Eterno Reports on Unity Rejection of rights for ATRs, Some history and video of the Nov 2008 Wine and Cheese ATR Rally

In the end a couple of the New Action people voted with the ATRs while the remainder of the New Action representatives and the Unity rubber stampers all voted with Barr and Ross against the ATRs having equal voting rights... James Eterno, ATRS GET PLENTY OF SUPPORT BUT NOT FROM UFT OFFICIALS, posted on ICE blog

It's hard for me to believe this report that some New Action EB members did not vote for the ATRs. Maybe James didn't see them cowering in the corners. (One of the really good guys in New Action, retiree Doug Haynes did support them.) Good I wasn't there because I would have confronted them. Well, this reaffirms the strong decision made by MORE to have nothing to do with New Action until they renounce their dirty deal with Mulgrew - which they won't. That their reps on the EB didn't support this unanimously is outrageous - word is that New Action leaders Shulman and Halabi voted with leadership. Shulman and Halabi called for liaisons in the borough offices as opposed to elected reps.

So typical of New Action - watch in the next election, where they will have Mulgrew at the top of their ticket, they will brag about how they support ATRs. Portelos was at the meeting last night -- let's see what he says about his pals in New Action refusing to support the ATRs.

MORE put up a reso last fall at the DA calling for the ATR chapter and were chastised by New Action leaders for not consulting them or doing it strategically. Charlatans have been selling alliances with New Action and promising that New Action would use its seats on the board to support ATRs - and other issues. (Maybe a reso at the Ex Bd or the DA calling on the UFT to actually support discontinued teachers instead of holding bogus rallies?)

When ATRs were created, ICE had James Eterno and Jeff Kaufman on the Ex Bd and they stood up strong against the creation of ATRs - the strongest voices opposed. Luckily, New Action did not have EB members in those years.

I know some people will be pissed at me for what I have to say below - but --

I would like to head to the AFT for an appeal. Is anybody with me?....Eterno

ATRs rally at Tweed - Nov. 2008 - it should have been at the UFT

Well, I guess going to the AFT to have Randi rule on this would make some people happy. Sorry, James, I'm not into the Einstein def of insanity -- doing the same thing over again and expecting different results. Maybe having the AFT reject this will make a few political points - but to whom?

While I generally support James Eterno, I don't agree with legal action without street action to back it up. There's a lot more to fight for for ATRs than just having their own chapter. It would be a first step in asserting their rights -- but to me, how many ATRs are in a position to be willing to assert their rights?

I believe that once the charter cap is lifted and Farina starts combining more schools, there will be even more ATRs coming. Will they disappear into some vapor?

Here's my challenge to the the leaders of the ATRs. Go out and find every ATR you can and create a functioning organization. I used to hand out leaflets directed at ATRs with a meeting announcement at the DA asking the CLs to give them to the ATRs in their school. People actually showed up at some of these meetings through these leaflets. (We did this with rubber room people and called for a rally that the Unity/UFT leadership coopted.)

Show up at the UFT with a couple of hundred people and surround the building. If there are ----- whatever the number of ATRS there are --- where are they when it comes to political action? I imagine a batch showed up yesterday at the Ex Bd -- still not enough people willing to engage in this battle.

ATRs go to so many schools. Are they educating people about how the union is run? Are they making contact with people in all these schools as a way to develop a ground game for the opposition? Maybe I'm missing something, but what I hear is mostly silence, except from a few people. First create a real organization of ATRS.

Angel Gonzalez and I tried to create such an organization through GEM in 2010-11 - I kept a detailed list of ATRS and emailed them regularly. We had gone to hiring halls with leaflets and set up meetings as an organizing tactic -- Angel has a PhD in how to organize people -- it is not though legalisms or social media. It takes boots on the ground. I called a meeting and over 40 people showed up and 25 showed to a follow-up. Then some sniping at me started and I decided I was not going to get into the weeds and withdrew my organizing activities, which frankly took a hell of a lot of time.

The response from other people was almost funny. The original ATR organizers viewed our actions as a threat. And TJC tried to set up its own competing ATR group. Perfect examples of why Unity will always win.

ATRs in the past - the initial batch - seemed more militant.

In Nov. 2008, Marjorie Stamberg and John Powers organized ATRs and created an event that shook both the UFT and the DOE. The problem was that they let it die that day - like the demo was the end game. That abandonment led Angel and I to create an ICE ATR committee that turned into GEM.

Now here is some ATR power -- 6 years ago in 2 parts. Just the threat of this rally forced the UFT and DOE into some contract agreement and the UFT tried to kill this rally by holding a wine and cheese event at the UFT - and managed to lure people over there -- including the New Action people - of course -- look for some of them in the video.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ac-Ul1m8-0 - posted Jan, 2009.

On November 24, 2008, teachers without positions, known as ATRs, held a rally at Tweed. They had forced the UFT to endorse the rally but in the interim the UFT signed an agreement with the DOE. The leadership called for an information meeting at UFT HQ, a mile away at the very same time the rally was due to start. Mass confusion. I taped the UFTHQ while David Bellel did the rally. The back story is how desperate UFT leaders were to suppress the tape I made. In fact, today at the Delegate Assembly they will pass a gag rule to try to prevent future embarrassment.
MAKE SURE TO SEE PART 2: The SLOW March Up Broadway - where Randi tried to convince me to give her my tape.



Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG4xrbgiGqU - Posted Jan. 28, 2009

On November 24, 2008, teachers without positions, known as ATRs, held a rally at Tweed. They had forced the UFT to endorse the rally but in the interim the UFT signed an agreement with the DOE. The leadership called for an information meeting at UFT HQ, a mile away at the very same time the rally was due to start. Mass confusion. I taped the UFTHQ while David Bellel did the rally. The back story is how desperate UFT leaders were to suppress the tape I made. In fact, today at the Delegate Assembly they will pass a gag rule to try to prevent future embarrassment.



Why can the UFT reject these appeals for a chapter for ATRS? Because they can.

Here is James' compete report from last night's meeting.

http://iceuftblog.blogspot.com/2015/05/atrs-get-plenty-of-support-but-not-from.html

ATRS GET PLENTY OF SUPPORT BUT NOT FROM UFT OFFICIALS

A fairly strong contingent of Absent Teacher Reserves and our supporters were at the UFT Executive Board last night.  I was given the honor to represent the ATRs and Leave Replacement Teachers as we made the case for having a UFT Chapter with representatives of our own choosing.

Leroy Barr and lawyer Adam Ross represented the UFT and they made what all consider a case that was laughable at best and truly pathetic at worst.  They claimed that ATRs have an equal chance of winning elections at schools that some of us just got to today. In addition, when we are moved to the next school, they both said with a straight face that we can still be the Chapter Leader for the school we are just passing through this May.  The audience of ATRs and our friends just chuckled and had to be told to be quiet.

In the end a couple of the New Action people voted with the ATRs while the remainder of the New Action representatives and the Unity rubber stampers all voted with Barr and Ross against the ATRs having equal voting rights.

