[poweroften] The Invisible Ones

Power of Ten Update
In This Issue:
1. The Invisible Ones
2. Voting Rights Act Applies in East Ramapo
3. Parent & Youth Conference - December 9
4. Holiday Party!

1) The Invisible Ones

Over the past several years it has been reported many times that there are too many students not doing well in East Ramapo. We hear over and over again that 3 out of 4 students are not "proficient" in Reading and Math. Students who are not doing well are always presented as a statistic, whereas those who are excelling are recognized individually for their success. To some extent this is only natural, but is has the effect of rendering most of the student body invisible. We know what it looks like for a student to get a scholarship to Harvard, or be on the winning sports team. We don't know what it is like for the child and family struggling with learning math, or a student who can't recite his ABC in the third grade. These are The Invisible Ones.

It seems that every year there is a new outcry, a new plan, a new curriculum to address the unhappy statistic. It must be very frustrating for the staff, the parents, the children. It is as if the they are in a "Black Box", a system which can be viewed solely in terms of its stimuli inputs and output reactions.

To see inside the box, to render the invisible visible, we need only to open our eyes. Many families in our diverse district suffer from horrific economic exploitation. We live in one of the wealthiest counties in the country, and yet working families are living in overcrowded, dilapidated housing, and relying on government support just to avoid starvation. Many children spend their earliest years in unsafe, unlicensed child care settings without any modern child development tools. The impact of poverty on children is wrapped into statistics about free lunch, but the children, and the reasons why they are in poverty, remain invisible.

2) Voting Rights Act Applies in East Ramapo

The NYCLU has taken action to protect rights of minority voters in East Ramapo under the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

The New York Times: East Ramapo School Elections Violate Voting Rights, Suit Claims

The Journal News: East Ramapo parents' lawsuit: Election system stacked vs. minorities

The Atlantic: A Heavy Blow to One of America's Most Controversial School Boards

3) Parent & Youth Conference - December 9

Tender Steps of New York, Inc. (TSONY) will facilitate a parent & youth conference, "Step Into Your Destiny" empowering the power within at the Rockland County Community College in the Student Union Building, for youth ages 12-18, on Saturday, December 9, 2017, from 8:00 AM- 2 PM. The guest speakers will include Dr. Weldon McWilliams IV community advocate, Dr. Tammy Pate NYC Department of Education Administrator, Wanda Julien, retired Lieutenant of Detectives and other professional leaders from multiple fields who will facilitate workshops to promote the importance of developing coping skills, importance of social media etiquette, promote self-respect and to learn tools and strategies on how to deal with peer pressure to address ways to improve emotional health of youth in the community. The parenting workshops will promote helpful parenting skills to help guide while raising their youths.

4) Holiday Party!

Join Strong East Ramapo to celebrate the progress we have made as a community, discuss the issues that plague us still and the plans we have to move forward. We only ask that everyone bring either a snack, dessert, or drink to share.

When: Monday, December 18 at 7 PM - 9 PM
Where: New Hillcrest Firehouse, 371 N. Main St. Spring Valley

Register on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/events/832127500282729/

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[poweroften] Vote!!!

Power of Ten Update
In This Issue:
1. Election Tuesday
2. Polling Place Changes Coming?

1) Election Tuesday

The plight of East Ramapo has been a topic of discussion in many political campaigns over the past few years. Some of the school board members and defenders have gone on to hold public office, and some have even used that office to further harm educational opportunity in our district. Some of our education activists and school board candidates have also run for public office, and used their position to help improve education..

Elected officials can affect what happens in East Ramapo:

Sometimes it is a memorializing resolution, such as was passed by the Rockland County Legislature (with the exception of three school board supporters).

Sometimes it is a bill in Albany, proposed by our State Assembly Members Ellen Jaffee and Ken Zebrowski or Senator Carlucci.

Sometimes it is action taken by County Executive Ed Day to enforce fire and safety codes in schools.

I have always tried to report connections to East Ramapo so that voters will have that information as they make their decisions.

In Spring Valley:
On Row H we have three East Ramapo activists. For Mayor, Emilia White (my better half), for Trustee Chevon DosReis and Eustache Clerveaux. Each of them has previously run for school board. They have demonstrated integrity in their commitment to better conditions for our children and have earned our support.

In Ramapo:
Also on Row H there is a team running for the Supervisor and Council positions in the Town of Ramapo. They call themselves "A New Direction". They are indeed "new", in that they are attempting to bring together all sides in the divided Town of Ramapo.

