Stronger Together Threatens Randi/Mulgrew Power: What is Behind NYSUT Unity Attack on Beth Dimino

..if you are like me and you are tired of your profession being trampled while your union “leaders” compromise and collaborate with coroporate  privatizers who seek to destroy public education, then go ahead and reduce your VOTE-COPE and join STCaucus (open to any NYSUT members).  It literally is about the only say you have in your parent unions.... Unity’s Attack on Dimino & Reducing VOTE-COPE.. Posted on November 14, 2015 by thepjsta

PJSTA include link to my Mulgrew punch in face video at AFT14

With Friedrichs on the way, Unity doubles down on repression -  the attack on Beth Dimino and smaller stuff like trying to stop voices of dissent are signs - which you know if you have been reading my recent posts.

• Telling Comment on How UFT District Reps Favor Pri...
• Commentary: Suppressing Democracy at the UFT: Raw 
• Video: Taking a Stand Against UFT/Unity Attempt to...

There's lots of stuff out there on the attack on Beth Dimino --

NYC Educator

NY State's Unity Caucus Launches a Despicable Attack Against PJSTA President Beth Dimino -
NYSUT to Charge Members for Meetings, Not Sure How Much Yet  from

The Pen is Mightier than the Person blog is telling:

Faced with an existential case before the Supreme Court which could make dues optional, New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) continues to give its members plenty of reasons not to opt in. On the other hand, renting out its offices to "external groups" might become the norm if and when the Union blows up. 

Just go over to the ICE blog and read the comments on how pissed off people are at the UFT/Unity leadership: ICEUFT Blog

LIVE BLOGGING FROM NOVEMBER DA (Sorry for any errors-Updated and cleaned up a little). Here is one morsel of doom for Unity:

Three are about 5-7 uft members in my school out of about 100 who will voluntary pay union dues if given the option. I'm not one of them. I'll gladly go down with the ship if it means there's even the slightest chance I will get to see Mulgrew and other useless UFT staffers drown first.  

Hey - maybe they just don't care what happens if people stop paying dues. Or they think they have the situation under control.

Chatter has been coming in to Ed Notes about just how much of a threat Stronger Together, the statewide opposition caucus to Unity in NYSUT is viewed by Randi Weingarten and her liege Michael Mulgrew.

Some of this chatter I cannot share but there is serious attention to ST being paid. Let me explain why the threat before getting to the NYSUT Unity Caucus attack on Beth Dimino, president of the Port Jefferson Station union and one of the leaders of ST Caucus.

Unity Caucus exists on 3 levels - NYC where the power rests, NYSUT where State Unity is controlled by NYC Unity - and the AFT national level where Unity is called Progressive Caucus. The entire pyramid rests on the ability of NYC Unity, which is a third of NYSUT - to control the other two thirds. NYSUT is a massive component of the AFT national -- maybe 30-40% of the membership.

So note how the pyramid can be topped if ST manages to dent NYC Unity control of NYSUT - and with a new election coming up in 2017 - state and city Unity are trying to either buy off or repress the Stronger Together threat. When I say buy off - I mean doing to ST what they did to New Action back in 2003 - and I think there will be people who feel it is better to not attack the machine but work with it - and Unity may be using Friedrichs to try to keep people on board - just as they used the Bloomberg threat to get New Action on board.

Beth Dimino has been the tireless ambassador of ST, reaching out 2 years ago even before ST was formed to MORE and MORE has become a partner with ST, with Mike Schirtzer having a position on the steering committee. MORE has taken its activism to a national level by aligning with other caucuses around the nation, some of whom have already won elections, have come close or about to like in Philly where WE - Working Educators - social justice caucus may actually win - another loss for Randi.

ST is allied with this national movement.

So imagine of ST actually threatens to capture NYSUT or win enough statewide delegates - especially from the other big cities - to challenge NYC Unity control over NYSUT - and then allies with the other national caucuses to create a threat to Randi in the AFT. Now I do not think that will happen this summer at AFT16 in Minneapolis -- but a bunch of us are going to work the rooms to help build that alliance for possible challenge in 2018 - where it may be Mulgrew instead of Randi.

So the attempt to discredit Beth as one of the key components in building these alliances is not just an isolated incident. To get the  full story and response here is the Port Jefferson Station teacher union response:

Unity’s Attack on Dimino & Reducing VOTE-COPE

Posted on November 14, 2015 by thepjsta
 

Telling Comment on How UFT District Reps Favor Principal Friends Over Membership

In the world of totalitarian Unity Caucus even one voice of dissent is worrisome and they put lots of energy into deflecting and marginalizing these voices.

Are UFT/Unity Caucus non-elected District Reps the most insidious people in the UFT hierarchy? This comment was posted by Anonymous on your post "Commentary: Suppressing Democracy at the UFT:

All part of the story of our lazy stupid apathetic membership. We have a very decent CL, Unity affiliated, but asking a lot of questions. It is so pitiful to watch the District Rep come into the building and toss the CL under a truck, even right in front of members. The UFT leadership is trying to push the CL out with taunts and challenges from the friend of a highly placed UFT official. Said UFT friend, is a handsomely paid ($15,000 to 20,000 a year) shill for a principal who buys loyalty with DOE cash. When it came time to pick SLT people, our stupid beyond belief staff voted for this person. You can tell someone not to step off he curb in front of a speeding car, but when they deliberately choose to ignore you, they sort of deserve what they get.

There are so many bad stories about UFT District Reps. These are the key middle management people who ride herd on the chapter leaders in their district to keep the membership in line and undermine any opposition roilings in the schools. They are the key components of the Unity machine. Before 2002 they were elected by the chapter leaders in the district. Unity managed to control this process well enough as to have all DRs in the caucus - until the Manhattan HS teachers revolted in 1990 and elected long-time Chapter Leader Bruce Markens, who was re-elected time after time until he retired in 2000. Bruce was like a giant burr in Randi's paw and as soon as she could she eliminated the possibility this would ever happen again.

