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| Charles Peeples |
Charles Peeples
Executive Director Office of Field and Information Services at NYC Department of Education
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Saturday, May 16, 2015
FACES: Charles Peeples
PS 90 Principal and AP Yanked From the School and Under Investigation
Greta Hawkins. Teflon Principal. Politically connected enough to Mayor Mike Bloomberg to get a photo op with him on a merry-go-round:
LINK
A notorious Brooklyn principal has been yanked from her school amid a misconduct investigation, city education officials said.
District 21 Superintendent Isabel DiMola told parents in a letter on Thursday that teacher Greta Hawkins and an assistant principal had been reassigned from Public School 90 in Coney Island.
Officials said Hawkins is the subject of a misconduct investigation but would not provide details. A school staffer said Hawkins was being probed for failing to adhere to mandated reporting regulations.
Hawkins grabbed headlines for refusing to let students sing “God Bless the U.S.A.” and a bizarre bathroom policy that awarded students extra credit for not using the toilet.
Public school principals are mandated to report on a variety of incidents and data to city school officials including incidents involving students.
A veteran of city schools, Hawkins - a former teacher - came to P.S. 90 in 2009 and immediately clashed with school workers. She was slapped with a disciplinary letter in 2010 after making remarks at a meeting that offended staffers.
She’ll continue to draw her salary of $124,116 while she’s being investigated.
Hawkins, 50, did not respond to a request for comment
More on District 21 Superintendent Isabel DiMola:
Golden, Farina salute teachers in southern Brooklyn
District 21 Staffing Changes
 |
| Greta Hawkins and Mike Bloomberg (they look so cute together!) |
Finally gone.
See my other articles about her:
Why did the NY Daily News cut Mike Bloomberg out of their picture? Inquiring minds want to know.Brooklyn principal pulled from school amid misconduct investigation: education officials
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Friday, May 15, 2015
LINK
A notorious Brooklyn principal has been yanked from her school amid a misconduct investigation, city education officials said.
District 21 Superintendent Isabel DiMola told parents in a letter on Thursday that teacher Greta Hawkins and an assistant principal had been reassigned from Public School 90 in Coney Island.
Officials said Hawkins is the subject of a misconduct investigation but would not provide details. A school staffer said Hawkins was being probed for failing to adhere to mandated reporting regulations.
Hawkins grabbed headlines for refusing to let students sing “God Bless the U.S.A.” and a bizarre bathroom policy that awarded students extra credit for not using the toilet.
Public school principals are mandated to report on a variety of incidents and data to city school officials including incidents involving students.
A veteran of city schools, Hawkins - a former teacher - came to P.S. 90 in 2009 and immediately clashed with school workers. She was slapped with a disciplinary letter in 2010 after making remarks at a meeting that offended staffers.
She’ll continue to draw her salary of $124,116 while she’s being investigated.
Hawkins, 50, did not respond to a request for comment
 |
| State Sen. Marty Golden and City Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina (next to Golden) congratulate District 21 Superintendent Isabel DiMola (left) and District 20 Superintendent Karina Costantino on providing outstanding leadership to teachers. Photos courtesy Golden’s office |
More on District 21 Superintendent Isabel DiMola:
Golden, Farina salute teachers in southern Brooklyn
District 21 Staffing Changes
Friday, May 15, 2015
From Arthur Goldstein: NYSED Should Not Take English Instruction Away From ESL Students
Arthur Goldstein is an angry Chapter Leader (at Francis Lewis HS)
NYC Educator
Arthur's blog:
Since I've been teaching, we've provided English Language Learners with extensive instruction. After all, how the hell are you supposed to pass all-important standardized tests if you don't even understand the language? For the last few years, I've been teaching beginners. The first time I taught ESL I taught beginners. I've found many of my colleagues avoid this. I don't know why, because I love it. They make rapid progress. You can see it before your eyes, like when children are growing up.
Beginners, since I started in the eighties, have gotten three periods a day of instruction. Intermediate students got two, as did advanced. Proficient students, those who tested out, usually got one period but sometimes got another to help them along. Because placement tests are usually total crap, because they gave the same one for decades, and because some kids guess well for no reason, I've often seen kids at high levels come back for help.
