UFT Elections by the Numbers: 2013 Results Are Baseline for #MORE2016

One reason I am usually pessimistic about UFT election outcomes is that the numbers rarely change drastically from election to election. At times in the past we did expect change. Like after the 2005 contract we expected better outcomes in 2007 - they were better but not by all that much. But when the day comes that the numbers get shaken up by a serious percentage we will know something is shaking.

Why an opposition can't focus on retirees or functionals: lack of resources
52% of the returned votes in 2013 was by retirees. 

The participation results, listed by division:

                               Mailed  ballots           Returned ballots

Functional:         51,040                          7,704

Retirees:              58,357                          22,462

Some people tell us to go after retirees. I'm opposed to putting resources into retirees - there are 50 years of thousands of Unity Caucus retirees who are still alive and they would never switch. I think the recent retirees might vote for us. Last time between MORE and New Action we got about 3000 votes from retirees.

Here are the totals:
                                   2013                                      2010

Functional Division (non-teachers)

MORE                       951                                                 708 for ICE/TJC

New Action             754                                                  1,175

Unity                         5,167                                              7,337

Retiree Division

MORE                       1,490                                             1,037 for ICE/TJC

New Action              1,880                                            2,234

Unity                          18,155                                          20,744

Unity lost about 2000 but MORE and New Action made little gains - in fact New Action lost a lot of functional and retiree votes.

While we are running a full 19 member functional slate for Ex Bd with secretaries, paras, OTs, guidance, social workers etc we still need a critical mass in each of these units to make inroads. So we can't do very much inside the functional units unless we have people who work in those non-teaching areas to do some essential organizing. But most of them are scattered among many schools and a big change in the functionals can only be expected when we see their individual chapters captured from Unity iron-clad control.

Focus on non retiree vote areas of the union
So my strategy and focus is on the teaching portion of the union where retirees don't vote:  the 3 basics --  elem, ms, hs divisions where a total of 23 Executive Board seats can be won which would give the opposition close to 25% of the seats and and a real foothold.

Elementary schools are the long-term key to winning power in the UFT
The key to any opposition getting a serious hold in challenging for power in the UFT is in the elementary schools which have been death valley for opposition caucuses - forever.

Let's look at Unity Caucus total for 2010 and 2013 in Elementary School Division (11 EB seats)

   Mailed  ballots(2013)           Returned ballots

Elementary:         34,163                          7,331

                              2013                             2010

Unity                          5,111                                7,761

Unity dropped over 2500 votes in elem schools alone between 2010 and 2013. 34,000 elem ballots were sent out. The historic problem for the opposition has been a serious lack of penetration out in the far flung district schools where Unity gets many elem CLs into the caucus. The District Reps keep a hawk eye on them to make sure they don't stray into opposition territory.
And they still can only manage less 7300 returns.

Look at the MORE and New Action totals:

Elementary School Division

                                  2013                                                2010 

MORE                       1,140                                               703 for ICE/TJC

New Action                534                                                 978

Basically MORE picked up what New Action lost plus a few hundred. Total of about 1700 - a number that makes me so pessimistic about making big inroads into the Unity majority in the elem schools. I've also seen Unity recover from big drops and it is not impossible for them to bounce back up to 7700. There is no way to gauge because last time we were surprised at all the low totals. But you never know. Theoretically, if MORE/New Action doubled their vote to 3400 (and I have no indication this might happen) and Unity dropped again - well, I can dream.

Which is why all the elementary school ed notes readers can go into their schools on May 6 and take out an organization sheet and go around the school and ask people if they will vote for MORE - and then send those tallies to old Norm so he can get an idea of where things stand. Then you can do one better -- have them bring in the ballot  - everyone has to make sure to not screw up the ballot or it won't be counted. Ideally, since so few people use snail mail and don't even know how to find a mail box, make sure all the ballots get mailed that day.

Middle schools - a slim maybe
Now let's take a look at the middle schools which the opposition one once - in 1991.
                                  2013                                                        2010

Middle School Division

MORE                       398                                                  248 for ICE/TJC

New Action               161                                                    421

Unity                        1,185                                                 1,981

                               Mailed  ballots           Returned ballots

Middle School:   10,807                          1,879

Astoundingly low totals of return and votes for both Unity and MORE and New Action. Unity dropped 800 ms votes and MORE gained 150 while New Action lost 250. If they doubled their vote to 1000 this time and Unity lost 200, VIOLA!

High schools in play
Now when we get to the high schools things get interesting.

                               Mailed  ballots           Returned ballots

High School:      19,040                          3,808

The returned totals are sad and the Unity totals dropped by 1000 between 2010 and 2013 - but they picked up the 452 from the New Action cross endorsement.

High School Division

MORE                       1,430                                              1,369 for ICE/TJC

New Action              452                                                  774

Unity                         1,592                                              2,595

Now if you just assumed the same totals as 2010 the MORE plus New Action would outpoll Unity in the high schools. But never underestimate Unity and I don't assume they will not do what it takes to increase their votes to fend us off. What I would love to see one day is the MORE/New Action vote once again, as it did in the 90s, reach 3000 in the high schools. Pipe dream I know but to me that would be a break. I think with the closing of so many big high schools the large opposition vote totals of the past is something we may not see again.

