It's Wednesday, and that means it's time for an update on the Lunch Teacher. Actually, no hard and fast rule about Wednesday.

For those who have forgotten, or those who are new, you can catch up on the Lunch Teacher here, here, and here.

This past Monday, March 25, the Lunch Teacher turned the proverbial Lunch Tables on her accusers during the always fun and exciting professional development.

PD was all about the upcoming ELA exam's next week and The Crack Team had some insiders at there reporting back that not only was the Lunch Teacher chomping at the bit raring to go, but she completely p3wned the upper echelon of her school.

The Lunch Lady asked the testing coordinator...

"If the students don't finish the test by lunch is it permissible to keep them from lunch until they are finished?"

The Crack Team's insiders reported a collective gasp from all the teachers gathered when the above was asked.

We here at SBSB applaud the Lunch Teacher for asking a hard hitting non softball question. Recall, she was punished, ostracized, and shunned for daring to insist that one of her students report for a federally mandated lunch last year during testing.

The response...

"No, they go to lunch then when they return they come back and take the test."

Exsqueeze me?? So it seems the Lunch Teacher was following protocol last year. But then why is she being charged in a 3020-a? She just had her pre-hearing last week? Apparently the hacks at Gold St  are going full throttle in presenting this farce and doing whatever they can get away with in separating her from her direct deposit.

The Lunch Teacher then inquired to...

...a pacing method that was placed in the PD folder about telling the kids to stop at question 5 or so and tell them to wait like doing it all together as a class everyone as looking at each other like we’re not supposed to guide them at all. Then asked further about pacing. The Lunch Lady asked the staff that was there does anyone pace the kids. Insiders shared with The Crack Team that other teachers were sharing how they do it. One said she writes the time in the board just to let the kids know their pace (that’s what Lunch Lady did.) Lunch Lady said to testing coordinator, you cannot clarify about pacing and suggest how to do it and she said no.

Now one of the issues is that another teacher in the school took her tongue and tattled on the Lunch Teacher informing upper echelon on improper pacing. Seems the Lunch Teacher was doing it right all along. 

Then the Lunch Teacher asked....

"...if a student doesn’t finish on day 1 by dismissal can they finish on day 2? 

Testing coordinator said no but they can finish on the make up days.

Face palm!


This is a big violation. It is supposed to be in the confines of the same day!

Is this 3020-a really necessary? Are most? Think about it. If we had seniority transfers and get rid of fair student funding there would be a drop in the amount of teachers brought up on charges. The Lunch Teacher was brought up on charges just to get her out of the school. So she can spend her remaining years wandering a nomad existence as an ATR.

There are more lunch table to turn.

If I was a NYC student, I could do without passes off for food in the cafeterias. However, I myself, have always had two favorite NYCDOE lunches. One, those fish cakes with the cheese under the breading (which I have not seen for a long time) and the pizza. But what do I know? I think the $1.40 pizza at 7-11 and the $1.25 at Kennedy Fried Chicken are good. Oh and I just remembered. Those onion rings are darn good.

I certainly would not like to be tested up the ying yang if I was a NYC student. With my attention span I couldn't deal with it.

But what is a teacher to do when testing comes into conflict with lunch?

The Crack Team has learned that a teacher (tenured with 20 years in the system) in the Bronx had to make a command decision and now she might pay for it with her job.

Yes, I know. You are shaking your had are facepalming right now. I agree. This shit can't be made up.

Before I go on, remember, all tests (ELA and Math) are untimed.

Day 1 of the test. The entire class except one student is finished as lunch time approaches. The students must be brought down to have their federally mandated lunch. Mind you; these are students that this might be their only meal of the day, at the very least their only hot meal of the day.

It is time to go to lunch. Sadly, one student is not finished. Worse, this student is probably feeling the pressure to cram as much as one could into very little time left to complete the exam. Chances are the student knows that there will be time after lunch to finish up. But in the mind of a student under this much pressure they are unable to think clearly.

The teacher tells the student it is time to go to the federally mandated lunch. The student does not stop nor is the test turned over to the teacher. The teacher then gently takes the test off the student's desk and secures the tests with the others.

