Schmidt on Obama and the White Working Class

5/9/08
Norm:

Thanks for forwarding THE HUFFINGTON POST (Richard GizbertHillary's $6.4 Million is a Wise Ivestment, for 2012Posted May 7, 2008 06:06 PM This is not really a case, as some have suggested, of throwing good money after bad.)

Now that the Clinton phenomenon is sputtering to its final termination, more and more people should enjoy watching one of the things Barack Obama does best: winning over white working class and rural voters.

Many people in the media missed the facts about Obama first time around, especially since many of them were being spun by the Clinton machine. It's a variation on the White Blinddspot, and very funny to watch, since it will have been so widespread nationally (from AFT to the major pundits to, of course, the Republicans).

In late 2001, when the Democartic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat here in Illinois was still a pipe dream for Barack Obama, he began slowly building his base. A key was the Illinois Federation of Teachers, which endorsed him against the regular Democratic Party guy, setting up a screaming confrontation within "labor" over the endorsement. For months, I had to listen to very savvy political people swearing at me saying that (a) nobody with that name could get the nomination and win the Illinois seat in the U.S. Senate less than two years from 9/11 and (b) Illinois was not ready to elect another black senator (theoretically, Carol Moseley Braun was such a bad act that she had ruined the "seat").

Obama went out, after getting the nomination, and charmed people all the way from here to the Mason Dixon Line. Remember, southern Illinois is farther "south" than some portions of the Confederacy, and has some of those traditions (some of the worst Klan activity in the "North" in the 20th Century was in Illinois and Indiana).

Day after day, people would report, first wide eyed and then just chuckling, about how Barack Obama would go to some meeting in a place where there were no black people and leave with grandmothers wanting to bake him pies. In those days, Michelle wasn't as front and center, but she was a similar asset.

The Clintons have taken their nastiest shot, and truly deserve to be remembered forever for it. But they didn't write any script that's going to save the McCain campaign. Once Barack Obama rests up (and he's good at that, too) for the next rounds (which begin with the AFT convention in certain ways) it's going to be fun watching all those pies being baked from Portland, Maine to San Diego.

George Schmidt

On the Clinton attempt to destroy Obama, check out Bob Herbert in today's NY Times.

Deborah Meier Nails What Teaching Is All About

Thursday's final forum of the year featured legendary educator Deborah Meier whose every word resonated with the audience, which was large and enthusiastic. From union democracy - yes, great teachers see more importance in unions than getting merit pay - to the lessons of the classroom to being active as a teacher - if you are too afraid to stand up against teaching lies, can you maintain your integrity as a teacher - she covered so much. And her relationship with Diane Ravitch too. I was mesmerized as she articulated so much of how I viewed teaching but have found it hard to express. A true kindred spirit who I hoped to meet up with as a young teacher but never connected with her.

We broke everyone - veteran teachers, new teachers, people studying to be teachers, etc. into groups and the discussions were wonderful. I taped as much of these as I could in addition to Deborah's presentation and will get this inspiring stuff up soon. Deborah left us with a vision of hope in these despairing educational times. So keep an eye out.

Rotherham Poses Teacher Quality vs, Class Size - Again

Andy is at it again over at Eduwonk.

Small classes are not a silver bullet and research pretty clearly indicates that it's a much weaker -- and more expensive -- strategy than some others, like improving teacher effectiveness. That's especially true where there are a dearth of qualified applicants for teaching jobs so reducing class size merely exacerbates quality problems. The research and evidence base here is pretty clear and it is what it is, so contra what a lot of the advocates it's not something that you get to agree or disagree with any more than you can agree or disagree with gravity. The bottom line is that teacher quality matters more.

I followed Andy's advice (when he called me crazy) and checked and rechecked that teacher survey looking for a question that would ask teachers how they viewed the teacher quality vs. class size reduction. Maybe I missed - it didn't seem to be asked. One would think, given the nature of this post, that question would be fundamental. But he is not really interested in what teachers think about this issue because the answer is obvious. That teacher quality across the board (except maybe the 5% edge) would improve across the board.

And it would be nice to see links to the research that "proves" teacher quality matters more than class size reduction.

It is also interesting that the cost argument is used when it comes to class size reduction, the real reason teacher quality is the hot new thing in rejecting calls for a serious investment in education equal to say, Bear Sterns bailouts or wars.

A recent presentation at Columbia U about the Tennessee study on class size impact also took some aspects of teacher quality into account and came up with the opposite conclusion.

The "research" on teacher quality - based on what factors, by the way - as is the teacher survey – it's about a political agenda, not education reform. How disappointing to the Education Sector that the onslaught going on against teachers due to the "reforms" being pushed by them has resulted in teachers feeling a greater need for a union.

We'll expound more on how the survey was designed to seek out making inroads into the teaching corps to push this agenda.

Hillary in '12

The campaign has begun.
The surprise is that so many pundits don't see it.
They ask"What is the rationale?" for Clinton to continue.
It's all about getting elected president – in 2012, stupid.

Education Notes has been speculating on this for months.
March 26 Education Notes: Is Clinton Strategy Designed to Undermine Obama Chances to Win? We focus on the role the UFT/AFT has played and will continue to play in the goal of making Hillary president.

The Feb. 12 The Randi Weingarten Succession Obsession in where we claim Hill in '12 campaign begins the day Obama gets the nomination.

Randi, Hillary and Oback on April 12 inspired a comment asking what Weingarten has to gain with a Republican administration. A lot to gain in terms of having an enemy to blame all the things Unity can't win for teachers. Dictatorships require enemies. McCain would be perfect.

And if Obama were to win, having him in the White House is not user friendly to the UFT. Better to wait for the big enchilada Clintons, which can inspire so many sleepovers in the Lincoln bedroom. Pajama parties, anyone?

