Jan. 21, 2015: Forum on standardized testing featuring Diane Ravitch - PS 3M

We are writing to invite you to join parents and educators from across NYC on Wednesday, January 21 at 6:00pm in the PS3 auditorium for an important forum on standardized testing featuring renowned education expert Diane Ravitch.

Around the country parents and educators are becoming more and more vocal in expressing their dissatisfaction with an educational system that has become increasingly focused on testing at the expense of thoughtful and imaginative teaching. At this Working Strategy Session entitled “Join the Movement Against A Test-Obsessed System: How Can We Put the Focus Back on Learning in Our Schools?,” we call on public school parents and educators from around New York City to come together to formulate concrete strategies. We aim to pressure city, state, and federal governments to move away from the current testing model, with its focus on hours and hours of test prep and test taking, to a system of assessment that is more beneficial in terms of preparing our children to go out into the world and succeed.

Following a presentation by Dr. Ravitch, and question & answer session, we will break out into working strategy groups to explore specific action steps that can be taken to help turn the current tide of "education reform" with its overuse (and misuse) of tests and put the focus back on learning in our schools. In the months following the forum, each group will work to implement the action steps it has developed.

Attached is a flyer for this event. We encourage you to send it out to your [school] community. Space in

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 auditorium is limited and we expect a large crowd. We urge you to register on Eventbrite soon.

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RESERVE YOUR SPOT TODAY!!

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We will be offering limited childcare (with pizza!) on a first-registered first-served basis (instructions on Eventbrite).

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 Get all the details here.​

We look forward to seeing you on January 21 and working with you in the months ahead to effect positive change in our schools so that teachers have the time they need to teach, children the time they need to learn, and tests are used as truly valuable indicators of a child's and a school’s progress.

All best,

Janine Sopp and Change the Stakes

Event Details:

What: Testing Forum with Diane Ravitch

When: Wednesday, January 21, 6 - 9pm

Where: PS3 Auditorium, 490 Hudson Street, NYC

MORE on Jia Lee and Appearance at US Senate Hearings

Lee told Morning Education she has worked at schools where the need to boost student scores for NCLB accountability prompted an aggressive focus on test prep and a narrowing of the curriculum.

  


The hearings start at 9:30 AM Wed. January 21.

Will be livestreamed as well on the US Senate page here and archived afterwards:

http://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/?id=1ad5f642-5056-a032-52f2-57297bf23f2b

more info below (though Politico missed the last minute addition of another NYC teacher, Stephen Lazar)

TUNED INTO TESTING: Education policy wonks are gearing up for a Senate HELP Committee hearing this Wednesday titled, "Fixing No Child Left Behind: Testing and Accountability." A refresher: Chairman Lamar Alexander has proposed two testing options [http://politico.pro/14SYoPQ] in his draft discussion to reauthorize the law, one of which would allow districts to forgo annual state tests. The witness list [http://1.usa.gov/1IIdfLe ]: New York City special education teacher Jia Lee, Harvard professor Marty West, Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg, New Hampshire Department of Education Deputy Commissioner Paul Leather and Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights CEO Wade Henderson.

- Lee is probably the least known in D.C. but she has a strong following in the opt-out movement. She's a special education teacher in New York who strongly believes that the testing and accountability provisions in NCLB have damaged public schools - and she plans to tell the senators as much. Lee told Morning Education she has worked at schools where the need to boost student scores for NCLB accountability prompted an aggressive focus on test prep and a narrowing of the curriculum. She's now at a small, progressive public school called the Earth School, where last year about half the students opted out of standardized tests. 'There's accountability to our students and our parents,' Lee said. More from Maggie Severns: http://politico.pro/1yihw4t

Here is the report on the MORE blog:

MORE’s Jia Lee Testifies in U.S. Senate on NCLB

Jia Lee, MORE candidate and teacher at the Earth School is one of the conscientious objectors who refuses to administer the NY State Test this year.

The members of MORE proudly support our colleague, Jia L

The members of MORE proudly support our colleague, Jia Lee, who will be testifying at a senate hearing on No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal education policies on Wednesday, January 21st 2015. Jia has taught at all school levels from high school to elementary school. She currently serves as the UFT chapter leader at the Earth School on the Lower East Side. She is a parent who has opted her child out of testing, joining thousands of parents around the nation. She has become a leader of the opt-out movement. Jia has been a strong advocate for teachers, parents and students, especially on the testing issue in her school, in MORE and in Change the Stakes. Last year she and other teachers at her school declared themselves “teachers of conscience” a form of conscientious objection in relation to the overwhelming negative impact of high stakes testing. In a letter to NYC Chancellor Carmen Farina, they wrote:

Dear Chancellor Carmen Fariña,
We are teachers of public education in the City of New York. We are writing to distance ourselves from a set of policies that have come to be known as market-based education reform. We recognize that there has been a persistent and troubling gulf between the vision of individuals in policymaking and the work of educators, but we see you as someone who has known both positions and might therefore be understanding of our position. We find ourselves at a point in the progress of education reform in which clear acts of conscience will be necessary to preserve the integrity of public education. We can no longer implement policies that seek to transform the broad promises of public education into a narrow obsession with the ranking and sorting of children. We will not distort curriculum in order to encourage students to comply with bubble test thinking. We can no longer, in good conscience, push aside months of instruction to compete in a city-wide ritual of meaningless and academically bankrupt test preparation. We have seen clearly how these reforms undermine teachers’ love for their profession and undermine students’ intrinsic love of learning.
As an act of conscience, we are declining the role of test administrators for the 2014 New York State Common Core Tests. We are acting in solidarity with countless public school teachers who have paved their own paths of resistance and spoken truthfully about the decay of their profession under market-based reforms. These acts of conscience have been necessary because we are accountable to the children we teach and our pedagogy, both of which are dishonored daily by current policies.

