UFT Election Musings: What Can Be Won and Is it Worth it to Try?

The Eternos and I at Tues Nite Yankee game

The other day I posted some thoughts based on the recent MORE retreat:
MORE Doesn't Retreat at Retreat Plus Some of My UFT Elections Thoughts - Don't Kvetch, Organize!

ICE, MORE, New Action get together at Yankee game: a precursor of things to come?

James and Camille, joined by Ellen Fox and Ed Beller talked about some of this election stuff at the Yankee victory-- NORM SCOTT, CAMILLE AND JAMES ETERNO PLOT ELECTION MOVES
- they were happy even though Camille, James and Ed are Mets fans because the Mets won too. Other than Ed, we are all UFT political junkies - we tried to talk between innings or during pitching changes.

All of them were in New Action until the 2003 sellout. Ellen and the Eternos left to help form ICE while Ed remained in New Action. Ed, James and Ellen were all elected and re-elected as high school executive board members repeatedly during the 90s through 2001, getting over 3000 votes each time.Ed is no longer active in union politics.

I pointed out in my blog piece that the 7 high school UFT exec bd seats were winnable by MORE in the upcoming election based on the 2013 numbers. They are winnable because retirees don't get to vote in that portion of the election. And neither do any of the high school non-teaching staff like secretaries, paras, guidance, social workers get to vote for these 7 positions. Classroom high school teachers only. This used to be the case for the HS VP position - until Unity lost in the mid-80s and changed the rules in 1994.

Unity is used to changing the rules when they lose. After New Action once again won the then 6 HS ex bd seats in 2001 - with over 3000 votes - Randi figured out a clever way to prevent this from happening by buying New Action and offering to hand them these seats by not running any Unity candidates against them. All they had to do was let Randi run unopposed. And so they did - except ICE and TJC threw a monkey wrench into the scheme by running and winning these 6 positions.

James and Jeff Kaufman for ICE did such a powerful job for 3 years, Unity - and New Action were mortified and thus made sure that no independent voice (non-Unity endorsed) representing classroom teachers without conditions would get on the Ex Bd. In 2007, for the first time, Unity put New Action people on the Unity slate so they could win -- and they split the HS Ex Bd seats between them. (When they raised it from 6 to 7, the split was 4-3, Unity.

New Action would ask some questions, maybe raise a reso or 2 and then make sure everyone got to go home on time. They are the loyal, well-behaved "opposition", so unlike the aggressive Jeff and James were. Everyone goes home happy - when James and Jeff were there, Unity did not go home happy.

New Action high school vote totals dropped from 3000 in 2001 to around 700 in 2004 - and 450 by 2014 - so how did that work out? Pretty good for them I guess since they are handed 10 ex bd seats and some jobs. Not so good for rank and file teachers.

So, let's get back to the 2016 elections.
To beat Unity + New Action + any other vagrant caucus running would take an extraordinary effort and require MORE to focus most of its resources on the high school election, probably ignoring other areas like elementary and middle schools and functionals - all areas where retirees don't vote.

To win 7 out of 100 Ex Bd seats - for what purpose? To make some noise? To take us to where New Action was 15 years ago? Their focus on these seats never led them to build much more of a base outside the high schools. And what do you do if you win? Go to meetings like ICE did every 2 weeks to support your people in a total Unity environment?

On the other hand, a win would show that Unity can still be beaten and it would restore an independent voice.

On the other hand, if MORE intends to go much beyond where New Action was before the dirty deal with Unity, it needs to reach deep into the schools. A focus on winning the high schools could distract MORE from that goal.

On the other hand, MORE could use the actions at the Ex Bd to raise issues of concern - it is easier to do there than at the DA since once you get 5 Ex bd people to sign on a reso must be dealt with.
And given that nothing else can really be won, why not go for this?

On the other hand, how exactly do you sell people on getting involved in an election that can win only such a small sliver of 7% of Ex bd and no officer or AFT/NYSUT delegate positions?

OY VEY!

While touching on some of these issues at the retreat, MORE did not get into the discussion in depth and is still far from getting deep into election stuff, focused more on supporting people in the schools.

Should MORE go for these seats even if the other parts of the campaign suffer? Given that MORE got almost 5000 votes in the 2013 election, can even 5-10% of these people be activated in a way to take part in the campaign beyond just voting - like becoming a spokesperson for MORE In their school and making sure people vote?

As for me, I am still not committed to getting deeply involved in yet another election but would appreciate any of your thoughts either in the comments section or by email.

Leo Casey Attacks Leonie Haimson Over Class Size, Defends UFT Inaction on Issue as Roseanne Takes Him Head On

What's Leo Casey's response to Haimson calling out the UFT on not fighting to lower class size????  He actually tries to defend the UFT's inaction by insinuating that parents don't want lower class size. .... Roseanne McCosh, PS 8X

Leo, the gift that keeps giving

Roseanne on the case. I can't wait for Mulgrew to visit PS 8.

Mr. Casey,
And your mean-girl antics continue...Leonie Haimson fights for lowering class size.  She has also been vocal against high-stakes testing and vocal in support of parents who opt their children out of state tests.  It's bad enough that the Unity-controlled UFT is on the wrong side of all of these issues but now you seem hell bent on attacking Leonie Haimson for merely pointing out where the UFT stands on class size.  You guys have done nothing, own it. 

More disturbing news on the UFT.....The arrogance and snarkiness continues from Leo Casey of the UFT.  Leonie Haimson's organization, Class Size Matters, understands the detrimental effects of large class size.  What's Leo Casey's response to Haimson calling out the UFT on not fighting to lower class size????  He actually tries to defend the UFT's inaction by insinuating that parents don't want lower class size.  We know they do, but my question is... why doesn't the Unity-controlled UFT care that we, the dues paying teachers they work for, want lower class size? The MORE caucus of the UFT supports lowering class size.  The Unity caucus led by Mulgrew does not. (The line in the sand gets clearer and clearer, doesn't it? MORE=GOOD for teachers, UNITY=BAD for teachers. As always---please share this with whomever you want. See Unity-UFT Casey's tweets below :
Roseanne

Leo Casey @LeoECasey

@leoniehaimson @pfh1964 @TeacherArthurG @lanecindy1234 @rweingarten @UFT Just curious Is there one real parent in school who has criticized?

Leo Casey @LeoECasey

@leoniehaimson @TeacherArthurG @pfh1 @rweingarten Would be nice if you actually talked to parents before deciding what they want.

MORE Doesn't Retreat at Retreat Plus Some of My UFT Elections Thoughts - Don't Kvetch, Organize!

After last week's MORE retreat where UFT elections were discussed for the first time this cycle, it looks like I have lost my battle to keep MORE out of the UFT elections -- though I will not concede I lost my debate with Schirtzer (The Great Scott-Schirtzer Debate: Boycott UFT Elections) until I see a slate put together. I'm sitting on the fence as to my level of involvement if such a slate is put together.