Richard Gizbert's Hillary's $6.4 Million is a Wise Investment, for 2012 in the Huffington Post (May 7) makes many of the same points. "Clinton's only chance, for 2012, is to continue to damage Obama so badly that McCain wins in November. That would allow Clinton to take a run at McCain or some other Republican, four years from now."
I posted the entire piece at Norms Notes.

Scenario: Obama loses to McCain - the bigger the loss the better for Clinton (the longer the Clinton campaign, the better the chance to bloody Obama and the more votes lost).
McCain is a disaster as president.

Voila: Victory in '12 for the old war horse who will have another 4 years to build up resources and power. That is why I think the very idea of an Obama/Clinton ticket is so unlikely – unless they think someone will try to bump Obama off – something in the year 2008, 40 years after MLK, is on so many people's minds. (Imagine the crazy charge to come from the right wing Clinton-haters.)

I still think that no matter what the voting patterns in the primaries, Obama still has the better chance considering the enormous magnet for hatred the Clintons have become for too many people.

While there is truth to the point that Obama is winning the black vote overwhelmingly while losing some of the white vote, the sooner the campaign ends, the better Obama's chances of winning over the Clinton votes, though my feeling is that racism is so endemic that any little excuse – and the Clintons are providing plenty of excuses– and a sizable chunk of people will refuse to vote for Obama under any circumstances. This doesn't necessarily mean he can't beat McCain because of the overwhelming factors of the Republican failures.

So, the Clintons are going to do everything possible to make sure that doesn't happen using the "let everyone have their say" argument. They will then make a big show of supporting Obama -wink, wink - after the convention, knowing it is too late. Remember to do what we always tell you about Randi Weingarten - watch what they really do, not what they say.

At the April Delegate Assembly Weingarten was asked - will you be giving Obama the same level of support you are giving to Hillary, she smiled (sort of) and said, "We don't want McCain to win, do we?" The tone with which she answered gave something away. Then this was followed by a slap at Obama. We've also heard about chapter leader training has been used to slam Obama - a great way to get the word out to members without being on the public record.

After the election, the Clintons - and Weingarten - will spend the next few years mending fences.

And they will be aided by the entire AFT/UFT apparatus. Behind the scenes of course. That will be Weingarten's focus as AFT president.

Important to UFT members is how this plays out in the amount of real support Obama will get considering the UFT/AFT has such a big stake in Hillary.

The fact is that the entire union was manipulated into supporting Hillary with not one debate taking place in bodies like the Delegate Assembly or Executive Board. More intriguing, with Obama winning 90% of black votes, where have the black members of Unity Caucus and their supporters in New Action been hiding? Are we being led to believe that not one black member is for Obama? Not one even is willing to stand up and call for a debate at any level?

Where have the Obama supporters in the UFT been all this time? And will they continue to sit by in silence? Will someone get up at an upcoming DA or Exec Bd meeting and call for the UFT to end the sham and support Obama?

There's a Delegate Assembly on May 14. Will we continue to hear the sounds of silence?

The New Teacher Project

...has a heavy load to lift.

TNTP has to support all these people in NYC just for the Teaching Fellows program plus assorted other projects with the NYC DoE. Imagine if all ATR's were placed in jobs, jobs that would otherwise go to Teaching Fellows. Will that lead to TNTP having their own ATR's?

So, TNTP President Tim Daly issues a report blaming the ATR's for the problems.

If you have a dog in the race, BARK!

NYC Teaching Fellows [support]
Lesley Guggenheim, Program Director
Joseph Bywater, Senior Director of Operations
Gabriela Calderon, Selection Lead
Chris Casarez, Director of Placement
Dan Cayer, Recruiter
Alissa Ginsberg, Selection Lead
Paul Hawkins, Director of Technology
Kathryn Hayes, Director of Training and Support: Instructional Quality
Ellen Hur, Director of Marketing and Recruitment
Brandeis Johnson, Director of Training and Support: Development and Design
Jennifer Lee, Operations Associate
Kimberly McCann Fultz, Operations Team Manager
Michelle Mercado, Director of Selection
Crystal McQueen, Pre-Service Training Coordinator
Lindsey Payson, Training and Support Coordinator
Kristen Rasmussen, Communications Team Manager
Lindsey Reu, Communications Manager
Nahid Sorooshyari, Selection Lead
Deborah Teng, Marketing Lead
Liren Teng, Operations Associate
Maria Uruchima, Training and Support Associate
Melody Vargas, Placement Lead
Alice Walkiewicz, Placement Lead
Jessica Wedge, Recruiter

Check out their web site for other interesting tidbits.

Tim Daley: Do you want to hire me?

To: THE NEW TEACHER PROJECT/TIM DALEY, PRESIDENT

From: One of those senior ATRs you want to push into early retirement






Question: Do you want to hire me?

I'm a Music teacher.
Masters plus 30 credits.
20 years longevity in NYC school system.
Biggest Chorus for about a decade in Manhattan middle schools.
Full S ratings throughout career.
Great letters of satisfaction, commendation, awe, and thanks through entire career.
Full of energy, full of skills -- pianist, opera singer, know many languages, accomplished music historian, directed theater, playwright....

Before teaching, was for years a Senior Staff Editor of the largest and most prestigious music encyclopedia in the world - 24 vols. Was responsible for some of the largest bibliographical articles in it, international reputation in music bibliography.

Problem: Am 61 years old with relatively big salary

Repeat. Would you hire me? If so when?

You're not the only one who wouldn't.

Applied to 10 schools through the Open Market. Though clearly one of the most experienced, educated music teachers in the system, did not get called for a single interview.

So, ...... Am still an ATR.

Subbing.

While grad students -- yes! GRAD STUDENTS, with no Masters -- get jobs.

And you think this system works?

Repeat one more time:
Would you hire me?
Would YOU be willing to offer me a job?

CONCLUSION:
You are a corporate sell-out with an agenda, feeding off the DOE chow line and living on the backs of the children of NYC.

Shame on you.

Teacher Quality at the Education Sector... a stacked deck?

UPDATE:
WARNING: Read at your own peril.

