Wednesday, June 24, 2015

64 Teachers at PS8X Sign Open Letter to Mulgrew Protesting Attacks on Opposing Views in Unity Flier

Note how the Unity fliers only attack MORE, which the view as the only serious opposition. Internal comments from Unity people affirm how happy they are with the faux oppositionists because they feel it undercuts the real threat, MORE.

This was posted on the MORE blog earlier today as PS 8X continues to make waves, as I reported yesterday, Can Mulgrew Put Out the Fire at PS 8x?
A flier attacking UFT members that are not in President Mulgrew’s Unity Caucus was distributed at the June UFT Delegate Assembly. This is a response by the members of P.S. 8 in the Bronx.

Dear Mr. Mulgrew and His Unity Caucus:

We the undersigned read your Unity flyer that was distributed at the UFT Delegate Assembly. We take the insults contained therein as further evidence of the disconnect that exists between working teachers on the frontlines of classrooms and UFT Leadership.

You claim that those of us who are dissatisfied with our union’s representation are “detractors” categorized as either “alarmists,” “oppositional” or “Monday morning quarterbacks.” You toss in a French phrase and a George Orwell quote as if they demonstrate deep intellect that somehow lends credence to your insult—as if George Orwell wrote to warn about the rebels in society instead of those in power desperate to take any measure to retain that power. If you’re going to quote Orwell, the following Orwell quote best represents the Unity Caucus, “The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power.”


To claim that we “never have led the fight against our enemies” is an inaccurate and disingenuous claim. Firstly, we are not in positions of leadership. More importantly we HAVE fought and ARE fighting our enemies in ways that UFT-leadership refuses to do such as writing our elected officials and challenging the absurd notion of tying our evaluations to test scores, challenging the reasonableness of the Danielson Framework which was never meant to be used as an evaluative tool, being actively engaged in the opt-out movement in our home communities, and rejecting the AFT endorsement of Hochul because we recognized that an endorsement of her was also a back-alley endorsement of Cuomo. We would also argue that challenging the Unity-controlled UFT that continues to disenfranchise working teachers is fighting the good fight.

Your claim that you know “better than anyone” because you “have been fighting these bad guys for over sixty years” is also inaccurate. You may not have noticed, but we most certainly have noticed, that for the past twenty plus years all you have been doing is ducking and weaving in the form of appeasement and as a result we, the working teachers, have been getting our derrières kicked while you remain in your ivory tower safe from all that we have been subjected to.

Contrary to the Japanese proverb you quoted, we definitely have a vision and we are taking action to see it materialize. We want a union run by those who have felt the pain of the unreasonable NYS teacher evaluation system and are committed to dismantling it and building a reasonable system in its place (and the MATRIX is not it). We want a union leadership that cries “foul” instead of “victory” when we have, in fact, been fouled.

Sincerely,
(64) PS 8 UFT Members
Go to MORE blog for list of names.

And by the way -- I hear a lot of people saying how they have to remain anonymous due to fear. So how about those 64 PS 8 UFT members?

Here is the snide Unity flier regarding MORE - which apparently they view as the only serious opposition --- no matter what hype you hear coming from other places.


Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Can Mulgrew Put Out the Fire at PS 8x?

Roseanne McCosh a dangerous threat to Unity Caucus - and they know it. If the fire spreads to other schools (MORE has been contacted by others) Mulgrew will need more than a fire extinguisher.

I imagine my Unity trolls who seem obsessed with MORE will not be happy - and make sure to check out the MORE blog tomorrow for a follow-up letter to Mulgrew from over 60 people at PS 8.
Hello Norm and Mike,

PS 8 has evidently made enough noise....our UFT district rep called our chapter leader and told her that Mulgrew wants to visit our school. I networked a bit to get a feel for staff thinking----8 or 9 people I spoke to said that whatever he says----they ain't buying his bullshit. I''ll let you know when a date/time is scheduled. If there are retired members of MORE who want to come to PS 8 on that day, I am extending an open invitation. 

I'm not sure what Mulgrew thinks he can accomplish. I will have your MORE leaflet ready to distribute prior to his arrival. If there are any questions you'd like us to pose, let me know. Also if there are any particular Unity talking points I should prepare to rebut, let me know that as well. I'll keep you posted.
Regards,
Roseanne
Oh, give us a Roseanne McCosh (a former Unity Caucus chapter chair) at every school and Unity would be cooked.

Roseanne is a frequent commenter on Ed Notes - and she gets to the heart of the matter. Mike Schirtzer refers to her as the "voice of the classroom Sixty One Members (and counting) from PS 8X join Stronger Together Caucus).
teacher." Roseanne recently was able to get over 60 people to join Stronger Together Caucus. (

I usually don't go to the Bronx, other than Yankee games. But I think I may go up there in the fall - if  I'm in town (big trip to Japan planned) - just to observe. I think Mulgrew has ability when it comes to putting out fires by turning on a charm offensive -- and I have seen it work. But I do want to see the show if I can. (Personally, given my very limited contact with Mulgrew, I don't find as offensive as others do.) His problem is if he has to race around the city putting out hundreds of fires. A fire in a few schools, yes, but a conflagration, not so easy.

Unity has the ability, through its district and borough reps to control most of the schools and through them the membership. That is why they are trying to steal recent union elections lost by Unity people (more than they will let on - I will do a story on how the borough offices are willing to hold re-elections when a Unity loser contests.)

Thanks Roseanne for the amazing work you do.

Here are a few more links to Roseanne, who has smashed New Action and its promoters.

Sep 22, 2014
Roseanne basically defines the divide in MORE- those who aim for a center/left caucus that appeals to people like Roseanne AND social justice people who won't put MORE in an ideological straight jacket. I am as social ...
May 22, 2014
PS 8 is comprised of individuals who THINK and vote accordingly....and some of us may very well vote yes....but those of us voting NO have our reasons and our minds will not be changed by spin. Roseanne McCosh PS 8.
May 07, 2014
Roseanne has been in touch for a number of years - she follows issues very closely and shares them with her staff at PS 8 in the Bronx. She was chapter leader for a number of years before passing it on to the next gen.
May 24, 2014
Roseanne addresses the comments made by Unity Caucus supporter Paula Washington on May 23rd (UFT Contract: Roseanne McCosh, PS 8X, Urges Colleagues to Vote NO). There were other head-scratching comments ...

