To The Education Reformers. It Really Is About Community, Family, And Poverty.

The revised New York State tests came out and as predicted, every school district saw drops in the passing rates.  In the well-to-do school districts scores dropped by an average of 25% while the poor school districts saw drops of well  over 50%.  In looking at the data it's very obvious that community, family, and economic status are the major factor in the achievement gap between minority and non-minority school districts.  In this post I will compare two Long Island school districts only 7 miles apart that showed why the student academic achievement gap persists and its not the teachers!

The Jericho school district is considered one of the top school districts in the nation while seven miles to the southeast is Wyandanch school district, one of the worst in New York State.  What are the differences between the two school districts?  Easy its about the community, family, and economic status.  Let's compare the two school districts.

Demographics:

Jericho..........White..........Asian..........Black..........Hispanic
                    61.3%........34.3%.........2.1%...........1.5%.

Wyandanch......0.6%..........2,2%........66.6%.........32.6%

Obviously, the demographics are opposite of each other as Jericho has only 3.6% of minority students. Moreover, 40% of the white student population are Jewish.  On the other hand, Wyandanch has only 2.8% of its student body is made up of White and Asian students. 

Economic Status: Slightly more than 64% of school age children are economically disadvantaged compared to only 8% of the students in Jericho.  While the official poverty rate of Wyandanch is 12% compared to 4% in Jericho, the poverty rate is concentrated in families that have school age children, that's why there is such a large percentage of economically disadvantaged students in the Wyandanch schools.

Single Family Households: Related to the economic status is the preponderance of single family households.  In Wyandanch he percentage is an astounding 43% of all families compared to Jericho where only 8% of the population have a single parent household. Is it little wonder that the annual household income in Jericho is over twice the amount in Wyandanch?

That brings me to the 2013 test scores how did the two school districts compare in passing the tests?

Jericho....................English...............Math............Drop from 2012
                              70.6%..............72.6%.................20%

Wyandanch               6.2% .............. 5.6%..................80%

While the education reformers can keep speaking the lies that "poverty is no excuse" the facts speak for themselves that the community demographics, the family unit, and the social-economic status are the main reason for the racial/income academic achievement gap and not the teachers they love to demonize are the blame for the abysmal test scores in poor minority school districts.

Why The Open Market Transfer System Is A Joke.

Today is the final day for teachers to look for vacancies under the Open Market Transfer System (OMTS) and just like the last few years, the OMTS is simply a joke when it comes to veteran teachers.  Only young and inexperienced (especially untenured) teachers are hired through the OMTS.  With few exceptions teachers with ten or more years experience have little or no chance to even get an interview for these vacancies.  Many of my colleagues applied to various positions only to get no response from the schools except for the required notification that the school received the application.

I spoke to a friend who is an Assistant Principal and he told me that the principals are encouraged by the DOE to hire "newbies" whenever possible to reduce their staff  budget costs and to find any reason possible not to interview ATRs.  Moreover, the DOE and the UFT has done little to enforce the ATR Agreement and that has added to the problems for veteran ATRs.  It matters little how effective a teacher is, its all about how much will the teacher cost the school and that is reflected in the OTMS hiring practices.

Even in hard to staff shortage areas like Special Education,ESL and Earth Science, the DOE allows the schools to bypass the available ATRs and hire "newbies", some not even certified!  Yes that's true, the Assistant Principal I spoke to told me that he was instructed by his Principal to do just that.   Why does our union leadership stay silent when the DOE continues to abuse the process?  I wish I knew but its obvious that the union leadership considers the ATR issue a low priority and they have other issues on the table to deal with.

The DOE's motto is "children first.....Always" but in reality its not about whats best for the students but pure and simple discrimination against veteran teachers who were excessed.  In effect its really "children last" as principals, with the encouragement of the DOE, rather hire inexperienced "newbies" than "quality teachers".

Teaching New Americans In Summer School. It's A Pleasure.

I must admit I wasn't looking forward to teaching high school science to recently arrived students to the country.  Most of them had limited English language skills and some none at all!  My students come from many countries, Spain, Ecuador, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Greece, Russia, Korea, Burma, and China.   The few students who speak passable English help the students by translating what I say and I have put them in groups to help their transition to an American education.  One of the most important lesson that I have learned is how eager these students are to read and speak English to me.  In the almost one month that I have had them, all of the students will read a sentence to me in English and try to answer questions in English.  To tell the truth, I am very impressed with their efforts and proud of their progress.

I also would like to point out that these "new to America" students are well disciplined with no serious behavior issues, despite struggling with the English language.  Moreover, they meet me at the door with smiles and greetings when they enter the classroom and many seemed generally happy to be in school.  Despite our language differences we have connected and I get little presents like Chinese tea, a Jello snack, or a candy bar, no, no apples, from the students as their way of saying thank you.  To the Tweedies, nothing over $2!

The appreciation goes both ways as I will do anything reasonably possible for these students to navigate their way in New York City's confusing maze of regulations.  I find myself as a tour guide on how the students can take a subway to their various consulates in Manhattan and to the immigration offices downtown or what they must do to work. Furthermore, I  have gained their trust and respect and when they are having issues or uncertainties with their situation (homesickness is common), they confide in me and I try to reassure them that in a couple of years they will be fluent in English and become a productive citizen of this great country.  It seems to work as their frawn becomes a smile and they seem to try even harder to please me.

Teaching "new to America" students has been a real pleasure and I hope I get that chance again to make a difference to those students entering the New York City school system since we both learn a great many things being in a classroom together.

Why It's Important To Be In A Good School With The Teacher Evaluation System. Unless You Want To Be Terminated.

Looming on the horizon is the New York State teacher evaluation system that will be a "house of cards" and eventually collapse,  Unfortunately, when this does happen (2016-17?) the damage to the teaching profession will have been . done.  Many veteran teachers, eligible.to retire will leave the school system and the "newbies" will realize that teaching is no longer their calling and leave for a less stressful and more rewarding professional office position.  Worse, I foresee a large increase in experienced teachers who will be rated "ineffective" and get terminated, not because of their teaching ability but because of the "junk science" used and the student population they inherit.