The following post has been declared as gibberish and unhinged at Rotherham's Eduwonk world of ed reform fantasyland and this blogger has received an official Eduwonk "crazy" designation, not the first time we have been so designated. Just ask former principal(s), District Superintendent(s), UFT District rep(s), etc.

While over there, make sure to read Edwonk's "unfair and unbalanced report" on the ATR situation in NYC. Then you make the call as to whether you have accidentally fallen into a science fiction blog.


This morning at 9 AM in Washington DC, the Education Sector will listen to the voice of teachers – at a time no working teacher can attend.

Teacher Voice: How Teachers See the Teacher Quality Debate
May 7, 2008 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM (Capital Hilton)

The announcement says:
As policymakers, teachers unions, and other stakeholders react to changing demands on the nation's public education system, there is considerable debate about what teachers think and what they want. Too often assumptions define this conversation rather than actual evidence of what teachers want and how teachers see their profession evolving.

A new survey from Education Sector by Ann Duffett, Steve Farkas, Andrew J. Rotherham, and Elena Silva examines teachers' opinions and attitudes toward teacher unions, teacher unionism, and a range of current district reforms, including those aimed specifically at improving teacher quality. Join Education Sector for a presentation and discussion of the survey's findings

Ed Notes has taken the position that this emphasis on teacher quality has nefarious purposes. There will always be a bell-curve of teacher quality, just as there is a curve for doctors, lawyers, plumbers, etc. Funny, but I don't see the Ed Sector running events trying to discern the quality of the physicians poor kids with asthma attacks might see in the emergency room in the middle of the night and then come into school too sleepy to pay attention and how that factor affects teacher quality.

I'm anxious to see where the surveyed teachers come from. I wonder how many are from places where the ed reform "the fault is on the lack of teacher quality" movement has hit, often in urban schools under some form of mayoral control.

Now there are actually a few teachers on the panel. One is from Denver. And the president of the Providence Teachers Union is also on the panel. In March, he led a protest and called for a vote on no-confidence in the current administration of the Providence schools. The last time they did that was against Diana Lam, who was hired by Joel Klein for a disastrous run as chief of instruction. (If a union protests against someone, that person must be good for him.)

And a NYC teacher too. I have faith than anyone who has taught in the NYC world of BloomKlein, so beloved by the Ed Sector, will have plenty of good stuff to say – if allowed to say much.

I would have loved to see people like NYC educator or Reality Based Educator or Chaz School Daze but they wouldn't take a day off for this stuff. Not like.....

......It is particularly gratifying to see controversial Wash. DC Superintendent Michelle Rhee, a Teach for America alum and former Joel Kleinite in NYC, will be able to take time away from running a large urban school system to attend. A few weeks ago, Rhee also found the time to come up to New York to attend a weekday Manhattan Institute breakfast to push the usual ed reform line. What would they say if scads of teachers took time off to attend some of these things? Bad, bad, go to the rubber room. But Rhee's attendance at these events is indicative of the real ed reform agenda - ideology and politics, not education.

I don' t even have to go. Let's see, bet they say a hundred times: research shows that teacher quality is the single most important factor in a child's education (I was disappointed to see Chaz School Daze say the same thing on his blog.) I don't agree.

We could just as easily proclaim that research shows that small class sizes are the single most important factor in a child's education. That seems to be what I heard at a recent symposium at Columbia about the famous Tennessee study, where all classes, with the good, the bad and the ugly teachers saw improvements when class size was lowered. But fuggedaboudit. Ed Sector, unabashed admirers of BloomKlein would rather talk about teacher quality in isolation of other factors like class size or the difficulty of some children to learn – watch out for the dreaded "we aren't talking about comparing apples and oranges - followed by claims of the unproven and as far as I'm concerned unfounded – value added approach where teachers are rated based on the growth of kids based on past performance (on highs takes tests only, not on things like "Johnny entered my class s serial killer and left a lamb.")

Good Norm Twin: But let's be fair here. You didn't even hear the results of the survey. Maybe it will bear you out on class size.

Evil Norm Twin: Will the teachers surveyed say colleagues they view as incompetent should be made to drink arsenic? And teacher unions are horrible because they protect these people? Anyone check in NYC lately to see how well the UFT has been protecting teachers?

The cast of characters
Featured Presenters:
Andrew J. Rotherham, Elena Silva

This event will feature:
Greg Ahrnsbrak, Teacher, Denver Public Schools
Ann Duffett, FDR Group
Steven Farkas, FDR Group
Ellen Halloran, Teacher, New York City Public Schools
Michelle Rhee, Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools
Steven Smith, President, Providence Teachers Union
Elena Silva, Senior Policy Analyst, Education Sector (as moderator)
Andrew J. Rotherham, Co-director, Education Sector (introductory remarks)

Greg Ahrnsbrak is on the panel because he led a battle to modify the union contract in his school, a trend in Denver. Rotherham loves teachers who are willing to throw out contract rules. He throws out the line we hear form the likes of Kahlenberg [on Shanker] and Leo Casey about the New Unionism (how has that worked out for NYC teachers?]

"If (unions) see this as an opportunity to redefine their roles, they will thrive," Rotherham said. "If they don't get in the game, it will pass them by."

The UFT has always been in the game, so how come NYC teachers feel oh, so passed by?

To get a sense of why Greg Ahrnsbrak is on the panel, check out this excerpt from

The Denver Post reported back in January (edited):

A bid for autonomy at Denver's Bruce Ran dolph school faces another test today, when union leaders meet for the second time to vote on whether to accept a waiver from the teachers contract.

The union, so far, has balked at the request — The school board approved its part of the waiver last month, and a majority of teachers at the school voted for the proposal. Last week, Manual High School in Denver made a similar request.

State Senate President Peter Groff may introduce a bill to encourage other schools to do the same, and more than $100,000 from nonprofit organizations has been offered to Bruce Randolph if the move goes forward.

