Thursday, August 4, 2011

SOS Photos/Links

I keep trying to do a long piece on SOS but just can't type for that long. Maybe tomorrow.

Here is a slide show I made of the fab GEM workshop at SOS.
A GEM workshop on “Building a Grassroots Movement to Defend Public Education” to a packed room of more than 40 people at Thursday’s conference.  See the montage of the year in review we showed here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vge-rx6QXgQ




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At the GEM blog Julie Cavanagh lists her SOS Top Ten Event Highlights 
(Driving Miss Daisy in drag is not one of them)

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Michael Solo pics at Fight Back Friday blog
http://fightbackfridays.blogspot.com/

Photographs of the Rally & March


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GEM photos on Shutterfly
http://sosmarchgem.shutterfly.com/4

A few highlights
Liza also hurt wrist in bike incident. Matching Fall Risk bracelets

The GEM car crew

Watching movie on bus going home - photo by Brian Jones

Some Coverage - compiled by Michael Solo at GEM's  Fight Back Friday blog:

News Coverage of the SOS Rally & March







http://dailycensored.com/2011/08/01/teachers-as-radicals-after-sos-what-now/

http://gothamschools.org/2011/08/01/matt-damon-criticizes-eva-moskowitzs-charters-at-d-c-rally/

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Mark Naison,  Notorious PhD, comments on an ed deformer commentary on his rap at SOS:

Here is a You Tube version of my "Achievement Rap" as performed at the Save Our Schools March in Washington

The commentary is critical and sarcastic, but I have always felt, as a writer, that bad publicity is better than no publicity and I guess I should take the same attitude toward my emerging "career" as a rapper.


Matt Damon's Warm-Up Act: Notorious PHD‏ - YouTube


www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FXsGH_ajAM

Brian Jones on SOS March

Brian, Alev, Norm, Lisa, Julie
Here's  a great piece from my DC roomie and car mate driving down (see crew above) Brian Jones in Socialist Worker, who co-narrates our film. Brian was treated like a rock star by SOS participants who saw "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Auperman."


COLUMN: BRIAN JONES [1]
A stand to save our schools

The recent Save Our Schools conference and march drew thousands as part of a movement for real education reform and against teacher-blaming.

August 2, 2011

LAST SATURDAY, I joined thousands of educators, parents, students and activists who gathered in Washington, D.C., for the Save Our Schools (SOS) march. Coming from all parts of the country, participants were united by outrage with federal education policy and local school budget cuts.

Homemade signs spoke clearly to the growing frustration with privatization, attacks on teachers' unions, and especially to the use of high-stakes standardized tests to measure student achievement and, increasingly, teacher effectiveness. "Spend $ on kids, not te$t$!" read one sign, and another "Education > testing". My personal favorite wasn't a placard or banner, but a mock graveyard arranged near the rally site where tombstones indicated that Joy, Creativity, Cooperation and Critical Thinking, were among the deceased.

Before the protest, I spent two days in the classrooms and hallways of D.C.'s American University, rubbing elbows with hundreds of parents, students and educators--including some of the biggest names in progressive education. This was the Save Our Schools conference.

I found myself in conversation with people from Florida, Oregon, Georgia and Arizona. I saw scruffy activists in shorts and flip flops holding court with administrators in heels and pearls. We debated and discussed everything from the motives of corporate reformers (profit? ideology? both?) to the strategies we can use to fight for progressive reform and to defend public education.

The legendary educator Debbie Meier had to step over me to get into a jam-packed workshop, where the author Jonathan Kozol was among those looking for a place to sit ("What do you mean there aren't enough seats?" he quipped). We listened to the leading lights of Rethinking Schools magazine, from Wisconsin, New York, and New Jersey. Bob Peterson, newly elected president of the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association, quoted the late historian Howard Zinn: "Teachers can't just be teacher-unionists, but need to be teachers of unionism."

On the first morning, Kozol had opened the conference with a blistering assessment of the growing racial and economic segregation of the nation's schools. The pressure to demonstrate "progress" on high-stakes standardized tests has instituted a "reign of terror" in urban schools, Kozol said, making the savage inequalities he wrote about decades ago, even more savage:

In too many of the urban schools I visit--and principals will tell me this with despair--two-thirds of the school year is consumed by preparation for exams. As a result, culture is starved. In the elementary grades, music and art and history and geography and science and exploratory subjects and projects, which bring exhilaration and excitement to a child are exiled from the course of study, or are included only in the most truncated forms.

Of George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind legislation (which Obama has pursued and expanded) Kozol said, plainly, "We're not here to ask Congress to make a few minor changes. We are to say that you cannot fix this awful law, it needs to be abolished!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I TRAVELED to D.C. from New York City with a group of educators and parents from the Grassroots Education Movement. Our workshop (on building a grassroots movement to defend public education) was well-attended, and our film, The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman, received a standing ovation at a Friday night screening.

The closing plenary featured a group of student activists from New Orleans. This spirited group of activists ranged from high school down to elementary grades. They call themselves "Rethink."

They learned how to organize around issues that directly affect them--from the quality of school food to high-stakes tests, to the school-to-prison pipeline. "They try to fix little things in the school to get us to shut up," one of them observed.

Another student, a poet, mused, "Oh my god, it's a Black youth from New Orleans! We are smart, fun, powerful, open-minded..." and concluded, "I am truth. I am justice. I am forgiveness. But why can't it be: we are?"

During the question-and-answer period, an adult asked, "What can we do to help you?" One of the youngest members answered: "Don't try to force youth to do things. Listen to us. Guide us, but let us lead our own struggle."

One of the most interesting developments of the weekend occurred outside of the conference, however. On Wednesday, three members of the SOS March Executive Committee staged a symbolic protest at the Department of Education. To their surprise, a DOE staffer invited them inside. They met with various officials for about an hour, including approximately 15 minutes with Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan.

Duncan allegedly insisted that he had a lot of "common ground" with the march organizers--an assertion they repeatedly denied, arguing instead that his policies were punitive and damaging to the process of genuine education.

The next day, the organizers received a phone call from the White House--an invitation to meet, on Friday, with President Obama himself. For three hours Thursday night, the committee debated what to do. I was told by one of the participants that the committee reflected on the way that President John F. Kennedy succeeded in blunting the militancy of the famous 1963 March on Washington, and were keen to avoid being similarly co-opted. With the debate raging, someone pulled up Arne Dunan's Facebook page and noticed that he had already posted a note about his meeting with the SOS organizers. The posting allegedly emphasized their "common ground" (and has apparently since been taken down).