Worse, is the new discipline policy that is being implemented which will further erode teacher authority as school administrators will find any excuse not to suspend a disruptive student and lay the blame on the teacher for poor classroom management.  Moreover, in schools with large percentages of special education students and English language learners, add the high poverty associated with many of these schools and the poor discipline codes, the result will be that many of these teachers will be under fire and rated poorly under the flawed teacher evaluation system.  This is especially true where student discipline is a school wide issue.  For example please read Marc Epstein's insightful article on the school discipline issue among other school problems under Mayor Bloomberg that has resulted in the destruction of many schools by loading them up with "high needs" students until they eventually close

It's obvious to me that unless you are in a good school with supportive administration, an educationally sound student body, and engaged parents who provide adult supervision and support for their children, the teacher will be in big trouble under the teacher evaluation system.  So think twice before accepting a position in a school that does not meet the three criteria listed above.  Under no circumstance should you accept a position in a school that fails to meet any one of the three criteria, especially if a "Leadership Academy Principal" is in charge unless you want to be terminated in two years.  Its not about better teachers, its about getting better students if a teacher is going to survive the badly flawed and rigged teacher evaluation system.

Why New York City Is Not Detroit.

I read the article by "Ed the Apple" and must disagree that the bankruptcy in Detroit is a warning sign for New York City when negotiating with the unions.  The differences between New York City and Detroit are like "night and day" and here's why.

Per Capita Income:  New York City has a per capita income of $31,500 compared to only $14,200 for Detroit.  More importantly New York City's average household income is $56,009 compared to only $25,000 for Detroit.  This shows that New York City has more income to spend and is less reliant on government assistance.

Poverty Rate: While the New York City poverty rate is at an all time high of 21% under Mayor Bloomberg, the Detroit poverty rate is an astounding 36% and the unemployment rate is 18%, compared to less than  9% for New York City.

Unfunded Liabilities:  Detroit has billions of unfunded liabilities and when 38% of the budget pays

for legacy costs (retiree pensions and health care), it does not leave much for existing City services.  By contrast New York City, while under pressure, is only 12% of the City's budget. In addition, New York City has been able to cover the ever escalating legacy costs while Detroit cannot. In fact, New York City has shown a budget surplus every year since 2005.

Economic Future:  New York City has experienced an economic boom with tourism at an all time high and the financial industry, while still losing jobs, providing the engine to power the City's economy.  Detroit, on the other hand is an economic wasteland with rows oi boarded up houses and long abandoned factories. Furthermore, New York City has a low crime rate and a booming technology sector while most small businesses are fleeing Detroit with its high crime rate, the highestin the nation, where it take an hour for the police to respond to calls for assistance.  In the misery index, Detroit finds itself one or two nationally, depending on the methodology.

Vibrant Middle Class:  New York City fared fairly well in the recession and are seeing many poverty ridden areas attracting middle class families and singles into the area.  Despite the ever widening wage gap under the Bloomberg Administration, the City has maintained  diverse middle class communities and has seen housing prices rise that has attracted ever increasing number of middle class families to the City.  Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Detroit.  The middle class is almost non-existent.  "White flight" after the 1967 riots was followed by the auto industry leaving and along with them the black middle class.  Left was the poor minority class with high unemployment and low wage jobs, many of them living off government benefits to survive.

Public Services:  Say what you like about the Bloomberg Administration's policies, "good or bad", for the most part City services for the residents are top notch.  Good schools, police, fire, and sanitation are a hallmark for the City.  By contrast, city services are almost non-existent as police, fire, and sanitation is cut to the bone and response times are counted by the hours not the minutes.  As for the schools?  Over 75 schools are closing and the new schools are staffed by TFA recruits, the two year wonders, will take their place.  Will the Detroit  schools get better when TFA recruits replace the experienced teachers laid-off by the school closings?  Yeah when it snows in the Caribbean.

Comparing the problems in Detroit with New York City is like comparing "apples and oranges".  While they are both cities, one is losing population while the other is attracting more people, many with the skills that make them productive citizens in a vibrant City like New York.  The problems in Detroit should not and will not affect contract negotiations with the City.

Why Teacher Tenure Is Important.

In today's New York Daily News there is a sympathetic piece about a teacher who was pressured to resign from his $75,000 per year teaching position because he was seen with his shirt off.  The article shows a very ripped Stefan Serie who explained that he was an extra on a Bravo show Jewish-American Princesses and at a "pool party" he was seen with his shirt off.  According to Mr. Serie he was summoned a week later and told that his pending tenure will be revoked and told to resign, which is what he did.

What gets me is that many after school sports activities on school grounds will have male athletes practicing without their shirts.  This is called "shirts and skins".  Even female athletes will go with "sports bras" in real hot weather.  Yet this suburban school district decided to terminate Mr. Sire for simply not having his shirt on at a televised "pool party".  Unbelievable.

Interestingly, Mr. Sire is an eight year teaching veteran and untenured which is a major problem when  it comes to Long Island schools.  These school districts are notorious for hiring teachers for a year or two and not give them tenure.  Therefore, the teacher probably had been teaching in other school districts and finally found one willing to give him tenure.

Why did the School District deny tenure to Mr. Sire on such an innocence action by him?  It's because they can!  Tenure is important because it protects teacher from frivolous actions by school administration and false  accusations by vindictive students.  This disgusting action is just another example why tenure is important for teachers.,  In this case one person saw a problem with it and the poor guy now has no job.

That is why teachers cannot allow one person who does not know the facts to decide the fate of a teacher.  Like giving the clueless Dennis Walcott the right to terminate teachers accused of "sexual misconduct" without real evidence and the equally clueless Campbell Brown that cannot even get her facts straight when it comes to how independent arbitration and "due process" works.

See nyc educator blog for another take about this story.

The Real Story On What An ATR Costs A School's Budget, Assuming The Fair Student Funding Program Is Not Fully Implemented.

In my last post I received a comment from a high union official who claimed that I was not being factual on how much a higher paid ATR would cost a school.  In my post I stated that a school would be responsible for picking up the difference between the school's average salary and the salary of the ATR.  Well, the union official is correct to a point.  At present, the DOE has not fully implemented the "fair student funding formula" and has a "hold harmless provision so that schools with experienced staff do not lose funding.  Therefore, a school picking up a senior ATR will not be charged any more money for that year and only show a small increase in the "average teacher salary" next year if the ATR remains at the school.   I previously wrote an article that showed how it works in a school budget here.   However, this is the "average teacher salary" so taking the small school example in my post the "average teacher salary" goes up $2,000.  That means the school must pay $40,000 extra for the total teacher salaries. For the large schools in comes out to $25,000 extra. This may not seem significant but don't tell that to the principals who are stuck with very stringent budgets and must pay their CFN's out of their budget. Unfortunately, even this is a temporary measure and compounding the money problem is the UFT agreeing with the DOE that recently excessed ATRs have first crack at any vacancies that further makes it nearly impossible for long-term ATRs to fill a vacancy despite having seniority.  Is it any wonder that many senior teachers have been ATRs for five or six years?

