#MORE2016 - Pick up UFT Election leaflets for school distribution

Only a few weeks until ballots go out on May 5. Get the latest leaflet from MORE hot off the press. This is a 4 page booklet produced by MORE and New Action.

MORE and New Action have printed 60,000 copies of a beautiful foldover campaign leaflet (read it here!) - and we need your help to get it to rank and file teachers across the city.  Please reply to this email now and let us know your boro and school and how many copies you need.  

You can pick up leaflets at any of our 3 Friday Happy Hours around NYC.  Come meet MORE candidates, discuss the election and getting out the vote, and how we can build teacher power at our workplaces. The first round is on us!  Click below to RSVP

• Manhattan - 3pm - Murphy's Law - 417 E 70th St
• Bronx - 3pm - An Beal Bocht - 445 W 238th St. 
• Brooklyn - 3pm - Rustik Tavern - 471 De Kalb Ave

MORE-UFT
http://more.nationbuilder.com/

PS. You can also pick up leaflets at the April DA next week 4pm-6pm @ 52 Broadway, or at our exciting actions against school takeover under state receivership laws at the PEP right nearby at 6p at MS131 @ 100 Hester St.
 

#savecpe1 - Support Legendary Debbie Meier Founded Central Park East 1 in Battle to Remove Monika Garg, Abusive Principal

Sign the petition to save CPE1: http://www.savecpe1.org/petition/

I'm leaving soon to drive down to Raleigh, NC for the NPE conference over the weekend. But I wanted to get this out before I leave. I'm hoping to run into Debbie Meier at the conference since CPE was her brainchild so many years ago. I heard about that school when it opened and even thought about trying to teach there because the educational concepts fit my ideas and I was often like a fish out of water at my school.

I heard the entire story about the crap this principal, Monika Garg, has pulled and will report more details in a follow-up. Needless to say she is following the standard Principal Academy and DOE legal blueprint on how to undermine a school with veteran teachers.
The problem is that our union has no blueprint for teachers on how to respond and the teachers were overwhelmed by the constant assaults for half a year before they began to look at ways to fight back. MORE was contacted for advice and we met with some of them.

Why would so-called progressive educator Carmen Farina sanction an assault on Central Park East 1 (there is also a CPE2 under separate management) through the installation of abusive principal  Monika Garg last July who immediately set about undermining 40 years of progressive education at the school? Naturally the long-time teachers there were the first to come under attack, including bogus investigations. The UFT, district borough and central have been of little help.

Which is why some of us in MORE met with a batch of people from the school and have been offering some organizing advice over the past few weeks. We are helping publicize what they are doing. The important thing in situations like this is to assess the abilities of the people on the ground to build support from parents and community when calling for such a drastic action as the removal of Principal Monika Garg who was an AP at a high school with no experience in a progressive school like CPE1 or even in an elementary school.

As the links to the article in DNAinfo and the web site below indicate they have done quite a job in organizing. I'm not sure of exactly how much I can say at this point as to the plans but I will update as they unfold.

New Principal Ruining Legendary Progressive Public School, Parents Say

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160413/east-harlem/new-principal-ruining-legendary-progressive-public-school-parents-say

The web site with the full story:
http://www.savecpe1.org/

The petition which has almost 2000 signatures - which will be presented to Farina.
http://www.savecpe1.org/petition/

For 40 years, CPE1 has been a leader in progressive education. It was the first of the original progressive public elementary schools started in East Harlem by Debbie Meier. It has been studied and celebrated internationally and replicated across the country, but the current administration is undermining CPE1’s philosophy and purpose. CPE1 must be protected.

What will we lose if the current principal remains? 

• Our experienced teachers - the heart of our school
• Inquiry-based, child-centered education is being replaced with prepackaged curriculum
• Collaborative approach and cooperative projects  
• Individualized learning accounting for each child’s personal goals
• The understanding that art, movement and music are integral to children’s education  
• Valuable learning time lost to increased focus on “teaching to the test”
• Democratic decision-making 
• Small class sizes and small school community

The newly hired principal has no previous experience in progressive education. None. 

Why would a superintendent choose a principal with no progressive background and with limited elementary experience to lead NYC’s oldest progressive public school? 

Our veteran teachers have said that their working conditions are unbearable.  Many are considering leaving.   

Our long-time teachers are crucial to preserving CPE1.  

Administrators are interviewing our children without parents' knowledge or consent.

7-year-olds being asked to recall information on incidents occurring two years prior.  This was not the usual "calling a child into the principal's office;" interviewers included a deputy superintendent and an outside investigator.   Children were told to keep their interviews secret.

Administrators have launched investigations against our veteran teachers.

After senior teachers sent an open letter to the community expressing concerns about the principal’s actions, they have all been subjected to investigations.  Some are complaints re-opened from several years prior.  

Administrators routinely fail to answer parents' and teachers' questions. 

Parents asked the superintendent to a town hall in November to express their concerns. She said no. The principal remains silent about direct questions concerning her decisions.

---

An unprecedented number of leaders in progressive education stand ready with our community to recommend qualified individuals to the DOE and to support the success of a new principal. 

Please join us in saving our school and preserving progressive education at CPE1.

Fairtest - Opposition to testing spreads nationwide

Moving into the peak weeks of the 2016 standardized exam season, the assessment reform movement continues to notch more victories as test-opt outs and other forms of protest accelerate in many states.
*
Multiple States *Advocates Question Machine-Scoring of PARCC, SmarterBalanced Writing Samples
http://www.studentprivacymatters.org/our-letter-to-the-education-commissioners-in-the-parcc-and-sbac-states/
Multiple States FairTest Chronology of Computerized Testing Problems
Across the U.S.
<http://fairtest.org/computerized-testing-problems-chronology>http://fairtest.org/computerized-testing-problems-chronology

*Alaska *Cancels All K-12 Standardized Testing for the Year After
Computer Administration SNAFU
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2016/04/05/alaska-cancels-all-k-12-standardized-tests-for-the-year-citing-technical-problems/

