The Hottest Love Scene in Film History - UPDATED

I'm a sucker for "It's a Wonderful Life" - I watch it every year with all the commercials. Watching it right now. (And I watch Casablanca every time. And the Magnificent 7. Do I have a weird combination of tastes or what?)

UPDATE FOR FREAKS LIKE ME: (Thanks to Dave P)
http://metropolitanplayhouse.org/IAWL2014

It's A Wonderful Life
~ ActAlong ~

Every year, Metropolitan invites its friends and supporters to a reading of Frank Capra's sentimental favorite,
It's A Wonderful Life. With sound and costume and holiday fare, it is our favorite way to ring in the season.

Better yet, you do the reading! Everyone who comes is welcome to draw lots for a part, and away we go.

George! Mary! Burt! Ernie! Mr. Potter! Clarence! YOU!

(Of course, you are welcome just to watch.)

When:	Sunday, December 21st, 2014
	2:30  Holiday Cheer
	3:00 Parts Chosen and Reading Begins
Where:	Metropolitan Playhouse 220A East 4th Street

This scene was considered so hot for 1946 they had to cut some of it out. The art of movie-making - not one piece of clothing was shed.



Of course, some clothing was shed in this scene.



Uncle Billy just lost the money - the heavy action is about to begin.

The (Mis)-Education of Santiago Taveras - Norm in The Wave - Plus an Extra Dishing of Dirt

Santiago defending whatever at D. 14 Town Hall

I experienced one of my rare  moments of outrage last Sunday as I read the NY Times semi-puff piece on Santiago Taveras, former BloomKleinCott hit man for closing schools and now principal of Clinton HS in the Bronx. The Deputy in Charge of Closing Low-Performing Schools in NYC is Now Running One of Them). I devoted my Wave School Scope column this week to the story: (http://www.rockawave.com/node/200804?pk_campaign=Newsletter)

Diane Ravitch wrote about it (The Deputy in Charge of Closing Low-Performing Schools in NYC is Now Running One of Them).

"The irony of the article is that it features Santiago Taveras, who was the man charged with closing schools. In public hearings, he appeared stonily impassive as students, parents, and teachers pleaded for the life of their school. Taveras is now in charge of DeWitt Clinton, one of the few remaining comprehensive high schools, and he is leading the effort to turnaround the school.... His is one of 94 schools selected by the de Blasio administration for extra resources and services, because de Blasio wants to help schools instead of closing them. Taveras led the effort to close schools, now he is part of De Blasio's effort to rescue them. Flexibility is a good thing."

I wouldn't term it so kindly as being "flexible." More like "I'm a whore and will say and do anything for a gig."

Some people are even less kind to Taveras:

....this bloated son-of-a-bitch (to be polite) is supposedly "turning around" a large N.W. Bronx H.S. (my father's alma mater) which had previously been on the closing list... But when MY alma mater (Christopher Columbus, another large H.S., located in the N.E. Bronx) was threatened with closing a few years ago, and Taveras was the DOE's designated executioner, he sat and listened for HOURS at a hearing in the school's auditorium while one after another - students, teachers, administrators, parents, alums, current and former elected officials, etc. - spoke, begged, pleaded, cried - all opposing the closing of Columbus. Throughout, he sat, utterly expressionless, like a f--king oil painting, unmoved by any of it.  Apparently he found nothing intriguing that evening, unlike when he wanted back into a DOE job years later.  And Columbus was closed on its 75th anniversary.  I will refrain from writing here what I wish for him for the rest of his slimy life....RB on NYCEDNEWS Listserve

Fred Rubino, then princ IS 318

I've written about Taveras before on Ed Notes and Norms Notes, including video of District 14 principal at the time and later Superintendent (the late and great Fred Rubino) confronting him at a Cathie Black town hall. See below my column for links. Does Taveras and all other Cathie Black defenders and supporters deserve a special place in education hell?

The awesome Tesa Wilson

(The NY Times piece is here.) And you can see Taveras and Cathie Black in action at that Town Hall here. http://vimeo.com/21717003. It's 28 minutes but you can scroll though for highlights. I can guarantee a few laughs as my old buddies, including CEC parent leader Tesa Wilson, in District 14 raked them over the coals.



Cathie Black and Santiago Taveras at 2/28 CEC District 14 Meeting Face Intense Questioning from Grassroots Education Movement on Vimeo.

And if you didn't click the link here is my full column - in a snappy (for me) 800 words.

Published Friday, December 5, 2014, in The Wave print edition and online (http://www.rockawave.com/node/200804?pk_campaign=Newsletter)

The (Mis)-Education of Santiago Taveras
By Norm Scott

Santiago Taveras, principal of DeWitt Clinton HS, one of the few large high schools left standing after a dozen years of the Bloomberg/Klein onslaught that pretty much eliminated similar large schools in the Bronx, was featured in a Nov. 30 NY Sunday Times Metro front page piece (http://tinyurl.com/k65nbs9). There is no little irony in the story of Taveras trying to turn around a school with so many struggling students who have been shut out of the small schools and charters. This quote pretty much sums up the Bloomberg closing school policy and Taveras' role in it.

"In recent years, Clinton has battled low graduation rates, plummeting enrollment and a climate that made many students feel unsafe. During the tenure of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, large, struggling schools like this one were regularly closed and broken up into new, smaller institutions, which the administration favored as a way to shake up the staff and give students more individual attention. One hundred fifty-seven schools, many of them large, comprehensive high schools like Clinton, were shuttered or scheduled for closing during the Bloomberg years. The public face for many of those closures was Santiago Taveras, who was a deputy chancellor."

Wait. It gets even better. "I spent time phasing out schools at the D.O.E., which is fine; I don’t regret any of that,' Mr. Taveras said of his time at the central office of the Education Department.... as hundreds of small schools opened, principals and teachers at the remaining large schools like Clinton often complained — and statistics often corroborated — that they were getting disproportionately high numbers of the most challenging students. 'It was like a light switch going off — like, oh, my gosh, where did these kids come from?' said Ann Neary, an Advanced Placement literature teacher who has been at Clinton for 10 years."

DUHHH and double DUHHHHH! Rockaway lost both its large comprehensive high schools, Far Rockaway and Beach Channel due to Bloomberg policies and Howie Schwach and I chronicled this very point in The Wave time and again. We also pointed out how the breakup of large schools took away so many options for students, as pointed out by a Clinton teacher: “We have beginning band, intermediate band and marching band; we have beginning chorus, intermediate chorus and advanced chorus; and we have those three levels in guitar....The reason we have all that is the number of students substantiates a large number of staff. When we lose students, we lose staff, and then the fewer programs we can offer.”

The latter point pretty much describes the death spiral we saw take place at Far Rock and Beach Channel. Instead of trying to fix schools, Bloomberg nuked them.

Taveras left the DOE in 2011, joining many people at Tweed, with Bloomberg's time coming to an end, who deserted the ship for an education consulting firm - every school system needs a consulting firm to give them a hundred ways to destroy a school system. Oh if only the money spent had actually gone to classrooms. Diane Ravitch asked a pertinent question when Tavaras went to the consulting firm: “Isn't there a requirement that people who work for the DOE must take a year in which they don't work for any DOE vendors? Isn't it a conflict of interest to go to work for a vendor immediately?” Triple DUHHH!

