Yes, we here at SBSB have not been to kind to UFT President Mike Mulgrew in the past. We don't
think it has ever been personal, just business. Yes, an argument can be made to tone down the snarkiness and sarcasm, but that is what makes this blog so neat.

But as was told an SBSB groupie yesterday, we will defend Mulgrew when he needs defending, as when "lawyer" Joy Hochstadt decided to rope in a naive teacher, Andrew Ostrowsky, and sued Mulgrew. We vehemently defended Mulgrew and exposed Hochstadt. The Crack Team is not aware of what became of the suit, but with Joy leading the legal team, one can only assume...

 So now is another time we here will defend Mulgrew for remarks he made at the UFT Delegate Assembly last week as reported with a great deal of hyperbole in this past Friday's New York Post, "A Union Boss Confesses."

Now, we here at SBSB while having no qualms with taking advantage of recording those affiliated with the Dark Side of the DOE, we do have qualms with whomever recorded the DA and passed it along to Chalkbeat from whence the Post got it's story. We at SBSB do not care for airing our skeletons and dirty laundry to outsiders and emphatically chastise those that do. Tape a DA fine, don't give it to the Post or Chalkbeat. There are plenty of NYC education blogs to share recordings with and that is where it should have stayed.

Mulgrew was quoted as saying in referring to the edict, or rather the sword of Governor Andy holding $290 million over the DOE's head to put in place a new evaluation system that he was going to;

 “gum up the works”

Well good for him! Our only complaint is that we wish he said this (Maybe not in those words) publicly to the rank and file and all of planet Earth last year!




And what happened? See for yourself;

@SoBronxSchool @NYGovCuomo Puhleez. Blah, blah, blah Bloomy, Cuomo, Rhee. We only care about the $290 MILLION, UFT SABOTAGE COST OUR KIDS!
— NYC Parents Union (@NYCParentsUnion) May 9, 2014

I like Mona. I have met her and talked with her and find her passionate and smart. But this time I must disagree with her.

Mona seems to have a short memory and forgot how in 2011 Bloomberg proposed cutting $350 million from the DOE budget. Or how Bloomberg wished to cut monies for special ed students to attend private schools which are their right under federal law. Or how in September 2012 Bloomberg; 

....ordered the Education Department to cut 1.6% in the current year’s budget and 4% in the following year’s spending plan.

Where was Mona's outrage then? 

Mona shared that each school was out about $200k which could have gone to the arts, to music, to AIS. But those monies were gone already and we have too many principals ignoring student's IEP's and not giving the services that are mandated by federal law. Where's Mona's outrage?

Do we know if the $290 million that Governor Andy promised would have found its way into the classrooms or have gone to pay incompetent and corrupt vendor after vendor for curricula that is irreverent and impossible?

Mona needs to understand that Governor Andy has no true care for the students of NYC. He only cares for himself and his presidential aspirations. He wanted us to whore ourselves to him to make him look good, for him to be the savior of the boys and girls of color, so that he, and only he, can run in a few primaries and raise gobs of cash which he will wind up keeping. And chances are there is some too weird Oedipal thing happening with him as well.

Mona, The Crack Team has speculated, believes Coumo when he said he was the "children's lobbyist," but nothing could be further from the truth when he pulled out all the stops of a street walker and caved to Eva and her minions and signed a bill that will force the NYCDOE to pay for charter rent in outside buildings and not to charge rent inside DOE buildings.

The charters stand to get about $40 million a year from the DOE for rent payments. Is that not monies that can be spent on the arts, music, and AIS? Again, where is Mona's outrage? What about the other 97%???

Gideon Stein, Eva's little apologist, sycophant, and boy, put it best in a New York Times op-ed in March when he came up with a great idea on what to do with the rent monies paid by charters;

Rather than paying rent to the DOE’s general fund, payments should go to the school or schools with whom the public charter is co-located.

Great idea! Perhaps each school could have received $50k from a co-located charter school? I mean we're guessing here and of course it's safe to say the co-located charters would have been paying on a sliding scale, but that still would have been monies for school for music, art, and AIS. Right Mona? Again, where is the outrage?

Mike Mulgrew was right in what he said and how he said it, and proud that he did not run away from his comments and took ownership of them. We at SBSB wish for him to continue to make such comments but in public. Not only to the rank and file, but the press, the parents, the governor and all of mankind.

I buy two newspapers on Sunday. The Daily News, I read in the car while my son is in Sunday School and The Times to read throughout the day. The Post, except for Phil Mushnick is a waste of my time.

But this past Sunday I was able to read a free copy of the Post. I forgot where I was but I came across Michael Goodwin's column with a big headline proclaiming, "The False and Ridiculous Claims Against Charter Schools." OK, I have time to waste and in need of a good giggle, so I said to myself, "Why not?" and read.

I have to admit, Goodwin piqued my interest quite a bit as a good writer must. I started to read with bated breath and found the first three paragraphs or so fascinating;

Say anything nice about charter schools, and you are sure to get letters full of rage, false charges and praise for unions. The attacks, often from teachers, follow a format that appears to be scripted by labor bosses and echo the class-warfare bile of Mayor de Blasio.

To wit, charters succeed because they weed out problem students, they discriminate against those with disabilities, and their operators, especially Eva Moskowitz, got special favors from the previous mayor.

Ergo, everything charters achieve is suspect and their methods won’t work on a broad scale.

WHOA! Some awesome writing there! His writing puts me to shame. But the way he grabbed me and brought me in was surely the work of someone bordering on the level of genius, if not a super genius. What was I to read next?

Surely, he would refute the statements and facts that people throw out there against charters. I said to myself, "Self, be prepared to be blown away by Michael Goodwin. Being a newspaper columinst  he must have a multitude of folders, paperwork, and Power Point presentations to completely refute and p3wn the anti-charter folks."

I was prepared to join the Dark Side. I was ready to know that all that I have known is no more and to know what I did not know and see that new knowledge as fact.

Goodwin shared part of a letter he received from a "misguided fourth grade teacher;"

“Charter schools claim to educate students with disabilities but those disabilities are mild, while the public schools are serving ­every child.”

OK, a little bit off topic. No refutation  as of yet, but perhaps Goodwin is teasing the reader to the big build up I said to myself.

Goodwin goes on...The claim is false and the comparisons to traditional schools wildly misleading, but the repetition of similar charges in letter after letter is revealing.

Yeah, go for it Goodwin, let it all out. Share with us the facts you have at hand!!! SAY AMEN BROTHER!!!!

He starts to let it out; As I’ve argued, unions and so-called progressive politicians see successful charters as an existential threat, and so they must be stopped, facts and ­innocent children be damned.

The threat is to union jobs, but more broadly, to the equality ideology that animates the left wing of the Democratic Party. That ideology is a form of creepy collectivism that favors mediocrity for all over excellence for some.

OK, more opinion than fact but he must be going somewhere, no? 

Here, Goodwin chooses the old stand by, the ad hominen attack; “Do you know what else charter school children and parents have, motivation, otherwise they wouldn’t be there, they would not have undergone the process to get in,” writes the grammatically challenged educator. “Public schools serve every child, even those whose parents sadly don’t even care enough to bathe or feed them.”