Monday, June 22, 2015

Principal Union Insists on Awful Principal Return, We Expect No Less from the UFT (Just joking)

The principals union insisted that Hawkins be returned, a demand the DOE did not fight, sources said.... NY Post, Principal who mishandled child abuse claim returns to school.

Greta Hawkins, Principal of PS 90. Allegations: threatening to report the parents of misbehaving students to the Administration for Children's Services; ...Don't Tread on Educators
Tell me the last time you heard the UFT insisting a railroaded teacher be returned to the classroom. Either the union has just given up, knowing full well the DOE will fight it even if the incident is trivial. Now we know that principal Hawkins has also been a tyrant to teachers, yet has the UFT intervene and protest the kowtowing to the CSA?

Note this story on the UFT web site from 2012:

Brooklyn principal a 'bully' | United Federation of Teachers



That was due to the work of District Rep Judy Gerowitz, one of the few DRs whom I would vote for. But she is only middle management.

www.uft.org › ... › News stories
United Federation of Teachers
Mar 8, 2012 - UFT District 21 Representative Judy Gerowitz (left) and Chapter Leader Vicky Giasemis outside PS 90, where Principal Greta Hawkins has ...

UFT leaders and the bosses at the principal union, the CSA, are old pals.

The UFT should lodge its own protest over the double standard.
Don't hold your breath. But you never know.

Some links to Hawkins stories.
  1. Greta Hawkins, a Principal Trampled in the Rush to Vilify ...

    www.nytimes.com/.../greta-hawkins-a-principal-tra...
  2. The New York Times
    Jun 15, 2012 - Greta Hawkins, principal of a Brooklyn elementary school, has been excoriated over replacing Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A." in an ...
  3. Greta Hawkins, PS 90K - Don't Tread on Educators

    dtoe.org/greta-hawkins-ps-90k/
  4. Greta Hawkins, Principal of PS 90. Allegations: threatening to report the parents of misbehaving students to the Administration for Children's Services; ...

Amplify Cuts and Cerf Replacing Anderson: Full-Blown Joel Klein Failures added to Cami Anderson and Chris Cerf Disasters

Feb 14, 2014
Chris Cerf jumps around more than a bedbug. Now he is leaving as NJ State Ed Commissioner. And everywhere he goes he leaves scandalous doo-doo in his wake. After a tenure working for fellow crook Chris Christie, Cerf ...
Feb 09, 2007
Hopefully this is just temporary as Braun says – and that their elected school board will have a voice in the permanent replacement.  Anderson, who was elevated and trained under Klein and Cerf, has been a complete disaster by every possible measure.... Leonie Haimson
Hey, Cerf's gig at Amplify is up - even Murdoch found out what clowns he hired. Follow the bouncing ball. Anderson worked under Klein and Cerf, Klein runs Amplify into the ground, despite the enormous advantage of having an edge on contracts - even that doesn't help a bad product.

Key Amplify Execs Leave as News Corp. Cuts Staff

You might get a kick out of this:

How CEO Joel Klein Hopes to Save Amplify: EdSurge Podcast, Week of Apr 27-May 1

 Maybe hire Diana Lam to run it.

Leg work for the Cerf info was done by Newark Ed Notes Stringer Abbey Shure- who also send this link. 

http://thebroadreport.blogspot.com/2011/03/chris-cerf-broad-superintendents.html?m=1

And here's an Ed Notes report from Dec. 2010

Coming Soon From Chris Cerf: I'm Not a Crook

Gov. Chris Christie to nominate ex-N.Y. schools official for N.J. education commissioner Susan Ohanian Comment: 
Just to keep in perspective what education "reform" means to these fellows--and to the media, Christopher Cerf, former President of Edison, the commercial outfit that has stirred up bitter controversy in 25 states, was hired in 2006 by Chancellor Klein, former Counsel to Bertelsmann, a transnational media corporation, and United States Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Education reform, anyone?

Christoper Cerf revealed that he's a fellow who has no regrets and never even says he's sorry--not even when he's caught violating ethics statutes.

Christopher Cerf was in charge of the project to measure teachers by student test scores.

Oh, and don't forget: Christopher Cerf graduated from the Broad Urban Superintendents Academy in 2004.

NOTE: It's the other Christopher Cerf, the composer of "Put Down the Duckie" for Sesame Street, who has been hired to write a "Blast Away Phuzzy Phonics" theme song for the Broad/Microsoft/Pentagon/McGraw-Hill kindergarten war games product.

Here is New York City Public School Parents on the Cerf Investigation Report. 
I had my own moment with Cerf when he appeared at a Manhattan Institute luncheon and made the ridiculous comment that if we swapped the teaching staffs of a "successful" and a "failing" school we would see a big surge in the failing school and a drop in the successful school. I told him I would bet my pension against any stock options he owned that will enable him to enrich himself on the backs of poor children that there would be no impact - "try it in 10 schools to test your theory" I said. Even he looked sheepish at the bullshit he knew he was throwing around.
More reading on the new Newark Supt.

Dec 05, 2008
Mr. Cerf's relationship with the company, now called EdisonLearning, first made headlines in February 2007, when he assured a citywide parents' group that he had “zero” financial interest in Edison. He later acknowledged ...
 
Feb 09, 2007
In a photo I took at the press conference, it appears as if Christopher Cerf, one of Klein's newest appointees, might have been napping, or as the caption says on my blog, “Christopher Cerf dreams of ways to turn the NYC ...
 
Feb 07, 2007
Note: Cerf will be holding a talent search, tap dancing included. Isn't amazing that they all need a chief of staff. Anyone been near a classroom? From: Cerf Chris Sent: Mon 1/29/07 5:53 PM To: &All Central HQ Subject: ...
 
May 25, 2009
The book has a brief section on New York City, drawn, a footnote tells us, from the public record and an interview with Deputy Chancellor Chris Cerf. Here's what Moe and Chubb write: “The district aims to use the [value-added ...

