Will Hurricane Sandy Close The New York City Schools? The Answer Is Yes!

It appears certain that Hurricane Sandy, now known as the "Frankenstorm" will impact the New York City metropolitan Area with tropical storm force winds of 50+ mph and torrential rains of 5"-10", along with major flooding.  The question on everybody's mind is "will the Mayor close the schools"? My best guess is yes for either Monday or Tuesday but not both days.

According to the Mayor, the MTA will close down public transportation when winds exceed 39 mph and that is an almost a certainty as the Hurricane reaches the Delaware/New Jersey coast on Monday.  Even if the winds don't reach tropical force in the morning, it will by the time school lets out in the afternoon.  The last thing the Mayor wants to be remembered for is how he stranded children in school with no mass transit to get them home. Therefore, it would appear that the Mayor will very reluctantly will close he schools on Monday but because he will not allow schools to be closed for two days.  The Mayor will make every effort to open them Tuesday and pressure the MTA to provide mass transit, despite the tropical force winds and torrential rains that will cause massive flooding throughout the City.  Alternatively, if the storm slows a little, the tropical storm force winds may not occur until after the evening rush hour.  In that case, the Mayor will keep the schools open on Monday and probably close them on Tuesday.

Interestingly, the Mayor in his 6:30pm press conference downplayed the storm's impact by claiming it will hit Maryland or Delaware not New Jersey as the National Weather Service's track shows and appear optimistic that the City will not be severely affected by the storm.  i did think he is crazy if the MTA shuts down and he expects the students to get to school in a hurricane but then it is money first and "children last" for the Mayor. I guess we will see as Sandy gets closer to the City.

Remember, the New York City schools serve two purposes,  The first as a "babysitting service" and second a "money machine".  Closing the schools cost the City money as parents must stay home to care for their children and the City loses funding from the State.  Therefore, it is in the Mayor's economic interest to keep the New York City Schools open. I suspect that the Mayor will not issue the order to close the schools until Late Sunday night at the earliest as he and many others hope that Hurricane Sandy miss the City.  Consequently, it will be interesting to see when and if the Mayor actually closes the schools or he will expose the children to the severe weather just for a few dollars.

To get the latest on Hurricane Sandy from the National Hurricane Center, it is here.

Update:  In his 11:24am press conference the Mayor realized he was too optimistic and has announced that the schools will be closed Monday and it doesn't look good for Tuesday either.

Another Nail In The Coffin Of Mayor Bloomberg's Education Policy.

The Annenberg Institute has released a devastating report that should put to rest the education reformers claim that a great teacher and not the community is the main factor in a student's educational development.     The report clearly shows that the community the student lived in was the most important factor in his or her academic achievement. For example in New York City the report showed that the majority Black and Latino communities in the City had college readiness rates mostly in the teens. while the mostly White and Asian communities had "college readiness rates" of over 50%.  The Coalition of Educational Justice has produced an interactive map for NYC that lists the "college readiness rates" for each neighborhood and can be found here.

The Annenberg Institute report showed that the student's zip code is the major factor in determining academic achievement and shows that ex Chancellor Joel Klein and Michelle Rhee's claim that “The single most important factor determining whether students succeed in school is not the color of their skin or their ZIP code or even their parents’ income – it is the quality of their teacher.” is simply false. There goes another myth by education reformers that has been refuted by real data. In fact the Mayor's policy of allowing students to travel to different high schools to escape their neighborhoods has proven to be a failure according to the report.  These students continue to underperformed academically and the report concluded that the Mayor's policy of closing large schools and open small schools had no effect on improving student outcomes. According to the report, the more educated the mother was, the more likely her children will have higher "college readiness scores". In other words, it's about the family, especially the mother's education.

In Queens let's look at some of the "college readiness rates"  by community:

Arubundale.....................................................56%
Bayside..........................................................63%
Bellerose/Floral Park.........................................46%
Broad Channel.................................................26%
Cambria Heights............................................ .19%
Clearview.......................................................60%
College Point..................................................39%
Corona..........................................................23%
Douglaston/Little Neck.....................................73%
Far Rockaway.................................................14% 
Elmhurst.........................................................38%
Flushing.........................................................53%
Forest Hills.....................................................59%
Fresh Meadows...............................................59% 
Glendale........................................................46%
Glen Oaks......................................................37%
Hillcrest.........................................................45%
Howard Beach................................................33%
Hunters Point.................................................20%
Jackson Heights.............................................53%
Jamaica........................................................26%
Kew Gardens.................................................45%
Laurelton......................................................19%
Long Island City/Astoria..................................31%
Maspeath.....................................................34%
Middle Village................................................41%
Oakland Gardens............................................65%
Ozone Park...................................................34%
Queens Village...............................................37%
Queensboro Hill..............................................45%
Rego Park......................................................55%
Richmond Hill.................................................29%
Ridgewood....................................................35%
Rockaway Park..............................................50%
Rosedale......................................................17%
South Jamaica..............................................19%
South Ozone Park..........................................27%
Springfield Gardens........................................16%
St. Albans....................................................15%
Suunyside....................................................43%.
Whitestone..................................................55%
Woodhaven..................................................36%
Woodside.....................................................39%

The "college readiness scores" show that in predominately White/Asian communities had rates above 50% while the predominately black communities had rates below 20%.  Interestingly, Latino communities had significantly higher "college readiness scores" than Black communities, at least in Queens.

The Annenberg Institute study just hammers another nail in the coffin of the Mayor's failed education policy and the education reformer myth that a great teacher not poverty is the main factor in student academic success.

Another Failure Of Mayor Bloomberg's Education Policy - Youth Disconnection Rates.

A study was produced by the Measure For America Organization that showed that New York City was in the bottom group, ranked a dismal seventeenth out of twenty-five major urban areas when it came to disconnected youth. How is disconnected youth defined?  It includes youth between the ages of 16 to 24 who are not in school and have no job.  For New York City to be in the lower part of all the nation's major cities shows a serious failure of the Mayor's education policy.

The New York City numbers are dismal indeed.  According to the study New York City's disconnected youth rate averaged 15.1% while so-called inferior metropolitan areas such as Baltimore (14.2%) , Chicago (13.3%), and Philadelphia (11.9%) had lower disconnected youth rates.  Even Boston (9.0%) and Washington D.C. (11.3%) beat New York City.  Had Mayor Bloomberg's education policy worked, you would think that New York City would compare very favorably to other major cities when it came to disconnected youth rates but the fact is it doesn't.  The reason is that while the Bloomberg Administration claims that the high school graduation rate has increased, the reality is that only 22.7% of these graduates are considered "college and career ready".