As you can see, from my post back in October of 2011 even in a small school with an untenured teaching staff, a higher paid ATR would cost only $2,000! However, when the "fair student funding program" is fully implemented and teacher salaries will count for 100% of the school's teacher budget.  There will be no more "average teacher salary" calculations, the "fair student funding formula" will be based upon actual teacher salaries and no Principal can trust the DOE from sticking them with a budget that reflects the actual salaries retroactively.  In fact, the DOE has stated their intention of doing so in the future.


 While our union leaders reassure us that this will not be the case.  The principals either do not trust the DOE or use this potential uncertainty as one of their reason for not picking up senior ATRs.  Therefore, the result is that ATRs who are higher salaried are left without a job, even when they are excellent teachers and proved it during a long term assignment at a school. 

The question is why won't principals pick up ATRs?  The answer is that almost all principals are afraid that Tweed will eventually implement the full "fair student funding formula" going back to the 2008-09 baseline and leave the principals holdiing the bag. 

If the union wants to help ATRs they should make it a priority to eliminate the "fair student funding formula"  that penalizes senior teachers and require all excessed teachers to be placed in their district before any teachers can be hired from outside the DOE.

The City Pulls All Stops To Get "Select" Newbie Teachers Hired While Trying To Kick ATRs To The Curb.

The DOE has shown once again how they will go to great lengths to get "newbie teachers" hired while making it difficult for schools to hire better qualified ATRs.  In today's Gotham Schools there is an article that showed how the DOE welcomed these "newbie teachers" with cookies, drinks, presents, and put them on the top of the list for vacancies. The DOE even brought in a musician to serenade these "select newbie teachers".   Many of these teachers may have graduated high in their class but can they teach?  Obviously, many, maybe a majority of these "select teachers" will be long gone from the New York City schools in five years and the City will be forced to find and train replacements at the expense of the students.

On the other hand, there are over a thousand ATRs floating around the NYC Public Schools and few are offered positions , except as long term replacements in hard to staff areas like science and special education.  The ATRs who do get jobs are usually the untenured or ATRs that have less than five years experience and are relatively inexpensive.  As for the highly experienced and relatively more expensive ATRs?  They have a less of a chance of getting a vacancy then a snowstorm in April, thanks to the "fair student funding fiasco".  This is especially true in the Bloomberg small schools where most of the teachers are recent hires and the average teacher salary is $55,000.  Therefore, for a Principal to hire a teacher making $85,000,  He or she would need to come up with the $30,000 difference. Is it any wonder that Principals would be reluctant to hire a teacher who is going to put a dent into his or her budget?  While some of the best schools have an average salary of $80,000 or more, many schools run by "Leadership Academy principals" experience massive teacher turnover and cannot afford or want an ATR "quality teacher", even if it's what's best for the students. Just last year, the ATR job fair was a joke with few schools represented and even fewer administrators with the authority to offer positions.  In one case, a school sent a Secretary to take names of ATRs to screen them for a possible interview.  What a joke and a disgrace!

It's too bad that the DOE is so shortsighted that recruitment is more important than retention to them. When I keep reading that the DOE puts "children first", I must laugh because the real truth is that the students of the school is put last when it comes to hiring qualified teachers.

Principal Alison Coviello's Motto. "Do As I Say Not What I Do".

I have been reading South Bronx's running account of his problems with the Principal at P.S. 154, Dr. Alison Coviello.  According to South Bronx Ms. Coviello is an "elitist" who believes in perfection from her staff.  That in itself is not a problem.  However, when it comes to Dr. Coviello actions, perfection is not necessary. She doesn't see a problem breaking the rules for her favorites or for herself for that matter and embellish problems against teachers she doesn't like or want in her school.  If she doesn't like your tone of voice, that's insubordination but of course she can use the same tone of voice on the staff and that's acceptable in her world. 

In addition, she practices desperate treatment against staff members that she doesn't like.  Just read South Bronx's running account here, here, here, here. here, and here.  If you demand perfection then you must be the role model for that perfection and not just demand it.  That means when a teacher asks you to "model the lesson" you do it!   Obviously, the  Principal does not "practice what she preaches".

She also apparently broke the rules by not hiring an ATR for a common branch position.  Instead she hired a teacher from the outside the DOE that did not have a common branch license.  Listed below is the advertisement to the Teacher's college newspaper.

Yes, she apparently broke the rules and ignored the DOE/UFT ATR agreement by hiring a teacher outside the DOE!  Was she punished for this?  Of course not.  Moreover, as a graduate from the infamous "Leadership Academy" she believes she can do as she pleases and if that means harassing senior staff, or ignoring the hiring rules, so be it. Having a hostile work environment seems to be a recurring problem for all these "Leadership Academy principals" and Dr. Coviello appears to be no exception to that view.

It's just another case of the old "double standard" practiced by the DOE.

Randi Weingarten's Legacy That Has Made Teaching In The NYC Classroom A Minefield.

There is little doubt that teaching in the New York City classroom has become an increasingly hostile experience under Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chancellors Joel Klein, Cathie Black, and Dennis Walcott.  However, much of the blame must be laid on the doorstep of our ex UFT President, Randi Weingarten.  The great appeaser.  Under her destructive tenure as head of the UFT she eroded the rights of her members and allowed the DOE to impose programs that were damaging to the classroom teacher.

Let's start with the erosion of teacher "due process rights" under 3020-a  for teachers accused of
incompetence.  Until 2000, a teacher accursed of incompetence would go before a three member arbitration panel to determine the penalty.  The result was the teacher would usually get a compromise verdict and keep their job.  However, Randi Weingarten negotiated with the DOE and agreed to have only one Arbitrator review the incompetence charge and many teachers found themselves terminated. Moreover, in the same 2000 agreement the teacher had no choice in the assignment of an Arbitrator while teachers in the rest of the State have the right to refuse the first Arbitrator offered to them.  In 2002 she allowed the Bloomberg Administration to have Mayoral control of the schools that has resulted in a "rubber stamp" PEP that echos the Mayor's  policy.