My vision of an election is that it must be part of the long-time work a caucus does, not an end all and be all where the focus shifts from that work into "election year" mode. I would have to believe that MORE won't fall into the election trap where it takes short term shortcuts. In the past that approach has never helped a caucus grow and in fact I've seen the outcome of elections help shrink groups as people who actually believed they could win drop out after the election.

That is why I am trying to impress on MORE that they must be honest with people and tell them what can be won in an election and what cannot be won - like the presidency and other officers, 80% of the Executive Board and all 750 delegates to the AFT/NYSUT Representative Assemblies. Anyone telling you Unity can be beaten in these areas is either lying or deranged.

I will admit I am intrigued at the challenge of helping MORE get enough high school votes to defeat Unity and New Action and any other caucus. On the surface it looks impossible but the numbers in 2013 put the 7 high school exec bd seats in play (more details in the future). MORE finished within 150 votes of Unity but the 450 or so New Action votes went to Unity. If New Action were to team up with MORE I have no doubt they would beat Unity in the high schools and elect people not endorsed by Unity for the first time since ICE-TJC won those seats in 2004.

What astounded me last time in 2013 is that Unity only got 1575 votes out of 19,000 sent out - and despite a massive and expensive campaign. Imagine that - Unity couldn't even get 10% of the high school teachers to vote for them. They have put some effort into outreach since then so it wouldn't surprise me to see their votes go up. The wild card is still New Action - despite some of their members telling us there is some disagreement over continuing to support Mulgrew I don't believe they will give up their 10 guaranteed Ex Bd seats and the jobs. But I believe that if MORE matched the 3000 votes New Action without Unity support got in 2001, MORE would win those seats. In essence it needs to double the high school numbers from 2013. Not easy but possible.

Could MORE win the 11 elementary school and 5 middle school Ex bd seats? They weren't even in the ballpark last time -with about 20% of the vote so I don't expect that to happen. But once again the Unity totals in elementary school were in the 5500 range out of 36,000 elem ballots sent out - around 15% of elementary UFT members. MORE would have to quadruple its totals from last time to have a shot. And with other groups out there splitting the vote, it is very unlikely.

MORE addresses 2016 election for first time

Last week MORE met in what was termed a "retreat," a term I dislike because it is used in such a phony manner by so many in the NYCDOE. A retreat is basically a very long meeting focused on the long and short range goals of an organization. At my age long range is about 10 minutes, so I am not always at my best at these meetings - er - retreats.

This was MORE's first retreat since last July - 2014 - when things in MORE were somewhat different. Since then there has been a degree if reorganizing and shifting priorities internally and externally. I won't go into the weeds on this but people who have been active know there was some struggling over a bunch of political stuff in MORE - messaging, what audience to appeal to, etc. MORE pretty much marked time last fall cutting back on activity until some of the issues could be resolved. In December there was some stirring and in the winter and spring, MORE began to perk up by focusing in issues related to the chapter leader elections and chapter leader training, work in the opt-out movement and in support of ATRs - despite some sturm and drang from people who have been activists for about 2 weeks, MORE/ICE people have been in the battle for ATRs for over a decade but do a lot of the work behind scenes so as not to use the ATRs as a political football.

About half the time at the retreat was spent discussing regular MORE organizing and half the UFT elections. There does not seem to be the same urgency I saw in 2013 - a good thing - MORE will take its time and let things work organically. Normal local organizing will go on. I imagine choosing candidates will take place in November.

I liked what I heard - A less intense and more relaxed view of UFT elections. There is no concern as to how many caucuses are running -- MORE just has to do its stuff - don't kvetch, organize.

People recognize that the recent chapter leader elections have more impact on the union than the 2016 elections - a good sign was the 60 plus turnout at the CL training -- and look for a Unity response by intensifying its recruitment efforts and disparagement of MORE.

MORE, recognizing that the battles are not just local, is also involved with Stronger Together on the state level and UCORE on the national level.

So people are busy bees - the MORE summer series continues this Thursday with building the opt out movement. The astute among you understand that a parent led opt out movement is the biggest threat to ed deform - which is why the deformers are trying every dirty trick to derail it - and having the UFT/AFT working to undermine the opt out movement doesn't help us.

THURSDAY, July 23rd How To Build an Opt‐Out Movement in Your School
4pm‐7pm
The Dark Horse, 17 Murray St. NYC, Near City Hall, Chambers St, WTC
Drink specials: $4 drafts, $6 well drinks & $7 wine

Et Tu Bernie - Reveals Himself as Deformer, Shrinking Distance with Hillary

it comes down to this--On the one hand, you have Democrats. Top down, Test-and-Punish, privatization in the inner city, and the Common Core corporate scam. On the other hand, you have Republicans. Who want to destroy public education entirely through charters, vouchers, and privatization. Honestly, when it comes to policy, there doesn't seem to be a lot of difference.... Daily Kos

How interesting that Republicans seem less deformy than Democrats?
Of course, closet deformers at the AFT/UFT like Leo Casey go on the attack over our opposition to deformy stuff by branding us tea party supporters.

Beware the Strawman

Leo Casey @LeoECasey

@rubinsteindds @NTampio @mma718 @MOREcaucusNYC You don't want to discuss Common Core, where your position is aligned w/Republican far right.

Leo Casey @LeoECasey

@NTampio @mma718 @MOREcaucusNYC Or maybe you would like to join Walker, Jindal, Cruz, etc. campaigns, becuz they oppose Common Core.

Poor Leo, Randi, et al -- stuck with the deformy Democratic Party for life.

Really, over time, what does it matter who the AFT endorses? It is about the process. I would support Bernie and probably will - but I have a hard time backing people with ed deform tendencies.

See Eterno at ICE blog for some interesting points and links to Ravitch pieces on the Murphy Amendment. WHERE TO NOW EDUCATION PROGRESSIVES?

Harris Lirtzman left an important comment:

Never underestimate the power and moral suasion that the mainline civil rights groups have on the Democratic Party--for good and historic reasons. We all know that there are many local and state civil rights groups that have come out against the testing and accountability regime because they see, on a day-to-day basis, the harm that is being done to children-of-color in our public schools. Never forget that Dennis Walcott was president of the National Urban League before he became Bloomberg's education puppy and then Schools Chancellor.

The national civil rights organizations had a reasonable case to make in the days before NCLB was enacted that children-of-color were overlooked when school accountability was an aggregate statistic, if it was measured at all. Urban schools were never held accountable for their performance and, despite Title 1 funding, were often abandoned by school boards and administrators. I would think that ten years of NCLB might have disabused them of the belief that annual accountability testing ensures that children-of-color get the support and interventions they need in their schools but old fears take a long time to die and I don't believe that people who say that the mainline civil rights organizations have "been bought off by Gates and the reformers' are being fair though I'm not naive and don't doubt that the funding they get is part of it all.

NEA said that it would use the vote to score Senate members. The AFT took no position.

