Thursday, January 19, 2012

John Dewey HS Fights Back Tomorrow as Other Schools Join in the Battle With Fight Back Friday Jan 27

NOTE: GEM film will also be shown tonight by Occupy Brooklyn at 7PM at The Commons 387 Atlantic Ave and is also being shown Saturday at noon in downtown Manhattan and Sunday at 2 and 4PM in Williamsburg. Check ed notes and the film website for details.

While the UFT sells a "What me worry attitude" to the members, the teachers as some SIG schools, joined by supporters led by activists within the UFT but not associated with the leadership, have begun to take the battle beyond where the UFT is willing to go.

Teachers at John Dewey HS are taking the lead with today's viewing of the inspiring GEM film response to Waiting for Superman that is being ignored by the UFT, followed by Fight Back Friday rallies both AM and PM tomorrow. A wider FNF is planned for next Friday, Jan. 27 where all schools can join --- please consider having one at your school as a show of solidarity (don't be surprised to see the UFT/DOE settle things and the money be restored --- it may take 'till next year for the full results of the settlement to hit the school we may see militancy die back for a while.)


Here is the press release and fliers:
 
PRESS RELEASE

Date: Friday, January 20, 2012

Contact:
Michael Solo, Teacher at John Dewey High School : 917-750-7510
Martha Blitzer, Teacher at John Dewey High School : 718-501-2359.


Fight Back Friday: John Dewey High School Fights Back Against Bloomberg Attack


With a cynical misrepresentation of the truth, Mayor Bloomberg is holding 33 Persistently Lowest Achieving (PLA) schools hostage to his demands. The NYCDOE walked out on negotiations with the UFT to finalize an evaluation system for teachers. Agreement on an evaluation process would have allowed School Improvement Grant (SIG) funds to continue being available for the (PLA) schools. Funding for the schools has been frozen because of the impasse in negotiations. The NYCDOE refuses to return to the negotiating table and has threatened the 33 (PLA) schools with closure through a process called “turnaround”.

Funding is being used to drive a wedge between the UFT and the public, but Bloomberg’s real motivation is the implementation of an evaluation process that deprives teachers of due process protections.

The John Dewey High School community has endured years of neglect and threats from the NYCDOE. We have worked hard to move our school forward and we are making great strides in overcoming the tremendous obstacles that were put in our path by the NYCDOE. Why is Mayor Bloomberg threatening our school community?

Bullies depend on their victims to be unprepared to defend themselves. The entire John Dewey High School community has decided to fight back. We are tired of being used as pawns in Mayor Bloomberg’s bid to cripple our school and public education. We are continuing our push back, which began last year, with a new round of Fight Back Friday protests.

Our push back actions will take place on Friday, January 20th. There will be a morning protest, in front of our school building, at 7:15am and an afternoon protest at 2:45pm.

fightbackfridays.blogspot.com


Here is the general announcement for other schools to join in on January 27


School Closings, Increased Charter Co-locations, Larger Classes, Merit Pay, Firing Half the Staff at 33 Schools AND A Flawed Teacher Evaluation System...
The Education Mayor?

It's time for the first Fight Back Friday of 2012
(soon to be occupy Friday??)

NEXT FRIDAY: JAN 27th. WEAR BLACK!
PICKET OUT IN FRONT OF YOUR SCHOOL!
LEAFLET AROUND YOUR SCHOOL!
Fliers and stickers and such to follow.
 (one announcement flier attached, feel free to use)

PLEASE FORWARD AND POST EVERYWHERE!!
  Please respond to this email or email: 
if you think your school might participate.

Or to ask for more info or help in planning an action.

We want to get coverage for all the actions and let the public know that parents and teachers are fighting back!

Last spring over 50 schools participated on several Fridays. It’s a great way to build solidarity among your staff, reach out to parents and students and to begin to create the coordinated city-wide effort we all know is needed.

It is time for rank and file teachers, parents and our students to move towards becoming ungovernable.

Mayoral control, the attacks on our livelihoods, and on our students' education will not end simply because we want them to. 

It will take mass mobilization at the school and city-wide level. 

We need to end the privatization of Public Education through charters and merit pay!
 End the destructing of education through the abuse of high stakes testing!
Say NO to school turn-arounds that will destroy school communities, our student's education and the lives and careers of our colleagues.

WE MUST DEMAND AN END TO MAYORAL CONTROL!
PARENTS AND EDUCATORS MUST HAVE A CONTROLLING VOICE IN EDUCATION!

JOIN SCHOOLS ALL OVER THE CITY ON JAN 27TH!
And please let us know that you will be participating!