National education experts are watching the Bruce Randolph proposal that would give the school control over its budget, teacher time, calendar, incentives and hiring decisions.

"It is going to be fascinating," said Andrew Rotherham of Virginia, co-founder and co-director of Education Sector, a national education policy think tank. "This is what progress looks like, messy and contentious."

The union wanted Bruce Randolph to clearly explain what parts of the contract should be waived. Last week, teachers submitted a five-page response, outlining each article and subsection they want waived or retained.

Union President Kim Ursetta said she discussed the proposal with representatives from the school Saturday.

"We want to be able to look at what contract provisions, if any, impede student achievement at Bruce Randolph," Ursetta said.

The union should be flexible, said Rotherham.

"If (unions) see this as an opportunity to redefine their roles, they will thrive," Rotherham said. "If they don't get in the game, it will pass them by."

"We took the worst middle school in the state and brought it to a low ranking," said Greg Ahrnsbrak, a teacher at Bruce Randolph and the school's union representative, who helped craft the waiver plan.

Now Greg Ahrnsbrak is at a school that had lots of problems and the staff has bought into the idea the way to fix these problems is to show a willingness to waive the contract, obviously pegged as the main culprit. The central union has been balking and teachers at Ahrnsbak's school are talking going charter.

Ahrnsbrak said some have encouraged the staff to go ahead and implement the proposal anyway, regardless of the union's stance.

Private foundations love the controversy and are leaping in. The Denver Post reported on Jan. 24:

....the Piton Foundation, ... offered the school $100,000 if the autonomy bid were approved...

"If somebody there says they'd like to do a charter," [said a Piton rep] "we'll give them the $100,000 and I'll go back and try and raise more money."

Ahhh. Bribery from the world of foundations. Check back with the teachers in a few years and see where the money has gone once the union is broken.

Looks like Ellen Halloran, our poor lone NYC teacher, will be seriously outnumbered.

Obama, Clinton, the UFT, Shanker, Kahlenberg

Boy, that's a mouthful.

With today's primaries promising to be somewhat important (my belief is that Obama has been damaged to such an extent, he will be hurting badly by tonight) I wanted to comment on a bunch of stuff related to the Democratic party and the splits going back 40 years to 1968.

Remember that year? Assassinations, the crazy Demo convention in Chicago, the UFT 3 month strike in Ocean-Hill Brownsville - all events that have major impact on today's events. Richard Kahlenberg's "Tough Liberal" spends a lot of time justifying Shanker's actions and blaming the New left, the New Democrats, the limousine liberals, etc for the problems the party has had.

As I read it I kept saying- this book came out at this time as justification for Hillary Clinton to be president. Do many of the attacks on Obama point back to 40 years of splits? Do the wounds of the '68 strike still play a role in the Obama-Clinton split? These are issues worth exploring and we'll take a shot at it at some point this week - if I can force myself to open up Kalhlenberg's book once again.

By the way, a review of Kahlenberg's book (funded by Eli Broad and other foundations that just love the ed reform teacher attack movment) written by Vera Pavone and myself will be published in New Politics summer edition. Interestingly, Michael Hirsh, a writer for the NY Teacher and a member of NP's board, will write a response in the following edition. Hmmm. Will Shanker/Kahlenberg come up smelling like roses? A funny thing, but the NY Teacher edition following our submission of the review had an article by Kahlenberg "explaining" Shanker's real position on charter schools.

Al had a lot of splaining to do that goes way beyond charter schools.

Absentee Teacher Reserves

Don't miss James Eterno's marvelous historical analysis on ATR/contract reopening over at the ICE blog. James points out almost 20 years of UFT obfuscation and dis-information. (I think it should be mis-information but they have gone beyond mis to dis.)

Tim Daly the head of the New Teacher Project which issued the report that condemned the union and ATRs' instead of the DOE (he DOES have contracts with the DOE, so why expect anything else), is the guest blogger at Eduwonkette today. Head on over and leave him a comment.

Jumping in today is NYC Educator (is there anyone naive enough to believe that if Mr. Daly's group came to different conclusions they'd still be riding the DoE gravy train?) jumping in.

Daley criticizes the UFT and on the surface, they actually come out looking good - the defender of ATR teachers. Start scratching to see what is going on behind the scenes and a slightly different story might emerge. We have the itch and some data is coming in. Is this all about the UFT covering its tracks over the role it played in creating the ATR situation in the first place? Their "it's a damn outrage" stuff - "we set up a system that would work if only Tweed were honorable" point should be up on Letterman's comedy of the day segments.

A comment (edited) left on another posting on this blog.

I feel like the tone Randi Weingarten takes is the one I imagine of individuals trying to rationalize with the Nazis. "You are very right that the street is, ultimately, in your jurisdiction, so if you don't believe that the broken glass on the ground is important, I can't argue with you. I would suggest, however, that you consider that the needs of my children are similar to those in neighborhoods where there is no glass on the ground today." What is sad is that I can see myself being equally "appropriate". Gandhi was able to embarass the British with his actions. They knew arresting a man for making salt is ridiculous and their metaphorical cheeks got read. But nothing makes American's blush anymore -- I don't mean sexually -- I mean in terms of standards with which we treat each other. That's why its hard to see how absolutely absurd it is to keep being so seemingly rational. While she is making her nice speech, the tracks are being built. It's a common mistake made centuries over by lesser and better people, so perhaps she is to be set in context and excused for it. Nobody thought they would really send people to their deaths on a daily basis. In plain sight. Would the city fire thousands of people on frivolous charges in broad daylight?

At least, at Credit Suisse, you get a package. At Verizon, there's a whole process you have to go through before you can fire someone. Why would a public sector agency be able to do things the private sector cannot do with such impunity? Can you imagine Bear Sterns hauling off it's over 40 accountants on charges they were dangerous to the clients without actually being able to prove so? Would they dare? Again, at least they would get a package.

