Grass Root Organizations and Local Political Leaders Organize a Community Walk to Save JHS80

Here is news on a coalition of grass root organizations and local political leaders fighting against the destructive policies of of DOE and their hell bent quest to privatize our public schools. After Murdock and Company owns our public education system it will be too late! Kudos to local activist Anthony Riveccio for his late night e-mails informing the community about the upcoming "Community Walk to Save the Sprit of JHS80".

Gregory

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Friends of MS80

News Release 3/31/2012

"Join our Community Walk
to save the spirit of JHS80"

Background
The Department of Education of New York City has requested that JHS80, at 149 E Mosholu Pky, be closed as of 6/30/2012 and be replaced wiith a new Middle School IS575.

The School (JHS80), serving grades 6-8 has been in The Norwood Community since 1924. Since its inception, it has graduated many notables including:
*Comedian Robert Klein
*Actress Penny Marshall
*Director Rob Reiner
*Designes Ralph Lauren & Calvin Klein
AND COUNTLESS OTHERS!

Present
Since the announcement , a coalition of : residents, merchants and public officals have created: Friends of MS80-
for the sole purpose of asking ALL WHO CARE to attend The Public Hearing at JHS 80 on April 16th to advocate for
THE COMMUNITY ALTERNATIVE
*To Open A New School with The Name MS80/Isabel Rooney

*Demand Better Treatment & keepage of Teachers

*Better services within the school

ATTENTION:

BEDFORD PARK @ NORWOOD PARENTS!

Where will our kids graduate next year?

Where will our children be going to summer school this year?

What's going to happen when the Department of Education closes JHS 80 in June?

Join us in Demanding "JHS80" Justice with our Public Officals

A Community Walk

For JHS80 Justice!

Date :Tuesday April 3rd

Place: 149 E Mosholu Parkway North(across from JHS80) to Mosholu Montefiore Community Center(Dekalb & Gun Hill)

Time: 3:30PM

Don't let others take the decision from YOU, YOUR CHILD,

YOUR COMMUNITY!!!!

Organized by:

The Friends of MS80

*Bronxites For Parks

*United Federation of Teachers

*204th St/Bainbridge Ave

Merchant Association

*North Bronx Thinktank

*Legislative offices of:

Senator Gustavo Rivera

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz

Councilman G. Oliver Koppell

Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera

*Northwest Bronx Democrats

347.575.5045

LIU EXPANDS PENSION FUNDS’ COMMITMENT TO MINORITY AND WOMEN INVESTMENT MANAGERS BY $500 MILLION

Here is news on NYC Comptroller Liu making sure women and minority investment firms have access to NYC's investment funds. There has been talk and action on how to "open up" how NYC invests. Many feel that access to the investment funds are presently limited to a small "buddy boy" network of larger investment companies. Why not spread access to other qualified investment houses?

Gregory

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NEW YORK, NY – Comptroller John C. Liu today announced the New York City Pension Funds will seek to expand their commitment to minority and women investment managers by $500 million, which will solidify the City’s position as one of the top pension systems in the nation doing business with minority and women-owned enterprises (MWBEs).

“This $500 million commitment is another step in ensuring that minority and women-owned firms have more opportunities to compete for City business,” Comptroller Liu said. “It also ensures that the City has access to the best and brightest in the financial industry. When we increase opportunities, we increase competition and that ultimately benefits taxpayers.”

With today’s announcement, the pension funds will seek to grow their commitment to MWBE investment managers by $500 million – on top of the $6 billion already under management by MWBE firms. The funds oversee a combined $115 billion.

“This represents a significant step towards the City fulfilling what should be a long term commitment of doing business with minority and woman-owned enterprises, who have continuously proven to add value to the NYC Pension Systems.” - ORIM GRAVES, Executive Director of the National Association of Securities Professionals, the leading organization whose mission is to promote professional excellence and economic empowerment for people of color and women on Wall Street.

