The latest numbers The Crack Team has gotten via the Journal News is that 155,000 students across New York State have opted out of the ELA exam. Many parents have been cajoled, bribed, pleaded with, and have had major guilt trips thrust upon them. No where as The Crack Team seen anything worse than those parents of the Greenvale Elementary School in Eastchester, NY.


Knowing of the strong surge of parents not wishing for their children to partake in such tests the Eastchester Schools Superintendent Dr Walter Moran III tried to lay on some Jewish guilt to the parents of Greenvale.

In a nutshell he warned parents that the New York State Education Department had notified him that because the amount of students taking the exams will fall below 95 percent that Greenvale's application to be a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence will be denied. Even though one would be hard pressed to find such a reason to disqualify Greenvale here. Having won this award in 2009 the parents of Greenvale are going boo-hoo-hoo.

This is akin to Dean Wormer punishing Delta House by not allowing them to have a float in Faber College's Homecoming Parade (About 39 seconds in).

Whilst examining the qualifications for being a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence The Crack Team was unable to find nary a word that a school with less than 95 percent participation will lose out. In fact The Crack Team came across this little known codicil (With apologies to Dean Wormer).

The performance of all tested students in the school in the most recent year tested in both reading (English language arts) and mathematics must be in the top 15 percent of all schools in the state when schools are ranked based on the performance of all tested students. 

Seems they base the performance only on tested students. So who is fibbing? Who is truly doing the guilt trip? The SED or Dr Walter Moran III?

Anyway the letter from Dr Walter Moran III is just below and to the parents of Greenvale, you deserve a blue ribbon, but a different type of blue ribbon as you can see up in the right hand corner.

Keep up the struggle!

Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2015 10:55:09 -0700
From: [email protected].ny.us
To: [email protected]
Subject: Greenvale Blue Ribbon Status - IMPORTANT UPDATE

Yesterday afternoon I received a robocall from Superintendent Dr Louis Wool of  the Harrison
Central School District instructing myself and of course others to go to the HCSD website to find out information about the effects of opting out. Nowhere in the message did Dr Wool say anything about whether one should or the consequences of opting out. His robocall was quite ambiguous. It only asked the listener to go to this page on the HCSD website (Strange now how The Crack Team has noticed there is no link on the front page of the website to the Testing FAQ as there was yesterday).

One would notice whilst perusing that page this;

 School district officials are bound by an oath of office to comply with all NYS regulations, including testing requirements. Neither the law nor the State commissioner's regulations provide any legal right or method for students to “opt-out “of the mandated assessments. New York State does not have a statutory opt-out provision and the State commissioner's regulations do not permit opting out except under specific exceptions, such as those involving students with disabilities.

Lots of scary words.  Yes, we understand that district officials are bound by oath (Is there really an oath?), but are parents.

So we got in touch with Lisa Rudley from NYSAPE.org (New York State Allies for Public Education) We asked her about these so called scare tactics and among the items she emailed The Crack Team is the  School Administrator's Guide Manual for the exams it says;

Except as noted below (Which is basically about ELL's-The Crack Team's added this), all public and charter school students in Grades 3–8 must take all State tests administered for their grade level.

See this bothers me. Stuff like this will have me having a coffee klatsch for Ted Cruz very soon. I am not anti-government and believe that government can do good, but come on! I am not as liberal or progressive as I used to be, I like to call myself a left of center libertarian, but if this state mandating my child and others continues I will donate to Ted Cruz!

But there is more!

According to this memo (Thanks to Lisa again!) Steven E Katz, the Director of Assessment for the SED which was sent to all superintendents  statewide;

 Tests are considered part of a “course of study” under a board’s authority and, as noted above, are included as part of the program requirements for students in Grades 3–8 under Sections 100.3 and 100.4 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education.

How are tests a course of study? The "Board" has more authority over my kid than do I? 

