NEWS ALERT: Principal of PS 154X is Removed

Principal Linda Amill Irizzary of PS X154 was removed from her position on May 4, 2009, only weeks after the Assistant Principal Derrick Townsend was sent to the Bronx "rubber room" for allegedly harming the children in the school. Parents and teachers were angry and upset at the duo.

New York Board of Education Administrator Marsha Elliott assumed the position formerly held by Irizzary on May 5, 2009.

Betsy Combier

The article posted on this blog in February:

What is going on at PS 154X in the South Bronx? And what is Joel Klein doing about it?

Teachers are in an uproar at PS 154X in District 7 in the South Bronx. A source there has told us that one of the Assistant Principals, Derrick Townsend, is harming the children with rough and abusive actions that are excessive. They say that what is happening at PS 154 does not serve the best interests of the children.

The school has 500 students, yet there are three assistant principals. The school has an "administrative teacher" and basically no one knows what her duties entail. There is no SAVE room because as the principal has said, according to teachers, "I don't believe in the SAVE room", and "I do not wish to discipline students".

Students are moved out of a CTT class into a mainstream class without parental notice or consent. The 12:1:1 kindergarden class is currently being taught by the third teacher in the classroom for this year, and there are many questions as to whether or not any of the children in this class are appropriately placed. When a student from this class was asked to leave with AP Townsend, and this student decided that he did not want to walk any more, Mr. Townsend dragged him 40 feet down the hall (September 29, 2008).

Also from a source at the school:

On February 13, 2009 a young third grade girl told her teacher that a boy had touched her. Mr. Townsend went to the classroom and humiliated the girl. A struggle ensued, leaving the girl's arm buised. She was taken to the nurse, who said the bruises were "old".

On or about November 7th 2008 AP Derrick Townsend grabbed a 3rd grader by the shirt, dragged him and tore the boy's shirt. The mother, who is in the school everyday, was never initially informed.

On October 14 student A in the 5th grade said he wanted to blow up the school. His punishment - he can't go outside for lunch and that he has to do "community service" for two weeks with a first grade class at that time - was never carried out. Nor was it ever reported.

A student has made several threats to a teacher. The principal's reaction has been to give more counseling to the student and it has never been reported. There is no SAVE room, so students that act up are simply placed in another classroom, disrupting instruction at the new location. Similarly, students are brought into the school after being suspended from other schools and placed in PS 154X classrooms at random. Almost always this starts trouble. Sometimes these displaced students are supposed to receive special education related services and/or staffing, which, as the teacher at PS 154 does not have the IEPs, cannot be provided. Often, a student who gets disruptive, spends the rest of the day in the office with Mr. Townsend, without any instruction.

Gotham Schools also has the 'resignation' of Irizzary:

At a South Bronx school, a teacher blogs and a principal resigns
Posted By Philissa Cramer On May 5, 2009 @ 6:33 pm
LINK

Nine months after an anonymous teacher-blogger began waging an online campaign against the leadership at his school, PS 154 in the Bronx, the principal that he skewered has decided to resign.

As of today, Linda Amill-Irizarry is no longer the principal at PS 154, DOE spokeswoman Ann Forte confirmed for me. Amill-Irizarry, who before becoming PS 154’s principal was briefly the superintendent of District 8 in the Bronx, is taking a position in the Leadership Learning Support Organization, one of the outside support networks that schools can partner with. PS 154 has been part of a different network, the Empowerment Schools Organization.

Marsha Elliott has been appointed as interim acting principal, Forte told me. Elliott was formerly an assistant principal at PS 50 in the Bronx, and she also led PS 158 while it was being phased out due to poor performance. According to The Chief-Leader [1], a newspaper produced by the city’s labor organizations, Elliott was fined last year by the city’s Conflict of Interests Board for encouraging staff members at PS 158 to visit the church in Queens where she and her husband were co-pastors.

Forte said there is an open investigation of Amill-Irizarry in the Office of Special Investigations, the DOE’s in-house unit that examines allegations of wrongdoing in the city schools. Forte she said she could not characterize the allegations against the former principal but said the investigation would continue.

For the last nine months, the teacher-blogger has documented what he says is illicit behavior at PS 154, charging that Amill-Irizarry and an assistant principal, whom he nicknamed “Numb Nuts,” failed to report incidents according to required procedures. The teacher reported yesterday on his site, SouthBronxSchool.blogspot.com [2], that it appeared that his principal, whom he briefly named [3] back in January, would be leaving the school. He wrote that he would be removing old content from the site and changing the focus of his postings. The blog “has served its purpose in its current incarnation,” the teacher wrote. “It’s a time for healing.”

Amill-Irizarry’s resignation marks the second time in recent weeks that a principal under siege has chosen to leave his or her school. At MS 8 in Queens, teachers and parents protested [4] outside the school every day for weeks against their principal, John Murphy, whom they called “disrespectful” and abusive. The DOE stood behind Murphy, but Schools Chancellor Joel Klein accepted Murphy’s resignation [5] last week, saying that Murphy had decided he would rather step aside than continue to be a distraction at the school. Murphy had been previously resigned from the principalship of a school in Connecticut after parents and teachers there campaigned against him.

Here is an article published by the TimesLedger Newspapers in Queens on Murphy's 'resignation':

CONTROVERSIAL MS 8 PRINCIPAL MURPHY RESIGNS
BY IVAN PEREIRA, www.yournabe.com
April 30, 2009 --
LINK

Principal John Murphy resigned from his position at Middle School 8 in Jamaica Tuesday, after more than a month of protests from the Jamaica school's teachers who claimed they had been on the receiving end of his tyrannical behavior.

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said the controversial administrator stepped down as the principal of the school, located at 108-35 167th St., because he did not want to create a bad learning environment.

"Principal Murphy has come to believe that his continued presence at MS 8 is distracting from the school's learning environment and focus on student academic performance," Klein said in a statement released Tuesday, hours after Murphy submitted his resignation papers.

Murphy, who came to the school in the fall of 2005, has been accused by past and present school staff of harassment. Assistant Principal Cheryl Spencer will act as the intermediate principal until the Department of Education finds a permanent replacement, according to the chancellor.

The news of Murphy's resignation pleased Christina Rozeas, a former MS 8 guidance counselor who was fired by Murphy last year.

"I think it's a good thing for the school. The assistant principal is awesome. She has a better relationship with the children," she said.

Last month Murphy allegedly scolded teaching aide Nyasia Johnson, causing her to have a panic attack and to be sent to the hospital in an ambulance, according to the police. The incident prompted the school's staff to hold daily protests at the school, demanding that the DOE remove Murphy as principal.

The agency and the principal's union backed Murphy despite the outcry and cited his 3-1/2-year record at the school. The school went from a D rating in the 2007 report card to a B rating in its 2008 report card.

Klein continued to praise Murphy for his work at the school.

"I thank him for his service and congratulate him and the entire school community, including teachers, students, and parents for the accomplishments of recent years," he said in the memo about the resignation.

Teachers claim the report card grade was inflated because Murphy threatened to fire teachers who did not promote failing students. In a 2008 e-mail memo obtained by the TimesLedger, Murphy ordered teachers to promote 20 students who failed.

"Remember how we did it last year... We moved them up, and then gave them MEGA EXTRA help," he wrote in the e-mail.

This is not the first time Murphy was forced to step down as a school head. Before coming to Queens, Murphy was principal of Danbury High School in Connecticut for less than six months before being compelled to resign, according to Leroy Gadsen, the head of the Jamaica NAACP, which investigated the principal for suspected civil rights violations.

Murphy allegedly harassed staff members in the Connecticut school, leading to numerous complaints against him, according to the NAACP head.

"We hopefully now can return to a place of normalcy where these kids can get a good education," Gadsen said.

Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.

and the Daily News:

Teachers call for ouster of principal John Murphy, accused of outburst that sent aide to hospital

BY Clare Trapasso
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Friday, March 27th 2009, 4:00 AM
Related News
Articles

* Principal of Queens' Junior High School 8 John Murphy's outburst sends teacher's aide to hospital
* Middle School 8 principal gets backing from Education Department

It can't be easy being John Murphy.

Last week, the Middle School 8 principal was accused of a verbal outburst that upset a teacher's aide so badly that she went to the hospital.

This week, teachers protested outside the Jamaica, Queens, school every day calling for his removal.

They accuse Murphy - who many say is abusive to teachers and staff - of intimidating them into inflating grades to boost the school's ratings.

