The Green Dot/UFT 80% Solution - to the Destruction of Public Education - Leo Casey Defends Green Dot Charter at Left Forum

“Randi and I and Mike Mulgrew and I — we don’t agree on everything. … How do you find the 80% we all agree on?”- Green Dot's Steve Barr

Maybe you've been seeing stories in the last few days about UFT/AFT charter school partner Green Dot charter, now to be known as Future is Now Schools. The UFT/Green Dot - or the new name FINS? -or whatever-  is part of some deal to close down 2 Bronx schools and hand them over to Green Dot. There's so much meat in this story, my cholesterol is shooting up just writing about it.

Now you know I am way out there even from some of my colleagues in the movement because I consider the UFT leadership - and I mean the very top, not the rank and file Unity people - collaborators - not labor dupes or just bureaucrats looking to make a buck. I mean full scale ideological collaborators with so much of the ed deform program - and beyond. But they have Leo Casey out there trying to cover this up by giving the union a "leftish" face. Ho, ho, ho.

Before I do any parsing, here is a Gotham item with links to 2 stories:

Under pressure, Steve Barr is leaving Green Dot, the charter school chain he started. (GS, Times)

OK, so if you did your homework you see Randi buddy Barr is being barred from Green Dot and he and the UFT partnership have to change names. Something about financial irregularities. But, hey, Barr is in it for the kids.

Leo Casey on tape defending Green Dot contract

Now if you are up to date on the story, check out this video selection I put up from Leo Casey's panel at the Left Forum - sorry, I'm choking at the very thought of Leo and Left in the same sentence - I started throwing the rope over the lights to hang myself when Leo used the expression, "we on the left" shortly after red-baiting people who oppose UFT policy by comparing their ideology to Leon Trotsky and Rosa Luzemberg. But I have the entire video and will be putting it all up. There's just so much good stuff I don't know where to start.

Emily Giles, a chapter leader from the Bronx whom I've worked with in GEM, made a very strong statement about the UFT support for charter schools (she does agree charter school teachers should be organized) and also raised the UFT role in mayoral control. Leo responds, followed by a comment by  Stanley Aronowitz on mayoral control. Watch the 6 minute segment first before continuing below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uLMBIAl0r4




Had fun? There's lots more to come in future videos - wait till you see how Leo defines public education to fit UFT policy.

Gotham exclusive interview with Green Dot leaders

Now let me get to the Maura Walz (who is leaving to move to Atlanta - we'll miss you Maura) piece at Gotham with some delicious quotes from Barr and partner Gideon Stein, an anti-union guy "won" over by Weingarten and Mulgrew. “Randi and I and Mike Mulgrew and I — we don’t agree on everything. … How do you find the 80% we all agree on?”

What's there to win over when they agree on 80%? What's left to not disagree on? Now, read the following carefully:

[Stein] asked Barr how he could help Green Dot’s mission of re-making schools in partnership with labor. Now Stein is the president of Barr’s national organization, which changed its name today from Green Dot America to Future Is Now Schools. And he’s rejiggered his social calendar. “I’ve now had dinner and drinks with Randi 10 times in the last eight months,” he said, referring to Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.


Future is Now, whose name is a play on President Barack Obama’s charge to “win the future,” aims to spread the principles that have governed Barr’s schools in California and New York around the country. Those principles include a simplified teachers contract that trades higher pay for tenure and sets only class size, the length of the school day and year, salary and benefits. Barr said that he also aims to transform the learning experience through technology.

Stein and Barr want to start by expanding in New York City, where they are working with the United Federation of Teachers and the Department of Education on a plan to take over two struggling Bronx schools starting next year. The plan would test a model that has not yet been tried here: removing the schools’ principals and half their teaching staffs.

You mean the model used at Locke HS in LA where Barr fired 70% of the staff and then got these results, which of course he is given a pass on, as I reported:

Union Role is Mediator, Not Advocate

Mar 09, 2011

The state test results released Tuesday for Locke High School weren't the sort of thing its new operator, Green Dot Public Schools, is accustomed to seeing: Not a single student scored as proficient in geometry, for example, ..

And again in Aug. 2009 based on work done by Leonie:

Diane Ravitch on charters in the LA Times
And another fine piece from last week along similar lines:
http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_12985055?source=rss
And here's the June Graduation section from the Time's "journal"-type series about Green Dot's takeover of Locke HS in LAUSD. Clearly, throughout the series, the writer is spinning for Locke the whole time, but has enough honesty (or carelessness) in this section to let some tellingly truthful details of actual student behavior slip out:

http://www.latimes.com/la-ed-locke25-2009jun25-test,0,2545367.story

Lackluster test results for Mayor Villaraigosa's high-profile schools and Locke High
The two highest-profile school-reform efforts in Los Angeles — the mayor’s schools and the conversion of Locke High into six charter schools — achieved lackluster results in state test scores released this morning.

Oh, you mean that model. Maura continues:

Organizing parents to support his efforts is also central to the expansion, Barr said. For the two turnaround projects in the Bronx, Barr has promised to knock on every door in the communities where he is taking over schools in an effort to build parent support. He’ll lean on a veteran community organizer he and Stein have hired away from the SEIU for the effort, Mike Dolan.

But it’s far from clear that Barr’s attempt to replace the principal and half the staff of two schools won’t provoke an outcry similar to that sparked when the city has closed schools. Questions linger about the sustainability of Barr’s model, which has proven to be expensive in California. And already critics have grumbled that Barr, the city, and the union are proceeding with their negotiations without identifying the schools they are targeting to their staffs and parents.

(In our interview, Barr and Stein indicated that they had a high school in mind but wouldn’t name it.)

Hey, are you surprised that the UFT and Barr are working together to replace 50% of the teachers in these unnamed chools? How much do you want to bet the average teachers salaries are on the high end - closing schools decisions are based on the economics, not education -compare the schools chosen with similar performing schools not being closed - or turned around - or reconstituted - or regurgitated. That grumbler - critics have grumbled - is Ed Notes, by the way. Maura continues:

Working Together

The city’s teachers union, however, says it is committed to working with the organization. The two groups, along with the DOE, are already working to find common ground in an area where the city and the union have been stalled for months — a new evaluation system for the schools’ teachers.

Formal negotiations on the evaluations began just this week, but the Barr and UFT Secretary Michael Mendel said that there has been progress, although a new evaluation plan has not yet been vetted by lawyers to ensure it conforms to state education law.

“There is absolutely a willingness on our part and on Green Dot’s part to do this,” Mendel said.

Barr and Stein described a close friendship that has formed between Barr and UFT President Michael Mulgrew — and also between Stein, Mendel, and Leo Casey, the union’s resident big thinker and vice president.

“We met for breakfast and we ended up almost going to lunch,” Barr said of his first meeting with Mulgrew three months ago. He said that he found Mulgrew to be extremely thoughtful about the future of the teaching profession. The two spoke about how to reconfigure schools for a changing workforce, he said.

“I think a lot of this is just the lost art of trust,” Barr said. “Randi and I and Mike Mulgrew and I — we don’t agree on everything. … How do you find the 80% we all agree on?”

OK - close schools, get rid of teachers and use technology to get rid of more teachers.
Looks like a plan.

After Burn
Leonie had this comment about the technology component of Barr's plan (read - replace teachers with on-line learning).

In the NYT, he says he wants to take over schools in middle class neighborhoods as well as poor ones, and both pieces highlight how Barr intends to focus on “hybrid” learning, which means a combination of online learning mixed in w/ actual teachers --- the newest craze with little research backing to support it.

And San Francisco activist parent Caroline Grannan said:

Luckily not everything Barr touches turns to gold (or his preference, green). He has been viewed as invincible since the New Yorker devoted a lot of space to a puff piece on him, but his efforts to win a foothold in D.C. didn't get far:

http://www.examiner.com/education-in-san-francisco/breaking-news-from-afar-ed-reform-darlings-rhee-barr-turn-on-each-other

And finally, Michael Fiorillo comments:

I'm so happy that Michael Mulgrew has found a pal who can give him (im)moral support while he goes about the hard work of selling out his members by teaming up to privatize schools, gut the contract (the Green Dot/UFT contract has no tenure or seniority provisions) and destroy the professional lives of the teachers who will be displaced at these schools.


