Archives for category: New York City
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NYC Educator: Why We Don’t Need Common Core

By dianeravitch
June 24, 2014 //
16

New York State is a hotbed of parent opposition to Common Core standards, but no one in charge in the state or in the city of New York seems aware of it. Governor Cuomo loves the Common Core, as does State Commissioner John King, most of the state Board of Regents, and the di Blasio administration. The conventional wisdom is that “the implementation was flawed,” but it may be more than implementation that is flawed. Can we really have “national standards” that are “rigorous” and “common?” The more rigorous they are, the bigger the achievement gaps. The more rigorous they are, the more failures there will be among children who are not doing well now. The idea that children will jump higher if the bar is raised doesn’t make sense. If they can’t clear a four-foot bar, they won’t clear a six-foot bar. Word on the street is that the state will report higher test scores, and this great accomplishment will happen by dropping the “cut score” or passing mark. At some point, the public or parents will wise up and realize that the passing rate is utterly arbitrary and depends on an arbitrary decision about where to set the cut scores.

Arthur Goldstein, a high school teacher in Queens in New York City, who blogs as “NYC Educator,” explains here why he does not like the Common Core standards.

“I don’t care how much PD is provided and how many CC-aligned lesson plans are sent along, I don’t want the Common Core. I don’t want test companies and data companies profiting off of the misery of little kids. I don’t want to teach to someone’s test today, tomorrow or ever, to save myself from professional annihilation–when I already know students living in poverty with language deficiencies and many special needs will never on average surpass the scores of children in wealthy suburbia.

“As I think about it, I am sure that America has not so much bought the Common Core as been handsomely paid to adopt it. As states begin to realize the federal morass in which they are now mired, I am sure many more will agitate for withdrawal…

“I have always believed education should be a reserved power, as the Founders intended. The states must be in the driver’s seat. I believe the closer education comes to the grassroots, the better it will serve community needs and our larger democracy. Our federal government already has enough business and thorny issues to keep it occupied. And, I am very worried about much of that business. Why would I want our federal government taking on even more? We are not communist and we are not a dictatorship. We do not need federal hands in every pie. In my mind, the Common Core is a recipe for one rotten pie and we would all do well to keep our hands and those of our children clear of it!”

Categories Common Core, New York City

EduShyster Interviews Jose Luis Vilson about His New Book

By dianeravitch
June 22, 2014 //
3

EduShyster interviewed Jose Luis Vilson, New York City teacher and blogger, about his new book, “This Is Not a Test.”

Vilson has woven together the story of his own life with narratives about his students and classroom experiences. My impression, when I read his book, is that he has a fresh voice, a style all his own, and a compelling way of bringing together issues and personal stories.

In response to a question, Vilson says he is determined to be hopeful, no matter what is thrown his way. Frankly, anyone who could survive the harsh Bloomberg years is a determined optimist. EduShyster asks about his optimism, and he replies, “The way I look at it, there’s really no choice. Educators need, NEED to have some kind of hope because otherwise we’re powerless. Once we start to feel less hopeful, that fire we start out with gets extinguished. I do have pessimism and skepticism as drivers but I always have optimism right next to me because I’m always hoping things will get better. Our kids are our driving force. If you don’t have the kids you teach in mind, then why be hopeful? If you’re teaching as a career, than optimism is the way to go.”

Simply opposing the current reform movement with all its flaws is insufficient, he says. We must have a vision for the future that is far better than “the good old days,” which weren’t good at all for many people. That new vision must be far more inclusive than in the past, especially for those at the margins of society.

In her last question, Edushyster posed this challenge:

“ES: For those who like their wisdom distilled into bite-sized 140 character portions, you’re also quite a presence on Twitter. Here’s a challenge for you. Can you boil down the central argument of your book into a single Tweet?

JV: *It’s not about the salary; it’s all about reality.*

Categories Education Reform, New York City

Leonie Haimson: Come to NYC Hearings to Fight for Class Size Reduction

By dianeravitch
June 15, 2014 //
12

Leonie Haimson of ClassSizeMatters calls on NYC parents and concerned citizens to attend public hearings about allocation of money.