As one observer put it: ATRs have democratic rights on paper but not in reality.

I would like to head to the AFT for an appeal. Is anybody with me?

  Executive Board Appeal

May 4, 2015 

My name is James Eterno; I am a Temporary Leave Replacement Teacher at Middle College High School in Queens but with no permanent assignment.

I’m here tonight because there are many union members who happen to be Absent Teacher Reserves, Leave Replacement Teachers or Temporary Provisional Teachers have no chapter and therefore are being denied fundamental democratic union rights that are guaranteed in federal labor law. 

Pretend you are on a business trip to Hawaii for a month or even a little longer.  Do you think you should have a right to vote for who the governor of Hawaii should be since you happened to be there on Election Day? 

Do you think you should be eligible to run for governor of Hawaii because you happened to be in the state on Election Day? 

Both of these situations are completely ridiculous.  But this is basically the kind of chapter election system for ATRs the leadership of this union proposed and this Executive Board recently approved in the Chapter Election Guide and Bylaws for this spring’s elections. 

ATRS and Leave Replacement Teachers vote at the school we are just passing through in May even if the school has an election in June and we are no longer there. That violates the federal law. 

ATRs, Leave Replacement Teachers and Temporary Provisional Teachers are supposed to run for chapter leader or delegate from those same schools we are just passing through this May. This is absurd and also flies in the face of the federal law. 

Since the Delegate Assembly is the highest policy-making body in the union, it must be elected.  This is what the Landrum Griffin Federal Regulations say concerning eligibility to be candidates and to hold union office: 

Every member in good standing is eligible to be a candidate and to hold office subject to reasonable qualifications in the union’s constitution and bylaws that are uniformly imposed. 

  

Is it a reasonable qualification that if I want to serve as a delegate or chapter leader, I have to run for office in a school where I have absolutely no right to a job in that school when my term of office would begin in July? Past union policy has been that once a person is removed permanently from a school they are no longer the chapter leader, particularly after 3020a cases are settled and a person becomes an ATR.  That is why Mr. Portelos is no longer chapter leader at his school.   

Is there now a change in policy where people can serve as chapter leader if they no longer are in a school? That might help to stop vindictive principal excessing of our chapter leaders but if that is the new policy, I would like to know why Mr. Portelos is not chapter leader at his former school and why he can’t run again there?  

The whole policy of us voting in schools we are just passing through makes a mockery of democracy.  Remember, federal regulations say qualifications have to be reasonable and uniformly imposed.  Clearly the regular members of a chapter have an automatic advantage over ATRs in chapter elections.  That is not reasonable and certainly not a uniformly imposed regulation. 

In the past we were always told that ATRs can’t get our own chapter because we don’t want to institutionalize and thus accept what is a temporary position.  This argument was always weak but now it is completely mistaken because the UFT embedded a whole Section 16 into the contract that concerns ATRS. We have weaker due process rights; we are compelled to go on interviews, some for jobs which don’t exist and we are forced to resign if we happen to not check our emails and miss two interviews.  Due process be damned for ATRS.  Some even can be denied interviews by the Chancellor.  (Now with out of time schools coming, a new category is being created that looks like year to year ATRs.)  We are embedded. There is even a temporary group of teachers that was recently assigned to a chapter; Peer Validators. They exist in the contract for only two years and yet they were sent to the teachers assigned chapter.  Only ATRs are constantly told no. 

ATRS/Leave Replacement and Temporary Provisional teachers have been asking for almost a decade for our own chapter with a chapter leader and delegates to deal with our unique status.  I don’t know too many executive board members who have walked in our shoes. Functional chapters such as the guidance counselors use the chapter leader in the building they are at and then can call on their own elected central guidance chapter leader and delegates when needed for unique guidance issues.  Several categories of teachers including teachers assigned and teachers of the home-bound have their own chapter leader too.  If you continue to insist the temporary nature of the position is a problem, we have a solution:  We can put in the bylaws that we will dissolve the ATR chapter if all of the temporary provisional, leave replacement and atr teachers are placed. We can even make it one of our goals. The citywide Ed Evaluator chapter was dissolved.  We too can be dissolved if some sanity returns to the Board of ed and we no longer exist.

As for this evening, without wanting to show any disrespect, I was told that Leroy Barr was chosen to make the report on our election complaint.  Leroy spoke passionately against an ATR chapter in October at the DA and he rejected my arguments in November when we met for our equal voting rights. His lack of objectivity on this subject presents a conflict of interest. 

I would like to close by asking an important question: If this body rejects our very reasonable request for fair voting rights and equal rights to serve in office for ATRS, Leave Replacement Teachers and Temporary Provisional teachers, then we will go up the ladder to the AFT who we have already contacted and then to the Department of Labor who I have spoken to and they are interested in our case. Some, not me, are going to go to PERB too.  The UFT is going to waste a large amount of time, money and effort fighting against its own members because we want to vote and serve in office in the same way as everybody else. Ten or twenty delegates and a chapter leader won’t make much of a dent in any caucus majority at the DA so why is anyone afraid of us?  We want to have the same voting rights and rights to hold office as all other UFT members. Save that money, time and effort by giving us fair democratic rights.  Create a chapter for us tonight. 

Does Prof Eliot Brenowitz = Kristof as an idiot commenter on education?

Ed Deform is like calving glaciers -

In his letter, Professor Brenowitz quickly agreed with Kristof’s daring premise. He said American kids have displayed a “continued dismal performance in math.” He [Brenowitz] went on to blame this state of affairs on—who else?—our brainless public school teachers.... France and Germany didn’t take part at the Grade 8 level that year. Germany took part in Grade 4 math. Despite the fact that they can’t count, American kids outscored them.... Daily Howler

I drool almost every time the Howler takes a shot at the ed deform press and its biased reporters: Kritsof, Brooks, Brent Staples and the other NY Times ed deform slugs, though ed deform is getting battered to and fro -- think of them as climate change deniers -- keep modifying their theme to conform with their initial premise - it's the fault of the teachers, stupid.

And Howler puts out the facts on how our kids scored on these international tests, something the deformers try to avoid as much as climate changer deniers avoid the shrinking glaciers.

By the way - did you see the studies about poor children moving to better neighborhoods and improving the outcomes? It must be that those teachers are better, even though everyone ignores the fact that in the most affluent, high scoring neighborhoods, they are mostly union members.


http://dailyhowler.blogspot.com/2015/05/supplemental-professor-brenowitz-plays.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheDailyHowler+%28the+daily+howler%29

Supplemental: Professor plays the Finland card!

Posted: 04 May 2015 11:55 AM PDT

MONDAY, MAY 4, 2015

Kristof is hailed again: Last Sunday, Nicholas Kristof authored the biggest cherry-pick in the history of such endeavors.

For our previous report, click this.

Who knows? Maybe Kristof plowed through those eighty-eight different test items to do the deed himself. Maybe the cherry-pick came from a 19-year-old research assistant, whose work he didn’t bother to check.