So what delicious irony that Taveras now ends up running a large high school in some difficulty but protected from being closed by the policies of Mayor de Blasio who claims he wants to fix schools, not close them - the jury is still out on that one. From some reports of former and current teachers, Taveras seems to be pursuing a “blame the teacher” attitude by forcing out senior and some tenured teachers. A former principal at the school expressed what so many educators felt about Bloomberg's policies (supported by Taveras and others of his (ambitious) ilk: "A large school like Clinton can absorb a certain number of knuckleheads, but how many knuckleheads can they absorb?” said Mr. Wechsler, the former principal, who now consults with Clinton administrators. “When you reach a critical mass of very troubled youngsters, it gets harder to recruit good teachers, harder to recruit good parents, and you get into a non-virtuous cycle. It becomes very difficult to turn it around.”

We can fix some schools by pushing kids with high needs into other schools - the solution of choice for both charter schools and many of the small schools opened under Bloomberg. Or we find ways to support those kids in ways beyond what schools have traditionally done. That costs dough. And when the dough is needed for tests, common core, consultants and blame the teacher schemes, the game of "let's move kids around like chess pieces and claim we are succeeding" will continue.

More stuff on Taveras below the break:

Mayor Praises Founder of KIPP - Kids in Prison Program

Wonder if KIPP founder explained about the closet where they put young children or how the students at KIPP call it the Kids in Prison Program.... Leonie Haimson

http://ny.chalkbeat.org/2014/12/03/deputy-mayor-praises-kipp-founder-as-some-collaboration-efforts-continue/#.VICHysn4L8

 

Zephyr Continues to Haunt Cuomo Through the Backdoor - Is the Working Family Party and AQE the Right Route?

I don't really understand what Teachout and WFP are doing.  Cuomo is driving charter expansion, not the Senate.  Cuomo was the WFP candidate. Why are they attacking donors and not the guy doing the damage?... Patrick Sullivan

The WFP -- which picked Teachout as its candidate for governor before ditching her to endorse Cuomo in the Democratic primary last June -- is teaming up with its old ally to fight Cuomo's efforts to raise the state's cap on charter schools in a possible special session next week.... they plan to release a report entitled “Corruption in Education: The Hedge Fund Takeover of New York's Schools.".... The Daily News

Well, some would say what else is there? Remember that the UFT and other unions lined up to screw Teachout when she tried to get on the WPF nomination. The UFT/NYSUT tries to play both sides of the fence. Teachout had the ed agenda in the interests of teachers and public schools but the UFT/NYSUT machine went the other way, in essence helping hand Cuome the WPF line in the election.

Jim Horn at Schools Matter posted:

Scraping Off the Hedge Fund Scum

 

Anticorruption activist Zephyr Teachout in a protest on the the steps of the Tweed Courthouse in New York City. Molly Hensley-Clancy for BuzzFeed News

From BuzzFeed:

A small group of parents and activists targeted hedge fund billionaires Dan Loeb, Paul Singer, and Paul Tudor Jones in a protest today over New York state education funding.

Led by Zephyr Teachout, an anti-corruption activist who ran against Andrew Cuomo in the recent New York governor’s race, the protestors decried the political influence of New York’s wealthiest financiers on public education — namely through the billionaires’ longstanding political and financial support of charter schools.

The group’s rallying point was a rumored special session of the New York legislature, which Teachout said was likely to take place next week. At that session, Teachout said, Governor Cuomo will push to raise the maximum number of charter schools allowed by the state, at the urging of charter advocates like Loeb. If the cap is not raised, as it was in 2010, there will likely be just 17 slots left for new charter schools in New York City.

At the protest, drenched in freezing rain on the steps of Tweed Courthouse in New York City, demonstrators held signs printed with the faces of hedge fund billionaires. Beneath were the campaign contributions each had made in New York, mostly to pro-charter advocates. Protestors chanted, “Hey hey, ho ho, these hedge funders have got to go,” and “Hey governor one percent, who do you represent?”

Teachout said today’s protest would be the beginning of a week-long effort to fight against increasing the charter cap and advocate for more funding of public schools. In coordination, she released her first white paper, “Corruption in Education: Hedge Funds and the Takeover of New York Schools.”

Teachout pointed to the pro-charter group Families for Excellent Schools, which spent almost $6 million in a lobbying blitz in the first half of 2014, largely on a fight for charter school space, which the group won. The New York Teachers’ union spent $2.6 million in the same period.

As with most education debates in New York City, rhetoric at the protest quickly turned to Eva Moskowitz and Success Academy, a charter school that has long been a lightning rod for pro- and anti-charter advocates. Moskowitz’s charter school group is poised for a massive expansion in New York City, adding 14 schools in the next two years and bringing Success to a total of 50 schools in the city.

Loeb, the CEO of Third Point Capital, has been an outspoken supporter of charter schools and especially of Success Academy, where he chairs the board of directors. He has a net worth of $1.5 billion. Tudor Jones, Singer, and the billionaire Carl Icahn have all prominently backed other charter schools and legislation. . . .

And Perdido Street School did a piece too:

Zephyr Teachout Publicizes Cuomo's Planned Giveaway Of Public Schools To His Hedge Fund Buddies

I don't know what to say anymore. Where is the Green Party with its excellent ed platform on this? Why weren't they part of this? The WFP can't get unqualified support when it plays games, yet people feel they can't not support efforts like these.

Here is the email that came in with a link to their report.

The same real estate and hedge fund billionaires that spent a fortune to buy control of the State Senate on Election Day are quickly moving on to their next big project: trying to buy our public education system.

With a new legislative session kicking off in January -- and the prospect of a special session being called even earlier than that -- there's no time to waste.

Join us and tell Governor Cuomo and state legislators: Don't let Wall Street buy our public education system the same way they bought the last election.

All New York children deserve a quality public education -- but whether they get one or not right now depends largely on where they live. The funding gap between our state's 100 wealthiest school districts and our 100 poorest school districts is an astonishing $8,601 per student. [1]

But instead of closing this gap and fully funding the public school system that serves 97% of New York students, the hedge fund billionaires have a different plan: more tax breaks for the wealthy and more taxpayer funding of privately-run charter schools, many of which don't admit students likely to bring down their test scores.

Unfortunately, we now have a State Senate majority that seems more inclined to take care of their campaign funders than to represent their own constituents. They may soon be considering policies like using scarce public dollars to subsidize private schools, or raising the cap on privately-run charter schools without increasing accountability or transparency.

It's going to take all of us working together to make sure their attacks on public education don't come to pass. That's why we'll be going all out with our allies in the coming weeks to make sure every elected official in Albany knows we expect them to stand with our families and children, not Wall Street billionaires.

If you agree, the one thing you can do that will help the most right now is to make sure your lawmakers and Gov. Cuomo know where you stand.

