The DOE has made it virtually impossible for veteran teachers to transfer from one school to another by their continued use of the "fair student funding" fiasco. Now that the Open Market Transfer System (OMTS) is history this year and principals, who are not savvy or crooked enough to play the game, must hire an ATR for their vacancies or long-term leave replacements. Let's see how the new ATR hiring process works out? I hold little hope that principals will hire them permanently, even at bargain basement prices, due to the seniority and institutional memory issues. Instead the principals will be spending this school year trying to find ways to get rid of their veteran teachers and replace them next school year with inexpensive "newbies:".
Look for principals to continue to give many "ineffective" observations to their senior teachers and those who ended up with a "developing rating" will be observed frequently to ensure their Teacher Improvement Plan (TIP) will be stringently followed. Already I am hearing too many highly experienced teachers complaining that they are being picked on and set up for failure. People at the 3020-a hearings are telling me there has been an uptick of senior teachers (20 or more years of experience) who are under termination charges. Whether that is true or not, its a perception that seems to be going around the New York City education community. Interestingly, I have seen and heard about too many of my colleagues who have either been terminated, charged, or in their 3020-a termination hearings in the last two years and this leads credence to what I have been told.
I would just love for the DOE and UFT provide the OMTS statistics of who transferred from one school to another by age, experience, and tenure status. However, we all know what it would show and even if somebody would FOIL the information, I believe the DOE would stall, delay, and claim its unavailable or protected since they want to avoid the embarrassment of being accused of discrimination in their "out with the old and in with the new" policy in their "children last" program.
23 comments:
The UFT should be investigating this and filing federal complaints. This is crazy and totally believable information, but it must be quantified with evidence.
Question for Chaz: Been teaching in NYC for 15 years. Thinking of taking a job as a "teacher assigned" job. (It is a job coaching teachers) From what I have read, if I get the job and take it for one school year, I MUST be placed back at my old position after one year of serving as a "teacher assigned". What are your thoughts on teachers taking a "teacher assigned" job for a year to escape the nonsense of BS principal hassles?
Sounds good to me. However, I would check with the UFT to ensure that this rule is strictly enforced.
They're getting rid of Open Market, didn't see that-where can I find more on this?
@5:54, take the position. It's a fake job where you go around from school to school like a dog with no home. The teachers view you as pathetic and when they see you, the first thing they say to their buddy is "Oh shit, here comes this fuckin guy again who's making a salary for talking BS to me". Now we all know these "coaching" jobs are a made up position that never existed but came about under the Bloomberg years for his business approach. Kudos to you and best wishes. So you'll be some hack off going from school to school for no reason because the teachers could care less and will actually view you as a distraction and an annoyance. However, so what. Make that cheddah!!! I'd sign up for that BS job tonight.
I don't trust the UFT on anything. I was hoping there might be a teacher who reads this who has experience with a "teacher assigned job". I am kinda spooked about the possibility of taking the job and then the DOE decides to mess with me and not place me back at my prior school after one year. Anybody with real info on this topic, please chime in. Thanks!
This truly is a pathetic profession.
Chaz would you consider doing an article on ATR AP's? I have 2 at my high school in Queens. They do cafeteria duty and hand out cell phones at end of day. It's getting funnier each time we see them. Can you believe making about 120,000 or whatever AP's make now a days to be a glorified school aide? How come we don't see this in the NY Post? This is funny stuff.
9:24,
Why would Chaz do something as petty as that? Just because your envious? ATR APs are there for all the same reasons ATR teachers are, if the schools don't utilize them fully (or to your expectations) that's on the school.
If there are ATR APs roaming around schools with no duties, why are principals able to form C30 committees and appoint new people with new licenses to AP jobs in their schools? It seems that not only are principals prejudiced and not willing to take on the economics of hiring an experienced teacher, but they are also prejudiced and not willing to take on the economics of hiring their own kind. This is truly a dysfunctional system. These C30 committees are approved by people above the principal at Central so the top brass is definitely aware of this discrepancy.