Maybe Kristof got the cherry-pick from some advocate of “education reform” and he just typed it up!

Wherever it came from, the cherry-pick was amazingly egregious. And Kristof tied it to an ugly insult about the way “Johnny can’t even count.”

This morning, the ridiculous paper for which Kristof works published four letters about his brilliant column.

The first letter came from Professor Brenowitz. Incredibly but inevitably, the professor did it again:

Carol Burris and John Oliver on Testing and Common Core

Two great pieces from very different sources. Remember how Oliver's piece about net neutrality turned the debate around last year? Well this brilliant 18 minute video just might do it for high stakes testing.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Standardized Testing (HBO)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6lyURyVz7k&sns=em


And Carol Burris nails it once again in her Answer Sheet WAPO article.

Why the movement to opt out of Common Core tests is a big deal

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/05/03/why-the-movement-to-opt-out-of-common-core-tests-is-a-big-deal/

By Carol Burris
New York opt-out is reverberating around the nation. The pushback against the Common Core exams caught fans of high-stakes testing off guard, with estimates of New York test refusals now exceeding 200,000.
It was evident that the state would be far below the 95 percent federal participation rate as soon as the 3-8 English Language Arts tests began. When math testing started, the numbers climbed higher still. In the Brentwood School District, a 49 percent opt-out rate for ELA rose to 57 percent during math tests. These rates defy the stereotype that the movement is a rebellion of petulant “white suburban moms.” Ninety-one percent of Brentwood students are black or Latino, and 81 percent are economically disadvantaged. Brentwood is not unique–Amityville (90 percent black or Latino, 77 percent economically disadvantaged) had an opt-out rate of 36.4 percent; Greenport (49 percent black or Latino, 56 percent economically disadvantaged) had an opt-out rate that exceeded 61 percent; and South Country opt outs (50 percent black or Latino and 51 percent economically disadvantaged) exceeded 64 percent. New York’s rejection of the Common Core tests crosses geographical, socio-economic and racial lines.
There are also reports that student opt-outs were suppressed by administrators in some districts, who called in non-English speaking parents and pressured them to rescind their opt-out letters. Parent activist Jeanette Deutermann states that she “was contacted by dozens of NYC teachers who were horrified by the scare tactics being used on parents in their schools, to coerce them into participating in this year’s assessments. Language barriers and the absence of a social media presence resulted in a lack of knowledge about their rights to refuse the test. Teachers reported that administrators exploited this language and information barrier, telling parents that their children would not be promoted if they refused, or that they simply had no right to refuse. This is blatant discrimination at best.”
Despite attempts to suppress opt out, refusal rates were over three times last year’s 60,000, and activist parents are already planning to increase numbers next year. The opt-out movement is spreading across the nation. PARCC opt out is taking off in Colorado, New Jersey and California, especially among high-school students.
As the Refuse the Common Core Test movement grows, the three people who are the most responsible for causing New York’s rebellion—Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and Chancellor Merryl Tisch—are commenting on opting out, each with their own unique spin.
During a discussion with Motoko Rich of The New York Times, Arne Duncan threatened federal government intervention if states did not meet the 95 percent participation rate. Assuming that Duncan is not planning to call in the National Guard to haul off opt-outing 8 year olds, the only possible “sanction” would be withholding funds. That would surely lead to court challenges forcing the Education Department to justify penalizing schools when parents exercise their legitimate right to refuse the test.–an impossible position to defend.
During the same interview, Duncan said that his own children, who attend school in the non-Common Core state of Virginia, do not see the test as “a traumatic event.” He insinuated that “adults” are causing “the trauma,” thus furthering the stereotype of “the hysterical mom” that those who oppose opt-out often evoke.  Before jumping to the conclusion that New York parents are the problem, Mr. Duncan might want to compare the Virginia tests his children take, to the New York Common Core test.
Here is a sample from the Grade 6 Reading test that was given in Virginia last year to measure the state’s Standards of Learning (SOL):

“Julia raced down the hallway, sliding the last few feet to her next class. The bell had already rung, so she slipped through the door and quickly sat down, hoping the teacher would not notice.
Mr. Malone turned from the piano and said, “Julia, I’m happy you could join us.” He continued teaching, explaining the new music they were preparing to learn. Julia relaxed, thinking Mr. Malone would let another tardy slide by. Unfortunately, she realized at the end of class that she was incorrect.”

That is certainly a reasonable passage to expect sixth-graders to read. You can find the complete passage and other released items from the Virginia tests here.
Contrast the above with a paragraph from a passage on the sixth-grade New York Common Core test given this spring.

 The artist focuses on the ephemerality of his subject. “It’s there for a brief moment and the clouds fall apart,” he says. Since clouds are something that people tend to have strong connections to, there are a lot of preconceived notions and emotions tied to them. For him though, his work presents “a transitory moment of presence in a distinct location.”

I will let readers draw their own conclusions.
Meanwhile, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s reaction brought to mind Mad Magazine’s mascot, Alfred E. Neuman, whose slogan was, “What? Me worry?” Cuomo just didn’t see the big deal in opt out. After characterizing the scores as “meaningless” the governor continued by saying, “So they can opt out if they want to, but on the other hand, if the child takes the test as practice, then the score doesn’t count anyway.” Is Andrew Cuomo saying that New Yorkers are spending hundreds of millions of dollars each year on testing and wasting nearly two weeks of instructional time for “practice”? Practice, exactly, for what?
And finally Chancellor Merryl Tisch expressed dismay and confusion. Tisch, who once confessed that “the opting out kind of breaks my heart,” reminded students that it’s a hard-knock life by threatening “a national test.” When the numbers continued to rise, she said that “we” have the right to use discretion and withhold funds to districts. When that didn’t stem opt outs, she decided that threats do not work and funding should not be withheld.
In an obvious attempt to duck accountability for test refusals, she threw the Governor and NYSUT under the bus by attributing opt out to parents and kids having “ got caught in the labor dispute between the governor and the teacher’s union.”
Her unwillingness to see her own role in the testing mess immediately caused a stir. The editorial board of the Lower Hudson Journal News accused Tisch of portraying opt-out parents as “confused patsies of a labor action.” Board members observed that “the stunning success of the test-refusal movement in New York is a vote of no confidence in our state educational leadership,” and they called for Tisch to step down.
The Journal News editorial board said what Duncan, Cuomo, Tisch and other so-called reformers don’t want to hear. Opt out is far bigger than a test refusal event. It is the repudiation of a host of corporate reforms that include the Common Core, high-stakes testing, school closings and the evaluation of teachers by test scores.   These reforms are being soundly rejected by parents and teachers.
I don’t often agree with Fordham’s Mike Petrilli, but he gets that opt out is a big deal. During his podcast discussion of opt out, he concluded (at 6.43):

“If this [opt-out] thing goes national, the whole education reform movement is in serious trouble.”

I agree with Mike with one slight revision—I would take out the word “if”.

