Updated February 11, 2017 10:45 AM EST:
We mistakenly left the name out of SA 1 Principal Danique Loving as one of the three yenta teachers. What is updated is in red.

Earlier this afternoon The Crack Team got some compelling news from an impeccable, above reproach source concerning, how shall we say, irregularities about Success Academy that left The Crack Team just aghast and sickened.

As many of us already know, Success Academies decided yesterday that Eva's ego comes first and that their students were forced to attend school braving blizzard conditions during the children's commute to school. What better way to open a few seats and to ensure that those who do not meet Eva's demonic standards don't return. At Success, if a few struggling students get killed or maimed being in a blizzard the attitude must be "so be it." Talk about Creaming.

So back to the compelling news that came to The Crack Team. The source informed The Crack Team that at Harlem's Success Academy 1 yesterday, some students were involved in what can be called "Bible study."

The source shared that three SA teachers staff members including SA 1 principal Danique Loving  were yapping it up early this morning at about 7:15 AM, sharing what they had done yesterday when one of the teachers shared, whilst smiling and almost bragging, that some students were sitting through the readings of Bible verses during the snowy school day.

Now ordinarily we here at SBSB have no problem how one wants to conduct their religious beliefs as long as said beliefs don't infringe on anyone else's belief or non-beliefs of religion and/or deities. However, children, especially those at the near underworld fortress like Success Academy, are a captive audience and have no recourse other than to be force fed religious beliefs of someone else. Moreover, Success Academy is funded with public monies paid by John and Jane Q. Public and is therefore a public school, though a public school that limits access to the public, and falls under the US Constitution's Establishment Clause. But this is Eva. Rules and laws are meant for someone else. Never her.

But this violation, though egregious, pales in comparison to the what else the three SA yenta's were cackling about.

Apparently these three just principal Danique Loving, while the other two listened and laughed, all African-American, decided that their time at 7:15 AM was better spent mocking and deriding a young boys first name. A young boy who is a native of Africa.

How dare these "teachers" principal Danique Loving mock anyone's name! How dare these "educators" think that they are so above it all that the only way they can make themselves feel bigger and more important is to mock a defenseless child! How dare these "people" for one minute think that they are educators!

Can you imagine the shit storm that would incur if this happened at a REAL NYC public school and Eva found out about this? Oy Gevalt!

We here at SBSB immediately call for a proper investigation into these dreadful and unprofessional allegations by an independent investigator post haste. No stone should be unturned into the lack of professionalism by these three SA teachers and whomever decided to turn a snowy NYC day into Bible study.

We here at SBSB also call for the removal of SA 1 principal Danique Loving for turning a blind eye to what has transpired for mocking a students heritage and ethnic background!

The behavior at Success Academy 1 is appalling and must not be tolerated. Looking the other way is akin to accepting such behavior.

It used to be that on my way home I would turn on WFAN and listen to the bloviating of His
Popeness, Mike Francesa. Hasn't been that way for a few months now.

I have found a new voice to listen to, that of Michelangelo Signorile on SiriusXM Progressive Channel 127. I have to tell you, I am hooked. Heck, I don't even listen to Sternthology in the afternoon.

Michelangelo has had me mesmerized with his take on the entire 2016 election and it's aftermath. The way he has deconstructed Trump's petty excuse of living has me on the edge of my seat as I drive up the Major Deegan in the afternoon. His progressive agenda, his realistic look at the world has let know that I, and others who feel the same, or not alone in the screwed up, messed up, crazy country we live in nowadays.

Michelangelo is a true defender of those who need defending. Whether they be of the LGBTQ community, African-American, Hispanic, Asian-Americans, Jews, women, or just anyone in need, and anyone being shat upon by those with the privilege to be in power. Death

Listening to him mock Steve Bannon, the Alt-Right, Trump, Christie, Palin, Guiliani, and all the other Trump hangers on and sycophants have left me in stitches so often I have almost driven off the Sprain!

But, and I say this with a heavy heart, Michelangelo has disappointed me in one regard. His silence and lack of understanding on Herr Trump's stance on education.

Right after the election I got a phone call from a friend of The Crack Team who happened to be in a panic. She was convinced that Reichsführer Trump will annihilate education in this country, sending billions of dollars away from public education and in the process putting the final nail in the coffin of teachers unions and urban education.

I did my best to reassure her that it won't happen, that Trump is all talk and he will never shut down the Department of Education and besides she, as well as myself, have just over 4 years till retirement and hopefully we'll be out before the proverbial doody hits the proverbial fan.

