More From Port Chester! Vincent Marrone, Concerned Parent or Concerned Lobbyist?

I get home from Port Chester on Monday night and go on the Journal News website and what do I see? A video with two men who were at the forum in Port Chester to hear The King spew forth. One gentleman, is a a teacher, a union president, and a teacher from Ossining, and the other is of someone named Vincent Marrone, a self proclaimed "parent" from Larchmont named Vincent Marrone.

Now in the video Vince claims that he has a five year old daughter (presumably in Kindergarten?) and in a nutshell, says he has no problem with the Common Core standards, supports testing, believes the tests will help them get into college, and says, "I don't know why people are objecting to that," and goes on why teachers don't like testing is that, "...a big part of the scores is tied to their jobs, and it is a big deal that it is tied to their jobs." 

So why all the hub bub about some parent sharing his opinion? I guess one is that the parent from Ossining shared exactly what his background is. Simple, "Bob Rosenbaum, a high school English teacher, a union president and a parent." I think if he came out and shared that he believes that The King is a deity no one would have a problem, (except for thinking The King is a deity) with that for he fully disclosed who he is.

On the other hand, Vinny lied. Yes, he is a parent. But is so much more. Vince is founder and president of Public Strategies, LLC, "full-service government relations firm that specializes in representing clients on regulatory, statutory and budgetary concerns." He's a lobbyist!!!! Oh, oh! Vince, for shame. Why not share this with the Journal News? Are you ashamed of what you do?

As was reported today in New York BATS Facebook page, and on the Hall Monitor blog by Journal News education reporter, Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, one of Vince's clients is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Yes, that very same Bill Gates who failed to innovate at Microsoft and is attempting to do to education what he has done to Microsoft. Yes, the very same Bill Gates who has shoved Common Core down our throats and who said that we won't know if Common Core will succeed for another ten years.

But let's not stop there. Another client of Vinny's is the New York City Charter School Center. Yeah, charter schools, Common Core, testing, hmm, I see a connection for Vince's sycophancy. Oh snap, I almost forgot. NYC Charter School Center is supported by Billy and Melinda. I am starting to think that Vince was a plant on Monday night and wasn't speaking from the heart but rather from the wallet. And speaking of wallet's, click here and see how much all his clients (some worthy ones I will admit) paid him, in particular Billy and NYC Charter School Center.

But enough of outing Vince, maybe it's time we educate Vince. Maybe Vince should know about the teacher, Rigoberto Ruelas, in Los Angeles who after years of being a beloved teacher was rated ineffective (and outed by Jason Felch of the Los Angeles Times) by some inane algorithm tied to his students test scores. How did Rigoberto deal with this? He committed suicide.

As far as the tests, no one has a problem with testing as long as it is done for assessment, but to make testing part and parcel of a student's whole reason for being in school and to judge teachers is just wrong. How can we determine in 3rd grade, or even Kindergarten (which the powers that be wish) are college or career ready? How can we judge whether or not a teacher is effective by testing? Teacher's have no control over what happens at home.

Vince, worse, and as I said to The King on Monday night, there is no crisis in education. It was creates by the billionaire boys club and the people you represent. All that matters to these people is they see that there is a buck to be made from education and from children.

That is all that seems to matter today in education. Dollars.

Reflections on Seeing The King Last Night in Port Chester, NY

My stream of consciousness about last night:

What many people do not know, is that Port Chester Middle School is actually in the Village of Rye
Brook. Rye Brook is one of the tonier areas of Westchester County. It even has a D'agastino's. But

more on Rye Brook later.

So there I was last night in Port Chester, #47 in line to speak. On one side of the dais, the so-called "educators"; The King, Meryl Tisch, and Regent Phillips. On the other side of the dais, the so-called "champions of the people," Assemblyman Steven Otis, State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assemblyman David Buchwald, Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow, and Assemblyman Tom Abinanti.

Senator Cousins addressed the audience. She shared how she represented such a diverse population. Her district goes from Yonkers to Scarsdale. And she then said something quite interesting.

"We need to know why there is such a big difference of achievement between the students in Yonkers and Scarsdale."

Really? I hope this was a rhetorical question, though I doubt it. It's obvious Senator Cousins. Email me and I will give you a hint.

But this is what I noticed.

Assemblyman Otis was taking copious notes at a furious pace.

