The Offical Website of the PJSTA

Posted on January 13, 2015 by thepjsta

NYSUT, School Funding, and the Coming APPR Sellout

Yesterday NYSUT held a Moral Monday rally on the Million Dollar Staircase in the state Capitol. Kudos to them for protesting funding inequities that rob our students of the education they deserve.

One thing I noticed in the coverage of yesterday’s events was that, deservedly so, there was lots of tough talk aimed at Governor Cuomo. From Andy Pallotta to Mike Mulgrew to Randi Weingarten, Cuomo was being called to task for his record as an ed deformer. What was unfortunate, however, is that none of this tough talk came last year when it mattered most. When there was a viable alternative to Cuomo in the race for governor the three aforementioned “unionists” weren’t talking tough about Cuomo. Instead Mulgrew was threatening the Working Families Party with dissolution if they didn’t endorse Cuomo and marching with the governor in the Labor Day Parade. NYSUT was hiding under a rock and throwing their money at reformy John Flanagan and Randi Weingarten was making robo calls on behalf of Cuomo’s running mate. So pardon me if their tough talk now rings a bit hollow to me.

Our friend Reality Based Educator had a good observation yesterday as well. Lost in all of this talk about funding inequities has been the fact that there has been little if any talk about the Cuomo and Tisch APPR agenda. As RBE points out on his Perdido Street School blog, it’s likely due to the fact that a big APPR sellout is on the way.

The union leadership puts together a rally with a message focused on the inequities between rich and poor districts.

Speaker Silver says education funding will be a “top priority” in this legislative session.

But there’s little-to-no pushback on the damages of test-based evaluations or redoing the evaluation system to make tests 40% of the entire rating (and really 100%, since if you come up “ineffective” on 40%, you’re ineffective overall.)

You can see how this will play out in negotiations, can’t you?

If you’ve been a teacher and have watched these kinds of fights for a while, I bet you can.

The unions and Assembly Dems will trade Cuomo’s evaluation, tenure, and 3020a “reforms” for more “education funding.”

And of course Cuomo will get his increase of the cap and funding for charter schools – that goes without saying.

…

It’s a lot of noise meant to fool the rank and file into thinking the union leaders plan on trying to protect them in upcoming negotiations.

Make no mistake – they don’t.

They plan on selling you out, giving Cuomo and the charter school entrepreneurs most (if not all) of what they want on the charter cap and charter funding, giving Cuomo and Tisch most (if not all) of what they want on the evaluation system “reforms” and 3020a changes in return for a few extra dollars in “education funding.”

We’ll hit on the coming sellout more in the coming weeks. For now one other thing to note…

Why is NYSUT giving VOTE-COPE money to John Flanagan? The Republican senator, who chairs the senate’s K-12 education committee, is a noted ed deformer and member of ALEC. He is on the take from reform group StudentsFirst and has been in the news for backing changes to the APPR that would take local control away from school districts. Flanagan has supported the idea of eroding tenure rights. He was also the senator who complained to Comsewogue’s administration that Beth Dimino needed to speak to him in a more deferential tone. He was not endorsed by NYSUT as there was literally no reason to endorse him. So one certainly wonders why NYSUT contributed $7,750 to him in this past election. That made them one of Flanagan’s top donors. Not issuing an endorsement is sort of pointless if you are going to then fill the coffers of that candidate anyway.

14 Comments

Posted on January 10, 2015 by thepjsta

Resolution to Support the “I Refuse” Movement

New York State Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE), NY BATs, Lace to the Top (LttT), STCaucus, Long Island Opt-Out (LIOO), and the Port Jefferson Station Teacher’s Association (PJSTA) have collaborated to write the following Test Refusal/APPR Resolution. The above organizations are in full support of this resolution and encourage its use as a working template for your local chapters. It will be presented at the 2015 NYSUT RA.