NYSED knows everything, though, and has determined we have to stop coddling these kids. So now, for one period a day previously devoted to English, all ESL students in NY will take a subject class. They can either take this class with a dually licensed teacher, for example a math teacher with an ESL extension, or it can be co-taught by two teachers--one ESL and one subject teacher.
This is one of the stupidest ideas I've ever heard in my life, but it will save money that can be devoted to tax breaks for billionaires. Therefore Merryl Tisch and Andrew Cuomo can have a laugh over a Grey Goose martini at the next gala affair in which their paths cross. So it's all good for them.
In my school, we will haveclasses of social studies/ ESL. This is as good an idea as any, since social studies entails a lot of reading and writing, as does English. But it's still awful. Let's say, for example, that your history class entails, A, B, C and D. Let's further say that A, B, C and D are required for the Regents exam, without which you can't graduate. So you now need to cover A, B, C, D,and English as well. Who knows whether the English levels in the room will be the same? Shall we differentiate by teaching multiple levels of English as we teach history? How the hell do you do that without losing C, D, or some part thereof? And how do you incorporate beginning English into World War II? Present progressive?
Certainly more colorful than, "I'm studying English." But aren't you supposed to be studying English? Not really. Not anymore. It's Core, Core, Core, and no more of that touchy-feely crap. Renowned Common Core genius David Coleman says no one gives a crap how you feel or what you think, and if he says it, that ought to be good enough for anyone. If his life is one of tedium, drudgery, and humiliation, why shouldn't yours be too? In his defense, however, I actually don't give a crap how he feels or what he thinks.
And why should I? He knows nothing about language acquisition. Nor does NYSED. What do they care that it takes three years to learn a language conversationally, that if varies greatly by individual, or that it take 5-7 years to learn academic English? NYSED says screw, "My name is _____," and let them all study the holocaust.
Maybe they don't need to know, "My name is ____" because if these kids get thejobs in which the reformy Walmart family wishes to dump them, they'll wear name tags anyway. But while tags tell people what their names are, it's still unlikely anyone will question them about the holocaust while seeking out that 9-gallon jar of Vlasic pickles . By degrading jobs that require actual introspection, like teaching, while offering bargain basement standardized nonsense like this, we actively degrade our children and their future.
It's unconscionable that the demagogues in charge of education would take one moment away from our English Language Learners. Whoever thought of this belongs in prison with Silver, Skelos, and Cuomo, And Tisch too.
Fred Klonsky's blog had the following:
Every day, it seems, I read about a new lawsuit to do away with teacher tenure. The crusade reminds me of my friend Harris Lirtzman. It’s because of tenure that I teach and he doesn’t.
Harry used to be a deputy New York State controller until, in 2009, he decided to become a math teacher of special-education students in the Bronx. He offered experience and a depth of understanding few could match — but his discerning eye proved to be his downfall.
He studied the kids’ Individualized Education Programs, the documents that state what services special-education students require, and discovered that many were being underserved, possibly to save on school expenses.
Harry began asking questions — and learned exactly how unwelcome they were when, in December 2011, he was denied tenure.
Harry now tutors at-risk students in Yonkers. If he’d had tenure, he’d still be helping city public school kids.
Without tenure, I’d probably be in Harry’s place. I teach English as a second language, usually to beginners, at Francis Lewis High School in Fresh Meadows, Queens.
One year, I had two students who spoke English but couldn’t read or write. One had been kicking around city schools for years.
He had a strategy for pushy teachers like me. He listened intently and participated orally as much as possible. But when I sat him down and wrote words like “mother” and “house,” he could not decode them at all. I contacted his mother, who knew of his problem. I sought help in the building.
Around this time, I read an article in the paper about ESL. I called the writer to comment. The story of my illiterate students came up, and he asked me if he could write about it. I wasn’t sure. He asked me whether I had tenure. I told him I did; he said it shouldn’t be a problem.
