tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81553930734846849282024-03-14T05:57:06.192-07:00The Pen is Mightier than the PersonPro-Education, Pro-Worker, Anti-Bullshit
sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-83602144004717847992018-09-10T10:55:00.000-07:002018-09-10T10:55:46.232-07:00Andrew Cuomo is Mr. Anonymous (no, not that one)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKrZlQJgHhGUKCbbQi8MAE5640QaK9I7Dz9eoofWkUskxsNq3Vsqn1Jzjr5vlhqhj3DocsDzMfM-zlzeIlEKx84EMoSlhcH-AaGXelrVoGTKat18V56gdeZ8r6WwYbH17Oosd7lQqvnc/s1600/koch-cuomo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="600" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKrZlQJgHhGUKCbbQi8MAE5640QaK9I7Dz9eoofWkUskxsNq3Vsqn1Jzjr5vlhqhj3DocsDzMfM-zlzeIlEKx84EMoSlhcH-AaGXelrVoGTKat18V56gdeZ8r6WwYbH17Oosd7lQqvnc/s400/koch-cuomo.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ed Koch and Mario Cuomo before a mayoral debate </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />New York City, 1977.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">With Reggie Jackson calling shots, the race for mayor was on between Cuomo and Koch.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Mario Cuomo had decided that he wanted to be the mayor, <i>before</i> becoming three-time governor of the state. The race against Ed Koch got so close that Cuomo's 19-year-old son Andrew (Andy) got involved. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Andy was bold, Andy was brash. He wore his hair high, and his collars even higher. One could never have too much starch, after all. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Andrew Cuomo, circa 1977</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-align: center;"><br />But starch was no match for the wrath of Koch, who pummeled Cuomo by nine points, commencing his first of three terms as New York City mayor.</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />It seems young Andy didn't go down without a fight, however. In the midst of his father losing the Democratic nomination, Andy sunk lower than a rat on the F train by attacking Koch's sex life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Back then, Koch was in the closet (along with many other 50-something single guys). He certainly didn't need some douchebag outing him in the middle of Queens Boulevard. But that's exactly what Andy Cuomo did, when one Saturday night he and his goons plastered this anonymously written flyer up and down the Boulevard of Death: </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc6ZxeWrLz8SDwEBK6bfDTStQvMq-aJyJBqCx4ptHr0E8I6Ko56awlxylgGuAbw5l8NmYjRd9FoYB4YrJQqqk6Y6VwnZOczKHh3YQNEPV4dESH7IjstBNYuKWTyDSs8N0ZG1juvlJn8ek/s1600/CR8-ORsU8AAOKgR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="764" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc6ZxeWrLz8SDwEBK6bfDTStQvMq-aJyJBqCx4ptHr0E8I6Ko56awlxylgGuAbw5l8NmYjRd9FoYB4YrJQqqk6Y6VwnZOczKHh3YQNEPV4dESH7IjstBNYuKWTyDSs8N0ZG1juvlJn8ek/s640/CR8-ORsU8AAOKgR.jpg" width="477" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Did Andy do it out of desperation for his father's dying candidacy? <br /><br />Probably.<br /><br />But that doesn't explain, nor extinguish, the raging homophobia inside of young Andy. Fear can win elections, but not before leading to desperate doings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was this type of fear that Andy (now <i>Governor</i> Andrew Cuomo) exploited some 30 years later in a desperate <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2014/12/as-unions-protest-cuomo-promises-to-fire-bad-teachers-018537" target="_blank">attempt</a> to turn the public against New York State teachers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Yes, teachers. <br /><br />Let me explain. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Cuomo, forgetting that he was a Democrat, tried to "break" the teachers union, who opposed non-unionized charter schools, something Cuomo's wealthy donors could not abide. Teachers were also against someone like Andy Cuomo deciding how they would be evaluated, a draconian, impractical system that is sadly still in place today. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On New Year's Eve 2014, with teachers protesting outside of his Albany mansion and Mario on his deathbed back home, Cuomo declared: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>I understand the union’s issue; they don’t want anyone fired. But we have teachers that have been found guilty of sexually abusing students who we can’t get out of the classroom. We have a process where literally it takes years and years to get a bad teacher out of the classroom.</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The last time this blog checked, New York does <i>not</i> have an epidemic of perverted teachers in classrooms. Sure, there are some, but there are also some perverted priests, doctors, and yes, politicians (see <i>Weiner, Anthony</i>). And if Governor "I used to be the attorney general" Cuomo was aware of "guilty" sex abusers working with children, why didn't he have them arrested, or at the very least, remove their teaching licenses? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Further, in case you're not convinced that Cuomo wrote the infamous Koch flyer, his words about teachers in 2014 sound remarkably similar to those which polluted Queens Boulevard back in 1977. <br /><br />As a public service, <i>The Pen is Mightier the Person </i>was able to magnify the Koch flyer to a degree where its author's identity is obvious:<br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />In case your reading glasses just failed you, here is the above text, which makes some eerie and familiar references to teachers: </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>There are much worst things in store for New York State if Koch ever became governor. If Koch ever became governor he would force schools, both private and public, all over the state to hire homosexual child-molesters as teachers. He has already shown, at the very least, that he has no objection to homosexual child-molesting in the public schools. Recently some New York City public school teachers went on record publicly identifying themselves and coming out in favor of the "right" of male teachers to commit sodomy on underage boys. The only reservation these teachers have is that sodomy should not take place in the school itself and it should not occur between a teacher and his own students.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It seems Andy was just as concerned about perverted teachers in 1977 as he was in 2014. But don't think for a second that Cuomo's concern sprang from some gallant desire to protect children from abuse. No, Cuomo's concern was all about getting and keeping power - for his father in 1977, and for himself in 2014.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Like any cynical politician, Andy Cuomo tries to use fear to enrage and activate the electorate. Fear of gays, fear of predatory teachers - these are fair to inflame when the governor's mansion is at stake. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Cuomo recently fired up this fear once again in his Democratic primary race against Cynthia Nixon. This time, Cuomo <a href="https://nypost.com/2018/09/09/cuomo-denies-knowing-about-mailer-blasting-nixon-as-anti-semite/" target="_blank">had his goons</a> in the New York Democratic Party mail an anonymous flyer to Queens Boulevard, and many parts beyond:</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Conceived by Cuomo, paid for by the New York Democratic Committee </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In the spirit of the Jewish New Year, Cuomo thought manipulating legitimate fears of anti-Semitism was a good way to win a third term as governor. The problem with this, among many other problems, is that Cynthia Nixon is so anti-Semitic that she's raising her kids as Jews. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Since 1977, Andy Cuomo has used slime to ensnare voters and elevate his ego. Sadly, New Yorkers only have themselves to blame, as voter turnout has been pathetically low.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And though Nixon's chances of beating Cuomo are about as good as hitting three home runs in a World Series game, if enough people vote for the Homo and <i>not</i> the Cuomo, civility will win the day once again.<br /></span><br />
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sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-71106985131398290962017-02-20T05:06:00.001-08:002017-02-20T05:16:14.479-08:00Lillis, Pallotta, to Challenge Magee for NYSUT President <div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br />The political winds aren't brisk enough so let's throw a NYSUT election into the mix.<br /><br />Come April 8, current NYSUT president Karen Magee will either be out of a job or preparing to run the union <strike>into the ground</strike> for another three years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Magee's two challengers are in it for the wrong and right reasons, respectively. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">First for the wrong. Al</span><span style="font-size: large;">though he teamed up with her on the <strike>sham </strike><a href="http://iceuftblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/nysut-election-results-revive-wins-more.html" target="_blank">successful</a> Revive NYSUT slate in 2014, </span><span style="font-size: large;">current NYSUT Executive Vice President and <a href="http://perdidostreetschool.blogspot.com/2015/11/andy-pallotta-has-sads-over-blog-post.html" target="_blank">semi-regular</a> reader of this blog Andrew "Andy" Pallotta is now trying to throw Magee under the same bus that ran over her predecessor, Dick Iannuzzi. <br /><br />The problem is that Pallotta has been driving the bus both times. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Evidently, Pallotta is finally serious about reviving NYSUT, and thinks he's got what it takes to lead public education to the promised land. </span><span style="font-size: large;">His eight-year record as a NYSUT officer, however, belies any serious hope that Pallotta can help pull schools back from the brink. <br /><br />As NYSUT Executive Vice President, Pallotta's main charge has been to lobby legislators on behalf of working teachers, and at least earn a legitimate victory every once and a while. <br /><br />Since 2009, however, New York teachers have faced loss after loss, with Governor Andy Cuomo and the state legislator callously attacking teacher pensions and due process rights while spewing Common Core tests across the state. Thanks to Cuomo's Education Transformation Act, for example, trumped-up charges are now all it takes to fire tenured teachers and hand their schools off to voucher school villains. Meanwhile, s</span><span style="font-size: large;">uburban and rural districts are pinned-down by an insolvency-inducing tax cap, while urban schools are <a href="http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/12/01/nyc-public-school-cafeterias-dirty/" target="_blank">flush with rats</a> instead of cash. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">But it's not like Pallotta hasn't tried. In fact, just last year he spent $109,600 (the maximum amount) of voluntary member donations (VOTE-COPE) on Republicans in the New York Senate, whose leader - John Flanagan - recently <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/flanagan-signs-letter-supporting-trump-education-secretary-pick-article-1.2959251" target="_blank">pledged allegiance</a> to Betsy DeVos, President Trump's toxic secretary of education. It's safe to say that whatever campaign cash Flanagan and his flunkies received from NYSUT was spent on obliterating any compassion they had left for public education - the platform of American democracy. <br /><br />Speaking of President Trump, Pallotta is a former member of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), which recently took the absurd action of striking any references to Trump from a union resolution, opting to refer to Trump only as "<a href="http://nyceducator.com/search?q=the+presidential+election" target="_blank">the presidential election</a>." Pallotta's pals in the UFT were apparently too afraid to offend public school teachers who voted for Trump, otherwise known as <i>Those Who Should Know Better</i>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And it's this kind of kowtowing that's placed teachers and their unions exactly where they are today - begging for scraps at the laps of people whose names they won't even whisper.<br /><br />This is America, and our freedoms should include permission to criticize our leaders. Any educator who delays speaking truth to power is only running toward the inevitable cries of "<i>Would've, could've, should've!</i>" as their careers careen into flames.<br /><br />Magee's second challenger, on the other hand, is not afraid to say Donald Trump's name. A high School </span><span style="font-size: large;">physics teacher and current President of the Lakeland Federation of Teachers (LFT), Mike Lillis has experience which Andy Pallotta severely lacks - running a classroom </span><i style="font-size: x-large;">while </i><span style="font-size: large;">running a union in the dark age of school deform. Lillis also has a good-old fashioned obsession with facts and data, which he has used to help unravel and reveal the fleecing of public education. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br />The attacks on schools can be boiled down to one number - 1630 - which equals the <i>average</i> score New York State expects students to achieve on the SAT. Only 34% of students who take the SAT, however, achieve this score, and your third-grader will not be one of them unless she scores a 3 on tests Cuomo himself once called "meaningless." Subpar students naturally means subpar teachers, whose subpar schools will soon be transformed into subpar <a href="http://gizmodo.com/trumps-new-education-secretary-wants-more-virtual-schoo-1792471509" target="_blank">websites</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In a world of alternative facts, 1630 is an indisputable digit which represents all that is wrong with school deform. <br /><br />Sadly, when Lillis brought this bogus benchmark before the New York State Education Department (NYSED) and Commissioner MaryEllen Elia, crickets filled the room. After all, everyone had always assumed that "college and career ready" meant whatever Bill Gates wanted it to mean, and did not originate from say, some arbitrary test score. NYSED promised to "get back to" Lillis with an explanation, and he's still waiting. Lillis did get the Commissioner to admit that the teacher evaluation system was "<a href="http://sullio.blogspot.com/2015/10/ny-education-commissioner-calls-teacher.html" target="_blank">random</a>", however, a both hilarious and horrifying admission from the state's top education official.<br /><br />Joining Lillis on the ST slate of candidates are Bianca Tanis, who's running for Pallotta's old position, Megan DeLaRosa (1st Vice President), and Nate Hathaway (Secretary/Treasurer). Like Lillis, all of them are full-time teachers and unionists, and all of them care deeply about their profession, on personal and professional levels. <br /></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Fearsome Foursome (clockwise from top left): Lillis, Tanis, Hathaway, DeLaRosa</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />All of them are also leaders of the opt-out movement, an unprecedented act of civil disobedience which has pushed back against the privatization of public education. As a founder of New York State Allies for Public Education (<a href="http://www.nysape.org/" target="_blank">NYSAPE</a>), Bianca Tanis has traveled the state and <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/04/health/school-testing-alternatives-measure-progress/" target="_blank">appeared</a> on national television to educate teachers and parents on the standardized threats their schools face. This dedication alone has given working teachers more hope than Andy Pallotta could ever hope to give. </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />Even amid the lunacy of a Trump presidency, t</span><span style="font-size: large;">he existential threats faced by NYSUT and teachers in general cannot be minimized. This election should at least help expose those threats to a public flogging of logic and the altruism of educators. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Lillis and ST recognize these threats, and want schools to persevere and prosper. They know, for instance, that the eager students sitting in their classrooms today are a lot less likely to become teachers tomorrow because of the <a href="http://www.nysut.org/resources/all-listing/2015/august/fact-sheet-15-15-changes-to-tenure-and-the-tenured-teacher-removal-process" target="_blank">losses</a> of the past decade, losses which the likes of Pallotta have done little to stop. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />With all three branches of government ready to turn America into a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-16/unions-are-losing-their-decades-long-right-to-work-fight" target="_blank">Right to Work</a> nation, it's finally time for NYSUT to get serious and give grassroots teachers a chance to lead. Besides, there's little to stop NYSUT from sliding off the cliff once dues becomes optional, and your leader will be the guy who brought you Tier VI and four-year tenure.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Mike Lillis and the ST slate will fight for fairness, for <i>all</i> teachers and students. They understand the importance of the Union movement and do not enjoy seeing it decimated by apathy and ignorance. <br /><br />Whether it's ST, the UFT, or NYSUT, the Union <i>must</i> endure - it is the only barrier keeping us from the billionaire barbarians. <br /><br />We must hold the line and move forward, together. </span><br />
