Hold the Presses!

Gotham Schools reports that several people to whom NYC Schools Chancellor Joel Klein doled out employment think he's doing a great job.

Mr. Bloomberg Makes a Clarification

Sometimes, when you're the mayor of a big city, you have to explain what you mean. For example, Mayor Bloomberg explained that when he said he would get rid of trailers instead of classrooms by 2012, what he really meant was he would not get rid of trailers instead of classrooms by 2012.

Now a lot of people took exception when they saw this quote from hizzoner:

"If you got up this morning, looked outside, and the question didn't come to you right away, 'Hmm, I wonder whether or not school is going to be open today,' and you didn't know enough to call 311, I would suggest another day in school's probably a good idea," the mayor said at a briefing.

"I mean, come on," he added. "Looking outside, it's a legitimate question, and you know how to get an answer."

Understandably, a lot of parents were upset by this language. It certainly sounds as though he's calling them a bunch of knuckle-draggers. After all, the decision to close the schools didn't hit the media till almost 6 AM, and what with the rampant overcrowding that's accompanied this mayor's "reforms," a lot of schools open at 7, including mine. That's why a hundred kids showed up at our school.

But one of the mayor's spokespersons has "clarified" Mr. Bloomberg's statement for us, according to Manhattan PEP rep Patrick Sullivan. On a comments page of NYC Public School Parents, Sullivan writes:

...the AP coverage of the mayor's comments included this update: "An aide tried to backtrack later and insisted that Bloomberg was referring only to teachers, and not to students or parents."

This, to me, is incredible. According to the revisionist history of the Bloomberg PR machine, the mayor did not mean to include the hundreds of thousands of parents and kids who were confused by his failure to provide adequate notice. Even if you believe this highly improbably interpretation, what it clearly suggests is that it's unacceptable to ridicule parents and students for mistakes that are none of their doing.

On the other hand, it also suggests that it's fine to ridicule people who get up every morning to teach children. That's a disgrace. As a teacher, as a parent who respects teachers, I'm disgusted by Mayor Bloomberg's remarks. Mayor Bloomberg owes the city an apology. Instead, we get a variation on, "I meant only to ridicule teachers, so it's no big deal."

Masters Of the Universe

Have you seen Jon Stewart's scathing attack of the business "experts" at CNBC? If you haven't, here it is:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Now I sort of like Rick Santelli, the CNBC analyst who went crazy on TV the other week railing about President Obama's mortgage plan and how it was going to help bail out "losers" who don't deserve the help. But the rant smacked of hypocrisy, given the hundreds of billions both administrations have handed out to financial institutions, insurers and auto makers and the taxpayer money the CEO's of those institutions have squandered on bonuses, junkets, etc. Nary a complaint about that kind of stuff is ever made on CNBC, though you hear all kinds of stuff about learning how to "Obama-proof" your portfolio for the long haul.

Leaving aside the "loser" rhetoric for a moment, I think you can make a good case that the administration's mortgage plan creates a moral hazard and won't address the real issue in the mortgage/real estate crisis any way - home prices inflated way too much in many places around the country and those prices need to come back down to levels more in line with the historic ratio between wages and home prices.

But if you're watching CNBC these days, you would be under the impression that it was President Obama who created the current financial catastrophe instead of the real culprits - Uncle Alan Greenspan and his monetary policy (cheap money, cheap money, cheap money...), George Bush and his deregulation policies (How did the SEC miss the Ponzi schemes run by Bernie Madoff and Sir Allen Stanford? Oh, yeah, they didn't investigate them even after they were told funky things were going on...), the Republican-led Congress that happily went along with those policies and the subsequent Democratic-led Congress that refuses to hold the people who stole hundreds of billions of dollars accountable to the law

A good start would be investigating and prosecuting Angelo Mozilo, John Thain, Chuck Prince, Jimmy Cayne, Phil Gramm and the crooks at AIG and the ratings agencies. Then look to see who else in Washington besides Phil Gramm helped grease the skids for all the criminal activity - (Schumer? Rangel? the entire Republican Party?) and hold them accountable too.

