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

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

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

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

The Lunch Lady asked the testing coordinator...

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

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

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

The response...

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

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

The Lunch Teacher then inquired to...

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

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

Then the Lunch Teacher asked....

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

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

Face palm!


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

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

There are more lunch table to turn.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Great words from a future leader.

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

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

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

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

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

The point?

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

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

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


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

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE IN THE COMMUNITY???

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WE CAN ALL HOPE AND PRAY

So Governor Crazy (Andy) came out last week and shared his thoughts on the opt out conflagration that was thrust upon his education policies that occurred in New York State the last two weeks.

In essence what we got from Governor Andy's mouth was that the math and ELA tests that children across this state take so we can collect data and help the students was, "It just doesn't matter." Well, not really.

He did say that the the tests, "Don't count against the children." But what he didn't say and continues to believe is that the tests count against the teachers across New York.

We thank Governor Andy for letting us all see that his slip is showing and wonder of another time when someone came out and said, "It just doesn't matter," and if there are any parallels.

What came to the mind of The Crack Team was 1979's hit summer camp movie "Meatballs" starring Bill Murray. In a scene before the camp faces the children of the one percent from Camp Mohawk Murray's character John Tripp, implores the camp that they can beat Mohawk in the Olympics and that nothing matters. We here at SBSB believe that this scene was the impetus for Governor Andy's decree which he first presented to his hedge fund buddies.

Scene: Governor Andy back from his trip to Cuba meets with Chancellor Tisch, his hedge fund buddies, Lt Governor Hochul, and Senator Skelos in his Mount Kisco home. First Girlfriend Sandra Lee is in the kitchen baking brownies. All are dejected that the parents of New York have thus fare beaten this motley crew of parents and educators to beat back the tests.  

Eva Moskowitz runs into the meeting in a panic.

Eva: Hey, gang, come on. Look it, just 'cause we're losing, doesn't mean it's all over.

Tisch: Cut the crap, Eva. I mean, the parents have beaten us in the court of public opinion the last 12 months, they're gonna beat us again. 

Governor Andy: That's just the attitude we don't need, Meryl. Sure. The parents have beaten us Sure, they're terrific moms and dads. They've got the best integrity that money can buy. Hell, every Tweet they're sending over here to us does not have their own public relations person. Not PR, public relations. But it doesn't matter. Do you know that every parent has an tweet, FB post and blog posts every 48 hours, to ensure that their message gets across? Do you know that they use the least sophisticated social media methods from the Finland, Singapore, and the newest education power, Trinidad and Tobago? But it doesn't matter. It just doesn't matter! It just doesn't matter!
And even... And even if we win, if we win! Even if we win, even if we somehow think so far over our heads that our noses bleed for a week to ten days, even if God in heaven above comes down and points his hand at our side of the education debate, even if every man, woman, and child held hands together and for some reason prayed for us to win, it just wouldn't matter, because all the really good-looking girls would still never go out with me, 'cause they got all the money and they are not donating it to me!
It just doesn't matter
if the students of New York State take standardized tests!
It just doesn't matter. It just does for the teachers!

Thank you Govenor Andy for putting your foot so far in your mouth that there is no way to remove it.

Governor Andy said today he is running in 2018 and thinks he can win. Do the math.

In 2014 Cuomo received 2,069,480 votes. His opponents received 1,749,606 votes including my write in vote for Babaooey. He won by only 319,874 votes. Do the math.

With, I would say about 225,000 students opting out of math and ELA and let's use the math and say each kid has about 1.5 parents that comes to; 337,500 votes against Andy in 2018. Of course we know that most of these kids are siblings and the parents who opted out probably didn't vote for Andy in 2014, but... It is now a runaway train against Andy. All these people have friends, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. And we know Andy will screw up more between now and 2018 and hopefully get indicted before that.

So basically it is bye-bye Governor Andy in 2018.

Time to be an Amway salesman.


And don't forget to listen to me on WFAS tomorrow morning, April 28, at 6:30 AM. Find it at 1230 on your AM dial or listen on WFASam.com. You can also download the WFAS app. The call in # is 914-693-5700.

For those that have not been paying attention of late there is a new faux education advocacy group in town.

OK maybe not new but we here just found out about them last week just before the ELA exams began. This group, High Achievement New York, is one of those so-called, "Hey we are here for the kids and the families of NYC and we are just regular people and are down with everyone else," groups.