Sunday, June 21, 2015

EIA's Antonucci on The Growing National Teacher Union Militancy Movement

Something different is happening within the teachers’ unions these days. There are the beginnings of a national militant movement.

It began with the election of Karen Lewis in Chicago, but that did not make the rest inevitable. The Chicago Teachers Union was rare in that it had a long history of leadership changing hands among competing caucuses. Lewis was elected because she united all challengers to win a runoff against the incumbent.

...more militant teacher union leaders will mean significant changes in approach on the largest education policy issues – ESEA, Common Core, teacher evaluations, charter schools, et al. Lip service will end. There will be no joint accountability task forces. Monthly chats with the Secretary of Education will be replaced by sit-ins at his office. ... ..... Educational Intelligence Agency, June 1, 2015
Is there something shaking in the teacher union wind nationally that can challenge the Unity Caucus -- NYC and NYState (under the phony name of  Revive) control of the AFT?

We should have the results of the Newark TU election in a day or 2, where one of MORE's sister groups, NEW Caucus is running Brandon Rippey for president.

An interesting piece from Mike A a few weeks ago, especially since he is coming from the anti-union libertarian right. Mike (and I) is a skeptic and has been about these "movements" in the past. I may not agree with Mike on many issues but I respect his reporting and his analysis. That he is going beyond skepticism in this report makes it worth sharing.
He may be the first ed reporter to detect something shaking in teacher unions. I filled him in on Stronger Together in NYSUT and its potential to shake the AFT tree. And in fact there is a loose confederation of these groups and has been since 2009.

I did think he missed an important angle - the role Stronger Together is beginning to play on the state level and possibly looking to grow nationally. NYC and state Unity dominates the entire mechanism of the AFT, so a statewide opposition has national implications.

I wrote to Mike about the ST issue - see below his post - and he responded that he had originally included some of that but  trying to explain it all in this piece took it too far afield. He had some other interesting things to say, which I will report in in a separate post.

(Bold added is mine).

http://www.eiaonline.com/2015/06/01/the-growing-teacher-union-militancy-movement/

The Growing Teacher Union Militancy Movement

Written By: Mike Antonucci - Jun• 01•15
June 1, 2015

The Growing Teacher Union Militancy Movement. Experience and skepticism are useful tools because there are a lot of people out there trying to sell us something. But occasionally these attributes can become a crutch, and I fear I have reached that point when it comes to trends in elections for union officers.

I have routinely maintained that militant rhetoric is required for challengers for union office. It is almost impossible to oust incumbents by promising more collaboration with management. Come election time, union voters want candidates who fight. That’s why I chose the term “militants” to describe them, though it is not as exact a description as I wish.

I define union “militancy” as primarily opposing existing trends, regaining lost ground, and organizing public demonstrations of discontent. While all sorts of unions use rallies and pickets to make a point, militant demonstrations tend to be less scripted and more visceral.

Where I have let experience guide me is in analysis of what happens after a militant is elected. Once in office, the fire-breather is doused with paperwork, competing interests and inevitable compromises, leaving him vulnerable to the next fire-breather. I once called this “the elusive militant incumbent.”

But I have held on to that notion for too long. Something different is happening within the teachers’ unions these days. There are the beginnings of a national militant movement.

It began with the election of Karen Lewis in Chicago, but that did not make the rest inevitable. The Chicago Teachers Union was rare in that it had a long history of leadership changing hands among competing caucuses. Lewis was elected because she united all challengers to win a runoff against the incumbent.

What was unique this time was the perception elsewhere in the country that Lewis’s victory could be replicated by adopting her fighting stance. This still led to defeat in most places but over time the victories started to mount up, and now they can no longer be viewed in isolation.

United Teachers Los Angeles, Detroit Federation of Teachers, United Educators of San Francisco, Newark Teachers Union, Massachusetts Teachers Association, and perhaps soon the Hawaii State Teachers Association have all chosen militancy over incumbency in recent elections. While these wins were not coordinated by a single coalition, they enforced the belief that the traditional line of union succession could be broken.

Now that they have had some success, these same victors will find themselves thwarted by more establishment unionists further advanced in the hierarchy. Their challenge will be to mimic not only Karen Lewis’s rhetoric, but her ability to unite dissident factions against that establishment.

That’s the tricky part, however. There are substantial differences among the militants, not the least of which is that some are AFT and others are NEA. They also have to resist the pull of the establishment. The perks of union leadership can quickly turn bomb-throwers into pencil-pushers.

Internally it can go one of two ways for NEA and AFT. Either a militant slate arises and supports viable challengers for the national executive offices – who then win – or the militants continue to add sporadic electoral victories, existing as a thorn in the side of the union establishment, but never holding more than regional power.

For the rest of us, more militant teacher union leaders will mean significant changes in approach on the largest education policy issues – ESEA, Common Core, teacher evaluations, charter schools, et al. Lip service will end. There will be no joint accountability task forces. Monthly chats with the Secretary of Education will be replaced by sit-ins at his office.

Whether this will rally politicians and the public to the cause or alienate them into open hostility is the great unknown.

The days when NEA and AFT headquarters can declare a single position on an education issue are over. The orthodoxy is being questioned. It could lead to reformation or inquisition, but the faith will never be the same.

Recent Intercepts. EIA’s daily blog, Intercepts, covered these topics May 27-June 1:
Inside a Union Organizing Drive. Gawking.
Hawaii Challengers File Suit Against New Election. To no avail.
*  The More You Know. Graphic.

Here is my email to Mike, amended.
 
Mike,

You may be the first to recognize something is happening. But of course the belly of the beast is the UFT. I think you miss the potential significance of Stronger Together in NYSUT - a potential challenger to Unity state and city. They have allied with MORE and we have a seat on their steering.
There is a national coalition of these militant caucuses that have been sort of meeting since 2009 with one in Newark this summer. It's called UCORE.
Stronger Together which is many union presidents and delegates is in an alliance with UCORE.
The chances of putting together a challenge to Randi in 2016 may still be premature but ST is becoming a brand name of sorts.
With NYSUT playing such a big role in the AFT, if some of that slips away then Unity NYC might become more isolated and Randi would be in trouble.
 
