Teachers Know Nothing About Politics

So says New York Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan.  

In a recent interview, the chair of the assembly’s education committee bemoaned the ignorance of educators, conflating their angst over laws levied against their livelihoods with their Albany naiveté:

"Sometimes I wish teachers would have a better grasp of the political process. Since Race to the Top, we’ve talked about teacher evaluation [sic] every year because we were sort of forced to by Race to the Top."                                                                  
                  Catherine Nolan (D-NY)
                  June 16, 2015

Though New York’s Race to the Top money evaporated high above the Catskill Mountains before any drops could trickle into classrooms, Nolan lamely implies that U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will soon stride into schools across the state and ask for his money back if more teachers aren’t fired. 

When asked about her bill to inform families about abusive state tests, Nolan pivoted to Duncan’s infamous “white suburban moms” comment, blaming her legislative inaction on some federal monster stalking her in the gloom.

It should surprise no one, however, that Duncan does indeed resemble Dr. Frankenstein’s monster, ready to suffocate your child's school with douchebaggery:     
                                                                                  

Nolan proceeded to praise the “continuing process” of Albany—a state government which has historically been as fluid as a vial of horse manure. The careers of educators everywhere apparently now cling to the calves of leaders like Nolan, who three months ago voted to demolish teacher tenure while hitting our kids on their heads with mallets patented by Pearson.

Sadly, Nolan understands education about as much as teachers understand politics, yet parents, teachers and students suffer when ignorant assholes like Andrew Cuomo pass laws on behalf of billionaires.

When asked specifically about the teacher evaluation law she voted for—which includes a convoluted and clunky “matrix” to determine a teacher’s overall rating—Nolan would only say that she supports the seven six members of the Board of Regents who publicly rejected the ludicrous law.

If only Nolan agreed with the dissident Regents before she decided to enshrine the source of their rebellion into law.  

Though politics is a convenient scapegoat, Nolan and others must understand the educational process before surrendering to the political machine. Bad laws are worse than no laws, and take much longer to repeal. New York teachers will likely wait longer than prohibition before getting tenure back, for instance, and the opt-out movement balances on the border of oblivion, its fate likely residing in the Supreme Court.

If Race to the Top is truly to blame for Cuomo's quest to destroy public education, then New York teachers can expect even less help from Nolan should someone like Wisconsin Governor and Alfalfa's brother from another mother Scott Walker win the White House next year. Walker is determined to crush organized labor from the federal perch, and heavy-hearted, spineless democrats like Nolan will scurry beneath boulders if and when Walker assumes office.  After all, if politicians can’t stand up to their own party, they cannot be expected to stand against other parties.  

  

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is not as innocent as he looks

Though teachers may not fully understand politics, they are at least starting to stand up for political change within their own union.

At NYSUT’s annual representative assembly in Buffalo last month, it was standing-room only at the inaugural meeting of Stronger Together, a union caucus formed last year to counteract the kowtowing complacency of NYSUT's current leadership. ST caucus seeks to engender an inclusive, proactive union, a union that hopes to see the train's headlights before tasting its wheels. 

NYSUT passed ST caucus-authored resolutions at the RA, for example, which denounce the Common Snore standards and their inane tests, and the UFT's Michael Mulgrew punched no teacher in the face.

Teachers union thugs in Buffalo

ST caucus will also help remind the public that although teachers may not fully grasp the realities of the political process, they do grasp its potentials, and know that a wise and just society does not place process over product.

New York's political process has left its schools with a rotten product, however, and Cathy Nolan and others seem okay with that, for now. 

Don't worry, teachers...the next legislative session is right around the corner...

Andy, Sandy and Friends

Behind every sociopath is a bad cook.

Just how much money did New York Governor Andrew Cuomo accept from a giant media company? 

News Corporation CEO and Walking Dead extra Rupert Murdoch must know, since the crustaceous oligarch reportedly paid Cuomo $700,000 to publish a book read by less people than this blog.  

Curiously, Murdoch and his Fox News Channel have also been kind to the governor’s live-in girlfriend, smiling TV chef Sandra Lee. Lee’s frequent appearances on Fox and Friends—semi-homemade advertising time for her books and brand—are also brought to you by News Corporation. Cuomo likely has less indigestion these days with Fox Cash lining the cupboards of the Mount Kisco mansion he shares with Lee.

After all, what’s good for the girlfriend is good for the governor.  
 

