We at NYC Educator want to wish you a very happy and healthy 2006.

Thanks for stopping by.

He will have to learn, I know,
that all men are not just,
all men are not true.
But teach him also that
for every scoundrel there is a hero;
that for every selfish Politician,
there is a dedicated leader...
Teach him for every enemy there is a
friend,

Steer him away from envy,
if you can,
teach him the secret of
quiet laughter.

Let him learn early that
the bullies are the easiest to lick... Teach him, if you can,
the wonder of books...
But also give him quiet time
to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky,
bees in the sun,
and the flowers on a green hillside.

In the school teach him
it is far honourable to fail
than to cheat...
Teach him to have faith
in his own ideas,
even if everyone tells him
they are wrong...
Teach him to be gentle
with gentle people,
and tough with the tough.

Try to give my son
the strength not to follow the crowd
when everyone is getting on the band wagon...
Teach him to listen to all men...
but teach him also to filter
all he hears on a screen of truth,
and take only the good
that comes through.

Teach him if you can,
how to laugh when he is sad...
Teach him there is no shame in tears,
Teach him to scoff at cynics
and to beware of too much sweetness...
Teach him to sell his brawn
and brain to the highest bidders
but never to put a price-tag
on his heart and soul.

Teach him to close his ears
to a howling mob
and to stand and fight
if he thinks he's right.
Treat him gently,
but do not cuddle him,
because only the test
of fire makes fine steel.

Let him have the courage
to be impatient...
let him have the patience to be brave.
Teach him always
to have sublime faith in himself,
because then he will have
sublime faith in mankind.

This is a big order,
but see what you can do...
He is such a fine fellow,
my son!

Update-- letter appears not to have been written by Lincoln. I don't care. I love it anyway and am leaving it here.

Here's a strange one. It's called EdzUp.

An anonymous commenter sent me a great article by Bernard Gassaway, former principal of Beach Channel High School and senior superintendent of Alternative Schools and Programs.

Mr. Gassaway, as Bloomberg's employee, was faced with the stark choice of serving either the mayor or the kids, whose interests did not converge.

I represented the children who were on the “long way to go” end of the process. I wanted nothing to do with the bogus talk about test score gains. These so-called gains did not change one thing for the children who I represented. City Hall and Department of Education officials had one goal in mind, get Bloomberg reelected. The Chancellor frequently advocated on television for the Mayor’s reelection. When I first heard this, I remember saying to myself, I do not care about this Mayor’s reelection.

If our educational leaders (superintendents) are silenced, what chance do our principals, teachers, parents and children have? Since no one is willing to tell the Emperor that he is not wearing any clothes, our children continue to suffer. Our children continue to suffer because we fail to come to their defense. Our children continue to suffer because we compromise our principles. Our children continue to suffer because we refuse to listen to them, hear their cries. Our children continue to suffer because few are bold enough to utter a word in defense of them. Our children continue to suffer because our so-called political, religious, educational and community leaders are so weak and paralyzed by complicity or fear.

Here’s my charge to educational leaders. If you are not going to pledge allegiance to children, shut up and continue to do as you are told to do. Do not pretend to be an educator. Do not pretend to be free. Your children will surely follow your lead.

Well, if you believe the NY Sun, the thing they want most is smaller classes. Other important requests were quality teachers and less overcrowding. Few in the survey, only 2% in fact, accepted Mayor Bloomberg’s agenda as most desirable.

Thanks to Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters . Ms. Haimson wrote the Sun about this, and most of her letter appears below:

Re “Study: Parents want small class sizes” (December 29):

It is no surprise that New York City parents see class size reduction as their top priority; for more than a generation, our children have suffered by being crammed into the largest classes in the state and some of the largest in the nation. The Court of Appeals ruled that class sizes were too large in city schools to provide our students with their constitutional right to an adequate education.

Though class sizes have fallen slightly in the early grades due to enrollment decline, last year 75% of city districts still reported average class sizes of more than twenty children per class in K-3. Moreover, average class sizes in the middle grades have not improved significantly in the past six years and remain at 28 and above; in most of our large high schools, classes still contain 30 students or more. These huge classes result directly in our abysmal 8th grade test scores and unconscionably high dropout rates. Compare this to the rest of the state, where classes average 20-22 students in these grades.

