Tuesday, July 18, 2017

The Truth Why ATRs Are Not Being Picked Up By Schools.




























I was disgusted by the self-serving ATR bashing article by non-educator Daniel Weisberg who, once again,  falsely claimed that ATRs were "unwanted", ":bad", or had :discipline issues.  Mr. Weisberg called the "forced placement" of ATRs as "the dance of the lemons".  When the facts are so very different.   Mr. Weisberg's suggestion is to give the ATRs a time limit of between 6-12 months to find a position or be fired.  Which is what happened in Chicago and Washington D.C. that lead to mass firings of veteran teachers and the election loss of the union caucus to dissidents.

Interestingly, Mr. Weisberg bragged that he was responsible for the 2005 union contract that created the ATR crisis and therefore, he is responsible for the DOE wasting over 100 million dollars annually since 2006 or over one billion dollars!  Moreover, he is also responsible for the Open Market Transfer System that has resulted in high poverty and minority schools to have inferior teachers, new to the profession, who transfer from these schools to better schools.  If I am Mr. Weisberg, I would stick my head into the ground and hide my shame that I cost the City schools over a billion dollars and screwed the poor and minority schools. of excellent teachers

Back to the facts, the real reason that principals are not hiring ATRs has nothing to do with the ATRs being "bad" teachers.  It has everything to do with money, control, and power.

Fair Student Funding:  School budgets have not recovered from the 2009 recession and is only funded at 92% of their fair funding.  Moreover, this upcoming school year the DOE, flush with money, has cut school budgets back to 90% of their fair funding.  To make matters worse, Fair Student Funding actually penalizes schools who hire veteran teachers and for far too many principals the school budget overrides what's good for the students of the school.

Seniority:   Once a school hires a veteran teacher (ATR or not), that teacher is placed in his or her seniority rank and in worse case scenarios can cause a school to exceass a younger teacher that the school wants to retain.  Therefore, principals are reluctant to hire a veteran teacher and even if the teacher works out, I doubt the Principal will be given the ATR an "effective" observation, knowing his salary and seniority will be dumped on the school for the next school year  and many more years after. 

Institutional Memory:   Many principals don't like veteran teachers because they understand the union contract and know their rights.  This is known as institutional memory.  Principals like untenured teachers because when the Principal yells jump, they say "high high"?  While a veteran teacher will respond with "Why"?

Demonitization Of The ATRs:   Since the signing of the 2005 contract, ATRs have been labeled with the tag of "unwanted" or "bad" teachers.  Even a month after Chancellor Joel Klein signed the 2005 contract he told principals in the Principal's Weekly that ATRs were teachers that nobody should hire and that in the next contract he intended to include a time limit, which he couldn't do, due to New York State Civil Service rules and the union leadership who refused to even consider it since they knew what happened in Chicago and Washington D.C as their union leadership was voted out of office. .

In summary, the ATRs are not getting positions because of the four issues discussed above.  They are Salary, Seniority, Institutional Memory, and the Demonitization of the ATRs by the DOE, lead by Chancellor Carmen Farina, an old Bloomberg Deputy Chancellor who shared the poisonous ideology about ATRs,  along with their media allies. For more insights on the ATR issue read today's ICEUFT and NYC Educator posts.

Update:  It appears the ATR incentive was unsuccessful and has been extended to July 28th.  Just another failed ATR incentive that had no ATR input.  When will they ever learn?

38 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought there was an incentive because I have heard of ATRS being picked up for next school year!

I wonder if it is the same incentive or much better. I remember when DOE picked up ATR salary for 7 yrs.

Chaz you are the ATR fountain of information! Keep up the great work!

Anonymous said...

Great synopsis. Weisberg should be publically vilified for helping create the billion plus dollar ATR fiasco, that may finally be on its way out. Those who want the status quo of keeping highly experienced out of the classrooms are panicked. Less some forget that ATRs are NYC public school teachers, the UFT should strongly respond to these attacks.

Anonymous said...

You mean, after getting 85% of my students to pass the Earth Science regents and being excessed, I don't suck?

Bronx ATR said...