—
You may also be interested in some of Burris’s recent posts:
Will schools lose federal funds if kids opt out of Common Core tests? Fact vs. threats

What the ‘thoughtless’ N.Y. government just did to teachers
Principal: ‘There comes a time when rules must be broken…That time is now.’
‘Why do you believe you need the Common Core?’

MORE: Support ATRs (Monday at UFT Exec Bd) and Rally Against High Stakes Testing (Tues at Washington Sq Park)

Two interesting events, both of which I can't make -- this is my 30th (or more) years of working in the Brooklyn Botanical Garden Plant Sale and the next 4 days are pretty locked up - plus we are taking down the set of "Lost in Yonkers" on Monday. So this week political activity is at a minimum - until next Friday when I debate Mike Schirtzer over the issue of running in the UFT elections - I say boycott!

The MORE testing event is sure to be a good way to spend an afternoon with other like-minded people.

You can read more on the ATR issue at ICE: SUPPORT ATRS AT UFT EXECUTIVE BOARD MONDAY EVENING PROMPTLY AT 6:00 PM

Wear MORE wear to ExBd

Generally I don't feel it is worth the time to go to UFT Exec Bd meetings - been there, done that for about 8 years -- gained 10 pounds from stuffing myself with the food. Who are you talking to but Unity and New Action? I guess going there makes people think they are doing something, like anything said there means anything.

There is a token 10 minute open mic before the meeting starts - With Jeff and James on the EBoard from 2004-7, we began bringing people from the rubber room to speak out there.

By the way, that open mic was instituted one evening by Randi after a hot and heavy email exchange between us early that morning where I challenged her to open up Exec Bd meetings so members can participate -- I meant really participate in the debates, not a bogus period of time before the meeting starts that Unity has increasingly limited. I was the first and often only person to use that time for months and since no one else did I had the full 10 minutes. Now they divide the 10 minutes by the number of speakers.

I thought I was speaking truth to power but finally realized what the hell does that really mean? Finally, I stopped giving a shit about making the union leaders listen to me. The only thing they will ever understand is having hundreds of hostile teachers surround their building.

Unless people use these meetings as political events and report what happens widely, it is a waste of time. But Monday night I think it will be a political event and for those who can make it worthwhile.

Support ATRs and Rally Against High Stakes Testing

Monday 5:30-6:30pm

UFT Headquarters
Executive Board Meeting

52 Broadway in Manhattan 2nd Floor

Absent Teacher Reserves and Leave Replacement Teachers would appreciate your support. They have been asking for an ATR Chapter to represent our unique interests for a long time now.  We have filed a complaint with the UFT Executive Board concerning the Chapter Election process. ATRs are being compelled to vote and run for office at schools we are just passing through in May and might know nothing about instead of being permitted to vote for our own ATR representatives.

The UFT Executive Board will officially respond to our complaint and we will have an opportunity to voice our support.

NYC Teachers Rally & Speak Out

Against High Stakes Testing!

Tuesday May 5, 2015 @ 4:30pm

Washington Square Park

  We Speak Out For. . .

• Diverse and authentic assessments used to inform instruction. Less time spent on test prep and bureaucratic paperwork so teachers can focus on planning meaningful instruction.
• Culturally responsive, collaborative, and student-centered curriculum.
• Well-rounded and robust programs including arts, physical education, and career and technical education for all.
• Re-claiming a moral profession in unethical times.

*Spread the word  *Bring signs & banners  * Encourage you organization or chapter to endorse the event.

CONTACT US AT TESTING@MORECAUCUSNYC.ORG

Let us know if you’d like to say a few words during the Speak Out.

Sponsored/Endorsed by: MORE (Movement of Rank and File Educators)

Cartoon: Arne and Andy Force Feed Tests

Great work from Darren Marelli, who was a key member of the Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman film team. Darren and I may have some time next year to work on a follow-up.

NYSUT RA Dispells Myth of Mulgrew/Magee split

We are getting reports from our pals in Stronger Together and believe me there is no split, as I've been pointing out all along. Remember to watch what they do, not what they say. NYSUT leadership, has said some stuff on opt out that went nationwide and led to ed deform slugs being  able to charge the opt out movement as being union led. I'm not unhappy Magee said what she did, but she never took it much further. Perdido St has a balanced piece on Magee and NYSUT: Karen Magee And NYSUT In The Buffalo News.

The reality is that Magee and Mulgrew are both in statewide Unity Caucus and in the nitty gritty of the committee structure set up to recommend resos that go to the floor, Unity opposed many ST resos - we will get those details later.

A word about how those 800 NYC Unity slugs are used at both NYSUT RA and AFT conventions. Many of us make fun of them for going on junkets at our expense. But in reality, when they protest that they are there to work, they are not wrong. They are distributed on every committee and are expected to vote and in some cases get up and speak in support of all Unity positions. The committees are key structures used to control what happens on the floor and Unity (NYC) spends time strategizing on committee and floor tactics, including shutting down debate - in essence the way they run a Delegate Assembly.

Now that ST caucus is becoming a force, this will be the first time Unity has faced an organized force on the state or national level. We are hoping that ST can afford to send enough delegates to the 2016 AFT convention to join with other forces around the nation to present a real alternative to national Unity - which is called Progressive Caucus. MORE is part of a national group of caucuses that will meet in Newark this summer and if I go I will push for a presence at the AFT convention

Your local Unity slug will return to your school tomorrow.

Here are previous articles in Ed Notes on the NYSUT RA:

Are You Missing Your Local Unity Caucus Slug? 

NYSUT Update: Stronger Together - Over 500 RA Delegates Join Caucus Challenging Unity (State)

Rockaway Theatre Company Highlights - by Jim Peithman, VideoInVision

You've got to watch this 3 minute highlight video that Jim Peithman edited. Jim is the pro who does the taping at the RTC - he works for NY1 - I am the amateur. He put together this wonderful mix of highlights from the past 2 years of shows at the RTC. Today is the finale of Lost in Yonkers - I'm going back to tape for the 4th time. Yes, I'm an RTC junkie - but I also get to go the cast party after the show.

And tomorrow morning we take down the set and start building the new one for Guys and Dolls. (Then I'm off to 4 days of working in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden plant sale.)

Oh, and I am in the cast of Guys and Dolls, opening in June, playing a tourist from Texas who is visiting with his wife and gets his pocket picked - I had my pocket picked in Rome 6 years ago so it will be method acting. What I love about being in this show is that we get to work with so many great kids -- pre-teens and teens - all so responsible and reliable -- I think kids working in theater learn so much. And old folks do too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyaLtNzDKlE



And that amazing lady singing Everything is coming up roses? An ATR guidance counselor. And that gorgeous gal playing Rose -- a NYC teacher.

NYSUT Update: Stronger Together - Over 500 RA Delegates Join Caucus Challenging Unity (State)

Strong support for the resolutions from STCaucus (details later) even though Unity defeated all resos in committee but shined a spotlight on how they control and opened some eyes and gaining ST more support.

Mike Schirtzer from MORE elected to rep NYC on ST steering, solidifying bonds between ST and MORE.