I am not a man who usually bites my tongue but I have nearly bitten it in two the last few weeks as I watch many of my colleagues transform the long-time debate about pushing back the reformistas and opposing the authoritarian structures in our unions into a litmus test about whether someone supports Hillary Clinton or the sainted Bernie Sanders. The arguments are couched in terms of "process" but the real conversations and the most scalding comments now are about a particular political endorsement which I, at least, don't think will make that much difference in the long run. I don't support the early AFT endorsement of Hillary Clinton--I think it was a cynical undertaking which, importantly for me, violated a pact among the members of the AFL-CIO not to endorse any candidate before July 30. So much for labor solidarity and "we shall not be moved."

I have pretty much taken a vow of silence on any of this union political endorsement outrage because I am agnostic about Bernie Sanders and pragmatic about Hillary Clinton. Agnosticism and pragmatism turn out to be verbotten among teacher activists who easily lose track of the fact that they, in aggregate, represent a relatively small number of teachers nationwide and who need to maintain some humility in face of the challenges that all of us fighting the reformistas, at large, and the authoritarians, in our unions, face every day.

I think that there will be some long term damage, in terms of trust and credibility, so long as teacher activists call out "process" when they really are upset that a particular candidate was endorsed. Many teachers do support that candidate. Could the endorsement have been delayed and a more open process used to come to a decision? Of course. But the tenor of the debate is disproportionate to the harm done and seems to me to indicate a certain naivete about how the political process works and how our unions have played this game for many years. Perhaps we've reached a point of "no mas." I hope so but let's be honest about why, now, the "no mas" has taken on such a personal edge to it. 

Hey there - don't rely on politicians - organize and one day show up at their door with thousands.

Daily Kos

Bernie Sanders Just Broke A Promise 

Well, he and almost every other Democrat in the Senate. Why, oh why can't they get it right on education?
The Senate was going through its vote-a-rama on amendments to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act when the Murphy amendment came up for a vote.

What is the Murphy Amendment, you ask?
Short answer, it's a continuation of the same Test and Punish policies of the failed No Child Left Behind.

The 12-page text of Murphy’s SA 2241 reads more like No Child Left Behind (NCLB), with its detailed prescription for reporting on student test results, for “meaningfully differentiating among all public schools” (i.e., grading schools), including publicly identifying the lowest five percent, and, among interventions, potentially firing staff and offering students the option to transfer to other schools and using part of the budget to pay for the transportation.” This amendment would have enacted tough, federal-mandated accountability, akin to setting up an “achievement school district” in every state.

Almost every Democrat voted for this. This was co-sponsored by Elizabeth Warren. 

She even released a statement expressing her disappointment.

[In her statement, she says the ESEA as passed] “eliminates basic, fundamental safeguards to ensure that federal dollars are actually used to improve both schools and educational outcomes for those students who are often ignored.” That sounds good until you realize what she means. “Educational outcomes” mean test scores. She’s talking about test-based accountability. She is against the ESEA rewrite because it doesn’t necessarily put strings on schools’ funding based on standardized test scores like NCLB.
She continues, “Republicans have blocked every attempt to establish even minimum safeguards to ensure that money would be used effectively. I am deeply concerned that billions in taxpayer dollars will not actually reach those schools and students who need them the most…”
She is upset because Republicans repeatedly stripped away federal power to Test and Punish schools. The GOP gave that power to the states. So Warren is concerned that somewhere in this great nation there may be a state or two that decides NOT to take away funding if some of their schools have bad test scores.

And Bernie said he was going to "End No Child Left Behind" yet he voted for this extension of the same. Right now, Democrats seem to be under the impression that the only way to tell if a school is doing a good job is to engage in high stakes testing and only use the test scores as a guide.
Which is utter bullshit. The only thing a test score shows is parental income.
Real school accountability would be something more akin to the original vision of the ESEA – making sure each district had what it needs to give kids the best education possible. This means at least equalizing funding to poverty schools so they have the same resources as wealthy ones.
But today's Democrats won’t hear it. The Murphy Amendment seems to show that they’re committed to punishing poor schools and rewarding rich ones.
So it comes down to this--On the one hand, you have Democrats. Top down, Test-and-Punish, privatization in the inner city, and the Common Core corporate scam. On the other hand, you have Republicans. Who want to destroy public education entirely through charters, vouchers, and privatization.
Honestly, when it comes to policy, there doesn't seem to be a lot of difference.

Final Days of Guys and Dolls at the RTC - Entire Run of 10 Shows Sold Out - David Bentley Reviews Show

The rowdy esprit de corps that permeates the wonderful ensemble efforts of this cast is highly visible in the interactions of these lovable gangsters. A standout in that regard is the

 brilliant performance of Chazmond Peacock in the role of Nicely-Nicely. His joyous delivery of the show’s Act Two blockbuster, “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat,” was a Broadway-caliber performance.

Chazmond Peacock in the role of Nicely-Nicely, Photo: Courtesy of RTC, John Panepinto

And if you think gangsters can’t dance, think again before you see the talented guys in this cast do their stuff while gambling their way through numbers like, “Oldest Established,” and “Luck be a Lady.” (Choreographer, Nicola DePierro-Nellen).
 
Miss Byrne is sensational as this adorable nightclub singer who is losing patience at being “engaged for fourteen years,” and having to make up stories in order for her mother to believe that she and Nathan are already

married with children. Byrne’s terrific voice and flair for comedy would have carried this role on any stage, anywhere, and Broadway audiences wouldn’t have hesitated to declare her a star. Whether leading the talented Hot Box Girls in both “Bushel & a Peck,” and the uproarious, “Take Back Your Mink,” or joining in brilliant duet with smooth-voiced Smilardi for the savage, “Sue Me,” or better still, knocking the ball out of the park with the hilarious, “Adelaide’s Lament,” this gal has it all. Wow!

... David Bentley, www.ThePeoplesCritic.com

Those long days (matinees) and nights are coming to an end this weekend at the Rockaway Theatre Company after 3 months of intensity - set building,

Photos by John Panepinto

almost daily rehearsals and spending almost 5 hours at each performance. Even after getting home at 11 I am too keyed up to sleep. I now understand the fascination some people have with being involved in theater work and the immense amount of time they put in. Above are John Panepinto's (who plays Nathan Detroit and a crap shooter on alt days) super photos he took of the entire cast, including me in my 2 roles (I have no lines to remember thank goodness.)

Tonight MORE and ICE pal Yelena Siwinski and her boyfriend are making the trek out to Rockaway to see the show, as is former colleague and fellow writing group member Mary Hoffman.

Last week another former colleague and theater critic (www.ThePeoplesCritic.com) and Rockaway resident David Bentley came to see the show and his review was picked up by The Wave: http://www.rockawave.com/news/2015-07-17/Weekender/Summer_Fun_from_Guys__Dolls.html?pk_campaign=Newsletter

He sent me an advance copy which was sent to the cast and they were thrilled. He sent this message with other links to his review.

