Monday, November 10, 2014

Nov. 10, 2014 Exposing A. Philip Randolph High School Hack Principal David Fanning

Happy teachers make for happy students and a safe teaching environment makes for a safe learning environment. It is too bad Carmen Farina is not paying attention to a cascade of principals who are undermining the teaching and learning conditions in so many schools. I get stories every single day and have a backlog of posts on a number of schools.

Even experienced chapter leaders are under assault by principals clearly trained in tactics of divide and conquer - they isolate certain people and woo others. All while the UFT dithers and provides few weapons and support and barebones training. What is funny that because I get so many reports on these principals I can see the pattern of behavior and can advise people - the UFT does not teach this pattern of behavior and help people format a broad array of responses -- which includes a political response - but more on this aspect in future posts.
Would you want to work for a guy who clearly has a stick up his ass

One key charge against Fanning is that he covers up incidents to make the school look clean and oppresses staff members who would report. Nothing reported, nothing fixed.

Here is a composite report from various sources on principal David Fanning and the school.
A. Philip Randolph High School was recently ranked by The Daily News as one of the best public schools in New York City.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/best-high-schools-new-york-top-60-institutions-article-1.1973796
This comes as a shock to anyone who attends the school, works there, or reads the news.  How can a school with three harassment and/or discrimination lawsuits filed against the school in the past two years--the first years of David Fanning's appointment as principal--be the best of anything?  

According to the latest Learning Environment Survey, only about 40% of teachers feel safe at APRHS.
http://schools.nyc.gov/OA/SchoolReports/2013-14/Survey_2014_M540.pdf

That's understandable when you consider that the principal is so negligent about safety that he didn't even seek medical attention for a student who was shot in the face with a bb gun in the classroom last year.  

According to The Daily News, APRHS touts an array of advanced classes.  Talk to anyone from the school and you'll soon learn that all these supposed advanced classes are not offered.  Or at least certainly not recently or all in one year.  In the course of one year, students' agreement responses to the Learning Environment survey question, "My school offers a wide enough variety of programs, classes and activities to keep me interested in school" dropped nearly twenty percentage points.  Where is this supposed array of classes?
 
And, again, it's not just the lack of a variety of classes.  There is a lack of safety and mutual respect.  This isn't just about teachers like Sonia Burke and Monte Kuhr, both of whom have filed lawsuits against the DoE regarding their poor treatment at APRHS.

This is also, of course, about the students.  A glance at insideschools.com should give you an idea.
http://insideschools.org/component/schools/school/259

"This is honestly the worst school in the city. I've been here for 4 years. Don't listen to what the "Student Government" person is saying, he's sugarcoating it. The school has a bunch of incidents all the time which are covered up all the time. There was a fire in the bathroom and wasn't reported, which smoke was all over the 2nd floor the school reported it as a false alarm. They also had a classroom whose boards where set on fire and the school called the janitors to put it out. Seriously if you love your kid, don't send them here. There is some staff that I absolutely love, Ramirez, Calcano, Lacera, Ross, Stone, Dermott, but that's it."
"
The staircases smell like weed. Students go to school high. Students have sex in staircases. Students cut ALL THE TIME. Students are EXTREMELY rude. The classes get disrupted all the time. There are ALWAYS physical fights (At least once a week!). Not to mention the pranks that are far dangerous.
 
Because of this environment, it is almost impossible for any student to not follow these same steps. Many students have admitted that they started caring less about school once they enrolled to APRCHS. Even though the students can succeed academically (if they try to ignore the craziness), the behavior in this school isn't acceptable. It isn't a school where I would want MY child to attend."

"I don't recommend this school to anyone. I have been in this school for 2 years already and I absolutely hate it. I was really excited about it at first, but it's not a good learning environment for your kid. The staircases smell like weed, there are always students skipping class in the hallways, many students disrupt the class, and much more. There's also no respect towards teachers or students. A few weeks ago I was in my math class and a student had thrown a water balloon at my teacher. There was also the situation when a student had disrupted a class to shoot a student who was sitting in class doing his work. There was even a report on it.http://nypost.com/2013/11/25/s...
 The students are absolutely out of control. They "twerk" most of the time. There is dealing of drugs going on. They are extremely rude to the adults. Due to the behavior of this school, I'm afraid that colleges might look at my grades and think that I only have good grades because I look good in front of those awful students.There are, of course, some very good students. But the majority of the students do not care about school and go to school to waste our time and theirs."
The student from the first comment makes a very good point.  "The school has a bunch of incidents all the time which are covered up all the time."  Indeed, this appears to be the case.  How else could APRHS rank as one of the best high schools in NYC?  Maybe the principal, David Fanning, got his covering up degree when he was an AP of Organization at Brooklyn Tech.  Anyone remember this?  http://www.nycsci.org/reports/11-20%20brooklyntech%20rpt.pdf
The scandal at Brooklyn Tech about administration not reporting violence and robberies.
 
It appears Fanning comes from violence cover-up central.  If it's not reported it didn't happen, right?  
 

