MORE Needs to Change

First let me share, for those who don't know, that I am a Jew. It seems important in this conversation, but from what I have been reading it is. I am not a Lower Eastside Jew, wait I am. My paternal grandfather and his family first lived on Ave C and 9th St when they first came over in 1903. Eventually they moved to the Bronx and my grandfather was quite active in Tammany Hall. Oh, and during prohibition ran booze down from Canada and after that sold Slivovitz out of the trunk of his Buick that my great grandfather had produced using my 6 year old father and his 8 year old cousin to smash the plums in the bathtub in his apartment on Walton Ave in the Bronx.


I also have some tried and blue Communists in my family. A cousin, the actor Howard Da Silva (He played Louis B Mayer in "Mommie Dearest" and Ben Franklin in "1776") was a Communist and blacklisted by Joe McCarthy.

When my dad's uncle went off to Berkeley in the mid 1920's, it was Howard Da Silva who turned him onto Communism. My great uncle was soon ushered out of the State Department just before WW II, moved to China after the war, fell out of favor with Mao in 1949, and moved to Rome where he lived until his death in 1977.

My great-aunt (My grandfathers sister) said to me about 20 years ago (This coming from a 91 year old short Jewish woman) "I'll kill anyone in the family that doesn't vote for a Democrat."

Oh, before I forget, I lost family in the Holocaust. My maternal grandmother's uncle (As well as her brother in law. He married her sister!) died in the Lødz Ghetto in 1941 along with his wife and his children. His name, Maurcy Trébacz, one of the most famous Jewish-Polish artists of his time.

So, enough of the bromides, M'kay?

But I am not writing to share my life or make my life the center of this blog post, rather I wish to share why I am disappointed with MORE and fear for it's future.

First, there are some very good people with MORE. These people are able to see both sides of the issue and able to listen to others. These people want to see MORE (As do I) be able to overtake Unity and take control of the union. But the perspective is that MORE will much rather deal with this "Social Justice" mantra than deal with the fact that TEACHERS ACROSS THE CITY ARE HURTING AND IN PAIN AND HAVE NOWHERE TO TURN.

Francesco Portelos was arrested and spent 33 hours locked up (And let's not forget this). My story. Christine Rubino. Jeff Storobinsky. ATR's? And let's not forget the countless stories that come into my email and DTOE's each and every day from teachers being harassed, belittled and discontinued.

Where is MORE on this? Not to be seen of nor heard from. Nothing. Nada. Bupkus.

When it was suggested that MORE picket and/or have a presser in front of Sam Pirozzolo's optical store, it was met with an extremely tepid response.  

When I suggested to someone at MORE  that they should have had someone or people picket the 84th precinct when Portelos was arrested (It was known several days in advance of Portelos' pending arrest) the answer I received was. "It will look stupid."

But how did I get to have this audience with such a person? This MORE person called me up, on a SUNDAY, and without even saying, "Hey Pete, this is *******," went into such a tirade, that the senior citizens at the CVS I was at were not only able to hear this tirade and imagine the frothing at the mouth from this person, but were blushing.

Yet, teachers do not get support, yet Con Ed workers do from MORE? Why do ConEd workers on strike get attention and teachers don't? Oh yeah, "Well if we show them support, they will show is the same." A lot of people are still awaiting our blue helmeted brethren.

But MORE has no problem supporting the march of a race baiting, anti-Semite while not supporting the cops and the NYCPBA? Edited for the crazies (IN RED) who forgot what I had written  a week ago: Firstly, what happened in Staten Island was wrong. Do I think that people of color are treated differently by than others my some NYPD officers? Yes. Does this effect the way the community interacts with NYPD? Yes. Should the UFT have supported this march? No way.

The UFT showed it's hypocrisy in supporting the march for the act of one police officer. We as teachers are broad brushed day in and day out by the acts of a very few. We are railed against, beaten down and left on an island without any support. By making this march about the UFT's involvement we have put the 99% of officers of the NYPD who do the right thing in the shoes we don't like being forced to wear by outsiders. And.... The UFT could have showed it's support for the community in other ways than endorsing this march.

We as teachers could have been asked or encouraged to go out into that Staten Island community and found common cause with the citizens. We as teachers have been subject to heavy handed tactics by Tweed and worse, SCI. We, both teachers and the Staten Island community have been affected by the last 20 years in this city of a top down, heavy handed, oligarchy, near police state by our elected officials and those at 1 Police Plaza. Oh yeah, the old, "What have cops done for teachers?" But then what have ConEd workers done for teachers?