HANY has even being playing radio spots on WCBS-AM and WINS coercing and lying to those that do not have enough information that testing really is not a major disruption and...well you know what? Let's look at the script together;

I’m  Pat Sprinkle, and I am a  New York public school teacher. If your son or daughter is in the 3rd through  8th grade,  I  want  you to know this month’s state assessments are crucial for their future. Almost two - thirds of our students graduate from high school without being ready for college or a career.  These tests are designed to fix that  – they’re a check - up to make sure all our kids are getting the  problem - solving and critical thinking skills need ed to succeed . It’s a great investment for your children  – the rules guarantee they’ll spend less than 1% of the their time on  the tests each year. Let’s give all  our students a chance at a better life. Because they deserve it.

Where to start? We can start with the fact that Pat Sprinkle is a loyal, card carrying member, of Educators 4 Excellence.

These tests do not measure problem solving nor critical thinking skills. These tests are only measure how confused and stressed out our students get.

Maybe 1 percent of students time each year is spent on taking the tests, but how much time is spent each year preparing for the tests?

But what bothers us most is while the voice over at the end of the radio spot tells the listener that the spots were paid for by HANY nowhere do we hear a voice over that HANY is majorly financed by the Gates Foundation, the same financiers that breech birthed E4E.

Yes to a lay person it might seem cynical to imply that Gates monies are pulling the strings. We can give the benefit of the doubt and say that Gates donated to a true grass roots organization. We can. We shan't.

The Crack Team did a WhoIs search of HANY's url (Web address) and came up with bupkus. The information the WhoIs came up with showed many a layer hiding the true owners of the web address. Why?

We then googled the telephone # we found on the HANY blog, 212-681-1380 and found out that that is the main number for Mercury LLC a public affairs/lobbying firm in Manhattan.  Heck, Mercury LLC is the public affairs firm for Campbell Brown's Partnership for Educational Justice! Mercury is also a registered lobbyist in NYC.

It gets deeper.

When The Crack Team spoke with someone at Mercury LLC (More on this in a bit) we shared the address of the blog. Immediately this person read the blog. When The Crack Team checked on the blog's stat counter and the ISP comes from another public relations firm Porter Novelli which is part of the Omnicron Group.

When The Crack Team spoke with VP of Mercury LLC  Jon Weinstein the first question we asked him was who paid for the poll that is listed on HANY's blog that New Yorkers across the state are in favor of high stakes testing. Jon told The Crack Team that MercuryLLC "commissioned the survey." This is akin to McDonald's commissioning a poll to find out which fast food restaurant has better tasting burgers, McD's or Burger King only to find out McD's is the better tasting burger.

We thank Jon for his honesty but for some reason asked that the remind of question be written out in an email and he will respond. He did. But first the questions The Crack Team sent;

1. Is it possible to get a copy of the survey that is being touted by HANY?  

2. HANY appears to be coming off as a "grass roots" organization. Why hasn't HANY shared information that the Gates Foundation is it's main funder in the radio spots or the fact Mercury LLC is the force behind HANY?  

3. How many of the coalition members know that the Gates Foundation is your main funder?  

4. Is there any official relationship between HANY/Mercury and StudentsFirst, Educators 4 Excellence and Campbell Brown?  

5. When 212-630-1630 is googled why does Campbell Brown's "Partnership for Educational Justice" appear in the listings?  

6. Have any of the people who did the voice overs for the radio spots receive compensation and if so how much?  

7. Who other than the Gates Foundation has funded HANY? 

8. Has Mercury LLC done any lobbying in Albany, NYC, or Washington on behalf of Gates, StudentsFirst, DFER, PEJ, Campbell Brown, E4E, and other such organizations?

Jon replied promptly; 

High Achievement New York provides New York parents, teachers, business and community leaders with an organized platform to support the Common Core standards, which are essential for preparing our children for college and 21st century careers. 

We are transparent about where our funding comes from and who our coalition members are.
Our funders are listed in this press release, posted on our website: http://www.highachievementny.org/high_achievement_new_york_announces_stephen_sigmund_as_new_executive_director

Coalition members can be found listed at the bottom of each press release on this page: http://www.highachievementny.org/latest_news.

We are proud of the work we are doing to make sure that all of New York’s children are advancing together and learning the critical thinking and reasoning skills they need for success.

Finally, no one in our radio ads was compensated for offering their viewpoints. We appreciate your interest in High Achievement New York.

