SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL

Monday, September 28, 2015

Getting Goosed at MS 72 in Queens

This comes to us from  the same source at MS 72 that fed us info for our May post about MS 72,
"Animal House Comes to PS 72 in Queens".

This is one wacky House, er, we mean, school. Where is Mandy Pepperidge and Babs Jansen when you need them?

When last The Crack Team checked, Geese are a nuisance that leave doody on golf courses and baseball fields across the Northeast. The destroy greens and tee boxes and worse, if you hit a goose according to USGA Rules of Golf, Rule 27-4...
"if a ball hits a goose in the head the ball can not be cleaned and there will be a one stroke penalty."
Worse, Rule 27-5 states....
"if a ball lands in goose doody, a drop from the point of impact must be from whilst standing on top of the pile, and will be assessed a 2 stroke penalty."
A better idea would have been to have Bluto, Otter, Flounder, D-Day, and Boone and the whole gang from Delta House come over and and give the staff of MS 72 PD.

Instead all they got was Neidermyer and Marmalard. So sad.


More On MS 72 Queens.

Ah, yes, those wonderful staff development days are just around the corner. Which, of course, leads me to  reflect on staff development days in past years.

Ah, MS 72.  Last year, when principal Omotayo Cineus came back to school fresh from an Alpha Kappa Alpha convention (along with half a dozen of her fellow colleagues, er, Kappas), and sought to motivate and encourage us with all of the wisdom she acquired at said convention.

What a meeting that was. 

The meeting began with a series of inside jokes shared among the Kappas, who were all seated at two tables right up front – the equivalent of front and center floor seats at a One Direction concert (though not as cute), while the rest of us tried not to roll our eyes so hard they got stuck that way.  

She began with a motivational speech – you know, where teacher are compared to super heroes, magicians, or saviors. Except, in this case we were compared to …..

GEESE.

Yup.

GEESE.

Yup. However many days at an AKA conference, and the best she could come up with was… GEESE.

It began with an analysis of goose behavior. See, apparently, geese work as a “team” – they HONK. See, they fly in formation and “honk” to encourage the lead goose to stay strong,  keep flying, and don’t give up.  And when the lead goose, in spite of encouraging honks from his/her co-geese, just can’t keep it up, there is another goose ready to take the lead, encouraged by more honking from his/her co-geese.

Now, for the “real world” connection.

Ms. Cineus said that as teachers and colleagues, we are like the geese.  We have to take the lead, and do that through “high quality honking”.  And that we must always ask ourselves, “When I honk, is my honking of high quality? Am I really honking in a positive way, or is my honking less than what it should be?”  She elaborated, saying that if morale in the building is low, it is because we (teachers) are NOT participating in “high quality honking” and are instead “failing to support” our colleagues, who are leading the flock and need “encouraging honking” from us to keep moving forward. She told us that we need to “BE THE GOOSE AND HONK!!!!”

So, along with all the paperwork, violent and disrespectful students, and lack of administrative support in this building, we also have to make sure that we participate only in “HIGH QUALITY HONKING”. Because as teachers, that’s what we do.  We must channel the goose, become one with the goose, and BE  THE GOOSE!!!

Funny,  as a Long Islander, I’ve seen MANY flocks of geese.   I always thought that geese pretty much simply honk, shit, and make more geese. 

Seems like at MS 72, we have two out of three.

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Live on the Radio this Tuesday

I'm back!

Yes, it has been a while, but this Tuesday, September 29, 6:30 AM I am back on the Bob Marrone Morning Show in 1230 WFAS-AM.

The signal reaches into Rockland County, up to Mt Kisco, through the Bronx, and the northern shore of Nassau County. 

If you are unable to listen over the air there are options. 

You can listen online, simply going to WFASam.com or on your device through the app for either iPhone or Android, or online or through the app from iHeart radio.

We'll catch up on the latest with me as well as touch on the upcoming union elections too, as well as other hot button education matters, like opting out, the power grab of education in Albany, etc....

Don't forget to listen in and call in as well at phone# 914-693-5700 at 6:30 AM


Thursday, September 24, 2015

The UFT Solidarity Clown Car Wreck

So many times the following has happened to me. I am driving into the work in the morning and as I
get off the ramp from the Cross County Parkway onto the southbound Thruway in Yonkers traffic is backed up to either Yonkers Raceway or the Cross County Center.