To make a long story short the teacher is now facing three 3020-a charges. Conduct unbecoming, conduct prejudicial to the good order, and being unfit. Better yet, when we return on February 25 at the end of business the teacher will be suspended with pay. How will this effect the teacher's current students getting ready for the upcoming state exams? No one at the DOE truly gives a fuck.

The teacher already has a letter to the file for this. Got it last month. The OSI investigation began in April 2018 only to be concluded in January 2019.

Here is the damned if you do damned if you don't scenario: what if the teacher let the student finish and miss lunch? What do you think would have happened? Yeah, you are right.

What were the protocols for dealing with lunch during the test? What were the protocols for students that were not done before lunch? Were students that were not finished to have lunch alone, with other students that had not yet finished or did it matter that nothing would be done? Why at the very least could this not be dealt with a simple counseling memo. Shit, even the letter to the file would suffice which in turn could have saved taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.

I really wish this story could be made up. It's not a dream. It's not a nightmare. It's real fucking life day in and day out at the NYCDOE.

Kathy Perez has been an activist and a friend of MORE for some time. I have a great deal of respect for Kathy and glad that I can call her a friend.

Kathy took the lead herself several years ago in opting her children of testing. In fact, Kathy's daughter Elizabeth, who is now 15, has refused to test since 5th grade and in fact was the first student to opt out ever in the Baldwin, LI school district.

With that in mind, Elizabeth now 15 and a freshman at Calhoun HS in the Bellmore-Merrick school district, is still a leader in the opt out movement. She can see clearly through all the BS.

Elizabeth took the time to share her thoughts with The Crack Team on what opting out has meant, and still means, for her. We need to hear from more student leaders like Elizabeth and take comfort that we know that we who advocate for opting out are passing our beliefs and core principles down to a younger generation.

We here at SBSB wish to thank Elizabeth for sharing her words and are proud to share them here on these pages.

For the first few years that I opted out of the New York State tests, people looked at me funny, asked me why I wasn’t taking them, and I was pretty much the only one to be reading a book rather than filling in a scantron, being sure to not make any stray marks. But as the years went on, the number of kids not taking the tests increased, and we eventually were taken into the cafeteria while the tests were being taken. I almost looked forward to testing week, even though everyone else was stressed. I got to spend a few hours taking naps, reading, or doing homework rather than sitting in class. All throughout elementary school and middle school I opted out of the tests, turning in my refusal letters on the first day like it was routine, and never did my parents or I think it affected my grades or my chances of getting into college, as some people claim it does. 

Now, I’m an honor roll high school student, with a plan to go to college, become a psychiatrist and an advocate for human rights, and I’ve refused the New York State exams. So, I’m pretty sure that my opting out of the tests hasn’t taken a toll on my education. I never really understood why these tests were even administered in the first place, considering the fact that they hold no benefit to anyone who takes them, and all they do is somehow display a teacher’s effectiveness through a student’s test grade. I know that I’m more than an ID number or test score. I don’t need a rigged exam to tell me what I’m capable of, or how effective my teachers are and hopefully, when I’m older, I won’t have to write refusal letters for my children at all.

Great words from a future leader.

Baseball is a great sport. Think about it. What other sport are you considered great if you fail 70% of the time?

The .300 batting average is what hitters wish to attain. Hit over .300 in a season you did well. Have a lifetime .300 batting average over a career you are considered one of the finest hitters of all time. Of the 18,274 (Including pitchers) players to play Major League Baseball since 1876 only 178 have a lifetime .300 average (Based on 1,000 games played). That is less than 1%!!!!!!!

From the highest, Ty Cobb with a lifetime average of .366 to a lowest .300 on the dot for 11 players, that .300 average is a mark of success.

Even the last player to he .400, Ted Williams in 1941 when he hit .406, failed to get a hit in 60% of his at bats (When I was a kid my dad always said Williams would have hit 800 if he didn't miss 5 years due to military service).

The great Mickey Mantle finished with a career .298 average. Mickey always lamented playing his last two seasons, 1967 and 1968 in which he hit .245 and .237 respectfully (He hit .300 or better 10 times in his career). Take away those two seasons, Mick winds up hitting over .300 lifetime.