Read the full statement here:   https://teachersofconscience.wordpress.com
 

The voice of the classroom teacher will be in extraordinarily capable hands in the person of Jia Lee at the national forum at the US Senate Education Committee hearing.

MORE's Jia Lee NYC teacher and conscientious objector to hi-stakes testing chosen as witness at the US Senate testing hearings on Jan. 21!!!!

Jia and Andre

Leonie Haimson made the exciting announcement about Jia Lee to the Change the Stakes listserve. Jia has been a stalwart on both the MORE and Change the Stakes steering committees over the years.

I pledge to represent the children and their families, our profession and our communities to the best of my ability (hand across my heart) and tell them like it is! ... Jia Lee

Jia will be testifying in Washington tomorrow, Weds., Jan. 21. How great would it be if she wore her MORE tee shirt to the hearing.

The UFT/AFT/NYSUT crowd cannot be happy. Jia has declared herself a proud member of MORE and CTS,  leading the opt-out of tests movement here in NYC. NYSUT and the UFT have not jumped on the opt-out movement, instead issuing warnings to teachers like Jia that even mentioning opt-out to a parent could get them in trouble.

Jia was one of the MORE candidates running against the Revile (nee Revise) NYSUT slate last spring, along with Eterno, Cavanagh, Cohen, Schirtzer and Portelos.

Isn't it interesting that the Republicans who took over the Senate education committee a few weeks ago, led by former Secty of Education under Bush I in the early 90s, invited Jia (then ed deformer Diane Ravitch was the Under Secretary). Jia wouldn't have been given the time of the day by the Democrats, who seem to have little interest in the views of an actual classroom teacher.

Jia is a bright ray of light - and it is getting to know people like her through the work of MORE and CTS that keeps me involved in political action. She is not only a great educator and advocate for teachers and children. I have never found her to be down or lacking in optimism. As a single parent she often brings her amazing 11-year old son to events, meetings, etc and we get to see an example of wonderful parenting.

Some reactions:

Wow, great news.. Jia that is quite an honor. You are the most conscientious conscientious objector I know! .... Michelle
Yay Jia!!!!!!!!!! Stupendous news... Jeff
This is frickin' fantastic! Go get 'em, Jia!!!... Nancy
There's no one I'd rather see carrying the torch... Fred
This is wonderful news, Jia. I am so proud and honored to have you tell our story. You are a prize representative and thank you for all you are doing and about to do.
You absolutely are going to rock the house!! ! ! ! Janine
Wooo Hooo! Go Jia. You are going to know their socks off!... Jean
Thank you, Jia, for your persistence and dedication. Your actions continue to inspire others--and that goes for all on the list as well!... Edith
Now the wide world is getting a chance to hear you for themselves. My hope is that these senators stay in touch with you, and seek your advice. Fabulous news... Jane
I pledge to represent the children and their families, our profession and our communities to the best of my ability (hand across my heart) and tell them like it is! .... Jia

Ed deformers also can't be happy, even though the panel will be stocked with deformers. Then yesterday we found that another NYC teacher, Stephen Lazar, was added to the witness list; Stephen Lazar is on the Chalkbeat advisory board and blogs here:
http://ny.chalkbeat.org/author/stephen-lazar/. Given the Chalkbeat connection to ed deform, I was wary that there was an attempt to balance Jia's expected strong condemnation of standardized testing from the perspective of an elementary school special ed teacher who has also taught in high schools and junior high schools.

Jia works at the Earth School and Lazar founded a school, both not quite typical of NYC schools. (I'm betting no bully, insane principals.) But I do know that Jia spent years of horror working at PS 63M under a horrific principal who pushed all kinds of insane testing and other stuff onto the staff, who is still there. So Jia certainly brings that perspective to the table.
Leonie wrote:
Here is one thing he says about the state HS Social studies framework: http://ny.chalkbeat.org/2013/03/05/proposed-social-studies-framework-needs-improvement/#.VL1f1i7F-Rg.

And Diane Ravitch said:
Steve Lazar sounds like an educator with a conscience http://ny.chalkbeat.org/2012/10/22/why-im-starting-a-school-the-political-answer/#.VL1itUvm7Kc

Well, E4E and TFA people claim to be teachers of conscience. But from the little contact I've had with Lazar he seems to be a good guy.

Lazar teaches at Harvest Collegiate High School, which he help found and he wrote this:

Anyone who tells you they know how to improve schools at scale is lying or delusional. There is simply no precedent for taking a large number of struggling or mediocre schools and improving them. To say that the solution is to close them down and replace them with new ones, as the Bloomberg administration has done for 10 years now, is one of the great acts of hubris in our time. The part of me that cares deeply about the politics of educational policy, and its utter lack of regard for democracy under Bloomberg, doesn’t want to support this policy in any way.
But opening a school is doing that. I’m excited for Harvest Collegiate High School to be born, but for that to happen, Legacy High School has to die.

Read his entire statement here. I guess as a teacher who would have loved to work at an enlightened school but spent his entire career working in struggling schools I have 2 minds. Would I have started a school if given the chance or would I think it a higher calling to stay and work to make my school better? I did stay and fought a losing battle against the political machines running the schools.

