UFT- Oh, Woe Is Me, But Let's Look on the Bright Side

UFT Chapter Leader Update, March 23

Thanks to UFT members, Lobby Day is once again a success

We'll be letting you know exactly what we gained, but in the meantime we:

Urge members to join pension plan before Tier 6 arrives on April 1

One of our great successes on lobbying day was that our efforts stopped Tiers 7-12, at least for now. Another success is that we limited the UFT members allowed to go to lobbying day only to those who gave to COPE - and by the way, don't blame this disaster on us but on the scumballs in your schools who didn't give to COPE or don't give enough -- if you chapter leaders don't get your asses moving on COPE collections, we are going to overturn your school's election and get someone in your school who can collect COPE money. How are we going to be able to pay for those hotels and meals when our crew goes up to Albany.

PERB agrees with UFT on appointing mediator for stalled talks on 33 schools

This is a big one for us. It will give those teachers in the schools some hope and also keep them off our backs  -- until the schools close and those not hired go into the dark hole of ATRs, never to be heard from again.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew responds to the mayor’s loan forgiveness plan

UFT President Michael Mulgrew sent a letter this week to Chancellor Dennis Walcott in response to Mayor Bloomberg's stated plan to give teachers in the “top tier” of their college class $25,000 to repay their student loans. Stressing the importance of balancing the need for retention of highly qualified teachers with the need for recruitment,

Another big one for us. The Mayor really wants this and we can get some crumb back.
As for telling the mayor no loans until every single ATR is hired, exactly what is an ATR again?

Schoolbook:
Concerned that lawmakers could pass a state budget that eliminates teacher training centers in public schools, the city’s teachers’ union is pressing Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to restore the financing.


Oh, shit. One of our patronage biggies where we get to pick 140 people for jobs. We promise that holding on to teacher center positions is the line in the sand for us. If we have to give up LIFO and -- you know -- those people going from school to school every week after we signed that agreement last June --- starts with an A or a B -- no problemo.

ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES PASSAGE OF “NO AUDIENCE LEFT BEHIND” BILL

David Frankel is a teacher now working in a community college in Colorado. He has given permission to circulate this hilarious essay.

June 7, 2015


ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES PASSAGE OF “NO AUDIENCE LEFT BEHIND” BILL

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

Secretary of Comedy R.N. Dukowsky announced the passage of the administration’s signature comedy reform initiative, “No Audience Left Behind” (NALB). “This comes in response to our nation’s ongoing comedy crisis,” Secretary Dukowsky said. “For most of our history, American comedy has been the envy of the world. In the past several decades, however, American comedians have been falling behind their international peers. While we still score highly in ethnic humor and political satire, our performance in the basics – especially married-couple jokes and family-based situation comedy – has fallen to near the bottom of the pack compared with other developed nations. Unless we improve, we are a nation at comedic risk.”

In response to this crisis, the federal government plans to move aggressively. “The government has been conducting long-term studies of Best Comedic Practices,” says Secretary Dukowsky. “We have found that there is enormous variation in how our comedians are trained. There are no national standards; no set repertory of means and methods; and, most of all, no quantified structure of accountability. As a result, we see enormous variation in the nation’s comedic performance. While New York City and Los Angeles seem to perform robustly on international exams, in Utah and Idaho, audiences are chronically ‘left behind.’ We cannot tolerate that sort of achievement gap.”

The centerpiece of the new proposal will be a regime of standardized testing “with real carrots and real sticks,” as the secretary puts it. “Every year, every American comedian will have to demonstrate proficiency in core comedic competencies. Did you know that there are some comedians who show almost no utilization of pratfalls and fart jokes? Others who know nothing of under-deoderized frat boy humor? Even some well-regarded practitioners have shown a tendency in public performance just to ‘do what they think is funny.’ It would be irresponsible of us to let that continue. It is time for American comedy to become data-driven.”

Some American comedians expressed confusion about certain aspects of the plan. “They want us to tell the same jokes in every venue?” said Shecky Dangerfield, a standup veteran. “Those bar mitzvah gigs are gonna get a little blue.” Others questioned other aspects of ‘best comedic practices.’ “Before the show, we’re supposed to put all our punchlines up on a blackboard,” said Phillippa Diller. “I’m a little worried about the element of surprise.”

Secretary Dukowski, as well as the heads of the Gates, Walton and Broad Foundations, who are heavily funding the new program, dismissed these questions as “bureaucratic inertia.” “A lot of people are used to doing things the old way, and we know the old way doesn’t work,” said the secretary. “Every day, some Americans are going into comedy clubs and not laughing. Every day, some Americans’ humorous potential is not being developed. If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” As Bill Gates put it at the same press conference, “We are attempting to bring expertise from outside the world of comedy in order to enhance its productivity. Most comedians are not familiar with psychometric measures and do not have a well-developed business model. The answer is to tap the dynamism of America’s most successful business leaders.”