Chaz,
Great post. Let's not forget (as much as we'd like to) the two ATRs that were quoted, at the Executive Board meeting in June, as being very excited at having the option of getting 50K to leave. This was the extent of the ATR input requested from the UFT. This survey was a statistical sample that mirrored the same exacting scientific accuracy that Randi Weingarten obtained in endorsing Hilary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. Hopefully those two ATRs had the chance to grab this terrific opportunity - they now have an extra two weeks - in case they were in the drunk tank, molesting children or making lemonade.

Anonymous said...

So if you work in a school that the city says sucks, you are a bad teacher? I worked in one of those schools and I stayed for many years. I stayed because I loved the people with whom I worked and I actually liked the "ghetto". I am a "ghetto" kid, grew up on the streets of NYC in the 1980s. No matter what the faculty did, the city just knocked us down, then came the JIT. It was beyond stressful, embarrassed to say that I have self-diagnosed PTSD from the experience. Anyway, I left. Now I work in a "successful" school with very compliant kids. Most of the teachers could not teach their way out of a paper bag for a million dollars. Veteran teachers will a lot of content knowledge but hardly any technique. Also, most of the people who work in this successful school do not live in NYC; they look down on the kids and the culture. I really wish there was a residency requirement or that these know it alls could go teach somewhere else. Maybe they could get a time capsule back to 1950?

Anonymous said...

The youngster principals certainly cannot stand the veteran teacher who says, "Well, we tried that idea/program/scheme/gizmo seven years ago and it totally flopped.". Experience, past success, and wisdom are seen as negatives in the teaching field.

DOEvet said...

2005 contract was really the turning point for so many things.

Anonymous said...

Eric...

"Demonetization" means to keep money out of a society; I think you wanted "demonization", as in turning an entity into a devil.

Anonymous said...

@ 9:22, the city has enough problems getting people to work in the Bronx, without the teachers from Westchester and other places up north who can't find jobs in their area. I agree with you on the "bad teacher" narrative if you teach in a bad school. The schools have been bad for a decade before most of the staff got there. So even though the bad schools have high turnover they still blame the current teachers for years of failing that happened years before they got there, when the only constant is instability and the crappy families that send their kids to the same school, as they never leave the area and just pop out kids and continue the cycle. I used to believe that since I grew up in the "ghetto" that it would be great if I came back and made a difference, then I realized that if I have any chance of making this a career that I had to leave my school and work in a better school, so I don't get scapegoated for things that I have no control over.

Anonymous said...

Your written words are the truth 11:21AM. Just one addition, where there is no screening and you have all the other components of what you wrote, you get a school that is labelled not good. All students need a school, but unfortunately you get penalized for being in a "bad school". There's a saying: It's not the school that is bad, it's the students.

Anonymous said...

Got provisionally placed for a year in a school to cover for a long term medical leave, had a 100% Regents passing, rated developing and excessed at the end of the year. Guess I still need to improve...

Shad C. said...

Walcott a name of from the past. I remember when Walcott banned butter from schools:

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/dennis-walcott-okays-school-butter-ban-article-1.1341004

When I google Walcott and butter the first picture is him and second is butter.

Here's a guy who becomes Chancellor for almost 2 years and the only thing anyone can ever say: "Boy did he go after butter. He changed the whole educational policy on butter." He sat there scared shit hoping the cheating scandal he helped create does not fall under him.

How can anyone look at education, DOE or Walcott ever again in a serious manner? By the way, I am proposing we stick butter back into schools if they haven't already. Then what will Walcott be remembered for?

Shad C. said...

If I am banned from a couple of buildings then can they force place me there?

Reason I ask - I received an email today from one of my nemesis in Midtown reminding me to speak up if I am placed at his school. He said he would help fight along with me to make sure that him and I are not under the same roof.

Has anyone else received one of these emails? I do not think they can force place me in one of these schools.

Anonymous said...

