dramadiscoveryandlearning.com Blog

It’s that time of the year again in public schools. It’s time for the end of the year rating. I find that many teachers facing “U” or “Unsatisfactory” ratings are over the age of 40 and more tellingly over the age of 50. In New York older tenured teachers face unsatisfactory observations during the year and unsatisfactory ratings at the end of the school year. This type of rating may have some credibility for some, but for many teachers in New York who receive these ratings they are unfounded, biased and based more on harassment with the end goal of early retirement or else just quit.

For older tenured teachers, especially over the age of 50, these ratings have more to do with freeing up salary monies to hire two new teachers for the price of one older teacher with a salary over $75,000 a year. A veteran teacher can do well teaching and grading students and even insure that over 80% of her students pass the end year state Regents exam, but all that does not matter. At some point these veteran teachers will need the support of their unions, students, parents and the public to help fight this disturbing discriminating trend in public education.

These teachers are judged and wrongly rated based on their age and years in public service as teachers. This should be something to be celebrated instead of something to be discouraged and dismissed as unsatisfactory. At the very least, the teacher’s unions should take a long, hard look at how older, tenured teachers suffer age discrimination and harassment in New York and other cities.

By Jeanette Toomer
June 18, 2011

I just received a news update from the editor, Joan Allen, at the Daily Challenge News. She reported that Councilmember Charles Barron and the Freedom Party are organizing an protest outside the theater where the Tony Awards ceremony is scheduled against the nominations for “The Scottsboro Boys,” the musical.

In addition, the New York Amsterdam News is also publishing my article on the Tony Award nominations for “The Scottsboro Boys” its online edition. On their website one can also find older articles from November 2010 where writers, critics and theatregoers loudly criticized the racist imagining the true story of the Scottsboro boys in the minstrel tradition.

Below is a copy of a response I received on my website for protesting the Tony Award nominations for “The Scottsboro Boys”:

Several points need to be raised: writers are free to present a story using any devise they choose, including the outdated structure of minstrelsy (which lives on, albeit in a modified form, on late-nite TV); if you found this one insulting you must have vomited on your way out during the first 10 minutes of ‘Book of Mormon’; finally, it seems to me that a more forceful protest would be made on the consistency of AF-Am (Black) characters on Broadway that are half-drawn, diluted or completely left out. Or, how about complaining and protesting the seasons that have virtually no Blacks cast in new shows? Just how many Black Elphabas or Zazas or Roxies have there been? Seems to me that you went to the show looking to be insulted - congratulations, mission accomplished.

I have not seen “The Book of Mormon” which I see is known as an “equal opportunity offender.” If it targets and ridicules young black men who suffer a great injustice like “The Scottsboro Boys” it deserves the same kind of protest and outrage.

I recommend “Sister Act” to win the Tony Award for best musical.

On the other hand, I also recommend George C. Wolfe and his co-director for best director for “Normal Heart.” I do commend the Tony Award committee for giving a special award to South African playwright, Athol Fugard.

Yet the musical, “The Scottsboro Boys” is so racially offensive and insulting that I could barely stomach it with a finale that ends in blackface! There was only one musical number that demonstrated some semblance of self-respect, a solo, sung by Joshua Henry. That was not enough for a two and half hour minstrely show full of bad taste and racial insults.

by Jeanette Toomer

Here is an excerpt from my original review of “The Scottsboro Boys,” musical published in The Daily Challenge:
The new musical, “The Scottsboro Boys,” on Broadway at the Lyceum Theater tells the true story of nine black men wrongly arrested in 1931 for raping two white women. It takes place in Alabama and that says it all. Yet, the producers build a minstrel show framework around this historic tale of societal injustice and racism that offends and insults modern black audiences. The height of this offense comes in the grand finale when the all black male cast dances in full blackface greasepaint and white gloves.
Minstrelsy was a form of theater in the early 1900s through 1930s that black actors performed for white audiences in segregated theaters. Many of the characters portrayed amounted to nothing more than buffoons or other black stereotypes. The “minstrel shows” actually originated in the 1850s with “groups of white minstrels wearing blackface whose material caricatured the singing and dancing of black slaves.” In “The Scottsboro Boys” the opening number introduced two of these laughing and grinning cartoon types as “Bones,” and “Tambo.” Full-blown racism not only ruled the court system but America’s stages as well.
Although minstrelsy may seem a suitable vehicle for staging the Scottsboro Boy’s story, it is not necessary. In fact, it adds an uncomfortable quality of “for whites only” as if the black audience members are not even present. In its worst cases, like the “electric chair” dance, the impact is repugnant as the black victims fall into the chair and after jolted by electricity, jump up again and dance around like the living dead. The racist assault on our persons detracts from the power of the story of the Scottsboro case which alone proves to be quite enlightening, dramatic and educative on its own merits.
——-
This is proof enough that this show does not deserve any Tony Award nominations. The Drama Desk did not nominate this musical for any awards probably due to its objectionable and insulting nature.

