James Eterno points out (ICEUFT Blog
UPDATES AND PREDICTION ON NEXT ROUND OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING) that the basics of the next contract will follow a pattern possibly set by another union - DC37. Other than salary there won't be much else negotiated, other than paid parental leave in exchange for a slice of the raise.
Nothing else. So when we hear the line about "free loaders" who won't pay for their share of the costs to a union for negotiating a contract, I can understand people pointing to how little was negotiated, including salary.
So what will the Committee of 300 have to do? At the very least I hope they serve decent cookies.
Written and edited by Norm Scott: EDUCATE! ORGANIZE!! MOBILIZE!!! Three pillars of The Resistance – providing information on current ed issues, organizing activities around fighting for public education in NYC and beyond and exposing the motives behind the education deformers. We link up with bands of resisters. Nothing will change unless WE ALL GET INVOLVED IN THE STRUGGLE!
Friday, December 8, 2017
Thursday, December 7, 2017
Exposing Unity Caucus: Another View in the UFT - Holding UFT/Leadership's Feet to the Fire
"I never read many of these things given out here but once I started reading this I couldn't stop. I agree completely agree and it explains so much. I feel so isolated."... Chapter leader leaving the Dec. 6 delegate assembly.We (Arthur, Mike, James and I) put out our 2nd edition of Another View in the UFT, our delegate assembly newsletter. And this one focused on the transgressions of our union leadership and Unity Caucus, using excerpts from our blogs.
Our goal: Holding their feet to the fire. While we are all members of MORE, we have not been satisfied with the literature coming out of MORE which barely mentions Unity or is critical of the union leadership. A major role of an opposition is to expose the people running the union or else why be an opposition? (More on this thesis in the future.) The comment made to me after the DA by the woman is indicative that many people have little idea of Unity as a controlling force for over half a century.
See Arthur's blog on Monday's Ex Bd meeting:
UFT Executive Board Takeaway December 4th, 2017
-->If you want a pdf to share with your colleagues email me at normsco@gmail.com.
-->
The articles:
- Contract Demands Behind Closed Door
- By Arthur Goldstein, CL Francis Lewis HS, UFT Ex Bd. ---nyceducator.com
- NYCEducator: http://nyceducator.com/2017/11/trust-in-allah-but-tie-your-camel.html
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Video Teaser: Superintendent John Kuhn
From Michael Elliot:
On Saturday Dec 9 it’s time to release John Kuhn’s video from our shoot last April. We need you all to Watch, Like, Share and Tag again.
This morning we posted a teaser for John on both NPE Facebook page and Shoot4education… Please watch and share that if you get a chance.With so much bad news, we’ve nothing left to do but fight as hard if not harder than ever. John’s piece packs quite a wallop and is one of my favorites.
School Scope: How Do You Spell “Success”? – Part 1
Submitted to The WAVE for publication Dec. 9, 2017
School Scope: How Do You Spell “Success”? – Part 1
By Norm Scott
The current issue of The
New Yorker is running a story by Rebecca Meade, Success Academy’s Radical Educational Experiment: Inside Eva
Moskowitz’s quest to combine rigid discipline with a progressive curriculum.
Good luck with that – the very idea of child-centered progressive education is
incompatible with rigid discipline. The schools, forty six so far in NYC with a
goal of one hundred, run by Moskowitz, have been controversial on a number of
grounds. Educators have long been suspect of the test outcomes, which far
surpass not only public schools but also all other charters and even match
results in the high performing suburbs. That has caused more than a little
skepticism, especially since Moskowitz claims the kids in her schools come from
the same pool as the public schools. In essence, the Success lobby is claiming
they are miracle workers and their demands for space in public schools keeps
increasing even when so many of the 1800 public schools are also competing for
space.
Educational professionals who worked with populations of
students similar to those being claimed by Success have been skeptical. As
someone who taught elementary school (grades 4-6) in schools with many struggling
non-white children and who also holds a Masters in reading instruction, I am a
skeptic, especially since I spent years trying to figure out how to break
through with kids with reading issues. There are no miracles, though once in a
while I saw a child make a major breakthrough.
One of the major problems for struggling readers is language – even kids born here who hear another language at home. A second issue is whether there are opportunities to read at home or have parents who focus on reading with their children. Even immigrant families whose children read in their native language can make major progress fairly quickly. Generally, the level of income and the amount of economic struggles have a direct impact on the entire process. If one were to go through any school and match reading ability with income in the home, even in the working poor, there would be a strong correlation.
One of the major problems for struggling readers is language – even kids born here who hear another language at home. A second issue is whether there are opportunities to read at home or have parents who focus on reading with their children. Even immigrant families whose children read in their native language can make major progress fairly quickly. Generally, the level of income and the amount of economic struggles have a direct impact on the entire process. If one were to go through any school and match reading ability with income in the home, even in the working poor, there would be a strong correlation.
I taught in a system where classes were made up of kids
grouped by reading scores. Thus the so-called top class had the best readers
and so on down the line. The bottom class students were the hardest to teach
reading too. The UFT contract allows teachers to rotate from the top classes to
the lower level readers and back every year, though in my schools, principals
save the top classes for their favorites and sometimes we had to file a
grievance. I did this for almost twenty years, so I had a good feel for the
differences between the kids, who all pretty much lived in the projects across
the street. The two times I had the very top class, I was astounded at their
general on grade reading ability and also the fact that there were many less
discipline issues. Now these were not wealthy people – many were on welfare or
had low paying jobs. And there were a lot more two parent homes in the top
class than in the bottom. Most of them had been in our school since pre-k (and
we found that kids who went to pre-k did better than those who didn’t – shout out
to de Blasio). Many of the students entered pre-k with some reading readiness.
Now I would bet that in Success schools we would find a heavy concentration of the same kinds of students that were in our old top classes. And those who do get into the lottery who are struggling with academics or discipline face high suspension rates and attempts to push them out, a standard operating procedure at most charters.
How can we tell? Of the 72 students who began at the first Success
school in kindergarten, only 17 were left to graduate high school. What happened
to the other 55 students?
There are no miracles. More next time.