I am happy to report the GUYS & DOLLS review now resides in two locations. You may have already seen it if a subscriber to my website, but if not, just check out the lead story at:

 www.ThePeoplesCritic.com

In addition, the story was also picked up by the BroadwayStars website in New York where it now tops my listings there at:

https://broadwaystars.com/index.php?author=David+Dow+Bentley+III

David is an interesting story. He was my teaching neighbor just down the hall for 25 years and preceded me as chapter leader - and was a Unity Caucus member who often fed me info -- I first heard the name Randi Weingarten from him when he told me there was some resentment over her being pushed ahead of others. He took the 1995 buyout at age 50 and went back to his first love - the theater - by becoming The Peoples Critic, reviewing plays from his second home near Houston and on his travels back and forth to Rockaway and upstate NY where he hails from.

I'm so glad I found this opportunity so close to home. Most people involved come from outside Rockaway and travel through big traffic jams to get there. Yesterday one of our dancers, a native of Japan, had to take a cab to make it on time.  And I feel so at home with so many teachers involved.

Master builder Tony Homsey,

who plays a few roles in the show, is already at work building the set for Little Shop of Horrors, opening in August. We are building a turnatable to revolve the set and I'm heading over now to put the thing together. Monday we strike the set and Tues be start building in earnest.

Despite New NYS Ed Commish, NYSAPE Will Continue to Grow the Opt-Out Movement

And you can help by attending the MORE Summer Series: THURSDAY, July 23rd How To Build an Opt‐Out Movement in Your School
4pm‐7pm
The Dark Horse, 17 Murray St. NYC, Near City Hall, Chambers St, WTC
Drink specials: $4 drafts, $6 well drinks & $7 wine

High Stakes Testing and the Teacher Evaluation System are suffocating public education. As Diane Ravitch states ‐ the only way to save our schools is to starve the data beast. That is the mission of the opt out movement. Find out how teachers around the state are working together with parents to organize against high stakes testing and fight for the schools our students deserve!


Capital Confidential

Opt-outers will continue to protest tests

Yes, we’ve got a new education commissioner as well as some new Regents and Pearson, which had become a lightning rod for criticism has been dumped in favor of another test developer, Questar.
But that doesn’t satisfy members of what could be called the growing anti-testing movement who are urging parents to start their childrens’ new school year — about 6 weeks away — with opt out letters stating their kids won’t participate in the standardized tests that are in part used to grade teachers.
A group known as NYS Allies for Public Education is planning to send out standardized opt out letters in the coming weeks.
Here are some more details from NY SAPE

The end of the Albany legislative session in June brought no relief for parents of New York seeking to reduce the most excessive testing regime and reverse the most destructive education policies in the nation.
However, parent efforts, while not sufficiently rewarded, have led to shifting winds of change in the Empire State. For the first time in recent memory, massive spending by ‘Big Money’ donors were beaten back by the voices of the people and the Assembly, who resoundingly shut down Governor Cuomo’s unconstitutional attempt to illegally divert public dollars to fund private schools through his proposed Education Tax Credit based on model legislation from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Similarly, attempts to increase the cap on charter schools by the GOP-led Senate were rejected.
After the close of session, the independent Board of Regents, fired embattled school testing giant Pearson corporation. That change coupled with several leadership departures at the State Education Department (NYSED) and an exodus of ‘Fellows’ in the privately funded Research Regent Fellows program offered glimpses of light for outraged parents.
Left untouched however, was Governor Cuomo’s unconstitutional education mandate to link his politically motivated teacher evaluation system to student test scores, a centerpiece of his ‘Big Money’ donor’s agenda. A Siena poll this week shows that three out of four New York voters believe Cuomo’s education agenda is not working to help students. Parents in this supermajority of New Yorkers will not rest until the harmful, inappropriate high-stakes testing linked to teacher evaluations are reversed and real fundamental changes are made to the educational landscape.
The Opt Out movement will continue to grow until parent control of student data privacy is restored, school districts regain local control, and test prep factories are driven from their children’s classrooms forever.
“We have seen the departure of the Commissioner of Education, Deputy Commissioner, numerous SED officials, a data collecting system, inBloom and now Pearson, the infamous testing company. This in the end does not change the foundational issues with education policies in New York or bring relief to students. Damaging laws, poorly designed education policies, a bullying governor, and an unresponsive Regents’ majority are the underlying problems.” said Lisa Rudley, Westchester County public school parent and founding member of NYSAPE.
“Parents across New York showed their force by opting out of harmful practices of high-stakes testing to reclaim their children’s classrooms and many were elected their school boards to advocate for their children. Parents will be showing up in droves to refuse high-stakes tests and deny the data this coming year and casting their ballots in 2016 only for legislators that are truly advocating for our children,” said Jeanette Deutermann, Nassau County public school parent and found of Long Island Opt Out.
“In the end, even the legislature did little to protect our kids. Despite all of their promises, nothing was done to reduce time spent on testing or the secrecy surrounding inappropriate test questions. Legislation enabling teachers to discuss already released test questions is absurd. It is the un-released questions that often hold the most egregious examples of inappropriate content,” said Bianca Tanis, Ulster County public school parent, educator, and founding member of NYSAPE.
Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters added, “The Education Tax Credit, an unconstitutional backdoor voucher system, was stopped in its tracks despite the ‘big money’ lobbying and relentless efforts of ‘mega donors’. While the number of charter schools to be added in NYC doubled from 25 to 50, the Senate Republicans made sure that this would not affect their districts.”
“While six Board of Regent members took a bold stance in formulating a plan that would have provided some much needed relief from these harmful policies, they were defeated by the balance of the board who opted to maintain the status quo,” said Eric Mihelbergel, Erie County public school parent and founding member of NYSAPE.
NYSAPE, a grassroots organization with over 50 parent and educator groups across that state, are calling on parents to hand in their test refusal letters on the first day of school to reclaim their children’s classrooms and to stop the destruction of our public schools. Updated 2016 test refusal letter coming soon.

Sixty Show at MORE Hardcore Chapter Leader Training / Summer Series Continues Next Week

Yelena Siwinski at MORE CL workshop

I joined Kit Wainer and Yelena Siwinski and 60 others at part 1 of the MORE chapter leader workshop last Thursday. Mike Schirtzer moderated. Part 2 will be in August (check here and MORE upcoming details). They have way more experience than I did as CL -- I only did 4 years but learned so much that I shared with the mostly new chapter leaders and delegates. I pushed for us to do this early in the summer since I imagined the new people might have some nerves over taking on this position and we needed to give them immediate advice and also let them know there is a support group for them.

I firmly believe MORE must not be a traditional opposition caucus that focuses on running in the UFT elections every 3 years but a service organization for UFT members who feel under served by the UFT/Unity Caucus leadership which often has other concerns - like undemocratically endorsing presidential candidates way before necessary - and if some Unity slug tries to tell you that this was the AFT, not the UFT, laugh in their face - the AFT is controlled by the UFT.