Sensing that a meeting with Obama could be misused in the same way, they decided to decline the invitation. They released the following statement:

We sincerely appreciate the interest of the White House in the Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action. We'd be pleased to host any White House or Department of Education personnel on the Ellipse on Saturday so they can hear firsthand what teachers, students, parents and community members from around the country have to say about public education. Thousands of concerned citizens will be sharing their experiences and their thoughts on the future of our schools. July 30th is your opportunity to listen to us. After the march, we will be open to meeting with White House or Department of Education leaders to further discuss our specific proposals.

This was an act of remarkable political courage. Progressives face tremendous pressure to play ball with the Democratic Party come hell or high water. Maintaining this loyalty, they are told, is the only way to stay "relevant" or "in the conversation." But this simple act of refusal sent a more powerful message than any that they could have possibly delivered in person. Here, a large group of fairly mainstream educators (including some well-known and respected public figures) decided that their arguments would be more effectively delivered in the streets than in the Oval Office.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ON SATURDAY, we gathered just a stone's throw from the White House to do just that. From the front, speakers included education historian (and former United States assistant secretary of education) Diane Ravitch. "I'm a historian," she began, "there has never been a spontaneous national grassroots movement of parents, teachers, and students to save our schools!"

Ravitch blasted President Obama and Secretary Duncan for pursuing a business oriented approach to reform. "Carrots and sticks are for donkeys," she told the crowd, "not professionals."

Linda Darling-Hammond, a professor of education at Stanford University, was a key figure in Obama's transition team back in 2008, and many thought she was a shoe-in for secretary of education. When Arne Duncan got tapped instead, it was an ominous sign. Duncan has never been an educator, but that didn't stop him from leading the charge for corporate "reform" when he oversaw the Chicago Public Schools, to disastrous results. So there we were, in the shadow of the White House, and I saw Darling-Hammond approach the microphone.

In the age of budget cuts and austerity, she spoke to the shameful priorities of the government: "We won't spend $10,000 a year to educate children, but when they grow up we'll spend $40,000 to keep them in prison," she said.

And to the poisonous atmosphere of teacher-bashing that prevails, conveniently absolving political leaders of any real accountability, she said, "If the banks are failing, they think we should fire the tellers--and whatever you do, don't look for the man behind the curtain."

Comedian Jon Stewart's pre-recorded video message elicited a few chuckles, but the speech that moved many to tears was given by the actor Matt Damon.

He wasted no time getting right to the point--the obsession with testing and "data" is killing real education:

I had incredible teachers. As I look at my life today, the things I value most about myself--my imagination, my love of acting, my passion for writing, my love of learning, my curiosity--all come from how I was parented and taught.

And none of these qualities that I've just mentioned--none of these qualities that I prize so deeply, that have brought me so much joy, that have brought me so much professional success--none of these qualities that make me who I am...can be tested.

But the part of the speech that hit many of us in the gut was the ending. He spoke to our collective sense of pain and frustration, and offered sincere solidarity, and the hope that broader forces might be rallied to our struggle:

This has been a horrible decade for teachers. I can't imagine how demoralized you must feel. But I came here today to deliver an important message to you: As I get older, I appreciate more and more the teachers that I had growing up. And I'm not alone. There are millions of people just like me.

So the next time you're feeling down, or exhausted, or unappreciated, or at the end of your rope; the next time you turn on the TV and see yourself called "overpaid;" the next time you encounter some simple-minded, punitive policy that's been driven into your life by some corporate reformer who has literally never taught anyone anything...Please know that there are millions of us behind you. You have an army of regular people standing right behind you, and our appreciation for what you do is so deeply felt. We love you, we thank you and we will always have your back.

I'm sure the SOS organizers have their own assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the conference and the march. I wasn't able to stay for the congress on Sunday, but I look forward to hearing more about the ideas it was to generate about where we go from here.

From my perspective, I would have liked to see more workshops run by K-12 teachers. I would have like to have seen some of the teachers I met speaking from the stage on Saturday. Clearly, there needs to be more of a conscious effort to bring the younger echelons of our ranks on board, and to make special outreach to parents of color. But overall, I was impressed with what they were able to pull off with so few resources. For their vision and hard work, they deserve our praise and sincere thanks.

For their political courage in declining Obama's invitation, they deserve our support and solidarity. The SOS march has laid down an historic marker, and perhaps even the seeds of something we have desperately needed, but haven't seen in this country in over a generation--a large, national grassroots political movement that is truly independent of the Democratic Party.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Columnist: Brian Jones
Brian Jones is a teacher, actor and activist in New York City. He is featured in the new film The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman [2], and his commentary and writing has appeared onMSNBC.com [3], the Huffington Post [4], GritTV [5] and theInternational Socialist Review [6]. Jones has also lent his voice to several audiobooks, including Howard Zinn's one-man play Marx in Soho [7], Wallace Shawn's Essays [8] and Noam Chomsky's Hopes and Prospects[9].

http://www.www.socialistworker.org/2011/08/02/a-stand-to-save-our-schools

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

The Real Score of High-Stakes Testing: "Kids Set to Firebomb Teachers in Tennessee"

Nothing better illustrates the impact of the red-scare McCarthy-like attacks going on against teachers than this piece from Tennessee where 50% of teacher evals will be based on test scores - and students are already planning their revenge on certain teachers they don't care for.

Note though the growing counterattacks by the good guys and gals.
Lawrence O'Donnell's passionate & reasoned defense of teachers (& even mentions class size!) on last night’s The Last Word :

Anderson Cooper explains why anyone who messes with Matt Damon has earned a spot on AC360's RidicuList

Before you dive in, check out this great piece about our guy on the PEP - with a semi-coherent quote by me.  Patrick Sullivan in the News - With a quote by some guy named Norm
The Anti-Chancellor: Scott Stringer’s education-board appointee objects to Dennis Walcott, again and again

====================
National At-Risk Education Network

  The Real Score of High-Stakes Testing:

Damaged Students and Cheating Professionals

~~BREAKING NEWS ~~

"Kids Set to Firebomb Teachers in Tennessee"


Excerpt from NAREN's July  survey of educators on high-stakes testing.  See full 27 page report at: http://www.naren.info/news/index.html

"Obviously no one understands high school kids and how they think. Next year Tennessee will base 50% of its evaluation, merit pay, promotion and retention on these state tests. A teacher found out from his son who is in a local high school that the kids have already circulated a list of teachers who they will be "fire bombing" by deliberately messing up their tests in hopes of getting the teachers fired. The kids have found out it doesn't effect their grades so they have formed these "Fire Bomb Lists" to deliberately screw up the tests with the wrong answers to get the teachers fired. Any teacher who puts a lot of pressure on them will go on the list, no doubt. My guess is you are going to have a LOT of sweet-talking teachers this year!"