DRs hold meetings every month with the district CLs who are mostly cowed into pushing the leadership agenda. Even opposition people seem to avoid confrontation at these meetings. Now some DRs are more skilled than others at keeping order - they tell opposition people one thing while slashing at them behind their backs. In the world of totalitarian Unity even one voice of dissent is worrisome and they put lots of energy into deflecting and marginalizing these voices.

If you are a CL don't take it any more. Don't let them totally establish the agenda. Make them deal with issues in your school that are not addressed. Don't assume all the other CLs in the room who are quiet are happy. Reach out to them and see if you can establish alliances. Even set up an alternate district meeting of even a few where you can address issues of concern.

Commentary: Suppressing Democracy at the UFT: Raw Video Plus Roseanne Letter to Mulgrew

Some people may be surprised by what happened on Thursday when the UFT changed the rules about distribution of lit and some of us made a stand. I've been through this with them for 40 years. I used to put my stuff on their table at times and they tried all kinds of ways to remove it. I would find hundreds in the garbage. I once caught a Queens borough office Unity hack pretend to put her papers down on my stack and them lift it off the table -- she is one of the swines of the earth.

How about this one for lit distribution?

Of course they also made poor Greg Lundahl sand outside with the Unity lit to be "fair" while they had 3 tables of their stuff, branded as official UFT Lit but as we know just another part of the Unity propaganda machine.

Fact is as I point out below in my response to Roseanne McCosh, we should all have a space for people to pick up lit on the way in so we can deal with the so-called "egress problem" they claim there is. Until Thursday I had pretty much my own table on the side -- out of the way where most people won't get the stuff - but at least the Weingarten ruling in 1999 in response to my raising a point of order on how they can conduct business when the DA rules require resos longer than 3 lines to be handed out to everyone -- and by the way that itself was a ruling designed to squeeze the opposition from raising stuff off the cuff. I started doing Ed Notes as my response to that rule.

But when I was a delegate I had to take part in the meetings and since so many people came in late I needed a space to leave my stuff. Then they started tossing my stuff in the garbage and I threw a fit them, even challenging one of the goons to get past me -- until Tom Pappas broke it up and Randi in essence sort of ruled in my favor -- but at that time Randi and Unity were sort of courting me.

I believe people in the opposition have been too wussy about lit distribution at meetings by telling people they don't have the right. I used to demand that right and stood my ground - even at district rep meetings - and every CL in my district used to get my lit at every meeting. DR may not have been happy but my view is he was there to serve me not me him. (Not long after Randi made the position appointed instead of elected -- and I think I actually had a shot at giving someone a run if they had an election in 2002.)

It was suggested that all my scribbling on the video I released (Video: Taking a Stand Against UFT/Unity Attempt to Ban Lit Distribution in Lobby of 52 Broadway) took away some of the impact. So here is the raw video for anyone interested:


MORE Makes a Stand As UFT Unity Tries to Bar Us From Distributing in Lobby from MORE-UFT/GEM on Vimeo.
https://vimeo.com/145725993 and the embed code at the end of this post.

Here is Roseanne's letter - and I don't need an apology - I need my distribution table back and it should be with all the other stuff they give out.

I just saw the video of your Unity goons attacking and attempting to silence Norm Scott in the lobby of 52 Broadway.  I will be forwarding the video link to the UFT members in my school.  Real cowardly thuggish employees you have... going after a 70 year old man like that.  Egress situation?  Bullshit!  Unity's scared and angry because you can't control the message coming from those who oppose your decision making.  Instead of open debate you seek to silence opposition by trying to intimidate them.   How fascist of you.  I'm surprised you didn't threaten to punch him in the face like you did with those who oppose common core.  But then again, talking tough from a podium while surrounded by people ordered to protect you is quite different than participating in an actual street fight with someone who punches back.  You and that big young goon who tried to put his hands on Norm should apologize to him.
Cc:  PS 8 chapter leader, PS 8 delegate and Norm ScottRoseanne McCosh PS 8X


My response:

You had to remind me I'm 70?  The uft used to use their own unity goons in the old days. Now they use poor security guards who are just doing their jobs but this guy didn't have a clue. The other guard is a very nice guy and I've dealt with him a number of times and is courteous and respectful. We chatted afterwards as I explained the background for my behaving the way he did. Fact is almost 20 years ago I raise this issue at a del ass as a point of order - how can people who want to attend the meeting distribute info especially motions that da rules require to be distributed in advance so people read them and know what they will be voting on can get to do so if we can't put them on the table? So Randi ruled that non official uft lit would go on a separate table and until this meeting whenever I asked for that table they gave me one but off to the side purposely so most people won't see it - but I lived with it as long as I could be in the lobby. In fact if the uft wants to separate other lit from official all they have to do is add one table next to the official ones and clearly label it as non. Uft. But note they won't do that which exposes the real purpose of this ruling. I also object to the ruling that we can't give stuff out in outside borough offices because the space is rented. And then try to suppress people from handing out stuff inside the meetings I rooms payed for with our dues. Also unacceptable. One day I will go to one of these borough meetings and raise the same hell and film it. Unity is trying to hold onto its monopoly on communicating with members. Our younger active oppositionists have not been aggressive enough in this issue. I insisted on handing out my stuff at district rep meetings. It's time to refuse to take no for an answer. Go call the cops. They'll laugh just like they did back in the old days when we handed stuff outside a meeting on the old Lexington hotel and Florence Fidel called them. They identify with rank and file and told her to take a hike - and took one of my leaflets. 

Coockoo Nest Cast Photo by Danielle Rose Fischer and John Panepinto Plus Rockaway Times Story

I made it through opening night and managed to get my  lines straight - and managed to find my old teacher voice. Then went out with the great cast to a diner. Up until 1:30 AM. Now have to go back over those lines for tonight and again for Sunday matinee. No one ever said theater is not hard work even if you have a small part. Due to content no one under 16 admitted without a cast but we have to amazing 13 year olds doing a lot of heavy lifting to make the show run smoothly.

The Rockaway Times - the other newspaper to The Wave here in Rockaway did a great piece on the show and I am quoted. Not the takeoff on the mayor using McMurphy. 