Beware: A very vocal supporter of the infamous East Ramapo school board is running on Row A in Ramapo. A Power of Ten reader caught him on camera and made this video: Know Before You Vote. It is very important information for anyone who will be casting a vote in the Town of Ramapo on November 7th.

More information about the election is available from Preserve Ramapo and the Journal News.

2) Polling Place Changes Coming?

In his report "Opportunity Deferred", Dennis Walcott (former NYC School Chancellor, assigned by NY State to monitor East Ramapo) recommended that "an independent monitor" should review underused polling sites and identify new sites for the 2016 election to ensure greater accessibility to voting locations". These changes, he said, were necessary "In order to address significant trust issues within the District."

Instead, the district began secret process with a contractor and proposed adding two new polling places in Monsey.

Strong East Ramapo conducted a survey that showed public opinion was against changing polling places at that time. I reported my research on underutilized polling places to the board. I presented an alternative plan to the new monitor, Mr. Szuberla. After these and other public objections, the proposal was withdrawn.

What kinds of "trust issues" was Monitor Walcott referring to? During his time as monitor, he had heard from many district residents that they felt their vote would not count. They did not trust the board to oversee its own election. They said they had seen busloads of voters coming in from out of the district. They said they were worried about voter fraud. That's what they told Mr. Walcott, and that's why he recommended an independent monitor for elections.

Why did Monitor Walcott recommend adding polling places? Because we provided him with a detailed analysis of voter turnout, showing that voters especially in Clarkstown and Haverstraw were less likely to vote than those who lived in Ramapo. He reviewed this factual information and made a clear recommendation to expand polling to address these underutilized, low turnout areas.

The district has now formed a committee, which I am a member of. The committee has created a survey of election experiences. While there is no question in the survey that directly addresses the "trust" issues that Monitor Walcott was concerned about, there is a comment section where you can address this or any other concern you may have.

Please fill out the district's survey here

There will also be community forums. Thursday, November 9th beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Ramapo HS and Tuesday, November 14th beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Spring Valley HS.

Please participate in this process by filling out the survey and coming to a forum. Thank you.

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[poweroften] A Call to Violence?

Power of Ten Update

In This Issue:

1. A Call to Violence?
2. School Board Meeting Tuesday Oct 17
3. Why I Care

1) A Call to Violence?

A major Ultra-Orthodox newspaper has published an op-ed which appears to implicitly incite violence against organizers of the education advocacy group YAFFED.

The author equates providing education with stabbing a knife into a baby, and uses the term "Rodef" in his analogy. Rodef is an ancient Jewish legal term which justifies killing as a defense. Its most well known modern reference was in relation to the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. The use of this religious legal term is analyzed and explained by Philologos in the Jewish Daily Forward.

The use of this threatening term, and the comparison of education to stabbing a baby, are hateful and divisive. Please contact Hamodia and demand an unequivocal condemnation and retraction of this piece and a commitment to reject any future input from this author. Phone: (718) 853-9094 Email: info@hamodia.com

2) School Board Meeting Tuesday Oct 17

A public hearing will be held on Tuesday, October 17, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. in the Board Room of the East Ramapo Central School District, 105 South Madison Ave, Spring Valley, New York, for development and annual revision of a strategic academic plan and a comprehensive expenditure plan. Followed by an Audit Committee meeting at 7:30 p.m. to receive the report of the external auditor. The followed by a regular meeting.

Please make every effort to attend this important meeting!

3) Why I Care

Our human family has been through a lot. Not so long ago we hadn't figured out how to harness electricity. The smallest thing we knew of was the smallest thing you could see with your naked eye. No one knew how far away the sun or the stars were. Diseases were mysterious; there was no way of knowing anything as tiny as a microbe existed, or that it could kill you.

All of the knowledge and technology that we use and take for granted every day was obtained through magnificent effort, by men and women who spent their lives increasing the library of human knowledge and achievement. They did this often in the most difficult of circumstances, overcoming war and oppression and ignorance.

This body of work has allowed us to travel, to communicate, and to fend off disease. The legacy belongs equally to all human beings. It is just as wrong to deny a child the light of knowledge as it is to deny a lifesaving medicine derived from that knowledge. One of the greatest contributions of science is the knowledge that we are all one family, linked by our 23 pairs of DNA.

This great storehouse of knowledge is an even more essential inheritance than any notarized will. Every one of us shares in the duty of executor of this greatest inheritance. This is why public education cannot be some line item on anyone's balance sheet.

This is why ALL schools need to be safe, inviting, hospitable centers of learning and inquiry. This is why the state has a ethical duty, and in NY a constitutional obligation, to ensure that every child receives this inheritance, whether the child is in a public or non-public educational institution or in the home.

