Monday, June 4, 2012

The UFT Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff Is Where The Union Members' Money Is Going

Teachers and staff at the Academy of the City Charter School in Long Island City.

Isn't this the reason why the UFT is not fighting co-location and the

closure of public schools...I mean, really fighting?

Talking isnt walking.

UFT Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff

Charter school teachers vote to join UFT

By STEPHON JOHNSON Amsterdam News Staff | Posted: Thursday, May 31, 2012 12:00 am

LINK

This month has seen a flurry of activity from charter school teachers involving the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and its relationship with schools ultimately under the control of the Department of Education.

A couple of weeks ago, teachers at the Sisulu-Walker Charter School of Harlem won an order from Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) Director Monte Klein, confirming their decision to join the UFT.

Initially, the teachers decided to join the union in 2010, but their school board didn’t recognize the UFT, saying that teachers on the school’s leadership team couldn’t join the union. The situation prompted Walter Sisulu’s son Max to write a letter asking the school’s trustees to recognize the union. Walter Sisulu is the anti-apartheid activist after whom the charter school was named.

The news of the PERB’s approval was music to UFT President Michael Mulgrew’s ears. “This is a good day for the teachers and students at Sisulu-Walker,” he said. “This will give the Sisulu-Walker teachers a real voice and the chance to create a better learning environment for their students.”

But that wasn’t the only news on the charter school front this month.

Teachers and staff members at the Academy of the City (AOC) Charter School in Long Island City have announced they too will seek UFT representation.

In a letter submitted to their school’s board of trustees, the staff stated that they needed to speak as one and represent their interests.

“We made this decision because we believe it is critical for us to establish a formal collective voice within our school community,” read the letter. “The recognition of the teaching and professional staff as respected partners of AOC is fundamental to the success of our school and to the realization of its mission to empower students.”

The staff also notified PERB that they’re seeking union representation. According to the UFT, if the school’s governing board doesn’t recognize the union as a bargaining representative within 30 days, the UFT can ask PERB to certify the unit on the basis of authorization cards.

“These educators want to share a voice and deserve the opportunity to have a greater say in the decisions that affect their students,” said Mulgrew. AOC now represents the 17th charter school staff group working with the UFT.

Teachers at Queens charter school vote to join UFT

May 24, 2012

LINK

Teachers and staff at the Academy of the City Charter School in Long Island City have announced they will seek to be represented by the United Federation of Teachers.
The educators submitted a letter to the school’s board of trustees, and notified the state’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) that the staff is seeking union recognition. If the school’s board does not recognize the union as the bargaining representative within 30 days, the UFT can ask PERB to certify the bargaining unit on the basis of the authorization cards.
The teachers wrote in a letter to the president of the school’s board of trustees, “We made this decision because we believe it is critical for us to establish a formal collective voice within our school community. The recognition of the teaching and professional staff as respected partners of AOC is fundamental to the success of our school and to the realization of its mission to empower students.”
First grade teacher Alice McNeil said, “Having a union at Academy of the City Charter School will give the teachers a strong voice in making decisions to best support the students.”
UFT President Michael Mulgrew said, “These educators want to share a voice, and deserve the opportunity to have a greater say in the decisions that affect their students.”
With the addition of Academy of the City Charter School, the UFT represents educators at 17 charter schools in New York City.
Academy of the City Charter School opened in September, and currently serves approximately 100 students in kindergarten and the 1st grade.

Keeping Authentic Education Alive in an Age of Standardized Tests

Public Event · By UFT Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff

- Saturday, November 20, 2010
- 9:00am until 10:30pm
52 Broadway, 2nd floor

Develop your skills as a professional educator and learn how to provide your students with the education they need to close the achievement gap! Join fellow charter school educators and expert scholars for a series of workshops planned by teachers, for teachers.
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Invited speakers:

Ann Cook, Founder/Co-Director, Urban Academy Laboratory HS; Organizer, New York Performance Standards Consortium.

Claire Sylvan, Founder/Executive Director, International Network for Public Schools; nationally recognized expert on educating English Language Learners.

Presentations are followed by breakout workshops by grade level.

