teacher at Pahokee Middle Senior High School.
Hernandez had built a reputation for turning around failing schools since transforming a Miami-Dade elementary school from a D to an A. Apparently, he and then-Palm Beach County Schools Superintendent Art Johnson felt that these same measures would raise scores for all the county’s schools. In addition to the changes at the middle and high school level, he introduced a lot of changes into elementary schools across the county.

This may be a prime example of the problem with relying too much on numbers. Students are not data points. They are living, breathing, complex human beings, each with a past, present and future. They are part of a larger community with varying degrees of involvement in and commitment to their schools.

Both Johnson and Hernandez were and are very smart, even brilliant people, highly educated but poorly informed on the ways to win friends and influence people.

If Hernandez and Johnson had had a better appreciation for human nature, they would have realized that communities do not react well to sudden change. They could have picked a group of schools, either through voluntary participation or forced inclusion due to failing grades, as a pilot project for the 2009-10 school year. If their measures had been successful and raised test scores for those schools, the A and B schools would have been forced to go along. If they had put together a parent advisory board, got the board on their side and explained the reasons for the changes, those same parents could have sold their ideas to the other parents. By trying to do too much too fast and being too autocratic, they made enemies and brought about their own downfall.

In the brief months of Hernandez’s oversight, there were crowded School Board meetings with speakers lining up outside the door to complain about the changes. Websites, Twitter hashtags and Facebook pages such as “Testing is not Teaching” were created. Numerous protesters attended every meeting waving signs until Hernandez was demoted and eventually forced out. Some of the changes were scaled back or eliminated. Art Johnson lost his job a little while later.

In 2011, the Florida Legislature passed the ironically named Student Success Act, which mandated teacher evaluations be based on their students’ growth on standardized test scores. This new law also mandated the gradual introduction of end-of-course exams (EOCs) for every course. This was supposed to be phased in over time, and this (2014-15) is the year that all exams should be implemented, even for performance classes like visual arts, band, chorus and physical education.

The statewide trend in education now is similar to what was happening here in 2009 during Hernandez’s period as chief academic officer. Teachers are treated like widget-makers in a widget factory with students as widgets.

At a recent School Board workshop, which was a joint meeting with state lawmakers, there were empty seats and no one outside holding signs for the legislators. The workshop was also very predictable. Everyone talked about how much they had done for education and listed a few personal concerns, but nothing that would grab more than a sidebar in the newspaper the following day or a few minutes on the evening news toward the end of the broadcast.

Our School Board has raised objections about excessive testing, but the board knows that the state is going to exert any pressure it can to bring the board back in line.

That’s what happened in Lee County, which voted to opt out and then reversed itself after the state threatened consequences — including loss of funding and students denied graduation.

We’re still waiting for the outrage statewide to have the effect it had in Palm Beach County five years ago.

Excessive Testing as Child Abuse - Midterm Benchmarks to 1st Graders in ELA and Math

My principal was an early adapter - in the 80s - of the testing regime - a major cause of the difficulties between us. I had absolutely no respect for her as an educator. She instituted a highly expensive series of benchmark tests throughout the school year - that was pretty much it for me as a self-contained classroom teacher and I became a computer cluster. So this dialogue this morning caught my attention.

A parent on the Change the Stakes listserve asked:

This year, standardized assessments are in place for kindergarten, 1^st and 2^nd grade.

a True

b False

A - 1st grade teacher responded:

True. In fact this week I'm supposed to administer a midterm benchmark in ELA and math to my first graders. I'm livid. It's to assess how they are progressing on mastering the skills on the MOSL tests, which are given at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year and are for teacher eval purposes only (20% of our rating is based on a local measure & many NYC schools are using the MOSL). Some schools, like the Earth School, got a waiver through their participation in the newly created PROSE program.

At the beginning of the year I had to admin MOSL in my 1st grade class. They are developmentally inappropriate, a colossal waste of time.

Parents do not know the full extent of what's going on. I see it as my duty to get this out. I'm working on a new blog post now...will detail the insanity of the midterm benchmark. I really don't want to administer it. 

Do all schools give this test?
 

It depends on what your school chose to use as their local measure of student learning. Many schools, like mine, went with the NYC performance assessments created by NYCDOE. They are awful. I think they now call them tasks. Ask if they are giving midterm benchmarks in K-5 in the next two weeks. 

Furthermore it's sneaky. Parents at my school aren't notified & teachers find out just days before.

