The Fine Art of Advertising Bad Teachers in N.Y.C.
When I decided to become a teacher, twenty some odd years ago, I realized that I wouldn't have the same clout as a doctor or as a lawyer; yet, I never imagined in a million years that my chosen profession--which seemed noble at the time--would become the butt of billboards. The 2012 billboard above launched by Kenneth Cole, the brother-in-law of Andrew Cuomo, imagines that teachers' rights and students' rights conflict. Funny, I had imagined I became a teacher to try to help students! When word of potential boycotts leaked, Cole removed the ad, stating that it was an oversimplification of a much more complex issue.
In the more recent 2014 ad below, the Center for Union Facts (which seems anything but that), an organization funded by anonymous donors of great wealth with the specific purpose of cutting down unions, attacks Randi Weingarten, the A.F.T., and teachers' rights to due process. It's strange to imagine such a biased group using the term "facts"!
Choose the Right Answer
The Formula for Good Teaching
For those of you who have never seen or heard of using the concept of value added measure to evaluate a teacher, just look at this fantastic formula Check out this link, if you'd like to see the truly detrimental ramifications of using something as asinine as a mathematical formula to gauge solid pedagogy. This is why it is so dangerous to utilize something called a value added measure to assesste
Eva's Success Academy Plans Another Near-Mandatory Field Trip?
Eva Moskowitz realizes that NYC charter schools (which enroll only 6% of the City's students and attempt to press the truly public schools into oblivion) no longer hold a privileged position under the current mayor. She will head to Albany, probably with pocketbook in hand and bus loads of cute kids, to lobby for her special interests. (Truly public schools are also populated by cute kids, only
FEB 27
From The (Commissioner) King and I: Getting to Know You, Compliments of InBloom
The NYS Assembly will be revisiting InBloom. There will be hearings this Friday, February 28 at 10:30 am at 250 Broadway in Lower Manhattan. NYS seems to stand virtually alone, much thanks to Commissioner King, in this movement to press on with the data-mining of our state's students. Keeping this in mind, I would like to dedicate a new version of "Getting to Know You" to the King.
FEB 26
Educators 4 Execution
In trying to find my voice as a teacher to effectively help improve education in the United States, I encountered E4E, a teacher-centered group advocating such things as merit pay, teacher evaluations based upon value-added measures and an end to LIFO (Last In First Out). I was hooked. It soon became apparent to me, however, that this organization does not go nearly far enough. Keeping this in
The Top Ten Reasons I Teach
The Top Ten Reason I Teach... According to MeAs the Educational Deformers Would Have It1. To help children learn how to think and find their own meanings in life 1. To suck the life out of children by testing them to death2. To help students develop the skills and work ethic they will need if there are jobs available when they graduate2. To take the blame for p
FEB 25
Gonna Prep Now!
Look for Testy II, Testy III, Testy IV, Testy V, Testy VI, Testy VII, Testy VIII, Testy IX, Testy X, ad infinitum, coming soon to a school near you!I've pondered long and hard my APPR (Annual Professional Performance Review). To a large extent, my success in life and my ability to continue in my chosen profession will depend upon my students' test scores. I've come to the only conclusion possible
FEB 24
The Bosses of the Department of Re-education
"The business of America is business." Public education is not a business, however, and whatever strikes at its heart strikes at the foundations of our democracy. I have to believe some of the corporate "reformers" think they have the best interests of education at heart. Many may have their millions, but ultimately feel unsatisfied. They may feel a need to give back to a s
The NYCDOE During the Bloomberg Years
Bloomberg at Runnymede and the Magna ChartersHave you ever wondered who worked at the DOE during the Bloomberg years? Might there possibly have been some "Doedoe" birds? Do you recall the policies of closing rather than fixing public schools? Do you recall the McGraw- Hill Grading Debacle of June 2013? Do you recall...
Who's on Students First?
A parody of Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First" follows. It mocks the tangled web of millionaires and billionaires, all working towards the same ends, to dismantle public education in the United States. The complications in the dialogue below are only a mere pittance compared to the complex diagrams illustrating the interconnectedness of the elite group of educational deformers. Ab
FEB 23
Flying Witches Filmed Over Mexican Skies (+playlist)
This may have taken years, if not decades, but finally there is concrete proof of a meeting between the secretive, ultra-conservative, pro-business, anti-union, pro-sunrise, anti-moonscape group known as ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) and the anti-tenure, anti-oxygen, pro-indentured servitude group known as E4E (Educators for Excellence). The video you are about to see, clearly descr
The Common-Core Pushers Rebrand their Product
At the Common-Core Beauty Pageant, Rebranding is the Name of the Game. Who will win this year? Will it be Miss. Iowa Core, Miss Arizona College and Career Ready Standards, Miss Next Generation Sunshine State Standards, or any of one of a number of the other "Rebranders"? The Common-Core pushers realize the dwindling market for their product. Some states are outright rejecting the Core
FEB 22
Little Testing Bubbles
The following is a redo of Malvina Reynold's "Little Boxes." Common-Core standards seemingly seek to create assembly-line-issued standardized children, molded to fit someone's narrow conceptions of college and career ready, fully aligned, fully tested, fully data-mined and fully fit to enrich the pockets of profiteers. Little bubbles on the test sheet, Little bubbles made of gobbledygoo