Jon didn't really answer the question did he? We emailed him back several times and he has yet to respond to what we asked him. As a former reporter for NY1 surely Jon didn't like BS and obfuscation when it was done to him.

Is it just possible that part of reason thousands of students statewide have opted out is that we are sick and tired of astro-turf groups telling us parents how our kids should be educated? Interfering with our local school boards, our teachers, our politicians? 

Time to go away HANY and all the astro-turf groups out there. Leave our children's education be. WE THE PARENTS AND THE COMMUNITES know what is best. You don't. 

You know who are the biggest losers in this opt-out movement? The so-called "(de)reformers" and their faux grassroots organizations like StudentsFirst, Education Reform Now, Success Academy, Educators4Excellence and Democrats for Education Reform (DFER).

The irrelevance and slow death spiral of DFER was seen by all last week when DFER New York director Nicole Brisbane was quoted in the Journal News as saying;

"Schools are one of the biggest differentiators of value in the suburbs. How valuable will a house be in Scarsdale when it isn't clear that Scarsdale schools are doing any better than the rest of Westchester or even the state? Opting out of tests only robs parents of that crucial data,"

It really is quite simple. Look at SAT scores. Number of students going on to 4 year colleges. Number of students going to Ivy League colleges. Visit the school. Ask neighbors. Graduation rates. Teacher turnover. Home values. Really, there are so many reasons. In fact Nicole fails to grasp what did Scarsdale do before there were high stakes exams?

But please, don't listen to Nicole. Nicole claims she was somewhat misquoted and only using Scarsdale as an example, that her real thoughts were in a blog post on DFER that she had written ;

"Part of the draw of the suburbs is the high performance of local schools. How will suburban communities maintain their draw if there isn’t a measure of how the schools are actually doing in comparison to those across the state?"

Nicole, see above. But we here at SBSB suggest to Nicole that if she is really concerned about how others can measure up to one another to take Chevy Chase's advice.

Nicole does decide to deride the parents of not only Scarsdale, but of all affluent communities as well when she says on the DFER blog;

"The same parents are opting-in for other standardized tests like the ACT (not mandatory), the SAT (also not mandatory) and the Specialized High School Admissions Test (also not mandatory but absolutely necessary if you want your kid to go to a “choice” high school in New York City). Affluent parents aren’t opting out of optional tests, so why opt out of the state exams? Maybe it’s because the results aren’t what they wanted to hear."

See Nicole does not understand something here (And of course we can go into the the multitude of flaws with testing but we shan't tonight). These tests are a choice one makes for their child. These tests are not forced upon parents by a bully governor, a clueless chancellor of the Regents, or a faceless bureaucrat. The parents have ownership of their child's education. Such as my son made a choice to continue his Jewish education after his bar mitzvah after telling me and my wife for years he will stop once he became a bar mitzvah. HE HAD OWNERSHIP!

However after the missed opportunity at a testing analogy Nicole decided that it would be best to charm the parents of Scarsdale and all affluent communities by sharing;

"That their kids, or their kid’s teacher or their beloved (Emphasis by The Crack Team) neighborhood school isn’t performing as well as they expected."

What Nicole fails to realize, as the Journal News as reported, is that the vast majority of affluent communities (For this post will use Westchester County), Scarsdale, Chappaqua, Irvington, Bronxville, Ardsley, had quite low opt out numbers. WAY TO WIN OVER PARENTS NICOLE! KUDOS!

If you are left wondering who is this expert in education that is gracing the pages of this award winning blog we will share what The Crack Team has learned.

Nicole Brisbane is a former teacher, now a lawyer, and shared with The Crack Team that she was a reading specialist for 5 years at Allapattah Middle School in Miami.

Oddly, according to this link she only taught two years at Allapattah before entering law school. Only two years? Well, if you read the headline of that link she was with Teach for America.

So how can we believe anything she says, even when she told The Crack Team she won Rookie Teacher of the Year at Allapattah and in fact raised the grade level of her students (Who were 4 grades behind at the time of her ascension at Allapattah 2.5 grades in the very short time she was there?

We can't believe her even though we requested several times for some kind of verification or conformation to her outstanding teaching and her award. Is her story truth or fiction?

