General – Page 30 – The Official Website of the PJSTA

Dimino’s Response to Bruni

“I critique food, therefore I know all about your jobs too.”

The New York Times, like much of the mainstream media, has continuously shilled for the corporate driven Common Core State Standards. This weekend they posted this op-ed from food critic Frank Bruni. Mr. Bruni quotes Beth Dimino in it and then suggests that the anxiety Mrs. Dimino spoke about may becoming more from their parents than the endless amounts of standardized testing that is done in school these days.

Here is Mrs. Dimino’s response to Mr. Bruni…

Mr. Bruni, it comes as no surprise to me that as a food critic you believe that you are uniquely qualified to comment on the ramifications of the high stakes testing portion of the Common Core on New York’s children. You’re not a parent or an educator and you weren’t at the forum where I spoke, but you believed that you could write an informed article for the New York Times and insert my speech without bothering to ask me why I made the comments or to familiarize yourself with the topic. It seems like so many intelligent people, even New York Times writers, just don’t get it. Or is it that you don’t want to get it? Teachers give students tests to evaluate what the child has learned and to better inform themselves about their pedagogy. These tests are not administered for those reasons. Are you aware that the students who are tested in the spring do not receive their grades until the fall? Did you know that Commissioner King created a test that he accurately predicted 70% of the State’s children would fail? Does it matter to you that children as young as 4 years old are required to take these tests? I have some suggestions for you Mr. Bruni. Buy and read Diane Ravitch’s book, Reign of Error, if you want a different perspective about American Public Education. Investigate why more than half of the States are now reevaluating whether or not to withdraw from Race To The Top. Contact me if you would like to know what’s really going on in a New York State public school classroom. Count your lucky stars that your English teachers prepared you for your New York Times gig!

Reality Based Educator also has a great take on the Bruni propaganda.

Who is it Gonna Be?

Via Newsday…

Diane Ravitch, the outspoken education historian, policy analyst and author, called on educators across Long Island Tuesday to boycott Common Core-related curricula and refuse to administer state tests as an act of defiance against the state and federal governments.

“Your community is your boss, and you do what’s best for children,” said Ravitch, speaking at a Hauppauge meeting that drew about 175 school superintendents and administrators from Suffolk and Nassau counties.

“Do not take the Common Core tests. Stop the testing,” said Ravitch, of Southold, who wrote the critically acclaimed “Reign of Error,” which defends the American education system and criticizes privatization moves as a drain on public schools. “Neither teachers or students are prepared for these tests. Stand together and there will be no punishment.”

This idea has been bubbling for some time now. Just waiting for the right person to put it out there. There is no better person to suggest the idea than Diane Ravitch. This is the year to do it. It is the perfect storm. Parents will be refusing in droves. Teachers are finally feeling emboldened enough to speak out about the reforms that are killing their school. It’ll be the spring of an election year. Legislators wouldn’t dare impose consequences on a district (or districts) who boycott the tests as a way of protecting the children in their communities. We’ve already seen the governor in an all out sprint, attempting to distance himself from the reform agenda. All it will take is for one school district to take the courageous step. To say, “No. Not to our children. You will not continue to abuse our children. No state testing in our schools this year.” Middle Country School District Superintendent Roberta Gerold was quoted in the Newsday article saying, “I would really have to think about it. I would love us to have the courage.”

Once a district takes that step others will follow. At that point the entire reform agenda crumbles. So now the question is, who? Who is going to be the courageous first district to take that step? Whoever it is will have the strength of all of our state’s teachers and an enormous number of parents behind it.

Test Refusal… Dimino

Via Port Jefferson Patch…

When asked about why teachers didn’t speak up about how awful the reform agenda is earlier.

“I sat in that man’s office, Joe Rella, and he knew right away. However no one would have believed me until they actually saw it…now you see how insane the testing is. So now what can you do? I can’t tell you what to do? I can’t but what I can tell you is this…if my children were in school I wouldn’t have them take the test. I would not allow my child to be abused. Hand it in tomorrow (a refusal letter). Hand it in to the principal or the teacher.”

The Student Lobbyist Abandons His Public Education Agenda

Andrew Cuomo, who once proclaimed himself to be the “lobbyist for students” is trying to escape his education reform agenda as quickly as possible.

Via capitalnewyork.com…

“I’ve heard quite a bit from the parents who are very concerned about Common Core,” Cuomo told reporters after an event on Staten Island. “It’s part of a national curriculum that the national experts say is actually going to be beneficial.

“But there’s no doubt that there are significant elements, at least in the transition, that are problematic,” he continued.

“It’s actually a decision that the state Education Department is going to make, which ironically, although the state Education Department does not report to the governor … it’s something we’re watching very closely,” he (Cuomo) said. “And it’s something that might be the subject of legislative changes next year. But it’s not anything that I control, so we are watching.”

