Opt Out reports from the field -

It's an anti-testing tsunami... Daily News

Just watched Ravitch and Tisch on MSNBC. Tisch is one very ignorant, arrogant and harmful human being.... former Fairport Supt Bill Cala

Here's a quick compendium of news and views as they came in today and tonight from MORE and CTS people. But first a word from our sponsor:

In addition to sharing your opt out numbers (please include school name & # and district #), please let us know about any interference with refusals. Were kids asked to verbally refuse even after parents had sent letters? Any other last-minute obstacles to refusing the tests? Feel free to send any such reports to NYCOptOut@gmail.com. You don't have to identify the school if you're not comfortable doing so. Thanks!

Now back to our program.

Testing news in Eva World: Overheard a Success Academy teacher telling her students how disappointed she was in them this afternoon, loudly in the hallway. She continued by saying that if they did not get 4's tomorrow and Thursday, they would not pass the test. Real nice! -- from a co-located public school teacher 

That is AWESOME! The reports coming in statewide are incredible! No wonder NYSED was scared and engaging in so many last-minute ploys to dissuade parents from opting opt... report from cts

The numbers aren't important. The trend is. And it's overwhelming. Year to year -- are we doubling, tripling or in order-of-magnitude territory? Let's remember, thousands upon thousands still believe the draconian and totally empty threats from state officials and are held in compliance by fear. Those threats will be utterly ineffective next year, because with the level of attention this is getting, EVERYONE by then will know there were no consequences for the many schools that had majority opt outs. The testing emperor has no clothes and this year's tests are a spotlight revealing that condition.... cts parent

The entire structure of high-stakes testing in New York crumbled Tuesday, as tens of thousands of fed-up public school parents rebelled against Albany’s fixation with standardized tests and refused to allow their children to take the annual English Language Arts state exam.
This “opt-out” revolt has been quietly building for years, but it reached historic levels this time. More than half the pupils at several Long Island and upstate school districts joined in — at some schools in New York City boycott percentages neared 40%... Juan Gonzalez, Fed-up parents revolt against state's standardized tests.... Daily News

 let’s see if the NYT manages to ignore this hugely historic grassroots rebellion, as is their wont....

Fred Smith on Tisch after MSNBC debate with Ravitch (If you missed it go http://www.msnbc.com/all and click on "To test or not to test"   -- I wanted Ravitch to punch her in the face):

Ravitch post-debate comment: 

I am bummed out that Tisch got the first word and the last word. It is insulting to parents to say that opt out is a labor dispute. Parents don't opt out to help the union. They opt out because they want to protect their children from a test that is designed to fail them.

 I blame Chris Hayes, who as pretty much the entire press corps is awful on ed issues. Throwing the red herring of comparing opt out to anti vaccine people. OK - here's Fred:

I would have to agree with Tisch. She says the Common Cores Test are Diagnostic. That's true. The diagnosis is that she, SED and Pearson don't know what the hell they're doing. Opting out of the tests is the vaccination parents want in order to spare their children from this disease... My take is that she mixed up cause and effect. Perhaps she meant that parents were getting caught up in the union's political fight. She put this piece into play as she was urging parents not to opt out on Day 2.

A parent responds:

.....parents and teachers spearheaded this movement, and NYSUT is now finally following our lead. It's one thing to be pro-"reform" -- but honestly who can lie so baldly as to say this is a union-led political movement? Is that Tisch's stance?

Back to Fred:

It's a slam at the union. And I wonder if that would have been her dodge if Sheldon Silver was calling the shots. She seems a bit off balance as she figures out her position. No doubt having to sit next to Diane Ravitch and listen to a few facts must have rattled Her Pearlship....
Too bad Chris Hayes didn't give Diane the last word--as Tisch postured that the resistance is a matter of the union not wanting teacher evaluations. In the same breath, while she's reducing everything to "politics," she's also mouthing the party line that parents have been duped.
If you can't fire parents, why not try to deny their individual and collective intelligence and ignore the authenticity of their cause.

Penetrating East NY, District 19:

5 kids from my school opted out!!!  I had no idea. ... teacher in Dist. 19, one the most poverty stricken areas in East NY, Brooklyn (where I grew up.)

And from a MORE in Park Slope:

250+ opt outs at PS 321 this year. I'll get more exact numbers tomorrow, but that's around 37% of the kids in testing grades. Way to go, all! ... teacher

Thanks to Michael Elliot for coming to Jackson Heights to capture this morning's press conference.

As always, we are so very grateful for his tireless energy.  Norm, you have an awesome partner here!

Here they are in order
Opening Statement
https://youtu.be/hyq6gALq0AA
Danny Katch
https://youtu.be/UC-WSXAsRBo
Michelle Kupper
https://youtu.be/ITQQm4n2UdI
Janine Sopp
https://youtu.be/2Oyd5gGD_WM
Leonie Haimson
https://youtu.be/dipQbSxMRbY
Daniel Dromm Answers a Question about consequences
https://youtu.be/1gP2OcHTd8Y
Daniel Dromm Answers a Question about Cuomo Agenda
https://youtu.be/LYDLbmcXSoI
Daniel Dromm Answers a Question about Teachers and Curriculum
https://youtu.be/espd2ltGTvo
Daniel Dromm Answers a Question about High Stakes
https://youtu.be/HKexcMqsHwA
Daniel Dromm Answers a Question about Common Core
https://youtu.be/DIIkR8MdRIM
Leonie Adds to the answer
https://youtu.be/zMvkIHCtLgg
Daniel Dromm Answers a Question about unions role
https://youtu.be/wfj1_zDQ9jE

Other reports

Our school has 14, up from 5 last year, and I am hearing about more from D3. One more year, then I opt out my third grader.... parent

95% at BNS (298/314 opted out).  80% opted out at BCS- the 6th-12th grade sister school upstairs from BNS.

...so far one child has opted out at my school...a special needs child whose parent used a doctor's note to back up her opting the child out... teacher in district 14

....reporting from, district 3 school, MS421 we have 6 (including my son) students/parents who opted out in protest of standardized testing.

Still waiting to hear from a few other schools in the district I've requested numbers from.... parent

9 from PS 11. I'm a little disappointed, but that's a 120% growth from last year  :)

For D6 ps178(K to 4th) there were #3 students to opt-out.  All were sent to the cafeteria.
For D3 ps163 there were #6 students to opt-out and all were sent to the cafeteria.

Castle Bridge got to 100 percent

Hamilton Heights, D6.  They had 50 of 104 students opt out this year.  21 3rd graders, 24 4th graders, and 5 5th graders.