Who is telling the truth here? The State or the parents who wish to opt out their children? Will the officers from the Harrison Police Department come to my house Tuesday morning to arrest me and my wife? Will my son be arrested or taken from us? What is a parent to do?

A parent should read this letter sent to the community of Saugerties NY by NYSAPE p3wning the argument of  Saugerties Central School District Superintendent Seth Turner as to why students must take the exam.



Isn't it time we as parents, community members, educators call Cuomo's bluff (In 2016) and Uncle Arne's bluff and just turn down the monies that we are being blackmailed with? Yea, it will be tough at first but the Legislature will soon grow a set.

Parents are the #1 source of a child's education. We know, along with local control of school districts, what is best for our children. Only we can decide, not a mean, angry man in Albany along with his donor buddies and lackies in the Legislature. This foolishness ends this year.

There is still time to opt out of the exams. Go over to NYSAPE, get the sample letter and email it post-haste to your child's principal! Only in numbers are we a force. Only in numbers do we weaken Governor Andy.

And don't forget to listen to me on the Bob Marrone Morning Show this Tuesday morning at 6:30AM EDT on WFAS-AM 1230 as I will discuss testing and opting out. You can call in at 914-693-5700.

Also listen for NYSAPE public service announcement on WCBS-AM 880 and WINS 1010.

Rye, NY. A leafy city of about 15,000 hard by the Long Island Sound. The home of Playland, BJ Surhoff, and Wellington Mara. A city in which education is taken seriously by the community. Who would have thought that the police state of education would find it's way into Rye?

In May of 2013, 4 teachers were accused of "improper coaching" during state exams that April to a small group of students according to the Rye Patch. These four teachers then were removed from the classrooms and put on the Rye version of the Rubber Room.

Since then, the Westchester County District Attorney has investigated and found insufficient evidence to proceed.  One teacher, Shannon Gold a 4th grade teacher at Milton Elementary has resigned with neither party admitting wrongdoing. One teacher, Gail Topol, returned to school under what some are claiming preferential treatment, and two others, Dana Coppola and Carin Mehler are still reassigned not doing what they love and are trained to do.

The worst part is that Carin Mehler's daughter is a student at the Osborn Elementary School. The same one in which her mom, Carin, is a teacher.

Not only is this an awkward situation for the little girl, but worse, Carin Mehler is not even allowed to enter the school as a parent. The Rye City School District has told Carin that she cannot act as a parent and in the best interests of her child on school property. The Crack Team finds this most outrageous. Even Francesco Portelos is allowed to attend community functions at the school in which he was cast out of (He lives in the community).

But one thing bothers The Crack Team. Where was the Rye Teachers Association at the beginning of this? What did they have to say? RTA President Jamie Zung had this to say at the latest Rye City School District board meeting;

“For almost a year, I have resisted requests from the RTA to make a public statement. For almost a year, I have allowed the RTA to appear apathetic and weak in the public eye. For almost a year, I have maintained hope that the process would work. But after a year, you have failed to settle this case so I, and we, are here tonight.”

Yes, we here at SBSB do not know the inner workings the politics of the RTA, but it looks to us as a bit too little, a bit too late. This "strategy" appears to be taken from the UFT playbook, the chapter entitled, "We Don't Want Them to Get Mad at Us, Besides You Are Still Getting Paid So Shut Up and Stop Kvetching About Your Plight."

So what is a teacher with an exemplary record like Carin Mehler forced to do? Lawsuit.

Carin filed a federal complaint against the Rye City School Board, it's superintendent and her principal. When a school district becomes a police state what is one to do?

From reading the complaint, one wonders if the students in question had testing with modifications and that perhaps the students misinterpreted any involvement as "coaching." It is also reasonable to assume that the students misinterpreted or mixed up the practice tests in which the students were allowed to talk and to ask questions. One can also reasonably wonder that during administration of the test that the students were told preceding the exam to check all their work if that command was not somehow misconstrued.