Just Click Here To View or Download

Video: Taking a Stand Against UFT/Unity Attempt to Ban Lit Distribution in Lobby of 52 Broadway

Throughout its history, UFT members have been distributing literature at UFT Delegate Assemblies in the lobbies of the buildings or hotels where they were being held. Since the UFT bought its own building at 52 Broadway, we have been using the lobby. Then at the Nov. 12 2015 DA they ordered us outside. I was handing out a MORE resolution for the meeting on I and others refused to move and challenged them to call the police to have us removed. Our dues pay for that building and we shall not be removed from our own property.




https://youtu.be/UBEbXZLnyHI

Nov 17, 2015 - Teachers Unite Brooklyn Restorative Justice Schools Meetup

Join us for a Brooklyn Restorative Justice Schools Meetup!

Featuring a screening of the new short documentary “Circling Justice”

at Expeditionary Learning School for Community Leaders

Tuesday, November 17th

4:30 to 6pm 

2630 Benson Ave

D to 25th Ave. / N to 86th St. / F to Ave. U

Students, educators, parents, community members—all are welcome!

& There will be pizza.

Please RSVP here.

Questions: email anna [at] teachersunite [dot] net

Flyer attached

Anna Bean

Campaign Coordinator

Teachers Unite

90 John St., Suite 308

New York, NY 10038

646-707-4006

Is the Opt-Out Movement Bread and Butter Unionism or Social Justice - or Both?

...parents in Change the Stakes (CTS) will be out there agitating and also working with MORE teachers to push opt-out -- which MORE will also do in its UFT election campaign -- as a way to not only protect children from test abuse but teachers too.  

There has often been a false dichotomy within and outside MORE over what is termed "trade union bread and butter" and social justice unionism. Many of us have come to see them both under the same umbrella. The Opt-out movement is a perfect example of this fusion.

MORE chose Jia Lee, one of the leading teacher opt-out voices and a teacher once facing off with an abusive principal as its UFT presidential candidate and she is a symbol of the unity between what is so often mistakenly seen as 2 strands.

MORE people look at the entire range of issues facing teachers - salary, preps, class size, general working conditions, testing, race, teacher hiring practices, student welfare, parent interests, principal abuse, teacher workloads, common core, rating teachers based on test scores, ATRs as a creation of ed deform, etc. as interconnected.

Two leading bloggers, both ATRs and strong advocates of teacher rights - also strong advocates of the trade union side of things, recently posted opt-out pieces.

• James Eterno at the ICE blog: CAN OPT-OUT REALLY DOUBLE WITHOUT NYC SUPPORT? 

• Chaz's School Daze: The Media Bias Against The "Opt Out" Movement.

Chaz makes this important point:  75% of the parents "opted out" their child because of the teacher tie-in.

There is social justice meeting trade union head on.

James ties the relative weakness of the opt-out issue here in NYC to the lack of UFT support:

Opt-out supporters will not have an easy time meeting a goal I saw online of doubling this past spring's total of 220,000 students who refused to take exams. UFT support would certainly be welcomed. Opt-out is weaker in so called progressive NYC compared to much of the rest of the state.
New York City has now become in many ways the standard bearer for almost a kind of Status-quo unionism. The UFT leadership is enabling the people who are trying to destroy us by still trying to play the appeasement game. Our leadership continues to call only for modifications of the test and punish policies that are killing public education.

Being on the Change the Stakes steering committee I get a lot of info as to currents related to opt out in NYC schools and there is some movement, though the figures will not hit a crescendo for a while. But parents in CTS will be out there agitating and also working with MORE teachers to push opt-out -- which MORE will also do in its UFT election campaign -- as a way to not only protect children from test abuse but teachers too.

There was some chatter this morning about starting borough opt-out groups where we have resources.

I left this comment on the ICE blog:

Opt out is beginning to take root here in NYC. Don't even consider the UFT as a factor - this must be parent driven. MORE people have been involved from the beginning with Change the Stakes - which is where Jia Lee came from to MORE. Running the most prominent teacher leading opt out for UFT president will get the movement noticed beyond the union. We have principals now working with us - some behind the scenes. We started with 4 optouts just 3 years ago in the city -- look at the rate of growth. The DOE will do anything to can to kill the movement but it is something they can't stop because as long as there are these tests opt out will exist. When you look at the total assault on teachers, their unions and public education and the helplessness so many feel, the only thing that has the potential to protect people is the opt out movement.

Randi/Mulgrew, NY State Ed Commissioner Elia, Nukes Teacher Contracts

MaryEllen Elia Launches Attack on Buffalo Teachers... PJSTA

Deformers carpet bomb teacher unions

Reality Based Educator at Perdido Street School (Lawsuit Over Elia/Cuomo Unions Busting To Have National Implications):

In the spring Andrew Cuomo pushed through a school receivership law that allows the state to take control of "struggling" and "persistently struggling" schools and supersede the union contracts for teachers at those schools. This week NYSED Commissioner MaryEllen Elia gave the Buffalo schools superintendent the power to "circumvent" union contracts at five Buffalo schools. The Buffalo News reports the Buffalo Teachers Federation is planning to sue over the move and the lawsuit will have national implications......

Remember -- Elia is a Randi/Mulgrew pal -- she was one of their stars in their partnership with Bill Gates and her in Hillsborough at the AFT 2010 Seattle convention - I have video to prove it but am too lazy to dig it out -- which was put deep in debt and they chased Elia out on a rail - and Randi got her the gig here so she can negate teacher contracts. How perfect.

In my own Ed Notes posts

• Is the UFT Leadership Insane, Incompetent, or Worse...
• UFT Elections: Happy Teachers Often Don't Give a C...

I pointed to the coming conflagration and this story dovetails perfectly. As for most NYC teachers and support staff being oblivious, when you have the major organs of communications controlled by the union who feed the members pablum and hide the real truth from them, what can you expect?

That is why my major focus in terms of MORE is creating methods of communication with the majority of working members to counter the Unity line. And the more votes MORE gets in the election the less MulGarten will sell us out - or be more careful about doing so. But more on that later.

