Parent Open Letter to all NYS Superintendents and Board of Education Members — Do the Right Thing

Parents have been shouting from the rooftops what they want: the end of Common Core, the end of the developmentally inappropriate tests (both the level of “rigor” and the soul-crushing length of the tests), the end of high stakes testing (student testing tied to teacher effectiveness or school ratings), and the unfettered collection of their children’s data to stop.  

Tim Farley lays bare the phony rhetoric coming from State Ed Commissioner Elia.

December 31, 2015

Dear New York State Superintendents and Boards of Education Members,

I write this letter to you on the eve of a new year. The past year has brought many changes to education — a new Commissioner, a soon-to-be new Chancellor, new regulations on APPR (Annual Professional Performance Review), new Regents, a new testing company for the NY State tests, the Education Transformation Act, the partial moratorium of provisions of this Act, and the re-write of ESEA to ESSA. We are being told by some that everything is fine now, the parents can opt back in to having their children take the tests, the teachers can take a breath, and the children can stop stressing out. Let me assure you that this is not true.

Despite the well wishes of Commissioner Elia in her recent newsletter, it is doubtful that teachers will have a happy holiday. Ms. Elia tries to assuage the teachers’ fears in the opening paragraph with the following: “The emergency regulation removes any consequences for teachers’ and principals’ evaluations related to the grades 3–8 English Language Arts (ELA) and Math State Assessments and the State-provided growth score on Regents exams until the start of the 2019–2020 school year.” Teachers can take a much needed sigh of relief. Or can they?

In the third paragraph of the newsletter, Ms. Elia writes: “The transition scores and subsequent ratings will be determined based on the remaining subcomponents of the APPR that are not based on the grades 3–8 ELA or Math State assessments and/or a State-provided growth score on Regents examinations. During the transition period, only the transition score and rating will be used for purposes of evaluation, and for purposes of employment decisions, including tenure determinations and for teacher and principal improvement plans. State-provided growth scores will continue to be computed for advisory purposes and overall HEDI ratings will continue to be provided to teachers and principals.” What Ms. Elia gives teachers in the first paragraph, she snatches from them in this one.

In the first paragraph one might infer that no matter how poorly students do on the state tests, it won’t count against the teacher. However, she later clarifies that, in fact, the student test scores can and will be used for “advisory purposes.” Does that mean that teachers can still be fired for “ineffective” growth scores based on their earlier growth scores? You bet it does. The moratorium that the Board of Regents recently put in place is for state-provided growth scores moving forward. However, if a teacher or principal already has two “ineffective” state provided growth scores (2013–2014 and 2014–2015), under the new 3012d, if they receive an additional ineffective this year, they must be fired. In addition, the growth scores of the teacher must still be made available to parents.

As you are all probably well aware, the opt out movement has grown exponentially over the past three years, from about 20,000 in 2012–2013, to 65,000 in 2013–2014, to over 240,000 in 2014–2015. Why are parents opting out in such large numbers? What will happen this spring? Parents have been shouting from the rooftops what they want: the end of Common Core, the end of the developmentally inappropriate tests (both the level of “rigor” and the soul-crushing length of the tests), the end of high stakes testing (student testing tied to teacher effectiveness or school ratings), and the unfettered collection of their children’s data to stop. Additionally, Commissioner Elia signed a new contract with Questar without a full vetting or vote by the Board of Regents. Has enough been done to stop the opt out movement? I don’t think so.

• We still have Pearson making this year’s 3–8 tests in ELA and math. As a matter of fact, Pearson will also be playing a role in next year’s tests according to this Newsday article. As reported by John Hildebrand, “State education officials said local teachers and administrators will be given a much bigger role, working with Questar to write new test questions. Those officials acknowledged, however, that questions developed by Pearson must be used in tests administered in April and in the spring of 2017, because of the time needed to review new questions for validity and accuracy.”
• We will likely still have tests that are far too long and far too “rigorous.” Ms. Elia has stated that certain reading passages and some multiple choice questions would be eliminated, but admitted that these changes will not substantially reduce the length of the tests. The tests will still be administered three days for ELA and three days for math for grades 3–8.
• Despite a promise that onerous field tests would be eliminated if NYSED received $8.4 million to print different versions of the exam, they were provided with this funding but are still imposing field tests on the state’s students.
• We still have tests tied to teacher and principal effectiveness ratings. As stated above, teachers and principals can still be fired based on state-provided growth scores in grades 3–8 tests from the last two years — and all other teachers will have their effectiveness ratings based primarily on local assessments or high school Regents exams.
• We still have standards that are developmentally inappropriate and a Commissioner that is determined to make minor adjustments solely at the K-3 level.
• We still have a system in place that collects enormous amounts of data on our children, without protecting the privacy of this sensitive information. According to Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters, the Daily Mail reports, “Students’ names, emails, addresses, grades, test scores, disabilities, disciplinary information, health information, economic status, racial status and more,” are being collected by schools, districts and the state; with little or no restrictions on their disclosure.

Last year, the threat of losing any Title I monies for any district not meeting the required 95% participation rate was put to rest by Governor Cuomo, Chancellor Tisch, and then reluctantly, Commissioner Elia. They knew then that if they withheld any money that goes to the neediest students, it would have been political suicide. Yet, despite the fact that the new version of ESEA, called Every Student Succeeds Act or ESSA, specifically bars the US Department of Education from penalizing states that have high opt out numbers, they are still threatening the loss of federal money from any district not meeting the 95% participation rate.

According to this letter, dated December 22, 2015, from USDOE’s Ann Whelan — the threats/sanctions include:

• Lowering an LEA’s or school’s rating in the State’s accountability system or amending the system to flag an LEA or school with a low participation rate.
• Counting non-participants as non-proficient in accountability determinations.
• Requiring an LEA or school to develop an improvement plan, or take corrective action to ensure that all students participate in the statewide assessments in the future, and providing the SEA’s process to review and monitor such plans.
• Requiring an LEA or school to implement additional interventions aligned with the reason for low student participation, even if the State’s accountability system does not officially designate schools for such interventions.
• Designating an LEA or school as “high risk,” or a comparable status under the State’s laws and regulations, with a clear explanation for the implications of such a designation.
• Withholding or directing use of State aid and/or funding flexibility.