Tell Governor Cuomo and state legislators: Stand up for public schools that serve all of our children. Don't let Wall Street buy our public education system.
Thanks,

Bill Lipton and Zephyr Teachout
 
[1] http://www.aqeny.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Tale-of-Two-States-Report_FINAL.pdf

Teachers Unite: Join the FULL COURT PRESS Against #SchoolPushout

Hello,

Many of you know that I teach high school history. However, the amount of people I've talked to about what I actually teach I can probably count on one hand. It's a strange thing for me, so much of my life is about what I teach and yet it seems to be a very private issue. So here it goes: 

For several years now I have been teaching about the history of racism in America and how it manifests itself in the 20th and 21st century. I'm lucky because I teach at a school that is free from state requirements that force social studies classes to be survey courses. Instead, in my courses, we consider the origins of racial slavery and its impact on the world today. Most survey history classes teach the civil rights movement and suggest that it ended in the 1960s. What is left out is the impact of the mass incarceration of people of color and how it has created what Michelle Alexander calls a New Jim Crow.

What that looks like at schools is that black and Latino youth are disproportionately pushed out of schools and into the criminal justice system through punitive "zero tolerance" discipline policies. 

At the wonderful school I am fortunate enough to teach at we experience the effects of school pushout. Our transfer students are often coming from punitive environments that suspend students for being late to school, wearing a hat, or just plain "insubordination". At the James Baldwin School we do our best to use restorative or even transformative practices that heal relationships and the community when conflicts occur. Programs like our Fairness committee, peer mediation, and Circles.

There are many examples of educators today that want to do similar work. We believe ending the school to prison pipeline is the civil rights issue of our day. And through Teachers Unite, we know we can make a difference because we are organizing our schools, supporting our fellow educators, and pushing the Department of Education to change the discipline code. 

But we need your help. Please give a tax-deductible donation to our efforts today. Any amount you can give will be greatly appreciated. And I hope to talk to you more about this work and about my school. I’m a proud educator and member of Teachers Unite. 

Sincerely,

Josh

Join the FULL COURT PRESS Against #SchoolPushout

Help us raise $10,000 to help 50 schools practice transformative justice this year and decrease the suspensions that lead young people to the School to Prison Pipeline.
In a series of 3-on-3 half-court games, teams of educators and supporters will be dribbling, jumping, fast breaking champions in the pursuit of transformed public schools and empowered student voices.

Saturday, December 13th
2-6pm
Manny Cantor Center
197 East Broadway in Manhattan
Donate at teachersunite.causevox.com
RSVP on Facebook!
Bring your friends and family on December 13th
Volunteer at the event – email Katie@teachersunite.net for information
Spread the Word (flyer attached below!)
Thank you!!!

PEP Videos: I Defend Tenure, Eterno Defends ATRs, Discontinued Guidance Counselor Shares His Story

I changed what I was going to say in response to 2 politically motivated parents from Queens who attacked tenure and the 3020a law based on a teacher in their children's school. Funny how they pointed out how great their principal was - apparently they bought the crap that it was so hard to get rid of a teacher - watch what they say as I included their statements.

http://youtu.be/QitpsUA5fds



I didn't get his name but this young man was very eloquent in telling his story of being discontinued. I have my theories about why but won't go there.

http://youtu.be/OA7FKeGi3LY


James Eterno posted this video on the ICE blog. If you haven't seen it yet take a look as he puts the closing school and ATR issues together in a neat package while also exposing the UFT for its role in this farce. (I fooled with the exposure on this to make it brighter but it came out looking like the lighting in a prison ward - very appropriate for a speech on ATRs.

http://youtu.be/nedEvKZhaKg



In case you didn't see the videos of the MORE people speaking on the teacher diversity issue, you can watch them here:
http://youtu.be/g1_RDCkWLUM

Gabrielle Horowitz-Prisco - TEDx talk - "On Canaries, Love and Justice" - Thurs. Dec. 4

I will make the case for a justice system rooted in love, not punishment....I will explore the ways in which children serve as an early warning system for societal dysfunction, and how criminalizing them endangers us all.... I am so excited to have the chance to be the vehicle for a message about how criminalizing kids fails us all, and about what we can do instead.... Gabrielle Horowitz-Prisco

I know Gabby since she was 10 days old so hell yes I am a proud grandfriend (and miss her parents so much.) Here is the full text of her message.

Dearest family and friends,

This Thursday 12/4 at 10:50a I will be giving a TEDx talk entitled "On Canaries, Love and Justice" at TEDx Albany:

http://tedxalbany.org/talks/2014-talks/gabrielle-horowitz-prisco/

I will explore the ways in which children serve as an early warning system for societal dysfunction, and how criminalizing them endangers us all. Weaving together my personal experience as an attorney and advocate for children, my own experience of loss, and the research on what works, I will make the case for a justice system rooted in love, not punishment.

If you are receiving this, it is because you are someone who has helped me with all the living that is going into this talk.

I am so excited to have the chance to be the vehicle for a message about how criminalizing kids fails us all, and about what we can do instead.

Part of how TED talks have reach is that they are shared between people formally and informally. Here are some things you can do to spread the message:

1- Please consider watching on the livestream on 12/4 at 10:50a: http://tedxalbany.org/ 

If you miss it, a video will be up on the TED site sometime afterward- please visit and "like" and "share" and all that good stuff.

2- Please consider sharing the link http://tedxalbany.org/talks/2014-talks/gabrielle-horowitz-prisco/ on Facebook, Twitter, and whatever forms of social media.

3- Please consider letting people know who you think might be interested.

Thank you for your love and support and especially for any good energies you can send my way.

Love,
Gabrielle

The Discontinued: Message from the UFT's Emil Pietromonaco

I can't vouch for the accuracy of anything in the email below - but will say that for many years the UFT has been telling people that "Any teacher who was discontinued for pedagogical reasons may apply for a position in their license outside the district in which they were discontinued." Of course there is always a Catch-22 ending with "not a prayer."

Follow up to our discussion on November 3rd (discontinued members)

Nov. 24, 2014
I apologize for the delay in getting back to you with an update. We have met with the DOE regarding these situations and here is what I can report at this time :

Any teacher who was discontinued for pedagogical reasons may apply for a position in their license outside the district in which they were discontinued.

This requires an OPI investigation, that in the past was not conducted until after a request was made by a principal for the purpose of hiring…. This is now not the case (as we have been told), OPI will conduct the investigation soon after the discontinuance and it should take only a few weeks

Also you can apply for positions within your discontinued district, if you have another license.

We are also working with the boroughs to bring cases forward to the DOE for review.

In solidarity,
Emil

Emil Pietromonaco
UFT Secretary
52 Broadway
New York, NY 10004
212 598 7713
epietromonaco@uft.org

Memo From the RTC: Damn Yankees Finale – Yea Team!

My column from The Wave this past Friday, November 28, 2014 on the closing weekend of November 21 when we did 4 shows in 3 days. Not heavy lifting for me but a big task for the key actors. That morning we took down the set to bare stage, always somewhat sad. This Thursday we start building the set for the first upcoming children's show at the end of January. RTC, in addition to producing 2 children shows will do 5 adult shows, including Guys and Dolls in July and One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest in November 2015.

