FIRST BELL

Cobble Hill Parents Sue to Block Success Academy 3

Feb. 9, 2012, 8:27 a.m.

By MARY ANN GIORDANO

LINK

Eva S. Moskowitz and her Success Academy charter schools are in the news on Thursday, again as the target of a lawsuit to try to stop her from establishing another school, this time in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.

The education news Web site Gotham Schools reports that Advocates for Justice, which has had a portfolio of cases against the Department of Education, is representing 15 public school parents in the lawsuit, which the organization said would be filed on Wednesday. Gotham said the news conference to announce the suit was organized byAlliance for Quality Education, an advocacy group backed by unions.

Of the suit to block the establishment of Success Academy 3, Gotham Schools writes:

The suit claims the city and Moskowitz circumvented state education laws when they abruptly changed plans for the school late last year. BSA 3 was originally approved for either District 13 or District 14, but the city revised its proposal in late October and announced the school would instead share a building with two high schools and a special needs elementary school in District 15.

Last year parents from the Upper West Side also sued to block Ms. Moskowitz, a former city councilwoman, from establishing a Success Academy on the Brandeis Educational Campus. The suit was dismissed shortly before the school opened last August.

A Success Academy spokeswoman, Jenny Sedlis, said in a statement to Gotham Schools that the suit was the result of the “politics of education.”

“It’s unfortunate that a few adults intent on protecting the status quo would sue to sacrifice the possibility of a brighter education and future for hundreds of children, and we will fight this lawsuit vigorously to ensure that doesn’t happen,” Sedlis said.

She also said that Success Academy 3, which has been heavily promoted in the neighborhood, with ads and other marketing, already has applications from more students than it can accommodate — a claim that a commenter to the Gotham post questioned dismissively.

Gotham Schools’s Rise & Shine daily post has a more complete roundup of what’s in the news.

Much of the news on Wednesday was related to what is to happen on Thursday.

What could be a marathon meeting of the Panel for Educational Policyis scheduled for 6 p.m. at Brooklyn Technical High School, 29 Fort Greene Place at DeKalb Avenue. On the agenda: the long-anticipated vote on closing or shrinking schools that the Department of Education deemed failing.

Two of the schools were, at the last minute, taken off the chopping block — Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing and Visual Artsin Harlem, which will retain its middle grades, and Knowledge and Power Preparatory Academy VII in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.

The Education Department withdrew those schools because of faith that its principals will be able to turn things around.

The meeting on Thursday is expected to attract a large crowd of critics, and a demonstration is being planned by the United Federation of Teachers outside Brooklyn Tech before the meeting.

Those who would like to speak at the meeting are advised to arrive early. Sign-up begins at 5:30 p.m.

SchoolBook will be reporting throughout the meeting through its blog and on Twitter. Expect the meeting to last until the wee hours of the morning.

Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn will deliver a State of the City address on Thursday that is expected to focus in a big way on children and families. She will call for mandatory kindergarten instruction in the city, so that no child arrives in first grade without ever having attended school. The speech will be at noon, in the Council Chambers at City Hall.

And lawyers representing suspended teachers who are suing the Department of Education for being kept too long in the now-defunct rubber rooms, or reassignment centers, say arguments on the case will be heard on Thursday at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit at the Federal Courthouse in Foley Square. According to a news release:

The case, originally filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in June 2008, was dismissed by District Court Judge Victor Marrero on November 15, 2011 pursuant to a Report and Recommendation by Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Peck issued August 23, 2011.

The District Court ruled that the appellants, tenured New York City Public School teachers Michael Ebewo, Joann Hart, Julianne Polito, Thomasina Robinson, and Brandi Scheiner failed to state any cause of action for deprivation of their constitutional right to a prompt hearing after being sent to a Rubber Room, for any claims of employment discrimination, and for their being retaliated against for exercising their First Amendment Right to speak out against their principal’s illegally falsifying student grade and attendance records to dramatically improve their performance. The defendants and appellees named in the lawsuit are the New York City Department of Education, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Chancellor Joel Klein, the New York State Education Department, Richard Mills and David M. Steiner, the State Commissioners of Education, and Deborah A. Marriott, Manager of the State’s Teacher Tenure Hearing Unit.