Clearly, these threats are being made to quash the opt out movement. However, I assure you these tactics will have the opposite effect.

There are roughly 700 school districts in New York State. That means there are about 700 Superintendents who were hired by locally-elected Boards of Education. These Superintendents work for their communities and they are evaluated by their Boards of Education. Superintendents know that VAM (value-added model) has been deemed invalid and unreliable in measuring teacher effectiveness. Superintendents know that the state tests are too long and are not developmentally appropriate.

One of the claims of the newly written ESSA was that it would re-establish state’s rights and “local control” with regard to education. Do these threats indicate more local control? Instead, the US Department of Education, now led by John King, our former Commissioner, whose rigid authoritarianism was soundly rejected by our state’s teachers, parents, and students, seems to be intent on ignoring what should have been learned through his experience: that parents will be even angrier and more intent on resisting the more they are exhorted to submit.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “In any society, it is every citizen’s responsibility to obey just laws. But at the same time, it is every citizen’s responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” It is long past time for our education leaders to lead the charge. The parents will opt out in unprecedented numbers this spring. However, what if the 700 Superintendents refused to administer the tests? What if their locally-elected boards directed them to do so? What if there was a test, but no one took it?

General Colin Powell once said, “Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems, is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.”

Who will stand up for the children? Who will stand up for the teachers? Who will stand up for the schools and for public education? Who will demand that we deserve better? If not you, who? If not now, when?

Sincerely,

Tim Farley

New York State Public School Parent

PS — Please share with the Superintendent of schools and Board of Education members where you live.

Families for Excellent Schools (FES), Facing Backlash from Public and Skeptical Press, Backs Off Charter Rallies

A MODEST LOBBY DAY - POLITICO New York's Eliza Shapiro: In lieu of the massive rallies it has held biannually since 2013, the charter school advocacy group Families for Excellent Schools will hold a modest "lobby day" on Jan. 20 in Albany, POLITICO New York has learned. The influential charter group recently decided to put its rally strategy - which has achieved diminishing returns - on hold. Rather than bus tens of thousands of parents and teachers to Albany, lobby day will put FES' legislative efforts more in line with other advocacy groups - education-related and otherwise - whose members convene at the Capitol each winter. While FES typically held its Albany rallies late in the legislative session, close to final budget negotiations, next month's rally day will be held as other groups are flooding the Capitol to meet with lawmakers in the wake of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's State of the State on Jan. 13, when he will lay out his legislative agenda. http://politi.co/1NP83Iw

Yes, closing down schools and force marching parents, children and teachers to Albany raised too many eyebrows.

All the rallies have been technically organized by FES but are overwhelmingly attended by Success students, parents and teachers.

The Eva backlash is also affecting FES which may not want to be so tied so publicly to toxic Success.

 More from Politico:

The influential charter group recently decided to put its rally strategy — which has achieved diminishing returns — on hold.

An October 2014 rally in Manhattan focused on failing district schools as an indirect means to advocate for more charters, but the "Don't Steal Possible" slogan revealed little about the group's specific policy goals to improve struggling schools.
A rally in March, in Albany, had an identical message; the group's CEO, Jeremiah Kittredge, became so visibly frustrated with reporters probing the group's vague policy goals that FES has not made him available to speak with the media at public events since.
Two rallies were held in New York City this fall; one for students and parents, the other for teachers. The teacher-led rally was intended as a show of force against the United Federation of Teachers, but garnered the most attention for its customized selfie sticks and photo booths. 

The events also present a biannual logistical feat for FES.
The rallies require FES to transport thousands of children who are given matching T-shirts, hats and signs to a public square with a massive stage and sound system. The rallies also always feature a prominent musical guest, from the DJ Questlove to the early-aughts R&B star Ashanti to singer Jennifer Hudson. Representatives for FES have repeatedly declined to give any details on the cost of the events, and have declined to say whether the musical guests' performances were donated. 
But, sources said, the cost of the rallies is not the reason they are being put on hold. While FES' leaders will not disclose its donors, sources indicate that the group is funded by a group of hedge fund managers that give to other education reform causes. FES broke a state lobbying record last year, and helped education reform groups outspend the city and state teachers' unions.

None of the rallies since March 2014 has been accompanied by pro-charter legislation, nor have they attracted politicans with the same influence and star power as Cuomo. The sole legislative exception is the modest boost in the charter cap the Legislature approved earlier this year. Still, the change was small enough that teachers unions took credit for preventing a significant cap lift. 
The events have also been complicated by the fact de Blasio has let charter schools grow and operate virtually untouched by the administration since his kerfuffle with Moskowitz in early 2014.

Outspending the teacher unions takes away a major talking point for the deformers.

For those of us opposing the union leadership, the massive amount they DO spend and get so little for it is a major talking point.

The Trump Whisperers in Supposedly Liberal Circles

Conversation in a gym:
He (a pharmacist with his own business): I don't want the same old thing. No Bush. No Clinton. No regular politician. I can support Trump. Or Bernie Sanders. The only problem I have with Bernie is how we would pay for universal health care.

Bernie or Donald? Pretty interesting choice.

At dinner with a friend: I'm scared of what could happen. Trump is at least saying things I am thinking.

At a party: I keep telling people that Trump is the only one.

For those who associate with a wide variety of people outside narrow political circles, there is a lot more pro-Trump sentiment in places where you might not expect it.

Fear of Trump is being used by Hillary supporters and even those who don't care for her - and even some people who might lean toward Bernie -

But just imagine a Bernie-Donald race. The left/liberal Trump haters would be motivated. And the right (and left) Hillary haters would have to shift their focus of hate.

We are in for interesting times.