Cuomo is trying to detach himself from the agenda that has very much been his agenda throughout his term as governor. Go back and look at his state of the state comments in 2012 to see how this is his baby. Now, with his numbers starting to tank, Cuomo is running for the hills.

As usual, the Perdido Street School Blog does a great job covering (and exposing) Cuomo…

Also, from @ The Chalk Face is Chris Cerrone with “Cuomo: No longer the ‘Lobbyist’ for students?”

Ken LaValle, Bodyguard to John King

Next Tuesday evening will be the final Common Core Forum on Long Island that features John King. Earlier in the fall King cancelled his PTA Town Hall Meetings because he didn’t like to be called out on his abusive agenda. So they created new forums for him to come around and discuss the Common Core with parents, students, and teachers. However the rules were changed a bit as Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch descended from her ivory tower to sit next to King and hold his hand. Additionally districts were limited to the number of representatives they could have speak and the amount of time those people could speak for. At last week’s forum at Ward Melville High School, for example, we were limited to three speakers who were each permitted two whole minutes. Apparently that was too difficult for Dr. King because the rules have changed once again.

At next week’s forum, hosted by Senator Ken LaValle, district’s are being asked to submit the name of the person they would like to speak for them along with the comments that speaker will be making. Then, if you are lucky, LaValle’s crack team of hacks will choose you as one of the winners and you will get to speak. That somehow passes for democracy in this day and age. I can’t wait to hear what tough questions the commissioner will have to face. Probably something like, “Commissioner King, why is the Common Core so amazing?”

Ken LaValle, no friend of public education, is making a real mistake here if he thinks this is the way to go about a forum like this. Parents and teachers are angry. They are angry at King and Tisch’s abusive agenda. They are angry that their elected officials, like LaValle, are permitting their children to be bullied. Now they will be angry that their voice is not being heard. They are creating a situation where people will need to shout to be heard. They will need to stand up and demand that their voices be heard. They have created a situation that unquestionably calls for civil disobedience.

The only question remaning is whether or not those who demand to be heard will be treated like this Common Core opponent in Maryland was…

A Few Things to Read

A few good links to check out…

Reality-Based Educator wonders “Where Is Cuomo On His Education Reform Agenda Now?”

Dr. Rella’s letter to puppet Arne Duncan.

Presidents from two of our parent unions, Randi Weingarten of the AFT, and Dennis Van Roekel of the NEA, sit on a board with noted ed deformers Michelle Rhee, Joel Klein, and others. Whose side are they on anyway?

Ed Deformers play the race card in regards to the ire towards John King.

From the same article is this quote from Queen Merryl Tisch…

“John is doing a yeoman’s job, staying cool, focusing on the policy issues,” said Merryl H. Tisch, the chancellor of the State Board of Regents, who has served as one of Dr. King’s psychological bodyguards at the forums. “People are asking complicated questions, but I haven’t seen him miss a beat.”

He hasn’t missed a beat. He has stayed the course with his mission to destroy public education.

Puppets

It is well known in these parts that John King is merely a puppet for Merryl Tisch and Andy Cuomo. A mouthpiece to spout off their talking points and take the heat coming their direction. He is nothing more than their marionette as they pull the strings. The same can be said for Arne Duncan, who plays the puppet to puppet masters Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch, Jeb Bush, and a whole host of ed deformers. It’s not that guys like King and Duncan have skills or are at a superior intelligence level that has helped them to rise to their positions. They simply make good lap dogs. Stroke their egos, give them scraps of good food and they will be happy. More than willing to be loyal to your agenda, even if that agenda is one of child abuse.

For years this sort of existence has worked like a charm for both the deformers and their puppets. The deformers have gotten to use the media to spout their propaganda about how bad our schools are, how we need accountability and choice, even going so far as to say that our schools are so terrible that they have become a threat to our national security! The media of course has eaten it up at every turn and have feted Duncan and King as though they could do no wrong.

But this year a funny thing happened. Parents stopped buying the nonsense they were being fed by Fox News. They stopped paying attention to the plaudits that MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough heaped upon Duncan. They no longer paid attention to Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post as it pounded our state’s public schools. This all started to change, of course, because their kids started to be picked on. Their kids were the ones who wanted to stop going to school. Their kids were the ones who were slamming their heads against their desk during last spring’s ELA or breaking down into tears in the midst of the math test. All of a sudden their children were the vicitims of bullying. That’s where the tide began to turn.

Since that time a lot of questions have started to be asked. A lot of motives have been called into question. The parents, whose children are being abused, are no longer content to sit idly by as they listen to rehearsed talking points. That’s when things begin to fall apart for the deformers. Because stooges like King and Duncan are ill prepared to offer any real defense of the Common Core. Because there really isn’t a good defense for it. Instead you get John King complaining of “special interests” and taking his ball and going home. Or you get Arne Duncan crying about “white suburban moms” whose children “aren’t as brilliant as they think.” Of course anyone with half a brain would know not to incite an angry mob. But this is King and Duncan we are talking about. They don’t have half a brain combined. So their words have only served to fan the flames and in New York State we now have a full blown revolution on our hands.

