While The Schools Are Forced To Cut Their Budget by 5%, Tweed Just Continues To Increase Their Head Count.

The economic crises have forced the schools to reduce their budget by 5% for the Spring semester. No exceptions. However, the proposed 10% cut from the DOE outside the schools do not come from Tweed but primarily come from the District Offices or the Integrated Service Centers. In fact, the head count at Tweed has increased by almost 100 people since January of 2008 and 22% since October of 2004. Most of these increases come from the Office of Accountability, Budget, Legal Services, and The Chancellor's Office. How can Tweed justify increasing their head count while the rest of the DOE and schools must suffer cuts of between 5-10%? The answer is quite simple. It is because Tweed's bloated bureaucracy is not held accountable for their actions by the Bloomberg Administration. Interestingly, the only real reduction at Tweed is at the Deputy Chancellor's Office of Teaching and Learning where the staff has been reduced from 133 in 2004 to 23, the one office where education practices are actually understood.

The Daily News reported on how some of Tweed's programs saw an almost fivefold increase of bureaucrats while forcing the students to have fewer staff or services in the schools. That is unconscionable and just shows how much contempt Tweed has for the students in the school system, A graph by Gotham Schools also show the increase in the Tweed headcount while the Field Offices were forced to reduce staff.

While the school system suffers devastating cuts the Central Bureaucracy at Tweed just seems to keep increasing. "Children Last" continues.....

DOE Continues To Put Unqualified Non-Educators In Charge Of Education

District 75 is a very expensive district in the New York City Public Schools. The district provides services for the most needy of special education students and these services can result in a tripling of costs for these students. So what did Tweed do to District 75? It put one of their non-educators in charge of it. Garth Harries, a Tweed insider, who has been previously in charge of the disastrous small schools program and class size issues is now in charge of District 75 despite having no experience whatsoever in special education. In fact, the only experience Garth Harreis has in special education was his directive that the small schools did not have to take special education students in for the first two years of their existence. Hence, a policy of exclusion of the most needy students. Now Tweed has put him in charge of these very students he excluded from the small schools.

The placing of Garth Harries, with no special education credentials and now in charge of District 75 smells to high heaven and just raises suspicions that the DOE's marching orders are to reduce the cost of services to the most needy students. How this will be done I cannot say but since we are in a budget crises I'm sure Tweedy have some ideas about how to cut the District 75 budget. Already some District 75 teachers have been told by Administrators not to remind parents that their children are eligible for a mini bus. If the parent does not request one the student will be assigned a regular school bus at less cost. I suspect under Garth Harries many more cost cutting programs will be developed at the expense of the special education student.

"Children Last" continues......

Under Klein & Bloomberg Class Sizes Continue To Increase

It is one of the most important items when it comes to getting a quality education, that is class size. It is well documented that small class sizes result in improved academic achievement. However, in the seven years of the Bloomberg administration class sizes have not been reduced significantly despite money from the CFE lawsuit. This year class sizes have actually increased and New York City suffers from the largest class sizes in the State.Furthermore, under Klein & Bloomberg do not look for class size relief anytime soon. Despite parents, teachers, and education experts who have linked smaller class sizes to academic improvements the Bloomberg administration rather spend their money on suspect data collection programs and a one-size-fits-all classroom instruction project without teacher input. Further, under Klein & Bloomberg there is an increasing reliance on non-educators and in particular lawyers to implement the many dubious programs that has increased paperwork threefold and worsened the classroom environment. In the New York Times article the DOE put the blame on Principals for the increase in class sizes. If that is the case then why haven't Tweed removed those Principals that allowed for an increase in class sizes? The reason is quite simple the "Fair Student Funding" formula and DOE imposed budget restrictions on the schools limited the options many Principals have. Moreover, the Principal's own poor choices exasperated the situation such as spending precious funds on unnecessary Professional Development programs, hiring of "F" status administrators, and hosting costly functions that drain the school's budget. Where is the accountability to the parents, students, and teachers on what is best for the children? The real story is that the Principals are only accountable to Tweed and few Principals are reprimanded when they piss off the school population as long as they are in the good graces of the DOE. The UFT press release discusses the class size issue further.

Instead of reducing class size Klein & Bloomberg have found a way to waste $140 million a year in CFE funds and increase class size and with the proposed budget things can only get worse."Children Last" continues.

The DOE's Rigid Use Of The "Worshop Model" Has Resulted In Poor Student Preformance And Charges Of Teacher Incompetence

The not so great minds at Tweed have mandated that classroom instruction should rigidly follow the "Workshop Model" with little or no adjustments to account for the teacher style or student population. In many schools the Administrators actually micromanage the teachers to ensure complete compliance to the "Workshop Model". In the diverse NYC Public school system to use a "one-size-fits-all- approach" is dangerous for student learning. Remember, students are not widgets and teachers are not cogs. Different learning styles should be approached with a variety of teaching techniques. However, in today's DOE this opinion cannot be found, especially among the top bureaucrats.

