https://theintercept.com/2017/12/09/the-u-s-media-yesterday-suffered-its-most-humiliating-debacle-in-ages-now-refuses-all-transparency-over-what-happened/
Sunday, December 17, 2017
RussiaGate Media Frenzy Exposed
The left-leaning media has been skeptical of the Democratic Party and media attempt to blame the election defeat on Russia. Glenn Greenwald has been in the lead. This is what helps Trumpism. We have always seen so much of the mainstream news as being semi-fake or outright tainted especially in education. (Note how Chalkbeat chief Elizabeth Grren fawns over Eva and Success Charter as she did over Doug Lemov, despised by so many serious teachers. Green has been taking a pounding for her recent piece on Eva in the Atlantic.)
https://theintercept.com/2017/12/09/the-u-s-media-yesterday-suffered-its-most-humiliating-debacle-in-ages-now-refuses-all-transparency-over-what-happened/
https://theintercept.com/2017/12/09/the-u-s-media-yesterday-suffered-its-most-humiliating-debacle-in-ages-now-refuses-all-transparency-over-what-happened/
Saturday, December 16, 2017
School Scope: How Do You Spell “Success”? – Part 2
Continuing my series in The WAVE. Part 1 from last week is here.
In Part 2, I want to draw attention to the Dec. 11 NY Times Sunday book review of the memoir recently written by Eva Moskowitz (The Education of Eva Moskowitz). Reviewer Lisa Miller opens by asking a question:
Miller goes on to list the defiance Moskowitz writes about, some pretty outrageous. Like the fact that every pre-k being run under the de Blasio initiative and using tax payer money, public and charters, come under some rules of behavior. Eva refused to accept any rules and went to court and actually won the right to set up her pre-k without any oversight. There are a lot more – and I know a lot more from people who work in the same buildings.
Eva wants to run a 100 schools in NYC using our tax money to do whatever she wants. And she has an even bigger aim. Miller says, “What, then, is the true aim of this book? A clue is buried in its final chapters. “Part of me would love to be mayor for the simple reason that I love my city.”
School Scope: How Do You Spell “Success”? – Part 2
By Norm Scott
Last week I began a series on the 46 NYC Success Academy
schools run by Eva Moskowitz and focused on a New Yorker article written by
Rebecca Meade (https://tinyurl.com/yabebvqx)
which tried to reconcile the harsh discipline at Success with its aim to have a
progressive curriculum. Many maintain that the very idea of a child- centered,
nurturing progressive curriculum and harsh discipline in schools with very high
suspension rates is contradictory. I agree.
In Part 2, I want to draw attention to the Dec. 11 NY Times Sunday book review of the memoir recently written by Eva Moskowitz (The Education of Eva Moskowitz). Reviewer Lisa Miller opens by asking a question:
“How would Eva Moskowitz have fared as an impudent young
girl in one of her own charter schools? This is just one of the many unplumbed
questions prompted by her new memoir. Founder of the extensive Success Academy
charter-school chain, former New York City councilwoman, mother of three,
Moskowitz has famously made a virtue — one might even say a brand — of her
defiance. New York City’s public-school system has been her proving ground, and
she has devoted herself to reforming what she sees as its bureaucratic idiocies
and its codified inefficiencies, refusing to submit to any authority that she
deems insufficiently worthy (except in those instances it serves her to do so).”
Now I and many others have been frustrated by DOE idiocies.
But every bureaucracy has them and the battle should be a public one with
allies, and for all students, not just a little niche.
Miller goes on to list the defiance Moskowitz writes about, some pretty outrageous. Like the fact that every pre-k being run under the de Blasio initiative and using tax payer money, public and charters, come under some rules of behavior. Eva refused to accept any rules and went to court and actually won the right to set up her pre-k without any oversight. There are a lot more – and I know a lot more from people who work in the same buildings.
Miller points to the essential contradiction between Eva’s
moxie and her schools damping down the moxie of the students: Her “impulsive
display of hostility would not, presumably, be tolerated at any of her Success
Academy schools, where discipline and conformity are values of the highest
order.”
