New York City Eye

(Please go to my new web address [nyceye.blogspot.com] for this calendar.)

No to secret deals between Bloomberg and Mulgrew.
Sign the Change.org petition to the NYC DOE and the UFT to Show Us the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) on the teacher evaluation agreement.

Like the new Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE) caucus of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) on Facebook.

Top Ten Ele­men­tal and Nec­es­sary Beliefs and Con­vic­tions of the Mod­ern Teacher (TTENBCMT):
10) All of my stu­dents will learn if I am a good teacher.
9) It is morally cor­rect and oper­a­tionally effi­cient to teach groups of stu­dents whose abil­ity and moti­va­tion lev­els are dif­fer­ent rather than groups that are similar.
8) I can con­trol my stu­dents’ abil­ity and moti­va­tion levels.
7) All of my stu­dents can do everything.
6) Test scores are not impor­tant, but bad things will hap­pen to me if they do not go up.
5) The cir­cum­stances my stu­dents face at home are crit­i­cal, but they are of no importance.
4) I can make my class more rig­or­ous and chal­leng­ing for each of my stu­dents while also mak­ing it more acces­si­ble to them.
3) “More acces­si­ble” may under no cir­cum­stances be taken to mean “easier”.
2) Use of my pro­fes­sional judg­ment is best kept to a minimum.
1) I am the dis­ease and the cure.

Breaking news: the NYC DOE is to begin phasing in of the Pledge of Allegiance to Pearson:

Many good article references at Repeal NYS Teacher Evaluation Plan.

Sign the Change.org petition:
Stop the Public Shaming and Unjust Firing of Teachers

Mark Brenner wrote in "Labor Notes," July, 2012:

National unions aren’t stepping forward, so locals must. Don’t ask for permission. Just do it. Today national leaders are less able to or less inclined to stop you, as the Madison teachers discovered when they struck at the start of the Wisconsin uprising.

Click here for Class Size Matters' Leonie Haimson on TDR Release and New Teacher Evaluations.

NYC Rubber Room Reporter, 6/02/09: "NYC Council President Christine Quinn Makes a False Plea For Ed Funds" [Speaker Quinn complicit with $8 Million yearly in teacher recruitment ads, amidst education cuts]

DonnyMoss at YouTube, 6/03/09: "Christine Quinn: Behind the Smile" [on Slush Fund scandal and other truths behind the lies, and Quinn-Bloomberg '09 term limits extension quid pro quo]

NYT, 10/26/09: "Today’s Tip Sheet: One Endorsement Thompson Is Not Trumpeting" [i.e., Christine Quinn]

Capital New York, 7/18/11: "Fearing life after Bloomberg, New York's Business Establishment Settles on Former 'Radical' Christine Quinn"

NYT, 8/28/11: "Mayor Making It No Secret: He’ll Endorse Quinn in 2013"

Perdido Street School, 12/16/11: "Charter School Operators Think Christine Quinn's Their Best Bet - For Now"

Ed Notes, December 26, 2011: "Support Bill Thompson for Mayor? NOT; (citing Village Voice) : Bloomberg and Thompson, Really Odd Couple"

2010 Study in New York City found "no evidence that teacher incentives increase student performance, attendance, or graduation,
nor do I find any evidence that the incentives change student or teacher behavior. If anything,
teacher incentives may decrease student achievement, especially in larger schools."

Can parents from schools with active Parents Associations help others from less-advantaged schools learn such basics as how to set up a PTA, run a fundraiser, or establish themselves as a non-profit? A newly formed parent group believes that they can and is reaching out to parents in all five boroughs to participate in a project called The Public School Parent Support Project.

If Bloomberg wins on this,
the children learn that Democracy is Self-interested plutocracy.
Party on, Miranda!

Children Learn, by Dr. Dorothy Law Nolte:

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEp7rg_L5JI&feature=related

As put on norscot2's site at YouTube:

This ad for the March 28 conference to save public schools at John Jay College in NYC, is a prime example of the manipulation of the community by charter school advocates. The Harlem Success Schools led by Eva Moskowitz has pushed its way into public school spaces with the support of the NYC Department of Education. The push by Bloomberg and Klein to support charter schools is an admission of their failure to solve the problems that exist in public schools.

Check out http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/5/protests for a great, extended interview of Diane Ravitch by Juan Gonzalez, two of our favorite people here in NYC. Not to mention the terrific interviewer Amy Goodman.