The point?

Why is it acceptable for a NYC school to have 80% of it's 5th graders and over 80% of its 3rd graders unable to read or write and then go into middle school where they have no skills at all.

This school? PS 154 in the Bronx, led by that purveyor of all things Lucy Calkin, DR Alison Coviello, Principal and Ed.D, this is what is happening the students on East 135th St in the South Bronx.

These are the scores that came out last week. Of the 57 fifth graders tested at PS 154 31.6% scored a 1 and 54.4% scored a 2. That is over 80% This is acceptable? Yes, 14% scored a 3, but this comes out to only 7.98 students. EIGHT STUDENTS!!!!


In 3rd grade 58 students were tested Of these, 55.2% of the students recieved a 1 and 29.3% a 2. This totals 84% of students out of a class who apparently weren't taught well from K-2 and especially 3rd grade. Again, to be fair, 15.5% received a 3 in 3rd grade, only 8.99 students. NINE STUDENTS!!!

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE IN THE COMMUNITY???

The students and the community of PS 154 are being short changed by a failed writing and reading curriculum brought into PS 154 by DR Alison Coviello; Principal and Ed.d of PS 154 in the Bronx. Can/should DR Alison Coviello; Principal and Ed.d of PS 154 in the Bronx be trusted to impart the right reading and writing program into PS 154 when she has close ties to Lucy Calkins and her failed methodology?

The community of PS 154 needs to know that they can do something. Demand to whomever will listen that an 80 percent failure rate is not acceptable and demand accountability. This is your community, your school, and your children.

Would these scores be acceptable in Scarsdale? HECK NO! How fast would the Scarsdale superintendent clean house? Think about it. So why is it acceptable in the South Bronx?

Because they believe they have a compliant population that will not contradict what they are told and how they are told to think. 

The parents, the community of PS 154, are the only ones capable of taking charge of your child's education. The parents and community are the best and only advocates. But to do this parents must always question what they are told and come up with their own answers.

It is up to the parents and the community to put and end to the NYCDOE allowing a 80% failure rate to be seen as a success. 

If Mickey Mantle had failed to get a hit 80% of the time he would have been a .200 hitter. He would not have lasted in the Majors for 18 years and would not be in the Hall of Fame.

I did it today! It was not the first time. Last year I did it for the first time and I never felt so good and free about doing something.

Early this afternoon I emailed my son's principal and officially opted my son, and 8th grader in Harrison NY, out of the New York State ELA exam. Just as he was last year my son is again delighted to having been opted out. Sadly there is no opting him out of the math exam. He is taking Algebra I this year and instead he is taking (And there is nothing we can do) the Regents exam for Algebra I.

Last year my son reported back to me that there were about a dozen or so student who did not take the ELA exam in his school (Grades 6-8) and about double that for math. That is not enough.

In the middle school in Harrison there are about 900 students in the entire middle school. There needs to be 900 students not taking the exams this year. That many students opting out, as well as all the students in the 4 elementary school in Harrison will be just one link in the chain across the state of parents saying, "enough is enough," and deciding that they will not allow their children to be pawns and victims in Governor Andy's vendettas.

Each and every parent in Harrison has the power to stop testing in New York State and our schools back in the control of Dr Louis Wool and the board president, Abby Mendelsohn. We are the parents, families, guardians of our children and the decisions that most effect our children should be made on Union Ave and not on Albany. We can not sit by any longer and let a bought off governor decide what is best.

Does Governor Andy have what is best in mind for the students in Purchase? In West Harrison? Downtown? No. We trust our administrators, we trust our teachers, we trust ourselves, we can;t trust a politician who has received over $4.8 million from hedge fund managers.

As a parent or guardian you have every right to now allow your child, your most precious asset not to take the test. The madness must stop now. Don't wait to long. The ELA exam starts next week with the math exam the following week.

If you need guidance or advice on how to do this please check out these websites;

CHANGE THE STAKES

NEW YORK STATE ALLIES FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION 

And don't forget to listen to me on WFAS-AM 120 tomorrow morning as we discuss opting out.