"We were told last year that we could not fail a child under any circumstances," said Melissa Weber, an eighth-grade social studies teacher.

"Failures, suspensions and school incidents all play into your school's grade."

Weber said she found out the hard way how important that was to Murphy after she failed five of her 120 students last year.

"I was called into his office and asked how dare I not follow a directive," Weber recounted. "He explained to me that I had to change them. ... I was afraid that I was going be fired if I didn't."

Weber is one of several teachers who say they were told not to fail students.

Murphy could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Pressuring educators to change grades is a serious offense, said Jay Worona, general counsel for the New York State School Boards Association.

A principal who alters grades to make a school look good can lose his or her administrator's certification and job, he said.

Following the incident with the teacher's aide, city Education Department officials said there were no plans to fire Murphy.

"Under Principal Murphy, [MS] 8 has improved from a D to a B, and the school just came off the state's list of failing schools," said agency spokesman David Cantor.

But the agency is investigating Murphy for the teacher's aide incident and another case - not necessarily for grade inflation - an official said.

Inflating grades isn't the only thing Murphy's been accused of since he came to MS 8 in 2005.

"He's had consistent complaints of harassment, intimidation and demonization of the teachers, parents, students, volunteers," said City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans). He has urged Murphy be removed.

That doesn't surprise William Murray, president of a Connecticut teachers union.

Trouble has followed Murphy since he was principal of Danbury High School - from the summer of 2003 until he resigned in March 2004, said Murray.

"Some people felt that he was intimidating," Murray said. "The whole climate was not pleasant."

Teachers such as Deborah James, an MS 8 special-education instructor, are hoping Murphy resigns again.

"We plan to demonstrate until his removal," James said.

Principal of Queens' Junior High School 8 John Murphy's outburst sends teacher's aide to hospital
BY Henrick Karoliszyn And Wil Cruz
DAILY NEWS WRITERS, Thursday, March 19th 2009, 12:12 AM

A Queens principal with a reputation for blowing his top snapped at a teacher's aide Wednesday, an outburst that sent the nerve-racked assistant to the hospital, sources and officials said.

Nyasia Johnson was so rattled after a verbal tongue-lashing from Junior High School 8 Principal John Murphy that she called paramedics, officials said. Cops responded to the Jamaica school, too, but no charges were filed.

Johnson was taken to Long Island Jewish Medical Center, where last night she was being evaluated for headaches, shock symptoms and elevated blood pressure.

"She's hanging in there," said a friend from the hospital's emergency room.

Teachers at JHS 8 described the incident as the latest eruption from a principal who runs the school with an iron fist. They said Murphy confronted Johnson after a student became disruptive.

Don Kaplan, a 61-year-old school psychologist, said Murphy treats teachers with disdain.

"He's very disrespectful to teachers," he said.

Other teachers agreed, claiming Murphy yells, is oppressive and is a "snake in the grass."

"Dr. Murphy has acted like 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,'" music teacher David Butler wrote in a list of complaints he is keeping. "[Murphy's] efforts at intimidation and harassment [have] caused a number of teachers to cry, bang on walls and even want to quit."

Murphy could not be reached for comment. School officials would not take a message for him and deferred questions to the Department of Education.

An education spokeswoman said Murphy confronted Johnson after she was sitting at a desk while the teacher was working with a student. That's when Johnson became distraught.

The Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, the principals union, said the incident was under investigation.

Still, the council defended Murphy's track record at the school.

"Junior High School 8 has improved since John Murphy took over as principal in 2005," said a spokeswoman.

The school's rating has improved to a B grade from a D last year. Murphy has tried to oust 15 teachers after the grade improved, angering the union, sources said.

Before coming to JHS 8, Murphy worked at a Danbury, Conn., school. Officials there could not be reached for comment.

wcruz@nydailynews.com

With Meredith Kolodner

Michael Bloomberg, Mayor and CEO of Bloomberg L.P., is Sued by 80 Women For Discrimination

The alleged actions of the Mayor of New York City would put him out of the running for any office in a normal political world. New York City is not in that category, so probably nothing will happen to distract Mike Bloomberg's winning a third term.

In the New York City Board of Education, allegations such as those given by 80 female Plaintiffs in their Federal lawsuit against Mayor Bloomberg would put him in a "rubber room" until the charges are substantiated or disproved.Mr. Bloomberg's propaganda machine will be getting hefty raises for their work on this, that's for sure.

The last paragraph says that this federal discrimination case will impact Mike Bloomberg's political career only if we, the public, Bill Thompson and the media, allow it to. Let's do that.

I suggest that Mayor Bloomberg be placed in a temporary re-assignment center until the case against him is resolved.

Deposing Mike: The Bloomberg L.P. discrimination suit returns to bedevil the mayor. Will it affect his reelection?
By Geoffrey Gray, New York magazine, May 1, 2009



When government lawyers filed a lawsuit against Bloomberg L.P., alleging widespread discrimination against employees who went on maternity leave, Mayor Bloomberg more or less called the whole thing a publicity stunt. “What’s happening,” he told reporters, “is that because I’m so visible, that obviously I’m a target.” And, in fact, his office banter, as alleged in lawsuits, was what made the headlines: Who would have thought that behind his carefully crafted technocratic image might be someone so crude and fratty? Now, as Bloomberg rolls out his reelection effort, he will have to answer all these allegations yet again. More interesting, Bloomberg might also have to shed light on how much he continues to control the company he founded.

On the morning of May 14, Bloomberg is scheduled to appear at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission offices for a deposition, according to sources close to the case. A deposition of a company boss is standard procedure in lawsuits like this, but the federal case, which is now being brought on behalf of 80 women, stands to be a campaign distraction. If it goes to trial next year, it could also haunt the start of his third term. Bloomberg would not confirm the deposition date and declined to comment on the allegations.

According to the lawsuit and claims made in other discrimination suits, Bloomberg L.P. was a company that “prizes physical image” and “People Product”; where female employees were encouraged to wear “short skirts” and “ ‘fuck me’ shoes”; where bosses said, “I’m not having any pregnant bitches working for me”; and where Bloomberg allegedly once told a senior sales executive, “Kill it! Kill it!” (And apologized afterward.) Bloomberg L.P. claims it has a generous maternity policy, but the Feds are now charging in amended papers filed in March that it not only discriminates against pregnant women but retaliates too, by docking pay or threatening termination.

Bloomberg, who acquired Merrill Lynch’s 20 percent stake in his own company last July and now owns more than he did before becoming mayor (88 percent, worth roughly $20 billion), can’t be looking forward to Thursday morning. At first, he seemingly couldn’t believe he was getting dragged into the mess. (“As you know, I haven’t worked there in an awful long time.”) Later he admitted that he’d discussed the allegations with company execs (“I am the majority owner … I’m absolutely entitled to talk to the senior people … I’ve been doing that since I became mayor”). One of the last times a reporter asked him about the case, he lashed out, saying, “You’ll have to ask the company, and next time don’t bother to ask us a question.”

He’ll have to answer these questions under oath, however. When Bloomberg ran for office, and allegations surfaced of the discrimination and his obnoxious office talk, they didn’t make much of an impact. They were never proven and he rarely addressed them. Voters also seemed to understand that the business world could be like that. Today, Bloomberg is a politician, and what he says will be indicative of how he’s changed.

“It’s a minor variable that will only be effective if placed in the greater message of ‘Mike Bloomberg doesn’t feel your pain, and he doesn’t want to,’ ” says Baruch College professor Doug Muzzio. The question is whether his presumptive opponent, Bill Thompson, is capable of making that charge stick.

The Daily News Says Teacher is Guilty of Racial Slur

But this is not the whole story.

Op-Ed from Betsy Combier:

Once again, the Daily News shows its true colors as a public relations rag for Joel Klein and Mike Bloomberg. On Friday May 1, 2009 Daily News reporter Elizabeth Lazarowitz decided to throw good reporting out the window by publishing a story about how teacher Elvira Sacco should be punished for allegedly saying the "N-word" in her art class. Ms. Lazarowitz does not have all the facts, but we can expect nothing else from the Daily News staff. See my article on The Gotcha Squad, The Gill Commission and Teddy Smith. The Daily News (reporter Carrie Melago) published an article saying that teacher Teddy Smith was a potential killer after Richard Condon's SCI sent out a press release "substantiating" an alleged threat that Mr. Smith's former Attorney told ATU Director Theresa Europe that he, Teddy, said. Only it wasnt true. . . AND the investigators never even asked Teddy whether he had said anything about harming his arbitrator when they interviewed him!