When I bring this up on the MORE listserv what happens? I get a phone call, while I'm in Chicago going to a Cubs game, telling me to cool it. This smacks of if not censorship, but rather being told to toe the party line.

I want nothing more (Pardon the pun) to see MORE succeed. But it is trying to be too many things to too many constituencies. MORE must concentrate on the teachers, the schools, the students, and education and only then will the social justice aspect fall into place.

MORE needs to show the same fervor for teachers that are mistreated and shat upon that it shows for others. It needs to be GEOGRAPHICALLY more (Again, pardon the pun) inclusive.

MORE, has a perception issue. It is real and there are a lot of people that feel this way. And this are not pro-unity, pro status quo people. These are people that truly are searching for an alternative and feel that MORE can be that great alternative but these people just have far too many qualms and concerns about MORE.

It's too bad that they don't truly see that.

Jeff Storobinsky Exposes The Truth in Brooklyn

The Crack Team is pleased to welcome once again guest blogger and retired teacher Jeff Storobinsky to share a few words.

For those who don't recall these pages shared some of Jeff's story back in June.

Jeff is in the process of suing his tormentors with The Crack Team's favorite attorney, Bryan Glass, representing him.

In today's post, Jeff exposes and names his tormentor. Read on!

A NYC Teacher’s quest to restore his name and reputation.  I’m Jeff Storobinsky and I proudly approved this message.

This is NARRATIVE # 5, which continues my story to seek justice and restore my name.

I will just summarize.

I am 55 years old, and taught for 30 years without a blemish of any sort, ever. A new principal (age 32) comes in last summer and decides to target me. I leave it up to you to draw your own conclusions.

I shall name this Principal and the school later on in this narrative.

For many years, I handled key quasi-administrative operations. I was trusted to get the job done and did. This was in addition to handling the technology needs of the building. These years had me teaching with a reduced assignment (less teaching periods).

There are those who might like to minimize my effectiveness and importance in my profession but that’s because they have always been part of the problem, not the solution. For 30 straight years, with 4 Principals with differing leadership styles, and having had an absolutely flawless record and file which speaks for itself is how I characterize my career. One cannot fake success and accomplishments over 30 years.

This past year, many of these key responsibilities were done, poorly or ineffectively at best, sparking debate within the school.

The school had on average 755 students. How many assistant principals do you need for such a school register? 1?, 2? , 3? Well, we had 4.  A stellar 67 year old Guidance Counselor who was there his entire career was excessed in September, 2013 to make room for 2 new APs to be brought in shortly thereafter. After floating through at least 10 schools as an ATR (SUB) for the 2013-14 school year, he retired; not when he planned though. UFT help: NONE.

During my brief stay there during the 2013-14 school year, I politely asked the principal to reduce my assignment by a few periods (as was normally the case and was the case with others during this school year) so that I may better serve the school.

He then went around saying "Mr. Storobinsky does not want to teach”

What happens when I left? The principal then put TWO teachers into the technology room.

During this past school year there have been investigations into questionable school practices too.

Mind you, the principal is INTERIM ACTING.

Let’s now go back to the beginning.

I met this principal last September and within weeks I was on his hit list. My life was made a living hell, the worst emotional pain and suffering one can ever endure. I was under a doctor’s care during this time suffering from extreme stress and depression.

In February, 2014, I involuntarily retired, having been seemingly blackmailed into it.

For much more precise and pinpoint evidence, search through my previous postings and uploads made to FB in late June and July.

If you cannot find them request them and I will post them into the comments.

I also wish to mention that the UFT chapter leader instead of encouraging me to stay and fight and telling me that the UFT will stand behind you flat out told me “RETIRE”. I understand this as he is retiring in 1 or 2 years and like many chapter leaders, look out for themselves first and wish to stay on the principal’s good side. The UFT district rep proved equally worthless too as a very close ally of his who works at my former school lied and said that the district rep did not have a cellphone number.

Of course it will be argued that nobody forced me out that I left on my own (Legal term: Constructively discharged ).

However I equate it with the following: God forbid, if you are on the 61^st floor of a burning building and your choices are succumb to the smoke and fire or jump which would you do? I jumped.

After I left, my fiancé, Marisol Perez, an exemplary 17 year bilingual paraprofessional was subjected to humiliation and threatened by the principal   “don’t be caught up in the web”, an obvious reference to her stating to her colleagues that I was forced out.

She herself fears retaliation as do other teachers from this very same school that have come forward with their stories that were published on Money Over Age.