I had many of the same discussions with old pal Harlem Link charter school founder Kitchen Sink (Steve Evangelista) who I got to like and respect - he runs an honest charter.

I think Stephen Lazar is an honest, thoughtful educator.

Here is the announcement of the witness list for this panel, which I'm sure includes deformers.

UNITED STATES SENATE

COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS

Fixing No Child Left Behind: Testing and Accountability

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

10:00 a.m.

430 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Panel I

Dr. Marty West, Associate Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA

Mr. Paul Leather, Deputy Commissioner, New Hampshire Department of Education, Concord, NH

Mr. Tom Boasberg, Superintendent, Denver Public Schools, Denver, CO

Ms. Jia Lee, Fourth and Fifth Grade Special Education Teacher, Earth School, New York, NY

Mr. Wade Henderson, President and CEO, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the Leadership Conference Education Fund, Washington, D.C.

Mr. Stephen Lazar, Eleventh Grade US History and English Teacher, Harvest Collegiate High School, New York, NY

From Capital Education -—Also, “one of the witnesses at a [U.S.] Senate HELP Committee hearing Wednesday on testing will be Jia Lee, a special education teacher in New York.” POLITICO Pro’s Maggie Severns: http://politico.pro/1yihw4t

I can't access this story since it is on Politico Pro - if anyone can get it copy and paste it into an email to normsco@gmail.com.

 

EIA on NYSUT Finances - Negative Net Worth = - $233 Million

Oh that common core math must be at fault.
Mike Antonucci has been doing rundowns of each state union's finances. Calling NYSUT "Too big to fail" one wonders who will bail them out? Maybe their old pal Cuomo.

You'll notice Richard Iannuzzi is still listed as president because this is last year's report.

New York State United Teachers’ Finances

Posted: 19 Jan 2015 08:52 AM PST

New York State United Teachers appears to be too big to fail. Though it raised an additional $1.6 million in revenue, it spent an additional $14 million in staff compensation. The union spent more than 125 percent of its income, contributing to a negative worth of more than $233 million. NYSUT holds more than $305 million in pension and post-retirement health care liabilities for its staff and former employees.

Total membership – 385,566, down 3,781
Total revenue – $133.7 million (88% came from member dues), up $1.6 million
Budget deficit – $34.3 million
Net assets – negative $233.6 million
Total staff – 575
Staff salaries and benefits – $118.6 million
Highest paid employee – Richard Iannuzzi, president, $253,353 base salary
Highest paid contractor – Buchbinder, Tunick & Company, $244,536

Bully Principals Exist Due to a Weak Union: United Federation of Teachers not defending members

If the principal decides you are the target, you have no chance. If that principal wants to lie, manipulate, use other teachers against a particular teacher, there is nothing the UFT will do about it... Kim Janos

This courtesy of Jeff Kaufman - and so timely considering the 3020a hearings I've attended -- not one case I've seen should the teacher have been there in the first place. I saw 4 days of testimony of a principal who tried to present a negative picture of the targeted teacher and a perfect picture of the school she runs. It took only 3 witnesses for the defense to punch holes in just about every contention she made -- and of course, instead of having any interest in the truth, DOE Legal tried to harass and intimidate each of the witnesses. I'll get into the actions of DOE Legal and what the UFT SHOULD be doing about it in a future post.

I do find it funny when various groups are out there screaming, writing letters, speaking at PEPs as if Tweed gave a shit or will change their policies. These people should be out in front of 52 Broadway because it is the UFT's inability or lack of interest or even worse, taking the sides of the principals, on the part of the UFT that has empowered principals. Too heavy an attack will make their partners at the CSA, the principals' union, unhappy.

And we know one thing for sure -- New Action, which tries to jump on the bully principal bandwagon, will not pin the blame on the Unity/UFT leadership, to which it owes its seats on the Exec. Bd. So if ever there is a demo at any UFT offices calling for the UFT to pull no punches against bully principals, expect New Action to be upstairs in their offices, hiding.

United Federation of Teachers not defending members

By Kim Janos

TimesLedger Newspapers

The United Federation of Teachers has long been perceived as a powerful union in New York City. So, why would so many of its members find themselves in need of legal representation when they find themselves unfairly targeted by an unethical principal when members pay so much in dues?

This is the question many teachers are asking. So many of us are being harassed, abused and even brought up on false charges. In the age of “accountability,” the only accountable people seem to be teachers. Administrators do not need to account for anything, even abusing their employees. Teachers will call on their chapter leader and district reps only to be given false information. The UFT does NOT want members to know their rights. Why?

When teachers find themselves unfairly targeted by their principal, even after an excellent career, there is very little they can do. Their only course of action is to get an attorney. Expensive veteran teachers are encouraged by their union representatives to retire. Whether they are financially able or not is irrelevant. Untenured teachers are told to just resign and move on to other careers. It doesn’t matter if the accusations against the teacher are founded or not. If the principal decides you are the target, you have no chance. If that principal wants to lie, manipulate, use other teachers against a particular teacher, there is nothing the UFT will do about it.

That’s the little secret the UFT doesn’t want to get out: they are powerless and they don’t want members to know.

My question is why pay union dues to a union that doesn’t support its members and only exists to pay fat salaries to union leaders who do absolutely nothing?

New York City teachers deserve better. They deserve new union leadership — one that will advocate for its members.

