NYSED Admits Common Core Review Is A Dog And Pony Show

From yesterday's Politico NY morning update:

STATE ED: NO ‘MAJOR RE-WORK’ PLANNED FOR COMMON CORE—POLITICO New York’s Keshia Clukey: “The state Education Department is soliciting comment on the Common Core learning standards, but it's ‘not undertaking a major re-work of the standards,’ it said on the website for its survey. The department launched its 40-day comment period Wednesday with a survey, dubbed AIMHighNY, available to parents, student, educators and community members...‘[State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia] has consistently said it’s too soon to know what will be changed exactly, but we owe it to our students to maintain our commitment to high standards,’ Education Department spokeswoman Jeanne Beattie said in an email. ‘And she believes our review will lead to a stronger set of standards for students...We are not starting from scratch..Over the past five years, New York teachers have made great strides implementing the more rigorous learning standards in their classroom. We owe it to them and to our students to build upon what’s working and revise what’s not.’” http://politi.co/1M73HZa

Rather than send any comments to NYSED for their dog and pony show Common Core review, best to send comments to your state legislators instead and tell them you will hold them PERSONALLY accountable for the mess that is education policy in New York State and will look to vote them out office at the very next opportunity.

Those are the comments anybody in Albany will understand.

And to be frank, until a couple of the criminals in Albany get voted out BECAUSE of their support for education reform, Endless Testing and Common Core, I suspect that not much will change.

Charter School Teachers Received "Guidance" For Families For Excellent Schools Rally

Eliza Shapiro at Politico NY reports that the charter school teachers who attended (were forced to attend?) yesterday's Families for Excellent Schools charter school teacher rally received some "guidance" from FES for how to conduct themselves at the rally:

Teachers did not take questions from reporters after the City Hall press conference, and FES executive director, Jeremiah Kittredge, did not take questions from reporters. NY1's Lindsey Christ reported that some teachers were given guidance on how to speak with reporters, including, "reporters often take sound bites, often out of context, and you could easily be quoted saying something in print you didn't actually mean in the way it was portrayed."

The rally itself still looked similar to the numerous other events FES has held.

Teachers were given the same free T-shirts (blue, emblazoned with the words "teacher activist") that their students typically wear at such events, along with sturdy-looking white tote bags. Rally marshals in neon green shirts handed out water bottles and hibiscus doughnuts from Dough, a popular Brooklyn bakery.

Teachers were also given matching blue selfie sticks and encouraged to tweet their pictures with the FES hashtag #DontStealPossible, and asked to pose in front of a banner reading "Teachers for Equality." Teachers formed a long line in front of the banner to collect their printed pictures.

FES has released a series of anti-de Blasio ads in the last several weeks, one of which critics have called racist.

Highly controlled, highly coordinated, expensive and no questions from the press - that's how these Families for Excellent Schools events go.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew, in a statement in response to the rally, noted that given the teacher turnover rate at charter schools, one-third of yesterday's rally attendees won't be teaching at their charter school next year.

That's a pretty apt response.

No school system that controls its teachers and puts them through the burn and churn the way many charters do is sustainable or workable for the school system at large.

One final point - it's a shame FES executive director Kittredge stopped taking questions from the press.

He did such a great job of it last March at that Albany rally with Ashanti.

Kevin Johnson Blames Teachers Union For Sexual Abuse And Harassment Allegations

It's not KJ's fault that he has multiple allegations of sexual abuse and sexual harassment lodged against him - it's his "enemies" in the teachers union:

Mr. Johnson suggested that the attacks were being orchestrated by political opponents, starting with the teachers’ unions. Before he took office, a nonprofit organization he created wrestled control of the Sacramento High School and turned it into a charter school, ousting the unionized teaching staff.

“I ended up turning the high school I went to into a charter high school,” he said in the interview before his announcement. “And as a result, I probably made a lot of enemies in the teachers’ union. California and Sacramento are ground zero when it comes to one of the strongest special interest groups in the country. I did what I thought was right for kids. I created problems and enemies back then, and they have been enemies for life.”

The mayor said he realized this issue would come up when he considered running for office in 2008, eight years after he retired from professional basketball. “It was very clear to me that when I had to make a decision on whether I was going to run for mayor or not, that the allegations would resurface,” he said. “I didn’t have any inkling that they would dog me throughout my political career, but that’s the reality of it.”

Perhaps he thought he could survive the allegations the way Bill Clinton survived his.

Maybe he would have, but for the video tape and the age of the girl at the time of the alleged abuse.

But bet that the allegations made against him at St. Hope, his charter school, along with the sexual harassment complaint filed against him by a Sacramento city employee and some unseemly behavior with another woman who worked for the National Conference of Black Mayors, didn't help matters.

I read somewhere last night that the national media were starting to dig into the story that Dave McKenna of Deadspin had done so much to move forward.

If that's the case, we may yet get more to this story that not only puts an end to Johnson's political career, but finishes him off Cosby-style too.

Same could happen with his wife, Michelle Rhee, since she is alleged to have helped him cover up sexual misconduct allegations at his charter school.

Kevin Johnson, Dogged By Sex Abuse Claim, Will Not Seek Re-Election

And he's claiming it's teachers union who have dredged up the 20 year old sex abuse claim:

SACRAMENTO — It should have been a high point in a career of high points: the premiere of a documentary chronicling how Kevin Johnson, the former N.B.A. All Star who as mayor helped rejuvenate this once ailing capital city, kept the Sacramento Kings from leaving for Seattle with a gleaming new basketball arena.

But hours before the premiere last week, the ESPN network, which produced the documentary, “Down in the Valley,” announced it would delay indefinitely the national release of the film. The network cited the re-emergence of an issue that has shadowed Mr. Johnson since his first campaign in 2008: A claim by a 16-year-old girl that he sexually abused her 20 years ago while he played for the Phoenix Suns.

...

Mr. Johnson has repeatedly denied the accusation and made no mention of it in his statement. In an interview on Friday, he asserted that the case was being dredged up by his opponents — including the teachers’ union, with which he has battled over the years — to hurt him politically.