Mary Ann Giordano is the editor of SchoolBook. Follow her on Twitter @magiorNYT.

Mayor Mike Booed...NYC Just Doesn't Like Him (With Good Reason)

He’s Mayor Boo!berg

By ANDY CAMPBELL and SALLY GOLDENBERG

Last Updated:8:01 AM, January 17, 2012

Posted:12:49 AM, January 17, 2012

Mayor Bloomberg drew jeers from Brooklyn to Harlem during Martin Luther King Jr. Day events yesterday.

At the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where he was one of a dozen city elected leaders and politicians on hand, Bloomberg was greeted with cackles, groans and boos the moment he stepped on stage.

“Come on, time out,” an exasperated Bloomberg said as he tried to talk about his education policy.

“For those of you who want to express yourself, there’s a time and a place for everything. We’re here to honor a man who valued education,” he implored.

Bloomberg’s attempt to compare his record on education — boasting of higher graduation rates for minorities — to the priorities of the slain civil-rights leader only escalated the booing.

“Thank you, that’s very genteel,” he said, looking toward hecklers in the audience. “You probably belong in — never mind.”

That remark brought a stunned silence to the audience, before Bloomberg quickly wrapped up.

Gary Brown, 46, of Fort Greene said he showed up at the Brooklyn event to honor King — not Bloomberg.

“I just don’t like him. I can’t believe he even showed up,” Brown said.

Bloomberg didn’t draw any more warmth during an event at the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network headquarters in Harlem.

The packed house jeered Hizzoner, giving him the coldest reception of any of the speakers on the dais, including the Democratic candidates seeking to replace him at City Hall.

Sharpton even tried to quiet the crowd by saying he had invited Bloomberg to discuss his bid to curb gun violence.

The crowd booed Bloomberg’s remarks about public education, but applauded his anti-gun comments.

“We’ve made some enormous progress over the last 10 years. Crime and murders are way down. Graduation and test scores are up,” Bloomberg said, prompting hecklers to criticize his education record.

“Come on, if you don’t want crime to go down and test scores to go up, then we have nothing in common,” he said.

“That’s what we all should want. That’s what Dr. King would have wanted.”

Additional reporting by Erik Kriss in Albany and David K. Li in New York

Read more:http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/he_mayor_boo_berg_x43VgbVirHYTX38u7FsNIO#ixzz1lp3uva3L

The True Story of Teacher Christine Rubino And Her Prosecution By The New York City Department of Education

The True Story of Teacher Christine Rubino And Her Prosecution By The New York City Department of Education
by Betsy Combier, Editor, Parentadvocates.org
LINK

Christine Rubino

Summary:
On June 23 2010, Rubino went on her computer early in the morning and sent a post out on Facebook about how awful it was that a girl student drowned at the beach, the newspaper said.Later that same day, she returned and went back on Facebook, and in a moment of frustration called her students the “devils spawn”. An employee at her school was also a Facebook "friend" and he printed out the comments and gave them to the Principal. 4 months later Christine was told she was being investigated and she was removed from her classroom. She went into her 3020-a admitting her error and apologizing, but the Gotcha Squad would have none of it, and "convinced" Hearing Officer Randi Lowitt to terminate Christine. The NYC DOE has no internet policy. New York State Supreme Court Judge Barbara Jaffe overturned the termination in recognition of Christine's 15 years of service, without any disciplinary actions prior to the current matter.


No one is arguing a First Amendment defense....... 