Next week the administration intends to roll out “No Sibling Left Behind” to reform the nation’s parenting practices. In the words of White House Press Secretary Lorna Givens, “We’re very excited by the opportunities that can be created by data-driven parenting. Stay tuned.”

State of the Union Upcoming Activities

Just heading off to an ICE meeting where we will discuss what role we will have as things move forward with the still unnamed State of the Union which includes people from all the groups plus lots of new folks. Let's not underestimate the difficulties of putting together a brand new entity in the midst of the chaos of the ed deform attacks and the always shifting messages put out by the Unity Caucus/Uft leaders. A key is to build trust in each other while negotiating a range of interests and positions. That is why things have been so slow in developing with SOTU.

ICE, given its roots in Ed Notes, has always stressed education --- analyzing events rather than action. Other groups look more to action. Some like GEM blend both. One thing is clear --- you can"t do much without a committed core of activists who are willing to do the hard work. Thus I view the first stage not as a mass movement but in terms of a one or two hundred on the same page with trust in each other.

One reason the action at the NY Post yesterday was "successful" despite a low turnout was this building of a  sense of working together. Going to the bar afterwards is just as important. Here are more upcoming related activities with the Nycore conf leading the way tomorrow.


Hello all SOTU Activists: 

Thanks to all who came out to the successful picket of the New York Post yesterday!

There is a number of important activities coming up in the next week.  If you would like to help with a SOTU table at the NYCORE conference tomorrow, please reply to this email (we will have signup sheets and membership cards there).

The planning committee meeting on Monday is open to all SOTU activists, and will help to set the agenda for our first general membership meeting on April 21st.

Please check out the following upcoming events:

 

Saturday 3/24 All Day  NYCORE Conference,

Among other great workshops, check out SOTU-led workshop entitled  

Building Your Chapter: How Do You Organize at the School Level?

Vanguard High School - 317 East 67th Street - 6 to 68th St.

http://www.nycore.org/conference/

Monday, 3/26 5-7 PM Planning Committee meeting 

CUNY Graduate Center, rm 5414 

365 5th Ave - 6 to 33rd or N/R/Q/F/D/B/M to 34th

Friday, 3/30, 4:30 PM General Working Committee meeting
Starlight Diner, 9^th Ave and 34^th Street
(1/2/3A/C/E to 34th)

Friday, 3/30, 4:30 PM Happy Hour for potential CL's / Delegates,  
Shades of Green Pub - 125 East 15th Street

(4/5/6/N/R/Q to Union Square)

And don't forget to put in your calendar: 

Saturday, 4/21 Membership Meeting from 12-3 pm, Location TBA

NY Post/ McGraw Hill Protest Photos

Video coming soon. Small group but spirited. 

PEP Notes From March 21

We had tickets to a play last night so I didn't make it to the PEP which was focused on charter co-locations. Every co-loco turns more people into opponents of ed deform so in that cloud is a silver lining.

It took me a long time to realize the value of Twitter as a basic news source. So before and after the show I was able to follow the PEP and OWS stuff and the Million hoodie march for Trayvon Martin at Unions Square. (Interesting that on the way home around 9PM there was an announcement that the Q train was skipping Union Square due to a police investigation). See the video with Brian Jones posted on the Coalition for Public Education blog. Also see Jose Vilson and Miss Eyre at NYCEducator on this issue. (I'll do a separate post later).

Gotham tweeted on the PEP all night -- they are here:

On PEP agenda: Co-locations and a “restart”-related contract

And Patrick Sullivan did some too. Here are Patrick's and a few more under the #PEP321 hash tag.

Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

Asked DOE general counsel to review law, see if MCS charter in violation of law requiring charters to serve Eng lang learners #PEP321

1h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

Worst of #PEP321 mayoral bloc replicates Manh Charter School despite admitted concerns that the school serves no ELLs on Lower East Side.

2h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

RT @SaveSatellite #PEP321 Patrick sez you are taking advantage of public schools with these #colocation s

2h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

RT @gothamschools 5 police surround teacher shouting over #PEP321 discussions. She refuses to leave; they back off http://pic.twitter.com/veUoCygy

View photo

2h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

RT @SaveSatellite #PEP321 why are we moving 2 success academies in one building so there will be 6 elementary schools in one building?

3h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

Great coverage of last night's Panel for Educational Policy by @SaveSatellite and @gothamschools using hashtag #PEP321

11h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

Highlight of #PEP321 Spring on 24th Street http://yfrog.com/ocazbxhj

View photo

11h Patrick J. Sullivan ‏ @PSulliv

Contracts for CUNY fail at #PEP due to recusals of mayoral bloc appointees with CUNY ties.

Shael Channels Leo at HST 101 Event

I was struck by the similarity in his [Shael] remarks to the way that Leo Casey, playing his usual role as the left face of the union leadership, tried to sell the evaluation deal.   