“There are no truth to the allegations,” he said. “If you go back 20 years ago, they were investigated. Law enforcement obviously didn’t feel there was merit there. For me I’ve just tried to move on and go forward.”

The Phoenix Police Department investigated the claim but closed the case without filing charges. Mr. Johnson entered a draft settlement which included a $230,000 payment to his accuser. The mayor declined to comment when asked why, if the charges were unfounded, he had agreed to make a payout.

What is different this time is a videotape of a police interview in which the girl, speaking in a calm voice, describes in disconcerting detail what she said Mr. Johnson did to her, including fondling and undressing her. The release of the video, posted on Deadspin, a website devoted to sports news, put a young and vulnerable voice to claims that until now had been only a detached account found in court filings.

“People have so desperately wanted to believe in him that they’ve given him a pass on a lot of things, and I think that has worked out generally to the city’s advantage,” Steve Hansen, a Democratic City Council member and critic of Mr. Johnson’s, said before the announcement. “The wall of not knowing how to deal with his problems, but choosing to ignore the failures in hopes of the promise, has begun to collapse. Once you saw the video and read the story, it was hard to pretend it never happened.”

Johnson claims the Phoenix allegation was investigated and dispensed with 20 years ago.

But what about the abuse allegations from his St Hope charter school?

Or the sexual harassment suit filed against him by a city employee?

And how about that blaming the teachers union for dragging his name through the mud with these allegations?

Here's a guy so reflexive in his teacher-bashing that he just doesn't understand that, post-Cosby, he just can't dismiss these allegations with that shit-eating grin of his and a little help from his wife, Michelle Rhee (who allegedly helped with the St. Hope cover-up.)

Not with that video of the alleged victim:

Although Mr. Johnson argued last week that the accusation had not hurt him with voters, officials in both parties said the video would have made it hard to win a third term. After ESPN announced it was shelving the documentary, the city's Democratic leader, Ms. Asbury urged Mr. Johnson not to seek re-election

The video came at a time of heightened scrutiny of the kind of behavior that once might have been disregarded, as other figures in American public life have been discredited by accusations of sexual misconduct.

 

Here's hoping the St. Hope allegations get some more scrutiny because it's pretty clear that the Obama administration, along with his wife Rhee, helped Johnson cover them up and make them go away.

And Rhee should get some scrutiny for helping KJ cover his crimes up.

When Rhee fired teachers in D.C., she defended the firings by claiming some were sexual predators.

That turned out to be a lie from Ms. Rhee - or projection, since she appears to be married to a predator herself.

Rhee and Johnson have both fallen from grace, but given their respective crimes, they haven't fallen far enough in my estimation.

Chancellor Farina Claims Almost A "Celebratory Attitude" Around Renewal Schools

Eliza Shapiro at Politico NY, writing about a joint appearance between NYSED Commissioner MaryEllen Elia and NYCDOE Chancellor Carmen Farina on school "turnaround" efforts

Fariña has also made Renewal schools a priority, and has said she is seeing improvement in many of them.

"There has almost been a celebratory attitude around Renewal schools," she said.

Huh?

Almost a "celebratory attitude"?

This is just anecdotal, but what I have heard from teachers at Renewal schools both here on the blog and in communication elsewhere is that the pressure and stress at these schools has reached toxic levels.

From what I am hearing the only people with the "celebratory attitude" are the charter operators who stand to benefit from the receivership law when Renewal schools get turned over to them.

Are you hearing anything different?

If so, I'd like to correct the record and help "celebrate" receivership too.

Success Academy Chair Donates $1 Million To Families For Excellent Schools

Ben Chapman in the Daily News:

Two hedge fund billionaires dropped $1 million each on a controversial charter school advocacy group in April, the Daily News has learned.

Officials at pro-charter lobbying powerhouse Families for Excellent Schools have declined to name the nonprofit’s funders since it was founded in 2012.

But a July filing with the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics shows finance titans Dan Loeb and Julian Robertson both donated a cool million to the group.

...

Both Loeb and Robertson have a history promoting the growth of charter schools, but neither has been directly linked to Families for Excellent Schools until now.

Loeb, who runs an $18 billion investment group called Third Point, is network chair of Success Academy charter schools, the city’s largest charter network.

Chapman goes on to write that the $2 million in cash from Loeb and Robertson "is probably just a fraction of the income the organization will receive in 2015."

And indeed, that's the case.

Families for Excellent Schools has broken lobbying expenditure records in the past (see here) and drops a huge amount of cash on lobbying on a regular basis (see here.)

They've got a lot of money to burn and they use it to help Eva Moskowitz and Success Academies.

Success Academies likes to maintain a distance from Families for Excellent Schools, claiming the two organizations are not linked or coordinating, but that's laughable on its face.

When FES released a race-baiting ad a few weeks ago, Eva Moskowitz of Success was one of the few to defend FES and the ad.

Though FES doesn't reveal its donors, we know at least one of those donors has substantial links to Eva (as Chapman reported, Dan Loeb chairs the SA board.)

And they often seem to coordinate "rallies," with SA students, parents and teachers making up much of the "audience" at the FES political functions (indeed, Eva even closes her schools for these rallies.)

They also coordinate messages, with both FES and Moskowitz hitting on the "De Blasio hurts black children" message in ads, press conferences and newspaper op-eds.

Families for Excellent Schools is the propaganda and political wing of Success Academies, spending millions in cash that appears to be raised from many of the same sources that SA raises its cash from, to promote Eva Moskowitz's political agenda.

The two entities can claim they're not one and the same all they want - with SA chair Dan Loeb revealed as an FES donor as well, we start to see just how closely linked these entities really are.

Karen Magee: Parents And Teachers Have No Confidence In State's Education Reform Plans

From the "No kidding" file:

Constant changes to New York education policy and flawed rollouts have caused teachers and parents to lose trust in the State Education Department, said New York State United Teachers President Karen Magee.

Magee spoke about this lack of trust on WCNY’s Capitol Pressroom Tuesday. Teachers have lost confidence in any new plans coming from the department and feel their feedback doesn’t matter, she told Susan Arbetter.