– Jeanette Toomer

“Sister Act,” the Broadway musical, starts small with a nightclub audition for the clubowner’s mistress and quickly builds its house of witty lyrics, comedic twists, and delightfully ironic character performances to a winning crescendo by the intermission. And that’s just the first act. With book by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner and direction by Jerry Zaks “Sister Act” does not miss one beat of satisfying story and musical comedy. The star, Patina Miller, delivers an exquisite Tony-worthy performance as Deloris Van Cartier.
After Deloris’ audition for gangster/clubowner, Curtis Jackson, she walks unannounced into his back office just in time to witness his murder of another criminal. She quickly backs out of the office with a litany of apologies and promises to keep quiet while Curtis sends his goons after her with orders to kill her. Next stop for Deloris is the local police station where an old friend from high school, Police Officer Eddie Souther, places her in secret protective custody in the convent with the nuns of Queen of Angels church.
The church is on the verge of sale to outside investors, but after Deloris arrives and breathes fresh air and plenty of style into the nun’s choir things change dramatically.
It is this change and the contrasts that make this show so appealing. From a loving boyfriend Curtis turns into a single-minded murderer, here played sardonically by Kingsley Leggings. From a wimpy collection of nuns in a weak off-key choir the nuns transform into a dynamic chorus with exciting layered performances from Marla Mindelle, Victoria Clark and Sarah Bolt. Even the Monsignor O’Hara, portrayed handsomely by Fred Applegate, carries a somber demeanor in the beginning and then slowly morphs into to a Barry White-inspired m.c. persona as he introduces the popular new choir of nuns led by Sister Mary Clarence, aka Deloris Van Cartier.
Chester Gregory returns to Broadway in his role as Officer Eddie, also known as Sweaty Eddy who holds a secret crush on Deloris. He steals the show with his wish fulfillment song and dance number, “I Could Be That Guy.” Several upbeat songs, “Raise Your Voice,” “When I Find My Baby,” “Take Me to Heaven” and “The Life I Never Had” are totally captivating. The music by Alan Menken with lyrics by Glenn Slater not only entertain, but lifts the characters and performances to fresh new heights of musical theater.

Produced by Whoopi Goldberg and Stage Entertainment in association with the Shubert Organization and Disney Theatrical Productions “Sister Act,” the musical, successfully builds on the popularity of the original movie and its sequel. Nominated for best musical as well as four other Tony awards “Sister Act” stands to enjoy a long run at the Broadway Theatre.

by Jeanette Toomer
June 7, 2011

The short-lived Broadway musical, “The Scottsboro Boys,” received several nominations for Tony Awards. This broad presentation in the minstrel tradition of the Scottsboro trial of the early 1930s is racist. Read my article below and contact your local elected official and the NAACP to register your protest. Perhaps if we register our protest the musical number from “The Scottsboro Boys” will not air nationally this Sunday night, June 12th.

