Seung Ok in the Indypendent

The latest issue of the Indypendent is providing what they're calling a "full-tilt coverage" of the battle over school closings. Included is an article by Seung Ok, who's running on the ICE slate for VP Vocational HSS.


Seung Ok fighting for Maxwell HS earlier this term.

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FIRST PERSON: Stealing the Best and Brightest from Public Schools

By Seung Ok
From the January 29, 2010 issue | Posted in Local | Email this article

TAKING IT TO THE MAN: Opponents of Mayor Bloomberg’s school closings plan march Jan. 21 outside his mansion (back right) at 17 East 79th Street in Manhattan. PHOTO: SOPHIE FORBES

For all my anger, I do not believe that Mayor Bloomberg and his fellow billionaires are acting maliciously when they close public schools and replace them with charter schools.

These billionaires walk into charter schools and they say to themselves, “Oh my God, black and brown kids can learn?” They see black faces, and based the negative stereotypes that they viewed in their lives, the fact that minority students can excel at all seems a miracle. But, how much time did they ever spend in a neighborhood like East New York or Harlem? Probably no more than a matter of hours. They leave a charter school feeling exuberant, as if they had discovered something that the rest of society somehow overlooked.

However, it is not the new paint of charter schools, nor the potpourri they put in bathrooms, nor the new teachers whose energy and fortitude is burnt out within a few years. The secret of it all is the top-level students that they entice from our public schools — the core group of students in every grade level of every neighborhood that excels — those that become surgeons and engineers and lawyers.

The more years I spend as a teacher dealing with kids, the more I’m convinced that kids and adults are very much the same … people are followers. When you take the top students from district schools, you are in essence removing the positive role models of students who need that extra push to say, “Hey, this is what I should strive for.” You are removing from a neighborhood the student leaders, the positive middle class and professionals that offer a growing child an alternative to the gloom and doom of gangs, drugs, teenage pregnancy and high dropout rates.

The main argument for closing a public high school is that less than 50 percent of the students graduate in four years. But why do so many people assume that a high school diploma in four years is so much greater than one attained in five years? Do corporate interviewers ask a college graduate whether she or he took five or six years to get a degree? If a student in our public school system survives in shelters and foster homes and struggles to attain a high school diploma in five years — doesn’t that student deserve more credit than one who was expected to graduate and go to college in four years? Doesn’t she or he show even more character, drive and potential than a Bloomberg?

Seung Ok is a living environment teacher at William H. Maxwell High School in Brooklyn, which is scheduled to be phased out starting in September.

For more information see the following articles in this issue of The Indypendent:

“Taking the Public Out of Schools” by John Tarleton

“Inside Columbus High School” by Mary Annaïse Heglar

“The Faces of School Reform” by John Tarleton

“Bloomberg’s 12-Step Method to Close Down Public Schools” by John Tarleton

“New York City Schools by the Numbers” by John Tarleton

New flier from TJC

Our running mates at Teachers for a Just Contract are just as concerned about building a movement to end school closings as we are.

Click on the snapshot below for a copy of the flier they're now circulating, which is available on their website.

It begins:

UFT President Michael Mulgrew encourages each targeted school to try to save itself, and to protest at the Jan. 26 meeting of the Public Education Panel (PEP). But the PEP is just a rubber stamp for Mayor Bloomberg. Mulgrew’s strategy accepts that some schools must be closed “as a last resort,” and accepts the PEP decisions as final. So his strategy is just too weak to protect UFT members, our students and communities, against school closings.

UFT Election Committee Meeting, Dec. 14, 2009

Reported by Ellen Fox, ICE/TJC Rep on the committee:

The UFT Election Committee met on Monday, December 14. Here are the salient details of that meeting.

1. Virtually nothing significant has changed since the last election cycle. Literature from the 2007 elections was distributed as examples of the way things would proceed this time around. Most importantly, it appears that the number of divisional exec. bd. members will remain the same: they're still counting on 6 HS members, 5 MS members, etc.

2. Here is a rundown of the important dates and deadlines involved:

a. January 4, 2010 -- The Election Committee will meet again to finalize details for the election.The finalized details will be turned over to the Executive Board that same evening for approval.

b. Shortly thereafter, petitions will be available.

c. January 11 and February 4 -- Notice of the election will appear in the New York Teacher.

d. FEBRUARY 11, 2010 (THURSDAY). 5:00 pm -- DEADLINE FOR RETURNING SIGNED PETITIONS.

e. FEBRUARY 22, 2010 (MONDAY) -- DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING CAMERA-READY COPY

FOR CAUCUS ADS/STATEMENTS IN THE NEW YORK TEACHER.

f. March 4 and March 18 editions of the New York Teacher will carry the caucus ads as part of special election editions.

g. March 12, 2010 -- Ballots will be mailed to members.

h. APRIL 6, 2010 (TUESDAY), 5:00 pm -- DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF BALLOTS BY AAA.

i. April 7, 2010 -- Ballots counted by AAA.