Then there was the terrible 2005 contract that further reduced teacher "due process rights" and caused the ATR crises. Rather than describe the problems associated with the 2005 contract.  Included,  is a legacy of the awful "givebacks" that Randi negotiated for us:  Here, here, here, here, and here!  This contract was an unmitigated disaster and was considered a "sellout" by many of the rank and file.

In 2006 the Bloomberg/Klein Administration imposed a "fair student funding formula" on the NYC public schools.  Had Randi sued or brought the issue to PERB, she would have won.  Instead she remained silent and combined with the elimination of seniority transfer rights have resulted in older and more experienced teachers not being able to get a permanent position. Hence the ATR crises. She also allowed the co-location of charter schools, which was a shock to Joel Klein she since she could have stopped it in its tracks but failed to do so.

Even in the 2007 contract she allowed the voluntary but union endorsed, PIP+, the termination program for incompetent teachers and expanded the list of actions that fell under serious misconduct and ending up with a 90-day suspension without pay or health benefits.  It was during this time that the "rubber rooms" exploded with a maximum of 744 reassigned teachers awaiting their fate.

In 2009 Randi remained silent as Mayor Bloomberg and Christine Quinn overturned term limits that resulted in the disastrous third term and an increase in vilifying teachers that result in the Bloomberg "last in, first out" bill.

Finally, her parting gift to her members in 2009 was to reclaim the two days before Labor Day that she gave up in 2005 but at what cost!  We had to give up 1.25% interest in our TDA funds (8.25% to 7.00%).  If the average member puts away $15,000 annually for twenty years, the members lose about $10,000!  More, if you put in more.  Interestingly, we actually owe the City 0.58% when we get the next contract in 2014.!

Now Randi works on destroying member rights in other school systems.  Washington D.C., Baltimore Maryland, and now Newark New Jersey.   Interestingly, the Chicago teachers told Randi Weingarten to "butt out" and won.  Who can forget she invited Bill Gates as a keynote speaker at her AFT conference who's main idea is high stakes testing and video surveillance of the classroom. Goodbye and good riddance Randi, you have done enough damage to your members in New York City.

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What Is The Most Important Characteristic of A Quality Teacher? Connecting With The Students.

Everybody agrees that all classrooms should have a "quality teacher" instructing the students.  However, when you ask the various education reform groups what is a "quality teacher"?  You get vague and unrealistic answers.   If you are Mayor Bloomberg a "quality teacher" to him its a "newbie" that will be a "Teach for America or Teaching Fellow" that cost the least amount and who we leave the profession before getting a pension or retire health benefits.  If it's Bill Gates it's all about being held accountable and under video surveillance.  Especially if it requires the use of "junk science".  If it's ex-Chancellor Joel Klein, it is a teacher that will come in at 7 am and not leave until 7 pm, while not asking for per session.  Finally, to Michelle Rhee a "quality teacher" is one willing to be an at will employee for a few dollars more in their paycheck.In my book a "quality teacher" must posses the following characteristics:

• At least five years of teaching experience.
• Good classroom management skills.
• A deep knowledge of the curriculum.
• A caring and supportive attitude.
• A sense of humor
• A positive connection with the students.

While most education reformers will ignore these requirements publicly, privately they know the above characteristics are necessary to achieve mastery of the classroom.   However, they also know that "quality teachers" require an adequate workload, supportive Administration, and the freedom to try different methods to maximize student learning.  Consequently, this eliminates charter schools, where teacher burnout and turnover is high and in most schools the entire staff is gone in three years.  It also eliminates schools with inexperienced Leadership Academy principals who have limited time in the classroom and are clueless to what good teaching is, and the Bloomberg small schools who are inhabited by untenured staff and burdened with rigid curriculum requirements.  Is it any wonder that the Mayor hates experienced teachers?

Just look at the higher achieving schools, what do most of them have in common?  Right an experienced staff and a supportive Administration that allows the teachers to find the best teaching techniques that allows students to reach their academic potential.  In the school I was in all year, I saw all aspects of good teaching.  A supportive Administration, a stable and experienced teaching staff, and freedom to do the right thing for the students.  When I asked my students what makes a "quality teacher" they almost all said the same thing that the teacher likes and cares about them.  That's right, almost all my students wanted the teacher to connect with them and understand their needs and problems.  One thing they didn't like was for the teacher to be unsupportive or trying to "friend" them.  Both type of teachers turned the students off to learning.  As one girl said to me "I have enough friends. I don't need a teacher to be my friend".  Furthermore, many inexperienced teachers do just that and the students simply walk all over them and these teachers will never master classroom control.  On the other side of the ledger was the teacher who required it to be "my way or the highway attitude".  This type of teacher over controls the classroom , is inflexible, and is resented by the students. Therefore, based upon my many years of experience and discussions with my students while the other factors I listed are important, the most important factor is connecting to the students.  By connecting with the students you gain their respect and give them the confidence that they need to reach their academic goals.

A "quality teacher" is a teacher who can related to the students and guide them to maximize their academic achievement.

Just Another DOE Double Standard When It Comes To Punishing Principal Minerva Zanca For Alleged Racist Misconduct.

Here we go again!  The DOE fails to take any action against a Principal of a closing school who allegedly made racist remarks about Black teachers in her school and then terminated or excessed them.  According to numerous reports Principal Minerva Zanca of Pan American High School which is scheduled to close made racial epithets against her black teachers and got rid of them at the end of the school year.  Read the story here. Ms. Zanca worked under and is a protege of the infamous Principal Jose Cruz at the MAST school in Campus Magnet who has a reputation in "U' rating more teachers than any other Principal in the City.

There is now a petition against the Principal and a protest at Tweed scheduled for noon Monday July, 8th by teachers to have Principal Zanca removed.  The question is why hasen't the DOE done it already? 

The answer is the old DOE "double standard" when it comes to alleged misconduct by administrators.  For the DOE administrators are "innocent until proven guilty" while for teachers it is "guilty and never proven innocent". The same rules should apply to all educators not different rules as the DOE presently employes.  If you are in the City and not teaching summer school, please  show up and tell that hypocrite Chancellor Walcott to terminate Minerva Zanca immediately.  Campbell Brown, Ben Chapman, Fox news, and the Daily News where are your outrage?  Oh, I forgot she is not a teacher so its not newsworthy.