What are the New York City youth disconnection rates?

1. Black.........................................21.7%
2. Latino........................................20.6%
3. Asian...........................................9.8%
4. White...........................................9.8%

While in one South Bronx community the youth disconnection rate is an astounding 35.6%! and New York City had one of the worst disconnection rates for Latinos compared to all other metropolitan areas.

It is very obvious if the Bloomberg education reform policy had actually worked, the New York City disconnected youth rates would be lower and the racial gap would be closing.  Instead the New York City disconnected youth rates are higher than sixteen of the twenty four other cities analyzed, and  the racial disconnected youth gap between Blacks and Latinos and Whites is wider in New York City than the nation as a whole.

Below are the comparisons between New York City and the National youth disconnection rate gap.





NYC  Gap.....................................................National  Gap

Blacks/Whites   11.9%..........................................10.8%
Latinos/Whites  10.8%............................................6.8%

While I cannot make a direct correlation between education and youth disconnection rates, it certainly is a major factor in New York City's dismal showing in providing a solid foundation both educationally, and providing proper services  to these disconnected youth.  This study just supports that Bloomberg;s claim of academic success during his Administration is simply false.

From Hell To Heaven

I am now in a school for the 2012-13 year that is considered one of the top schools in Queens, even if it is a bit overcrowded.  I felt welcomed by the staff and supported by the school's Administration.  Moreover, the Chapter Leader is highly effective and keeps the members informed of issues concerning the school and the staff by sending emails on a weekly basis.  The fact that this school is only one of two with a working teachers cafeteria is a major plus.  Finally, there is ample parking around the school and I can park my car within two blocks of the school.during the day.  Of course, the most attractive part of the school is the student body that is academically successful and college bound.

My students are, for the most part, well-behaved and respectful.  Many of them are  English Language Learners and show a great deal of effort in trying to pick up the English language instruction while being successful academically.  I am very impressed with their diligence in absorbing instruction and taking academics seriously.  Just as important, I am in one room for most of the day and the students show up on time and have good work habits. I feel like I have died and gone to heaven and consider myself very lucky indeed teaching in this school.

By contrast, I was in a failing school for the 2011-12 year that treated me very disrespectfully,  This "D" rated school, with a single digit "college and career readiness score", it should have been given an "F" rating, did not give me support of any kind, including no team teacher in my CTT class.. Furthermore, and even worse the Administration let the students roam the halls and show up to class when they pleased. I have previously posted about my time in this school and have little good to say about the failing school.  It really was a hellhole and even with new Administration the existing students are very academically and behaviorally challenged, with poor work habits, as the school took in "over the counter" students no other school wanted because of their academics and or behaviors.  In addition,  many of the school's top students expressed a desire to leave the school as it went through the ill-advised "Turnaround process".  This school is in real danger of closing and the clock is ticking and the already rock bottom staff morale will only get worse.

I look at it this way.  I paid my dues working in hellhole high and now I am in heavenly high and hope to stay there until I am ready to retire.

ATRs Needs To Know Their Rights As They Travel Weekly To Different Schools.

There is some confusion on what the ATR rights and responsibilities are when doing their weekly assignments at a school.  Too many times I  am hearing that ATRs are being used in duties that no teacher in the school are doing.  Why the union has not printed an easy to read "ATR Bill of Rights" is troubling.  It's as if the union rather not let ATRs know what they are required to do and what are not appropriate duties.  While, for the present, I am in a Provisional position in an excellent school for the school year and don't have to travel to schools weekly, I do understand the frustration of not knowing what an ATR responsibility is.and hope to clarify this somewhat in this post.

ATRs are teachers: That means that you have the rights of the teachers in your school.  You have a lunch, preparation, and professional period just like all other teachers.  If the other teachers meet ot tutor during the professional period so should you if asked. 

ATRs should be paid for six periods:  Many schools try to give ATRs six periods and unless the school is willing to pay a coverage/per session for the sixth period the ATR should seek out the Chapter Leader to file a grievance if the school refuses to take away the sixth period.  An exception is when the classroom teacher has a 4-6 schedule where one day the teacher has four periods and another day six periods.  Since the teacher does not get a sixth period pay boost, the ATR does not either.

ATRs should not be doing cafeteria duty: Almost all schools are pushing cafeteria duty on the ATRs and that is a shame. In some cases the ATRs are doing five classes and cafeteria duty! Unless cafeteria duty is a circular six assignment for all teachers, the ATR should see the Chapter Leader about having the cafeteria duty removed from his or her schedule.   In no case should the ATR do more than one circular six assignment and that includes cafeteria duty or. hall patrol.  Clerical work is usually not a teacher duty and you can refuse to do it but most ATRs don't seem to mind and if you do, tell the Chapter Leader to eliminate that assignment..

ATRs should bring a generic lesson plan with them at all times:  While it is the school's responsibility to provide the ATR with the lesson and supplies, many schools refuse to do so.  Therefore, it is important that the ATR bring their own lessons

ATRs should have a bathroom key: Many ATRs complain that the school claims they do not have extra bathroom keys and the ATR is at the mercy of other teachers to use the teacher's bathroom.  The Chapter Leader should be making sure that each ATR has a bathroom key during their wweekly assignments.

ATRs should have one time schedule in mufti-session schools: Some high schools require ATRs to call in for their schedule, early or late.  The ATR must remind the school that they are on one schedule only and should call up on Friday and let the payroll Secretary or APO know that.


Meet the Chapter Leader:  One of the first things an ATR should do is contact the Chapter Leader and make sure their rights are being met.  While it is true that some Chapter Leaders are "in bed with the Administration" most are not and are advocates for the staff, including the ATRs.  The Chapter Leader is the first line of defense against school Admiinistration abuses and the union does encourage the Chapter Leaders to make the ATRs feel welcome and represented during their weekly stay.

Leave a good impression:  It is no secret that ATRs have a bad reputation and principals will find any excuse not to hire an ATR based upon this false belief started by former Chancellor Joel Klein letter to the principals back in 2006 and enhanced by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.  However, if you are reliable, dependable, available, and a team player sometimes the Principal will remember you and give you a chance to show your classroom ability for a long term assignment.  That is how I obtained my provisional assignment at the school I am in now.