3. Other important issues that came up:

a. Number of signatures needed for nomination:

i. All Officer positions -- 900

ii. All other in-service positions (Exec. Bd., Delegates) -- 100

iii. Retiree delegates (should we choose to run any) -- 25

b. Who can sign which positions:

i. ANY UFT MEMBER can sign for Officer positions and for Exec. Bd. at Large

ii. ONLY TEACHERS IN A PARTICULAR DIVISION can sign for candidates in that division's Exec. Bd. So only High School TEACHERS can sign for High School Exec. Bd. candidates; only Elementary School

TEACHERS can sign for Elementary Exec. Bd. candidates, etc.

iii. ONLY FUNCTIONALS (paras, secretaries, counselors, etc.) can sign petitions for candidates for the

Functional Executive Board.

iv. Only RETIREES can sign petitions for candidates as Retiree Delegates.

c. Once again, Chapter Leader lists will be made available to requesting parties for $10.

UFT Elections 2010

With the final touches on ICE's 2009 platform being made this weekend, we're happy to post the Introduction to the full document this afternoon.

Over the summer, we had to take a look at our 2004 platform (available in pdf from the main ICE website) and take into account all the changes that have occurred in NYC public education under the heavy hands of Michael Bloomberg and Joel Klein. As they continue to bust the unions, marginalize parents, and do what's worst for kids, we continue to pay dues to the undemocratic machine that union has become under the full undemocratic control of Unity caucus.

Unity/UFT supports mayor control, charter schools, and teacher evaluations promulgated by corporate money, and their response is pitiful when state laws and mandates are broken (special ed, public hearings, CFE misappropriations, graduation requirements, etc.). They buy into Klein's fake school grading system and highly manipulated test score data and continue to promote "collaboration" while educators are harassed, intimidated and demoralized and parents are completely shut out. Following a decidedly passive approach to unionism, they end up trying to plug up the holes instead of fighting the ed deform campaign coming directly at us from the present chancellorship and Bloomberg's big money friends.

It is not a pretty picture, but one thing is clear — Unity/UFT has been buying us all one-way tickets to the demise of our profession.

Unwilling as they are to fight our working conditions and the integrity of what we do in NYC classrooms, Unity needs to be replaced.

Here is the Introduction to the 2010 platform. See the links in the sidebar to access Parts 2 - 9.

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I. Introduction

The Independent Community of Educators (ICE) caucus was founded in October 2003 by working members and retirees to assess the state of our union and NYC schools. We cannot afford to be silent on the issues that affect our working conditions, in many cases our jobs, and the future prospects of the children we educate.

In these difficult times for unionism across the nation, and with union officials failing the members politically, contractually, and philosophically against a dictatorial mayor they continue to back under the present system of mayoral control, we have chosen once again to offer an alternative platform for the 2010 elections.

The UFT has been controlled by the Unity/UFT Caucus for almost the entire half century of its existence. For the last couple of decades, we have watched as many of our hard-won rights and protections have been given back. Unity/UFT has aligned itself with the Klein, Bloomberg, Gates, Broad, Duncan, Sharpton, Gingrich, Rhee et al. reformers (deformers) looking to blame teachers for the ills of the public school system. This failed policy of collaboration and Unity/UFT’s autocratic methods have weakened the union’s ability to protect itself from the attacks against it.

We believe that UFT members can be both strong trade unionists and strong educators. Schools are part of the larger community and everyone who works in a school together with families and the surrounding community has a role in the education of children.

We aim to provide a voice for all UFT members. Classroom teachers in particular bear the brunt of the responsibility, and the blame when things don’t go well. We believe that members need to participate in governance at the school level. Through activism at the school level, individuals become empowered in shaping institutions and the roles of the people working and learning within them.

Since its inception, ICE has been fully engaged in union activities. We have served as elected members of the UFT Executive Board and have participated on UFT committees. ICE delegates and chapter leaders have helped to lead the debate at the UFT Delegate Assembly by presenting alternative views to the official union position on the following issues: mayoral control (governance), high stakes testing, charter schools, ATRs, military recruiters in the schools, privatization of our health care plan, labor solidarity, class size, school leadership teams, opposition to the 2005 contractual giveaways, school closings, contract enforcement, and what is referred to as the “disappearing” of Black and Latino educators. We have been active in the new and old media, operating nationally read blogs, producing videos, writing letters to the editors and articles, and participating in radio talk shows. We share our knowledge and experience freely with any union members who asks us for help.