Not every child is receiving a quality education. The reason for this embarrassment is lack of political will. There are still too many people who don't see all children as OUR children, and say "why should I pay for someone else's child?"

There are even people who oppose education (but who hypocritically use all the technologies that are generated by it).

Malala was shot in the face for going to school. There is a group called Boko Haram in Nigeria whose name actually means "Western education is forbidden". Here in NY the Grand Rabbi of the Kiryas Joel Satmar has characterized subjects taught in public school as "disgusting". He said he is glad that NY State has "turned a blind eye" to children in yeshivas who aren't learning "general studies" (the subjects most people call English, Math, Science, and History).

There are many organizations advocating for better education. Malala survived the attempt on her life and has gone on to help educate many girls in her home country and around the world, including victims of Boko Haram. YAFFED is an organization in NY holding officials accountable for their duties under NY law.

As we commemorate 5 years since the violence perpetrated against Malala Yousafzai for standing up for the rights of Pakistani girls to an education, we are reminded that education activists in NY are not immune from enduring violence, or the threat thereof, at the hands of extremists.

Please visit www.yaffed.org and sign their petition, contribute to their cause, like their Facebook page, or just send a message of encouragement.

Because we have come far enough to know that there is only one race, the human race, and every child is equally all of our future.

 

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[poweroften] School Board Loses in Court Again

Power of Ten Update
In This Issue:
1. Judge: East Ramapo Violated Open Meetings Law
2. Chiku Awali Open House
3. Community Forum on Ending the School To Prison Pipeline

1) Judge: East Ramapo Violated Open Meetings Law

The NY State Supreme Court has reversed an action taken in 2014 by the East Ramapo school board.

The school board voted to layoff of bus drivers, based on discussions they had in executive session. However, the judge found that the board failed to give adequate justification for hiding their discussion from the public. The judge also found that "the Board of Education has engaged in a persistent pattern of deliberate violations of the letter and spirit of the Open Meetings Law".

Why has the school board been so obsessive about getting rid of buses and drivers, to the point that they are breaking the law to do it? The explanation may be that the land used for the bus depot is desired by developers or other corporate entities. This is what happened with Hillcrest Elementary and Colton elementary. Schools were closed and sold, not because that was in the best interest of the district or in pursuit of the stated mission and goals of the district, but because the majority on the school board had a different mission.

How often has the board entered into illegal, secret discussions? For what purposes? How many other actions are being taken based on secret, private, illegal conversations? Is the mandate of the Open Meetings Law being routinely thwarted by thinly veiled references to the exceptions the law allows?

This is not the last we will hear of this. There is still the question of damages. Will there be back pay? Legal fees?

2) Chiku Awali Open House

Chiku Awali African Dance, Arts & Culture, Inc. invites you to our open house

SAMPLE OUR PROGRAMS

10:30 am-12:30pm The Excellence Club for ages 5 and older
12:30pm-1:30pm Drumming and Percussion Instruments
1:30pm-2:30pm Dance and Introducing Zumba
2:30pm-4:00pm Life Skills Enrichment for ages 11 and older

Refreshments served

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2017
Louis Kurtz Civic Center
9 North Main Street Spring Valley, NY 10977

ALL ACTIVITIES AND CLASSES ARE FREE
For Information Call (845)357-5062 or Email: info@chikuawali.org,
www.chikuawali.org

3) Community Forum on Ending the School To Prison Pipeline

Protecting Our Youth: Ending the School to Prison Pipeline

A special community forum by Rockland Coalition to End the New Jim Crow
Presenting the Film: The School to Prison Pipeline, featuring our guest speaker Mr. Five Mualimm-ak, human rights defender and co-founder of Incarcerated Nation Corp (INC)

SUNDAY OCTOBER 29TH 2-4PM
Finkelstein Memorial Library
24 Chestnut St., Spring Valley, NY 10977

A DISCUSSION WILL FOLLOW

In partnership with:

CEJJES Institute, Creative Response to Conflict (CRC), Helping Hands, Hudson Youth Leadership Academy (HYLA), Nyack NAACP, Power of Ten, Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation, Rockland Citizens Action Network, Spring Valley NAACP, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockland,United Methodist Church of New City

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[poweroften] Bus Drivers Get a Reprieve

Power of Ten Update
In This Issue:
1. Vote Sept 12
2. Bus Drivers Get a Reprieve
3. Education Under Attack

1) Vote Sept 12

Tuesday September 12 is the Primary Election.

In Spring Valley, Emilia White, Chevon DosReis, and Eustache Clerveaux are running together as The Team You Can Trust.