While we're at it, maybe take a look at the connections between the financial experts at CNBC and the crooks they were covering. Why was Jim Cramer, for example, pushing Bear before it imploded, Countrywide before it imploded, Lehman before it imploded, Wachovia before it imploded, Bank of America before it fell to below $4 a share? Is he just the dumbest financial analyst on the planet or is he crook looking to make some money for himself and his cronies (the guys he calls "my people") at the taxpayers' and/or his viewers' expense?

There sure is a lot of blame to go around and there are an awful lot of people on Wall Street and in Washington who really ought to be frogmarched into prison for a few years -but there are also a few cheerleaders on CNBC who ought to face the music too.

As Jon Stewart noted the other night on The Daily Show, you could have had a million dollars if you had followed the advice of the smarmy Ayn Randites on CNBC - provided you had started with a hundred million dollars first.

Forget about Obama-proofing your portfolio - try Cramer-proofing it instead.

Barney Must Die

Over at Joanne Jacobs, there's a discussion about how people want to ban Barbie (who just turned 50, if I'm not mistaken). I don't care much whether she gets banned or not. I think there are more pressing issues at hand.

To wit, why is no one trying to ban Barney the Dinosaur? I suffered through many an excruciating public-domain number from insipid Barney and his goody-two-shoe friends, and I think it's our duty to spare our students, future parents, from what we've endured. Now if you've got a toddler who's currently making you listen to that awful music, you might enjoy the Barney Fun Page, where you can use various weapons to decimate this miserable reptile.

In the long run, though, don't we owe it to future generations to do away with this menace? Could we ban him with a Constitutional amendment? Or is this a states' rights thing?

Really, something must be done.

Soup for You

Get the complete series of Seinfeld on DVD for a hundred bucks.

via

Souring the Rookie

Mr. Green was the best lunch patrol anyone had ever seen. He checked every schedule, looked at every ID card, and turned away every would-be gate crasher. In 14 years as lunch dean, Mr. Crusty had never seen his like. With Mr. Green at the door, he could move all the way to the back door, where nothing ever happened, and think about fishing, or unnatural sex acts, or whatever lunch deans think about when there's nothing else to do. It was as though fate had finally smiled upon him.

Thank goodness Randi Weingarten and Joel Klein had put pen to paper and given teachers perpetual building assignments. If he played his cards right, he could praise this kid to the stars and get him to volunteer again next year. Maybe he could recruit a whole cadre of Greens, and sit his ass in the back right up to his retirement. Maybe he could hold out another five years with kids like these.

But then it happened. Mr. Blister, the hall dean, asked Mr. Green to walk a kid to the dean's office. Mr. Green was more than ready to help out, and dutifully walked three hallways and four flights of stairs with the kid. When they got to the dean's office, two NYPD officers immediately placed the kids in cuffs and began walking him out of the office.

"Why are you taking him?" asked Mr. Green.

"Manslaughter," replied one of the cops, nonchalantly, and continued hustling the kid out.

Mr. Green thought about that kid, walking behind him, and of all the things that could happen to someone with a killer behind him. That day, in the cafeteria, Mr. Green was noncommittal. "Let me see your program," he told the kids, but he didn't check. He let everyone in. By the third day, the kids had gotten wise. The cafeteria was getting overcrowded, and Mr. Crusty had to move up front.

He tried flattering the kid, but he'd lost his edge. In two weeks, they reassigned Mr. Green to an office, where he continued to do such mediocre work that they eventually stopped asking him to do anything whatsoever.

Mr. Crusty never found a suitable replacement, and his plans for a tip-top lunch corps were crushed. His dreams thus broken, he took terminal leave at the end of January.

Drug Dealers

Is it just me, or have you noticed the odd things they mention when they advertise prescription drugs on TV? They tell you how wonderful they are, for a minute, and then spend two more saying it may cause headaches, stomach pain, fever, vomiting, diarrhea, cancer, death, and dizziness. Don't take it if you're pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or if permanent sterility would pose a problem for you.

