Fight Back Friday - School Communities Across the City to Participate, UFT Delegates Serenaded at DA

Fight Back Friday at the UFT Delegate Assembly

I know I've been haranguing you about the importance of getting your school involved in Fight Back Friday. I was part of a coalition of groups supporting FBF at yesterday's Delegate Assembly.

I tried to tell the delegates that a consistent monthly action in front of their schools would have a bigger impact than the mostly uncovered May 12 rally. But rallies are easy. Go, march, go home and forget about it.

Organizing at the school level is hard. Some of FBF supporters have reached out to neighboring schools and are now working in tandem. Imagine a bunch of elementary schools along with the local middle schools affecting an entire neighborhood! The UFT says it wants this to happen but is not actively supporting FBF.


Many of the participants in this action are new to the action at the DA, which was poorly attended. Many of them are young idealistic teachers who haven't yet been featured on the front page of the NY Times - maybe because they actually support teacher rights and oppose the use of high stakes tests to measure teacher performance.

Serenading UFT Delegates as they depart Delegate Assembly
At the end of the meeting, the group serenaded the departing delegates, urging them, most of them Unity Caucus, to join in union solidarity songs. Few did. They seemed embarrassed.

Here is a brief video I shot of the singing (we will not be appearing on American Idol) followed by the FBF press release. Link here to watch directly on you tube: http://youtu.be/EkXNf_Ff6aE

Date:  Friday, May 20, 2011     

Contact:

Sam Coleman, Educator, PS 24K, NYCORE/GEM:  646-354-9362

Lisa Donlan, Parent, President CEC1:  917-848-587

Yelena Siwinski, Educator, PS 193K, ICE: (917) 628-3588

School Communities Across the City to Participate in Fight Back Friday

Bloomberg and the DOE must stop wasting our money and start prioritizing public education:  No school-based budget cuts and no educator lay-offs!

On Friday May 20th, school communities across the city will take differentiated actions to protest Mayor Bloomberg's destructive education policies, including his latest budget announcement that includes the elimination of 6,000 teaching positions, 4,700 through lay-offs.  Individual schools will hold rallies, sign postcards directed at City Council representatives, disseminate flyers to spread awareness about where Mr. Bloomberg’s spending priorities lie, and they will wear black to, “take our schools back” as well as stickers proclaiming the Real Reforms our Mayor should be fighting for.

$350 Million dollars is needed to prevent educator lay-offs and prevent disastrous consequences for our children including increased class sizes and loss of programming.  Mayor Bloomberg’s budget allocates $700 million for charter schools, $542 million in new technology, and hundreds of millions on testing. Parents, educators, children, and community members stand united in demanding our City Council reject the Mayor’s budget and call on Mr. Bloomberg to stop wasting our money and start to prioritize public education and local community public schools.

Fight Back Fridays began last June when school communities united to fight proposed budget cuts, lay-offs and other disastrous educational policies.  This year, Fight Back Fridays have continued throughout the city.  To visit a school community that is participating in a Fight Back Friday or for more information, please contact the parents and educators listed in this release.

Some Fight Back Friday participants include:
PS 261, Brooklyn, PS 321 Brooklyn, Sunset Park High School Brooklyn, PS 306, Queens, PS 69 Queens, PS 503, Brooklyn, Facing History School, Manhattan, International School for Liberal Arts, Lehman High School, Bronx, PS 368, Bronx, PS 230, Brooklyn, Paul Robeson High School, Brooklyn, PS 24, Brooklyn. MS 136, Brooklyn, PS 193, Brooklyn, Bushwick School for Social Justice, Academy for Urban Planning, PS 157, Brooklyn, Green School, Brooklyn, PS 123, Manhattan, Frederick Douglass Academy 5, Bronx, El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice, Brooklyn, PS 15, Brooklyn, East Brooklyn Community High School in Canarsie, PAIHS, Queens, Neighborhood School, Manhattan, Childrens' Workshop School, Manhattan, James Baldwin School, Manhattan, Humanitites Prep, Manhattan, Lyons High School, Brooklyn, FDR High School, Brooklyn, Goldstien High School, Brooklyn, Jamaica High School, Queens, Bronx international HS, Morris campus, High School for Excellence, Morris campus, Alfred E Smith High School, Bronx Families, teachers, and school staff are also meeting in front of PS 10 in Brooklyn and will march along 7th avenue to join PS 295, MS 88, and New Voices respectively.

