I should've put an update on my blog post of February 11 concerning the dressing down I received from God's Favorite Teacher as well as her mental meltdown on Google Meets. But, with the events of what has transpired the last several weeks and my introducing of The Scheduler in yesterday's post, I think the time is right for that update.

As I mentioned yesterday, I received an email the evening of February 21 from The Scheduler instructing me to cover a 4th teacher who was to be out for bereavement beginning Feb 22. The day we got back from Mid Winter Break.

My spidey sense tingled. I knew something was up. And I was proved correct at a Meets meeting with The Scheduler that morning of the Feb 22. I was told that once the teacher came back from bereavement I would stay with the class and give the teacher "support and to assist in test prep."

Back then I knew there weren't going to be any tests, or at least not testing as we know it. But support? The class I was transferred to has nine students! The class I was being forced out of has over twenty five! Who needed the support? The extra body? There are three teachers (then), and a one to one para. Two of us are general ed. and God's Favorite Teacher is special ed. and the para is there for language. We split the class in three. Easy peasy. That is until God's Favorite Teacher decided that she couldn't handle seven students. God's Favorite Teacher wanted me out. And she wanted the para.

So in the meeting I asked The Scheduler (Sounds like a villain from Batman. "Schedule me this Caped Crusader!) why I was being moved and she kept on returning to the party line that the class needed support. 

I tried a different approach. "But don't the students that I have been working with for several months and have established a good relationship with me deserve continuity?" The same party line was regurgitated. 

I tried yet another approach. "How is it beneficial for students to go from a small group to a much larger group?" Again, the party line.

I tried one more approach. "How does this benefit the student (with the para) being moved to a lesser ability group from the top level group?" Again, the party line.

What lesson do we learn from this? That when we hear "students first, always" and other inane crap like that it's bullshit. It means nothing. It's empty words. 

It also shows that the way to get ahead, the way to get what you want is to shove yourself as far as possible up the rectum of an administrator. Too many live there and die there. How do they look themselves in the mirror?

Here we go around, (round, round, round) Run-run-runaround, yeah! (round, round, round, round) Here we go around, (round, round, round)-Runaround, Van Halen, 1991 from For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.

Yeah, here we go around again, with the ignorant bashing of ATR's (Absent Teacher Reserve), by a bought off parent (more on this later in this post).

Nicole Thomas, a mom at PS 256 in Brooklyn, wrote a scathing op-ed in the Daily News yesterday, becoming the 1,553,234 person to be completely ill-informed about ATR's.

Nicole sayeth....

They land in the ATR — sometimes for a short period, sometimes for a long one — because they are unable or unwilling to find full-time teaching positions after losing their placements.

You know that for a fact Nicole? Who told you this? Have you seen it first hand? If you wish to say unable, have you considered that NO principal will hire a teacher that makes my salary, that has my number of years in the system? Yeah, I went through the ringer. I went through a 3020a. I was labeled a bad boy. Big flag on my personal file. But Nicole, aren't we all allowed a second chance? Have you seen me teach? Or any other ATR teach? I doubt it.

Guess what Nicole? I was a technology staff developer for 3 years, ran the computer room in my school for another three, have a Masters in Educational Technology and guess (not many have all this) just guess, what? I can't even get an interview when I apply on the Open Market.

As for ATR's being unwilling, well, why should they be willing? Why should an ATR want to be in a situation where they are judged on "junk science" and Danielson? Why would an ATR want to be in a dysfunctional school? Why would an ATR want to take the chance with a vengeful principal?

But guess what? 99.99% of the ATR's I know want to be in a school permanently. You think it is easy going from school to school and not knowing anyone? People treating you as if you have some disease? You think it is easy to leave a school after you build relationships with students, and then suddenly - BOOM! - you are whisked away?

Yet you talk about quality teachers. What is a quality teacher Nicole? A brand new teacher that has never taught before? A Teach for America hack that has had only 50 hours of training? Nicole, would you get in a plane with a pilot that has had only 50 hours of training? Would you allow a surgeon to operate on you, or a loved one, with only 50 hours of training? No you wouldn't.

