I'm going to add to this running account as the day goes to simulate live streaming, so check back often. I'm taping what I can this morning and maybe at the rally this afternoon. I will repost this piece as the day goes on.
In addition I will post some other pieces on specific issues, especially two pieces I am working on. One is regarding the Chicago vs. NY/AFT version of the testing reso so I can give you a heads up on what may (or may not) turn out to be an interesting struggle. The other is one I've wanted to write for weeks -- how Randi has been forced to move -- for lack of a better word -- left and will not try to sell out the Chicago crew. I had some very interesting conversations yesterday. That is the reason to come --the insights you get from talking to all sides, including Unity people who want to chat.
Previous @AFT posts:
The Motorless City: @AFT Convention
@AFT Convention: Thursday July 26
9:30 AM: Michigan AFT head David Hecker talks about how disaster in MI is worse than Wisconsin. He is followed by Detroit TU president Keith Johnson, who barely won election over BAMN's Steve Carr, really amazing. I think they found a reason to throw Steve out of the union after he lost by a handful of votes for charging the election was stolen.
Johnson goes on to introduce Mayor Dave Bing who has led the attack on the Detroit teachers. Some of us in the left side of the press box are looking at each other in disbelief.
Randi uses the C word
They just started running a film with Randi narrating - she says - "in a capitalist democracy the labor movement is the only check and balance." Again, in the left press box eyes roll. But she is right.
Still watching film, which I'm taping.
Really some good stuff with Chicago struggle playing a role but still hints of Randi "collaboration" theme. Randi may be pulled kicking and screaming into the struggle but as a politician with some skills she has no choice. The attacks of the ed deformers may be losing them one of their biggest allies.
Karen Lewis comes on screen and gets biggest applause -- like I said yesterday -- the rock star rivaling Diane Ravitch. (Rumor: Randi invited Ravitch and Rita Solnet to dinner.)
Heeeere's Randi -- Back soon for Randi's speech on her "new" vision for the union which translates into "social justice unionism" that she is calling "solutions based unionism" -- yawn.
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The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
@AFT Convention: Thursday July 26
Nothing much went on today other than registration and caucus meetings. By the way, as I write this at midnight, Gloria hasn't arrived yet -- not even sure if the plane took off. She's been stuck since 4:30PM. And she is on a plane with lots of Unity people. They better get here so they can get to their assigned mics tomorrow in time to call the question.
Debate over secret vs open ballot
I joined Randi's Progressive Caucus for $25 and this time no one tried to throw me out as opposed to 2 years ago in Seattle. A bunch of Unity Caucus people were still trapped back in NYC as were people from many other places so attendance was sparse. One of the interesting issues was the discussion on the open vs secret ballot since there is a resolution being presented that a secret ballot is democratic given the tight control the AFT leadership exercises and that the current open ballot allows the leadership to punish dissenters.
How ironic that the Unity/Progressive Caucus machine (which controls the AFT) stands for holding elected delegates accountable to the people who elected them while when it comes to the UFT local delegate assembly in NYC they take the opposite position --- that the chapter leader and delegate do not have to be held responsible to the staff that elected them. Thus your average Unity Caucus slug can vote for mayoral control every single time and never have to be held accountable to the staff.
One guy argued that the open ballot was a hindrance to an NEA/AFT merger -- calling it an "AFT refusal to endorse basic stumbling block in promoting democracy."
I then went over to the Peace and Justice Caucus meeting afterwards where Lisa and Gloria have been major organizers over the years. With Gloria still on the tarmac in NYC, Lisa chaired the meeting. Lots of Chicago people were there and I have lots to report in my follow-up tomorrow. We went over the resos they will push, some coming head to head with Unity/Progressive. Again I will do that tomorrow.
Interesting that I got an email from an ed notes reader while I was at the meeting. She surmised that Obama sat in Rahm to settle some of the issues with the CTU until the elections and then he would hammer them. (See Lee Sustar's great reporting for the Socialist Worker - Rahm blinks first in battle with teachers and Can the AFT meet the challenge?)
