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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Is it funny, the ironic kind of funny, how Uncle Mike and his henchmen want to publicly out teachers TDR's and shame teachers? Yet, where is the voracious callings to show what those who are running the schools actually do, where they are, and what their assessments are?

In the "olden days" schools were part of a district and received support services from these districts. Parents who had issues with their schools, or with the district, knew where to go. These offices were located in the same community as their school and at worse was probably a bus ride away.

Now school pay these networks to supervise and support them. Not only that, the schools are as disparate geographically as they educationally.

But try to find one of the offices of these so called networks, or "children first networks." Like trying to fin the office of Universal Exports, these office locations, and roles, are a closely guarded state secret.

But are all these networks the same? Are they equal? Or some more equal than others, or some are good and some suck? The Crack Team wondered this as sources handed us here at SBSB the the 2010-2011 secret rankings of the networks.

The Crack Team felt this was not only important information to share with the loyal readers of SBSB, but important to the community of PS 154. As readers of this blog are well aware, PS 154 is on the closure list and well, it is nice to know who mucked it up.

PS 154 is part of the CFN 407 or otherwise known by its nom de plume; Maverick Education Partnership (check out this You Tube commercial) which until this year had been led by former Jefferson High School principal Valerton McDonald. The Crack team is hard at work ascertaining why Mr McDonald is no longer the network leader, but we do know he is assigned to Tweed as "special projects manager."

So, what is the ranking, the satisfaction with the job Maverick Education Network has done? According to what was handed to us here at SBSB, Maverick is not good (click download to get full spreadsheet), in fact it is fourth from the bottom.

Now, yes, all that stuff on the spread sheet, what does it mean?  It is not straight forward and more convoluted than any VAM algorithm they use to persecute teachers, but we do know by this link that explains the scoring  that CFN 407 is in the bottom quartile.

So why don't the parents of PS 154 made aware of this at the early engagement process meetings? Why aren't the parents of PS 154 privy to this information at all? It is more and more of the DOE ruling from above and knowing what is bet for what they consider the lowly serfs, the parents, of NYC.

PS 154 is in danger of being shut down, not because of the teachers, but because of the horrendous leaders and decisions made by these leaders. These leaders should be held accountable and responsible and not be bumped upstairs when they fail.

Think about it. If the food in a restaurant is not good who is fired, the chef or the waiters?

Has it been two weeks since I last sat down and blogged? Apparently so. Too those who have missed my unique take on the happenings of education, I apologize for being away for so long. For those that hate my writings and were glad to see the gap in my blogging, too bad.

The last two weeks have been hectic. I was doing the Math scoring, was house hunting, was driving my son to and fro to baseball games and practice, and plotting my campaign to run for chapter chair. Was coming home exhausted or too late to do anything but to crawl into bed and just vegetate. But to paraphrase Carol Anne, "I'm baaaack!"

And boy am I back with some interesting news which happened a week before my last blog post. Now sit down and get a drink before I share it with you. I'll wait until you do. OK, ready?

April 29, 2012 was just a regular day at PS 154. It was the first day of not worrying about testing and for the first time in months actual learning was happening. The flowers were in bloom, the sky was blue, and all seemed peaceful. That is until our principal went over the PA at 1:15 PM and announced an emergency meeting at the end of the day for all staff in the auditorium. Immediately I knew what it was about, but if I share it now, there would be no further reason for me to blog.

At 4 PM (extended day) we gathered in the auditorium to hear our principal tell us that she had gotten a phone call from the superintendent that morning that that day was to be her last as principal. Now mind you, this was the principal that had replaced the infamous John Deacon (Linda Amil-Irizarry) in May of 2009. Why did this happen? We have no idea and no one is sharing. Should it have happened? I won't say. But I have issues with the way it happened.

Once again, the NYC DOE show how it just does not care about the schools, the communities, the parents, or even, yes I am going to say it, the students. Does the DOE have the right to change principals? Yes it does. Does the DOE ever do it right? No it doesn't, especially when it comes to principals that wish to have sexual intercourse with inanimate objects, cheat on tests, cheat on teacher observations, etc...

What the powers that be failed to do was take into account the parents or the community in this decision. I do not mean asking the parents for their input, but having the decency to contact and share with the PA and to be in the school at dismissal to discuss this with the parents. Also, a letter should have gone home with the students that day sharing the removal of the principal. This would have happened in Scarsdale, Bronxville, or even Riverdale or Forest Hills. But not on 135th St in The Bronx. Why? Because those that are do not give one iota of thought to those that they feel aren't.

I spoke up in the auditorium. I had too. I was not supporting the outgoing or the incoming principal. I only spoke up in support of the great school community and the students. I feel that PS 154 has and is being set up to fail. Three years in a row, the budget has gone down. Two years in a row, we have received C's. We have failed to meet our AYP in ELA last year, and failed AYP in Math for Spec. Ed. and ELL last year. This is not the staff's fault at all! How can a teacher teacher with over 30 kids in their class and several serious behavioral problems? This is not an excuse, this is an explanation and a fact. How can we go forward when students are leaving the school with no education because the only instruction students are receiving are to the tests?

I am not in any way besmirching past or present administration. The fault clearly and will always lie with the nattering nimrods on Chambers St. For Uncle Mike, his sock puppet Dennis Walcott and all those brainless law school educated consultants do not give one shit about the communities and the students. They see only $$$$. They care for only $$$$. And they certainly do not care for the underclass of the city, whatever their skin color is. For Tweed and Uncle Mike feel that it is only the well educated, well developed, well connected, white person that can save little boys and girls of color.

It's time for the parents to rise up now. It is time for the parents to not feel afraid, anxious or scared and take control of their children's schools and their education. They need to say NO to the deformers and YES to education. Only with the parents finally having enough and finally putting a stop to those in power will we as teachers begin to have that voice again as decision makers when it comes to education.

THE TIME IS NOW AGAIN!

This past Friday, January 23, approximately thirty parents and the PA had gathered in the hope of getting an audience with grand exalted mystic John Deacon. The parents were in a quite perturbed mood. They wished to discuss with John Deacon the lack of access John Deacon affords the parents, the rescinding of the traditional senior (5th grade) trip, and the curious denial of the traditional caps and gowns, which students pay themselves, for graduation. John Deacon was expected to meet with the parents. The meeting was to take place at 9 30 AM.

John Deacon never showed. Didn't send word to postpone, just blew the parents off. Didn't even have the decency to send and lackey emissary. There was no "emergency" or any urgent business in the school at that time. The parents room where the meeting was scheduled to take place is just down the hall, three doors from the office. Even a cursory meeting could have placated these parents. Now instead of having the all important parent constituency on John Deacon's side, John Deacon now has a thirty parents ticked off at John Deacon and these thirty will tell another thirty parents and so on and so on.

But this has been the standard operating procedure of John Deacon. Avoid at all costs any conflict, any responsibility and send someone else to take the heat. Or worse. Someone to be the fall guy. John Deacon thinks its hands are clean.