The Buffalo Teacher Union will sue, but we know the courts are stacked against us.

Beth Dimino, president of Port Jefferson Station TU and a leader of the statewide opposition ST Caucus to Unity in her PJSTA piece said:

I am hoping the events in Buffalo are the impetus for mass organizing by NYSUT or, at the very least, STCaucus.  Without the rank and file organizing at the general membership level New York’s teachers will continue to be unprepared to take the collective action necessary to defeat an agenda such as the one we face now.  

I can hope too - but when you have Quisling leaders, hope only goes so far.

Click here to read the PJSTA’s resolution in opposition to receivership that the executive board passed last month.

Our pal Sean Crowley goes for the jugular.

NYSED Commissoner Elia Fires a Shot Heard Round the World. And B-Lo Will Answer. 

Well it didn't take long for the forces of corporate ed reform to fire their first volley at B-Lo Public Schools. Fresh from burying Hillsborough County Florida's school system in a $20-$40 million dollar hole after a Faustian deal with Bill Gates, MaryEllen Elia has been subcontracted to do more damage on a much wider scale here in the Empire State. Isn't it interesting the way the ed reform class shuffles its muscle from place to place until they end up beetling over their base as Barbara Byrd Bennett did in Chicago. Looks like B3 is headed to the Stoney Lonesome. Curious to see if she gets paroled before Elia gets yet another brown parachute, this time from New York State.


UFT/Unity UberSlug Mulgrew among others actively working against WFP and colluding with other  "labor" goon squads to date rape WFP into submission and capitulation ending in a disingenuous and hollow endorsement of Cuomo. High on our list of backstabbing "friends" there's AFT Empress for Life Randi Weingarten who glibly robocalled on behalf of Kathy Hochul and Cuomo doing her best lawyerly parsing of the betrayal claiming that she wasn't calling on behalf of Cuomo but just for Hochul. I am reminded of Bill Clinton in Lewinskean disgrace saying something to the effect of "define is." It didn't fly then and it didn't fly when Weingarten did it either. You robocalled for the Cuomo ticket Randi.

 

I Finally Become a Doctor in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - My Mom Would Have Been Proud

Yes, I had a Jewish mother who wanted me to be a doctor. She had to settle for a teacher. But not all is lost.

I will be playing Doctor Spivey in the Rockaway Theatre Company production of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" opening Friday, Nov. 13 and running for 6 performances over two weekends. This is only the 2nd show I've been in where I have a bunch of lines - even a short speech - and for me memorizing them and the cues from other actors has been tough. We have only 2 more rehearsals and though I'm getting close I still need to nail stuff down. And then yesterday they told me I am not talking loud enough - use your teacher voice they told me - I haven't used my teacher voice for 20 years. I will take a shot at it at tonight's rehearsal. I am in only 3 scenes and when I finish each one I race off the stage, feeling I've just finished a test.

Well, anyway - if you want to come and see me make a fool of myself - but more importantly see a play that will echo in your mind about some of the schools you may have worked in - call the RTC hotline: (718-374-6400). 8PM performances Nov. 13, 14, 20, 21 and 2PM matinees Nov. 15, 22.

There is so much meat in this play for educators working in often oppressive institutions that can at times seem like a mental institution.

In "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" a rebel revolts against institutional oppression. The extreme of a mental institution concept can be applied to society in general, a corporation and -Yes - a school. The beauty of the play is how McMurphy, the rebel, brings the very damaged people he finds himself with along and the very act of revolt against authority becomes a healing process and even when he is gone, has some long-term effects. It is quite a complicated stories with many themes running through it, which I will examine in my column in The Wave next week.

Frank Caiati and Matt Smilardi

Below is this Friday's column where I talk about this amazing cast of A-list actors who have been nice enough to humor this D-list actor.

Frank and Matt have been with RTC since they were teenagers and have played leading roles in many shows. Frank is now a guidance counselor and Matt runs youth programs in a public school, so the transition to a mental institution is an easy stretch.  Frank has also been my acting teacher and go to guy when I need a clue as what to do on stage.

The inmates with McMurphy in hat (John Stillwaggon). David Risley as Harding on the right

Submitted for publication to The Wave, November 13, 2015

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Memo From the RTC

One Flew Over… Opening Weekend:  Crazy is as Crazy Does

By Norm Scott

It’s Monday night and I’m back from another rehearsal at the RTC. Hell Week in ON ­we do this every night until we open on Friday night. As the doctor, I am only in 3 scenes so I can get out to cheap seats to watch the A-list cast perform their magic. A-list is understating it. As you know, the entire play takes place in the rec room of an insane asylum. The production team, led by director Michael Wotypka, co-director Peggy Page and Producer Susan Jasper, have assembled a cast of actors that would do any asylum proud. Many of the guys have played leading roles in addition to having directed their own shows. Here’s an intro to just a few of them.

David Risley, an RTC mainstay, follows up on his very funny performance in Plaza Suite this past September by taking on the role of inmate Harding. David directed the wonderful “Lost in Yonkers” which also starred Linda Browning as the sympathetic Bella, who is now playing the very unsympathetic Nurse Ratched, a testament to her range as an actor. David will be directing Sunshine Boys next season.

Danny Velez (Martini) is coming off leading roles as Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees and Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls. One of the great things about RTC is how actors who playing leads are willing to take on small parts.

Frank Caiati (the tragic Billy Bibbit) is the reason I can get up on stage due to the acting classes he has taught at RTC  ­– if you have an interest in being on stage, Frank’s next 8-week course begins at RTC on November 29 at 10 AM. If I can do it anyone can. It’s wonderful to see a great actor in action from behind the scenes – this is the first show I’ve been in with Frank. He is finally acting again after directing so many great shows himself. He did Mary Poppins in September in Bay Ridge and Godspell at the RTC.