*California *Parent Group Pushes for More Opt-Outs
http://www.dailybreeze.com/social-affairs/20160411/group-pushes-peninsula-parents-students-to-opt-out-of-test-aligned-with-common-core
*
Colorado *Legislature Rejects Civics Test Mandate
http://co.chalkbeat.org/2016/04/05/bill-to-require-high-school-civics-test-advances-on-senate-floor/
*
Connecticut *Smarter Balanced Test Wrong Answer for Students, Teachers
http://www.courant.com/opinion/op-ed/hc-op-cohen-smarter-balanced-tests-teacher-evaluations-0410-20160408-story.html
Connecticut Black and Latino Parents Discuss Opt-Out Strategies
https://blogcea.org/2016/04/07/why-we-opt-out-ct-black-latino-parents-discuss-sbac/
*
Florida *More Parents Join Opt-Out Movement
http://www.yourobserver.com/article/east-county-parents-sign-opt-out-movement
Florida Opt-Out Groups Push for Real Changes in Assessment
http://www.orangeobserver.com/article/opt-out-orlando-tackles-testing-pushes-change
Florida School Testing Scores High on Hypocrisy, Low on Integrity
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/romano-florida-scores-high-on-hypocrisy-and-low-on-integrity-in-school/2272582
*
Georgia *Movement to Opt More Students Out of Standardized Tests
Continued to Grow
http://onlineathens.com/breaking-news/2016-04-07/movement-students-opt-out-standardized-tests-continues-grow*

Illinois *PARCC Test Disrupts Classroom Learning
http://www.livingindialogue.com/parcc-testing-disrupts-learning/
*
Indiana *Standardized Test Content Is Spreading Nationwide
http://www.journalgazette.net/opinion/editorials/Standardized-test-discontent-is-spreading-nationwide-12408673
*
Iowa *New Federal Education Law Eliminates Some NCLB Punishments for
Local Schools
http://www.nonpareilonline.com/news/local/new-federal-law-gives-flexibilty-c-b-schools-sought-from/article_04e2c932-0b39-5a2a-84a4-1b63cb4b569a.html
*
Maine *Survey Finds Teachers Blast New Standardized Tests
https://bangordailynews.com/2016/04/11/news/state/teachers-union-survey-blasts-maines-new-standardized-tests/
*
Maryland *Baltimore Algebra Project Students Rap Against Tests
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8sWWRqGxYs&app=desktop
*
Massachusetts *"Take The Test" Event Exposes Elected Officials to the
Exam They Mandate
http://baystatebanner.com/news/2016/apr/06/officials-get-taste-mcas-parcc/
Massachusetts Hollow Threats Fail to Slow Opt-Out Growth
http://www.capecodtimes.com/opinion/20160407/opting-out-of-testing-comes-with-empty-threats
*
Michigan *Students Will Spend Less Time on State Testing This Year
http://www.sentinel-standard.com/article/20160410/NEWS/160419943
*
Minnesota *Hundreds of Minneapolis High School Students Opt Out of
Standardized Tests
http://www.startribune.com/hundreds-of-students-at-minneapolis-south-high-opt-not-to-take-standardized-exams/375203861/
*
New Jersey *Parents Protest Tying PARCC Test to Graduation
http://www.njtvonline.org/news/video/parents-protest-tying-parcc-tests-to-graduation/#.VwWsOhHd3zY.email
New Jersey Many Reasons to Opt-Out of PARCC Exams
https://www.tapinto.net/towns/sparta/categories/letters-to-the-editor/articles/why-every-parent-should-consider-refusing-the-par
New Jersey PARCC Opt-Out Movement Is Not Just a White-Suburban Thing
http://patersontimes.com/2016/04/11/teague-parcc-opt-out-movement-isnt-just-a-white-suburban-thing/
*
New Mexico *Varying District Opt-Out Policies Confuse Parents
http://www.koat.com/news/parcc-opt-out-different-by-district-confuses-parents/38865750*
*New Mexico Current Use of PARCC Test Causes Damage
http://www.abqjournal.com/753378/opinion/current-use-of-parcc-testing-can-cause-damage.html
New Mexico Let's Opt for Something Better Than PARCC Tests
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/opinion/my_view/my-view-let-s-opt-for-something-better-than-parcc/article_00b068dc-bfe1-517f-a6f8-4831a3e8e40e.html
*
**New York *Anti-Common Core Testing Fury Rages as New Round of Exams Begin
https://www.longislandpress.com/2016/04/05/anti-common-core-fury-rages-as-latest-exams-administered-across-new-york/
New York Why the Opt-Out Movement Is Not Losing Steam
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2016/0406/Common-Core-tests-Why-the-opt-out-movement-isn-t-losing-steam
New York "Revised" 2016 State Tests No Better Than Ones They Replaced
http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2016/04/so-was-testing-experience-for-kids-so.html

*North Dakota *Some Parents Opt Children Out of Standardized Tests
http://www.valleynewslive.com/home/headlines/Some-parents-opt-out-of-state-testing-375327821.html
*
Oregon *Why Parents Should Opt Their Children Out of Standardized Tests
http://registerguard.com/rg/opinion/34248263-78/opt-out-of-smarter-balanced-tests.html.csp
*
Pennsylvania* Opt-Out Totals Rise
http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/news/local/pssa-testing-opt-outs-on-the-rise-in-bucks-and/article_43728988-fda8-11e5-935c-4fdd790f01be.html
Pennsylvania How to Write an Opt-Out Letter
http://lancasteronline.com/opinion/columnists/parents-can-refuse-testing-without-a-religious-reason/article_0d6a353a-ff64-11e5-a2ed-b7c4e0c01e91.html
*
Tennessee* State Standardized Testing Time to Be Scaled Back for Next Year
http://clarksvillenow.com/local/tennessee-standardized-testing-to-be-scaled-back-next-year/
Tennessee Testing Takes Up Too Much Learning Times
http://www.knoxnews.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/testing-takes-up-too-much-learning-time-2fe8ae50-f999-1e69-e053-0100007f7c31-374954271.html

*Texas *Computer Failures Erased Answers From 14,220 Tests
http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/state-answers-were-erased-on-14220-staar-tests/nqzc6/
Texas Top 10% College Admissions Plan Increased Diversity, Academic Quality
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/article/Top-10-percent-rule-isn-t-broken-7237584.php
Texas Testing Company Will Be Punished for Computer Administration Foul Up
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/education/article/Testing-company-will-be-penalized-over-glitch-ed-7232963.php
Texas Teachers Give STAAR Tests Failing Grades
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/letters/article/Wednesday-letters-Grading-STAAR-tests-7230228.php

*Washington* Parents and Local NAACP Press School Board to Address
Testing Concerns
http://www.king5.com/mb/news/local/parents-seattle-school-board-look-to-address-standardized-testing-concerns/123543932