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sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-31411394896077594882017-01-16T14:52:00.001-08:002017-01-16T14:52:46.403-08:00A Constitutional Case for Boycotting the Inauguration <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">If Donald Trump thought Barack Obama was an illegitimate president, he needs to look in the mirror this Friday afternoon.<br /><br />Trump's infamous <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/09/politics/donald-trump-birther/" target="_blank">fixation</a> on Obama's birth certificate was fueled by an alleged allegiance to the Constitution, which simply requires that all presidents be U.S. citizens and at least 35-years-old. Trump appealed to the authority of the Constitution to justify his asinine claim of presidential illegitimacy and stoke the worst instincts of his loyal base. </span><div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Obama eventually added credibility to Trump's conspiracy theory and released his birth certificate, needlessly proving he was indeed preserving and protecting his end of the Constitution. <br /><br />Meanwhile, as Trump takes the Oath of Office, he will be dragging the country into a Constitutional crisis a lot more serious than the origins of Obama. <br /><br />As of Friday, Donald Trump will be an illegitimate president, but not because he was born in Kenya or has the attention span of a five-year-old. No, it's a lot worse. Since Trump still refuses to sell his businesses, he will be in clear <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/opinion/trumps-business-separation-plan-does-nothing-of-the-kind.html" target="_blank">violation</a> of Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution, otherwise known as the Emoluments Clause, which states:</span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>"No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State."</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Look past the capital letters and mumbo jumbo punctuation for the essence of the Founders' statement: America is not for sale, and no asshole should be allowed to enrich himself at the expense of its sanctity and safety. Trump's business entanglements circle the globe, and it's not only <i>what</i> he owns buy who he <i>owes</i>. His debts to foreign governments are unknown and shall remain unknown until he releases his tax returns, documents which Trump claims <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/opinion/why-americans-care-about-trumps-tax-returns.html" target="_blank">no one cares about</a>. If no one cares about the tax returns, then why not just release them? Why not stop the <strike>blackmail</strike> suspicion from growing? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It would have been nice if the piles of stuffed file folders at Trump's recent <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/313907-trump-didnt-allow-reporters-to-see-documents-detailing-split" target="_blank">press conference</a> contained his tax returns and not pamphlets from Trump University. The grim irony here is that unlike Obama, who went above and beyond to release <i>his </i>document and placate the birthers, as long as Trump owns and owes places and people, he will need to release his tax returns should he ever want to be considered a legitimate president by millions of Americans. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And so the inauguration of Unpresident Trump is no inauguration at all. Illegitimacy breeds illegitimacy, and if Trump is illegitimate, so is his inauguration. <br /><br />While Congressman John Lewis and <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/14/politics/democrats-boycotting-donald-trump-inauguration/" target="_blank">others</a> are boycotting the inauguration because of a foreign power's influence on the election, proving the power of Russian propaganda is a far more difficult task than proving that yet another politician is profiting from his position. On the other hand, if Trump was a compromised candidate - which his tax returns might also show - the election does lose legitimacy, as voters were sold a bill of goods by a compromised, foreign agent. <br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />If our country has any dignity left, the demands to see Trump's tax returns must far surpass the demands to see Obama's birth certificate. For while both are linked to the Constitution, one has legs and legitimacy while the other festers in a puddle of bigotry and illegitimacy. It should surprise no one that accusations about Obama's legitimacy originated from an illegitimate president who as of Friday will preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution to the very <i>least</i> of his ability... </span></div>
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sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-68778411470816311562017-01-09T20:53:00.001-08:002017-01-10T04:27:41.234-08:00Donald Trump's Conflicts with the Constitution <div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The looming inauguration of Donald J. <strike>Trump</strike> Dump has American stupidity scraping the abyss. Look no further for evidence of this than our future leader's command of </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">the English language and his own attention span. Indeed, these deficits alone may be all people need to fear the next four years. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But another reason to dread Dump has as much to do with ignorance as it does good old-fashioned greed and hubris. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The U.S. Constitution, a document which binds the Republic together, is about to be violated in more ways than a pedophile in prison. Dump's presidency, in particular, is poised to wreak havoc on both the First Amendment and the Emoluments Clause. For those still trying to pronounce it, the Emoluments Clause shields federal officials from the financial influence of foreign powers, while the First Amendment shields citizens from the dictates of demagogues like Dump. <br /><br />More on the First Amendment later. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As of this blog post, Dump has shown zero signs of shedding his business entanglements at home and abroad. As a result, government officials from Saudi Arabia to Stormville will soon be inclined to fellate the most powerful man in the world, waving fees and expediting permits. Likewise, it will be in Dump's best interest to forge federal policies that boost his brand around the globe. Because of these conflicts, Dump's most precious commodity will be his businesses instead of the American people. It seems we've elected yet another politician who puts money before morals, power before principles. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And what if World War III breaks out in Turkey, for instance? Will Dump send in ground troops to fight Russians, or to protect his skyscrapers? Unless this <i>actually</i> <i>happens, </i>we may never know for sure, since Dump dumped most members of the media after he was elected president.<br /></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <b>Trump has dumped around the world, <br /> and he's not even president yet. </b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />The closest Dump has come to a press conference in recent days was a brief and bizarre appearance at his Mar-a-Lago resort with boxing promoter and former murderer Don King. If and when Dump does give his next <i>real </i>press conference - one in which more than three questions are allowed - expect it to be filled with sentence fragments, superlatives, and abrupt non-sequiturs. Dump knows no other way, after all, and each press conference and speech he gives sounds a lot like the previous one played backwards. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSN01A_rHr6CDr7coAoTsa5DTpRcdEMQcmfoRjRRkw5YthPWtvWtBbesQmMIj0xZxzvYISTsXx9VPP15NWohsFjHZ3ZVZX0tFyYfzEmkvlnAGf-Wf5WaJDgqqOWYQJaJ-gFahFQNYUNwY/s1600/IMG_3958.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSN01A_rHr6CDr7coAoTsa5DTpRcdEMQcmfoRjRRkw5YthPWtvWtBbesQmMIj0xZxzvYISTsXx9VPP15NWohsFjHZ3ZVZX0tFyYfzEmkvlnAGf-Wf5WaJDgqqOWYQJaJ-gFahFQNYUNwY/s320/IMG_3958.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Trump with Don "Only in the Idiocracy" King</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Though we should not expect a 70-year-old man to suddenly discover lucidity, a free press is among the ways we ensure that the president is neither incompetent nor corrupt, something Dump has unfortunately yet to demonstrate to the majority of the country. His inane Tweets, if anything, have proven the opposite - stained by ignorance, greed, and hubris. Nevertheless, Dump's Tweets are preserved for posterity, and will make for a fine display in his presidential library, right next to an oil painting called <i>Nuclear Winter is Coming</i>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Hubris, as the Greeks remind us, is often the most destructive flaw of all. And i</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">f the Greeks know anything, Dump's unpresidential pride may soon wrap itself around the First Amendment, cracking its spine before consuming it.<br /><br />For example, Dump prefers to tell us what to think rather than <i>how</i> to think, and filters his demands through his ego, otherwise known as his Twitter account: </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>"I will take my message directly to the American people and bypass the unethical press that wants to see their candidate elected."</i></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i> -Donald J. Trump</i> </span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Even if Dump's messages made sense, the leader of the free world cannot be held to a standard of 140 characters or less; never mind hurling barbs at Hollywood actors and Gold Star fathers, among the many others who pay his salary. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />Further, will Dump's rants on Twitter replace White House press briefings? <br /><br />Or if he does keep his businesses, who will stop him from using all of that Commander-in-Chief ca$h to say, start his own <strike>disinformation</strike> news network? <br /><br />Who will stop him from <i>buying</i> Twitter? Dump's critics should prepare to have their accounts suspended, at the very least, and bloggers should have their high-priced lawyers on standby. <br /><br />A world which bullshit circles before the truth gets out of bed does not need someone like Dump as an arbiter of truth, or nuclear weapons, for that matter.<br /><br />It will be up to the ignorant and informed to save this world before it swallows itself. </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: -0.28px;"><br /></span></span></span>sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-20637580811231270632016-11-28T13:47:00.000-08:002016-11-28T13:54:57.480-08:00Indomitable Drumpf <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He attacked immigrants</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> and won.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />He attacked women</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> and won.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />He attacked the disabled </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> and won.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />He attacked veterans</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> and won.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He attacked the Truth<br /> and won.<br /><br />Who's next?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Who's <i>left</i>?</span><br />