Christine Rubino, a math teacher at Brooklyn's PS 203, was considered a good teacher by her principal. She had no disciplinary issues or U-ratings until she told the Principal that a student in one of her classes touched her breast. On June 23 2010, she went on her computer early in the morning and sent a post out on Facebook about how awful it was that a girl student at another school drowned at the beach, the newspaper said.Later that same day, she returned and went back on Facebook, and in a moment of frustration called her students the “devils spawn”. Christine told me many times that as a single mom of two children she adores, she would never hurt a child. I believe her. She is a very credible, passionate woman who is not afraid of speaking out about what is right, what is fact, and what is made up fantasy, something the NYC DOE does all the time and then the victims flee in fear. This is not Christine, and I applaud her.

The comments she made about the class that day in June 2010 she should not have made, she realized, so she removed it, and did not think about it since her Facebook page was "private" and she was not friends with any children or students in any grade at the school. What she did not know was that a colleague who was at the school and on her friends list, printed out the comment and gave it to the Principal. This was June 23, 2010. In July her principal, Lisa Esposito, wrote her a letter congratulating her on a job well done. In January 2011 Christine received an "S" for a great performance in her classroom. This occurred, remember, after Esposito received the Facebook comment from June 2010.

In September Christine was given her usual schedule of math classes. Suddenly, in October, she was re-assigned to a room next door to the principal. She heard that she was under investigation. When asked about Facebook, she told the investigator that she shared her password with a friend who was not a teacher. The investigators went to interview this friend, and she told them to come to her car. The two men sat with Christine's friend in her car, and tried to force her to say that Christine had made her say that she, not Christine, had posted the comments. The friend would not do this, because it wasnt true. However, the investigators were getting extremely harassing. Finally, she gave in, and "admitted" that Christine had told her to take the blame (which was what they wanted to hear). The friend secretly taped the investigators harassing her in the car, and Arbitrator Lowitt wanted this tape played at the arbitration hearing. I was so happy to have been in the room when the tape was played, as the investigators were giving Christine's friend a real shake-down. Priceless. Any movie producers want to get in touch with me?


Christine was brought to the "Gotcha Squad" and her New York State United Teachers ("NYSUT")Attorney Sean Kelly, told her that she must resign, as she would be terminated. Christine did not like the manner in which Sean spoke to her, nor did she see her case as a termination case. She fired Sean, and asked me to accompany her to her first day of her 3020-a arbitration with an arbitrator named Randi Lowitt. I had just been an observer of a hearing where Ms. Lowitt was the arbitrator, and the teacher Respondent was exonerated, or completely cleared. I had a pretty good impression of Ms. Lowitt as someone who was not "hired to fire", as some arbitrators on the UFT-DOE panel are, such as Leona Barsky and Josh Javits.

I changed my mind when Ms. Lowitt became the pawn of the Director of the Gotcha Squad, Theresa Europe. (See the Gotcha Squad article above). Ms. Europe runs the Administrative Trials Unit with venom for tenured teachers. Until recently Europe's boss was a woman by the name of Courtnaye Jackson-Chase, who is an Attorney now assigned detail as DOE CEO Dennis Walcott's Assistant. He needs one. Badly.

Back to Christine. Every day of her 3020-a, Theresa Europe sat in and stared at Arbitrator Lowitt, clearly trying to intimidate Lowitt. Europe kept her arm around the back of the chair of the DOE Attorney in the case, Mr. Jeff Gamils. It seems to me that Lowitt succumbed. After testimony by the Principal that she thought nothing of the comments Christine made, and thus left her to teach her classes as Christine had done for 15 years, the Principal admitted on the record that when she was told by "legal" that she had to terminate Christine but she did not want to do this, as Christine was a very good teacher, she was quite upset. The principal testified that "legal" pressured her into going for Christine's termination. That's how the Gotcha Squad works.

Randy Lowitt terminated Christine. This was truly shocking, as Christine apologized for her comments, and her comments were not related at all to her teaching ability or teacher effectiveness. Also, the NYC DOE has no online/internet policy, so everything that they do to anyone who has said or posted on Facebook is arbitrary and dicretionary. Also, she was accused of interfering with an official investigation. Huh? Where is the evidence? In my opinion, this is proof of collusion of the arbitrator with the NYC DOE. Didnt happen. Randi Lowitt made her decision, and Christine was fired.

