The Offical Website of the PJSTA

Posted on September 23, 2013 by thepjsta

Arizona’s Brewer Thinks Citizens Are Fools

“I’ve got it! We’ll just change their name and nobody will ever suspect a thing!”

More from the Theater of the Absurd department…

After sustained backlash against the implementation of the Common Core State Standards in Arizona, Governor Jan Brewer decided to change the name of the standards to “Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards.”

State Rep.Carl Seel, R-Phoenix, one of the foes, said he believes Brewer is trying to blunt the opposition by confusing the issue.

He said people now call state agencies to ask them the status of Common Core standards. With Brewer’s action, he said, callers will be told that Common Core no longer exists, lulling them into believing the new standards have been scrapped .

Initially I thought this must be a joke. Seriously?! THIS is their strategy for defending the Common Core?! Changing the name?!

Reality-Based Educator said it best…

It’s like they think critics and opponents are all Elmer Fudd’s asking a disguised Bugs Bunny which way the wabbit went.

That this is the strategy these so-called Best and Brightest have come up with to push back against Common Core opponents shows you just how much damage the attacks against them have done and how bereft of ideas the reformers are to defend their own agenda.

In Maryland they are arresting people for questioning the Common Core. In Arizona they are trying to trick the public. Stay tuned to see what Governor Cuomo comes up with.

Man Arrested for Speaking Out Against the Common Core

The reformers will seemingly stop at nothing as they try to silence critics of their policies. In case you didn’t see it, a man was arrested in Maryland last week for speaking out against the Common Core State Standards at a public forum that the Maryland State Education Department hosted.

At one time in America you weren’t arrested for asking questions and being critical about something.

We know corporate “privatizers” don’t care to hear from teachers. We know they didn’t care about what parents thought either. What they care about is making a buck on the backs of our children. But still, this is simply outrageous. Where will it end?

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Posted on September 23, 2013 by thepjsta

The PJSTA Book Club: Reign of Error

Diane Ravitch

Reign of Error

Last week we told you about the release of Diane Ravitch’s new book Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools. Today we would like to announce the details of a book club that the PJSTA will be hosting to discuss the contents of the book. Here are the details…

When will the book club be? Every Wednesday evening. We will begin on October 9th. Our last meeting will be on November 20th, the week before Thanksgiving. The book club meetings will begin at 7:00 pm and run approximately an hour to an hour and a half.

Where will the meetings be held? The meetings will be held in the Comsewogue High School Auditorium.

Who can attend? Anyone! PJSTA members, administrators, parents, high school students, people from other communities… absolutely anyone with an interest in quality public education! Feel free to distribute this information far and wide!

Do I need to read the entire book before the first meeting? No you do not. We will discuss a few chapters each week as the content of the book is extensive. Typically you can expect each week’s meeting to cover 50 pages or so.

Where can I purchase the book? Amazon currently has it for under $17. Their Kindle version is available for even less. You can buy the book through all normal outlets. It’s possible that public libraries have it as well.

If you wish to join our book club please RSVP to thepjsta@gmail.com so that we can get a handle on how many people to expect. We are looking forward to some great discussions!

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Posted on September 20, 2013 by thepjsta

Introducing “Wear Red for Public Ed!

The PJSTA is excited to announce the launch of a new campaign that we will thread throughout the rest of the school year. The campaign, dubbed “Wear Red for Public Ed” gives every PJSTA member an opportunity to take sustained action throughout the rest of the school year in a support of public education. We will be starting on Wednesday, October 2nd! Here is what Wear Red for Public Ed consists of…

Every Wednesday we will ask every PJSTA member to wear red to work in some form. Red short sleeved and long sleeved PJSTA tee-shirts will be available as an option, but any red will do.

Hopefully you will be asked why you are wearing red. You can say that you are wearing red because you stand in support of public education and against top down, corporate reforms that have been imposed on us. You can then give them a copy of our flyer (see bottom of this post).
On Wednesday we will ask you to use the hashtag #red4ed on social media to share why you wear red. Tweet it, set it as your Facebook status, take pictures of your colleagues in their red and post to Instagram. We anticipate other groups joining this cause and we are hoping to get #red4ed trending on Twitter every Wednesday! A great example could be “I wear #red4ed today because I care about my students!” or “I wear #red4ed today because I stand against high stakes testing!” Be creative and have fun with it!

Once again, we will be starting on Wednesday, October 2nd! If you would like to order one of the red PJSTA shirts please email Beth Shapiro at bethshapiro1@gmail.com. Be sure to specify short sleeve (50/50) or long sleeve (100% cotton), along with your name, your shirt size, and what building you work in.

Feel free to use the comment section below for any questions.

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Posted on September 18, 2013 by thepjsta

Senator Flanagan’s Hearings: Round 1

NYSED Commissioner John King and Senator Flanagan

Yesterday was Senator Flanagan’s first scheduled hearing on New York State’s Reform Agenda. I didn’t have the ability to be there as I was teaching, however I did have the good fortune of hearing about it from people who were there.

To summarize, the meeting began with Senator Flanagan showing up late. When you are as important as John J. Flanagan you can make people wait… and then make sure they use a deferential tone when addressing you. Senator Flanagan, who represents parts of the Comsewogue School District, then allowed one of his pal John King’s minions to pontificate about how wonderful the reforms are working in New York State. After that representative from NYSED took so much time to present, the other individuals invited to testify were told there wasn’t time for them to provide their entire testimony and that they should essentially try to summarize it.

The remaining invitees consisted of administrators, school board members, some parents, and one teacher. But really, who wants to hear from teachers?! Across the board the testimony lambasted the reforms. Jeanette Deutermann, a parent leader from the Long Island Opt-Out group seemed to give the most impassioned plea against the reforms, citing their impact on her children.

James Gounaris, Board of Education President of the Herricks School District, talked about how incredible Herricks is and then threw other school districts under the bus saying, “The new state mandates while understandably necessary for New York City and continually low achieving school districts like Hempstead and Roosevelt actually prevent school districts like Herricks to continue its great work.” Right. Damaging reforms are bad for Herricks but they are fine for poor districts.

Senator Flanagan has three more scheduled hearings around the state (10/1 in Syracuse, 10/16 in Buffalo, and 10/29 in New York City).

Apparently some of the lawmakers in attendance expressed concern over the reforms and their implementation. It is absolutely crucial that we continue to let them know that their jobs will be on the line over this issue. It’s time to ratchet up the pressure on them. Let them know that they represent us. If we endure another year of catastrophic education policy in New York State, these state legislators should pay with their jobs next Election Day.

News 12 covered the event.

You can read all of the testimonies, as they were intended to be read, here.