School Scope: Schools and Hurricanes - Norm in The WAVE

Published Sept. 8, 2017 in The WAVE, www.rockawave.com

School Scope: Schools and Hurricanes
By Norm Scott

Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017
I noticed that another school year has begun. I got a hint when staff members’ cars from the school up the street began appearing on the block. I still get a hint of those Labor Day butterflies leftover from having attended or worked in schools from the age of five through sixty. Fifty five years of habit is touch to break even a dozen years later. Having so many school worker friends posting their laments and excitements on social media has kept me in touch. Some teachers are hesitant to share the fact that despite the end of another glorious summer, there are excited to get back to work. The main problem I had was the end of two months of freedom, but every year I also had feelings that I couldn’t wait to get back. Too much freedom can be a dangerous thing. Almost every retiree I speak to say how much more productive they were when they were working. Now if they get one thing done a day they celebrate – some say they get much less done than when they were under a time gun.

My continued involvement with alternate voices in the UFT challenging the leadership has also kept me in touch with the political issues facing teachers. Testing continues to drive the agenda in judging student, school, and teacher performance. The scores from last spring were published a few weeks ago in the dead of August. Minor gains in the city were championed by de Blasio as victories. Some de Blasio supporters had hoped he would take on the test mania but instead, he and his partners in the UFT leadership have continued running the same train down a broken track.

Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters, posted on the NYC Parent blog: “State test scores increase again; but is it real? Opt out rates remain high.” She wrote, “… the NY State Education Department has appeared unable since 2002 to produce a reliable test and score it consistently enough to allow one to assess if there’s been any sort of improvement in our schools. Instead, Commissioners and their staff have repeatedly changed cut scores and set proficiency rates to make political points.” Call this cheating at the highest levels.

Leonie also points to the still very high opt-out rates in the state, the highest in the nation, though NYC lags far behind the rest of the state due to massive repression and threats to punish schools with high opt out rates from the top officials of the NYCDOE. Read Leonie’s very insightful post at https://tinyurl.com/y97vmk9d.

For decades before Sandy, since we moved to Rockaway in 1979, I had been tracking potential and actual hurricanes from their earliest stages. I remembered the stories of the bay meeting the ocean from the early 60s and with every hurricane that threatened our area that nightmare was always on my mind. We evacuated twice over the decades, the last time with Irene in 2011, which so lulled us we didn’t leave during and after Sandy in 2012 when the bay met the ocean in spades. Everyone in Rockaway understands what Houston is going through and sadly, this will not be the last time somewhere in the coastal USA there will be some similar disaster on an increasing basis.

Just as Harvey was slamming Texas we began hear of Irma, which at the time was forming off the coast of Africa (and Jose following behind). As I write Irma is a Cat 4/5 storm pushing through the Caribbean and heading for a possible landing in Southern Florida or if it shifts north, the Carolinas or even with a bigger curve north, maybe us, which if it hits will be a week away and scary. Just in case, we are making plans to get stuff out of the basement and onto higher floors. This time evacuation will be more likely for us. The cats however, are not sure they want to go.

I don’t want to get into the weeds of the politics of global warming or the role humans have in increasing the rate. I believe we have been a warming trend for 15 thousand years – remember, massive glaciers covered most of NYC. These changes came in slow enough increments to allow humanity time to adapt. Remember those pre-Indians who walked across the land bridge connecting Siberia to Alaska? They had some time to adjust to not being able to go back as the seas rose. The issue is the rate of warming which has been increasing at a higher rate over the past 150 years as the industrial revolution proceeded. Rising seas and warmer ocean waters make for bad hurricanes (is there a good one?) and more violent weather. To me that is a given. The question to me is not whether human actions at this time can reverse the rate but rather slow things down just enough to give humanity time to adjust. The Greenland ice sheet is melting as is the Antarctic ice shelves, which will raise sea levels hundreds of feet – imagine even the highest sky scrapers sticking up in a world of water.

But don’t fret – it won’t be all bad living in Venice on the Hudson.

Norm frets daily at ednotesonline.com.

There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch - Or Is There?

I'm real happy the NYCDOE has decided to offer every child a free lunch. As a classroom teacher it always seemed crazy to send home those forms for parents to fill out when almost every kid was entitled. And no one was checking to see if someone was lying. I do remember a few kids who were supposed to bring in money to pay every week and that became such a drag the schools just began to ignore it. Someone in the school had to deal with all the paper work involved and there were just not enough resources to do that -- often a school aide ended up doing it.

So this is a not only a rational progressive move but also a real time saver for schools and the system administratively.

I just heard on The Takeaway that 75% of NYC kids are entitled to free lunch even if a third of them don't eat it. There was talk of shaming and how kids felt eating the school lunch was degrading. Maybe in schools where there are significant numbers of people who come from incomes high enough - in my school even teachers tried to scam a free lunch even though we were required to pay for them technically. When we were on lunchroom duty we felt we were entitled -

Joey Chestnut - get rid of those dogs and go for beef patties

How many Jamaican beef patties can you eat in 50 minutes? I was the Joey Chestnut of the school lunchroom.

KidsPac - de Blasio's Education Report Card

Don't mistake KidsPac for one of those astroturf ed deform groups just because they are legitimately holding deB accountable. Many of our parent allies are involved. It is funny to read the illegitimate attacks on deB from the likes of Eva and other charter slugs because their whining for more space hasn't led to him putting them at the top of his To Do list. He has not done very well in terms of resisting their outrageous demands which are also based on lies and distortions of their needs as they attempt to disguise their real goals -- to take over entire swaths of valuable real estate while squeezing public schools into oblivion. deB doesn't get a very good grade in resisting this trend.

http://nyckidspac.org/2017-mayoral-report-card/

http://nypost.com/2017/09/05/school-advocates-give-de-blasio-an-f/ 

Chalkbeat links:
REPORT CARD A parent advocacy group gave Mayor Bill de Blasio poor marks on school policy. DNAinfo, Chalkbeat (Sept. 5)

Join us today at 11:30 am for the release of the NYC Kids PAC 2017 education report card for Mayor de Blasio

I foresee some bad grades in the de Blasio/Farina future.

