Perdido Street School Reader: Elia Not Softening Stance On Opt Out At All

A Perdido Street School reader left this comment today on whether MaryEllen Elia "softened" her stance on the Opt Out movement with her comments to NPR and Time Warner News yesterday:

She has not softened her stance one bit, insofar as we are clear as to her stance previously. Her stance...her real stance...is that their focus for pushing back against opt out will be against TEACHERS. Everything else is static and noise, but one thing is clear, Elia will use the resources at her disposal to go after teachers.

She doubled down on this, in fact, in these statements, especially in the CapTon report where she talks about "ethical" lines and whatnot. Elia and Cuomo and everyone else has softened their language for parents, the tests themselves, kids...but never once did they soften on teachers. Stay focused on that.

Now, what about this "ethical line" Elia talks about? My response, as a teacher, is that I: 1) do not have a daddy issue or a need for an authority figure(s) in my life in general. I am a fully realized adult. I know this is difficult for many to understand as our profession has ALOT of people with daddy issues. 2) do not need anyone drawing ethical lines for me. If I needed someone to draw those lines or coach me on those lines, well then it wouldn't be ethics anymore. It would just be a law or rule IMPOSED. 3) When did the New York State Commissioner for Education become a source for and expert on ethics? Where in her job description is that? How is that gained? What coursework in philosophy, ethics itself, anthropology, sociology, history etc. does she have that allows her to speak on ethics in HER PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY? We are really getting into dangerous and murky territory when a state-level bureaucrat speaks to ANYBODY from her position on ethics and ethical behavior. I have to show my degree and coursework to NYS to prove that I am competent to be a social studies teacher, why shouldn't Elia be forced to show us what qualifies her as an ethics expert, coach, and leader?

What if my ethics tell me that speaking out for Opt Out is not only a good thing to do, but a DUTY AS AN EDUCATOR WHOSE FIRST INTEREST IS TO NOT BRING HARM TO HIS STUDENTS? I can defend that ethical position from a legal, historical, philosophical, and professional perspective. Who is Elia to tell me I am wrong, and if she does it should be a requirement for her to show me where she gets to have that position and do something about it. One cant pull ethics calls out of their asses as they see fit here. She is spouting off and saying deeply arbitrary shit. We need to call her on it.

I think we as vocal teachers should work to have folks in our union (yeah right!) and the media press Elia very hard on her comments regarding ethics. Force her to double down and step deeper into a very very sticky swampy mud, OR come clean and admit that she is out of her depth and way way way out of her job description even bringing up the word ETHICS.

Someone told me once, maybe in college, maybe not, that when someone starts spouting off about their arbitrary views on ethical or moral behavior and holding them up as the bars YOU SHOULD BE MEETING, well, clearly they are just about out of any reasonable arguments. After that will come straight up ad hominem attacks and name calling. Alot of folks like to say that that is the point when we win. I disagree. That is usually the point when our side looks for a seat at the table and gives up something else.

I completely agree, Elia's not softening her stance against opt out - not when it comes to teachers she isn't.

She's as tone deaf as John King, so someone must have told her saying parents who choose to opt their children out of the state tests are "unreasonable" was stupid and she needed to clean up the mess that statement caused.

So she goes on TV and radio and says, Parents have the right to opt their kids out of the tests, but I'm going to educate them so that they know the tests are the swellest thing since the no-cal pizza Ralph Kramden invested in and they should send their kids to take the tests...

But lurking under that remains the threat that if districts have similar opt out rates next year (or worse, higher rates), she's going to come down on them with her "toolbox" which, as one commenter noted, will have a 3020a disciplinary hearing wrench in it.

Nothing's changed here:

Elia remains a fan of the testing, the Common Core, the Endless Testing regime and imposed policy from Albany.

She remains an opponent of parents opting their children out of the tests and educators speaking their minds about opt out.

Is NYSED Commissioner MaryEllen Elia Really Softening Her Stance On Opt Out?

NYSED Commissioner MaryEllen Elia made a couple of media appearances to try and calm the furor over her recent comments that parents who opt their children out of state tests are "not reasonable," teachers who support or encourage opting out are "unethical" and the state was looking into legal means to cut down on opt out rates next year.