Here are some times articles covering FBF in the past. We have had lots of other coverage as well.
 And the FBF Blog from John Dewey HS. 
They have an action planned for this Friday as well.

in solidarity
sam
for the rank and file Fight Back Friday committee

------------
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 the right for important bits.

TODAY: Occupy Brooklyn Charter Schools Teach-In and Film Screening of TITBWFS


Occupy Brooklyn Charter Schools Teach-In

Charter Schools and the Impact on Public Education
Thursday, January 19th 2012
6pm     Occupy Brooklyn General Assembly
7pm     Film Screening: The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman written and directed by NYC public school teachers and parents
8pm     Panel and discussion with NYC educators and parents


The Commons388 Atlantic Avenue (between Hoyt & Bond)
Brooklyn


Refreshments Available
Organized by Occupy Brooklyn’s Education Working Group

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Mulgrew Dog and Pony Show on Constitutional Amendment

Amazing: with a PEP meeting about to begin and schools being closed left and right and very fabric of teacher rights under attack UFT Delegate Assembly discusses increasing retiree influence. Framing this as giving 99% in union more rights. Who knew this was an Occupy Wall St event?

New Action's Shulman opposes (alright) calls for 90 day wait. What's the rush he asks?

Unity: Everyone here will be retiree one day.
Wanna bet? Tier 12 pension coming.
Unity: Nina Tribble as usual calls question

Typical Unity DA debate.

Let's tell this story to every classroom teacher in the city.

Pt of order from Fred Arcoleo: shouldnt we get more info and time to discuss major constit change? Ruled out of order by Mendel.

Vote overwhelming YES. Unity machine in action.

Now 5:30. PEP almost starting but they don't seem much in a hurry. Really pathetic.

Cheers,
Norm Scott

Twitter: normscott1

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

Has UFT Had Enough or Just PEP Power Posturing?


Chancellor says DOE has a management team in place to remove 1,700 teachers at 33 struggling schools this year. Mayor says it's happening. ---- - NY1 tweet
Oy!. Is the UFT boxed in by the Bloomberg/Cuomo/Obama assault? How do they play this to the members when they endorse Obama? Probably by placing the blame on Arne Duncan.

What triggered the sudden decision by the UFT hierarchy to cut short the Delegate Assembly today and urge people to head over to the PEP at Brooklyn Tech? Let me count the ways. They went even beyond the DA with robocalls going out to the rank and file last night urging people to attend (one reporter said that 4 teacher friends got calls).



Today's PEP was supposed to be a pretty low-key affair, with even the people from Occupy DOE planning to stay away. Some people think the UFT is getting nervous about the ability of ODOE to reach into rank and file schools with growing attendance at their Sunday meetings. Maybe. But that is not big enough or with enough outreach yet, though the UFT is certainly monitoring ODOE.


This is pretty last minute stuff and smacks of some frustration and even desperation to strike back at the mayor with a show of force. But the UFT has shown a more organized show of force before. What is driving this is the outrage pouring forth from the schools since the Mayor's speech and the leadership has to put on some kind of a show for the members. I'm heading out now and hope to have a report tonight if I can stay awake with some PEP video --- I also have great video from the anti-Moskowitz event last night. 



I almost feel sorry for the leadership which had a lot to do with making this bed. But not while they push a constitutional amendment that further restricts democracy. Let's see if the have the sense the withdraw it today but don't bet on it.

Here is Leo Casey's letter:

Dear Colleagues:

Mayor Bloomberg’s State of the City address last Thursday has greatly angered teachers and educators from public schools across New York City. The Mayor’s announcement that he would seek to close some thirty PLA schools, in addition to the twenty-five schools he already slated for closure, was a nakedly political decision made without the slightest concern for its impact on the education of thousands of New York City public school students. The targeting of schools which had done everything asked of them and had scored highly on the DoE’s own measures of performance is the act of a callous, self-consumed politician who thinks that he can construct a legacy out of destroying schools. And the targeting of schools that serve students and communities with great need once again reminds us that this is a billionaire mayor who understands nothing about the struggles of people who actually have to work for a living.

The Mayor offers as his reason for these school closings, his unwillingness to negotiate with the UFT a meaningful appeals system for ineffective ratings. Instead, he and the DoE insist upon continuing the current system they have devised, where such ratings are automatically turned down at a rate of 99.5%. He wants a teacher evaluation system without educational integrity, just as his school closing decisions are without educational integrity. He will have neither: the UFT, 200,000 strong, will defend and stand with schools unjustly targeted for closure by Bloomberg and the DoE, and we will fight for a fair evaluation system that improves education.