---- Peter Lamphere, commenting on the HST 101 debate Monday

#HST Shael: echos Leo Casey argument that stand tests not as crucial. Who wrote whose script?  --- my tweet at the event

Remember how Leo Casey defended inviting Bill Gates to be keynote speaker at AFT convention that they were entering into a "dialogue" with him?  ---a parent activist

Before I get into the similarity between the lines being put out by Shael and Leo -- affirming my contention that there is a lot of commonality of interests between the UFT and Tweed --- ie, getting rid of vet teachers, closing large high schools which the UFT consistently supported until recently, the upcoming joint support of Quinn for mayor by both Bloomberg and the UFT, that the UFT role is to be an intermediary between ed deformers and the rank and file rather than an absolute advocate --- putting out the line "if we are not part of the conversation"---yada, yada, yada --- I want to raise this diversion.

I ran into a top-level principal who loves the job [less and less] and gets raves from teachers yesterday ---whom I barely know and have had few discussions with on education who said "Shael is ________ [very uncomplimentary]." I was surprised as this person is not someone I would expect this from.

So when even a guy like Shael (who comes off as a reasonably nice guy -- a real educator who has sold out, as opposed to the bloodless Mark Sternberg who channels John White) put out there by Tweed to sell their crap has little credibility with high quality principals, that is a sign of their abject failure at all levels. The principal continued, "By the time Bloomberg leaves the system will be in such shambles it will take 20 years to put something back together and by that time I will be far, far away."

So, about the similarities between the Shael and Leo lines on ed eval ---to such an extent that I was surprised Monday night. If you have a chance check out the video –

HST 101

Part 1: http://vimeo.com/38901880 (1 hour)

Part 2: http://vimeo.com/38919400  (51 minutes)L

Listen to Shael (I hate writing his hyphenated name) and tell me he doesn't come off like Leo Casey, whose credibility with people at the school level has suffered a similar fate as Shael's has at the same level. I don't mean the usual suspects like me but people who have not been active before but highly respected teachers who are aware of the debates like Assailed Teacher who are viewing Leo more and more like principals view Shael the shill.

In part 2, Peter's partner Dao Tran -- they were there with their daughter -- speaks about the impact of high stakes testing on their school where trips are banned in pre-k.

Here is Peter Lamphere's full take, posted March 20.

The forum last night in Brooklyn was excellent - kudos to the parent networks that organized it.  Shael certainly got grilled by a variety of angry parents, principals and teachers about the nature of the testing regime. 

He, of course, played his usually role as the Bloomberg education regime's left face, by reminding parents how many progressive schools Bloomberg had opened up and mentioning his "doubts" about the system as highlighted by Anna Phillips in her writeup (below).  However, he stuck to his guns that Bloomberg administration had generated more of a dialogue about learning in the schools by their emphasis on "results" (how can a dictatorial regime that brooks no opposition be said to have a dialogue?), and the potentially progressive nature of the critical thinking tests that they were in the process of designing (or paying Pearson millions to design).

I was struck by the similarity in his remarks to the way that Leo Casey, playing his usual role as the left face of the union leadership, tried to sell the evaluation deal.  Both of them emphasized the benefits of multiple measures, focused on how few teachers would really be evaluated by tests (because value added will supposedly only be calculated for English and Math teachers), and touted the idea that the "local 20%" would not be based on standardized tests.

There was a particularly revealing moment on this angle when Elijah Hawkes talked about the particular rigorous portfolio assessment that the students at his former school go through (they are part of the Consortium, a group of schools that use student presentations of projects instead of the Regents).  Shael used this to talk about the value of performance-based, but not portfolio, assessment as part of a potential local evaluation deal.

I believe the eliding of portfolio based assessment with "performance based" tests is a key sleight of hand that will be pulled in the coming year as the city and the union try to sell whatever they come up with as an evaluation deal. When I questioned Leo Casey on his blog about what kind of "performance based" option he thought the union could negotiate with the city for the "local 20%," he basically said that something along the lines of a Social Studies DBQ essay from the Regents was on the table before talks broke down in December.  

So the much touted, higher-order thinking that Shael would like to promote and that the union thinks it can sell, turns out to be exactly the same as the Regents' exams that have been hammering our students for years.

However, if teachers and parents continue to show the kind critical engagement that the audience did last night, which didn't have any patience for Shael's salesmanship, we have nothing to worry about.

Here is Anna Philips' report on the debate at Schoolbook.

Doubts About High-Stakes Tests and Their Effect on Teachers

 

Thursday, 5PM: Educators Stand Up to Murdoch's NY Post

IT'S TIME TO MAKE A STAND. SHARE THIS WITH PEOPLE YOU WORK WITH AND TEACHER CONTACTS AND SUPPORTERS.

Thursday, March 22, 5PM at News Corp HQ: Meet at 30 Rockefeller Center.

Email me if you want the pdf for your school: normsco@gmail.com

Every UFT member who can make this should be there. 

If you're asking why the Post and not the Times, we start with the most sleaze first, though given that the Daily News sent a reporter and fotog to my friend's door on a Saturday morning makes them just as sleazy.