--Tennessee HS Teacher


NAREN Central Office has released a startling and revealing report after administering a survey to a sampling of American teachers and administrators in early July of this year. Initiated by a bonfire of a story out of Atlanta where 178 educators in an organized "ring" were caught changing high-stakes testing scores. Similar stories out of Houston, Baltimore, and other cities began to surface. Newer allegations came forth regarding investigations of cheating by teachers in schools connected to the Race to the Top, high-stakes testing, merit-pay, and paying teachers based on test scores — even a SINGLE test score! Backed by and urged on by Arne Duncan, secretary of Education, and some larger figures in the news such as Bill Gates, Michele Rhee and big testing corporations birthed a movie titled Waiting for Superman, which basically said US schools were going to hell, and the call was for more pressure on teachers to perform. A reactionary film, Race to Nowhere, surfaced last year claiming that kids were under too much pressure as is. Then the cheating scandals illustrating the pressure on teachers finally encouraged our survey.

This 27-page report includes quotes from over 30 educators about the problems being caused by overemphasizing testing as a panacea for what ails our schools. The report shows clearly the opposite, i.e., the cure is worse than the disease. This report by Anthony S. Dallmann-Jones, PhD, NAREN Director, is available here. Names of teachers and administrators have been deleted to respect requests for anonymity. It will be apparent why this is needed.


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.

August 15th: High-stakes testing GEM committee builds for the school year

Subj: August 15th: High-stakes testing GEM committee builds for the school year

After an inspiring Saturday at the Save Our Schools march in which the hypocrisy and disturbing effects of high-stakes testing were front and center, it is as clear as ever that we must do something here in New York to reverse the trend of continuing to raise the stakes on standardized tests. Check out a video of Matt Damon's speech that crystallizes the damage created by the new climate of high-stakes testing and even alludes to the possibility of building a boycott.

At the first meeting of GEM's high-stakes testing committee we began the process of democratically building a campaign to expose these tests for what they are: unreliable, racist, resource-draining tools of the corporate reformers that undermine good teaching and learning and are then used as justification for closing schools, holding students back and firing teachers. Something must be done, and one lesson learned from the march is that there is a critical mass forming across the country of groups who are trying to do something to expose high-stakes testing for what it is. In New York the work that we do can be a model for the rest of the country, and for that reason and many more you should join us and become a part of building this campaign.

This next meeting will include a focused strategic planning session where we will be finalizing our goals and developing a calendar for how to build during the coming school year. We will then breakout into various action-groups focused on a range of next-steps including literature creation, building a boycott, community engagement and envisioning alternatives to our current test-based education models.

We hope you will join us.

GEM High-Stakes Testing Committee Meeting
Monday, August 15, 5pm
CUNY Graduate Center Room 5414
5th Ave and 34th St.
1/2/3 [to 34th St.-Penn Sta. (at 7th Av.)] B/D/F/M/N/Q/R to 34th
St.[-Herald Sq. (at 6th Av.); PATH to 33rd St. (at 6th); #6 to 33 St.
(at Park); M34 bus or M16 bus both via 34th St.; avenue buses.]

Sincerely,
The Grassroots Education Movement

Hillary Lustick comments on high stakes tests and the work of the GEM HST committee in the community section at Gotham Schools.


What’s At Stake With High-Stakes Testing



I know “summer” should be synonymous with things like “lying in an inner tube on a lazy river,” and I’m getting get my fair share of that. But there is just too much going on in education politics for me to close my eyes for longer than a few seconds — and too much going on in the world of teacher activism to want to.

Despite budget cuts, New York is valiantly scrounging together the money to pay for additional testing — now in the arts. I won’t bother asking whether these tests or anyone can actually assess the effects of art education on young people. I won’t even argue against tests themselves: Assessment is a precious way for a teacher to gauge what her students have learned and what she needs to teach differently.

But when we make these tests “high-stakes” for teachers — i.e., tell them that their careers depend on test scores — we give more power to a piece of paper than to the power of the human social and academic intellect. When school becomes a matter of overcoming a hurdle, a student’s learning needs become impediments to be resented, quashed, and expelled. Teachers, who among us has entered the field of education in order to expose the success of gifted students and sweep under the rug students with emotional, physical, and language needs?  Whoever you are, congratulations to you — you’re going to have a very successful career in the era of high-stakes testing.

In response to the mushrooming consequences attached to test results, the Grassroots Education Movement is in the early stages of putting together a new campaign, tentatively titled the “Change the Stakes” Campaign. (Join by signing on to GEM’s mailing list.) We’re not arguing against testing — we as educators know that assessment fits into a conscientious teacher’s curriculum. We are against high-stakes testing. We are against using unproven tests to determine the fate of students and teachers, telling students they have failed and, implicitly, that they shouldn’t try again. The tests we use are rarely developed by teachers, and definitely not by the teachers who actually know our students. As professional pedagogues, we can’t stand by that policy when there are better approaches out there.

If you think there is no model for alternatives to testing, come visit my school around the end of the term. You’ll see parents and students engaged in what we call Student-Led Conferences — highly-formalized presentations in which students share what they have learned in each of their courses and how it enabled them to produce their most quality work. Some schools have become so proficient in their versions of Student-Led Conferences that they are considered performance-based assessment schools, and in recognition the state even exempts students at some city high schools from most Regents exams. The designation, and the exemption, means these schools are trusted to assess their students on academic performance directly related to what they learned— rather than their ability to fill in the right bubble. Shouldn’t we be moving all schools toward quality student performance rather than high scores on tests not developed by educators?

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

SOS Report and GEM In Action - 2010-11

UPDATED WITH NEW MATT DAMON VIDEO: Thurs. Aug. 4

See Julie's great report on SOS with video links at the GEM blog

SOS March
http://gemnyc.org/2011/08/02/sos-march/

AUGUST 2, 2011 BY GEMNYC
The SOS March in DC was an inspiring event.            
See pictures here:  http://sosmarchgem.shutterfly.com/4

GEMers did a fabulous workshop. Here are 2 video montages of the year's events we showed:


http://youtu.be/4UBisAVLilk



http://youtu.be/Vge-rx6QXgQ


Here is Matt Damon getting heated with a corporate deformer/reporter question as filmed by Gotham's Geoffrey Decker. Really must-see video since the libertarian reporter didn't put up all the footage that shows her to be a fool - esp when she claims to be just as educated ad Damon's mom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WIv7Xk8BjA


Atlanta and Philly Cheating Scandals Would Pale in Comparison to NYC...

UPDATE: WEDS AUG. 3 - 9AM - SEE BELOW THE FOLD FOR DAILY NEWS ARTICLE POINTING TO INTENTIONAL REMOVAL OF CHEATING CONTROLS BY TWEED.  OR CLICK HERE.

 ...but don't expect there to be any where near the investigation needed. Here are a few excerpts from today's NY Times piece:  Review Aims to Avert Cheating on State Tests
 Before Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg won control of the schools, the city did conduct erasure analyses, but they were stopped by the Board of Education because of concerns about cost and effectiveness, city officials said. ---Sharon Otterman, NY Times
That about sums it up. Bloomberg was "worried" about "cost-effectiveness" when it came to monitor cheating. How far did Sharon have her tongue planted in her cheek when she wrote that?