The first was on NPR with Karen DeWitt:

“Superintendents have asked me, ‘Is it the law?’ ‘Exactly what does this mean for us?’ ‘What are the ramifications of (a high opt-out rate) in terms of the federal law?’,” Elia said. “So it would seem to me the logical thing for me to do as the commissioner in the state is to find out the answers to those questions, and tell my colleagues that. That’s what I said.

“This is not a threat — I’m just trying to get information out there so people understand it,” she said.

Elia discussed the “toolbox” SED is assembling to address a range of issues concerning the tests.

“Really, the idea of the toolbox for leaders in the state came from a request from a number of superintendents,” Elia said. “I think it’s really looking at what we can do to communicate better. I think the work that’s been done in New York, much of it is very good, but there are areas where we haven’t been on top of things like I think we could have been — and this is common across the country.

“Parents have a right to have their child test or not,” she continued. ” … But I think we haven’t done enough communication so that parents — if they understand it and they still want their child to opt out, that certainly is their right — but I think a lot of parents feel like the tests had problems with them, from their perspective.”

Elia then proceeded to list a number of the reasons why a parent might want their child to opt out — and seemed to agree with at least one of them.

“I’ve had teachers tell me the tests are too long. I’ve had them say they don’t think they’re matched to the standards. We’ve done a lot of work in matching and looking to see that that’s done,” she said. “But I would tell you, I think that they are long.”

Next was Capital Tonight:

During a CapTon interview last night, Elia said there’s definitely an ethical “line” teachers should not cross when it comes to the third-through-eighth-grade English and math exams.

The commissioner said educators should not use the “pulpit” provided by their positions to reach out to parents and encourage them to opt out, but should feel free to answer questions about their personal position on the issue when asked – especially if those questions are posed outside the classroom.

“What I’m concerned about is taking a position and influencing children and families simply because they know their telephone number or someone might come in,” Elia said.

Elia acknowledged that it is perfectly legal for parents to decide not to have their children sit for state tests, but also said she believes parents need to be educated about the importance of those tests as a diagnostic and “assessment” tool.

She said she isn’t threatening anyone with sanctions, but is reaching out to superintendents to provide them with information to give to parents on this issue. At the moment, Elia confirmed, no districts will be losing federal funding as a result of unusually high opt-out rates.

These interviews came on the same day that she backed up the right for parents to opt their children out of vaccinations for religious reasons.

She's still hammering home the idea that parents who are opting their kids out just don't know any better but by golly, she's going to educate them by communicating with them (“Parents have a right to have their child test or not…But I think we haven’t done enough communication so that parents..."; she believes parents need to be educated about the importance of those tests as a diagnostic and “assessment” tool.)

The State of Politics blog described Elia's media tour yesterday as Elia's "softening" her stance on the Opt Out movement, but I didn't hear much different from her yesterday on opt out at all.

She did acknowledge the tests are too long, so there's one minor concession from her, though she has always said the state was going to review the tests for quality, so presumably that length critique comes under that purview.

But other than the critique about the length of the tests, I didn't hear much that was new.

She has acknowledged parents have the right to opt their children out of the state tests (including parents who are also teachers), so that isn't new.

She's claimed before that her NYSED "toolbox" project isn't going to be a way for the state to coerce parents to have their children sit for the tests, so that isn't new either.

Quite frankly, I heard more that was new in her statement supporting the parent's right to opt her child out of the MMR vaccines for religious reasons than I did in her media tour yesterday.

It seems that Elia's trying to walk back the mess she made by calling parents who opt their children out of state tests "unreasonable" and teachers who support or encourage opt out "unethical," but that kind of language isn't easily erased from the minds of those who were targeted with it and while news reporters might have heard her "softening" her stance against opt out in yesterday's media tour, I heard much of the same old, same old message offered with less strident language.

She's still claiming parents who opt their children out need to be educated about the swellness of the tests.

She's still saying the "toolbox" will be a way for districts to educate these parents.

The threat is still implicit in the "It's the law..." remarks that districts that don't get parents to comply are going to have some legal trouble from the state (e.g., "at the moment" no districts will lose funding as a result of high opt out rates...)

Meet the new MaryEllen Elia message, same as the old MaryEllen Elia message, just with slightly less judgmental language.

MaryEllen Elia Staring At A "No-Confidence" Vote

Fred LeBrun in the Times-Union on MaryEllen Elia and the heavy hand she's showing in dealing with the Opt Out movement:

There was nothing politic about her emerging strategy for taking on the Opt Outers. It seems confrontational, rather crude and patronizing. Good luck to that. Even Gov. Andrew Cuomo knows enough to be conciliatory when armies of parents become irate.