Memo From the RTC: Damn Yankees Finale – Yea Team!
By Norm Scott
Published at www.rockawave.com, Nov. 28, 2014

So the Damn Yankees crew got through 4 performances last weekend, including a grueling double header matinee-evening (both sold-out shows) on Saturday. With one show ending at 6PM and the next beginning at 8PM there was just enough time to scarf down the chow generously provided. As I left the theater at 11:30 there went most of the young crew out to eat and party together. Oh, youth. And back again on Sunday afternoon for the finale. And after cleaning out all the cubbies and putting away costumes and making it look pristine backstage, it was time for the cast party and some great food, followed by the yutes (as Cousin Vinny would say) getting onstage and dancing and singing and just carrying on for hours. When I left around 8:30 they were still going strong. They even managed to pull me on for a reprise of a number we did in How to Succeed…. After which I left huffing and puffing. How did I get so old so fast?

With two people playing the Devil (RTC standby John Panepinto and Michael Whelan) and Lola (also RTC standby Katherine Robinson and Erika Brito), there were four combinations of the different actors interacting and I taped all of them. Each combination provided a different wrinkle on the performance. It was fascinating to see how John and Michael and Katherine and Erika brought their own interpretations to the roles, which made each performance different.

Michael and Erika are newcomers to the RTC and were welcomed into the fold with enthusiasm, as was fellow newcomer Daniel Valez, who did a great job as young Joe Hardy and had to do many scenes with all four actors, in addition to many scenes with Jodee Timpone, playing Meg (his wife in his previous incarnation as Joe Boyd). And Danny also had to do scenes with the guys on the team, a cast of seemingly thousands – if you were backstage as they stampeded into the dressing room for costume changes. What guts for Director John Gilleece and Producer Susan Jasper to entrust the three most important roles in the play to newcomers. And the gamble paid off handsomely as the RTC has added to its immense stable of talent.

And then there were the wonderful kids of all ages from the young ones starting at 7 through the tweens at 20, many with deep theater resumes, at least 3 of whom attend our local Scholars’ Academy, another who goes to LaGuardia HS and another at the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan. What an up and coming crew for the next generation of RTC performers.

Since Damn Yankees is about the coming together of a baseball team, we also witnessed the coming together of the RTC team around this production. While many old standbys were in the cast, there were also a number of newcomers who may have felt a bit out of the loop at first. But by Sunday night everyone was part of one big happy family, a family I am proud to be part of. This week Tony Homsey, who played a fellow reporter with Curtis Wanderer and me, will lead his own team in taking down the to bare stage for the next RTC production.

This will be the final Memo from RTC column of the year, which will resume in mid-January for the upcoming children’s productions of Seussical Jr. and Legally Blonde Jr. Have a great holiday season.

Charters: Schools for Scandals

Two pieces today: High suspension rates as a way to force kids out and

Charter schools have $28M in questionable expenses: audit - DN

The number of charter schools suspending kids is totally out of control

A Little Stalin for a Sunday Morning - Tsarist-Like Unity Caucus, Don't Fret

With Prof Bela Kiraly, in Hungary, 2006

There's nothing that can cheer me up more for a Thanksgiving holiday weekend than reading about Joseph Stalin, whose latest bio by Steven Kotkin has been reviewed in the Sunday Times book review  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/30/books/review/stalin-by-stephen-kotkin.html?ref=review&_r=0, which gives the book an excellent review. It is the first of 3 volumes and covers up to 1928 - the total break with Trotsky - with whom Stalin had been in a power struggle after Lenin died.

As Kotkin says, Trotsky, a latecomer to Bolshevism, appeared factionalist, egotistic and preening, whereas Stalin could portray himself as the faithful defender of Lenin’s legacy, the man who studied Lenin’s texts and knew his works intimately, “the revolution’s hardworking, underappreciated foot soldier.” Crushing Trotsky and eliminating his supporters from the party leadership was necessary for Stalin’s consolidation of power. It was not until Trotsky had been packed off into exile that Stalin could be ready to undertake his truly revolutionary and “earth-shattering” work of collectivization.

This statement will cause some gnashing of teeth amongst some of my Trotskyist colleagues. Many schisms on the left, going on even today, are legacies of the Stalin-Trotsky power struggle. Why is this important to educational political junkies like me? Because anti-Stalinist Trotskyists  over the past 60 years have played a role in UFT politics - we can even trace Albert Shanker's political anti-Communist roots through Max Shachtman. To really understand the UFT/AFT/NYSUT and the teacher movement in general, a study of the left is necessary.

I recently posted a piece on Norms Notes -Divisions on the Left: The great Lenin debate of 2012 - and ISO extracted from this site: http://externalbulletin.org/2014/06/21/the-great-lenin-debate-of-2012/  regarding differences in the ISO (International Socialists) view of Lenin from former members. ISO in its various formats - current and historical - has also played a role in various opposition caucuses in the UFT over the past 40 years, the latest being MORE. In future posts I'll get more into the roles ISO and other so-called sectarian groups on the left - compared to people on the left who are independent of any organization - and the impact they have on mass organizations like caucuses.

I imagine the Stalin book will be trashed by some Trots.

I've been waiting for this book since finding out about it on my trip to Sicily this past October. That's a story in itself. We met an interesting couple from Dallas on our tour - amongst many interesting people. George is a lawyer for an oil and gas company and we spent many hours, along with others, discussing capitalism, socialism and the state of the world. I was considered the resident leftist - in that group. George studied history - Russian history - as I did too in college - but he knew a hell of a lot more than I did. I was surprised that he had a somewhat balanced view of Stalin and told me about the upcoming Kotkin book and how it is considered to be the most definitive and balanced view of Stalin.

Two contrasting pictures emerge from the appraisals of Joseph Stalin written by his revolutionary colleagues and competitors. On the one hand, there was, for example, a fellow Georgian who knew Stalin in his early years as a Bolshevik organizer and who describes “his unquestionably greater energy, indefatigable capacity for hard work, unconquerable lust for power and above all his enormous particularistic organizational talent.” On the other, there are the unflattering judgments of his most virulent opponents in the Bolshevik hierarchy, from Leon Trotsky, who thought Stalin the “outstanding mediocrity of our party,” to Lev Kamanev, who considered the man who came to preside over the vast expanses of the reconstituted Russian empire “a small-town politician.”

I'm interested in the organizational ability of not only Stalin but of any person even down to the club - or UFT caucus level. I'm convinced that successful organizing inside a union like the UFT requires a critical mass of a certain type of person - people who think like organizers, not ideologues. Some people say that thinking like a small town politician is absolutely necessary and activists today who might agree with Trotsky's view of Stalin on this point often eschew the necessary organizational work that needs doing. I will study the book to see exactly what made Stalin a great organizer. (I see a few people in the movement today who have that ability but they are all too few. And they don't have that stache.)