*ACT/SAT* Rejected by Many Colleges, Test-makers Try to Move Into State
Markets as Common Core Exams
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/06/us/act-and-sat-find-a-profitable-market-as-common-core-tests.html
ACT/SAT Problems with Requiring College Admissions Tests for All High
School Students
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/08/opinion/standardized-tests.html
ACT/SAT Skidmore Adopts Test-Optional Policy
http://skidmorenews.com/new-blog/2016/4/6/going-test-optional-was-the-right-choice
ACT/SAT FairTest Directory of 860 Schools That Do Not Require All of
Many Applicants to Submit Scores
http://fairtest.org/university/optional

Teachers of the Year Say Test-Based Evaluations Cause Most Damage to
Profession
http://bit.ly/1UUGT8s

/Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director//
//FairTest: National Center for Fair & Open Testing//
//office-   (239) 395-6773   fax-  (239) 395-6779//
//mobile- (239) 699-0468//
//web- http://www.fairtest.org//
//

Daniel Katz: Teachers and Moral Imperative, Something Unity Caucus Doesn't Know the Meaning of

Ms. Lee told NBC, “Parents should definitely opt out. Refuse. Boycott these tests because change will not happen with compliance.”  She went on to call herself a “conscientious objector.” She is also a true professional, guarding the well being of the children entrusted to her...
Daniel Katz, Can Teachers Talk About Opt Out?

I saw MOREs Jia and Kristin Taylor on the Today show yesterday which featured Long Island parent leader Jeannette Deuterman as the opt-out story moves into the mainstream. Daniel Katz has a good blog on the rights of teachers to speak out politically not only on general issues but in defense of the children they teach. Katz opens with:

New York City teachers Jia Lee, Lauren Cohen, and Kristin Taylor risked disciplinary action recently to speak with NBC news about their opposition to the state testing system and their support of the Opt Out movement. This was no small act on their part because the NYC DOE has sent multiple signals that it does not tolerate classroom teachers speaking against the tests which have been occupying schools’ time and attention this month.

He talks about the moral imperative:

...perhaps this should not merely be a matter of whether or not teachers disciplined for speaking against testing could win a civil rights suit.  Perhaps this needs to be framed as a matter of professionalism and professional judgement because while teachers have responsibilities and rights in the performance of their work, they also have professional obligations and norms that define what it means to be a teacher.  Among those is the need to speak up when children are being ill served or harmed by what is going on within school.  John Goodlad referred to practicing “good moral stewardship of schools” and this principle is as important to teaching as “do no harm” is for medicine or being a zealous advocate is for law.  Teachers are given an awesome and sacred trust – the intellectual, social, and emotional well being and growth of other people’s children.  Speaking out when that trust is in jeopardy is not simply a question of Constitutional rights.  It is a moral obligation.

I get it - livelihood perhaps over rides moral imperative. I faced a similar dilemma and luckily found a group like MORE early in my career. That emboldened me to be free to speak out throughout my time in the system, not only on local and citywide educational policy but in battles with my principal when I felt she was doing stuff that was unfair to my kids. I was a fierce defender of the kids in my class and am proud to say I never asked to have a child suspended. When there where hints of retaliation I struck back. I taught with a pretty clear conscience -- except for those times when I myself realized I was not treating certain kids fairly.

We are seeing teachers come to MORE after years and even a decade or more of teaching who seem to have had enough and are ready to take more risks because teaching for them in this environment has put them at moral risk and they find it increasingly hard to live with themselves. At least if they speak out or get involved with a group like MORE which empowers them to speak out - doing so in a climate of others doing the same  - they can feel they are at least doing something even if nothing outwardly changes.

But inwardly there is change and just that act can save their career.

And then there is the moral bankruptcy of the people in Unity Caucus who by the very nature of their being in the caucus and supporting running roughshod over opposition and defending the outrages being perpetrated on children and teachers explains why they have to cover their mirrors so they don't have to look themselves in their eyes.

Afterburn
Katz also features MORE's Katie Lapham:
Do teachers have good reason for concern about how these tests impact their stewardship?   New York City teacher Katie Lapham certainly makes a compelling case:

The reading passages were excerpts and articles from authentic texts (magazines and books).  Pearson, the NYSED or Questar did a poor job of selecting and contextualizing the excerpts in the student test booklets.  How many students actually read the one-to-two sentence summaries that appeared at the beginning of the stories? One excerpt in particular contained numerous characters and settings and no clear story focus.  The vocabulary in the non-fiction passages was very technical and specific to topics largely unfamiliar to the average third grader.  In other words, the passages were not meaningful. Many students could not connect the text-to-self nor could they tap into prior knowledge to facilitate comprehension.
The questions were confusing.  They were so sophisticated that it appeared incongruous to me to watch a third grader wiggle her tooth while simultaneously struggle to answer high school-level questions. How does one paragraph relate to another?, for example. Unfortunately, I can’t disclose more.  The multiple-choice answer choices were tricky, too. Students had to figure out the best answer among four answer choices, one of which was perfectly reasonable but not the best answer.

#MORE2016: UFT Election Flotsam and Jetson - Happy Hours, We Get Mail and Phone Calls

There are MORE events in 3 boroughs this Friday (see below) none of which I can attend since I will be driving down to the NPE conference in Raleigh NC on Thursday. I know, I am nuts to be taking this 10 hour drive all by myself but I am not into flying right now and a road trip gets me out of doing any work for the 25 people coming for Passover next week. And my wife is happy to be rid of me for a few days.

I made a rare visit to the Bronx today to stuff mail boxes at a few schools that weren't being covered. One building had 5 high schools - the old large high school is still in there but hanging by a thread - and the other was pretty much old school large high school with one small school.

It certainly is an interesting experience as I get a little bit of a feel for the different schools. And when I get to speak to people it is eyeopening. I met a teacher retiring in June. I asked her about her former principal who was known as an ogre and dumped by the BloomKlein DOE - after which the school really sunk - and she said there was good and bad but that most people were supported all the way - not all - if he turned on you you were dead. But she said people were willing to give up some rights for this support - especially when it came to discipline - none of the kid is always right stuff. Now she said they would stab you in the back in a second. I get it. I had a principal  like that. Maybe I should have appreciated her more.

As I wrote the other day, #MORE2016: UFT Elections and Leaflet Distribution, the ultimate goal is to never have to have an outsider stuff mail boxes but to have someone inside the school doing it while also advocating for MORE.