What is wrong with the "Workshop Model"? Let me count the ways. The workshop model was developed with a moderate sized class sizes and with a homogeneous academic group of students. A very different reality then what we have in our schools where academically poor students are intermixed with ELA and academically proficient students..The UFT back in 2005 wrote about its problems in the secondary schools Here! Further, the "Workshop Model" has some very real weaknesses. First, it is not geared to individualized learning which makes its use for ELA and special education students a serious problem. Second, the "Workshop Model" allows for too much socialization within the student groups and classroom management issues. Finally, the "Workshop Model" inhibits creative learning and individualized instruction, the neediest students are left behind!

The DOE's blind rigidity to the "Workshop Model" is not what the author intended. In a statement at a teachers workshop Lucy Calkins [one of the leaders of the balanced literacy movement] dropped in to talk to us at a recent workshop. She said the workshop model was not to be used for all teaching and thought it was crazy to teach a social studies lesson in 10 minutes. She also restated that balanced literacy is based on teachers making their own decisions about what their students need. The suggested mini-lessons were only meant to help teachers until they learned the balanced literacy methods." The quote was found in the newspaper article Here . I guess the DOE forgot that part of it.

What is even more nefarious is how the Workshop Model" is being used to determine veteran teachers incompetent. There is a directed movement by the TPU to bring incompetence charges on these teachers based upon the "Workshop Model". It is almost laughable that a misused educational program is being used to determine teacher incompetence. However, it is true.

The union should immediately attack the rigid application of the "Workshop Model" and tear apart the DOE in trying to pin teacher incompetence by its use. No other respond is acceptable.

My Take Of The Upcoming City Budget On Education

The draconian NYC budget by Mayor Bloomberg and the cronies at Tweed tried to make the case that it would lay off 15,000 teachers. Of course since these teachers would be "newbie teachers" the Bloomberg Administration was just shouting empty threats. However, what is real are the cuts to the schools. Already Principals are looking. to find out which teachers are retiring or leaving the system and what programs to eliminate.

Look for teacher positions who have non-classroom duties to be eliminated and yes, those "F" status people to be few as Principals just can't afford them. Finally, per-session activities will be vastly reduced and many clubs will cease to exist. The result is a bare bones school environment and even less enrichment programs that keep studens on the right path to adulthood.

However, these cuts will not affect Tweed where the Central Administration will continue requiring more paperwork using a poorly run computer system that costs millions of dollars and costly, time-consuming mandates by non-educators. Like usual it is "children last" when it comes to either cutting the school budget or the Bureaucracy at Tweed.





Sorry, I have not blogged for three weeks but issues beyond my control required my full attention.

The DOE Double Standard Continues As Administrators Are Given A Free Pass When Threatening And Telling Second Graders To Lie

The DOE continues treating their Administrators quite differently when allegations of misconduct are found to have occurred. Take the case of the administrators at PS70 in the Bronx. In their zeal to file misconduct charges against a teacher, the Administrators allegedly interrogated 20 frightened second graders and forced them to write written statements about their teacher. They were also accused of threatening the students with suspensions if they told their parents and bribed them with promises about going to McDonald's. However, the Administrators' actions did not go unnoticed. The New York Post was contacted by an outraged parent and reported on it Here.

According to the New York Post article the Administrators involved appears to have violated Chancellor's regulations A-420 (corporal punishment) and A-421 (Verbal abuse). The Administrators' actions meet the A-420 definition of

"NO CORPORAL PUNISHMENT SHALL BE INFLICTED IN ANY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, NOR PUNISHMENT OF ANY KIND TENDING TO CAUSE EXCESSIVE FEAR OR PHYSICAL OR MENTAL DISTRESS. VIOLATION OF THIS BYLAW SHALL CONSTITUTE GROUNDS FOR DISMISSAL".


Furthermore, there interrogation techniques of both threatening and bribing the students violated A-421 found below

"Verbal abuse is not corporal punishment but includes any language that tends to cause fear or physical or mental distress of a student".

Despite apparently violating the two Chancellor regulations, have these Administrators been removed from the school? Of course not. According to the DOE they are currently investigating the accusation. If this was a teacher? The "rubber room" awaits but because they are Administrators, they are presumed innocent and look for this to result in a verbal reprimand and a burial of any adverse actions against the Administrators.

The DOE double standard continues and the beat down of teachers just goes on.

Why The NYC Public Schools Will Continue To Fail As Long As Joel Klein & His Non-Educators At Tweed Are In Charge

I am truly sick of reading those subway signs that say that the NYC schools are improving when the truth is otherwise, Under Chancellor Klein's rule it has become increasingly difficult to effectively teach in the classroom and much needed money is used for a bloated overhead, a failed computer system, and the flavor of the day Charter/small schools. Under our anti-teacher Chancellor and his non-educator minions at Tweed all the alleged academic advances are based upon "smoke and mirrors". When the data is scrutinized, it is obvious that these phony academic advances are based upon dumbed-down New York State tests, restricting learning of other subjects outside of Math & English, and continuous test preparation. Even then there is still no academic improvement according to the national NAEP and SAT tests. Let's look at why I believe under Joel Klein there will be no improvement in real academic achievement in the New York City Schools.

