Monday, March 25, 2019

UFT Election Predictions: I Have Become Comfortably Numb

....the entire MORE strategy is to issue dog whistles to the left as honey with little interest in the mainstream of the UFT - that explains MORE's election strategy.
Did you hear? UFT election ballots are on the way today. We saw the ads from all the caucuses in the NY Teacher - I laughed out loud at some of them. We know from past results that 70% of UFT members don't give enough of a shit to vote though I've always thought that they have no incentive to vote given the options and the fact that there is nothing at stake. For the first time in 20 years I am not voting slate, but will vote for individuals from all the slates who I like. This in essence invalidates my vote since we only tally slate votes.

I read all sorts of clueless comments from anti-Unity people about how we need to replace the union leadership and how if all the opposition groups united they would defeat Unity. I will be kind and call that dumb.

It really behooves the anti-Unity crowd to educate themselves on the realities. Past performance is an indicator. You don't just over turn decades of voting patterns in one election cycle - unless something so major has happened that the 70% who don't vote suddenly take notice. And despite some hysteria out there in opposition circles, nothing major has happened.

This year, due to 3 tepid opposition groups fighting over some crumbs, there is even less incentive to vote. Plus the 87% YES vote on the contract compared to the reaction to the 2013 contract is a factor in Unity's factor.

Of the 30% who return ballots, about 45-48% are retirees. They are the most satisfied and vote 85% for Unity. Assume about 22,000 of the 60,000 retires vote. Thus we begin the election with Unity: 19,000, Opposition: 3000. Unity got over 40,000 votes in the last election. The opposition around 12,000. Both numbers should drop. It would take an economic crisis threatening pensions to ever get them to go against Unity.

Only 25-27% of non-retirees vote. Unity will win every position with no challenge. Mike and Arthur who helped lead the opposition to victory in the high schools in 2013 are running with Unity - so expect Arthur's school with 300 UFT members to vote Unity, or not vote at all. A major win for Unity. Mike's school has a long history of opposition to Unity and 4 people there are running with MORE, so I still expect this fairly small school to vote for MORE. Mike might get some votes for Unity there, but not many.

There is some irony here. Unity has not been able to win the high schools on its own since 1993 - in 1991 Unity lost both the high schools and middle schools. But even though Unity loses the high schools, it has always been by a slim margin. Unity has been weak in the high school back to the Al Shanker days in the mid-80s. Actually, the high school teachers have pushed back against the school system going back to the 50s and they were the key to organizing the UFT in 1960.

In 2007, 2010, 2013 Unity needed a deal with New Action to win the high schools. When New Action joined with MORE in 2016, Unity lost once again. And if all the opposition had united this time, Unity would have lost the high and possibly the middle schools and I bet the opposition could have made a dent in the elementary schools. The actions of MORE killed that opportunity.

Expect voting for all groups to drop.

The question is by how much.

Unity, knowing the outcome, has barely bothered to campaign - in 2016 they inundated the schools with glossy lit worthy of Eva Moskowitz.

I watch the divisionals - elem, ms, hs. Last time Unity got around 2150 in the high schools, a big jump from their 1585 in 2013. Remember there are 20,000 high school teachers. And the party in power has an enormous number of Unity chapter leaders, so their numbers in HS are pathetic. But they tried harder in the HS and jumped their numbers by about 500 votes. But the MORE/NA votes topped them. And if you toss in the Solidarity 150 the HS are roughly 55% anti-Unity. Imagine if the totals from the 3 caucuses top them again this time. MORE will wear the Scarlett D for Defeat.

In middle schools in 2016 Unity had about 1800 out of a potential 12,000 - the opposition totaled around 1500. Also pathetic -

In elementary they had about 7,000 and the opposition I think did around 2000 -- out of 36,000 potential votes.

Unity will certainly win the functional chapters by a lot - especially the paras. There are over 40,000 functional chapter members and they get around 20 ex bd seats -- all Unity. But Unity will not win the OT/PTs which will go to MORE which jumped on their bandwagon when they voted NO. I hear MORE is putting resources into a mailing to the member of that chapter for the election.Typical limited vision - go for the narrow slice rather than the big enchilada.

A very weak New Action had pinned its hopes on an alliance with MORE but split internally on willingness to run with Solidarity but is now left with a spirited but very limited campaign with about 40 candidates but no officers. They have tried to get their leaflets into schools -- probably the most extensive by far of anyone running.
Given that they are mostly retirees with few people in the schools, their totals from working UFT members will be in the 1000 range - and add another 1000 from retirees who remember New Action from the past. I am tempted to vote for them because I like many of them - especially since I had decades of hostility with them. And they never stop trying what they see as the right thing to do. Post election some of us will sit down and talk though I worry that their strategy might be to make nice with MORE hoping they will take them in next time. I will vote individually for every NA candidate I can but not slate because I want to vote for some people on other slates, including a few Unity - I will list all the candidates I am voting for in a future post. But no candidate for president sends a message that resonates with me. I would have liked to see Jonathan Halabi run and I would have voted for him despite political differences in the past.

Solidarity is viewed as a pariah in some areas of the opposition. I used to see them that way but have changed. But they have not shown very much since the last election but are making a valiant attempt this time. They had about 65 candidates but lost over a dozen-20 candidates due to invalid petitions and defections, not a good sign. They have shown energy in this campaign and ambition but they too have few people in the schools. Last time Portelos had about 1400 votes for president while not running on a slate. But his energy fueled that campaign. This time he has been quieter which may cost votes. Lydia has put a lot of effort in running for president. Given her tenure situation, being willing to take on this task is very brave. I like Lydia but experience does count in UFT politics as it does in the classroom. I said at the ICE meeting that if Jonathan Halabi ran for president - which I thought he might - his knowledge and experience would have made him the best choice.