So back on November 10 I decided to call into Michelangelo's show and share with him what teachers are thinking and how horrible a Trump presidency will be to education in this country. I felt the need to do this due to the fact that of all the things that Trump is for not once had I heard Michelangelo bring up Trump's threat to education.

So Mike, I hope you are reading this. You took my call during the 5 o'clock hour. I told you I was Pete from White Plains and that I am a NYC teacher. I told you about Trump's plan and how teachers are scared. I told you how he will be wanting to take monies away from public education and put those monies into charter schools and vouchers for parochial and private schools as well as into homeschooling. Oh, and I shared how with being able to fill Scalia's seat teachers run the risk of Friedrich's being reheard and losing our right to organize. I will give you credit. You heard me. But you did not listen.

All I got from you Mike was, and I am paraphrasing, "Don't worry, your unions are too strong to allow this to happen." Say what? I tried to get in a word but you just kept talking over me.

Guess what? Our unions are not strong enough to fight back. Have you seen what has happened alone in New York State with education? With the testing, the BS evaluations, junk science, etc...? Who do we have to thank for this? The United Federation of Teachers. OUR UNION!!! That of course acts this way due to the directing of the AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS!!!

Have you noticed a trend across the country? In Wisconsin, North Carolina, California? Where have you been?

Where were you when Eva Moskowitz's name was being floated as Education Secretary? Do you know about Eva? Just in case you don't, check this out! Were you appalled that Princess Trump visited her Success Academy 1 School to tout her as an innovative educator  whilst ignoring the GREAT WORK of the teachers in the same building who teach our most needy students?

Where were you when Michelle Rhee was floated as Education Secretary? Yeah, that Michelle Rhee who I wrote about on the Huff Post in 2010, you know, about duct taping her student's mouths shut.

And guess who enabled the Moskowitz's, the Rhees, and the countless education deformers of the world? The DEMOCRATS! Yeah, without the Democrats, we never get NCLB and Race to the Top. If Democrats can't stop Republicans, or at the very least roll over for the Republicans, how can Trump be stopped?

How can Trump and the Republican controlled Congress be stopped when our unions have been rolling over, throwing teachers under the bus for 15 years?

Hey Mike, how about putting up that same fight for our children, the communities, our unions, and teachers that you put up for everyone else?

I know you can, and I know you are a good person that can make a change.

Wow, Eva Moskowitz made news today. In a short article by Aaron Short of Success Academy's official newspaper the New York Post, it's being reported that  Eva having said in an interview on WYNC that she does not;

"...accept midyear transfers from regular middle and high schools because their students don’t keep up with their charter counterparts."

This statement has left The Crack Team in a state of confusion, mass hysteria, and a general sense of malaise.

For years, we (The general public) have heard that charter schools are just like public schools---even though we all know that charters are really private schools. In traditional public schools if a student and their family has to change schools, or a student is not doing well and needs a change of scenery, he or she is can enroll in a school no matter what their abilities are. That's just the way it is and should be.

Yes, it is difficult no matter how strong or weak the student is to acclimate themselves to the new neighborhood, class, school, routines, etc... but they are welcomed. By law we have no choice.

But why does Eva get a choice, especially after the sweetheart deal her "special friend" Governor Andy gave her last year?

Eva shared these words of wisdom as well;

“Until the district schools are able to do a better job, it’s not really fair for a seventh-grader or high-school students to have to be educated with a child who is reading at a second- or third-grade level,”

So Eva is assuming that the student that enters a Success Academy mid-year is so far behind that it will be a disservice to the other students to have that struggling student amongst them? Would it not be beneficial for students that are so far behind Eva's wunderkind, no that's not the word. Hmm, her 21th-century genetically engineered children designed to create perfect students? No, that is not what we are looking for. Her T-1000's? Her scholars?

Anyway, it would be beneficial for these students to work with students that are ahead of them. Students when challenged academically will most of the time be able to bring themselves up academically as well.

But what this really seems like is pre-creaming and proving more to the point that Eva is only interested in Eva and only wants the best of the best to advance her cause and herself. Kind of like charter school eugenics.

This really doesn't come as a shock considering the shenanigans that  Eva has pulled in the past when it comes to who can stay and who can leave at Success.

Of course Eva does have an altruistic side to her as she shared with WNYC when she said that Success has an;

“...obligation to our parents in middle and high school.”

Isn't there an obligation to the students? Haven't we've been hearing from you for years that the students come first? Haven't we heard for years that you and Success can educate any student, any tine, any where? Eva claims that Success is a public school yet her words and actions speak as Success is a closed off exclusive private school. So why then are public monies going to Eva and Success?