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<br />sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-46708881595697550082016-11-20T14:35:00.000-08:002016-11-20T14:45:48.645-08:00Donald Trump Sics his Children on Public Education <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">I</span><span style="font-size: small;">vanka Trump with Eva "I'm not a Republican" Moskowitz</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />President Donald Trump's arrival on January 20 brings with it, among other toxins, an unprecedented <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/14/unions-labor-movement-donald-trump" target="_blank">threat</a> to middle-class workers across the nation. For one, Trump supports a national right-to-work law, meant to strip unions of funding and give them less political clout than a Cub Scout. Even if an anti-worker bill somehow dies in a Republican-controlled congress, Trump's appointee to the Supreme Court will take care of those <a href="http://watchdog.org/270042/friedrichs-v-cta-case-dead-questions-raised-teachers-rights-alive/" target="_blank">cases</a> meant to crown corporatists and crush unions. They're coming for your pension and there's nothing you can do about it.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Topping the target are public school teachers, whose union was an early and adamant endorser of Hillary Clinton. Like his Queens cousin Governor Andy Cuomo, Trump traces the ills of the inner cities to the infamous and elusive "education bureaucracy", otherwise known as the people who dedicate their lives to children <i>(see public school teachers)</i>. While what Trump utters about education has about as much nuance as an orangutan's ass, Trump's <strike>trust fund</strike> children are primed for a pet project, and both Ivanka and Don Jr. have demonstrated a desire to drive our schools into a ditch.<br /> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Take Don Jr.'s recent ramblings at the Republican National Convention, for instance, where he compared schools to department stores that somehow only benefit adults:</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Our schools used to be an elevator to the middle class. Now they are stalled on the ground floor. They're like Soviet-era department stores that are run for the benefit of the clerks and not the customers, for the teachers and the administrators and not the students.</i></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i> -Donald Trump Jr.</i></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span class="goog-text-highlight">Tortured metaphors aside, everyone knows that students must take the <i>stairs</i> </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span class="goog-text-highlight">in order to truly benefit from public education, as we get back only what we put in. </span></span><i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"> </i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">On the other hand, Don Jr.'s been riding his daddy's gold-plated elevators since birth, which he believes justifies the sanctimony he spews at schools, and can claim the moral high ground only because he lives in a taller building than the rest of us. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />When she's not <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/11/18/ivanka-trump-shinzo-abe/" target="_blank">entertaining</a> the Japanese prime minister, Don Jr.'s little sister Ivanka is <a href="http://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2016/11/ivanka-trump-to-tour-a-success-academy-school-on-friday-107476" target="_blank">visiting</a> with the likes of Eva Moskowitz, the New York City charter school profiteer who'd like to go national. Though Moskowitz refused to become Trump's Secretary of Education because she's a Democrat, after all, Trump's plans to privatize education evidently have nothing to do with party affiliation so Eva's all-in. Nevermind that Moskowitz's schools would make a segregationist blush and treat teachers and kids like cogs in the college and career machine. It seems Ivanka saw into Eva's soul during their first meeting at Trump Tower and vowed to wield all the power of her gold throne to undermine public schools.<br /><br />And it's precisely the prospect of Donald Trump's unelected offspring pulling the strings on issues like education while simultaneously building his business which threatens the Republic.<br /><br />How long, for instance, before the grand opening of Trump Charter School, or the grand <i>re-opening</i> of Trump University, fully-funded by the feds? It's probably sooner than we think. If anything, Eva Moskowitz will make a lot of money in the next few years. <br /><br />Those voters hopeful that Trump would "get rid of Common Core" and "restore local control" should realize that Donald Trump knows as much about education as, yes, an orangutan's ass. What Trump does know however is that there's money to be made, and public education seems a safer bet than his casinos. Trump has therefore summoned his kids, northeastern neoliberal asstards in search of something bigger than themselves.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br />The oligarchs have landed and it won't be pretty, for public education or anything else. It will be up to the enlightened to push truth in a post-truth world, to denounce and destroy the graft and greed. The whole world is waiting and watching.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JIdVRabYnOk" width="560"></iframe>sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-79225544362878005272016-10-12T15:50:00.000-07:002016-10-12T15:50:53.662-07:00Weingarten Threatens Nurses for Backing Bernie<div style="text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Rhonda "Randi" Weingarten </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It was only a matter of time before <i>Wikileaks </i>uprooted more evidence of Democrats eating their own. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />The latest is an <a href="https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/2482" target="_blank">email</a> from Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), sent to Hillary Clinton hatchet man John Podesta. The email reveals Weingarten's antipathy toward the National Nurses Union (NNU) in the months following their <a href="http://www.nationalnursesunited.org/press/entry/nurses-endorse-sen.-bernie-sanders-for-president/" target="_blank">endorsement</a> of Bernie Sanders for president:</span><br />
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<header id="header" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: 5px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: inherit; padding-bottom: 5px; white-space: pre-line;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">From:rweingar@aft.org
To: <span class="sh" style="box-sizing: inherit; white-space: normal;">john.podesta@gmail.com </span>
Date: 2016-01-30 19:18
Subject: Re: D Taylor </span></b></header><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; white-space: pre-line;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>On Saturday, January 30, 2016, Randi Weingarten, Office of the President <rweingar@aft.org<mailto:rweingar@aft.org>> wrote:
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He is psst-but I don't believe it moves him to action. Congrats on the NYT And <i style="font-weight: bold;">we will go after NNU </i>and there high and mighty sanctimonious conduct...
R
Sent from my iPhone</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Though it's unclear exactly <i>how </i>the AFT slapped the NNU for <strike>there</strike> their support of Sanders--the implication of the email is clear--an attack on Hillary is an attack on the AFT. And Weingarten's royal "we" sadly implicates all educators in her threat, even the Donald Trump supporters. Members of each union will have to </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">battle it out while </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Weingarten and Clinton take as many pantsuit selfies as possible. Bernie can go back to Vermont and eat some ice cream. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">The questions surrounding <i>Wikileaks</i> ask themselves, and could easily fill three more debates (save for Trump's sniffling, of course). For example, will we soon find out exactly how <i>pissed</i> Clinton was about the NNU's "sanctimonious" support of Sanders? Pissed enough, apparently, to make Weingarten "go after" nurses? While there's no evidence that either Podesta or Clinton compelled Weingarten's threat, a union leader's loyalty must always default to the workers and not elite politicians. Congratulations to the nurses and their sanctimony for Sanders; Weingarten should realize that we are stronger together only when dissident voices are embraced and not assailed. </span></span></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Ultimately, as Sanders said, nobody cares about Hillary's damn emails. Not with Trump in the race. Unless <i>Wikileaks</i> releases an email with a video that shows Clinton chopping off a puppy's head, the boorish and bumbling Trump makes Hillary seem infallible. Trump has been the perfect foil to accentuate and elevate the first woman into the White House, regardless of her serious flaws and failings. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">However, democracy demands the vetting of leaders both during and especially <i>before</i> their terms. As fellow blogger Norm Scott recently <a href="http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2016/10/while-fighting-trumpism-maintain.html" target="_blank">wrote</a>, "Let's not throw away democracy in the rush to trash everything Trump and excuse everything Clinton." Indeed, there's almost as much to excuse about Clinton as there is to trash about Trump. <br /><br />Weingarten's <i>Wikileaks</i> email is a glimpse of a game most will never get a ticket for. Unfortunately, in this case, the game is most dangerous for union members, since it's using them as prey for a political career. <br /><br />Will President Hillary continue playing this game in the White House? <br /><br />Maybe someone should ask her. <br /> </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span>sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-90285838542044747652016-09-17T22:45:00.000-07:002016-10-02T23:42:20.945-07:00Cuomo Names Mulgrew President of NYSUT (Updated)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Cuomo and Mulgrew: Together Again</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />New York Governor Andy Cuomo recently <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/video-photos-governor-cuomo-presents-empire-state-excellence-teaching-award" target="_blank">emerged</a> at a Queens high school to name Michael Mulgrew the new president of NYSUT, the statewide teachers union. That's right:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"Thank you very much. What a pleasure, what a treat. First, to Michael Mulgrew, who is <b>head of the teachers union statewide</b>, who does an amazing job. Why? Because he really believes in what he's doing." </span> </blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Dozens of NYSUT members were shocked to learn that Karen Magee is no longer their president. Consequently, since no working teacher beyond Baychester or Bayside actually voted for Mulgrew, thousands of NYSUT members were disenfranchised in one fell swoop. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Mulgrew said he's enjoyed his time as President of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and will stay on until a suitable <strike>slug</strike> replacement is found. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In the meantime, NYSUT members should prepare themselves for more giant check photo <a href="https://sullio.blogspot.com/2016/09/cuomo-appears-at-uft-headquarters-to.html" target="_blank">ops</a> with Cuomo, and .03% of teachers will even win a $5,000 stipend for PD classes from the Lobbyist for the Students. Nevermind your tenure and pension; they aren't as important as Cuomo's political career. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And those pondering the legality of Mulgrew's promotion should stop right there. For an obscure clause in the NYSUT Constitution states that any NYSUT member who has <a href="http://perdidostreetschool.blogspot.com/2015/11/mike-mulgrew-and-andrew-cuomo-meet-for.html" target="_blank">lunch</a> with the governor as often as Mulgrew shall be president by default. <br /><br />NYSUT's battles are now Mulgrew's battles, and its motto in 2017 and beyond will be <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np4-4OcZeEs" target="_blank">"victory"</a> assuming the state's constitution is rewritten to steal collective bargaining rights and pensions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Cuomo also thanked NYSUT for its generous contributions to the New York <a href="http://nydems.org/" target="_blank">Democrats</a>, his political slush fund. With the help of Mulgrew and even more delicious lunches, Cuomo just wants to say "I love you" to teachers before he screws them over--once again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i style="font-weight: bold;">Update: </i>Predictably, reaction to this story was swift and skeptical, prompting Cuomo to reaffirm Mulgrew's promotion at yet another <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMq8AOm37Hk&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">giant check photo op</a>, this time at an elementary school in Brooklyn:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">First, to the gentleman who you just heard speak. <b>His name is Michael Mulgrew. He is in charge of all the teachers all across the state of New York</b>, and he is a great champion for them, and he works night and day, and he does a fantastic job, so let's give him a big round of applause and a big cheer, he should get a big cheer, Michael, give Michael a big cheer. </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Governor Andy fully intends to bask in even more cheers for Mulgrew in the months to come. After all, it's much nicer than answering questions about why Cuomo, the founder of the Women's Equality Party, decided to throw NYSUT's first female president under the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/separated-birth-gov-cuomo-campaign-bus-tampax-box-blog-entry-1.1972796" target="_blank">Tampax Express</a>. <br /><br />At press time, Magee has yet to comment, and is apparently now pretending to be the president of NYSUT. <br /> </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Cuomo would much rather have lunch with Mulgrew than Magee </span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span></td></tr>
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<br />sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-22369107453009394642016-09-10T09:42:00.000-07:002016-09-10T09:42:33.393-07:00Cuomo Appears at UFT Headquarters to Honor...Firefighters <div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Straining to burnish his Union bonafides, New York Governor Andy Cuomo recently <a href="http://www.nystateofpolitics.com/2016/09/cuomos-labor-push/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter" target="_blank">appeared</a> at the Manhattan headquarters of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). Cuomo surfaced not in support of school teachers, however, but firefighters, who rightly received a rise in benefits with the stroke of a state-funded pen. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Ironically, while claiming to care about workers, Cuomo cares nothing about working teachers. It seems Cuomo wants to knock teachers <i>out</i> of the middle class so he doesn't have to fight for them.<br /><br />And it is an assault on decency that the UFT would even allow the Lobbyist for the Students within a block of Union headquarters--let alone inside--proclaiming himself a champion of justice for workers. In case the UFT has forgotten, Cuomo's idea of "justice" <a href="http://sullio.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-oracles-of-cuomos-orifices.html" target="_blank">includes</a> closing public schools and firing teachers due to destitute and dysfunctional families (otherwise known as low test scores).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Cuomo would also like to see teachers and their pensions disappear, signing his name to </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.uft.org/news-stories/pension-reduction-future-city-workers" target="_blank">Tier VI</a> and Tweets like this: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Evidently, justice ends where Cuomo's enemies list begins. Those who dedicate their lives to children will dedicate their appetites to cat food in retirement if Cuomo has anything to do with it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Furthermore, a looming 2017 constitutional convention ballot <a href="http://www.nysut.org/news/nysut-united/issues/2015/march-2015/trs-the-2017-constitutional-convention-vote-what-you-should-know" target="_blank">initiative</a> would give Cuomo and his slimy associates the chance to finally enshrine laws that screw anyone who's been mean to Governor Andy, like teachers. A revised New York Constitution might exclude those pesky public pensions once and for all, for example, and Cuomo can do to collective bargaining rights in New York what his brother-from-another-mother Scott Walker did to them in Wisconsin. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Helping one group of workers while punishing another is not fairness, but moral malfeasance, and cruelty cancels any kindness. The UFT should remember this the next time they open their doors to a man who's harmed their profession more than any politician in state history. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-52180455469075749572016-08-21T08:52:00.000-07:002016-08-21T08:52:45.954-07:00NYSUT in Need of Help! for the Heavy Hearts Club<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEVz1FNlcWYgKvOah_QNyIccgXd6B9Aozlqov8LLaK8UvGo3iyL7ZX45gFvcYXWT-kym6yqKrVZl9MNLRbO0dfRA6S2QsymtYXzMuK9M5rOKLxEnZ6UkqkK-XJvJGsSHsQIlvqHOo5is/s1600/The%252BBeatles%252BSgt%252BPeppers%252BLonely%252BHearts%252BClub%252B267513.