MORE Manhattan Local Organizing: District 1/2 Teacher/School Workers Meetup - Friday Nov. 14, 4PM

While some people complain about the MORE monthly meetings (at times me included) I tell them these local meetings are the key to building a grassroots rank and file movement in the UFT. In the school neighborhoods after school. And I have urged MOREistas to not just make these events about happy hours but to engage in discussion as a group, not as people talking at a bar.
District 1&2 Teacher/School Workers Meetup
Friday, November 14 @ 4:00pm
Houston Hall
222 W Houston
1 train to Houston or ACEFBD to W4th Street

Let's get together this November to catch up, connect, and schmooze! We'll share our visions, challenges, and goals for the upcoming months:

UFT contract & our schools
Charter schools invading our district
High stakes testing
What's on YOUR mind?
Drinks & discussion.
You can just show up!

Suggestions? Questions? Want to let us know you're coming?
Contact John Antush: 917-734-3907 (call or text) or johnantush@gmail.com

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Personal Health: The Eyes Have It

 The recent NY Times series on the elderly falling and suffering long-term permanent damage was scary and a wake-up call to us old folk - I'm just months away from turning 70. And of course the fairly sudden illnesses and deaths of Loretta and Gene Prisco last year just 8 months apart at the age of 71 still leaves us in shock.

The Times articles raised the balance issue, which is one reason I take rigorous hot (Bikram) yoga classes, where you have to lock your knee and stand on one leg for up to a minute. (My mother's fall and broken hip put her in the hospital where she got pneumonia and never got out.) They recommend standing on one leg while brushing your teeth.

From my fairly robust dad up to the end, who died over 2 years ago at 94, I learned from his problems with teeth (he didn't take good care and all of them were pulled when he was 92) and eyes (wet macular degeneration that made him legally blind) and ears - pretty deaf - that these are 3 simple areas to take care of.

I've been doing the teeth thing pretty religiously for the past 5 years with a local dentist - who doesn't take the UFT plan but I'm putting people I trust and like over money.

This past Thursday my wife and I trekked into the city to see our current eye doctor on 61st and Park Av to get checked out. My wife found him for her double cataract operation almost 3 years ago through research on the web and recommendations and I began using him too. The verdict? All is well - no macular or glaucoma and no change in vision from last time.
What I'm wearing to the MORE meeting

Afterwards we checked out Bloomingdales where you can't buy anything for less than $300 and then to a French restaurant on 63rd and Lex for a great lunch. The weather was raw and I was real sleepy so we headed back to Rockaway without seeing our planned movie. Life is touch for us retirees.

As for ears? As I head into the monthly MORE meeting I'm thinking a bit of deafness would not be the worst thing.

MORE Goes to Philly

Big shout out to Mindy, Alexandra, Jia and Karen who will be representing MORE today at a convention being coordinated by our brothers and sisters of WE caucus of the Philly Teachers Fed.
http://www.workingeducators.org/first_annual_convention

We all recognize the terrible attacks public educators  are facing in Philly and anything we can do to support them we will. Solidarity to our union family!

They will be missed at today's MORE meeting.

Friday, November 7, 2014

Angst Rages Over Cuomo/Charter Allies Attack on Public School System

RBE at Perdido Street and others like NYC Educator Hamlet and Randi and Buffalo teacher Sean Crowley (Teachers Union Leaders Sell Out Members Because They've Got No Skin In The Game) and at B-LoEdScene have been targeting the UFT/NYSUT/AFT capitulation with a focus on Randi. I left this comment:
If the entire school system was charterized but Unity still gets its cut they will be Ok with that. That's the difference between the Republicans and Dems. The former want the union abolished. The latter want to partner with the union to manage the members away from militant action. So Cuomo won't have to remove collective bargaining rights like Scott Walker - the UFT has in effect done that for him.
The question is what to do about it other than complain. People have been asking me how do you build a mass movement. I don't have an easy answer - but--

One crucial item that is often missing in opposition groups:
Thinking like organizers - get names and numbers and figure out a way to get a local/regional meeting because organizing on a city-wide basis with a once a month meeting really is not enough to get anywhere.

Successful mass organizing efforts in the past - especially in teacher unions - often involved the hiring of effective full-time organizers -- see Al Shanker c. 1959 - and some think he was brought into teaching years before with that in mind.

The ATR situation offers some interesting opportunities as they can be roving bands of organizers. But most do not have that mentality. I've only had contact with maybe 2 or 3 ATRs who go into schools with an organizing mentality. One guy in the Bronx did a lot of  work getting out info on MORE.

At the upcoming ATR meeting on Nov 11 they should address this issue.


Cuomo's "Victory" May Cost Him His Presidential Hopes

Governor Andrew Cuomo is being blamed for staggering Democratic Party losses in the House of Representatives.
Despite the Governor fundraising upwards of $45 million for his own reelection campaign and finishing with many millions still in the bank, his beleaguered fellow Democrats received minimal financial support from the Governor — and top party operatives in Washington, DC are rumored to be irate... A full quarter of all Democratic Party losses in the House last night occurred in New York, where corruption allegations stemming from the now disgraced Moreland Commission consumed the political discourse and suppressed voter turnout (especially among Democrats) to the lowest level since FDR was elected Governor in 1930. ... The Buffalo Chronicle
It couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Cuomo with his charter lobby backing will engage in open warfare on the teachers while a passive union lies down in the road. As the mayhem of a rain of charters goes on we can at least enjoy a few moments of this kind of thing.


