Look To Westchester County To Fight Pearson and the Deformers

PEARSON CEO "DAME" MAJORIE SCARDINO

For those who don't know who Janine Sopp is, run do not walk, and check out her blog Change The Stakes. Janine is a parent in Brooklyn, in fact she is not an educator,  as well as an artist and she is leading a movement to end testing as we know it. I have spoken and emailed with her a on several occasions and she is smart as a whip and really is quite knowledgeable.

I bring Janine up for several reasons tonight. The main reason being is that I read an interesting article in today's Journal News (Westchester County) about how scores of students in Westchester and Rockland counties refused to take the Pearson inspired field tests this week. In fact, the Tarrytown school district is sending a bill to Pearson for $20,000 for the time the students and teachers missed from class. Can anyone imagine Sock Puppet Dennis Walcott allowing this?

According to the Journal News, in Scarsdale;

“just over half (53 percent) of the eligible students were absent. Of those who took the test, about 16 percent did not respond to the questions or filled them in randomly,” said Vicki Presser, the district’s spokeswoman.

Can you imagine this kind of boycott in the NYC? Nope. Won't happen, can't happen.  How can this happen when at my school PS 154, a new principal is introduced and the superintendent and network leader appear at a special meeting to quell any parental concerns and only 10 parents, 5 of which were with the PA, show up? In fact, statisticians have estimated that there would have been 20 parents if food had been served.  If the same situation occurred in Bronxville or Ardsley, would only 10 parents have shown up? 

In my opinion, the fight is in the wrong place. To fight the deformers, to fight those shoving tests down our children's throats the fight, perhaps the "muscle" must come from the suburbs. The suburbs need to be ground zero for the fight. Of course, this is not saying that the parents of the inner city should not be involved or have a major voice in the fight, but the backlash needs to come from the suburbs.

Politicians care only about votes and money. Politicians don't give a rats ass about the underclass. Once the hoity toity parents realize that deform is coming to Scarsdale, Bronxville, Great Neck, Roslyn, Franklin Lakes, upper Saddle River, etc... then the proverbial poop will hit the fan. Once these parents realize that their children's education is being destroyed, they will fight like hell to end this destruction.

The reason why the deformers get away with what they do is silence and compliance of the parents of the inner city. They know that the parents, and in no way am I saying all of them, are wither too tired, too afraid, too apathetic, too unknowledgeable of their rights, to truly mount a fight. In the suburbs the communities are smaller and more close knit than they are in the city. Where else is it better to light the spark of the fight needed? Ardsley or Brooklyn? Ardsley has a population of about 4,500 and a school district size of about 800.


The politicians will care once Edgar J Puffenstuff who lives in a million dollar home in Irvington NY and donates regularly to his favorite political party sees how his children are nothing but test scores are affecting their lives. At that point the politicians will want to appease the Puffenstuff's of the state.

About 2 months or so ago, I received my free copy of "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman." Living in Mt Vernon NY, I had no inkling to show it here. It needed to be shown in neighboring Bronxville at the public library. I knew it wouldn't be received well in Mt Vernon. But those in Bronxville need to see the train wreck heading their way.

But circumstances prevented me from showing it in Bronxville. We are moving next month to Harrison NY. Home of the McMansions and estates in the Purchase section of Harrison to the rich and richer. This is where TITBWFS will be shown. This is where the shit will hit the fan come January. News 12 and the Journal News are out of the reach of Uncle Mike.

It is time to set up base camps in Nassau, Suffolk, Fairfield, Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, and Bergen counties. From here, the fight can and will be won.

Be There or Be Square, June 10 @ 6 PM EDT

I am appearing on my pal's The Frustrated Teacher's internet radio show tomorrow night at 6 PM EDT.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/tfteacher/2012/06/10/sobronxschool-has-knowledge-proof-of-a-conspiracy

I have been asked to be a guest and add clarity to my recent blog posts concerning the disgraced former principal of PS 154, The Bronx, Marsha Elliott.