(Link to New Yorker article: https://tinyurl.com/yabebvqx)
Norm does manage to
perform miracles every day at ednotesonline.com.
Sunday, December 3, 2017
BAT/MORE's Jake Jaobs: Money Talked: Little Known Leaks From 2014 Show Input of Wealthy Privatizers on Hillary Clinton's Education Policy | Alternet
A leaked policy book captures the influence of billionaire donors looking to overhaul and privatize public education.
But still great work by Jake Jacobs posted by Michael Fiorillo who says: While it’s a given that Trump is beyond awful, this should serve as a little reminder about how Hillary would have screwed educators.
That the article doesn't address Randi/AFT/UFT complicity with the Clintons ed policy -- well, forever, is bothersome - see my post (How Education Reform Ate the Democratic Party - Cl...) and gives Randi some cover when it mentions her pushing community schools with Hillary. Note that the BATS seemed to have some kind of working relationship with Randi at the 2016 AFT convention in Minneapolis so stepping on her toes may be off the agenda.
Despite all this it is a must read article.
https://www.alternet.org/ money-talked-leaks-show-input- wealthy-privatizers-clinton- education-policy
In previous speeches, Clinton campaign manager John Podesta indicated that recruiting and grooming younger, more compliant teachers was the plan to overcome resistance to corporate education reform over the long term..... The revolving door was also in full swing, with top Clinton and Obama administration officials working for “non-profits” run by Powell Jobs and Tom Steyer. In the end, the influence of the various well-connected “experts” advising Clinton could be felt in an official education platform that endorsed a test-centric approach that was increasingly unpopular with parents, students and educators, and out of favor with voters. .... Jake Jacobs -While the role of the union was not the purview of this article, I find it interesting how so many are willing to let Randi and the entire UFT/Unity operation off the hook when we talk about the Democratic Party complicity. You can't talk about how the Dems and Clintons screwed unions and teachers without talking about how our own union has been a handmaiden to ed deform. I think it needs a part 2.
But still great work by Jake Jacobs posted by Michael Fiorillo who says: While it’s a given that Trump is beyond awful, this should serve as a little reminder about how Hillary would have screwed educators.
That the article doesn't address Randi/AFT/UFT complicity with the Clintons ed policy -- well, forever, is bothersome - see my post (How Education Reform Ate the Democratic Party - Cl...) and gives Randi some cover when it mentions her pushing community schools with Hillary. Note that the BATS seemed to have some kind of working relationship with Randi at the 2016 AFT convention in Minneapolis so stepping on her toes may be off the agenda.
Despite all this it is a must read article.
https://www.alternet.org/
Money Talked: Little Known Leaks From 2014 Show Input of Wealthy Privatizers on Hillary Clinton's Education Policy | Alternet
By Jake Jacobs / AlterNet
December 2, 2017, 8:32 AM GMT
A rare peek into the evolution of Hillary Clinton’s education platform is afforded through an overlooked Wikileaks-published document. Entitled “Policy Book— FINAL,” the PDF file was attached to an email sent to Clinton’s future campaign chair, John Podesta. The education portion of the document runs 66 pages, mostly concentrated on K-12 policy, and captures specific input from billionaire donors looking to overhaul and privatize public education.
Friday, December 1, 2017
Vera Shlakman, Professor Fired During Red Scare, Dies at 108 - The New York Times
Pressed about whether being a Communist would close a teacher’s mind to any deviation from the party line, she replied that similar speculations had been raised against devout Roman Catholics.....Well, Vera Shlakman, born in 1909, a year later than that bastard Joe McCarthy, outlasted him by 60 years. Of course I imagine Al Shanker was on the sidelines cheering when she was fired.
I knew and know lots of red diaper babies -- the children of parents who were in the Communist Party USA, which had widespread influence in the 30s, especially in civil rights and the fight for unions. I think they were done in by their rigid adherence to the Stalinist line, even when he made a deal with Hitler in 1939.
I don't think the militant union movements in this country could have been built without the work of the CP. But then came the purge that left the unions in control of the kind of people who have led us to where we are today.
I'm very ambivalent about these kinds of political parties on the left (probably some on the right but I don't follow that end of the spectrum.) When I first got involved around 1970, the leading opposition group in the UFT at the time was a known as a CP outpost of teachers who were part of the old Teachers Union (TU), a bunch of whom had been fired around 1954. I learned from some mentors on the left that once a party line was set by the leadership -- not always obvious -- there was no way to deflect them from that line even if it became obvious that they were going in the wrong direction. But more on this topic, which needs to be explored more in depth, another time. Celebrate the life of Vera Shlakman. 108 is nothing to sneeze at. I only have 35 years to go.
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Janesville: An American [Horror] Story
I added the word HORROR to the title because that is how I read the book -- like a sad horror story.
If you want to understand the Trump victory an even better story than the one told by J.D. Vance has been written by Amy Goldstein: a classic story chronicling the story of Paul Ryan's hometown, Janesville, WI and the impact of the closing of the GM plant from the initial announcement in 2008 and the chain reaction to other plants and businesses through 2013. Along with that story is the attack on unions and their deterioration from a vital part of the community to total ineffectiveness. (Mulgrew said at the last Ex Bd meeting he was bringing in a union leader from Wisconsin to speak about that devastation and how they responded.
If you want to understand the Trump victory an even better story than the one told by J.D. Vance has been written by Amy Goldstein: a classic story chronicling the story of Paul Ryan's hometown, Janesville, WI and the impact of the closing of the GM plant from the initial announcement in 2008 and the chain reaction to other plants and businesses through 2013. Along with that story is the attack on unions and their deterioration from a vital part of the community to total ineffectiveness. (Mulgrew said at the last Ex Bd meeting he was bringing in a union leader from Wisconsin to speak about that devastation and how they responded.
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Why UFT Leaders Won't Hold Abusive Principals Publicly Accountable?
Norm Scott to UFT Ex Bd at open mic: Let’s see everyone who works for the UFT be held as accountable as teachers are.
Howie Schoor responds: we are accountable every three years when UFT members vote in elections.
Norm (responding from seat): Janus will change your accountability equation.Let me put aside the issue of accountability for people who work for the UFT who tell people under assault they are lucky to have a job for another time. Leroy Barr will be sure to get up at an Ex Bd meeting and defend anyone who works for the UFT even if they attack UFT members who demand they stand up for their rights.