Let's come back in 10 years, maybe less, and see where all the great "scholars" of Eva are at that point. Let's see how they do in college once they are on their own and not having every decision made for them and not forced to conform anymore. Let's see how Eva's students do in the outside world where they will have to make decisions on their own without getting rewarded.

Eva's smoke and mirrors are slipping out.

What a whirlwind couple of days it has been!

Tonight, I had the pleasure to listen to Diane Ravitch speak at my alma mater Purchase College and yesterday I got to read this written by Juan Gonzalez and see how Governor Andy really operates.

Really, is anyone surprised?

This man has accepted, taken, pocketed, call it what you wish, $4.8 million from hedge fund managers as they lobby Governor Andy to see it there way and raise the cap on charter schools in New York State.

Remember last year when Cuomo threw DeBlasio under the bus in regards to limiting Success Academy's co-locations? It just so happens that a pal of Eva's,  the Chairman of the Board of Success Academy, Daniel Loeb, has "given $62,000 to Cuomo." ***COUGH COUGH*** Something smells fishy here. ***COUGH COUGH***

Would it not behoove our better judgement to believe that the same hedge fund managers that Juan Gonzalez mentioned in in column have also deeply--as well as softly--whispered in Governor Andy's ear to change tenure to five years, base 50% of evals on tests, incorporate the stupid 35% eval on an outside entity, and all the other craziness Governor Andy has proposed?

How can we as teachers compete against Governor Andy and $4.8 million?

That's what we thought at an emergency meeting of The Crack Team which was convened last night at the Candlelight Inn in the Edgemont section of Greenburgh. 

We put our heads together. We had to come up with a way to grab Governor Andy's attention and be assured he gives us what we want in the same method the hedgies have co-opted him. But, and we all agreed, $4.8 million is somewhat out of the reach of ordinary teachers.

So we had to improvise, adapt, and overcome.

We came up with some great ideas. For instance a great idea was sending a Hickory Farms gift basket to the Executive Mansion. Or perhaps a Vermont Teddy Bear, or a dozen red roses (We nixed that, we thought he might get the wrong idea), some Omaha Steaks, or some nice jewelry from Kay.

But when it came down to following through we just couldn't Yes, Govcrnor Andy would be appreciative of such gifts, but they are just gifts. As we collectively rubbed our chins we had to think what is it that would get all the teachers of New York State into his office.

We figured it out. Cold. Hard. Cash. In small bills equaling $4.8 million.

Yes, that is what it will take, we believe, for Governor Andy to leave the Dark Side and do what the teachers and families of New York State want.

So The Crack Team has set up a Go FundMe page and between today and March 30 we hope to raise $4.8 million for Governor Andy's PACs. If we do not raise the money it will be returned or if the giver wishes, donated to charity.

Donations are to be only $1. We want to ensure all New Yorkers to contribute.

Let's do this for Andy. He needs us more than ever. 

The Crack Team after all these years has finally mastered the Flux Capacitor and inserted it into a
1977 VW Beetle. We had decided to travel to the future to see what would happen if Governor Andy got his way with the draconian measures (5 years for tenure, 50% of evaluation tied to state exams, 35% tied to independent evaluator, 15% evaluated by principal, giving great teachers up to $20k, and more charters) he has proposed.

Even though we needed a carburetor in the Beetle we took it out on the Sprain Parkway at 1AM to be sure we had a enough room to get it up to 88 MPH. It took a few miles to do it but we did! We hit a few time periods over the ensuing ten years to see what will become of education in the formerly great State of New York.

2017

Having forsaken a run for president the previous year, Governor Andy readies himself for a third term run the following year and a possible presidential run in 2020. The New York Post has just reported that under Governor Andy's new evaluation system, 95% of teachers are rated effective or higher in New York City and statewide the total is 97%. One hundred thousand teachers across the state were considered excellent and each were awarded $20k, however not one teacher accepted the cash incentive, or those that did, donated it to their school districts to make up for the millions of dollars that Governor Andy has withheld.

The independent evaluators that Governor Andy touted so turned out to be college students found through CraigsList and were making $12/hr. When the New York Time reports this, Governor Andy misinterprets the fallout and decides that in the future that unpaid college interns will be the new independent evaluators saving districts across the state millions of dollars.

Eva Moskowitz opened her first Success Academy in tony Bronxville tweeting that rich, spoiled, white kids need saving #dontstealivyleaguepossible.