Her attorney at 3020-a, Brian Glass, was hired to write her appeal, Verified Petition, Reply Affirmation, (see also Law Department Motion To Dismiss) to the New York State Supreme Court however the Judge, Judge Barbara Jaffe, overturned Christine's termination, saying that she thought that termination under the circumstances of this case was "shocking".

Throughout this ordeal Christine has said that she was eager to return to class. "“I always did my job and I was good at it,” fifth-grade teacher Christine Rubino said Sunday. “I’m sorry if I offended anyone. Do I have to lose my career over it?”

Also from the Daily News article:
Rubino, a teacher for 15 years, was fired last June after also ranting on Facebook that her students should drown. A judge cleared her to go back to class last week.

But the city’s Law Department released a statement Sunday saying that Rubino’s comments “warranted her termination” and that it was considering an appeal.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Barbara Jaffe ruled that Rubino, who makes $78,000-a-year, should get her job back because she had an unblemished record.

“While her reference to a child’s death is repulsive, there is no evidence that her postings are part of a pattern of conduct or anything other than an isolated incident of intemperance,” Jaffe wrote.

Rubino, a teacher at PS 203 in Flatlands, was canned after Facebook posts became public.

“After today, I’m thinking the beach sounds like a wonderful idea for my 5th graders. I HATE THEIR GUTS! They are all the devils spawn,” she posted in June 2010, a day after a 12-year-old Harlem girl drowned at a Long Island beach.

Rubino added to her problems when a friend responded on Facebook: "oh you would let little Kwame float away!"

Rubino replied: "Yes, I wld(sic) not throw a life jacket in for a million!!"

Rubino was fired after a hearing officer found that she was guilty of "misconduct, neglect of duty and conduct unbecoming her profession."

Mr. Brian Glass, Christine's Attorney, emailed me this:

"This is the fourth 3020-a decision in which I have had the penalty vacated by judges in the last approximately two years. I also have had at least 3 Unsatisfactory annual ratings of teachers overturned in the same time period. Each decision has been by a different judge. I frankly was not optimistic about winning any of these cases. There appears to be a recognition by the courts that the 3020-a process as well as the U rating appeal process have become wrongly exploited as a weapon of the DOE gestapo that has sought to demonize teachers over relatively minor incidents. There also appears to be a recognition that these so-called "neutral due process" procedures for teachers are in reality not neutral at all, given the powerful financial incentives of the hearing officers to not risk their own livelihoods in such cases. Hearing officers who dare not to do the DOE's bidding risk their livelihoods by not imposing overly harsh penalties that assuage the DOE bully prosecutors. Fortunately, there are judges in this country who are wholly independent of the DOE and are compassionate enough to understand the importance of due process in this democratic society as well as allowing individuals to learn and move on from their mistakes.

The DOE almost certainly will appeal this judge's decision, invoke its automatic stay for 9 months, and tie up this case in litigation for the next year. Even if Ms. Rubino is successful on appeal, the DOE will seek to further delay her reinstatement by insisting on additional costly hearings and arguing that only the most severest of penalties must be imposed. The DOE and media outlets favorable to its present policies will also likely criticize the courts rather than the DOE prosecutors, claiming how outrageous it is that Ms. Rubino should get a second chance at restoring her career. Unfortunately she has a long road ahead in her quest to restore her livelihood and reputation.

The DOE did not need to elect to invoke the 3020-a process in this case. A simple warning to Ms. Rubino about her mistake would have sufficed, and this would not have been repeated. Perhaps in this time of scarce resources, the substantial time and money on this case could be better allocated by the DOE positively supporting its teachers in the classroom rather than demonizing and punishing its staff."

Bryan D. Glass, Esq.
Partner

What do you think?

