After reading about the Fort Greene Success Academy's "got to go" list, I decided to make up my own "got to go" list if our teaching profession would become that respected and admired profession it once was. What follows is my "got to go" list.
Michael Mulgrew:
As President of the UFT, Michael Mulgrew has been a huge failure He has followed in the footsteps of the great appeaser, Randi Weingarten that has made the teaching in the New York City schools a living hell with "giveback" laden contracts that were short on money and back-loaded, and long on promises that have failed to materialize. Michael Mulgrew supports the Common Core, the teacher evaluation system, opposed the "opt out" movement, allowed ATRs to become second class citizens, and according to an ex-insider, allegedly fails to address e-mails sent to him by the members. Michael Mulgrew leads the disconnected leadership that has not made the teaching profession better but worse under his and Randi's tenure.
Chancellor Carmen Farina:
Known as the disappointing Chancellor, Carmen Farina came in with great promise and it was hoped that she would "clean house" and get rid of the ideological Bloomberg policymakers. However, except for replacing a few top people the Bloomberg 300 remained in their policy-making positions and the "gotcha" system at Tweed continues. Moreover, the infamous "fair student funding" remains in place and the bloated DOE Bureaucracy continues to spend money on their pet projects and paying the high-priced consultants rather than funding schools. Finally, she has frozen school budgets, failed to reduce class size, maintained the ATR pool, and failed to hire "effective teachers" for the renewal schools. She has proven to be more the problem than the solution.
Leadership Academy Principals:
Chancellor Carmen Farina claimed that 400 principals should not be running their schools, many of them from the infamous "Leadership Academy". However, few were removed and the DOE's Bloomberg 300 protects them. Some examples are Namita Dwarka and Jose Cruz. Despite all the issues associated with them and their schools they still are in charge! Unfortunately, 20% of the schools have a "Leadership Academy Principal", it would be extremely difficult to remove them all but the Chancellor could have at least started with the list in my principals to avoid post
ATR Field Supervisors:
A waste of money and their only purpose is to harass ATRs into resigning or retiring. The money can be better spent in giving schools the chance to hire ATRs by giving them an extra teaching position rather than hire these assassins.
Educators 4 Excellence:
The sock puppets and stooges of education reform groups such as Democrats for Education Reform and StudentsFirst while being funded by Bill Gates. This fringe group consists mostly of "newbie" teachers and many from Teach For America. Few last beyond two years or receive tenure before leaving for greener pastures. The sooner they disappear the better.
Useless Professional Development:
I can confidently say all the Monday and Tuesday Professional Development has been a waste of time as it rotates around Common Core and rigor. None of the PD has made me a better teacher or anyone else for that matter. The time could be better served by tutoring students who want and need extra help.
Paperwork:
Despite assurances by Michael Mulgrew and Carmen Farina that unecessary paperwork would be eliminated, the opposite is true. The DOE and State have, if anything, increased the paperwork requirements in their single-minded quest for more data mining. In fact ask the District 75 schools how much paperwork they must do on their own time, just to keep up with the special education requirements imposed by the City and State on the teacher. In one school the Principal told the teachers to have their paraprofessionals run the class so that the paperwork can get done.
Governor Cuomo:
The governor's ill-advised punitive teacher evaluation system and the "opt out" movement has caused his education policy to drag down his poll numbers with only 28% supporting it. If this continues he will be going and he will no longer be on my "got to go" list.
This is my "got to go" list and you are invited to recommend and add to it in my comment section.
Hey Chaz at least there's no drug testing. Cops, fire, Sanitation, MTA all get random testing but not us teachers. Thank goodness they haven't figured out that one third of the teaching force smokes weed regularly. I mean heck, I smoke before work and it's amazing. I can list about half the staff at my school who really enjoy marijuana. High as a kite I am. I have so much fun in my 1st class. By lunchtime it wears off. Getting high as a teacher is almost a necessity now a days especially with the carp we gotta deal with. Ahh tomorrow's Fruday and I'm going to smoke my brains out. Chaz do you get high too? We can all get toasted one night.