Matt Smilardi (Cheswick), who can do anything on stage, was Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls and also played the lead in Caiaiti’s Godspell as Jesus. Which reminds me to touch on the number of themes in One Flew Over…., the most obvious being the “Randall McMurphy” as Jesus theme where he sacrifices himself to free the inmates, especially the formerly deaf and dumb big Indian Chief, played by Rockaway community leader Jose Velez, who is “cured” by the dynamic McMurphy. The guys were matching up the inmates with the apostles. I’ll leave it to you to find these analogies when you see the play – which I will say right now – it is must-see theater and if you miss this you may have to wait another 10 years to see it again at the RTC when - if I am still alive - hope to reprise the role of the doc at age 80. Oy!

Nurse Ratched  - or Rat Sh_t, as McMurphy refers to her, ORDERS you to call the RTC hotline (718-374-6400) or face a heavy dose of anti-psychotic meds and severe assault on your self-esteem in group therapy.

Is the UFT Leadership Insane, Incompetent, or Worse? Another View

There are some comments over at NYC Educator's post Michael Mulgrew Said "Thank You" for Longer Hours and No Seniority  discussing UFT/Unity Caucus leadership failures of policy and their persistence in pursing the same policies despite these failures. But from their point of view are they really failures or in fact successes?

I noticed that... said:

“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche
"Insanity is knowing that what you're doing is completely idiotic, but still, somehow, you just can't stop it."― Elizabeth Wurtzel
Pretty much explains the leadership's m.o. of successful failures.

Michael Fiorillo 

With Michael Mulgrew, as with the so-called reformers, nothing succeeds quite like failure...

I can argue until I am blue in the face that the UFT elections are not the main battle ground in the union, but to no avail. I am often termed a "defeatist" as if magical thinking will come true. In reality I am a realist and a student of teacher union opposition movements here in NYC and in other cities.

Teachers must face a calamity before they will wake up and right now, no matter how bad things are from certain people's perspective, we are no where close to what is going on in other cities. Right now we are in a building patter for when the shit hits the fan. The real battle must take place at the school level as a precursor to making a serious challenge to Unity. So far that has not happened in nearly enough schools to make enough of a dent. But anyone with a long-term perspective must be able to see through the weeds.

As the coming tsunami with the charter school privatization spear aiming at the NYC public school system gathers force - see Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, New Orleans, Newark, Washington DC - and anything that hits other cities must eventually hit us here - there is speculation that the UFT leadership is blind. I don't think so.

Remember - the prime directive of Unity is to keep power at the city, state and national levels and do whatever that takes, including trying to buy off targeted individuals from opposition parties that are making headway or even trying to buy off entire parties by "partnering" with them, even behind the scenes.

They full well know what is coming and their best hope is to delay for as long as possible and thus, they will continue to operate the way they have -- by working with and cajoling politicians for any crumbs they can preserve while working to tamp down any militancy from below that may challenge their control of the UFT and through that NYSUT and the AFT.

If necessary they will just swap out leaders, like they replaced an increasingly unpopular Randi Weingarten in 2009 with Michael Mulgrew, who's own initially warm welcome is wearing thin.

Many predict that this is his last UFT election, especially if Hillary wins and Randi gets a position in her administration, leaving the AFT presidency open to Mulgrew.

Mulgrew's replacement would be a direct contrast and no matter how we paint that person as just a continuation, that would buy them time in the 2019 election with the usual "Let's give the new person a chance" gambit. And it will work for a bunch of people who just refuse to get that it is the Unity Caucus machine, not the individuals.

The historic trend since 1985 is for the incimbent to get elected adn then appoint a successor well before the following election to run the union. If things go according to plan, Mulgrew would serve a year or 2 at most while giving prominence to his heir -- remember -- the UFT has had only 4 presidents since 1964.

Who would that heir be? There is some speculation that Janella Hinds would be a candidate. Most people like her and she is a woman of color, thus making her the first non-white to head the UFT, which should dampen some criticisms from the left -- a win- win for Unity once again.

But that may not help at the school level if schools are being closed en masse under the next charter friendly mayor - like Hakeem Jeffries - and teachers are fired en masse - which would mean somehow getting rid of the ATR situation.

Also facing Unity post-2016 election is the health savings expected from the last contract and the coming heavy tax on Cadillac health care plans like we (supposedly) have.

I'll talk more about the elections and why I am not a defeatist when I tell the truth while pointing the way to win where it counts -- in the schools - which to me is what this election must be about -- gaining some traction in many more schools.

UFT Elections: Happy Teachers Often Don't Give a Crap About the Union

So I work with a bunch of current and former teachers and other DOE people in the theater group. They put an enormous amount of time into the theater. Other teachers have other passionate interests. Like the people I work with in the robotics program.

They have little or no interest in the union or UFT elections.

They talk about their kids and their jobs often and are excited by what is going on in their classrooms.

They have little or no interest in the union or UFT elections.

Once in  awhile I may be asked a question about the union, or when they run into some trouble - but basically...

They have little or no interest in the union or UFT elections.

There are thousands of teachers who - shock, shock, shock - actually like teaching, see it as a career and like their schools and even -- shock, shock, shock -- their supervisors.

They have little or no interest in the union or UFT elections.

I know there are so many others who have that doom and gloom feeling, as I do -- and the few times I tried to bust their bubble there is not much of a reaction - so I just stop

Now, when the election ballots come out and I tell them about MORE they just might vote for MORE because they know me -- otherwise .....

Some people brand this as apathy --- maybe -- but also people who have their own wide range of interests and are happy in their jobs -- generally don't look to get involved in the union - or in an opposition movement to create change. Especially when they have a benign administration. They must exist despite all the sturm and drang.

Letter to Mulgrew: UFT/Unity Leadership Rejects PS 8X Retro-Pay Grievance

Our grievance was never about the few coins we might see in interest if we won the grievance.... This was about demanding that UFT leadership demand that respect for us---all of us---a few of us. Mulgrew and Unity have failed us all…yet again.... PS 8X Grievants 

Nothing surprising about UFT refusal to take this grievance - what is good is that at least one group of rank and file teachers took a stand.

Dear Mr. Mulgrew:

The purpose of asking our union leaders to file a grievance, regarding the delay in retro payment, was an effort to get UFT leadership to demonstrate they prioritize the concerns of the membership at large by holding NYC accountable for the delay. First retro payment on October 1st should have meant just that---October 1st not October 15th. Filing individual grievances on behalf of a handful of individual members accomplishes nothing.