Ohanian on The End of Public Schools: Every Teacher Who Declares She's Not Political Should Read This

http://susanohanian.org/show_commentary.php?id=1241

Every Teacher Who Declares She's Not Political Should Read This

Publication Date: 2015-12-21

  By Susan Ohanian  

The End of Public Schools: The Corporate Reform Agenda to Privatize Education
by David Hursh
Routledge
138 pages

David Hursh provides the overarching theme of his new book in the title: The End of Public Schools: The Corporate Reform Agenda to Privatize Education. Hursch offers documentation of the oozing together of corporations, private foundations, and governmental agencies with the result of privatizing public education.
Although traditionally a favorite claim in the faculty room has been a loud "I'm not political," books like Hursh's provide evidence that this cop-out is not only ignorant; it's shameful. Teachers must come to grips with the political reality that began in the late 1980ies when Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton held hands with IBM chief Lou Gerstner to deliver the Business Roundtable agenda.
Since then, the drumbeat to take education policymaking away from local school boards and embed it in federal mandates and financial coercion has been steady and increasing in volume.
In Chapter 4, titled "The Gates Foundation, Pearson, and Arne Duncan," Hursh details how the wealthiest person in the world is in synch with the largest education corporation in the world and the US Department of Education in pushing a neoliberal agenda for public education.
Hursh points to a number neoliberal positions shared by Gates, Pearson, and Duncan, positions that affect every public school child in the country:
• Promoting market solutions to social problems
• Promoting solutions that ignore economic inequality
• Putting huge emphasis on technological solutions
• Promoting private takeover of public institutions
As an example, Hursh points to the Gates Foundation involvement in Chicago. From promoting and then dropping small schools to embracing Renaissance 2010 (which included closing 100 schools and reopening two-thirds of them as charters), the Gates plan was adamant about excluding teachers from the planning because that "would be like having the workers run the factory." This public school closing and charter renaissance netted $100 million from the Gates Foundation.
What started in Chicago has spread throughout the country. Following Gates money through a love of KIPP schools and Common Core, we see the emphasis on top-down administration and a standardized curriculum as the key to excellence: excellent teachers and excellent students. For a look at how Gates is controlling curriculum, I suggest putting LearnZillion and Student Achievement Partners into a search on my website. And don't overlook the AFT's disreputable Share My Lesson, which also involves Gates money.
Traditionally, teachers insisted, "This, too, will pass." We figured all we had to do was shut the classroom door and wait for the pendulum swing. I hope that books like this one will convince a great number of teachers that this neoliberal plan for the schools has deep roots and won't go away without a fight. Resilient and determined teachers can't just shut their doors and outlast the pollution. This book will help teachers understand what's at stake and why we must stand up and fight. 

Hey, You, Leave Them Kids Alone - Carol Burris Takes Exon Chief to the Woodshed -

...our children are not products for your purchase. You, and the captains of industry (or whatever you call yourselves this century),

are not “the customers.” School is not a training camp to work on oilrigs, to pump gas or design lubricants. There is just enough democracy left to make students know they have choices, and more than enough parental commonsense left to know that community control of schools is slipping away.

.......Dear Mr. Tillerson of ExxonMobil: ‘Please leave our children alone’

Mr Rex Tillerson from Exxon Mobil thinks your children are "defective products" that need the Common Core. I don't so I decided to write him a note. Please read and share.Leave a comment. ...

Carol Burris at WAPO, replies to remarks Rex Tillerson made about public schools in a Fortune magazine story on the Common Core  entitled, “Business Gets Schooled,” in which author Peter Elkind chronicles in detail the involvement of big business in the development of the Common Core State Standards, as well as the lengths to which prominent individuals, including Bill Gates, have gone to sell the Common Core to politicians and the public. In Elkind’s story, Tillerson emerges as a new character in the Common Core battle, one who threatens politicians who do not support the Common Core.

....our children are not products for your purchase. You, and the captains of industry (or whatever you call yourselves this century), are not “the customers.” School is not a training camp to work on oilrigs, to pump gas or design lubricants. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/12/29/dear-mr-tillerson-of-exxonmobil-please-leave-our-children-alone/

Susan Ohanian Comments on Hillary Gaff and Ed Notes Hillary/Shanker Ed Deform History

Hillary didn't misspeak. Going off-script, she returned to her ed deform roots, mouthing her superiority to teachers and the schools in which they teach....
 
Looking, watching, and thinking is the hallmark of teaching.
Susan Ohanian

Susan has been on the case of deformers for decades. Here is her

commentary on my recent blog post about Hillary, Bill and Al Shanker going back to the mid-80s and the early days of Democrats/UFT-AFT and ed deform. In her commentary she goes deep into the nature of teaching and why Hillary - and Randi - don't get what it's all about and find it so easy to fall into the ed deform worm hole.

Hillary's Long History in Ed Deform and Why It Matters
Susan Ohanian
blog
2015-12-26 http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=869

Hillary's Long History in Ed Deform and Why It Matters by Susan Ohanian
Now Hillary supporters are on the defensive, explaining to dissenters what she really meant when she declared, "I wouldn't keep any school open that wasn't doing a better-than-average job" at an Iowa campaign stop, Dec. 22, 2015. They say we must look for "context."
Context?
Just what would the context be for such a remark?
What could it be? No matter how you slice it, this kind of remark positions school closings as a reform measure for school improvement.
As a commentor noted to the Washington Post Answer Sheet, "I feel you, and the Washington Post are quibbling. The amount of schools she wants to close is irrelevant. What matters is the cavalier, nonchalant way she talks about closing schools, which is one of the most destructive, disruptive options to vulnerable kids and vulnerable communities. Regardless of 'how many', this was a shout out to people who believe school closings is a feature of reform."
In Nothing New in Hillary's School Closing Comments -- Bill and Hillary Clinton: Over 30 Years of Ed Deform, longtime New York City teacher and activist Norm Scott gets to the heart of the matter by reminding us of the history of the current ed deform agenda which began with Democrats in the 198oies. Here, Norm quotes from a book about AFT leader Al Shanker.

