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Editorial: Is Francesco Portelos a Danger to Tenure Law? by Betsy Combier
If you are a tenured public educator or anyone who values tenure for teachers in New York State or elsewhere in the United States, you should be alarmed by the outrageous violations of confidentiality and the cyber bullying going on in New York City by Francesco Portelos and his group, called UFT Solidarity. Francesco used to be an ally in the fight for change in New York City as far as how teachers are being treated. Indeed, I posted many articles about his activities, thinking that he was a hero and a fighter for all things good. I was wrong.
          
   Francesco Portelos   
Is Francesco Portelos a Danger To New York State Tenure Law?
by Betsy Combier

Francesco Portelos, an Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR) in New York City, threatens and retaliates against people and hacks websites. "So what?" you may say. I'm saying that you are in danger from his vindictive internet spying and cyberbullying, or you or someone you know will feel the effect of it. Currently, his caucus UFT SOLIDARITY and his co-founders Lydia Howrilka and Lucio Celli are using the internet to squash both me and my company ADVOCATZ, because I speak the truth about them.

He went after me for sounding the alarm at the way he harassed and harmed a close friend of mine who asked him if he had checked with a teacher before posting a threat to the teacher's principal...he said, "on her behalf". Francesco, angry, posted my friend's medical information on his listserv, for everyone to see.

Francesco retaliates against anyone who interferes with whatever he wants to say or do. When a tenant of one of his properties in Staten Island complained to me about how Francesco kept him and his girlfriend in squalor and disgusting conditions, Francesco called this former tenant's now-wife and threatened her that she must get my post of his emails to them off of my blog immediately. He did not get her sufficiently intimidated, so he then sent text messages to her husband.. The husband/former tenant called me up and told me how upset he and his wife were, but he was not going to threaten me or do what Francesco wanted him to do.

Francesco markets his mobbing strategy to all of his followers, some of whom I believe have lost their ability to think rationally, blinded by the light of Francesco's "authority" and charm. He gave a green light to another teacher, Lucio Celli, to attack my husband at his workplace, a well-known college in New York City. Francesco assisted Lucio in contacting the college's General Counsel in a Freedom of Information request for how many times I stole time from the college's database and then accused me of using it to write my legal papers, so they wanted $20,000 compensation. This whole incident/idea is outrageous, and completely false. Francesco and his partner-in-crime alleged that I stole unpaid time from two databases, PACER and Westlaw...but the college does not offer either in their database. When the General Counsel told them that their allegations were not true, they Appealed to the New York State Committee on Open Government, claiming that the College's General Counsel was a liar, and was trying to cover-up my "theft".

Francesco gave his approval for all the lawyers and judges in any courtroom to be attacked as well. Lucio Celli was arrested and indicted by a Grand Jury. He is out on bail at this time.

If you are a tenured public educator or anyone who values tenure for teachers in New York State or elsewhere in the United States, you should be alarmed by the outrageous violations of confidentiality and the cyberbullying going on in New York City by Francesco Portelos and his group, called UFT Solidarity.

Francesco used to be an ally in the fight for change in New York City as far as how teachers are being treated. Indeed, I posted many articles about his being charged and found guilty of internet bullying and never admitting he was wrong, thinking that he was a hero and a fighter for all things good.

I was wrong. When Francesco Portelos found out that I do not agree with his vindictive retaliation of anyone who is rumored to be "bad" or who does not agree with him, and he decided to defame my name and my work as a teacher advocate by creating a video lying about how I am a "homophobe", I looked more carefully at the UFT Solidarity brand.

The Francesco Portelos Mob: Who Are They?

Here is what Francesco sent me on May 8, 2014, marked up with yellow highlighting and red ink by him, (I guess):

Francesco Portelos' 3020-a decision (dated May 2014).

I put this decision on my website, in one of the many articles I wrote about Francesco glorifying his work to undermine Linda Hill who seemed at the time to have charged Francesco after he found out she was not handling money correctly. Blowing the whistle on an administrator, or any public employee is complicated. The case decided by the US Supreme Court, Garcetti v Ceballos
(see here, here and here). Teachers are public employees and their First Amendment rights were, it seems to me, limited to "a citizen speaking on matters of public concern".

I am not a public employee and not limited by this law. I still am not able to put on the internet lies about someone, and I do not do it. I respect confidentiality.

Looking at Francesco's arbitration decision now, I am frightened by the implications of the sustained charges (p. 107) and his promotion of activities under the umbrella of UFT Solidarity. There are many similarities, and I fear that Francesco is deliberately putting other teachers in danger to mitigate his punishment of $10,000.

Here are the sustained charges for which Arbitrator Felice Busto found Francesco guilty, on pp.7-13 of the Opinion and Award :

SPECIFICATION 6:

During the 2011-2012 school year, Respondent disclosed confidential Department information, including, but not limited to, witness statements, on a non-Department website, including, but not limited to, protectportelos.org.

SPECIFICATION 8:

During the 2011-2012 school year, Respondent inappropriately accessed and/or retrieved Department information, including, but not limited to, a Department email account and/or email messages of another Department employee.