Sandy Lee: A Friend to Fox (and Andy C.) 

What exactly has Murdoch received from the state in return for his kindness to Cuomo and Lee?

Tax breaks, of course.

One of Cuomo's first acts as governor was to exempt News Corporation subsidiary HarperCollins from sales tax for e-books and online-only publications. While HarperCollins made $53 million in profits last year, the move has cost New York State at least $35 million a year since 2011, with the proportion of books now sold through small, independent book stores at less than ten percent nationwide.

Sadly, Murdoch’s money controls the media and many minds.

Speaking of minds, public schools in New York are due a lot more than $420 million, but Cuomo thinks this amount is better invested in Murdoch and tax breaks for the movie industry. Though box-office bombs like Fox’s Won't Back Down are optional nightmares for movie goers, insolvent school districts are not an option for parents, students and teachers throughout the state, thousands of whom have turned out at forums in recent weeks to tell Cuomo that they won't back down against his insidious need to annihilate their schools.    
     
Cuomo’s palms itch around billionaires, but curl into fists near kids. Withholding billions from their schools is no way for Cuomo to cement his self-created legacy as the Lobbyist for the Students, and neither is stripping teachers of their due process rights.  Besides, every principal knows that bad teachers usually fire themselves before submitting to the taunts of unruly students year after year. Those who do otherwise and still spend the majority of their adult lives helping other people’s kids are most often called former teachers. 

Of course, Cuomo’s war on union members is red meat for Murdoch and Fox, with the governor one Koch brother donation shy of sharing a ticket with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in 2016. Walker stood up for Murdoch recently when he promised to protect the elderly Aussie from ISIS, just like he protected other billionaire assholes from union members soon after assuming office.

Rupert Murdoch's Dream Ticket?

Walker stopped short of calling the brave unionists who stormed the Twin Towers on 9/11 terrorists, however. At least some middle-class workers are off limits these days.     

With their governor seeking to subsume public schools on behalf of his benefactors and pass ethics reforms aimed at his enemies only, New Yorkers have no choice but to resist Cuomo's reforms and refuse his tests. Though it's looking more likely by the day, they cannot wait for the U.S. Attorney to cart Cuomo away in cuffs; civil disobedience is a more direct path to democracy anyway.
         
Let Andy and Sandy know they are not your friends.

Don't take their tests, buy their books, or multiply Murdoch's money.      
      

NYSUT Must Spit Up Cuomo’s Baloney

What Cuomo wants to feed New York now tastes far worse than baloney

New York Governor and all-around asshole Andrew Cuomo recently denounced the same teacher evaluation law (APPR) he once wanted to “force down your throats”, calling it “baloney.”

While Cuomo’s APPR did indeed taste like baloney four years ago, instead of steak, the Lobbyist for the Students now wants to feed public education raw sewage, mixing everything from tax breaks for the rich to broken due process rights into his fetid stew.

As if his proposals weren’t shitty enough, Cuomo is also holding taxpayer dollars hostage to them. Already neutered by his Gap Elimination Adjustment and undemocratic tax cap, schools will receive a measly $1.1 billion if and only if they grant the state (i.e. Cuomo) the power to fire as many middle-class workers as possible. Cuomo seeks to kick districts in the face after kicking them between the legs.
With New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) finally out of the picture, Cuomo’s campaign donors can swarm the schools, subsume policies, and further segregate our kids.

It is an understatement to call what Cuomo is proposing the “end of local control”; he is telling public education—the bulwark of democracy—to get lost.

So as not to limp quietly into the graveyard of civilization, both public education and NYSUT must appeal to the people—democracy’s saving grace.

In forums last year throughout the state, for example, thousands of teachers and parents came together and irrefutably indicted the Common Core Standards and their accompanying high-stakes tests. Parents and educators cried into microphones while Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch cried into her vodka.



Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch will do whatever Cuomo says 

As protests against abusive state tests multiplied, Cuomo himself at one point bizarrely announced he was ready to pick up a placard and join the uprising. The same tests he once demanded makeup 20% of his teacher evaluation law had caused—according to Cuomo—“massive confusion, massive anxiety, and massive chaos.”   With his latest proposal cementing at least 50% of a teacher’s job to state tests, Cuomo apparently wants 30% more confusion, anxiety, and chaos to run riot throughout the state. 

Fortunately, civil disobedience usually arrives just in time to save democracy.    

If Cuomo thought the backlash against Common Core last year was chaotic, he needs to step out of his mansion more often.