Kim Janos

Teacher

Fresh Meadows

http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2015/3/janos_2015_01_16_q.html

Randi's Nightmare: DETROIT TEACHERS ELECT STEVE CONN FROM EON/BAMN TO HEAD DFT

Randi must be banging her head against the wall. I have somewhere some unpub video of Steve heckling her into distraction at a rally in Detroit. BAMM has been the only group to run against Randi at the aft.

Unofficial results of the December 6 election are: the UTR slate won all DFT executive board and trustee seats in yesterday's election. There will be a runoff election, however, for the office of DFT president, three vice presidents, secretary and treasurer.
For the position of president, Edna Reaves garnered 390 votes, Steve Conn got 300 votes, and Mershira Oliver got 168 votes. According to the DFT constitution and bylaws, the president must win at least 50 percent of the votes.

So it looks like the Oliver people threw their votes to Steve. I'm confused based on this Dec. 15 report:

President

• Edna Reaves (487) UTR
• Steve Conn (365) EON/BAMN

Vice President (3)

• Ivy Bailey (489)  UTR
• Michael Schenk (461) UTR
• Vida Bonacci (449) UTR
• Myra Akpabio (380) EON/BAMN
• April Chambers (310) EON/BAMN
• Derrick Marable (297) EON/BAMN

Recording Secretary

• Nicole M. Davis (480) UTR
• Erika M. Jones (308) EON/BAMN

Treasurer

• Michelle Broughton (483) UTR
• Ucal Finley (300) EON/BAMN

If he didn't win any seats on the Ex Bd so look for some battle.

What does this mean for the bigger picture? I can't imagine Randi allowing Steve to be on the AFT Exec Bd or Steve wanting to be - he'd have to run on the Progressive Caucus instead of BAMN caucus line at the next AFT convention in 2016. So Detroit loses its seat on the AFT EB - a meaningless position.

Steve barely lost last time. But it looks like there will be an interesting struggle in Detroit --- BAMN is as social justicy a group as conceivable.

PRESS RELEASE    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Detroit teachers elected Steve Conn to head the Detroit Federation of Teachers today.  Conn, a long-time civil rights activist, ran on the Equal Opportunity Now/ By Any Means Necessary (EON/BAMN) slate.  Conn and BAMN will now lead Detroit’s teachers in the new civil rights movement that is sweeping the country.

"Detroit teachers voted today to stand up to the attacks on their schools, their jobs and their students' futures by Snyder and his executive managers,"  said Conn.   "I take office Tuesday, and am immediately calling a mass meeting of the union membership and community to begin a fight against these attacks, to defend public education, and to win equal, quality education for our students. We must vote on a plan of action for the DFT to join the citizens of Detroit in a fight to restore democracy and dignity to all of the people of Detroit."

Contact Steve Conn & EON-BAMN ( Equal Opportunity Now – By Any Means Necessary) at 313.645.9340

Tweed Slime, Part Umpteenth

Recently we posted a story about former principal - and current high level DOE appointee Elif Gure-Perez who went after AP Christina Villavivencio for not giving poor ratings to African-American teachers --- The Slime Still Oozes at Tweed....
Villavivencio went through trials and tribulations in 2 schools before landing on her feet at principal of PS 197 out here in Far Rockaway. I gave her credit for doing so. 

And then these comments started surfacing. 

If true, can slime grow on slime? And someone asks where is the union? They must mean the Queens and District 27 UFT, one of the more "collaborative" union units - they never met a principal they didn't want to defend. 

And by the way, bully principals don't exist due to the DOE alone but are enabled by the UFT.

AnonymousWednesday, January 14, 2015 at 11:33:00 PM EST

What's amazing is that Villavicencio, the "victim" in this case is 10x worse than Gure-Perez. She is running 197 into the ground, taking it from an A school to an F. In her short term as principal of that school she has run out 30-40 highly rated teachers who had been at that school for many years, 99% conveniently white! One veteran teacher even died after being hospitalized and coming back to work to being severely harassed by this woman, causing her so much distress that she died of a heart attack. The real person who needs to be investigated is Villavicencio. The former chapter leader, is her "right hand man" who buries teachers' along with the principal, in exchange for her hiring his sister in law, as well as non-existent schedule and a job as the AP, which has since been rescinded, with no knowledge of why. The list of her wrong doings goes on and on! Falsifying records, changing IEPs, calling 311 on her own teachers, bribing parents with food, etc.... She has been reported numerous times to the union and the superintendent. Nothing was ever done! Nepotism is also alive and well at this school. All new hires are friends of hers, the chapter leader, or people in the network that she's friends with! No interviews for any positions, such as cluster or coaching, IEP teachers, etc.. have ever been posted; they were just handed to these people.

All anyone has to do is investigate this fraud! Check how many times 311 was called on her. Ask her how many teachers left that school under her tyrant rule? Unfortunately I'm one of the "unlucky" ones; I'm still there! It is an awful place to work!
====

Anonymous Friday, January 16, 2015 at 9:49:00 PM EST

I heard about that chapter leader at 197, Herrera, I think his name is. He is some piece of work. He elected himself after being pushed out and then the newly elected chapter leader was illegally excessed so that the principal wouldn't have to deal with him. This left the door open for him to become chapter leader after nominating himself. He is known to have turned on his teachers, telling the principal everything they said to him privately and pushing her agenda, to rid experienced "white" teachers. This was done in exchange for hiring his sister in law, who was not even licensed and giving him a non-existent schedule (maybe 2-3 classes per week.) . She worked under a sub license, which in turn left the school with no subs. I heard that every time a teacher was out, the classes were split. Unreal! He gives the union a bad name. How does this go on when everyone knows about it, meaning the union and the superintendent.
===
Where is your Union? 197 needs help! on The Slime Still Oozes at Tweed as Racist Fomer Principal, Elif Gure-Perez, Holds Onto Job
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I heard that the principal at 197 chases away her APs, they never stay. on The Slime Still Oozes at Tweed as Racist Fomer Principal, Elif Gure-Perez, Holds Onto Job

After a day watching sleazy DOE legal in action, I need to take a shower....