I don't even know what homeopathic medicine is, but listening to these ads, it's beginning to sound appealing. Who even cares if it works, as long as it doesn't do what those drugs in the ads do?

Mayor Bloomberg Thinks We're Stupid

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg sees nothing wrong with his flunkies having waited till 5:39 to decide whether or not to close school on Monday. That's not much of a surprise, as Mayor Mike has found little fault with anything his administration has done, and overturns the will of the voters about as easily as you or I take a drink of water.

"If you got up this morning, looked outside, and the question didn't come to you right away, 'Hmm, I wonder whether or not school is going to be open today,' and you didn't know enough to call 311, I would suggest another day in school's probably a good idea," the mayor said at a briefing.

"I mean, come on," he added. "Looking outside, it's a legitimate question, and you know how to get an answer."

I do indeed. That's why, when I woke up at 5 AM on Monday, the first thing I did was check whether city schools were open. There was no indication they weren't, so I prepared to go to work. And if I was doing that, so were hundreds or thousands of parents, teachers, and kids doing the same. But the city offered no answer, and the DoE's website suggested we wait for info. If you don't think people were scrambling to figure what to do, check out the comments right here.

I was stupid enough to get out a shovel to dig out my car. Like many of my colleagues, I've gone in on worse days. And a hundred kids were stupid enough to show up at our school, obviously suggesting their parents were stupid too. Several administrators were stupid enough to show up. In fact, one suburban teacher was stupid enough to bring a child whose school was closed. Stupid us, figuring that past precedent was worth heeding.

The defense for waiting till the last minute, unlike virtually every neighboring district, was that they've always done it that way. It's ironic that "reformers" would use an excuse like that, and it's obvious that 37 years of bad policy is poor defense for its deliberate continuation.

But actually, things are different. An astute colleague of mine pointed out that it's only recently they began opening schools at 7 AM. It's only recently that schools have become so overcrowded they need to keep them open till 5:30 PM. It's only recently they started loading up schools to 250% capacity.

It was not unreasonable for parents to complain they got no notice from this mayor. Not everyone has billions of dollars. Some of us, lacking live-in help, have to figure out what to do with our kids on days we work and they have no school.

Maybe that's what makes us stupid.

Emergency!

Florida woman calls 911 three times when Mickey D's runs out of McNuggets.

Something to Smile About (Maybe)

Someone's finally sent me what may be an email suggesting what may be a worthwhile resource. Here's a teacher certification map, telling you you may need to be certified in various states. If you use it, please let us know what you think in the comments. I spent hours on the phone with the state trying to figure out what was needed, what courses would help, and whatever else they wanted me to do. So I hope this makes it easier for someone!

A Scam by Any Other Name

For a long time, I tried to be open to charters. It's tough, though, since the overwhelming majority are not unionized. You read stories about charters that vilify and fire people simply because they tell their colleagues how much UFT teachers earn, and you ask yourself, "Are these the kind of jobs I want for my kids when they grow up?"

And they're not, really. Even those which claim to be unionized, like Green Dot, specifically preclude both tenure and seniority rights for their teachers. Even part-time UFT President Randi "Everything is on the table except vouchers" Weingarten seems OK with that, bringing Green Dot to New York. As far as I can determine, even after the UFT spend over half a million in dues on legal fees, NY Green Dot teachers still don't even have a contract.

When you read detailed stories like this one by teacher Sarah Knopp, though, you have to really question the motives behind charter schools. Even President Barack Obama thinks they're a good idea. I can understand their appeal to parents, as I work in a preposterously overcrowded school with class sizes of 34 or more. Sadly, we don't have Bill Gates, Eli Broad, and the Walmart family dumping millions into our budget to allow us reasonable class sizes or decent facilities for our kids.