Is it an ATR's fault they they are forced to teach 7th grade ELA and their license is elementary and whilst teaching 7th grade ELA they get zero support from administration?  Or what about the ATR who had a phys ed. license and has made to teach Kindergarten?

Nicole, you are labeling all ATR's with the same broad brush? You know another time this happened? In 1930's Germany, when all Jews heard that they were money grubbers, not real Germans, had big noses, were miserly, and other monstrosities that were said about them. What makes you any different?

But I know where your bread is buttered Nicole. StudentsFirstNY butters it, and butters it well. You want to hang with these people? You think for a moment that StudentsFirst cares about you or your family, or even your community? You are being played like a fiddle and when you outlive your usefulness, see how long, if ever, it takes Jenny Sedlis to return your calls.

But if you want to hang with these people, know that StudentsFirst is the evil spawn of Michelle Rhee. Read this and tell the world how you would feel if Rhee was your child's teacher. These are the type of people you are being a sycophant for.

Stop listening and sucking up the propaganda. Find out for yourself. My email is listed on this blog.

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.

In yesterday's New York Post there was an article pertaining to some bashing on Twitter that
Campbell Brown fell prey to last week.

As the Post reported;

"Former CNN anchor Campbell Brown, a leading opponent of teacher tenure, accused her pro-teacher-union foes Sunday of using soft-core Twitter porn to shamelessly smear her."

Smear? Harsh, but one must read on. Accusing "pro-teacher union foes"? Even harsher.

First let's go on record here that we here at SBSB do not condone in any way, shape, or form the alleged vulgarities tossed Campbell Brown's way. We find it abhorrent and certainly not helpful We also do not condone any attacking of her children personally.

As for as her husband, Dan Senor, we feel that since he is a public figure, has served on the board of StudentsFirstNY, and is culpable for the mess in Iraq, he is fair game. But right now that is neither here no there.

The Post also mentioned a real anti-Campbell Twitter account and it's corresponding website in the article. Why they lumped that in is clear. Seems the Post wishes to discredit a real site aimed at real issues that had to be debunked by the Post's propaganda machine.

But something reeks in the State of Denmark vis a vis the Post and Campbell's stories.

We here became of aware of this on Friday, and pointed it out to many (That all was a hoax), when we saw tweets from @datadiva;



Now the stench is getting stronger.
One tweet seems to come from right wing, Tea Partier Congressman Louie Gohmert, but the handle is different than the congressman's. The Crack Team at first thought that someone had either hacked or spoofed the congressman's account.

The same with NewsMax Health, @mort_mcgirt, alleging to be NewsMax Health. For those that aren't aware, NewsMax is a right wing weekly news magazine.

So what you have is tweets from two accounts appearing to be from right wingers attacking the right wing dream; no more tenure for teachers, a stink bomb, no? And even if they were super-duper hard left liberals, we here at SBSB have never seen such invective from such people.

Yet, on the same scale, neo-liberal, Elevate New Mexico commented even though not one of these tweets were directed to him, nor even found on his timeline or tweeted to any of his allies (The usual cast of deform characters), was able to locate these tweeters through all of the 1000's of tweets.

A new member of The Crack Team, Wanda, representing the Southern Tier of New York State accessed the SBSB computers and came to the conclusion that all the accounts above, including @derpjonson, all used the same syntax. The Crack Team found out all are followed or followers of @gomurica as well. Perhaps they all can very well can be the same person?

OK, fine, if they are the same person, or not, why? What is the point. And why was Randi Weingarten mentioned in the tweets? How coincidental that these tweets were out within a few days of the launch of "The Real Campbell Brown" website? A website in which Campbell's lackeys are whining about profusely and can't even refute any facts.

Wanda, along with the rest of The Crack Team and many others have opined that this was all a set up. That these tweets, these twitter handles, were all devised by Campbell Brown's people to not only discredit the righteous, but worse, to make Campbell Brown a victim and to garner sympathy. This alone just goes to show how low Campbell Brown will sink to have her name bandied about in a flattering manner. Nothing, is about the plaintiffs in this Wright V New York State. It is all Campbell, all the time.

