Shame on Joy Hochstadt and Andrew Ostrowksy

I never buy the Post, let alone on Sundays. I read it online, and if I buy it it is only to read Phil Mushnick. But this past Sunday I felt compelled to add it to my Sunday reading along with the Daily News as I sit in my car, sipping my coffee and eating my Egg McMuffin as I wait for my son while he is in Hebrew school.

The big headline from the Post stared at me. Sadly, it stared at my son as he was in the car when I had bought it. Fortunately, he seemed more interested in the back page of the Post and skimmed through its sports section.

It was a face palm moment, and I was not shy about sharing some humor about the situation on Twitter, as I am sure most were. But jokes like this can be juvenile and demeaning. It is time to stop the jokes and look at this for what it is.

I have no love lost for Mulgrew and the leadership of the UFT. I hope to God Mulgrew gets voted out next year and I am fed up with the acquiescing to Bloomberg done by those at 52 Broadway to the detriment of the rank and file. But, there is no proof whatsoever that Mulgrew engaged in this behavior and with that being said, it is over as far as I am concerned until, and if, we learn more. But something bothers me even more.

In The Godfather when Michael visits Fredo in Vegas, Fredo is enamored with Moe Green and defends him. Michale looks at Fredo and says, "Don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever." That's how I feel. We can fight and bicker over the leadership and direction of the UFT all we want, but it must come from within and not from without. Any outside forces that direct their wrath at the UFT must be met with complete unity and swift and timely retorts (And reprisals). Any dirty laundry must be dealt with from within, not from without. I mean, that is why E4E, Little Evan Stone, Princess Sydney Morris, and it's official Blog Monkey™ Ruben Brosbe have so much wrath directed towards them.

So for a nebbish like Andrew Ostrowsky to not only determine that the allegation of Mulgrew performing a sexual act in the wood shop and this is the reason that Randy Andy is now in a heap of trouble because he "claims in the suit he’s being “targeted” for termination because an assistant principal gave him his first “unsatisfactory” rating last December. Supervisors also ordered him to undergo a DOE medical/psychological exam," due to Mulgrew being blackmailed and as a result got a crappy contract in 2005 is just downright botarded. As Norm over at Ednotes points out this supposed tryst predates Mulgrew's ascendency to the throne of the UFT.

But I am sure Randy Andy went to many a lawyer hoping that he could find someone, anyone to take this case. But he couldn't. Not until he lifted up a rock and found Joy Hochstadt, who in my opinion, will take anything and then eventually fuck it up. As my father once said, "anybody can sue anybody, anytime." As we see with this case, it is true.

I met Joy once. When I was in the Rubber Room I met with her in her office, I mean, her car on 181st St. I found her (in my opinion of course) to be a disheveled person, a scheister, and a con artist. But even more, desperate to take on any case she could. After about 10 minutes of listening to her blabber on I left her "office" and put her on the list of people to give a wide berth to.

I won't say who, but she represented a very famous teacher in the annals of the teacher discipline cases and fucked up his case royally. If Randy Andy did some due diligence he would have known this.

But the worst part is when Joy said herself that she had "no concrete proof of the alleged sexual tryst." So you have no concrete proof so what the hell is she suing for, and what judge will allow this even after the custodian named as the witness said he never saw anything? Whatever judge gets this will dismiss this case as soon as he gets off the floor from laughing so hard.

In my opinion, Joy leaked this to the Daily News. She knew damage and embarrassment can be done through only the Post. I also look at Ostrowksy as a rat, as a turncoat, and someone not to be trusted for a second.

We as teachers and UFT members in this time of constant change and attack from the outside must not let our petty little shit to get out, especially in the New York Post. The only method to remove Mulgrew and his ilk are to educate the teachers on how we can affect change from within and take ownership of the power many of us yet to realize we have.

BREAKING NEWS AT PS 154 THE BRONX!!!

Has it been two weeks since I last sat down and blogged? Apparently so. Too those who have missed my unique take on the happenings of education, I apologize for being away for so long. For those that hate my writings and were glad to see the gap in my blogging, too bad.