I'm not going to share the rest of the teacher's letter to Goodwin. Goodwin never shared any specifics of this teacher. With the journalistic track record of the Post and News Corp. how can one be sure of anything?

But one thing is certain, Goodwin does back up with facts the title of his column. Nowhere in no way does he show any statistics refuting any single solitary claim that he says the anti-charter movement makes.

This was a golden opportunity for Goodwin to at the very least plant a seed of doubt into reader's minds. Instead what he has done is show just how low he and the New York Post will sink in doing everything possible to defile and debase De Blasio and to show that the Post is nothing more than a sock puppet for Eva Moskowitz, Governor Andy, and the entire deform movement.

Yes, we know that a newspaper columnist shares his opinion. But by looking at his headline and the first three paragraphs one assumes that there must be some facts that Goodwin will share. Instead he mocks someone using a strawman argument. This column is pure bait and switch and an ode to the deformers of New York City.

Will what Goodwin wrote past muster with the editor/faculty adviser of an elementary newspaper?

This is what has happened to journalism in this country. A few media companies own almost all the outlets of dissemination and are easily bought off to keep their licenses and their access.

Goodwin is pathetic.

Almost two years ago in 2012 I wrote a piece foreseeing that once the deform movement and its testing and other inanities hits the suburbs, Westchester County in this case, then all hell will break lose across the state.And so it has.


In that same piece I mentioned a (at the time) relative unknown advocate Janine Sopp and her organization, Change the Stakes. Since that time, Change the Stakes has grown in size along with its Facebook page and Twitter. 

Janine has become a loud and strong voice advocating the end of high stakes testing throughout New York and works tirelessly for what she, and a vastly increasing number of parents and communities, believes in. Without her leadership, we in New York would be facing an uphill fight. With her, our fight is so much easier and stronger.

I have had the pleasure of speaking to Janine on several occasions, but yet to have had the honor and privilege to meet her. I hope to one day, but I can say this. She is the real deal. Janine so easily can just be concerned for her own daughter's education but she shows what she is made of by taking this fight on for so many families and communities. Janine's intentions are pure and has sacrificed so much of herself for the greater good.

The complete opposite of Janine is New York State Senator Tony Avella. You remember Tony right? Tony was there helping us against deform movement even lending his name to the mess of what became PS 29 in College Point last year. However it seems that Senator Avella can't pass up an opportunity to take advantage of an opportunity, or rather pass up a chance to embellish himself and his cronies.

Senator Avella joined the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference that has caucused with the Senate Republicans to control the State Senate. The IDC has had on its roster some of the more notorious and crooked politicians in ranks. Senators such as Senator Klein who is beholden to DFER and Eva Moskowitz, Senators, and current convicts, Krueger and Espada who were the forefathers to IDC.

So we know where, and with whom, Avella butters his bread. But I think someone can explain this better than I can. For this I want to share what I saw on Change the Stakes Facebook page today.

We are in danger of New York State turning over the keys to our public school buildings to charter school corporations, like the one run by Eva Moskowitz. Senator Tony Avella, a Queens Democrat, used to be against turning more public school buildings over to charter schools through unlimited co-locations. But, he has changed his tune. He left the Democrats in the Senate and joined with the Independent Democrats who are part of a Republican-led coalition. He got more power in a committee chairmanship. But, now he is in danger of selling us out on the same co-locations he used to be against.

Senator Avella’s majority coalition is pushing a plan that forces more co-locations onto our public schools and forces New York City to take money out of public school classrooms to pay for private space for charter schools that are not co-located. This is a disaster, but it would not be on the table if Senator Avella had not voted for it when the Republican led coalition included this plan in their budget bill. Now, Avella has to step up and stop it from happening.

Email Senator Avella right now, no matter what part of New York City you live in. Let him know that selling out our public schools is unacceptable.

Negotiations are intense, and the State Assembly leadership is fighting hard, but they need our help. It is difficult when the charter school lobbyists have spent more than $5 million on a TV and radio advertising campaign. These same lobbyist are funneling campaign money into the Senate leadership coalition that Senator Avella has joined. 

Let Senator Avella know that you are paying attention and that he needs to act now to stop this terrible plan.

In solidarity,

Zakiyah Ansari
Advocacy Director of the Alliance for Quality Education

Well said!  Don't forget to email Senator Avella and let him know we are on to him.

And don't forget to thank Janine every chance you get for all her hard work.

This looks like good news, but Newsday is reporting that; 

"A proposal to allow charter schools to receive state funds for building has been dropped."

 Yippee!!

The above was what I was in the process of writing until I saw what Reality-Based Educator wrote and what I read in the New York Rag, er, Post. 

I have had many a thought on all this shrillness brought on by Eva and her minions of the last few weeks. I just never could find the right words or right structure to share here on the blog. Still just can't, but will try using an old writer's trick. I'm just going to write whatever pops into my mind. Kind of like a stream of consciousness.

First, charters are not public schools. I don't care how you slice it, and you dice it, and what spin one puts on it, but charters in no way are public schools. A public school is accountable to the public. Charters are accountable only to their boards and their moneyed sugar daddy's.

Let's see a public school pull what Eva pulls. Let's see any public school in NYC ask parents to pull their children out of the school if they are a behavior problem. Let's see what happens with a NYC public school if their only way of discipline is to suspend or make a 5 year old march military style for 30 minutes through the building. Let's see a NYC school with the high turnover rate that reeks through Success Academy schools, both students and teachers.

So the above 3 paragraphs are what I wrote until I my jaw dropped. So let's move on from the stream of consciousness onto the stream of outrage.

So as the Post reported;

"Charter schools will get an increase in per student operating aid and for the first time will receive government facilities funding to cover rent or building costs.

The agreement also calls for Mayor de Blasio to find alternative space for all three of Eva Moskowitz Success Academy charter schools he booted from city facilities for the fall.

 Under the agreement, the city must offer new charter schools or those wishing to expand space in public school buildings — or reimburse them for rent in a private facility."

Who made these agreements? Were there hearings? Public comment? Were other legislators involved? No, just three men in a room. Cuomo, and the stooges Silver and whoever is Senate majority leader.

In the world I come from, the governor is the governor of all the people, not just a select few, especially those that whine and kvetch the loudest and have the biggest wallets. Cuomo is adding to the adage, "What Eva wants, Eva gets."

Cuomo is impressed that there were 11,000 people at the staged rally in front of the State Capital building 3 weeks ago? How many people would he think would be protesting in Albany if the NYC public schools were allowed to shut down for the day and bus the parents, the students, and the staff to Albany to protest closing of OUR SCHOOLS? Over 100,000?

But 100k people supporting public schools in Albany would not have mattered to Cuomo for if NYC public school community did assemble en masse in Albany they would be missing one important thing. Dollars to shower upon Governor Andy. The public school community is not funded and bought off as Cuomo and Eva are by DFER and Students First and astroturf groups like Families For Excellent Schools.

Eva and her ilk had the hundreds of thousands of dollars to bus their students and families to Albany and back and provided lunch. How difficult would it to be to take that money, and all the other monies that Eva tosses around, to pay a modicum of rent?