I know that my Unity Caucus ideologue right wing Social Democrats (SDUSA), of whom there are so few left, will be telling me that I am saying the opposition just needs a few Stalins to make any headway against the Tsarist-like Unity leadership. (If any Ed Notes readers have a Stalin organization building complex contact me.) But I digress.

In my year of Russian history studies at Brooklyn College with Prof Asher c. 1964-5 I got the full anti- Soviet dose. It was only in a follow up course on European History with the great Hungarian prof Bela Kiraly (A Memorable Evening with General Bela Kiraly - Ed Notes ...Jul 08, 2009), the former Stalin death camp detainee, that I, ironically, received a more balanced view of Stalin and the Cold War and learned that in history there is no simple black and white, which is one of the things that bother me about both Stalinists and Trotskyists. (Click the link above for the full story.)

I'm ordering a copy of "Stalin" from my library - 1000 pages will keep me renewing for a long time - but then again, how many people are out there who I will be in competition with?

The Times review is below the break.

Harris Lirtzman on the City Budget Windfall - We can all bemoan the fact that our beloved union is run like a one-party state

This spring, the UFT wouldn't listen to those of us who were warning it not to buy the City's claim of imminent financial disaster.... Harris Lirtzman

One of the great things about staying involved is meeting people like Harry. We went out for a bite to eat after the PEP on Tuesday and I could talk to Harry forever.

Good old Harry - always on the ball. Having a guy with his knowledge on our side is an enormous plus. He posted this yesterday to ICE and MORE Listserves.

Funny, the City announced an unexpected $2.6 billion in additional debt service savings and tax revenues the day before Thanksgiving....almost like it didn't want anyone to find out that the joint is rolling in dough.

The City is "spreading" that sofa-cushion money over the next two fiscal years, again, just in case anyone, say a union contract negotiator, might realize it was there, now, in the bank account.

This spring, the UFT wouldn't listen to those of us who were warning it not to buy the City's claim of imminent financial disaster.

Our union might have got the retro payment in two or three years, maybe even a lump sum, and, God forbid, have negotiated an actual raise instead of a signing bonus for 2011-12. It could even have delivered on its promise to retirees to pay the lump-sum in July rather than reopening the contract five months later in order to have an arbitrator rummage around in the contract to find them their additional $60 million somewhere.

We can all bemoan the fact that our beloved union is run like a one-party state.

I don't think we can forgive our union leadership for failing at its primary responsibility--social justice or no social justice--which is to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement that doesn't sell its members short because of incompetence.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. .....
Harris

Video: UPDATED - MORE and Teacher Diversity Committee at Panel for Educational Policy Nov 25, 2014

Teaching has often been a way for poor people from the city to join the ranks of the middle class. I'm an example of this.... Pearson, King, Tisch and Cuomo have been dismantling this tradition.... It is the gentrification of the teaching force....As someone who has been a dean, chapter leader and mentor, I see the difference between the way gentrifiers deal with NYC kids and native NYers deal with NYC kids. In short, we need many many more native NYers in the classroom, especially New Yorkers of color.
.....Assailed Teacher, blogger

Last night a batch of MOREistas were at the PEP to argue a number of points. Eterno covered ATRs. I touched on bully principals and a discontinued guidance counselor from Staten Island made a powerful statement (videos to follow). Sean Ahern and Megan Moskop joined others from the Teacher Diversity Committee to press for a more diverse and balanced teaching staff. Video below and at the MORE you tube site: http://youtu.be/g1_RDCkWLUM

Sean has been fighting this battle for a decade and is finally getting noticed by the DOE and the UFT - but outcomes do count.
I was going to speak about the lack of balance in terms of the racial composition of teaching staffs around the city. We find a lot of teachers of color in the poorest areas of the city - Harlem, Crown Heights, Bed-Stuy - the overwhelming majority in some schools and overwhelmingly white staffs in other areas.

This is often unfair to the teachers of color who are more likely to be teaching in the tougher schools.

Bloomberg got rid of a provision that allowed teachers of color to transfer based on race in 2005. You know the drill - principals should not be forced to take a teacher they don't want - even if the real issue is the decision might be based on racial bias - which by the way, can also work both ways - a white teacher had a tough time getting a job in the 70s in certain schools. But the racial bias is way more likely to work the other way. All power to the principals must be curbed and maybe this is the way to begin. It is time for the DOE to take a look at the racial imbalance in schools around the city.

I included an excerpt from Assailed Teacher in the video. Read the entire quote in my post yesterday: Impact on Teacher Diversity: Teacher Certifications Decline As NYS Uses Tougher Exams

Impact on Teacher Diversity: Teacher Certifications Decline As NYS Uses Tougher Exams

Interesting for a lot of reasons but also in light of the teacher diversity campaign.... Harris Lirtzman

A good debate took place at MORE and ICE discussion lists over an article in the Times last week about the teacher certification issue one of the great Pearson scams.

Today at the PEP meeting, the Teacher Diversity Committee, led by Sean Ahern, will be presenting petitions to Carmen Farina. At last week's DA, MORE's Megan Moskop made a proposed resolution but it was pre-empted by the leadership, which shows that Sean's decade long campaign is bearing fruit. Farina issued statement to every teacher on how the DOE supports moves towards teacher diversity. As Sean often points out, the diversity issue is not about claiming that more teachers of color will close any learning gaps, but about making sure our students see a diverse teaching staff in front of them, unlike so many mostly white, mostly young charter school teachers. The TDC has done its research and come up with some astounding numbers for Eva Moskowitz's Success Academy charters. (See ed notes: Success Academy Charter School Teachers Sep 22, 2014-   59% of NYC DOE teachers are white. Check out the astounding numbers of white teachers in the Success Charter school chain obtained by the Teacher Diversity Committee. If this were Birmingham in 1964 there would be ...)

Back to the teacher exam and how it connects to the lower numbers of teachers of color. The newer exams in NY State are quite expensive. The NY Times article states

"In New York, some education schools say the new teaching tests are hurting minority candidates the most. While many education experts celebrated New York’s result as an important step in enhancing teacher quality, state officials conceded that the new standards were likely to have a disproportionate impact on minority applicants. They described that situation as an extension of an achievement gap that begins in elementary school and continues throughout much of postsecondary education.

Administrators said they were starting to see some evidence of this at places like Lehman College in the Bronx, where passing rates for each of the new certification tests were lower than the statewide averages last year.

“We are largely serving what I would call minority populations not only because of the color of their skin,” said Harriet R. Fayne, the dean of the Lehman School of Education. “We serve recent immigrants. We serve individuals who have had interrupted formal education. We serve individuals whose first language might not be English.”

Assailed Teacher made some crucial points:

My student-teacher last year was a former student of mine. Like most of my students, she is a minority from the inner city. Her parents are from Mexico. She talked about edTPA and all the testing and it stressed her out. I learned a few things from this.

First, these new requirements do not ensure the quality of new teachers. They are, essentially, more exams. Passing an exam does not a good teacher make. The portfolio part is full of fluff and jargon. It tests your ability to spew pedagogical platitudes. It does not assess your potential worth as a teacher.