Assemblyman Pretlow, though not taking notes truly looked interested and concerned.

Senator Cousins, eh.

Abinanti? Yeah, he looked interested.

The moderator from the Westchester County League of Women Voters was a big meanie. 

Regent Phillips, a friend who is a real mensch said he is a stand up guy.

The King looked like he was on a Blackberry most of the night, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt. I saw a pen moving in his hand.

Chancellor Tisch looked as if she was wondering how fast she can get herself to Saks over the state line in Greenwich once the forum ended.

Yvonne Gasperino is a great speaker and a force to be reckoned with.

As far as myself, I was a little too histrionic when I spoke, though the mean moderator was a meanie to me. I accused the three "educators" of never teaching. Oh, Regent Phillips, I apologize for lumping you with the two lunkheads you were sitting next to, but you still never taught.

I claimed that The King and Tisch are part of the billionaires club, though honorary members.

I shared with them how my son got 2's last year, yet still made honor roll, and had 4's and high 3's until last year.

I asked them how they can sleep with themselves and look in the mirror.

I really wanted to say, "The Revolution has begun," and raise my fist like they did in Mexico City.

But one thing kept gnawing at me.

While I saw a lot of educators; teachers, superintendents, board members, PTA members, principals, assistant principals, teacher's aides, paraprofessionals, one thing was truly missing.

Parents. Regular parents. I mean not parents like me who are in education, who wear two hats (educator and parent), but regular rank and file moms and dads. Not that there weren't any, but I don;t believe that made up even 10% of the speakers last night and probably less of the audience. Hey, I could be wrong, and if I am I apologize, but I am going just by my perception.

But here we were in Rye Brook actually, with Rye, and Purchase, and Harrison, and Larchmont right nearby and I was expecting more. More parents.

Yeah, I know the time was difficult, 4 PM, and the forum was kind of last minute (is it cynical of me to think that it was done this was on purpose?), but there should have been more, should have had much more local, true grass roots involvement there yesterday.

I hope the outrage is building in these communities. I hope the frustration is building. I hope people have had enough of a decisions that should be a local matter, such as their child's education being decided in Albany and Washington, will make them say enough is enough.

But from what I saw last night is The King is fully entrenched in what he believes in and won't budge unless Governor Andy tell him to. The King is butt naked of credibility right now and doesn't know how small he looks.

And as I said last night, there is, and never was, a education crisis. It was all manufactured by those that pull The King's strings.

Hey Parents of Harrison, New York!! George Carlin Knew About It All Along!!

Bear with me, trying to make a point to the document I am about to share.

Not trying to be redundant, but remember about a month ago I posted this George Carlin video? But let's cut those words down and look at the really important and scary stuff George Carlin had to say.

 The big wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions.

The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You have OWNERS! They OWN YOU. 

 they own all the big media companies, so they control just about all of the news and information you get to hear. They got you by the balls

They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. Thats against their interests. 

Thats right. They don’t want people who are smart enough to sit around a kitchen table and think about how badly they’re getting fucked by a system that threw them overboard 30 fucking years ago. They don’t want that! 

They want obedient workers. Obedient workers, people who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork. And just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shitty jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, the reduced benefits, the end of overtime and vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it, 

They want it back so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street, They’ll get it.

They’ll get it all from you sooner or later cause they own this fucking place! It's a big club, and you ain’t in it!  You, and I, are not in the big club. 

Good honest hard-working people continue, these are people of modest means, continue to elect these rich cock suckers who don’t give a fuck about you….they don’t give a fuck about you… they don’t give a FUCK about you. 

 The fact that Americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the big red, white and blue dick thats being jammed up their assholes everyday, because the owners of this country know the truth. 

It's called the American Dream,because you have to be asleep to believe it.

So with that being said, an SBSB source shared with The Crack Team what seems to be a plot by The Business Roundtable to take over and transform American education.

As Sara Wottawa (The source of the document), an educational activist and member of NY BATS commented about the supposed conspiracy between the Business Roundtable and our elected politicians, "This is insane it exposes the whole reform agenda." Speaking to a member of The Crack Team here at SBSB Gail went on about the Business Roundtable,"....this organization donates billions to political organizations and campaigns."

 Anyway, now to the point. I report, you make up your mind;

   Business Roundtable Conspiracy

One last question. Who's going to dig the ditches?

