Good Day. Much has happened over the last few week as we turn the corner in mid-summer.
Contract Issues
We have had a few negotiating sessions and we have scheduled an additional four full day sessions before the opening of school. We have made a little progress, but not nearly enough.
BTU Elementary Field Rep., Michael McLaughlin, reminds all permanent excessed teachers without assignment to contact HR’s Debbie Pullen at BPS/HR dept, (617-635-9600) to confirm that HR has your current contact information. BPS claims that some teachers are still unassigned due to incorrect phone numbers and addresses. Any questions, please call Michael or Caren at 617-288-2000.
Provisional teachers who have not yet been called back to work are reminded that vacancies continue opening up through the summer until December 1. Provisional teachers are encouraged to call the BTU or email Caren or Michael if they have any questions.
School Closing and Redeployment News
You may have thought that we were done with this story for a while….not the case
The Superintendent announced (see the Boston Globe article) on July 20 that Boston Arts Academy would be leaving the building it shares with Fenway HS and would be moving to the building that Boston Latin Academy (BLA) currently inhabits. BLA would move to the site of the former Hyde Park High School. Why? It seems that the state did not take too kindly to the city’s abandoning the Hyde Park High building for which the state had just spent tens of millions in repair. (See the state’s rules on abandoning buildings after receiving building assistance funding)
The Superintendent also announced a plan to open two more Horace Mann Charter Schools and give one to UP Academy Charter (its second charter) and another to BTR, which will replace the proposal for the Innovation School BTR had previously sought at the site of the Emerson Elementary School.
A question arose at the School Committee meeting as to why UP Academy Charter was getting a second school when it had no record of achievement for its first school, slated to open this fall. We applaud School Committee members “ Michael O’Neill and Claudio Martinez “ for raising this point even though all seven committee members ultimately voted unanimously for the UP proposal. (Ed Note: All School Committee votes tend to be unanimous.)
(To see more on UP Academy Charter, seebelow.)
UP Academy Charter Receives 2nd No-Bid Contract
UP Academy Charter has been tentatively given a 2nd no-bid contract by the appointed Boston School Committee. UP1 is slated to take over the Gavin School site this fall. UP2 will be given as of yet undetermined 700-seat elementary school in 2012-2013 if it gets, as predicted, state approval this year. The vote by the state is scheduled for 2/18/12.
So what does UP1 have planned for the Gavin? You can read its entire application here.
And you can read here, in an excerpt from their application, how UP expects its teachers to work from 7:15 AM to 5:30 PM “ but only 9 hours are required! “ every day for no additional compensation. Well, let’s be transparent: a minimum bonus of $500 will be given to all teachers “ but that’s for 20 8-hour days of summer PD. But wait, there’s more! There are an additional 5 days of school year PD, plus much more you can read for yourselves on pages 212, 213 of their application.
This is neither reform nor innovation. It is rank exploitation. Shame on our city leaders for trying to take advantage of its professional workforce.
Appointed School Committee Gears Up for More School Closing Hearings “ Wants to Enforce Rules of “Etiquette” for Spectators
What do all of these proposed school changes mean? There will be presumably many more schools closings this fall “ and more school closing hearings.
Last year, prodded by the business community and the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, the school department argued that it had to eliminate so-called surplus capacity, so it proposed closing a good number of schools. Parents, teachers, and students were outraged and fought back. The school department modified its proposal, but still closed many schools.
With these latest proposed changes, the school department has increased capacity “ adding capacity to BAA, Fenway, as well as creating a brand new school, UP2. You can count therefore on the school department’s attempting to close even more schools this fall.
As if to portend that outcome, the Boston School Committee, which has traditionally held school-closing hearings prior to voting to close schools, has indicated that it wants to create rules of spectator conduct and etiquette at these meetings, which have been, let’s say, rather lively, in the past. Booing, prolonged clapping and sign holding may be outlawed if some School Committee members have their way.
Read more and stay tuned as this exercise in Totalitarianism plays itself out.
DC ‘Save Our Schools’ March and Rally Draws 5000
Last weekend in DC, the SOS (Save our Schools) march took place. Thirty BTU members joined more than 5,000 teachers, parents, students, and supporters of public education from across the country who marched in the blistering heat of Washington DC on July 30 at the Save Our Schools Rally. (A big thank you to Garret Virchick who coordinated the BTU’s effort.)
The main demands of the rally included a call for equitable funding for public schools and an end to high stakes testing for student, teacher and school evaluations. Marchers demanded an end to privatization schemes that threaten to destroy public education.
Massachusetts own Matt Damon kicked off the rally with an impassioned speech in support of our profession. Among his points: “I shudder to think that these (standardized) tests are being used today to control where funding goes…
BTU Members Needed to Volunteer at New Teacher Institute
The BTU is looking for volunteers to welcome new staff at the New teacher Orientation, to be held this year at Bunker Hill Community College on August 23, 24, and 25. Customarily we ask people to volunteer for up to two hours either from 8-10 AM, 10 Am -12 noon , or 12 noon -2 PM, on any or all of the three days. If you are interested, please email here. Thank you. Parking costs will be reimbursed.
Education in the News
More Testing Leads to More Cheating
from the NY Times:
“…People trust Ms. Mezzacappa to get it right. After the panel discussion, an executive for a testing security company suggested she ask state officials if they had done a study flagging schools with suspicious numbers of erasures on state tests. In May, the state responded, sending Ms. Mezzacappa a file so large she needed technical assistance to download it.