The DOE's Idea Of Academic Excellence Is Different From The State And The Colleges Know It When It Comes To Science.

I was always wondering why the State's and the City's idea of academic excellence were somewhat different.  So I decided to look at what differences are there in Science and to my shock I found out that the City was allowed to quietly water down the Science requirements.  No wonder, that the City would always report different results than the State.

For example, two years ago the City DOE quietly changed the academic requirements metric for Science by allowing schools to get two years science credit for a one year Regents course.  That's right, by quietly changing the standards the DOE enabled some principals to give double credit for a Regents Science course as long as they gave double periods or made it a two year course.  One school in particular went as far as giving their students a two year "Living Environment" course and then take a non-Regents course in Earth Science, Chemistry, or Physics to satisfy the Physical Science laboratory requirement. If this sounds like shortchanging the students and fooling their parents, it certainly is to me.  However, the CUNY and SUNY colleges are not fooled one bit and one recruiter told me that when they see no second Science Regents, the chances of the student getting into her college is diminished.  The recruiter went on to say that the City and State colleges are aware of the watering down of the City's Science curriculum and  their Admissions Office investigate more closely the student's transcript.  Finally, the "college readiness" scores for the NYC high schools showed that most of the "college and career ready" students (50%) came from only a few schools (10%). The watering down of the Science curriclumn will not help the scores any.

This is not happening only in the struggling City schools but in schools that are solidly middle-class and high achieving.  In one case, the Principal of this high achieving school has decided to have his students skip Earth Science altogether and give a double period of Chemistry.  While it will take a year to see the results, the Science staff is not optimistic since many students cannot handle the Math and advanced scientific concepts that are required in Chemistry.  For many of the students it will be a wasted year of frustration and failure. 

While I cannot say anything about the rest of the core subjects, the DOE is apparently allowing principals to dumb down and narrow the science requirements at the expense of their student's academic achievement and this is a problem for many students and their parents who expect academic excellence and not shortcuts or watered down requirements that will hurt their chances of going to a four year college.

The DOE should be ashamed of themselves for their "watering down" and narrowing the Science curriculumn and allowing principals to practice "education on the cheap" at the expense of their students academic success..

Will Heads Roll At Tweed Due To The Regents Fiasco? Don't Count On It.

The DOE's ill-advised Regents grading policy by outsourcing the scoring to a private consultant for a three year contract worth $9.6 million dollars has been a colossal failure and waste of money to the school system.  Unlike the rest of the State, where they trust their teachers, the schools marked their own Regents. The City, on the other hand, didn't trust their teachers and went one step beyond and required all schools to outsource the Regents scoring.  Of course the charter schools were exempt since there is no cheating going on at the charter schools, lol. 

The result of DOE's Regents grading fiasco was that the final grading of the Global and U.S. History Regents were not finished until school had finished.  The Living Environment grading didn't end until the last day of school and many physics exams were incorrectly labeled "invalid".  James Eterno in the ICEblog documented what he experienced as he was sent from Jamaica High School to Cardozo for grading only to do virtually nothing for days on end.  Furthermore, teachers were offered "per session pay" ($41.98/hr) to work on Saturday and Sunday as well as into the evening.

One of my favorite stories was the case of one Brooklyn Living Environment teacher who received a "discontinuance" of employment and the DOE threatened to take her teaching license when she was given her letter of termination the previous day.  However, the very same teacher was asked by the DOE to come back the next week to continue marking and given "per session pay" to work into the night.  Unbelievable, but true. You just can't make this thing up.

This fiasco by the DOE, orchestrated by those non-educators by Tweed has caused uncertainty,

aggravation, and anger among parents, students, teachers, and school administrators alike.  Imagine graduating without knowing if you actually passed the Regents and embarrassing family and friends when it turns out that the student failed?

Will heads roll at Tweed because of the Regents grading fiasco?  Remember, they are not held accountable.  Therefore, look for the DOE  to remain unscathed by their incompetence.  If I had to give them a grade it's "INEFFECTIVE"!

Chancellor Walcott, First Clean Up Your Own House Before You Complain About Teachers.

Unfortunately, the rag, the Daily Snooze, oops I mean the Daily News has once again went after teachers that were accused of "sexual misconduct" but were found by an independent Arbitrator to have committed no such thing.  To Walcott and Bloomberg it doesn't matter if there is evidence to support the accusation.  Just being accused is good enough for them. Evidence?  who needs any damn evidence, if the student or administrator says the teacher did it then it's off with their heads!

At this point I would like to clarify that any teacher found guilty of "sexual misconduct" by an Arbitrator is automatically terminated.  In fact. here is what the UFT/DOE contract states on being found guilty of "sexual misconduct".

  In 3020-a proceedings, a mandatory  penalty of discharge shall apply to any tenured pedagogue a) found by a hearing officer to have engaged in sexual misconduct or b) who have pleaded guilty to or been found guilty of criminal charges for such conduct.


That's right!  The independent Arbitrator must terminate the teacher if that teacher is found guilty of "sexual misconduct".  Unfortunately, our Chancellor is not intelligent enough to understand that evidence is required and hearsay or gossip are not evidence.  Moreover, he fails to differentiate between a teacher having sexual intercourse with a student and a teacher that touches a clothed shoulder of a student to reassure her.  To him it's all the same. He wants the right to fire them all!


Presently, the Chancellor can terminate his DOE employees without a hearing if they are accused of "sexual misconduct" but has failed to do so.  For example take the case of DOE CEO John Shea who was accused by two females of "sexual misconduct" and have federal lawsuits against him.  What action did the Chancellor take?  None!  How about the two leadership academy principals who also have been accused of misconduct of a sexual nature.  Anissa Chalmers, and Emmanuel Polanco.  They are still principals of their schools!  If that's not enough how about the case of acting Principal John Case Jr who was found by OEO to have sexually harrasses female subordinates and students at the school.  In defending Mr Chase, Chancellor Dennis Walcott said the following.

 On the new allegation, he said, “Just because an accusation is made doesn’t mean a person is guilty.”

That's right!  Our zero tolerance Chancellor for teachers is quite tolerant when it comes to his managers and administrators.  What a hypocrite and a phony. It's a good thing that he only has 188 days left in his tenure and we finally get an educator that truly understands education and what goes on in the classroom and not the walls of Tweed and City Hall.

