Monday, January 11, 2016

The Wrath of Steve Conn: Wildcat Sickout in Detroit After Randi Weingarten Undermines Union - Will Detroit Influence Friedrichs Decision?

A “substantial” number of teachers from at least 40 schools in Detroit’s public school district will participate in a “sickout” on Monday, the Guardian has learned. The move for teachers to simultaneously call in sick, fueled by frustration over large class sizes and “abominable” working conditions, could close nearly half the district.
Finally, some of you might be saying, a teacher union showing some militancy. Not so fast. The teacher union, which has been even more weakened than it was due to repeated Randi/AFT interventions, seems to be playing no role as they usually do in putting the breaks on militancy.

Nor consider this an outrage: "An estimated 41 cents out of every state dollar appropriated for students in Michigan is spent on debt service, according to an analysis by the Citizens Research Council."

Imagine that. Have you heard a word from Randi and crew that taking away almost half the money from children for debt service is obscene and must be resisted? Screw the bondholders. They took their shot and lost.

What happens when there is not much of a union left to sell out?

What happens if Friedrichs, opening today at SCOTUS, weakens a union to such an extent that teachers left to their own devices and without a union to put the breaks on them actually begin to organize themselves?

Don't think that this threat and what is going on in Detroit won't have some influence on the decision. People in power, from state and local governments through school boards may be seeing the nightmare of not having cozy unions like the UFT and AFT around to undermine militancy.
Friday’s closures brought to five the number of DPS buildings that were closed at least one day this week because of teacher sickouts, a tactic former Detroit Federation of Teachers president Steve Conn takes credit for implementing.... Detroit News
Detroit is an example of how Unity Caucus will undermine a local in danger of going rogue. We've reported on how Randi and AFT crew took charge in Detroit after Steve Conn was elected president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers by having him charged with something or other and throwing him out of the union.
Conditions in classrooms are “abominable”, said Steve Conn, a teacher and former president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers who was removed from office for alleged misconduct in August. Conn has vowed to contest those charges.
Detroit has been on our list of Randi Sellouts since she brokered another one of those contracts loaded with ed deform provisions that ultimately
undermine teachers and the union (see Newark).

Given the history of Randi/Unity Caucus non-militancy, to me it was clear that the DFT now under her control would have little to do with a sickout. Our leaders are perfectly comfortable with debt service coming first, in contrast to our pals in Chicago who have put the influence of the banks in siphoning money out of schools front and center.

Now for my anti-left/social justice friends out there, Steve Conn is from the left and a big social justice guy. That infuses militancy not stops it.

In fact, the only group to oppose Randi and her Unity crew at recent AFT elections is Steve Conn's By Any Means Necessary (BAMN).

In the articles below I don't see one comment out of the union. Let's watch this play out when Randi offers to come in and "mediate". She despises Conn and this should be fun. (I have some great video of Steve disrupting Randi's speech at a rally in Detroit during the AFT2012 convention.)

If you want some background here are some ednotes links to the Detroit situation going back to 2008:
Jan 17, 2015 ... Randi's Nightmare: DETROIT TEACHERS ELECT STEVE CONN FROM EON/ BAMN TO HEAD DFT. Randi must be banging her head against ...

Aug 4, 2015 ... The Detroit Federation of Teachers executive board put president Steve Conn on trial this morning for conduct detrimental to the union.

Jan 28, 2015 ... Conn, who has run for DFT president about a dozen times before, credits his victory to members being fed up with the "fiasco disaster" that ...
Nov 17, 2008 ... So what's going on in Detroit with a slate of pro Green Dot so-called "reformers" ( see post previous to this) and Steve Conn running in the ...
Dec 6, 2010 ... Detroit teacher Steve Conn (above center) spoke to the Peace and Justice Caucus of the American Federation of Teachers on July 10, 2010 ...

Dec 9, 2015 ... Aug 4, 2015 - The Detroit Federation of Teachers executive board put president Steve Conn on trial this morning for conduct detrimental to the ...

Detroit braces for 'sickout' by teachers frustrated by class sizes and conditions

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/10/detroit-sickout-teachers-frustrated-class-sizes-con

A ‘substantial’ number of educators are expected to be absent from at least 40 schools in a district facing financial calamity with liabilities of $3.5bn



A “substantial” number of teachers from at least 40 schools in Detroit’s public school district will participate in a “sickout” on Monday, the Guardian has learned. The move for teachers to simultaneously call in sick, fueled by frustration over large class sizes and “abominable” working conditions, could close nearly half the district.



Detroit teachers have recently staged numerous such organized mass absences from work, prompting closures at some of the largest schools in the city of 680,000.
State and local education officials have criticized what they call an “unethical” approach to raising concerns that they say hurts students the most.

Teachers say students are already devastated by conditions in the district, which is facing financial calamity with liabilities of $3.5bn.

Last week, nearly a half-dozen schools closed for at least one day due to teacher sickouts. On Monday that number could climb, according to two sources with knowledge of the plan who spoke to the Guardian.

It is unclear what impact the pledges will have on school closures, but such a large-scale demonstration could prompt the closure of nearly half the districts’ 103 schools, which include an estimated 47,000 students.

Conditions in classrooms are “abominable”, said Steve Conn, a teacher and former president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers who was removed from office for alleged misconduct in August. Conn has vowed to contest those charges.

“I’ve been a resident of Detroit for 30 years … my daughter grew up in the neighborhood, went to Detroit public schools, and the conditions increasingly, especially since 2007 with the financial crisis, have been awful,” he told the Guardian.

Another source with knowledge of plans for the demonstration said 90% of teachers at one school had voted to participate in the sickout. Organizers received “pledges of substantial participation” from teachers in at least 40 schools, the source said.

Detroit’s public schools have been a problem for Michigan’s governor, Rick Snyder, a Republican who ushered the city into the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history. Most observers agree the success of Detroit is contingent upon whether its schools can be fixed.