After the writer asked the city Education Department about my two students, I was immediately summoned into the principal’s office. He heartily condemned my ingratitude.
I could see I had broken some unwritten rule. From then on, I was scrutinized constantly. In a series of meetings in his office, the principal glared at me as we met with guidance counselors, the school psychologist and others.
No one was asking whether these kids were being helped. The only concern, apparently, was one teacher with a big mouth. For reasons never made clear to me, both kids left the school before any action became necessary.
I’m absolutely sure this principal would have fired me if it had been possible.
Shortly thereafter, I requested books for my students. For some reason, they were unavailable. My colleagues could get books, but I couldn’t. By then I had less than one class set, so students had to share them.
Months later, I learned the United Federation of Teachers contract said the school had to provide supplies. I threatened to file a grievance, something I had never done up to that point. A week after my threat, my kids got two brand-new class sets of books.
Tenure doesn’t only protect the so-called bad apples, or teachers accused of misconduct or incompetence. It protects all teachers. This is a tough job, and despite what you read in the papers, it also entails advocating for our students, your kids, whether or not the administration is comfortable with it.
I meet passionate and effective teachers everywhere I go. How many will stand up for your kids when schools don’t provide the services they need? How many will demand deserving kids pass classes even if they fail a standardized test? How many will tell state Education Commissioner John King that failing 70% of New York City’s students is not only counterintuitive, but also counterproductive?
It’s hard to say. Abolish tenure and that number will drop very close to zero.
Goldstein is an ESL teacher and UFT chapter leader at Francis Lewis High School.
(Hi Arthur! How about putting my blog back on your list of blogs??
Betsy)
 |
| Arthur Goldstein on the left |
Arthur's blog:
Since I've been teaching, we've provided English Language Learners with extensive instruction. After all, how the hell are you supposed to pass all-important standardized tests if you don't even understand the language? For the last few years, I've been teaching beginners. The first time I taught ESL I taught beginners. I've found many of my colleagues avoid this. I don't know why, because I love it. They make rapid progress. You can see it before your eyes, like when children are growing up.
Beginners, since I started in the eighties, have gotten three periods a day of instruction. Intermediate students got two, as did advanced. Proficient students, those who tested out, usually got one period but sometimes got another to help them along. Because placement tests are usually total crap, because they gave the same one for decades, and because some kids guess well for no reason, I've often seen kids at high levels come back for help.
NYSED knows everything, though, and has determined we have to stop coddling these kids. So now, for one period a day previously devoted to English, all ESL students in NY will take a subject class. They can either take this class with a dually licensed teacher, for example a math teacher with an ESL extension, or it can be co-taught by two teachers--one ESL and one subject teacher.
This is one of the stupidest ideas I've ever heard in my life, but it will save money that can be devoted to tax breaks for billionaires. Therefore Merryl Tisch and Andrew Cuomo can have a laugh over a Grey Goose martini at the next gala affair in which their paths cross. So it's all good for them.
In my school, we will have
Look. The Reich is bombing London.
There's the Gestapo, rounding up people for the concentration camp.
Certainly more colorful than, "I'm studying English." But aren't you supposed to be studying English? Not really. Not anymore. It's Core, Core, Core, and no more of that touchy-feely crap. Renowned Common Core genius David Coleman says no one gives a crap how you feel or what you think, and if he says it, that ought to be good enough for anyone. If his life is one of tedium, drudgery, and humiliation, why shouldn't yours be too? In his defense, however, I actually don't give a crap how he feels or what he thinks.
And why should I? He knows nothing about language acquisition. Nor does NYSED. What do they care that it takes three years to learn a language conversationally, that if varies greatly by individual, or that it take 5-7 years to learn academic English? NYSED says screw, "My name is _____," and let them all study the holocaust.
Maybe they don't need to know, "My name is ____" because if these kids get the
It's unconscionable that the demagogues in charge of education would take one moment away from our English Language Learners. Whoever thought of this belongs in prison with Silver, Skelos, and Cuomo, And Tisch too.
