Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn Sues Christ The King High School in Queens

Christ the King High School in Middle Village, Queens, is leasing space to a new charter school.

Brooklyn Diocese Sues One of Its High Schools in Queens

By AL BAKER, NY TIMES

LINK

 

For more than 30 years, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and the nonprofit group running Christ the King High School in Queens have acted as one, managing the twin hurdles of declining enrollments and shrinking revenues with a joint aim of fostering parochial education.

But their relationship turned shrill on Monday when the diocese sued the high school in State Supreme Court in Queens, accusing it of flouting an agreement the two sides struck in 1976, when the financially strained diocese shed the day-to-day operations of its six high schools in Brooklyn and Queens.

And much like the debate over the sharing of public school buildings, the fight comes down to space, money and the growth of charter schools.

At the heart of the dispute, according to diocesan officials, is Christ the King’s refusal to turn over nearly half the revenue it is earning by leasing 50,000 square feet of unused space to a charter school that opened in September, the Middle Village Preparatory Charter School. Since it is free, the diocese argues, it could sap students from Catholic elementary schools, which charge tuition.

“That is what brought this legal case to a head,” said Marty McLaughlin, a spokesman for the diocese. “And the reason is that the charters are in direct competition with the diocesan elementary schools.”

Diocesan officials said two other Catholic high schools among the six spun off in 1976 — Bishop Ford and Nazareth in Brooklyn — also rented space to charter schools, but in an accord with the diocese they put 40 percent of their charter revenue into a trust for needy students attending Catholic elementary schools.

The diocese cited the agreement struck with Christ the King 37 years ago that called for a Catholic high school to be run “in and upon the entire premises,” and in its lawsuit, it wants the school to be declared in breach of the agreement, which could give the diocese power to re-establish control of the property.

In a news release, the diocese said other businesses had also cropped up over the years on Christ the King’s campus of about two acres in Middle Village, Queens, including a school of continuing education and a day care center “run by the daughter of the school’s president.”

“We don’t know what’s going on, on what we perceive to be our own property,” Mr. McLaughlin said.

But Thomas V. Ognibene, a former city councilman who is spokesman for Christ the King High School Inc., the nonprofit that runs the school, said that diocese officials “let their rights lapse,” when they did not reaffirm the 1976 agreement in 2006, as the agreement required, an act Mr. McLaughlin conceded the diocese should have carried out sooner. Mr. Ognibene said the diocese did not balk when the day care center opened in 1993, or when the continuing education center opened eight years later.

Mr. Ognibene rejected any suggestion that insider treatment was given to Janine Michel, the daughter of the school president, Michael Michel, and said she had generated $3.7 million in revenue since she took over the day care center a few years ago. He also said the school had sent checks, from charter school revenue, to the diocese in July, August, September and October, an assertion that Mr. McLaughlin disputed.

Mr. Ognibene said Christ the King was paying tuition to some Catholic grammar schools for seven of their students who had switched to the charter school.

“They want the bishop to have the sole right to determine when we can operate the school,” Mr. Ognibene said. “We are very uncomfortable with giving a diocese that is struggling for financial resources the opportunity to declare unilaterally, tomorrow, that, ‘You are no longer operating, give us back the building,’ when we’ve got 1,000 kids in there.”

NJ Teacher Screamed At By Gov. Christie Has Her Say

Gov. Christie and President Obama

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

Letter to Governor Christie from the New Jersey Teacher He Screamed At

LINK

 

Dear Governor Christie,

Yesterday I took the opportunity to come hear you speak on your campaign trail. I have never really heard you speak before except for sound bytes that I get on my computer. I don't have cable, I don't read newspapers. I don't have enough time. I am a public school teacher that works an average of 60 hours a week in my building. Yes, you can check with my principal. I run the after-school program along with my my classroom position. I do even more work when I am at home. For verification of this, just ask my children.

