Archives For August 2013

"Andrew Cuomo Opposes the Death Penalty Except for Schools"

NY Governor Andrew Cuomo: A Hero of the Public Schools

"education deformers school closing MORE"

The Logic of the Education Deformers is Undeniable

BraceYourselvesAPPR

Analysis and Guidance Regarding Teacher Evaluation Choices and Decisions

By Julie Cavanagh PS15k Chapter Leader

I have yet to meet a parent, teacher or student from a school community who tells me they believe the new teacher evaluation system being implemented in NYC is a good thing, for anyone.  It seems most people understand this system is nothing more than another cog in the wheel of a machine with one clear purpose:  the destruction of our public education system.  This system and the accountability and testing measures and movement preceding it, reduce our students, our teachers and our schools to numbers and data, dehumanizing our schools and our profession. 

There is a growing movement that says, “Don’t feed the beast! Deny the data!” My heart lies with this sentiment, but in terms of the teacher evaluation framework, it may not be the right one.  Let me be clear, this system is irrevocably flawed, and the illusion of choice is no choice at all.  But while the system is fundamentally flawed and hurts our schools and profession, we can choose to participate in order to mitigate the damage to individual teacher jobs as well as our schools and students.

MORE members and allies have received multiple requests for guidance and analysis concerning the decisions UFT members and local committees must make regarding the teacher evaluation system.  Below I attempt to lay out, as I see them, the pros and cons of the choices individual teachers and school-based evaluation committees must make in the coming weeks.  This is by no means complete and it would be immensely helpful if folks offer their additional comments, analysis, and suggestions in the comment section!

The Lay of the Land

There are basically three “paths” to journey on as you make decisions as an individual UFT member and as a committee:

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"let Senator Flanagan and the Committee on Education know that The Regents Reform Agenda Hurts our children"

Show Up In Person to Stand Up for Public Education!

Education Advocacy Groups from across New York Unite to form NYS Allies for Public Education and Plan Protest  at Commissioner King’s Visit to Rochester

New York Education Commissioner John King will be visiting Rochester’s School of the Arts on August 28th. Although his visit is not open to the public, members of a newly formed coalition of parents, educators and students called New York State Allies for Public Education [NYSAPE] plan to make their opposition to excessive tests and data sharing known by protesting outside of the school at 1pm.

NYSAPE includes groups from the following regions:

NYC: Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE), Save Our Schools, Stop Common Core in NYS, Change the Stakes, Class Size Matters, ParentVoicesNY, Time Out From Testing

Long Island: Long Island Opt Out Info, Long Island Parents for Education

Western New York: Western New Yorkers for Public Education, Concerned Teachers of Chautauqua County, East Aurora Supporters of Public Education, Hamburg Parents for QUALITY Public Education, Ken-Ton Parents Against Excessive Testing, Lancaster Central School District Info on Standardized Testing, NYS Stop Testing, O.P. Parents Against Excessive Testing, Partnership for Smarter Schools , Rush Henrietta Parents Against Excessive Standardized Testing, Williamsville Parents for Meaningful Assessment

Central New York: New York State Foundations of Education Association Opt Out of State Standardized Tests – New York (Opt Out NY) 

Oneonta Area for Public Education 

Adirondack Region: Opt Out Staab, Saranac Lake Parent Faculty Education Alliance 

Hudson Valley: Heads Down-Thumbs UpOssining Citizens For Schools

Parents For Change – Warwick, NYRe-Thinking Testing Mid-Hudson Region

Student test scores on the state standardized exams plummeted this year: only 31% of students passed these tests.  Parents throughout the state are outraged and convinced that Commissioner King set the passing scores on these exams to convince them that their children and schools are failing to help him impose his damaging agenda.   Last weekend, nearly 2,000 parents and teachers, including members of NYSAPE, attended a protest rally in Long Island, expressing their opposition to these unfair and invalid exams.
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"nothing counts but pressure, and still more pressure, through the tactic and strategy of broad, organized, aggressive mass action"

Remembering a Great Leader 50 Years After the March on Washington

"establish a new baseline of decency by resigning"

True Accountability for Failed Policies

On Saturday, thousands of people from across the country will gather in Washington, DC for the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington. As we wrote earlier:

“Unfortunately, this march is not just a matter of nostalgia. Today, the gains of the Civil Rights Movement are very much under attack, as educators know all too well. School desegregation was one of the central targets of the movement, but is not championed by the courts or by the federal government. Rather, the current policy thrusts — including privatization and the proliferation of charter schools, have demonstrably worsened segregation in urban school districts.” 

The UFT reserved several buses for this march, which filled up quickly. Nationwide, teachers who are attending the August 24 March on Washington will be marching with their respective unions in a large labor contingent of the march. Since MORE members and supporters are arriving in DC many different ways and at different times, we encourage all of our members to wear their MORE shirts and to try to march together with our UFT brothers and sisters in the labor contingent. If you arrive early, however, Save Our Schools — a national coalition fighting against corporate education reform — is meeting up at 8am at Farragut Square.

"Why are we closing schools? Military spending is out of control"

Our budget priorities may need some adjustment

"the only tired I was, was tired of giving in Rosa Parks"

Words to live by from Rosa Parks