By failing to file a union initiated grievance, the UFT has once again shown their true colors. You are not backing the membership with this issue. It was a political move to allow you to say, “Hey you wanted to file a grievance, so we filed your grievance.” This political maneuver also allows you to say to NYC, “Hey it’s not us. It’s these school level malcontents that are causing the trouble.”

We predicted this would happen but we hoped we would be proven wrong. Unfortunately for the entire membership we were correct in assuming that you and your Unity Caucus would rather ignore the fact that the entire working membership was disrespected, when we were not paid on the date we were promised we’d be paid, than upset Mayor DeBlasio and the powers-that-be at the NYC DOE.

Our grievance was never about the few coins we might see in interest if we won the grievance. We knew the financial win wouldn’t even cover the cost of metro cards to and from lower Manhattan where the grievance is heard. This was about demanding the respect we deserve. This was about demanding that UFT leadership demand that respect for us---all of us---a few of us. Mulgrew and Unity have failed us all…yet again. We expect more from a union leadership that represents 140,000 working members. Filing individual grievances for a handful of us is a slap in the face to all 140,000 working UFT members. We are not fooled by your action. We have not been appeased by individual grievances. You have only provided further evidence that our outrage at your lackluster leadership is indeed justified.

PS 8x Grievants

See the Video: Parents Sue Achievement First Charter Over Discipline and Lack of Services - We had the AF story 4 years ago

DUHHHHH!  This report by the NY Times

Lawsuit Accuses Brooklyn Charter School of Failing to Provide Special Education Services

supports the video interviews we did with Achievement First former parents in April 2011. Here is one of the 3 clips I posted:




Achievement First Charter School Parents Speak Out: Why they removed their children Part 2 from MORE-UFT/GEM on Vimeo.

Here are links to all the clips --
Videos of Achievement First parents talk about their children sitting on the floor: https://vimeo.com/30227766, https://vimeo.com/30238788, https://vimeo.com/30266020.

We did these riveting interviews for our movie,

The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman

   due to Leonie Haimson's organizing the interview and doing the questioning. I just turned on my camera. I thought we would be there for a few minutes instead of over 2 hours. We were able to use just a bit of the footage in the movie but for me it turned into one of the most powerful statements we made. People in Providence used the footage to help fight Achievement First.

RBE at Perdido Street School made this comment:

What kind of cretins would discipline a child with autism for not looking in the direction of the teacher?
The kind who run and/or work at Achievement First.
Oh, btw, they're hiring, so if you're in the market for a job where you get to abuse kids, especially special education students, head on over to Idealist and send the Achievement First cretins your resume...

Powerful Video: Lauren Cohen Speech on Damage Done by Abusive Principal and Her Rescue After Meeting MOREs

MORE's Lauren Cohen told this incredible tale at MORE's State of the Union event on October 24, 2015 of her years spent under the rule of one of the worst and abusive and bullying principals in this city and how she emerged from the depths after meeting up with people from MORE at the first MORE State of the Union in March 2012.

This is a lesson for every union leader and people who work at the DOE - how a top-level teacher can almost be destroyed when a lunatic principal is allowed to run rampant. (That same Leadership Academy Principal rubber-roomed one of our older ICE leaders who was the chapter leader).

We've witnessed Lauren's remarkable growth as a leader (don't be surprised to see her run for UFT president one day). She is now chapter leader at her school.

MORE current presidential candidate Jia Lee came out of the same cauldron of horror at that school and took on the dangerous job of chapter leader when the ICE CL was forced out  - and a lesson -- many younger teachers facing these bully principals and remain in the system can find their way - and one of the first lessons is to get away from these awful principals as soon as you can to live so you can live to fight another day.

Lauren is  one of many next-gen union leaders who have found strength and support in a group of like-minded people like those in MORE.



Just 2 years later in April 2014 Lauren Cohen got up in front of thousands of delegates at the NYSUT rep assembly and stood up to the bullying of Unity Caucus who booed her vociferously for mentioning the loyalty oath.

See this video of Lauren Cohen's speech at NYSUT RA, April 2014 and think of that young woman practically broken not too long before -- and also think that Unity Caucus/UFT leaders have done nothing to protect the teachers at this school: https://youtu.be/AbkqXmDz62Y




Here is an ed notes piece and link to NYC Educator in praise of Lauren from April 2014:

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

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

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

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

Only Unity Caucus would boo someone who loves puppies.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stress Academy - A Poem by Fred Smith: My Halloween Hangover with Eva

"Welcome to childhood." she cackled and said,
"We'll teach you to pass tests and pee in your bed.
We'll teach you good manners and staying in line;
You do those things and all will be fine."



"If you can't follow rules," she let out a shriek,
"Then you must go. We don't steal the weak.
Learning's not fun and life is a mess,
You must find out early how to Stress for Success."

Eva Moskowitz Comes to Rockaway as Nurse Ratched

Here are my 2 columns I submitted to The Wave for publication on Nov. 6. My theater column and my school column, both tied in together. By the way - if you want to come see me play the inept doctor in charge email me.
Do we have any photoshoppers out there who can do an Eva as Nurse Ratched for me?


School Scope: Nurse Ratched in Guise of Eva Moskowitz Coming to Rockaway?
By Norm Scott

There is so much about authoritarianism at a mental institution in Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, and its theater and film adaptations that I am reminded of how so many schools are run. I just finished my Rockaway Theatre Company column for The Wave about the upcoming show so if this column also makes this edition of The Wave, read the 2 columns in tandem.

Rumors are floating around that the evil charter empire, known as Eva Moskowitz’ Success Academy Charter network, wants in on Rockaway gentrification to fuel their charter gravy train that funnels public money out of public schools and into private management. There is no better example of authoritarianism that Eva Moskwitz who is the Nurse Ratched of education – and proud of it.