The "mandated Interview": An ATR does not need to go to a job interview except if it is within their own District. However, as a curtsey, you should respond to the interview by politely refusing to meet with the Principal, unless you really want to go to the school.

As An ATR You Do Not Need To Accept An offer to fill a vacancy or long-term leave replacement. The ATR Agreement plainly states that both sides must think it is a good fit to fill a vacancy.  Therefore, as an ATR you can refuse the school's offer to fill the position, if the school is not appropriate for you. However, it is best if you simply tell the Principal you don't want the position and usually the Principal will release you rather than waiting for the union to get you out of the school.

Philip Nobile in the NYCATR blog made some of these points previously as I did as well but this post was to try to put everything together as an outline that all ATRs and Chapter Leaders can follow and I hope this helps and pushes the union to make an offical document that can be given to all ATRs, Chapter Leaders, and principals on how ATRs can be used in their schools.

The union really needs to publish an "ATR Bill of Rights" that tells the ATR what they can or cannot do in their weekly assignments.

Ex-Chancellor Joel Klein Exposed As A Fraud.

Former New York City Chancellor Joel Klein wrote an autobiography on his life and it turns out that much of what he wrote appears to be a severe distortion of reality.  A journalist and author Richard Rothstein actually researched the facts about Joel Klein's public school days and found out that the ex-Chancellor's claim that he was an indifferent student, lived in public housing for low income people, and was a street kid was far from the truth.  Instead the Chancellor grew up in a two family household, with the father having a federal civil service postal job, and his mother a bookkeeper which placed him in a solidly middle class family situation. He was a high achieving student as early as sixth grade as he was in an accelerated program that squeezed three years of learning into two and was called the Special Progress class, starting in the seventh grade that only the highest achieving students were accepted in. Joel Klein was an Indifferent student? Yeah right, another lie. Moreover, Joel Klein grew up in a middle class 87% white public housing development not a low income minority project like he leads one to believe.  In fact the Woodside Houses applicant needed to meet very stringent conditions.  Here are just some of the 21 factors that can disqualify an applicant at the Woodside Housing Complex.

• Single parent families
• Inadequate income
• Irregular employment history
• Out of wedlock births
• Criminal record
• Drug addiction
• Mental illness
• Poor housekeeping record from previous landlords
• Badly behaved children
• Poor parenting skills

Obviously, this is almost the exact opposite of what we think of public housing today.  Is it little wonder that the ex Chancellor had an excellent environment to blossom as a child?  His claim that he lived in poverty and was a street kid is a sick joke at best.

Why would he exaggerate his childhood experience in New York City?  The answer is that he wants to show that children growing up in the low income, minority projects of the present can succeed just like him and therefore if they only had better teachers to guide and help these children, then they can overcome poverty and be a leader too Furthermore, it makes a good story, even if it is a fairy tale, and his lies have convinced various politicians like Mayor Michael Bloomberg,  Education Secretary Arnie Duncan, and President Obama himself.  No wonder the education reformers look to him to debunk the poverty argument with their "no excuses" slogan.

It is one thing for Joel Klein to falsely claim that he improved New York City Public School education when he was the Chancellor but it is another thing to mislead the public on his childhood upbringing as if he has anything in common with the single family childern that are growing up in a crime-ridden low income minority housing project and lives in poverty.  To me ex Chancellor Joel Klein is a fraud.

You Get What You Pay For When You Practice Education On The Cheap Policies.

It is no secret that the DOE's "fair student funding" fiasco has encouraged principals to hire on the cheap when it comes to teachers.  Many of the Bloomberg small schools are populated with "newbie teachers" and at the high school level that is a real crime when it comes to the education of the students in those schools.  Is it any wonder that the "college and career readiness" rates for those small schools are 10.7%, compared to the 20.7% for all New York City high schools?

An example of this problem was played out in a recently created small school that is one of the small schools replacing a closing school that was targeted by the DOE.  In this school, only in it's third year of existence, the school had recently excessed an experienced Physics teacher because the teacher failed half the students and obtained poor Regents results.  Was he a terrible teacher?  Well, I taught with him for eight years and he always obtained good Regents grades in Physics and rarely failed students at the closing school that the new school now occupies.  The real answer was the students of this new Bloomberg small school.lack the academic ability to handle the math and scientific concepts necessary for high school Physics.  However, it is always easier to blame the teacher than the ill-prepared student body.

To replace the excessed Physics teacher, the school hired two "newbie science teachers", one in Chemistry and the other in Earth Science.  My friend, the ATR was assigned to the school for the first five weeks and the Principal had asked him to shadow the two teachers and help them adjust to the New York City classroom.  He did as he was told but found that both teachers lacked pedagogy, had poor knowledge of the curriculum, and had terrible classroom management skills.  The Chemistry teacher was foreign born and had trouble with the English language and made many grammatical errors when trying to explain Chemistry..  However, what was worse that he made science errors such as telling the students that Helium is la lighter gas than Hydrogen, despite what the Periodic Tables of Chemistry shows.   Moreover, his classroom was noisy and the students were distracted and not engaged.  My friend felt very sorry for those Chemistry students.  He believed they are in for a long and frustrating year.

The Earth Science teacher was a "wet behind the years" newbie who looked like she should be a student rather than a teacher.  Worse was her apparent lack of curriculum knowledge when she incorrectly told her students that latitude were vertical lines and longitude horizontal lines.  The opposite is true.  In addition, she could not run the lab and screwed up a simple density experiment.  Like the Chemistry teacher she had trouble controlling the classroom, seemed very frustrated,  and keeping the students engaged was difficult. My friend doubts she will be teaching next year.

My friend, who is a twenty-two year Science teacher, said to the Principal why did you hire the two science teachers when there are so many good science teachers without classrooms?  The Principal was blunt, she told him that her budget is very tight and she could not afford to pick up a higher salaried teacher, no matter how great the teacher may be.  She felt badly that she could not hire the "best teachers" but the budget made it impossible to do so.  Her parting words to my friend was that she wished she could keep him around to work with the two teachers but the DOE does not allow for it without picking up his salary which she cannot afford.

Is it any wonder why the small schools do so poorly when it comes to "college and career readiness"?  When teachers are selected based upon their salary and not on their ability, the future looks bleak for those students that end up in these small schools. 