I'm out of here.
At this point, we're all just pissing on each other
Bali here I come.
20 yr veteran ATR/ 55-25
Is someone going to investigate Dwarka from Bryant?
ATR AP = Best Gig in DOE
As a current principal i find this entire blog and replies disturbing and false on a lot of levels. If you have had a bad experience and that has formed your prejudice then I feel sorry for you. Anytime you want the truth from someone who actually sits in the seat, let me know. How many days have any of you been an admin? Exactly
Principal
You find this blog disturbing? What's false?
That you principals don't select veteran teachers for your school because of money and seniority issues?
That the Leadership Academy trains you to be the CEO of your school and not the instructional role model?
That far too many of you Admins care more about what your Superintendent wants then what's best for the students?
You have my permission to write a rebuttal and explain your position. But before you do, please read my Bad Principals section on the right of my blog and tell me why teachers feel the way they do.
Hey 6:35
Maybe your school is different but as a rotating ATR I have been to almost 70 high schools in Queens and I can tell you the majority of small schools have young staffs and can't wait to leave if they can get a better school on the open market or lucky enough to go to Long Island.
My fellow ATRs, go on the Open Market and don't even get a curtsy interview because of their age and experience so stop acting upset that you principals are being dumped on. You deserve it.
Principal
Let me add what Chaz pointed out.
1. You reduce Regents Science instruction from 5 days per week to 4 to save on teachers and money and then blame the teachers for not achieving a good Regents passing percentage.
2. You inappropriately put self-contained students into an ICT class again to save on teachers and money.
3. You allow the students to carry their cellphones to their classes and yell at the teachers who struggle to keep the student from using them in class.
4. Many of your colleagues became Principal through connections and not ability, some were never in the classroom!
Now that's disturbing.
Go to district 24 where the superintendant put one of her family friend as princpal of a school with no teaching experience and was an ap for 2 years I don't think he's even 30 years old
Thank you for allowing me to counter:
1- My average teacher salary is North of 86k. That is because we recruit and retain the best teachers.
2- I and most other schools in my district have hiring committees. Teachers actually do most of the recommending of who the schools hire and they actually prefer (tracking patterns over time) younger teachers because they seem to have more of a handle on curriculm, programs and best practices that we are currently using
3- ATRs are welcomed to apply to any of our vacancies. Most of them rarely do because of the system that is built in. They rather rotate in the system knowing they have little accountability
4- I personally im hesitant of hiring teachers close to retirement because I would probably have to hire another teacher to replace them once they retire. I believe in the long term outlook
5- I am not a leadership pincipal. But i do have friends who are and you need to stop speaking of them in general terms as the ones I know are respected and running great schools.
6- We are given directives by our superintendent and they are given directives by our chancellor. If you do not understand decision made you should know that principals have litttle choice in most matters but hold all the accountabilty.
Look, there are some good principals, even from the Leadership Academy and you may be one of them. However, there are too many principals who never worked in a classroom long enough to earn tenure and others who obtained their positions by who they know and not what they know.
Comment #3 is very disturbing as you are buying the Joel Klein kool-ade that ATRs don't want a position. If your school really is a good school the ATRs would flock to the school and want to be hired. To claim that ATRs don't want a permanent position is wrong and shows that the DOE's brainwashing is very effective.
Chaz....similar to you speaking in general terms about Leadership principals (again i am not one) you are speaking generally about ATRs. Not all.....but a good amount of ATRs do not want a position. This is especially true for those counting the days until retirement. Heck, you have a ton that write on your blog that admit to it.
I also found it interesting that I made 6 points and you barely referred to only one of them.
Principal:
The reason I didn't respond to the other 5 points is, except for the hiring committees which I find is a fig leaf for principals to hire who they please, because I don't know the specifics involved.
I can understand not hiring anybody close to retirement. However, if the teacher does not tell you that, how would you know, except by age and experience? Sounds like discrimination to me.
She is above the law. She is the Queen of the Castle protected by the UFT and the DOE.
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