I taped the 3 presentations - there are loads of ideas presented by Kit (high school), and Yelena and me (elementary school). I focused on the political role within a school chapter leaders can play -- if done in the interests of the staff and not yourself -- you have some levers of power that you can use to build support and thus protect yourself and your members from retaliation. 



MORE Chapter Leader Summer Workshop - July 9, 2015 from Grassroots Education Movement on Vimeo. (https://vimeo.com/133271046)

Here is the report from the MORE listserves with an announcement of the next summer series next Thursday, led by the always amazing Jia Lee.

Over 60 people, many of whom were newly elected Chapter Leaders and Delegates, joined us at our Hardcore Summer Series Training last week!

Veteran Chapter Leaders Kit Wainer, Yelena Siwinski, and Norm Scott (check out their video presentations) led workshops on the nuts and bolts of leading your chapter, gaining support in your building, working with the school community to build a strong union chapter, and being able to counter anti-teacher administrators.

Thank you to all those who came out!  There will be a second session will be August 20th and we will have a Fall workshop with mentoring for  Chapter Leader/ Delegates in October, details to follow.

THURSDAY, July 23rd How To Build an Opt‐Out Movement in Your School
4pm‐7pm
The Dark Horse, 17 Murray St. NYC, Near City Hall, Chambers St, WTC
Drink specials: $4 drafts, $6 well drinks & $7 wine

High Stakes Testing and the Teacher Evaluation System are suffocating public education. As Diane Ravitch states ‐ the only way to save our schools is to starve the data beast. That is the mission of the opt out movement. Find out how teachers around the state are working together with parents to organize against high stakes testing and fight for the schools our students deserve!

MORE-UFT
http://more.nationbuilder.com/

Add Boston to the Union Militancy Movement -- Antonucci at EIA

It will take ages before organized opposition can have a demonstrable effect on NEA, and its growth in AFT is offset by the stranglehold the establishment caucus has in New York City’s United Federation of Teachers. But at the very least we can expect union incumbents everywhere to start shoring up their left flanks and publicly adopt more progressive stances.... Mike Antonucci, Educational Intelligence Agency

Mike A is the only ed reporter covering the growing movement within teacher unions. MORE is local versioanworking closely with UCORE on the national and ST on the state levels, in NYC being in the belly of the Unity beast and also, due to the fundamental lack of democracy in the UFT being the least likely to capture even a sliver of power.

He is correct in that Randi and crew will try to sound progressive to coopt the militants' message but endorsing Hillary the way they did will counteract that.

We linked to Mike's previous reports on this issue. Antonucci on Teacher Unions and The War Within.

Add Boston to the Union Militancy Movement

Posted: 09 Jul 2015 08:59 AM PDT

Richard Stutman has been president of the Boston Teachers Union for 13 years, and he will continue be president, having run unopposed last month. His union, however, is changing beneath him.

An opposition caucus, called BTU Votes, ran a candidate for executive vice-president who lost by only 65 votes to the incumbent. Today’s Boston Herald has a story about election irregularities, but the real story is the unexpected strength of the opposition and its candidate, Jessica Tang.
Tang’s campaign web site indicates she is part of the growing teacher union militancy movement. She mentions she has “relationships with and access to union leadership from several other locals including the Massachusetts Teachers Association, Chicago Teachers Union, United Teachers of Los Angeles, and Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association.” All of these unions are places where militants were elected over establishment candidates.

She also supports the United Caucuses of Rank-and-File Educators (UCORE), which is a fledgling attempt to organize like-minded members across state lines. I can’t say if UCORE will be the coalition necessary for these social justice unionists to upend incumbents in even more large locals, or perhaps compete at the national level, but it’s interesting that the thoughts of those involved in the movement are running along those lines.

Don’t get too excited/worried. It will take ages before organized opposition can have a demonstrable effect on NEA, and its growth in AFT is offset by the stranglehold the establishment caucus has in New York City’s United Federation of Teachers. But at the very least we can expect union incumbents everywhere to start shoring up their left flanks and publicly adopt more progressive stances.

More Reactions to AFT Hillary Endorsement

What is most destructive in the AFT’s endorsement of Clinton is that it has disempowered members at precisely the moment when we most need revitalized teachers unions to save a system of education that is being destroyed as a public good by powerful elites and the politicians they control... Lois Weiner, Jacobin

Randi Weingarten has a lot of work to do if she expects the AFT to work for Hillary Clinton.... If anything, the AFT 's endorsement of Clinton will only stoke the fires of Bernie's campaign, with working teachers everywhere poking its embers...It will be up to Weingarten and others to tamp down the flames of dissent and disgust engulfing corporate Clinton.... The Pen is Mightier than the Person blog.

Leo Casey has apparently been assigned to do the tamping down and has been on a twitter rampage challenging a variety of MOREs -

• No Weekend at Bernie's for AFT - Leo Casey Gets MAD at MORE 
• MORE 15,000 hits re AFT Hillary Endorsement, Roseanne Response to Leo Casey, Email to Colleagues

Unity flack Peter Goodman has a laugh out loud piece comparing Bernie to the McGovern debacle in 1972.

My take is that Randi knew there would be this reaction and decided to get it done early and allow time for the air to go out of the balloon and knowing full well that when presented with the final choice of Hillary vs any Republican slug most people will go along. Unless Bernie actually mounted a 3rd party candidacy alla Nader or Ross Perot.

My old right wing pal Mike Antonucci at EIA is one of the few to connect the AFT endorsement with the possible Supreme Court decision to take away the agency shop and make the UFT/AFT go trolling for dues. How willing will Bernie supporters be to turn over $1300 a year to an organization that functions this way? Most will because they believe in unions - but maybe they will seek other union options.

Mike put up his 2 cents with a summary of the dissent - including the great piece Mike Schirtzer put up on the MORE blog (Clinton Endorsement, Wrong For Our Union). (Leo froths at the mouth when I ref Mike A).

Endorsement Unites AFT Behind Hillary… If You Believe AFT

Well, That Could Have Gone Better

Posted: 14 Jul 2015 10:34 AM PDT

• Contact the AFT and demand they rescind their endorsement of Hillary Clinton
• Dissent in the Ranks: AFT Rushes to Endorse Hillary Clinton — Then Endures Online Backlash
• Teachers Say No Freaking Way to AFT Endorsement of Hillary Clinton
• Clinton Endorsement, Wrong For Our Union
• Reject The AFT’s Premature Endorsement of Hillary Clinton
• AFT Leaders Say, You Don’t Like The Hillary Clinton Endorsement, Too Bad
• The AFT’s Endorsement of Hillary Clinton Is an Insult to Union Democracy
• Birds of a Feather Weingarten and Elia Mistake Teachers For Statues
• The American Federation of Teachers Endorsed Hillary Clinton—and Not Everyone’s Happy About It

Lois Weiner, a former NYC HS teacher and delegate, has a piece at Jacobin
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/07/weingarten-president-primary-bernie-clinton/

What’s Wrong With the AFT?