ICE members are activists who stand strongly against the many inequities in our learning communities. We have joined with others and have been instrumental in the formation of the Grasssroots Education Movement, UFTers to Stop the War, the Ad Hoc Committee to Reverse the Disappearing of Black and Latino/a Educators, and Justice Not Just Tests. We also work with Teachers for a Just Contract, the New York Collective of Radical Educators, Teacher’s Unite, Time Out From Testing, the No More Mayoral Control Coalition, the Independent Commission on Public Education, the Center for Immigrant Families, and the Coalition for Public Education.

Unfortunately, the Unity/UFT Caucus has opted to ally the union with the corporate led education reformers whose plans for privatization are sweeping the nation. UFT officers played a crucial role in the initial passage of mayoral control in 2002, and they supported renewal of the law with only minor tweaking. There is an alternative to mayoral control. Educators must play a large role in developing a new vision of governance. Parents and teachers are starting to come together on their own to defend their neighborhood schools from the charter school invasion.

We do not to bemoan the obvious or blame Unity/UFT leaders for all that ails us. We aim to promote dialogue and membership awareness and develop strategies for improving conditions for educators and the entire school community.

We offer an electoral alternative and invite all concerned members of the union, regardless of political views or caucus affiliation, to consider the views expressed here and in other platforms. While we criticize the policies and philosophy of Unity/UFT, we make no personal attacks and understand that a wide range of views exists within all caucuses. No single caucus has all the answers.

Unity/UFT has been on the wrong side of too many issues. But we believe that the UFT can still make important contributions to a revived labor movement that links unions and communities. The rank and file, regardless of caucus or political leanings, share common interests, and it is on this basis that we seek a new consensus on which to unify and move forward as a union. Together we can turn the UFT into a progressive, democratic and militant organization.

Our platform is a work in progress and modified as new voices are heard. We invite you to join us in this campaign.

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Email ICEUFT@gmail.com or call 917-992-3734 for information.

ICE UPDATE Nov. 2009

The latest ICE leaflet.
DOWNLOAD THE PDF FOR YOUR SCHOOL.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/22925535


ICE Update Nov09

Fighting for public education

"Charter schools are being used as a wedge to undermine the public school system."

That was the way Norm Scott, founding member of ICE, began his dynamite analysis of the charter school infestation at a public hearing at PS 120 on the Lower East Side last Wednesday evening.

"Charter schools are created to grow. . .

"A charter school is not a public school, I don't care what they say. If they hire a company to fix your road and give them public money, that is not a public company. It's a private company."

See the whole speech over on YouTube, and more commentary on Ednotes.

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ICE's platform can be accessed through the sidebar links of this blog. Its position on charter schools is Part VII:

VII. ICE supports local neighborhood public schools and is against privatization and school closings

Diverting money to private schools through vouchers, hiring private companies to run public schools, and creating charter schools that operate on the DoE budget but free of union contracts and other restrictions that apply to public schools do great harm in polarizing our educational system and our society. Charters and schools infused with private money get preferential treatment, particularly in class size (smaller), the selection of students, and appurtenances. The DoE’s agenda to privatize the system is done through unilateral decisions and in secret. Targets for the influx of private money have been the minority areas of the city, where many large schools have been broken up into smaller ones and where public schools are being forced to absorb charters.

Unity caucus and another missed opportunity

"The UFT passed up on a real chance to influence the outcome by staying out of it," says ICE candidate James Eterno in a post on the ICE blog yesterday.

"If the unions and the Democratic Party establishment rallied behind Thompson, Bloomberg could have been defeated in this very Democratic town."

Read the rest of his comments here.

Michael Fiorillo Comments at Gotham Schools

ICE's Michael Fiorillo has garnered enormous respect for his thoughtful comments at Gotham Schools on many of the educational issues of the day. Michael has been very active in numerous debates at Gotham, the most recent on the UFT contract, quality teaching and other issues on a thread based on an article written by a pro ed deformer, Tom Carroll. You can follow the thread here and chip in yourself.

Here is Fiorillo's response to Stuyvesant HS teacher Matt Polazzo's piece in today's Daily News. (Fiorillo will be a candidate for the UFT Executive Board on the ICE/TJC slate in the upcoming UFT elections this spring.)

Whatever my criticisms of the UFT, I am a union member and will fight to defend it and the contract. I also think the contract protects students as well as teachers.

The only thing that limits class size in the public schools is the contract. The only thing that provides the many, but mostly unacknowledged, benefits of having teachers remain parts of their communities for years is the seniority provisions of the contract.

This deluded and self-important teacher — ooh, he teaches at Stuyvesant! — like most other critics of the union, makes that cliched, tired reference to the “165 page contract,” as if its length is by itself proof of its dark powers. Has this innocent ever considered that the contract’s length is in direct proportion to the idiocies enacted by management over the years? Provisions in the contract are there to protect teachers from the chronic over-reaching and intrusions by administrators. Whatever professional autonomy he has is because of the contract, the people who struggled to achieve it, and those who struggle everyday to see that it remains a viable thing.