There is certainly a move toward privatization here. Otherwise, how would Eva Moskowitz be able to pay herself $371,000, well more than my principal, who's got a much tougher job than she does? There's plenty of money in education for entrepeneurs who are willing to open charters and take money from billionaires. It's the gold rush all over again.

And if you make sure you get the right kids, as Knapp points out, you can look a lot better than your alleged competion:

At KIPP schools, like many other charters, a condition of admission is that students’ parents have to spend a certain amount of volunteer time at the school. This automatically excludes children whose parents already spend the least time with them (due to working multiple jobs, lack of child care, or any number of difficult issues). While in some cases strictly competitive admissions cannot be used in charters receiving federal funds (although the rules are very flexible, as in New Orleans), these schools can select their students and transfer or expel students with less due process than they are afforded in regular schools.

So not only do you get a "better class" of student, you dump the undesirables into the public system, and thus lower their statistics. Your school must be better if you have higher test scores. Who cares if the kids in public schools don't speak Enlish, or are learning disabled, or dyslexic, or have indifferent parents, or whatever?

Or you can boast about how your teachers get a voice in planning. That's one of the calling cards of Green Dot, in which Steve Barr boasts teachers gladly give up tenure to work for him. But teachers only get that voice until they don't:

It is understood and agreed that the Board retains all of its powers and authority to direct, manage and control to the full extent of the charter school law and the regulations of a 501.C3 California corporation. Input from the staff will be considered and decisions will be derived in a collaborative model; final decisions will rest with the Board. Included in, but not limited to, those duties are the right to: ...establish educational policies with regard to admitting students; ...determine the number of personnel and types of personnel needed; ...establish budget procedures and determine budgetary allocations; contract out work and take action on any matter in the event of an emergency.

.

Hmmm...is that what they gave up tenure for? They have the freedom to contribute and innovate--right up until the point when they don't.

Another oft-repeated fable about charters is that they pay people more. But if you're working more hours a week, more weeks a year, if you're on call nights with your charter-provided cell phone, and if you're doing half-days on Saturdays, well, couldn't you actually be earning less for your time than public school teachers? It's true that prominent figures like Mayor Bloomberg and part-time UFT President Randi Weingarten don't account for extra time when they describe "raises," but honestly, what's more valuable than your time?

It looks to me like charters are a short-term fix, and the fact that their results, even given their unfair advantages, are mixed, suggests they might not be the panacea their supporters suggest. More importantly, is it good for Americans to set up teaching as a temporary profession which only young, energetic people can keep up with? I mean, sure, it keeps salaries down when you use people for a few years until they inevitably burn out, but are those the jobs we want for our kids?

Randi Weingarten's been snookered:

New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein has openly declared his wish to make all New York public schools charter schools. Rather than oppose the idea outright, then-United Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten chose to play ball on the chancellor’s field. In addition to inviting Steve Barr of Green Dot to New York to partner with the UFT in opening Green Dot schools, she also conceded that New York teachers would be willing to accept some form of merit pay. Merit pay hooks teacher bonuses (money that otherwise could be spent on salaries) to student test performance.

If this “appeasement” strategy was designed to convince Klein to stop blaming teachers for the problems in New York’s schools, it didn’t work. Shortly thereafter, Klein teamed up with civil rights figure Al Sharpton to launch the Education Equality Project, whose main goal is to remove the “block” that the teachers’ union supposedly creates to “reform.” Sharpton said, “But we cannot say that we’re going to close this achievement gap but protect ineffective teachers or principals or school chiefs or not challenge parents.”⁵⁴ Perhaps if the teachers in New York had decided to build genuine alliances with New York parents—particularly in communities of color—to fight for access to more resources, against dictatorial mandates, and to define what “quality education” means from the ground up, then Sharpton wouldn’t have gotten any traction for blaming the teachers. A more convincing explanation for failure of Black students is gross underfunding and pervasive segregation.

But that doesn't mean you have to be. Just like when Ms. Weingarten endorsed the disastrous 2005 contract, she was thanked briefly and then stabbed in the back. It's regrettable that someone as bright as Ms. Weingarten either fails to have a long-term vision, or simply doesn't care what happens to unionized teachers, or unions themselves.