Some people don't get why the UFT leadership won't hold abusive principals publicly accountable - echoing our president, even if they kill someone in 5th Avenue.
You see, in the UFT leadership bubble they won't do anything unless teachers in the school act first -- the classic Catch 22. They don't get why it is hard to stand up when you face daily observations in retaliation. Hmmmm- maybe I can come in and observe district reps and write them up.
I pointed out numerous times that last year's big successes at CPE1 and Townsend Harris was about parents and students acting and then the UFT seeing which way the wind was blowing caught on to the wave.
We've heard our union leaders openly say teachers need to be accountable. And teachers are held up to public scrutiny all the time while only Sue Edelman in the NY Post tries to hold principals accountable. The UFT leadership people are pretty silent about holding principals to the same accountability in a public forum.
The UFT/Unity lame excuse that principals are in another union - the CSA - does not hold water. Like give them free reign to abuse UFT members but we will honor some feudal pledge of union solidarity and protect them by not publicizing their transgressions?
I spoke at the open mic on this issue preceding the Nov. 6 UFT Ex Bd meeting, as reported by Arthur - see below -
and touched on many of these points.
Arthur's report is fairly accurate, considering I said a lot of stuff in the 5-7 minutes I spoke. I raised the CSA excuse as being lame and pointed out that 20 years ago I made a reso at the DA to remove tenure from principals because why help strengthen the very people who are often major obstacles on so many levels - the very reason we need tenure is to protect us from them? I pointed out then how few truly competent principals there when it came to being an educational leader with many being ego-driven and seeing any teachers attempting some autonomy or independent thought as a threat. I got a big laugh when I said - these were the competent ones. Of course Unity voted down my reso overwhelmingly.
Sandy Feldman was in her final months as UFT president (she was also president of the AFT since Shanker died the year before) and as the meeting ended she came up the aisle laughing and shook my hand. "I agreed with everything you said but we can't do anything because the CSA is another union." It was the first time in my 25 years in the union she spoke to me -- and I thought her feelings came through about boss and worker -- though how the boss can be considered an equivalent union member is beyond me.
Now, there was a brief period where there were some principal from hell pieces in the NY Teacher but I bet the CSA lobbied the UFT to end that practice.
But what has changed in 20 years? It's worse than ever since Bloomberg turned the Jack Welch leadership academy dogs loose on UFT members while our leaders have sat on their hands.
What I urge the UFT to do is read the CSA - which went beyond the call in defending the awful Monika Garg,
Rosemarie Jahoda and Kathleen Elvin -- the riot act.
Here is Arthur's Nov. 7 report of my speech at the EB meeting:
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
ATR Karen Sklaire Benefit Show for Puerto Rico School
I posted Karen Skaire's remarkable statement to the UFT Ex Bd: ATRs to UFT - It is About Dignity, Don't Tell Us We Are Lucky to Have a Job.
I saw Karen Sklaire's one woman show on her experience teaching at the Fringe a few years and hope to make one of these fundraising shows for a school in Puerto Rico devastated by the hurricane next Monday or Tuesday. I posted Karen's dramatic statement on being an ATR at a recent UFT Ex Bd meeting.
They need:
-Air conditioners so we can get the school up and running
- A generator
- uniforms for the kids
- supplies for the students so they can start school again!
I saw Karen Sklaire's one woman show on her experience teaching at the Fringe a few years and hope to make one of these fundraising shows for a school in Puerto Rico devastated by the hurricane next Monday or Tuesday. I posted Karen's dramatic statement on being an ATR at a recent UFT Ex Bd meeting.
ATRs to UFT - It is About Dignity, Don't Tell Us We Are Lucky to Have a Job
From Our Island To Yours: A Benefit for La Escuela Jaime In P.R. is a benefit we are doing for this school in Ponce, Puerto Rico
Right now this Puerto Rican school is out of power and communication is very difficult. This is why we are doing this benefit to raise money for this school, these kids and this community.
They need:
-Air conditioners so we can get the school up and running
- A generator
- uniforms for the kids
- supplies for the students so they can start school again!
Come out on December 4th and 5th and 100% of your money to go towards rebuilding this school.
Tickets are at:https://www.brownpaperticke ts.com/event/3177667
$25 DONATION!!!
$25 DONATION!!!
Come see two award winning performances directed by award winning director Padraic Lillis
Take a break from Holiday chaos and make a difference! #givingTuesday
If by chance you cannot make it- please make a donation to the same site!( but we REALLY would love you to be there!)
Can't wait to see you!
Make a difference for these children and these teachers!!!
Can't wait to see you!
Make a difference for these children and these teachers!!!
School Scope: A New Chancellor, the PEP, NY as Right to Work
I'm going to the PEP tonight with some other MOREs. While Janus is viewed as a major threat to the existence of the union, as great a threat is from the closing of schools, along with abusive principals, rising class sizes, charters squeezing us for space, and all the other issues causing dissatisfaction among UFT members – so much of this without an adequate response from the UFT – because teachers in these schools will not be all so willing to pay dues to a union they feel has abandoned them. ( I would bet that no one from the UFT will be at the PEP to argue their cases.)--> To be published Dec. 2, 2017 - www.rockawave.com
-->
School Scope: A New Chancellor, the PEP, NY as Right to Work
By Norm Scott
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Fariña to leave post? Is Cashin in the Running?
Carmen Fariña, who is apparently increasingly unpopular amongst the glitterati at the NYC Department of Education, is most likely leaving as Chancellor of the NYC schools and rumors are surfacing that our former local Superintendent Kathy Cashin, now a member of the state Board of Regents, may be in the running to replace her. While I believe de Blasio will choose a younger person of color to run the schools because with a school system that is about 80% non white, it would be easier to implement unpopular policies like closing schools. But Cashin, who has friends and foes, is an interesting option. I was a foe at one point because of her authoritarian and rigid educational policies that emphasized testing. And she put in too many awful principals under her watch – though I know and like some of her appointees. After she left the system she seemed to have a turn about in her views on testing, became a Regent and has joined with another former Superintendent Betty Rosa in pushing for more real, instead of the usual phony reforms. For us education wonks, this story is red meat. One demand I have for the next chancellor: no accent in their name so I don’t have to figure out how to type it.