Cuomo burned bridges w/ House Dems & blamed for staggering 1/4 of all House losses w/ lowest turnout since 1930 http://go.shr.lc/1E9zQMt

Cuomo blamed for loss of House Dems

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Matthew Ricchiazzi in Congress, NY Governor // 1 Comment


Thursday, November 6, 2014

Chicago Teacher Union Update - Where Does ISO Stand? George Schmidt in Substance and Lee Sustar in Socialist Worker

The last-minute decision by Karen Lewis and a handful of Chicago Teachers Union staff members to "endorse" the candidacy of Jesus "Chuy" Garcia during the three days prior to the CTU LEAD dinner on Halloween night has caused the biggest split in five years inside both the union and the CORE (Caucus Of Rank-and-file Educators) which won union power in June 2010.  ... Lee Sustar, Socialist Worker
Now that a faction of the leadership of the union has surrendered its last pretexts at transparency and democracy.... George Schmidt on the Chicago Teachers Union 
For the union to back Garcia, however, the CTU constitution requires the political action committee/legislative committee [1] (PAC/Leg) to first propose any endorsements before they are passed along to the union's executive board, which must approve the recommendation before it goes to the next House of Delegates meeting....The PAC/LEG committee did hold several meetings, but was unable to issue a decision on endorsement until after the October 31 union dinner. Now, the executive board has recommended an endorsement to be taken up at the House of Delegates. But Garcia's appearance at the LEAD event pre-empted the process.....Lee Sustar, Socialist Worker
From the earliest days of MORE there have been concerns over the role the International Socialist - ISO - would play within MORE - to such an extent that there was much debate within ICE 3 years ago as to whether the get involved in the first place. And recent events in MORE have brought some of these issues to the surface, ie - to what extent can ISO control the agenda of MORE? But more (lots more) on this angle in the future.

I present the above and below in the context of what is going in the Chicago TU, where ISO also has some key people involved, most notably, VP Jesse Sharkey, who is now acting president while Karen Lewis recovers from her illness and Nate Goldbaum who is the chairperson of CORE --  Sharkey (see photo below) and the rest of the CTU leadership seem to have taken the CTU down a road of alliance with the Democratic Party hack division as the lesser of 2 evils - by endorsing some awful Democratic politicians - who lost anyway - see Substance - Paul Vallas cost Pat Quinn the election.

While it is not clear on the role Sharkey has played in these decisions (one would assume that as one of the 4 officers he played a major role), they certainly seem counter to positions ISO has taken on electoral politics over the years, especially towards the Democratic Party. But this year, ISO and MORE member Brian Jones was tapped to run for Lt. Governor by the Green Party, pushing a very strong education program - and they got a nice 5% of the vote -- a start towards building a 3rd choice for progressives.

So I was wondering how ISO would/could square the Chicago and NY stories - and when I put that question out on the MORE discussion listserve there was no response.

Now we have an article (below) from Lee Sustar, one of the respected voices in ISO, who I've sat with in the press section of the last 3 AFT conventions and always find his take knowledgeable and illuminating. There were rumors he was writing a book on the CORE/Chicago TU that was going to fall into the general ISO ideological line of "all praise to the CTU and CORE". I did hope Lee would not fall into the ideological line we hear from ISO here in NYC that the Chicago story was mostly social justice and left leadership while downplaying the angle that CORE struck a note with their defense of teachers.  The book seems to be on hold and some of my sources are pointing to a rethinking of the CTU situation on the part of Lee and some ISO people - due to what is being reported by both George Schmidt and by Lee below.

CTU House of Delegates to meet Nov. 5... Political controversy flares up in the CTU - 

republished from Substance and Socialist Worker: http://socialistworker.org/2014/11/05/controversy-flares-in-the-ctu



[George Schmidt - Editor's Note: The following article originally appeared at Socialist Worker and is reprinted here at substancenews.net with permission of the author. For those who wish to consult the original article and additional analysis by the same writer, go to: http://socialistworker.org/2014/11/05/controversy-flares-in-the-ctu]