PLEASE bring this to the attention of the members in your local and make sure it is discussed in your Rep Council meetings. The more districts who sign-on, the better! There is strength in our numbers and in building MASSIVE test refusals for state assessments this Spring. Please encourage ALL your teachers to refuse testing for their own kids as this action will send a powerful message to other parents, that we support their right to opt their child out of developmentally inappropriate, non-diagnostic, high-stakes testing. We have provided a link at the bottom of the resolution for the purchase of Test Refusal car magnets and stickers to help build recognition and support within our communities. We encourage teachers to send in their child’s “I REFUSE” letter and display the magnet or sticker on their car to show support for students, teachers and public education!

Resolution to Support the “The I Refuse Movement” to oppose High Stakes Testing

WHEREAS, the purpose of education is to educate a populace of critical thinkers who are capable of shaping a just and equitable society in order to lead good and purpose-filled lives, not solely prepare that populace for college and career; and

WHEREAS, instructional and curricular decisions should be in the hands of classroom professionals who understand the context and interests of their students; and

WHEREAS, the education of children should be grounded in developmentally appropriate practice; and

WHEREAS, high quality education requires adequate resources to provide a rich and varied course of instruction, individual and small group attention, and wrap-around services for students; and

WHEREAS, the state assessments are not transparent in that–teachers and parents are not allowed to view the tests and item analysis will likely not be made available; and

WHEREAS, the assessment practices that accompany Common Core State Standards – including the political manipulation of test scores – are used as justification to label and close schools, fail students, and evaluate educators; therefore be it

RESOLVED that the PJSTA opposes standardized high stakes testing that is currently pushed by the Federal and State governments, because this testing is not being used to further instruction for children, to help children, or to support the educational needs of children; and be it further

RESOLVED, the PJSTA advocates for an engaged and socially relevant curriculum that is student-based and supported by research; and be it further

RESOLVED, the PJSTA will embark on internal discussions to educate and seek feedback from members regarding standardized high stakes testing and its impact on students; and be it further

RESOLVED, the PJSTA will lobby the NYS Board of Regents to eliminate the use of high stakes testing; and be it further

RESOLVED, the PJSTA will ask that all of its members have their own children refuse to take the Grade 3-8 assessments: and be it further

RESOLVED, the PJSTA will organize other members and affiliates to increase opposition to high stakes testing; and be it further

RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution will be sent to the NY State Board of Regents, the Governor of NYS, and all members of the NYS legislative branch; and be it finally

RESOLVED, that after this resolution is passed by the PJSTA Representative Council, an appropriate version will be submitted to the American Federation of Teachers for consideration at the AFT July 2016 Convention and to NYSUT for consideration at the 2015 RA.

Please encourage your members to purchase/replicate these bumper stickers/magnets to support test refusal as a way to stop corporate education reform. http://www.cafepress.com/nysalliesforpubliceducation

2 Comments

Posted on January 9, 2015 by thepjsta

If You Can’t Trust Your Union…

Several years back, when discussing the work of our local union I had a colleague say to me, “If you can’t trust your union, who can you trust?” I, of course, agreed wholeheartedly. Years later I can still agree with this statement in regards to my local union. Over the course of my career the PJSTA has provided me with wonderful working conditions, a good living wage, and excellent benefits. On top of that they have represented my voice well in matters regarding public education and legislative issues that impact our profession. They have advocated for the students we teach and the community that we serve. The PJSTA, over the course of my 13 years as a member has undoubtedly earned my trust. Where things change, however, is with my other unions. My parent unions.

There was a time when I would go to the polls with a list of NYSUT endorsed candidates in my pocket and vote accordingly, believing that they had made endorsements only to those who would be fighting for quality public education. Additionally I would give generously from each pay check towards VOTE-COPE, with the belief that this money was going towards those candidates who would fight for the sort of public education system that I could be proud of. The type that benefited our students and communities. After all, if you can’t trust your union, who can you trust?

