NYSAPE: Commissioner Elia and the Board of Regents Continue to Fail New York’s Children; Parents Demand the Immediate Removal of Commissioner Elia

Brooklyn public school parent and founding member of NYC Opt Out, Kemala Karmen, is calling on SED to notify every single parent of their right to refuse May’s upcoming math assessment. She added, “The state can and should halt its hellbent race towards computerized testing, for which it is clearly ill-prepared; stop farming out test construction to dubious for-profit companies; truly shorten the exams; and, most important, remove high stakes attached to the assessments.”... NYSAPE statement 

I have two posts (at least two) on the testing scandal/scam - this one from NYSAPE - the parent group and coming later the state teacher comments from NYSUT's Andy Pallotta -

This year's tests are a disaster!

Which is pretty interesting given that Andy was put in by Mulgrew and yet Mulgrew and the UFT are silent - but more on that later.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 17, 2018
More information contact:
Lisa Rudley: nys.allies@gmail.com
Jeanette Deutermann:  nys.allies@gmail.com
NY State Allies for Public Education - NYSAPE

Link to Press Release

Commissioner Elia and the Board of Regents Continue to Fail New York’s Children; Parents Demand the Immediate Removal of Commissioner Elia

Parents across the state demand that the Board of Regents act immediately to remove Commissioner MaryEllen Elia. It is time the Board of Regents exercises control over the State Education Department to stop the runaway train of anti-public school “reform” that the commissioner represents.

Last week’s 3rd-8th grade ELA testing was an epic--and avoidable--fail for the children of New York State. The problems began before the tests were even administered, continued during their administration, and will persist unless there is a radical shakeup in the leadership of the State Education Department; in the way in which information about the tests and participation in the tests is communicated to families; and in how the tests themselves are constructed, administered, and scored.

The twin disasters of this year’s botched computer-based tests and an even more flawed than usual ELA test design prove that Elia is unequal to her duties and lacks the competence to helm the education department. Our children deserve better.

Leading up to the tests, some districts sent letters to parents asking whether their children would be participating in the assessments. Others, including the state’s largest district, New York City, sent home testing “info” riddled with spin, distortion, and outright lies regarding test refusal and its consequences. Many disadvantaged communities told advocates that they did not know they had a right to refuse the tests, even though it is their children who are most likely to suffer the negative effects of school closure.

Amy Gropp Forbes, a mother active in NYC Opt Out, wrote in a letter addressed to Chancellor Betty Rosa, “I urge you to issue a formal statement that clarifies a parent’s right to refuse state testing for their children. If the state allows some parents the right to opt out of state exams, it MUST give ALL parents this right, and consequences to schools and districts across the state must be equitable.” Gropp Forbes received no reply.

That the BOR and SED stood by and let this situation transpire despite having been made fully aware of the inequity--a statewide NYSAPE letter writing campaign generated over 200 complaints of “misinformation and intimidation”--is inexcusable. The absence of state-issued guidance also allowed some schools and districts to intimidate potential test refusers by instituting “sit and stare” policies.

Further evidence of a dereliction of duty on the part of BOR and SED came last week during the state ELA exam. The problems far exceeded the typical complaints associated with the state’s standardized exams. In fact, the problems were so egregious that one Westchester superintendent felt compelled to apologize to his entire community for what students had to endure. Social media flooded with teacher and proctor reports of children crying from fatigue, confusion, angst, hunger, pain, and more.

“Any good teacher knows how to judge time in lessons and assessments,” stated Chris Cerrone, school board trustee from Erie County. “As soon as I saw the format when I received the instructions I knew something was wrong. Day 1 would be short. Day 2 would be too long.”

Jeanette Deutermann, founding member of NYSAPE and LI Opt Out questioned, “Who was actually responsible for the construction and final version of these assessments? SOMEONE is responsible; that someone is Elia and the Board of Regents. The worst test since the new rollout has happened on their watch. Until a more capable leader is in place, we demand that all work on the construction of future tests be suspended immediately.”

Ulster County parent, educator, and NYSAPE founding member Bianca Tanis attributed last week’s fiasco in part to the state’s adoption of untimed testing. “Both SED and members of the Board of Regents continue to ignore the egregious consequences of untimed testing, misleading the public by claiming that the tests are shorter. For many educators, administering this test was the worst day of their career. The truth is out, and it cannot be ignored.”

“Enough is enough,” declared Dr. Michael Hynes, Superintendent of Long Island’s Patchogue-Medford district. “Not only are children and educators suffering, but with this untimed policy the state is in violation of its own law, which caps testing at no more than 1% (9 hours) of instructional time. Where’s the enforcement?”

“For a decade or more, SED and its vendors have proved themselves incapable of creating valid, well-designed, non-abusive exams that can be reliably used for diagnostic purposes or to track trends in student achievement over time,” said Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters.