To Me It's Students First! And It's Not Simply A Slogan.

A couple of days before the Earth Science Regents I discovered that three of my students at the school had not taken the Earth Science laboratory practical.  I then spoke to the other teachers and found that approximately eight students did not take the laboratory practical and were in danger of failing the Regents.  I spoke to my Assistant Principal about holding a special laboratory practical the day before the Regents.  To my delight, the Assistant Principal was supportive and we then started to call the students to have them come in to take the laboratory practical.  All were contacted except for one of  my students.  When I couldn't contact her, let's call her "Cindy", I was about to give up when her guidance counselor informed me that "Cindy" needed the Earth Science Regents to get an advanced Regents diploma.  Otherwise, she would get a regular Regents diploma.

What was I to do?  The three phone numbers given to me by the guidance counselor and the nurse's office did not work.  The number "Cindy" gave me was also not working.  See "Cindy" is a recent immigrant   only coming to the country two years ago and apparently moves quite frequently.  I then did some investigative work and started calling a couple of students who I saw were friendly with "Cindy".  However, they had no contact with "Cindy" except in  school since she had no cellphone.   Just when I was about to give up, I remembered a boy she liked talking to outside my classroom and tracked down his name. On a hunch I called his house and asked him if he can contact "Cindy" and tell her to come in for the laboratory practical.  He told me that he couldn't contact "Cindy" but he knew a distant relative that "Cindy" used to live with and maybe she would know.  About two hours later, I received a phone call from the relative and since she only spoke Mandarin, I had my Mandarin speaking lab tech translate about how important it was for "Cindy" to came in and take the laboratory practical.

To make a long story short, "Cindy" did come in and take the Earth Science laboratory practical and yes, I am quite happy to say that"Cindy passed the Earth Science Regents"!  I feel good that I went "over and above the call of duty" to see that a student of mine was given every chance to achieve mastery in her academic career.  Maybe that one action does not make me "highly effective" but I can tell you it feels wonderful to know you made a difference and helped her receive her advanced Regents diploma.

My Best Guess On What The Retroactive Raises For UFT Members Will Be.

There is widespread talk about how inevitable it is for the next Mayor to settle with the three unions when Bloomberg unwisely decided "to kick the can down the road" and forced the new administration to settle the issue.  The question is how much will UFT members actually receive if all four years of retroactive pay is included?  While I cannot predict what the term of the final contract will be, I am taking the UFT at their word that "full retroactive pay" will be their bottom line.  Therefore, I did assume full retroactive pay in my calculations.

2009-10: There is a consensus that whomever is Mayor will "bite the bullet" and give us the "City pattern" which are two 4% raises.  However, since these contracts are four years behind schedule and the average New York City inflation rate is 2.32% for the time period between 2009 and 2013, the City will need to cough up a 12.7% pay raise for each UFT member.  However, we still owe the City 0.58% from the June 2009 agreement that traded the two days before Labor Day by having our TDA reduced to 7% along with other "givebacks".  Therefore, accounting for the inflation rate, we actually owe the City 0.593%.  Consequently, the City owes us 12.11% in retroactive raises for the 2009-10 contract.

2011-12: This contract is more problematic since it will depend on many factors such as the City's finances and the next "City pattern".  However, I assumed optimistically that we will get a pact similar to the New York City inflation rate (2,32%) for each of the two years and with "retroactivity" factored in, we should receive a 5.5% salary adjustment for the 2011-12 contract period.

Consequently, the total "retroactive raises" for UFT members should be 17.6%.  That means that a teacher at the top of the payroll scale would receive a raise of $17,685 for a top pay  of $117,658 still far below the New York suburbs. While the "newbies" will see the starting salary increase from $45,530 to $53,543, in line with the surrounding suburbs.

Regardless of who is Mayor, these contracts will include "retroactive pay" and we should all look forward for the end of the Bloomberg destructive education policy and the demonizing of our profession.  What better way to celebrate than with a much deserved significant pays raise that will go a long way to heal our wounds.

The Unsatisfactory Observation Of Deputy Chancelllor Shael Polakow-Suransky's Presentation Of The Teacher Evaluation System.

One very unlucky high school in Queens was subjected to a professional development day that was straight out of hell.  The primary part was for the school's unfortunate teachers to listen and see a very boring and hard to understand presentation by Deputy Chancellor Shael Polakow-Suransky about the teacher evaluation system and the Danielson framework.  The school's teachers were forced to listen to a two hour lecture that bored them silly.  By the end of the video presentation, teachers were more confused then ever.  In fact one Assistant Principal said that if he was to rate the Deputy Chancellor's presentation, he would give him an "unsatisfactory observation".

Teachers I spoke to said that his presentation put them to sleep, made them laugh with ironic humor because of how bad it was, and the audience were just wishing when would it be over.  Imagine, the Deputy Chancellor of the Division of Academics, Performance, and Support putting the entire school's teaching staff to sleep and bored to death.  Is it any wonder that the Assistant Principal would have given the Deputy Chancellor an "unsatisfactory observation"?  

The good news is that the days are numbered for the leadership at Tweed and a hopefully, a more sympathetic leadership takes control in less than 200 days. Many of the people in power positions at the DOE will be forced to resign or leave for jobs with the ed deformer organizations.   Let's hope that the other schools will not be subject to the boring and terrible presentation by the soon-departing Shael Polakow-Suransky. We suffer enough than sit through a presentation that has been universally panned by teachers and assistant principals who saw it.

Comptroller John Liu Says That He Would Honor The Previous "City Pattern" And Gets My Vote For Mayor.

On June 12th, in an interview  Democratic candidate Comptroller John Liu made it clear that he would honor the previous "City pattern" for the teachers (UFT), supervisors (CSA), and  nurses (NYSNA).  The three unions that were shafted by Mayor Bloomberg.  Mr. Liu is the only candidate to agree to give the "City pattern", two 4% raises to the three unions.  Mr. Liu went on to say his previous statement that the retroactive raises would need to be negotiated on the City's financial condition was with regard to the retroactive 2011-12 contracts and not the 2009-10 contracts. In fact, Mr Liu has shown that he would review and rollback the more controversial aspects of Mayor Bloomberg's school policy.such as control of the PEP and changes to Mayoral control.