Why, and we have it on good authority that the United States Capitol Police have been notified, that USCP has not shut down the accont impersonating  Congressman Gohmert? Why haven't the twitter accounts of the offending tweets mentioned in the Post been shut down? Without a doubt, the rules of Twitter have been violated. So who can be behind all this?

Only someone with the connections of Campbell Brown along with the powerful PR handlers on her side can orchestrate such a devious plot. A plot to shine the blue light of sympathy upon her and to shame any and all connected with teachers unions. This is a new low for Campbell Brown, but sure enough will be followed by new even lower lows. How else to explain how the Post got all over this?

And if this were a real attack on Campbell Brown we here at SBSB feel those behind it are the lowest of the low and have done damage. But everything seems all too coincidental.

One way or the other something smells like crawfish cooking in Acadiana. Right, Alma?

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.

Bear with me here as I put into context the audacity, the hubris, the obfuscation I witnessed today of hacks representing Students First.

As many of you know, I am incarcerated at 4360 Broadway which happens to be PS 48 in Manhattan. Coming in this morning there were a phalanx of talking head media congregated outside the school yard at 8 AM this morning. Curious as to what was happening, I asked a camera man from Time Warner Cable News (The new name for NY1) to fill me in. He told me that the the two trailers for Kindergarten students were full of mold and the parents of the community had had enough.

Parents and community members were being interviewed through the morning by all the big stations of NYC. There even were a smattering of print journalists. Some of the trucks and reporters stayed throughout the morning to go live on their respective noon broadcasts. But it didn't end there.

I guess when news hits like this the cockroaches come out of the woodwork and feel that this is an opportunity not to miss an opportunity to take advantage of those that are day in and day out being taken advantage of by the DOE. An opportunity to put themselves front and center and wrap themselves up in the guise of altruism when all they think about is how can they get over and further their cause.

As I was leaving today and walking south on Broadway past the school yard I saw several women outside the gate with clipboards and having parents sign a piece of paper. At first I thought that this was a drive to register voters (Which I see quite often in the neighborhood) or having parents signing petitions to rid the school of trailers. I was wrong.

As I walked by I looked down on the clipboard and saw in bold capital letters, "STUDENTS FIRSTNY." I did a double take. What a coincidence that Students First will descend upon a school on the very same day it makes news. And who comes with Students First to rouse the parents, the contract mercenaries of the "grassroots" group, Families For Excellent Schools. In fact one woman, I could have sworn I had seen here on the FES page before, but I just could not prove it. But when I asked if they were with FES, all I heard is, "What is Families for Excellent Schools?"

What were they having the parents sign? It seems these four women were telling the parents that SFNY wished to start an after school program for the students at PS 48 and if they can sign and provide contact information. Those that are interested will be asked to attend a meeting of at a ___location and time to be known later and all paperwork as to this supposed "after school program" will be shared at that time.

Excuse me, but this seems as this is the way cults recruit their prey. Like the Moonies. Ooops! Sorry Michelle, politically incorrect pun intended.

I engaged in conversation with one of the ladies to whom I shall refer to as Laverne. I asked Laverne how one can determine a good teacher. Laverne was quite forthcoming with me.

"A good teacher is someone that knows when a student is struggling in class and will give that extra help to her. A good teacher is someone that will call home when it is necessary."

Quite informative Laverne!

I shared with Laverne and her friend the history of Students First and where and from whom finances Students First. They were shocked. I also asked them what would they think of Michelle Rhee if they heard that she has physically abused children in the past. For two ladies that had no idea what FES is they sure knew who Michelle is. But I digress. Laverne's friend said that it is impossible that Michelle would abuse children. I said, wrong, that it happened, that Rhee duct taped 1st graders mouths and made them bleed. I even showed her my blog post of 4 years ago. The friend still said it can't be true. I said yes it can and it is and Rhee so much as admitted it (Which should be here but it looks as if the Washington Post deleted it) but I found it here.

