Ed Notes Online
UFT Contract: Roseanne McCosh Respond to Unity Caucus Criticism
I am not going away and I am most certainly not alone in the fight.... So what do you call a union leadership that uses scare tactics, mischaracterizes people’s reasons and motives for disagreeing with them and who allows reps to lie to its members at workshops? Norm calls them slugs. I call them much worse. I’ve also labeled Mulgrew as a coward because I believe that the only reason that there
Final Performance Tonight of RTC "Moon...
I saw the Rockaway Theatre Company Production of "Moon Over Buffalo" last night for the 4th time - and I still laughed at every line -- and there were so many. My column with some cool photos finally appeared in The Wave yesterday, a week late, which doesn't do anything for the box office. Not that my columns ever do anything for the box office.The RTC company is full of current and reti
YESTERDAY
Marelli and Bruhn Publish Story of PS 241 in Harlem, a School Undermined by Bloomberg's Ed Deform
In 2001, the year Michael Bloomberg took control of New York City's Public Schools, P.S. 241 had millions of dollars in private donations, a waiting list and enrollment of 900 students. Today, P.S. 241 has an enrollment of only 100 students and is struggling to survive.... American Classroom: Portraits from a Public School in Harlem by Darren Marelli and Mollie BruhnAmerican Classroom is a must-re
Elfank-Dana: Video Formal Observations - Admins YES, Teachers No - Calls for UFT to Fix This
...my AP said today, “No video… It’s my call not yours and I don’t want this lesson videoed" .... the video is a saving grace for the strong teacher that happens to be a “trouble maker” for the principal ....it is clear from the informal observations the APs look for the glass half-empty. You’d think I was a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of a teacher comparing my formal with informal observation re
MORE UPdate - VOTE NO Then Attend a MORE Happy Hour Today
I'll be at Freddy's in Park Slope for the happy hour from 4-6 - just one of the many MORE happy hours around the city today -- see below.Reasons to VOTE NO: PDFs you can print and distribute for your colleagues:Tentative Agreement Fact Sheet Vote No Flyer Retro delayed is retro denied (Eterno) Why the wait is not over (Cavanagh) What happens if we vote it down? (Lamphere)Inform yourself about the
Newark Update: NEW Caucus report on Student Takeover and Baraka Goes After Ed Deform
Talk of taking back the city’s schools is the rhetoric that won Ras Baraka the election.... With Baraka’s win, Bill de Blasio’s November victory in New York, and former Washington, D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty’s stinging loss in 2010, due in large part to school chancellor Michelle Rhee’s unpopularity, the local control movement is having a moment.... Dana Goldstein, SlateThis is an interesting story (
MAY 22
UFT Contract: Roseanne McCosh, PS 8X, Urges Colleagues to Vote NO
Former Unity Caucus member slams UFT leadership and Unity.Norm---I wrote the below and it will go into teacher mailboxes. The majority in my school are voting NO and many of them will not attend the union meetings with UFT officials to hear bullshit. The NO campaign at PS 8 was taken up by many teachers in my school. It was good to hear people who don't normally voice their opinions talking to o
Protest Cuomo at Dem Convention as de Blasio Nominates Him Today
We just learned that de Blasio will nominate Cuomo today. http://m.nydailynews.com/news/politics/blaz-set-nominate-cuomo-term-article-1.1799923 Eterno Reports on yesterday's rally which Cuomo tried to get our pals on Long Island to cancel: (Rallies Scare Cuomo into Meeting with Stronger TogetherMay 09, 2014)ICEUFT Blog LONG ISLAND EDUCATORS PROTEST AGAINST CUOMO IN MELVILLE - There was a tremendo
Breaking - Newark: Cami Anderson Emergency Press Conference
From Newark Teacher: A friend just got a call saying she is going to announce her resignation.This has not been confirmed but here's hoping.
Newark: Is Cami A Crook?
