CamiGate II - Continues to Threaten Tenured Newark Teachers

Just read this horseshit.
Effective means you had 6 weeks training from TFA. Remember that contract Randi and Cami signed a year and a half ago? Why not just ignore it? The waiver she is asking for apparently violates the modified state tenure law, but why quibble?

---

From: Superintendent Anderson
Sent: Friday, March 07, 2014 11:32 AM
To: Teachers - ALL
Subject: Update

Dear Teachers,

As I have shared in many conversations, brown bag lunches, press articles, and informal briefings over several months, NPS is facing a serious budget shortfall. As student enrollment has fallen dramatically and is projected to continue falling, we must make difficult decisions. I assure you, we delayed teacher layoffs as long as possible by making cuts to central and administration budgets. But, we are at a point where we must plan for the future and, unfortunately, that will require reducing the size of our teaching force to match the size of student enrollment.

Layoffs are difficult and I realize that some of you will be personally affected. Unfortunately, we have no other choice.  As a result, I am now trying to make sure that as we conduct them, we do so in a way that is least disruptive to our students’ learning.

Current state regulations would make this bad situation even worse by forcing us to completely ignore teacher effectiveness in making layoff decisions and consider only years of service. Therefore, last week, the district asked the New Jersey Department of Education to make performance a key factor, alongside years of service, when making decisions about teacher layoffs.

If the state grants our request, we could ensure our most successful teachers—many of you who have served our city for years—remain in the classroom. I have heard personally from many effective teachers (and national research would support) that good teachers want to work with colleagues who push them to be better. We also know that good teachers have a life-long impact on students. I believe including performance as a key factor is the best thing to do for students and teachers.

Whether or not you agree with me on this issue—and I realize that some of you may not—I want to be clear that we will need to conduct layoffs even if the state does not grant our request. You are likely to have many questions about when layoffs will occur and how many people will be affected. While we don’t have the answers yet, I wanted to reach out to you as soon as possible with the information I do have.

I promise to keep you updated along the way as we learn more specifics. My staff and I will also be hosting Q&A sessions in many schools over the next several weeks and months to update you and clear up any misinformation. Look for more details about these events soon.

During this difficult time, I know you will stay focused on the students in your classrooms and for that I thank you. As always, I deeply appreciate everything you do on behalf of our students every day.

In Service,

Cami

Brooklyn Community Education Councils Slam De Blasio Giveaway to Moskowitz and Other Charters

The Community Education council of District 20 and 21 invites all community members to join them at I.S. 96 Seth Low to Rally on Friday, March 7, 2014 at 2:30 PM.

Imagine if these communities and the principals closed all the schools in these 2 districts so people could attend the rallies.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Community Education Council District 21 calls on Chancellor Farina and Mayor de Blasio to reverse the decision to implement co-location plan for I.S. 96, Seth Low, and I.S. 281, Joseph B. Cavallaro.

            Last Thursday’s announcement regarding the continuance of charter co-locations at I.S. 96, Seth Low, and I.S. 281, Joseph B. Cavallaro, is a major setback for our community.  There was such hope that Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Farina would finally listen to the voices of parents and community members.  Many of us now feel only disappointment and frustration. In the fall of 2013, the Community Education Council District 21 passed two resolutions opposing both co-locations, we have rallied, gone to both PEP meetings and still our voices were not heard.  2014 had such potential for parents and yet again, we have been pushed to the side.  We have been given a promise that they will do things better in the future.  What about the children and their families that are already attending I.S. 96 Seth Low, and I.S. 281, Joseph B. Cavallaro, don’t they count too?  I understand that they based their decisions on families that applied for seats for September 2014 and the deadline was coming.  Our children’s educations should not be about deadlines.  We provide excellent educational opportunities for all children in this district and have seats in our traditional public schools for the children who have applied.  More time should have been taken to visit and speak to schools, families, and community members regarding the co-locations. There is no need to rush putting two more elementary schools in our district. We have and always will supply a high quality education for every child in our district’s traditional public schools.   Mayor de Blasio's plan is to provide full day, high quality Pre-K programs to
53,000 students in 2014. With two elementary Charter school co-locations opening in 2014 in our district, what middle school space can the Chancellor guarantee will be available for these students in the future?

            It’s time to come together once again as a community! Let our voices be heard loud and clear “We say NO to the co-locations decisions on I.S. 96 and I.S. 281, Joseph B. Cavallaro”. The Community Education Council District 21 calls on Chancellor Farina and Mayor de Blasio to reverse the decision to implement co-location plan for I.S.96, Seth Low and I.S. 281, Joseph B. Cavallaro.

The Community Education council of District 20 & 21 invites all community members to join them at I.S. 96 Seth Low to Rally on Friday, March 7, 2014 at 2:30 PM.