New York does not conduct statistical analyses of its high-stakes third- through eighth-grade tests to scour for suspicious results that could signal cheating, like unusual spikes in a school’s scores or predictable erasures on multiple-choice questions, officials said. 
Another knee-slapper.
While New York City conducts investigations when questions about results are raised at a particular school, the city’s Education Department does not look systemwide for suspicious patterns on the tests. Those tests are the primary way the city judges the performance of elementary and middle schools on its annual school report cards.

I can tell you about schools where teachers were ordered to put up large sheets with the answers in front of the room. Guess who would get in trouble, the principal or the teachers?

What would it take to really expose cheating in NYC?

Read Mike Winerip's ripping piece in Monday's NYTimes on what it took in Atlanta.
In Pennsylvania, Suspicious Erasing on State Exams at 89 Schools
A large data file contains evidence that suggests cheating on state exams at 89 Pennsylvania schools.

For places that are serious about exposing cheating, there is a new gold standard: Atlanta. In the bad old days, Atlanta school officials repeatedly investigated themselves and found they had done nothing wrong. Then, last August, the governor decided that, once and for all, he was going to get to the bottom of things, and appointed two former prosecutors to oversee an inquiry.
Sixty of Georgia’s finest criminal investigators spent 10 months on it, and in the end turned up a major cheating scandal involving 178 teachers and principals — 82 of whom confessed — at 44 Atlanta schools, nearly half the district. 
Once the questionable schools have been pinpointed, the serious work begins. In Atlanta, the investigators chosen to conduct the cheating inquiry were given the necessary legal tools (subpoena power) and generous resources (over 100 people were involved). Then they went out and worked the schools like police detectives, flipping one cheating teacher, who in turn would identify others.
Where there's no will there's no way. And no matter what Meryl Tisch or John King say, there's no will on the part of the State Ed Dept  to do what Atlanta did because they are complicit up to their eyeballs.

But the NY Times has resources to at least do what the tiny Notebook in Philly did. Does the Times have the will?

More links: The state is reviewing test security measures. (GothamSchools, Daily News, Times, Post, WSJ)

AND HERE IS A LATE ENTRY FROM THE DAILY NEWS PROVING THE POINT THAT BLOOMBERG INTENTIONALY REMOVED CHEATING CONTROLS. BELOW THE FOLD:

GEM/E4E Debate Seniority in Costco Mag: I Go Manno o Womano With Sydney

Updated: Tues, Aug. 2, 11:30AM

Eight million copies in print and the link to our movie in print. They wanted 400 words max. As you know I can spit out 400 words in one sentence so I didn't get everything in I wanted too. But the Costco people were dolls to work with - I felt they were sympathetic to our side - and I rewarded them by spending $350 Monday on what seems like nothing. But do we love that store - I ate my way through the shopping experience today but my wife claims Costco calories don't count. And let me add that Costco is the anti-Walmart as they treat their workers really well. I never had contact with what seems like a happier work force than at my local store. Unionized too I believe.

Their only mistake? Labeling Sydney who taught for 2 or 3 years before taking Gates and DFER money and running into political chicanery an "expert in the field." Note how she calls for laying off ATRs -

And how about that sick pic of me - yeah, my wife took it.



http://www.costcoconnection.com/connection/201108#pg19

Monday, August 1, 2011

An Open Letter from

Kelley Wolcott
BCS Chapter Leader
8th Grade English Teacher

Why I Am Attending the People's General Assembly on August 2nd at the Charging Bull

I just wanted to let you know about an important event that will be happening this Tuesday, August 2nd at the Charging Bull statue in Bowling Green Park to object to the national debate on the debt ceiling. On Tuesday, August 2nd at 4:30 pm, we will be gathering the the Charging Bull statue to voice opposition to the continuing trend of budget cutting to the public sector. 

As I'm sure you already know, Congress and the White House have been in a heated battle as to whether or not to raise the debt ceiling. Republicans are using the threat of not raising it, which would result in the defaulting of the U.S. economy, to push for even more unnecessary budget cuts that would ultimately trickle down to us on the state and city level throughout the year. It's hard to imagine what that would look like considering that our schools have already taken massive financial hits on the local level. Many of us do not have a concrete idea of what these cuts will look like on the ground level in the fall, but I do know how my school will be impacted in a very real sense. The school that I teach in had $500,000 slashed from our school budget, which means that we have lost funding for the following:

   - Money for supplies like paper or toner
   - Sub funds, meaning more coverages 
   - Money for per diem Academic Intervention Support, to help at risk and academically struggling students
   - Money for our Expeditionary Learning PD contract.
   - Per session for anything other than the PSAL (sports) will provide
   - Funding to hire all necessary staff, we are currently understaffed for Special Ed, ESL, and administrative secretarial needs
   - Loss of Title I funding
   - Loss of Teacher's Choice money (used by teachers to cover out-of-pocket classroom expenses)

This so-called budget deal is a perfect example of a how political parties, unions, and elected representatives continue to give up concessions while claiming to "save" the few rights and benefits that we have left, and to protect what little we have. Meanwhile, those with lobbying power and money can continue to increase their record profits at the expense of the middle class. Giving up our rights and benefits one piece at a time, rather than fighting for what the public deserves in a healthy democracy and world power, is a downward spiral and a huge mistake. 

Even though the mayor, the city council, and the UFT want to applaud themselves for allegedly saving classroom teaching positions by averting layoffs, they have not in fact saved jobs in any real sense that helps understaffed schools. Since the city has been on hiring freeze for the past 3 years we have lost approximately 10,000 teaching positions system-wide through attrition. This loss of teachers has lead to a steady and consistent rise in class size in public schools. Additionally, their budget deal has left individual schools with devastating cuts that could result in the elimination of even more classroom positions through "excessing" in addition to the loss of classroom resources. 

Regardless of the city's claim that budget cuts are a necessary "sacrifice," what is becoming more and more clear is that they are crying wolf. When they claim to not have money for schools, they did have plenty of money for:

   - a $27 million no-bid contract to News Corporation subsidiary Wireless Generation, for educational and testing software
   - $54.9 million and $23.7 million to implement a new and severely flawed computer system called SESIS, which the Education Department outsourced to a Virginia-based corporation called MAXIMUS  
   - a $80 million deal with CTB-McGraw Hill to create interim tests
   - a $32.1 million contract for Pearson, an educational corporation with a spotty track record, to devise the math and English language arts exams     
   - a $2 million dollar contribution to the UFT for their charter school to be relocated

Our tax dollars should be used for our right to prosper socially in well financed, healthy communities with open libraries, fire houses, and schools. Our tax dollars should to be used to help people prosper physically through social security, health care, and housing. Our tax dollars should be used for our right to prosper educationally by guaranteeing that every school, teacher, and student is able to provide the highest quality education and are given the appropriate resources and support to do so. Our tax dollars should be used for the right for teachers to actually teach through the development and implementation of culturally relavant, engaging, and innovative curricula that meet the needs of students and communities, rather than high stakes standardized tests that reduces children, schools, and teachers into data rather than educators and learners. 