Now don’t get me wrong. I couldn’t have taught and survived
in some very tough elementary schools without having discipline. But in all
that time I never had a student suspended, something that happens so often at
Success Academy for even minor infractions, even down to kindergarten kids. I
actually heard Eva defend this policy because “kids can kill each other” – not
an exact quote. The purpose of the suspension is to pressure some parents to
pull their kids from the school so as to wean out poor test takers. As I
reported last week, of a 73 member cohort (I erred in reporting 72) that began
kindergarten only 17 were left to graduate high school.
From the earliest days of Success a decade ago, I was one of
the fiercest opponents, especially after seeing how Eva operated. She was out
to use our money to build her own political empire, with the intention of using
her schools as a political base to run for mayor. I may not be Nostradamus but
I was right on that one.
Eva wants to run a 100 schools in NYC using our tax money to do whatever she wants. And she has an even bigger aim. Miller says, “What, then, is the true aim of this book? A clue is buried in its final chapters. “Part of me would love to be mayor for the simple reason that I love my city.”
Oy Vey! Eva doesn’t get just how much of the city doesn’t
love her.
Read Miller’s review at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/08/books/review/education-of-eva-moskowitz-memoir.html?_r=0
Norm loves everyone
except Eva Moskowitz at ednotesonline.com.
The American Conservative: How U.S.-Saudi Marriage Gave Birth to Jihad
..the great Wahhabist offensive of the last 30 or 40 years is best understood as a joint venture between oil imperialism and neo-medieval Islamic revivalism. On its own, such an austere doctrine would never have made it out of the badlands of central Arabia. Only in conjunction with outside powers, first Britain and then the United States, did it turn into a world-altering force. ...
a famous 1998 interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski, who, as Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser, did as much as anyone to invent the modern phenomenon of jihad. Asked if he had any regrets, Brzezinski was unabashed:
Regret what? That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Russians into the Afghan trap, and you want me to regret it? The day that the Soviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter: We now have the opportunity of giving to the USSR its Vietnam war….What is most important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some stirred-up Muslims or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the Cold War?
....American ConservativeDems and Republicans. And this is from the conservative view.
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/how-u-s-saudi-marriage-gave-birth-to-jihad/?mc_cid=c11c084c44&mc_eid=f798e3bf61
Daily Howler Questions Assumptions on Black Turnout in Alabama
Percentage of black vote received in AlabamaI've been seeing how some on the left have been vilifying whites in Alabama and praising black voters for the Jones victory. But the Howler points to the doubling of the white vote as the key.
Obama 2008: 98 percent
Obama 2012: 95 percent
Jones 2017: 96 percent
Percentage of white vote received in Alabama
Obama 2008: 10 percent
Obama 2012: 15 percent
Jones 2017: 30 percent
http://dailyhowler.blogspot.com/2017/12/where-do-official-group-stories-come.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheDailyHowler+%28the+daily+howler%29
Posted: 15 Dec 2017 10:56 AM PST
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2017Times hails "black voter surge:" Anthropologically speaking, where do Official Group Stories come from?
They come from the internal hard-wiring of a profoundly faulty species. That said, to watch on Official Group Story spread, consider this news report in today's New York Times.
John Eligon's report advances a current Standard Story. In hard copy, the report appears beneath his pleasing headline:
Win in Alabama Shows Muscle of Minority VotersIs that what Doug Jones' win over Roy Moore shows? Maybe yes, maybe no; we'll offer some data below. But here's the passage where Eligon recites the Official Story—where he pleasingly says we saw a "black voter surge" this week, reciting script as he goes:
ELIGON (12/15/17): Many people have long felt that Democrats come around during election time asking for their votes, but then do not fight for the issues that matter most to them, several political operatives said. They have also expressed concern that Democratic spending on minority communities was not commensurate with the loyalty that they show to the party. An analysis three years ago found that 98 percent of the money the major Democratic committees spent on consultants went to those who were white.Is that accurate? Was there a "black voter surge" in Alabama this week?
The eight Democratic organizations with budgets of at least $30 million last year all had white leaders, according to Steve Phillips, an activist and fund-raiser. Mr. Phillips also found that of the first $200 million that independent Democratic groups allocated during last year’s presidential election, none of it went to mobilizing black voters.
Some say they are seeing the beginnings of a shift, after black voter surges in Virginia and Alabama.
