Global Tech PS 7 Merger Update: politics rule in Supt. Estrella Land

IA Principal Graeber went from disparaging the collaborative efforts of the staff in 2016-17 as he described it: "the teachers have been running the school for too long" to desperately begging teachers to help to control classroom, lunch room and recess. This level of disrespect for collaborative leadership goes counter to 7 years of dedicated work at GTP with Russell and Baiz plus 2 years at PS 7 under GTP trained Dr. Harvey. ....

To close Global Tech is to actively discriminate against children with special needs, their families, and their rights to choose. Additionally, the superintendent has shown no consideration of how the increased number of special education students at PS 7 will be addressed, demonstrating her lack of concern and foresight in closing GTP, a school serving a high number of special education students.

....... Through already combining the schools, the superintendent has shown she neither honors the process for a school closure/merger, nor does she respect the community’s rights to give input and be heard when it comes to the educational futures of their children. ........Emails from former staff

Shades of the charges against CPE1 - that teachers were running the school -- which I have always found to lead to the best run schools. But Farina and crew are out to stamp out strong teacher voices. The serious charges about neglect of special ed students may come back to bite the butts of Estrella and Farina --- expect the tonight's event and the Jan. 24 PEP to contain some fireworks --- look for videos to come.

So tonight I'm dragging my old bones up to tape the hearing for merger of Global Tech and PS 7 in Harlem. Gloria, Myrie, Joan and Lisa from MORE are joining me and we have a very good leaflet produced by the MORE closing schools committee, which can be read at the MORE site:  CASCADE – Campaign Against School Closings & Displacement Everywhere. I love the name CASCADE. And I love working with this committee of MORE even if I have some issues with some of the other ways MORE has been operating. 

I reported on the Global Tech situation yesterday:
Global Tech Supporters Resist Consolidation Efforts of District 4 (East Harlem) Supt Estrella and Farina; Links of Estrella to UFT District Rep. 

I'm pushing our Ex Bd reps to challenge the union on Estrella at the Ex Bd meeting next Monday.

Below are excerpts from email exchanges from former staff that expose the political manipulation and personal vendettas of District 4 (East Harlem) Supt Alexandra Estrella as she puts another notch in her belt of destruction. That she is an agent of Farina, there is no question. We talked about her relationship with UFT officials in yesterday's post.

Global Tech Supporters Resist Consolidation Efforts of District 4 (East Harlem) Supt Estrella and Farina; Links of Estrella to UFT District Rep

Our original April 23, 2017 report is here: CPE1 and Global Tech - East Harlem Dist. 4 Supt Alexandra Estrella: Evil Death Star School Destroyer).

Here is some more background info from email exchanges.

One point not addressed so far is the state of both schools since the " mock merger."

The level of chaos and confusion that exists in the building is unacceptable.  Teachers are on the verge of break downs and several have quit, others are planning their exit strategy for 2018.  The new principals are both unable to control the rapidly increasing fights and classroom disruptions in the 6th grade.  Special education students are placed in classes with no special education teachers.  Students with 12:1 designation are in general education classes 70% of the day with one teacher.  

The claim that GTP students will benefit from a partnership with Hunter College is dishonest and shameful.  Hunter College was not aware of the "mock merger" and were caught off-guard by the  devastatingly negative impact on discipline and achievement.   Hunter placed a consultant in the school to try to bring order to the chaos with little positive effect. Members of the superintendent staff have been actively involved in running the school and have acted as substitute teachers on occasion in an effort to stabilize lapses in leadership that could de-rail the partnership. 

IA Principal Graeber went from disparaging the collaborative efforts of the staff in 2016-17 as he described it: "the teachers have been running the school for too long" to desperately begging teachers to help to control classroom, lunch room and recess. This level of disrespect for collaborative leadership goes counter to 7 years of dedicated work at GTP with Russell and Baiz plus 2 years at PS 7 under GTP trained Dr. Harvey. 

The flaunted restorative practice and designated classroom space is so dysfunctional that teachers are volunteering to man more structured detentions and suspensions during their lunch periods, as a last-ditch effort to save the school year.

This "mock merger" has to be brought back to the discussion and negotiating table with ALL STAKEHOLDERS represented.

We should accept nothing less.

xxxxxxxx

Here is the email that began the thread delineating the reasons for why the merger is a bad move:

I am writing this email with deep concern about the merger of Global Tech Prep into PS 7, effectively closing Global Tech Prep in East Harlem's District 4. I do not support this merger/closure of Global Tech (MS 406) for the following reasons:

There is no other technology-based school in the district, which serves a population of high-needs students. With the skills needed to be successful in today’s technological world and an already burgeoning achievement gap between students with resources and those without, how can we close the one tech school in the district? 

What is the technology plan? Each student at Global Tech Prep has a laptop, but more importantly, the kind of education that teaches them to be digital citizens in today’s complex world. There is no mention of how the very needed skills involving technology will be addressed in the superintendent’s proposal.

Based on the need for a technology school alone, why isn’t a formation considered where PS 7 would focus on PreK-5 and Global Tech on 6-8 for the community? The community deserves to have this choice. 

This addresses the lowered enrollment, which is something happening across ALL public schools in the district (this is fueled by the exorbitant number of charter schools in the district). It seems there’s been no comparison of which of the two middle schools better serves the community, which should be a key part of the evaluation of closing an existing middle school. Where is this comparison—breaking out the 6-8 of PS 7 and comparing it to Global Tech (and looking both at and beyond test scores) to support this decision?

Special education students comprise 39% of the population at Global Tech Prep, and many parents choose the school because of how well the school educates students with special needs. Closing GTP means special education parents of East Harlem have few choices for schools that really understand and can serve special education students at the level GTP can. Furthermore, closing GTP (M406) is against the principles of the laws that govern special education—every child has the right to a free and appropriate education. The standards of “appropriate” special education at other schools in the district don’t come close to the kinds of outcomes and work Global Tech does with special needs students. 

