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Hold Your Applause

We are entering an important period of time in the push back against the education reforms in New York State. Fearing for their jobs next November, we are beginning to see some movement from state legislators on the school reform agenda. This is to be expected, as they have been hearing more about this agenda than anything else. Recently Senator Flanagan indicated that when the legislature convenes in January we should see quick action on the student privacy issue. Make no doubt, this is excellent news and it shows that finally legislators are starting to listen.

This, however, is not nearly enough. It became fairly predictable a couple of weeks back that there would be some movement in this direction. Legislators are fearing for their jobs and Commissioner King has had enough vitriol directed towards him that the state is now willing to throw us a bone. But as we have stated time and again, nothing but a full withdrawal from Race to the Top in New York State is acceptable. That is the message our legislators should continue to hear until they have delivered it.

There is a danger that with the passage of legislation restricting the data sent to inBloom people will be appeased. That is what John King and Merryl Tisch are hoping. That is what Andrew Cuomo is hoping for. That is what John Flanagan, Ken LaValle, and the rest of the legislature is hoping. That they can offer up the privacy issue in the hopes that the public will thank them, jump into their holiday season, and forget all about the rest of the abusive reform agenda.

There have been signs that some people are ready to head down this road. Here is No Kids Data NY:

Thank you Senator Flanagan…. The late night hours are starting to pay off! We have been heard http://t.co/8r4BAKcnTA

— NoKidsDataNY (@NoKidsDataNY) November 22, 2013

And NYSUT’s Kyle Belokopitsky…

Thank you @NYSenate Flanagan and @NYSA_Majority Nolan and ODonnell for your leadership! We must protect our children http://t.co/cw1RUjTqFQ

— Kyle M Belokopitsky (@kbelokopitsky) November 22, 2013

Again, let me be clear, limiting student data that is passed on is a win for our movement. It is something to be thankful for and a feather in our cap. But I am not ready to throw too many plaudits in Senator Flanagan’s direction yet. Keep in mind, Senator Flanagan is a major reason we are in this mess to begin with. Along with Andy Cuomo, puppet John King, and puppet master Merryl Tisch, he has been at the forefront of pushing the abusive reform agenda in New York State. Senator Flanagan has a long way to go before I am sending him a thank you card. A lot needs to be accomplished before I can be assured that the money that his chief campaign contributor, Michelle Rhee, gave him is not being spent to continue to harm students and teachers in New York for the benefit of private corporations.

The Smithtown News recently published a great editorial, titled “Change course on King/Flanagan agenda”, about Flanagan’s role in harming public education in New York State. It’s behind a pay wall so I’ll only give you the highlights. All bolded emphasis is mine.

On the organized opposition against the reform agenda…

Call it the King/Flanagan agenda, and it stinks.

The opposition has become so angry that wherever Senator Flanagan, SED Commissioner Dr. John King and Regent Chancellor Dr. Merryl Tisch go from one end of the state to the other, people start screaming at them.

On what may be part of Flanagan’s motivation (though the Rhee bucks help too)…

Ever since NYSUT refused to endorse him for re-election in 2010, Mr. Flanagan has been out to get public school teachers and he is hell-bent on taking the public school system down with them. He has jumped to the center of the charter school bandwagon, which drains money from public schools, he has fostered implementation of an inherently unfair and flawed APPR system, he has ushered in the misguided and premature implementation of the Common Core Learning Standards and he has allowed the implementation of the abusive testing of students.

After commenting on the $1 billion in state aid that Long Island districts have lost while Flanagan has either been the ranking Republican or Chairman of the Senate Education Committee…

Never has Long Island faired so poorly in terms of state aid as it has under the educational leadership of John Flanagan, and now his failed policies are threatening to destroy the quality educational system that we have enjoyed here on Long Island for generations.

On Flanagan’s hearings around the state that are dedicated to the reform agenda…

The hearings should have been held before implementing these new policies, not after. The intent now is only to act as political cover for Mr. Flanagan, who will try to emerge as if he resolved this difficult problem.

Remember though, he is the root cause of the terrible situation facing public school education right now. He needs to be replaced whether the problem is ultimately solved or not.

It really was a great article that reminds us that John Flanagan is one of the primary reasons we are in this mess. So I will hold my thank you until the entire agenda is repealed.

Dimino’s Response to Bruni

“I critique food, therefore I know all about your jobs too.”

The New York Times, like much of the mainstream media, has continuously shilled for the corporate driven Common Core State Standards. This weekend they posted this op-ed from food critic Frank Bruni. Mr. Bruni quotes Beth Dimino in it and then suggests that the anxiety Mrs. Dimino spoke about may becoming more from their parents than the endless amounts of standardized testing that is done in school these days.