But there's a very dangerous precedent at work. When the patronage hacks come to your school, ask them why the UFT chose to partner up with a firm that offers neither tenure nor seniority rights to its teachers. Should they spout the nonsense about "just cause" provisions, ask them how many times it's been tested, and how many teacher positions it's saved.

I've repeatedly asked the ones who appear at my school, as well as Ms Weingarten's internet mouthpiece Leo Casey.

This is what they've told me. Expect to hear much of the same.

Where Were You?

I was in my garage, wearing a sweatshirt, a parka, and heavy boots. I'd just picked up a snow shovel and was getting ready to shovel out my car so I could go to work. My wife and daughter came down, dragged me back upstairs, and rewound the TIVO to show me that city schools were closed.

I left my trusty shovel and came up to revise the blog.

I'd woken up at five in the morning to prepare to go to work. Why on earth couldn't Chancellor Klein have made the decision to close the schools before 6 in the morning, particularly when many city schools open at 7? The Chancellor claimed to be worried about the parents of a million public school kids. Didn't having to wait till 6 AM inconvenience them even more? Where I live, they really worry about public school parents, which is why we got a recorded call last night telling us schools would be closed.

Chancellor Klein loves accountability. How should he be held accountable for this?

Where were you when you found out NYC schools were closed? What were you doing?

Stay Home!

1010 WINS school closing page says New York City Schools are closed.


Channel 4 says so too! As do channels 2 and 7. Thanks to those who commented.

Thanks to Former NYC Math Teacher

Good Morning New York!

It's five in the morning. My local school district called last night to say schools are closed here. On channel 2 news they're advising that people stay home until a break in the snow later this morning.

School closings are here, and I don't see NYC, of course.

Falling and blowing snow, blizzard and/ or whiteout conditions, and I'm going in, I guess. Wish me luck.

I wish all of you luck too!

What Are The Odds?

The weatherman is forecasting a very nasty late winter storm for tonight and tomorrow. Here is how WNBC TV describes the next 24 hours or so:

March is roaring in like a lion, with most of New York and New Jersey under a winter storm warning for heavy snow from Sunday night to Monday evening. The storm could dump more than a foot of snow on New York City.

About 13 inches of snow was projected by Monday morning in Manhattan and between 10 and 14 inches in suburban Long Island. Wind gusts could near 35 mph, which will make travel very hazardous or impossible, according to the National Weather Service.

Now I've been working for the New York City Department of Education for nearly 8 years.

Mayor Moneybags and Uncle Joel Klein have been running the system for most of that time.

In all that time, there has only been 1 snow day, when Uncle Joel and Mayor Moneybags drove to City Hall in their SUV's and said kids and school staff should stay home.

So as I read tomorrow's forecast, with 13 inches, 35 mph winds and travel that is very hazardous or impossible, I'm wondering what are the odds that Moneybags and Uncle Joel drive to City Hall in their SUV's tonight and declare tomorrow a snow day for NYC schools?

I mean I know very hazardous to impossible travel sounds like a bad thing, but as Uncle Joel often brags, NYC has the most school days and the highest amount of seat time of any major urban school system and just because 13 feet of snow and 35 mph winds are making travel hazardous and nearly impossible, that doesn't mean Little Susie and Little Johnny shouldn't have to trudge into school to prep for their 8 city standardized tests and 1 state standardized test a year or teachers shouldn't have to come in for hour and a half meetings with the no-bid contract folks at McGraw-Hill over how to use those city standardized acuity test results to "inform your teaching."

That's what I'm supposed to do - meet with some faceless 20-something acuity testing bureaucrat who has never taught a day in his/her life and listen to him/her lecture me on how to utilize the tests McGraw-Hill devised under their no-bid contract.

You can imagine how I might be praying for a lot of snow tonight.

I mean a lot.

A snow day from school, well, that's all right I suppose.