It is important that all of New York City begins to see, as soon as possible, the deep anger that educators feel about the destructive actions of this Mayor. Our campaign to stop these school closings begins tomorrow, with a massive protest at the Panel for Educational Policy meeting which will take place at Brooklyn Technical High School at 29 Fort Greene Place in downtown Brooklyn , starting at 5:30 PM. The closest public transportation is the DeKalb Avenue stop on the B, Q or R train. A map of the school can be accessed at: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl
In solidarity,
 Leo Casey
Vice President

 

Massive Opposition to Moskowitz in Williamsburg/UFT Occupy PEP

So much going on today: UDT DA (4PM) , PEP (6PM), PS 19 school closing hearing in Williamsburg (6PM). Don't have much time as I gotta leave to take my wife into the city for her follow-up exam after her cataract operation yesterday --- she finally got to see who she married after 40 years.

So, last night was really spectacular at MS 50 though you wouldn't know it from any press reports. Eva gets 5 parents on her side and there are a thousand against but the press always interviews one on each side as if it's equal. Thus this NY 1 report

A proposed charter school is splitting the Williamsburg community in half, but while opponents turned out in force for a hearing Tuesday, the program is expected to be approved by the Panel for Educational Policy. NY1’s Lindsey Christ filed the following report.

In half? It was more like 500-1.
And the northside came out to support the southside.

More later.

GO TO THE PEP TONIGHT AT TECH TO SUPPORT THE UFT.

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 the right for important bits.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

UFT Urges Delegates to go to PEP After DA

Dear delegates,
We just wanted to remind you that the UFT Delegate Assembly is meeting tomorrow at the UFT, 52 Broadway.
There will be a recommendation that the delegates go to the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) meeting at Brooklyn Tech HS following the DA.
Sincerely,
Michael Mendel
UFT Secretary

After the delegates vote to give retirees more control over the union, head on down to the PEP where people who are actually working in classrooms can watch their throats being cut. The only way this makes sense if they don't run the meeting till 6 because by the time they get to the PEP it will be far into the meeting. Maybe they will take care of business quickly --- one would think they should postpone the constitutional amendment and deal with the SIG crisis. But I think the priority is to assure lifetime control of the union. Should be fun to see but I will head over to the PEP earlier ---unless I go to the PS 19 closing hearing in Williamsburg instead --- ahhh, so many choices.

Tweed Assault Continues: Another List of School Closings

Stories are floating around about an as yet unannounced list of schools slated for closure – Persistently Lowest-Achieving (PLA) schools. We have learned from a reliable source that Brooklyn Automotive and MS 126 in Williamsburg/Greenpoint are on the list.

These could be as many as 60 schools in addition to the current list of 25 plus the announced closing of the 33 SIG schools on June 30 and their reopening on July 1 with at least 50% teacher turnover. Thus we may be talking about over a hundred reorganizations with tremendous teacher relocations and a massive influx of ATR next year that could cost a hundred million dollars --- which clearly negates some of the money they claim they are losing.

But we know this is all a shell game though how they will figure out how get ATRs who are subbing into the evaluation based on test scores into the mix is a mystery. But they must have a plan to get around any union resistance. Or, the plan is to get the union to bargain away more of the ATR protections like they did last June. The creation of the ATRs in the 2005 contract was a partial victory for Tweed. The rest will be the ability to fire them within a year if they don't get a job, as was done in Chicago years ago.

As a matter of fact, I would attribute the loss of the union to the opposition in Chicago to this situation. And the UFT/Unity leadership certainly saw what happened there. Is that why there is a constitutional amendment being voted on at the DA tomorrow that will further cement the control of Unity and make it absolutely impossible for an opposition to win an election? (I will go into the details in future posts.) Is this a prep to protect the leadership if/when they sell out?

For those of you who think an opposition can win with a better campaign or better candidates or a better platform I will tell you this much.

Even before the constitutional change tomorrow (which requires a 2/3 vote - expect Unity to call out the troops), if the opposition were to win an overwhelming majority of votes in the elementary and middle and high schools they would win a maximum of 22 seats on the UFT Executive Board out of 89. That is today. In the future it will be worse. The opposition in Myanmar/Berma has a better chance.

Mulgrew Agrees With Cuomo on Evals

Today's NY Times:
Mr. Mulgrew, noting that his union had “no disagreement with the governor over the evaluations,” did not object to Mr. Cuomo’s tying the increase in education aid to the creation of the evaluation system.

