Students Matter Joins the Anti-Tenure Lawsuit in New York City. Now, this is War

The anti-tenure, wealthy and powerful folk who would never send their children to public school, are jumping in to the frivolous, ridiculous and wrong lawsuit filed by pawn Mona Davids.

I wonder, how many of the new Plaintiffs have children in the public school system in New York?

Betsy Combier

The Frivolous Case of NYC Parent Mona Davids
v Tenure

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 6, 2014 CONTACT: Manny Rivera MRivera@wearerally.com or 323-892-2080 Students Matter to Join New York Education Lawsuit, Davids v. State of  New York On the Heels of the Historic Victory in Vergara v. California, Students Matter Will Support New York Education Lawsuit Campbell Brown   NEW YORK, NY – Today, Students Matter, the organizational sponsor of the  successful education equality lawsuit, Vergara v. California, announced that it would support the plaintiffs in Davids v. New York, et al, a lawsuit filed in Staten Island Supreme Court on July 3rd. This is the second lawsuit supported by Students Matter and the first since the victory in Vergara on June 10th. Filed against the State of New York, the New York Board of Regents, the New York State Education Department, the City of New York and the New York City Department of Education, Davids v. New York seeks to declare unconstitutional certain statutes in New York’s Educational Law that deny New York students the fundamental right to a sound education required by Article XI, §1 of the New York Constitution.  Similar to Vergara, Davids asks the court to strike down certain New York statutes that effectively prevent the removal of ineffective teachers from the classroom and, in economic downturns, require layoffs of more competent teachers.  The Challenged Statutes prevent school administrators from prioritizing—or even meaningfully considering—the interests of their students in having effective teachers when making dismissal and layoff decisions. Together and independently, these laws—New York Education Law Sections 1102(3), 2509, 2573, 2590(j), 3012, 3014, 3020-a, and 3013(2)—have a substantially negative impact on students’ education by keeping ineffective teachers in the classroom and dismissing effective teachers that deliver a sound education. The legal team spearheading Davids v. New York will be led by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher attorneys Theodore J. Boutrous, lead counsel for the plaintiffs in Vergara, and Randy Mastro, one of the leading trial attorneys in the country and former Deputy Mayor of New York City.  They will be joined by other members of the Vergara legal team, including Marcellus A. McRae, who served as lead co-counsel for the plaintiffs in Vergara.  Mr. Boutrous was also one of the principal attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the successful federal constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage. “As in Vergara, we plan to show that New York’s current education system does not serve the needs of kids and in fact prevents them from accessing a sound education,” said Mr. Boutrous.  “Research shows without a doubt that teacher quality is the number one in-school determinant of educational effectiveness. The system created by New York’s laws restricts access to quality teachers and detracts from the overriding purpose of New York’s education system: to serve the best interest of students.” “This is the civil rights issue that will define our children's futures, as we fight to protect and guarantee the right of students to a sound education,” said Mr. Mastro. “We are proud to join that fight here in New York, representing these concerned students and parents. The time is now to vindicate their rights and make students our top priority."  “We are thrilled to see the conversation that started in a California courtroom throughVergara picking-up steam in New York,” added Mr. McRae. “We look forward to presenting overwhelming evidence in the courtroom—an environment removed from rhetoric and hyperbole—to show the significant and long-term harm these laws have on our students.” The Plaintiffs in the Davids case are eleven public school children from New York City.  As students in New York public schools, each Plaintiff has been harmed, or is at substantial risk of being harmed, as a result of the Challenged Statutes. The case was filed with the support of the New York City Parents Union, a parent-led organization dedicated to ensuring every child receives equal access to a high-quality public education. “The Vergara decision in California was a ground-breaking victory affirming that the needs of students should be first and foremost in our education system,” said Mona Davids, President of the New York City Parents Union.   “We are delighted that Students Matter and their legal team have accepted our invitation to join this case.  Their significant experience in breaking down the barriers to change in California will serve our students and our state well.” Since Davids was filed in early July, a similar complaint supported by Partnership for Educational Justice was filed in Albany County Supreme Court.  David Boies, who is serving as Chair of Partnership for Educational Justice, previously joined with Mr. Boutrous and Gibson Dunn to return marriage equality to California in the Proposition 8 case.   “We look forward to working with David and all of the other attorneys, organizations, and government officials committed to ensuring that all students have access to the best education possible,” added Mr. Boutrous. Recent studies have confirmed that the key determinant of educational effectiveness is teacher quality. Students taught by effective teachers are more likely to attend college, attend higher-ranked colleges, earn higher salaries, reside in higher socioeconomic status neighborhoods, and save for retirement.  Students taught by grossly ineffective teachers suffer lifelong problems and fail to recover from this disadvantage. “I am a child of our public education and know first-hand the importance of a good education and great teachers on a student’s life trajectory,” said David F. Welch, founder of Students Matter. "I believe great teachers should be protected, but I also believe that our public education systems have failed to put the needs and success of our students above all else by being blind to the quality of our teachers.  We have a responsibility to ensure that state law—whether in New York or California—guarantees that the needs of students comes first and that every student has access to an effective teacher." The historic decision in Vergara struck down five harmful provisions of the California Education Code as unconstitutional.  According to the Court, the laws in question—laws that govern teacher tenure, dismissal, and layoffs—impose substantial harm on California’s students by forcing administrators to push passionate, inspiring teachers out of the school system and keep grossly ineffective teachers in front of students year after year. During trial, Plaintiffs presented overwhelming evidence that California’s statutes dealing with teacher dismissal and permanent employment impose a real harm on students and their fundamental right to equality in education.  Importantly, the Vergara trial showed that these laws harm both students and teachers, and that they serve no necessary purpose. Read the Amended Complaint in Davids v. New York.   Students Matter is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to sponsoring impact litigation to promote access to quality public education. Learn more at studentsmatter.org.