For more information contact: 

Shino Tanikawa: estuaryqueen@gmail.com

Parents, kids & advocates release Education report card for Mayor de Blasio

WHO: Parents, kids and education advocates
WHAT: Release of the 2017 NYC Kids PAC education report card for Mayor de Blasio, on issues ranging from testing, class size, school overcrowding, to funding, transparency, special education and diversity
WHERE: On the steps of Tweed, 52 Chambers St. in downtown Manhattan
WHEN: Tues. Sept. 5 at 11:30 AM

The Real Work of Organizing in Brooklyn Vs Fighting Dead Statues

There is an interesting article in Sunday's Times about The New Kings Democrats- the hard and often frustrating work of challenging the established Democratic Party in Brooklyn. It points to a way forward to capturing power at the lowest levels. I know, I know -- rallying and fighting Nazis is more fun and gratifying - and it is true you can do both -- but in reality most people don't do both, as pointed out by some critics of Antifa (can't find the link), people tend to take one path or the other for their major involvement -- organizing rallies, protests, counter rallies, etc - takes energy, just at the work inside politics takes energy and people with jobs, families, etc don't have time for both.

I've seen it in MORE - where a rally gets people salivating. Going to CEC, PEP, UFT DAs etc -- not so much. When even a small org like MORE has the balance tilted the resources get shifted in that direction.

The  left - and I have been among them - toss away the Democratic Party as being a waste of time. They dream of a labor party of sorts -- as much a dream as going to Mars at this point. Why? Because the left has little mechanism for getting along with each other -- though some hope the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) can be that party. I am doubtful - sectarians will always be there -- and then there are the police/FBI infiltrators to disrupt things on the left, as they always have,

Now, I an wary of the number of people involved in the New Kings Democrats who have migrated to working for the de Blasio administration - is this just another insurgency - the new boss, same as the old boss?

I'm glad this article exposes the sellout Lou Fidler who turned his back on public educators while trying to give the impression he was a supporter in the battles over school closings and charter infiltration in his district when he was a City Councilman.

Search Results

In Brooklyn, Challenging the Party Establishment - The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/31/nyregion/new-kings-democrats-brooklyn.html?...

By DANIELLE TCHOLAKIANAUG. 31, 2017

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On Identity Politics - Salon

A long but interesting read by Anis Shivani even if I don't agree with some of the points. He doesn't distinguish between liberals and the left and lumps them all together and I think there are significant differences between anti-capitalist socialists - though many also play in the same identity politics field. And I also don't agree about his points on FDR's New Deal.

I did recognize some of the points just from my experience in MORE over the past 6 years where identity politics are played out constantly to the point where white men and their privilege are buried. Is there white male privilege? Hell yes. But the way it is addressed is often divisive - which from my earliest days as a union activist we could see separating people ideologically. At MORE's first big meeting there was contention over the order people would be called on - known as progressive stack - where people of color and women were given priority. I can agree with progressive stack but would include anyone who doesn't get to speak often, even white males. But the way it was implemented was so ham-handed, some people never came back.

Well, as they say, all politics is local.

Time to give up on identity politics: It’s dragging the progressive agenda down - Salon.com

https://www.salon.com/2017/09/02/time-to-give-up-on-identity-politics-its-dragging-the-progressive-agenda-down/

School Scope: Eclipse Eclipsed by Texas Floods - Norm in The Wave

Published Sept. 1, 2017
https://www.rockawave.com/pageview/viewer/2017-09-01#page=16

School Scope: Eclipse Eclipsed by Texas Floods

By Norm Scott

August 28, 2017

I spent a few hours viewing the eclipse in the parking lot behind my friend Mark Rosenhaft’s Central Vision Care in Cedarhurst. Mark, an amateur astronomer, set up a telescope with a filter and attracted a crowd of people oohing and ahhhing at the views. Mark got some great photos too.

News is moving so fast. The heavy news from Charlottesville was overtaken by the big eclipse news of a week ago was which was soon eclipsed by the Texas floods. And then there is Korea. Of course on the daily Trump beat, the beat goes on. On education news, the scores from last spring’s tests are out ­– (why does it take them so long, one might ask?) – and the press is going nuts over reporting on the 800 or so ATRs (Absentee Teacher Reserves who may be placed into schools against the will of principals (which occurred in the system from its beginning a century ago through 2005). My problem is – too many choices. I would love to be able to tie all the hot button issues together in a sort of grand unification package in a positive way to counter the sense that life on earth may be doomed.

There was a sense of sock when America saw Nazis giving the Hitler salute and shouting anti-Semitic slogans marching so openly in Charlottesville. I was interested to see the reaction of some of my fellow Jews who had not been as perturbed when Muslims or African-Americans were attacked. Some segments of the Italian community connected to the shame of the Mussolini fascists. Identity politics runs deep. I heard a lot from some Jewish friends about doubts over the removal of Confederate statues – you know people who went to war against the USA to preserve the enslavement of black people. “Even so, history shouldn’t be buried. How about the slave owners’ faces on our money,” they said? When I asked how they would feel if Germany had statues of Hitler to “preserve” history or if they had his face on their money, I got silence. Remember, in the south, Lincoln was and still is the enemy for ending slavery and preserving the union. Not a lot of statues went up to him below the Mason Dixon line for decades ­– I’m still not sure if there aren’t more statues to Lee and Jefferson Davis than to Lincoln.

We began to hear a lot about the Antifa – the antifascists, often consisting of anarchists, who believe in making a stand against fascists,  or those they brand as fascists. I have mixed feelings about how to respond but the Trump response that there were good people defending their statues celebrating people who were not just slave holders but were out to destroy the nation and just ran into a Hitler-inspired march caused much outrage. The actions of some Antifa in some ways defused the power of a peaceful protest and gave the right a wedge argument that might appeal to some potential allies. What is clear is that the left – whatever that means nowadays - has no coherent strategy compared to the Steve Bannon led alt-right.

