Network for Public Education to Hold First Annual Conference in March

Volume 1, Issue: #30  November 23, 2013

Inside NPE News Election 2013: The Results Victorious Sue Peters Thanks NPE Check out NPE News Briefs - a service from the Network for Public Education - for the latest headlines from journalists and bloggers around the country. You can even subscribe to our once-daily digest - delivered via email every day. NPE News Briefs NPE News Briefs PODCASTS This week, Julian Vasquez Heilig discusses charter school policies and practices Reign of Error,  the new book by Diane Ravitch is now available for purchase from major outlets. Find details here!

Greetings! The Network for Public Education is pleased to announce our first National Conference. The event will take place on March 1 & 2, 2014 (the weekend prior to the world-famous South by Southwest Festival) at The University of Texas at Austin. In the coming weeks, we will release more details. In the meantime, make your travel plans and click this link and submit your email address to receive updates about the NPE National Conference 2014. Information will also be available on Facebook, Twitter, and on the NPE website.   Click here to receive information about the NPE National Conference 2014  Sue Peters - Seattle School Board Director-Elect - Thanks NPE Members for Contributing to Her Victory Dear Diane and members and supporters of the Network for Public Education, Once again, I am pleased to extend my thanks to you and NPE for your invaluable support and endorsement of my grassroots candidacy for Seattle School Board. I am thrilled to announce that we won - convincingly! On Election night, we led by 51-48 percent, and that lead has only grown with every new vote tally. We are now approaching a 9-point margin, at 54-45 percent. That is nearly a 14,000-vote lead. Why Our Win Matters: This is a victory not only for my campaign, but for communities, families, and educators everywhere who are the key stakeholders in public education, but whose voices are not always heard in the national debate over education reform, or in our own local school district. This is also a victory for authentic, grassroots democracy. Seattle voters did not allow a small group of moneyed interests to buy this election. My opponent's campaign and political action committee (PAC) spent a record-breaking $240,000+, much of it on negative campaigning, most of it bankrolled by a small group of wealthy proponents of corporate ed reform and charter schools. The PAC attacked my candidacy four times throughout the campaign with progressively more mendacious and offensive mailers. The attacks focused almost entirely on defending the Gates Foundation, in a bizarre and unsuccessful attempt to discredit me, and completely ignored the important issues facing our school district like overcrowding, inequity of resources among our schools, excessive testing and low teacher morale. This amount of money and such tactics are unprecedented not only in Seattle but Washington State for a school board race. Thankfully, voters were not fooled by the distortions and diversions. I am proud of my authentic, fiscally responsible, volunteer-driven campaign, which remained focused on the issues and maintained its integrity. I am also grateful to everyone who helped us counter the barrage of misinformation, and to those of you who promoted my candidacy personally. I want to particularly thank Dr. Diane Ravitch, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education and national education historian, who recognized that my campaign represented a national battle over the integrity and future of public education. Her support gave important legitimacy to our campaign and to my efforts over the years to engage on education issues, as both a journalist and parent. I believe my near decade of experience with the Seattle Public School District resonated with voters, as well as my clear commitment to keeping the public in public education. Thank you again. Sincerely, Sue Peters Parent, journalist, public education advocate, and Seattle School Board Director-Elect Please forward this newsletter far and wide!  In solidarity, The Network For Public Education

JFK: Political Thoughts

....during a reception at the National Gallery of Art, the Kennedys were supposed to take an elevator to greet their guests. But the elevator was not working, and when they stepped out, the lieutenant said, he was so close to Mrs. Kennedy that he could smell her perfume. Here is how he remembers what happened next: “I’m in my mannequin face, and she said words to the effect, “Jack, let’s take the stairs.’ And he said, ‘We can wait.’ They go back and forth a few times, and then her tone changed just like any other wife. ‘Jack, people are waiting.’ ‘O.K.,’ he answers her and turning his head toward me, says, ‘Don’t worry — I make all the big decisions.’ ”.... NY Times, Friday, Nov. 22. 2013

That was why teenagers like us, who became political junkies because of him, loved JFK. Read "Reckless Youth" about his early years and you'll see the sense of humor and also his defiance of authority. But not Jackie's in this case.

Yesterday I did my "Day Of" - Oh, God, Another November 22, 1963 Remembrance where I didn't want to get too deep in the political weeds.

The first thing I thought of once the shock of the assassination wore off was that anti-Castro Cubans who were livid at what they viewed as Kennedy's betrayal at the Bay of Pigs, did it. And Oswald's initial connection to Cuba in those early hours made it look that way. But he was portrayed as a Cuban sympathizer. I assumed for many years he was manipulated by the exiles. If not them then the right wingers. Or the military. Or the CIA.  [See above].

I spent most of Friday afternoon listening to Mike Francesa on JFK on WFAN. What's a sports talk show doing talking about JFK? Mike is a JFK freak and has read every book on the subject. He had some great JFK expert guests on and the talk was invigorating -- Mike even let someone else talk for a change.

There was a lot of talk by Mike about how the military leaders and Kennedy hated each other -- after the Bay of Pigs he didn't trust their advice. Mike suggested watching the 1964 movie "Seven Days in May": US military leaders plot to overthrow the President because he supports a nuclear disarmament treaty and they fear a Soviet sneak attack.