Just Another Case Of The DOE's Double Standard.

In Sunday's New York Post there was a story of a highly regarded high school guidance counselor, named Tiffany Webb, (37 years old)  who was not granted tenure because of her past history as a lingerie and underwear model when she was in her late teens (18-20 years old).  In fact, according to the article she was removed from the New York City schools and sent to the "rubber room" two different times for a year long stay during her teaching career because of those photos as they circulated on the Internet without her approval.  Eventually one of the students in her last school Murry Bergtraum High School found the pictures of the guidance counselor on the Internet and gave it to the now ex-Principal of the school who not only refused to give her tenure but  proceeded to terminate her.  Ms. Webb was forced to leave the school system, despite previously being a  teacher for ten years.  Apparently, her journey between elementary, middle, and high schools as well as a two year stay in the infamous "rubber room" as a teacher never earned her tenure protection before she became a guidance counselor.  .Now you know why tenure is so important!

Ms. Webb was hired as a teacher in 1999 and disclosed her previous employment as a model wearing scantly clad undies.  Apparently, the DOE did investigate her and gave her a clean bill of health to work in the New York City schools. However, pictures of her continued to circulate throughout the Internet in some less than reputable web sites and resulted in her being removed to the "rubber room" on two separate occasions as the DOE checked out if these photos of her were actually porn. The DOE investigation concluded that the photos did not constitute porn and she was at least eighteen when the photos were taken and the case appeared to be closed.  However, Ms. Webb decided to become a guidance counselor and despite excellent work and being highly regarded, the ex-Principal Andrea Lewis refused to give her tenure and she was instead terminated for  "conduct unbecoming a DOE employee".  The reason, because her unauthorized photos can be found by students on the Internet, how lame. She is now suing in court and I wish her well since she has been wronged and should get her job back with pay and damages.

This is yet again another case of the DOE "double standard" as administrators and managers get a pass for misdeeds while school staff are terminated for the most frivolous and innocent actions and in Ms.Webb's case legal employment that somebody in the DOE twisted and perverted into something seemingly evil. Which person would you rather your child be with Ms. Webb or these two DOE employees?  Here and Here? The answer is very obvious, Ms. Webb by far.

Mayor Bloomberg's Education Legacy Will Go Down As A Failed Attempt In Education Reform.

The Mayor's attempt to change the New York Public School System has been shown to be a failure and the latest polling numbers have shown that only 29% of the general public believe he has done a fair to good job when it comes to education.  While the Mayor points to the bogus high school graduation rate as a measure of success, most educators realize that the graduation numbers are heavily influenced by loads of "credit recovery" that in some cases consisted of going on a computer of a couple of days to get credits. However, real academic achievement under the Bloomberg Administration has found to be elusive at best and non-existent for the most part.  Let's look at his failure to improve student academic achievement in his twelve year tenure.

Student Academic Achievement:  Only 20.7% of high school graduates are considered "college and career ready".  Worse, the Bloomberg touted small schools have an astounding 10.7% college and career readiness" score.  That means only one out of every ten small school students are ready for the real world beyond high school.

Racial/Income Achievement gap: The academic achievement gap between Blacks/Hispanics and Whites/Asians are as wide as ever and lately has actually widened!  So much for narrowing the gap.

SAT Scores: The latest SAT scores were a disappointment to the City as the State scores inched upward the City scores either stayed flat or fell not good when you claim that education reform will make all learners academically proficient.

College Readiness:: For the half of the New York City students who go to college, a mind blowing 22.6% of them must take triple remediation courses in Math, English, and Writing just to qualify for college credit courses.  I would not be too anxious to take credit for such an abysmal failure rate.

College Dropout Rate: The majority of New York City students that go to community college never finish.  According to the latest information 51% of the students drop out of community colleges and only 28% actually achieve a two or four year degree.

Tight School Budgets: Under the Mayor, school principals have been faced with increasingly tight budgets and some of their resources must pay for unwanted and unneeded services from their Children First Networks that can siphon as much as 15% of their budgets.  Furthermore, the much touted "Race to the Top" funds, which New York City received $300 million was not used for the classroom but, according to Eric Nudelstein in Schoolbook, was squandered by the Mayor and Tweed into top down imposed questionable programs and ill-fitted Common Core requirements that showed no academic effects in the classroom.

Class Sizes: The failure to reduce and in some cases increased class sizes will be the legacy of failure associated with the Bloomberg Administration.  In the Mayor's attempt to vilify teachers and not replace teachers who left the system, class sizes have gradually increased over the Mayor's last term and is the highest in the State.  See Leonie Haimson's testimony about class size issues.

Closing Schools: One of the Mayor's lasting hallmarks will be the closing of schools that didn't meet his standards and had Tweed make sure schools he targeted for closing would be starved of resources and given a large percentage of potentially low achieving ELL and Special Education students.  Jamaica High School is a textbook case of how the DOE goes about destroying a school they want closed.

 In summary, the Mayor's education is a failure and deserves the grade of "F"

The Chancellor Is A Hypocrite As He Protected An Administrator Accused Of An Inappropriate Relationship With A Student.

Chancellor Dennis Walcott has showed his true colors by treating Administrators differently than teachers.   Now here is another case of an Assistant Principal who admitted to having an "inappropriate relationship" with a female student and the Chancellor failed to have him removed until the beginning of the school year. This "double standard" has shown up yet again as the Chancellor has different rules for teachers and administrators. Yes, this is the very same Chancellor who demands the authority to arbitrarily fire any teacher accused of such accusations.  In fact, this is what the Chancellor actually said in March of this year.

"I am not going to tolerate any individual having any improper contact with any of our students,” 

I guess Administrators were not included in this statement since the Chancellor failed to remove an Assistant Principal, Christan Del Re, from Leon M. Goldstein High School after being informed that he and the student sent almost 3,000 text messages to each other, had numerous late night phone calls, with one lasting nearly three hours, and other students seeing the girl leaving with him in his car by herself.   Instead the Chancellor lamely explained his failure to remove the Assistant Principal by claiming the severity of the accusations did not require his removal.  Who is he kidding?  Why is the Chancellor now trying to fire the Assistant Principal under section 3020-a if it was not severe enough to remove him?