About 30 percent of the electorate in the Alabama Senate race was black, according to CNN exit polls, making the black share of the vote in that election higher than it was in both of Barack Obama’s presidential victories. Mr. Jones won 98 percent of the votes among black women and 93 percent among black men.
Anthropologically speaking, let's note the way Eligon toys with elementary facts to tell us The Current Official Group Story:
In support of his pleasing claim, Eligon starts by saying this: "About 30 percent of the electorate in the Alabama Senate race was black, according to CNN exit polls."
Inevitably, Eligon has rounded up. CNN's actual number is 29 percent.
After turning 29 into 30, Eligon makes another pleasing claim. He says this "mak[es] the black share of the vote in {Tuesday's] election higher than it was in both of Barack Obama’s presidential victories."
That simply isn't true. According to the exit polls from those prior elections, the black share of the Alabama vote was 29 percent in 2008 and 28 percent in 2012. This year's number matches 2008, beats 2012 by one point.
Already, Eligon has made a flatly inaccurate statement. In the larger sense, by withholding the previous exit poll data, he produces a grossly inaccurate picture of the overall reality.
In fact, black turnout as a percentage of the overall vote was almost exactly the same in those three elections. Eligon goes on to say this:
"Mr. Jones won 98 percent of the votes among black women and 93 percent among black men."
That's true, though exit poll data are drawn from samples and are therefore subject to error. That said, Jones' share of the black vote is very similar to the percentages Obama received. Here are the numbers from each year's exit poll:
Percentage of black vote received in AlabamaThere's little to choose among those three numbers. Black turnout was roughly the same each year as a percentage of the state. So was the percentage of the black vote received by the Democrat.
Obama 2008: 98 percent
Obama 2012: 95 percent
Jones 2017: 96 percent
If those facts are true, why did Jones win this year, while Obama never came close? Answer:
Mainly because of a change in the way white Alabamians voted. Here are the relevant numbers from the three elections to which Eligon referred:
Percentage of white vote received in AlabamaThe biggest difference in this year's election involved the way white voters voted. Jones swept the black vote, as Obama did before him. But he did substantially better among the (much larger) white vote.
Obama 2008: 10 percent
Obama 2012: 15 percent
Jones 2017: 30 percent
Where do Official Standard Group Stories come from? In this particular case, we can't answer that question. (As a general matter, they come from our deeply flawed human desire to dream up the stories we like.)
We can answer these questions:
Was there a "huge black turnout" this year, as a Washington Post headline said? Was there a "black voter surge," as Eligon has claimed?
It's hard to know why you'd want to say such things except from a desire to push an Official Preferred Group Story. Concerning that huge voter surge, the number of black voters in these four elections looks like this:
Total black turnout, AlabamaWe're not sure why you'd want to call this year's turnout "huge," given those previous turnouts.
2008: roughly 609,000
2012: roughly 581,000
2016: roughly 595,000
2017: roughly 390,000
In fact, many fewer black Alabamians voted this year, as compared to the numbers who voted in those previous elections. What makes this year's turnout "huge?"
We're also not sure why you'd want to say that this year's turnout constituted a "surge." Again, this is the percentage of the statewide vote cast by black Alabamians:
Black vote as a percentage of total vote, AlabamaWhy would you say that a "surge" occurred this year?
2008: 29 percent
2012: 28 percent
2016: 28 percent
2017: 29 percent
In fact, black turnout was way down this year; white turnout was down a bit more. To the extent that there was a "surge," it occurred among the (sharply reduced) number of white voters who did turn out. They gave Jones 30 percent of the white vote, two to three times as much as Obama got.
(There were no Alabama exit polls in 2016. There is no number for Candidate Clinton's percentage of the white vote.)
Anthropologically speaking, Homo sapiens is the species which like to make stupid sh*t up. Once somebody makes some story up, tribal minions all stampede off to repeat it.
Eligon is one of those hacks. As liberals, do you ever get tired of being talked down to like this by a bunch of silly people on "cable news" and at the New York Times?
Was there anything "wrong" with black turnout this year? Well actually, yes, there maybe was, unless you think that 40 percent, give or take a few points, is a sensible turnout rate when your state is about to send a total crackpot lunatic to the United States Senate.
Overall turnout was 40 percent! Black turnout was sad; white turnout was worse.
Afterwards, somebody dreamed up a story. We're really "defining democracy down" when we brag about this year's turnout.
