Winerip on Jamaica HS and CL James Eterno, Video of Student Doreen Mohammed, James Liebman Returns as the Class Fool

James Eterno, Jamaica's representative to the teachers' union, has been portrayed in the news media as a man who cares more about preserving jobs than - as the mayor never tires of saying - "putting children first." That is not how Kevin Gonzalez sees it. For Kevin, Mr. Eterno is the United States history teacher who stayed late to tutor his students, helping Kevin earn a top score of 5 on the Advanced Placement test.
Doreen and Gerard definitely feel put first. Jamaica had no college adviser this year - until October, when Mr. Eterno stepped in. "Before Christmas break he stayed late to make sure everything was perfect to send to the colleges," Gerard said. "Mr. Eterno went way beyond." After Doreen was accepted to Columbia, she spoke with people at the admissions office. "They told me how Mr. Eterno kept calling them about me and faxing them stuff," she said. 

(And let me remind people that James has a little 2-year old of his own at home.)


Here is a video I shot of Doreen Mohammed speaking at a press conference at Tweed in support of the NAACP/UFT suit about how the DOE denied her school resources - and she also talks about James who was there) and the other teachers at the school who supported the students. Many of these, James included, will soon be ATRs vilified by the DOE and Educators $ Excellence. Children first indeed.



http://youtu.be/J1vpqAMtmAQ

One of the myths perpetrated by ed deformers is that being a strong union rep is incompatible with being a strong teacher. Mike Winerip in today's amazing article on Jamaica HS with the above paragraph on James Eterno (who I should point out was the candidate who ran for UFT president against Michael Mulgrew in the 2010 UFT elections) certainly punches a whole in that myth.

I've been working with James Eterno in ICE for the last 8 years. Everyone knows James is an outstanding union Chapter Leader and a passionate defender of his school. But while I pretty much assumed James was a great teacher, he was often too modest to talk about things like that he was the teacher of the year at Jamaica HS a few years ago.

I have always thought that union activists should merge their defense of teacher rights with their defense of children. I always used to criticize James for separating the two. In the campaign for president of the UFT, if James hadn't been forced to spend all his time defending his school, I had hoped he would have brought in the experience of working with students and how it informed his activism. I met with a young 2nd year teacher/activist the other day and we both could agree that the kids were the best part of the job. I still think so.

Some conspiracy theorists might surmise that this comes out on July 4 when nobody is around to read it. Not I. Wait - on second thought.....

Here is Winerip's must read piece.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/nyregion/a-failing-school-not-to-these-students-at-jamaica-high.html?ref=nyregion http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/nyregion/a-failing-school-not-to-these-students-at-jamaica-high.html?ref=nyregion

After Burn
One of the things I liked about the way Julie Cavanagh framed the issue was that having strong teacher rights made her strong in advocating for the kids and parents in her school. Now that she has become chapter leader we will see people like her and Eterno bringing these issues to the fore.

After Burn2: James Liebman returns for a class fool performance

As James S. Liebman, the Columbia law professor who developed the city report card, wrote in an e-mail: “Good high schools aren’t satisfied when just a few kids get into strong colleges. They aim for all kids to do so.” Education Department officials point out that the graduation rate at Jamaica has stayed at about 50 percent for years.

But it is also possible that the deck has been stacked against Jamaica High, that the 15 “worst” high schools have been packed with the students with the worst problems. According to an analysis by the city’s Independent Budget Office, these schools have more poor children (63 percent versus 52 percent citywide), more homeless students (6 percent versus 4 percent), more special-education students (18 versus 12). For 24 percent of Jamaica High students, English is a foreign language, compared with 11 percent citywide.

The “worst” high schools are sent the eighth graders who are the furthest behind: their average proficiency score on state tests is 2.6 out of 4, compared with 2.9 citywide, and more of these students (9 percent versus 4 percent) are over age, suggesting they have had to repeat grades.

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Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on right for news bits.

Jamaica HS Play and Discussion- Declassified: Struggle for Existence (We Used to Eat Lunch Together)

Revised June 8, 2011

From Rethinking Schools

Getting two schools co-located in one school building, especially when one school is being closed replaced while the other is viewed as being favored is not an easy thing to do. But when it happens it can be a beautiful thing to watch. Well, it happened at a Queensborough Community College Prep class with students from both schools based at Jamaica HS where teacher/facilitator Brian Pickett taught a theater class of students. A student-written play dealing with the subject matter of closing and co-located schools and the impact on the students was the result. (See Brian's article in Rethinking Schools.)