I asked that question and the CTU people were adamant that it was their pressure that forced Rahm. But earlier I had run into a CTU official who actually said there might have been pressure from the Democratic machine to tone it down.
P and J have snagged CTU president Karen Lewis, the unquestioned rock star of this convention, for their Friday night meeting which I am taping. Karen has to speak and run off to the CTU party and I'm going to run over there too with my camera to get the rank and file CORE people for some interviews. They have over 90 people here.
P and J meeting ended late -- around 8:30 and a whole bunch of us -- NYC, Chicago, Baltimore --- to the Marriott HQ at Renaissance for a bite. We went there because there are just so few restaurants around and where there are they are closed. We walked on some dark streets --- lights cost money and met up with some people on the street who shouted out hearty greetings. With everything closed we were forced to eat on the rooftop Marriott bar. A few tables off were a bunch of Unityites and I made sure to speak loudly and clearly when we discussed Randi. Gloria called and was still on the tarmac with the other Unity slugs.
Lisa, myself, a Baltimore teacher and Leo, her partner headed back through the weird Detroit landscape. We passed one open bar but otherwise, nada. A police car (one of the few we saw) stopped --"Are you lost," he asked, on his face a look of concern -- like why are you out walking in this area? Well, we were only 2 blocks from the hotel. Leo had attended a major rally of Detroit police and fire over the cuts and forced contract earlier in the day. We should high fived the cop as a message of solidarity. Detroit managers are attacking every public worker and I hear Rahm did the same in Chicago. When the CTU held its big march with 10,000 people the cops were totally supportive.
Tomorrow, Randi is leading a major march of AFT delegates to protest the enforced contract. Here is an excerpt from the AFT press office (see Norms Notes).
Friday I'll report on the competing testing reso from the AFT and Chicago. Lots on that and there may even be a floor fight on Saturday or Sunday.
Meanwhile I have to cross post this awesome piece from NYC Educator -- we will report further on the Ravitch Sat 2PM speech and whether she might touch issues Randi doesn't want raised.
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The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.
Debate over secret vs open ballot
I joined Randi's Progressive Caucus for $25 and this time no one tried to throw me out as opposed to 2 years ago in Seattle. A bunch of Unity Caucus people were still trapped back in NYC as were people from many other places so attendance was sparse. One of the interesting issues was the discussion on the open vs secret ballot since there is a resolution being presented that a secret ballot is democratic given the tight control the AFT leadership exercises and that the current open ballot allows the leadership to punish dissenters.
How ironic that the Unity/Progressive Caucus machine (which controls the AFT) stands for holding elected delegates accountable to the people who elected them while when it comes to the UFT local delegate assembly in NYC they take the opposite position --- that the chapter leader and delegate do not have to be held responsible to the staff that elected them. Thus your average Unity Caucus slug can vote for mayoral control every single time and never have to be held accountable to the staff.
One guy argued that the open ballot was a hindrance to an NEA/AFT merger -- calling it an "AFT refusal to endorse basic stumbling block in promoting democracy."
Dick Iannucci – pres of NYSUT – the largest merged state - said the "issues separating us in merger do not stem from this. There is no discussion of merger going on right now. The fabric of AFT is about being a rep body [oh, yeah!]. We don’t define ourselves to meet others’ definition."
Interesting how there is no hint of merger talks. I imagine the strategy is to do this state by state. Michael Mendel, looking fit, was at the mic when Keith Johnson, Pres of the Detroit TU called the question to close debate. I called to Mike "he beat you to it" but Mike said he was going to speak. (He liked the Ranger trade).
The caucus then went through the various resolutions they were supporting that will come out of various committees which will be meeting all Friday afternoon to recommend the top 3 resolutions. Non delegates like us are barred from attending those meetings so we will have Friday afternoon free. This process is rather complex to explain but is is key to controlling the convention. Unity makes sure to have its people in control of these committees and the convention debates which begin on Saturday are controlled by the decisions made in committee. And Progressive Caucus controls all the committees and the meeting today went through the key resos they support.