Her comments come nearly one week after educators told members of the Assembly’s education committee that they’re worn out by all the new education reform legislation in recent years. At a public hearing on struggling schools last week, they said the constant changes have districts more caught up in compliance than actually improving anything.

“There continues to be an appearance that the plans have not been well thought out or well-developed,” Magee said Tuesday. “There’s no evidence of pilots happening…on a small-scale basis to identify what the strengths and weaknesses are, to bring in the professionals and all the stakeholders, including the community, to discuss if a plan is working. Get real feedback like you would with any other plan and then make modifications before you go for the all-across-the-state rollout. We roll things out in the state and then wait to see what the consequence are.”

Of course the lack of piloting or planning the reform changes is a crucial part of the education reform playbook.

This is shock doctrine stuff, not meant to improve anythnig at all - just cause "shock and awe" to the system, bring about chaos and calamity and ultimately help reformers in their privatization efforts.

Pity NYSUT and Magee won't say that and instead make as if Cuomo and his reformer buddies actually care about improving things as opposed to wanting simply to "break" the whole thing up.

Sealed Court Filing In Sheldon Silver Corruption Case

Sheldon Silver's trial looks like it is going to be interesting:

A sealed document was also filed in the Silver docket Monday.

It’s unclear what the document was, but Manhattan federal court Judge Valerie Caproni closed her courtroom during a hearing last week so that lawyers could argue about whether unknown sensitive evidence could be admitted at trial.

Silver’s defense attorneys didn’t respond to e-mails seeking comment on Monday evening.

The probe into Silver’s office also turned up incriminating material about former state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, who also now also faces corruption raps in Manhattan federal court.

The prosecutors sent a grand-jury subpoena to the Glenwood real-estate companyuin May 2014 as part of their probe into kickbacks pocketed by Silver, according to the Manhattan federal court papers filed earlier this month.

“As part of the document requests, the Silver [Glenwood] subpoena asked for all documents concerning political contributions to state officials or parties​​, and concerning the New York State Legislature,” the court papers stated.

“In addition to the materials about Dean Skelos produced by Developer-1, starting in or about May 2014, the Government began issuing grand jury subpoenas related to Dean Skelos.”

During public portions of Friday’s 2¹/₂-hour hearing, Caproni ruled against Silver and said that multiple pieces of potentially incriminating evidence could be shown to the jury at trial.

The Lower East Side assemblyman’s attorneys had tried to keep from jurors certain pieces of evidence, including his allegedly incomplete financial-disclosure forms and his attempts to halt construction of a methadone clinic in an alleged quid pro quo with a real-estate developer.

The Silver case led directly to the case against Skelos too, so whatever's in that sealed court document could be interesting and potentially incriminating.

Dunno about you, but I'm looking forward to Shelly's trial.

He's going to call all of Albany as witnesses - including Governor Cuomo - to try and argue that he didn't engage in quid pro quo corruption any more than other pols in the state capital. do and thus, it's not actually corruption.

That should be fun to watch.

Moskowitz Can't Take The Scrutiny

Diane Ravitch posts that Eva Moskowitz is demanding an apology from the News Hour over the report John Merrow did on Success Academy and suspensions.

Merrow asked her directly if she juiced her test scores through suspensions.

Moskowitz turned all sorts of red and sputtered in response:

JOHN MERROW: Do you ever use out-of-school suspension as a way to persuade parents that…

EVA MOSKOWITZ: No. No. We don’t suspend in order to boost our academics. Like, that’s just crazy talk.

JOHN MERROW: But our sources, including several public school principals, quite a few former Success Academy parents, and one person inside her organization, charge that is exactly what she does, repeatedly suspend certain kids to push them out. However, none of these critics were willing to publicly confront Moskowitz.

EVA MOSKOWITZ: Well, the numbers just don’t support that, John. I mean, what you get is what you see, which is suspending kids doesn’t lead to high attrition rate. That is what the data shows.

JOHN MERROW: In fact, the attrition rate is at least twice that of another major charter network, KIPP. A Success Academy representative told thaws for every 100 new students, at least 10 leave before the year’s out, most of them in the first few months. They are then replaced by students chosen from the waiting list.

Watch the video and count the shades of red Moskowitz turns - it's kinda fun.

I never thought her supposed flirtation with running for mayor was ever real for this very reason - had she run for mayor, Success Academy would have gotten a lot of scrutiny that neither Eva nor the hedge fund sugar daddies who support her are used to.

Merrow challenged her fairly, substantively, with data to back his challenge up.

Eva's response?

To cry foul.

Like all bullies, Moskowitz can dish it out but can't take it.

Had she run for mayor, she would have gotten a lot worse than what Merrow gave her - and clearly, she isn't able to take it.

Cuomo's Not-So-Secret Deal To Keep The State Senate In Republican Hands

Another double cross from Governor Cuomo for New York Dems:

Gov. Cuomo’s “fantastic’’ candidate in the important Nov. 3 special state Senate election will be “crushed’’ by her Republican opponent because Cuomo reneged on his pledge to go all out to help, senior Democrats have told The Post.

“Cuomo’s great candidate, Barbara Fiala, is going to get crushed on Election Day, and we all know why — he hardly lifted a finger,’’ said a prominent Democratic strategist, referring to Cuomo’s former Motor Vehicles commissioner, whom the governor picked in July to run for the Binghamton-area seat left vacant by the corruption conviction of Deputy Senate Majority Leader Tom Libous, a Republican.
...

Cuomo’s selection of Fiala — who he claimed “would be fantastic as a candidate” — was widely seen as significant because of the widespread view among Democrats that the governor has worked for years to keep the GOP in control of the Senate in order to strengthen his overall control of the Legislature.

Senate Democrats had been told to expect Cuomo to raise at least $100,000 for Fiala’s campaign — a drop in the bucket for Cuomo’s cash-rich campaign machine — but as of the weekend, nothing approaching that amount had arrived, a source close to the campaign said.

 ...