Betsy Combier
betsy.combier@gmail.com       

NYC Principals Oppose NY's Teacher Evaluation

Principals Sign Petition Opposing NY’s Teacher Evaluation

LINK

The principal of William E. Grady high school joins the list of city principals signing onto a petition opposing New York State’s new teacher evaluations.

New York State’s new teacher evaluation system has attracted some vocal opponents, including one of the few principals who actually has experience with the new evaluations, writes Philissa Cramer at Gotham Schools.

Geraldine Maione (pictured above) is the principal of Brooklyn’s William E. Grady High School, which is among 33 “persistently low-achieving” city schools that are using the new evaluations in exchange for additional federal funds. And she is vocal in her opposition of the new evaluations, saying they are so formulaic that they leave little room for principals to exercise discretion.

“When I walk in a classroom, I know when children are learning and teachers are teaching,” she said. She doesn’t believe tougher evaluations are necessary if principals put adequate pressure on struggling teachers to improve or move on.

“No teacher has a forever job if the principal is doing her job,” Maione said.

Maione joins around 30 city principals who have signed onto a position paper arguing that the state’s evaluation requirements that require a portion of teachers’ ratings to be based on their students’ test scores are unsupported by research, prone to errors, and too expensive at a time of budget cuts.

The petition has garnered support from principals of progressive schools who want to distance themselves from using test scores to make high-stakes decisions. But there has also been support from several principals from smaller high schools that opened under the Bloomberg administration, including one of the city’s few remaining large high schools.

But even with the new additions, hundreds of principals statewide had signed on but only two active city principals were on the list.

Cramer asks why have relatively few city principals put their name to the petition, even as their union has signaled support?

Sean Feeney, a Nassau County principal who co-authored the position paper, speculates that city principals are less shocked by the state’s evaluation requirements because the city has already tried to develop “value-added” evaluations of some teachers using student test scores.

“The city’s been living with this for a while,” he said.

He also thinks city principals are “a little more nervous” about jeopardizing their jobs by speaking out.

South Bronx: Samuel Gompers HS Students Fight to Save School in Face of Closure

Wilvin Lopez (l.) and Elliot Vazquez (r.) present a calendar to a group of student organizers that shows when the city will vote on a plan to close Samuel Gompers High School. (DNAinfo/Patrick Wall)

Samuel Gompers HS Students Fight to Save School in Face of Closure

January 25, 2012 9:40pm | By Patrick Wall, DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20120125/south-bronx/samuel-gompers-hs-students-fight-save-school-face-of-closure#ixzz1lFS0BVet

January 25, 2012 9:40pm | By Patrick Wall, DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MOTT HAVEN — A few hours after Mayor Michael Bloomberg listed his administration’s education achievements during his State of the City address at a Bronx high school earlier this month, a group of local students gathered a few miles away to discuss how they could save their school.

The five young men, who attend Samuel Gompers Career and Technical Education High School on Southern Boulevard, batted around plans to disrupt, or even prevent, a required public hearing on February 2 to discuss possibly closing the struggling school, prior to a city panel vote the following week on the proposal.

Sitting in the offices of a youth organizing group, a senior warned a sophomore that they could be suspended for their plans.

Students from Gompers High School who are members of the youth organizing group, Sistas and Brothas United, march in 2011 to demand federal improvement funds for their school. (DNAinfo/Patrick Wall)

“I’m OK with that,” said the sophomore, Joseph Duarte, 15.  

He mainly wanted a chance to address city officials, he said, so he could tell them, “You didn’t ask us, the people in the school and the community, what we need.”

The five students form the core of a group that has met over the past two years to call for changes at the high school, which earned an "F" on its most recent city evaluation. Though the students later decided to drop their plans to interfere with the hearing, they are still scrambling to raise awareness of the city’s proposal to phase out the 75-year-old school and replace it with two smaller ones.

Though Gompers' fortunes have fluctuated over the decades, the school has clearly declined in recent years. 