Recruitment over Retention of Teachers: It is a well known fact that Joel Klein has encouraged schools to hire "newbie teachers" and uses the "fair student funding" formula to limit Principals in hiring experienced and highly paid teachers. Many of the small and Charter scho0ls are known to have staff that is almost entirely staffed by first and second year teachers.
The learning curve for these teachers are steep and combined with classroom management and curriculum problems make these teachers ineffective. Further, according to statistics less than 50% of the teachers will be in the New York City school system by their fifth year. Combined with the alternate certification programs such as "Teach for America" and "Teaching Fellows", many of these teachers are clueless in the classroom and the result is a poor student learning environment.

Leadership Academy Principals: Gone are the days when many Principals rose through the ranks from senior teacher, to become an Assistant Principal, and finally as a well-respected Principal. Now many of the Principals have little or no classroom experience and fail to understand what it is like in the classroom. These Principals cannot or will not work collaboratively with their teaching staff and with the Principal now having total control of their schools, it is run more as a dictatorship than as a smooth working relationship that improves both student and teacher morale.

Workshop Model and other One-Size-Fits-All Programs: Once the classroom was the teacher's domain. Only the teacher could decide the best way to reach her students academically. Now Treed treats the students as widgets and the teachers as cogs as if the schools are an assembly line. Many experienced teachers are forced to follow these wasteful and unimaginative programs under threat of insubordination or incompetence charges.

Large Class Size Problems: The New York City Schools have the largest class sizes in the State and despite winning a lawsuit to reduce class size. Klein has used the budget crises to ignore the court order. Rather than reduce class size, Tweed has continued to waste money on the $81 million dollar AIRS system that still doesn't work right, increased his accountability staff, and added more lawyers to file 3020-a charges to terminate teachers for alleged incompetence. An example of this is the $1 million dollar plus Teacher Performance Unit.

Small & Charter Schools: The start up costs for these schools wastes precious money when the school system is desperately short of funds to retain their existing programs and staff. In the long run most of these schools are destined to fail once the excluded students (ESL, Special Ed, and level one discipline problems) are required to be accepted by the school. These schools already experience high teacher turnover and lack experienced teachers with good classroom management skills.

Phony Graduation Rates: The DOE high school graduation rates do not reflect the real graduation rate. The DOE graduate includes the "credit recovery system" that allows students who fail to go to classes to give a couple of essays for a passing grade. Furthermore, today's Principals have changed many a failing grade to passing without the teacher's permission or knowledge to increase the school's graduation rate. Finally, these very same Principals pressure the teacher in giving a failing senior a passing grade to get the student out of the school.

Lack of Transparency at The DOE: It is well known that the DOE lacks transparency and accepts no input from parents, students, or teachers in their decision making. This lack of transparency allows the non-educators at Tweed to decide which of their pet programs can be pushed onto the schools and it does not matter that these programs don't help the students academically and costs the school much needed funds.

Poor Teacher Morale: Under Chancellor Joel Klein teacher morale is at an all time low with the Chancellor's Regulations restricting the disciplining of students while allowing student accusations to cause the removal and possible termination of the teacher. Further, the increase in paperwork allows the classroom teacher with little time to work on new and innovative ideas, even if they were allowed. Finally, the lack of a grievance threat allows the administrators to write as many Letters-To-The-File (LIF) without consequences.

Obama or no Obama, with Chancellor Joel Klein in charge, don't look for any improvement in improving the academics in the New York City Public School system.

Children Last continues......

DOE's Children Last Program - When A Large School Is Closed & Replaced By Small Schools

Accountable Talk wrote about one of the DOE gimmicks in closing large high schools and bringing in small schools. Therefore, lets go a step further and look at what is happening at a closing large high school. Lets call the school Hoover High. Originally Hoover High was a struggling large comprehensive high school that serviced the low and working class neighborhood it was located in. With a student population of approximately 2,800 students, the school offered a comprehensive academic curriculum and various extra-curricular activities. This included a wide and varied sports program and many clubs. However, the non-educators at Tweed had other ideas for the academically struggling school. They decided to close the school and put four small schools in the building while still leaving the remaining students of Hoover High to graduate out of the closing school. This sharing of dwindling resources, as the total student population dropped to 900, bickering between administrators and staff resulted in a very unsettled transition and accusations of favoritism. Worse, was that the five Principals could not work together and many extra-curricular activities were starved for funding and many of these programs were eliminated. Even updating the school library and obtaining gym equipment could not be completed because of the bickering Principals. Moreover, the new schools have "Leadership Academy Principals" and almost all the teachers hired by these Principals were either Teach For America (TFA) or Teaching Fellows, all "newbie teachers". Very few experienced teachers wanted to or were selected by the insecure Principals to work in these new small schools. The result, a rise in student discipline issues, classroom management problems, and a high teacher turnover (see graphs above). Finally, the small schools have not only limited enrollment but limited course selection and with inexperienced teachers who don't understand the curriculum, many of them not certified in the subjects they are expected to teach in. These small schools are fated to be a dismal failure once the two year exemption of excluding special education, ELA, and disruptive level one eighth graders are eliminated.