Why when the Westchester County DA's office has found no abnormalities is this case still being pursued? What has the New York State Education Department's investigation uncovered? Why hasn't the NYSED or the Rye City School District been available for questions from the media?

How many hundreds of thousands of dollars will be wasted on the lawyers and possible settlements that the Rye City School District has and might in the future spend? Are such monies better off being spent on instruction and on the students?

Where is the true outrage from the parents of Rye? The Rye community is being played for suckers by administrators and board members more interested in covering their butts right now than doing the right and honorable thing.

One more thing. Were the parents of the children interviewed notified before hand and/or was permission given and parents present during the interviews?

And please do not forget to be at the board meeting tomorrow night at the Rye Middle School at 8 PM EDT

The federal complaint;

The PS 154 community, the parents, and worse, the students are being bamboozled by a modern day snake oil saleswoman, the 2014 equivalent of the Music Man, DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 in the Bronx.

Where educators statewide, are decrying and fighting back against the Common Core, not only has DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal encouraged the full implementation of Common Core at PS 154 in the Bronx, but if the excuse that she is "only following orders" can be an excuse, she remains silent among thousands of New York State educators in its implementation.

We have seen a groundswell of support against the failed ideals of Commissioner John King and Governor Andy Cuomo from such a diverse group as a kindergarten teacher in Alfred, NY to the superintendent of schools in Harrison, NY, Louis N. Wool.

Where is DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal to lead against the unconstitutional takeover of education by the Federal government? Where is DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal to lead against the one size fits all curriculum of the Common Core? Where is DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal to rail against the corporatization of education in the United States of America? Where is DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal in the fight against the dumbing down of our students?

According to the Washington Post of Monday, January 27, 2014; 

 Over the weekend, the Board of Directors of the New York State United Teachers, a union with more than 600,000 members, passed a resolution  withdrawing support for the Common Core State Standards  “as implemented and interpreted” by the state Education Department and also declaring “no confidence” in the policies of State Education Commissioner John King. Why is support for the Core sinking rapidly?

DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal is nowhere to be found other than on the side of those that wish to destruct education.

DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal can and should look to Carol Burris as a shining example high up on the hill in the fight against the corporate takeover of education.

Who is Carol Burris one might ask?

Burris has written a series of posts about the many problems with test-driven reform in New York (here, and here and here and here and here, for example). She was named New York’s 2013 High School Principal of the Year by the School Administrators Association of New York and the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and in 2010,  tapped as the 2010 New York State Outstanding Educator by the School Administrators Association of New York State. She is the co-author of the New York Principals letter of concern regarding the evaluation of teachers by student test scores. It has been signed by thousands of New York principals teachers, parents, professors, administrators and citizens. You can read the letter by clicking here.  (in which DR Alison Coviello's; Ed.D and Principal name is strangely missing)

By Carol Burris

“Hit the delay button.”  That was the message New York’s senators sent to state Education Commissioner John King during last week’s hearing.  Education Committee Chairman John Flanagan made it clear that if King did not act, senators on his panel would.  Senator Maziarz observed that the only Common Core supporters remaining are “yourself (King) and the members of the Board of Regents.”  To make his position crystal clear, Senator Latimer emphatically smacked the table while calling for a delay, likening the rollout of the Common Core to “steaming across the Atlantic” when there are icebergs in the water.

The defiant King refused to acknowledge the icebergs, and remained insistent on full steam ahead. He let the senators know “you’re not the boss of me” by asserting that standards are controlled by the State Education Department and the Regents, not by the legislature.

Following the meeting, King told reporters that there was no need for a delay because “we have strong support for the Common Core from all the education stakeholder groups in the state.” Less than two days later, the largest stakeholder group of all, the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), not only withdrew its support of the implementation of the Common Core, it publicly called for the dismissal of the commissioner. Whoops.