Speaking of Bannon, some on the left actually line up with some of his positions. Like Korea – the last straw for Trump was when Bannon in speaking to left wing press said there was no military solution in Korea, thus also enraging the globalists/neocons from both Republicans and Democrats, as does the alt-right position on Russia, which has been under assault by the deep state for a hundred years. The Bernie wing of the left also dovetails to some extent on economic populism. Remember, NAFTA in the early 90s, which came out of both Bush I and the Clinton admins, was vilified by the left, including a massive protest in Seattle at the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference in 1999 which included an Antifa-like wing smashing windows.

One thing we all can agree on is that flooding is bad whether in Houston or NYC, though we are remembering those Texas politicians (Ted Cruz for instance) who voted against fed support for us after Sandy. But people who point this out don’t want retribution and want the big, bad federal gument to keep funding people in trouble. What we don’t seem to agree on is the extent of global warming and what is causing it. Harvey is record-breaking and to assume there is no factor of global warming involved is short-sighted.

And speaking of waterways, how some kudos for a change to Bill di Blasio for bringing a massive possibly game-changer to NYC transportation with ferry system that for the most part works very well at a great price? And Rockaway was at the top of the list to get it going and it has worked even with the small boats. Instead we hear a lot of carping over the details as they get worked out. With the Wall St.-Astoria with a stop at 34^th St. connection opening this week things become more intriguing. Just don’t expect things to take less time given getting to the ferry (even those little bus shuttles work like a charm) and wait times to change to another ferry. (When I want to go uptown I walk from the ferry to the 4,5 for the East Side and the 2,3 for the West Side.) For people commuting to work, the A train – if it worked better can still be a better option. Maybe the local politicians and  press should spend a little more time on fixing the “A” than chasing unicorns with the mythical Rockaway Rail Line.

Norm never stops chasing after unicorns at ednotesonline.com

Pro-Con Antifa Wars on the Left Heat Up

Maybe we should put punching fascists on the back burner for a while and spend more time punching a corporation like Time-Warner instead .....

While the largely anarchist base of antifa has little regard for free speech niceties, there are some groups on the Marxist left that see things the same way....   If [Ann Coulter] had gone ahead and spoken on the originally scheduled date, would this have prompted antifa to organize (or disorganize) the same kind of adventure that made Milo Yiannopoulos appear as a victim, so much so that he earned a spot on the Bill Maher show where his repugnant ideas reached millions?..... Louis Proyect, Elderly Marxist with deep aversion to dictatorships, particularly those representing themselves as socialist.

And so it goes, as I've been expecting. Some guy on facebook supported the tactics of some in Antifa by comparing them to John Brown and calling liberals who call for free speech racists. While many Antifa people are being selective in focusing in Nazis, who is to stop any self-declared person looking for an excuse to bash heads from jumping in? And then there is the branding of people like the dirty liberals who may decide to stand up against Nazis in their own way?

And watching the sectrarian left over time, where when you put 3 people in a room you end up with 4 groups, gives me no confidence the left can every unite in a way to control this - especially variants in the anarchist wing which might verbally attack liberals/progressives/leftists as they do Nazis. As I've been saying, some of the actions of people on the left have caused me and others to question those who say capitalism is the problem but offer few realistic alternatives for this nation. I'm going to post some of my personal examples of experiences over the years where I disagreed with some of the tactics and was branded as a red-baiter, which I am sure some people may attempt to do here, ie, there are groups at the AFT which ally themselves with Antifa - and are the only ones at times running against Randi and Unity on the national level - which makes the actions of our leftist allies in UCORE curious given their lack of presence in opposition to Randi on the national level, thus in essence leaving the opposition in the AFT to be Antifa-like. (I do continue to work with some of them and so need to be circumspect.)

Note this comment from the article below by Proyect:

Even within anarchist ranks, there have been indications that offensive speakers must be silenced even when they are anarchists themselves. At a 2014 conference held at Portland State University, members of the audience tried to shout down Kristian Williams, an anarchist author who had made statements agreeing with Laura Kipnis about “sexual paranoia” coming to campus. At least they didn’t punch him in the face.

And another:

When it comes to the question of “free speech for fascists”, Marxism and the ACLU part ways. For free speech absolutists, protesting fascist events would likely be considered out of bounds but for Marxists there is an obligation to confront fascist rallies and meetings on a principled basis. For example, the students at Berkeley made the right choice to show up on the doorstep of the Student Union where Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak. If their numbers were so massive that it would have been impossible to get inside the building, that would have been just fine. Instead what happened was a small group of antifa dictated tactics that made it easy for the entire protest to be stigmatized as violating democratic rights. 

Some are supporting Antifa by using satire - a funny piece by Dale Pearson

When you work at something for years, really taking the time to master it, you expect a little bit of recognition. So that’s why what’s happening right now in America is really getting under my skin: I am sick of busting my ass doing neo-Nazi stuff only to have masked Antifa dipshits swoop in and get credit as the real fascists.
Let me break down just how unjust this is. Me and my friends have worked hard for years to promote white supremacy, nationalism, and eugenics. We’ve cyber-stalked feminists. We’ve burnt crosses. We’ve harassed queers in the light of day. And yet, these Antifa dorks, many of whom aren’t even fucking white, break a few windows in Berkeley and get called fascists by as many, if not more, people online as we do?
Un-fucking-believable!
These Antifa momma’s boys bought ski masks and baseball bats from whatever big-box store they shop at. I, a real, self-respecting fascist, spent the last 15 years painstakingly putting together a historically accurate SS uniform that I wear whenever I participate in any and all activities meant to usher in the Fourth Reich....

http://www.clickhole.com/blogpost/im-sick-busting-my-ass-doing-neo-nazi-stuff-only-h-6597#1

Read more at:

I’m Sick Of Busting My Ass Doing Neo-Nazi Stuff Only To Have Some Masked Antifa Dweebs Get Credit As The Real Fascists

This is satire but doesn't get into the weeds of the implications of Antifa actions.