The DOE rather than bring in more resources to the struggling Hoover High and strengthen the student discipline code to ensure disruptive students no longer could terrorize students and staff alike instead threw out the "baby with the bath water" with the establishment of the "flavor of the day" small schools at the expense of a truly comprehensive educational experience with the closing of Hoover High. Children Last continues.....

Thanks to Eduwonkette for the use of her graphs.

Why Are There No Consequences To The OSI & SCI Investigators When They Are Caught In A Lie By The Arbitrator?

In the 3020-a hearings the investigators from the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) and the Special Commissioner of Investigations (SCI) come in and testify against the teacher. In many cases their testimony is tainted by their poor investigation techniques that intimidate and lead scared students to give inaccurate and embellished statements that can help terminate the teacher. Further, these investigators will deliberately change or distort statements and events and feel no remorse that they did this.

These biased and flawed OSI & SCI reports are used by the DOE to file 3020-a termination charges against teachers. However, if the teacher is tenured the teacher due process rights kick in and the DOE must prove these charges with real evidence. It is at the 3020-a hearing that the problems with the investigator reports are found. When the investigator reads his report the NYSUT lawyer can rebut the report's findings and in many cases, especially SCI reports, find real holes and even lies in it. However, while the Arbitrator can let the DOE lawyer know how displeased she is with the investigator's report. Nothing will happen to the investigator. How many times do I hear that the OSI or SCI investigator gets caught in their own contradictions by either the NYSUT lawyer and Arbitrator only to have the DOE brush it off as if it is nothing. If the teacher is caught in a lie, expect termination but if the investigators lie , well better luck next time.

By the way SCI has maintained time and again that they are an independent agency and are not beholden to the DOE. However, who pays the Special Commissioner Of Investigations his salary and the SCI investigator salaries? Right! The DOE. You can find it here. You just can't make this up.

The New Underhanded & Sleazy DOE Policy To Get Teachers To Resign On The Spot

The DOE in their never ending search to find ways to get veteran teachers to leave the system has came up with a new procedure to do just that. Tweed's Teacher Performance Unit (TPU). Otherwise known as the "firing squad" or gotcha squad" has come up with a sleazy procedure to railroad and pressure teachers accused of incompetance into resigning. The TPU has sent a resignation form to the Principals' that allows the teacher to resign on the spot and our union has not objected to this sleazy program. How does this new procedure to get rid of teachers work?

It starts with the Principal "U" rating the teacher for the first year. Then during the second year the Administration gives the poor teacher "U" observations. The teacher is given the Peer Intervention Program (PIP) and despite sometimes glowing reports, the Principal "U" rates the teacher for the second year. During the third year, the "U" observations pile up and the teacher is given the DOE termination program called PIP+. Usually given by an F status administrator or teacher who relies on the DOE supported income and won't go against the Principal. Finally, the Principal, with another administrator will call in the unsuspecting teacher, sometimes without the Chapter Leader since it is not a disciplinary hearing and offers the teacher a deal. The deal is as follows:

" If the teacher signs the resignation paper, handed to the teacher at the meeting, the Principal will remove the "U" ratings and give the teacher an "S" rating for the previous two years and the current year. Further, the DOE will give a neutral recommendation to other school systems. Finally, the teacher will be reassigned out of the school and be paid for the rest of the school year. Of course the resignation paper states that the teacher cannot work for the DOE ever again. If the teacher refuses to sign the resignation paper the Principal falsely claims that the teacher will be brought up on expedited 3020-a charges and go after not only the City license but the State license as well and that the teacher will be terminated before the school year is over."

This scare tactic frightens the teacher and without guidance some teachers sign their careers away. The reality is that if the teacher properly refuses to sign the resignation paper here is the most likely scenario that would ensue. The Principal will file 3020-a charges for incompetence and the teacher will be reassigned. In two to three months, maybe longer, the 3020 charges will be given to the teacher. Three to six months after receiving the charges the teacher will be assigned a NYSUT lawyer, free of charge, by the union and a 3020-a arbitrator will be assigned. Between six and 12 months after receiving the lawyer & arbitrator, the teacher will finally have a pre-hearing where it is quite likely the DOE lawyer will offer the teacher a settlement by paying a fine of between $2,500 -$6,000 and a course without going through a 3020-a hearing. If no such settlement is offered, expect the 3020-a hearing to last six months or more before it ends. Because transcripts from Albany are very slow in coming, an Arbitrator's decision could take another three month or more. That means from the time the teacher is reassigned from the school to the arbitrator's decision expect it to be a minimum of 20 months and in most cases it is over two years! Finally, very few teachers are terminated for incompetence and the teacher is eventually reassigned to another school as an ATR.