Our elected representatives NEED to STOP to giving our tax dollars to those who need it the least such as corporations, banks, and wealthy individuals; and to return it to taxpaying communities. And WE need to hold our representatives accountable. In order for that to happen, we are going to have to fight for what is rightfully ours. 

I hope that you will be able to join me on August 2nd to fight back and send a strong message. It will be the beginning of a year long campaign to demand that government start doing it's job and to return to spending our tax dollars in our communities by:

   - fighting for fair budgets that support schools and the public sector 
   - ending Bush Era tax cuts 
   - closing corporate loop holes  
   - restoring the Millionaire's tax in New York state 

For more information and to RSVP visit our Facebook Event Page at August 2nd General Assembly - Stop the Bull, Make Wall St. Pay! 

In the event you can't make it, the greatest way you can help is by spreading the word! Forward this endlessly via email, Facebook, Twitter, phone calls, or smoke signals. Thanks for taking the time to read this diatribe and I hope to see you all on Tuesday!
 
In solidarity,

Kelley Wolcott
BCS Chapter Leader
8th Grade English Teacher

SOS Report: Back Home

Previous coverage:


Left DC around 1:30 Sunday, got home at 9pm (loads of traffic and drop-offs in Manhattan and Brooklyn.) Amazing and heroic driving by Julie Cavanagh even though using no hands while turning around to the back seat is a pretty unique method of freeing me from driving. Hey, I could have driven using my left arm. My CRV came through - except for dead battery Sunday morning. More on that in future post.

So many stories, so little ability to type. If I could type with 2 hands this update would run forever. Luckily you will be spared. I'll have to put up a few of these as long as I can remember. I'll say one thing about the GEM crew I went with: I was back in camp as a 10-year old. I laughed so hard at times my broken wrist took on a life of its own. What fun to see a group that can stand up and argue policy with the best of them also get real silly. But I'll embarass them all another time - maybe with pics - if I don't get bribes.

The showing of our film to this audience was an important event and got a really great response. Julie and Brian were treated like rock starts. Both Susan Ohanian and Debbie Meier were in attendance. But more on the film, which was shown in multiple cities over the weekend in a follow-up post.

There are lots of analyses out there as to what really happened over the past 4 days around the Save Our Schools conference and march. It is hard not to mix the political with the personal. There was minimal union involvement - intentionally, though the NEA and AFT gave $25 Gs each. So much of this bubbled up from the classroom. I really liked the people running SOS. The entire 4 days were rich in content to such an extent that the march itself was only one factor.

Estimates run from 5-8000 mostly teachers (k-grad school), parents, policy people, some administrators, and superstars like Ravitch, Kozol, Meier, Matt Damon, etc. Kozol and Meier did not just give speeches but hung around for all 4 days of the conference to mingle and build for the future - when we left  around 1pm yesterday Kozol and Meier were still there.
A few of the Gemers who took good care of me in DC: Left: Jones, Dervish Right: Donlan, Cavanagh

To me the entire trip - and why I wanted to go so badly - is/was about building relationships locally (our GEM crew bonded and our work will be better for it) and nationally. How great to see Susan Ohanian and Juanita Doyan again after 8 years - when we gathered in Birmingham AL to oppose NCLB. How nice to see the rest of the world catching up. We distributed buttons made by Juanita all over the place.

See this "We're not gonna take it" montage on you tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EumSu0t6Ec&feature=share) where you can see a glimpse of the GEM banner and Julie wearing her Diane Ravitch tee-shirt.

It was such an era of good feeling I went over to Leo Casey at the Friday night reception and said "Let's make up" and shook his hand. (I mean I hugged Joel Klein.) Leo was gracious. Leo and my close pal (and chauffeur) Julie Cavanagh have an excellent relationship so does it make sense for me to be so hostile? Maybe it reflects a shift in my attitude about the UFT/AFT in the context of my work with GEM where our position vis a vis the union is: we are doing what we are doing because the UFT doesn't but if they want to come along they are welcome. It's more complex than that, but some of my colleagues have been critical of me when I just let it fly without any analysis or reasoning behind it. So despite my outreach, don't expect any lessening in my criticism of the UFT, just less personal attacks. Won't be as much fun though. (A shout-out to Michael Mendel, who called my wife this weekend to see how I was doing. What a love-fest this is turning out to be.)

There's so much to report maybe it's best to return to some chronology from where I left off Friday, which I'll do in upcoming posts where I'll fill you in on who we hung with and more about the turn-down from the White House meeting on Friday.

In the meantime:

How nice to see The Reflective Educator, James Boutin (thanks for the shout out to GEMers, James), again.We talked about working together in the future no matter where he is located.

Here are links to his excellent reports:

SOS Conference Day One

SOS March in DC



Matt Damon:

http://youtu.be/HqOub-heGQc


Stories in WAPO

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teachers-march-on-washington/2011/07/30/gIQAz48zjI_story.html?wpisrc=emailtoafriend


More on this Story

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.

Friday, July 29, 2011

SOS Update 3:25

AM - Powerful WS with Leonie H and others. Too much good stuff to report.

Good lunch meeting with Brian and a woman from Portland Or who wants to start grassrooys move. Table for 4 grew to about 8. Yelena stopped- Had hurried lunch then ran off to buy 50 Metro tickets to get people from UFT bus to march tomorrow. Leroy Barr gave her the job to org this and she has been awesome - contin spent time here making sure this works - amazing job. Let's hope it all works out from NY end.

Rethinking Schools workshop

Too great to manage blogging about with one thumb. Panel is fab. Karp, Fine etc. Bob Peterson who founded Reth Schools and is now Pres of Milw Tchrs union tells story of Madison tchr sick-in but also how 85% of tchrs at his own school called in sick - and princ winked in support. Cheers for good principals. Audience: Deb Meier, Jon Kozol, Fordham's prf Mark Naison, Brian Jones, Mike Klonsky, Leonie Haimson, James Boutin, Garret - on Boston TU ex bd, Leo Casey and lots of others I can't see to pick out. Klonsky mentioned Core Chi victory - some applause - not Leo - who I saw cornering CORE's Jackson Potter earlier - also asks Peterson how his victory affects natl debate. Announced Sunday morn meeting of natl labor interest.
Really good, rich discussion.

Just in: Liza Campbell who hurt right wrist in minor bike accident and was delayed a day is in traffic on I95 - we've really missed her - will try to get pic of paired bike acc right wrists.

