Concerned Advocates for Public Education

It's Time to Change the Stakes

2011-10-04T06:11:00.000-04:00

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!

2011-06-20T18:46:00.000-04:00

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

2011-06-12T22:03:00.000-04:00

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

###

WWW.NYCPARENTSUNION.ORG

From Our Friends at Class Size Matters:

2011-05-31T17:53:00.000-04:00

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

2011-05-17T17:29:00.000-04:00

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!)

2011-04-27T22:06:00.001-04:00

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

2011-03-25T20:28:00.001-04:00

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

Left Forum: Friday, March 18th - Sunday, March 20th

2011-03-08T20:53:00.000-05:00

Consider Registering for the Left Forum and Check Out Two Panels Featuring Friends of CAPE!

3/19: Showing GEM's film, "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman", which features parents and an educator from CAPE
Session 1: 10:00-11:50
Panelists: Brian Jones, Leonie Haimson, Monda Davids, Sam Anderson, and Julie Cavanagh

3/19: Building Resistance in NYC to the Neoliberal Restructuring of Public Education
Session 4: 5:00-6:50
Panelists: Jitu Weusi, John Tarleton, Leonie Haimson, Sally Lee, and Julie Cavanagh

Full Left Forum Schedule Here: http://www.leftforum.org/2011/full-schedule
There are many great panels concerning the fight for public education!

Take Action!

2011-02-27T20:56:00.001-05:00

There are so many attacks facing public schools and educators right now, it is hard to know how you can help and take action.

Here are a few simple things you can do:

1. Sign the petitions to the right to support teachers and seniority rights and to say no to state budget cuts.
Also, if you have been teaching five years or less, sign this form letter http://bit.ly/eCXaC8 to support seniority rights.

2. Visit ourschoolsnyc.gov to keep updated and sign their latest petition calling for an investigation into the DOE's intentional undermining of NYC public schools: http://www.change.org/petitions/request-for-investigations-of-nycdoe-for-violating-students-civil-rights-educational-neglect.

3. Keep up to date with the latest events, including an upcoming Fight Back Friday in March, on the right hand side of this blog and at http://www.grassrootseducationmovement.blogspot.com/. Join GEM at their next General Meeting in March, Date TBA.

4. Sign-up for a house party showing of GEM's film "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman"... all of those who sign-up to host a house party are entered in a raffle to recieve a phone call and have a conversation with Diane Ravitch. Email: gemnyc@gmail.com for more information.

5. Join Parents Across America's mailing list. PAA is an exciting new group uniting parents across the country in support of public education and public school teachers. Visit: http://parentsacrossamerica.org/

Rally On! Blizzard Nor Snow Day Will Stop Parents, Students, Educators, and Community Members From Expressing Their Outrage Over School Closings and Charter Takeovers.

2011-01-27T10:52:00.002-05:00

When and Where: Today, Thursday, January 27th 4:30 P.M.-6:30 P.M. at Brooklyn Bridge Park, on Centre Street, to the east of the Tweed Courthouse building.

What: On Thursday, January 27th, parents, students, and teachers across the city will join together at a city-wide rally to protest Mayor Bloomberg’s destructive education policies. The event will feature an abridged performance of "Declassified: The Struggle for Existence [We Used to Eat Lunch Together]", a reinterpretation of Antigone and a candid and scathing critique of school reforms written by students from Jamaica High School and Queens Collegiate. Parents, students, and educators from schools facing closing and charter takeovers, as well as those who sponsored the event will speak.

Snow Closings, Yes! School Closings, No!

Who: Sponsored by: The Ad Hoc Committee to Stop School Closings and Charter Takeovers, Grassroots Education Movement NYC (GEM), New York Collective of Radical Educators (NYCoRE),Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública (CPE-CEP), The Manhattan Local of the Green Party of NY State, Class Size Matters, United Federation of Teachers (UFT)
Endorsing Organizations: Teachers for a Just Contract (TJC), Concerned Advocates for Public Education (CAPE), Independent Community of Educators (ICE), Center For Immigrant Families (CIF), The Puerto Rico Solidarity Network - PRSN NY, People Power Movement, Renaissance School of the Arts-M377(UFT Chapter), City-Wide Coalition for Education Excellence Now, Black Women Against Urban Youth Violence, Teachers Unite (TU), South Bronx Community Council, NY with UPR (NY with University of Puerto Rico), Dee Knight, The Independent Workers Movement/Movimiento Independiente de Trabajadores,, District Leader Chris Owens (52nd Assembly District, Brooklyn), Retiree Advocate Caucus-UFT, CUNY Mobilization Network, The Green Party of NY State, Independent Commission on Public Education (ICOPE), Radical Women, Answer Coalition, Community Education Council 1 (CEC1), Black New Yorkers for Educational Excellence (BNYEE), New Action/UFT, National Black Education Agenda (NBEA), State Assemblywoman Annette Robinson 56th AD, Youth on the Move (a Program of Mothers on the Move), PACE Network. Roots Revisited, S.E.E.D.S., Inc., The Healing Drum Collective, Batay Ouvriye (Workers' Struggle) Solidarity Network, Assemblywoman Inez Barron, Councilman Charles Barron and Operation P.O.W.E.R., Time Out from Testing, The M.A.NY

Additional Contacts:
Stephane Barile, NYCORE and assisting students who are performing play: 650-218-3352
Brian Pickett, teacher at Queensborough Community College who worked with students performers: bpickett@brooklyn.cuny.edu, 718-614-4891
Crystal King, parent and PA President of PS 114: 347-789-5468
James Eterno, teacher, Jamaica High School: 917-693-5013
Stefanie Siegel, teacher, Paul Robeson High School: 347-721-2152
Muba YaroFulani, parent, CPE: 347-785-3418/347-442-5134
Brenda Walker, parent, CPE: 347-583- 5925
Leonie Haimson, parent and Executive Director, Class Size Matters: 917-435-9329
Edwin Mayorga, doctoral student in urban education at CUNY and NYCORE member: 917.400.6255
Christine Annechino, parent, CEC3: 917 593 4797

Closing OUR Public Schools to Replace Them With Private Education Corporations... The Plan is More Clear Than Ever Before!

2011-01-13T21:31:00.000-05:00

If you question the Fight Back over the Drive to Privatize, simply examine what has happened to, and what is being planned for PS 114. This is a school that has faced unconscionable neglect by the DOE and has been set up for failure. Why, well apparently to essentially replace it with a charter school. Replacing an elementary school with a charter school is illegal. What the DOE is doing here clearly is a thinly veiled attack not only on PS 114, not only on our public schools, but on the regulatory and legal system that provides oversight and the ability for communities and the citizens of those communities to have any say in what happens in their community. The community education council is the only body that has zoning authority over elementary schools... the DOE is clearly trying to castrate that authority. As Patrick Sullivan said a few months ago, it is like watching a show called The Death of Democracy.

History PS 114 has faced: http://gothamschools.org/2011/01/06/saddled-with-old-debts-a-brooklyn-school-blames-decline-on-cuts/

New plans for PS 114 after it is closed against the wishes of the community: http://gothamschools.org/2011/01/13/in-a-first-new-charter-to-absorb-students-leaving-closing-school/

Public Notice for PS 114 closure including public hearing and public comment information: http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/CDF11959-252C-4EA1-8F27-73F2E65A2091/96573/PEP_Notice_PS114_revised_final.pdf

This response and analysis from Noah Gotbaum, CEC3:

The DOE was enjoined from doing the exact same thing - including claiming charter preference admissions for kids in the closed district school - at PS 241 in Harlem. The DOE was trying to close down 241 in March 2009 to make way for Harlem Success IV. A law suit was filed against the closing by the Public Advocate, the UFT, CEC3, and parents which maintained that in closing down the only district school in the zone, the DOE was unilaterally changing zoning lines and thereby usurping the CEC’s legislated zoning powers.

See the Gotham Schools article below.
http://gothamschools.org/2009/04/02/doe-dropping-school-closure-plan-that-drew-uft-parent-lawsuit/

The suit never went to court as the DOE backed down, but then tried to achieve the same closure ends by harassing and starving PS 241. Immediately after dropping the plan Klein sent a letter to prospective and attending 241 parents urging them to choose another school, and removed 241’s feeder pre-K program and closed their middle school.

241 survives today but continues under siege from Harlem Success IV and the DOE. Earlier this year HSA IV expanded by 175 kids although only authorized in their charter to expand by 125. To make room for these additional HSA classes, the DOE took the three ground floor 241 classrooms next to the principal’s office, gave them to Muscovite’s kids, and moved the 241 kids into three basement rooms next to the school boiler with improper ventilation and egress, including into a converted food service room.

When questioned about the space allocation by Assemblymember Danny O’Donnell, Deputy Mayor Walcott claimed that the Building Council (ie. Principals) all agreed as per the law. However CEC3 has a letter protesting the move by a member of that Council.

Time to Fight Back!! Wear Black and Take OUR Schools Back: January 21st is Fight Back Friday.
Wear black, join the press conference on the steps of Tweed at 4:30 and join the City-Wide Rally at City Hall on the Brooklyn Bridge side (Centre Street) on January 27th from 4:30-6:30!

2011-01-13T19:39:00.000-05:00

Fight Back Friday: Wear Black and Take OUR Schools Back...

Stand UP for Public Education!

Januray 21st!

Stop the Attacks on Public Education:

• Stop Closing Schools, Fix Them.

• Stop Charter School Co-Locations.

• Stop School-Based Budget Cuts.

• Stop Increases in Class Sizes.

• Stop the Overemphasis on Standardized Assessment: More Teaching, Less Testing.

• Stop Teacher Data Reports Based on Narrow Tests and Faulty Data.

• Stop Ignoring the Voices of Parents, Educators, and Students: More Parent, Educator and Student Empowerment, Not Less.

• Stop the dictatorial governance of our school system: Mayoral Control is Out of Control!

• No Layoffs of Teachers or School Personnel: Reduce the Bureaucracy and Fire the Middle Managers Instead!

Email your school, group, or community's participation or endorsement @ capeducation@gmail.com!

Meet us on the steps of Tweed @ 4:30 for a Press Conference!

Class Size Matters!

2011-01-10T20:47:00.002-05:00

Today the Manhattan Borough president’s office released the results of a survey to which over 1000 education stakeholders responded, including parents, teachers and principals. As a group they confirmed that class size and school overcrowding remained their greatest concern.

Reducing class size is the top priority of parents, year after year, on the DOE’s own parent surveys. And yet class sizes have risen sharply the last three years, and now in the early grades are larger than they have been at any time in more than a decade.

Cathie Black said she intends to take the concerns of parents seriously. She also sent her own children to schools where class sizes average 12 students per class.

Research is clear that class size is a major determinant in a child’s success in school and in later life. This is especially true for poor and minority children, who benefit twice as much from small classes.

If Cathie Black cares about improving opportunities for NYC children, and narrowing the achievement gap, she will make absolutely certain that class sizes do not further increase under her watch.

Leonie Haimson

Executive Director

Class Size Matters

The Busine$$ of Education

2011-01-07T18:25:00.000-05:00

For the past eight and a half years Joel Klein served as chancellor of New York City schools, and in this time the New York City Board of Education was transformed, or better put, dismantled. It was re-branded The Department of Education, and reorganized four times. Each re-organization fueled a business-like metamorphosis, with a larger administrative staff complete with titles like “Executive Director,” and divisions like that of “Talent, Labor and Innovation” with a much diminished emphasis on actual pedagogy. As he proudly carried out Mayor Bloomberg’s twisted education reform agenda, the Department of Education’s support for community public schools faded as Mr. Klein championed charter schools and test scores as the hallmarks of his reign. Millions of dollars were spent on a computerized system called ARIS that allows teachers to view the test scores of their students in a myriad of ways. Another pet project Klein rolled out was the “School of One” which is described as “leveraging technology to play a more essential role in planning instruction” but more closely resembles a glorified video professor. As he begins his new job heading Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp to, as Mr. Klein stated in a recent press conference, "put them in the burgeoning and dynamic education marketplace," one must wonder if he was merely using his position as School Chancellor as market research for his new job, where he reportedly stands to make 4.5 million dollars this year. Especially since Mr. Murdoch (who considers education a "$500 billion dollar sector”) has since acquired the businesses that developed ARIS and the School of One. Halliburton anyone?
We are living in a plutocracy where the privileged few are making decisions for the rest of us. The business of education is currently a popular endeavor for hedge fund profiteers and other out of touch affluent members of corporate society. They want to profit off of our children and our schools under the guise of so-called school reform. We must stand up together and proclaim that our children and our schools are not for sale. We must call for an end to Mayoral Control, a governance concept that has clearly gone out of control, and we must fight for democracy, transparency, and social justice in our school system.

Join parents, students, teachers and

community members at a rally to stop school closings!

January 27 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.

City Hall Plaza

This is criminal!

2011-01-06T21:37:00.000-05:00

Left with old debts, a Brooklyn school blames decline on cuts

by Anna Phillips

When a Brooklyn elementary school principal sunk her school nearly $180,000 in debt and was eventually removed from her post, teachers expected a fresh start.
Instead, they experienced the city’s typical solution for bankrupt schools: a payment plan.
P.S. 114 in Canarsie, Brooklyn was given four years to repay the city. Now that the city plans to begin closing the school next year, the teachers union, parents, and teachers are blaming the school’s decline on the debt left by a principal they asked the city to fire. City officials are calling this claim is unfair, since other schools manage to pay the city back while keeping their test scores up.
City schools can easily overspend if they don’t factor budget cuts and enrollment decreases into their spending plans. When this happens, the city doesn’t eat the loss and give the school a clean slate the next year. Instead, schools are put on payment plans in which they’re given several years to pay the city back. A spokeswoman for the Department of Education said some schools emerge from this process unscathed, while others struggle with painful cuts.
P.S. 114 falls in the second category. In the last year, its students’ test scores have dropped. About 35 percent of its students tested proficient on the reading test, compared to 53 percent citywide. And 34 percent passed the math test, whereas citywide, that number was 61 percent. The low scores earned the school a D on its annual progress report and a spot on the city’s closure list.
According to DOE officials, former principal Maria Pena-Herrera — who was removed in 2009 — racked up debts by refusing to make any spending cuts. When the city cut the school’s budget by $78,000 in 2008, Pena-Herrera kept spending money and hiring extra assistant principals. When the school’s enrollment dropped by 46 students and the budget shrank further, she still didn’t make cuts.
The city gave P.S. 114 four years to return the funding at about $45,000 per year — a milder per-year cut than the school would have had to deal with if Pena-Herrera had lessened spending in 2008.
Two years and two principals later, P.S. 114 has shed teachers and tutoring programs in order to pay the city back. The school asked for and received a reprieve last year, meaning that this year it has to pay back about $70,000. Now that the city plans to close the school, some teachers and parents are blaming students’ low test scores on the cuts.
“We have no funding for academic intervention services, none for professional development, for after school programs, and by the end of last year we couldn’t even pay for substitutes teachers,” said Maria Shalbinski, the school’s chapter leader.
Shalbinski said that the school’s current principal Charmaine Luke excessed two guidance counselors and six teachers — one from each grade level — and increased class sizes in order to keep spending down. Luke refused a request for comment.
Earlier this week, while Chancellor Cathie Black was touring schools in each of the five boroughs, United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew went to P.S. 114. He said the school shouldn’t have to pay Pena-Herrera’s debt when, for years, teachers and parents petitioned the city for her removal.
“It’s one of the clearest examples I’ve ever seen of the DOE’s incompetence in managing a school building,” he said. “Instead of the DOE being accountable, they’re now blaming the school.”
If the city wins approval for P.S. 114’s closure, the school will not enroll students in kindergarten, first, or second grade next year. The city plans to open a district school and a charter school in the building.

Join parents, students, teachers and community members at a rally to stop school closings and co-locations!.

2011-01-04T06:12:00.000-05:00

Join a rally to....
Stop the school closings!
Stop charter invasions
Defend public education
Say no to privatization

Mayor Bloomberg's Department of Education plans to close 26 more schools this year. Despite the DOE's claim that these school closings are aimed at reforming schools, they have instead opened the door to privately-run charter schools and have limited school options for those affected. According to the accounts by parents, students and teachers, DOE policies have had the effect of sabotaging the schools that are slated to be closed, not "fixing" them.

Bloomberg has played a shell game with our most vulnerable children, shuffling them around from closing school to closing school. This process has disproportionately affected students of color, only serving to further perpetuate a separate and unequal school system in New York City.

In addition to closing schools, the DOE plans to grant more public school space to charter schools through co-locations, undermining public school resources and pitting school communities against each other.

We demand quality resources and support for our public schools, not closings and privatization!

January 27 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
City Hall Plaza
Trains: 4, 5, 6, 2, 3, R, A and C
Sponsored by the Ad Hoc Committee to Stop School Closings and Charter Invasions

Endorsing Organizations: Grassroots Education Movement (GEM)
   New York Collective of Radical Educators (NYCoRE)
   Green Party of New York
   Class Size Matters
   Concerned Advocates for Public Education (CAPE)
   Independent Community of Educators (ICE)

Help plan the protest! Join the meeting on Wednesday, January 5 at 5 p.m. in room 5414 of the CUNY Graduate Center, located at 34th Street and 5th Avenue

Contact gemnyc@gmail.com for more information.

Red Thursday!

2010-12-02T22:30:00.002-05:00

Parents and Educators See Red!

2010-11-29T21:47:00.001-05:00

Parents and Educators To Challenge Steiner’s Approval
of Cathleen Black as NYC Schools Chancellor

Tuesday:

Who: Deny Waiver Coalition
What: Parents speak out against and announce challenge to Steiner's waiver decision
Where: Steps of Tweed Courthouse, 52 Chambers St.
When: Tuesday, November 30, 2010 at 4 PM

Thursday:

Parents demand a rigorous and transparent search within and outside of New York City for the best possible public education leader for the job. We seek an experienced and enlightened educator who sees our kids as more than test-taking widgets, our public schools as important community centers in need of investment rather than assets to be opened and closed a till, and our parents and teachers as vital partners in our children's education rather than as competitors to the corporate leaders who run our public schools!

WHEN: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2

TIME: 4:00PM

WHERE: TWEED, DOE HEADQUARTERS
Trains – 4,5,6,N,R,J to City Hall
2,3 to Park Place
A,C,E to Chambers Street

MAYOR BLOOMBERG SAYS HE WANTS CATHIE BLACK BECAUSE SHE KNOWS HOW TO CUT BUDGETS AND IS A “CLOSER”.
A CLOSER TO:
1. CLOSE YOUR SCHOOL, TERMINATE TEACHERS & SUPPORT STAFF
2. CLOSE YOUR ENRICHMENT AND EXTRA-CURRICULAR PROGRAMS

PARENTS, STUDENTS & TEACHERS WEAR RED ON THURSDAY IN PROTEST AND JOIN US AT OUR RALLY TO DEMAND AN EDUCATOR WHO:
1. HAS EDUCATION EXPERIENCE
2. BELIEVES IN PUBLIC EDUCATION

FOR MORE INFO:
GO TO WWW.DENYWAIVER.COM
Email: info@denywaiver.com
Call: Chris Owens, 718-514-4874
Noah Gotbaum, 917-658-3213
Mona Davids, 917-340-8987

Come tomorrow and speak out against the waiver deal made over this holiday weekend with the clear intent of silencing parent and community voices!

2010-11-28T00:01:00.000-05:00

P R E S S A D V I S O R Y

Who:          Deny Waiver Coalition
What:         Parents speak out against the deal to grant a waiver for Cathleen Black
Where:       Steps of Tweed Courthouse, 52 Chambers Street, NY, NY
When:        November 28, 2010 (Sunday) at 2:00 PM

Contacts:

Chris Owens: 718-514-4874 646-450-3552
Mona Davids: 917-340-8987 info@denywaiver.com

Students and Parents are Losing Resources!

