Ed Notes Online
Councilman Danny Dromm to Investigate Success School Closing for Naked Political Reasons
I also intend to use my oversight powers to investigate Moskowitz’s extensive marketing campaigns costing millions of dollars. Field trips can be an important part of the educational experience. Dragging children to Albany to further Moskowitz’s political agenda serves no public or pedagogical purpose.... Danny DrommDromm for Mayor. Dromm Statement on Moskowitz School Closing on March 4, 2014Stat
Saturday Ohanian Special
I'm sending the piece about the disastrous Vermont RTTT grant again because now it has a link to a cleaner version.Big news today comes form Chicago, with two schools boycotting the ISAT, a low-impact. Don't miss the great videos the Chicago Teachers Union is producing.CartoonStudent-Teacher Relationship Advocated by the US Department of EducationDon't Let the Feds Destroy Child Wonderhttp://susa
Outrage at De Blasio Letting Eva Charters Off the Hook and at Press for Supporting Her Spin
...you can't have FDA II and Wadleigh students spread out all over the building, learning in the basement just to give Success premium contiguous learning space in the building. FDA and Wadleigh are entitled to premium contiguous learning space too... the admissions restrictions that Bloomberg placed on these public schools to give the public the impression that these public schools were not in de
Eva's Phony Numbers at Success Charters
83 students entered kindergarten in 2006-07, the school’s first year of operation. When that class reached 4th grade in 2010-11, it had only 53 students — a drop of 36 percent. Harlem Success also took in a 1st grade class with 73 students in 2006. When that group reached 5th grade, it too had shrunk appreciably — by 36 percent. The attrition accelerated as the classes advanced..... The school ha
Charter Wars: Community Charters Eva Rally, Support Mayor Alt Rally for Pre-K
A political play by anti-Eva charter faction? PLEASE MR. De B, CAN I HAVE SOME MORE RENT-FREE SPACE?I have mixed feelings about posting this charter propaganda piece, but I'll bite. They have termed themselves "community-based" charters. Someone else would have to check them out to see if they really are community-based. To me a community based charter would be formed by parents, teacher
Parents Call on Moskowitz and Charter Lobby to Use Ad Money to Pay Rent
The charter wars heat up even as de Blasio and Farina take a neutral stance. Yes, Virginia, the enormous charter lobby taking money away from the interests of children and using it to create a bigger share for their own pockets, may be working. Thus the need to continuously counter attack.See my posts yesterday, especially the misuse of PS 241 by Eva.Outrage Grows Over Eva Schools Allowed to Co-Lo
Outrage Grows Over Eva Schools Allowed to Co-Locate
It's no secret that the only reason this charter school was approved was because of political reasons by Chancellor Dennis Walcott to satisfy a powerful charter school operator. ...joint announcement by Councilmen Gentile, Greenfield and TraygorToday's announcement regarding the continuance of the charter co-locations at I.S. 96, Seth Low, and I.S. 281, Joseph B. Cavallaro, is a huge disappointmen
Breaking: Eva Moskowitz Violates Numerous DOE Safety and Other Regs by Calling Illegal Press Conference Inside PS 241
Success Academy parents were in attendance not because they chose to be there but because their children were held captive so that their parents would attend. Success Academy staffers greeted parents arriving to pick up their children (at 4:30) and directed parents into the school's auditorium telling them they could not pick up their children until after this meeting. Many parents were furious an
UPDATED LIST OF CO-LOCO REVERSALS and APPROVALS
As a follow-up to my last post (Moskowitz, NY Post, Charter - er Chalkbeat Try to Reverse Mayoral Election)here is the update from Farina. Good news is Eva is gone from her downtown beachhead at Bergtraum. And watch the Post scream about this one which they, probably tipped off, have been doing for days over that credit recovery sham with attacks on de Blasio over keeping failed schools open. Not
Moskowitz, NY Post, Charter - er Chalkbeat Try to Reverse Mayoral Election
Can children be kicked out of schools that don't yet exist and have no student bodies yet? DOE reverses 9 out of 45 co-loco decisions. Too precious few for my taste. A"For the 35 proposals that will be implemented, we will host a meeting for each school community" ... Carmen Farina For what reason? I doubt anyone would have guessed that 35 out of 45 of these hastily pushed through co-lo
Teacher Union Support For Housing for TFA Scabs in Newark
...we shouldn't create construction jobs at the expense of unionized teacher jobs. ... Jersey Jazzman, July 2013One of our partners, the AFL-CIO’s Housing Investment Trust, or HIT, which is funded largely by building trades’ pension funds but also by educators’ pension funds, has helped create affordable housing for teachers. Through its subsidiary, Building America, HIT is moving forward on plans
FEB 27
"Dear Randi" From a Newark Teacher
...your generosity in donating AFT funds to the Teacher Village being built to house Teach for America novices in Newark could not have come at a better time.... Newark teacher to AFT President Randi Weingarten (satire alert)While TFA scabs live in subsidized government housing, real teachers will go into foreclosures.... Teacher in Newark -- no satire here Diane Ravitch posted a "Dear Chris
FEB 26
Chicago: Saucedo teachers to announce ISAT test boycott!!