The next NYSUT election is in 2 years and that may shake things up in time for the 2018 AFT Conv. Watch the other big cities in NY State to see if they are willing to break with Unity and join ST.

A key person to keep an eye on is Beth Dimino local pres from Port Jefferson Station on Long Island.
She's at the end of her career but a real powerhouse and very adept at building alliances across political lines.

This is only one NYC school -- with a former Unity Chapter leader - not a radical or militant but pissed - whose school joined ST en masse - somewhat symbolic but still a sign of trees beginning to shake.

Sixty One Members (and counting) from PS 8X join Stronger Together Caucus

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Is Chris Cerf Replacing Cami in Newark? Why Can't this guy hold a job?

Cerf jumps around like a Mexican jelly bean, proving his incompetence and dishonesty wherever he treads.

Bob Braun's Ledger
BREAKING: Sources at the top levels of the Newark school district are reporting that Cami Anderson has resigned as state-appointed superintendent in Newark and has been replaced by the man who originally hired her, Christopher Cerf, the former state education commissioner. Cerf will be hired on an interim basis, the sources report. Cerf was commissioner when Anderson was hired in April, 2011. He resigned in 2014 to become CEO of Amplify Insight, a Rupert Murdoch company headed by former New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein. Keeps it all in the family. More later.

Friday, June 19, 2015

On Parent Engagement, Parent Activist Asks: SchizoFarinia?

"Principals should be engaging with the community," Fariña said. "Principals sitting down and talking with the community should not be a foreign idea."

Yet her legal team is banning and even appealing a recent counter mandate from the courts to allow community members to attend SLT meetings.

HUH?
 More on the issue from NYC Parent blog:

Public Advocate and Class Size Matters legally challenge DOE on authority and transparency of School Leadership Teams 

 More:



  1. Terrific Court Decision on School Leadership Teams and ...

    nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/.../good-decision-on-open-meetin...
  2. Apr 23, 2015 - This is a big win for parents and transparency. The Judge's decision also emphasizes the important role that School Leadership Teams have in ...
  3. Faced with lawsuits, city argues school leadership meetings ...

    ny.chalkbeat.org/.../city-says-school-leadership-meetings-not-public-pro...
  4. Jan 9, 2015 - School leadership teams, which are composed jointly of parents and ... be open to the public and there should be transparency,” Haimson said.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Parents Object to Success Academy treatment of children with special needs/co-location in Midwood



Dear Ms. Ravitch:

You had blogged about our letter a month ago to Eva Moskowitz asking for a response, regarding a terribly insensitive comment she made about children with special needs. She has not responded.

We learned recently that the NYC Panel on Education Policy has delayed a decision on whether to grant Success Academy a co-location space in Midwood. We have written to the Panel asking that no space be given until Success Academy's record on children with special needs is thoroughly examined. I believe the Panel convenes again on June 10.

We thought you might be interested in our comments to this Panel; the email is below.

And thank you as always for all you do for public education.

Best,
Lisa Eggert Litvin
Hastings-on-Hudson PTSA Co President

Dear Panel on Education Policy Members:

We write because we are pleased to hear that you are holding off on a final decision on whether to allow a Success Academy Charter (SA) to co-locate at the Andries Hudde Middle School in Midwood.

We are the Hastings-on-Hudson PTSA Executive Board, and we have been very concerned with Success Academy Charter Schools' treatment of children with special needs. We ask that no space be granted to this chain until SA's record regarding children with special needs is examined thoroughly and is shown to be fair.

SA's record regarding these children has long been a point of contention, with parents relaying, among other things, that these children are pushed out of the SA schools because of their learning issues. In addition, reports are pervasive that SA’s percentage of children with the highest level of special need is far below the percentage in traditional public schools. (See, e.g., http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diane-ravitch/mayor-de-blasio-eva-moskowitz_b_4948262.html.)

And just recently, the New York Times published a series of comments from parents whose children attended SA, several of which reinforced that children with special needs face particular and unnecessary hardships at Success Academy schools. "Eva Moskowitz and Success Academy seem to have zero understanding about how to handle children who might learn differently," said one parent, while another commented that "parents with special needs children should be wary." http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/17/nyregion/success-academy-parents-voices.html?_r=0.

Making matters much worse, SA’s CEO, Eva Moskowitz, recently made a jaw-dropping and cruel comment that corroborates these concerns. Specifically, Ms. Moskowitz stated that SA does not accept children after third grade because "It's not really fair for the student in seventh grade or a high school student to have to be educated with a child who’s reading at a second or third grade level." Her shocking insensitivity traveled quickly throughout the education community, with parents and educators stunned that she could be so harsh to these children with reading challenges, many of whom have learning differences. (Comment is here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/04/10/new-york-city-charters-leave-thousands-of-seats-unfilled-despite-exploding-demand-study-finds/ .)


In response to Ms. Moskowitz's comment, we, the Hastings-on-Hudson PTSA and the Hastings Special Education PTA (SEPTA), sent her the email below; as of yet, we have received no response. (Our letter also appeared on Diane Ravitch's blog, here: http://dianeravitch.net/2015/04/30/a-pta-writes-a-letter-to-eva-moskowitz-about-inclusion/)

Accordingly, we ask that this Panel not authorize additional space to any Success Academy Charter Schools until its record regarding children with special needs is proven to be acceptable and fair.