The totals will be a reflection of the work MORE people are able and willing to do in their own schools to get out the vote. Too bad we can't track the individual school voting pattern - we could reward the MOREs whose schools did well with wine and song and punish those who didn't do well by withholding snacks at meetings.


This data was compiled by Peter Lamphere.

#whatmoredoes: MORE on NBC - Teachers Defy Schools Chancellor to Critique Common Core, Encourage Opt-Out

They are members of the UFT and vying for leadership positions.... Chris Glorioso, NBC

The new faces of the opposition in the UFT: Lauren Cohen, Kristin Taylor, Jia Lee

Video posted on MORE website: https://morecaucusnyc.org/2016/04/09/video-of-more-teachers-opt-out-on-nyc/

Our UFT Presidential Candidate Jia Lee on WNBC 4 “Parents should definitely opt out. Refuse. Boycott these tests because change will not happen with compliance.” Our VP of Elementary Schools candidate Lauren Cohen said ““I want to tell parents that I’m not going to get anything out of the test. Their kids aren’t getting anything out of the test,” and MORE’s Kristen Taylor added that the tests are “fundamentally harming the education system”.

The report is on NBC by investigative reporter Chris Glorioso
who will be getting a call from the PR department at the UFT/Unity HQ for daring to talk to people in the opposition.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/New-York-City-Teachers-Defy-Chancellor-Common-Core-Opt-Out-374821661.html

Some NYC Teachers Defy Schools Chancellor to Critique Common Core, Encourage Opt-Out

Despite a warning they could be disciplined for expressing opinions on standardized tests, a trio of New York City public school teachers sat down with NBC 4 New York recently to criticize this year’s Common Core exams.

“Parents should definitely opt out,” said Jia Lee, a fourth- and fifth-grade teacher at The Earth School in Manhattan. “Refuse. Boycott these tests because change will not happen with compliance.”

“I want to tell parents that I’m not going to get anything out of the test. Their kids aren’t getting anything out of the test,” said Lauren Cohen, a fifth-grade teacher at P.S. 321 in Brooklyn.

In an email to the I-Team, Devora Kaye, a spokeswoman for Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina, said teachers are allowed to criticize standardized tests as long as they express opinions in their capacity as private citizens. But if teachers are speaking as representatives of the Department of Education, they should not advise parents to opt out of the state exams.

“If they do so as representatives of the DOE, they may be subject to discipline,” Kaye said.

But teachers who oppose the tests say the lines between their identities as educators and private citizens are often blurred.

“It’s hard to know whether I can say I’m a private citizen when I’ve already been identified as a teacher,” said Cohen.

Kristin Taylor, a third-grade teacher at P.S. 261, said she believes the Common Core tests are “fundamentally harming the education system,” but she’s worried she’ll damage her career if she tells parents directly that they should opt kids out of the exams.

“Out of concern over my position in the public school system, I don’t feel at liberty to say whether you should," she said.

In December, Anita Skop, the superintendent of Brooklyn’s District 15, said teachers have no right to tell parents they believe they should pull kids from standardized tests.

"A teacher cannot get up in the schoolyard and say to a parent, 'I think you should opt your child out,'" Skop said.

When contacted by the I-Team, Skop reiterated that position, but said she has not disciplined any teachers who defy that rule.

“I have never been instructed to discipline anybody and I don’t intend to,” she said.

According to the DOE, no teacher has been disciplined for telling parents to pull kids out of exams.

In the past, critics have opposed the exams on grounds that scores could be used in teacher evaluations and decisions about student promotion. This year, Farina said those critiques have been eliminated.

“We sent teachers to Albany to help review the test and look over the test,” Farina said. “We also are not using the test results to hold students back and we’re not using the test results for teacher evaluations.”

At a news conference on Monday, Farina suggested the decision to pull a child from the exams would be misguided.

“I don’t believe in opting out,” Farina said. “Honestly, you’re teaching kids that it is OK not to do the whole work. It really is important when you go to school to be accountable for what you’re doing.”

Michael Elliot, a parent in Park Slope who has pulled his child from three standardized exams, said it seems unfair that the chancellor should be able to advise parents to opt in when teachers are told they can’t tell parents to opt out.

“There's something that is very hypocritical about it, that you're allowed to speak in favor of the test. As long as you toe the line, political speech about the test is OK,” Elliot said.

According to the DOE, about 416,000 New York City public school students are taking the state’s standardized exam this week. Kaye said the DOE does not have a count of how many parents notified their schools that their children would be opting out of the test this year.

Published 43 minutes ago

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Follow Chris Glorioso

Opt-Out News: Rising Numbers of People of Color, Tales of Intimidation and Threats on Students and Parents

...my principal has been snide and sneaky with comments and giving opt out kids homework while testing kids don’t get any...

 

Unfortunately, getting multiple reports about bad behavior at PS x--a kid who brought in a letter today but was made to sit for the test. A kid who opted out but whose mother was contacted at 4pm and pressured to have the kid sit for days 2 and 3--this one makes NO sense to me!

----opt-out parents

The opt-out listserves were buzzing with news all day including emails from parents who were intimidated or in some cases where they sent an opt out letter that was ignored and their child forced to sit for the test.

The Farina blitz against opt-outs has with a target on the backs of schools with high numbers last year but with principals subject to pressure might be having an impact on keeping city numbers from jumping, though there are reports of some breakthroughs in communities of color.