Why is support for the Common Core in New York so quickly sinking into the deep? Some contend that it is because teachers do not have enough materials to teach the Common Core. They argue that if teachers had more preparation and resources, all would be fine.  I disagree. Support is disappearing, not because schools don’t have the Common Core curriculum, but because for the first time they do.  After last year’s testing debacle, teachers are frantically attempting to implement the standards using the modules provided by the state. Kids and parents are reeling from the effects of teaching the Common Core standards, at the fast pace needed to get through them in time for the tests.

Nowhere is this more evident than in mathematics. Bianca Tanis, a special education teacher, showed a group of Westchester parents and educators how elementary math topics were now pushed down a full grade level because of the Common Core.  After watching her presentation, I checked for myself.  I compared the 2005 New York State Mathematics Learning Standards K-5, with the Common Core.  Ms. Tanis is right. Not only are many topics now taught in a lower grade, what students are required to do to achieve the standard is far is more difficult as well.

For example, the 2005 New York State Learning Standards asked fourth-grade students:

to find the area of a rectangle by counting the number of squares needed to cover it (NYS Learning standard  4.G.4)

Here is the third grade Common Core standard for the same topic:

Use tiling to show in a concrete case that the area of a rectangle with whole number side lengths a and b+c is the sum of a*c and b*c. Use area models to represent the distributive property  in mathematical reasoning. (NYS Common Core 3 MD 7.C)
Recognize area as additive. Find areas of rectilinear figures by decomposing them into non-overlapping rectangles and adding the areas of the non-overlapping parts, applying this technique to solve real world problems. ((NYS  Common Core 3MD 7. D)

My assistant principal’s third-grade son cried when he tried to do his homework based on this Common Core standard MD7.D.  You can view the problem he was asked to solve here. Dad had to do it for him.  This eight year old had just learned how to find the area of a rectangle. When there are 180 module lessons for 180 school days, there is no time for the practice of less complicated examples.

Here is another example. Previously, third graders were asked to measure to the nearest standard unit using a ruler or yardstick. Now second graders must “measure the length of an object twice using length units of different lengths for the two measurements; describe how the two measurements relate to the size of the unit chosen”.  You can see other examples, cut and pasted from the original documents here.

Aside from the question of whether or not the above reflects the appropriate leveling of topics and practice, consider the practical effects of pushing nearly all math topics down a grade level. For intermediate-grade students, it means that they will have “knowledge gaps.”  Those gaps will occur during the year that the former learning standards are replaced by the Common Core. For most students, that is occurring this year. The effects will be lasting. Any student who was forced to “jump into the deep end,” as described by Chancellor Merryl Tisch, will feel the effects of that gap throughout their remaining school years.

The fact that no one in the State Education Department either realized or cared about the effects of whole scale, K-8 implementation of the Common Core Mathematics curriculum demonstrates either a disregard for the sequential nature of mathematics instruction, or a callous disregard for the mathematical competence of an entire generation of New York State students.  It is no wonder that both the New York State Alliance for Public Education (NYSAPE) and now NYSUT are calling for John King to leave.

There will be time to analyze what went wrong, and many will share the responsibility for mistakes.  But now is the time for us to undo as much of the damage as we can. For the sake of our students, we must lower the lifeboats into the water.

New York senators are right. Hit “delay” on the Common Core and the misguided policies that go along with it.  Examine the reform policies one by one and when needed, have both the honesty and courage to then hit, “delete.”

Why the silence from DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 in the Bronx? The community of PS 154 should know where DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal where she stands.

Goo, goo, g'joob, DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal, the community of PS 154 in the Bronx turns its eyes towards you for leadership.

Today is Martin Luther King Day. I was only 4 years old when he was assassinated and have no memory of him at all. But I do know one thing. He was a transformative figure for this country.

King is in the same echelon as Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, FDR, Jefferson, Madison. He dared to think outside the box and took on the establishment and did what was right even though it was unpopular to those is power.

So how is MLK Day celebrated? By Commissioner of Education John King being as blatantly incorrect about King's legacy and what he would have wanted as the Tea Baggers are as blatantly incorrect about the Founding Fathers and Ronald Reagan.