Randi made a rousing speech about the attacks, etc. Interesting point- she said the AFT has grown in membership though they would be saying it is stable. That's very interesting given the major drop the NEA reported a few weeks ago -- so major it made headlines. (I can't find the link right now.)
I then went over to the Peace and Justice Caucus meeting afterwards where Lisa and Gloria have been major organizers over the years. With Gloria still on the tarmac in NYC, Lisa chaired the meeting. Lots of Chicago people were there and I have lots to report in my follow-up tomorrow. We went over the resos they will push, some coming head to head with Unity/Progressive. Again I will do that tomorrow.
I asked that question and the CTU people were adamant that it was their pressure that forced Rahm. But earlier I had run into a CTU official who actually said there might have been pressure from the Democratic machine to tone it down.
P and J have snagged CTU president Karen Lewis, the unquestioned rock star of this convention, for their Friday night meeting which I am taping. Karen has to speak and run off to the CTU party and I'm going to run over there too with my camera to get the rank and file CORE people for some interviews. They have over 90 people here.
P and J meeting ended late -- around 8:30 and a whole bunch of us -- NYC, Chicago, Baltimore --- to the Marriott HQ at Renaissance for a bite. We went there because there are just so few restaurants around and where there are they are closed. We walked on some dark streets --- lights cost money and met up with some people on the street who shouted out hearty greetings. With everything closed we were forced to eat on the rooftop Marriott bar. A few tables off were a bunch of Unityites and I made sure to speak loudly and clearly when we discussed Randi. Gloria called and was still on the tarmac with the other Unity slugs.
Lisa, myself, a Baltimore teacher and Leo, her partner headed back through the weird Detroit landscape. We passed one open bar but otherwise, nada. A police car (one of the few we saw) stopped --"Are you lost," he asked, on his face a look of concern -- like why are you out walking in this area? Well, we were only 2 blocks from the hotel. Leo had attended a major rally of Detroit police and fire over the cuts and forced contract earlier in the day. We should high fived the cop as a message of solidarity. Detroit managers are attacking every public worker and I hear Rahm did the same in Chicago. When the CTU held its big march with 10,000 people the cops were totally supportive.
Tomorrow, Randi is leading a major march of AFT delegates to protest the enforced contract. Here is an excerpt from the AFT press office (see Norms Notes).
The convention opens with AFT President Randi Weingarten’s keynote address introducing “solution-driven unionism,” a redefinition of unionism that advances solutions focused not just on members, but also on the people they serve and the communities in which they live. Solution-driven unionism will advance creative solutions to unify members and their communities around issues important to all working people.2:30AM, Friday - Gloria is knocking on the door. Gotta go let her in.
After delivering her keynote address on Friday, Weingarten will join members of the Detroit Federation of Teachers as they gather at the Detroit Pubic School headquarters to tell Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Roy Roberts to stop dictating and start working collaboratively to ensure the students of Detroit have what they need to succeed.
Friday I'll report on the competing testing reso from the AFT and Chicago. Lots on that and there may even be a floor fight on Saturday or Sunday.
Meanwhile I have to cross post this awesome piece from NYC Educator -- we will report further on the Ravitch Sat 2PM speech and whether she might touch issues Randi doesn't want raised.
If Diane Ravitch Were UFT, She Wouldn't Be at AFT Convention
This week we've been examining precisely what it takes to represent the UFT at a national or state convention. The prime requirement, of course, is to be an invited member of the elite Unity Caucus, and to do that you must agree to support all union positions in public. Ravitch, though I like her very much, fails to meet the standard. Here's why.