Video from PEP meetings where the PEP was slammed by CEC 21:   http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2014/03/brooklyn-rally-friday-to-oppose-de.html

EvaGate: Media Worm Turning on Moskowitz - and Cuomo

...what is potentially precedent setting is Moskowitz’s possibly using taxpayer money given to her school for the purposes of educating kids and using it instead to finance a political protest that deployed those kids as lobbyists for her agenda. Also precedent setting is what this does to the definition of the very term “public school.” Remember, charters are privately administered but they are still classified as public schools for the purposes of taxpayer funding. Yet, Moskowitz is asserting the unilateral right to close her network of ostensibly public schools for the specific purposes of lobbying on behalf of her private organization’s political and economic agenda.... 
...Cuomo proudly attended Moskowitz’s rally, endorsing the possible use of taxpayer money to fund such political protests. Similarly, much of the media coverage hasn’t even bothered to mention the possible illegalities involved in such a move....
 Imagine a traditional public school’s principal unilaterally shutting down his school for a day and then using the school’s buses to take the student body to a political protest demanding more money for that principal....
...What’s different here is the use of an ostensibly public institution – and possibly public dollars – to lobby for private interests, and to do so in a way that uses children as the lobbyists. It is a prospective precedent that no doubt has the school privatization movement and the for-profit education sector rejoicing.... David Sirota

Well it's about time that someone in the media has started paying attention to the crucial illegal, immoral, child abusing actions of Eva Moskwowitz, Cuomo and the charter lobby. Let's hope they rejoice no longer. Always expect them to take the extra mile -- sort of like closing a bridge to traffic for political retaliation.

http://pando.com/2014/03/06/charter-school-leader-pushes-kids-to-become-her-personal-lobbyists/

Charter school leader pushes kids to become her personal lobbyists

By David Sirota
On March 6, 2014

Charter schools have long been loved by the private sector, and the rich. And for good reason.

They are technically public schools, and so they receive lots of public money, but they are privately run, often by for-profit companies. Their ratio of administrative spending to instructional spending is often higher than the ratio in traditional public schools. Though that has left charter schools typically performing no better than traditional public schools, it has translated into a taxpayer-subsidized gravy train of spending on unproven technology from education corporations; it has raised the prospect of major private profits for investors; and it has delivered outsized paychecks for those who run charter networks.

Charter schools have provided much the same jackpot to lawmakers. As just one iconic example, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has traded support for charter schools for massive campaign contributions from the same financial industry that has funded the movement to privatize the public school system. As part of the bargain, Cuomo has at once demonized public school employee pay, while promoting charter school leaders like Eva Moskowitz whose taxpayer-subsidized salaries are far higher than their public school counterparts.

As if all of this wasn’t troubling enough for the future of public education, now it seems the charter school movement is asserting the right to unilaterally shut down their schools and turn kids into campaigners and lobbyists for the charter school industry, potentially at taxpayer expense. Indeed, earlier this week, the New York Daily News reported that Moskowitz, a national charter school icon, announced classes would be cancelled at her 22 taxpayer-subsidized schools and “that hundreds of parents and students will be bused to Albany to protest” on behalf of Moskowitz’s charter school network.

The purpose of the protest was to amplify Moskowitz’s demand that her privately run, publicly funded company be allowed to expand into existing traditional public schools and use public buildings without paying rent. Among other things, that would provide an infusion of public revenue to pay Moskowitz’s $475,000 a year salary. It would provide such an infusion of public cash even though Moskowitz is trying to prevent public officials from auditing her network’s finances.

What is big news here is not a wealthy education entrepreneur using her own political clout to protect her own economic interests. That’s standard operating procedure in American politics.

No, what is potentially precedent setting is Moskowitz’s possibly using taxpayer money given to her school for the purposes of educating kids and using it instead to finance a political protest that deployed those kids as lobbyists for her agenda. Also precedent setting is what this does to the definition of the very term “public school.” Remember, charters are privately administered but they are still classified as public schools for the purposes of taxpayer funding. Yet, Moskowitz is asserting the unilateral right to close her network of ostensibly public schools for the specific purposes of lobbying on behalf of her private organization’s political and economic agenda.

To fully appreciate the significance of the move, consider a hypothetical. Imagine a traditional public school’s principal unilaterally shutting down his school for a day and then using the school’s buses to take the student body to a political protest demanding more money for that principal. That would almost certainly generate a backlash, involving everything from parental outrage, legislative hearings into misuse of public funds and even potentially a criminal probe. And if it happened in New York, it would almost certainly earn a slam from Cuomo.

But that’s not what happened this week. Instead, Cuomo proudly attended Moskowitz’s rally, endorsing the possible use of taxpayer money to fund such political protests. Similarly, much of the media coverage hasn’t even bothered to mention the possible illegalities involved in such a move. Indeed, the only prominent mention of the precedent seems to be coming from New York City councilman Daniel Dromm, who announced he will hold an oversight hearing into “the legality of a school leader closing schools for entirely political purposes.”

Of course, private corporations have long used their workforces and their economic power to try to influence politics. What’s different here is the use of an ostensibly public institution – and possibly public dollars – to lobby for private interests, and to do so in a way that uses children as the lobbyists. It is a prospective precedent that no doubt has the school privatization movement and the for-profit education sector rejoicing.

 

De Blasio Wasting His Charter Election Mandate - It is Time for He and Tish James to Make a Stand

Candidate de Blasio promised he’d start charging well-financed charter schools that got rent-free use of space in public schools. He did not like the idea of two different sets of kids getting different educations under the same school roof. One group gets a quasi-private school with no overhead in public school space.
Grade that F — for favoritism.
Mayor de Blasio is just doing what he promised to do during campaign... There has been a lot of barking over Mayor de Blasio's plans to tax-the-rich to fund pre-K and take a hard line on charter schools that take resources from public school students. But that's what got him elected in the first place... Daily News columnist Dennis Hamill

Finally, a piece that makes this point. Didn't he defeat pro-charter Joe Lhota with 75% of the vote? How inept politically on his part. But Michael Powell in the Times has the wrong take on the ineptness.

He decided last week to let most plans for charter expansion go forward — save for three schools run by Ms. Moskowitz. As a result, many dozens of children are without schools for next fall. Credit is due the mayor. With this decision, he succeeded at the devilishly difficult task of making a martyr of Ms. Moskowitz.

