In a previous post on the hiring of ATRs, a Principal from a Bronx school commented why he wouldn't want to hire an ATR, unless he properly vetted him or her (I bet he doesn't do it for his "newbie" teachers he hires). On the surface of his comment I can agree with him. If I was a Principal I would like to know the ATR who is assigned to my school. However, as the Principal further explained his hiring practice, it became increasingly clear that he was more concerned with his budget and potential bonus and not what's best for the students of his school.
First, he admitted he would not willingly hire a veteran teacher with 20 years experience because of his budget, no matter how effective the teacher is with students In his school. Obviously, age, salary, and institutional memory does matter to him. Not what's best for his students.
Second, he called a 5 year teacher a veteran, which tells me that he hires inexperienced and untenured young teachers whenever possible. In other words, he is one of many principals that hires the "Cheapest and not the best teachers " for his school. Another "children last" philosophy.
Third, He almost admitted that he believes that all teachers who went through their 3020-a hearing were guilty as charged. Obviously, he intuitively, without ever meeting the ATR, knows more than the "expert" independent arbitrator who has in front of them the evidence, or lack thereof of the ATRs guilt or innocence. If the DOE claims the ATR hurt a child, it must be true, according to this Principal.
Finally, This Principal, like far too many principals in the New York City Public School System, drink the DOE kool-aid that ATRs are "bad" or "unwanted" teachers and these principals have shown poor judgement in their hiring practices that see a rising school graduation rate while few of their graduates achieve success in college or career, due to their lack of academic proficiency. In other words, they engage in academic fraud.
To Bronx Principal, keep collecting your bonus while screwing the students with inexperienced teachers and dumping the maximum amount of students in your classrooms. A real recipe for continued academic failure. Have a nice day because your students aren't.
23 comments:
Why can't principals see the obvious? There are 2 kinds of teachers. 1) Teachers who are WORKING even if they "won" their 3020a case. 2) Teachers who were FIRED due to "loosing" their 3020a case. ATR's are working teachers who were found not to have committed any crime or deed that would cause them to not be allowed to teach. To be biased against a working teacher who happens to be an ATR is wrong at best and illegal at worst.
The message this Bronx principal shared is insulting and filthy. It takes knowing what is going on in the system and comparing school sites to decipher this principal's message. It's deceptive and this person's main concern is the budget. Instead of being honest about the concern over the budget, this principal comes up with being concerned if the ATR is a pedophile, child abuser, etc. We have families and friends being exposed to this filth. It is insulting that these principals are coming out with this excuse. Now we know how low principals will go. Before the DOE stated ATRS will be force placed starting October 15, 2017, principals across the city told veteran ATRS they cannot hire them because of the budget. This is an example of how people get set up, blamed for things they did not do and how mean-spirited DOE administrators can be.
Chaz...
More explicit info on principal "bonuses" would be nice, as multiple administrators I've met in my travels deny they exist. How much? Under what circumstances? Is it based on student "achievement"? When did they begin?
References would be nice.
The article on Chalkbeat with these principals (and many which were not even in this article, but sure do feel this way 'supposedly' even though we all know it's budgetary)does have this claim of ATRs possibly being pedophiles and child abusers. This is discrimination against a certain class of employees: veteran employees.
Bronx Principal:
First and foremost: I do thank you for leading a school and being honest with your commenting. I do have to laugh at the thought of you thinking every ATR is a pedophile or was brought up on charges but you can always check and see if the teacher was brought up on charges. Out of the ATR pool there might be less than 1 percent that are pedophiles and the number of 3020a victims has to be small but remember they won their cases so how bad are they? I do agree with you that nobody should have a pedophile in their school. Nobody likes a pedophile except for Milo.
However, I just can't imagine people are really looking to teach in the Bronx and that you really have a choice of teachers. From what I know the number of people that want to teach in the Bronx is extremely low.
I'd like to share with you my story. I was told that I must interview in the Bronx even though I am in Manhattan. I tried fighting it like I was in prison about to be raped. I called and emailed every HR person, Tweed, UFT etc... I even called CSA. It was early on and I was incorrectly told that I must interview in the Bronx.
I showed up looking disheveled and unkempt. I didn't shower for two weeks but when I showed up the principal and AP were so desperate that they started telling me that I must teach in their school. I got so nervous I peed myself - just let it out. Principal and AP tried pretending not to see it but told me the interview was over.
Have you had any similar experiences with teachers interviewing in the Bronx? Also, would love to visit your school one day but only to watch. Again, I applaud you and your efforts by taking one for the team and doing it in the Bronx. If you ever need someone to sign a petition letting Farina know how hard you work just let me know.
Interesting about the bonus allegation. THAT explains all the abuse. If principals have a financial incentive to push veteran teachers out, then this should be investigated. Um, hello UFT...
Shad C.,
That was the best laugh I had all month. I've know ATRs without restrooms keys that had similar accidents, unintentionally. Most principals know ATRs are superior teachers but can't afford us. All the UFT has to do is get together with the CSA and demand an end to the individual school budgets - no one wants it. Principals hate it. It'll end the ATR debacle overnight and get the best teachers in front of the classrooms. There are a lot of misconceptions about principals and ATRs. Most principals I've known are decent people, same as ATRs. It's the bad ones from both groups that get all the publicity.
@9:01PM - Shady C. you are hysterical. I almost peed on my pants. True, no one wants to go to the Bronx. It's like a punishment to be sent to the Bronx. It's a joke: Hey, watch out, you will be sent to the Bronx.