“Since the Common Core was introduced, these problems have only gotten worse, with tests so difficult and confusing that teachers themselves are at a loss as to how the questions should be answered. A report from the Superintendents Roundtable revealed that the NYS exams were misaligned to excessively high benchmarks, meaning far too many students are wrongly identified as low-performing,” said Marla Kilfoyle, Long Island public school parent, educator, and BATs Executive Director.

Brooklyn public school parent and founding member of NYC Opt Out, Kemala Karmen, is calling on SED to notify every single parent of their right to refuse May’s upcoming math assessment. She added, “The state can and should halt its hellbent race towards computerized testing, for which it is clearly ill-prepared; stop farming out test construction to dubious for-profit companies; truly shorten the exams; and, most important, remove high stakes attached to the assessments.”

Here’s a compilation of observations made by parents, administrators, and teachers about the numerous problems with this year’s NYS ELA state test, and the suffering it caused students.

NYSAPE calls on the Board of Regents to stand up for equitable and authentic learning & assessments and immediately remove Commissioner Elia.

#OptOut2018 Test Refusal Letter: English & Spanish

NYSAPE is a grassroots coalition with over 50 parent and educator groups across the state.

Ed News Overflows While I am Away - Cuomo Protects Unions From Janus

I've been traveling in Greece and will return later today but have tried to keep in rudimentary touch with the ed news. There is so much to report and my fellow bloggers have been doing a great job --- just check out the blogroll. Opt out and the awful tests is a hot item and with math tests coming soon I have a lot to report. But not till I get back and go through the backlog.

Another story is the rescue of the unions in our state where they won't have to offer services for those who drop out. I actually called for that a year ago but was told it would be illegal. While the UFT is what it is, I don't advocate leaving unless people who left actually tried to organize an alternative. But most of these people are whining but not capable of really doing much. So screw them.

I have been predicting for a year that the UFT and other unions are too much a fabric of the control of the members to be allowed to be weakened by Janus. And the red state rebellions with wildcat strikes have reinforced that point though it won't stop the Supreme Court from making us all right to work.

I believe that Unity has such tight control they can counter any moves towards militancy.

I don't have time to get into more details, so check out Arthur, James and Chaz and the comments.

Arthur:

Cynthia Nixon, Andrew Cuomo, and the UFT Learning Curve

James:

DETAILS ON THE NEW STATE LAW PROTECTING UNIONS

We have copied below the entire new New York State law protecting unions. Thanks to Bennett Fischer for sending us the law.


Chaz:

Governor Cuomo Rescues The Unions From Janus

Oklahoma Teachers End Walkout After Winning Raises and Additional ...

In a rush. Lots breaking out of Ok and Arizona - Diane Ravitch is posting like crazy on the news so check out her blog, like every hour.

Teacher Walkouts Threaten Republican Grip on Conservative States

New York Times · 9 hours ago

More for ny times oklahoma teacher strike

Oklahoma Teachers End Walkout After Winning Raises and Additional ...

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/us/oklahoma-teachers-strike.html

2 hours ago - For the second time in recent weeks, a teacher walkout has ended with educators extracting some concessions. ... Saying it had achieved all that it could with a walkout, Oklahoma's largest teachers' union on Thursday called for educators to return to the classroom and to shift their efforts to supporting ...

 

Teacher Walkouts Threaten Republican Grip on Conservative States ...

https://www.nytimes.com/.../teacher-walkouts-threaten-republican-grip-on-conservative-...

10 hours ago - As Arizona teachers laid the groundwork this week for a walkout, thousands of Oklahoma teachers stayed out of the classroom to protest low school budgets, and some in Kentucky continued their ... Last month, West Virginia's Republican-controlled government made concessions to striking teachers.

 

Fee-payers comprise about 11.8 percent of the United Teachers Los Angeles bargaining unit, 8.2% for San Diego Education Association

That's a pretty high number for LA before Janus. And there are reports the union may be pushing for a strike. That might keep more people paying - or the opp

 

But in the red states many strikers are not paying union dues though I haven't seen numbers. So when the stuff hits the fan it may not make a difference in some ways. But in others where the union leaderships are  weakened figuring out outcomes is a chess game. Do weaker union make it easier for rising wildcat actions? Will those looking to spark red state actions in strong union states see a sunny side of the street? Or will a weakening lead to an even further deadening of the members?

 

It is never about how good things should be but about how bad things are getting.

Antonucci at EIA and LA Report
Over most of California, the loss of agency fees will have only a small immediate effect on teacher unions. But in some areas and in some job categories the loss of revenue will be dramatic.

Unions keep details about the numbers and location of their fee-payers close to the vest, but I have those details for the California Teachers Association. For K-12 teachers and in almost all regions of the state, the number of fee-payers is small, ranging from 2 to 5 percent.