Why our union allows the DOE to get away with this deception is mind-boggling. The district reps should be telling the Chapter Leaders to make sure that no teacher sign a resignation paper and encourage them to fight the charges. Instead it seems that the union takes a neutral position and leaves the teacher on her own with no guidance and the likely scenario if the teacher does not sign the resignation paper. It appears to me the union is aiding and abetting Tweed's sleazy teacher resignation program by keeping the hapless and targeted teacher ignorant of their options if they fight the charges.

Shame on Tweed for their underhanded ways to pressure teachers to resign and the union for allowing this DOE program to exist without putting up a fight.

Note: I am pretty much disappointed that many of my fellow bloggers have not commented on this serious new development on how to get teachers to resign in the school. We need to put the union on notice that they must have meetings to inform teachers about this new DOE action plan. I understand that Edwize and Leo Casey could care less about the classroom teacher but we do care and this issue can affect us all!

My New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year's and I have some personal and not so personal New Year's resolutions. My personal resolutions are:

1. Lose fifteen pounds and exercise more.
2. Be a more attentive husband.
3. Keep my credit rating high.
4. Listen more and react less to things I don't agree with.
5. Get into Financial Planning as my next and final career change before retirement.

My not so personal resolutions deal with those anti-teacher villains Joel Klein and Michael Bloomberg and their DOE cohorts. Further, to put our union leaders' feet to the fire by making sure teacher rights and due process are protected. No more givebacks or negotiations behind the backs of the rank and file.

1. Keep my blog going and continue to show the problems with the DOE and UFT when teacher rights are abused.
2. Identify the hypocrisy at the DOE and UFT (a full time job).
   
3. Bring transparency to the process. It is the lack of transparency that allows the DOE and our union to ride roughshod over us.
4. Change the Chancellor's Regulations to include Teacher rights in disciplinary matters.
   
5. Stop the DOE abuse of the 3020-a process against teachers.
6. Limit SCI investigations to felony/criminal issues or major misconduct that should be specifically defined. The witch hunts need to stop.
   
7. Demand a truly independent investigation before a teacher is removed from a school, especially for Chapter Leaders.
8. Allow teachers to determine the best method to educate their students in the classroom rather than the one-shoe-fits-all method that does not work.
9. Allow a representative of all UFT caucuses to have input into any negotiations. This will ensure that the rank-and-file's wishes are accounted for.
10. Bring back teacher input into school operations and staff selection.
11. Have administrators be treated the same as teachers when under investigation.
12. Make the union go after Principals from hell rather than just complaining about them.
13. Bring back democratic elections for all union posts, especially for district reps.

I expect that my personal resolutions will be met. However, the not so personal resolutions will be an ongoing struggle and with all of us united maybe some of them will be realized.

Let's all hope 2009 will be a good year for the NYC public school teacher.

What I Would Like The Union To Work On For 2009

We all have New Year's resolutions. Some are kept, some are wishful thinking. Here are the ones I would like the union to try to keep. I have found that our current union leaders have been unresponsive to the rank and file and have abandoned the reassigned teacher. Further, their lack of democratic transparency has resulted in secret agreements with the DOE that either had no input from or went against the wishes of the teachers affected by the agreement. Examples of this are the 2005 contract, the rubber room and ATR agreements. However, here is what I would like the union to do for the teachers in 2009.

• A new contract that have no givebacks whatsoever. Even if it a two-year 4% first year and 0% second year raise. Under no circumstances, no pension or health benefit givebacks!

• Any negotiated agreement that must include teachers affected by the negotiations.
  

• An agreement that all ATRs will be placed in their subject area before a Principal can hire a new teacher.

• Allow classroom teachers to determine the best method to teach their students. " Let teachers teach".

• Allow teacher discretion on how to discipline disruptive students without the threat of the teacher being removed. In other words. Give back teacher rights in the Chancellor's Regulations.

• Have an independent investigative process for Chapter Leaders and Administrator accusations that are paid for by both sides. Not the unfair and biased OSI and SCI investigations that assume teacher guilt and administrator innocence. Teacher removals should also be determined by this same investigative process.
  

• Limit SCI investigations to felony issues such as stealing of funds and serious sexual misconduct.
  

• Lower class sizes to the average in the rest of New York State.

• Give us back the right to grieve Letters To The File.

The bottom line is it is time for the union to fight for our due process rights and a safe environment in the classroom for the teacher.

Betsy Combier Is A Real Heroine Who Helps Reassigned Teachers In Their 3020-a Hearings

Many of the UFT officials, especially, the "Unity Faction", has been slammed in my posts and rightly so. Starting with the terrible 2005 contract, the ATR mess, and the terrible morale in the classrooms. However, I will point out one heroine who works long hours in support of teachers. Her name is Betsy Combier.