Call in to speak with the host

(619) 996-1651

Uncle Mike Bloomberg Condones Test Cheating

The Crack Team will like to welcome a guest blogger who has decided to share their opinion on the subject of testing, and the requisite cheating, and the future cheating shit storm (we ain't seen nothing yet!), associated with testing.

All I can tell you of this person is that I know this person is a person of integrity and extremely, extremely high up in the DOE.

I wish I could write as well and as lucid as today's guest blogger has. I agree with the points 100%. Keep on evaluating teachers on standardized tests, soon teachers will choose between not providing for their family or cheating. Cheating will win out every time. I am not condoning cheating, just stating a fact. But it will hurt the students in the long run. Yeah, more of that "student's first" crap.

Enjoy the read. I and the Crack Team did.

Last August an aide to Mayor Bloomberg called new efforts by New York State to improve security on standardized tests 'a knee-jerk reaction to cheating in other states'. I remember thinking that very strange. We are talking about something that appears to be a growing problem, especially as careers and bonus cash are on the line, and I still can't imagine why it would not deserve a strong effort. Are the schools in our city so different that it couldn't happen here?

As I read a little about cheating scandals of the last few years, I started to see something else in that official statement. I saw the kind of evidence gathered in other states in comprehensive investigations and I realize that we already had that kind of evidence of cheating in New York City. I started to think that the purpose of the statement might be to chill employees from reporting cheating. All employees, not just investigators, have an obligation to report cheating. I also considered that it might be an old Soviet style arrogant boast, our mayor is known for those, that there is no cheating in New York City schools.

Now I see more allegations of cheating, very much like those of prior years. As I look at all these allegations together, I see very low standards for investigation. When a teacher is accused of corporal punishment, even the verbal kind, the statements of just two or three students can result in disciplinary action or even dismissal. In the case of allegations of cheating, we can have statements from dozens of students that mean nothing. Apparently without physical evidence cheating educators get to walk. Cheat when your Principal tells you or implies that you should and you get a free pass. Tell a student that he was 'stupid' to throw a window pole out a fifth floor window and you will be disciplined or maybe fired.

When I read a story about this by Anna Phillips in the New York Times on May 23, I realized something that authorities should have realized years ago, or perhaps they did and buried the idea. You can't look at changes in scores from grade to grade within a school because that can be attributed to differential instruction. If any employees are cheating on their own, that data would be near impossible to detect without an extensive multi-year analysis. However, when you aggregate that data across schools if the cheating is an institutional practice encouraged by administrators that can be easily detected. All we need to do is look at how students fare the year after graduation. If there are dramatic drops that is a clear indication of cheating. This can be determined from data posted in ARIS. Given the Bloomberg administration decree on cheating, you know that it will never be done.

As I look at other states, I see that Georgia was very successful because the governor sent in a small army of investigators for months to get at the truth. That won't happen here. I believe that in Dallas it was the media and parents who forced the hand of government officials. Anna Phillips started this work with her article, but someone else needs to finish it. Any organization with the resources to get data through FOIL and analyze our student data could produce a 'cheating heat map', showing us almost every school in New York City where further examination of test scores and practices is merited.

I believe that cheating has become a poison in our schools. If teachers were encouraged to cheat in prior years, teachers today will have to cheat to keep their jobs as will teachers in the future. I think that exposing cheating in schools throughout the country will derail those who want to stake everything from tenure to salaries on standardized testing. We must do our part in New York City.

As we do consider this problem, we must be extremely sensitive to the plight of whistle blowers and those who have spoken honestly to investigators. Of course people who speak out first are threatened and scorned by those who defend the status quo, but even worse teachers who have been honest with investigators are now labeled as malcontents. I have a dream that one day those who tell the truth will be held in high esteem, but that will never happen in Mayor Bloomberg's Department of Education.


I have the impression that the only way that cheating will be outed in New York City is by the Texas model, where parents and the media took the lead. We can't count on The Daily News or The Post, and the person who had the story at The Times is gone, so I don't know how the job can be done.