Sources within the union leadership said Anderson’s contract–up at the end of June–would not be renewed and she would leave in a way that suggested her departure was voluntary. Those same sources indicated leadership could be passed over to a cooperative arrangement between a state official and a current high-ranking officer within the Newark Public Schools, with the most obvious candidate Roger
MAY 21
Upper Manhattan Parents Protest Space Giveaway to Success While Public School Kids Are Over Capacity
We call upon Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Farina to pull out of the deal to site the Success Academy charter school at the Mother Cabrini educational complex located in District 6. We urge them to consult with the District 6 parent community and collaboratively determine how to use the Mother Cabrini space for current District 6 students.....Cuomo and NY State legislature order de Blasio to fin
The Nation on the Save Our Schools May 17 Rally Plus Videos
New York's branch of the movement has been led by the Movement of Rank-and-File Educators (MORE), a rank-and-file reform caucus in the United Federation of Teachers, together with other education advocates and community and labor organizations.... The NationSee Videos of all speakers at the rally. Video of Rosie Frascella from MORE/NYCORE - featured in the article.http://youtu.be/FUxQ83X2XsoAnd Br
School Secretary Responds to Pro-Unity Comment, Calls for a NO Vote
They TOTALLY LEFT US OUT SINCE 2009. This Unity Union is a disgrace. They do not protect us at all.... a school secretary A new comment on your post "UFT Contract: The "VOTE NO" Caucus Says .......": To be clear, the secretaries are very upset about this contract. Aids are being given our jobs even though we won this in arbitration. The Chapter Leaders of the schools are aware
UFT Contract: Murry Bergtraum Exit Poll - 71 No, 22 Yes
Some lessons from Chapter Leader John Elfrank-Dana's blog.Mulgrew's Myth No wonder so many softballs were thrown at President Mulgrew tonight in the seminar. I don't recall a single questions from a high school teacher. Was there one?I did spot the high school Vice President and a Chapter Leader in the studio audience. But it was one PS question after another. Either way, it would have just been a
Is Cami Anderson Out in Newark?
Cami Anderson will be leaving. It is your efforts on Fight Back Fridays, our Mayoral Election efforts, Advisory Board meetings, and other initiatives that have made this possible. I am very proud of all of our members.........Joseph Del Grosso, NTU President Don't believe it 'till the fat lady sings. Because Del Grosso also says:It is my strong belief that based on the discussions I have had to
MAY 20
NEW Caucus Report: Newark Students Spending the Night
UPDATE: NJ United Students @NJStudents 18m @rasjbaraka now coming in to see @NewarkStudents #ournewark pic.twitter.com/sYp2n5hnxkThis just in from NEW Caucus - a followup to our last post: Video: Newark Student Union Conducts a Sit-in at The Newark Public Schools Board's Budget Meeting and Cami Walks Out Again!As of 11:55 tonight, there are 10 members of the Newark Student Union spending the ni
Video: Newark Student Union Conducts a Sit-in at The Newark Public Schools Board's Budget Meeting and Cami Walks Out Again!
Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Cami Anderson has got to go. I hope some of you have been following events in Newark. Students are playing a role. Good thing since no one listens to teachers. How nice to see Cami Anderson walk out again. I think she walks out twice.http://youtu.be/rBCi21i5tjsRemember, Anderson tried to get a tenure waiver so she can fire any teacher whose shirt she doesn't like but was rebuffed
Sally Lee on Resorative Justice
This comment from Sally deserves a post of its own. I was arguing in my original post that the contract is the only way to solidify and codify things so the current and future DOE can't as easily shirk issues like discipline. The Dignity in Schools Campaign is asking for full-time Restorative Justice Coordinators in 20 schools -- do you think this might be more useful that the money spend on PD? G
UFT Contract: The "VOTE NO" Caucus Says .......
