Christine Quinn Panders To Educators Through NYC DOE Official Email

NYC MAYORAL HOPEFUL CHRISTINE QUINN

 Christine Quinn, along with city council education chair, Robert Jackson, sent the following through the NYC DOE Outlook email. Sadly, I didn't get it, but a select few did (However, we do believe this was just sent to administrators). Though we here at SBSB are curious. Just how did she get access to Outlook? Only someone more powerful, and much shorter, than God would allow their "heir apparent" such access.

IT'S A TRAP!!!

From: Speaker Christine C. Quinn [speakerquinn@council.nyc.ny.us] Sent: Thu 6/13/2013 5:06 PM
Subject: NYC Council Education Update

Dear New Yorker,

As the 2012-2013 school year draws to a close, we wanted to wish all of our students and their families good luck on their end-of-the-school-year activities.

We also wanted to let you know about some of the recent work that we've been doing here at the City Council to help build a stronger, safer school system for our city's students.

If you have any questions or concerns about the information below, please don't hesitate to contact our offices.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Christine C. Quinn

Speaker

NYC Council



Robert Jackson

Chair, Education Committee

NYC Council



Field Testing



We have heard from parents and teachers across the City who are concerned about stand-alone field tests. To begin with, many families and educators are growing increasingly frustrated with the national emphasis on standardized testing. They believe that it puts unnecessary pressure on their children and prevents schools from adopting rich, whole child curricula that include social studies, science, physical education, and the arts.



On May 21st, we wrote to State Education Commissioner John King and Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents Meryl Tisch to ask them to immediately cease the practice of stand-alone field testing for the New York State ELA and Math exams. The next day, the City Council passed a resolution calling for the same thing. Copies of our letter and the resolution are available here.



It's imperative that we have a strong, reliable system in place to measure student progress and assess learning. We also understand that the state ELA and math exams are federally mandated. Stand-alone field tests, however, are not. Field tests disrupt instruction and cause students to lose valuable class time. And while they create another source of anxiety for some students, many students know that these tests "don't count" and therefore don't give the exams their full focus. As a result, stand-alone field tests don't provide a reliable source of data.



Pearson, the company that administers the tests, already embeds trial questions during the actual exam. They don't need to try out more questions by making students sit for exams that don't matter. Please join us in asking the State to do away with this practice by signing on to this petition.



Gifted and Talented



On May 7th, we joined Council Members, education advocates and parents to present a plan to reform New York City's gifted and talented system to ensure that the program is more representative of the New York City public school population and that there more seats for children that qualify for the program. We also announced ways to make the application and admissions process easier for all families.



Specifically, we called on the Department of Education to:



Increase the total number of Gifted and Talented seats across the City;
Use local norms to assess qualifications for district programs;
Align parent notification timing with private/parochial school deposit deadlines; and
Move toward multiple measures of assessing giftedness after kindergarten.


You can read more about the plan here.



School Safety



In early April, the New York Times published an article that examined the rise in both the number of police officers and criminal charges for non-violent student behavior in America's schools.



A student who is subjected to multiple suspensions or arrests is less likely to graduate than his or her peers and could be denied future employment opportunities due to a criminal record. Because of the devastating impact that arrests and suspensions can have on young people, the City Council held a public hearing on April 7th where we discussed possible alternatives that would keep schools safe while at the same time reduce arrests and/or suspensions in schools. Some of these models have already been implemented in City schools, and we'll continue to look closely at these and other models as we seek a more constructive and fair approach to school discipline.



You can read more about our efforts to help address this problem here.



Citywide Public Safety and Education Initiative to Combat Hate Crimes



In response to the recent spate of bias attacks targeted at the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community, we recently joined forces with Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott to launch a citywide public safety and education initiative to combat hate crimes. As part of this initiative, schools across the City have incorporated anti-bullying lessons into end-of-year assemblies, programs, and curricula.



We have also partnered with the United Federation of Teachers, the Council of School Supervisors & Administrators, and numerous LGBTQ organizations to create a series of lessons and resources that teachers and principals can easily incorporate into their end-of-school lessons. That list and copies of our letters to schools and families can be found by clicking on the links below:

http://council.nyc.gov/html/action/Resources.pdf

http://council.nyc.gov/html/action/DearTeachers.pdf

http://council.nyc.gov/html/action/DearParent.pdf

A Law To Hold Principals Accountable

Shouldn't principals who lie and falsify reality in the name of attempting to ruin a teacher's career be subject to this? 

N.Y. NYC. LAW § 1116 : NY Code - Section 1116: Fraud; neglect of duty; willful violation of law relative to office

a. Any council member or other officer or employee of the city who shall willfully 

   violate or evade any  provision of law relating tosuch officer's office or employment, 

   or commit any fraud upon the  city,
  or  convert  any of the public property to such officer's own use, or
  knowingly permit any other person so to  convert it or by gross or
  culpable neglect of duty allow the same to be lost to the city, shall be
  deemed  guilty of a misdemeanor and in addition to the penalties imposed
  by law and on conviction shall forfeit such office or employment, and be
  excluded  forever  after  from  receiving  or  holding  any  office   or
  employment under the city government.

 b. Any officer or employee of the city or of any city agency who shall
  knowingly make a false or deceptive report or statement in the course of
  duty shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, forfeit such
  office or employment.