.....sordid, corrupt, immoral, unsavory, disreputable, shady sleazoids. I'm sure I haven't used up the full range of synonyms.

.... attempted intimidation of witnesses for the defense and other funnies - like bringing in reinforcements. So naked and semi-competent, I at times had to hold my hand over my mouth to keep from bursting out laughing. Thank goodness for an extremely competent NYSUT attorney, who I would want defending me.

DOE legal in action

 On second thought I just may not take that shower.

Teaching and Policing: Showdown and Slowdown - Norm in The Wave

Published Friday, Jan. 16, 2015 at www.rockawave.com

-->

Teaching  and Policing:  Showdown and Slowdown

By Norm Scott

For the two decades of the Giuliani and Bloomberg administrations, there was no group of public employees more vilified and disrespected than teachers, often with overwhelming approval of the press and politicians and with much of the public going along – though polls did show that public school parents overwhelmingly supported the teachers at the schools their children went to. My friend Arthur Goldstein, the chapter leader at Francis Lewis HS, one of the most well-read and respected bloggers, wrote:   

“[I]t's perfectly fine to vilify teachers, to stereotype us based on shoddy evidence, and to deprive us of due process based on a handful of sensationalized cases. We should trust in the good graces of folks like Mike Bloomberg and Dennis Walcott, and we should disregard the fact that they are fanatical ideologues with no regard for evidence or truth. Is this because teaching is a profession dominated by women? Is it because time and time again our union leadership has compromised with folks like Bloomberg, embracing mayoral control, charter schools, colocations, two-tier due process, and things that looked very much like merit pay? Is it because the job of educating our children must always take second place to the importance of enriching the likes of Pearson, Eva Moskowitz and Rupert Murdoch? ... Why is there one standard for police, and a very different one for teachers? Why is it so widely accepted by the media?” http://nyceducator.com/2015/01/the-police-and-teachers.html

So, imagine a scenario at a high school graduation where Bloomberg or NYCDOE Chancellors, the universally despised Joel Klein or almost equally despicable Dennis Walcott, were the invited speakers and during the ceremony, masses of teachers turned their backs. Or a student tragically dies and at the funeral teachers turned their backs? Oh, the fallout, especially from the Murdoch press: FOX News, NY Post and Wall Street Journal. And there would have been repercussions beyond the press. Teachers who were identified might expect a drop-in observation and an ineffective rating for “embarrassing the school.”

Daily Howler Doesn't Quite Use the C-word - WAPO Malpractice in Ed Reporting on Effects of Test Prep

Did test prep really produce those “huge gains?” Tomorrow, we’ll look at the rest of the (possible) story—a possible story the Post has worked to avoid down through these long pitiful years. Even after the scandals under Rhee—even after the scandals in Atlanta—the Washington Post still refuses to go there! Could it be that something other than test prep lessons produced those soaring passing rates?... The Daily Howler (WHO CARES ABOUT SCHOOLS: Even after Rhee and Atlanta!)

We take a break for a musical interlude:



Hey, we all know that the Washington Post has engaged in a coverup and in deliberate misleading over the Rhee cheating scandals in Washington DC, as John Merrow has found out:

A Story About Michelle Rhee That No One Will Print ... Michelle Rhee lobbies across the country for greater test-based accountability and changes in teacher tenure rules. ... One editor's rejection note said that Michelle Rhee was not a national story.)

Michelle Rhee and the Washington Post

takingnote.learningmatters.tv/?p=6374

May 15, 2013 - by John Merrow on 15. .... It's not too late for the Washington Post to insist that the City Council put Dr. Sandy Sanford, former Chancellor Rhee, ...

John Merrow: Shame on the Washington Post for Refusing ...

dianeravitch.net/.../john-merrow-shame-on-the-washington-post-for-refu...

May 17, 2013 - But Merrow reserves his greatest ire for the editorial writers at the Washington Post, who were cheerleaders for Michelle Rhee and who ...

Today and yesterday, The Daily Howler - Bob Somerby --knows something about education, having taught for some years in inner city Baltimore schools --- addressed WAPO article on testing, while not openly using the C word.

Good God! After those passing rates “plummeted” in 2013, third-grade teachers at this school swung into action. As described in the passage above, they “devised a strategy for the following fall” which included extensive “test preparation.” To us, the problems with that behavior start right at the top. In theory, if a state offers statewide standardized tests, the state should also prescribe standardized test preparation. Here’s why:

Does extensive “test prep” of the type described really change scores...?.....

In theory, if test formats are so confusing that “test prep” substantially changes scores, then those formats are too confusing. You need better tests.

Let's suppose that such test prep does change test scores on the SOLs. If so, the value of the SOLs is severely undermined if School A provides extensive test prep and School B does not. If passing rates can virtually double based on test prep lessons, then it’s pointless to compare passing rates of various schools from around the state, and it’s pointless to compare some school’s passing rates to those of the state as a whole.