For those not aware, Nurse Ratched, as Wikipedia states, “is the head administrative nurse at… a mental institution where she exercises near-absolute power over the patients' access to medications, privileges, and basic necessities such as food and toiletries. She capriciously revokes these privileges whenever a patient displeases her. Her superiors turn blind eyes because she maintains order, keeping the patients from acting out, either through antipsychotic and anticonvulsant drugs or her own brand of psychotherapy, which consists mostly of humiliating patients into doing her bidding.” Nurse Ratched engages in an epic battle with rebel inmate Randall McMurphy (Jack Nicholson in the movie). In polls, Nurse Ratched came in 2nd to The Wicked Witch of the North as the most evil female character in movie history.

I saw a Halloween photo of a teacher dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West wearing an Eva Moskowitz mask. This was not an exaggeration. People have termed conditions for some children at Eva’s schools as verging on child abuse.

In my last School Scope column I talked about the extremely high suspension rates of kindergarten children at Success Academy charters as exposed on PBS by reporter John Merrow, who used to love charter schools, until he found out how so many of them operate. Since they are bound by a lottery system, some unwanted kids may slip in. So they use extraordinary discipline procedures starting in kindergarten to force the unwanted young children into more and more frustrating acts and harass the parents daily, hoping they will remove the children from the school. The idea is cull the herd before the kids start taking tests that count. Thus you will find that an kindergarten class has lost 40-50% of their children by the 3rd grade when testing begins. Eva argues that these kids don’t fit the culture of her schools – so they are mostly tossed back into the public schools which has to take every child.

Eva retaliated against the child who appeared on the PBS report by releasing a history of his records, a violation of federal FERPA laws. But Nurse Eva always believes she is above the law. Funny thing is that that child ended up in the class of Jia Lee, who is running for UFT president against Michael Mulgrew on the MORE slate, and she loves the kid.

NY Times reporter Kate Taylor followed up her exposure of Success Charters back in May with a follow-up last week of a “Got to Go” list of kids the school was going to pressure to leave (http://tinyurl.com/pqbfckc). This article caused such a sensation, Eva was forced to hold a press conference with the principal of the school standing there and crying and issue a mea culpa that this only happened at one of her schools. In a pig’s eye it did.

A comment left on my blog by an anonymous parent stated: “They decided to start with younger and younger kids, so the communication of abuses would be harder to decipher. They decided to tell the parents one thing, and do another to the child. I once stood in the hall and listened to a dean yell so violently at a student (behind closed doors) that I couldn't even discern the infraction. The child was thoroughly convinced he had committed a sin so unspeakable based on her threats, that he was too afraid to report the incident to his parents, hoping the she wouldn't either. When you get detention for squeaking the rubber soles on the floor, or coughing. or sneezing in a disingenuous way; when you are taught that asking for help when you are told not to talk, is a level 4 "disrespect of a teacher" your world begins to change. Twilight Zone comes to mind.”

Twilight Zone or asylum?

Stuyvesant HS teacher Gary Rubinstein blogged “When You “Got To Go”, You Got To Go” about the situation, publishing comments of parents who left Eva’s Gulag: http://tinyurl.com/obdrzdf.

Come see the RTC production of One Flew Over the Kuckoo’s Nest and see the Nurse Ratched as the model of Evil Moskowitz.

Norm admits to playing his own version of Randal McMurphy to his Nurse Ratched-like Principal. He can’t stop blogging about Evil at ednotesonline.com.


Memo from the RTC: Nurse Ratched Comes to Rockaway
By Norm Scott

“A cold, heartless tyrant, Nurse Ratched has become the stereotype of the nurse as a battleaxe. She has also become a popular metaphor for the corrupting influence of power and authority in bureaucracies such as the mental institution in which the novel is set. Nurse Ratched was named the fifth-greatest villain in film history (and second-greatest villainess, behind only the Wicked Witch of the West)” …. Louise Fletcher won the Academy Award for her performance in the movie…..Wikipedia.

And I play Nurse Ratched’s superior (technically), a drug-addicted doctor, who she resents because if she weren’t a woman in this early 1960s story would be in control but is forced to manipulate her inept boss to maintain her iron-clad control. Lynda Browning is playing Nurse Ratched in the upcoming RTC production of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” as a follow-up to her astounding performance as Bella in last spring’s “Lost in Yonkers.” Lynda is so good she can turn on a dime from the sweetest person in the world while joshing with the guys backstage into one scary lady once we are on stage. Lynda also played the role 10 years ago when RTC did the play the first time.

The nurse engages in an epic and legendary battle with new inmate Randal McMurphy, a rebel who is feigning mental illness to get out of a prison sentence and thinks he can game the system. Jack Nicholson made his mark by playing the role in the movie, which so many people loved. I did too ¬– until I found myself in the less well-known play which has so much more impact than the movie did. (And I’m hearing the novel is even better.) RTC newcomer John Stillwaggon does not take a 2nd seat to Nicholson as McMurphy in this must-see performance. John is an experienced actor and in this case I would say he was born to play the McMurphy role.

And oh those people playing the inmates. What a cast of characters and top-level actors, some of whom don’t draw the line between acting and being crazy. But more on them next time. Oh, and the Frank Ciati designed and master builder Tony Homsey set is so reminiscent of a real mental institution – or a school, which if you read my School Scope column you will see the similarities. (Director Michael Wotypra, also a teacher, constantly reminds me that Nurse Ratched is just another version of so many supervisors we have seen in the school system.)

Opening night is at 8PM on Friday the 13th – yikes – with other evening performances on Nov. 14, 20, 21 and Sunday matinees at 2PM on Nov. 15, 22.

Norm blogs at ednotesonline.com

Michelle Rhee Hubby: Are Sex Abuse and Charter School Scandals Catching Up With Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson?

The  Kevin Johnson story contains every evil perpetrated by the charter lobby. Don't tell me these are exceptions. Sure there are good charters but that is no reason not to fight for the entire movement to be stamped out.

Alternet: http://www.alternet.org/investigations/are-sex-abuse-and-charter-school-scandals-catching-sacramento-mayor-kevin-johnson

Investigations

Are Sex Abuse and Charter School Scandals Catching Up With Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson?