Hmmmm. Read this Wicki:

Seven Days in May is an American political thriller motion picture directed by John Frankenheimer, starring Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March, and Ava Gardner, and released in February 1964 with a screenplay by Rod Serling based on the novel of the same name by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II, which was published in 1962. The story is said to have been influenced by the right-wing anti-Communist political activities of General Edwin A. Walker after he resigned from the military. An additional inspiration was provided by the 1961 interview by Knebel, who was also a political journalist and columnist, conducted with the newly appointed Air Force Chief of Staff, Curtis LeMay, an advocate of preventive first-strike nuclear option. President John F. Kennedy had read the novel and believed the scenario as described could actually occur in the United States. According to Frankenheimer in his director's commentary, production of the film received encouragement and assistance from Kennedy through White House Press Secretary Pierre Salinger, who conveyed to Frankenheimer Kennedy's wish that the film be produced and that, although the Pentagon did not want the film made, the President would conveniently arrange to visit Hyannis Port for a weekend when the film needed to shoot outside the White House.

Edwin Walker was the general Oswald took a shot at shortly before Nov. 22. There was a rampant right wing movement that emerged from the anti-Communist McCarthy witch hunts of the 50s. The John Birch Society was the Tea Party of the day but much more fringe.

And then there was the growing civil rights movement and what that unleashed. Even though Kennedy was cautious, his moves were enough to turn loose the nuts.

So this was the environment the assassination took place in and Dallas was a sort of Ground Zero.

Throughout yesterday afternoon I was thinking back to those times. We -- my friends and I -- became interested in politics when JFK was elected. In 1960 I was in my junior year at Thomas Jefferson HS -- I was on the Honor classes and we received what I would consider a college level education, with a lot of political talk. We made sure to watch the JFK press conferences. We were reading the NY Times.

So I was aware of the trip to Dallas and the concerns - until I saw some of the recreations of the shooting this past week I was pretty convinced there was more than one shooting. This is not to say that Oswald was not an agent of some kind or being manipulated in some way.

There has been a lot of talk and attempts to prove that JFK would have pulled us out of Viet Nam. My buddy at Raging Horse pretty much goes in that direction. (But then again, he is Irish.) I don't agree. I don't believe in the "great man" theory of history. It wasn't FDR who created the conditions that enabled him to be great. Neither did Churchill.

I think even if Kennedy wanted to make peace of sorts -- with the Soviets, Viet Nam and even, as suggested, Castro, he could not pull against the prevailing winds of the Domino Theory. And if he resisted he would be shunted aside -- or maybe even assassinated.

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Some links people are sending:

Rolling Stone:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/john-f-kennedys-vision-of-peace-20131120

http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/oliver-stone-looks-back-at-jfk-20131104

And more for conspiracy fans:

Carl Gibson

NationofChange / Op-Ed

Published: Friday 22 November 2013

16 Mind-Blowing Facts About Who Really Killed JFK 

Just this one is enough to get one assassinated by the lunatic Cuban exile fringe:

5. JFK openly sided with Castro in the Cuban Revolution

"If you see him again, tell him that I'm willing to declare Goldwater my friend if that will guarantee Kennedy's re-election!" – Fidel Castro to 

Jean Daniel, November 19, 1963

On October 24, 1963, French journalist Jean Daniel met with JFK in an interview arranged by Newsweek. Daniel would later interview Fidel Castro, just three days before Kennedy's assassination. US-Cuba relations had been volatile since the botched Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. Castro had recently removed Fulgencio Batista, a right-wing dictator allied with the US, from office, and instead allied with the Soviet Union in the height of the cold war. The Bay of Pigs invasion was the CIA's failed ploy to push Kennedy into a corner and force him to go to war with Cuba, and by default, the Soviet Union.

President Eisenhower had already allocated $13 million to the CIA during his final year in office to authorize the training of Brigade 2506, a paramilitary group charged with overthrowing the Castro regime. Three days after Bridgade 2506 traveled from Guatemala to invade Cuba, Castro forced their surrender, prompting Kennedy to make the decision to mount a larger invasion or suffer a humiliating defeat. After the incident, Kennedy famously said he wanted to "splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds."

Jean Daniel's eye-opening interview with President Kennedy, roughly 2 years after the Bay of Pigs and a year after the Cuban Missile Crisis, revealed that Kennedy in fact sympathized with Fidel Castro, the socialist leader that Americans were conditioned to hate. This is in spite of the fact that Kennedy ran against Nixon in the election on a platform of stiffness toward the Cuban regime.

"I believe that there is no country in the world including any and all the countries under colonial domination, where economic colonization, humiliation and exploitation were worse than in Cuba, in part owing to my country's policies during the Batista regime.... I will even go further: to some extent it is as though Batista was the incarnation of a number of sins on the part of the United States. Now we shall have to pay for those sins. In the matter of the Batista regime, I am in agreement with the first Cuban revolutionaries." – 

John F. Kennedy, October 24, 1963

Just as he did with Nikita Khrushchev, JFK used intermediaries to correspond with Castro and set up a meeting between the two leaders, subverting his own State Department. Kennedy instructed Adlai Stevenson's assistant, William Atwood, to start communicating with Cuba's UN ambassador, Carlos Lechuga. Castro was doing the same, having been urged by Khrushchev to communicate with Kennedy in an attempt to make peace. Atwood was making progress on setting up talks between the two leaders through Castro's assistant, Rene Vallejo.

On November 19, 1963, Fidel Castro appeared suddenly at Jean Daniel's hotel in Havana, prompting a six-hour conversation from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., wanting to hear all about his conversation with Kennedy. The Cuban leader told Daniel that he believed Kennedy could be the one US president to forge world peace.