Cuomo faced a surprisingly strong Democratic primary challenge from little-known leftist law professor Zephyr Teachout last year partly because he was seen by Democratic activists as having kept Republicans in narrow control of the Senate.

Many Republicans also believe Cuomo has long had a peace pact with Senate Republicans, but few, besides Assemblyman Bill Nojay (R-Rochester) have been willing to discuss the arrangement publicly.

“Fiala’s clueless and underfunded campaign is clearly part of a deal between Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan [R-Suffolk] and the GOP senators to protect the former Libous seat,’’ said Nojay, who has watched the special Senate race closely.

“This is consistent with Cuomo’s strategy going back to 2011-2012 with the redistricting deals that ensure GOP control of the Senate in exchange for GOP senators rolling over on key Cuomo initiatives such as the 2012 tax hikes, gay marriage, the SAFE [gun-control] Act, and budget deals.

“So once again Cuomo has double-crossed the Working Families Party and his own Democratic Party by tacitly supporting continued GOP control of the Senate rather than turning the leadership of the body over to Senate liberals who might embarrass him or go rogue by teaming up with the New York City Democrats who run the Assembly,’’ Nojay continued.

Fiala's been a disaster as a candidate, but let's remember that it was Cuomo who touted her before she even announced a run and it was Cuomo who promised to help her win the Libous seat, then reneged on the promise.

Another example, as if we needed it, of how Governor Cuomo is a member of a party of one - the Cuomo Party.

Kathy Hochul Closing Her Appearances To The Media

What do you make of these items from the State of Politics "Here and Now" update:

At 1:30 p.m., LG Kathy Hochul tours KPH Healthcare Services, 6040 Tarbell Rd., Syracuse. (The tour is closed to members of the press, but a media availability will follow).

Ar 2:30 p.m., Hochul visits Destiny USA, NYS’ largest retail mall and a major CNY tourist attraction, 9090 Destiny USA Dr., Syracuse. (This tour is also closed to the press, a media availability will follow at Margaritaville Restaurant).

At 3:30 p.m., Hochul tours JMA Wireless, 7645 Henry Clay Blvd., Liverpool. (Again, closed press with an availability immediately afterwards).

Closing Hochul's appearances to the media and only holding an "availability" afterward suggests to me that the Cuomo administration has something to hide.

What, exactly, are they afraid of members of the press seeing at Destiny USA mall that they're keeping them away from Hochul's appearance there but offering an availability at "Margaritaville" afterwards?

UFT Claims "Overcrowded" Classrooms Are Down In NYC Schools - Is This True?

From the State of Politics "Here and Now" update for the day:

At 1 p.m., an annual UFT survey has found that for the first time in five years the number of overcrowded NYC classrooms has shown a significant decline, UFT President Mike Mulgrew and elected officials will call on the state meet its obligations under the Contract for Excellence, including lowering all city classes to the state average, steps of Tweed Courthouse, 52 Chambers St., Manhattan.

Mulgrew and Company see themselves as co-leaders in the NYCDOE these days, so anything they say about the NYCDOE is suspect.

What experiences are NYC teachers having out there?

Are the number of "overcrowded NYC classrooms" really declining?

Michael Mulgrew "Bitching" About Working Families Party Discussion Of Bernie Sanders Endorsement

Ken Lovett at the Daily News:

The head of the powerful city teachers union is trying to quell talk by some in the labor-backed Working Families Party about backing Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in the presidential primary, insiders say.

United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew has been contacting heads of the building trade unions who help make up the Working Families Party, a source said. He’s “complaining and bitching” about the party and the discussions on whether to endorse Sanders, the self-proclaimed socialist US senator from Vermont, the source said.

Mulgrew, who declined comment through a spokeswoman, is also a vice president of the American Federation of Teachers, which already has endorsed Clinton.

While the state Working Families Party does not have a presidential primary and does not have to set its ballot until September of 2016, its leaders have not ruled out publicly backing Sanders during the primary season to send a message to Clinton that she needs to go farther to the left.

Considering the damage Governor Cuomo has done to teachers and UFT rank and file, the end of the Lovett column is quite interesting:

The WFP, which was already feuding with Gov. Cuomo, isn’t doing its doing itself any favors alienating a major party player like Mulgrew and the potential Democratic nominee in Clinton, one source said.

In the analysis of this "source," we have Working Families Party and Sanders on one side of the political equation and Mulgrew, Clinton and Cuomo on the other.

That would seem odd, given how Cuomo has declared he wants to "break" teachers and public schools, until you remember that Mulgrew was said to have threatened WFP with financial dissolution if the party endorsed challenger Zephyr Teachout over Cuomo in 2014.

Just another sign that the "fight" between Cuomo and the UFT/AFT/Mulgrew/Weingarten crew is as "real" as something from professional wrestling.

That said, I don't particularly care whether WFP endorses Sanders or not.

Quite frankly, I don't "feel the Bern" after Sanders voted to continue the Endless Testing regime in NCLB Jr.

From my vantage point, Sanders is as full of shit as every other Democratic politician when it comes to the issue that matters most to me - education.

I will be voting Green come 2016 because I cannot and will not support a candidate who supports Endless Testing as a "civil right."

This Teacher's Ninth Graders Show Contempt For The Common Core

A reader at Perdido Street School blog:

Last week, one of our guidance counselors came in to one of my 9th grade classes to talk to the students about the importance of maintaining their grades, securing letters of recommendation from teachers, exploring career opportunities which would interest them, and making sure they meet their deadlines regarding tests, college applications, as well as financial aid.

The conversation between students discussing careers turned to teaching, at which one student said she always wanted to be a teacher. One of the other student visibly expressed her opinion, and then asked her why she would want to do that...also asking her if she heard of the Common Core. At that point, other students became involved in the conversation and the consensus became apparently clear...their literal hatred and scorn for Common Core, even mocking it as anti-American and the stealing of public education money by those seeking to get rich at the expense of tax payers and public schools.

Mr Gates...I wish you could have been there to hear what high school freshman that are young teenagers think of the "standards" that you have pushed onto America's public schools...