Attending Panel for Educational Policy (PEP - the city-wide board of education) meetings
As I said above, I am an ed policy wonk – I know, I need to get a life – and later I am heading to Long Island City High School campus for the monthly meeting.
I’m going with a group from the MORE/UFT Caucus to raise issues around the potential closing of some schools which is suspect as just being a way to give more space to charter schools, in particular to Eva Moskowitz’ rapacious Success Charter chain. Actually, de Blasio should make Eva Chancellor of the 1800 NYC public schools, though the city would have to double to quarter million dollar a year salary to meet Eva’s current salary of over half a million for running 40 schools. Her goal is to control a hundred schools so there is a lot of space she will need, even though this is the richest charter in the nation and refuses to use any of that money to rent space.
Her goal is to ultimately push the public school(s) out of the building so she can take total control. In the long run an aspect of the charter school chains is about taking over real estate. As the public school systems contract and head toward extinction, the buildings can be had for a song by the charters. Then come the sale of air rights and condo charter heaven.
This may be one of Fariña’s final appearances. I was at the final appearance of Joel Klein (when, in his relief at not having to be attacked by me, called me up to the stage to give me a goodbye hug) and Dennis Walcott – who shamelessly runs our entire Queens Library system which his old boss Bloomberg gutted in his dozen years as mayor. I started out liking Fariña, mainly because a good friend has had positive experiences with her, but over the years came to find her no better than Klein or Walcott and in some ways worse as she continued to defend some of the worst principals in the system. Her advice on how to get rid of teachers principals don’t like using any means necessary is being followed by all too many. Now if a teacher is awful, that is one thing. But there are all too many political vendettas by principals so the entire process becomes tainted.
Janus court case to turn nation into right to work
An upcoming Supreme Court case will next year, with Neal Gorsuch on the Court, will rule that union members don’t have to pay agency fee union dues, which will decimate public service unions, with the massive UFT expecting to take a major hit with an estimated 20-30% of UFT members not paying dues. The leadership is already cutting back. Those of us attending the bi-monthly Executive Board meetings have seen that in the paucity of macadamia nut cookies.
While the Janus case has galvanized the UFT and my own MORE caucus to action in trying to keep people on board, my concern it what will motivate people to keep paying if they perceive the UFT is not adequately advocating on their behalf? While Janus is viewed as a major threat to the existence of the union, as great a threat is the closing of schools, along with abusive principals, rising class sizes, charters squeezing us for space, and all the other issues causing dissatisfaction among UFT members – so much of this without an adequate response from the UFT – because teachers in these schools will not be all so willing to pay dues to a union they feel has abandoned them. As a critic of the UFT leadership I still believe that a union is better for society than not having unions at all. I’m reading a book called “Janesville” by Amy Goldstein about the destruction of unions in Wisconsin and how that destruction caused so much dislocation as people slipped out of the middle class when the GM plant closed and the Auto Workers union was decimated. This is a must read horror story that tells us so much of why we are where we are today politically.
Norm pays his dues daily at ednotesonline.com.
Monday, November 27, 2017
The failure of New Orleans Charter Take-over Exposed
Diane Ravitch posted this on Thanksgiving eve:
Also a must read is:
Louisiana Moves From 4th Worst To 3rd Worst On AP Performance
-
where Gary exposes more of the John White (LA ed comm) ed deform ghoul's game.
A comment on the MORE listserve:
The failure of New Orleans Charter Take-over.......
What a time to get this news: Thanksgiving Eve.
The New Orleans Tribune rips the myth of the New Orleans miracle.Digest it over the weekend.We have been hoaxed by Reformers.
BREAKING NEWS: The Myth of the New Orleans “Miracle” Exposed! |
Also a must read is:
A comment on the MORE listserve:
The failure of New Orleans Charter Take-over.......
In other words, nearly one-third of the schools are performing at a level that would have gotten them taken over by the state of Louisiana in the wake of Katrina. And we can’t even trust this data. Indeed, we fear the truth is far worse.Here is the story: http://www.theneworleanstribune.com/main/faking-the-grade/
Let’s not forget that these power brokers and elite citizens that engineered the takeover of our schools cared nothing about firing more than 7,000 veteran teachers and school board employees—delivering a crushing blow to the city’s Black middle class—so long as their agenda moved forward,
Faking the Grade
A NEW ORLEANS TRIBUNE EDITORIAL:
The latest School Performance Scores for the state of
Louisiana are in. And that makes now a pretty good time to finally come
to terms with the fallacy of the miracle in New Orleans.
For the first time in more than a decade all public
schools in Orleans Parish were lumped together in the state performance
rankings—no separation of Recovery School District campuses from Orleans
Parish School Board campuses. We suppose that makes sense with the
impending “return” of schools to “local control”. Though, we suspect
that the actual reason for the grouping is far more disturbing. With
the state department of education finally getting ready to return
schools it snatched from local control back in 2005, grouping all these
schools together in this year’s performance rankings is an early tip-off
to the fact the state education department, the RSD and the “reform”
advocates are ready to wash their hands. Don’t you find it interestingly
ironic that Leslie Jacobs is announcing her retirement from the
non-profit she founded to push her reform agenda just as schools are set
to “go back” to local control? We do.
“Reform” Advocates Ready to Wash Their Hands
We
can almost hear them saying, “Sure, we have had your schools under our
control for 12 years. And, yep, we joyfully and willingly turned them
over to outside, for-profit organizations to operate so we didn’t have
to bother. Uhhh, yeah, our oversight of those charter operators was
marginal at best. Of course, those operators made beaucoup money off the
backs of some of the most underserved and disenfranchised public school
children in Louisiana. Why do you think we snatched the schools to
begin with? Sorry, no, we really didn’t improve educational outcomes for
the community. But real soon, we will be giving them back with the
caveat that they all remain under the control of charter management
operators; and they will be your problem.”