At any rate, we liberals all began to recite. Anthropologically speaking, we're wired to do sh*t like this.
We've behaved this way for many years. Today, we have Donald J. Trump in the White House. Are you happy with how this has worked?
Alabama exit polls: To access the exit polls, click as shown. There were no Alabama exit polls in last year's Trump-Clinton election:
2008 exit polls
2012 exit polls
2017 exit polls
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Andrea Gabor Drills Down Into Success Academy Charter School Network
A must read analysis by Andrea Gabor. One of the best in depth articles - and she also exposes the failed journalism of Chalkbeat's Elizabeth Green.
Much-Hyped Success Academy Charter School Network Is Perfectly in Sync With Trumpian Times | Alternet
https://www.alternet.org/much-hyped-success-academy-sync- trumpian-times
December 10, 2017, 6:30 AM GMTThis week both The New Yorker and The Atlantic, among several other publications, ran prominent stories on Success Academy, the controversial New York City charter-school network.
In particular, Elizabeth Green’s piece about Success Academy and its founder, Eva Moskowitz, aims a nuclear warhead at public schools. Writes Green: “I am more than a little terrified by the conclusion I’ve reached: Moskowitz has created the most impressive education system I’ve ever seen.”
Video - Superintendent John Kuhn - From Michael Elliot
What’s wrong with the way we fund our schools? Superintendent John Kuhn gives a powerful explanation.
Moved? WE NEED FOLKS to take part in the Action Campaign to try to prevent the defunding of public ed in the tax bill. Please use this link! http://bit.ly/FairlyFundSchools
#8Voices4PublicEd #edchat
https://www.facebook.com/michaelelliot.shoot4education/videos/1652691784792593/
Moved? WE NEED FOLKS to take part in the Action Campaign to try to prevent the defunding of public ed in the tax bill. Please use this link! http://bit.ly/FairlyFundSchools
#8Voices4PublicEd #edchat
https://www.facebook.com/michaelelliot.shoot4education/videos/1652691784792593/
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
GREET GOVERNOR 1% ON HIS BIRTHDAY - ON WALL STREET - THURSDAY DECEMBER 14
THURSDAY AT 5:30 PM, JOIN NYPAN and a broad coalition of environmental, housing,social justice, educational and voting rights groups, at Governor Cuomo's $50,000 perhead birthday party on Wall Street (Cipriani's, 55 Wall) of all places! Less than 2% of Cuomo's re-election contributors have given less than $1000. Guess whose tune he jumps too, despite his "progressive" rhetoric.
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
UFT Official Asks: Why Don't They (Teachers) Fight Back?
- The DOE has set up DOE legal to advise principals on how to chop up their teaching corps.
- The UFT has set up gotz.
- Teachers full well know that the union doesn't have their backs if they stick their necks out.
- 75% of NYC teachers are women and many are victims of abuse by principals - I'm not talking sexual, but bullying, though I bet a lot more sexual harassment goes on than is recognized.
Duhhhh!
The UFT/Unity Caucus leadership just can't understand why so many teachers are too fearful to stand up to their all-powerful principals - an expansion of power granted to them under Bloomberg unopposed by the union leadership.
In the article I wrote for Another View in the UFT , I compared these put downs of the real fear so many teachers feel every day to the putdowns of women who feared to come forward for so many years. The same mechanism of the effect of so much power in the hands of bosses and people in control of one's career is operating. And let's not forget that 75% of NYC teachers are women, thus doubling the stakes for them, though of course men are also affected.
So for the leadership to take the attitude that they not take the lead in opposing principal power openly, but only work behind the scenes using the excuse that teachers must act and organize in the school first is not only lame but inexcusable in these times.
It doesn't seem to occur to them that their job is to take the lead when chapters are disorganized and under assault.
Principal Sexually Harasses Teacher - Where is CSA, UFT and DOE?
“This guy’s using the school as his own personal dating service,” said Barnett’s lawyer Jonathan Tand. “He harassed her, and when she finally had the courage to leave him, he retaliated.”... NY Daily NewsIn every other industry, even Congress, action is taken. Women are being believed. Not in the world of the CSA, DOE. I think that in some cases we may be going overboard and also due process counts. But at the very least this principal should be under investigation over the charges if not outright removal pending the outcome.
