The Battle for NYSUT: Ebbs and Flows

We have reports that a 100 locals have signed on to the Iannuzzi slate. You can track what is going on at their site - NYSUT - STRONGER TOGETHER - Home.

While Phil Rumore's Buffalo may be leaning away from Iannuzzi, the article below show the other 3 cities -- Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers may be on the fence.

The bigger issue is whether a true resistance to a Mulgrew dominated NYSUT will grow out of this struggle no matter the result. Signs are pointing that way.

American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, who headed New York City's teachers' union before taking the national post, wouldn't take sides when confronted by reporters at a labor rally in Albany Wednesday. But she said she was disappointed by the rhetoric of the race, which has turned nasty. (See Iannuzzi and Pallotta's fight over a table at Governor Andrew Cuomo's Billy Joel-headlined bęrthday fund-raiser.)
“We have had state elections like this throughout the country—in Minnesota, in Florida, in West Virginia, in New Mexico—that have never gotten as divisive as this one,” she said..... CapitalNY

While some think Randi must be behind the move of the UFT to take over NYSUT completely and totally (they pretty much have a lot of control now) this doesn't have her fingerprints. What does she have to gain from trying to push out Iannuzzi - who she helped put in? Or pushing out Maria Neira who she promoted from the UFT Exec Bd to a NYSUT VP?

People are pissed and to me it seems the pro-Iannuzzi are more pissed (I call them the real insurgents) and most likely to go rogue after the election.

A source who attended the reception said it seemed like there was a line down the middle of the room separating the supporters and challengers of the current administration, with Pallotta floating between the groups. An similar scene followed Tuesday morning at a reportedly awkward breakfast hosted by New York City's United Federation of Teachers.

Here is some new news from the same source about the other big cities and it looks like they are ęn the fence - no matter how they vote if they are unhappy now watch them wee

Yonkers Federation of Teachers president Patricia Puleo said her union's delegates are free to decide for themselves who they'll vote for in April, and she questioned whether new leadership would make a difference in how the state Education Department goes forward with implementation of the Common Core standards. But she recognized that the city's teachers have grown frustrated.
“People are so upset that they are willing to make whatever changes they can,” Puleo said.
Kevin Ahern, president of the Syracuse Teachers Association, said his delegates aren't sure how they'll vote.
“We have to do what is best for our local, and we are waiting until we have thoroughly discussed where both slates are at in terms of what will work best for us in the long term,” Ahern said.
Rochester Teachers Association president Adam Urbanski said teachers have been dissatisfied with Iannuzzi's handling of some issues in the past, they “have also noted a marked change in his position with the call for a moratorium and with spearheading the vote of no confidence against Commissioner King,” he said.
“I think there is considerable dissatisfaction with the way things have turned out,” Urbanski continued, “and I think they want a stronger position to be taken by NYSUT than NYSUT has managed to take until now. There is absolutely no question about that. But they don't want change for the sake of change; they want change in position and the issues to be the focus point, not personalities.”

Read the entire piece here:
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/01/8539552/nysut-president-loses-ground-divisive-election-nears

Read and download the MORE newsletter issue #2.
Print a few copies for your colleagues.

TODAY - Calling All Stakeholders - Feb 1: More than a Score: Talking back to testing event

This is going to be a great event. Ed Notes readers should try to attend. A true gathering of parents and teachers. A key day for creating alliances.

Join like minded-parents, teachers and administrators who know the time is NOW to bring education back onto the proper track to serve our children and our schools.

More than a Score: Talking back to testing

Edward A. Reynolds West Side High School

140 West 102nd Street, NYC

Saturday, February 1, 2014

11 am – 3 pm

Find out how you can stop the overuse of High Stakes Testing in your 

Join the citywide effort to achieve real teaching and learning!

Workshops include:

• High Stakes Testing 101: The Truth About Testing

Change the Stakes

• Teacher Evaluation, Testing, and the new UFT Contract

The MORE Contract Committee

• Stopping the Test-Fueled School-to-Prison Pipeline

Teachers Unite

• Portfolio Based Assessments in Middle and High School 

Educators from Consortium (non-regents) High Schools

• How can Students Fight Back?

NYC Student Union

• Portfolio Based Assessments in Elementary Schools

Elementary school educators

Cost: FREE

Childcare will be provided.

To RSVP, e-mail  events@morecaucusnyc.org

or visit    https://www.eventbrite.com/e/more-than-a-score-talking-back-to-testing-forum-tickets-9595589667

MORE, Change the Stakes, Teachers Unite, the NYC Student Union, and your fellow progressive educators, parents, students, and community members can’t wait to see you there!

NYSUT Rift Update: The Fat Lady Hasn't Sung as Hobart and Cortese Endorse Iannuzzi Slate

Rumore is making a gambit that Mulgrew would defend his local better than Iannuzzi? Who is he kidding? ... Comment on ed notes

Our pals at Port Jefferson Station have posted this. For NYC people Hobart and Cortese may not mean much but they have been heavy hitters in NYSUT. I've never supported them but their support for Dick carries some weight. Below that is a comment on Ed Notes, followed by emails from Mike Lillis, President of Lakeland Federation of Teachers with some heavy criticism of Andy. This battle ain't going away too soon.

I think a question to explore very soon is WHY? And how  this battle affects Randi and the AFT given the dominance of NYSUT in that organization. Some people are even whispering that this is a Mulgrew power play against Randi. Hard to believe but anything is possible.

Hobart and Cortese Endorse Iannuzzi, Neira, Donahue, Cutler

January 31, 2014
NYSUT Leaders and Members:
We are proud to serve as the Honorary Reelection Committee and to endorse the reelection of Dick Iannuzzi for President, Maria Neira and Kathleen Donahue for Vice President and Lee Cutler for Secretary-Treasurer of NYSUT!
We have been involved in framing the NYSUT mission and vision from its inception.  Along with many great unionists from across New York, we’ve watched our union grow and evolve in ways that place NYSUT at the forefront of the teacher union movement — in fact of the entire labor movement.  Dick and his team have a vision that is inclusive of every constituency group and local regardless of region or size.  They have made leaders feel and know that they are part of a union that cares about and advocates for every member.  They understand that leadership is about making the tough choices in tough times to save our members’ jobs, and about recalibrating our budgetary priorities and restructuring our organization to better meet our members’ needs.  They know that leadership is about leading and taking responsibility for decisions, not finger-pointing or scapegoating colleagues when times are hard.
Like each of us, the STRONGER TOGETHER team understands that a union best serves its members with a long-range strategy and vision that supports real change, but not change for the sake of change.
The future of NYSUT depends on a team whose vision looks toward the future with new ideas that engage a collective voice, and not one that seeks to look backwards and fails to recognize the value of every member.  Dick, Maria, Kathleen and Lee have the vision and experience to lean into the future on your behalf, and that’s why we are proud to actively provide our support.
In solidarity,
Thomas Y. Hobart, Jr.
President Emeritus
Antonia Cortese
Former  NYSUT First Vice President
Hobart/Cortese Endorsement Letter