John King of Comedy today shared with all in today's Daily News how a just found recording of MLK giving a speech to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address is tied into today's efforts to transform public schools. I truly do not see the connection.

His comedieness blabbers; true equality of opportunity remains elusive — in no small part because we as a country have not yet found a way to provide all of our children with an education that prepares them for success in college and careers.


King of Comedy spews forth; As a teacher and principal, I was driven each day by the conviction that while we cannot ignore and indeed must address the challenges posed by economic hardship, inadequate access to healthcare, housing and the like, the single best tool we have to advance opportunity is education.

The students of District 7, and most of the South Bronx are out of shape. Nearly 1 in 3 elementary students in the South Bronx are obese, 2 in 5 students are overweight. Many students do not exercise on a regular basis. Being overweight or obese increases the risk for many health problems, including diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cancer, and heart disease.

Bronx County has some of the highest rates of asthma in the United States. Rates of death from asthma in the Bronx are about three times higher than the national average. Hospitalization rates are about five times higher. In some neighborhoods in the Bronx it is estimated that 20% of the children have asthma.

Exercise helps to stretch the lungs and bronchial tubes, which in turn may help reduce the resistance to breathing. Even though the bronchial tubes become inflamed (as occurs in asthma), the positive effects of exercise may help prevent symptoms. The lack of exercise may also contribute to obesity, which may also be a risk factor in asthma. For those who already have developed asthma, aerobic exercise might trigger attacks, but these can easily be prevented by using an inhaler (such as albuterol) before the activity.

 PS 154 in the Bronx has just lost it's famed physical education teacher due to retirement at the end of October. A phys. ed teacher that coached the basketball team without pay, a phys. ed teacher that donated a basketball hoop to the school, a phys. ed teacher that gave it his all. What is his legacy?

DR Alison Coviello, Ph.D and Principal of PS 154 has decided that the students of PS 154 can no longer have gym. Yes, you read that right. She has decided that gym will no longer be offered to the students. Why, you ask?

Could she not find another phys. ed teacher? The Crack Team was told no one was ever interviewed, nor were inquiries made. Of course there is now money in the budget, but where have the monies gone?

The reason why DR Alison Coviello, Ph.D and Principal has decided not to employ someone in the gym, The Crack Team has learned, is due to the fact that DR Alison Coviello, Ph.D and Principal must control all facets of life at PS 154. By putting an ATR (The weekly ATR is covering the former gym teacher's schedule in the classrooms) in the gym (even though in NYC a elementary phys. ed teacher can have a Common Branch license) DR Alison Coviello, Ph.D and Principal does not want someone that "doesn't know what they are doing."

OK, fine, for a moment we shall give DR Alison Coviello, Ph.D and Principal the benefit of the doubt. Then shouldn't a ATR with a phys. ed license be found? If not in District 7, then from outside the district? In fact The Crack Team knows of a eminently qualified ATR that has a phys. ed license.  Why has this person not been contacted?

Of course this is just another example of DR Alison Coviello's, Ph.D and Principal method of not only having to control all aspects of the school, but again flaunting the laws of the New York State Education Department.

According to the NYSED; 

All students in K-12 must attend and participate in a physical education program.

All pupils in grades K-3 shall attend and participate in physical education on a daily basis.

All pupils in grades 4-6 shall attend and participate in physical education not less than three times per week. 

120 minutes per calendar week exclusive of any time that may be required for dressing and showering.  

Grades K-3 are required to have daily physical education for a minimum total of 120 minutes per week. Grades 4-6 are required to have physical education three days per week for a minimum total of 120 minutes per week. See Commissioner's Regulation 135

 Recess may not be used to meet the physical education days/time requirement 

Under Commissioner's Regulation Part 135.4(c)(4)(i), elementary classroom teachers may teach physical education under the direction and supervision of a certified physical educator.