Not yet convinced that the “reformers” are set to dump the
schools they stole and failed to improve back in our laps without
remorse? Well then, consider Jacobs’ Sept. 8 announcement that she will
be stepping down from her role with EducateNow! and the role of the
organization as “central repository for information” related to
education reform is no longer needed as schools began to return to local
control. We are not shocked by her announcement.
Still not convinced that the RSD has done nothing to
improve education in Orleans Parish? Well, with the grouping of schools
that have been under the auspices of the Orleans Parish School Board
with those that were taken over and controlled by the RSD, the OPSB’s
school performance grade dropped from a B to a C and its score dropped
more than 14 points from 85 in 2016 to 70.8 this year.
We have known for quite some time now that the miracle was
really a myth and that this reform and its purveyors, along with the
state, the RSD and the charter operations to which they have given our
public school students, our facilities and our money were failing our
children and our communities. So, we can’t help but be infuriated by all
of the recent “revelations” about what has actually been happening in
public education, especially since they are not revelations at all. It’s
time for folk to stop acting brand new.
To be sure, some of the same media outlets finally
reporting the near truth about the failure of these schools as if it is
some eye-opener have been some of the same outlets responsible for
driving the false narrative of the reform’s success by either
suppressing the truth or pushing falsehoods. So when a recent news
report in The Times-Picayune/nola.com titled “Charter schools
aren’t measuring up to their promises” tells now in October 2017—some 12
years since the state takeover of schools—that many of the charter
operators realized that they set “ambitious” goals and made promises
that they simply could not realistically achieve, we go full-throttle
with the side-eye glance.
Some charter operators even went so far as to suggest that
they needed to set the unrealistic goals to get approval to operate
schools, according to the report by nola.com reporter Kate Reckdahl.
There is no defending this action no matter how those who have pushed this reform try. And based on her comments in the T-P
article, the same Leslie Jacobs indeed tried to spin this story. Thing
is, we don’t want to hear about how these goals were set in “good faith”
or how poorly schools were performing before Katrina. In fact, if we
aren’t tired of the city’s elite pulling strings and crafting false
narratives for their personal gain while leading us to slaughter like
sheep, we sure ought to be!
It’s been 12 years since our schools were hijacked. And 12
years later, many of them are performing just as poorly as they were
before they were stolen. To learn that charter operators set up goals
they knew were unattainable just to get their charters approved and
their hands on public money and facilities is indefensible Unless and
until these pilfering reformers are ready to admit what they did and
that it was wrong and then actually return public schools to real local
control without charter organizations and unelected boards that come
with them under the current model of return anything else they have to
say sounds pretty much like sounding brass and tinkling cymbals—a whole
bunch of noise.
It’s Been Fake from the Start
We use words and phrases like “return” and “local control”
as loosely as possible because we stand by our judgment that the return
of local schools as outlined by the current law enacted via senate bill
SB 432 is nothing more than a counterfeit effort to deceive New
Orleanians while charter operators and the corporate elite remain in
control of our schools, our tax dollars and more importantly, the
education of our children—our greatest assets, without a doubt.
As we looked over the 2017 school performance data, one
thing was clear—Orleans Parish will be getting back schools that aren’t
much better than the ones taken over 12 years ago in the wake of
Hurricane Katrina. In other words, the reform was a ruse. And this
subterfuge has cost us dearly.
But we knew that already. Didn’t you? We said that. We wrote about it.
Numbers don’t lie. And year after the year, the numbers
were telling the story. We’re just journalists over here—not a
statistician among us. But all we had to do was look at the annual SPS
reports to know that this “reform” was failing. Year after year, the
school performance report cards filled with Cs, Ds, Fs and SPS scores so
low that would not have held up in the fall of 2005.
All we had to do was examine the havoc it was wreaking in the lives of local parents and students:
Schools opening.
Schools closing.
Schools changing from one charter manager to another.
A tortuous admissions in which parents crossed their
fingers and hoped—no prayed—that some computer algorithm’s random
selection would work in their favor. It was also a process that some
schools were allowed to exclude themselves from altogether.
This brings us to the bogus notion of school “choice” that
reformers have held up as a blessing for parents and students, when, in
fact, the only entities that exercise any real choice in admissions
have been the charter schools—not parents, not students.
Unelected boards not bound to parents or taxpayers determining school policies and deciding how money is spent.
Many parents even uncertain as to who they could or should
call if they had problems, questions or complaints—the OPSB member they
elected or the board actually governing the school.
Kids waiting in the early dawn to catch a school bus from
one part of the city to another and getting home at dusk because
neighborhood schools have become non-existent. And even if there was one
just a block away from home, the question became was it a quality
school? And even if it was, could your child get a seat there?
All we had to do was look. This year is no different. Out
of the 73 Orleans public schools (OPSB and former RSD schools combined),
only 15 (about 20 percent) earned an “A” or a “B”. We will get back to
them later.
Twenty-seven schools earned “Cs”, which signify acceptable
or satisfactory performance, but not exceptional. One school has been
given a letter grade “T”, meaning that it is in charter management
transition and not subject to ranking this year.
Now, let’s talk about the Ds and the Fs. There are 30 of
them. More than 41 percent of all Orleans Parish and RSD schools are
failing or have failed.
Almost one-third of the schools—22 to be exact—have school
performance scores 60 or lower. In other words, nearly one-third of the
schools are performing at a level that would have gotten them taken
over by the state of Louisiana in the wake of Katrina. And we can’t even
trust this data. Indeed, we fear the truth is far worse.
A Numbers Game
The state education department, the Board of Elementary
and Secondary Education and the Louisiana legislature have messed with
the numbers since Katrina—lowering the minimum SPS to facilitate the
takeover, raising it again to hide its failure. It is hard to tell up
from down, especially with a LDE and other leaders that have done
everything in their power to “muddy up the narrative” and “take some air
out of the room” (LDE Superintendent John White’s words from 2012 taken
from e-mails in which he was discussing damage control in response to
revelations about sketchy private schools receiving state money through
school vouchers). The LDE has even taken to withholding comprehensive
data from those attempting independent analysis and research into the
academic progress and education reform.