Ms. Lazarowitz told me that she could write the article because OEO "substantiated the charge," and therefore the "facts" are that Ms. Sacco "did it". Make note, dear reader, that The Daily News staff, just like those people at the New York Post and New York Times, work for the City of New York and it's famous Mayor, Michael Bloomberg. Their mandate is to get teachers out of the system quickly.



In July 2008 I asked Ms. Mecca Santana, the Director of OEO whose salary is paid by the NYC BOE (she makes $115,000 per year; she is pictured above) to look at a situation of racial discrimination and verbal abuse at NEST+M that involved an attack on my daughter, and she came up with nothing, despite 20 statements to the contrary and a pile of emails to/from the Principal contradicting her report.

The New York City Board of Education seems not to understand the meaning of the word "investigation" as "a systematic, minute, and thorough attempt to learn the facts about something complex or hidden; it is often formal and official". I say this because the NYC BOE just doesn't get it right, much of the time. The agencies involved, Office of Legal Services, Office of Equal Opportunity, and Special Commissioner of Investigation, are all funded by the New York City Board of Education. (See NYC Rubber Room Reporter article News To Use: New York City Government Payroll, FOIL, PERB, Budget, and More" We know what this means. If Joel Klein says "punish the teacher...", then the 'facts' will conveniently fall into the column titled "guilty". The act that the teacher did to be found "guilty" does not really matter, and often the character of the teacher or past history of stellar performance doesn't really impact the conclusion either. By the way, Ms. Sacco told me she has never received a "U" (unsatisfactory) rating for her teaching.

Mr. Dennis Boyles, an investigator paid also by the NYC Board of Education, told a teacher in the presence of his UFT representative that he, Boyles, had been asked by the Principal to come to the school "to find [him](the teacher -Ed) guilty". His subsequent testimony at this teacher's 3020-a was ridiculous, and embarrassing for OSI, his employer. Here is his payroll entry in the article on this blog "New To Use": Boyles, Dennis; Education Admin, Department of; Annual $66,988

Several years ago I brought two 15 year-old girls to be interviewed by Mr. Dennis Boyles after both were beaten at their school in Brooklyn. Between the two girls' testimonies, Mr. Boyles told me, "listen, it only cost me $5,000 to get my 15-year old daughter out of trouble". I believe he was suggesting that the girls pay $5,000 in order to be found innocent. No one paid anything, and both girls were suspended from their school for beating their attacker, who didn't have a scratch on him. Both girls had been sent to the hospital. I researched the man who hit the two girls and found that he had a long criminal record of harassment at the Brooklyn NYPD. The NYC BOE had allowed him to take a position at Sheepshead Bay High School without checking his criminal record? Was Mr. Dennis Boyles suggesting that I give him money to let the girls go free?

I have spoken with Elvira several times, and I have information that indeed Ms. Lazarowitz should have investigated. For example, one of the students interviewed by the OEO investigators from the very inept Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) headed by Ms. Mecca Santana, was not a student in Ms. Sacco's classroom.



According to my sources, Candace George has filed complaints against four teachers, two Assistant Principals, the Principal, and even charged the Dean with assaulting her son Pryce. Ms. George filed a complaint against Ms. Sacco in the fall of '08 for showing her son a picture of Michelangelo's statue of David, now on display in the Galleria dell'Accademia,Florence, Italy.

Pryce is a student who, according to Ms. Sacco, was failing Ms. Sacco's art class, and spent his days throwing objects across the room. He called Ms. Sacco a "white Jew bitch" and added "my mom will have you fired" on the day in question, after he trashed the classroom computer's hard drive. He has been removed from the school.

Elizabeth Lazarowitz told me that since the OEO had substantiated the charge of verbal abuse, this "is news" and she must publish the information. So what if she never received any information to the contrary from Ms. Sacco?

I think we, the public, need to protest the "investigatory" techniques that 'prove' a person guilty too early, and unfairly.



Teacher Elvira Sacco gets detention for using N-word
BY Elizabeth Lazarowitz, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER, Friday, May 1st 2009, 7:10 AM

Elvira Sacco Ponsot who called her students the N-word, a Department of Education investigation says.

A Park Slope middle school teacher used a racial slur while scolding unruly students, a Department of Education investigation has found.

Last December, several students alleged that Elvira Sacco, 55, a teacher at the Secondary School for Journalism on Seventh Ave., lost her cool when seventh- and eighth-graders became disruptive during a movie and launched into a tirade that included the N-word.

"I was like, 'Oh, my God, how dare [she]!'" said Candace George, 37, a city welfare fraud investigator whose child was in Sacco's class. "I thought I was going to lose my mind."

George said she was especially upset by the incident because Sacco is white - and about half the students at the school are black.

George's son, Pryce-Gary Forbes, 13, was among the students city investigators spoke with about the incident.

Pryce-Gary, who has since transferred to another school, previously told the Daily News that the enraged teacher had yelled: "You don't know how to act. You're acting lower class. You're acting like a whole bunch of n------."

An inquiry by DOE's Office of Equal Opportunity found that the teacher had made "inappropriate comments" based on race and violated DOE nondiscrimination policies, according to a letter obtained by The News.

"I did not get any notification," about the results of the inquiry, said Sacco, who declined to comment further.

DOE spokeswoman Marge Feinberg confirmed that the claims against the teacher were substantiated and said that the principal had informed Sacco of the findings.

After the incident, Sacco was sent to a reassignment center - a "rubber room" - and disciplinary action is still pending, Feinberg said.

George said she had spoken to Sacco in the past about using profanity in the classroom and said she worries that the teacher will get little more than a slap on the wrist. "I feel sorry for the children who are left there."

elazarowitz@nydailynews.com

COMMENTS

rashad_scorpio May 1, 2009 11:16:10 AM Report Offensive Post
I don't blame the woman for snapping, I would have! These kids grow up with no fear of being punished because everybody is so afraid to speak their mind or beat the hell out of these brats! Everybody was brought up under the "Big Mama" rule, if one of us gets in trouble we all get in trouble. I had teachers who kept that mentality and those were the best behaved classes in the whole school. Students will get the message once they learn that one screwup means they get punished too.

thescoop May 1, 2009 11:21:29 AM Report Offensive Post
BLACK AMERICA AND THE N-WORD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP2U0jmZjec

nylegaldivamom May 1, 2009 11:23:21 AM Report Offensive Post
TO NYBORN, I don't care if they NEVER stop using the word amongst themselves and they won't, I said in my initial post EACH AND EVERYTIME I hear someone say it I call them on it! white, black, purple or orange if you use the word in my presence you will hear about it from me like it or not and its not just the N word either profanity or any racial slur uttered by a minor in my presence hears about it, I've been called everything but a child of God, told to mind my business etc and am probably endangering my physical safety but if their mamma didn't tell them I will. She is supposed be an educator and her use of the word whether or not they use amongst themselve is unacceptable period,she had no right and the poster that called students MONKEYS that poster too would rue the day he or she called my kid a monkey. My kids, now young adults knew and know about respect for themselves as well as others. Teachers were put on notice at the begining of the school year just because their are m

nylegaldivamom May 1, 2009 11:32:33 AM Report Offensive Post
To Rashad, I certainly agree with you to a point. The younger generation today not only have no fear, they have no respect. My mom was a "spare the rod, spoil the child" mom. For the most part we got put on "punishment" depending on the offense, if it was really bad we got a "whipping" with a belt nothing else so now as an adult I do not think my mom abused us. But this whole theory you support of "one in trouble, all in trouble" is some BS in my own humble opinion because if one kid did something there is NO WAY IN HELL I'm going to let my child be punished and my mom didn't either. My kid has no control over some other kid's behavior or for that matter any control over that kid's parent's lack of good parenting skills so they should not be punished and if they are that teacher, the principal, school board and superintendant are not going to be happy when I come in for the conference.

rashad_scorpio May 1, 2009 11:45:21 AM Report Offensive Post
@nylegaldiva: you're entitled to you own opinion but I speak from experience. I wasn't too happy about that rule my damn self but I got with the program quickly. I wasn't the one causing problems but if I wanted to get through the class and actually learn something I had to be the one to step up and keep certain individuals in check. That theory sticks with me because it got results. If the students want to learn then they have to take responsibility. Disruptions in the class makes sure they cannot. If they can't keep one in line then how can they do anything once they get out of school?