Remember the state Education Department's own statistical analysis of Opt Outers, the one-third of eligible upstate and Long Island third through eight graders who chose not to take the standardized tests last spring. Their families are white, solidly middle class, well educated, generally from low needs — that is to say, not impoverished — school districts. Regardless of what the new standardized tests might suggest about them — more would fail than pass — these students routinely grow up to hit the appropriate SAT benchmarks, graduate and go on to two- and four-year colleges.

These are not the kind of parents who are likely to be intimidated by vague assertions that, as Elia now suggests, a reason to take the standardized tests is because, ''listen, it's the law.'' It may be the law that public schools must offer the tests. But nothing I've read even suggests it's the law a student must take them. Parents do have rights. If anything, Elia's tack is likely to throw fuel on the fire rather than quell it in terms of opting out. Likewise, any back handed attempt to paint the Opt Out movement as being fanned by teachers is as insulting to the legions of parental volunteers who are Opt Out's core, and know it, as it is to teachers. Nor is Elia's condescending suggestion that fuller knowledge of what Common Core is and these standardized tests are about will turn Opt Outers around.

In my experiences, those in the Opt Out movement are very well informed already, which is why they're involved. With a better and wider perspective, incidentally, than state education officials trying to peddle as fresh fish stale educational policy on its way out on the national level. If there were indeed persuasive justifications for the these high stakes tests, we would have heard them by now. Nationally, the latest Gallup poll shows the public is overwhelmingly figuring that out.

...

The short of it is Elia doesn't seem to recognize the seriousness of the Opt Out movement, or the high stakes game she's in. Come next spring, it's her credibility now on the line as well as the public's confidence in her agency's ability to guide public education in this state. And right now, they're staring at a no confidence vote.

Elia's support in Albany is soft and thin - many politicians, the unions and other stakeholders said nice things about her when she was hired (even Fred LeBrun acknowledges she's more adept at PR than John King was), but that support will disappear quickly the more she throws down with parents, educators, schools and school districts over opt out rates.

Some Republicans in the Assembly have already displayed no-confidence in Elia, with James Tedisco warning that Elia's putting together a "goon squad" to intimidate parents and teachers over the Endless Testing regime and Al Graf putting together a petition calling for the Legislature to have her canned.

As she puts together her "goon squad" to punish educators, schools and districts that have high rates of students opt out of the state tests next year, she's going to discover that the politicians who said nice things about her this year will throw her under the bus next year quicker than you can say "LLC loophole," that the Board of Regents and Chancellor Tisch will do the same (Tischie threw King under the bus a few times - most notably during the Dr Ted fiasco), and Cuomo will out and out scapegoat her and NYSED whenever he feels the need to distance himself from his own education policy.

It will be interesting to see what Elia's standing is like next August compared to this one after a year of her opt out and Renewal School heavy-handededness, condescension toward parents over opt out and the general shrillness and incompetence we can expect from her given her track record in her old gig in Florida where she left a financial mess, safety issues that resulted in the deaths of three students, and a lot of enemies.

I suspect Le Brun is right, that Elia will have worn out her welcome in New York and will be staring at a no-confidence vote from the public and political establishments for herself and her education department.

NYSED Commissioner MaryEllen Elia Puts Together A "Goon Squad" To Intimidate Parents, Teachers

Readers of Perdido Street School blog will not be surprised to find out that NYSED Commissioner MaryEllen Elia is fast wearing out her welcome as the new head of the New York State Education Department nor that she is proving to be a tone deaf figure with a talent for divisiveness and controversy.

Elia was fired from her previous gig as superintendent of Hillsborough School District because she openly feuded with members of the school board, treated many of those who worked with her or under her with disdain and scorn, and refused to take responsibility for student safety problems or  district complicity in the deaths of three students.

In sum:

She had a reputation for creating a "culture of fear" in her office where subordinates felt "browbeaten" and "bullied."

Was accused of trying to cover up district complicity in the death of a 7 year old special needs child.

Was the target of parent protest for lack of district response after a second special needs child died at a Hillsborough school.

Oversaw a school district that has been accused of racial discrimination in its discipline policies and is the target of a federal complaint.

Oversaw a school busing and choice program that created a "reign of chaos" at McLane Middle School for ten years.

