Is PS 154 in the Bronx the Next Watergate?

I got to thinking.

I got to thinking after reading some of Chancellor Fariña's Capacity Frameworks on the DOE website. Yep, was really rubbing my chin and pondering.

Under the Framework known as Trust, and so it was said;

Relationships between all members of the school community— including administrators, educators, students, and families—are based on social respect, personal regard, and integrity. Trust creates a school culture where teachers, principals, staff, and all members of the Department of Education value and respect each other...

Another Framework, Effective School Leadership so sayeth;

 The principal sets the tone for the school, develops a climate of inclusiveness, and inspires staff and students with a clear vision for student achievement. The goal of a strong school leader is to build coherent instructional and social-emotional support that improves student achievement. School leaders support teacher development by consistently offering professional development opportunities and providing meaningful feedback.

¡Uni momento, por favor! It seems that someone has not gotten the Frameworks memo. I wonder who, **COUGH COUGH**, **WINK WINK.**

 What would a lay person say if they have read about the shenanigans that DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 in the Bronx and BFF AP Jessica Cruz have engaged in concerning me, and possibly others?

When this was shared on August 7, would any Joe Shmoe from Palookaville see the integrity, the trust, the inspiration, and the meaningful feedback? Would Mr Schmoe find the same values in this? Or this?

One would hazard to guess that the answer would be an unequivocal no way!

But let's give DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 in the Bronx and BFF AP Jessica Cruz the benefit of the doubt for just an itty bitty moment. Perhaps we don't have enough information to make an informed opinion, or enough information to confirm a fact.

But first a little background info.

As reported here on December 3, 2013, the erstwhile and multi-talented Betsy Combier filed a FOIL request in September 2012 for Coviello's any and all emails regarding me. Betsy felt she was quite thorough in using many keywords. But alas, they were one step ahead of her.

In an email in September 2012 from BFF AP Jessica Cruz to DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154, BFF AP Jessica Cruz suggested to DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 that all future emails regarding me should be use the honorific, "Mr."

Now I am not a member of the legal profession, I do happen to be Jewish, and I can assume that this is not kosher behavior. Can this be obstruction of justice as some have suggested? I can't say, nor is it my place to make either an assumption or pass judgement.

But these questions can be asked...

Why were they so afraid of what Betsy would find out and why would they use a pseudonym for me? 

In a school that still consistently has almost 90% of students across all testing grades in both Math and ELA  put so much energy into what some might also call a cover up?

Are there any other teachers from the 2012-2013 school year that were U-rated for the year subject to what I was subject to? 

Are there any other teachers from the 2013-2014 school year that were rated ineffective or developing for the year subject to what I was subject to? 

Are these kind of behaviors by administrators done in a vacuum or is it systematic throughout the system? Knowing that if we all had a dime for every time we hear a teacher say, "My principal set me up," we would be quite wealthy, if this is just the tip of the iceberg in a systematic problem, how many years do we go back to see if this was done and be sure accused teachers are exonerate?

What did District 7 Superintendent Yolanda Torres know and when did she know it? More importantly, was she the one orchestrating this conspiracy? 

Inquiring minds want answers.

His Perception of His Own Power Is Making E4E's Little Evan Stone More Dumber

I originally wanted to mock Thomas Friedman and his inane, flat column in today's Times in which he stated the obvious, but not enough, on education. Seems to us here at SBSB that Tom is flip
flopping and trying to ride the wave away from what he has been spewing the last few years.

But unlike Friedman, and I will give him points for running from what he has written in the past, is everybody's favorite elitist, Little Evan Stone of Educators 4 Excellence. 

Today, on E4E's Facebook page, Little Evan announced to the world two opportunities for Carmen Farina;

 

Post by Educators 4 Excellence.

Yes, Little Evan Stone, who had taught for about 3 years, is about 30 years old, and has had everything handed to him his entire life, is telling Chancellor Farina who has been in education for over 40 years how to run the NYCDOE. That my friends is chutzpah.




Please take note that Little Evan appears at about 2 minutes and 10 seconds into the video. Eyewitness News education reporter somehow was able to track Evan down (Or was it the other way) and probably had to twist Little Evan's arm to get a statement of him. Little Evan thus blabbered threateningly to Chancellor Farina;

"We've been talking a lot abut the common core standards and the new teacher evaluation system, which should be two of her (Farina) big priorities."

Little Evan, isn't that boat sinking? Do you have any other ideas? Be they original or someone paying you to parrot their ideas?