On a similar track, rubber room teachers have also come under attack.
Check Saddleshoes' commentary at: http://saddleshoe.blogspot.com/2008/05/daily-news-and-rubber-room.html

Link to May 4 article

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2008/05/04/2008-05-04_teachers_in_trouble_spending_years_in_ru.html

Link to May 5

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2008/05/05/2008-05-05_rubber_room_uproar.html

Uppity.... With Malice Toward None

I was talking to some supposedly liberal teachers not long ago and was surprised at their animosity to Obama. "Distant. Arrogant. Slick. Thinks he's better than regular people." For a second I thought the next word to be uttered would be the dreaded "Uppity." Well, we haven't gone that far. (Well, maybe we have - look upper left.)

Now these are people active in the UFT. Has the Clinton machine been aided in the onslaught on Obama in more subtle ways by UFT underground propaganda? (ie. Randi Weingarten's hint at the April DA that they tried to reach out to him but have been ignored. It was more the way she said it than the actual words that made me take notice.)

I headed home with the intention to write about this but it seemed best to stay away from such a volatile topic. But I now feel free to put my toe in the water after Maureen Dowd used the word today in her column in the NY Times. Quoting Bill Clinton, she wrote:

“The great divide in this country is not by race or even income, it’s by those who think they are better than everyone else and think they should play by a different set of rules,” the former president said. “In West Virginia and Arkansas, we know that when we see it.”

Oh, well, at least Bill didn’t use the word uppity. And don’t you love this paean to rules coming from a man so tethered and humbled by rules that he invented an entirely new sexual etiquette to suit his needs in the Oval Office?

Why does Obama, the one with the bumpy background and mixed racial heritage, the one raised by a single mother who was on food stamps, seem so forced when he mingles with the common folk?

Karl Rove and other Republicans say he comes across as the snooty product of a Hawaiian prep school, Cambridge, Columbia and Hyde Park, and that is what led to the damaging anthropological “bitter” disquisition. Yet George H. W. Bush’s attempts to paint over his patrician style with a cowboy veneer was a silly sort of masquerade, obviously engineered by Lee Atwater, who brought the props of pork rinds and country music.

Voters also don’t seem to mind Hillary, with her $109 million bank account, selling herself as the champion of the little people. The blue-collar queen shared her thoughts about the “outrageous” Rev. Wright with the blue-collar king, Bill O’Reilly, last week. In reality, as first lady, Hillary was renowned for her upstairs-downstairs tussles in the White House, and her high-handed treatment of the little people in the travel office, on the switchboard and on the residence staff. The reports were legend about the Clintons’ problems with the Secret Service, and I once saw Bill dress down an agent in a humiliating way over a couple of autograph seekers who got past a rope line in Orange County, Calif.

Obama, on the other hand, may seem esoteric, and sometimes looks haughty or put-upon when he should merely offer that ensorcelling smile. But he is very well liked by his Secret Service agents, and shoots hoops with them. And I watched him take the time one night after a long day of campaigning to stand and take individual pictures with a squadron of Dallas motorcycle police officers on the tarmac.

It must be hard for Obama, having applied all his energy over the years to rising above the rough spots in his background, making whites comfortable with him, striving to become the sophisticated, silky political star who looks supremely comfortable in a tux. Now he must go into reverse and stoop to conquer with cornball photo ops.

“I do think that one of the ironies of the last two or three weeks was this idea that somehow Michelle and I are elitist, pointy-headed intellectual types,” he said, adding sincerely, “I filled up my own gas tanks.”

It’s hard not to be who you are, but it’s doubly hard to be who you’ve strived not to be. Obama not only has to figure out how to unwind with a Bud. He has to rewind his life.

If people think the love of the white male working class for Hillary, so many of whom despised her not too long ago, has nothing to do with racism, they are ignoring something endemic to American society. That the Clintons have chosen to exacerbate it all will cost them dearly in the short and long run.

Dowd touches on points of personal relationships in comparing Obama and Clinton. I remember a friend almost not marrying a guy because, though he treated her very well, he demeaned waiters and other help on a regular basis. There are lessons about character in the way people treat others at all levels. Abraham Lincoln was the master (Dorris Kearns Goodwin is a MUST read.) When some people compare Obama to Lincoln, that is part of what they are talking about. (Check out George Schmidt's personal reflections of Obama that we posted on norms notes.)

But there are other areas of comparison. Obama is painted as weak when he doesn't hammer Hillary in a negative manner and he has been forced to respond because he is branded as a wimp if he doesn't.

If Lincoln were out there today, he would be attacked for being weak and indecisive. No matter how badly he was attacked he never struck back. It used to drive his advisors crazy. (But Lincoln had the strength to put every single opponent in his cabinet.) Obama has tried to take a similar tack and has been pushed to show how "tough" he is.

Some more quotes from Maureen Dowd's column illustrate this point:

Paul Gipson, president of a steelworkers local in Portage, Ind., hailed her “testicular fortitude,” before ripping into “Gucci-wearing, latte-drinking, self-centered, egotistical people that have damaged our lifestyle.”

James Carville helpfully told Eleanor Clift of Newsweek that if Hillary gave Obama one of her vehicles of testicular fortitude, “they’d both have two.”

"With malice toward none, with charity for all" were not just words Lincoln used in a speech, but words he lived.

Can't you just imagine the workup Bill Clinton and James Carville would be doing on him?

Lincoln is proof that toughness can take many forms. I have a sneaky suspicion there's a whole lotta more Lincoln in Obama than he is given credit for.

And did Thomas Friedman in essence endorse Obama in his column today (Who Will Tell the People) when he touched on a similar theme:

Much nonsense has been written about how Hillary Clinton is “toughening up” Barack Obama so he’ll be tough enough to withstand Republican attacks. Sorry, we don’t need a president who is tough enough to withstand the lies of his opponents. We need a president who is tough enough to tell the truth to the American people. Any one of the candidates can answer the Red Phone at 3 a.m. in the White House bedroom. I’m voting for the one who can talk straight to the American people on national TV — at 8 p.m. — from the White House East Room.