Let's hope the activist parents decide to compile and go after the principals who are doing this stuff. Nothing like a little media attention.

Some more comments:

Castle Bridge is reporting 70 opt outs ‎out of 73 3rd and 4th graders.

Kate Taylor was at PS 261 this morning and interviewed me and a friend. Never now if anything will come of this but as of yesterday we had 203 out of 368 kids opting out. That's 55%. Down a bit from last year's 65% but still a large opt out. PS 261 is giving alternative assessments created by the teachers and graded by the teachers in place of the tests. I told this to Kate Taylor as well. We shall see what she actually reports... a parent

NOTE: Kate Taylor's article on the Times today was weak.

Belkis and Yoli  on CBS2:
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/show/cbs-new-york-videos/video-3382099-common-core-testing-to-begin/

Woo hoo!
Counting 3 MOREs in the news yesterday with the opt-out folks in Jackson Heights -

http://www.ny1.com/nyc/queens/news/2016/04/3/queens-councilman--parents---advocates-say--no--to-standardized-tests.html

NYSUT Ran $14million Deficit in 2014: EIA on NYSUT Finances

http://www.eiaonline.com/intercepts/2016/04/05/new-york-state-united-teachers-finances-2/

New York State United Teachers’ Finances

Written By: Mike Antonucci - Apr• 05•16

New York State United Teachers is the teacher union equivalent of “too big to fail.” In 2014 NYSUT increased revenues by $3.7 million and cut staff costs by $17 million and still ran a deficit of almost $14 million. Its gargantuan negative net worth is due to holding staff pension and post-retirement health care liabilities of an astronomical $400 million.

Total membership – 388,875, up 3,309 members
Total revenue – $137.4 million (88.4% came from member dues), up $3.7 million
Deficit – $13.8 million
Net assets – negative $313 million
Total staff – 562
Staff salaries and benefits – $101.6 million
Highest paid employee – Richard Iannuzzi, former president – $254,353 base salary
Highest paid contractor – Herbert L. Jamison & Co. – $635,825

In 1983 Clinton teamed with Walmart to attack public education - With UFT/AFT/NYSUT as Allies

John Beacham exposes some of the roots of Hillary links to ed deform and Ed Deformer in chief, Eli Broad but doesn't delve into the 3rd part of the triad - Albert Shanker and the AFT/UFT/NYSUT complex.

The Richard Kahlenberg Shanker bio has the full story of the Clinton/Shanker/Broad alliance. In fact, Eli Broad helped fund the Kahlenberg effort. Shanker even brought Hillary to the AFT convention in the mid-80s to promote the Arkansas ed deform movement and of course the entire Unity Caucus bought it and continues to buy into ed deform.

Yes - if you are running with Unity Caucus in this election or supporting them YOU are supporting Ed Deform and voting for the destruction of your own school.
More below

The WAVE: Success Charter Is Reason Suspension Program Moving to Beach Channel Campus

School Scope’s Norm Scott charges that Success Academt founder Eva Moskowitz is “a politically connected and aggressive charter school leader, who closes her schools and uses the kids, parents and teachers as a political tool.”
 
My April 1 column in The WAVE - page 4.

http://www.rockawave.com/news/2016-04-01/School_News/Success_Charter_Is_Reason_Suspension_Program_Movin.html

Success Charter Is Reason Suspension Program Moving to BCEC

School Scope

By Norm Scott

 
 

Both Rockaway papers had major stories last week about the move of a suspension program out of IS 53 into Beach Channel Campus. Neither paper pointed to the connection to the incoming politically connected Success Academy charter as the reason.

Former Wave editor Howie Schwach was on the case on his
OnRockaway website:

Program for troubled teens coming to Channel Campus; Goldfeder wants study: Coming soon to Rockaway’s Beach Channel Educational Campus a program that will bring 150 hard core students, suspended from their schools for such transgressions as setting fires, assaulting staff and other students, using a weapon on school grounds and the like. The program, now running at IS 53 will soon be moved because space in that school is needed for a new Eva Moskowitz Success Charter School.

My only complaint is that Howie didn’t call her Evil.

I had to laugh at the headline. Phil, who supports charter schools, wants a study when the answer is right in front of his face.
Moskowitz is a politically connected and aggressive charter school leader, who closes her schools and uses the kids, parents and teachers as a political tool, and always gets what she wants. She did not want her precious “scholars,” who have been known to pee in their pants in terror, to have to be in the same building with kids, in Schwach’s words “who have gone the school suspension route a number of times or who have committed offenses that fall in the high end of the city’s Discipline Code, level four or five offenses such as assault, bringing a weapon to school or setting a fire. Violations such as those go to a Superintendent’s Suspension, which can bring time out ranging from a month to a full year.”

There was no accident that the socalled “hearing” was held on St. Patrick’s Day. The DOE and Mayor Bill de Blasio live in fear of Eva and know full well that if they did not move the suspension program millions of dollars of ads might appear charging him with endangering her children.

How about Phil joining many others around the city in calling for a study of the disciplinary practices at Success Charters?

I did find all three reports in the Rockaway press seeming to feel moving the program to Beach Channel out of IS 53 and into Beach Channel is a bad thing. What about all the students at IS 53 which has been living with the program so far? What have been the outcomes there? And what about these troubled kids under suspension? Do we abandon them? What exactly is the solution? A site outside a school setting? Where?

