Just when the ATR crises can't get any worse, the New York Post reports that there was a 13% increase in ATR's to 1395 this year. Based upon last year's figures, the ATR crises will cost DOE over 91 million dollars for the next two years! Unconscionable during a fiscal crises in New York City, how can Tweed justify this misguided policy? Tweed can't and they don't bother to explain it to the public. Instead, Tweed continues to waste funds. Rather than saving money by placing excessed teachers into vacancies, Tweed encourages principals to hire newbie teachers. Posted below is a message that Tweed sent to school principals.
This is from this week's Principal Weekly
New Teachers Available
All schools
Newly-hired, certified teachers are available for you to consider for instructional vacancies. To find out more about these candidates, most of whom are in shortage subject areas, you can contact the Office of Teacher Recruitment and Quality at (718) 935-4080 or contact your HR partner. You can also search and view resumes and essays of these and other qualified candidates using the New Teacher Finder.
Notice how Tweed did not mention the over abundance of well-qualified ATR's? The DOE's disrespect of older and experienced teachers just continues and it does not matter how much money its costing Tweed. Furthermore, the lack of experienced teachers in the classroom only hurts the students since even the best of the newbie teachers take anywhere from 3 to 5 years to achieve adequate classroom management and a real knowledge of how to teach the curriculum.
Kleinberg's misguided emphasis on hiring cheap, and inexperienced teachers as it tries to practice "education on the cheap" just ends up wasting even more precious money and the result is a continuation of their "children last" program.
Update!
The ATR crises is worse than I thought the Daily News reports that there are an additional 229 newbie teachers without a classroom. This brings the total number of teachers who are ATR's up to 1,424. However, this did not stop Tweed from hiring 5,400 newbie teachers this school year. What has our union done about this travesty of wasted talent and money? Nothing!
When I tried to express to my principal ( who only hires TA's who keep leaving after their second year commitment is up) the need for a more stable staff her response? "I rather have a bunch of good teachers for two years than dead- beats forever!" I wanted to smack her. ( I know, not very professional of me) That says it all. Look at how many teachers bought into 25/55 it's no wonder. Who wants to be treated like trash? Shame on the UFT!
ReplyDeleteproofoflife:
ReplyDeleteI find it hard to believe that the ATR crises gets worse as our union just ignores the problem.
What's more unbelievable is how Tweed wastes all this talent and money and the local media buys into their blaming the teachers.
Well I disagree with you Chaz. Tweed has a "war" against veteran teachers whether they be good or bad. Here I am a 20 year veteran in Special Education fluent in 3 langauges and able to control a class of very difficult children as I have proven over the years and yet when I return from my year's sabbatical I predict I will not be able to "find" a position and will be regulated into the ATR pool.
ReplyDeleteMy school, BREC, rehired a young teacher from Texas who can not speak Spanish and was quoted, taken from a student publication, in El Diario La Prensa as stating underage drinking was OK. She was let go by my failing school and hired across the street in an "A" school but returned this year because she "missed the kids" at at my unruly and horribly disorganized school.
This incident has ugly overtones of racism as the young pretty teacher in question is white, blonde and blue eyed along with ageism since she is 23 years old. Now, can you imagine if I had been quoted saying underage drinking is OK in a newspaper? Where would I be?
What is happening is a farce but it designed that way to push us all out, the veterans at top salary, and not because Tweed is incompetent or indifferent. They care. Believe me they care but not about children or teachers as they would have the public believe.
Sorry I forgot to add that the she was rehired to teach Spanish. A langauge she has no fluency in but she comes at a cheap price tag and that is what matters.
ReplyDeleteJustice:
ReplyDeleteI think you misread my post. I agree with you that Kleinberg is out to get the older and experienced teacher. What I said was that it is unbelievable that the union and the media lets them get away with this.