Political controversy flares up in the CTU

The last-minute decision by Karen Lewis and a handful of Chicago Teachers Union staff members to "endorse" the candidacy of Jesus "Chuy" Garcia during the three days prior to the CTU LEAD dinner on Halloween night has caused the biggest split in five years inside both the union and the CORE (Caucus Of Rank-and-file Educators) which won union power in June 2010. The "Chuy" push came so late that a special extra program had to be published giving biographies of the night's speakers. Despite the probably ability of the Garcia supporters to win a slim majority in the union's House of Delegates to their agenda, the factionalism and manipulation that has been going on inside CTU since October 27 is explosive and backfiring within the union's rank and file. Substance photo by Sharon Schmidt.Lee Sustar looks at the issues surrounding a debate in the Chicago Teachers Union about endorsing a candidate for the upcoming mayor's race. November 5, 2014
DELEGATES OF the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) are expected to decide November 5 on whether to endorse an electoral challenge to Mayor Rahm Emanuel in the February mayoral election.
The push to support Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, a Cook County Commissioner and longtime Chicago politician, comes amid controversy over how it came about--in a videotaped statement from CTU President Karen Lewis at the union's annual political dinner, known as LEAD, on October 31. Lewis has taken a leave of absence because of a serious illness, and Vice President Jesse Sharkey has assumed the president's duties according to the CTU's constitution.
Lewis, after undergoing major surgery, has remained politically active and pressed for Garcia's endorsement. For the union to back Garcia, however, the CTU constitution requires the political action committee/legislative committee [1] (PAC/Leg) to first propose any endorsements before they are passed along to the union's executive board, which must approve the recommendation before it goes to the next House of Delegates meeting.
The PAC/LEG committee did hold several meetings, but was unable to issue a decision on endorsement until after the October 31 union dinner. Now, the executive board has recommended an endorsement to be taken up at the House of Delegates. But Garcia's appearance at the LEAD event pre-empted the process.
LEWIS' HIGH-profile individual support for Garcia captured headlines because she was preparing to run for mayor herself before she fell ill--and opinion polls showed she had a shot at beating Emanuel, despite the mayor's $8 million-plus campaign fund. She clearly hopes to transfer her support to Garcia. But as the independent teacher publication Substance News reported [2], her personal endorsement of Garcia raised hackles among CTU members.

 
While under observation in preparation for the Day Of The Dead, Illinois governor Pat Quinn (second from left above) shared something droll with Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey (second from right) while Illinois Federation of Teachers President Dan Montgomery (right) smiled on. This picture was from the LEAD dinner, four days before Quinn lost to Bruce Rauner in the November 4 election. Substance photo by Sharon Schmidt.For one thing, as Substance pointed out, the public embrace of Garcia at the CTU's highest-profile political event came before the union had considered other challengers to Emanuel--mostly prominently, Alderman Bob Fioretti, who supported the CTU's 2012 strike and its campaign to save public schools from closure.
Second, the rush to back Garcia sidelined those who want to raise broader questions about the union's support for Democratic politicians following the CTU's endorsement of Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn last month [3].
Quinn, who lost his re-election race yesterday, is a one-time reformer turned union-basher [4]. He's spent the last few years overseeing legislation to "fix" public workers' pensions by slashing benefits. Adding insult to injury, Quinn chose as his running mate this time around Paul Vallas, who in the 1990s ushered in the era of school "reform" as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools.
But because Quinn's opponent in the race was the billionaire Republican investor Bruce Rauner, the union--by a majority vote in the House of Delegates on a proposal from the executive board--supported Quinn in a classic "lesser evil" calculation. Indeed, Quinn was the advertised keynote speaker at the CTU dinner until he was bumped by Garcia.
The other point of controversy is simply the importance that the CTU has placed on union democracy as an alternative to backroom deals--from its officers, who won election in 2010 as part of the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE) reform slate, through to the rank and file.
In 2011, when Lewis negotiated an agreement to support Senate Bill 7, a law making it difficult for the union to strike, CORE members on the executive board and in the House of Delegates led a successful effort to withdraw the union's support for the agreement. And the CTU's successful 2012 strike didn't end until after delegates had delayed ratifying the agreement until after members held picket-line meetings to discuss the deal and instruct the delegates whether or not to vote for ratification.
THE DEBATE about Garcia highlights larger questions about how the CTU will approach the February 24 election.
A Karen Lewis run for mayor had the potential to mobilize an independent, labor-based campaign against the local political establishment--which is entirely Democratic--and their big business backers. Lewis' popularity in working-class Chicago comes not from connections to wealthy patrons, but her role in leading a strike that challenged the business and political powerbrokers.
Some of Lewis' statements and actions as her campaign began to take shape raised concerns about just how independent it would be [5]. Those are even more pressing with Chuy Garcia, a veteran of the Chicago Democratic Party.
The son of Mexican immigrants, Garcia has roots in Chicago's 1970s activist left. He was a close ally of Mexican-American organizer Rudy Lozano, who was murdered in what activists believe was a political assassination. He filled Lozano's shoes by winning election as an alderman in 1986 as an ally of Harold Washington, the city's first African American mayor. Garcia retained ties to labor and the left, sometimes appearing at left-wing political events.
As a founder of the Little Village Development Corp. (now Enlaces), Garcia helped knit together a rising Mexican-American middle class in the 1980s and 1990s by helping businesses secure loans to create the second-most important business district in the city after downtown.
After serving two terms as a state senator, Garcia was targeted by Mayor Richard M. Daley, whose Hispanic Democratic Organization ran pro-Daley hack against him. After losing the election, Garcia continued to develop his political networks, chairing the Woods Fund, a foundation that makes grants to community groups.
Gradually, Garcia rose in Democratic circles and shifted into the political mainstream--at odds with Daley, who saw him as a threat, but at home with the liberal wing of the party. When the Cook County Board became mired in corruption scandals, and with Daley set to retire, the door was open for Garcia to run for the Cook County Board to represent a district that includes parts of Chicago, as well as heavily Latino suburban towns.
"Garcia isn't a Democratic machine guy, but he is definitely a politician," said Jorge Mujica, a socialist candidate for alderman in the February elections [6]. And being a Democratic politician in the aftermath of the Great Recession means backing austerity. As a Cook County commissioner, Garcia has been the floor leader for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, herself a former alderman and liberal with roots in the city's African American community.
Since her election in 2010, Preckwinkle has been hammering unions with demands for concessions [7]. She also pushed for legislation to gut county workers' pensions--the measure failed [8] when Republicans in the state legislature decided it didn't cut deeply enough. The Chicago Civic Federation, a business-backed, union-hating, austerity-pushing group, has hailed Preckwinkle's austerity budgets [9].
As a close Preckwinkle ally, Garcia helped to implement this agenda. In a speech to college students made shortly after he announced his candidacy, he made this into a badge of honor [10]: "We inherited a deficit of $479 million, which is not chump change. I believe that we demonstrate through our actions that we can live within our means."
THERE'S LITTLE reason to expect that Garcia would take a different approach as mayor of Chicago, which faces its own looming pension shortfall [11] after decades of underfunding, as a result of a tax structure that soaks workers and the poor while favoring the big financial and real estate interests.
And while Garcia criticized Emanuel for closing 49 public schools in spring 2013, he hasn't committed to reopening them--nor to freezing and rolling back the proliferation of charter schools that have drained public school funding and downsized the teaching workforce.
While Garcia indicated at the CTU dinner that he supports an elected school board--a deal-breaker issue for Chicago teachers and education justice activists who continue to fight Emanuel on the question--the candidate hasn't made that a focal point for his nascent campaign.
Many CTU members, determined to get rid of their arch-enemy Rahm Emanuel, may conclude that Garcia is a candidate who should be supported, despite the drawbacks. But by promoting Garcia before the union's deliberative bodies had a chance to debate his history and make a formal decision, the union risks endorsing another supposedly pro-labor Democrat who goes on to shaft teachers, just as Pat Quinn did.
A handful of independent campaigns for alderman--including some CTU members--are attempting to put forward an alternative to the Democratic establishment. The CTU, like labor unions everywhere, will be far better served by endorsing genuinely independent campaigns that fight for the interests of working people.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Published by the International Socialist Organization.
Material on this the Socialist Worker Web site is licensed by SocialistWorker.org, under a Creative Commons (by-nc-nd 3.0) [12] license, except for articles that are republished with permission. Readers are welcome to share and use material belonging to this site for non-commercial purposes, as long as they are attributed to the author and SocialistWorker.org.
NOTES:
[1] http://www.ctunet.com/grievances/CONSTITUTION-and-BYLAWS-11-12-10.pdf?1294855346
[2] http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=5296§ion=Article
[3] http://socialistworker.org/2014/10/08/from-enemy-to-lesser-evil
[4] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/05/illinois-pension-law-sign_n_4393614.html
[5] http://socialistworker.org/2014/09/22/which-way-will-lewis-run
[6] http://socialistworker.org//www.votemujica.org/
[7] http://www.afscme31.org/news/cook-county-employees-send-messag2e-to-preckwinkle
[8] http://politics.suntimes.com/article/springfield/preckwinkle-throws-towel-county-pension-reform-plan/fri-05302014-1029pm
[9] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/26/cook-county-budget-proposal_n_2024950.html
[10] http://www.chicagotalks.org/2014/10/jesus-chuy-garcia-at-university-of-illinois-chicago/
[11] http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/15/us-usa-chicago-budget-idUSKCN0I42NI20141015
[12] http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Politico: Teachers unions take huge beating - Will They EVER Move Into the Real World?