Endorsers include: Grassroots Education Movement (GEM), Teachers Unite (TU), People Power Movement (PPM), Teachers for a Just Contract (TJC), New York Collective of Radical Educators (NYCORE), Concerned Advocates for Public Education (CAPE), Independent Community of Educators (ICE)

Additional Contacts:

Mark Torres, Educator, Frederick Douglass Academy 5, Bronx, People Power Movement, 646-696-8485

Emily Giles, Educator, Bronx International High School, Teachers Unite, 917-575-2936

Fightback Friday is Coming as Schools Across the City Stage Local Protests Against Bloomberg’s Budget Cuts

Friday, May 20th is Fight Back Friday! School communities across the city are uniting to fight budget cuts and lay-offs locally. If you are interested in sponsoring a Fight Back Friday, to sign on and receive a tool-kit, or if you want more information please email peter.lamphere@gmail.com.

At the risk of repeating myself, I know many of you participated in the rally on May 12 but may be ignoring the opportunity to join in Fight Back Friday events where schools citywide take independent action around their schools. Frankly, I feel these actions over time will have a bigger impact than rallies like the May 12 event (how much coverage did it get? What do you think the impact was?) One of the reasons FBFs are worth doing is that over time they pressure the UFT from below. But it also builds links (that have been missing) with the local community. Imagine all 1600 schools building these links to fight the budget cuts and layoffs?

A FBF toolkit has been produced and the organizers will send you one. This FBF too soon for you? Start organizing for June 10. Too soon? Come to the GEM meeting May 23 to think about expanding next year.

You can follow Fight Back Friday events on the FBF blog maintained by our pal at John Dewey HS.
http://fightbackfridays.blogspot.com/. You know, this factoid reminds me of why, despite how bleak things look, I am optimistic. The level of cooperation between the various groups and individuals has been unprecedented.

Here is the latest FBF flier that can be cut down the middle to double your fun.

 

 A message from Sam Coleman (GEM/NYCORE).

Hi all,

Just a reminder. This Friday is a city wide Fight Back Friday. Staff, students and parents all over the city will be dressing in black, wearing stickers, getting post-cards signed and having pickets at their schools.

Wear black, take our schools back!! from the corporate takeover and purposeful underfunding of our cities schools.

-If we add a small tax surcharge for those households with over $175,000 in income we would completely eliminate the need for any lay-offs.
-Hundred of millions is spent on testing!!
-Half a billion will be spent next year on technology infrastructure, much of that given in contracts to private companies with ties back to Tweed and the State Ed. department.

Get your colleagues and school community to wear black, send in pictures, or let us know your school is participating. The more participating schools, the more press we get, the more we can pressure our council members to vote down the mayor's insane budget!!!

Email sam@nycore.org for an email copy of the tool-kit with stickers, fliers to advertise your action, post-cards to the city council you can have people sign.

Its easy and fun!!!!

Sam, for the fight back friday committee

Here is one school's call - Lyons Community School based at the old IS 49 building in Williamsburg, a short distance from where I taught (our school used to feed into it).

Schools Across the City Stage Local Protests Against Bloomberg’s Budget Cuts

This Friday the 20th is being called “Fight Back Friday,” a day in which schools across the city will express their opposition to Mayor Bloomberg’s proposed layoffs.

Activist teacher groups such as New York Coalition of Radical Educators (NYCoRE, Grassroots Education Movement (GEM), and Teacher’s Unite have helped organize the event (the UFT unfortunately has not helped organize the event). Every participating school (30-50 are expected to participate) will stage demonstrations of their own determination, with the baseline factor that all teachers will be wearing black.

At Lyons Community School, a low-income public school in Williamsburg, teachers will take to the streets, reaching out to community members in an effort to halt the proposed budget cuts.

Teachers at Lyons Community School have mobilized significantly around the proposed cuts. Teachers have created t-shirts, posters, fliers, and postcards that urge action against the cuts and provide information to the community about how to fight back.

This Friday, Lyons Community School teachers will take to the streets right outside of the school with creative artwork and posters, talking to community members, distributing information packets, and getting postcards signed.

Contact:
Joshua Sol Lewis, ESL Teacher
347 406 1156

All fliers are available, including stickers to hand out in both English and Spanish.
Email me if interested: normsco@gmail.com

Fight Back Friday a big success: Press Release, Press Conf, Please send pictures

Hi all,

Hope everyone had a successful day! A little bit goes a long way. This is how a city wide movement grows, and the fact that there were double the number of schools (30!!) participating yesterday than 2 months ago means a lot.