Geo Karo has left a new comment on your post "Is Iannuzzi Toast?":

Important coverage here.
Opponents of Cuomo and King's corporate deformist policies that have ravaged teachers' working conditions and children's learning conditions should do all they can to build support among the remaining out of NYC and out of Buffalo teacher union locals.
And Rumore is making a gambit that Mulgrew would defend his local better than Iannuzzi? Who is he kidding? Mulgrew and his proxy Pallotta paid $10,000 for a table at Cuomo's (reelection) birthday party. What Kool-Aid is Rumore drinking? Has he forgotten that Mulgrew's beneficiary --Cuomo-- has threatened to take over the Buffalo School District, screaming that the BTF's APPR MOU is illegal?
Thankfully, Buffalo is not the only big non-NYC block of votes. Syracuse's union president Kevin Ahern was an early supporter of Iannuzzi's move vs. King. Think of all those YouTube videos of teacher union members across the state, railing against Common Core & King's tour. Like Ahern, we could expect that they will more likely side with Iannuzzi over Michael "put up a lame response to deform" Mulgrew.

This is a classic Which Side are You On struggle. Mulgrew is unapologetic re the most repressive APPR in NYS, Mulgrew defended CCSS on principle throughout 2013. Can NYS teachers afford to let Mulgrew's sham unionism seize tighter control of NYSUT?

======
Andy Pallotta/Mulgrew may win in a runaway but they have created longer lasting problems of divisions at the state level that won't go away soon. Will a serious opposition caucus to state Unity emerge? Even people who vote for Mulgrew will soon come to see that things will go backward.

Aside from the email below from Lakeland Fed of Teachers President Mike Lillis regarding the threat to the NYSUT legal department once Mulgrew gets his hands on it with total control, I've heard similar thoughts from people inside the legal dept -- that whatever support they give teachers currently will not be as strong. And I know that there are people who have said they wouldn't use their NYSUT lawyers but I've also heard some good things. Remember - UFT has no legal dept for teachers - only NYSUT lawyers.

Norm, 

I thought you might find this helpful.  For anyone who believes that Andy is somehow being held back by Dick, this article in Capital New York would be illuminating.  Since Andy got to Albany, the only meaningful means we have had to address our members concerns is the legal dept (APPR lawsuit, Tax Cap lawsuit).  Thankfully the legal dept is controlled by Dick, because if Andy controlled that as well our members would have no reason to hope for improvement.  Andy has mastered the Art of talking about hard work and doing nothing,except working behind the scenes for the last year and a half to  orchestrate a coup.

Here is his email to the Pallotta:

Michael Lillis mlillis510@gmail.com	10/25/13
to apallotta, rianuzzi, mneira, dianuzzi, kdonahue, Lee

 

Andy,

I am compelled to write to you regarding the recent article in Capital NY concerning the I.D.C. and their efficacy. After reading and agreeing with everything that Dick had said about the I.D.C. and the dysfunction that they have created in the Senate, I was shocked to read that rather than let Senator Klein answer directly for the lack of movement regarding our agenda items concerning testing, women's rights, and farm workers, you decided to intervene and allow Senator Klein to save face by not having to provide a rationale for why he is obstructing our agenda.  To see so many of our legislative agenda items either stalled or rejected by our "friends," it is high time that we more clearly and publicly delineate our agenda items as Dick has just done.  

We are at a crucial moment and we need the legislature to perceive us as unified and moving in a single direction with clear expectations for the Legislators behavior.  Significant work has been done to lay a foundation to turn back the tide of the education reform agenda forced upon us by the Governor, the Legislature and the Regents.  Within the next couple of months there will have been close to two dozen public hearings hosted by Regents and Legislators alike and they will hear a consistent message about SED overreach and incompetence.  For you to have so visibly sent out a mixed message about what we want is amateur and does not serve my members.   As evidence of how this undermines our agenda on educational issues I found the article in Capital NY through a link on GothamSchools.org.  Clearly organizational dissonance undermines our effectiveness and will be exploited by people who want to marginalize us. 

We, the rank and file teachers in NYS, are at the breaking point over these curricula and testing issues.  We need action and the current structure of the Senate has proven itself to only enable inaction and an opportunity to blame others for why individual Legislators are not taking tough stands. Dick is absolutely correct to point out that it would be better if the Senate was completely controlled by either the Republicans or the Democrats, because then when teachers and parents go to vote, we will know who to blame.  

The next few months is going to provide us a unique and powerful opportunity to act quickly to get legislative action to slow down and reverse this poorly conceived education reform agenda.  If we squander this opportunity through our own legislative dissonance the membership will be justified in wondering, "how could such a once powerful organization have been marginalized so quickly"?  Nothing will marginalize us more effectively than sending a mixed message to legislators about what we demand.

Thank you,

Mike Lillis

President Lakeland Federation of Teachers

 

Scarlett Johansson Buy Hamptons Hideaway

BUYER: Scarlett Johansson
LOCATION: Amagansett, NY
PRICE: $2,200,000
SIZE: 3,500 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Last August, before this winter wrung its icy hands around around the throat of the the Eastern Seaboard and other locales throughout the U.S., smoldering full-time movie star and idiosyncratic part-time singer Scarlett Johansson surreptitiously spent $2.2 million to acquire a shingled cottage in the low key but crazy pricey ocean side community of Amagansett, NY, in the hoity-toity Hamptons.

The four-time Golden Globe nominee, a petite, usually blond and buxom silver screen stunner if there ever was one, has danced around Tinseltown since the mid-1990s but, despite a plum role in the critically acclaimed Robert Redford's Oscar-nominated western romance The Horse Whisperer, Your Mama doesn't think Miz Johansson's real showbiz break didn't come until 2003 when she starred in Sofia Coppola's self-consciously quirky, Oscar-winning film Lost in Translation. Since then there have been a slew of movies. Many have been forgettable, a good number of them small but (arguably) interesting (The Girl With the Pearl Earring, Vicki Christina Barcelona, Don Jon, and the currently in theaters Her), and a healthy handful of them big budget sci-fi action flicks (Iron Man, The Avengers franchise and the upcoming Captain America: The Winter Soldier).

Property records show the often circumspect in public and decidedly in-demand Miz Johansoon purchased the property through an opaquely named trust from Australian model turned fashion designer Gail Elliot. Presumably she will share the residence, when in residence, with her Paris-based Frenchman fiancée, Romain Dauriac, often described as a journalist, the former editor of the now defunct art- and street culture-oriented quarterly Clark, and the current manager of an advertising agency (or something like that).

Listing details Your Mama turned up on the internets show the 3,500-ish square foot two-story house sits down a long private drive on 1.41 private acres where it butts up to a sylvan Peconic Land Trust preserve and the unspoiled ocean side gorgeousness of Napeague State Park. On the outside it looks like a classic, shingled cottage dripping with vines and weathered by the bite of the salty air. Inside, however, the main living spaces take on a vaguely-Bali-esque and almost loft-like vibe with a spacious, wood-floored open-concept main living space anchored by a hulking, two-sided stucco fireplace at its center.