WTF, Michael. You mean deB's mistake was not giving in to everything she wanted? No, his big error is NOT going on the attack -- pointing the money she spends on advertizing, her salary which is higher than his, the chancellor and the president. Or her voracious attacks on schools she occupies. There is just so much stuff out there. But we get silence.

And the charter lobby alliance with Cuomo may well cow the other charter critics like Public Advocate Tish James, who is holding a meeting Saturday regarding this issue (Tish James Calls for March 8 Meeting: Dear CEC, PTA presidents and Elected Officials Impacted by Co-Locations)
and will "update" people on the status of the lawsuit she and City Council speaker Mark-Viverito filed but put on hold. My guess is that they are both being scared off. The James powerful speeches at the PEP meetings (here and here) seem to be turning into little squeaks. Just to remind you, let me run the first James clip from the Oct. 15 PEP.



Dennis Hamill seems to be the only media person who gets it.

So this week, it’s charter schools.
Every week, his sore-loser critics want Mayor de Blasio to break another campaign promise to those who elected him.
De Blasio, a progressive Democrat, ran on a platform of complete reform of the NYPD’s out-of-control “stop, question and frisk” policy under Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. Joe Lhota, his Republican opponent, promised to continue the policy and reappoint Kelly.
The city went to the polls and gave de Blasio about 75% of the vote.

And when de Blasio appointed Bill Bratton police commissioner to implement stop-and-frisk reforms, the mayor’s “shocked, shocked” critics painted him as a Socialist Sandinista who is inviting a return to the bad old days of the crack epidemic.
They wanted de Blasio to break his campaign promise.
This is ridiculous. Especially since under de Blasio/Bratton, this city has already enjoyed a 21% dip in murders during the first two months of the year.
De Blasio the candidate promised to tax the rich a paltry sum to help fund universal prekindergarten in public schools.

When Mayor de Blasio moved to keep that promise, his critics had a meltdown. They preferred a different plan suggested by Gov. Cuomo, who, in an election year, must appeal to a much broader statewide electorate.
De Blasio’s critics got headlines. But they are the minority who either voted for his opponent or did not have the civic pride to vote at all.
Now de Blasio’s sore-loser critics demand he break this campaign promise, too.
And this week, it’s charter schools. 

Candidate de Blasio promised he’d start charging well-financed charter schools that got rent-free use of space in public schools. He did not like the idea of two different sets of kids getting different educations under the same school roof. One group gets a quasi-private school with no overhead in public school space.
Grade that F — for favoritism.
De Blasio’s critics like to point out that many charter school students are minorities. So what? So are most New York City public school students.
The mayor’s critics even resort to making this a contest of how many people show up at rallies in Albany. One thousand people at a pro-de Blasio prekindergarten rally as opposed to 7,000 at an anti-de Blasio save-the-charter-school rally. Both are laughable numbers out of a public school system of 1.1 million students.

But Dennis Hamill gets this part wrong too. People showed up at the Moskowitz rally because SHE WAS ALLOWED TO CLOSE HER DAMN SCHOOLS AND FORCE PARENTS, STUDENTS AND STAFF TO ATTEND.

Not one word about that outrage in the press. What if de Blasio closed Brooklyn schools tomorrow so they could support the rally at Seth Low? Oh, would the press be screaming. 

Hamill finishes with a powerful point.

The only rally that mattered was the election last November.
De Blasio ran as a liberal Democrat on a progressive platform against Lhota. The choice was clear: Turn left or turn right.
De Blasio won in a landslide.
Some rich and powerful people don’t like the people’s choice of taxing the rich for pre-K. The police union doesn’t like the new stop-and-frisk policy. Parents of charter school students don’t like de Blasio’s new policy.

But the people have spoken.
The bottom line is: De Blasio was elected to reform stop-and-frisk, tax the rich to fund pre-K and curb the freeloading charter schools in public school buildings.
Now his sore-loser critics want him to break all those campaign promises.
Which would make de Blasio a phony and a liar to all those who elected him.

The NY Times' Michael Powell has a different slant. While absolutely correct on the inept de Blasio politically on the charter issue, Powell focuses on the Cuomo factor.

“Cat in Albany Is Outfoxing New York City’s Mouse”: “Credit is due the mayor. … [H]e succeeded at the devilishly difficult task of making a martyr of Ms. Moskowitz.” http://goo.gl/h8IY1m

Maybe the problem was with the metaphor.

Mayor Bill de Blasio took office and talked “progressive,” with ambitious plans for an income tax on the wealthy and an increase in the minimum wage. He rallied unions and activists and parents, and the sense was of a dog howling, and putting on notice the bigger dog in Albany.

Two months later, it turns out that the more apt metaphor was of cat-and-mouse.

Mr. de Blasio has taken the role of the impulsive mouse, demanding this cheese and that, and not quite knowing how to end his game. And Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has taken the role of the big cat who can treat the mouse kindly — and, with a whack, send it tumbling back into its hole.

Evidence of the mayor’s diminished state came on Tuesday, when he took his crusade for a tax to fund universal prekindergarten to an armory in Albany a few blocks north of the Capitol. The turnout was not much to boast of, and it was made up mostly of union members who were in town to lobby for various causes.