Fine Dining With New York State Education Commissioner John King

I just came across this blog;  Oneonta Area For Public Education today. I think I saw it on the New York Bats Facebook page, or somewhere. Anyway, I fully haven't given it a good read through, but I'm adding it to the SBSB blog roll. Oh, and one other thing caught my eye on that blog. I found out today that NYSED Commissioner John King enjoys fine dining.

One of the authors of OA4PE (Got it right?), Betsy Bloom, shared about a conference she went to in Saratoga in which The King was the keynote speaker. The King yada-yada-yada'd about all the stuff he yada-yada-yada's about. But as Betsy shared, The King showed just how out of touch he is by using an analogy comparing dining with his wife and how shocked he is receiving letters from parents complaining about their child's math homework.

Some highlights;

The King blabbered, “When I’m in a restaurant, and the waiter opens the bottle of wine for me to taste, I never say no, send it back, even if it’s horrible. The same with my meal, if I don’t like it I’ll eat it anyway."

OK. First off, The King just shows how out of touch he is because most of us don't have the class that King claims he does, nor the wherewithal to eat at anywhere other than Applebee's. Besides, couldn't The King have said he orders a Genny when out to dinner with his wife? Heck, I would have even accepted him saying he orders an imported beer (as long as it were Labatt's Blue!).

But John, you lie. You showed in Poughkeepsie what you do when you don't get your way. You run away. You lie. You have others lie for you. You take your ball and run away.

But I call bullocks that you don't send your wine or your food back. If the food is undercooked, or burned, you eat it? If the the wine you ordered tastes like Aqua-Velva you drink it? My mother always, always sent her bluefish back. There was always something wrong with it. There was not one single restaurant in the the United States that could cook her bluefish correctly.

But I have digressed.

I must disagree with Betsy a wee bit on this one. Now bear with me, my point will soon be made.

In fact there is some logic to The King analogy about being in a chain restaurant, like Applebee's. Think about it.

In education, the teachers, the educators, are the waiters. We serve it. We place knowledge on the table of learning. We take the orders of what our students want. We can know what is good or what to stay away from.

The principals are the restaurant managers, the greeters, with the IQ's (at least in NYC) of the hat check girl. They think they know what is happening in the education restaurant, but they don't (in NYC).  But they run things.

The chefs? Well the chefs are the one's that put the curriculum together with the monies they are given and serve it up to the teachers. But the chefs must get direction from somewhere, no?

Yes, the chefs get their orders, their directions from the restaurant home office. In this case the home office is on Washington Ave in Albany. And who runs the restaurant? The King. He puts together the menus, he put together the ingredients, he doles out the monies, and he is the decider.

But because of what he is serving up, all the food at the restaurants taste like cardboard. There is also no fun allowed at the restaurants. No kids menu, no crayons, no coloring. The kids that come to The King's restaurants must have an appetite and attitude that is adult ready.

But the restaurant's The King runs are perfect. Few staff, and fewer customers. As long as the hedge fund investors and restaurant suppliers (Pearson has no branched off into food service) are happy, that is all that matters.

The customers? The King doesn't care. But the customer's care. The customer's aren't looking for anything fancy. They just want value.

The Next Internet Radio Show

Tomorrow night, Thursday, October 24, 2013 at 9 PM will be the famed NYC teacher taking on the NYC DOE of education, Francesco Portelos

Francesco first made news when as a representive on his school's, PS 49 in Staten Island,  SBLT (School Based Leadership Team) he used his constitutional right to inquire about his school's finances. What he found, financial improprieties by his principal, has put him on a Kafkaesque odyssey sitting in the Rubber Room. 

You can find out more about Francesco and his case on his blog; Protect Portelos

Listen here; http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nyinternetradio/2013/10/25/new-york-education-show

The number to call in is (347) 308-8259

The Next Internet Radio Show

Thursday October 17, 2013 at 9 PM EDT we are joined by two guests.

The first guest is retired UFT Chapter Leader Stephanie Flunory joins us to discuss the upheavel at PS 29 in College Point, Queens.

Our second guest is world reknowned educator Shaun Johnson of @thechalkface fame to discuss what measures can be taken locally against Common Core, high stakes testing, and getting back control of our children's education.