And it's also heartwarming that Mulgrew could earn the affection of real estate developer and charter school funder Gideon Stein. Think of the effort involved in getting him to jilt Eva! But it's a leader's job to go the extra mile and make the tough decisions, and what could possibly be more important than keeping the dues machine going while public education is dismantled? Yes, like his mentor Weingarten, Mulgrew is striving to earn those pats on the head from the education privateers.


When Bloomberg wrote an editorial in the NY Times in February, saying that unions were important in helping him manage the workforce, it was the Weingartens, Mulgrews and Caseys of the world he had in mind. With the union functioning as an arm of the DOE's HR department, it's enough to make the people who've defended it ashamed.

What Ed Deformers Get Wrong About Going to College

The Take Away this morning had a discussion about the classic STEM vs Liberal Arts education, a debate that was ignited to some extent by what appeared to be a contrary view of education between Bill Gates (study what will get you a job) and Steve Jobs (liberal arts prepares you for a wide range of options.) Steve Jobs, Bill Gates clash on merit of liberal arts education.

Now of course the ed deformers push the Gates view. Waiting for Superman made it all seem like a life and death matter to get into a charter school so the kids could see the sign that identifies the college their teachers went to. Life is over otherwise. And it's all about "competing in the 21st century", "America has to stay in the race", blah, blah, blah.

You know the drill - college is all about future employment, not the experience, intellectually and socially. As a history major, I had no prep for a job - Brooklyn College has a 2-track history major - one for future teachers and one for the other stuff you can do with a history degree - as one parent of a history major said, dejectedly - "what's he going to do, open a history store?" But I felt I had a great intellectual experience in college that gave me some skills useful in whatever I ended up doing.

Actually, I received a lot of intellectual stimulus at Thomas Jefferson High School in East NY, Brooklyn where I was in a college bound program of a couple of hundred kids and we were given a college level education that totally prepared us to be intellectually ready for college.

Is there any reason we couldn't do that for all kids if we had the resources? If students came out of high school like I did and chose not to go to college they would still have a full rounded education - remember, the ed deformers are pushing college but not offering to pay for it or support the families of poor kids - the dropout rates or 6 year grad rates make the high school grad rates of schools being closed look good - but you don't see them closing colleges for poor grad rates.

I am reminded of the excellent discussion I was involved in at the NYCORE conference on Saturday with a group that included a special ed teacher (about 10 years into the system), two student teachers who are actually doing real teaching, and one community college future teacher.

I wrote:

Another issue raised by one young lady was her discomfort with being forced to sell going to college as the only way to success considering so many poor kids don't have the means to pay for it or their aptitudes or interest level seems low. But she didn't want to be accused of the crime of low expectations, where the penalty is death of your career

We got into a great debate about vocational education that might or might not lead to college. We also talked about the fact that most new jobs being created are fairly low paying that do not require a college degree. Walmart and McDonald's are the largest employers in the nation. Which as someone commented means that you can hang your college up over your cash register when you ask, "Do you want fries with that?" Also consider that many of the white collar jobs can easily be outsourced  - I say be a plumber since that can't be outsourced - it takes 3 days to get a plumber from India.

I have to say that I have done many manual labor tasks around my house - plumbing, electrical, carpentry, even painting. Every single task has been intellectually challenging - real problem solving. I often hire a great guy who can do some amazing work. He is a college grad who prefers to work with his hands. One of the brightest people I've met - his thinking process and analytical powers are amazing and far beyond my capacity.

I hired another guy to build an extension to my house - with me as his assistant. An immigrant from Portugal with a 4th grade education he was one of the highest level thinking people I ever met. We had to do so much calculating and analyzing of problems - we were sort of working catch-as-catch-can- I found the time I spent with him so mind expanding. And he made so much money he was able to stop working as a fairly young man. But I will say, compared to the first guy I mentioned he did not have a wide range of knowledge and I think a guy like him would have starred in any endeavor.

Paul Krugman (and others) have been pointing some of this out as I reported in Ed Notes.

Krugman is finally delving into the ed deform bullshit. In a (March 8) NY Times piece Degrees and Dollars: The hollow promise of good jobs for highly educated workers, Krugman corroborates my "be a plumber" line and lays waste to the central tenet being pushed by Obama and translated into charter schools calling their kids "scholars" and having teachers post the name of the college they graduated from (don't look for CUNY colleges) on their classroom doors. Krugman writes (read it all)

that modern technology eliminates only menial jobs, that well-educated workers are clear winners, may dominate popular discussion, but it’s actually decades out of date.

The fact is that since 1990 or so the U.S. job market has been characterized not by a general rise in the demand for skill, but by “hollowing out”: both high-wage and low-wage employment have grown rapidly, but medium-wage jobs — the kinds of jobs we count on to support a strong middle class — have lagged behind. And the hole in the middle has been getting wider: many of the high-wage occupations that grew rapidly in the 1990s have seen much slower growth recently, even as growth in low-wage employment has accelerated.

Why is this happening? The belief that education is becoming ever more important rests on the plausible-sounding notion that advances in technology increase job opportunities for those who work with information — loosely speaking, that computers help those who work with their minds, while hurting those who work with their hands.... Most of the manual labor still being done in our economy seems to be of the kind that’s hard to automate.

...there are things education can’t do. In particular, the notion that putting more kids through college can restore the middle-class society we used to have is wishful thinking. It’s no longer true that having a college degree guarantees that you’ll get a good job, and it’s becoming less true with each passing decade. 

On the surface, the discussion on NPR was not about going to college or not but about what choice do you make when you get to college. Focus on the Bill Gates naturally narrow view - what will get me a job? or what Steve Jobs said - which also means getting a job but from a different angle. As a MAC (but not Jobs - also an anti-teacher deformer) fan I believe the products produced by Microsoft and Apple reflect some of their respective points of view and even if an ed deformer, if Jobs were throwing billions into the ed fray he might be very unhappy with test prep all the time.

So, here is the 8-minute  audio of the Take Away tape. About 2 minutes in the guest makes some great points - college experience intellectually - only chance in their lives to read and reflect on great literature, history, philosophy- the audio is worth listening to.




After Burn
Some worthwhile Must Reads from Gotham Schools:
This one adds to blowing the lid off Michelle Rhee - first illegal firings of teachers, then her personal history of lies about her teaching record and now an amazing in depth report on manipulation of tests through out and out cheating caused by the intense pressure Rhee put on to get "results."

• Analysis of Washington, D.C., test scores found high erasure rates at a top-scoring school. (USA Today)

Here is another blowout of the UFT's best buddy Steve Barr - I will post more on this later.

• Under pressure, Steve Barr is leaving Green Dot, the charter school chain he started. (GS, Times)

Stop Democracy Prep Charter Takeover of PS 197M in Harlem

I was at this school and saw with my own eyes something I had only heard about - the difference in the racial component of the teachers of the public school (mostly black and experienced) and the charter (white and young). So I guess "choice" means ending a lot more than just which school you go to.

Here are some very important I extracted from the letter below to highlight:

While our 5^th Grade parents and students had to find space for the students for 6^th Grade, the Department Of Education gave Democracy Prep the vacated space in our building to bring their own 6^th Grade classes there. DOE policies eliminate 6^th Grade in elementary schools to make space for charter schools.  [DOE STOPS PUBLIC SCHOOLS FROM GROWING ADN THEN CLAIMS PEOPLE WANT CHARTERS.]

During the 2009-2010 School year, we were informed that Democracy Prep Charter School would be in our building for only one year [YES, THEY LIE ALL THE TIME]. They started out with six rooms. By the end of the school year, we learned that Democracy Prep wanted four more rooms for the 2010-2011 School Year. 

Democracy Prep was allowed to get four additional rooms which totaled 11 so far; and then the DOE slashed our budget causing eight teachers to be excessed from our school. We believe this was done purposefully so that more rooms could be available for the charter takeover. 