To close Global Tech is to actively discriminate against children with special needs, their families, and their rights to choose. Additionally, the superintendent has shown no consideration of how the increased number of special education students at PS 7 will be addressed, demonstrating her lack of concern and foresight in closing GTP, a school serving a high number of special education students. A data analysis of the progress made by special education students in each school at the 6-8 level is essential in making an informed decision about what's best for children, especially those with special needs. Additionally, considering the impacts of each of children with IEPs not having access to a laptop for each class (which has been essential for their success) has also not been considered.  

The proposal mentions Hunter College as a benefit coming from PS 7. Has Hunter confirmed they won’t support both schools? For example, in the Case of Citizen Schools, the program began at Global Tech and supported both. Seems the superintendent has orchestrated Hunter's support to achieve her goal of consolidating the schools based on demands from central offices. 

This proposal is for 2018-2019. However, teachers and students at the schools report that all Global Technology signs have been taken down and that the classes between the schools are merged. Effectively, this means Alex Estrella has already merged the schools in practice before the community has made a decision and the appropriate procedural processes have been followed. This isn’t a proposal open for the East Harlem community’s comments, it seems. Through already combining the schools, the superintendent has shown she neither honors the process for a school closure/merger, nor does she respect the community’s rights to give input and be heard when it comes to the educational futures of their children. 

An update on Global Tech:

The merger of Global Tech Prep and PS 7 is now slated for a vote from the Panel of Educational Policy (PEP). This panel will vote on the merger at the following meeting: 

January 24, 2018 at 6pm

PS 20, The Anna Silver School (166 Essex St.)

Global Tech Supporters Resist Consolidation Efforts of District 4 (East Harlem) Supt Estrella and Farina; Links of Estrella to UFT District Rep

I was contacted by people connected to Global Tech based on this April 23, 2017 post: CPE1 and Global Tech - East Harlem Dist. 4 Supt Alexandra Estrella: Evil Death Star School Destroyer.

My report was based on reporting by Andrea Gabor, Requiem For A School That Works-
On January 24, the PEP will vote to consolidate two schools - Global Tech and PS 7. There is an ugly story behind this move. That District 4 Supt Alexandra Estrella continues her vendettas -- many claim she is in the running for worst Supt in the city -- and note below her very close relationship to UFT District Rep Servia Silva. Is the UFT behind protecting Estrella's back despite her viciousness? Google Estrella to see the number of scandals she has been involved in.

Estrella chopped a very popular teacher who was groomed to be the principal last spring. He is now at Harvard. Most of the teachers then left the school and are scattered around but many will be coming out tomorrow to the school to protest the consolidation and, in essence, the destruction of the mission of Global Tech.

There will be a hearing at the school this Thursday Jan. 18 - I and some other MOREs are going and I will be taping. We're betting the UFT will be mum on this move.

Here is some of the background based on Andrea Gabor's reports from April. I'll be back with more updates later.

Global Tech also traces its lineage to the era of collaboration and teacher-leaders that flourished in District 4 under Tony Alvarado and Debbie Meier, beginning in the 1970s, and was, to a limited degree, revived under Bloomberg. That legacy of grassroots leadership and collaboration, which was intended to foster creativity and innovation, is now widely seen as endangered—not just at Global Tech, but throughout the city.... Andrea Gabor, Gotham Gazette

Yes, can we say that DeB/Farina rule is as bad or worse than Bloomberg/Klein? Well, not to the UFT/Unity leadership which has its seat at the table that BloomKlein denied it, but certainly not using it to defend teachers and schools.... ed notes, 4/23/17

Estrella who tried and is still trying to destroy CPE1 may be the worst Supt in the city. But just as bad is the connection between Estrella to the UFT District Rep Servia Silva, whom many teachers in the district accuse of being Estrella's cover. I just heard from someone in the district that Estella and Silva have vacationed together.

I have been in phone contact with some of the people actively organizing resistance. I will publish more info as this week goes on.

One of the ugliest are the stories of a very buddy buddy relationship between District 4 Supt. Alexandra Estrella and UFT District Rep Servia Silva. One report claimed that Estella and Silva have vacationed together. Talk to people at CPE1 and they will tell you how they suffered abuse from principal Monika Garg while Silva poo poohed it. I called Silva out when I last spoke at the UFT Ex Bd pointing out that CPE1 teachers came to MORE for help due to UFT lack of response.

Stop Closing Schools: School Scope and Videos - Rockaway - PS 42 and IS 53

There are about 4 hours of videos. It was a busy week last week and another one coming up over the closing schools issue. We have a here.

Delegate Assembly tomorrow and a big hearing at Global Tech in Harlem on Thursday. More on that outrage later. My School Scope is below the videos - which I intend to cut up into smaller segments. My own little piece of video is

PS 42 Videos

Part 1:
https://vimeo.com/250650942


Part 2: https://vimeo.com/250662998
Part 3: https://vimeo.com/250698838
Part 4: https://vimeo.com/250724680

IS 53: https://vimeo.com/251005346

Here is my upcoming column in The WAVE, published January 19, 2018:

School Scope:  Closing Schools: Bad for Students, Parents, Teachers and Community

By Norm Scott

Black Lives clearly don’t matter to DOE officials and the Mayor despite the rhetoric.

On January 9, I videotaped (see below for links) the closing school informational session at PS 42 (there will be a hearing at the school on Feb. 13 at 6PM). The auditorium was packed with hundreds of parents, students, teachers, local politicians and community members, mostly people of color and all opposed to the closing. UFT officials, led by Queens Borough leader Amy Arundell, were also present. There were 70 speakers. The meeting and pre-meeting rally lasted over 3 hours. DOE’s District 27 Superintendent Mary Barton sat in front of the room stone-faced the entire time – shades of the ghouls of Joel Klein years, led by the infamous John White, now head of the state of Louisiana schools. It was if nothing had changed from the Bloomberg years. DOE officials looking on obliviously while children and their parents and teachers pleaded to keep their community intact. The school has clearly struggled academically but has managed to triple its growth from what was obvious from the meeting and the rally before, PS 42 is vibrant  and the closing of the school, to be replaced by two new ones, will fracture that community. Patricia Finn, principal for seven years, received so  many accolades I could see her blushing from across the room. But raves for her humanity and caring, in education based on the numbers, doesn’t count for much. Many parents and teachers pointed out that area of Rockaway is gentrifying and the DOE wants to move out the poorly performing students (and teachers) and open up space for new arrivals from the additions to Arverne by the Sea. 