“Our system of government demands that everyone pay their share of taxes. Therefore, it’s only fair that everyone receives equal access and opportunity to participate in all aspect of government, including our investments. Expanding opportunities for MWBEs to our pension investment funds is an important step towards reducing the participation gap. It will allow us to ‘level’ the playing field for minority investment firms to better compete for more business and will help stimulate job creation for our community.” - LILLIAN ROBERTS, Executive Director of District Council 37

“The success of the investment strategies of our retirement funds is a key issue for both retirees and current members. We commend this effort to broaden the expertise of our group of investment managers and to provide new opportunities for firms owned by women and minority groups.” - MICHAEL MULGREW, President of the United Federation of Teachers

The Comptroller announced the increased MWBE commitment today at a symposium that for the first time brought together the pension systems’ asset managers with brokers from the funds’ Minority Broker Pool. The day-long event was designed to facilitate greater inclusion, utilization, and fair competition.

The Minority Broker Pool is a program that enhances the use of minority and women-owned brokerage firms by money managers under contract with the pension funds. This past October, the Comptroller’s office expanded the pool to 37 firms from 25 previously.

BoogieDowner Tales from the Classroom: Designation as a “Transformation School”

We have heard some tough talk recently from Mayor Bloomberg and the NYC Department of Education on how the solution to the NYC Public Education crisis depends on firing the bottom third of NYC educators. The following e-mail written by a brave NYC High School teacher provides a front line account of how these words are affecting teacher and schools in NYC. In my opinion it’s not the 1/3 of NYC educators that need to fired but the 1/3 of DOE bureaucrats and their political cronies who help them implement these detrimental policies that need the BOOT.

Besides excessive test preparation in our classrooms, over emphasis on high stakes testing increases teachers vying for “better” students so that their jobs are not in jeopardy? Would we ever tolerate a medical industry were doctor’s pay or licenses were strictly dependent on the success rate of their patients? For example if you lose a certain number of patients you would lose your medical license no matter what the situation. Both professions are an art, not a science. Who would take the “difficult” operations? Who will take the “difficult” students? Students do not come to the classroom with the same natural skill or similar home environments, much like patients come into an emergency room with different ailments.

Gregory

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I am a teacher at FDR HS, one of the PLA schools. FDR has been a "Transformation School" since September 2010. I have been a Social Studies teacher at this school since September 1990.

Yesterday, we were summoned to the auditorium for a special faculty meeting. Our very well-liked principal, Steve DeMarco, conveyed the information he'd received from his superiors: the City intended to change our school to a Turnaround Model. The implications were not completely clear, but it almost certainly meant that we teachers and our supervisors would have to re-apply for our positions to come back in September 2012, and around half of us would not be re-employed.

This news was shocking and deeply distressing to us. We have done everything we were asked to do by State and City. We have learned and implemented new technology for the classroom, spent hours in Professional Development, devoted an hour a week to working in Inquiry Teams, decorated our classrooms with student work, differentiated instruction, and redesigned all our lesson plans to introduce the Common Core Curriculum. We have done this conscientiously despite the doubts many of us had as to the efficacy of these innovations.

The State has been extremely impressed by our progress, writing strongly positive reports, available on the PLA pages of the NYSED website. Our Quality Review last spring was favorable, and we raised our 4-year graduation rate last year by about 7 percentage points. Despite this, the City had decided to subject us to this awful and humiliating process, in which perhaps an arbitrary figure of half of us would be dismissed from the school. Our students were given letters to explain this to their parents, describing the school as "Persistently Lowest Achieving" and conveying the message that it is the teachers' to blame, and that the City will "measure and screen existing staff using rigorous standards for student success. . ." and rehire only a portion. One teacher commented in our meeting that distributing these letters to our students was "like cutting our own throats." I'm certain similar events played out in the other two dozen plus schools hit by this news. Regardless of his intentions, Bloomberg is seriously demoralizing hundreds of hard-working and gifted teachers, making it harder for us to enthusiastically adopt any future changes. He is creating a negative image of their schools and their children's teachers in the eyes of parents and community. The damage will persist long after this spat between DOE and UFT has been resolved.