2010-11-26T16:35:00.000-05:00

Budget cuts continue to destroy valuable services to our students! We are sharing the following press release from United New York Early Intervention Providers.

Nearly 8 months ago, NYS Early Intervention through the office of DOH Commissioner Richard Daines, embarked on a mission to dismantle NYS Early Intervention in the name of fiscal responsibility. Small agencies were closed, home-based independent contractors, the front-line of NYS Early Intervention, were met with a 10-20% rate decrease and, now the children of early intervention, the children with developmental disabilities are no longer receiving the services that they are eligible for through IDEA Part C.

On April 15th of this year, fifteen days after the directive was issued to reduce rates, the United New York Early Intervention Providers (UNYEIP) and Parents As Partners (UNYEIPAP) coalitions whose members include Speech, Physical, and Occupational Therapists, ABA Teachers, Special Educators, Nutritionists, Social Workers, Psychologists, Vision Therapists, parents and caregivers, and other supportive professionals (attorneys, physicians, compensation analysts, academicians, accountants) was founded. Now 700 strong, we are working with attorneys, unions, legislators, professional organizations to enable change and initiate the restoration of services for our children and their families, to return equity, and to initiate the focus on true evidence-based practice.

In the name of fiscal blindness and led by committees and decision-makers with little to no active, current hands-on experience, the DOH has established guidelines that have forced small business entrepreneurships to close their doors across the state, that have increased standards for eligibility and thus left many children and families with no other options. New cases for interventionists are few and far between and those that are realized are accompanied by non-therapeutic mandates. Essentially, in their efforts to achieve fiscal austerity, the NYS DOH has limited and dissolved the most precious of jobs – home-based early intervention. Is this in keeping with President Obama's Federal Stimulus Plan and ARRA whose primary goal is to preserve and create jobs? NO!

It was Governor Mario Cuomo, who on September 17, 1992, signed the Early Intervention Bill (Chapter 428 of the Laws of 1992), landmark legislation. Can we count on his son to renew this commitment to infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities or delays? For more information, please call Leslie Grubler at 347 853 4241 or email at UnitedNYEIProviders@yahoo.com.
_____________________________________

Kindly refer to the webpage at http://UnitedNYEIProviders.weebly.com for additional information and membership information. If you are either a parent of a child who has received early intervention or is currently receiving early intervention or a provider of services in any discipline, join us.

I have also provided a link to our Petition for your easy access: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/To-Preserve-and-Protect-NYS-Early-Intervention/

Sincerely,

Leslie Grubler MA, CCC-SLP, TSHH
Founding Director, UNYEIP/UNYEIPAP

It's still called the Department of EDUCATION isn't it?

2010-11-21T19:09:00.000-05:00

Dear Commissioner Steiner:

CAPE, Concerned Advocates for Public Education is an advocacy organization representative of the parents and educators at PS 15 in Red Hook, Brooklyn, an elementary school that is outperforming 95% of all elementary schools in New York City. Ours in one of the first groups of its kind that bridges the divide between parents and educators for the purposes of accessing their united voice to inform and influence education policy, of which they are the true stakeholders, but are all too often ignored.

CAPE strongly opposes the appointment of Cathleen Black as the Chancellor of New York City’s public education system. Not only was this nomination made hastily and in secret by a Mayor who has ignored our voices over the last eight years; she is unqualified for the job. Mayoral Control has been a destructive force here in New York City. It has been a gateway for a privileged few to gain access to our children’s schools often molding them in an image that they would not accept for their own children. It is time to bring democracy back to the governance of our schools here in New York City. Mayoral Control was not meant to be a dictatorship, there was and is an expectation that any elected official would be responsive to the communities they serve.

We have no illusions that the appointment of someone with zero experience or credentials in education is anything but another step in an agenda to undermine public education. We demand a qualified chancellor with a record of service to public education that can be publically judged. The law requires it. And our children deserve it.

Respectfully yours,
Concerned Advocates for Public Education
Parents and Educators Working Together to Protect and Preserve Public Education

Civil Rights Leaders Call For Fairness in NYC Chancellor Appointment

2010-11-14T19:17:00.000-05:00

Watch below for coverage of today's press conference demanding a transparent process in the appointment of our children's Chancellor...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXLLWiAfJ8c

Stop the Drive to Privatize! More than 8 Years of Bloomberg Arrogance and Failure Must End. Take a Stand!

2010-11-13T17:16:00.000-05:00

The appointment of Cathie Black as chancellor, someone with no qualifications for the job, is a critical important turning point in the history of the Bloomberg administration. Why?

It has provoked a firestorm of controversy, with the rest of the city waking up to the way in which the mayor's uses his money, power and influence to disregard the normal rules of civil conduct. This editorial in El Diario is good example of the widespread disgust.This citywide moment of clarity has occurred previously only two times before: when Bloomberg fired three members of the PEP who disagreed with him right before a critical vote, and when he announced his intention to overturn term limits.

Parents and education advocates have long known and their kids have long suffered from the way in which the mayor behaves as though the public schools are his personal fiefdom to do with whatever he wants, regardless of what research shows and how parents, educators, and the advocacy community feel. Finally, New Yorkers as a whole are realizing the damage represented by his autocratic behavior. It is a critical moment of time that we must act on immediately, by joining together to reject this appointment and the abuse of power it represents.

How?
1. First sign onto the letter below, written by civil rights attorney Norman Siegel and Michael Meyers, director of the NY Civil Rights Coalition, and join us in a press conference tomorrow, Sunday Nov.14 in front of Tweed. The letter clearly shows how the mayor's selection of Black, done in secrecy and without any public process, is inconsistent with the principles of equal employment which have governed candidate searches in the public and private sector for more than three decades -- to ensure that qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds were fully considered before making a final choice.

If you'd like to sign onto this letter, just send your name and any affiliation you like to classsizematters@gmail.com before 10 AM tomorrow morning. And please join us tomorrow, Sunday at Tweed at 1 PM; bring your kids if you can!

2. Then sign the NYC Kids PAC petition at http://tinyurl.com/2fmstgt

Even if you've signed onto other petitions already, please sign this one as it doesn't just sit there, it automatically sends messages to all the key education policymakers in Albany, including Commissioner Steiner, who will make the final decision as to whether to approve Ms. Black's waiver. As of this morning, it has nearly 1200 signatures, and had generated over 10,000 emails to Albany in 2 1/2 days.

3. Attend the PEP meeting Tuesday night at Brooklyn Tech and make your voice heard! Come at 5:30 PM to sign up to speak; and join the movement in opposition to the mayor's abuse of power. For directions, go to http://tinyurl.com/2998gq7

And please forward this message to others who care about NYC children and the future of our schools.

The letter from Norman Siegel and Michael Meyers follows.
thanks,
Leonie Haimson
Class Size Matters
124 Waverly Pl.
New York, NY 10011
212-674-7320
mailto:classsizematters@gmail.com%20www.classsizematters.org
OPEN LETTER TO NEW YORK STATE EDUCATION COMMISSIONER DAVID STEINER IN OPPOSITION TO A WAIVER FOR CATHLEEN P. BLACK
November 12, 2010

Hon. David Steiner

Commissioner of Education

New York State Education Department

89 Washington Avenue

Albany, New York 12234

Dear Commissioner Steiner:

We the undersigned concerned citizens, parents of public school students, and current and former public school students and teachers of New York City are outraged by the recent action of Mayor Michael Bloomberg in announcing his choice for the next Chancellor of the New York City Public Schools, one Cathleen P. Black, without even having conducted a public search for the best qualified candidates. It is shocking to us that his choice, Ms. Black, appears to lack not only teaching experience but is lacking any of the educational credentials and qualifications for the appointment to the major post of a school superintendent in New York State.
Because the leader of the New York City Schools is critical to the raising of academic achievement levels of our children, and because we believe in equal opportunity as the best process for recruiting and evaluating competitive candidates for a job that deserves excellence—consistent with your own efforts to raise standards for teachers, staff and students—we respectfully and strongly urge you to hold the Mayor’s appointee to the standards and qualifications set out in the statute for school superintendents. Accordingly, we urge that you deny the City’s anticipated request on behalf of Ms. Cathleen Black for a waiver from these qualifications.
We stress the impropriety of there being no public search whatsoever for this top educator’s position. On the very day and at the very hour that incumbent Chancellor Joel Klein’s resignation was announced, Mayor Bloomberg announced Mr. Klein’s successor. Hence, there was no opening that was advertised; no recruitment period for applications; and no equal opportunity process for qualified candidates of any race and both genders to apply and to be considered for this top educational post.
The fact that Mayor Bloomberg did not undertake a public search in accordance with equal employment opportunity principles in itself raises significant public policy issues, as well as the specter of cronyism. How can it be that the position of leader of one of the nation’s largest school systems can be filled in such a cavalier manner—without any kind of notice or recruitment period for the consideration of capable and talented individuals—persons who are educators, who have the statutory qualifications and certification, and the requisite experience and skills to understand the best practices of pedagogy? The school superintendent for the New York City School District should have knowledge of curriculum and instruction and assessment, as well as extensive teaching experience.
At a time our school children deserve only the best qualified people at the top of the school system and throughout the ranks of the teaching, supervisory and administrative staff of our public schools, at a time minority group children in particular are not performing at grade levels much less with proficiency in core subjects, and at a time this city is mired in disputes as to the accuracy of testing data and about appropriate educational strategies, it is especially important that we have someone at the helm who can deal with these issues with expertise and authority.
Given that the city school system is rank with systemic segregation by race and ethnicity—and Mayoral control has been sharply criticized for inattentiveness to due process, and for refusing to provide for meaningful parental involvement in decisions affecting the welfare of their children, it is even more necessary for the citizens and parents of New York City to be confident that the next Schools Chancellor is the most capable and qualified person available for the job, and that the process was open to all segments of the population and not just a crony of the Mayor.
In these circumstances, and because we are shocked and appalled that no public search for qualified candidates was even conducted, we urge you to reject the City of New York’s request for a waiver for Ms. Black, thereby forcing the City to conduct a real search and to consider diverse candidates for this top educational post. That is how you got your job—and it is how the next Schools Chancellor—whoever he or she may be—should and must earn this City’s top educator’s post.
A nationwide search for capable candidates will undoubtedly produce qualified persons worthy of meeting the challenges of reforming the New York City public school system and capable of bringing into existence a system of high expectations and achievement for students, teachers, and staff. Excellence has to be the standard for all “stakeholders” in our school system—students, teachers, their supervisors, administrators, and school superintendents alike.
We urge you to do the right thing; reject the waiver request and give clear instructions and guidance to the City of New York that you will not consider candidates for this post that have not been recruited and vetted through a genuine search process in which all qualified applicants may be considered and evaluated on their merits.
SIGNED:
Norman Siegel, civil rights attorney

Michael Meyers, Director , NY Civil Rights Coalition

Leonie Haimson, Executive Director, Class Size Matters and NYC public school parent

(add your name here)

Doubt It!

2010-11-12T19:31:00.000-05:00

In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, a member of the organization Save Our Schools is quoted in reference to Cathleen Black, the mayor's choice to replace Joel Klein as school chancellor this January. It seems her discussion with the reporter was not accurately reported and much of the context left out. CAPE supports the work of Save Our Schools (SOS), most importantly the fight against high-stakes testing. However, we do not agree to give Ms. Black "the benefit of the doubt." The members of CAPE reject Cathleen Black as a valid or even reasonable choice for our new chancellor and in no way see her as an ally. We have no illusions that the appointment of someone with zero experience or credentials in education is anything but another step in an agenda to undermine public education. We demand a qualified chancellor with a record of service to public education that can be publically judged. The law requires it. And our children deserve it.

Tired of the education deform onslaught against parents, students and teachers? Get Involved!

2010-11-11T22:22:00.000-05:00

There are many opportunities to work for REAL education reform. Here are two:

1. Sign this petition to deny Cathleen Black a waiver to become our new Chancellor. It is a reasonable request that the leader of our schools has a deep knowledge of teaching and a respect for students, parents, educators and school communities!

2. Protest Michael Bloomberg and Joel Klein`s puppet school board, the Panel for Educational Policy.

This administration has overseen the school-closing assault and promoted other attacks on our public school system, including:

Increasing the number of charter schools colocated with our public schools, causing increased overcrowding.
Cutting school budgets while NOT providing the support schools need to help students.
Promoting the use of standardized testing as the only method of evaluating students progress and teachers effectiveness.
Threatening to publish teachers test scores, despite scandals exposing the tests as inaccurate and flawed.
Increasing the number of quality teachers in the excessed ATR pool who are denied seniority rights.

This will be the first of an ongoing series of actions to protest the disastrous educational policies that are trying to dismantle public education
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Meet at 5:30pm
Brooklyn Technical High School29 Fort Greene [Place] Brooklyn, NY 11217
[G train to Fulton (at So. Portland Av.); C to Lafayette Av. (at So. Portland Av.); Q, R or weekday B to Dekalb Av. (at Flatbush Av. Extension); 2, 3, 4, 5 to Nevins St. (nr. Fulton St.); D, N to Pacific St./Atlantic-Pacific (on 4th Av.); LIRR to Atlantic Ctr./Flatbush Av.; map: http://bit.ly/cInRhJ -t.]

The Name Changes, but the Song Remains the Same...

2010-11-10T06:39:00.001-05:00

Join the Real Reformers on 11/16

Don a Real Reformer SuperCape and participate in our rap song extravaganza in front of the next PEP meeting

No talent necessary

Capes and lyrics will be provided

We’ll meet up at 4:15 at the corner of DeKalb Ave. and South Elliot Pl. by Fort Greene Park for a mini rehearsal and then go over to Brooklyn Tech HS at 5:15 for the performance.

Join with us and let your voice be heard

Let’s tell the Puppet PEP that we are not going to let them deform, dismantle and destroy our schools and our students’ education!

RSVP gbran289@aol.com

See our previous performance at: http://youtu.be/PMqPNCvAJZo

Tuesday, November 16, 2010 Meet at 4:30pm

Brooklyn Technical High School is at 29 Fort Greene – Brooklyn, NY 11217

B, M, Q, R to Dekalb Avenue, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Nevins Street, G to Fulton Street.

A Message From Parents and Community Activists: Don't Believe the Hype!

2010-11-08T18:29:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday, parents and community activists are going to protest the NYC Education “retrospective” which will present papers on the Bloomberg/Klein “Children First” education policies.

We have reasons to believe that this event will whitewash the Bloomberg/Klein record, and that little or no mention will be made about rising class sizes, overcrowding, state test score inflation, high discharge and “push out” rates, the spread of substandard credit recovery programs, and/or the fact that parents and communities have been completely excluded from having any say as to how our children’s schools are run.

Please join us!

Where: Wednesday, November 10 from 8AM- 10 AM

Where: New York Marriott Downtown, 85 West Street at Albany St., map here: (take the 1,4,5,N,R to Rector St.)

For more on this conference, see here: http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2010/11/nov-10-nyc-education-reform.html

All are invited; please also let us know if you’d like your organization to be listed on the flyer as a co-sponsor.

Co-sponsored by: Class Size Matters, CAPE, GEM, NY Charter Parents Association, and the Brooklyn Young Mothers' Collective.

And please spread the word!

Thanks,

Leonie Haimson, Lisa Donlan, John Battis, Mona Davids, and Hannah Wohl

)

Bring Sanity To Albany

2010-10-27T21:36:00.001-04:00

For those voting in New York State Senate District 11 in Northeast Queens, please consider Tony Avella!
He is a supporter of public schools and a real ally for those fighting to protect and preserve public education. He voted against term limits and against mayoral control of schools. About the position of School Chancellor he has said "I would appoint an educator — someone with a background relevant to the position. Before making a decision I’d sit down and talk with educators, administrators, and parents to find out what they’re looking for in a chancellor. Then I’d decide who the best fit for our schools would be." He believes in smaller class sizes and finds the overemphasis on standardized tests in our schools to be hurting, not helping our children. Albany needs a REAL REFORMER like Tony Avella. If you are interested in participating in Tony Avella's Get Out The Vote campaign please contact Zoe Waltross at 917 439-8569 or zwaltrous@gmail.com.

Save Our Schools

2010-09-29T19:53:00.000-04:00

CAPE has joined several other organizations to promote a campaign launched by CEJ called Save Our Schools! It's an emergency educational action plan. Here is an excerpt from the press release:

The release of the 2010 New York State reading and math test scores was a sobering moment for our city. The depth and breadth of the crisis is staggering. As a result of NYS recalibrating the test scores to align with college-ready standards, citywide reading scores declined by 27 points, math scores went down 28 points, and the racial and income-based achievement gaps have grown. Only 13% of students with disabilities and 14% of English Language Learners scored proficient in English Language Arts (ELA). Tens of thousands of additional students are NOT on the road to college and career success. Compared to 2009:

» 109,000 more students are NOT meeting standards in ELA
» 50,000 more students are significantly BELOW standards in ELA (scoring in Level 1)
» 364 more school have 2/3 or more of their students NOT meeting standards in ELA

The NYC Department of Education has a responsibility to acknowledge this immense challenge and implement emergency policy changes to support struggling students and schools.

We call upon the NYC Department of Education to:

» Provide intensive interventions for all students who scored in Levels 1 and 2, including those now in high school.
» Suspend for one year all high-stakes policy decisions that are based on standardized test scores and establish a revised accountability system based on reliable multiple measures.
» Provide comprehensive support and guidance to the city’s most struggling schools.

Please click here to sign the petition.

The Real Reformers visit the premier of "Waiting for Superman"

2010-09-26T14:59:00.000-04:00

Oprah's New "Favorite Thing"

2010-09-23T06:17:00.001-04:00

For as many years as I watched your show I never thought I would be starting my own letter with….