The last two weeks have been hectic. I was doing the Math scoring, was house hunting, was driving my son to and fro to baseball games and practice, and plotting my campaign to run for chapter chair. Was coming home exhausted or too late to do anything but to crawl into bed and just vegetate. But to paraphrase Carol Anne, "I'm baaaack!"

And boy am I back with some interesting news which happened a week before my last blog post. Now sit down and get a drink before I share it with you. I'll wait until you do. OK, ready?

April 29, 2012 was just a regular day at PS 154. It was the first day of not worrying about testing and for the first time in months actual learning was happening. The flowers were in bloom, the sky was blue, and all seemed peaceful. That is until our principal went over the PA at 1:15 PM and announced an emergency meeting at the end of the day for all staff in the auditorium. Immediately I knew what it was about, but if I share it now, there would be no further reason for me to blog.

At 4 PM (extended day) we gathered in the auditorium to hear our principal tell us that she had gotten a phone call from the superintendent that morning that that day was to be her last as principal. Now mind you, this was the principal that had replaced the infamous John Deacon (Linda Amil-Irizarry) in May of 2009. Why did this happen? We have no idea and no one is sharing. Should it have happened? I won't say. But I have issues with the way it happened.

Once again, the NYC DOE show how it just does not care about the schools, the communities, the parents, or even, yes I am going to say it, the students. Does the DOE have the right to change principals? Yes it does. Does the DOE ever do it right? No it doesn't, especially when it comes to principals that wish to have sexual intercourse with inanimate objects, cheat on tests, cheat on teacher observations, etc...

What the powers that be failed to do was take into account the parents or the community in this decision. I do not mean asking the parents for their input, but having the decency to contact and share with the PA and to be in the school at dismissal to discuss this with the parents. Also, a letter should have gone home with the students that day sharing the removal of the principal. This would have happened in Scarsdale, Bronxville, or even Riverdale or Forest Hills. But not on 135th St in The Bronx. Why? Because those that are do not give one iota of thought to those that they feel aren't.

I spoke up in the auditorium. I had too. I was not supporting the outgoing or the incoming principal. I only spoke up in support of the great school community and the students. I feel that PS 154 has and is being set up to fail. Three years in a row, the budget has gone down. Two years in a row, we have received C's. We have failed to meet our AYP in ELA last year, and failed AYP in Math for Spec. Ed. and ELL last year. This is not the staff's fault at all! How can a teacher teacher with over 30 kids in their class and several serious behavioral problems? This is not an excuse, this is an explanation and a fact. How can we go forward when students are leaving the school with no education because the only instruction students are receiving are to the tests?

I am not in any way besmirching past or present administration. The fault clearly and will always lie with the nattering nimrods on Chambers St. For Uncle Mike, his sock puppet Dennis Walcott and all those brainless law school educated consultants do not give one shit about the communities and the students. They see only $$$$. They care for only $$$$. And they certainly do not care for the underclass of the city, whatever their skin color is. For Tweed and Uncle Mike feel that it is only the well educated, well developed, well connected, white person that can save little boys and girls of color.

It's time for the parents to rise up now. It is time for the parents to not feel afraid, anxious or scared and take control of their children's schools and their education. They need to say NO to the deformers and YES to education. Only with the parents finally having enough and finally putting a stop to those in power will we as teachers begin to have that voice again as decision makers when it comes to education.

THE TIME IS NOW AGAIN!

Deep Inside Whitney Tilson and His Future Issues With the SEC

Sometimes you create your own luck, sometimes it just falls right on your lap. Today, it fell on our lap. A person deep inside Whitney Tilson's organization contacted the SBSB newsroom to share some of of what Whitney Tilson truly is. We here at SBSB wish to applaud this deep background source on his feeling the need to expose Whitney for what he truly is.

We vetted this person and all checks out that he is quite familiar with Whitney and his antics. In fact, the source's first words to us here at SBSB were,

"Whitney is such a blow hard, and always felt he was so full of shit, elitist, and a self proclaimed expert on everything" 

Hey, who can argue with this?

