Over the years I have heard stories about how school administrators are not treating teachers with the proper respect due their profession. However, as the climate against teachers have been ramped up by the education deformer organizations and their political and media allies, this disrespect has seeped down into the school administration. This development is especially true in the New York City schools where many principals have treated their teaching staff as mere worker bees and not the educated professionals they are.
Part of the problem is the DOE's Bloomberg era managers who instead of being fired when Bloomberg left office were retained by the disappointing Chancellor, Carmen Farina, and their punitive DOE policies against teachers were allowed to continue unabated. Another part of the problem was that 20% of the principals came out of the infamous "Leadership Academy" some with little or no classroom experience and have been trained to be the CEO of their school by applying the "top down approach" and dictating school policy. The final part of the problem is the Governor's disrespect for teachers and their union and takes every opportunity to impose policies that have no basis in improving student academic achievement but instead are aimed at terminating teachers.
Examples of teachers being treated unprofessionally are two stories told to me by two colleagues in the last month who were threatened with a docking of pay after missing their Professional Development due to medical reasons..
The first case occurred in a large comprehensive high school in northeast Queens where the teacher, who was rated "highly effective" last school year, suffered a "heart attack" and despite a doctor's recommendation that he not return to school this school year, the teacher felt an obligation to help his students pass the Regents. The teacher was able to struggle through the first two weeks back despite not feeling well so he left after the end of his classes. However, on Monday of the following week. was a "Professional Development" (PD) day and his absence was noted by the Principal. The next day the teacher was called down to the Principal's office and was told he will be docked two hours of pay for his failure to show up for his PD. The teacher decided to retire on the spot, leaving the students with no teacher to prepare them for the Regents.
The second case was in a small school in Southeastern Queens where a teacher informed the administration the week before that he will not be attending the mandated PD due to a long standing medical testing appointment, The administration gave its approval and the teacher, thinking that since he hasn't taken any time off during his three month assignment at the school, thought that everything was properly handled and left for his testing appointment. The next week he received an email that unless he supplied a medically certified letter showing the tests were medically necessary, he would be docked for the time. Luckily, the doctor had given the teacher a note and he had the time taken out of his CAR and not docked pay.
If teachers were treated professionally, instances like these demeaning actions would never occur. In offices throughout the country if an office worker took an hour or two off, there would not be threats of pay reductions or demand for doctor notes. However, teachers are not being treated professionally and that's the issue.
Maybe our disconnected union leadership should not be having a love affair with the Chancellor and demand that the teachers be treated with professional courtesy from her and her Tweed cronies. Moreover, they should be using member dues to run a series of commercials bringing back respect for teachers and their profession instead of using it for questionable causes.
20 comments:
Excellent post Chaz.
On a similar note regarding disrespect and punitive measures...
Is it true a teacher can be harassed/disciplined if a teacher DOES NOT have an MD note if teacher took a sick day this Tuesday after Memorial Day... simply because Monday is a holiday??
I mean, isn't it possible for someone to get sick Monday night and NOT be able to come in on Tuesday if teacher feels sick?
My question - is an MD note mandatory if one calls out sick Tuesday?
Anonymous 11:08- As insane and punitive as they are in my school, I would say that unless there is a pattern of taking days before/after long weekends or breaks, and the teacher has the time, it shouldn't be an issue.
If somebody gets a stomach virus, they're not getting a doctor's note. Where do we draw the line?
I have been in the DOE for only about nine years. I have had absolutely horrible admins. The first was a militant leftist who told us (the staff) to our faces that she would always take the side of the 'child' in any dispute between a teacher and student. She was disorganized and clueless besides. The second admin I had (my second year) was a self-professed former gang member who bullied the staff in ways I can hardly believe are true. The third admin I had (in a new school) was nice, but clueless, and she was replaced by a true Dragon who drove away nearly the entire staff after one school year. The next year she brought on a mini-dragon and the nitpicking, harassment and 'gotchas' have become downright comical, but for the fact that our careers can be ruined - for nothing. I would counsel all young people to stay out of this job. It is no longer a profession but a joke.
Including the Regents, and PD days, we work 180 days a year. A typical American worker works 246 (assuming they still get a week paid vacation).
10 self-treated days are given without question in most schools with no docking of pay. Unused days accumulate and later get paid for at retirement- something the American work force does also not get.
Can we face the facts--no matter how pleasant?
Anon 2:49
You are missing the point. Regardless of the time off or spent at work, being treated professionally is what educated professionals what to be treated as, not worker bees.
I take it you are one of those "Leadership Academy" drones or a Tweedie to take the position you advocate.
Dwarka, an incompetent Leadership Principal has 65 percent turnover rate, most were good experienced professionals, now she is pressuring the newbies to pass everything but they can't pass the regents. The Chancellor does nothing.