Dear Oprah,

I am a public school teacher in Brooklyn, New York. On Tuesday I watched as you gushed over Washington D.C. School Chancellor Michelle Rhee, and quizzed billionaire bill Gates and movie director David Guggenheim about the state of our nation’s schools. It was a show about education, missing actual educators. You asked viewers to attend the new movie “Waiting for Superman” to help them achieve their “ah-ha” moments about our nation’s “education crisis” –My “ah-ha” moment happened a few minutes into your show when I realized instead of unwinding to an interesting Oprah episode, I would suffer one hour of you and your panel blaming public school teachers for all of the problems with our schools, while heralding charter schools as the answer. Public education is the pillar of our democracy, and watching you and your guests laugh about firing principals, make an ugly joke of teachers’ unions and repeatedly oversimplify issues by blaming teachers, was insulting and disrespectful. You did announce to all the “good teachers” that you were not talking about them—it made light of a subject I take very seriously. The current education reform movement is damaging to public schools, the profession of education, and to students and parents. I work hard each day to engage my students in their own learning and to make my principal proud to have me in her school. I base my value on parental feedback and that of my colleagues and supervisors. I cannot guess if your “Warrior Woman” would rate me as effective, but I wonder…
Many things said on your program within that hour were untrue and/or misleading. Over and over each panel member discussed how difficult it is to fire “bad teachers”--what was strange to me is that NOT ONE OF THEM is a principal of a school. Only a principal would know exactly how to do just that. Frankly, it is the principal, whose responsibility it is as a leader, who must make sure his or her staff is exemplary and capable. Oddly, the only time the word principal was mentioned on Tuesday’s show was when you asked Michelle to tell an anecdote about firing the principal at her own daughter’s school. The issue of teacher tenure was discussed glibly, and since different states grant tenure in different ways, it is unwise and flatly false to inform viewers otherwise. The word “effective” was peppered throughout conversation. “All you have to do is be effective” said Michelle Rhee when she proposed to double teacher salaries (and take away tenure) --not once did she or another guest define the word effective, or describe how teacher effectiveness is or should be measured. The current trend (funded by Race to the Top monies) is to judge teachers’ performance using student test scores. Interestingly, a student in the audience admitted that “she did not test well” and claimed her local public school would judge and track her accordingly. First of all, I have trouble with this claim, and secondly, she makes my point-- test scores (especially the historically culturally-biased standardized state tests) are not always the measure of a person.
One statement rang true for me. It was when charter schools were defined as schools that are “allowed to function outside of the rules.” Let me give you examples of how charter schools in New York City doing just that:

Unlike Public Schools, Charter schools in New York City are NOT open to every student. Most charter schools do not offer the programs that students with special needs or English language learners are entitled to receive and/or if accepted, those students are swiftly “counseled out” of the school. 9 Incidentally, these are the same students who typically score low on state tests, which is how our schools here are judged.) In some cases, charter school operators have direct contact with our chancellor, Joel Klein, and use their status and pull to bypass education laws and policies to benefit their schools ONLY. In New York City, charter schools are given preferential treatment by the Department of Education, and are granted free space WITHIN community public schools to operate, compromising the academic, enrichment and intervention programming of the existing public school. In New York this is called “co-location” (I call it separate but unequal) and the Department of Education depends on it to promote and expand charter schools at the expense of successful public schools like mine. The rooms and spaces taken by the charter school are quickly renovated and given preferential treatment, while the area belonging to the public school is not. I could go on for a while on this topic, but let’s get back to real education reform.
Real education reform means quality neighborhood schools for ALL children. Real education reform looks like this: small class sizes, expanded pre-K programs, parent empowerment and leadership, culturally relevant curriculum, equitable funding for ALL schools, more teaching and less testing, and finally this: parents deserve excellent public schools in their communities. It is time for integrity, equity and the preservation of public education for all students to be embodied in the current policy and reform movement in education.

In Response to Testgate 2010:

2010-09-11T11:06:00.001-04:00

Coming Soon!

Regulation of the Chancellor/ We Told You So!

2010-08-24T22:27:00.003-04:00

No really, we told them so!

Over the last year parents and teachers have detailed the numerous and egregious errors with the Department of Education’s so-called policy and procedures in regards to co-locations. We carefully outlined the flaws as we advocated for our schools in two appeals filed by P.S. 15 parents with Advocates for Children to the State Education Commissioner. We revealed how the New York City Department of Education violates their own policies and bylaws as they champion free space for charter schools at the expense of public schools throughout the city. Some examples include:
1. Educational Impact Statements that declare “no impact” The DOE has been publishing practically identical and weakly written Educational Impact Statements for every school affected by co-location that declares, in every case, the there is enough room for both schools in the building.
2. Mathematically Challenged Instructional Footprints that disregard special education services and ESL services. The information in the EIS is, of course, based on an also flawed “Instructional Footprint” that declares the amount of space schools and their services deserve.
3. Not properly notifying the public of the changes to their school. The date/time and place for public hearings about co-locations is buried on the DOE’s website, further isolating affected families who are unable to regularly access a computer (as if checking the DOE website is first on anyone’s list.)

Which leads to memo number A-190 a regulation from school’s chancellor, Joel Klein that states: SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN SCHOOL UTILIZATION AND PROCEDURES FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS HOUSING MORE THAN ONE SCHOOL

And guess what changes are being proposed? Yes…

The quotes below come directly from the proposed changes to the regulation. These proposed changes are strikingly similar to every phone call, email, letter, and statement we shared at public hearings. When parents, teachers, advocates, and local policy makers outlined these flaws we were ignored, denied, and in many cases insulted by Department of Education staff. Students at P.S. 15 and schools all over the city suffered from the way co-locations have been occurring throughout this city and we continue to suffer. Many public school communities watched as the charter school in their building was completely renovated, while their school did not even get its yearly coat of paint. Each year, teachers packed their entire classrooms up to move, to make room for the charter school as the “Footprint” allocated more space. It was the parents and community members who helped publicize the public hearings, using their own money for fliers and copies. To top it all off, our appeal was overturned, we were told we are wrong!
Meanwhile, it is clear that the work we have done has indeed brought about changes, well “proposed” changes to the way the DOE does its business. However, we must keep an eye out for shenanigans, as we know how keen this department is at finding loopholes, exceptions, and new ways to exploit laws, policies and procedures, even ones they themselves write!

Here are some of the proposed changes. Does anything look familiar to you?

#1: Changes to the Educational Impact Statements:
“guides for use in creating Educational Impact Statements (EIS) are added; EIS filing requirements are clarified and provide that the EIS must be posted online and filed in hard copy with the PEP, affected CECs, community boards, superintendents, SLTs, and certain other bodies, as applicable, with hard copies available at affected schools.

#2 Changes to the Instructional Footprint:

“It should be noted that the Citywide Instructional Footprint (the “Footprint”) is in the process of being revised. Such revisions include modifications to the definition of a full size classroom to align the Footprint with the Enrollment Capacity Utilization Report (the “Blue Book”). Certain upward adjustments to room allocations will also be made. The revised Footprint will be made publicly available shortly.”

#3 Changes to the way the public school buildings have been treated:

“…any capital improvements or facilities upgrades made to accommodate charter schools in DOE buildings in excess of $5,000 must be matched by improvements or upgrades of an equal amount for all DOE schools in the same building; a process by which charter schools must apply for Chancellor’s permission to perform capital improvements or facilities upgrades to charter school space in DOE buildings is established; and the statutory right to appeal charter school co-locations and Building Usage Plans to the Commissioner of Education is added.”

click here to read the entire document.

Address all questions and/or comments to:

Name: Gentian Falstrom
Office: Division of Portfolio Planning
Address: 52 Chambers Street
Email: RegulationA-190@schools.nyc.gov
Phone: (212) 374-2471

Date, time and place of the PEP meeting at which the Board will vote on the proposed item under consideration:

October 7, 2010
6:00 p.m.
New World High School
921 E. 228th Street
Bronx, NY
--

Discriminatory and Destructive Precedents Set by PS 15 and PS 188/94 State Education Commissioner Appeals

2010-08-16T06:51:00.001-04:00

Over the last week we have heard and seen tremendous outrage over Chancellor Klein’s evoking of emergency powers, disregarding Commissioner Steiner’s ruling in the PS 188/94 appeals case. Local and State politicians have had no fear, and have minced no words, making clear their opposition to Klein’s abuse of power in evoking an emergency clause to allow Girls Prep Charter to stay in the PS 188 building despite the impact on the children with Autism at the school. Klein has recently backed down from this position, now stating he will not use emergency powers, but rather look for an alternate place, for at least a year, for Girls Prep Charter School. In a press statement the DOE continues to claim that there is more than enough room in the PS 188/94 building and maintains not a single child with special needs will be displaced. The DOE’s lack of understanding for and consideration of children with special needs continues to be astounding. For both schools, and for potential co-location sites across the city, what has been lost in the fray over these process and power positions, are the destructive and discriminatory precedents set in Steiner’s decision to dismiss the PS 15 appeals case completely, and his ignoring of the merits in the PS 188/94 case he supported.

Both appeals targeted two distinct areas of complaint. First, that the DOE did not follow proper procedures as dictated by the change in school utilization portion of the Mayoral Control Law, particularly in terms of meeting the standard and intention of the law regarding the Educational Impact Statements, which was further defined by the Mulgrew decision. Secondly, both appeals made substantive complaints, detailing how the DOE made arbitrary decisions when it came to building and space utilization and allocations; largely ignoring the needs and legal mandates of students receiving special education services as well as disregarding the space needs of all students.

The DOE was required to respond to the complaints laid out in the parents’ appeals, and their claims were shocking. In their responses the DOE charged that even though the law requires outreach efforts to maximize public notification and input, they are not required to provide Educational Impact Statements to parents other than through the internet, email and principal notification. Steiner’s agreement with these claims now limits the DOE’s burden to notify the public. Considering many of these co-locations are targeted in isolated, lower socio-economic, under resourced neighborhoods, the majority of parents and community members will not be notified of potential co-locations and the impact on their children, as was the case in the PS 15 community.

Further, regarding Education Impact Statements, the DOE claimed they were not required to specifically outline a space plan for the co-located schools or detail the impact specifically. Steiner agreed with this logic citing the PS 15 EIS stated there may be some impact on enrichment programs and non-mandated services, but that the DOE felt there was more than enough space in the building and that a space plan would be created later with the schools’ building council. To be clear, Stiener used a document of questionable validity to justify his ruling. For this and many other reasons, these justifications are unacceptable. This decision flies in the face of the Mulgrew decision and permits the DOE to provide vague and self-serving assessments and justification of school space and impact. Under this decision, Educational Impact Statements must only state the DOE’s assessment of available space in the building (based on faulty utilization and instructional footprint allocations) and claim that there is enough. They are not accountable for in any way explaining where affected programs will go. For PS 15 this has meant the loss of a science lab, special education office, and several classrooms forcing multiple out-of-classroom providers (mandated and non-mandated) to share space, often at the expense of student privacy and optimal learning conditions. It has meant loss of enrichment and the down-scaling of intervention programs because there are no rooms in the building that are not programmed throughout the day, including the cafeteria, gym, and auditorium. None of these specifics were required to be included, according to the DOE and Steiner, in the EIS, and apparently none of these losses are considered significant enough to define the DOE’s judgment as arbitrary. One wonders if Steiner, Bloomberg, or Klein would have allowed these impacts on their own children.

Among the litany of alarming assertions by the DOE, upheld by Steiner, none is more striking than the claim that designated space is not required for special education related services and that stairwells and hallways are perfectly acceptable spaces for students to receive related services. Steiner did not even address the substantive issues regarding these claims in his decision. His only attempt to address the parents’ challenging the merits of the DOE’s co-location proposal was to say that he, “…could not conclude that the (DOE’s) decision was arbitrary…(because the) DOE denies the assertions and contends…the building can support both schools.” For students at PS 15 this will mean speech in the backs of classrooms or in shared classrooms and physical therapy, occupational therapy, vision and hearing therapy in hallways, stairwells, and corners contrary to the students’ IEP mandates. Is this putting Children First, or Charters First?

In the DOE’s appeal response they state, “Sharing space is central to New York City’s strategy for school improvement.” This “strategy” sets up a competition for scarce space and resources where special education students will apparently be on the losing end. As we have seen in multiple co-location proposals, PS 188/94 included, special education children can simply be moved and shuffled around to benefit charter school access to public school buildings. It begs the question: what was the intention of the state law allowing charters access to public school space for lease? It is doubtful the intention was to take utilized space away from existing public school children in order to provide essentially free space and significant start up cost savings to charter schools.

The claims by the DOE in both appeals cases, and the written decisions by Steiner, leaves parents, and teachers, at odds with the DOE, while they try to advocate for the services their children need and deserve. Destructive and discriminatory precedents have now been set by these appeals: the DOE can engage in a public hearing process where no one is actually heard and meaningful consideration is not given. In the PS 15 case alone, there were over 1,700 written and oral comments given opposing the continued co-location in the building, contrast that with less than 200 in favor of the proposal, yet the proposal was approved and upheld with no regard for the true impact on PS 15 students, particularly the special education population at the school which makes up over 30% of the student body. The precedent has been set that no significant attempt to notify the school community is required, nor is any consideration for the delivery methods that would best serve the community in question. The precedent has been set that Educational Impact Statements need only explain what may be affected in a school due to a co-location with a claim by the DOE that surely, there is enough space no matter what the students, teachers, parents, or the numbers show. The precedent has been set that space need not be allocated for special education services and children can get these services in hallways, stairwells, and in the backs of classrooms regardless of health and safety hazards or what would be the optimal learning conditions for the child as dictated by their IEP. The precedent has been set that space for intervention and enrichment programs, the kinds of programs that every child deserves, do not require allocated space.

Much must be done as a result of these appeals. Policymakers on the local and state level must improve legislation regarding change in school utilization laws and the law that allows charters access to public school buildings. Changes must be made to the DOE’s bluebook utilization formula and instructional footprint to include proper space allocations for our children, particularly children with special needs. Ultimately however, the only truly meaningful policy decision to protect public education and our children will be the termination of mayoral control. Unfortunately, our politicians have not had the courage to stand up to Bloomberg and the wealthy forces behind the education deform movement and take any meaningful action, instead they have lined their coffers with hedge fund and charter school money and allow these discriminatory practices and policies to continue at the expense of our children.

Parents and teachers must unite and fight the forces that seek to dismantle public education, which is happening at the expense of our neediest and most vulnerable children. Make no mistake, what has taken place at PS 15 and at PS 188/94 will now be precedent for far reaching education policy in this city. With the charter school cap lifted, we will see a growing number of co-locations and we will continue to live in an era of governance by lawlessness, where disfunctionality and discrimination are common place, where charters and profiteers come first instead of our children and where mismanagement and neglect of real public schools become the hallmark of this Mayor’s education reform agenda.

Mayoral Control is Governance By Lawlessness… It is Time to Put an End to the Bloomberg-Klein Ed Deform Agenda!

2010-08-11T07:03:00.000-04:00

The PS 188/94 and PS 15 recent appeals to the State Education Commissioner prove once again that Mayoral Control amounts to nothing more than governance by lawsuit, a construct where parents, students, and teachers will find themselves at a great disadvantage, and will almost always lose, when seeking what is best for the public education of our youth.

Commissioner David Steiner’s decisions in both cases, the Department of Education’s responses in both cases, and the outrageous actions of Klein evoking ‘emergency powers’ in the one of Steiner's findings set dangerous and destructive precedents for our schools and students when it comes to school and space utilization and allocation.

As a result of Steiner’s decision and the responses and actions of the DOE:

· Space allocations are not required for related services for special needs students or for ELL students.
· Stairwells and Hallways are perfectly acceptable spaces for students to receive educational services.
· Negative impacts on existing public school students, specifically removing space for enrichment, intervention, and other mandated and non-mandated services to benefit a charter school, is perfectly acceptable.
· Educational Impact statements do not have to be provided to parents in paper form or through the mail. Notification to families and communities need only be made through the internet or through the school’s principal with no additional resources provided by the DOE.
· Educational impact statements do not have to specifically identify the impacts or losses on students in terms of space or programming due to a co-location.
· Educational impact statements do not have to show how space will be allocated; a space plan can be completed after the co-location is approved.
· Providing opportunities for hearings and public input where no one is actually heard or considered meets the standard of the law.
· When a legal decision is made that favors parents, students, and teachers, the DOE will find a way to get around it.

Mayoral Control is absolute power that corrupts absolutely. It is a license to push destructive and discriminatory policies touted by this Mayor and Chancellor, which will be rubberstamped by a PEP whose majority is selected by the Mayor himself and given the directive to "serve at his pleasure". When in the rare case, the Administration is legally challenged on a issue, there is a loophole to declare emergencies in order to override whatever decision displeases the Chancellor. This is not putting Children First, as their self-heralded initiative claims, this is putting ideology first, an ideology rooted in free-market principles that further reinforce the roles of privilege and subordination in our country and pervert our public education system, the pillar of our democracy. Local and State legislators must take action to end this corrupt governance system and put legislation in place and advocate for policies that protect public schools and our neediest and most vulnerable children.

Join Grassroots Education Movement in the Struggle to Protect and Preserve Public Education! Check in this week for further video and analysis regarding the DOE’s outrageous actions and claims regarding co-locations @ ednotesonline.blogspot.com, capeducation@blogspot.com and grassrootseducationmovement@blogspot.com

Want to create a community-based advocacy group in your school? Contact capeducation@gmail.com for an advocacy toolkit and information on GEM’s school-based organizing committee.

Together we can stop the dysfunctional and discriminatory education policies of Bloomberg and Klein!

Children First?

2010-08-06T21:07:00.000-04:00

As many of you know, the State Commissioner recently voted to halt expansion of Girl's Prep Charter School within the P.S. 188M building, as its expansion will negatively impact not only P.S. 188, but will take way classrooms from students of P.S. 94M a district 75 school housed in the same building serving students with autism. On the same docket was a ruling to allow PAVE Academy to continue expanding within P.S. 15K in Red Hook. There are more details to come on that nonsense but this post is about P.S. 188, M.S. 94 and how absolute power (Mayoral Control) corrupts, absolutely!

As stated above, New York State Education Department Commissioner Steiner ruled in favor of halting the expansion of Girl's Prep Charter School within P.S. 188-- a building that already shares space with M.S. 94, a unique school, and the only one in the district that serves students with autism. Chancellor Klein Mr. "Children First" himself has decided to void this decision, as the city's laws provide him this power, and the students of M.S. 94 will be relocated to provide more room for Girl's Prep Charter School. Shocked? Surprised? Of course not, but if you are disgusted like the rest of us, please participate in the press conference scheduled for this Monday. The information is included below:

Elected officials, such as Assembly Speaker Silver, State Senator Squadron, Boro Pres. Stringer, Pub. Advocate Bill De Blasio, Council Members Mendez, CEC presidents and CCSE (Citywide Council on Special Education) members, have roundly criticized Mr. Klein's decision as he has chosen to ignore the interests of students with disabilities.
On Monday, August 9, 2010 at 1:00 PM, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer will host a Press Confernce at One Center Street, across form the DOE headquarters at Tweed Courthouse, to comment on this egregious abuse of power.

Please join those of us who support Boro President Stringer and his efforts to bring attention to a blatant misuse of power.

It is important to have as many members of the education community as possible at One Center Street, at 1 PM on Monday, August 9, to demonstrate their disagreement with, and dismay at, the Chancellor's actions.

contact Erin McGill
emcgill@manhattanbp.org
212-669-3060

It's Unanimous! or Null and Void Part 2!

2010-07-03T09:37:00.000-04:00

This time, FIVE Supreme Court justices have all voted to uphold a ruling made in March by a Manhattan Supreme Court Judge about the 19 school closings and charter co-location of Pave Academy within P.S. 15K. Once again, the judges ruled that the city did not follow state education law when placing these 20 schools on the chopping block! Interestingly, it was a fact that almost all attendees of January's all-night PEP meeting were painfully aware of as parents, students and teachers stayed until 3:00 am to fight for their schools. It is important to point out that parents joined together to bring this issue to the appeals court in this case, but this violation of state law has been happening and continues to happen all over the city with the issue of school closings and more specifically co-locations and extensions of co-locations of charter schools within our city's public schools.
Mayor Bloomberg had an interesting response, he stated: "There's a whole bunch of kids that at least for one year will get a terrible education that ... they'll probably never recover from." It's interesting since HE HAS BEEN THE ONE IN CHARGE OF SCHOOLS for the last eight years. He worries about one more year at a "slated to close" public school when he should have offered genuine support to those very schools from the beginning. Mr. Bloomberg, there are many public school teachers worrying if they, their students and the current Department of Education will every recover from the heinous mismanagement that is mayoral control of our schools.

Thank you thank you thank you to the parents that made this ruling happen, not once, but twice!

Co-locations Continue to Compromise Our Public Schools!

2010-06-20T21:29:00.000-04:00

CPE-CEP's Harlem Chapter Calls on All Sisters and Brothers
to support the parents, students, educators, school staff and community members of the Mosaic Prep Academy in their battle against
the Charter School Takeover of their Building!!!!
WEAR RED!!!

Stop Charter School Invasions and Takeovers!
Attend this East Harlem Hearing:
Monday June 21, 2010
Starting at 4:30pm
141 East 111th Street
New York, NY 10029
Take: 6 train to 110th Street Station; or use hopstop.com for directions.
Contact: CPE-CEP's Harlem Chapter Chair Ernestine Augustus at (646)262-9052, queenteenie45@aol.com;
or call the Mosaic Prep Academy directly by contacting
Roseannette Jimenez at (917)406-1091.