Leading up to the 1984 presidential election, [AFT/UFT President Albert] Shanker expressed a willingness to consider another highly controversial measure to rid the schools of bad teachers: a movement in Arkansas and Texas, to test all teachers, including veterans (p. 288) .....At an AFT conference, Shanker invited Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton's wife, Hillary Clinton, who was the point person on education reform, to debate Rand researcher Linda Darling-Hammond about the testing of veteran teachers..... Politically, Clinton said, the weeding out of incompetent teachers helped create the political environment in which the public would support new taxes and further investments in education. Clinton praised Shanker for his willingness to discuss the issue. "Under Albert Shanker's leadership, questions once considered forbidden have been given the right to see the light of day," she said..... Richard Kahlenberg, Albert Shanker: Tough Liberal, chapter 14, p. 290.
[emphasis added]

A couple of years later, Governor Bill Clinton was holding hands with IBM CEO Lou Gerstner to deliver the Business Roundtable education agenda for President George Bush the Elder. Without saying "I told you so," I'll point out that I covered this in One Size Fits Few: The Folly of Educational Standards.

Norm continues:

Kahlenberg is describing ed reform movements by Democratic governors of Texas and Arkansas, at the earliest stage of the deform movement that tied the AFT/UFT to the Democratic party nascent ed deform wing, with the Clintons and the president of the AFT and UFT at the time playing a key role. For those Randi bashers who consider her a sellout and wish for the old days of Shanker, she hadn't even put her foot in the union door yet. . . .
Let's fully understand what our union leader and the Clintons were advocating. EVERY teacher should be retested. Imagine asking every driver to be retested. Or have every lawyer retake the Bar. Or for that matter, ANY profession. No, only teachers - the bad teacher rap was going strong --- in 1984 - a very pertinent year.
Now Hillary in her debate with pointed out that the tests were easy while Shanker claimed that a number of veteran teachers were illiterate
There's lots more in the Kahlenberg Shanker hagiography linking the Clintons and our unions, including their support for charter schools even after Shanker was beginning to look on in horror at what his idea had wrought.
The Clintons and our union leaders were the parents of ed deform, Democratic Party style.

Kazamm!

Hillary didn't misspeak. Going off-script, she returned to her ed deform roots, mouthing her superiority to teachers and the schools in which they teach.

In contrast, I just finished reading The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks.I admit to being enormously moved by the book, and I wondered how reviewers felt. Writing in the New York Times, Michiko Kakutani rightly declares this is "A book about continuity and roots and a sense of belonging in an age that's increasingly about mobility and self-invention."

She adds that it is "Hugely compelling."

The author, who writes about what it means to be a third-generation sheep farmer, graduated from Oxford University after quitting school as soon as he could at age 15. Then, he swore that he'd never let himself be trapped by such a place again. His love of reading drew him to Oxford, but in the meat of the book he talks about what it means to be a sheep farmer, drawing on the expertise of his father and grandfather who were also sheep farmers, as well as the expertise of colleagues in the field.

I agree with Michiko Kakutani's observation that "Expertise -- and explanations of the craft and clockwork behind the ticktock of a profession -- is hugely compelling when described with ardor and élan." But I feel a certain bitterness that Times staffers can so easily acknowledge the expertise of sheep farmers while remaining blind to that of teachers. Kakutani admires the author's love of his work, which he describes in both lyric and gritty detail.

This is the kind of book I tried to write when I described teaching 7th and 8th graders, Caught in the Middle: Nonstandard Kids and a Killing Curriculum.[Apologies for the Amazon link but it's the one place that still lets you get a look inside the book.]

This is understandable: the book reviewer is so drawn in to the tale because the tending of sheep is so exotic. Anybody can teach.

When the Times writes about teachers, more often than not, it's to describe one more political scheme to figure out how to rank and defile them.

An Oxford professor asked Rebanks what he made of the other students. I liked his reply:

They were okay, but they were all very similar; they struggled to have different opinions because they'd never failed at anything or been nobodies, and they thought they would always win. But this isn't most people's experience of life. He asked me what could be done about it. I told him the answer was to send them all out for a year to do some dead-end job like working in a chicken processing plant or spreading muck with a tractor. It would do more good than a gap year in Peru. He laughed and thought this tremendously witty. It wasn't meant to be funny.

I'd commend this plan to Hillary, to all the op ed savants at the New York Times, and to all the corporate politicos who pass laws in the name of education reform, who pass laws protecting corporate wealth. Let them all work in a chicken processing plant for a year.

And this:

There's always someone who knows more than you about sheep, usually someone older.

Wisdom from a third-generation sheep farmer who has won a ton of prizes.

And there's more:

Good stockmen spend a lot of time looking, watching, and thinking. That's what they are doing when they seem to be standing doing nothing looking over a gate as you pass them on the road.

Where's the lot of time looking, watching, and thinking in the Danielson framework? Or the teacher exams?

Or New York Times op eds on teacher quality.

Looking, watching, and thinking is the hallmark of teaching.

Rebanks notes
The egg timers in my head are always trickling away reminding me of things I need to return to. Knowing when it is best to interfere and when it is not takes years of experience.
Sometimes a stressed-out wee is best left alone--"so that you don't make things worse."

My grandfather had incredible patience with the lambing ewes, would leave them, and leave them and leave them....

I'd declare this as a needed mantra for teaching: Leave them, and leave them and leave them....
I wonder how many teachers these days would have the nerve to agree.
— Susan Ohanian blog
December 26, 2015

Randi Visits Philly an Attempt to Prop Up Union Leadership in Face of Working Educator (WE) Dissident Union Election Campaign

UPDATED With added links

[Philly Teacher Federation President and Randi fan] Jerry Jordan said the election announcement would be snail mailed to members at schools at the Thursday Executive Board meeting and they voted to accept. (The same meeting that expanded the number of delegates to the AFT convention from 70 to 100.) They refused to let WE members in attendance see the announcement and election schedule.... Contact in Philadelphia

No wonder Randi loves Jerry- a fellow undemocratic union leader. These kind of actions will certainly help gain support (tongue deeply in cheek) if Friedrichs comes down on unions.

National Union Leader Gets First-Hand Look At How Community Schools Concept May Play Out In Philadelphia | CBS Philly

Note that the expansion of delegates also gives Randi more support at the national AFT conventions - if Jerry Jordan slate defeats WE Caucus which is an ally of MORE.

Many of us are excited to see the emergence of WE Caucus especially since it is so new. Some pundits give them a puncher's chance at winning. If Philly joins other cities in falling to a more progressive union leadership Randi has to start worrying about all the progressive caucuses loosely affiliated nationally getting together to challenge her Unity dominated national caucus. That probably won't happen next summer in Minneapolis but observing if they gather together for even informal meetings and events will be a sign of the future.