I have taught technology since 2000 and had outstanding classroom management and instructional skills.

I was observed twice in one week in early late in 2013.

The first class, was a newly created hybrid class of troublesome students created and programmed into certain teacher’s schedules so that observing them would be easy to prove teacher ineffectiveness.

When I was observed with this class I had no experience with this class or established routines in place yet. The second observation that Friday was with a better class and I was engaged in a meaningful lesson and had lesson plan in hand with this class too.

It is not until June that I find out that I was deemed ineffective ( I never received a hard copy report of the  observations ) and received a rating of UNSATISFACTORY which prevents me from working for the NYCDOE in any capacity post retirement.

Now the reason for the “U”:  In June of this year, the principal was putting forth his time schedule for this September. I, being in touch with many of my colleagues on a regular basis advised them via text what I felt was in their best interests, and to not feel pressured to vote a certain way since the principal had his own people trying to push his agenda.

The Principal calls me in June and warns me “not to communicate with his teachers” This phone call was RECORDED by my smartphone Call recording app.

After this phone call, it was relayed to me that I got the UNSATISFACTORY for sharing with friends my opinions; and that if I stopped, the UNSATISFACTORY could go away.

Earlier on, AFTER my retirement, there was phone conversation between the principal and me. In this conversation he says to me those ineffective observations would be discarded. Two things I have to emphasize; this was AFTER I had retired and that the phone call was RECORDED by my smartphone’s telephone call recording app as well.

I hereby go public with the announcement that I have filed a formal complaint and that the principal as well as his superiors and his superior’s superiors have or will be receiving a copy of my complaint shortly.  My complaint is based on multiple counts of discrimination; 3 to be exact.

Let me briefly outline the 3 areas of discrimination I have experienced and am claiming in my complaint.

First : Age. I was encouraged from our first conversations to  retire with the promise of unlimited “f status” or per session” He claimed and bragged How he would call up all the principals in our district convincing them of my worth.  This was just bait to encourage me to leave.

He then goes on to say that I am teaching technology to sixth graders out of license with my Common Branch license. When I said I can teach Math which I taught from 1984-2000 he replied with  “really ? Nah, you need to relax and chill at this part of your life” This part of my life? Really? Was I just told I’m too old to be doing this?

Stunned and bewildered, I left his office. Later that night I emailed him and told him politely I will stay on the job to 2016 or beyond, I do not think he liked that.

Lastly on this, referencing his past he referred to a former colleague as “an old Jewish guy”. Much more exists on this particular complaint of age discrimination.

Second: Physical disability. I am 75% deaf. My concerns to him of how I was discriminated against fell on deaf ears.

Third: Race. Of approximately 60-70 staff members servicing and teaching students, I was the only Caucasian permanent staff member left.

One of these acts of discrimination is horrendous, two are staggering, what are three equal to?

I obviously cannot touch upon everything or what my complete evidence is. Recorded phone conversations and voice recordings made from a smartphone are only part of it.

The NYCDOE Corporation Counsel will be sending the Principal himself a copy of this complaint too, as the complaint has to be responded to.

My former Principal’s name is Dr. Shannon Burton and he is the Principal of MS61 in District 17, Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

He is formerly from Yonkers’ Roosevelt High School and most recently from Prospect Height HS in Brooklyn where he served in both schools as an assistant principal.

Money Over Age and its over 8,000 followers and nearly 250,000 readers have been extremely supportive of not only me but other teachers who have fallen victim to Principals without principles.

I fear some retaliation on my reputation but am quite prepared to handle that. More importantly I am concerned about retaliation on my fiancé Ms. Perez, who returns there September 2^nd, but she is up to the challenge and is quite strong.

Nothing will ever erase the depression I was in and the toll it took on me physically, mentally and emotionally.

If the NYCDOE has allowed this Interim Acting Principal to become appointed then a great injustice to civil rights would have occurred.

An example needs to be set for what proper conduct for a principal should be.

Principals in their early 30s are too young, being closer in age to their students then the median age of their faculty.

Of importance too is to diversify schools with faculty staffing and students.

Please keep Marisol and I in your thoughts and prayers as we go forward.

Whatever the outcome is, we can handle it.

God bless, Jeff

The UFT Fool Follows Al Sharpton

I have been away for a week. Went on a little baseball road trip with the family.

So a lot has happened in the last week. The UFT not only supported Rev. Al's march in Staten Island, but was paying for buses to transport marchers to Staten Island.