But her friend at least seemed open minded. Laverne still was buying the company line.

Laverne shared with me that unions protect teachers that sexually abuse students. I asked Laverne to give me an example. She told of Bronx Aerospace High School on Gun Hill Rd in the Bronx. She told me of a teacher at Bronx Aerospace that sexually abused a student, was found guilty of a felony in criminal court and was allowed back to teach in that school. When I asked her the name of the teacher she had no idea and suggested that I look on Inside Schools to find out.

Of course, it never happened. I gave Laverne another chance to name another incident. She couldn't. Just as she couldn't respond when gushing how Common Core™© is important to get children college and career ready she was unable to explain why a 8 year old must be college and career ready.

But this is how MichelleRheeFirst operates. Obfuscation and subterfuge. Even had a prominent parent of the school bought into the ruse and was directing other parents to sign the paperwork for the after school program. When it was explained to this parent what was really happening she felt horrible. I can't blame her. This is what Students First does. It preys on those not fully informed.

But why was Students First so easy to mobilize? Where was the UFT? Yeah, this was breaking news, but isn't there a rapid response information squad that can quickly come to schools such as PS 48 when they are in the news and show support for the community. Wouldn't this at the very least pull back a layer of distrust that communities have for teachers unions? Wouldn't making an appearance, passing out flyers, etc... show the UFT in solidarity with the community. Without a UFT presence today there was a vacuum that was all too easily filled by interlopers.

But the lack of a UFT presence is nothing compared to the abhorrent, callous, opportunistic, parasitic leaching onto the parents of Students First. At a time when the parents needed support to rid the school of 20 year old trailers Students First could have came and advocated for and with the parents on what was important to them today. The removal of the trailers. Instead,  Students First decided to take advantage of parents, to scare parents, to lie, to deceive, and to act like a pal. Students First is nobody's pal. Their only pals are the monied interests of Wall St and Washington DC.

There must be a way to ensure that this will not happen again.

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.

It was good to see Mike Mulgrew totally p3wn Campbell the other day. Sadly, this is the one true time that I actually wither saw Mike truly outraged. Who knows how things would be if he actually acted like this other times. But enough about Mike.

So Campbell (should I just refer to her as the "Shicksa From The Bayou"?) is outraged that out of 128 school employees over the last year that were accused of sexual dalliances with students, only 33 were fired. To Campbell Brown, all 128 should have been fired even if the charges against them were, how shall we say, false.

She did ask Mike to make a pledge to her that he will seek to fire all teachers that engage in sexual misconduct. Mike p3wned her again by telling her that he will not make any pledges to her at all. That the system in place works, and that is the system that we will live by.

What Campbell fails to realize is we live in a country of laws and one of the laws of the land are due process. That whether or not you are a private citizen or a government employee, you are entitled to due process when an accusation is made against you. As a government employee you are entitled to a hearing by an impartial arbitrator, which both the DOE and the UFT have agreed upon. The arbitrator makes the decision on culpability, not the UFT. Just because you don't like the verdict, does not mean that you can reverse it.

We don't see Campbell down in Sanford, FL trying to change the verdict, we don't see her attempting to complain about Jerry Remy's son. But just teachers, why?

Could it be that her husband, the man she converted to my religion for, Dan Senor is on the board of MichelleRheeFirst NY? I guess the woman's auxiliary section of MRFNY needs something or someone to rail against.

But come to think about it, I think Campbell might be right. She has a very good point. I will appoint myself a proxy for Mike Mulgrew and I will make that pledge to her that was offered.

But under several conditions.

One, Campbell must advocate for the arrest, prosecution and conviction of her husband Dan Senor for war crimes. Not for all the things that he screwed up (And boy did he!), but for the sexual misconduct of prisoners he allowed in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

What's that you say Campbell, Danny had nothing to do with it? Yes, we know that it was not Dan that was pointing at prisoner's naughty bits and humiliating them with insertions of foreign objects. But Danny did work for the Coalition Provisional Authority, was a Senior Advisor to Pro-Consul Paul Bremer, and.....adviser to the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. Dan was able to fit all this into his life from the invasion, March 2003, to the summer of 2004.