Continue reading the main story

Related Coverage below the jump

Chris Pavone's "The Accident" Gets NY Times Rave Review

Mr. Pavone writes: “First the web devoured book clubs, then magazines, and now its maw is agape, ravenous, ready to swallow the whole bloody publishing business.” Luckily, unputdownable books like Mr. Pavone’s help keep the business alive and well... Janet Maslin, NYTimes

Chris, who is my long-time friend Vera Pavone's son, hits another home run with his 2nd novel. Since I am way behind on my reading, I didn't get to read his first novel, The Expats, until 6 months ago and it was even better than I thought it would be -- not my usual genre. Chris is appearing at a book signing at a Barnes and Nobles next week but I will be deep into the final rehearsals of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying before our March 14 opening.

Chris Pavone, whose novel "The Expats" won an Edgar Award. Credit Nina Subin

THE ACCIDENT

By Chris Pavone

385 pages. Crown Publishers. $26.

 

Books of The Times

By JANET MASLIN

 Chris Pavone managed to turn his experience in book editing and living in Luxembourg into an Edgar-winning spy novel, “The Expats.” With “The Accident,” he matches that first novel’s nail-biting level of excitement while continuing to write about what he knows. “The Accident” is a thriller about publishing, and if that sounds like an oxymoron, Mr. Pavone is very good at rendering it wildly dramatic.

Continue reading the main story

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/06/books/the-accident-a-new-novel-by-chris-pavone-of-the-expats.html?ref=books&_r=1

Tish James Calls for March 8 Meeting: Dear CEC, PTA presidents and Elected Officials Impacted by Co-Locations

Letitia James is making some noise, but it remains to be seen if that is all it is. The meeting announcement doesn't seem to call for de Blasio to revisit the recent decisions and announces an update on the law suit against co-locos. My guess this is not a good sign.

With de Blasio waffling and shaky on the charter/co-loco issue - see Ravitch - The Big Lie about Mayor Bill de Blasio and Charters - Ravitch gently chides him for handing Eva and the charter lobby almost everything they wanted. Their strategy is working in pushing him off the agenda he was elected for.

The question before the Mayor is whether he will continue to fund a dual school system--one sector able to choose the students it wants--and the other sector serving all. He is trying to have it both ways, and it doesn't work. He gave the charter lobby almost everything it wanted, and they still came after him as if he had given them nothing at all. ...Ravitch

I can't make it as there is a MORE meeting on Saturday followed by a happy hour (MOREistas LOVE happy hours). Here is the James email:

Dear CEC, PTA presidents and Elected Officials Impacted by Co-Locations,

I am writing to invite you to a working group meeting with Public Advocate Letitia James and the plaintiffs of the co-location law suit regarding the status of the Department of Education’s (DOE) planned co-locations.

The meeting will take place this coming Saturday, March 8 from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM at 195 Montague Street, 3rd floor, Brooklyn.  Please rsvp to bsherman@pubadvocate.nyc.gov no later than Friday, March 7^th.

During the meeting, we invite you to share your concerns regarding the process related to Education Impact Statements and engagement with the larger school community around shaping policy and priorities in districts citywide. We will also use this meeting to update you on the status of our co-location lawsuit and review a suggested set of principles to be given to the DOE as criteria to be used moving forward for future co-located schools.

We will then have an open meeting to hear from all parents, teachers, SLTs, CECs and elected officials.

Lastly, we will be holding a press conference to share our new principles with the public and invite you to join us to display our unity in calling for an amended colocation process that strengthens schools and builds a better community.

We look forward to meeting with you on Saturday,

Best wishes,

Letitia “Tish” James

New York City Public Advocate

Event Details

Date:               Saturday, March 8, 2014

Time:               10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Location:         195 Montague Street, 3^rd Floor, Brooklyn

*****Press Conference will immediately follow the event*****

Agenda

10:00 AM – 11:45 AM          CEC, PTA Presidents and Elected Officials Meeting w/Public Advocate James

12:00 PM – 1:30 PM             Meeting to hear from parents, teachers, SLT’s, CEC’s and elected officials

1:45                                         Press Conference       

 

DOE Gives UFT Ed Foundation Over Million $$ Contract to Implement

 Contract Agenda Item 13

Professional development for schools that adapt the New York State P-12 common core learning standards vendor name: UFT-Educational Foundation, Inc. 

Annual amount $1,223,646 Options (renewal options) : none

http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/2E3F10A7-9BC0-4807-8152-A0226C4A0F7C/160165/March182014Agenda.pdf

To be voted on at March 18 PEP at Prospect Hts HS.

Chicago: Testing Opt-Out Capital

In some cases, principals have told teachers they will be arrested if they leaflet parents on the public sidewalks outside their schools, even though the teachers are distributing the materials on their own time.

The explosion of the Chicago Opt Out movement comes despite orders from CPS administrators -- usually "Chief Officers" of the school system's 13 so-called "Networks" (which are what Chicago's sub-districts are currently called -- to principals demanding that the principals bully the parents and children into rescinding opt out forms which have been submitted by the parents.

The Opt Out of the ISAT campaign is distinct from the Boycott Campaign, in which teachers are refusing to administer the ISAT tests. So far, two elementary schools (Saucdeo and Drummond) have announced that their teachers have voted not to administer the tests, while individual teachers at dozens of other schools have confirmed to Substance that they will not administer the tests, usually for what amounts to "conscientious objection.".... http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=4854&section=Article

Great reporting from George Schmidt in Chicago. Note that CORE, the caucus that runs the union - as opposed to the CTU itself - is leading the charge. That would be like Unity doing something like this --- Ok, you can stop laughing.