I don't have hard numbers yet either. I know of 8-9 at Muscota (the tireless work of Helena Rincon), 17 at Amistad, a dual language K-8 (!!! Hurray for Gretchen Mergenthaler!!!), at least 5 at PS/IS 187, and a few more scattered around D6. I have not heard from Castle Bridge, expected to have a huge percentage of opt outs, and Hamilton Heights, where close to 70% opted out last year.

I can also report at least 3 at Manhattan East middle school in D4. While our numbers are still small, they've got to be double what they were last year. And the "noise" as Meryl Tisch called it is becoming deafening. Perhaps she'll actually hear it some day. Not counting on that. Perhaps the people we vote for will actually hear it some day. Carl Heastie just sent an email touting the work he did around Cuomo's education proposals in the budget process. That it came out today says to me he gets how passionate this debate is becoming. Okay, so I might feel a little competitive with the suburbs, whose numbers so outstrip ours, but thank goodness for them!
Also, let's not discount those who did not end up opting out. Let's encourage them to write their legislators and Cuomo and tell them why they felt he's made them an offer they could not refuse. I definitely see a pattern where numbers climb at schools where teachers become outspoken against the tests. I know many parents don't want to "hurt" their kids' teachers or their schools. There are way more people who decry the test-based ed reforms but don't opt out... Parent

Fairport NY refusal numbers: 1820 refusals = 67.1% -- Superintendent Bill Cala

I'm not in NYC, but my kids' elementary school in New Rochelle had 65 this year...up from ONE last year!  I also heard that 25% of one of the middle schools opted out...about 250 kids (don't know last year's numbers) and promising numbers in some of the other elementary schools. That's huge!

Great news from Westchester County.
http://www.lohud.com/story/news/education/2015/04/14/districts-see-high-opt-numbers/25767649/

New York Opt Out Movement Grows Rapidly
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2015/04/opt-out_movement_grows_across_state_thousands_of_students_expected_to_refuse_tes.html

Western New York District Opt-Out Rate Tops 56%
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/04/10/fairport-opt-cala/25575961/

Ravitch

Here is an excellent analysis of what is behind the Opt Out movement. Last year, 50,000-60,000 students opted out in Néw York. The figure will be more than double that this year.

Parents are reacting against the overuse and misuse of tests. They are reacting against Governor Cuomo's harsh and punitive education legislation.

In a democratic society, parents can't be pushed around by public officials who are more interested in politics than in children. It makes parents angry.

My favorite quote:

“The most dangerous place on Earth is between a mother and her child. Cuomo has crossed the line,” declares GiGi Guiliano of East Islip, a mother of three who will refuse the test. “We want our classrooms back. We want our teachers to be able to teach again. I want my kids to enjoy the love of learning, not how to fill in bubbles. I want them to be lifelong learners.”

NY Daily News

Thousands of students opt out of state mandated English Language Arts exam as families from Brooklyn to Buffalo boycott tests

It's an anti-testing tsunami.
Thousands of families across the Empire State said no to standardized testing, boycotting the state-mandated English Language Arts exams which began Tuesday.
While accurate figures were hard to come by, testing opponents, parents groups, and school officials from Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, to Buffalo all agreed the number is likely to far exceed the 60,000 students who refused to take the test last year.
“From what I’m hearing from other superintendents, it could be at least 300,000 students across the state that opted out,” said William Cala, superintendent of Fairport Central School District near Rochester.

Rachel Cohen, mother of a fifth-grader at Public School 261, said she thinks at least 66% of the 817 students in her Boerum Hill school refused to take the English Language Arts test — the first of the exams administered to third-through eighth-graders across New York State this week.
“Essentially I see no diagnostic educational benefit to my child,” she said. “I see no compelling evidence this is a fair and accurate way to assess children or teachers. All this emphasis on testing actually interferes with meaningful learning and assessment.”
Other parents whose kids opted-out echoed Cohen’s complaints that teachers are being forced to “teach to the test” to preserve their jobs — and their kids were being short-changed as a result.
“We’re not against assessment, we believe in meaningful assessment,” said Jody Alperin, whose children are in the second and fifth grade at PS 10 in South Park Slope, Brooklyn. “Test results should not be punitive.”
Devora Kaye, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Education, said it will be several days before they know just how many public school students balked at taking the tests.

“We collect opt-out data (as we do every year) by tabulating what is bubbled on the students’ answer sheets during the test administration,” Kaye said. “For this reason, we do not have figures until after the test administration is completed, including makeup test dates.”
About 1.1 million students statewide were eligible to take the exams. The ELA exams run through Thursday and the math tests are next week.
Chris Cerrone, of United Opt Out, which has been leading the charge against the testing, agreed it will take some time before they get a true picture of how widespread the boycott was.
“The numbers are still coming in,” he said.
But reports of large numbers of students boycotting the tests were pouring in from public schools across the state.
Westchester County executive Rob Astorino, a former Republican gubernatorial candidate, refused to allow two of his kids to take the test. He estimated some 100,000 parents did the same statewide.

Further north in the Lower Hudson valley, school officials reported that a quarter of all students in third through eighth grade ditched the test.
Up in the Buffalo suburbs, the superintendent of West Seneca School District reported 2,074 out of 2,976 students — nearly 70% — refused to take the test.

“Last year, we had 30% who refused to take the test,” said Mark Crawford, whose district has five elementary schools and two middle schools. “So it was a surprise to me.”
In the nearby Lake Shore School District, Superintendent James Przepasniak said half of their 1,000-plus students opted out.
“I am not surprised,” he told The Buffalo News. “I believe that the parents groups, the teachers groups have been communicating to parents through many means and I think our parents are more aware of the options they have.”
Gov. Cuomo, a strong supporter of the standardized exams, declined to comment on the apparent anti-testing movement sweeping the state.
But parents like Michele Greeley, 44, of Staten Island, said the anti-testing sentiment is not widespread at her kids’ school — and the state needs some way to measure teacher and student performance.

“I had to take tests when I was in school,” said Greeley, who has kids in the fourth and fifth grades at PS 8 in Staten Island.
“I want to make sure they are learning. It didn’t even cross my mind to opt out. Every parent is entitled to their opinion, but I don’t really know anyone who opted out here.”
Critics, however, say the tests are a poor measure of academic achievement and rob students of valuable school time.