Nothing inflames democracy more than a douchebag doing the bidding of Big Business, and communities around New York are catching onto Cuomo and his baloney tests, so much so that a record number of students are expected to refuse to take them again this year. With some teachers even refusing to proctor the tests, the message is clear: Cuomo and his donors will need to find another way to burrow beneath public education.

NYSUT must mobilize around the I Refuse movement, allowing democracy, not Cuomo, to rule our schools.

No parent, teacher, or cafeteria worker should serve our children Cuomo’s putrid slop.

 

A Letter to NYSUT Leaders from Educators for Howie Hawkins

Below is a letter from Educators for Howie Hawkins offering guidance to NYSUT locals who support Hawkins but may be reluctant to endorse him officially.

As the letter notes, educators cannot afford to sit out this election. NYSUT leaders have the ability to galvanize their members against a governor whose policies are eroding the foundation of public education.

Howie Hawkins will bring solvency and sanity back to our schools.

Please read and share widely.   


Dear Local President,

For educators and teacher union members, THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT GOVERNOR’S RACE IN THE HISTORY OF NEW YORK STATE.   

Luckily, there is one candidate who is running for governor this year who is truly pro-education and pro-labor and that candidate is Howie Hawkins.

Ideally, we are asking that you and your NYSUT local take the bold step of endorsing the Hawkins/Jones ticket.  Already many locals have done this and more are on the way. 

We do understand, however, that not every local will be able to endorse Howie.  With such a short time remaining between now and Election Day, we realize that some of you are hesitant to move in that direction.

This letter then, offers you an alternative.   Attached you will find a clear, concise, and comprehensive contrast between all three candidates on the most important issues to educators, parents, students, and schools.  As a local president you have the right and responsibility to educate your membership. Certainly, a local president can preface such an email to their membership in one of two ways.

 Approach 1:  “Dear Member,  As you know, public education and issues that impact each of you will be on the ballot this November in a governor’s race that will determine the next four years of education policy and funding in New York State.  I think we all could agree that the last four years have not been good for our schools.  To help you make an informed decision in the governor’s race, I am attaching a comparison of records for you to consider.  I encourage you to read these, share them with friends and family, and most importantly VOTE on November 4.  Thank you.”

-OR-

Approach 2:  “Dear Member, As you know, public education and issues that impact each of you will be on the ballot this November in a governor’s race that will determine the next four years of education policy and funding in New York State.  I think we all could agree that the last four years have not been good for our schools.  While the (name of your teachers association) is not making a formal endorsement at this time, I can tell you that after studying the records of each candidate, I will be voting for Howie Hawkins, whose platform is exactly what we need now in public education. Attached please find a comparison of records for you to consider. You may or may not come to the same decision as I have, but however you decide, I encourage you to read these, share them with friends and family, and most importantly VOTE on November 4.  Thank you.”

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Lee Cutler, Education Outreach Coordinator for the Howie Hawkins campaign, at cutlerlee4@gmail.com or at 518-229-5111.

Thank you,

Educators for Howie Hawkins

                                  Contrasting Candidates for NY Governor

	Astorino	Cuomo	Hawkins
Teacher Tenure	Opposes  Sees it as a way to allow ineffective teachers to stay in the classroom	Wishy-Washy “Any change to the current law would have to be carefully reviewed"	Supports "Tenure establishes and preserves a highly qualified teacher workforce in our schools.”
Triborough Amendment	Opposes “I support changing the Triborough Amendment, which now keeps public-employee-union contracts in effect even after they expire. “	Wishy-Washy Silent right now but has used buzz phrases like support of “mandate relief”, which is seen as code for elimination of Triborough	Supports Supports the right of public workers to strike and he would maintain the Triborough Amendment, which extends existing contracts when they end if there is not an agreement.
Common Core	Opposes Would replace CC with “In-State Standards,” although unclear who would design these.	Supports	Opposes   He believes we need standards, but educators should design them, not private contractors with lucrative contracts
Property Tax Cap and Freeze	Supports Concept Would take it a step further: “My plan will give New York one of the lowest tax rates in the Northeast, making New York much more competitive than it has been in over a generation.”	Supports A legislative accomplishment he is proud of	Opposes “We need to end the property tax cap and the Gap Elimination Adjustment, which have balanced the state budget on the backs of our children by cutting state aid to schools for the last five years.”
End of the Gap Elimination Adjustment	Has not addressed This	Opposes Any Change	Supports Immediate End
Charter Schools	Supports	Supports “You are not alone.  We will save Charter Schools!” - April 3, 2014 at Charter School Rally, Albany, N.Y.	Opposes
Reduction of State Tests	Supports, but little offered in what kind of reduction would occur under his leadership	Supports, but has done little or nothing to reduce tests	Supports:   “We should let the local teachers and parents and school boards make the decisions about standards, curriculum and assessment.”