Unfortunately I have learned over the past couple of years that I can’t trust NYSUT and I can’t trust the AFT. I say them separately, though the elements that make them untrustworthy tend to be one and the same (The UFT leadership’s Unity Caucus, which controls both NYSUT and the AFT).

As we sit here, a week into 2015, the public education landscape looks bleaker than ever. We have clear adversaries regarding the attacks on our profession and what is perhaps most disturbing is the way in which our parent unions have, in many ways, been complicit in working with those adversaries.

For example, let’s look at Governor Cuomo. Cuomo was a clear enemy of public education throughout his first term in office, even going so far as to say that schools whose test scores weren’t good enough should receive the “death penalty.” By now we all know the litany of other offenses on Cuomo’s part. It goes without saying that Cuomo should have been public enemy #1 for NYSUT. If they were representing the voice of their membership he certainly would be. Let’s take a look at the NYSUT timeline of events regarding Cuomo over the past year…

April- The Revive NYSUT slate, backed by Mike Mulgrew and Unity Caucus, wins the NYSUT elections while vowing that they are “Against Cuomo.”
May- The UFT, NYSUT’s largest local and loudest voice, threatens the Working Families Party with dissolution if the party allows Zephyr Teachout to be endorsed over Cuomo.
Summer- Teachout, with a great platform on public education, campaigns against Cuomo with the intention of challenging him in the Democratic Primary in September. NYSUT remains silent throughout, rather than opposing him. They had an opportunity to endorse Teachout in the primary at their summer endorsement conference. We wrote about the result in August…

There was certainly more than one local president at the endorsement conference who asked for an endorsement of Teachout in the primary. Our own Beth Dimino was one of them. That brings me to another option for NYSUT. Dimino suggested that if Teachout were to lose to Cuomo in the primary, NYSUT should support the Green Party’s Howie Hawkins and Brian Jones for governor and lieutenant governor. We covered their education platform back in May. So NYSUT had two separate options to oppose Cuomo and they chose none. Despite pleas from their membership and presidents from locals around the state, Magee, Pallotta, and the rest of NYSUT’s board of directors decided in their private meeting yesterday that they would not oppose Cuomo.

Summer- At around the same time NYSUT was failing to endorse and contribute to Teachout’s campaign, it was revealed that the NYSUT officers quickly and quietly worked out a double pension deal that Cuomo curiously signed off on very quickly. (Norm Scott, who broke the story, wondered if the trade off for Cuomo’s support for their double pensions was remaining neutral in the campaign.)
September- Only days before the primary, AFT President Randi Weingarten (former UFT President and Unity Caucus member), made robo calls in support of Cuomo’s running mate Kathy Hochul, a back door endorsement for Cuomo if there ever was one.
September- At the Labor Day parade in Manhattan, UFT President, NYSUT Board of Director member, and the Unity Caucus’ Mulgrew marches with Cuomo.
September 9th- Cuomo and Hochul beat Teachout and her running mate Tim Wu in the primary. Teachout garnered 34% of the vote, Wu 40% despite the fact that Cuomo spent 40 times (!) as much as Teachout. NYSUT was busy throwing their VOTE-COPE money at ed deformers like John Flanagan, who is well funded by StudentsFirst, the pro-charter, pro-voucher Jeff Klein, and the indicted Thomas Libous. They chose not to give a dime to Teachout who could have desperately used the funding to help combat Cuomo’s Wall Street funded campaign. Teachout, of course, could have also benefited from an endorsement that would have gone out to NYUST’s 600,000 members (you’ll recall that Cuomo’s margin of victory was less than 150,000).
November- Cuomo wins re-election with only 53% of the vote. Of particular note is the fact that he had the Working Families line on the ballot. If Teachout had gotten that endorsement back in May and ran to the left of Cuomo she likely would have pulled a considerable number of Democratic voters with her and severely harmed Cuomo’s chances of winning the election.