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEVz1FNlcWYgKvOah_QNyIccgXd6B9Aozlqov8LLaK8UvGo3iyL7ZX45gFvcYXWT-kym6yqKrVZl9MNLRbO0dfRA6S2QsymtYXzMuK9M5rOKLxEnZ6UkqkK-XJvJGsSHsQIlvqHOo5is/s400/The%252BBeatles%252BSgt%252BPeppers%252BLonely%252BHearts%252BClub%252B267513.jpg" width="392" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The Heavy Hearts Club turned their backs on teachers in 2015</b> </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Got cash to burn? New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) is interested.<br /><br />The Union needs lots of dough to help re-elect those who recently enabled Governor Andy (Andrew) Cuomo's maniacal quest to destroy public education. That's right, NYSUT is asking members to contribute whatever they can to people who swallowed the following poison pills tucked into Cuomo's 2015 state budget, otherwise known as the Education Transformation Act:<br /></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Public schools will be labeled "failing" and surrendered to the State if not enough students pass tests the Lobbyist for the Students himself recently called "meaningless."</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Since the real meaning behind the tests is to fire teachers, the tests must be secretive and flawed--and scores will be <a href="https://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2016/08/evidence-grows-we-are-entering-new-era.html" target="_blank">manipulated</a> to assist in the firing of teachers.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In firing them, remember that public school teachers are now guilty until proven innocent. Justice excludes those who dedicate their lives to children, tenure be damned. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><strike>Like the sex offenders that they are,</strike> Public school teachers must register with the State every 5 years and whenever they move or change their names. Teachers who fail to do so will be labeled as morally unfit and can never teach in New York again.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />Do these laws sound beneficial to the lives and livelihoods of teachers? Didn't think so. Yet the teachers union now wants to use money <i>voluntarily</i> contributed by members (VOTE-COPE) to support the re-election campaigns of many of the same legislators who last year <a href="http://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2015/04/assembly-affirms-cuomo-driven-education-budget-with-heavy-hearts-020975" target="_blank">said</a> their "heavy heart" couldn't even stop them from supporting these laws. <br /><br />(In fairness, however, some legislators said it never felt better saying "yes" to something in the middle of the night.)<br /><br />Who are the politicians NYSUT wants teachers to dedicate their time and money to until and even after Election Day? <br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />Via Google, <i>The Pen is Mightier than the Person </i>was able to unearth the list of NYSUT-approved legislators who helped enact the Education Transformation Act: </span><ul><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />NYSUT will call these people "champions" of public education, but champions are crowned for words <i>and</i> actions. And since 2015, the Heavy Hearts Club has relied on carefully-worded excuses for their legislative impotence. With the notable exception of Senator Todd Kaminsky, who recently <a href="http://www.nysape.org/nysape-pr-support-new-ed-legislation.html" target="_blank">proposed</a> laws to incinerate much of Cuomo's garbage, the legislature would rather pass laws that condone <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/04/sports/new-york-fantasy-sports-law-opens-door-for-more-gambling.html?_r=0" target="_blank">gambling</a> and <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/bd0254f9a7d44e40ab6dfcfdae6b5ddd/new-york-liquor-law-will-allow-sunday-boozing-brunch" target="_blank">drinking</a> vodka at 10 AM. <br /><br />If each and every NYSUT-approved legislator listed above supported Kaminsky's bills in words <i>and</i> deeds, NYSUT's request for VOTE-COPE contributions would speak for itself. Instead, NYSUT wants more money for people who only <i>talk</i> about supporting public education. When it comes time to act, these legislators have either been sleeping or sharpening their shivs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And don't buy the tired retort of "voted for record funding" whenever these legislators are challenged, for funding is not what it appears to be with a draconian tax cap in place, after all. And who even <i>wants</i> funding that will primarily be used to destroy public education? <br /><br />A Trojan Horse constructed of cash is rolling across the state, and taxpayers will soon be paying more money for inferior schools, something Cuomo and others have always ironically used to justify their attacks on schools. Is it any wonder why Cuomo recently <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hbyo2jlhAWA" target="_blank">said</a>, for instance, that "We spend more money per student than any other state in the United States of America, and I'm proud of it"? Cuomo can at last be proud of public education since it's now covered in his slimy fingerprints.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So what's a working teacher to do in an election year that's been a blinding assault on intelligence? <br /><br />With seemingly no reason to support most candidates, what next? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Stop contributing to VOTE-COPE?</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />Stop caring about politics altogether and surrender to the charter school interests?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Support the lesser of many evils? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Though teachers should be smart enough to answer these questions on their own, a key cause of this mess is that not enough teachers have cared to even <i>consider</i> these questions, ceding all political passion and opinions to leaders desperate to keep their seats at the proverbial table. Like tandem tumors, cynicism and apathy run riot as teachers "just want to shut the door and teach" and ignore the privatizers lurking beyond their classroom walls. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">To determine whether the Heavy Hearts are truly their friends--and truly deserve their help--teachers should ask them one question only:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>Now that you've broken public education, what are you going to do to fix it?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Their answers should be worth about as much as your contributions to their campaigns. </span></div>
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sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-18419592196087455382016-08-01T10:37:00.000-07:002016-08-01T10:57:04.440-07:00Stronger Together, We Opt-Out <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">A recent Friday news <a href="http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/2016-3-8-test-results.pdf" target="_blank">dump</a> by the New York State Education Department (NYSED) reported that more than 20% of public school parents are still refusing to subject their children to grades 3-8 standardized tests. You don't need Bill Gates to tell you how much thousands of blank answer sheets threaten a test's validity. This number does not even include those kids who finished </span><span style="font-size: large;">the test in five minutes because their friends opted-out. Pencils without erasers worked just fine. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It seems the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/11/06/new-yorks-baffling-response-to-parents-who-didnt-let-their-kids-take-common-core-tests/" target="_blank">"toolkit"</a> distributed by the state to combat opt-outs contained only pulled nails and sawdust. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Standardized tests also line the litter box of a teacher evaluation law (APPR) that was recently declared "arbitrary and capricious" by a state judge. Not to worry--in the newest, slimiest version of Governor Andy Cuomo's putrid law, tests will count even more. The thinking is that our kids will be much readier for <strike>community</strike> colleges and careers if we make it easier to fire their teachers. Paradoxically, with less job security than a blind barber, the one profession the Lobbyist for the Student's legislation will <i>not</i> prepare our kids for is teaching. <br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In his proposed <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/nprmaccountabilitystateplans52016.pdf" target="_blank">regulations </a>to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), U.S. Secretary of Education John "It's good to be the" King now seeks to smother opt-outs and tamp down an unprecedented act of civil disobedience. As education commissioner in New York, King only fed people's worst fears about the tests, callously implementing a system meant to close schools and shuffle students. Former New York City Mayor and aspiring horse jockey Michael Bloomberg recently noted that New Yorkers "know a con" when they see one, and the bullshit meter broke soon after King started spewing his dissonant hopes and dreams for kids.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now King's act has gone national and he wants to punish even more schools for refusing the tests. Schools from Dover to Denver must come up with plans to deal with opt-outs, and the plans <i>must</i> be expensive and time-consuming. Because if there's anything public education needs, it's more mandates from distant dickheads who couldn't teach their way out of a wet paper bag. <br /><br />If and when King's resolutions come to pass, his bluff must be vehemently called. For the federal government denying local resources all because of standardized tests goes against decency, democracy, and likely the Constitution itself. <br /><br />And now is not the time for the leaders of New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) to bend over and <a href="http://nyceducator.com/2016/06/uft-unity-fears-us.html" target="_blank">say</a> "we told you so" to members. Although their favorite presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called this a "war" which we "don't have time for", as long as the rights of students and teachers continue to diminish, a truce will not be at hand. Perhaps Hillary will appoint people who believe in a local community's ability to control who teaches their kids. Or perhaps not. We might have to elect her to find out, as Democratic Party insiders <a href="https://wikileaks.org/dnc-emails/emailid/8894" target="_blank">consider</a> Common Core a "political third rail", while Hillary once bizarrely referred to public education as a "non-family enterprise." </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">At the conclusion of the 1995 film <i>Braveheart</i>, the hero William Wallace is dead and jaded Scottish rebels have lost all will to fight. To the exasperation of many, however, and at the pleading of Robert the Bruce, the Scots quickly bounce back and continue their war against England, realizing they've won nothing. Dispirited and disenfranchised Americans must carry the same spirit today, and cannot drown in complacency and despair. Greedy demagogues are indeed waging war against our schools, and will stop at nothing until students and teachers are assessed into oblivion. </span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eclbaC3q94k" width="560"></iframe>sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-45802004286532129382016-05-14T21:38:00.000-07:002016-05-14T21:39:23.364-07:00The PARCC Test: Exposed<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>The author of this blog posting is a public school teacher who will remain anonymous.</i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I will not reveal my district or my role due to the intense legal ramifications for exercising my Constitutional First Amendment rights in a public forum. I was compelled to sign a security form that stated I would not be “Revealing or discussing passages or test items with anyone, including students and school staff, through verbal exchange, email, social media, or any other form of communication” as this would be considered a “Security Breach.” In response to this demand, I can only ask—whom are we protecting?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There are layers of not-so-subtle issues that need to be aired as a result of national and state testing policies that are dominating children’s lives in America. As any well prepared educator knows, curriculum planning and teaching requires knowing how you will assess your students and planning backwards from that knowledge. If teachers are unable to examine and discuss the summative assessment for their students, how can they plan their instruction? Yet, that very question assumes that this test is something worth planning for. The fact is that schools that try to plan their curriculum exclusively to prepare students for this test are ignoring the body of educational research that tells us how children learn, and how to create developmentally appropriate activities to engage students in the act of learning. This article will attempt to provide evidence for these claims as a snapshot of what is happening as a result of current policies.</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The PARCC test is developmentally inappropriate</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In order to discuss the claim that the PARCC test is “developmentally inappropriate,” examine three of the most recent PARCC 4th grade items.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A book leveling system, designed by Fountas and Pinnell, was made “more rigorous” in order to match the Common Core State Standards. These newly updated benchmarks state that 4th Graders should be reading at a Level S by the end of the year in order to be considered reading “on grade level.” [Celia’s note: I do not endorse leveling books or readers, nor do I think it appropriate that all 9 year olds should be reading a Level S book to be thought of as making good progress.]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The PARCC, which is supposedly a test of the Common Core State Standards, appears to have taken liberties with regard to grade level texts. For example, on the Spring 2016 PARCC for 4th Graders, students were expected to read an excerpt from Shark Life: True Stories about Sharks and the Sea by Peter Benchley and Karen Wojtyla. According to Scholastic, this text is at an interest level for Grades 9-12, and at a 7th Grade reading level. The Lexile measure is 1020L, which is most often found in texts that are written for middle school, and according to <a href="http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/guidedreading/leveling_chart.htm" style="color: #336699;"><span style="color: blue;">Scholastic’s own conversion chart</span></a>would be equivalent to a 6th grade benchmark around W, X, or Y (using the same Fountas and Pinnell scale).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Even by the reform movement’s own standards, according to <a href="https://lexile.com/using-lexile/lexile-measures-and-the-ccssi/text-complexity-grade-bands-and-lexile-ranges/" style="color: #336699;"><span style="color: blue;">MetaMetrics’ reference material on Text Complexity Grade Bands and Lexile Bands</span></a>, the newly CCSS aligned “Stretch” lexile level of 1020 falls in the 6-8 grade range. This begs the question, what is the purpose of standardizing text complexity bands if testing companies do not have to adhere to them? Also, what is the purpose of a standardized test that surpasses agreed-upon lexile levels?