Flanagan – Page 2 – The Official Website of the PJSTA

Dimino: “You have awoken the mommies!”

In front of 900 in the Ward Melville High School auditorium, and several hundred more in the overflow cafeteria, PJSTA President Beth Dimino shredded NYSED Commissioner John King, Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch, and New York State Senator John Flanagan. She first called out King for what his agenda is: child abuse. Then she urged Tisch to fire King, citing the 350 letters she has collected supporting this stance. Finally she warned Flanagan that he had “awoken the mommies” and that “The mommies in New York don’t abuse their children and they’re not going to let bullies do that either!” She walked off to a rousing standing ovation.

Tisch later stated to the crowd, “I know you are passionate. We hear you, we get it.” But of course we know she doesn’t. We know that as currently constituted, NYSED, the New York State Board of Regents, the state legislature, and the governor have no plans to abandon their abusive reform agenda. Plutocrats like Tisch stand to make far too much money to abandon the agenda. Instead they may make minor alterations that change very little. They will claim these alterations are examples of them listening to parents, students, and educators. Nobody will buy it. Their agenda is now crystal clear. Too many people can now see what’s going on here. That’s why nothing short of a full withdrawal from Race to the Top, the Common Core, and test based evaluations is acceptable. Not waivers for special needs students. Not a three year moratorium. Only a full withdrawal from the entire agenda is acceptable.

Community members like the ones who filled the auditorium last night can’t fire the puppet John King. We also can’t fire puppet master Merryl Tisch. But next November we can vote out John Flanagan. We can vote out Andrew Cuomo. Then we can let a new state government deal with Tisch.

Flanagan, who hid in his office two weeks ago when 1,000 people rallied outside, looked like he wanted to slither away and hide under a rock last night. Don’t let his arrogance fool you. He knows the days of shoo-in victories in his senate district are over. He knows, that palling around with John King and taking big money from Michelle Rhee have now attached him to this agenda as much as anybody else. He knows that next November he will have to answer for the child abuse that he has supported as the chairman of the New York State Senate’s Education Committee. He knows now that he has awoken the mommies!

There was a slew of coverage of last night’s event. Just a bit of it is below…

YouTube sensation Dimino:

Fox NY’s coverage.

Newsday’s story.

News12’s coverage.

Perdido Street School’s story.

Diane Ravitch’s story.

PJSTA President Beth Dimino Speaks at Ward Melville High School

PJSTA President Beth Dimino calls NYSED’s agenda “child abuse”, calls for John King’s firing, questions whether the cowardly John Flanagan is really hearing us, and receives a rousing standing ovation from 1,000+ people at tonight’s forum at Ward Melville High School. More follow up to come tomorrow. Enjoy the video below…

Nearly 1,000 Rally Against Senator Flanagan

The PJSTA’s thoughts on Flanagan.

click on a picture to enlarge

This afternoon, approximately 50 members of the PJSTA stood with nearly 1,000 people total at a rally outside of Senator John Flanagan’s office. Joining their teachers today were many Comsewogue parents and students, along with Superintendent Joe Rella and other district administrators.

Senator Flanagan is not just a representative of a portion of the Comsewogue School District, but also the chairman of the New York State Senate’s Education Committee. We have detailed Senator Flanagan’s failings many times before on this site. To recap, he has known ties to ALEC and accepted large amounts of out of state money last year from Michelle Rhee’s group, Students ~~Last~~ First. Along with others such as Andrew Cuomo and Merryl Tisch, he has been at the forefront of the movement to privatize public education in New York, using his position in the Senate to push legislation through the Senate that has inflicted great damage upon New York students.

The Patch has PJSTA President Beth Dimino calling Flanagan’s reforms child abuse. Flanagan attempts to deflect criticism in the article, citing his role as a parent of students who are through school already. But Flanagan’s actions tell the whole story. While 1,000 voters stood angrily in front of his office demanding to be heard, Flanagan cowardly hid in his office, refusing to come to the phone or come outside to address concerned constituents. But perhaps that’s because he and fellow coward John King are giving districts four minutes each (and not a second more!) to share their experience with the Common Core and high stakes testing at a forum at Ward Melville High School on November 12th.