The front door opens directly into the main living room that makes one, awkward step down in the middle of the room as it extends towards a generous bank of glass doors that slide open to a wisteria enshrouded veranda with a verdant view—in the summer time, at least—of a long, wide and lush swathe of lawn that lies between the house and a dense perimeter of privacy ensuring, untamed shrubbery that rings the house.

The roomy dining area opens to the somewhat compact but none-the-less expensively equipped center island kitchen that's appears in listing photographs to be fitted and kitted with milk chocolate toned Shaker-style cabinets, sand-colored slab stone counter tops, and the customary suite of high-grade commercial-style stainless steel appliances.

As a cranky aside: Your Mama can't help but note in the listing photo of the kitchen that there's a microwave over—or, worse, a toaster oven—set catty-corner on the counter top. Children, what Your Mama wants to know is how someone spend upwards of $50,000 to remodel or install a reasonably upscale kitchen in a multi-million dollar house in the Hamptons and does not require and provide built-in space for a goddamn microwave oven? Child, pleeze. For $2.2 million, this property gossip would not care to give up a square inch of valuable counter space to a microwave oven that the architect or kitchen designer shoulda hand the common sense and decency to provide a built-in cubby for. Lowrd have mercy, we got our blood all up with our silly rant and now we need a damn nerve pill. Anyhoodles, poodles...

Each of the three guest/family bedrooms appear in listing photos as better than average sized with en-suite facilities and direct access to the outdoors. One of the downstairs bedrooms has an awkwardly positioned fireplace and built-in bookcases and (at least) one of the upstairs bedrooms has a private deck that over looks the swimming pool and allows for an elevated, over-the-tree-tops view towards (if not exactly of) the ocean.

Like all good and worthy houses in the Hamptons, there are generous and many outdoor entertaining and recreation spaces that encourage indoor/outdoor summertime living. Broad lawns are dotted with a mature shade tree or two and there's a pergola-shaded dining deck on the back of the house as well as a balcony-shaded spot off the dining room for grilling. Even though deeded access to the beach and ocean is just a couple hundred yards down the street, there's a simple, rectangular in-ground swimming pool girdled by a wooden fence and encircled by a slender strip of decking.

Everybody know, of course, that the world renown Hamptons communities crawl with rich and famous types and Miz Johansson will not lack for a legion of high profile clam back companions should she want them. Sara Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick have long owned (a compound) in the Amagansett Dunes area and actress turned self-styled lifestyle guru Gyneth Paltrow is just down the road in shingle-sided mansion. (Did y'all see Miz Paltrow had the living/music room of her Hamptons house worked over by some designer she likes and then stuck pictures of the entire process and the very white and pearl gray end result up on her Goop website? Well, she did. Anyways...) At the end of the street is the ocean front house that radio shock jock Howard Stern bought in 2003 for $5.5 million and sold in 2006 for $7.6 million.

Although we hardly know a pig from a bergère chair Your Mama isn't aware of Miz Johansson owning any real estate in Los Angeles. In June 2013 she sold a condo in Hollywood—we believe it was her mother who occupied the apartment—and the poor lamb lost her real estate shorts on a 1930s Spanish villa in L.A.'s Outpost Estates 'hood that she scooped up in May 2007 for $7 million and sold in June 2010 for just $4 million.

Back on the East Coast Your Mama's research does suggest that Miz Johansson still owns a small, terraced penthouse apartment in the swanky but somewhat unfashionable Sutton Place 'hood in Midtown Manhattan that she snatched up for $2,100,000 in April 2008, not long before she married Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds.*

*In August 2009 Miz Johansson and Mister Reynolds paid $2.9 million for a Buff & Hensman-designed mid-century modern in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles but did not—so the gossip goes—ever occupy it as a couple because they split up almost immediately after they bought it. It was sold in May 2012 for $3,500,000.

listing photos: Douglas Elliman

Is Iannuzzi Toast?

Iannuzzi’s only path to victory was to form a solid wall of EVERY non-NYC local larger than about 500 members (there are about 50 of them) and then use that momentum to start peeling off individual delegates elsewhere. Fuhgeddaboudit....It’s illustrative that few people even know, or particularly care, who Karen Magee is or what she plans to do as NYSUT president. It’s assumed by everyone involved that she is a proxy for United Federation of Teachers president Michael Mulgrew and New York City’s Unity Caucus.... EIA

Iannuzzi has gotten more aggressive in the recent weeks while the Pallotta/Mulgrew slate is still hanging out with Andy Cuomo and giving him bags of cash for re-election. The Orwellian nature of AFT/NYSUT/UFT politics never ceases to amaze. Literally up is down and black is white. The less aggressive "challengers" are getting supported because the Iannuzzi regime hasn't been aggressive enough.

You can't make this stuff up - Rumore is going to back the challengers who have been raising cash for Andrew Cuomo because Iannizzi and his slate hasn't been aggressive enough against Cuomo, even though they have ratcheted up the aggression in the past weeks....Orwellian beyond belief - but par for the course at the AFT/NYSUT/UFT. ...  Reality Based Educator at PerdidoSS

Below, Mike Antonucci does the numbers and they don't look good for Iannuzzi. Small locals will still resist and maybe even run a slate even if Iannuzzi withdraws -- I'm not basing this on any real info other than Randi working behind the scenes to get this settled without an election and try to create illusion of NYSUT unity in time for the AFT convention in LA in July.

But there will not be unity. Can there be a real insurgency in NYSUT? The problem is that Iannuzzi is damaged goods and can't lead it. I would think those 50 local union leaders would need to declare themselves publicly very soon.

I spoke to a very wise NYSUT person recently who was there at the creation when Al Shanker and Tom Hobart merged the AFT and NEA in NY State to form NYSUT. He made a comment at the time to a very happy person at the merger: Are you ready for dissolution - (he could have also said disillusion.) What comes together can come apart if there is not enough glue to hold it.

The small locals are outraged as the hemorrhage services and members and at the bully tactics of the UFT. If someone can cobble them together into an effective force the other big cities a year down the road will look at things anew as new leaders rise.

The problem is there is long-lasting hostility to Iannuzzi as evidenced by these comments posted on ed notes when the Phil Rumore/Buffalo story broke last night.

	oh boy.. This does not look good.. I wonder if Rumore will be slapping himself in the a#$ if/when a new slate takes over and it does not go the way he would have intended. on Buffalo's Rumore Taking Stand in NYSUT Split?   And a response:	Tamar Flower	at 10:58 AM
	When the NYSUT Representative Assembly met a few years ago in Buffalo the Buffalo Teachers Union walked out when commissioner King spoke to the assembly. President Iannnuzzi specifically told the delegates not to join in with our 'Brothers and Sisters" from Buffalo as they walked out. The commissioner had made some very harsh cuts to their education funding and the BTU wanted no part of King. Here is a reason for the lack of support for Iannuzzi. on Buffalo's Rumore Taking Stand in NYSUT Split?