Louis Proyect bills himself as an "Elderly Marxist with deep aversion to dictatorships, particularly those representing themselves as socialist." @LouisProyect1

I've read some of his posts before where he focuses on some of the behavior on the left. For those of us in the wilderness who are not true believers in socialism nor capitalism, reading a wide variety of left critics of the left (like Ethan Young) can be illuminating. Or confusing. I have more to post on this issue from Peter Farruggio and some responses. Meanwhile check this out from Louis Proyect, who I imagine will join Noam Chomsky: Antifa is a 'major gift to the Right... and Chris Hedges - How ‘Antifa’ Mirrors the ‘Alt-Right... as racist "enemies of the people" because they are critical.

Proyect shows us the differences between activists defending themselves against fascists with this story - which I can support the response.

there was a massive protest against fascist leader Gerald L.K. Smith’s talk in Minneapolis on August 21, 1946. When trade unionists began marching toward the hotel where it was supposed to be held, Smith’s goons attempted to break up their line. This led to a pitched battle that moved inside the hotel with chairs flying everywhere until the fascists were routed. It is important to note that this march was organized by trade union leaders who had been democratically elected by the ranks. This was a time before the witch-hunt had taken its toll. It is the model for the kind of movement we need today, one based on accountability, transparency and democracy—something sorely missing from the antifa adventurism.

Sadly, too many people on the left have jumped on the Antifa bandwagon without giving careful thought. They skip the organizing and go right to the rallies. If someone gets killed they have a cause.

By the way -- see if you can count how many people with masks are white.

Here Proyect talks about the long-term impact of progressives cheering the silencing of the right and how easy it will be to turn that against the left.

https://louisproyect.org/2017/08/27/no-platform-for-fascists/

August 27, 2017

No platform for fascists?

Filed under: anti-fascism — louisproyect @ 8:14 pm

Antifa Defenders Attack Liberals and Liberalism Too

Liberalism is a death cult. Chris Hedges is a public menace... Matt Sedillo, The Southwest Political Report

I'm not a pacifist, and there is a place for defensive violence when dealing with Nazis, the Klan and their ilk....Antifa can potentially serve a useful purpose as the defensive "marshals" of a non-violent mass movement, present if needed to fend off white supremacist goons.They are dangerously deluded, however, if they think they can successfully compete with the will-to-violence of the Fascists and the State. ....

Michael Fiorillo

Michael, a leftist, over the years has taught me a few lessons about the left. In my 45 years of activism in the left-wing of the UFT, I have learned a lot about a certain segment of the left and have developed some mistrust - I would say that the actions of some on the left have moved me more to the right - which means for me from the anti-capitalist socialism wing into the more liberal democratic socialism - like the Bernie wing of thought. (I know some of you will laugh but in terms of the "left" Bernie is considered to the right of the left.) I have often found myself lining up with Michael on many issues -- as do others who were connected to the ICE caucus in the UFT.

When it comes to anarchists, history has shown that they often end up with some kind of violence as their solution -- maybe the idea that by forcing a physical response, they will get the rest of the populace to rise up with them. But their capacity to turn off even other segments of the left just dooms them.

It doesn't take long for self-declared defenders against Nazis to turn their attacks on their critics on the left. As I've been saying, I don't have as many issues with standing up to Nazis but the problem with Antifa, Black Bloc, etc. but it doesn't take much for them to turn their vitriol against against anyone who disagrees with them. Not to say that there is still a lot of ambivalence from progressives. The left has always been under attack not just from the right but from government, corporations, etc. Police have been used against them and in fact were founded to control people like those wanting to form unions. Can fighting police in the streets be a winning strategy?

Michael Fiorillo's comment on my post "Yes, What About the “Alt-Left”? What the counter-p...": expresses this ambivalence:

I'm not a pacifist, and there is a place for defensive violence when dealing with Nazis, the Klan and their ilk.

My main issues with Antifa is that 1) they need to be disciplined and act strictly in defense of the anti-right wing Popular Front that needs to come/is coming into existence, as well as to defend communities most endangered by it. Aggressive violence against the Right, which is far better armed and trained, is doomed to failure.

Second, wearing black hoods and masks is just bad politics, enabling police provocateurs (who are ALWAYS seeking to infiltrate these groups and discredit the movement).

Antifa can potentially serve a useful purpose as the defensive "marshals" of a non-violent mass movement, present if needed to fend off white supremacist goons.They are dangerously deluded, however, if they think they can successfully compete with the will-to-violence of the Fascists and the State. Only a mass movement across class lines can hope to do that.

Yes, What About the “Alt-Left”? What the counter-protesters Trump despises were actually doing in Charlottesville

The white supremacists did not blink at violently plowing right through clergy, all of us dressed in full clerical garb. White supremacy is violence. I didn’t see any racial justice protesters with weapons; as for antifa, anything they brought I would only categorize as community defense tools and nothing more. Pretty much everyone I talk to agrees—including most clergy. My strong stance is that the weapon is and was white supremacy, and the white supremacists intentionally brought weapons to instigate violence.... What the counter-protesters Trump despises were actually doing in Charlottesville last weekend.

The yin/yang re: Antifa goes on. Here is a positive view.
Left/liberals are calling for MLK type peaceful protests. Given the armed right wing militants and the fact that police and military are mostly sympathetic to the right, the left has little room to roam. I'm still not taking sides - yet.

Yes, What About the “Alt-Left”?

What the counter-protesters Trump despises were actually doing in Charlottesville last weekend.