According to the report the Assistant Principal and the girl texted each other almost 3,000 times and late night phone calls after midnight.  This is not a made up story but actual fact, yet the hypocrite Chancellor does not consider this as severe as lets say an expression of praise by a teacher in front of thirty other students in a classroom. According to the SCI report as stated in the Daily News the Assistant Principal had an "inappropriate relationship" that included thousands of text messages, numerous phone calls as late as 3 a.m, one that lasted nearly three hours and the Assistant Principal's admission of the "inappropriate relationship".  Yet with all these "facts on the ground" our hypocrite Chancellor refused to remove the Assistant Principal.

This is just the latest example of the "double standard" when disciplining teachers and Administrators by the Bloomberg/Walcott Administration. Other examples can be found Here, Here, Here, and Here.

The Disappearing Of The Teachers Cafeteria Food Service In The Remaining Large Comprehensive High Schools Is A Real Shame.

Over the last decade it has been no secret that the Bloomberg Administration has made a point in trying to destroy and close down the large comprehensive high schools in the City and has unfortunately succeeded very well in achieving this goal.  Even the few comprehensive large high schools that have survived are still targets, remember the turnaround school fiasco?.  Now we find out that the DOE has apparently shortchanged the large comprehensive schools of much needed resources while still fully funded the Bloomberg small schools. That required the large comprehensive high schools to cut services, be it staff, after school programs, or services.

One of the services that has been eliminated was the teacher cafeteria food service.  In the Borough of Queens there are only two high schools that still have teacher cafeteria food service  Some schools like Bayside High School have not only closed their teacher cafeteria food service but eliminated the teacher cafeteria entirely. Now you might think that the elimination of the teacher cafeteria food service is no big deal and saves much needed school resources in an ever tightening school budget.  However, the elimination of the teacher cafeteria food service has had a demoralizing effect on school staff.  For teachers, it meant that they would need to bring in their lunch since they only have 45 minutes for lunch and going out of the school to get something to eat is out of the question.  Therefore, many teachers waited for their school day to end before getting something to eat and lacked the energy to effectively teach their late classes. Moreover, the teacher's cafeteria allowed the teachers from different departments to interact in a casual setting and exchange information and gossip about the school.  Finally, the teacher's cafeteria food was nutritious and reasonably priced, this allowed teachers not only to socialize with each other but to restore much needed energy into their bodies to be a more effective teacher for the afternoon.

While to many the loss of the teachers cafeteria food service may not be a big issue.  However,  for the staff at the large comprehensive high schools it is a symptom of the thousand small cuts that eventually destroys the school and the education with it and that is a real shame.

There Are No Excuses For The Continued Educational Failue By The Bloomberg And Walcott Administration As New York City SAT Scores Fall.

Hammer another nail in the coffin of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's claim that he is the education mayor as NYC student SAT scores fall while the State showed marginal gains.  According to the New York Post the SAT scores dropped from the 2011 scores.   While the drops were small, it proves that the Bloomberg/Walcott education policy has been a failure since New York City significantly lags behind the State when it comes to SAT scores.  These 2012 SAT score comparisons are listed below:

........................Reading..............Writing............Math.........Total
NYC...................434....................430................461..... ....1,325

STATE...............518.....................490................518..........1,510

Nationally 43% of the nation's students achieve SAT scores of 1,550 which is the benchmark to be "college and career readiness".  New York State students appear to be slightly above the national average.  However, the New York City student "college and career readiness" number is an abysmal 20.7% and the SAT scores seem to support that number.

Let's see all the educational failures that the Bloomberg/Walcott Administration occurred under their tenure.

• Flat or falling SAT scores.
• Falling "college and career readiness" values.
•  Suspect graduation rates that required State oversight
• Bogus "credit recovery programs" that required a more rigorous procedure and use.
•  An unacceptably high College dropout rates.
• An unusually high College remediation rate.

This ignores the selective starving of some schools of adequate resources and funding to feed the Bloomberg small schools which have a ridiculously low "college and career readiness' rate of 11% and are nowhere close to being successful..

It is very obvious to any independent educational observer that the Bloomberg Administration is a failure when it comes to improving education.  Worse, when Dennis Walcott became Chancellor he promised parents that he would include them in the process, unlike Joel Klein..  However, the result is quite the opposite and parent voices and concerns are actually being ignored by the Bloomberg/Walcott Administration.  The latest is allowing selected schools to give out injectable birth control to girls (plan "B") as young as 14 years old without parent approval or knowledge. I guess the DOE is just waiting to pay out large sums of money when the first 14 year old girl dies or is seriously injured by being injected without parental consent.

Overall, the Mayor and his pet poodle, the Chancellor will go out with an educational policy a failure and we can only hope that the next Mayor and Chancellor include teachers and parent6s in the process if there is to be educational improvements. Top down imposed policy has shown not to work and a more inclusive process with wraparound services is the key, especially in an urban area where 30% of the students come from poverty and an additional 50% come from low income households.

What Does The Future Of The Absent Teacher Reserve Look Like?

One of the most thorny issue between the Union and the City is the status of the Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR).   These are teachers that have been excessed from their schools and have no classroom position.  The latest number of ATRs  is 1,822, which is similar to the last few year numbers. It was fortunate that the union won the turnaround battle, otherwise the ATR numbers would be close to 3,000.  The question is what is the future of the ATR?   Well I do not have a crystal bail and cannot project the future but it appears to me the the ATR is here to stay for the foreseeable future. Lets look at the issues surrounding the ATR problem.

Time Limit: Presently, there are no time limitations to be an ATR.  In the agreement worked out between the union and the City both sides agreed that the Principals can hire who they wanted rather then from the excess teachers list as long as the DOE paid the excessed teacher's salary until the excessed teacher received a classroom position.  Even before the ink had dried,  Chancellor Joel Klein was calling the ATRs "bad teachers" to the press and wanted a time limit of six months when the DOE can fire the teachers.  To the union's credit, the ATR time limit has never been a negotiable item and every time the City brings it up, the union immediately shoots it down.  I see no change in the union position and the lesson of Chicago burns brightly to remind the union of the consequences of allowing an ATR time limit.

ATR Buyout: It now appears that Chancellor Dennis Walcott's idea of a generous buyout for long-term ATRs was not so generous after all.  The maximum ATR buyout would be $25,000 for top salaried teachers and would average a meagerly $14,000 for the average ATR.  Not generous at all! It would seem an ATR buyout is not happening during the Bloomberg Administration but might reappear when the the next Mayor negotiates with the union as part of a contract.