Wait, what is that Campbell? You are now saying that Danny was not a prison guard at Abu Ghraib? Maybe not, but Danny at the very least was part of what created the atmosphere which enabled such behavior at the prison. Did Danny at anytime try to stop it? Did he arrest anyone before it leaked on 60 minutes? What is that you say, Danny did not know? Ignorance is not an excuse.


Dan Senor was wrong, he was culpable, he was part of the problem and not the solution.

Another condition Campbell is to come out and in the same voice of consternation come out against the pervy administrators that the DOE continually looks the other way from.

DR Mychael Willon who was arrested in the 90's for masturbating in a Wichita KS bookstore, John Chase JR who shared with teachers where he wished to stick he hoo-ha, and Quinton Cedeno amongst others. Do it, I dare you.

One last condition. I truly dare Campbell to put her money where her mouth is. Come up to the South Bronx and truly advocate for the women who are raped, sexually abused and physically abused. Not just by strangers, but by family members. Come fight for these women when they show the courage to take their rapists and abusers to court (criminal or civil) and the justice system truly fails these women.

Come advocate for the children that are raped and abused by family members as well and the justice system fails these children.

Campbell is kvetching (Campbell, you're Jewish now, you should know what this means) about 128 teachers, trust me, there are more on the street of the South Bronx preying over the women and the children of not only the South Bronx, but of all of New York.

But it looks cooler for the Campbell Browns of the world to crap on teachers rather than to roll up their sleeves and  solve the real problems of society.

The news trickled throughout my school yesterday at the horrors that had befallen the students, the teachers, the parents, and the community in Newtown CT. As a father I cannot imagine what the parents of the children who perished are going through.

When I got home I immediately went online to scour the news sites to catch myself up on information that had been lagging. Then the cynical side of me took over.

I wondered to myself which educational deformer would find the need to insert themselves into this tragedy. In my opinion, I find no need to broadcast how I feel, either through Twitter, Facebook, here, on my Star Trek forums, etc... Wait, I mean I do share how I feel. But, to me, I have always find those "My prayers, my thoughts, etc..." stuff like that to be a bit contrived, along with my latest ongoing cynicism with religion, to be meaningless. I think statements like that if they are to be made should be made personally to those effected by the tragedy (by the way, I better never ever hear again from sportscaster that a team having lost is a tragedy!).

So I have digressed. But not really, I needed to explain myself for I am afraid I might take some heat for this blog post. But, that is par for the course with me and and comes with the territory.

So I decided to check out MichelleRheeFirst Facebook page and came across this little ditty;

Following today's tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the entire StudentsFirst family is mourning with the victims, their families, and the entire community of Newtown, Connecticut. We have offered our colleagues in the state any assistance they may need.

There are no adequate words to express the horror and senseless nature of violence in our schools. It happens far too often in our country.  As a mother myself, I understand the hesitation every parent will feel in the coming days when they kiss their children and send them off to school -- to a place of learning and growth that ought to be a safe haven from violence.

Our children are our most valuable assets, and we lost too many of them today. Today's event forces us to ask ourselves: how are we expected to foster an environment in which students can learn, grow, thrive, and set off on positive life-paths when we cannot guarantee basic needs such as their safety?

 But events like these also strengthen our resolve to do exactly that -- improve schools for children and thereby improve entire communities. The entire StudentsFirst organization -- including the members of our team in Connecticut -- recommit ourselves to that mission today, as we pause to send our thoughts and prayers to those affected in Newtown.

 So I read that and then found out about this teacher. I will not name the teacher or link to it. The name is not important and need not be mentioned here;

When the shooting began, XXXX said she quickly got up and closed her classroom door and ushered the children, all aged 6 and 7, into the class bathroom. She helped some climb onto the toilet so they could all fit. XXXX said she then pushed a wheeled storage unit in front of the door.