Chicago Teacher Union supports action. It is inconceivable that the UFT would do the same.Big news today of a teacher boycott at one school. More info to come...http://www.coreteachers.org/4pm-press-conference-saucedo-academy-teachers-to-boycott-isat/FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – February 25, 2014CONTACT:Sarah Chambers, Special Education Teacher at Saucedo(Ms. Chambers will be teaching throughout the da
The Lies Randi Tells on Twitter
Randi Weingarten @rweingarten @beth_dimino @pfh1964-be4 u criticize know the facts-@uft had a rank & file comm including all caucuses & got overwhelming support at DA mtgWhile New Action enthusiastically supported the UFT charters, ICE -- if I am not mistaken, a caucus in the UFT, opposed it with Michael Fiorillo leading the charge and in fact speaking against it at the DA. At a charter
FEB 25
Will de Blasio Dump Moskowitz' Ill-Gotten Gains as Eva Throws Tantrum?
The last minute push by Bloomberg to get as many Eva Moskowitz charters into as many neighborhoods as possible reminded me of the American rush to leave Saigon in the waning days of the Vietnam war. Two October PEP meetings were set up to beat the clock and Moskowitz walked away with the biggest bundle. Law suits were filed over one of the final outrages of the Bloomberg administration. Public Adv
A Decade of Cover-up at PS 106: Who Protected Marcella Sills?
My column for The Wave, to be published Feb. 28, 2014. A Decade of Cover-up at PS 106: Who Protected Marcella Sills?By Norm ScottThe media seems to be enthralled over Marcella Sills’ magic disappearing act as principal of PS 106 in Far Rockaway ever since the NY Post reported the story a short time after Bill de Blasio and Carmen Fariña took over the running of the school system from the Bloomber
FEB 24
THIS FRIDAY (Feb. 28)! Meet with NYC Parents Who Are Saying NO! (to high stakes testing)
Meet with NYC Parents Who Are Saying NO! (Please Share Widely with your friends, PTAs, SLTs, Parent Lists, teachers)As children and teachers enter the spring “testing season,” parents must decide if we will continue to allow our children to support high-stakes testing. There are many ways to resist the tests and demand social justice for all public school students.Meet with others who choose
FEB 23
How Do We Fight Bully Principals? Thursday, February 27, 5:00pm
Given all the discussion about how to take on bully principals like at the recently exposed "School of No" at PS 106 in the Rockaways, this workshop takes on increased importance. We'll be discussing situations with difficult principals as well as with more cooperative and mixed administrations. ... MORE Chapter Organizing Committee You can't do it alone. In a hostile atmosphere buildin
Marcella Sills Was a Humanitarian by Being Absent and Late
The school ran so much better when she wasn't there. Maybe we can start a trend. Have bully and abusive principals just stay home. Let them collect their salaries. A cheap price to pay for improving the school community.
REVIVE UFT : Mulgrew Forms New Group to Ally With MORE, Causing Split in Unity
"Before we can move forward, we must resolve many outstanding issues from those dark years, starting with our working conditions, which are also our students’ learning conditions."... Michael MulgrewUFT President Mike Mulgrew is finding so much in common with the MORE caucus he has decided to build an alliance with MORE and is pushing for the rest of Unity Caucus to do the same. Facing i
Anti-testing groups form alliance to bring sanity to education policy
I'm proud to be a member of Change the Stakes, a partner in this national alliance.Posted in facebook and The Washington Post Answer Sheet.http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/02/21/anti-testing-groups-form-alliance-to-bring-sanity-to-education-policy/"The founding members of the alliance are the Center for Fair & Open Testing, or FairTest, as well as Parents Across Am
In a Nutshell: Why Corporations Want Our Public Schools
Infographichttp://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/education-uprising/why-corporations-want-our-public-schools#.UwgK69yQDZY.facebook
FEB 22
Newark Teacher Reports on Raz Baraka Blogger Meeting
Thank you Ras Baraka and "May The Lord protect and defend you."... A Newark Teacher It speaks volumes about Ras Baraka's true commitment to Newark's children that he has cast these educational tourists aside in favor of those who have made it their life's work to either teach children or understand the dynamics that shape their lives. That alone ought to be enough for the good people of