Inertia May 1, 2009 12:42:25 PM Report Offensive Post
"George said she was especially upset by the incident because Sacco is white"

profenglish May 1, 2009 3:21:53 PM Report Offensive Post
These racial slurs are only hurtful only if you are what they mean...

Miss Dee May 1, 2009 8:32:13 PM Report Offensive Post
hmmm...I am Black. I am interested in reading the transcript of the entire incident...perhaps the teacher was right and was using their behaviur to show the difference between acting like a socially responsible person and a ******, which by the way was simply defined as "an ignorant person" prior to 1976

pjones2623 May 2, 2009 6:57:52 AM Report Offensive Post
She should be terminated

ditpam May 2, 2009 11:23:55 AM Report Offensive Post
Some one apparently found my post offensive so here it is again. This woman is disgusting. She needs some good hygiene and a dentist. This is not the kind of role model I would have for my children. She is supposed to be a professional. She should have some control. This woman should be fired from the NYC school system post haste.

New York State Commissioner of Education: Where, Oh Where Can You Be?

Merryl H. Tisch, Chancellor

Contact information for current members

CURRENT MEMBER TERMS AND AREAS REPRESENTED
2011* Tisch, Merryl H.; B.A., M.A., Ed.D.
Chancellor; At Large
9 East 79th Street, N.Y., N.Y. 10075
Phone: (212) 879-9414 Email: RegentTisch@mail.nysed.gov

2012* Cofield, Milton L.; B.S., M.B.A., Ph.D.
Vice Chancellor; Judicial District VII - Cayuga, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Yates
98 Hickory Ridge Road, Rochester, N.Y. 14625
Phone (585) 248-8494 Email: RegentCofield@mail.nysed.gov

2010* Bennett, Robert M.; B.A., M.S.
Chancellor Emeritus; Judicial District VIII -- Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming

201 Millwood Lane, Tonawanda, NY 14150
Phone: (716) 645-1344 Email: RegentBennett@mail.nysed.gov

2014* Cohen, Saul B.; B.A., M.A., Ph.D.

At Large
82 Taymil Road, New Rochelle, NY 10804
Phone: (914) 633-7889 Email: RegentCohen@mail.nysed.gov

2010* Dawson, James C.; A.A, B.A., M.S., Ph.D.

Judicial District IV -- Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren and Washington
166 U.S. Oval, Plattsburgh, NY 12903
Phone: (518) 324-2401 Email: RegentDawson@mail.nysed.gov

2011* Bottar, Anthony S.; B.A., J.D.

Judicial District V -- Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Oneida, Onondaga, and Oswego
120 Madison Street, Suite 1600, AXA Tower II, Syracuse, NY 13202
Phone: (315) 422-3466 Email: RegentBottar@mail.nysed.gov

2013* Chapey, Geraldine, D.; B.A., M.A., Ed.D.

Judicial District XI -- Queens
107-10 Shore Front Parkway, Apt. 9C, Belle Harbor, NY 11694
Phone: (718) 634-8471 Email: RegentChapey@mail.nysed.gov

2010* Phillips 3rd, Harry; B.A., M.S.F.S.

Judicial District IX -- Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester
71 Hawthorne Way, Hartsdale, NY 10530
Phone: (914) 948-2228 Email: RegentPhillips@mail.nysed.gov

2014* Bowman, Jr., Joseph E.; B.A., M.L.S., M.A., M.Ed., Ed.D.

Judicial District III -- Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster
ED 124, School of Education, University at Albany, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222
Phone: (518) 442-4987 Email: RegentBowman@mail.nysed.gov

2012* Tallon, Jr., James R. ; B.A., M.A.

Judicial District VI - Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Madison, Otsego, Schuyler, Tioga, Tompkins
United Hospital Fund, Empire State Building, 350 Fifth Avenue, 23rd Floor, New York, N.Y. 10118-0110
Phone (212) 494-0777 Email: RegentTallon@mail.nysed.gov

2010* Tilles, Roger; B.A., J.D.

Judicial District X - Nassau, Suffolk
100 Crossways Park West, Suite 107, Woodbury, N.Y. 11797
Phone (516) 364-2533 Email: RegentTilles@mail.nysed.gov

2010* Brooks Hopkins, Karen; B.A., M.F.A.

Judicial District II - Kings
30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11217
Phone (718) 636-4135 Email: RegentHopkins@mail.nysed.gov

2012* Bendit, Charles R.; B.A.

Judicial District I - New York
111 Eighth Avenue, Suite 1500, New York, N.Y. 10011
Phone (212) 220-9945 Email: RegentBendit@mail.nysed.gov

2013* Rosa, Betty A., B.A., M.S. in Ed., M.S. in Ed., M.Ed., Ed.D.
Judicial District XII - Bronx

Chambreleng Hall, Fordham University, 441 East Fordham Road, Bronx, N.Y. 10458
Phone (718) 817-5053 Email: RegentRosa@mail.nysed.gov

2010* Young, Jr., Lester W., B.S., M.S., Ed.D

At Large
55 Hanson Place, Suite 400, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11217
Phone (718) 722-2796 Email: RegentYoung@mail.nysed.gov

2014* Cea, Christine D., B.A., M.A., Ph.D.

Judicial District XIII - Richmond
NYS Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities
1050 Forest Hill Road, Staten Island, NY 10314
Phone (718) 494-5306 Email: RegentCea@mail.nysed.gov

2014* Norwood, Wade S., B.A.

At Large
74 Appleton Street, Rochester, NY 14611
Phone (585) 461-3520 Email: RegentNorwood@mail.nysed.gov

New York State needs a new Commissioner of Education. So says the ad below. Who will apply? Someone who knows something about education or someone who has alot of money and can buy the public relations that can convince anyone that he/she knows what he/she is doing?

NYSED / Commissioner of Education Search
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commissioner of Education and President of the University of the State of New York


Milton L. Cofield, Vice Chancellor

New York State Education Department
89 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12234

An Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer
PDF version
The New York State Board of Regents seeks applications and nominations for the position of Commissioner of Education. Our goal is to find an accomplished leader who will bring New York State to the forefront in educational achievement. We need a visionary to manage the State’s educational resources to raise achievement for all students, close the achievement gap, and raise the State’s graduation rate.

This person must have:

Demonstrated experience in identifying, developing and implementing creative solutions to challenges confronting education at all levels; success in the urban setting is a plus.
Proven experience leading a complex organization where staff development, organizational change, fiscal accountability and technology have been used to improve service delivery and customer satisfaction.
A commitment to diversity; an ability to work effectively with and value the perspectives of all groups and individuals.
An ability to effectively communicate with, motivate and lead staff and stakeholders toward excellence.
Proven experience working with a board to effect change through policy development and shared governance.
Demonstrated commitment to enhancing the role of education in economic development.
Experience working with local, state and federal elected officials.
Appointed by and serving at the pleasure of the Board of Regents, the Commissioner is the Chief Executive Officer of the State Education Department and President of The University of the State of New York (USNY). The University is one of the largest and most comprehensive educational systems in the world.

Incorporated by the Legislature in 1784, the Board of Regents is the oldest continuous policy-making board of education in the nation. Under the State Constitution, the Regents head the State Education Department and The University of the State of New York which oversees and assists more than 7,000 public and independent elementary and secondary schools; 270 public and independent colleges and universities; 7,000 libraries; 900 museums; 25 public broadcasting facilities; 3,000 historical repositories; 436 proprietary schools; 48 professions encompassing more than 761,000 licensees plus 240,000 certified educators; and services for children and adults with disabilities.

Competitive salary commensurate with experience.

For more information: www.nysed.gov
Qualified candidates should send a resume and letter of interest to:

Commissioner Search
P.O. Box 127
Albany, NY 12201-0127

Nominations may be sent to the same address.

Review will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.

Last Updated: May 1, 2009

Former Commissioner Mills

Board of Regents
Current Members

The Bronx Early College Academy Site Rally

RALLY
For Parent/Family Rights in Public School Education

PLEASE JOIN & SUPPORT THE BRONX EARLY COLLEGE ACADEMY (B.E.C.A.) COMMUNITY IN THE UPCOMING RALLY AGAINST THE SITE DECISION PROCESS TAKEN BY THE NYC DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

DATE: Friday, May 1, 2009
TIME: 2:00 PM
PLACE: City Hall Park (Fountain South)

As B.E.C.A. strives to achieve success in higher education as part of the Early College Initiative program at CUNY, Lehman College, we have been faced with the challenge of misleading conduct throughout the site process by the Department of Education. As a result, B.E.C.A. is being relocated to a site that does not meet the requirements for the overall success of our children’s educational future.