Who will tell the people? We are not who we think we are. We are living on borrowed time and borrowed dimes. We still have all the potential for greatness, but only if we get back to work on our country.

I don’t know if Barack Obama can lead that, but the notion that the idealism he has inspired in so many young people doesn’t matter is dead wrong. “Of course, hope alone is not enough,” says Tim Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics, “but it’s not trivial. It’s not trivial to inspire people to want to get up and do something with someone else.”

While you're perusing the Week in Review section, check out Frank Rich's "The All-White Elephant in the Room" which compared how McCain's preacher supporters get a free pass even when they attack the Catholic church.

Weingarten on Budget Cuts

This is worth reading if nothing for its conciliatory weakness. Do we have to review what so many of us said when the UFT cancelled last year's May 9 demo in exchange for promises we all said the mayor and Klein wouldn't keep? OK, now that you asked:

Except for a few instances, the wording is full of the kind of promises to consult, recommend, participate but contains little or no elements that bind the very people at Tweed who have engendered such distrust in the past.

Ednotes, April 19, 2007

Or this:

The May 9th demo scared the hell out of Bloomberg and would have made a national splash and focused attention on so many of the awful policies as a result of his control of the school system. In addition, it looks like the back of the coalition forming to stand up to him may have been broken. Divide and conquer, used to perfection. With the cooperation of the UFT.

Ed Notes April 20, 2007

Well, look what's back – the Coalition, running ads complaining about BloomKlein not keeping their promise (Today the city broke that promise to kids. - sniff, sniff). Just dumping money down a hole to make it look like something is being done.

Are you sick of the whining and complaining from the people at the UFT who cave at the nearest opportunity? If you actually stood up, how could you be looked at as a rational educational spokesperson by the people you want to impress - not the teachers of NYC mind you - but the ed reform pundits, the press and the politicians.

Take this one: "The Mayor rightly understood it was important to keep his $400 promise to homeowners and to roll some of the surplus as a cushion."

WHAT! She says he rightly understood? Wrong!

She should have hammered him for choosing to give people a measly $400 bucks while screwing the schools. You see, the UFT never wants to talk about taxes, especially at the corporate and corrupt real estate level, feeling it will lose support. But the money has to come from somewhere. How about asking for a chunk of the money going to Bear Stearns?

UFT President Randi Weingarten’s Statement on Mayor’s Executive Budget
Last year the Mayor and the City Council matched the historic commitment that the state made to reverse the chronic, multi-generational underfunding of the New York City public schools by agreeing to $2.2 billion increase over 4 years. Today the city broke that promise to kids. Today the city reversed the approximately $450 million it had promised in the 2008 adopted budget.

The governor and state legislature—despite facing daunting budget deficits actually increased their commitment to kids when the state appropriated $600 million in new funds for NYC public schools. Compare that to the city’s reduction of promised funds in the wake of the substantial multi-billion dollar surplus.

The Mayor rightly understood it was important to keep his $400 promise to homeowners and to roll some of the surplus as a cushion. He should have given the same consideration to the importance of the 4-year promise the city made to our children. He has broken that promise, and we have five weeks to work with him and the City Council to reverse it.

Advice to 3020a Participants

TAGNYC has some Advice to 3020a Participants

WHY DO WE TEACH?

Working with Teachers Unite on educational forums has been amongst the more exciting things I've done this year. Every one of them has been illuminating and insightful and they have attracted a wide variety of teachers and students. In addition to TU's Sally Lee, the TU forum committee is made of up of members of ICE, TJC and independent activists in the UFT, so the Unite in Teachers Unite has real meaning.

I first heard of Deborah Meier in the early 1970's at a time I was struggling with an attempt to try an open classroom style of teaching. There were rumors of a master teacher who was actually doing it in a public school. For progressive teachers looking for new ways, Deborah became almost mythical. I wish I had been able to meet her then, as I gave up the attempt after a year and a half and went back to running my classroom in a traditional way.

I finally got to meet her back last fall at NYU, where Sally and I approached her about speaking at the TU forums. Deborah was on the panel discussing Kahlenberg's "Tough Liberal" book on Shanker. With all the Al gushing going on, Deborah did one of the most effective jobs I've ever heard taking Shanker's policies apart – without rancor. She had been a member of Unity Caucus way back when (she left over the lack of democracy) and a friend of Al's, who introduced her to Diane Ravitch – and their current collaboration as bloggers at Bridging Differences has been extremely popular. So it was clear she had a very good relatinship with Al despite their disagreements.

This last forum of the year should not be missed. And look for more excitement next year as we expand into new areas.

WHY DO WE TEACH?
Revisiting Our Vision of Public Education

Did you want to give back to your community?
Did you want to support your students as leaders?
Did you want to be a part of public education reform?

Join Deborah Meier and Teachers Unite in a discussion about what brought us to teaching, and what we're fighting for now that we're here.

Deborah Meier has spent more than four decades in public education as a teacher, writer and advocate. http://www.deborahmeier.com

This is the final forum in the 2007-2008 series of events where educators relate their experiences in schools to larger political trends. The 2007 - 2008 forums focus on the impact of privatization and the corporate model on classroom life in NYC public schools.

Co-sponsored by National Center for Schools and Communities at Fordham University

Thursday, May 8th, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
McMahon Hall Lounge, Fordham University
155 West 60th Street (between Columbus and Amsterdam)
RSVP: info@teachersunite.net

Closest subways: 1, A, B, C, D

NYCDOE Policy Reflects Bloomberg Discrimination

The long reported stories of the intensive discrimination against pregnant women with women with young children resurfaced in a story in the NY Times today that 54 women have joined a suit against Bloomberg, LP. (Once Bloomberg buys the Times, you won't be seeing such stories again.)

When the story first surfaced, some of the original women filing the suit repeated Bloomberg quotes that would made whatever hair I had left stand up.