Snyder has made a $715m proposal to overhaul the failing district in 2016. It has so far received little support in the Michigan legislature.

Asked about the spate of sickouts, David Murray, a spokesman for Snyder, said: “Detroit children need to be in school. In addition to their education, it’s where many children get their best meals and better access to the social services they need. There are certainly problems that [need] to be addressed, quickly.”

Snyder’s plan would eliminate debt in the district that is equal to $1,100 per child, Murray said. That was “money that could be better spent in the classroom, lowering class sizes, raising pay and improving benefits”.
Tom Pedroni, an associate professor at Wayne State University, said the governor’s plan was commendable for “taking seriously the notion that Detroit public schools needs debt relief”.

“We know that with the current debt figures if the issue is not addressed soon, Detroit public schools students will be losing [nearly half of the state’s per-pupil funding total],” Pedroni said, adding: “It’s unconscionable that students lose that to debt service.”

The problem with Snyder’s plan, Pedroni said, was that it relied on governing the school district with a board of appointees, not elected members. Since 2009, under a state-appointed emergency manager, the elected board has been effectively neutered.

“There’s currently a lot of debate over whether those appointees for the new Detroit school board [in Snyder’s proposal] would be mayoral appointees or gubernatorial appointees,” Pedroni said.

“But to me, really all of those are inexcusable because what I think we see happening in the district in Detroit is really an indictment of the sort of heavy-handed power from the executive branch without any checks or balances.”

Pedroni said this was similar to what has taken place in the nearby city of Flint. There, a state-appointed emergency manager has been alleged to have decided to use a local river as the city’s main water source. The move has been linked to an increased level of lead in household water supply.
When in 1999 the state first stepped in and overhauled the governance of Detroit schools, the district’s budget carried a $93m-surplus. According to an analysis by the Citizens Research Council, a Michigan-based policy research group, in the most recent fiscal year the district reported a budget deficit of nearly $216m.

An estimated 41 cents out of every state dollar appropriated for students is spent on debt service, according to the council’s report.

“Despite being under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager since 2009, Detroit public schools, the state’s largest district, is failing academically and financially,” the report said.

Despite a depleted school enrollment, class sizes have increased and teachers have repeatedly taken pay cuts. Only one-third of high school students are proficient in reading, according to Snyder’s office.

Teachers say students are being judged unfairly. In an open letter to the Detroit public schools emergency manager, Darnell Earley, who blasted teachers for the sickout protests last week, fourth-grade teacher Pam Namyslowski said pupils had been “set up to fail in every way”.

“We ARE [the students’] voice,” Namyslowski wrote. “We are on the front line, working side by side with them every day, trying our best to overcome numerous obstacles.

“In the winter, we often work in freezing rooms with our coats on with them. In the summertime, we survive with them in stifling heat and humidity in temperatures that no one should have to work in. We wipe their tears and listen when they are upset.”

Successes in the classroom typically go unnoticed, Namyslowski continued, as “most cannot be measured or displayed on a data wall”.

“We, as teachers, know our students and what they need. It is heartbreaking to see that our students don’t have what they need and certainly not what they deserve.”

In a statement released on Sunday, Earley said: “It’s clear that teachers are feeling an overwhelming sense of frustration over the challenges that they and all [Detroit Public Schools] employees face as they do their jobs each day. We understand and share their frustration.

“However, given the reality of the district’s financial distress, it is becoming clearer every day that the only way that we are going to be able to address these serious issues in any way is through an investment in DPS by the Michigan legislature.

“Unfortunately, obtaining that support becomes more challenging with each closure of a school due to a teacher sick-out.”

A teachers’ protest was planned to coincide with the sick outs, at noon on Monday outside the Fisher building in downtown Detroit.
====

State superintendent calls on teachers to end sickouts


Detroit — Michigan’s state school superintendent called Friday on Detroit teachers to stop the sickouts that have caused repeated school closures this week and over the past two months.
“I understand that teachers in Detroit Public Schools have real concerns about the financial, academic, and structural future of their schools, but for the sakes of their students, they need to be in the classrooms teaching,” Brian Whiston said in a statement issued after classes were canceled Friday at East English Village Preparatory Academy and Mann Learning Community.
Friday’s closures brought to five the number of DPS buildings that were closed at least one day this week because of teacher sickouts, a tactic former Detroit Federation of Teachers president Steve Conn takes credit for implementing.
“I am calling on teachers in Detroit public schools to end their systematic plans of not reporting to work. ...,” Whiston said. “I will be calling a meeting of state and local stakeholders to sit down, discuss the issues, and finally put together a viable solution that will move education forward for the children in the city of Detroit.”
Whiston issued his statement a day after the chairman of the Michigan House Appropriations Committee on School Aid called on him to sanction the teachers union.
Rep. Tim Kelly, R-Saginaw Township, said Whiston should consider “all available options” and called the sickout “selfish behavior and a blatant attempt to circumvent the law barring the DFT from walking away from their responsibilities and striking.”
The leader of a statewide association that advocates for school officials also called for the teachers to be punished.
“I think any time people use kids for a political statement, I think there has to be ramifications,” Chris Wigent, executive director of the Michigan Association of School Administrators, said Friday during a taping of the public affairs television show “Off the Record.”
“I’m not giving a broad brush over every teacher that they’re not there for kids, and probably even the teachers who are doing this are there for kids, but politics can’t take over what’s going on in the classroom, especially with the types of student achievement that we need to get in the city of Detroit,” Wigent said.
The sickouts have been staged by teachers upset by large class sizes, pay and benefit concessions, and Gov. Rick Snyder’s plan to create a new, debt-free Detroit school district.
Conn said he and a contingent of DPS teachers will meet at 4 p.m. Sunday at Gracious Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church to plan their next moves, which might include a full-blown strike.
Conn was ousted as president of the DFT and expelled from the union in August after the local’s executive board found him guilty of internal misconduct charges.
In a statement issued Friday by the American Federation of Teachers, interim DFT president Ivy Bailey said Sunday’s meeting is not sanctioned by the union.
“The Detroit Federation of Teachers has learned that Steve Conn is holding a meeting on Sunday to talk about further actions,” Bailey said. “Let me be clear: This meeting is not a DFT-sponsored meeting, as has been mistakenly reported.”
Besides the two schools closed Friday, classes this week were canceled at Cass Technical High School, Renaissance High School and Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School. That means roughly 6,730 students have missed class because of sickouts.
Teacher sickouts also resulted in several school closures in November and December, including Bates Academy, Mason Elementary, West Side Academy and Mackenzie Elementary-Middle School.
District officials at that time sent “notices of investigation” to teachers thought to be involved in sickouts on Nov. 3 and Dec. 1, 10 and 11, according to the DFT.
In a press conference Thursday at King High School, DPS emergency manager Darnell Earley said that while he did not begrudge teachers the right to protest working conditions, it is “unethical” for them to do it in a way that takes learning time away from students.
“These actions, caused by a minority of teachers, disrupt the efforts intended for those who can ill afford to lose instruction time,” Earley said Thursday.
In a statement posted on the DFT’s website, Bailey criticized Earley for “blaming the teachers — the glue that holds this system together.”
“While we don’t condone the action taken by a small number of our members, we understand the utter frustration underlying it,” she said.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Responses to Anon Unity Caucus Hack Defense of Undemocratic Policy: Shades of British Suppression of Colonists