1. She publicly opposes mayoral control. UFT supports it, and this alone would disqualify her. It's a long tradition to expel Unity members for failure to conform. In fact, Albert Shanker used to expel people for opposing the Vietnam War. Mayoral control is what brought us the rubber-stamp PEP, and I've seen high-ranking UFT officials get just as frustrated with them as most of us are. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and placing all that power in the hands of the richest man in New York was a huge error. We ought to stop pretending otherwise.
2. Ravitch vehemently opposes VAM, and has publicly labeled it for the junk science it is. She does not support using it for teacher evaluations, not at any percentage. Standard union argument is that principal's judgment can be flawed, and therefore other measures are needed. I cannot really argue that point, nor the one that there are plenty of crazy principals out there, but adding random nonsense to the mix hardly helps. In fact, if you have a small-minded principal, it's likely this person could work to see your value-added scores scour the depths of whatever underworld whatever remains of the soul of Joel Klein has been relegated to.
3. Ravitch fails to support Common Core. Ravitch says it should be tested before use. This makes perfect sense to me. In fact, with the AFT circulating a petition against excessive testing, before supporting it, wouldn't it be a good idea for us to find out precisely how much testing it will entail? The spectre of nine tests a year, to me, hardly bodes well. I'm upset by Common Core in that it does not differentiate between ELA for American-born kids and ESL for my students. To me, that's patently idiotic. Issues like these ought to be addressed before we throw our support to any program.
4. Ravitch is highly critical of union-endorsed President Barack Obama, going so far as to say he's given GW Bush a third term in education. UFT members won't be talking any of that when Vice President Joe Biden addresses the crowd in Detroit. When Obama's people applaud entire teaching staffs being fired, when Arne Duncan states Katrina was the best thing to happen to NOLA education, Obama says nothing, but Ravitch is not impressed.
I could go on, but you get the point. I congratulate the AFT for selecting Ravitch this year, She's a much better choice than Gates.
On the other hand, it's not particularly admirable that UFT leadership has excluded absolutely every New York City teacher who publicly supports her ideas.
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The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.
Cohen Denied on Cuomo Commission Political Agenda: YES to E4E NO to Change the Stakes
The Education Commission did not choose to hear my testimony, nor Carol Burris ---- Lauren Cohen
Lauren Cohen comments on her "testimony" never heard by Cuomo Mis-Education Commission from our last post as faux educators from Students Last and E4E get priority.
Your kind words help keep me going, Norm. The Education Commission did not choose to hear my testimony, nor Carol's. They did however hear from $tudentsFirst's Anna Hall and not one but TWO representatives of E4E (with nearly-identical testimony - tenure protects ineffective teachers, the teaching profession suffers because teachers remain in the classroom for 20+ years, the state needs to impose an evaluation system on any districts that have not approved one)
The most baffling part is why this nonsense continues to surprise me.
...and that was after security stopped us because "no more people [were] being allowed upstairs" (even though somebody already inside had just texted that there were plenty of seats). Then a uniformed guard and a beefy guy in a suit came down and announced that people "on the list" could go up. I handed him my ID, and he took a cursory glance at the list and informed me I wasn't on it. "Yes I am! I can see my name on it! It's right there!" I pointed to my name and he flipped the script to, "oh, only people on THIS part of the list can go up..." Then Suit Guy raised his voice and ordered me to leave the building and get on the line that was still outside. After a couple of minutes of Uniform Guy barking at us to make our line single-file, they announced that they would let us inside 5-at-a-time.
One of the more demoralizing mornings in recent memory. (Up there with Day 3 of the 3rd grade ELA test.)
UPDATE:
| Chris Cerrone | 10:44pm Jul 26 |
Three summaries of New York Ed Commission hearings:
NYC: http://nycpublicschoolparents.
NYC: http://nikhilgoyal.me/2012/07/
Buffalo: http://atthechalkface.com/
Many common concerns from the three authors.
NYC: http://nycpublicschoolparents.
NYC: http://nikhilgoyal.me/2012/07/
Buffalo: http://atthechalkface.com/
Many common concerns from the three authors.