There are two key cities where the percentage is much higher —

http://www.eiaonline.com/intercepts/2018/04/11/where-will-the-effects-of-a-janus-ruling-fall-fastest-and-hardest/

Puerto Rico: Six months after Hurricane Maria, the island’s Department of Education announces plans to close 283 public schools.

The Indypendent


Six months after Hurricane Maria, the island’s Department of Education announces plans to close 283 public schools.

Camille Baker Apr 9

The Puerto Rican Department of Education announced Thursday that it would close 283 of the island’s public schools this summer.

Citing a decline in enrollment of nearly 39,000 students following Hurricane Maria’s battering of the island in September and severe financial problems stemming from the island’s fiscal crisis, the department stated that more than a quarter of Puerto Rican public schools are set to shutter.
This comes weeks after Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló signed into effect an educational reform law that authorized the creation of charter schools and use of school vouchers.

‘We are in the middle of a huge attack against public education’

Charter schools receive public school funds but are privately managed, often by for-profit corporations. They are almost always non-union and tend to hire young, inexperienced teachers who will work for less than their veteran peers. School vouchers divert public education funds to families who choose to send their children to private schools including religious schools. Since the school voucher covers only part of the cost of attending a private school, they mostly benefit wealthy families.
Hundreds of Puerto Rican students, parents, teachers and union leaders protested repeatedly in the months after Hurricane Maria as hundreds of the island’s schools failed to reopen. Noting the near-total privatization of the New Orleans public school system after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, they said they feared that the Department of Education would use the hurricane to further a pre-existing agenda of privatizing public schools for the benefit of private interests.
Rafael Feliciano Hernández, a former president of the Puerto Rican Federation of Teachers, spoke with The Indypendent about the Department of Education’s delays in reopening schools in November. “They wanted to close the schools for four months then to reopen them as charters,” he said. “We fought. We joined forces with the community.” Hernández and the other protesters succeeded in reopening more than 90 percent of public schools.
But with the latest news, protesters in Puerto Rico are taking to the streets again. Puerto Rico’s El Nuevo Día newspaper reports that the latest closures could displace more than 60,000 students and 6,000 teachers.
“We are in the middle of a huge attack against public education,”  Edwin Morales, vice president of the Federation of Teachers told The Indypendent. More than 10,000 rallied in San Juan after Governor Rosselló’s education plan was announced.

More - https://indypendent.org/2018/04/c-is-for-closure-public-education-in-puerto-rico-to-be-gutted

San Diego Unified, Teachers Union OK Tentative Deal with Raises, Maternity Leave - Times of San Diego

https://timesofsandiego.com/education/2018/04/04/san-diego-unified-teachers-union-ok-tentative-deal-with-raises-maternity-leave/

Bucking a trend of labor strife in other states, the San Diego Unified School District and its teachers union the have reached a tentative three-year agreement that includes a new maternity leave benefit.

The parties reached agreement early Wednesday morning, following a 16-hour bargaining session and months of collaborative negotiations, the district said.

“We worked diligently with our partners at the San Diego Education Association to reach an agreement that will support the success of all our students,” said Superintendent Cindy Marten.

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“This agreement will help compensate our teachers for their hard work, while also helping the district attract and retain new educators.”

The three-year tentative agreement includes

"GED Program to be cut in half, so charter school can expand"

Marjorie Stamberg: 

I'm hoping this can come before the E-board tomorrow and that we can get a resolution at the D.A. to stop the charter invasion and for everyone to come to the PEP April 25th for the vote.  This is not just another co-location (they are all important), but an attack on a historic African-American school in the heart of Bed-Stuy.  It's a push for gentrification that will drive long time residents out of the neighborhood.

Here is some information about our school's current struggle against a charter co-location that will cut our Brooklyn hub in half, as well as impact two transfer schools, a LYFE program and a D75 school. It's in the old Boys High School building on Marcy Avenue in BedStuy.  A key issue here is the gentrification of BedStuy which is pushing the public schools out.

Here is some local press coverage:

Media write-up in local Brooklyn paper on P2G Marcy Hub

http://www.ourtimepress.com/a-ged-program-to-be-cut-in-half-so-charter-school-can-expand/

Here is a statement from a teacher

To Whom It May Concern, my name is Nicole Greaves and I am a teacher at Pathways to Graduation (P2G) an alternative program within the NYC Dept of Education (DOE) that prepares adolescents ages 17 - 21 years old for the TASC(GED) Examination. Currently we are located in the Old Boys High School in Bedford-Stuyvesant on Marcy Avenue along with Bed-Stuy Prep High School, Brooklyn Academy High School, Uncommon Collegiate Charter High School and the LYFE Center. P2G has maintained a presence in the building for over 20 years and has serviced thousands of Brooklyn youth during that time. 