Not the first time this principal has been in the news or on blogs:
- At Urban Action Academy in Canarsie, an 18-year-old girl with the reading skills of a kindergartner had a passing grade of 65 on the ... Principal Steve Dorcely, ...
- Steve Dorcely, Principal. Urban Action Academy. 1600 ROCKAWAY PARKWAY BROOKLYN NY 11236
Hey, we know it is alleged but given the climate of seeing so many people suspended or losing their jobs based on alleged, we do see a double standard when it comes to NYC principals. A teacher is rubber roomed based on slivers of charges.
NYC principal allegedly harassed colleague after being dumped - NY Daily News
Teacher Jordan Barnett, in an 18-page court filing, recounted the vile and vengeful antics of unrelenting Urban Action Academy Principal Steve Dorcely once she dumped him for cheating.
“Despite plaintiff’s exemplary job performance, (Dorcely) targeted and callously discriminated against her on the basis of her gender and sexually harassed her relentlessly in the workplace,” the November lawsuit charged.
The oversexed Dorcely turned alternately vindictive and creepy, propositioning Barnett at time while also accusing her of bogus disciplinary violations, the court papers charged.
Queens principal accused of 'retaliatory harassment,' suit says
In Nov. 2016, the 36-year-old Barnett recounted Dorcely sneaking up behind her as she bent over to plug her cell phone into an outlet during a meeting.
“Put your butt on me,” she recounted the grinning principal whispering in her ear.
About a month later, Barnett was talking with another colleague about a breast cancer scare that left her with painful cysts due to stress.
“That’s because no one is sucking on your (breasts),” Barnett allegedly said after overhearing their chat.
Queens principal allegedly retaliated after behavior report: suit
Rumors abounded about the $161,871-a-year principal sleeping with “various staff members,” and Barnett alleged that Dorcely was sexually involved with another academy staffer.
The 17-year principal, who boasts a clean disciplinary record, made another unwanted advance on Barnett during a Dec. 12, 2016, lunch at a Brooklyn burger joint.
When Barnett turned Dorcely down, the principal snapped, “You’re going to regret the decision you made. Watch, you’ll see.”
“This guy’s using the school as his own personal dating service,” said Barnett’s lawyer Jonathan Tand. “He harassed her, and when she finally had the courage to leave him, he retaliated.”
Dorcely arranged for four investigations of Barnett in the last six months, his latest bits of payback against his ex-lover, the suit says. He embarrassed her in public, and gave Barnett unwarranted negative performance reviews.
She was “constantly targeted, ridiculed and criticized by Dorcely at every turn” during the spring 2017 semester — eventually landing Barnett in therapy, the court papers alleged.
The city Education Department declined comment on the suit, and would not say if an internal investigation was underway.
The city Law Department will review the complaint and “respond accordingly,” according to spokesman Nick Paolucci.
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of money, and names the city Department of Education as a co-defendant.
Monday, December 11, 2017
CSA To Principals: Go Screw Teachers and UFT on Paperwork (and pretty much anything else) While UFT Keeps Hands Off
We have been maintaining that the UFT has a basic hands off CSA members in terms of public attack while the CSA tells its members to do what they want. Read our recent Another View newsletter: Exposing Unity Caucus: Another View in the UFT - H...
James Eterno comments:
James Eterno comments:
Notice there are specifics from CSA and a mostly general outline from the UFT with very few specifics.You be the judge on who is doing a better job of looking out for their membership.... James Eterno, conclusion, UFT AND CSA ON PAPERWORKJames has a must read comparing the UFT and CSA on paperwork. He opens with:
We have this article from the UFT on paperwork in the weekly Chapter Leader Update. It follows the Principal's union, the Council of Supervisors and Administrators, sending something out to their members basically telling them they can do whatever they want with paperwork....In the comments section James and Arthur debate the point:
UFT AND CSA ON PAPERWORK
NYC Educator said...- CSA is more specific, but that doesn't make them more accurate. I know at least some of these assertions to be false. I know none of them to be absolutely correct.
-
- James Eterno said...
- NYC Educator, That is the point. The principals are specific and aggressive saying they can do whatever they want, even when contractually they are wrong. The UFT fights back one school at a time.