I'm afraid that this hypocritical inequity, where testimony of dozens of students and teachers is discounted because the DOE is in denial on cheating, will continue plaguing our school communities and I don't know what to do about it.

Marsha Elliott Forgets What Christianity Is All About

More to come as promised. Still on the subject of Marsha Elliott, my former principal at PS 154. Today we will learn just how low a principal will sink and lie to get their way.

As a dean and SAVE room coordinator at my school it is very hard work though there are some who think it is easy. Back in December of this school year we had a 4th grade student who was assigned to me for several days and basically a terror. She refused to stay in the room and was more apt to be wondering around the school than being where she should be.

So one day, Marsha Elliott decided that her mother was to accompany her to the SAVE room and stay there. Not for a few minutes, not for an hour, but for the whole day and this was without any input from me.

The mother was quite paranoid and in the past several years had accused teachers of plotting against her daughter, she believed that her daughter was a perfect child, caused no problems, etc... Even Marsha Elliott knew that this mother was full of shit, yet, she put the mother in the SAVE room alone, with me, and another student in there as well.

Well, it didn't take long for this mother to accuse me of conspiring against her daughter every time I said good morning to a teacher. Worse, she started yelling and physically threatened the 4th grade boy I had there as  well. Soon enough, the boy and the girl got into a fight and I needed to call the for Marsha Elliott.

Soon enough Elliott came with the sycophantic parent coordinator. Soon the mother accused me of calling the daughter crazy and that I said she needed medication. The mother named to wonderful teachers and the sycophantic parent coordinator as hearing me say that. Both wonderful teachers gave a statement saying nothing was said, the sycophantic parent coordinator claimed I said the girl was psychological.Now mind you, the mother at no time ever made a formal complaint, worse, well for me at least, she never gave a statement.

It was never said. The letter I received never had the date of the incident memorialized. We went to a Step II grievance and lost. Right now, we are in the process of hopefully taking it to arbitration. But there is one thing that bothers me in the letter. It was stated that I did not

"provide any reason why sycophantic parent coordinator would lie." 

But this, sadly in retrospect is how Marsha Elliott operates. This is a woman who said to me,

"I want you out of this school."

"You don't want to be in a classroom so there is no reason for you to be here."

After I bust my ass getting  Reso A funding and upon finding out that after a former principal accused me of having porn on a computer and being completely cleared by SCI, claimed not only that

"XXXXXXXXX said you can't be the computer coordinator" A blatant lie

But worse said,

"even though they didn't find anything and cleared you doesn't mean it never happened."

Now, if she said that, and of course she will deny this to her last breath, but I never play with my money, I always play with house money, and boy do I have an ace up my sleeve, she will create and fabricate any allegation she will or can get away with. But not this time. The proof I have would spin Judge Sirica in the grave. I have everything other than a 18 minute gap. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

Hey, maybe if I took Jeebus as my lord and savior and didn't belong to a tribe that has been accused of killing the big guy I would be treated differently. But this is what Marsha Elliott is. The worse kind of believer. Just another lying piece of DOE garbage.

Religion, which should be her armor to protect her against what the world has to offer and to use it to protect those, instead has become her sharp and angry sword to swath those with her religious beliefs, sitting in what she believes is her gilded tower judging us all.

Marsha Elliott Brings God To The Bronx

"You have not answered his question. What does God need with a starship?" - Spock, Star Trek V The Final Frontier 


In the beginning, we were all fish. Okay? Swimming around in the water. And then one day a couple of fish had a retard baby, and the retard baby was different, so it got to live. So Retard Fish goes on to make more retard babies, and then one day, a retard baby fish crawled out of the ocean with its... -Mrs Garrison, 4th grade teacher South Park, CO explaining evolution to her students

"Tickle us, do we not laugh? Prick us, do we not bleed? Wrong us, shall we not revenge?" - General Chang, Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country

"Don't ever lie to me." -Anonymous 2400 BC

We as teachers should start thinking like General Chang. I do. I mean I will be a loyal friend, maybe too loyal, but once a line is crossed, that's it. Marsha Elliott, my former principal at PS 154X, it's time the truth came out.