Under
the state’s Freedom of Information law, citizens have requested data
such as voucher programs’ exact enrollments and costs, and demographics
of voucher students; test-score distributions and technical reports;
details of School and District Performance Score calculations to verify
accuracy and credibility; charter schools’ enrollments, charters and
leases; and exact enrollment numbers. Those requests have been
repeatedly thwarted by John White. So do we really know how these scores
and letter grades are being determined? Do they line up with the same
standards the state used to engineer the wholesale takeover of our
schools? Or does the game remain rigged?
Meanwhile, a state audit released in
early October 2017 panned how Louisiana’s education department monitors
charter schools and urged the LDE to improve how it measures school
performance of the charter schools attended by more than 53,000 public
school students—most of them here in New Orleans, but also across the
state.
Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera’s
report outlines serious and non-critical violations in how the LDE
determines school performance ratings. Among the report’s finding was
the state department of education’s failure to ensure charter schools
enrolled the required number of students who qualify for free and
reduced lunches, students who have disabilities or students who are
parents.
In other areas, auditors said the
department didn’t specify how to address violations in charter schools
and should better inform parents of how to make complaints.
Another report by the legislative auditor on the use of
academic performance in the charter school renewal process was released
Oct. 18 and found among other things that the state department of
education was renewing charter schools that may not have demonstrated
improvement in the academic performance of its students.
The legislative auditor has also been a longtime critic of the RSD’s failure to maintain and account for state property and equipment housed on charter school campuses.
But have we ever really been able to trust the state to determine which schools are failing and which ones are meeting the academic needs of its students. Has it not always been some arbitrary determination that fits the end goal of those wielding power and influence—no matter the impact on our communities?
But have we ever really been able to trust the state to determine which schools are failing and which ones are meeting the academic needs of its students. Has it not always been some arbitrary determination that fits the end goal of those wielding power and influence—no matter the impact on our communities?
They Never Cared
Let’s not forget that these power brokers and elite
citizens that engineered the takeover of our schools cared nothing about
firing more than 7,000 veteran teachers and school board
employees—delivering a crushing blow to the city’s Black middle class—so
long as their agenda moved forward,
And back in early 2005, before Katrina, when only a
handful of schools were deemed failing, the legislature—no doubt at the
behest of so-called reform advocates—lowered the minimum SPS to 60 to
make way for the wholesale takeover of our schools right after the storm
while New Orleanians was strewn across the country in shelters and
hotels. That was a dirty move, and we won’t forget it.
They created a narrative to fit their scheme, telling all
who would listen that public schools in Orleans Parish were deplorable
and that this “reform” would be a magic bullet. They knew that was a lie
then. Lying is easy for the diabolical.
Question. When the state hijacks local public education
and fails to improve it after more than a decade, who is there to snatch
public schools out of the incapable hands of the state?
Well if Orleans Parish is the example, the answer is
easy—corporate giants and for-profit charter management organizations.
In fact, they don’t even have to snatch them. Our schools have already
been placed in their control; and under the current model of return,
these charter operations will remain in control under what we suspect
will be the loose oversight of the OPSB, whose superintendent does not
strike us as being interested in acting as much more than an agent of
this bogus reform movement.
For the last decade, the reform advocates—buoyed by the
mainstream media—have pushed the message of widespread improvement in
local public education as a result of the takeover. And for the last 10
years, we and other courageous leaders, like retired educator and
administrator Dr. Raynard Sanders; community leader Brenda Square;
parent advocate Karen Harper Royal; researcher Dr. Charles Hatfield; and
retired educator, administrator Dr. Barbara Ferguson, who have seen through the mud, have called foul.
Of course, Orleans Parish is home to some high-performing
public schools. Fifteen of them have earned at least a B in latest round
of performance Before you get all excited or try to convince us that
the nine “A” and six “B” schools are shining examples of success as a
result of the takeover and the so-called reform…don’t bother.
We know the truth. Schools like Benjamin Franklin, Lusher,
Warren Easton and a few others have always been top performers. They
were the schools OPSB were left with after the reformers pillaged and
plundered. Decades before Katrina, long before the RSD and even before
high-stakes testing became the order of the day, these schools benefited
from selective admission processes and extraordinary resources that
were not available at many other public schools in the city. As the
reform movement took hold and charter operators were allowed to come in
and create arbitrary rules and special agreements, admission to those
schools and others like them only became more selective—like setting
aside seats at the exclusive Lusher for children of Tulane University
faculty and staff.
All of this simply made it easier to get the best and
brightest students while excluding others. So that Lusher and Ben
Franklin are two of the top 10 schools in the state does little to
impress us. When these campuses get to cherry-pick who they want to
educate and weed out others, it becomes a lot easier to get results.
Mostly, we refuse to get excited about a few schools doing
well because these schools can only serve a fraction of the public
school students in New Orleans. Orleans Parish has always had a handful
of great schools. This takeover, this so-called reform was supposed to
improve all of our schools. It did not. Nearly 79 percent of public
schools in Orleans Parish are either failing, have failed or are only
providing mediocre results. And that’s not good enough.
The so-called education reform movement that has held our
city captive for 12 long years has been faking the grade this entire
time. And we are angry and saddened that few of our so-called leaders
have had enough conviction of character to dare to stop it. Many have
been complicit even as they return to us every two or four years asking
for our votes.
Just like the RSD’s time in Orleans Parish will soon come to an end, so should their time as influencers and elected officials.
There are those who suggest the local education battle is a
lost cause and that the widespread operation of our schools by charter
managers is here to stay. From time to time, we become a bit dismayed
and almost accept that position ourselves. But we have fought too long
for what is right, and we won’t stop demanding the complete and absolute
return of local schools to real local control, even if we stand alone.
Our mantra of late—taken from the words of Dr. Louis Charles Roudanez, founder of the historic New Orleans Tribune—is
that it is time for us to be leaders ourselves. It is way past time
that those who portend themselves as leaders of our community take a
stand on the issue of public education in New Orleans. Far too much time
has already been wasted.
