Senator Flanagan, Chair of the NY State Senate Education Committee, has officially posted four public meeting dates to meet with NY State taxpayers to speak to the issue of the common core and high stakes testing. The problem is Mr. Flanagan will only allow the people he invites to be the speakers at the meeting and he is limiting his scope to only four locations throughout the State.
Here’s an opportunity for everyone in the State to have their opinion appear in the public record of these public meetings, without an invitation from Mr. Flanagan.
We have created a form letter, that meets the strict submission guidelines for written testimony at public hearings.
You can download the letters from the Students Not Scores site. You do not need to email them if you are a PJSTA member. Once you change the letter to insert your information, print it out. Building reps will be collecting them once school begins and PJSTA President Beth Dimino will be delivering them in person on September 17th. I’m sure Mr. Flanagan will be happy to see her!
Senator Flanagan has set the date for the Senate Standing Committee on Education’s hearing to assess how their reform agenda has gone so far. I could save them a lot of time and tell them that it stinks, but given the fact that Flanagan set the hearing for Tuesday, September 17th from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm, I am guessing he is not looking for input from real educators.
Flanagan’s committee will also host hearings on October 1st (Syracuse), October 16th (Buffalo), and October 29th (NYC). All school days. All during school hours. Hopefully some of the non-teacher attendees of the “Students Not Scores!” rally will be available to meet member’s of the Senate’s committee on their way in and let them know how they feel about the school “reforms”.
John J. Flanagan- ENEMY OF PUBLIC ED- use a deferential tone when speaking to him!
Way back in July, before Dr. Rella became a celebrity, before we called for John King’s firing, and before we rallied for public ed, we announced a new series of posts that we would be writing this year. That series would be broken into two parts. One part titled “Know Your Friends” (KYF) and one titled “Know Your Enemies” (KYE). The first post of the series was a “Know Your Friends” detailing a dear friend of public education, Diane Ravitch. Today we pull back the curtain on our first “Know Your Enemies” post.
Our first KYE post is a special two for one edition featuring two of our most local politicians, New York State Senators John J. Flanagan and Ken LaValle. Each of these state senators represent parts of the Comsewogue School District. Each of these politicians received one of Dr. Rella’s letters regarding the scores of the NYS Common Core tests. Each of these senators could not be bothered to show up to the rally because they do not support the will of their constituents and the rally message “Students, Not Scores”.
We will discuss LaValle first. He issued this statement the day before Saturday’s #SNSRally. There are a few problems with this statement…
I met with those parents, listened to their concerns, and also met with representatives of the State’s Education Department.
He chose not to meet with any actual teachers who, you know, proctored the exams and teach the content the students are responsible for?! Surely those reps from NYSED included the reformy John King and others of his ilk… people who are selling NY State’s public education system to the highest bidder.
I agree that the implementation of the Common Core could have been better handled
Perhaps LaValle meant. “It could have been handled better. But we were really in a rush to get this system in place so that we can start firing teachers sooner rather than later. If it hurts the children in the process, so be it… I have a political agenda and I am not going to let common sense stand in the way of it!”
The bill also requires the Commissioner of the State Education Department to report, annually to the Legislature about: the effectiveness of Common Core state tests in enhancing student learning and performance
The commissioner already tells us that our Common-Core assessments are “very high quality”. I am just dying to hear his report to the legislature.
Now onto John J. Flanagan. Senator Flanagan, representing the 2nd Senate District, also chairs the New York State Senate Standing Committee on Education. No wonder public education is a mess. He also was a recipient of Dr. Rella’s letter. While LaValle issued a cop-out statement, Flanagan didn’t even bother. Maybe he was busy basking in the glow of his “Pet Lemon Law“. He did contact Rella privately. You can read between the lines to figure out how that went.
Additionally, the PJSTA knows from it’s own personal experience that Senator John J. Flanagan is no friend of ours.