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So, right out of the gate, 4th graders are being asked to read and respond to texts that are two grade levels above the recommended benchmark. After they struggle through difficult texts with advanced vocabulary and nuanced sentence structures, they then have to answer multiple choice questions that are, by design, intended to distract students with answers that appear to be correct except for some technicality.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Finally, students must synthesize two or three of these advanced texts and compose an original essay. The ELA portion of the PARCC takes three days, and each day includes a new essay prompt based on multiple texts. These are the prompts from the 2016 Spring PARCC exam for 4th Graders along with my analysis of why these prompts do not reflect the true intention of the Common Core State Standards.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">ELA 4th Grade Prompt #1</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Refer to the passage from “Emergency on the Mountain” and the poem “Mountains.” Then answer question 7.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Write an essay that explains the differences in the structural elements between the passage and the poem. Be sure to include specific examples from both texts to support your response.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />The above prompt probably attempts to assess the Common Core standard RL.4.5: <i>“Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text.”</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">However, the Common Core State Standards for writing do not require students to write essays comparing the text structures of different genres. The Grade 4 CCSS for writing about reading demand that students write about characters, settings, and events in literature, or that they write about how authors support their points in informational texts. Nowhere in the standards are students asked to write comparative essays on the structures of writing. The reading standards ask students to “explain” structural elements, but not in writing. <br />There is a huge developmental leap between explaining something and writing an analytical essay about it. [Celia’s note: The entire enterprise of analyzing text structures in elementary school – a 1940’s and 50’s college English approach called “New Criticism” — is ridiculous for 9 year olds anyway.]</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The PARCC does not assess what it attempts to assess</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">ELA 4th Grade Prompt #2</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Refer to the passages from “Great White Shark” and Face the Sharks. Then answer question 20.</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /> Using details and images in the passages from “Great White Sharks” and Face to Face with Sharks, write an essay that describes the characteristics of white sharks.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It would be a stretch to say that this question assesses CCSS W.4.9.B: <i>“Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text.”</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In fact, this prompt assesses a student’s ability to research a topic across sources and write a research-based essay that synthesizes facts from both articles. Even <i>CCSS W.4.7, “Conduct research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic,”</i> does not demand that students compile information from different sources to create an essay. The closest the standards come to demanding this sort of work is in the reading standards; CCSS RI.4.9 says: <i>“Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.”</i> Fine. One could argue that this PARCC prompt assesses CCSS RI.4.9.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">However, the fact that the texts presented for students to “use” for the essay are at a middle school reading level automatically disqualifies this essay prompt from being able to assess what it attempts to assess. (It is like trying to assess children’s math computational skills by embedding them in a word problem with words that the child cannot read.)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">ELA 4th Grade Prompt #3</span></b></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>In “Sadako’s Secret,” the narrator reveals Sadako’s thoughts and feelings while telling the story. The narrator also includes dialogue and actions between Sadako and her family. Using these details, write a story about what happens next year when Sadako tries out for the junior high track team. Include not only Sadako’s actions and feelings but also her family’s reaction and feelings in your story.</b></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Nowhere, and I mean nowhere in the Common Core State Standards is there a demand for students to read a narrative and then use the details from that text to write a new story based on a prompt. That is a new pseudo-genre called “Prose Constructed Response” by the PARCC creators, and it is 100% not aligned to the CCSS. Not to mention, why are 4th Graders being asked to write about trying out for the junior high track team? This demand defies their experiences and asks them to imagine a scenario that is well beyond their scope.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Clearly, these questions are poorly designed assessments of 4th graders CCSS learning. (We are setting aside the disagreements we have with those standards in the first place, and simply assessing the PARCC on its utility for measuring what it was intended to measure.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Rather than debate the CCSS we instead want to expose the tragic reality of the countless public schools organizing their entire instruction around trying to raise students’ PARCC scores.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Without naming any names, I can tell you that schools are disregarding research-proven methods of literacy learning. The “wisdom” coming “down the pipeline” is that children need to be exposed to more complex texts because that is what PARCC demands of them. So children are being denied independent and guided reading time with texts of high interest and potential access and instead are handed texts that are much too hard (frustration level) all year long without ever being given the chance to grow as readers in their Zone of Proximal Development (pardon my reference to those pesky educational researchers like Vygotsky.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So not only are students who are reading “on grade level” going to be frustrated by these so-called “complex texts,” but newcomers to the U.S. and English Language Learners and any student reading below the proficiency line will never learn the foundational skills they need, will never know the enjoyment of reading and writing from intrinsic motivation, and will, sadly, be denied the opportunity to become a critical reader and writer of media. Critical literacies are foundational for active participation in a democracy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We can look carefully at one sample to examine the health of the entire system– such as testing a drop of water to assess the ocean. So too, we can use these three PARCC prompts to glimpse how the high stakes accountability system has deformed teaching and warped learning in many public schools across the United States.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In this sample, the system is pathetically failing a generation of children who deserve better, and when they are adults, they may not have the skills needed to engage as citizens and problem-solvers. So it is up to us, those of us who remember a better way and can imagine a way out, to make the case for stopping standardized tests like PARCC from corrupting the educational opportunities of so many of our children.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-63221169395402645772016-04-23T19:55:00.000-07:002016-04-26T13:55:44.866-07:00Local Control? New York Schools Need Not Apply <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-0e55a1a8-44ae-6149-568f-c5c435512a73"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As things go, the 1998 film </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Siege</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is remarkably prescient. Terrorist bombs and bullets </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4LB77duP_0" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bombard</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Manhattan as New York FBI agent Anthony Hubbard (Denzel Washington) gives way to the maniacal whims of <strike>President Trump</strike> U.S. Army Major General William Devereaux (Bruce Willis). Muslim males are concentrated into camps around the city and Hubbard must take his investigation underground--both to evade Devereaux's homicidal scrutiny and because his headquarters is blown up at the beginning of the movie. </span></span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-0e55a1a8-44ae-6149-568f-c5c435512a73"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It's Hubbard's apparent ineptitude at stopping the terrorists which draws the ire of the feds in the first place, and he must find a way around the government's ignorant interventions to save his city. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Lest anyone label this the stuff of hyperbole, it is marching across New York State today. </span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Albany, for instance, has developed a bizarre love-hate relationship with public education, promising to increase funding if--and only if--schools agree to implement Governor <strike>Sociopath</strike> Cuomo's latest teacher evaluation law (3012-d). Among other absurdities, Cuomo's plan counts standardized tests as 50% of a teacher's overall score, and includes a student "growth formula" that even Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia has called "<a href="http://sullio.blogspot.com/2015/10/ny-education-commissioner-calls-teacher.html" target="_blank">random</a>." Add to this number classroom observations performed by people who will need a GPS to find your child's school. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In other words, public education is careening toward a place where bureaucrats like Cuomo only allow it to exist on </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">their</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> terms instead of the terms of local communities. Firing teachers and closing "failing" schools will only increase unless people shut up, take the Tests, and admit, "It is what is." </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sadly, NYSUT's promise to "seek" local control is closer to fiction than </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Siege</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The Union has voiced tepid opposition to Cuomo's attempts to trample workers' rights and test kids into conformity. Tortured Tweets aside, Executive Vice President Andy Pallotta conspicuously excluded references to 3012-d in his annual </span><a href="http://www.nysut.org/news/2016/january/testimony-k-12-education" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">address</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to the state legislature, but can't wait to tell you how great Hillary Clinton is. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In addition, UFT President Michael Mulgrew, who controls some 800 delegates to NYSUT's annual representative assembly and thus essentially controls how the Union votes --shamelessly <a href="http://nyceducator.com/2016/03/uft-unitys-shiny-new-talking-point.html" target="_blank">proclaimed</a> that a teacher's job should ride on test scores because principals cannot be trusted to do </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">their</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> jobs. It seems Mulgrew likes his chances with the demons of junk science more than the better angels of humanity. Paradoxically, Mulgrew also tried to take credit for Cuomo's meaningless "moratorium" on test-and-punish, and even placed a pricey <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVJXf0kfhHg" target="_blank">ad</a> that touted the UFT's bogus victory.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Any progress against the privatization of public education in New York, however, is thanks to thousands of prudent parents who've refused to expose their children to Cuomo's toxic tests. Unfortunately, Mulgrew's litany of lunches with the Lobbyist for the Students--<a href="http://perdidostreetschool.blogspot.com/2015/12/mulgrews-4-on-list-of-cuomo-meetings.html" target="_blank">access</a> which no other NYSUT president knows--has only spread dysentery to schools throughout the state, as they must take another bite out of Cuomo's shit sandwich or starve to death--whichever comes first. </span></span></div>
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NYSUT members outside of the UFT who dare question Mulgrew's malfeasance are accused of violating the "autonomy" of the Union's largest local. After all, there's a UFT election coming up, and teachers from Gloversville to Hicksville should just stay out of it; it's not like Mulgrew's autonomy has ever allowed him to fuck things up for the rest of the state.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But what say defenders of the UFT's recent $100,000 </span><a href="http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2016/04/8597271/de-blasio-fundraising-probe-increases-scrutiny-campaign-finance-ta" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">donation</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to a man named Ted O'Brien, a failed candidate for the state senate in the Rochester area, some 350 miles beyond the UFT's autonomy? The donation was allegedly part of an asinine <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/bill-de-blasio-city-hall-tench-article-1.2611724" target="_blank">scheme</a> by New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio to raise money for distant Democrats. Is meddling in corrupt state elections less offensive than meddling in union elections? </span></span></div>