This year New York State United Teachers got behind the opt-out movement after the state Legislature passed a law backed strongly by Cuomo that made test scores the basis of tougher evaluation standards intended to kick poor performing teachers out of classrooms.
Widespread boycotts, pro-teacher groups believe, would undermine the credibility of teacher ratings.
There are no penalties for refusing the tests, but in the past relatively few parents chose to have their kids skip the exams.

In 2014, just 1,925 city students opted out of either one of the state reading or math tests given to students in grades three to eight.
That number represented less than 1% of all students tested that year, but it included only kids who attended school on the days of the exams and formally refused them.
With Glenn Blain
and Juan Gonzalez
lcolangelo@nydailynews.com

Test Mania: Preparing Students for Life Under Modern Capitalism

Thought this article in the new issue of the Indy might be of interest to readers of your blog who are fighting back against the state-mandated high stakes tests that get underway today:

https://indypendent.org/2015/04/09/test-mania-preparing-students-life-under-modern-capitalism

Chalkbeat Bias: A litany of Anti- Opt out editorials

Take a look at this morning's Rise and Shine and what do you see? All anti-opt out but not much from the other side -- and there is so much out there I can't even keep up. But we know the so-called press supports the ed deform agenda. The deformers have not only bought Cuomo.

These in particular, expose the bias at Chalkbeat:

Errol Louis writes that the teachers union's call for parents to withdraw their children from taking the tests threatens to undermine the movement, which he argues is wrongheaded anyway because "high-stakes testing is, for better or worse, the norm in our complex modern society."

• NY Daily News

The Buffalo News weighs into the debate, also tying the opt-out movement to one that is being "driven by" the state teachers union.

• Buffalo News

Really? I know the people at Chalkbeat know full well the union, in particular the UFT, has played little role in what is a grassroots parent movement (as opposed to the astroturfs so often promoted by Chalkbeat). Yet this headline without comment allows the lie to go out -- a distortion of the real world. Chalkbeat reporters contact Change the Stakes asking for opt out information. (They won't get that from the UFT, which has done nothing to assist the opt out movement - and in fact, has obstructed it - see the turn down of the MORE testing reso at the March DA.)

In fact, CTS has so much info unbiased reporting would lead to offering the alternative view.

They can't use the excuse that they are just listing articles in the news without any comment -- in the old days of Gotham they at least used to offer the counter arguments from the blogs in their evening report.

I would tell you to go comment but really, why bother?

gut check

Parents who have been outspoken critics of the state's testing policies say they won't go so far as to opt their children out of taking the exams when they are administered this week.

• New York Times

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie raised concerns the growing push by parents to keep their children from taking tests, questioning "if the system can be looked upon fairly if some kids are taking (tests) and some are not.”

• Buffalo News

In an editorial, the Daily News offers a similar argument, writing that tests "are the sole apples-to-apples tool" for comparing teacher quality and "the only way to know whether 1.1 million kids in city public schools, including many hundreds of thousands who are in veritable educational wastelands, are really learning."

• NY Daily News

NY Post Gets it Right on Elvin and Dewey

Part of the reason the teachers are blaming the principal is that they had been rated “effective” based on their students’ improvement on state exams. But when subjective observations by Elvin and her fellow administrators were factored in, their grades sank. “She has a personal vendetta,” the teacher said. “She’s using the teacher observations as a weapon against teachers. It’s her way to force teachers to leave or retire.” ... NY Post

How about this? A NY Post piece taking the side of teachers.
Of course ed notes has been on the Elvin/Dewey case. (For background see links below the Post article.)

NYC HS teachers: Principal gave us bad ratings as retaliation

Teachers at Brooklyn’s scandal-plagued John Dewey HS say they are being punished with bad performance evaluations for standing up to the principal, who they say lets students slide with a grade-inflation system nicknamed “Easy Pass.”
A Post analysis found that half of the teachers at the school were given failing grades from Principal Kathleen Elvin, even though the graduation rate has been soaring.
State education records show that out of 101 teachers, 16 earned “ineffective” ratings and 35 got “developing” ratings last year, a failure rate of 50 percent.
Only 8 percent of teachers citywide received marks that low, leading some Dewey teachers to claim that the game is being rigged by the administration to get back at educators who object to alleged grade inflation.
“This doesn’t make sense. Something is wrong here,” said one teacher, who was rated “ineffective.”
Part of the reason the teachers are blaming the principal is that they had been rated “effective” based on their students’ improvement on state exams.
But when subjective observations by Elvin and her fellow administrators were factored in, their grades sank.
“She has a personal vendetta,” the teacher said. “She’s using the teacher observations as a weapon against teachers. It’s her way to force teachers to leave or retire.”
He said some of the teachers who got the bad reviews were the same teachers who would not alter grades to pass failing students.
The school is under investigation for fixing grades with easy extra credit so it could post higher graduation rates. Students derisively call the system “Easy Pass.”
“I have integrity,” the teacher said. “I refused to give kids credit who didn’t deserve it.”
Only 49 percent of Dewey teachers surveyed by the city agreed that Elvin is an effective manager. She declined to comment and directed inquiries to the Department of Education.
Department spokeswoman Devora Kaye said “Principals must rate teachers fairly and accurately,” but did not address the dispute at Dewey.
United Federation of Teachers grievance director Ellen Gallin Procida called the poor ratings a “red flag.”
“This is the first year we have had this process, but the fact that one school stands out the way it does is noteworthy,” she said.

Ed Notes Online: Dewey Principal Kathleen Elvin's Credit ...

Mar 23, 2015

Dewey has one of the highest number of ineffective rated teachers by Elvin while at the same time she claims enormous success due to fraudulent credit recovery schemes. Red flag anyone? Here are the latest comments:.

http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/

Ed Notes Online: John Dewey's Principal Kathleen Elvin ...

Dec 10, 2014

Gerard Papa, 61, who runs Flames, a basketball tournament and mentoring program for 700 kids ages 8 to 19, says Kathleen Elvin, the principal of John Dewey High School, closed off the school's secondary gym last ...

http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/

The 12 Days of Christmas With Principal Kathleen Elvin at ...

Dec 25, 2014

Based on the comments, a major issue is a phony credit recovery scheme and some ridiculous work rules imposed by the Elvin administrators, some of whom seem to be so awful. Hearing about how these slugs continue to ...

http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/

Ed Notes Online: Updated: Kathleen Elvin and AP Emily ...