All we hear time after time about charters is choice, choice, choice. Obviously school choice adheres to the tenets of capitalism, no? But when De Blasio is trying to impart the lessons of Adam Smith on charters to pay rent and not to live off the government dole, what happens? Eva has a coniption fit and says, "I want, I want!! I take, I need, I want!!"

We know part of the reason Governor Andy is doing this. He wants to run for president in 2016. He wants to do what Daddy never did. He wants to make his Daddy proud. Well, his Daddy would never do what he has done to education in this state. Do we really need another president with daddy issues?

Here's news. Andy, you are never, ever going to be president. No way, no how. You're not even going to get the nomination. And there are several reasons.

You have the Cuomo name which is still deemed too liberal in the rest of the country. You are a putz. You're a phony. And most of all, Hilary is going to run in 2016 and she will get the nomination over you in a heartbeat. But there is one more reason I believe you won't even get the nomination.

Governor Andy is going to be in the fight of his life this November. From what I see, this entire state, except the 2 of the 5 boroughs (Queens and Staten Island) and possibly Albany County (Just guessing) has had it with you and your education policies, among other ineptitude brought on by you.

Western New York, and what a great bunch of people they are (I lived in the Southern Tier for a year what a blast), are ready to riot. Long Island in my opinion is ready to secede, and Westchester, well Westchester likes Astorino and not you. You might win, but there will be no mandate. And after just reading where Astorino stands on charters, it looks like educators should get behind Howie Hawkins.

Cuomo and his enablers in the legislature could have at least have waited to see what the rents would be. I doubt it would have broken any charter schools bank and I am sure the rents would have been nominal. If anything to help with the upkeep of the plant.

Isn't it ironic? If Elliot Spitzer were able to show some self-restraint we might not be in this predicament?

Cuomo, he's got to go.

Where is the march on Albany by New York State teachers and parents? We can do better than 11,000 people!

OK, go back to what you were doing. The stream of outrage is over.

OK, time to get things straight about all this charter school hullabaloo.

Yes, Uncle Mike pushed through co-locations and approval of charter schools at the October PEP. Nineteen of these co-locations were charter schools. As DNAinfo.com reported; 

De Blasio axed Moskowitz's plan to move into the August Martin High School complex in Jamaica, Queens, and Murry Bergtraum High School in Lower Manhattan, sources said. He also froze a plan to expand Success Academy Middle School to P.S. 149 in Harlem, officials said.

That's three schools out of seven that were reversed leaving Eva with 4 schools along with 8 other charters that are being co-located throughout the city. So Eva is batting .571. How many Yankee fans would have accepted that average for A-Rod in any post season series? Even Thurman Munson batted only .529 in the 1976 World Series!

But while we are on the Yankees, let's not forget that a new mayor overturning agreements made by the previous mayor is not unprecedented.

In the fall of 2001 Rudy Giuliani promised both the Yankees and the Mets brand new stadiums built partly at the city's expense totaling  $800 million, plus interest in bonds. Uncle Mike then became mayor and put the kibosh on it, as it was his prerogative.

Did the George Steinbrenner and Fred Wilpon throw hissy fits? Did Steinbrenner and Wilpon protest, get busloads of fans to protest? No. What did they do? They eventually financed their own stadiums, built with their money (Yes, the city threw some cash in and we see the disaster that has become the parking garages at Yankee Stadium with the city backed bonds) and sucked it up and acted like men. It is time Eva acts like a mensch.

We here at SBSB have nothing against charter schools. Open all the charter schools they want. Where we draw the line is at charter schools receiving public monies and free space, especially at the expense of traditional public schools they are co-located with.

How much money cash on hand does Eva have? Somehow one can assume a lot. She can't afford rent? Her schools need to be co-located? Why not pump the money cash she has on hand and pump it back into the communities she claims she cares about? Put Success Academy in store fronts or office buildings. Why must the co-located traditional public schools suffer, and they do, at the expense of what Eva wants?

Yes, Eva must be very proud of herself and her protest yesterday in Albany. Taking the Success students out of school for a day and schlepping them to Albany along with are other charter school buddies.

She must have been beaming that 11,000 students, parents, and teachers were there are the capital steps along with new BFF Governor Andy while only about 1,500 unionists showed up for their rally, according to the New York Post. But funny, FoxNews reports there were only 3,000 charter supporters in Albany yesterday.

But can NYC public school teachers just take the day off to protest in Albany? Can busloads of NYC public school students be bussed to Albany? Doubtful.

But what about this number? Mayor De Blasio ran on the fact that he would charge rent and put a moratorium in new charters. He just didn't squeak by in the election, it was a landslide, a MANDATE. So why the shock when De Blasio is doing what he promised and the voters OK'd it?

As for Governor Andy. So he can just decide to use our taxes to benefit his new BFF? Is this OK with the taxpayers of Columbia County? Of White Plains? Of Monsey? Corning? Elmira?

He claims that there are 200 failing schools throughout the state. He has been Governor for  over 3 years. Why then are they still failing if he claims to be the "lobbyist for children"? Haven't we had enough of his incompetent meddling in education?

But we know who Governor Andy serves. Whitney Tilson knows the truth;

 "...a HUGE shout-out to Gov. Cuomo, a great friend of Democrats for Education Reform." 

Yep, that just sums up Governor Andy, Eva, Whitney, and all the deformers.

The news is out. Governor Chris Christie, he of the wide girth, publicly berated a public school teacher, Melinda Tomlinson, who dared to ask him, “Why are you portraying our schools as failure factories?” In response, Governor Christie responded, “What do you want? I’m tired of you people, do your job” according to Tomlinson. They had a brief argument over public schools.

What is this animosity Governor Big Mac has for teachers? The Crack Team did some digging and has found out that when Governor Big Mac was a young child in the 4th grade he had a crush on his teacher, which The Crack Team has found exclusive video. He stalked her to her home on Valentine's Day and professed his love to her. Sadly, he was rejected. The hurt lasted with him to this day.

First things first. I guess it is official now. I am now amongst another groups of "you people." Being a Jew, I knew when hearing "you people," there was a good chance either I, my family, or the tribe was being referenced. Now, when I hear those two words, I must now wonder if the conversation is about teachers as well. But, as one of The Crack Team's groupies shared with us, people say, "you people" to convey;

when they want to distance themselves. It's as bad as using a racial slur. It implies a sense of superiority.

We here at SBSB wonder of Governor Big Mac will ever go into the bowels of Camden, or West Orange, or Patterson and say this to people who come up to him and complain about the lack of food stamps, available jobs, and lack of housing? We doubt it. 

What about all those people a year later that still are homeless due to Sandy on the Jersey Shore? Would he say, "I'm tired of you people" to them? Again, we doubt it.


But Governor Big Mac is so concerned about choice and the horror of public school teachers, why then does he have no clue about New Jersey's private schools for disabled students?

the schools — together a more than $600 million industry — are paid for by the public but can spend in ways public schools cannot, sometimes fueling nepotism, high salaries, fancy cars, generous pensions and questionable business deals.

He reacted quite calmly. No bluster, no in your face, no bravado;

 "It was all news to me when I read it so I called over to Chris Cerf and said to him, ‘Put together a briefing for me and tell me what you think is going on,’ and he said he would," 

What we do enjoy is his pandering to Orthodox Jews;

He favors vouchers, expanding charter schools and extending state dollars for special education to Jewish day schools. 

