It's Time to Change the Stakes

We all know high-stakes testing has gotten out of control, and the effects have been devastating. In the age of globalization and national discussions of "competitiveness" we must be challenging the idea that schooling should be constant test preparation. Our former Chancellor, Joel Klein, once said that there's nothing wrong with test prep: “If that’s what test prep is about, teaching people to read and understand paragraphs, that’s what I think education is about.” But we know that when schools become test prep factories, especially for low-income students, we as a society have failed in our promise of a quality education for all. And as long as the stakes on these tests remain high, the disastrous consequences will continue.

Join us for an evening with Dr. Yong Zhao...

Yong Zhao is one of the most eloquent critics of the high cost of high-stakes testing and an expert on the Chinese educational system. He argues persuasively that the greatest strength of the United States education system has been the cultivation of creativity: “To be creative is to be different. Creative people often have ideas, behaviors, beliefs, and lifestyles that deviate from the norm, and from tradition.  How these people and their ideas are treated by others has a defining effect on creativity and indeed on different social groups.” He argues that our current focus on tests moves us in a different direction that is already spelling disastrous consequences for students' well-being as well as for our society as a whole.

Zhao is the Presidential Chair and Associate Dean for Global Education at the University of Oregon, where he also serves as the director of the Center for Advanced Technology in Education (CATE).  For more information visit:  http://zhaolearning.com
October 12, 2011

Location:  I.S. 89
 201 Warren Street  
New York, NY  10282

Time:  6:30-8:30 PM

Sponsored by:  Class Size Matters, Grassroots Education Movement, I.S. 89 PTA, Parents Across America,  Time-Out From Testing

Please come and show your support against destructive school closings and charter co-locations!

WHAT: Parents and school leaders gather to support the UFT/NAACP Lawsuit


WHEN: Tuesday, June 21 at 1:15p.m.


WHERE: The plaza across the street from Manhattan State Supreme Court,60 Centre Street, 
                 New York,NY

PARENTS, STUDENTS & EDUCATORS JOIN US IN STANDING UP FOR A QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ALL OUR CHILDREN

New York City Parents & Community Stakeholders To Convene Press Conference
Supporting NAACP Lawsuit

 WHAT: Parents, Students & Educators Press Conference in support of the
lawsuit to stop school closings & inequitable charter school co-locations

 WHO: NYC Parents Union, Coalition for Public Education, Alliance for
Quality Education, Concerned Advocates for Public Education, Grassroots
 Education Movement and New York Communities for Change

WHY: We believe every child must have equal access to a quality
 education. Separate and Unequal facilities are unacceptable and foster
 divisiveness in our communities.

 WHEN: Monday, June 13 at 5:30PM

 WHERE: Department of Education Headquarters, 52 Chambers Street


Contacts:
 Muba Yarofulani, NYC Parents Union, (347) 785-3418
 Mariama Sanoh, NYC Parents Union, (646) 498-7628
 Faye Hodge, NYC Parents Union, (917) 566-6202




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 WWW.NYCPARENTSUNION.ORG

From Our Friends at Class Size Matters:

Welcome back from the Memorial Day weekend; I hope you had a nice break.  In the next few weeks, it will be decided whether NYC will lose 6,000 teaching positions next year, which would cause your child to suffer from huge increases in class size.  This is when the negotiations over the budget get serious. Here are five easy steps to take to fight back against these unconscionable cuts:



1.       Tomorrow, Wed. June 1  at 9 AM at City Hall, Council Member Robert Jackson will be holding a press conference to protest these cuts; please join us, along with the other elected officials, parents and advocates.



2.       Later in the day, at 5 PM, a safety net will be strung across Broadway, near City Hall, and then cut,  to symbolize how the mayor’s budget would eliminate the safety net for millions of New Yorkers.  Please come if you can and show your support.



3.       Our NEW petition opposing these cuts is up and running.  Please sign it, even if you signed an earlier one – it automatically sends a message in your name to Bloomberg, Speaker Quinn and Finance Chair Recchia, saying that we cannot afford to lose a single teacher next year.  This is especially important, as in many districts, our school population is growing fast.  Add your own personal story if you can.



4.       This year, our “Skinny” awards are being given to four teacher-warriors, Jackie Bennett, Julie Cavanagh, James Eterno and Christine Rowland, all fighting to save NYC schools; this is a very hard time for teachers, being constantly attacked by this administration as well as nationally by the corporate reformers who have hijacked education policy.  Check out our Facebook page, and leave a comment in appreciation of one of these teachers, or any other teacher of your choice.



5.       Please come to the Class Size Matters dinner on June 15, co-hosted by Diane Ravitch, Patrick Sullivan, and others,  where we will give out the “Skinny” awards; click here for more information and to buy a ticket.  Or simply consider contributing  a tax-deductible donation  to Class Size Matters; we need all your support to do battle against the damaging tide of budget cuts and the other dangerous policies eroding our children’s schools.