All this is not surprising. We have been making the point for some time that the missionary style of teachers who spend 12 hour days and weekends working as teachers until they are burnt to a cinder or decide to have families is also discriminatory against women with families.

With all we can complain of in the BloomKlein stewardship of the education system in NYC, we can at least say there is consistency.

Graphic from womensspace.wordpress.com/

Jetblogged

So let's get this straight. I leave Tokyo at 11 AM on May 1 and arrive in New York at 10:30 AM on May 1.

I think I need a nap.

Before I go, make sure to read the great social justice teaching debate going on at Eduwonkette where Sol Stern and Bill Ayers do dueling guest editorials. Check out the various comments in all the posts - I chipped in a few, the gist of which...........
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ATR's in Bloomberg Purgatory

The breaking Bloomberg wanting-to reopen-the contract ATR story reached us here in Tokyo. I'll link to Elizabeth Green's story when I get back. The gist from the people who published the vicious attack on ATR's by calling for them to be put on unpaid leave after 12 months until they get a job is what we all expected to happen. That the character in charge said he has confidence that Randi will agree in the long run is actually funny - if you're not an ATR. The UFT always gets mad he said. Or acts mad before signing on to whatever.

Yeah! The UFT response even 7000 plus miles away will make me go all gooey inside.

Ok, Bloomberg, here's the deal. Let's reopen the contract - Teachers get all seniority rules back and your - is it $60 million- ATR problem goes away. The UFT doesn't need no stinkin' press conferences with ATR's pleading their cases. Time to say we don't give a crap how much the public or the press or anyone slams us. Time to act like a union. Draw a freak'n line in the sand and say a loud SCREW YOU ALL. THE CONTRACT IS THE CONTRACT EVEN IF IT SUCKS.

Oh, but what does that do the image of the next president of the AFT? Won't Rod Paige and Eduwonk withdraw their praise?

And gee, I just have been reading about a certain union that went on 3 strikes for almost 3 months 40 years ago over 19 teachers who were transferred. Where's Shanker guru Richard Kahlenberg on the current ATR outrage with his defense of Shanker's actions then? (I heard he got some nice space in the NY Teacher 'splainin what Shanker REALLY meant on his charter school idea.)

This email was sent to ICE-mail asking us to spread around this letter some teachers wrote to the NY Times, soon to be owned by Bloomberg. Think anyone there has the balls to publish it?


Hi colleagues,

Here is a "Letter to the Editor" of the New York Times, which two GED Plus teachers, Roz Panepento and myself, sent off today. It was in response to the Times Metro page article on ATRs. The Times, the Post, Channel 7, the Daily News all ran varieties of the same story, which disgustingly blamed the ATRs for being in sub pools, and not in the classroom. The story was clearly generated by the Chancellor's office. The UFT is asking ATRd teachers who have tried, but not been successful on the open market, to contact the union and be willing to speak to the media to counter this latest onslaught from the NYCDOE.


To the Editor:
New York Times

April 29, 2008

Your story about the Absent Teacher Reserve pool today can only be seen as part of a coordinated campaign by the mayor and chancellor to be able to layoff senior teachers, with years of critical experience.

Your article states that many teachers in the reserve pool are “undesirable.” This is pure slander. In District 79, last June we faced a chaotic “restructuring” which led to the loss of hundreds, if not thousands of students (the DOE is not keeping records), and the loss of over 250 teacher positions. Some of our ATR’d colleagues have Ph.D’s in education; others are college professors who have returned to the classroom; still others are highly-skilled math, science and literacy teachers. Some were not permitted to interview for new positions, others had phone interviews; others faced interviewers who were utterly unqualified and clueless about specialties such as ESL or Special Education. Most had years of “S” ratings, and had never received an unsatisfactory in their lives.

Behind the fiasco of the ATRs was the end of seniority transfers in the 2005 UFT contract. That system assured that with school closings, teachers could find new positions in an orderly way. Bloomberg and Klein vowed to get rid of tenure, seniority transfers and bring in merit pay—all of these are disasters for the students and the teachers.

The article blames teachers for the NCDOE’s own policies: closing schools, “excessing” teachers, forcing them into pools, and replacing them with new (cheaper, younger) teachers. Looking at the “bottom line” might work in business, but it sure hurts students. It takes years to develop knowledgeable, experienced, effective, caring teachers.

You blame teachers for supposedly not taking advantage of the open market. We suggest you ask the teachers who tried it --many applied for numerous positions, and never got a call back (many positions are filled before even being listed). We strongly suggest that, rather than the blame game, you give the ATRs a voice, to get a real view of what’s really going on in the schools.

Signed,
Roz Panepento, former Chapter Leader during the ATR reorganization of District 79
Marjorie Stamberg, ESL specialist, teacher GED-Plus, District 79

Tokyo Notes

Random thoughts on many things...

Wed. April 30, 5 AM, Tokyo time (which is 4pm, Tues., Apr. 29, NY time)

Leaving tomorrow early to start heading home. Plane takes off at 11 AM and we arrive in NYC at 10:30 AM, a half hour earlier than we left. Will I be a half hour younger?

I came to Tokyo as part of a group to assist with the Asian Open FIRST LEGO League tournament. The event ended Tuesday afternoon after 3 intense days. As a first time referee I was in the middle of a lot of the action and there's a lot to say about FLL, robotics, etc.

This trip turned into a unique opportunity to interact with a great variety of adults and children from all over the world. So much has gone on, it is hard to contain all of it. We have also been on the constant run - I'm leaving soon to meet the teachers and kids from Little Red Schoolhouse from Manhattan for a trip out of town to a giant Buddha. But more on that later. (Note- I'm using a borrowed computer and the browser is in Japanese, so there will be lots of typos which I'll fix when I return.)