Bronx Early College Academy (MS 324) Mission Statement

“Preparing ALL students for college success”

The mission of Bronx Early College Academy is to prepare ALL students to be successful college graduates who positively impact their local and global communities. BECA is a collaborative learning community highlighting academic rigor and challenging enrichment programming. Our college partnership with Lehman College equips students with the tools and skills necessary for them to work towards earning up to TWO years of college credits.

We are thankful for your support in this initiative for our students to successfully achieve our mission in the Early College Initiative Program.

* For additional information, please contact Ibrahim Bah at (646) 228-1025 or
Annabelle Wright at (917) 496-3757

Press Release
April 24, 2009
NYC School Affected By the D.O.E.’s Poor Planning And Misleading Conduct
Parents Of Students At The Bronx Early College Academy Rejects “Proposed” Future Site


Funded by the Gates’ Foundation, The Bronx Early College Academy (BECA.), an Early College Initiative school partnered with the City University of New York, Lehman College began operations in September, 2006. Prior to the school opening, parents were promised that BECA would be situated at a temporary site in the Riverdale community for the 1st year and then moved to a permanent site on or close to Lehman College. In July 2008, prior to the school’s 3rd year at the temporary site, the Department of Education established an in-school site committee to include parents in the site evaluation process. With a site process marked with ongoing misleading communication to parents, a site decision was made without inclusion of the in-school site committee that may adversely impact the ultimate success of BECA as part of the Early College Initiative program.
At the presentation at Lehman College, held the summer of 2006, parents were promised that BECA would be situated in a temporary site in the Riverdale community for one year, after which a permanent site to house the school growing one grade each year until it reaches grade 12, would be located on or close to partner college, Lehman.
After the first year at Riverdale and the first Principal change, when parents asked CUNY representative Ms. Cass Conrad where the school will be moved, they were told that the plan was to stay in the current location for one more year 2007/2008 school year before a permanent site is found. Parents accepted this new change and with the arrival of a new principal, Ms. Sharon Freedman for the 2007/2008 school year hoped that things will move towards the right direction. She was unable to steer the program in the right direction and after an outcry from parents was replaced in June, 2008.
During the summer of 2008, Parents’ received a letter from the Department of Education’s Office of Portfolio Development dated June 24, 2008 stating that ‘due to space requirements of housing a 6 – 12 in one facility, it is unlikely that a permanent site will be found at this point. As a result the committee needs to review other options. Some of these options could mean that BECA will not grow to include a 9th grade in the 2008/2009 school year.
This led to parents’ outcry that brought the Office of Portfolio Development, CUNY and Parents to the table and the beginning of the site committee meetings to find a permanent site for BECA in July 2008. Parents were promised that they will be involved when the list of available sites is finalized and all options will be presented to the committee before a final decision is made.
On March 14, 2009, the Office of Portfolio Development arranged a walkthrough of the “proposed” future site for BECA at 250 E 164 Street. At this time, the DOE representative Ms. Natasha Howard revealed to parents for that this was the permanent location for BECA.
Parents are outraged that the DOE did not involve them as promised in the final decision making. The major concerns are:
1. Overall impact to the success of BECA as an Early College Initiative School

2. Loss of critical instructional time that will be used for traveling to and from Lehman
3. Limited and reduced access to valuable Lehman College resources
4. Impact to parent/student partnership with CUNY/Lehman College
5. Shared site with 5 schools, including a failing school and suspension site
6. Safety of our children in the neighborhood of the site
As part of the Early College Initiative program to foster collaboration, parents and families are included in school decision making. The Department of Education has not respected the parents and families of B.E.C.A. by not including us in this critical decision.
The program and mission of the school cannot be compromised by the poor planning and misleading conduct of the DOE.
Parents, families and supporters of BECA’s mission and parents’ rights in education are coming together to rally the rejection of the site and the decision process taken by the Department of Education’s Portfolio Development Office.
The rally will be held at the City Hall Park on May 1st at 2:00pm. Please join us in support of this initiative. Together, we can make a difference.
For additional information, please contact Ibrahim Bah at 646-228-1025 or Annabelle Wright at 917-496-3757

Mission of the Bronx Early College Academy (MS 324)
“Preparing ALL students for college success”
The mission of Bronx Early College Academy is to prepare ALL students to be successful college graduates who positively impact their local and global communities. BECA is a collaborative learning community highlighting academic rigor and challenging enrichment programming. Our college partnership with CUNY equips students with the tools and skills necessary for them to work towards earning up to TWO years of college credits.

The Secret Bloomberg Administration

Mayor Bloomberg, with City Council's Christine Quinn standing behind him

I wonder why citizens of New York want a Mayor that closes the door to public scrutiny of all policy determinations. Bloomberg's disdain for accountability is obvious to anyone who has tried to obtain information about him, and/or his staff pursuant to the freedom of information law.

If you read the new website of the Committee on Open Government, you will read about the many violations of FOIA and FOIL by both Mayor Bloomberg and Mr. Joel Klein. More about Mr. Klein's violations in a later article. So let's go now to the New York Times' requests for information on Mayor Bloomberg's successful campaign to get himself into a third term as Mayor, as you can see in the Times' article posted below.

By the way, I have heard that any New York City Council member who can win a third term on the Council gets free health insurance paid by the New York City taxpayer for the rest of his/her natural life. This is good to know, isnt it?

Wake up, New York.

Betsy Combier

April 25, 2009
E-Mail Sheds Little Light on Term Limits Campaign in City Hall
By MICHAEL BARBARO, NY TIMES

“Many thanks.”

In the middle of the pitched battle over Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s plan to re-engineer the city’s term-limits laws, those are the only two words that the first deputy mayor, Patricia E. Harris, (pictured below with Mayor Bloomberg) wrote about the topic.



Or at least those are the only two words that City Hall will allow the public to see.

On Friday, six months after The New York Times requested copies of all e-mail messages about term limits sent or received by six top aides to the mayor under the Freedom of Information Act, the Bloomberg administration released 66 pages of correspondence.

Much of what the city released amounted to fan mail for the mayor, from businesspeople, friends of his aides or ordinary citizens.

“My husband and I fully support your bid for a third term,” a husband and wife wrote the mayor. Their names were withheld.

In an e-mail message to the mayor, Edward B. Ryder IV, from Farmington, N.Y., wrote a ringing endorsement of the third-term plan. “If there was a case to be made for lifting term limits, I’m sure you will make it and make it well,” he wrote.

The Times sought e-mail messages written or received by Mr. Bloomberg; Ms. Harris; Edward Skyler, deputy mayor for operations; Kevin Sheekey, deputy mayor for intergovernmental affairs (pictured below); Stu Loeser, the mayor’s press secretary; and James Anderson, communications director.

The administration did not release any e-mail messages written by Mr. Bloomberg, Mr. Skyler (pictured below)or Mr. Anderson.


The mayor’s office released 17 e-mail messages that encouraged him to change the law and seek a third term, and four others opposing the move. The remainder consisted of press releases, poll results and inquiries about Mr. Sheekey’s young twins. None of the messages reflected discussions of strategy, support-building or organizing the broader campaign around the issue, which consumed the administration for months in the second half of 2008.

In a letter to The Times, a lawyer for the mayor, Anthony W. Crowell, said the administration was withholding other correspondence because it falls under an exemption for “interagency or intra-agency” materials.

Gene Russianoff, (pictured at right) a senior lawyer at the New York Public Interest Research Group, which also sought the records, said that the city’s release of the e-mail messages “can’t be the full story.”

“It sounds like a very selective release of memos and that support for term limits was spontaneous combustion,” Mr. Russianoff said. “It’s hard to believe this was conceived by spontaneous combustion. People on the scene felt like it was well orchestrated. But you can’t orchestrate without an orchestra.”

A spokesman for the mayor, Jason Post, said on Friday afternoon, “We released all the e-mails that were subject to disclosure.” He noted that Mr. Bloomberg did not personally respond to many of the e-mail messages on term limits.

Even those e-mail messages that offer a window into City Hall’s thinking about term limits are long on logistics and short on substance.

An e-mail message to Mr. Sheekey from an official at 32BJ, a union representing custodial workers in the city, bears the subject line “Term Limits.”

The union official wrote: “Are you back in the U.S.A. for good? Want to talk on this A.S.A.P.” Mr. Sheekey responded: “Just back this a.m. Let me know where/when to call you.”