They're flying in from all over the place. I'm assuming you're reading the great stuff over at the MORE blog.We are better off with the old contract until we can get a better one. Vote NO on the UFT Contract Offer!!Have you noticed that every new contract that has been imposed on us UFT members over the past two decades has more give-backs than improvements. This contract is no exception. Moreover
Video: I Tape Carmen Farina at CEC 2 Town Hall
I was asked to tape this event at the brand new building housing PS 59 and HS of Music and Art - by CEC 2 head, the always amazing Shino Tawikawa - see the wonderful well-deserved tribute to Shino at the end. [Something went wrong with my camera and I didn't get Carmen's opening speech - but the entire 45 minute Q&A is here.]It was certainly insightful to see an adoring public gush over Carmen
MAY 19
UFT Contract: NYC Supervisor Comments on Contract/SBO's - Is There a UFT/DOE Conspiracy?
Many teachers are concerned that SBO's are not being approved for anything that does not keep teachers at school until 3:45 on Monday and 3:35 on Tuesday, effectively eliminating any after school programs for kids (and per session pay for teachers) two days a week. The only thing the UFT and City will say is "all SBO's will be considered" but that does not mean approved... Ms Farina is a
UFT Contract - What's Missing - How About Discipline?
The amount of short-sighted "trust" the UFT/Unity crowd is giving this administration is astounding. We have learned from almost 50 years in the UFT - if it's not in the contract, there are no guarantees -- even if it's in the contract, many have learned that the loose language and loopholes allows the DOE to drive truck bigger than Godzilla through.Fariña said that she wanted to see sch
MAY 18
UFT Contract: Firemen/Sanitation/Cops Trash UFT - "We want UFT off MLC"
We'll never take the deal the teachers got.They got less pension then us, look we didn't take that.We'll go to PERB before we ever sign up for shit like this.If you have to pay for healthcare, or GHI goes shitty you can thank the UFT.Uft and mulgrew are trying to sell us all out, he may do it your wives (reference to the fact many guys have teachers as wives) but he won't do it to us.We told the U
UFT Contract: An Attack on Women
The contract proposal is an attack on feminism. 75% of UFT members are woman. The leadership expects the contract to pass because they anticipate that woman are willing and deserve to accept much lower pay in creases than they deserve.... Comment on Ed Notes After the UFT Brooklyn borough contract meeting, a pregnant teacher came up to ask [Borough Rep] Howie Schoor if anything was added to the co
MAY 17
Showing Desperation, Unity Comment Red-Baits and Compares MORE to KKK
“Members deserve more details than we have,” said Peter Lamphere, a math teacher at Gregorio Luperon High School in Manhattan.“They want it passed, and they want it passed immediately,” said Francis Lewis High School ESL teacher Arthur Goldstein. “I can’t believe the things they get away with.” ... Daily News Comments section:The Daily News once again is stirring the pot. The Memorandum of Agreeme
UFT Contract: A Play in One Act
Special Rep: I should probably schedule some time to come to your school and talk to your membersCL: na, that's alrightSpecial Rep: well. What's the general feeling over there?CL: yeah, we're pretty much against itSpecial Rep: oh then I really should come down and speak to membersCL: na, that's alright. Thanks though.--the borough rep is now coming with the Spec rep and is staying here for four ho
Layoffs in Newark and Jaisal Noor: Video on Ras Baraka Election in Newark
A mayoral election in Newark becomes a battle for the soul of the city... Jaisal Noor, The Real News, delivers - as usual.Newark may be a future model for the NYC school system despite the Baraka win, who in the New Yorker article admitted he was for a bunch of ed deform - like ending tenure. Who knows what is really where he stands?But also note the message from the Newark Teachers Union regardin
Rockaway Theatre Company: “Buffalo” Leaves Them Laughing
Memo from the RTC: “Buffalo” Leaves Them LaughingBy Norm ScottI attended the final dress rehearsal of the current Rockaway Theatre Company production of Ken Ludwig’s “Moon Over Buffalo” the night before it opened. Aside from the directors, Leslie Ross and Alan Rosenfeld, there were two of us in the audience watching the impeccable timing and perfect delivery of lines that hit right on the money de