We have come to feel that the majority of votes come from schools where we have people and where those people actively try to get out the vote. Unity with many more people in schools does the same thing and given their numbers I an surprised at how few relative votes even they get.

Which means the real growth I would look for in an election is how many people are actively doing organizing work in their schools and the outcome should reflect that work. Now my sense is that there are more people I don't know sending requests for literature and getting it out in their schools but since I don't know them I have no idea if they are willing to do more than that - like talk to people and get them to vote.

I've been asked to go out to a school to speak next week during their lunch hours in an area where we do not have much organizing going on but do have one contact at the school who made the arrangement.

Today someone from the Bronx called the MORE phone number - which I answer - and wanted to know more about the Bronx Happy hour this Friday - whether it was open to people from other districts or just district 10. (It is open to all). Hopefully she will go and become a MORE contact and distributor for her school. The funny thing is that she said she voted for MORE last time because her cousin was in MORE. I sadly had to inform her that her cousin has joined the enemy, Unity Caucus, which absolutely astounded her. I pointed out that Unity has things to offer MORE doesn't - conventions, jobs and a way out of teaching even at the cost of one's integrity. She told me her former chapter leader had gone the same route. She seemed enthusiastic about MORE. Well, at least may now have one family member on our side.

Michael's post on FB

I will be singing and playing guitar at this MORE Happy Hour event co-hosted with Nate Schiavo. Informing UFT members about the upcoming elections, and toasting another week of dedicated teaching. All are welcome. (ballots mailed May 5th.

Riverdale/Kingsbridge Teacher Social

Friday at 3 PM

An Beal Bocht in Bronx, New York

 There are also other happy hours on Friday.

North Brooklyn:

The MORE CAUCUS Invites you to Happy Hour at the Rustik Tavern

    FIRST DRINK ON US!

Friday April 15^th , 3-6PM

471 DeKalb Ave  (btw Kent & Franklin Aves.)

in Bed Stuy/Clinton Hill

http://rustiktavern.com/

$4.00 - Draft Beers, Mixed House Cocktail Drinks, Glass of Red or White House Wine + Full Menu 

The UFT Elections are coming with ballots mailed out to your home on May 5^th.

You'll have a chance to vote for new leadership of our union. Come meet the candidates, ask questions, share your concerns, and help us build a better union!

Join with us for drinks & discussion

Bring along your colleagues

For more info: http://morecaucusnyc.org

--------------
Manhattan East Side
Jia Lee will be attending the one hosted by Brian Jones.

If you or someone you know lives or works in Manhattan, please let them know about this upcoming Happy Hour on the Upper East Side THIS FRIDAY!
(details below)
Jia Lee will be in the house!
Here’s a link to download the flyer: https://www.dropbox.com/s/v97munc8yagrk10/EB_HappyHour.pdf?dl=0

Best,
Brian

Opt-Out Driving Ed Deformers and Their Press Lackeys into a Frenzy

Oh, poor boobies. They pretty much had us by the flotsam and jetson as they and their allies - and yes Virginia, the UFT/AFT/NYSUT complex is an ally of high stakes data-driven testing - piled on. And then came opt-out to deny them the data.

A quick Monday Morning update before we continue:
Press lackey Chalkdust features the Post and Daily News daily diatribes against opt-out while ignoring the massive anti-opt commentary below - but the have abandoned blog coverage to focus on the ed deform mainstream press.

'why not opt out of midterms too?'

Editorial: Continued support for the opt-out movement is baffling, since the stakes are now so low. New York Daily News
Columnist Naomi Schaefer Riley: Helicopter parents worried about over-testing are simply worried their kids might fail, after years of trying to do everything to ensure they succeed. New York Post

To continue:

The great blogging crew is out there creating balanced coverage. Culled from our sidebar links, including 3 MOREs - Patrick Walsh, Katie Lapham and James Eterno.

I know it’s the Post and, as such, a low bar but still I believe such a public display of outright incoherence is a small but good sign that we are winning.... Patrick Walsh, Raging Horse,

New York Post Conjures Up New Common Core Villain: Driven, Snobbish Yet Cowardly Parents

Katie Lapham: I detail why the 2016 ELA tests were so bad. The 2016 ELA tests were developmentally inappropriate, confusing and tricky.  Despite the New York State Education Department (NYSED)’s “adjustments” to the 2016 assessments, there was no improvement to the quality of the tests.
https://criticalclassrooms.wordpress.com/2016/04/11/the-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-pearson-tests/..

• 
  deutsch29 - Mercedes Schneider

  James Kirylo: Why My Son Will Opt Out– Again - The following is a guest post by Dr. James Kirylo, professor of teaching and learning at Southeastern Louisiana University. Kirylo’s research interests inc...
  
• 
  Schools Matter

  Half of Long Island Students Opted Out of Testing Last Week - from the Wall Street Journal: The number of students who opted out of state tests in Long Island rose to more than 97,500 this week, according to tallies b...
  
• 
  With A Brooklyn Accent

  Reflections of a Third Grade Rebel on Opting Out and Justice - FROM A THIRD GRADE REBEL (NOTE: this was the title of her story) My family and I decided that for the NYS ELA 3rd grade test I would opt out. Instead of si...
  

  

  Daniel Katz, Ph.D.

  NYC Hasn’t Gotten the Opt Out Memo - Let’s begin with one simple premise: nobody at the New York State Education Department wants to see Opt Out continue to be a significant factor in the Empi... 
• 
  NYC Public School Parents

  So was the testing experience for kids so much better this year? The answer must be no. - Clearly there were many problems with this year's NY state ELA exams. My three blog posts have received about 150 comments so far, and over 40,000 page vi...
  

  

  ICEUFT Blog

  UNITY CAUCUS/UFT IS BASICALLY ALL THAT STANDS IN THE WAY OF AN ALL OUT PARENT-TEACHER ASSAULT ON COMMON CORE TESTING - The defenders of the "testocracy" within the UFT-NYSUT-AFT went the amendment route to get their way at the NYSUT Representative Assembly this weekend.... 

The latter post from James Eterno nails the union leadership not backing the opt-out movement. When someone mentioned they were afraid for MORE's Lauren Cohen, Jia Lee and Kristen Taylor for standing up to Farina's gag order since the UFT will not stand with them. But the parents will - and thus we have the situation where the union would basically abandon them but their major job protection would come from parents and community forces.