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Should UFT members think twice before funding the futile campaigns of candidates who live closer to Canada than Corona? Do UFT members even <i>know</i> what their money is being spent on? Maybe the U.S. attorney can clear this up.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><b>Mulgrew and DeBlasio: Felonious Fellas?</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Like a child needs a family, public education needs local control. The more control that schools surrender to ambitious idiots (i.e. New York politicians), the deeper our divisions delve. As we enter the Idiocracy, we must not let idiots divide us.<br /><br />Rather, parents, teachers, and students must tell the likes of Cuomo and Mulgrew that their authority ends now. <br /><br />Give our schools liberty, or give them insolvency.<br /><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/268ZUL4dnn8" width="560"></iframe>sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-56945909890514540802016-03-19T13:30:00.000-07:002016-03-19T13:42:33.281-07:00Cuomo Still Holding School Budgets Hostage over Teacher Evaluation Law<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In news more inevitable than Donald Trump dick jokes, school districts across New York State have soundly rebuked Governor Andrew Cuomo's latest teacher evaluation law (<a href="http://www.bsk.com/media-center/3121-school-districts-changes-appr-teacher-tenure-4-15" target="_blank">3012-d</a>). Look no further for evidence of this than one year ago, when 250,000 parents refused to subject their children to tests designed to fire middle-class workers. <br /><br />And though Cuomo and others would like you to believe that his bogus "Common Core Task Force" <a href="http://sullio.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2015-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2016-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=25" target="_blank">fixed</a> everything, absolutely nothing has changed--including the law. Districts must still abide by the most pernicious aspects of Cuomo's plan. These include, for instance, having ass clowns in Albany instead of working educators determine whether or not students possess enough "college and career readiness" to keep their schools open or their teachers employed. Welcome to the idiocracy. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />Schools will also still administer the same tests Cuomo recently <a href="http://perdidostreetschool.blogspot.com/2015/04/cuomo-says-test-scores-for-students-are.html" target="_blank">called</a> "meaningless", along with <i>yet another</i> test that will be used to rate their teachers. <br /><br />Any district seeking to protect itself from the Lobbyist for the Student's asinine law will lose millions in funding. Immersed in his usual sleaze, Cuomo is offering bribes to imbibe his bile. <br /><br />Districts who fail to strip teachers of more job security by <a href="http://www.lohud.com/story/opinion/editorials/2016/03/17/new-york-education-back-on-track/81920708/" target="_blank">July 1</a> can say goodbye to whatever aid Albany planned to provide them. Already faced with a crippling tax cap that inhibits help from within their own communities, superintendents everywhere must choose between a thousand cuts or decapitation. <br /><br />Regardless, Cuomo is still determined to "break" public education; neither his laws nor his ego have lessened since last year. Add to this a devotion to deep-pocketed donors and the blurred lines between hubris, greed, and bad public policy once again come into focus. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Heavy-hearted legislators who held their noses and voted for Cuomo's ludicrous law last year must breath the air of good sense if they expect to have any credibility on public education again. <br /><br />It is immoral to tie lives to a law which no sane person can faithfully justify or defend.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Take the Board of Regents, for example, the unpaid group tasked with implementing the law. The outcry over Cuomo Core has swiftly put three Regents out to pasture, including chancellor Merryl Tisch--as <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/11/nyregion/merryl-tisch-board-of-regents-chief-who-set-off-testing-backlash-reflects-on-her-tenure.html?_r=0" target="_blank">complicit</a> as Cuomo in the attacks on schools. Working the unworkable is the definition of absurdity, after all, especially on a volunteer's salary. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Lawmakers must lighten their hearts and thicken their spines if they expect resistance to their malfeasance to end. They can start this process by listening to those who know our kids better than most: actual educators. </span>sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-43339003068057665602016-03-13T13:57:00.001-07:002016-03-13T13:57:25.966-07:00Beware the Ides of Testing <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: large;">Great news, New York! Your kids will have the chance to take standardized tests even earlier next year! The New York Education Department (NYSED) has <a href="http://www.p12.nysed.gov/assessment/schedules/2017/38testschedule17.pdf" target="_blank">ruled</a> that the Big Tests will now go down in March instead of the usual April. Note to white suburban moms: the tests will no longer <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2013/11/16/arne-duncan-white-surburban-moms-upset-that-common-core-shows-their-kids-arent-brilliant/" target="_blank">interfere</a> with soccer season!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">And it's no coincidence that Governor Cuomo's annual budget will now be due <i>after</i> the tests instead of before. After all, Cuomo was hoisted by the petards of his budget last year when draconian changes to his teacher evaluation law (APPR) <a href="http://sullio.blogspot.com/2015/04/cuomos-budget-enflames-massive-opt-out.html" target="_blank">enflamed</a> the Opt-Out movement. Since then, Cuomo has correctly yet bizarrely credited himself for the dramatic spike in test refusals, <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/video-transcript-built-lead-governor-cuomos-2016-state-state-and-budget-address" target="_blank">announcing</a> that his asinine education laws "increased parental participation." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">With the winds of Opt-Out now at his back instead of his face, the Lobbyist for the Students will try to ram whatever other "reforms" he can down our throats without too much gagging. Cuomo and his slimy associates count on parents and teachers having short memories when it comes to education laws passed in the middle of the night.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">New Yorkers have longer memories than Cuomo thinks, however, and will not soon forget last year's pernicious attacks on their kids and communities. Whether in March, April, or any other time of year, refusing Cuomo's abusive tests strikes at the heel of an education agenda that is bankrolled by billionaires. <br /><br />Opt-Out must not relent until lawmakers do their jobs and bring the Test and Punish era to an inglorious end.<br /></span>sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-40660588490193664732016-02-07T15:19:00.000-08:002016-02-07T15:36:14.407-08:00NYSUT Bargains Without the Collective <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #eef4ff; color: #222222;"><br />With a <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/will-the-supreme-court-gut-public-employee-unions/423666/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">case</a> before the Supreme Court that could eviscerate public sector unions, more American workers may soon see their salaries and savings evaporate. The case of <i>Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association</i> threatens to severely undermine the ability of Unions like New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) to collect dues and thus muster the many to stand up to a handful of assholes who are wreaking <a href="http://fortune.com/flint-water-crisis/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">havoc</a> on public policies. Union members can say goodbye to the professions they once knew in favor of jobs concocted by those who embrace "efficiency" at the expense of decency. Obedient or unemployed workers we all shall be. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">NYSUT has already been deploying a few instead of many members when bargaining teacher evaluations. Since Governor Andrew Cuomo's latest law dictates how communities must rate and fire their teachers, a negotiation which was once left up to <i>thousands</i> of NYSUT members within their respective school districts has been subsumed by NYSUT leadership and their lackeys. Schools now have little control over how outside evaluators and asinine tests will impact their teachers.<br /><br />When the Port Jefferson Station Teachers Association (PJSTA) recently had the nerve to <a href="https://thepjsta.org/2016/01/31/my-union-is-my-business/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">question</a> what the Union was doing about Cuomo's ludicrous law, NYSUT President Karen Magee responded that there are just some things low-level people need not know: </span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>Thanks for writing. While we are always interested in engaging our members in the substantive issues that you raise in your email, I'm sure you also understand from your position as a union officer that much of what you raise here is subject to high-level negotiations. In any negotiating scenario, it's imperative for the officers to let the members know that they are fighting on their behalf, as we have done, but just as crucial that the ebb and flow of the actual negotiations remain at the bargaining table.</i> </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Though NYSUT refuses to reveal the "ebb and flow" of these "high-level negotiations", they promise to let you know if and when your career is no longer subject to the whims of idiotic politicians. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps United Federation of Teachers (UFT) President Michael Mulgrew can shed some light on these mysterious negotiations. After all, Mulgrew is a </span><a href="http://perdidostreetschool.blogspot.com/2015/11/mike-mulgrew-and-andrew-cuomo-meet-for.html" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">favored</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> lunch guest of the Lobbyist for the Students and rejoiced upon passage of Cuomo's law last April. It seems Mulgrew's hard bargaining at the lunch table has somehow paid dividends for everyone </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">except</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> students and teachers. Did Cuomo order the fish before frying the job security of middle class teachers? Only Mulgrew can say.</span></span></div>
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</span></span>When 100,000 workers <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/us/17wisconsin.html" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">protested</a> Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's insidious assaults on collective bargaining in 2011, they sought to sustain a system that gives voice to the voiceless up and down all levels of government--including public education. They fought so workers could forge agreements with those for whom a service is directly provided--not some distant bureaucrat beholden to his benefactors. There's nothing democratic or "collective" about an elite group of people bargaining away the fates of <i>thousands</i> of teachers and schools and refusing to talk about it. <br /><br />Instead of using the sanctity and secrecy of collective bargaining to shield their alleged efforts to protect teachers, NYSUT should call it what it has become: bargaining that is <i>limited</i> to those more concerned about their own seats at "high-level" tables than the shrinking seats of teachers at tables throughout the state. <br /><br />Not unlike their colleagues in Wisconsin, the collective voice of working teachers in New York has been greatly diminished in recent years. If NYSUT expects to survive in a post-<i>Friedrichs</i> world, they must awaken this voice and bring the collective back to bargaining. </span></div>
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sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-56743867005861367412016-01-30T11:53:00.000-08:002016-01-30T12:11:11.148-08:00NYSUT Asks Teachers to Fire Themselves <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Is self-immolation back in style?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Rather than urging members to reject high-stakes tests, New
York State United Teachers (NYSUT) is pining for teachers to <a href="https://lacetothetop.wordpress.com/2015/10/13/nysed-announces-teacher-involement-in-common-core-tests-again/" target="_blank">create</a> the tests,
even though the state fully controls how the results will be used. After all,
Governor Andrew Cuomo's latest teacher evaluation law (APPR) gives Albany—not
local school boards—the last word on how well students must perform for
teachers to be rated "effective" and not subject to harassment and
dismissal. Even if they were as flawless as diamonds, nothing is stopping the
state from <a href="https://lft1760.wordpress.com/2015/10/26/whats-a-teacher-unionist-to-do/" target="_blank">using</a> the tests to saw into schools everywhere, as bogus benchmarks
and HEDI bands will soon hum the tune of "failing" schools.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />NYSUT's call for teachers to write high-stakes tests instead
of shred them is an assault on reason. Though at last year's Representative
Assembly (RA) the Union unanimously passed a resolution that members' children
not take the tests, NYSUT has since done <a href="http://sullio.blogspot.com/2015/10/nysut-shamelessly-ignores-its-own.html" target="_blank">zero</a> to spread this message. It seems
a resolution passed by thousands of teachers to protect their own children
doesn't deserve a billboard or a commercial during the NFL playoffs, for
example. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />The Union did, however, spend $2.4 million on a commercial
that had nothing to do with junk science and everything to do with fiction.
According to the 30-second <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUjupKcEfMc" target="_blank">ad</a> (which yes, aired during the NFL playoffs),
"progress" has been made to protect schools—even though Cuomo's ludicrous
law remains unchanged. And NYSUT has no plans to challenge this law anytime
soon, as it is conspicuously
absent from both the ad and the Union's 2016 legislative <a href="http://www.nysut.org/news/2016/january/testimony-k-12-education" target="_blank">agenda</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Perhaps NYSUT finds great dignity in teachers hastening
their own demise, akin to Kamikaze pilots or Buddhist monks. Yet if NYSUT is
ready to sacrifice members on the altar of privatization, its tool of choice
should be a resolution meant to save schools and not shut them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />For given this choice, most teachers would
rather go down <i>shielding</i> children from abusive tests instead of embracing new and equally abusive ones.</span>sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-27759650739862990972016-01-09T22:08:00.002-08:002016-01-09T22:08:58.312-08:00Mulgrew Declares Victory, Promptly Surrenders <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />What do over 200
politicians do in an election year?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />That's right—hide
out in their offices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />At least the
head of New York's largest teachers union seems to think so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />At a recent
<a href="http://nyceducator.com/2015/12/da-report-december-2015.html" target="_blank">meeting</a>, United Federation of Teachers (UFT) President Michael Mulgrew
shamelessly discouraged members from lobbying the state legislature this year. The
reason? All 213 lawmakers are up for reelection but don't want to talk about it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />According to
Mulgrew, our fearful leaders have embarked on the tried and timid tactic of
avoiding the voters, especially school teachers. At the risk of saying
something stupid, they won't say anything at all. So don't even think about
asking your heavy-hearted assemblyman to say, repeal Governor Andrew Cuomo's
asinine teacher evaluation law (APPR), a law which has cemented chaos and
dysfunction in schools around the state. Got a problem with
high-stakes tests? You're on your own. Mulgrew will be home shaving his
head. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /><o:p></o:p>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Mulgrew thinks everything is swell anyway, so there's no need to
complain. As he recently <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/michael-mulgrew-school-reformers-comeuppance-article-1.2463421" target="_blank">declared</a> in the <i>Daily News</i>, "The days of
test and punish are over", and the recommendations released by the Cuomo
Core task force were a "huge victory" for schools—even though <a href="http://sullio.blogspot.com/2015/12/dont-be-fooled-by-cuomos-mea-culpa-on.html" target="_blank">zero</a>
has changed. Communities and careers can still be obliterated by tests scores.