"He still has the possibility of becoming, in the eyes of history, the greatest President of the United States, the leader who may at last understand that there can be coexistence between capitalists and socialists, even in the Americas. He would then be an even greater president than Lincoln," Castro said.

On the afternoon of November 22, Jean Daniel was interviewing Castro at his home about the Cuban Missile Crisis, when Castro got a call about President Kennedy having been shot in Dallas. Upon hearing the news, Castro repeated the phrase, "Es una mala noticia (this is bad news)," three times. Upon hearing confirmation of Kennedy's death, Castro told Daniel, "Everything is changed. Everything is going to change." Lyndon Baynes Johnson put on hold any and all dialogue between Washington and Havana, despite Castro's numerous attempts to reach out and make peace.

 

Lisa Donlan Judges Bloomberg Ed Legacy in Comparison to the Old System

The argument ed deformers made for mayoral control was
corruption, chaos, inequity and cronyism by the old school boards. Many of us fought to reform that system, not to eliminate it. In fact I and my pals went to many school board meetings in District 14 through the 70s arguing for less supervisors and lower class size and for fundamental reform.

But the horror story of the chaos, inequity and cronyism under Bloomberg though Tweed makes the old days look like chicken feed.

Lisa Donlan, parent activist on the Lower East Side (District 1) supreme takes over from here:

Tweed was at least as guilty, if not more so,  given the magnitude and lack of transparency of their own
corruption, chaos, inequity and cronyism.

The recycling of bureaucrats, often double dipping pensioners in the new SSOs and CBOs and other private partnerships (ie: Region 9 Head Sup Peter Heaney  to America's Choice; Lelsie Zackman, Alice Young, and Barbara Gambino,  Region 9 Supes to New Visions); the inter related hedge fund  charter board board members (Spencer Robertson, son of titan Julian,  head of  PAVE charter and wife Sarah past Board Pres at Girl Prep, for example); the DoE charter school office  to charter management and edu-biz profit making organizations (Michael Duffy, Victory, the for-profit CMO (along w/ colleague Aquila Haynes), and Great Oaks Charter; Recy Dunn now at New Leaders along with Jean Desravines, Christina Grant to ED of NYCAN... the list is long - for example see articles like this GS column:

 

Dunn is the third person to lead the charter office since the law was passed last May. The former director of the city’s charter office, Michael Duffy, left the DOE in July. Aaron Listhaus, the charter office’s former Chief Academic Officer, stepped in as interim director, before Dunn took over the office in the middle of the school year. Listhaus has also since left the office to lead the Hebrew Charter Center.

But one of my fave's, anecdotal as it may be, is rich in symbolism:

The hiring of ex Bear Sterns exec as DoE CFO, post Wall Street melt down, who then bilked the city of time/money including siphoning off almost $400K for hypnosis for Tweedie birds to learn to "manage change"!

 

You can NOT make this stuff up!

http://nypost.com/2008/08/12/wall-st-exec-bullish-on-new-job-as-ed-cfo/ 

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/city-educrat-fined-6-500-email-line-gig-private-sector-manage-real-estate-article-1.987696

William Howatt, a new age hypnotist and fellow Bear Stearns alum, to boost morale in the Education Department. They later found Howatt did much of his work from his home in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/city-educrat-fined-6-500-email-line-gig-private-sector-manage-real-estate-article-1.987696#ixzz2lORDiGXC

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/new-age-hypnotherapist-guru-william-howatt-cost-doe-374k-teaching-ability-adapt-article-1.414238

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/05/25/nyregion/20110525conflict-doc.html

And this just in from Diane Ravitch blog:

 

Most Surprising Conclusion of the Week

by dianeravitch

During his three terms as mayor --12 years--Mayor Bloomberg developed a data-driven strategy for school reform that relied heavily on high-stakes testing to close schools and replace them with small schools or charter schools. He eliminated neighborhood high schools and even neighborhood middle schools. "Choice" and test-based accountability were the central themes of his reforms.

The school closings were an annual ritual. Thousands of parents and teachers protested the closings but were routinely ignored by the mayor's Board of Education, whose majority served at his pleasure, knowing the mayor would fire them if they bucked his wishes.

He closed scores of schools and opened hundreds of new schools. Some of the schools he closed were "new" schools that he had opened.

By the end of his tenure, polls showed that no more than 22-26% of voters approved of his education policies.

Many, it seemed, wanted a good neighborhood school, not a cornucopia of choices.

Yet at a recent discussion of the Bloomberg reforms, a report was released hailing this era of "reform" that the voters rejected. What was strange was that the report praised the Bloomberg era for what it did not demonstrate.

“Perhaps the mayor’s greatest education legacy is the belief that good public schools for all are possible,” the researchers, from the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School, write in an introduction. ”Yet the challenges, including resource challenges, remain huge.”

Not many teachers or public school parents are likely to endorse that statement.

Sadly, Bloomberg did not create a system of good public schools for all, nor did he encourage the belief "that good public schools for all are possible." Instead, he promoted the idea that those who wanted a good school should leave the public school system for a privately managed charter school.

That heroic task is now on Bill de Blasio's to-do list.

Susan's Saturday Special

We're getting into the habit of posting an Ohanian compendium every Saturday morning so we all have stuff to read in all our spare weekend time. As usual, she tears up the common core.