Can Solidarity build on those 1400 votes - their outcomes in the divisions were around 200-300 though they did better %wise in the middle schools. This time they have slate status so they should do better. But we know votes come based on school contacts. I would be surprised if they get much more than 3000. Doubling the 2016 vote would be a victory.

MORE has the most people in the schools - and they are young and politically active on a number of fronts. Ready to take part in every social justice movement. UFT elections however are not all that exciting. And also given the purges, splits and pushouts, MORE has lost almost all its experienced people who did a lot in the last election. They had no mass leaflet distribution to schools this time. Last time I and a few other retirees did tens of thousands. James alone did 5000.

But I never believe this tactic made a major difference.

But expect their 10,700 vote total -- which included New Action last time - to drop. By how much will be interesting. Some are predicting they will get half the total of last time - but no matter what, the MORE leadership will interpret the outcome as a victory for their strategy - I can't wait to read the spin cycle.

Subtract the New Action factor but add what may be an enthusiastic OT/PT factor -- give them 1000 votes from that chapter. Expect a big drop in the high schools where last time the efforts of Arthur Goldstein and James Eterno brought in hundreds of votes that made the difference in winning the high schools. For a guess, I'll give them 1350-1550. If they get less than 1000, they will look pathetic since most of their members are in the high schools and should at the very least get their own colleagues to vote for them.

In middle schools, there is not much there other than Kevin Prosen - if they come close to the 1200 last time I would be shocked. Probably less than 1000. Same deal in elementary schools -- we had a few strong places last time but not much more. We had a big push in Julie Cavanagh's school with lots of people running. This time I hear nothing. Say 1500 votes in elem.

MORE was the key villain in blowing up the possibility of making this election serious for its own narrow interests. There was less enthusiasm for the elections than the faction in control of MORE believed - the newer and younger members who had not taken  part in elections were I believe manipulated into supporting a strategy of running not to win -- and using the election to get the word out on its strategy of talking about strike preparation by pushing examples of other cities. They think they can strike a spark for future organizing. I think not in the UFT no matter how much they huff and puff - they missed an opportunity though by not uniting instead of dividing people.

I had pushed back against that strategy and I think some in MORE heard my points -- I saw genuine shock on the faces of the MORE election pushers when the vote was 15-10 with 2 abstentions and when the next month even more people said they would not have chosen to run -- this lack of enthusiasm, a threat to the MORE leadership - enough of a threat that they used my blogging about this lack of enthusiasm as an excuse to suspend me for 6 months from meetings and listserves to shut down my voice. What they can't control is MORE members reading Ed Notes - though the idea of them issuing a ban on that would not shock me.

The opposition can never win it all but it could have won a piece

It is clear that Unity had set the rules in such a way that they can't lose by making the Ad Com and the majority of the Ex Bd at-large - meaning even retirees and the 13 functional chapters, which Unity dominates, vote -- other than OT/PT which will vote opposition this time - MORE since MORE has focused on them. This will inflate MORE and may help them cover up their weakness in the rest of the union.

My goal in opposition politics was to hold on to the high schools, take a shot for the middle schools which was very feasible based on the 2016 election and to build a stronger force in the elementary school. Ignore the retirees and functional chapters for now. Show we could win all 3 teaching divisions divisions where retirees can't vote -- win the 7 HS, 5MS, 11 Elem school Ex Bd seats which would give us 25% of the ex bd and a real base to build from.

After MORE blew up this plan I realize that I have wasted my political life in the UFT trying to accomplish this. It will never happen even if MORE reversed itself and tried to unite the opposition. Too much bad blood all around. (I would never work with MORE again as long as the same people are in charge.)

Unity will not just be in power for ever but will also not have even a smidgen of serious opposition. It would take years. I experienced how ICE was founded in 2003/4 and began to fade almost immediately but continued through the 2010 election before giving up the ghost. In essence, what MORE has done is make Unity stronger and more dominant, something they will never own up to.

Teachers for A Just Contract comes back to life to haunt MORE
Many of us who have been active over decades were reminded why when given the option to join TJC in 2003/4 or start a new caucus  - we opted for the latter and formed ICE. We didn't want to be in the kind of restricted and ultimately undemocratic environment TJC offered and is now offering in MORE.

I ran into a guy at the DA last week who was active in the opposition in the 90s and knew TJC very well. I'll paraphrase: "I heard that so and so TJC people are running MORE. They are poison and will destroy MORE." Funny thing is that there is early scuttlebutt that some of the enthusiasm of newer members who bought the TJC bill of goods is waning due to this tepid election where they realize they are running for nothing and with no purpose.

TJC, began in 1993 and finally gave up the ghost in 2012 - I could tell in the 2010 elections they were so weak. Yet the same crew that ran TJC (into the ground) have come back to do the same thing to MORE. They are pulling the wool over the eyes of the recent recruits who are excited but will come to see the same strategy that let to TJC's demise will operate inside MORE.

If you want an example of the dumb decisions, based on ideology not reality, the MORE leaflet at the DA last week took its entire back page to put together a resolution condemning Mulgrew's signing a letter urging Amazon to come back.