Very truly yours,

Hastings-on-Hudson PTSA Executive Board, Lisa Eggert Litvin and Jacqueline Weitzman, Co Presidents

http://ny.chalkbeat.org/2015/05/21/in-latest-display-of-independence-panel-delays-two-charter-co-location-votes/#.VV5ZIYH3arU (article about delaying approval of space)


Sent: Thu, Apr 23, 2015 10:30 am
Subject: Attn: Eva Moskowitz -- Recent troubling comment to WNYC regarding struggling readers
Eva Moskowitz 
Success Academy Charter Schools,
Chief Executive Officer
  
Dear Ms. Moscowitz:
We write in response to your recent comment to WNYC, explaining why Success Academy schools don't accept new students after fourth grade: "It's not really fair for the student in seventh grade or a high school student to have to be educated with a child who’s reading at a second or third grade level."   http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/04/10/new-york-city-charters-leave-thousands-of-seats-unfilled-despite-exploding-demand-study-finds/.
As advocates for children, we are deeply troubled by your and Success Academy's view.  Many seventh graders who read at a second or third grade level are children with learning differences. These children already face huge obstacles and prejudices, even as research clearly supports that including these children in general education settings benefits all. 
Inclusive classrooms, which comprise special education students and their general education peers, are academically, socially and emotionally beneficial to both groups.  In fact, the advantages of such classrooms are so powerful and the outcomes often so successful that federal law requires that these children be placed with their non-disabled peers whenever possible (i.e., in the “least restrictive environment”).  At a recent PTA meeting here in Hastings-on-Hudson, parents of general education students specifically asked for their children to be placed in inclusion classes, with their special education peers, once they learned more about the benefits to all that those classrooms produce, including more attention to differentiated learning, as well as additional teaching staff.
In addition, dismissing a child who is reading below-grade level puts too much emphasis on reading and ignores the myriad of other measures of achievement. A child who reads below grade level may excel in math or biology or be an exceptional artist, athlete, or musician.  
We live in a diverse world, and it is our job and our duty to create environments that engender respect, support, and, possibly most important, empathy.  The direction you advocate — separating and rewarding just the highest achievers in selected subjects — does a disservice to all.
So while you state that including struggling readers is "not really fair" to your current Success Academy scholars, what saddens us - and feels truly unfair - is this layer of unnecessary and painful exclusion and hardship, in the name of protecting your high-achieving scholars, that you find appropriate and necessary.
We are happy to meet with you and explain these issues more deeply, if that would be helpful. And in any event, we ask that you issue an apology, and also that your schools make a concerted effort to include children with special needs or learning differences.  It’s not only best practice, ethical, and fair, but it is the law.
Very truly yours,
Hastings-on-Hudson PTSA Executive Board, Lisa Eggert Litvin and Jacqueline Weitzman, Co Presidents
Hastings-on-Hudson SEPTA (Special Education PTA) Executive Board, Nina Segal and Jennifer Cunningham, Co Presidents
(Note that we are sending this to the general information email for Success Academies, because after extensive online searches, as well as numerous phone calls to individual Success Academy Schools and to the State's offices governing charters, we have been unable to obtain an accurate email address for you. We left a message at Success Academy's business office (as it was called by a receptionist at one of the academies) explaining the gist of the letter and asking for your email. If we receive a response, we will forward to that address.)  (We also have sent this topress@successacademies.org, as that is what your Facebook page manager instructed us to do.)

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

David Garcia-Rosen Battles DOE Over Sports Inequality From Rubber Room

On March 25, some 50 ICHS students stormed the hearings along
with Garcia-Rosen and two faculty members. The protest was the culmination of months of planning, with the hopes that funds will be distributed in an equitable manner and that every high school will have at least six teams. The next day, Garcia-Rosen and the two other faculty leaders were removed from the school and relocated to union headquarters downtown... The Nation
Why not pull a teacher and a guidance counselor and treat them like criminals while denying their kids their services? This may well be the shame of the so-called liberal de Blasio administration and his hench-woman running the DOE. He has mayoral control, so the buck stops there.

The Nation had a good report in May and NYC Educator reported on the outcome of a reso on this issue at the June DA:
David Garcia Rosen  Sports—Some high schools get money while others are told there is not enough. Small schools movement have caused segregation depriving them of activities open to others. Says NYC system is separate and unequal. Says res will put pressure on city to allow more students to reap benefits of sports.

Janella Hinds
—speaks in favor of substitute res. Mulgrew rules her out of order. Hinds speaks against resolution.  Tells her to rise against resolution. Says she is speaking against it, for reasons she articulated, though I failed to hear them.

Ken Achiron—Rises to offer substitute motion. Motion seconded.

Megan Moskop—point of order—Does sub resolution get raised before discussion of first? Mulgrew—yes.

Achiron—Says all children should have opportunity but we shouldn't create opportunity for one student by depriving another. Says system is segregated but position is charters and small schools exacerbated segregation, not large schools. Says res. would ask that everyone’s gym would be open to permits and belong to no one and everyone. Says it would create disruption, taking ability to run teams away from many schools.

Mulgrew takes privilege as chair. Says he believes every kid should have opportunity. Says if we pass resolution City Council will slash budgets. Says our position on CFE is we should take from richer districts and give to us. Asks if we can come up with resolution that makes it clear we are not pitting one school against another. Says he understands rationale for both of them, and that they divide us where we have common ground.

Asks if parties can come with resolution to go after PSAL, and plan for children to have access to teams. Says we will push for all kids to have access. Seems to want parties to come to agreement.

Rosen—we have been researching since 2011, have discussed with UFT. Says res he put forth should be voted on. If it doesn’t get through we will work on it. Students need to know whether or not UFT supports them. Says there is enough money and facilities to go around.

Move to table—will require two-thirds vote.

CL Claude Atkinson
—Asks Garcia to reword reso as health rather than civil rights issue.

Mark Korashan—Moves to refer resos to exec. board. Mulgrew asks if it is motion to table. Parliamentarian says it is.

Motion is tabled.
 
Ed Notes has had a few reports:
 Here is The Nation piece

The Nation:

Is NYC Punishing Educators Who Advocate for Sports Equity in Schools?


Students from the International Community High School in the South Bronx rally outside the gates of City Hall on April 15, 2015. (Maura Ewing)
This article is part of the Edge of Sports series, an ongoing effort to publish new writers on the intersection of sports and politics.

On a recent Wednesday afternoon, about fifteen high school students from the International Community High School (ICHS) in the South Bronx stood at the gates of City Hall, where they plan to stand every Wednesday until their demands are met: sports at their school, and all small schools in New York City.

“Chancellor Fariña, you did not read our research. If you did, you would be standing with us and not against us!” belted senior Sory Konate. Other students chanted “Civil rights matter!” to the rhythm of four students drumming on bright orange Home Depot buckets. They stood behind a bright white banner embossed with the image of a clasped black fist and their movement’s social media tag, #civilrightsmatter.

