Eric Grannis (Eva Hubby) Charter Failure - Two Citizens of the World charter schools will close

For those parents who were scammed and are now crying about the school's closing -- I hear some of them talking choice, choice, choice -- there are many choices in District 14 --- we were all warning everyone about citizens of the world.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013

WSJ Reports on Citizens of the World Charter Underenrollment

The school's experience demonstrates that charter schools, which often say parents need more choices, can be stung when parents' decisions don't fall their way. It also bolsters opponents who say that, despite claims of long wait lists and tales of parents craving alternatives, there isn't as much demand for charter schools as supporters say... Lisa Fleisher, WSJ.

Lisa Fleisher often writes pieces that are fairly reported. This is another one. I can't think of another ed reporter who has brought up the point we often make about phony demand. Now if the ed press would do a FOIL on those supposed signatures charters use to claim demand.

[I was also pleased to see Lisa tweet some points of contention over the awful NY Times education editorial  - I'll try to recover them and add them to a follow-up piece later.]

One interesting point that Lisa doesn't mention is how few of the kids enrolled come from the neighborhood the school is located in -- I believe less than 5%. She does point out that kids come from as far away as Rockaway -- truly astounding when you think of the commute for little kids. I love that she gives recognition to Brooke Parker and WAGPOPS for the work they do in defending the local public schools in Williamsburg and Greenpoint.

Given that by hook or crook, Citizens of the World has managed to get close to their target, don't be surprised to see kids being dragged off the street -- and I bet there are some hidden incentives involved somewhere since so much is at stake.

Reported on ed notes:

https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2013/12/wsj-reports-on-citizens-of-world.html

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Dec 2, 2013 -
I remember very well the outrage when this charter came into town. Ed Notes covered the school extensively - see more links below. Eva Moskowitz' was involved in the scheme early on, as Brooke Parker from WAGPOPS reports:

Eric Grannis didn’t start it, but he created an organization, Tapestry, that made introductions between the “community,” the charter network that already existed in California, and SUNY. Tapestry was designed to help open charters in North Brooklyn, a district where we already had the most charters outside of Harlem. Tapestry’s marketing led many of us to believe that they were particularly interested in getting white gentrifying families invested in opening charters for their kids.

- Brooke Parker

Here are some ed notes links for background:

Search Results

Ed Notes Online: Trashing Citizens of the World Scam Charter ...

https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2013/.../trashing-citizens-of-world-scam-charter.ht...

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Trashing Citizens of the World Scam Charter Scheme. As registration is happening for citizens of the world (part of Eva Moskowitz empire), if you could circulate these negative articles and have everyone click on them, it would be very helpful. We need to let everyone know that there is significant opposition.

Ed Notes Online: Parents Opposed to Citizens of the World Charter ...

https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2012/12/parents-opposed-to-citizens-of-world.html

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Dec 5, 2012 - Parents Opposed to Citizens of the World Charter: Hundreds, Parents in Favor: 4. The NY State Dept. would allow the Hitler Youth Charter to breeze through and not only would they authorize the Ku Klux Klan Charter School for Racial Harmony but they would wash the sheets. -- Norm at charter hearing.

WAGPOPS Brilliant Expose of Citizens of the World Charter Ponzi ...

https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2012/.../wagpops-brilliant-expose-of-citizerns.htm...

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We believe that there is a place in public education for charter schools, but Citizens of the World is bastardizing the original intent of charter schools. ... The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint ...

Sandie Noyola, principal of my old school, invited the refugees:

PS147 Brooklyn is happy to welcome the students and their families. Thank you for your advocacy in the name of public education WAGPOPS.

Williamsburg and Greenpoint Parents for Our Public Schools (WAGPOPS)

December 15, 2017  · 

Here's an article on the closing of the two Citizens of the World Charter Schools. There are some links to remind everyone the various ways that we tried to close the school before families became invested and children would be hurt.

This is deja vu for our community. We already witnessed the closing of Beginning with Children Charter School and Ethical Community Charter School. Hopefully, SUNY (the charter school authorizers) will learn their lesson and stop forcing charters on communities.

Here is the Chalkbeat article -- don't you wish they actually linked to some background stuff from WAGPOPS 4 years ago?

https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/ny/2017/12/15/two-citizens-of-the-world-charter-schools-will-close-at-the-end-of-this-year/

Eva/Success Academy Breaks the Rules (Once Again)- CEC2 OBJECTS

This obtuse, opaque process of making enrollment changes and then requesting feedback after the fact demonstrates one of the major reasons for the skepticism about charter schools...

Community Education Council, Dist 2 (Manhattan). 