The next night I attended the closing event for IS 53 in Far Rockaway (the closing hearing at the school is on Feb. 7 at 6PM), a school shared with another public school, Village Academy, also under academic threat. VA may absorb some of the students, but not all. Lurking within the IS 53 building is Eva Moskowitz’ Success Academy, always in an expansive mode. People said Success is already measuring their space before the February 28 vote at the Panel for Educational policy. No crystal ball needed to see the future. Village Academcy will be squeezed and Moskowitz gets the building to add to her growing empire, a school system within a school system. A school system known to push out poor performing students and kicking them back into the public schools.  Last year we saw the same thing happen to JHS 145 in the Bronx, with a Moskowitz school in the building pushing to expand. De Blasio promised to stand up to charters, Instead he has figured out a slick way to hand space to charters by closing schools they covet.

Parent groups have pointed out how the DOE did not give the closing schools the kind of support they needed, like lowering class size for the most in need students. Instead they got consultants and PD up the kazoo. Stories abound on how the people on the ground in the schools were not consulted but dictated to – reinforcing the sense that they are the ones at fault. From what I saw in the spirit of the staffs of PS 42 and IS 53, teachers are incredibly proud of their work and many parents and students echo those feelings.

What closing a school does is destroy an educational community. One parent asked at IS 53, pointing to DOE officials, “What is your responsibility? Where are you accountable for not providing the resources to the school? For diverting so much money to wasted resources that didn’t impact the students?”

While UFT officials were at both hearings to show the staff they back them the union must take a proactive stand in support. The UFT is playing its cards close to its vest when it should be standing up against all school closings and backing the schools to the hilt. Usually the union helps by getting buses for the Feb. 28 hearing at the PEP where the vote will be held when schools show some resistance despite knowing full well the vote is predetermined. The union needs to put more public and private pressure on the politicians to try to move the PEP vote in the direction of the schools.

Norm feels the pressure all the time and also posts the PS 42 and IS 53 videos at ednotesonline.com.

Video - IS 53Q Closing - My 2 Minutes

In the DOE black lives clearly don't matter. I have 5 hours of video to process and will be putting up the wonderful comments of parents, teachers and students, so keep an eye out. For now put up with me for 2 minutes. Jeez, am I really that bald?

https://vimeo.com/250887940

Real School Reform From Deb Meier and Emily Gasoi - The Answer Sheet

Far from being “defenders of the status quo,” as DeVos calls people who don’t agree with her school choice vision, Meier and Gasoi write about what real reform would and should look like and how the current system could be transformed into one that serves all children. They argue all public schools should have the kind of authority charter schools — which are publicly funded but privately operated — have in many states today.... Valerie Strauss

Deb Meier one of my heroes since I first heard of her in the 70s. WAPO ed columnist Valerie Strauss has been on the side of real reform for a long time.

Answer Sheet

Analysis 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/12/14/heres-a-model-for-major-school-reform-that-looks-vastly-different-from-betsy-devoss-vision/?utm_term=.e6901a1c9414 

Here’s a model for major school reform that looks vastly different from Betsy DeVos’s vision

By Valerie Strauss December 14, 2017

Memo From the RTC: Cry Me a River - Once Upon This Island, Lion King, Set Building, Acting Updates

Published in The WAVE - Jan. 12, 2018

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Memo From the RTC: Cry Me a River - Once Upon This Island, Lion King, Set Building, Acting Updates

By Norm Scott

Have you ever wondered how stage actors can cry or express other emotions so convincingly, on cue, at every performance? At last Sunday’s RTC acting class teacher Frank Caiati explored the techniques and before long there was a whole lot of tearing up and outright crying as Frank took us through an extended process of using an emotional incident in our lives to trigger the reaction when students read various pieces written by others in the class. In one of Frank’s other classes I did a scene where I played the Henry Fonda role from On Golden Pond with a young lady who took the part of the daughter, played by Jane Fonda. In every rehearsal when we came to a line where I hurt her, she broke into tears – I mean really started to cry, making me feel like crap. “How did you do that so easily,” I asked her? “I had a real issue with my dad and just recall that and tap into it.” That is acting.

Since I’m not a real actor, I didn’t want the stress of getting too emotional on a Sunday morning before I had a bagel so I tamped down my emotions and just focused on being hungry. (Is that an emotion?) I asked Frank why an actor can’t just prick his finger with a pin and draw some blood whenever he wanted to cry? I guess I was missing the point of the exercise, though I did tell him that if he wanted me to play someone getting constantly pissed off I was his man since there would be no acting involved. People seem to be really enjoying the class and rising to the occasion, leading me to think that with a great director like Frank, anyone can act. Frank by the way will be directing View From the Bridge at the RTC next September, when we can finally expect it to get warm.

Once Upon This Island, a production by the Young People’s Workshop with the pre-teens at the Rockaway Theatre Company is perking along. February 2,3,9, 10 at 7PM. Matinees February 4,10,11 at 2PM. Ticket Prices: $10.00. For Reservations: Call RTC Hotline @ 718-374-6400. Or email rtcworkshops@gmail.com. The Lion King, with the teens is set for these dates: March 1,2,3,8,9,18 at 7PM. Matinees March 3,4,10,11 at 2PM

In the meantime, Tony Homsey’s  Sunday theater set building class has been building the sets for both shows. A large 12 foot wide staircase is up, 8 foot gates have been built, and a large sun and some clouds have been cut out with a jigsaw, with a lot more to come over the next few weeks. This is turning out to be a great idea as the usual crew hasn’t had to work at all during the week. Some of the students may end up joining the regulars and we may start doing Sunday morning building sessions for upcoming adult shows so the students get to practice their skills. Building sets is not like working on your house, though the skills are applicable. Like Tony says, “if they can’t see it from the Belt Parkway, don’t worry about it.” Almost all sets are built to last a few weeks before coming down. So we have to build them with the thought that is must also be fairly easy to take apart, though safety is primary, especially since there are so many young kids involved. But then again kids are smaller and lighter than adults.