So thanks to everyone, and especially folks who made the fliers, did translating, made the survey and spread the word.

There was some press yesterday at my school (Cable channel 12 and some local papers) and ch 47 and the chinese language cable station was at the press conference along with gotham schools and some other smaller papers. If you got any coverage please share.

Please send any photos or video to me and to Michael at: mmvs1226@aol.com so we can publicize our actions and make the next one even bigger. And if you woudnt mind a sentence or two describing your actions, something we can post with photos, that would be great.

Also, if people are feeling it, feel free to continue to rock FBF at your school, and if folks are down, maybe lets think about another even bigger one in early June. . .?

Have a great weekend, and probably see some of you at the nycore conference in a few hours!
in solidarity

Sam

PS if you got any push back from your chapter leader or other union folks on your action, please let us know.

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z29djIHBMCc

Press Release
Date:  Friday, March 25, 2011     


Contact:
Sam Coleman, Teacher PS 24, NYCORE/GEM:  646-354-9362
Lisa Donlan, Parent and President CEC1:  917-848-5873
Julie Cavanagh, Teacher PS 15, GEM/CAPE: 917-836-6465

Fight Back Friday:  After More Than a Week of Protests and Outrage, School-Communities Mobilize to Demand Our Governor and Mayor Put Our Children First

Today parents, students, teachers, and community members across the city took differentiated actions to demand our Mayor and our Governor put our children first.  Education stakeholders city-wide protested Mayor Bloomberg’s destructive education policies, including his threat of over 4,000 teacher lay-offs and his attacks on our experienced educators, as well as Governor Cuomo’s devastating proposed education cuts.  Individual schools picketed, signed petitions and letters, held teach-ins, engaged in teacher appreciation activities and disseminated flyers to spread awareness about budget cuts, proposed lay-offs, teacher protections, and what our Mayor and Governor should be fighting for if they were really interested in putting children first.  


"On Thursday, March 24th thousands of average New Yorkers expressed their outrage against Bloomberg, a failed public ed system, Cuomo, Wall Street  banksters, and the 'givebacks' and job losses being set in motion with the help of city and state legislators. One day later, during another Fight Back Friday, parents, teachers, students and community members around the city continued that struggle at their respective schools, more confident than ever, that in unity there is strength." Muba Yarofulani & Akinlabi Mackall Co-chairpersons,Coalition for Public Education / Coalicion por la Educacion Publica.


Tory Frye, parent at PS/IS 187 said, "Last year my son's elementary school lost the art teacher and the science teacher to budget cuts.  The music teacher has no music room or instruments; there is no dedicated room for art and class sizes are uncomfortably high.  We lost 7 faculty members altogether last year and now we are being told that we will lose another 5 teachers?  There is no one left at my son's school to cut!  I cannot begin to understand how we can allow budget cuts like the ones proposed by Governor Cuomo and supported by Mayor Bloomberg to occur, this is not putting our children first. There is a solution; we can maintain the tax on millionaires and billionaires, which would mitigate the impact of these budget cuts and simultaneously address the growing income disparity that sadly has come to characterize New York City."


Continued Sam Coleman, teacher, “My elementary school, PS 24, has lost over $1 million in the last year to budget cuts. Our school is made up of largely immigrant, working class and poor students of color. Due to budget cuts, students in our school have lost after school programs, arts programs, teachers and materials. It is morally and ethically unjustifiable for the mayor and governor to take these resources away from our families while granting millionaires and billionaires tax breaks. Poor and working class families of color and immigrants should not have their children's education short-changed in order to pay for a new yacht, or a new summer home for the wealthiest citizens of our city and state. Fight Back Friday's are a way for school communities to come together - parents, teacher and students - to say enough is enough. We are united in this fight, and we are not going to sit by quietly anymore.”