Tony Committee Nominates Racist Musical, “The Scottsboro Boys”
By Jeanette Toomer
Surprisingly, the Tony Committee awarded several nominations for theater excellence to the director and team behind the short-lived musical, “The Scottsboro Boys.” The offensive format of minstrel comedy and blackface made this production a shocking horrific reality which sparked a protest from blacks and other political groups in New York. Yet, ironically this reprehensible musical now stands to enjoy a national spotlight during the telecast of the Tony Awards this Sunday, June 12th which traditionally features a musical number from each of the nominated shows.
Competition is tough this week, thankfully, so “Scottsboro Boys” has little hope of winning any honors. “Scottsboro” does not stand a chance against “Sister Act,” also nominated for musical. Susan Stroman has a nomination for direction of “Scottsboro” and cannot expect to win for staging a racially offensive musical that makes light of young black men, the victims of a great injustice in the early 1930s. In this category she does not equal her rivals that include Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker for “The Book of Mormon” and Rob Ashford for “How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”
A favorite for acting honors are Pattina Miller in the lead role and Victoria Clark as Mother Superior both in “Sister Act.” This outstanding musical also enjoys noms for best score (music and lyrics) created by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater. In this category it goes up against “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” “The Book of Mormon,” and “The Scottsboro Boys.” Due to the ill-advised, racially-insulting and derisive nature of the lyrics of the songs from “The Scottsboro Boys,” Stroman’s show does not have any chance to win this honor.
The best book of a musical nominations go to “Sister Act,” “The Book of Mormon,” “Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson,” and finally “The Scottsboro Boys.” I can’t imagine any show more unnerving, hurtful, and racially divisive as “The Scottsboro Boys” which just for the appalling treatment of this real life injustice places the boys in last place for consideration.
My prediction is that the Tony Awards for best musical goes to “Sister Act.” Pattina Miller also wins for best performance by an actress in a leading role in a musical.
To add more insult to injury the Antoinette Perry Awards committee also nominated “The Scottsboro Boys” for best choreography and orchestrations. Three actors, Joshua Henry, formerly of “The Wiz” and “In the Heights,” Colman Domingo, and Forest McClendon enjoy noms for best actors in a musical. Joshua Henry stars as the only Scottsboro boy who stands up for justice and refuses to “shuck and jive” in the minstrel fashion. Overall, this show diminishes and tarnishes the memory of these real-life young victims when it portrays them as buffoons and minstrel clowns.

June 7, 2011

Last week I received the following letter from NASSP which reiterated many of the same concerns of the National Council of Teachers of English. If good people do nothing, all children will suffer. Today, go online or write a letter or phone your elected official and tell them how crucial is literacy education in schools. Read Mary’s letter below:

Dear Jeanette,
The first small bill toward reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that the House Education and the Workforce Committee introduced on May 13 outright eliminates several programs vital to NASSP members and your work as secondary school leaders. Named the Setting New Priorities in Education Spending Act (H.R. 1891) and introduced by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), this bill eliminates authorizations for ESEA programs that are no longer funded (including those that lost funding in the recent FY 2011 Continuing Resolution and those proposed for consolidation in President Obama’s FY 2012 Budget Request). Thus, the following key programs would be eliminated:

School Leadership

Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Program

Smaller Learning Communities

Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Programs

High School Graduation Initiative

Safe and Drug Free State Grants

Physical Education

National Writing Project

Parent Information and Resource Centers

along with 34 other ESEA programs to total 43 program eliminations. (See the full list of programs here.)

As a dedicated school leader, you invariably will be impacted by elimination of these programs, whether it is through less or no school leader professional development with the elimination of the School Leadership grant, or it is through no financial support from the federal government to maintain a safe and healthy school environment with the elimination of the Safe and Drug Free State Grants. Additionally, we know that every state, and thus district, is recovering more slowly from our economic recession than the nation as a whole, and thus relies heavily now on federal support for these critical programs for your schools. NASSP therefore urges you to click here and use our draft letter to contact your members of Congress and express your strong opposition to Rep. Hunter’s bill.

We also strongly encourage you to include a few sentences in which you give a personal example of why it would be so detrimental to your school and your students and staff if the federal government were to eliminate funding for any of these 43 programs that are implemented in your school.

Contact your members of Congress now with our draft letter and explain to them why this bill cuts spending where our country needs it most and how it would impact the success and well-being of your school and all the hard-working people-including yourself-in it. Read more about this bill in NASSP’s most recent Principal’s Policy Blog.

Thank you for your advocacy,

Mary

May 15, 2011

Yesterday, members of the Scholarship Committee of the Association of Black Educators of New York, met at the Brooklyn Public Library at Cadman Plaza to read and review student applications for their annual college scholarships. From 90 applications the committe of seven teachers, principals and administrators selected five candidates to recommend for this year’s winners. ABENY celebrates these scholarship winners who have SAT scores above 1500 and scholastic grade averages of 90 or above at its annual Fundraiser Luncheon to be held June 18th in Queens. For more information, go to www.abeny.org.
Last month the ABENY Education Committee met in Manhattan at the headquarters of Harlem Your Way Tours. We sent Human Service Certificates to students in over 100 public schools.

By Jeanette Toomer
May 15, 2011

Last night I saw “Baby, It’s You” on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theater on 44th Street. It is a feel-good musical starring three enchanting singer-actresses as the Shirrelles and starring Broadway veteran, Beth Leavel. Christina Sajours plays the lead singer. Shirley. Erica Ash, Kyra DaCosta and Crystal Starr Knighton are exquisitely entertaining as the backup trio. Gino Henderson is one powerhouse performers taking on multiple roles of Narrator/disc jockey/Chuck Jackson/Ronald Isley and even the Duke of Earl (Remember him?).