The laughs and the comedy stylings coming from NYC Parents Union are just too much to keep up
with.

Back in April, Mona Davids tweeted out that 50% of NYC can't read or write at grade level. Remember, this is before the opportunity came to take advantage of an opportunity only for Mona.

@TweetBenMax @SquarePegDem We don't care about grade promotion tweaks. We care about 50%+ that can't read & write at grade level. Fix that.
— NYC Parents Union (@NYCParentsUnion) April 9, 2014

Mona never cited her sources, just doing what she does, pulling a number out of the air and running with it.

Fast forward to two weeks ago. Mona's Minion (Hey that has a nice ring to it!) Sam Pirozzolo in a Twitter rant claimed that NYC Parents Union filed their lawsuit on behalf of the 80% who can't read or write.

@rweingarten 80% of students can't read and write. How's that reform workin out for ya?!
— Sam Pirozzolo (@SPirozzolo) July 5, 2014

So we have gone from 50% of students are not at grade level to, 80% of students can't read or write. Using Sam's words, henceforth 80% of students in NYC are illiterate.

I asked Sam for some kind of verification that 80% of students can't read or write, some kind of evidence. Sam quickly obliged.

.@SoBronxSchool http://t.co/AbX5nOhnko
— Sam Pirozzolo (@SPirozzolo) July 6, 2014

and....

.@SoBronxSchool @Marquis1906 @rweingarten you know CEJ they are UFT funded I strongly suggest you look at page 6 http://t.co/hKbyyHBvmI
— Sam Pirozzolo (@SPirozzolo) July 6, 2014

What Sam fails to realize, perhaps because he is too busy bellowing the falsehoods in his brain and too busy shoveling snow naked is that both reports he cites are based on 8th grade students. And worse, they are based on tests, standardized tests from 2013 that have been roundly criticized not just by teachers and parents but politicians as well.

These tests in New York State have been so critiqued that Governor Andy, desperate to get re-elected by a greater than 55% margin has suspended using the tests to evaluate teachers for 2 years. What does that tell you?

What Mona and her Minion fail to realize that how one does on an exam has nothing to do with whether or not one is at grade level. It just shows that that student is able to do well, or poorly, that day, on that particular exam.

Using that logic, my son, who got a 2's on last year's state Math and ELA exams should be part of the lawsuit. His grade in 6th grade for both Math and ELA were both over 90, so then what gives?

Could it be that the fact that of the 3 days of the ELA exam not one student in his class completed the exam on 2 of the days? Could it be that the tests are flawed? He felt too much pressure? There are a multitude of reasons why he, and the students of NYC and New York State didn't perform well on the tests in 2013. But of course, Mona and her Minion want to take the easy way out and blame teachers and tenure.

We here at SBSB suggest that Mona goes back to whatever it is she does and that Sam goes back and concentrates on correcting astigmatisms.

This can be done. This should be done. Parents of Harrison NY, Westchester County, and NYC,
please read. This is important. You can take back control of your child's education.

I have been wanting to opt out my son of the NYS exams for a number of years. Actually every year since he started testing. He is in 7th grade now and I have finally decided that enough is enough. This year he is not wasting his time taking the state ELA and math exams.

The people it took the most convincing to opt him out have been my wife and my step-mother, a retired (13 years now) AP in the Bronx. For those who are of the Jewish persuasion you know with Jewish mothers you kinda don't have much of a say at times. But I digress.

After last years ELA debacle in which not one student in his class finished the exam on any of the 3 days testing a stand had to be made.

Both my wife and step-mother had serious preconceptions to what not taking the exams meant. One argument from both of them was that this would be a great way for him to learn and feel comfortable taking tests when he gets into high school.  Of course the NYS Regents exams and the SAT's are two totally different beasts compared to these so called tests. My wife and I, and certainly my step mother, never took high stakes tests such as these and we, well maybe I should say just they, did fine in high school exams. As for me, well, I took my PSAT's and then lost interest.

But of course my son over the years, and even now in 7th grade, has had to take tests in class. Wouldn't these tests which are teacher created better and more relevant to what he is actually learning? So I think he is pretty comfortable with test taking and at the age of nearly 13 (in June) I am confident that he can take a #2 pencil to a little circle and fill it in properly, which actually is the only skill one gets from standardized exams.