I have been teaching in the Bronx for almost 20 years. Kids have always been tough. However, at least in the "old days" admins and the UFT had our backs. Now it is every man and women for themselves.
Great post Chaz. I couldn't have said it better myself,
Amy is gone for a reason. There are no more ATRs as of September 1st.
Shad is very funny, another genius who thinks he's untouchable. Does he know he admitted to bribing an AP and a programmer amongst several other insane admissions? Shad, do you know what an IP address is? Do you know that OSI can pretty much take your comments and track it to your computer? I hope your not using a cell phone to post things on here my friend because that would be even easier. Why can't you enjoy your fake position and keep making your 6 figure salary while keeping your mouth shut? Why boast and risk losing it all? My 13 year old son can trace your IP address with some time. Dingbat!
I work in queens. My principal point blank said to a couple of us that he does not want to hire "tenured" teachers at all because, in his words, "they are harder to get rid of."
@ 6:47
Is it really worth it for OSI to investigate a random blogger's comment, who may very well be making it all up? Let's say he did what he was accused of, and the AP took him up on his offer, are they going to be able to prove this? Let's not get all paranoid now. This also assumes that Shad doesn't use a VPN or some other kind of anonymizing software.
Shad C, I think you're irratating some people, keep it up. The truth is always defensible, often humorous and too embarrassing for them to bring attention to.
@6:47 I do not think I am untouchable. I am not boasting. I am not even proud of what I have done.
My file, my 3020a (twice) and all of my investigations are already documented. Pissing in my pants is actually a disability of mine that started well before I interviewed in the Bronx. I am not going to go into details but one of my 3020a's involved pissing. Arbitrator ruled in my favor.
But by no means do I think I am untouchable or think anyone in this system is untouchable. This is why I think everyone should be treated equally whether it is an ATR or a principal. Only people I extremely dislike are the pedophiles.
What do you mean fake position? You do not think my position is real? How can you make fun of my position?
By the way I think it is the AP who takes the bribe that gets into trouble. I am not sure the one who is generous enough to give a bribe should be held accountable.
I never heard of an IP address.
To the people who treat working in the Bronx as if they're "about to be raped"...how ignorant you are! The Bronx is maligned almost daily by the media, and Hollywood signed our death warrant thirty years ago with "Fort Apache: The Bronx". I have worked in the Bronx for twenty years as a teacher. The kids are amazing, whether from a poor neighborhood or a middle-class one. I have lived here all of my life. The Bronx is neglected and ignored by City Hall. We have a lot of disadvantages, yes (see: City Hall). But we have millions of hardworking people who live here. We have amazing neighborhoods and food (watch Anthony Bourdain). I grew up in Co-Op City, received a marvelous public school education at PS 121, PS 153, and IS 180, and attended The Bronx High School of Science. There are neighborhoods here where houses are worth millions. My own house, in a middle-class neighborhood, is worth more than $500K. So....you couldn't be more wrong about the Bronx. Please don't slander us because of a bunch of media BS and Hollywood stereotypes.
Chaz what's your prediction on our next teachers contract ? Not what you want but think will happen . I heard 4 years 2.5 per year .
Thanks
Keep writing Shad C.!
Thanks Chaz for letting all these interesting characters post!
@4:32 Thank you! I have been offered my own blogs but I have declined the offers. Plus, OSI came to visit me yesterday and I almost died. Starts talking to me about God and house of worship. I told them I'd like to speak to my union rep and he handed me his card. It read OSI from the Mormon Church. He was a MORM named OSI.
@Juliet Marinelli:
Please accept my apology if you were offended in any way. I am sure the Bronx is one of the top 5 places to live and anyone who denies this is spreading fake news. By no means did I mean to offend you or put down the whole borough of the Bronx. It seems my message was not clear enough. The teachers in the Bronx have the toughest job out of the 5 boroughs unless they are in a great school. This translates to them working twice as hard but receiving lower ratings because they have weaker students. Carmen thinks if you teach at a sucky low functioning school then you suck. So then why in the world would anyone want to be abused and take a job in the Bronx? In decades past if you taught at a tough school then you were recognized as an amazing teacher. Now, you are considered the problem and a loser.
This is the point I was making. There is no way I'd want to be raped in the Bronx. On the other hand, when they write the book on amazing educators then I am sure you'll be mentioned in several chapters.
Juliet, thank you for posting! I worked in the Bronx and I loved it! You have to remember - most of these people who hate, or fear, the Bronx don't live in NYC. They live in an alternative universe. They just come here to work and complain. They have no real attachment to this city, the culture or the kids. They want to tell us how lucky we are that they come here from the suburbs to expose us to their great values and their worldly ways. We are so lucky that they come here to teach our kids. I wish De Blasio would make city workers live in the city and I wish these carpet baggers would find jobs in their wonderful little worlds and bring back that commuter tax!!!!!
Let's be real, most of the Bronx is a hellhole that is very undesirable to teach in, otherwise there wouldn't be such high turnover and constant hiring initiatives.
The Bronx is probably the greatest place on Earth. The schools are top notch, 100 percent graduation and 100 percent college ready. It is not that teachers do not want to teach there - it is just the Bronx principals are very very selective. Or Maybe teachers are looking for a challenge and going to other boroughs. The teachers in the Bronx are always rated the highest. The schools are the safest unless stabbings are going on. Plus, the stabbings are caused by frustrated calculus students who are not able to transfer. Carmen says hte bronx
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