I have no idea why she removed. Speculation does run rampant. The official reason, or rather the reason she gave, was that the test scores the last few years were declining and that she was up for tenure in May and wasn't going to receive it so the decision was moved to cut the cord. But it leaves one to wonder, if these reasons are true, why not just finish out the year and everyone be on with their lives?

No, it was something more diabolical than that. It had to have been something so yucky, so unprofessional, that the powers that be felt that a change needed to be made right then and there. Myself and the Crack Team here at SBSB applaud the powers that be.

We have several theories disseminate here at SBSB headquarters on the impetus of Marsha Elliott's removal. There is one theory that stands out, but first a little back story.

It seems that around 2007 or so, Marsha Elliott was removed by the DOE at her former school IS 158 in The Bronx for "encouraging" staff members at the school to visit her church. Visit? Like visiting to see art work, to see the architecture? Perhaps "visit" meant to come worship at her church. Perhaps "visit" meant that if you didn't want to get a U, you better let God see your ass "in the pews at my church." Were Jewish staff members invited? And if so, did Marsha Elliott hope that they would be "saved" from our heathen methods. Anyway, it was completely inappropriate. So inappropriate that the DOE fined her for the "recruiting," as a conflict of interest and soon was placed at PS 154. But, God was soon invited to 135th St and Alexander Ave., and someone sadly didn't learn a lesson.

This past March, or late February Marsha Elliott was recruiting teachers to come read the word of God wit her in our public school. She wanted to hold bible study once or twice a week and actively went around the school to asking teachers to join. Several of these so called "Bible Studies" were held off hours in the early morning before school started. We here at SBSB have no issues with religion, or God, just those who wear God on their sleeves and don't walk the walk. If a bunch of teachers got together on their own and perused the Bible, fine. But for a Principal to do it, for a Principal to recruit those that believe or do not believe is a conflict of interest or just plain wrong. What about the Jews? We never were offered a spot in the study! Does that mean we would be deemed not part of the "cool crowd" and might lose per session monies, positive evaluations, etc...? Or would teachers feel compelled and coerced to attend these meetings and face negative consequences if they don't? Yes, conflict of interest. Shame on you Marsha Elliott.

We here at SBS wish to reiterate we have no problems with those of faith, or with God, or Moses, or Mohammed, or Jesus. What we do have issues with those that hold the Bible in one hand, preach Jesus and God with their mouths, but with their free hand have no problem at backslapping you across your face and your career and tell us they are holy.

But the proselytizing of  religion and God have no place in school, particularity by administrators. This is no different that a female teacher being asked for sexual favors in return for positive outcomes for her career. Marsha Elliott crossed the line with this. Worse, she didn't learn from her first negative encounter. We wonder what God thinks.

But there is more to come on this subject.

Hot Sexy Teacher Sex

We here at SBSB were saddened by the news in yesterday's New York Post and today's Daily News of alleged sexual trysts female teachers had with their male students. Though these students were above the legal age of consent, we feel that if the charges are proven against these teachers that they both must suffer the consequences.

Of course we all know that sex sells papers, and that teacher sex sells even more papers, especially when the Post of the News is involved. But what really sells papers is the humiliation of women on the front pages of both papers. What is more titillating than reading about a female teacher involved in some type of improper sexual conduct with a male student.? Many years ago when I was in college, my Western Sexuality professor at SUNY-Purchase lamented that men, especially those in a position of power, still wish to control a woman's sexuality and what better way to do it than to humiliate any woman involved in something as we witnessed on the front pages of both papers. Hell, there would have been no front page story to talk of if the sexes were reversed. Mind you, we are not condoning the actions of the teachers, we are just stating an opinion on sexuality in our culture.

This permeates all to this unhealthy infatuation of sex by the powers that are. We hedge to bet that the editors of the Post and the News, one Australian, the other English, (which means they come from the two countries with the lowest forms of journalism) do have serious hangups about sex and by humiliating these teachers feel that this is not only making them feel bigger about their Freudian physical shortcoming, but we are sure they both had a good wank. Never mind that New York Post editor in chief Col Allan has been linked to the "Millionaire Madam."