I turn on Sirius traffic and here that there is an accident somewhere along the northbound Deegan and that traffic is backed up to Yankee Stadium or the Triboro Bridge. Worse, the cause for the southbound traffic is none other than Rubberneckers. People love just love to see a car wreck.

So of course there was that natural voyeuristic tendency to stop, look, and share the clown car wreck emanating from UFT when this email was passed to someone...(Click to enlarge)

The email claimed that the presumptive UFT president was no longer running under the more banner. OK, what to do?

That's where watching the clown car wreck comes in. Everyone wanted to check it out. Hey why not? Come on, anyone would have. Wasn't everyone's favorite scene in The Addams Family was when Gomez crashed his trains head on? Didn't we all get psyched when an episode came on in which we knew Gomez was going to crash his trains?

The email also had a link with a message that more or less had a paragraph added to it every 45 minutes. As if someone was bating (No typo). Kind of reminded The Crack Team of a Batman episode with Frank Gorshin as The Riddler.

Dear Union Brothers and Sisters,  

Our school system is under attack and our union has been compromised. I, XXXXXXX XXXXX, am just a father and educator from Staten Island. I did not know this attack existed because I too wore blinders and had my head in the sand. Now that I now, from being thrown in the fire, I cannot turn my back to it. We cannot ignore it.  

Through my own trials and tribulations and seeing and hearing about many others, I decided something had to be done. For a long time I felt that I could fix things situation by situation by being on the phone with members and exposing their attackers online. The influx was too great. We created groups for people who wanted to help and needed help. One of those groups is UFT Solidarity.  

Although many members told us that our methods helped them, creating blogs and Facebook pages was no real solution to the bigger overarching issues. We have great obstacles and the UFT leadership is one of them. We had to, and have to, change the UFT.  

The only group that opposed the UFT leadership was the Movement of Rank and file Educators (MORE) and they fell very short in representing members. That’s where we came in… UFT Solidarity. A real trade union party about real worker issues.  

To win positions where we can properly support members, we need to “step down” on all those who oppose us.


One, Solidarity was not formed in response to how they fell short of helping teachers but rather many, many issues. As for winning positions, just ain't going to happen

But early Tuesday morning I got several text messages with people commenting on the same source of a posting on the hijacked ATR Alliance Facebook page.

We found a mole in our UFT Solidarity group. History shows we don't do well with moles and we take care of them. Through some creative means we tricked these moles from MORE UFT group into thinking I was stepping down as the UFT Presidential candidate. We sent a fake email to the mole and then had a program track the email. The data shows that the email was bounced around over 358 times today alone! Imagine if that group spent that much energy and time into actually defending members, going after abusive admin, supporting ATRs and the non tenured termination epidemic? Maybe they would actually get votes and their members wouldn't call us for support. 358 responses talking about me stepping down in one day? Nice try, but I'm not going anywhere. This time next year, our team is going to run time UFT the right way and the membership will be better off.

Some takeaways from this rant.  History? Can one year constitute a history? And how are moles taken care of? This sounds as if the author (**wink wink** **nod nod**) has watched one too many James Bond movies or seen too many Batman TV shows. We here at SBSB believe it is the latter.

So it would be safe to assume that the minions you sycophantically are part of UFT Solidarity are like the minions of Penguin when taking care of a mole? Wearing bowler hats, black turtle necks, with silly little names embroidered on the front? Of course, the dude who dresses as Captain Picard doesn't have to get all silly like that.

But, what is disturbing is that the emails were tracked. Now don't worry. That someone felt that their time was best served by tracking if the emails were opened or not? There are programs to see if one read or opened an email, but to know what was written in the body of the email. No. Can't happen. We here can attest to that in some of the email responses what was written was so funny it would make Rodney Dangerfield appear boring.

 But the 358 responses? Sure, probably that many, but that's how many hit on the link, you know, to see the clown car wreck. Just put the StatCounter code on your website or blog and you are good to go.

Sure, why not look? It 99% known it was a spoof. 

And if there were people that were had for a brief moment or two, so what? Big deal. UFT Solidarity keeps being had by itself day in and day out. But keep it coming, everyone enjoys a good joke. 

But what is disturbing is the fact that emails were traced, followed, etc... Think about it. Are members, and there are dissenters, of UFT Solidarity having their email monitored? And if not what is to stop it in the future? Has anyone who has contradicted UFT Solidarity publicly ever been "talked to"?

Better yet, this question should be answered. If anyone dares to speak out, truly speak out, what is the chances that that person can have happen to them what has happened to others who dare not toe the official party line with UFT Solidarity? Can their lives be upended as well?