I asked you one simple question yesterday. I wanted to know why you portray NJ Public Schools as failure factories. Apparently that question struck a nerve. When you swung around at me and raised your voice, asking me what I wanted, my first response “I want more money for my students.” Notice, I did not ask for more money for me. I did not ask for my health benefits, my pension, a raise, my tenure, or even my contract that I have not had for nearly three years.

We got into a small debate about how much money has been spent on education. Too me, there is never enough money that is spent on education. To invest in education is to invest in our future. We cannot keep short-changing our children and taking away opportunities for them to explore and learn. As more money is required for state-mandated curriculum changes and high-stakes standardized testing, it is our children that are losing. Programs are being cut all over the state as budget changes are forcing districts to cut music, art, after-school transportation, and youth-centered clubs.

But let's put money aside for a moment. What do I want? What do 'we people' want? We want to be allowed to teach. Do you know that the past two months has been spent of our time preparing and completing paperwork for the Student Growth Objectives? Assessments were created and administered to our students on material that we have not even taught yet. Can you imagine how that made us feel? The students felt like they were worthless for not having any clue how to complete the assessments. The teachers felt like horrible monsters for having to make the students endure this. How is that helping the development of a child? How will that help them see the value in their own self-worth. This futile exercise took time away from planning and preparing meaningful lessons as well as the time spent in class actually completing the assessments. The evaluations have no statistical worth and has even been recognized as such by the NJ Department of Education. I am all for evaluation of a teacher. I recognize that I should be held accountable for my job. This does not worry me, as long as I am evaluated on my methods of teaching. I can not be held wholly accountable for the learning growth of a student when I am not accountable for all of the factors that influence this growth. Are you aware that poverty is the biggest determination of a child's educational success. If not, I suggest you read Diane Ravitch's new book Reign of Error. Take a moment and become enlightened.

Getting back to the issue of money. I am fully aware of our educational budget. Where is all of this money? To me it seems like it is being siphoned right off into the hands of private companies as they reap the benefits of the charter schools and voucher programs that you have put into place. It certainly hasn't gone to improve school conditions in urban areas such as Jersey City. The conditions that these students and teachers are forced to be in are horrifying. Yet you are not allowing the funds needed to improve these conditions. Are you hoping that these schools get closed down and more students are forced to go to private charter schools while the districts are being forced to pay their tuition? I know for a fact that this is what has happened in Camden and Newark. Yet these charter schools are not held to the same accountability as our public schools. Why is that? Because deep down you know that you are not really dealing with the issues that influence a child's education. You are simply putting a temporary band-aid into place. Unfortunately that temporary fix is already starting to be exposed as Charter Schools are showing that they actually are not able to do better than public schools.

You are setting up teachers to take the blame for all of this. You have portrayed us as greedy, lazy money-draining public servants that do nothing. I invite you to come do my job for one week Governor Christie. I invite you to come see my students, see how little they really have during the school day as they are being forced to keep learning for a single snapshot of their educational worth. For that one end-all, be-all test, the NJASK. The one that the future of my job and my life is now based upon.

Why do you portray schools as failure factories? What benefit do you reap from this? Have you acquired financial promises for your future campaigns as you eye the presidential nomination? Has there been back-room meetings as you agree to divert public funds to private companies that are seeking to take over our public educational system? This is my theory. To accomplish all of this, you are setting up the teachers to take the blame. Unfortunately, you are not the only governor in our country that has this agenda.

What do “we people' want, Governor Christie? We want our schools back. We want to teach. We want to be allowed to help these children to grow, educationally, socially, and emotionally. We want to be respected as we do this, not bullied.

BadAss Teacher,

Melissa Tomlinson

Common Core Critic: November 18, 2013 is "Don't Send Your Child To School Day"

Common Core Critic's Latest Posts
Common Core Critic

IT’S OFFICIAL… the national “Don’t Send Your Child To School Day” has been set for NOVEMBER 18, 2013!!!

Filed in Common Core  by Common Core Critic  on October 28, 2013
Please protest Common Core on a national level by celebrating,

“DON’T SEND YOUR CHILD TO SCHOOL DAY”

NOVEMBER 18, 2013

 

 

 

This event is part of a national protest against the Common Core State Standards and it will take place in every state across this great country!