Was dubbed "MaryEllen EVILia" by some parents for pursuing district policies that harmed children with special needs.

Couldn't play nice with the school board and was ultimately whacked in a 4-3 vote in January.

When Elia was hired to replace John King at NYSED, she was hailed by members of the Board of Regents, many in the Legislature, the education reform community and NYSUT as a great hire, someone who would listen to and work well with others.

Given her track record at Hillsborough, it was absurd to think that she wouldn't be as divisive, controversial and tone deaf here in New York as she was in Tampa.

It hasn't taken too long for Elia to demonstrate exactly that.

Last week she said parents who choose to opt their children out of the state standardized tests are "not reasonable" and called teachers who support or encourage opt out "unethical."

She threatened "ramifications" for schools and/or districts with high opt rates in 2015, then after that "tool" was taken from her when Regents Chancellor Tisch and Governor Cuomo both stated there wouldn't be punitive measures taken against parents or schools for opt outs this year, promised that she would engage parents and teachers for next year to make sure that opt out rates drop in a way that sounded awfully threatening.

Elia has said "it's the law" that students take standardized tests and she's going to make sure that educators are aware of where the line in the law is drawn over what they can and can't say about opt out.

Her engagement plan has some thinking that she plans legal action against teachers who encourage or even support opt out, like this commenter at Perdido Street School blog:

Cuomo's, Tisch's, and now Elia's recent statements are suggesting how they will be approaching Opt Out.....3020A'ing any "educator," Admin or teacher, who in any way support or do not OPPOSE opt out. Cuomo and Tisch were putting the happy face on it to parents.....no penalties! And Elia was very clear in saying that any educators who support opt out are "unethical." That suggests the "moral character" language of a 3020A.

Their path forward cannot be penalizing parents, kids, or funding of schools...that's a political shit storm and they know it. The only thing left on the table are those that they are trying to destroy anyway.....educators....so that's where the hammer will fall for opt out.

Today some members of the Assembly have joined in the public warnings over Elia's parent and teacher engagement plans:

Elia told Politco New York that she’s putting together a “tool kit” to help school superintendents reverse the boycotts in their schools, and has been talking to the education department’s legal staff, in order to provide the school administrators with more information on laws requiring that the exams be administered.  Those remarks set off some lawmakers.

Assemblyman Jim Tedisco spent a decade as a special education teacher in the Schenectady school system.

“I call this the goon squad,” said Tedisco. “ They are going to intimidate the parents.”

Assemblyman Bill Nojay, a Republican from the Rochester area who describes himself as libertarian leaning, was never a teacher, but his mother was one. He says education officials should be listening to the parents instead.

“The parents, the teachers and the students have got more than enough information,” Nojay said. “They don’t need somebody who is new to New York State to say ‘listen to me, I know better than you do’.” 

In addition, Al Graf has started a petition to call on the Legislature to pull back support from both the Common Core and NYSED Commissioner Elia.

Graf, Tedisco and Nojay are part of a Republican minority in the Assembly, so they will have little opportunity to influence policy in the Legislature, but their public statements warning over Elia's so-called engagement plans with parents and teachers will put pressure on Assembly Dems in the majority carrying water for NYSED and the Cuomo education agenda as well as Cuomo himself.

As Elia goes to war with parents and teachers over opt out (and make no mistake, that's what she's doing by threatening legal action), Assembly Dems and Cuomo are going to have to decide whether they want to back her in that war and risk enmity from the growing number of public school parents who are opposed to the state's education reform agenda and Endless Testing regime.

Same goes for the Board of Regents.

We know that both Regents Chancellor Tisch and Governor Cuomo support that reform agenda and Endless Testing regime but neither wants to be the face of it - that's why Tisch made some soothing statements about opt out and special needs children and Cuomo backed parent right to opt children out of state tests.

Nonetheless as Elia gets more and more shrill over opt out and threatens punitive measures (or even levies them) - as she puts together her "goon squad" to fight her war against opt out - the Board of Regents, the Legislature and Governor Cuomo are eventually going to have to take sides.

You would have to think given Cuomo's careful statements over opt out, given Tisch's softening tone on whether children with special needs should take the standardized exams, given Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie's recent statements that maybe there's more to education than just testing, that Elia may not get the public support she's going to need in her war against opt out.

Elia can only use her goon squad if she's got the political support for it.