By Dahlia Lithwick

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/08/what_the_alt_left_was_actually_doing_in_charlottesville.html

Chris Hedges - How ‘Antifa’ Mirrors the ‘Alt-Right’ - Truthdig

What took place in Charlottesville, like what took place in February when antifa and Black Bloc protesters thwarted UC Berkeley’s attempt to host the crypto-fascist Milo Yiannopoulos, was political theater. It was about giving self-styled radicals a stage. It was about elevating their self-image. It was about appearing heroic. It was about replacing personal alienation with comradeship and solidarity. Most important, it was about the ability to project fear. This newfound power is exciting and intoxicating. It is also very dangerous.... Chris Hedges

Criticism of Antifa from progressives on the left mounts. This is different from the liberal ACLU "free speech even for Nazis" critiques. Self-declared anarchists are not the most loved on the left --- after all, they often disparage the essential beliefs of many leftists. Who is to say that Hedges is protested at some point for disagreeing with Antifa? I am not comfortable with people making certain decisions as to who is kosher and who is not.

Hedges makes some important points:

Street clashes do not distress the ruling elites. These clashes divide the underclass. They divert activists from threatening the actual structures of power. They give the corporate state the ammunition to impose harsher forms of control and expand the powers of internal security. When antifa assumes the right to curtail free speech it becomes a weapon in the hands of its enemies to take that freedom away from everyone, especially the anti-capitalists.
The focus on street violence diverts activists from the far less glamorous building of relationships and alternative institutions and community organizing that alone will make effective resistance possible.

Here is the entire article with some historical references.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/antifa-mirrors-alt-right/

Dueling it Out About Antifa

We continue our series dealing with elements of Antifa - which is not an organized block. It might make sense to some to support beating up Nazi sympathizers but I worry when it extends to whatever some people choose to define as "hate" speech. What if being critical of Antifa methods gets classified that way and suddenly leftists who are critical find themselves under attack as "liberal" free speechers?

Peter Farruggio, my old colleague (1969-70 at PS 16K and in the first caucus I was part of, Another View in District 14) feels Nazis need to be challenged and sent this email:

Peter Farruggio: I reject the argument that such "violence" from the left only makes the nazis look sympathetic, or is bad publicity. Let the mainstream presstitutes babble on about the "extremist left." Their audiences are not the important target. It's everyday people who are in danger of fascist violence and police state terror who need to see how to confront these punks. And of course, the punks themselves must see their fellow bullies getting defeated and demoralized.  I'll stand with Woody Allen on how to deal with nazis:

http://antifascistaction.tumblr.com/post/46506446177

Here is what Woody supposedly said:

Dealing with nazis, according to Woody Allen (Manhattan)

Woody Allen: Has anybody read that Nazis are gonna march in New Jersey? Ya know? I read it in the newspaper. We should go down there, get some guys together, ya know, get some bricks and baseball bats, and really explain things to 'em.

Victor Truro: There was this devastating satirical piece on that on the op-ed page of the Times – devastating.

Allen: Well, a satirical piece in the Times is one thing, but bricks and baseball bats really gets right to the point of it.

Helen Hanft: Oh, but really biting satire is always better than physical force.

Allen: No, physical force is always better with Nazis.

Here's the clip:


There's also a story floating around about Jewish gangster Meir Lansky having a crew show up with baseball bats to disrupt a Nazi bund rallies in the late 1930s.

Peter continues:

OK, so it was a bad day for the extremist right in the Bay Area this weekend. The fascists punked out and canceled their planned "rally" yesterday in SF, in the face of massive anti-nazi demos. Today, a handful of them showed up in Berkeley and got their butts kicked. Too bad it had to be the adventurist anarchists who did the butt kicking, instead of the organized working class; but at least they sent the message "Don't come back here, cowards!" (It's the anarchists' stupid window-breaking that brings bad publicity, and that's probably the work of police state provocateurs)

https://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2017/08/27/liveblog-east-bay-demonstrators-protest-against-hate

So, I am ambivalent and an showing my libertarian tendencies.
I don't totally disagree with the liberal "presstitutes" in the New Yorker, with which I also have some sympathy.

An Intimate History of Antifa | The New Yorker

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-ongoing-legal-battle-over-the-black-bloc-inauguration-day-protest

And the latest piece from The New Yorker:

the images out of Berkeley—outnumbered right-wing protesters being pepper-sprayed by counter-demonstrators, one person lying on the ground while a black-clad group punched his face and torso—will be held up by many on the right as evidence that Trump was correct about the blame falling on “many sides.”... the clear dictate of common sense is that no one should be in the business of providing this President with matches.... The New Yorker, The Antifa Protests Are Helping Donald Trump

Below is the full piece which claims the right is being handed a loaded gun.

The Antifa Protests Are Helping Donald Trump | The New Yorker

https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-antifa-protests-are-helping-donald-trump?mbid=nl_170829_Daily&CNDID=24481169&spMailingID=11804025&spUserID=MTMzMTgyNTI1MzgxS0&spJobID=1222656399&spReportId=MTIyMjY1NjM5OQS2

Jelani Cobb

Trump’s Antifa Moment: Police Repression, Nonviolence, and Movement Building on the Left - Counterpunch

The Trump administration and right-wing pundits want to use Antifa to paint with a broad brush an image of the American “left” as committed to militancy, extremism, and violence.  Such depictions serve their political goals of marginalizing the left, while propping up the reactionary right.  Trump’s attacks on left militants will make it easier to suppress mass non-violent protests, considering reporters’ long-established practice of framing left protesters as violent agitators, and taking at face value police departments’ claims that they merely protect the public and order, rather than violently suppress constitutionally protected speech and assembly.  American law enforcement has never been shy about using violence to suppress minority communities, so it’s no stretch of the imagination to say that the American right – which has long been set on labeling Black Lives Matter as a “terrorist organization” – is chomping at the bit to justify violent state attacks on people of color.... Counterpunch, Aug. 28, 2017 - 

I've been posting some goodies dug up by Michael Fiorillo, the most recent being:

• Why Trump's charges of "fake news" have staying po...
• Michael Fiorillo Warns - Be Vigilant Re: National ...