On February 15th the Dept of Education issued a proposal to reallocate classroom space in the building which includes: 1. Consolidating Bed-Stuy Prep HS and Brooklyn Academy HS into one school. 2. Pathways to Graduation losing four classrooms, one administrative office and storage space in the basement 3. Relocate Brooklyn East Collegiate Charter Middle School into the building from their current location at PS9  

The proposed Building Utilization Plan (BUP) would give an overwhelming majority of classroom space to Uncommon Collegiate Charter High School and Middle School. They would occupy the 1st, 4th, 5th floors, four rooms on the 2nd floor and the basement. This reallocation of classroom space creates numerous and varied problems for the other three existing schools in the building. P2G would lose four classrooms and one administrative office if the plan is finalized. This would surely be a serious blow to our program and diminish the level of services and resources we can offer to our students. 

The teachers and staff at P2G are committed to saving our school and maintaining our presence in the Bedford Stuyvesant community as long as possible. There are a series of public hearings that will be taking place to address this issue before the final PEP Vote on April 25th at Murray Bergtraum High School. 

The first public hearing was held Monday evening in the auditorium at Old Boys High School, where students, staff and community members alike shared their concerns for the possible closing of schools and reduction of youth educational services in the neighborhood.

We would really like to get the word out to the city about the battle to save our school, the services we offer and the overwhelming need for our services in the community.  http://p2g.nyc/  If we could get an article in your publication that would help us out greatly in reaching the greater New York community. 

https://patch.com/new-york/bed-stuy/bed-stuy-ged-program-could-be-cut-make-room-charter-school

http://www.ourtimepress.com/a-ged-program-to-be-cut-in-half-so-charter-school-can-expand/

 

Recently, our school was featured on News12 Brooklyn "Cool in School" news segment for the Bike Repair Program we offer our students. If the proposed reallocation of space were to happen, the classroom where the bike program is housed is threatened to be taken away and the program possibly ended. 

http://brooklyn.news12.com/story/37282786/cool-at-school-students-learn-to-repair-recycled-bicycles

Message to Retirees: Our Lifelong Work Has Been Disparaged, Degraded, Marginalized and De-Professionalized

For the first time in UFT Chapter elections I've been working with the Retiree Advocate, which began as a New Action initiative but then broadened to include MORE and independents. The chapter elections are coming up and RA/MORE/NA are going to run against Unity. Unity gets 300 retiree members of the Delegate Assembly who act to reinforce Unity policies. If you are a retiree and interested contact retireeadvocate@gmail.com.
You only have until Tuesday April 10 to sign on to run for delegate. Don't worry, we ain't winning.

RETIREE ADVOCATE/MORE/NEW ACTION

retireeadvocate@gmail.com

I wrote this piece for the campaign lit that will go out to all retirees. It is unedited and Gloria is fixing it up but I wanted to post this in case some of Ed Notes readers are interested in running.

Our Lifelong Work Has Been Disparaged, Degraded, Marginalized and De-Professionalized

UFT retirees spent their lives in public service working with public school children. While things in the NYC school system were never perfect, many of us left with a sense of self-respect for a job well done.

So it has been sad to watch over the past two decades as our profession has come under assault from many directions. The major blame for the failures of the system has fallen on teachers, not incompetent supervisors put in place by their supervisors, often with bad intentions to put pressure on the higher priced teachers to get them out of the system. The “bad” teacher wrap has been used against all teachers. Recent teacher protests in right-to-work states are only the head of the spear of massive teacher dissatisfaction nationwide over the disrespect, the false measuring from invalid tests, the labeling schools as failing, and attempts to connect invalid tests to teacher ratings and compensation. Our union leadership has not done an effective job of pushing back against this onslaught.

Under Bloomberg, over 150 schools were closed down, including most of the comprehensive high schools, with teachers instead of being placed by seniority which was done before the 2005 contract, being forced into an open market that was not very welcoming to those coming from schools branded as failing. Joel Klein’s implementation of the fair school funding formula in 2008 made it almost impossible for the higher salaried UFT members to get transfer. Many were tossed into ATR pools of floating substitutes. Mayor de Blasio, our supposed friend, continued closing down schools this year after his disastrous and expensive “renewal school” project where instead of sending in resources that would actually help teachers, schools were loaded with consultants and teachers forced into often useless professional development.

In the past 15 years principals have been empowered as never before and they have the advantage of consulting with a massive amount of lawyers in DOE Legal who advise them the best ways to get rid of teachers they do not like while said teachers are often sitting there without a clue as to what is being done to them because the principals are working from a handbook while teachers are left defenseless. Teachers in NYC are subject to 4 drive-by observations a year under the despised Danielson rubric, while teachers in the rest of the state are only subject to two observations.

The job of a teacher has been deskilled through scripted instruction as attempts continue to remove qualifications needed to teach. How long before the DOE rolls trucks down the street every morning to search for people off the street to fill the classrooms for a day?

Meanwhile the charter school invasion continued, with certain parts of the city being so overloaded with charters, the very existence of local public schools are threatened.