And this as well;

When she became aware there was a gunman in the school, she hid her first-graders in closets and cabinets, then told the shooter they were in the gym. He turned the gun on XXXX, killing her, but none of her students were harmed.

Bot these teachers are heroes in their own way. Both these teachers did something extraordinary that cannot be measured with a test, with a piece of paper, with an observation. They did something that none of us put in their situation have no idea what we would do.

If their acts (and I am not omitting any other acts of bravery yesterday, just only know of these two thus far), are the ultimate acts, the very definition of effective teachers, what then would have become of them if they were subject to VAM as whether or not they are effective.

 Now, I do not know what the new evaluation system in Connecticut consists of. I can only speak for what is coming or might come in NYC. But what these teachers showed is what happens in schools all over the country in one way or another every day. Intangibles that are so subjective there is no way to measure.

For Rhee and her sycophants to call these teachers in Newtown colleagues is not only laughable, but it is worse. It is vulgar. One of the worst vulgarities I have ever seen. These teachers are career teachers, who went into teaching to have a career, a lifetime of educating children. Rhee and her ilk stand for everything that is opposite of these two teachers belief systems.

But it can't stop there with MichelleRheeFirst. Rhee needs to throw in how improving schools will therefore improve communities. First, Newtown does not need to be improved. Secondly, a severely mentally ill man-child perpetuated this insidious act. Lastly, that statement needs to be reversed. Improve the communities, and the schools will fall into place.

Nice how it was thrown in the MichelleRheeFirst is in Connecticut, that it is ready to lead, ready to show those great unwashed that only MichelleRheeFirst cares.

MichelleRheeFirst is a true sociopath, a true charlatan, a con artist, a grifter, a self-promoter. She is a manipulator and worse, she is a predator. She needs to be stopped.

Oh it is always nice to read the Daily News op-ed page and see some shill for Uncle Mike, or Michelle Rhee, thinking they can speak for education, schools, teachers, their children with a artificial guise of independent thought.

Today we had another on of those type people write an opinionated op-ed in today's Daily News. Keoni Wright penned some gibberish about teacher quality and his twin daughters in the same school, PS 158 in Brooklyn, yet with disparate teachers.

Mr Wright at first glance is a manager (whatever that means) for the NYC Dept of Health & Mental Hygiene. He is also a card carrying member of MichelleRheeFirst. 

While we here at SBSB applaud Mr Wright for taking an interest in his twin daughter's education, we hold our heads in indignation at the words that Mr Wright wrote of his own free mind and will. Words, that were his own. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. 

Mr Wright wrote, I have a unique perspective on this, because I’ve got twin daughters in kindergarten. They go to the same neighborhood elementary school and sit in classrooms right next to each other. It’s clear to me, however, that this year, they are not getting the same high-quality education.

OK. So if the classrooms were further apart they both would be getting the same quality education?

One has a teacher who always seems to go the extra mile. She works hard to understand my daughter as a person and pushes her to learn and grow. My other daughter has a teacher who appears to do the bare minimum.

Sheila Kaplan, @EducationNY, had tweeted earlier this evening, that Micah Lasher, new Lord and Overseer of StudentsFirstNY had been interviewed on Inside City Hall tonight. I tweeted back that it was probably softball questions being tossed at him by Errol Louis and not worth watching. She had informed me that Louis was tough on him and I had just gotten done watching the video. Yes, Louis was tough on him, but Lasher just spewed forth the party line if cliches and whatnot and it got me to thinking.

Remember The Bob Newhart Show? The one in which is was a psychologist. Anyway, there used to be a drinking game associated with the show. Every time that someone on the show said "Hi, Bob," you were to take a shot (I preferred Jack Daniels) of whatever alcohol was available. At the end of the show everyone would be quite zoinked from all the shots consumed in the half hour. I once counted the amount of times "Hi, Bob" was said on a show. It came to about 45 mentions.

So why do I bring this up? In watching the 6:33 interview, Lasher used the term "Students First" or some other type of derivative 6 times, and this is not even counting the amount of mentions by Errol Louis.

