http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bronx-teacher/2012/02/29/the-mind-of-a-bronx-teacher-1
This Tuesday night, February 28 at 9 PM EST United Federation of Teachers Vice President Leo Casey joins us live to discuss the new NYS as well as NYC teacher evaluation that Governor Andy Cuomo brokered.
This Tuesday night, February 28 at 9 PM EST United Federation of Teachers Vice President Leo Casey joins us live to discuss the new NYS as well as NYC teacher evaluation that Governor Andy Cuomo brokered.
Mr Casey wrote a piece defending, as well as explaining, the new evaluation agreement at Edwize (the official blog of the UFT) yesterday, and has taken a lot of heat. Though we at SBSB disagree with Leo, we do applaud him for taking the heat.
9 comments:
That's his job. That's what he gets paid to do - take the heat, bullshit people on the various capitulations the UFT has brought us and make them sound like victories. He is the propaganda meister, and as such, he has to be out there bullshitting people on the new evaluation deal - especially after the TDR release yesterday has so many teachers up in arms.
So while I give you credit for getting Lying Leo Casey on your radio show, I can't give Lying Leo any credit for showing up.
After all, this is how he "adds value" to the UFT - he takes every opportunity he can to lie, mislead, and distort so that members cannot be sure the shit they're seeing with their eyes is actually shit and not "roses" like the UFT says it is.
Never forget that the top priority of Unity Caucus is to not only maintain power but to keep the ideology of critics as far away from the members as possible -- thus the PEP is more democractic in that you are guaranteed 2 minutes. Try to get that at UFT Delegate Assembly.
A major portion of Leo's job is to spend his day following the blogs.
Though to activists who see through the bullshit Leo can be laughable, for most of the UFT members who don't follow things Leo and the rest of the top level Unity crew who do this (jackie Bennett et al) he does his job very well through obfuscation and misdirection.
In other venues watch him justify the charter school movement by redefining what a public school is.
Still, I consider it a sign of their weakness that Casey is coming on a show run by someone who is perpetually looking for Mulgrew's balls.
I SO SOOO think you should solicit questions from your readers for VP Casey to answer! Here are some I have:
**(about the 29% in the upcoming evaluations): Will Unity want teachers to prepare their own portfolios to submit to the main office for their 29 points, or will main offices just be collecting things like phone logs and curriculum maps and lesson plans from teachers all year, then decide which ones to use (and which ones not to use) and call them 'artifacts'?
** Can he absolutely guarantee that the union will fight for there being no VAM model used on the city's 20% version of 'local measures'? Or is it possible that teachers will have to deal with TWO VAM models; one for the state and one for the city?
**As they negotiate it, how many different things will the UFT ask go into the city's 'local' measure. One test? Two? Two tests and a survey? What's the union's position on that??
**Why hasn't anyone sent that nice chart that Casey showed in his post (or at least an explanatory flyer) to the homes (or even in-boxes) of rank & file members? Not every member has a Twitter account or reads blogs. Is the UFT actually more concerned with defending itself to Tweeps and Bloggers than they are in connecting and communicating this detailed information with their members?
I think they feel kind of weak too. I've never known a Unity person to comment on blog posts or go on shows like yours before. Also, did anyone notice that Randi is out there on Twitter defending this thing to anyone and everyone who sends her a tweet? If they need Randi to clarify for them, then it seems to me that they are really shaken.
I'm sure you will have many questions to ask Leo, Here are some of mine. I will be listening and bringing the news back to my colleagues.
1. What if King decides that there in not enough "rigor" in the other 20 percent evaluation that the UFT collectively bargains. What if any stand will the UFT take on his possible decision of a lack or rigor? Is there a possibility that if lack of rigor is seen by King and Unity disagrees that the new evaluation process would then become dead? What is the likelihood of this?
2. This may be a naive question on my part but, I would like to hear his response: Why is it that teachers in the trenches have absolutely NO VOICE in this new evaluation assessment and framework?
3. Again, this may be naive of me, and I know he will give a politically correct answer but, in the course of coming to the table with the other side (DOE/CITY), let's be honest here, is the truth about socioeconomics ever discussed?
4. This new evaluation if it does go through would be a DEFINING moment for a municipal union within NYC. If it goes through, it is the TEACHERS who have faced years of ill repute on the part of the mayor, the media as well as lack of a cost of living raise in years who will be subject to it. Has the union planned on asking for anything back in return? Anything?
Thank you SBS. Be well!
I can't wait to hear all of the shucking and jiving he does. Rather than list my questions here, I would prefer to call in so he doesn't have time to prepare a response.
This is a union leadership that gave us mayoral control - the UFT had always blocked it before Bloomberg became mayor - acquiescence to aggressive charter school expropriation of public resources, a longer day, de facto support for high stakes tests, the 2005 contract that created the ATR pool, the passive allowing of Bloomberg to run for a third term, a passive endorsement of that third term in the deluded hope that it would result in a contract, allowed the re-authorization of mayoral control, caved in on RttT funds that essentially mandate teacher evaluations based on VAM and test-based curriculum.
And yet some actually believe Leo Casey when he says the UFT will not allow the remaining 20% of VAM to be based on tests? How credulous can they be?
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/nyregion/in-new-york-teacher-ratings-good-test-scores-arent-always-good-enough.html?_r=1&hp
Link to NYT and a story where VAM doesn't always show the true efforts of a teacher.
Wish you the best of luck SBS! Prepare youself - there will be a lot of us listening.
"Amid the public fiasco of the publishing of the inaccurate and error-filled teacher TDRs and the admission by the New York State Education Department (SED) that present state law will allow teacher grades to be made public, the UFT needs to cease any negotiations dealing with the "teacher evaluation system" and anything else with the City until Mayor Bloomberg leaves office. When will the UFT understand that dealing with the devil only gets you burned?"
This was taken from Chaz's School Daze blog - I hope he doesn't mind it. It does bring up a question that perhaps can be addressed to Leo. Why can't the UFT just wait out this disastrous mayor? Is it that complicated Leo?
I read this commentary i was sorry to see Leo endoros ethis blather. THe idea that there are context independnet studnet learing out comes that can be quantified is I think unwarranted. But then Leo had been a party line kind of guy for many many years
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