Think of the poor people who succeeded us as being the proverbial frog in the pot of boiling water.

As you read this you are probably heaving a massive sigh of relief over finally being out from under this state of affairs.

Sadly, this entire degradation of our profession has taken place under the UFT stewardship of Unity Caucus, our opponents in this Retiree Chapter election. As retirees it may seem there is not a lot we can do restore the status our profession once enjoyed. But if you elect us to the leadership of the Retired Teachers Chapter, we will not only continue to defend our interests as retired UFT members but will also engage in a rigorous defense of our former profession by using our time in the Delegate Assembly to call our leadership to account for its failures to adequately stand up to the forces trying to destroy the profession many of us loved.

Can we really call ourselves a union of professionals?

VOTE Retiree Advocate/MORE/New Action.

There IS a reason to vote in the upcoming Retired Teachers Chapter Election.

There IS a reason to vote in the upcoming Retired Teachers Chapter Election.

Retiree Advocate-MORE/NA/Independents - is running a slate and we need your participation.

RUN WITH US!

We hope to get as many retirees as we can.
Unity Caucus occupies the DA with 300 elected members. The more people we run, the better able we are to challenge them!

The positions to be filed include a Chapter Chair, 10 Officers, 15 Executive Board members and 300 retired Delegates to the UFT Delegate Assembly. The logistics for participation are not complicated; we will take care of getting all necessary signatures on the nominating forms. All we need you to do is agree to run on the Retiree Advocate slate.

Why run with us?

MORE (Movement of Rank & File Educators) and NAC (New Action Caucus) have joined with Retiree Advocate to carry our message of union solidarity and transparency to the retiree community. Many long-time members of these active UFT caucuses are now in the RTC and will continue to work to promote a greater degree of activism among members. Retiree Advocate is committed to increasing rank and file democracy in our union. Let’s be inspired by the recent victory of our brothers and sisters in West Virginia who went out on strike and showed what rank & file union members could accomplish with activism and solidarity! We need to be concerned not only with conditions affecting retirees but also with issues affecting classroom teachers as well as larger social justice issues because they are all related.

If you want to participate with us, please reply to retireeadvocate@gmail.com ASAP

When is the actual election?
Ballots will be mailed on Tuesday, May 15 and must be received by the American Arbitration Association by 8 a.m. Thursday, June 7. Ballots will be counted at the AAA at 120 Broadway.

What happens if we win?
Chances are slim but by running as full a slate as possible, we will be sending a message to UFT/Unity leadership: We do not accept the status quo and changes are necessary moving forward into the post Janus climate.

Seriously consider participating in this election.
Send an email to retireeadvocate@gmail.com and let us know that you will be on our slate. We will need your: File # or SS#, Address, Email, Phone #
please reply to retireeadvocate@gmail.com ASAP

RETIREE ACTION PROGRAM
We envision a union that actively promotes the creation of educated, organized, and mobilized school chapters. Our commitment is to vigorously work to:

● Preserve and improve our medical and prescription drug benefits
● Stop implementation of the “Cadillac Tax” on our health benefits
● Expand our Social Security benefits and ensure that they are not diminished or removed
● Win a (single payer) universal health program
● Improve our COLA and pension benefits

SAVE PUBLIC SCHOOLS WITH FULL FUNDING
● Stop the right-wing agenda (Janus, etc.) and insist that our union leadership take more concrete and active measures towards this goal
● Defend our public schools and take a more active role in preventing them from being privatized
● We say No to Charters, vouchers and any system that creates unequal worker tiers
● Work to cut the excesses in the military budget (and in the military budget) and redirect monies to expand social services and benefits in local communities.

PROTECT WORKING EDUCATORS
● We demand that the UFT take immediate steps to increase the degree of support for teachers working under abusive principals and administrators
● Work to eliminate pension “tiers” returning to a single pension level for all school employees
● Utilize our expertise and expand retiree involvement to inform, organize and mobilize school chapters

UNION DEMOCRACY
● In-service members should have greater voting weight when electing representation for union caucuses
● Change the current “winner take all” election system using proportional representation for union caucuses
● In-service members should vote for UFT district reps

Video: YAFFED Press Conf - De Blasio, Farina, Felder Slammed

I reported on the upcoming press conference on Thursday -

YAFFED Press Conf to Protest Sham Rules for Hasidic and Orthodox Schools

Leonie Haimson was there as was former teacher and now city councilman Danny Dromm (head of the powerful finance committee) and David Bloomfield. And a now former IDC Senator whose name I won't mention - our pal Robert Jackson is primarying her.

