Well our wonderful union leaders have done it again. They negotiate an agreement with Tweed only to find that the DOE violates the agreement. Is it any surprise that the DOE has failed to live up to their responsibilities in the "rubber room agreement". The agreement was to close down the "rubber rooms" and to clean out the 650 reassigned teachers. Many of these teachers would be sent to schools to do circular 6 duties. Well, well, it turns out that no reassigned teachers are to be sent to the schools. Instead the reassigned teachers will be sent to the different DOE offices which appears to have been designated based upon the accusations charged against the teacher. For example all incompetence charged teachers go to one site while all teachers who had SCI investigations that were subject to "probable cause" go to another site and so on and so on. In other words the DOE has taken a page out of history were narrow-minded and bigited authorities would mark people with a scarlet letter such as adulterer or in Nazi regimes a Star of David It does not matter whether the charges are true or not, to the DOE it is all about the charges against the teachers that determine where they will be assigned.
The question is did the union know that the DOE changed the rules? I suspect they did know, dispute their protests to the contrary. How could the union not know that the DOE had no intention of sending reassigned teachers to schools? What was even worse was the chaos at Long Island City where not only did the 650 reassigned teachers report to to get their DOE office locations but also showing up were teachers who either had their cases settled or went through their 3020-a hearings but were not cleared by the inept DOE staff to be ATRs. What did these people at 65 Court Street do all summer? The DOE personnel who were at Long Island City seemed to be at a loss to answer questions and were scrambling to tell these teachers which Children First Networks they needed to go to. As for the UFT representatives on hand, they were more interested in handing out union leaflets then advocating for the teachers in the chaotic conditions at Long Island City.
The result is that the DOE appears to have succeeded in their "divide and conquer" effort by eliminating the hotbed of information and advocacy that was used to better prepare reassigned teachers on what's ahead for them in the reassignment process. The result is that these teachers will be at the mercy of the UFT special representative who serves the interests of the union and not the reassigned teacher.
Whatever the union was a willing partner in what the DOE has done by making mini "rubber rooms" and keeping the reassigned teachers in the dark about their placement until the last minute, thereby resulting in the chaos at Long Island City is anybody's guess. It remains to be seen if the union will ever stand up for their reassigned members or is this just another example of the DOE fooling the UFT yet again.
16 comments:
This is not a case of the UFT being hoodwinked by the DoE.
Wake up! Don't you think that the operational details of this abortion were discussed beforehand?
To see the UFT as anything but the HR enforcement arm of the DoE is foolish.
The UFT exists to ensure that those suit wearing shitheads get to keep their double pensions and paid trips to Seattle, to genuflect before Lord Gates.
We the hosts of the UFT parasite class, exist to pay for these pigs. Any abuse we undergo is sanctioned by the treacherous cretins at the UFT.
You are correct about mini rubber rooms. The question that needs to be answered was what did the pricks over at legal in the DoE intend to do with all the hapless souls that they are going to charge in the future?
It just wouldn't be cricket to send them home.
Then, the victims of whatever tin pot principal or investigator couldn't suffer enough for the likes of the sadists at the DoE or the UFT.
Instead, use the people who are fearful of losing their livelihood to do clerical scutwork, for the quasi privatized superintendency aka CFN's.
Yet another example of corruption and nepotism. Yes, now there are highly qualified senior teachers performing for free, the jobs of clerical staff who were fired last year.
All this, while the isolated victims of this so called disciplinary process grinds them down.
Once agin, There needs to be a lawsuit against the UFT and the DoE.
Teachers4Action was on the right track.
Your constitutional rights are being violated and nothing is being done by the sheep who are caught in this situation.
Only sheep go willingly to the slaughter.
Cheers,
Angry Nog
Remember that the agreement was announced right at the time that the film about the rubber room was released. I recall the makers of the film appearing on television and all over the news. So, the publicity not the rubber room injustices forced both the Dept and union to act. No big surprise that the people assigned are still treated as gulity. Also, the DOE is probably scared shitless to have even one of the accused do something untoward against any student or staff . For those folks in the RR who are truly innocent of any wrong doing, and I suspect that number to be a great majority, they should unite and seek legal recourse against the DOE and in some instances the union.
Gone but not forgotten.
If those rubber room inmates who did do anything wrong did not get organized then, it is much harder now to get together for a civil action in much smaller groups under watchful eyes in administrative settings.
Angry Nog:
The lawyer for Teachers4action gave the teachers terrible advice, like not showing up for their hearings and getting terminated. Further, by suing the UFT Nysut will not represent you making you pay thousands of dollars for a private lawyer.
I do not disagree that the union knew beforehand about the DOE plans. However, it is difficult to prove.
Chaz,
While it's true that the liar for Teachers4Action gave lousy advice. The main causes of action in the case were rock solid.
The issue of NYSUT representation is a non-issue.
A little bird tells me that NYSUT is having technical and administrative "difficulties", and are farming out the cases to other firms.
The problem is that the lawyers being retained have never heard or read 3020a law until they got the case.
One lawyer is fresh out of law school. Given the kangaroo court that they are going to, to fight on behalf of a teacher, I would say that the odds are not good for any victim caught in the vice, or rack.
Since this is an issue of keeping something that resembles a career in these difficult times, smart money says hire someone who has experience and a proven track record.
NYSUT should be sued for malfeseance and theft of services.