But according to Nicole, the affluent, or shall we stray into reality, the "regular people",  or strating from the test because,

"The people who are opting out of tests are largely those who already feel like their child has access to a high-quality education, and are doing so in a way that directly harms poor and minority students throughout New York. We should be supporting students and teachers throughout New York, whether they are in Scarsdale or the Bronx, and making sure all students have a fair shot at a quality education. Rather than maintain the status quo where wealth determines a quality education, data can and should highlight where the gaps are so we can invest in schools that need it the most. High property values shouldn't determine the quality of education for the neighborhood--and the way we are going to change that is through access to data that will allow us to make investments where they are needed"

 And she shares some links here, and here. Big deal. Hey Nicole, let's see how the students from Success flame out when they hit college, much the way they flamed out on tests for the NYC specialized high schools.

Nicole this is why the opt out movement is picking up steam. We are fed up. We are fed up with Albany and Washington DC deciding what is best for our children and our school districts. We are fed up with millions going to testing companies like Pearson. We are fed up seeing our babies go through 8 hours of testing when a bar exam is only 3 hours. We are fed up seeing our children stress out. We are fed up with the narrowed curriculum. We are fed up with teaching to the tests. We are fed up with our narrowed curriculum. We are fed up with Common Core. We are fed up with a governor that pockets $4.8 million from DFER and others like it instead of fixing our poverty and having the state pay its fair share to ALL school districts.

Mostly we are fed up with people of your ilk. You and yours are the modern day carpetbaggers, just this time it is education that you and yours needs to control. You truly believe that since you taught for two years this gives you some kind of street cred when it comes to education and the welfare of our children. You feel that you must share "stories" on how you raised students 2.5 grades and were Rookie of the Year. Guess what? Joe Charboneau was AL Rookie of the Year in 1980. What did it mean in the long run? Nothing. At least Charboneau can prove he was ROY.

Put your skills to good use. Sell Amway.

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

Poor Errol Louis. He just seems to keep on stepping in it and his bereft of any independent thought.

The shame he must bring on his hometown of New Rochelle.

When we last left Errol Louis on these pages we had noticed that he had become the "Kool-Aid Man." Now, after reading his column in today's Daily News we know that the supply of Kool Aid packets worldwide will decrease for some time.

This is becoming too easy to take his "arguments" apart but The Crack Team wish to have some fun tonight so we are having a go of it.

Errol starts off of course without any facts...as usual when he puts all the onus on the unions. This year, that number is expected to soar, thanks in part to an organized campaign by the state teachers union and its political allies to persuade parents to have their children opt out.

Political allies? Like whom? If he means the grass roots parents, REAL grassroots, not like his pals at Families for Excellent Schools, StudentsFirst, Educators4Excellence, and new kid on the block, High Achievement NY but advocates that started from a single person, a real life mommy, a smart person.

For instance New York State Allies for Public Education, Diane Ravitch, Stop Common Core in New York State, the plethora of personal blogs, and let's not forget the many, many Facebook pages in which so many are using their own time and their own monies to do a service for now monetary gain whatsoever. Why isn't "Journalist" Errol taking the time and speaking to these people? 

"Journalist" Errol prattles on; First and foremost, parents should guard against allowing their movement to get hijacked by the money and political clout of union officials, whose motivation and ultimate goals on this issue are very different from those of parents.

Actually NYSUT was late to the game, about a few years late. Yeah, parents should wonder what took them so long and why only now are they on the bandwagon but since they are we welcome them with open arms. But ultimately the goals are the same.

Heck, what about the millions of dollars that Governor Andy has pocketed for the benefit of 9 billionaires?

More bloviating from "Journalist" Errol;  a new law, passed by the Legislature and strongly backed by Gov. Cuomo, that makes test scores the basis of tougher evaluation standards intended to detect poorly performing teachers and steer them out of the classroom.

A new law yes. And also a bad law. Tougher evaluation standards? Has "Journalist" Errol seen what happened in Atlanta because of the reliance on the tests? Has "Journalist" Errol read the New York Times and their story of Eva? Michelle Rhee? The suicides? Can "Journalist" Errol explain the algorithm that is used to determine whether or not a teacher is effective? What about the outside evaluator? Who is paying this person? Who is training this person? Does this person know the intricacies of the teacher and the students he is to evaluate?

"Journalist" Errol digs himself deeper; “We have 20% right now. We’d be happy with zero, because it’s not a true indicator of what’s going on in the schools,” said Magee.
“Happy with zero” means the union would just as soon not have its members’ job security or prospects for promotion affected in any way by whether the students have actually learned reading, writing or math.