We're serving Thanksgiving lunch at the Senior Center today. Turkey and all the trimmings.
There are new cartoons, but I'm in a rush. You can find them on the home page. Two categories: Cartoons  and NCLB Cartoons.
Yesterday was the anniversary of Joe Hill's death by firing squad. Listen to all the versions of 'Joe Hill' for which I've posted hot links. Very moving. I was especially moved by what Paul Robeson did in Australia. Posted that as well as his earlier rendition of the song.
I hope you'll read my two pieces, one on data that kills and the other on Ed  Week & its bloggers. A lot of work goes into this sort of thing. I do try to provide new information instead of just ranting. I confess to getting tired of the rants.
Off to the turkey fete.
Susan
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Data That Kills and Gates Homework Flop
Susan Ohanian
blog
2013-11-18 http://susanohanian.org/data.php?id=528
Two articles on the dangers of data overload in diverse fields provide strong parallels with policies being pushed on US public schools.
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Education Week Relegates Common Core Criticism to its Bloggers
Susan Ohanian
blog
2013-11-17 http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=622
Here's a discussion of how Education Week covers the Common Core.
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Joe Hill Lives On
Susan Ohanian
2013-11-19 http://susanohanian.org/show_commentary.php?id=1139
A tribute to Joe Hill.
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Dear Senator Martins,
Joseph Mugivan, MS, Educational Administration PD
New York State Senate
2013-11-19 http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1624
 Give us the list of those who designed the curriculum, materials and evaluations along with their credentials as classroom teachers.
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To the editor
Stephen Krashen
Wall Street Journal
2013-11-18 http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1623
Kudos on Steve's letter. Look at what they left out.
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Common Core Children Hate School
Facebook
 Common Core Children Hate School
2013-11-19 http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1735
You are invited to add your story to a Facebook site on the topic of Common Core Children Hate School.
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Order the CD of the resistance:
"No Child Left Behind? Bring Back the Joy."
To order online (and hear samples from the songs) http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/dhbdrake4
Other orders: Send $15 to
Susan Ohanian
P. O. Box 26
Charlotte, VT 05445

 

Oh, God, Another November 22, 1963 Remembrance

Yes, I can't resist the call. I was an 18-year old sophomore at Brooklyn College, living at home in a quickly changing East New York section of Brooklyn. I finally had my driver's license and didn't have to take the train from Pennsylvania Ave., change at Franklin for the Flatbush line - an hour trip. By car I had a special route that got me to BC in 17 minutes. Followed by a half hour looking for parking.

Fridays were a special day for me. For some strange reason, I was an Air Force ROTC 2nd-year cadet and Fridays we had to wear our uniforms because we marched and did drills for 50 minutes at noon. We got one credit for that. We used the Girls Athletic Field at Brooklyn College -- right in front of Roosevelt Hall on Bedford Avenue. At times we were heckled and leafleted by anti-war protesters as we walked off the field at around 12:50.

And it was precisely at that time as we were walking off on November 22, 1963 that a buzz went up about a shooting in Dallas. We had our own ROTC lounge in the basement of Ingersoll Hall with a TV, probably one of the few on the campus. We headed down there and the lounge was already full of people, watching Walter Kronkite. I had to stand at the door with others. Non-ROTC civilians kept showing up, so we were crushed together.

When Kronkite said he was wounded, I had a vision of Kennedy standing at a press conference, his arm in a sling, laughing about it. Within 10 or 15 minutes or maybe 30, there was Kronkite taking off his glasses and announcing JFK's death. That image of Kronkite's glasses coming off is seared in my brain.

Then hours of wondering the campus in a state of shock. A young student trips in front of me on the steps and I get her some water to wash off her knee. I'm holding my hat in my hand when an officer walks by and glares at me -- I point to the young lady and he gives me a "good job" wave.

I'm also pledging a fraternity. So I have to carry around the paddle all over the campus. That night the 6 pledges were supposed to be kidnapped -- taken out somewhere late at night and left with no money. Word gets to us that the kidnapping is cancelled but why don't we come down to the frat house (actually, apartment) on Foster Av. and Flatbush.

My memory is hazy over the next few hours - until I arrive at a somber frat house around 8PM. Some drinks come out and people liven up a bit. Then something astounding -- louder and louder and wilder and wilder -- someone is sitting on the window sill with his legs hanging out the window. Music is blasting. A couple are walking by, arm in arm, looking up at us in disgust.

The only way to explain this behavior is a letting go of sorts. No one seems ashamed. I don't either. It is the only release before a week where for the first - and one of the only times - I went into a total state of depression.

Saturday is awful. Sunday morning too. I have to leave the house so I go across the street to my friend Barry's house. I ring the bell and his brother Larry answers the door. He screams, "Oswald was just shot," and I race after him down the hall to continue watching the mayhem that never seems to have gone away.

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More this weekend on political thoughts and the impact of Kennedy on me and my generation. We were home on snow day I believe for his inauguration and I remember Robert Frost squinting in the sun. And on how I thought John Kennedy was one of the funniest people -OK- we just had 8 years of (yawn) Eisenhower -- We watched Kennedy press conferences for his jokes.

A few quick examples:

 "I just received the following wire from my generous Daddy: "Dear Jack, Don't buy a single vote more than is necessary. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay for a landslide."' --President John Kennedy

"Just think what my margin might have been if I had never left home at all." --President John Kennedy, commenting on the fact that he had campaigned hard in Alaska and lost but won Hawaii handily without visiting it.