Legislative Action: I do look for the Bloomberg Administration to make one final attempt by crafting a bill that will allow for an ATR time limit, emboldened by Chicago's limiting the ATR window to five months.  However, I expect the bill to be shot down as the Mayor is rapidly losing influence in his "lame duck year".    Of course if in the highly unlikely event that Sheldon Silver loses his position as head of the State Assembly that could change matters somewhat.

ATR Non-Representation: One of the biggest complaints by ATRs is that they have no representation and I do not see that changing in the near future.  The union's position is that the school's Chapter Leader represents the ATR.  However, since the ATRs go weekly to different schools, the Chapter Leader may not meet with the ATR or be even aware of who the ATR is.  Many schools abuse the ATRs by making them do cafeteria duty, six periods, four periods in a row, or other non-teacher duties and the Chapter Leader refuses to represent the ATR complaints dealing with the abuse.  This is especially true in the Bloomberg small schools where teachers are expected to preform duties that violate the contract and the Chapter Leader willingly goes along with it.

ATR Numbers: It is very obvious that both the City and union do not like or want the public to know how many ATRs there are.  After claiming that the ATR numbers are the lowest in years, suggesting that the ATR crises was resolving itself with the successful policies of weekly ATR assignments and requiring principals to hire ATRs for their vacancies or long-term leave replacements. It now turns out that the numbers are just as high, if not higher then in  previous years.  In fact the union's failure to enforce the provisions of the ATR Agreement and the DOE deliberately ignoring Principals misconduct for not abiding by the ATR Agreement is primarily responsible for the large ATR numbers.  While the union won a grievance, there still is no enforceability or penalties if the DOE fails to abide by the ATR contract provisions.  Therefore, I predict no significant change in the ATR numbers in the coming years. In fact, they may go up if Bloomberg is successful in closing more schools before he leaves office.

The ATR And The Next Mayor:  This is certainly the "wild card" since the next Mayor is still an unknown. However, it is safe to assume that the next Mayor and the union will settle on a contract and it will have an effect on the future of the ATR.  In the "best case scenario" the next Mayor will not want to waste $160 million dollars annually and will require the DOE to place the ATRs in vacancies rather than let principals hide them or hire outside teachers.  A more realistic scenario would be that the next Mayor and the union will enforce the ATR Agreement provisions and reducing the ATR pool significantly while savings money.  Of course this assumes that the next Mayor will replace many of the top bureaucrats at Tweed who are responsible for the current ATR fiasco.

Future Of The ATR: Unfortunately, the ATR is here to stay. However, I do see better days ahead as the ATR numbers will be reduced with the next Mayor and with enforcement provisions in place and better union support to ensure principals are not abusing the system.  At least I hope so.

The Difference Between The Chicago And New York City Teacher Unions When It Comes To Striking For Our Rights.

The most historic event in this decade has finally come to an end and that is the game-changing Chicago teachers strike against an egotistical pseudo-reform minded bully Mayor named Rahm Emanuel.   While the teachers appear not to achieved everything they wanted, they certainly put a stop to the Mayor's abusive and disrespectful actions against the teachers in the Chicago public school system.  While there are some similarities between the two cities, they both have egotistical and bully Mayors who despise teachers and are intent in closing public schools and replace them with Charter schools,  refuses to give the "City pattern" to the teachers, and an unwanted teacher evaluation system that is heavy on standardized tests with no appeal process.  However, there are many more differences.between the two cities and their teacher unions.

The Taylor Law:  First and foremost there is New York State's Taylor Law which prohibits public workers from striking and penalizes strikers by giving up two days pay for every day of the strike.  Moreover, the union would lose dues checkoff rights and the Transit union found that out the hard way when only 33% of their members were willing to voluntarily  pay their dues after the union lost their right to automatically deduct dues from its member paychecks.

The Triborough Amendment: Unlike most states, New York public workers are protected by the Tribourough Amendment which prohibits the employer from imposing contract conditions without  a collective bargaining agreement with the union.  For example, in Chicago, the Mayor imposed a longer school day, a teacher evaluation system heavy on standardized tests, worsening working conditions such as  layoffs, unpaid sick or personal days,  and unlimited class sizes. Many of these items have only been eliminated or modified because the Chicago teacher's union deciding to strike.

Layoff Procedures: In NYC teachers who no longer have a classroom position because of closing schools or are excessed from their school will be put in the Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR) pool until the teacher gets a classroom position in another school.  Some teachers have been ATRs for years and despite complaints and failed legislation by the City, no change is expected, especially during the Bloomberg Administration.  By contrast, teachers in Chicago are given a short window to find a position or be fired.  According to the Mayor he wants it to be five months, the union has tentatively agreed that half of the excessed teachers will not be offered new positions and they call that a victory? I certainty don't.

Class Size Limits:  NYC has a class size limit of 34 students any class over 34 students is subject to an expidited grievance and for the most part are resolved by October.  On the other hand Chicago has guidelines but no class size limits and there is little a teacher can do when their class sizes approach 40 students.

Union Caucus: The Chicago teachers union is controlled by a once-dissident caucus that took power when the members voted out the previous "Unity-like caucus" for their appeasement polices when confronting the City. in the past.  By contrast the NYC teachers union has been and always controlled by the "Unity caucus" and  its appeasement policies that reduced teacher "due process rights" and worsening the classroom  environment have never been seriously threatened by the members, even after the horrible 2005 contract which Randi Weingarten gave the store away for measly raises (3.15% annually) that didn't even equal the New York City inflation rate of 4% at the time. Furthermore, the UFT lacks transparency and that frustrates members while the CTU is much more transparent and that are the  differences between the two unions and  that explains why the Chicago union is much more activist than the NYC union .

With all the labor protections and severe penalties our State has I cannot see our union or any of the dissent caucuses asking for a strike vote at this time.  Especially since the Mayor is powerless to change our contract, it is best to wait him out and negotiate a fair contract with the next Mayor in 2014.

Poverty Is The Most Important Problem In A Child's Academic Development.