...you don't see a problem with the fact that the NYSUT/AFT delegate, who couldn't even garner the support of her own building, likely won from votes of people who never even met her or likely even heard of her name before? Is that real democracy to you Unity folk?... Brian
Must read: The Unity comment below to my post: A Day With Stronger Together. 
One of the points made was how a relatively few people can set up a structure that can control the policies of 1.5 million teachers in the AFT.

Some responses.

James Eterno compares them to King George:
Mike Mulgrew in drag
Unity is the best.  They are making the virtual representation argument.  That is the same argument the British used in 1775 to deny the North American colonists representation in the British Parliament.   

Virtual representation stated that the members of Parliament, including the Lords and the Crown-in-Parliament, reserved the right to speak for the interests of all British subjects, rather than for the interests of only the district that elected them or for the regions in which they held peerages and spiritual sway.[1] Virtual Representation was the British response to the First Continental Congress in the American colonies. The Congress asked for representation in Parliament in the Suffolk Resolves, also known as the first olive branch petition. Parliament claimed that their members had the well being of the colonists in mind. The Colonies rejected this premise.
Some more comments:
  1. Could not disagree more (no pun) with that Chapter Leader you mentioned. That AFT/NYSUT delegate represents EVERY Member in the Union. That is what she ran for and that is what she will do. True, she ran with a caucus, and that caucus as a set of principles and goals. A set of principle and goals that continue to be supported by the members at large as they have been for close to 60 years.

    I am Glad Michael is no longer in the classroom. He represents the largest local union in the country. Larger than many national unions. Do you really think he has time to teach.

    Beth's local is smaller than our smallest district. We have Chapters that are larger than her local. Of course she should teach and continue teaching.

  2. By "supported by the members at large" you mean "supported by the retirees and a very small portion of our active membership" I presume?

    Out of curiosity, you don't see a problem with the fact that the NYSUT/AFT delegate, who couldn't even garner the support of her own building, likely won from votes of people who never even met her or likely even heard of her name before? Is that real democracy to you Unity folk?

  3. The criticism isn't just of Mulgrew. There is a whole platoon of union muckity-mucks and do-nothing's at 52 Broadway who do not teach. They serve as a firewall between Mulgrew and the concerns of members. He looks to them when he asks, "how'm I doin'?" And what do you think they say? "You're doin' great boss! Keep it up." They don't answer to us, they answer to him.

    And the bloat at 52 Broadway effects the level of solidarity in the schools. Some people see the sinecure jobs at 52 as something to aspire to. So, they go along hoping to get in on the gravy wagon.

    A good union serves its members, not the other way around. Maybe a case could be made that Mulgrew doesn't have to teach. But, the rest of those goofs and lap dogs down there had better do so. Chicago has by-laws which stipulate that officers in the union must be active teachers. Their local represents. Ours does not.

A Day With Stronger Together

A NYC chapter leader told this story at the conference:
She defeated her Unity predecessor by getting 85% of the vote in her school. Yet the person she defeated who lost 2 elections in the school gets to go to NYSUT and AFT conventions as a delegate - representing no one other than her Unity bosses and joins 749 others and they are the shock troops supporting Randi and letting her set national union policy and Mulgrew setting state union policy - while the legitimately elected rep of the rank and file sits home or must pay her own way.
I had to go so far out on Long Island I could see Europe - or Rhode Island - to get to the ST event organized by our pals, Brian St. Pierre and Beth Dimino in Port Jefferson Station. The event was held at Beth's middle school and she made sure we could get our hands on some great hot dogs. But enough about what I had to eat - on to the business of the day.

[See NYC Educator report]

Restoring Power to the Teacher Means Union Democracy



MORE's Mingling - Brian St. Pierre on right next to me
Jia and Beth
The event attracted local union reps from around Long Island and areas north of NYC, many of them union presidents.
And I got to meet blogger Sullio -
Mulgrew Declares Victory, Promptly Surrenders

This crew ain't your mother's Michael Mulgrew. As one of them said - I wouldn't want to be a union president if I couldn't teach. Amen! MORE presidential candidate Jia Lee was a star attraction and spoke on the early panel along with Beth and Samantha Winslow from Labor Notes as Mel Holden skyped in from Buffalo - as Mel put it - "Great panel of women discussing unionist issues. Great stuff here:!"
https://youtu.be/DkFf8lNDB5M

Jia said on FB:
Stronger Together! What an amazing day we shared with teacher union leaders from across the state! The rank and file are leading the way! 