Starting Tuesday of this week, the NYC Department of Education will hold mandated hearings in each borough on the use of more than $500 million in state Contracts for Excellence funds – which, according to state law, is supposed to include a plan to reduce class size.

Right now, class sizes in the early grades are the largest in 15 years, despite the fact that smaller classes are the top priority of parents in the DOE’s own surveys, and the constitutional right of NYC students, according to the state’s highest court.

Yet instead of allocating specific dollars for this purpose, the DOE has left it up to principals to decide which among five programs they would like to spend these funds. To make things worse, in an Orwellian bit of doublespeak, the DOE will allow principals to spend these funds not to lower class size – but if they merely claim that they will be used to minimize class size increases.

Please attend these hearings and speak out; more information and a schedule is here, and a petition you can sign is here.

Leonie Haimson
Executive Director
Class Size Matters
124 Waverly Pl.
New York, NY 10011
212-674-7320
leonie@classsizematters.org
http://www.classsizematters.org
http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com

Categories Class size, New York City, Parents

Eva Moskowitz Will Apply for Another 14 Charter Schools in New York City

By dianeravitch
June 11, 2014 //
17

Thanks to legislation recently passed in Albany with the strong support of Governor Andrew Cuomo, Eva Moskowitz announced that she will seek another 14 charter schools, expanding her network significantly. This August, according to her website, she will have “9,450 scholars at 32 schools” in the city. She is applying to the State University of New York, which is a friendly authorizer. The public schools of New York City are now required by state law to give her free space or pay her rent in private space. Thanks, Governor Cuomo!

This is how her press release began:

“RESPONDING TO STRONG COMMUNITY DEMAND, SUCCESS ACADEMY TO APPLY FOR 14 ADDITIONAL CHARTERS

“June 10, 2014 (New York, NY) — Success Academy Charter Schools announced today that it is submitting applications to SUNY Charter Schools Institute to establish 14 new public charter schools in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Queens. Community demand for these high-performing schools reached an all time high this year, with more than 14,400 families applying for fewer than 3,000 open seats. An outgrowth of the charter-friendly legislation championed by Governor Cuomo and other state leaders this spring, the planned schools will provide educational equity to thousands of families in communities currently without viable school options for their children.”

“Chancellor Fariña recently noted that it is important to listen to the community. That is what we are doing in applying for these charters because the community is demanding more high quality charter schools,” said CEO Eva Moskowitz. “These families — representing more than a dozen neighborhoods — are desperate for great schools. Even with 14 more schools, we will not make a dent in the demand we are seeing.”

Categories Charter Schools, Cuomo, Andrew, Harlem Success Academy, New York City

Testing Expert Calls on NYC Chancellor Farina to Say No to Pearson Field Tests

By dianeravitch
June 6, 2014 //
48

Testing expert Fred Smith explains here why New York City Chancellor Carmen Farina should say no to the Pearson field tests.

The field tests waste instructional time. They benefit the publisher, not the students.

“Here are some arguments the chancellor could use:

*Because students know the stand-alone field tests don’t count and are of no consequence to them, they are not motivated to do well, especially in lovely June weather. This skews the data and fails to provide Pearson with reliable “intelligence” needed to furnish good exams.

*Proof that stand-alone field testing is an unworkable approach to test development lies in the poorly constructed ELA and math exams that were given in 2012 and 2013. Witness the criticism from teachers and parents across the state on both exams.

*The field tests have proceeded because the state has created a top-down system that inhibits principals and teachers from telling parents about them or seeking permission for their children to take them.

*A definitive analysis of federal legislation and state rules and regulations has found no legal basis requiring schools to give, or parents to go along with, the tests.”