Let's make this clear -- this is NOT an action of the UFT (though it wouldn't surprise me to see them glom onto this) but of the Occupy DOE group with the support of pretty much all the activist groups.

The still unnamed State of the Union which includes activists from all the groups is also supporting.

Come! Spread the word!

Educators Stand Up to the NY Post!

Protest the New York Post's Decision to Publish Faulty Teacher Data Reports, Ties to Education Deform, and Distribution of Vile and Bigoted Pseudo-Reporting to Our Schools

The New York Post despicably published the Teacher Data Reports of some 1800 fourth through eighth grade teachers, with full knowledge of their many flaws from inaccurate class rosters to statistically irrelevant sample sizes and the massive opposition to their focus on high stakes standardized testing as the only means of assessing teachers and students. The Post's parent company, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, has a history of connections to the worst actors in the movement against teachers and students, including hiring former New York City Chancellor of Schools, Joel Klein. This only adds to the already outrageous free distribution of the New York Post, a racist, sexist, pornographic rag of a newspaper, to our public schools.

Join Occupy the Department of Education for a protest at News Corporation's Headquarters, and a tour of the publications that betrayed our teachers and students through the publication of teacher data reports.

Thursday, March 22

5:00 PM

Meet at 30 Rockefeller Center

Wear Black to mourn the "death of teaching" and your "scarlet number" to show we won't be shamed!

Follow on Twitter #scarletnumbers

RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/387880417906717/

PPA gets temporary restraining order to halt closure!

I have just been informed that Queens County Supreme Court has granted Peninsula Preparatory Academy Charter School a temporary restraining order that puts its planned closure decision on hold. The case will be heard next week. This may be the first time such a thing has happened, as far as I know.
Josmar Trujillo
Peninsula Prep PTO Co-President
646 732 7734

Loretta Prisco On TDRs

A doctor offers you medicine for a very serious illness, perhaps fatal. She says there is a success rate of 99.9 percent, but it may advance the illness. Do you take the medicine?

Ah, but wait – before you swallow the first pill, the doctor tells you that there is a 53 point margin of error. Are you thinking twice about it?

The lawyer will take your case, assuring you that there is a 98% chance that you will win – a big time lawsuit – and asks for a payment of $10,000. Good odds, you jump, which line do I sign on? Did you write the check yet? You might want to put the pen away - there is a 53 point margin of error.

And so it is with the Teacher Data Reports released by the DOE to the world. There is a 53 point margin of error with the data! A teacher’s career will rest on a score that can be seriously flawed.

Some say that the data is valuable if calculated correctly. But I would like to dig deeper. Too often we read of the education “miracles” in Texas, Georgia, and D.C., only to find the massive cheating and dumbing down of tests that went on. Even here in the Empire State, scores had to be recalibrated.

Should a teacher be evaluated? Absolutely! How does one rate a teacher? That is another article. But we know how not to rate a teacher –by standardized tests. Common sense dictates that publicly humiliating and shaming a teacher will not improve teaching and learning. The Board on Testing and Assessment of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences has warned that the data that will be used to evaluate teachers are so unstable that the that they cannot be considered fair or reliable enough to make operational decisions about teachers.

I always wondered why a student who was a high achiever in 4th grade could fall below standard in 5th. If a child is reading successfully, really reading, not test prepped in 4th grade, he should be successful in 5th, not “forget” how to read well. Most of us who are readers in our adult life did not lose our ability to read when reading instruction stopped at some point in school.

I always wondered why a student who was not a successful reader after attending school 10 months a year over 7 years, could go to a 6 week – half day summer program and voila, become an achieving reader. This, although out of the 30 half days, several days are spent testing, the teacher may have been absent at least one day, and the student out a few more. Do we hire magicians for summer school? Why not cancel year round school and send all children to school for a 30 day summer program? Imagine the money we would save!

Standardized tests are not any more than even the testing companies agree - a measure of a child’s ability on a particular day and should not be used, as the only measurement of a child’s ability or a teacher’s competence.

These are the dark days of education. We pummel our teachers and deny children the joy of learning and the opportunity to become life long learners and critical thinkers.
Diane Ravitch is absolutely right. “We will someday view this era as one in which the nation turned its back on its public schools, its children, and its educators.”

Loretta Prisco is a founding member of the Independent Community of Educators (ICE)

Videos: High Stakes Testing 101

UPDATED:
I removed the short 13 minute video and am replacing it with the full video - a 2 parter. I may still have to edit part 2 tonight so look for a new URL for part 2 by tomorrow.

High Stakes Testing 101 

Part 1: http://vimeo.com/38901880

Part 2: http://vimeo.com/38919400 

Sean Feeney was very impressive, as was Elijah Hawkes, the founding principal of James Baldwin HS who has left to move to Vermont. A nice contingent of teachers were there to support him. A friend who worked at Tweed and has met him and was very fond of him called me earlier in the day to make sure I said hello. Elijah's gentle manner came off so well. It was a pleasure to meet him.