Howie reports there are 38 sites with one in each district for the District 88 Alternative Learning Sites, so there are 38 schools with the same program. If these kids are dangerous no matter what school they are in requires proper security and more importantly, counseling services for these students.

Rockaway politicians must delve deeper into the issues affecting all students and not just jump on bandwagons.

Don’t forget. Sunshine Boys opens April 1 at the Rockaway Theatre Company at Fort Tilden.
Norm blogs at ednoteonline.org.

-->

UPDATE: The New Faces of Opt-Out as Movement Begins to Reach Parents of Color

The newest faces of opt out - this school went from 2% last year to 25% today.

Jamaal Bowman's school posted the highest increases on the  ELA and math exams. But, as these parents and their great principal know--It's not about the scores... Parent on Change the Stakes listserve 

Bronx News 12 did a video of parents speaking up at this
Bronx school headed by principal Jamaal Bowman - but it is behind a pay wall. The school had the largest rise in scores last year trumping the deformers when they try to claim opt out is a way to cover potential bad scores. If it comes down from the pay wall you will see non-white people talking opt out - a major nightmare for the deformers who have preyed on the communities with their testing and charter school agendas.

Here's the you tube link: http://youtu.be/xDWjuKK7dnQ

http://bronx.news12.com/news/parents-opt-children-out-of-standardized-testing-in-the-bronx-1.11651855?pts=87995

Last year I wrote about an early stage opt out movement wedging into the black middle class schools after Change the Stakes was asked by a PTA president to visit her school and talk to a PTA meeting. I filled in that morning and saw what was coming. And I bet so did the ed deform crowd running state and city education which is why they created their puny changes in the tests to try to undue the opt out momentum, which once it dies, they will pull another slam dunk.

Mark Naison comments on this issue on a panel in January 2016:

BK Nation Forum Defuses Stereotypes About Opt Out as a "White Movement"

Things are shakin' but we will see how far the deformers, including our own Unity Caucus leaders, will defuse things when the numbers begin to come in.

Also time to revist the Bald Piano Man opt out video from last year: https://youtu.be/D066lb9fbQA

He also did this funny video 

Pearson Rep DEFENDS The Tests - It's Stupid to Opt Out!! (DON'T WORRY - IT'S JUST A JOKE!!!)

#WhatMOREdoes: Supports Opt-Out Which Defends Teachers Against Ed Deform Onslaught

MORE was far ahead of the curve in linking the battle over high stakes, connecting opt-out to the assault on teachers while Unity Caucus plays footsie with Farina, Elia and a host of ed deformers.

One MORE reason to VOTE MORE:

One of the keys to building a powerful union is building strong alliances. Even pre-MORE, some founders, as members of ICE and GEM, helped start the opt-out movement through organizing with other teachers about the impact of testing and that began to attract parents who quickly took over the testing information program that then morphed into the opt-out movement through Change the Stakes, an offshoot of GEM. MORE teachers who are also parents played a dual role by opting their own children out of tests.

The film we made through GEM, The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman,  is considered one of the first shots fired back against the ed deform movement.

Thus MORE which emerged out of GEM has its basic roots in the battle against high stakes testing and the formation of the opt-out movement.

MORE teachers realized was that high stakes testing was the major weapon of ed deform to attack teachers and close down their schools in favor of charters which leads to loss of jobs and the creation of the ATR crisis.

If you don't believe it just see the reactions of the ed deform supporting press and the astro-turf organizations like Students First which actually got an appearance yesterday on the Brian Lehrer show posing as a grassroots group of parents supporting the tests. Brian barely challenged her claims.

The link of test scores to teacher performance was a big wake-up call to the rank and file - and Unity Caucus is still selling that link as a better way to fight unfettered principal power which causes everyone to scratch their heads since Unity Caucus played a big role in handing over this power to principals in the first place.

Thus, the reality is that MORE was far ahead of the curve in linking the battle over high stakes, supporting opt-out to the assault on teachers while Unity Caucus plays footsie with Farina, Elia and a host of ed deformers.

Below is the MORE statement released this morning - and when asked "what does MORE do?" this is just one item in a list of many to come.

morecaucusnyc

MORE Supports Opt-Out

The members of the Movement and Rank and File Educators (MORE-UFT) stand in solidarity with and support the students, parents and fellow educators who are taking a stand against the tools being used to destroy public education.

By standing together against the interests of corporate driven education reforms, whose sole purpose is for profit, we are creating a vision for the kinds of schools our students deserve. The opt out movement is speaking loud and clear against the systematic ranking and sorting of our students, teachers and schools.

By denying the data, communities are standing up for educators to be able to teach to the whole child, to respect and attend to the rich diversity of student interests and ways of learning and to teach in culturally relevant and developmentally appropriate ways.
We are grateful to the principled actions of so many who are organizing and working to protect the professional autonomy of educators so that our students can thrive.

“To educate as the practice of freedom is a way of teaching that anyone can learn. That learning process comes easiest to those of us who teach who also believe that there is an aspect of our vocation that is sacred; who believe that our work is not merely to share information but to share in the intellectual and spiritual growth of our students. To teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin” (Bell Hooks 1994)

We are keenly aware of how our teaching conditions are inextricably linked to our students’ learning conditions. We will continue to work alongside our school communities to fight for the schools our children deserve.

