With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs All Week
I was a 17 year old sophomore at Columbia College when JFK was assassinated. I was walking up the steps of Low Library toward my art history class when I got the news, Like many of my classmates, I was stunned, and watched the funeral and subsequent events with them on televisions in the student lounge in my residence hall.But unlike many of my classmates, I had a larger narrative in which to plac
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10 Things BATs Know about Common CoreINTRODUCTORY STATEMENTBATs continue their fight against the CCSS. We do not believe in a “one-size” fits all standard for education and we do not believe in a top down federal approach to control education for profit. BATs fight the CCSS for a variety of reasons but specifically we know that the CCSS doesn’t make up good education and will not fix, nor lower, our child poverty rate. This document hopes to clear up a few things: 1. Dispel some of the myths about the CCSS as superior set of educational standards. 2. Give readers a clear vision of what th
Dear Governor Christie, Yesterday I took the opportunity to come hear you speak on your campaign trail. I have never really heard you speak before except for sound bytes that I get on my computer. I don't have cable, I don't read newspapers. I don't have enough time. I am a public school teacher that works an average of 60 hours a week in my building. Yes, you can check with my principal. I run the after-school program along with my my classroom position. I do even more work when I am at home. For verification of this, just ask my children. I asked you one simple question yesterday. I wanted t
To My Students, I did not return to the classroom this year and I want to apologize. I am truly sorry for having left you. It was the hardest decisions I have ever made. I want you to understand why I left. It had nothing to do with you. I still love you and believe in you. You are still amazing and you can do anything you want to do. I did not give up on you. I left to fight for you. I saw you struggling with Common Core skills. Even with the new curriculum from the district, no matter how I broke it down for you I could see you didn’t understand. I saw the fr
NOV 21
The Teacher as An American Hero
One of my major goals as a spokesperson for BATS is to create an image of the pubic school teacher as a New American Hero, a woman or a man who, in the face of overwhelming pressure decides to stand up against attacks on childhood, the erosion of civil liberties, and the wholesale intimidation of American workers on the job. BATS are people of courage who refuse to accept turning schools into trai
NOV 16
What Schools in NYC Need- A Message from the BK Nation Education Forum
On Thursday, in Judson Memorial Church, a group of students, parents, teachers, principals and education researchers brought together by the new organization BK Nation had a frank discussion of what can be done to improve the public schools of New York City. Most of those on the panel and in the audience worked at, taught at, or attended schools in high poverty neighborhoods, and spoke with great
NOV 14
My Short Program for Improving Public Schools in NYC
Here is my short program for improving public education in NYC which I am presenting at BK nation forum tonight1. Cut testing budget in half and use funds to lower class size2. Stop school gradings and school closings3. Triple the number of portfolio schools in NYC exempt from all state tests4. No testing below grade-3. Exemption of ELL and special needs students from state tests5. Withdraw from C
School Reform: A Discourse Of Lies Parading Behind Honorable Ideals
I have been fighting since I was an 8 year old growing up in a tough Brooklyn neighborhood and the battle to defend public education in the US may be the hardest one I have ever been in. Never has so much big money been amassed behind an effort to control, discipline and regulate the children of this nation. That money,selectively distributed by those who possess it, paralyzes and demoralizes many