Here is the complete video I took. I have some experience with the Hasidic political machine, having worked in District 14 in Williamsburg where they used to elect 3 out of the 9 members of the school board despite having no kids in the public schools - well some kids, but that a long a sordid story. They could have elected all 9 members if they wanted to. The deals made were astounding and as a Jew it was especially disconcerting to see how the 95% of the kids of color in the district were marginalized. Eventually $7 million dollars was "disappeared" illegally, which led to an invasion of the district office by the FBI and the US Postal Service. Both Superintendents died at an early age from cancer so there was a convenient excuse to put the blame on them and no one was every prosecuted. I could go on - but here we have former students at these school talking about how they were denied an education as the schools violated state ed laws which apply to every school. I asked if they get money from the state and city and he said YES - so these schools are not free to do what they want.

By the way - in our earliest years of teaching many of my friends had after school jobs in these schools to teach secular subjects and they said it was brutal work -- the kids disinterested and harder to teach than the public school kids.

These Hasidic communities have very high welfare rates - with Kiryas Joel, New York being the poorest in the nation - no talk about welfare queens - maybe kings in this case.

https://vimeo.com/263492801

Danielson Rubric Update: Erik Mears Open Letter to Howard Schoor

Erik Mears from MORE has taken on issues related to Danielson. He appeared at a UFT Ex Bd meeting last month to raise a few of the issues he is concerned with. The UFT's Howard Schoor responded at a recent meeting and here Eric pursues the story.

Open Letter to UFT Secretary Howard Schoor (regarding Danielson Rubric)

Dear Mr. Howard Schoor,

You’ll recall that I addressed you and other UFT leaders at the High School Executive Board meeting in early March. I urged you, in light of four of the Danielson Rubric’s anti-labor sample comments, to demand that the DOE the discard Danielson and repair any damage that illegitimate portions of the Framework has done to teachers. You responded (via email) by noting that only one of the four comments corresponds to an element that teachers are currently evaluated on, and that that comment merely encourages administrators to violate the law in letter, but not in spirit. You added that if principals do follow the letter of the comment, teachers will have legal recourse, and the UFT will fight to defend them.

School Scope: Red State Teachers in Revolt – Can It Happen Here?

Published at www.rockawave.com on Friday April 6, 2018

School Scope: Red State Teachers in Revolt – Can It Happen Here?

By Norm Scott
April 2, 2018

As I write this on Monday morning, teachers in Oklahoma are on strike, following up on the 9 day strike in West Virginia and last Friday’s walkout by teachers in Kentucky (over pension cuts) which is continuing today. Arizona teachers are also threatening to strike. Many of these actions are wildcat strikes, meaning they are not being called by the unions themselves but by a membership in revolt, not only against the state, but their own union leaderships which have been forced to go along. “Union leaders haven’t been aggressive enough. We need to be more aggressive,” said Kentucky teacher Nema Brewer, one of the organizers.

That all these states are right-to-work (RTW) red states who voted for Trump by vast margins is no accident. Super majority Republican control of these states have cut taxes so much, especially on the energy companies, education has been cut to the bone, including teacher salaries. And since union members in RTW states don’t have to pay union agency shop fees, the union structures in these states are weakened, thus not having the infrastructure in place to control the members.

I assume most of the teachers in revolt are not left wing or even liberals. A number of them may have even voted for Trump. Usually in strikes you hear attacks against outside agitators. Not in these cases, as the revolts are truly from the grass roots. Are some of the deplorables engage in a militant revolt, including their own leadership? I know people who voted for Trump just because they were generally pissed off and are very militant against the Democrats who sold out teachers and the teacher unions that support them. This militancy may be carrying over into their unions.

The Supreme Court, in the Janus case, is about to make every state, including NY, RTW. One of the arguments used against Janus is that the unions are often partners with the states and in essence help restrain the members. I wonder if these red state teacher revolts, coming so soon before the Court rules, will influence the Justices.

What does that mean for militancy here in NYC where we have the largest and most entrenched union leadership in the nation, where Unity Caucus has enormous reach? Now if 30% leave the UFT, that is a massive reduction in incoming dues. The patronage machine and possibly the high salaries that keeps them coming to Unity take a hit and Unity begins to lose some control - and if people in the schools get pissed off enough, who knows? But I'm a realist. But my guess is that the politicians in NYS know better - to make sure the UFT leaders remain as strong as possible to assure there are no teacher revolts here. Watch Cuomo and the Democrats figure out ways to help the unions keep collecting dues since they know full well the leaders of the UFT are their friends.

Hear an audio feed of a conversation with West Virginia and Oklahoma teachers at: https://www.facebook.com/jacobinmag/videos/2087299477963409/

Norm is always revolting at ednotesonline.com

YAFFED Press Conf to Protest Sham Rules for Hasidic and Orthodox Schools

Lisa North:
I talked to some of the advocates at a PEP meeting last year. They have been attending the PEP for over a year, but no changes. They told me that quite a few Yeshivas do not teach English, science or social studies. Once they finish school, they often cannot find a job because they do not speak English and often end up on welfare.