Each of these three candidates have been part of our struggle for quality education in East Ramapo.

Learn all about the candidates and their campaign at: www.SpringValley2017.com

2) Bus Drivers Get a Reprieve

Three times, elimination of East Ramapo buses and drivers was put on the agenda. Three times, it did not pass. Bus drivers who attended the meeting, fearful of losing their livelihood, left in joy and amazement that their jobs were not outsourced and privatized.

Public school advocate Sabrina Charles Pierre voted three times against this unwise proposal. She deserves our thanks.

3) Education Under Attack

In Israel, A Hasidic Educator faces violent opposition for teaching secular subjects.

In NYC, Mayor DeBlasio is turning a blind eye to deliberate enforced ignorance of tens of thousands of children.

In East Ramapo, thousands of students attend schools that deliberately fail to teach the NY State required curriculum. A large part of the East Ramapo budget goes towards busing and other services that enable this system of enforced ignorance.

Parents and children around the world are fighting for better education. Most face barriers of poverty and lack of resources. Some, including girls in certain neighborhoods in Pakistan and Nigeria, and boys in certain neighborhoods in Israel, NYC and East Ramapo, face opposition from religious zealots and negligence from state educational authorities.

Power of Ten stands in solidarity with YAFFED, an advocacy group committed to improving educational curricula within ultra-Orthodox schools. We believe that every child is entitled to receive the full benefit of education. We believe it is everyone's responsibility to provide the necessary resources for the next generation to thrive, and everyone's responsibility to ensure that no child's education is neglected.

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[poweroften] This is War!

Power of Ten Update
In This Issue:
1. Battle of the Bus Depot Today
2. Declaration of War
3. A Global War on Children's Education

1) Battle of the Bus Depot Today

Today, August 8, 2017, The East Ramapo school board will meet at 7:30 PM at their headquarters at 105 S. Madison Ave in Spring Valley, with the purpose of laying off bus drivers and selling buses. This is part of their plan to transfer real estate, 45 acres, from public ownership to private hands.

As we have seen with the Hillcrest and Colton school buildings, these "sales" are really land grabs. The school board will be selling, but they themselves are selected by those who will be the buyers. The conditions that create an excuse for the sale are manufactured.

The bus drivers are innocent bystanders. They are just in the way. The same way the children were in the way when schools were taken.

The NY State Education Department is complicit. Both school sales occurred during the tenure of the first "Fiscal Monitor". The recommendations of the second monitor were ignored with no consequence. The current monitors endorsed a plan to use public dollars to provide extended courtesy busing for yeshivas while public school teachers are still spending money out of their own pockets for school supplies.

As the LifeLock commercial says: "Why monitor a problem if you don't fix it?"

2) Declaration of War

Today's battle of the bus depot is part of a longer war on our public educational institutions. This became obvious when Aron Wieder appointed Al D'Agostino as the lawyer for the district. Joe Farmer, the Assistant Superintendent at the time, said "This is a declaration of war".

He went on: "Here is the most unique community in the state of New York ... It's not fair to destroy the potential of this community ... and this community is being taken apart ... and just from raw power, selfishness, to take control is not why we are in this business, and these students deserve more, they deserve better."

3) A Global War on Children's Education

It's not only public educational institutions which are under attack in this war. Posters have gone up warning of "crossbreeding Yeshivas" in Israel that teach secular studies including about "other religions like Catholicism and Islam, God forbid." "The ultra-Orthodox community in the United States will not let that happen under any circumstances." "The sages already led a war against it."

Who leads a "war" against Social Studies, Science and Math? Is it dangerous to know what a molecule is? Will learning the meaning of PEMDAS or SOHCAHTOA harm children? Would they be damaged from learning what happened at Harper's Ferry?

There is such a thing as right and wrong in the world. It is wrong to deny education to anyone, and it is illegal in NY to deny it to children. Those who would oppose education for their own families, or allow it to happen to their neighbors should not be entrusted with overseeing education of the general public. That applies to the East Ramapo school board and superintendent, and it applies to the NY State Department of Education - Commissioner, Monitors, Regents and all.

Coming to a school board meeting to stand up against laying off school bus drivers may not seem like a big step, but its a lot better than doing nothing. You don't have to be Malala to make a difference, you just have to do what is there for you each day. Come to a meeting, write a letter, vote, make a donation to YAFFED, even just talking about the problem with your neighbor or co-worker makes a difference. But seriously ... see you tonight!!!