Yeah, let's send the monies to Jewish day schools. We have all seen the disaster of the Kiryas Joel School District and the Yeshiva's in Rockland County NY, here, here, and here.

But let's go back to what started this brouhaha. Christie shared his ignorance by saying;

 “I would be happy to take as many dollars as possible away from failure factories that send children on a no-stop route to prison and to failed dreams, if we could take that money and put it into a place where those families have hope,"

Where are the failure factories? Upper Saddle River? Franklin Lakes? Short Hills? Tappan? Or does he just mean the schools within New Jersey's inner cities? For if that is what he means, he did not just dump on teachers, but the parents, the students, and the communities in Camden, Patterson, Newark, Jersey City, that see their schools as an oasis in the middle of chaos.

If every student was in a charter school or had access to vouchers in Camden, would the problems of Camden go away? The same in Newark or West Orange? No.

Where are the jobs? Why did the jobs leave New Jersey? What happened to all the manufacturing jobs in Patterson, Camden, and Newark? How many mayors have been indicted for graft in Atlantic City? How many politicians state wide have been arrested in New Jersey over the last ten years?

The problems will not be fixed by demonizing teachers, belittling public schools, cutting monies from public schools, opening charters, or picking fights with nice ladies who just ask a question.

There are so many reasons that students in areas of poverty struggle in school. But there are so many problems and so many students that we can't list all the reasons. The reasons are too numerous and each student is different.

Invest on the communities. Think about this, Zuckerberg's $100 million could have been spent on opening a supermarket in East Orange or Camden. It could have been used to create ball fields and soccer fields, it could have been used to clean up the inner city. But no, Zuckerberg wanted to look cool on Oprah and kiss Governor Big Mac's large butt.

The issues in the inner cities, and this goes for across the country, not just New Jersey, are numerous and complicated. The easy way to deal with the problems are to bully those that disagree with you and cut monies and shut things down. The hard way is ti actually invest and change the culture of the inner cities.

Governor White Castle needs to heed Mr Spock from Wrath of Khan, "It is easier to destroy than to create."

I get home from Port Chester on Monday night and go on the Journal News website and what do I see? A video with two men who were at the forum in Port Chester to hear The King spew forth. One gentleman, is a a teacher, a union president, and a teacher from Ossining, and the other is of someone named Vincent Marrone, a self proclaimed "parent" from Larchmont named Vincent Marrone.

Now in the video Vince claims that he has a five year old daughter (presumably in Kindergarten?) and in a nutshell, says he has no problem with the Common Core standards, supports testing, believes the tests will help them get into college, and says, "I don't know why people are objecting to that," and goes on why teachers don't like testing is that, "...a big part of the scores is tied to their jobs, and it is a big deal that it is tied to their jobs." 

So why all the hub bub about some parent sharing his opinion? I guess one is that the parent from Ossining shared exactly what his background is. Simple, "Bob Rosenbaum, a high school English teacher, a union president and a parent." I think if he came out and shared that he believes that The King is a deity no one would have a problem, (except for thinking The King is a deity) with that for he fully disclosed who he is.

On the other hand, Vinny lied. Yes, he is a parent. But is so much more. Vince is founder and president of Public Strategies, LLC, "full-service government relations firm that specializes in representing clients on regulatory, statutory and budgetary concerns." He's a lobbyist!!!! Oh, oh! Vince, for shame. Why not share this with the Journal News? Are you ashamed of what you do?

As was reported today in New York BATS Facebook page, and on the Hall Monitor blog by Journal News education reporter, Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, one of Vince's clients is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Yes, that very same Bill Gates who failed to innovate at Microsoft and is attempting to do to education what he has done to Microsoft. Yes, the very same Bill Gates who has shoved Common Core down our throats and who said that we won't know if Common Core will succeed for another ten years.

But let's not stop there. Another client of Vinny's is the New York City Charter School Center. Yeah, charter schools, Common Core, testing, hmm, I see a connection for Vince's sycophancy. Oh snap, I almost forgot. NYC Charter School Center is supported by Billy and Melinda. I am starting to think that Vince was a plant on Monday night and wasn't speaking from the heart but rather from the wallet. And speaking of wallet's, click here and see how much all his clients (some worthy ones I will admit) paid him, in particular Billy and NYC Charter School Center.

But enough of outing Vince, maybe it's time we educate Vince. Maybe Vince should know about the teacher, Rigoberto Ruelas, in Los Angeles who after years of being a beloved teacher was rated ineffective (and outed by Jason Felch of the Los Angeles Times) by some inane algorithm tied to his students test scores. How did Rigoberto deal with this? He committed suicide.

As far as the tests, no one has a problem with testing as long as it is done for assessment, but to make testing part and parcel of a student's whole reason for being in school and to judge teachers is just wrong. How can we determine in 3rd grade, or even Kindergarten (which the powers that be wish) are college or career ready? How can we judge whether or not a teacher is effective by testing? Teacher's have no control over what happens at home.

Vince, worse, and as I said to The King on Monday night, there is no crisis in education. It was creates by the billionaire boys club and the people you represent. All that matters to these people is they see that there is a buck to be made from education and from children.

That is all that seems to matter today in education. Dollars.

What a day yesterday was! The new phone books arrived, I, with other education bloggers, got to engage in a video conference with Diane Ravitch, and I found out that not only had Whitney Tilson finally make some sense, but he confirmed that he is in education for the moolah and lying hypocrite as well.


So Whitney, in a obvious display making up for some Freudian shortcoming shows just how smart
and investor he thinks he is. Remember, this is the guy who shorted Netflix.

I know the company and the space well (K12’s primary business is running online charter schools in 33 states and DC), and it’s a VERY high conviction short (meaning the funds I manage will profit if the stock price declines). I think that the company has run amok in many, many ways, inappropriately targeting the most at-risk students, with dismal academic results, off-the-charts student turnover, coming under increasing scrutiny. K12 reminds me of the subprime mortgage lenders and for-profit colleges when they were flying high – and the ending will be similar I believe.

Funny how this email was sent by Whitney at 9:32 PM, many hours after the official release of Diane's book. My bet is, and I doubt I am incorrect or Whitney can be that smart, is that Whitney read what Diane wrote in "Reign of Error" about K12 and decided to short K12 based on Diane's unveiling of their incompetency. We here salute Diane and her stock portfolio acumen.

Whitney goes on in a blabbering manner; K12's aggressive student recruitment has led to dismal academic results by students and sky-high dropout rates, in some cases more than 50% annually;

I wouldn't be short K12 if it were carefully targeting students who were likely to benefit from its schools – typically those who have a high degree of self-motivation and strong parental commitment

But K12 is instead doing the opposite; numerous former employees say that K12 accepts any student and actually targets at-risk students, who are least likely to succeed at an online school

But K12 is instead doing the opposite; numerous former employees say that K12 accepts any student and actually targets at-risk students, who are least likely to succeed at an online school

One former employee said: "K12's recruitment of inner-city and at-risk "last resort" students had another benefit – these students used up less of K12's educational and teaching resources while permitting K12 to collect full funding from the states."