Her political support is already waning - you can see that in the statements from Graf, Tedisco and Nojay as well as the anger she is engendering among some parents for her opt out threats.

When a member of the Legislature says the NYSED Commissioner is preparing a "goon squad" to intimidate parents and teachers over state tests, the writing is already on the wall:

MaryEllen Elia is wearing out her welcome in a New York minute and whatever political support and leverage she thinks she has to threaten parents and teachers is tenuous and thin.

To top it all off, Elia's going to war over opt out at the same time she is fighting a second front back in Tampa - she has had to defend herself from allegations by some members of the Hillsborough School Board and her successor as Hillsborough superintendent that she left a financial mess in the district.

For some reason, the New York press and political establishment haven't taken an interest in the mess Elia made in Tampa nor in the harm she has done to students there, but as the political fallout from her Hillsborough days continues to follow her, it won't be long before they do.

And once that happens, Elia will have the notoriety she truly deserves as just another incompetent, tone deaf educrat who refuses to take responsibility for the messes she makes even as she threatens accountability and responsibility for others.

Gag Order On Educators Discussing Contents Of Common Core Tests Remains

 From State of Politics:

Contrary to lawmakers’ claims, the Big Ugly did not end the State Education Department’s so-called “gag order” policy that prevents administrators and teachers from discussing the contents of state exams.

The Capital NY piece is behind a paywall, but here's the gist:

"Big ugly" doesn't actually eliminate "gag order" preventing teachers from discussing state exams http://t.co/D4ApMfyqH1

— Jessica Bakeman (@jessicabakeman) June 26, 2015

Under "big ugly," teachers may talk about exam questions ONLY AFTER the questions are released publicly—big catch http://t.co/D4ApMfyqH1

— Jessica Bakeman (@jessicabakeman) June 26, 2015

Flanagan's earlier versions of bills ending "gag order" did not include the after-questions-are-released clause http://t.co/D4ApMfyqH1

— Jessica Bakeman (@jessicabakeman) June 26, 2015

It had been rumored that the end of session legislation bill would allow teachers and administrators  to talk about the tests after they were over.

But the gag order, in essence, remains.

You can talk about the tests after they have been released.

Gee, thanks.

That's...no change at all, really...

Zephyr Teachout Robocall Urges Parents To Opt Children Out Of Standardized Tests

From Ken Lovett at the Daily News:

ALBANY — Fordham Law School professor Zephyr Teachout urged parents on Sunday to refuse to have their kids take the controversial statewide assessment exams slated for this week.

Saying “high-stakes testing is really hurting our kids,” Teachout — who last year mounted an unsuccessful Democratic primary challenge against Gov. Cuomo — told parents in a recorded phone message that they have a “constitutional right” to refuse the tests for their kids without facing sanctions.

She said New Yorkers overwhelmingly oppose the tests, which she claimed are designed to ensure that 70% of kids fail.

The call was sponsored by a coalition calling itself New York State Allies For Public Education.

This is the biggest education-related robocall since Randi Weingarten recorded one for Governor Cuomo's bank lobbyist running mate/charter school shill Kathy Hochul.

Note once again that parents have the "constitutional right" to refuse the test for their kids without facing consequences.

Because the supporters of the Endless Testing regime are trying to get parents to believe otherwise.

Intimidation From NYSED And Threats From Governor Cuomo's Office

Here is why the Kenmore-Tonawanda school board voted unanimously last night to back away from a proposal they had made to not administer the Common Core state tests:

In a letter, the state Education Department informed the school board it could lose state and federal funding, and the state said board members could be fired if they violated the law.

Superintendent Dawn Mirand, who publicly opposed the board’s proposal, said in a meeting last month that teachers and administrators could lose certification if they did not administer state tests. Mirand originally estimated the district could lose as much as $50 million in aid, WGRZ reported.

“With all of that in mind,” School Board President Bob Dana said, “I can’t honestly sit in front of you today and push for a continuation of these proposals.”

...

Peter Stuhlmiller, the president of the Kenmore Teachers Association, said the board made the right decision by moving in a different direction.

“We realized that our board members faced incredible intimidation from the state Education Department and threats from the governor’s office,” Stuhlmiller said.

“Hopefully, in the long run, State Ed will wake up and realize they can’t continually use kids as a pawn in this political battle.”

Incredible intimidation from the State Education Department and threats from the governor's office.