On May 5th ballots for UFT officers will be sent to your house. MORE has supported educators who speak out against testing, refuse to administer these tests, and those that opt-out their own children. We have opposed Common Core from the moment it was forced upon teachers without our consent. UFT President Michael Mulgrew and his Unity caucus have not offered any support to educators and parents opting out of testing, refused to endorse resolutions calling for an end to high stakes testing, and have been staunch defenders of Common Core.

Our Presidential candidate Jia Lee, Chapter Leader of The Earth School was quoted in this article in the NY Post
‘Opt out:’ Teachers email parents to boycott Common Core tests

NY Post brands Jia Lee and Colleagues as "Renegades"

Earth School teacher Jia Lee, a union activist and opt out supporter, said she tells parents of her anti-testing position when asked... anti-union "reporter" Carl Camponile, NY Post.

When Carl called the MORE phone number I knew he had an agenda - to paint the opt out movement as being union led. He knows full well Mulgrew and crew don't support opt-out and I made it clear that Jia was running against Mulgrew. Note how Camponile frames Jia as being "a union activist and opt out supporter" to make it appear the UFT is connected to the opt out movement, a goal of ed deformers everywhere - to make that link.

The press black out of MORE continues.

If MORE ever reached the stage of seriously challenging Unity watch how fast the Post and rest of the press urges people to vote Unity.

http://nypost.com/2016/04/04/opt-out-teachers-want-parents-to-boycott-common-core-tests/

Chalkbeat Helps Lead Assault on Opt Out - As Predicted

Every single link in today's Rise and Shine is an assault on Opt-out.
My earlier post nailed Chalkbeat's funding sources.

Revealing Campbell Brown and "The Seventy Four" Bogus Ed Journalism Site, Funders Linked to Chalkbeat and Edweek

They feature at the very top, guess who?

Eva Moskowitz: Opt-out movement will leave students unprepared

“I really believe in the tests – I seem to be the only one left standing,” the Success Academy CEO said Friday afternoon, against the backdrop of thousands of children singing to pop songs whose lyrics were changed to extoll the virtues of learning and test preparation. Read more.
And follow up with these:

With state tests set to begin Tuesday, some are predicting that the opt-out movement will continue to grow, even though the consequences of those tests have diminished. Wall Street Journal
Plenty of New York City principals and parents still see the tests as a normal, and even helpful, part of a child's school experience. New York Times
Some teachers have gone further in encouraging students to opt out by sending anti-testing information home to parents. New York Post
The nonprofit High Achievement New York has launched a counter-campaign, with the tagline “Say Yes to the Test." New York Daily News
Al Sharpton says he opposes the opt-out movement because the test results help shine a light on educational inequality. New York Post, Politico New York
Upper West Side parents are still worried that opting out will hurt their children's chances of admission to a selective middle school. DNAinfo
Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz said Friday that she seems "to be the only one left standing” supporting state tests, just after thousands of her students gathered for a “slam the exam” pep rally. Chalkbeat
Three Success Academy charter schools didn't have copies of the tests last week, worrying school officials. New York Daily News
Editorial: Parents, you've been heard. Now have your kids take the damn tests. New York Daily News
Editorial: It's "pathetic" to see education leaders across the city and state pander to the opt-outers. New York Post

Revealing Campbell Brown and "The Seventy Four" Bogus Ed Journalism Site, Funders Linked to Chalkbeat and Edweek

The Seventy Four and the takeover of America's schools

“Our public education system is in crisis” warns the Seventy Four in its mission statement, echoing the refrain of billionaire school privatizers over the last decade plus. It’s evidence that Brown’s latest venture is dedicated to pushing what has become known as the “awfulizing narrative” that America’s schools are broken beyond repair; that teachers, unions and locally elected school boards are to blame; and that the only way to fix our education problem is by dumping one of America’s oldest democratic institutions—public schools—in favor of a market-driven system.

After Brown announced the Seventy Four was coming and the site’s backers were named, numerous education watchers wondered aloud whether an education news website underwritten by a collective that has poured billions into school privatization would even attempt to offer impartial journalism..... Kali Holloway http://www.alternet.org/education/campbell-brown-new-leader-propaganda-arm-school-privatization

A few weeks ago the morning Chalkbeat linked to 2 articles on the Campbell Brown run "The Seventy Four" without any disclaimer. I wrote about it: Chalkbeat Treats Campbell Brown Led Ed Deform Site as Legit News Source.  After reading that my old ICE pal Julie Woodward sent me the Alternet piece which mentions Chalkbeat as being funded by these same sources. Of course they will say Randi and the AFT also gives them money -- just a different version of ed deformer.

But why should those who read Chalkbeat's carefully calibrated coverage to give the impression of journalism be surprised?

Alternet's in-depth piece linking the ed deform funders to control of the press. Follow the money as one wise sage once said.

It’s not just Brown, though. A look at the back end of education media reveals plenty of outlets that are funded by those seeking to displace public schools in favor of a market-driven system. Media Bullpen, published by Walton grantee Center for Education Reform, bills itself as an education “media watchdog,” and receives funds from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Walton family and the Gates Foundation. (The Columbia Journalism Review notes a managing editor job ad explicitly sought a “passionate advocate for education reform.”)  Education Post, “a nonprofit, nonpartisan communications organization,” launched with promises to promote “an honest and civil [education] conversation,” as well as $12 million in startup funds provided in part by “the Broad Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies [and] the Walton Family Foundation.” (Per the Washington Post, the site’s three areas of focus are “K-12 academic standards, high-quality charter schools and how best to hold teachers and schools accountable for educating students,” the Holy Trinity of education reform.) Brown’s Seventy-Four, it turns out, is just another holding in the portfolio of the education reform lobby.