 

What Campbell Brown Won't Ask Teachers

In a recent Twitter exchange, former Assistant Secretary of Education and Campbell Brown backslapper Peter Cunningham paradoxically pleaded for teachers to both speak out for their profession and accept less job security. With the tired cry to "raise the bar" in tow, Cunningham floated the need to "streamline due process," education deformers' kinder, gentler way of demanding an end to hard-earned job protections:

Confronted with a recent statistic from the New
York State Education Department (NYSED) on the average time to settle a teacher disciplinary case (known as a 3020a), Cunningham went silent, likely retreating into his anti-teacher bubble to "fix assignment" (whatever that means) and sort out the other  "issues" he fails to detail throughout the brief exchange. Educators will happily discuss these issues and more with Cunningham, since they actually teach for a living and have everything--and nothing--to lose in the current war on public education. As a self-proclaimed "recovering TV journalist," Campbell Brown can also join the discussion, feeling free to fire off her own questions instead of ignoring teachers' questions.

Six hours after the initial exchange, Cunningham finally surfaced, questioning the NYSED statistic while obliquely championing Arne Duncan's new "teacher-equity" plan:

At press time, neither Cunningham nor Brown have asked on Twitter or elsewhere what teachers need for success with all students, from at-risk to advanced. Had the discussion not been cut short by his deflection and retreat, Cunningham likely would have continued avowing his support for teachers while hoisting the canard that tenure guarantees a "job for life." Not unlike Brown and other privateers, Cunningham seeks to praise public schools while picking their pockets. These efforts fall short in the face of educators, however, many of whom have grown adept at recognizing the stench of bullshit in the deformers' woodshed. It seems Cunningham, who according to his current bio was "responsible for messaging the President and Secretary's education agenda," needs to discover new ways to mask the odious odor of contempt for workers' rights permeating throughout the country.

Even more perplexing is that Cunningham was a member of Duncan's Department of Education in 2010, the same year the department required and approved changes to New York's teacher evaluation laws (APPR) as part of the state's Race to the Top application. Is Cunningham--who supposedly also "advised the Secretary on education policy development"--really unaware of how New York has "streamlined due process" under his own department's urgent guidance? If so, will Cunningham continue criticizing a system he believes doesn't work, maybe even demanding New York return the $700 million it received from his department four years ago? Teachers would gladly comply if it would also allow them to jettison the standards his boss once proudly touted but no longer even refers to by their copyrighted name (their acronym is CCSS).

If deformers are so concerned about raising the bar in classrooms, why do they continue to ignore everything else happening inside of these classrooms except sex scandals and standardized tests? Why aren't people with less teaching experience than actor Tony Danza, for example, curious to know what high standards and excellent teaching actually looks like? Were Brown and Cunningham to ask this question of educators, they would be flooded with examples of teachers ushering and inspiring students through the complexities of life, complexities unmeasurable by test scores. These stories--not VAM stories--could be publicized and dissected in the media, fostering a discussion about the habits of highly effective teachers. This would no doubt go over much better than the divide and conquer tactics of deformers. After all, America loves stories about inspirational teachers--especially true ones.

Why would anyone legitimately interested in improving education not begin by asking what actually happens in classrooms? Is this the deformers' way of treating teachers like professionals? Stay out of their way until test scores drop? Few things are as destructive as hypocrisy, especially when mixed with education. Education is the search for truth anyway, and truth shrivels in the shadow of the hypocrisy and misinformation spread by the likes of Brown and Cunningham. Educators hold the truth in high regard, but will only flee from a profession in which trust has eroded. 

Unfortunately, teacher turnover is one of the deformers' means to end public education, with experienced, unionized teachers slowly transplanted by underpaid, non-union neophytes.  Teachers therefore have no choice but to keep teaching and keep defending the truth; keep doing everything in their power to tip schools away from the precipice of privatization.

And though Campbell Brown won't ask what great teaching looks like, teachers will keep answering it.