The call in # is (347) 308-8259

Listen live at this link (you might have to copy and paste)
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nyinternetradio/2013/10/18/new-york-education-show

BREAKING NEWS!!! PS 29Q Principal Jennifer Rogers Forced to Resign!!

This news came into the SBSB newsroom the other day. It seems that Jennifer Rogers, principal of PS 29 in Queens has been forced to resign the NYCDOE.

The Crack Team was able to  obtain this letter sent to the PS 29 community by Superintendent Danielle DiMAngo (click to enlarge. Don't click Nixon);

We applaud Ms DiMango for doing the correct thing in accepting Ms Rogers resignation. Obviously she was in over her head and was unable to cut muster as a principal. Perhaps she would have been more productive as a teacher or whatever she had done before that.

People forget the power that they have to affect change at the NYC DOE. Not only the power this blog that continually points out the inconsistencies and hypocrisies of the upper echelon at the DOE, but more importantly, the school communities. Without the communities (families, children, and teachers) of each and every school in NYC we are powerless. Without the mobilization and the actions of the communities, we will forever wallow in what the DOE dishes to us.

So the question remains, how long to clean up the mess at PS 29? We here at SBSB gather not long.  It is a strong community over there in College Point and by June, Rogers will be seen as nothing more than a passing fart the flew through Queens. But more importantly, a community has seen what they can do when working as one. Perhaps the PS 29 community can show other communities how to fight back. C'mon, take it on the road!! It'll be a hit.

What Would Campbell Brown Do If Husband Dan Senor Were Falsely Accused of Fiddling Collies?

So Campbell Brown, the "Bayou Shicksa", is at it again. She is still whining about teachers that have gone through the normal due process route in which they are afforded representation by the UFT, and to her perceived horror, were not fired.

Now I won't, nor can I, comment on the cases she cited in her Post column, and neither should she.
Like the Bayou Shicksa, I do not have all the facts, I don't have the transcripts, I don't have the context, and I do not have the paperwork of the investigations. So why is it that the Bayou Shicksa feels she can comment?

I wonder how the Bayou Shicksa would feel if someone she is close to is accused of something and wishes to have the protection of the United States Constitution afforded them?

Hmmm, who can we think of? Perhaps her husband Dan Senor? The same Dan Senor who was involved with atrocities in Iraq and never investigated or prosecuted?

Let's say Dan works for a dog training school that is run by the city. Basically, Dan trains dogs. Dan, since he is a public service worker, is a member of the union and afforded all the rights that come with union membership, like DUE PROCESS and the RIGHT TO COUNSEL.

One day a collie, let's say for arguments sake the collie's name is Lassie, accuses Dan of being inappropriate with her. Lassie accuses Dan of petting her in a manner which made her feel uncomfortable, said naughty things, and looked at her funny. Lassie tells her Timmy and Timmy reports it to the guy in charge.

Dan is immediately removed from the training center and sent to the doghouse (pun intended). At this point an investigator comes to the training center and interviews Lassie and all the other doggies.  In fact according to the Bayou Schicksa, Dan has nothing to fear because all investigators do a pretty thorough investigation. But not the one sent in to investigate Dan.

This investigator has a chip on his shoulder and worse, he caught his wife shacking up with his best friend the night before. On the way into work that morning he was stuck for 90 minutes at the toll plaza to the Queen-Midtown Tunnel and is stewed when his daughter calls him and tells him she is dropping out of Harvard and moving to Vegas to be a cocktail waitress.

The other doggies didn't really see what happened, and Lassie can't really explain too much other than she was upset and felt bad. There is a lot of ambiguity and not all the doggies saw what happened, that is except Lassie's best friend who backed up everything Lassie claimed, verbatim.

The investigator goes to talk to the guy in charge and gets his opinion on Dan. Since Dan and the guy in charge never got along, the investigator hears unkind things about Dan. The investigator decides then and there that Dan must be a bad guy and recommends that he be terminated post haste.

So Dan stews in the doghouse for a few years until his hearing. At the hearing the arbitrator hears both sides. The accused and the DOE witnesses are not specific, their story changes, they can't place times or dates of the incident, but THEY BELIEVE Dan was inappropriate.

Dan testifies and denies anything every happened. He shares that Lassie is a poor and disruptive student in class and that just the night before the accusation he had called Timmy to discuss her failing grades and lack of comportment. What is an arbitrator to do?