So Randi shows up to punch Jerry Jordan's ticket and prop him up against WE and maybe give him some advice on how to use the full manipulations possible to stack the election to keep WE away.

Supplementary: Community schools model the way to go in Philly | Randi Weingarten and Jerry Jordan - Philadelphia Inquirer - December 28, 2015

Here is a message from Working Educators:

http://www.workingeducators.org/feb_4_get_your_pft_ballot_then_vote

Feb 4: Check the mail for your PFT ballot, then VOTE!

Posted by The Caucus Blog 5sc on December 21, 2015

Today, procedures for the 2016 Philadelphia Federation of Teachers election were released publicly.

Now it’s official: the Caucus of Working Educators will be running a full slate in the upcoming elections -- including PFT Executive Officers, Executive Board, and PA AFT and national AFT convention delegates. WE are excited for this election and the opportunity to involve every one of our 11,500 members in the work of strengthening our union and fighting for our profession and public education.

Whether this is the first time you’re hearing about the election, or you’ve been following the headlines since we announced our intent to run in September, here’s all the info you need:

1. You will be voting for 36 Positions: 9 Executive Officers, and 27 Executive Board Members.
2. You will also vote for 100 Philadelphia delegates to the national AFT convention in Minneapolis in 2016, and 100 delegates to the PA AFT Convention in 2017 (location TBA).
3. The election will be held via mail-in ballot. Ballots will be mailed to the homes of every PFT member on February 4th, and they need to arrive at the office of the American Arbitration Association by Tuesday, February 23rd.
   1. This means it is critical that you have an updated address on file with the PFT. If there is any possibility your address is not up to date, call the PFT Office ASAP to check at (215) 587-6738.
   2. If you do not receive your ballot, call the American Arbitration Association hotline at 215-731-2280.
4. Each slate will be able to send mailings to the addresses of every voting PFT member leading up to the election (but don’t wait around - help distribute WE flyers at your school today!)
5. A nomination and election committee will be formed with up to 5 members from each slate to oversee the election.
6. On February 24th at 9:00am, ballots will be counted by the American Arbitration Association, with members of each slate present as observers.
7. For the full official election procedures, download and share this PDF document.

So, are you ready to help Working Educators transform and re-energize our union to fight for the schools Philadelphia deserves? Here’s how you can help:

-Make sure your colleagues and friends know there’s an election coming up (you’d be surprised how many PFT members have no idea!).

-Invite members of the WE Slate to host a “Who are WE?” session for your colleagues at your school or a nearby location.

-Distribute buttons, stickers, pens or t-shirts in your school, and make sure to take a #WEWednesdays photo with everyone.

-Help hand out WE flyers at schools in your school, neighborhood, or by your workplace. Contact us for materials and needed locations.

-Support us and become part of the campaign by joining as a member or supporting member (for non-PFT members)!

-Donate to our fundraising campaign to pay for flyers, supplies, and events.

Add ons-
Related:
Community schools model the way to go in Philly | Randi Weingarten and Jerry Jordan - Philadelphia Inquirer - December 28, 2015

Schools Mattter: Pennsylvania is failing Philly's schools – so, close the schools?

by Daun Kauffman
Daun Kauffman is  North Philadelphia public school teacher. This article is posted on his blog  LucidWitness.com

A Very Merry Jewish Christmas Weekend; Two Movies, Chinese Food and Fidler on the Roof

Submitted for publication in The Wave, January 1, 2016, www.rockawave.com


A Very Jewish Christmas Weekend: Two Movies, Chinese Food and Fidler on the Roof
By Norm Scott

It was a very Jewish Christmas weekend as we continued the Jewish tradition going back to Moses of a movie and Chinese food on Christmas Day. The Bible tells us that Moses came down from the Mount starved for entertainment and food but found few restaurants open on Xmas - other than Chinese restaurants. And thus came the 11th commandment - all a Jew wants for Christmas is a movie and Chinese food.

Ah, tradition. We aimed to get a head start on on Xmas Eve for this venerable ancient Jewish tradition by heading over to see The Big Short where we were sure we would not face long lines and could pretty much walk in a few minutes before the 8:30 start time. I mean, who goes to a movie on Xmas Eve? Most Jews would be home resting up for the big next day ahead.

What a shock to find a crowded theater and SOLD OUT sign for The Big Short. For an 8:30 show? On Xmas Eve?

All the other movies at the multiplex started too late for us old folk to remain awake and we skulked back home to look for the Yule Log on TV. But not a yule log to be found. I couldn't even find one sermon. Times have certainly changed. There were actual TV shows all over the 500 channels. In the good old days of the 60s there wasn't much to see on Xmas Eve other than religious services. I remember scrounging around for any movie I could find in those days. I probably watched more bad movies on Xmas eve than at any other time.

We got up early on Xmas Day to make sure we could get an early start at the Regal 14th St where there were sure to be lots of choices. There was a line outside at 11:30 before the place even opened.

I know we're in NYC but can there be so many Jews? Will there be any room at a Chinese restaurant that evening? I took a look around-- a great number of people were people of color from all over the world it seemed. And probably some non-Jewish white people - like all these young people from out of town who did not go home for the holidays. Jews are not alone in their Xmas ritual. But do all these non-Jews also do Chinese food? Better get a reservation. But my wife has misplaced her list of Chinese restaurants which she painstakingly accumulated.

On entering, the first thing I notice: next to every showing of the The Big Short: SOLD OUT.

Capitalism must be in more trouble than we think. Are they all Bernie Sanders fans?

Well, the upshot is that we love Star Wars - people cheering for their favorite characters and even objects. Even the Millennium Falcon coming out of mothballs gets a cheer. And when [spoiler alert] CP3O appeared near the end I was so excited - CP3O is the voice on my WAZE app {"Turn right, master"). And he blames R2D2 traffic jambs.

Star Wars in 3-D cost us 37 bucks - for Seniors, yet. I used to pay a quarter for a double feature and a cartoon at the Premier on Livonia Ave.