And Ms Elia...it would have been wonderful for you to be there...this conversation in class was student-initiated....student-driven...and student-resolved...a slap in the face to the privatization movement that your Soviet "commisariat" would most certainly have frowned upon.

If the ninth graders get it, so do their parents....and so do many, many more New Yorkers.

And last but not least, Mr Cuomo...you take time out of your busy schedule to preach Success Academy and charter politics...at the behest of your corporate masters...I wish you could have been there too.

Please come to Queens, New York, to discuss your Common Core standards, the three of you...and bring the news cameras...

I know you won't, because the students would make a mockery of the three of you in a public forum.

The newspaper article might read, "Ninth Grade Public High School Students explain why they do not support Common Core to Gates, Cuomo, and Elia".

I get similar reactions from students when I have asked them about their feelings for the Common Core or the EngageNY modules they've been doing for the past two+ years (which, given how Common Core fuehrer David Coleman feels about non-"evidence based" feelings, was a very un-Common Core teaching thing to do, but oh, well...)

How do your students feel about Common Core?

Do some feel that they're getting a well-rounded education writing argumentative essays in every class, spending three weeks on one short story or answering text-based minutiae over and over and over for days on end?

Teacher Shortages Should Be No Surprise

Tony Lux at NWI.com:

It is amazing to read about the blue ribbon committees being formed at the Statehouse to determine why there is a teacher shortage. The feigned ignorance and surprise of legislators is incredibly hypocritical.

Blame for the teacher shortage should be placed clearly at the feet of government officials in this state and across the nation who have scapegoated, demeaned and devalued the teaching profession.

...

If schools were failing, then teachers were ineffective. Teachers were not only ineffective, but overpaid as well.

The solutions were multi-faceted. Plans were formulated to evaluate teachers more stringently to get rid of the bad ones. The witch hunt to rid schools of weak teachers cast a pall over the credibility of the teaching profession. Teachers were seen as not just the most important variable, but the only variable that affected student learning. Any reference to the effects of poverty on student learning were dismissed out of hand as an effort to avoid accountability.

What followed was a legislative snowball racing downhill. An oversimplified, flawed system for grading schools on an A-F scale was created. School grades continue to be required despite major flaws in state assessments. State standards were raised to be the highest in the land, resulting in increased hours of testing time and diminishing teaching time. Laws dictated more stringent teacher evaluations tied to school grades and test scores. Laws dictated limiting salary increases so teaching experience and advanced degrees were devalued. New teacher and administrative licensing standards implied that anyone with a degree could be a teacher or administrator, even without training. Charter schools, unfettered by union agreements, were heralded as schools that could do better by hiring teachers at low salaries and cheap benefits.

Complexity index funding targeting the most disadvantaged underachievers was reduced and redirected. The effects of tax caps crippled property tax collections for many school systems, forcing them to use general fund dollars to pay debt rather than staff.

Educators are so demoralized they do not encourage their own children to follow in their footsteps, much less other students.

Today, with decreased funding for public schools, teachers cannot enter the profession with any kind of guarantee that in five to 10 years they will be earning very much more than they are now. 

Still surprised there is a teacher shortage? Really?

New York State hasn't experienced the same teacher shortages that states like Indiana and Nevada have, but the problem will get here too because there's an awful lot of teacher/bashing/scapegoating going on here that makes education a very unsavory career choice for college students of today.

For now, we have a "shortage" of "great" teachers willing to work in schools deemed "struggling" by the state and set to be handed off into receivership.

Indeed, NYSED Commissioner MaryEllen Elia just decried this shortage and called for teachers with "heart" to come work in "struggling" schools.

Here are some Perdido Street School blog readers on the insanity of that:

This false wish for "great teachers" and "teachers who can rise to the challenges inside struggling urban schools" is just another Deform mantra. It is meant to shame teachers who are ALREADY "great" and who HAVE risen to challenges inside struggling urban schools. The dearth of teachers has been deliberately created by Deformers. They have shamed, demoralized and marginalized urban teachers. But they have done this for a very specific purpose. They want TFA's, alternate cetificates, and a general de-professionalization of teaching. So not be fooled by what they "say" they want. Look instead at what they are doing in urban districts. In Buffalo, teachers have recently been referred to as "dregs" and "the lowest form of human capital" by our superintendent/receiver. It doesn't get any clearer than that.

And:

"We're in the process now if looking for teachers who really have that heart ......" What? Are you @#$%ing crazy? If you gave me a 20K bonus to work in one of those receivership schools, I wouldn't take it. Why? Here's why. If you take it, your MOSL SCORES will be SHIT. In NYC where I teach, that's currently 40% or 40 points out of 100. Last school year I received a 17 and an 18 out of 20 for each piece. Obviously that's a total of 35 out of 40 which is very good. These shit schools that teachers with "heart" should go to are pulling 7's and 8's. That's around 15 out of 40. If you score below 65 total, which is very possible at one of these shit schools, you will be labeled "ineffective". You can be the BEST teacher in the world BUT if your at Lehman HS or Clinton HS or Any other, you literally have no chance. If you get 2 ineffectives in a row, a 3020-a process can easily remove you. You will be terminated. Your family, house, future, all destroyed because you were supposed to have "heart". What a @#$%ing JOKE. I HOPE SHE READS THIS IR SOMEONE GETS HER MY MESSAGE. The goal, find a small school to jump into and do your job, get your MOSL scores that these schools produce. If they really want teachers to work at "these" schools, they must eliminate the evaluation procedure because it's not reflective of the truth. Then again, I'm a Physical Education teacher at a really nice small school in the Bronx. My MOSL is based off ELA, nothing to do with me. This is also ridiculous because any schmuck in Bronx Science teaching Gym is riding the data wave. All BULLSHIT.

Indeed, it is all bullshit - teachers know it, the kids they teach know it and this is why, as we move forward into the future, fewer and fewer of those kids will look to follow in the footsteps of their teachers.

And why should they?