The DOE Scripts on How To Get Rid of an "Incompetent" Teacher

Reposted for your information:

The Performance Management Program Manual handed out by the DOE to help Principals and Superintendants to get rid of teachers has the PIP+ letter inside.

PIP+ is a program designed to terminate teachers at 3020-a.

The Performance Management manual has the scripts to help DOE administrators get rid of a tenured teacher.

Betsy Combier

The Script: How To Get Rid Of An "Incompetent" Teacher

The NYC Teacher Performance Management Termination Script
Parentadvocates.org
LINK

 The How To Get Rid Of Tenured Teachers document scripts the entire process of getting rid of a teacher who is, according to somebody with power and influence, "incompetent" - whatever that means. In NYC Mayor Bloomberg leaves nothing to chance. He wants tenure to end, and I have the scripts written as "letters" where principals fill in the blanks.
The UFT is as much at fault here as the NYC Department of Education, because Mike Mulgrew, Ellie Engler, Mike Mendel, Claude Hersh and Richard Casagrande (NYSUT) allowed the PIP+ process (a violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement evaluations clause) and the "guidelines" posted below to be used against any teacher, not defined as good or bad by any data or facts.
 
Betsy Combier

The NYC Teacher Performance Management Termination Script

As most people now know, the NYC Department of Education wants to get rid of all tenured employees of the Department. These people are, it is said, lazy, incompetent, and harmful to the health, safety, and welfare of children, and should never have been given a job for life (tenured position).

In fact, the NYC DOE wants teachers with tenure out so badly that they will gladly alter your performance record and change your U ratings to S ratings if you sign your name to a settlement agreement saying you will immediately and irrevocably resign. And you can never sue the Department for any reason.

As I have written many times before, this is a sad joke on the employee, who, thinking that the settlement is a great idea, signs it, and then cannot get a job anywhere else. Why? Because he/she did not demand a giveback - his/her removal from the "Ineligible/Inquiry List". This List is the same as the anti-communist protests of the '50's under Joseph McCarthy. There is no rational reason for the mobbing of individuals simply because they used to work for the Department of Education.