Fred Klonsky's blog had the following:
Arthur Goldstein. Tenure for good apples too.
July 16, 2014
NY Daily News |
| – Arthur Goldstein is a New York teacher and UFT Chapter Leader at Francis Lewis High School. This column appeared in the New York Daily News. |
Every day, it seems, I read about a new lawsuit to do away with teacher tenure. The crusade reminds me of my friend Harris Lirtzman. It’s because of tenure that I teach and he doesn’t.
Harry used to be a deputy New York State controller until, in 2009, he decided to become a math teacher of special-education students in the Bronx. He offered experience and a depth of understanding few could match — but his discerning eye proved to be his downfall.
He studied the kids’ Individualized Education Programs, the documents that state what services special-education students require, and discovered that many were being underserved, possibly to save on school expenses.
Harry began asking questions — and learned exactly how unwelcome they were when, in December 2011, he was denied tenure.
Harry now tutors at-risk students in Yonkers. If he’d had tenure, he’d still be helping city public school kids.
Without tenure, I’d probably be in Harry’s place. I teach English as a second language, usually to beginners, at Francis Lewis High School in Fresh Meadows, Queens.
One year, I had two students who spoke English but couldn’t read or write. One had been kicking around city schools for years.
He had a strategy for pushy teachers like me. He listened intently and participated orally as much as possible. But when I sat him down and wrote words like “mother” and “house,” he could not decode them at all. I contacted his mother, who knew of his problem. I sought help in the building.
Around this time, I read an article in the paper about ESL. I called the writer to comment. The story of my illiterate students came up, and he asked me if he could write about it. I wasn’t sure. He asked me whether I had tenure. I told him I did; he said it shouldn’t be a problem.
After the writer asked the city Education Department about my two students, I was immediately summoned into the principal’s office. He heartily condemned my ingratitude.
I could see I had broken some unwritten rule. From then on, I was scrutinized constantly. In a series of meetings in his office, the principal glared at me as we met with guidance counselors, the school psychologist and others.
No one was asking whether these kids were being helped. The only concern, apparently, was one teacher with a big mouth. For reasons never made clear to me, both kids left the school before any action became necessary.
I’m absolutely sure this principal would have fired me if it had been possible.
Shortly thereafter, I requested books for my students. For some reason, they were unavailable. My colleagues could get books, but I couldn’t. By then I had less than one class set, so students had to share them.
Months later, I learned the United Federation of Teachers contract said the school had to provide supplies. I threatened to file a grievance, something I had never done up to that point. A week after my threat, my kids got two brand-new class sets of books.
Tenure doesn’t only protect the so-called bad apples, or teachers accused of misconduct or incompetence. It protects all teachers. This is a tough job, and despite what you read in the papers, it also entails advocating for our students, your kids, whether or not the administration is comfortable with it.
I meet passionate and effective teachers everywhere I go. How many will stand up for your kids when schools don’t provide the services they need? How many will demand deserving kids pass classes even if they fail a standardized test? How many will tell state Education Commissioner John King that failing 70% of New York City’s students is not only counterintuitive, but also counterproductive?
It’s hard to say. Abolish tenure and that number will drop very close to zero.
Goldstein is an ESL teacher and UFT chapter leader at Francis Lewis High School.
(Hi Arthur! How about putting my blog back on your list of blogs??
Betsy)
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Once Again, Betsy Combier Questions the Delay in Getting Information About the Feb. 24, 2015 Plenary Meeting About 3020-a Prosecution by the DOE
 |
| Betsy in her office at the UFT, 16th floor, 52 Broadway circa 2009 |
Betsy Combier Files a Freedom of Information Request to Obtain the Information Given Out At The NYC DOE February 24, 2015 Secret Meeting on 3020-a Hearings
Joe Baranello and His New Facebook Comment on the City, as Well as His Refusal to Answer Betsy Combier's FOIL Request #11,129
Another Request Sent By Betsy Combier Concerning F11,129 For Records of the Mandatory 3020-a Meeting Held on February 24, 2015
Betsy Combier Asks FOIL Officer Joe BaranelloTo Clarify the Fees of $29.95/hr For F11,129
You are probably wondering why I am posting all of my requests for information relating to the February 24, 2015 plenary meeting held at Tweed, NYC Department of Education headquarters for all NYSUT and DOE Attorneys as well as all the NYC 3020-a arbitrators.