Most of the time the arbitrator splits the baby. Dan got a fine, a month suspension and had to complete a workshop class. Dan was also forced into the ATR system of the do training schools.

But using the Bayou Schicksa's logic, to hell with what the arbitrator had to say, Dan should be summarily fired by the chancellor. Is that how our system works?

The Bayou Schicksa should ask herself, if these cases are so cut and dry, why not present these cases to the DA's for prosecution? Oh, because of that pesky thing called reasonable doubt.

But the Bayou Schicksa harkens back to a day when one man had the power to decide one's fate. Such as Stalin, or the Shah, or Kim Jong-il, or Mao, or Castro. Good to see what the Bayou Schicksa truly thinks of the American justice system and the Bill of Rights.


I'll say this again. My wife was molested by a family friend when she was about 4 years old. He used to have her sit on his lap when he had an erection and had her grind it. She went years with a fuzzy memory of this until abut 6 or so years ago remembered the details.

I truly wanted to push his face into something concrete. But we decided to confront him. We called his daughter and found out he had passed away. He would have been in his 80's. But, if he was still alive, we would have prosecuted (if allowed). We would not stop him for one moment to have an advocate, an attorney, a jury, or a judge.

There is not one teacher, or UFT officer, that wants pedophiles or perverts working with students. But the accused are afforded right. Deal with it. 

That is our system. If the Bayou Schicksa can think of a better system I, and the nation, are all ears.

Oh one more thing. Is it a coincidence that DFER and Whitney Tilson buddy Joe Williams is on the board of the Bayou Schicks's organization, Parents Transparency Project?

The Miseducation of Missed Chances From NBC's Miseducation Nation

What happened if NBC's Miseducation Nation put on a show and only mindless sycophants showed? Oh wait. It happened. This past Sunday. That's who Miseducation Nations plays to. Those that are uninformed and don't wish to learn the truth.

The guess of The Crack Team here at SBSB why anyone would go to Miseducation Nation is to curry
favor with upper echelon types and to show that, "Hey, look at me and how hip and down with it I am." Now I know OTHERS went to see Miseducation Nation live this past Sunday, but I believe those others were led astray and have the smarts enough to see through the facade of what Miseducation Nation truly is.

What exactly is Miseducation Nation? It's about education of course. It's about everybody other than educators sharing with us how education should be in this country whilst perpetuating the myth that there is some kind of "education crisis" in this country. Sadly, those that frequent such events aren't aware of The Shock Doctrine for reasons such as, the book is too big, there are no pictures in the book, or just ignorance. But, if one were to actually read the book, one would come away with the truth of what has been foisted upon the American public.

Because what one sees at Miseducation Nation is nothing more than pure unadulterated self serving propaganda. Propaganda? Where have we seen leaders of a country misleading mainly ignorant, sycophantic people in the past?? Hmmmmmm, let's see (As chins are rubbed and flashback mode is enabled);



Oh, those pesky Commies!! And oh those pesky Teachers!!

Just as in the 1950's and the Red Scare that never existed, the 2000's have had to deal with the "Education Scare" that never has nor will exist. But like those that hunted non existent (WAIT!!! Is a hyphen supposed to be there? I know someone that has OCD issues with hyphens) Commies, what we are seeing is people hunting a non existent education crisis, with teachers as the fall guys.

But of course, Miseducation Nation will never let that be known. The teets of Bill and Melinda Gates, the Walton Family, Broad Foundation are being suckled by what were once responsible journalists like Brian Williams, and to a lesser extent (being a respected journalist) Matt Lauer. Suffice it to say, The Crack Team has more journalistic integrity than NBC. That's pretty sad.

Why did not one person at Miseducation Nation comment on the omission of Diane Ravitch being on any of the panels? Why not let her voice be heard? Oh, I know why. Because her ideas are contrary to the garbled spew coming out from the New York Public Library on Sunday. I also tend to believe that if Diane ever was allowed on a panel at Miseducation Nation the p3wnage that she will inflict will be of such a massive scale the Red Cross would have to be called in.

Hey, but those that believe in Miseducation Nation, don't listen to me. Show you are truly interested in the truth and not NBC's reality.  Buy Diane's new book, "Reign of Error," in which I reviewed here. Time to open the eyes and see what is really happening.