Early 2018

Getting ready to run for a third term as Governor Andy is yet again disappointed with his new state of the art education reformed he had announced the previous year. He decries that now 97% of NYC teachers and 98% of teachers statewide are rated effective or highly effective. Having substituted the $20k teaching bonus with $5 gift cards to Arby's for teachers of excellence he soon realizes it is all for naught. Teachers do not like Arby's. Also Governor Andy has decided that 80% of a teachers evaluation is to be based on state exams (Ten percent both for the outside evaluator and principal) and that there will be a new level of effective teacher. It will be known as "Really super duper effective."

However, a month after this is passed in the legislature a scandal erupts. Apparently, Educators4Excellence has morphed into a religious cult and it seems all the unpaid college interns are E4E members and worship Little Evan Stone. Little Evan soon skips the country with the interns in tow and they all arrive in Jonestown, Guyana where no one ever heard from them again.

Faced with no outside evaluators Governor Andy decides that evaluators can be found huddled together outside of all Home Depot's and Lowe's and only need to be paid a day rate of $10 plus transportation and a slice and a Coke.

Eva Moskowitz has now opened up another Success Academy in Scarsdale calling the schools there failing because 5 students were not accepted at an Ivy and must settle for SUNY instead.

When asked about all these changes, UFT President Mike Mulgrew says, "Well it could have been worse. Thank God we have a seat at the table."


January 2019

Governor Andy ran for a third term in November 2018. In race against Republican candidate Senator Dean Skelos Governor Andy received 40% of the vote versus Skelos' 25% and write in candidate "Inanimate Object" received 34%. Sadly, Governor Andy mistakenly believes he has a mandate.

In his state of the state speech Governor Andy says enough is enough with the state of education in New York State. He threatens the assembly to pass his comprehensive education plan or they will face loss of bathroom privileges in the capitol building and will instead have to find a restaurant on Pearl St to relieve themselves.

He is upset because all teachers in New York State have been deemed Really Super Duper Effective. Henceforth he declared all evaluations will be based on 99.99% of state exams. Teachers will not get paid unless they can prove to an independent evaluator paid for by the state and hired though Pearson (Which has incidentally donated millions of dollars to Governor Andy in 2018) that they can answer every question correctly on a newly proposed yearly teaching licensing exam. If one question is wrong on the test the teacher will be immediately fired and his or her name and photo sent to the New York Post.

Teachers who miss two questions will be summarily interred along with their families to re-education camps sponsored by News Corp where they will learn to see Governor Andy as a deity.

Tenure has now been extended to 25 years of being Really Super Duper Effective.

Students will be tested (through a new $7 billion testing contract to Pearson) 2 times a week--Mondays and Fridays-- so progress can be checked weekly.

Teachers are quitting in droves. By June of 2019 all but one teacher in the Alfred-Almond School District has resigned or retired. Governor Andy will announce in July of 2019 that he plans to clone himself so that he and he alone, will teach all subjects in all schools across the state.

He soon dumps Sandra Lee and brings in Eva Moskowitz and his new consort until he finds out that she is just a heartless and soulless artificial life form.

He calls in the state police to arrest each and every member of the legislature. He declares martial law across the state and arrests all members every school district statewide.

Soon, alone and friendless, sitting in his den in Mount Kisco friendless he soon hears a knock at the door. It is the spirit of Mario. Mario does what he should have done years earlier.

They call for a taxi which takes them down 684 to White Plains. They head east on I-287 and get off at exit 8 and come to New York Hospital. Mario's spirit helps check Governor Andy in...for a very, very long stay.

Soon education is saved. Teachers return from exile. The sun rises again. The birds sing and most importantly, our children are back to learning.

Meanwhile at 52 Broadway, Mike Mulgrew when asked by reporters about Governor Andy's convalescing says, "I like him, at least we had a seat at the table."

By now we should all know who Errol Louis of NY1 and the Daily News works for. Not for truth, but for
those that distort the truth.

I at one time had thought the Errol was above the fray, that he had integrity and wished to give both sides of the education debate equal time. I will never forget when he had Julie Cavanagh on his NY1 show debating Little Evan Stone of E4E in 2011. I watched and felt that Errol had sifted through the BS of Evan and allowed Julie to give her side.

But lately he has become a shill of the deformers. A badly misinformed shrill. I guess this is par for the course for someone who grew up in New Rochelle, went to a great high school, went to Harvard, Yale, and Brooklyn Law, and mingles with the hipsters in Park Slope. Yes, Errol is just oozing educational cred. Do we dare say that Errol is an elitist?

Errol this past Thursday wrote a column for the Daily News in which he shows just how clueless and ignorant he is when it comes to education.