SPECIFICATION 9:

During the 2011-2012 school year, Respondent inappropriately accessed a Department email account and/or email messages of another Department employee.


SPECIFICATION 25:

On or about January 28, 2012, Respondent, without consulting, notifying, and/or seeking authorization from Principal Hill or the I.S 49 administration, accessed the school website, www.Dreyfus49.com, as a site administrator and manipulated the settings to revoke the administrative rights and/or privileges of all individuals previously granted such administrative access.

SPECIFICATION 28:

On or about February 2012, Respondent refused to transfer control and/or ownership of the school website, www.Dreyfus49.com, to Principal Hill, I.S. 49, and/or the Department after agreeing to do so at a meeting with Principal Hill and Superintendent Erminia Claudio.

SPECIFICATION 29:

On or about November 2012, Respondent, without consulting, notifying, and/or seeking approval from Principal Hill or the I.S 49 administration, altered the website www.welearnandqrowtoqether.com, which Respondent had created for the school with Principal Hill's approval, to automatically transfer visitors to his alternative website, https://sites.qooqle.com/site/occupywarrenstreet/, which contained derogatory information about I.S. 49, Principal Hill, and/or the Department.

SPECIFICATION 31:

During the 2012-2013 school year, Respondent, without consulting, notifying, and/or seeking approval from Principal Hill and/or the Department, altered the school website, www.Dreyfus49.com, to automatically redirect visitors to his website, protectportelos.org, which chronicled his issues with various groups including Principal Hill, I.S. 49, and the Department.

SPECIFICATION 33:

During the 2011-2012 school year, Respondent recorded a video in a school facility, namely, I.S. 49, of a student during school hours, without permission or authority.

SPECIFICATION 34:

On or about December 12, 2012, Respondent notified I.S. 49, Superintendent Erminia Claudio, that he showed the video referenced in Specification 33 to parents, without permission or authority.

SPECIFICATION 36:

On or about and in the month of September 2012, Respondent:

A. Sent an email message to a parent without permission or authority stating, in sum and substance, that the teacher who sent their son to summer school was not certified to teach and that this message identified the teacher and indicated that her teaching certification had expired.

B. Failed to notify and/or confirm with I.S. 49 administration that the teacher referenced above lacked certification prior to contacting the parent.

SPECIFICATION 38:

By committing one, some, or all of the actions described in the above Specifications, Respondent's actions:

A. Had a disruptive and/or negative impact on students, staff, and/or administration at I.S. 49 and the Department.

B. Caused negative publicity, ridicule, and notoriety to I.S. 49 and the Department."

******************************************

Francesco filed an Appeal (Article 75) of the decision but missed the 10-day rule by one day. The Judge in Richmond County wrote that he would not have overturned Arbitrator Busto, anyway. (read Judge Troia's decision).

The UFT Solidarity brand stands for all of the above, in my opinion. This is frightening.

Look at Specification #36. This seems to be the sustained charge that Francesco Portelos actually went after another teacher, and created a problem for her/him. Does anyone have any confirmation that this charge relates to the fiance of the IS 49 Chapter Leader, Dr. Richard Candia? The allegation rumored to be this specification was that Francesco wanted to retaliate against Dr. Candia for not helping him destroy IS 49 Principal Linda Hill, so Francesco went after Candia's girlfriend.

If anyone has any further information about this specific sustained charge, please send me an email at betsy.combier@gmail.com.

In any case, to wear the brand of UFT Solidarity proudly showing support for someone who would and could be so vindictive as these sustained charges show is, in my opinion, a badge of shame.

It turns out that Francesco is, in my opinion, the most vindictive bully I have ever met, and he uses his internet knowledge to gain followers to his cult, all of whom believe that it is their right under the protection of the First Amendment to say anything they want about anyone. On September 20, 2015, at a UFT Solidarity meeting at which I did not attend, Francesco edited a video of a speech made by a former UFT writer (for NY Teacher) Jim Callaghan to make Jim call me a "homophobe" and make me look like I was a worthless advocate, hired only because I filed a FOIL request for the personnel file of the Queens UFT District Representative Rona Freiser. These claims are false, and both Jim and Francesco knew these claims were false. But the 50 people in the room on September 20, 2015, did not know that. Neither did the many listservs and international audience of the video sent out by Francesco with Jim speaking about me.

I asked Francesco to kindly allow me to speak about what Jim said, or he, Francesco, could post on his many internet outlets that what Jim said was not true, but Francesco refused. In fact, he got angry that I asked him and said that the talk was not about me, so he wasn't going to alter anything, and stay away.

A friend of mine who was in the rubber room which I visited when I worked as a Special Representative at the UFT (2007-2010) posted on her website FidgetyTeach about Jim Callaghan, and suddenly Francesco went after her too. He told her that the reason he attacked me was that I had posted on my blog that Randi Weingarten had changed my life by hiring me to go to the rubber rooms of NYC. Francesco then posted on the listserv my friend started, confidential information about her, in retaliation for supporting me.

Evidently, this is the way Francesco keeps people afraid of him. I am not.