A former NBA star plays fast and loose with young women and taxpayer funds.

By Steven Rosenfeld / AlterNet

September 29, 2015

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26 COMMENTS

Photo Credit: www.facebook.com

Is Kevin Johnson the Democratic Party’s Bill Cosby?

The Mess at Success: Bloggers Go Wild on Eva/Success Academy

Some great stuff from the blogging world on the Eva/Success Mess.

Here are excerpts and links:

Success Academy has grown far too large to keep the lid on everything now.  Moskowitz enrolls 11,000 students in 34 schools.  She has around 1000 teachers and staff.  With such numbers and given their policies, there will likely be 1000s of former “scholars” and 100s of former teachers in short order, and all of them are not going to be intimidated into silence about what they saw while there.  The simple fact is that Moskowitz absolutely cannot keep total control over what people say and know anymore, and it is her own policies of driving away students she does not want and burning out teachers that has put her in this position.  So even if she fully recovers from this month, I think it is likely we will see many more months like this........Daniel Katz, Ph.D.
Eva Moskowitz and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Month

The real anomaly, however, is the fact that the exclusionary practice that Success Academy silently demands in order to "succeed" ever was mentioned in the New York Times, which has an editorial board that remains entirely enthusiastic about the paternalistic segregated charter reform schools that corporate America promotes as a hideous manifestation of educational justice in blackface....
Schools Matter
Success Academy Find Its Scapegoat

Eva says the "got to go" list was an anomaly, one of those wacky things that happens once in a blue moon.  Yet there have been stories for years of kids pushed out of Moskowitz Academies, for inconvenient behavior, low test scores, whatever. Eva is now demanding public funding for the Moskowitz pre-K but refusing to submit to required oversight by the city. Rules are for the little people, and that would be us, the people who serve all children. If there's an "anomoly," it's the fact that this particular list was placed in writing.......NYC Educator:  The Moskowitz Anomoly - Eva says the "got to go" list was an anomaly, one of those wacky things that happens once in a blue moon. Yet there have been stories for years of kids p...

Success Academy's tearful apology for a 'Got To Go' list of students isn't accepted by every parent

Moskowitz Presser Addressing "Got To Go" List Allegations Is Theater Of The Absurd

Melodrama, Moskowitz-style, via Eliza Shapiro at Politico NY:

Comment Exposes Success Charter And Achievement First Tactics of Child Abuse

They decided to start with younger and younger kids, so the communication of abuses would be harder to decipher. They decided to tell the parents one thing, and do another to the child. I once stood in the hall and listened to a dean yell so violently at a student (behind closed doors) that I couldn't even discern the infraction. The child was thoroughly convinced he had committed a sin so unspeakable based on her threats, that he was too afraid to report the incident to his parents, hoping the she wouldn't either.  

When you get detention for squeaking the rubber soles on the floor, or coughing. or sneezing in a disingenuous way; when you are taught that asking for help when you are told not to talk, is a level 4 "disrespect of a teacher" your world begins to change. Twilight Zone comes to mind.
........Abundant1 has left a new comment on your post "Eva's Got to Go, Not Children: NY Times Throws Another Grenade at Eva Moskowitz as She Holds Presser to Scam for More Money

----
Someone left this powerful comment on Ed Notes. We know how they work. To get rid of a child they don't want they start out with the small stuff - like demerits things described above. Young children especially those with some "issues" get that they are being picked on and then begin to react with frustration and begin to lash out and the school then has "documentation" of bad behavior.

Eva and her goons have people so scared of consequences - both staff and students, that a cone of silence has been placed over her operation. But now with some parents breaking the logjam, we are seeing something going on, not only with Success and Achievement First, but with KIPP. Teachers with long careers ahead are still too afraid to speak out publicly. And I still am betting they are forced to sign some non-disclosure agreement in their contracts.

These schools are run like the pre-Civil War southern plantations.

Success Academy, Achievement First, they are among the top offenders of tactics like this. The words in the article have been repeated time and again to city officials, and news reporters. We've had hearings and community gatherings. I spent my sons entire 5th grade in meetings trying to understand, advocate, advise, and reveal. Those who already knew had been resigned to the idea that the big money backers would make sure none of it would make a difference. As it had not made a difference over the decades that it took for these charter schools to become so prolific and take root in our communities. Now the story resurfaces as if it is news, but it is unmitigated child abuse that it is known by those in a position to change it, and or punish it, and here it is October 2015 still wrong and strong. God Bless people like Leonie Haimson who have not been deterred; and who continues to show up, and fight to expose and change the system of abuse for the children whose own parents barely know what is happening to them. 

When I see these mothers who are willing to participate in these propaganda commericals for these charter schools, I am sick about all that they don't know, and how their children are subsequently in a position to fend for themselves. 

I am glad this article repeats the one area that EVERYONE must know regardless of whether your child attends these schools or not. They are criminalizing these children to the point that the children are believing them, and begin to act as expected. When you get detention for squeaking the rubber soles on the floor, or coughing. or sneezing in a disingenuous way; when you are taught that asking for help when you are told not to talk, is a level 4 "disrespect of a teacher" your world begins to change. Twilight Zone comes to mind. 

What did the few parents who stood against their policies teach them? How to hide their abuses. They decided to start with younger and younger kids, so the communication of abuses would be harder to decipher. They decided to tell the parents one thing, and do another to the child. I once stood in the hall and listened to a dean yell so violently at a student (behind closed doors) that I couldn't even discern the infraction. The child was thoroughly convinced he had committed a sin so unspeakable based on her threats, that he was too afraid to report the incident to his parents, hoping the she wouldn't either. 

It is a layered problem, but lets start with the illegal stuff and take it from there. But when the office of child welfare stops taking calls, and when you do get through tells you it will be more than a year before anyone even thinks about investigating the complaint, hopelessness can set in. Even the NYC agency set-up to protect children with special needs, failed. It was clear there was a network of silence at work, that is well funded... Anyway, I go on... 

Hopefully this will be the year, this will be the story, this will be the child that will break the system's back. No more charter abuses!