Here is Mrs. Dimino’s response to Mr. Bruni…

Mr. Bruni, it comes as no surprise to me that as a food critic you believe that you are uniquely qualified to comment on the ramifications of the high stakes testing portion of the Common Core on New York’s children. You’re not a parent or an educator and you weren’t at the forum where I spoke, but you believed that you could write an informed article for the New York Times and insert my speech without bothering to ask me why I made the comments or to familiarize yourself with the topic. It seems like so many intelligent people, even New York Times writers, just don’t get it. Or is it that you don’t want to get it? Teachers give students tests to evaluate what the child has learned and to better inform themselves about their pedagogy. These tests are not administered for those reasons. Are you aware that the students who are tested in the spring do not receive their grades until the fall? Did you know that Commissioner King created a test that he accurately predicted 70% of the State’s children would fail? Does it matter to you that children as young as 4 years old are required to take these tests? I have some suggestions for you Mr. Bruni. Buy and read Diane Ravitch’s book, Reign of Error, if you want a different perspective about American Public Education. Investigate why more than half of the States are now reevaluating whether or not to withdraw from Race To The Top. Contact me if you would like to know what’s really going on in a New York State public school classroom. Count your lucky stars that your English teachers prepared you for your New York Times gig!

Reality Based Educator also has a great take on the Bruni propaganda.

9 Comments

Posted on November 20, 2013 by thepjsta

Who is it Gonna Be?

Via Newsday…

Diane Ravitch, the outspoken education historian, policy analyst and author, called on educators across Long Island Tuesday to boycott Common Core-related curricula and refuse to administer state tests as an act of defiance against the state and federal governments.

“Your community is your boss, and you do what’s best for children,” said Ravitch, speaking at a Hauppauge meeting that drew about 175 school superintendents and administrators from Suffolk and Nassau counties.

“Do not take the Common Core tests. Stop the testing,” said Ravitch, of Southold, who wrote the critically acclaimed “Reign of Error,” which defends the American education system and criticizes privatization moves as a drain on public schools. “Neither teachers or students are prepared for these tests. Stand together and there will be no punishment.”

This idea has been bubbling for some time now. Just waiting for the right person to put it out there. There is no better person to suggest the idea than Diane Ravitch. This is the year to do it. It is the perfect storm. Parents will be refusing in droves. Teachers are finally feeling emboldened enough to speak out about the reforms that are killing their school. It’ll be the spring of an election year. Legislators wouldn’t dare impose consequences on a district (or districts) who boycott the tests as a way of protecting the children in their communities. We’ve already seen the governor in an all out sprint, attempting to distance himself from the reform agenda. All it will take is for one school district to take the courageous step. To say, “No. Not to our children. You will not continue to abuse our children. No state testing in our schools this year.” Middle Country School District Superintendent Roberta Gerold was quoted in the Newsday article saying, “I would really have to think about it. I would love us to have the courage.”

Once a district takes that step others will follow. At that point the entire reform agenda crumbles. So now the question is, who? Who is going to be the courageous first district to take that step? Whoever it is will have the strength of all of our state’s teachers and an enormous number of parents behind it.

Test Refusal… Dimino

Via Port Jefferson Patch…

When asked about why teachers didn’t speak up about how awful the reform agenda is earlier.

“I sat in that man’s office, Joe Rella, and he knew right away. However no one would have believed me until they actually saw it…now you see how insane the testing is. So now what can you do? I can’t tell you what to do? I can’t but what I can tell you is this…if my children were in school I wouldn’t have them take the test. I would not allow my child to be abused. Hand it in tomorrow (a refusal letter). Hand it in to the principal or the teacher.”

1 Comment

Posted on November 19, 2013 by thepjsta

The Student Lobbyist Abandons His Public Education Agenda

Andrew Cuomo, who once proclaimed himself to be the “lobbyist for students” is trying to escape his education reform agenda as quickly as possible.

Via capitalnewyork.com…

“I’ve heard quite a bit from the parents who are very concerned about Common Core,” Cuomo told reporters after an event on Staten Island. “It’s part of a national curriculum that the national experts say is actually going to be beneficial.

“But there’s no doubt that there are significant elements, at least in the transition, that are problematic,” he continued.

“It’s actually a decision that the state Education Department is going to make, which ironically, although the state Education Department does not report to the governor … it’s something we’re watching very closely,” he (Cuomo) said. “And it’s something that might be the subject of legislative changes next year. But it’s not anything that I control, so we are watching.”

Cuomo is trying to detach himself from the agenda that has very much been his agenda throughout his term as governor. Go back and look at his state of the state comments in 2012 to see how this is his baby. Now, with his numbers starting to tank, Cuomo is running for the hills.

As usual, the Perdido Street School Blog does a great job covering (and exposing) Cuomo…

Also, from @ The Chalk Face is Chris Cerrone with “Cuomo: No longer the ‘Lobbyist’ for students?”