Oh, wishful thinking. 

Where is the Bronx District Attorney When You Need Him?

Lots going on lately. Too much baseball.

Time to start opening up here. Lots of information soon to be published here. Scandalous is to say the least. For example this true story.

Remember, this shit can't be made up!

I can't name the DOE district that this happened. I can say it is in the Bronx, and it is one of the most dysfunctional districts in that borough.

I can't name the superintendent, the two school administrators involved, or the school.

But everything is true. Everything happened. Everything was covered up.

An assistant administrator at a school, which happens to be neither a elementary or a high school, put in "long hours" at home doing the scheduling. I mean really really long hours.

There were no time cards to be punched nor signed. The administrator of the assistant administrator did not have enough money to pay per session so the pay was in comp time.

There was shit loads of comp time involved. Remember, all unverified.

The assistant administrator took vacations with this comp time. All during instructional time for weeks at a time.

Countries and cities of a far off continent were visited all while the students of this school were busy this assistant administrator was off gallivanting around.

Meanwhile the school is going into the crapper.

Somehow the Commissioner of Special Investigations office got wind of this. Praise be to God! We all know how CSI can be when going after those who misrepresent time taken off and defrauding the DOE claiming they worked while in reality they did not.

Just ask Matthew Kaye aka Matt Striker or Lynn Stewart's daughter. We know how seriously CSI takes this stuff.

This is where that superintendent comes in.

CSI, the bastion of all keeping all that is correct in the NYC DOE drops the ball!!!!!!

There was proof up the ying yang!!

They kick it back to the superintendent for the discipline phase.

The administrator is buds with the superintendent.

The assistant administrator gets a letter in the file!

Imagine if a teacher had done this??? OH baby!

Of course the assistant administrator could not have done this without being enabled by the administrator.

I might not be a lawyer, but dang, if this doesn't seem like fraud, larceny, conspiracy, and a few other felonies, then I mock my SUNY education.

Why hasn't Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson been notified of this?

But he is a dolt. How about US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara?

It has been said, and by very reliable sources, that the assistant administrator had much more than a professional relationship with the administrator. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Know what I mean? Know what I mean?

So this happens and teachers all across the city, and the country are getting crapped on.

Why? Where is the logic behind this.

It is not us running the schools. We just work there.

Maybe it is time to go after the schmucks in charge? 
 
Yeah, this shit can't be made up!!!

Dilbert's Take on an Education Ph.D.

  From the pages of Pissed Off Teacher. So appropriate.

More on The Education Phd

  

 

 

 

With a great comment.

Anonymous said...

I understand that people may find this cartoon amusing but working among administrators and teachers who hold degrees that are no more than pieces of paper yet they think they are above everyone else is no joke!

I like Dilbert's "pretending" comment. You know a PhD's sycophants always have one foot out the door when failure comes.

Lucy and Ethel at PS 154 in the Bronx

"This shit can't be made up"-Maimonides AD 1167

We can't believe what is happening at PS 154. Lucy and Ethel have completely ruined the possibility of any education, any order, and any discipline. Worse, and I can't believe this is true, Lucy is the least of the problem. It is all Ethel.

As discussed many times on these pages the discipline, specifically the out of control 5th grade, is not just lacking, but non-existent. It is time that Ethel is held responsible for this.

One main reason for the out of control nature of the 5th grade students is that they know that once they are in anyway disciplined or admonished by any other teacher that the usual refrain from these  students is, "I'm telling Ethel." Yes, there are pockets of "I'm telling Lucy," but 99% of the time the teacher being told on by the students goes to Ethel.

Ethel thinks she is doing these students a favor by either being their buddy or that she feels so bad for them that she is foisting upon them ownership of their emotions and education. Sadly, when one has an Ivy League education one tends to forget from whence one came and believes they are smarter than the entire planet.

What Ethel is doing is just what Annie Wilkes did to Paul Sheldon, hobbling the staff. Worse, she is not allowing the students that most need to learn and respect boundaries to comprehend boundaries. She is doing these students a terrible disservice.

We talk about lifting these students up through the CCLS to be college and career ready, but how can we has a school community sit idly by while these students are not learning discipline, boundaries, patience, and ethics which they will need in college and their careers? All Lucy seems to care about is that these students feel good and are nice and happy.

I know there are many egregious examples of Lucy taking the "students first" mantra to the nth degree and pulling the rug from under teachers leaving them looking stupid and dumbfounded, but the following two are what come to mind and just sum up Ethel's liberal unrealistic mind set.