Was this Nixonian dirty trick approved by the UFT Solidarity social media committee or the UFT Solidarity social media committee? Or was this authorized by a committee of one?

UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos
UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos UFT Solidarity Francesco Portelos

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

MORE Caucus Bronx Back to School Party

If you teach in the Bronx or upper Manhattan, or just anywhere in the city, comes to the......


MORE BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY IN THE BRONX FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25th FROM 4-7 PM

Yes, it is true. Celebrate going back to work in style. Come and meet MORE, check it out, meet new friends, and learn a thing or two on how to make yourself part of the bigger plan. 

For those who are unaware, MORE and another caucus, New Action, have joined forces to run a slate to oust the current union leadership. Only by working together can we make a difference.

The Back to School party will be held at the Mott Haven Bar and Grill at 1 Bruckner Blvd in the Bronx, right at the foot of the Third Ave Bridge. 

Getting there is easy. The Bx15 stops just a block away and the 3rd Ave-138st on the 6 train is a short walk. Or if you are driving just get off the Deegan at Willis Ave. 

This will be a great meeting where the most important person coming is you.





Sunday, September 20, 2015

UFT Solidarity Seems Unable to Get a Story Straight

What a week it has been. The decision to run a joint slate between MORE and New Action has surely caused an impact from celebrations throughout the galaxy to those who remain in denial.

For those still in denial we here at SBSB recommend that the 5 stages of grief be looked into. Anger will come next, and then bargaining (Some say bargaining has been non-stop) and then depression and then acceptance.

The Crack Team came into some interesting writing from UFT Solidarity over the weekend that are curious. The Crack Team's  journalism intern Zippy the Brain Damaged Chimp© was given the task of responding to the writings. As per the somewhat usual method, the responses will be within the body of the email in red. 


As we speak, there is a meeting taking place in NYC now Ooooh. Ominous words. Must be a conspiracy brewing. Another UFT group GUESS WHO???  is nominating their own UFT presidential candidate to run against me Yes, it is always about you, you, you, you, you!! and UFT Solidarity the Shlimazel Caucus. And of course bringing up the rear those who are not allowed to be named nor shown on campaign posters. In fact why are they mentioned?. This despite many repeated attempts by us to work together When these attempts are made practically every day when do they stop being attempts and being annoyances and/or OCD?  to overthrow A vote it not an overthrow Mike Mulgrew and friends Aren't Mulgrew and Friends on Nick Jr?. As they have stated, this group is not interested in winning top positions, but rather a few high school seats in the UFT Executive Board Not a few, but all. Same with middle school exec board. Those are quite winnable. MORE won a plurality of HS exec board seats in 2013 Seats we offered for them to have We did not know that here at SBSB how can that offer be refused? By the way, thank you, thank you!. We even offered top slate positions Except the presidency. Why is that? Would not someone who felt secure and grounded with themselves not be worried in a free and fair process of selecting the president. However, ego EGO? Mr Pot meet Mr Kettle. When one has already decreed that one has already one and is going to Staples (Tsk, tsk) to check out office furniture, has priced sashes, has practiced speeches dressed as UFT president in the mirror, been unable to accept criticism, and has probably inquired on how to get a replica Oval Office desk how is it ego on the part of MORE? Wouldn't it just be darn good smarts and good taste? Dang, again with the PROJECTING! got in the way and now the membership's nose is being cut to spite it's face No, someone is just upset about not getting their way. A sad day for UFT members everywhere No. What can we do, but continue to push forward Go for it. If we have to, we will beat all of them Beat? Why is this taken so personal? and bring hope and representation It would have had more (pardon the pun) resonance if UFT Solidarity was bringing balance back to the Force back to the UFT. We have no other choice Who cares. The students, staff and parents depend on this Yes, but not on UFT Solidarity the Shlimazel Caucus . The school system here in NYC depends on us winning ROTFLOAO!.

And then from the ICE List Serv....

Dear UFT brothers and sisters,  

 We had been informed of this coalition for some time now . We didn't say or do anything to stop it, because we want it to happen Yeah sure. Heck, if you remember I have been pushing for a New Action MORE for years There is a difference and besides no one at MORE was angling for a seat on exec board. http://daffyduck.org/from-the-frustration-chaos-a-new-uft-group-emerges

This is better for the membership Yeah it is, much, much, much, much better, and bad for Unity. As is the number of Unity members cutting ties and joining us 100 is a big number? Oh, what about the Captain Picard guy?