Categories Farina, Carmen, New York City, Pearson, Standardized Testing

New York City’s Teachers Adrift, Victims of Reform

By dianeravitch
May 30, 2014 //
21

During the decade or so in which Mayor Michael Bloomberg totally controlled the public schools of New York City, he relied on test scores as the measure of students, teachers, principals, and schools. His was a managerial mindset devoid of any philosophy of education or of any concern for the lives of individuals or communities. Collateral damage was unimportant, and many people fell under his wheels. His primary strategy was to close schools with low scores and open new schools. He believed in small schools, even though few of these schools had the facilities or staff for English language learners, students with disabilities, or advanced classes in math or science or anything else. After he had been in office for a number of years, he was closing some of the new schools. The central office could literally murder a school by directing large numbers of low-scoring students to it, which was a death sentence. As schools began to die (and he had a particular hatred for large schools), good students moved out and the death cycle was accelerated as the stats looked worse and worse.

What happened to the teachers in the schools marked for closure? Some got out as fast as they could, others stayed in their post, either because they were devoted to the school and hoped it would be saved if they tried harder or because they felt committed to the students. When the school at last was closed, many tenured teachers were set adrift. They could apply to other schools but because they were experienced, they were expensive and many principals preferred to have two new teachers than one veteran. So the teachers without a school were placed in what was called the Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR), where they stayed on salary but floated through the system as substitutes or short-timers. The press regularly ridiculed them as incompetents, although most had lost their job through no fault of their own, and some or many were expert teachers.

In this post, Lynne Winderbaum tells the story of the ATRs. She is a retired ESL teacher.

Categories New York City, Teachers and Teaching

New York: Report from the Frontlines

By dianeravitch
May 29, 2014 //
25

The following letter was written by a principal in Néw York City. He describes what so many educators feel: Education is being destroyed by excessive, pointless testing. The sad fact is that testing no longer functions as a way to inform teachers and parents and to help children but as a blunt instrument to wear children down and demoralize their teachers.

Subject: Student and testing burn out.

“Today, we had a few students that did not write a thing for the essay on today’s practice CCLS English Regents. The exam was tough and kids were burnt out.

“Once upon a time, there was an English Regents exam.The exam was a total of 6 hours over two days in which students had to write 2 essays. The new exam requires 2 essays, reading 10 pieces of text and answering multiple-choice questions that resemble AP/SAT subject questions. CRAZY!!!

“The combined testing of city and state, coupled with practice exams to ready the students for the tests are having a major impact.

“We are exhausting the children.
Exhausting testing team staff.
Distracting testing team staff from instructional and professional development work (Testing team personnel are usually out of classroom coaches/pd providers, etc.)
Losing Instructional time when students are taking the exams and when they are covered by subs so their teachers can grade exams.

“Exhausting a lot of money, not just in copying and administrative, processing, mailing costs, but in the hiring of subs so that teachers can score the exams.
Someone should look at the true cost of testing to this degree via RTTT mandates.

“I wonder every day whether the benefits will be worth the weight of the burden.

“I am not an advocate for no testing. I love accountability that results in action (adjustments to curriculum, professional development, intervention plans/actions, or removal, retraining, or reassignment of poor performing staff.

“I am just wondering how these exams can be made more civil for children.
They are almost a form of corporal punishment.

“Eight year olds sitting for 3 days straight for math and ELA state exams. Schools doing all of this testing and being forced by the state to administer field tests.

“It seems like unnecessary overkill.
The city giving exams in fall and spring in order to create these “local measures” for RTTT mandate.

“Perhaps the tests should be only state exams…
A November exam and a late May/June exam that is half the length of the current exams…
This way we eliminate the need for some of the city local measures for pre and post.
We can also garner a growth measure between a child’s results in late November and late May/June which can factor into the teacher rating.

“Anyway, this was a hard year. I would argue harder than Hurricane Sandy…all due to the policies that adults make devoid of practitioner in the field or principal input.

“There is so much talk out there about respecting communication and input from parents, etc.

“Yet, the centralization of power in one place has a few people pushing agendas on localities devoid of sincere and respected input.

“Sort of like the criticism incurred by the community boards in city neighborhoods that have no local code legislative or enforcement power…some argue they are there for the illusion of democracy so that a few powerful entities can make policy that permits developers and other agendas to have their way.

“Sorry for the negative information, but this has been a tough year and the conduits of input from the extremities to the heart are few and far between.