Mr Liu also took on the charter school movement by making those schools pay rent to City buildings and opposes co-locations.  Mr Liu  also showed his willingness to eliminate the phony school grades and his auditing of the useless "Children First Networks", that siphon money from the schools that they are supposed to serve.

It was  Comptroller John Liu who exposed all the consultant corruption in the schools and the City that Bill Thompson failed to do.  The big prize being the "CityTime  payroll timekeeping project". Finally, John Liu has proven to be a friend of the New York City Public Schools by donating computers to  a special education school in his district when the DOE refused and giving technology to a large high school that the DOE shortchanged.  Mr. Liu has stated that he can save $15 billion by cutting unnecessary consultants and contracting that is a hallmark of the Bloomberg Administration.  This would easily pay for union raises and increase the police force by 5,000.

Mr Liu has been endorsed by DC 37, Communication Workers of America, the Elecirical Workers and many other smaller unions.   Therefore, the UFT should follow their lead and endorse Comptroller Liu for Mayor.

MY VOTE IS FOR COMPTROLLER JOHN LIU - TRULY A FRIEND OF THE NYC PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS!

The Evaluator For The Teacher Evaluation System And PIP+.

 One of the more ominous aspects of the newly imposed teacher evaluation system is the requirement of an evaluator for the "ineffective teacher". The new teacher evaluation system will provide an "evaluator" for the "unlucky 87%" who were rated "ineffective" by the DOE.  These "evaluators" will evaluate and try to improve the teaching ability of the "ineffective teachers".  This sound good and UFT Michael Mulgrew considered it a win for the union.  However, the new "evaluators" will be come from independent companies that are paid by the DOE.  Sounds familiar?  It should be because that is how the Peer Intervention Program Plus (PIP+) works.  Yes, the very same PIP+ that has resulted in a greater than a 90% rate upholding teacher incompetence.

The problem with having an "evaluator"  is that just like the PIP+ person. the "evaluator" will not actually model an effective lesson for the teacher in the teacher's class or provide real guidance to the teacher on handling classroom management.  Instead the "evaluator" will evaluate the teacher and give suggestions without actually showing the teacher what works and what doesn't for the class. Worse, the "evaluator" will report back to the Principal and the teacher will have no clue what was discussed.

Based upon the latest pilot study, approximately 6% of all  teachers were rated "ineffective".  That means in the New York City schools of 72,000 teachers, .that 4,320 teachers annually will be rated "ineffective" and since 87% of them will end up with an "evaluator" and if the PIP+ statistics (92%) are any indicator, then it is quite possible that the average annual teacher termination rate would be around 3,500.

Finally, unlike PIP+ which is voluntary, even ifr the union didn't tell you that, the teacher evaluation system "evaluator" is required and it gives the DOE an opportunity to rid themselves of both good and bad teachers and despite what Commissioner John King said./  The DOE will try to fire their way into academic success and ultimately fail as usual.  If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it is a duck and the "evaluator" is simply PIP+ by another name.

The DOE Exempts Charter Schools From Its Rule On In-House Regents Grading.

This year the DOE has mandated that all Regents be graded outside the schools and by a central grading group unaffiliated with the school.   While that seems fair since the New York Post did expose that the schools that sent out their Regents grades last year showed a significant reduction in scores.  Now all schools will have their Regents graded outside the school.  Sounds like the DOE is being fair right?  Except the DOE has quietly exempted the charter schools from the new Regents grading requirement.  That's correct,  The charter schools will be grading their own Regents in-house.

The question is why did the DOE exempt the charter schools from the new Regents requirement to outsource the grading?   The only possible answer is that the DOE intentionally want the potential grade inflation that are associated with in-house grading to show that the charter schools are doing well when compared to the public schools.  To me, there is no other explanation.

 In other words, while the  DOE will not tolerate potential grade inflation and even cheating from the public schools in Regents scoring and therefore it was outsouced but it's all right for the charter schools to continue to be exempt from the DOE rules when it comes to grading the Regents.

Thanks to the Gary Rubinstein blog for exposing another case of the DOE favoritism for charter schools, be it co-location, student discipline,  or educational requirements  at the expense of the public schools and their students.

Why Teacher Tenure Is Important - The Unfortunate Case Of Paraprofessional Sheila De La Cruz

I have been following the unfortunate case of Sheila De La Cruz and the lesson I learned is why teacher tenure is so important.  The New York Post printed an article of Ms. De La Cruz appealing her firing after receiving a "due consideration hearing" which is simply a termination proceeding.  You see paraprofessionals have no tenure and when accused by a student of inappropriate actions, are usually in danger of losing his or her job.

What was Ms. Cruz accused of?  She sent too many calls and text messages with the high school special education student she was working with.  According to the investigation there were 57 such calls and texts.  However, before you think that there were too many, you should know the student is a difficult child with many absences which resulted in Ms. De La Cruz to text or call the boy about his absences and behavior.  In fact, part of Ms. Cruz's job was to provide "outreach" to the student which means texting and contacting the student and the house.  Moreover, once the boy got hold of Ms.De La  Cruz's cell phone he downloaded a picture of Ms. Cruz wearing only a thong and showing her bare back, nothing any more revealing than what the New York Post and Daily News publish almost daily.  Therefore, many of those calls and texts were about the student's demand of $3,000 for not notifying his mother. 

The only fault Ms. De La Cruz did was not reporting the theft of the photo immediately since the photo did not expose any inappropriate parts of her body. Her timely reporting of the theft may have not resulted in her termination.  Regardless, why she was terminated when there was no sexual touching or propositioning is troubling and in the "kangaroo court" of the DOE you are guilty and never innocent.

That brings me to the "teacher evaluation system" where two consecutive "ineffective ratings" will result in almost automatic termination of the teacher since the burden of proof will be on the teacher to show that they are not "ineffective" and only the lucky 13% will have an independent Arbitrator to show that their "ineffective rating" was unjust.  As for the other 87%?  Just read about what happened to Ms. Sheila De La Cruz to see their fate.

The DOE Admits That Poverty Affects Student Academic Achievement, Despite Their Rhetoric That It Doesn't.