Ms. Rose stated that Richard Boccioccio, space allocation inspector, reported that “there are rooms for Democracy Prep to expand” from 6^th- 8^th grades by getting four additional rooms in our building.

Greetings,

      You are invited to join us in Solidarity on Wednesday March 30th, 2011 at 5:30 pm at a DOE "Public Hearing" to voice your opposition to a charter takeover of PS 197M, and the privatization of public education. Bring signs, posters, banners, and cameras. The following letter went to all the parents and teachers and now to you all to give background information of what has been happening and where we are today. Please read it and come join us. This is another opportunity to organize a Citywide Movement For Public Education. An Injury to one is injury to us all! !!

 

Directions:

#2, 3 Trains to 135th Street, Manhattan, walk East to 5th Avenue to corner of 135th St and 5th Ave.

 

PS 197M PARENT ASSOCIATION & UFT CHAPTER

2230 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10037

March 25, 2011

IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!

PARENTS, PLEASE COME TO SUPPORT YOUR CHILD’S SCHOOL, PS 197M!

DOE HEARING : WEDNESDAY MARCH 30, 2011 AT 5:30 P.M.

IN OUR SCHOOL AUDITORIUM

Dear Parents or Guardians,

        In December 2008 – February 2009, we learned that our school’s 6^th Grade classes were to be truncated; shortly afterwards, we also learned that Democracy Prep Charter School was coming to our building. Letters were sent to parents to inform them that preparations had been made for Grades 5^th & 6^th to graduate together that year in order to make space for Democracy Prep Charter School. Our 5^th Graders had to find placement for 6^th Grade for the following year. While our 5^th Grade parents and students had to find space for the students for 6^th Grade, the Department Of Education gave Democracy Prep the vacated space in our building to bring their own 6^th Grade classes there. DOE policies eliminate 6^th Grade in elementary schools to make space for charter schools.

During the 2009-2010 School year, we were informed that Democracy Prep Charter School would be in our building for only one year. They started out with six rooms. By the end of the school year, we learned that Democracy Prep wanted four more rooms for the 2010-2011 School Year. As we were already meeting with teachers and parents about various issues concerning Public Education, including Budget Cuts, the illegal expansion of Democracy Prep became our focus. Teachers and Parents contacted a lawyer who was willing to help us with this issue Pro bono.

On Friday June 4, 2010, PS 197M parents and teachers joined in a Citywide movement to rally against budget cuts, privatization of our Public Education and the Charter school invasion and takeover of Public School Buildings.

Meanwhile, over the summer, the UFT learned about the issue and decided to offer  legal services bringing litigation against the DOE on behalf of the parents of PS 197M. The litigation charged the DOE did not follow State Law in allowing Democracy Prep to extend their stay and expand in the PS 197M building. According to State Law, the DOE had to prepare an Educational Impact Statement (EIS) detailing the impact of the extension and expansion of Democracy Prep in the building and hold a Public Hearing giving the parents and school community an opportunity to voice their concerns.

Two things occurred; Democracy Prep was allowed to get four additional rooms which totaled 11 so far; and then the DOE slashed our budget causing eight teachers to be excessed from our school. We believe this was done purposefully so that more rooms could be available for the charter takeover. This caused an increase in class sizes in our school. By so doing, it seems the underhanded intent of this illegal process was meant to make it difficult for us to maintain high scores on the State Tests.  

On February 7, 2011, Elizabeth Rose, the Director of Portfolio Planning at the DOE, was invited by Mr. Wright, PS 197M Principal, to the School Leadership Team (SLT) meeting to address the issue of space allocation for Democracy Prep and to clarify the rumors that PS 197M was going to be closed. Ms. Rose stated that Richard Boccioccio, space allocation inspector, reported that “there are rooms for Democracy Prep to expand” from 6^th- 8^th grades by getting four additional rooms in our building. She assured the School Leadership Team (SLT) members that PS 197M was not going to be closed at all. Ms. Rose indicated that the DOE will make arrangements with the SLT to hold a Public Hearing on the proposed expansion and permanent extension of Democracy Prep in our building.

The vote on the proposed expansion and extension of Democracy Prep in our building is set for April 28, 2011 at the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) meeting in Brooklyn. We need to get ready for both.

PS 197M has been an A+ School for the past 9 years. We have to organize for Parents and Teachers to demand to have our opinions and concerns addressed in our school. The Department of Education must fund Public Education for ALL Students equally.  Parents and Teachers, please come out in full force and voice your concerns and ideas at the Public Hearing to be held on Wednesday March 30^th 2011 at 5:30 pm in our School Auditorium.

Pal'n Around With Bill Ayers - updated

UPDATED: Sunday, March 27, 7AM

Shhhhh! Don't tell Sarah Pallin who I was pal'n with. Well, not exactly pal'n. Ayers gave the keynote speech at the NYCORE conference today and I taped it. But in Sarah's world that's all it take to be pal'n.

Ayer's presentation along with artist Ryan Alexander-Tanner, was both political and pedagogical, pointing to new ways we should view the classroom and approach teaching. But rather than get deeper into it, I'll wait for the video to be ready - Ayers said it was OK to put it up.

I didn't get home until 8:30 and I left here at 7:15AM. But don't think it was all workshops and speeches. We all hit the local bar for a post-conference celebration of an exciting day. I mean hundreds of activists, some from all over the nation, but many NYC school teachers, often very, very young. There is some hope since so many of our newer brethren gave up a Saturday for this conference, which had the theme, "Whose Schools? Our Schools!" I've got a bag of tee-shirts I bought with the slogan on them and can't wait 'till summer to wear them around. I made sure to get one extra large since I am aiming to be the poster boy picture in the New Oxford American Dictionary which added the slang phrase "muffin top."

I attended a workshop run by Teachers Unite focusing on the union where a key topic was organizing at the school level. I got a kick when one teacher talked about her chapter leader who I know is one of the worst Unity slugs: pals around with one of the awful principals and can always be counted on to remove any material critical of Unity from teacher mailboxes. TU has a chapter building toolkit for helping people out.

In another workshop we showed about 15 minutes of our upcoming "Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman." The buzz was out there as many people seemed to know about it. I was approached by some pretty high level institutions that were interested and we gave out forms for people who want to hold house parties - you can even invite me over too - if you have food that will get me to my muffin top goal.

The final workshop I went to (there were scads of them) was a standing room only on slaying the 5-headed hydra - the monster of ed deform. I worked in a break-out session with one current NYC teacher and 3 student teachers. As we talked it became so clear that the attempt to destroy neighborhood community schools, particularly at the high school level where these schools barely exist, but also at all levels by the use of charter schools which draw from a wide area outside the neighborhood, is a major cause of the instability and we all strongly endorsed a strengthening of the neighborhood school concept - I think we will see this theme emerge in the coming debated over continuing mayoral control. Another issue raised by one young lady was her discomfort with being forced to sell going to college as the only way to success considering so many poor kids don't have the means to pay for it or their aptitudes or interest level seems low. But she didn't want to be accused of the crime of low expectations, where the penalty is death of your career (I know one teacher who spent 15 months in the rubber room for making a comment to someone that was interpreted as low expectations and reported to the principal.)

Everyone at so many workshops seemed to want to talk about the union response, or lack of, to the ed deform attack. Lots of frustration a-building it seems. The Unity leadership always seemed capable under Randi to race around putting out fires. But now are there so many fires to put out. And Mulgrew just does not that seem that interested (or paranoid as Randi was) - figuring that with 90% of the vote in the last election he has plenty of ice left to skate on.

I heard a superb analysis of why the UFT won't mobilize even in the face of Wisconsin like attacks from one very savvy participant. It goes like this:

In order to fight back UFT/Unity would have to mobilize membership. If they mobilize the membership the level of activity will rise to the point Unity control will be threatened. I chipped in with: The Prime Directive: maintain control. Not only for personal reasons of power and money. They have an ideology that works to motivate their actions.

The discussion got into that ideology a bit with a few points of view being put out there but that's too deep to drill in this post.