Sep 26, 2014

Are Elvin and Creveling the local version of ISIS, using this teacher as a hostage in retaliation for actions taken by the union - beheading the teacher, economically, by taking her job. The actions of Principal Elvin, along with ...

http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/

Success Charter Abuse story spreads: How a New York City charter school uses public shame to get results

I love the "end justifies the means" headline from Business Insider. Eva brags about the outcomes - which everyone seems to accept as legit - I don't. Just like I don't accept the claims there is enormous demand on the part of parents to have their kids in this kind of environment.

One red flag is how Success beat out every other charter - many with the same advantages - by miles - something the chart below doesn't show. This has led competitor Democracy Prep's Seth Andrews to call for Eva to back fill her classes after kids drop out.

We know that most of the parents at Success are coming in with higher levels based on the very nature of the lottery system -- people aware enough to apply -- people have bought into the "public schools suck" argument - you know - those public schools with those union - and way more experienced teachers than Success. Funny how parents opt for a lower level teaching staff because they are sold a bill of goods. And then put up with a socially restricted system devoid of accountability. Eventually they began to catch on and year after year our school fell in district rankings.

I know every trick in  the book to get high scores - I learned them from my principal, who was a joke to other principals in my district - an early version of  Eva. Principals in lower poverty areas of the district used to sidle up to me and ask how she was doing it as my school showed so much higher scores than the others who weren't pulling the same tricks. And they rose so quickly after she took over. Miracles.

One trick she used and Eva does today: Hold loads of kids back in kindergarten or first grade so for the next 5 years they would be a year older when they took the test in their grade. One of the outcomes in Eva's schools now is that parents who do not think it fair to hold their kids back, especially if it is a 2nd time  -- and often it isn't - pull their kids from the school -- thus Eva "loses" the bottom scorers.

How a New York City charter school uses public shame to get results

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/success-academy-students-being-put-in-the-red-zone-2015-4#ixzz3XHTQZAGs

NYSAPE Video: NYS Test Refusals Hit Main Street + NPLB Trailer

NYS Allies For Public Education

NYS Test Refusals Hit Main Street

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URkNzkADnIM#t=10

No Pineapple Left Behind Announce Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln7xrQM22VI#t=35

Another Nail in the Ed Deform Coffin: Paying the best teachers to teach more students is unsubstantiated

Specifically, Hinchey notes that the report's assumptions regarding identifying the "best" teachers rest on using increases in standardized test scores using Value Added Models (VAM). Value-added modeling has been shown to be an unreliable measure of teaching ability.  She continues, "With no reliable way to identify the 'most effective' teachers, the proposed plan is untenable."

UPDATE, Apr. 14: Ed Week article on this story.

Another chink in the false research claims, often paid for by the ed deform crowd. The comment about VAM makes the Cuomo plan just as unreliable. Teachers who are dismissed should gather these research outcomes for the giant law suit -- of course if we had a union, that might make a massive suit feasible -- TOMORROW.

Paying the best teachers to teach more students is unsubstantiated, review finds

Source: Great Lakes Center for Ed Research

EAST LANSING, Mich. (Apr. 13, 2015) – A recent report from the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University proposed that school districts pay top performing teachers a bonus for accepting additional students into their existing classes. The report claimed that larger classes and reductions to the teaching force would create significant savings.  However, an academic review of the report finds that the report is largely unsubstantiated, ignores what is known about teacher pay, and fails to offer guidance for policymaking.

Patricia Hinchey, professor of education at Penn State University, reviewed Paying the Best Teachers More to Teach More Students for the Think Twice think tank review project. The National Education Policy Center (NEPC) produced the review with funding from the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice.

According to the report, districts should pay teachers in the top quartile a bonus for increasing their class size by up to three students.  The report considers that students working with more effective teachers would offset any potential sacrifice in student learning.

In her review, Hinchey finds that the report: (1) ignores the technical problem of how the best teachers might be reliably identified; (2) neglects a strong research base that has established a link between class size and student learning; and (3) misrepresents what is known about teacher pay, teacher attitudes, and teacher job satisfaction.

Specifically, Hinchey notes that the report's assumptions regarding identifying the "best" teachers rest on using increases in standardized test scores using Value Added Models (VAM). Value-added modeling has been shown to be an unreliable measure of teaching ability.  She continues, "With no reliable way to identify the 'most effective' teachers, the proposed plan is untenable."

Regarding the overall merits of the report, Hinchey says, "On the whole the plan is misleading because the averages used to project practical outcomes are not representative of diverse schools and districts across states."
In her conclusion, Hinchey restates that the plan is unsupported by either original research or existing research. "Finding better strategies to pay teachers fairly and adequately for their work will require far more rigorous and nuanced thinking and research than reflected in this report."

Contact: 
Patricia H. Hinchey, (570) 479-1794, phinchey@psu.edu
Daniel J. Quinn, (517) 203-2940, dquinn@greatlakescenter.org

Read the full review at:
http://www.greatlakescenter.org
Find Paying the Best Teachers More to Teach More Students on the web:
http://edunomicslab.org/paying-the-best-teachers-more-to-teach-more-students/

- ### -

More Educators Turn on Hillary and Democrats

• I have a Democrat for president and for Governor and yet I have the most disgusting policies ever placed over my school and staff. 
• Unless I see a written policy statement from Ms Clinton vowing to do away with the destructive Bush (NCLB) and Obama (RTTT) agenda, I would rather vote for Ted Cruz who vows to eliminate the Federal Dept of Education...
• I would gladly give up the Federal money our school receives if it freed us from the ridiculous testing requirements that consume more time and money than they are worth.

----------veteran union principal who is a registered Democrat

More scary words for Democrats came in today after my recent posts:

• Will teachers abandon Democrats as Paul Krugman Di...
• The Clintons and their AFT/UFT Pals: neo-liberal e...

I voted for Obama over Hillary Clinton the first time he ran (in the Democratic primary). I figured all things being equal, to go with the black candidate as the Clintons already had their chance. I feel that it was a mistake-though selfishly I made back everything I lost in the Bush economic fiasco. Obama like Cuomo has done the math and figured out that he can run as a social liberal fiscal conservative and win.

They figure "where else are the unions going to go"? The Republicans went back to their roots and formed a Tea party... Maybe we democrats need to have a coffee party....

Speaking as an educator who has watched the Democrat party turn into an extension of the Republican party where education is concerned, I have a Democrat for president and for Governor and yet I have the most disgusting policies ever placed over my school and staff. 

Count me out. Unless I see a written policy statement from Ms Clinton vowing to do away with the destructive Bush (NCLB) and Obama (RTTT) agenda, I would rather vote for Ted Cruz who vows to eliminate the Federal Dept of Education.