In 2011, the school’s four-year graduation rate of 41 percent ranked among the lowest 1 percent of city schools, according the Department of Education. Its attendance rate, at 72 percent, ranked among the bottom 2 percent of schools, and student demand for the school is down 46 percent over the past four years.

Several students, well aware of the school’s troubles, began to gather in 2010 to exchange grievances about the school — but also to brainstorm ideas for helping fix it. Many of the students were members of Sistas and Brothas United, a Bronx-based leadership training and organizing group for young people.

Though typical meetings included anywhere from 10 to 20 students, a meeting in a church in 2011 attracted nearly 50 Gompers students, according to one group member. At the meeting, dozens of students wrote on sticky notes their suggestions for the school, which varied from improving security and buying more technology, to serving “Spanish food” and enrolling more girls.  (The student body is 80 percent male and 66 percent Hispanic.)

Many suggestions focused on the school administration. When an organizer asked students at the meeting to step forward if they had seen the principal, Joyce Mills Kittrell, at least three times that year, only four students moved, according to Elliot Vazquez, a Gompers senior and a lead organizer.

“The principal needs to work on being more of a public figure,” said Vazquez, 17. “We want to see her face. We want to know that she’s watching the hallways.”

Other students noted that Kittrell and various administrators have met with student organizers more than once, and that administrators regularly hear from students on the School Leadership Team.

In a 2011 report, a Department of Education reviewer said Gompers administrators had recently taken some corrective actions, including installing security cameras, analyzing school-wide achievement data and increasing family involvement by hosting student award nights.

Kittrell did not return calls seeking comment.

The student organizers have also called for more counselors, more interactive and engaging lessons, more athletic teams, student input in some school budgeting decisions and updated learning materials.

One student even said back in 2011 that the most recent president featured in his history textbook was Ronald Reagan.

Some students suggested that the school should receive extra support because of the demanding student population it serves: 17 percent of students are English language learners, about a quarter are in special education classes and, in 2010, 92 percent of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch, a common measure of family poverty, according to the Department of Education.

“They blame the school and students for us failing, when we don’t have the resources,” said Wilvin Lopez, a senior.

The Department of Education is proposing to phase out Gompers over the next three years, then establish in its place a smaller charter high school and a transfer high school for so-called overage, under-credited students.

Gompers offers some career-oriented courses in desktop publishing and computer networking and repair, allowing students to earn special diplomas that include industry-recognized certifications.  Many students expressed concern that they will lose these vocational classes if Gompers is closed.

In a document that it is required to file in advance of any school closure, the DOE acknowledged “it is possible that the availability of certain programs and course offerings will change” during the phase out. 

But the city added that it has proposed to open four new Bronx schools that would offer vocational classes, leading to “a net gain of 67 new ninth-grade seats” in career classes, if the department’s proposals are adopted.

The 13 voting members of the city’s Panel for Educational Policy, eight of whom are appointed by the mayor, will vote on various school proposals — including the plan to close Gompers — on Feb. 9.

In the meantime, Gompers' student organizers intend to explain to anyone who will listen why their school should remain open. 

Vazquez said that as his graduation day approaches this year, one reason to save his school has taken on new urgency.

“I want to be an alumni here,” he said.

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20120125/south-bronx/samuel-gompers-hs-students-fight-save-school-face-of-closure#ixzz1lFRIEfK8

NYU Professor Pedro Noguera Resigns From The State University of New York Board of Trustees

SUNY Official Resigns Over Charter Issue

Pedro Noguera

Professor Says School Policy Is Unclear

By LISA FLEISHER

A prominent academic has resigned from the State University of New York Board of Trustees amid what he called the increasing political tension over the shifting role of charter schools across the state.

New York University professor Pedro Noguera, who held a powerful position on the 17-member board that approves charter schools, said Wednesday he believed the schools had evolved beyond their original mission: offering an alternative to failing public schools in impoverished neighborhoods.

Instead, he said, many have become unnecessary rivals to established suburban and improving urban schools.