But a snow day from an hour and a half professional development meeting with a faceless 20-something acuity testing bureaucrat who has never taught a day in his/her life - well as the announcer used to say in those awful Visa commercials - that's priceless!!!

Must Be Worse Than I Imagined...

Chicago Wal-Mart associate sets himself on fire outside the store.

You Just Can't Win

So says Frank McCourt.

Oh No!

Well, it looks like we're gonna have another civil war. And it must be true, because they said so on Fox News, which is fair and balanced.

But that's what happens, apparently, when those awful liberals ask rich people to pay more in taxes. Who woulda thunk it? The rabble taking up torches and pitchforks to protest Steve Forbes' tax rate, just like they did when Eisenhower was President and they paid 90%?

They didn't protest? Well, never mind. Who wants to go back to that economy anyway?

Americans enjoyed a strong, expanding economy under Eisenhower, demonstrated by solid economic growth, little inflation, and low unemployment. Balancing the budget was an Eisenhower priority tempered with a sincere concern for the common good. Eisenhower expanded social security, increased the minimum wage, and established the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW).

Sounds just awful. Thank goodness we had Fox News and GW Bush to set things straight.

Thanks to Schoolgal

Maverick Johny's Point Man

Joe the plumber is out suggesting members of Congress should be shot. None of that mamby-pamby freedom of speech nonsense for Joe. What a shame MJ couldn't get this guy a cabinet post.

And what about this Barack Obama character? Is he the antichrist, or just a new Hitler?

Another Great Victory at KIPP

I'm always amazed at the volume of talk about charter schools. Jay Matthews, cheerleader extraordinaire, can't get through a hundred words without demanding every sentient being on God's green earth enroll in a charter school immediately. So imagine my shock when I read this article, from San Franciso Education Examiner Caroline Grannan:

It seems to be getting little public attention that the principal of the KIPP school in Fresno has resigned after a lengthy school district report accused him of:

... slamming students against the wall, placing trash cans over their heads, forcing kids to crawl on their hands and knees while barking, and enforcing unreasonably strict bathroom rules, resulting in students having accidents and vomiting on themselves inside the classroom.

Wait a minute. I thought over at KIPP, principals walked on water. Isn't that what Jay said? It sounds like this guy treads on the kids, the ones charter supporters care so much about. They must be horrified by these accusations. Here's a comment Caroline received:

Mr. Tschang resigned because the last thing he wanted to happen was the school to close. Fresno Unified School District demanded Mr. Tschang's resignation. It would not have rechartered the school, otherwise. The good news is that KIPP Academy Fresno is the product of the work of hundreds of parents, teachers, and most importantly, students who will continue to bring the school the new heights of academic and character achievement.

He sounds like an admirable human being. I can't wait to see what new things the folks who brought us this principal have in store for those lucky kids. Personally, I wouldn't send my kid to KIPP on a bet, because I don't believe she needs to spend 200 hours a week in school, even if it gets her an extra point on some standardized test.

Would you take a chance on this guy with your kid? And if you were innocent, would you step down rather than face these charges?

Student (name deleted) said that in December of 2007, Mr. Tschang told him to get on his hands and knees and bark like a dog. (Name deleted) said it was a metaphor to get him to stop joking around in class.

… It was reported by Kim Kutzner that students who were late to school would not be allowed to eat their meals provided by the state. Student (name deleted) stated that Mr. Tschang told her, “People who are late don’t get to eat.”

… Parent (name deleted) reported that Mr. Tschang took student (name deleted) glasses away from him because (name deleted) was constantly adjusting his glasses. (Name deleted) is totally dependent on his glasses and cannot see without them. Mr. Tschang admitted to taking (name deleted) glasses away.

Never mind that kids who leave KIPP are not replaced, or that their statistics depend on those who remain, or the fact that all KIPP kids have parents willing to volunteer at school and have their kids go to class 200 hours a week.

If Jay Matthews says that KIPP serves the same kids public schools do, it must be true.