I criticize the UFT all the time, but there are many hardworking and dedicated officers and staffers there and I sympathize with their professional obligation to represent management suck-ups like Mr. Polazzo.

If Mr. Polazzo is so convinced of his specialness and untouchability, a la Ariel Sacks, he is fooling himself and endangering the rest of us. Should the UFT ever strike again, he sounds like a certain fink (aka, a union member who crosses a picket line). How surprising that Mortimer Zuckerman should give him space on the opinion page.

Fiorillo on Charter School blather

Charter apologists and propagandists are quick to respond to criticism, but it seems they can rarely be bothered to fashion a response that differs from their robotic buzz word/talking points: "Blah, blah, blah... achievement gap... blah, blah, blah, teacher quality... blah, blah, blah... civil rights movement of our time... blah, blah, blah... laboratories of innovation... blah, blah, blah ...parent choice."

Is there a chip implanted in their brains that makes them unable to respond in any way other than a recurring loop? When it comes to real debate, it seems that all that money spent on Ivy League educations has been wasted.

Also see Fiorillo guest piece at NYC Educator blog

Duncan Shoots a Brick

by special guest blogger Michael Fiorillo

ICEr CLs in Queens schools quoted in the Post

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Sunday, November 1, 2009
No school left behind

by Angela Montefinise

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from the article:

The A-rated school was forced to add a 13th period to its schedule this year, and has 73 classes with more than the 34-student maximum set by the teachers’ contract, UFT rep and teacher Arthur Goldstein said.

“We’re busting at the seams,” he said. “We can’t sustain this. Eventually, the kids will suffer.”

The Department of Education is trying to help the school — it is not sending any No Child Left Behind transfers there for the next year and is aggressively verifying the addresses of students in the zoned program. It has also pledged to build new schools, adding 10,000 seats to Queens to curb overcrowding at many borough high schools.

But Goldstein and others believe there’s another solution that no one is talking about.
“I absolutely believe that they can make the other schools in the area better,” said Goldstein. “It’s their job to make the other schools better. Better options would spread students out, and everyone would be better off.”

A perfect example is Jamaica High School, a large school located less than three miles south of Francis Lewis. It received a C on its progress report, has attendance rates in the low 70 percentile and a grad rate of only 47%, stats show.

Francis Lewis received almost 13,000 applications — the most in the city — from students eager to go there. Jamaica received 1,580 applications, eight times fewer.

Meanwhile, with 1,416 kids, Jamaica is 700 students under capacity.

“I understand the DOE wants to give parents and students what they want,” said Goldstein. “But they should be focused on getting kids interested in Jamaica so they want to go there. That should be the goal.”

. . .

Jamaica social studies teacher and UFT rep James Eterno said his school “has the dedicated staff and programs” to be successful, but needs a helping hand to become more attractive to students.
“We have the space right now to lower class sizes,” he said. “If we could offer really low class sizes, personal attention, parents would send their kids here. That’s something Francis Lewis can’t offer.”

DOE spokesman Will Havemann said class size is not just tied to space, but also to the number of teachers at the school.

“Principals are free to hire new teachers to reduce their class sizes, but given the city’s financial circumstances, significantly reducing class sized may be prohibitively expensive,” he said.
Eterno called this “a frustrating cycle,” saying the school’s budget was cut because the number of students has declined.

“So we have less to work with to begin with,” he said.

Experts also suggested caps at schools like Francis Lewis High School, but Havemann said it is against DOE policy because, “We want to honor to the greatest extent possible students’ preferences.”

That, Goldstein said, cannot continue. “They keep saying yes, yes, yes to kids who want to come here, and no, no, no to things that could help Jamaica,” said Goldstein. “At some point, that has to change.”

James Eterno is running for UFT President and Arthur Goldstein will be running for a UFT Executive Board position on the ICE/TJC slate in the upcoming UFT elections.


Support the election effort by joining the ICE fundraiser Monday night. Make it a virtual party if you can't make it by sending a check made out to Independent Community of Educators (not ICE) and sending it to:
Box 1143
Jamaica, NY 11421

Goldstein on the Absent Teacher Reserves: almost a eulogy

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Monday, October 26, 2009
ATR — a Simple Twist of Fate

by Arthur Goldstein, HS Chapter Leader

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A lot of people think teaching is somehow a job for life — that no teachers can be fired for any reason, no matter what they do, who they kill, or whether or not they sleep in garbage cans. It’s not true. In fact, the Department of Education tries to take away teacher jobs all the time . . .

Those of us who aren’t up on charges have other worries. For example, we can become “ATRs.” [continued at this link]