The system is rigged against teachers, the media and the political class take daily potshots at teachers, educators have been blamed for everything from the high rate of poverty and inequity in this country to the near economic collapse of the system in 2007/2008 and, as Tony Lux said in his NWI.com piece, the politicians and educrats have worked overtime to strip teachers of economic incentives (i.e., raises) based upon anything other than test scores and so-called objective "data" that really only measures how well a teacher's students' families are.

Add in the stripping of work protections from teachers, the imposition of the EngageNY teaching scripts onto educators and the increased linkage of test scores to teacher evaluations (now up to 50% in New York thanks to our "Student Lobbyist Governor") and you'd have to say any kid who thinks about going into teaching now ought to have his/her head examined.

They're Coming For Your Social Security Money

The NY Times on some of the Republican presidential candidates plans for Social Security:

Most Republicans, adamantly opposed to any tax increases, continue to offer proposals that focus on cutting benefits, in ways that critics say could harm the most vulnerable retirees, while doing little to overcome the system’s financial imbalance.

“Americans are living longer,” Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who is seeking the Republican nomination, said in a campaign speech in April in New Hampshire. “This is something to celebrate but, at the same time, we can’t ignore the real effect that has on Social Security.”

 

In the same speech, Mr. Christie called for gradually raising the retirement age for future retirees, a change championed by several other Republican candidates, including former Gov. Jeb Bush and Senator Marco Rubio. both of Florida.

Not all Americans are living longer - workers in lower income brackets have seen life expectancy go down.

In any case, here's the effect of the raise in age:

Each year the “full” retirement age is raised translates into a benefit cut of nearly 7 percent for future retirees who are affected. The full retirement age is already scheduled to rise from 66 to 67 — for people born after 1959 — which will hold down benefits for that group. 

Consider an individual who would receive a full benefit of $2,000 a month at age 67 under current law. She would receive $1,600 a month at age 67 if the full retirement age were raised to 70, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Instead of receiving $2,480 at age 70 under current law, she would have to wait until 70 to get $2,000.

 

That's a big change - and one Rubio, Christie, Bush and others are looking to bring us.

Something to think about this election cycle.

Message To MaryEllen Elia Over Those Teachers She Wants To Work In "Struggling Schools"

From the Times Union:

State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia called on teacher educators across the state Thursday to train future teachers who can rise to the challenges inside struggling urban schools.

"Right now, we have schools across this state that are chronically failing, and we need to have great teachers that will rise to the challenge of moving into those schools and supporting those children and communities," she told a crowd of more than 100 who had gathered in Saratoga Springs for the annual conference of the New York State Association of Teacher Educators and the New York Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.

Her message came just one day after these very schools testified before state legislators that they're bleeding teachers as they enter a new school year with more pressures than ever before. Under the state's new receivership law, 144 schools across 17 districts were labeled struggling or persistently struggling and given one or two years to turn things around or risk losing local control to an outside receiver approved by the state.

Between the short time frame to demonstrate improvement and the higher stakes around teacher evaluations this year, teachers are fleeing struggling schools for schools where things aren't so bad, officials said Wednesday at a hearing in Albany.

"We're in the process now of looking for teachers who have that heart, who really want to be in and support kids in urban settings," Elia said Thursday.

To do that, though, New York has to return to a position of respect and reverence for the profession, she said. As the state's population ages and teachers retire, New York will face a teacher shortage if it doesn't, she added.

"We need to really elevate teaching as a profession and articulate the importance of teachers across the state and what they do every day to support our students," she said. "There are many challenges in our schools across the state, and our teachers are going to be the ones who are going to make any change in what happens in those classrooms. We have to be very focused on supporting them, so that they can support our students for success."

We've been over this before, but let's do it again one more time since the message doesn't seem to enter that thick skull of Elia's.

Saying you want to "elevate the teaching profession" while simultaneously doing all you can to de-skill, de-professionalize and terrorize teachers in the system is not going to "elevate the teaching profession" nor help you find those teachers to work in "struggling schools."

Given that 50% of a teacher's rating is now based upon test scores, given that a teacher can be fired after two years of poor APPR ratings based upon test scores, given that students in those struggling schools often have low test scores and given that you, the governor and the Regents Chancellor are always blaming teachers for all the ills in the system, why would anybody in their right mind a) go into teaching at this juncture and b) teach in one of those "struggling schools"?

Here is a Perdido Street School reader on the toll the current "Blame Teachers" reform agenda has on the teaching profession Elia says she wants to "elevate":

More broadly, who'd want to become a teacher anywhere? I don't teach in a struggling school (though its close) and the decision to come in to teaching ranks as the biggest mistake of my life. Financially, psychologically, etc. A toll is taken on the psyche when your profession is labeled as the reason for almost all the negative issues going on in our society, relentlessly, no matter how ridiculous. The volume of it and the incessant nature makes one a bit twitchy. It was a stupid call. At least working at amazon, you are probably paid well for the few years you survive....and then you can go get another job.

The thing that isn't talked about so much, and should be, is that when a teacher is drummed out, for any reason really, they will never teach again in public school. It's an established, formalized, institutionalized, fully-legal blacklisting. So a public school teacher falling under the hatchet of reform faces a much steeper slope out of unemployment than does, say, a corporate person who gets fired. As always, the "accountability" and "disruption" on the corporate side is always somehow lighter than they want to impose on the public side. 

A fired teacher is DONE....the one thing they have prepared and trained for is no longer something they can tap on in their job search. (Unless they go to work at a desperate private school that will pay them like $19k a year.) Even admin....they leave or get booted somewhere, they get to become admin somewhere else (see Elia). No deep institutional, legal blacklisting for them! Even principals, AP's, Directors, etc in my district who have been let go for deep incompetence always get another job in Admin by the next school year in another district.

So that's a thing and it matters. For teachers, our options become way way way limited after being fired. We are the ultimate tightrope walkers...no safety nets.

James Eterno posted how teachers at his phasing out school were mostly rated "developing" and "ineffective" but all "magically" got "effective" ratings once they moved on to other schools that weren't being phased out:

In April the ICEUFT Blog published a piece in which we publicly admitted that for the 2013-14 school year state data showed that 88% of the teachers at the phasing out Jamaica High School were rated either developing or ineffective. At the time we stated sarcastically that we must be "the worst teachers on the planet." The blog also said these ratings were meaningless.

