When John King was booed at his first parent meeting, he got angry. He expected parents to listen to his wisdom, gleaned from his three years in a no-excuses charter school that is known for kicking out non-conforming students.
Most state superintendents understand that they are public servants, meaning they serve the public. John King thinks he was chosen to give orders to schools, teachers, principals, and superintendents. He confuses leading the State Education Department with leading a no-excuses charter school, where he can suspend or expel anyone who doesn’t follow his orders.
But the parents did not get the message. when he sternly lectured them about the glories of the Common Core and Common Core testing, the parents booed and jeered him.
He canceled all future meetings with parents so he can stay in Fortress Albany. There, his employees know how to take orders.
Mark NAISON, co-founder of the BATs, says King should resign. Now. He has made it clear that he doesn’t like children other than his own, and that he knows nothing about education, only testing.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
To sign the petition calling for John King’s resignation, go to: http://www.change.org/petitions/new-york-state-board-of-regents-terminate-the-employment-of-state-education-commissioner-john-king#
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A different link to the petition StudentsLast cited.
http://www.change.org/petitions/new-york-state-board-of-regents-terminate-the-employment-of-state-education-commissioner-john-king
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A little humor to lighten things…
What occurred backstage with John
King and his advisors after King fled
the stage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvKVkitKOgk
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EXACTLY Who cancelled the
remaining meetings?
King or the PTA leaders? Gates?
If it’s a PTA event, can’t they carry
on without King participating?
Everything’s booked and paid for,
and people have set aside time
to attend.
Since the PTA took a boatload
of Gates money, does the
cancellation of the town halls mean
the PTA is not an independent voice
and representative of the parents, and
instead just puppets of Gates? Or
King? Or whomever?
King’s latest statement is that the
truth is the opposite of this. No,
his latest claim is that those
loudmouth parents who spoke out
at the town hall (in the video) were
phony agents of “special interests”
out to disrupt the event, and deny
“the real parents” an opportunity to
learn and dialogue about Common
Core and school reform. (Is King’s
thought process here the kind of
critical thinking he wants taught in
Common Core?)
A MESSAGE TO ANY OF THOSE
WHO SPOKE ON CAMERA:
Were any of you actual parents?
OR
Were you just pretending to be
parents so you could then disrupt
the town hall event on orders from
your “special interest” masters?
OR
Were you perhaps actual parents
as well as “special interest”
provocateurs out to sabotage
the event, and thus deny
the non-special interest parents
the benefits of the town hall?
Inquiring minds want to know.
And to Commissioner King…
exactly WHO are these nefarious
“special interest” puppeteers who
masterminded the destruction
of the Common Core town hall
event?
Whoever they are, they need
to be rooted out at once, and
exposed for these destructive
forces—the enemies of true
school reform—that they are!
Tell the world!
Let’s study the video once again,
so we can start the process
of identifying and exposing them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_Eiz406VAs
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Common core is a bad meme. Teach, http//www.criticalthinking.org – to start.
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The phrase “special interests” is code in the same way as certain euphemisms that have been used in history with cynical, occasionally even genocidal intent. We know damned well what King means. If the stakes were not so high and the destruction wrought by this ugly hijacking of words not so costly, one could have some fun with the ambiguity of that phrase.
Astronauts are a”special interest” for space exploration, surgeons are a “special interest” for malignant lesion removal, and veterinarians are a ‘special interest” for hair ball removal. One could go on and on.
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There were several town halls
scheduled to sell Common Core to
the parents of New York state
schoolchildren. N.Y. State Education
Commissioner was the presenter,
with the events organized and
presented by the N.Y. State PTA.
However, after yesterday’s first
suchtown hall, N.Y. State
Education Commissioner King
strong-armed the N.Y, State PTA
into cancelling the remaining town
halls with the following statement:
https://www.facebook.com/nyspta
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“While our goal was to provide
an opportunity to learn and share,
based on review of the initial
October 10 meeting, the
Commissioner concluded the
outcome was not constructive
for those taking the time to
attend.
“Please know that NYS PTA
will continue to work with all
education and child advocacy
partners to keep our members
updated andinformed on
education, health, safety and
welfare issues affecting children
and families.