Look for the first serious opposition to Unity at the state level in 40 years to grow. The next election will be in spring 2017.

I reported on this the other day.

Are You Missing Your Local Unity Caucus Slug? 800 have shuffled off to Buffalo at your expense for NYSUT convention

Arthur has a story:

A New Movement in NYSUT

Here are some pics:

 

Are You Missing Your Local Unity Caucus Slug? 800 have shuffled off to Buffalo at your expense for NYSUT convention

Message to RA Assembly this weekend from Lace to the Top:

I highly encourage like-minded rank and file teachers to join the ST Caucus. 

My message is:  Join Stronger Together to challenge the Unity state and city slugs at the state level. As we hear from the crew up in Buffalo, we'll report events. Friday night ST is calling a caucus meeting at the same time state Unity is meeting. Let's see who stands up.

Stronger Together, Tabling - I want one of those tees - Port Jeff Station union pres Beth Dimino on right

This weekend is the first NYSUT convention since last years war between the Mulgrew/Randi/Magee Revile slate which attacked the NYSUT leadership, which formed a new slate called Stronger Together (ST). They lost but are coming back stronger this year.

I would also like to see ST make a showing at the 2016 AFT convention in Minneapolis.

By the way, in the 2016 UFT elections, which I will be urging people to boycott, those 800 slugs will be re-elected just in time for the AFT convention, where they can punch those who oppose common core in the face.

The always awesome Beth Dimino has been a leader of the growing opposition on the state level. ST and MORE have been in an alliance and MORE may have a rep on the steering committee. ST wants to work with the leading opposition to Unity here in the city and when the next NYSUT election (2017 - with the same 800 Unity slugs) comes along in 2 years - here at the Hilton, I imagine, we expect to see the state and the city Unity caucuses sweating. MORE may end up running with them to make a point about the lack of democracy in the UFT. 

In the last election, Unity with 31% of the voters in the RA also had the support of the other big 5 city unions, plus the semi-slugs from the CUNY union. In the last year, there have been some changes brewing in some of those big 5 and this weekend should be an interesting test of how much progress ST is making. 

NY Teachers- join ST Caucus and bring real change to your school house

28 Tuesday Apr 2015

Posted by lacetothetop 

We represent the combined effort of parents and teachers. We are ignored by politicians and union leadership alike.

Our strength comes in our numbers and our agenda is simple- we want what is best for our children.

I have tried to hold Randi accountable and have attacked NYSUT’s leadership every time they have taken us down a path that is harmful to our children. I am but a mosquito to these people, but there is hope…

I highly encourage like-minded rank and file teachers to join the ST Caucus. In full disclosure, I am not an officer nor do I play any significant role in the ST caucus (other than supporter). I know the people that have constructed this caucus. They are student centered and share our values. I believe in them. If teachers want to bring real change into their school houses, I encourage you all to join.

ST Caucus will be present at the NYSUT RA in Buffalo. Please tell your reps that you want to join or ask them to bring back more information.

Memo from the RTC with Video clip: Lost in Yonkers is Broadway Quality - Norm in The Wave

I could go see every performance of this show and still want more. I'm going back twice this weekend. At least three of the performers are NYC teachers. Check out the video clip below to see the kind of work this little theater puts out. And current and retired teachers play a major role in making this happen.


Memo from the RTC: Lost in Yonkers is Broadway Quality

By Norm Scott
Published Friday, May 1, 2015 at www.rockawave.com

I filmed last Sunday’s matinee of the Rockaway Theatre Company production of Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers. It was my 2^nd time seeing it after taping opening night on Friday. I wanted to see it again with the rotating cast of four boys playing the key roles of Jay and Arty. On Friday Steven Wagner and Aidan Lawrence had played the roles to perfection. Could Raimondo Graziano and Andrew Feldman pull it off again? Can the little theater that could, located in isolated Fort Tilden, actually find 4 young teen actors of such high quality they could carry a major production? Kids who could play comedy and drama equally well? Well, of course, if you know the production team at RTC did you have any doubts?

Before the show began I was talking to a young couple in the audience who had discovered the RTC a year before. They gushed at having what they described as “Broadway quality” theater in their own backyard. “Going to shows on Broadway is so expensive,” they said, “and here we don’t feel we lose anything from that experience.” My wife, who attends many Broadway shows and is a very hard grader on quality theater, also attended this show and afterwards said, “I can’t imagine see this show done any better, even on Broadway.”

I’m running out of space and will write more next week, but I must mention the other equally great performances of the adults. Lynda Browning as Bella delivers a performance as powerful as Mercedes Ruhl in the movie. Steve Ryan as the gangster, Uncle Louie, was told “You were better than Richard Dreyfus in the movie,” by one audience member. And as always, Susan Corning as the frightening Grandma Kurnitz., blows everyone away with her authentic performance. I told her husband, “Aren’t you afraid to go home?” Kim Simeck and Bob Alpert played crucial roles as Eddie and Gert (I’m going to see Jessica Mintzes play Gert next Friday and Sunday). And of course bravo to first time Director David Risley, who has been such a major actor at RTC for a dozen years. The final 3 performances are this weekend: Friday, Saturday at 8PM and Sunday at 2PM. The theater was packed last weekend so call to check availability of tickets (718-374-6400).

I put up a 12 minute video clip from both performances I taped on vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/126252791.

I dare you to watch this clip and stay away.



RTC Lost in Yonkers Clip from Rockaway Theatre Company on Vimeo.

Mike Francesa Makes an NFL Draft Day Data Point We Can Apply to Teacher Ratings

I've been listening to Mike since he began on WFAN almost 30 years ago. The other day he was discussing tonight's NFL draft (Will the Jets screw it up again? I'm going to start early - Boooooo!). Every player is tested and measured at the NFL combines. Mike was complaining that too much can be made of all this data. His guest said that some teams make their draft choice based on data and not the actual player. "A football player is a football player," Mike said. "Sometimes you have to look at the person, not the data."

Data is a funny thing. We know that the Bloomberg grad rates were phony, yet they are accepted by a fawning press as real.

One of the nicest things said about me as a teacher - not to my face but to the teacher trainer in my school -- yes, Virginia, in the late 60s there were so many new teachers many schools had a full-time teacher trainer to work with them - we have regressed - was from the principal, a guy who, like most principals at the time who rose through the ranks of teacher, AP. He had dropped in to observe me and told her I was a born teacher. No data -- just watched me interact with the kids.We all knew - some years my data would be good, others not so good. In addition, there was a guy at my school who the principal loved -- this guy was a data guy -- his scores were out of sight every year -- but then again he was given the top class every year -- but still they were 2 years above level. I'm not even assuming he cheated - but that was what he focused on. I focused on other things - the whole child, lots of trips for kids who barely ever left their neighborhood. Even with the same kids I never could have gotten the scores he did because I was not comfortable teaching his way.

That is why I think that today I would not, could not, be a teacher. I would be thinking electrician or carpenter - and I can't think why Michael Mugrew would wanted to switch.