After the acting and set building classes, Rich Louis-Pierre runs his sound design class, which I am not taking this time. But it seems to be going very well.

Sundays are not a day of rest at the RTC.

School Scope: Charter School Follies, Closing Schools, Mayoral Control Shams

Jan. 12, 2018 edition of The WAVE, www.rockawave.com

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School Scope:  Charter School Follies, Closing Schools, Mayoral Control Shams

By Norm Scott

I’m running past deadline not because I can’t think of anything to write but because I have so many options as education related stories keep breaking. So let me point readers (all three of you) in some interesting directions.

I am tracking the upcoming saga of the two schools being closed in Rockaway. I hope you noticed the horror stories on MS 80 in the Bronx, which is being kept open with an infusion of more money as reported on WCBS and in the NY Post: ‘Struggling’ Bronx school is a hellhole, teachers say (https://nypost.com/2018/01/06/struggling-bronx-school-is-a-hellhole-teachers-say/) --- Imagine Farina and De Blasio are keeping this place open – hey, there is an abusive principal there so why not – while closing other schools. Tell me politics is not involved.

As you may have realized, I often focus on the excesses of charters, especially Eva Moskowitz’ Success Academy chain of 46 schools (and growing). Since there is a school in Rockaway it is worth keeping people updated on the chain. We have pointed out the enormous attrition rates of students (and teachers) as Success schools. Blogger, Stuyvesant high school math teacher Gary Rubinstein, did an interesting piece, The Hidden Attrition Of Success Academy - https://tinyurl.com/yaj2z9mn -  While Success claims a 10% attrition rate a year, Gary, using data from the DOE, found it to be 17%. And since Success doesn’t backfill by adding students, kids from the initial cohort keep disappearing and by the time they graduate, there are not all that many left. We’ve reported here that there were only 17 students left to graduate high school out of an initial cohort of 73 kindergarten students. Where did the 56 disappeared end up? Probably many in public schools.

Another respected teacher blogger, Mark Weber, a music teacher in New Jersey, blogged about the misleading graduation rates at Democracy Prep charter, which has four schools in NYC, on his Jersey Jazzman blog. A misleading Daily News op ed bought the misleading data which claimed “No charter network has demonstrated more success getting its students into and through college…. last year 189 of the 195 seniors in its three high schools that had graduating classes went on to college.” Remarkable, isn’t it. A miracle you might say. But there are no miracles. Mark looked at the attrition rates for kids from their freshman to their senior years and found that Democracy Prep had shed enough students to bring their numbers in line or below many public schools. Mark also castigates main stream journalists for ignoring the attrition issue. Read him in full at http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2018/01/miracle-school-journalism-and-gorilla.html.

Must Listen for Every Inner City Teacher: The Burdens Affecting Even Our Brightest Students - This American Life

Every teacher in inner city schools has had some kids over the years who seemed very special -- super smart with enormous potential. Find out what happens to three of these students. It is like a rocket trying to escape the earth but getting pulled back by the gravity of poverty and low self-esteem. Even when they beat the odds and make it to college, their battles often just begin. I had some like this and I was in touch for a number of years, even attending some of their weddings.

This American Life on NPR had a must listen to program for not only every teacher but for everyone. The gist was that students from a poor Bronx public school, all kids of color, were paired with Fieldston, an elite private school in the Bronx. The program focuses on some of the culture shock for the poor students based on the conditions they saw in their school and what they saw at Fieldston, just 3 miles away. The reporter, Chana Joffe-Walt, did an amazing job, interviewing teachers from both schools and trying to track one of the students 10 years after they left school.

See what the impact of poverty and low self-esteem have on even the sharpest kids --- but beyond that, this production, as so many of TAL programs are -- is presented like a mystery and will have you handing on the edge of your seat. [Note- one of the principals in the program has set up a college go-fund-me campaign as per this note from the show's producers

Listen to it at: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/550/three-miles#play

Well, I’m out of space but here is some homework for you.

How Bill de Blasio Can Redeem His Education Record by Leonie Haimson and Shino Tanikawa - http://www.gothamgazette.com/opinion/7404-how-bill-de-blasio-can-redeem-his-education-record

Here’s a model for major school reform that looks vastly different from Betsy DeVos’s vision. Valerie Strauss in WAPO reports on the work of reform educators Deborah Meier and Emily Gasoi. https://tinyurl.com/y9u6b6gp

We have opposed mayoral control of the schools since Bloomberg took over in 2002. We feel no better about de Blasio. The elected parent council in District 3 (upper west side) wrote an op ed in the Gotham Gazette, Our School Governance Isn’t Working, and It’s the Perfect Time for Change, http://www.gothamgazette.com/opinion/7409-our-school-governance-isn-t-working-and-it-s-the-perfect-time-for-change.

What is working is that Norm keeps slogging and blogging away at ednotesonline.com.

Our School Governance Isn’t Working, and It’s the Perfect Time for Change

The parents in District 3 are tired of this situation. If the mayor is going to have control of our schools, then his office needs to engage in a serious, respectful, and sustained conversation with our community about what we truly need so that all our district schools are places where all children thrive. Moreover, he needs to take responsibility for helping them compete in the slick, professional marketing environment in which they exist. This cannot wait for another two years when Albany will go through yet another staged drama at our children’s expense, considering the new terms of extending mayoral control.... CEC3

It's time to end mayoral control. Too bad the UFT leadership doesn't agree.