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Standing by, distributing fliers and keeping an eagle eye out for councilmembers, was David Garcia-Rosen, the man who had been their school dean until March, when he was removed from the school following another action calling for expanded access to sports.

Ironically, when he was hired as dean of the school in 2010, Garcia-Rosen made promises to combat problems that plagued the school—gang violence and high dropout rates—by building a sports program. To be admitted to the International Community High School, a public school, students need to have been in America for four years or fewer. The students are from a wide range of countries, many with volatile political scenes such as Togo and Yemen. Ninety-four percent of students were English language-learners last school year, and 99 percent of students were people of color. Just 40 percent of ICHS students graduate within four years, and statistics show that sports could make a difference. A recent study from the University of Kansas found that high school athletes are more likely to graduate: “When a student has to earn the right to play a sport by performing in the classroom, that is a very strong factor in keeping adolescents in school,” one of the researchers told The Atlantic.

During his first year on the job Garcia-Rosen tried—and failed—to secure funding directly from the Public School Athletic League (PSAL), the division of the NYC Department of Education (DOE) that administers sports programming for public school students. Like many small schools, ICHS did not meet certain PSAL standards for funding, including, "the perceived level of interest at the school, availability of coaches, and enough students who could satisfy the league’s academic eligibility rules," according to the New York Times. “They made it pretty clear we shouldn’t even bother applying," Garcia-Rosen says.

At that point he switched tactics. In the fall of 2011 he organized a separate league for small schools, called the Small School Athletic League (SSAL). It was principal-funded, meaning the league’s money came out of individual schools’ budgets rather than the PSAL. It was intended to be a pilot league to show the DOE that it was feasible and that there was demand for sports in small schools.

At its peak, during the 2013-2014 school year, 42 small schools participated in the SSAL, with 1,700 student athletes. Garcia-Rosen coached ICHS’s baseball team, which won two league championships.

Also during this time, Garcia-Rosen started looking into how DOE resources are distributed for sports programs in New York City’s public schools. As he dug into the numbers, he noticed trends by borough, race, socio-economic background and English-learner status. “Every single type that I ran and every way that I ran the data, had the same exact outcome,” he said. “Schools that had more students of color had less sports opportunities, schools that had more poverty had less sports opportunity. Schools that had more English language learners had less sports opportunities.” In fact, New York City schools with predominantly white student bodies have more than double the number of PSAL sports teams: eighteen on average compared to seven.

Garcia-Rosen brought these findings to administrators, demanding that methods of allocation be changed. He asked for the creation of a separate line item in the budget for small school athletics, that the data collected in his campaign be used to advocate for additional funds to expand access to interscholastic sports and for small schools to receive the same level of funding as other PSAL teams. After numerous meetings over several months, he says the DOE offered him a job to run the SSAL under the PSAL umbrella, but he rejected the offer because they would not guarantee that his demands would be met.
When the internal battle seemed doomed, he brought the fight up the ladder and into the public eye. In May of last year, he submitted an official complaint to the federal Department of Education alleging that the way funds are distributed is in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He is still awaiting a response.

Also in May, after the students staged their first budget hearing interruption, the DOE allocated $825,000 to the SSAL for the 2014-2015 school year. With the new allocation, Garcia-Rosen’s small school league was absorbed by the PSAL. Any sense of victory that Garcia-Rosen and his allies felt soon evaporated: his school lost baseball, softball and soccer, which were replaced by table tennis. At this point, table tennis is the only sport offered to boys at ICHS. Girls have two options: volleyball and basketball.

In an email statement, DOE spokesman Jason Fink wrote that the department has created 109 teams for the Small School Athletic League. The SSAL includes a Developmental Division for new teams at any school, large or small, and the Multiple Pathways League. "Demonstrating our commitment to meeting the needs of all students, we have created the Multiple Pathways League...as a component of the SSAL," he wrote. "The MPL has modified academic eligibility standards, and is geared to meeting the needs of students who are over age and under credited, as well as English Language Learners." Despite this, by Garcia-Rosen's count, the number of teams at small schools that had participated in his league has been slashed from 84 to 24.

This March, like last year, Garcia-Rosen and his students disrupted Chancellor Fariña’s testimony during budget hearings. On March 25, some 50 ICHS students stormed the hearings along with Garcia-Rosen and two faculty members. The protest was the culmination of months of planning, with the hopes that funds will be distributed in an equitable manner and that every high school will have at least six teams. The next day, Garcia-Rosen and the two other faculty leaders were removed from the school and relocated to union headquarters downtown.

“It’s like being in suspension for teachers,” Garcia-Rosen says. In an email statement, the DOE says the reassignment is a result of a misconduct investigation. Garcia-Rosen has been told that the investigation itself could take up to a year, and he hasn’t been given details on what exactly he is being investigated for. “Obviously we can figure out what the charges are on one level: we protested on Wednesday, we were removed on Thursday,” he says.

Indeed, the day before the protest, the school’s principal, Berena Cabarcas, sent an all-staff memo with a reminder that the School Chancellor’s Regulations state that any unauthorized absence, which includes political activity, would result in the termination of employment, according to a document obtained by The Nation.

"The argument I would make is that standing side-by-side with my students that are organizing and advocating for their civil rights is not exactly a political campaign,” says Garcia-Rosen. All three removed faculty were at the recent Wednesday rally.

“I could not imagine that in 2015 there would be students that because of their color, because of their background, would be fighting for only sports,” Sory Konate, who is originally from the Ivory Coast in West Africa, said at the rally. “Me and some of my friends come from very poor countries. Even though they are poor, in school we had sports.”

Students reported that some of the teachers at school have warned them to stop protesting. “Right now, to me, civil rights is more important than getting myself into trouble,” said 18-year-old Alttassane Sow, one of the student leaders. He is in his final two months of high school and plans to study mechanical engineering in college. He has already been accepted to seven schools. “I'm not doing this just for me; all the great leaders they do something not just for them but for the next generation. We want to make sure that the next generation is the best as it can possibly be. So we cannot do it just by dreaming, sitting down, it's by coming and taking actions.”
At City Hall, Garcia-Rosen spotted Marco Carrion, the Mayor’s Commissioner of Community Affairs. The protest location was, strategically, in a spot where councilmembers must pass to walk from City Hall to their office across the street. Five students flocked to Carrion as he left the gate. They knew the routine. Konate handed him a flyer: “We would really appreciate your help.”