Just before 4 a.m., Weingarten retweeted an optimistic take on the Torlakson lead: “I do believe we have saved public educ in Calif!” But with a significant number of ballots yet to be counted in Los Angeles, which polls had identified as a Tuck stronghold, no one was calling the race. And even a Torlakson win was likely to be scant consolation to labor in the big picture.... Stephanie Simon, Politico
Well, whoop-de-doo. Praise be to our savior - Torlakson? This is not an article by an ed deform hack journalist but by Stephanie Simon - straight arrow and skeptical of ed deform. Hope she takes a hard look at the undemocratic teacher unions lining up with a failed Democratic Party.
Teachers unions had repeatedly predicted that their get-out-the-vote effort, cranked up this cycle with renewed intensity, would push Democrats over the top in battleground states. Union members by the thousands devoted their evenings to phone banks and their weekends to door-to-door canvassing. They sent hundreds of thousands of handwritten cards urging allies to vote. And they confidently predicted that their status as teachers would help them persuade undecided voters to support Democrats pledging more funding for public schools.
Oops.
The US is ruled by ruthless elite which seeks to privatize public services and reduce the mass of the population to a compliant low wage labor force. This elite now controls both major parties. Its education policy is governed by both objectives.... Mark Naison

POLITICO: Teachers Unions Take Huge Beating

Teachers unions take huge beating
By STEPHANIE SIMON

Teachers unions framed this election as a referendum on their vision for public education.

Their vision was thumped.

Tens of millions in advertising portraying Republican governors as reckless ideologues who sold out kids’ futures to give tax breaks to the wealthy failed to move voters in Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan, Kansas or Maine.

Unions and their allies sought to use education as a wedge issue in Senate races, too, from North Carolina to Arkansas to Iowa to Colorado. They lost every one.