June 4th Protest

2010-06-01T06:45:00.000-04:00

Join PS 24K, PS 15K, PS 30M, PS 197M, Jamaica High School, Prospect Heights International High School, PS 123M, PS 193K and a growing list of school communities as we protest budget cuts and layoffs that will happen around the city! The plan is for interested school communities to protest before school this Friday, June 4th. Bring your signs and banners and get the word out that our public school system is being ROBBED! The Department of Education just approved 5 million dollars in teacher recruitment funds the same time they are eliminating 6000 positions! The charter cap was just raised and and while people were told it was to be eligible for Race to the Top funds, those funds ARE NOT for relieving our budget crisis. If your school community is interested,or you have any questions please email Sam at sam@nycore.org.

Action Needed!

2010-05-26T06:30:00.000-04:00

Call your Assemblymember today, and ask him or her to restore full funding to the education budget, and not to raise the charter cap unless there are rigorous protections for taxpayer and parent rights; including for the CECs to have the authority to approve all co-locations.
Find your state legislators at http://nymap.elections.state.ny.us/nysboe/; for the Assembly, the toll free no. is 1-877-255-9417 and press 3.

You have have seen commercials on television claiming that lifting the cap on Charter schools will make New York eligible for 700 million dollars in education funding. KNOW THE TRUTH!!! This money CANNOT be used to offset budget cuts, prevent teacher layoffs or cuts to afterschool programs! There group behind that advertisement is an offshoot of another who funds charter schools!

From the Mouth of PAVErs...

2010-05-08T23:02:00.000-04:00

It has been immensely frustrating for the parents and teachers of PS 15. We know PAVE parents, we talk to them, and we know how unhappy they are and some of the corrupt goings on that take place at the charter forcefully housed in our building. There as a moment when a few brave parents were ready to come forward, only to be intimidated and their children threatened by Spencer and Cooper. Alas, blogs are the only place where they can now say what they really feel, and one teacher too, because they are protected by the anonymity. Hopefully, sometime soon, parents will just pull their kids out all together and speak freely about the lie and destruction that is PAVE Academy:

All quotes from PAVE parents and teachers found @ gothamschools.org

-I’m sorry to admit it, but a lot of what people are saying about my child’s school is true. This is why I’m taking my child out after the end of the year. I have been to the school and seen with my own eyes how some of the new teachers treat some students (not mine, but some of the older ones). The principal and other administrators know because I heard parents complaining and nothing gets done. It’s like they don’t care because we’re from Red Hook or something. Last year it wasn’t really like this but then everyone started leaving and new people came and so many things have changed. Parents barely know the new principal and she doesn’t even get involved with the kids except to yell and punish them and take their recess away. At least Mr. Burk knew who the parents were and had a good relationship with us and our kids. Then they have this new office lady who is so rude and acts like she is straight from the ghetto. Ms. Tiffany was good because she knew how to treat people with respect and made us parents feel welcome. All the good teachers left and then Mr. Spencer hired all these new people who don’t even know how to work with kids from our community.

It felt good when I first met Mr. Spencer and he made me believe that I was making a good choice by putting my child in PAVE, but then I started really listening to some of the things he and Mr. Cooper were saying and doing and felt like a fool because I spoke up for them and PAVE when other people were talking against the school.

-As a former PAVE parent I hope this rumor about another PAVE isn’t true. I was smart and took my child out of PAVE as soon as I saw the old principal, and office manager leave & other teachers not returning. Look at all the new people that are there now - what does that say about this school when so many different people are coming and going? I can’t believe the mayor would even consider allowing Spencer to open another school when this one is such a joke and science experiment at the expense of the Red Hook children.

Most of the teachers talk down to the kids and yell at them like they’re worthless. The new office manager is extremely ghetto, and unprofessional and speaks to kids and parents as if she’s in the street. How on earth anyone with common sense has her in a front office greeting people, let alone answering the phone is beyond me. The other guy in charge acts so prejudiced and has said things to parents and kids that are clearly racist and out of line but nothing was ever done because he’s still there doing the same things.
Has anyone even looked into why all the other staff members left? I know many of us are from Red Hook, but that doesn’t mean that we should be treated like dirt and spoken to any way the people at the school feel. I hope that people in other communities are paying attention because if PAVE comes to your neighborhood it will be the WORST thing for the community. Just look at all the lies Spencer has told and the problems it has caused Red Hook.
If you still have your kids at PAVE, then you better start going to the school more and asking your kids what’s really going on. These teachers and staff could be doing and saying anything to your child and you never know.
Wake up Red Hook! Just because a school has computers and smart boards doesn’t mean that it’s a good school and the people there are doing the right thing for your kids.

-Just reading all of this stuff reconfirms why I got my child the heck outta this school! Everytime I turned around there was some staff member leaving. Teachers and the people in charge yelling at kids and speaking to them any old kind of way they wanted. I don’t even yell at my own child and I’m going to let one of these prejudiced people come in my neighborhood and do it? Not letting my child go to the bathroom when they had to go. Trying to get me to give up my rights and say the teachers & school isn’t responsible if something happens - just to send my child on a school field trip! Then making them eat in silence all the time. Taking away their recess playtime for stupid reasons. They barely have anytime to socialize with their friends and they have to be quiet at lunch time too! This is NOT the army. Some kids have enough structure at home and should be able to come to school to be a kid and not have their self-esteem crushed by a bunch of prejudiced people who talk down to them and obviously have no real experience working with children in our community.

Everytime you turn around they’re calling you at work all day long for the smallest things! Sending kids to the deans office all the time. If these people can’t manage kids then why are they even teaching in my community? Go teach in Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill or someplace in Manhattan.
Most of the PAVE staff don’t even have children themselves and the rest of them act as if they don’t even like children so I don’t know why theyr’e even working in a school. The current PAVE parents better wake up and get your kids into a real public school where the principal and teachers actually care and like children. PAVE doesn’t care about the kids or the families. Only when you take your kid out, they call you 50 times to get you to bring your child back. Everything these people are saying is true about PAVE. Thank you Jesus for finally waking me up!

-As a teacher at PAVE, I was sucked into believing that they had the best interests of students, their families and the teachers in mind during decision making. I was wrong. The work environment is similar to the sweat shop that many people described it to be. Long hours and slave like conditions makes me dread going to work most days. PAVE teachers wont come forward to support PAVE because we are all trying to leave. As a staff member, I would have to say 80 percent of the teachers aren’t happy. They were fooled in teaching there with empty promises. I am bidding my time, like many other teachers to get away from PAVE’s oppressive workplace. (from a teacher that refers to her/himself as "enslaved teacher")

Finally, this from an anonymous poster (looking through the window) because it is so great; Between the news reports, rallies and comments from this & other sites, PAVE seems like the Calvinist Puritans who came to the island of Manhattan, built a Wall to keep the Native American out and later ravaged their homes, stole their land and killed them all off.

Could the PAVE administration and their fearless leader be the new Puritanic evil of Red Hook?

Join Us in Creating REAL Parent, Student and Teacher Voice in Public Education and Policy! Community based education, organization, and mobilization... the time is NOW!

2010-05-08T22:38:00.000-04:00

Anyone interested in forming a grassroots committee at your school? FOR community control and AGAINST privatization!!

COME TO THE CUNY GRADUATE CENTER, 34/35 STREET ON 5TH AVE. ROOM 5414. 5 PM

Tuesday May 11

GEM (Grassroots Education Movement) has a new committee to support the building of school based groups of workers/parents/community members. These groups are working in schools to fight AGAINST privatization/charter invasion/school closing/testing madness/layoffs/budget cuts and FOR democratic community control of schools. Start with issues that most resonate with your school community and build a broad based committee in your school that will be able to coordinate with groups in schools across the city to build this struggle from the ground up.

GEM wants to offer its help in any way it can to educators, students, parents or community members who wish to build a school based committee. Some schools are building these committees in response to a charter invasion, or their school being closed. Others are forming on the basis of resisting K-2 testing the DOE wants to impose, or simply as a way to coordinate the effort to fight the budget cuts, layoffs and to push for a just contract.

If you are interested in finding out more about this, if you think you might want to get something started in your school, or if you have skills and knowledge you want to contribute to this effort:
COME TO THE CUNY GRADUATE CENTER, 34/35 STREET ON 5TH AVE. ROOM 5414. 5:00 PM TUESDAY MAY 11th

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week, You're Fired!

2010-05-06T21:29:00.002-04:00

Mayor Michael Bloomberg blames "Albany's irresponsibility" for the teacher cuts he announced earlier today. 6,400 teaching positions will be eliminated 4,419 through layoffs and 1,995 through attrition.

If we take a look at New York State Assemblyman James F. Brennan's report "Damaging Missteps and Wasted Funds Under Mayoral Control" it seems that our Mayor's irresponsibility played a major part in the undermining of public education in New York City. Assemblyman Brennan explains "... in the past seven years mayoral reforms have produced a new set of inefficiencies, damaging problems and wasted funds." The administrative structure of New York City School is on its fourth major reorganization since our mayor seized control of public schools! The newest reorganization calls for an increase in the number of positions at Tweed, (increasing the number of deputy chancellors from three to eight) and as the New York Post put in on April 27th, "hiking the combined salaries of its top brass by at least $275,000 a year."

Albany's fault... Mayor Bloomberg, when you point the finger at someone (or in this case everyone else but yourself) remember there are three other fingers pointing back at you!

Let's BRIDGE the divide created by those with the drive to privatize!!! We together, public school and charter school parents and teachers say NO to the coruption, subordination, and division the current charter school movement has propogated!

2010-05-02T19:09:00.000-04:00

Class Size Matters & New York Charter Parents Association have just posted an online petition against S7678, the bill introduced Friday in the NY State Senate which would more than double the

cap on charter schools, without necessary protections against the abuse of power, fraud, misuse of public funds, or protection of parent and student rights.

As charter parents, we are supportive of public school choice, however, no system is perfect. We can improve the charter school system if we enact real reforms.

This bill does not provide the charter school reform we need for our children. The bill would continue to bar the State Comptroller from auditing charter schools’ use of public

funds, would continue to allow profit-making enterprises to make money from operating charter schools, would not require schools to post their charter and by-laws online, would not allow the state to take over a charter school when the board is incompetent and dysfunctional AND would allow charters to send their special education students off-site for services.

It would also let the DOE continue pitting parent against parent and dividing communities in battles over scarce resources and space.

Please go to this link now to sign the petition
http://www.change.org/petitions/view/vote_no_to_raising_the_cap_on_charter_schools

When you sign the petition, it automatically sends a copy to the Governor and your State legislators.
Please call your state senator or assemblyman at:
Senate: The toll free no. is 1-877-255-9417 and press 2
Assembly: the toll free no. is 1-877-255-9417 and press 3.

Also please contact:

Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver
speaker@assembly.state.ny.us
518-455-3791 or 212-312-1420

Senator John Sampson, Democratic Conference Leader
sampson@senate.state.ny.us
518- 455-2788 or 718- 649-7653

And please forward this message to others who care.

Charter School Hearing Last Week:

2010-04-26T21:57:00.000-04:00

Lydia Bellahcene, a P.S. 15 parent reflects on her day spent at the the Chater School Hearings at Senator Bill Perkins office last week:

Let's see… what are the "innovative ways" charter schools have shown
public schools how they get "the grade".
Is it the structure of a vigorous program? Is it the militaristic strict discipline? Is it the claims of the test scores? Is it the "no excuse” parent policy? Let's start here. If parents would put down their Blackberries, stop whining about homework and actually read with their children every night-- they will read "20 books in a month." Signing your rights over as a parent if you’re not setting limits or proper boundaries at home thinking they will get them in school… Innovative thought? No!
Test scores: They are just as invalid as the Educational Footprint, the EIS statements, and the utilization formulas put out by the DOE! When you test all the children in this city and not council or discharge a
special needs or ELL student before test time then we'll talk. Until then your claims are INVALID!
Funding for programs: Getting a hell of a salary for your leadership skills. Getting paid a hell of a salary for your teaching ability or your years of service. There's a thought! Actual dollars spent on
state of the art equipment and new books help children thrive. INNOVATIVE--NO IT’S THE TRUTH!
One of the things that stood out at the hearing is that: MONEY AND WHO YOU KNOW, WHAT RELATIONSHIP YOU HAVE WITH BILLIONAIRES COUNT IN THE GAME!!!! Ohhhh that's it!
How the adulterous relationship of Bloomberg and Klein have sold our public schools to the highest bidder and have allowed the discrimination against our most needy children. Some of our parents
are rising up through the thick cloud that hovers over our city and asserting their first amendment rights. Something they were not betting on! Ask Cooper, he’s still in recovery! Wall Street investors are pulling
big bank to put nominees to any Senator who challenges them! Just like Mike, setting up the Office of Portfolio Development and the DOE PEP panel squad to sham public school communities into thinking they are following Education Law and dupe everyone into thinking they are following "process"! If we just create the 1.6 million parent voices we so desperately need to stand up in unison: STOP THE DRIVE TO PRIVATIZE! FIGHT BACK! FIGHT BACK! FIGHT BACK!

PEP Meeting: Repeat Performance

2010-04-21T19:09:00.002-04:00

With less fanfare than previous meetings, but all of the pointless nonsense, another PEP meeting ends predictably. The police cars outnumbered the fancy buses that brought supporters of the charter school Harlem Success Academy (in their matching orange shirts) which causes one to wonder what the DOE is so afraid of. If you need that much security at a meeting about schools something is NOT RIGHT! And it wasn’t right. It was not right to watch the mayor’s appointees mindlessly vote in favor of every co-location on the agenda. It was NOT RIGHT to watch a DOE representative whisper in the ear of a certain panel member when she did NOT agree with facts shared by P.S. 15 teachers and parents. It was not right when Kathleen Grimm defended the statements of the P.S. 15 EIS by simply parroting the very statement in the EIS. Read more about this and other nonsensical happenings here. Charter school supporters are all about school choice. One audience member compared it to selecting Pepsi or Coke. What no one seems to mention is the fact that the man who insisted on controlling our public schools for the last eight years had a CHOICE to improve all existing community schools and did no such thing. School choice is ultimately the mayor’s choice. He chose to outsource our city’s education reform to any random person/corporation who decides to open a charter school. He allows the chancellor to choose which schools to close and which schools to cram together in buildings not designed to support multiple schools, compromising the learning environment and school climate for all who attend or work in the schools. Coke or Pepsi, really? What about the notion that all parents and students deserve high quality community public schools!?!

Thank you to the PEP members who questioned the faulty Educational Impact Statement and who voted against the co-location of PAVE Academy within P.S. 15K! I wonder how much longer we must wait until this “process” in fully exposed for the sham it is.

What is Taking Place?

2010-04-17T09:48:00.001-04:00

Wednesday’s public hearing do-over at P.S. 15 was an interesting night. We laughed, we cried, we wondered...what is going on? Some things were the same: Michael's Duffy's smug attitude, the DOE representatives on their blackberries, and CEC 15 president Jim Devor exposing the EIS for the sham it is. However, PAVE families and staff were noticeably absent. Were they told not to attend since the DOE rubber stamps all co-locations anyway? Or were they simply not informed of the event, much like they were not informed that PAVE’s growth next year depends on the PEP vote this Tuesday!?!

P.S. 15 Parents Lydia Bellahcene and John Battis dissected the revised EIS and exposed each inaccuracy for the audience, making it clear, once again, that the DOE is violating state education law to allow a charter school to expand while compromising a community public school. There is still time to call and write emails to get your concerns on record: D15Proposals@schools.nyc.gov 718-935-4390.

Make Some Noise!

2010-04-11T19:28:00.000-04:00

The SECOND public hearing regarding the extension of PAVE Academy's co-location within P.S. 15 is this Wednesday at P.S. 15, 71 Sullivan Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn. Please arrive at 5:30 to sign up to speak. The hearing begins at 6:00. Why are we having another public hearing when the process was considered null and void by a Supreme Court Judge? Who knows, but it is an admission of guilt by the DOE to grant this "do-over" and it is a time and place to share your thoughts and ideas on what has been taking place throughout this school year. Your statements are recorded and a Department of Education employee creates a summary of comments with a tally of those opposed or in favor of the issue. Please make sure when you speak you include the statement "I am opposed to the extension of this co-location," to ensure your comment is counted. Our students deserve appropriate space to receive their mandated services. Our school community deserves the intervention and enrichment programs that provide the well-rounded experience our school mission statement promises; "...We encourage strong parent participation as well as a collaborative and professional partnership with community-based organizations that address the physical, intellectual, emotional, moral and social needs of our children." The Department of Education refuses to acknowledge the negative impact this co-location has on our school community, let's make sure out voices are heard!

.

New EIS for P.S. 15, Same Garbage, Different Day!

2010-04-01T14:01:00.000-04:00

After you view the "revised" EIS (click here) call 718-935-4390 or email D15Proposals@schools.nyc.gov and share your comments. Don't be shy about calling, it's just an answering machine.

You may wish to share your objections about the impact on special education, intervention and enrichment programs. You may wish to point out that this EIS does nothing but promise PAVE Academy an open-ended co-location while completely ignoring the needs of P.S. 15 students. The growth of P.S. 15 will be stunted by this co-location and this EIS guarantees it, stating the P.S.15's enrollment will stay the same. This in unfair and untrue! We are a candidate for a magnet grant that will open enrollment district-wide. If anything, our school shoulde be entitled to MORE space.
Feel free to share your own ideas and alternative suggestions, as the DOE is required to document them. It seems one fair choice would be to cap enrollement for PAVE Academy. This EIS may be "revised" but it seems the DOE is making the proposal and policy fit their needs, not the needs of public community schools, namely P.S. 15!

Buzzkill!

2010-03-26T21:52:00.000-04:00

On the heals of the nullification of the PEP vote which reversed the decision on school closings and the co-location of PAVE Academy within P.S. 15, a revised Educational Impact Statement was released today! This document is available to view here. In light of the recent Supreme Court ruling, it is uncertain whether releasing a revised version of the EIS is proper procedure or even valid, but in classic DOE style it is posted on the internet and ready for views and public comments. You will find some changes in this revised statement. At the very least, some of the simple mathematical errors were corrected and at the very worst, this document proposes that PAVE Academy will stay housed in P.S. 15 until their building is "completed" (in quotes because no evidence exists that construction has even started). If this EIS is in fact valid, the heinous proposal will be up for a vote AGAIN at the next PEP meeting in April.

VICTORY!

2010-03-26T17:24:00.002-04:00

"Null and Void!"--That is what a Manhattan Supreme Court Judge said today as she reversed a city decision that was made at January's PEP meeting to close 19 schools and extend PAVE Academy's co-location within P.S. 15. The ruling stated what we public school advocates already knew to be true: "...that education officials engaged in “significant violations” of state education law and failed to follow proper process..."Get the full story here! This is a testament to the hundreds of students, parents, teachers and community leaders who attended the nine hour meeting January 26th and watched 8 members of the Panel for Educational Policy ignore all facts, reason and public outcry against school closings and co-locations. This is the result of parents, students and teachers who have been tirelessly working together for months to advocate for their school communities. THIS IS HUGE! More information to come!!!!!

Important GEM Meeting March 23rd!

2010-03-18T18:19:00.002-04:00

Forum: The Puerto Rico Teachers Union (FMPR*)
& NYC School Struggles

SPEAKERS
President Rafael Feliciano,
*Federacion de Maestros de Puerto Rico- FMPR
&
Grassroots Education Movement - GEM

March 23, Tues
4 - 7 PM
CUNY Grad Center
Rm 5414
34th St. & 5th Ave
#6 train to 33rd - Bring I.D.