But is is not only Lasher who wears out this phrase to know end. It is all the deformers. "Students first, students first, students first, blah, blah, yadda, yadda yadda...." The more it is said by these people the less and less meaning it has. Not that it ever had any meaning to these types in the past. It's an empty, hollow phrase that means nothing. Like a dorm director once shared with me after getting nailed for the umpteenth time getting nailed with a keg in my room, "Your sorrys mean nothing.

So how do we deal with these deformers and their overuse of "students first?" Simple. I propose a new drinking game. Every time you see a deformer on TV, get some friends, some shot glasses, and your favorite distilled spirits and sit around and have a shot every time you hear "students first."

Watching the deformers will become so much more tolerable.

I rarely comment, in fact I don't believe I have, on any of the so called "unsolicited" blog posts by concerned parents over at MichelleRheeFirst.org, but tonight I feel compelled to.

One reason is to support my pal TFT, and the other is after reading the specious, disingenuous blabbering of the latest "guest blogger," Michael R. Butz (please, no snickering, and I shall refrain from comments).

Mr Butz sees more time added to the school day as a way for teachers to truly show they care about the students, that as Michelle says, or at least claims, "students come first."

Butz starts out my blithering; Children in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system - the country's third largest - have one of the shortest school days and years in the country.

According to where, to whom? Has Mr Butz picked this quote out of some crack in the moon? The Chicago school day is 6.25 hours a day, less any lunch. Since I don't have all the facts, and am only using this as a reference, I do not wish to comment further for fear out of talking out the side of my butt. But the crack team here at SBSB will like to see more documentation from Mr Butz.

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is firmly opposed to Mayor Emanuel's Longer School Day Pioneer Program, which offers teachers a $1,250 bonus (equivalent to 2% of the average CPS teacher salary) and $150,000 to the school for any school voting to lengthen the school day this year. That's an additional 250 more hours per student this year alone.

Good! Money doesn't talk. But I know what would. I can guarantee something, one thing that all teachers would accept for the longer school day and it won't cost the CPS, Illinois, or anyone a dime. Simple and plain respect. Guess what Mr Butz? Teachers already work long hours that you never see or ever know about. But of course you are a hypocrite. See Mr Butz is the Director of Compliance and Quality Improvement at Illinois College of Optometry. How would he feel if he was told to add 250 more hours to his already busy schedule? How would he feel that he would be compensated a mere pittance of the time that is added on to his work? Mr Butz would shit.


Why are they denying Chicago kids a comparable education? 

Comparable to whom? Please Mr Butz, cite neighboring communities in the Chicagoland area that have a longer school days and because of that the students perform better.

Butz rolls on; ......the Mayor is trying to destroy collective bargaining and bust the union by urging teachers to seek waivers from the union contract. There is no evidence to support this. This program was designed to be implemented in the most American of ways – by a democratic, majority-wins vote of all union members at a school, held under the conditions of all other union votes.

No evidence? ROTFLMFAO!!!! Oh my God!!! I laughed so hard my sphincter tightened up! You have got to be kidding? Rahm comes from the Obama administration that has given us Arne Duncan and has done everything possible to destroy unions.


The union is intercepting teachers on their way to and from school and providing information that is, in my estimation, misleading and presented in a manner to incite fear.

Mr Butz, I suggest you read the Bill of Rights in which Amendment I states that we as Americans have the freedom of speech. But yet again you offer no proof as to the fear mongering you cite.

I am not go to go on as I usually do Mr Butz and point out to you the dingleberries in your argument. It'll be a waste of my time. But I do have several points to make.

Mr Butz, do you scamper around the Illinois College of Optometry telling the professors and instructors how to conduct their business? I betcha that the professors there teach less hours in a week than CPS teachers do in a day.

As for as adding 250 hours a year or 6 hours a week, just how does that benefit children? Should a six year old be in school until 5 30 or 6 PM? How long do you think their attention span is? If you ask me, this is child abuse. Kids need to be kids. Surely, since you claim you are a great parent you must have many after school programs for your child, like learning proctology, that you feel will make your child a better, more rounded person. Aren't these students in the inner city of Chicago allowed to have extra curricular activities?