Mr. Noguera said he met with SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher and Board of Trustees ChairmanH. Carl McCall in December to express his concerns but didn't receive a clear answer. He had been appointed to the board by former Gov. David Paterson in 2008 and was chairman of the committee that made recommendations to the larger board over whether to approve individual charter schools.

"It's not clear to me what's the larger strategy here, other than the political one," he said. "What I see happening is a deliberate attempt to create competition between public and charter schools, but it's an uneven playing field."

In a statement, Mr. McCall praised Mr. Noguera but declined to address his specific complaints. Ms. Zimpher didn't respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Noguera, known for his work on the education of young black men, was viewed as a moderate on most education issues, tending to disappoint more fervent advocates on both sides.

Bill Phillips, president of the New York Charter Schools Association, said he disagreed with Mr. Noguera's views and said SUNY was nationally recognized for approving good charter schools. "What I would hope is that a lot of people would just appreciate that he's intellectually honest," Mr. Phillips said.

Mr. Noguera said he came to believe SUNY didn't have a clear philosophy behind deciding which charters to approve and that even well-performing charters, when placed in inappropriate neighborhoods, drew resources away from other public schools.

His resignation came against the backdrop of larger questions over the role of charter schools in public education. Once seen as experimental alternatives to crumbling inner-city schools controlled by teachers unions and bureaucracy, charter schools have begun to flourish in wealthy suburbs and upscale urban neighborhoods.

Amid an recent uproar over proposed charter schools in New Jersey suburbs, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has said he believed their schools' focus should be on "districts that are judged to be failing."

Charter operators seeking space in middle-class neighborhoods are "rubbing raw these tensions between folks who could support charters as decentralized community-based institutions but now are fearful that the charter movement is being taken over by larger management organizations without deep roots in the community," said Jeffrey Henig, a professor of political science and education at Teachers College Columbia University.

The SUNY board oversees 83 operating charter schools out of 184 in the state. The state Board of Regents, which operates 30, is the only other body allowed to approve charter schools. The city had that power until 2010.

Mr. Noguera resigned after a particularly heated community meeting over a proposed charter school in Brooklyn's gentrified Cobble Hill neighborhood. The school, part of former City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz's Success Academy Charter network, is set to move into a building that houses three other schools. The plan has drawn criticism from some parents, teachers and elected officials.

"It's just the latest reminder of how needlessly polarized and conflictual this whole thing has become," he said. "This is just going to continue, and I see no end to it." Mr. Noguera said Success Cobble Hill would be strong academically and financially, but he was disturbed by the level of opposition in the community.

In a statement, Ms. Moskowitz called Mr. Noguera a "great partner and advocate of high quality charter schools and we're sad to see him go."

"His departure, however, doesn't change the fact that there are families lined up in every neighborhood across this city for better public schools and we'll continue to work as hard as we can to meet that demand and give every child the well-rounded education they need and deserve," the statement read.

Write to Lisa Fleisher at lisa.fleisher@wsj.com

The Politics of Teacher Evaluations

The Politics of Teacher Evaluations

Rchard C. Iannuzzi, President, New York State United Teachers January 31, 2012 By Marc Bussanich, LaborPress City Reporter