Here's another find from Michael with an emphasis on Antifa. I've been posting articles and flipping back and forth with a leaning against.

Fiorillo intros the article with:

Worthwhile piece on the political dead-end that is Antifa.... A good argument, even if it neglects the long history of these groups being infiltrated by police provocateurs...

Before getting to the article, let me tell you a story about police provocateurs who purposely incite violence. A friend who used to be left but has turned right over the years. But during the Bush years, whom she supported, she was fed up with the war and decided to attend an anti-war rally -- I guess over 10 years ago. She witnessed some contact between the police and protestors, noting one particularly active guy who was taunting the cops. They grabbed him and a few others. About an hour later, she was marching at some other location and noticed the very same guy hanging out with the cops. An agent provocateur.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/08/28/trumps-antifa-moment-police-repression-nonviolence-and-movement-building-on-the-left/

Why Trump's charges of "fake news" have staying power... Montly Review

It has been amusing to watch the New York Times and other mainstream media outlets express their dismay over the rise and spread of “fake news.” These publications take it as an obvious truth that what they provide is straightforward, unbiased, fact-based reporting. They do offer such news, but they also provide a steady flow of their own varied forms of fake news, often by disseminating false or misleading information supplied to them by the national security state, other branches of government, and sites of corporate power.... Edward S. Herman, Monthly Review 

Many people, especially those on the left, have always viewed mainstream press as loaded with versions of fake news. You don't even have to be on the left. Teachers see fake news about education every day. Just look at the ATR coverage (ATR Update - DOE Will Subsidize Salaries -- Chalkb...). I view the extensive coverage of the ATR issue, given how small a piece that is in the overall context of our system, as being fake news -- covering astroturf orgs like Student First and FES as if they are legit when all their protests of the ATR issue have a bigger goal -- to turn all teachers into at-will employees. That the press doesn't question why these groups are so obsessed with the issue is itself fake news by omission.

An interesting item in the article below regarding the CIA overthrow of the social democratic government of Guatemala -

The coup government quickly attacked and decimated the new social groups that had formed in the democratic era, mainly peasant, worker, and teacher organizations.

Note who they always go after as they do in Mexico and in the Chilean coup -- teachers -- and never forget that the AFT through AFLD supported the coup and attacks on Chile's teachers who were considered too left.

There's a guy in my writing group who wrote a novel of American soldiers in WWI who were sent to France at the end of the war and celebrated the November 11, 1918 armistice only to find themselves sent to Russia to fight with the white Russians against the Bolsheviks. American soldiers in Russia a hundred years ago? How many of you out there with college degrees actually know that? Fake news by omission.

Herman touches on this time period in his article.

Fake news on Russia is a Times tradition that can be traced back at least as far as the 1917 revolution. In a classic study of the paper’s coverage of Russia from February 1917 to March 1920, Walter Lippmann and Charles Merz found that “From the point of view of professional journalism the reporting of the Russian Revolution is nothing short of a disaster. On the essential questions the net effect was almost always misleading, and misleading news is worse than none at all….

Yesterday I posted a piece on the history of CIA/FBI/NSA attacks on the left: Michael Fiorillo Warns - Be Vigilant Re: National Security State Attempts to Take Trump Down
Liberals today seem all too happy to root on these forces when they attack Trump.

For a 100 years the left has always been suspicious of the attacks on them by the national security state and the attempt to tie in Russia since the revolution a century ago. Most of our political operators want to continue the cold war -- some trying to even claim that Russia is Marxist, which is not only a joke to day but was also a joke under Stalin.

Here is another piece sent by Michael Fiorillo from the left wing Monthly Review regarding Russia which Trump claims is fake news and some people on the left agree with Trump but are cautious about saying it out loud. It reads as a defense of Putin and in some ways of Trump. I am not on board with some of it but it does make for food for thought and might lead us to question all news we read in the NY Times as tainted.

Michael Fiorillo Warns - Be Vigilant Re: National Security State Attempts to Take Trump Down

a CIA paramilitary officer summoned me to a mountaintop meeting where he threatened to murder my Lao interpreter unless I ended my research.... I was discovering just how deep the country’s intelligence agencies could reach, even in a democracy, leaving no part of my life untouched: my publisher, my university, my sources, my taxes, my phone, and even my friends.

In 2010, almost a decade into this secret war with its voracious appetite for information, the Washington Post reported that the national security state had swelled into a “fourth branch” of the federal government — with 854,000 vetted officials, 263 security organizations, and over 3,000 intelligence units, issuing 50,000 special reports every year. Though stunning, these statistics only skimmed the visible surface of what had become history’s largest and most lethal clandestine apparatus.... According to classified documents that Edward Snowden leaked in 2013, the nation’s 16 intelligence agencies alone had 107,035 employees and a combined “black budget” of $52.6 billion, the equivalent of 10% percent of the vast defense budget.......

Alfred W. McCoy

Think about this and ask if our union - at city, state and national levels every bring these astounding numbers up.

For a 100 years the left has always been suspicious of the attacks on them by the national security state and the attempt to tie in Russia since the revolution a century ago. In articles about Steve Bannon, we heard how he and the economic nationalists lost out to the globalists, warmongers, neocon wing - which made him look like a pacifist. I find some irony when views from the left match up with some of the views from the alt right. Soon after he was gone Trump announced we were sending more troops to Afghanistan. Bannon also said in essence to not hassle North Korea and accept them as a Nuke power. Let's also add the positions on Russia, which the Democratic and Republican Party wants us to continue to encircle. Same with China -- they push to have us confront China instead of recognizing they just may have a sphere of influence.

But most important to me is when I detect a shift in attitude - cheering as you will - when the CIA and FBI seem to be leaking and/or ganging up on Trump. Michael Fiorillo has been sharing a batch of articles touching on this issue.