There were some criticisms today that the debate and Q & A were too teacher centric and didn't deal enough with the impact of HS Testing on kids.

In prepping for the debate, Julie Cavanagh and I started discussion of a new GEM film based on HST and even though I did not fulfill my assignment to get interviews last might, the project will move ahead even with Julie about to reach the last 3 months of her pregnancy. We expect the rest of the Real Reform Studio crew to be part of the project, along with some new faces.

I had fun tweeting last night, pointing out that Shael's nose was growing every time he lied or distorted the truth -- which IS lying --- up until the Q and A when I had to manage the camera (and not too well as you will notice). I know there are actually Shael fans out there because he comes off as reasonable --- if you heard him last night you would think the gang at Tweed were real reformers. I don't buy it and though everyone seems to despise Mark Sternberg, I don't separate them. A Tweedie is a Tweedie.

See below the fold --- as usual with tweets in reverse order.

Gotham Schools report: City’s accountability czar fields criticism at forum about testing

Tweets below:

Francesco Portelos: Teacher Under Assault by Principal Linda Hill

UPDATE: Former students put up Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/ProtectPortelos

This is both an old and a new story.

You can't break Mr. Portelos!

Sunday at the robotics tournament at the Javits Convention Center I had the opportunity to meet and chat with Staten Island teacher and coach Francesco Portelos of the IS 49 SI team. He is the father of a 10 month old with another on the way. I found him one of the most engaging people I spoke to that day.

Before I go any further, I want to say that the teacher/coaches involved wit FLL robotics are amongst the most dedicated teachers I know. Francesco was giving up his entire Sunday (8AM-5PM)without being paid a dime.

I had been informed that he was under attack by his principal Linda Hill because he had asked a question at a Leadership Team meeting about the budget. I had heard he had a web site www.protectportelos.org but had not had a chance to check it out.

He told me decided to get more involved in activities outside the classroom. He became a UFT delegate and joined the School Leadership Team. He made it very clear: he can stand up to any heat and is willing to go to the mat no matter what happens, so read below with that in mind. He is one determined teacher to stay the course. If they try to fire this guy he will be the poster boy for LIFO and tenure.

One more thing. The role his UFT chapter chair who has stabbed him in the back and supported the principal. Think the CL is Unity Caucus? Wouldn't surprise me.

It turns out that the NY Post on Sunday had a page 4 article by Sue Edelman featuring his story and he wasn't happy that it opened with, "A teacher with a chip on his shoulder..." Given that Francesco was coaching the robotics team it should read, "computer chip."

He told me the principal had an investigation of him launched but he has no idea what it is about.  One day they showed up at his door and confiscated his school computer. They asked for his laptop and ipad. He told them since it was a half day they were home. So they ESCORTED HIM HOME to pick them up. Really unbelievable.

Now I know Sue Edelman (her aunt lives next door) and I called her with my outrage over why the Post wasn't at Javits doing a story about the kind of work Francesco and most teachers do (we had 82 teams there). I pointed out that he is a Polytech (one of our main backers) grad, a trained engineer who left the field to teach, which he has been doing for almost 5 years. (Thank goodness for tenure-- special note to e4e jackasses). Can you imagine how valuable he is to the school? But with asshole principals running around who think they are kings or queens, the mere fact of asking a question about the budget can lead to an attempt to destroy you.

Sue said the Post was actually sympathetic to him and said they would send a photographer. I never saw one --- must have slipped through the cracks.

Also, Cynthia R. Fagen who co-wrote the article came to Francesco's home one day in the usual slimy "60 minutes" style. I warned Sue as I am warning all reporters. Pull a surprise visit like these hit jobs on teachers and we will start publishing where you live and invite teachers to visit you when you get quotes wrong -- as almost every holier than thou reporter often does. When I raise this they have the nerve to say, "we're just giving the teacher a fair chance to respond." How about a phone call or a request for an interview? 

The article points out that his blog:

chronicles a worsening tiff that started when Portelos accused Hill of breaking the chancellor’s rules by not sharing the school’s $7.7 million budget with a panel of parents and staff tasked with reviewing it, a charge the DOE denied Friday. Soon after, Hill slapped Portelos with three letters in 10 days charging him with unprofessional conduct and insubordination. She accuses him of screaming at and cursing a fellow teacher — which he denies — sending a mass e-mail to staff without her approval and staying in school past 5:30 p.m. without her written permission.

Francesco stays in school working so late, he has been locked in once or twice.

Note the DOE denied the charge but there seems to be some proof in the years of School Leadership minutes which were just sent to me. It is 38 pages and if anyone wants to check them out email me and I'll send you the pdf. (See below).

You tell me if you think the Post article is favorable to him when it says, "

An IS 49 insider called Portelos “a loose cannon.”

Did they try to find a favorable quote? That is favorable?
Here is the caption from the article

ONLINE IRE: Francesco Portelos (above) has outraged IS 49 principal Linda Hill (below) by airing in-school disputes on the Web.