I would gladly give up the Federal money our school receives if it freed us from the ridiculous testing requirements that consume more time and money than they are worth. It is not that much and it causes more trouble than it is worth.

Maybe a few years under a hostile Republican administration would bring us back together. God knows a major branch of our party Rahm Emmanuel, DFER etc.. have taken me away from the fold. I need something solid for Ms Clinton to earn my vote.

Will teachers abandon Democrats as Paul Krugman Distinguishes Democrats from Republicans, while ignoring education

More of the same---we can't do better...blah blah blah. I'm not voting for Hilary. And if that means Scott Walker is the next president, so be it. It's the price the democrats must pay for screwing us over time and time again. If I'm going to get screwed, it might as well be by a republican. If the republicans win the White House, it will be because the dems pissed off too many people like me who used to support their candidates. It's time to earn my vote back Democratic Party...and you aint gonna do it by telling me the republicans are worse..... Roseanne McCosh, comment on "The Clintons and their AFT/UFT Pals: neo-liberal ..

Dems make war on teachers

Serious words from Roseanne. I wonder if enough teachers feel that way to make a difference. Certainly Cuomo will be dead to future teacher votes, but my guess is that he didn't care about burning those bridges if he doesn't run again -- which I am betting he won't.

And another frustrating column from Krugman today - It Takes a Party - and you know which party he is talking about. I guess he didn't read my piece about Hilary and Bill's capitulation to neo-liberalism and being on the edge of neo-conism.

"How did the parties get this far apart", Krugman asks? "Now, some people won’t want to acknowledge that the choices in the 2016 election are as stark as I’ve asserted."

Well, for people focused on the battle against ed deform and have to deal with the Cuomos and Rahms of this world, there is no stark difference. In fact, the Dems are even worse than the Republicans -- guess who invited MORE's Jia Lee to testify in the Senate? -- and throughout the Republican party we see the states righters joining with the left opponents to NCLB and RTTT with the opt out movement being led from both ends.

Another comment on comment on "The Clintons and their AFT/UFT Pals: neo-liberal e...":

With Dems like Hillary, who needs the Tea Party? 3:33 have you witnessed the devastation corporatist Dems like Hillary have wrought on public education? Obama capitalized on the attack of NCLB with his RttT atrocities. If all the Democrats in Denial vote for Hillary, more nails will be hammered in the coffin of public education in America. 

NYC Council Ed Chair Danny Dromm JOINS PARENTS WHO "OPT OUT" OF STATE TESTS

UPDATE
Good for Danny - an ex-teacher. Change the Stakes is sending someone to attend. There's lots of opt out stuff on the blogs.

See Peter Zucker at South Bronx School with an excellent: HEY HARRISON AND THE REST OF NEW YORK STATE IT'S TIME TO OPT OUT!!!

According to this memo (Thanks to Lisa again!) Steven E Katz, the Director of Assessment for the SED which was sent to all superintendents  statewide;

 Tests are considered part of a “course of study” under a board’s authority and, as noted above, are included as part of the program requirements for students in Grades 3–8 under Sections 100.3 and 100.4 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education.

How are tests a course of study? The "Board" has more authority over my kid than do I? 
Who is telling the truth here? The State or the parents who wish to opt out their children? Will the officers from the Harrison Police Department come to my house Tuesday morning to arrest me and my wife? Will my son be arrested or taken from us? What is a parent to do?

Peter will be on the Bob Marrone Morning Show this Tuesday morning at 6:30AM EDT on WFAS-AM 1230 and will discuss testing and opting out. You can call in at 914-693-5700.

Listen for NYSAPE public service announcement on WCBS-AM 880 and WINS 1010.

So much more stuff out there, but let me also point you to Jose Vilson, Opting Out of Everything, where Jose goes after an essential issue:

The largest question about the opt out movement for folks is color is whether these tests help highlight our educational inequities via numbers. Opting out students stands as a powerful rebuke of the idea that standardized tests should be the primary determinant as to whether a school stays open or not. So if opting out is an option for you, please do.

UPDATED:

WABC-TV Tiempo segment on ELLs and ELA exam aired earlier today; Leonie vs. Assoc Commissioner SED

http://7online.com/uncategorized/tiempo-watch-this-weeks-show/31525/ Part 1 & 2

THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK

OFFICE OF DANIEL DROMM

37-32 75TH STREET

JACKSON HEIGHTS, NY 11372

(718) 803-6373

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY

Contact: Josey Bartlett jbartlett@council.nyc.gov,  Office: (718) 803-6373 x 202

***PRESS ADVISORY***

ED CHAIR JOINS PARENTS WHO "OPT OUT" OF

STATE TESTS

 

Who: NYC Council Education Committee Chairperson Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights, Elmhurst) will join parents who chose today to not permit their children to take high stakes English Language Arts (ELA) tests. 

What: The ELA exams are scheduled to take place in NYS schools today through Thursday.  More and more parents have chosen not put their children through the pressure of testing because they disagree with policies that reduce education to a few test scores and they see the detrimental effects these tests have on their children.  Parents have the right to pull their children out of or refuse the tests and have the school use alternative measures of evaluation.  Schools are forbidden from retaliating against parents who choose this option. 

When: April 14 at 10 a.m.

Where: Jackson Heights Post Office, 78-02 37th Avenue

Why: These tests were never intended to be used this way and parents should be aware that they have the right to make the decision to have their child opt out of testing without retaliation from the schools.

***RSVP to Josey Bartlett at jbartlett@council.nyc.gov ***

Turning "Collaboration" into a Bad Word -- Ken Derstine at Schools Matter

The hubris and aggressiveness of the corporate education reformers is because they believe there will not be an organized and determined fight against their privatization agenda. This collaboration has been going on for a long time. They know that (unknown to their members), not only is the leadership of the American Federation of Teachers standing down from what a union is supposed to be, they are collaborating with the corporate education reformers.... Ken Derstine @ Schools Matter, Turning "Collaboration" into a Bad Word

Define Collaborate:
1. work jointly on an activity, especially to produce or create something.
2. cooperate traitorously with an enemy. "the indigenous elite who collaborated with the colonizers," "they collaborated with the enemy."

Our union leaders' favorite word is "collaboration," -- an almost desperation - pleading to be included with a seat at the table. When you have given up the fight, you really have nowhere else to go. And if you are reading ed notes regularly you can follow the bouncing ball taking us back to having pretty much given up the fight after the '68 strike. Until BloomKlein, the Board of Ed did look at the UFT as partners. But more on that another time.