“We’re just as frustrated as he is, and I publicly came out and asked him to get involved,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/nyregion/cuomo-and-bloomberg-on-attack-on-teacher-evaluations.html
Some people seem astounded by this statement of Mulgrew. Not me. You see, it's Bloomberg who is the problem. A few years ago Bloomberg was the good guy and Klein was the problem. Walcott is really OK. And so is Merryl Tisch and John King. And, Obama and Duncan will be just fine after the UFT/AFT endorses them in July.

But is NYSUT on the same page or just sending up confusing smoke signals?

Carl Korn, a spokesman for New York State United Teachers, said that while the union shared “the governor’s frustration over the implementation of the law,” tying teacher evaluations to state education aid was the “wrong approach.”

“We think supporting teachers and unions in their work is a much better approach,” Mr. Korn said.

Monday, January 16, 2012

The Williamsburg Community Strikes Back Against Eva Invasion

Occupy Williamsburg is in the house - for those who think that the Occupy movement is dead.

Sign the petition to keep Eva out:

http://www.change.org/petitions/nyc-department-of-education-stop-success-academy-williamsburg

--
Keep the PUBLIC in public education! Occupy Williamsburg!


Standing up to Eva Invasion at MS 50 in District 14. Success Charter may get what it wants anyway with the PEP voting on Wed. but there may be a critical mass of growing opposition that will not make life easy.

I know some of the players in the area for decades and Eva will not find it so easy to establish a political beachhead here on the Southside as opposed to further south closer to Bed-Stuy in Dist. 14 at MS 33 and PS 59 where there may be less unity.

The closing hearing for PS 19 on Weds. is not far away -  on the other side of the expressway from MS 50 is Weds and they are mobilized because they think over the long run Moskowitz wants that building too. But my information is that there is a different dynamic in terms of the school coming in though I can't go into details yet.

This is a very busy week for action with multiple events on each day. I know it's tough out there for teachers with all you do but bodies are needed if you can lend your support to any of the events. I will be posting follow-ups.

Tues Jan. 17: See above

Weds Jan. 18 - 3 events
      4-6PM UFT Delegate Assembly -- there may be some folks from Occupy DOE distributing leaflets and possibly doing more than that.
      6-whenever - Panel for Educational Policy - Bklyn Tech HS -- not much action anticipated but never underestimate the power of the Occupy movement to pull some surprises.
     6-8 PS 19k closing school hearing - 325 South 3 Street Brooklyn NY 11211

January screenings of our film:


Thursday, January 19th at 7:00PM. The Commons, 388 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. Discussion to follow. Sponsored by Occupy Brooklyn!
Saturday, January 21st at 12:00 PM. PSC-CUNY office, 61 Broadway, 16th Floor, NYC: Labor Goes to the Movies.
Sunday, January 22nd at 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM. Spectacle Theater, 124 S. 3rd Street (near Bedford Avenue), Brooklyn, NY. Sponsored by Occupy Williamsburg!
Thursday, January 26th at 6:00PM. PS 84, 250 Berry Street, Brooklyn, NY. Sponsored by Community Education Council 14.

Walcott/Blooomberg Booed on MLK Day at BAM

http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2012/01/video-bloomberg-facing-protests-boos-on.html

 

Bloomberg And His Ed Plan Booed At MLK Event

Mayor Bloomberg got booed and heckled as he made the rounds at African-American groups touting his new education initiatives.
bloomberg pensive.jpgOur Monahan, Cunningham and Blau report:
At the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Hizzoner was jeered Monday as he introduced Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott, highlighting his administration’s successes with education policy.
“The civil rights movement transformed America for the better, and now it is up [to us] to continue the work, especially in education, Every day for the past ten years, improving the city schools has been hands-down my number one priority, and it’s going to remain my priority,” he said, receiving boos from the crowd and even calls of “You suck!” from protesters critical of the mayor’s policy of closing schools.
Later in the day, Bloomberg was met with more of the same.
His face flushed red when he was heckled by a Harlem crowd after being introduced by the Rev. Al Sharpton.



BAM PROTEST


Dear Parents and Students,

On Monday January 16, 2012, Chancellor Dennis
Walcott will be the keynote speaker at BAM's Martin Luther King's Day Celebration. The parents and students from Satellite lll and the Academy for Business and Community Development (ABCD) have decided to come together and have a protest around school closings outside of BAM.

We are inviting you to join forces with the parents and community  from Sat lll and ABCD in order to let Chancellor Dennis
Walcott know that, just as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought for quality education for all children, we as parents and students will do the same.



 ===============
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 the right for important bits.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Will the UFT/Unity Leadership Cave to Pressure on Evals While Claiming Victory to Members?

UPDATED: Monday Jan. 16, 9AM - expanded section in green

REGISTER FOR FEB. 4 STATE OF THE UNION CONFERENCE:
Find us on Facebook: State of the Union 
If the UFT won't allow these debates to take place within the official halls like the Exec Bd and the DA, people will look for forums outside the official UFT to engage in these debates.