Is that caption amazing. He drew HER ire?


The story just took a leap when an email was sent out to a bunch of press people. Again, email me at normsco@gmail.com if you want a pdf of the minutes.

Sat March 24: Register for 2012 NYCoRE Conference!

Location: Julia Richman HS campus - 317 East 67th St.

Starting 8:45 (oy!) but come when you can. This is my 3rd Saturday in a row of getting up early for an all-day event. But I am off all week. What amazes me is how many working teachers are doing all this political work for NYCORE, GEM, TU, ODOE, etc. [Don't miss the rally this Thursday at the NY Post.]

And most of them are on the young end, for those vets who vilify the next-gen of teachers, mistakenly thinking they are clueless and even more clueless ala E4E.

I always find it funny how any event put on by E4E gets coverage (esp by Gotham Schools) while major events put on by the NY Collective of Radical Educators (NYCORE) are ignored even when NYCORE draws so much higher numbers and has so many more supporters than E4E.

I've been going to these all-day conferences for years (mostly so I can attend the after-party where I can feel young again -- well almost --- and no, I I do not suck the blood of young teachers when it gets dark). It is quite a day with hundreds of educators gathering for a number of workshops.

The GEM film, The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman, will be shown (at 11AM I believe). By the way, a check came in yesterday for $200 from the Georgia Federation of Teachers and the film is being shown at Mohican Sun by the Conn. Ed Assoc the weekend after next. And yes, the UFT boycott continues.

The GEM initiated high stakes testing committee, "Change the Stakes" will also be doing an afternoon workshop.

I will be there to tape during the day, including the keynote.
The final conference program is online

Last chance to register in advance for 2012 NYCoRE Conference this Saturday, March 24!

(There is on site registration too!)

NYCoRE Conference 3/24/12 http://www.nycore.org/conference Date: Saturday, March 24, 2012 at 8:45 AM (ET) Location: Julia Richman Education Complex, 317 East 67th Street We hope to see you Saturday at NYCoRE's 3rd Annual Conference.  A couple of announcements and reminders to make the day a success! The final conference program is now online.  WHAT A LINE UP! If you are coming, we recommend reading it over now and trying to make decisions about which sessions you want to attend.  The workshops are first-come first-serve, so get to your room early as they will be closed when full. We are happy to provide a delicious breakfast and lunch.  However, coffee has proven difficult on our end, so if you require a hot beverage to get you going in the morning - we recommend picking up a cup on your way in. Please arrive EARLY!  The keynote is going to be one of the highlights of the day!  Kevin Kumashiro will be discussing his new book Bad Teacher in which he breaks down how the mainstream framing of teachers is masking a broader attack on public education.  He will be joined by youth actors from the Bronx's DreamYard Action Project.  As always, we will open with a powerful performance by an Urban Word Poet. You will be sorry if you miss it!  Please be sure to arrive by 8:45-9:00 so you can register, have a pastry/bagel and get situated. Another new highlight this year is that our collaboration with DreamYard Action Project has resulted in creating new ways to better engage young people at the conference.  From a youth open mic lunch to more youth-led and -centered workshops, we are excited about this development.  There will be a flier with more details available at the youth registration table. We also have amazing conference T-shirts in traditional and "girl" cuts for just $10, so bring along some extra cash.  You'll also have the opportunity to pre-order the NYCoRE/Edlib Planning to Change the World Planbook for an early bird rate at the NYCoRE table.  There are many other amazing ally organizations tabling at the conference with great resources and information on how to get involved. Please stick around for the whole conference.  We are so lucky to have a talented group of young actors from DreamYard Action Project who are closing the conference with a powerful performance. Finally, after the closing performance, we will be heading one-block away for an after conference after party to continue the conversations and enjoy ourselves.  There will be drink specials for conference attendees. Please join us!  There is still time to register, so please spread the word over facebook, twitter etc!  --The 2012 Conference Planning Committee

VIDEO PART II - ROADS II CHARTER WILL DISRUPT SATELLITE ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL

GEM's Angel Gonzalez is back with Part 2. See Part 1:

Video: Bronx Satellite Academy Pushes Back Against ROADS Charter Invasion

 Video and text by Angel Gonzalez.

Part 2.




http://youtu.be/ekTyMwl8D70

ROADS II CHARTER SCHOOL CO-LOCATION PUSHES INTO THE BRONX. WILL DISRUPT SATELLITE ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL
YET NO COMMUNITY INPUT!

Another Charter School CO-LOCATION looms for the South Bronx and immediately threatens the very existence of our good innovative public high school, Satellite Academy (SA).

As usual, the callous Bloomberg's Department of Education (DOE), without any input of our parents, students, staff and Bronx communities, moves impose the ROADS II Charter School into the Bronx Regional High School Building complex where the three schools already exist (i.e. Bronx Regional, GED Plus, and Satellite Academy).