They can only collaborate once fighting back is off the table. They pretend  they are using def. 1. I think the reality is they are using def 2, which leads me to the Vichy mentality reference [I now  pointing out that this does not mean to put them in the company of Nazi collaborators but rather give context to their puppet mentality.]

Ken Derstine, who seems to be somewhat of mine and George Schmidt's counterpart in Philly [I hope I'm not insulting him], is on the AFT/UFT/Randi collaboration case - and I have so much more stuff to publish from him. Here is his latest at Schools Matter, which I am cross-posting in full if you don't get to it through Schools Matter.

Turning "Collaboration" into a Bad Word

By Ken Derstine http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2015/04/turning-collaboration-into-bad-word.html

The Clintons and their AFT/UFT Pals: neo-liberal ed deformers - and maybe neocons too

Hillary debated.....

[Clinton] recaptured the governorship [of Arkansas] in 1982 and as a reward appointed his wife to head a special task force charged with reforming Arkansas’ education system, at that time widely regarded as the worst in the country. The plan Mrs. Clinton came up with showcased teacher testing and funding the schools through a sales tax increase, an astoundingly regressive proposal since it imposed new costs on the poor in a very poor state while sparing any levies on big corporations. The plan went through. Arkansas’ educational ranking remained abysmal, but Hillary won national attention as a "realistic Democrat" who could make "hard" choices, like taxing welfare mothers. ... Counterpunch, Nov. 2007

....Linda at AFT c. 1985

Is there any doubt that the UFT/NYSUT/AFT complex will be endorsing Hillary Clinton - and given the alternatives, it may look like a no-brainer - though we may have less chance of eternal wars with Rand Paul. Hey dummy, some of you might be saying --- it is obvious Hillary will be much better on education. Well, if you think so, consider the quote above. The Kahlenberg Shanker bio spends serious time talking about the close relationship between Shanker (and the AFT) and the Clintons, a partnership  helping give birth to neoliberal ed deform.

And don't forget that when Vera and I titled our review of the Kahlenberg Shanker bio: Albert Shanker, Ruthless Neocon, we were extending the neo-liberal concept to foreign policy. Hillary is a neo-con no matter how she triangulates. And if you do your homework and read the Schmidt Pamphlet I refer to so often, you will see that the AFT/UFT complex has often been at the service at home and abroad of the neoliberals and the neocons.

Counterpunch reprised a 3 part series from 2007 that critiqued Hillary and Bill from the left -- by ALEXANDER COCKBURN and Jeffrey St. Clair.

Part One: The Making of Hillary Clinton.
Part Two: Hillary and the Arkansas Elite.
Part Three:  The Vices of Hillary Clinton

Hillary's announcement that she is running for president (surprise! surprise!!!) brought up some thoughts - and a bit of research.

The Clintons and our union have been tied together for over 30 years, since Bill was governor of Arkansas and he put Hillary in charge of state education reform, an endeavor that made the couple amongst the earliest adopters of ed deform.

Did the Clintons out Cuomo Cuomo in the 80s in Arkansas?
Kahlenberg writes (p. 288-90)

Leading up to the 1984 presidential elections, Shanker expressed a willingness to consider another... controversial measure to rid schools of bad teachers: A movement in Arkansas [the Clintons] and Texas, to test all teachers, including veterans.

The proposals, in both states, came not from right-wingers seeking to punish teachers' unions, but from Democratic governors - Mark White in Texas [backed by Ross Perot] and Bill Clinton.

The NEA strongly opposed both...plans.

Just like Cuomo, this proposal was tied to increases in state aid and rises in teacher salaries. The "bad" teacher witch hunts were on. And our national and at that time still, UFT president, Al Shanker, was into selling off teacher protections for money, a consistent patter. And, like today, there was more resistance from the NEA than the AFT.

Shanker said:

there is ample evidence that states -- have hired people who are illiterate. If a person has been teaching for 20 years and is illiterate, then they ought not to be teaching."

I get it. But something strikes me as odd for a national union leader to be jumping on this. How did they become teachers in the first place and what was being offered to make this process if it led to true illiterates? Do we believe the "easy" tests were unbiased? Would Phds have had problems? Where were the calls to test lawyers and politicians --etc.?

Hillary debates Linda Darling-Hammond

At a later AFT conference, Shanker invited.... Hillary Clinton, who was the point person on education reform, to debate Rand researcher Linda Darling-Hammond about testing veteran teachers.

Hillary debating a woman who is today considered one of the champions of teachers. Hillary argued that the test was easy claiming that 10% failed -- and using some of the language we hear today from Campbell Brown and Students First, Hillary said: That 10% touched thousands of lives.

I don't get it. This is Arkansas. If a principal wanted to get rid of an  incompetent teacher what stopped them?

The point is, that from that point on until Shanker's death over a decade later, he [and the AFT/UFT] and the Clintons were partners - through the Clinton presidency - with developing the earliest tenets of ed deform.

Below are a few nuggets from the Kockburn Counterpunch piece pointing to the roots of the Clintons' helping move the Democratic Party to the right.

The Nation: PS 29K Teachers Take Stand on Opt Out

we, the undersigned, believe that it is crucial for teachers to raise our voices on these issues, and we resolve to stand together to advocate for the elimination of the high-stakes nature of standardized tests.  ... Teachers, PS 29K

It's nice to see teachers putting their names our there in support of opt out. And it doesn't hurt to have more and more writers with kids in public schools.

I know there are people who will say -- these teachers have the support of their principal. I get that and don't claim people without principals friendly to the issue should throw themselves out there.

Want to know one reason the UFT will be taking stronger and stronger stands on opt out and high stakes testing? Fear that an opposition like MORE which has taken such a stand might gain some traction in some of these pro opt out schools.

Brooklyn Teachers Push Back Against High-Stakes Testing

Peter Rothberg on April 6, 2014 - 6:35 PM ET

http://www.thenation.com/blog/179193/brooklyn-teachers-push-back-against-high-stakes-testing#

Response to Success Times Article: Unprinted Letter to NY Times

By selling “accountability” to America’s families, Ms. Moskowitz and the other reformers do America’s children more harm than good....