By typical, do you mean low wages worker? My father worked for a bank and had 6 weeks paid vacation, sick days, personal days, and a company car. You need to make comparisons that are logical. The deformers' BS mantra about teachers shows a complete lack of knowledge of the teaching profession.
In addition, because other American workers do not receive the benefits that we receive is not a reason to say how lucky we are. We live in a very sick society that is driven by the corporate oligarchy. We do not have a national health care program, paid maternity leave, paid vacation, we have more people incarcerated than the rest of the world, as well as outspending by huge amounts even the closest competitor in warfare and so called defense.
We are an inhumane society.
I want to remind everyone that bankers and other workers don't have to do their job while listening to humming,yelling, and other noises on a constant basis. Nor do they work with kids rolling on the floor. They are not told that the AC comes on on May 29 and gets shut off on September 24. Even if there's a heat wave. They don't work in rooms with no operable windows with 28 bodies giving off heat etc. They're not told to stand during an assembly while everyone else is sitting. They don't have to work in 90 degree classrooms for 8 months out of the year because no one wants to buy a new thermostat. They don't have to hold their pee in for 4 hours. They don't have to be interrupted every five seconds as they're trying to do their jobs. They don't have to answer to someone who can't add or spell or who is a pathological liar. I can go on.
Get a load of this one...
I take one day off a month for personal reasons, and most often never on a Monday or Friday for fear of being targeted. After being called into the principals office last year after my 8th medically excused day off (colonoscopy), the principal said that my schedule of a single day off each month, during Tues, Wed, or Thurs constituted a "pattern". I said that a "pattern" would be every Friday, or Monday, and the contract gives me one day per month, and I take them.
He looked like he was going to have a stroke!
Guiermo
I had kids walking on the tables on Thursday. One boy shimmied up to me and said, "Wanna dance babe?"
I am 58 years old by the way.
I would think that asking a teacher for a detailed medical note is a violation of privacy. I hope this teacher brought in a general note instead.
This is Anon 2:49 PM and I am no Tweedie nor Leadership nor any kind of admin. I am working for the DOE 22 years- this is my third high school. I have also worked "out there" and have many friends who do.
Have a conversation with someone outside the DOE once in a while, it's an eye opening experience.
This is Anon 2:49 PM and I am not a Tweedie but I do think teachers need to realize how lucky they are to have jobs with such low hours. I have run all the calculations in my mothers basement and have determined that a teacher actually work only 91% of what a real worker does per year. I will soon be writing a book publishing my thesis on this and proving to everyone once again that teachers should never complain about their work or conditions of their work.
Once again you're missing the point. According to your logic, we deserve to be insulted, treated like 5 year-olds, and abused because we have more than one week vacation? I don't know any teacher that went to 8 years of university that agrees with you. That's not why I worked hard and my parents worked hard for so we could be constantly berated by morons.
To Anon 2:49:
You are degrading and insulting every hardworking dedicated teacher that may also include yourself.
I'm glad you have the time to do all those all calculations -in your mom's basement. But, many teachers that I know-including my self-spend extra time before and after and school- and at home on grading papers, preparing lesson plans, contacting student families etc. Actually, according to your logic, you should have been able to do all those calculations on a daily basis at your school by using the missing 9% differential time of a real worker-using your assumption that teachers aren't real workers-- that once again might include yourself.
Great another self righteous troll trying to write a book. All teachers should write a book if that's the case and share all our stories....eye-opener yes indeed.
Anon 7:05:
The contract does not "give" you one day per month. Except for 3 days - you are only supposed to use those days if you are sick. The "10 days per year" are a benefit NOT an entitlement. Arbitrators have made this clear for years.
Anonymous 7:13
Come out of your mother's basement (was refreshing to see you admit to your dwelling place, most trolls don't) and put aside your calculations and observe what teachers do all day and the work they do after school.
to anon at 9:16 - the Federal HIPAA law (I think that's how they spell it) deals with medical privacy. The law is very clear -all you need to tell an employer is that you are under the care of a doctor. Bringing a note stating that you were seen in the doctor's office and are under treatment is all the employer is entitled to get. Asking for more than that is a form of harassment and you can file a federal complaint. Of course if you have a good relationship with administrators you are free to share about an illness - that is up to you.
As for sick days - bring a note if you can. Then the absence comes out of the bank and you don't lose a self treated day.
In my 35 years of teaching in 6 different schools in NYC I learned that taking one day off a month can be seen as a pattern and I would bet there are arbitrations that deal with this issue. Also, if you have no days in the bank, what happens when you are seriously sick or in an accident? You can borrow days but they have to be paid back.
Post a Comment