ReplyDeleteMulgrew doesn't allegedly fail to answer emails, he and his arrogant ass-kissers, can't even be bothered with a "drop dead stalker" as a reply.
ReplyDeleteAnother post about pointing fingers and saying what is wrong with the DOE. How about logical solutions instead of continuing to complain.
ReplyDeleteMulgrew is a nuisance.....but be careful who his replacement would be
You want leadership principals gone? Who would replace them. In case you havent noticed there is a huge lack of new principals in the principals pool and most of the "good ol principals" have retired due to the changes in the system
You want PL gone on Mondays and Tuesdays? How are teachers supposed to get better? The problem is the UFT has a say in how these trainings are delivered.
You wanted Bloomberg gone...you want diblasio gone.....you want cuomo gone? Who do you want?
Stop with the b---ching and moaning and look for solutions. We have enough people in this system that complain without an idea how to make things better.
The biggest problem is DeBlasio. He's such a disaster that teachers are seen as guilty by association because of Mulgrew's non-stop ass kissing. The UFT has once again made an enormous profession killing blunder.
ReplyDeleteIn reference to the roving ATR supervisors....they are "leaders" from failing schools, yet they are given the task of assessing the skills of ATR teachers.
ReplyDeleteHow can a failed manager provide direction to a failed subordinate?
UFT/DOE?Farina/Mulgrew are a bunch of fools.
Be gone State Commissioner of Education Mary Ellen Elia: Last August 20, Elia looked me in the eye and promised to help me settle the notorious Cobble Hill Regents cheating case. According to OSI (and a Randi-appointed vetting committee headed by former UFT Secretary Michael Mendel including NYSUT attorney Chris Callagy and former New York Teacher investigative reporter Jim Callaghan) my cheating and cover-up allegations were substantiated.
ReplyDeleteBut according to SCI, I was a hoaxer. Special Commissioner Richard Condon determined that there was "no credible evidence" of cheating or cover-up. The funny thing was that SCI never audited the disputed exams--the most credible evidence of all--that I and five eyewitness teachers claimed were inflated.
I explained this forensic fiasco to Elia and asked her to arrange the long delayed audit that Condon has corruptly resisted and that would prove that we Cobble Hill teachers told the truth.
"Send me what you have," Elia said, "I can tell you that in the New York State office in Albany I'm not covering up." I complied, presenting her with several documents containing morally certain evidence of Regents crimes. Regrettably, she has not
responded, ignoring two follow-up emails. Looks like the cover-up is still on. And so she must go with the rest.
Yo Phil. You need to let it go man. Enjoy your life, take a vacation and relax. You're so obsessed over this shit. You sound miserable. Too bad.
Delete8:32,
ReplyDeleteYou're not a teacher- you're an enormous asshole.
Anyone who would take a job as a field assassin is inherently pond scum of the earth
ReplyDelete@Anonymous at 9:57
ReplyDelete"Stop with the b---ching and moaning and look for solutions."
How about you? If you think Chaz is complaining about serious issues, how about helping to resolve them? Or do you think Chaz's issues, many of them my issues, are unimportant?
"You want leadership principals gone? Who would replace them. In case you havent noticed there is a huge lack of new principals in the principals pool and most of the "good ol principals" have retired due to the changes in the system"
Instead of poking at Chaz, make a suggestion? I'll go first. There are now over 1800 schools in the system. Let's start merging some of the schools that share buildings, so that the need for principals goes down?
Your turn.
Jonathan
To my anonymous (why always anonymous?)colleagues: Would you tell Zola to let it go, Serpico to take a vacation, Ellsberg to relax? I blew the whistle on paradigmatic Regents crimes at Superintendent Carmen Farina's pet Brooklyn high school. But thanks to corruption at the top of the D0I and DOE, I am now branded a sleazy hoaxer. If your repute was so smeared, and if there was one surefire piece of evidence that would reverse your conviction, would you just lay down?