Chicago parents begin movement to opt out of tests. Stay tuned, the number of opt-outs grows each day. (Visit the article at Substance to see the long list of opt-out schools)
OPT OUT NEWS: Parents at more than 74 Chicago elementary schools have opted their children out of the ISAT tests by the evening before the testing program, which begins March 4, 2014
George N. Schmidt - March 03, 2014
http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=4854&section=Article
Parents at at least 74 Chicago elementary schools (out of roughly 500) have requested that their children be opted out of the ISAT (Illinois State Achievement Tests) testing program as of March 3, 2014. The update on the number of schools where opt outs have been verified was provided by the Chicago Teachers Union on the even of the testing cycle, which is scheduled to begin on March 4, 2014 and extend through March 14. The number of individual children who will be opting out of the test exceeds 1,000 (including the two sons of this reporters, whose elementary age sons attend O.A. Thorp Elementary School).
The Opt Out of the ISAT campaign is distinct from the Boycott Campaign, in which teachers are refusing to administer the ISAT tests. So far, two elementary schools (Saucdeo and Drummond) have announced that their teachers have voted not to administer the tests, while individual teachers at dozens of other schools have confirmed to Substance that they will not administer the tests, usually for what amounts to "conscientious objection."
The explosion of the Chicago Opt Out movement comes despite orders from CPS administrators -- usually "Chief Officers" of the school system's 13 so-called "Networks" (which are what Chicago's sub-districts are currently called -- to principals demanding that the principals bully the parents and children into rescinding opt out forms which have been submitted by the parents. The ISAT program only applies to elementary children, and none of those who have asked to opt out is older than 14 years old to Substance's knowledge. Opt Out is a right of parents.
The pressure on parents to rescind opt out letters has been growing since the movement to Opt Out has grown. Principals have also threatened teachers who have encouraged parents to opt out their children. The threats have included unpaid days off and other sanctions. In some cases, principals have told teachers they will be arrested if they leaflet parents on the public sidewalks outside their schools, even though the teachers are distributing the materials on their own time.
More than 40,000 Opt Out leaflets have been distributed by members of the Caucus Of Rank and file Educators (CORE), since the Opt Out movement began a few weeks ago. Many parents and teachers have also gotten the leaflets duplicated at their own expense. A CORE fundraising benefit at Chicago's Second City helped raise the money to pay for the leaflets that have been helping to build the movement.

The list (alphabetized) as of the end of the school day on March 3, 2014 was the following. The ISAT is only given in the elementary schools, but some high schools (listed at the bottom of the list) have "academic centers" which serve seventh and eight graders.
The Opt Out movement is also being built by several community and parent groups, including More Than A Score, PURE, Parents 4 Teachers, Raise Your Hand, and other groups too numerous to list. Parents and teachers expect the Opt Out movement to expand after thousands of children see their fellow students opting out when the testing program begins on March 4, 2014.

Website URLs.
More Than A Score: http://morethanascorechicago.org/.
PURE (Parents United for Responsible Education): http://pureparents.org/
CTU PRESS RELEASE ISSUED ON MARCH 3, 2014:
ISAT BOYCOTT SPREADS TO 74 SCHOOLS... Parents choose education over indoctrination by opting their children out

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Stephanie Gadlin. March 3, 2014 312/329-6250
CHICAGO - Despite repeated threats and miscommunication from the school district, parents at 74 Chicago Public Schools are opting their children out of the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT). Teachers at two schools, Saucedo and Drummond, said they intend to boycott the low-stakes test when it is to be formerly administered on Tuesday. (Source: More Than A Score: http://morethanascorechicago.org/).

Via robo calls and other scare tactics, CPS officials are telling parents that that if too many parents have their children opt out, the district faces losing state and federal funding. Catalyst Chicago, an independent publication dedicated to education, says: "Loss of such funding is unprecedented and at most it could trigger reallocating funds, but even that is highly unlikely...."

Students are not legally obligated to take the ISAT and parents have the legal right to "direct the upbringing and education of their children."

Dear Ms. Kopp - from a Newark Teacher

Dear Wendy Kopp,

I am in a bit of a jam and I thought maybe you could help me out. State Superintendent Cami Anderson has announced plans to lay off one thousand Newark Public School teachers over the next three years. I do not yet know if I am on the list, but understandably I am feeling very nervous.

It occurred to me that Teach for America could be the solution to my problems. I would like to apply for a teaching position in Newark. I hold a BA from a state university and a standard teacher's certificate. I have over twenty years teaching experience in diverse multicultural urban environments. I have taught every grade from prekindergarten to twelfth grade. My strengths include excellent communication skills and the ability to work well with people from different cultural backgrounds. I would be willing to attend Relay Graduate School of Education at their Newark campus to upgrade my pedagogical skills and I am anxious to move into the Teacher's Village under construction in Newark to form closer relationships with my colleagues.

If you would consider my application despite my excessive experience, my advanced age and my last century credentials, I would be most appreciative. I believe that every child deserves to be taught by an effective teacher and a chance to succeed in life despite being born into poverty. Education is the Civil Right's issue of our generation. I pledge to relinquish one hundred years of union loyalty beginning with my paternal grandmother's membership in the ILGWU for the opportunity to turn myself into a Teach for America scab.

Sincerely yours,

A Newark Teacher 

More Protests Against de Blasio Co-Loco Decision

Press Advisory: JHS 52 families, HSEI families and CEC6 Members call for reversal of decision to co-locate M052

Families from JHS 52 and High School for Excellence and Innovation, Members of CEC6 and the District Six Pubic Education Advocacy Community call for reversal of DOE decision to proceed with co-location of M052 in Inwood, upper Manhattan.  