Errol blabbers forth; Thursday’s sure-to-be raucous education rally, to be held within shouting distance of the Tweed building and City Hall, is a timely reminder of a civic force that many of the city’s progressive leaders seem incapable of understanding...

We here at SBSB believe they understand it. These aren't the parents that are forming these protests, nor is it the communities. These protests are led by inane, self-absorbed, me first, **cough cough** EVA MOSKOWITZ **cough cough**. When we see these parents clamoring for a better education ON THEIR OWN ACCORD, as the people protesting for democracy are doing in Hong Kong, or the students in Colorado clamoring for a real AP social studies curriculum  in Colorado, then we'll talk.

Errol says; Wednesday’s speech by Chancellor Carmen Fariña, centered on an announcement that the Education Department will scrap the old method of assigning letter grades to individual schools, could be a step in the right direction 

We here at SBSB are proud of Errol for not flying off the shrilling from the mountain top like ignorant others over at Mona Davids Parents Union.

...but the administration appears to be dragging its feet on attacking the urgent problem of turning around schools that are badly broken

Broken? How so? Specifics. Real specifics. Yes, the test scores suck, but why? Is it just the teachers or is it the crappy curriculum teachers are forced to deal with? Is it the cycle of poverty and mental health issues that never get addressed that our students have to deal with every day? Is it crime? Is it a lack of funding? Is it a lack of leadership at Tweed and at the schools? Tell us Errol in your own words, using your own investigatory facts, WHY ARE THE SCHOOLS BROKEN??

While Thursday’s rally isn’t pushing specific demands, it’s clear the organizers are warming up for a battle to raise the current limit on charter schools in the city.

That's what it is all about. Not the broken schools, not the teachers, just more and more and more and more charter schools and more and more and more and more halves against the have nots.

But the main thrust of the gathering is to show that there is a large and vocal number of New Yorkers fed up with poorly-performing schools and impatient with the litany of excuses for why we can’t do better.

But Errol just said the rally was all about charter schools, so why is he contradicting himself? Again, is this movement organic? NO!

The chatter from those defenders on social media sites and letters to the editor usually includes talking points about how poverty is the true culprit

Yeah it is. See above, it is one of many. Think about this Errol. Take the teachers Albert Leonard Middle School in New Rochelle and switch them out with teacher from IS 162 on 149th and St Ann's Ave in the Bronx. What do you think will happen? 

But Errol has more to say on this and he feels he must insult teachers; Those old arguments, repeated year after year, have grown stale. Most airline passengers don’t know how to fuel and fly a jet or run an air-traffic control tower. But they do know when plane after plane is dirty and cramped, arriving late at the wrong destination and occasionally crashing.

This isn't fair. My cat can take apart this argument. But what the hell.

Please do not compare what teachers do to fueling a jet plane. Yes, these guys work hard and I am sure there is a learning curve, but really? Now, if we were compared to these guys fueling a plane than I might say, "touché."

But how about this? Does Errol want a pilot or an air traffic controller that has had only 50 hours and five weeks of training when he is jet setting around the USA? Doubt it. Does he want constant turnover of air traffic controllers and pilots? Doubt it as well. 

But his argument that the public does know when a plane is dirty or cramped or late has a lot to do with how an airline is run, yes, the MANAGEMENT! Why not then does Errol and his ilk kvetch about WHO IS RUNNING THE SCHOOLS? And Errol is being quite specious with his last argument. Seriously, how often does a plane land at the wrong destination? And crashes? How many crashes of American commercial jets have there been the last ten years and what is the ratio of mechanical vs pilot errors?

What Errol fails to point out is that the people who fly our planes, design our planes, and guide our planes have training in planes. Also, flying, designing and guiding is evaluated by OBJECTIVE MEASURES, not the whim of some untrained, irrational human being. 

Come on Errol, tell us all how to fly a jet, or guide a jet over LaGuardia, or design one. Yeah, I hear crickets too.

And let's not forget that pilots, air traffic controllers, and flight attendants are all proud union members.

Families for Excellent Schools, the group organizing Thursday’s demonstration, has compiled a number of damning reports 

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We know, and we care. But see above arguments. Again, FES is a front organization for FormelyMichelleRheeFirst. Yet refuses to put into context and show how it came to this statement; 

A school where nine out of 10 kids can’t proficiently read or do math does not simply ‘need improvement,’

A recent Associated Press report notes that the nation’s top 10% of income earners have increased spending on their kids by 35% in recent years — pouring a fortune into private-school tuition, bidding up home prices in districts with high-performing schools and paying so much money for extra help that some SAT tutors now make over $50 an hour.