I agree that making nice with anti-union Amazon is problematic -- but to think that that issue in any way takes priority over all the other issues in the schools is an example of how out of touch the MORE leadership is with reality. It is an example of naked opportunism -- a dog whistle to try to attract the left in the UFT, not an organizing tactic. In fact, if some left UFT members who were anti-Amazon get attracted they will soon see the sectarian control over MORE and won't stay around for long. In fact, the entire MORE strategy is to issue dog whistles to the left as honey with little interest in the mainstream of the UFT - that explains MORE's election strategy.

And MORE presidential candidate Dermott Myrie's choosing to use the question period to ask Mulgrew about the Amazon issue over all other issues in the UFT is an example of MORE Folly. I feel sad for Myrie who I used to like and respect when he first came to MORE but has fallen into the trap of ideological frenzy.

It's a sad day in the UFT when Mulgew looks like the best candidate for UFT president.

Sunday, March 24, 2019

The WAVE: SRO at Jackson Heights Education Forum with Ravitch, AOC and others

Published March 22, 2019, www.rockawave.com

(See videos at: Videos: Jackson Heights Ed Forum - From Michael Elliot.)

School Scope: SRO at Jackson Heights Education Forum with Ravitch, AOC and others

By Norm Scott

A star-studded education forum organized by the Jackson Heights People for Public Schools was held on March 16. Among the speakers were Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents the district in Congress, NY Senators Jessica Ramos and Assembly member Catalina Cruz, who represent the district in the Legislature, as well as Senators Robert Jackson and John Liu. Among the terrific education advocates who spoke were Johanna Garcia of NYC Opt out, Maria Bautista of AQE, Carol Burris of Network for Public Education, the great education true reformer Diane Ravitch, Kate Menken of the NYS Association for Bilingual Education and Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters.

What would be a normal educational forum turned into a major event due to the star power of AOC and Ravitch. The Jackson Heights People for Public Schools were among AOC’s first supporters. Their mission is: “We work to educate the community about the public schools in Jackson Heights and to support parents and members of the community who wish to make our schools even better.” How great to see grassroots groups springing up to organize resistance to ed deform and offer a progressive alternative.

One of the founders and leaders of the group is parent activist Amanda Vender, currently a NYC high school teacher. I first met Amanda over a decade ago - I think she was working with the newspaper Indy Kids and I was distributing some of them to some people in the schools. Eventually Amanda became a teacher and parent. I distinctly remember her bringing her few weeks old child to some forum we were running. She and her group are bringing a pro-public school, pro opt-out, progressive vision of education to her own community. Thinking about her work made me realize that the work inside a union opposition I’ve been doing begins to look meaningless compared to the organizing work Amanda and others have done in their communities. If I had done similar work in Rockaway - (and of course if I had kids I might have), I would have been much more useful than I was pushing the boulder uphill in UFT opposition politics. Maybe next life. Amanda Vender is a model for educational organizing. Amanda not only talks the talk, she walks the walk.

Last week I wrote about the March 9 Parent Action Conference sponsored by NYC Kids PAC, Class Size Matters and Community Education Council District 2 (CECD2) which was attended by progressive politicians. There were workshops on class size, how to opt out of testing, how to run for office, advocating for children with special needs in English and Spanish, protecting student privacy, school integration, fighting charters. We also watched a film called Testing about the culture around taking the controversial SHSAT for specialized high schools like Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Tech and Bronx HS of Science. NYC Kids PAC and Class Size Matters have formed their legislative agenda for 2019 around these and other issues: Amending mayoral control to provide for more oversight over the dictatorship over the schools held by the mayor, funding for class size reduction, a moratorium on new charters and stronger accountability and transparency, fees on developers to go into a fund for new school construction, a pied-a-terre tax for homes worth over $5 million, and an explicit law giving parents the right to opt out of 3-8th grade standardized tests. Politicians who want Kids Pac endorsement are being asked to sign on to this agenda. I wonder how many Rockaway politicians would agree: Eric, Stacey, Joe, Donovan, Michele, James, Melinda? Lou?

Music recommendation: Good Citizen by Mighty Sparrow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ps20yaVyro

Norm blog mindlessly about education and politics at ednotesonline.com.

Friday, March 22, 2019

Videos: Jackson Heights Ed Forum - From Michael Elliot

Michael Elliot sent these videos out.

Let's "turn the ship around" on education policy | Eclectablog



Part 1
TRANSFORMING THE CONVERSATION 
ON PUBLIC EDUCATION
Amanda Vender, Jackson Heights People for Public Schools

Part 2
PARENT EMPOWERMENT AS RESISTANCE
Robert Jackson, NY State Senator
Johanna Garcia, NYC Opt Out & New York State Allies for Public Education

Part 3
MAKING SCHOOL SAFE & WELCOMING FOR CHILDREN OF COLOR
Maria Bautista, Alliance for Quality Education

Part 4
CLASS SIZE & EQUITY
Leonie Haimson, Class Size Matters

Part 5
THE IMPERATIVE OF BILINGUAL EDUCATION FOR OUR SCHOOLS
Kate Menken, New York State Association for Bilingual Education

Part 6
WAR ON PUBLIC EDUCATION: CHARTERS & VOUCHERS
Carol Burris, Network for Public Education

Part 7
FIGHTING BACK: REFUSE STATE TESTS!
Diane Ravitch, Network for Public Education

Part 8a
NY STATE SENATOR JESSICA RAMOS RESPONDS

Part 8b
NY STATE SENATOR JOHN LIU RESPONDS

Part 8c
CONGRESSWOMAN OCASIO-CORTEZ RESPONDS

Part 9a
Q&A I: ESSA 

Part 9b
Q&A II: BILINGUAL EDUCATION

Part 9c
Q&A III: “Diane Ravitch, what changed your mind?”