For two months, that 2009 study sat unexamined. (Being one-third of the reporting staff, Ms. Mezzacappa doesn’t have a ton of free time.) Then last month, The Notebook’s editor, Paul Socolar, entered into a partnership with the local public radio station, WHYY, which enabled him to hire a fourth reporter, Benjamin Herold.
Mr. Herold’s first day was July 6. On July 8 about 9:30 a.m., Ms. Mezzacappa suggested he look at the enormous state file, and by 11:30 that night The Notebook had posted its biggest scoop. A total of 89 schools – 28 in Philadelphia – had been flagged by the state for, among other things, an improbably high number of erasures, as well as questionable gains on reading and math tests.
Mr. Socolar, a data fanatic, calculated that at some of these schools, the odds that the erasures had happened randomly were one in 100 trillion, and Ms. Mezzacappa verified those numbers with Andrew Porter, the dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania.
And that is how Pennsylvania became the latest in a growing list of states facing a cheating scandal…”
Charter School Students: Get in With the Program or Leave
From the NY TImes:
“In 2008, when Katherine Sprowal’s son, Matthew, was selected in a lottery to attend the Harlem Success Academy 3 charter school, she was thrilled. “I felt like we were getting the best private school, and we didn’t have to pay for it,” she recalled.
And so, when Eva S. Moskowitz, the former city councilwoman who operates seven Success charter schools in Harlem and the Bronx, asked Ms. Sprowal to be in a promotional video, she was happy to be included.
Matthew is bright but can be disruptive and easily distracted. It was not a natural fit for the Success charters, which are known for discipline and long school days. From Day 1 of kindergarten, Ms. Sprowal said, he was punished for acting out.
“They kept him after school to practice walking in the hallway,” she said. Several times, she was called to pick him up early, she said, and in his third week he was suspended three days for bothering other children.
In Matthew’s three years of preschool, Ms. Sprowal said, he had never missed time for behavior problems. “After only 12 days in your school,” she wrote the principal, “you have assessed and concluded that our son is defective and will not meet your school criteria.”
Read more. . .
Study: LA Charter School Teachers “ “We’re Outta here”
“Teachers in Los Angeles Unified School District’s charter schools are up to three times more likely to leave their school at year’s end compared with their peers in other LAUSD schools, according to a University of California, Berkeley, report released today…”
Read more. See the entire study.
BTU Members in Action: Political
Volunteer for BTU-Endorsed Candidates, Steve Murphy, Felix Arroyo and Tito Jackson!
At the June 8th membership meeting, the BTU membership voted to endorse Steve Murphy (At-Large Boston City Council Candidate), Felix Arroyo (At-Large Boston City Council Candidate), and Tito Jackson (District 7 Boston City Council Candidate).
Steve Murphy: The BTU is eager to help Steve Murphy in his re-election bid for City Council and are looking for volunteers! BTU members interested in becoming more involved in Steve’s campaign are asked to contact Angela Cristiani or call 617.288.2000 her at the BTU office.
Felix Arroyo is hosting an open house on Wednesday, August 3 from 5-8 PM at his new campaign office in Jamaica Plain at 183 Green St (a half a block from the Green St. T Stop)! BTU members are encouraged to stop by, learn more about Felix and see how to be more involved. Additionally, nightly phone banks on behalf of Felix are being held Monday through Thursday evenings 5:30-8:30 PM throughout the month of August at SEIU Local 615 at 26 West St near Downtown Crossing. For more information please contact Ian Sample at Felix’s campaign office at 617.983.8683
Tito Jackson: For more information to volunteer, contact Tito’s campaign office at 1.617.708.1809.
BTU Members in Action: Charitable
Join the BTU’s Fight Against Cancer
BTU needs your support to make our fourth year as a sponsor of the American Cancer Society’s annual “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” Walk huge success! We know that many of you already participate in the walk in tribute to your loved ones affected by this deadly disease. On the walk this October 2, 2011, we would like you to join us under the BTU banner as we do our part as a unified group to combat breast cancer.
There are many ways to support our efforts. Find out how to be a part of the BTU sponsorship.
Besides participating in the actual walk, you can also show your support by making a financial contribution. Our goal this year is to raise $20,000. Last year we raised $10,000 and with your support and contributions I know we can reach our new goal!
Everyday at our schools we do something to transform the world! Let’s show everyone what happens when educators come together to make a difference. See you at the walk!
Email Brenda Chaney or call her a t617-922-1275
Boston Union Teacher, Website Win Awards
Congratulations to the Boston Union Teacher. Our newspaper won 3 awards in this year’s American Federation of Teachers’ Communicators Network contest. Mary Glynn won a Best Photo award for her photo entitled “Underfunded Equals Underperforming” (see photo on the right).
Garret Virchick won a Best Editorial award for his 3-part commentary entitled “Exposing The Man Behind The Curtain: What’s Behind Education Reform? This editorial was also chosen to receive an Excellence Award.
In addition the AFTCN also awarded our union Best Website. The website is designed by Linda Roistacher, parent of two BPS graduates.
Kudos to co-editors Michael Maguire and Garret Virchick for publishing an excellent newspaper every month, as well as the great stable of writers who work with them.