 
Here is the full EIA piece from Mike.

http://www.eiaonline.com/intercepts/2014/01/30/iannuzzi-is-toast/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Intercepts+%28Intercepts%29

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Iannuzzi Is Toast

Posted: 30 Jan 2014 10:39 AM PST

I don’t like to try to predict the future. There are too many uncertainties and you usually end up looking foolish. But I’ll take that chance in this case. As much as I would like to see a closely contested election going down to the wire, it is inevitable that Karen Magee will be the next president of the New York State United Teachers.

It’s illustrative that few people even know, or particularly care, who Karen Magee is or what she plans to do as NYSUT president. It’s assumed by everyone involved that she is a proxy for United Federation of Teachers president Michael Mulgrew and New York City’s Unity Caucus.
It’s also noteworthy that there is significant opposition to this UFT move by individual teachers and locals, but the structure of NYSUT’s Representative Assembly doesn’t allow for a popular vote. There are about 2,000 delegates to the RA, allocated to locals based on membership size. UFT accounts for at least one-third of these delegates. The next largest local, in Buffalo, accounts for about 1.3 percent.
UFT’s delegates can be counted on to deliver all their votes to Magee’s Revive NYSUT slate. And the president of the 30,000-strong United University Professions local also declared for Revive NYSUT. That puts incumbent NYSUT president Richard Iannuzzi in the position of having to secure three out of every four remaining delegate votes just to squeak by. He can’t do it.

Iannuzzi has some support. The presidents of 50 locals got together to form Stronger Together on his behalf, and both sides are citing endorsements by various locals, but in all cases these don’t matter. The election won’t be decided by who picks up more locals that control 0.1 percent of the vote.

Iannuzzi’s only path to victory was to form a solid wall of EVERY non-NYC local larger than about 500 members (there are about 50 of them) and then use that momentum to start peeling off individual delegates elsewhere.

Fuhgeddaboudit. According to this Capital New York story, Buffalo is leaning towards Revive NYSUT, and the other large locals are uncommitted and far from glowing in their assessment of Iannuzzi’s tenure.

Insiders think the election will swing on the issue of buying 10 seats at a Gov. Cuomo fundraiser instead of three, but it’s strictly a question of counting votes. Those with an interest can now forget about the election itself, and start investigating exactly what the Revive NYSUT slate has in mind when it takes over.

Newark: Cami Anderson Storms Out of Meeting

Delicious stuff. Every one of Joel Klein's slugs seem to turn out this way. I hope Joel is hiring the same types for Murdoch.

Cami Anderson taking her agenda out of Joel Klein’s and Chris Cerf’s playbook

UPDATE: video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyuzLudsYok&feature=youtu.be

Bob Braun's Ledger

Education, taxes, housing, immigration, politics, and other issues that affect the people of New Jersey

http://bobbraunsledger.com/newark-superintendent-storms-out-of-tumultuous-school-board-meeting-after-parent-refers-to-anderesons-brown-baby/

January 28, 2014

Newark superintendent storms out of tumultuous school board meeting after parent refers to Anderson’s “brown baby”

Natasha Allen

The state-appointed Newark school superintendent stormed out of an angry,  tumultuous School Advisory Board (SAB) meeting a few hours ago after a parent, infuriated by Cami Anderson’s treatment of the city’s children, asked “Why don’t you want for all brown babies what you want for your own brown baby?”

Anderson, who had sat passively without reacting to repeated and often angry demands for her resignation and charges of bullying and indifference toward the city’s children, reacted instantly when someone referred to her own child.  She is the mother of an interracial child.
“Not my family,” she said repeatedly, shaking her head and staring at the woman who had made the remark, Natasha Allen, the mother of a Newark Vocational High School student.  “Not my family.”

Allen said Anderson “attacked” her child and all Newark children by requiring them to attend school in the midst of a snow emergency last week when all other schools in the county–including Newark’s charters–were closed. Allen also said Anderson’s school closing plan “will hurt children throughout the city–my child–because she is bulldozing their schools and their neighborhoods.” Allen said she was upset by Anderson’s actons, as if the state official were “personally attacking my child.”

As Allen spoke,  Anderson gathered up papers in front of her and gestured toward her staff members sitting with her at a table on the stage and in the front row of the audience. She led the parade of central office staff from the stage to a rear entrance while the audience roared its approval and mockery of her leaving.

The explosion of personal anger occurred at 8:30 pm, two hours after the meeting at First Avenue School got off to a delayed and troubled start.  Scores of residents who wanted to attend the meeting were kept outside in single-digit temperatures. Then some were allowed to enter an unheated cafeteria. Police officers, citing fire regulations, said the auditorium in the school was too crowded.

The venue clearly was chosen to keep the size of the crowd down. Although the meeting was televised by local access television, the school administration did not provide remote feeds inside the schools.

“They deliberately chose a small auditorium,” said Grace Sergio, head of the Hawthorne Avenue parents’ organization.

The raucous meeting and bitter remarks dramatically illustrated the simmering anger in the Newark community. It followed a month of what residents and union leaders viewed as repeated, hurtful  insults to the parents, employees, and children of  Newark schools–a letter to families that suggested if Newark children were home from school they would get into trouble, make the city “less safe” and cause crime to go up; the imposition of a “universal application” form that favors charter schools; the adoption without widespread input of a sweeping ”One Newark” plan that will close, sell to charters, or otherwise “repurpose” nearly one half of all Newark schools; the suspension of five school principals and a central office clerk for criticizing the plan, and the banning of a parent leader from the school attended by his two children.
In the midst of these controversial moves, Anderson ignored the impact on children of 12 inches of snow and frigid, subzero temperatures to require the city’s students to attend class last Wednesday–although charters were allowed to close.  All other schools, public and private,  in Essex and neighboring counties were also closed.

Newark students demonstrate 

It also didn’t help her for Anderson to be singled out by the man who appointed her–Gov. Chris Christie–when he delivered his State of the State address. Christie himself faces his own political crisis because of his own political bullying against critics.

“She punished our children for not wanting her plan,” said Allen. “Would she want someone to punish her child?”
(Help me here about something else. If Allen had not referred to the color of the child’s skin, but had merely wondered whether Anderson wanted for her child what Newark parents wanted for their children, would the superintendent have acted so insulted? Was it just the reference to a “brown baby” that set her off? If so, what does that mean?)

The meeting did not begin well for Anderson. Early in the agenda, Alturrick Kenney, a board member, praised parent leaders who opposed the “One Newark” plan. He described the courage of Daryn Martin, the PTO president of the Ivy Hill School, who was banned from his children’s school after he tried to stop two central office administrators from tearing down meeting notices he had posted.