The first no that I gave him, was several months ago when he set up a new business, EduFOIL, charging people for his writing Freedom of Information requests. I have filed more than 50 FOIL requests, and when asked by someone how to do it, I just show them my blog or give them the format I use.

Then a person called me to tell me he paid $50 to get the rating of his principal in 2013-2014, was denied, and then the anonymous people over at EduFOIL told him that he could appeal, for $60.00. But wait a minute!!!! Ratings of principals are no longer available under FOIL, so the person writing under EduFOIL does not know this? But is charging money anyway?

Then, on September 20 he posted the video saying I was a homophobe, which a person in Francesco's "cabinet" sent me.

The NY POST wrote an article about his breaking into the confidential records of parents:

Teacher’s tweets threaten kids in tenure suit: parents
By Aaron Short and Carl Campanile July 8, 2014
http://nypost.com/2014/07/08/parents-claim-teachers-tweets-threaten-kids-in-anti-tenure-suit/

An angry city teacher recently sprung from a rubber room spewed online threats against the children involved in a lawsuit to end tenure in New York state, the kids’ parents claim.

Francesco Portelos, who was allowed to return to teaching even though charges against him were substantiated, darkly tweeted that another teacher should “look away” from helping the kids of Sam Pirozollo and Mona Davids, who claim tenure protects lousy educators.

“U need your protection removed so if you see a disservice to little Franklin P or Eric D u look away,” Portelos said under his Twitter handle, Mr. Portelos.

He was discussing Franklin Pirozollo and Eric Davids, who are among students named in the suit.

Mona Davids, a member of the Parents Union, responded on Twitter: “ru encouraging tcher 2 ignore a child in need.” An hour later, Davids tweeted: “We are taking this threat very seriously.”

On Monday night, Davids said, “He’s targeting our children, my son.”

Portelos denied ill intent.

“No. It was a sarcastic tweet to another teacher,” he said Monday night while joining 60 other teachers and union activists who showed up at a Staten Island Community Education Community Council meeting to protest the anti-tenure lawsuit.

He posted a link to a New York Times article about another student-plaintiff in the case, Izaiyah Ewers, who is identified as having a mood disorder and acting out. The report also said the youngster’s mom entered homeless shelters to avoid an abusive husband.

“Really unfortunate story, but . . . Teacher’s fault?” Portelos asks.

Despite his whining, Portelos seems to be the epitome of the kind of teacher for whom the Parents Union is pressing the suit.

Even though a report by Special Schools Investigator Richard Condon’s office substantiated allegations that he tampered with a school website, and posted student information on his personal website, a state arbitrator refused a city DOE request that he be fired.

He was fined $10,000, and some parents at Staten Island’s Dreyfus Intermediate School 49 defended him as a good teacher.

But the city Department of Education placed him in the absent-teacher reserve pool instead of reassigning him to Dreyfus.

Parents against teacher tenure say they're being harassed by educator
MONA DAVIDS AND SAM PIROZZOLO OF THE NEW YORK CITY PARENTS UNION SAY THERE WERE TARGETED BY EDUCATOR FRANCESCO PORTELOS IN AN ANGRY SUNDAY TWEET.
by Ben Chapman, NY Daily News
LINK

Two city parents who signed onto a suit to end teacher tenure in New York State say they’re being harassed by an educator who backs the protection.

Mona Davids and Sam Pirozzolo of the New York City Parents Union say they were targeted by teacher Francesco Portelos in a Sunday tweet.

“U need your protection removed so if you see a disservice to little Franklin P or Eric D u look away,” tweeted Portelos, referring to Davids’ son Eric, 6, and Pirozzolo’s son Franklin, 11. “Teachers need to be protected so they can speak up for any disservice to students,” said Portelos.

*************************
Now we see Francesco trying to shovel himself into the release of confidential information citywide in his new toolbox for teachers and parents, posted recently:

Special Ed Info
Our system is unfortunately plagued with countless Special Education violations. Our neediest students suffer and often times their teachers and paraprofessionals are gagged from speaking up. Although there are avenues to report such violations, history has shown us that none of the methods through 311, the UFT, and State Education Department have protected these special ed whistleblowers.

UFT Solidarity is committed to assisting these members and children.

Email spedinfo@uftsolidarity.org and we will work with the administration, the UFT, and DOE to remedy the situation while keeping your name a secret.

Steps:

Staff member or parent contact spedinfo@uftsolidarity.org with information on the alleged violation or concern.
UFT Solidarity Special Education task force contacts administration on member/parents behalf. Five days are given to remedy the situation.
If a situation is not remedied in a week, the UFT, school superintendent, deputy chancellor, and 311 are contacted.
If the violations are not remedied at this level, the NYS Education Department and media are contacted as well as Special Education advocates.
***We are also there to assist and help with ANY special education issue whether you believe it is big or small! If you have a SESIS question or a legal question etc message us!***

Who, Francesco, is giving the legal advice? Victor Jordan? Bryan Glass?
See: https://nycrubberroomreporter.blogspot.com/search?q=Bryan+Glass

Frightening. This one person, Francesco Portelos, shows the world why tenure should end.

Betsy Combier
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