Part 9d
Q&A IV: NYC’S SPECIALIZED HIGH SCHOOLS

Part 9e
Q&A V: INFLUENTIAL EDUCATORS

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

MORE Fallacies, E4E Inspire Caucus


From Ed Notes at the March Delegate Assembly:

MORE Fallacies: Beg UFT leaders to Organize and Mobilize, divide opposition and run not to win

In the current UFT election the MORE Caucus talks a lot about how much educators have won through striking in red and blue states. They point to the seminal and inspiring 2012 Chicago teacher strike and the recent strike in Los Angeles where the union leaderships organized, mobilized and prepared the membership for strikes, gaining over 90% support of the members. A keys to these strikes were alliances with community forces outside the union which MORE talks about – but only rhetorically.

Can you talk strike when you are not a serious threat to take power
What MORE won’t tell you is that the current progressive social justice oriented leadership in those cities formed broad-based caucuses and coalitions in Chicago (CORE) and LA (Union Power) to oppose the former timid top-down union leaderships and ultimately WON their elections in 2010 and 2014 respectively. If they hadn’t run to win, there would never have been strikes. The Unity Caucus leadership will NEVER strike or be pressured by the rank and file to strike. Only defeating them will lead to a union MORE envisions. And MORE is running NOT to WIN.

The way to change the UFT is to not urge the leadership to change but to present a credible threat to their overwhelming power and control by building the machinery of a massive rank and file movement with deep roots in the schools. UFT elections are only a piece of the mechanisms but they do demonstrate the ability to get support in the schools. In 2016 I helped run the MORE election campaign with a focus on winning a piece of the Ex Bd, which we did by winning the 7 high school seats. The hope at the time was to continue this building process by challenging in the middle and elementary schools. But the faction that took control of MORE blew that plan up.

Instead of following in the footsteps of CORE and Union Power, MORE has chosen an opposite approach of running not to win by refusing to unite with other progressive caucuses and independents and purging and pushing out those who resist this approach, using undemocratic methods and purposely not running divisional candidates where they could actually win. And to build an opposition, demonstrating an ability to win anything is part of the process.

A recent MORE election leaflet proclaimed: Collective Action Gets the Goods! Only a stronger base of rank-and-file teachers, counselors, paras and all education workers, knit together in a common organization that can share strategies and mobilize our coworkers can push the union leadership to alter its approach, and eventually lead the union in a different direction entirely.

I laughed out loud when I read this. As one of the founders of the MORE Caucus in 2011 I’ve watched with sadness (and some amusement) how MORE morphed from what began as an inclusive progressive big tent opposition group to Unity Caucus into an exclusive, divisive, narrow ideologically driven and fundamentally undemocratic organization that has driven out many progressive former members who way outnumber those who remain. There are even three former MOREs running on the Unity Caucus line, two of whom were elected to the UFT Ex Bd as MORE candidates in 2016 but have grown alienated with the actions of MORE. How can MORE boldly talk about knitting together rank and file UFT members when it has done the very reverse? Witness the current UFT elections where MORE’s refusal to knit together a coalition to attempt to make a dent in Unity power has led to a divided opposition where three weak caucuses are running limited election campaigns with 40-50 candidates.

I actually don’t disagree with many of the policies MORE puts forth but cannot go along with the tactics used internally and a program that not only has no chance of moving the UFT in a more progressive direction but by its divisive tactics actually has helped strengthen the control of the ruling Unity Caucus. MORE leaders talk about lack of democracy in the UFT while suspending members without due process and exhibiting a level of control that makes Unity look democratic in comparison. Instead of becoming a serious and inclusive caucus as a threat to Unity, MORE has become an ideologically driven exclusive club of self-proclaimed “activists” with loads of rhetoric but little action.

Still, I expect MORE to finish with the highest vote totals of the three running against Unity because New Action and Solidarity have their own problems. I will have more on the elections at the April 17 DA, the day the votes are counted when I will take a break from the count to hand out Ed Notes.


UFT Election: Inspire, E4E-based Caucus, new kid on the block

You might be seeing leaflets for the independent campaign of Michael Loeb, a CL in the Bronx. Michael is running under the UFT Inspire Caucus line. Educators for Excellence, funded by many ed deformers, has been viewed as an anti-union group but over the years has modified its tone and put forth a strong social justice agenda and through Mike has begun to engage in the UFT, mostly in calls for more democracy. Some teacher unions around the nation have vilified E4E, but not here. There has been some signs of cooperation between Unity and E4E. Is this a precursor of a future E4E caucus that might at some point contend with MORE for the title of THE SJ Caucus? Don’t sell such a well-funded group with full-time employees short. Mike serves on the national board of E4E and I have had some excellent conversations with him about unions and policy. He seems to have helped push E4E in a more positive direction towards unions and has been open to my criticisms. Whereas E4E used to throw me out of meetings, Mike has now invited me. Just in case, I will bring a food taster.

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Rumor: Paul Egan Out at UFT - Everyone is Mum

When Paul Egan wasn't at last week's UFT Executive Board meeting we never got the latest updates on the Chelsea soccer team. Preferring Manchester United, who really cared?

We've had a lot of fun with Paul over the years. So when I received a tip Sunday night that Paul Egan, whose official title is (was?) Political Director; Director of Chapter Organizing and Development was fired, it was a bit disconcerting. It seemed pretty weird for this to happen with Monday being lobbying day in Albany. Who knows what goes on in the inner circles of the UFT?