And even while citing the exemption for correspondence between agencies in City Hall as a reason for not disclosing other messages, the administration nevertheless included one e-mail message from Mr. Loeser, sent on Oct. 3, 2008, in which he forwards the result of a poll to his City Hall colleagues, including Ms. Harris, Mr. Sheekey and Mr. Anderson. The poll found that most New Yorkers backed the idea of a third term for Mr. Bloomberg.

Mr. Post said that because the e-mail message contained “final statistical tabulations,” the city determined it should be disclosed.

Still, the documents do provide a glimpse of the ego-stroking and subtle hierarchies that govern the political world.

When writing last October to Patrick Gaspard, (picture at right) a Barack Obama campaign aide who is now deputy political director at the White House, Mr. Sheekey urged him: “Focus on winning the national election. If you can take some time out from the transition, find some time for me.”

Then Mr. Sheekey quoted the character Leo McGarry, the White House chief of staff on the television series “The West Wing.” (Picture at left is actor John Spencer as Leo McGarry).

“We have the ability to affect more change in a day at the White House than we will have in a lifetime once we walk out these doors. What do we want to do with them?”

Mayor Bloomberg's e-mail stormed by New York voters - pro and con - after OK'd 3-term bid
BY Kathleen Lucadamo, DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU
Saturday, April 25th 2009, 1:09 AM
LINK

3rd time's the charm

How do you feel about Mayor Bloomberg running for a 3rd term?

Great - He's doing the best he can - all he needs is another chance.

Disappointed - I've lost hope in him - we need a new mayor.

Angry - I belive in term limits - you should only get two terms.

Mayor Bloomberg got an earful from New Yorkers last fall when he tossed term limits so he could run for reelection, according to e-mails released Friday by City Hall.

"This is a sad day for New York City. How dare you?" wrote one disgruntled citizen to Bloomberg the day after City Council voted to make the change in October.

Another urged him not to run for mayor again because "fatigue can set in," while a third wrote, "The way this is being handled is hurting you - it really is."

Others were more encouraging.

"We are thrilled to hear the news about the third run. THANK GOD," Mara Manus of the Film Society of Lincoln Center e-mailed the mayor.

"We only regret you didn't run for President," an enthusiast e-mailed after urging him to seek a third term.

The exchanges between City Hall and outsiders suggest Bloomberg was trying to line up labor support days before the Council voted on the controversial measure.

Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey was arranging meetings in early October to discuss the term limits debate with Stuart Applebaum of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (at right) and Peter Colavito of SEIU 32BJ, records show.

"Want to talk on this ASAP," Colavito wrote.

Sheekey also appeared to discuss the issue with President Obama's political director, Patrick Gaspard, who wrote on Oct. 21 he "wanted to talk term limits."

Gaspard was previously an operative at SEIU 1199, which opposed term limits. Bloomberg is now courting the union for a reelection endorsement.

The Council narrowly voted to extend term limits for itself and citywide elected posts on Oct. 23 despite opposition from good-government groups and several politicians.

Bloomberg received support from Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum chief Bill White, who ended his e-mail with, "Hope to see you at the Intrepid for the Grand Reopening."

Adrian Flannelly, chairman of Irish Radio Networks, wrote after the vote, "Congratulations. We look forward to your leadership of New York City for the next five years."

The e-mails were provided to the Daily News through a Freedom of Information request, though the names of most e-mail senders were redacted.

klucadamo@nydailynews.com

The Education Equality Project Statement on Teacher Quality

Joel Klein and Al Sharpton have joined together to reduce the achievement gap between children of different racial/academic/social categories.

My thoughts: we, the public, will soon start hearing about the huge success of this new collaboration, and the statistics issued will be wildly accepted by the elite of the education-political-complex.



Education Equality Project |895 Broadway, 5th floor, NY, NY 10003 | 212.253.2021 | www.edequality.org



THE EDUCATION EQUALITY PROJECT POSITION PAPER SERIES
ON IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY
_____________________________________________________________________________
No reform is more critical to closing the nation’s shameful achievement gap than boosting the quality of teachers in high‐poverty schools. Absent a large influx of better teachers for low‐income minority students, every programmatic initiative to close the achievement gap will ultimately fall short. As President Obama has
suggested, great teachers in inner‐city schools are the unsung heroes of education reform. “The single most important factor in determining [student] achievement is not the color of their skin or where they come from,’’ says President Obama. “It’s not who their parents are or how much money they have—it’s who their teacher is.”

Without “the right people standing in front of the classroom,” the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution concludes, “school reform is a futile exercise.”
Low‐income minority students, who already struggle with the burdens of poverty and the vestiges of discrimination, should, by all rights, be taught by the nation’s most effective teachers. But in a travesty of the American creed of equal educational opportunity, access to the best teachers is now more a matter of zip

code than need. Stanford professor Linda Darling‐Hammond summed up this unjust distribution of teaching talent by noting that “analysts consistently find that the most inequitably distributed resource—and the one most predictive of student achievement—is the quality of teachers. Many schools serving the most vulnerable students have been staffed by a steady parade of untrained, inexperienced, and temporary teachers, and studies show that these teachers’ lack of training and experience significantly accounts for students’ higher failure rates on high‐stakes tests.” The next wave of school reform, as the New York Times put it in a recent editorial, must “end the odious practice of dumping the least qualified teachers into the neediest schools.”

How wide is the teacher effectiveness gap in high‐poverty schools? A recent study in Los Angeles of 9,400 math classrooms in grades 3‐5 found that students in the district’s poorest schools were nearly three times as likely to have teachers from the bottom quarter of teachers (measured by teacher effectiveness in raising math achievement) than students in the district’s most affluent schools. At the same time, the Los Angeles study shows that effective teachers have a profound impact on student learning. On average, students assigned a teacher in the top quartile increased their math achievement scores 10 percentile points more than students who had a teacher in the bottom quartile—a huge one‐year gain.

In practical terms, that suggests that if low‐income minority students could be assured of having teachers who fell in the top 25 percent of effective teachers four years in a row in lieu of a sub‐par instructor, the students could effectively eliminate the achievement gap altogether. No single reform‐‐ inside or outside of school‐‐comes close to having such a profound impact on the achievement gap.

TEACHER TALENT: IT’S THE SYSTEM, STUPID
Creating a new generation of more effective teachers for disadvantaged students is similar to the human capital challenge faced by any organization: How to identify, attract, develop, and retain the talent that best accomplishes its mission. In the case of schools, that mission is to elevate student achievement. Yet the shortage of topnotch teachers in inner‐city schools today stems less from the poor choices of teachers or any personal shortcomings than from a system for cultivating teaching talent that regularly fails both teachers and students.

The syllogism is painfully straightforward: If the business of schools is boosting student learning, and if effective teaching is the most powerful means to that end, educators need to make profound changes to the five links of the human capital chain to maximize the productivity of instructors. Just like skilled managers in any sector, reform‐minded lawmakers and policymakers should be looking to:

1) Recruit the best possible candidates for teaching jobs;
2) Give aspiring and veteran teachers the right incentives and training to perform
well in the classroom;
3) Evaluate teacher performance fairly but rigorously;
4) Dismiss incompetent instructors after they have had an opportunity to improve their performance; and
5) Place the best teachers where they are needed most.

Unfortunately, the nation’s current system for recruiting, developing, and maintaining effective teachers fails all five steps of a sensible human capital program. In fact, the current K‐12 system has erected institutional and contractual bulwarks, vigorously defended, to protect the very practices most in need of change.

Despite a universal consensus among researchers that teacher effectiveness is by far the most important variable in raising student achievement‐‐especially for disadvantaged students‐‐serious efforts to address the teacher quality gap almost invariably fail. From the moment a prospective teacher enters a teachers college to the day of his/her retirement party, a teacher’s ability to elevate student learning is poorly assessed (if at all), and virtually never linked to consequences—either positive, as in the case of awarding merit pay, or negative, like being dismissed for poor performance.

Aspiring teachers in both traditional education schools and alternative certification programs have little or no classroom experience working with great teachers of disadvantaged students. And during the first three years of their careers, when teachers are typically on probationary status working toward tenure, a teacher’s impact on student achievement is rarely evaluated well. A 2009 report from the National Council on Teacher Quality reports that “only two states require any evidence of teacher effectiveness to be considered as part of tenure decisions. All other states permit districts to award tenure virtually automatically.” Since 2006, two of the nation’s most populous states‐‐California and New York, home to more than 600,000 teachers‐‐have even enacted laws that effectively bar school administrators from considering a teacher’s impact on student performance in teacher pay and tenure decisions.