In February of this year a Herschel Weinstein lied to a teacher about the need to use the bathroom. Herschel left the classroom and went to a 2nd grade class instead. Why? Because the teacher in this class had a surprise candy concoction for him for Valentine's Day. Herschel came back to class after 20 minutes of having to "pee" and with the candy being prominently displayed.

Since this was the end of the day and being caught by the teacher he left from, his homeroom teacher told the Herschel in no uncertain terms that he has forfeited the candy, that a phone call will be placed home to notify his mother, that if mom agrees he will get the candy the next day, and it will be locked in that teacher's room overnight.

Guess what? Herschel entered the building after dismissal sought out Ethel and whined enough to have Ethel go into that teacher's room and give the candy to the Herschel. Right then, she made two teachers look like clowns. Right then, she taught Herschel that there are no boundaries, right then, she contributed to the circus atmosphere at 154.

Oh, and Herschel did not learn a lesson at all.

Next up is about a Faivish Goldbaum who had his blade-blade confiscated for having it out in class. Faivish was told that if and when mom contacts the teacher he can have it back. Faivish knowing that the mom doesn't even show up for parent teacher conferences surmised that he would never see the blade-blade again. Not to worry.

Faivish went whining to Ethel. Ethel then went to the teacher saying, "I will hold it until mom shows up. I just left a message on her voice mail." Knowing this was bullshit, but holding out against hope that Ethel was telling the truth the teacher handed over the blade-blade. That teacher even inquired to Ethel whether or not the mom had been notified and had shown up. Ethel even assured the teacher that Faivish will not get the blade-blade back without mom coming in.

This was two weeks ago. Faivish got the blade-blade back that day. Ethel caved. Ethel back stabbed a teacher. Ethel is a sucker. Ethel she taught Faivish that there are no boundaries, right then, she contributed to the circus atmosphere at 154.

Oh, and Faivish did not learn a lesson at all.

Seriously, Maimonides is right. This shit that happens in no way, no how, can be made up. It all is too real.

"Ay yai, yai!"-Ricky Ricardo AD 1954

What We Put Up With Day In and Day Out at PS 154

Ted Williams Comes to PS 154 in the Bronx

I remember when I was a young lad my dad telling me that if Ted Williams did not have to spend 5 years in the service during his baseball career, that he would have easily hit 800 home runs. If you look at the stats of Williams you could say by dad was exaggerating a bit. But, if you tool what my dad claimed and put Williams playing for the Yankees with that short right field porch. then maybe he would have hit 800 home runs if he did not miss those five years.

My dad was even wiser, but first a little background.
Alison Coviello
In 1969, Teddy Ballgame was named manager of the Washington Senators, now the Texas Rangers. Kind of made sense at the time? The greatest living hitter, one can say he had his doctorate in hitting, managing young ballplayers and imparting his wisdom upon them. Of course the Senators would soon become an American League juggernaut and march through the AL and win pennant after pennant.
Alison Coviello
Williams had one winning record, his first year as manager, and losing records the next 3 years after that. Williams never managed again.
Alison Coviello
Why? Because of what dear old dad had told me. Williams was so great, such a great hitter, that he had impossible expectations that everyone would be as great as him. Also, Williams had no respect for pitchers and did not know how to work and encourage them and constantly spoke down to them.
Alison Coviello
So what you may ask does Ted Williams have to do with education and in particular, PS 154 in the Bronx?
Alison Coviello
Let's imagine, if we can, that Ted Williams was an educator and that Ted Williams came to PS 154 to be its principal. So set your imaginations on the Splendid Splinter in the principal's office.

Ted Williams, who knew everything there was to know about education is a nice thing. But it does not translate into being a leader. Just because someone know a lot about a subject does not mean that person has the leadership qualities and mental capabilities to be a true leader.

A teacher that fails to measure up to the greatness that Ted Williams believes is only reserved for himself as a teacher and a principal is doomed to fail. Teachers set up to fail and incapable of succeeding as long as a someone like Williams is the principal of the school will be blamed by Williams as failed teachers not capable teachers being put in impossible surroundings and situations.

As Ted Williams the baseball player had total dedication, Ted Williams the manager, and now the principal at PS 154 has total dedication. But as Ted Williams the manager could not comprehend the total immersion and dedication of his players, Ted Williams the principal can't comprehend that teachers have outside lives which are equally if not more important.

When saddled with mediocre educators, or at least mediocre in the eyes of Williams -- the sort Williams the perfectionist could not abide by, not only did he lack the leadership qualities to have them rise, he is disdainful of such educators and will conjure up fiction to oust such teachers.

Just remember this, it does not take greatness to be a MLB manager or a NYC principal. Look at the likes of Bobby Cox, Sparky Anderson, Walter Alston, Earl Weaver, Tony LaRussa and many more accomplished managers. None of them could carry Ted Williams' jock.

But Ted Williams, could not carry the jock of so many managers of today and yesterday. What does that tell you?