Oh, and the UFT soon hid it's support on Facebook by deleting the posts in support of the march after several hundred pissed off comments.

Firstly, what happened in Staten Island was wrong. Do I think that people of color are treated differently by than others my some NYPD officers? Yes. Does this effect the way the community interacts with NYPD? Yes. Should the UFT have supported this march? No way.

The UFT showed it's hypocrisy in supporting the march for the act of one police officer. We as teachers are broad brushed day in and day out by the acts of a very few. We are railed against, beaten down and left on an island without any support. By making this march about the UFT's involvement we have put the 99% of officers of the NYPD who do the right thing in the shoes we don't like being forced to wear by outsiders.

At a time when we as teachers and a union need all the support and backing we can get to show a lack of support to our union brethren is not right. Yes, it's been said that the NYCPBA has done squat for us, well someone has to step up and do squat first, why not the UFT?

And, how can we support anything the Rev. Al is leading? Let's not forget his Wall Street Journal article he co-wrote with Joel Klein. Or his traveling roadshow with Newt Gingrich and Arne Duncan. Or what he truly feels about charters. And lest we forget some of the silly things Rev. Al has said in the past. Or the tax evasion, being an FBI informant, or Steven Pagones.

The UFT could have showed it's support for the community in other ways than endorsing this march.

We as teachers could have been asked or encouraged to go out into that Staten Island community and found common cause with the citizens. We as teachers have been subject to heavy handed tactics by Tweed and worse, SCI. We, both teachers and the Staten Island community have been affected by the last 20 years in this city of a top down, heavy handed, oligarchy, near police state by our elected officials and those at 1 Police Plaza.

Why has education been so able to go down the proverbial toilet? Because the citizenry is isolated from being heard (Hence, network offices 2 hours away by subway) which has enabled education to be controlled by a few of those 1 percenters who do not care one iota about those of color. The UFT missed it's chance. This is what the UFT should be marching about.

I don't begrudge Rev. Al having this march. It is his right and plenty do believe in him. I don't.

Nor do I condone those that live in their mommy's basements, drink Pabst, read about Che Guevara and Eugene Debs or bathe in months ending in Y. These people are immature and ignorant.

What bothers me and The Crack Team is Randi marching right next to Rev. Al and wearing a AFT shirt and Mulgrews involvement and thinking he knows what is best for the rank and file.

If Randi and Mikey want to march with Rev. Al, fine. Don't do it on my dime, The Crack Team's dime, or any other members dime.

It's time they start listening to the membership.

Campbell Brown Plays the Victim

In yesterday's New York Post there was an article pertaining to some bashing on Twitter that
Campbell Brown fell prey to last week.

As the Post reported;

"Former CNN anchor Campbell Brown, a leading opponent of teacher tenure, accused her pro-teacher-union foes Sunday of using soft-core Twitter porn to shamelessly smear her."

Smear? Harsh, but one must read on. Accusing "pro-teacher union foes"? Even harsher.

First let's go on record here that we here at SBSB do not condone in any way, shape, or form the alleged vulgarities tossed Campbell Brown's way. We find it abhorrent and certainly not helpful We also do not condone any attacking of her children personally.

As for as her husband, Dan Senor, we feel that since he is a public figure, has served on the board of StudentsFirstNY, and is culpable for the mess in Iraq, he is fair game. But right now that is neither here no there.

The Post also mentioned a real anti-Campbell Twitter account and it's corresponding website in the article. Why they lumped that in is clear. Seems the Post wishes to discredit a real site aimed at real issues that had to be debunked by the Post's propaganda machine.

But something reeks in the State of Denmark vis a vis the Post and Campbell's stories.

We here became of aware of this on Friday, and pointed it out to many (That all was a hoax), when we saw tweets from @datadiva;

Now the stench is getting stronger.
One tweet seems to come from right wing, Tea Partier Congressman Louie Gohmert, but the handle is different than the congressman's. The Crack Team at first thought that someone had either hacked or spoofed the congressman's account.

The same with NewsMax Health, @mort_mcgirt, alleging to be NewsMax Health. For those that aren't aware, NewsMax is a right wing weekly news magazine.

So what you have is tweets from two accounts appearing to be from right wingers attacking the right wing dream; no more tenure for teachers, a stink bomb, no? And even if they were super-duper hard left liberals, we here at SBSB have never seen such invective from such people.

Yet, on the same scale, neo-liberal, Elevate New Mexico commented even though not one of these tweets were directed to him, nor even found on his timeline or tweeted to any of his allies (The usual cast of deform characters), was able to locate these tweeters through all of the 1000's of tweets.