In the wake of the Chicago teachers strike one of the issues being brought up is the effects of poverty on student learning.  Until the strike it seemed that the teachers union, especially Randi Wiengarten's AFT has seemed defensive when responding to the Education Reformers "no excuses" mantra that poverty is simply an excuse for poor teaching.  However,  the Chicago teachers strike has put the poverty issue into better focus and may act as a turning point for society to realize how important it is for children in poverty to have the necessary support services for these students to achieve academic success.  

What will it take for students who live in poverty to succeed academically?  The simple answer is to eliminate poverty, which is virtually impossible in a country suffering from recession. Therefore, our elected leaders must fund programs that have shown to work.  These programs should include pre-school programs, family intervention programs, and most of all, bringing fathers back into the family.

Head Start:  This program has shown to be very effective in helping children in poverty achieve academic success in the early elementary grades.  Many poor children have limited vocabulary due to a lack of academic stimulation at home and this  weakness gets magnified as these students fall further behind academically as they get older.  Programs such as Head Start should be part of our country's educational policy and all pre-school children should have an opportunity to get a start in their academic development, especially children growing up in poverty.

Academic Interventions: One of the problems with Head Start is that the academic improvements disappear by second or third grade and without additional academic interventions the child will start to fall behind and be in danger of being left back or worse, drop out during high school.   Therefore, programs such as one-to-one-tutoring, mentoring, and after school programs are a necessary component for any successful academic intervention.  Expanding the Boys & Girls club and PAL programs would be examples of how to keep the children off the streets and away from gangs that lead to academic problems.

Wraparound Services: While it is very important for children in poverty to have academic support, it is more important that these children have a stable family environment.  Too many children come to school hungry, without proper clothing, and with poor hygiene. This takes their toll on the child's self esteem and are, in turn,  ridiculed by their peers by their appearance.  The result is a reluctance, even a hatred, about going to school and a poor academic performance. In other words, it starts at home with the family.  These "broken families" are  usually mother led single family households, with little family supervision and discipline, which struggling financially.  Therefore, intensive interventions are needed with social workers, family councilors,, and organizations such as "Big Brother and Big Sister" to bring a role model to the child. Finally, it is important that the child receive adequate health and nutrition and that the caregiver is trained to meet the child's needs and keep him or her safe.

Fathers: Many people in power ignore the role fathers play.  At the very least fathers can supply extra income to a family and keep them out of poverty.  However, more importantly, fathers can bring discipline and a role model for the child.  Too many children lack discipline and without fathers in the house look for role models in the community which can be gang leaders, drug dealers, criminals, and other undesirable people.  Fathers bring stability and structure, as well as financial support to the family.  It is no coincidence that an astounding 39% of our prison population  come from mother led single parent households. Worse yet, 85% of our youth in prison come from fatherless households!  Here are some interesting facts when fathers are part of the household.

Father Factor in Education - Fatherless children are twice as likely to drop out of school.

• Children with Fathers who are involved are 40% less likely to repeat a grade in school.

• Children with Fathers who are involved are 70% less likely to drop out of school.

• Children with Fathers who are involved are more likely to get A’s in school.

• Children with Fathers who are involved are more likely to enjoy school and engage in extracurricular activities.

• 75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes – 10 times the average.

• I in 3 teenage girls get pregnant in fatherless homes compared to 1 in 20 with the biological father present.

 While it does not take marriage to be a good and involved father it does help to cement the family unit and brings a role model to the child.  The bottom line is that "stay-at-home" fathers are not only important but necessary if a child is to escape poverty and succeed academically.

Sure, it is important to have an excellent teacher in the classroom but it is imperative that we eliminate poverty and it's causes if those excellent teachers can get these children to succeed academically.

What the Union Must Demand In A New Contract.

UFT President, Michael Mulgrew has hinted to the civil service newspaper the Chief, in this week's edition, that the union is negotiating with the City on a new contract.  Yeah right, and I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell.  However, on the very slim chance that the union is really negotiating a new contract with the Emperor, oops I mean the Mayor, here is what I expect the union to push for:

Salary:  At a minimum, the union should accept no less than the "City pattern" the first two years which are two 4% raises minus the 0.55% we owe the City for getting back the two days before Labor Day.  The next two years should include raises at least equal to the rate of inflation in the City which averages 3% annually.  That means that teachers should receive a minimum raise of 13.45% raise for the four year contract that would end in October 2013.  The fact that the Mayor claims there will be no "retroactive raises" makes any contract negotiations with the City highly unlikely unless the union caves in to the Mayor.

Fair Student Funding:  A prime negotiating point should be the elimination of the unfair "fair student funding formula" that forces schools to hire the most inexpensive teacher rather than the "best teachers" due to budget constraints.  This legacy of the Joel Klein Chancellorship needs to be eliminated and allow the schools to really implement "children first" policies. It is time to bring back the long practiced and successful making teachers units. Under the unit method the salary of the teacher would no longer be a factor for principals and they can hire the "best teachers" not the cheapest for their students.

Absent Teacher Reserve: The elimination of the "fair student funding formula"  will greatly reduce the ATR crises and I would be shocked if there were more than 500 ATRs floating around.  Moreover, the union must insist that the DOE require principals to hire excessed teachers, certified in the subject area, in their District before they can hire outside teachers. The combination of the two options would eliminate the ATR problem entirely. At a minimum, the union must get the DOE to reintroduce the November 2009 ATR proposal that encouraged principals to hire ATRs at school salaries the are the same as a "newbie teacher" with Tweed paying the difference.  Under no circumstances should the union agree to an ATR time limit, remember what happened in Chicago?

No Givebacks:  Under no circumstances should the union "giveback" anything to the City.  No more time, no merit pay, no increase in health co-pays, and most of all, no weakening of teacher "due process rights".  The Mayor wants us to surrender and make teaching a temporary job with no pensions or retiree health benefits if he could have his way.

While I do not think there will be a new contract until Mayor Bloomberg is gone.  However,  if there is one, the union better not cave in to the Mayor as they did in 2005.  Better to wait for a new City Administration than surrender to the Mayor and his hostile anti-teacher cronies at Tweed.

Why Are Small Schools Bad For Students? Let Me Count The Ways.

During the Bloomberg Administration's tenure many of the large comprehensive high schools have closed and many more are in danger of closing.  To replace these now closed or closing schools are almost 500 small schools, many of them with themes such as preforming arts, sports, or journalism, just to name a few.  While the Bloomberg Administration has hailed them as a success because of an artificially  higher graduation rate, the truth is very different.  What are the problems with these small schools for many students?  let me count the ways.