We concluded the post by making a not so bold prediction that for 2014-15, when teachers from Jamaica were sent to other schools where the student populations did not have as many needs as those at the phasing out Jamaica, we would see much better teacher ratings.

The data is now in for 2014-15 and another ICEUFTBLOG prediction has come true.  This year there were no adverse ratings from the 2013-14 Jamaica teachers who were still in the school system. We were perfect.  That is correct. 100% of the teachers who were at Jamaica in 2013-14, who became rotating Absent Teacher Reserves or were assigned to a school in the 2014-2015 school year, have been rated either effective or satisfactory. The only people who didn't receive these positive end of the year evaluations were the three who were fortunate enough to have retired.

How is it possible that we went from 88% of us receiving adverse ratings to 0% in just a year?  We were the same teachers. 

I am so sick of these educrats and politicians claiming they want to "elevate" teaching while they simultaneously pursue a conscious agenda to do the exact opposite.

Elia claims she wants to give these "struggling schools" more time and money to turn things around.

Alas, the receivership rules shoved through by Cuomo earlier this year and passed by the Heavy Hearts Club in the state legislature do not allow for that.

Same goes for the APPR teacher evaluation systems that rates teachers based upon 50% of student test scores - these systems have to be in place by November 15 or districts lose some funding.

We keep coming up against these arbitrary deadlines created by politicians and educrats (think Race to the Top) that are designed not to improve anything but simply put an ultimatum down and give the people running the system the opportunity to blow stuff up if their ultimatum isn't accomplished.

Elia can claim she wants to "elevate the profession" all she wants and say how she needs "great" teachers to teach in so-called "struggling schools," but the truth is this - any teacher who goes to teach in a "struggling school" risks a low performance rating (even NYCDOE Chancellor Farina knows this) and two years of a low rating and you're done for life, tarred as a "bad teacher."

Try working again as a teacher after you've gotten two "ineffective" ratings and been fired by your district after they pursued 3020a incompetence charges against you.

Education reformers like MaryEllen Elia have brought us this kind of environment and no matter how many times she says she wants to "elevate teaching," it's quite clear she and her fellow reformers want to do the exact opposite.

Carmen Arroyo Throws Stones In Her Own Glass House

Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo, perhaps having a bad week at the casino, had a meltdown in an Assembly hearing featuring NYCDOE Chancellor Carmen Farina yesterday:

The Assembly Education Committee’s hearing on struggling schools grew heated earlier on Wednesday when Bronx Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo railed against New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina’s efforts to aid bilingual students.

“I’m sorry, but I wasn’t elected to come here and kiss ass,” Arroyo shouted as Committee Chairwoman Cathy Nolan sought to move forward in the hearing.

Raising her voice and even slapping her hand on the table for emphasis, Arroyo was angered by what she saw as a lack of assistance for bilingual students and their families in city schools.

“You don’t have in your office a person or a division where the parents can go and make a request to have their children placed in bilingual program,” she said at the hearing.

Farina responded that her department has already sought to increase funding for bilingual programs as well as new training for school professionals.

“We have increased the amount of professional development of bilingual education in New York City,” Farina said. “We’re looking for extra support for these students, particularly technology assistance, but in terms of access to parents, I don’t think there’s ever been a chancellor who has done more.”

Farina also pointed to the town halls she has conducted with bilingual and non-English speaking families and her visits to neighborhoods in the Bronx.

But Arroyo was not convinced.

“You put salaries and you put people to work, but the community, that is the parents of the children who you people are obligated to serve, obligated to serve the taxpayers’ money to serve the children,” she said. “That’s why I’m angry on that.”

State of Politics reports that other members of the Assembly Education Committee grew restless at Arroyo's antics, at which point Committee Chairwoman Cathy Nolan stepped in to try and calm things.

This isn't the first time Carmen Arroyo has gotten shrill over education.

Last spring as the Heavy Hearts Club in the Assembly was passing the odious Cuomo "Blame Teachers" budget, most Assembly Members were apologetic about voting aye for the budget.

But not Carmen Arroyo:

“Those teachers that are responsible and are doing their job, those teachers that sacrifice their families and themselves for the children they serve are going to be protected.  Those that are not good, better get a job at McDonalds.” — Carmen E. Arroyo, 84^th District

Arroyo is a shill for charter schools and education reform in her own insane way, so her taking on Farina yesterday was less about the issue itself and more about just taking on Farina (and by extension, Farina's boss, Bill de Blasio.)

As for her criticism that the adults in the DOE are just looking to collect their salaries and don't care much about the kids, well, that's pretty ironic considering her grandson (and former chief of staff) pleaded guilty to the charge of embezzling money that partly went to benefit Arroyo herself:

The nephew of City Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo resigned Thursday as head of a Bronx charter school she helped fund - a day after he was charged with embezzlement.

Richard Izquierdo Arroyo - who's also Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo's grandson and chief of staff - Thursday notified the city he was resigning as chairman of the board of the South Bronx Charter School for International Culture and the Arts.

His city councilwoman aunt sponsored $1.5 million in taxpayer funds this fiscal year to help build a permanent facility for the school, which is temporarily housed in a public school.

On Wednesday, Izquierdo Arroyo was charged with stealing from a nonprofit group, SBCC Management Corp., that manages low-income apartment buildings in the Bronx. SBCC Management's director, Margarita Villegas, also was charged.

The duo stole more than $200,000 from the nonprofit to pay for designer clothes, trips to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and dozens of restaurant meals, a criminal complaint charged.

They also used the nonprofit's money to buy airline tickets to Puerto Rico for City Councilwoman Arroyo and her mother the assemblywoman.

Izquierdo eventually pleaded guilty to those embezzlement charges and served ten months in prison.

But guess what?

He landed on his feet afterwards:

The politically-connected former head of a Bronx charter school — who served time for embezzlement — has quietly taken up a position at a another nonprofit, the Daily News has learned.