The New York Post published an article that stated that 150  schools who had their Regents graded outside their schools showed a significant decline in passing rates ranging from 6.7% in Living Environment to 3.9% for U.S. History.  Smaller drops were reported for English 2.1% and Math 1.7%.   More disturbingly were the large drops in the following schools:

•  Choir Academy of Harlem -34%
• Brooklyn Theatre Arts  HS -24%
• Victory Collegiate HS        -23%
• School For Social Change -20%
• Science Skills HS            -19%

At the Brooklyn Theatre Arts High School in Canarsie in 2011 77% of the students passed the U.S. History Regents in 2011 but when the 2012 Regents were graded outside the school, only 21% passed the Regents.  The same happened at the Choir Academy of Harlem, where in 2011 66% passed compared to 13% in 2012.

These incredible drops were found after New York City, under pressure from the State about shady scoring practices, selected the 150 schools to be scored centrally rather than have the scoring done in the school.  While the average reduction in passing rates of the 150 schools were not terrible, with the exceptions listed above, the reductions were significant.   While some of the drops can be attributed to teachers sympathetic to their school's students and are able to understand the student's intent in writing the essays and the use of English teachers grading ESL students, the incredably large drops in some schools can only mean one thing.  Yes, these schools had some very questionable scoring methods to boost the student passing rates on the Regents.  In other words, the school cheated!

Interestingly, TWEED who blame teachers and not poverty or their asinine policies on poor student academic achievement blamed the astoundingly large drop in Regents passing scores in these high schools on their high poverty student population.  In other words they admit that poverty affects student academic achievement despite their rhetoric  I guess student poverty only counts when it brings into question the DOE's letter grades and learning environment surveys.

The bottom line is now that all high schools will have their Regents graded independently, outside the school, how much will the Regents grade drop Citywide?  I predict it will be significant and the largest drops will occur in high poverty schools as poverty does matter in a student's academic achievement.

The Union Attemps To Make Lemonade Out Of A Lemon And Fails When It Came To The Teacher Evaluation System.

I almost laughed out loud when I read Michael Mulgrew's letter telling us how we won in the battle with the DOE on teacher evaluations.  According to the Mulgrew memo we enhanced our "due process rights",  a choice how many observations we are subject to,  have 22 instead of the DOE seven rubrics that a teacher must demonstrate in their lesson,  a weaker student survey score, and finally a teacher rated "ineffective" will have an evaluator. Let's take each union victory claim and see if it stands up to scrutiny.

"Due Process Rights":  Yes, the State agreed with the UFT appeals process but this process is in front of a DOE kangaroo court that, in the past, upholds almost 100% of the "U" ratings.  Only the "lucky 13%" will have an independent Arbitrator look at the "ineffective ratings"  With the new teacher evaluation system two consecutive "ineffective ratings" will almost surly result in termination since "the burden of proof "will be on the teacher and not how it is presently under State 3020-a law, where "the burden of proof "is on the DOE. Enhanced?  I think not.

Observations:  The two choices allows for the administration to do an unannounced observation and is a "gotcha  moment" by administrators to catch teachers unprepared.  Furthermore, there will be more observations then before and if the teacher is stupid enough to allow the administration to videotape their lesson then that teacher deserves to be terminated. Finally, the Principal has up to 90 days to write an e-mail of the observation and does not require the Principal to have an in-person discussion.  If anybody believes this is a win, they are delusional or on drugs.

Danielson Framework:  How can anybody believe that having an administrator rate you on 22 specific rubrics using the Dainelson Framework is a win is unbelievable.  The Danielson Framework will result in many teachers being terminated as the DOE will use the most stringent and rigorous interpretation to destroy a teacher's career. Some win!

Student Surveys:  Interesting how John King allowed student surveys to be part of the teacher evaluation but refused to have teacher surveys used for a Principal evaluation.  That's a real win right Michael?

The evaluator: Michael Mulgrew hailed this as a win but the evaluator seems more like PIP+ and past statistics show an over 90% termination rate under PIP+.  I hope we don't have many more wins like that Mr. Mulgrew?

Let the union spin the defeat and claim that the lemon is really lemonade but the truth is it has a bitter taste in my mouth and no amount of sugar will convince me that it wasn't a DOE win and a UFT loss.

Why Experience Counts When Hiring Teachers.

It's time for the Open Market Transfer System (OMTS) when teachers look for positions that better suit them or just looking for a change of scenery. Unfortunately, in the last two terms of the Bloomberg Administration few experienced teachers were considered by principals for their vacancies and "who can blame them"?  Since experienced teachers cost more money to the school, thanks to the unfair "fair student funding formula" imposed on the schools by the DOE. However, these principals are being "short sighted" and  doing a disservice to the students of their school when they practice "education on the cheap" by hiring inexperienced or "newbie teachers" instead of the "best teachers" to meet the ever increasing academic requirements such as "Common Core".

Why is it important for principals to hire experienced teachers?  Let me count the ways.

First, it's important for a teacher to have a deep knowledge of the curriculum he or she is teaching.  Without this understanding of the topic, the teacher can only scratch the surface and make it more difficult for the students to succeed academically, especially with "Common Core" being implemented in the schools.

Second, An experienced teacher has a track record and any Principal who cares to investigate the teacher's ability in the classroom can easily do so and decide if that teacher is appropriate for their school.  Inexperienced and "newbie teachers" do not have such a track record and when a Principal hires an inexperienced teacher for their school it's a "crap-shoot" to say the least and a good 50% of the time it will be "snake eyes" with th students losing...

Third, the most difficult part of teaching is "classroom management" and it takes years for inexperienced teachers to master the skills necessary to maintain discipline in the classroom. On the other hand, experienced teachers have "been their and done that" and are usually proficient in the difficult art of "classroom management".

Fourth, no Principal wants their students to become "guinea pigs" as the inexperienced teacher struggles through an unfamiliar curriculum and try to maintain classroom discipline at the same time. This steep learning curve for the teacher puts the students at a disadvantage academically to their peers who are fortunate to have an experienced teacher.  However, many principals do just that by hiring the inexperienced teacher, usually becuse of their school's budget.

Finally, an experienced teacher brings maturity and stability to the school and their experience can be used to mentor the inexperienced teacher in the many complicated skills it takes to run a classroom.

To New York City principals, the question I ask you?  Do you want the "best" or "cheapest"  teachers to lead the school's students and which would you want for your own children?  Ponder my question carefully when you are tempted to hire an inexperienced  teacher to save a few shekels.  Remember the saying "penny wise dollar foolish" when you play the game that will result in hurting student academic outcomes, known to all as  "education on the cheap"