The eighteenth of November is significant to our movement, not only because this is the first day of American Education Week, but it is also Revolution Day!!  Organizers are encouraging parents, students, teachers, and others to join the cause…

Please participate in this event and encourage everyone you know to do the same!  We recommend that you keep your children out of school on November 18th and help us send a message to the federal government.  We the people want evidence-based curriculum that is locally controlled and which does not require data mining our children.  Instead of sending your children to school on November 18th, get your children out in public and raise awareness by educating others on the dangers of the Common Core State Standards!!!

SAY NO TO COMMON CORE!
Click here to join this EVENT on Facebook!
Click here to join the Facebook GROUP, Common Core Critics!

New York City Conflicts of Interest Board Cites Misuse of City Position, Misuse of Resources, and Other Corrupt Practices

The NYC Conflicts of Interest Board has a complaint office which accepts evidence of various corrupt practices   New York City Conflicts of Interest Board     A critical component of the work of the Conflicts of Interest Board involves its Enforcement function. The Enforcement Unit of the Board is responsible for and committed to identifying, investigating, prosecuting, and penalizing violations of City of New York's Conflicts of Interest Law. The Enforcement Unit receives complaints, both written and oral -- and even anonymous ones -- of violations of the Conflicts of Interest Law from City employees, the media, and members of the public. The Enforcement Unit reviews each complaint individually and refers it to the Department of Investigation ("DOI"), the Board's confidential investigative arm, for investigation and report. Once a complaint has been investigated, if warranted, the Enforcement Unit will pursue confidential administrative enforcement proceedings against the alleged violators of the Conflicts of Interest Law. A current or former public servant who violates the Conflicts of Interest Law may be subject to serious penalties. The Board may fine a public servant up to $25,000 for each violation of the Conflicts of Interest Law and may recommend to his or her agency that he or she be suspended or fired. In addition, the law contains a "disgorgement" provision, under which the Board may require a person who profited from violating the Conflicts of Interest Law to pay all of the profits to the city.  Such payment would be in addition to payment of any fine levied for the violation.  A violation of the Conflicts of Interest Law could also result in the public servant's City agency, on its own initiative, suspending or firing the public servant under the agency's disciplinary process.  A violation of the Conflicts of Interest Law is also a crime, a misdemeanor that the District Attorney's Office may prosecute; upon conviction, a public servant may be fined and sent to jail and lose his or her City job. The Board may also void any contract or transaction that violates the Conflicts of Interest Law. In order to report a Conflict of Interest violation, you may: Call or write the Conflicts of Interest Board, 2 Lafayette Street, Suite 1010, NY, NY, 10007, (212) 442-1400.  You may also email the Board directly.    Call the Department of Investigation, 24 hours a day, at(212) 825-5959; and/or Call the Inspector General of your agency (you can find your Inspector General's name and telephone number onDOI's website) All complaints are confidential.

Key Enforcement Resources Below are links to more information on the COIB's Enforcement Unit, including a searchable index of all of its Enforcement cases. ●  Enforcement: A Plain Language Leaflet (in PDF) ●  Enforcement: Current Chapter from the COIB Monograph (inPDF) ●  Enforcement Case Summaries (in PDF) ●  Enforcement Fines (in PDF) ●  Enforcement Dispositions (Searchable via New York Law School's "CityLaw" Website) ●  Executive Order No. 16 (Department of Investigation)  Legal Analysis ● "Enforcement" Section of the Board's Current Monograph (in PDF) ● Enforcement Case Summaries (in PDF) ● Enforcement Fines (listing every fine from the Board's inception through to the present) (in PDF)Plain Language Enforcement Materials● "Enforcement" Leaflet (in PDF) ● Ask the City Ethicist: Enforcement (3/06) (in PDF) ● Enforcement Complaint Flow Chart (in PDF) ● Agency Referral Flow Chart (in PDF)General Articles on Enforcement of Ethics Laws● Enforcement: An Indispensable Component in the Success of Municipal Ethics Boards (in PDF)   Summaries (do not list names)   Network Leader Fined $4000  NYC Assistant Principal Fined $3500

Campell Brown Hides Husband Dan Senor As She Attacks Teachers

Campbell Brown

Who's Really Behind Campbell Brown's Sneaky Education Outfit?