"The pay is good and I can walk to work." –President John Kennedy

And for those upset at the political divide today:

Question: "The Republican National Committee recently adopted a resolution saying you were pretty much of a failure. How do you feel about that?" Kennedy: "I assume it passed unanimously." 

"Do you realize the responsibility I carry? I'm the only person standing between Richard Nixon and the White House." –President John Kennedy

Jim Vail: Should Karen Lewis Run for Mayor?

Jim Vail poses an interesting question at Second City Teacher along with an interesting analysis. I missed Karen at Brooklyn College the other day. Might have been a fun question to ask.

Chicago Mayor Karen Lewis?

Should Karen Lewis Run for Mayor?

By Jim Vail

When it comes to politics, it's pretty dismal.

The reason we the workers are losing, and they the 1% are winning is because they control the political world.

Who do you think chose Obama to be president - the people, or billionaires like the Pritzkers who now have coveted government posts and see laws passed in their favor. 
The banks got bigger, and health insurance profits increased after the election of the first African American president.
And certainly they put plenty of money into his campaign.

It is such a rigged game.

I am still amazed that people believe in this system they call democracy.

When Mayor Richard Daley announced already almost four years ago that he would no longer continue his reign over Chicago, it was like a king and a dynasty ending.

But that was in name only.

The new rep for the rich is this guy from Winnetka named Rahm Emanuel, who has a knack for squeezing the rich for their money and climbing up the political ladder by threatening unions, pensioners and anyone else in the 99%.

He's now the mayor and it's all very depressing.  

After attacking the teachers union, which brought on the first major strike in 25 years, this guy is supposedly so hated that everyone keeps saying he can't possibly win re-election.

The reality is anything but.

It ain't the people who have a choice here, despite what some may foolishly think, it's the ruling class.  And the ruling class feel this big lover of privatization and big banks and hedge funds is getting the job down.

So you actually have talk of Emanuel eventually running for president.  

Depressing, right?

So who could possibly run against this guy if you don't have a massive war chest?  

Well, you obviously can't compete against him when he's got most of the corporate and Hollywood cash in his bag.

How about defeating him with an army of workers?

Well, there again it's very depressing.  Many of the city's unions are vying for the lead role of the cowardly lion, and coughing up hard-earned worker cash for the mayor.  Teamsters, Engineers, Unite-Here!

There are some who are holding out the faint hope that the one visible candidate who could raise a ruckus, and has, against the mayor and gain a media presence, would be Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis.

But Lewis has told her troops she cannot run for mayor.  Why?  D-I-V-O-R-C-E.

Whatever, as my good friend Masha always says. 

She will run, trust me, if its possible, if she can be convinced.

There are many who would like to see Karen run.  They even started a Facebook page devoted to Karen for Mayor.  

But should Karen run?

Well, the idea sounds sexy.  It would certainly appear to be a good fight between two prize fighters.  Why not continue that battle between the CTU president and the mayor in the next election.

And certainly, Lewis would raise the issues of the 99% - jobs, pensions, heath care, etc.

And should she run a strong campaign, would it not give hope to the rest of the country that our political process is actually open to a good fight for the people?

But would it make a difference?  Could Karen possibly compete against corporate America? Would she actually implement changes against the wishes of big business who put Emanuel where he is today?

This is what one teacher delegate told Karen at the recent house of delegates:

"Instead of supporting Democrats, we should run our own. The rest of working Chicago faces the same attacks we face, both from the mayor and from the corporations. Our campaigns could attract lots of support – the kind of broader support we are going to need if we are going to try to push back budget cuts, bad laws and school closings. We may not win these races, but that’s besides the point. We will be able to organize our power on our issues, and show how those relate to the concerns of parents, city workers and others.

"Which brings me to this, and I know I’m not alone on this one.  I think Karen should run. Karen could lead the biggest and most visible fight against this mayor, and the biggest fight and most successful fight in the city in recent memory. She has the respect of those who see the need to fight.  You running would give people a chance to say “it’s wrong, what you’re doing” when they go to the polls.  I know you don’t want to run, but the circumstances call for it, our situation calls for it.  This would be a great opportunity to reach out – a campaign would give people in the community a chance to work with us, and for us to know their concerns.  And you liked showing up Jesse Ruiz?  Guess who you’d get to debate, this time. . . " 

Mitoko Rich, Still Clueless at the NY Times, New Recruiting Campaign: Is TFA Losing Campus Status?

If teaching is such a wondrous profession, why is the inspirational [Taylor] Mali a former teacher?.... The Department of Education is unveiling this plan in partnership with Microsoft, State Farm Insurance and the Advertising Council? Everyone knows that Microsoft now rules the world of education. That said, what in the world does State Farm Insurance have to do with public school issues? ..... Would you turn to “the good hands people” to figure out the best way to run schools?....The notion doesn’t seem to faze Rich, whose work has begun to strike us as a possible parody of some kind....Is Rich a satirist of some kind? If so, we apologize for our previous complaints about her peculiar reporting. ....  The Daily Howler

If you can’t do, teach. The three best things about teaching? June, July and August.  ... Motoko Rich, NY Times

Where do I start with this one? Jeff Kaufman forwarded the NY Times piece below early this AM and I stored it away for publication. Then John Lawhead sent this "compare and contrast" quotes on TFA from Randi and Gary -- guess which one is critical of TFA?