Talk about creating fake news -- the CIA was the world champ:

the greatest single concentration of covert political and propaganda activities of the by now octopus-like CIA,” including “Operation Mockingbird” that planted disinformation in major U.S. newspapers meant to aid agency operations.

This article is from Naked Capitalism.

Michael says:

Many personal friends on the Left are so (understandably) freaked out by Trump and his supporters, that they're desperate for anyone, even the National Security State, to take him down. Historian Alfred McCoy, who was the first person to document intelligence agency complicity in global drug smuggling, shows why people should be careful what they wish for... Fascinating combination of the personal and historical...
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2017/08/alfred-mccoy-stalked-cia-heroin-trail-surveillance-state.html  

Erik Mears - Public School Students Read Malcolm Gladwell Pro-Charter Propaganda in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Textbook - UPDATED

UPDATE: Diane Ravitch has an important update to this Erik Mears post in which he responds to questions: Erik Mears: Why I Teach My Students in the Bronx About the Awesomeness of KIPP
By the way, I know Erik through his involvement in MORE. Erik is present at many MORE events. I've not had much opportunity to speak with him. I hear his background is unusual - a West Point grad who served in the recent and current wars, he brings a unique perspective.[Link].

More inimical than Gladwell’s omissions and flaws, though, is the fact that HMH [Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ] chose his essay to use in a high school English textbook for seniors.  My students must read, aloud, the following Gladwell comments about their schools, families and neighborhood, during the first week of school:

“These [South Bronx streets] are not streets that you’d happily walk down after dark.”
” […]Families” on “free or reduced lunch” “earn so little that the federal government chips in so the children can eat properly at lunchtime.”
” Marita has responsibilities… .  Her community does not give her what she needs.”
” […] 90% of KIPP students get scholarships instead of having to attend their own desultory high schools in the Bronx.”  [The bold lettering appears in the HMH edition, as “desultory” is to be taught as a vocabulary word.].... NYC Teacher Erik Mears, Counterpunch

Why not give public school students a dose of pro-charter propaganda in their text books? After all, there's not enough fake hype of charters around.

MORE's Erik Mears criticizes HMH for publishing Malcolm Gladwell's pro-charter "Marita's Bargain" in its Collections textbook. Erik brings his unique perspective to teaching and discipline. I believe he is a West Point grad and served in the military in Iraq.

"My public school students read pro-charter propaganda"

https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/08/24/my-public-school-students-read-pro-charter-propaganda/

UFT's Fake History - Denies Responsibility for Creating ATR Pool

How did the ATR pool come to be?

The ATR pool — a reserve pool of teachers working as substitutes but without permanent assignments — was a personnel policy devised by the Bloomberg administration that was poorly designed and never effectively implemented, particularly after the pool expanded in the wake of school closings during the Bloomberg years. As the school-closing mania has receded, the size of the pool has diminished....
from UFT website, http://www.uft.org/press-releases/atr-qa

Jeff Kaufman posted on ICE(the caucus) -News.
 UFT had nothing to do with creating the ATR pool!?!
Before you read the UFT press release on ATRs, I though a review of the blogs Jeff published on the ICE blog in October 2005 would give you a good sense of what was going on in real time.
In reverse order - read from bottom up.

• WHAT WE KEEP ONLY IF WE VOTE NO
• Irregularities in Ratification Vote Mount as Membe...
• REALITY VIEWS ON THE PROPOSED CONTRACT
• Leadership Push Demonstrates Desperation
• Union Leadership Rules Out of Order Measure to Ens...
• RALLY AT UFT HEADQUARTERS
• REALITY VIEWS ON THE PROPOSED CONTRACT
• Smoke Seeping Through Cracks: Randi Modifies Contr...
• 30 Questions for Unity Reps Who Come into Schools
• 40% of the Delegates to the DA Vote Against Contra...
• WHY YOU MUST VOTE “NO” ON THE PROPOSED CONTRACT
• WHAT DOES A NO VOTE MEAN?
• VOTE “NO” ON PROPOSED CONTRACT MOVEMENT GAINING MO...
• Executive Board Votes For “Vehicle With Extra Spin...
• CONTRACT AGREEMENT UFT SAYS: “GIVEBACKS ‘R’ US”
• Teacher Asks Teacher: Is This a Good Contract?
• VOTE NO
• Summary of Memorandum of Agreement
• MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT

from UFT website, http://www.uft.org/press-releases/atr-qa

PRESS RELEASES

ATR Q&A

For immediate release

AUGUST 21, 2017

The recent Department of Education announcement about assigning teachers from the ATR pool to schools on a more permanent basis has awakened the usual opposition from the "school reform" crowd.

Below is a Q&A designed to provide accurate information to those who have questions about the issue.

"Teachers in the ATR pool are a valuable resource for the system and provide needed services to schools." —UFT President Michael Mulgrew

How did the ATR pool come to be?

The ATR pool — a reserve pool of teachers working as substitutes but without permanent assignments — was a personnel policy devised by the Bloomberg administration that was poorly designed and never effectively implemented, particularly after the pool expanded in the wake of school closings during the Bloomberg years. As the school-closing mania has receded, the size of the pool has diminished.

How do teachers end up in the pool?

Most of the teachers in the pool are there because their schools or their programs closed; a minority have been the subject of some kind of disciplinary action, though that action may have led only to a brief suspension or a fine of a few hundred dollars. The overwhelming majority of teachers in the ATR pool have received positive evaluations (Effective, Highly Effective or, for those rated under the previous system, Satisfactory).

How does the program now work?

ATR teachers are in the schools every day. Some get longer assignments, but many rotate among schools on a monthly basis, filling in for teachers who are sick or on some kind of leave.

Do the ATRs cost principals money?