Following the rally approximately 20 members of the PJSTA, along a member of the Port Jefferson Teachers Association decided that if Senator Flanagan wasn’t going to come out to hear them they would go in to visit him. Dimino very calmly shared with one of Mr. Flanagan’s aides a few of the concerns that we have after being told that Flanagan was “in a meeting.” It’s pretty laughable that as 1,000 constituents were rallying outside Flanagan’s office he had a meeting that was more pressing. Towards the end of the conversation the aide seemed to pretend that he knows nothing about the money that Flanagan received from Rhee. But let’s be clear, Rhee’s Sacramento based Students First group contributed $10,300 to Flanagan last November, topping the list of Flanagan’s “Top Contributors”.

Below is the video of the exchange (Thank you Michele Smith of the PJTA!)…

Flanagan and King at Ward Melville November 6th

I have no confidence in either of these buffoons.

**Update** The date of the meeting has been changed to November 12th.

On November 12th, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm, Senator Flanagan will be hosting a forum for his friend John King to address the Common Core. This is one of the forums that is being held in place of the PTA Town Hall meetings that King cowardly canceled earlier this month.

In the least surprising news of the morning, the meeting will not be open to the public. I repeat it will NOT be open to the public. Senator Flanagan, no friend of ours, has called each school district in his senatorial district and told them that they can invite two people to speak for two minutes each at this forum. Each district will be allowed to have 50 people total attend. No word on what will happen if somebody tries to speak for longer than two minutes. Or if thousands show up and attempt to get inside.

Once again John Flanagan is standing up for his friend John King. Placing the protection of King’s ego above giving his constituents a voice in their democracy. This is Flanagan and King’s way of placating parents and educators. Of throwing them a bone. They don’t really wanna hear from anyone, so they’ll only give a handful of people two minutes each to speak… then they’ll hope those people stop sending letters and making phone calls calling for King’s resignation and New York State’s withdrawal from Race to the Top.

John Flanagan is a politician of the worst kind. This is just one more reason to vote him out next November. Typically the Democrats run only a warm body against Flanagan. Hopefully next year they will choose more carefully and select a candidate who supports not just public education, but somebody who is interested in giving their constituents an opportunity to have their voice heard.

As a reminder, we will be picketing at Senator Flanagan’s office in Smithtown tomorrow afternoon from 3:30 to 5:00. Rain or shine. Please come. Tell everybody you know to come. We promise to give you more than two minutes to express your feelings!

November 1st- Save the Date!

On Friday, November 1st the PJSTA will be holding informational picketing outside the Smithtown office of Senator John Flanagan. Picketing will start at 3:30 pm.

Senator Flanagan, an ally of NYSED Commissioner John King, is one of two state senators who represents parts of the Comsewogue School District. Additionally he chairs the New York State Senate’s Committee on Education. He has been hosting hearings around the state on the effectiveness of New York State’s education reforms. The hearings, naturally, have been by invite only. Senator Flanagan makes sure he invites a representative from NYSED to every hearing. He has not invited a representative from Comsewogue. This picket will be an opportunity to make him hear us, whether he wants to or not. Tell him that we demand to be heard from. Tell him to stop hanging out with John King! Tell him to stop taking money from Michelle Rhee’s Students First! Tell him to stop taking his marching orders from ALEC and to start putting the people he represents first!

NYSED Commissioner John King and Senator Flanagan

What are Pols Saying About NYSED’s King?

A few state legislators have begun to weigh in on John King’s cowardly acts from last week.

State Senator Cecilia Tkaczyk writes…

Dear Dr. King,

I was greatly saddened to read about your decision to suspend four planned PTA-sponsored Town Hall Meetings on the Common Core.Common Core and the standardized testing mandates we’ve placed on our schools, teachers and students are among the most significant challenges ever faced by our public education system. They deserve a full airing, and those involved — parents, students and teachers in every part of the state — must have the opportunity to be a part of the process and to have their concerns addressed.One of the recurring complaints on common core and testing is that parents and teachers were not brought in to the planning process. To now refuse to hold future meetings would only reinforce the perception that State Education Department is forcing the curriculum without proper planning and public input.I think the Friday night meeting in Poughkeepsie can be taken as a teachable moment. I am certain that the Town Hall events can be structured in such a way that they provide for a useful give and take, and I strongly urge you to restore these community meetings. Further I am hopeful that you will attend an education forum I am hosting with other State Legislators on October 22, at Kingston High School from 5 pm to 7 pm.Your attendance would help assuage the frustrations, fears and concerns of the parents, teachers and school administrators in my district.Sincerely,

State Senator Jack Martins has a lengthy reply here, and ends with this…

At the moment New York needs a caring pragmatist willing to address real concerns raised by caring parents and educators who see a system being manipulated from above to the detriment of their children. Unfortunately, we have John King. He should immediately reschedule these forums or he should immediately resign.