Gotta stop now.
Maybe more later.

Cheers,
Norm Scott

Education Notes
ednotesonline.blogspot.com

Grassroots Education Movement
gemnyc.org

Education columnist, The Wave
www.rockawave.com

nycfirst robotics
normsrobotics.blogspot.com

Sent from my BlackBerry

SOS update - Leaders Turn Down White House

Just heard SOS leader Rick Meyer tell people about White House deflection attempt to meet before march that SOS turned down.

See Valerie Strauss and Ed Week for the latest. And read my pre-scheduled post about Obama as Republican.

Yesterday GEM workshop was superbly executed by the crew to a packed room and follow-up positive comments have been rolling in.

Busy and long day. Workshops then Parents Across America reception at 5:30 and our movie at 7:30. They tell us they may have to use 2 theaters if overflow. Tickets going for 10 bucks to non conf registrees.
Taylor Mali opened with his famous and great poem.

Ravitch keynote
Wish I could type. So much good stuff.
Ackn Leonie and Class Size Matters - she donated her Moynihan prize money to CSM.

Diane interviews herself.
Runs through 100 year history of US ed in crisis and points to how current ed "crisis" is manufactured. Focus on impact of poverty and responds to attacks that this is an excuse. Turns it back on them as them using ed deform as excuse not to address poverty by claiming rediculous reason for poverty is poor teaching.

Really impressive facts. Hope this appears online.
Nclb and rttt worst ever.
Eval tchrs by test scores worst idea ever. George bush dream but took Dem pres to sell this idea (see today's earlier post.)


Can't keep up with typing. There will be other bloggers reporting.

Logging off for now. May be back later.


Cheers,
Norm Scott

Education Notes
ednotesonline.blogspot.com

Grassroots Education Movement
gemnyc.org

Education columnist, The Wave
www.rockawave.com

nycfirst robotics
normsrobotics.blogspot.com

Sent from my BlackBerry

GEM Movie goes to South Korea

Friday, July 29, 2011

From a man in South Korea who is the head of an organization there called 21st century education initiatives:

"Nowadays the education in Korea have the same problems with US.I hope to translate the DVD into Korean and deliver it widely with korean subtitle to Korean people. Of course with not commercial purpose but as a grasroot educational movement in Korea."
 
Bill Perkins (one of his aides) requested a copy today as well, thanked us for our work and signed up for the GEM listserve. We are up to 2423 on the DVD list and international mailings today included India, Singapore, Canada and South Korea.

Sam Coleman will be traveling to CT on 8/1 - their state union is showing the film and he is going on our behalf and they are donating $500 towards the film!

Showing in DC at the SOS march tonight!

============
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.

Is Obama a Republican in Drag? A Manchurian Candidate?

Remember how we laughed at the right wing conspiracy charges that Obama was a Manchurian Candidate who as a young child was turned into a Muslim terrorist sleeper agent? Now I'm thinking there may be some truth to the MC story - with a twist. Obama was really a sleeper Republican acting like a liberal Democrat. OK. He's not quite George Bush but how much further does he have to go?

Read Gene Massick"s take I posted at Norms Notes
It's crunch time, and Republican President Obama is delivering to his Wall Street and Corporate Masters.
 Mark Torres has a different take:
Sisters and Brothers,

Obama is not a Republican, by saying that he is neglects the obvious, that the Democrats and Republicans are in the pocket of Corporate America.  His behavior is consistent with the Democratic Party's role of incorporating liberal, centrist and conservative politics under "its tent."  While the Republican Party plays the role of conservative and reactionary ideologue.  Throughout U.S. history the parties have interchanged in playing these roles but have used them effectively to keep Corporate/Business/Rich Landowner elites in the driver's seat.  

If we aren't clear about this then we will continue to entertain the illusion that the Democratic Party is part of the solution.  

When we put things in there correct place we come up with the obvious conclusion, that we need our own political party, one that will truly represent progressive forces in this country. That party does not yet exist, it is up to us to create it.

Your brother in struggle,

Mark A. Torres 
People Power Movement
peoplepower@live.com

I agree the Dems are in the pockets of corporate America but I have mixed thoughts on the third party concept which the left always talks about but given that when you get 2 leftists (who are in so many splinter parties) in a group you end up with 3 groups the idea of a third party is like planning a trip to Mars. Can't really type much more but I am rethinking things more along the lines of a split in the Dem party - is the Green Party a real option?

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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.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Sos notes - Kozol Keynote

Weds July 27
Got in 4:30. Took Metro - really dim, dismal system - into DC to scout out Sat march locations and do short sightsee. Met up with other grp for dinner.

Thurs July 28
Kozol Keynote
NCLB and RTTT cannot be fixed - must be abolished.
Ineq in funding greater than ever.
Racial segreg higher.
Sep and unequal has returned.
Seg in and of itself has a crippling effect.
Seg so as not to contaminate the ed of the priv.
Duncan busy doing Plessy vs Ferguson - Sep and "equal" has and will never work.
Driving teachers out in inner cities - trying to turn me into a drill seargent.
Class size matters. Ed def say not as imp as teacher - if only tchrs would do their job. Ask them where they send their kids. Rich boarding schools - Exeter -13. Andover - 12. Bush went to Andover.
If sm cl sz and ind att good enough for them good en for poorest child in Amer - Applause.
Obama ed policies will dishonor him in history.
Powers shld listen to voice of tchrs.
Despite prop there's a rising tide of teacher and stud activism nationwide. Crit energy. Rem him of 1965 and civil rghs. We need sim today.
Love being a Jew preaching to delinquent Christians.
FOX tv sociopaths.
Will keep defending teachers till day he dies. Stand Ov.
---
Now at Deb Meier workshop.
Saw film about open classroom. OC still an aspiring an idea was to me in late 60,s early 70s. How to even conceive of this today - exc for some elite priv schls.
Talking about impact of poverty.

---
Lunch then more workshops from Chicago's CORE, Diane Ravitch/Mike Klongsky - who I met for first time and gave him a dvd of our movie, and some other good ones. But GEM workshop is same time.

Then a 5:30 film.

More later - maybe.

Cheers,
Norm Scott

Education Notes
ednotesonline.blogspot.com

Grassroots Education Movement
gemnyc.org

Education columnist, The Wave
www.rockawave.com

nycfirst robotics
normsrobotics.blogspot.com

Sent from my BlackBerry

Expect Spotty Coverage at Ed Notes Over Next Few Days

I can post short pieces with left thumb blackberry and will try - but check the Fight Back Friday blog on my blogroll for pics and more as we will be meeting up Michael Solo from John Dewey HS who will be trying to post from DC. I also have a few volunteers in nyc who may take dictation. Enjoy!