“We apologize for any
inconvenience this may cause
and express our sincere
appreciation to those who have
given their time to assist with
organizing this initiative.”
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Well, you can “review” for yourself
the crucial final 20 minutes of
yesterday’s town hall here—
the colorfully titled YouTube video
“Commissioner King Gets Spanked”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_Eiz406VAs
This meeting was a Rhee-like
farce where King spoke for 2
hours straight, and was scheduled
to to be followed by 1 hour of
public comments and questions.
Note that… ***was scheduled to
be followed…***
The best laid plans…
Indeed, 20 minutes in, neither
King nor the NYS PTA
moderator “could stand the
heat, so they got outta the kitchen.”
They were totally unprepared by
how well-informed and
onfrontational these parents were.
At about the 10 minute mark, one
parent brought up the fact that King
sends his own kids to a Montessori
School which has a curriculum that
is the antithesis of Common Core
as a Montessori school is…
(to quote its wikipedia entry)
– – – – – – – – – – – – –
“… characterized by an emphasis on
independence, freedom within limits,
and respect for a child’s natural
psychological, physical, and social
development….
“… and has these elements
as essential:[1][2]
” — Mixed age classrooms, with
classrooms for children aged
2½ or 3 to 6 years old by far the
most common
“— Student choice of activity
from within a prescribed range of
options
“— Uninterrupted blocks of work
time, ideally three hours
“— A Constructivist or ‘discovery’
model, where students learn
concepts from working with
materials, rather than by direct
instruction.
“Specialized educational materials
developed by Montessori and her
collaborators
“— Freedom of movement within
the classroom
” — A trained Montessori teacher
“In addition, many Montessori
schools design their programs
with reference to Montessori’s
model of human development
from her published works, and
use pedagogy, lessons, and
materials introduced in teacher
training derived from courses
presented by Montessori
during her lifetime… ”
– – – – – – – – – – – –
This disclosure and implied attack
on King pretty much ended things.
King made the dubious claim that
his Montessori school scrupulously
follows “Common Core”
“This totally enraged the audience
of parents as it was and is a
ludicrous and demonstrably false
claim that was rightly met with
skepticism and loud booing,
enraging the crowd… if for
no other reason that folks
don’t like to be lied to or have
their intelligences insulted.
The flustered moderator then
quickly wrapped it up, “We’re going
to allow two more people to speak.”
At which point people began
screaming even louder:
“WHAT HAPPENED TO ‘ONE
HOUR’ ?!!!”
This is absolutely riveting video.
Again, you can see that crucial
final 20 minutes at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_Eiz406VAs
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I still can’t believe that John King could not handle the RIGOR of these questions from parents. Clearly he was not CRITICALLY THINKING. Nor does he seem CARRER READY to continue as commisioner of nysed.
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Mister V: bingo!
Solution: he should attend the Montessori school his child[ren] attend and deeply absorb the Common Core offered there.
🙂
“Laughter is poison to the pompous.”
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Is there anyone out there who is
a current/former teacher or parent
at the Montessori school where
King sends his kids who can
shed light on the accuracy of King’s
claim that his kids’ Montessori
school strictly adheres to
Common Core?
King makes this dubious claim at
about 17:00 on the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_Eiz406VAs
was hoping that someone had
actual information about the Montessori
school where King sends his kids.
So far, I’ve yet to find out exactly
what occurs during a typical
school day at that specific Montessori
school—schedule, curriculum,
activities, subjects taught, etc.
(without naming the school, of
course, less King try again to hide
behind his kids… “My kids are
out-of-bounds! How dare you
attack my kids!” No, no one is
attacking your children, John;
millions of NY state parents
are rightfully questioning your
choice to keep them as far
away from the questionable
curriculum and testing that
you’re demanding millions of
other NY state children must
endure.)
Thankfully, both Montessori’s
official site and its Wikipedia
page details what happens at
almost all Montessori
schools—i.e. the ones that are
functioning in a way consistent
with the Montessori educational
philosophy and methods. If
the Montessori to which King
sends his children does not
operate this way, they are an
exception, and not a true
Montessori school—sort of like
a restaurant purporting be a
McDonald’s and uses the name
McDonald’s, but instead that
sells hot dogs instead of
hamburgers.