A new member of The Crack Team, Wanda, representing the Southern Tier of New York State accessed the SBSB computers and came to the conclusion that all the accounts above, including @derpjonson, all used the same syntax. The Crack Team found out all are followed or followers of @gomurica as well. Perhaps they all can very well can be the same person?

OK, fine, if they are the same person, or not, why? What is the point. And why was Randi Weingarten mentioned in the tweets? How coincidental that these tweets were out within a few days of the launch of "The Real Campbell Brown" website? A website in which Campbell's lackeys are whining about profusely and can't even refute any facts.

Wanda, along with the rest of The Crack Team and many others have opined that this was all a set up. That these tweets, these twitter handles, were all devised by Campbell Brown's people to not only discredit the righteous, but worse, to make Campbell Brown a victim and to garner sympathy. This alone just goes to show how low Campbell Brown will sink to have her name bandied about in a flattering manner. Nothing, is about the plaintiffs in this Wright V New York State. It is all Campbell, all the time.

Why, and we have it on good authority that the United States Capitol Police have been notified, that USCP has not shut down the accont impersonating  Congressman Gohmert? Why haven't the twitter accounts of the offending tweets mentioned in the Post been shut down? Without a doubt, the rules of Twitter have been violated. So who can be behind all this?

Only someone with the connections of Campbell Brown along with the powerful PR handlers on her side can orchestrate such a devious plot. A plot to shine the blue light of sympathy upon her and to shame any and all connected with teachers unions. This is a new low for Campbell Brown, but sure enough will be followed by new even lower lows. How else to explain how the Post got all over this?

And if this were a real attack on Campbell Brown we here at SBSB feel those behind it are the lowest of the low and have done damage. But everything seems all too coincidental.

One way or the other something smells like crawfish cooking in Acadiana. Right, Alma?

My Interview and Discussion With Shaun Johnson

My first real encounter with Shaun Johnson, aka The Chalk Face, came about 2 1/2 years ago in one of those classic Twitter mash-ups.

I started getting into it with the commandant, Kyle Olson, of the über Right Wing, paranoid, and meshuga, education "advocacy" news aggregator, Education Action Group News. EAG News staff like to call themselves reporters or journalists, but really a bunch of hacks that troll the Internet for bad stories about teachers or liberal leanings of schools and in their best FOX News method make the story worse than it is.

But it was a few fun days batting around Kyle as would a cat do to a mouse before it goes in for the kill. I think at one point I had a producer at FOX News agree to have Shaun and myself on against Kyle, but Kyle demurred and wouldn't agree to do the show. Eventually he blocked us both. Oh well.

Shaun and I have stayed in touch off and on through the years. I have always had a great deal of respect for him and feel bad I got him involved in a little of my Twitter tiffs this summer.

I have a lot of respect for Shaun. He is very smart, very aware, and most of all, quite low key, but brutal when he sees a wrong.

So today I was on his Blogtalk radio show and we spoke for 45 minutes. We touched on many things, tenure, my lawsuit, and everything that is tied into both.

The full 51 minutes is here. Enjoy it.

My Own Story. Why Teachers So Desperately Need Tenure

This is one of the most difficult and personal blog posts I have ever written in my 6 years of blogging, but this story, now more than ever, needs to be shared.

I'm not sharing it to garner sympathy or adulation but rather to cast light upon the incessant abuse of teachers not only in the schools of NYC, but across America as well.

One of the reasons I am sharing this now is that in this current fight to defend ourselves from interlopers who not only wish to take away our tenure rights, but worse, think having no tenure will help us, I am hoping that the information I share here just might be able to help or have a teacher know that they are not alone.

On Friday, August 1, 2014, my attorney Bryan Glass filed a lawsuit on my behalf in New York State Supreme Court naming my principal, DR Alison Coviello, principal of PS 154 in the Bronx, as one of the defendants.

I am not going to get into too many of the details of the lawsuit right now. But there is one instance, a conspiracy, that needs, that must, be shared.

For many readers of this blog you know that I have been reassigned since September 3, 2013 in the Rubber Room. The 2012-2013 school year had been pure hell. Not only was I U-rated for the year, but all 3 of my formal observations were U-rated as well and I received discipline letters for the littlest things. How could this have happened? Why? Up until the 2012-2013 school year I had never ever received a U rating or observation in my 18 years of teaching to that point.