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.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

At the ICE blog: Jeff Kaufman Lays Egg on UFT Law Suit

Can Jeff be referring to the sam UFT Attorney Adam Ross who got his job through nepotism? Oh, my!
You guys know my position - the UFT never intended to ultimately win this suit and filed it for PR purposes to make it look like they were doing something. Ahhh!

Don't you get it? Want to make sure to lose just in case you get the right/wrong judge? Put Adam Ross on the case. (I still have a pdf of his clumsy job/bribe offer to Betsy Combier).

And just let me say how nice to have Jeff and James out there keeping the ICE lantern glowing. For comparison go check the New Action blog - if you can find it.


Bargaining With the Devil: How UFT Attorney Miscalculation Led to the Recent Charter School Victory



Riding high from their school closing victory in the Supreme and Appellate Courts last year the UFT and its co-plaintiffs started to see that their interpretation of these decisions were not the same as the DOE’s. Seeing that the DOE was going ahead with its charter co-locations in most of the 19 schools prevented from closing, DOE counsel sent the court a letter on May 28, 2010 complaining that the DOE was not following the Court’s decision.

Specifically UFT counsel asked for a conference with all sides to stop the co-locations arguing that the invalidated PEP vote also prevented the co-locations. The DOE appeared to believe that the decision only invalidated the PEP vote that closed the schools.

A conference was held and on July 14, 2010 a letter “agreement” was submitted, which, incorrectly relied upon by the UFT, seemed to answer their concerns. The letter agreement laid out a plan to provide services to the affected schools.

As usual the UFT claimed a great victory and everyone went on their merry way until it became clear that the DOE had not given up its plan to close most of the schools originally planned and co-locate charter schools. 

The UFT cried foul and based their claim of swindle on the letter agreement which they started to call a stipulation. Few, if any of the services “promised” in the letter agreement were provided or were provided so late in the year that they could not prevent the closing of the schools or the co-locations.

By May 2011 the UFT assembled its prior co-plaintiffs and decided to commence a lawsuit with a request for a temporary injunction to stop the DOE from the closings and co-locations. A temporary restraining order was consented to by all parties on June 21 pending a decision by the Justice Paul Feinman.

Then, on July 21, 2011 Justice Feinman issued his opinion right after the State permitted the DOE to close the schools. He denied the injunction paving the way for DOE celebration.

What went wrong?

As hinted at above the bottom line, relied on by Justice Feinman, was that the DOE never really agreed to provide the services of the letter agreement as a condition before closing the schools. Justice Feinman relied on Joel Klein’s affidavit which clearly claimed that if there were any conditions he never would have agreed. Adam Ross, a UFT attorney, admitted, “Thus, while Defendants are correct that the Agreement does not foreclose the DOE from ever seeking to close these schools, their contention that their promise to provide specified supports for these schools in the 2010-2011 school year (Klein Aff., pp6) is completely irrelevant to any further decision to close is incorrect.”

Feinman made clear in his decision that there was never any representation, implicit or otherwise, on which the UFT could reasonably rely that the DOE waived any of its authority to co-locate or close the schools. To grant the injunction, Feinman ruled, would relegate students in these allegedly failed schools to an inferior education.


Klein, Murdoch and Rhee

 Not exactly Abraham, Martin and John.




 
http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/michelle-rhee-and-rupert-murdoch-thick-thie 

Michelle Rhee and Rupert Murdoch: Thick as Thieves?

When Rupert Murdoch gave his testimony earlier this week in London, former New York City School Chancellor Joel Klein was sitting directly behind him. After a stormy tenure in New York City where he fought teachers unions and closed schools according to the Michelle Rhee School Destruction Model, he left and took what looked to be a cushy job at News Corp helping Murdoch launch his for-profit education products.
Getting in the middle of another public dustup was the last thing on his agenda when he joined Murdoch’s media empire last November as a $2 million-a-year executive vice president, leaving his flap-prone post as chancellor of New York City’s school system to sit on News Corp.’s board of directors and advise the company’s entry into the for-profit education market. Klein is nothing if not savvy in the ways of big media companies; his wife, Nicole Seligman, is chief counsel for the Sony Corp.
But Klein doesn't just have ties to Rupert Murdoch. He's also "like this" with Michelle Rhee from his time in New York.
GothamSchools.org, in 2009:
Michelle Rhee touted her red-track/green-track teacher pay proposal last night at Pace University, saying it’s made such a splash that Mayor Bloomberg asked Chancellor Joel Klein if they could bring a similar model to New York. The proposal, which is being negotiated with the D.C. teachers union right now, would award some first-year teachers nearly $40,000 raises in exchange for giving up their tenure rights — while others could choose a “red” path where they retain tenure but are paid less.
Rhee said the model came up in a recent chat with Klein, who she said she speaks to regularly to share “best practices” and to commiserate. Klein told her that Mayor Bloomberg had asked if they could bring the red/green plan to New York.
“Apparently Klein said to him, ‘Not even you have enough money to do all of that in New York City,’” she said. Rhee’s plan, if passed, will be financed by private philanthropy for the first five years, she said.
See that private philanthropy claim there at the bottom? This is a Rhee hallmark. She rides into school districts on promises of private benefactors if only those schools will just clean up their acts and get it together the way she envisions. She doesn't name the private benefactors, so let me name a few who spend millions of dollars on Rhee's enterprises: Devos, Walton, and the Friedman foundations, whose sole goal is to turn public school districts private.
She'll deny that, of course, but as was reported over at Daily Kos, she slipped up and let it out with regard to Tennessee:
In essence, Rhee has been edging out of the closet on this issue, showing her opposition to collective bargaining first and foremost through her actions, but slipping every now and then and letting it come through in her words. That's what happened in Tennessee over the weekend, in which she talked about her support for school vouchers privatization, and:
She also praised the Tennessee legislature for its recent stances on education, calling its work "aggressive and courageous laws."
That would be a clear reference to the Tennessee bill eliminating collective bargaining and preventing teachers' unions from making campaign contributions or lobbying the state legislature; it was passed at the same time as a bill allowing corporations to give direct contributions to political candidates. To this point, Rhee has been working the "Democrat who saw the light" angle as she works overwhelmingly with Republicans. That image has deteriorated to the point where she had to shore up her credentials as a non-Republican by hiring DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan to shill for Students First. But at this point, you have to wonder why she's making the even a halfhearted effort to pretend she's anything but a John Kasich-Rick Scott-Scott Walker Republican when it comes to education issues.
The Nation ties it up in a nice neat package:
But what’s been less well understood is the impact the scandal might have on Murdoch’s attempt to make a profit off the American public sector, most notably through seeking to provide technology services, such as data-tracking systems and video lessons, to public school districts. Last November, shortly after hiring Klein, News Corp. acquiredWireless Generation, an education technology firm that had worked closely with Klein during his tenure as chancellor on two projects: ARIS, a controversial (and buggy) data system that warehouses students’ standardized test scores and demographic profiles; and School of One, a more radical attempt to use technology to personalize instruction, reorganize classrooms, and reduce the size of the teaching force.The acquisition put Klein, who was set to supervise Wireless Generation, in an awkward position vis à vis city ethics regulations.
Back to those non-profits for a minute. It's no secret that Rhee has set a goal of securing $1 billion in donations for her Students First organization in order to evangelize her message to reform privatize our public school system and destroy unions. Those goals are perfectly in line with Murdoch's business model with regard to his education products too. So do they have a connection, given the common links with Klein? Possibly, as The Nation reports.
But scrutiny on Murdoch’s school agenda is growing. Aware of the media titan’s relationship with former DC schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, education reporter Alexander Russo tried to find out if Murdoch had donated toStudentsFirst, Rhee’s PAC. The group’s goal is to act as a political counterweight to teachers’ unions.“After two days of emails and phone calls—they must have been freaking out behind the scenes trying to figure out what to do—a Rhee spokesperson would neither confirm nor deny the Murdoch money,” Russo wrote.“Our policy doesn't allow me to reveal who our donors are or aren't,” the spokesman said.
Watch this space for more. It would be great if the FBI would look at those ties in addition to what they're already investigating. I'll be watching.
 