There have been political purges in the past.
Paul was not present at lobbying day on Monday. He is an elected AFT/NYSUT delegate and it will be interesting to see if he appears on the Unity slate when ballots are sent out in a few days. If he's gone that is a clue this was not sudden. If he's on the ballot then this may be more immediate. It would be a funny time to remove Paul for not doing his job well so soon after all the bragging the UFT did about taking over the state senate with their political operation led by Paul.

Maybe someone will contact Ed Notes with the full story. Personally I always liked Paul even if not always agreeing with his political strategy. At the AFT 2016 convention Arthur, Jonathan Halabi and I ran into him in a restaurant and had some fun. (I didn't even order the quail.) If the story is true does that mean he gets to go back to teaching after being gone for so long? I can see all those young people holding pep rallies for Chelsea.

nysut board of directors

Paul Egan

E.D. 33 (UFT)

    • Political Director & Director of Chapter Organizing & Development

      – Present 3 years 10 months
      52 Broadway, New York
    • Director of Legislation & Political Action

      6 years 2 months
      Responsible for the development and execution of our organization's government relations, inter-union relations, and electoral plans.
      Coordinate our political strategy with our state and national organizations.
      Oversee our PAC with the responsibility for our political contribution strategy, increasing voluntary contributions and ensuring compliance with city, state and federal reporting requirements.
      Design and implement plans that provide opportunities for members to engage in the political process through advocacy and the electoral process.
    • District Representative

      2 years 11 months
      Bronx, New York
    • Special Representative

      1 year 9 months
      Greater New York City Area
  • Image for Teacher

    Teacher

    NYC Department of Education
    10 years 5 months
    Greater New York City Area

Monday, March 18, 2019

Jackson Heights Queens Ed Forum: Ravitch, AOC, Liu, Jackson plus others


Leonie reports:  There was an amazing education forum yesterday with standing room only. Thanks to Jackson Heights People for Public Schools for organizing it. Among the wonderful speakers were Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents the district in Congress,  NY Senators Jessica Ramos and Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, who represent the district in the Legislature, as well as Senators Robert Jackson and John Liu. Among the terrific education advocates who spoke were Johanna Garcia of NYC Opt out, Maria Bautista of AQE, Carol Burris of Network for Public Education, Diane Ravitch, Kate Menken  of the NYS Association for Bilingual Education and me.
Fred and AOC- to the left (pun intended)
What would be a normal educational forum turned into a major event due to the star power of Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez- and don't forget Diane Ravitch plus all the important politicians plus of course Leonie Haimson. And don't forget Fred Smith, my fellow 2019 Skinny Award winner, who always gets the money shot. I'm sorry I missed it but I spent the day doing a movie with some friends (and we actually shot the whole thing in one day.)

150 people SRO on a Saturday afternoon ed forum is not light.

Leonie has a report on her blog: Queens forum with AOC on how our schools must make every child feel like they matter

Chaz, who is not to the left, actually has some nice things to say about AOC --with the usual right wing trolls leaving comments attacking her. 
Chaz's School Daze Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) Supports NYC Public Schools - I know a hell of a lot of old white guys like me who love her work.

But I want to make special mention of the organizing group behind the event:  Jackson Heights People for Public Schools whose mission is: We work to educate the community about the public schools in Jackson Heights and to support parents and members of the community who wish to make our schools even better.

One of the founders and leaders of the group is currently a NYC high school teacher, Amanda Vender. I first met Amanda over a decade ago - I think she was working with the newspaper Indy Kids and I was distributing some of them to some people in the schools. Eventually Amanda became a middle school teacher and had kids -- I distinctly remember her bringing her few weeks old child to some forum we were running.

Someone posted on FB:
Thanks goes out to Alliance for Quality Education, NYC Opt Out, Class Size Matters, The Network for Public Education & NYS Association for Bilingual Education.
But especially to Amanda Vender & Jackson Heights People for Public Schools for pulling it all together!!!
Amanda Vender at forum
Amanda never got deeply involved in the work of union opposition politics though she was a supporter. She focused on her work as a parent and actually did local community organizing where she lived, whereas groups like MORE just talk about community organizing in theory.

She and her group are bringing a pro-public school, pro opt-out, progressive vision of education to her own community. I realized that the work inside a union opposition begins to look meaningless compared to the work Amanda and others have done in their communities. If I had done similar work in Rockaway - (and of course if I had kids I might have), I would have been much more useful than I was pushing the boulder uphill in UFT opposition politics. Maybe next life.

Amanda Vender, one of the first AOC supporters is my model for educational organizing. Amanda not only talks the talk, she walks the walk.

Sunday, March 17, 2019

School Scope: Parent Action Conference: Opt Out Yes, Charters NYET!

Published in The WAVE, March 15, 2019


School Scope: Parent Action Conference: Opt Out Yes, Charters NYET!

By Norm Scott

The annual Parent Action Conference sponsored by NYC Kids PAC, Class Size Matters and Community Education Council District 2 (CECD2) took place on March 9 at the Peck Slip School in lower Manhattan, attracting some of the leading parent activists in the city. Kids PAC is the only lobby group focusing its attention directly on the interests of the children in public schools. The opening session was a discussion with state legislators:
Alicia Hyndman, Queens NYS Assembly Democrat 29th District, Jo Anne Simon, Brooklyn NYS Assembly Democrat 52nd District, Robert Jackson, NYS Senator from Manhattan. They were asked to respond to questions on a number of issues.