Carrion was familiar with both the issue and the faces, too. “Well, I appreciate the info. I know I’ve spoke with some of you guys last week. I’ll find out the latest and get back to Mr. David."

Every public official that they stopped, four in two hours, made similar promises. Until those promises are fulfilled, Garcia-Rosen and his former students will continue to meet, plan and protest each Wednesday.

EIA Intercepts: AFT Set to Take Over Florida Local - lack of democracy an issue -- HA!

Over the years we have had an AFT takeover of the United Teachers of Dade and the Broward Teachers Union, followed by a Florida Education Association takeover of the Palm Beach County Classroom Teachers Association. But it must be getting too cold at AFT headquarters this winter, so union administrators headed south to oversee the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association because it is in “a serious state of dysfunction.” .... EIA, Feb. 2015.
The Florida Education Association believes local president Diana Moore and her supporters are “coalescing control of the union in themselves at the unfortunate cost of a democratic union.”.... Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha
Boy, ya think the same charges can be made against Unity Caucus and MulGarten here in NYC?

Mike Ianucci is on the Florida case - I like his stuff even if it is anti-union libertarianism-based - I hung out with Mike at the press table at the 2004 AFT convention in Washington DC. At that convention we began to hear about dissidence between the AFT and the teacher union in Puerto Rico - I remember a leaflet being given out. Mike began to report on events there, as I did. Puerto Rican Teachers Union (FMPR) and the AFT

AFT takeover stories of locals since they involve some levels of goonism. I chronicled takeovers in Oregon and Puerto Rico over the years. Here are some links to the Oregon nurses union story.
Here is Mike's story from the other day.
Posted: 12 Jun 2015 11:47 AM PDT
Back in February, the American Federation of Teachers sent a monitor to oversee the operations of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association in Florida due to “a serious state of dysfunction.”
Now the AFT executive council has reportedly voted unanimously to conduct a hearing into whether to establish a trusteeship over the troubled local.
The Florida Education Association believes local president Diana Moore and her supporters are “coalescing control of the union in themselves at the unfortunate cost of a democratic union.”
If that’s the standard then there will be an awful lot more trusteeships to come.
For her part, Moore is challenging the action, claiming it is based on “bias and defamation of my character.”

Monday, June 15, 2015

Leadership Academy Basic Training for Principals: Target Chapter Leaders

Our new principal likes to play games and commit obvious contract violations. It seems the strategy is to wear out the chapter leader. Our principal had an SBO vote on her own, she took away my union time when I was entitled to it (I got it back but only after considerable stress) she tried to remove me as chapter leader and appoint the delegate (again I had to pitch a fit). I've heard of a few others emerge with this kind of behavior.

Take it to your district rep meetings talk to the other chapter leaders to demand they do something about this kind of behavior. It's harassment.
--- report from a chapter leader

I've heard plenty of reports of retaliation from principals when someone they don't like is the CL. When I got elected my principal threw a fit that lasted for months - she tried to get a new election and when rebuffed she punished the entire staff in various ways that actually disrupted the school.

This year there are lots of reports of principals running their own candidates for chapter leader. I think that from the very beginning of the Leadership Academy, principals were given training in how to control the union in the school. Can someone tell me what kind of training the UFT gives the CLs to combat these tactics - and don't tell me it's all about filing a grievance. It is a political battle that must be fought on all levels.


RTC Performs at Floyd Bennett Field June 14, 2015

The kids do their thing, followed by the adults - first from Guys and Dolls and then a preview of the August opening of Little Shop of Horrors.

That's me hiding in the back during Luck Be a Lady and Rock the boat.
https://vimeo.com/130717028

Call (718) 374-6400 for reservations or go to the web site: http://www.rockawaytheatrecompany.org

RTC Performs at Floyd Bennett Field June 14, 2015




Here are some stills.

Children from the RTC Children's Theater Workshop



RTC Teen Workshop from Legally Blond, Jr.

Add caption


Highlights of upcoming Little Shop of Horrors


Sunday, June 14, 2015

A Principal Asks a Question About E4E on CTS Listserve - and Gets Answers

Has anyone worked with E4E (Educators for Excellence)? They seem to be influential at the policy level. .. a NYC Principal
The positions of E4E and the Unity/UFT leadership are very much in alignment. We've tracked E4E since its beginnings. Backed by Bill Gates and the deformers and also very heavily connected to TFA, it was founded by TFA teachers who taught for 3 years before starting a heavily funded faux teacher group with outposts in NYC, LA and Minnesota and possibly Chicago - basically pushing the agenda of deform but in more subtle ways -- their connections to the deformers is what has given them access to policy - they have full-time employees trying to reach into the schools and undermine the union.... Norm

Yeah Norm I got that vibe from them as well. Anyone else have thoughts?..... NYC Principal

Here is E4E's stance on high stakes testing. You see they go right along with the deformers....
http://www.educators4excellence.org/NYtesting
Pat

A former neighbor became a spokesperson for E4E. He's young, grew up being homeless, and was huge on attempting to prove that poverty and life conditions are not factors in one's education- that a really good teacher could overcome all of that. Well, two years into his first years of teaching at a charter school in my Bed Stuy hood, he started asking questions about what happens at my school. We never got a chance to really talk before he left, but he left teaching. Such a shame...
 
In a nut shell, they're mostly straight out of college, recruited through TFA, and and I know that with the TFA program dwindling, they attempt to present in schools, which is illegal. 

One former E4E person told me that, at first, they were encouraged to do research, but their program director would provide the research (pre-selected) for them to read... When they wanted to find their own studies, it was not included in their discussions. Gates funded studies dominated the discussions.