For an analysis of the poor quality of MOSL tests see:
https://criticalclassrooms.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/whats-really-rotten-in-our-schools-poor-quality-mosl-assessments-used-to-rate-nyc-teachers/

 

We Need Judges and Other Volunteers at Robotics Events

Check out this list of NYCFIRST citywide events. I'm involved in the March 14 event at the Javits Convention Center. Not included in this list are the final 2 borough qualifying events this weekend in the Bronx and in Staten Island (this event is being run by Francesco Portelos who was a coach of his robotics team. There are 4 levels of FIRST covering a wide variety -- JuniorFLL (ages 6-9), FLL (9-14), FTC (high school and some middle school), and FRC - high school.

NYCFIRST NEEDS YOU TO VOLUNTEER AS A JUDGE AT UPCOMING EVENTS

A message from Norm Suteria, NYCFIRST Director of Communications:

I was struck by the post-game interview with rookie New England Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler last night. 

Though completely overwhelmed with emotion and the impact of his accomplishment, he said this: 

"I just had a vision that I was going to make a great play and it came true....it all comes down to preparation." 

Butler's Super Bowl-winning interception at the goal line was a direct result of his hard work and dedication to continuous improvement, both on and off the field. 

He practiced day in and day out and studied game film to decipher and anticipate the offensive moves of the Seahawks.  (This video clip, from a November 2014 visit to Vicksburg High School, also captures his philosophy.) 

Now I think I know what you're thinking: 

What does this have to do with a robotics competition?

Simply this:

We need your time and talents to help NYC FIRST teams have their defining moment as the emerging scientists, engineers and technology leaders of tomorrow. 

As a competition judge, you help participants learn that hard work, preparation and perseverance are valued and rewarded. 

No experience is needed, we welcome all volunteers both non-technical and technical, and training is provided. Breakfast and lunch are, of course, served. 

Upcoming volunteer opportunities for competition judges: 

FIRST Tech Challenge Qualifier

Saturday February 14th

7 a.m.-4 p.m. 

Murry Bergtraum High School 

411 Pearl St. 

New York, NY 

FIRST Tech Challenge Qualifier

Saturday February 21st 

7 a.m.-4 p.m. 

Dalton School Athletic Complex 

200 E. 87th St. 

New York, NY 

FIRST Tech Challenge NYC/LI Championship

Sunday March 1st

7 a.m.-4 p.m. 

NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

6 MetroTech Center 

Brooklyn, NY 

NYC FIRST Lego League Championships

Saturday March 14th

7:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

Javits Convention Center

655 W. 34th St. 

NY, NY

Please email me if you're interested in any of these opportunities and I'll send you more information.

Warm regards and with much appreciation, 

Norm Sutaria

Director of Programs 

NYC FIRST 

(646)580-9749

norm@nycfirst.org

www.nycfirst.org

Video Highlights - Rockaway Theatre Company: Seussical The Musical, Jr.

The  RTC has a wonderful Saturday program for kids and teens. They put on 2 shows - one for kids 12 and under (Seussical Jr.) and another - coming in late February for the 13-19 crew (Legally Blonde, Jr). The program starts in September and culminates with these shows. RTC provides such high level instruction in the total theater experience, parents bring their kids from Brooklyn, other parts of Queens and even from Long Island.

I mean TOTAL theater -- every aspect of the theater you'd see if you were involved in a Broadway production.

Over the years we've seen many of these kids "graduate" to the next level -- young 'uns to teens to big adult stage -- I've been in shows with some of these current teen group - and have watched teens turn into 20-something actors, singers and dancers.

I saw the show Friday night and Saturday afternoon -- 54 kids 12 and and under in the show - they had so much talent there are two sets of casts playing the leads. I taped cast 1 for this weekend. The theater was full of excited family members and most performances are sold out.

Above is a brief video taste of the show followed by some stills I took.

Time for Massive Civics Lesson on March 4 to Counter Eva Lobby

...hundreds of school trips to Albany for a civics lesson. Let the press scream and holler while supporting Eva. Get teachers to take a personal day if their school doesn't go -- I mean thousands of teachers taking a personal day -- a legit reason too.

But de Blasio, from Boston, has deflated balls. Mulgrew doesn't even have to be from Boston to have deflated balls.

Eterno at the ICE blog:

NYSUT-UFT SHOULD PUSH FOR GIANT MARCH 4 CIVICS LESSON IN ALBANY

If Eva Moskowitz can basically close her schools for an all day civics lesson (rally) up in Albany on March 4, why can't the supposedly progressive Mayor Bill de Blasio and all of the other so called pro-public school district leaders push for the same civics lesson for our kids and their parents on that day? 

A group of my students from Jamaica High School went with the NAACP to Albany to meet state lawmakers on an approved public school trip during the school day back in 2011.

How about a huge counterdemonstration-civics lesson for public education in Albany on March 4?

Instead, we have UFT members apparently jockeying for limited seats on lobby day buses headed for Albany the same day that Eva's masses will descend upon the seat of state government.  It looks like we are being outmaneuvered by the charter people again.