"I think TFA has done a lot in terms of elevating the profession of teaching and elevating the importance of public education and education generally...." Randi Weingarten.

http://theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/11/why-isnt-harvard-training-more-teachers/281432/

"They are all accessories to a $300 million annual fraud funded, in part, by taxpayers, and which has, I’m sorry to say, contributed to the weakening of the pubic school system which has, in turn, hurt innocent kids and, yes, their hard working teachers." ....Gary Rubinstein

http://garyrubinstein.teachforus.org/2013/11/15/my-advice-to-tfa-staffers-quit-for-america/

Does Randi every get chaffing from straddlign the fence?
As I said in the headline: TFA is selling the idea that they turn away enormous numbers of people. Reminds me of the phony charter school "demand" list which leaves seats in charter schools empty.

Then this afternoon's post from The Daily Howler takes on the Rich piece too, leaving me with no work to do but copy and paste. Life is sweet. Unfortunately he doesn't touch on this interesting combo of groups in Rich's article:

Seeking to combat such sentiments, the Department of Education — in partnership with the Advertising Council, Microsoft, State Farm Insurance, Teach for America, the nation’s two largest teachers’ unions and several other educational groups — is unveiling a public service campaign this week aimed at recruiting a new generation of classroom educators.

You should click on the link and read the entire Howler piece, but here are some morsels:

The New York Times checks in with State Farm!

Posted: 21 Nov 2013 08:53 AM PST

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013

How to improve public schools: In this morning’s New York Times, Motoko Rich discusses a plan to lure top college grads into teaching careers.

We offer one other note about this new campaign. In this passage, Arne Duncan makes it fairly clear where the idea comes from:

RICH: Taylor Mali, a poet and a former teacher, provides the inspirational voice-over that evokes some military recruitment ads. “Teachers today are breaking down obstacles,” he says, “finding innovative ways to instill old lessons, proving that greatness can be found in everyday places.”

If teaching is such a wondrous profession, why is the inspirational Mali a former teacher?

That said, a lot of our biggest problems are found in elementary schools which serve low-income kids from low-literacy backgrounds. Would our problems in those schools be solved by attracting teachers with stronger academic records? We wouldn’t feel real sure about that.
..... is it possible that Finland’s educational success has been somewhat overrated?  How might we improve the schools which serve our low-income, low-literacy kids? We have some basic ideas about that.

Below the break: Rich's entire piece.

UFT Delegate Assembly: MOREistas Comment and MORE

Lets just say the truth. Our union leadership has turned their back on it's members. It rules in a non-democratic fashion. Unity, randi, aft, mulgrew openly advocate for common core, Danielson, and test based evals- NOT ONE teacher I have ever spoken to feels the same.... A MORE Delegate

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When I was elected by my colleagues to serve as a delegate to the UFT Delegate Assembly, I believed that it was my job to represent them by voting for or against resolutions with the wishes of the chapter in mind. Today I voted for a proposed resolution that called for an end to the new teacher evaluation system. Again, I voted with the wishes of the chapter that I represent in mind. Every teacher that I have spoken with in numerous schools dislikes the new evaluation system. So how is it that most of the delegates at today’s Delegate Assembly voted against an end to the new evaluation system? Were they actually representing the wishes of their chapters? Is the UFT Delegate Assembly actually the representative democracy that it claims to be?

The new evaluation system: Stifles teacher independence and creativity in the classroom. Is not the objective tool for determining teacher performance that we were told it would be. In fact, it is more subjective than ever before, especially in the hands of inexperienced and poorly trained supervisors. It was pushed on us without a vote from the membership. From the UFT website:

http://www.uft.org/new-teachers/your-school

“The union is run as a representative democracy. Each school has at least one person, elected by the union members in your school, who joins your chapter leader in representing you at the monthly meetings of the UFT Delegate Assembly. The number of delegates in a school varies with the size of the union membership.”

----- A high school delegate responding to the DA yesterday

Robert's Rules...You mean Mulgrew's rules. The only way to teach the suit about Robert's rules is to hit him with the book... Jeff Kaufman

There is a lot to write about the DA yesterday where MORE placed a resolution calling for repeal of the state ed eval law. MORE was attacked by Unity in their brand new propaganda sheet newsletter obviously in response to the MORE newsletter. They call themselves UNITY/UFT. Volume 1, Issue 1 -- but the same old 63-year old song. In this one they attack MORE - I hope they distribute these to all the schools instead of just the DA because it can only help MORE -- but I gotta rush out to the Portelos hearing (I have to post reports from last week's - hopefully later.) Will try to do more analysis later.

Start off with James Eterno's report at the ICE blog:

UNITY DOMINATED UFT DELEGATE ASSEMBLY VOTES FOR MINOR TWEAKS IN THE TEACHER EVALUATION SYSTEM WHILE MORE CAUCUS CALLS FOR REPEAL OF EVALUATION LAW

The positions of the two main  caucuses (political parties) within the UFT on the topic of teacher evaluations emerged clear as day at Wednesday's UFT Delegate Assembly in Manhattan.  Michael Mulgrew's Unity Caucus passed a resolution calling for small changes in the teacher evaluation system called Advance to be negotiated with the new mayor. On the other hand, the Movement of Rank and File Educators introduced a resolution calling for a full scale repeal of the evaluation system law (Education Law 3012c) that ties teacher evaluations to student test scores. 
Most of the Unity dominated Delegate Assembly, including a huge group of retirees who do not have to work under the new system, agreed with the President that evaluations only need to be tweaked but there was strong support for  MORE's position to scrap the whole system among the Delegates.
As usual, President Michael Mulgrew ignored Roberts' Rules of Order in conducting debate. No speakers were permitted to oppose a Unity Caucus resolution reinforced the UFT's support for the evaluation law.  However, the UFT is calling for a moratorium on using the results of high stakes tests for teacher evaluations until alterations to the local portion of the Measures of Student Learning portion of the system can be worked out in contract negotiations.  The Unity sponsored resolution was on the regular agenda.  It was introduced a few minutes after Delegate Megan Moskop from MORE introduced a resolution for next month during the new motion period calling for the UFT to support legislation to scrap the entire teacher evaluation law.