Board president Antoinette Baskerville Richardson, sitting inches away next to the superintendent, then described Anderson’s plan as “monumentally destabilizing” and “destructive” and criticized her for suppressing “freedom of speech.”

In a clear reference to the mounting revelations of scandals related to political retribution surrounding Christie, Baskerville-Richardson said, “It is clear the attitudes and actions of  Cami Anderson reflect the attitudes and actions of Gov. Christie.”

Her closing comment provoked a floor demonstration ending in chants of “Cami Must Go!”–”Newark is at  crossroads, but don’t be discouraged. In the end, if we stick together, we will win.”

Until Allen spoke, the loudest responses were directed at remarks by Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, and Ras Baraka, the  mayoral candidate who has made opposition to “One Newark” a central theme of his campaign.

“I could have been in Washington watching the president deliver his State of the Union address,,’ said Weingarten whose office is in the nation’s capital. “But I wanted to be here because the whole nation is watching Newark.”

She promised the national union would continue to support opposition to the “One Newark” plan “until this community gets its schools back.” She said she knew Anderson and pleaded with her to change her mind and reminded the audience that the Philadelphia schools superintendent reversed his plans after residents rose up against them.

Christie, however, has promised to ignore the city’s community while he imposes his own plan on Newark.
Baraka’s appearance was in some ways the most dramatic. The audience cheered him when he rose to speak and frequently applauded him. He said he felt responsible for the suspension of the principals because four of them spoke at a community forum he sponsored. But then Baraka called on all local school administrators to stand up and show their solidarity with the punished principals.

“They can’t suspend you all,” he said. “Stand up and show your solidarity.” About one hundred men and women stood in response to Baraka’s suggestion.
He revealed that many charter school leaders are hesitant to support Anderson’s plan and suggested she was on weak political grounds. He then issued a series of demands he said were put forward by the city’s residents. They included a return to local control of the schools, the upholding of employee rights, a  moratorium on all school closings, and finally, he ended his speech with:
“We demand the immediate removal of the state appointed superintendent of schools.”
His remarks set off a long demonstration by members of the Newark Students Union who snaked through the aisles of the auditorium chanting, “Cami Must Go!” and “No Justice, No Peace.” The demonstrators were allowed to continue their march for about ten minutes and then ended when Baskerville-Richardson called for order.

Parents then spoke and many of them expressed anger about how badly they believed Anderson treated their children–a series of criticisms capped by Natasha Allen’s comments.

After Anderson left, Baskerville-Richardson said the meeting would continue. “This is not the superintendent’s meeting, it is our meeting,” she said.
Natasha Allen  said she was upset when Anderson left.
“I still had a lot more to say to her,” she said.

Chef Anthony Bourdain Buys Big Apple Combo Condo

BUYER: Anthony Bourdain and Ottavia Busia
LOCATION: New York City, NY
PRICE: $3,350,000
SIZE: 2,250 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Just about all the New York City-oriented property gossips have already reported that wildly and unreservedly opinionated high profile chef Anthony Bourdain and his Sardinian second wife, mixed martial arts fighter Ottavia Busia Bourdain, paid $3,350,000 for a two-unit combo condo in the unfashionable but hardly inexpensive upper reaches of the Upper East Side but we're gonna have a brief discuss on the matter anyways, okay?

In addition to being the former head chef and the current "chef at large" of Brasserie Les Halles in New York City's uptown and downtown locations, the quick witted and unapologetically acerbic Mister Bourdain is the author of several books (Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, The Nasty Bits) and at least one cook book (Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook). He may be best known as an Emmy nominated television host (Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown) and the fearless eater—he (in)famously an unwashed warthog rectum—recently announced plans to develop a major food market in an as-yet unannounced location with stalls that sell international street food.

Property records show Mister and Second Missus Bourdain selected for their Big Apple residence a three (convertible to four) bedroom and three bathroom combination apartment on a very low floor of the Carnegie Hill Tower, a 32-story, post-war condo tower with scant architectural intrigue but does have over-sized bay windows that allow for panoramic views from the upper floors plus a bevy of full-service amenities that include doormen, cold storage (for grocery and flower deliveries), a resident's only gym and bike room, laundry facilities, an attached garage (for additional fees, of course), landscaped mews, and a communal roof deck.

The somewhat unconventionally laid out apartment has, as configured in the floor plan included with online marketing materials, three bedrooms, a front door opens somewhat rudely directly into a wood floored, split-level living space comprised of two adjoining but separate spaces with a tree top vista that's verdant in the spring and summer and twig-filled in the fall and winter. Although it seems highly likely Mister Bourdain will install a spacious, all-knew and custom designed kitchen where he can practice his culinary skills, the existing kitchen located off the lower part of the living area looks dark and rather puny.

The larger of the two guest/family bedrooms nestled in behind the kitchen has a private bathroom while he other has access to a hall bathroom that is also the bathroom guests would likely make use. There's an unfortunate second entrance in the master bedroom that's located at the opposite end of the apartment off the upper level of the living space. Other less than optimal characteristics of the master suite as it stands in its current layout are a minuscule bathroom and limited closet space. Although easily remedied with a couple of walls and a door or two the laundry room also appears to be located in the master suite.

Your Mama's research indicates (but does not exactly prove) that for the last three or four years Mister and Second Missus Bourdain have occupied a three bedroom and three bathroom apartment on a high floor of an upscale if otherwise undistinguished 30-story full-service rental tower in the Yorkville section of the Upper East Side. We really have no idea exactly how much they cough up each month for rent but the three-exposure spread was last available on the open market in 2009 with an asking price of $8,000.

listing photos and floor plan: Douglas Elliman

Your Mama Hears...

...from Patsy Propertypurveyor—an impeccably well-connected informant we sometimes chitty-chat with, that 38-year old cat walker turned bling flingin' mid-priced apparel tycooness Kimora Lee Simmons is about to buy a new estate in Beverly Hills and this time, children, the lady ain't foolin' around.

In August 2007, after she and her first husband, Russell Simmons, split but before they were officially divorced, Miz Simmons acquired a faux-Tudor mini-mansion in a star-studded enclave in the upper Coldwater Canyon area in the Beverly Hills Post Office. She put the place up for sale in early 2010 for $5,695,000 and, after a grimly long slog and a huge hit to her designer pocketbook, she finally sold the white elephant in July 2012 for $4.55 million. In September 2008, before her divorce from Russell Simmons was finalized and also before she sold the above mentioned B.H.P.O. house but after she got with with and made a baby out of wedlock with actor Djimon Hounsou, she laid out $10,950,000 for a 9,405 square foot Mediterranean manor house just off Coldwater Canyon Beverly Hills proper.*

Just before Your Mama left our cozy way station in ice-bound Brooklyn to head to the airport to wing out way home to sunny California, word tumbled down the celebrity real estate gossip grapevine via Patsy Propertypurveyor that Miz Simmons—possibly (and probably) with her wealthy new banker boyfriend Tim Leissner**—is fixin' to shell out somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 million for Guess jeans co-founder Armand Marciano's almost 20-acre Mediterranean-style estate perched on a private ridge in the Beverly Crest area above Benedict Canyon in Beverly Hills. We told y'all this beotch wasn't playin' this time, didn't we?