But there are two disturbing aspects to this mess. We find it to be too much of a coincidence that on Tuesday, the day before the front page story of the Post reached out to slap us, Uncle Mike, through Sock Puppet Walcott decreed that there should be a state law that all teachers are subject to the whims of the chancellor, not arbitrators in any sexual misconduct cases. Asa like when the zaftig Caesar gave a thumbs down to stand up philosopher Comicus, Walcott will sit in judgement of all who comes (pardon the pun) before him. But it gets more disturbing.

Yes, it was a set up Walcott's decree on Tuesday and yesterday's and today's news stories. The Post is all too eager, as well as the News to do the bidding of Uncle Mike. Not only was this a double team (pardon the pun) by the press and the DOE, but how did the Post get the name of this student involved? Of course, in our opinion, it came from whomever at the DOE continuously feeds the "journalists" at the Post teaching hating stories, and this person must be involved with the DOE.

Ergo, this person violated Chancellor's regulation A-820; Confidentiality and Release of Student Records; Records Retention. So not only does the DOE give the student's name for all the world to see, but it shares the school at which this student is enrolled as well as where the student lives.

However, Harris Lirtzman goes to OSI with report to OSI to report that special education students are not getting the services that are required to them by law and brings copies of their IEP's to show proof and what happens? He gets nailed for violating A-820. Can this world of which we are involved in get any more fucked up?

The hypocrisy and the double standard consistently shown by the DOE is just mind numbing at times. How much longer are the vast, vast majority of our colleagues going to just sit around and hide their heads in the sands. The DOE is like an abusive spouse and we as teachers just let the abuse happen. It is time to deal with that abusive spouse, time to not run away, but to take ownership of our careers, of our students education, and to say enough is enough.

Why Does Whitney Tilson Associate With A Known Convicted Criminal?

Every now and then we here at SBSB get an email throwing someone under the bus. Lately, we have a source that is giving away the farm on the machinations of Whitney Tilson. We here at SBSB wish to thank this brave source.

In the latest email from our source, we were told to goggle the phrase; "paragon of integrity Whitney Tilson gets laryngitis" It sure did wet our collective whistles here at SBSB to read such a cryptic phrase. However, like Curious George we just needed to find out what this was all about and where, once we found what we were directed to google, what would it mean?

So we found what it is. A blog article over at Deepcapture entitled; "Paragon of Integrity Whitney Tilson Gets Laryngitis" written by Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne,  who happens to be leading the charge against naked short selling, back in April of 2011. Hmm, we must read this cracked the Crack Team. And we all did.

It seems that Whitney invited Patrick Byrne to speak to the 2nd Annual New York Value Investing Congress back in November of 2006. At the last minute, hedge funders Jim Chanos and David Einhorn (yes, that David Einhorn Mets fans!), that Byrne not be allowed to appear and naturally Whitney "caved and disinvited" Byrne. But why one might ask.

Now bear with me for a moment. Back in 2008, Whitney slammed Byrne, while defending Einhorn. But, Byrne and Deepcapture kept on chugging along. They soon began writing about Sam Antar, the former Crzay Eddie CFO and Barry Minkow, both "hardcore felons." But soon it became evident to Deepcapture that convicted felon Barry Minkow was working for Whitney Tilson, claiming to be doing Whitney's research.

As noted by Florida Judge Gill Freeman;

Fact No. 29: Minkow withheld documents he perceived to be harmful to his case. Among other things, the concealed documents demonstrate:

• that Minkow’s investigators questioned the accuracy of statements of fact he included in his report on Lennar;

• the perfunctory nature of Minkow research and investigation before he accused Lennar and its executives of operating like a ponzi scheme, giving its COO a disguised kickback, being a financial crime in progress, and other statements;”

Deepcapture soon learned that Whitney Tilson had paid $40,000. But as Deepcapture and Byrne asked, "to do what?" And, "What was Whitney paying Minkow for?" In March, 2011 Barry Minkow was arrested, and last week plea bargained his way down to another five years of jailhouse stew.