The biggest outrage is that this administration has no plan to improve class sizes in the middle and upper grades, no matter how much money our schools receive as a result of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case. And despite the fact that over 100,000 New Yorkers signed petitions this spring to place a proposition on the ballot that would require smaller class sizes in all grades by using a portion of these funds, the Bloomberg administration is attempting to block this question from ever appearing on the ballot, having decided that voters should have no say on this critical issue.

If you wish to write a letter to the Sun about this issue, click here and knock yourself out. However, if you are indeed knocked out, we at NYC Educator are regretfully unable to help you with ensuing medical expenses. We must, therefore, advise all due caution.

No one's a bigger fan of Mike Winerip than I am, but I think there's something missing from his recent column in the NY Times about Somali immigrants. He suggests that they're being denied translation services, and are therefore unable to learn English.

Actually, regardless of which classes they may or may not be taking, it's remarkable for kids to spend two years in the US without acquiring a significant amount of English. Also, while I do not oppose bilingual education, it is not absolutely necessary. Immersion ought to work for anyone. There's something really wrong here.

It could certainly be the inability of some of these kids to read that hinders them in many areas, but they still ought to pick up verbal English.

Winerip says their "English immersion" teachers explain in English and clarify in Spanish, for the benefit of the majority. If you're not an educator, you may be unfamiliar with specific pedagogical jargon, but we in the business refer to individuals who engage in such practices as "bad" or sometimes, the more colorful "clueless and incompetent" teachers.

If these kids were in my beginning ESL classes, I would force them to speak English, whether they liked it or not, by any and all means necessary. For me, that's fairly standard practice.

Those of us who sat through years of language classes, receiving passing grades, but learning little or nothing know this--translation is not, primarily, how kids acquire language.

Participation is.

Is the President drinking again?

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Many things, no doubt, but you won't find them at Kansas-based Red State Rabble, a clever, thoughtful blog that strongly advocates science, as opposed to theology, being taught in the classroom.

If you're looking for common sense (the least common of all the senses), you'll certainly find it there.

Schoolgal requested more info on the TWU deal, and UFT members may wonder how it compares to our deal.

They did better than us, as you might have expected, and the UTP Blog has a lot of detail about it.

If you're angling for a UFT job, and prefer unverifiable, irrational praise of Unity, check out Edwize.

The NY Times reports that some sweeteners were added to the transit contract, and I've received further detail about them from my sources, which pride themselves on being at least as disreputable as mainstream media.

1. TWU workers will now have lifetime health care. While they will pay back 1.5% of their salaries to cover it, they will now be able to retire at 55 without waiting till Medicare eligibility kicks in, a significant improvement.

2. Tier 3 and 4 members had to contribute 5.3% for several years toward reducing the retirement age to 55. This was later reduced to 2%. I'm told many TWU members will now receive refunds between 8-20K.

A teacher sent this note based on a visit to TWU headquarters on Thurs., Dec. 22, just hours after the strike ended.

“I had a very satisfying experience while delivering a small token of solidarity to Local 100.

“A colleague, the daughter of a career NYC bus driver and TWU member, and I raised some money for the Local's relief fund. We raised about $180.00, a modest sum, but an effort that for the most part was strongly appreciated by most of the staff. You'll also be gratified to know that most of our newer teachers were eager to contribute.

“My school is just over the 59th Street Bridge in LIC, Local 100's HQ is on far west 64th St. and I live in Manhattan, so I thought I'd hand deliver the money. I expected to see people milling around, but the front of the building had just a couple of bored cops and camera crews in front. A man approached me wearing a red and yellow TWU armband around his forehead as a bandanna/doo rag. I asked him if he was a steward or picket captain. He gave me a brief but penetrating look, sizing me up, and then told me he was an officer of the union, a leader in the track division, I believe.