Without community input, the DOE arrogantly claims that ROADS II Charter School will have no educational impact. This is an insult our community's intelligence! The placement of hundreds more high needs students will have negative consequences on all the schools housed in the Bronx Regional High School complex. This is simple math.

All three high schools already serve a high needs Latino & Black student population from our least mobilized neighborhoods. All students in the Bronx Regional Building are transfer students -- over-age, under-credited and many formerly drop-outs. ROADS II aims to serve the same population that SA already serves while at the same time would take away 47% of SA's classroom space!

There is no need for the offerings of the ROADS II charter school. Satellite Academy already exists with a proven track record and offers a far more superior program with an experienced staff that has successfully served transfer students. SA implements a reputable collaborative project/ portfolio learning process that engages students, and has a State-approved Waiver to support its non-Regents-tests-based approach.

ROADS II CHARTER, with the private backing of an outside Wall St. profit driven firm, Centerbridge Partners, comes from outside the Bronx community and promises an questionable computer-based method (promising 15 students per class, ROADS II will instead host 25 students per class where teachers work with small groups while the rest will be placated on computers) and teach-to-test curriculum with a focus on Regents exams. ROADS thus will provide more of the same old methods that contributed to the alienation and pushing out of "transfer" students in the first place. Test-driven teaching negatively impacts on learning.

By adding more students into the Bronx Regional building and segregating these needier students into ROADS II, what results is overcrowding and heightened tensions between four, instead of three schools that all already service very high need students. Instead of using available spaces to promote smaller class sizes, this crowding can result in a negative climate that will beg for demeaning metal detectors, surveillance cameras and the police interventions. The co-location of the ROADS II Charter School is an invitation for unwarranted competition, disharmony and disruption.

The Bronx Regional campus is extra-ordinary in that it is one of the few Bronx high school buildings that to date has no such prison-like scanning, stop & frisk protocols. Instead has a generally more student friendly and welcoming atmosphere. In fact, it holds no scanning as a building-wide policy!

SA classrooms are welcoming with rich learning and decorated environments (a family school atmosphere rarely seen at the high school level). Make an unannounced visit to SA and a respectful low-volume demeanor of the staff will blow you away. The ROADS II co-location would force the doubling-up of teachers and the dismantling of such a wonderful model school that all students deserve.

If more students must be placed here, the public believes that Satellite Academy should be expanded and this fourth unnecessary competing school, the private ROADS II CHARTER, should not be accepted. Its impact can only be negative for all programs at the site.
The ROADS II CHARTER, as many charters do in the interests of savings and profits, will introduce instability in its staffing by:
• Hiring younger lower paid inexperienced teachers and staff who will be compensated with less overall benefits (e.g. medical, pension, vacation, tenure).
• Denying labor rights. Charters are generally union-busters and provide either no contracts or few rights and regulations to protect their school workers.
• Demanding longer workdays and longer school years.
Evidence has shown that a staff that is lower-paid and overworked has resulted in charters having a high rate of attrition. A high rate of turnaround for faculty and staff is obviously not in the best interests of our students, schools or communities.

www.savesatellite.blogspot.com
betterbronxschools@gmail.com

Category:

Education

Tags:

• ROADS II Charter
• Seth Litt
• Satellite Academy
• Colocation
• Bloomberg
• school privatization
• Race to the Top

Debate Monday: High Stakes 101 in Brooklyn

GEM's Janine Sopp sent this along. She has been a major player with the GEM high stakes testing committee, which has involved with the opt-out movement in the Change the Stakes campaign.

Hello All!

I hope this finds you well. Together with many others, I have been busy putting together a panel* on high-stakes testing that will take place at BNS on Mon March 19. It's being sponsored by the BNS/BCS (PS146) PAC and PS 29 and we are hoping for a full house of folks--from lots of schools and throughout the community.

 

I am sure you are learning about our event through the numerous listservs we are all connected to and have possibly been invited already.  I'd love to invite you to help spread the word on your listservs and with our posters in advance and also invite you and your organizations to bring information about the great work you are doing around these issues.  We will have 2 or more information tables for hand outs, books, petitions, dvds or any other literature you have to share, and if you would like to speak with visitors, this would be a great way to explain what you are doing.

 

Please let us know if you will attend or send someone, or can leave materials for us to display.  Also, let us know if you have any special requests.

 

I am attaching a jpeg here that is good for sharing electronically (to listserv, FB page, etc.) as well as 2 color posters and on b + w.

Since we are providing childcare and pizza for the children, we hope this makes it even easier for families to attend what we expect to be a timely, lively and informative panel.  (See details below)

 

All the best,

Janine Sopp

HIGH STAKES 101

What does high stakes testing mean

for our children?

our teachers?

our schools?