Designing the elementary physical education curriculum should be a cooperative venture of the District Director of Physical Education, the elementary physical education teacher(s) and the elementary classroom teachers. This would ensure that the physical education curriculum covered in this fashion counts toward the day and time requirement, and will be documented in both the physical education teacher's lesson plans and elementary classroom teacher's lesson plans. See Commissioner's Regulation 135

Think if a phys ed teacher in Harrison, or Scarsdale, or Roslyn, or Franklin Lakes retired. Would the principal of the elementary schools in these communities not have a phys ed teacher in place all ready to go? Will these principals allow the students not to have physical activity? Would the parents of these communities allow such actions?

One thing that the principals of these communities would do is fight like hell for the monies that are due their schools and not roll over and accept what their central offices are telling them.

But none of this is happening at PS 154 in the Bronx. DR Alison Coviello, Ph.D and Principal would rather exert control rather than put the students needs first. Every. Little. Thing. Must. Be. In. Her. Control.

I just came across this blog;  Oneonta Area For Public Education today. I think I saw it on the New York Bats Facebook page, or somewhere. Anyway, I fully haven't given it a good read through, but I'm adding it to the SBSB blog roll. Oh, and one other thing caught my eye on that blog. I found out today that NYSED Commissioner John King enjoys fine dining.

One of the authors of OA4PE (Got it right?), Betsy Bloom, shared about a conference she went to in Saratoga in which The King was the keynote speaker. The King yada-yada-yada'd about all the stuff he yada-yada-yada's about. But as Betsy shared, The King showed just how out of touch he is by using an analogy comparing dining with his wife and how shocked he is receiving letters from parents complaining about their child's math homework.

Some highlights;

The King blabbered, “When I’m in a restaurant, and the waiter opens the bottle of wine for me to taste, I never say no, send it back, even if it’s horrible. The same with my meal, if I don’t like it I’ll eat it anyway."

OK. First off, The King just shows how out of touch he is because most of us don't have the class that King claims he does, nor the wherewithal to eat at anywhere other than Applebee's. Besides, couldn't The King have said he orders a Genny when out to dinner with his wife? Heck, I would have even accepted him saying he orders an imported beer (as long as it were Labatt's Blue!).

But John, you lie. You showed in Poughkeepsie what you do when you don't get your way. You run away. You lie. You have others lie for you. You take your ball and run away.

But I call bullocks that you don't send your wine or your food back. If the food is undercooked, or burned, you eat it? If the the wine you ordered tastes like Aqua-Velva you drink it? My mother always, always sent her bluefish back. There was always something wrong with it. There was not one single restaurant in the the United States that could cook her bluefish correctly.

But I have digressed.

I must disagree with Betsy a wee bit on this one. Now bear with me, my point will soon be made.

In fact there is some logic to The King analogy about being in a chain restaurant, like Applebee's. Think about it.

In education, the teachers, the educators, are the waiters. We serve it. We place knowledge on the table of learning. We take the orders of what our students want. We can know what is good or what to stay away from.

The principals are the restaurant managers, the greeters, with the IQ's (at least in NYC) of the hat check girl. They think they know what is happening in the education restaurant, but they don't (in NYC).  But they run things.

The chefs? Well the chefs are the one's that put the curriculum together with the monies they are given and serve it up to the teachers. But the chefs must get direction from somewhere, no?

Yes, the chefs get their orders, their directions from the restaurant home office. In this case the home office is on Washington Ave in Albany. And who runs the restaurant? The King. He puts together the menus, he put together the ingredients, he doles out the monies, and he is the decider.

But because of what he is serving up, all the food at the restaurants taste like cardboard. There is also no fun allowed at the restaurants. No kids menu, no crayons, no coloring. The kids that come to The King's restaurants must have an appetite and attitude that is adult ready.

But the restaurant's The King runs are perfect. Few staff, and fewer customers. As long as the hedge fund investors and restaurant suppliers (Pearson has no branched off into food service) are happy, that is all that matters.

The customers? The King doesn't care. But the customer's care. The customer's aren't looking for anything fancy. They just want value.