Limited Curriculum:

All small schools have less than 500 students and there is usually a limited curriculum consisting of the core subjects, a selected Advance Placement course or two and electives that are connected to the school's theme.  In other words, a rigid and limited schedule. Many students regret going to these schools because of the lack of flexibility in course selection and are frustrated about the "one-size-fits-all" approach in scheduling.

Lack Of Extracurricular Activities:

One of the most recurring complainants by students in small schools are the limited number of extracurricular activities available in the school.  Some of the more fortunate schools that are located in a campus of a closed large comprehensive high school, pool their resources to have a PSAL sports team.  However, the majority of the small schools do not have that luxury and PSAL sports programs are usually limited to two or three sports teams compared to the twenty or more PSAL sports teams at the remaining large comprehensive high schools.  Furthermore, the small schools lack funds for clubs and only a few clubs are available to the students and the lack of variety of these clubs leave many students on the outside looking in..

The Staff:

During the time I was an ATR and moving to different schools weekly, I noticed that the small schools had only one teacher for each subject (two for English and Social Studies) and when I covered for these teachers some of the students complained that they do not like their teacher and would want to transfer to another class but can't because there is only one teacher teaching the course.  Moreover, the rigid scheduling of the small school makes a transfer virtually impossible.  Worse of all, many of the small schools are staffed by Leadership Academy Principals and untenured staff.  The inexperienced Administration and teaching staff puts these students at a competitive disadvantage as these students are guinea pigs as the staff must experience a steep learning curve.  This shows up in the abyssal college readiness scores of 11% for the small schools.  Too many students are caught in classes that they don't want and with teachers who are just learning how to teach themselves. Moreover, when study/teacher interaction is not good, the student has no option but to stay in the class since there is no alternative. The result from a student's perspective is that these small schools are more like a prison than a true learning institution where they can blossom and expand their academic and social horizons.

The Budget And Bureaucracy:

While the Bloomberg Administration made sure that these small schools receive their full funding, unlike the large, comprehensive high schools, the budget is still limited and a significant amount of school funds go to the Children First Network (CFN) Bureaucracy.  One Principal complained privately that over 15% of the school budget goes to unwanted and unnecessary programs that his CFN imposed on his school.  The bottom line is that too much money of an already tight budget goes for non-classroom programs and the result is that principals can't or won't hire experienced teachers to mentor the many inexperienced teachers who struggle with classroom instruction and management, because of their salary and this is especially true of the small schools.  Is it any wonder that the students quickly get disenchanted with their small school?


The bottom line is for the small schools to really succeed, the DOE must increase their budgets to provide more curriculum choices and extracurricular activities, eliminate the CFN's that siphon much needed funds for programs that do not work, and encourage not discourage the hiring of experienced teachers to improve the overall quality of classroom instruction at the schools.





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Common Core Will Cause Academically Struggling Students To Fail Without Strong Parental Support.

During the past two days I have hearing about the new "Common Core Standards" and how it will allow students to reach the high standards that will make them productive citizens of our country.  However, it is one thing to" reach for the stars" and another to have the means to do so.  In many of our urban areas students struggle academically every day as poverty, family, and community problems interfere with student learning.   In  fact numerous studies have shown that family and poverty are major factors in impeding student academic achievement. Now the nation is implementing CCS in the curriculum on an unprepared student population that suffers from poverty and single or no parent households.

Simply stated CCS allow a student to go deeply into a particular topic and substitutes memorization with understanding and in theory, would improve student learning.  However, for CCS to work, it will take a village.  That means parent involvement, social and academic interventions, otherwise, known as wraparound services,as well as school support.Without the entire village, many students will be unable to have the tools necessary to achieve academic success.  Education reformers can lay the blame on the schools with their "no excuses" argument but the reality is that without parental support and addressing the child poverty issue, the schools can only make a small impact on the child's life.

The Achilles heel for successfully implementing CCS is the lack of parental involvement and without parental participation, the necessary tool for their child to reach for those higher standards is lacking.  Too many children have no academic stimulation at home. Their homes have no books, or even a quiet place to read and do homework.  Instead they are texting, playing video games, hanging out in the street, or watching cartoons, Is it any wonder that under the existing and easier curriculum these children struggle academically?  How do you expect them to succeed when CCS makes the curriculum more difficult without addressing the existing problems?

 While CCS has a lot of promise, it can be a death sentence for students in poverty and have no parental support.

Educators 4 Excellence Claims That Poverty Is Not As Important As An Excellent Teacher But Continues To Fail To Show Proof Despite Overwhelming Evidence To The Contrary.

During my vacation I turned to the CNN blog comments and saw one of those "Educators 4 Excellence" (E4E) mouthpieces write how it was more important for a student to have an "excellent teacher" rather than living in poverty despite the overwhelming studies that show the opposite conclusion.  I guess the E4E represents the "no excuses" crew who prefer to ignore poverty and family as the major contributing factors in a student's academic development.  What interested me was her failure to define what an "excellent teacher" is. but then that is always the problem with Education Reformers who never say what the specifics are.  More telling, Ms. McGurk has a Masters degree in educational leadership, is she still teaching in a classroom or is she like many of the E4E drones who fled the classroom at the earliest opportunity?  Just look at Ruben Brosbe, Evan Stone, and Sydney Morris, just to name a few, they couldn't leave the classroom fast enough.

Independent studies have shown that social-economic factors like poverty, community, and family account for 80% of a child's academic development.  An excellent article written by Daniel Akst in Newsday is a must read. However, the Education Reformers and their allies like E4E, with blinders on,  pretend that poverty is not important or not as important as an excellent teacher. Hence their slogan of "no excuses".  According to E4E an excellent teacher is whatever the Principal decides is one, along with test scores.  In other words a teacher who does continuous test prep and kisses their Principal's rear end is the E4E definition of an excellent teacher. Maybe E4E would be more credible if they were more accountable, many of the leaders of E4E no longer teach in the classroom and in many cases never received tenure (Ruben Brosbe, Sydney Morris, etc.).

To me E4E is a derisive influence on teachers and a tool of Education Reformers who's main purpose is to destroy the teachers union and eliminate long held tenure and seniority rights.  Worse, is that E4E is a willing accomplice in trying to destroy teacher "due process rights".  In other words a "fifth column". and teachers need to stay away from this evil organization.