Meanwhile, where there aren't strong chapters, the abuse of our members continues. I venture to say that if there are resolutions in 300 schools (probably a generous number) and 400 other schools have enlightened principals who don't bother with this nonsense, that leaves about 1000 schools where teachers can be abused.
NYC Educator said...- I absolutely agree with you about schools where there aren't strong chapters. I hear stories of principals who ignore the contract with impunity utterly fairly often. It's on us to stop that, and yes I know there are multiple issues facing us on that front. I still think the UFT response is better. Some of these are gray areas, some are not, but if we're willing to file paperwork complaints, and I certainly am, we will prove the principals wrong.
Nonetheless, it speaks volumes that they will outright lie like that to their members. It explains a lot.
-
- James Eterno said...
- The principals aren't really lying Arthur. That is their position on the contract that they can basically do whatever the hell they like. CSA is fighting hard centrally and UFT does one school at a time pushback. It is not difficult to figure out who wins that one.
- NYC Educator said...
- I understand your point. I still think they're lying. Nonetheless, I see how it works. Sorta makes you think maybe the UFT should reconsider the position of not pushing back so-called fellow union members.
- James Eterno said...
- Exactly. CSA does not seem to give a damn that we are fellow union members. It used to be a partial two way street. Not any longer in too many schools.
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Eva Moskowitz - Return Paul Tudor Money After His Support for Harvey Weinstein
Racism and Sexism rampant in Success Academy hedge fund supporters. You already know about Dan Loeb - see below -- now we have:
Paul Tudor Jones who gave Success $600,000 - which covers Eva's salary.
Both are allies of Campbell Brown who accused the union of protecting sexual predators in schools.
The Dan Loeb file:
Paul Tudor Jones who gave Success $600,000 - which covers Eva's salary.
Both are allies of Campbell Brown who accused the union of protecting sexual predators in schools.
Paul Tudor Jones consoled Harvey Weinstein, said people would ...
www.businessinsider.com/paul-tudor-jones-says-its-good-news-everyone-will-forget-...
2 days ago - Paul Tudor Jones, a hedge fund titan, expressed his support for the disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in an email shortly before Weinstein was ousted from his own company, The New York Times reported Wednesday. He said the "good news" was that everyone would forget about the ..."I Love You; Focus On The Future": Paul Tudor Jones Humiliated After ...
www.zerohedge.com/.../i-love-you-focus-future-paul-tudor-jones-defensive-after-wei...
2 days ago - Late last night the New York Times published a comprehensive article delving into the powerful support network of Harvey Weinstein, a network on which he apparently relied to help cover up decades of sexual assaults. Among the allies discussed in the article was none other than legendary hedge fund ...Paul Tudor Jones Told Weinstein That Sex Allegations Would Blow ...
https://www.bloomberg.com/.../paul-tudor-jones-told-weinstein-sex-allegations-would...
2 days ago - Hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones can't seem to get things right these days. The billionaire is losing money this year at his macro firm and investors are fleeing. Now it's come to light that Jones gave support to Harvey Weinstein as sexual harassment allegations engulfed the movie mogul. Jones also ...Paul Tudor Jones Inexplicably Wrote An Email To Ensure That History ...
https://dealbreaker.com/.../paul-tudor-jones-inexplicably-wrote-an-email-to-ensure-th...
Paul Tudor Jones Inexplicably Wrote An Email To Ensure That History Will Remember Him As Harvey Weinstein's Most Ardent Enabler. By Thornton McEnery · 2 Comments / Dec 6, 2017 at 12:05 PM. 1Shares. We've been wondering when a bold-faced Wall Street name would implicate himself in this culturally shattering ...Hedge-Fund Titan Paul Tudor Jones on the Defensive Over Ties to ...
https://www.wsj.com/.../hedge-fund-titan-paul-tudor-jones-on-the-defensive-over-ties-to...