However, I was able to discover
a blog post from Carol Burris
who DOES have information about
the Montessori school to which
King sends his kids. It’s at the
top of the COMMENTS section:
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2013/06/when_the_ny_state_education_dept_complained_about_this_blog.html
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
CAROL BURRIS (regarding the
Montessori school where King
sends his kids):
“A friend whose employee attends
the Montessori School (and
therefore knows that the children
attend it) informed me that the
school does not give all of the
tests at all of the grade levels.
“Teachers are not evaluated by
the scores, nor is the school
evaluated by the scores.
“That has been confirmed.”
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
In the video, King described
his children’s Montessori school
being part of NY state’s
“community of schools”.
Apparently, not all of NYS’s
educational institutions
are in sync with the policies that
King demands that the public
schools follow—i.e. the
non-public school where he
sends his own children.
The article that this COMMENT
is responding to is pretty
incendiary as well. It’s from
the “FINDING COMMON
GROUND” blog, written by
elementary school principal
Peter DeWitt.
According to the webpage,
DeWitt “writes about students’
social and emotional health,
and how educators can help
young people find common
ground. He was selected as
the 2013 New York State
Outstanding Educator of the
Year by the School
Administrators Association
of New York State.”
The story is about how
officials from the N.Y. State
Education Dept. harassed
him at his school office in
response to comments he
wrote about… you guessed it…
the subject of King’s sending
his children to a Montessori
school.
The attempts to intimidate,
censor, and implicitly threaten
DeWitt are as creepy as
anything to do with the recent
Town Hall fiasco.
For example, Tom Dunn,
King’s Director of Communications,
volunteered to DeWitt…
“It’s not like I’m going to call your
superintendent … ”
… to complain about DeWitt,
should DeWitt refuse to cooperate
and do what he says—i.e. edit out
the stuff about King’s kids
attending a Montessori school.
That remark has a very mafioso-ish
type ring to it—along the lines of…
“It’s not like we’re going to go
and harm your wife and kids if
you don’t play ball with us. We
wouldn’t want anything to happen
to them, now. Would we?”
C’mon. If you’re not going to
do something, and you’re not
actually threatening to do so,
then why even bring it up?
These are the final paragraphs
of DeWitt’s article in their entirety:
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
PETER DEWITT:
“(Ed. Commissioner King’s)
communications director should
spend less time trying to coerce
and intimidate educational
bloggers who are trying to get
out the truth, and spend more
time listening to the voices of
teachers, parents, students and
principals.
“Collectively, there were thousands
of them who converged on Albany,
NY yesterday for the June 8th Rally.
I hope some leaders from State
Ed were in the crowd because
one thing is for sure…our voices
won’t be stifled. ”
“My concern over the phone call
is ‘what’s next?’ One phone call
for an error. A second one
because I used strong language
or criticized the commissioner?
“What will be the next thing I
write that State Ed does not like?
If there is something untrue about
my blog, post a comment at the
end or send an e-mail like everyone
else.
“My secretary is too busy to take
calls about my blog, nor should
she have to. I don’t post blogs at
school, and my students and staff
are my first priority. We are trying
to meet the deadline of getting
through our End of the Year SLO’s.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Dunn’s phone
call seemed less about correcting
an error (which may or may not be
true) and more about flexing his
NY State Education muscles. We
have about as much time for State
Ed phone calls as they do for
ours.”
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Again, you can read the whole
thing at:
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2013/06/when_the_ny_state_education_dept_complained_about_this_blog.html
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WOW, did you read today’s article in the Daily News:
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/charter-school-chain-ignore-new-teacher-evaluations-article-1.1484571
The logic involved in the decision making is just not there! How can one acclaim that the costly, time consuming, inaccurate evaluation system is worth anything when one permits the Charters to opt-out? This is sick!
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Hmmm, maybe this will be King’s Tony Bennett|Christel House moment.
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The owner of this blog and others have pointed out the connection between strong public schools and democracy.