@9:22 I too grew up in the city in the 1980's. Did I grow up in a ghetto? Probably not, but I can make the argument and win that I grew up within blocks of the "ghetto". I grew up in Ridgewood, Queens to be specific and had many friends in Bushwick, Brooklyn at the time. In my teens I had a gun literally pulled to my head three times (one by a cop, one by a guy who thought my friend looked at his girl the wrong way and the other while getting mugged right outside the DeKalb train stop - no joke. I used to think the way you currently think when I first became a teacher. Are there teachers out there in this system as you describe - of course. I'd say you can count those who still live in the City as many of them as well and not limit them to outside City residents. I am at what you call a "successful school with compliant kids." Wouldn't trade it in for the world. It's still not easy and the school in no where near perfect, but I do know more than a number of teachers who both know their "stuff" and know how to teacher their way out of a paper bag. It's unfair of you to label "many" teachers who don't live in NYC as you do. How do I know - because I no longer live in New York City and I do not look down on the kids or their culture. I also know many, many of my colleagues who think the same as I who are also outside the city. It's unfortunate you see teachers as you describe in your current school - it is. Hope you have a better year next year.

Anonymous said...

chaz, you are just bad as the city .... so the people who work in the bad schools are bad teachers? I completely disagree. I also worked in a "bad school" in the Bronx. I learned how to teach there for sure. You can't work in the Bronx and be that bad... the kids simply won't allow it. they will eat you alive .... or throw a desk at you. I promise you will not survive long. SO let's stop with the teachers in the Bronx are bad, because they are not! And the teachers in good schools are good, because that is not always true either. I observed some pretty bad lessons at some very good school.NOw, I work in Queens, in a "decent" school. I work with people who worked in the same school their whole careers. Honestly, these people would never survive in the Bronx. They would never survive the administrative tactics and most would never survive the classroom because they severely lack the engagement skills necessary to teach inner city kids. So before you label the teachers in a bad school ineffective, why do not you try a teach there and you will quickly learn that some of the best teachers exist in the Bronx and beyond. One more thought, the students and the communities where these schools are located have a lot of problems. Many of which are compounded by bad choices. However, these places have some value and you can't see it then you should not work there and if you don't ... thank goodness!

Anonymous said...

@9:22 I worked in several "bad" schools. I thank the lord I'm not from the "ghetto" side of the Bronx and you can keep your "ghetto" schools and labels. I would rather teach kids that care about learning and give me a reason to wake up at 4:30am. the nyshitty school system has been a means to an ends and that has been a house, 2 cars and a forest in my back yard. now I will take my 50,000 and leave.

Anonymous said...

7:33PM - Did you grieve it? You should. Who gets a 100% passing rate - not many. What subject? You're a rock star.

Anonymous said...

I met with a couple of attorneys today but not for free. They were decent honest (if attorneys can ever be called honest?) attorneys. I explained in detail that I was an ATR since 2007 and under that agreement I could never be forced into a school. I explained to them what the UFT /DOE are doing now (after July 2017) by attempting to force me into a school after Oct. 15.

I was told by two different attorneys that I have a very strong case. Any ATR after July 2017 announcement should and could be forced into a vacancy after Oct 15th. However, I am grandfathered in under the "old agreement" where I can not and should not be forced into a vacancy unless I accept the vacancy.

I already alerted DOE legal, HR and ATR unit. I do not think they will want to open up a can of worms and have me file a class action lawsuit.

If anyone else has looked into a lawsuit please let me know. I am not willing to be forced placed like some of kind of 1910 non-union worker. I have rights and I will exercise my rights.

Anonymous said...

@12:34AM - You were placed as an ATR since 2007. If placed as an ATR as of 2015, would the ATR qualify NOT to be force placed?

Anonymous said...

@12:34AM - Is there a written reference to this? Where? It seems all ATR would qualify that became ATRs prior to July 2017. That's a big class action which can include age discrimination. Please share.....

Anonymous said...

@12:34AM - This new agreement about being force placed is not good news to ATRs. Nothing to be joyful about.

Chaz said...

All ATRs will be forced placed. There is no grandfather clauses, if an ATR im 2015-1`6 or 2006-07

Anonymous said...

Chaz, how about ATR guidance counselors and social workers put into DOE offices? Are they going to be forced placed into schools as well? Any information on this? Students need services within the schools.

Shad C. said...

@ 7:33 Most likely a savvy principal (if a principal can ever be considered savvy just kidding) is not going to have a guidance or social worker vacancy after Oct 15. The school can get away with being short a counselor or social worker whereas if the school has 5 classes of math being uncovered then they really need a teacher in there. I know this does not sound right but it is reality.

