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.