Yet, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) may deny that the Ineligible/Inquiry List exists, so that Special Representatives may continue to earn astonishing sums of money (members' dues) while doing nothing. All the UNITY caucus and UFT Special Reps. say in private that every re-assigned member is "guilty" of whatever is charged against them. There is no effort to help any member win his/her U-rating appeal, grievance, or 3020-a, for that matter. And, it does not matter if this is unfair, as can be seen in the Special Complaint filed by Gail Friedman. The 2005 UFT contract took away the right to grieve "unfairness".

Anyway, the basic bottom line is, to get tenured (and expensive) teachers out of the system in order to hire two newbie teachers for the price of one. The rating and evaluation processes have nothing to do with individual performance. A person may be Teacher of The Year, but if he/she makes too much money, out he/she must go.

Of course Mayor Bloomberg is a control freak. He does not have too much faith in the capabilities of anyone to accomplish quickly and efficiently what he wants (i.e., get rid of tenure and tenured teachers). Therefore, he created the Teacher Performance Unit in 2007, and opened a new floor - the 7th - at 51 Chambers Street to accommodate the expedited hearings under the TPU, the "incompetency" 3020-a.
These are all expedited and there is no room for error.

Mike Bloomberg had his underlings create a script for all the Principals who may not be aware of how to quickly get rid of a teacher in the building. The Office of Labor Relations is at the same location as the Gotcha Squad, and drew up, in 2007, the document below. I was given this document several months ago by a principal.

I turned around the first couple of pages from the original, in order to make for easier reading:

Performance Management 

Saturday, January 12, 2013

The Gotcha Squad and How the TPU Charges Teachers

To the New York State legislature: 
please review and change the 3020-a/grievance/U-rating Appeal process! As it exists right now, this process is not fair, balanced, factual, rational or beneficial to children who need to have good teachers in their classrooms.

Thank you.

Betsy Combier

With the talk about evaluation and teacher performance coming to the deadline for getting $millions here in NYC, I am listing the documents which I have posted on my website (Parentadvocates.org) and this blog that are important to the argument that teachers have not been fairly assessed, and tenure rights have been generally ignored under the umbrella of a sham version of "due process".

The RMC Contracts and Training Manual for the PIP+, TAC memos, Performance Management document, and the Office of Labor Relations' Disciplining Teachers are all now available to anyone.

So is the package which is created to charge teachers.

These documents reveal that there is, actually, no data being used to assess teachers, and observations are simply a higher-up's opinion, or hearsay, and are not final determinations (Elentuck v Green). According to the case McPherson v NYC DOE this hearsay is not enough to prove that the process is arbitrary in a federal court, and I think that observations without data (such as test scores, student grades and IEPs, OORS and SOHO reports) are not enough to prove by any standard that a teacher is not effective.

A few guidelines: Do NOT, under any circumstances, sign up for PIP+. This program is designed to get you terminated. PIP+ is in the CBA as "approved". If you turn it down as I suggest (I am not a lawyer and cannot give legal advice) and you are brought to 3020-a, the DOE's argument will be that you turned it down because you will not recognize how bad you are as a teacher. Your argument is that the PIP+ process is designed to create the necessary documentation to terminate you, and you will not succumb to a set-up where the principal gets the observations and can change them before they are given to you. Or something along those lines. All the documents below are used by the Gotcha Squad to get rid of tenured teachers, who are already defined as "incompetent". Notice I say "defined" as opposed to "determined". The bizarre fact of the incompetency hearings are that if a principal says you are an "ineffective" teacher", this suddenly is transformed into a fact. 

Unfortunately, at 3020-a, NYSUT has not brought in any factual data that would help support another argument, and the teacher is terminated on the basis of hearsay. Ask your NYSUT attorney when you meet with him/her how many cases he/she has won. There are many reasons why NYSUT Attorneys do not win their cases (the arbitrator makes a difference as well - there are strong, fair arbitrators on the 3020-a panel, and weak unfair as well).

 When a principal finds Just Cause to terminate you, the NYC Department of Education takes this as not as hearsay/opinion, but "Fact". And here's the problem: UFT and NYSUT believe the opinion of a principal is a fact, too. 