Hmm, this sounds so familiar. This might not have been Diane's exact words about K12, but what Whitney has written is pretty much the gist from "Reign of Error." Plagiarism, Whitney? Copyright infringement? For shame

The Crack Team has commanded me to suggest Diane put a call into my brother in law who is a crack Copyright and Trade Dress attorney. He is a fine attorney, but he is suspended from the bar and hiding out in Thailand due to back child support and  teaching English. 

In fact The Crack Team believes that Diane has action for a lawsuit against Whitney for publishing an excerpt of  "Reign of Error" with out hers or Salon's permission. That excerpt does not fall under Fair Use.

More spewing from Big Head; There have been so many regulatory issues and accusations of malfeasance that I'm convinced the problems are endemic. Enrollment violations, uncertified teachers, conflicted relationships with nonprofit charter holders.

Gosh, diddly darn Whitless, you have just about described 90% of charters including your favorite run by the Sith Lord, Eva.

I have been looking for years and have not found a single K12 school that is free of scandal and posting even decent (much less good) academic results.

Guess who been saying that for years Whitless? Guess. That echo Whitney hears in his head are all the education bloggers and real teachers throughout the country.

 States (and the IRS) are waking up to what K12 is doing and the company is coming under increased scrutiny, which is beginning to impair K12's growth – and I believe this trend will accelerate

Oh please send the IRS into Success, Bronx Classical Charter, KIPP, Whitney Tilson's hedge fund, his palatial 5th Ave home. It is time to see the truth. Time the IRS goes after the charters instead of Mike Tyson or Jerry Koosman.

Face it Whitney, the jigg is up. It's time to find another toy in your Hamptons sandbox to play with. You have been exposed.

Whitney just exposed himself in that he is all about the money, has no loyalty, and really does not want those with learning issues anywhere near KIPP, Success, him, or anywhere lest he gets a case of hedge fund managers remorse.

For those who are not aware, Whitney has written some pretty mean and misogynistic stuff about Diane. He even created a website for the sole purpose of attacking her. Last night, I wanted to tease Diane that Whitney is her nemesis, her super villain. Then I thought better. Whitney does not have the brains or the class to be in the same league as Lex Luthor, or Bane, or Scarecrow, or Dr Octopus. He's just a street level stick up man, if that. Yeah, or a thug.

There was one particular point, the chapters about charter and the e-learning, in reading Diane Ravitch's new book, "Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools," in which it all seemed so familiar.  Like something out of a Mel Brooks movie. I pondered.

Yes, I seemed to satired the charter movement in this post about 3 1/2 years ago. But due to what I
learned by reading "Reign of Error," the satire might need updating;

Max Bialystock: Don't you see, darling Bloom, glorious Bloom? It's so simple. STEP ONE: We found the worst charter school ever , a surefire flop. STEP TWO: I raise a million bucks. Lots of little old ladies, NYCDOE, hedge fund managers, foundations created by billionaires, lawyers,Wall Street, presidents, mayors . STEP THREE: You go back to work on the books, two of them - one for the government, one for us. You can do it, Bloom; you're a wizard! STEP FOUR: We open a charter in the South Bronx. STEP FIVE, We act like we care, like we really believe the crap we're laying on the public And before you can say STEP SIX we kick all the kids who are not doing well and keeping up !!! STEP SEVEN: We take our million bucks and fly to *Rio!*

I wish this deform movement were a Mel Brooks comedy, but it is turning into a Shakespearean tragedy and right now the only ones ahead are the money people.

I'm now more scared than ever for the children, the families, the communities, and the real educators of this country. I thought I had a pretty good handle on what has been done to destroy education in this country. My knowledge just scratched the surface before reading "Reign of Error."

Diane is methodical and relentless in the first part of the book. Like a conductor leading an orchestra she begins to introducing to the layperson who and what are behind this so called reform, or rather, deform movement. So many of the players, so many of their games. So many of the worst of the worst. We learn how this corrupt web of education deform has all the players; the politicians, the hedge fund managers, the charters, the Rhees, the educational companies all in cahoots with one another all looking out for each others interests and all feigning interest in what really matters, the children.

She takes the lay person through the fabrications of the deformers by the hand, step by step as if even someone like myself is hearing this for the first times. Her crescendo is building. At this point she is no longer just conducting in front of the orchestra, but rather now from the the mountain top telling the country to open their eyes, look around and see what has become of education in this country and that something must be done, but it is not hopeless. That we all can fight back, we must fight back and not only save our schools, but to save our communities, ourselves, and most importantly, our children.

Diane comes up with solutions, not catch phrases, or talking points as her critics do when criticizing her, but solutions that are common sense, that won't break banks, that is except the Wall Street firms and hedge fund managers. One can only wish, no?

Common sense like what we know as teachers and parents that actually works. Class size, true early learning for children, services for the most needy and desperate of children, their families and the communities.

But it is time for the country to listen to Diane and take ownership and control of education away from those who only wish to subvert it for their own money making ways.

I predict, in fact I know, that Diane will go down in history as have Jacob Riis for "How The Other Half Lives," and Upton Sinclair for "The Jungle."

I was going to end this by insisting parents or would be parents to buy "Reign of Error." No, I can;t do that. If you care about the future of America, the future of the millions of young minds out there desperately seeking someone to lead them out of the wasteland of what the deformers had wrought us, you must buy this book.

Diane has shared her knowledge with is, it is up to us to deliver what she has bestowed to the masses.

So here I am on Saturday on I-81 driving north just outside of Binghamton on my way to Skaneateles. My wife is on her iPhone doing whatever as is my son. I am left alone to listen to flip between the Sirius channels.

One can do a lot of pondering in such a situation. I did. I pondered, or was it wondered, or was it
daydreaming, that the Godfather movie (or even organized crime) is a lot like what we are seeing now in education amongst the deformers. Think about it, we're fighting against a crime family.

So what if the Godfather movie and the Corleone's were involved in education reform. Let's take a look.

Be sure to read the last fantasy or parody all the way at the bottom.

Michael: My credit good enough to buy you out?
Moe Greene: Buy me out?  [Fredo laughs nervously] 
Michael: The school, the playground. The Corleone Family wants to buy you out. 
Moe Greene: The Corleone Family wants to buy me out? No, I buy you out, you don't buy me out.  Michael: Your school loses money, maybe we can do better. 
Moe Greene: You think I'm skimmin off the top, Mike? 
Michael: [Michael shakes his head] You're unlucky. 
Moe Greene: You goddamn guineas you really make me laugh. I do you a favor and take Freddie in when you're having a bad time, and now you're gonna try and push me out! 
Michael: You took Freddie in because the Corleone Family bankrolled your charter school, and the Molinari Family on the Coast guaranteed his teaching position. Now we're talking business, let's talk business. 
Moe Greene: Yeah, let's talk business, Mike. First of all, you're all done. The Corleone Family don't even have that kind of muscle anymore. The Godfather's sick, right? You're getting chased out of New York by Barzini Charter School and the other Families charters. What do you think is going on here? You think you can come to my charter school and take over? I talked to Barzini - I can make a deal with him, and still keep my charter school! 
Michael: Is that why you slapped my brother around in public? 
Fredo: Aw, now that, that was nothin', Mike. Moe didn't mean nothin' by that. Yeah, sure he flies off the handle every once in a while, but me and him, we're good friends, right Moe? 
Moe Greene: I got a business to run. I gotta kick asses sometimes to make it run right. We had a little argument, Freddy and me, so I had to straighten him out. 
Michael: You straightened my brother out?  Moe Greene: He was banging erasers against the board two at a time! Students couldn't get any work at the table! What's the matter with you? 
Michael: I leave for New York tomorrow, think about a price. 
Moe Greene: Sonofabitch! Do you know who I am? I'm Moe Greene! I made my bones when you were going out with cheerleaders! 
Fredo: Wait a minute, Moe, Moe, I got an idea. Tom, you're the Consiglieri and you can talk to the Don, you can explain... 
Tom Hagen: Now hold it right there. The Don is semi-retired and Mike is in charge of the Family business now. If you have anything to say, say it to Michael. 
Fredo: [Moe Greene leaves] Mike! You do not come to Las Vegas and talk to a man like Moe Greene like that! 
Michael: Fredo, you're my older brother, and I love you. But don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever.