The American Federation of Teachers’ top-down endorsement of Hillary Clinton is an affront to democratic unionism.

by Lois Weiner

On Saturday, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) announced that its executive council “overwhelmingly” endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president. It did so, the official announcement says, on the basis of interviews (not released to members) and the results of a poll.

The decision couldn’t be more wrongheaded, and it’s one that members should demand the union executive council rescind. We should propose instead a decision reached by a very different process: a referendum of members that follows and is informed by debate in union outlets.

Do You Know a Sociopath? I Bet You Do

Recent observed and often bizarre behavior by some people we know have caused some of us to look for diagnostic signs of what is driving

this behavior. Sociopathy is more widespread than we think. I consider Randi and Bill Clinton have many elements. Watch the behavior of some people and check that off against some of the information below.

They are masters at turning one group of people against another group while proclaiming themselves to be the one true savior ....they never feel guilt because they can justify anything they do -- you will often hear them say they can sleep at night - because to them lying -- well, not as much lying - but telling half-truths and parsing language to give the impression they want is justified. They often paint themselves a victims or persecuted. 

All sociopaths are narcissists, but not all narcissists are sociopaths. Because of this, all sociopaths have a huge ego. When you meet, they will tell you a huge list of things that make them sound absolutely remarkable... It is important to the sociopath to play victim... Most people feel uncomfortable telling a lie, and usually need to confess the lie and have a need to be honest. A sociopath is opposite to this... When caught in a lie a sociopath will always

·         Change the subject
·         Blame someone else
·         If pushed will become angry, and point out your shortcomings, but rarely will he ever admit to the lie.

The last point made an impression on me since I saw it happen so often recently. Bring up a point of vulnerability to them and you find yourself responding to an entirely different point and the original point gets buried. I will get into the specific details of this behavior in a follow-up.
 
Some more key points:

Sociopaths are more spontaneous and intense than other people. They tend to do bizarre, sometimes erratic things that most regular people wouldn't do. They are unbound by normal social contracts. Their behavior often seems irrational or extremely risky.

Sociopaths are masters are presenting themselves as heroes with high morals and philosophy, yet underneath it they... undermine, deceive, and often incite emotional chaos among entire communities. They are masters at turning one group of people against another group while proclaiming themselves to be the one true savior. Wherever they go, they create strife, argument and hatred, yet they utterly fail to see their own role in creating it. They are delusional at so many levels that their brains defy logical reasoning. You cannot reason with a sociopath. Attempting to do so only wastes your time and annoys the sociopath. 

One of the more offensive duties of being an investigative journalist is taking out the trash -- exposing liars, fraudsters, con artists and scammers for the people they truly are. Each time we investigate a sociopath, we find that they always have a little cult group following of spellbound worshippers who consider that particular sociopath to be a "guru" or "prophet."... Mike Adams (NaturalNews)

Do you know any sociopaths? Adams estimates that 4% of the population are SPs.

A friend tells me she has known many people with sociopathic tendencies and they often accomplish a lot. They are very convincing and often charismatic - and it often takes years of dealing with them to realize you are being manipulated - and used - and I am very gullible. I think my years of friendly contact with Randi taught me a lesson - she has many elements of sociopathy -- ...they never feel guilt because they can justify anything they do -- you will often hear them say they can sleep at night - because to them lying -- well, not as much lying - but telling half-truths and parsing language to give the impression they want is justified. They often paint themselves a victims or persecuted.

Sometimes it takes years to figure this out and then you smack yourself in the head and say, "of course." That happened to me with Randi when she slipped out of her usual mode with an email in which she said How dare I talk to a union president that way? The smack in the head that I had been played. I am an easy mark to play it seems - even recently someone I believed in and trusted and defended has opened my eyes.

To me a sociopath is an outgrowth of what I would term spoiled bratism as a child - or the opposite - denied being a spoiled brat and making up for it as an adult. It is a high form of selfishness - the person has to get his or her way - actually, it is mostly men it seems - though I have heard some women described as sociopaths - and think I even ran across one or two. You can never convince them they are wrong and if you disagree they cannot understand it and will never stop badgering you about it and will consider your refusal to agree as a personal slight and a badge of disloyalty - even when it might be the slightest of issues.

I was a spoiled brat and at times in my life I felt I was on the edge of being so selfish as to verge on sociopathy - or sociopathic behavior. I have to fight against such tendencies. My saving grace is self-critical analysis and a lot of Jewish guilt. Sociopaths never feel guilt and often proclaim how they can sleep at night.

How to spot a sociopath - 10 red flags that could save you from being swept under the influence of a charismatic nut job

Why cover this subject? I've seen a lot of people get hoodwinked, scammed or even harmed by sociopaths, and it bewilders me that people are so easily sucked into their destructive influence. I want to share with Natural News readers the warning signs of sociopaths so that you can spot them, avoid them, and save yourself the trouble of being unduly influenced by them.

Much of this information is derived from the fascinating book, The Sociopath Next Door, which says that 4% of the population are sociopaths. The book is a fascinating read.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036112_sociopaths_cults_influence.html#ixzz3eqAwi9fz

10 signs for spotting a sociopath

#1) Sociopaths are charming. Sociopaths have high charisma and tend to attract a following just because people want to be around them. They have a "glow" about them that attracts people who typically seek guidance or direction. They often appear to be sexy or have a strong sexual attraction. Not all sexy people are sociopaths, obviously, but watch out for over-the-top sexual appetites and weird fetishes.

#2) Sociopaths are more spontaneous and intense than other people. They tend to do bizarre, sometimes erratic things that most regular people wouldn't do. They are unbound by normal social contracts. Their behavior often seems irrational or extremely risky.

#3) Sociopaths are incapable of feeling shame, guilt or remorse. Their brains simply lack the circuitry to process such emotions. This allows them to betray people, threaten people or harm people without giving it a second thought. They pursue any action that serves their own self interest even if it seriously harms others. This is why you will find many very "successful" sociopaths in high levels of government, in any nation.

#4) Sociopaths ... wildly exaggerate things to the point of absurdity, but when they describe it to you in a storytelling format, for some reason it sounds believable at the time.

#5) Sociopaths seek to dominate others and "win" at all costs. They hate to lose any argument or fight and will viciously defend their web of lies, even to the point of logical absurdity.

#6) Sociopaths tend to be highly intelligent, but they use their brainpower to deceive others rather than empower them. Their high IQs often makes them dangerous.

#7) Sociopaths are incapable of love and are entirely self-serving. They may feign love or compassion in order to get what they want, but they don't actually FEEL love in the way that you or I do.

#8) Sociopaths speak poetically. They are master wordsmiths, able to deliver a running "stream of consciousness" monologue that is both intriguing and hypnotic.