Thanks to Leonie for posting this. We saw the Yaffed people appear at PEP after PEP about the yeshiva scams where they get money to teacher secular subjects but ignore all rules. I'm going to try and make the press conf if I can.

Brian Lehrer had a segment on Felder holding everything hostage due to the catering to the Hasidic community.
https://www.wnyc.org/story/push-relax-ny-yeshiva-rules

The reporters and Shulem Deen, the author of All Who Go Do Not Return, a memoir about growing up in and then leaving one of the most insular Hasidic sects in the U.S., discuss State Senator Simcha Felder's efforts to ease requirements in New York state law that the education at private religious schools be "substantially equivalent" to that offered at public schools -- and how he almost held up the New York State budget over this.

April 5 Press Conference to Discuss how NY has Betrayed Its Values to Please A Bully and Next Steps in Fight to Protect the Rights of Orthodox Children

 

For immediate release: New York, NY (4/2/18) 
Contact: Naftuli Moster, Exec. Director, naftuli@yaffed.org 

A press conference will be held in front of City Hall to protest how in the NY State budget deal, elected officials rolled back the protection of children’s right to an adequate education.

When: Thursday, April 5, 2018 at 1pm

Where: The steps of City Hall in lower Manhattan

Who: Members of Yaffed, along with former Yeshiva students and invited elected officials 

Why: A new law passed as part of the 2018 NY state budget was crafted specifically to affect only Hasidic and Orthodox Jewish children. It seeks to weaken the NY State Education Department’s ability to provide sufficient oversight to ensure that these children receive an adequate education.

This law was passed as result of the efforts of Simcha Felder, a State Senator from Brooklyn who alone held up the state budget in order to insert language intended to deprive students of their right to a basic education that will prepare them for good-paying jobs and success in life.

New York State law requires non-public schools to provide an education that is “at least substantially equivalent” to that of public schools, so that no student is left in ignorance. The law requires non-public schools to provide instruction in “arithmetic, reading, spelling, writing, the English language, geography, United States history, civics, hygiene, physical training, the history of New York state and science.”

But this law has not been enforced for decades, by either the state or the city. The Mayor and the NYC Department of Education has delayed taking any action for over two and a half years, even after they had promised to do so repeatedly. The NY Commissioner of Education was in the process of drafting new guidelines to enforce the law, which apparently prompted Sen. Felder’s actions to attempt to exempt Yeshivas from meeting any educational standards. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of children are not receiving the basic education to which they are entitled.

At the press conference, advocates from Yaffed, former Yeshiva students and elected officials will speak out against extremists who are strong-arming our government to block sensible education policies, and. will discuss next steps in the fight to protect the human rights of all children to be adequately educated.

For more information on Yaffed’s five-year campaign to achieve a better education for ultra-Orthodox children, see www.yaffed.org

###

Are NYC UFT Members Ready to Pull a Red State Teacher Rebellion? What Would it Take?

There are a group of people in MORE who think the militancy of

UFT negotiating strategy

teachers in the red states can be translated to NYC. Others, knowing the mentality of the people they work with, have their doubts. That doesn't mean MORE should sit on its hands. Not to accept the Unity argument we can't win anything back we lost. Put forth a package of demands that include working conditions for a school system we would be happy to work in instead of the Unity acceptance of the pattern and no more. MORE is in the process of doing that.

A story on Tuesday's Brian Lehrer show included an interview with an Oklahoma 38-year teacher who makes around $44k a year and has about 4 jobs. A teacher from New Jersey called in who makes 90K a year. The OK guy practically swallowed his phone.

Then Brian looked up NYC salaries and said starting salary next year will be over 60k. And top of course is going to be 118K. Taking cost of living into account NYS is 17th in real salary. The red states are near the bottom. Here is the promo:

On Monday, teachers in Kentucky and Oklahoma walked out of school to protest cuts in pay, benefits and school funding. Josh Eidelson, labor reporter at Bloomberg News, and Lawrence Lane, a history teacher from Checotah, Oklahoma, and an OEA member, talk about the strikes, which have grown in force since starting in West Virginia earlier this year.

Have a listen to the 19 minute segment:

The salary issue in the red states is crucial -- they haven't had a raise in a decade since the recession cuts. Here in NYC people may bitch about the retro - but do you think retro pay is even on the table? WV people got a 5% raise. Imagine if they said they wouldn't go back without retro pay.

Now the smart thing coming from the instincts of people in the trenches has been building coalitions outside the teacher circle - gettting parents on their side, but also non-teaching union members who are part of the education landscape -- ie, school bus drivers.

There are other issues in the red states where education has been cut to the bone and teachers are working under horrendous conditions. Their fire is aimed at the governors and state legislatures. While we saw the teachers in Wisconsin slaughtered, this is a new ballgame.

