Wednesday, September 11, 2013

DeBlasio into run-off in mayor? Why UFT will be last to concede

*UPDATE: Thompson is supported by Madoff supporter - Did not return donations he said he would after Daily News expose (scroll to end)

IT'S A RUN-OFF:

MAYOR:

Bill DeBlasio

Bill Thompson

News here: watch for further UFT leadership alienation from rank and file with United Federation of Teachers president Michael Mulgrew's delusional pledge to put Thompson over the top. Might this persistent effort foster rank and file push to withdraw from COPE, especially with UFT & NYSUT's anticipated support for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's re-election in 2014?
[UPDATE: deBlasio's clearly at 40%, yet with Thompson supporters bailing, UFT & Thompson cling to wish that some 1% remaining votes, in paper ballots will skew different from all the trends (deBlasio winning every demographic and every borough. See chart below.]

PUBLIC ADVOCATE, going to run-off:

Letitia James

Daniel Squadron

--but the top four candidates were women, and perhaps the Saujami and Guerrero votes will shift to James.

BORO PRESIDENTS:

Manhattan: [UPDATE: Brewer wins outright]

Gale Brewer

Jessica Lappin –Brewer will nail this. Lappin's base is too much of the Upper East Side

PRIMARY VICTORIES:

BIG NEWS OF THE NIGHT:

Charles Hynes, who held DA position for a generation, insulating himself from up-start opposition, via his solidifying support with community machine pols, yet plagued by many corruption reports indicated flawed, unjust convictions.

CLEAR WINNER:

Joe Lhota –the candidate for the apologists of Bloomberg, and those unfazed by inconsistent MTA bus service, regular fare hikes and legends of double books, heading a public agency (under confused combination of Albany and City Hall leadership) with no popular control. An interesting contrast indeed.

COMPTROLLER:

Scott Stringer, clearing the need for a run-off campaign.

BORO PRESIDENT:
Queens:

Melinda Katz

UPDATE: WHAT DOESN'T UFT/THOMPSON GET?

Look at these numbers. Across every borough, it is clear, deBlasio won. As you read the press, he won in every demographic. And how clueless is the Unity UFT leadership with numbers? The above deBlasio/Thomspon/Quinn vote chart of 2013 mayoral primary results is from Huffington Post is based on 99 percent of the precincts reporting. Note, as apparent by the New York Times site dating, that this 99 % reporting figure is from 5:23 pm, so this looks like recent data. The 40.3% deBlasio figure is higher than the 40.13% that the Daily News reported that the Board of Elections reported at 5:20 am. Obviously, the movement at this point is only movement up for deBlasio.
Labor will hold a labor solidarity rally Thursday for Bill deBlasio- noticeably absent will be the UFT.
In stark contrast to ally Merryl Tisch (chairwoman of Thompson's campaign), 32BJ, UFCW and RWDSU, which had all originally endorsed Thompson or Quinn, and have all endorsed deBlasio in the last 24 hours, the United Federation of Teachers is clinging to its dream of a Thompson win. He is so symbolically important to them, as the Unity faction of UFT's view of politics (in addition to their election interim --between elections--political view of politics as lobbying power, not people power) is to glom onto the powerful, no matter how bad their politics (Obama, 2012, Cuomo, 2010, Thompson, 2013 -yet not 2009, when he would have made a difference vs. Bloomberg), to attach themselves not only with endorsements, but many of us suspect, socially. The connections between the establishment Unity caucus with Thompson run deep. Notice how as the anti-teacher turns of president Obama and governor Cuomo get worse and worse, the UFT sticks with their every move, in principle, never critical of their policies, such as Race to the Top, Common Core, APPR or the King-imposed Advance teacher evaluation system.
Thus, a Thompson loss to deBlasio deeply hurts them.

UPDATE: Tainted money alert
From http://www.nydailynews.com/news/election/madoff-tainted-financier-bill-thompson-campaign-article-1.1392510#commentpostform">the Daily News, July 7, 2013:

EXCLUSIVE: Bill Thompson received $4,000 from Bernie Madoff-tainted financier in current bid for mayor

Thompson’s donor, Seymour Zises, also gave in $4,950 in 2009 – which the former controller promised to donate to charity after it was revealed that Zises had invested clients’ money with Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff. But Thompson has yet to make the charitable contribution.

The last time William Thompson ran for mayor, he promised to donate thousands of dollars from his campaign war chest to charity after the Daily News discovered that one of his biggest longtime donors was linked to Bernie Madoff.