The denial of rights started with this:
Letter to the U.S. Department of Justice from NYC Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo

 Pages index -11
Pages 12-25
Pages 26-41
Pages 42-58
Pages 59-80

 Editorial: The New York City DOE is a Sham and Mike Bloomberg is the Flim-Flam Man

David Brodsky

David Brodsky on the Teacher Tenure Process

Letter from Florrie Chapin

79 pages of emails concerning the TPU and LSU  

"Privileged" documents (Corp. Counsel refuses to give the information to a Plaintiff)

Office of Labor Relations Frequently Asked Questions

Just Standard

  

New York State School Boards Association Quality Educators in Every School

The "Who Are You Kidding??" Award Goes To: Joel Klein, New York City Board of Education Pretender 

Education Law 2590-h (The NYC Chancellor MUST have a contract)

 Silencing Opposition: The Manual for Principals and The Monitoring Unit of the NYC DOE

  PIP+ Peer Observation and Evaluation

• RMC Contract Section 1
• RMC Contract Section 2
• RMC Contract Section 3 (incomplete)
• Training Manual Part 1 (Oct. 24, 2007)
• Training Manual Part 2 (Oct. 24, 2007)

Performance Management Part 1
Performance Management Part 2
Performance Management Part 3

 Disciplining Tenured Teachers

The Administrative Trials Unit (ATU) has hired a team of lawyers who work in a new ATU subgroup called "Teacher Performance Unit". Randi Weingarten, President of the United Federation of Teachers and American Federation of Teachers, calls them the "Gotcha Squad". The use of TAC (Technical Assistance Conference) memos in the preparation of charges to prefer against allegedly incompetent teachers is an outrageous process that I hope, with this exposure, will end.

In New York City, tenured teachers are being removed from their classrooms and positions by Principals and administrators suddenly and, in many cases, without probable and/or just cause. In fact, the entire structure of the New York City Department/Board of Education is intertwined with the General Counsel and the lawyers working in the Office of Legal Services. It's hard to separate the two, and this is one of the biggest problems with Mayoral control as it now stands in New York City. The New York City Board of Education ("NYC BOE") keeps all documents and information secret under the description "Attorney Client Privilege".

However, the BOE gladly gives journalists all the information he or she wants, to "prove" by a preponderance of the evidence that a teacher is guilty of something. Steve Brill's article in the New Yorker magazine is a great example of this.

A teacher may be accused of "verbal abuse" or "corporal punishment" in the same way as being charged with "incompetence" - see the story of Glenn Storman, his complaint in federal court, and the decision in New York State Supreme Court where Judge Kornreich said the OSI investigation and the New York City BOE were "irrational". But this did not stop the NYC BOE, PS 212 Principal Josephine Marsella, OSI investigator Dennis Boyles, and Deputy Chancellors Andres Alonso and Marcia Lyles, both of whom have left New York City. We might ask Joel Klein if Alonso and Lyles were forced out because of this case. Read the Report and Recommendation filed by Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck and you will get a very good summary of the "Gotcha Squad" at work.

The Gotcha Squad is empowered by the absolute immunity given to NYC BOE managers and administrators, who are defended in court by the Corporation Counsel, the Law Department of the City of New York...nice free legal help. Additionally, the arbitrators and NYC BOE Attorneys in the 3020-a proceedings ignore the "Labor FAQs" of the collective bargaining agreement policies established between the NYC BOE nd the UFT, all the time. I know, because I have attended the open and public 3020-a hearings of tenured teachers since 2003.

It is obvious that the Mayor has total control over every part of the public school governance structure. A tenured teacher has no rights at all, and can be removed as easily as a non-tenured teacher or any employee. The tenured teachers have holding pens called temporary re-assignment centers or "rubber rooms". There are currently 7 such places located throughout New York City. A teacher may end up re-assigned because a principal may decide that he/she doesnt like him/her, must remove a him/her because he/she is talking about crimes being committed in the school, or must remove a him/her because he/she is earning a salary that is very high due to more than 20 years in the system, etc. The real reason may be that the teacher is too old, too fat, too short, wears red, doesn't wear red, and other such nonsense.