A point was made that by building a rank and file that will be activated (which Unity doesn't want to see happen because it is a threat) the leadership can be pushed into more action from below.  "Victories" were pointed to - minor victories- but they give hope.

I took a counter point. I don't want to waste any time or energy trying to convince the UFT hierarchy to do anything. I just don't have enough faith in the UFT leadership to trust that they have good intentions. My view is that whatever actions they are forced to take because of ferment from below are aimed to distract and misrepresent and divert militancy. They want total control and you can't build a movement based on total control that can only be held onto by killing the very democratic structures that are crucial to mobilizing the members.

Basically, I prefer to see the internal critics within not call on the UFT do anything. Instead, just build, baby, build. Build a rank and file movement from the school level up. Unity will try to kill the fires but if you build enough of them they won't know where to turn. Every time you go to the leadership they will tie you up and delay you. Not to say that we don't raise resolutions at the DA as a way to bring issues in front of the delegates that have an independent mind - even those in Unity.

One of the problems I found over the years I've been working with ICE is too much of a sense of talking to the head and not the body - too much time going to Exec Bd meetings where there is no one to convince. Too much time addressing issues to the leadership. I don't believe in writing letters to Mulgrew to make him do something.

If a serious R&F movement develops (as it did so quickly in Chicago) an enormous struggle will ensue over the very life of the union. I've said this before, but Unity/UFT/AFT would rather see the union go into massive decline than give up power. I mean, I've seen people scratch their heads over Randi's actions - "Why would she not fight when faced with a loss of so many members to charters?"

The answer: They prefer to rule a remnant of the union rather than see even a strong union in the hands of others- others which will always include some leftists whom the UFT hierarchy so despise and red bait all the time.

My fear is the upcoming generation of activists will underestimate the UFT/AFT leadership, which will fight dirty in every way possible while they as social justice activists will be honest and open about what they do. I say, "Be careful out there. Be very careful!"
_____________


Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on right for news bits.

Fight Back Friday a big success: Press Release, Press Conf, Please send pictures

Hi all,

Hope everyone had a successful day! A little bit goes a long way. This is how a city wide movement grows, and the fact that there were double the number of schools (30!!) participating yesterday than 2 months ago means a lot.

So thanks to everyone, and especially folks who made the fliers, did translating, made the survey and spread the word.

There was some press yesterday at my school (Cable channel 12 and some local papers) and ch 47 and the chinese language cable station was at the press conference along with gotham schools and some other smaller papers. If you got any coverage please share.

Please send any photos or video to me and to Michael at: mmvs1226@aol.com so we can publicize our actions and make the next one even bigger. And if you woudnt mind a sentence or two describing your actions, something we can post with photos, that would be great.

Also, if people are feeling it, feel free to continue to rock FBF at your school, and if folks are down, maybe lets think about another even bigger one in early June. . .?

Have a great weekend, and probably see some of you at the nycore conference in a few hours!
in solidarity

Sam

PS if you got any push back from your chapter leader or other union folks on your action, please let us know.

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z29djIHBMCc

Press Release
Date:  Friday, March 25, 2011     


Contact:
Sam Coleman, Teacher PS 24, NYCORE/GEM:  646-354-9362
Lisa Donlan, Parent and President CEC1:  917-848-5873
Julie Cavanagh, Teacher PS 15, GEM/CAPE: 917-836-6465

Fight Back Friday:  After More Than a Week of Protests and Outrage, School-Communities Mobilize to Demand Our Governor and Mayor Put Our Children First

Today parents, students, teachers, and community members across the city took differentiated actions to demand our Mayor and our Governor put our children first.  Education stakeholders city-wide protested Mayor Bloomberg’s destructive education policies, including his threat of over 4,000 teacher lay-offs and his attacks on our experienced educators, as well as Governor Cuomo’s devastating proposed education cuts.  Individual schools picketed, signed petitions and letters, held teach-ins, engaged in teacher appreciation activities and disseminated flyers to spread awareness about budget cuts, proposed lay-offs, teacher protections, and what our Mayor and Governor should be fighting for if they were really interested in putting children first.  


"On Thursday, March 24th thousands of average New Yorkers expressed their outrage against Bloomberg, a failed public ed system, Cuomo, Wall Street  banksters, and the 'givebacks' and job losses being set in motion with the help of city and state legislators. One day later, during another Fight Back Friday, parents, teachers, students and community members around the city continued that struggle at their respective schools, more confident than ever, that in unity there is strength." Muba Yarofulani & Akinlabi Mackall Co-chairpersons,Coalition for Public Education / Coalicion por la Educacion Publica.


Tory Frye, parent at PS/IS 187 said, "Last year my son's elementary school lost the art teacher and the science teacher to budget cuts.  The music teacher has no music room or instruments; there is no dedicated room for art and class sizes are uncomfortably high.  We lost 7 faculty members altogether last year and now we are being told that we will lose another 5 teachers?  There is no one left at my son's school to cut!  I cannot begin to understand how we can allow budget cuts like the ones proposed by Governor Cuomo and supported by Mayor Bloomberg to occur, this is not putting our children first. There is a solution; we can maintain the tax on millionaires and billionaires, which would mitigate the impact of these budget cuts and simultaneously address the growing income disparity that sadly has come to characterize New York City."


Continued Sam Coleman, teacher, “My elementary school, PS 24, has lost over $1 million in the last year to budget cuts. Our school is made up of largely immigrant, working class and poor students of color. Due to budget cuts, students in our school have lost after school programs, arts programs, teachers and materials. It is morally and ethically unjustifiable for the mayor and governor to take these resources away from our families while granting millionaires and billionaires tax breaks. Poor and working class families of color and immigrants should not have their children's education short-changed in order to pay for a new yacht, or a new summer home for the wealthiest citizens of our city and state. Fight Back Friday's are a way for school communities to come together - parents, teacher and students - to say enough is enough. We are united in this fight, and we are not going to sit by quietly anymore.”


“We have witnessed the privileged few dominate the education conversation over the last year and we have seen our elected leaders capitulate to their interests over the needs of the more than 95% of us who are not millionaires and billionaires, most notably our children, more than 20% of whom are living in poverty.  This week we have learned that Governor Cuomo accepted tens of thousands of dollars from the Koch brothers, individuals who seek to dismantle our democracy and protections for the average American.  We have seen our Mayor spend millions of his own money to promote his own policy interest against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers who want the millionaire tax left in place and who support experienced educators.  We do not live in an oligarchy or a plutocracy where the privileged few get to make decisions for the rest of us, we live in a democracy where representatives are supposed to serve those who elected them.  We will fight for our children, for public education, for workers rights, and for the promise of a democracy and an elected leadership that truly represents the will of the people,” said Julie Cavanagh, teacher at PS 15 in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Casey Fuetsch, public school parent at the Earth School added, "It's ironic and disturbing that, on this 100th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire,  we are still fighting to keep the most basic rights of mostly female workers intact.  One hundred years ago it was a safety issue; this year it is common respect and job security for teachers.”

Fight Back Fridays began last June when school communities united to fight proposed budget cuts and other disastrous educational policies.  Over the course of this school year, Fight Back Fridays have continued throughout the city.  

“John Dewey H.S. is continuing our Fight Back Friday actions to unify our school community in the face of a city-wide and national campaign to discredit teachers, destroy seniority rights, and sabotage our public schools. Labor rights are civil rights and these are rights that we must fight to protect for the sake of our students and the future of public education. Our goal is to make our school better and stronger by keeping teachers teaching and helping our students receive a dynamic and quality education,” said Michael Solo, Dewey teacher.

Rosemarie Frascella of NyCORE and teacher at Prospect Heights High School said, “Fight Back Fridays give educators the agency to design their own way of organizing around the issues that are directly affecting our students, classrooms, and communities.  We are organizing Fight Back Fridays to educate and organize our communities around the issues directly affecting our school communities.  From Wisconsin to New York City teachers are coming together to stand up for quality education for every student across the United States.  Our working conditions are our students' learning environments.”

