Tuesday, October 15, 2013

NYS Revolt vs. King John III Roils On

Just on October 14 alone, citizen groups demand King's resignation; bloggers cite the week of infamy:


NYC Educator, in full:

Anyone Who Disagrees with King John Is a Special Interest


Rookie teacher/ NYS Education Commissioner John King has declared he will no longer discuss Common Core with the public. They have been manipulated by "special interests." It could be those awful teacher unions, except they all happen to support Common Core. So it must be individual parents and teachers. Who the hell do they think they are to publicly express opinions?

In King's view, parents and teachers have no right to advocate for their students, and should simply do as they're told by Pearson and Gates. They are not special interests, one must suppose, because they have all that money.

King is in their thrall, and can stand for 90 minutes and rhapsodize on how wonderful Common Core is. It's fabulous that two-thirds of our children are failing. Nothing meant anything until we introduced Common Core, and those of us who were educated before its inception did not know how to think critically and could not possibly know anything. It's vital that our children know how to think critically.

And by thinking critically, Reformy John King clearly means they should accept his edicts without question. Parents in Poughkeepsie asked tough questions, and pushed Reformy John off message. If only they'd been trained in critical thinking, they'd have been able to sit quietly, applaud wildly, and accept his corporate-sponsored, Pearson and Murdoch enriching message as gospel.

In Common Core, critical thinkers do not ever question the ability of corporations to enrich themselves at the expense of our children. They do not question authority figures explaining the wonders of reforminess. And they do not ever ask Reformy John King why he sends his own kids to schools that do not practice what he advocates for our children.

In the world of Reformy John King, anyone who veers from message is not thinking critically, is therefore a special interest and must be ignored. Sure, they can pay the King's salary, as all loyal subjects must do, but questioning the King? That's unheard of.

So New Yorkers, please follow Common Core, think critically, sit down, and shut up.

Perdido Street School:

No Reformer Comes To Commissioner John King's Defense

Last spring, College Board President David Coleman said this about NYSED Commissioner John King:
“These are hard times for New York City and New York State,” Coleman said. “The vultures are out. There is a culture in our city and state right now of trying to take people down, including the commissioner to my left.”

Coleman then implored the mostly friendly audience, which included former superintendents Harold Levy and Jean-Claude Brizard, “to stand up for this man for his courage in not backing down.”
After the event, Coleman said his comments were meant as a defense of King, not a response to any specific criticism.
After King issued his press release explaining why he had canceled the future town hall meetings, he went into hiding in Albany and hasn't been seen or heard from since.

Interestingly enough, neither has David Coleman or any of the other education reformers so enamored of John King just a few months back.

I have looked for comments from Coleman, Arne Duncan, Michelle Rhee, Joel Klein, Dennis Walcott or any other prominent ed deformer defending King this weekend in the face of the heavy criticism he is taking and have so far, found nothing.

 . . . 
The silence from the ed deform side on John King is as deafening as the criticism of King coming from parents and teachers.


BadAss Teachers Association via With a Brooklyn Accent:

Official Statement of the Badass Teachers Association Calling For Resignation of New York State Education Commissioner John King

The BadAss Teachers Association (BATs), on behalf of its 30,000 members, is hereby calling for the resignation of NYS Commissioner of Education John King.
On October 10th, The New York State PTA sponsored a forum on the Common Core in Poughkeepsie, New York.
 . . .
Let us be clear: BATs represent no special interests other than children, teachers, and parents. Rather, it is Commissioner King who serves special interest groups, the most notable being Pearson, the company that produces most of the tests being administered in New York State

We are calling on all elected officials, including Governor Cuomo, the National, State, and Local PTAs, Union leadership, parents, teachers, and community members to join us in demanding that Commissioner King step down and resign immediately from his position of Commissioner of Education of the State of New York.

Via Diane Ravitch's blog:

Parent Groups in New York Call for Commissioner John King to Resign

A statement just released by parent groups in New York:
New York State Allies for Public Education Calls for the Resignation of NYS Commissioner of Education John King
 . . . 
New York State Allies for Public Education calls for the immediate resignation of Commissioner of Education John King as he is unfit to carry out the duties of his position competently and he is no longer able to conduct himself in a manner that is consistent with the principles and ideals of the American democracy. NYSAPE urges parents, educators and concerned citizens to:
Spend 10 minutes adding the attached emails and phone numbers to your contacts
Call, email, and fax Governor Cuomo DAILY
CC all emails to Senator John Flanagan, Speaker of the House Sheldon Silver, Senator Dean Skelos, Assemblywoman Nolan and Senator Jeffrey Klein and the entire Board of Regents
Call your local Regent
Let them know that:
*New Yorkers deserve a COMPETENT leader who listens to and engages his or her constituents
*New Yorkers deserve a COMPETENT leader who can handle the concerns and dissenting opinions of educated and involved New York parents.
*John King has let abusive testing and data sharing practices dominate the implementation of the Common Core Learning Standards
*John King runs away from the public.
*John King calls concerned parents “special interest groups.”
*John King is not competent to be the NYS Commissioner of Education
Western New Yorkers for Public Education calls for new leadership at NYSED that will listen to the families of New York State. WNY4PE will be joining New York State Allies for Public Education on Tuesday October 15 in a day of action where individuals across New York will be contacting their elected leaders and Board of Regents members about their lack of confidence in the New York State Education Department.
For more information visit http://www.wnyforpubliced.com

NYC Public School Parents:

Commissioner King says Class Size Matters is a "special interest" manipulating parents

Over the weekend, NY State Education Commissioner John King cancelled all future PTA-sponsored forums about the Common Core, because he claimed that these meetings have been "co-opted by special interests" whose goal is to "dominate" these meetings, and that "parents don't deserve to be manipulated and dominated." His entire statement is quoted here.
 . . .

Stop Common Core New York via Truth in American Education:

Stop Common Core in New York State Calls for John King’s Resignation

  .  .  .  
"We, as a group, believe that King has clearly demonstrated over the past few days that he is unwilling to listen to any concerns that are raised about Common Core," noted [Glen] Dalgleish. "He has also shown he is unwilling to work with and engage with New York State parents and teachers on the Common Core program. We therefore demand that the commissioner be immediately removed from office and replaced with somebody who is willing to listen and who can work with parents and teachers in this great state."

"Volunteers [of America]" by Jefferson Airplane (Kantner and Balin):


Look what's happening out in the streets
Got a revolution Got to revolution
Hey I'm dancing down the streets
Got a revolution Got to revolution
Ain't it amazing all the people I meet
Got a revolution Got to revolution
One generation got old
One generation got sold
This generation got no destination to hold
Pick up the cry
Hey now it's time for you and me
Got a revolution Got to revolution
Come on now we're marching to the sea
Got a revolution Got to revolution
Who will take it from you
We will and who are we
We are volunteers of America

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