Then, after the Gotcha Squad at 51 Chambers Street in Manhattan have been informed that a teacher, let's say you, are the subject of an investigation, Director Theresa Europe may place you on her "Ineligible/inquiry List". This list is keyed into the computer under your social security and file number, and will prevent any prospective employer from hiring you any time in the future. Theresa Europe gets the last word. In the case of Philomena Brennan, she wanted Ms. Theresa Europe to take her off of the "no hire" list, and had to sue to get her name removed. Ms. Europe removed her name from the Ineligible List rather than have to submit to New York State Supreme Court Judge Alice Schlesinger why and how she keeps such a list, and the method she uses to remove names, as Schlesinger ordered.. Theresa Europe wants to remain in control of this career-ending list.

We all must defend our right to know who is saying what to whom. In New York City today, however, I believe that the NYC BOE's secret disciplinary process is unfair and I have posted this story to hopefully find another, more just way to deal with alleged "incompetent" teachers, whatever that term means. (See "Strategic Management of Human Capital")

The Teacher Performance Unit (“TPU”) is a unit comprised of experienced attorneys who litigate incompetence cases against ineffective tenured pedagogues. This unit provides counsel to principals and other school officials in connection with the preparation and litigation of 3020-a disciplinary charges involving allegations of incompetence. TPU’s goal is to help principals improve teacher quality in their schools by bringing and litigating these cases in a thorough, expeditious and effective manner.

The Labor Support Unit (“LSU”) is comprised of education consultants who work in partnership with TPU to provide direct support to principals who are confronted with ineffective tenured pedagogues. The goal of LSU is to work with the principal to help them design support plans for ineffective tenured pedagogues, to provide guidance and general assistance to the principal; to assist the principal in organizing the documentation; to conduct additional observations upon request of the principal; and to coordinate with the Peer Intervention-Plus (PIP+) Program and Teacher Performance Unit. (See Peer Intervention Program)

Marcia Lyles

The problem is, well...one of the problems is: what does "incompetence" mean? Who defines whether or not a teacher is, really, "incompetent"? The No Child Left Behind legislation requires that every classroom have a highly qualified teacher in every classroom. The problem with this is, what does the term “highly qualified” mean? Who is a “good” teacher and who is a “bad” teacher? We have no ‘American standard’ to help us define what it means to be a “good” teacher, other than to record the scores on standardized tests of students in each class. There are thousands of reports on how this happens, but in the end, defining a “good” performance is almost always a subjective judgment.

The parents of public school children and the teachers of the public schools in NYC know that Mayor Bloomberg and NYC BOE CEO (the Chancellor) do not want anyone to have any power over educational policy decisions except them, and their people. So they designed a process which I call the "rubberization" process to remove anyone from his or her job for any reason, at any time.

How The New York City "Gotcha Squad" Gets Tenured Teachers Declared "Incompetent", and Placed in a Rubber Room 
by Betsy Combier
LINK 

and Los Angeles has a similar situation:

http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/articles/2014/8/1/inside-l-a-a-s-teacherjaileducatorsarebrokendepressedsuicidal.html

WHO's Who at the NYC Department of Education: Mecca Sykes-Santana, Esq., Chief Diversity Officer for the State of New York

Mecca used to be the Director of the NYC DOE Office of Equal Opportunity, and in my opinion, she never received a complaint from anyone that did not end up putting the Complainant into a termination hearing.

Betsy Combier
Editor, NYC Rubber Room Reporter
President, ADVOCATZ

Mecca Sykes-Santana, Esq.