Dear editor,
Eva Moskowitz, like the snake oil salesmen of old, is peddling one thing—high test scores--but calling it something else--education.  Her sales pitch goes, “For affluent parents who are concerned about the test scores,… their exit strategy is to hire a private tutor,” as if wealthy families actually concern themselves with standardized test scores.  Yes, they pay for music instructors, sports leagues, creative writing, art, and drama classes, even SAT prep courses, but it’s the rare wealthy family that hires tutors to improve state test scores.  In fact, affluent families actively avoid state tests by enrolling in private school. Then, what wealthy family would subject their kids to the kind of rigid, hyper-conformist self-restraint Ms. Moskowitz is demanding? Her product wastes kids’ valuable learning time on vacuous drill and humiliating discipline, depriving them of opportunities to expand their brains in truly meaningful ways. For that she pays herself a half-million dollar salary.
By selling “accountability” to America’s families, Ms. Moskowitz and the other reformers do America’s children more harm than good.

Kari, parent of NYC public school student

Recess at Success Academy Charters

The Times will print more letters in the Sunday edition, I'm sure giving too much space to Eva shills, including one from her and a principal.

Note Eva says: that parents of the more than 22,000 applicants - show us the names Eva to prove they are not just people who signed a "let's have better schools" petition on a subway station.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/opinion/sunday/inside-a-charter-school.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Message to Paul Krugman: public education is a public good

DEFINITION of 'Public Good':  A product that one individual can consume without reducing its availability to another individual and from which no one is excluded. Economists refer to public goods as "non-rivalrous" and "non-excludable".

Public schools are a public good while exclusive and privately run charter schools are not. 

The privatization of the public school system, with charters and voucher ideas leading the way, have been a result of a surge of neoliberalism, which argues for privatization of as many public institutions as is feasible - and coming from all quarters of the political spectrum -- and I include many of our own union leaders here (for me, their support for charters - as long as they are unionized -- but still privatized is my bellwether.)

Even our ostensible allies, like NY Times columnist Paul Krugman, when making the case for "public goods", as he did in his April 10 (here) column, never seems to venture anywhere near the education-as- privatization issue. My sense is that he can't go there because he would have to lump in most Democrats with Republicans - in fact, with the right wing joining the left in the revolt against common core and testing and with both arguing for local control, Republicans are looking better than Democrats like Cuomo and the majority of Dems in the NY legislature.

Like all advanced nations, America mainly relies on private markets and private initiatives to provide its citizens with the things they want and need, and hardly anyone in our political discourse would propose changing that. The days when it sounded like a good idea to have the government directly run large parts of the economy are long past. Yet we also know that some things more or less must be done by government. Every economics textbooks talks about “public goods” like national defense and air traffic control that can’t be made available to anyone without being made available to everyone, and which profit-seeking firms, therefore, have no incentive to provide.

One of the oldest public goods in this nation is public education -- an innovative idea 170 years ago -- and also an instrument of local government. Has the concept of public education been successful? Hell yes! For all? Hell no -- but we know that that can be fixed without turning to privatization.

Now Dems like Cuomo term public education a monopoly that must be broken - unlike all the other public goods.

Krugman argues that Government Excels in areas like social security and medicare -- I know some of you don't buy the medicare angle but I trust my wife who did that kind of work in a hospital and says it is more efficient and well-run than any private company (and I love having it - everyone should). Krugman should have included the post office, which if it were viewed as a public good that should be fully funded instead of having to earn a profit, would be in fine shape -- hey, I get my mail 6 days a week and can walk to a post office. Here he deals with health insurance.

But are public goods the only area where the government outperforms the private sector? By no means.

One classic example of government doing it better is health insurance. Yes, conservatives constantly agitate for more privatization — in particular, they want to convert Medicare into nothing more than vouchers for the purchase of private insurance — but all the evidence says this would move us in precisely the wrong direction. Medicare and Medicaid are substantially cheaper and more efficient than private insurance; they even involve less bureaucracy. Internationally, the American health system is unique in the extent to which it relies on the private sector, and it’s also unique in its incredible inefficiency and high costs.

 And I will argue time and again that when looked at the nation as a whole over time public education is more efficient and well-run than any privatized system, including charters -- as we are seeing daily. Why? Because over time someone is held accountable. The problem with public education is the absolute lack of democratic functioning systems, where stakeholders like teachers and parents and students get to have a say. But they have even less of a say in any privatized system.

Read it in full:  Where Government Excels

Saturday With Susan O

Weekend reading.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Yesterday morning I got up early and peeled and pared 20 pounds of apples and then took them to the Senior Center and made apple cobbler. That was a whole lot more fun than reading the articles for today's posting.
You can get a great T-Shirt if you donate to FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting). Great cause: Great shirt. Take a look. http://susanohanian.org/cartoon_fetch.php?id=1020
What the Feds Did with Your Dollar in 2014: http://susanohanian.org/cartoon_fetch.php?id=1015

Dismiss What Insults Your Own Soul http://susanohanian.org/cartoon_fetch.php?id=1014
Refuse! http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_cartoons.php?id=1086

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How YouTube, Big Data and Big Brands Mean Trouble For Kids and Parents
Jeff Chester
Alternet
2015-04-05 http://susanohanian.org/data.php?id=589
As I read this article, all I could think about is that when Pearson and Google team up, childhood is over.
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Taking the Fall in Atlanta
Richard Rothstein       with Ressiger and Merrow comment
Economic Policy Institute blog
2015-04-03 http://susanohanian.org/data.php?id=588
Rothstein gives evidence of a truth nobody else dares speak: Because it causes less harm to students, the cheating done by Atlanta teachers may be more ethical than the more commonplace forms of corruption.
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A teacher's confession: Why I quit
Deanna Lyles
2015-04-09 http://susanohanian.org/show_commentary.php?id=1212
 A National Board Certified teacher of 23 years experience states very directly why she quit.
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Why the conventional wisdom on schooling is all wrong
Marion Brady
2015-04-09 http://susanohanian.org/show_commentary.php?id=1211
Standardized tests are sideshows on the periphery of effective schooling because they can't evaluate original thought, without which humankind can't adapt to continuous change and survive.
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An Editor in Search of Activism and Justice

2015-04-05 http://susanohanian.org/show_commentary.php?id=1210
I share a letter I received in 2001 and why it relates to our current situation.
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To the editor
Kalin Jordan  and  Lindsey Berger
Wall Street Journal
2015-04-03 http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1758
Comments to this letter at the Wall Street Journal site are vicious. Not surprisingly, nobody applauds the writers.
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Letters to Presidents: Is Anyone There?
Ralph Nader
Huffington Post
2015-04-09 http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1956
The right to petition your government implies some possibility of learning whether the petition arrived and whether it will receive notice. But Nader shows that now any communication to the White House is crying in the wilderness.
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Block that Metaphor: Life Isn't a Playing Field
Susan Ohanian
blog
2015-04-09 http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1955
Taking a look at the level-playing-field attempt to hoodwink a gullible public.
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Familiar Lesson of Science Give: Government Looks to Philanthropy to Get Stuff Done
L. S. Hall with Ohanian documetation
 Inside Philanthropy
2015-03-26 http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1954
Philanthropists pay the piper so of course they call the tune.
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The Lost Children of Katrina
 Katy Reckdahl
The Atlantic
2015-04-02 http://susanohanian.org/show_research.php?id=574
A decade after Katrina, poor black kids who were in New Orleans still grapple with the effects of missed schooling and mass displacement.

