Doubt It!

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!

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...

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.

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

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

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

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"