Michael: Well, when Johnny was first starting out as a teacher, he was signed to a personal services contract with this big high school. And as his career got better and better, he wanted to get out of it. But the principal wouldn't let him. Now, Johnny is my father's godson. So my father went to see this bandleader and offered him $10,000 to let Johnny go, but the principal said no. So the next day, my father went back, only this time with Luca Brasi. Within an hour, he had a signed release for a certified check of $1000.
Kay Adams: How did he do that?
Michael: My father made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
Kay Adams: What was that?
Michael: Luca Brasi held a gun to his head, and my father assured him that either his brains or his signature would be on the contract.
Kay Adams: ...
Michael: ...That's a true story.
Michael: That's my family Kay, that's not me.

Tom Hagen: Sollozo is known as the Turk. He's supposed to be very good with a number 2 pencil . But only in matters of business, or of some sort of reasonable complaint. His business is testing. He has the field testing in Turkey, where they create the tests. In Sicily he has the plant to print the tets. He needs cash and he needs protection from the communities for which he gives a piece of the action, I couldn't find out how much. The Tattaglia Family is behind him here in New York so they have to be in it for something.
Don Corleone: What about his prison record?
Tom Hagen: Two terms, one in Italy, and one here. He's known as a top testing man.
Don Corleone: Santino, what do you think?
Sonny: There's a lot of money in that testing.
Don Corleone: Tom?
Tom Hagen: Well, I say yes. There is more money potential in testing than anything else we're looking at now. If we don't get into it, somebody else will, maybe one of the Five Families, maybe all of them. And with the money they earn they'll be able to buy more deformers and political power. Then they come after us. Right now we have the unions under control and we have the charters and those are the best things to have. But testing is a thing of the future. If we don't get a piece of that action we risk everything we have. Not now, but ten years from now.
Sonny: Well, what's your answer gonna be, Pop?

Don Zaluchi really hits the nail on the head in what the deformers, the politicians, the principals without souls, the TFA's, the TC's really think and believe. 

Don Zaluchi could be anybody we know. Uncle Mike, Sock Puppet Walcott, Governor Andy, Lucy Calkins, a pretentious principal, Whitney Tilson, Evan Stone. The list can go on and on...

Don Zaluchi: I also don't believe in Ed Reform. For years I paid my people extra so they wouldn't do that kind of business. Somebody comes to them and says, "I have Ed Reform; if you put up three, four thousand dollar investment, we can make fifty thousand distributing their programs." So they can't resist. I want to control it as a business, to keep it respectable.
[slams his hand on the table and shouts]
Don Zaluchi: I don't want it near charter schools! I don't want it sold to affluent communities! That's an infamia. In my city, we would keep the traffic in the dark people, the coloreds. They're animals anyway, so let them lose their souls.

Every charter school has a board of trustees, a bunch of do gooders if you will. South Bronx Classical Charter is no different. Therefore, we here at SBSB wish to introduce the trustees of SBCC to the District 7 and PS 154 community. See if you can notice a pattern.

First up is C. Stephen Baldwin; Chairman of the SBCCS Board of Trustees.
Steve is...currently a writer, has served as counsel with the United Nations, executive director of the Learning Disabilities Association of NYC, third grade teacher in the South Bronx, and arbitrator/mediator with the United Nations, Population Council, and Ford Foundation.

Steve seems really old and we are curious on how long he taught 3rd grade in the Bronx



Next is James Maher; Trustee. Steve's education background consists of;

Mr. Maher is a Vice President of Real Estate Acquisitions at BlackRock Kelso Capital Corporation, where he evaluates and underwrites potential real estate acquisitions in the New York metropolitan area.  Mr. Maher received his Master’s Degree in Real Estate Finance & Investment in 2011 and his BA from Brown University in 2003


The first chick is Kathryn Moore Heleniak; Vice Chair who happens to be an artist or something like that.

Dr. Heleniak is an author and a professor of Art History at Fordham University. She was a residential fellow at the Ligurian Center for Arts and Humanities, a recipient of a Mellon Fellowship at the Yale Center for British Art, and was named an Outstanding Teacher in the Humanities at Fordham College.


This is an interesting board member. J. Kevin Murphy; Board Secretary is a NYC DOE teacher at PS 96 in Harlem. Quite interesting. Whose side is he on? Oh, The Crack Team has not found a photo of him as of press time. Could he be "Black Irish?"

Mr. Murphy is a technology teacher at P.S. 96 in East Harlem. Previously, he was an agent with Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company and a vice president at Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York.

What is disturbing is how a NYC public school teacher is sleeping with the enemy.

Melissa Brown; Treasurer. Impressive background;

Ms. Brown is a vice president in the Leveraged Finance investment banking group at Barclays Capital. Melissa earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Mathematics from Williams College. 

 Glad to see the eyebrows are close to her hair color.


William F. Higgins, Trustee, already commented on him. Fake football here and disgraced former FBI agent.

Larry Hirsch; Trustee

Larry is important. He is a senior CPD representative with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Previously, he served as director of government and community relations for the Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City as well as in various other housing and development roles. 

Larry is 2nd from the right. I'm sure the people of the projects feel that you are on their side, right Larry?


Kristi Jaques; Trustee

...is an associate attorney at King & Spalding LLP, specializing in international arbitration. Kristi earned a J.D. at Duke University School of Law and a B.S. from the University of Michigan. 

Wayne and Garth think she is babelicious. Schwing!





Louisa Childs; Trustee

...is General Counsel of The Dwight School. Prior to joining Dwight, Ms. Childs was an associate at King & Spalding. 

Wayne and Garth are unimpressed. Though one physical attribute reminds them of another celebrity. 





So there you have it. The entire politburo, er, I meant junta. no wait, it will come to me. The Reich cabinet of South Bronx Classical Charter School.

Ironic how not one person is of color or has any education background. People of the South Bronx you are being duped.

As readers of this blog are aware of we broke the news that South Bronx Classical Charter School II was to be co-located in the friendly confines of PS 154. The last sentence of Monday's blog was;

What is more disturbing is what will be gracing these pages concerning Bronx Classical in the days to come. 