Not every group is so nakedly apparent in its goals. Well-respected education blogs including Chalkbeat and Education Week both receive funds from the Walton Family Foundation (in the latter case, specifically for “coverage of school choice and parent-empowerment issues,” a long-winded way of saying pro-charter pieces.) The 3,000-strong Education Writers Association receives money from Gates and Walton, while the L.A. Times—which maintains that it retains editorial control—receives funds from Broad for its Education Matters Digital initiative.

Even the so-called non-bought off press - like the tabloids and even the NY Times coming down on ed deform -finds all kinds of ways to support ed deform. See that awful April 2 Kate Taylor piece on opt out where she went to a school in Chinatown of all places to find the least likely parents to opt out - and include Eva quotes too (Kate making amends for being attacked by Eva for her devastating stories?). -- Despite Protests on State Testing, Some New York City Parents Are Happy to Opt In

The Alternet piece lists more funded ops:

As mentioned above, the Walton foundation provides money to an unexpected list of progressive entities. As Inside Philanthropy puts it “[i]t's heartening to see philanthropy coming to the rescue of journalism. But the trend is also problematic...Nowhere is the influence of private money over public life more pronounced than in K-12 education and yet, as it turns out, the specialized media most likely to raise questions about the trend are themselves supported by foundations.”
We haven’t even gotten to various other media campaigns guided by the invisible hand of school privatizers and built on a foundation of billionaire corporate reform stacks. Gates and Broad both underwrote the multi-year “Education Nation” broadcasting initiative, which brought education-focused programming to NBC staples “such as ‘Nightly News’ and ‘Today’ and on the MSNBC, CNBC and Telemundo TV network.” The Walton Family Foundation reportedly provided the cash for Chicago Public Schools to purchase ad space for videos to spin the closures of 50 traditional public school even as charters increased in the city.

 The entire piece is below the fold or at: http://www.alternet.org/education/campbell-brown-new-leader-propaganda-arm-school-privatization

Jia Lee and Staff Won't Be Gagged -- Earth School Teachers to Parents On Testing and Public Education

"We are bemused by this lack of agreement from local and state officials, while questioning the wisdom of a school system that would disempower teachers from discussing the merits of educational mandates with the families they serve.'' .. Earth School Staff, https://earthschoolteachers.wordpress.com/

Staff of Earth School where Jia Lee is chapter leader

A Letter to Families

A Letter On Testing and Public Education

Dear Families,

Our staff recognizes the inherent discomfort in discussing differences in educational values and choices. Our commitment to the children in our community continues to be our priority regardless of the testing choices of families. This year, we will have students who sit for the State Tests and they will be nurtured and supported through the process. We will also have students who opt out of State Tests and they will be nurtured and supported through alternative learning and assessment activities. 

Public education is important to us. As teachers, we share a deep commitment to our school’s mission and have chosen public education because that is where our values lie. The founding teachers of our school envisioned a “dream school”: a public school to serve diverse students and families. Our participation in public education comes with responsibilities and implicit agreements–a social contract. We agree that all of society benefits when children have access to quality education. We also share the uniquely democratic hope that children who learn together will later govern together with more compassion, more social cohesion, and a greater sense of civic responsibility.

From its founding, public education has held a political purpose. Thomas Jefferson viewed education as a necessary foundation of democratic life. In practice, however, public education has been deeply inequitable. It is fitting, therefore, that the “spark” of the modern civil rights movement came in the form of a legal challenge to educational equity. Thurgood Marshall successfully argued that “separate was not equal” in Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka. If we believe in public education from Thomas Jefferson to Thurgood Marshall, two things seem necessary: first, we must preserve the “public-ness” of public education — democratically governed and in service of the public good. Second, we must fight for equity in education.  

In the past decade, an alternative vision for public schooling has taken hold. Education philanthropists have poured billions into “remaking” public education. The Common Core Learning Standards were an important first step in that vision. Bill Gates, whose foundation primarily funded the Standards, explained, “When the tests are aligned to the common standards, the curriculum will line up as well and unleash powerful market forces in the service of better teaching. For the first time, there will be a large base of customers eager to buy products that can help every kid learn and every teacher get better.” He was citing a well-known business strategy already working for products like the the SAT and high school exit exams. When extended to elementary schools, tax dollars flow to private vendors offering tests, data management, hardware upgrades, and a range of pre-packaged curriculum solutions laser-focused on raising test scores. 

Policymakers have embraced reforms with a simple logic: Test scores provide the data for judging the success and failure of schools, and private companies hawk product solutions to keep test scores high. The new reforms promote business efficiency and doing more with less, which has emboldened policymakers wanting to cut budgets. The solution to persistent gaps in education achievement is to raise standards and test scores, rather than fight for financial resources, or demand government action to address societal inequities.

In this decade of reforms, Earth School has endured severe budget cuts. We have lost an assistant principal and a math coach, cut support team to a part-time position, and lost two of our four office staff. We are not budgeted for Physical Education, Dance, or Music. This year’s state education budget fell $4.4 billion short of its constitutional obligation for equitable school funding as determined by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. State of New York ruling. In past years, teachers have feared that the State would bring in a new principal to “remake” our school around testing outcomes. 