State Commissioner John King’s conduct at the 10-10-13 meeting makes it plain to all except die-hard charterite/privatizer zealots: the obedience and docility training that is employed in the leading charter chains is directed not only at students but at employees and parents [and by implication, the wider community] as well.
I ask anyone who reads this comment to review the tape of the meeting. Then set aside, as much as possible, the smug arrogance and sneering condescension exhibited by this public official. Note that Mr. King appears genuinely baffled and uncomfortable, as if he genuine dialogue and give-and-take in a [supposedly] open democratic forum is terra incognita.
It is not mere appearance. When you are accustomed to being being obeyed, to controlling those around you, to hearing nothing but sycophantic cheers of “You’re the Greatest of All Time!” — then the 10-10-13 meeting is, indeed, some sort of bizarre aberration, some plot by your enemies to demean and attack you.
In his eyes, how can it be about anything else but HIM?
Finally, consider what lessons are being taught the students, employees, and parents forced to undergo docility & obedience training.
This won’t promote and protect democracy.
“Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.” [Frederick Douglass]
Time to quit submitting quietly.
🙂
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I’ll give it to Reeses, peanut butter and chocalate is a good combo. Not so sure about these Monte-core-i schools though. Although, perhaps the venture capitalists of silicon valley would go for a Waldorf – KIPP fusion school. Be silent, look straight ahead and do your felting project. March to the bathroom single file and recite your Norse Gods loudlly in unison.
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Signed up and commented on the get rid of King site. Let’s get rid of all of them. They are not in the same control as before and it is showing. Time to turn up the heat and cook them good. We in L.A. are doing that and checking close nationally constantly. It is heating up and that is not good for the fascist school takeover artists. With the sudden leaving of their “Boy” Aquino at LAUSD we now have the opening and we immediately ran ahead of the billionaires before they could move. Now they are on the defensive as has been shown recently when Warren Fletcher, head of UTLA, has been going behind the lines to board members on the illegally charged and no due process terminations of teachers and getting traction so what does Deasy do? Well, he tells staff to not give UTLA the information on the about to be terminated teachers. Now that is blowing up in Deasy’s face. At LAUSD administrators have declared war on the 5-2 lifetime teacher board. Is this crazy? Yet this is how it rolls for them. Not a good move. You cannot educate properly with fear constantly in your mind.
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turn up the heat. he is in a weakened position. start a mass letter writing campaign to the governor. parents should be contacting their state reps, by letter and phone call. throw out the rascal!
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Well the National PTA just collaborated with the other side and sold out its own members:
http://nysptapresident.blogspot.com/
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Didn’t the national PTA, along with NEA & AFT take Gates money a while back to ensure support for CC$$? We’re all being bought off. Sigh… ^0^
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On another humorous note, I just found
this over at STUDENTS LAST:
————————————————
THE KING’S DICTIONARY:
New York – The reigning Commissioner of Education for the State of New York, John King, has released the following dictionary of terms that he would like distributed at any other town hall meetings he deigns to attend.
accountability — fireability, what the King is above
child — learning unit available for sale to corporations (notable exceptions include: King’s child(ren))
critical voices — that to which the King is deaf
democracy — a form of government in which people choose their leaders and their leaders choose not to listen to them because it is time-consuming and inconvenient
dissent — that to which the King is impervious
education — marketplace
educators — pawns
experience — overblown requirement for teaching
evidence — that which does not exist to support the use of Common Core Standards
knowledge — facts, information and skills not necessarily required before implementing state-wide learning standards
money — short cut around democratic process
parent — easily manipulated adult unit in charge of child (see above)
Ravitch — she who must not be named
respect — what silent acquiescence shows
rigor — developmentally inappropriate
schooled — what the King got on October 10, 2013 in Poughkeepsie, NY
special interests — those who disagree with the King’s policies
Town Hall meeting — gathering at which the King speaks and you listen
——————————————–
This is at:
http://studentslast.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-kings-dictionary.html
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We must fight with tenacity yet fierce discreet deviousness ( and political ingenuity) the would-be juggernaut that has in the last dozen or so years taken an almost lethal toll on public education.
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But we must do the above with less long-windedness than I used!
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