Lauren Cohen: Today's Testimony to New NY Education Reform Commission
One of the mission statements of this Commission is to examine what is in the best interest of children - not what is in the best interest of testing companies, policy makers, children/schools as a business model; but students as human beings---- Lauren Cohen, NYC Teacher
The Truth About High Stakes Testing from Change the Stakes/GEM. New version just out. Download from the CTS site. We are making some black and white copies here in Detroit.
What can I say about Lauren Cohen without gushing? I never met her until the April Change the Stakes/GEM/Class Size Matters event GEM/Change the Stakes event held with Carol Burris, Gary Rubinstein, Leonie Haimson, Khalilah Brann and Arthur Goldstein (See links to videos below).
A 7-year teacher who just got her just rewards with after leaving a school with a principal from hell with a position at one of the best schools in NYC, Lauren has impressed everyone she meets with her talents, dedication to children and her smarts. When Lauren was applying for jobs she made sure to include her activism on her resume. "I don't want to work for a principal who considers my activism a negative." Some smart principal grabbed her up. Whenever I think of dropping all this activism and being a couch potato, I think of the pleasure of working with people like Lauren and so many others.
By the way. Did you see who Gotham profiled for testifying today: Anna Hall.
StudentsFirstNY adds an "educator" in time for Cuomo task force (my quotes).
Some educator. Teaches a few years, becomes Asst Princ then princ and after 9 years goes to Students Last. Today people like Carol Burris and Lauren will be testifying -- real educators, not phony ones like Anna Hall. Where are their profiles?Lauren CohenThe April CTS forum was Julie Cavanagh's last event before hunkering down for the baby. As usual her amazing organizing talents were on view (as was her belly). I can't say enough about how much she has been missed, in addition to her always wise advice. Really, there are not many people who can control my lunacy. She is one of the few that I would follow anywhere (other than changing diapers.)
Elementary Educator and member of Change the Stakes
I am submitting this testimony on behalf of the Change the Stakes campaign. We are parents, teachers - both current and retired, administrators, college professors, students, and other citizens who share a concern about the effects of high-stakes testing. We may not share the same relationship to the education system, but we are united in our disquiet about how children are affected, and will continue to be affected, by this testing obsession. One of the mission statements of this Commission is to examine what is in the best interest of children - not what is in the best interest of testing companies, policy makers, children/schools as a business model; but students as human beings --young and open, curious, spirited and eager human beings whose natural inclination leans toward learning, which is not measured by test scores, but enhanced through interactive, meaningful, explorative and rich curriculum.
At a time when schools across the state are underfunded and cutting resources, we see exorbitant amounts of money being spent on testing. I refer not only to the $32 million contract offered to Pearson, but to decisions made at the school or district level. When test scores are used to grade and rank schools, schools must pour an unacceptably high amount of their limited financial resources into improving those scores. A parent in our group reported that his child received two brand new test-prep books from the school, along with a note from his teacher begging parents to donate glue sticks and hand soap. Many similar schools can't afford to keep their art teacher or librarian. Often, instead their priority has been to deploy teachers as "assessment coordinators" and "data specialists." If we want to improve student learning, we should focus our schools’ human resources on working with children directly.
I taught 3rd grade for four years, and an informal experiment on last year’s class illustrates the importance of treating learners as human beings rather than as data points. I gave Book 1 of the 2009 3rd grade NY State English Language Arts test, available on the NYSED website, to my class at different points throughout the year - September, December, March, and June. If I were an effective teacher, all students' scores would go up, and I’m proud to say that most of them did. Some students did well the first time I gave the test at the end of September, leaving them with little room to show “progress.” A few students did poorly every single time I gave the test, even though they had moved up reading levels and made visible strides in their written work (Those were the students who tended to misunderstand the question being asked - a few kids with diagnosed speech/language delays fell into that category). But here is the most interesting part: no student was consistent in multiple-choice questions they answered correctly or incorrectly. This inconsistency has grave ramifications for educators who use test data to determine instruction. Question #5 measures whether a student can infer character emotions from text. Johnny gets that question wrong in September, correct in December, then wrong again in March. Do we believe that Johnny learned the skill of inferring character emotions from text, and then lost it? Of course not. The test is a snapshot of each child for one hour on one particular day.