SAT tutors are only making $50 an hour? I guess the ones making that kind of dough are getting hosed. But I will like to see this AP report. Where is it? But if true, I can guarantee that the parents sending their kids to private schools are doing it to keep the Common Core away from them, to keep them from testing, and for smaller class size. Why isn't Errol advocating for what parents really want? For what Errol wants for his own kids yet won't admit it to others. 

I used to have respect for Errol. I thought he was objective and can see and respect both sides. But he has drank from the Kool-Aid trough for too long and is useless. Nothing more than a shrieking shrill.

One more thing. The problems Errol is whining about are the same problems that permeated the 12 years of the Bloomberg reign. Where was he during those 12 years? Bought off by Bloomberg? 

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.

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.

My mother used to tell me two things;

"Never argue with meshugah people and always wear clean underwear in case the New York Post drives a bus over you and all the lackeys that read that paper talk about what a poor mother I am for sending you out of the house in dirty underwear."

Unfortunately, I did not heed her advice for I got into a Twitter thingy with someone that just might be meshugah. The Twitter thingy was concerning Mayor De Blasio "claiming" that pre-K would curb students suicide as written by the Post. The meshugah person was Michael Benjamin a self appointed "corruption crusher"and inane mouthpiece of Eva Moskowitz and charters, and a sometimes columnist of the New York Post.

Mikey says about himself;

"corruption crusher & thought-leader giving voice to unplugged opinions and perspectives."

We here at SBSB are quite sure he looks the other way at the reams of students being creamed out of charters, the big bucks Eva is making, and the lack of any accountability that charters of fought for.

I should have foreseen the impending doom and my mother's prophecy when I received  this Tweet from Mikey confirming what he had tweeted me the night before;
 

As I posted, "Suicide prevention starts in preschool . . . or so says Dr. de Blasio." @NYCParentsUnion @SoBronxSchool http://t.co/S3p7g5yYzR
— Michael Benjamin (@SquarePegDem) March 24, 2014

OK, I felt I could not comment until I read the article thoroughly, even though the title from the Post was shrill and claimed that De Blasio said those very words. 

After reading the article in question I saw nothing of De Blasio ever saying those words.What he did say was;

“I really believe early childhood education is crucial to the whole equation because it is part of putting kids on a productive, positive path early and not letting them feel like they can’t make it,” 

Even though in the very same article the Post claimed;

" ...he believes his proposed pre-K program could help curb the trend (suicide).

Now, where did De Blasio claim pre-K was the elixir of teen suicide? Nowhere. But both the Post and Mikey claim this is what De Blasio said.

I shared with Mikey that De Blasio never uttered what he or the Post are claiming. Mikey would have none of that;

It reads that way to me. Effects of PreK would mitigate against future pupil suicides. @SoBronxSchool @NYCParentsUnion @deBlasioNYC
— Michael Benjamin (@SquarePegDem) March 24, 2014

 It reads that way to him? So Mikey is creating his own truth? I guess if one believes they are Queen Elizabeth they then must be the queen. Mikey decides has the ability to get into someone's head and know what they're thinking? What powers Mikey has.

The way De Blasio's comments reads to The Crack Team is that 1) He was talking about any early childhood education which can go up to grades 2, but remember as of now Kindergarten is still not mandatory in New York State, and 2) Whatever we can do for these students because, and I hope Mikey is reading this, is that IF ONE TEEN SUICIDE CAN BE PREVENTED, or TEEN SUICIDE CAN BE REDUCED then whatever we can do to help keep that student from feeling so helpless that suicide seem that only way out, we must do it.

Of course, just pre-K will not prevent teen suicides. Because if a brain damaged monkey read the Post he would see that De Blasio said that early childhood education is;

 "is part of putting kids on a productive, positive path early and not letting them feel like they can’t make it,” 

See the word part? That means just one iota of the entire equation Mikey. Why not give a kid a leg up or does Mikey reserve all his love and lust for Eva?

Why is it that the Right Wing Wingnuts can't have empathy or even see nuance. What must everything be either this or that, black or white? Aren't their any shades of gray in the minds of the Right Wing Wingnuts?

There is no excuses, no explanations to not doing or trying everything humanly possible for a teen, or even a child, to commit suicide. Yes, pre-K in and of itself will not prevent suicide. But pre-K as part of a foundation in which a child can then build on and have self-esteem and feel good about themselves is worth it. Everything should be done to keep a child from contemplating or following through on suicide. Everything should be done to keep a parent from burying a child.

But not in Mikey's world. In Mikey's world how does he see students that are not part of charters?