Our source seems like a stand up person. He had no issue with sending his children to NYC public schools, whilst on the other hand Whitney sends his children to one of the most exclusive private schools on the Upper East Side. This has been well known throughout the blogosphere for sometime, but one might to ask oneself if Whitney would stand for his children having 30 kids in the classes of his children? Would he subject his children to test prep in favor of instruction? Of course not. It is only right for boys and girls of color to be subject to such horrors. For this is the liberal white man showing what he thinks what is best. According to our deep source Whitney;

"claims to be an expert in education and the extreme hubris he has by claiming he is going to reform the educational system in this country is galling."

Our deep source is irked that not only

"If KIPP is so amazing he should send his kids there , so many things wrong with this guy,  I cant even believe there are people who are listening to this fool."

That is a good question. Why doesn't  Whitney send his children to KIPP? At least Whitney's BFF Gideon Stein has the ability to put his money where is mouth is and send his children to Success Academy, though not in Harlem where is just might be too dark for Gideon's tastes, but at least he does. And it shan't be mentioned how Gideon can afford a private school a thousand times over for his children yet decides to take a seat away from a child of color.

Before we get to the juicy stuff, we here at SBSB wish to address that we had opined that Whitney is an anti-Semite. Gideon Stein, Whitney's BFF was appalled and shared that he is in fact married to a Jew. We here at SBSB upon learning this took steps to renounce our Judaism, but did point out that Thomas Jefferson though a racist in owning slaves did find the time to shag Sally Hemmings. But that is neither here nor there. What we do find interesting is how this child of two teachers became so rich. Apparently, our deep source shared that Whitney;

"married into a rich family who basically gave him money to start his fund.

Dang, always good to marry a Jew. But bad for us, for we have to accept people like Whitney into our synagogues. Oy vey.

But our deep source saved the best for last. We were pointed to last Tuesday's New York Post in which it was announced that in a deal that Microsft made with Barnes and Noble's nook, Whithey Tilson;

"appears to have reaped a single-day bonanza of more than $20 million on a stake he acquired just last week."

Now according to our deep source;

"He made a move last week that will no doubt be investigated by the SEC." 

Interesting, the same man according to our deep source that

 "Can't even manage his own fund, i.e he was down 24.5 % in 2011, he is known for famously shorting Netflix and telling everyone to do the same." 

Hmm, something seems amiss here. Bill Gates and Whitney Tilson run in the same circles. Whitney Tilson is desperate for cash infusion for himself and his fund. Whitney Tilson is a self absorbed attention whore. Hey, why not? It's karma, baby!

We here at SBSB call for a full SEC investigation into this matter between Whitney Tilson and Barnes and Noble. We also pledge to the federal authorities and regulators that we will be cooperative in any information needed to help get to the truth of what went on between Whitney Tilson, Bill Gates, and Barnes and Noble.

Could Whitney be the first domino to fall? Could Whitney wind up in prison being passed around for a pack, or even a loosie, of Newports? One can only hope.

If I Were Chapter Leader I Would Choose Freewill

With the chapter leader elections coming up next month I have been pondering what I would stand for and do if I were chapter leader. It's been going back and forth through my head for quite a while and I think I have some pretty solid idea on how I would lead my chapter and what I would like my chapter to be. So in no particular order I present what has been going on through the dark recesses of my mind as I ponder life as a chapter leader.

Oh, and please check out the upper right hand corner of Chaz's blog for what a a union should be. 

1. True independence

Yep, no affiliation with Unity Caucus, The Bronx UFT, the district rep, nor the big boys at 52 Broadway. What is best for the school and the staff will be priority #1 and if it aligns with the wishes of UFT so be it. If it doesn't, then too bad. Again in no particular order, the priorities are the school, the teachers and the students is first and foremost. 

Also, I will never check with the district rep whether or not I can do something such as file a grievance, or  stick up for a teacher. This would be true independence on my part.

2. Stand By The Teacher

I will stand behind that teacher in any disciplinary meeting with a supervisor. There will be no silence. I would see myself as a defense attorney is  in a trial or a hearing. Questions should be asked of the supervisor. The supervisor should clarify what the charges are, what they entail and to show some modicum of evidence in the accusations. The onus should be on the supervisor.