We worry about how high-stakes testing damages children's self-esteem and their attitudes about school and learning. The way the testing program has been conducted and the stakes have been intensified has had consequences for students: test anxiety; children becoming ill over the exams; the way they are being labeled/sorted/tracked from an early age; the reinforcement of convergent thinking; and the real danger that the emphasis on doing well on the tests will stifle children’s joy of learning and spontaneity. During this year’s testing sessions, one of my third graders spent twenty minutes crying hysterically because he had spilled some water on his test. He was genuinely terrified that he would be left back because he had “ruined” his test.
We are concerned about how basing teacher evaluations on test scores deforms the student-teacher relationship. Some of the most valuable and effective educators are those who work compassionately to build bonds with the most hard-to-reach students. These educators have the ability to see the positive in students and to recognize the progress they make as learners and citizens. What will happen to these students when a teacher’s job depends on maintaining high test scores? Will they become “unwanted” by teachers who fear poor ratings? How will we recruit new teachers as stories propagate about the arbitrary nature of value-added measures - the “worst” math teacher in New York City being a teacher of gifted children at the Anderson School, the teacher who received a rating of 96 one year and 7 the following year without changing her methods, the 5th grade teachers in affluent neighborhoods where parents pay for tutors to inflate children’s 4th-grade test scores for middle school applications. What message does it send to children when their own teachers feel powerless?
Donald Campbell, a founder of the field of program evaluation, found that attaching high stakes to evaluation led to the distortion of the processes being evaluated. High-stakes testing creates an incentive for schools to narrow the curriculum to focus more on test preparation. Untested subjects are pushed to the side, or even canceled, so that students can have more periods of reading, math, and drilling for the exams. It alarms us that the solution proposed by PARCC involves testing more subjects, including early childhood and the arts.
Preparation for standardized tests often bears little resemblance to the subjects that the tests supposed to measure. Reading and math are no longer about applying those subjects in authentic contexts, but about "test-taking skills." Experienced teachers consider the test a genre in itself: to succeed, students need explicit instruction in navigating the items: looking for cues that may give away the correct answer; recognizing trick questions, along with the kind of “right” response the item writers expect; working backwards from the possible answers on multiple-choice items to the reading passages on which the options are based.
On the open-ended questions that require students to produce a short or extended written response to solve a math problem or respond to a text, the highest-scoring written responses are usually not the ones that show thinking, insight, or creativity; the highest-scoring responses are the ones that follow the prescribed structure and regurgitate the relevant text details. Students are molded to earn more points by answering narrowly in a prescribed mechanistic way. Children must be taught to check their prior knowledge, imagination, and flexibility at the door; and they must be repeatedly reminded that the test-scorers don't want to hear their thoughts and ideas. The tests measure a very limited type of academic success, one that we agree is important; but it is damaging to insist that this one type of success is the one that matters most—simply because it is the easiest to measure. While some people see the testing and accountability movement as “improving our educational system,” we argue that it is actually deteriorating the system. Children are receiving the message that test scores matter more than learning, and in the process they are discouraged from creative thinking, risk-taking, and collaborating with peers. Children who believe that every question has a “correct” answer will not be prepared to grapple with the nuance and complexity of the real world.
See all videos from the forum
Leonie Haimson: http://vimeo.com/40760269
Carol Burris: http://vimeo.com/40748945
Khalilah Brann: http://vimeo.com/40758701
Gary Rubinstein: http://vimeo.com/40754465
Arthur Goldstein: http://vimeo.com/40740344
Q and A: http://vimeo.com/40772352
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