Mike Schirtzer James Eterno Arthur Goldstein Norm Scott August Leppelmeier Michelle Camille and Brian Beth Dimino. Tim Farley I repped the RESPECT PUBLIC EDUCATION shirt proudly!!

The entire Eterno clan was there - and James had a report on the ICE blog.

Camille [Eterno] is not easily impressed by some of the groups that have attempted to activate our membership. The people of ST Caucus won her over today as they are some of the most dedicated educator-trade unionists in New York.  They understand the big picture of our profession being attacked and aren't content, as our UFT, NYSUT and AFT leaders are, with a "seat at the table" with the corporations and politicians who are destroying our profession.

FUTURE OF STATE TEACHERS UNION IS STRONGER TOGETHER CAUCUS

In the workshop I attended on caucuses and the one on Unity Caucus controls I worked with Brian St. Pierre, we talked about the Unity mechanisms of control that are not always clear to people who are not involved day to day with them.

One method that came up was co-optation - so successfully used by Unity with New Action. An offer for a seat at the table and elected positions supported by Unity. We heard hints of Unity attempts to woo people away from Stronger Together and warnings we issued about how that really works - and what is behind it. The idea is to defang the opposition. And with a NYSUT election coming up next year, Unity is desperate to avoid a contentious election that might carry over nationally to the national AFT in 2018 when it is possible Randi (if Hillary wins) might step down and Mulgrew step up to the AFT.

So glad I went and met so many involved people. Contact with ST has led me to think about alternative routes to breaking Unity control --- outside NYC. If ST can avoid being co-opted by Randi and Mulgrew and can grow to a third of the state it can challenge Unity on the state level. A key is how the other big cities play and if ST gets some traction and Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Yonkers and the CUNY and State college unions move in ST's direction we have a game changer. But that will play out over the next year.

As we expect, the UFT elections will have little impact.

UPDATE: PJSTA Report:  STCaucus Conference

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Memo from the RTC: Acting Up With Franky


Norm tells Annapurna Sinha about the moose as Frank Caiati directs Photo: Rob Mintzes


-->
Memo from the RTC: Acting Up With Franky
By Norm Scott

“Get in his face,” says acting teacher Frank Caiati to the actress, a sweet mild-mannered woman doing a monologue from the play “Misery” as her victim lies there helplessly. “Go nose to nose,” he urges as she moves closer and closer. The class breaks into applause as she screams in the guy’s face.

Thus goes Frank’s Sunday morning Rockaway Theatre Company acting class where he pushes both experienced actors and others like me who just dabble to do things they haven’t imagined doing before. To look at the characters they are playing from all angles.

I’ve been taking Frank Caiati’s acting classes at the Rockaway Theatre Company for a number of years. I would never have dared step on stage when I first started. I decided to do a Woody Allen monologue about shooting a moose. Frank has me do it talking to a woman waiting at  bus stop. Her reactions have the people in the audience as much in stiches as the story I am telling.

This is as good a 2 and ½ hours one can spend on a Sunday morning.  Watching how he massages the roles and also the acting exercises he has us do. Some of these people have been seen playing major roles in RTC productions over the years. Frank will have us all do a show for an invited audience at some point soon.

In the meantime, the RTC crew is heating up for the coming of Shrek Jr., the show involving 90 young children and teens who have been working since September at the Children’s Workshop. The talent is so deep that 2 casts are necessary. The show opens Friday Jan. 29 (7PM) and runs for 3 weekends with 4 performances each weekend, including Fri/Sat nights and Sat/Sun 2PM matinees through Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14. Tickets are only $10. Nine out of the 12 performances are already sold out  so better move fast: http://www.rockawaytheatrecompany.org.

In the meantime, auditions have been announced for the 7 roles in ‘The Sunshine Boys,” opening April 1. Sunday, January 31, 6PM-8PM and Monday, February 1, 7PM-9M at the RTC.

Friday, January 8, 2016

MORE Migration to Stronger Together in Port Jeff Station, Live Cast on Google Hangouts

A bunch of MOREs are heading east to the Island for the ST conference with Jia Lee headling (Stronger Together Conference in Long Island Saturday, Jan. 9).

My weekend plans fell through so I signed up Thursday night and soon after I got a call from Brian St. Pierre, VP of the Port Jefferson Station Teachers Association (http://thepjsta.org/) asking me if I would join him in doing a workshop on Unity Caucus power on the city, state and national levels. Here is Brian's latest update on the conference.
Our registration... has... far exceeded our initial goal. It is really exciting to see such a desire for this sort of thing among our public education teachers and allies in the area.

As a result of the larger than expected attendance, we have added a fourth workshop to both workshop sessions. During the first session Jia Lee will be facilitating a workshop on Teachers of Conscience and during the second workshop Norm Scott and I will be facilitating a workshop dealing with the history of Unity Caucus' control of our unions and how it has resulted in a wholly undemocratic, top down union model along with what we can do about it.

We will be using Google Hangouts On Air to broadcast the panel discussion portion of the event live, so if anyone has friends outside the area who can't make it they should follow @STCaucus on Twitter and we will be tweeting out the link to watch it live (or later on) on YouTube.
Well, gotta go drag out my old notes from the summer MORE workshops and print my graphic of how the Unity machine operates. Then early to be and early to rise (I hope).


Video From Philly: Who Are WE?


This wonderful video is just another reason why MORE's love our colleagues in Philly in Caucus of Working Educators, a social justice caucus challenging the Randi-supported leadership of the union. In a very short time as a caucus, which grew out of connection to our local NYCORE, they have built a caucus with wide outreach. We will know just how far they have reached after the election next month. The current leadership has been stewards of the almost total destruction of the public school system in Philly. The result might not be different but WE will put up a fight like in Chicago.
Members of the Caucus of Working Educators of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) answer the question "Who are WE?" For more information http://www.workingeducators.org/
https://youtu.be/CJrI05_X-jw



Sea Change: Opt-Out Catching Fire in Communities of Color?