On August 24, 2012 (Just about 10 days before we had to report), DR Alison Coviello wrote in an email to AP Jessica Cruz;

“Hey, I revised Zucker’s job description  so that it is focused more on literacy. This way, (It was) explained, we’ll have a surer chance of winning a case when our observations detail incompetence.”

Can anybody guess the mistake? It was pre-determined before the 2012-2013 school year even started that I was going to be found incompetent. Coviello was playing God.

At what point is enough enough of this dirty dealing, lying, sandbagging going to end?

Eight teachers, including myself, were U rated for the 2012-2013 school year. One awaits a 3020-a hearing, another went through a 3020-a hearing and resigned. Did Coviello and Cruz conspire on each and every U rated teacher? Why did Coviello and Cruz decide to treat the teachers punitively instead of constructively? Surely treating teachers in such a punitive manner would have an effect on the students, no?

More importantly, did Coviello and Cruz act on their own or did the instructions come from higher up and if so, from whom and how high up the chain of command?

And if they did it to us, what makes one think that they can't or won't act in this manner to any other teacher at PS 154? Anything is possible.

Can anyone not see why we need tenure? Why we need due process? Why we are ticked off about Campbell Brown? DR Alsion Coviello has just given a gift to teachers city and nationwide. She has shown us why we need tenure and how easily power can be perverted and how what I have just shared is systemic in the NYCDOE.

It is time we collectively say, "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!"

When teachers are hurt, it affects the students. When one teacher is hurt, we all hurt.

Another Reason Why Teachers Need Tenure Part 1(b)

Libel; a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation; a written defamation.

I have been wanting to write for a few days about the article in the NY Post last week about a Queens middle school teacher and his relationship with a 14 year old student.

Now mind you, in no way is it being brought into question in this post whether or not he is guilty or innocent, or a little guilty or a little innocent, or condoning the actions of the teacher.

Let's cut to the chase. This teacher was dumb, stupid, and a schmuck for texting a student, especially with anything non-school related and so late at night.

Giving the student expensive gifts and was stupid and wrong.

Letting the student drive his car was stupid and wrong. 

Texting "I love you," no matter how innocuous was stupid and wrong.

Getting facts wrong and making a libelous comment is stupid and wrong.

When this story came out of course Mona Davids was among the first to spew off an opinion. The sad part is not only did Mona play loose and fast with the facts it appeared that she libeled this teacher.

.@rweingarten @SPirozzolo It's outrageous that the parents & principal are forced to keep molesting, kid porn watching tchr in the classroom
— NYC Parents Union (@NYCParentsUnion) July 31, 2014

In the Post article it mentioned that the student accused the teacher of; 

...letting him watch pornography in his apartment, according to a report by Richard Condon, the special commissioner of investigation for city schools

What Mona fails to realize is that the above is known as an "accusation." To help Mona understand what an "accusation" is, and for her to reference in the future, The Crack Team has decided to give her a place to reference;

a charge or claim that someone has done something illegal or wrong.

But that is not all. As one can see in the above tweet, Mona claimed (Shall we help Mona with the definition?) that the teacher watched kid porn with the student.

Does Mona know something we don't know. Does she have access to the hearing transcript?

There was not one mention of what type of porn was being watched. Yet Mona Davids magically was able to not only ascertain it was kid porn but knew as well that that accusation was substantiated by the hearing officer. Mona has magical powers, who knew?

But finagling with reality and the facts is par for the course with Mona. She has no problem calling someone, anyone who does not agree with her a racist or that that person doesn't care about children. Right Mona? Know what I mean, know what I mean? Nudge, nudge.

Heck Mona, one could look at one's Twitter feed of late and make an assumption that one is anti-Semitic, no?

We here at SBSB find it vile and offensive that Mona avoids fact checking and reality but the fact that she would stoop so low to publish a libelous statement we find reprehensible.

We call on Mona David to apologize for the libelous comment just as quickly and publicly as she did in making the statement and to promise never, never, never do it again.

This is why we need tenure. Do we know here at SBSB if the accusations the students made or true or not true? We have no idea. We were not there, we have not spoken to anyone involved, and we have not read the transcript.

As much as we find what this teacher did is wrong he has the right, a right embedded in the United States Constitution to due process. One person cannot be judge, juror, and prosecutor.

One person can't choose which parts of the Constitution to uphold or ignore.

Sam Pirozzolo Clowns Around on Twitter

Last week we called Sam Pirozzolo a clown. We apologize. We apologize to the clowns of the world who bring joy and good tidings to the boys and girls all over the globe. Sam is a scary clown, a clown that tries to instill fear, ignorance, hate, and self-righteousness.