Another reason that my wife and step-mother gave for him taking the exams is that he not only would be ostracized by the other students and friends in his grade, but he will feel singled out being on the outside looking in.

On Thursday night I decided that a scientific experiment was in order to test the above hypotheses. I called him into the bedroom while my wife and I were watching the NCAA's. I asked him would he feel bad if he didn't take the exams and would the other kids make fun of him. His reaction was that he would not feel bad and that the other kids would want to know where they can sign up to miss the exams. In fact as this is being written he is texting his friends telling them he is not taking the exams. His friends are way jel.

My wife and step-mother also claimed that the tests are used to place my son in the proper classes next year in 8th grade. Immediately, I cried bullocks.

My son has consistently made honor roll (Not being a braggart here). Besides, if the teachers and guidance counselors in his middle school don't know where to place him next year, well, they ain't doing their jobs.

Now my wife brings up an interesting point. She (and remember the all encomposing Jewish neurosis) claims that the administration will seek revenge on my son and keep him from participating in school events or make him stay in at lunch and other kinds of punitive measures.

I can't believe for a second that any administrator in Harrison NY will ever stoop this low. Maybe in cities with over 1 million in population, but not Harrison.

And my wife is concerned with what the teachers will think. So am I. That's another reason why I am opting my son out. I will not allow my son to be used as a pawn to damage or end a teacher's career.

Think about it. Our children, the very same children that Governor Andy claims he is the chief lobbyist, are pawns used by politicians and the Corporatists, and the testing companies such as Pearson.Why? So someone can pocket some cash, make up for some Freudian physical shortcoming, and to screw and privatize a noble profession. That's it and nothing more.

It's time parents of New York State fight back against the Corporatists and their pawn Governor Andy and what has been done to education in this country.

For those that want more information, follow NYS Allies for Education for how the "How to Opt Out" primer. It can be done, it should be done!

Amazing that I and The Crack Team are still able to get these super duper secret emails that Sock Puppet Chancellor Walcott send out to his centurions, er, I meant principals. The emails are now harder to get, yet through quite nefarious mean, still quite obtainable. Attached to the email is a letter to hand to parents for them to prepare for low scores as well.

So to summarize, Dennis' email he appears to be greasing the skids for the abject total complete shitty scores the NYC DOE is expecting because the tests are "harder." Well, what else can one expect when there is bullshit curriculum being used and implemented across the city. Do you think the parents of Roslyn, Scarsdale, Upper Saddle River, or Rye or being told to expect low scores? Noooooooooo!!!!!

Funny thing I notice, in Dennis' email he suggests that parents be directed to EngageNY or Common Core Library to learn more. Yeah, sure, right, of course, that is really going to happen. /sarcasm

Sorry about the quality.

This is weird. Or is it disturbing? It can be both. But the fact that something like this can happen should show why certain people should not be administrators.

The Dude was late both days of the statewide ELA test. Once a student is late, the student can not enter the room and take the test. In my school the student goes to a holding area. The Dude, might I believe, also have some test modifications that are afforded him. But the thing is The Dude must take the test.

One of the assistant principals, not Numb Nuts, but The Chosen One, has refused to allow The Dude to take a make up ELA test. The Chosen One feels that The Dude had his chance and blew it. There is no time limit on the when to take a make up.

Just another story in the long list of The Dude getting screwed.

And what do you think Tricky Dick would have to say about this?

Am I wrong in believing that someone who grades the New York State ELA exam should have a working knowledge of the English language?

I believe test security has been breached.

Last week were the 3rd-5th grade state ELA exams.

A handout went home stating that students were allowed to bring in candy, gum, sucking candy to have on their desks to keep them calm. I have a copy of this handout. The handout is signed by the principal. How is this a breach of test security?

Is it not plausible that certain test taking techniques, answers, etc... could be written on or inside wrappers of the candies? This can cause a skew of the test scores. The last I checked, and I have proctored many a test is that all that should be on a students desk is the test booklet and and No. 2 pencil.