3. Negotiate

Why can't a chapter leader meet with the supervisor after a disciplinary meeting and discuss the possibilities of whether or not a letter to file or a counseling memo is warranted? Why can't the chapter leader work with the supervisor in a cooperative manner in the wording of the disciplinary letter and/or counseling memo? Would not something like this be beneficial to both sides? Think of how much money the DOE could have saved in monies invested into investigations, hearings, etc... if only both sides came together and sat down and talked things out? Of course if I were chapter leader I would do my utmost to not only protect the staff member but to do all I can to protect the dignity of the staff member.

4. True Collaboration


There must be true collaboration between the chapter leader and the principal. Only in such a setting can all sides win, including the students and the community. Once true collaboration is the rule of the school this will bring morale up and teacher effectiveness will rise.

5. Respect

If I were chapter leader I will not settle for anything less than complete respect to the staff. At no time should staff members be belittled, harassed, embarrassed, humiliated by a supervisor. This also goes for students who do the same and students that will bring injury upon the staff member.


I would insist on a meeting with the supervisor and all involved if a staff member is treated this way and I would insist that a student who does the same to staff members and physical attacks a staff member be properly and quickly disciplined. 

6. Fight For The School

I would do whatever I can, contact whomever I can, meet with whomever I can to get the monies the school deserves into the schools wallet. I will allow no stone to remain unturned. I know I have the contacts to help my school facilitate and advocate locating monies. Silence can be a death knell for a school.


7. Keep The Staff Informed


Not only will there be monthly chapter meetings but a newsletter will go out at least once a week touching on what is happening in the school and, just as importantly, what is happening in the world of education and the deformy movement. It is time teachers be educated in what is going on around us.


Also, there never would be any secrets if I were chapter leader. When I hear or know of something, the entire staff will know. Even if it is a rumor. The staff has a right to know all. 

8. Camaraderie

We are all in this together. There should be more get togethers outside of the school setting. There should be a sense that we are all in this together and that we all must seek out those who need our assistance and be there for that staff member. The backbiting, the gossip only goes to hurt the staff in the long run. Problems between staff members should settled with the chapter leader, not administration.


9. The UFT Contract


Not only does it benefit the staff if the contract is adhered to, but the students and the school community as well. The contract is an agreement, not something to be ignored. Also, instead of passing out the little UFT memo book at the beginning of the year, each teacher will receive a copy of the contract to keep at home.

10. One Last Thing


If I were chapter leader and if the time ever comes that we get on Uncle Mike's spite list, I will do whatever I can to keep the school from either getting a co-location or closed.  It will not happen on my watch. The community deserves this.

So there it is, what I would do if I were chapter leader.

A New Teacher Bullied By Inept Administrators in a Bloomberg Created School

The story below came across the desk of the SBSB newsroom late this afternoon. Our collective SBSB jaws dropped while reading of not only a school in disarray, but of a young teacher being tormented, and the lack of support, by the administration of this school.

We here at SBSB did find some irony that the author share, "seven years my small school has served our city." Apparently it seems to walk, talk, and quack like a school that Uncle Mike had opened so it must be.

Another bit of irony, the author shares that  she has had one formal observation and no feedback concerning her teaching. One might think that this shows that the new evaluation system and E4E's evaluation suggestions are what are needed to properly evaluate teachers. I say the opposite. That it is up to the administrators to do their jobs and to do their observations on teachers, to collaborate and share with teacher show to improve and not to use observations to play "gotcha!"

Enough of my 2 cents. Sit back and read what this poor teacher is going through.

Oh, I forgot. The principal at this school has a miniscule background in education. Background in the corporate world, a few years teaching then got administrative license. And we wonder why.........

As the Obama administration continues its push for “anti-bullying” and teacher evaluation systems in schools, I cannot help but hide my wry smile. I am an untenured teacher in a high-needs mess of a NYC school and have seen these policies in put into action. My school’s informal goal for the year was to reduce bullying, and one of the principal’s formal goals was to implement the Charlotte Danielson rubric for evaluating teachers.

How is that going? Well, students still bully, fight, drink, and we have even had a middle school student wave a gun around. As a teacher, though, I cannot blame them. They have the epitome of bullies to look up to and admire: our principal and assistant principal.

I was warned within minutes of meeting other teachers in my school, that I had to be prepared to be harassed and full of anxiety—not due to our rough population of students, but due to a bipolar,
foul-mouthed, chain-smoking, alcoholic principal, and an assistant principal best known in the NYC metro for her rage problems.