Beyond that, if test prep lessons change scores that much, it makes no sense to use the tests to determine “proficiency” at reading or math. Student A may know just as much math as Student B. But Student A has not been provided the test prep lessons, so his math score may be much lower.

One is “proficient,” the other is not, even though they both know the same math!

If test prep really affects scores that much, then (at the very least) test prep needs to be standardized. Having said that, a very basic question must be asked:

Does test prep affect test scores that much? Does that six weeks of test prep lessons really explain the way passing rates “soared” at this low-income school?

We don’t have the slightest idea why passing rates went up at that school. We do understand the possible scam the Washington Post still refuses to discuss, even after Rhee and Atlanta.

Tomorrow: Even after Rhee, even after Atlanta, the Post refuses to ask

Read the full piece: The Daily Howler (WHO CARES ABOUT SCHOOLS: Even after Rhee and Atlanta!). Looking forward to tomorrow when we may actually see Bob use the C word.

And our final video of the day:

Fighting Back In Your School - MORE Chapter Leader Election and Support Workshop - Jan. 24

I see a lot of complaints about a lot of things going on in education but often these complaints are not attached to the problem with the union. Nothing will change until the union changes. And that change starts at the school level. I will (reluctantly) shlep down to the Delegate Assembly to watch more shoveling of bullshit - the only reason I'm going is because I'll be in the neighborhood for the 3020a hearing. It is so obvious that so many people are left out in the cold by the UFT -- and it makes it worse when it's 10 degrees.

New post on Movement of Rank and File Educators

Fighting Back In Your School by morecaucusnyc

Now, more than ever we need a revitalized union that involves and mobilized all its members. You can do this by getting active in the upcoming UFT chapter leader and delegate elections. All schools (chapters) will have an election this spring.

Our tenure rights, pensions, our very jobs are coming under attack from politicians on both sides of the aisle and the corporate billionaires who fund them. Schools have become places of fear; teachers are scared of losing their jobs, students are afraid of tests, administrators who lack classroom experience violating our contractual rights. Teachers were once highly respected members of society who dedicated their lives to making the world a better place. Now we face attack after attack from those who have an economic interest in destroying the public education system. The plan is simple; close down our public schools, destroy unions, drive down wages, and increase their profits.

How do we fight back, how do we defend public education while advocating for the children we serve? Unions are the answer! You need to start in your school. Revitalizing your own chapter is where you start.

This is where MORE can help. We have to start from the bottom up. We have to organize ourselves, get people in our schools involved in the fight and educate parents and community members. The best way to do this is during the upcoming chapter elections.

Start with your chapter, if your chapter leader is not responsive or not interested in calling chapter meetings or seeking input from members then it is time for a change. Luckily it's the right time, get in touch with MORE, we can set up a local meeting near you, help you run, offer support, and workshops. MORE can put you in touch with nearby UFT members who are facing the same challenges you are.

Our long time chapter leaders can advise you on best practices for winning elections and how to defeat the incumbent. MORE members can help in getting your staff involved in taking back our schools from the culture of fear. Our vision of unionism is one where UFT members in the schools work together, empower each other, get mobilized, have each others back, and then build alliances with nearby schools and communities.

No UFT member should ever be left alone! We ARE our union. Our working conditions are our students' learning conditions.

Come to MORE’s January workshop to learn how to build a stronger and more active chapter.

January 24th 12:00-2:30pm
CUNY Graduate Center
365 5th Ave at 34th st NYC room 5409
Free childcare is available - please email more@morecaucusnyc.org to reserve.

We will be serving free pizza and soft drinks during our post workshop meet and mingle from 2:30-3:00pm.

If you can not make this workshop email: more@morecaucusnyc.org  to set up a meeting near you

3020a Hearings Reveal Insideous Campaigns Against Teachers

I wonder at times of there isn't a secret bounty/bonus to principals for every tenured teacher they manage to chop. Maybe a check mark for future promotion.

Some MOREistas and ICEers have been attending various 3020a termination hearings - I am about to head off to the Peter Zucker hearing now. These are run like real trials except that the hearing officer functions like judge and jury. I tell people on trial that this person is the only person in the room you have to care about impressing. Forget the DOE legal people (mostly nasty slugs) who try to make you look like a mass murderer.

Fellow retiree David Dobosz has been attending a different 3020a hearing of a high school teacher. He sent this report yesterday:

What I am learning in the 3020A hearing of a (school and teacher name redacted) teacher, includes a bombshell of revealing connections. Th actual hearing record is bearing out the fact that school budget cuts are behind the senior teacher gotcha terminations and, by extension, ATR eval terminations. Between the teacher's adversarial AP and the UFT chapter leader who witnessed on behalf of the teacher and blew the whistle on the admin, all was exposed. 

Meanwhile,  the DOE has no strategy to deal with funding, increasing school segregation, curriculum dumbing down and allowing teaching or administrating out of license, all of which results put additional stress on schools to keep barely functioning. Using financial starvation incrementally destroys a quality public education for all through policies that result in dysfunction.

The UFT is silent and pretty much a non-entity - teachers are entitled to a NYSUT lawyer, some of whom have been vilified unjustly, leading some teachers to spend money on their own representation. I always say -- go NYSUT first until you feel that is not working out for you - and have backup just in case. 

 

PUBLIC HEARING ON THE RENEWAL FOR MANHATTAN CHARTER SCHOOL IS TONIGHT!