Added Stefanie Siegel, teacher, Paul Robeson High School in Brooklyn, “The Coalition for Public Education (Brooklyn Chapter) has been meeting with students and staff on Tuesdays for the past two months.   Their consistency and resiliency keep us engaged and believing that justice will prevail after all.  The work has empowered, politicized and raised the consciousness of  students and we hope, if nothing else, the teach-in on Fight Back Friday spreads the word and broadens our impact.   The presence of the CPE at Robeson has made us feel as if we are part of a bigger picture, a larger cause as well as a global community.”

Participants in Fight Back Friday and parents, educators, and students across the city have expressed immense frustration with the Bloomberg administration for attacking teachers and seniority rights, using parents and teachers as political footballs with threats of massive layoffs rather than seeking to find a solution to Governor Cuomo’s misguided budget cuts.  Fight Back Friday participants and stakeholders across the city have demanded an end to wasteful city contracts such as CityTime and ARIS, for the state to continue the fair tax on Millionaires and Billionaires, for the DOE to cut middle and upper management at the DOE instead of further cutting school-based budgets and to prevent teacher layoffs, to stop wasting money on over-testing and for our local and state elected officials to do the hard work of putting our children first, by protecting and preserving public education.

“Our community believes in high quality education. However, over-testing has not proven to be effective. We need local community engagement and control that requires high standards for our schools,” Harvey Epstein Denise Soltren The Neighborhood School PTA Co Presidents.

Lisa Donlan, President of CEC1 concluded, “Parents and teachers have come together to send a message in their school communities and to the city at large that the budget cuts, the attacks on teachers, the misuse of high stakes testing and increase in class sizes MUST STOP if we are to deliver on the promise of tomorrow that is our children's education TODAY. Cheating these kids, schools and communities hurts all of us, now and in the future. We will fight back today and every day until our city gets what it deserves-  adequately funded and staffed, good, public schools in every neighborhood!”

More than twenty-five school-communities city-wide participated in Fight Back Friday including: 
The Academy for Environmental Leadership, Brooklyn
The Academy of Urban Planning, Brooklyn
Bushwick School for Social Justice, Brooklyn
James Baldwin High School, Manhattan
Humanities Prep High School, Manhattan
PS 307, Brooklyn
Pan American Internnational HS, Queens
PS 24, Brooklyn
PS 15, Brooklyn
PS 157, Brooklyn
The Earth School ( PS 364 Manhattan)
The Neighborhood School (PS 363 Manhattan)
Lehman HS, Bronx
PS 193, The Gil Hodges School, Brooklyn
John Dewey HS, Brooklyn
Lyons Community School, Brooklyn
PS 368, Manhattan
The Green School, Brooklyn
PS 347, Manhattan
PS 187, Manhattan
Alfred E. Smith high school, Bronx
PS 230 Brooklyn
International High School at Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
PS 254, Brooklyn
PS 134 Manhattan
Rafael Hernandez School of the Performing Arts IS 217, Bronx
Banana Kelly HS, Bronx
PS 3, Brooklyn
PS 3, Manhattan




Additional Contacts:
Tory Frye, Parent and SLT Member PS/IS 187:  646-418-6435
Stefanie Siegel, Teacher Paul Robeson High School: 347-721-2152
Michael Solo, Teacher Dewey High School: 917-750-7510

Triangle Fire Ceremony Report: Bloomberg Booed, Mulgrew Lame

This report came in from a friend, a retired teacher:

Very moving procession and ceremony - but here's a bit of "flavor."

1) Bloomberg drowned out with boos as he tried to speak - had to hurry through his speech

2) Mulgrew gave the most pathetic speech of any speaker - totally lacking any fire or emotion - just went through the motions - talked on stage during everyone elses powerful speeches - he couldn't have cared less - what an embarrassment - by far the most lame speaker

3) Mary Welch head of the Wisconsin NEA gave an amazing speech that got everyone worked up - very powerful

4) Nice turnout

5) Tons of politicians trying to get face time- thankfully few were allowed to speak

See the video at Perdido St. School: 

Bloomberg Booed At Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Commemoration

Parent Makes a Point on Mulgrew

Mulgrew (and I was just walking in at at this point, so I may be getting this wrong) saying that policy issues are not what he wanted to talk about last night, rather he'd like to focus on teaching practice in the classroom (Really? That's  what you want to talk about tonight? Because as a parent I am a little worried about my son's school losing 5 more teachers next year...and that's on top of the 7 we lost the year before)

Noah Gotbaum was brilliant at last night's education forum in Washington Heights; the crowd completely lit up at his remarks, which were rays of light in an otherwise dark and dismal evening.  From a parent's perspective, lowlights included the suggestion by Chancellor Tisch that the state can foster a focus on the arts and music in city schools, by making schools accountable/creating standards around them and (I think this is where she was going) testing kids on those subjects too (Wow, kids can learn to hate music and art too!); Senator Espaillat claiming not to have received any calls from constituents supporting the millionaire's tax (I guess his office forgot to mark down my calls from the past few weeks and days...and e-mails too...); The DOE rep being unable to explain the DOE decision not to site a progressive public school (modeled on CPE1) with a school in D6 that has space available, and instead to co-locate a charter there (and then shot darts at me with his eyes when I corrected him; that's OFIA these days I guess!); Mulgrew (and I was just walking in at at this point, so I may be getting this wrong) saying that policy issues are not what he wanted to talk about last night, rather he'd like to focus on teaching practice in the classroom (Really? That's  what you want to talk about tonight? Because as a parent I am a little worried about my son's school losing 5 more teachers next year...and that's on top of the 7 we lost the year before); and of course all the glad handing, self-congratulatory blabber that was emitted each time any elected official entered the event.  The way they like to congratulate themselves, you would think they've all done a mighty fine job on education policy.

On the bright side of this busy week, our D6 school, PS/IS 187, staged a rousing and dramatic protest this morning, complete with the Grim Reaper and Councilmember Jackson.  We vowed to go after any elected official who does not get behind us parents on this!

Best,

Tory Frye (D6 parent)  

AFTERBURN: ANOTHER TEACHER E$E WANTS FIRED


UFT chapter leader at Brooklyn school attached by principal in an incredibly ugly smear campaign:

The Manhattan district attorney's office, state Human Rights Commission and teachers union are all investigating the anonymous letter. But Department of Education lawyers argue there is "no evidence of a hostile work environment" and have asked the human rights commission to drop the case.


Leonie asks: So many chapter leaders seem to be under attack; one wonders what the UFT strategy is on this.

UFT Strategy should be to do ads to defend LIFO using all these principals and teachers, esp. chapter leaders in the ad. But don't hold your breath.
HEY UNITY SLUGS: SPEAK OUT FOR A CHANGE!!!!

NY1 Exclusive: City Principal Investigated In Retaliation Probe

By: Lindsey Christ

A veteran public school principal is under investigation for allegedly attempting to smear one of his teachers through a hate-filled letter.

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/136187/ny1-exclusive--city-principal-investigated-in-retaliation-probe

Does internal union democracy help organizing efforts? What to tell charter school Teachers being organized by the UFT/AFT?

Leo Casey, who threw around terms like "Trotsky" and "Rosa Luxemberg" in his usual red-baiting attempts to taint those who disagree with the UFT leadership, is possibly the single most intellectually dishonest person in their entire operation - and even his colleagues know it.

Lack of UFT/AFT democracy will retard charter school organizing

I attended a Left Forum panel headed by Leo Casey last Saturday where he and and an AFT charter school organizer talked about how essential it is to organize charter school teachers. I agree. But left unsaid was the Godzilla in the room: what do you say to charter school teachers about the state of democracy, or lack thereof, in the UFT/AFT?

I won't go into the gory details here. But I will say that Leo's fellow panelists congratulated him for sitting through the assault those of us in the opposition put him through. They loved the debate. But where is that same debate taking place within the halls of the UFT? Not at the highest level, the AdCom. Not at the Executive Board where every single member (including the 8 New Action) were endorsed by Unity. And certainly not at the Delegate Assembly.