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This is the first in an ongoing series of UFT ACTS professional development workshops for NYC charter teachers and staff. All workshops are free, and are developed by NYC charter teachers in partnership with UFT ACTS staff and the legendary UFT Teacher Center.You will receive a certificate of professional development participation. To check out more upcoming workshop dates and topics visit:

http://www.uftacts.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=149

Family Court judge visits UFT Secondary Charter School

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Rob Callaghan

By Michael Hirsch

Family Court Judge Ingrid Joseph took the time to talk to students at the UFT

Secondary Charter School in Bushwick, Brooklyn, about how she succeeded

at a job she loves and how they can succeed, too.

Joseph visited four classes on May 9, telling students that her career climb

wasn’t easy, but worth it.

“Choose what it is you’ll be happy doing in 30 years,” she told the students.

The youngest of five children of an immigrant Guyanese working-class family, the

judge admitted the law was her second choice after being a ballerina.

“That’s because I couldn’t dance, but I could talk a lot and I could argue both sides

of an issue,” she said.

Her advice: “If you want to learn, no one can stop you. Be ready to drop friends who

don’t share your goals, because friends who have goals work with you to achieve

goals. Those who say ‘let’s cut school’ are not acting in your interest.”

On a related topic, she said, “You don’t have to hide the fact that you are smart or

that you like books.”

Joseph also advised students that they reach long-term goals one step at a time.

“Just make one goal at a time,” she said. “If you have a problem now, address it now.”

One of the first questions that an 8th-grader asked was, “Do you know Judge Judy?”

But there were plenty of on-point questions, too, including what Joseph liked best

about her job.

“I like solving problems,” she replied. “I also like it,” she said jokingly, “when I come

in and everybody stands up. And my word is the last word … but I also know I can’t

make everybody happy.”

Student Government President Selena Vargas appreciated how the judge “talked

about life in general and not just about court procedure.”

The teachers said Joseph served as a valuable adult role model for their students.

“This is information that the kids really wanted. You can see they were engaged,”

7th-grade teacher Miranda Meyerson said, pointing to the forest of hands going up

to ask questions.

Sixth-grade teacher Thomas McDonald said, “A talk like this makes them think

about their futures.”

Looking on as their students meet with
Judge Joseph are (standing from left)
guidance counselors Monique Davy
and Daniella Goodwin, Coordinator of
Student Activities Krystle Castillo, School
Leader Martin Weinstein, Executive
Director of UFT Charter School Shelia
Evans-Tranumm and Dean of Students
Justin Davis. (Miller Photography)

This article originally appeared on
UFT.org on May 24, 2012.e.

Julie Nariman, Wife of Richard Bost, is Principal In The Bronx

Richard Bost was fired in June 2011 as Principal of Fordham Leadership Academy, after multiple complaints exposed his sexual harassment of the payroll secretary who dated a teacher in the school who ended up at 3020-a with bogus charges. The Bronx UFT would not help Mike Mullen, neither would NYSUT, who advised him to resign. He did. Then, he revoked his resignation and won his 3020-a in front of Roy Watanabe, with the help of his Attorney David Barrett. I was his paralegal.

Richard Bost

Now that Bost does not have his own school, isn't it nice to know that his wife does? Julie Nariman is Principal of the High School For Language and Innovation, also in the Bronx. I received an email about Mrs. Bost today, and here it is:

"Disgraced principal Richard Bost from the Fordham Leadership Academy in the Bronx has gotten his wife, Julie Nariman, her own brand new school that just opened this September with a freshman class. The name of this new school is Language and Innovation High School housed in the Columbus Campus in the Bronx, famous this year for Mr. John Chase's dismantling of the other new school that came into the campus.

Ms. Nariman has no clue as to what she is doing and has hired several staff from her husband's school because they were promised new jobs if they did not protest against him. M.s Nariman does not even know that the entire campus knows her deal and her submissive staff members who Mr. Bost tamed.
This is the kind of crap that is coming in as principals. You have back door deals with SCUM! Two new schools came into the campus, one principal is GONE due to his sick behavior and the other is the wife of another sexual lunatic. The other media sources have yet to be told this information.
She is a nasty _________ who can't even control less than 100 students as she has now. She is the laughing stock and she's next to go. Her students are wild but her staff are mostly foreigners who obeyed Mr. Bost and have now come to her unit.
Do the research, you will see that this is true. The DOE should be so embarrassed! Then again, this is what's out there."