Betsy Combier who is a parent advocate became involved in the reassigned teacher plight and vowed to help any teacher as they prepared for their 3020-a hearing. Betsy has attended many of the 3020-a hearings as a guest of the teacher and her valuable insight in the 3020-a process is important for any teacher facing their hearings. By attending the teacher 3020-a hearings she provides the teacher and his/her lawyer an extra set of eyes and ears and helps them spot discrepancies in the DOE testimony. She is quite friendly with many of the arbitrators and can help the teacher and lawyer in their argument in front of these arbitrators. Further, she is a sympathetic voice to traumatized teachers, especially, in the Brooklyn and Manhattan TRCs, where she is the authorized UFT representative from headquarters.

Betsy Combier spends the majority of her day in teacher 3020-a hearings. To Betsy's credit she does what she is asked by the union and still has time to help the reassigned teachers at their 3020-a hearings. It is a pity that a union that has abandoned it's reassigned teachers has a jewel in their ranks at headquarters who have these teachers' trust and does not support her wonderful work.

In my book Betsy Combier is a real heroine and should be recognized as such by our union leaders.

How The UFT Is Abadoning Their Teachers To The Abusive DOE Termination Process

I have previously commented on how the UFT has allowed their teachers to be subject to ridiculous misconduct and incompetence charges by sleazy administrators . Further, the union has allowed the DOE to initiate biased and unfair investigations by calling on OSI or SCI investigators that presume teacher guilt (Here). The result is teacher fines, suspension, resignation, and termination. What follows are two stories about how the UFT abandoned their duties to protect these two teachers. Obviously, the names of the two teachers and the individuals involved are not named.

Case #1: Untenured Chapter Leader Targeted By Her Principal:

This untenured teacher reluctantly had taken the Chapter Leader's position after no other teacher in her school would take it. The previous two Chapter Leaders were targeted by the school's "Leadership Academy Principal" and were no longer in the school (they lasted one year each). The only reason this untenured teacher took the position was that the union rep told her that they would protect her from any Principal actions. How hollow that assurance was. The teacher had worked with a group of her students as an advisor, as is common in small schools and was falsely accused of sexual misconduct. The Principal called in SCI and as usual they found that 2 + 2 = 6 and substantiated the accusation without any witnesses and despite the accusation being denied by all parties involved. At this point you would expect our union to come to her rescue and point out to the DOE the absurdity of the investigation and that the teacher should be given a chance to prove herself in another school, away from this vindictive Principal. However, despite Randi's assurances the union allowed the teacher to be terminated and did not file a PERB complaint of improper practice.

Case #2: Teacher Resigns After Union Tells Him To Resign:

A 20-year teacher with satisfactory ratings was in a school when a new Principal arrived. The Principal did not like the teacher and "U" rated him for the year. After taking PIP and found to be a good teacher, he was still "U" rated for his second year. At the beginning of this school year he was forced to take the DOE supported and fraudulent PIP+ and was given a "U" observation. The Principal of the school with the support of the Chapter Leader and District Rep urged the teacher to resign. If the teacher would resign, the teacher would have his "U" ratings changed to "S" and he could get paid until the end of the school year. Otherwise, they would file 3020-a charges for incompetence and go after both his City and State license. Without getting proper advice from the union and pressured to take the deal he signed the resignation papers under duress. Only a week later when he talked to a knowledgeable teacher did he realize that he was railroaded by both the DOE and the UFT in resigning when he should have fought the incompetence charges at the 3020-a hearing.

Shame on the UFT for not only abandoning their teachers but aiding and abetting the DOE in terminating teachers.

Santa Claus, The DOE, And The 3020-a Hearing

Have you wondered what would happen if Santa Claus was a teacher in today's DOE? Well it is quite obvious that poor old Santa Claus would never survive the classroom and the allegations that go with it.

Let's take a peek at Santa Claus during his 3020-a hearing.


The DOE lawyer asks Santa Claus why he kept telling the girls in the class that they are Hoe's? Santa Claus responds by saying "I said Ho, Ho, Ho. Not that they are Hoes". The DOE lawyer states that Hoe and Ho are the same and the girls complained that they believed he was calling them Hoes. The DOE lawyer then brings up why did he threaten them with coal in their stockings if they didn't act nice? Santa Claus responds: "That is my way to encourage them to do the right things in life". The DOE lawyer states that sounds like you are scaring them. Santa Claus responds. "I was trying to get them to be good". The DOE lawyer then ask haven't you asked the students to sit on your lap? Santa Claus responds. "Yes". The DOE lawyer then asks didn't you tell the children that you will break into their house when they are sleeping? Santa Claus responds. "Yes, but only on Christmas Eve". So you admit to threatening them with breaking and entering into their homes? Santa Claus responds. "I guess so". Finally, is it true that you tried to bribe the children with presents if they sat on your lap?
Santa Claus responds. "I was not trying to bribe them".