Are teachers here in NYC working under similar horrendous conditions? Reading the blogs you'd think they are. Not being in the schools all I can tell is that Danielson, discipline, large classes, abusive supervisors are some key issues. When I go to MORE meetings or to Delegate Assemblies and Ex Bd meetings people complain but I don't get that there is some flash point that would actually make teachers go out on strike. In fact I don't hear as many complaints from the MORE people about their working conditions as I do on the blogs. Could it be that the MOREs have managed to find reasonably safe schools for themselves and thus don't feel the same pressure teachers working under ogres feel. (See the post from Art and Design HS teachers which is getting a lot of hits - Dear Mr. Mulgrew: The UFT chapter at the High School of Art and Design has been living under distress and oppression for the past two years.

Another factor is that these are wildcat actions - out of the classrooms, not the union leaderships, which are jumping on board. I've been reporting that these relatively weak union leaderships have opened up space for people in the schools to organize. Facebook has been a key organizing tool, thus allowing them to communicate with each other without the filter of the union mechanisms. Some pages grew to 20,000 people in no time. You've got to reach a point of desperation to be willing to lose your job -

There is no sense of desperation here in NYC by massive numbers of teachers. Or of there is they just leave the system.

We have Unity Caucus running the union and their machine with the district reps as middle managers have access to every school and every UFT members and the ability to dampen enthusiasm for job actions while also threatening people with the consequences of an illegal strike - 2 for 1 penalties for every day on strike for the teachers and for the union itself, massive fines.

Can there be wildcat actions here in NYC? Hard to imagine that happening. Imagine if even 10 schools went out en masse, especially since the UFT would tell them "I told you so" and abandon them.

We might see pockets of blue flu stuff where large numbers of people call in sick --  In essence that may be happening without our knowing in schools with horrendous supervisors. I imagine the absentee rate in these schools is higher.

A massive blue flu might keep DOE legal happy. I can see possibly some people starting a facebook page and getting a response but Unity trolls would jump on to disparage it.

So what issues might spur people to greater militancy?

If they try to take shit away.

That was an issue in Kentucky where they are trying to cut pensions. What impressed me about the KY teachers was that they are protesting the attempt to fundamentally eliminate guaranteed pensions for newbies -- the unborn as we used to call it.*

Here in NYC I can see the masses stirring (a bit) if there is an attempt to take away what people have. The major threat seems to be healthcare reductions. Read James Eterno at the ICE Caucus blog: http://iceuftblog.blogspot.com/2018/04/pba-files-for-binding-aritration-will.html.
Make sure to read the comments -- and comment yourself.

James reports on the offer to the police - PBA.

The City’s latest purported offer to NYC PBA members is the worst they have seen so far, featuring dramatic increases in out-of-pocket health benefit costs and other givebacks that would effectively wipe out the paltry wage increases they would receive. Among the City’s startling demands:

The health benefits reductions similar to those the de Blasio administration is seeking to obtain from the entire city workforce through the Municipal Labor Committee (MLC), including the imposition of new medical deductibles, as well as a tiered copayment structures intended to drive members to utilize City-run Health + Hospitals Corporation hospitals and their affiliated doctors. For example, members who utilize top-tier hospitals and their affiliated doctors instead of HHC facilities would see their hospital in-patient copayments increase from the current $300 to $3,000 and their primary care doctor and specialist co-payments increase from the current $15 to $40.

A 57% reduction in the City’s contributions to the PBA Health & Welfare Funds, which provide NYC PBA members with prescription drug coverage and other benefits. This move would result in dramatic reductions in or the complete elimination of benefits provided to PBA members.

The elimination of the PBA Annuity Fund for both current members and future hires.

Along with thes draconian givebacks, the de Blasio administration is demanding that NYC PBA members accept below-inflation raises totaling 3.25% over two years, including months of zero raises.

Is this enough to stir the pot in the UFT?

Some of my pals in MORE seem to think they can be the straw that stirs the drink by agitating around the new contract. I'm betting on the Unity machine being able to counter whatever MORE throws up against the wall, hoping it will stick.

Let me repeat. That doesn't mean MORE should sit on its hands. Not to accept the Unity argument we can't win anything back we lost. Put forth a package of demands that include working conditions for a school system we would be happy to work in instead of the Unity acceptance of the pattern and no more. MORE is in the process of doing that.

But look down the road a few years to post-Janus and we may see a different landscape if the Unity patronage machine is weakened and they no longer have the personnel to blanket the schools with their message of caution. If MORE is still around then, who knows?

*Mayor Giulianni tried to do something along those lines against newbies in the 1995 contract -- I remember some kind of fee newbies would have to pay and would get back only if they stayed in the system for a certain amount of years. Believe it or not, that was a key issue in the rejection of  the contract by UFT members for the only time in history. The bigger issue was raising the number of years to reach top salary from 20 to 25 years. Female teachers went nuts, feeling they were hit harder because of the years they took for child care. The reworked contract cut it to 23 years.