 http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/michelle-rhee-and-rupert-murdoch-thick-thie

 

From Leonie Haimson

Excerpt: What Murdoch meant by “innovation” was spelled out more clearly at this year’s G8 meeting in France. He referred to education as “the last frontier” - a vast market waiting to be invaded, conquered and financially exploited by News of the World and other companies.

He cited approvingly what he called Sweden’s “IKEA schools”, the Knowledge Schools chain, the owner of which has said: “If we're religious about anything, it's standardisation. We tell our teachers it is more important to do things the same way than to do them well.”

What attracted Murdoch, sniffing for dollars like a dog at its neighbour’s bum, was this: “Like IKEA, a giant Swedish furniture-maker, Kunskapsskolan gets its customers to do much of the work themselves. The vital tool, though, is not an Allen key but the Kunskapsporten (“Knowledge Portal”), a website containing the entire syllabus.”

Note, students are “customers”. The chain of schools to which Murdoch referred has 700 employees and teaches nearly 10,000 pupils, with an operating profit of SKr62m last year on a turnover of SKr655m. ($A1 = SKr6.7).

Murdoch wants to take this approach internationally.


Not mentioned here: this Swedish chain of for-profit on-line charters that Murdoch extols below is being given space within Tweed next year – the NYC DOE headquarters – in a cozy arrangement decided by Klein when he was chancellor.




Joel Klein “oversaw the Clinton White House’s responses to the Whitewater inquiry”  I never knew that; if true, he did not seem to have done such a good job to quell that non-scandal.  Here’s a press briefing he did: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=59838#axzz1SyFo7V97

This is interesting: In April, after London’s Metropolitan Police arrested three News of the World journalists on suspicion of hacking, some executives pushed for an investigation that would have the full backing of the company’s board and senior management, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions taking place at the time.  Mr. Murdoch opposed the idea outright. Standing firmly in his corner was Mr. Klein. 

That’s the Joel Klein we know and love.

In his first few months at News Corporation, he quickly assimilated and seemed happier than ever before to several longtime friends. He gave up BrickBreaker, the addictive BlackBerry game that he had grown fond of as schools chancellor, saying he no longer needed it because his stress levels had fallen. 

This is what he was doing on his blackberry during PEP meetings



Was disgusted and exhilarated to see Joel Klein sitting right behind Rupert Murdoch at the hearing in London,
looking extremely unhappy, as if he wished he were anywhere else but there. Disgusted to see again the
owlish face of this sellout -- and exhilarated to see that he had sold himself to the Devil and landed in Hell.

But recalling his past as chief prosecutor against Microsoft and Gates (with whom he later allied himself)
and as chief persecutor (while Chancellor) of the teachers here in NY City, I grew somewhat apprehensive
that Murdoch had him on his side as a shrewd (and well-connected) legal henchman.

In any case, the connections between News Corp's paranoid leader and megalomaniac leader (who keeps
secret tabs on all of his chief employees, attempts to cultivate and control leading politicians on several
continents and peddles smut to the masses while attempting to brainwash them into supporting his political
agendas)  and the likes of Bloomberg and Klein here and their local and national counterparts elsewhere will
now hopefully begin to become clearer.

But be prepared for counteroffensives of the worst kind. You'll learn of these from the NY Post and Fox News,
his local and national organs here.

Arjun


Wayne Barrett on Murdoch, his influence in NYC, and relationship with Giuliani



Former Schools Chief Emerges as Murdoch’s Unlikely Ally

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.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Shakeup at Tweed Parent Outreach Operation/Gotham Humps e4e again

I know most teachers who stop by here may not be aware of the disaster the parent outreach operation was under that master manager Joel Klein -good luck Rupert! Today Walcott shook the tree but with the Bloomberg political agenda no matter how well liked the new guy is (remember Martine Guerrier who so many of us liked but turned into one slick operator about 10 minutes into the job), there will always be problems. Let District 3 parent leader Noah Gotbaum tell you more:
Well, after telling us in April and then again in June that he had “100% confidence in Ojeda” and that OFIA was “doing a great job” Walcott has woken up and smelled the coffee of a department in shambles. Elections a complete disaster and being challenged, CEC members walking out of OFIA’s training in protest, the politicization of Parent Coordinators, and CPAC and dozens of CEC members across the City calling for an independent parent run organization to replace OFIA and the DOE in the oversight, administration, training and elections of CEC’s, Councils and other elected parent organizations.

Despite Walcott’s charm offensive, relations between the DOE and parents are at an all time low. Surely OFIA has something to do with this, but it’s also because 4 out of 5 parents simply don’t support the Mayor’s policies of high stakes testing, pushing charters while letting our district schools fight over scraps, accountability for everyone except the DOE, and balancing the budget on the back of our kids.

Good luck Jesse!

noah

Note: No story on this at Gotham yet at 3:40 but another piece of drivel about  E4E. I left this comment:
Like who gives a crap? You guys look for any scrap where you can mention E4E while ignoring GEM, a group of NYC educators and parents who happen to have made a movie which has been requested by thousands of people around the world and is headlining at SOS in Washington this Friday night while also playing in multiple cities this weekend.  You don't think our response to Waiting for Superman and the reaction to it merits some stories? Obviously a sneeze out of E4E merits more attention.

 Oh yea, while E4E supposedly has 4000 members - i had my wife join so I can read their funnies - check how many show up tonight - GEM had 4000 requests for the dvd of the movie and people actually contribute real money - GEM don't need no stinkin Bill Gates money to promote our film.
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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.