@SoBronxSchool @NYCParentsUnion @deBlasioNYC That would include the mayor as well. I've worked w/ your ill-prepared graduates as well.
— Michael Benjamin (@SquarePegDem) March 24, 2014

 Nice generalization Mikey.

So what does Mikey think we should do with the ill prepared who bring down the economy, the justice system and society?

@SoBronxSchool @NYCParentsUnion Give them their own guild schools as in Europe.
— Michael Benjamin (@SquarePegDem) March 24, 2014

 

In Mikey's world if there are no studies of an issue than there is no basis to claim an issue. To him anecdotal evidence means jack, unless of course when one brings up that the book his still open on how Success Academy students will do in college and in life.

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.

A high level source within the NYC DOE has shared with The Crack Team at SBSB that Carmen Farina will be named as new chancellor of the Department of Education.

Another close source to The Crack Team has given Ms Farina a thumbs up and thinks naming her is a great choice.

Of course, the proof is in the pudding and we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves with either praise or condemnation. What we do like is that Ms. Farina has risen through the ranks from teacher to principal to superintendent to deputy chancellor. Just with that on her resume she has more cred than anyone in the upper echelon of the DOE.

Just as an aside, our source shared with The Crack Team that to get rid of the current evaluation system we might have to give up retroactive raises. But that is a story for another time.

One way to tell what kind of chancellor Ms Farina will be is to check what the Post, deformers, hedge fund managers, and Eva have to say in the aftermath of making it official. If their not happy, well.......

Anyway, The Crack Team has come up with some suggestions for Ms Farina to implement when she is in Tweed (Of course it goes without saying to 86 the new evaluation system and the Common Core, testing, closures, and charters bogarting resources). In no particular order;

1. Get rid of the lawyers. Too many lawyers sitting around in TPU (Teacher performance unit) and Labor Relations doing nothing other than thinking of a new way to stick it to the teachers. Not only that, but think of the money that can be pumped into the schools instead of lining the pockets of the lawyers.

2. Real Administrators. When I started teaching in 1995 the AP's and the Principals were seasoned educators with at least 15 years before one became an AP and/or principal and were experts in particular field of pedagogy. Now, you neither had to have ever taught or you start your administration courses the year you get into the system or you just write a check.

3. End gotcha. It's time. And this includes all the petty little charges in 3020a's.

4. Let teachers teach. This can go so many ways, but the person that knows the students best is the teachers, the front lines. Just like in the military, the grunts see and know so much more than credit is ever given. Let's bring the spontaneity back to teaching.

5. Put the deformers in their places. That means the Post, MichelleRhee First, Whitney, Eva, Klein, Murdoch, etc... Have a Sister Souljah moment with these people.

6. Tell Eva Moskowitz there's money to be made in North Dakota. With the prevalence of fracking in North Dakota, many families are moving to the state with "inadequate" public schools. Tell Eva she can make more money in Williston than Harlem. Give her bus money to encourage her to be on her way.

7. End the ATR system. Not with termination, but with real placement of the Lost Teachers of Israel.

8. Administrators should face the same discipline as teachers. This means that the days of a principal being arrested for cops finding a kilo of coke in the trunk of his car after he gets pulled over for DWI and a suspended license while wearing no pants and underwear while two prostitutes are in the back seat shooting smack should no longer warrant a promotion. Not saying the principal should be terminated, just not promoted.

9. Follow the contract. A contract is a two way agreement. Please, let's respect the contract.

10. Stand up to Cuomo. He has two uses for his finger. One, to pick his nose, the other to see which way the wind is blowing. Cuomo is a bully. He's trying to be the svelte Chris Christie. How do we deal with bullies? A rolled up newspaper to the schnoz.

11. Respect. Simple respect. That will go very far. It will rub off on the media, the public, and the politicians. Defend us against Campbell Brown. Against Michelle Rhee. If that happens just once, or maybe twice, you will not only earn respect and loyalty, but get that proverbial foot off our chests.

The Crack Team is sure that there are some things that were not mentioned. For that they apologize. But it's a start.

This past Thursday as I was hanging out in my favorite post-work coffee house I began a conversation with another human being about the state of education in this country. Even though this person is somewhat new to teaching, this person was not drinking the Kool-Aid of the deformer and
was very bright and quite perceptive.

As we talked, I learned that this person, who shall henceforth be known in this posting as Cher, was a former employee of the Success Academy charter schools which are led by the irascible Eva Moskowitz. We both smiled and told the barista to brew up another pot of Guatemala-Antigua Original Medium Roast and soon Cher was dishing dirt on Success.