Even though this is addressed to the parents of Harrison, NY and NYC, it is for all the parents of New York State and the USA.

Lexington and Concord. The first battle in the American Revolution in 1775, almost 240 years ago.

The Journal News. Saturday, September 28, 2013, the first battle in the Revolution to Take Control
Back of Our Children's Education. All led by a humble reporter, Gary Stern.

I predicted this revolution back in June of last year.

I walked into Vassi's Deli on Underhill Ave in West Harrison this morning to get my breakfast and coffee. My son just had a hitting lesson and we were looking forward to spending some time together. I grabbed my copy of the Journal News and on the front page saw the headline. "Critics: Test Scores Failing, Not Students," by Gary Stern.

What a joy it was to read an honest and thought provoking education article by a reporter that has not been tainted by the poison of Uncle Mike Bloomberg;

Is it possible that 56 percent of sixth-graders in Bedford are not proficient in math? How about 70 percent of eighth-graders in Dobbs Ferry? Or 75 percent of seventh-graders in Nyack? 

Could 50 percent of seventh-graders in Irvington not be meeting expectations in English/language arts? What about 58 percent of eighth-graders in Ramapo Central? Or 80 percent of sixth-graders in Port Chester?

 
This, parents of Harrison is our reality. Not just yours, but mine, your neighbor's, your friend's, and your enemy's. Wake up, this is what has become of education in New York State thanks to the millions our elected officials in Albany have collected from such organizations as DFER and Students (oops!) MichelleRheeFirst.

My son got 2's on both ELA and Math. This after receiving 3's in ELA and 4's in Math from grades 3-5. Some putz who decides what goes on the tests, how to score it, how to take it is telling me my son is not proficient in Math or ELA?

At this past Thursday's parent-teacher meetings I handed out hundreds of fliers sharing with parents of Harrison the dangers and evils of the Common Core Standards from a fantastic organization, Stop Common Core in New York State. I could not believe how, UNINFORMED the parents of Harrison NY are. One parent actually believed that Bill Gates is a great person!

But then again, Governor Andy, Uncle Mike, NYSED, and John King (No link to who John King is. You have a child in school, then you should know. GOOGLE HIM!) all want you uninformed. They want ignorance, they want compliance, they want servitude. This is what is happening in NYC right now and across all urban school districts nation wide. You probably heard about it in passing, saying to yourself, "Well, why should I care, it doesn't effect me or my children."

But guess what? NOW IT DOES!!! It's time to wake up and see the corporate and Federal takeover of education is now in your backyard.

Bill Gates, the Lord and Savior who blessed us with the Common Core, let's see what he said the other day; 

“It would be great if our education stuff worked, but that we won’t know for probably a decade.”

What you talking about, Willis, I mean Bill?

He does not know if it will work? Bill Gates feels it is OK to experiment on THE CHILDREN OF HARRISON? Why didn't Bill test it out on his kids?

Know that teacher you love at your child's school? Well, thanks to Bill Gates and Governor Andy, 40% of their evaluation is based on assessment (TESTS)! Two years without growth, that teacher is rated ineffective and you can say goodbye.  Opt your child out of the NYS tests! You can and it is time!

Parents of Harrison, did you know that EngageNY (No link to EngageNY. You have a child in school, then you should know. GOOGLE IT!), a subsidiary of NYSED is not only in control of your child's school data, but personal information as well and plans on selling it to InBloom (No link to EngageNY. You have a child in school, then you should know. GOOGLE IT!)? What you don't know this? Well, you need to now.

Fight back. You are your child's best advocate for his or her education. Not a politician, not someone who works on Wall Street, not a hedge fund hack, YOU ARE.

And while you are at it, by Diane Ravitch's new book, "Reign of Error," and see how education is being taken over in this country by those who only wish to enrich their wallets.

And please sign this petition  to Assemblyman Al Graf.

I leave you with a clip of George Carlin's take on education today.