Ed Notes Online
Norm in The Wave: Memo From the RTC: Gypsy Update – Why Do They Do It?
Gypsy high school gals having fun before going onTonight is the next to last performance as the show closes with the Sunday matinee. All sold out. Monday we strike the set and start putting up Godspell. Published Friday, August 1, 2014 www.rockawave.comMemo From the RTC: Gypsy Update – Why Do They Do It?By Norm ScottAfter a 2nd sold-out weekend, Gypsy heads into the final stretch this weekend at t
Happy 100th Anniversary to World War One
Jeez, we haven't had a World War for 75 years. Our generation are just slackers. But the way things are going there is hope.Yes, August 1 is a big day in these parts. It was known as The Great War for 2 decades - until WWII broke out on Sept. 1 1939.I am celebrating by reading Barbara Tuchman's "The Guns of August." I had that book for about 40 years but lost it in Sandy. So I got a copy
Argentina Called Hedge Hog Paul Singer's Bluff
Many are bewildered as to why Argentina wouldn't come to some agreement in the eleventh hour, given the seemingly manageable amounts of debt in play. But the truth is that Argentina acted sensibly, especially given the limited maneuvering room it had to work with. ... Foreign PolicyPaul Singer is singing in a high-pitched voice today after getting kicked in the balls by Argentina.See my previous
The Wave: The Amazing Susan Corning
When I saw Susan play the lead in Steel Magnolias back in 2006 - her first show in 30 years - I was blown away by her talent. A few years later I found myself in an RTC acting class - my first time when I was over 60 - with Susan. I was absolutely intimidated at the very idea of being on the same stage with Susan. But she made me feel - and makes everyone - feel so comfortable. She does anything a
Randi/Mulgrew Pal Steve Barr to Head Anti-Union DFER California
Hmm.. Steve Barr of Green Dot charters and then the pretentiously named “Future is Now” charters was always a favorite of Michael Mulgrew and the UFT. Several of his charters were started in NYC w/ their enthusiastic agreement. Wonder if they’ll still love him so much.... Leonie HaimsonOf course they still love Steve Barr, who never changed his true anti-union stripes, but allowed MulGarten to str
JUL 31
Open letter to SUNY board - urging them to stop approving new charters until true accountability is achieved
An article about this letter was in today's Daily News. Excerpt: "We are being oversaturated with charter schools," said Tesa Wilson, president Community Education Council in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. "It's tax dollars being poured into a black hole with no accountability." It's time SUNY is held accountable for its reckless and politically motivated charter school approval proce
Hedge Fund Vulture Hogs Default Argentina - And Public School Systems Too
Be greedy, fuck an entire country. I have an idea. Why doesn't Paul Singer start a charter school chain in Argentina - he could make more money than collecting on defaulted debt.The hedge fund firm of billionaire Paul E. Singer has about 300 employees, yet it has managed to force Argentina, a nation of 41 million people, into a position where it now has to contemplate a humbling surrender. Argenti
AFT Delegate Wants to See Opposition to Unity/Progressive Caucus Control
Hey Norm!I was a delegate at AFT's last convention in Los Angeles. I'm from a city of about 90000 people. Our union could only afford to send two delegates to the LA Convention, even though we were allowed to send up to 15; we'll probably be able to send four or five to Minnesota because the cost should be significantly less than LA. I was shocked that NYC was able to send 800 delegates. Somethi
Today: Protest Campbell Brown on Colbert Show - 4:15
I'm glad they are doing this, though I have no doubt Colbert will have some fun with Brown. You know, I watched Brown when she was (briefly) on the Today show - and she made me cringe with her humorlessness and cluelessness. They couldn't wait to get rid of her. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact:Julian Vinocur, julian@aqeny.org, 212-328-9268Maria Bautista, maria@aqeny.org, 347-622-9706*** Media Advisor
Takin' the Rockaway Ferry to See "Piece of My Heart" - and a Met Game with Old Pals
Thurs, July 31, 1PMGo see a great show - was available on TDF.Bathing Beauty sea sirens at RTC pool party looking to drag guys into water - they all happen to play strippers in Gypsy.I am just back from the theater where Tony had me build a ladder for the upcoming Godspell. When the actors fall off during the show, my name is on the ladder.I've had a fun few days. After taping the Sunday Gypsy per