In his closing statement the DOE lawyer states the following. The DOE has proved his case that Santa Claus is guilty of the following offenses.

1. Sexual misconduct of a verbal nature in calling the girls Hoes.
2. Sexual misconduct of a physical nature by forcing the children to sit on his lap.
3. Corporal Punishment by threatening them with a lump of coal in their stockings,
4. Verbal Abuse by threatening them with no presents for being naughty.
   
5. Felony criminal charge of "breaking & entering" and "bribing" the children.

Since Santa Claus was already off the payroll because of "probable cause". Thanks to the 2005 contract. He was already broke and without health benefits. Unfortunately, the Arbitrator believed that the DOE lawyer proved his case and terminated poor old Santa Claus. Even old St. Nick could not survive in the NYC classroom.

According To The DOE The Sports Mascots Would Be Subject To An SCI Investigaton & Termination Because They Hug People

I previously wrote a serious article on how Tweed's bizarre policy on hugs and drugs made little or no sense. However, I decided to write a tongue in cheek story about what would happen to the mascots if they were teachers in the NYC school system. In the perverted world of the DOE the sports mascots like the Phillie Fanatic and yes, even Mr. Met would be considered sex offenders since they love hugging people. Even Barney, the purple dinosaur would fall into the DOE's sex offender category. None of these mascots would ever survive in Tweed's teaching world as they would be removed from the classroom for improper physical contact under section A-420 of the Chancellor's regulations and subject to a SCI investigation. I can just imagine what it would be like for the Phillie Fanatic as he goes through his 3020-a hearing.

Phillie Fanatic's 3020-a hearing: Mr Fanatic, the DOE lawyer said, the SCI report found that you engaged in sexual misconduct and corporal punishment with numerous students and staff, you are even accused of improper actions by your administrators. The SCI report specifically states that you hug people is this correct. Mr. Fanatic: Yes, I do hug people, I do it for fun and entertainment. I do it to make people laugh. So you do admit to improper hugging? I guess so. Is it true that you have on occasion touched a person's backside? Yes. Is it true that you sometimes shove or trip people for laughs? Yes. Further, you are known t0 stick out your tongue to administrators and not follow their direction. Yes, that is correct.

To the arbitrator: I hereby have proved the DOE's case that Mr. Fanatic has engaged in sexual misconduct, corporal punishment, and insubordination to his administrators. Therefore, I recommend that the Phillie Fanatic be terminated from employment at the DOE. The arbitrator terminates the Phillie Fanatic.

Barney, the Purple Dinosaur's 3020-a hearing: Mr. Dinosaur, the SCI report states that you have a habit of hugging students and propositioning them by singing love songs about you and them in the classroom. How do you respond to these accusations? Mr. Dinosaur: I do hug students because they like the affection and it shows that people care about them. So you admit to improper hugging? I guess so but it is not improper. Mr. Dinosaur how about the love songs you sing to your students, like "I love you and you love me". Why are you sexually soliciting these students? It's just a song that shows I care, there is nothing sexual about it. So you admit to singing love songs to the students? Yes, I do sing songs to them.

To the arbitrator: I hereby request that you terminate Barney, the Purple Dinosaur for sexually hugging and propositioning the students. You have heard that Mr. Dinosaur admits to the charges and should be terminated from DOE employment. The arbitrator terminates Barney, the Purple Dinosaur.

Note: Both the Phillie Fanatic and Barney the Purple Dinosaur were already off the payroll for three months and without health benefits because of the "probable cause" provision of the 2005 contract.

I am so happy that Tweed is protecting our children from the likes of these characters in our schools. Children last continues.

With The DOE In Retreat Because Of The Budget Crises - It Is Time For The Union To Get Back Teacher Rights

While I am no fan of the budget meltdown that has affected the world and New York City, it has finally caused the DOE to stop attacking teacher rights, at least temporarily. First, there was the July 2, 2008 flawed agreement that allowed some reassigned teachers to pay exorbitant fines of $5,000 to $25,000 dollars not to go through a 3020-a hearing. Then there was the ATR agreement that allows Principals to hire some ATRs at little cost to teach in a classroom. These negotiations were not due to our union fighting for teacher rights but it was due to the $145 million dollars the DOE was shelling out annually for non-classroom teachers. The DOE could no longer justify the outrageous cost in a budget crises.


While Tweed is in retreat the union should demand the following actions.

• A truly independent investigation of administrators and Chapter Leaders. No longer should either group be investigated by the DOE supported Office of Special Investigations (OSI) and the Special Commissioner of Investigations (SCI) who presume administrators innocent and teachers guilty. Further, this same independent group should be used to determine if a teacher should be removed from a school.