And in one of the toughest blows, organized labor failed to protect Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn in his tough fight for a second term. He lost to Republican Bruce Rauner, who has made no secret of his disdain for “union bosses,” his desire to rein in the teachers unions or his determination to overhaul public education by expanding charter schools and subsidizing private-school tuition through a targeted voucher program.

There were two bright spots for teachers unions: As expected, they succeeded in ousting Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett. And as of early Wednesday, incumbent state Superintendent Tom Torlakson held a lead in California.

In the Political Minefield - Schmidt With Disturbing Reports From Chicago Teachers Union

George Schmidt reports in Substance over the political missteps of the leadership of the CTU, including an end run around the democratic process. I'll be posting more of his stuff. Check out the comments at the end of the article - http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=5296&section=Article

November 5, 2014: Chicago Teachers Union to face most explosive House of Delegates meeting since the months before the Chicago Teachers Strike of 2012


Having already surrendered a good deal of its political credibility by the work that was done at the annual LEAD dinner on October 31, 2014, the leadership of the Chicago Teachers Union is facing a major debate on November 5, 2014, when its 800-member House of Delegates meets. The behind-closed-doors decision by a handful of members of the staff of the Chicago Teachers Union to engineer what I've been reporting as a coup d'etat on behalf of the mayoral candidacy of Cook County Commissioner Jesus Chuy Garcia has backfired in an almost unprecedented way, resulting in the union's facing some of the most serious challenges in its recent history as the union delegates assemble for their monthly meeting on November 5, 2014,

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

[Teachersunite] /// Friday: Happy Hour FUNdraiser! /// + RJ Meetup Updates


If you heard This American Life's "Is This Working?” episode last week, check out TU Director Sally Lee’s piece in Huffington Post: “Learning Our Place” < http://huff.to/1EdA7zU



and then Come kick off our Fall FUNdraiser!
Help schools practice transformative justice* and end the suspensions that increase students’ chances of dropping out or being incarcerated
Fall HAPPY HOUR FUNdraiser

Friday, November 7th
5 to 8pm
at Dive Bar
732 Amsterdam Ave @ 96th Street
1/2/3/B/C to 96th
$15 for a sweet Teachers Unite wristband = happy hour prices all evening!

All are welcome (21+) 
Let us know you’re coming!
Or on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1ylFnhD

Can’t make it? 
Donate to our Full Court Press Against #SchoolPushout here:

* Transformative justice is a philosophy that looks at what harm was done, and focuses on how to best repair that harm by giving the victim of the conflict and the community in which the conflict happened a voice and a role in the process of achieving justice.

Flyer attached





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And join us at
 Restorative Justice Meetups & Workshops
 in Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn next month! 
Info & Flyers below...




Queens Restorative Justice Meetup

Wednesday, November 12th
4:30 to 6pm 
Hosted by Voyages Preparatory High School
45-10 94th Street in Elmhurst
7 to 90th Street / M/R to Elmhurst Ave

 Please RSVPanna@teachersunite.net
All are welcome—school staff, students, parents, community members—& food will be provided!
Flyer attached.
 
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Manhattan Restorative Justice Meetup

*****POSTPONED! NEW DATE COMING SOON*****
Hosted by Lower Manhattan Community Middle School

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Brooklyn Restorative Justice Meetup 

Thursday, November 20th
4:30 to 6pm
 

Hosted by Brooklyn Frontiers High School
112 Schermerhorn Street
2/3/4/5 to Borough Hall |A/C/F/N/R to Jay St. MetroTech | G to Hoyt Schermerhorn
 
 Please RSVPanna@teachersunite.net
All are welcome—school staff, students, parents, community members—& food will be provided!
Flyer attached.

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and don’t forget: 

Media & Storytelling Meetup!

Come build a community of educators committed to principled storytelling, 
share media tools and skills, and contribute to story-based campaigns for social justice.

Thursday, November 13th
5-7pm

@ Teachers Unite 
90 John Street, Suite 308
in Lower Manhattan
2/3/4/5/J/Z/A/C to Fulton

Please rspv: anna@teachersunite.net
Flyer attached


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Anna Bean
Campaign Coordinator
90 John St., Suite 308
New York, NY 10038
Become a member of Teachers Unite or make a Donation!
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& watch our documentary Growing Fairness

Car Talk: We'll Miss You Tommie - Don't Drive Like Your Brother

So sad. The most joyful hour of the week has been listening to Car Talk. The smartest, funniest and knowledgeable guys. I hope Ray keeps doing things - like the puzzle of the week.