The former CNN anchor says her nonprofit seeks to protect kids from predators in the classroom. Its real agenda may be union-busting.

LINK

Early one morning in July, former CNN anchor Campbell Brown appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe, pen in hand, notes fanned out in front of her. Viewers might have mistaken her as a fill-in host, but Brown had swung by 30 Rock in her new role as a self-styled education reformer, a crusader against sexual deviants in New York City public schools and the backward unions and bureaucrats getting in the way of firing them. "In many cases, we have teachers who were found guilty of inappropriate touching, sexual banter with kids, who weren't fired from their jobs, who were given very light sentences and sent back to the classroom," Brown, the mother of two young sons, explained.

Brown was there to plug her new venture, the Parents' Transparency Project, a nonprofit "watchdog group" that "favors no party, candidate, or incumbent." Though its larger aim is to "bring transparency" to how contracts are negotiated with teachers' unions, PTP's most prominent campaign is to fix how New York City handles cases of sexual misconduct involving teachers and school employees—namely by giving the city's schools chancellor, a political appointee, ultimate authority in the process.

Shortly after it was launched in June, PTP trained its sights on the New York mayoral race, asking the candidates to pledge to change the firing process for school employees accused of sexual misconduct. When several Democratic candidates declined, perhaps fearing they'd upset organized labor, PTP spent $100,000 on a television attack adquestioning whether six candidates, including Republican Joe Lhota and Democrats Bill de Blasio and Anthony Weiner, had "the guts to stand up to the teachers' unions." The spot stated that there had been 128 cases of sexual misconduct by school employees in the past five years, suggesting that nothing had been done in response. "It's a scandal," the ad's narrator intoned. "And the candidates are silent."

PTP spent $100,000 on an attack ad questioning whether candidates like Bill de Blasio and Joe Lhota had "the guts to stand up to the teachers' unions."

Before founding PTP, Brown raised this issue in a Wall Street Journal op-ed in July 2012. But what she failed to disclose was that her husband, Dan Senor, sits on the board of the New York affiliate of StudentsFirst, an education lobbying group founded by Michelle Rhee, the controversial former Washington, DC, chancellor. Rhee made a name for herself as public enemy No. 1 of the teachers' unions and has become the torchbearer of the charter school movement. In 2012, her "bipartisan grassroots organization" backed 105 candidates in state races, 88 percent of them Republicans. (Senor was also thespokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority following the invasion of Iraq and served as a foreign policy adviser to Mitt Romney in 2012.)

Writing in Slate, Brown, a veteran journalist, confessed to being naive about the standards for revealing a potential conflict of interest: "If you live in the overlapping world of politics and media, as I am learning, anything less than full transparency can potentially do you in." She still managed to get in a few digs at the unions. "I failed to disclose," she wrote, "because I stupidly did not connect the teachers' unions' opposition to charter schools to their support for a system that protects teachers who engage in sexual misconduct."

But there is much more about PTP that is less than transparent, including its sources of funding and its overall agenda. As a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, PTP may keep its donors' identities secret and spend money in electoral campaigns, so long as political activity doesn't consume the majority of its time and money.

Despite its nonpartisan billing, Brown's nonprofit used Revolution Agency, a Republican consulting firm, to produce the mayoral attack ad. Its partners include Mike Murphy, a well-known pundit and former Romney strategist; Mark Dion, former chief of staff to Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.); and Evan Kozlow, former deputy director of the National Republican Congressional Committee. The domain name for PTP's website was registered by two Revolution employees: Jeff Bechdel, Mitt Romney's former Florida spokesman, and Matt Leonardo, who describes himself as "happily in self-imposed exile from advising Republican candidates."