Anonymous said...

@12:34 I like your thinking and logic. Maybe a court should decide what is right and wrong.

Anonymous said...

Article in Chalkbeat about how principals will not have forced placed ATRs in their schools. They say they will hide vacancies, etc. I know that schools have been planning for this and have already hired who they want so what will happen when Oct 15th comes and there are not enough positions for all the ATRs? This certainly does not sound like a plan. Will they then rotate ATRs again?

Anonymous said...

what is the difference in agreements?
i remeber being placed for a year at a time in sept.

Anonymous said...

@11:54PM. Hi Shad C. If there is no vacancy/leave, services are still needed within the schools. That is the reality. Get all ATR school guidance counselors and social workers back into the schools. The FIRST ATR school counselors and social workers that need to get placed are those in DOE offices. The rest of the ATR school counselors and social workers are all ready in the schools. A school counselors needs to be inside a school. A school social worker needs to be inside a school. DOE offices are not schools. There are plenty of administrators that can work in offices. As a matter of fact, there's a surplus of administrators. The UFT needs to assure this happens for all ATRs in this title, no excuses.

Anonymous said...

@11:55PM and @12:34 - That's right! A court with lawyers that can present a lot of what is going on can definitely have a different take on what is going on. Didn't the UFT have a lawsuit pending with the DOE, but dropped it not because it could not be won.

Anonymous said...

curious it states "if you applies to many openings on the open market but were never contacted please contact amy arundell" well who the hell do you contact when any doesn't contact you????

I know GHOSTBUSTERS!

Anonymous said...

Please, last year I applied to a few positions. Made sure it was very clear how many years I have and guess what "ZERO". Amy, unfortunately, cannot fix that. Look at what is going on now with this force placement for vacancies after October 15th. Principals are all ready rebelling and who will need to pay for this - the ATR, not Amy, not the union. Who gets the unfavorable rating on our impeccable record? Us... Who gets screwed? Us... This system of ATRdom has been going on too long, principals are in charge of their own budget and who they hire and then we are going to be force placed. The thinking needs to be changed before we are force placed and this system, unfortunately, has a way to go before that happens. The agenda is and has been get the veterans out and get rid of pensions. The union should have a survey and send it out to ATRs for our input on a lot of issues. They wait til we email Amy. ATR after ATR just say, "The union does nothing."

Anonymous said...

Virtually no ATRs will placed into vacancies on 10/15 - because there won't be any. Just the same as there always has been - leaves and only leaves. Don't even think about it. It's all bullshit. The UFT/DOE want to scare us into retiring. It isn't working. Do away with FSF and there will be no more ATRs. Principals will hire ATRs over newbies each and every time. They have told me this themselves! Until then they have to buy into the stereotypes to legitimize not hiring us and saving their budgets.

Shad C. said...

@1:38 I totally agree with you. Counselors and social workers should be placed into schools and vacancies but what I am saying is principals are not going to service the kids and claim they have no vacancy. Read:

http://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/ny/2017/07/20/principals-balk-at-citys-plan-to-place-teachers-in-their-schools-some-vow-to-get-around-it/

A couple of postings ago I mentioned that I received an email from a principal in Midtown reminding me that I am banned from his school and he will help fight along with me that him and I can't be under the same roof or in the same building.

I purposely did not mention the name of the principal even though my friends and colleagues begged me to.

I applaud principals who are speaking out because this makes my next 3020A hearing easier to win when principals are saying there is no way I want an ATR to forced upon me.


Anonymous said...

@Shady
How did you get banned from a school? I now log on here to read your comments. Keep writing.

Anonymous said...

@1:44AM - Even if school counselors and social workers are just placed in a school without a vacancy/leave, they still belong in the school, not a DOE office. Plain and simple. Thanks for the Chalkbeat reference. The rotation or whatever they want to call it should be in the schools for counselors and social workers in the ATR pool. So Mr. Asher needs to pull them out of there and place them in the schools where they belong.

Anonymous said...

It's the Adam and Eve effect. The serpent favored approaching and deceiving Eve first because she was a newbie to the Garden of Eden. Then once she ate the fruit and began to believe that she was a goddess, she could now be used by the devil to destroy her more experienced husband Adam. This is not new.

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