MONDAY, MARCH 19 at 6:30pm

*Education reporter Meredith Kolodner (Daily News, InsideSchools) 

will moderate a panel discussion with distinguished guests: 

Shael Polakow-Suransky
Chief Accountability Officer of the NYC Dept. of Education

Sean Feeney

Principal of the Wheatley School and Author of the New York Principals APPR Position Paper

Elijah Hawkes

Former Principal of The James Baldwin Expeditionary Learning School

Q&A TO FOLLOW

If interested in CHILDCARE and PIZZA (starting at 6 PM, $5 suggested donation), RSVP to rsvp@bns146.org

THE BROOKLYN NEW SCHOOL AUDITORIUM

610 HENRY STREET @3rd PLACE

F or G to Carroll St. station, exit 2nd Place

The Dynamics of Acting at Rockaway Theatre Co Begins April 15

My acting teacher Frank Caiati is back in action with a new class. With Frank teaching you do not need experience. Without this class I never would have been able to make my acting debut (and my acting exit) in "The Odd Couple." (What I Am Learning From Acting 101).


THE DYNAMICS OF ACTING Sundays- Apr. 15, 2012-June, 10, 2012 10:00am-12:00 

Study basic theatre crafts, characterization, improvisation, script analysis, scene development, audition technique, proper use of voice, body movement and various other essential elements of the actor’s craft. This class will be taught by our own actor/ director/playwright and all-around audience favorite, Frank Caiati. Open to all levels- Some acting experience may be helpful but is not required.

Tuition for this class is $200.00     Instructor- Frank Caiati  No Class on May. 27

  
As per usual, RTC members receive a substantial discount on tuition.

Frank sent this message:
 

Please let me know as soon as you can, via Email, if I can expect you on the first day. 

I'd love to see you all there!

We'll have lots of fun...and maybe even some classes outdoors!

Email Frank if interested: FCaiati@aol.com

New GEM Video: Williamsburg Battles Success Academy Charter School

The struggle goes on.

Los Sures fights against Success Academy Charter School




http://youtu.be/Ph7lCgWfzTY

FIRST Robotics All Weekend at Javits, March 16-18

Starting today and running through Sunday, NYC schools will be participating in a variety of robotic competition events sponsored by FIRST.

UPDATED:
Some Food Factor Links

2011 Food Factor Challenge | FIRST LEGO League

firstlegoleague.org/challenge/2011foodfactor
The FLL Core Values are the fundamental elements that ... In the 2011 Food Factor Challenge, over 200000 9-16* year olds from over 55 countries will explore ...
FLL 2011 "Food Factor" Robot Game EN - YouTube


► 8:21► 8:21
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvdTbTf4G0kSep 5, 2011 - 8 min - Uploaded by FLLHot
This film explains missions and points of FLL Robot-Game 2011 "Food Factor - Keeping Food Safe". Please ...
FLL 2011 Food Factor Missions - YouTube


► 8:21► 8:21
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf_bQbPYLT8Sep 3, 2011 - 8 min - Uploaded by bgcalbanyor
These are the missions for this year's Lego Robotics Tournament.
FLL Project DVD - Food Factor season - YouTube


► 20:44► 20:44
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFBBnyz8syMJun 27, 2011 - 21 min - Uploaded by FLLGlobal
The OFFICIAL FLL Project DVD for the 2011 Food Factor season. A rookie team's guide to the FLL Project ...
More videos for food factor fll »
FIRST Sites

https://gofll.usfirst.org/

Food Factor Challenge

This has been my 9th year of involvement with one particular aspect of the multiple events -- FIRST LEGO League, a tournament for kids aged 9-14 which covers elem, middle and even the 9th year of high school. More on that below.

And check out  my robotics blog for all updates: http://normsrobotics.blogspot.com/

I urge anyone connected with education to come on down and check it out for a view of education the way it should be -- no test prep here.

All events are free and open to the public.

Also, if you are thinking of getting your school involved for next year this is a MUST ATTEND event. Contact me for more information: normsco@gmail.com.

The major events:

FIRST LEGO League (FLL): All day Sunday- I will be there all day

This is where I am involved. Contest is on an 8x4 table -- there are 12 of them.
Each year there is a theme. This year it is Food Factor. Robots made out of LEGO and programmed complete tasks in 2.5 minutes based on protecting the food supply. Each team gets 4 rounds.
Also -- a research and technical presentation takes place in front of judges.
This is a great program and we have 82 teams from all parts of the city -- public, private and charters. And home-based.
There were 5 borough tournaments in January with around 150 teams to get down to these 82. Check the norms robotics blog for the lists, layouts, etc.
If you come I will be spending most of the day at the entrance to the pits where the kids get to hang out in between competitions.
 

JFLL - Junior for 6-9 year old - Sunday 9-12
There will be an exhibition -- a good way to start kids out early.

FRC - FIRST Robotics (today-Sunday)- High School

These are the big guys -- 6 robots on the field at the same time -- 3 on each side. And the schools shift partnerships throughout the weekend. Semis and finals are Sunday afternoon. Schools can come from all over the nation and abroad.

FTC - Saturday all day -- middle and high school-- using metal kits.

Worth checking out if you want something more advanced than LEGO but not as complicated as FRC.