But that is an essence of social justice/movement unionism -- fundamental job protection through alliances built.

Candi Peterson is Dandy as She Runs for Washington DC Teachers Union Prez

Our old pal Candi Peterson is running for WTU president.  Best of luck Candi.

Why I'm Running for WTU President in 2016

Candi Peterson and GeLynn Thompson
Candidates for WTU President & GVP 2016

By Candi Peterson, Candidate for WTU President 2016
Disclaimer: I AM NOT a member of the current WTU Contract Negotiations team. 
For the first time, my decision to run as President of the Washington Teachers’ Union is rooted in a strong desire to lead our much-beleaguered union to a respectable level of teacher/member representation that embraces and fosters union democracy to the greatest extent possible.  The deterioration of union democracy has imperiled DC educators and WTU members for too many years and is manifest in the loss of job security and dignity, without which, teacher unions'  become obsolete.  Job security is the hallmark of any good union. WTU’s continued path of apathy and passivity is unacceptable if it is to survive as more than a vehicle for high union dues that benefit salaried employees, currently not WTU members, and the AFT, our parent organization.

Read more
 

#MORE2016: AMEM - A MORE Effective Meeting

Michael Flanagan

The new MORE/New Action joint flyer

The pizza has arrived

I attended another invigorating MORE meeting yesterday, one of the most productive I've seen.  I was sorry (almost) I had to leave early to get back to Rockaway to pick up my wife for last night's Ronnie Spector and Dion concert at the Kings theater in Brooklyn which on our first visit to that wonderfully renovated theater (my wife, an Erasmus grad, is from that general neighborhood) turned out to be so much fun. (Photos and video posted on FB - https://www.facebook.com/NormSco/posts/10154048487502225?pnref=story).)

 No, Ronnie and Dion did not perform at the MORE meeting. But we did have great musician Michael Flanagan there though sans performance. Michael will be doing a happy hour soon in the Bronx where he will perform.

The meeting was so well organized and competently run by the crew from the steering committee in charge -  Cayden Betzig, Ashraya Gupta and Janice Manning- all new to steering this time. They will be an amazing resource to MORE. I know Cayden, a first year teacher, since he was a freshman at NYU and at one meeting last fall when things seemed to slow down he told me he has a lot of experience in facilitation and yesterday he proved it. When I was speaking a little bit long (surprise) he gently said "30 seconds" and I shut up. I love taking orders from a 23 year old.

The trio worked with a more experience crew - Kevin Prosen, Megan Moskop and Peter Lamphere who facilitated the breakout sessions.

There was so much going on related to setting up distribution lists that will last beyond this election, methods for getting out the vote in their schools - with some fascinating ideas - and expanding the use of social media. I never knew what a Thunderclap was before - and still am not sure. So many people are so knowledgeable.

New people showed up. Two women who were long-time friends each discovered MORE independently - one said she was so frustrated by conditions and lack of anything emanating from the Unity/UFT leadership she started googling and found MORE.

The entire Eterno family attended and seemed to be having a good time. James and Camille who in the past had not always been enamored of MORE meetings are a sort of bellwether as to the progress MORE is making at its meetings. If you've been reading James at the ICE blog you know how positive an attitude he has.

Arthur Goldstein at NYC Educator, also a past critic at times of MORE, has been very satisfied - as you can see - Who Should Run The UFT - 

A year and a half ago heaping praise on a MORE meeting was uncommon  as MORE struggled to make the meetings more productive. MORE emerged out of the difficulties being faced at that time -- in retrospective they look like serious growing pains of a caucus that was built on so many different groups and points of view that had not quite meshed and was leading to some frustration. ICE and TJC, the 2 previous caucuses had not gotten along especially well since ICE's inception in late 2003 and NYCORE had not been involved in caucus activity before. Plus an influx of people not affiliated with any groups requires a lot of meshing. Building up trust in working with each other can take years.

Building for this election not only brought out a lot of new people but also solidified some relationships in MORE through working together.

I would mark the January 2015 meeting focused on upcoming chapter leader elections as a sort of turning point - getting meetings to focus on tasks at hand and providing useful information. There was also a push for some decentralization within MORE to allow people even if with differing viewpoints some space. The 2015 summer series, opening with a new chapter leader training workshop that attracted almost 60 people, was planned with this in mind.

Also emerging from this election is the cessation of hostilities towards New Action. I was wary at how things might work out but everyone has been very pleased to see how things are working out. The MORE committee of 3 - Kit Wainer, James Eterno and Lauren Cohen chosen to work with New Action has worked out very well. What a perfect choice MORE made here - 2 former presidential candidates, one from TJC and one from ICE and a non-affiliated younger gen chapter leader in VP Elementary School candidate Lauren Cohen who is already carving her own legacy with her slam of Unity at the 2014 NYSUT  - Lauren Cohen Stands Up to Unity Bullies - convention and her recent appearance on NBC in the opt out video.

Maybe New Action people will take an active role in MORE in some ways. I don't foresee a merger is in the near future. But I think ICE has been a model of sorts of a group that keeps its identity and voice but has the majority of people working actively in MORE.


After this election I am going to make an effort to fade away as much as I can -- but when you are addicted to the action that may be tough. I also know that things can come apart in instant. I've seen this happen all too often in the past - where someone or some organized group shows up who brings a discordant and divisive note to an organization, especially one committed to internal democracy and bottom up organizing. It is fairly easy to mis-use "democracy" in an undemocratic manner to subvert a group or try to use if for their own ends.

I may take a step back but will be forever vigilant.

#MORE2016: UFT Elections and Leaflet Distribution

The main reason I've been working for years to see a caucus built with enough of a level of organizational integrity and reach is so I can do less. One of the positive signs coming out of the #MORE2016 UFT election campaign is how much less work I have to do compared to the 2004, 07, 10, 13 campaigns.

When I think back to the work I did in GEM and ICE and with Ed Notes before that, and even the work over the past 4 years in seeing these groups morph into MORE I am on vacation now. In past elections a relatively few people in all the caucuses raced around the city stuffing mailboxes. In 2013 I did all 50 schools in District 27 among many others around the city - even venturing into the Bronx.  Crazy. And doing this once every 3 years is really counterproductive.

This year I am doing more drop-offs and stuff boxes in relatively few schools. That is part of a strategy not to go off half-cocked all over the place given the poor outcomes of doing this in the past.