The charter gold rush into gentrifying neighborhoods like the Lower East Side goes on, supported by SUNY.
See the full 2 hour plus video of last week's forum on Eva invasion, nee cancelled hearing. Sorry I can't make it to tonight's hearing.


https://vimeo.com/116592016

PUBLIC HEARING ON THE RENEWAL FOR MANHATTAN CHARTER SCHOOL IS TONIGHT!

PS 142 AMALIA CASTRO

100 ATTORNEY STREET

SPEAKER SIGN IN IS AT 5:45

Here’s what you need to know:

· The CSD1 community has not received adequate notification of this hearing on the proposal to double MCS by adding middle school grades.

· There has been no analysis of the impact of the MCS Proposal on CSD1 schools and community.

· CSD1 residents and stakeholders deserve the opportunity for authentic input into a renewal that is in fact an expansion and a potential merger.

· The MCS PROPOSAL DOES NOT MEET THE DOCUMENTED NEEDS OF THE CSD1 COMMUNITY

· The D1 community has devised a number of building blocks via a collaborative process that should serve as the basis for any new school in the community.

· Lack of oversight and regulation of charters causes increased inequities among school communities. Particularly different enrollment practices result in different demographics and increased inequities

· The MCS Proposal fails to meet the NYS Charter School Act standards and requirements for a charter renewal.

MCS serves almost no ELLS because its programmatic offerings do not support ELLS which is out of compliance with federal guidelines

· SUNY CSI documents that MCS2 does not offer adequate programs to serve ELLS

· Despite these programmatic design failure the MCS model was replicated by SUNY in defiance of clear federal standards for providing FAPE to English learners, students with disabilities

· The MCS Board and administration has a history of demonstrated bad faith in D1

• Long history of complaints about MCS outreach efforts and colocation partnership.

· Many of the members of the Board of Trustees and top administration responsible for the creation and operation of Manhattan Charter School belong to the elite network of privatizers and education reform insiders at NYC DoE, SUNY CSI and vendors to MCS, demonstrating serious conflicts of interest.

· Yet the mission of Manhattan Charter School is based on practicing and modeling honesty, integrity and respect as part of educational efforts and social interaction

· School quality cannot be measured by mere test scores, and not without controlling for inputs

· Colocating charter schools in public school space takes important resources away from local public schools

· D1 schools are already suffering from over- crowding and rising class sizes

· There is no demand for additional charter school seats in D1

Current charters schools in D1 already attend local enrollment fairs and are included in the DoE’s enrollment directories yet are still under enrolled despite additional independent marketing and recruiting.

· Charter school wait list are artificially inflated

· MCS does not fill their seats after the 2nd grade

· Although there are no formal wait lists, there is demand (often undocumented) for local public schools in NYC and in D1

· Based on phony wait lists and supposedly superior test scores, DoE engineered and justified the colocation of MCS 2 at JHS 56

· In a letter from Elizabeth Rose (now Interim Acting Deputy Chancellor of Operations), DoE claimed there would be no harms to the 3 high needs schools sharing the Corrlears Complex at JHS 56:

However, the current colocation of MCS2 presents serious issues of inequity and threats to the school quality environment in JHS 56

· MCS has on-going issues with compliance with even the very limited regulation imposed by charter authorizers

Community Education Council for District 1 (CEC1)

2013-2015 Members:

Lisa Donlan/Arnette Scott/Daniel Becker

Moses Seuram/Marco Battistella/Latesha Moore

Olivia Rychter/Fatima Baba/Luke Henry

Stephanie Thompson

PS 20 Anna Silver School

166 Essex Street

New York, NY 10002

Cec1@schools.nyc.gov

(212)353-2946 (p)

(212)353-2945 (f)

http://cecd1.org/

The Slime Still Oozes at Tweed as Racist Fomer Principal, Elif Gure-Perez, Holds Onto Job

Elif Gure-Perez, who was named in June as an executive director in the DOE’s Office of School Improvement, created a “hostile, race-based work environment,” a Manhattan federal court found months before her appointment.

“From the moment Villavicencio refused to file false reports on these African-American teachers, Gure-Perez started a campaign to terminate Villavicencio’s employment as assistant principal,” Manhattan federal Judge Jack Weinstein wrote in a November ruling. The case is set for trial on Jan. 27. 

Gure-Perez, the former principal of PS 316 in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, called one staffer the N-word to her face; referred to an African-American teacher as “Shining,” an insulting term for a shoe shiner; and spoke of buying a bright orange blouse to wear to school “since I know black people like loud colors,” witnesses testified.... In her new post, Gure-Perez is assigned to support 14 high schools in the mayor’s $150 million School Renewal Program for struggling schools, according to DOE spokesman Will Mantell. Her salary is $144,195. Asked why Chancellor Carmen Fariña promoted Gure-Perez in light of the complaints, the DOE had no comment..... 

Thanks to the reporting of my former editor at The Wave, Howie Schwach at his OnRockawy site and the Sue Edelman report in the NY Post. Note that the court found Gure-Perez guilty "months BEFORE she was appointed by Farina to a $145,000 job. I'm sure she brings special skills to the job that transcend her racism.

In March, a Manhattan jury found Gure-Perez liable for civil damages, awarding Lovejoy $110,000, which the city is paying.

So what's a measly 100 grand and after other law suits expect that number to grow. If you're a principal you can do pretty much anything and still rise up the ladder. What is interesting about this case is that other supervisors are making the charges, including a current principal, Christina Villavicencio, of Rockaway elementary school, PS 197. Good for her, making a comeback like this, though discontinued teachers don't seem to have much chance.