Our school has had a 20% retention rate. In the seven years my small school has served our city, approximately fifty-five teachers have left, and that is only if they finished the year. The abuse by our administrators reduced me to tears within a week of my being at the school. The assistant principal had come into my room on the third day, ripped down my bulletin boards and charts, and verbally abused me at a loud volume in front of my students. This was ended with an ominous “meet me during your next prep, I’m so mad at you, I can’t believe you.” As a teacher inching into their career, I was terrified, humiliated, and mostly confused by what had just happened. I met with the assistant principal and principal, and they verbally bullied me for the entire period. This routine became, well, routine quickly. In the course of the year, I have had them wander into my room to yell for some reason twenty-five times, been cornered into “important” meetings alone with the two of them eleven times, been verbally abused by them in front of children seventy-one times. It has become known by my population of students that they know they can act out, because, “you know we won’t get yelled at, Miss, but you will.”

It is May and I have had only one formal evaluation and absolutely no real feedback about my pedagogy, but countless hours have been spent degrading me. I have reached out to the UFT (my chapter UFT has yet to have a meeting, the representative is up for tenure, and is a pawn), but have been alternatively told that I am “making it all up” or that nothing can be done because I am untenured. This is simply unacceptable. I, and the rest of my staff, go to school with anxious knots in our stomachs daily, not wondering what the students will do or worrying if the lesson will be successful, but instead wondering what our unorganized, childish, bully administrators will push us to that day.

Nowhere is there a focus on administrators in the current Obama legislation, or in the reform agenda. These people are the ones giving me a portion of my evaluation grade, and the ones enforcing the anti-bullying legislation. I am calling for the removal of my current administrators, and ones like them, in order to ensure any policies are effective.  I do not know where to turn to get help with this, please spread my story and send ideas if you don’t want to continue to push out potentially effective educators and hurt the students in the process.

Once Upon a Time The UFT Manipulated a School Based Organization Vote

Yesterday, I touched on a flyer that will be distributed on May 1 in teacher's mailboxes throughout the city touting the "accomplishments" of UFT El Presidente and Unity Politburo Chief Michael Mulgrew. Tonight, I shall relate a story of voting shenanigans that only Unity and The UFT could have pulled off.

Back in September of 2003 I had just arrived at PS 156 in The Bronx after working out of the District 7 office for 3 years. Sometime that fall we were having some type of SBO vote. I forgot what we were voting for, but I do recall that it was something that the principal at the time wanted, and since she wanted this and our chapter chair was in her pocket, it was to be.

The day of the vote I arrived at the school to notice an cardboard ballot box with a hole in it and a stack of ballots next to it. No big deal you say? Actually yes, it was a big deal. For this box and these ballots were on the counter in the office unattended there for the world not only to see, but for the world to vote in our private little election if it so desired.

I decided to monitor this election on my own. I came down during my prep and the box and the ballots were there, unattended still however the box was slowly being filled. I came down during my lunch and it was the same as it had been all day. Same at the end of the day. At no time throughout the day did anyone supervise the vote, nor was there anyone with a list of eligible voters.

Being that I had already seen how the clique was in true effect at PS 156 and not liking what I had seen I contacted the District 7 DL and informed her of this irregularity. I was asked if I am challenging the vote and when I answered in the affirmative was told to write a letter challenging the vote and why I was challenging it.

I did so promptly and was proud that I was taking a stand for what was right. It was not that I disputed what was voted on, but rather the way the vote was conducted. After all, we are professionals and as professionals we must set an example of honesty and transparency for our students and ourselves.

It was a couple of weeks or so before I heard back from The Bronx UFT. My petition to have the vote nullified and done again was denied. There was no finding of any irregularities and that the vote was conducted in an above board method.

I was incredulous. How can this be? Anyone, a parent, the UPS guy, the letter carrier, a cop, a student could have voted for the SBO and no one could have nor would have known. No one cared at The Bronx UFT and I should have know better. Even if no one voted that was not supposed to the perception was there that the vote was not done properly and therefore we should have voted again.

How can a union not look out for its members? How can a union when presented with such blatant disregard for a clean vote turn its back and look the other way as if nothing ever had happened?