“When I introduced myself and told him why I was there he led me into the lobby of the building and asked me to wait briefly. He got on the house phone and called upstairs. I thought he was talking to someone in their Welfare or Member Services department when they took me upstairs to meet and hand the money to Roger Toussaint.

“I was led into the inner sanctum of the executive offices - which in typical union style were drab and dingy - and treated very warmly by staffers and rank and file members. The overall mood and tone among the people was one of calm and satisfaction. The only news I had heard up to that point was that they had gone back to work without a contract, something I equated with defeat. That was far from the mood in those rooms, which appeared to be peopled with the inner circle of the union. The basic message I got, perhaps more inferential that anything, was that, yes, they had returned to work w/o a contract, but that that was essentially a face-saving gesture for the benefit of the mayor and governor. The deeper reality seemed to be that the basic framework had been agreed to before TWU returned to work and the negotiations "officially" resumed.

“Standing calmly outside his office was Toussaint, quietly urging departing staffers to go home and party. I introduced myself, told him that many UFT'ers admired him and his members' willingness to stand up, and that there were people trying to get our union to do the same. He acknowledged that and asked about our school.

“The spirit in that building was not one of crisis or embattlement, but of strength and calm determination. Whatever the final result of this possibly epochal strike, which involves issues that are just beginning to play out, it was a very nice moment for me personally.”

There's no accountablity over at Unaccountable Talk, particularly if you're an administrator. The principal in that school, affectionately nicknamed "Jerkface," by the staff, strolled in one day and announced that the scores would have to go up. In order to motivate the young tykes, she asked, "You don't want to end up with the same jobs as your parents, do you?"

I'm constantly amazed at how many failed teachers become administrators, and administrate no better than they taught.

Here’s a conundrum—professional Unity hacks Maisie and Leo Casey wrote columns in Edwize defending the UFT transfer program, which their party's crack negotiating team gave up, for nothing, in the new contract.

Maisie, one of our paid champions, wrote:

…forcing teachers to stay in a school, or go to a school they don’t want to teach in, is obviously a recipe for disaster. Teachers have options, and I bet many would quit rather than be subject to such a policy.

Leo Casey, 6-figure crusader for Unity, applauds her insights:

As Maisie pointed out here at Edwize, only 515 teachers — not even 1% of all the teachers in NYC public schools — took a seniority transfer last year. Even more significantly, only 47 teachers — a little more than .06% of the total — transferred from a low performing school to a high performing school.

Good point. Leo. Too bad you failed to get it across during negotiations. Me, I love options, and took advantage of the UFT transfer a few years back.

It was momentarily encouraging to see voices from Unity speaking up. Sadly, they failed to stand on principle. One can only conclude that Unity, when push comes to shove, has no problem with a policy that would, according to Maisie, compel many UFT members to quit.

The contest between principle and double pensions is a no-brainer for Unity hacks.

It appears that Mayor Bloomberg and Joel Klein, by simplistically determining that test scores are the only criteria by which to judge schools, are driving away middle class students.

"I didn't see things getting better," Ms. Vayer said. "The school increased class sizes, and I felt no attention was being paid to middle-class students who were there."

The mayor, while paying lip service to smaller class size, has done virtually nothing to promote it. In fact, he’s blocked referendums that would have legislated smaller class size, and refused to cooperate with the CFE suit, which would have promoted it.

NYC, disgracefully, still has the highest class sizes in the state. And aside from a few high-profile, high publicity cases, the administration has done little to get rid of poor teachers. In fact, with a contract than worsens working condition while still allowing wages to lag behind the suburbs, he’s made it more difficult to attract good ones.

Everyone knows what makes good schools—good teachers and small classes. By focusing on test scores, at the expense of everything and anything else, Mayor Bloomberg stands to increase, rather than halt the exodus from public schools.

In case anyone hasn’t noticed, it’s getting tougher to get by in the US. Rent costs are going up, and a wage of 15.78 per hour is said to be the minimum for families who wish to avoid living in a tree.

The US minimum wage remains at $5.15, and has not increased since 1997.