After investigating the procedures used at 3020-a for the past 12 years, and now working as a paralegal/advocate for Respondents charged with 3020-a, I need to know what the current policies are for 3020-a according to the "Star Chamber" folk.
One of the private Attorneys who works with me on 3020-a cases for almost 5 years asked the DOE General Counsel, Courtenaye Jackson-Chase, if we could attend the February meeting, and she told us that no, there was no space, and there would be another meeting for private attorneys at another time. That was the last we heard. Can we, the general public accept the fact that there is too much secrecy surrounding 3020-a and getting good people charged with frivolous charges?
The fact that the public has been shut out of how DOE employees brought to 3020-a are to be prosecuted is alarming.
On May 8, 2015 I received an answer from First General Counsel Judy Nathan to my appeal of the denial of access to the information about the plenary meeting and about the fees. See below for the email reply from Ms. Nathan as well as my response to her, sent May 9, 2015:
May 9, 2015
Dear Ms. Nathan,
Ms. Nathan, your title is "First Deputy Counsel," and you are listed underneath Charity Guerra, whose title is "Chief Deputy Counsel."
Please see the "Contacts" listing below.
I copied it from the Office of the General Counsel page on the website of the NYC DOE.
http://schools.nyc.gov/
Contacts
Courtenaye Jackson-Chase, General Counsel
Charity Guerra, Chief Deputy
CounselCGuerra7@schools.nyc.gov
Judy Nathan, First Deputy
CounselJNathan@schools.nyc.gov
(Please note that General Counsel Courtenaye Jackson-Chase's email address was omitted from the "Contacts" listing on the webpage, so I will put it here:
General Counsel Courtenaye Jackson-Chase and Chief Deputy Counsel Charity Guerra know very well that I have the facts on Ms. Guerra's jumping from the CSA to the DOE while defending a principal against the DOE in front of Arbitrator Joel Douglas. I believe that your denial of my appeal is directly related to my knowledge about that case. (Respondent J.K.)
And, I am currently suing Joseph A. Baranello, Esq., for FOIL violations. I am in the New York State Supreme Court and my complaint concerns unreasonable delays by Mr. Baranello and his office when I requested the contract of former Chancellor Dennis Walcott. I received nothing for almost two years.
I am also quite concerned about your statements below:
On March 17, 2015, I filed a freedom of information request for the documents, emails, videos, and all other relevant information concerning the February 24, 2015 meeting held in your office by Courtenaye Jackson-Chase and Adam Ross, UFT Attorney. The meeting is not for DOE personnel only, but the many different groups involved in NYC 3020-a arbitration. Two months later, you are claiming that you have no idea how many documents and/or recordings exist, and have to locate them. Did you ask Ms. Jackson-Chase?
I will then pay $.25/page and the cost of the CD.
Or, in the alternative, I suggest that the FOIL Unit use a file-sharing service such as www.dropbox.com to eliminate the need for a CD.
Here is some information about the service:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Betsy Combier
Dear Ms. Nathan,
Thank you for the timely reply.
Ms. Nathan, your title is "First Deputy Counsel," and you are listed underneath Charity Guerra, whose title is "Chief Deputy Counsel."
Please see the "Contacts" listing below.
I copied it from the Office of the General Counsel page on the website of the NYC DOE.
http://schools.nyc.gov/
Contacts
Courtenaye Jackson-Chase, General Counsel
Charity Guerra, Chief Deputy
CounselCGuerra7@schools.nyc.gov
Judy Nathan, First Deputy
CounselJNathan@schools.nyc.gov
(Please note that General Counsel Courtenaye Jackson-Chase's email address was omitted from the "Contacts" listing on the webpage, so I will put it here:
cjackson-chase@schools.nyc.gov)
I am concerned about your attached May 8, 2015 denial of my appeal, for the following reasons:
I am concerned about your attached May 8, 2015 denial of my appeal, for the following reasons:
General Counsel Courtenaye Jackson-Chase and Chief Deputy Counsel Charity Guerra know very well that I have the facts on Ms. Guerra's jumping from the CSA to the DOE while defending a principal against the DOE in front of Arbitrator Joel Douglas. I believe that your denial of my appeal is directly related to my knowledge about that case. (Respondent J.K.)