A little while back PJSTA President Beth Dimino went to Flanagan’s office with the rest of the Suffolk NYSUT contingency during a NYSUT Committee of 100 event. This was right after the Comsewogue cap budget failed to get 60%. During the meeting Dimino confronted Flanagan about the fact that he supported the tax cap. She told him that as a New York State Senator that represents Comsewogue and as the head of New York State Senate Standing Committee on Education that he was directly responsible for the fact that we would have to eliminate programs, have larger class sizes, lay off teachers and reconfigure our elementary schools, even though 59% of the voters didn’t want these things to happen. She was respectful in her presentation, though in typical Dimino fashion she was passionate and didn’t sugar coat anything. He was not pleased with what she had to say or the way that she spoke to him. At the end of the meeting Dimino went up to him and when he shook her hand she presented him with a gift. She gave him one of these pins…
The pin Dimino gave to Flanagan.
Mrs. Dimino told him that the gift was a pin from Comsewogue and the PJSTA and that she hoped he would wear it. Flanagan was furious. He proceeded to complain about her to a NYSUT official and then he called a Comsewogue School District official. Flanagan told the NYSUT official what she said and demanded that Dimino needed speak to him in a more deferential tone in the future. He asked the district official to “get control of” Dimino. The individual told Flanagan that if he had actually knew Dimino he would know that no one was going to control her!
So please make sure that when speaking to King Senator Flanagan you are deferential enough. He is after all an extremely important guy. He will even tell you so himself.
As the chairman of the New York State Senate Standing Committee on Education, Flanagan will be holding hearings throughout New York State in the coming months to review the impact and effectiveness of recent education reforms. Of course he could skip the hearings and just walk into any school and a teacher could tell him how destructive these education “reforms” have been. The first hearing is scheduled to be right here on Long Island. His office informed me that the hearing will take place during the second week in September and is by invite only. By waiting until the school year has started Flanagan has a built in excuse not to invite many real teachers to the hearing. That would be a disaster of course because then he wouldn’t get to hear what he wants to hear. Holding these hearings without real educators is akin to seeking medical advice from your dog. But we already know that public education is a rigged game and John J. Flanagan is making sure that he does everything he can to rig it in the favor billionaires, corporations, and potential big money donors.
Senator Flanagan, like Senator LaValle will likely be running for re-election again in 2014. He too is an enemy of public education. He too should be voted out.
An estimated 2,000 people converged on Comsewogue High School yesterday to tell the powers that be what they should do with the Common Core State Standards. The crowd, a mixture of teachers, administrators, parents, students, and other concerned citizens turned out despite only having a week to organize the rally.
Speaking at the rally were Comsewogue Board Trustee Ali Gordon, PJSTA President Beth Dimino, NYSUT President Dick Ianuzzi, Comsewogue Superintendent Dr. Joseph Rella, Comsewogue High School student Arya Hezarkani, parent Gina Renard, New York State Assemblymen Steve Englebright and Al Graf, and former Suffolk County Legislator Vivian Viloria-Fisher.
Perhaps the highlight of the rally was Assemblymen Englebright saying, “Somebody’s head should be on the block and it should be John King!” He was right of course, but he neglected to mention King’s host of other ed deform cronies: Barack Obama, Arne Duncan, Andy Cuomo, John J. Flanagan, Ken LaValle, Chris Christie, Cory Booker, Mike Bloomberg, Merryl Tisch…. and the list goes on and on and on.
PJSTA members should be taking the next few days to bombard their elected officials with their feelings on these matters. Ask them if they are with us or against us. Tell them there is no middle ground. They will earn our votes or they won’t. It should be noted that 2,000 people at a rally in Comsewogue is a nice turnout with only a week’s notice. However it is hardly enough. It’s nice to gather together, make signs, wear green laces, show our community and union pride, and scream and shout a bit. However it all means nothing without sustained further action. The PJSTA will again provide you with ample opportunities in the coming school year to work towards our agenda. It’s time for you to decide whether or not you are willing to get involved. Yesterday was the fun part. Today the work starts.
Just a reminder, not that you should need it, that tomorrow is the “Students, Not Scores!” rally that grew out of Dr. Rella’s letters following the release of the NYS Common Core test scores. The rally begins at 12:00 and is at Comsewogue High School. There is an enormous crowd expected, so carpool, arrive early, and park wherever you can. Speaking will be Dr. Rella, PJSTA President Beth Dimino, NYSUT President Dick Ianuzzi, and several others. New York State Assemblymen Steven Englebright and Al Graf will be there in support. Kudos to politicians willing to put their neck on the line to stand up for what’s right. Be sure to thank them and to vote for them if you live in their district. Not all politicians have the guts to do what they are doing (I am looking at you John J. Flanagan and Ken LaValle!)