Here is the original April 10 blog:
I've been waiting to get this organized since I taped it on February 22. I had to wait to make sure it was OK with the people involved. I taped this performance at an off-Broadway theater. The follow-up Q&A with the students has as much impact as the play itself. They talk about being told they couldn't perform and the follow-up. The entire video is over an hour - I did no editing but just tried to let the camera capture it. It is scrollable so you can watch it in segments if you don't have time for one sitting. The students are so damned articulate from both schools.

Note the interesting question from a Wingate HS campus student at around the 48th minute about why not phase out certain schools - and the response.

Here is a note from Brian Pickett, the teacher who worked with the students:

On February 22, 2011 students from Queens Collegiate and Jamaica High Schools performed an encore performance of "Declassified: Struggle for Existence (We Used to Eat Lunch Together" at the off-Broadway Abingdon Theater. The play, an adaptation of the ancient Greek tragedy "Antigone", was written by the students in a class at Queensborough Community College.


It had been initially banned by the students' principals for fear it was too critical of the Department of Education's decision to close Jamaica High school. The performance is followed by a discussion with the audience.
----Brian Pickett

Here is the direct vimeo link


Jamaica HS- Declassified: Struggle for Existence (We Used to Eat Lunch Together) from Grassroots Education Movement on Vimeo.

Eterno: A Jamaica Diploma is Real and It's Earned

James made a fantastic presentation along with the student (pointing out the loss of services to Jamaica including AP classes and the parent at the Jamaica HS closing hearing on Jan. 20.  The presentation points out how the DOE targets schools for closing. James compares the Jamaica data with other schools. Powerful stuff. James points out they could have used the "make all kids pass" like Tapsco to raise grad rates and  to make the school look better but "Jamaica doesn't subscribe to any phony scams. A Jamaica diploma is real and it's earned."

The entire video is just short of a half hour. I didn't have time to do any editing - I just grabbed a chunk of film - let me know if I said anything dirty off camera.

It begins with a piece from John White- note Queens HS Supt Juan Mendez and the smug look on his face.

(I was riled up enough to go after Mendez later on - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgLTpfJiAmg?)

I did this all hand held so there will be some sea sickness. The camera settles down (it must have a mind of its own) after James starts speaking - about 4 minutes in.

Jamaica HS Closing Hearing: James Eterno Presents the Real Data

"Eterno points to the lies and distortions perpetrated by the NYC Department of Education as represented by John White as Queens HS Supt Juan Mendez looks smugly on."

You can watch it here:
http://vimeo.com/19125497

Jamaica HS Closing School Hearing - Lots of Passion - But Directed at Bloodless John White

Just got back from the hearing, loaded with hours of tape. That after hours of tape from last night's PEP. I just can't process it fast enough.

Really. I've never seen John White in the daytime. I would check the coffin. Maybe hold a mirror in front of his face. Or wave a cross. Then again, there's always the stake.


White, the DOE company slug, represented Tweed and Juan Mendez was there as the Queens HS Supt, the 5th I believe in the last 2 years. Good school support, Joel. Mendez is supposed to be a professional educator, unlike White whose profession when he lived in Transylvania is unknown.

White presented so-called facts which Chapter leader James Eterno ripped to shreds with a powerful Powerpoint presentation. The UFT Queens borough hierarchy came out in support along with UFT Secretary (2nd highest officer) Michael Mendel.

State Senator Tony Avella was there all night and I invited him to the Jan. 27 rally. David Weprin also made an appearance.

A key point made all was showing how Jamaica was starved of resources. I'll try to get James' presentation, along with some strong student comments up on you tube over the next few days.

The only press I recognized was Maura Walz from Gotham who was also covering for WNYC. She was still there interviewing some students when I left.

Jamaica HS: The Play WAS The Thing

Jamaica HS Chapter Leader James Eterno posted this at the ICE blog. See the zines I posted that the students produced: YOU'RE INVITED TO SEE THE BANNED PLAY AT JAMAICA HS.
We are hoping to get some of the performers down to the Jan. 21 4:30 press conference at Tweed and/or the Jan. 27 rally.

ALSO - COME TO THE JAMAICA HEARING ON THURSDAY JAN. 20 TO SHOW SUPPORT. HOPEFULLY THERE WILL BE SOME PERFORMANCE ART GOING ON. I HOPE TO GET THERE TO TAPE.

Note: If you have no access to Facebook, we will post the link when it goes up on you tube.

PREMIRE DAY AT JAMAICA!

Kids performed their play criticizing school closings at Jamaica yesterday. Take out the word Jamaica from the script and replace it with John F Kennedy HS or Norman Thomas or Beach Channel or Tilden, or Lane or Canarsie or many others and you could perform this piece all over the city. In fact you could show it in many cities across the country.