Once teachers receive tenure, they are typically blocked from earning merit pay and bonuses by demonstrating a proficiency at boosting student learning. Under the single‐pay salary schedule, teachers with equivalent years of experience and educational attainment receive the same salary, irrespective of how much their students are actually learning or whether they teach in underserved schools. This uniform salary
schedule, with all of its perverse incentives, was conceived almost a century ago, when schools were thought of as factories where teachers played the role of interchangeable assembly line workers. But in the 21st century, teachers are long overdue to join the ranks of other white‐collar professionals, whose remuneration is based chiefly on job performance.

Compounding the dearth of performance incentives, a small minority of tenured teachers who are incompetent continue to teach for years on end in inner‐city schools‐‐no matter how poorly they serve their students. A study by The New Teacher Project (TNTP) of five big‐city school districts with nearly 75,000 tenured teachers found a grand total of four teachers who were formally terminated the previous year for poor performance. The TNTP data suggest that a tenured teacher’s odds of being formally terminated in a given year for incompetence are about 1 in 18,500. Over the course of a lifetime, a teacher has a greater chance than that of being struck by lightning.

School administrators and lawmakers have attempted to raise the quality of the teaching force but with little success. For the most part, educators have sought to raise barriers to entry into the teaching profession‐‐ employing educational credentials, licensure, and certification as proxies for teacher quality. The No Child Left Behind Act, for example, requires teachers in core academic subjects to be “highly qualified,” as evidenced by a bachelor’s degree, full state licensure and certification, and demonstrated subject‐area competence on tests (or by having completed academic coursework). Yet research has consistently found that education
credentials, licensing, advanced degrees, and both traditional and alternative certification all have little predictive value when it comes to the development of effective teachers. Educators, in short, have fallen prey to pushing new “inputs” as the solution to the teacher quality problem (like revised curriculum or training) but
lost sight of the importance of maximizing teacher “outputs”—namely, the impact of teachers on student achievement.

In stark contrast, the impact of teachers on student performance during the first three years in the classroom is a potent predictor of whether teachers go on to become great instructors or weak ones. Building a new and radically different system to track, evaluate, and reward teachers based on their impact on student achievement after they start work in the classroom could dramatically improve the quality of the teaching force.

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS: A NEW PATH FOR FOSTERING GREAT TEACHERS

The Education Equality Project believes that the current system for recruiting, rewarding, and retaining teachers must be turned on its head. In place of the hidebound system that now restricts entry into the teaching profession, fails to reward merit, and protects failing teachers from dismissal, teachers should be
rewarded on the basis of their performance in the classroom—that is, on how well they fulfill their central mission of elevating student learning. Transforming the teaching profession into a merit‐based system is a simple, even obvious first step toward solving the problem of educational inequality in America. Yet a
progress‐based system has powerful foes in education schools, teachers unions, and district bureaucracies.

To make teaching a merit‐based profession, the Education Equality Project supports far‐reaching reforms at every stage of a teacher’s career‐‐from the start of his or her training through induction, tenure, and the awarding of salary hikes. The ultimate goal of transforming the teaching profession is that every classroom will one day be led by an effective instructor, who advances student learning. As the education historian Diane Ravitch has written, “The quality of teachers in the nation’s schools matters very much. For some children, the quality of their teacher is the difference between success and failure. A nation with a goal of ‘no child left behind’ will have to find effective strategies to ensure that every child has good teachers and that every teacher has working conditions in which to do his or her job well.”

None of this is to suggest that teachers are to “blame,” or that improving the professional environment in which teachers work is not a critically important goal as well, as Ravitch notes. It is both fair and sound practice to give teachers every opportunity to be successful with adequate resources and training targeted to
their accountability for elevating student performance. Until, however, lawmakers and educators are serious about taking every step possible to identify, develop, and rigorously evaluate teachers for their impact on student learning, our national aspirations for educational excellence and equity will remain unmet.

Toward this end, EEP supports seven policy initiatives—call them the Seven Habits for Highly Effective Teachers—most of which are already being piloted in a variety of programs and school districts:
1) Cast a wider net for prospective teachers by lowering the entry barriers to the teaching profession. At the same time, teacher colleges, alternative certification programs, and districts should redouble efforts to develop more effective human capital strategies for recruiting and selecting promising teachers.
Despite a looming teacher shortage, prospective teachers who are recent college graduates or professionals looking for a mid‐career switch are often discouraged from becoming teachers by requirements for certification and master degrees. Advanced degrees and certification are not linked to producing effective teachers, and traditional schools of education typically attract college students with low GPA’s from less competitive institutions. By contrast, Teach for America, and the Baltimore
and New York City Teaching Fellows programs have shown that alternative recruitment and certification programs can successfully attract high‐caliber teaching candidates. In fact, TFA teachers are at least as effective at raising academic achievement as their peers. Meanwhile, other alternative certification programs, like the defense department’s Troops to Teachers initiative, are also demonstrating that mid‐career and retiring professionals could provide a rich source of new teaching talent, particularly in high‐need subject areas in inner‐city schools, such as math and science.

While preparation and training at teacher colleges and alternative certification programs generally do a poor job of preparing graduates to teach in high‐poverty schools, the shortcomings of the current system do not mean that educators should abandon efforts to find a better way to identify and train promising instructors. Programs like Teach for America are working hard to define teacher attributes
that help predict student achievement gains. The EEP supports continued research designed to identify the background, personal characteristics and pathways to the teaching profession that are linked to better student learning. In addition, the EEP supports funding for research and assessments that can lead to better education and training of novice teachers‐‐and it applauds pioneering schools of education that are rethinking their curriculum, with the intent to boost teacher effectiveness.

2) The federal government should require states and districts to develop
longitudinal data systems that would allow school administrators and principals to use value‐added data to measure and track the impact teachers have on student achievement. To move toward a performance‐based system for teachers, school districts will need to have information that tracks the effect that individual teachers
are having on student performance from year‐to‐year for a number of years. Performance‐based metrics must not only be fair but transparent. To achieve both aims, a value‐added model must isolate “teacher effects” by holding constant an array of variables outside of a teacher’s control, such as the starting achievement level and specialized needs (e.g., English Language Learner or special education status) of his or her students, and the educator’s years of experience. Unfortunately, only a relatively small number of states and districts have developed data bases that allow the creation of a model that enables school officials to track the performance of individual teachers and students over a multiyear period.

Tennessee has pioneered the use of value‐added analysis of teacher effectiveness, and several states and numerous districts have followed suit. The federal government also provides modest funding for states to develop teacher quality metrics in high‐needs schools through programs like the Teacher Incentive Fund. But the federal government can do much more to support the development of longitudinal, value‐added data systems. It could, for example, reposition much of the Title I funding for
disadvantaged students to Title II, the teacher quality section of the Elementary and Secondary School Act. States and districts need far more robust data systems than they have today to make value‐added analysis a reality, and urban districts especially need to move aggressively to implement and fine‐tune value‐added analyses of teacher performance during the next decade.

To be sure, value added analysis is still a work in progress and methodological challenges remain. Yet for all its imperfections, value added analysis is still a vast improvement on the existing system, which fails in its elemental duty to use the one measuring stick that really matters: Compared to other educators with similar students and facing similar challenges, how well are a given teacher’s students actually acquiring the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in life? While psychometricians debate the finer points of the value‐added model, it is now clear that, at minimum, it is a fair and responsible way to identify instructors at either end of the competence bell curve.

Given the poor job existing evaluations systems do to reward teaching excellence and redress clear incompetence, failing to develop and use value‐added methodology as one important indicator of effectiveness is unjustifiable.

3) States and districts should be encouraged and free to use a variety of outcome‐based measures to evaluate teacher effectiveness. Yet any system that states devise to evaluate teacher performance should include student test scores as a key measuring stick‐‐and should not succumb to the temptation to substitute input‐based measures to gauge teacher effectiveness (like licensure status and education
credentials). While student test scores over a multiyear period should figure prominently in valueadded assessments of teacher performance, it is neither desirable nor practical to use them as the only metric of effectiveness. At present, there is no single consensus about the best system to measure teacher effectiveness‐‐and within limits, states and districts should be free to pick and choose their own outcome measures. Structured classroom observations by principals and master teachers over the course of the year, independent assessments of student work, teacher attendance, mentoring of other teachers, and assessments of videotaped classes are just a few of the other outcome‐based measures that districts might employ. Denver’s ProComp merit‐pay program rewards teachers and schools that meet academic goals, exceed expectations on state exams, and earn good evaluations from principals.