We had to think of a way to sneak into another movie. Star Wars ended at 2:30 and we began to plot. Risk going downstairs to see The Hunger Games or stay on the same floor and see Spotlight? Life is full of tough choices. We decide to stay and see Spotlight, the story of how the Boston Globe exposed the story of abuses by priests. A little icky for Xmas day, but we ain't paying for another set of tickets. I was raised in a good Jewish home, after all.

Spotlight was so well done, but now it's time for that Chinese food. But that list my wife made is still not found. So we walk uptown and come to a lively French place and my wife is hungry. Going in there is a violation of the essentials of Jewry but even committing original sin is not worth dealing with a hungry wife. Besides it's not the first time I committed original sin - I am the only Jew who never saw Fidler on The Roof.

Saturday, we head over to the half price ticket line. Fidler is available, center left, orchestra seats. Oh, what a show. REDEMPTION, I sing in a deep baritone. And the list of Chinese restaurants is found and there is one on the way home. The food is wonderful in a decor recalling 1930's Shanghai. Though a day late, I finally get my Xmas Chinese food.

Fidler and Chinese food on the day after Xmas. Maybe it’s a new TRADITION!!!

Norm continues the TRADITION [sung in any voice at all] of blogging daily at ednotesonline.com.

Fred Smith, Poet Laureate of Opt Out - 'Twas the night before...

And then there’s Mulgrew who must choose who is winning

To claim he was backing them from the beginning. 

I first met Fred, a testing expert who used to work for the NYCBOE, when he contacted me about getting ICE members to assist in gathering data for his exposures of the evils of testing. Over the years, his involvement with groups like GEM and Change the Stakes has grown.

Fred is also a statistician for the NY Jets - don't blame him for their absence from the Super Bowl for almost 50 years.

Fred Smith convincing Jets dancers to boycott field tests - he's the one in the middle

Last year Fred Smith gave us this gem.
Fred Smith: The Day Before Xmas (With Arne Duncan ...
Here's another brilliant piece of holiday cheer from Fred.

‘Twas the night before Christmas of 2015.

My poor head was spinning from all I had just seen.

ESEA revisions were clouding my brain

And Cuomo’s Task Force sugar plums causing me pain.

In the City the Chancellor held town halls in schools,

“Engaging” parents to tell them testing still rules.

A district supt. warned teachers of testing taboos

And not aiding parents who might want to refuse.

A new exam company was coming to town,

Having just won a $45 million test crown.

Yes, Questar will be here bedecked richly in green,

Bringing a bright shiny gift that was ne’er-before seen.

Soon enough I knew we would find ourselves captive

Of competence-based tests/computer adaptive.

But Pearson was still here to make ‘16’s test toys

To be given again to New York State’s girls and boys.

And ‘ere I descended into more gloom and fog,

An inner voice urged me to chug two mugs of nog.

My mind became fuddled with stark dueling visions

Of sky riders this night on opposite missions.

On the right was a sleigh dark-sided and shady

With curly-haired driver and a pearly white lady,

Whipping a dreary team of worn out work horses,

Having clearly lost sight of where the real Force is;

Still maintaining the will to accomplish their goal

To fill all children’s stockings with Common Core coal.

Though Andrew and Merryl might be losing their grip,

For now, they would go forth in their moonless sky ship.

And there on the left stood a sleigh wreathed in light,

Poised to keep sailing upward in glorious flight.

For on this voyage the crew never slumbers,

And everyone counts in ever growing numbers.

There’s no one commander playing ego trip games,

So before we proceed, here are some worthy names:

Diane Ravitch and Haimson and Scott and Burris,

Analysts, activists and writers who stir us;

Jeanette Deutermann, Lisa Rudley, Buffalo Chris

On Long Island and upstate—throw them a kiss;

Nichols-Stone-Mata-Sopp-Zavala had what it takes

Parents to start City opt out and change the stakes;

Lisa North, Jane Maisel and Rosalie Friend,

True educators from beginning to end—

With Jia-Jeanne-Katie-Nancy-Edith and Ruth

Unafraid to fight Power by speaking the Truth;

And let’s not forget Regents Rosa and Cashin—

Both know the score and bring the stature and passion.

If anyone was left off the list afore-scribed,

Please put the blame on the quaff that I have imbibed.

Back to the sleighs racing to our children this year,

My bet’s on the one with all the wondrous reindeer

And then there’s Mulgrew who must choose who is winning

To claim he was backing them from the beginning.

I’m riding shotgun tonight with the Doboszes.

It’ll be 70 degrees; we won’t have red noses.

The reins in strong hands are pulled by Jamaal Bowman

Proven time and again he’s no melting snowman.

But seriously folks, our objectives this year:

To spread the joy of opt-out and lessen the fear;

To every City corner and to be very thorough;

To take back our schools for each child in each borough.

And though we’ve gained ground on the dark sleigh of the night

And while we firmly believe that our causes are right

We all are aware that we’re in a long fight.

But, hey—Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!

~Fred Smith

 

Nothing New in Hillary's School Closing Comments -- Bill and Hillary Clinton: Over 30 Years of Ed Deform

Leading up to the 1984 presidential election, [AFT/UFT President Albert] Shanker expressed a willingness to consider another highly controversial measure to rid the schools of bad teachers: a movement in Arkanss and Texas, to test all teachers, including veterans (p. 288) .....At an AFT conference, Shanker invited Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton's wife, Hillary Clinton, who was the point person on education reform, to debate Rand researcher Linda Darling-Hammond about the testing of veteran teachers..... Politically, Clinton said, the weeding out of incompetent teachers helped create the political environment in which the public would support new taxes and further investments in education. Clinton praised Shanker for his willingness to discuss the issue. "Under Albert Shanker's leadership, questions once considered forbidden have been given the right to see the light of day," she said..... Richard Kahlenberg, Albert Shanker: Tough Liberal, chapter 14, p. 290.

Kahlenberg is describing ed reform movements by Democratic governors of Texas and Arkansas, at the earliest stage of the deform movement that tied the AFT/UFT to the Democratic party nascent ed deform wing, with the Clintons and the president of the AFT and UFT at the time playing a key role. For those Randi bashers who consider her a sellout and wish for the old days of Shanker, she hadn't even put her foot in the union door yet.