Our School Governance Isn’t Working, and It’s the Perfect Time for Change

by members of the District 3 Community Education Council
Kristen Berger; Manuel Casanova; Inyanga Collins; Daniel Katz; Lucas Liu; Michael McCarthy; Genisha Metcalf; Jean Moreland; Dennis Morgan; Yan Sun; and Kimberly Watkins (President).


http://www.gothamgazette.com/opinion/7409-our-school-governance-isn-t-working-and-it-s-the-perfect-time-for-change

How Bill de Blasio Can Redeem His Education Record- Leonie Haimson, Shino Tanikawa

Forty million dollars per year has been spent on consultants and bureaucrats to oversee the struggling schools in the Renewal program, many with records marked by scandal or found to be incompetent in previous positions. Though the DOE made special promises to the state to reduce class size in these schools, nearly three-quarters continue to have maximum class sizes of 30 or more;  .....Leonie and Shino

Leonie and Shino nail de Blasio on a number of issues.

http://www.gothamgazette.com/opinion/7404-how-bill-de-blasio-can-redeem-his-education-record

How Bill de Blasio Can Redeem His Education Record

January 05, 2018 | by Leonie Haimson and Shino Tanikawa

MORE/New Action High School Reps Send Letter to Chapter Leaders

The following letter was sent to all high school chapter leaders by the MORE/NA high school elected reps. If you are in a high school - or any school, print out a copy and share with your chapter leader. Last night, Kate Martin Bridge joined the Ex Bd as the 7th opposition rep but this was done before she was added. Read Arthur's minutes from last night's meeting here and look for his commentary coming very soon.

December 2017,

Chapter Leader,

As the elected UFT High School representatives on the UFT Executive Board, we would like to tell you a little about what we did last year, and talk with you about priorities for the current school year.

We belong to the New Action and MORE Caucuses. Together we successfully raised several critical issues on behalf of the UFT membership last year. In some cases our efforts led to significant victories; in others we forced the UFT’s Unity leadership to act on issues in front of us.

Abusive Administrators: 
We pushed the union to take a stand against abusive administrators. At Central Park East 1 the UFT Chapter Leader and Delegate were returned to the school and the abusive principal was removed. That victory took months of work and coordination with parents and members. We called for assistance to Townsend Harris, where an abusive principal was removed, and we pushed for consequences for the superintendent and deputy superintendent who created and exacerbated that mess; supported the Chapter Leader of Art and Design HS from an abusive administrator; supported Adult Education teachers who spoke at OACE hearings against their abusive administrator.

We called for the removal of abusive administrators with 2 unfavorable ratings.

We spoke on behalf of veteran teachers rated ineffective for speaking against curriculum writing, bulletin boards, and massive e-mails. We questioned why schools with abusive administrators were allowed to remain in PROSE. We called for investigations of superintendents who side with abusive principals; and we called for the UFT to publicize the names of schools with high teacher turnover rates.

ATRs
Our elected high school reps raised the issue of ATRs at every UFT Executive Board meeting. We criticized Mulgrew and Unity Caucus for signing an ATR agreement without any discussion at the Executive Board, DA, or with ATRs.

Support for immigrant students
We repeatedly called for an immigration liaison at every school; we called for a citywide day of action in support of immigrant students and called for intake screenings for immigrant families in every borough.

This was last year. Some of these must remain part of our focus for this school year.

Where should we focus this year? What are the issues that matter most to you as chapter leader, and to your members? What issues are not being addressed? Contact us – let us know.

Help us set the agenda to move our high schools in the right direction.

KJ Ahluwalia
Arthur Goldstein
Ashraya Gupta
Marcus MacArthur
Jonathan Halabi        
Michael Schirtzer

Contact
Jonathan (New Action) jd2718@gmail.com
or Mike (MORE)  mschir@gmail.com

Must Listen for Every Inner City Teacher: The Burdens Affecting Even Our Brightest Students - This American Life

550: Three Miles - This American Life, NPR

JAN 5, 2018

There’s a program that brings together kids from two schools. One school is public and in the country’s poorest congressional district. The other is private and costs $43,000/year. They are three miles apart. The hope is that kids connect, but some of the public school kids just can’t get over the divide. We hear what happens when you get to see the other side and it looks a lot better.

Listen to it at: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/550/three-miles#play
Norm's Commentary:
Every teacher in inner city schools has had some kids over the years who seemed very special -- super smart with enormous potential. Find out what happens to three of these students. It is like a rocket trying to escape the earth but getting pulled back by the gravity of poverty and low self-esteem. Even when they beat the odds and make it to college, their battles often just begin. I had some like this and I was in touch for a number of years, even attending some of their weddings.

This American Life on NPR had a must listen to program for not only every teacher but for everyone. The gist was that students from a poor Bronx public school, all kids of color, were paired with Fieldston, an elite private school in the Bronx. The program focuses on some of the culture shock for the poor students based on the conditions they saw in their school and what they saw at Fieldston, just 3 miles away. The reporter, Chana Joffe-Walt, did an amazing job, interviewing teachers from both schools and trying to track one of the students 10 years after they left school.

See what the impact of poverty and low self-esteem have on even the sharpest kids --- but beyond that, this production, as so many of TAL programs are -- is presented like a mystery and will have you handing on the edge of your seat. [Note- one of the principals in the program has set up a college go-fund-me campaign as per this note from the show's producers

Here are program notes from the website:

• PROLOGUE

  Ira Glass introduces producer Chana Joffe-Walt, who reports this week's story. (1 minute) 
  

  • Chana Joffe-Walt

• ACT ONE

  Chana Joffe-Walt tells what happened when of a group of public school students in the Bronx went to visit an elite private school three miles away. (24 minutes)education • neighbors/neighborhoods
  

  • Chana Joffe-Walt

• ACT TWO

  The kids who traveled three miles up the road are in their mid-20s now. We hear how what they saw affected them for years, including at college. Chana reports. (21 minutes)college • education
  

  • Chana Joffe-Walt

  SONG:

  • "HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES", JACK MARKS

  
  Many listeners have asked how to donate to Melanie from Act One, to support her taking college courses. She's set up a PayPal account here. Note: This American Life is not managing this account or monitoring her spending. It goes directly to her. You're giving it as a gift.
  