The solution, according to our illustrious president? Huge tax cuts for those making over 300K a year. For folks in that category, apparently, inflation is important. If Steve Forbes is happy, everyone else must be too.

Many low-income people are forced to choose between paying rent, buying medicine, or providing books for their children, Bender said.
"How do people like that have holidays?" Bender asked. "They probably don't."

Here in NYC and its environs, you may have noticed, things cost more than in most of the country. What’s Mayor Bloomberg doing to help?

Watch for a new sports stadium near you.

Welcome to the United States, circa 2005. It's time again for David Horowitz to try to pass legislation ensuring that liberal bias does not continue to overly infect adademia. It turns out that many highly educated individuals tend to reject Republican politics.

You'd think they'd learn to appreciate gay-bashing, turning back the clock on women's rights, "intelligent design,"and economically crippling wars based on lies, but for some reason, they're not biting.

Thus far, Horowitz and his ilk have seen no need to legislate national health care or living wages for American citizens. It's a question of ethics.

They don't have any.

The world's smallest Christmas dinner has been sold on Ebay. It came with free pudding!

Just think of all the hours of exercise you'd have saved if you'd eaten that. What a fine example you could have set for your students.

In any case, it's important to teach culture as well, and everyone knows it's a long-established to wait till after New Year's before starting to eat like that.

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting pummeled by increasing energy costs. The “raise” that Randi and co. “negotiated” for us will pretty much be swallowed by them, and future increases will have me dipping into my old salary, the one that didn’t involve permanent building assignments and six classes for most high school teachers.

I just opened up my Keyspan bill and barely averted a massive coronary. As a result, I’m seated, catching my breath, and seriously looking into buying a Prius, or some other hybrid vehicle. Here’s an interesting site, for those contemplating the same.

Now you’ve probably heard that the US government grants tax breaks to buyers of Hummers and other gas-guzzling SUVs. (The logic behind that eludes me, but GW Bush is president, and I don’t understand that either.) Nonetheless, there are also tax breaks available to folks buying cars that do less, as opposed to more damage to our environment. The regulations are somewhat complicated, though.

The energy policy bill passed by Congress and signed by President George W. Bush earlier this year is destined to create a frustrating and idiotic situation for many buyers of popular, gas-saving hybrids next year. The problem is the unnecessarily complicated limits that federal lawmakers imposed on the new tax credits for hybrids and alternative-fuel vehicles…

To get the maximum estimated tax credit amount of about $3,000 for a Toyota Prius next year, buyers will have to take delivery of their new, fuel-efficient car between Jan. 1 and -- stick with me now -- the end of the quarter that follows the quarter in which Toyota sells and delivers its 60,000th hybrid. Let me repeat this: A buyer must buy, take possession and put into service his or her Prius during the correct calendar period, timing it to get the top tax credit.

Can you figure that out? It sounds as though you’ll be safe if you buy in the first quarter of January. But who knows?

Update: From USA Today:

Toyota forecasts that Priuses sold the first three quarters of 2006 will qualify for the full credit. Automakers who sell fewer hybrids will be able to entice buyers with the credit into 2007 or beyond.

Diesel cars, though many get great mileage, are not eligible for these credits. (Sorry, Instructivist.)

...to you and yours, from the entire staff here at NYC Educator.

Here's yet another interesting multi-lingual sign. Perhaps you'd like to go out and celebrate the holidays with a nice "nutritious beef penis in pot," a "nutritious young pigeon casserole," or the apparently less nutritious "fish head casserole."

Those who argue for "English only" here in the US fail to appreciate that ignorance, often, is bliss. More importantly, they fail to appreciate that our policy of having no official language has resulted in English becoming the most popular second language in the history of the world.

Let the French have their academy of language, and prescribe which words people may and may not use. It's like prescribing which days it may rain, and despite their wishful thinking, it won't make French recover its lost status anytime soon.

For now, that honor belongs to American English, which has a longstanding policy of no legal interference, and 100% disregard as to where or whom it steals new words and expressions from. We have a vital and living language, unencumbered by bureaucracy or pedantry.

Still, we have to start watching our diets.

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