Spend some time to make some signs tonight for tomorrow’s rally. Be creative. Have fun. I know of at least one group of PJSTA members having a sign making party tonight. If you want in let us know in the comments or email Beth Dimino.
Be sure to wear your PJSTA garb tomorrow (or BAT apparel if you are cool enough to own any!)
There is not much more to be said. Tomorrow has been a long time coming. The general public is finally catching on to what teachers have known for several years now. To quote Karen Lewis, who seemed to speak for all of us during the CTU strike last year, “We’re tired of being bullied, belittled, and betrayed. We have done everything asked of us, yet we continue to be vilified and treated with disrespect.” Tomorrow’s your chance to fight back. I know I wouldn’t miss it for the world!
Some new links of note:
Students Not Scores! now has a website! Click here to view it and sign the petition.
Port Jefferson School District Superintendent, Dr. Ken Bossert weighs in on test scores here. Feel free to set the commenters straight.
The UFT’s MORE Caucus has been a tremendous help in getting the word out about this rally. Please visit their site. They stand for everything that is right in education and we would all benefit if they were at the helm of the country’s largest teachers union.
Yesterday Diane Ravitch called for the resignation of New York State’s Education Commissioner John King. Assemblyman Steve Englebright agreed. Ravitch encouraged us to contact the New York State Board of Regents and encourage them to call for King’s resignation. On Long Island our representative is Regent Tilles. The chancellor of the board is Merryl Tisch. Yesterday I emailed Tisch and Cc’d Tisch. Below is my letter, followed by Tilles’ response.
Dear Regent Tilles,
I write to you today as a deeply concerned citizen, parent, and educator. Under the guidance of Commissioner John King the quality of education in New York State has taken a dramatic turn for the worse. As currently constituted, public education does a great disservice to the development of our children and has the ability to deeply scar an entire generation of students, putting the future of our state in grave danger. This obviously is not something that should be taken lightly and is a matter that requires immediate attention.
As a veteran educator who proctored two of New York State’s Common Core assessments this year, I was mortified by what I saw. Not only the inappropriate and misleading context of the exams, but the emotional impact on my students. What’s worse is that my experience was typical of the myriad of colleagues who I discussed this with.
As the father of a daughter who is not yet of school age, I am truly petrified of what I will be sending her to when she is ready for kindergarten. As a public educator it breaks my heart to say that. Our children are truly the most important parts of our lives. I am sure you can understand my sentiment.
Although I have Cc’d Regent Tisch on this email, I know that she is a lost cause. She has proved time and again that she is there solely to cater to corporations and individuals who seek to destroy public education. Unfortunately career educators such as myself do not have the financial wherewithal to bend her ear. So I am appealing to you, as you are my representative. Please, before it is too late, do everything in your power to fire Commissioner John King and do all that you can to help save public education.
Tilles’ response…
Thank you for your input. I have read several like letters.while most know where I stand on the issues involved I don’t believe the Regents are ready to take the action requested. Working with our LI legislators we need to come up to a satisfactory solution to the concerns raised.
We were
fortunate enough to grab a few thoughts from Dr. Rella on his
recent celebrity, his interaction with our elected officials,
mainstream media’s creative filtering, and most importantly, what
we can do to continue to stand up for public education.
Dr. Rella
PJSTA: You obviously
couldn’t have imagined that your letter to elected officials would
go viral as it did. When you sat down to write it what were
you hoping to be able to accomplish?
RELLA: Last Thursday, I wrote a letter to each of our state
legislators in light of the release of the test
scores. I also wrote a letter to our parents in
anticipation of the avalanche of negative press and press releases
from the State – lots of spin and magical thinking. I
posted them on our district
website Thursday evening. On a normal weekend
in early August, it would get about 30
hits. By Friday morning I was getting emails
from all over Long Island, California, Louisiana, Indonesia,
etc. Apparently, my words have found resonance beyond
Comsewogue.
PJSTA: What has surprised
you most about the response to the letter?