And, I am currently suing Joseph A. Baranello, Esq., for FOIL violations. I am in the New York State Supreme Court and my complaint concerns unreasonable delays by Mr. Baranello and his office when I requested the contract of former Chancellor Dennis Walcott. I received nothing for almost two years.
You state in your letter that my appeal is denied.
What part of my appeal is denied? The part asking for a specific fee for records, which you now say you will give me a "cost breakdown" of (with respect to hard copies and/or recordings) "prior to the duplication and preparation"? I think I won that point.
Or are you denying that the highest-ranking attorney in the Office of the General Counsel, Courtenaye Jackson-Chase, Esq., at your location, held the meeting that I am requesting documents for, and that all the documents are physically located in the Office of the General Counsel?
I think we are both aware that General Counsel Courtenaye Jackson-Chase (Chief Deputy Counsel Charity Guerra's boss, and, therefore, yours as well) was the person who headlined the meeting on February 24, 2015, and obviously has all the documents I am requesting. I noticed that although I appealed to Ms. Jackson-Chase (who is also Joseph A. Baranello, Esq.'s boss, as well as being the same person who hired Charity Guerra, Esq., while she was defending Respondent J.K. against the DOE for CSA), she is not copied on the letter of "denial" of my appeal. Why is that?
I think we are both aware that General Counsel Courtenaye Jackson-Chase (Chief Deputy Counsel Charity Guerra's boss, and, therefore, yours as well) was the person who headlined the meeting on February 24, 2015, and obviously has all the documents I am requesting. I noticed that although I appealed to Ms. Jackson-Chase (who is also Joseph A. Baranello, Esq.'s boss, as well as being the same person who hired Charity Guerra, Esq., while she was defending Respondent J.K. against the DOE for CSA), she is not copied on the letter of "denial" of my appeal. Why is that?
I am also quite concerned about your statements below:
"However, at this time the exact volume of responsive hard copy records and/or recordings remains unclear. Once these records are located and reviewed, I direct the CRAO to provide a cost breakdown to you based on record type prior to the duplication and preparation of these records."
On March 17, 2015, I filed a freedom of information request for the documents, emails, videos, and all other relevant information concerning the February 24, 2015 meeting held in your office by Courtenaye Jackson-Chase and Adam Ross, UFT Attorney. The meeting is not for DOE personnel only, but the many different groups involved in NYC 3020-a arbitration. Two months later, you are claiming that you have no idea how many documents and/or recordings exist, and have to locate them. Did you ask Ms. Jackson-Chase?
Can you please spend five minutes on getting the documents and recordings I request from General Counsel Courtenaye Jackson-Chase, and let me know within the next five business days? If not, why not?
I will then pay $.25/page and the cost of the CD.
Or, in the alternative, I suggest that the FOIL Unit use a file-sharing service such as www.dropbox.com to eliminate the need for a CD.
Here is some information about the service:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Please clarify all of this for me, as I remain confused, and see only deliberate delay once again.
Thank you,
Betsy Combier
betsy.combier@gmail.com
ADVOCATZ
www.parentadvocates.org
NYC Rubber Room Reporter
www.nycrubberroomreporter.
cc: Courtenaye Jackson-Chase, Esq.
Joseph A. Baranello, Esq.
Robert J. Freeman, Esq.
ADVOCATZ
www.parentadvocates.org
NYC Rubber Room Reporter
www.nycrubberroomreporter.
cc: Courtenaye Jackson-Chase, Esq.
Joseph A. Baranello, Esq.
Robert J. Freeman, Esq.
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