Of the 60 plus people in the audience, at least 70 percent were people of color, with the majority being African American, and over half the group was under 40 years of age.
Mark Naison reports on The BK Nation Forum on Testing and the Opt Out Movement, held at Judson Memorial Church in lower Manhattan Wed. night.
 [It} represented a powerful challenge to education policy makers who claim testing is a civil rights measure and that the opt out movement is strictly a white middle class initative.
Although the panel was excellent, including people like Jamaal Bowman, Aixa Rodriguez, Jesse Turner and Shamma Dee, the audience's commentary and participation made the evening special.
.....Mark Naison, BK Nation Forum Defuses Stereotypes About Opt Out as a "White Movement"
If opt-out catches on in NYC by growing beyond the relatively small white middle class and into black communities panic will range throughout the nation.

I learned first hand about the potential when PTA President Shamma Dee contacted Change the Stakes for a speaker to come to her school of mostly students of color to speak to a PTA meeting about opt-out. I was drafted and was so impressed not only with Shamma, who since then has become a leading voice for opt out, but with the large turnout.

I reported on this issue - that high stakes tests have an even greater negative impact on the black community -

High stakes testing impact on the black community - so-called civil rights test supporters - ignore at your peril

I believe the opt out movement will begin to catch on in middle class black communities just as it did in middle class white communities. I am not sure if it will then spread to the poorer communities this year where there is often less parent involvement. The powers that be - from the corporate world to fed, state and city education officials - will do everything they can to kill the movement in this city.

MORE's and its partner Change the Stakes having a leading opt out teacher and parent running for UFT president can't hurt. One interesting aspect of Jia Lee's candidacy is her Asian background. Asian parents seem to be the group least likely to opt out and Jia might get some traction going in those communities.

Mark Naison's report continues:
Anybody who thinks that Reform policies such as testing, school closings and the Common Core Curriculum are popular in Black and Latino communities needed to be in that room. Parent after parent, teacher after teacher, administrator after administrator spoke eloquently about how excessive testing and culturally insensitive curricula were making students in their communities hate school. Equally harrowing were stories about how excessive scripting and humiliating visits were making the best teachers in high poverty communities leave their jobs.
What came across loud and clear was that a climate of fear emanating from city, state and federal policies,, especially school closings and receivership, was creating a toxic atmosphere in many schools in Black and Latino Communities.
What people called for was less testing at all levels, the rewriting of curriculum to include the experience of students in their communities, more portfolio schools exempt from state tests, and adequate funding of schools to reduce class size and make sure students have full access to science, technology, the arts and sports.
Anyone who attended this meeting could not fail to be moved by the sense that the entire Reform Movement had made things WORSE, not better for students of color, and that testing and scripted curriculum had become a nightmare for students, parents and teachers in the communities represented in that room.
I think everyone at this amazing event felt empowered to know that they were not alone, that many other people around the city shared their concerns and were ready to WAGE WAR to see that all children got the education they deserved.
A Huge thanks must be given to Carla Cherry and Kevin Powell for organizing this event, and for everyone who attended and helped make it such an inspiring experience.

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Jia Lee at Stronger Together Conference in Long Island Saturday, Jan. 9

Restoring Power to the Teacher
I'm getting up early on Saturday to go to this. Jia Lee and Beth Dimino and others too.

Event Description

Join us!
Come together with us for a day of organizing and engagement over the issues that matter most to New York’s public school teachers.  Hear from a panel of education activists and participate in focused workshops run by rank and file teachers and public education activists as we discuss how to “Restore Power to the Teacher” through a bottom up, member driven union movement!  STCaucus members and leaders will be on hand along with activists from the Young Teachers Collective and Labor Notes!  All are welcome to attend!
Babysitting will be available!
When
Where
JFK Middle School - 200 Jayne Boulevard Port Jefferson Station, NY 11776 - View Map
James Eterno comments:
Figure out some way to get out there because Stronger Together is the statewide opposition to Michael Mulgrew's Unity Caucus and MORE, the main UFT opposition to Unity, will be part of it too. It's a great team.
Jia's campaign was highlighted this morning in POLITICO NY's EDUCATION DAY:
"THAT OTHER 2016 RACE—United Federation of Teachers president Michael Mulgrew is up for re-election this spring and, as in previous years, he’ll have a challenger from the opt-out movement. This year, Jia Lee, a UFT chapter leader at the Earth School in Manhattan will run against Mulgrew. Lee is an active member of the opt-out movement and raised a resolution for a vote of no confidence against State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia last year. "
OPT-OUT LEADER TO CHALLENGE MULGREW FOR UFT PRESIDENT

Interesting that the press is framing Jia's candidacy as opt-out vs Mulgrew. 
I'm speaking to a reporter tomorrow about the issue.

Ding, Dong, Tisch Ends 2 Decades of Destruction as Regent - Memo from NYSAPE

http://www.nysape.org/nysape-pr-board-regent-candidates.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 6, 2016

More information contact:
Lisa Rudley (917) 414-9190; nys.allies@gmail.com
Jessica McNair (315)-368-7550; themcnairfamily@gmail.com
NYS Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE) www.nysape.org

Two Vacant Seats on the NYS Board of Regents - Candidates Needed
 
Chancellor Tisch & Vice Chancellor Bottar are both stepping down from the Board of Regents, after serving on the Board for twenty years. It was during Tisch’s term as Chancellor and Bottar’s term as Vice Chancellor that the students of New York State suffered the damaging effects of the failed Regents' Reform Agenda, which included the implementation of the flawed Common Core standards and modules, and an increased focus on high-stakes testing, including a disastrous new teacher evaluation system based on student test scores.
 
Both also supported the dangerous NY Education Department plan to share a wealth of personal student data with inBloom Inc. without parent notification or consent, which was eventually blocked by an act of the Legislature.
 