Success Academy's authorizer is holding hearings for feedback on changes already in affect... Success making changes to enrollment figures before authorized to do so. Ignoring law as usual.

We have maintained that most communities do not want charters, but improved public schools. District 2 is one of the highest performing districts in the public school system. The CEC points out:

Charter applications in D2 to date have not convincingly demonstrated a need, and we know from research that charter schools do not necessarily perform better than district schools.
District 2 does not have any elementary or middle schools that are considered struggling or in need of improvement according to the NYS Education Department’s accountability system. Our community has not demanded alternatives to public school; rather the demand is for more traditional public schools to relieve overcrowding.

CEC2 sent this to the community:

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/

The U.S. Media Suffered Its Most Humiliating Debacle in Ages: Now Refuses All Transparency Over What Happened

School Scope: How Do You Spell “Success”? – Part 2

Continuing my series in The WAVE. Part 1 from last week is here.

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 Conservative

Dems 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 Alabama
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

I'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.

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

Where do Official Group Stories come from?

Posted: 15 Dec 2017 10:56 AM PST

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2017

Times 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 Voters

Is 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.

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.

Is that accurate? Was there a "black voter surge" in Alabama this week?

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 Alabama
Obama 2008: 98 percent
Obama 2012: 95 percent
Jones 2017: 96 percent

There'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.

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 Alabama
Obama 2008: 10 percent
Obama 2012: 15 percent
Jones 2017: 30 percent

The 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.

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, Alabama
2008: roughly 609,000
2012: roughly 581,000
2016: roughly 595,000
2017: roughly 390,000

We're not sure why you'd want to call this year's turnout "huge," given those previous turnouts.

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, Alabama
2008: 29 percent
2012: 28 percent
2016: 28 percent
2017: 29 percent

Why would you say that a "surge" occurred this year?

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

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
  

Success Academy is at the forefront of an anti-democratic movement to replace public schools with charters, while curtailing government oversight.

By Andrea Gabor / AndreaGabor.com

December 10, 2017, 6:30 AM GMT 

 

This 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/

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 per

head 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.

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.

There is a disconnect between people at the top of the UFT and people who work in the schools. 

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 News

In 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:

1. School leaders allow cheating ‘to boost the numbers ...

   nypost.com/2016/07/03/school-leaders-allow...

   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, ...

2. Steve Dorcely, Principal – Don't Tread on Educators

   dtoe.org/steve-dorcely-principal

   Steve Dorcely, Principal. Urban Action Academy. 1600 ROCKAWAY PARKWAY BROOKLYN NY 11236

Now comes another story that dovetails into today's news: Sexual harassment of an employees. While women are believed now - when it comes to the DOE and teachers, not so much.

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

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/nyc-principal-allegedly-harassed-colleague-dumped-article-1.3686750

BY Ben Chapman Larry Mcshane

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Saturday, December 9, 2017, 5:01 AM

He loved her. She loved him not. And now a spurned Brooklyn principal stands accused of harassing a colleague for two ugly years after she ended their affair.
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.

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:

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 PAPERWORK

James 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....  
UFT AND CSA ON PAPERWORK

In the comments section James and Arthur debate the point:

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.

Sunday, December 10, 2017 6:34:00 AM

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.

Sunday, December 10, 2017 8:41:00 AM

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.

Sunday, December 10, 2017 9:09:00 AM

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.

Sunday, December 10, 2017 1:29:00 PM

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.

Sunday, December 10, 2017 3:35:00 PM

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.

Sunday, December 10, 2017 4:09:00 PM

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.

Paul Tudor Jones consoled Harvey Weinstein, said people would ...

www.businessinsider.com/paul-tudor-jones-says-its-good-news-everyone-will-forget-...

1. 
   

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...

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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...

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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...

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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 ...

The Dan Loeb file:

City & State - Dan Loeb and the political price of racism

cityandstateny.com/articles/opinion/dan-loeb-and-the-political-price-of-racism.html

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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-...

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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 ...

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.

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

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If you want a pdf to share with your colleagues email me at normsco@gmail.com.
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The articles:

• Contract Demands Behind Closed Door
• By Arthur Goldstein, CL Francis Lewis HS, UFT Ex Bd. ---nyceducator.com 
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• NYCEducator: http://nyceducator.com/2017/11/trust-in-allah-but-tie-your-camel.html

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UFT Leaders/Unity Caucus to Members: You are held accountable – principals and district and special reps – not so much. Should our union protect principals because they are in another union (CSA

By Norm Scott, ICE, MORE/UFT – ednotesonline.com

 

How Unity Caucus control of the DA is undemocratic 

By Mike Schirtzer, Delegate Leon Goldstein HS, UFT Ex Bd, MORE/UF

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.