Lily Eskelsen Garcia (NEA) and Randi Weingarten (AFT) turn their backs on the opt-out movement - Ken Priviti

When Lily Eskelsen Garcia (NEA) and Randi Weingarten (AFT) both turn their backs on parents who oppose the corporate education scam of mandated high stakes testing, it is time to question why they are doing this....Carefully listen to their very carefully worded comments.
This is precisely the corporate ploy being used by legislative cronies in state after state. By promising to beat children and teachers less often, somehow or other the beatings become acceptable.
.Reclaim Reform blog.

Weingarten at Pearson Stockholders' Meeting: In a scene right out of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, AFT President Randi Weingarten goes to London, hat-in-hand, to plead (more sir) for Pearson's Board of Directors to stop spying on students who may have been chatting on social media about the PARCC exam....But there was something in RW's pathetic appeal to these global education profiteers -- recognizing their sovereign right to profit, while at the same time, asking them politely to temper their spying activities and to "mediate the contract language" that allows such practices -- that shamed me as an educator and a public school parent..... Mike Klonsky (see the video)

Ooooh, I know, I know why they support corporate deform - but I'm not going to tell you - now. Actually I have sort of told you in past blog posts - there will be a test.

Opt out leader attended the NPE event in Chicago this past weekend and raised the issue of: Why can't they all be like Karen Lewis?

Opt-Out Movement and Teachers: Opportunity Lost?

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Ken Previti

 

The National Opt-Out Movement is the single greatest grassroots opposition to corporate education ever. Hundreds of thousands of parents and their children have refused this attempt at a corporate attempt, in collusion with politicians they own by legally (?) financially supporting them. Many of these parents staunchly support their children’s teachers.
At the 2015 Network for Public Education National Conference both Lily and Randi mentioned the importance of the parental support of teachers. To push away from supporting parents in their efforts to stop and do away with corporate commanded high stakes testing is self destructive for both NEA and AFT as well as all of the teachers they are supposed to represent.
Randi said, “Every parent should have the right to opt out or not to opt out.” Huh?
Lily said, “The opt out movement will not end toxic testing.” Huh?
Listen and view both of their comments HERE.
A short time later during the same NPE Conference, Karen Lewis, Chicago Teachers Union President, proudly and thankfully told Diane Ravitch how parents with their supportive presence during the Chicago Teachers Union rallies played a vital role.
Listen and view HERE.
Since the vast majority of teachers are parents themselves, and since all teachers realize that all children are their children, this wonderful support should be no surprise.
The superb founders of United Opt Out National are parents and teachers. What this small band of good people began is astonishing. Separate local opt-out and refuse movements have flourished and multiplied.
Why won’t the two leaders of NEA and AFT return the favor?
Lily wants the mandated high stakes tests to continue in lessened numbers at state levels and on grade span testing. She made no mention of what private corporations will get these juicy contracts with money taken from public education tax funds.
Randi also wanted less testing and was even vaguer in her euphemisms.
Carefully listen to their very carefully worded comments.
This is precisely the corporate ploy being used by legislative cronies in state after state. By promising to beat children and teachers less often, somehow or other the beatings become acceptable.

As noted Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes so clearly stated in the early 1900s, “If it’s a bad rule, there is no reason for making a bad exception to it.”

High stakes testing and all of its accompanying abuses must end.
Teachers who legally act in loco parentis (in place of the parent) and parents are partners. Lily Eskelsen Garcia and Randi Weingarten know that. Lily Eskelsen Garcia and Randi Weingarten are in favor of CCSS which is used to fire teachers based on CCSS compliant tests which have no proof of being either valid or reliable. This is unconscionable. (Mercedes Schneider explains this in detail.)
Randi also went to the UK to grovel before Pearson as she recognized their right to power over American children, parents and teachers. OMG! (Mike Klonsky gives details and video footage of this.)
Lily claims that teachers should not ally with parents but must “change the world.” OMG! (Fred Klonsky gives his inquisitive opinion.)
As leaders of their separate teachers unions, there is no valid reason for this.
As individuals with separate power structures that form the basis for their social positions and incomes, there are indeed reasons for their behavior.
The cause of public education is larger than their personal positions. NEA and AFT need leaders, not egos with smiles and carefully selected words that preserve their personal careers.
Support the National Opt-Out Movement. Unite with parents. Serve the needs of all children.
It is not too late. The opportunity need not be lost. The teachers Lily and Randi serve know and want this. Unite with parents and serve the needs of our children.
Karen Lewis did.

Newark Teachers Union Upcoming Job Action: SAY NO on TURNAROUND SCHOOLS

CASA has sent us a letter of support instructing their principals not to interfere with our constitutional right to protest!  SAY NO!  The only way to eliminate chaos is to escalate it!  ...NTU

Do you think the UFT would take a stand on the Faced with an upcoming election challenge from NEW (Newark Education Workers) Caucus, the NTU has taken some action. (NEW VISION Platform).

I always have said that the stronger an opposition the more likely it is for the people being challenged to turn more militant - a good thing for all. Do you think the UFT would support the 94 schools under assault here in NYC in the same way?

JOB ACTION!

The Newark Teachers Union has decided to take direct job action starting next week. As law abiding citizens and union members we are required to exhaust all legal remedies to our grievances. We believe that we have.  88.6% of the members said they are ready for a job action!

It is vital that we prepare staff, parents, and students for what’s to come.  They are not to blame for Cami’s Chaos.   We have attached flyers in English, Spanish, and Portuguese to distribute to patents explaining what is to occur.   This is to be done before and after school.  Remember, the sidewalks in front of our schools and playgrounds are PUBLIC spaces.  You have every right to give out flyers in this space before you punch in and after you punch out.

Started next week, staff is to cease any volunteer work before or after school.  You punch in together at your scheduled start time.  You punch out at your scheduled end time, and you LEAVE!   The district stole jobs away from Newark Citizens, and we must stop covering up their crime. We will stop being co-conspirators in the dismantling of public education in the state of New Jersey.

CASA has sent us a letter of support instructing their principals not to interfere with our constitutional right to protest!  SAY NO!  The only way to eliminate chaos is to escalate it!

Is it important that we stand united against Cami’s failed Renew/ Turnaround School Program.  Last year, 25% of the staff at Renew Schools did not sign EWA’s, and suffered no consequences.  This year, about 50% of the staff at Renew Schools said they would not sign.   The NTU believes in staff-driven reform.  Cami’s Turnaround Schools has been an absolute failure and supporting a failed program is in no one’s best interest.

SAY NO!
- East Side said “NO! We will not sign!”

- Elliott said “NO! We will not sign!”

- Speedway said “NO! We will not sign!”

- Early College said “NO! We will not sign!”

- Central High School said “NO! We will not sign!”

- Ivy Hill said “NO! We will not sign!”

- Weequahic High School said “NO! We will not sign!”


Why haven’t you said no?  SHE CAN’T TURN EVERYONE INTO EMPLOYEES WITHOUT PLACEMENT!

WEEQUAHIC RALLY!