Chief Diversity Officer for the State of New York

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Greater New York City Area

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Government Administration

Edit experience Current	New York State - Executive Chamber
Edit experience Previous	NYC Department of Education, NYS Commission of Investigation, New York County ( Manhattan) District Attorney's Office Edit experience
Edit education Education	Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations Edit education

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• Public Profile

  www.linkedin.com/pub/mecca-sykes-santana-esq/3b/853/827

Background

Experience

Chief Diversity Officer for the State of New York

New York State - Executive Chamber

September 2013 – Present (1 year)Manhattan

Responsible for creating new initiatives to enhance diversity, inclusion and minority and women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) participation, while also reforming and strengthening the state’s existing programs that currently support these endeavors. Perform many important tasks related to diversity and inclusion, including advising the Governor on policies relating to workforce diversity and the growth of MWBEs; monitoring diversity compliance in the various state agencies and authorities; serving on the state procurement council; and serving as the Governor’s liaison to organizations representing MWBEs, organizations related to diversity in the state workforce and state contracting, and the small business advisory council. The Chief Diversity Officer is one of three Executive Chamber positions, along with the positions of Secretary and Counsel to the Governor, required by New York State statute.

https://twitter.com/MeccaSantanaCDO

http://www.governor.ny.gov/diversity/home

Executive Director EEO & Diversity Management

NYC Department of Education

January 2008 – September 2013 (5 years 9 months)

Supervise investigations of Civil Rights violations and employment discrimination throughout the agency for approximately 144,000 employees and 1.1 million students. Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local Equal Employment Opportunity laws and reporting requirements. Established the agency’s Diversity and Inclusion program. Created and implemented the agency’s Strategic Diversity Plan designed to promote workforce diversity and supplier (Minority & Women-Owned Business Enterprises) diversity. Promulgate regulations, create policies, and implement initiatives that promote diversity, inclusion, and equal employment opportunities. Liaison to federal, state, and local civil rights agencies. Represent the agency in federal, state, local, and internal administrative proceedings. Create and conduct EEO/Diversity & Inclusion training and professional development programs. Engage in assorted diversity outreach initiatives. Supervise investigators and attorneys in the EEO Complaint Unit, Diversity Management Unit, Disability Rights Compliance Unit, EEO Training Unit, and EEO Contract Compliance Unit. Conduct agency-wide analyses of various workforce initiatives designed to ensure that EEO/Diversity & Inclusion considerations are reflected.
*Presenter - Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Annual Excel Conference – August 2008
*Presenter - Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Annual Excel Conference – July 2009
*Member - NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services EEO & Diversity Working Group

Senior Assistant Counsel

NYS Commission of Investigation

March 2005 – January 2008 (2 years 11 months)

Duties included the investigation of matters concerning public peace, public safety, and public justice within the State of New York, including fraud, municipal corruption, mismanagement in State and local government, organized crime, and assorted criminal matters. Responsible for conducting public/private hearings and issuing reports with recommendations to the Office of the Governor and NYS Legislature.

Assistant District Attorney

New York County ( Manhattan) District Attorney's Office

September 2000 – March 2005 (4 years 7 months)

Trial Bureau
Duties included drafting felony and misdemeanor criminal complaints. Conducted criminal investigations, motion practice, witness interviews, crime scene investigations, and plea negotiations with defense attorneys and courts. Conducted Grand Jury presentations, hearings, and trials in vertical prosecutions of misdemeanor and felony cases. Supervised attorneys and law enforcement officers in the Early Case Assessment Bureau.

Domestic Violence Unit
Duties included the investigation and prosecution of felony cases involving domestic violence, provided counseling and referral services to victims, negotiated alternative dispute resolutions with defense attorneys and courts.

Welfare Fraud Unit
Duties included the investigation and prosecution of felony cases involving welfare fraud, theft of government benefits, health insurance fraud and prescription medication fraud. Collaborated with State and Federal agencies and negotiated restitution based dispositions.

Sex Crimes Unit
Duties included the investigation and prosecution of felony sex crimes. Conducted crime scene analysis, videotaped interrogations, hearings and trials of sex crimes cases.

Legal Hiring Committee
Duties included conducting in-house and on-campus interviews, evaluations and overall assessment of potential candidates for employment with the Office.

Education

Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Certification, Equal Opportunity Studies & Diversity Management

2008 – 2009

Hofstra University School of Law

Juris Doctor (Law Degree), Law

1997 – 2000

State University of New York at Albany

Bachelor of Arts, Political Science & Criminal Justice

1993 – 1997