2 days ago - Hedge-fund billionaire Paul Tudor Jones took the unusual step of explaining his relationship with Harvey Weinstein, after a report indicated that Mr. Jones supported the disgraced Hollywood mogul as sexual harassment allegations unfolded earlier this year. In a letter to employees Wednesday, Mr. Jones ...City & State - Dan Loeb and the political price of racism
cityandstateny.com/articles/opinion/dan-loeb-and-the-political-price-of-racism.html
Aug 15, 2017 - The events in Charlottesville came on the heels of Dan Loeb, a politically powerful hedge fund manager, comparing state Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the highest ranking black woman elected official in New York, to the KKK. In a Facebook rant, Loeb said she has done "more damage to people of color ...De Blasio urges charter school head to resign over racist post - NY ...
www.nydailynews.com/.../jeff-klein-dissociates-cuomo-donor-racist-comments-article-1....
Aug 11, 2017 - Mayor de Blasio Friday called on Dan Loeb to resign as chairman of the Success Academy charter school board after the politically-connected hedge fund manager posted racistcomments about the Democratic leader of the state Senate. "Dan Loeb's comments are an affront to all people of color," de ...Protesters outside charter school call for Dan Loeb's resignation - NY ...
www.nydailynews.com/.../protesters-charter-school-call-dan-loeb-resignation-article-1.3...
Aug 18, 2017 - Protesters stormed Success Academy Harlem 1 charter school on Friday demanding that charter school chairman Daniel Loeb be fired for making racist comments about a black lawmaker. About two dozen progressives and activists gathered outside the W. 118th Street school – where class was still in ...Cuomo donor makes racist comments about Senate Minority Leader ...
www.nydailynews.com/.../cuomo-donor-racist-comments-senate-minority-leader-article-...
Aug 11, 2017 - Cuomo made racist remarks on Facebook about Senate Democratic Minority Leader, according to a report Thursday. Responding to a New York Times story, hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb wrote that Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins has done “more damage to people of color than anyone who has ever ...In emails, Dan Loeb scolded top black de Blasio official over City ...
https://www.politico.com/.../in-emails-dan-loeb-scolded-de-blasios-top-black-official-...
Nov 21, 2017 - In emails, Dan Loeb scolded top black de Blasio official over City Hall's treatment of black children. By ELIZA SHAPIRO ... Loeb, long known as a particularly capricious hedge fund manager, has been called a racist by some after he claimed in August that Democratic state Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins had ...Friday, December 8, 2017
The Next UFT Contract Tied to Janus Decision: Why Do You Need a Union if it doesn't negotiate?
James Eterno points out (ICEUFT Blog
UPDATES AND PREDICTION ON NEXT ROUND OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING) that the basics of the next contract will follow a pattern possibly set by another union - DC37. Other than salary there won't be much else negotiated, other than paid parental leave in exchange for a slice of the raise.
Nothing else. So when we hear the line about "free loaders" who won't pay for their share of the costs to a union for negotiating a contract, I can understand people pointing to how little was negotiated, including salary.
So what will the Committee of 300 have to do? At the very least I hope they serve decent cookies.
UPDATES AND PREDICTION ON NEXT ROUND OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING) that the basics of the next contract will follow a pattern possibly set by another union - DC37. Other than salary there won't be much else negotiated, other than paid parental leave in exchange for a slice of the raise.
Nothing else. So when we hear the line about "free loaders" who won't pay for their share of the costs to a union for negotiating a contract, I can understand people pointing to how little was negotiated, including salary.
So what will the Committee of 300 have to do? At the very least I hope they serve decent cookies.
Thursday, December 7, 2017
Exposing Unity Caucus: Another View in the UFT - Holding UFT/Leadership's Feet to the Fire
"I never read many of these things given out here but once I started reading this I couldn't stop. I agree completely agree and it explains so much. I feel so isolated."... Chapter leader leaving the Dec. 6 delegate assembly.We (Arthur, Mike, James and I) put out our 2nd edition of Another View in the UFT, our delegate assembly newsletter. And this one focused on the transgressions of our union leadership and Unity Caucus, using excerpts from our blogs.
Our goal: Holding their feet to the fire. While we are all members of MORE, we have not been satisfied with the literature coming out of MORE which barely mentions Unity or is critical of the union leadership. A major role of an opposition is to expose the people running the union or else why be an opposition? (More on this thesis in the future.) The comment made to me after the DA by the woman is indicative that many people have little idea of Unity as a controlling force for over half a century.
See Arthur's blog on Monday's Ex Bd meeting:
UFT Executive Board Takeaway December 4th, 2017
-->If you want a pdf to share with your colleagues email me at normsco@gmail.com.