“We have witnessed the privileged few dominate the education conversation over the last year and we have seen our elected leaders capitulate to their interests over the needs of the more than 95% of us who are not millionaires and billionaires, most notably our children, more than 20% of whom are living in poverty.  This week we have learned that Governor Cuomo accepted tens of thousands of dollars from the Koch brothers, individuals who seek to dismantle our democracy and protections for the average American.  We have seen our Mayor spend millions of his own money to promote his own policy interest against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers who want the millionaire tax left in place and who support experienced educators.  We do not live in an oligarchy or a plutocracy where the privileged few get to make decisions for the rest of us, we live in a democracy where representatives are supposed to serve those who elected them.  We will fight for our children, for public education, for workers rights, and for the promise of a democracy and an elected leadership that truly represents the will of the people,” said Julie Cavanagh, teacher at PS 15 in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Casey Fuetsch, public school parent at the Earth School added, "It's ironic and disturbing that, on this 100th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire,  we are still fighting to keep the most basic rights of mostly female workers intact.  One hundred years ago it was a safety issue; this year it is common respect and job security for teachers.”

Fight Back Fridays began last June when school communities united to fight proposed budget cuts and other disastrous educational policies.  Over the course of this school year, Fight Back Fridays have continued throughout the city.  

“John Dewey H.S. is continuing our Fight Back Friday actions to unify our school community in the face of a city-wide and national campaign to discredit teachers, destroy seniority rights, and sabotage our public schools. Labor rights are civil rights and these are rights that we must fight to protect for the sake of our students and the future of public education. Our goal is to make our school better and stronger by keeping teachers teaching and helping our students receive a dynamic and quality education,” said Michael Solo, Dewey teacher.

Rosemarie Frascella of NyCORE and teacher at Prospect Heights High School said, “Fight Back Fridays give educators the agency to design their own way of organizing around the issues that are directly affecting our students, classrooms, and communities.  We are organizing Fight Back Fridays to educate and organize our communities around the issues directly affecting our school communities.  From Wisconsin to New York City teachers are coming together to stand up for quality education for every student across the United States.  Our working conditions are our students' learning environments.”

Added Stefanie Siegel, teacher, Paul Robeson High School in Brooklyn, “The Coalition for Public Education (Brooklyn Chapter) has been meeting with students and staff on Tuesdays for the past two months.   Their consistency and resiliency keep us engaged and believing that justice will prevail after all.  The work has empowered, politicized and raised the consciousness of  students and we hope, if nothing else, the teach-in on Fight Back Friday spreads the word and broadens our impact.   The presence of the CPE at Robeson has made us feel as if we are part of a bigger picture, a larger cause as well as a global community.”

Participants in Fight Back Friday and parents, educators, and students across the city have expressed immense frustration with the Bloomberg administration for attacking teachers and seniority rights, using parents and teachers as political footballs with threats of massive layoffs rather than seeking to find a solution to Governor Cuomo’s misguided budget cuts.  Fight Back Friday participants and stakeholders across the city have demanded an end to wasteful city contracts such as CityTime and ARIS, for the state to continue the fair tax on Millionaires and Billionaires, for the DOE to cut middle and upper management at the DOE instead of further cutting school-based budgets and to prevent teacher layoffs, to stop wasting money on over-testing and for our local and state elected officials to do the hard work of putting our children first, by protecting and preserving public education.

“Our community believes in high quality education. However, over-testing has not proven to be effective. We need local community engagement and control that requires high standards for our schools,” Harvey Epstein Denise Soltren The Neighborhood School PTA Co Presidents.

Lisa Donlan, President of CEC1 concluded, “Parents and teachers have come together to send a message in their school communities and to the city at large that the budget cuts, the attacks on teachers, the misuse of high stakes testing and increase in class sizes MUST STOP if we are to deliver on the promise of tomorrow that is our children's education TODAY. Cheating these kids, schools and communities hurts all of us, now and in the future. We will fight back today and every day until our city gets what it deserves-  adequately funded and staffed, good, public schools in every neighborhood!”

More than twenty-five school-communities city-wide participated in Fight Back Friday including: 
The Academy for Environmental Leadership, Brooklyn
The Academy of Urban Planning, Brooklyn
Bushwick School for Social Justice, Brooklyn
James Baldwin High School, Manhattan
Humanities Prep High School, Manhattan
PS 307, Brooklyn
Pan American Internnational HS, Queens
PS 24, Brooklyn
PS 15, Brooklyn
PS 157, Brooklyn
The Earth School ( PS 364 Manhattan)
The Neighborhood School (PS 363 Manhattan)
Lehman HS, Bronx
PS 193, The Gil Hodges School, Brooklyn
John Dewey HS, Brooklyn
Lyons Community School, Brooklyn
PS 368, Manhattan
The Green School, Brooklyn
PS 347, Manhattan
PS 187, Manhattan
Alfred E. Smith high school, Bronx
PS 230 Brooklyn
International High School at Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
PS 254, Brooklyn
PS 134 Manhattan
Rafael Hernandez School of the Performing Arts IS 217, Bronx
Banana Kelly HS, Bronx
PS 3, Brooklyn
PS 3, Manhattan