Remember, this is not an attack, just opinion and not against all in the audience this past Sunday. Usually at events like this there is just one person that goes overboard in the sycophanticity and tends to make it all about themselves (Like Delma in North Dallas Forty during the reading of Coach Johnson's poem).  Though one would wonder, how or by whom, the ducats were gotten.

Oops, almost forgot. #whatittakesNBC #whatittakesNBC #whatittakesNBC #whatittakesNBC

Oh, and by the way, this is when one only should brag about having awesome seats.

The Next Internet Radio Show (After Quite a Long Hiatus)

It's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaackkkkk!!!

Thursday nigh, 10/10/13, 9 PM EDT. 

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nyinternetradio/2013/10/11/new-york-education-show

First guest the incomparable Gail Richmond of New York BadAss Teachers. 

About Gail:
Retired Music Teacher 34 years w/ Greenville Central School District
Union President 12 years

Education Activist
Speaker
Occupied the USDOE with United Opt Out

 

Call in # (347) 308-8259 Learn of the horrors of Common Core and the joy of opting out! 

If Only the Daily News and the New York Post Had Old Fashioned Reporters

On Friday after the horror that I had gone through I received a DM from ace reporter Ben Chapman of the Daily News inviting me to comment on a article that was to appear in yesterday's Daily News concerning the Rubber Rooms.

I had to think about it. My spidey sense was telling me that something is up. I mean what happens
with the same regularity of the cherry blossoms blooming, the swallows returning to Capistrano, or the Jets not making the Super Bowl? Teacher bashing stories at the beginning of each and every school year in the Daily News and the Post.

And sure enough in today's Post there was an article slamming teacher's who dared to take advantage of the 14th Amendment. For shame.

But Ben, here is what bugs me and others. One, with your story on Saturday and today's story in the Post, there is no way this is a coincidence. It's a plant by the DOE, in particular Uncle Mike.

Come on, when we all know that Uncle Mike walks in the same social circles as Mortimer and Rupert what is one to think? Yes, we know that is standard operating procedure. Of course one will leak stories to those that they know will cooperate and share the same warped views (not you Ben, but the others). Yes, you and other reporters have editors to answer to and teacher bashing is sexy and sells papers, but can you understand from our point of view how it seems so unbalanced?

I'll give you credit, you do seem to balance it out more and do show administrators that are doing bad, very bad things. You and yours at the News, IMHO, do come across less sensationalistic than the Post and for that thank you. But there are, IMHO, things that have slipped through you and other's fingers at the News.

I mean one of the things we talked about is the spoon fed news I gave you about the shenanigans at IS 162 in the Bronx. It's there for you. The who, what, where. The SCI investigation, the hand slap, and the people involved. Want to speak to others to confirm it? I'll give you names. You need to put a little elbow grease into putting all together.

You did bring up a good point. Why did only 7% of students in District 7 score proficient in the state ELA exams.

There are many reasons. Common Core. The fact some schools, including my own PS 154 still believe that Reader's and Writer's Workshop will save the day even though neither are aligned to the common core.

Of course there is the superintendent of District 7, Yolanda Torres. How long has she been in power and how long has District 7 been going downhill? McDonald's would not stand for one of it's managers having her record, why should the District 7 community?

Why not look into the lousy curriculum that teachers are given. The overcrowded classrooms? The lack of support from above. The pathological lying from administrators? The lack of books and supplies? The skewing of numbers from Tweed? Why not sit down with the teachers in the Rubber Room and listen and learn from them? Why not hold Tweed accountable?

I hope things change on January 1. De Blasio doesn't seem like the type to have weekly schpritz with Mortimer and Rupert.

The NYCDOE Strikes Back and Attempts to Intimidate Me!!!!!

So arrive at the Rubber Room (I refuse to call it reassignment center) yesterday morning looking forward to spending another day with Mrs Nussbaum and Mrs McGillicuddy.

On Thursday, we had to cut short a roundtable discussion on whether or not the US should return to the gold standard. We all agreed that not only should we not return to the gold standard, but the Fed needs to be strengthened as well. It left plenty to ponder overnight.

As I went to the special spot that store the ladies and our tea set I was cranking for a good old fashioned debate on why the Fed was so important. When I got to the hiding spot I came across the horror of horrors!

As you can see in the photo on the upper left my friends, my confidantes were used to send a message to me. Not only were Mrs Nussbaum and Mrs McGillicuddy decapitated, but scrawled on the wall in the blood of one of the ladies was a very ominous message meant for me.