In 2008, after a militant 10 day strike, the FMPR stopped the charter school privatization threat on the island-nation. Despite the Puerto Rico laws against public worker strikes, the FMPR (80% women) continues to represent and fight back as a democratic bottom-up rank and file union. Today the FMPR continues to resist privatization, charters invasions, violations of teacher & public worker rights, cutbacks and massive layoffs. As more draconian cutbacks loom, the FMPR leads protests along with debates on how successfully build a united struggle nationwide.

In NYC, GEM has campaigned against the very same destructive federal government "No Child Left Behind/Race to the Top" policies that Puerto Rico also faces, despite different conditions. GEM addresses issues such as test-driven curricula, the displacement of seasoned veteran teachers (ATRs), school closing, private charters, dictatorial mayoral control, privatization and union-busting.

Over decades, the FMPR has worked to empower their members and school communities. The FMPR supports school teacher-parent-student committees with significant input. FMPR union chapters have autonomy and are supported when militant job actions are necessary. The FMPR consistently seeks to educate and organize through general meetings, educationals, media campaigns, litigation, legislative initiatives, guerrilla theater, militant job actions and more.

The FMPR provides many lessons for our work here. We here also have much to share. Join us in this important dialogue.

Upcoming Events:

2010-03-08T21:28:00.005-05:00

GEM and CAPE are having an important forum on CHARTER SCHOOLS! This is an unusual opportunity to learn about NYC public school communities experiences of charter take overs. Hear from parents and teachers about their struggles to defend their schools from unfair and unwanted "co-locations". Find out how people are defending themselves against privatization and how you can get involved in the struggle!

Impact of Charter Schools & School
Closings on Public Education and
What We Can Do About It
Wednesday March 10th
4:30 - 7:00 PM
Bedford Library
496 Franklin Ave – Brooklyn
C Train to Franklin Ave.

Sponsors:
GEM - Grassroots Education Movement
CAPE - Concerned Advocates for Public Education

********************************************************************************

You are invited to an Urban Forum March 11 entitled "Behind the Drive To Privatize -- Public Education: Where Racism and Class Intersect."

The forum will be faciliated by Ajamu Sankofa, Coordinator of the Urban Leadership Program of the Murphy Institute, and sponsored by Class Struggle Education Workers.

Speakers and themes:

Sean Ahern:              The Disappearing Black and Latino Educator

Antoine Bogard:        The Charter Invasion of Harlem

Sandor John:             Struggles against Privatization from CUNY to California,
                                               Mexico and Puerto Rico

Marjorie Stamberg    What's Marx got to do with it?
      Privatization and the Capitalist System

I'd particularly like to invite local activists, parents, communitiy and union activists to raise issues from the floor so we can have a broad and lively discussion of these pressing issues.

Time and Place:
Thursday, March 11
CUNY Grad Center 5th Avenue and 34th St, Room 5409
Time: 4:30 to 7:00

The Department of Education Was Served!

2010-03-08T21:20:00.000-05:00

An appeal, that is. On February 25th Lydia Bellahcene and John Battis, two P.S. 15 parents, joined with lawyers from Advocates for Children to file a petition to the State Commissioner of Education. They asked for a stay in regards to the extension of the co-location with PAVE Academy Charter School that was approved during the PEP vote January 26^th. This appeal details the actions of the DOE leading up to this vote and how they violated New York State Education Law, failing to follow procedural requirements in regards to significant changes in school utilization! In short, the appeal stated that our Educational Impact Statement failed to describe any impact the co-location would have on P.S. students, and how the proposal passed by the Panel for Education policy on January 26^th differed from the resolution published on the 27^th, which extended PAVE Academy’s stay to an arbitrary timeframe. It states that PAVE Academy may co-locate “until a new facility is finished”. Debra Kurshan of the Office of Portfolio Planning submitted an affidavit within the required five day time period in response to the appeal admitting a discrepancy in the proposal thus resulting in a revised EIS and a re-vote at the April 20^th PEP meeting. Her affidavit is merely a response to our request for a stay, and we await the response to our full petition, which is due in 15 days! Schools currently slated for closure or co-locations should examine their EIS carefully, check the state education laws and visit the State Education Department website for information on how to file an appeal to the State Commissioner.

Another PEPuppet Meeting, An EXPLOSIVE Daily News Article...

2010-02-25T21:58:00.000-05:00

February PEP Meeting: More public schools forced to give up UTILIZED space to benefit charter schools. Last night's PEP Meeting was more of a pep rally for charter schools rather than a thoughtful discussion of the facts regarding the co-locations up for vote. Not suprising given the fact that Joel Klen had a hand in personally organzing charter schools and parents to attend last night, also not suprising given the Gonzales article in the Daily News today that highlights what many of us already knew: this Administration is in bed with a movement, and the proponents behind it, to privatize education thus marginalizng our already most marginalize students while draining the precious resources of our public schools.
READ FOR YOURSELF:

DOCUMENTS: Read the email exchanges between Eva Moskowitz and Joel Klein.
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxueWRuZG9jc3xneDoyMjFlOTliYmVlNjUxMmIw
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/02/25/2010-02-25_eva_moskowitz_has_special_access_to_schools_chancellor___support_others_can_only.html

Support our Brothers and Sisters @188 in Lower Manhattan!

2010-02-06T12:38:00.000-05:00

Please Join Council woman Rosie Mendez on Thursday, February 11th
STOP THE EXPANSION OF GIRLS PREP CHARTER SCHOOL AT P.S 188
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD: SAVE OUR NEIGHBORHOOD PUBLIC SCHOOLS
PROTEST at 4:30pm at PS 188 442 East Houston St. and Ave D
PRESS CONFERENCE at 5:00pm at PS 188
PUBLIC HEARING 6:00pm at PS 188
(sign up to speak at 5:30pm)
Please contact Barbara Sherman at Rosie's office with any questions at: bsherman@council.nyc.gov or (212) 677-1077
Written comments can be sent to D01Proposals@schools.nyc.gov
52 Chambers Street Room 320 New York, NY 10007 Telephone: 212-374-0209 Fax: 212-374-5588.
Oral comments can be left at 718-935-4415.

Day of Action: March 4th... The People United, Cannot Be Defeated

2010-02-06T12:28:00.000-05:00

Shut Down City Hall Not Our Schools!

National Day of Action to Defend Public Education

We say:
-Fix Public Schools, Don’t Close Them!
-Public School Buildings for Public Schools, Not CharterSchools!
-We want a People’s Board of Education, Not Mayoral Control!
-Money for Student Metro-Cards, Schools, Hospitals, Housing and Jobs, No Budget Cuts, No Layoffs, No CUNY Tuition, No More Money for War, No Money for the Military Occupation of Haiti, No More Money for Corporate America!

March and Rally at City Hall
Show UP, Stand UP and Speak Out!!!

*****WEAR RED!*****
Thursday: March 4, 2010
Start: Gathering at 1:00PM
Directions: A, C to Fulton Street; J,M,Z to
Chambers Street.; R,W to City Hall Park; 2,3 to Park Place; or 4,5,6 to
Brooklyn Bridge. For detail directions
visit hopstop.com.
For mor info. please
contact (212) 348-5732
or harlem120@msn.com

Parent and Teacher Advocacy Workshop

2010-02-03T23:06:00.006-05:00

Updated 2/8/09: The Parent and Teacher Advocacy Workshop Advertised for Thursday, February 11th has been postponed due to a space issue. The event will be rescheduled for two dates in March in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Dates and times will be forthcoming.

Life after January 26th

2010-01-31T15:53:00.000-05:00

It has taken days of recovery, mending exhausted bodies and saddened souls, to write our post- PEP Meeting/blatant undermining of public education January extravaganza- comments. It is interesting how one month, culminating in one nearly 12 hour meeting, can both be inspiring and depressing, both a confirmation of our belief in humanity and a questioning of it. If we were spiritually empty, if we were cynical, we would believe that 'the people' should just give up, clearly the game is fixed. Luckily we are not, instead we vow to fight, until our last breath, to protect and preserve public education for our children.
Over the month of January the education reform debate, and the tools at the center of it (namely school closings and charter school invasions and propagation), have been in the spotlight in New York City. We have heard testimony across the city in hearings, meetings, forums, and at protests, largely criticizing Mayor Bloomberg's educational policies and the agenda of his Administration. There were some voices of support, mainly from his camp and from the charter school movement camp (one in the same). What struck us throughout all of these voices and chatter, was the groundswell of support and belief that public schools are in fact the centers of our communities and are in fact the pillar of our democracy.
On January 26th, thousands of parents, students, teachers, and citizens showed up to demand an end to Mayor Bloomberg's educational agenda. Hundreds spoke out. The lone voices that night in favor of what Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein proposed, were charter school founders and supporters from PAVE Academy and their friend, charter parent advocate, Mona Davids. One mayoral appointee from Brooklyn on the PEP, spoke as well, stating she did not see the students at the center of this month's debate as 'failures' and that they were committed to a 'vision'. We'd like to hear more about this vision.
Our vision includes support and resources for community public schools, formulas and space allocations that ensure special needs students get the services they need as well as alloting for intervention, enrichment and community services. Our vision encompasses the idea that there are great public schools, that we should use these schools as models; that if this was really about what is best for children and true education reform, we would be adding resources, not taking them away.
We could use this post to discuss the lies the PAVE Academy supporters touted, we could note line by line all of the laws that were blatantly violated this month. We could choose to highlight and explain all the reasons why the Bloomberg Administration's educational policies are destructive and flawed. Instead today, we will simply say this: the fight is only just beginning.
Life after January 26th has taught us much. We have learned to hold on to eachother and our shared vision that public education is worth defending and protecting. We have learned the value of our founding document and our First Amendment rights, and now cherish them more than ever before. We have learned there are amazing people in this city and across this country that share our vision; we are united in a common purpose. We have learned that advocacy takes the energy, cooperation, and dedication of all stakeholders involved and we must work together for our common cause; fortunate for us we have an amazing team of parents and teachers who have only been brought closer together through all of this, we are so filled with abundance due to the friendships and true sense of family we have further built. We have learned that, for our part, this is all about our children- doing right by them and advocating on their behalf. We have learned that even in the darkest hours and against the fiercest and most powerful forces, we can stand up, make our voices heard, and turn the tide on a climate of indifference and inevitability.
Life after January 26th is new lungs exhaling sullied air... it is a new beginning.

Do we still live in a democracy?

2010-01-24T22:58:00.000-05:00

It seems in recent months (and really this has been building for years) that we no longer live in a democracy. Intimidation, fear, restraint of rights especially the First Amendment, and the large reaching hand of private interests are tactics and forces attacking and undermining our prisons, military, health industry, and edcuation. The danger of the privatization of our public services, that are at the heart of our democracy, is as clear today as it could possibly be.

Look up "Corpocracy" and/or "Corporatocracy". Educate yourself. Ask questions. Take Action.

Never be afraid to question "authority". In a democracy, THE PEOPLE are the "authority".

The time is now... united, we cannot be defeated.

CAPEtastic Rally!

2010-01-21T22:22:00.000-05:00

Today hundreds of parents, students, and teachers took to Mayor Bloomberg's block and demanded an end to "one man rule" over our public school system. We thank everyone involved in today's protest and look forward to all of the amazing advocacy work still to come... this is only the beginning...

Oh what a feeling...

2010-01-19T23:58:00.000-05:00

Tonight was a victory for the Red Hook community, for parents, teachers, students and the brothers and sisters in the coalition to protect and preserve public education.

First, we have to thank the amazing supporters who showed up tonight: GEMers Sueng, Gloria, Lisa and Norm; your dedication to us and the cause is breathtaking and we are forever in your debt. Lisa, Khem, and Jim from various CECs: your support, endless work and effort, and sincere commitment to parents, children, and educators is inspiring and you have our fondest admiration. Professor David Bloomfield, who actually drafted some of the original charter school law and is in favor of charters, your comments tonight highlighted the injustice of these co-locations and the defiling of the law regarding charters you helped draft, thank you. To the UFT, your support has been generous and your advocacy and win regarding maintaining the charter school cap is noted and appreciated. Finally, Assemblyman Felix Ortiz and Councilwoman Sara Gonzales, we thank your for your stated support of PS 15 and for advocating on our behalf. It takes strong and convicted leaders to stand up to this Administration; we can not overstate enough how thankful we are for your careful analysis of the facts and the conclusions you have drawn.
Together, we all, advocates for public education, placed a huge spotlight on the destructive policies of the BloomKlein Administration regarding charter schools, co-locations, and the faulty DOE formulas. We can reserve debates about charter schools in general for this moment, and all agree, that undermining successful public schools is a disturbing and disgusting policy, one the public does not support.
We heard tonight some voices who sought to blame PS 15 families and teachers for division. We heard a first year teacher defile the memory of Patrick F. Daly by stating, "we would all take a bullet for your child". We heard Spencer Robertson say CAPE is a waste of time. We heard Duffy claim, earlier in the afternoon, that PS 15 adults are treating PAVE children badly. We heard PAVE parents brag about their scholars and state of the art building. We heard Spencer's right hand man Cooper say, "All of our kids will go to college." These voices have every right to be heard, but garner none of our respect. These comments are divisive. These comments come from a desperate group of people hell bent on promoting charter schools at any cost; even if it means hiding behind voiceless children, lying to the community, and distorting concerned parent, teacher, and advocate voices. We can all take solace in knowing, our cause is just, our purpose is righteous, and our fight is only beginning.
We will not stop the fight to protect our school and schools across the city. We will not be deterred by attacks and smear campaigns. We will not be intimidated by smooth talking Orwellian language that seeks to incite fear and promotes false promises in our community and in our city.
Tonight, we stand victorious, in our deeds and actions. Tonight, we used our voices to demand justice for our children. Tonight our auditorium was filled with parents, teachers, and advocates weary after long days of work and child care (without subs, pizza and fancy t-shirts), united in a just cause; we can all rest easily knowing that in the fight for equity and fairness, the first battle was won. We clearly layed out a case, not against PAVE or even charter schools in general, but rather a case on the merits. We highlighted the negative impact this co-location and others like it have and made perfectly clear the DOE's faulty formulas and policies that rob Peter to pay Paul. Our children deserve more than that. Public education is worth more than that.
Whether or not the DOE chooses to hear our cries and concerns is another story, but numbers do not lie and plenty were provided tonight. In the coming days we will in fact see where their loyalties lie; with the public they were elected and appointed to serve, or with the private interests that seek to destroy public education.

We are so proud to be a part of a coaltion of dedicated people who have only one goal in sight: to protect and preserve true public education for ALL children.

Oh, what a feeling.

As we prepare for this busy week...

2010-01-18T23:03:00.000-05:00

Let us consider this quote sent by a fellow coalition member as we enter this busy week and as we celebrate the memory of Dr. King:

"POWER AT ITS BEST IS LOVE IMPLEMENTING THE DEMAND OF JUSTICE"

Let Dr. King's legacy of Peace, Community, Love, and Activism guide us this week as we rally to save our schools from BloomKlein's destructive policies. Let us remember that a fight requires many battles, that we will not win them all, and we must build on those we do win. We must be patient, vigilant, and above all express ourselves and 'fight' with loving kindness and righteous words and deeds. We look forward to the continued work of the coalition that is building to protect and preserve public education; a coalition that demands justice and equity for ALL children.

This Week’s Events:

1/19/09- Rally @ 4:30 in Red Hook to Save PS 15 from the Charter Invasion (Richards and Sullivan Streets)

1/19/09- PS 15 Public Hearing @ 6:00 (71 Sullivan Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn)

1/21/09- Rally on the Mayor’s Block @ 4:00-6:30, Meet at the South West Park Side of 5th Avenue and 79th Street to join this peaceful protest.

Friday Night Fights!

2010-01-16T23:44:00.001-05:00

What were you doing on Friday night? PEP member Patrick Sullivan, Joel Klein, CAPE members from PS 15, Lisa Donlan from CEC 1 and Jim Devor from CEC 15 were having a lively discussion regarding the forced co-locations and extensions of charter schools in our public schools beyond the agreements made to their respective communities while knowingly, over crowding, shriking, and undermining, successful community schools.

The full transcript is below. Please take note as to how Mr. Klein completely ignores the parent letters and voice in this discussion. His narrow view of the issue, and lack of attention to any real substance, only highlights the Orwellian nature of the destructive school policies he and his boss propogate across our great city.

The public, Borough Presidents and PEP members should take note of the Chancellor's disgregard of stakeholder voices. We should all question BloomKlein and their policies, particularly the school closures-charter invations-drive to privatize movement that they blindly seek to implement.

The time is now! Enough is Enough! We must fight to protect public education, the pillar of our democracy. WE are in this for ALL children.

Rosa Parent (PS 15) Letter:
Dear CEC Members, Elected Officials and Panel Members,

I'm very concerned as a parent of a public school student. P.S. 15 is a

wonderful school. My 7 year-old son is a second-grade student there who

receives speech therapy and occupational therapy. He has benefited so much

from the programs at P.S. 15. I have seen such an improvement. He's sitting

and focused. He does his own homework.

I'm concerned that if PAVE Academy gets an extension that my son is going to

be negatively affected. There is not going to be enough space for teachers

and programs. I'm concerned about the cuts and how the teachers will do

their jobs.

And they're not just any teachers. They're very caring and concerned.

Those of you on the Panel for Educational Policy, please vote NO to the PAVE

extension. I will be at the January 26th meeting to see the results of your

vote.

Thank you,

Rosa Vega

----------

From: Sullivan Patrick

Rosa,

I have received many emails from parents and teachers explaining the

negative impact to children receiving special services at the Patrick Daly

School. The Panel is charged with oversight of Board of Ed facilities and

your child must not suffer because the mayor has committed our facilities to

his wealthy friends.

Patrick

Patrick J. Sullivan

Manhattan Member

----------

From: CAPE

Thank you Mr. Sullivan.

We look forward to your support on the 26th and invite you, and hope you

will consider coming and speaking, at PS 15 on Tuesday the 19th. We also

hope you can pursuade other members to commit to protecting our school. We

will have several documents at the hearing and will send you copies via

email as well.rIn addition, we have over 1,200 petition signatures and an

open letter signed by many, many parents, which we will also present.

Thank you!

Parents and Teachers at PS 15

----------

From: Klein Joel I.

This is about children and their families and doing right by them. Anyone

who doesn't want his or her child to go to Pave doesn't have to go there.

Yet parents keep signing up. I hope we don't let politics curtail parental

choice. Sincerely, Joel Klein

----------

From: CAPE

Thank you for responding Mr. Klen. We, parents and teachers at PS 15, do

not question PAVE's existence or the parents who send their children there;

what we want to protect is the school we choose for OUR children and the

children the teachers serve. PAVE has had a negative impact on our school

and our children. An agreement was made to our community and it should be

honored. We hope you will consider attending the hearing at PS 15 on the

19th. We appreciate your concern of parent choice; 390 students' families

choose PS 15 and want PAVE to vacate in 2010, anything less will further

harm our school and our children.

----------

From: Sullivan Patrick

Joel,
I agree, politics should have nothing to do with it. It is about children.

The children of the Daly school cannot be shoved into closets because

Bloomberg made a deal with Robertson. Here is another letter I received.

It is clear to me that our schools, the ones you and I swore an oath to

serve, are being victimized.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am an occupational therapist at PS 15 who is very concerned about the

extension of PAVE academy in the PS 15 building. If PAVE continues to stay,

and grow by 2 classrooms per year in PS 15, special needs children will soon

be receiving their services in hallways and stairwells.

Although treating children in hallways is common practice throughout the NYC

public school system, it is a deplorable, unacceptable, and frankly, ILLEGAL

practice standard. Special needs children are the LAST children who should

be receiving augmentative services in crowded, noisy hallways and

stairwells. They are the VERY children who need quiet and consistent spaces

in which to work.