And not in most of the schools that are controlled by Unity Caucus chapter leaders (see the signs of how some district reps are attempting to undermine Fight Back Friday because they perceive the organizing efforts of GEM, NYCORE and Teachers Unite as a threat. (Isn't it interesting that the "official" caucuses ICE and TJC have laid back on this even though many of the individual members are involved?)

But then again, Leo Casey, who threw around terms like "Trotsky" and "Rosa Luxemberg" in his usual red-baiting attempts to taint those who disagree with the UFT leadership, is possibly the single most intellectually dishonest person in their entire operation - and even his colleagues know it.

So it was with some interest that I came across this item at Gotham:

The Times’ labor reporter is taking questions about unions and labor law. (City Room)

With this excerpt from Steven Greenhouse:

Does internal union democracy help organizing efforts? 

There are those who, perhaps with a cynical view of life, contend that internal union democracy hurts unionizing efforts because one needs a tough, forceful union leader, perhaps like Jimmy Hoffa, to take charge and push people to organize. But I disagree. I think internal union democracy is needed to show potential union members that unions are democratic, responsive organizations, that they listen to union members and their wants and needs. Besides, internal union democracy is vital to help stamp out union corruption. Repeated eruptions of union corruption have badly embarrassed the labor movement and of course made it harder for unions to recruit new members.

So, yes, I support the idea of organizing charter school teachers. But the UFT/AFT efforts will go nowhere until the leadership democratizes the union. See the ICE 2010 platform for a list of 16 suggested reforms. (It could be 50). Part VI: For a militant, progressive, democratic UFT

Oh, and it would really be nice to see New Action, once the major voice in calling for a more democratic union, come back to their roots. But then again, that might jeapardize their seats on the Executive Board, which is precisely our point as to why the UFT/Unity Caucus is a one party system in control for 50 years.

Now just watch the Unity slugs claim I should just be quiet because the charter school operators and ed deformers will use the undemocratic nature of the UFT/AFT to defeat organizing efforts. I even noted that E4E made these points on TV.

So, the answer is in this Feb. 18 Ed Notes blog:  
Mr. Mulgrew, Tear Down This Wall



AFTER BURN: THE RIGHT SAYS WE HAVE THE HIGHEST CORP TAXES IN THE WORLD. WHAT WORLD ARE THEY LIVING IN?

But Nobody Pays That
G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether
By DAVID
KOCIENIEWSKI<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/david_kocieniewski/index.html?inline=nyt-per>
Published: March 24, 2011

General
Electric<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/general_electric_company/index.html?inline=nyt-org>,

the nation’s largest corporation, had a very good year in 2010.

The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1
billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.

Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2
billion.

Fight Back Friday Press Advisory

I reported earlier today on the side panel (you must check those out for short 'n sweet stuff):

IS YOUR SCHOOL JOINING THE NEXT FIGHT BACK FRIDAY MARCH 25? WHY NOT?

NOTE: Some reports coming in of UFT district reps urging chapter leaders to ignore FBF. Let me know if this is going on.

Since then I heard from a school who after reading the above started making connections with why the Unity CL at the school seemed so reluctant to support FBF. Notify me if you are trying to do FBF and a Unity CL is resisting.

Well here is the press advisory. Note the list of schools doing FBF. I hope you can add yours to the list the next time. I will be at the press conf at Tweed Friday at 4:30 taking video and pics, after which I'm heading up to Julia Richman as a volunteer to help NYCORE set up for Saturday's conf.
2011 Conference where GEM will be doing a workshop.


Press Advisory                                   

Date:  Friday, March 25, 2011     

Contact:

Sam Coleman, Teacher PS 24, NYCORE/GEM:  646-354-9362

Lisa Donlan, Parent and President CEC1:  917-848-5873

Julie Cavanagh, Teacher PS 15, GEM/CAPE: 917-836-6465

Fight Back Friday:  After More Than a Week of Protests and Outrage, School-Communities Mobilize to Demand Our Governor and Mayor Put Our Children First

Who:  Parents, Educators, Students, and Community Members city-wide including more than twenty-five school-communities:  The Academy for Environmental Leadership, Brooklyn, The Academy of Urban Planning, Brooklyn, Bushwick School for Social Justice, Brooklyn, James Baldwin High School, Manhattan, Humanities Prep High School, Manhattan, PS 307, Brooklyn, Pan American International HS, Queens, PS 24, Brooklyn, PS 15, Brooklyn, PS 157, Brooklyn, The Earth School ( PS 364 Manhattan), The Neighborhood School (PS 363 Manhattan), Lehman HS, Bronx, PS 193, The Gil Hodges School, Brooklyn, John Dewey HS, Brooklyn, Lyons Community School, Brooklyn, PS 368, Manhattan, The Green School, Brooklyn, PS347, Manhattan, PS/IS 187, Manhattan, Alfred E. Smith high school, Bronx, PS 230 Brooklyn, International High School at Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, and PS 254, Brooklyn.

What:  On Friday, March 25th, parents, students, teachers, and community members across the city will be taking different actions to demand our Mayor and our Governor put our children first.  Education stakeholders city-wide will be protesting Mayor Bloomberg’s destructive education policies, including his threat of over 4,000 teacher lay-offs and his attacks on our experienced educators, and Governor Cuomo’s devastating proposed education cuts.  Individual schools will be picketing, signing petitions and letters, having teach-ins, engaging in teacher appreciation activities and will be disseminating flyers to spread awareness about budget cuts, proposed lay-offs, teacher protections, and what our Mayor and Governor should be fighting for if they were really interested in putting children first.  The day will culminate with a press conference on the steps of Tweed at 4:30, where Fight Back Friday participants will share their demands, urging our elected officials to support our public schools. 

When and Where:  Friday, March 25^th, city-wide in individual school communities with a unified culminating press conference on the steps of Tweed, 52 Chambers Street, at 4:30 P.M.

Additional Contacts:

Tory Frye, Parent and SLT Member PS/IS 187:  646-418-6435

Stefanie Siegel, Teacher Paul Robeson High School: 347-721-2152

Michael Solo, Teacher Dewey High School: 917-750-7510

Separated at Birth: Leo Casey, UFT - Steve Barr, Greendot Charter School Slug

Note: online learning will replace teachers. Another example of the UFT being a partner in crime.

Leonie Haimson wrote:

On Inside City Hall last night, Steve Barr was selling the expansion of his "Green dot" charters in NYC, where he said he will focus on online learning, bring his "model" inside DOE, and he bragged about how he's working closely w/ the UFT,  including Leo Casey and Michael Mulgrew. 

He says "parents are owners" but so far neither the DOE, Barr, nor apparently the UFT have told anyone what schools  in the Bronx he intends to "turn around."

"If you can find that mutual co-option {between union and charter school operators], we can get beyond 3% [of students at ] charters, the great works happening at of charters should be scaled up as quickly as possible, we don't have time to play these adult games."'

NY1.com: http://bit.ly/eAgKym

Educators 4 Excellence Update

Oh, where to start? Maybe with South Bronx School:  The Two Faced Ramblings Of E4E'S Ruben Brosbe.

I won't be as comprehensive as SBS but just look at a few of Ruben Brosbe's comments in this post on the Gotham Community:

Why Teachers Like Me Support Unions: An E4E Take on EDUSolidarity

Shocked that Ruben and E4E support unions? You should be.

But you know E4E is all about children - when they're not all about adults - E4Eers wanting to make sure they are not laid off - for the sake of the children, of course.

Ruben tells us:

When I think of one of the most vital roles of the union however, I think of the protections that allow me to advocate for my students. At a school with more than 33 percent of students requiring special education services and an even larger number who are considered English language learners, I understand how crucial it is that I can speak up for these students if they aren’t getting legally mandated services. This is arguably the foremost job of a teacher, to speak up for his or her students. By protecting teachers who do this, the union is protecting the city’s neediest children. The union is at its best when it is in this role.