They all supported parent rights to opt out of standardized tests, opposed attempts to punish schools when numbers of parents opt out and opposed lifting the cap on charters in New York City, which has been reached. There are still over 90 slots open in the rest of the state and the charter industrialized complex has been pushing to get those added to our oversaturated city. It was pointed out that Republican state legislators support charters but few if any charters exist in their districts – they love them from afar as long as those charter bucks role in – but otherwise, NIMBY. They were also asked about the upcoming renewal debate on mayoral control. They all called for more limits and oversight.

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Forest Hills High School, Ben Sherman Update: parents rip principal

This story won't go away until Principal Ben Sherman is gone and buried away at a DOE safe haven for principals where he will probably end up being a mentor -- maybe he's learned - he can tell them how to treat teachers like shit without getting outed.

The UFT has finally jumped on board with an article in the NY Teacher written by Francis Lewis HS CL Arthur Goldstein: the struggles at Forest Hills High School.

Eterno at the increasingly disturbing ICEUFT blog (due to the numbing comments) gives Arthur and the UFT grudging credit for finally putting up an article on a school with a lousy principal. Arthur has been up front on his blog in posting about FHHS. NYCEducator is the most widely read and respected blog not only locally, but nationally.

I had to put up this comment:
Forest Hills HS teachers contacted bloggers like James, Arthur and myself and we put up their views. The little dig at Arthur as a "former dissident" and the claiming of credit here is disingenuous. And when they came to the Ex Bd meeting last spring they were supported by Arthur, Mike and Jonathan from New Action. Arthur has taken on this fight as much as anyone and asked follow up questions on Monday at the Ex Bd. We complain when the NY Teacher doesn't cover but when it does it is reported begrudgingly. There are clear signs that the UFT did work behind the scenes in this case - they never do enough - but there would have been no massive vote of no confidence without their working behind the scenes. Our job along with Arthur and Mike is to keep the pressure on whether publicly or behind the scenes.
Some teachers at the school came to we bloggers late last spring and we encouraged them to come to the UFT Ex Bd meeting and some did -- that always seems to wake up the union leadership. 

But let's give credit where credit is due - Sue Edelman from the NY Post - her articles exposing principals have had more impact than any blog.

Clearly if you read the NY Post article, the DOE will jump over hoop after hoop without removing Sherman. 

I have a contact on the PTA who has slammed Sherman.

https://nypost.com/2019/03/13/forest-hills-high-school-parents-rip-principal-over-rampant-pot-smoking/

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Tony Thurmond - A Lesson on Democrat Backstabbing - UPDATE - Tony Calls Diane

Here's a quick update on this post from Diane:

California: Tony Thurmond Called Me

I'm impressed that he called her.
The conversation is interesting in that Tony never says how the task force came to be chosen - and I'm going to venture a guess that Gov Gavin Newsom is the culprit and Tony is covering for him. Which emphasizes the point -- too many Dems are still ed deformers even hiding in plain sight.
UPDATE: In response to posting this on listserves I received the following from Diane confirming that Newsom packed the committee with charter people:
Norm,
A contact who works in the State Capitol in Sacramento contacted me last night to say that Tony Thurmond did not name the committee: Gavin Newsom did.  --- Diane
Back to the original post:

Monday, March 11, 2019

TWTW: KidsPac, Face to Face With T. Rex - and I Didn't Bang a Gong

The Week That Was -- The past week was busy and intense.


Saturday - Mar. 2 -- the big Bernie rally at Brooklyn College after my early morning yoga class. It was good to be back on campus where I spent so many years - tuition free as an undergrad. How could we afford it then but not now? Bernie's speech was excellent.

Sunday, Mar. 3 - My 74th birthday. The day began with the Frank Caiati acting class at the Rockaway Theater, followed by heading into the city for a matinee of Kiss Me Kate, followed by dinner at a Greek restaurant nearby on 7th Ave and 57th St.

Monday - A free day of reading and hanging out.

Tuesday - Media event at the Museum of Natural History for the preview of T. Rex which included a panel with the curators, spending time at the exhibit - seeing those cute feathers on the baby T.Rex. Followed by a private one hour tour upstairs where they prepare the fossils. Always my favorite museum and the dinosaur area was a must see for everyone of my classes. I took each class there 3 or 4 times a year -- I never tried to see the entire place in one shot - I focused each time on a different area. They had worksheets for the dinosaurs and had to look for specific displays -- not the heaviest lifting but it provided some focus. I learned this time how much new info there is on dinosaurs.

Sunday, March 10, 2019

John Liu , March 15 - SENATE COMMITTEE ON NYC EDUCATION TO HOLD HEARING ON SCHOOL GOVERNANCE REFORM AND MAYORAL ACCOUNTABILITY

I was at KidsPac/Class Size Matters all day parent conference Saturday and John Liu was there - he was my choice for Mayor in 2014. Good to have him back. I have some video of him which I will put up later. There is a move to reform mayoral control - not end it. Lui was asked how he would deal with the charter lobby attempts to tie mayoral control to lifting the charter cap. He said he's heard nothing so far. The NYC cap is full but there are still over 90 slots open around the state and the charter people want to be able to make those available to NYC. Every charter costs the UFT jobs - and dues. So expect them to fight tooth and nail on this one and the good will towards charters is fading fast.

Albany, NY - The Senate Majority announced today that they will hold a public hearing on school governance and mayoral control in New York City. Senator John Liu, Chair of the Senate’s NYC Education Committee, will lead this hearing, to ensure that legislative activity in 2019 addresses the needs of New York City students. 