Already, the room I shared last year with the other OT at PS 15 has been

taken over by PAVE academy. We were re-located, and now currently I share

the room used as another program's (Beacon Afterschool) computer room. My OT

colleague shares a room that is also used as a library, art classroom, and

additional programing room. My colleague and I frequently move back and

forth between rooms, in order to accomodate other programs.

PS 15 prides itself on delivering related services in appropriate

environments. Special needs children in the public schools deserve to

receive services in environments that support their ability to succeed. THIS

IS NOT A LUXURY. If PAVE academy continues to grow in PS 15, we will no

longer be able provide services to children in the appropriate settings.

In addition to my professional concern about the future of PS 15, as a Red

Hook parent with a 3-year-old son, I have a personal investment in the

future of PS 15. I intend to send my child to PS 15 from pre-school through

5th grade. However, if PAVE continues to stay in the PS 15 building and

expand into the PS 15 building, cutting PS 15 programs and increasing class

size, PS 15 may no longer be a viable option for elementary school, from my

perspective.

-----------

Thanks for your speedy response. As I see it, we need a solution that's

right for all of our children -- we are in this together -- and not a

solution that plays some off against others. That's politics as usual. We

can do better. Indeed, if we are to change the outcomes for all -- and I

mean all -- of our children, we must do better. I hope we can count on your

support. Joel

----------

From: CAPE

Playing some off against others is what we feel like we are caught in the

middle of. The PAVE extension policy favors them and hurts us. How can you

not see this Mr. Chancellor? We are an AAA school, shouldn't your interest

be in protecting our school, our children, and our choice!?

----------

From: Klein Joel I.

We are in this together and we all wish we had more space. But, given the

real-world constraints we operate under, let' not try to divide and play

families off against each other -- and make no mistake, that's what's

happening here. When people start talking about rich friends, they lose

sight of children, especially poor children. Those children and their

families -- just like all of us on this email -- want a great education for

their (our) children, and our collectice job is to fight for them, not for

all the other needs that are well organized and protect the special

interests. Whenever the argument is about charters or public schools --

rather than good or bad schools -- it's not about children. That's why we

are where we are. Let's muster the courage to do better. Joel Klein

----------

From: Klein Joel I.

My obligation is to all children, every one of them.

----------

From: CAPE

and what of the agreement made to our community, the promise by which this

co-location was sold? Parents and teachers are not talking about rich

friends, we are talking abou the negative impact on our children. This is

not a wish for more space, there is plenty of other space for PAVE to go.

The children at PS 15 should not have to suffer and sacrafice their

resources when there ARE other alternatives to PAVE's continued co-location

and expansion. You are right it is not about charters or public schools and

what it IS about is great education for OUR children. PS 15 provides that

great education and it should not be destroyed and undermined for anyone or

anything else.

----------

From: John Battis

there are many better options available, most glaring is the existence of

the pS-27 building that clearly has space.

Another option is to freeze PAVE 's enrollment until they have their own

facility.

Klein obviously has made up his mind, but the other PEP members now have our

attention.

----------

From: Sullivan Patrick

By forcing charter school into public school facilities you are dividing and

playing families off one another, not me. I am fine with giving families

the choice of PAVE but not at the expense of the children of the Patrick

Daly school. If you or Spencer Robertson wants to make a case on the

merits, I am willing to listen. Otherwise, it is not appropriate for those

who have pointedly kept their children out of the public school system to

lecture public school parents about what is best for "our children".

Patrick Daly died for the kids of Red Hook. While the mayor's appointees

are happy to rubber stamp the DOE agenda, I will take my obligation seriously.

----------

From: CAPE

Bravo Mr. Sullivan! Thank you for HEARING our voices and concerns and for

considering them seriously. We hope that the 'rubberstamp' is not true...

the Mayor is elected to serve the people, and therefore his appointees

should not simply serve him, but the people he was elected to represent.

We hope you will do everything you can to share this information with your

fellow members. We are looking forward to a fair and honest vote on the

26th that serves the best interest of all children, PAVE's and PS 15's--

overcrowding, community division, and the undermining of PS 15 is NOT what

is best for all children.

----------

From: Klein Joel I.

As we are all aware, we share space in numerous school buildings in this

City. Whether charter or PS, we leave the choice to parents. I, like

everyone else, wish we had more space. But our collective job is to create

the best possible opportunities for all of our children in the space we

have. Calling people a rubber stamp or talking about rich friends may make

some feel superior but it adds nothing to the discussion about what's best

for our children.

----------

From: James Devor

Perhaps I am being dense but how do "we leave the choice to parents"? Do

parents get to vote on which schools are placed in their local buildings?

Do they get to choose or even effectively oversee either their Public or

Charter School's leadership? As standardized test results become the

primary accountability criteria, what curriculum decisions do Parents get to

participate in? Are they even allowed to choose whether their children get

to keep their cell phones?

It seems to me that your idea of "choice" is "Coke or Pepsi?" Or as your

boss once put it, "fish or chicken?"

After all these years you still don't get it. Parents are NOT merely

Consumers, they are Citizens. AND they know it. Perhaps that's why a

majority of public school parents AND of Red Hook residents voted against

the Mayor's reelection.

You and your colleagues may have the POWER to impose your ill considered

decisions, just don't claim that those who oppose them are either fools,

"tools" or acting in bad faith

----------

From: Lisa

In District One we have been incubating innovative schools in shared space

for some 20 years in our district of choice.

With close to 85% of our schools in a building with one or more schools we

know a thing or two about shared space.

Several successful schools in my district with high demand and long waiting

lists have requested space to expand, but sufficient space was never found

for them.

Now, with no needs assessment of any kind, the OPP has decided to honor the

request of a co-located charter school to expand simply because this is

their model, as put down on paper in their latest charter renewal

application.

No matter that the school building they are already housed in does not have

the space they need- even if a District 75 program is pared down by several

grades and sections, the host elementary school's growth capped and the

common space they all share is stretched beyond capacity.

Granted space to privately run schools at the expense of the schools for

which the DoE is accountable without sufficient oversight or planning ends

up more like cage fighting than creating opportunities for children.

Our robbing OT from Peter to house a school for Paul is not the answer.

----------

From: Sullivan

We have a Panel for Educational Policy with eight or nine public school

parents yet all three leadership positions were handed to three men who are

not. In their 24 years of cumulative service how many times have they voted

against the mayor's wishes or even merely expressed a contrary thought?

Calling attention to the death of democracy in our city should not make me

or anyone feel superior. It should simply be an obligation of all those who

value freedom.

----------

From: CAPE

Thank you for this rich discussion... Mr. Klein, we at PS 15 can only hope

that you will truly consider the merits of this proposal and the negative

impact on the children of PS 15. If you do so, you will clearly see that

PAVE can easily find another site, that PS 15 is not designed for two

schools nor has the space for two schools, and that this decision will do

damage that may well be beyond repair. If you are willing to take the risk,

to set a policy to intentionally overcrowd, limit, and undermine a

successful public school, in favor of a new charter school that has no

success record like PS 15, there is a serious question of why! Why would

the DOE put forth this kind of a policy? We will leave the guessing to the

public, but you can rest assured the Parents of PS 15 will hold the DOE

accountable for this action and PS 15 voices will continue to advocate for a

change in this policy that not only affects our school, but schools across

the city.

A victory for democracy, free speech, the right to protest, and PUBLIC EDUCATION!

2010-01-16T00:29:00.000-05:00

Parent, Student, and Teacher Protesters Win Right to Rally on Bloomberg’s Block

Victory for the First Amendment and for those struggling to protect public schools from closures and charter school invasions!

Today, Judge Alvin Hellerstein delivered a ruling granting parent, student, and teacher protesters, who are members of The Emergency Coalition to Stop School Closures, the right to protest on Mayor Bloomberg’s block in New York City. Judge Hellerstein ruled that we live in a democracy, and to the greatest extent possible, we have to find ways to protect our citizens, while not compromising the constitutional rights of others, to demonstrate and express their views. He went on to say that in assessing those values, he found that First Amendment rights support the kind of orderly and peaceful protest the plaintiffs sought to organize. Judge Hellerstein also added that the plaintiffs have the right to a peaceful picket to express their views in relation to important educational policies, particularly the increase in charter schools in the city. Attorneys Norman Siegel and Herbert Tietelbaum successfully argued the case.

“We are very pleased with the Judge’s decision. It is a major win for the right of New Yorkers to peacefully protest including on East 79th Street where the Mayor resides,” attorney Norman Siegel.

“This is a victory not only for the plaintiffs, but for all who want to express their views to elected representatives,” attorney Herbert Teitelbaum.

“I am proud our efforts were successful and that we can take a stand in front of the city and the mayor to prevent the closing and phasing out of our school. Most of all I am happy we can voice our opinion on the city pushing out students in need in order to make room for charter schools and small schools that are very selective,” Khalilah , student, Maxwell High School.

“I am humbled that a homemaker from Red Hook, Brooklyn can take a stand against City Hall and win. The struggle to save our schools and public education is just beginning. Please join us on January 21st on the Mayor’s block to send a message that says no, to the expansion of charter schools in schools like my children’s, P.S. 15 in Red Hook, Brooklyn. We also say no, to the ill defined school closings that pave the way for more charter schools and continue the dismantling of public education,” Lydia Bellahcene, parent, P.S. 15.

“Today is historic for protesting in the City of New York. I am so proud to stand with the parents and students I serve as we fight not only for our right to organize, but as we advocate to protect and preserve public education in our great city. It is not lost on me as an educator that this decision was made on Martin Luther King’s birthday. His legacy of peaceful and loving activism captures the culture of our school, P.S. 15. It is in this spirit that we bring our voices and concerns to the Mayor’s block in the hopes that there, we will be heard,” Julie Cavanagh, teacher, P.S. 15, “We want to thank, with much admiration and respect, Mr. Siegel, Mr. Teitelbaum and their staff, for their tremendous hard work and their dedication to protecting not only our rights, but the rights of all New Yorkers. I also want to thank the amazing parents and students I am so proud to stand behind and support.”

“The courts today reaffirmed the notion that one person, no matter how powerful, is not above the ideals that have held our democracy through challenges great and small. It is in this same spirit that students, parents, teachers, and the community have joined together to demand true input in the manner in which 1.1 million children of New York City have access to our country’s greatest promise - to give equal access to education for ALL children,” Seung Ok, Teacher, Maxwell High School.

“The right to demonstrate is not a given, it must be fought for, and we must be vigilant,” Gustavo Medina, retired teacher, Jamaica High School.

Parents, students, and teachers will hold their peaceful protest on both the North and South side of Mayor Bloomberg's block; East 79st, between 5th and Madison Avenue on Thursday, January 21st, between 4-6:30 pm. Protesters will meet at 5th avenue, on the southwest park side of the block, which will be the staging area and starting point of the protest. In the event of an appeal from The City of New York, the protest will continue on January 21st, in compliance with the NYPD.

Rally on Bloomberg's Block: 1/21/10: Come and join our peaceful demonstration; charter school invasions and school closings are the hallmark of this administration's educational policies. These policies are destructive, and undermine public education.

2010-01-14T23:44:00.001-05:00

Hearing on Protest on the Mayor’s Block Friday 1/15:

Parents, Students, and Teachers Fight for the Right to Protest on the Mayor’s Block

On Tuesday, January 12th, attorneys Norman Siegel and Herbert Teitelbaum filed papers in United States District Court, Southern District, on behalf of a parent, two students and a teacher who are members of The Emergency Coalition to Stop School Closings, to hold a protest on the Mayor’s block on the Upper East Side on January 21st.

A hearing has been set by Judge Alvin Hellerstein for Friday, January 15th at 12:00. The Federal Courthouse is located at 500 Pearl Street, courtroom 14D.

A little inspiration...

2010-01-14T01:04:00.002-05:00

"Action is the antidote to despair."

– Joan Baez

Let Our Voices Be Heard!

2010-01-14T00:08:00.004-05:00

Mayor’s Critics Sue to Protest Outside His Home
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/critics-of-mayors-school-policies-sue-for-right-to-protest-outside-his-house/
January 13, 2010, 2:03 pm Updated: 4:24 pm --
By SHARON OTTERMAN

NYTimes CityRoom Blog
A group that opposes charter schools and school closings filed a lawsuit against the city on Tuesday for “unconstitutionally and without any legal basis” denying its request to protest on the sidewalk outside the Upper East Side town house of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

The plaintiffs are two students from William H. Maxwell High School in Brooklyn, which is slated to close for poor performance, and a parent and teacher from Public School 15 in Red Hook, Brooklyn, an elementary school that shares space with the PAVE Academy Charter School. The city has proposed to allow PAVE to remain in the school for five more years, as it grows to include kindergarten through eighth grade, and teachers and parents at P.S. 15 have been furious.

“Our voices haven’t been heard, so we thought that the best way for the mayor to hear us would be for us to take our voices to his block,” said Julie Cavanagh, a special education teacher at P.S. 15. “There have been rallies at Tweed, and the individual schools, and its been a complete deaf ear.” (The former Tweed courthouse is where the Department of Education’s main offices are located.)

The protesters want to march back and forth along both sides of 79th Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues, in single file, on Jan. 21, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Mr. Bloomberg lives on the north side of the street. While the New York City police have frequently turned down permits to protest on the north side, in 2003, they allowed a group protesting the closure of firehouses to march on both sides.

The plaintiffs decided to press the issue as a civil rights matter. The suit, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District, argues that just as protesters are able to march outside Gracie Mansion, where mayors normally live, so too should they be able to protest outside Mr. Bloomberg’s house, where he conducts political activities like receptions and fund-raisers.

On Tuesday, the Police Department offered a compromise: the protest could proceed on the south side of 79th street, Ms. Cavanagh said. The plaintiffs turned down the offer, saying the city should not be able to pick who protests on the north side.

A lawyer for the city, Gabriel Taussig, said in an e-mailed statement, “The Police Department’s refusal to agree to a demonstration procession on the sidewalk in front of the mayor’s residence and its proposal that the event take place on the street and sidewalk across from the mayor’s residence was a lawful and appropriate accommodation to the protesters’ desire to exercise their First Amendment rights while at the same time assuring that safety and necessary access can be maintained at the mayor’s residence.”

Norman Siegel, the former executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, is representing the protesters, along with Herbert Teitelbaum, the former executive director of the Commission on Public Integrity.

“The larger issue is clear: Can a public sidewalk be transformed into a private enclave because the mayor of New York lives there?” Mr. Siegel said. “The answer is no.”

Mr. Siegel said he expected a ruling from Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein on Friday.

FACEBOOK HACKED

2010-01-13T22:05:00.000-05:00

CAPE has had a Facebook page for nearly a year with no problem... until now!

Within a week of posting a cause page to invite people to join the Rally on the Mayor's Block, our site has been disabled and if you go to the rally page it reads, "event cancelled".

Things that make you go, "Hmmmmmmmm...."

Attend the Emergency City-Wide Parent Conference

2010-01-10T23:49:00.000-05:00

Emergency City-Wide Parent Conference on school closings and charter school invasions.
Saturday, January 16th @ 10:00 AM @ School of the Future.
Guest Speaker: Famed Civil Rights Attorney Norman Siegel.

Flyer Below:
http://www.classsizematters.org/Jan__16_2010_Parent_Conference.pdf

Barf!

2010-01-10T22:31:00.000-05:00

"Guest Columnist" Michael Duffy, AKA Public School Underminer and Champion of Charter Schools of the NYC Office of Portfolio Development, who knows nothing about schools and would be awe struck if he actually had to work in one:

http://www.dailynewstribune.com/opinion/x1530316616/Duffy-A-lesson-in-education-from-NYC

Read, but only if you are prepared to barf.

If possible, it is worse than we actually thought!

2010-01-10T22:12:00.000-05:00

This morning as we typed, "it is our school now; it will be yours later", we knew we were being accurate, but we didn't know how accurate.

PEP member Patrick Sullivan provided this info to our friend Norm over at ednotes, and we are reposting it here. If you thought 22 school closings and our co-location extension issue on one PEP meeting in January was bad... wait until you see what is on the slate for February.

Conspiracy and Coruption are two words that come to mind... The time is now to stop the drive to privatize!

http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/2010/01/proposals-for-significant-changes-in.html

PLEASE HELP SAVE PS 15: JOIN OVER 1,000 PAPER AND ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES AND HELP PROTECT AND PRESERVE PUBLIC EDUCATION

2010-01-10T13:40:00.000-05:00

Please sign on below and help save PS 15, The Patrick F. Daly school from the PAVE charter invasion. An agreement was made and should be honored by Spencer Robertson and the NYC DOE. Take a Stand and tell policy makers we will not stand by and watch our public education system be dismantled. It is our successful community public school now; it will be yours later!

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ps15kpatrickfdalyschool2009issue/

Interesting

2010-01-10T13:34:00.002-05:00

Food for thought, an interesting analysis....

http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2010/01/repellant-charters-or-attractive.html

Join us on Facebook and RSVP for the Rally at the Mayor's

2010-01-06T18:23:00.002-05:00

Facebook Link for the Rally at the Mayor's on January 21st:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=154669639998

Let's make our voices heard and make it clear we are intent on protecting our public schools and communities!

News and Notes

2010-01-05T21:17:00.000-05:00

Rally at the Mayor's on January 21st 4-6:30. Meet on the corner of 5th Ave. and 79th Street. For a PDF version of the flyer please contact: capeducation@gmail.com.
Below is a list of all of the public hearings and forums this month related to school closings and charter invasions. Please support and attend and contact the appropriate policy makers located on the sidebar. Tell them school closings and charter invasions of our public schools are wrong and must be stopped!
The Daily News published an article on the 'success of charters in NYC', featuring a new study supported by the NYC DOE. Read all about it and the tangled web behind the study at this link: http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2010/01/new-credo-study-shows-no-charter-school.html

Prepare for a busy month!

2009-12-30T17:21:00.000-05:00

January: hearings-rallies-conferences-meetings Forum location

5-Jan 6pm school for community research and learning hs 1980 lafayette ave, bronx

5-Jan 6pm academy of environmental science and Renaissance Charter 410 East 100 street, manhattan

5-Jan 4:30 PM GEM= joint planning meeting Rally 21st Cuny grad center

6-Jan 6pm Frederick Douglas Academy III (6 -8) 3630 3rd ave, bronx

6-Jan 6pm beach channel HS at Beach Channel HS

7-Jan 8pm Columbus HS 925 Astor Ave, Bronx

7-Jan 5pm global enterprise hs 925 Astor Ave, Bronx

7-Jan 6pm Paul Robeson hs 150 Albany Ave, Bklyn

7-Jan 6pm jamaica high school 16701 Gothic Drive, Queens

8-Jan 6pm choir academy of harlem hs 2005 madison ave, manhattan

11-Jan 4:00 GEM/CAPE Joint Planning Meeting- 359 40th St.