Additional Contacts:
Tory Frye, Parent and SLT Member PS/IS 187:  646-418-6435
Stefanie Siegel, Teacher Paul Robeson High School: 347-721-2152
Michael Solo, Teacher Dewey High School: 917-750-7510

Liza Campbell Captures the Spirit of Fight Back Friday

At the Left Forum yesterday I heard a teacher tell all about how Fight Back Friday in her school brought the staff together in a way they hadn't seen before. Almost the entire staff wore black - "to take their school back" (I've even heard of some principals wearing black in unity). It turns out this is the same school that in a piece at Gotham's Community Center (which many people do not read due to Ruben irritation) GEM/NYCORE's Liza Campbell talked about. One of 3 on a campus, they have reached out to the other schools and things are moving toward actions taken by the entire building. Let me point out that these are mostly young teachers far from the madding ME4ME slugs.

Links to FBF: http://fightbackfridays.blogspot.com/ and www.grassrootseducationmovement.blogspot.com

Liza wrote a fab piece. Here is a short shot:

Tenure protects teachers who defend their departments from harassment, inform parents or DOE officials about negligence in their school, or who have personal or political disagreements with principals. Protections and contractual agreements make schools better places to work, which means lower teacher turnover, happier teachers and thus happier students in turn. A sign outside the capital in Madison, Wisc., last week made the case for teacher protections clear: “My Working Conditions Are My Students’ Learning Conditions.”

In response to the relentless attacks, Sam Coleman, a member of both the Grassroots Education Movement and NYCORE came up with the idea of supporting schools in organizing school-based actions for educators, parents and students across the city who wanted to push back. He named his intitiative Fight Back Friday. The idea also developed because there was an urgency for more actions at the local level, yet the UFT leadership seemed unwilling or unable to take on organizing of that kind.

On Friday, Jan. 21, members of my school community participated in our first Fight Back Friday. We joined parents, school staff and community members across the city to raise awareness about, and stand in solidarity with, schools facing closure and co-location votes at upcoming Panel for Educational Policy meetings. The theme for the day was “Wear Black and Take Our Schools Back.” Nearly all of my colleagues wore black on that day. It was an incredibly unifying experience that was better for staff morale than anything I could have anticipated. Over 30 schools have participated in Fight Back Fridays since the movement began last year. Each individual school’s action takes on a different tone depending on the particular concerns that are most pressing for that school, but they all heighten dialogue and raise awareness about critical issues facing education right now.
The next Fight Back Friday is planned for March 25, and it will focus on some of the most pressing issues facing public education. These include the devastation that would be caused by layoffs and budget cuts, plus the importance of teacher protections like tenure and seniority in making schools stable and rich environments for children. The message for the day is, “We are all Wisconsin! Same Struggle, Same Fight.” I have heard this sentiment, which refers to the battle against union rights started by Wisc. Gov. Scott Walker, expressed repeatedly from teachers in my school, and we have decided we don’t want to wait any longer to start educating our communities and mobilizing ourselves.

READ IT ALL:
Anticipating Fight Back Friday

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AFTER BURN: WHAT IF?
What if Bill Gates or DFER made an offer to Gotham to pay or subsidize the salary of the reporter they are looking to hire to replace Maura Walz? Of course they will say, "We're not looking to influence the reporting in any way." But maybe they follow with, "I have the perfect person in mind." Well, whatever, you get a picture of how the press can be subverted - but I can't imagine Gotham going for such a thing.

Now, Accountable Talk has thrown his hat in the Gotham job ring

I don't know if you've heard, but GothamSchools is hiring! This is huge news for a small time blogger like me--my chance to make the big time! I hope you, my faithful readers, won't mind if I audition right here? I know the three of you are skeptical. I can hear you thinking: "Mr. Talk writing for Gotham? Why, he's pro-union, anti-Unity, and borderline socialist!" Never fear. I'm willing to be employed by a hedge fund manager for a price, which is one of the main qualifications for this gig.