Welcome to Andrew Cuomo's New York, where nothing must derail the Endless Testing and Teacher Accountability Express.

Let's see what happens if hundreds of thousands of parents opt their children out of the state tests later this month.

NYSED and Cuomo's office will have to turn their intimidation and threats onto parents.

Make no mistake, there's already a move toward that with Regents Chacnellor Tisch's threats and Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul's criticism of parents who are opting their kids out of the tests.

Common Core Authoritarians Bully, Threaten And Intimidate To Keep Common Core In Place

Common Core proponents seem to be very big on censorship and intimidation.

In NY State, there's a gag order on teachers who administer or grade Common Core tests - they are under threat of losing their jobs, having their teaching licenses revoked or being hit with criminal charges if they reveal test items or talk publicly about the tests.

In Louisiana, former Bloomberg NYCDOE henchman John White seems to have followed suit with threats and intimidation over the Core:

Gov. Bobby Jindal went on the offensive against state Education Superintendent John White Wednesday, accusing him of marginalizing teachers and implying Louisiana's top education officials may be silencing opposition from educators on the Common Core academic standards.

Jindal issued an executive order requiring local and state education officials to respect teachers' right to free speech and specifically their right to criticize Common Core. There was universal praise for the governor's action, but also some disagreement over whether there is a widespread problem with teachers being muzzled over the academic standards. 

...

Jindal issued the executive order as a reaction to an article in Alexandria's Town Talk, in which one anonymous teacher says she had been reprimanded for posting a negative comment about Common Core on Facebook. The governor's office said it had heard from other teachers who were also told to keep their Common Core complaints to themselves.

"We have received a lot of calls and letters from teachers who are opposed to Common Core, and we want to be sure that these teachers' rights are protected," said Shannon Bates, Jindal's deputy communications director. "If teachers are being quieted in one parish -- it can happen in others, and we want to make sure these teachers are able to be heard."

The Louisiana Federation of Teachers says they haven't had a lot of complaints from teachers about being muzzled over Common Core and Jindal is in a battle with White over the standards, so it's possible he's making hay over something that isn't a huge problem - yet.

But NOLA.com makes this much clear:

Louisiana teachers associations were grateful that Jindal reaffirmed free speech protections for educators. They said teachers are afraid to speak out against school policies, though that fear isn't exclusively related to Common Core.

Educators have felt mounting pressure for at least two years not to say anything about major teaching changes, since it has become easier for supervisors to fire them through a new state law Jindal supported. 

"They do feel as though their jobs might be in jeopardy. It's not just in Louisiana. It's something that is common all over the country for teachers," said Debbie Meaux, president of the Louisiana Association of Educators.

There's little doubt that these top-down standards, developed in secret and rammed through during the darkest days of the last recession, are under assault from students, parents, and teachers across the nation and proponents, unable to defend the largely indefensible standards, have taken to authoritarian measures to push back against criticism.

That's meant insulting critics as crazy people, saying some moms might not like the standards because they reveal their kids might not be as smart as the moms think they are, threatening to punch people in the face who criticize the standards, or intimidating teachers to keep quiet over poorly-designed CCSS tests by holding license revocations and criminal charges over their heads.

I can't imagine threats and intimidation are going to keep the standards in place for long - not with criticism and opposition to them mounting.

But the Common Core authoritarians certainly are going to try to bully, threaten and intimidate their way to Common Core nirvana.

Pineapple And Hare Redux: NYSED's Argument Over Common Core Test Gag Makes No Sense

More nonsensical nonsense from NYSED:

The state's major teachers union, New York State United Teachers, is suing the state Education Department in federal court, alleging that their free speech rights are being violated by a requirement that teachers who agree to score standardized tests not talk about the questions.

"They are under a 'gag order' to be silent," said NYSUT President Karen Magee.

The Education Department, though, says teachers are free to talk about the tests, except for "secure portions,'' or questions that are likely to be used in future exams.

"Teachers are absolutely free to talk about the portions of the test that have been released," said SED spokesman Dennis Tompkins.

"The only prohibition is for secure, non-released test questions.''

Huh?

How are teachers supposed to know which questions are "secure, non-released questions" and which are going to be released by NYSED later in the year?

It's not like NYSED labels those clearly on the test booklets.

And NYSED has ratcheted up the threat levels to teachers in the past year over this issue:

Some teachers have long volunteered to score standardized tests for a modest fee and they historically were subject to confidentiality agreements developed at their local schools.