LINK Some politicians are claiming that unless the state finalizes its teacher evaluation system, it is at risk of losing $700 million in Federal Race to the Top money. The state’s teachers union worked hard to create a comprehensive and fair evaluation system. But Governor Andrew Cuomo demanded more reliance on standardized testing. The full implementation now hinges on when an appeals court makes a decision in favor of the union’s version or Cuomo’s. Carl Korn, a spokesman for New York State United Teachers, said that even before President Obama’s Race to the Top initiative, teachers complained to the union that evaluations were very subjective and also punitive, fostering something of a “gotcha mentality.” “An assistant superintendent or principal sitting in the back of the classroom and observing a teacher were wrong as often as they were right. They didn’t bother to follow-up with ways to improve teacher effectiveness,” said Korn. He acknowledged that standardized tests do provide a basis for student growth. “When a teacher gives a test, they are interested in the results because they want to learn how a student performed, which provides insight for altering future instruction if necessary.” But, Korn stressed, student test data use should be limited. “Firstly, standardized testing is to measure student achievement and learning. They were never designed for evaluations. A good evaluation system, in contrast, uses multiple measures, which allows for local control and collaboration.” Korn noted when the state was not awarded Race to the Top in the first round of funding, it served as a wake-up call to the State Education Department, Board of Regents and NYSUT. Consequently, they worked together to design and develop a new teacher evaluation system that was comprehensive, rigorous and fair in May 2010. The significance of the collaboration contributed to the creation of the Annual Professional Performance Review that modified Section 3012 of the state’s education law. Korn explained that APPR did a few things. “For the first time, student test data would be factored into teacher evaluations. But whereas the Regents and state education department wanted to base 40 percent of evaluations on a single standardized test, we expressed serious concern that an overreliance on one test, which isn’t good for students and not fair for teachers, could lead to increased test prepping.” As a result, the state agreed to 20 percent of a teacher’s evaluation shall be based on the state’s standardized test, and another 20 percent shall be based on locally developed measures of student achievement through collective bargaining, such as locally created tests. “With locally designed measures, evaluations can be based on two, rather than one, data points,” Korn said. The remaining 60 percent would also be based on locally designed measures, i.e., additional principal observations, portfolios, teacher classroom management skills and reflections.  APPR also established four categories to rate teachers’ performance: Highly Effective, Effective, Developing and Ineffective. If a teacher receives an “Ineffective” rating, it is the district’s responsibility to implement a strategic improvement plan to help a struggling teacher. But if the teacher receives a consecutive “Ineffective” rating, even after getting district help, he or she is likely to be removed from their position within 60 days. Korn noted that NYSUT supports the provision because the union wants only effective teachers in front of children, although the teacher is essentially without recourse. Korn said, “If we are going to be serious about ensuring the best teacher is in every classroom, it means a certain number of teachers will have to leave the profession.” But Korn also mentioned that APPR builds in due process for the teacher to appeal the negative rating, and cited that historically only two percent of the city’s teaching force has had to leave the profession due to negative ratings. According to Korn, federal education officials recognized APPR’s attributes as a sound framework for teacher evaluations. As a result of the efforts of NYSUT, the Board of Regents and State Education Department, the feds awarded $700 million in RTT funding to New York in August 2010. The Board of Regents was then tasked to draft regulations to implement APPR in September 2010, which it completed in May 2011. Korn noted that at the last minute, however, Governor Cuomo demanded that the Regents Board incorporate into the regulations more reliance on standardized test scores. The Regents agreed to Cuomo’s demand and adopted the regulations on May 15, 2011. In turn, NYSUT challenged the regulations by filing a lawsuit in June 2011, claiming that the regulations are “inconsistent with state law.” The State Supreme Court agreed with NYSUT in August 2011. Of course, the state appealed and a decision now rests with an appellate court. NYSUT maintains that the delay in fully implementing APPR rests at the feet of the State Department of Education, which could potentially jeopardize, again, hundreds of millions of dollars of federal money. Governor Cuomo said in his State of the State that because APPR is not being implemented, districts are foregoing teacher evaluations. But Korn refuted the claim by saying that there are 90 districts in the state that are using teacher evaluation plans, and in another 365 districts some or all teacher evaluation plans are being considered. “What we’ve been saying is that it is very important to do this [evaluations] right. Not just to do it. The teachers’ union and school districts have been working hard to do it right, and now they’re looking for clarity from the department of education.” Korn reiterated that there is a place for standardized testing in the realm of evaluations. “We don’t want to completely ignore that testing is a fact of life.” He continued, “But what we’re talking about is ensuring that test data is used appropriately to avoid over relying on test data to the point it narrows the curriculum and leads to too much test prepping where students aren’t really learning but only getting good at bubbling-in.”