Moreover, recent federal legislation rolls out the red carpet for privately-run
charter schools and any and all efforts to replace teachers with computers—the
stuff of Andy Cuomo's <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2015/11/19/cuomo-has-a-vision-of-children-taught-by-machines/comment-page-1/" target="_blank">dreams</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />It seems
Mulgrew's strategy is to heap praise and union donations on the same lawmakers who stuck a shiv in the ribs of educators everywhere last April with the passage of
Cuomo's bullshit budget. These same lawmakers are now up for reelection and
Mulgrew kindly asks that you leave them alone; your paychecks and pensions
are in good hands, after all.<br /><br />With Mulgrew himself up for reelection this year, he too wants to avoid the voters, at least the ones who don't live in Florida. Oddly, significantly more <i>retirees</i> <a href="http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2015/08/uft-election-2016-advice-ignore-retiree.html" target="_blank">voted</a> in the last UFT election than working teachers, but that's just how Mulgrew likes it. The last thing Mulgrew wants is a more politically active membership, for that brings more questions than commendations. He might actually have to explain why, for instance, he condones the use of tests to punish schools. Or why the commissioner of education <a href="https://lft1760.wordpress.com/2015/10/26/whats-a-teacher-unionist-to-do/" target="_blank">called</a> APPR "random." Or why Mulgrew's members will soon have less job security than a drunken babysitter.<br /><br />A victory for Mulgrew signals defeat for everyone else. Everyone, that is, except for Cuomo and the legislature.<br /><br />Placating politicians at the expense of middle class workers is a perversion of democracy. We deserve who we vote for, however, especially if we don't vote at all</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kDEc1ijppgI" width="560"></iframe>
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sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-10580267796087293932015-12-10T20:27:00.001-08:002015-12-10T20:36:09.971-08:00Don't be Fooled by Cuomo's Mea Culpa on Testing<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As New York Governor Andrew Cuomo pretends to listen to parents and teachers, he hopes they don't know how to read. <br /><br />Buried at the bottom of a recent <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-recommendations-common-core-task-force" target="_blank">press release</a> announcing the "recommendations" of his education task farce is proof that Cuomo is open to changing <i>nothing</i>: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Education Transformation Act of 2015 will remain in place, and no new legislation is required to implement the recommendations of the report, including recommendations regarding the transition period for consequences for students and teachers. During the transition, the 18 percent of teachers whose performance is measured, in part, by Common Core tests will use different local measures approved by the state, similar to the measures already being used by the majority of teachers. </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Yes, tests will still count for 50% of a teacher's evaluation. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />The so-called “local measures" will
require the state’s seal of approval, and the cut-points on the convoluted “matrix”
that determines if teachers keep their jobs will be tweaked just enough so
heads roll—regardless of how “fair” the tests appear.<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 27.6000003814697px;"> </span>Moreover, the number of tests will <i>double</i> as students will take one test to grade their teachers, and one test that will, according to Cuomo, be "meaningless" until the 2019-2020 school year. So much for reducing the amount of testing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">School districts
can now expect a full-court press by Cuomo and his slimy associates to convince
them to agree to his asinine teacher evaluation law (APPR) or lose more
funding. After all, the (Common Core) tests won't count for another four years,
even though communities and careers will still depend on tests. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Additionally,
everything else in the Lobbyist for the Student's infamous Education
Transformation Act remains, including receivership and weakened due process
rights. As Cuomo maintains, the law will not change. The test is still
king. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Though federal law now says states don't have to use test scores to rate teachers, Cuomo doesn't care. He will use any means necessary to break public education and hand the pieces over to his Wall Street donors. Cuomo is too greedy and prideful to try to save face. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Education historian Diane Ravitch recently <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2015/12/10/cuomo-task-force-will-recommend-revision-of-standards-tests-teacher-evaluation/" target="_blank">wondered</a> why Cuomo thinks he can control education since the New York State Constitution grants that power to the Board of Regents, not the governor. Cuomo gets control by linking ludicrous laws to budgets which are rammed though in the middle of the night. As he once said, he <i>is</i> the government, and public education and all of its democracy threatens Cuomo's control. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It's time for spineless, heavy-hearted legislators to take control away from Cuomo and ram through legislation on behalf of the communities they claim to represent. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Nothing short of a complete rebuke of Cuomo's toxic agenda will stop 500,000 test refusals now. </span></div>
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<br />sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-1632040940305621442015-12-06T11:28:00.001-08:002015-12-06T11:28:41.410-08:00Paladino Attacks B-Lo Blogger, Invokes Roosevelt <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">B-lo blogging brother Sean Crowley recently drew the ire of former New York gubernatorial candidate and all-around assclown Carl Paladino:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"As for Sean Crowley, I observe him as an irresponsible, muckraking conspiracy theorist who...commands no respect in the Buffalo community." </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Note how Paladino refers to Crowley's fine educational <a href="http://b-loedscene.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">musings</a> as "muckraking." A close reading of an American history textbook reveals that President Theodore Roosevelt popularized the term at the turn of the 20th Century, when public corruption and abuse ran as rampant as rats. <br /><br />Revolutions in printing created a media vacuum that was rapidly filled by writers whose words scraped the depths of injustice. Muckraking extraordinaire Upton Sinclair exposed the horrors of meat factories in <i>The Jungle, </i>for example, while Nelly Bly <a href="http://mentalfloss.com/article/29734/ten-days-madhouse-woman-who-got-herself-committed" target="_blank">faked insanity</a> to expose the horrors of a women's lunatic asylum in New York City. <br /></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Far from "irresponsible", Sinclair, Bly and others prompted plutocrats to be <i>responsive </i>to the public, the essence of any healthy democracy. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br />Perhaps Paladino agrees that we've entered a new age of muckraking. With the </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">explosion of the internet, bloggers and social media </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">gadflies are subsuming mass-printed paparazzi. Meanwhile, the truth is just as tenuous as it was 100 years ago, though lies now <i>circle </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">the world before the truth gets its pants on. <br /><br />Like the First Amendment, the truth has always been a messy thing, especially when it's buried in the muck of graft. Paladino must therefore carefully consider the veracity of such toxic tags as "commands no respect" before slinging them at others.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />It seems Paladino's own brand of respect includes physical barbs, as demonstrated by this 2010 confrontation with muckraking journalist Fred Dicker:</span><br /><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />In the midst of his gubernatorial campaign, Paladino, ever the conspiracy theorist himself, accused Dicker of being a "stalking horse" for New York Governor and King Bullshit Andrew Cuomo. It's one thing to rake the muck; it's entirely something else to <i>add</i> to<i> </i>it. <br /><br />It should surprise no one that an unabashed privatizer of public education like Carl Paladino has allowed <i>B-LoEdScene </i>to breach his skin. </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">On the other hand, as also <a href="http://sullio.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-good-bad-and-putrid.html" target="_blank">seen</a> recently with this blog, it should appall everyone that yet another leader of New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) seemingly has more in common with Carl Paladino than the First Amendment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">NYSUT's western New York director Mike Deely recently used Facebook to second Paladino's sentiments about Crowley, commenting: <br /></span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"As long as your [sic] reading Bloedscene consider this: AFT, NYSUT, UFT and BTF fought and continues to fight corporate education reforms. Your enemy is not your union. Instead of conspiracy theories get involved." </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Though working teachers in Buffalo and across the state are in the cross hairs of <a href="http://sullio.blogspot.com/2015/07/on-road-to-receivership.html" target="_blank">receivership</a> (<i>i.e. we don't give a fuck what your contract says</i>), </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Deely and NYSUT
executive vice president Andy Pallotta think that if they say something often enough,
people will believe it—even if it rings more hollow than a dead man's fart.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />Bloggers who dare question the Union's obtuse political postures are divisive conspiracy theorists who should have their keyboards confiscated. With the possibility of dues <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/friedrichs-v-california-teachers-association/" target="_blank">soon</a> becoming optional, the least Deely can do for members is identify what other "conspiracy theories" Crowley is spreading. Maybe Deely can compare notes with Paladino and release a joint statement. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />Those who rake the muck provide an essential service to democracy, so long as they don't underestimate the intelligence of their readers by spewing unproven pejoratives and platitudes, as our political leaders often do. The First Amendment is a tool to unearth the truth, which festers and fades in absence of this tool. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br />And though in a 1906 speech called <a href="http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/teddyrooseveltmuckrake.htm" target="_blank">"The Man with the Muckrake"</a> Roosevelt cautioned about being drawn too deeply into the muck, his words ring louder today than ever before:<br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-20127861199544239332015-11-27T20:29:00.001-08:002015-11-27T21:00:41.721-08:00On Cuomo and Incompetency Based Education <br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Like sweet <a href="http://www.huxley.net/soma/somaquote.html" target="_blank">soma</a> in Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel <i>Brave New World</i>, a dose of "competency based" education has arrived to pacify the public. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Rather than with super-sized standardized tests taken once a year—tests which are less popular than purgatory—the profiteers of
public education now seek to lure schools into oblivion via the sirens of
software.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">If the plutocrats get their way—and they usually do—steaming
piles of tests will be served even more frequently, albeit sealed in smaller, digital packages. The fates of schools will ride on kids' keyboards, as each log-in will at long last expose the <i>incompetency </i>of their principals and teachers. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />With No. 2 pencils soon going the way of pay phones and mix tapes, politicians will call for even more computers inside (and out of) the classroom. Besides, it's the 21st century, and technology is <i>finally</i> smarter than people. Tying teacher evaluations to computer-based tests will make sense to many, at least at first. Kids will enthusiastically complete tasks formerly known as high-stakes tests and be cajoled by computers into achieving proficiency.<br /><br />Over time, however, this will become a fool's errand; the "bar will rise" just enough to placate parents and turn effective teachers ineffective. Educators will also ironically have no choice but to embrace this software since their careers will depend on it. Computers will spew forth weekly ratings of teachers and schools that will make Bill Gates swoon. Meanwhile, companies like Pearson, Questar and Google will collect pearls of data on our kids, for sale on the open market. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Though the opt-out movement has apparently burrowed deep
enough beneath the skin of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo that the Lobbyist for the
Students is reportedly considering amending his test-centric
teacher evaluation law (APPR), it remains to be seen what, if anything, will
actually change. All signs point to Cuomo once again including education "reforms"
in the state budget—a cynical and selfish ploy which leaves schools in the