Below is a facebook link to a pretty good quality recording that one of the students made. I hope it works so you can judge for yourself what all of the fuss was about. Also, here are links to the current Daily News and NY1 stories on the play.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1747656686320&comments

In addition to the News and NY 1, there were a number of other media people in attendance at Jamaica yesterday including the NY Teacher and Anna Gustafson from the Jamaica Times. Councilman Leroy Comrie, a representative from Mark Weprin's office, Ken Cohen from NAACP and his wife, John Lawhead and Joan Seedorf from ICE, my wife, mother in law and daughter, plenty of Jamaica teachers as well as retirees and hundreds of students and free speech lovers were all in the audience. I guess it is the closest we will get to an opening night on Broadway at Jamaica. There was a great buzz in the place.

I hope all of you can see the play. Maybe the students and their teacher from CUNY, Brian Pickett, will put on more performances in other venues.

On a related note, January 20 at 6:00 p.m. is this year's Joint Public Hearing for Jamaica. Come on out as we are easy to get to (F train to 169th Street; exit at back of station and walk up the hill two blocks on 168th Street.)

TODAY: YOU'RE INVITED TO SEE THE BANNED PLAY AT JAMAICA HS

Jamaica HS chapter leader James Eterno reports on the ICE blog:

Friday at 4:00p.m. at 167-01 Gothic Drive is the time and place to see "Declassified; Struggle for Existence; We Used to Eat Lunch Together" The link below is to a Jamaica Times story on the play.

http://www.yournabe.com/articles/2011/01/13/queens/qns_jamaica_high_folo_20110113.txt

I went to the Beach Channel Joint Public Hearing tonight. It was worse than last year's.

One of the kids at Jamaica was talking to me today and he said that they should not call these hearings because the DOE people don't hear anything we say. Can't argue with that.

The students have a Zine that can be downloaded as a pdf in 2 versions.

Here is the read version:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/46651868/Antigone-Declassified-READ

Antigone Declassified READ

For print - fold for use. at http://www.scribd.com/full/46651798?access_key=key-16co463vnu6wsi6ca5kl (Below)

Antigone Declassified at Jamaica HS

Banned in Jamaica (HS)

Jamaica HS, long on the target list of the DOE for closing, has a story to tell. And here the students tell it in a play exposing educational apartheid in the building. Ironic given yesterday's PBS Newshour report on how Joel Klein has chopped the large schools. The report partially told the other side about how kids not accepted to the small schools went on to the nearest large one but left out the story of how small and large co-exist in the same building with one school clearly favored over the other.

What's interesting is that the students from both ends of the stick wrote this play and were stopped from performing it. I hope we can get people to sponsor performances around the city - maybe as one person suggested, on the steps of Tweed or in front of City Hall.

The ICE blog where Jamaica HS chapter leader James Eterno often blogs about the situation at the school (STUDENT PLAY BANNED) and Valerie Strauss at WAPO had details.

A student play blasting N.Y. school reform is banned

By Valerie Strauss

Fourteen students from two New York City schools -- Jamaica High and Queens Collegiate -- wrote an impressive play about school reform under Chancellor Joel Klein and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, based on the classic play “Antigone.” They were rehearsing to perform the play -- complete with music, visual projections and lights -- when they were told that their principals had decided not to allow them stage it. The play, titled “Declassified: Struggle for Existence (We Used to Eat Lunch Together,” was banned.
According to a teacher who was working on the project with the students, the principals sent word that they were uncomfortable with criticism of Klein and Bloomberg, and they would not allow the Dec. 17 scheduled performance to go on in the Jamaica High auditorium.
It's hard to even fathom the thinking that went into the decision to stop the kids from performing a clever work that they created and that expresses their opinion of school reform that has affected their lives.
Eight years of business-driven reform under Klein were centered around standardized tests used to grade schools, and many of the troubled ones were either broken up into smaller schools or closed. Klein repeatedly pointed to rising test scores as evidence of his achievement, but recent revelations that the scores rose because the tests got increasingly easy to pass burst that success bubble.
The decision to ban the play shows a fear of upsetting authority -- not exactly the civics lesson you'd want kids to learn in an American school.
The students were inspired to write the play in part by a blog post by Jamaica High School teacher Marc Epstein, called "The Triumph of Academic Apartheid." It details how Jamaica High, a storied school, was slated to be closed (along with dozens of other schools) based on what Epstein explains were faulty data and assumptions.
For those interested in reading the work the kids wrote, here it is. It's not too long, and worth reading.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/school-turnaroundsreform/a-student-play-criticizing-sch.html#more

The Teacher's Side of the Banned Play

Huffington Post has printed Brian Pickett's account of the banned play at Jamaica High School. He is the teacher of the after school drama course that included students from both Queens Collegiate and Jamaica HS.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-pickett/student-play-censored-for_b_801032.html