 

 

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[poweroften] Comparative Accountability

Power of Ten Update
In This Issue:
1. Community Meeting Saturday
2. Bus Depot Land Grab
3. Comparative Accountability

1) Community Meeting Saturday

A Community Meeting has been called for Saturday, August 5 at 12 noon at the Martin Luther King Center, 110 Bethune Blvd in Spring Valley.

This message from school board member Sabrina Charles Pierre: The youth in our CommUNITY needs us now more than ever. Who is down for change? Who would like to make a difference? Let's work together. We can only fail our children if we don't try.

2) Bus Depot Land Grab

The Board of Education will be meeting on Tuesday August 8 at 7:30, at 105 S. Madison Ave in Spring Valley.

There is a rumor that they will be laying off bus drivers.

If this is true, it would be one more step in their plan to sell off the bus depot for pennies on the dollar, the same way they have sold off elementary schools.The previous steps have included deliberate neglect of the bus fleet as a precursor to closing the depot. The drivers are innocent bystanders.

Even Superintendent Oustacher, who cooperated with the closing of the schools (to a point), was opposed to outsourcing all of the busing and closing the depot. He felt there was an advantage to having a mixture of some district owned and some outsourced busing.

However, this school board does not consider what is best for public education or what the stated mission of the district is, except as an afterthought. The primary focus of this board is advancing the cause of the yeshivas and the real estate investors. That is their unstated primary mission.

You are encouraged to come on August 8 to see for yourself if this rumor is true and to bear witness to the un-rehabilitated school board. Our goal is for the public mission of the school district to be the actual measure against which all district actions are measured.

3) Comparative Accountability

Compare these two scenarios:

1. A lawyer curses at and threatens a student; a school board spends public dollars on private tuition; public schools are sold at below market value. - No one is held accountable.
2. Students are subject to a zero-tolerance policy. - There are consequences when students violate the rules.

It seems that the more powerful one is, the less likely they are to be held accountable.

Consider this report from a student who was disciplined: "The Assistant Principal stated that if he did not (suspend me) it would seem as if he wasn't doing his job."

The state of New York has whitewashed the actions of the East Ramapo school board. Multiple "monitors" have done nothing while these illegal actions have gone on. Yes, it seems as if they are not doing their job.

Why the double standard? It seems that the more powerful one is, the less likely they are to be held accountable. Is this the model that we desire for our society? Is this will you want to teach our children? Persecuting the weak and protecting the strong is moral cowardice.

East Ramapo does not have a zero-tolerance policy for lawyers or board members or superintendents. It has a zero-tolerance policy for students. But students are immature and prone to make mistakes. Parents, guardians, and educators understand their role is to escort these young people through this mistake prone time of life, but too often our institutions' single-minded focus on "zero tolerance" leads to them becoming part of the "school to prison pipeline".

It doesn't have to be this way. I was a volunteer with the PASS (Positive Alternatives to School Suspension) program. This was one of the many programs which fell victim to the cutbacks of the last several years. Suspended students reported to the Spring Valley RCC extension (now a yeshiva) and received tutoring in STEM, English and Social Studies, and even the Arts (I was teaching percussion instruments). It was an unforgettable experience for teachers, students, and volunteers. These were kids with similar stories to the report that I published here. Many did have a POSITIVE experience.

What are we willing, as a society, to invest in these kinds of endeavors? Frederick Douglass said "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."

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[poweroften] THE PARTY OF THE SUMMER IS THIS SUNDAY

Power of Ten Special Update:

The following message represents an opportunity for you to attend a fun and relaxing event while at the same time 100% of your money will go towards helping our kids.

5 days to go! Get your tickets today!

SUMMER SAND AND SOUL: A DAY PARTY WITH A PURPOSE THIS SUNDAY!  JULY 23RD FROM 1:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M. CLICK TO PURCHASE TICKETS OR MAKE A DONATION Remember - 100% of ticket sales go directly to support the Center's Childrens Progress Tickets will include music, entertainment, and a full buffet featuring summer favorites, beverages, complimentary beer and sangria. Summer, Sand & Soul is two parties in one!  Outside, it's a relaxed summer vibe on the deck of Pier 701 – featuring the largest waterfront deck in the region – with its own private beach. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inside, we're bringing back legendary NYC DJ Ruben ("the Bull") Toro, Temple, Brooklyn and former host of the #1 rated Kiss Club Classics (98.7FM) and WBLS-FM to spin classic soul, funk, house, and more. CLICK TO PURCHASE TICKETS OR MAKE A DONATION Event Sponsorships (for non-profits and small businesses) are available Please contact Nathan Mungin or Inez Montgomery at 845.425.8910.

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