For 3 years I've been badgering people in MORE to focus on setting up a smooth distribution network with the goal of reaching as many schools as possible through a direct contact in the school so we don't have to go in and stuff mailboxes on our own, something that we pretty much have seen yields few results. In addition, I've argued for some kind of regular production on an ongoing basis between elections.

So if you asked me what my main goal in this election has been - it is exactly that - trying to get lots of people to sign on to being a regular distributor in their own and if possible nearby schools -- both of hard copy and sending things out electronically to colleagues.

Call it a "stay local" campaign by focusing on your school and district and in the case of high schools the borough or one area of the borough. George Schmidt from Chicago told me how much harder organizing in NYC is compared to them - Chicago is the size of Brooklyn. So MORE has been evolving a more local strategy where local pockets are built and are free from centralized control to do their thing without centralized management - a sort of entrepreneurial spirit - and to use the central contact lists to reach out in addition to developing a local contact list.

The election though has to be centrally managed and since in the past ICE elections I was involved in every single aspect, I've been out of that loop this time with no role in writing and laying out leaflets and ads or a lot of other things. Like planning and running meetings. Various committees have been doing all this work and it is like a breath of fresh air. (Tomorrow's MORE meeting has been totally planned and organized by people new to MORE, including a first year teacher who is now on steering committee. People in their 20s. What a pleasure.)

Will this work translate into votes in the election? I never can tell. It might not. But I do know an organization is being built. Requests for leaflets from people we don't know in schools around the city is a sign at least that a distribution network is being formed with people taking responsibility for dropping off leaflets to their contacts. As one ICE veteran recently told me "there's a buzz in the air."

But if this network stops operating until the next election then MORE will be doing what all the other opposition groups have been doing - the Einstein def of insanity - the same thing over and expecting different results.

I have narrowed my efforts in MORE towards maintaining this network and urging MORE to produce hard copy that goes out to this network at least 4 times a year. After the election I'd like to make distribution trees so everyone has an idea of their own network responsibilities.

If MORE builds up its capacity in hundreds of schools election results will reflect that work. I view this election as a test of that capacity. If the results match 2013 that would indicate the network has been stagnant over the past 3 years and MORE would have to ask itself how it can address that issue.

The longtime goal is for MORE to be able to reach every working UFT member just as Unity does with the NY Teacher and through its district reps.That is the only way to ever contend for power. If the schools shift away from Unity, the pressure to curb the retiree impact on the UFT will intensify. But first things first.

#MORE2016: MORE Long Island Sister Union PJSTA Urges Support to Defeat Mulgrew

If such a thing as an education superhero exists that person is Jia Lee.  .... Clearly anyone who supports public education has a stake in this year’s UFT election.  Nobody can ignore it and think that it only impacts teachers in the five boroughs.  ... Beth Dimino

For Unity to pretend that the UFT election has nothing to do with every other local in the state and indeed the nation is pure bullshit. Yet that is what happened when PJSTA president Beth Dimino endorsed MORE/New Action.

Those two caucuses (MORE and New Action) are tired of seeing their union compromise and collaborate with reformers bent on destroying us.  They are ready to transform the UFT into a member driven union that represents the teachers in the classroom rather than the union “leaders” with personal agendas.  While that sort of transformation would certainly benefit New York City’s classroom teachers, it’s benefits would stretch far beyond that as well.  It would significantly alter the direction of our statewide union, NYSUT, and our national union, the AFT... Beth Dimino

A great post from Beth Dimino, president of the PJSTA and an official of the Stronger Together caucus in NYSUT opposing statewide Unity. Unity slugs jumped on Beth for "interfering" in another local's election.  Give me a break. The winner take all for all 750 delegates controls NYSUT and the AFT, allowing them to defeat members wishes on a number of grounds - ie - witness the Hillary endorsement which is turning to shit as Bernie rises and hordes of teachers jump on board.

Later I'll post some information on how unionists and teacher unionists in particular are not deserting the push for Hillary.

Contribute to Defeat Mulgrew

Posted on April 3, 2016 by thepjsta

https://thepjsta.org/2016/04/03/contribute-to-defeat-mulgrew/

 

I have written in great detail about the harm that Michael Mulgrew and his Unity Caucus inflict not only upon their local union, the United Federation of Teachers, but upon unionized teachers across New York State and beyond.  Fortunately this is an election year for the UFT and Mulgrew has a very formidable challenger in noted public education activist Jia Lee.

Lee needs no introduction to most advocates of public education.  She has been on the front lines of the fight against high stakes testing, junk science teacher evaluations, and the struggle for more democratic unions at all levels.  In 2015 she travelled on her own dime to Washington DC and she quite eloquently represented public school teachers in the United States Senate.  PJSTA members will remember her as our keynote speaker at the PJSTA Conference Day last year.  She was one of the first conscientious objectors in New York State when she began refusing to administer the rigged New York State assessments in 2014 and she is one of the authors of the Teachers of Conscience Position Paper.  As someone who is fortunate enough to call Jia a friend, I can share that she is the real deal when it comes to public education advocacy.  She breathes activism.  In addition to the tireless efforts she has put into the opt-out campaigns and working for union democracy, Jia is a dynamic teacher at New York City’s Earth School and she has been a tremendous professional resource to me, sharing countless things from her classroom that my students have then been able to benefit from.  If such a thing as an education superhero exists that person is Jia Lee.  

You can click here to access one of Jia’s flyers to share widely with your public ed allies.

Beth Dimino, Jia Lee, Brian St. Pierre. Lee is running against Michael Mulgrew for UFT President.

This election is about more than just Jia, however.  Jia is simply running at the top of a slate of candidates being put forth by two UFT Caucuses.  Those two caucuses (MORE and New Action) are tired of seeing their union compromise and collaborate with reformers bent on destroying us.  They are ready to transform the UFT into a member driven union that represents the teachers in the classroom rather than the union “leaders” with personal agendas.  While that sort of transformation would certainly benefit New York City’s classroom teachers, it’s benefits would stretch far beyond that as well.  It would significantly alter the direction of our statewide union, NYSUT, and our national union, the AFT.  As the local that is by far the largest in the country (several times larger than the second biggest), the UFT’s leadership wields extraordinary power within the teacher union landscape.  They impact virtually every unionized teacher in the United States.  The leadership of the UFT is the largest reason why unions have supported the Common Core and test based teacher evaluations.  They were the ones urging state legislators to vote in favor of the Education Transformation Act last year!  As a matter of fact, much of Unity Caucus’ (the caucus representing the UFT leadership) campaign in this year’s election has even centered upon their support for the evaluation plan in which 50% is made up of test scores.