Miz Simmons and Mister Leissner —along Miz Simmons's three children and her ex-husband Russell Simmons—spent the Christmas holidays and the New Year, along with scads and scores of other rich and famous types, on the fancy-schmancy resort island of St. Barts. At least part of the smoothly blended family's time in the Caribbean appears to have been spent on a 201-foot yacht with seven en-suite staterooms, an attentive crew of 17, and a winter season charter price of $325,000 per week, plus expenses that, according to industry standards, easily run an additional 25% of the base charter price. But anyways...

The estate in question, the one that is currently owned by Guess co-founder Armand Marciano, was first hoisted on the open market in mid-2011 with an in-hindsight deeply rose-tinted $63,000,000 price tag. The asking price had plummeted to $54.5 million by the spring of 2013 before it was hacked in the fall to $47.5 million, 25% less than the original figure. Not long after last year became this year Mister Marciano and his high-profile team of real estate agents dropped the price by another 9% to its final $43 million.

Digital marketing materials show the ocher-hued villa was completed in 2001, sits down a long gated driveway, and spans more than 30,000 square feet—the L.A. County Tax Man shows it at 24,260—with seven bedrooms, 13 full and 9 half bathrooms plus a self-contained staff or guest suite with three bedrooms and a full kitchen. Other numbers of note related to the four or five parcel spread are the five flat acres, the nine fireplaces, and the eight car garage, not to mention additional parking for 20 or more cars.

The grand entry, as per listing descriptions Your Mama dug up, is dressed with imported French limestone and the roomy formal living room has an 18th-century limestone fireplace mantelpiece and direct access to a deep and long loggia that runs along the rear of the residence.

The formal dining room easily seats a dozen or more and links through to the kitchen via a butler's pantry equipped with a walk-in refrigerator. Reclaimed 18th century terra cotta tiles imported from Bordeaux provide the sprawling, double-island kitchen with a patinated counter weight to modern cooking amenities that include four overs, a commercial-grade grill, and warming drawers.

Movie goers and those who like to watch their reality shows at life size will appreciate the linen-lined, main floor screening room fitted and kitted with a concealed projection screen, black-out shades, and—booze lovers take note—a sunken bar. In addition to the aforementioned three bedroom guest or staff suite, the lower level contains a home gym, a game room, laundry facilities, and an 8,000 bottle wine cellar and tasting room.

The expansive, second floor master suite encompasses a sky-lit entry vestibule, a separate bedroom and sitting room with fireplace, a canyon and city view terrace, dual dressing rooms, and two bathrooms, his accented with a masculine Rouge Griotte marble and hers equipped with a steam shower, private access to the downstairs library, and a separate hair salon.  Each of the other five guest/family bedrooms on the upper floor open to private or shared balconies.

Naturally the house has all the modern bells and whistles that can and should be expected in an up-to-date $40-ish million dollar mansion: an elevator that services all floors, tootsie-friendly heated floors, a high-tech home automation system, a state of the art security system that Your Mama would bet the farm is camera-equipped, and at least one safe room.

The exterior spaces of the estate were no less painstakingly planned and addressed than the super-luxe interiors. There are city park-sized flat lawns with sweeping city views, numerous garden spaces teeming with mature plantings, meandering pathways, and several fountains. There are fruit trees and grape vines, an outdoor dining pavilion, and a brick-pave motor court. Next to the hidden and lighted tennis court there's a pavilion with lounge area and two half-bathrooms and next to the mosaic tile lined swimming pool there's a roomy pool house with full kitchen, pizza oven, and two full bathrooms.

Now keep in mind, children, until the deal goes down, the transaction records clear and/or y'all read it in one of the more respectable property gossip columns this is all just some high-end real estate rumor and gossip. Okay? Stay tuned...

*As far as this property gossip knows Miz Simmons' current residence in Bev Hills is not currently available as an on or off market listing. But, then again, what do we really know, right?

**Mister Leissner, as best as Your Mama can tell is a German fella of Brazilian ancestry who possesses a PhD of some sort and currently shakes his money maker as the vice chairman of investment banking in Asia for Goldman Sachs.

listing photos: Hilton & Hyland / Coldwell Banker

Portelos Update, Farina Visits His School Today as He Undergoes Cross Examination Across From Tweed

Termination for what?...blowing the whistle on corruption at the school she is visiting. I hope she is aware and helps address the issues that have plagued my neighborhood school.... Francesco Portelos

Today is another day of cross examination. Instead of going to IS 49 Farina should stop and watch this farcical waste of money as DOE Legal's Jordanna Shenkman flails around trying to find chinks in Portelos' armor. Farina would learn much more about IS 49 if she walked across the street from Tweed and sat in on these hearings.

My bad back that I hurt when I fell on the ice 3 weeks ago healed and I finally managed to get back to the hearings on Tuesday. I missed most of his testimony and some of the cross examination. Tuesday had a number of almost laugh out loud moments watching Jordanna incompetently try to frame questions meant to catch Portelos in a lie. She badgered him over whether he used the word alleged when he wrote about people under investigation and when he tried to say he used allegedly she said "I asked you Yes or No -- did you use alleged"? I had to cover my mouth.

She has no interest in truth or what really happened. I know people think the prosecutor is supposed to do that but this is not about trying to put someone away for murder. She is just trying to play "gotcha." And not succeeding. At times she is coy -- purposely not showing Portelos a document to refresh his memory, hoping to catch him in a lie.

Some of her ridiculous questions need some explanation because there is not a simple answer. "Please instruct the witness to answer my question" or "witness is non-responsive" she whines to the hearing officer continuously.

Here is his most recent email:

 
Principal just sent an email out that Chancellor Fariña will be visiting my school tomorrow. I sent the chancellor and mayor an email the other day about issues. I wonder if it is related. Maybe not, however I will not be there as I will be across the street from her office being cross examined for the 4th day and present at the 19th day of my termination hearing. Termination for what?...blowing the whistle on corruption at the school she is visiting. I hope she is aware and helps address the issues that have plagued my neighborhood school.

Francesco Portelos

Parent
Educator

IS 49 UFT Chapter Leader

educatorfightsback.org
Mrportelos.com

Here are some notes some of my MORE colleagues took when I was not able to attend.

I haven't been able to attend the hearings over the past few weeks - I was hoping to go today but have to drive a friend to the doctor. But here are some comments - anonymous -- and also some commentary from some MOREistas who did attend.