“Schools are the most important priority of state and local government, and how they are governed and operated are of the highest public interest.” Said Senator John Liu, Chair of the Senate's NYC Education Committee. “Our hearing seeks to engage all stakeholders in the city to inform the way forward, including any changes that should be enacted."

The hearing will be on Friday, March 15th, at 10:00AM, in the Senate Hearing Room, 250 Broadway, 19th Floor, New York, NY 10007.

If you would like to testify at the hearing, please RSVP to education@johnliusenate.com.

###
Follow on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/NYSenDems
New York State Senate | senatedemocraticmajority@nysenate.gov | 518-455-2415

Saturday, March 9, 2019

School Scope: Teacher Strikes, Amazon and Unions, Public Advocate By Norm Scott

Published March 8, 2019 in The WAVE - www.rockawave.com

School Scope: Teacher Strikes, Amazon and Unions, Public Advocate

Recently West Virginia teachers went on strike, closing down all but one county. Diane Ravitch reported: “thousands of West Virginia teachers and school workers walked off the job to kill a privatization bill reputedly written in retaliation for last year’s historic nine-day teachers strike. Only hours into the Tuesday-Wednesday walkout, the state’s House of Delegates voted 53 to 45 to indefinitely table Senate Bill 451, which had linked a teacher pay raise to the gutting of job security and a first-time legalization for West Virginia of charters and private school vouchers.” WV teachers refused to be bribed and the legislators blinked. And Kentucky teachers engaged in wildcat sickout actions. Both states are red Trump territory.

The wave of strikes continued in blue-state Cal ifornia with a week long strike in Oakland which ended with an 11% salary increase, 3% bonus at ratification, lower class sizes with phased-in class size reductions, 5-month pause in school closures, lower caseloads for special education teachers and counselors, the school board will vote to push the state for a charter school moratorium. The Oakland education system has been dominated by the anti-public school/pro-charter reformists funded by billionaires, often supported by Democratic Party politicians. Don’t think the history of support for phony reforms won’t come back to bite Dems in the upcoming battles. The new left in the party seems to understand the impact of the attacks on teachers, their unions, neighborhood schools and public education which has led to a shift within the party, though I haven’t seen very many signs from our local Dems – yet.

Congratulations to Republican Eric Ulrich for his 2nd place showing in the Public Advocate race with almost 20% of the vote. As a Republican who is a Trump critic, and since 90% of Republicans support Trump, that puts Eric far out of the mainstream of his fellow party members who fundamentally support a lying, racist, cheating con-man, to quote his own former lawyer. Eric despite winning Queens and Staten Island, has a touch road as a Republican in this city.

Eric benefitted from the favorable press he received over being the only supporter of the Amazon deal. His ads talked about supporting unions but since Amazon is blatantly anti-union, squaring that circle seems like a stretch. I found it sort of ironic given how many in Rockaway are horrified at the homeless shelters while also supporting Amazon but aren’t making the connection between the even more outrageous homeless situation in Seattle, home of Amazon, than we have here. Support Amazon here so we can have even more shelters.

The NY Times, which took a pro-Amazon position, has also reported accurately on some of the actions Amazon has taken around the country when asked to pay their fair share of taxes: they renege on their deals and move the jobs. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/03/technology/amazon-new-york-politics. Why any politician would trust Amazon is beyond me. Union opposition has led the way in keeping the anti-union Walmart out of the city. Compare Amazon and Walmart to the pro-union Costco, where so many of us head to like lemmings. Costco is one of the highest rated places to work and the shopping experience reflects that.

The headline in The WAVE was: Locals ‘shocked’ by Ulrich Loss. Those locals must be smok’n something. Jumaane Williams’ margin of victory was 33% against a cast of thousands of Democratic candidates. Other Dem candidates turned their guns on Jumaane, a sign he was a clear favorite. Don’t forget his 47% with little money against Cuomo’s candidate for Lt. Governor in last September’s primary. He is a grad of Brooklyn Tech and Brooklyn College. I voted for Jumaane, whose career I’ve been following for years. Friends who live in central Brooklyn rave about him for his humanity, activism, and practical politics as one of the more effective City Councilmen. Just ask Eric, who was so gracious towards Jumaane – we might see them head to head in November. Lew Simon was outraged at the outcome and went on to attack fellow Democrat Jumaane Williams as not willing to stand up to de Blasio. Lew must have missed this headline in local papers: Jumaane Williams, a thorn for Bill de Blasio? The tenant activist turned Brooklyn councilman has become the public advocate - Bill de Blasio might be concerned.

Next week: Feeling the Bern(ie) at Brooklyn College.

Norm is a constant thorn at his blog at ednotesonline.com.

Thursday, March 7, 2019

Jeff Bryant - Denver Teachers’ Strike Was a Rejection of Education ‘Reform’

Teachers in the school district that was supposed to be the model for education reform just rebelled—and won.
by , February 21, 2019

Jeff Bryant has been a major journalist exposing the holes in ed deform. Here's his take on the Denver strike against their merit pay system, which Randi Weingarten originally praised a decade ago.

Denver Teachers’ Strike Was a Rejection of Education ‘Reform’

Forest Hills HS Update - Supt Juan Mendez Pulled

Arthur has been on the case on the Forest Hills HS drama -- keeping it up front - and we know that this is a way to keep the UFT leadership's feet to the fire -- and the DOE too - they don't act until there's public exposure. One thing we know - even if Sherman is removed he will find a safe haven in the DOE bureaucracy and might emerge one day to run another school when memories fade.