Little did we know here at SBSB just how much more disturbing information was to be found.

You know the old saying, "Stop the presses!"? The presses were just stopped. In researching, editing, and writing an introduction, well wishes, and hidey ho to the trustees of South Bronx Classical, The Crack Team came across some disturbing truths and untruths about South Bronx Classical Board Member William F Higgins.


Not only does Mr, or should we say, Captain Higgins biographies differ here on the South Bronx Classical page and the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs page (is there really such an organization in NYS? I mean officially?), but apparently Citizen Higgins played a game of not telling the whole truth.


On the South Bronx Classical bio for Higgins it lists him as a former FBI special agent, while the DMNA page has no mention of him as an FBI  agent. This raised the eyebrows of The Crack Team. Surely, we thought to ourselves, being an FBI special agent one would want to share it with everyone/


The reason Citizen Higgins did not wish to share it on the DMNA website is because in 1973 Citizen Higgins was terminated as an FBI agent. No wonder he did not share this on a "quasi-government" website.


Of course putting down that he is a former FBI agent lends him some much needed "panache." But it makes one wonder if he wished he were part of a union when he was with the FBI.


Another curious tall tale that Citizen Higgins shared only on his DMNA page, and not on the South Bronx Classical page nor even here,  is.... Oh, let's use the words from DMNA, OK?

...played on the 1963 NAVY football team that was ranked the #2 team in the nation, and went to the Cotton Bowl with Roger Staubach.

Wow! That was one hell of a football team back then. The 1964 Cotton Bowl was the de facto national title game. Texas trounced the Middies 28-6.

Thinking what I am thinking? Yeah, liar, liar pants on fire Citizen Higgins. Extensive research has yet to show any record of Citizen Higgins being on the 1963 Navy team that was led to the Cotton Bowl by future Cowboys great quarterback and Hall of Famer Roger Staubach.

One more thing. After Roger Staubach graduated the Naval Academy, he could have done his tour in the States, yet he volunteered to go to Viet Nam for a year. Citizen Higgins on the other hand...

....first tour of active duty was at the U. S. Naval Academy, 1966-67

We hear at SBSB smell a fish and it is really stinky. Even though all of us here at SBSB are Football Giants fans, we respect and like Roger Staubach we don't like Citizen Higgins.

We also question Lester Long's (This is such a great porno name!!!) judgement. How is it possible that Citizen Higgins fell through the vetting process at South Bronx Classical? What does this say about Lester Long's priorities? What about Citizen Higgins? Does he care about his image or the student's educations? How has he been able to bogart his way into so many prominent positions?

We here at SBSB demand answers from Lester Long and Citizen Higgins immediately. If Lester can be this careless about a trustee he can be this careless about the children of the South Bronx.

We are not done here at SBSB with Citizen Higgins inconsistencies. Stay tuned for more.

We here at SBSB pride ourselves in having integrity and honor. We hope and pray that those of the upper echelon of the NYC DOE will look to SBSB and see what we stand for and hope those people say, "Hey, let's be like SBSB." But we know it will never happen.

With that being said, we would like to correct ourselves for erroneously reporting on February 2, 2013 that Bronx Community Charter will be co-locating at PS 154 come next September. We are vetting our source as of this posting to see if the information was just a mistake or was deliberate misinformation. While we do not wish to see a school be co-located in 154, we were somewhat glad that BxC was somewhat benign and not evil.

The school community, excluding the staff of PS 154 a few weeks ago that the charter school coming in to PS 154 is South Bronx Classical Charter led by uber educator and former Lehman Brothers and Dartmouth graduate executive Lester Long (Gosh is it me or does his name seem like a porn actor's name?). Hey, wait a minute. Lester Long is a graduate of Dartmouth?? Hmmmmm. Can be some conflict of hidden interest occurring that we do not know about?? But not now, better to keep cards close at hand.

This according to what we have found out has been planned for some time. The scare, the sword being held over the heads of the 154 community that had everyone worried about the closure is still there, but this time it is real. Yeah, we got off the closure list, but as stated before on these pages a charter moving in is just a back door closure.

But the information is pretty much as stated as before. Three classes in both K and 1 to begin in 2013-2014 and each year thereafter one grade at a time until the cancer that is South Bronx Classical completely envelops and eradicates PS 154, or whatever public school is left in that building.

Curiously, we are told that 154 can accommodate up to 800 students. But according to the DOE, 154 has enough space for 634 students. With the projection of South Bronx Classical to have up to 390 students in grades K-5, that does not leave much for PS 154. What does that mean?

The students, the families, the community and the staff of PS 154 are just shit out of luck. Just as foretelling is this from the DOE; "Beginning in September 2013, P.S. 154 will admit a smaller incoming kindergarten class of 45 - 55 students, as opposed to the 70 - 80 students it has served in recent years." Can you spell excessing? ATR? What must be known is if that 45-55 student projection is under normal enrollment circumstances or does it take into account the new open enrollment  across District 7 for incoming Kindergarten students? The reduced enrollment will send reverberations throughout the school in teachers losing their positions and of course the school receiving less money.

Just as importantly is the question of what kind of students will be left for PS 154? After Bronx Classical and the  Kindergartens at the highly rated schools get first dibs on the best and the brightest what is 154 left with? That's why we here at SBSB think that 154 is doomed as a school and will soon either be shut down or just totally engulfed by South Bronx Classical.

Please do not think for one minute that South Bronx Classical is the salve that will save the education of the students in the South Bronx.

According to Gotham Schools of October 2, 2012; 

"At South Bronx Classical Charter School, for example, between 20 and 40 percent of students that originally enrolled left before they were tested, and no new students replaced them, the union pointed out." 

What does this tell the parents? We say the cream rises and stays, right?

But even more disturbing is this from the Daily News of April 30, 2012;

 .....the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating the suspension last fall of Christian Charriez, 6, a special-needs student at South Bronx Classical Charter School.

The school suspended Christian four times — and told him the last time that he had to stay out until he received a psychiatric analysis and diagnosis, which is still under way.
Principal Lester Long said the school invited Christian back to school and contacted his mother multiple times, but a letter from the family’s lawyer shows the school was contacted multiple times without response.

After a month out of class, the boy transferred to a public school, his mom said, where he was assigned a teacher’s aide to help him, and he now loves going to school instead of dreading it.

Disturbing.  What is more disturbing is what will be gracing these pages concerning South Bronx Classical in the days to come.

When you can't beat them, why not join them?

I have decided that it is time for me to open my own charter school. Why am I doing this? First a little background.

I recall a conversation, or at least it was my dad lecturing me doing my best to tune him out, when I was 13 or 14. I had just gotten in trouble for the umpteenth time in school and he had some words of wisdom to me. He said, "You will never be able to work for someone. You need to be your own boss." Dear old dad was right and that is why I am taking this major step. So come September 2012 I will be running my own charter school.

I have chosen a name for my charter school. It will be known as The South Bronx Academy for Implied and Perceived Excellence. The school will start in the Kindergarten and first grade with 100 students, and eventually go up to fifth grade.

