The Offical Website of the PJSTA

Posted on January 25, 2015 by thepjsta

APPR Rumors

Our friend Arthur Goldstein, who blogs at NYC Educator, has heard a few rumors regarding a new APPR plan.

I don’t have a lot of time right now, but several sources I trust tell me there is already a deal in place for a new APPR plan. They think it will either be a 40% junk science plan, or that it may be a statewide model based on the NYC plan. The NYC plan, while we in NYC don’t much like it, is a better one than those in a few upstate cities that were poorly negotiated. It is not nearly as good as those many small locals came up with.

However, a UFT source I also trust tells me that Mulgrew will indeed fight Cuomo’s APPR efforts. Hopefully we’ll know more after Wednesday’s DA. An agreement could be made to make an NYC-style evaluation statewide, or 40% junk science, and UFT could argue that Cuomo wanted 50% and we kept it down to 40.

The problem with UFT leadership is that everything they do is a victory. When we got the UFT transfer plan it was a victory. When we lost it and got the ATR instead that was a victory. Getting artifacts for ratings was a victory, and losing them was a victory. Getting the entire Danielson Framework was a victory and cutting it down to 8 domains was a victory.

So Mike Mulgrew can’t lose, no matter how miserable UFT and NYSUT teachers become. He is King Midas and everything he punches turns to gold.

Both options are better than Cuomo’s proposal. The NYC-style evaluation would be preferable to a plan in which 40% relies upon state test scores. Still, as Arthur notes, both are far worse than what the PJSTA currently uses.

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Posted on January 24, 2015 by thepjsta

Heroic Teacher Jia Lee Once Again Refuses to Administer State Tests

Last year we directed you to the Teachers of Conscience position paper. Teachers of Conscience, a group of New York City public schools teachers concerned about market-based reforms and the future of public education, was the group referenced by Beth Dimino in her letter to the Comsewogue School District indicating her decision not to administer state assessments this year. The group includes Jia Lee. Ms. Lee, of the MORE Caucus, was in Washington DC this week to testify in the U.S. Senate on NCLB. Lee, who once again will be refusing to administer state tests this year, was articulate and brilliant in her heroic sppech. Have a watch below. It’s well worth the five minutes.
http://www.c-span.org/video/standalone/?c4524583

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Posted on January 23, 2015 by thepjsta

Teacher Refusal Videos

In case you missed it on News 12, you can view the story about Beth Dimino refusing to administer the state tests here.

In related news, you can watch the video below of sixth-grade teacher Jennifer Rickert from upstate New York as she announces her decision not to administer state tests this year.

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Posted on January 22, 2015 by thepjsta

Sheldon Silver Arrested

Sheldon Silver, who likely would have provided the only resistance to Cuomo’s agenda that will destroy public education, has been arrested today on federal corruption charges.

Silver, the long time speaker of the New York State Assembly, will likely be replaced with a Cuomo ally. With the Republican controlled Senate backing Cuomo’s agenda, it is now reasonable to expect that the governor will get everything he demanded yesterday.

The last layer of defense for students, teachers, and citizens who value locally controlled schools is the opt-out movement.

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Posted on January 22, 2015 by thepjsta

A Message From Beth Dimino

A message from PJSTA President Beth Dimino…

Governor Cuomo is wrong. He used junk science today to support his nonsensical theory that public education in NY is broken and that he alone has the “fix”. We can and will dissuade him of that opinion by each of us doing some or all of the following;

1) Refuse to allow your child to take the 3-8 tests.

2) Convince everyone you know to refuse to allow their child to take the tests. Last year, 60% of the students in Comsewogue did not take the tests and therefore the teachers could not be judged based on the student’s scores. No students take the test = No data to judge teachers. The opt out movement is the single best option to stop Cuomo’s testing agenda. Direct people to nysape.org for answers to their questions and a printable version of the IREFUSE letter.

3) Go to your local school board meetings and demand that your BOE pass resolutions against testing and in support of teachers and parents who refuse the tests.

4) Write letters, call, fax, and/or email your representatives and tell them some or all of the following;
Cuomo’s public school agenda is wrong, how public education is working in your district, that you will not support them if they do not support local control of your district schools, that funding should not be tied to testing or a teacher evaluation system, that you are refusing to allow your child to take the tests because they serve no educational purpose, and that forcing children to sit through developmentally inappropriate tests for the sole purpose of evaluating teachers is hurtful to students and an ineffective way to judge effective pedagogy.

5) Get on Face book and Twitter daily for the purpose of staying up to date on current educational issues and to push a pro student, teacher and public education agenda. Go to thepjsta.org and read my emails daily for current PJSTA happenings.

I appreciate your support of me and my choice to refuse to administer the tests. I took this stand in defense of you and our students and yes I am fully cognizant of the personal risks that are attached to this choice. Together, we can and will stop the Governor and the deformers!

In Solidarity,
Beth Dimino