It is now time for us to move our focus to the bigger guns. Move on to the puppet masters. In New York State Andy Cuomo and Merryl Tisch are behind the curtain, writing the script for John King. They are the ones to go after now. Tisch is put in place by the state legislators who are all up for re-election next year. So is Andy Cuomo who has his sites set on the White House in 2016. It’s time to ratchet up the pressure. To put the full court press on. Make sure the deform agenda is attached to the people who are really pushing it and make them pay next November.

They are Listening, Keep the Pressure On

For years it seemed as though our frustrations and concerns were falling upon deaf ears in Albany. State Ed would impose new and harmful reforms and our protests would disappear into a black hole somewhere. But they aren’t anymore. As Beth Dimino likes to say, “They have awoken the mommies” now and our voice has become a collective roar. All around us are signs that our elected officials are beginning to pay attention.

John Flanagan, cowering in his office while counting his Rhee bucks for most of his term, now is saying that “there is potential for legislation on privacy.” Funny because he had no problems selling our children’s data to private corporations before getting blasted by the public for it.
Andrew Cuomo is reportedly conducting polling to see how would be voters feel about the education reforms.
New York State Senators are reportedly getting more calls about the Common Core implementation than any other issue.
State legislators are feeling that they may need to curb the amount of testing taking place.

These are no small accomplishments for those of us who support public education. We should feel good about the seeds of change that we have sown. But we must be careful. We can’t falsely believe that these accomplishments are enough. They are not. They are movement in the right direction, sure. But they are a far cry from where things should be. Now is not the time to rest on our laurels, but rather to ratchet up the pressure we put on our elected officials and the intensity of our message. I will repeat what I said earlier this week, nothing short of a full withdrawal from Race to the Top, the Common Core, and test based evaluations is acceptable.

If John Flanagan thinks that he can make a few small changes to appease parents after a sustained period of pushing an abusive reform agenda through the senate, he needs to think again. It’s not nearly enough. Not if he wants to be re-elected next year. Go back and try again Senator Flanagan. This is your baby and anything other than a complete 180 means you will continued to be attached to this boondoggle.

If Governor Cuomo, who famously declared himself the “lobbyist for students” before pushing his reform agenda onto New York’s public schools thinks that now he can distance himself from this issue he is dead wrong. This is Cuomo’s baby. The entire reform agenda was to be the trophy he would tote around the country as he prepared to run for president in 2016. Now, sensing the push back, he wants to run from it and leave it all in the lap of his puppet, John King. Cuomo badly wants to win re-election with huge numbers next November so that he can take his “man of the people” act across the country. Sorry Andy, it’s not going to work. The education reform agenda in New York State is your agenda. You are the one who wanted to give schools the death penalty. You are the one who wanted to sell off New York State’s students to the highest bidder to fund your dreams of the White House. You are the one who pushed for test based teacher evaluations and giving the death penalty to schools so that you could open more charters and give more control to politicians. You can’t run from this.

Teachers, parents, and students, keep the pressure on. Ratchet it up. Keep the phone calls, emails, and faxes to your elected officials coming. Continue to take to the streets. Shout your message loud and clear at every chance you get. Tell your family, your friends, your neighbors to do the same. Work towards a full scale refusal of the Common Core tests this spring. These are our schools. They belong to us, not the money hungry child abusers in office. We will take care of them in November. Don’t let up until every last thread of these reforms have been expunged from our schools.

Power in the Rank and File

Last year, when this blog was in it’s infancy, we covered the plight of the Chicago Teachers Union as they went on strike. As we look back on the past year in education we have seen tremendous momentum in the push back against the privatization of public education. Much of that can be directly attributed to the CTU who were the first real organized group to push back. In the 14 months since their strike they have continued to be a leading force in the fight for public education.

Check out their recently released video, “Power in the Rank and File”…

More Coverage of Tuesday Night

Speaking of our very own Beth Dimino, Diane Ravitch wonders, “Is this how a revolution begins?”

Norm Scott of the famed Ed Notes says “The Slugs are on the Run”. Speaking of PJSTA President Beth Dimino, and taking a well deserved shot at our parent unions, he says, “You mean there ARE union leaders who stand up instead of seeking a little stool at the table?”

Describing Dimino’s words for Tisch, King, and Flanagan, Sean Crowley of B-LoEdScene says “Beth Dimino unloads on them with all the subtlety of Ray Lewis going unblocked on a zone blitz.” He then says that “Port Jeff (we gather he means Port Jeff Station!) has a kick ass blog”. Thank you very much Mr. Crowley, your blog is a kick ass blog as well…. and one every PJSTA member should be reading daily.