Saturday, October 15, 2016

To The UFT. You've Got To Be Kidding Me!






















Believe it or not, our UFT leadership is in collusion with the DOE when it comes to the ATR issue.  Both the DOE and UFT pretend that they want to get ATRs placed permanently in schools.  Yet, as they go through the fiction of how to place ATRs in the schools, both agree to harass the ATRs by giving then field supervisors (assassins) to "U' rate them and come up with the useless rotation system that makes the ATR "a stranger in a strange land."  The result is that the ATRs are glorified babysitters until they become demoralized and resign or retire.


Over the last couple of years the DOE would pretend to help ATRs land permanent positions by giving them no-credit workshops like resume writing, Common Core lesson planning and other useless and worthless clinics that resulted in a complete waste of time as none of them helped ATRs  land permanent positions.  Now our disconnected union leadership has joined the DOE in providing  a no-credit workshop for high school ATRs called "Success Strategies for ATRs"  The UFT workshop promises to maximize the talents, best practices, and communication skills to increase your chances of landing a permanent position and for all this the ATR only has to pay $10 for this privilege.  The entire UFT workshop is listed below.

Thursday Oct 20High school teachers in the Absent Reserve pool are invited to a workshop  "Success Strategies for ATRs."  The event will be held from 4 to 6 pm at UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway.  Participants will explore ways to obtain a permenent position that will maximize their talents and interests.  Best practices will be shared for effective communication, resume writing, and interviewing techniques and for navigating temporary assignments.  A $10 fee is required to participate.  Members will not receive CTLE hours for this workshop.  

This UFT workshop is not only a waste of time but to have the audacity to charge a $10 fee is over the top in providing false hope that it will land a veteran ATR a permanent position.  Because of the DOE's school-based fair student funding formula and Principal autonomy, the chances of a veteran ATR landing a permanent position, is like a one legged man winning an ass kicking contest.

If the UFT really wanted to get ATRs permanently back in the classroom they should force the DOE to stop hiring outside the District until all excessed ATRs are selected in their content specialty and if that means spending money for commercials showing how an experienced teacher helps student academic achievement and/or filing a lawsuit due to age discrimination or violations to PERB, that's what's necessary to get the DOE to resolve the issue not these useless workshops that accomplishes nothing and only gives ATRs false hope that.the light at the end of the ATR tunnel is not an oncoming train.

To the UFT leadership, Leroy Barr, Amy Arundell, and Janella Hinds, its an "urban myth" to believe that this UFT workshop will actually help high school ATRs get a permanent position. If you truly believe that then I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

All ATRs should boycott this asinine joke. You'd have to be a moron to go - no offense to the 77% of teachers that are morons. The UFT is going around telling all the ATRs they're going to be hired permanently because we're being sold at a discount. Another bad joke from the UFT.

Anonymous said...

This is one of the most disgusting and insulting things the DOE has ever done. ATR's are professional, experienced teachers. They were hired and earned tenure within the DOE. They should be treated as such and do not need to "prove" a thing to anyone. Just imagine if a police station closed. Would experienced cops be invited to workshops to build their resumes to get placed in another station house? Experience is cherished in every other profession with the exception of teaching. The shame of it all is that this was not always the case. The ed-deform movement has done so much damage to public schooling that the result is beyond comprehension.

Anonymous said...

I talked to a big wig from the UFT yesterday. He admitted to me the ATR situation could easily be solved by freezing all new hires. He said he doesn't understand the game Mulgrew is playing.

Anonymous said...

Arundel's Annual ATR Urban Myth Party 💃 seems to be a little late. She must be dreading it as many know she's full of shit. 'Go to the workshop, network, check the open market, ATRs are at an all time low, principals are hiring ATRs permanently, ATRs are only getting unsatisfactories for time and attendance, there's no monetary disincentive to hire ATRs,you're lucky to have a job, and anything thats said otherwise is an urban myth.' Keep to the script, Amy - you'll get through it.

Anonymous said...

Chaz you are right our union leadership including the names you mentioned (Leroy Barr, Janella Hinds and Amy Arundell), are doing veryan little to help resolve the ATR issue. Perhaps one day they will be ATR's if the union loses compulsory dues from teachers, paras and secretaries.

Anonymous said...