No. Not just on ridiculous tests created by a company that only is in it for a profit and pushed by politicians getting paid off. 

But "Journalist" Errol rails against bad cops. How would "Journalist" Errol make sure we get rid of bad cops? 

The blabbering goes on; the union’s strategy — backed by groups including the Working Families Party — is to cripple the evaluation system by encouraging so many kids to opt out that the tests won’t represent a reliable sample.

The kids are not making the decisions the parents are. And is "Journalist" Errol saying the parents are too stupid to think on their own, to make an informed decision? 

That’s not the same agenda as parents, who simply dislike the stress and lost classroom hours that inevitably come with prepping for a high-stakes standardized test.

"Journalist" Errol just contradicted himself. But the NYSUT and the educators of this state have the same agenda as the parents. The parents also know the tests are not the way to evaluate the teachers of THEIR children!

The blithering is ceaseless; Cuomo vowed to revamp teacher evaluation systems that he dismissed as “baloney” because nearly every teacher gets rated as effective...

So what will Governor Andy do next year if the same happens? 

Now, for a minutes it seems that "Journalist" Errol gets it; Magee’s response? “The truth is, there’s no epidemic of failing schools or bad teachers,” she said in a statement responding to Cuomo. “There is an epidemic of poverty and underfunding that Albany has failed to adequately address for decades.”

Let's look and compare in "Journalist" Errol's hometown of New Rochelle, NY. Former home of Bob Petrie, former head write of the "Alan Brady Show," and former home of Yankee legend Lou Gehrig. 

The North End of New Rochelle has some of the richest real estate in Westchester County.  Now let's compare it to the Washington Ave and 5th Ave areas of the city. Lots of poverty. Lots immigrants. Lots of ELL's.

The two middle schools, Albert Leonard and Isaac Young are not zoned. But at the north end Albert Leonard in which 376 students who are economically disadvantaged took the the ELA exam only 21% were proficient. So is it poverty, second language learners or teachers? Same teachers, same schools. 

IT'S POVERTY! And lack of English. And so much much more.

"Journalist" Errol ignorantly claims that people must...realize that high-stakes testing is, for better or worse, the norm in our complex modern society. Universities base admissions decisions on SAT and ACT scores; graduate schools do the same with LSATs, GREs, MCATs and more.

And virtually all Civil Service employees, be they firefighters, bus drivers or entry-level sanitation workers, must pass a high-stakes standardized test to get the job. The legal and medical professions famously require exams of punishing difficulty, as do architecture and aviation

Please, don't compare. These tests are not used to destroy someone's career. These tests are not out to trick you and they test questions make sense. 

Students have plenty of tests in school do know how to get ready for grown up tests. But they can worry about getting this practice in high school and college, not THIRD GRADE!!!

These tests are not about helping students are evaluating where a students in academically. The tests the way they are being used now is basically twofold. One, to jam teachers and the other is for Pearson to make s***loads of money. Nothing more, nothing less. 

The assessment of a student starts and ends at home. Want to know how and what your child is doing in school? Ask him or her. Ask their teacher. Discuss with your child what their school work is and what they are learning. Do the same with the teacher. Show up in school when you should. Speak to other parents. Go to PTA meetings, come to open school night, volunteer. Doing all these things will get you the lay of the land of your child's school and knowing what your child is doing in school. 

Wouldn't this be easier, get teachers back to educating our students full time, and be a heck of a lot less expensive? 

One wonders if "Journalist" Errol really has any journalistic chops or curiosity left in him and whether he fancies himself a journo-celeb nowadays or just a talking head.

One can wonder what "Journalist" Errol might be getting under the table to write such drivel.

One can also wonder if "Journalist" Errol puts his money where is mouth is and why he won't answer in regard to this tweet;

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."

Earlier in the week when I heard that Campbell Brown was to appear on The Colbert Report I kind of cringed.

I am not a fan of Stephen Colbert's schtick on the show (Though there are some bits I have enjoyed), though I do like him, and more of a fan of The Daily Show. But two things had be concerned.

One was how would Colbert's schtick work with a topic like tenure and education in general, and would real questions be asked. I liked what I watched. A few moments really stood out for me.

When asked by Colbert about  Campbell why she has her guns out for unions and why Partnership for Education Justice has filed it's lawsuit, Brown said; "First let me correct something you said, we are not filing the lawsuit, it is 7 parents in New York State that have kids in public schools are filing the law suit. We are helping them and supporting them. We are finding them law firms." 