HS for Language and Innovation

Here is what Inside Schools has to say:

High School for Language and Innovation

925 Astor Avenue
Bronx NY 10469 Map

Principal: Julie Nariman

Neighborhood: Pelham Parkway

District: 11

Grade range: 09

Parent coordinator: Rosa Cordero

What's special:

Students learn English in every class every day

The downside:

Students don't leave the classroom except for lunch and phys ed

Statistics

Enrollment:

Attendance:

View more DOE statistics

Insideschools review

The vision: The High School for Language and Innovation, opened in September 2011 with 80 students in the Christopher Columbus Educational Campus. It was created for students who are learning to speak English, who love to express themselves, and who want to become leaders. The goal, according to founding Principal Julie Nariman, is for students to double their vocabulary in every class and to improve their proficiency to a college level.

The reality: Students learn English in every class—including science and math. They read aloud, in unison, as a way to encourage quiet kids to speak up. Classes are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day except Friday, when the academic day ends at 2 p.m. and students choose from electives in dance, Tae kwon Do, art or theater. Korean is offered as a foreign language. Nariman, who was the assistant principal of English as a Second Language at Long Island City High Scho ol, also taught English as a Second Language in Korea.

Many students need an adjustment period to get past their quiet phase, because in their native countries they were taught to participate minimally when communicating with authority figures, a guidance counselor told us. Students stay in the same classroom, leaving only for lunch and physical education. The administrator we spoke to said that keeps the students safe. In its first year, 60 percent of the students were Spanish-speaking. Attendance is high, at 96 percent.

Admissions: Admission is open to students with low English proficiency who have lived in the U.S. for four years or less. Priority goes to Bronx students. Applicants will be interviewed by school staff. (Jacqueline Wayans, high school fair, October 2011)

Please post comments

Give specific examples. Tell us why “this school rocks” (or doesn’t)
No profanity. No racial or ethnic slurs. No personal attacks
Criticism is fine but don’t be nasty.
Flag inappropriate comments. (Hover your cursor over comments to see flag)

Julie and Richard evidently live on 100th street, according to Google:

158 E. 100th Street, Unit: 6R
Buyer: Richard D Bost and Julie C Nariman
Seller: East 100 Building Corp

Saturday, June 2, 2012

The NYSUT, UFT, and DOE's Dirty Word: "Blogger"

I love when I hear that someone has been told "dont speak with Betsy, she's a blogger" because this means that I am on to something that is going wrong, is unlawful, or needs to be kept hidden. Attorney Cheryl Smith Massena, for example, on November 2, 2011 told Arbitrator Stephen O'Beirne at a 3020-a hearing that he should close the hearing when the student witness came in to testify, because "Ms. Combier is a blogger and she posts names of students on her blog." This is false information, and I filed a Notice of Claim against Ms. Massena and her boss, Theresa Europe, in order to protect and preserve my right to sue them for making such a claim.

Remember, if you want to ever sue the DOE or any individual who works for them, and you intend on filing in State Court, you must file a Notice of Claim against the City of New York by sending a claim letter to the NYC Comptroller's Office Bureau of Law and Adjustment, room 1225 1 Centre Street, NY NY 10007, and you do not need to hire an Attorney to write it for you. You should keep in mind that you must wait 30 days after you file the Notice of Claim to file a lawsuit, and you must file a Notice within 90 days of an event that you claim harmed you. I'm not an Attorney and I do not give legal advice, but I'm just letting you know what I did, when confronted with deliberate false information about me told to a third party. You can read my Notice of Claim below (I redacted the name of the teacher whose hearing I attended, and who won her 3020-a and was not terminated):

NOTICE OF CLAIM

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - X

BETSY COMBIER

Claimant,

- against -

NEW YORK CITY; NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT/BOARD OF EDUCATION;

DENNIS WALCOTT, CHANCELLOR;

MICHAEL BEST, THERESA EUROPE,

CHERYL SMITH, NAEEMAH LAMONT,

DENNIS DA COSTA, AND THE OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL/OFFICE OF LEGAL SERVICES,

Respondents.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - X

To: Office of the City Comptroller Michael A. Cardozo, Esq.