The Teacher Advancement Program, which Secretary Duncan implemented on a pilot basis in Chicago during his stint as superintendent, helps teachers use data to improve their instruction and provides bonuses for teachers who raise test scores. Owing to gaps in NCLB’s testing regimen, districts inevitably will be obligated to look beyond test scores to assess teacher effectiveness. Under NCLB, virtually all students are tested in reading and math in grades 3‐8. But high school students and K‐2 students are not universally tested, and even in grades 3‐8, instructors who teach subjects other than English and math may not give widely‐used, standardized tests. A rich evaluation system, using a variety of performance measures, is more likely to
earn the support and respect of teachers.

4) Every school and district should assess and document the impact that probationary teachers have on student learning from the moment they enter the classroom. Fledgling teachers should receive better professional development support, including on‐the‐job mentoring and supervision from peers and master teachers. Just as barriers to entering the teaching profession should be lowered, barriers to earning tenure must be raised. At present, probationary instructors can earn tenure almost
automatically merely for surviving their first two to three years in the classroom.

Professional development during the probationary years is now largely a lost opportunity, despite the fact that a teacher’s first three years in the classroom provide a good indication of whether they will develop into an effective teacher.
The paltry effort that districts currently make to assess the impact of probationary teachers on student performance is inexcusable and counterproductive. Better on‐the‐job training and mentoring could assist struggling teachers to become more effective instructors. Just as aspiring doctors serve stints as interns and residents in teaching hospitals, aspiring teachers might well receive similar supervision,
feedback, and assessment. A number of successful residency programs, like Chicago’s Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL), the Boston Teacher Residency Program, and the Boettcher Teacher Program in Denver, recruit talented college graduates and then put them through year‐long paid residencies under the supervision of master teachers. Clinical supervision and fieldwork, rather than academic course work, can help speed a shift in professional development to promoting effective teaching.

5) To transform tenure into a progress‐based prerogative, states and districts should require tenure candidates to demonstrate that they are effectively boosting student learning—a process that should take a minimum of five years. At the same time, the least‐effective probationary instructors should be denied tenure. Once districts have in place better professional development programs and a fair process for assessing the impact of probationary instructors on student performance, they should end the practice of indiscriminately granting tenure. At present, most probationary teachers receive tenure after only two to three years in the classroom—a time when they typically are not effective instructors, and before they have accrued enough years of value‐added data to judge their impact on student performance. If the waiting period for tenure was lengthened to five years, and if the least‐effective probationary instructors had an opportunity to improve their performance (as indicated by student outcomes) but failed to do so, then the residual core of probationary teachers who are poor performers should be denied tenure.

Disadvantaged students cannot continue to be saddled with inferior instructors because school administrators and principals are reluctant to judge the
performance of their employees. Nor should the perfect be allowed to become the enemy of the good in assessing teacher performance‐‐especially at the critical juncture when the protections afforded by tenure are at stake. By a teacher’s fifth year, value added analysis will be based on multiple years of data, reducing the risk
of error. Moreover, teachers who fall at the bottom of the effectiveness continuum tend to do poorly on multiple measures, while teachers in the top quintile tend to do well. Identifying the most effective and least effective probationary instructors would provide principals and teachers with an invaluable opportunity to reward their most promising instructors‐‐and discourage bad teachers from staying in the classroom, to the detriment of their students.

6) Teachers who demonstrate their effectiveness at raising student achievement should receive large bonuses for teaching in high‐poverty schools and extra compensation for teaching core subjects in shortage areas, like math and science. At present, topnotch instructors often end up leaving inner‐city schools to teach at suburban schools that are closer to home, less disruptive, and pay higher salaries.
To stem the suburban tide, urban school districts should pay large bonuses—on the order, perhaps, of 25 percent of annual compensation‐‐to effective teachers who stay to teach disadvantaged students. Some districts already offer bonuses to instructors who teach in high‐poverty schools or underserved subject areas. But to avoid rewarding bonuses to ineffective instructors in high‐poverty schools, the
EEP believes bonuses should only be awarded to teachers who demonstrate that they are successfully boosting student achievement.

7) Tenured teachers should periodically be reassessed to ensure that they are still raising student achievement. Tenured instructors who are doing a good job should receive significant merit pay hikes. But persistently incompetent teachers should be dismissed‐‐after getting a chance to improve their performance. In much the same spirit, unionized teachers should enjoy the due process protections and seniority rights afforded to other white‐collar professionals‐‐but not be shielded by excessive dueprocess requirements from meaningful job performance assessments or layoffs. Teachers first sought tenure, seniority, and collective bargaining rights a half‐century ago to protect against arbitrary dismissals by principals. Today, however, labyrinthine contract provisions have made it a laborious ordeal to fire an incompetent tenured teacher, even though the federal government and states now
have a battery of laws on the books to protect employees from arbitrary dismissals.

To improve teaching quality in high‐poverty schools, good teachers must be rewarded and bad teachers must be encouraged to leave the profession. Yet last year, the New York Department of Education had to spend nearly $256,000 and almost 8,000 hours of staff time to fire a single tenured teacher for incompetence—and the department has had to spend even more in the past to remove an incompetent instructor.

For poor children, the danger is no longer that they will lose a great teacher because of an arbitrary principal but rather that they can never be freed from a weak instructor. As President Obama, a supporter of performance pay, summed up at his first press conference, “Bad teachers need to be fired after being given the opportunity to train effectively.”

In the midst of the nation’s deep recession, principals and school administrators across the country are now being forced to lay off thousands of teachers by seniority irrespective of their skills, as mandated by collective bargaining agreements. These last‐hired, first‐fired layoffs bear no relationship to teacher
performance, and they are sure to only accelerate teacher turnover in high‐poverty schools, which have disproportionate numbers of novice and probationary instructors.
Even more egregious, school districts are now required under collective bargaining agreements to provide full salary and benefits for years on end to teachers who are removed from classrooms after being accused of serious misconduct or criminal offenses. Onerous due process requirements, which go far beyond the protections afforded most public sector employees, effectively block district officials
from removing accused teachers from the payroll until investigations of any alleged offenses are concluded with a finding of wrongdoing. In Arizona, teachers who cannot be dismissed yet cannot work in the classroom are assigned to “the bus;” in New York City, they sit in the city’s designated reassignment centers or “rubber rooms,” where they may play cards, listen to iPods, and pursue other diversions. At present, New York City has more than 500 teachers assigned to rubber rooms at a cost to
the city of more than $56 million. To be fair, some teachers in the rubber rooms are vindicated and return to the classroom. Even so, such expenditures are indefensible at a time when cash‐starved districts and talented teachers are facing layoffs.

Transforming the teaching profession into a merit‐based system will not be easy. But there are signs, too, that the anti‐performance strictures of the current system are beginning to break. Promising new alternative pathways to teacher certification like Teach for America and the New York Teaching Fellows have emerged for the first time in numbers in inner‐city schools; first‐rate residency programs like AUSL are bolstering teacher quality in failing urban schools; and a number of districts and states have already started to experiment with teacher performance pay initiatives.

For the first time, the nation has a Democratic president who campaigned on the promise of merit pay for teachers and forthrightly acknowledges that bad teachers should be fired‐‐despite the fact that unions are a traditional Democratic stronghold. Even a few union leaders have thrown open the door to rethinking tenure, the single‐salary pay structure, and merit pay. Last November, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, pledged that “no issue [with the exception of vouchers] should be off the table” anymore in urban school reform. “I will start,” Weingarten declared, “by tackling the tough issues like teacher assignments, tenure, and differentiated pay.”

To be sure, many union leaders and education school professors still oppose efforts to move the teaching profession in the direction of a meritocracy, and some do not take seriously the notion that educators should be held accountable for student learning. But urban school reform and closing the achievement gap can no longer be about protecting the prerogatives of union representatives, district bureaucrats, and professors at teachers colleges. However politically charged such reforms may prove, the EEP’s mission is to boost student learning and speak up on behalf of disadvantaged students. Holding teachers accountable for student learning would constitute a radical shift in our nation’s schools, and that chain of accountability for student achievement should extend straight up to principals and the school superintendent. The good news is that this radical transformation of the teaching profession could again help make education the great equalizer in America—and not an ongoing source of inequity and injustice.