ReplyDeleteIf and when the Cobble Hill exams are independently audited and the promiscuous erasures I saw are confirmed, there will be blood Atlanta-style in New York because, among many, many others, Farina's and Condon's hands are dirty, which is why they fear an audit.
espite substantiation by OSI,
The outrageous fact about ATR supervisors is they are administrators from failed schools. If they failed at assessing and developing talent amongst their own in-house teachers, what makes the DOE feel they are competent to assess ATRs? Could it be that the DOE and UFT are just trying to get rid of ATRs?
ReplyDeleteJonathan,
ReplyDeleteYou wanted me to give my solutions? No problem
1- uft president should have a minimum of 10 yrs teaching experience. No way a leader of educators should be someone who taught woodshop and basket weaving for a year
2- the city should supply schools with a 100k in their budget. This money would be used to hire a compliance officer so schools can actually focus on children instead of compliance/surveys, etc.
3- the city should supply schools with $5,000 per teacher for professional development. It would be up to key stakeholders in the school on how to differentiate and spend those funds for PD purposes.
4- do away with per session and payment for missed preps. Instead this contribution will be given in terms of service time. This will allow people to retire earlier if they hustle and will allow the city / schools to save money that can actually be spent on children
5- teacher evaluations should stay but weighted so that 75 percent is about observations. Too many teachers are either bailed out or punished due to testing.
6- i can go on and on. Just give me a topic. You are up johnny boy. Unlike chad i dont b and moan
Hey Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteWho's poking at Chaz? Perhaps you're referencing another post. I didn't mention leadership principals but they could be replaced overnight in a myriad of ways: 1. Replace them with traditionally trained and experienced ATR APs. 2. Go back to large schools. 3. Send them all for retraining and give them Peer intervention with a traditionally trained principal. 5. Set up teacher/AP committees to oversee the duties of a principal. 5. Buy a mannequin with a suit and tie. 6. Develop an app. (Perhaps I just gave Klein an idea?)
Cheers,
9:57
I dont understand how people can be so ignorant. You complain that atrs are treated unjust but its ok to treat leadership principals like crap? We need to stop grouping people together and talk about people as individuals. All atrs are not bad but some give them a bad name. Same goes for leadership principals. When you call out an entire group you are going down a dangerous path......unless its people who work for mulgrew
ReplyDeleteAnon 10:17
ReplyDeleteYou are correct. However, teachers did not select the ATR pool they were either excessed from closing schools or won their 3020-a termination hearing and were forced into the ATR pool. On the other hand, the "Leadership Academy" indoctrinated their graduates to be the CEO of their school and to dictate not collaborate with school staff.
Many of the "Leadership Academy" principals have little classroom experience and some were not even tenured! Moreover, they chose that pay while the ATR did not. That's the difference!
Chaz,
ReplyDeleteBut you just proved my point. "Many leadership principals" is not all. "Many atrs" is not all. Stop with grouping people together. Call out individuals and not groups who may have quality and knowledgable people in that group.
The best gig in the doe right now is atr ap. Oh my God. I can't believe these individuals are making 135K+ walking around doing absolutely nothing. When the question is posed to youngsters, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" The answer should be, "Atr AP"
ReplyDeleteTo 5:46,
ReplyDeleteATRs don't make 135k, top salary is 105k. Ive been teaching 5 periods day, 5 days a week. Between teachers quitting, 3020a'ed, and being arrested I've been very busy. Maybe when you grow up you can be an ATR. (Or smoke a little more weed and keep dreaming, or just become a teacher and work 20 years.)
ATR APs are a thousand times better that most of the leadership principals I've come across. It's not their fault they are ATRs. The leadership principals chose their route to sub par job performance by going to Fast Food HS academy.
ReplyDeleteanon 8 32
ReplyDeletegreen or brown bud