But this year, they were required to sign a state-generated agreement, according to education officials.

The agreement warns that violations could jeopardize a teacher's employment, certification and could even bring criminal charges.

Talk about the test and you could jeopardize your employment, have your teaching certificate revoked or be hit with criminal charges.

That's a gag order for sure and it's meant to be threatening and keep anybody proctoring, grading or working with these tests from talking about them publicly.

The goal behind all this is to keep any future "Pineapple and Hare" debacles from making it to the press by keeping the tests as secret as possible.

NYSED's defense that teachers are only barred from talking about "secure, non-released test questions" is quite frankly as absurd as the questions they offered around the nonsensical (and infamous) "Pineapple and Hare" passage a few years ago.

NYSUT Sues NYSED Over Common Core Testing Gag Order

Here's some action by the NYSUT leadership I can support:

The statewide teachers union filed a federal lawsuit late Wednesday over the state Department of Education’s policy of requiring teachers to sign confidentiality agreements before scoring tests based on the Common Core standards.

The New York State United Teachers argues in the legal action that the confidentiality requirement — which the labor group says is essentially a “gag order” against teachers is unconstitutional and violates free speech rights.

NYSUT argues the SED policy prevents teachers from raising issues with state testing out of fear of reprisal.

The gag order is without doubt meant to silence any criticism of the tests by keeping teachers from speaking out about particular test items they find that are poorly designed.

NYSED and the Regents would like to keep future "Pineapple and Hare" debacles under wraps through the threat of a lawsuit and license revocation on teachers.

And of course, the NYSED goons carry those threats out at times.

Does Commissioner John King Have SED Officials Monitoring The Internet For Education Reform Heresy?

Apparently the informational text reading police are unfamiliar with literary techniques like figurative language:

The Niagara County Sheriff's Office was asked by Albany police on Friday to investigate a perceived threatening comment made on social media by a teacher at George Southard Elementary School.

An Albany detective who contacted the sheriff's office said the teacher had posted "can't wait for Sept. 24th, dead man walking."

Deputies were sent to the school Friday to interview the teacher who stated he made the comment in regard to the commissioner of education's reception at an educational meeting in Poughkeepsie.

The teacher said the comment was make in poor judgment and he had no intention, nor the means, to harm the commissioner. 

Albany police were contacted and video of the interview with the teacher was provided.

In Baltimore, they arrested a man for making derogatory statements about the Common Core at a town hall meeting.

Here in NY State, they try and intimidate a teacher for making what is clearly a hyperbolic comment about Commissioner King's tenure at SED on Facebook.

It is interesting to note that the complaint over the Facebook comment came from Albany but the teacher works in Niagara County.

Just who put the complaint into Albany police about the comment made by the Niagara County teacher?

The New York State Education Department is located in Albany.

Was the complaint made by someone at SED?

And if so, just why is this bureaucrat being paid to monitor social media for education reform heretics.

We know the USDOE had paid trolls monitoring critics like Diane Ravitch.

We know this because one of the trolls who was tasked with that job, Peter Cunningham, told us so in a Huffington Post piece attacking Ravitch.

My "Hmmm..." meter goes off at this story of Albany police contacting Niagara County police over a comment posted by a Niagara County teacher on Facebook about NYSED Commissioner King.

Is somebody at SED monitoring and trolling social media and the blogosphere looking to retaliate against reform heretics?

Does the NYSED have an Internet troll division just the way the USDOE does?

The trajectory of this complaint, coming from somebody in Albany about a teacher in Niagara County, certainly suggests this is so.

In any case, you know the Common Core/corporate education deform movement has jumped the shark when they have to use the state security forces to clamp down on dissent, criticism and opposition to their agenda.

This will work in some instances, but overall, it will just fan the flames of the fury many parents and teachers are feeling over the SED reform agenda, the Common Core, and the state's battery of tests and bring the deform movement closer to its very deserved demise.

Andrew Cuomo Declares War Against Public School Teachers

Why did Andrew Cuomo say he believes "failing" public schools deserve "the death penalty"?

At first, when I read on the Internet that Cuomo had this, I thought the writer meant he said something close to it in a hyperbolic way.

But no, Governor Cuomo actually said it:

“There is going to be have to be a death penalty for failing schools . . . where we say the children come first, before the bureaucracy,” Cuomo told reporters during a stop in suburban Buffalo late Thursday. “If the school fails, the school has to end.”