• Reestablishment of teacher input into the SBO decision-making process. This should also include the SBLT group as well. Currently, the Principal makes the decision and doesn't need approval from the group
  

• Bring back the grievance for Letters-To-The-File (LIF). This will stop Principals from arbitrarily dumping LIFs in teacher's files as is happening with increasing frequency.

• Limit SCI investigations to those teachers subject to felony arrest. Not the witch hunts that are going on presently.

• Let teachers teach as they see fit in the classroom. The bottom line is that only the teachers know what is best for their students.

If the DOE needs to practice "education on the cheap" the least the union can do is to improve teacher morale, respect, and protect their rights.

The DOE'S Circuit City Model Is Destined For Failure

The DOE's mindless policy of encouraging Principals to hire "newbie" teachers at the expense of more experienced and better-trained teachers suffered a temporary setback with the ATR Agreement. However, once the budget crises is over, look for those non-educators at Tweed to go back to hiring the "newbie" teacher as they try to emulate the failed Circuit City Model.

If you are unfamiliar with what Circuit City did, let me enlighten you. Last year Circuit City fired all their experienced sales help and replaced them with inexperienced, and lower paid, sales force. Circuit City stated that the replacing the sales staff will result in significant cost savings. However, the result was massive customer dissatisfaction as frustrated shoppers could not get proper service and they left the stores, never to return. Finally, facing lower sales and fewer customers, Circuit City declared bankruptcy and closed many stores thorough the country.

Let's see the DOE is trying to replace experienced teachers with "newbie" teachers and the result is that the student scores have been flat (NAEP) or worsened (SAT) as the inexperienced teachers have classroom management issues and curriculum problems. The frustrated parents, who Tweed has given no input into the schools, vote with their feet by taking their children out of the schools. Finally, the schools close down as the DOE tries to reinvent themselves in the form of small or Charter schools.

Does this have similarities with the Circuit City model? You bet it does. Tweed's "children last" continues.

Note ednotes online brings this point out as he describes the closing of PS225 in Rockaway, Queens,

It's Good To Be Friends With The Chancellor When You Do Wrongdoing

Tweed's double standard on investigations just keeps on showing up. Now it is the Deputy Chancellor, Christopher Cerf who did some serious wrongdoing and received a slap on the wrist from our glorious Chancellor. A Daily News Article by Juan Gonzalez reported how Deputy Chancellor Christopher Cerf had violated the City's Conflict-Of-Interest-Law by pressuring executives of his former company. Edison Schools, in giving $60,000 to the DOE supported Wilderness Program. The Conflict Of Interest Board gave Cerf a confidential letter admonishing him for using his City position to benefit the Wilderness Program.

The Board's letter was based upon an SCI investigation and report. However, neither SCI or Tweed advertised the report and hoped that nobody would notice. Interestingly SCI Chief, Condon, who is never shy about announcing investigations of low-level school employees, sent an 11-page report on Cerf to Chancellor Joel Klein in August 2007, but never made it public. Can you guess why?

The SCI report found the following about the relationship between the Deputy Chancellor Christopher Cerf and the Edison Schools. Cerf relinquished 6,000 shares of Edison stock in February 2007, only hours before he was to be questioned about his ties to Edison by the DOE's parent advisory council, Condon concluded. Cerf also renounced any interest in a 10-year consulting contract with another Edison-connected firm - a contract that could have been worth $2.5 million.

When SCI investigates a teacher and substantiates anything, no matter how frivolous, they always demand termination and the DOE proceeds with 3020-a charges and a full-fleged attempt to terminate the teacher. However, if you are the Chancellor's friend, a confidential letter to "cut it out" is all that is required.

By the way the heavily-edited SCI report can be found on the Gotham Schools Blog Here. Further, information on the Cerf investigation can be found on the NYC Public School Parents and Ednotes Online blogs as well.

Why Doesn't The UFT File PERB Complaints Against Those " Principals From Hell"?

I am truly sick and tired about how the UFT propaganda rag, The New York Teacher, complains about an occasional "Principal from hell" but does little or nothing about them. If a teacher misbehaves, watch how quickly the DOE acts to remove that teacher and dump 3020-a charges on them. However, when it comes to the Principal, nothing is done about it. This double standard must stop and the only way for Tweed to take the union seriously is for the UFT to take action such as filing a complaint with the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB) for improper employer practices.

Presently, only a handful (if any) Principals are disciplined for their behavior toward parents, students, and teachers. The reason for Tweed's lack of will in disciplining Principals is that there is no pressure by the union to put the DOE's feet to the fire. In other words there is no consequences to a Principal that abuse students and staff. Therefore, it is time for the UFT to challenge these "Principals from hell"and their DOE masters by filing complaints of improper employer practices with PERB.

While I cannot say how successful this strategy will be. It should be part of a union strategy that will put the DOE on notice that if they fail to clean up their administrative mess by not disciplining Principals, the union will tie up valuable resources as the DOE would have to defend itself and the Principal for their failure to curb abuses.

Remember, a pro-active union is an effective union.