  

Video: Where We Speak at the December PEP - and Farina Responds

You might classify this as an example of "if a tree fell in the forest and no one was there." But the 13 members of the PEP, Farina and her hangers on at the DOE were there so let them hear a dose of reality every once in a while.

A bunch of MOREs and friends spoke to the Dec. 20 Panel for Educational Policy --Here they are in order: Aixa, Lisa, Norm,

Gloria, Jane. Others from MORE were there too but didn't speak.
Other than some parents from the Harbor school at Governor's Island who have been fighting for space promised to them when the school moved there years ago, we were pretty much the only ones there.

We met as a committee of MORE that is addressing the closing of schools issue at Panera before the meeting --- we feel at least try to raise certain issues even if the effort proves fruitless. We also think the PEP is a good space to get in some public speaking practice -- learn to try to say something cogent in a 2 minute slot. It also allows you to test out a way to present your ideas. It is a leaning experience.

I went over my time - I had so much to say and boiling it all down can be tough. I dealt with the ways principals and teachers at closing schools are dealt with - I bet they are given jobs while ATRs are tossed into the pool. Aixa put the ATR issue on the table in her own unique manner -- that Farina responded means she hit a chord. Note who relaxed Aixa is - how she doesn't make a speech but just sort of chats. Very effective even to an empty auditorium.
https://vimeo.com/249951542

School Scope, The Wave: The Bitter Taste of Success - Rockaway Schools Being Shut Down, Success Charter to Benefit

My column in the Friday Jan. 5 edition of the Rockaway Weekly, The WAVE.

Gary Rubinstein has just posted this piece The Hidden Attrition Of Success Academy. I will use some of his material in next week's column as I continue my series for Rockaway readers. 

School Scope:  The Bitter Taste of Success - Rockaway Schools Being Shut Down, Success Charter to Benefit

By Norm Scott

Jan. 2, 2018

Rockaway Parent Mariya Ultsh said she believes that DOE plays politics when it comes to school closures. "My money is that charter schools will sweep in and once again [special] interest groups will get a payday at the expense of our children... The WAVE, Dec. 22, 20017. 

When I hear that the DOE is closing down schools I always check to see how those closing will benefit charter schools that covet their real estate, especially when the voracious Eva Moskowitz Success Academy charters are involved. So when I saw on the list along with PS/IS 42, Rockaway’s MS 53, where Eva occupies space already, I did my imitation of Claude Reins (Inspector Renault of Casablanca fame) and declared “I was shocked, just shocked, to find out gambling was going on. Now where are my winnings?” Eva is getting her winnings as she will ultimately manage to push out the other schools in the building even if she and her billionaire supporters have to run million dollar ads crying about how the big bad de Blasio is denying them space while he in effect hands them space under the table by closing some superb real estate. I agree with Mariya Ultsh that the PS 42 closing will ultimately benefit some charter chain. The late and lamented DNAInfo (shut down by its owner when the reporters voted to unionize) had a great piece by Katie Honan back in 2015 addressing the original invasion of IS 53: https://tinyurl.com/ydde4ad4.

Last year the targeted school favoring Eva was JHS 145 in the Bronx which was closed a year earlier than promised under bogus reasoning as Success was growling for more space in the building. When I went to the closing hearing and saw the magnificent building and the attached park I had to laugh. JHS 145 teacher Jim Donohue who helped lead the unsuccessful battle to try to save the school said:

“A full 3 weeks before the DOE’s closure proposal even becomes official, and 2 months before the PEP vote takes place, and despite the DOE’s claim that the closing has NOTHING to do with the charter school, Success Academy’s website has begun advertising for applicants to its new middle school, opening in 2017, at JHS 145. In recent weeks, Success Academy staff members have been measuring our classrooms, apparently 100% confident that the PEP will rubber stamp our demise in March. (See videos  I made of the pleas from teachers, parents and students to keep the school open on my blog: https://tinyurl.com/y8by5mea. So we were not surprised to see yet another school occupied by Success end up on the closing list.

Avaricious Eva is asking to expand in the old Sarah Hale HS in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn and there has been community resistance. Leonie Haimson reports that “The average utilization of District 15 schools, according to the 2015-2016 DOE Utilization report, was at 105%, and 61% of K-8 schools in the district overcrowded (at or above 100% target utilization). About 74% or nearly 20,000 K-8 students were in overcrowded schools, and 94 cluster rooms were missing from these schools. according to DOE’s utilization formula ….. as cited in the letter from the Community Education Council in District 15, many of the students at the Success Academy Cobble Hill do not reside in the district….  any expansion of this school would increasingly crowd out districts students in the future, and thus should not be allowed. We also oppose allowing the expansion of any Success Academy charter school, given the huge number of civil rights violations and abuses that children enrolled in these schools and their families are subjected to, as well as repeated violations of student privacy rights. We have real doubts as to the legality of the request to authorize any change in a charter school’s enrollment in the middle of the current school year, as Success Academy – Cobble Hill is proposing, from 558 students in grades K-6, to 686 students in in 2017-2018.

As to PS 42, Councilman Donovan Richards, whose office donated nearly a million dollars to the school, the benefits of which will one day accrue to some charter chain, is also being closed. The Dec. 22 WAVE article noted that Richards will be holding a rally on Jan. 10 before and maybe at the closing hearing at PS 42 - at 6:30. The MS 53 hearing will be held Jan. 11 at the school, also at 6:30. PS 42's PTA president, Kevin Morgan, is organizing a bus trip to Albany on Jan. 9 -- call him for more info at 347-410-3061.

Renewal schools were not supported despite claims

Leonie Haimson has written an excellent blog detailing the failures of the de Blasio/Farina plan for the renewal schools.