Janella Hinds. Boy oh boy I remember her clear as day. As my school was phasing out, she came to visit and spoke to us. She was working at the Bronx UFT at the time. She told us there was a rule that the new schools moving in HAD TO HIRE us, or 50% of us or whatever crap she was saying. The new principals hired no one from our school. She explained we had to IMMIDIATELY find out and call the UFT so they could look into it. When I heard that out of her mouth I knew she was officially lying. She also mentioned how if we stick together and "fought" and kept the kids grades high to graduate, we would show the doe that we still did a great job. Believe that, we would "show the doe" like we cared? Like we were supposed to care about the doe and what they thought? What she meant was please stay at the sinking ship and get these kids to graduate prior to you not staying to be one an ATR eventually because we need suckers like you to stay on the Titanic. I guess she got a promotion.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Hinds said and did the same thing at my closing school. The first year there she actually seemed to believe her own bullshit, perhaps because she was new and didn't know better. The second year she read the script with an undisguised level disdain and then with she was heckled with the truth she was outraged. That's what gets me with the UFT - they treat us like we're all morons, when only 77% of us are.

Anonymous said...

These UFT people are part of the DOE corruption, you are fake and bad people.

Anonymous said...

THE uft rep in my school is a model teacher and has her son working there to as a sub. So the majority of staff feel she is working for the principal. Staff call her useless. Both the principal and her are helping each other out.

Chaz said...

Anon 3:20

Unfortunately, too many Chapter Leaders are in bed with the Principal and this makes the staff afraid to complain. The result is that the younger ones end up transferring out of the school while the older teachers wait to retire.

Anonymous said...

They are all part of the corrupted system.

Anonymous said...

Chaz, I was speaking with a source who confidently told me the DOE is keeping the ATR pool because they need a reserve pool of educators including teachers, guidance counselors, social workers and secretaries fearing a huge shortage in the very near future. The ATR pool is being kept to have a "reserve" of educators when the huge shortage occurs. By having the Atr POOL THE DOE will be able dispense the pool to keep things going until the DOE can go overseas to recruit future educators. The situation is worse than any of us thought and the DOE is all over it. The result of the research has forced the DOE to keep the ATR pool as an insurance for the upcoming teacher shortage. So, when the shortage hits the ATR pool will be dispersed as the insurance the DOE needs to keep classrooms and social worker offices afloat. This makes perfect sense now and could possible explain why the DOE continued to keep the pool even after Bloomberg left. The data is pointing to a huge shortage if you look at education departments in higher education institutions. Translation, you better have insurance in the form of educators to fill the huge gaps that are feared to become a reality.

Anonymous said...

Chaz, I was speaking with a source who confidently told me the DOE is keeping the ATR pool because they need a reserve pool of educators including teachers, guidance counselors, social workers and secretaries fearing a huge shortage in the very near future. The ATR pool is being kept to have a "reserve" of educators when the huge shortage occurs. By having the Atr POOL THE DOE will be able dispense the pool to keep things going until the DOE can go overseas to recruit future educators. The situation is worse than any of us thought and the DOE is all over it. The result of the research has forced the DOE to keep the ATR pool as an insurance for the upcoming teacher shortage. So, when the shortage hits the ATR pool will be dispersed as the insurance the DOE needs to keep classrooms and social worker offices afloat. This makes perfect sense now and could possible explain why the DOE continued to keep the pool even after Bloomberg left. The data is pointing to a huge shortage if you look at education departments in higher education institutions. Translation, you better have insurance in the form of educators to fill the huge gaps that are feared to become a reality.

Anonymous said...

It is systemic age discrimimation.

Anonymous said...

To annon 9:34. I don't think your theory that the DOE is holding on to the ATR pool as a means to fight off a teacher shortage is true. The ATR situation started way back in 2005. There was no anticipated teacher shortage then. In fact, the economy was booming. The ATR situation exists for two reasons. 1) The DOE believes having an ATR pool will eventually force many veteran teachers to quit due to stress. 2) The UFT allows the ATR situation to exist because teachers in the pool can't be fired without cause and ATR teachers still pay dues. In other words, it is win win for the DOE and the UFT head honchoes.

Anonymous said...

I met a new young teacher during my initial 6 week stint, as an ATR, a number of years ago. He was from London. He told me that the DOE had done interviews for all of Europe, out of Dublin, Ireland. He took a plane there for the interview and got the job. They flew him to Kennedy. They put him up in a nice hotel in Manhattan for the entire summer, while he was indoctrinated into the DOE. He lasted 3 weeks in our shared cesspool of a high school before quitting and returning to England. Twenty years ago I met many similar teachers from Spain; ten years ago similar teachers from the Philippines. All the teachers I knew from Spain are long gone, out of the 15 Filipino teachers I knew, 3 remain. They do these recruitments very quietly and at great expense. Another complete waste of money.

retired teacher said...

to 8:59 pm - I believe the rule was that a principal could hire up to 50% of staff from the old school but didn't have to hire anyone from that old organization. If I remember correctly it was a paragraph in the UFT contract.
Of course, today, principals seem to make up stuff as they go along because there is nobody rating them.