State Senator Timothy Kennedy urged King to reschedule the meetings.

It should be mentioned that State Assemblyman Steve Englebright initially called for King’s resignation in August. He was ahead of the curve!

The state senators representing Comsewogue have been curiously silent. However, they say a picture speaks a thousand words…

Firing John King isn’t Enough

When Cuomo/Tisch water boy John King is fired they’ll just look for a new lackey to do their dirty work.

By now it is clear that John King will likely be fired as the New York State Education Department Commissioner. Let’s recap why…

King was speaking last Thursday at what was to be the first of several PTA Town Hall meetings intended to act as a Q & A on the Common Core State Standards. The meetings were supposed to be an hour of King presenting and an hour of questions from the audience.
King spoke for over an hour and a half. When parents started to ask questions and and express anger during the remaining time, King spoke down to them and continuously told them that they needed to be quiet and listen to him. That made them angrier.
On Friday King cancelled the remaining PTA Town Hall meetings scheduled for the rest of the state.
King released a statement in which he referred to parents and educators as “special interests.”

In the interim nobody has come to King’s defense. Not his friend Andrew Cuomo. Not his good pal Merryl Tisch. Not his first day of school friend John Flanagan. Not surprisingly they have been in hiding since King went off the deep end.

While King’s friends have been off cowering in remote corners of the state, educators and parents have become further incensed. First at being so arrogantly dismissed by King and then by being labeled “special interests” by the guy who bows down to the all mighty Pearson. Their outrage is beginning to reach a fevered pitch and cannot go unanswered for much longer.

By this time it is almost certain that King will get the ax. Deservedly so. He has almost zero experience as an educator and is clearly in over his head. The powers that be, namely Cuomo and Tisch, will see to it that King is made an example of. But that won’t be enough because the real problem here isn’t John King. John King is merely a lackey. He is the water boy for the big players in the education deform movement. He exists simply to do the dirty work of Cuomo and Tisch. If he is fired he will simply be replaced with another reformy type.

Without John King we will still have the Common Core. Without John King we will still have the same high stakes testing. Without John King we still have Race to the Top, a junk science APPR, and a crippling tax cap. Without John King we are left with the same industry of trash that we have now… minus John King.

Cuomo and Tisch are the big guns. They are the ones setting the agenda. Cuomo taking money from hedge fund managers as he seeks presidential glory in 2016. Tisch as she seeks to further line the pockets of her fellow plutocrats.

So by all means, call for the firing of John King. Contact all of your elected officials about it. Scream and yell. Get mad. His behavior was an outrage and he deserves to be fired. But don’t stop there. Because that should just be the tip of the iceberg. 2014 is an election year. For Cuomo, for Flanagan, for Ken Lavalle, another enemy of public ed, and for the entire state legislator. If you really want to enact change, begin by voting them all out. A King firing is a victory, but a minor one at that. It is an action that should serve only to embolden teachers and parents. A sign that it’s time to ratchet up the heat on the ones pulling the strings.

Senator Flanagan’s Hearings: Round 1

Yesterday was Senator Flanagan’s first scheduled hearing on New York State’s Reform Agenda. I didn’t have the ability to be there as I was teaching, however I did have the good fortune of hearing about it from people who were there.

To summarize, the meeting began with Senator Flanagan showing up late. When you are as important as John J. Flanagan you can make people wait… and then make sure they use a deferential tone when addressing you. Senator Flanagan, who represents parts of the Comsewogue School District, then allowed one of his pal John King’s minions to pontificate about how wonderful the reforms are working in New York State. After that representative from NYSED took so much time to present, the other individuals invited to testify were told there wasn’t time for them to provide their entire testimony and that they should essentially try to summarize it.

The remaining invitees consisted of administrators, school board members, some parents, and one teacher. But really, who wants to hear from teachers?! Across the board the testimony lambasted the reforms. Jeanette Deutermann, a parent leader from the Long Island Opt-Out group seemed to give the most impassioned plea against the reforms, citing their impact on her children.