Just to be clear - Megan is on the left

Read James' complete - and amazing given he did this so fast -- report.

And kudos to the MORE and MORE amazing Megan Moskop who first came to us in July and is now getting up at a DA and going straight at Mulgrew. Megan is also a TFA alum, a sign that the quarter (maybe) of TFAs who remain in the classroom beyond a few years are real reformers. Megan and her ilk must be Unity's nightmare: Twenty-somethings creating a new face of the opposition.

Here are the comments from the MORE listserve. I'm posting without names because I don't have time to ask everyone.

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Below are comments that Mike Mulgrew made about Common Core.  If you want to read more about the UFT Delegate Assembly then click on the link below.  MORE had a resolution to repeal the evaluation system.  The DA is controlled by the Unity Caucus of the UFT.  All of the UFT leadership is Unity.   The vote on the  MORE evaluation resolution did get many more votes than usual.  I would say that over 1/3 of the DA voted for it.  

Mulgrew on Common Core:
How did you all like the talking up of the Common Core?  WE are in a big time competition with" those" countries.  Our kids can't compete.  The big companies are going to "those" countries because our kids don't and won't have the skills.  Those countries that we are competing with started up grading their education years ago.  He even said that RIGHT NOW in NYC there are 110,000  jobs that cannot be filled because there are NO workers with the skills? Really?  Of course he also threw in the part about not going back to the days when Alabama and  (another state) did such a "great" job of educating their students that ALL students graduated from HS. 

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Lisa- your retelling of Mulgrew's talking points are sickening. I watched a short segment on WSJ TV last night about education out of curiosity and they had/used the exact same talking points. When the president of our union sounds exactly like a talking head/some edu corp CEO being interviewed by the WSJ, something is very, very wrong.
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One of the most disturbing things about Mulgrew today was the way in which he kept saying that our members were "tired" and "not ready for action"  I feel like this came up several times.  WHAT???  I think people are tired of stupid systems, and ready to take action against them. 
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Let's not forget to throw this back in their faces. The UFT's own high stakes testing task force that Lisa and Terry were a part of in 2007 found that the research does NOT support the use of hst to make any major decisions. I forwarded this to Mulgrew and Unity members I've known over the years, and I still have not gotten a response or explanation.

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To add to what's been said, Mulgrew also threw in that the test results will be even better measures once class size is put into the equation. Yes, of course, he always adds that testing should not be the only measure. But if class size is such an important element, why has our union not pushed for this in our contracts?

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Lets just say the truth

Our union leadership has turned their back on it's members.

It rules in a non-democratic fashion

Unity, randi, aft, mulgrew openly advocate for common core, Danielson, and test based evals- NOT ONE teacher I have ever spoken to feels the same

Unity wanted this  eval scheme- just ask Leo Casey

They rule without the consent of the governed -'15 percent active UFTers voted them in

They allow mayoral control

They sold off our rights

Time for a change

Time to expect MORE from our union

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Assailed Teacher on the ICE blog proposes an idea that John Elfrank-Dana has been floating for years

Assailed Teacher said...

Thank you for your report James, as always. As a Chapter Leader, I refuse to go to most DAs because of the way Unity makes up the rules as they go along. Whatever Unity wants, Unity gets. I really think MORE or another dissident caucus should hold their own DAs, pass their own resolutions and implement them as if Unity does not exist. If another caucus acts as the union long enough, people will start to believe it. That is how CORE won in Chicago.

Karen Lewis at Brooklyn College Today, 4PM

Sorry I can't make this. I've got to head down to Philly and get back in time to go to a Broadway show tonight -- reviewed in the Times yeterday -- a guy kills off all the people in front of him for an inheritance. And it's a musical comedy.

Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, will be speaking on "Solidarity, Community, and the Struggle for our Public Schools" at Brooklyn College TODAY, Tuesday, November 19th, at 4:00 in the Penthouse of the Brooklyn College Student Center (Campus Rd & E. 27th St.).


She will be joined by Barbara Bowen, President of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), and Liza Featherstone, Belle Zeller Professor, Brooklyn College.  Reception to follow.  The event is free and open to the public; please see attached flyer for further details.

Tanya Pollard
Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center

HARDCORE UFT CONTRACT TRAINING COMMITTEE

Are you sick of going to your district rep monthly meetings and getting the UFT jive stuffed down your throats while you have little or no input?

Like not getting to talk about how your principal violates the contract daily and you are left helpless?

We have decided to follow in the footsteps of my esteemed colleague, George Schmidt of Substance and Chicago fame, and organize Hardcore Contract Training for chapter leaders, delegates and anyone else interested in exploring the depths of the UFT contract and how to defend it against attacks by your school administration.