Press conference tomorrow morning at 9AM outside of school.  Information below. 

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY 

Contact:   Tory Frye (646) 418-6435 

                 Angela Garces (347) 553-9139

*************************************************************************************

                                             PRESS ADVISORY

*************************************************************************************

Who: Elected District Six Public School Parent Leaders
           JHS 52 and HSEI Public School Parents
           District Six Community Leaders
           Public School Advocates

When: March 5, 2014 @9AM

Where: JHS 52 650 Academy Street (Inwood, off Broadway north of Dyckman)

What: Press Conference

Why: Parents Call on Chancellor Carmen Fariña and Mayor Bill de Blasio to Reverse Decision to Co-locate M052, Housing JHS 52 and High School for Excellence and Innovation, with New Career and Technical High School in District Six, Manhattan.

Campaigning for Union Office: An Excerpt from How to Jump-Start Your Union: Lessons from the Chicago Teachers

This looks like one interesting book. I just started reading it. Here is a selection and somewhat of a blueprint for people to use. My advice for organizers: first start in your own schools with an organization sheet and some analysis of where people you work with stand. Then work within districts. Easier said than done but until we see this happening here, Unity will be in power.

Campaigning for Union Office:
An Excerpt from How to Jump-Start Your Union: Lessons from the Chicago Teachers
by Labor Notes

Labor Notes' new book, How to Jump-Start Your Union: Lessons from the Chicago Teachers, shows how activists transformed their union and gave members hope.  This excerpt tells how the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE) campaigned for top offices, and won.

It's one of the universals of organizing -- first you make a list.

Elementary teacher Alix Gonzalez Guevara remembers staying up late transferring data about each school from a district-published book into an Excel spreadsheet: region, address, how many teachers, how many students.

This became a Google document, an online spreadsheet available to everyone working on the campaign.  The schools were grouped by regions.  Within each, a couple of lead activists took responsibility to find people to do outreach at each school.

Whenever someone went to leaflet or hold a meeting at a school, they'd document it in the central spreadsheet.  They also entered their current percentage estimate of support at the school: an educated guess based on conversations with members there, what the delegate (steward) said, and how many had signed the petition to get CORE's candidates on the ballot.

A Typical Visit

24-Hour Bins One simple tool CORE came up with was the 24-hour bin.  A member would volunteer to host a plastic bin outside his or her house in a place where people could get to it at all hours -- on the front porch, for instance, or under the stairs.  The bin would be stocked with the latest flyers or posters. During the campaign there were five of these bins scattered around the city.  The system proved so handy that CORE kept using it for caucus flyers after the campaign was over.

On a typical visit, the CORE activist might spend a half-hour in the parking lot talking with teachers about the issues.

Then she would go inside, chat with the clerk, stuff the mailboxes with the latest CORE flyer, and leave a personal letter for the delegate, with a phone number if he wanted to set up a meeting for candidates to meet teachers and answer questions.

"We had a group of 20 who were available to go debate with the other caucus candidates at the schools," said history teacher Jackson Potter.  "The decentralized approach allowed us to run circles around the opposition, who only deployed the four officers."

Over the course of the campaign, the caucus hit most schools three times and some five times.  The tracking made it easier to prioritize larger schools, ones that hadn't been visited much, those where CORE's forces were weaker, or schools where the caucus wanted to build up a base of potential activists.

At caucus meetings, activists would report on the schools they had visited and pick up five or more new ones. Sometimes they would role-play, reporting what new questions they were hearing and brainstorming how to respond.

Busy, Busy, Busy

But while they were campaigning, CORE activists also continued their push to attend every school board meeting and school closure hearing.  They picketed the mayor, organized marches, and held candlelight vigils.

After all, CORE's activist identity was its campaign platform.  All the events gave the candidates opportunities to make their case publicly, tell their personal stories, and prove their words were backed up by action.

"We always made sure we wore a CORE button, a CORE shirt," elementary teacher Sarah Chambers said.  People would "look around when a school's closing, and they wouldn't see any UPC [the incumbent caucus]."

The school closure fights were the reason math teacher Carol Caref was able to get so many teachers at her school to vote for CORE.  "We were always afraid we'd be next on the list," she said.

"CORE was camping out all night in front of schools threatened to be closed, joining parents and kids," said social studies teacher Bill Lamme, "while the union was sitting on its hands and being a little too generous in their compensation packages for themselves."

To learn much more, order the book.

Putin Sites Mulgrew/Randi Takeover of NYSUT as Inspiration for Crimean Invasion

I admire the Unity Caucus operation tremendously. I only wish I had such control....My next invasion will be Brighton Beach to protect the Russian speaking population in Brooklyn.... I am looking for a condo in Brooklyn as a base of operation but the real estate prices are crazy.... Vladimir Putin

Brooklyn Rally Friday to Oppose de Blasio School Giveaway to Moskowitz/Success Charter

"We want our schools back." Letitia James, at PEP, Oct. 2013..

RALLY, Friday, March 7, 2:30PM at Seth Low, 99 Ave. P.

Will James be there?

The counterattack begins. I know, how many of these anti-Eva rallies have we seen in school after school? Water off her back as she knows that when school opens in the fall the fait accompli will sink in and people will stop protesting.

But here she is entering a slightly different world. A more active and politically connected one. And with Bloomberg, who didn't give a shit, gone and de Blasio thinking about the future and a 2nd term, hitting this Bensonhurst community is a big mistake.