Bureau of Law and Adjustment New York City Law Department

1 Centre Street, Room 1225 100 Church Street

New York, New York 10007 New York, New York 10007

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the claimant hereby makes claim and demand against the individuals and groups named in the caption above for the malicious, deliberate, arbitrary, and capricious violation of due process rights, civil rights, and rights to be free from defamation and harassment against the Respondents named above.

1) The name, post office address, and phone number of claimant is:

Ms. Betsy Combier

[address]

2) Nature of Claim:

On Wednesday, November 2, 2011, I, the Claimant, appeared at a hearing as the advocate for a tenured teacher, namely , at The Office of General Counsel located at 51 Chambers Street, 6^th floor. Claimant has been researching the laws, rules, and regulations that the New York City Department/Board of Education and New York State Department of Education are supposed to be following, and has attended 3020-a hearings since 2003 as an observer, a reporter/journalist, and as an advocate for teachers working with the United Federation of Teachers (2007-2010).

I arrived at around 9:30AM for a 10 o'clock start time for the teacher's hearing. NYSUT Attorney Maria Elena Gonzalez Lichten greeted the three other public observers, and told us (I stood nearby) that the arbitrator would be looking at documents and we needed to wait upstairs on the seventh floor, where the hearing room for this case was located. We – I, ,Ms. Maria Elena Gonzalez Lichten, and the three other women – got into the elevator, and took seats on the seventh floor outside of the hearing room. Maria Elena went in with the DOE Attorney Ms. Cheryl Smith Massena (Cheryl Smith) to the hearing room and they closed the door. Approximately 15 minutes later, Maria Elena came out to speak to all four of the public observers, as asked for and was approved to have an open and public hearing.

I and the other three observers heard Maria Elena say that as there was a Chancellor’s Regulation that forbade any open hearing when a child testified, the Arbitrator, Stephen F. O’Beirne, Esq. of Clifton, NJ., was closing the hearing while the child testified.

Claimant knew of no such Chancellor’s Regulation. Claimant nicely asked Ms. Gonzalez Lichten to give her the exact Regulation number, so that she could look it up. Ms. Gonzalez Lichten immediately started screaming at Claimant, saying that under no circumstances should she speak with her, ever, and “everything [you] write is a lie, and false.”

Claimant asked what, exactly, was a lie and/or false?

Ms. Gonzalez Lichten told Claimant that “everything” she wrote was false, “everything,” and Claimant must never speak to her again. Ms. Gonzalez Lichten turned around and went to the hallway, then everyone went into the hearing room to start the hearing.

Approximately five minutes later we, (all four observers, the Respondent, the NYSUT Attorney, and DOE Attorney) sat in the hearing room as Arbitrator O’Beirne opened the record, saying that he had never been the arbitrator for an open and public hearing, and would Ms. Massena (Cheryl Smith) please begin with her opening statement. Ms. Smith, as I know her name to be, spit out in a derogatory fashion words to the effect of:

“Mr. Arbitrator, we have a blogger sitting here named Ms. Betsy Combier, and she has posted the names of children attending hearings on her blog, therefore we must close the hearing to all members of the public when a child testifies.”

The Respondents have a pattern and practice of insulting Claimant and defaming her in front of teachers, education administrators, and private attorneys hired by teachers to do 3020-a arbitration hearings at 51 Chambers Street, all for their personal gain.