But four years later, Thompson not only hasn’t donated the money — he’s also pocketed even more campaign contributions from the Madoff-tainted financier Seymour Zises.

Zises — who was sued by victims of the Ponzi schemer for secretly investing the majority of their money with Madoff — has given more than $21,000 to Thompson’s various campaigns over the years. When The News uncovered Zises’ link to Madoff four years ago, Thompson promised to give $4,950 from his campaign coffers to charity.

That’s the amount Zises donated to Thompson’s 2009 mayoral run.

But despite the vow — given four months after the reviled Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison — Thompson has not doled out the money.

Meanwhile, two years later, Thompson — with his eyes still on City Hall — accepted the first of what would be four donations from Zises for his 2013 run.

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NYC Education Activism Calendar

Get involved with the fight to defend public education!

Oppose & resist Cuomo, DeBlasio, DeVos, Farina!

- The MORE caucus UFT's important upcoming events:
  
  Friday 1/5/18 4:30-6:30pm
  City As School
  16 Clarkson St
  Manhattan
  We will strategize about resisting DeBlasio's plans to close or merge 14 Renewal Schools.
- Map: https://www.google.com/maps/place/16+Clarkson+St,+New+York,+NY+10014/@40.7291091,-74.0082884,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c25992ac002507:0x68aa91fb40bff351!8m2!3d40.7291091!4d-74.0060997

Sign the Petition: Terminate Comm. John King's Employment

New York State Board of Regents: Terminate the Employment of State Education Commissioner, John King

2. Petition by
  Coalition for Justice in Education

PETITION TO TERMINATE THE EMPLOYMENT OF NYS EDUCATION COMMISSIONER, JOHN KING
(references substantiating each charge available at www.coalitionforjusticeineducation.com)

John King has served as New York State Commissioner of Education since 2011. During his tenure, the quality of education in NY has continued to decline; particularly in poor and rural districts.

1 The Commissioner’s solutions rely upon blindly accepting NCLB, RTTT and Common Core policies and implementing more high-stakes, standardized testing for evaluation of students and teachers,

2 implementation of an untested national curriculum,

3 undemocratic corporate management strategies for operating schools,

4 more privatization of schools

5 and insistence that poverty-related conditions are not an excuse for low student achievement.

6 Furthermore, Commissioner King: · Refuses to lend credibility to staff and community-voiced concerns that much of Common Core curriculum and testing is developmentally inappropriate for students, and that NYS teachers received no significant training for the implementation of Common Core,

7 Refuses to allow meaningful dialogue about Common Core tests by imposing a “gag order” on teachers and administrators, preventing them from discussing test questions among themselves or with students,

8 Supports policy to allow private corporate vendors to have access to personal student data, without parental consent, for the purpose of marketing educational services,

9 and ·Remains silent on the stress-related suffering by many students taking recent Common Core tests,

10 Promotes the reduction of the reading of fiction in favor of an increase in informational texts (50% informational texts in elementary school, and 70% for 12th grade readings by 2014)

11 with the generally predicted impact of a further reduction in the joy of reading and learning for all students especially those with learning challenges,

12 Continues to advocate more high-stakes, standardized testing, despite research concluding that it is ineffective for motivating students and increasing their learning,

13· Continues to ignore positive research results for the use of performance-based assessment, such as portfolios, performances, presentations and exhibitions, by more NYS schools,

14· Advocates for more closings and privatization of low-performing schools,

15 despite research indicating that charter schools are generally less effective than public schools,

16 and promote more racial and class-based segregation,

17 and create negative impact on community morale, motivation and development,

18· Advocates the use of poorly designed, ineffective corporate strategies, such as APPR, which de-professionalize teaching,

19 We, the undersigned, strongly believe that New York State’s education reform agenda is fundamentally flawed and must be re-directed in a humanistic, research-based manner; directly counter to the direction Commissioner King has taken. New York State children, parents and teachers need an education commissioner who passionately supports and actively works for:
· De-concentrating the impact of poverty in classrooms and schools,
· Institutionalizing performance-based assessments,
· Ending the obsessive use of high-stakes, standardized testing,
· Developing creative, alternative curriculum, assessments and schools,
· Assisting poverty-stricken, low-performing schools through collaboration with teachers, parents community members and students, rather than through closures and privatization,
· Ending corporate reform,
· Using school practitioners and constructivist-oriented consultants for developing and implementing curriculum & assessments,
· Implementing a moratorium on the Common Core Curriculum,
· Transforming the NYSED to serve as helpful consultants to schools and school districts, rather than enforcers of top-down policies that are disrespectful to teachers and harmful to students.