5 min 27 sec
Tom Magliozzi's laugh boomed in NPR listeners' ears every week as he and his brother, Ray, bantered on Car Talk.
Tom Magliozzi's laugh boomed in NPR listeners' ears every week as he and his brother, Ray, bantered on Car Talk.
Courtesy of Car Talk
Tom Magliozzi, one of public radio's most popular personalities, died on Monday of complications from Alzheimer's disease. He was 77 years old.
Tom and his brother, Ray, became famous as "Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers" on the weekly NPR show Car Talk. They bantered, told jokes, laughed and sometimes even gave pretty good advice to listeners who called in with their car troubles.
If there was one thing that defined Tom Magliozzi, it was his laugh. It was loud, it was constant, it was infectious.
Tom (right) and Ray grew up great friends despite a 12-year gap between them. Both graduated from MIT before going into the car repair business. i
Tom (right) and Ray grew up great friends despite a 12-year gap between them. Both graduated from MIT before going into the car repair business.
Courtesy of Car Talk
"His laugh is the working definition of infectious laughter," says Doug Berman, the longtime producer of Car Talk. He remembers the first time he ever encountered Magliozzi.
"Before I ever met him, I heard him, and it wasn't on the air," he recalls.
Berman was the news director of WBUR at the time.
"I'd just hear this laughter," he says. "And then there'd be more of it, and people would sort of gather around him. He was just kind of a magnet."
The Magliozzi brothers grew up in a tough neighborhood of East Cambridge, Mass., in a close-knit Italian family. Tom was 12 years older, the beloved older brother to Ray. They liked to act like they were just a couple of regular guys who happened to be mechanics, but both of them graduated from MIT.
After getting out of college, Tom Magliozzi went to work as an engineer. One day he had a kind of epiphany, he told graduates when he and Ray gave the 1999 commencement address at their alma mater.
He was on his way to work when he had a near-fatal accident with a tractor-trailer. He pulled off the road and decided to do something different with his life.
"I quit my job," he said. "I became a bum. I spent two years sitting in Harvard Square drinking coffee. I invented the concept of the do-it-yourself auto repair shop, and I met my lovely wife."
Well, he wasn't exactly a bum; he worked as a consultant and college professor, eventually getting a doctoral degree in marketing. And Tom and Ray Magliozzi did open that do-it-yourself repair shop in the early '70s. They called it Hackers Haven. Later they opened a more traditional car repair shop called the Good News Garage.
They got into radio by accident when someone from the local public radio station, WBUR, was putting together a panel of car mechanics for a talk show.
"They called Ray, and Ray thought it was a dumb idea, so he said, 'I'll send my brother' and Tom thought, 'Great, I'll get out of breaking my knuckles for a couple of hours.' And he went over and he was the only one who showed up," Berman says.
Berman says the station liked what Tom did and asked him to come back the next week. This time he brought Ray. The rest, as they say, is history.
In 1987 Car Talk went national on NPR. The Magliozzi brothers were a huge success. Listeners loved their blend of humor, passion, expertise and just plain silliness.

The Tollbooth Fugitive

On one episode of Car Talk, a woman called in because she had failed to pay a toll on a bridge and was worried about getting caught. Tom had the idea of calling the person in charge of the bridge. The ensuing conversation is hilarious.
When it came to cars, Berman says the brothers really did know what they were talking about. But, he says, that's not why people listen to the show.
"I think it has very little to do with cars," he says. "It's the guys' personalities. And Tom especially — really a genius. With a great, facile mind. And he's mischievous. He likes to prod people into honesty."
It is almost impossible to talk about Tom Magliozzi without talking about Ray. Berman says the affection you heard on the radio dated back to their childhood — and it was real.
"For Ray, he idolized Tom. This is the guy who introduced him to everything in life, and Tom liked having his little brother around," Berman says. "He liked the guy. So when they grew up they were really, really great friends."
Tom and Ray haven't done the show live for two years; Car Talk has been airing archives of old shows. Berman says Ray would like to continue doing that, as a tribute to his brother.

Mindy Rosier from MORE on Charters

Mindy Rosier wrote this piece for the MORE blog. If you don't know about Mindy, currently a member of the MORE steering committee, you will. She is a tireless advocate for teachers and children. Mindy has been teaching for over 15 years and became active about a year ago. Her special needs school, Mickey Mantle, shared space in Harlem with Evil Moskowitz Success Academy and Public School PS 149 (MORE's Patrick Walsh - also on MORE steering who joined with Mindy in organizing the building - is Chapter Leader there). Eva wanted to expand into the space Mickey Mantle occupied, thus forcing them out of the building. That was one of 3 locations de Blasio denied to Eva and was beaten like a mule, leading to Cuomo and the state legislature forcing deB to pay rent for Eva's expansion. But Mickey Mantle was saved.

Mindy was a key player in the battle - she became active on a number of fronts. She helped lead a rally at the school and a bunch of MOREistas showed up and out of that relationship Mindy has become a core activist in MORE. I only know her a few months but seeing how she takes care of stuff - including people  - I have already expressed the thought that I wish she were my mom. (And by the way - her mom went to Erasmus HS with my wife and signed each others' year books.)

I've always maintained that it will be people like Mindy, regular teachers - the rank and file - who will create change in the UFT once a trigger gets pulled that unleashes their power. It won't be the usual suspects (like me or the left ideologues)* who lead the way. This is how I met the always awesome Julie Cavanagh 5 years ago - when a charter invaded her school and something in her got triggered. And Jia Lee and Lauren Cohen, fugitives from a bully principal and abused as teachers by the testing regime. Both have become MORE stalwarts. And of course, my adopted son, Mike Schirtzer, the only Republican in MORE. There are more people like that coming to MORE - just not enough to make much of a difference - Yet. To those screaming for a challenge to Unity Caucus, it won't happen in an election. It will only happen when there are hundreds of Mindys et al out there organizing.

I'll be in the old age home by then - one of the requirements for new members in MORE is to promise to come and feed my my oatmeal.