Sunday, November 26, 2017
Another de Blasio Giveaway to Success Charters - Playing the Consolidation Card
There is a proposed consolidation of P.S. 269 and P.S. 361, buildings K864 and K869 (where P.S. 361 is currently located). If approved by PEP, PS 361 would become vacant. The NYCDOE is proposing to use the vacant space for the opening of a new Success Academy middle school that will serve rising middle school students from Success Academy- Bergen Beach and Success Academy Bensonhurst, both of which would serve fifth grade students for the first time in 2018-2019. ... A concerned parentWe recently pointed to the giveaways in District 21 with commentary from Leonie Haison.
De Basio Caves in Blackmail Scheme: Eva/Success S...
https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2017/11/de-basio-caves-in-blackmail-scheme.html
Leonie does more spadework on the consolidation plan:
If the two schools are zoned and have separate zones, then the merger should need CEC 22 approval.According to the most recent Blue Book (2015-2016), PS 361 is made up of two buildings, with a total enrollment of 538 and combined utilization of about 100% -- and lacking 3 of its allotted cluster rooms. The minischool has lots of preK and Kindergarten classrooms.Here are the annual space surveys:
22 K864 P.S. 361 (OLD 89) - K 363 411 88
22 K869 P.S. 361 MINISCHOOL - K 175 128 137The main building has a swimming pool according to this, which I'm sure Eva would love.The BB says PS 269 is at only 55% capacity with 390 students and with a capacity of 736; it is also lacking 3 of its allotted cluster rooms.http://schools.nyc.gov/documents/AFS/K269.pdf is the space survey. If these two schools were consolidated and their enrollment figures from that year are still the same, that would put the combined enrollment at 928 and would put the school at about 127%.PS 269 would likely lose a lot of classroom space, including science, ESL rooms etc.And we know the capacity formula is aligned with larger class sizes than they should be.Leonie HaimsonExecutive Director
Class Size Matters
Saturday, November 25, 2017
Network For Public Education Study Exposes Charter School Scams It concludes charter schools are a “failed experiment”
Alan Singer does a great summary of the NPE report at Huffington.
Network For Public Education Study Exposes Charter School Scams
It concludes charter schools are a “failed experiment.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/5a12ba34e4b0e30a958508c4
Alan Singer
Memo From the RTC: Why Do They Do It?
Published Nov. 24, 2017
https://www.rockawave.com/pageview/viewer/2017-11-24#page=32
-->
Memo From the RTC: Why Do They Do It?
By Norm Scott
One of the most moving parts of Café ’17 was Anthony
Melendez opening Act II singing “Just the Way You Are” as photos of the
children of the RTC family flashed on the screen. What we don’t see is the hardships
faced by so many new parents because this is the only advanced nation that
doesn’t offer paid parental leave. (Pug: see my School Scope column for more on
this issue.)
The closing of a show at the Rockaway Theatre Company is
like the breakup of a family. Everyone has been working for months on the show
and suddenly it’s over. The cast party is the final chance to be together and
many just don’t want it to end.
I’ve often said that it is too bad the public fans of the
performances of the RTC don’t get to see
the performers at the cast parties after large cast musicals close. I sat in
the back of the theater about an hour and a half into the cast party following last
Sunday’s 10th and final performance of Rockaway Café ’17. It was
about 6:30 PM. Most of the cast was still there and on stage – doing songs and
dances from the show they had just spent 3 weekends performing and two
additional months preparing. Then, noticing that most of the cast of the widely
successful Chorus Line from last March were on the stage, they began to perform
songs and dances from that show. When I left at almost 8PM guitarist and singer
Nick Compagnone was surrounded by those still there who were doing a sing
along.
Friday, November 24, 2017
School Scope: Are Our Local Politicians Part of Our Transportation Problems?
The WAVE - Published Nov. 24, 2017 www.rockawave.com
School Scope: Are Our Local Politicians Part of Our Transportation Problems?
By Norm Scott
November 20, 2017
I hope you all read the massive NY Sunday Times expose of
the MTA transit mess (The Making of a Meltdown: How Politics and Years of Bad
Decisions Plunged the City’s Subways into Misery) going back to the Mayor
Giuliani and Governor Pataki thefts of transit funds for their own uses. They
are both Republicans by the way. But the Times doesn’t let Democrats off the hook, lambasting Governor
Cuomo for his misappropriation of funding at the MTA and also Mayor de Blasio.
Mayor Bloomberg – a Republicrat – is also not let off the hook. So while most
of our local politicians chase unicorns with their advocacy of the mythical
Rockaway Rail, or cry about Select bus service on Woodhaven Blvd, they neglect
to push for controls over the manipulation of transit funds which could be used
to get us around the city in a reasonable amount of time. No, the ferry, unless
you are going to lower Manhattan or Sunset Park saves no time, even if a
pleasant ride. I wonder how it’s doing now that summer is over other than
during rush hours? Why aren’t the people we elect going after the bad decisions
and politics instead of chasing fantasies?
Yesterday I had to go to Wall St and I took the fastest route I’ve found: Drive to the Newkirk Ave. station, take the B to Atlantic Ave and change for the 4 or 5. Total number of stops for both trains: 8. Door to door in about an hour and that included finding a parking spot near Newkirk, not always easy. Our local politicians must push for improvement in subway service on the A train which always seems to be having problems.
Time for Paid
Parental Leave
As I pointed out in my RTC column, many couples connected to
the RTC have had children recently and often had to suffer from putting their
new babies with strangers because we are one of the only advanced nations
without paid parental leave. Seventy five per cent of teachers are women. Think
of mothers with babies being forced by economic reasons to return to the
classroom while their minds are on their babies being cared for by others. Do
we think the kids in front of them can possibly have their full attention, no
matter how dedicated they are as teachers? As parents and teachers the children
on both ends of the stick suffer. And that is why most advanced nations do have
parental leave, some for up to a year. Even many American companies understand
that to keep their employees engaged they must offer parental leave. But our self
styled “progressive” mayor doesn’t believe in one of the key signs of a
progressive government.
A year ago one of the members of the UFT caucus, Movement of
Rank and File Educators (MORE) had a baby and started a petition among UFT
members. It garnered 3000 signatures and MORE decided to take up the issue.
Late last spring, Emily James, a Brooklyn high school teacher, after having a 2nd
child and facing financial difficulties put up her own petition which so far
has garnered over 80,000 signatures from around the city. (Read her Daily News
op ed on my blog: https://tinyurl.com/ybnrdbjv).