If paying userous union dues to a bunch of suit wearing thugs, who send 800 unity shits to Seattle to worship at Bill the bastard Gates,feet, is your idea of where the dues should go, how about this for an idea:
The union should retain the white shoe law firm of Stroock Stroock and Lavan, to defend the teachers.
It was good enough for horseface Randi Swinegarten, when she was being sued by Teachers4Action.
She had the best. Chuck Moedler their lead attorney at $850 an hour.
The irony was that while NYSUT pulled their shitty lawyers from representing the teachers who had been jacked up because of the union, the union spared no expense for themselves. So, union dues that were spent by those teachers ended up being used to defend Swingarten against her own members.
The smell of shit just keeps wafting up from whatever those crooks do.
It was the right thing to sue the United Federation of Turds.
Just as it still is the right thing to sue them for bargaining away our due process rights.
They are the part of the DoE that we pay dues to for them pupporting to represent our interests.
They don't give a fuck about us, save using us like cattle.
If you think that there was any conflict of interest for NYSUT in representing teachers who sue the UFT you would be incorrect.
Sandner lost that case years ago in another situation. That did not stop him from claiming it so as to screw teachers who for once stood up to fight for their rights.
The suit was just, as is the cause.
Angry Nog
So bottom line, what should we do about it?
The DOE is creating a Gulag Archipelago for educators. The UFT collaborated with the DOE because they sent representatives at the LIC site.
Moriah,
The only thing to do is fight back. That means organize, pool our resources and sue the hell out of both parties.
Pain and suffering,abrogation of constitutional rights under the federal constitution and state constitution.
Malfeasence, theft of services, malicious prosecution. The key to it is in Federal Court. That is the appropriate venue.
Cheers,
Angry Nog
Speaking from the first hand experiences, I would say that a class action suit entails more preparation, determination and willingness of risk taking than I have seen in the former TRC groups.
Suing the Doe will be difficult enough. Why would we want to add another party against us. Maybe we should pool our money and retain our own lawyers and law firms who can really represent us and give us a break in fees just like the UFT does. I hear cases are moving very fast and we have to do something to stop this train if we do not want to get run over.
Totally agree with anon 1:08, there is no way for reassigned teachers to kill two elephants DOE and UFT with a single bullet if anyone does have a bullet big enough to kill an elephant. Any judge is a lawyer and politician at the same time, a total legal defeat of DOE in the current environment will be hard to believe short of a miracle. At best, a civil action will force DOE to modify its approach towards reassigned teachers, and it can only get worse for most of teachers like what we saw this time around.
It seems to me that there is solid ground for a RICO action against both the UFT and the DoE.
The extent of the collusion is absolutely shocking.
Both parties have unlimited resources and can throw copious amounts of paper at any challenger.
The idea of this lawsuit has never succeeded at all.
The reason is that the victims are fragmented, demoralized, afraid and cheap.
In other words, teachers.
If people want to pony up some real money to a legitimate law firm, then anything is possible.
The fact is that the abuse is intensifying and we are now acclimated to this abuse.
The abrogation of our constitutional rights under the fourth and forteenth ammendments is continual and corrosive.
Teachers are the most compliant types to ever exist. We need a union that will actually protect our interests.
Not the corrupt patronage mill that our dues pay for.
A non-democratic autocratic top down dictatorship.
I see little difference between the syndicate and the UFT, except that the syndicate has some honor.
There is no honor at the UFT and there won't be until the structure and composition of it is changed.
That is not likely to happen ever.
The only recourse is the courts.
I would like that money back in spades.
Cheers,
Angry Nog
In defense of teachers (somebody has to) many of us have spent years teaching in dangerous situations, so I don't think we're all that compliant, as a group. However, we are not lawyers, politicians, or political organizers--that is why we have a union. Now that the union leadership has become incompetent, the membership is left adrift. All we want to do is go into the classroom and teach, but we are under attack. There are more than 700 of us. Many want to go back to the classroom and think that if they are good little boys and girls they will be able to keep their jobs. Lawyers are very expensive. Many of us have dipped deep into our savings to hire private attorneys to defend us. We are the least of the least. Our situation is largely ignored, until some politician uses us to gain a few points, by ridiculing us.
However, 700 is a lot of people. 700 x $10 is 7000 dollars. As an organized group of people, we can hire professionals to help us--not just lawyers: PR people, private detectives, community organizers.
The best defense is a good offense.
Well, first, it probably will requires twice as much in expenses to just raise $7000 from 700 people, two, any lawyer who is willing to take the case against the city has to be more interested in the possible settlement, thirdly, the lawsuit itself will outlast the careers of many TRC teachers, and lastly, the city hall will bring such an overwhelming force to stamp down the dissident teachers that most of them will be terminated in a period of few months to share the fates of most teachers involved in Teacher4action group.
There is a time for triumph in life, and unfortunately there also is a time just for survival.
The best case scenario would be to sue the DOE in federal court. Leave out the UFT and don't waste your time in State Court.
Think outside the UFT/DOE box. The class lawsuit filed to lower class size is being violated daily by the DOE. Have attorneys add the ATR plight to the lawsuit for class size. The thrust of the suit would be the number of ATR's the salary and benfits total paid by the city as a sure fired way to draw political heat on Bloomberg and Klein as well as the UFT. Not one cent of that money wasted by Kleins insistence on allowing principals to deny atr positions which at the very least could reduce class size. As the class size mandate still comply, have the advocates and ATR's join forces could become a very interesting legal and contractual issue.
Gone but not forgotten
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