ATRs on rotating assignments save the school system the cost of hiring a substitute. The Department of Education has created a number of financial incentives for principals to encourage them to hire ATRs on a more permanent basis, but the fact is that an ATR's salary constitutes a tiny percentage of a building's total teacher payroll, which for even a small school can exceed $3 million annually.

How will the new program work?

A number of ATRs will be assigned (in license) to schools ONLY where the principal has been unable to fill an open position. Without the presence of such an ATR, students would be faced with occasional and expensive part-time substitutes or a group of ATR teachers rotating in and out every month.

Mr. Mulgrew told the New York Times, “What we’re trying to do is give a more stable educational environment for the students.”

An ATR in this type of provisional assignment will become part of the school's regular faculty the next year if the teacher is rated Effective or Highly Effective.

What if the ATR and the principal don't see eye-to-eye?

To quote from the recent agreement with the DOE : "...AT ANY TIME [caps added] after a provisional assignment is made a principal can request the removal of the ATR from this assignment and the ATR can be returned to the ATR pool..."

What is the role of the disciplinary process?

Under state law, tenured teachers are guaranteed due process, including a hearing before an independent arbitrator, if they have been accused of some kind of misbehavior. Many disciplinary case brought by the Department of Education are not serious enough to justify a teacher being terminated. Cases are often resolved, either by an agreement or by an arbitrator’s decisions, with a fine or a suspension. Fines can be as little as $250, and suspensions as brief as one week. But even penalties like these can land a teacher in the ATR pool under current DOE practice.

School Scope: A Barrage of News

The WAVE - August 18, 2017 - www.rockawave.com

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School Scope:  A Barrage of News

By Norm Scott

There are so many things to write about. Here are just a few.

Events in Charlottesville: The new Brown Shirts, Free Speech and the Antifascists --- Are we echoing the pre-Hitler phase of Germany c. 1920s and early 30’s when a thug army rose up to intimidate people opposing the Nazis during their rise to power? Those interested should review the history – can it repeat itself here? The Nazis were always a minority in Germany and used street thug tactics to shut down opposition.

Also google “antifascists” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-fascism#Twenty-first_century -- the response, sometimes violent, to these rallies – a relatively small group that can be confrontational. People on the left who contend that the Nazis were able to operate more freely because there was not enough of a counterforce against them. Trump’s initial statement was targeting the people who stood up against them, a false equivalency. As one who generally backs free speech, I’ve had issues with the antifascists when they try to keep speakers on campuses out --- but what happened in Charlotte called for a response – and in fact most of the demonstrators were peaceful. In Germany today a fascist rally would be illegal – you can get arrested for a Nazi salute. France too has many limits on what we would view as free speech but they view as hate speech. If we saw the new brown shirts holding torches and shouting white supremacy slogans marching in Rockaway how would we react? Sometimes I’m afraid of the answer.

Trump is for democracy – except when he isn’t. Saudi Arabia, Egypt - Si, Cuba, Venezuela Nay! Yes, we must have elections in only certain countries. It is always about the so-called left dictatorships – unless they are too big to battle. How about China? Trump bogus threat to send troops to Venezuela is just a part of our interference in the affairs of other nations. How about Regan invading Grenada to murder the elected president as recently as 35 years ago? Bay of Pigs anyone?

Ferry across the mercy – Ferry complainers, please have mercy on us. We are in only our 3^rd month of a low-cost ferry, highly subsidized - real cost is over $6 a fare. Yet we hear so many beefs about small ferry boats, which work well most of the time. Imagine the costs of running bigger boats that are half empty all the time that would require even bigger subsidies? The company running the ferries have been responsive and have tried to add more runs  --- we need to see what happens in non-summer months to get a read. In January we may find these small boats are even bigger than we need for most runs.

The WAVE proclaimed a few weeks ago that B. 116^th St unanimously supports de Blasio Republican opponent Nicole Malliotakis. Really? We know that de Blasio is very unpopular, especially on the west end of Rockaway. But I don’t view that report as good journalism without some facts to back it up. De Blasio blasting is certainly well-deserved but at times it goes too far. Just as in the presidential election outcomes we will find the breakdown between east and west end voting patterns will be stark and point to Rockaway as a tale of two cities. How about a report on where Mott Ave stands on Nicole Malliotakis?

Hurricane season is upon us: Climate change and deniers: People tell me there will one day be another ice age – normal cycles throughout earth history. What historical cycle had millions of cars spewing CO2 into the air?

Single payer: pushback from Democrats --- my recent articles on single payer in The WAVE should be seen in the context of gradualism. There are many ways to get there – there are quite a variety of single payer programs in Europe that differ from each other. A major issue here is losing the employer option for so many people – something that people deem so risky that some hybrid plan – ie, a public option – would be necessary.

Note from the World Bank: Cuba has the highest investment in education worldwide (13% of GNP vs USA 5.4%). Just sayin’.

Charter supporter Daniel Loeb, who is board chairman of Success Academy charter, has come under attack for comments about Democratic NY State leader Andrea Cousins in which he said the African-American had done “more damage to people of color than anyone who has ever donned a hood.” Coming a few days before events in Charlottesville. Loeb is a hedge hog billionaire out to destroy the teacher union and along the way, the teaching profession and the end of pensions for teachers. Success Academy may soon be granted massive exemptions from having to hire any certified teachers by being able to have their own, private, certification programs to counter the massive turnover of their own teachers, who often leave in droves. The NY Times on August 12 had an interesting story on this split in the Democratic Party over charters: Comment on Race Reopens New York Democrats’ Split Over Schools. My blog has more on the story with an article by Matt Taibbi on Loeb’s public employee pension hijinks where Loeb makes loads of money on pension plans while supporting groups that call for an end of such plans. After all, charters don’t want to have to compete by offering pensions so let’s get rid of all pensions. https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2017/08/taibbi-dan-loeb-simultaneously-solicits.html.

Norm has recovered from his exhausting role in RTC’s The Producers and is back blogging in force at ednotesonline.com.