-Marian Swerdlow

NYC Comptroller Liu Shows Strong Support of December 10th "Stand For Freedom" March in Washington DC

I posted many press releases from NYC Comptroller Liu office related to cost cutting investigations his office has spearheaded. I see him as a fiscal conservative making sure our tax dollars are put to good use and that NYC pension are not only run efficiently but also protected. At first I was surprised when FBI agents recently announced possible misconduct by one of his campaign fundraisers, but then again I would assume his investigations have and will create enemies. Is this hardball politics as usual?

In any event, it seems as if he is not laying low but instead upping the anti by supporting a "Stand for Freedom Rally" in Washington DC on December 10th. The rally is in response to nation wide measures that make it more difficult to register to vote under the pretext that "lax" registration requirements increase the potential for voter fraud. The DC rally will start at the headquarters of the Koch brothers, who many point the finger at when complaining about big money corruption in American politics. Some of the major organizations supporting the march include the NAACP, SEIU 1199, National Action Network, UFT, National Urban League, N.Y. Civil Liberties Union, National Council of La Raza, Advancement Project, Asian-American Legal Defense Fund, and the Hispanic Federation.

To read more about the rally and the underlying issue please do read or visit the web address included below. If you cannot attend the rally and are interested in supporting the initiative, you can show your support by signing their petition electronically once logged onto the web site.

Gregory

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New York, NY - Comptroller John C. Liu stated the following in response to questions about the “Stand for Freedom” march and rally on Saturday, December 10, UN Human Rights Day:

“At a time when our nation faces profound issues, we should be enhancing voting rights and participation. Instead, it is simply shocking how voter suppression measures have only intensified. Worse yet, this coordinated attack on voting rights seems well-oiled by New York's wealthiest.

“The political landscape across the country has been altered dramatically in recent years, threatening to bring back the specters of government-sanctioned discrimination and second-class citizenship. Stand for Freedom on Saturday, December 10, UN Human Rights Day, to protect the American Dream and the unalienable right to vote.”

Background

On December 10 — UN Human Rights Day — Comptroller Liu will join a coalition of civil rights leaders to protest the attacks on voting rights by state legislatures across the country. The “Stand for Freedom” march and rally will begin at 61^st Street and Madison Avenue at the headquarters of leading voter suppression funders, The Koch brothers, and will conclude across the street from the United Nations at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 47^th Street and Second Avenue.

In dozens of states, new rules will create a modern-day poll tax by requiring voters to obtain and present official photo ID in order to cast a ballot. While voters in some states can request free photo IDs from state motor vehicles departments, they must still pay to obtain underlying documents, such as birth certificates, necessary to get the photo ID, possibly discouraging them from voting as a result.

In many of these same states, new laws significantly cut early voting and Sunday voting opportunities and strip the right of reformed criminal offenders to vote. Reports show these laws disproportionately impact African-Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans, Native Americans, seniors, students, working women and immigrants.

More information about the December 10 Voting Rights March and rally and the issues can be found at www.stand4freedom.org.

For more on the Koch brothers mentioned above here is a clip from the Rachel Maddow show.

COMPTROLLER LIU, MAYOR BLOOMBERG AND LABOR LEADERS ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE TO REFORM PENSION INVESTMENT GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

The following press release sent by our Controller might seam a bit technical or long winded, unless your pension is administered by the City of New York. If interested in the proposed changes to how NYC plans to manage the pension funds it administers, please see the press release below.

Gregory

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Proposal Delegates Investment Authority for All Five Pension Funds to One Newly

Created Body Authorized to Hire an Independent Professional Manager

First Major Reform of Pension Investment Structure in 70 Years

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NEW YORK, NY – City Comptroller John C. Liu, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and organized labor leaders today announced an agreement in principle to reform and professionalize the investment governance and management of the City’s pension funds. The proposal would place investment advisory authority for all five of the currently independent City pension funds under one new pension board, supported by an independent, full-time staff led by a Chief Investment Officer, who would be appointed to a fixed term. The proposal is intended to insulate management of pension assets from any political office, further professionalize it and make it more consistent with industry best practices. The proposal aims to increase investment returns, lower the City’s pension costs, protect and strengthen pensions for current and future retirees, enhance accountability and guard against the possibility of fraud and corruption. The City’s five pension funds currently have 58 trustees, each with a different weighted vote, who decide investment policy. No two systems are governed, managed or operated in the same manner, resulting in complexity, inconsistency and inefficiency. The Mayor and Comptroller made the announcement at City Hall, where they were joined by District Council 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts, United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew, Uniformed Firefighters Association President Stephen Cassidy, Patrolman’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch, Detectives’ Endowment Association President Michael Palladino, Captains Endowment Association President Roy Richter, and Pension Board Trustees.