The UFT likes to claim that it is a "union of professionals." Wrong. It is a "union for keeping those in power in power."

The Lies, The Deceit, The Chutzpah of UFT President Mike Mulgrew

Leave it to Norm over at Ednotes to get that good juicy inside information on the manipulative machinations of The UFT and The Grand Exalted Mystic Ruler, and sometime Collaborator, Michael Mulgrew and his Unity hacks.

UFT President Mulgrew Seen Here With Vichy President Philippe Pétain

A secret memo has gone out to all Unity (I believe just Unity) chapter chairs from LeRoy Barr along the lines that Mulgrew is really neat, and that Mulgrew is LeRoy's BFF, and Mulgrew and LeRoy have slumber parties in which they talk about who is the coolest and that the both gag together over Bloomberg, blah, blah, blah. Oh yeah, something in their about solidarity and stuff and that The UFT is one big happy family and we all need one another.

But along with this memo is a campaign flyer that the CL's are to put in everyone's mailboxes on May 1. Coincidentally, International Worker's Day, or May Day. Gee whilickers, what a coincidence that May 1 was chosen. But, before we deride LeRoy, El Presidente Mulgrew, and Unity with snarkiness and sarcasm, perhaps we shall together examine the flyer we all will be getting this Tuesday.

I never noticed so many accomplishments. OK, please stop laughing. I know, I fell down and withered in laughter when I first read this. But thanks to the crack team at SBSB we have run the flyer through the SXS-3000 Bullshit Detector and were able to find the real truth behind these ridiculous statements.

1. Fighting For A Fair Evaluation System

So it is fair in when only 13 percent of teachers can appeal their ineffective ratings, and this is based on harassment issues. How are the 13 percent chosen? Will some teachers be more equal than other teachers? 

How is the evaluation system fair in which we all know that not only are the tests flawed, the algorithm's that decide the Value Added Measurement wrong, but that children inherently have too many variables to successfully monitor in some skewed test, scored in some skewed manner?


2. Preserving The Rights And The Dignity Of The ATR's

OK, sure. Of course. Come on get real. Does Mulgrew read the NYC ATR Blog? How come every ATR that has shown up in my school has been over the age of 40 and inexplicably a person of color? These people are just so gosh diddly darn proud and happy to be ATR's. In fact, a female ATR that is over  40 years of age who was in the system 25 years and was a reading specialist, would you believe that her services were not needed anywhere at all? How is this explained?

3. Averting Layoffs Of Members

Yeah, yeah. Of course anyone who ever wished for a sabbatical can kiss that dream good-bye. Thank you so much Mulgrew.


4. Preserving Our Tenure Rights

Yeah, haven't screwed this one up yet. That is unless you don't count the teachers who are on the 5th year of probation now because of some flawed TDR, from a flawed testing system, which was seen by a flawed superintendent, that passed judgement on a teacher that never saw teach and never met. Thanks Mulgrew.


5. Defending Our Defined Benefit Pension Plan


Yes, thank you for giving me Tier I rights. Now what about the new Tier V's? Tier XI's? Hey Mulgrew, we did not screw up the pension system, Wall St did. There is no crisis. It was created to destroy public pensions and to destroy public employment. 

6. Protecting Our Health and Welfare Fund Benefits

Thanks Mulgrew for the mail order for maintenance medications. Now instead of dealing with the pharmacist of your choice, you get no pharmacist. Hey, it might be cheaper this way, but some people like to deal with the warmth of someone that knows them. Someone who knows their entire medication history and someone who will be there to warn of any stranger drug interactions. Have you ever thought that your members might have been open and accepted to a surcharge if they went to a REAL pharmacy? Perhaps $10? Why were we just told of this instead of getting our input? I guess life from the gilded fortified perch has left you a little lacking of the rank and file, right Mulgrew?


Mulgrew and Unity must be stopped. Not soon, not a year from now, but right now. There must be some type of revolution from the rank and file to topple, overthrow, and be rid of this person that claims he is the leader of the UFT. Mulgrew does not care about being a leader, does not care in looking out of the teachers. Mulgrew just cares about the perks of office, the perks of what he can get, when he wants it, and only if it benefits him and no one else.