“Sincerely,

XXXXXXX

Categories Accountability, New York City, Testing

Duncan: Racial Isolation Has Worsened

By dianeravitch
May 23, 2014 //
20
Categories Charter Schools, Chicago, Duncan, Arne, New York City, Segregation , Racial Isolation and Integration, U.S. Department of Education

The Portelos Case: Why Tenure Exists

By dianeravitch
May 22, 2014 //
43

Francesco Portelos, tenured teacher in Néw York City, was just exonerated after a suspension that lasted 826 days. The Néw York City Department of Education tried to fire him, but he refused to leave. Nearly $1 million was spent in this long ordeal. Just recently, Portelos won, was exonerated, given a $10,000 fine for some minor offense, and restored to his classroom. No, wait, he was not restored to his classsropm; he is being rotated from class to class, without an assignment.

Here is the latest:

Subject: Big news from NYC Educator Exile. A Big Score for Teacher Tenure!
From: mrportelos@gmail.com
To: daughtersofbukowski@gmail.com

Good afternoon fellow educators,

Just sharing exciting news here in NYC. After the NYC DOE tried so hard to fire me for over two years, after 826 days they found out they failed. This is why tenure is important. Let the corporate reformers know. Thanks for your support!

DOE vs Portelos Termination Verdict Is In 826 Days After They Took Aim to Fire.

http://wp.me/p31ecs-YI

Francesco A. Portelos
Parent
Educator
IS 49 UFT Chapter Leader
EducatorFightsBack.org
DTOE.org

“In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
Yu

Categories New York City, Teacher Tenure

Rally to Save Public Education, Saturday, MAY 17, 2 pm, New York City [DATE Fixed]

By dianeravitch
May 16, 2014 //
23

Taking Back OUR Schools Rally & March – NYC Metro

May 17 @ 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm

On the steps of City Hall

“Declaration, Protest, Successes, and Call to Action”

Calling all NYC Metro Area community activists, the “voices of resistance”, families, students, civil rights advocates, voters, immigrant families, policymakers and legislators, union members, teachers, faith leaders, and all communities that believe in a good public education for all!

Join us in a march and rally seeking to create & sustain a public school system that provides a fully funded, equitable, community-based education for every child. This means that decisions about our children’s schooling would be made democratically by families and professional educators, free of corporate and political intervention.

Featuring a Message from Diane Ravitch

Speaking will be: Mark Naison, Brian Jones, Carol Burris, Jeannette Deutermann, Leonie Haimson, Joe Rella, Jose Vilson, NYC student “J”, Marla Kilfoyle, Melissa Tomlinson, Monty Neill, Dao Tran, Ken Mitchell, Daiyu Suzuki, Akinlabi Mackall, Muba Yarofulani, Rosie Frascella, Stephanie Rivera, Bianca Tanis, Lisa Winter.

Entertaining will be: Terry Moore and Friends, Raging Grannies, Jeremy Dudley, and The Rude Mechanical Orchesta.

Participating groups:

Alliance for Quality Education – BATS – Black New Yorkers for Educational Excellence (BNYEE) – Change The Stakes – Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats – Children Are More Than Test Scores – Class Size Matters – The Coalition for Educational Justice CEJ – Coalition for Public Education-Communities United New Jersey -Connie Hogarth Center for Social Action at Manhattanville College – EDU4 – FairTest- iCOPE–Hudson Valley Against Common Core -Lace to the Top – Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn– LI Opt Out – MORE –NAACP MID Manhattan-Network for Public Education-Newark Students Union-New Caucus of Newark- New Jersey Education Association (NJEA)- New York Allies for Public Education – NY PRINCIPALS .ORG – NY Student Union –NYCORE – Parents Across America – Parent Leadership Project-Parent Voices NY- Parents to Improve School Transportation – Port Jeff Station Teachers Association– Radical Women -Reclaiming the Conversation on Education – Save Our Schools (SOS) – Save Our Schools-NJ –S.E.E.D.S. (SEEDSWORK) – Stop Common Core in New York State – Students Not Scores LI –Students United for Public Education (SUPE) – Teachers United – Time Out from Testing-UFT-United Opt Out National-Ya Ya Network-

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Categories New York City, Resistance
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