“The City’s pension system dates back more than one-hundred and fifty years,” said Comptroller Liu. “This new paradigm will enable us to achieve better results in today’s more complex financial markets. Depoliticizing, professionalizing, and streamlining the management of our pension funds will enhance investment returns and reduce pension costs. Our labor leaders and trustees have delivered a huge win for taxpayers and City workers alike with this game-changer.”

“In Washington these days, government seems to be hopelessly gridlocked, with each party stressing only what keeps them apart,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “But in New York City, we thankfully act differently – bridging differences and bringing people together to find common ground on the toughest issues and working together for the good all New Yorkers. We’re overhauling an antiquated pension management system that has needed restructuring for generations – depoliticizing the process, further professionalizing the staff and implementing industry best practices. While these reforms should make a big difference in the management of City pension assets, we still desperately need pension benefit reforms to significantly reduce the pension costs that are siphoning dollars away from City services.”

The investment reform proposal will simplify a complex, outdated investment structure to ensure the $120 billion New York City Pension System is best-in-class among peer institutional investors worldwide. Investment expense savings will be realized, primarily by developing in-house investment expertise for certain asset classes. Over the long term, superior returns would generate significant taxpayer savings through consistent long-term investment direction, strategic risk management, increased accountability and authority, first-mover advantage and a high-caliber, specialized staff.

The major provisions of the investment reform proposal are:

§ The five New York City Pension Funds would delegate investment authority to a newly created pension investment board composed of City and labor representatives. The board would set strategic objectives and policy for the funds.

§ The Bureau of Asset Management would be moved out of the Comptroller’s Office and be re-established as an independent investment entity that will determine consultant and asset manager pools and manage certain asset classes in-house. The proposal calls for the investment entity to be staffed by experienced industry professionals and for compensation packages to attract those investment professionals.

§ A Chief Investment Officer will lead the new investment management entity. The Chief Investment Officer will report to the new pension investment board – not to any individual elected official – and will be appointed to a fixed term that will not coincide with citywide election cycles.

§ The new pension investment board and new investment staff will adopt best-in-class ethics, governance, training, and code of conduct policies and procedures to protect against fraud, waste and abuse.

The assets of the five pension funds will remain separate under the proposal and each fund will continue to administer benefits and make disability determinations independently.

“We strongly support these efforts to bolster the pension investment returns for New York City Firefighter pensions,” said Steve Cassidy, UFA President. “We’ve been encouraging the city to develop a strategic plan for the pension investments that allows it to enhance investment returns for beneficiaries and be much more responsive to changes occurring in the global financial marketplace.”

“The proposal to create an investment board is a win-win situation for the taxpayers and the participants of the retirement system,” said District Council 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts. “District Council 37 members receive an average annual pension of $17,000. Therefore, a proposal that would help secure the pension of the workers without reducing what is already a small pension is welcome. We applaud Comptroller John Liu for thinking outside the box and for bringing all affected parties to reach consensus on moving forward with this proposal.”

“It sounds like an innovative approach to providing relief to taxpayers while maintaining pension guarantees to our past and present employees,” said Detectives’ Endowment Association President Michael Palladino. “The details are critical to any deal but it is certainly worth listening to.”

“The world of finance has changed dramatically over the last few decades,” said Roy T. Richter, President of Captains Endowment Association. “Any modification to our current pension system that enables it to adapt quickly to shifting market conditions and preserving pension assets needs careful review and consideration. In difficult economic times, our leaders must examine unconventional partnership to carry us through. Vision, coupled with outside the box thinking is the brand of resilience that makes New York City great.”