For those who disbelieve teachers who charge that they come under assault by vicious bully principals, Villavicenio's story should be a model.

Principal Gure-Perez instructed Assistant Principal Villavicencio to “aggressively supervise ‘older staff members’ at PS 316 to shake them up.” All of these staff members were minorities, and all but one was African-American. The principal directed Villavicencio to re-observe two African-American teachers whom Villavicencio had rated “Satisfactory” because Gure-Perez “wanted these teachers to be rated Unsatisfactory . . . because they were ‘old’ and African Americans.” She instructed Villavicencio to use “fear” and “intimidation” against a third teacher in order to “make her retire.”

I used to tell Joel Klein that supporting slug principals like this undermines any legitimate attempt to remove really bad teachers because you never know. PS 316 is in Crown Heights, District 17, a district with a lot of African-American teachers, many of them older. Reports have been coming in about other schools where they are under assault by abusive principals, many of whom are black themselves (PS 399K Principal Marion Brown Accused of Running School With Concentration Camp Mentality). Is there some element of racists working out of Tweed? (I know of one recently appointed Superintendent who was a former principal and had black teachers at that school tell me she was.)

In March 2009, Gure-Perez started to “create a false paper trail to get rid of Villavicencio from PS 316,” criticizing her for not clocking in for the month of November and telling Villavicencio that she did not have a “backbone to write up teachers.” In a single day, March 17, 2009, Gure-Perez placed seven disciplinary letters in Villavicencio’s file. On March 26, 2009, Gure-Perez gave plaintiff the first “Unsatisfactory” rating of her career, together with a notice of discontinuance of her probationary service as assistant principal. 

Villavicencio's life in hell continued when she was demoted and sent to a school run by a friend of Gure-Perez, PS 191 run by Principal Elsi Capolongo who is still there. Both are thugs. Let's see how she treated Villavicencio.

A few days after Villavicencio started working at P.S. 191, Capolongo told Villavicencio to come to her office with a United Federation of Teachers (“UFT”) representative because the meeting could lead to disciplinary action. The UFT chapter leader advised Villavicencio to leave the school because “[Capolongo and her friends] are after you.” The plaintiff alleges that because of her refusal to discriminate as directed, Gure-Perez terminated her position as assistant principal when transferring her, resulting in a salary reduction. Further, the experiences with Gure-Perez and Capolango led Villavicencio to take medical leave due to anxiety and depression. Villavicencio was prescribed medication and therapy for her condition. 

These people are the DOE version of rogue detective Louis Scarcella (New York City Settles Three Brothers' Wrongful Conviction Cases for $17 Million) and should be in jail for their blatant misuse of their positions.

We have maintained that tenure protects teachers from racism, though it is clear that racists will find a way. But tenure forces them into creating a paper trail, aided by DOE Legal, where you can find a crew of Black lawyers helping them do the dirty work. You wouldn't have found these people marching over a bridge in Selma.

Our Pals in -- THE Republican Senate?

While the Democrats screw us, here is something to cheer in the Republican takeover of the Senate.

The administration's position comes amidst growing anti-testing sentiment fueled by an odd alliance of parents skeptical of standardized tests, teachers unions who say using test scores to evaluate teachers and schools has warped education and conservatives who argue the federal government should play a much smaller role in local education.

In case you don't remember, Diane Ravitch served as under secretary with Lamar Alexander in the first Bush administration in the early 90s. Who would have thunk they would one day come around to similar positions on the opposite side of the spectrum they were once on?

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a former education secretary, university president and governor who took control Monday as chair of the Senate education panel, said he is weighing whether to ditch the federal requirement to test.

"Every parent, every teacher in 100,000 public schools is asking the question 'Are there too many tests?"Alexander said. "I don't know the answer. I'm asking the question. And the United States Senate ought to be asking that question as we think about No Child Left Behind."

Alexander said the federal requirement appears to have created a cascading effect in states and local school districts, most of which now regularly test students during the course of the school year to make sure they are on track to succeed on the federally required exam at year's end. And this year, as most states prepare for new tests aligned with the Common Core State Standards, the testing debate has gained new urgency.

"It's a good, healthy discussion that the country is having," said Alexander, who has scheduled a Jan. 20 Senate hearing on testing and set an aggressive timetable to move a bill to the full Senate for a vote by late February.

At this point, the Obama administration can't disappear fast enough.

Obama administration draws 'line in sand' over education testing

The State Journal-Register

By Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post News Service

Posted Jan. 9, 2015 @ 5:38 pm

WASHINGTON — As a new Congress gets to work to rewrite the 2002 federal education law known as No Child Left Behind, the Obama administration is drawing what Education Secretary Arne Duncan calls his "line in the sand": The federal government must continue to require states to give annual, standardized tests in reading and math.

In a speech scheduled for Monday at an elementary school in Washington, Duncan is expected to insist that any new law retain the trademark of No Child Left Behind, requiring that every public school student be tested annually in math and reading in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school, and also be tested in science at three points during those years.

The current law is about 600 pages long and spells out how the federal government sends roughly $25 billion annually to states to help educate poor and disabled students.

The National Education Association (NEA), the country's largest teacher's union, wants to kill the annual testing requirement and replace it with age span testing, which calls for students to be tested once in grades 3 to 5, once in grades 6 to 8 and once in high school.

"We need to cut back on testing and build a smarter accountability system," said Becky Pringle, NEA vice president.

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