11-Jan 6pm Kappa II (6-8) 144-176 East 128 st, manh

11-Jan 6pm alfred e smith HS 333 East 151st, Bronx

12-Jan 3:30 CAPE Community Meeting- Red Hook Public Library

12-Jan 6pm business, computer applications and enetrepe hs 207-01 116 ave, Queens

13-Jan 6pm academy of collaborative education (6-8) 222 west 134 st, manhattan

13-Jan 6pm ps 332 (k-8) 51 christopher ave, bklyn

13-Jan 6pm School for academic and social excellence (6-8) 1224 park place, Brooklyn

13-Jan 5-7pm Forum: The challenge of Charter Schools: by NYCORE Cuny GRAD Center

14-Jan 6pm New Day Academy Hs 800 Home St, Bronx

14-Jan 6pm metropolitan corporate academy 362 schermerhorn st, bklyn

16-Jan 10am Citywide parent conference: Leonie Haimson (Norm Siegel -guest spk) School of future- 127 E 22nd st, Manh

19-Jan 6pm Pave Charter invasion of PS 15 71 sullivan st, Bklyn

19-Jan 6pm monroe academy of business law HS 1300 boynton ave, bronx

21-Jan 4 -6:30 pm Rally on Bloomberg’s Block East 79st (bet 5th ave &Madison), Manh

26-Jan 6pm PEP meeting Brooklyn Tech High School

28-Jan 4:30-7 GEM/CAPE Charter School Forum/Discussion Polytechnic Institute - Downtown

NYC Parents Blog Post

2009-12-20T03:01:00.000-05:00

Read it and see the coruption case(s) that are surely around the corner:
http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2009/12/charter-schools-new-polo-ponies-of.html

CONTACT INFO * CONTACT INFO * CONTACT INFO

2009-12-18T22:00:00.001-05:00

Please contact the following people. Tell them to hold the DOE and Spencer Robertson to their promise- vacate PS 15 in 2010. Tell them PS 15 is already at capacity and they should come and see for themselves. Tell them they need to protect and preserve our AAA community public school. Tell them to vote NO on the PAVE extension.

The Brooklyn BP rep’s email is Gokotieuro@schools.nyc.gov ; you should copy to Margaret Kelley at margkelley@aol.com and Carlo Scissura at cscissura@brooklyn.bp.nyc.gov

DOE Proposal Contact (we can't give you a phone number because, even after SEVERAL phone calls, they still have a Bronx number listed): d15proposals@schools.nyc.gov
All the PEP members (who should be flooded w/ emails) are
PBerry5@schools.nyc.gov ; LLausellBryant@schools.nyc.gov ; jchan@dbpartnership.org; DChang6@schools.nyc.gov ; JCorreale2@schools.nyc.gov ; pepofqueens@yahoo.com ; THernandez5@schools.nyc.gov ; TMorales4@schools.nyc.gov ; Gokotieuro@schools.nyc.gov ; Gpeng@schools.nyc ; asantos104@hotmail.com ; PSullivan7@schools.nyc.gov

e-mail Joel Klein and Bloomberg EVERY DAY:

Klein: jklein@nycboe.net
Mike Bloomberg through: http://www.facebook.com/l/820d2;www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html

Will the Real Spencer Robertson Please Stand Up

2009-12-18T21:24:00.000-05:00

Today a group of parents picketed PAVE. They used their voices to demand accountability and honesty from the DOE and PAVE's founder Spencer Robertson. Teachers stood by on the sidelines, as not to participate in political action on the school block, but wanted to support the parents who braved below 20 degree weather to exercise their civil rights. Spencer Robertson chose to exercise his mouth and showed who he really is.

We should start by noting that Mr. Robertson's cracks began to show earlier this week when he told the school's building council that PAVE had all the money they needed to build their own building and that they would sign a contract for their space in 45 days (interestingly right in line w/ the timing of the PEP vote- maybe we can expect another grand announcement like the one we experienced this fall at the CEC meeting when they fake announced their space plans for the umpteenth time). What is even more interesting is one of PAVE's board of directors announced yesterday, they need an additional six million dollars to build (in addition to the 26 million in taxpayer dollars they have already been awarded by the DOE and the six million they have already fundraised). The board member also noted they already own a property in Red Hook on Henry and Mill Street. So, now we know for sure the real Spencer Robertson in a liar.

It is important to note that all of this discussion about a space or no space, building or no building, money or no money is irrelevant considering the agreement was made to the community for a two year co-location, which expires this June. Instead of acknowledging the fact that they, Spencer and his board, have misled the community and had no intentions of leaving in two years, they act like they are doing PS 15 a favor in assuring everyone they have every intention of leaving... some day, but they can't say when and the details of where and how change daily. Robertson ignores the negative impact his school and his actions have had on the educational programs at PS 15 and further the division it has created in the community. So, we know the real Spencer Robertson believes he is not accountable to the people of Red Hook or the children of Red Hook. We know his only interest is his charter empire.

This morning, as parents picketed outside, Spencer called the police and PAVE parents wrote on blogs demonizing PS 15 parents for standing up for what is best for their children, both denigrated PS 15 parents and teachers calling their actions political and tried to shame them for supposedly involving and scaring children (it is important to note this picket was purposefully set to begin after PAVE students arrived at school so no children would be forced to walk through the picket). What was happening inside? PAVE students were led in chanting, in PS 15's auditorium while our children arrived and our teachers and families set up our holiday fair in the gym next door, ...we are a charter, a mighty, mighty charter, this is our school, you can't move us... So now we know Spencer is not only Orwellian, but he, unlike the teachers and parents at PS 15, actually does indoctrinate his students with propaganda.

During the parent picket, Spencer stood next to the only two white men on the line and presented his case, women and tan people need not be spoken to. He thought he was reaching his good 'ole boy network, instead he got an earful. Apparently this shook him so much, his only recourse was to attack the dedicated teachers, who said and did nothing, who merely stood in silence, separate from the picket, to support parents who were standing in freezing weather, to highlight their true commitment and dedication to this community they proudly serve. As the teachers filed in the building to pick up their students, Spencer turned to them and said, "So this is what it takes for you to get to school on time." Oh no he didn't! Now we know that the real Spencer is a desperate man, a cynical man, and too low for words.

The teachers at PS 15 are one of the most dedicated and hardworking groups of educators in the city. Despite tremendous obstacles, and by every measure, they succeed with their students. You value test scores, take a look. Some of the highest reading and math scores in the city. You want programs; take a look, many teachers volunteer their preps, lunches, and Saturdays organizing and running programs for students, parents and the community. While Spencer Robertson pockets 26 million dollars from the DOE, teachers at PS 15 scrounge for paper and write grants at nights and on weekends to make up for the more than 10% cuts the DOE has placed on our budget in the last year. This man has the nerve to defile our teachers in this way?! We should note this isn't the first time he has done this; in an email earlier this year he called our teachers lazy. Late and Lazy. Hmmm. How many of his teachers work with parents in the community? How many of his teachers volunteer their time? How many of his teachers have been serving Red Hook for ten years or more? How many of his teachers buy their own supplies? How many of his teachers procure their own funding for the school? Do we see his teachers or for that matter him on Saturdays or Sundays or in the evenings in Red Hook? It is the typical neo-liberal/neo-con strategy: say it is so and so it is. You have to wonder if these people believe their own lies, or if they are so cynical the lies easily slide off the tongue without a second thought.

Spencer Robertson has painted himself as the son of a philanthropist who cares so much about children and inequality he gave up a privileged life to help minority children have access to a better education. The real Spencer Robertson needs to stand up. The truth is, Spencer Robertson is the son of a billionaire who is used to getting what he wants and will protect his own interests and will propagate his own agenda at the cost of anyone or anything that gets in his way. His strategy, along with BloomKlein and the entire charter/privatization movement, is to divide communities, demean and demonize teachers, disenfranchise parents, and dismantle existing successful public schools, particularly in minority communities that have a history of limited organization and mobilization.

Spencer and his cronies picked the wrong school and the wrong community to manipulate and mislead. Regardless of what happens over the next month, as long as this man is in PS 15, and most likely as long as he drives into and out of Red Hook each workday, he will face an outspoken group of people who know who he really is. We will be his mirror, maybe he can hide from himself, maybe he can even hide from the PAVE families who entrust their children to him, but all darkness comes to the light. Eventually the cracks will accumulate to a fracture and the facade will come crumbling down; the real Spencer Robertson will be left standing, most likely alone, on display for all to see. Hopefully the parents and teachers of PS 15 will still be around to pick up the pieces.

In the news...

2009-12-17T22:29:00.002-05:00

Daily News article regarding PS 15's struggle... read and comment:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2009/12/17/2009-12-17_ps_15_feeling_squeezed_as_plan_calls_for_charter_to_grow.html

We must hold the DOE, PAVE Academy, and Spencer Robertson accountable to the citizens of Red Hook! They must keep their promise and vacate PS 15 in June 2010.

Another School, Another Case of Obstruction, Dishonesty, and Coruption

2009-12-16T21:29:00.000-05:00

Please read about and support our brothers and sisters at Maxwell High School. Contact information to support their cause can be found in this article link:

http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2009/12/case-for-keeping-maxwell-vocational-hs.html

Their issue is slated for the January 26th PEP along with PS 15's fight to stop the PAVE extension.

Gotham Article regarding the PEP meeting move...

2009-12-16T19:44:00.002-05:00

Read and leave comments:

http://gothamschools.org/2009/12/16/following-protests-panel-meeting-is-moved-to-brooklyn-tech/

VOCIES HEARD!

2009-12-16T19:25:00.000-05:00

Thank you to everyone who sent letters and made phone calls to the DOE regarding the legally suspect PEP meeting that was to be held in Staten Island on January 26th... the DOE heard your voices and the meeting has been moved to Brooklyn, at Brooklyn Tech.

Now that we have a hearing in a location that is fair, let's make sure the substance behind our voices regarding PAVE's extenstion in PS 15 and the tremendous amount of school closings are actually heard.

Write the Chancellor, write and call your EIS proposal contact (for PS 15: d15proposals@schools.nyc.gov), contact your borough reps and all of the members of the PEP. Tell them they work for you, and you want your tax dollars to go to the protection and preservation of public schools to ensure equitable and quality education for ALL children.

Excellent Article

2009-12-15T22:03:00.000-05:00

Ravitch hits the nail on the head as she discusses last week's New York Times article (in the Style section of all things) on the new 'fashion' trend of the wealthy propogating, funding, and organizing charter schools... a must read!

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/Bridging-Differences/2009/12/dear_deborah_i_understand_why.html

What is "Capacity"?

2009-12-15T19:48:00.000-05:00

Much of the school space wars argument boils down to an argument about the definition of capacity. The DOE uses two methods to allocate space in buildings. First, the target utilization, which is calculated by the capacity of the building (this includes all floor plan space except what is determined to be shared space), divided into the current enrollment in the building. This provides a utilization percentage. Now of course this percentage is faulty because you can't provide instruction and programs in nooks and crannies, not to mention it does not take into account the fact that special education classes can only have 12 students in them so therefore those rooms could never be 'at capacity'. Herein lies the need for the DOE's instructional footprint.

The DOE Instructional Footprint allots classroom space to schools in their buildings based on varied formulas linked to city-wide average test scores, enrollment, title one or not title one (but they never specify the difference), as well as other notes (as they refer to them). What is very interesting is, the Educational Impact Statement released on December 11th and revised on December 14th regarding the extension of PAVE Academy in PS 15 beyond the two year agreement, only uses the utilization formula for its judgment. There is a section that mentions the instructional footprint, but does not discuss how it is applied and clearly, it is not.

When one spends over ten hours breaking down the instructional footprint, they would first see that this is a document designed to disenfranchise people who seek to figure it out and secondly, related to the PAVE/PS 15 issue, one would see that there is already not enough space for both schools according to the DOE's own policies, yet the EIS says there is plenty of room and there will be no negative impact. Tell that to the child receiving OT in the corner of a library under renovation while other groups are working in that same space. Tell that to the child receiving counseling who sees their family worker in a closet.

In addition to the many flaws in the determination and allocation of space, there are many spaces not allocated for in the instructional footprint such as: speech therapy, teacher/uft room, ELL room, occupational therapy, physical therapy, DOE nurse, Health Partner and Dental Partner (Lutheran Medical provides PS 15 with a nurse practitioner and dental program), adaptive physical education, testing coordinator, and math and reading coaches (and there are surely other omissions). In addition they list the library and School Based Support Team spaces as "shared space" when the libraries were created and resourced by existing schools and the SBST does not, and cannot legally, serve charter schools. It is an outrage that such phony and faulty policies are allowed to exist at the expense of our children.

The target utilization formula and the instructional footprint are a joke. They are made up documents, altered at will, and used to serve an agenda that seeks to provide billionaires and their sons free space on the public's dime. They are documents made up to propagate a small school and charter school agenda that sorts our children and privileges some, while subordinating others. They are documents that allow the DOE and their corporate friends to rob Peter to pay Paul.

New York City needs to rise up and demand true transparency, accountability, and policies that serve ALL children, not just those who choose charters or win a lottery, not just those whose founder has a daddy that gave Bloomberg over 10 mil for his school initiatives.

One of our stakeholders said today, "This thing is like peeling a rotten onion!" Indeed it is. Just when you think it couldn't get any stinkier... it does!

Welcome to the Hornet's Nest

2009-12-12T20:07:00.000-05:00

From our friend Norm over @ http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/:

"I want to thank Tweed for doing such dumb stuff that led to this group coming together and joining up with other advocates forming around the city. They have uncovered some hornet's nest. As part of a group of organizers so often frustrated by the lack of fight all too many teachers exhibit, I genuflect to Tweed for helping to create CAPE. Keep up the good work. One day you will find thousands of people pounding at your door."

The DOE and its corporate allies isolate and identify communities they think they can overrun and outsmart. They target communities whose populations have historically had a difficult time organizing and accessing resources. We are sure they thought targeting PS 15 in Red Hook was easy pinkins'... instead they did in fact unleash a hornet's nest. We are a group of parents and educators who will continue to demand to be heard, not just for the protection and preseravtion of our community public schools, but in solidarity to fight for the protection and preservation of public education for ALL of our children.

Groups are forming across the city, advocates are joining forces: the counter movement has begun. Please join CAPE, ednotesonline, GEM, the Maxwell school movement, CPE, and so many other dedicated parents and educators and demand transparency, truth, and accountability. Let's join together and stop the Bloomberg Administration's assult on public education.

The DOE Does it Again

2009-12-12T01:51:00.000-05:00

It is unclear what is more disturbing: The Department of Education’s surreptitious school space utilization and formulas, their incompetence in interpreting these very formulas, their damning disregard for what is best for children not to mention parent and community voices, their corrupted charter school movement, their deliberate defiling of public education and community public schools, or their lubricated lies that slide off their tongues dripping and oozing with Orwellian language that loudly proclaims, “we have an agenda, and we fully intend to execute it.” The DOE has done it again; they prove with Friday’s announcement to continue to house a charter school, PAVE Academy, beyond the two year agreement promised to the Red Hook, Brooklyn Community and its AAA school, PS 15, that their interest lies with not the children and the citizens of this city, but with the corporations, hedge fund managers, billionaires and sons of billionaires, who propagate, organize, and oversee the charter school movement plaguing our public school system.

The Educational Impact Statement released Friday,
(http://gothamschools.org/2009/12/11/doe-proposes-to-let-pave-stay-in-ps-15-an-additional-five-years ) announces the Department of Education’s intention to extend PAVE’s stay in Public School 15, beyond the 2 year agreement set to end in 2010, until at least 2015 while expanding through grade seven. The statement has formula and mathematical errors and was created without an onsite visit to truly evaluate the impact and without a public hearing or any input from the stakeholders affected by this decision. Beyond the formulaic errors, the statement claims there will be no negative impact on PS 15. This of course is outrageous; considering PS 15 has no unused or underutilized rooms and its current usage is within the parameters of the DOE’s instructional footprint, (http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/8CF30F41-DE25-4C30-92DE-731949919FC3/65901/NYCDOE_Instructional_Footprint_revisedMay2009_noco.pdf ).

Friday’s announcement sets a new precedent and elevates the intensity of existing policies that privilege the charter school movement. The Department of Education with this impact statement, with the way they tried to usurp the mayoral control laws in the granting of the PAVE extension in the first place, with their continued manipulation of faulty school space sharing formulas and dishonest decision making, takes an aggressive step forward in promoting and supporting charter schools and signals Mayor Bloomberg’s willingness to spend his political capital on undermining and attacking public school families and their educational opportunities.

The battle lines have been drawn. New York City now finds itself on the frontlines of opposing movements. On one side, there are those fighting for the protection and preservation of public schools. On the other side, those who seek to separate and sort our children with a philosophy that privileges some, while subordinating others, and the intention to privatize education, to outsource public money to private interests, to dismantle public schools and replace them with charters. This is clearly a fight the DOE wants to have: raise your swords.

The DOE has done it again; they have used made up formulas to enact their agenda, they have chosen business, money and power over children, they have spit on the voices and in the faces of parents and stakeholders, they have decided to destroy public education. It is time to rise up New York City, our children deserve our protection; our community schools must be preserved.

The Blogs are Buzzing about this week's NYT article!

2009-12-02T17:46:00.000-05:00

This was our favorite blogger post:
Charter Schools: Making Money on Real Estate Speculation by Jennifer Medina

December 2, 2009 — Lew Rosenbaum

[Daniel Wolff's article in Counterpunch followed the $ in Charter Schools into the fairyland of real estate speculation. Here is a New York Times article which gives NY details that many of us in Chicago are familiar with. Incidentally, PAVE Academy, mentioned in this story, is founded by Spencer Robertson, son of Julian Robertson, who gave more than $10 million to NY Mayor Bloomberg's education projects. Perhaps the donations rather than his 3 years of teaching experience are the qualifications for obtaining free space in NY public schools. We can't leave this subject without directing readers of this blog to Chicago's Substance News, which you can find by clicking on the link on the sidebar to your right.]

http://chilaborarts.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/charter-schools-making-money-on-real-estate-speculation/

There are so many more from NYC, to Chicago, to Kentucky, to California... Voices do matter and advocacy does work and all of the money in the world can't change that!

What Your Money Can and Cannot Buy

2009-11-30T19:46:00.000-05:00

Today the New York Times published an article on shared space and the charter school movement in New York City.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/education/30space.html

This article highlights the inequities of the charter school movement under the current administration and the tragedy of shared space and its negative impact on successful public schools, the community centers for our children. The article dims however, at taking to task the DOE and Bloomberg for their ridiculous shared space formula that disables the quality education our students deserve; it is a policy that forces students and teachers into closets, shared rooms, and treats their special education, intervention, social service, health, and enrichment services as "luxuries". The article also fails to note the budgetary impact; as we outsource public money and resources into the hands of private business running public schools, only by name only because of said outsourcing of funds, our true public school budgets have been drastically cut and the more than 90% of New York City students who attend these public schools go with less. This is a policy of robbing Peter to pay Paul. It is inequitable. It is unjust. It is undemocratic. It is unethical.

What can money buy you in New York City? Apparently not your own real estate. Instead, these corporate backed, millionaire and billionaire donor driven private companies and organizations, use public money and public resources to fund their school experiments. They force our students out of classrooms and community space while also receiving public funded transportation, food services, and health services in addition to their per-pupil public funding which nearly matches public schools.

What they do not spend in real estate and resources, they make up for elsewhere: Their money buys the votes and voices of policymakers who bow to corporate interests that seek to reinforce the system of privilege and subordination we have in this country. Their money buys the custodial staff to privilege their school's needs first. Their money buys fancy computers, paint, and new furniture. It buys them glossy flyers, robo-calls, mailers, and t-shirts. It can buy them press coverage, even the final say in the New York Times!

What their money cannot buy them, not because they choose not to as in the case of real estate, but because of the nature of their movement, is integrity, truth and honor. Spencer Robertson, the founder of PAVE Academy proves once again that he is unqualified to run a school and undeserving of our respect with his comments in the NYT piece and he highlights the lack of integrity, truth, and honor behind the charter movement. He says he doesn't know "who the they is" in the fight to protect our public schools and resources... ummm... the 'the they' is You! He says they expect to get a two year extension in the PS 15 building because their plans for real estate fell through... and our children should suffer for your incompetence? He says PS 15 has been a mostly good neighbor... we are not neighbors, you are guests, the worst kind, who extend their stay without asking and are clueless (or at least pretend to be) as to the negative consequences you are having on the native residents... read the history of colonial expansion much? This movement, and the people who drive it and fund it, root themselves in an ideology that goes against everything our public education system was created to stand for and accomplish. Their movement takes us back to separate but equal, opens the door for privatization and it mirrors the devastating economic system, that we have seen repeated with the prison system and our military, of outsourcing public funds and public interests to private corporations and companies. They do all of this as the Orwellian language slides off their tongues and they claim it's all 'for the children' because... wait for it... 'education is a civil rights issue'. Damn right it is; that we can agree on.