“New York’s business leadership has long advocated for efficiencies in the City’s pension systems,” said Bill Rudin, Chairman of the Association for a Better New York. “Today’s innovative agreement is a step toward reducing taxpayer burdens while protecting current and future municipal employee pensions. Congratulations to Mayor Bloomberg, Comptroller Liu and labor leaders for this historic initiative.”

“The New York City Pension System has now adopted a world-class public pension governance model,” said Andrew Ang, Ann F. Kaplan Professor of Business at Columbia Business School. “The reforms should allow the new entity to significantly impact returns – by actions as simple as bringing in-house and managing cheaply what had been previously outsourced at much higher costs.”

“The newly proposed changes would move New York City Pension Funds to the front of the class of public pension organizations not just in the USA, but internationally as well,” said Keith P. Ambachtsheer, Director of the Rotman International Centre for Pension Management at the University of Toronto and President and Founder of KPA Advisory Services.

The New York City Pension Systems consist of five separate funds: The New York City Police Pension Fund, the New York City Fire Department Pension Fund, the New York City Teachers’ Retirement System, the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, and the Board of Education Retirement System.

Full implementation of the investment reform proposal requires State legislative approval. Representatives from the Mayor’s Office, the Comptroller’s Office and organized labor will work together to finalize the proposal and work with elected officials to implement the plan.

Details of the proposal are available online at http://pirnyc.com.

DIANE RAVITCH TO OFFER KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT FIRST-EVER BRONX EDUCATION SUMMIT

(Professor Diane Ravitch)

Here is an interesting press release received from the Bronx Borough Presidents office about the first ever Bronx Education Summit. Diane Ravitch will be the keynote speaker. Chancellor Dennis Walcott of the New York City Department of Education should be present as well. In any event the first ever Bronx Education Summit will include workshops where people can express their opinions. The dialogue should be heated, interesting and hopefully constructive. In any event, its our responsibility to get informed and get involved. For more information please do see the full press release below. The phone number to register can be found below as well.

Gregory
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DIANE RAVITCH TO OFFER KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT FIRST-EVER BRONX EDUCATION SUMMIT

Today, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. announced that Dr. Diane Ravitch, widely considered to be the preeminent education expert in the United States, will offer the keynote address at the first-ever “Bronx Education Summit: From Cradle to Career,” to be held on Saturday, October 15, 2011, at Lehman College.

Dr. Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a historian of education. In addition, she is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. Her most recent book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education (2010), is a critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller.

“The goal of our education summit is to bring together the best minds in education, from all sides of the issues, to put forward a clear vision for the future of education in the Bronx. With that in mind, we are extremely grateful that none other than Diane Ravitch, one of the most important voices in the national debate on education, is coming to the Bronx to participate in this historic event,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

The topic of Dr. Ravitch’s address will be "Improving Education for the Children of the Bronx." Dr. Ravitch’s complete biography and curriculum vitae can be found at dianeravitch.com/vita.html.

All educational stakeholders are invited to attend the Summit, including parents, teachers, students, and policy makers.

The day will begin with greetings from Borough President Diaz, Dr. Pedro Noguera of New York University, and Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott of the New York City Department of Education, followed by Dr. Ravitch’s keynote address. After the morning workshop, the summit will host eight breakout sessions covering a variety of topics, such as special education, English Language Learners, and parent involvement.

The event concludes with a VIP Policy Panel composed of some of the city’s most influential educational figures, including Ernest Logan president, Council of School Supervisors and Administrators; Monica Major, Bronx representative to the Panel for Educational Policy; James Merriman chief executive officer, New York City Charter School Center; Michael Mulgrew, president, United Federation of Teachers; Dr. Betty Rosa, New York Board of Regents, and Shael Suransky, deputy chancellor, New York City Department of Education.

Throughout the day, participants can visit tables staffed by employees of dozens of educational and social service organizations to learn more about the resources available to parents, students, and teachers in the Bronx and citywide.

The “Bronx Education Summit: From Cradle to Career,” is only the first step in creating a new education agenda for the Bronx. A number of follow-up activities are being planned in conjunction with the summit to continue these important conversations about improving educational outcomes for all Bronx students.

For more information about the Bronx Education Summit or to register, please visit www.bronxeducationsummit.org or call 718-590-6116.