The names of the organizations may have changed in the above scenarios, but the faces behind them are essentially the same. Randi Weingarten and Michael Mulgrew pull the strings more than any other. In NYSUT, Executive Vice-President Andy Pallotta mostly does their bidding while the other officers fall in line. Pallotta, Mulgrew, and Weingarten have all taken the Unity Caucus oath and have all benefited from it tremendously. That’s why they won’t act in opposition to Cuomo. They won’t act in opposition to the Common Core. They will do very little to benefit the members (though Martin Messner may save you money on your car insurance!). It’s only a matter of time before the statewide APPR sellout comes. Unfortunately not many of our statewide members benefit from the work of Unity Caucus. Most of us are actually hurt by it. That’s why I can say that I don’t trust my union.

The only way for things to ever change within NYSUT is to defeat the statewide Unity Caucus and their “seat at the table” brand of unionism. We need leadership who is driven by principle, by the desire to see our schools strengthened, and by the collective conscience of our rank and file membership. Not by an oath that they took to vote along party lines.

We are getting pretty late into this game now. Things are becoming more dire by the day. Maybe the coming APPR sellout will be what finally galvanizes our members to stand up and take back their union.

A Message From Carol Burris

Via principal and public education advocate Carol Burris…

The Governor and Chancellor Tisch are proposing an overhaul of the already flawed APPR system. They propose that the system be designed to find MORE teachers and principals ineffective and developing, in order to be in better alignment with the high percentages of students who are below proficient on the Common Core exams.

Their plan would also strip away local school board, superintendent and principal input into evaluation systems, putting more power in Albany’s hands to determine the fate of our teachers and principals.

Please read and share Carol Burris’ Washington Post blog which describes Chancellor Tisch’s proposed changes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/01/01/teacher-evaluation-going-from-bad-to-worse/

There are other strategies that the Governor and Mrs. Tisch propose that would severely undermine public education, including the expansion of charter schools. The New York State Allies for Public Education has now published sound, research-based and pro-public school responses. You can read their letter here:

http://www.nysape.org/nysape-response-letter-to-governor-on-public-education.html

Please share this widely as well.

Now is the time to contact the Board of Regents, and your legislators, including your assembly member and senator to make it clear that you do not want 1) a state-wide APPR plan imposed from Albany 2) that the doubling of test scores in APPR will cause this system to be even more unreliable and have terrible effects on your students and your schools 3)that you oppose the lifting of the cap on charter schools and 4) you support the evidence based responses of NYSAPE to the governor’s questions – rather than those of the chancellor. Here is a link to a very easy way to do just that. It allows you to easily personalize the beginning and end if you wish.

https://www.votervoice.net/NYSAPE/Campaigns/37928/Respond?vvsn=BghLMA8fACoQJAmOQPM7EAA

We must all work together to help the members of the Board of Regents and the legislature understand that the Cuomo/Tisch agenda of more privatization and high stakes testing will harm kids and our public schools.

Thanks!

5 Comments

Posted on January 5, 2015 by thepjsta

Looming Battles for 2015

Happy New Year to our PJSTA members along with any other readers of our blog. Hopefully you had an enjoyable vacation and return to school well rested. You’ll need it. We have a number of developing battles on our hands.

For those of you who may have missed it, New York State’s Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch sent a New Years Eve letter to Governor Cuomo’s aide Jim Malatras detailing what she sees as the necessary changes to the New York State APPR. Carol Burris did a great job breaking it all down on Valerie Strauss’ blog.

Via The Washington Post (emphasis mine)…

New York Chancellor Merryl Tisch has announced her New Years resolution—revise the teacher evaluation system so that Common Core 3-8 test scores can trump all.

Yup. Tisch’s response to the tremendous push back against the Common Core tests has been to add further weight to the test scores.