Now paying restitution after serving nearly a year in federal lockup, Ricardo (Richard) Izquierdo Arroyo works on “case management” for Neighborhood Association for Inter-Cultural Affairs.

Izquierdo resigned as the head of The South Bronx Charter School for International Cultures and the Arts in 2009, after he was charged with looting more than $200,000 from SBCC Management Corp., an unrelated taxpayer-funded nonprofit that managed low-income apartment buildings in the South Bronx.

He pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $115,000 to pay for lavish meals and trips, and spending some of the pilfered funds on his grandmother, state Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo.

Izquierdo Arroyo then served 10 months in federal prison.

But now, his LinkedIn page lists his job as “case management” for NAICA, which “has been providing housing intervention and assistance services to residents of the Bronx since it was established in 1974,” according to its Facebook page.

It was unclear Monday if Izquierdo Arroyo has any background in case management. He lists his case management experience as his current position, according to his LinkedIn page.

Izquierdo Arroyo did not return requests for comment Monday. His boss, Eduardo LaGuerre, told the Daily News in an emailed statement that NAICA currently employs “several individuals that have criminal records but who are now contributing members of our society.”

“Mr. Izquierdo was hired as a case manager for his experienced (sic), skills and ability to relate to homeless man (sic) that are seeking an opportunity to better themselves,” LaGuerre said in the statement.

LaGuerre said Izquierdo Arroyo has been an exemplary employee at NAICA and previously worked at another nonprofit, “Promesa/Basics, Inc., where he also provide (sic) excellent services to the homeless residents in their shelter.” LaGuerre did not respond to an emailed follow up from the News asking what Izquierdo’s background in case management was.

...

LaGuerre did not respond to a follow-up email requesting the amount of Izquierdo Arroyo’s salary.

Besides being Assemblywoman Arroyo’s grandson and her former chief of staff, Izquierdo Arroyo is the nephew of Bronx Councilwoman Maria Del Carmen Arroyo.

Predictably, his appointment has raised a red flag among observers of New York’s not-for-profit sector.

Doug Sauer, CEO of the New York Council of Nonprofits, questioned whether his appointment was politically motivated.

“How did he get this job over any other candidate?” Sauer said. “Was it openly solicited? What is the compelling argument that overrides his history, which affects the organization that hired him?”

“It doesn’t pass the smell test.”

It's amazing to me that, given the corruption endemic to her family and political operation which seems to pale even by Albany standards, other Assembly Members just don't tell Arroyo to shut up and go away.

In any case, there are plenty of good reasons to aim criticism Carmen Farina's way over her leadership at the NYCDOE, but when that criticism comes from Corrupt Carmen Arroyo, you'd best take it with a heavy helping of table salt.

Families For Excellent Schools To Hold Charter School Teacher Rally

Eliza Shapiro at Politico NY:

Families for Excellent Schools, the charter school advocacy group, will hold a rally of charter teachers next week in an attempt to undermine the United Federation of Teachers' representation of public school teachers, according to several people with knowledge of the event.

Wednesday's rally is intended to challenge the notion the UFT speaks for New York City teachers. More than 1,000 charter school teachers are expected to attend the rally to declare their support for charters, which typically are not unionized.

FES' messaging surrounding the rally does not refer directly to the UFT or to teachers unions. Instead, it alludes only to "special interest groups" that prioritize benefits for adults over education for students.

As is typical for FES events, the rally will be attended largely by teachers from Success Academy, New York City's largest and most controversial charter network.

FES is going to get a 1,000 charter school teachers to rally for the wonders of charter schools?

I dunno, seems like a bit of a comedown from the 15,000 they had at the last rally, no?

Not to mention that this is the kind of rally that allows charter critics to point out the brutal attrition rates at charters - especially Success Academies - and ask just how sustainable this kind of model would be for the system at large.

I'm no political strategist, but I don't exactly see that much upside to this idea.

Looks to me like Families for Excellent Schools, with money to burn, just wants to keep churning out the propaganda, but just as with the race-baiting ad they pulled out a couple of weeks ago, I'm not sure this one helps them that much.

What say you out there?

Is this a good idea from FES?

Cuomo Puppet John Flanagan Is Confident Districts Will Have APPR Evaluation Plans In Place In Next Month

Rumor has it that Andrew Cuomo has his hand up John Flanagan's shirt and is controlling his mouth and his words - sure sounds that way from this nonsense:

Flanagan, meanwhile, said he was concerned with local school districts enacting new teacher evaluation measures in time for the November deadline, but remained confident they would be put in place.

“I think anyone who has been involved in this process and has chaired the committee, of course I have concerns,” he said. “I’m confident that state ed and the Regents will find a way to receive these applications, that they review them in a timely fashion and ultimately we come up with a series of plans that will pass muster.”

School districts must approve the latest evaluations next month or miss out on a boost in state aid. The Board of Regents is allowing districts that demonstrate a hardship to extend the deadline.

Keshia Clukey at Politico NY reported the following back on October 5:

ALBANY — The vast majority of school districts and teachers' unions seem to be having difficulty coming to an agreement on a new teacher evaluation system supported by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

As of the end of last week, only 12 plans had been approved, with another 47 submitted for review, according to the state education department. There are 674 districts statewide.

The new evaluation system was put into place last session. It puts more emphasis on students' state test scores, and has been met with criticism, including from the state Board of Regents, which put in place a waiver system to delay the implementation.

The districts have until Nov. 15 to have their plans in and approved by the state or risk losing state aid. Those that believe they can't meet the deadline can instead apply for a waiver, which can extend the deadline up to September 2016.

So as of nine days ago, only 12 plans had been approved, 47 others had been submitted and were awaiting review, and 615 plans had yet to be submitted.

Gee, if I were John Flanagan, I wouldn't be so "confident" that that NYSED, the Board of Regents and the 600+ districts without evaluation plans will "come up with a series of plans that will pass muster."

But you know, that's me.

I'm not a guy who's words and actions are rumored to be almost wholly controlled by Andrew Cuomo.