Second, my student-teacher was stressing out about the price she had to pay for all of this. She said between all the testing and edTPA, her parents were spending upwards of a thousand dollars on this stuff. That is ludicrous. Most of that money is going into the pockets of Pearson. It is a giant barrier ensuring poor people cannot join the ranks of new teachers. Only families who are independently wealthy can sustain a student who does not pass a test the first time around.

As many of us know, one of the major shortcomings of the current teaching force is the fact that there are too many non-native New Yorkers who grew up in some suburban wonderland with a mommy and daddy to support them. These new certification requirements will ensure that this remains a permanent state of affairs, and that is a shame to say the least.

Teaching has often been a way for poor people from the city to join the ranks of the middle class. I'm an example of this, as are many of you. Pearson, King, Tisch and Cuomo have been dismantling this tradition through these new ridiculous requirements. It is the gentrification of the teaching force.

As someone who has been a dean, chapter leader and mentor, I see the difference between the way gentrifiers deal with NYC kids and native NYers deal with NYC kids. In short, we need many many more native NYers in the classroom, especially New Yorkers of color.

==

I added:

Lots of teachers in my school came through the para program. They often came from the schools in our neighborhood and didn't get the same kind of academic and cultural education esp in high school. The tests seem to measure that - which has little to do with teaching. I worked with many of these people and they brought certain skills to the table that their backgrounds gave them.

I believe that the picture in the minds of ed deformers like Klein and Bloomberg, were not these from the neighborhood people. It is young and white. Deformers want to break the neighborhood connection to schools to make it easier for privatization and also see that a teaching staff with too many teachers of color who are unionized may undermine the deformer attempts to create an anti-union environment in prime charter invasion neighborhoods.

Memo from the RTC: Damn Yankees - The Kids Are Alright - Updated with photos and video

The crowded backstage

This was last Friday's column - boy am I running behind. The show closed this past Sunday with all sell-out performances. I had to race from backstage to the booth where I was taping. I love hanging out in both places - a unique perspective on live theater.

Some highlights from opening night:



Nov. 21, 2014
Memo from the RTC: Damn Yankees - The Kids Are Alright
By Norm Scott

The hair salon backstage

The opening weekend of the Rockaway Theatre Company production of the reprise of the Faustian “deal with the devil” updated to the sports arena in Damn Yankees, was sold out. And sellouts are expected (a few tickets remain www.rockawaytheatrecompany.org) for the four shows this weekend - Nov. 21-23 (Friday and Saturday night (8 PM) and Saturday and Sunday matinees (3PM). There were so many good reviews from audiences on the way out. A friend emailed me late Saturday night: “As always, a great show. Music/dance numbers were a smash. Either I didn't catch Katherine Robinson in previous plays or I must have been dead. She was terrific as Lola – my friend said - better than Gwen Verdon (who played the role on Broadway and in the movie).” I’m sorry my friend didn’t come see the Sunday matinee where RTC newcomer Erika Brito, who will be in 3 out of the 4 upcoming weekend performances, played Lola to equal perfection.

John Panepinto plays the devil with his triple threat skillset with touches of his bravura performance on the art of manipulation as the lead in “How to Succeed…” last spring at the RTC – except this time those manipulative efforts end in failure. This weekend, RTC newcomer Michael Whalen will play the devil in most of the performances. In the rehearsals I’ve seen he is also fabulous, though bringing a slightly different interpretation to the role. I hope Michael and Erika will become part of the RTC stable of top level talent (lots of excitement building already for next summer’s Guys and Dolls.)

John’s real-life sister, Dana DiAngelo practically steals the show as Gloria, a houndog of a reporter looking to expose corruption. Just wait until you see her tap dance. RTC mainstays David Risley and Jodee Timone play the roles of older Joe and his wife Meg respectively and as usual, deliver. I’ve seen Jodee, a former teacher at PS 114 in Belle Harbor, mostly in comedies and dramas at the RTC so I haven’t heard much of her singing, but she is wonderful. David, of course, can do just about anything on stage. And I can never get enough of watching Susan Warren Corning play anything. In the role of Sister she turns a fairly minor character into a force, delivering her lines with perfect comic timing.

Since I have no heavy lifting as an actor or set changer, other than about a 5 hour time commitment for each show, I get to do a lot of listening and watching while standing around backstage, in the lobby and up in the control booth, where I tape some of the shows. I keep a gag handy in the booth for when Producer Susan Jasper’s “angelic” comments (not one mess-up will go unnoticed) crack everyone up. Director John Gilleece is also up there taking copious notes for post-show reminders as Stage Manager Nora Meyers calls out instructions over the walkie talkie on every aspect of the show.

I have enormous fun taking part in the shows with big casts with lots of kids and teens watching how they interact with each other and with the young adult 20-somethings, especially since some of the young adults had been involved in the RTC children and teen program when they themselves were kids and grew up to become full-fledged actors, dancers and singers. Most of the conversations backstage throw me for a cultural loop. The other day they were reminiscing about their favorite TV shows in their youth (like a decade or less ago) and I had no clue. My youth was full of black and white TV – Father Knows Best, Life of Reilly, Superman, Dragnet – so I just keep my mouth shut. Since Damn Yankees takes place in the 50s, the outfits of the young ladies are very retro – “I feel I am back in high school,” I announced one evening. “That must be Norm,” one of them said. Who else, except for my other baby boomer colleagues – my fellow reporters Curtis (50-50) Wanderer and Tony (master-builder) Homsey, Cathy Murfitt (in a variety of roles), Fred Grieco (team owner) and Cliff Hesse, playing the manager who leads the Senators in a rousing rendition of “You Gotta Have Heart”. Sometimes we look at each other and shrug – are we in a foreign country?

Most of the youngsters emerge out of the fall/winter Saturday RTC young people’s theatre workshops where they prepare full-scale plays, this winter Seussical Jr (end of January/early Feb) and Legally Blonde Jr. (end of Feb/early March). Don’t miss seeing the future (and some current) stars.

View a 4-minute highlight reel of the show at:https://vimeo.com/112178951

UPDATE - Left Meets Right Over Common Core – Sort Of - Norm in The Wave

I finally did a column on education in my school scope column. I had been avoiding the ed issues in my ed column because there are so many I never can decide what to write about in 800 words. But when Joanne Smith did a column opposing common core the juices started flowing. Now if only she would do a piece on charter scams...
UPDATE From Pete Farruggio (a former colleague and political activist from late 60s-early 70s).

Norm,

 Your latest column recommends J Eppolito’s video for giving a “balanced view” of common core. I STRONGLY urge you to stay away from his video His opening was an accurate expose of the undemocratic maneuvering used by the plutocrats and their minions to foist the common core standards and their assessments upon public schools. But then his presentation degenerated into a right wing rant against progressive education. I wrote the following cautionary message (see below) -- 

 Pete

Published Nov. 21, 2014 at www.rockawave.com

School Scope: Left Meets Right Over Common Core – Sort Of
By Norm Scott

I was gratified to read Joanne Smith’s critique of the Common Core in the November 14 “It’s Just My Opinion” column. As a fellow opponent of the CC I would like to flesh out some points in her analysis. Joanne presents the issue as a government takeover of public education, as summarized in this point: “Common Core is just another way for the government to not only insinuate itself into the lives of our children, but more importantly, put a wedge between the children and their parents. Common Core has effectually made learning about the teacher and school versus the child and the parent, making it impossible for the parent to help the child. How does the government simply change the way students in lower levels learn and still have an expectation that the parent can work with the child on assignments when they have no idea what’s going on?”