Here is some video from the October 2013 PEP meetings where the Bloomberg PEP was slammed by the same CEC 21 people holding the rally. Now that de Blasio has endorsed the Bloomberg handover to Moskowitz, the same points apply.

Video: District 21 CEC Parents Object to DOE Co-Locations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvSu_tm5tKM

"We want our schools back." Letitia James, at PEP, Oct. 2013
That was also the night that soon to be elected Tish James made a powerful statement. Where is she now?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYwb_mCehTY

And here is Dominick Recchia who formerly supported co-locations going after the other co-loco for Coney Island Prep.

http://youtu.be/UwKviU6VmLk

Community Education Council District 21

           

Officers: Heather Fiorica, President · Anna Lembersky, 1^st Vice President · Joyce Finger, 2^nd Vice President ·

Linda Dalton, Recording Secretary ·Randi Garay, Treasurer

Members Muneer Abualroub·Mohammad Akram·Sean Chin·Maria Di Graziano ·Yoketing Eng·Evangelean Pugh

RALLY

at

SETH LOW IS96

99 Avenue P

Friday, March 7^th

2:30 pm

Come show your support for Seth Low and tell the Mayor to reverse the Success Charter

Co-location!

MORE March Membership Madness Meeting Sat, Mar 8 - and Help Mike, Peter and Me Celebrate Our B-Days

Even if you can't make the noon-time meeting, join us after. We will be talking about the NYSUT split towards the end of the meeting around 2:30 so if you are interested in that angle come on down. The rest of the agenda to come.

Hi all,

As you know our general meeting is next Saturday at YaYa at 224 W. 29th st NYC --

It's our March Membership Madness campaign

Details click here

We are also hosting a post meeting happy hour to celebrate.

It's been an exciting school year so far for MORE, so lets toast all our collective efforts.

Three of our friends and activists are also celebrating their birthdays this week, even MORE of a reason to celebrate. Peter Lamphere, Norm Scott, and Mike Schirtzer are all turning 21 (maybe a bit older) - so let's congratulate them together.

Pioneer's Bar

138 W.29th st (b/t 6th and 7th ave)

$4 beers, $6 wine and well drinks

FREE popcorn, jenga, and pinball

We should get there right after the meeting 3:15 to 3:30

--

Deny Them the Data - Opt Out Grows - Chicago Rocks While UFT Twiddles its Thumbs

What is the scariest words an ed deformer, privatizer, profiteer can hear? OPT-OUT.

As we work here in New York with the Change the Stakes group as we build alliances with other groups we are seeing the growth of the movement around the nation, even spreading from parents to teachers willing to risk their careers. (Though many teachers ARE opting out their own kids). Of course the UFT leadership is lagging way behind since they view any support for opt-out as subjecting them to attacks they want to avoid accountability - even if the accountability is just plain stupid one-way accountability.

From the Seattle teacher boycott of last year to the current battle in Chicago, we see teachers awakening in bits and starts.

Long-time readers of Ed Notes might remember the story here in NYC in May 2008. When the teacher announced to his kids they were getting a round of useless field tests at the end of May they rebelled. He merely told them they had rights but didn't tell them what to do. When 4 entire classes of kids refused to take the tests Doug was attacked fiercely by the entire DOE administration He was gone shortly after -- he wasn't tenured.

So, yes, there is a major risk. But when an entire school refuses to give a test....

Teachers at Saucedo Academy have risked their jobs by voting 100% to refuse to administer the ISAT and teach real class instead. Today Saucedo teachers were threatened with firing and revoked certifications. Call CPS and tell them you stand in solidarity with Saucedo teachers who stand with their students and parents against the ISAT. Let teachers teach! 773-553-1600 or 773-553-1500

 

Video Inspiration: Karen Lewis and John Kuhn @ Network for Public Education Conf, Austin, TX

from Vincent Precht at http://vimeo.com/87984834

"By 2010, the UPC leadership had atrophied," Uetricht explains, and was cowering in the face of school closures, the growth of nonunion charter schools, and the Renaissance 2010 "free market education reforms" 

Sound familiar? Any resemblance between the CTU and the UFT is purely coincidental.

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/22148-modeling-the-education-they-want-to-be-the-great-chicago-teachers-union-transformation

Modeling the Education They Want To Be: The Great Chicago Teachers Union Transformation

By Eleanor J Bader, Truthout | Book Review 

 
(Book cover via Verso Books) 

Micah Uetricht's "Strike for America: Chicago Teachers Against Austerity" relates the stirring transformation of the Chicago Teachers Union into a democratically organized force for social justice.

According to labor journalist Micah Uetricht, it's high time for trade unions in the United States to decide whether they want to wither away and follow a "business unionism" model of concessions and shrinkage, or follow "social movement unionism," a bottom-up, democratic organizing strategy that is aligned with social justice movements throughout the country.

The Chicago Teacher's Union [CTU], Uetricht writes in his book, Strike for America: Chicago Teachers Against Austerity, is a prime example of the latter, a feisty, transparent, activist-led group that is willing to fight the good fight and challenge the entrenched attitudes that have made unions irrelevant to far too many workers.

Uetricht makes clear that the CTU was not always a beacon and charts the union's transition from a staid, top-down organization to one that engages teachers, paraprofessionals, students and neighborhood residents in community betterment efforts throughout Chicago.