*Note that there have been some recent criticisms of MORE publicly and privately as if all MOREistas had one point of view - I'll be writing more about the factions in MORE.

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Charter schools continue to receive a windfall to the tune of tens of millions of potential dollars in free space, either in a public school or in a city-subsidized private space, more per pupil funding than public schools, and an essentially unfettered ability to expand at the expense of existing public schools. The charter school giveaways are nothing short of a death sentence for the sustainability of New York City’s public school system
The financial burden of providing and paying for charter school space and services for co-locations will be crippling. This will be especially difficult once the cap of 200 charter schools is reached. As of now there are currently 3 charter schools left on the cap in NYC, but there will be “more” because existing charters can expand grades without being included in the cap. The city is required to find the resources to pay. Only after $40 million is spent on private charter rent, will the state contribute to an undetermined amount of assistance. We need funding policies that will support the facilities and space needed for the approximately 93.4%of public school children learning in overcrowded and substandard facilities.
Charters schools receive MORE per pupil funding than public schools. This creates even greater inequity in our school system favoring the approximately 7.6% of NYC’s school children who currently attend charter schools. Combine that with the millions in private funding charters receive from millionaire and billionaire donors who have an interest in privatizing our education system and the goal becomes clear: undermine and dismantle every child’s right to go to the school of his or her choice. The new policy will force students to fill out an application, win a lottery, and adhere to undemocratic governance and a set of rules that leave families vulnerable to discrimination and push-out, not to mention increased segregation in an already segregated school system. We need policies that seek to create equity and increase the integration of our school system, not make it worse
The new law requiring charter space puts the expansion of public schools in New York City at risk because it encourages charter school expansion over the expansion of public schools. New York City schools have some of the highest class sizes and most overcrowding in the state. We need support to help end this crisis, not make it worse.
The financial sustainability of our school system is at risk. As more public dollars are funneled into education corporations and charter schools, fewer public dollars are available for our public schools. At a certain point, and we have heard the “tipping point” is 10% enrollment in charter schools in NYC, we will reach a financial crisis that will make it impossible to balance the funding needs for both charters and public schools, thus allowing the kind of wholesale transfer of public schools to charter operators as we have seen in New Orleans, Philadelphia, now encroaching on Camden, and state-wide in Tennessee.
Governor Cuomo not only allowed the charter school windfall to be central to this year’s budget, he was one of, if not the, architect(s). The self-proclaimed “student lobbyist” is truly a charter-hedge-funder lobbyist beholden to campaign dollars in an election year and further influenced by his national political aspirations.
Legislators from around the state, save a brave few such as state Senator Montgomery and Harlem’s Senator Perkins whose constituents have experienced the horrors and inequity of charter co-locations and expansion first hand, said precious little and took no stand in rejecting this budget.
Our Mayor, who ran on putting an end to the favor of charters at the expense of our public schools and received a clear mandate to do so by the voters in our city, was at the very least powerless to stop the giveaway and at worst raised no vocal objection, perhaps considering funding for universal Pre-K a worthy enough win, even though charters will also have the right to open Pre-K.
The true student-lobbyists, parents, students, rank-and-file educators and community members, must stand together to demand full funding and support for our public schools. We must make it clear that an investment in a system that serves ALL children that is governed by the people, not private unaccountable and non-transparent interests, is vital to the health and success of our children.
We have learned from our personal experiences that charter space support and expansion in communities results in a negative impact on the community itself, causing unnecessary strain and tension, as well as on the existing schools. But equally important, because these issues were at our doorstep, we also understand the deep systemic issues surrounding charters: the drive to privatize our public education system, the impact of charter push-out, the impact of a two-tiered system where one school is privileged over another, and the bigger picture of the undermining of public education and all that entails from worker protections, to funding, to the way children are treated.
MORE stands in solidarity with the approximately 93.4% of families who want high quality neighborhood schools for their children. We stand by our teachers involved in this fight. We cannot achieve the promise of public education if the funding, facilities and services we need to provide are at-risk. Cuomo does not stand for our children. He stands for his own political interests fueled by charter school dollars and we WILL hold him accountable!
GATFAKING_crop
According to www.nyccharterschools.org, this is what we are looking at; past, present, and THEIR expected future…
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The future of our schools, our children, and our livelihoods are at stake! We need to fight!

* VERY IMPORTANT NOTE- Information obtained by the Teachers Diversity Committee (TDC) of NYC from Success Academy charter schools, showed that for the 2013-2014 school year, 13 out of 15 locations have a significantly higher percentage of white teachers than was the city wide average for public schools in NYC which in 2012, was 58.6%. The mandate to expand charters is increasing racial segregation of students and decreasing teacher diversity in NYC schools overall.
How you can help-
Charter-school co-location hearings: Join us as we stand together with parents, students, and fellow UFT’ers against the privatization of our schools and defend public schools that serve the local community. MORE stands against the proliferation of charter schools crowding out district schools for teachers, rooms and other resources in favor of charters that do not serve all our children. Charters are are often run by corporations as for-profits.
Contact: You can contact Lauren about upcoming hearings and PEPs. You can also contact Julie, Patrick, and Mindy to mobilize your school’s efforts to fight back.
Twitter: @MOREcaucusNYC