That PEJ and herself are not giving any monies but rather, assisting.

Of course there is no money changing hands. But a query Are the parents being paid or reimbursed any expenses incurred while in the midst of this lawsuit? Are food and hotels and travel being reimbursed by the law firm, Campbell Brown, or PEJ? These questions are important. Did these parents seek out PEJ on their own, or were they sought out. If they were sought out how many have volunteered and/or have been employed by Students First? We do know that the lead plaintiff, Keoni Wright was employed by SF at one time.

Campbell even shares that the law firm, Kirkland Ellis, is representing the parents pro bono, but how did these parents know to seek out this particular law firm?

But as I am watching this I am wondering to myself why is Campbell the one being interviewed? Why not the parents from Rochester who "handled" themselves so well with Glen Beck? In fact how did two families from Rochester know to seek out the above NYC law firm?

The best was when Colbert shared that protestors were outside the studios, something which he said has been quite rare. Campbell must have been upset that the spotlight was being taken away from her. The protestors are, according to Campbell; ..."trying to silence a debate. A debate we should be having. I want these parents to have a voice in this debate too."

We are trying to silence debate? How many people has Campbell blocked (#blockedbycampbellbrown )on Twitter? Blocked from multiple Facebook pages? 

But if the parents should have a role in this debate, and no one is denying that, then why then is Campbell the face and voice of the parents? Why not let the parents speak freely? 

"What they are trying to do is to change a public education system in this country that people across the political spectrum believes his in crisis." 

No, it never was in crisis, the crisis was related. See The Shock Doctrine. Campbell and her lackies do not represent my views nor anyone else that I know. Want to see a crisis? We have it in underfunded schools districts, corrupt school districts, and pure incompetency in Albany.

So when asked what is the problem in New York, Campbell replies to Colbert; "If you look at the student outcomes in New York, 91% of the teachers around the State of New York are rated either effective or highly effective. Yet 31% of our kids are reading, writing and doing, math at grade level."

There is a difference between being proficient and being at grade level. How dare she judge by test scores, how dare she base her lawsuit on flawed exams. Exams with a cut score picked at random. 

She is insulting me as a parent and my son as a student. As I have said on these pages in the past he got high 2's in 2013 after years of getting 3's and 4. He, and many others in his grade, were not able to finish 2 days the ELA exam in 2013. My son and plenty like him are at or above grade level. He is entering 8th grade at above grade level in both ELA and Math. Campbell needs to get her facts straight very quickly. 

"I'm blaming the teachers union. Because they are fighting attempts to change laws that are anachronistic."

There we have it. This fight is about unions and to destroy unions, to destroy teaching as a career, and to be rid of pensions.

But Colbert comes back and asks her if all should be equal, shouldn't each child have the same amount of money spent on them? She blabbers; "You're suggesting it's all about the money," when Colbert says, "You're saying it's all about it's equality and money is one of the equations in equality."

SNAP! PW3NED! But she turns it into this, "We should pay teachers more and treat teachers like professionals" Yeah, right.She did not want to talk about money. Why should she. Her boys, Clifford and Harvey go to a school in which their milk is served to them in chilled milk glasses and lunch time is accompanied by a pianist.

When asked about who gets to evaluate teachers she says principals, and parents, especially if they are complaining there must be something to that.

But parents and others are complaining about what Campbell is doing right now and she is not listening. Mustn't there be something to this? 

Lastly when Colbert asks where the money comes from Campbell says that to share that would keep that secret because of the people protesting are "going to go after people who are trying to fund."

The Walton Family, Students First, The Gates Foundation, et. al. are afraid of a bunch of teachers? I can understand if a little old Jewish lady who lives on Sadore Lane in Yonkers and gave $18 a month would be afraid, but the elite of American largess being afraid? Surely Campbell jests. 

Or is possible this blogger found out where the money comes from? 

This thing happening in New York is a last gasp effort for the deformers to get their way. A first year, pre-law, high school student should be able to expose and poke holes in both the Mona Davids' case and Campbell's as well.

I see now why Campbell is leading this and not Michelle Rhee. Campbell comes off as much more likeable than Rhee and does not have all the skeletons that Rhee had in her closet. We must not relent with Campbell Brown. We must stand firm, must stand strong. Campbell is much more media savvy and much more cunning. But she can, and must, be defeated.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

and....

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

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

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

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

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

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

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