Pretty interesting that Hillary's opponent in the debate was Darling-Hammond, who many opponents of ed deform looked at as their choice for ed sectary over Arne Duncan -- over 20 years later.

The NEA strongly opposed both the Arkansas and Texas plans.

Let's fully understand what our union leader and the Clintons were advocating. EVERY teacher should be retested. Imagine asking every driver to be retested. Or have every lawyer retake the Bar. Or for that matter, ANY profession. No, only teachers - the bad teacher rap was going strong - in 1984 - a very pertinent year.

Now Hillary in her debate with pointed out that the tests were easy while Shanker claimed that a number of veteran teachers were illiterate 

There's lots more in the Kahlenberg Shanker hagiography linking the Clintons and our unions, including their support for charter schools even after Shanker was beginning to look on in horror at what his idea had wrought.

The Clintons and our union leaders were the parents of ed deform, Democratic Party style.

NYC Educator comments on Hillary's comments:

Leaving Hillarytown

Bergtraum Admin Targets Former CL John Elfrank-Dana After Return from Serious Illness

I am back after 6 months on medical leave. The Compliance Clerks (formerly known and principal and dept. AP) have wasted no time in investigating (formerly known as

observation) my classroom- 6 times in the past 5 weeks. All drop-ins. Superintendent was in one, principal in a couple, principal's mentor in another and AP in the rest.

Since new teachers hired to replace senior teachers run out of the system pay the same dues, the UFT doubles its money as two teachers paying the same amount of dues each at the bottom rate can be hired.  ....John Elfrank-Dana

I was over at John's school (Murry Bergtraum HS) to drop off MORE newsletters for his staff. John was out for quite a while with an illness and is now back. He talked about the regressive UFT dues structure that harms newbies with a harsh dues payment - not prorated based on salary. Everyone pays the same dues. Thus both the DOE and the UFT have a vested interest in abandoning higher earning senior teachers.

Maybe with Friedrichs hanging over the heads of the union it is time for a change in dues structure.

Below is John's report on the MORE listserve where he also endorses Jia Lee and MORE, making this point:

I think they have the most democratic form of organization and also have a strong leader in Jia Lee. We need a democratic union for a start.

Yes we do need a democratic union. John, an ICEer from the early days, was in on the MORE experiment from the start about 5 years ago. Neither of us have always been happy with the progress - democracy is so messy - but the only alternative to Unity. I'll get into some of the messy aspects and track the progress in future posts.

John Elfrank-Dana

I am back after 6 months on medical leave. The Compliance Clerks (formerly known and principal and dept. AP) have wasted no time in investigating (formerly known as observation) my classroom- 6 times in the past 5 weeks. All drop-ins. Superintendent was in one, principal in a couple, principal's mentor in another and AP in the rest.

I suppose I should be grateful they are here to help. But, that's not the case. The new model, hence the term Compliance Clerk, is just to evaluate; to determine who they can run out. I got this from the principal's mentor last year in a meeting, and it's the only explanation that makes sense. When I said the principal and AP have very little experience and subject matter expertise, nor do they even teach a class, it is obvious they have zero capacity to lead by example. He said that's not what they are here to do. The new model makes them just a kind of Compliance Clerk (my interpretation). It's valid, and I respect the mentor's honesty. But, that's not the impression they give.

Since they are not here to help, I won't waste my time with the illusion of due diligence in the form of feedback meetings, pre-formal observations, etc. Why participate in a fraud? This new model may not have hit your school but it will eventually. It's bad for the administrators too. Imagine being put into a situation where you are pretending to lead but cannot?

And speaking of Illusions; the UFT plays its part too. They have put in place an appeals process and the APPR complaint form to give the members the feeling like they have recourse for unfair evaluations. I have been a chapter leader for 9 years and have yet to see an appeal reverse a decision more than once out of dozens of cases, or an APPR complaint have any kind of impact. If I am wrong let the UFT publish its statistics on rating reversals as a result of their appeals process. But, don't hold your breath.

The grievance process is the same illusion. Yes, you can file a grievance, let's say for illegally excessing your newly elected chapter leader (a true case a Murry Bergtraum). You file a grievance, it goes to Step 1 after a week when you meet with the principal. He/She always upholds their decision. You escalate to Step 2 if the UFT agrees. If they do you wait a month or more for a step 2. They did in this case. During the step 2 the principal brushed off the call in the Step 2 process and you have to reschedule. This was back in November. Still waiting... Maybe by August the step 2 will happen. Then the UFT, if the past is any guide, will reject going to arbitration when they find out they lose at step 2 (which is assuredly the case). The result: Murry Bergtraum High School has no union representation. The first time in over nearly 40 years.

Score 1 for the Compliance Clerks. Score 1 for the UFT? Since new teachers hired to replace senior teachers run out of the system pay the same dues, the UFT doubles its money as two teachers paying the same amount of dues each at the bottom rate can be hired.

Do you think it needs to change? There's a UFT election this spring. Tell your colleagues not to throw their ballot in the garbage for a change. The vast majority do. Mulgrew was elected by retirees (why he campaigns in Boca Raton, Fl.). There are good people running against the Mulgrew/Unity old guard. MORE and Solidarity. While I know Francesco Portelos as a courageous fighter, I am endorsing MORE as I think they have the most democratic form of organization and also have a strong leader in Jia Lee. We need a democratic union for a start.

Happy Holiday and In Solidarity!

Often Acting in Place of the UFT, Class Size Matters Deserves Our Support

Hey, if Friedrichs comes in against the unions, even though I advocate staying in the undemocratic UFT and paying dues, maybe people should shoot a share over to Leonie Haimson who tirelessly runs Class Size Matters (CSM) to advocate for the children, parents and teachers of this city. She consistently stood up to the BloomKlein admin and continues to stand up to the De Blasina admin, especially on its horrendous record on class size, which Carmen Farina, who ran a school on the upper east side, doesn't think is very important.

Leonie in Oz

But why wait to send CSM money when you can get a tax deductions right now? Leonie does what the UFT should be doing - exposing the gaps in ed policy in the DOE and State Ed Dept.