UFT Approves plan forcing teachers to reapply to out of time schools

Only two schools: Boys and Girls High and Automotive High, are called by NYSED "out of time" schools. The plan to require applying each year was negotiated and approved by the UFT.

Another "victory" for the UFT.

Impeach -- The Uncommon Ed U. Cator on Cuomo, Tisch: Playing Fast and Loose in a Labyrinth of Deceit

[T]he web of money, appointments, corporations, hedge funds, people, and campaign contributions crisscross so much in this complex money maze that it was difficult to write with any fluidity. It appears to me that Merryl Tisch needs to be seriously investigated as to her part in this web of deceit, as well as many others. The corporate money and real estate connections to Tisch cannot be ignored. There is no doubt to me, however, that Mr. Cuomo may have crossed some ethical lines. There is also no doubt to me that due to the way the impeachment process of a Governor works in New York state that if our senate and legislature were truly the voice of the people, then they would pursue that avenue with much vigor until Governor Cuomo is indeed impeached.....The Uncommon Ed U. Cator

A nice piece of work pointing to Cuomo impeachment possibilities from The Uncommon Ed U. Cator.

Dishonesty, Lies, Deception: Cuomo Playing Fast and Loose in a Labyrinth of Deceit

February 22, 2015 at 10:13am

Cuomo: Playing Fast and Loose in a Labyrinth of Deceit

The impeachment process of a governor in New York starts in the state Assembly and then moves to the state Senate. “It doesn't have to be a crime. It doesn't even have to be an official act. The words are "willful and corrupt conduct in office." It could be a private act. The Assembly decides what's impeachable.” http://www.myfoxny.com/…/impeachment-process-in-new-york-st…

Andrew Cuomo's recent budgetary tactics are completely despicable to me. His”strategy”of blackmail is usurping the budget process and completely circumvents the entire idea of democracy. Holding the budget process hostage in order to achieve his own personal and political goals is nothing short of economic terrorism against his own constituency.

Over the past few days I have had information shared with me and today started digging some more on my own. This writing unfortunately is itself a winding labyrinth meandering from education & campaign donations to hedge funds to Pearson to education reform to tax breaks to real-estate and back. At this point is impossible for me to make it fluid narrative because of all the twists and turns.

After piecing this together though it is difficult for me to believe that Governor Andrew Cuomo has not broken any legal laws of ethics. It is also my opinion that he most certainly has betrayed the working class of NY and the public trust. I also believe that there is enough here to begin the impeachment process.

A reading of the Teachout/Kuhn Washington Park Project paper, “Corruption in Education: Hedge Funds and the Takeover of New York’s Schools,” published recently in December of 2014 clearly shows the amount of private dollars that were pumped into the NYS legislative process last year with the sole purpose of taking over public education.

“New York State is plagued by legal corruption: campaign contributions and outside spending explicitly designed to buy policy outcomes. In 2014, a tiny group of powerful hedge fund executives, representing an extreme version of this corruption, spent historic amounts of money in order to take over education policy.

This paper details this fast-paced purchase of political power, and the threat it poses to democracy and public education in New York State.

A small cadre of men, including Carl Icahn, Paul Tudor Jones, and Dan Loeb, poured more than $10 million into state lobbying and election campaigns since the beginning of 2014, with electrifying results.i Their campaign bears the signature components of the corporate takeover world which they occupy: rapid action on multiple fronts; highly secretive activity shielded from the public view; high stakes, big spending; and top-down power plays that are not accountable to the public.

First, in a span of 10 weeks they spent over $6 million on lobbying that won unprecedented public funding to pay for charter school rent. ii

This was done as part of a campaign orchestrated with Governor Cuomo, designed to frustrate Mayor Bill de Blasio’s efforts to win universal full-day pre-K, paid for entirely through expanded taxation of New York City millionaires.

Phase two of the attack came in the fall elections.

Wall Street Fees Wipe Out $2.5 Billion in New York City Pension Gains - NY Times

The Lenape tribe got a better deal on the sale of Manhattan island than New York City’s pension funds have been getting from Wall Street, according to a new analysis by the city comptroller’s office....  http://nyti.ms/1anMi33

Apparently, most of the interest gain on our pension money is going straight to Wall Street.  Disgusting - and frankly, I don't think Mulgrew's comments below communicate the appropriate level of outrage. If I was charged $250 in fees on a $16,000 I had in a bank account, I would be calling up the FDIC and saying that I had been scammed.  If we get charge $2.5B on $160B in our life savings, then we should be demonstrating in the streets.... 
.... comment on MORE Listserve

I should apply for the job of pension fund manager. Frankly, I've done much better than they did over the past 25 years. Or maybe I should run for the UFT pension rep position.

The analysis concluded that, over the past 10 years, the five pension funds have paid more than $2 billion in fees to money managers and have received virtually nothing in return, Comptroller Scott M. Stringer said in an interview on Wednesday.

“When you do the math on what we pay Wall Street to actively manage our funds, it’s shocking to realize that fees have not only wiped out any benefit to the funds, but have in fact cost taxpayers billions of dollars in lost returns,” Mr. Stringer said.

Why the trustees of the funds — Mr. Stringer included — would not have performed those calculations in the past is not clear.

Mulgrew's la-di-da comments are priceless:

Michael Mulgrew, the president of the United Federation of Teachers, said he was happy that his union’s pension fund, the Teachers’ Retirement System of the City of New York, had been performing well. But he said the fees paid to some managers were “ridiculous” and should be renegotiated if those managers are retained.

“Education’s always being put under reform; maybe some of these financial practices should be put under reform as well,” Mr. Mulgrew said. He praised Mr. Stringer for taking aim at a line of business that has been very lucrative for Wall Street.

Where are our elected pension reps?