Brown failed to disclose that her husband sits on the board of the New York affiliate of Michelle Rhee's education lobbying group.

Another consulting firm working with Brown's group is Tusk Strategies, which helped launch Rhee's StudentsFirst. Advertising disclosure forms filed by PTP list Tusk's phone number, and a copy of PTP's sexual-misconduct pledge—since scrubbed from its website—identified its author as a Tusk employee. (Tusk and Revolution declined to comment. Brown referred all questions to her PR firm—the same one used by StudentsFirst.)

What about Brown's allegation that the New York schools did nothing about 128 cases of sexual misconduct? It turns out that in 33 of those cases, the employee in question had been fired, the New York Timesreported. Many of the others were disciplined.

Brown's group paints the unions as the main obstacles to a crackdown on predators. Yet Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, says that the union's New York City chapter already has a zero-tolerance policy in its contract, and that AFT only protects its members against "false allegations." New York state law also mandates that any teacher convicted of a sex crime be automatically fired. It is the law, not union contracts, that requires that an independent arbitrator hear and mete out punishment in cases of sexual misconduct that fall outside criminal law. The quickest route to changing that policy may be lobbying lawmakers in Albany, not hammering teachers and their unions.

Before Brown left CNN three years ago, her evening news show carried a memorable tagline: "No bias. No bull." She can't say the same for her foray into the education wars.

ANDY KROLL

Reporter

Andy Kroll is a reporter at Mother Jones. For more of his stories, click here. Email him with tips and insights at akroll (at) motherjones (dot) com. Follow him on Twitter here. RSS | TWITTER

Indiana's Glenda Ritz and Her Lawsuit Against the State Board of Education Could Change Open Door Policy in Government

Indiana: Does the Public Have a Right to Know What Public Officials Do? by dianerav

LINK

State Superintendent of Instruction Glenda Ritz is suing because the state board of education, appointed by Governors Mitch Daniels and Mike Pence, took a vote to strip her of any role on reviewing the A-F grading system when she was not present. She is the chair of the board, by law. The decision was made in secret, without an open meeting.

Indiana Lesley Weidenbrener says the suit raises important questions:

"if a judge decides what the board did is legal, it could set a dangerous precedent for other public groups and may call for legislators to rethink the Open Door Law.

"After all, what would stop city council members from simply circulating a letter to approve a contract for snow removal? Or why couldn’t the Indiana Gaming Commission vote to discipline a blackjack dealer who broke the rules by just emailing the proposed punishment around to members?

"For that matter, why would a board ever really need to meet again at all if the members could take care of business through email?

"Sound extreme? Of course it does. And the action taken by 10 members of the State Board of Education was nothing like approving a contract, spending money or issuing a penalty.

"The members requested that the legislative branch get involved in a Department of Education function. They didn’t even have the authority to demand that lawmakers get involved.

"Still, there’s a reason these types of actions are supposed to take place in public.

"In a democracy, constituents and the media are responsible for holding their elected officials — and often appointed officials — accountable for their actions. That’s tough to do if the public can’t see the actions taking place.

"In addition, most government bodies let the public weigh in before they take action. That won’t happen when the decision is made through an email exchange.

"So this case is one to watch — not just because of the impact it could have on education and state politics. It’s also about the public’s right to know and it could affect every layer of government in Indiana."

The bottom line is that Governor Mike Pence will go to any extreme--including breaking the law--to strip Ritz of the powers of the office to which she was elected by the people of Indiana.

See previous post:

Indiana's Superintendent Files A Lawsuit Against the State Board of Education

Indiana Governor Mike Pence

Diana Ravitch's Blog

Governor Mike Pence, in his continuing efforts to make sure that the duly elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz is stripped of her constitutional authority as chair of the state board of education, has encouraged the state board to hold secret meetings when Ritz was not present.

At a recent meeting, the Pence board voted to transfer authority over the A-F grading system from the board to the state legislature. This is the same grading system that was created and manipulated by former Superintendent Tony Bennett to protect the charter school of a campaign contributor.