Cher had been what is known as a "associate teacher" at Success at the salary of $50,000. As an associate teacher, Cher did all the grunt work for the head teacher or as she said of what an associate teacher is nothing more than a "bitch for the teacher."

The associate teacher makes all the photo copies, writes the lessons and homework on the boards, if a child is misbehaving, the associate teacher takes that student for a walk. In fact speaking of walking, Cher shared that not only are individual students singled out for not walking correctly in the hall but entire classes as well for the smallest of infractions.

Funny how students need to practice walking in the hall. As Cher mentioned, the first month of school is spent on discipline. How to walk in the halls, how to sit down, when to sit down. In fact she shared with me how the little children are forced to sit quietly for hours at a time.

One thing Cher shared, and I did not know this, but the teachers at Success do not have to write lesson plans. WOW! The lesson plans are already pre-packgaged and given to the head teachers at the beginning of the month and all that needs be done is to copy these plans to a planning sheet.

Cher told me how that the official work hours for staff are from 7 AM-5 PM. The problem is that faculty meetings are called to start at 4:45 PM and this inevitably leads to teachers staying at the school way past 5 PM and not getting paid. Worse for teachers is the Wednesday after school training held as the plush Success offices in Harlem.

I asked Cher about the naughty dirty rumor that Eva and Success counsel students out who do not pass muster. Being a person of high moral quality Cher was only able to discuss what she had seen personally and felt she was unable to speculate on the rest of the school. When I told The Crack Team of Cher's ethics they all gave her a thumbs up.

Cher told me how a student in her class was consistently misbehaving. The parents were called in time and time again. The behavior was not changing and at one point the powers that be at Cher's school finally said, "There is nothing more that we can do." The student, who was from Africa, was let go. Put on irrevocable waivers.

This seems to be part and parcel of what happens to special education students at Success. Cher told me that while Success does accept special education students, that IEP's are ignored and no modifications are given special ed students and that Success has the same expectations of special ed students as they do for general ed students.

While we applaud at putting the bar high for special ed students and we can't think of one teacher that doesn't, the bar should always be set at levels for special ed students that are attainable and which correlate to their IEP's. Never should expectations be set so unreasonably high solely to make a crazy headmistress of a charter school chain look good, oh, and to make some money.

Students have their lunch recess planned out for them with activities. No being a child and just spazzing out in the yard.

Students in 2nd grade start getting prepped for the exams in 3rd grade.

Staff is told that there are to be no interactions with the co-located school at all.

One thing Cher told me that is somewhat puzzling. Many of the teachers in her Success Academy are current TFA'ers. I was always under the impression that TFA can't place teachers in charter schools. But oh well, most of the rest of the staff are former TFA'ers. Go figure.

Ever wonder how some of the money is spent at Success? Check out the Happy Hours that Success splurges on for it's staff. No 6 foot heroes, only the best bars with top shelf booze and quality food. The Crack Team wonders if Eva gets snockered at these.

That's pretty much what Cher shared with me. Hopefully Cher will share (pardon the pun!) more.

It is interesting to hear this stuff about Success first hand. The more and more that I hear about the evils of Success and Eva the more I come to realize that Eva is in it for herself, that she believes that only white people know what is best for the boys and girls of color, and that her time is coming to a end soon.

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.

 Eva Sie haben es wieder getan. Sie haben Ihr wahres Gesicht und die wahre Methode, die Success Academy erfolgreich ist in deinem Geist gezeigt. Wie? Oh bitte Eva, die Wahrheit heraus bereits. Ja, Sie loszuwerden, die lästigen Heilpädagogik Studenten zusammen mit den Schülern mit Verhaltensauffälligkeiten. Gib es zu, das ist, wie diese Testergebnisse durch die Decke gehen, nicht
wahr?

Oops, excuse me. I lost my head for a moment. I was writing personally to Eva in her native German, then I remembered not all readers of SBSB speak German. So The Crack Team decided to add the translation;

Eva you have done it again. You have shown your true colors and the real method that Success Academy is successful in your mind. How? Oh please Eva, the truth is out already. Yes, you get rid of those pesky special education students along with the students with behavior problems. Admit it, that is how those test scores go through the roof, right?

After reading Juan Gonzalez' column today in the Daily News on the suspension rates at Success Academies and reading such instances such as;

has for years used a “zero tolerance” disciplinary policy to suspend, push out, discharge or demote the very pupils who might lower those scores — children with special needs or behavior problems.

the fast-growing network has failed at times to adhere to federal and state laws in disciplining special-education students.