#9) Sociopaths never apologize. They are never wrong. They never feel guilt. They can never apologize. Even if shown proof that they were wrong, they will refuse to apologize and instead go on the attack.

#10) Sociopaths are delusional and literally believe that what they say becomes truth merely because they say it!

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036112_sociopaths_cults_influence.html#ixzz3epo95AEP

MORE 15,000 hits re AFT Hillary Endorsement, Roseanne Response to Leo Casey, Email to Colleagues

BREAKING: Ed Notes has learned that Hillary will keynote AFT convention in Minneapolis in July 2016. Expect some dissent from the ranks.

Well, actually I'm just guessing but I think it is a pretty good guess. Getting into to see this will cause long lines at security, like they did at the Biden appearance in LA last year. Better pee early.

Note the flurry and fury the endorsement has stirred up a hornet's nest but Randi/Mikey are expecting that to go away by next year and Bernie to go away too after the primaries are over. So by next year the fait accompli will be over.

MORE if as expected will run in the UFT 2016 elections (despite my advice) will also be contending for some of those 800 AFT convention positions which go to Unity en masse. If MORE got 49% of the vote - the 800 Unity slugs go to support Randi anyway. Shanker knew what he was doing when he set up this structure. I don't think the Hillary issue per se will resonate next March/April during the campaign as much as it is indicative of the way the union operates.

Our pal Roseanne McCosh has not sat back silently. Roseanne is on the AFT/Randi/Hillary/Leo case after MORE shared Leo's petulant tweets: No Weekend at Bernie's for AFT - Leo Casey Gets MAD at MORE

Mr. Casey: I read your tweets re: AFT/Hilary and MORE’s response. Try some humility for a change instead of acting like a high-school mean-girl who claims she’s way cooler because she has more friends than MORE. BTW…. You forgot to count the 60+ people from PS 8 in the Bronx who joined ST. Your arrogant, ‘Unity knows what’s good for you’ tweets will surely inspire them to now support MORE as well. Keep alienating the rank and file and watch your opposition grow. MORE won’t have to do a damn thing to gain additional support. They’ll just have to sit back and wait for the blowback set in motion by Unity blowhards who make decisions FOR us instead of WITH us....... Roseanne McCosh – PS 8x

Roseanne is helping organize her school to support MORE as she did to support Stronger Together (Sixty One Members (and counting).

Roseanne sent this out to her colleagues (if more anti-Unity people did the kind of work Roseanne does in her school Unity would have reason to be nervous.)

The American Federation of Teachers led by Randi Weingarten endorsed Hilary Clinton without fully vetting her on the issues that affect our careers. The AFT endorsed her without getting any guarantee that she would change the teacher-hate climate and testing mania created by Bush and perpetuated by Obama. The MORE caucus of the UFT expressed concern over the unearned endorsement which resulted in a series of arrogant, snarky tweets from Leo Casey who works for the UFT. This email has nothing to do with who we should endorse. This email is about calling out our union leaders who always claim they know what's best for us and acting like we should just shut up and do as we're told and accept whatever they say we should accept. One of the snarky tweets from Leo Casey prompted my response below (I emailed it to Leo Casey and Mulgrew.) In September I will ask that we join MORE to show support for a NYC Caucus within the UFT who are fighting for the working teachers of NYC. We took the first step by joining the ST (NY STATE) Caucus. MORE is a NYC Caucus who is doing similar work for us, the working teachers, right in our backyard. Please share this email with anyone you like. I will have additional info on the MORE Caucus in September. In the meantime you can check them out on Facebook (MORE UFT) or follow them on Twitter. My email to Casey/Mulgrew is below:...
Roseanne

You know it is not about the question of whether to endorse Hillary or not but the undemocratic process that totally shuts out the potential Bernie supporters to make their case. Remember the 2008 support for Hillary and how pissed the Obama supporters were -- and where are they now? And watch Hillary waffle on the ed deform issues making similar vague promises like Obama did.

MORE posts on facebook have gotten a major response with over 15,000 hits in 24 hours.

Here is the MORE official statement on the MORE blog written by my adopted political son - I'm leaving Mike all my back issues of ed notes in my will. Mike connects the upcoming Supreme Court case on agency shop dues - which could cripple the AFT/UFT/NUYSUT -- hard to make a case for paying union dues to such an undemocratic organization -- see ICE and NYCEducator blog for commentary on this point.

morecaucusnyc

Clinton Endorsement, Wrong For Our Union - By Mike Schirtzer Teacher/UFT Delegate- Leon M. Goldstein High School Brooklyn

Over a year before the 2016 Presidential election our AFT union leadership has already endorsed Hillary Clinton. The political move comes after phone polls and one town hall meeting which supposedly included the input of 1,150 members. Our AFT is made up of over 1.6 million members. This is not a very scientific study or a good sample size.

With the recent decision to by the Supreme Court to hear a case that may mean the end of public sector unions as we know it and the continued anti worker, union-busting policies from elected officials on both sides of the aisle from Scott Walker to Rahm Emanuel, now is the wrong time to be making back-room political deals that further distance our union from its members. This is the moment to engage our members, to make them feel like active participants in our union.

For far too long UFT/AFT leadership has been overly complacent and has allowed member interest in the union to wither away. With this critical election coming soon and the continued attacks on our unions, this should be the perfect moment to work to get all our members involved. We could have done that by offering more than a phone poll and website questionnaire. We could have used this election to galvanize our members, to remind prospective nominees that anti-worker, anti-union, and anti-public education policies are not in the best interest of our nation. In fact these very policies have widened the income gap and led our country to near financial ruin. We need to properly vet each candidate to know where they stand on testing, common core, union rights, tenure, charter schools, and then share that information with each and every AFT member. Our members can make informed decisions that will help our students, our schools, and our union.

It is fine if AFT President Weingarten is personal friends with Mrs. Clinton, but that is not a reason to give away our endorsement. The last twenty-five years of political endorsements has not helped our union or our schools, in fact we could argue it has done further harm. They could have engaged the membership in a vibrant discussion on strategies and whether political endorsements are in the best interest of those we serve.

None of this was done, instead another top down decision made in some backroom during the middle of the summer. We all understand that this endorsement really holds no weight due to the lack of organizing and mobilizing by  our union leadership which has led to the disinterest in union endorsements. But we could have used this election to change that. This could have been the very moment when our union leadership decided to change strategy, make our union more democratic, listen to voices within the union, even dissenters like ourselves who may disagree, but offer educated insights. Instead they chose to do what they always do, which is another top-down failure to engage the membership and then make a decision on our behalf.

It is time for new union leadership, one that is made up of members who are in the classroom, who speak with and speak for classroom teachers and school based educators. A leadership that has new ideas, new voices, and actively seeks member participation. While we are upset at this endorsement, it is just another example of the systematic failed leadership that has allowed our union to become weak, our members to become disinterested, and public schools to be attacked.