Major rally to protect Weequahic HS from being labeled a Turnaround School is this Saturday, May 2, 2015 at Weequahic HS, 279 Chancellor AVE, Newark, NJ 07112!


In solidarity,

John

John M. Abeigon

Director of Organization

Newark Teachers Union

Local 481, AFT/AFL-CIO

Here is the flyer:

Newark Teachers Union calls for job action!

The Newark Teachers Union has decided to take direct job action starting next week. As law abiding citizens and union members we are required to exhaust all legal remedies to our grievances. We believe that we have. The lack of response from the State DOE on Anderson’s sale of 18th Ave School to a selected list of friends and business partners of the former Commissioner of Education Christopher Cerf et al goes uninvestigated, the absence of a waiver from NCLB to using Regional Achievement Centers in Turnaround Newark’s schools, Anderson’s continuing failure to attain any significant score achievement at her existing extended day/extended year schools, proves to us that she is an ineffective, inexperienced educator.

Commencing next week we will be begin preparing our staff, parents, students and community for Informational Picket lines and will begin signing in/out en masse. Following that we will cease doing any volunteer work before or after school. We will stop covering up this crime. We will stop being co‐conspirators in the dismantling of public education in the state of New Jersey. 

Anderson’s anticipated $75,000,000 debt, her continuing support for the expansion of Charter Schools, her complete lack of support for Traditional neighborhood schools. Not once has she gone to Trenton to lobby for new schools or restoration of lost funding. 

We are forced to do this because acting in loco parentis (in place of the parent) we can no longer sit by and watch the needs of Special Needs children go ignored by the NJDOE and the USED. We cannot watch as children are babysat each day of the school year by substitutes or inexperienced and uncertificated new teachers struggle day in and day out in their new career without resources or mentors. Meanwhile experienced, veteran teachers are cast to the waters by a superintendent who classifies them as Employees without Placement and uses them as scapegoats for her every failure she creates. 

We will, by these actions, force the moment to its crisis. We will say no! we will escalate the chaos!
‐ Newark Teachers Union 

Juan Gonzalez Exposes Sham Dewey Principal Kathleen Elvin Grad/Credit Recovery Schemes

How do those phony Bloomberg grad rates look? Let's explode the bullshit whenever the press puppets the story that Bloomberg raised grad rates from 50-67%. Three quarters of that is based on lies like the Dewey case. Every time Chalkbeat talks about the rise in grad rates under Bloomberg, leave a comment saying "Bullshit credit recovery -- and other slick tricks".

Ed Notes readers are well aware of the John Dewey story and Kathleen Elvin. There has been a lot I have not been able to talk about in order to protect my sources at the school - we've been waiting for this DN Gonzalez piece. One thing we do know is that Tweed and Carmen Farina have been told what is happening for almost a year and have done nothing. It is much worse than credit recovery, as there has been a general assault on teachers by the administration, especially the nontenured. One story is that they have to give Do Nows and mark then and enter the grades every day. Farina was informed of this waste of time 6 months ago. Her recently installed superintendent is as big a shit as the one he replaced - Amy Horowitz who was given an even bigger job at the DOE.

By the way, the investigations at Dewey have been going on forever and somehow nothing gets resolved. How about expedited investigations of principals instead of teachers?

Let's keep an eye on the teacher with guts, Wade Goria, and how the vindictive admin comes down on him. I'm betting they will find a reason to rubber room him -

Gonzalez: Protesters eye bogus classes used to boost graduation rates

Last spring, a teacher at John Dewey High School in Brooklyn was assigned to oversee 16 students in a single class who were seeking credit for subjects they’d previously failed. The topics included Earth science, global studies, trigonometry and English — 14 in all — yet the teacher was only certified as a math instructor.
A second teacher became her own virtual high school.

Records obtained by the Daily News show she was put in charge of a course titled Project Graduation. Students in the course had failed 35 different subjects, including U.S. history, geometry, living environment, Earth science, global studies, algebra, art and Spanish. But the teacher’s license was for special education.

How is it possible to teach so many subjects simultaneously — all outside your expertise?

Well, it’s not. Pupils assigned to Project Graduation simply had to show up and fill out individual “course packets,” according to several teachers who were assigned to the course.

It was part of a brazen scheme by the school’s administrators to inflate graduation rates by manufacturing bogus “credit recovery” — a practice now being probed by the school system’s office of special investigation.

Just as test prep has overwhelmed elementary schools, with the politicians demanding higher standardized test scores, “credit recovery” will likely be the next big high school scandal.

At Dewey, The News obtained class rosters, individual student records and school emails, and interviewed a dozen teachers who claim sham credit recovery has gone on for years.

The documents show teachers were often assigned to grade students out of their expertise, supervisors altered failing grades to passing without consulting the original teacher, and students were passed without even attending class, all in violation of state and city education regulations.

What’s happening is incredibly fraudulent and criminal,” said Wade Goria, a social studies teacher at Dewey who is about to retire. Goria was willing to be quoted, but many of his colleagues who gave evidence to investigators asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals. 

The News asked Goria about a student of his who graduated last year despite receiving a failing grade in a government course — one required for graduation.
“The student was absent more than half the time and had no idea of what was going on,” Goria said. “In no way, shape or form could I justify passing him.
“The next thing I knew, the boy was on the graduation line,” Goria said.

School records obtained by The News show that on July 1, a few days after graduation ceremonies, Goria’s student received a 65 in government from a supervisor as part of credit recovery.
“No one came to me about him,” Goria said.
“There was no discussion whatsoever. He just passed.”

As you might expect, Dewey’s graduation rate soared since Principal Kathleen Elvin took over in early 2012. It was 61% in June 2011, and 74% last June.
Elvin declined to comment and referred all questions to the Department of Education.

“The integrity of our academic programs is of the highest importance and the Department of Education takes any allegations of this sort extremely seriously,” said Devora Kaye, spokeswoman for Chancellor Carmen Fariña. “This matter is under investigation.”

Records obtained by the Daily News show a teacher was put in charge of a course titled Project Graduation. Students in the course had failed 35 different subjects, but the teacher’s license was for special education.

Bryan Pace/for New York Daily News

A teacher at John Dewey High School in Brooklyn was assigned to oversee 16 students in a single class who were seeking credit for subjects they’d previously failed.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/gonzalez-protesters-aim-classes-boost-grad-rates-article-1.2202945

MORE Tonight at the PEP: Connecting charters to renewel to high stakes testing to opt out to ATRs -

58% of schools targeted for charter co-locations in NYC are Renewal Schools.... 60% of the renewal schools have class sizes of 30 or more

Charters Invade Renewal Schools Where Teachers Must Reapply for Jobs Leading to More ATS - get it?

Everything is connected. What some shortsighted people think is that a battle for ATRs is just a battle for ATRs and not connected to the bogus use of high stakes testing used to brand schools and teachers as failures, along with the charter movement to replace public schools with their unionized teachers. And then there's the opt out movement. Understanding all these connections was the basis of the original ICE offshoot, the Grassroots Education Movement (GEM), the mother of both Change the Stakes (the leading opt out parent movement in NYC) and MORE.