The ad above has a lot to do with what is to come below.


This week at the UFT Delegate Assembly, in the midst of teacher evaluation crisis, the Unity leadership will call for a constitutional amendment that will increase the voting power of retirees in union elections and expand the executive board to further dilute the influence of classroom teachers. If you don't make the connection between these two events, you are seriously missing what the UFT/Unity Caucus leadership is all about: give ground  to ed deform -- as slowly as possible -- while selling "victory" (it could have been much worse) and tightening up the almost 60-year one party control of the UFT and AFT to keep internal critical voices at a minimum.

A drastic escalation in attacks on a union that has been cooperative in the past
With a full court press by the Obama, Cuomo and Bloomberg administrations to force the UFT into an agreement on teacher evaluations, is the end of resistance coming?

The report in the Daily News that Duncan/Obama are threatening to withhold $1 billion in money (New York State faces losing $1 billion in federal education funds over teacher evaluation issue: Figure is $300 million more than previously thought) if the UFT doesn't cave in, the pressure will be intense, especially with the politicians and the media placing the blame on the union.
Senior members of U.S. Education Secretary Arnie Duncan’s office warned Gov. Cuomo’s team Friday that New York would lose the staggering sum — at least $300 million more than previously thought — if the state made no progress on a system to grade teachers, a source with direct knowledge of the discussions said.
“They will take the money away,” the source added.
A Cuomo administration official said the governor has vowed to protect the money. “(He ) will do everything he can to see that this money is not taken away from us,” he said, declining to elaborate further.
The endangered money includes $700 million in federal Race to the Top money. Now the feds have tacked on $100 million in School Improvement Grants and nearly $200 million in teacher incentive funds.
The UFT supported closing of schools until recently
There is no question all the forces have plotted this removal of funds (which can be restored on a whim) as a way to pressure the UFT to say "give". Will they agree to basically end tenure and seniority protections? Tough territory to go and even weathered UFT critics find it hard to believe they will go there without a fight. But what kind of fight is the UFT capable of engaging in with a non-involved membership (and I claim a lot of this non-involvement can be laid at the feet of the one-party system that disengages the membership).
There is no question the UFT will fight this in court. But what is the backup plan if they lose? The court may be able to delay the move to close these schools June 30 and reopen them the next day but by getting rid of at least half the teachers. This may force the deadlines the DOE needs (6 months) into default and in fact may be the major strategy. But what beyond that?

Ed Notes has been saying from the very beginning a decade ago that the policy of closing schools  under Bloomberg is about removing teachers for political and economic reasons and the latest ploy of closing a school one day and reopening the next but leaving everything in place but getting rid of at least half the teachers lays The Plan out in the open.

The UFT supported closing schools until they were hit with the 19 at one shot two years ago. Remember Randi Weingarten's "Lafayette High School should be closed" while it was clear to all Principal Academy hack/incompetent Jolanta Rohloff was sent in as a closer? It was clear that John Dewey HS would be destabilized as part of the Domino Effect that was experienced in the Bronx years before. And so that has come to pass as Dewey is not now on the list of 33 schools.

All along the way, instead of informing the members of the dangers of this policy --- the leadership had the Chicago example --- they tried to distract the members and give the impression they had everything under control. At no point have they admitted that by agreeing to the Open Market System and an end to many seniority protections in the 2005 contract which they continue to defend (though now very quietly) they opened the door to a massive closing of the schools. The UFT may have figured that Bloomberg wouldn't want to take the hit of paying for ATRs while Bloomberg saw that as a long-term investment in destroying the backbone of the union. Neither the UFT nor Bloomberg seemed to care about the fact that many senior ATRs would just give up and retire.

What strategy now for the UFT?
Some people see the latest Bloomberg ploy as a desperate attempt to save his education legacy before it is too late. Some see it as a negotiation ploy. Others see it as a hard and fast policy from which he will not waiver.

Whatever the motivation, the end result will be some loss for the UFT. Maybe not the whole ball of wax but certainly a move in that direction, with further attacks and further givebacks to come-- maybe after the next UFT election in March 2013.

Under any circumstances, the key issue for the leadership is how to save face and present the final outcome as a victory. The key issue for Bloomberg/Cuomo etc. is to what extent they will be willing to allow the union some face-saving measures -- they also want teachers under control and not rebelling against a leadership they have worked with. Don't think that both parties are not scared to death of another Chicago, so look for Cuomo to play a role in this aspect.

Unity Caucus has successfully held off the internal wolves
The other day I tweeted that since ed deformers are pushing the line that the most vital factor is an effective teacher along with the totally contradictory line that online learning is the future of effective education, why not fire every teacher in the nation and find the 2 most effective teachers to teach 50,000,000 kids on line?

The follow-up tweet is that the AFT/UFT calls this a victory - "they only wanted one teacher and we won this one by getting 2, a 100% increase in the number of teachers."


I know even many of the major critics of the UFT leadership have given Mulgrew credit for standing firm so far (though it was interesting to see an article in I think the Times mention that Mulgrew is not as politically adroit as Weingarten was -- the major reason a lot more people - internal and external - like him better). Of course I see it differently. Mulgrew's response has been more along the lines "we are willing to deal but WalBloom walked out and left us at the table - we are willing to go to mediation" (which splits the baby and gives WalBloom at least half of what they want).

In other words, the UFT is engaging in a rear-guard action to minimize the damage (especially to public relations) but most importantly, to reduce the hit the Unity Caucus leadership may take from an increasingly upset membership --- in the closing schools, schools targeted for co-location and now in the SIG schools. By (smartly) sending in UFT officials to give moral support and offer some logistical support, the union leadership has successfully manage to control the outrage and point it at Bloomberg –– who they used to tout as the good guy vs. the Joel Klein bad boy.

But changing the political line to suit the time is part of successful damage control. It helps when you control all the means of internal communication to the members. Will there come a day when the membership begins to turn against the leadership? Some point to the over 90% vote Mulgrew received just 2 years ago, the adroit use of a phony opposition party - New Action - which is given 8 seats on the Exec Bd to give the appearance of an opposition - as a sign that there is little chance of a serious challenge to Unity. But Unity takes no chances -- thus the constitutional amendment which while needed a 2/3 vote at the Jan. 18 Delegate Assembly, is sure to get passed -- watch how many retirees and Unity Caucus people who rarely attend meetings will show up that day.

Leadership covers up past mistakes
Now, we know their highest level of skill they have shown is in convincing the membership that none of this is their fault (look for them to send their minions into the schools to enforce the "who me" argument) despite a past of collaboration on numerous ed deform issues: the 2005 contract, mayoral control, selling evals and Danielson to the members, joining in the Gates/Obama/etc. push for common core standards-- add your own to a pretty large list).

Here is a perfect example of UFT leadership duplicity reported by Nikki Dowling at the Riverdale Press, who interviewed me for the article. Even Nikki seemed astounded. I didn't have time to tell her the UFT does support the charter but did a law suit they knew they would lose for internal consumption to give the impression they support the public school. I did tell Nikki that the UFT has two charter co-locos occupying space in public schools - so will we see the UFT suing themselves?

UFT head sued charters while on their board


The United Federation of Teachers filed a lawsuit on May 18, 2011, seeking to prevent charter school co-location in public school buildings.
But UFT President Michael Mulgrew [and Randi Weingarten] sits on the board of the very organization — New Visions for Public Schools — responsible for opening two charter schools on the Kennedy campus.
The suit, which ultimately failed, sought to prevent the New Visions Charter High School for the Humanities and the New Visions Charter High School for Advanced Math and Science, as well as 16 other charters from across the city, from opening in a building that already housed another school (also known as co-locating).
The two charters are now located on the Kennedy campus in a mammoth building that houses six other schools, including John F. Kennedy High School, which the DOE is phasing out due to poor performance.
The UFT suit had charged that when they are co-located, disproportionate resources are given to charter schools, while larger schools, like JFK, get less.
“A school building should not be a lesson for a child on what inequality is and that is clearly what we now have. All children should have equal access to facilities inside a school building,” Mr. Mulgrew said in a May 26 press release.
While those interviewed agreed that Mr. Mulgrew’s position on the board is not a legal issue, they found it strange that a union leader who has come out publicly against charter school co-locations would sit on the board of an organization that has, to date, opened two charters in a multi-school building and is seeking to open more.
“They try and play both sides of the fence,” Norm Scott, a vocal critic of the UFT and DOE who runs Ed Notes Online, said.
District 10 Community Education President Marvin Shelton called Mr. Mulgrew’s position on the board a “head scratcher.”
“[If you’re] sitting on the board of an organization … one would believe that you are in support of that organization,” he said.
The two New Visions charters are not yet unionized and thus do not have to abide by UFT rules.
“The process of unionizing these two schools, which is up to the educators in the schools, is underway,” a UFT spokesperson said in a statement.
Mr. Shelton pointed out that though charter teachers may form their own union, it is in the UFT’s interest to solicit more members because they pay membership dues.
UFT spokesman Peter Kadushin and New Visions spokesman Timothy Farrell declined to comment on Mr. Mulgrew’s position on the board.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, also sits on New Visions’ board.
 If there was democracy in the UFT Mulgrew would have to answer to the members at a DA or an Exec Bd meeting (don't expect New Action to bring this up). As a matter of fact, I will pin the astounding errors the UFT has made over the last decade to the very idea that their initiatives are never debated and vetted but instead imposed on the members. If there were vibrant critical voices in the halls of power in the UFT and issues debated openly, the union might be in a very different place.

Which brings me to the State of the Union conference coming up on Feb. 4 which is aimed at examining the role of the union from many angles. I'll talk more about this conference (and why all of you should attend) over the next few weeks. I think this conference reflects the increasing view that if the UFT won't allow these debates to take place within the official halls like the Exec Bd and the DA, people will look for forums outside the official UFT to engage in these debates.

What is very interesting about the people working on putting this together is the number of new faces, most of them young, but also including some long-time teachers who have not been activists before suddenly feeling that it is time to do something. They include individuals from many of the activist groups plus people unaffiliated with organizations.


Film Jan. 18: Creating Good Schools for Our Children

From our good pal Donna Nevel at Center for Immigrant Families.

Join us for a screening and discussion of
180 Days Well Spent:
Creating Good Schools for Our Children

January 18th, 2012 from 5:30 PM until 7:00 PM
at PS 75, 96th Street and West End Avenue
Reception to follow program
Childcare provided

Bloomberg Declares War

Will Bloomberg's actions spur greater teacher and student activism and resistance?
Its seems clear to everyone, mainstream media included, that the situation around education in our city has shifted radically in the last 72 hours with the Mayor's State of the City speech.

Basically, the mayor has declared war on the UFT, abandoning any pretense of negotiating and instead trying an end-run around the union at the 33 Transformation and Restart schools (where negotiations around an evaluation system collapsed over the new year). For those of you who aren't following it, it involves closing the schools and reopening them, with the same students, but forcing the teaching staff to reapply for their jobs and only hiring half of them back (the rest forced to find another job, or wander their district as itinerant ATR subs).

This is basically a desperate escalation on the part of a Mayor who is trying to regain momentum after the Cathy Black debacle and claw back something of an "education legacy" for himself in his last year in office.---- comment from a teacher activist.
 I began receiving calls at home Friday afternoon even before I left for a meeting from teachers livid with rage regarding the actions of WalBloom. Teachers at these schools, kept in the dark all day, were handed piles of notices to give their students - a letter from Walcott to their parents blaming the union for the loss of the $60 million and announcing that the schools would be closed on June 30 and reopened the next day as a new school. Everything remains the same - except that all teachers must reapply for their jobs and only half can come back.

Now technically, they cannot be fired but become ATRs instead - and this is where the Bloomberg strategy become interesting. If they go through with it they will be faced with a massive influx of ATRs -- especially if you add the people from the other schools being closed. The costs to pay teachers who are functioning as day-to-say subs can turn out to be massive. Thus the attempt to make the lives of ATRs miserable by moving them from school to school every week (which the UFT signed on to) and now assigning special supervisors -- at what cost? --- to monitor them. If the BloomCrap gambit flies watch for massive escalation of war on ATRs to try to cut those costs. Look for a media barrage as part of a campaign to vilify ATRs --"Those awful teachers who failed at closing schools who cannot be hires." Try to imagine headlines in The Post.


Some students more outraged than teachers
One caller told me it was not the teachers who seemed most upset, but the students, who often take the attacks on their school and their teachers personally. He said a bunch of kids came to his door and wanted to know what he was going to do about it. "Fight" he said. The kids patted him on the back saying they would help. I'm not sure the level of organizing going on amongst students --- teachers take a great risk and thus the students have to do it themselves --- though there are some advocacy groups doing some work with student. If students join teachers in enough force by walking out of schools or better, go on strike, that would do more to unsettle Bloomberg than just about anything the UFT can and will do.


What will the UFT do?
Will the UFT go beyond legal action? They will probably sell legal action as the way to go. But if teachers begin to take actions outside the bounds of the union structure, I can see the leadership, fearing the loss of their ability to keep things under their control, might be forced to take more militant action, though what that might look like is hard to say. Ad hoc groups of teachers are already calling for restarting the Fight Back Friday campaigns of last year, especially if they can make it happen in as many of the schools under attack as possible.