Look around New York State. The tide is turning against the Common Core and soon will be against the APPR (evaluation system). Does not Carol Burris know more than you and your ilk when it comes to teacher evaluating?

But I don't blame you. You are the messenger in actuality. As long as you accept monies from Bill Gates you are nothing more than a dumb, mindless little boy that will do anything, say anything, or believe anything that Billy Boy wants. Of the two of you, he is the smart one (But that is like saying Moe is the smartest of the 3 Stooges). He is your boss.

Why would dumb down yourself for this man who has said in the past,"we won't know if Common Core will work for at least ten years"? Does it not bother you that our children, my child, my neighbor's children are being experimented on? How would you like it when Princess Sydney Morris pushes out a few of your reproductions and the boarding school they attend is experimenting on them? Would you like it? Probably.

There is a groundswell of outrage by the parents of New York State, and across the country, against the Common Core. Wake up. We don't want you or yours involved in our children's education anymore. We, the parents and the communities of this state and this great nation, wish to decide what is best for our children. And we have no place for a juvenile mouthpiece of Bill Gates telling us what is best.

The same with APPR. Why is something being foisted upon the teachers of NYC and New York State that has been an unmitigated disaster for Microsoft? Tell us all Little Evan, how is this benefiting our children?

But there is hope out there. Like the TV show that asked if you are smarter than a 5th grader in the same video as Little Evan, in fact just before he blabbered, there was a middle school student that showed she is much, much, much smarter than Dumb Little Evan Stone. We shan't give her name, but will share her quote. When asked by Art McFarland about her views of Carmen Farina and testing;

"She's trying to stop the tests because she doesn't think it's right."

When asked how she feels about testing, the little girl responds;

"I don't like it."

Sorry little girl, Little Evan Stone does not care about you. Little Evan Stone is all about himself, his babe Princess Sydney Morris, E4E, and most important, Bill Gates. The little boy and girls of NYCDOE mean jack to him.

Little Evan Stone just gets dumberized time after time.

Teaching to the Test Comes as a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing to PS 154 in the Bronx

On New Year's Day, 2014 the staff of PS 154 received its weekly commandments, er, proclamations, oops, announcements from DR Alison Coviello; PhD and Principal of PS 154 in the Bronx. Several staff members contacted The Crack Team with a directive from DR Alison Coviello; PhD and
Principal that raised some eyebrows;

 ....reading and math teachers in grades 3 – 5 identified students (making up 15% of the grade) who have the potential to achieve Levels 3 or 4 on the upcoming State assessments. Please keep these goals in mind and make plans to achieve them. You may have to think out of the box in terms of how you help particular students. For example, some teachers noted that particular students have the intellectual capability, but currently lack the stamina. We discussed working with these students on a weekly basis to take longer and longer practice assessments as a means to simply build their stamina. 

Other teachers talked about the necessity to meet with parents or for me to speak with parents so that students will attend before or after school clubs. I have done this with four parents thus far (as specifically requested by the teacher) and have been successful at getting 2 out of 4 of these students to attend the extra clubs. Speak to me if you’d like assistance with this.

The Crack Team went hard to work to analyze this and to create a proper response. Right off the bat we all agreed that the poor students of grades 3, 4, and 5 at PS 154 will not be getting a proper education but rather will be nothing more than test automatons and data points. The stench of teaching to the test permeated the air.

Luckily for us here at SBSB we have a new and first female member of The Crack Team, Gertie Dinowitz. Gertie sat down with us and we all ran the statement through the computers here at SBSB. The results don't lie. 

It seems that picking the kids with "potential" to reach a 3 or 4 is like trying to doctor the scores - at Gertie's school,they have been told in the past, to "focus" on only the "cusp" kids, and to forget about bringing a 1 to a 2 or a 3 to a 4, since there is no credit given for that. At her school a level 1 kid is a "lost cause" and to not "expend too much time on lost causes".

By the same token, don't worry about 3's becoming 4's because there's no added credit for that, but watch the "low 4's" because "points are lost if they slip to a high 3".  

Basically, the focus appears to be and spend your resources spent on the kids that have the potential to make the school's data LOOK BETTER rather than trying to help all the kids do their best. 

Calling test prep a "club" is classic "lipstick on a pig." A "club" is generally a group of students who share a common interest coming together to pursue that interest, and there seem to be a plethora of those at PS 154.

We doubt there is much "interest" in test prep, as in, "I really LOVE test prep! Let me join a club so I can hang out with other kids who LOVE test prep and TAKE MORE PRACTICE TESTS, either through actual test prep or using subterfuge such as having the students write about their experiences.  SO much more fun than a French club, drama club, or gardening club!"