Having a small school results in a small pool of test-takers, meaning that one test, even a single test question could impact our school’s data significantly. That fact, along with ever-changing test formats and the manipulation of complex scoring formulas, made our ratings highly irregular. In one year, we would be ranked in the top quarter of schools for our size and in other years at the bottom.
The State tests are of little educational value to our school. As teachers trained in education assessment, we recognize several cardinal mistakes in the implementation of the tests:

• Teachers were not allowed to design the tests for their students and curricular goals.
• The tests are not individualized to students’ abilities or learning goals.
• Teachers are not allowed to see the tests.
• Teachers are not allowed to discuss tests with students in order to better understand their thinking.
• Multiple-choice questions limit students’ ability to thoughtfully respond to literature or demonstrate problem-solving in math.
• The tests are summative, meaning they cover an entire year’s worth of work, rather than providing periodic feedback that would inform instruction as it happens.
• Test results are scored 1-4, are released in the summer, and rank students rather than illuminating students’ strengths and weaknesses.
• Test questions have been notoriously poor in design and wording.
• The tests are redundant for teachers who assess students daily and communicate that information in meaningful ways to parents.

State Tests do not have educational value, they have political value. The tests are a fixture of a reform movement hoping to manage a closed system where testing buy-in creates demand for education products and motivates schools to “do better” with less. The rules of that business model are absurdly simplistic: a successful test score is equivalent to a successful education. It is equally simplistic for schools to game the system: Increase blocks of math, reading, and writing, cut back on everything else, and drill students on packaged curriculum or software that most mimics the format and expectations of standardized tests.

When parents at our school became some of the first in the city to opt their children out of State Tests, teachers recognized their action as a political statement. Parents voted their values and made it count: They denied policymakers and business reformers the tests, the blunt instrument that had been used for years to cut school budgets, shutter schools, funnel public dollars into private contracts, de-professionalize teachers, outsource assessment, and deny children a holistic education. 

We applaud them for preserving the vision of a “dream school” that would teach reading,  writing, and math, but would also have a strong social studies curriculum on citizenship, the environment, and social justice, an art program, cooking, physical education, music, dance, annual traditions, where teachers are respected as curriculum leaders and ethical decision makers, a nurturing environment for social and emotional growth where differences are embraced, and where the educational lives of students are not standardized. Their choice was not a choice of convenience, nor based on the perceived aptitude of their child. They made the choice because they wanted to be a part of a new conversation in education policy, one that returns to the roots of public education: 

What is the purpose of public education in a democratic society? How can we ensure that all children receive an equitable education?
On a final note, we are well aware of news articles featuring the efforts of local and state officials to prevent teachers from criticizing the State Tests. Meanwhile, our newly elected Chancellor of the Board of Regents spoke freely in saying, “If I was a parent and I was not on the Board of Regents, I would opt out at this time.” We are bemused by this lack of agreement from local and state officials, while questioning the wisdom of a school system that would disempower teachers from discussing the merits of educational mandates with the families they serve. 

Sincerely,

The Earth School Staff

MORE's Katie and Lauren in the house - NYC councilman Danny Dromm's statement about a parent's right to opt out

MORE's Katie Lapham and Lauren Cohen

Katie is running for Elementary school Exec Bd and Lauren is running for VP of elementary schools. Can you imagine how the UFT would change if they were elected? Actually Katie has a better chance because retirees don't vote in the elementary school elections.

NYC councilman Danny Dromm's statement about a parent's right to opt out.

Dear Friend,

From April 5th to April 7th, NYC public school students will be asked to take the NY State English Language Arts (ELA) exam. The following week, they will be asked to take the NY State math exam.

There is a lot of confusion and misinformation about whether students are required to take these tests. Parents should be aware that they have the right to make the decision to have their child opt out without retaliation from schools. Read this article to learn more about my stance on this issue.

The decision to opt out is a personal one. If you do choose to make this decision, you must write a letter to your child's principal. More information on how to opt out is available here.

If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact my office at 718-803-6373.

Sincerely,

Daniel Dromm
Chairperson
NYC Council Committee on Education 

http://www.icontact-archive.com/W_uIa0D3NNOWrMuBsFtoQ42_APJnubZo?w=1

 

#MORE2016: What a Social Justice Union Can Do - More Photos from Chicago Strike

Message to MORE bashers over social justice issues:

No way, no how this happens when a teacher union says "let's only worry about the teachers."

Can anyone even conceive of this happening under the Unity Caucus leadership? Can't wait for a report from our MORE core in Chicago this weekend meeting with other social justice movement caucuses from around the nation.

MORE Crew in Chicago Support Strike

Proud MOREs were in Chicago for a weekend conference and got there in time to join in the one-day strike festivities.

Lois Weiner at New Politics

Chicago teachers (again) rewrite a playbook stacked against labor

George Schmidt at Substance

Lines drawn as unions and communities challenge the priorities of the ruling class with Chicago teachers' strike and dozens of actions across the city...

By George Schmidt - April 1st, 2016 | 0 comments

As April 1, 2016 dawned across Chicago and Illinois, the latest challenge to the austerity version of economics in the world's wealthiest nation was beginning. Since the 1970s, when Substance first began documenting it, and . . .