3 Anonymous comments on your post "Francesco Portelos: Teacher Under Assault by Princ...":

I was a member of SLT at IS49 as the title 1 rep. If Ms. Hill didn't like my questions and didn't want to answer them, she would act like a 12yr old and say, "you know ms. wright, i'm really trying to get along with you." if she made a face or disliked any of my questions then she had her puppets chime in and attack me with negative comments and discouraging me from asking or speaking my mind. she demanded 1500 dollars from the title 1 money ASAP. I told her I needed to speak with higher ups and she quoted me again with, u know ms. wright, i'm really trying to get a long with you. and asking me who do I need to speak with and when will I get back to her. I told her Tuesday, which was two days later and she huffed and puffed like she was going to blow me down. when saturday rolled around she sent me an email telling me to disregard her request.



I was the title 1 rep and when I asked a question at the PTA meeting about the safe room, I was told at an executive meeting that was set up to intimidate me from asking negative questions in front of parents. I was told by sherina peterkins the so called president of the PTA and the so called leader in charge, Ms. Hill, that I am to stop whatever I am doing and ask ms. hill these questions in her office. that if my question is personal that I am to go to the principal in private. you stupid clowns, my son goes to your school and everything that happened or happens in this school is personal to me. I told them whatever. that if I want to ask a question I will ask it at the PTA.


I was harassed by ms. hill's security officers. she had only two black females escorting me around like I was a criminal. everyone else walked in that school with no escorts except me. I called mike riley to complain. it stopped for 2 weeks and started up again. this was all because ms. hill didn't like that I was asking a lot of questions about the budget, the title 1 funds, questioning the CFN and just asking positive questions about the kids' welfare when it came to education. as a title 1 rep I was treated like shit. but I didn't care because I knew that heifer couldn fire me. one time even one of the officers interpreted for me in English back to English. go figure. I have a lot of stories about this piece of shit school

Don't Miss This Event on Saturday, Feb 1: More Than a Score - Talking Back to Testing

Again, with a new mayor, a new chancellor and a movement building, it's a great time to engage with others who envision an educational system that is centered on the needs of children, focused on real teaching and learning and what is possible beyond the corporate reforms of the day.

Connect with others who want to stop the over-use of testing in OUR schools this Saturday 11-3pm

Join the citywide effort to promote real teaching and learning!

Workshops, panels, keynote speakers, meet and mingle!

Reynolds West Side High School

140 West 102nd st NYC

Revserve your FREE ticket HERE

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More Than a Score:
Talking Back to Testing

Edward A. Reynolds West Side High School

140 West 102nd Street, NYC Saturday, February 1, 2014
11 am - 3 pm

Find out how you can stop the overuse of High Stakes Testing in your school! Join the citywide effort to promote real teaching and learning!

Workshops include:
• High Stakes Testing 101: The Truth About Testing Change the Stakes
•Teacher Evaluation, Testing, and the new UFT Contract The MORE Contract Committee
•Stopping the Test-Fueled School-to-Prison Pipeline Teachers Unite
• Portfolio Based Assessments in Middle and High School Educators from Consortium (non-regents) High Schools
• How can Students Fight Back? NYC Student Union
•Portfolio Based Assessments in Elementary Schools Elementary school educators
Cost: FREE (Childcare will be provided)
 
To RSVP, e-mail events@morecaucusnyc.org OR find us online:
www.facebook.com/MOREcaucusNYC twitter: @MOREcaucusNYC

MORE (The Movement of Rank and File Educators), Change the Stakes, Teachers Unite, the NYC Student Union, and your fellow progressive educators, parents, students, and community members can’t wait to see you there!

Buffalo's Rumore Taking Stand in NYSUT Split?

NYSUT President Richard Iannuzzi is losing ground in his contested April election.... Philip Rumore, president of the Buffalo Federation of Teachers, said his members are frustrated that the current leadership wasn't as aggressive as they'd hoped in responding to the state's rollout of the controversial Common Core standards. “Many of the Buffalo teachers have not been satisfied with the positions that NYSUT has taken,” Rumore told Capital on Wednesday. “Let's put it this way: If anything, we are leaning toward a change in direction, but we haven't made a formal decision yet.” ... Capital Pro

Rumore has got to be kidding. He's unhappy because Iannuzzi has not been as aggressive as he liked but he thinks Mulgrew will be more aggressive? Dreamland.
This may turn out to be a clincher. I can't believe Rumore can think that Mulgrew will show more spine than Iannuzzi but I guess he senses a winner --

Will Iannuzzi stay in if the numbers begin to look really bad? Will Randi intervene to try to prevent an April bloodbath that might split NYSUT? Even an 80-20 split is not good since NYSUT drives the AFT Unity engine.

Here's the key: will the Iannuzzi supporters stay together and form a real opposition in NYSUT? If he doesn't take leadership can they develop into a force inside NYSUT once the Mulgrew/Pallotta crew show they will back Cuomo and get nothing back for it?

Buffalo teachers ‘leaning toward’ NYSUT challengers

By Jessica Bakeman 4:22 p.m. 

ALBANY—Teachers in Buffalo will likely join their peers in New York City in supporting a slate of challengers to the current leadership of New York State United Teachers, a powerful statewide union.
NYSUT President Richard Iannuzzi is losing ground in his contested April election, with two major urban teachers' unions throwing support to challenger Karen McGee, a local union leader in Westchester. Andy Palotta, the current executive vice president and a force in Albany, is running for re-election and backing McGee.
Philip Rumore, president of the Buffalo Federation of Teachers, said his members are frustrated that the current leadership wasn't as aggressive as they'd hoped in responding to the state's rollout of the controversial Common Core standards.
“Many of the Buffalo teachers have not been satisfied with the positions that NYSUT has taken,” Rumore told Capital on Wednesday. “Let's put it this way: If anything, we are leaning toward a change in direction, but we haven't made a formal decision yet.”

MORE ON CAPITAL

• Randi Weingarten questions Cuomo’s budget values

Buffalo teachers pushed for state education commissioner John King's resignation months ago. Iannuzzi called for a vote of no confidence against King earlier this month, and the union's board of directors approved the resolution on Saturday.

King has said Iannuzzi's stance was motivated by internal political pressure.  Iannuzzi declined comment through a NYSUT spokesman.

Mollie Bruhn: Challenging “Waiting for Superman” in Kappan Mag

Our film was not the first nor the only thing to clue people in to the dangers of the corporate reform movement, but “The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman” has proven to be an important piece of the ever-growing pushback and effort to preserve public education... Mollie Bruhn in Kappan on the making of "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman."

This article is available at PDK for the public until end of February:
http://www.kappanmagazine.org/content/95/5/47.full.pdf+html

Watch the film here or click the tab at Ed Notes.

When Mollie isn't writing she has Max read to her.

When the editor of Kappan, the organ of Phi Delta Kappa, an international association of professional educators, contacted GEM/Real Reform Studios last spring about doing an article on the making of "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman" many of us were busy with organizing in MORE and Change the Stakes, the two branches that had emerged out of the Grassroots Education Movement - the teacher/UFT oriented MORE and the parent dominated CTS.