The shift, he writes, began in 2010, when a slate of teachers calling themselves the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators [CORE] took the reins of the 26,000 member CTU from CORE's predecessors, the United Progressive Caucus. "By 2010, the UPC leadership had atrophied," Uetricht explains, and was cowering in the face of school closures, the growth of nonunion charter schools, and the Renaissance 2010 "free market education reforms" championed by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and supported by US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
Not so, CORE. Its slogan - a union that actually fights for its members - proved early on that it was willing and ready to challenge authority. "They held multiple forums on cuts to public education. They built relationships with community organizations fighting school closures. They held a study group on Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine, which argues that neoliberal reform is pushed by elites during times of crisis, when the population is disoriented," Uetricht reports.

By late 2008, shortly after its founding, CORE began organizing teachers in schools that were slated for shuttering. Then, in January 2009, it sponsored a massive public forum on education reform that drew 500 people, including hundreds of educators. It quickly became apparent that the audience wanted to do something concrete and, in conjunction with a parent group called GEM, The Grassroots Education Movement, CORE activists began planning a visible pushback, taking to the streets and voicing their outrage in newspapers, over the airwaves, and through social media. By May 2010, a CTU election resulted in a CORE victory, with Karen Lewis at the helm.

The improvement in teacher morale was immediate. "In the past," Uetricht writes, "the union had operated under a servicing model, where the union's staff handled whatever problems teachers faced in the classroom or with an administrator; if the teacher had no problems, interaction with union staff was unlikely. Now, teachers themselves were going to be carrying out the union's broad agenda for educational justice."

CORE quickly allocated the resources needed to create a CTU organizing department, something that had never before existed. What's more, the new regime slashed the salaries of union staffers so that what they earned was in step with teachers' pay. In addition, they created a summer program that trained activist teachers to organize their peers. Contract Committees were formed in every school to ensure grassroots input and provide a ready conduit for information sharing with cafeteria and maintenance workers, who were not part of the CTU.

Finally, the union decided to take on more than bread-and-butter issues. "The union made publicly funded corporate subsidies, most notably through the city's Tax Incremental Financing [TIF] system, a major issue and worked alongside community groups and other unions to expand the CTU's organizing to include the issue of austerity for poor neighborhoods of color throughout the city," Uetricht notes.

Slowly but surely, he adds, the nearly-moribund CTU of the early 2000s was becoming invigorated. This was tested, however, when the Emmanuel administration laid off 1,500 teachers, and the Illinois legislature passed SB7, a bill that required a strike authorization threshold of 75 percent and limited the issues over which a union could refuse to work.

Nonetheless, by September 2012, things had reached a breaking point and the city's refusal to offer CTU members a decent contract was the last straw. Despite SB7, the union stunned city and state officials by taking a strike vote that resulted in more than 90 percent of the membership agreeing that it was time to walk off the job.

It was the first teacher strike in Chicago in 25 years.
"The entire city felt transformed," Uetricht writes. "Teachers were engaged in highly visible, militant, mass action, and there was a widespread sense throughout the city of the legitimacy and necessity of such action - for educators and for other workers . . . The union held mass rallies nearly every day with tens of thousands of teachers and their supporters . . . Teachers began organizing actions themselves, independent of the CTU leadership. No union staffers planned the small marches on the mayor's house during the strike; teachers planned these themselves."

This had an enormous impact on union activists because the ability to do what they felt was necessary - without having to jump through bureaucratic approval hoops - gave the members a sense of CTU ownership.

JOIN US! March 10 @ 6p.m. for Earth School's Forum on Current Education Policies and Testing

From the always awesome Jia Lee, star of MORE, Change the Stakes, chapter leader and parent at the Earth School on the lower east side and a Korean non-tiger mom.

Jia is one of the leaders of the NYC Opt-out movement at her school and in CTS. The goal is to get 100% of the parents there to opt-out and end testing child abuse.
 
The Earth School Parent-Teacher Advocacy is organizing a forum on high-stakes testing at the Earth School on Monday, March 10th at 6 p.m. A flyer is attached to this email with more details, and the letter below explains some of our latest thinking about the high-stakes testing issue.

Dear Earth School Community,

We truly appreciate your participation in the testing survey! (If you still need to complete it, just click here)

Some Earth School parents and teachers have been involved in the growing movement against high-stakes testing in NYC and the state. This Community Outreach ES email formed as a result of a Parent Advocacy Committee that formed through our Parent Association last year.

We are not anti-test, but we strongly oppose the double whammy situation we face in NYC, namely: the problematic new Common Core-aligned curriculum/tests, combined with the overblown significance attached to these tests because we live a city where standardized test scores can be used to determine grade promotion, influence admissions processes (something that fortunately seems to be changing), teacher and principal evaluations, and school progress reports.

We have the great fortune of having our children attend a nurturing school where, unlike most schools in the city, test prep has not taken over rich curriculum. In many ways, the ES educators and school community have shielded our students from having invaluable learning experiences stripped from their school day. However, the government’s current policies promote a learning environment that places disproportionate emphasis - academically and psychologically - on tests that are flawed at best, and damaging at worst. Furthermore, children living in poverty, English Language Learners, and students with disabilities are inordinately burdened by this system. We wish to turn this discussion from being about testing to one that is about education.

There's a lot of mythology and misinformation surrounding testing, and many families, ours included, have understandably felt overwhelmed and confused. It's important to know that YOU DO HAVE OPTIONS and YOU DO HAVE A VOICE in the matter. We hope that by attending this forum, you will get information and perspectives that will empower you make the best decision for your child, your family, and your community.

Hope to see you on March 10!