Age Discrimination Continues At The DOE As Our Union Leaders Keep Their Heads In The Sand

The regional DOE offices, known as the Integrated Service Centers (ISC) have decided that the reason the ATRs are not getting jobs is that they don't know how to interview with the Principals properly. Therefore, the Borough ISC offices have spent precious funds in organizing an "interview techniques class". The ISC, rather than face the obvious reason that the ATRs are not being hired by the Principals, they are blaming the ATRs instead. Pissed Off's friend described her frustration with the ISC and wrote about her experience with the ISC.

Of course the real reason that the ATRs are not being hired is quite simple. It is about age discrimination and the control the Principals want to have. Remember, if a Principal says "jump" the "newbie teacher"will say "how high"? While the senior teacher will rightly say "why?' It is really not about the money, it is about Principals not wanting senior teachers who might question their directives. This is especially true of the "Leadership Academy Principals. Previously, I wrote about the reasons why the Principals refused to hire the ATRs despite not costing their schools any more money than a "newbie teacher".

As for our union? Their collective heads are buried in the sand as they refuse to see the obvious age discrimination going on in the DOE. Previously, I posted the ageism that is going on in the Queens Teacher Reassignment Center (TRC). Furthermore, the UFT quietly dropped an age discrimination lawsuit at or about the time the union signed the unenforceable and DOE ignored November 16th 2008 ATR agreement. Despite union denials that there was any linkage between the two events, it certainly looks suspicious to the informed observer and was posted by me here.

In an earlier post I talked about a friend of mine who is an excellent teacher and her private tutoring services is highly rated and sought after by parents who's children need extra academic help. However, after her school restructured she found herself as an ATR and despite a sparkling reputation and glowing Administrator evaluations she has failed to land a classroom position. My friend has sent out 31 resumes and received not one response. Not one! Why won't Principals hire her? Well it could be that she is 50+ and has over 20 years experience. Nothing else can account for the lack of interest in this teacher.

Remember, the DOE's real mission is to get rid of senior teachers at all costs and if the students are collateral damage, so be it. It is consistent with Tweed's "education on the cheap" and "children last" programs. Unfortunately. our union seems quite happy to ignore the DOE's abuse of their senior teachers and allow the "ATR (1400+) and rubber room (800)" ranks to continually increase with older teachers, many of them 50 years of age or older.

Maybe with Michael Mulgrew as the new President of the UFT things will change. Yeah right. I'm more likely to see Leo Casey become an ICE member before the UFT does the right thing and go after Tweed for their ageism policies.

"Happy Independence Day"