The short version of what she wants to do now is this—double down on test scores and strip away the power of local school boards to negotiate the majority of the evaluation plan. Tisch would get rid of the locally selected measures of achievement, which now comprise 20 percent of the evaluation, and double the state test score portion, to 40 percent. She also recommends that the score ranges for the observation process be taken out of the hands of local districts, and be determined by Albany instead. Dr. Lederman, start packing up. Merryl Tisch and Andrew Cuomo, whom you have never met, know your talents better than your local school board, your principal and the parents of the children you teach.

…

Although Tisch claims that this is about teacher improvement and mentoring, the letter discloses her true intent. She opines that if a teacher is ineffective in the growth score portion, as Sheri was, she should be rated ineffective overall. In addition,if a teacher has two ineffective ratings they “should not return to the classroom.” Whether those ratings, which are based on a highly discredited model, are accurate or not is moot. They produce a bell curve.

You read that correctly. Regardless of what 60% of your evaluation says, if the growth score says you are ineffective, your entire rating will be ineffective. If you receive two ineffective ratings you will no longer be allowed to teach.

Meanwhile, the evidence has continued to accumulate that evaluating teachers by test scores simply does not work.

In April of 2014, the American Statistical Association, joined other research organizations, such as the American Education Research Association and the National Academy of Education, in cautioning against the use of student test scores, commonly referred to as VAM, in teacher evaluations. The ASA clearly outlined how unreliable this methodology is and noted that teachers’ impact on test scores is minimal–between 1 percent and 14 percent. Understand also that these VAM and “growth” ratings are all relative—pitting each teacher against all others. Even if every child scored in the mastery range on the test, there would still be a percentage of teachers rated Ineffective. It is a sorting mechanism based on an algorithm, which most researchers agree is flawed.

…

The Tisch plan is a power grab designed to snatch away the right of elected Boards of Education to determine what is quality teaching, by shifting it to a formula produced in Albany based on flawed tests. Ironically, these are the same tests which the Governor and legislature say, in law, should have no consequential effects on students. But there is no problem using those tests to boot Sheri Lederman and teachers like her out the door.

Be sure to read the entire article. Burris is always a voice of reason and logic in a debate that all too often is filled with nonsensical attacks on us.

We know that Tisch’s APPR agenda is also Cuomo’s. We know that Cuomo has the support of the Republican controlled, Wall Street funded senate. That includes our local state senator John Flanagan, the chairman on K-12 education who is on the take from noted ed deformers Students First, his top campaign contributor.

Via Capital NY…

Senate education chair John Flanagan said lawmakers should consider limiting school districts’ control over their evaluation plans. “Maybe we should be having a discussion about a statewide protocol,” he said on “The Capitol Pressroom,” a public radio program. “Instead of having 700 disparate agreements, let’s have a menu where you have 10 or 12 options for school districts to get involved in, because all of these things have to be negotiated, and one of the things that the unions jealously guard, which I understand and respect, is the concept of local control. They want to be able to negotiate everything. And yet, I don’t really see anyone out there who is … jumping up and down and saying everything is working really well.”

Voters in the Comsewogue community should take note that their state senator, John Flanagan, supports stripping our district of local control over teacher evaluations and farming it out to Albany.

Our friend Reality Based Educator covered Flanagan on his Perdido Street School Blog on Christmas Eve.

Finally that brings us to this from Governor Cuomo…

Albany has been too concerned with protecting the pension rights of teachers and not enough with the future of students. #NYGov2015

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 1, 2015

Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post followed up with this op-ed. I am not sure that Cuomo has the juice to launch a pension attack, but it sure seems as though a warning shot’s been fired.

To say we didn’t see any of this coming would be wrong. Much of this was entirely predictable, particularly the APPR stuff. Unfortunately NYSUT leadership has not shown the willingness to fight any of this. Nor will they in the coming weeks and months. To be clear, the fight for public education will have to come from students, parents, and rank-and-file teachers. We’ll have more on the role of NYSUT coming up. In the meantime lace up your boots. There’s a lot of work to be done in 2015.