Working class solidarity at Nabisco...April 1 press conference at the 'Nabisco' plant on the Southwest Side calls for boycotts of corporations that export Chicago jobs after getting tax breaks from the State of Illinois...

By Susan Zupan - April 2nd, 2016 | 0

The 10:30 morning rain on April 1, 2016 did not dampen the spirited chanting of a couple hundred picketers flanking both sides of Kedzie Avenue outside of the Nabisco plant located at 73rd Street and . . .

MORE/New Action Middle School Candidates

Middle schools have been a somewhat dead zone in UFT elections. The vote totals for both Unity and the opposition have been minuscule. The opposition won these 5 seats back in 1991 for the only time in UFT history. Can it happen again this time?

In past elections we didn't always have an easy time gathering candidates and petition signatures. But this time it was fairly easy - I believe we got close to 200 signatures, double what we needed.

I don't know all the candidates well and met Andrea and Rob only once or twice. Richard is an old colleague of James Eterno and I saw him at the DA recently.

Francesca has been a core MORE and Dermott Myrie, whom I only met in the past few months, has become very active in the election campaign and hopefully will remain involved in MORE in the future.

Our Middle School Candidates

Richard Covelli

I.S. 25

Richard is a Math Teacher at I.S. 25 in Queens and is also a UFT delegate.  He believes teaching as a profession has become politicized to the point where young people out of high school are deciding on another career avenue.  Teaching needs to be restored as a noble and worthwhile choice.  Educators as a stakeholder group have had little or no input on important issues like learning standards and evaluations.  The very fabric of public education is being challenged by those who are not in the field.  The sanctity of public schools needs to be restored.

 

Rob Diefenbach

I.S. 230

Rob has been teaching middle school for 13 years. He teaches band and music at I.S. 230 in Jackson Heights, Queens. Rob is excited to be a part of MORE’s revolution within the UFT.

Francesca Gomes

New Voices MS 443

Francesca has been teaching Humanities for 15 years at New Voices Middle School in Brooklyn.  She has worked closely with three chapter leaders at her school and served as her school’s UFT Delegate for several terms.  However, she feels the past several contracts have been gradually eroding our rights, and the Unity Caucus leadership is responsible for negotiating and pressing UFT members to accept them as “the best we can do.”  Francesca believes that only through collective, democratically-decided action can the UFT regain the ability to protect members, students, and families and work to truly address the problems in public education today.

 

Andrea McManus

I.S. 230

Andrea McManus is in her 13th year teaching middle school Social Studies. She is the delegate at I.S. 230 in Jackson Heights, Queens. Andrea has experience teaching diverse groups of students including English Language Learners and Students with Disabilities.

Dermott Myrie

M.S. 391

Myrie is a UFT Delegate and Social Studies teacher at M.S. 391 in the Bronx.  He believes that for too long, teachers, students, and schools have been valued based on standardized test scores, and it is time to say “stop”. Myrie joined MORE because of its mission and vision of social justice activism and because MORE is fighting back against standardized tests. He has spoken to many educators about their working conditions and has heard their call for change, and he believes that the New Action/MORE UFT slate for this year’s election can provide a voice to voiceless members.

It's Not April Fools Day in Chicago - The Next Great Chicago Strike

All the world's a stage and today that stage is set in Chicago where our colleagues in CORE and the CTU are staging a one day work action. I believe a bunch of MOREs are heading to Chicago today as a show of support and also for the Labor Notes conference over the weekend. There will be fellow unionists from around the nation coming together.

Jacobin mag has an article:

The Chicago Teachers Union is going on strike tomorrow — and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

....this time they have joined other unions and community groups in calling for a citywide “general strike” on April 1, demanding not just a strong contract but new, “progressive” sources of revenue — taxing the city’s financial district, for example, and ending the state’s flat income tax — to fund public goods and services throughout Chicago and Illinois. The CTU and the groups allied with them are looking to win not just a moral victory against austerity, but a tangible one. The strike will only last a day, but it’s the kind of mass political action that rarely seen in American labor history. It’s also one that isn’t without risks; CPS has declared the strike illegal.

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/03/chicago-teachers-union-strike-core-karen-lewis/

James Eterno is on the case over at the ICE blog:

• 
  ICEUFT Blog

  HIGHLIGHTS OF CHICAGO TEACHER ACTIVIST SARAH CHAMBERS INTERVIEW - The Chicago Teachers Union is engaging in a one day strike today. For a look at what is at stake both in the windy city and nationally, Jacobin interviewe...
  

  And here is more stuff to read.
• 
  Undernews

  Big action day in Chicago -

  Chicago Teachers Union - On Friday, the solidarity of Chicago Teachers Union sisters and brothers, along with the solidarity of more than 50 union and community organizations, will be on full display . In this unprecedented strike for political demands and state funding that encompass the entire state...we are in a battle with powerful forces that want to privatize schools, permanently reduce our livelihoods and divest from struggling neighborhoods.
  
  The CTU is directing schools to start picket lines at 6:30 a.m. to get the line established early, bring attention to our fight for school funding in the community and lock down school activity...

Something you will never, ever see here in NYC as long as Unity Caucus is in control. I know, I know, the Taylor Law strike penalties, etc. But to quote Brian Wilson ...wouldn't it be nice?