Partnership for Educational Justice

Morning Education: Tweaking the Teachers Union

POLITICO Pro
1/7/15

TWEAKING THE TEACHERS UNION: Campbell Brown’s Partnership for Educational Justice will storm social media today with a campaign meant to shame teachers unions for defending the current laws governing the dismissal of misbehaving educators. The campaign highlights examples of poor judgment — or outright malfeasance — that have been investigated over the years and resolved by returning the teacher to a classroom. The partnership only tells one side of the story, but its examples are undeniably striking, including teachers who submitted bogus test scores, inappropriately touched students and rang up 113 absences in three years. The tagline: “Teachers matter. Our students & families deserve better.” The group is fighting in court to overturn New York’s dismissal laws and making plans to support similar litigation in other states. It’s staffing up in preparation for a national expansion; new hires include chief of staff Savita Bharadwa, a former New York City education official, and general counsel Ralia Polechronis, an attorney who has done extensive work on behalf of charter schools.

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PRESS RELEASE: PEJ Launches Social Campaign Highlighting Failed Teacher Dismissal Cases that Keep Dangerous Teachers in the Classroom

NEW YORK – In the runup to next week’s court hearing in the Wright v. New York case, the Partnership for Educational Justice today launched a campaign highlighting New York’s failed teacher dismissal process and policies. PEJ will highlight a range of cases where tenured teachers cited for egregious misconduct and abuse were allowed to return to the classroom following dismissal proceedings under the State’s 3020a statute.

“We know that quality teaching is the most important factor in determining whether a child succeeds,” said PEJ Founder Campbell Brown. “Yet New York’s education policies place little emphasis on teacher performance – instead, they make it nearly impossible to dismiss teachers engaged in egregious misconduct while doing little to reward high performing teachers. If you’re absent from the classroom without explanation for 113 days in 3 years, you should be replaced by a committed teacher – it’s just common sense.”

Examples from the social campaign are below:

Case # 4932

Teacher Dismissal Infographic - 4932_APPROVED

Case # 5207

Teacher Dismissal Infographic - 5207_APPROVED

Case # 5317

Teacher Dismissal Infographic - 5317

You can find this campaign starting today on PEJ’s social media channels, including Twitter (twitter.com/part4edujustice) and Facebook (facebook.com/Part4EduJustice).

ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATIONAL JUSTICE

Partnership for Educational Justice helps students, families and communities advocate for the great public schools they deserve through coalition building and legal action. All children, no matter their background or circumstance, deserve access to a sound education. The inequalities that exist in our educational system are the civil rights issue of our time. Motivated by a pervasive lack of meaningful progress in ensuring a supportive learning environment for all students, Partnership for Educational Justice challenges antiquated education laws that prevent public schools from providing all students with an excellent education. Targeted litigation will be supported by an aggressive communications campaign at the local, state and national level. Through its work, Partnership for Educational Justice will mobilize families, community stakeholders and organizations to form effective coalitions that increase pressure on legislators and other decision makers to reform our educational system. Founded by Campbell Brown, an award-winning journalist and writer, Partnership for Educational Justice is a recognized 501(c)(3) organization.

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PRESS RELEASE: PEJ Welcomes Ralia Polechronis as General Counsel

NEW YORK – The Partnership for Educational Justice today announced that Ralia Polechronis has joined the team as General Counsel. A Harvard Law School graduate, she was most recently a senior litigation associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison LLP.

Ralia has significant education law experience, having led numerous matters representing charter schools and charter school organizations throughout New York City, including matters involving co-location disputes. At PEJ, Ralia will manage national litigation strategy and serve as a key partner and main point of contact for the Partnership’s national and local legal partners.

“As PEJ works toward ensuring a sound basic education for all of our kids, it is critically important that we have talented individuals like Ralia Polechronis on our side,” said Campbell Brown, Founder of the Partnership for Educational Justice. “Ralia’s vast experience, as both a litigator and education advocate, will be a tremendous asset as we help families and students take on the entrenched educational policies that do such a disservice to our children.”

“I am excited to join PEJ’s noble cause and talented team,” said Ralia Polechronis, General Counsel of PEJ. “Our education system is failing our kids and I am looking forward to joining Campbell Brown and the PEJ team in the fight for reform.”

Prior to joining the Partnership, Ralia was a senior litigation associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison LLP. In that capacity, Ralia represented a broad range of corporate clients in securities, mass tort, class action and breach of contract cases. Ralia also led numerous matters representing charter schools and charter school organizations throughout the city, including matters involving co-location disputes. From 2007-2008, she served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye on the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court.

Ralia holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Boston College. She is an alumna of the New York City Urban Fellowship Program. Ralia currently serves as the board chair of the Math, Engineering and Science Academy Charter High School in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

 

ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATIONAL JUSTICE

Partnership for Educational Justice helps students, families and communities advocate for the great public schools they deserve through coalition building and legal action. All children, no matter their background or circumstance, deserve access to a sound education. The inequalities that exist in our educational system are the civil rights issue of our time. Motivated by a pervasive lack of meaningful progress in ensuring a supportive learning environment for all students, Partnership for Educational Justice challenges antiquated education laws that prevent public schools from providing all students with an excellent education. Targeted litigation will be supported by an aggressive communications campaign at the local, state and national level. Through its work, Partnership for Educational Justice will mobilize families, community stakeholders and organizations to form effective coalitions that increase pressure on legislators and other decision makers to reform our educational system. Founded by Campbell Brown, an award-winning journalist and writer, Partnership for Educational Justice is a recognized 501(c)(3) organization.