Superintendent Ritz issued the following press release today:

INDIANA SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION GLENDA RITZ FILES SUIT AGAINST GOVERNOR PENCE’S STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Daniel Altman

Press Secretary

(317) 232-0550

daltman@doe.in.gov

Superintendent Glenda Ritz

INDIANAPOLIS – In response to apparent violations of the Open Door Law by members of the State Board of Education, Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz filed suit today naming ten members of the Board as defendants.  The lawsuit alleges that the named members of the State Board violated Indiana’s Open Door Law by taking action in secret by drafting, or directing the drafting of, a letter they sent to President Pro Tempore Long and Speaker Bosma dated October 16, 2013.  The suit seeks to prevent the State Board of Education from continued violations of the Open Door Law and declaratory relief.

Glenda Ritz

Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that ten members of the State Board violated Indiana’s Open Door Law when they took action by requesting that Senator Long and Speaker Bosma appoint Indiana’s Legislative Services Agency to perform calculations to determine the 2012-2013 A-F grades for Indiana schools.  The suit alleges that no public notice was issued for a meeting that allowed for this action and that Superintendent Ritz was not made aware of this action until after it was taken, despite her role as Chair of the State Board of Education.

“When I was sworn in to office, I took an oath to uphold the laws of the State of Indiana,” said Superintendent Ritz.  “I take this oath very seriously and I was dismayed to learn that other members of the State Board have not complied with the requirements of the law.  While I respect the commitment and expertise of members of the board individually, I feel they have over-stepped their bounds.

“Since my inauguration, I have worked tirelessly to communicate openly with the Board and the public.  I do not take this action lightly, but my obligations as elected state Superintendent require it.   I look forward to continuing to work to improve education for all Indiana students in a fair, transparent and collaborative manner.”

The suit is Ritz v. Elsener, et al and it has been filed in the Marion Circuit Court.  The cause number is 49C01-1310-PL-038953.  The Department of Education is using in-house counsel to avoid any additional costs to the state.

NYS Ed Commissioner John King Renews His Listening Tour

New York Principal Sounds Off at First of King!s New Listening Tours: by dianerav LINK NYS Commissioner John King After Commissioner John King had a disastrous meeting with parents in Poughkeepsie, he canceled his remaining five open meetings. But the Board of Regents decided what was needed was even more meetings, so King is now holding more meetings around the state, though so far not in New York City. At his first new round of meetings, one principal got up and spoke fearlessly about what was happening in the state. This was his statement: "Dr. King, My name is Tim Farley, from Kinderhook, NY, and I am the proud father of four school-aged children and I happen to be an educator of 22 years. Since this is now a listening tour, I would like to offer you three suggestions from the field followed by a question. 1. We do not want your corporately-backed Common Core. We don't like it. We don't like it as parents and we certainly don't like it as educators. Common Core has not been properly field tested and we do not want our children used as guinea pigs for one of Bill Gates' newest whims. 2. We do not want inBloom or any 3rd party vendor to have access to our children's once private and confidential information. We know it's now legal because those in power literally changed federal law in 2011 just so they can do what they are currently doing. We demand and immediate cease and desist on this wide-spread data collection and specifically, the now mandated "Data Dashboard". 3. We demand an end to high stakes testing. It isn't NYSUT that wants to curtail tying student scores to teachers' ratings of effectiveness; it is us, the parents. We know that the ratings are meaningless and it is unfair to the students and to the teachers. Now for my question: We know that the NYS Education Department used SAT scores of 560 in reading, 540 in writing, and 530 in mathematics, as the college readiness benchmarks to help set the "passing" cut scores on the 3-8 NYS Tests. These NYSED scores, totaling 1630, are FAR higher than the College Board's own "college readiness" proficiency cut scores for students as young as 9 years of age. Why did you anchor the cut scores to 1630 on the SATs instead of the College Board's 1550? And I have NYSED's benchmark study here for your reference. Thank you."