hands of the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/24/nyregion/us-attorney-preet-bharara-criticizes-albanys-three-men-in-a-room-culture.html" target="_blank">infamous</a> three men in a room.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />If Cuomo was serious about improving education, he would compel the legislature to take up changes to his APPR <i>immediately</i> instead of five minutes before the budget's due.<br /><br />Embedding education in the budget has forced heavy-hearted legislators to either forsake funding or vote for ludicrous laws they don't even read. And though Cuomo has hinted that he now wants nothing to do with high-stakes tests, don't be surprised if the words "technology" and "competency" are peppered throughout his proposals. Cuomo may indeed offer to remove traditional tests in exchange for competency based benchmarks, technology touchstones or pathways to proficiency; he's still searching for the right euphemism. As usual, all of this will come at a cost, with districts who agree to these deforms promised increased bandwidths and refurbished iPads. Sleazy budgetary bribes are how Cuomo "gets things done", after all. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br />It was just ten days ago that Cuomo <a href="http://sullio.blogspot.com/2015/11/cuomo-wants-to-replace-machines-with.html" target="_blank">expressed</a> a desire to replace teachers with computers. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Parents and teachers must therefore verify but not trust his overtures on education, be they from anonymous "administration officials" (i.e. Cuomo) or Cuomo himself.<br /><br />And if Cuomo thinks computers are the answer, he should first try replacing himself with one. </span>sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-56865762722745458332015-11-25T09:15:00.001-08:002015-11-25T14:09:00.098-08:00The College and Career Readiness is All<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A recent <a href="http://nypost.com/2015/11/24/report-shows-city-kids-who-pass-class-are-failing-state-exams/" target="_blank">report</a> by anti-public schools group StudentsFirstNY alleges that New York City schools are passing too many kids. The charter school charlatans request "an independent audit of school coursework to ensure New York City public schools are not lowering the bar and giving parents a false picture." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Translation: Give us your schools. <br /><br />And exactly what data do they use to support this claim of "scandalous" grade inflation? Yes, results from tests which over 250,o00 New Yorkers <a href="http://sullio.blogspot.com/2015/04/cuomos-budget-enflames-massive-opt-out.html" target="_blank">refused</a> to take last year, tests intended to measure readiness for <strike>community</strike> colleges and careers. <br /><br />How does New York State define "college and career readiness", anyway? Not even education commissioner MaryEllen Elia seems to know, though she does <a href="https://lft1760.wordpress.com/2015/10/26/whats-a-teacher-unionist-to-do/" target="_blank">agree</a> that the teacher evaluation system (APPR) is "random." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />The truth is, thanks to College Board President David
Coleman—yet another education "expert" who taught for zero seconds—only
kids on track to score a 1630 on the SAT are apparently prepared for life
beyond high school. Coleman pulled this number from his rear in 2013 when
the New York State Education Department (NYSED) <a href="http://www.p12.nysed.gov/assessment/reports/summary38externalbenchmarkstudies.pdf" target="_blank">needed</a> hard evidence that
public schools were indeed "failing." Never mind that only 34% of
kids who take the SAT score a 1630, or to what degree financial success equates
with college and career readiness; Coleman had the cure. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Though not quite "independent", the "audit of school coursework" StudentsFirstNY seeks is already well underway. After all, charter school bootlicker Governor Andrew Cuomo has used the same bogus test scores to justify his recent education "reforms" encased in the budget. So alarmed was Cuomo by the lack of college and career readiness in his state he decided to use tests he recently called "meaningless" as an excuse to shutter schools, fire middle class workers and paint a "false picture" of public education. <br /><br />Now, with a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/26/nyregion/cuomo-in-shift-is-said-to-back-reducing-test-scores-role-in-teacher-reviews.html?_r=0" target="_blank">twirl</a> that would make a ballerina blush, Cuomo reportedly wants to stop using tests to destroy public education. The Lobbyist for the Students is evidently entombed in low poll numbers and needs working families to break him out. But don't be fooled: Cuomo merely wants to somehow swap standardized tests with "technology" to <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2015/11/19/cuomo-has-a-vision-of-children-taught-by-machines/comment-page-1/" target="_blank">fire</a> veteran teachers and steal their pensions. Maybe <a href="http://sullio.blogspot.com/2015/06/teachers-know-nothing-about-politics.html" target="_blank">heavy hearted</a> legislators like Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx) will at least sniff the budget before they vote for it this year:<br /></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Something's rotten in Jeffrey Dinowitz's New York</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />With one putrid vote, Dinowitz—who New York State United
Teachers (NYSUT) has generously </span><a href="http://classic.followthemoney.org/database/uniquecandidate.phtml?uc=690" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">supported</a><span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: large;"> over the years—helped bring
high-stakes tests, receivership, and weakened rights for workers to New York State.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />How did NYSUT respond to Dinowitz? By publicly thanking him with a glossy mailer, of course. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br />Rather than condoning the budget votes of Dinowitz and others, NYSUT would better serve teachers, parents and students by <i>loudly</i> repeating the following question the next time the likes of StudentsFirstNY accuses our schools of "lowering the bar":<br /><br /><b>How does New York define college and career readiness? </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">If the answer has anything to do with test scores, NYSUT wins the argument. </span>sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-32932793974502384032015-11-22T13:47:00.001-08:002015-11-22T13:47:23.324-08:00The Good, the Bad and the Putrid <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This blog has never been about a person. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It's about ideas—the good, the bad and the putrid.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />However, people who stunt good ideas and try to graft putrid ones upon them are regularly rebuked in this blog. Take New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, for example, whose inane quest to grind public schools into the ground continues unabated, as demonstrated by recent <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2015/11/19/cuomo-has-a-vision-of-children-taught-by-machines/comment-page-1/" target="_blank">statements</a> that this blog was the first to <a href="http://sullio.blogspot.com/2015/11/cuomo-wants-to-replace-machines-with.html" target="_blank">report</a> on. Consider what you will about Cuomo the person, but Cuomo the politician has even more ideas<i> </i>for public education, ideas that should alarm many New Yorkers. <br /><br />Though Cuomo has yet to comment on the ideas in this blog, another Andy would like to make <i>The Pen is Mightier than the Person</i> about the person. <br /><br />At a recent New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) Board of Directors meeting, NYSUT executive vice president Andy Pallotta announced that he had called the state attorney general to file a discrimination complaint against this blog, claiming that a recent <a href="http://sullio.blogspot.com/2015/11/memo-to-new-york-teachers-fck-you-pay-me.html" target="_blank">post</a> likens him to a character from the film <i>Goodfellas</i>. Like a few dozen other enthusiastic readers, Pallotta subjected the piece to a semi-rigorous close-reading and instantly identified with it, even though his actual name or likeness appears nowhere in the piece. Satire is wasted on the stupid, evidently, though Martin Scorsese's film and the blog, if anything, attempt to unearth a theme that often offends people in power: follow the money. <br /><br />Does Pallotta's absurd attempt to censor this blog mean he's offended? Most likely. Is Pallotta offended by following the money? Let's hope he addresses this in his next lecture on unions and organized crime.<br /><br />The fact remains, as NYSUT's director of political operations, Pallotta holds power over a lot of money, money that dues-paying members have every <i>right</i> to see is wisely spent. <br /><br />Since high-stakes tests are the lynch pin of privatization, for example, NYSUT can and should do more to wield the bully pulpit and pocketbook against them. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Pallotta and others might begin this campaign by at least
<i>asking</i> teachers if they realize that their careers now essentially ride on
students getting a 1630 on the SAT—New York State's asinine definition of
"college and career readiness." NYSUT might then be in a better position to encourage members not to have their children take the t</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">ests—in solidarity with thousands of exasperated
parents around the state.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />With a <a href="http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Political-Action-Legislation/What-You-Need-to-Know-About-Friedrichs-v.-California-Teachers-Association" target="_blank">decision</a> looming in <i>Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association</i>, NYSUT must prepare for the worst and hope for the best. If and when dues become optional, thousands of working teachers will need more persuasive reasons to opt-in than saving a few dollars on patio furniture or dancing the nae nae. <br /><br />People will join a Union that can be seen and heard fighting against the dismantlement of their schools, a Union that vigorously counters the putrid with the good. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We look forward to hearing Pallotta's ideas. </span></span><br />
<br />sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-90375612934509179972015-11-17T19:04:00.000-08:002015-11-17T19:42:57.138-08:00Cuomo Wants to Replace Machines with Technology<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Huh?<br /><br />In a recent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FOoQXVkjvKM?start=714" target="_blank">interview</a> at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo continued his assault on public education, logic and the English language: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I was watching some crazy science fiction movie the other night, I couldn't sleep. And this person designs a computer that becomes smarter than the person. And he's trying to tell the computer to do something and it's telling him, "I'm overriding and I'm [inaudible]."<br /> <br />That's what we created. We created a government machine that we say, "We want to make a change in how we educate students...and the bureaucracy says, "No. We like it the way it is." And you say, "Yeah but you're my machine, I built you and I operate you." And the machine says, "Not anymore you don't." </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I hope technology can come in over that. And technology can almost say, "Forget the machine, forget the machine. You know how we're going to do education now? Every kid gets a computer. That computer has a piece of software that adjusts to that child and how that child learns. And that technology is going to fundamentally change the dynamic of the classroom." </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The movie which kept Cuomo awake sounds a lot like Stanley Kubrick's <i>2001: A Space Odyssey</i>. The film features a computer named HAL 9000 which rebels against its operator on a voyage to Jupiter.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Though Kubrick's film points out the pitfalls of technology,
Cuomo bizarrely uses it to <i>praise</i> technology and chide human beings. Cuomo
apparently wants to replace teachers—who he compares to machines—with
yes, actual machines.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">As
if our kids aren't already hooked on devices, Cuomo—who was a teacher for zero
seconds—wants them staring at screens for at least 8 hours a day. The Lobbyist for
the Students and other public education deformers <a href="https://schoolsofthoughtny.wordpress.com/2015/11/01/connecting-reformer-dots-competency-based-education-initiatives-sound-pedagogy-or-ploy-to-reboot-common-core-in-new-york-state/" target="_blank">envision</a> classrooms of 50 or
more students pointing and clicking their way into dreary, automated futures.
And you can forget about them forming relationships with other children or
compassionate adults—their best friend will be an iPad.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />It's unsettling to consider that Cuomo might actually <i>believe </i>a "piece of software" can do a better job at educating our kids. What's more disturbing, however, is that he sees technology as a means to a destructive end. After all, Cuomo's goal all along has been to "<a href="http://www.educationnews.org/education-policy-and-politics/new-yorks-cuomo-vows-to-break-education-monopoly/" target="_blank">break</a>" the teachers union, and believes technology can help him achieve this while also enriching his campaign donors. Cuomo's slimy crusade against working teachers brought us last year's Smart Schools bond, for example, which spends $2 billion on educational technology, and Dick Parsons, the curmudgeonly head of Cuomo's Common Core Task Force who <i>just happens</i> to <a href="http://libn.com/2015/10/27/gov-chief-ed-advisers-firm-major-supplier-to-state-ed/" target="_blank">work</a> for an educational technology firm. Cuomo condones turning our kids into drones as long as people like Parsons get their cut.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /><br />Teachers unions were not the inspiration for HAL 9000, but rather politicians like Andrew Cuomo, who choose to pass laws first and ask questions later. And if Cuomo thinks he can once again use his budget to "change the dynamic of the classroom", he should first try answering HAL's question:</span></span><br />
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sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155393073484684928.post-92178039000902948632015-11-15T06:59:00.000-08:002015-11-16T15:07:34.071-08:00Memo to New York Teachers: F*ck You, Pay Me. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Lost seniority <a href="http://www.investigativepost.org/2015/11/04/buffalo-superintendent-outlines-reform-agenda/" target="_blank">rights</a>? Fuck you pay me. <br /><br />Lost due process <a href="http://ny.chalkbeat.org/2015/03/31/budget-basics-how-evals-tenure-dismissal-and-school-oversight-are-about-to-change/#.VkiWXCtM_yA" target="_blank">rights</a>? Fuck you pay me. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Lost your <a href="http://sullio.blogspot.com/2015/01/andrew-cuomo-hoists-himself-on-canards.html" target="_blank">pension</a>? Fuck you pay me.</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Just keep paying and absolutely nothing will change—that's a
promise.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<br />It's a proud New York tradition:</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3XGAmPRxV48" width="560"></iframe>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />Sincerely, <br /><br />NYSUT Unity Caucus</span></span>sulliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317906247512526498noreply@blogger.com0