We here at SBSB are concerned what is happening at PS 154 is that such targeting will disseminate even more, by looking at the kids who are "worth" more on the test. Like if the kid is an AA male, who gets free lunch and has an IEP, he is "worth" more than an AA girl who just gets free lunch, so spend more time on the boy. Or, if you have a student who is an ELL with an IEP, she is "worth" more than another who is "just" an ELL. And the kids who are NOT minority, who are native English speakers, without IEPs, who do not get free lunch are "worth" the least of all, or maybe the closest to "worthless." 

To say that the students of PS 154 are not getting an education and are nothing more than numbers is an understatement and abhorrent. Not only is this teaching to the test, but at the very best it is an attempt to game the numbers and at the worse it is akin to cheating.

Something like this would never, ever be allowed to happen in Harrison. But then again Harrison only hires leaders that are truly competent and are not worried about test numbers. 

We here at SBSB call on new chancellor Carmen Farina to empower a blue ribbon panel and investigate for irregularities post haste. The education of the students of PS 154 is at stake.

Carmen Farina to be Named New NYC DOE Chancellor

A high level source within the NYC DOE has shared with The Crack Team at SBSB that Carmen Farina will be named as new chancellor of the Department of Education.

Another close source to The Crack Team has given Ms Farina a thumbs up and thinks naming her is a great choice.

Of course, the proof is in the pudding and we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves with either praise or condemnation. What we do like is that Ms. Farina has risen through the ranks from teacher to principal to superintendent to deputy chancellor. Just with that on her resume she has more cred than anyone in the upper echelon of the DOE.

Just as an aside, our source shared with The Crack Team that to get rid of the current evaluation system we might have to give up retroactive raises. But that is a story for another time.

One way to tell what kind of chancellor Ms Farina will be is to check what the Post, deformers, hedge fund managers, and Eva have to say in the aftermath of making it official. If their not happy, well.......

Anyway, The Crack Team has come up with some suggestions for Ms Farina to implement when she is in Tweed (Of course it goes without saying to 86 the new evaluation system and the Common Core, testing, closures, and charters bogarting resources). In no particular order;

1. Get rid of the lawyers. Too many lawyers sitting around in TPU (Teacher performance unit) and Labor Relations doing nothing other than thinking of a new way to stick it to the teachers. Not only that, but think of the money that can be pumped into the schools instead of lining the pockets of the lawyers.

2. Real Administrators. When I started teaching in 1995 the AP's and the Principals were seasoned educators with at least 15 years before one became an AP and/or principal and were experts in particular field of pedagogy. Now, you neither had to have ever taught or you start your administration courses the year you get into the system or you just write a check.

3. End gotcha. It's time. And this includes all the petty little charges in 3020a's.

4. Let teachers teach. This can go so many ways, but the person that knows the students best is the teachers, the front lines. Just like in the military, the grunts see and know so much more than credit is ever given. Let's bring the spontaneity back to teaching.

5. Put the deformers in their places. That means the Post, MichelleRhee First, Whitney, Eva, Klein, Murdoch, etc... Have a Sister Souljah moment with these people.

6. Tell Eva Moskowitz there's money to be made in North Dakota. With the prevalence of fracking in North Dakota, many families are moving to the state with "inadequate" public schools. Tell Eva she can make more money in Williston than Harlem. Give her bus money to encourage her to be on her way.

7. End the ATR system. Not with termination, but with real placement of the Lost Teachers of Israel.

8. Administrators should face the same discipline as teachers. This means that the days of a principal being arrested for cops finding a kilo of coke in the trunk of his car after he gets pulled over for DWI and a suspended license while wearing no pants and underwear while two prostitutes are in the back seat shooting smack should no longer warrant a promotion. Not saying the principal should be terminated, just not promoted.

9. Follow the contract. A contract is a two way agreement. Please, let's respect the contract.

10. Stand up to Cuomo. He has two uses for his finger. One, to pick his nose, the other to see which way the wind is blowing. Cuomo is a bully. He's trying to be the svelte Chris Christie. How do we deal with bullies? A rolled up newspaper to the schnoz.

11. Respect. Simple respect. That will go very far. It will rub off on the media, the public, and the politicians. Defend us against Campbell Brown. Against Michelle Rhee. If that happens just once, or maybe twice, you will not only earn respect and loyalty, but get that proverbial foot off our chests.

The Crack Team is sure that there are some things that were not mentioned. For that they apologize. But it's a start.