I view Leonie as our Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. sq

Or Super Girl.

(Any photoshoppers out there?)

I loved her latest post on her blog she writes about how the DOE insisted on giving a contract to the crooks at Custom Computer Specialists, 
who apparently have dirty pictures of the entire de Blasio and Farina administration. 

How Class Size Matters helped the city save $727 million, and our plea to the Mayor how to use these funds to give an early Xmas present to NYC kids

This is a priceless account of either outright stupidity by the Farina administration or if not that, and even worse, outright duplicity.

 Then there's this account of her intern's attempt to speak at a hearing.

Miho's Attempt to Speak Before the City Planning Commission about the need to build schools along with more housing

The following was written by Miho Watabe, Class Size Matters' research and outreach consultant.  The testimony she would have given on this issue follows her account of  how she was prevented from testifying in person. If you'd like to submit comments to the City Planning Commission, you can do so by emailing them at AHOUSING@planning.nyc.gov ; please copy Carl Weisbrod, chair of the Commission at cweisbrod@planning.nyc.gov as well as the Mayor at bdeblasio@cityhall.nyc.gov
And here is the call for putting your 2 cents - or more - into the pot to keep CSM and Leonie going strong. She has even offered to work on a new movie with the Real Reform Studio Team exposing the charter school scam. Does this woman ever sleep?

2015 year in review: Please give to Class Size Matters to keep us going strong! 

 

Information You Can Use in Your Chapter

My post the other day, UFT Politics: Activists and Organizers Are Not the Same Thing, addressed the issue of activists and organizers and how the tripod on the masthead of ednotes - EDUCATE, ORGANIZE, MOBILIZE - are key markers.

 Then last night, along comes this from Julie Neusner who I don't really know well but I am impressed with her work. The newsletter below is mostly education but also a bit of organizing outside school with colleagues, turning a happy hour into something MORE. I like how she links comments from Mulgrew at the DA with articles of interest on the same topic, plus some editorial comments.

DECEMBER UNION NEWSLETTER

Dear UFT members, 

Happy holidays! 

Thanks again to everyone who came out last month for the UFT happy hour. It was great to be together and to connect with union members from other schools. Hopefully we will do it again soon.

Some of you had the opportunity to meet friends from the Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE) caucus. Let me know if you’re interested in learning more about the caucus or getting involved. 

Below are some UFT news highlights from the month. 

Have a happy and relaxing break! 

- Julie

Things Mulgrew spoke about at the December Delegate Assembly:

NO MORE FEDERAL MANDATE TO USE STATE TEST SCORES TO EVALUATE TEACHERS!

This is huge. Last week, Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act banning the use of the federal government to mandate the use of common core standards as well as the use of student test scores to evaluate teachers. The use of tests will hopefully shift away from “test and punish” and will instead be used as a tool to assess and help students. Also, he says the government will begin offering incentives to schools that offer art and music.

http://www.uft.org/press-releases/uft-response-signing-essa-and-cuomos-common-core-task-force-findings

However, local measures will still factor in to teachers’ evaluation scores (for us, the DRP for reading. I’m not sure about math.) The process of administration’s ratings will remain the same. 

Hopefully Common Core will be phased out too. 

Cuomo’s Common Core Task Force, charged earlier this year with investigating the effectiveness of the rollout of Common Core standards, released its report this month advising a 4-year moratorium on the use of state test growth scores to evaluate teachers and students and an overhaul of the common core standards. Mulgrew says that the state will work with educators to develop its own developmentally-appropriate standards with a particular focus on fair standards for students with disabilities and for english language learners.  

Politicians on both sides have been opposing Common Core for quite some time. Here’s an article from the Atlantic this week about it. http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/12/what-happened-to-the-common-core-debate/421305/

—> Thank you, Opt-Out Movement 

This reexamination of the role of standardized testing in our schools is a huge step in the right direction and was likely influenced heavily by the Opt-Out movement—the collective refusal of students and parents to sit for state tests which was driven by union member and parent activism, which gained substantial traction last year. (Mulgrew didn’t mention this). See last spring's New York Times coverage of this massive action: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/nyregion/opt-out-movement-against-common-core-testing-grows-in-new-york-state.html?_r=0

In this post, 2016 UFT presidential candidate Jia Lee explains how the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 doesn’t do enough to reduce standardized testing and continues to prioritize private interests. http://morecaucusnyc.org/2015/12/09/the-disturbing-action-alert-from-michael-mulgrew/#more-4405

Success Academy will shorten its school days due to staff and student exhaustion

Apparently teachers don’t like working from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm and the network has had substantial employee turnover every year. 

More: http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2015/12/8585699/success-academy-plans-shorten-school-day

Many schools’ ICT classes are out of compliance 

The UFT conducted a survey of chapter leaders indicating that misuse of the ICT setting is widespread and a majority of schools reported that at least some aspects of their ICT programs are out of compliance. The UFT will spend the next season investigating and addressing compliance issues. 

Lots of breakfasts are wasted.

Apparently 70% of school breakfasts are thrown away, and students are often being served poor-quality or spoiled food. The UFT is pressuring the DOE to address the problem and find a way to make sure students are provided with high-quality breakfasts. 

In other union news:

"Over time, 'right to work’ laws destroy unions. That's their real purpose."

We’re all still freaking out about Friedrich’s— the SCOTUS case I’ve mentioned before with the potential to turn all states into “right to work” states.  If you’re still wondering why this prospect is so scary for all of us,  read this. It explains the issues created by free-riders and the way right to work legislation drives down wages and reduces rights and working conditions for all workers.

www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/14160-whats-wrong-with-the-right-to-work

Chicago teachers might strike again

Teachers in Chicago are threatening to strike amidst new austerity measures that could result in either a 5th of the unionized teaching staff being laid off or else massive pay cuts. They are advocating for less standardized testing. This article discusses the role of the union as an extension of the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as the need-- with a potentially devastating Friedrich’s decision looming-- for unions nationwide to follow Chicago’s model and organize to take direct action. 

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34092-impending-teachers-strike-in-chicago-adds-power-to-nationwide-debates-on-inequality-and-racism