MORE AT: Mr. Talk Shoots for the Big Time

Hey, ya never know.

The Resistance Grows: Actions this week- GEM Meets Monday and FIght Back Friday

Reminder: GEM meeting tomorrow -

There's a busy week coming up for The Resistance Fighters fighting the ed deformers. I'm having trouble keeping up.

Fight Back Friday: We are all Wisconsin!  Same Struggle, Same Fight!
I was interviewed by a reporter on Friday who was asking about what we hope to accomplish with Fight Back Fridays. I told her this was a rank and file led movement coming directly out of the schools and not led and promoted by the UFT leadership as March 22 is (we support that too.) But in order to build a union from the bottom up these kinds of actions touch base with people - staff and parents and community who might not be fully informed. So far pockets of activity in long dormant schools have been activated. FBF is a grassroots movement that if it ever reached a couple of hundred schools could begin to have an impact both on the DOE and more importantly, push the UFT towards a stronger defense of public education. Interesting that the reporter didn't seem to like it when I used the term "defense from the attacks on public ed" and tried to put words in my mouth. I haven't seen any article quoting me yet - I think this was the Daily News - the reporter was covering 3 Queens schools FBF actions -Jamaica HS (see the video I posted yesterday), PS 30 and another school.

A FBF tooklit for schools to use with ready made leaflets has been created. So even if all your school does is have people wear black to take your school back or have a lunchtime teach-in on Wisconsin, sign on to the list by email Sam to get your school on the list and get the toolkit: Sam_p_coleman@yahoo.com

One other thing developing: some of the activists are turning FBF into after school Happy Hour meetups with neighboring schools. I'll keep you posted as they come in so you can pop in if one's in your area - or better still, let me know of your school happy hours so others can join.

Events this week
I had a busy last couple of weeks and have not had much time to do much blogging. I was at the Left Forum all day yesterday taping 3 panels, including our standing room only viewing of our filmed response to Waiting for Superman (The Inconvenient Truth Behind WFS) Here is what I have so far for this week. Ed Notes will try to cover as much as possible with video and commentary.

• Monday, Mar. 21: GEM Meeting at CUNY, 5PM: 34st and 5th ave, rm 5414. See the GEM blog for meeting agenda and updates. (Fightback Friday
• Tuesday, Mar. 22: EDUSolidarity- bloggers
  
  As we all know, teachers and our unions, along with those of other public sector employees, face unprecedented attacks in the national media and from local and state governments. It is easy for politicians and the media to demonize the "unions" and their public faces; it is far more difficult to demonize the millions of excellent teachers who are proud union members. Those of us who are excellent teachers and who stand in solidarity with our unions are probably no stranger to the question "Well, why are you involved with the union if you're a good teacher?" It's time for us to stand up and answer that question loudly and clearly. http://www.edusolidarity.us/
  Citywide actions in schools - Wear red
• Weds, Mar. 23: PEP meeting at Brooklyn Tech
• Thurs, Mar. 24: Day of Rage Against City Budget Cuts, Rally-5PM @ City Hall, March to Wall Street @ 6PM
• Friday, Mar. 25: Fight Back Friday - school level actions plus press conf at Tweed at 4:30
• Saturday, Mar. 26: NYCORE conference all day at Julia Richman HS campus

Did I leave anything out?

Here are some details on the GEM/NYCORE promoted actions :

***More than a dozen schools already signed on!!

To all Educators, Students, Parents and School Workers of NYC Public Schools:

 PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!! 

FIGHT BACK FRIDAY IS BACK!!

For information, or to get the Fight Back Friday tool kit, email:

Sam_p_coleman@yahoo.com

NYCORE and GEM are sponsoring actions at schools across the city.

Fight back Fridays have been happening since last June and have been growing in strength!

Next Friday, March 25, Schools all over the city will be taking actions to make our voices heard!

 We are all Wisconsin!  Same Struggle, Same Fight!

• Teacher Protections, Protect Children
• Layoffs Hurt Children
• Budget Cuts Hurt Children
• Let's Put Children First

A Fight Back Friday action can be as simple as having folks wear black and wear a sticker.“Wear black, take our schools back!”.

Schools can have informational pickets, where just a few people are out fliering about the cuts and layoffs and other attacks. Other schools will have full blown pickets before or after school, with staff, parents and students.

WHAT WE ARE OFFERING TO SUPPORT YOUR ACTION:

We will send you a “tool-kit” either by email, or you can come pick up material from mid-town on Monday. The tool kit will have fliers in 3 or 4 languages that talk about the cuts, the layoffs, the attacks on seniority etc. We have stickers that people can wear with various messages, petitions you can get signed, chants you can use and other goodies. We can send someone to meet with your staff and help you plan.

We will be sending out press releases to announce our actions as well as holding a press conference on that day at 4:30 at Tweed. We will be collecting pictures and video to spread awareness of our actions.

These actions will continue to build the base of teachers and community members willing to stand up for justice in education.

We will push our union to become more militant in the face of these attacks.

We must stop being afraid to take action. We must build a fighting union that works WITH the families we serve and that FIGHTS for justice.

WE WILL LEARN FROM EGYPT, TUNISIA AND WISCONSIN!

Email: sam_p_coleman@yahoo.com to get information or to get the tool kit.

--------

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.

Tony Avella Joins Jamaica HS Fightback Friday Video

Join other schools around the city next Friday, March 25 with your own Fightback Friday event. Wear black to take your school back. Email Sam Coleman with your school info.

Thanks to GEM's Gustavo Medina for the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ETfEHT_tv8


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.

Coverage of Press Conference at Tweed by Fight Back Friday Coalition

Here is a section of video I edited where a young lady goes up the steps of Tweed to hand over the invitation to Cathie Black. Fight Back Friday participants and supporters held a press conference at Tweed with an invitation to Cathie Black, who is on a "listening tour", to come to the January 27 rally to listen to parents, teachers and students.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYCVEU9N4EE



Report on NY 1: Note Julie Cavanagh's quote:

Parents, students and teachers rallied in Downtown Manhattan on Friday to save public schools from what they called "destructive education policies."
They picketed, signed petitions and distributed flyers about the city's plan to close 26 schools because of poor performance.
Public hearings will be held on each school closure next month before an education panel vote is held.
The so-called "Fight Back Friday" events culminated with a news conference outside Department of Education headquarters in the Boss Tweed Courthouse.
"For the Department of Education, for Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg, for [Schools Chancellor] Cathie Black to say after eight years of mayoral control that these schools are failing and that our only choice is to turn schools over to private hands is an outrage," said teacher Julie Cavanagh. "They have been in charge of our schools for the last eight years. This is their failure."
Organizers say they have invited Black to participate in a citywide rally on Thursday.
Department of Education officials refused to comment on the request Friday."

NY1 video here: Rally Against School Closures Held By DOE Headquarters - NY1.com

Julie Cavanagh and Sam Coleman

Note the great work in emceeing the press conference by Sam Coleman (NYCORE and GEM), who along with Julie (CAPE and GEM) have emerged as leaders of the fight back movement. Both have had a decade or more as teachers but became ed activists only in the last few years.

And to think they only met a little over a year ago and have become an amazing team - just to show you how fast things are moving and changing as they and other younger gen teachers are emerging to take charge - and allowing these old bones to rest a bit.

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.

Add Your School to the Jan. 21 Fight Back Friday List: Goal is 50 NYC Schools Taking Part

Hi all,

I am writing to let you know that on Friday, January 21st, GEM, in coalition with NYCORE, Coalition for Public Education, Teachers Unite and other groups is calling for a school based FIGHT BACK FRIDAY! (www.fightbackfridays.blogspot.com)

Sam Coleman

If you've been following Ed Notes and other blogs, you are aware of the daily assault on public education, blaming teachers and their unions for all the problems that exist, closing schools, moving kids and teachers around like chess pieces, and so on. Just take this item I put up on the sidebar last night:

Bloomberg Takes Aim on Senior Teachers

"Amongst the reforms, Recommendation #20 may cause the most outcry, as it would authorize the Department of Education to retain the most effective teachers -- as opposed to just the most senior teachers -- during downsizing."

Bloomberg Set to Shake Up Union Hiring and Firing Practices: http://bed-stuy.patch.com/articles/bloomberg-set-to-shake-up-union-hiring-and-firing-practices

I don't have to tell you that the UFT has been ineffective in fighting for the public schools - how many have been closed and are slated to close - a clear attack on and has even cooperated in areas like merit pay for performance, experimenting with the value-added measurements of teachers, supporting mayoral control, protecting teachers and public schools from charters (how can the UFT battle co-locations when they themselves have 2 charters co-locating?) and on and on.

Thus, the battle is in your hands. And I have been meeting a wonderful group of next gen activists - new leadership, along with some of the people I've met through blogging moving to the next step of activism. The Grassroots Education Movement is trying to fill the gap and has been joining in coalition with other groups around the city to begin to forge a fight back. A year ago we organized the rally at Bloomberg's home and it drew 400 people. A drop in the bucket you might say, but the bucket is filling, slowly, but filling.

An ad hoc committee to fight closing schools has been formed (meetings are open - next one this Tuesday, Jan. 18, 5pm at CUNY, 34th and 5th Ave, rm 5414-bring ID) and is organizing so many activities I get tired just thinking about it. The key events are: Jan. 21 Fight Back Friday and Jan. 27 rally at Tweed. And attending all the PEP meetings coming up on school closings while also sending reps to as many school closing and charter co-location rallies, hearings, etc.

That is why your help is needed to bolster the forces of The Resistance. There is so much to do and so few people to do it. I can attest that recently adding a batch of people has made an enormous difference (setting up blogs, creating leaflets, etc. takes man and woman power).

Now, you may be saying to Sam, one of the dynamic next generation activists we have been working with, "Why should I get my colleagues to engage in this action? Hasn't the union done this in the past? What did it get us?"

I don't have easy answers. But this is something growing from the grassroots, building school by school. Last June 4 Fightback Friday we had 25 schools. Now we're aiming for 50. Or more. It is no longer a matter of saving one school. The idea is to create a mass movement of resistance that consistently battles the ed deformers on every front. Imagine if one day hundreds of schools start joining in. Or come out to a rally. Jan. 27 will not be the last one. We must continue to build pressure. Classic bullies like Bloomberg historically buckle when the heat is on. Putting thousands in the street one day who are not there because the UFT paid and organized them would scare the hell out of the ed deformers. The only way is to build one block of a movement at a time.

As Sam says in his email:

The protest can be big or it can be as small as a few teachers/students/parents outside fliering. The slogan is: Wear Black, Take our Schools Back! 

We need pictures, video, reports from your school. It would be great if you can send a school rep  to the press conference on the steps of Tweed at 4:30 on the 21st. And get people out for the Jan. 27 rally at Tweed. If you are doing a Fight Back Friday at your school email CAPE: capeducation@gmail.com and CC me: normsco@gmail.com.


I'll let Sam take over.

JAN 21st!

What's a Fight Back Friday?

Individual schools all over the city will have some sort of action to protest the attacks on pubic education.

NOTE: You can NOT be written up by your administration for any action you carry out off school property. Please email me if you are concerned about this (sam_p_coleman@yahoo).

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The protest can be big or it can be as small as a few teachers/students/parents outside fliering.

The slogan is Wear Black, Take our Schools Back! 

So, naturally we are asking people to wear black.  I am attaching some stickers(eng/spa) that can be printed out and given out on the day of. You can get black ribbons or arm bands to give out with the stickers. You can use the sticker for ideas for signs.

I am also attaching five fliers written on 5 big issues in education. We are in the process of translating them into Spanish so look out for that or contact me if you need the translations. These can be modified to fit your needs, they are in word.

Please contact: capeducation@gmail.com to let us know your school will participate! 

The movement is growing! Get your school community involved and aware!

I am attaching a flier with more details but here is some of the pertinent info from it:

If you, your school, or your school community plan to participate in Fight Back Friday, let us know @ capeducation@gmail.com so that we can include you on our list of participants/endorsers and interactive map as well as provide you with a Fight Back Friday Toolkit!  The Toolkit will include literature and educational material, media information, and sample materials to assist in your school organizing efforts.

Visit our Blog @ www.fightbackfridays.blogspot.com, visit and post to our Facebook page @ fightbackfridays, and post and send in your school’s perspectives, testimonials, videos and pictures of Fight Back Actions.  

****Fight Back Friday will culminate with a press conference on the steps of Tweed @ 4:30.  If your group or a member of your school community (especially if you are a school facing closing or co-location) would like to speak, contact us and we will do our best to accommodate you.  Let’s stand up for public education together, and make our voices heard!****

thanks

sam

NOTE: The 5 leaflets Sam is talking about can be viewed and there are links for downloading at the GEM blog.

Fightback Friday Informational Fliers for January 21, 2011
Download at: http://www.scribd.com/full/46864057?access_key=key-ptivdl0qry389dstkxw