But, with all of Sam's clownish behavior, we still love him. We love him for the oodles of material he just keeps on giving and giving. Soon we will have to make him a member of The Crack Team.

Today's laugh riot comes courtesy of Sam while he tries to take on two people much, much, much, much, smarter than he. Sam does not realize that the silly stuff he says on Twitter or Facebook is there forever and ever. So with every key stroke, Sam just shows what actually is between his ears.

It all started when Leonie Haimson tweeted that there was no evidence of clustering ineffective teachers in NYC schools with students of color. Sam got in a tizzy because he has issues with using facts to support claims.

@leoniehaimson @SchlFinance101 I'm sorry who is the author of this study @NYCParentsUnion
— Sam Pirozzolo (@SPirozzolo) August 1, 2014

Leonie, backed up her facts. When asked who was the author, Lenoie shared with was Bruce Baker. No, not that Bruce Baker! This, Bruce Baker, a professor at Rutgers. Now it would be safe to assume that Prof. Baker would know and have more information regarding education and education policy than Ophthalmic Provider Sam Pirozzolo would have, no? For instance, my wife needs contact lenses. Would she be better off seeing Sam or Prof. Baker?

Anyway, Prof. Baker tweeted back to Sam;
 

@leoniehaimson @SPirozzolo @NYCParentsUnion ...but state growth percentiles are junk. like these: http://t.co/6A0iMbkoFq
— Bruce Baker (@SchlFinance101) August 1, 2014

WHOA! Hold on there Professor! That might be too much info for Sam to take in all at once.

Sam switched to another contention he has no proof of;

@SchlFinance101 @leoniehaimson @NYCParentsUnion We also contend that majority of students can't read write or do math at grade level ? Say u
— Sam Pirozzolo (@SPirozzolo) August 1, 2014

To wit Prof. Baker tweeted back and Sam still on the same subject;

@SchlFinance101 @leoniehaimson @NYCParentsUnion Was asking about children not performing at grade level
— Sam Pirozzolo (@SPirozzolo) August 1, 2014

Sam continues to show how ignorant he is. He is still, still mixing up proficiency for grade level. But, hey, what would anyone expect?

But Sam continues. He's like an immigrant learning his first phrase in English. He just says it again and again, and again.

@SchlFinance101 @leoniehaimson @NYCParentsUnion Q. Please justify kids not reading writing or doing math at grade level
— Sam Pirozzolo (@SPirozzolo) August 1, 2014

 What about at this point in the tweets the pw3nage of Sam begins;

@SchlFinance101 @leoniehaimson @NYCParentsUnion You can't offer proof only hear say trial will decide
— Sam Pirozzolo (@SPirozzolo) August 1, 2014

But Sam can't offer any proof to his claims nor can he even articulate what he is saying other than, his oft repeated lines. Sam is like a Chatty Cathy doll that you pull the string and out comes the phrase. 
Prof. Baker attempts to pull Sam back from fantasy world.

@SPirozzolo @leoniehaimson @NYCParentsUnion legal defense doesn't require proving tenure isn't the problem?
— Bruce Baker (@SchlFinance101) August 1, 2014

But, Prof. Baker has the maturity to admit he read the complaint quickly and will have to read it again. But again Prof. Baker is in reality and all Sam can muster up is California. A case that is on appeal.

@SchlFinance101 in effect, that is what they said in California
— Sam Pirozzolo (@SPirozzolo) August 1, 2014

We don't whether or not to laugh or cry at how clueless he is. We here at SBSB are thinking of performing an intervention for Sam. We hope he hits bottom soon in his ignorance and has nowhere left to turn to other than smart people, people in the know. It's really sad to see the breakdown of ones mental faculties happen so quickly and decidedly.

Worse, when someone comes up with enough money for Mona Davids to disassociate herself from the lawsuit, Sam will look pretty silly being the face of it alone.

Campbell Brown Exposed by Stephen Colbert

Earlier in the week when I heard that Campbell Brown was to appear on The Colbert Report I kind of cringed.

I am not a fan of Stephen Colbert's schtick on the show (Though there are some bits I have enjoyed), though I do like him, and more of a fan of The Daily Show. But two things had be concerned.

One was how would Colbert's schtick work with a topic like tenure and education in general, and would real questions be asked. I liked what I watched. A few moments really stood out for me.