There's lot to write about - including some of the observations I've had and many educational conversations I've had with Europeans and Asians and Americans. We had 2 contrasting NYC middle schools here - one public school from the Bronx and the other a private school from Manhattan and I had a bit of perspective from talking to the teachers and observing some of the interactions between the kids, especially last night when we all had dinner together. We were joined by one of my traveling companions from NYC, who is of Japanese descent but born and raised in Brazil but also lived in Japan for 9 years. After dinner a few of us met up with a group of Europeans from the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark in the bar.


This posting will keep a running account over the next few weeks as things come back to me.

Last Saturday there was a planned excursion to a temple, followed by lunch and then onto an area of Tokyo known as electronic city - think of a thousand B&H's and J&R's piled on each other block after block - plus assorted other stuff like the old Canal Street hobby shops. Geek heaven. Back to that later.

About 200 kids and the adults with them milled about the lobby at the Keio Plaza hotel. The teachers from Little Red -Sherezada, Karen, and Steve finally met Gary who works with the Ridder Kids from the Bronx to hand over the $1200 they raised from bake sales to help out the Ridder Kids.

We were part of a group that never signed on, so there was no room on the buses.

...to be continued

Illiterate in Tokyo

So this is what it feels like to be illiterate. You can't even look something up in a dictionary. The streets have no names so following a map is almost impossible. We've (I'm travelling with Gary who was my counterpart in Region 2 and then moved on to handle the entire Bronx) figured out you have to use buildings as markers. Luckily we have Marcio with us. He's a New Yorker of Japanese decent originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil. He lived in Tokyo for 9 years and even he finds it confusing. He took us out last night to the east end of the area where his hotel is located. One of the known red light, raunchy districts in Tokyo. But we saw little raunch and ate on the 5th floor of a building. Many restaurants are on top of each other in a vertical pile. So are some people around here I imagine.

We're in Shinjuko in the west end of Tokyo. The train station here may be the busiest in the world. Some 2 million people pass through a day.

We want to walk everywhere. Marcio discourages us, urging us to take the subway. We did convince him to walk to day but it is not easy to get around that way for anything but short distances. Some aspects of the city remind me of London, certainly that they drive on the opposite side of the road. But London could be walked. Here, you have to go up stairs, then down stairs. Streets do not run parallel.

We got back to the hotel this afternoon for the meeting with the organizers and volunteers. Most are from Europe and LEGO education. We were led on a school-type trip back to Shinjuku station for a 4 stop subway - really, many trains here are elevated- ride to someplace I can't pronounce - they have the offices there. Someone from LEGO Japan did the translating for us. I am going to be a referee for the first time and had to relearn the game. Gerhardt from LEGO in Denmark is a lifesaver and we went over all the aspects and now I have a feel for it. We're meeting Sunday at 9:30 to go over stuff and practice scoring - I need the most help - to be ready for the real competition on Monday. The 56 teams from 24 countries and 456 kids. Really all over the world. Peru and Brazil, a bunch from the US, Canada and Mexico. Five from China, teams from Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan. any from Western Europe. And Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia. We were disappointed to hear the 2 teams from Israel had to cancel at the last minute - we could have solved the middle east in 3 days.

We were taken to eat after the training at an 8th floor restaurant with a buffet right over the train station - there's lots of these big shopping areas as part of train stations. I sat with David who is a phys ed teacher in Barcelona and runs all of the tournaments in Spain and a woman who runs the tournaments in Benelux. Is iit amazing meeting all these people who speak fluent English? What a dunce I feel like.

After eating the organizers felt the trains would be too crowded, so they piled us in cabs to get back to the hotel. I could have walked faster. Tokyo traffic is awful. But in addition to David, a gal from Germany was in the cab and she works in the social responsibility section of a major corporation and recruits mentors for teams.

In a major interesting point of the conversation, she asked about KIPP involvement in FIRST activities and said she has friends who work with KIPP in the states. That led to a great follow-up - I told her to tell her friends to contact me if KIPP in NYC was interested in FIRST robotics. We did get to talk about some of the broader issues facing the corporate takeover and she surprised us by saying there were few private schools in Germany and those that do exist are viewed as havens for kids who buy their degrees because they cannot make it in the much better perceived public schools.

Back at the hotel, the organizers told us the tallest building in Tokyo was open for us to go up and check out the views and David, Gary and I went on up but the glass prevented us from taking good pics. Gary and I went over to the Hyatt to try to find the school from Little Red which had raised $1200 in bake sales to contribute towards the Ritter Kids from the Bronx who arriving 17 strong along with their principal and 6 parents Saturday afternoon. They didn't check in 'till after 7 (what a long, grueling trip they must have had) but must have gone out to eat.

Tomorrow we go on an all day excursion out of the city.

I think I'm jet-lagged up the kazoo.


The only ed news that seems to have come up of note is that Queens Bor. Pres Helen Marshall seems to have woken up and appointed a Queens rep to the PEP. Leonie posted a good article from the Queens Courrier. Will Manhattan PEP Rep Patrick Sullivan have another independent colleague?

Tokyo Bound

Well, I'm heading over to Tokyo for the Asian Open FIRST LEGO League tournament so I will be posting sporadically for a few days. Updates on the robotics aspect at the Norms Robotics blog. I'll post any interesting ed news I come across on this blog. I wonder if they are addressing issues such as school choice, teacher quality, achievement gaps, etc over there? Think they have rubber rooms? Probably, but not where you think.

I registered for the Ed Bloggers Summit in Washington May 14/15. The keynote speaker is Newt Gingrich - now you know all you need to know what this is all about. I'm going disguised as Eduwonkette.

Students at Manhattan Center Protest Teacher in Rubber Room

We've heard lots of RR stories but this may be the first student protest. Teachers are protesting too - I saw a teacher from the school with a black armband last week. That so many students are denied their teacher is one of the under reported aspects of putting teachers in the RR. I have lots of stories where the teacher is charged with such bull that could easily have been resolved without shipping them out. Check out NYC Educator's take today. Check the video of Michael Meenan's NY 1 report.