Now, the statewide coalition New York State Allies for Public Education and Opt Out Central NY are calling on candidates to apply for these seats, including one at large candidate to replace Tisch and one from Judicial District V, Bottar’s current seat, which covers Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Oneida, Onondaga & Oswego Counties. Applications are due by mid-January; click here for more information.

“Under the leadership of Chancellor Tisch and Vice Chancellor Bottar, we have seen a myopic focus on high stakes tests, massive collection of personal and sensitive information about children and families, and the theft of local control from elected school boards,” said Lisa Rudley, NYSAPE founding member and Westchester County public school parent.  
 
In response to the Regents’ failed test-centric agenda, Central New York school districts within Judicial District V had some of the highest opt out rates from the state exams, signaling the public’s discontent with the Regents' test and punish agenda.  For example, the 2015 state math tests were refused by 77% of students in New York Mills, 73% in Sauquoit, and 70% in Whitesboro.  
 
“Parents are rightfully concerned with the negative effects of the test and punish agenda ushered in under the watch of Chancellor Merryl Tisch and Vice Chancellor Bottar and they are refusing to participate in a system that they feel is unfit for their children,” said Jessica McNair, Opt Out CNY co-founder, Oneida County public school parent and educator.  “Until and unless we obtain a Board of Regents representative who is responsive to the experience and input of parents and other stakeholders, and the Board as a whole changes course, parents will continue to opt out of high stakes assessments at both the state and local levels to protect their children and their public schools.”

“Parents want state leaders to support their children’s schools, not set them up for failure and threaten them with a state takeover.  Both Regents Tisch and Bottar failed to act in the best interest of students, and ignored the concerns repeatedly brought forth to them by the constituents they are supposed to serve,” said Tonya Wilson, Onondaga County public school parent.
 
There are no specific qualifications to serve as Regent, but New Yorkers should be represented by Regents who understand that the path the majority on the Board is currently pursuing is punitive.  New Regent board members should offer positive, research-based child-centric solutions instead.  Click here to apply to become a Regent and/or be endorsed by NYSAPE and Opt Out CNY.   
 
NYSAPE, a grassroots organization with over 50 parent and educator groups across the state are calling on parents to continue to opt out by refusing high-stakes testing starting on the first days of school. Go to http://www.nysape.org/resources.html for more details on the how to be part of #OptOutNY201
 ###


Leonie Haimson
Executive Director
Class Size Matters
124 Waverly Pl.
New York, NY 10011
phone: 212-529-3539
leonie@classsizematters.org

Follow on twitter @leoniehaimson

Make a tax-deductible contribution to Class Size Matters 

Subscribe to our newsletter for regular updates on class size and related issues at http://tinyurl.com/kj5y5co

Subscribe to NYC education list: email nyceducationnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Emily Talmage Warns: Gates is Infiltrating Opt Out

Corporate Reformers – including Gates – don’t want end-of-year grade-level tests any more they we do.   What they want, instead, are “competency-based” assessment “systems” that track everything your child does in the classroom.
Clever little devils that they are, they are now busy trying to co-opt the same movement that is protesting their takeover of our schools by sponsoring their own opt-out events and calling for “assessment reform.”
But let’s be really clear: “assessment reform” is corporate reform....  http://emilytalmage.com/2016/01/05/warning-gates-is-infiltrating-opt-out/
A good warning piece from Emily Talmage. Co-optation is standard operating procedure when they want to break a movement.

Okay.  If this isn’t enough to convince you that Corporate Opt-Out is real and is trying to co-opt the grassroots opt-out movement, I don’t know what will:

This Saturday, Citizens for Public Schools (CPS) will host an “Opt-Out Campaign Launch” with the Center for Collaborative Education – an organization funded by the Gates Foundation, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, IBM, and the U.S. Department of Education.

Yes – you read that right. Gates is helping to sponsor an Opt-Out event.
Several months ago, in a post called “Cashing in on Opt-Out,” I tried to show that the testing and ed-tech industries have long been aware of an impending shift away from the big, end-of-year high stakes test toward systems of embedded, competency-based testing, where grade levels no longer matter.

If you’ve not yet seen it, please read this article by former Gates executive and venture capitalist Tom Vander Ark, called “The End of the Big Test: Moving to Competency-Based Policy,” which spells out this agenda in detail.

Then check out this document and look carefully at the section below, where standardized tests are predicted to be “obsolete” by the year 2017: 
http://emilytalmage.com/2016/01/05/warning-gates-is-infiltrating-opt-out/

Jia Lee, MORE Presidential Candidate, To Lead Discussion of Teacher Ratings at Jan. 16 MORE General Meeting

Past, Present, Future of Teacher Evaluations at MORE First Meeting of the Year



Inline image 2
MORE's First General Meeting of 2016- 1/16 12-3pm
A discussion led by UFT Presidential Candidate, Chapter Leader, and Opt-Out Parent Jia Lee about the impact on our profession from teacher ratings based on test scores, value added measures, and check-box rubrics. We will explore the alternatives: peer review, student earning objectives, portfolio assessments, long term mentoring, inter-disciplinary/inter-grade collaboration, among other ideas.
CUNY Graduate Center - 34th st and 5th ave midtown NYC
Room: 5414

We will use some of our time together to prepare for the Spring UFT Elections

-Ratify MORE/New Action's full slate of candidates
-Meet in local groups to strategize our get out the vote campaign
-Learn how to petition for MORE to appear on the UFT officers' ballot.

Pizza, coffee, soft drinks will be served
Childcare will be available by reservation- please email more@morecaucusnyc.org

Monday, January 4, 2016

Opt Outers Reply to State and Fed Threats: You Are Full of Shit and We Are Calling Your Bluff...

...we dare you.


A full response to the threats is being drafted by members of the opt out movement  .... more to follow.