This caused me to roll around the floor laughing - since Ruben lifted this idea word for word from GEM's Julie Cavanagh who used the exact words when she debated an E4Eer on NY1. E4E loves to tell the people on its email list about the press they are getting. In their update that week they seem to have left out the NY1 debate with Julie kicking ass. (Julie tells me Evan and Sydney were in the Green room coaching their rep and cheering her up after the debate. Bill Gates' money is being well spent.)

Here is the link to the debate so you can see exactly how well Ruben can copycat:
http://www.ny1.com/?ArID=134963

What the E$E spinmeisters are doing is trying to co-opt the Real Reformers' message about the union. Maybe one day they will actually mention low class size as being good for children. But that might affect their funding from Gates who doesn't believe it - unless for his own children.

But then comes this winner from Ruben:

I know I don’t see eye to eye with the UFT on every issue. I don’t agree with LIFO.

So let's follow Ruben's logic. Or illogic.

A teacher advocates for their children. Who does that teacher advocate with? Most often the principal. Who most often gets pissed off at advocating teacher- with threat of U rating to follow if teacher doesn't stop advocating for children. Ruben's answer? Fire that teacher.

Jose Vilson, one of the most highly respected ed bloggers and an organizer of EDUSolidarity comments:

from everything I've seen from E$E (appropriate because when you hit shift+4, you get $), you really want to take down the union, not actually help it progress.You and your group have made it so a discussion proliferates between younger and older teachers would rift, not amend, the tenuous relationship between younger and older teachers in our system. As a younger teacher, I'm disappointed that your group also aligns itself unabashedly with anyone willing to corrupt our (albeit not perfect) union.

To which Ruben responds:

I don't think that the relationship between senior and newer teachers is strengthened by the current layoff system. In fact, I think when newer teachers look around and see that senior teachers are protected regardless of performance, it breeds resentment, rather than respect. Meanwhile, I have nothing but respect for the veteran teachers who continue to work hard and refine their craft. I have benefited immensely from the help of veteran teachers in my short time in the classroom

Again, a misleading lack of logic on Ruben's part. In fact LIFO protects newer teachers as much as senior teachers. A third year teacher gets priority over a first year teacher. And gets called back in the order of layoff. E$E is trying to exploit the vulnerability of newer teachers through the Gates/DFER funded political, having nothing to do with education) campaign and if we give Ruben the benefit of the doubt, he is a tool.

If Ruben has such respect for vet teachers "who continue to work hard and refine their craft" he must be talking about vet teachers who do not work hard and continue to refine their craft. Where are these people? Does he know them from his own school? Or is he talking from theory - that they must exist because Bill Gates and Bloomberg tell him they exist. And where are their principals (or principles)? Where is Ruben's principal if these vets exist in his school? Here is where Ruben won't dare go - his own school because if he is a true advocate for the children he so cares about why doesn't he campaign in his own school to remove these people? Think embarrassing the principal might have repercussions for Ruben?

There's a lot of proof out there that newer teachers who have an intention of making a career out of teaching support LIFO. Witness groups like GEM, Teachers Unite and NYCORE. Check out my co-blogger MAB and GEM's Liza Campbell (Anticipating Fight Back Friday), who also blogs at Gotham Community, as examples. Plus the people like Julie and Brian Jones who are a decade+ in the system.

In fact if you attend this Saturday's NYCORE conference (Whose Schools? Our Schools) at Julia Richman HS (67th St and 2nd Ave) Campus you will see hundreds of younger teachers there who I will bet support LIFO and seniority rules.


E$E coming to your school?
I reported on Sunday night (which you may have missed- E4E Invitation to Lunch n' Learn May Violate More than Rules of Ethics) about a principal inviting E$E into school to speak during a lunch hour. It turns out it was not an L&L but voluntary. I raised the issue of whether Tweed was working behind the scenes to help E$E gain access during the school day. Wouldn't surprise me at all. E$E has paid organizers. All our teachers actually work, so only Angel and I are available to come visit.

A contact spoke to lawyers at the CSA (principals' union) and they were not happy since the CSA supports LIFO. My contact at the school said the E$E rep misrepresented herself and the organization when she came in. I sent the contacts at the school Jeff Kaufman's pieces on E$E published on the ICE blog and they were preparing a reception. (“White Paper” on a Roll: How Ed Deformers Distort the Record on Seniority Layoffs and Up Close and Personal With An Opposition.)

They are also asking the principal if I can come in and rebut but the guys at the school seemed to have the situation pretty much under control (they sent out a mass email to the staff before the meeting.)

E$E is holding happy hours - a free drink if you sign their pledge - so if you hear of any let E$E watch central know and we might send some GEMers over to join them.

Before I go, here is a comment left on Gotham on E$E:

What I am amused at by the E4E and anti-seniority based layoff crowd is their own assurance that they will not be discriminated against and verily believe they are the "best" teachers (or most effective as they say). Unions, seniority and the civil service system developed in our history to meet a very specific need in our democracy... providing a fair and equitable way to terminate employees in the face of economic crisis. Public employers also saw advantages in using seniority since they could not be accused of discrimination or arbitrariness and at the same time keep the most experienced employees... employees who have a track record of performing their job satisfactorily. The job displacement that seniority based layoffs would create is not different from E4E proposals as allegedly poorer senior teachers would still have to be replaced... replaced by less senior, less experienced teachers. Lets face it any layoff scheme would impact our students negatively. I submit that the current retention policies including hiring teachers who have no intention of becoming senior teachers has had a much greater negative impact on students than any layoff scheme. The heart of E4E anti-seniority based layoff scheme is anti-union. The agenda is driven by the belief that the (or any) union does not belong in the workplace. In their world everyone will earn what they are worth and only the best will survive. Sounds a bit social darwinistic...or maybe they think that's a good thing.

Link to comment: http://disq.us/1ci1c3

----------

Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on right for news bits.

When will we start talking to charter school parents?

by M.A.B.

Through my work with GEM and our efforts to counter the movement to privatize education in New York City, I have come across a common theme when my fellow activists talk about parents who choose charter schools for their children. While we challenge the existence and necessity of these schools, we often say that we understand why parents send their children to charter schools. While I of course respect charter schools parents and I do not want to draw a line in the sand—I think some revision of this position is necessary. The argument often made by charter school supporters is that parents choose charter schools because they are dissatisfied with their neighborhood public schools. They allege that our public schools are failing and that charter schools provide a better alternative to families.

I worry that by simply saying we understand why these parents choose charter schools that we are also, in a way, condemning our public schools. By saying we understand, I fear we stop ourselves from actually dialoguing with these families. When we say we understand, I believe we are sending the wrong message.

I argue that we need to change our position to this: “We understand why parents think they need to send their children to charter schools.” Let me explain…

Since September, five of my Kindergarten parents have approached me asking if they should send their children to charter schools. They showed me numerous mailings they received in the mail and appeared quite confused. Many thought they were required to fill out the paperwork, but didn’t have a true interest in sending their child elsewhere. One parent actually had a letter that claimed her child had been accepted to a charter school, yet she had never heard of it, much less applied for admission.

Parents across the city are being bombarded with similar advertisements, while the media continues to condemn and criticize our under-resourced public schools. The message many parents receive is oversimplified—“public schools are failing and you should get out while you can!” The reality is that many of our public schools—particularly those that serve low-income and high-poverty communities—are not receiving the support or resources they need to be successful. It isn’t that they are failing—it’s that they serve the most difficult populations and are expected to deal with the challenges of poverty all on their own. Rather than actually addressing the causes of poverty, our mayor and other corporate education reformers are creating a system that encourages people to ignore and avoid societal realities. They have vilified the schools that serve the highest needs students and are encouraging parents to enroll in privately managed charter schools.

When parents opt for charter schools, I often wonder what has actually transpired to lead them to that point. There are those who have actively sought out charters schools, but I wonder how many others are enrolling their children simply because they have been overwhelmed by the million dollar advertising and messaging machines at work.  

While I know that many of our public schools need more support, resources and attention, and that the system needs a serious overhaul, most of the charter schools in New York City are not actually providing children with an education they deserve. Instead, they have been able to market the perception that they are doing what is best for children. 