James Gounaris, Board of Education President of the Herricks School District, talked about how incredible Herricks is and then threw other school districts under the bus saying, “The new state mandates while understandably necessary for New York City and continually low achieving school districts like Hempstead and Roosevelt actually prevent school districts like Herricks to continue its great work.” Right. Damaging reforms are bad for Herricks but they are fine for poor districts.

Senator Flanagan has three more scheduled hearings around the state (10/1 in Syracuse, 10/16 in Buffalo, and 10/29 in New York City).

Apparently some of the lawmakers in attendance expressed concern over the reforms and their implementation. It is absolutely crucial that we continue to let them know that their jobs will be on the line over this issue. It’s time to ratchet up the pressure on them. Let them know that they represent us. If we endure another year of catastrophic education policy in New York State, these state legislators should pay with their jobs next Election Day.

News 12 covered the event.

You can read all of the testimonies, as they were intended to be read, here.

Senator Flanagan and John King

BFF’s John King and John Flanagan yuk it up in Hauppauge.

Via the Hauppauge Patch…

Last week, on the first day of school, Senator Flanagan, no friend of education, and NYSED Commissioner John King, who should be fired, visited Hauppauge Middle School and Pines Elementary School together. The purpose of their visit was to ~~see how well their plans to destroy public education are progressing~~ “observe classes and facilities and talk with students and faculty.”

“I was impressed with the school, where you have an energetic, committed principal [and] teachers who are clearly committed to kids’ success,” King said following his visit to Hauppauge Middle School.

I wonder how many of those teachers who were “energetic” and “committed” got “ineffective” growth scores according to King’s plan? Even the most “energetic” and “committed” can be rated “ineffective” under King’s plan, given the fact that figuring out a growth score is akin to playing “Pin the Tale on the Donkey”.

King, a former history teacher himself, said he was thrilled to see such an engaging experience in which one of the two teachers was dressed in historical attire while discussing public policy issues with his students.

While I am sure it was a great lesson, I wish the teacher was empowered enough to facilitate a lesson where the students could ask the Commissioner and Senator why they were selling their education to the highest bidder. It’s irritating to see teachers putting on a dog and pony show for these phonies rather than standing up for their profession and using the opportunity to explain to King and Flanagan how destructive their policies are to students and teachers. I can’t understand how any public school in New York State makes itself a welcoming place for John King.

“That’s exactly what Common Core is looking for us to do,” Fletcher said. “To pull experiences together instead of learning in little chunks. It’s really looking for bigger ideas and asking kids to make connections to other things.”

It’s also bothersome when you see administrators who simply act as a shill for people like King, who are seeking to destroy their profession. It would be refreshing if more administrators were as courageous as superintendent Joe Rella and principal Carol Burris.

“It was great to hear their excitement about school,” King said. “They were excited about school, about specific classes, about technology class. … That’s always nice to see, when kids are really engaged with school. I could also see how the enrichment activities matter a lot to them, whether the thing they’re most excited about is sports … or music. We’ve got to make sure we protect those things in all of our schools.”

It’s comical to believe that King would make this statement when his unfunded mandate policies are forcing districts to gut these very programs.

Remember, today is the first of Flanagan’s four “public” hearings throughout the State. He has an “invite only” list of people who will be allowed to speak at these meetings. If you want your voice to be heard, be sure to submit your written testimony. Otherwise, Flanagan and the people who agree with him will be the only opinions heard. In the coming months, we will provide you with other opportunities to let Senator Flanagan hear your voice.

Senator Flanagan and his pal Michelle Rhee

Just a reminder that every PJSTA member should be writing their letters to Senator John Flanagan. To recap, Flanagan, whose top campaign contributor last year was Michelle Rhee‘s Students ~~Last~~ First with a contribution of $10,300, is the head of the New York State Senate’s Education Committee. He is holding hearings around the state to inform his committee about how the education “reforms” are working. You know, the ones based on junk science? The ones that are leading Governor Cuomo to put schools on death row? Those “reforms”. The hearings are by “invite only”. Guess who isn’t invited? That’s right, real teachers. However, we can submit written testimony. Any written testimony must become part of the permanent record and all members of the committee will receive copies of it. Therefore we can make our voices heard in that manner. It is important that we all participate in this action and encourage our friends to do the same. To download a form letter for submission visit Students, Not Scores! After you finish your letter please give it to a building rep.

Finally, at a recent Rhee town hall event a student had this to say…