Clearly anyone who supports public education has a stake in this year’s UFT election.  Nobody can ignore it and think that it only impacts teachers in the five boroughs.  This election will impact every teacher, student, and parent across the state.  With that in mind I will ask that all of you head on over right now to make a donation to the MORE Caucus and their election fund.  Unseating the biggest bully on the public education landscape can’t be done by simply “liking” something on Facebook or retweeting a link on Twitter.  It will take money too.  So give what you can, even if it is only a small amount.  Finally, be sure to ask your friends who support public education to do the same.

Sam Smith on Ed Deform: Education reform was really about urban socio-econmic cleansing

...school test scores represent a symbol that the city is getting the poor under control or out of the way. It was not about educating the city's young but about marketing to the city's newcomers.

What has happened is as if we had tried to reach the moon with space vehicles designed by economists, lawyers and corporate buddies of the president... It has, in the end, a hopeless mush of sleaze, stupidity and statistical static, all having remarkably little to do with real education.... growing evidence that the assault on public education is part of an urban socio-economic cleansing that has long been underway as the upper classes attempt retrieve the cities they surrendered to the poor many decades ago....

 Sam Smith at Undernews wrote this in 2010 and republished it on April 1, 2016.

Today's simple term is "gentrification" but in this piece Sam takes us beyond that narrow term. I'm really impressed he did this piece 6 years ago.

....it was absolutely clear and absolutely unmentionable that the upper classes - both white and black, incidentally - wanted the city back again and were using a plethora of tactics to achieve this goal, especially after our energy consciousness increased and it became apparent that the suburbs were no longer the favored haven, but the ghettos of the future. Furthermore, it was clear that satisfying this goal was behind most of the major new city programs, ranging from the subway to the baseball stadium - only please always call it economic development rather than getting rid of the poor.  

I would not just say the upper classes, especially when it comes to black people - but to the rising black classes out of poverty who have been tempted by the charter offer of banishing the ultra poor. Sam touches on the charter issue:

Public education "reform" fit the plan in some ways. For example, although it was widely claimed that charter schools did not discriminate in their selection of students it was obvious that parents - a central factor in any child's ability to learn - differed drastically between those with enough ambition to apply for a charter school seat and those either indifferent or with too much else on their mind. The charter schools were in this way a subtle part of socio-economic cleansing as they helped to reduce the old public facilities to what were once called "pauper schools." Then there was the carefully crafted schemes for closing "failing" public schools. But there is far more to schools than aggregate test scores. They help define a community, anchor its loose pieces to common ground, and provide a place for children to meet and play in a decent and clean environment.

I saw this in action not long ago at a meeting in Arverne about schools related to the hot new development in Rockaway - Arverne By the Sea - who were promised an elementary charter school but are getting a middle school charter instead. It is a very mixed community and one black parent said it flat out. They don't want their kids to go to the local "project" school and want their own school. I tried to offer her an idea that if they went to the "project" school they would create an activist base of parents to turn that school into a place good for all. She wasn't hearing that idea and maybe I don't blame her. She wanted her charter. And she is getting it - Eva is moving a school into the area.

But as a Rockaway resident when we hear stories about shots being fired on a regular basis out of the projects can we blame them?
Too complicated for my aging brain, so I'll just let Sam Smith address the issue.

http://prorevnews.blogspot.com/2016/04/education-reform-was-really-about-urban.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+prorevfeed+%28UNDERNEWS%29

Education reform was really about urban socio-econmic cleansing

From our overstocked archives

SAM SMITH, 2010

Unanswered in all the noise about "education reform" is why, over the past decade, America's establishment has become so obsessed with controlling public education, a complete reversal of two centuries of American faith in locally controlled schools.

There are answers that the op-eds will give you, such as the need to compete in the global marketplace, but this is pretty weak stuff and not the raw material for major presidential policy under two administrations.

There are answers that can be found in the general shift in government towards data as a worthy substitute, or delaying tactic, for action. As long as you're assessing something you don't actually have to do anything about it.

Then there's the milking of the cash cow of testing. For example, the Washington Post now gets the bulk of its profits from the Kaplan education division, profits bolstered by the paper's constant editorial boosting of the test tyrants. And Neil Bush started a company designed to help students pass the tests of his brother's No Child Left Behind policy.

Certainly there is precedent for this, such as the efforts to privatize Social Security and subsidize health insurance companies, all part of a three decades rip-off of public programs by private industry.

But how, for example, does one explain that this effort has been carried out with such an extraordinary absence of knowledgeable educators or skilled teachers? What has happened is as if we had tried to reach the moon with space vehicles designed by economists, lawyers and corporate buddies of the president.

It has, in the end, a hopeless mush of sleaze, stupidity and statistical static, all having remarkably little to do with real education.

There is, however, an even more disreputable matter lurking in the background that has not been exposed, debated or confronted - namely growing evidence that the assault on public education is part of an urban socio-economic cleansing that has long been underway as the upper classes attempt retrieve the cities they surrendered to the poor many decades ago.

For several decades, I followed this phenomenon as a journalist in my hometown of Washington, DC. It was a topic seldom mentioned in the corporate media and not polite to mention at all in the better parts of town.

In 2006 I wrote, "Part of the socio-economic cleansing of the capital city - still underway - included draconian measures to discourage the minority poor from staying in DC. Some of these were fiscal -- such as a tax break for predominately white first-time homeowners but no breaks for the lower income blacks pushed out by them. But they also included a variety of punitive measures including new restrictions on jury trials, increased lock-ups such as for trivial traffic offenses, stiffer sentencing, soaring marijuana arrests, a halving of the number of court-appointed defense attorneys, increased penalties for pot possession, and the shipping of inmates to distant prisons

And in 2007: "This is a 60% black city undergoing socio-economic cleansing. One suburban county has so many black former DC residents that it is known here as Ward 9. But it's no joke. Here are just a few of things that have happened: Huge budget cuts of which 60% of the burden fell on the poor; closing of four of the city's ten health clinics; slashing the number of public health workers; cutting the budget for libraries, city funded day care centers, welfare benefits, and homeless shelters; creation of a tax-subsidized private "charter" school system; dismantling the city's public university including a massive cut in faculty, destruction of the athletic program and elimination of normal university services; selling the city's public radio station to C-SPAN; transferring prisoners to private gulags hundreds of miles away; a dramatic increase in the number of lock-ups including for traffic stops; and the subjugating of the elected school board to an appointed board of trustee."