-->
The articles:
- Contract Demands Behind Closed Door
- By Arthur Goldstein, CL Francis Lewis HS, UFT Ex Bd. ---nyceducator.com
- NYCEducator: http://nyceducator.com/2017/11/trust-in-allah-but-tie-your-camel.html
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Video Teaser: Superintendent John Kuhn
From Michael Elliot:
On Saturday Dec 9 it’s time to release John Kuhn’s video from our shoot last April. We need you all to Watch, Like, Share and Tag again.
This morning we posted a teaser for John on both NPE Facebook page and Shoot4education… Please watch and share that if you get a chance.With so much bad news, we’ve nothing left to do but fight as hard if not harder than ever. John’s piece packs quite a wallop and is one of my favorites.
School Scope: How Do You Spell “Success”? – Part 1
Submitted to The WAVE for publication Dec. 9, 2017
School Scope: How Do You Spell “Success”? – Part 1
By Norm Scott
The current issue of The
New Yorker is running a story by Rebecca Meade, Success Academy’s Radical Educational Experiment: Inside Eva
Moskowitz’s quest to combine rigid discipline with a progressive curriculum.
Good luck with that – the very idea of child-centered progressive education is
incompatible with rigid discipline. The schools, forty six so far in NYC with a
goal of one hundred, run by Moskowitz, have been controversial on a number of
grounds. Educators have long been suspect of the test outcomes, which far
surpass not only public schools but also all other charters and even match
results in the high performing suburbs. That has caused more than a little
skepticism, especially since Moskowitz claims the kids in her schools come from
the same pool as the public schools. In essence, the Success lobby is claiming
they are miracle workers and their demands for space in public schools keeps
increasing even when so many of the 1800 public schools are also competing for
space.
Educational professionals who worked with populations of
students similar to those being claimed by Success have been skeptical. As
someone who taught elementary school (grades 4-6) in schools with many struggling
non-white children and who also holds a Masters in reading instruction, I am a
skeptic, especially since I spent years trying to figure out how to break
through with kids with reading issues. There are no miracles, though once in a
while I saw a child make a major breakthrough.
One of the major problems for struggling readers is language – even kids born here who hear another language at home. A second issue is whether there are opportunities to read at home or have parents who focus on reading with their children. Even immigrant families whose children read in their native language can make major progress fairly quickly. Generally, the level of income and the amount of economic struggles have a direct impact on the entire process. If one were to go through any school and match reading ability with income in the home, even in the working poor, there would be a strong correlation.
One of the major problems for struggling readers is language – even kids born here who hear another language at home. A second issue is whether there are opportunities to read at home or have parents who focus on reading with their children. Even immigrant families whose children read in their native language can make major progress fairly quickly. Generally, the level of income and the amount of economic struggles have a direct impact on the entire process. If one were to go through any school and match reading ability with income in the home, even in the working poor, there would be a strong correlation.
I taught in a system where classes were made up of kids
grouped by reading scores. Thus the so-called top class had the best readers
and so on down the line. The bottom class students were the hardest to teach
reading too. The UFT contract allows teachers to rotate from the top classes to
the lower level readers and back every year, though in my schools, principals
save the top classes for their favorites and sometimes we had to file a
grievance. I did this for almost twenty years, so I had a good feel for the
differences between the kids, who all pretty much lived in the projects across
the street. The two times I had the very top class, I was astounded at their
general on grade reading ability and also the fact that there were many less
discipline issues. Now these were not wealthy people – many were on welfare or
had low paying jobs. And there were a lot more two parent homes in the top
class than in the bottom. Most of them had been in our school since pre-k (and
we found that kids who went to pre-k did better than those who didn’t – shout out
to de Blasio). Many of the students entered pre-k with some reading readiness.
Now I would bet that in Success schools we would find a heavy concentration of the same kinds of students that were in our old top classes. And those who do get into the lottery who are struggling with academics or discipline face high suspension rates and attempts to push them out, a standard operating procedure at most charters.
How can we tell? Of the 72 students who began at the first Success
school in kindergarten, only 17 were left to graduate high school. What happened
to the other 55 students?
There are no miracles. More next time.
(Link to New Yorker article: https://tinyurl.com/yabebvqx)
Norm does manage to
perform miracles every day at ednotesonline.com.
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