Yes, the federal government under the Clinton (Goals 2000), Bush (No Child Left Behind) and Obama (Race to the Top) administrations has taken on a major role in shaping local educational policy, with the CC and the major push for privately managed, publicly funded charter schools being the latest iterations. (We’ll deal with the charter issue in a future column.) Note that both Republicans and Democrats are involved up to their ears in pushing an agenda that basically results in undermining the public school system and opening up the massive amounts of money in education to corporate and entrepreneurial exploitation. Joanne points to the role Bill Gates has played in the push for the CC. Basically, the founder of Microsoft has used his billions to take over public education. And he has been joined by many more corporate entities that will be able to enrich themselves, especially those involved in curriculum materials and the testing theocracy. Recently, Governor Cuomo declared the public schools a “monopoly” that must be broken. In other words, break it up and open it up to private exploitation, most of which will be non-union. Thus the massive amount of money flowing into his campaign from interests supporting the CC and charters.

Joanne doesn’t touch on the negative impact on teachers, given that the outcomes of testing based on the CC must be used to evaluate teachers whose careers are put on the line based on a test score. How does that pressure affect their ability to teach effectively? As a 30-year elementary school teacher, I had the freedom to take the children in my classes where my experience and judgment as a teacher told me to take them. I’m not sure I would choose to teacher inside the prescribed box CC would be putting me in. Despite the pro-CC propaganda coming from the federal, state, city government and the UFT/AFT – yes, our local and national unions support the CC – though the other big national union, the NEA, has been more skeptical. There is a small but growing movement of “Teachers of Conscience” who view the CC/testing regime as child abuse and are asking for conscientious objector status in refusing to give certain tests.

Contrary to popular belief, it was not the right/tea party crowd that first raised warnings about the CC, but left leaning academics and teachers, such as Diane Ravitch and Susan Ohanian, along with parent activists like Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters and parents opting their children out of tests, here in NYC a group I helped found and work with called Change the Stakes.

Only in the last year or two has the right wing of the Republican Party picked up the refrain that this was an Obama takeover of public education and of course anything Obama will do is taboo. Just wait and see what happens if Jeb Bush, a major CC supporter, runs for President. CC is a splitting mechanism in the Republican Party is it may turn out to be in the Democratic Party. In the recent election for governor, the Green Party candidates received 5% of the vote running on a strong pro-public education platform. (Brian Jones, a teacher and member of MORE which opposes the UFT leadership, was the candidate for Lt. Governor).

But the loudest noises have been coming from the tea party right. Left does meet right on the CC but they both don’t quite align, with the left emphasizing the corporate/privatizing aspect while the right focuses on government. Since I come from the left I view “government” as a wholly owned subsidiary of various corporate interests which compete with each other for influence, while we the public are left with the limited choices of candidates after they have been vetted.

If you are interested in learning more, see a balanced video presentation by a Nevada parent of four named John Eppolito. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w4xD7nzLD8&feature=youtu.be

If you are a parent considering opting your child out of some or all tests (you have the right) or a teacher test refusenik email me and I will put you in touch with a support group.

You can read Joanne Smith’s full piece at: http://www.rockawave.com/news/2014-11-14/Editorial%257COpinion/Common_Core.html

Read Norm’s other column, Memo from RTC in this issue and more on education at Norm’s blog ednotesonline.org.

Pete's comments on the Eppolito video:

Friends,

Eppolito’s criticisms are loaded with conservative and behaviorist prejudices against holistic and progressivist pedagogy. For example, he launches an attack by conservative Math professor James Milgram against California’s excellent late 1980s Math standards, which were abruptly terminated by a right wing coalition of religious fundamentalists and the “Mathematically Correct” group of mostly-Stanford professors who advocated a return to the traditional form of didactic (rote memorization of facts and algorithms) teaching. This coalition started the infamous “Math wars” by attacking the holistic standards, which promoted conceptual understanding, as the so-called New Math. Here’s an article that describes how Prof Milgram and right wing crank Wayne Bishop viciously tried to ruin the career of a holistic Math researcher

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/10/15/stanford-professor-goes-public-attacks-over-her-math-education-research

Eppolito uses such discredited fonix proponents as Louisa Moats to criticize the common core language arts standards for not adhering enough to the seriously flawed pro-phonics “research”

Eppolito seems to be a sincere guy, but his 5 years of teaching experience apparently did not enlighten him about what effective pedagogy looks like. His presentation is NOT what we need to show what’s wrong with the common core

Pete Farruggio, PhD

Associate Professor, Bilingual Education

University of Texas Pan American

How UFT Leaders Help Undermine Public Ed in NYC Through Support of New Visions

[F]rom the start, charter schools were rotten through with corruption. ...the law that created charter schools in New York State came in return for a legislative pay raise. Charter schools in New York started with a quid pro quo. You want public money for private schools? Pay us and we'll give it to you. Now of course the charter operators themselves do the quid pro quos, throwing huge amounts of cash at the politicians in both parties in order to get their agenda passed.... Reality Based Educator at Perdido Street Schools explores the roots of the 1998 charter school law (Charter Schools Started As Quid Pro Quo Deal In New York In 1998)

And of course, our UFT/NYSUT crew were up to their ears in it. But is not only charters but the partnership with groups like New Visions. Randi and Mulgrew are both on the board. Look at this map of New Visions schools - district and charters. (See entire NV board of directors below.)

In 1998 I was so frustrated with the people controlling the schools  I was in favor of teacher run schools (still am) and saw charters as a way for the UFT to help us take away power from the corrupt districts and Board of Education. Call me an early version of an ed deformer. In an early edition of Ed Notes (which began in 1997) I proposed a resolution for the Del Ass calling on the UFT to set up a division of support for teachers who wanted to start charter schools. Randi asked me to hold off on this as she had her own plan. And I didn't raise it. Months later, Michelle Bodden contacted me asking if I wanted to be on a new UFT charter committee exploring starting a school in partnership with CCNY. I did join the committee but argued this was too top down - it was not my concept. But of course the committee was packed with Unity and I was there as window-dressing as a way to shut me up - and it worked. Randi abandoned the project when CCNY pulled out - wisely it turned out.

Michelle Bodden was a rising star and I really liked her - at one point later on rumored to be Randi's successor - but something happened and Michelle ended up running - and still does run - the UFT charter which has been at times a money pit sinkhole and an embarrassment for the union.

At that time, as a lone wolf with no base of support and also viewing New Action and other opposition groups as weak and ineffectual, I felt that working with the new UFT leadership which was promising reform was the best bet in the late 90s. My sense that the only way to change was a progressive union leader (which I believed Randi to be at that time) and a Unity Caucus on board.