I cleaned up the mess and swore that I will not be intimidated by the NYCDOE. Yes, it was polite of whomever did the actual chopping to wish me a nice day, but that is beside the point. These ladies did not deserve this. No one does.

I was trying my best to be productive in the Rubber Room. I did not want to "sit on my hands," as Ben Chapman said in today's Daily News. I was trying to be productive. Useful.

This is what the NYCDOE does. It will intimidate those that speak out, that expose its foibles anyway possible. The NYCDOE will fights back in an unethical, immoral, and most of the time, an illegal manner. I will not, nor will any other teacher in the Rubber Room, or throughout the city take it anymore. It is time to fight back, to take the high ground, and to assert that not only are we professionals, but people. People that have friends, families, lives, hope and dreams. We can only succeed if we all work together.

Anyway, for those who wish to know, Mrs McGillicudy's funeral and wake is pending as of press time. Mrs Nussbaum's funeral will be tomorrow and Shiva will be sat all from Sunday night through Thursday. If you are a Jewish male, it is important that you come to Shiva tomorrow night. We need a Minyan for prayers. Tefillin and Tallis will be provided.

Please email me for locations.

An Introduction to My Rubber Room Friends and Die, Wesley Crusher, Die!

Twenty days (Instructional days) so far. One hundred and sixty days to go. At least for this year.

They really spread out the teachers who are in the Rubber Room. No more mass warehousing them,

like 100 to a room. Why let anyone talk to one another and give each other ideas.

That's why I am all alone at 4360 Broadway between 186th St and 187 St in Manhattan. I am the only one there. I could have been sent to Zerega Ave, but no, they claim there is no room there. I call bullocks.

I am all alone. No one to commiserate with, no one to eat lunch with. I do have the Daily News and the Post and becoming quite adept at Wonderword. Thankfully, I have a great book, "Team of Rivals" to read.

My belt and my shoe laces have yet to be confiscated. I feel as if I am a political prisoner. A prisoner in solitary confinement. A prisoner of conscience.

Death is all around me today. As I left PS 48 for lunch a sparrow had flown headfirst into a window. The poor little bugger didn't stand a chance. His neck snapped and he plummeted to the Earth. There he was, on his back, feet up, dead. Does this fate await me by the NYCDOE? Must I have my wife start the car up in the morning?

Today I decided to create my own friends. I looked around and found two dolls, a toy table and toy tea cups and a pot and set up a tea party with my new friends who are pictured above.

On the left is Mrs Nussbaum, and on the right is Mrs McGillicudy. They are my new friends.

Today we had several discussion between sips of tea.

Our first discussion was who did we think was the better captain. Kirk or Picard? I argued for Kirk. He was tougher, more of a man's man, and really knew how to land a punch. Mrs McGillicuddy agreed with me, but she said that, "Kirk is sweeter on the eyes than Picard."

Mrs Nussbaum was upset with me that I did not include Captain Janeway, "Why couldn;t a woman have been included?" she asked. She was right, a woman should have been included. Even though I never cared for Janeway.

We also discussed how it took three characters in Star Trek: The Next Generation to replace Mr Spock. Seriously, think about it. Commander Riker, Lt Data, and Troi (I never cared for Troi. I always found her annoying and pretentious). I don't want to get too deep into this subject, but looking forward to comments about why it took three characters to replace Spock. Mrs Nussbaum and Mrs McGillicuddy are looking forward to the comments as well. Though Mrs Nussbaum added that Worf was an extension of Spock as well for he was an alien. I countered that Troi was an alien too. Half Betazoid and half Human.

One thing the three of us agreed on is our hatred of Wesley Crusher. We all felt that he was a loathsome, whiny, ass kissing little ****. He served no purpose on the Enterprise and Captain Picard should have left him to rot on Farpoint when he had the chance. Mrs Nussbaum had both Mrs McGillicuddy and myself in stitches when she shared this YouTube video she created of Wesley's "unfortunate" death.


One can only wish.

It's late now and it is time to go to bed. I hope that Mrs Nussbaum and Mrs McGillicuddy aren't staying up too late. I am excited to see them in the morning. Tomorrow's discussion topic will be, how come Gilligan never met with an unfortunate accident?