I recently discovered that Success Academies (Eva Moskowitz’s charter chain that currently operates five charters in Manhattan and two in the Bronx) was going to try to edge its way into District 14 where I live. A few months ago a woman approached me on the subway platform. She asked if I would sign a petition to help a new public school open in district 14. I was curious, so asked to see the petition.

The Success Academy logo was right at the top. I handed her back the clipboard and attempted to explain why I could not sign. I crossed my fingers that their plan to invade my neighborhood would fail. A public hearing was recently held in an attempt to co-locate an 8th Success Academy here. Within days of the hearing announcement, bus stops lining Graham Avenue (one of the neighborhood's busiest streets) were outfitted with large, colorful Success Academies’ advertisements. A beaming child’s face was surrounded with the words, “Next Stop, College.” Next, the subway station was home to these ads and finally Success Academy flyers hung on every doorknob in District 14. Many of these ads began with the phrase, “Better schools are coming to your community.”

As a resident of District 14, I know of a great number of high-performing public schools and I would be proud to send a child of mine to one of the public schools near my house. Moskowitz’s declaration that our district is in need of her schools in order to improve is misleading at best. A large part of her marketing campaign is selling the message that the schools we already have are not good enough. While Success Academies likely spends the most on its advertising (sending out 15,000 applications for only 400 seats), other charter operators use the same deceptive and divisive tactics.

When exploring the Success Academies website I came across a section titled, “Why choose Success Academies?” It listed many of the claims I have seen on their advertisements:

• We hire only the best teachers.

• Our public elementary schools have proven track record of success.

• Our schools are joyful and promote a love of learning.

 When we look closely at what actually goes on inside the doors of Success Academies, it is quite apparent that they are not, in fact, providing their students with the kind of education they claim.

The best teachers?

Success Academy schools hire mostly young, novice teachers and show a high rate of teacher turnover. My partner works at a public school that has the misfortune of co-locating with a Harlem Success Academy. HSA’s teaching staff struggles no differently than any other teaching staff that is predominately made up of rookies. They struggle to maintain focused connections with so many children simultaneously and find it challenging to keep order in their classrooms and hallway. Like many new teachers grappling with how to lead a group of children, some HSA teachers rely on threats and give out checks (their version of demerits) when dealing with discipline. Parents are routinely called in to either supervise their own children or take them home early from school. It is not easy or simple work guiding a group of young children during a long school day. It requires great skill—skill that is not a taught in school, learned over the summer or developed in just a year. Mastering the art of teaching takes commitment, dedication, humility and most of all, experience. Success Academy teachers are much more ordinary than Eva Moskowitz wants us to believe.

 A track record of success?

While Success Academy students do often score well on standardized tests, this is not a true measure of success. Success Academies have a track record of counseling out students who have behavioral or academic difficulty. When examining their enrollment data one sees stark drops as students get older. Large groups start in kindergarten (usually around 80 to 100 students), but by 3rd, 4th and 5th grade these numbers are between 30 and 60 students. My public school experiences some degree of attrition, but we never see enrollment fluctuate to this degree. Public schools that share space with the Success Academies schools frequently report former Success Academy students enrolling in their schools. Often these students were asked to leave or the parents withdrew them out of frustration with the school's punitive practices. In The test scores gains that the schools tout are less significant when one considers how many students the schools failed to educate along the way.

Success Academy schools also seem to equate success with a test score. Instead of teaching their students to be thoughtful, self-motivated learners, they are teaching their students how to recall information at the most basic level. Instead of teaching their students to be independent learners, their students are completely dependent upon their teachers. Both the New York Times and New York Magazine have published articles about the structure of the day at Harlem Success Academies. The routines are so regimented that students are actually timed while using the bathroom and putting away their coats and bags. What will happen to these children when someone isn’t threatening them with a check or holding a timer in front of their heads? Children need to be taught to control, manage and be in charge of themselves.

A successful school would also be a place with a low turnover rate for teachers. Low turnover rates are a good indication of a stable school environment. Success Academies schools have higher turnover rates than all of the public schools with whom they share space. At Harlem Success Academy 1, 50% of the teachers left after the 2008-2009 school year. Not only do teachers turnover quickly, but principals do as well.  Moskowitz routinely removes and replaces her schools’ administrators, often in the midst of the school year.

Joyful schools?

Success Academies teachers tend use very controlling and authoritarian measures with students. “Checks” are dolled out by the minute as punishment.  When students are not meeting expectations, the teachers yell out “that’s a check!” What does this empty attempt at discipline teach students? It certainly doesn’t seem to send the message that school is a joyful place.  

Students seem to be kept in check with fear and intimidation. And it doesn’t stop there. Parents of Success Academies’ students are required to sign very detailed contracts. Moskowitz has a harsh approach when it comes to working with families, “Our school is like a marriage, and if you don’t come through with your promises, we will have to divorce.” What about marriage vows that say, "Through sickness and health, for richer and poorer ‘til death do us part?" Do we want schools that can “divorce” our children and parents, or ones that are faithful and do their best to educate and provide for our children and families, no matter what?

When students are late or come to a Success Academy school unprepared, Saturday detention is often the consequence—for both parent and child. Parents are also required to attend various functions to promote the school. Recently, I attended a Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) meeting where a motion regarding Success Academies was on the agenda. Moskowitz bused in hundreds of parents and students to testify and cheer at the hearing. Instead of asking her parents to speak about their experiences, they were given detailed scripts and told what to think and what to say.

The motion on the PEP agenda proposed co-locating yet another Success Academy school in an existing and fully functioning public school building. Moskowitz has never opened one of her charter schools in her own building. Rather, she works her way into public school buildings and little by little takes space away from the school that is there. She overtly recruits their public school students and takes their classroom space—all the while claiming that her schools are revolutionizing education. But what message is she sending to her students? Isn’t she teaching them to take what they want without regard to the feelings or rights of others?

Success Academies is just one of many charter school networks operating in New York City. While charter schools currently serve fewer than 5% of our city's children, they garner substantially more support than our deserving public schools. These schools are not the reform our city and our country so desperately need. Rather, they are a distraction. Instead of investing in the reforms proven to impact student learning (class size reduction and maintaining an experienced teaching force), our mayor and President are promoting charter schools as the cure-all.  Until parents begin to understand the realities of what is going on in these schools and the inaccuracies of their advertising, this ineffective model of education reform will continue.

Starting the dialogue?

At the PEP meeting I attended, I was sitting near some Harlem Success Academy families. One parent seemed quite annoyed by our comments and began to question our position asking us, “Why are you so angry?!” Two of my fellow GEM activists responded and were able to start a dialogue. They explained the reality of co-location and the devastation it has had on our public schools that have been forced to share space with a Success Academy school. The parent was quite shocked. Our perspective was completely new to him and by the end, he seemed to appreciate our struggle. While he certainly did not storm over to Eva Moskowitz and demand change or threaten to remove his child, I could tell that when we left him, the wheels were churning in his head. He had more questions.

When I had been standing in line to get into the meeting, I was next to a group of Harlem Success Academy parents/teachers. I desperately wanted to engage with them, but I hesitated. What if they got upset? What if they thought I was disrespectful and wrote me off? Instead of asking these “what ifs,” I should have just tried to start a conversation.

This past week I attended an informational session for Brooklyn Success Academy and attempted to dialogue with the parents there. I found that the majority of the parents in attendance were there simply because they had received multiple mailings advertising the event--they were not necessarily interested in leaving their public schools, nor did they have a true understanding of what a charter school was. The Success Academy spokesperson called their charter school a "public school," and presented a compelling (albeit inaccurate) case for why parents should enter their lottery. While I know many of the parents there will likely enter the lottery for this school, I did have some promising and fruitful conversations. If we do not begin to engage with parents in this way, then they will be left with only the destructive and disingenuous messages they receive through advertisements and the media.  We need to bring people the truth, even if it is done one conversation at a time.


M.A.B. has been a New York City public school Kindergarten teacher for 5 years. Previous to this she worked in a charter school and a Montessori Preschool. She has been involved with the Grassroots Education Movement for the past 2 years.