Finally, many petitions have been launched in opposition to the mayor’s budget cuts, but not all of them talk about saving the 6,000 teaching positions that would be lost if his budget is adopted.  Some only talk about preventing 4100 teacher layoffs – while still allowing 2,000 positions to be eliminated through attrition.  But if we lose 2,000 teaching positions, that means hundreds of thousands of children will still be subjected to larger class sizes next year.  That’s why we have to fight to preserve every one of these 6,000 positions.  Make sure that the petition you sign addresses this critical need.



Leonie Haimson

Executive Director

Class Size Matters

Fight Back Friday! Stand Up For Public Educatio

NO CUTS!  NO LAYOFFS!

Friday, May 20^th

 Join Public Schools Across the City

Let your voice be heard: sign a post card, call your city council member

get involved at: www.fightbackfridays.blogspot.com/

or e-mail sam@nycore.org for a toolkit

WANTED:

 $350 Million

To save 6,000 teaching positions, 4,700 through lay-offs

Billions FOUND…

Bloomberg’s Budget Spends:

·      More than $700 million in 2011-2012 on charter schools

·      $542 million in new technology

·      Hundreds of millions on testing

Cost of layoffs for our students:

·      Dramatic class size increase

·      Less safe schools

·      Less help for struggling students

·     Less time for teacher/parent communication

Did you know?  A small surcharge for city earners making $175,000 or more would yield $450 million in revenue.

(Independent Budget Office, City of New York).

Tell Bloomberg and the DOE to stop wasting our money

and start prioritizing education!

Make the wealthy and the banks pay their fair share!

Sponsored by the Fight Back Friday Committee

(CAPE, ICE, GEM, NYCoRE, PPM, TJC, TU)

Lots of Protesting Budget Cuts this Month! Here is the first one (please also keep in mind the big rally on 5/12 at Wall Street and Fight Back Friday 5/20!)

STOP SCHOOL BUDGET CUTS!


Because of Mayor Bloomberg’s cuts, our schools have

already suffered:

• Higher class sizes

• Fewer after school programs

• Cuts in basic educational supplies and services

Now the state legislature has made further cuts, and Mayor

Bloomberg is calling for layoffs.

Both the Mayor and State Senator Marty Golden oppose

renewal of a Millionaire’s Tax which could add $700 million

dollars this year and $4 billion dollars the following year,

eliminating the need for any more cuts or layoffs!

Get involved in our campaign against budget

cuts.

See how on the reverse side!

Join us for a rally outside

State Senator Marty Golden’s office

Friday, May 6th @ 4 PM

7408 5th Avenue (bet. 74th and 75th

Street)

Budget Cuts Hurt Our Schools

Take Action Now

• www.facebook.com/Budgetcutshurtourschools

Join our Facebook page for updates about future rallies.

• www.votesmart.org Type in your address in the top

white search box, Contact your local politicians and

let them know cutting our children’s education is

cutting their future and that is unacceptable!

• Call 311 and leave a message for Mayor Bloomberg

explaining how budget cuts hurt our children

• For more ways to get involved email us at

psuftogether22@gmail.com

The Blackboard Awards Celebrate Teachers

For those of you who wish to nominate your favorite teacher, please read this letter from Peter Hintz and click this link to directly nominate:  http://www.blackboardawards.com/

In a time where attacks on teachers seem endless, it would be nice to support our dedicated educators!

Dear Concerned Advocates for Public Education,

     My name is Peter Hintz and I'm writing on behalf of Manhattan Media and Eric Messinger, the editor of New York Family. We're currently promoting the Blackboard Awards (www.blackboardawards.com), which honors local teachers from all educational communities—public, private, charter, and parochial—and all grade levels, from nursery school through high school. The awards recognize outstanding, dedicated teachers from throughout the five boroughs, and enable them to share the honor with their school community. The deadline for nominations is March 31, after which the selected teachers will be honored in a special gala ceremony on June 6 at Fordham University Law School, attended by leading educators, politicians, and other local dignitaries. The schools’ reputations benefit from every faculty member who is a Blackboard Award recipient, which is something we publicize and welcome the schools to do as well.

     This process starts with parents—our most reliable resource in nominating teachers, and an area in which we feel your blog could really help our cause. Your select readership of educators and parents who are actively involved in their school community is perfectly suited for the Blackboard Awards, and we could really use help spreading the word. While we have contacted nearly every school in the area, we would like to be able to reach parents who are not necessarily involved in the PTA, SLT, or other official organizations, but would still like to recognize the wonderful teachers who make such a big difference in the lives of their children.

     If you could find a way to place a link to the Blackboard Awards website into one of your blog posts, tweets, Facebook pages, or mention the awards in any capacity, it would have a huge impact on the number of nominations because so many parents follow your blog. It would help a great number of local teachers get the recognition they deserve, and help a great number of parents to show their gratitude. Any support that you can offer would be hugely appreciated, and would certainly help us reach a record number of nominations this year. Please don't hesitate to contact me or Eric (emessinger@manhattanmedia.com) about any questions you may have, and thank you so much for your time.

All the best,

Peter Hintz