There will be only one "teacher" per grade. The reason for this is I want to model a setting in which all the great colleges have. A lecture hall. A study was done in the early 70's at SUNY-Geneseo that students in colleges in which offer classes in which a large amount of students sit in a large lecture hall with one instructor improve their grades .00567834%. It will also allow me to save money on staff and more of the outside funding and Title I money can find a way to my pocket.

Each classroom, or lecture hall will be named after the colleges of the teachers, or as we will say at SBAIPE, "lecturers." This will boost the self esteem of the 5 and 6 year old children and prepare them for college. And I forgot to mention. My students will be not known as students or scholars, but rather as drones. Since I have already hired two staff members, the names of the lecture halls will be Mercy College and Monroe College.

I am planning to co-locate the school and once we find space every conceivable action will be taken to keep the troglodytes of the school we are taking over, ooops, I meant, the school we are sharing, to have any interaction with the wonderful boys and girls of my school. Thanks to a grant from the Walton Foundation I have already hired XE Services, formerly known as Blackwater to head up security.

There will be armed guards at the steel reinforced doors that lead to my charter school. Also, Jersey barriers will be put in place and a secondary system of barbed wire. Not to worry. The guards will be instructed to shoot on site any violators that try to infiltrate SBAIPE.

The typical day will begin at 7 15 AM. At this point the drones will be taken, by force if necessary, from their parents, or rather as what we will call them at SBAIPE, suckers. At this point all drones will stand at attention in the outside common area and await my entrance on the balcony. I will festoon the drones on how wonderful a person I am because while I could have gone elsewhere and made a salary of $855K, I decided to be their leader for $450K. After my speech to the drones in praise of me our venerable headmaster, who will be no older than 25, will be required to give high fives and elbow bumps to each and every child.

At 8 15 in the morning the drones will report to the reeducation center, not a lecture hall, where they will be shown slide shows of how they are expected to act, along with the accompanying subliminal messages, while Wagner is playing loudly on the speakers. During this hour, the lecturers will be preparing and deep in conference with one another ready to drill the students, getting them ready for the day when their state exams come in 3rd grade.

Drone will be taught to walk in line in a cadence or goosestepping. At no time will the students be allowed to walk off the line. In class, drones will be outfitted with blinders on so they can keep their eyes on their lecturer at all times.

There will be no play time, or independent time. All it will be is test prep straight through until the end of the day at 6 PM. Once at home, the drones will turn on the specially installed home monitoring cameras so I can make sure that their test prep homework is being done.

If a child acts out of line, or worse, shows independent thought, a rapid response team from XE Services will repel into the "lecture hall" and remove that child from class and be sent to the behavioral study center in which an obedience chip will be installed insuring ever lasting conformity.

There will be no desks. Desks cost money. There will be no lunch provided. Lunch must be provided by the suckers. Pencils, paper, and other material also must be provided by the suckers. This is a for profit school.

There will be a dean of students to assist me and the headmaster. In all probability, and if he lives until 2012, it will be my 81 year old Uncle Sol. Uncle Sol, will be assisted by a staff of 5, including he wife, Aunt Sylvia.

My mission is to have outsiders think that my school is the best school ever. That I am to be thought of as some type of deity.

So why am I doing this? Why will I be making the ultimate sacrifice? Isn't it obvious? Who else but a white, Jewish, male from the NYC suburbs lead little boys and girls of color? I, just by my pedigree, know what is best and know that I am the example they have all been waiting for.

I really wish to thank Peter Murphy of the NYCSA for appearing last night. He was a good sport about it, and in my opinion did the beast he could probably knowing he was going into enemy territory. But one thing sticks out, the "pat" answer he kept giving.

Several callers called in sharing their unhappiness with the charter schools their children are or were enrolled in. There waas a mother with a special needs child that lost a year academically due to incompetence, a parent that called in complaining that there is no learning, that the school is filthy, a parent that called in to explain how the Ross Charter school is failing. But the answer Peter gave the callers was, "if you don't like the school, you have every right to move them out."

Hey, he is 100% correct. To a point. Yes, if you don't like the school, according to the market philosophy espoused by the charter advocates, you can up and leave. But this can be problematic.

If done in the middle of the year, of course you can enroll your child in the locally zoned school. But what if you don't wish to? I would assume that to enroll your child mid-year in a charter school can be difficult if not impossible.

Also, from the student's viewpoint, this can be a somewhat traumatic experience. Especially if the student has special needs. Change can be tough for kids. Tough when you are changing schools mid-stream.

But why should the parents change schools? Shouldn't the charter schools change to satisfy the parents? The parent, the student are the customers. They are always right.

Parents, even in traditional schools, forge bonds with the teachers, the parents, the students, the entire school community. To say, "just leave," is not what they should have heard, and not the answer.

A school is not a movie you don't like and you can walk out anytime. Being part of a school community is akin to a marriage. You wouldn't tell a husband or a wife they can just up and leave after six months of marriage just because the partner farts in their sleep.

Now, I will admit there is a certain amount if glee hearing these stories, hearing first hand how the shine is coming off the charter school apple. But, what I find so peculiar is the lack of accountability in general about charter schools. It is as if the schools and the people who run them feel they are above the law.

Ever have 400 things go on in your brain at once? Just as I was going to bed last night, a thought crossed my mind in regards to charter schools and the Mel Brooks movie The Producers. Think about it. With all this money to be had, doled out, given to as favors, what is to stop someone to be the charter school Leo Bloom and Max Bialystock.

For those who do not like Mel Brooks, campy Jewish humor, nor have seen The Producers, the 1968 version here is a brief summary.

Bialystock is a scheister Broadway producer, Bloom his accountant. They come up with a way to make millions of a Broadway show. Sell more than 100% in shares for a horrible, rotten musical that is sure to close down the first night. Hence the musical Springtime For Hitler. But the tables are turned on them when Springtime For Hitler turns out to be a success. Only this won't be the way the charter(s) turn out.

So just imagine this scenario, someone knowing that Tweed and the white liberal hedge fund managers give out money for charters like a drunken sailor, alone at Hunt's Point after being at sea for six months, will put in an application for a charter school. This educational Max Bialystock will be real smooth. Promise the world. Bloomberg and Klein will be found over a toilet rubbing one out they are so darn happy. But.......

One of two things will happen. The school will open and be so poorly run, and none of the promises kept. It will be closed down and the Max Bialystock of education will simply say, "oh well," and keep the money leaving kids in the lurch. Or, the school will never open, Max Bialystock will flee to Brazil with the money or somewhere else and Tweed and the hedge fund managers will be caught with their proverbial trousers down around their ankles looking to blame the UFT on the mess.

To paraphrase a scene from The Producers:

Max Bialystock: Don't you see, darling Bloom, glorious Bloom? It's so simple. STEP ONE: We found the worst charter school ever , a surefire flop. STEP TWO: I raise a million bucks. Lots of little old ladies, Tweed, and hedge fund managers out there. STEP THREE: You go back to work on the books, two of them - one for the government, one for us. You can do it, Bloom; you're a wizard! STEP FOUR: We open a charter in the South Bronx. And before you can say STEP FIVE, we *close* on the charter!!! STEP SIX: We take our million bucks and fly to *Rio!*

It could happen.

It can happen.

It will happen.