Now I know almost nothing at this time about the contract, but MORE has a core of experts who would volunteer to assist. My role is merely getting people together -- like the social director of a cruise ship -- and let's hope we are not rearranging those deck chairs on the Titanic.


We had a planning meeting the other day and some very sharp brains were in the room batting ideas around -- while I ate my giant bowl of rice pudding with whip cream. Here is what they came up with:

·      Identify a core of people with extensive knowledge of the contract. Different people can become “experts” on different areas of the contract and be the GO TO person.
·      Identify the major pillars of the contract to focus on.
·      Offer training for MORE activists and supporters who are interested in becoming more knowledgeable about the contract taught by experts within the MORE community.
·      Reach out a wider net to those considering running for chapter leader or delegate in the spring 2015 elections.
·      Create a series of well-produced short videos on the most important contract items.
·      Hold a series of well-advertised drop-in “Contract Training” in local communities underserved by the UFT (the entire city).
·      Explore methods of protecting the contract using non-traditional means – going beyond the UFT recommended “file a grievance”- ie, how to use political organizing tools, including social media.

Well, if you have any interest in this email me and I'll send you something to fill out. You can sign up as a trainer or a trainee or to be a video star.

Now I imagine that the minute the Unity slugs read this they will either claim they are already doing this (thus all the people who contact me saying they don't) or announce something -- when all they have to do is use their monthly District rep meetings to focus on the needs of the schools instead of their own claptrap. If I hear that actually happens in most districts I will applaud. But me thinks it will be more like the UFT Titanic.

Portelos Update: Supreme Court Rules Against DOE Refusal to Recognize Him as Chapter Leader

New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) filed a Motion to Confirm the arbitration. Today we just found that Supreme Court Judge Joan B. Lobis confirmed the arbitration award. The DOE lawyers will have a chance to appeal and most likely they will try....
This win should set precedent for all targeted chapter leaders. If someone thinks they can attack a chapter leader and wrongly accuse them so they are removed, they should now think again. Sending them to the Rubber Room (that doesn’t exist) will not prevent them from acting as such… Francesco Portelos

The DOE Legal breaks new ground every day in the Portelos case. Like their claim they can overturn the election of a chapter leader. First they refuse to recognize his election. He files grievances. He loses because the DOE controls these rulings. The UFT takes the case to arbitration. The arbitrator rules in his favor.

See: June 6 2013 -Big Arbitration Win for School Community IGNORED BY DOE

The DOE refuses to accept an arbitrator's decision? Isn't that what Campbell Brown is calling on them to do? And they can do it? Exactly when do they get punished for this behavior? How about a massive fine? What is the point of going through step after step and having the legal decisions ignored?

Next it is off to Supreme Court where today he won -- again. And they can still appeal? And spend taxpayer money doing it? WHERE IS THE PRESS?

But here is the best part for me. The school has safety violations - a good chapter leader is often the agent charged with making the school safe and the DOE doesn't worry about issues like the safety of the children when they are on their witch hunts.

Even before I took office I was raising legitimate concerns at IS 49. Once I became chapter leader, I at least had the UFT/DOE contract to back me. However, the DOE refused to adhere to our contract. I filed many grievances last year. They were denied by Principal Linda Hill and Office of Labor Relations reps (aka David Brodsky esq.)

But nothing stops Portelos. Last Friday was a hearing date. Before the hearing here is what he did:

Last Friday I held a UFT meeting at my school using Skype video calling and a projector. With this win, I should be able to function like all other Chapter Leaders and not need to do that again.

 I wouldn't bet on it yet even with a court victory. Even if he wins his case they will violate basic rights and won't put him back in his school but make him an ATR. How the hell can they get away with that? DOE Legal are a bunch of crooks and violators of the law. They should be disbarred.

Here is his blog post today.

Scum of the Earth Tim Daly Pulls the Race Card

“This is the first African-American leader of the State Education Department,” he said. “And to watch him be shouted at and insulted by largely white audiences in the suburbs is discomforting and it is jarring that, not only has it happened, but it has happened repeatedly.”  ... Tim Daly, TNTP

Is there a more insidious operation than Tim Daly's scam organization The New Teacher Project? I won't go deep into the weeds since so many bloggers have slammed Daly and TNTP so often. But the press always goes there to get another slimy quote.

As usual, RBE at Perdido beats me to the punch (he's so much younger) so I'll just repost:

The Reformers Play The Race Here In New York State

On the heels of Arne Duncan saying Common Core opponents are simply white suburban mothers who have found out their children are not "as brilliant as they thought" comes this doozy in the NY Times:

Some of Dr. King’s supporters blame teachers’ unions for whipping up some of the emotion. Timothy Daly, the president of the New Teacher Project, a group focused on teacher effectiveness and aligned with the reform movement, said that public displays of aggression toward Dr. King were political tactics that should be cause for concern. 

“This is the first African-American leader of the State Education Department,” he said. “And to watch him be shouted at and insulted by largely white audiences in the suburbs is discomforting and it is jarring that, not only has it happened, but it has happened repeatedly.”

Have you got that, folks?

Tim Daly says if you're criticizing Commissioner King over his education reform agenda, it's because you're a bigot and a racist.

King tells the Times that he doesn't believe racism is behind the criticism.

For once, Commissioner King gets something right.

Regents Chancellor Tisch is getting as much abuse as King is, and last time I looked, she was a rich white woman who lives in a mansion on Bloomberg's block.

Racism has nothing to do with the opposition King is facing over his reform agenda.

His reform agenda is the problem, not his race.