Why not be a leader and not a follower and help build ball fields, indoor recreation centers, help build from within the community a sense of togetherness? Surely, this will help the students more so that being in school and being bored shitless by 5 30 PM.

But Mr Butz what you fail to realize is that staying in school leaves the children with the same old curriculum that it is that is truly the most damaging. You fail to realize, or even have the cognitive thinking skills, that it is the ass backwards curriculum that the teachers are FORCED to incorporate that is failing the students. Why is this curriculum allowed? Because of butt buddies such as yours like Rahm Emanuel bid out the contracts for the curricula to their butt buddies.

Think about it Mr Butz. Get your head out of your...........

Several weeks ago, Michelle Rhee launched her RheeFirst, oops, I mean Studentsfirst website. Like at the end of a long day when I need a good laugh or distraction and listen to Sean Hannity, studentsfirst serves the same purpose.

I came across a propaganda film in which a under thirty somethings (yes, there were a few teachers over forty) espoused how they put students first. Two of the hypnotized that never lies stood out to me. One was Jane, a statistics and economics teacher at some school who said, "So for me it is not about 3 o'clock and the bell rings and it's time to go home. It's about did everyone learn today."

That is really nice. Super. I recall when I was first hired I was asked if I was willing to stay late. I said sure, why not? For a month I stayed late. For the sake of staying late. There were no students to see since they had all left. I was a cluster and did not have a classroom to keep up. It was all appearance and it soon ended.

Then right after Jane there is Steve, a fifth grade teacher. Steve is young, and he has that sexy five day growth type of beard. Steve says, "It's not all about me. It's about all 26 kids, or the year before that, 27. Or the year before that, 28. Whether or not I wasn't feeling well, or wasn't particularly excited about what I needed to teach, it wasn't about me it was about them."

Steve, you make me feel so guilty. When I had strep throat with 104 degree fever I should have come into to work that day. I was so selfish. Even after the fever broke over the weekend and I had an allergic reaction to the Ceftin I still should have come into work. Several years ago my wife made Hamburger Helper for dinner and the next morning I just leaned over the bed and deposited it on the floor, I should have come in to work.

I really hate this students first mantra. Yes, students should come first. But when you are at school. When you are doing school stuff. Please, I want to be spared this liberal, empty catch phrase. It means nothing and when said I do not believe it.

What comes first for me? My son and wife. Plain and simple. I know if given the choice to rescue my wife or my son my wife would insist I rescue my son. I have given up a lot of chances for per session money because I want to be with my son in the afternoon. For many years my wife worked in the city and did not come home until late. Or I coached all his sports teams and that was quite time consuming. Or I just wanted to be with him. My son, my family comes first, yesterday, now and forever.

Second, God. I have a lot of issues with this guy. I wonder if he is there, I wonder if he exists. But God comes in second. The type of person I need to be in his eyes (if he does exist) guides me.

The USA is third. We live in one fucked up country right now, and Obama is a waste as are all politicians, but this is my country and I want to do something to leave it a better place for my son.

The students, my job comes in fourth. Sorry, that is just the way it is. Doesn't mean I don't care about the students, or don't care about my job. It doesn't mean I don't want to try to improve. It just means that I have my priorities straight. I know what I have done for students. I don't have to list them here. I will mention one, **cough cough** Numb Nuts **cough cough**. I know my heart is in the right place everyday I walk into my building. But there is more to staying late, coming in when you are sick, or just too beat to show that you care about your students.

One thing that would have impressed me in that video is if one teacher, just one said that when students are being wronged by higher ups they go and fight for those students to the decision makers. That they will risk their jobs for what should be right and what is right. Unfortunately I doubt either of them have ever done it.

Just stop this students first or children first crap. It is empty and hollow. It like when I ballplayer signs with a team and claims it "isn't about the money." Road apples.