There was no time to get back into more film work with Real Reform Studios, especially since two key people, Mollie Bruhn and Darren Marelli were about to have a baby. I offered to start writing the article but as usual got involved with too many things. Once Mollie got settled with new baby Max and also took a child care leave, she picked up the project and did a wonderful job in chronicling the work we did. Mollie is too modest to talk about her enormous impact on shaping the film. Her article captures the great synergy the entire crew developed as we engaged many of the leading people in NYC fighting ed deform in the making of the film.

When we began making the film in August 2010, the deform movement was rising like a rocket. I feel we were amongst the first people out of the box with a powerful deterrent that helped lead the counterattack that has gained so much speed since then.

Kappan has just published Mollie's article.

Challenging “Waiting for Superman”

1. Mollie Bruhn

+ Author Affiliations

1. MOLLIE BRUHN is a kindergarten teacher for the New York City Department of Education and was an editor for “The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman.”

Abstract

A group of New York City public school teachers, angry about the depiction of public schools in ‘Waiting for Superman,” decide to make their own film about the realities of the current education reform movement. They persevered even though they had no budget when they started and lacked a background in filmmaking. ‘The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman’ was released in May 2011 and has proven to be an important piece of the ever growing pushback against corporate education reform. 

You can read it here:
http://www.kappanmagazine.org/content/95/5/47.full.pdf+html

Here are a few pics.

From the Right: Educational Intelligence Agency on Randi, Common Core and TNTP Slug Tim Daly

If you think she’s (Weingarten) being shifty now, wait until someone asks her about Mulgrew vs. Iannuzzi. ...EIA

Last week the union announced 13 recipients of the grants. Nine of the grants are geared to ease the implementation of the Common Core standards. The NEA delegates approved the fund by a relatively slim margin (55.6% to 44.4%). The margin might have been slimmer yet, or even entirely overturned, had Van Roekel hinted that most of the money would go to Common Core.... EIA

Gee, someone should ask Randi where she stands on NYSUT issue. The fence will get a workout. I will speculate on the threat to Randi nationally if the NYSUT split lasts past April.

Here are 2 posts by Mike Antonucci at EIA with some interest. He breaks down the NEA resistance to common core and includes a link to the slugs at TNTP led by Tim Daly who actually try to make the point that E4E is one of the reasons Weingarten has to walk on the fence. I left a comment on Mike's blog about the joke they are.

He does talk about the BATS and the NYSUT story.

But also ends his quote of the day with a big chunk from James' posting on the ICE blog.

And what both Daly and Antonucci get wrong is that Randi starts out from the neo-liberal support for much of ed deform and backtracks as it falls apart.

But you must read the so-called "very insightful" Tim Daly piece for a batch of laughs. Daly and TNTP have been vampires living on the blood of the public school system for years. I left a few comments on the EIA blog.

Get Out of Dodge?

Written By: Mike Antonucci - Jan• 28•14

Tim Daly and Dan Weisberg have a very insightful post on the TNTP blog about Randi Weingarten and what they see as her varying positions on Common Core. They call it “the implementation dodge” because it consists of supporting Common Core while deriding its implementation.
Their analysis is spot-on, but I would change just one detail. They write, “Her track record has been less about staking out a thoughtful position and more about shifting from one position to another as political realities demand.”
I don’t feel Weingarten shifts from one position to another. To be a teacher union president requires holding two position simultaneously, even if they are contradictory. As the union’s representative to the outside world one must present the union’s best face, mostly consisting of concerns for teacher quality and the general health of the public education system over self-interest. But as union president, one must always be waving the battle flag, to remind the members that they are in danger from nefarious forces and only their membership in the union protects them from utter disaster.

Full post

And this chronicle of NEA and common core. I'm including the entire piece here because there's so much juicy stuff. And he ends with a long quote from James Eterno.
http://www.eiaonline.com/2014/01/27/nea-cant-deliver-common-message-on-common-core/

NEA Can’t Deliver Common Message on Common Core

Written By: Mike Antonucci - Jan• 27•14

January 27, 2014

NEA Can’t Deliver Common Message on Common Core. It is the established policy of the National Education Association that the Common Core State Standards are a good thing. There is a sizable faction within the union that disagrees. The problem is that there is an ebb and flow to the strength of these opposing positions that NEA seems entirely incapable of managing coherently.

Last July, delegates to the NEA Representative Assembly approved the creation of the Great Public Schools Fund, financed with a $3-per-member assessment. The roughly $6 million raised annually would go to union affiliates that “demonstrate leadership in enhancing the quality of public education and to assist in the development and implementation of a proactive agenda that engages members and leads to success for every student.” That is a fairly broad description, leading to expectations that a broad category of activities would be funded.

Nevertheless, the ultimate authority to release the funds rested in the hands of only two men, NEA president Dennis Van Roekel and executive director John Stocks. Last week the union announced 13 recipients of the grants. Nine of the grants are geared to ease the implementation of the Common Core standards.

The NEA delegates approved the fund by a relatively slim margin (55.6% to 44.4%). The margin might have been slimmer yet, or even entirely overturned, had Van Roekel hinted that most of the money would go to Common Core.
The NEA president is expending a lot of energy to diminish the concerns of the anti-Common Core members, writing in an editorial that “change is hard.” He also states, without a note of irony about the history of union communications, that “as a general rule, doomsday scenarios rarely materialize.”

The Badass Teacher Association, which is home for much of the opposition to NEA’s support of Common Core, reacted with a “BAT swarm” to fill NEA’s Facebook page with negative comments.

As a practical matter, the BATs are a minor annoyance for NEA’s powers-that-be. Of more concern is the recent unanimous vote of the board of directors at the New York State United Teachers to withdraw its support for the state’s Common Core standards until major corrections are made and a three-year moratorium enacted on any consequences from standardized testing.

“We’ll have to be the first to say it’s failed,” said Richard Iannuzzi, president of New York State United Teachers.
So the national union is heavily promoting a program that its largest state affiliate is denouncing, while its members continue to pay to implement it.

If that’s not confusing enough, Iannuzzi might be out of office by April, and Van Roekel will be gone by September. Will this policy continue under their successors, or will there be a change in direction?

No wonder the members don’t pay attention.

Recent Intercepts. EIA’s daily blog, Intercepts, covered these topics January 22-27:
*  It’s Official: Civil War in NYSUT. Will it be New York City on one side and the rest of the state on the other? Inside the teachers’ union, that’s an even battle.

Quote of the Week. “Membership to the Unity Caucus in New York City is by invitation only. To be accepted into the caucus, one must sign a statement pledging to support the decisions of the caucus in union and public forums (the so called Unity loyalty oath). There is no public dissent allowed. In exchange for absolute loyalty, Unity members get all expense paid trips to the AFT Convention and the NYSUT Representative Assemblies where they vote as an enormous bloc. I very much doubt that the smaller locals in New York State have the funds to pay for their Delegates to travel to the RA and stay at the Hilton. The party discipline Unity has would make Mao envious.” – James Eterno, United Federation of Teachers chapter leader and member of the MORE caucus. (January 26 ICEUFT Blog)