Staff are being informed by e-mails that they were not selected for a position at the new schools and that they should look on the open market system to find a position. In my school at least 50% of the teachers have been e-mailed the bad news and there is plenty of crying and anger about what has happened. Worse, is that many of the teachers who are excellent teachers and even the "teacher of the year", as selected by the students, were told that they do not fit into the vision of the new school Administration. I guess it really is not about the students after all.
My school feels like a morgue with staff looking like the "walking dead" (zombies) and I am sure so do the other "turnaround schools" as the survivors of the culling comfort their soon departed colleagues who still must complete marking the Regents and giving back equipment and keys before leaving the school for good on their journey into the excess pool of "job fairs" , interviews, and possibly ending up as an ATR for the next school year.
Why couldn't this awful and unnecessary process wait for the Arbitrator decision? What if the Arbitrator decides for the UFT? How does one feel about returning to a school where the new Administration does not want them? What kind of school climate is there with such staff and Administration distrust? Moreover, how does this climate of distrust and suspicion help the students? Finally, what was the DOE thinking in pushing for a solution that is worse than the problem?
This is a absolutely horrible situation which has been carried out over the last 10 years. Where is the UFT in all of this? Sitting at the table making these decisions.
ReplyDeleteHow can a teacher hope to get a new job when the school that sucked their blood doesn't want them. No wonder they feel so awful.
ReplyDeleteI hope they hire you and that you decide to tell them to go kiss off. None of this is about the students; it's all about image and getting away from the NCLB data.
ReplyDeleteBuilding I work in (Until Wednesday, for now) I am not sure if the winners in this battle are the ones that get to stay. They are already bracing themselves for a longer year than this one.
ReplyDeleteToo many teachers had their heads in the sand these past few years. Now the rock has fallen on their heads and they are shell shocked.
ReplyDeleteI do feel badly for them because part of the problem is the false hope the UFT gives them while at the same time selling them up the river. Hopefully these same teachers will now find blogs like this one and Diane Ravitch's as well as the many Facebook pages that have been trying to get teachers to stand up for themselves because the unions--maybe with the exception of Chicago--aren't doing it for them.
Chaz,
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting and caring enough about the situation to write about it. My small school has teachers with their heads in the sand.
The UFT, Incorporated has no interest in truly defending its members. I hope everyone is realizing this. Mulgrew hides behind the Taylor Law, so he doesn't have to take the obvious step as they have in Chicago.
Go to the UFT website and look at the contract section and its left menu. The UFT(where the T stands for teachers) represents different fields now, they've diversified.
Moreover, look up the fact that Mulgrew himself is on the Board of EPOs and charters(possible conflicts of interest). His interest is not the interest of public school teachers, not when he's on the board for a charter and EPO. The rapacious capitalists are using the Charters as their tool to eliminate traditional public schools, and it is working. It's fast and furious. They also have the media doing it's part in demonizing education. Remember, there are billions of dollars in education to control.
It is never about the children.
1) Identify the resourse (billions of dollars in federal money
2) identify the obstacles (unionized teachers with tenure and seniority rights)
3) Eliminate obstacles
A) employ the media in demonizing the obstacle and the politically immature
public will believe anything
B) change laws and implement new laws
4) Declare War (children's education, veteran teachers, traditional schools are collateral
damage
5) Take resources (special ed funding, excess teachers, no training, etc.) and
redistribute(CFN, consultants, charter schools, Pearson, hedgefund ROI( return on
investment)
I see it clearly, do you?
All this to state children are not their priority, getting the resource is (the money)
UFT is complicit.
Thank you for caring enough to write about it.
Why would anyone possibly think the UFT would do anything about this? If you have been teaching for 10 minutes or 40 years the UFT gets the same amount of dues. If an experienced teacher is replaced by two newbies, the UFT pulls in twice the dues. Does anyone really think Mulgrew cares where he gets his money from?
ReplyDeleteTo the posters of this morning that think that nothing is being done in New York,
ReplyDeleteNot so. Activists from different teachers' groups have combined in the Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE) caucus of the UFT to pursue a pro-active course, to reverse the lame and defensive at best posture of the Unity caucus dominating the UFT. Join us as we are active this summer:
morecaucusnyc.org
You asked a lot of questions in your post. The answer was also there...
ReplyDelete" I guess it really is not about the students after all."
It's not about learning...not about students...not about anything but sucking the lifeblood of the public schools into the corporate coffers. Kill the schools and then "save" them with vouchers (in my state of IN) and charters. It's just plain wrong.
It is very interesting how the DOE ignores what the students want. Shouldn't their voices count for something?
ReplyDeleteNYCDOE Talking Head: Welcome Students and Parents! We want your opinion about the state of our schools!
ReplyDeleteStudent: Well...
NYCDOE Talking Head: We're doing fantastic, I agree. Next!
Parent: That student hasn't finished.
NYCDOE Talking Head: Shut up! Nobody cares about your opinion.
Parent: What the-?
NYCDOE Talking Head: Bup bup! All right, this session is over. Thanks for your feedback everyone!