We, UFT Solidarity, will continue to push forward And go around in circles. We will continue to represent and support. How your groups respond to our upcoming initiatives and actions is up to you This statement is confusing. No one really cares. How all our campaigns run will depend on all of us. 

 Enjoy your weekend and good luck tomorrow. Blah, blah, blah, blah

No one here  or anywhere can keep up with all the spin.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

MORE and New Action Working Together

If you haven't yet heard, a big announcement came forth over the land of NYC today. MORE and New Action are joining forces and running a joint slate in the 2016 UFT elections(Click 
on more link to find out more details).

The Crack Team wholeheartedly endorses this conjoining if two UFT powerhouse caucuses and believes that a major dent will be dealt in the upcoming election.

What we like most about this agreement is that this is not predicated in anyone personality, that there will be no domination of a caucus by another, that decisions will be made jointly and for the betterment of all involved.

What pleases us most here at SBSB is the way that this union came together. Everything was on the table, adults meeting as adults, no childish games, no begging, and more important, no desperation.

But enough of what we feel, more importantly, what does teacher community have to say about this famed union?

Let's see....


 Sadly, there are just some that are not happy about this melding of the minds and have thrown a tantrum. 



Maybe the baby needs to put a fork in it already and accept reality. This is a good deal for teachers. 

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Fools Are Not Dangerous, Just Sad

If you consistently read this blog you know I have been forthcoming in addressing the charges that were brought against me in my 3020a. I might not have addressed the charges as expeditiously as some have wished, but there are other things to write about and besides, it takes a lot out of me emotionally to write about the charges.

When I have written about the charges and the hearing (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here here, and here) I have always been candid and forthcoming. I have not hid from anything and have taken responsibility for my actions.

Sadly, there are others who have thrust themselves upon a mountain top and look down from their noses on the same people in the same situations and anoint themselves the arbiter of sharing one's 3020-a and stories.

I do I jump for anyone.

Too think intimidation after what I had been through is going to work is quite illogical.

No one has the right to play God, to play Judge, or just to decide what morals or rules someone else must follow. We have enough of that in this country with the Republican Party.

I am far, far from perfect and there are plenty of things I wish I had done differently during that 2012-13 school year. But I do know the truth. I do know what happened. What gives someone the right to take out of context my 3020a through speculation and supposition what I did when in fact that person requests, yet demands of every living being on planet Earth must believe that person's story without question?

One thing I do pride myself on is my moral compass. It might be a bit askew at times, I might come off too cocky at times, too temperamental, too opinionated, but I do whatever I can to live by that compass.

I hate to bring up another Rush reference, but from the song "Faithless"on 2007's "Snakes and Arrows" CD the first paragraph drives home a point.
I've got my own moral compass to steer by 
A guiding star beats a spirit in the sky 
And all the preaching voices - Empty vessels ring so loud 
As they move among the crowd 
Fools and thieves are well disguised..... 
I take pride in whenever I was taken into a colleague's confidence whatever I was told stayed with me. I would not, even if that teacher pissed me off or threw me under the bus, violated that confidence. Nor, would I do something to embarrass that teacher.

In the time I spent in the Rubber Room the last two years I heard the usual stories, (Like in Shawshank Redepmtion...("Everyone's innocent in here") but it was not my place to judge. My place only was to support in any way I can. I did not push an agenda on anyone. I gave them their options and they decided what is best for them.

I would never try to get back or hurt a colleague by using their family against them or using unfounded third party rumors. No matter what, that person was my colleague. That person, if worse came to worse, would be ignored. Only those that have serious self-esteem issues, those that have to make themselves bigger than they are commit such acts.
 I am proud that I have not once used, nor will I ever, on these pages comments of my principal's family. Even the families of others I find despicable will never be used on these pages.

Fighting dirty is not being a man and not being an adult and in no way gives one any cred in "sticking up for what is right." It just makes one look like a petty little 7 year old on the playground during recess that runs home to mommy's teat when the going gets rough.

If anyone wants to know anything about what happened in my 3020s or my charges my email account is right in there on the right. Email and ask me. Or email and I'll give you my number or we can meet. I have no problem discussing anything. But no one has the right to shame me or to demand me into sharing when or how I want to share.
I've got my own spirit level for balance
To tell if my choice is leaning up or down
And all the shouting voices
Try to throw me off my course
Some by sermon, some by force
Fools and thieves are dangerous
Trying to prove Freud wrong is an uphill battle. Freud was right.