Teacher activists spurred to greater action
I was at a meeting with a bunch of teachers late Friday afternoon - all long-time activists. One is from one of the 33 schools under attack and another teaches at the Morris HS Campus where Bloomberg made his speech. Both were seething - and whatever level of being an activist takes part of your life away and can become a drag at times - both seemed spurred on to even greater activity by events over the last few days.

What happened on Friday afternoon inflamed teachers. They were told to give out a letter from Walcott to take home to parents blaming the union. I bet a hell of a lot of these letters got trashed.

We also heard the story from the Morris campus where Bloomberg spoke on Thursday and how it was turned into an armed camp with hordes of police invading the school. Teachers were even threatened that if they went out during lunch to join some of the rallies protesting Bloomberg the police might not allow them back in. There were reports that police were trying to get info on teacher activity from security guards.

The reason Bloomberg went to Morris was because it was one of the early large schools closed and stuffed with small schools. While Bloomberg touted Morris as a success, Leonie Haimson was raining on his parade at the NYC Parent blog by pointing out that there was no success.

The Real Deal on Morris High School & Bloomberg’s Failed Education Policies

 And the blog followed up with:

Bloomberg's State of the City address: an administration that has run out of education ideas -- even bad ones

Bloomberg's damaging education proposals to cost $350 million per year

In the meantime, other groups have been organizing protests, rallies. Boy will the copes be kept busy chasing after each of these.

Parents and students from the schools that are currently on the 2012 SCHOOLS CLOSING LISThave decided to join together and support each other in the fight to save their schools.  Listed below are just a few of the actions that will be taking place in the upcoming weeks. Please come out and support our parents and students in their fight.  NUMBERS EQUAL POWER!

FIX SCHOOLS, DON'T JUST CLOSE THEM!
 
JANUARY 16: 9:30 AM:  BAM In Brooklyn.  Support parents from Satellite Three, from Brooklyn, who will be protesting school closures before Chancellor Walcott gives his education speech at MLK event. See attached flyer for details

JANUARY 18: 4:30 pm:  233 Broadway- Rm 720.                                Plan parent & student action for Feb 1. Also planning what to do on Feb 9- day of the PEP vote!

FEBRUARY 1:  4:00 pm - 6:00 pm-- Union Square. Students & Parents from closing and failing schools/ Mayor 13% (percentage of Black & Latino students prepared for college).  More details later.
FEBRUARY 9:  4:00pm onwards. PEP Votes on School Closings-- Brooklyn Tech H.S.  
Remember to join this facebook page on school closings:
Www.facebook.com/closingschoolsisnottheanswer
Support Legacy High School students who organized an "occupy your ears" event making hundreds of calls to DOE, PEP, Elected Officials, etc.

http://www.facebook.com/events/323146817716488/ 

Many parents/students will be having local actions at DOE hearings at their schools-- from boycotting to protesting.  Please let us know what you're planning & post to this email list!

Please call me with any questions.

Fight, fight, fight-- a great education is a Right!
 
mili
Mili Bonilla

Coalition for Educational Justice

Annenberg Institute for School Reform

  Cell: 347-901-1049


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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 the right for important bits.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Sticker Caper Bandit Brands Eva's Million Dollar Advertizing Campaign With the Truth

Updated: Sat. Jan. 14, 7AM: Stickers, Stickers, We Got Stickers



I'm sure all the other NYC blogs will be dealing with the BloomCrap so I'll just pop these puppies about the reactions to closing schools and Success Charter co-locos. Eva wanted gentrification neighborhoods and she's got them along with a load of activists. Really, for people who have been doing organizing without getting much response for years, Eva and BloomCrap are like godsends.

Gotham reports on the sticker caper:
http://gothamschools.org/2012/01/13/critical-stickers-added-to-success-academys-new-subway-ads/

There are so many people in Williamsburg willing to take credit for this you could fill the house of detention. Watch Bloomberg spend a million of public money to put cameras every 2 feet in the subway stations with Eva's ads.

Leonie reports on protests at PS 19 which is on the closing school list and on MS 50 which is being invaded by Eva.




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 the right for important bits.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Walcott letter to parents being distributed in 33 schools today in unilateral action bypassing union

Just got a call from a teacher -- they may be invoking some rule that limits union rights to being on panel that hires teachers -- forcing all teachers to reapply for jobs -- with high schools new term starting in 2 weeks -- are they aiming to do this now or wait till Sept?

UFT DA is Weds. Some people want to go there to show the UFT they will support them in any action the union is willing to take. Others are talking about disrupting PEP meeting later that evening. Is this the spark that ignites a fire?

There are calls for the union to get the 33 schools together to fight this instead of leaving it to individual chapters. Waiting to see how UFT which often sees these actions as internal threats responds. But can the UFT act like it normally does now?

More later.