Cuomo said options for failing schools include a takeover by the state or a takeover by a charter school.

“I don’t want Albany to sit there and tell communities how to run their schools but I do feel comfortable sitting in Albany and saying failing schools is not an option,” Cuomo said.

Such an interesting phrase to use - "death penalty" - when talking about schools.

Why not ""failing schools deserve to be closed"?

Or "failing schools cannot be allowed to continue to fail"?

I would take issue with the simplicity of those statements, since there are many reasons why schools "fail" that often have nothing to do with the schools or the teachers teaching there.

But at least the language would be less inflammatory.

To say that "failing" schools deserve "the death penalty" amounts to a declaration of war by this governor against public schools and public school teachers.

Folks, he wants to exterminate some of us.

Seriously - just look at the language he used.

Language always gives you away and the language Little Andy chose here gives him away as a  pro-charter, pro-education deform, anti-teacher, anti-union corporatist who wants to destroy the public school system and the teachers in it.

That he's purposely using language that once defined something his father was famously opposed to - the real "death penalty" for convicted criminals - is even more concerning.

It's his way of saying "I am not father, I am not Hamlet on the Hudson, I am no liberal commie pinko - I am a tough guy with tough policies who plans to get tough on 'failing' schools and put them to death."

In the short term, this language and this statement is aimed at Buffalo.

As I conjectured a month and a half ago, it seems obvious that Governor Cuomo and NYSED Commissioner King plan a state takeover of the Buffalo school district.

Cuomo and King have been pissed at Buffalo ever since that side deal the district made with the union over APPR and now they plan to get even by taking over the district, killing off the public schools and opening up charter schools either run by or patronized by their hedge fund cronies.

In the long term, though, it is a declaration of war by Governor Cuomo against teachers.

APPR was of course a strike against teachers and schools in NY State.

Forcing an APPR system on NYC teachers was a strike against NYC teachers.

But Cuomo has ratcheted up the level of animosity and hostility here by using such inflammatory language.

It is high time we return the favor.

If Governor Cuomo thinks it is time some schools be given the "death penalty" for struggles that are often beyond their means to fix, then it is time for teachers of all political ideologies to get together and help pull the plug on the 2014 Cuomo re-election plan and the Cuomo 2016 presidential plan.

Andrew Cuomo is a thug and a bully and a crook, that we've known for a while.

Now, after the "death penalty for schools" statement, he is also a war criminal against public schools.

It is time to put an end to his Reign of Terror.

How in heaven's sake he ever thought that "death penalty" was a proper phrase to use when talking about schools, students and teachers is beyond me.

But it does give you insight into the violent man he is in his heart.

NYSED Commissioner John King Rigs APPR Evaluation System

You can read Carol Burris' explanation of how the test score component and the local growth component are rigged in NYSED Commissioner/rookie teacher John King's imposed teacher evaluation system for NYC teachers.

And when will Mikey Mulgrew and his merry men and women in the UFT leadership sue over this?

What exactly are they waiting for?

NYSED Commissioner Tries To Intimidate Ed Blogger

The criticism that NYSED Commissioner/rookie teacher John King sends his own kids to Montessori schools where they don't have to live under the same testing fascism that King promotes for kids in the rest of the state must be striking a chord.

Pity that King and his p.r. flack, Tom Dunn, are more worried about trying to intimate critics than actually listen to the substance of the criticism and, perhaps, adjust course in their policies.

NYSED: You Cannot Opt Out Of The State Assessment System

From DNAinfo:

"There is not an opt out provision from the State assessment system," said Tom Dunn, a spokesman for the New York State Education Department.

Land of the free, home of the brave, but your kid MUST sit for the Pearson field tests.

The arrogance of these people in the Cuomo government and the NYSED and the Regents is just breath-taking.

But it will come back to haunt them.

The more they try and rule as authoritarians, the faster people are going to revolt against the system.

NYSED Goons Interrogate Third Graders Over Possible Cheating

Wow.

Just wow.

This is where high stakes testing has taken us.

It's a shame all those D.C. schools with all those erasures under Michelle Rhee didn't get the same scrutiny these third graders and their teacher got for a high number of erasures on two test questions.

This sort of thing will backfire on the education reformers.

It will.

You can't give the NYSED Commissioner his own test police and have them run rampant interrogating third graders for too long before people turn against this.