Mark Naison had an interesting point:

The same Randi Weingarten who pushed through the endorsement of Hillary Clinton by the AFT is single most important person responsible for the appointment of Mary Ellen Elia as Education Commissioner of New York State. Without AFT and UFT support, Elia would never have been appointed, much less unanimously appointed, in an "emergency meeting" In both instances, the public was blindsided because the process was closed and there was no debate. But this says a lot about how Randi Weingarten works. She likes to cut deals with people in power rather than mobilize her membership to be an active force in the public life of the communities they live in and to promote democratic decision making in her union. In that sense, she has much in common with the two most powerful people shaping education policy in New York State- Governor Andrew Cuomo and Regents Chair Merryl Tisch, both of whom think that policy is best made by "negotiations between CEO's" to quote Regent Tisch's favorite term.

No Weekend at Bernie's for AFT - Leo Casey Gets MAD at MORE

He's baaaack. Leo Casey (and apparently most of the Unity Caucus leaders) pay a lot of attention to MORE. Leo is upset that MORE is critical of the AFT Hillary endorsement and argues that a democratic poll took place, though apparently they managed to leave out people who might disagree - like the so-called 25 members Leo claims MORE has. Arthur has a good piece at NYC Educator -- Hillary and Randi.

And let's look soon at our pals in Chicago/CORE/CTU which has 2 members of the AFT Exec Council that voted this endorsement. Wonder how they voted.

The Great Discipline Debate Goes On: Coddle or Club Them are not the only choices

What If Everything You Knew About Disciplining Kids Was Wrong? | Mother Jones --- Negative consequences, timeouts, and punishment just make bad behavior worse. But a new approach really works.

Since I got involved in organized teacher groups 45 years ago, this age-old debate has flared its head. Just read the comments in the recent Restorative Justice piece on Ed Notes: Can Restorative Justice Be the Key to School Discipline?

Under Greene's philosophy, you'd no more punish a child for yelling out in class or jumping out of his seat repeatedly than you would if he bombed a spelling test. You'd talk with the kid to figure out the reasons for the outburst (was he worried he would forget what he wanted to say?), then brainstorm alternative strategies for the next time he felt that way. The goal is to get to the root of the problem, not to discipline a kid for the way his brain is wired.

What if it is not about talking out in class but beating the shit out of other kids and creating a climate of fear in your class?

It is clear that a slug school admin that doesn't hold itself accountable is a major problem. But also what about schools overloaded with difficult to manage kids that are so under resourced that they cannot manage to manage. My school had a massive special ed component --  the kids with the most problems with discipline - emotional - were placed in small specEd classes with a teacher and a para - at that time 12-1-1. My principal - who supported teachers 100% - claimed that 60% of her time was spent on a relatively few kids.

There are schools where teachers feel under siege when it comes to discipline and the lack of administration support. But this is also a 2-way street. Teachers must use some judgement in managing their kids. Other than the relatively few socio/psychopath students I had, I was able to reason with kids to get their behavior to work within the bounds of how I ran my classroom - admittedly, fairly liberally - I wanted to build an inviting classroom environment, feeling that having kids want to be there - and with each other - made the rest relatively easy.

But I had my share of kids who could act like hoods - years later I got a call one Thanksgiving from a former student serving 15-life for murder - it could have been from Dannemora, where he did serve some of his time - and he put me on with another former student who told me there were 9 of them from the projects across the street from my school in the same cell block.

I was able to work with most of the kids in this category when they were 12 - I'm not sure what I would do if they were 17. I had to treat the very hard core cases in ways that are not described below --

What If Everything You Knew About Disciplining Kids Was Wrong? | Mother Jones

—Katherine Reynolds Lewis | July/August 2015 Issue

http://m.motherjones.com/politics/2015/05/schools-behavior-discipline-collaborative-proactive-solutions-ross-greene

My Quote in Chalkbeat on John Dewey HS Elvin Firing - They didn't include my hammering of Farina for Covering up

Why does it take a year for OSI to issue a report? And why are teachers pulled immediatly while OSI investigates while principals like Elvin are allowed to stay  in their jobs and continue to destroy teachers and students lives? If not for the publicity, Elvin would have been kicked upstairs to run some DOE program instead of being fired. The press should look at how many slugs who were disasters as principals who are in high end positions today at the DOE.

(I posted the complete 22 page OSI report in google docs.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8qnFCTQLOqoUXNNMTdhUGRINTQ/view).

I'm glad that MORE got some credit for the behind the scenes support for the struggle at John Dewey - I was the point man and the CL Michael Solo who was a main cog in the battle is a MORE member. We used Ed Notes to bludgeon Elvin - the Dewey stories get numerous hits every day. Taking the story public in this way moved things along. Michael filled me in all along and we had to keep most of what was going on behind the scenes private. And I'm still not at liberty to tell the entire story.

Cover up

I do know that Michael put his career at risk since Elvin and her crew were monsters at retaliation. Michael was not an activist until they tried to close Dewey 4 years ago. At that time we were in a pre-MORE stage of GEM and we went down to support them and Michael got involved in GEM as it morphed into MORE.

But the story here is that Farina covered up - and the NY Times indicates so when she said recently there was nothing there. I made that clear in the interview - and the UFT was informing Farina and her people about what Elvin was doing on a number of issues at the school.

Chalkbeat seems to think that Farina acted quickly by firing Elvin instead of bumping her to another position as they do with principals. But the Marcia Kramer pieces on TV forced Farina's hand -- the publicity of reassignment would have been too damaging -- but if there was no pub they Elvin would be running something at the DOE for sure.

 I challenged Farina at a PEP meeting. https://youtu.be/eH8YblzFbSM

Norm Scott, an activist with the Movement of Rank and File Educators, a caucus of the city teachers union that waged a public campaign to remove Elvin, said the city’s actions were long overdue. He said Fariña — who has said for months that she was awaiting the results of the investigation — was informed about problems at John Dewey by teachers there in her first months on the job.
“A year too late,” Scott said. “Kids and teachers have suffered enormously.”
He didn't include the part where I hammered Farina for duplicity and gave him background info on how she knew what was going on for almost a year but protected Elvin while teachers were being hammered.
http://ny.chalkbeat.org/2015/07/08/principal-tapped-by-bloomberg-to-turn-around-john-dewey-hs-yanked-after-probe/#.VZ5krkV0G_B

The UFT deserves credit for their work behind the scenes with MORE member Michael Solo. A real cooperative effort.

GRADE-FIXING PROBE

The principal of John Dewey High School who was tasked with turning around the troubled Brooklyn school is in the process of being fired after a city investigation found that she allowed students to receive credits toward graduation with no instruction from teachers.

• Chalkbeat,
• New York Times,
• NY1,
• SchoolBook,
• New York Daily News,
• New York Post,
• Capital Pro

The grade-fixing scandal at John Dewey High School “may be just the tip of the iceberg,” writes the Post editorial board, and the only way to hold schools more accountable is to have more school choice.

• New York Post