One of the 7 MORE high school UFT Executive Board members contacted Emily and
asked her to come to a UFT Ex bd meeting to present her case directly to
President Michael Mulgrew and he responded in a very positive way, taking on
the campaign, which apparently is annoying the newly elected mayor according to
Mulgrew, who supported de Blasio. My group MORE is also taking part in the
campaign and I will report on my blog and in The Wave on how things are going.
Next time I may put my foot into the minefield of sexual harassment charged and the #metoo campaigns.
Or not.
Norm steps in it daily at ednotesonline.com.
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
De Basio Caves in Blackmail Scheme: Eva/Success Steals More Space from Crowded Public Schools as Class Size Soars
Bulletin: Eva Moskowitz to be next chancellor, replacing Farina.
Just joking -- why would Eva take such a big pay cut? But she might as well be chancellor since she can dictate whatever terms she wants. And with her aim of 100 schools she will be in basic control of the public school system.If you think Janus is the biggest threat to the UFT you are wrong. It is the expansion of Eva's union busting growing charter movement. I would bet that Eva and crew will one day establish their own company union as a way to control their growing teacher corps. You know the drill -- once they get their foot in the door of a building the ultimate aim is to do what they can to undermine the coloco public school and gain control of the entire building.
Politico reports (see below) that Eva and cohort threats to run an ad campaign against de Blasio over denial of space in public schools in District 21 - one of the whiter districts in Brooklyn - led to his caving in at the speed of light. Leonie highlights the overcrowding in Dist. 21 (Bensonhurst area and south Brooklyn).
D21 schools average 99% utilization; with 22 schools at 100% or more, 2 of them middle schools.
From Arthur:
I'm sitting in my packed-to-the-gills high school right now, with 4700 students attending school in a building designed for about half that. We have rooms that are converted closets, rooms in which there are portable AC units that are so loud you can barely teach when they're on. A whole lot of teachers turn them off rather than utilize them. Meanwhile, Eva Moskowitz, funded by hedge fund zillionaires running an expensive ad campaign for her, is crying that the city is discriminating against her students.Maybe Arthur can threaten to run a major media campaign accusing de Blasio of not providing enough space in his school. How about the sounds of silence from our UFT/Unity leadership?
------ Arthur Goldstein at NYC Educator
I hope you read Arthur's piece the other day - The Audacity of Eva
where he pointed to the vast overcrowding leading to higher class sizes at his school. Arthur follows up on the class size issue with his UFT Ex Bd report: Nov. 20th Executive Board Takeaway--Happy Talk from Unity and Recycled Class Size Issues
Yes happy talk from Unity Caucus which has not been concerned about class size for, oh, 50 years. By the way -- if you check any literature coming out of the so-called opposition in the UFT you won't find class size mentioned on any list of priorities either. [One of the reasons we formed ICE Caucus in 2004 was over the lack of attention to class size by the then opposition.]
Leonie Haimson reports on the class size matters and nyc public school parents blog:
Nov 21:NYC Class sizes increase again this year; Parents, advocates and attorneys urge NYSED Commissioner rule on complaint and make DOE take action now
Leonie also provides commentary on Eva's theft of more space:
Politico (more below) says that DOE has agreed to provide space in D21 and D22 school buildings for two new Success middle schools as well as more middle school seats in district schools as yet unspecified. Which particular buildings aren’t yet reported either. This is the result of the Mayor giving into the threat of a 7-figure ad campaign paid for by Eva’s hedge fund backers.City officials noted the de Blasio administration has identified 5,000 seats for Success Academy students over the last four years. The network will gain an additional 1,000 seats through the space deals brokered Monday.D21 schools average 99% utilization; with 22 schools at 100% or more, 2 of them middle schools. Only 37% of seats needed to alleviate overcrowding and accommodate enrollment growth, according to DOE, are currently funded in the capital plan. See data here: District 21Meanwhile, the DOE capacity formula assumes class sizes of 28 in grades 4-8, rather than the 23 in the C4E plan.D22 schools are at 108% on average with only 35% of needed seats funded in capital plan – and with NO seats as of last year sited or in scope or design. 26 of their schools are at 100% or more; one a MS at 122%. See District 22 data.If only the more than 500,000 NYC public school students in overcrowded school buildings had hedge funders to pay for a seven figure ad campaign.Thanks LeonieSCOOP: CITY FINDS SPACE FOR SUCCESS CHARTERS, AVOIDING SHOWDOWN — POLITICO's Eliza Shapiro: Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration has found public school space for several growing Success Academy charter schools, Department of Education officials told POLITICO on Monday. The space arrangements allow the city to avoid another potentially bruising battle over school space with New York's largest and most politically influential network, run by one of de Blasio's most reliable foes, Eva Moskowitz. The city has identified buildings that will allow two Success schools, Bergen Beach [D22] and Bensonhurst [D21], to grow into middle school grades.
Moskowitz warned that over 700 of her students would be forced to seek other schools if the DOE didn't find suitable space by the end of the year. The DOE has also identified options for other new and growing Success schools. The network has over 15,000 students in 46 schools across four boroughs. City officials noted the de Blasio administration has identified 5,000 seats for Success Academy students over the last four years. The network will gain an additional 1,000 seats through the space deals brokered Monday.
Moskowitz and the lobbying group that supports Success, Families for Excellent Schools, have launched the latest in a series of hashtag-ready campaigns in recent weeks to pressure the city on space. The so-called #SpaceToLearn campaign has included press conferences, media calls — the latest of which was scheduled for Monday afternoon and canceled — and a New York Daily News trial balloon in which Success officials indicated they would move ahead with a six-figure ad buy to pressure the mayor. Spokespeople for Success did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
The deal allows the city to avoid another major dust-up with Success after a similar fight in 2014.But this year's fight lacked the political urgency of the 2014 battle, which became a referendum on not only de Blasio's stance on education reform but his political instincts during the first months of his administration. That's partially because city officials have said for months that the DOE was planning on identifying space for the growing network, a sharp contrast to 2014, when it was initially unclear whether the city planned to simply shutter several Success schools. Read more here.
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