The show is still in previews but opens the last week of April. Buy your ticket early before prices go up!

By Jeanette Toomer
April 22, 2010

There are more young black men behind prison bars than there are walking as free men in our society. (tv-newsone) What are you going to do to correct this gross injustice? Read below as Ben Jealous’ letter offers an action you can take to do something right now.

Jeanette,

America spends more money incarcerating its citizens than educating them.

That’s not an exaggeration. It’s a fact.

The NAACP’s new report, Misplaced Priorities, shows how much money states spend on their criminal justice system compared to their education system — and what that means for our communities.

The results are astounding. Over the past 20 years, for example, state spending on prisons grew at six times the rate of spending on higher education. Our country is home to just five percent of the world’s population, but we make up a staggering twenty-five percent of the world’s prisoners.

You can do something about this crisis. That’s why the NAACP has launched a petition asking all 50 state governors to get their priorities straight and fix this problem with a set of smart reforms to keep our communities safe. Add your name now, and make sure your voice is heard in your state capital:

http://action.naacp.org/MisplacedPriorities

In 2009, as the nation plummeted into the deepest recession in 30 years, funding for K-12 and higher education declined. But for prisons, the reverse was true. That year, 33 states spent more discretionary dollars on prisons than in 2008.

As our children fail to get the education they deserve, our prisons are filling up at an alarming rate. And, as usual, those most affected are communities of color. We know drug treatment is a smart alternative for non-violent offenders. It is also significantly cheaper. Educational opportunities are also cost-effective, and lead to a marked reduction in neighborhood crime. Relatively minor investments in treatment for those suffering mental illness mean fewer people in jail and more contributing members to society.

There’s no denying the irrational increase in prison spending, and its impact on state budgets and our nation’s children. But there is something you can do about it.

Sign our petition to tell America’s governors to support the NAACP’s reforms that will focus on making sure we invest in schools, not prisons.

http://action.naacp.org/MisplacedPriorities

Thank you for taking the time to help us speak out to America’s governors, and show the strength of our resolve to change our country’s misplaced priorities.

It’s time we stop over incarcerating and under educating.

Ben

April saw the exit of Cathie Black as the Chancellor of the New York city school system and the beginning of the term of Dennis Walcott, former deputy mayor, and newly-appointed Chancellor of the New York City public school system. Walcott may improvise a little differently, but he is singing the same song as Cathie Black. Follow the Leader. And clearly that is Mayor Mike who wants to lay off veteran teachers when research proves time and again that experience pays off in terms of student achievement. In other words, it is more about reducing the budget as the mayor hopes to replace two entry-level teachers with salaries at approximately $40,000 for every one veteran teacher who earns upwards of $70,000. Or he saves $70,000 to $90,000 for every veteran teacher that he lays off.

What does that have to do with improving student achievement? If you can peer through the smoke screen, it has nothing to do with the most obvious goal of education reform. The tenured teachers apply five plus years of informed practice and experience into their curricula and lesson planning. This type of experience is not easily replaced. Starting over again with new teachers does inevitably lead to lapses and decreases in student achievement.

Research clearly shows that there is no replacement for a good, well-informed, and experienced teacher in a classroom. This teacher can cause enormous growth in learning capacity not only in literacy but in other core subjects as well. Yes, there are bad apples among veteran teachers as well as new teachers. The only difference is that the veteran and dedicated teacher decides to stay the course and dedicates her time within and without the classroom to her students. The new teacher quits and moves on to the next career move. Not all of them, but a significant number over the past five years.

The big secret is that teaching in public schools is not a seven hour day. It is more like a 10 hour day when you include planning, grading papers and tests, calling parents, meetings, professional staff development, reviewing data, etc. This schedule does not even include the extra time spent on weekends and holidays.

This is the life of a veteran teacher who remains dedicated to teaching and learning. Politicians and newly-appointed chancellors need to examine more closely the costs of laying off these teachers. Ideally, all teachers who want to stay in the classroom, except those who seem unredeemable or clearly incompetent after some intervention or staff development opportunity, should enjoy job security. Good teachers are made and need support.

Fighting ignorance is a difficult struggle and requires dedicated and experienced soldiers on the battlefield.

By Jeanette Toomer