Money can buy you power, and in NYC, money and power go a long way. What our neo-liberal and conservative friends fail to see however, because their money blinds them, is the ultimate consequence of their race to the top, their greed, their pestilence; the undermining of our society, the destruction of our democracy, the ruin of what it is that makes us great; an ideal that in this country all are created equal, that we have rights, and among them, we decided long ago, is the right to a free and fair public education that rejects separate but equal and seeks to prepare thoughtful citizens of the world.

Money can buy you a school in New York City. It can buy you stolen goods off the backs of our children and their schools and it can place you on the front lines of a movement to dismantle public education. Luckily for us, the parents of teachers of CAPE, we don't have money. All we have is our integrity, truth, and honor. We have our voices and together we call for the protection and preservation of public education and our community public schools.

A small victory... a big step for democracy!

2009-11-20T06:32:00.000-05:00

In the Gotham Schools article below you'll find an exciting surprise: democracy still exists in New York City (shocking we know!).
The CEC15 has bravely forced the DOE to at least pretend to function within the realm of our republic and has agreed to have a public hearing and have the PEP vote on whether PAVE Academy should be able to extend their two year agreement, an agreement by which this charter was sold to the Red Hook Community who fought it.
Please join in our fight to protect and preserve public education, our children and our school! Sign the online petition and circulate it. Contact the NYC PEP and tell them to vote no in allowing PAVE to break their agreement and stay housed in PS 15's building past June 2010... further, we need to fight to expose the faulty DOE formula that is hurting schools and our children. Bloomberg did not recieve a mandate in this last election, he only won by five points to a candidate that barely even campaigned, while he spent millions: the public has had enough and we must demand not only due process, not only transparency, but excellent schools with protected resources for ALL children. Bloomberg should be thinking legacy and unless he wants it to be remembered as a dictator who dismantled public schools in favor of corporate interests and his rich friends (in the case of PAVE, its founder Spencer Robertson's father, Julian Robertson, is a multi-billionare hedge fund guy and philanthropist, who has donated millions to Bloomberg's initiatives and is a funder and proponent of charter schools), he needs to change course and protect the citizens he was (unfortunately) elected to serve.

http://gothamschools.org/2009/11/19/doe-switches-course-on-process-for-pave-extension-request/comment-page-1/#comment-239642

Gotham Schools has an update about the shared space issue at P.S.15K!

2009-11-20T06:12:00.000-05:00

http://gothamschools.org/2009/11/19/doe-switches-course-on-process-for-pave-extension-request/

The Traveling Trio on Meet the Press this morning

2009-11-15T14:57:00.000-05:00

Public education was called for and created because our citizens, many of them first generation immigrants, in the late 1800's, realized that if we did not provide a system where all of our future citizens could share in access to a free and fair education, we would not be able to build a great society. It was realized then, that we are only as strong as our weakest members, that we are judged ultimately by how we treat our children, and that our success as a nation lies in our ability to teach each child to become thoughtful, educated citizens of the world. "Race to the Top" does not even begin to represent the earliest and most important ideals of public education: if this is a race, then there are winners and losers- who will the losers be? Inherent in the components of current reform, is a belief that teachers fail, schools fail, that choice and competition will bring about equality. This is a fundamental flaw because it is rooted in a capitalist ideology.

There is a reason that we have guarded certain aspects of our public policy from capitalist ideology, these social aspects need a more socialist approach (a dirty word, but it is true). Let's look at areas of social policy that have been infiltrated by capitalist ideology and the impact it has had: 1. Prisons: after prisons were partially privatized we saw the numbers of those incarcerated sky rocket, and in particular the disproportionate number of black men incarcerated has increased. 2. Health Care: dominated by private interest, 50,000 or more Americans die needlessly each year. 3. The military: Blackwater (a private military force) has done extreme harm to the national security of this country- their leader will soon be found guilty of heinous crimes, this organization has raped and murdered hundreds and they think they should not be held accountable for it because the public laws should not apply to them. These are three very simple and vitally crucial areas that go to the heart of the security and prosperity of our nation. Choice and competition, and private interest and money, the capitalist ideology now driving education reform, has weakened and harmed these important and vital aspects of our country and our social policies. This is not the solution for education. The unwavering belief in a free market ideology in a time of great economic turmoil that has been propagated by these very beliefs is unbelievable to me... how can we be so blind?

At the foundation of education reform is standardized testing; these tests are the centerpiece of all that reform is to be measured by, all we should be accountable to and for, this is not only a fundamental flaw, but it is outrageous. The current reform movement suggests that, we, and specifically teachers, should accept yearly test-based standards for their students/children, should stop whining about testing because it does no good, that if teachers teach, it will show up on the tests we give... this is a very narrow view not only of what teaching is, but of who our students are. We teach students who are hungry, whose parents did drugs and alcohol while they were pregnant. We teach students with disabilities, language delays, and medical issues. We teach students who are being abused and neglected. We teach students who don't know where they will sleep tonight. We teach students who trust no one, who are afraid, who seek love, who need love. We teach students who have had little to no rich experiences, whose prior knowledge is limited. We teach students without parent advocates, without family, without the safety and security that is a fundamental requirement for learning. These students do not necessarily represent the vast majority of students; but should we ignore their reality? We all know who the losers will be in Race to the Top and in the new Education Reform agenda, it will be these children.

What tests alone do not measure is who ate last night and this morning, who is worried, tired, or scared. Tests do not measure the tremendous strength it took to overcome the overwhelming despair many of our students, our children, experience, the strength it took to even show up in the morning. This week, fifth grade students in New York City will take a state social studies test on Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday is for make-ups and then they will take the reading city-wide test on Thursday and the math on Friday (I should not the alternative was to take the reading and math last Thursday and Friday which would have resulted in four consecutive school days of testing and the last two days of preperation for the social studies test would have been lost)... how is this teaching? How is this what is good for children? This is the measure of our children's achievement and worth? Of our teachers' success and worth?

We as educators and parents should be outraged at the reform agenda being presented to us, correction, being shoved down our throats: Charter schools and the privatization movement, the heavy focus on standardized testing, an undefined push for teacher quality and accountability, the significant inclusion and privilege of private corporations' view and influence at the exclusion of parents, educators, and students, slashed budgets, lost services, the narrowing of curriculum, the loss of democracy in our education system (especially here in NYC and other big cities across the country), which is ironic since one of education's most important roles is to protect, preserve and maintain our democracy through the preparation of its citizens.

This morning on Meet the Press, our trio and the host, began with 'defiing the problem', they said we need to stop lying to our children that we need to reward innovation. Standardized testing as the centerpiece of reform does this? Additionally, how do a group of four men who have never taught a day in their lives feel they have all that is needed to define the problem- it is insulting and intellectually disingenuous. They said they are saying to schools, 'show us something for the money we are giving you, go out and compete, lead our country in the way we want to go'. First of all, they are not giving anyone any money, it is OUR money. Secondly, the race is fixed. Go out an compete? We are all running from hugely different starting points. If money is tied to results, how do those at the bottom have the resources they need to get to the top? One of our oldest tales teaches us, slow and steady wins the race. Thoughtful reform rooted in meeting the needs of a very diverse body of students is what will ensure that all students win the race; reform based on money, competition, and tests will not. Finally, in leading our country where we want to go... we need to question whether there is a shared vision of where this is. Do policymakers and the corporations who own them really want all children to succeed and go to college and access the middle and upper classes? Let's be honest, no. As we head toward globalization, the world cannot sustain the level of the US middle class as other middle classes grow around the world... this requires one of two things- our middle class must shrink, or the disproportionate distribution of wealth in this country (the 1% that owns 90%) must redistribute- since these are the very people who run and own corporations and make policy, a good guess would be they are gunning for the first option.

This debate is being framed as (and our trio said this this morning), "taking on the education establishment". The only direct voice of a student in the whole piece, was of a young black boy saying, 'they[teachers] can't just give us textbooks and then put their heads down or go and answer their emails'. Then, the trio proceeds to talk about us all [teachers,parents,community members] coming together to reform education. When you begin your campaign by attacking, minimizing, and out right lying about and to the very people who have dedicated their lives to the children at the subject of this debate, coming together is not very likely and it is clear that the voices of those teachers in not what you seek. The Orwellian nature of saying, we want to include you, but we are going to minimize you, attack you, and generalize all of you as failing, even when we know any data will show you that the overwhelming majority of schools and teachers are NOT failing, is simply disgusting and it highlights the truth behind their lies... unfortunately, as the old Washington adage goes, 'the truth runs at 20 mph, lies run at 500 mph'.

Are their failing schools? Yes? Are their bad teachers? Yes. Are these two groups even a third of what we are talking about? No. Do we need to continue moving forward and making changes in striving for no failing schools and no horrible teachers... of course. The methods in which to do this, the ways in which we can achieve this are what is at question. The debate is not about failing schools and failing teachers, it is about the policies that can create and sustain the best educational system for ALL children. The policies currently being propagated will not achieve this goal because they do not address the needs of all children, plain and simple.

Should we have yearly tests, sure. Should we also have counseling services, food services, arts programs, family wrap-around services, portfolios, technology, new and renovated schools with equal supplies and staffing, multiple measures of achievement and progress, professional development, parent involvement, etc., yes. We cannot allow education to become Enron: make the numbers say it is so. We do not simply need numbers, we need real, authentic reform.

In the end, it is up to us. We must take our outrage, take our knowledge of what is not working and what we know does work and we must push forth. It is daunting, educators and parents do not have the organization and mobilization that Gingrich and Sharpton, for example, have... but if we do not fight to protect and preserve public education, we sit back at our own peril. So often in this country, we take the short view, we cannot afford to have our voices minimized at this time. The current education reform agenda will reinforce the systems of privilege and subordination we have in this country. All of its components will marginalize those already most marginalized in our society... those behind the current movement repeat (ad nausium) 'education is a civil rights issue'; what is so disingenuous, orwellian and cynical about the current debate is the very people who use this phrase are not fighting for policies that would actually better education for those the phrase refers to. We must lead the fight. We must define the problem and offer the solutions. They say they want to take on the establishment of education, well, we need to take on the establishment of corporations and Washington-male-insiders that have created the policies and reform we already function under and the new polcies that they are suggesting that will continue an unequal system, a sytem based on lies. If there is failure, which certainly there is, the overwhelming responsibility does not fall on the teachers who are forced to implement these policies or on the students who are the subjects of them, the faillure lies in the policies themselves. Educators and parents should be the loudest voice in policy reform, we should be driving it. If we are now going to call education 'a race to the top', we must consider that running a race takes preparation, training, vison, stamina, patience, hard work, and perseverance, and we must also take a forward look at the finish line: do we want winners and losers or do we want to stand united and cross the finish line togehter?

Let the PEP know what you think about shared space!

2009-11-01T20:32:00.000-05:00

http://schools.nyc.gov/AboutUs/leadership/PEP/publicnotice/default.htm

Oral and written comments on the regulations and proposals for significant changes in school utilization listed below will be accepted from September 25, 2009 to November 9, 2009.

The following Regulations have been posted for the 45-day public review period. The Panel will vote on the regulations listed below at the November 12, 2009 Panel meeting. The meeting will take place at 6:00 PM at PS 128 in Queens, located at 69-10 65th Drive, Queens, NY 11379.

3. Public Notice: A-190 Regulation on Significant changes in School Utilization.

· To submit written or oral comment on Regulation A-190, please email Portfolio@schools.nyc.gov or call (212) 374-0498.

· To review full text of Regulation A-190, please click: Amended A-190 Regulation on Significant Changes in School Utilization.

2009-10-18T17:50:00.000-04:00

Do you have a Charter School in your Public School building?

• Discuss and strategize how to fight back.

• Hear what educators and communities have done to organize.

• Find out what is happening around the city.

Tuesday, October, 20 - 4:30 PM CUNY Graduate Center – Room 541

34th St. & 5th Ave. (1 train to 33rdSt. N,Q,R,W,F,V,B,D to 34th St.) - Bring ID

Will a charter school take over your public school's art, music, AIS, library or science rooms? You are not alone.

PRIVATE Charter Schools are pushing into more and more of our PUBLIC Schools.

Help build a grassroots movement of educators to mobilize against this takeover of public school space!

http://grassrootseducationmovement.blogspot.com/ Tel. 718-601-4901

Parents and Educators for Thompson

2009-10-15T20:15:00.000-04:00

Please join

Parents for Thompson & Educators for Thompson

for a rally to support Bill Thompson for

Mayor of New York City.

8 years is enough of Mike Bloomberg’s failed education policies that have led to overcrowded schools and classrooms, overreliance on standardized tests, and school choices that only serve some students.

As Mayor of New York City, Bill Thompson will fundamentally shift our priorities on education to ensure that children count, educators matter and parents are partners.

Join us!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

1:00 pm

Tweed Courthouse Steps

52 Chambers St, Manhattan

Please RSVP to Logan Kelly at 212.608.6555 ext. 111

or LKelly@thompson2009.com

For more information on the campaign, please visit www.thompson2009.com

Check out this article from the Daily News!

2009-10-06T19:18:00.001-04:00

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2009/10/06/2009-10-06_kids_slam_library_land_grab_jhs_126_squeezed_out_of_study_space_by_3_charter_sch.html

Capitalism and Social Policy

2009-10-03T22:25:00.001-04:00

We cannot mention enough the concern we have that those that believe in the free-market, to the extent that capitalism has become an ideology rather than an economic system, have taken over the education reform movement. We have economics professors publishing studies that garner the majority of the media's attention, we have corporations funding the charter school movement, and we have our government catering to the business world and including them, while excluding parents, students, and teachers, when it comes to to the education reform debate.

It is our heartfelt belief that the direction education reform is taking has been generated by education myths that are rooted in fear, and the steps being propagated, based on these myths will destroy public education and create a new system of educational segregation in this country; reinforcing the roles of privilege and subordination that already exist.

Parents and Educators who choose to send their children to charter schools and/or work in charter schools are often making a tough choice that they believe is best, and may in fact be best, for them or their child. We, in Red Hook, know many parents who struggled with the decision to put their child in PAVE charter school, and only did so because their other choice, due to zoning, was a failing school. This dilemma is heartbreaking in that all children should have a successful public school they can send their child to, but it is also short-sided. What we take in the short run, another option to counter failing schools, we will pay for in the long run. In this country we always seem to be playing catch-up, we always seek the quick fix. Charter Schools are the new quick fix, and the intended (or if you want to give the benefit of the doubt- the unintended) consequences of this movement will be catastrophic to students without fierce advocates, it will hurt children with special needs and language barriers, and it will damage our collective culture- our society.

All children deserve a great public school option in their neighborhood and that is where the dollars and education reform efforts should be focused. There is more at play here than simply offering parents choice- if what was really desired was successful public schools for all, we wouldn't be promoting a system that will benefit children who win a lottery and hurt the children who don't. We wouldn't be promoting a system that is funded by those with other motives- to privatize education- who believe in the free market with such conviction that capitalism is their operating ideology, even when it comes to social policy.

We have seen in the last year the economic consequences of less regulation. We have seen the consequences of allowing capitalism to go unchecked in our economic policies... why would anyone want to see this repeated with our eduction system? Why, especially, knowing what we know now, are we allowing the corporate world to drive education reform? 1% of the country owns 90% of the wealth and therefore the perceived power, but last we checked this was still a democracy- we have the power of our vote, the power of our voice, and the power in our numbers. Education reform isn't 'sexy', but it is the most important issue in terms of the preservation of our culture and the progress of our citizenry. It is time for parents, educators, and children to mobilize and, even though it is not asked for, make their voices heard... stand up, take back our schools and our neighborhoods and say no to capitalist ideology being the driving force behind education reform.

CAPE'n the Atlantic Antic

2009-10-03T21:49:00.000-04:00

Sunday CAPE will be at the Atlantic Antic in Brooklyn spreading the word about educational advocacy, providing policy information concerning the current education reform movement, and working to mobilize parents, teachers, and citizens to take action.

If you are down for a day of street festivities as only Brooklyn can offer, look for us around Atlantic and Boerum!

Recent News

2009-09-30T21:31:00.000-04:00

Below is a Daily News story about the PS 15/PAVE Academy space struggle. One little tidbit, among so many, we wish was in the article: PS 15 gave up a room, already shared by two full-time occupational therapists, which PAVE made into a materials room/cafeteria for staff and teachers. PS 15's OT services are now provided in the library, which is under renovation and already used for several other displaced enrichment programs, and the other OT uses Good Shepherd program's computer room. No one seems to understand there are consequences to space sharing, and those consequences hurt our children.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2009/09/27/2009-09-27_ps_15_and_pave_academy_in_red_hook_struggle_sharing_space.html#ixzz0SK0kfAaA

There was a recent article in the Daily News and the Post touting the success of charter schools based on a study authored by an economics professor from Stanford. When did economics professors, from Harvard to Stanford, become so active in education policy? The answer, when the Nation at Risk report was written under Regan. This report, and the commission who wrote it, was first ignored by Regan, but later embraced when he realized its political value. This report not only reinforced many of the fear-based myths that drive education policy today, but it also, "paved the way for business people to become legitimate speakers on and advocates for education concerns...because it made education an economic issue." (Zhao, 2009). Over the last two decades, federal and state education summits have centered around businesses and economics advisers and educators and parents have been shut out (one of the first summits, called for by George Bush #1 and led by Bill Clinton) was in 1989- not a single teacher was invited. Another in 1996, led by Tommy Thompson was actually held at IBM's conference center and included 44 executives of major businesses). *for more on this read, "Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization" by, Yong Zhao.

The article below, by Diane Ravitch, addresses the flaws in the economic professor's article and we wish made the point, as the creator of The Wire has: capitalism is not a social philosophy, it is an economic philosophy. We cannot allow the capitalist ideology to pervade and pervert our social policies, such as education, because these policies are the pillar of our democracy and must be protected to ensure we prepare a democratic citizenry.

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/09/27/2009-09-27_the_charter_school_problem_results_are_much_less_positive_than_a_new_study_sugge.html#ixzz0SK0yLi7a

Finally, below is an article about our friend Mona Davids. This Bronx parent advocate has way deeper ties to the Bloomberg Administration and the business world than her role as President of Charter School Parents Association, or she, reveals. We love how this article states that she just decided to start this group up, and mentions nothing about the money and support behind her, let alone her business dealings. It reminds us of the new trend in politics; astroturf movements as opposed to true grassroots movements. Here is a woman, who came from the Bronx into Red Hook to scream at a crowd of concerned educators and parents and tried to divide them with racial undertones and vicious attacks on teachers. This same woman runs a company that is the only bridge to new development in South Africa and NYC, which the Bloomberg Administration is seeking investment with. Let us be clear, the goals of business investment and commerce between the United States, specifically NYC, and African nations is a good one; what is questionable is the ties and connections and the 'back-scratching' nature of it all; not to mention the fact that Mona presents herself as a neighborhood parent advocate, which apparently according to her, white people and teachers can't be, when really she is a very savvy, very organized, very funded, and very connected business woman. This is certainly does not negate her role as an active parent, we just ask for truth and transparency. When one hides or misrepresents who they are or what their interests are, it makes you wonder...

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/regional/charter_ex_foe_convert_YZQHtDqzj6elkmTclMxefM