Titled, DOE announces more Renewal school closings without ever having giving them a real chance to succeed, Leonie points out: “Instead of capping class sizes in these schools, the DOE spent about $40 million per year on consultants and bureaucrats to oversee the Renewal program, many of them with records marked by scandal and incompetence, as well as millions more on wrap-around services to create "community schools." Though perhaps of value in themselves, these services do little to improve students' opportunity to learn or teachers ability to teach.” Read the entire piece at: https://tinyurl.com/y7slpyrq. Also see Alan Singer on the failure of de Blasio/Farina renewal program, “Newly Reelected New York City Mayor Decides His School Renewal Plan Failed But Still Claims Success”. Have fun reading at: https://tinyurl.com/y79g42dk.

My previous articles on the Success charter monster are on my blog at:

https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2017/12/school-scope-how-do-you-spell-success_16.html

https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2017/12/school-scope-how-do-you-spell-success.html

And a piece on how billionaire hedge fund Success Board member Paul Tudor Jones consoled Harvey Weinstein: https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2017/12/eva-moskowitz-return-paul-tudor-money.html

In case you didn’t get the message, Norm blogs way too much at ednotesonline.com.

NYC Parent Action Conference - Jan. 27, 2018

Posted by Leonie Haimson at NYC Parent Ed blog:

Please sign up for our Jan. 27 Parent Action Conference now!

Happy New Year and I have exciting news to report!  Our annual Parent Action Conference (flyer here and below), co-sponsored by Class Size Matters, NYC Kids PAC and CEC2,  will be held Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018 at the Peck Slip School in downtown Manhattan (Take the A,C, 2, 3, 4, 5, J, or Z trains to Fulton Street; map here.)

After a rousing call to action by Bronx principal Jamaal Bowman, morning workshops will address important topics including: Parent Organizing 101, Legal challenges to overcrowding and large classes, Advocating for your child with special needs, Opting out of testing, Integrating our schools, Preventing bullying, Fighting charter expansion, and Promoting Restorative Justice to end the School to Prison Pipeline.

In the afternoon, we will show the acclaimed documentary on school privatization,  "Backpack Full of Cash" narrated by Matt Damon.  After the film, we will hold a panel discussion with special guest NY Board of Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa.  At some point during the day, we also plan to solicit the views of those attending the conference about what sort of Chancellor they would like to see to replace retiring Carmen Farina.

Please sign up now at Eventbrite.  We are asking for a donation of $10 to cover the cost of lunch and the film, but you can contribute any amount you like.  If you need a scholarship to attend, just email us at info@classsizematters.org.   Hope to see you there!  Leonie

PS  Check out this week's The Nation, in which the editors urge Mayor de Blasio to focus on integrating our public schools and reducing class size during his second term. 

 

Splaining UFT Ex Bd Replacements - Why So Many and Why Didn't Unity Challenge the MORE/NA Replacement

MORE/New Action and Unity Caucus recently replaced some members of the executive board -- more had one replacement, Unity 3. Since Unity has the votes, if they had put up a candidate they could have easily stolen the seat from MORE. Yet they didn't. Why not? When it happened in the past -- like 15 or more years ago with New Action, Unity was much more fierce and took the seat away, calling forth a protest and walkout by New Action and some good publicity for them.

Here is my analysis of what is going on.

Since the current UFT Executive Board began its term in September, 2016, Unity has had to replace a few of its elected reps -- I've lost count but it could be around 10, which would be 10% of the entire board being replaced less than half way through its term of office. The only time MORE challenged one of the replacements seat was the first time they had to replace someone in the fall of 2016 -- Mike Schirtzer nominated me and I actually received 4 Unity votes --- Here is my post from Nov. 17 - some were more surprised at this than the Trump victory just a short time before.

My Slogan "Make the UFT Great Again" Won Me 4 Unity Caucus Votes For UFT Exec Board

In a vote only a little less unlikely than the election of Donald Trump as US President, it was reported that four Unity Caucus members defied their caucus obligations to vote for Norm Scott for a seat on the UFT Executive Board. ... James Eterno, ICE blog,  MULTIPLE UNITY CAUCUS MEMBERS VOTE FOR NORM SCOTT

Since then MORE/NA has not bothered to challenge, which Unity people seem thankful for because then they don't have to wait two weeks and hold an election. I have mixed feelings -- on the one hand it is a waste of time to challenge but on the other it does open an opportunity to put forth some serious people who if not for the way things ran in the UFT would be on the board.

So why have so many Unity people left the board?

Could it be the wonderful food?
[Arthur's comment on the food -- Meeting interrupted when Philly steak sandwich falls on floor with resounding crash, breaking member's foot. Ambulance is called, member is taken in ambulance.]

Why risk going to a meeting every other Monday evening when there is a chance of being injured by a sandwich falling on your foot and when you could be home watching cable news and the Trump follies? Why have to sit there and listen to MORE/New Action people asking questions and raising resolutions?

And attendance has been very bad -- lots of people not there. Some Unity people barely showed up last year and have left the board. One recent Unity replacement I spoke to didn't seem very pleased but had to do it even if very inconvenient.

So premise number 1 for why they didn't challenge for the MORE/NA seat --  Unity is not having an easy time filling EB seats with enthusiastic recruits. So why do they need to shanghai another one to challenge MORE/NA for yet another seat?

Premise number 2 --If they challenged for the MORE/NA seat, we would have had a great propaganda tool and also would have run against them for every replacement and Unity would have to have held elections every time.

I think this is self-explanatory. It made sense for Unity not to bother challenging.

Now let's address why MORE/NA was replacing someone.
In MORE's original agreement with NA, the 7 HS seats were split 4-3 with MORE getting the extra seat -- New Action proposed that since MORE had gotten more votes in the 2013 election. MORE chose its 4 people and also an alternate. Within a few days of starting the petition campaign, one of the NA people pulled out and we had to fill this position ASAP -- and we had a problem with our alternate who some of us believed was not going to stay in teaching -- and thus we would lose that seat if we won.

One day I will tell this story which included backstabbing and skulduggery that took place around this issue. But it worked out in that the always amazing Marcus MacArthur who jumped in to fill the slot, thus giving MORE 5 people and NA 2.