The Ben and Juan Show--Episode 1 "Too Little Too Late at Forest Hills"

We received this from someone at the school:
Sherman - from The Chief

Dear Forest Hills High School Family:
Chancellor Carranza is committed to providing students and staff at Forest Hills High School the resources and support they need to succeed. The Chancellor and I have heard you clearly, and want you to know that we are working with the entire school community to build a strong and supportive environment.  
Effective immediately, Dr. Sean Davenport will serve as supervising superintendent until further notice, overseeing daily operations at Forest Hills High School. Forest Hills Principal Benjamin Sherman will report directly to Dr. Davenport, who will report directly to me. Dr. Davenport is a proven leader with over a decade of experience as principal, and I know he will be a strong partner who will work closely with students, staff and families. 
As your Executive Superintendent, I will work with Dr. Davenport and Mr. Sherman to ensure that Forest Hills is living up to the highest standards of excellence and achievement.  
Dr. Davenport and I will be on campus Monday at Forest Hills High School to meet with staff. As always, feel free to contact myself or my team with any additional questions. 
  
Dr. Andre Spencer
Executive Superintendent


A comment [edited]: You can quote me as a history teacher.

Why are they keeping this man on?  The fact that he needs one-on-one supervision speaks to his incompetence.  How can the faculty agree to serve under a man who has credible allegations of lewd, sexual behavior with students and staff?  The only way to return to our former high status is with a change at the top.


Article in The Chief

Forest Hills Too High? Teachers Say Principal Lets School Go to Pot

Amazon Was Never Going to Create 25,000 Jobs in Queens

Really good look at the fault lines of the Amazon deal.

Opinion

Amazon Was Never Going to Create 25,000 Jobs in Queens


Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Class Size Matters/KidsPac Parent Action conference on Saturday Mar. 9

Come spend the day with fellow parent activists, hear from state legislators, and help create an Action Agenda to improve our schools!

About this Event

Co-sponsored by Class Size Matters, NYC Kids PAC and Community Education Council District 2, this year's Parent Action Conference will feature:
  • A panel of State legislators who will answer parents' questions and respond to our concerns
Workshops on the following topics:
  • Special education (a session in English and another in Spanish)
  • High-stakes testing
  • Charter schools and the need for more accountability
  • Class size and school overcrowding
  • School integration
  • Student privacy
  • Civic engagement and how to run for office.
Lunch
  • In the afternoon, we will show the documentary Tested that follows NYC public middle school students as they try to get into a specialized high school.

Did opt-out land some New York City schools (CPE1, PS 15) on the state’s struggling list? Carranza says yes -Chalkbeat

Leonie is on the case as two core "movement" schools are now on the list - CPE1 and Julie Cavanagh's school, PS 15 -- both schools were core with the opt-out movement (and MORE when MORE was a real caucus instead of an insider's club. ) 
The city’s Department of Education disagreed, and appealed on behalf of two schools that were identified among the lowest performing in the state and which have high opt-out rates: Central Park East I, where 80 percent of students sat out at least one test, and P.S. 15 Patrick F Daly, where 26 percent of students sat out a test. Officials did not provide copies of the city’s appeals or the state education department’s response to them.

It’s not clear whether those two schools would have been identified as struggling if their opt-out rates had been lower. In a letter to parents, Central Park East principal Gabriel Feldberg argued that the school’s opt-out rate had torpedoed the school on the state’s rankings, noting that the schools reading scores among students who took the exams beat the city average.
“Students who don’t take the exam are counted as scoring at the lowest level,” he wrote.
This story has a lot of relevance to so many issues. A key is that Caranza is challenging state commish Elia - who by the way has always been a UFT/NYSUT/AFT darling - Randi and crew endorsed her over many progressives' objections when she became state commish -- and I remember how at the 2010 AFT Seattle convention how there was a lovefest for Elia and Bill Gates over their joint venture when she was Supt in Hillsborough, Fl. - https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/frustration-with-superintendent-maryellen-elia-bubbled-over/2215041

Contradicting , says 2 NYC schools were put on struggling list just b/c of high opt out rates - CPE1 & PS 15. He also said he appealed the ratings but Commissioner Elia turned him down.
Here Leonie points out how 1/3 of the schools were moved off the list based on appeal but this time Elia refused Caranza's request -- was it that Farina was so anti-optout?
17 hours ago
Commissioner Elia's decisions to move schools off the list is a black box. About 1/3 of schools on CSI (struggling) list in NYC were moved off the list through a Commissioner's appeal.
Politico linked to Chalkbeat
OPT-OUT FACTORED INTO STRUGGLING SCHOOLS LIST — Chalkbeat's Alex Zimmerman: "...Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza is now publicly challenging the state's narrative, arguing that at least two of the 124 city schools labeled as struggling were identified specifically because students opted out of state exams." Read more here.

Suit: Non-Union college professors demand retroactive repayment of dues -Times Union

If they win, this could have a serious impact on the UFT. I know some are thinking we must bury stories like this so as not to encourage some of those idiots posting opt-out comments on the ICE blog - or is it just one idiot? Go ahead and try to leave an idiot comment - make my day.

New York professors' union is target of class action lawsuit

Plaintiffs seek to recoup fees no longer allowed after Supreme Court's Janus decision
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Professors-union-is-target-of-class-action-13664046.php 
ALBANY — New York’s major teachers’ unions are defending against a class action lawsuit in which college professors who were not union members are demanding retroactive repayment of dues-like fees in the wake of last June’s U.S. Supreme Court Janus decision.