Thank goodness some of my pals at MORE still see the big picture. Some of us have been going to charter school hearings. Even some UFT officials in certain districts - ie Dist. 21 (Coney Island, Bensonhurst), have also helped organize protests at charter hearings. (Kudos to UFT Dist 21 rep Judy Gewirtz). Tonight a MORE contingent will be at the PEP meeting to advocate for many of these issues in addition to supporting rubber roomed teachers David Garcia-Rosen and Maria Damato of NYCLetemplay (See SEGREGATED AND SIDELINED : A CIVIL RIGHTS STORY that documents the students beautiful civil rights struggle for equality and The students of NYCLetEmPlay are paving a path that will end  New York City's "Separate and Unequal" school system.)

Here is the MORE announcement.

The School Renewal Program rolled out last November was designed to support "low performing" schools. Since then, a disproportionate number have been the targets of charter co-location proposals. While some have already been approved, more are on the way. This Wednesday three charter school co-location proposals targeting Renewal Schools will be put to a vote by the Panel for Educational Policy. This opportunism on behalf of charter operators is not only shameful but it defeats the promise of The School Renewal Program. Show your support for public schools and demand the PEP vote NO on all charter co-location proposals!

Panel for Educational Policy Meeting

WED April 29th @ 6pm

M.S. 131 

100 Hester Street, Manhattan

New York, NY 10002

Norm in The Wave: Opt Out and Politicians as Cuomo Declares “scores are ‘meaningless’ in terms of students' grades”

Published Friday, May 1, 2015 at www.rockawave.com


Opt Out and Politicians as Cuomo Declares “scores are ‘meaningless’ in terms of students' grades”

By Norm Scott

Times Union columnist Fred LeBrun wrote: “Thanks to Cuomo's thuggish war on teachers and his scant regard for the considerable collateral damage it's causing public education in this state, New York has become a national leader in the opt-out movement. Parents across the state have held their children out of third- through eighth-grade standardized state tests that are ostensibly designed to show student progress but in reality show not much of anything with reliability amid much anguish and anxiety. Except that they can be used to rank, rate and fire teachers, which is what the governor is really after.” http://bit.ly/1DOB7HY

I read all the local Rockaway papers and websites and notice our local politicians often write regular articles. I also notice that they barely, if ever, mention issues related to education – one of the hottest items on the national and local agenda. What are they afraid of? Being held accountable for the positions they take and the votes they cast, unlike the accountability they all seem to want teachers to be held to? Next time you run into a local pol, ask them where they stand on opt out and whether they will support bills in Albany backing parent choice to opt out? (One local pol told me he was in favor of “choice” when it came to charter schools. Does he support “choice” on all the other issues?)

The opt out of the tests movement has been receiving national attention as parents on the left and right are in revolt. Common core has been dragged down with the tests. The right doesn’t like federal interference in local control of education – especially in some states that want to keep teaching that the earth is flat. Until recently, the left, worried about education in Mississippi, was for federal intervention, which used to be benign. But seeing the malignant impact on schools of policies that go back to the Clinton/Bush/Obama administrations, the left has turned. My attitude is “screw Mississippi, I have to deal with New York.”

The other day I was at a party and some guy, who used to teach physics, asked me what was wrong with the common core and standards since they seemed reasonable to him. Oh, let me count the ways – from inappropriate content for younger children, and especially children who are learning disabled, to an enormous overload in testing and test prep time, to the use to rate teachers based on faulty mathematical algorisms. Since he was a long-time teacher, I asked him if he taught any differently before common core? Were the pre-common core NY State standards, which were amongst the strongest in the nation, somehow deficient that we needed Bill Gates to come in and fix them? He ended up agreeing with me. I post loads of great – and often funny – opt out videos, including this Bald Piano Man parody: https://youtu.be/D066lb9fbQA.

The response from the ed deform community at all levels – government, DOE, press, astroturf orgs, and even the UFT – has been a vicious assault on the 200,000 (and growing) opt outers, including threats of withholding funding from schools with high opt out numbers. (By the way, even with 4000 opt outers here in the city, there are few reports of parents opting out in Rockaway or in District 27 – wait till next year.) Deformers have been trying to kill the movement through divide and conquer. Offers to exempt the “good” schools, delay teacher evaluation (causing a split between Regent Head Meryl Tisch and Cuomo, whose major goal has been to slam the teachers. The enormous donations to him have come from the anti-teacher coalitions who don’t give a fig about the kids.

Cuomo, in this Capital Education report, exposed his true aims:
“Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday said parents who have chosen to have their children ‘opt out’ of taking this month’s state exams don’t understand that the scores are ‘meaningless’ in terms of students' grades. ‘That’s their option,’ Cuomo, referring to parents who have participated in the unprecedented boycott of state exams, told reporters after an Association for a Better New York breakfast in Manhattan. ‘What I don’t think has been adequately communicated is, we passed a law that stops the use of the grades on the test for the student. So the grades are meaningless to the student.’” http://capi.tl/1JChI1q

There you go, ed deform in a nutshell: It’s not really about the kids. Let’s put them through months of misery so we can fire teachers more easily. Really, folks, wouldn’t it be cheaper to just offer tenured teachers a buyout and stop all this nonsense?

See Norm blog about how he solved a common core 8th grade math example: Where I Check the Condition of My Cognition by Doing some Algebra. http://tinyurl.com/of7v6j8. And he even shows his work.

Daily Howler Slams NY Times Kristof for dishonest, agenda-driven ed column - Kristof’s reflexive dishonesty reached an astounding new level

Warning: Ed Deform slug - don't believe a thing he writes

Daily Howler:

Life-forms like Kristof have spent many years running down American students and their public school teachers. Some journalists do this out of sheer ignorance. Others do it because they want to help their upper-class minders and masters privatize public schools.... Why in the world would a life-form like Kristof deceive his readers this way? Beyond that, what makes him so eager to denigrate American kids?...Kristof had once again cast himself in the role of tool to his corporate masters, who want to destroy teachers unions and privatize public schools....
Daily Howler

I wrote about the Kristof column yesterday (Where I Check the Condition of My Cognition) not focusing on the details but on one specific problem which I solved as a test of how far my brain had deteriorated. Otherwise, as I usually do, I didn't pay much attention to noted ed deformer Kristof. But the Howler did and take Kristof apart.

I've written about Kristof before:

• Kristof Doesn't Deserve Praise for Mea Culpa on Unions, Feb 25, 2015
• Ed Notes Online: Nick Kristof Strikes Again, and Gets It ...Oct 16, 2009

Below are more excerpts - read it all and the comments here.

Biggest journalistic hoax concerning test scores yet: In today’s first post, we discussed the “pseudo-journalism” which is so common at the New York Times.

For a truly stunning example, consider the way Nicholas Kristof started yesterday’s column.

Yesterday, Kristof created one of the most remarkable incidents yet. As journalistic deception goes, we’d call this passage jaw-dropping: