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madfloridian

(88,117 posts)
Wed Nov 21, 2012, 01:17 AM Nov 2012

Broad Foundation revealed it allied with president of teachers' union from the start.

That is called infiltrating.

From the 2009 annual report of the Broad Foundation, one of the major groups pushing education "reform" and charter schools. They admit they as much as enlisted Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT, from their beginning and have allied with her quite often.

This is how the groups that fund the education reforms have infiltrated the unions without anyone noticing.

" Teacher unions have always been a formidable voice in public
education. We decided at the onset of our work to invest in
smart, progressive labor leaders like Randi Weingarten, head of
the United Federation of Teachers in New York City for more
than a decade and now president of the American Federation
of Teachers (AFT).
We partnered with Weingarten to fund two
union-run charter schools in Brooklyn and to fund New York
City’s first incentive-based compensation program for schools,
as well as the AFT’s Innovation Fund. We had previously
helped advance pay for performance programs in Denver and
Houston, but we were particularly encouraged to see New York
City embrace the plan."
Page 11 Broad Report


Not just Randi Weingarten. Andy Stern of the SEIU is a member of the Broad Foundation.

Slick Broad Foundation Roped in Andy Stern -Scoop From Ravitch

Eli Broad and his billionaire buddies Bill Gates and the Waltons can be very good with coloring education deform policies with "liberal" or "civil rights" language.

So it is no surprise that Broad's foundation chose blue dog Democratic congressman Harold Ford (TN) or Andy Stern, former president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), to shore up the liberal credentials.

But WHY did Andy Stern have to join the Broad Foundation, an organization so antithetical to education workers' interests? He could have turned it down. By signing up he gives the impression that organized labor is fine with collaborating with a foundation that drives the education deform or stand-on-children abuse of school policy, teachers and children.

..."But why couldn't Stern practice some labor solidarity and keep more than a 10 foot pole's distance from the noxious company of the Broad Foundation?


Diana Ravitch's blog from July listed some of the outrageous antics of the Broad Institute grads who make their ways to the schools as superintendents and other leaders. She also lists some of them.

Does the Public Have a Right to Know about Broad Academy?

A Broad-trained superintendent in North Carolina left Michelle Rhee’s team and was hired by a Tea Party majority of the local school board in Wake County, North Carolina that wanted to eliminate the district’s successful desegregation policy, even if it meant resegregation of the schools. That board was ousted last fall. The superintendent has stayed on, and the choice plan now in effect seems likely to undo years of work to avoid resegregation. The schools of Wake County were lauded (before the Tea Party takeover) as a model of desegregation by Gerald Grant in his excellent book, Hope and Despair in the American City: Why There Are No Bad Schools in Raleigh.

Chris Cerf in New Jersey was trained by Broad. So was Deborah Gist in Rhode Island, John White in Louisiana, J.C. Brizard in Chicago, and John Covington in Michigan. when Philadelphia picked a new superintendent recently, the two finalists were both Broadies. And there are many more. Read about them here.

Now that the Broad Foundation “trains” so many new superintendents, doesn’t the public have a right to know what the Broad Academy is teaching its students?



When I once posted that Randi Weingarten was on the faculty of Broad superintendent's academy I caught some flak.

However these superintendents who are trained and sent out with so much money and power behind them will most certainly have their loyalties defined in advance.

22 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Broad Foundation revealed it allied with president of teachers' union from the start. (Original Post) madfloridian Nov 2012 OP
I always hated it when our teacher reps... Bigmack Nov 2012 #1
Can't stand up for issues when too chummy with management. madfloridian Nov 2012 #6
Glad to see you back ibegurpard Nov 2012 #2
Rapidly defunding public education while demanding more. madfloridian Nov 2012 #3
"...and to fund New York City’s first incentive-based compensation program for schools," SoapBox Nov 2012 #4
Reminds me. Did you ever see Al Franken's "Supply Side Jesus"? madfloridian Nov 2012 #5
randi! it's been pretty obvious what a sellout she is for quite some time. hope HiPointDem Nov 2012 #7
The Broad Foundation has been very good to Miami-Dade County Public Schools. mia Nov 2012 #8
no, it hasn't. though you may not realize it yet. nor has it "chipped away" HiPointDem Nov 2012 #9
Voters approve $1.2 billion bond issue for schools mia Nov 2012 #10
no mystery about why they passed a bond issue and no mystery about why HiPointDem Nov 2012 #11
The Broad Prize goes to those who achieve the goals of Broad Foundation. madfloridian Nov 2012 #13
Broad is being good because your district is doing what they want of it. madfloridian Feb 2013 #21
Both our former and current Supes in Pittsburgh are Broad-ers Mc Mike Nov 2012 #12
Would you please stop it with the union bashing? Freddie Stubbs Nov 2012 #14
You must have misread. madfloridian Nov 2012 #15
Did you see randi & chris christie in this little lovefest, touting NJ's merit pay contract? HiPointDem Nov 2012 #16
Saw that. Did not like it at all. madfloridian Nov 2012 #17
we have to keep unions strong but liberal_at_heart Nov 2012 #18
The problem with AFT is, it's rigged so that it's near-impossible to mount an attack HiPointDem Nov 2012 #19
Yes, that's my point really. madfloridian Nov 2012 #20
saw this linked in union endorsement thread - interesting stuff fbc Jul 2015 #22
 

Bigmack

(8,020 posts)
1. I always hated it when our teacher reps...
Wed Nov 21, 2012, 01:27 AM
Nov 2012

... "did lunch" with the Admin of the district. One time, they even went on a "retreat" together.

Too fucking chummy. Business is business, and labor negotiations are just that.

Not against civility, just getting social with the people who have the ability to put us out on the bricks with signs.

ibegurpard

(16,685 posts)
2. Glad to see you back
Wed Nov 21, 2012, 01:43 AM
Nov 2012

My state of Montana is one of the few left that does not have charter schools. We hope to keep it that way. The Republicans are waiting in the wings with ALEC style charter school bills but we elected a Democratic governor who I hope will keep them at bay...I have spoken to him at a couple of functions and he is a supporter of public education. We also narrowly re-elected a Democratic state superintendent of public education who is a STRONG supporter of public schools.

The charter school movement has started to take on water nationally and I just hope that people finally start to wake up and see it for what it is before the people of this state make the mistake of letting the camel in the tent here as well.

madfloridian

(88,117 posts)
3. Rapidly defunding public education while demanding more.
Wed Nov 21, 2012, 01:47 AM
Nov 2012

All it took was for both parties to approve. And for those who speak up to be treated with disrespect.

SoapBox

(18,791 posts)
4. "...and to fund New York City’s first incentive-based compensation program for schools,"
Wed Nov 21, 2012, 01:53 AM
Nov 2012

So this is like a bonus program?

Like when I worked at a start up airline...the big Rah-Rah Rally was, we pay you just barely a minimum salary (JUST ever so above the level needed to get food stamps!) and then through all of YOUR hard work, you will get profit sharing!!!

Ya...right. PROBLEM? The very BAD thieving, stealing management, kept making very, very BAD decisions.

Then, they would tell us all at meetings quarterly, "...see, this is YOUR fault. YOU are not working hard enough or YOU are not being nice enough to the customers OR..."

Blah.....Blah.....Blah.

Trickle Down Bullshit.

They fooled me once...there will never be a second time for those lies.

 

HiPointDem

(20,729 posts)
7. randi! it's been pretty obvious what a sellout she is for quite some time. hope
Wed Nov 21, 2012, 06:59 AM
Nov 2012

this gets more press, she's done a lot of damage, but few want to talk about it.

she started out in some kind of admin position i can't recall, got a quickie degree, spent a year or so teaching, and shoots to the top as head of aft. her quick rise was a bit suspicious if you thought about it.

mia

(8,356 posts)
8. The Broad Foundation has been very good to Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
Wed Nov 21, 2012, 07:26 AM
Nov 2012
Why Miami-Dade schools won prestigious Broad Prize for urban districts
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2012/1023/Why-Miami-Dade-schools-won-prestigious-Broad-Prize-for-urban-districts

In Florida’s Miami-Dade County Public Schools, schools are slowly but steadily chipping away at the achievement gap, especially for Hispanic and black students.

The district, which on Tuesday was awarded the Broad Prize for Urban Education, has increased black and Hispanic graduation rates at a faster rate than other urban districts in the United States; has increased the percentages of Hispanic and black students reaching the highest achievement levels; and has increased the percentages and scores of students participating in college-readiness exams more than other districts.

It’s the fifth time that Miami-Dade has been a finalist for the prestigious Broad Prize, which honors urban districts for their success in reducing achievement gaps for low-income and minority students, as well as for high overall performance and improvement in student achievement.


As a result:

Miami-Dade teachers are one step closer to a pay raise.
http://stateimpact.npr.org/florida/2012/11/09/teachers-one-step-closer-to-a-pay-raise-in-miami-dade/

The President of the teachers union, Karen Aronowitz, and her 28 member bargaining team signed off today on a tentative agreement that would provide salary increases while maintaining health care for teachers and education support professionals.

“Today we reached a contractual agreement with the district that moves us forward,” Aronowitz said.
Highlights of the Agreement:

Salary
•One step increase on the salary matrix for eligible teachers
•$40,000 starting salary for teachers
•$1,000 salary improvement at the top of the salary schedule making the top step worth $69,225
•2.25% across the board increase for school support personnel (Paraprofessionals, Clerical and Security)
•All improvements to salary above effective December 21st (reflected on January 13 paycheck)


This past Monday...

Teachers, Support Professionals in Miami-Dade Vote to Ratify Salary and Health Insurance Agreement
http://www.utd.org/news/teachers-support-professionals-in-miami-dade-vote-to-ratify-salary-and-health-insurance-agreement

Karen Aronowitz, President of United Teachers of Dade, announced the ratification of the contract by teachers and support professionals “The members of our bargaining unit moved forward this evening. Everyone will get a salary increase, have health insurance in place beginning in January, and have us return to bargaining for the 2013-14 school year in February.” The last salary increase for teachers was in 2009.



 

HiPointDem

(20,729 posts)
9. no, it hasn't. though you may not realize it yet. nor has it "chipped away"
Wed Nov 21, 2012, 07:33 AM
Nov 2012

at the achievement gap.

Broad PR machine, Broad money machine, bribes for aiding the destruction of public education.

mia

(8,356 posts)
10. Voters approve $1.2 billion bond issue for schools
Wed Nov 21, 2012, 07:44 AM
Nov 2012

Passage of the bond issue was considered a victory for Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, who promised that the work would be done on time and under budget.

Voters approved the $1.2 billion bond referendum for Miami-Dade schools, according to preliminary election results.

...The bond issue got an unexpected boost in October when Miami-Dade County Public Schools won the prestigious Broad Prize, a national award that recognizes high-performing urban school districts.

The referendum received support from a range of local politicians, including Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez, whose wife is a school administrator; Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez, and Miami Commissioner Francis Suarez....

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/06/3085259/miami-dade-12-billion-bond-measure.html#storylink=cpy

 

HiPointDem

(20,729 posts)
11. no mystery about why they passed a bond issue and no mystery about why
Wed Nov 21, 2012, 08:05 AM
Nov 2012

they won the broad prize.

the prize: because they're doing broad's work.

the bond: because upscale voters know the improvements will go to *their* kids attending magnet and other class-segregated schools, and the finance people know that they'll eventually own the schools the taxpayers buy for them.

politicians support it because they're bought off or want to be and everyone knows which way the wind is blowing.

Florida Charter Schools: big money, little oversight

by Scott Hiaason and Kathleen McGrory

“School districts are limited in their authority over charter schools,” said Schuster, the Miami-Dade spokesman. “They have minimal ability to impose effective consequences.”

Preparing for her daughter’s graduation in the spring, Tuli Chediak received a blunt message from her daughter’s charter high school: Pay us $600 or your daughter won’t graduate.

http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/florida-charter-schools-and-the-lack-of-oversight/

madfloridian

(88,117 posts)
13. The Broad Prize goes to those who achieve the goals of Broad Foundation.
Wed Nov 21, 2012, 03:04 PM
Nov 2012

Which are not always in the best interest of the students, I fear.

Here is more about how Eli Broad et al are getting their leaders into positions in public schools.

How Eli Broad alumni are greatly involved in the corporate takeover of education.

Eli Broad's Superintendents Academy is paying big dividends for the corporate takeover of American education and the crushing of the teaching profession. In Kansas City a plan developed by Broad's lawyers and Broad Alum, John Covington, will close half of Kansas City Schools with large numbers of corporate charter replacements.

..."Now with half the schools empty by this coming Fall, they will be ripe pickings for the property-hungry corporate welfare charters that will likely kill off most of the remaining public schools. The Board voted 5-4 to support the Broad plan to pull the Kansas City Public Schools into the bath tub for drowning.

..."If the Broad Foundation plants one of its elements in a school district, it is highly likely they will plant another one along with it, so their influence is maximized.

For instance, an element might be:
- The presence of a Broad-trained superintendent
- The placement of Broad Residents into important central office positions
- An "invitation" to participate in a program spawned by the Foundation (such as CRSS's Reform Governance in Action program)
- Offering to provide the district with a free "Performance Management Diagnostic and Planning" experience.


The Broad Foundation has the money to publicize their award as prestigious. Public schools don't have the resources to fight billionaires.

madfloridian

(88,117 posts)
21. Broad is being good because your district is doing what they want of it.
Thu Feb 28, 2013, 01:18 AM
Feb 2013

They even have infiltrated the teachers unions..

Broad Foundation revealed it allied with president of teachers' union from the start.

From the 2009 annual report of the Broad Foundation, one of the major groups pushing education "reform" and charter schools. They admit they as much as enlisted Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT, from their beginning and have allied with her quite often.

This is how the groups that fund the education reforms have infiltrated the unions without anyone noticing.

" Teacher unions have always been a formidable voice in public
education. We decided at the onset of our work to invest in
smart, progressive labor leaders like Randi Weingarten, head of
the United Federation of Teachers in New York City for more
than a decade and now president of the American Federation
of Teachers (AFT). We partnered with Weingarten to fund two
union-run charter schools in Brooklyn and to fund New York
City’s first incentive-based compensation program for schools,
as well as the AFT’s Innovation Fund. We had previously
helped advance pay for performance programs in Denver and
Houston, but we were particularly encouraged to see New York
City embrace the plan."


When I posted that I got a twitter response from her that she was no Broadie. I simply wrote the words of the Broad Institute.

Also the SEIU union head is now with the Broad Foundation. More from the link.

So it is no surprise that Broad's foundation chose blue dog Democratic congressman Harold Ford (TN) or Andy Stern, former president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), to shore up the liberal credentials.

But WHY did Andy Stern have to join the Broad Foundation, an organization so antithetical to education workers' interests? He could have turned it down. By signing up he gives the impression that organized labor is fine with collaborating with a foundation that drives the education deform or stand-on-children abuse of school policy, teachers and children.


..."But why couldn't Stern practice some labor solidarity and keep more than a 10 foot pole's distance from the noxious company of the Broad Foundation?


Union heads often sold the teachers out little by little.

As long as a district is obeying Broad's rules they will win his praise.

Mc Mike

(9,107 posts)
12. Both our former and current Supes in Pittsburgh are Broad-ers
Wed Nov 21, 2012, 10:08 AM
Nov 2012

Mark Roosevelt and Linda Lane.

Robert Greenwald did a film on the Koch Brothers' involvement in the attack on Wake County's successful desegregated school system. So we can throw them into the mix with Gates and Broads.

I remember a film of the AFT national convention, where Randi's adherents jeered fellow AFTers while they walked out on Bill Gates' presentation.

Some recent ('05-'10) destructive Labor Union infighting (AFL v. Change to Win Federation, and UNITE-HERE v. Workers United) featured some involvement in the issues by SEIU's Stern and AFT's Weingarten. I don't know about Stern, but two of the best rank-and-file street level labor activists I've met in 'One Pgh' are SEIU, and Randi tried to end the UH-WU fight, cautioning that it was hurting labors' chances of getting the Employee Free Choice Act passed. Which we can see we didn't get. With the EFCA, the charter school employees would have been extremely easy to organize into the AFT or NEA around here, getting a 10 step salary increase instead of a contract with NO raise, period.

If the unions wouldn't be so Byzantine politically, we wouldn't have to worry about this big corporate infiltration de-railing us. I don't know how to un knot those politics, but having the info you give about the Broad infiltration is important. As long as we don't throw the baby out with the bathwater in dealing with leaders like Weingarten and Stern, when they are backing labor Dem progress. Know these dangerous infiltrations, but treat them like allies to be backed on a case-by-case basis. I think.

 

HiPointDem

(20,729 posts)
16. Did you see randi & chris christie in this little lovefest, touting NJ's merit pay contract?
Thu Nov 22, 2012, 02:05 AM
Nov 2012

it's really disgusting. also the fawning newspeople.

#at=424

I was sickened to see Randi Weingarten and Tea-Party Gov. Christie on Morning Joe, fawning over each other and over the deal they cut on the Newark teachers' contract. It was the worst display of seat-at-the-table unionism I have seen in years. Both are hailing the deal as a "model" for the rest of the country. I hope against hope that it isn't. Christie called it "the most gratifying day of my governorship, by far." That should tell you something about the deal right there. New Jersey Education Commissioner and chief privatizer Chris Cerf (not be be confused with Che Guevara) called the contract "revolutionary." Union President Joseph Del Grosso was a little more restrained, calling it a "roadmap" and “a step in the right direction for the teaching profession."

I can understand why many Newark teachers voted for the contract (actually, only a slight majority of city teachers even voted and 62% of them voted yes). They have been forced to work without any contract these past two years, under the state takeover of their schools, and now will receive some retroactive pay. They were also given some input into the design of their own evaluations which are still based largely on student test scores along with peer evaluation, and which will determine whether they receive "merit pay" from now on. So the argument could be made that this was the best they could get. Of course, that's not what Weingarten and Christie are saying.

Teacher pay is now also dependent upon the largesse of billionaires Eli Broad and know-nothing power philanthropist Mark Zuckerberg who can pull the plug on his $100 million gift at any time -- for example, if Christie or Newark mayor Corey Booker were to be defeated in the next election. This is the same kind of top-down manipulation and leveraging of Gates and Broad grant money that Michelle Rhee and former Mayor Fenty pulled off in D.C. before voters gave them the boot. Newark schools have been turned into beggars operating largely on private funding to circumvent public decision-making. A Tea Party dream come true.

Teachers are no longer guaranteed pay step and lane increases based on credentials. They can win bonuses for teaching in low-performing schools (not a bad idea in and of itself). Teachers who are deemed "ineffective" based on a test-based, value-added formula, can elect to be rated by an independent "peer validator." That review will be considered before determining their final ratings or whether they should be fired or "mentored." However, Newark School Superintendent Cami Anderson will have the final say if an agreement on a teacher's competence can't be reached. What? Where's the union grievance procedure in all this?

http://michaelklonsky.blogspot.com/

liberal_at_heart

(12,081 posts)
18. we have to keep unions strong but
Thu Nov 22, 2012, 02:42 AM
Nov 2012

we also have to hold them accountable. I would hope the union workers would keep things like this in mind when they are voting for their leaders.

 

HiPointDem

(20,729 posts)
19. The problem with AFT is, it's rigged so that it's near-impossible to mount an attack
Thu Nov 22, 2012, 02:54 AM
Nov 2012

on the caucus that's ruled it for something like 40 years. (I may have the precise years wrong, but it's a long time).

madfloridian

(88,117 posts)
20. Yes, that's my point really.
Thu Nov 22, 2012, 02:55 AM
Nov 2012

The leaders often don't communicate to the majority of members before moving ahead with new plans.

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