Partnership for Educational Justice
Press Contact: Chapin Fay, 212-681-1380

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Editorial: Listen to Mrs. Tisch

New York Daily News

“Gov. Cuomo asked state education leaders to offer pointed recommendations to repair New York’s broken teacher-evaluation system, among other urgent school-reform tasks.

Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch and Acting Commissioner Elizabeth Berlin on Wednesday delivered — with an aggressive and specific battle plan for improving teaching and learning from Brooklyn to the Bronx to Buffalo.

They would scrap the part of the teacher-rating system that allows teachers to juice their scores, and change the law so poorly performing teachers can more easily be removed from the classroom.”

Read More Here

Tisch to Cuomo: Tougher Teacher Tenure Requirements, Faster Dismissal Process Should be on the Table

By Geoff Decker
Chalkbeat New York

“The state’s top education officials want to lengthen the probationary period for new teachers, overhaul the way teachers are terminated, and give the state more power over teacher evaluations.

They also said the state should have more authority over low-performing school districts, “arbitrary barriers” preventing charter schools from opening should be eliminated, and mayoral control in New York City should be renewed.”

Read More Here

Education Officials Recommend Sweeping Reforms, More Charters

By Aaron Short and Carl Campanile
New York Post

“The state’s top education officials on Wednesday recommended a series of sweeping reforms — including more charter schools for New York City — that quickly drew a rebuke from the teachers union.
Under state law, no more than 460 charters can operate throughout the state.
But New York City, where 231 of the schools are open or authorized, is allowed only up to 256. So despite lengthy waiting lists, charter doors will not add students after another 25 schools are licensed.”

Read More Here

PRESS RELEASE | NEW VIDEOS: New York parents and families share their personal stories on fighting to help their children access a high-quality education

NEW YORK – The Partnership for Educational Justice today launched a series of online video testimonials of parents sharing their personal stories as they fight to help their children access a high-quality education. To view the new “Our Voices Will Be Heard” testimonial videos, go to:https://www.youtube.com/user/Part4EduJustice.

 

“These brave parents want what every parent wants – for their child to have access to great teachers and a strong education,” said Reshma Singh, Executive Director of PEJ.  “While all of us recognize the tremendous job a majority of teachers do in giving kids a quality education, it’s also clear that some of the people at the head of the class are not providing effective instruction. After years of feeling shut out from the process, these personal testimonies share a simple message: our voices will be heard.”

 

The new online video campaign features four of the nine families who are currently challenging state laws that keep ineffective teachers in the classroom, restrict schools from dismissing them and reward seniority over competence. The goal of the campaign is to inform other parents about the case and its impact on families comes just weeks before the motion to dismiss hearing before the New York State courts.

 

“These brave families are standing up and telling everyone that their voices will be heard. Hopefully these videos will encourage other families to join them in asking the courts to answer a most basic plea – help kids receive a sound basic education,” said Campbell Brown, Founder of the Partnership for Educational Justice.

 

ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATIONAL JUSTICE

 

Partnership for Educational Justice helps students, families and communities advocate for the great public schools they deserve though coalition building and legal action. All children, no matter their background or circumstance, deserve access to a sound education. The inequalities that exist in our educational system are the civil rights issue of our time. Motivated by a pervasive lack of meaningful progress in ensuring a supportive learning environment for all students, Partnership for Educational Justice challenges antiquated education laws that prevent public schools from providing all students with an excellent education. Targeted litigation will be supported by an aggressive communications campaign at the local, state and national level. Through its work, Partnership for Educational Justice will mobilize families, community stakeholders and organizations to form effective coalitions that increase pressure on legislators and other decision makers to reform our educational system. Founded by Campbell Brown, an award-winning journalist and writer, Partnership for Educational Justice is a recognized 501(c)(3) organization.

 

Partnership for Educational Justice

Press Contact: John Collins, 212 681 1380

Dr. Howard Fuller’s Injustice Education

By Campbell Brown
The Daily Beast

“The protests and pain over the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown had me wondering if we can ever experience the world as others do. For no matter how disputed the circumstances of both cases, many people see what happened in black and white. They believe that these two people died because of a racism that permeates our society.

I recognize my inability to truly understand these events in the same context or view these events through exactly the same prism. For me, building that understanding comes through learning and listening, which underpin my work as a journalist and my work pushing for educational justice.”

Full Article Here

Students Can’t Pass Tests, But Teachers are ‘A’ OK

By Aaron Short and Carl Campanile
New York Post

“This does not compute.

More than 90 percent of the city’s public school teachers were rated as successful instructors ­under a new and supposedly more rigorous evaluation system mandated by the state, it was reported Tuesday.

But the sky-high scores released by the state Education Department came as two-thirds of elementary and middle-school students taught by the same instructors flunked standardized math and English exams last year.”

Read More

Your Local School Doesn’t Have to Suck

By Michael S. Roth
The Daily Beast

“Joel Klein hates monopolies. As a Washington attorney, he took on companies that seemed immune to change, even when they were ineffective. When you’re the only game in town, you just don’t have to do things differently—even if you aren’t very good. Klein’s most famous case was against Microsoft, and he took on the tech behemoth because he believed that it was preventing competition (and innovation) by depriving consumers of choice. When companies faced competition, Klein knew, consumers would have options. Competitors would force Microsoft to change, and the public would benefit.”

Full Story Here

Copyright

© 2014 Partnership for Educational Justice

Disclaimer

Partnership for Educational Justice is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.