There were other signs: the destruction of public housing units, the removal of a homeless shelter from the center city, and even a blockade of a crime- hit black neighborhood - with entry permitted only for approved cause - not unlike apartheid South Africa or the Israelis in the West Bank - about which the liberal gentry class said nothing.

In other words, it was absolutely clear and absolutely unmentionable that the upper classes - both white and black, incidentally - wanted the city back again and were using a plethora of tactics to achieve this goal, especially after our energy consciousness increased and it became apparent that the suburbs were no longer the favored haven, but the ghettos of the future.

Furthermore, it was clear that satisfying this goal was behind most of the major new city programs, ranging from the subway to the baseball stadium - only please always call it economic development rather than getting rid of the poor.

Public education "reform" fit the plan in some ways. For example, although it was widely claimed that charter schools did not discriminate in their selection of students it was obvious that parents - a central factor in any child's ability to learn - differed drastically between those with enough ambition to apply for a charter school seat and those either indifferent or with too much else on their mind. The charter schools were in this way a subtle part of socio-economic cleansing as they helped to reduce the old public facilities to what were once called "pauper schools."

Then there was the carefully crafted schemes for closing "failing" public schools. But there is far more to schools than aggregate test scores. They help define a community, anchor its loose pieces to common ground, and provide a place for children to meet and play in a decent and clean environment.

Describing DC's plans to close eleven schools (mostly in order to build condos), DC Statehood Party activist Chris Otten argued a few years ago, "There are lots of ways we can use our publicly owned properties -- homeless services and shelters, child care, before- and after-school care, services for children with special needs, transitional housing and permanent affordable housing, health care, literacy programs, training for jobs and workforce readiness, senior services, gardening and green spaces, recreation. It's outrageous that Mayor Fenty would rather transfer them to his friends and other well-connected and powerful real estate and development interests."

But Fenty and other mayors were not only willing to get rid of such schools, they were willing to damage community in the process and force young residents to travel far away from their community and its values. It was not only bad educationally cruel it was mean to the communities as a whole.

But these schools were located on suddenly valuable ground and so the government stole from the children and their parents and gave to the developers.

And there was something more at work.

It took the recent DC mayoral election to make me realize that I had been putting too much emphasis on educational considerations in examining what was happening. What I had missed was that the war on schools was not designed to bring the upper classes into the education system but primarily as a a marketing tool to bring the upper classes and corporations back to the cities. The message was, as with crime sweeps, baseball stadiums and the subway. It was now safe, folks, to live here.

In DC, the battle peaked between incumbent mayor Adrian Fenty, who with his school chancellor Michelle Rhee was strongly committed to the Bush-Obama school model, and his opponent and strong critic, Vincent Gray.

Eddie Elfanbeen did a precinct by precinct analysis of the contest. Some 31 precincts gave Fenty 75% or more of the vote while 53 gave him 25% or less. All of the top Fenty precincts were heavily white while all the top Gray precincts were heavily black. But more significant perhaps was that the former were all upscale precincts while the latter were at the lower end of the income scale. .

This year Fenty got 80% of upscale white Ward 3 and 16% of far poorer and black Ward 8.

Now, here's the hooker. Only five percent of the public school system consists of white students. So why did it matter so much? For example, why did heavily gay precincts - with a constituency least likely to ever use the school system - give over 70% of their vote to Fenty?

It seems that it mattered because school test scores represent a symbol that the city is getting the poor under control or out of the way. It was not about educating the city's young but about marketing to the city's newcomers. Another poll, for example, found that Fenty won overwhelmingly the vote of those who had lived in DC less than ten years and Gray those who had lived there longer.

Thus, it was not unlike the crime war phenomena. Back in the nineties I noted that "Between 1985 and 1988, in the wake of the revived drug war, murders in Washington, DC soared from 145 a year to 369. During this period, the city's office of criminal justice planning did an unusually detailed analysis of homicides. The report illustrates [that] it was virtually impossible to be killed in Washington if you were a young white girl living in upscale Georgetown on an early Thursday morning in July. If, on the other hand, you were a young black 20-year-old male living in low-income Anacostia, dealing drugs on a Saturday night in June, your chances of being killed were far greater than the overall statistics would suggest. And if you were not buying or selling drugs at all, your chances of being killed in DC were about the same as in Copenhagen."

But being safe and feeling safe are two different things. And, as with crime, it was important for effective marketing to be seen as keeping the problem population under control.

Of DC, Leigh Dingerson wrote recently:

"There’s nothing remarkably visionary going on in Washington. The model of school reform that’s being implemented here is popping up around the country, heavily promoted by the same network of conservative think tanks and philanthropists like Bill Gates, Eli Broad, and the Walton Family Foundation that has been driving the school reform debate for the past decade. It is reform based on the corporate practices of Wall Street, not on education research or theory. Indications so far are that, on top of the upheaval and distress Rhee leaves in her wake, the persistent racial gaps that plague D.C. student outcomes are only increasing. . . Despite glowing reports from the adoring media, D.C.’s education miracle is a chimera at best. . . "

But that, it turns out, was probably the point: to create a political illusion that would support the city's myth, sell real estate, and attract new residents and businesses. Just as it didn't matter that Washington's Metro was designed in a way that actually increased rather than reduced street traffic, it didn't matter that school reform didn't improve things. It only had to seem to change things.

Meanwhile the real city remained.

In 2008, one in five DC residents was poor, a higher rate than in any year since 1997-98. Since the late 1990s, some 27,000 more DC residents fell into poverty. Thirty-two percent of the District of Columbia's children live in poverty, nearly twice the national average. And in 2008 there were over 52,000 families on the waiting list for affordable housing.

But perhaps most important for the educational system, and discussion about it, is something hardly ever discussed: in the first decade of this century, employment among residents with a high school diploma fell to the lowest level in nearly 30 years. Just 51 percent of DC residents at this education level were working.

Every one in the system - parents, teachers, students - knew this reality and reacted accordingly. This, more than any other factor, defined public education in DC. But few wanted to face it.

After all, the poor don't balance your budget. Cutting their services and shoving them out into new suburban ghettos can. And they certainly don't attract tax paying residents and businesses. So you talk the talk of education reform but walk the walk of socio-economic cleansing.