Parent Open Letter to all NYS Superintendents and Board of Education Members — Do the Right Thing

Parents have been shouting from the rooftops what they want: the end of Common Core, the end of the developmentally inappropriate tests (both the level of “rigor” and the soul-crushing length of the tests), the end of high stakes testing (student testing tied to teacher effectiveness or school ratings), and the unfettered collection of their children’s data to stop.  
Tim Farley lays bare the phony rhetoric coming from State Ed Commissioner Elia.


December 31, 2015
Dear New York State Superintendents and Boards of Education Members,

I write this letter to you on the eve of a new year. The past year has brought many changes to education — a new Commissioner, a soon-to-be new Chancellor, new regulations on APPR (Annual Professional Performance Review), new Regents, a new testing company for the NY State tests, the Education Transformation Act, the partial moratorium of provisions of this Act, and the re-write of ESEA to ESSA. We are being told by some that everything is fine now, the parents can opt back in to having their children take the tests, the teachers can take a breath, and the children can stop stressing out. Let me assure you that this is not true.

Despite the well wishes of Commissioner Elia in her recent newsletter, it is doubtful that teachers will have a happy holiday. Ms. Elia tries to assuage the teachers’ fears in the opening paragraph with the following: “The emergency regulation removes any consequences for teachers’ and principals’ evaluations related to the grades 3–8 English Language Arts (ELA) and Math State Assessments and the State-provided growth score on Regents exams until the start of the 2019–2020 school year.” Teachers can take a much needed sigh of relief. Or can they?

In the third paragraph of the newsletter, Ms. Elia writes: “The transition scores and subsequent ratings will be determined based on the remaining subcomponents of the APPR that are not based on the grades 3–8 ELA or Math State assessments and/or a State-provided growth score on Regents examinations. During the transition period, only the transition score and rating will be used for purposes of evaluation, and for purposes of employment decisions, including tenure determinations and for teacher and principal improvement plans. State-provided growth scores will continue to be computed for advisory purposes and overall HEDI ratings will continue to be provided to teachers and principals.” What Ms. Elia gives teachers in the first paragraph, she snatches from them in this one.

In the first paragraph one might infer that no matter how poorly students do on the state tests, it won’t count against the teacher. However, she later clarifies that, in fact, the student test scores can and will be used for “advisory purposes.” Does that mean that teachers can still be fired for “ineffective” growth scores based on their earlier growth scores? You bet it does. The moratorium that the Board of Regents recently put in place is for state-provided growth scores moving forward. However, if a teacher or principal already has two “ineffective” state provided growth scores (2013–2014 and 2014–2015), under the new 3012d, if they receive an additional ineffective this year, they must be fired. In addition, the growth scores of the teacher must still be made available to parents.

As you are all probably well aware, the opt out movement has grown exponentially over the past three years, from about 20,000 in 2012–2013, to 65,000 in 2013–2014, to over 240,000 in 2014–2015. Why are parents opting out in such large numbers? What will happen this spring? Parents have been shouting from the rooftops what they want: the end of Common Core, the end of the developmentally inappropriate tests (both the level of “rigor” and the soul-crushing length of the tests), the end of high stakes testing (student testing tied to teacher effectiveness or school ratings), and the unfettered collection of their children’s data to stop. Additionally, Commissioner Elia signed a new contract with Questar without a full vetting or vote by the Board of Regents. Has enough been done to stop the opt out movement? I don’t think so.
  • We still have Pearson making this year’s 3–8 tests in ELA and math. As a matter of fact, Pearson will also be playing a role in next year’s tests according to this Newsday article. As reported by John Hildebrand, “State education officials said local teachers and administrators will be given a much bigger role, working with Questar to write new test questions. Those officials acknowledged, however, that questions developed by Pearson must be used in tests administered in April and in the spring of 2017, because of the time needed to review new questions for validity and accuracy.”
  • We will likely still have tests that are far too long and far too “rigorous.” Ms. Elia has stated that certain reading passages and some multiple choice questions would be eliminated, but admitted that these changes will not substantially reduce the length of the tests. The tests will still be administered three days for ELA and three days for math for grades 3–8.
  • Despite a promise that onerous field tests would be eliminated if NYSED received $8.4 million to print different versions of the exam, they were provided with this funding but are still imposing field tests on the state’s students.
  • We still have tests tied to teacher and principal effectiveness ratings. As stated above, teachers and principals can still be fired based on state-provided growth scores in grades 3–8 tests from the last two years — and all other teachers will have their effectiveness ratings based primarily on local assessments or high school Regents exams.
  • We still have standards that are developmentally inappropriate and a Commissioner that is determined to make minor adjustments solely at the K-3 level.
  • We still have a system in place that collects enormous amounts of data on our children, without protecting the privacy of this sensitive information. According to Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters, the Daily Mail reports, “Students’ names, emails, addresses, grades, test scores, disabilities, disciplinary information, health information, economic status, racial status and more,” are being collected by schools, districts and the state; with little or no restrictions on their disclosure.
Last year, the threat of losing any Title I monies for any district not meeting the required 95% participation rate was put to rest by Governor Cuomo, Chancellor Tisch, and then reluctantly, Commissioner Elia. They knew then that if they withheld any money that goes to the neediest students, it would have been political suicide. Yet, despite the fact that the new version of ESEA, called Every Student Succeeds Act or ESSA, specifically bars the US Department of Education from penalizing states that have high opt out numbers, they are still threatening the loss of federal money from any district not meeting the 95% participation rate.
According to this letter, dated December 22, 2015, from USDOE’s Ann Whelan — the threats/sanctions include:
  • Lowering an LEA’s or school’s rating in the State’s accountability system or amending the system to flag an LEA or school with a low participation rate.
  • Counting non-participants as non-proficient in accountability determinations.
  • Requiring an LEA or school to develop an improvement plan, or take corrective action to ensure that all students participate in the statewide assessments in the future, and providing the SEA’s process to review and monitor such plans.
  • Requiring an LEA or school to implement additional interventions aligned with the reason for low student participation, even if the State’s accountability system does not officially designate schools for such interventions.
  • Designating an LEA or school as “high risk,” or a comparable status under the State’s laws and regulations, with a clear explanation for the implications of such a designation.
  • Withholding or directing use of State aid and/or funding flexibility.
Clearly, these threats are being made to quash the opt out movement. However, I assure you these tactics will have the opposite effect.
There are roughly 700 school districts in New York State. That means there are about 700 Superintendents who were hired by locally-elected Boards of Education. These Superintendents work for their communities and they are evaluated by their Boards of Education. Superintendents know that VAM (value-added model) has been deemed invalid and unreliable in measuring teacher effectiveness. Superintendents know that the state tests are too long and are not developmentally appropriate.