My break came with the coming of ed deform and Randi's support of it. That was when it became clear the UFT was complicit and a partner and the New Visions deal is only a sliver.

New Visions for Public Schools

Board of Trustees

Richard I. Beattie
Founder/Chairman
Roger C. Altman
Co-Chairman
Robert L. Hughes
President
Calvin O. Butts, III
Lisa Caputo
Ian Cook
Blair W. Effron
Jerry E. Garcia
Gary L. Ginsberg
Jay L. Kriegel
Sue Lehmann
Beth J. Lief
Ernest Logan
Ellen Moskowitz
Michael Mulgrew
Peter R. Orszag
Ralph L. Schlosstein
Katherine J. Trager
Randi Weingarten

Honorary Board Members
Reuben Mark
J. Richard Munro

Ohhhh, I Missed Mindy's Great B-Day Party with the MOREista Pack

Well, I had an excuse - Damn those Yankees.

Here is Mindy's report on facebook - and low and behold our theater pal Kim Simek, one of the great actresses at the RTC, ended up at Mindy's party. Smallish world - except that Schirtzer knows everyone. And MORE is planning a holiday party on Dec. 12.

Good morning all!! After I posted my pics last night, I conked out in my chair last night for like 2 hours then crawled into bed. I was really drunk last night and I really needed that!!! I really had such a great time with you all. Its was a long time coming. Thank you guys for being there for me. Couldn't have asked for a better group of friends and it was great meeting some new ones!! Love you all!!! We need to do this again. Mike Schirtzer you picked the perfect place last night!!! Thank you. Just another reason why you are the best in my book!!! Megan Moskop thanks for the ride home. Francesca Gomes you give the best hugs!!! Alexandra Roberson, the flowers are beautiful and Karen Arneson thanks for the card! Gloria Brandman and hub, thank you for coming out to hang with us and John C. Antush, your wife is a sweetie!!! Vinny Internicola and Kimberly Simek, it was truly great meeting you guys and I sure hope we can hang out again. Daniel Katz it was so great to finally meeting you! Brian Gibbons, thank you so much for coming out. Always great to see you and please give my love to Alison. Lynn Manuell and Anna Lisa Schnirman, my 811 peeps, thanks to you guys as well. Of everyone there last night, you two have seen my transformation. Thank you for being there for my journey!!! Finally, here is a shout out to the guy who crashed my shindig, thanks for the laughs. I haven't smiled this much in a long time. I will say it again, much, much, love to you all!!!

— feeling blessed with Francesca Gomes and 13 others at Joshua Tree East.

 

 

Why I Like Mike

We will not win by signing loyalty oaths or making back room deals like the Unity/New Action members...Like Arthur, I am willing to debate Weingarten or Mulgrew anywhere, anytime, as long as it is open to all our members, not in some small room at 52 Broadway. .... Mike Schirtzer, MORE 

I joined proud MOREista Mike Schirtzer yesterday afternoon at the Brooklyn Teachers Unite Brooklyn Restorative Justice Meetup + Workshop where we encountered about 40 teachers - mostly young - and around 10 students - and all of them staying around until 6:30 to talk restorative justice and related education stuff. We played some games and then I went off to a group of high school science and math teachers to talk pedagogy - and boy how I have missed talking to teachers about - well, teaching, instead of politics. And teachers who despite all the crap out there, seem to love what they are doing.

We even found a chapter leader and a delegate, and they loved Megan Moskop's presentation at the DA on Tuesday on teacher diversity. Mike is as enthused over the Teachers Unite restorative justice agenda as he is about MORE and union politics.

I'm proud to know Mike who in the 2 and a half years I know him has become a friend through our work in MORE. In a short time, Mike has captured the sentiments of the average UFTer and captivated the long term activists, tirelessly working the phones and internet and running off to meet with people in bars and diners to talk their school's politics. That is real organizing at the fundamental level - and if I were Unity I would offer him a deal ASAP.

Arthur Goldstein featured Mike on his blog today: Loyalty

 Mike is loyal UFT. And so am I. No one believes in union more than we do. Sadly, that's not the sort of loyalty valued by our union.

It is because of Mike and all the people he mentions below, plus others that he doesn't that I don't retire to the lounge and despite some of the issues Arthur has chronicled about MORE I remain involved, as do most people from ICE, which was a founding group of MORE. We still believe in the potential of MORE while also trying to make sure it keeps its wheels on the track. Just look at the demographics of MORE in terms of age and where people stand in their careers compared to any other group in the UFT, including Unity.

Mike, a non-Communist registered Republican (despite the slander some people are spreading that MORE is a communist organization), proudly sent this to the listserves today.

Thank you Arthur. I am so proud to part of MORE, the only positive alternative to the current union leadership. We stand by our commitment to social justice for all. Fighting for teachers is fighting for children, our working conditions are our students' learning conditions, the two cannot be separated. 

Our union is the only thing that stands between us and Wal-mart poverty wages, our union is the only check and balance of the government’s and privateer’s misguided directives. The day will come when loyal UFT members like Arthur, me, and my friends in MORE will have union jobs, but it will happen democratically, not through patronage or any loyalty oath. Unlike the other caucuses, Unity and New Action, we will never sacrifice our principles for a seat at the table. We will create our own table with classroom teachers, educators, and parents dedicated to a fair public education for all children. Like Karen Lewis and CTU, we must have a union that is ready to fight for its members , with its members, and the children we serve everyday. The job of our union is to represent us, not tell us what they represent.

We will do this through mobilizing educators at every school to fight against abusive administrators and privatization, involving all our members in the day to day activities of our union. True union democracy would mean a chapter leader like Arthur would have a voice at union meetings and NYSUT/AFT conventions. True union democracy would mean a membership that finds it important to vote in UFT elections and have a chance to set policy before Mulgrew decides what “we” want, such as common core, test based evaluations, and cookie cutter rubrics. 

The UFT is set up very top down now - at Delegate Assemblies, Chapter Leader meetings - the agenda is set before we come - this is not our vision of unionism. When we lead the UFT it will allow the members to set the agenda and the policies. 

We will win by defending our members, by mobilizing the UFT to fight “reform” polices, by fighting for lower class size, arts, music, after-school programs and for ATRs right to have classroom jobs and union representation. 

We will not win by signing loyalty oaths or making back room deals like the Unity/New Action members. 

Like Arthur, I am willing to debate Weingarten or Mulgrew anywhere, anytime, as long as it is open to all our members, not in some small room at 52 Broadway. It is time we have a union that is a vehicle for pro-education, pro-union, policies, not one that begs for a seat at the table. I look forward to working along side Arthur, he is a great teacher, loyal unionist, and overall an amazing person. 

Thankfully I’m surrounded with great “union teachers” like Arthur, Norm Scott, Julie Cavanagh, Mike Fiorello, James Eterno, Lauren Cohen, Harry Lirtzman, Kit Wainer, Jia Lee and plenty of others.