Mike Schirtzer Thanks MOREistas
I just wanted to thank all the folks who helped organize and present at the today's summer series and the last one a couple of weeks back.Kit, Norm, Ellen, and James really explained well the lessons for MORE from their experiences in past opposition groups. It was such a great history lesson on why they fight so hard and how they were able to achieve some of their goals.Today Kevin did a fantasti
JUL 30
Moaning Mona and Campbell Brown Tenure Suits: An Attack on Special Ed Students
Less than a week after I received the Letter of Possible Discontinuance I received an updated package, which now stated my license could possibly be terminated. Because I voiced concern for the needs of my students I am being dealt a difficult card and an ultimatum. I am alarmed and concerned for my future as an educator. As I mentioned earlier, this is where I see myself until retirement, in a
Daily Howler Takes down Recent Ivy League Grad Ed Journalists
Impressive diplomas to the side, have you ever seen these new and slightly older kids challenge the prevailing theme about our floundering public schools? Have you ever seen them push back against this ubiquitous, billionaire-favored theme with the most elementary statistical work?.... People from the finest schools putter around on the public schools beat, failing to identify the groaning conflic
MORE Caucus Press Release: Teacher Tenure is Good for Students
By eliminating teacher tenure, we risk further disconnecting students and teachers, and make it harder for them to have transformational dialogue about what actually needs to be done in our classrooms to further the growth of students... Primi Akhtar (2014 graduate of Queens Metropolitan High School, valedictorian) Real parents and students as opposed to astroturf creations support tenure. Primi
MORE Summer Series Today: Life Under the New UFT Contract
I can't make this today - taking soon to be demised Rockaway ferry into city for matinee - but this is only a first shot at life under the new contract. How about the health care cost savings?http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/30/nyregion/de-blasios-plans-to-save-on-worker-health-costs-come-into-focus.html?ref=nyregion&_r=0 Life Under The New UFT Contractby morecaucusnyc The Social Justice
JUL 29
A Parent/Filmmaker Comments on Ravitch and Unions
How is it possible that the Leadership of Teachers Unions maintains this destructive control of the profession? And how can that control be altered and in what ways, without destroying the Unions altogether. .....parent perception is predominantly that the Unions speak for and represent the attitudes of teachers.... If the Unions don't speak for the majority of teachers and, if as you say, ther
JUL 28
I'm Shocked, Just Shocked WSJ Reporter Leslie Brody Would Write a Biased Article on Tenure
The Wall Street Journal article is just another example of how the media uses "fuzzy math" to distort and pervert the statistics to suit their ideological aims and to support the attack on teacher "due process rights"... Chaz School Daze Chaz on ICE blog: The exoneration rate in 3020-a cases has remained consistent over the years at 4%. James Eterno response: You won't find
Francesca Gomes on the New Teacher Contract
While many teachers were able to see the contract for what it was, the only organized protest against it was mounted by the Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE). Though the effort made by this group was truly commendable, it currently has too small of a base to mount an effective attack or empower the teachers in a city with such a vast, sprawling geography and such a high number of schools.
JUL 27
The Diane Ravitch Contradiction: Educators Should Rebel, but Be Nice When Addressing Oppressive Union Leaderships
....you want the workers to be rebellious, not docile. There is a time for collaboration and a time to stand up and fight... Ravitch on film "Metropolis." I grow frustrated when union members attack their unions. Of course, they should fight to win democratic control of their unions. But when they begin hurling insults and invective at their allies, they do the work of their common foe.
JUL 26
The Wave: Memo from the RTC: Backstage at “Gypsy”
So I am so involved with the play, the usual education stuff I put up on Ed Notes is taking 2nd place even though I think about the issues all the time - and in fact have written dozens of blog posts -- in my mind -- they disappear almost immediately. I have been deeply involved in all the MORE stuff but haven't had a chance to write much about it. And who actually reads this stuff? It seems more