One of the claims of the newly written ESSA was that it would re-establish state’s rights and “local control” with regard to education. Do these threats indicate more local control? Instead, the US Department of Education, now led by John King, our former Commissioner, whose rigid authoritarianism was soundly rejected by our state’s teachers, parents, and students, seems to be intent on ignoring what should have been learned through his experience: that parents will be even angrier and more intent on resisting the more they are exhorted to submit.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “In any society, it is every citizen’s responsibility to obey just laws. But at the same time, it is every citizen’s responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” It is long past time for our education leaders to lead the charge. The parents will opt out in unprecedented numbers this spring. However, what if the 700 Superintendents refused to administer the tests? What if their locally-elected boards directed them to do so? What if there was a test, but no one took it?

General Colin Powell once said, “Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems, is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.”
Who will stand up for the children? Who will stand up for the teachers? Who will stand up for the schools and for public education? Who will demand that we deserve better? If not you, who? If not now, when?

Sincerely,
Tim Farley
New York State Public School Parent

PS — Please share with the Superintendent of schools and Board of Education members where you live.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Families for Excellent Schools (FES), Facing Backlash from Public and Skeptical Press, Backs Off Charter Rallies

A MODEST LOBBY DAY - POLITICO New York's Eliza Shapiro: In lieu of the massive rallies it has held biannually since 2013, the charter school advocacy group Families for Excellent Schools will hold a modest "lobby day" on Jan. 20 in Albany, POLITICO New York has learned. The influential charter group recently decided to put its rally strategy - which has achieved diminishing returns - on hold. Rather than bus tens of thousands of parents and teachers to Albany, lobby day will put FES' legislative efforts more in line with other advocacy groups - education-related and otherwise - whose members convene at the Capitol each winter. While FES typically held its Albany rallies late in the legislative session, close to final budget negotiations, next month's rally day will be held as other groups are flooding the Capitol to meet with lawmakers in the wake of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's State of the State on Jan. 13, when he will lay out his legislative agenda. http://politi.co/1NP83Iw
Yes, closing down schools and force marching parents, children and teachers to Albany raised too many eyebrows.
All the rallies have been technically organized by FES but are overwhelmingly attended by Success students, parents and teachers.
The Eva backlash is also affecting FES which may not want to be so tied so publicly to toxic Success.

 More from Politico:
The influential charter group recently decided to put its rally strategy — which has achieved diminishing returns — on hold.

An October 2014 rally in Manhattan focused on failing district schools as an indirect means to advocate for more charters, but the "Don't Steal Possible" slogan revealed little about the group's specific policy goals to improve struggling schools.
A rally in March, in Albany, had an identical message; the group's CEO, Jeremiah Kittredge, became so visibly frustrated with reporters probing the group's vague policy goals that FES has not made him available to speak with the media at public events since.
Two rallies were held in New York City this fall; one for students and parents, the other for teachers. The teacher-led rally was intended as a show of force against the United Federation of Teachers, but garnered the most attention for its customized selfie sticks and photo booths. 

The events also present a biannual logistical feat for FES.
The rallies require FES to transport thousands of children who are given matching T-shirts, hats and signs to a public square with a massive stage and sound system. The rallies also always feature a prominent musical guest, from the DJ Questlove to the early-aughts R&B star Ashanti to singer Jennifer Hudson. Representatives for FES have repeatedly declined to give any details on the cost of the events, and have declined to say whether the musical guests' performances were donated. 
But, sources said, the cost of the rallies is not the reason they are being put on hold. While FES' leaders will not disclose its donors, sources indicate that the group is funded by a group of hedge fund managers that give to other education reform causes. FES broke a state lobbying record last year, and helped education reform groups outspend the city and state teachers' unions.
None of the rallies since March 2014 has been accompanied by pro-charter legislation, nor have they attracted politicans with the same influence and star power as Cuomo. The sole legislative exception is the modest boost in the charter cap the Legislature approved earlier this year. Still, the change was small enough that teachers unions took credit for preventing a significant cap lift. 
The events have also been complicated by the fact de Blasio has let charter schools grow and operate virtually untouched by the administration since his kerfuffle with Moskowitz in early 2014.
Outspending the teacher unions takes away a major talking point for the deformers.

For those of us opposing the union leadership, the massive amount they DO spend and get so little for it is a major talking point.

The Trump Whisperers in Supposedly Liberal Circles

Conversation in a gym:
He (a pharmacist with his own business): I don't want the same old thing. No Bush. No Clinton. No regular politician. I can support Trump. Or Bernie Sanders. The only problem I have with Bernie is how we would pay for universal health care.

Bernie or Donald? Pretty interesting choice.

At dinner with a friend: I'm scared of what could happen. Trump is at least saying things I am thinking.

At a party: I keep telling people that Trump is the only one.

For those who associate with a wide variety of people outside narrow political circles, there is a lot more pro-Trump sentiment in places where you might not expect it.

Fear of Trump is being used by Hillary supporters and even those who don't care for her - and even some people who might lean toward Bernie -

But just imagine a Bernie-Donald race. The left/liberal Trump haters would be motivated. And the right (and left) Hillary haters would have to shift their focus of hate.

We are in for interesting times.