I haven't worked with E4E but have worked against them particularly when they partnered with Bloomberg's effort to overturn last in first out.  They are an ed deformer 'macmovement' "influential" in policy making to the extent that they can buy favors  and fool teachers into believing that they don't need a union. Even with the misleadership of the UFT weighing on our backs, I don't think many teachers have drank the kool aide that E4E serves up.... Sean

Recently the UFT, in its spirit of keeping ties to ed deformers,  had looked to collaborate and partner up with E4E -- giving them legitimacy -- they look to get a foot in the door of some schools and are now urging their people to run for chapter leader and delegate positions.
I wonder if Bill Gates is paying for this collaboration. In essence, the positions of E4E and the Unity/UFT leadership are very much in alignment.
Former E4Eers have told us about their culture of control where people are manipulated. They offered expensive gifts at raffles at the door.
They have a security system where they check on people to make sure their meetings are not infiltrated. I used to go and stand outside and give out lit -- now they seem to hide their meetings and keep them limited.... Norm


Carol Burris Points to Awful effects of Regents Proposed APPR Regs While Mulgrew Urges Us to Trust Regents and NYSED

Please tell the Regents to support the alternate plan.... At Monday’s meeting, seven Regents will put forth their own proposal, which, in essence, states that they refuse to sign on to
I took this photo in Carol's office during an interview
this unethical and irresponsible evaluation system, and instead assert the authority of the Board of Regents to delay implementation and create meaningful regulations around the evaluation of teachers and principals. These seven women are accomplished professionals.  Nearly all have extensive leadership experience in education...

Districts can save funds by allowing outside observers to watch videos of teachers. Maybe they can use the Craiglist Pearson graders who work for 12 dollars an hour. Post-observation conferences can be done via Snapchat...
....Carol Burris, Principal of the Year
Share what Carol has to say with every NYC teacher in your school.

I always find more than some irony when a principal does more to represent our interests than our union leaders. The Unity Caucus outrageous defense of the new State Ed Comm, brought in by the very people pushing this crap, is indicative of which side they are really on. See: MORE INTRODUCES NO CONFIDENCE RESOLUTION ON NEW STATE EDUCATION COMMISSIONER AT DA.

By the way - overheard from Unity slugs on the 19th floor at that meeting when Jia Lee got up to speak -  "oh, there's that nut Jia Lee from MORE."  Jia must have been nuts to speak in front of Congress. The Unity election campaign is already in force.

Also read Perdido plus comments by DOENUTS:

Proposed Recommendations On Teacher Evaluations Make Clear Collective Bargaining Agreements Can Be Broken


Here is link to Carol's blog:

http://roundtheinkwell.com/2015/06/14/the-awful-effects-of-the-regents-proposed-appr-regulations-what-every-teacher-and-parent-should-know/

George Schmidt on Winter Chicago Teacher Strike Possibilities - Warm Socks

I find these bulletins from George immensely illuminating on the goings on in Chicago education. He is not without criticism of the Chicago Teachers Union leadership, even though he remains a supporter. At times he seems to think some of the leaders are not dealing with certain realities. That they go straight to trying to mobilize without doing some essential organizing. I see a lot of that here both in the rulers of the UFT and in the opposition groups, MORE included. But more on that aspect in the future.
CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS AND A STRIKE? The Board of Education is working to stall union work as long as possible. So part of our discussion was about warm socks and the other things we needed for winter striking. Those of us who had been on strike during the winter strikes of the 1970s and 1980s went over how those picket lines had been organized. Unlike the mass strike pickets and marches of the Chicago Teachers Strike of 2012, many strikes were organized carefully, with picket duties organized by the delegates, and not everyone having to picket every day. The strike, as the union's officers have reported, is about not working, not about picketing and demonstrations. So during a strike the most important thing every worker is doing is what he or she is not doing. Working. 

SCABS NOT POSSIBLE. Despite the crazy claims, always a part of the pre-strike nonsense, that a Board of Education can organize enough scabs to keep schools open. During the last strike, the members of SEIU Local 73, led by Christine Boardman, crossed our picket lines and went to "work." Even though there were no kids in the buildings by the third day. We will report on and discuss the back and forth stuff that takes place during a strike. But rest assured, no strike in Chicago can be busted by the Board of Education's hiring of scabs, and within two days the scabs who tried to "open" the schools will have faced the wrath of the children and parents who go inside the buildings.
 --- George Schmidt, Bulletin to Substance staff, June 14, 2015

Friday, June 12, 2015

TODAY: MORE Party Plus MORE No Confidence Reso on New State Ed Comm Rejected by Unity Dominated DA

MORE's End Of Year Party!
Today at 5:00pm
O'Reilly's, 21 W35th Street, Between 6th & 5th Avenues

Come on down and buy me a drink - urp! But not too many since I have to leave early and head to rehearsal for Guys and Dolls.

I don't have time now to get into an analysis of what happened at the DA over this reso. James Eterno talks about it on the ICE blog where he links to Arthur's comprehensive report on the DA at NYC Educator.

MORE INTRODUCES NO CONFIDENCE RESOLUTION ON NEW STATE EDUCATION COMMISSIONER AT DA






UFT Leadership Rejects “No Confidence” in Mary Ellen Elia - Jia Lee, Chapter Leader of The Earth School and a member of MORE, brought a MORE-sponsored resolution before the Delegate Assembly (DA) calling for a sta... 

But I will make this quick point. UFT High School VP embarrassed herself by first claiming that "we don't know about Elia" - let's give her a chance.
But ooops -- just 5 years ago at the AFT Bill Gates convention in Seattle, they all were falling all over themselves over the wonderful arrangement between the union and Elia's school district. She had to reverse course in mid-sentence by saying -- some of you do know about Hillsborough.


When I was giving out the reso at the DA the other day I got people's attention when I called Elia the "2nd coming of John King."

Remember how Mulgrew raved about Tisch and King? Our Unity friends have a quick way of unremembering - and when Elia goes after opt-outers next year watch them.


And I did notice that frequent Unity defender on this blog, Paula Washington, lost her election as chapter leader at LaGuardia HS -- and by a wide margin -- people there tell me a major reason was her defense of Unity, especially over last year's contract. 

I will try to get a blog up on the chapter elections and the scuttle butt that Unity CLs have been facing more challenges than ever before.