On March 17, 2011 Patrick Byrne wrote this on Deepcapture; 

Barry Minkow spent last week in plea negotiations regarding a federal indictment on which he is hoping to receive only 5 years, says his lawyer. (LA Weekly: Barry Minkow to plead guilty to insider trading).  In December, 2010, a Florida judge threw her proverbial book at Barry Minkow, and it glanced off Sam Antar, who had been paid Barry’s paymaster to the tune of $250,000, Barry had testified. In addition, the judge found as a matter of fact that Sam Antar destroyed documents necessary for her trial. Minkow also gave sown testimony that well-known New York hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson paid him $40,000: more on this below.

Sam Antar, generally not short of opinion, has suddenly developed laryngitis.

Barry Minkow and Sam Antar are two of the most remarkable swindlers in recent American history, each guilty of frauds measured in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Two decades ago their names gave off the same foul stench that Bernie Madoff’s does today.

Whitney Tilson is invited to explain to DeepCapture’s audience why he would join legendarily convicted financial criminal Sam Antar in making payments to also-legendarily convicted financial criminal  Barry Minkow, who now is pleading guilty to his 58th financial felony. (You know how to reach me, Whitney. DeepCapture will give you 250 words, with no editing. But we may provide commentary.   )

 Then on March20, 2011 Byrne emailed Whitney;

From: Patrick Byrne
Sent: Sunday, March 20, 2011 7:32 PM
To: ‘WTilson@T2PartnersLLC.com’
Cc: ‘feedback@tilsonfunds.com’
Subject: RE: Request for comment on news story

Dear Whitney,

While I am at it, I have two other questions:

1.       You wrote a story ( http://seekingalpha.com/article/80997-nyt-smears-david-einhorn-again ) in which you said:

L) All this is a bit unsatisfying for those who would want to regulate short sellers. But unfortunately, bad news is part of any financial system.

Davidoff is becoming more and more incoherent as he tries to wrap up this hatchet job of a post. He appears to be saying that because the market sometimes (he asserts) is a sucker for media hype (by, I assume, market manipulating short sellers?), there are people who want to regulate short sellers and prevent them from ever saying anything negative about any company. Other than Patrick Byrne, who are these people?

When you wrote this, did you really believe that I “want to regulate short sellers and prevent them from ever saying anything negative about any company.”

a.       If so, on what basis did you ascribe that belief to me?

b.      If not, why did you ascribe the belief to me?

2.       Do you consider Barry Minkow’s plea bargaining to a 5 federal-year prison term (per his lawyer: see Minkow in Plea Talks With U.S. Prosecutors Over Fraud Case, Lawyer Says) an  inappropriate attempt by the federal government to “regulate short sellers and prevent them from ever saying anything negative about a company”?

I look forward to the courtesy of your response. I trust 72 hours will be sufficient.

If you choose to respond on your own blog, I predict you will be so unconfident of your response that you will find a circumlocution to avoid mention of “DeepCapture” (just wanted to get that on the record now).

Very respectfully,

Patrick Byrne

Journalist, DeepCapture.com

Whitney has yet to answer, and as far as we know Whitney will not answer.  Why would Whitney Tilson be associating with people like Barry Manikow ?  Surely Whitney will be the first one calling for a teacher's head if that teacher so much was accused of passing gas in the incorrect manner, so why does Whitney get a free pass.

The Crack Team passed a resolution calling upon Whitney Tilson to explain himself to those of the United States of America and in particular to all those who have lost money due to Whitney alleged mismanagement. We also call upon the SEC, the FBI, and any and all law enforcement agencies to look into Whitney's dealings. Justice must be served. Not tomorrow, not next month, not next year, but now.

Oh, unlike Whitney we hear at SBSB are a bunch of teachers who leave financial stuff to the experts. If anyone would care to expand on the implications and ramifications of Whitney foibles reported here please do not hesitate to email.