RELLA:There’s
one common theme. It was expressed best by a
teacher:
I am an elementary teacher in the Plainview
School District for almost 30 years. I cried when I read your
letter. It was such a relief to read that someone influential (like
yourself) in a school district gets it!
Thanks for being so “right-on” in your
appraisal of the current testing situation and for speaking so
eloquently for me.
Most appreciatively,
I cried when I read her
email!
PJSTA: When did you realize
that it was going to be a rallying point for groups who support
public education?
RELLA:By the
weekend people from around the Island – more
correctly, teachers, from around the Island
–were emailing and calling. Teachers who have
set up major blogs, etc.
PJSTA: Which elected
officials did you write to?
RELLA:Our three
local legislators, Senators LaValle and Flanagan
and Assemblyman Englebright.
PJSTA: Have they all
responded to you? If so, what have their responses
been?
RELLA:I spoke
with all three. They understood my
points.
PJSTA: When you say they
understand your point, are they in agreement with you? Did
they express to you whether or not they are supportive of the
Common Core and it’s implementation or is it something that they
oppose?
RELLA:Let
me phrase it this way. Steve Engelbright said that
he supports the views I expressed in my letter. He
said he would be proud to stand next to me in the “public square”
and do just that. He’s coming on
Saturday. I’m proud to know him.
PJSTA: Why should people
attend Saturday’s rally?
RELLA: The Common Core implementation and testing is hurting
children. We need to stop it now. We need to
fix it now. If it can’t be fixed – we need to SCRAP
IT! STOP IT – FIX IT – or SCRAP
IT!
PJSTA: What would make the
rally a success in your eyes?
RELLA:We’re
going to need hundreds of thousands of emails, tweets, etc. to get
to the Governor, Commissioner, Regents, and the legislature.
The rally last June had over 10,000 people – it didn’t get a single
word of coverage down here. The traditional media is
OUT. The power of social media is the way we will communicate
with those hundreds of thousands. In fact, that’s why I’m
doing this here, on the PJSTA blog.
Channel 12’s editorial director was looking to
speak with me. They’re done. The filtering is too much
for me. Last Sunday’s NEWSDAY had a
two sentence quote from my letter. Given the tone of the
article, it looked like I was saying: “I can’t understand why so
many of our kids failed.” I can perfectly understand
it. The Commissioner told us last fall that it would happen,
he designed a test to make it happen, and then it happened.
I’m done with them.
PJSTA: What can people do
after the rally? What is the next step?
RELLA:Contact
that group above – weekly! An email or a tweet is no big
deal. We’ll probably have a “day” to do it en masse.
Numbers matter. The first question I was asked by one of our
legislators was: “How many emails did you
get?” With apologies to Will Shakespeare: They have
taught us well but we “will better the
instruction.”
PJSTA: Have you now
eclipsed Clinton Kelly as the most famous
person from Comsewogue?
RELLA: LOL.
PJSTA: Any final words or
thoughts?
RELLA:WE (ALL of
us collectively) ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN GET THIS
DONE. Up until now, no group has gotten it done – NOT
the educational leadership – schoolboards, superintendents,
administrators – NOT the unions – NYSUT, UFT, AFT, NOT the
parents. NOT our State representatives. ONLY
COLLECTIVELY DO WE HAVE A SHOT AT DOING THIS. Also, keep
in mind that none of the rhetoric used in the past has
worked. Time to try something
different
No one is going to help
us – EXCEPT ALL OF US TOGETHER
Thanks again to Dr. Rella for taking time out of his busy schedule
to provide us with his thoughts. We are looking forward to
throngs of people at Saturday’s rally. Just a reminder it
will be at Comsewogue High School at 12:00 pm.
For more information on the rally you can follow Students Not
Scores on Twitter or use the hashtag #studentsnotscores.
We learned today that neither John Flanagan nor Ken Lavalle will be attending Saturday’s rally. The rally came about after Dr. Rella’s letter to elected officials, including New York State Senators Flanagan and Lavalle, was picked up by local residents supporting public education. Perhaps Senator Flanagan was told by ALEC not to attend? A representative for Senator Lavalle claimed, “his schedule fills up quickly.” More on these two phonies to come.
The Official Website of the PJSTA 