Now it turned out that one of the original 4 MORE people came to 2 or 3 Ex bd meetings and just stopped coming -- for reasons I won't go into now since I am only guessing. But one day I may share my suppositions. But it was embarrassing for MORE since everyone had agreed to serve for 3 years. But the 6 EB seats were enough and our people were very effective.

At any rate, here was an Ex Bd seat that in fact should have belonged to New Action and was unoccupied. New Action proposed a solution --- if the MORE person resigned, New Action had a veteran CL who would fill that seat -- but it depended on whether Unity would challenge that seat. We weren't going to hand over that seat to Unity and from our point of view if they did  challenge the MORE person just would not resign the seat -- better empty than Unity. But it turned out Unity didn't want the potential hassle and bad publicity if they did challenge - what's the difference if MORE/NA has 6 or 7 to them? MORE/NA also did not waste time challenging for their 3 replacement seats.

So now there will be 7 active opposition EB members.

Union Dues No Longer Deductable - Ties to Janus Case

I hadn't heard much about this provision but when tied into Janus it is yet another dagger aimed at unions. Will not being able do deduct the $1400 a year for UFT dues, how many more will leave the union?

We talked about some of this yesterday when some MOREs and New Action people got together to stuff envelopes for something we are sending out. The feeling was that the UFT could address the dues structure - like going to a pro-rated system based on salary but probably won't because given the average salary, that would lower dues drastically. Good luck asking the newest and lowest paid members to opt in to paying such a big chunk of their salary.

Added: See Salon:
https://www.salon.com/2017/12/23/deducting-a-ceos-jet-but-not-a-cops-uniform_partner/

School Scope: It’s a Wonderful Life – Until it Isn’t: Is Pottersville Trumpville?

I submitted this for this week's publication but it probably didn't get there in time but I am posting it here the day after XMAS - we watched the entire movie once again even with all the commercial interruptions. There are a lot of possible messages in the movie but as I point out some are a bit fuzzy.

School Scope:  It’s a Wonderful Life – Until it Isn’t:  Is Pottersville Trumpville?

By Norm Scott

It’s that time of year again for one of my favorite movies, the Frank Capra Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. I’ve seen it twenty times and not only do I not get tired of it, but every year I gain new insights. Some view the movie as a battle between good and evil, especially due to the religious overtones with angels coming down to help certain mortals out of their pickle.  Politically minded people, like me, see the underlying politics as a struggle between the Roosevelt New Deal, and its opponents, in some sense the very same type of Republicans who vehemently opposed FDR in the 30s, a battle we see being played out today as the current people in power attempt to dismantle the benefits accrued from the programs instituted by FDR and followed up on by LBJ. Yes, the movie plays out an age-old political struggle.

The competing philosophies of the bad guy, Mr. Potter and the heroes, George Bailey and his family, can be brought down to these ideas. Potter would have supported the Republican tax plan – in fact, Potter expresses the standard Republican point of view going back a hundred years, while George might be considered a New Dealer Roosevelt Democrat, though he was also a banker. It is not totally inconceivable that an aging George today might even back Trump. I’ve seen a lot of FDR supporters flip as they aged.

Capra was viewed for many years as a Roosevelt backer when in reality he was a conservative and even had some good things to say about Mussolini and Hitler while making movies that reflected the practical depression era politics of the time.

Potter reflects an Ayn Rand dog eat dog point of view and remember Rand is beloved by Paul Ryan as she was by Ronald Reagan. What is funny is that for a decades after the film’s 1946 release, the FBI’s J. Edgar Hoover’s called the film “Communist propaganda” because it portrayed banker Potter as a greedy villain. An FBI memo suggested he “represented a rather obvious attempt to discredit bankers by casting Lionel Barrymore as ‘scrooge-type’ so that he would be the most hated man in the picture.” Some people felt that Potter was correct in his criticism of the Baileys for not adhering to stricter banking rules.

In some ways Hoover was right, as some of the film’s writers were leftist and even connected to the Communist Party in the 1930s when it was at its height. The film can be interpreted as  demonizing capitalism in some ways but let’s not forget that the “working class” heroes besides George are restaurant owner Martini and cab driver and cop, Bert and Ernie.

The are a lot of memorable parts to the film – not the least being some of the racy scenes between Donna Reed and Jimmy Stewart. I also noticed for the first time how younger brother Harry Bailey swats the black maid on the rear end as they horse around. But what everyone always talks about is the re-imagining Bedford Falls if George had never lived – the nightmare of seeing it devolved into Pottersville. That sequence, instead of a left view, actually affirms the power of the individual to influence people’s lives even if he still needed the help of an angel trying to get his wings.

Atta boy Clarence.

Norm has been working to get his wings at ednotesonline.com.

Poet Luareate Real Reform Fred Smith: Dispirit of the Season

Dispirit of the Season

‘Tis now Christmas day and my heart is wheezing,
Bundled up in my bed, coughing and sneezing.

Santa stayed home on the eve befogged by the flu,
And Rudolph this year couldn’t lead his sled through.

And so my darlings, there’s not much to say
After last night descended and became the next day.

And Eva goes high-speed on with her wild shopping spree,
Buying pols as she needs them to get schools for free;
While Betsy converts the uneducated classes,
Vouching for private ways to teach the masses,
With both of them preaching in the same certain voice
Salvation as it is written in the Gospel of Choice.

As ever-sure Andrew decides on how he should go,
But always taking the time to stick deBlasio.

And the same is true for mayoral control Bill,
A no-contest election behind him with four years to fill.
He must pick a chancellor who wears progressive attire.
But won’t do much to lower class size, lead or inspire.

One thing, however, suspends their personal feud.
Both courageously agree that Trump’s a bad dude.

And the IDC and other deceivers are calling the tune
While the UFT helps the dish run away with the spoon.

Now I must cut this short. I have fever and chills.
Sniffling about so many societal ills.

And so my dear friends, have a pitcher of beer
As we brace ourselves for the same old new year.