Therefore, we, the undersigned respectfully urge the NYS Board of Regents to terminate the employment of John King as NYS Education Commissioner, and immediately search for, and hire a candidate who strongly reflects the characteristics described above.

Cent. NY English Teacher's Lament: 'I am a teacher, and I am tired'

By Savanna Kucerak, English teacher, Homer C.S.D., as published by NYSUT:

"I am a teacher, and I am tired"

Tired of coming home every night angry, abused, and insulted.

Tired of being treated as a child, as a robot, as a stepping stone for politician$ and publi$hing companie$ to make more money.

Tired of ignorance littering the air: “the Common Core is an exciting time in education!” or “APPR is just showing off the wonderful work you already do!”

Tired of being told to “wait it out,” that the “pendulum will swing the other way eventually” while witnessing the casualties pile up — casualties with names and dreams and futures and the RIGHT to the BEST EDUCATION we can give them.

Tired of being afraid to stand up for what I know is right for our kids and our country because I am afraid of losing my job and being unable to pay my bills.

Tired of my superiors being afraid to stand up for what they know is right for our kids and our country because they, too, are afraid of losing their livelihood.

Tired of wanting to be better, volunteering to do additional work, and watching helplessly as any progress I have made is brushed aside by the newest educational reform acronym.

Tired of being told, “Ohh, sorry, but my hands are tied,” accompanied by a half smile, a shrug of the shoulders.

Tired of spending hours of my life documenting and sorting and filing instead of revising and learning and improving.

Tired of wasting taxpayer money on binders and tabs and computer paper and ink.

Tired of being a taxpayer, watching as my money is spent on binders and tabs and computer paper and ink instead of STUDENTS and STUDENTS and STUDENTS and STUDENTS.

Tired of paying my student loan bills and nostalgically remembering that I chose to be a teacher, that I wanted to teach, blissfully ignorant of what lay ahead.

Tired of my two degrees and experience and individuality being ignored and devalued.

Tired of knowing what’s best for my students, but being told NOT to do it.

Tired of telling the best and brightest young people NOT to be teachers — and meaning it.

Tired of being told that if I love literature, then I’d better choose another profession.

Tired of Googling “what can I do besides teach?” only to close out of the browser every time, knowing there is nothing I’d be better at or love more than what was formerly known as “teaching.”

Tired of living in a country where my dream job no longer exists – where “teacher” is now synonymous with data-collector, test-prepper, script-reader, automaton.

Tired of grappling with the notion that I now have a job instead of a life or even a career.

Tired of disillusionment poisoning even the best of days.

Tired of telling my students that they will be heard if they support their arguments with evidence, yet knowing in my heart that that is a lie.

Tired of worrying about my own future children, who will either be numbers under this developing “educational” system – or dealing with the wreckage of a failed, expensive national tragedy in which all the best teachers have either abandoned this sinking ship or remain on board as empty shells, whispered voices, gasping for air.

I am tired, but I am still here – and there are many of me.

Join us. Say something. Do something.

Our collective future depends on it.”

S.I. parents chafing under the Common Core perversion of curriculum

The Common Core - that's that toxic result of ill-minded state and federal policy plus a tone-deaf collaborationist union leadership.

"My son made a comment to me the other day. He asked, 'Did I become stupid?'" said his father, James Hardison. "We're supposed to be inspiring students, and giving them what they need to be successful. For a 10-year-old child to feel discouraged like this, something is not right." --from SILive.com, 3/28/13, powered by the Staten Island Advance.

Culture of testing takes a toll on Staten Island pupils and their families (photos/video). [Ed.: It's not mere testing, it's testing to support the Common Core, foisted upon America by the unelected, non-educator, David Coleman.]

MORE -Our working conditions are our students' learning conditions

Check Out New Yorker's App on Inequality and the Subway

This cool app at the New Yorker's website, "Inequality and New York's Subway," takes each MTA subway/elevated line and matches stations with U.S. Census-provided household income.

The results are stark. Along the 6 train in the upper half of Manhattan, the results vary from over $150,000 to under $25,000.

New York City has a problem with income inequality. And it’s getting worse—the top of the spectrum is gaining and the bottom is losing. Along individual subway lines, earnings range from poverty to considerable wealth. The interactive infographic here charts these shifts, using data on median household income, from the U.S. Census Bureau, for census tracts with subway stations.