When asked by Colbert about  Campbell why she has her guns out for unions and why Partnership for Education Justice has filed it's lawsuit, Brown said; "First let me correct something you said, we are not filing the lawsuit, it is 7 parents in New York State that have kids in public schools are filing the law suit. We are helping them and supporting them. We are finding them law firms." 

That PEJ and herself are not giving any monies but rather, assisting.

Of course there is no money changing hands. But a query Are the parents being paid or reimbursed any expenses incurred while in the midst of this lawsuit? Are food and hotels and travel being reimbursed by the law firm, Campbell Brown, or PEJ? These questions are important. Did these parents seek out PEJ on their own, or were they sought out. If they were sought out how many have volunteered and/or have been employed by Students First? We do know that the lead plaintiff, Keoni Wright was employed by SF at one time.

Campbell even shares that the law firm, Kirkland Ellis, is representing the parents pro bono, but how did these parents know to seek out this particular law firm?

But as I am watching this I am wondering to myself why is Campbell the one being interviewed? Why not the parents from Rochester who "handled" themselves so well with Glen Beck? In fact how did two families from Rochester know to seek out the above NYC law firm?

The best was when Colbert shared that protestors were outside the studios, something which he said has been quite rare. Campbell must have been upset that the spotlight was being taken away from her. The protestors are, according to Campbell; ..."trying to silence a debate. A debate we should be having. I want these parents to have a voice in this debate too."

We are trying to silence debate? How many people has Campbell blocked (#blockedbycampbellbrown )on Twitter? Blocked from multiple Facebook pages? 

But if the parents should have a role in this debate, and no one is denying that, then why then is Campbell the face and voice of the parents? Why not let the parents speak freely? 

"What they are trying to do is to change a public education system in this country that people across the political spectrum believes his in crisis." 

No, it never was in crisis, the crisis was related. See The Shock Doctrine. Campbell and her lackies do not represent my views nor anyone else that I know. Want to see a crisis? We have it in underfunded schools districts, corrupt school districts, and pure incompetency in Albany.

So when asked what is the problem in New York, Campbell replies to Colbert; "If you look at the student outcomes in New York, 91% of the teachers around the State of New York are rated either effective or highly effective. Yet 31% of our kids are reading, writing and doing, math at grade level."

There is a difference between being proficient and being at grade level. How dare she judge by test scores, how dare she base her lawsuit on flawed exams. Exams with a cut score picked at random. 

She is insulting me as a parent and my son as a student. As I have said on these pages in the past he got high 2's in 2013 after years of getting 3's and 4. He, and many others in his grade, were not able to finish 2 days the ELA exam in 2013. My son and plenty like him are at or above grade level. He is entering 8th grade at above grade level in both ELA and Math. Campbell needs to get her facts straight very quickly. 

"I'm blaming the teachers union. Because they are fighting attempts to change laws that are anachronistic."

There we have it. This fight is about unions and to destroy unions, to destroy teaching as a career, and to be rid of pensions.

But Colbert comes back and asks her if all should be equal, shouldn't each child have the same amount of money spent on them? She blabbers; "You're suggesting it's all about the money," when Colbert says, "You're saying it's all about it's equality and money is one of the equations in equality."

SNAP! PW3NED! But she turns it into this, "We should pay teachers more and treat teachers like professionals" Yeah, right.She did not want to talk about money. Why should she. Her boys, Clifford and Harvey go to a school in which their milk is served to them in chilled milk glasses and lunch time is accompanied by a pianist.

When asked about who gets to evaluate teachers she says principals, and parents, especially if they are complaining there must be something to that.

But parents and others are complaining about what Campbell is doing right now and she is not listening. Mustn't there be something to this? 

Lastly when Colbert asks where the money comes from Campbell says that to share that would keep that secret because of the people protesting are "going to go after people who are trying to fund."

The Walton Family, Students First, The Gates Foundation, et. al. are afraid of a bunch of teachers? I can understand if a little old Jewish lady who lives on Sadore Lane in Yonkers and gave $18 a month would be afraid, but the elite of American largess being afraid? Surely Campbell jests. 

Or is possible this blogger found out where the money comes from? 

This thing happening in New York is a last gasp effort for the deformers to get their way. A first year, pre-law, high school student should be able to expose and poke holes in both the Mona Davids' case and Campbell's as well.

I see now why Campbell is leading this and not Michelle Rhee. Campbell comes off as much more likeable than Rhee and does not have all the skeletons that Rhee had in her closet. We must not relent with Campbell Brown. We must stand firm, must stand strong. Campbell is much more media savvy and much more cunning. But she can, and must, be defeated.