Ms. Smith knowingly, recklessly, arbitrarily, and maliciously lied about Claimant’s actions and her blog in retaliation for Claimant posting the case of Steven Ostrin on her blog, which is NYC Rubber Room Reporter. In that case, Ms. Cheryl Smith sent an email to Theresa Europe about Mr. Ostrin’s case being closed in 2007 and then brought him and his charges to 3020-a in 2009, and Arbitrator Howard Edelman was so angry at Ms. Smith and Theresa Europe for committing fraud that he closed the hearing for several months. Claimant posted on her blog the Ostrin case as well as a memo written by former DOE official Eric Nadelstern about the case being closed, showing that Ms. Smith and Ms. Theresa Europe did not tell Edelman the truth about the charges being valid and the case still open in 2009.

Therefore, Claimant was retaliated against by the Department of Education Respondents named in the caption above, and, as the 3020-a hearing procedures do not permit the general public to speak, Claimant could not defend herself, and her reputation and her career as a professional journalist and reporter who has never posted the name of a child who was a witness at 3020-a and under the age of 18 on her blog.

Claimant has sat through many hearings when a very young child was a witness over the past 8 years that Claimant has observed these hearings. Claimant was told that after the hearing of accused teacher L.S., who had a child witness, an open hearing attended by almost 15 people, and he was completely exonerated, that the arbitrator was “punished” by the Board of Education “Gotcha Squad” which is, in Claimant’s opinion, under the control and direction of Theresa Europe (for the Administrative Trials Unit) and Naeemah Johnson (for the Teacher Performance Unit), and the Board stopped arbitrators from allowing the general public observe a child’s lies. The “Gotcha Squad” includes all the Defendants listed in the caption of this claim.

Subsequent to Ms. Smith’s statement in the record, the transcript will be sent to the New York State Education Department “OSPRA” unit where it will be read by members of the public who request it under FOIL, as well as members of the State and City government. The Defendants deliberately, maliciously and recklessly placed Claimant’s name and the profession “blogger” in the record to retaliate against her for exercising her First Amendment Rights to freedom of speech, assembly, and liberty, in order to put her in a bad light and cause her intentional emotional distress for telling Arbitrator O'Beirne false information.

Claimant sustained significant damage from the sham “Court of the Star Chamber”-type behavior of Respondents, and claims a right to be free from the actions described herein of Respondents in the manner described herein.

3) The time when, the place where, and the manner in which the claim arose: See 2. preceding.

4) The items of damage or injuries claimed are: damages to reputation; emotional distress; impairment of claimant’s ability to secure future employment; impairment of earning power. The items of damage or injuries claimed amount to five million dollars.

The claim and demand is hereby presented for adjustment and payment.

PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that by reason of the foregoing, in default of the City of New York and the listed respondents to pay the claimant her claim within the time limited for compliance with this demand by the applicable statutes, claimant intends to commence an action against the City of New York and the listed respondents to recover her damages with interest and costs.

Dated: November 9, 2011

By the way, neither FERPA nor HIPPA, the two laws which are cited by Ms. Massena as the basis for her asking for a closure of the hearing to public observers when children come to testify, is indeed supportive of closed hearings at 3020-a. more about this another time.

Once a Notice of Claim is filed, the Claimant will receive a claim number from the Comptroller's office and should keep this claim number in case a 50-H deposition is scheduled by the City of New York. I had my 50-H deposition for the claim above on January 31, 2012, at 160 Broadway, 14th Floor. The Attorney for the DOE told me that the memo on my blog from Eric Nadelstern was "confidential", and I made the DOE look bad when I posted it, so where did I get it? My testimony was the truth, that Steve Ostrin filed the memo when he filed his 7511 Appeal of the 3020-a hearing award, which was to suspend him without pay for 6 months. This is after there was no investigation, and a Grand Jury as well as Martin Scheinman at his Probable Cause hearing found no evidence of wrong-doing and that there was no case. The New York City DOE hates anyone who makes them look "bad". Many teachers have been charged with that, and it looks like our current media super star Francesco Portelos may have that specification in his allegations when - or if - he ends up at a 3020-a.

Francesco posted the article below and the pictures, to show what the DOE is doing to retaliate against him for being a blogger and speaking out. How infantile the DOE is, with the little red flag attached to the news article.

Enjoy the latest episode:

“Stay away from him….he’s a “Blogger”!

Posted on May 30, 2012