Why MORE's Social Justice Plank Is Crap!

My colleagues at MORE are mighty unhappy with my stance on their "social justice" plank and have made great strides in "putting lipstick on the pig" by claiming that their social justice plank is part of teacher justice. Be it NYC educator, Ed Notes Online, or the ICEUFT blog.   Moreover, they claim that a narrowly based teacher union is doomed to fail since it cannot attract enough members to make a difference and I agree.  However, the problem is that I do believe in social justice, just not the social justice MORE advocates.  This post explains the social justice that should be part of the teacher justice program while some of MORE's major social justice plank deals more with Socialist or Communist political ideology and not education and that's why its "crap".

My perfect caucus would first and foremost be about "teacher justice" that is demanding respect for the teaching profession and the professionalism that goes with it, allowing for a teacher voice on all decisions, and negotiating a contract that is fair and equitable to all the members.  No winners and losers.  No longer will there be an ATR pool or second class citizenship.  The caucus will bring back respect and pride to the teaching profession and teacher autonomy in the classroom.

The "social justice" part would be working with the community's parents for smaller class sizes, so all students have a better chance for educational success, adequate resources, for the schools, a fair and enforced student discipline policy that removes disruptive students from the classroom and set up suspension centers (remember the old 600 schools?) for these students so the rest of the students can learn.  My "social justice" plank is a parent voice,  a peaceful classroom, a climate of respect for all, an environment for optimum student learning, and most importantly, the proper resources and support for all students to reach their educational potential.

By contrast, MORE's "social justice" plank includes too many ideological issues. including increased restorative justice funds and staff, as if these useless circles really work.  They don't!  Just read my previous post on Flushing high school.  Furthermore, MORE apparently advocates affirmative action for hiring teaching staff, regardless if they're qualified.  In other words, instead of hiring based on teacher quality MORE actually wants race, culture, and religion to be considered in the composition of a teacher staff  I thought that nonsense was outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court?  If you don't believe me, just read what MORE's Presidential candidate Jia Lee told the Gothomist about teacher staffs. I personally dislike any discrimination be it from the left or the right and selecting a teaching staff based on factors other than on a teacher's ability is plain wrong om any level, no matter how noble the idea is.  Finally, MORE is strangely silent on the revised and more lenient student discipline code that has resulted in more violent acts in the New York City schools.  Is their ideology more important then their member safety?  Even the clueless and disconnected UFT President Michael Mulgrew realized that the revised student discipline code is making schools increasingly unsafe for both students and staff.  Finally, MORE (so did Unity) supported the Al Sharpton led march against fellow union members, a case where ideology trumped trade unionism. A major no, no to me.

While I am happy that MORE has won the high school seats on the executive board and possibly added a level of transparency to the secretive Unity caucus that dominates the union, I cannot in good conscience be a MORE member until they change their "social justice" plank to supporting teachers and not the ideological aims of the left. To me their "social justice" plank its just "crap".

Why Teaching Is A Dangerous Occupation At Renewal Schools.

One of the most overlooked aspects of teaching at a renewal school is how potentially dangerous it is to be a teacher at these struggling schools.  In today's New York Post, there was a story about a teacher who dared tried to defend herself from a violently aggressive student and was removed from the classroom and assigned to the "rubber room" at Queens Plaza North for the rest of the school year and possibly subject to 3020-a termination charges.

The violently aggressive male student who threatened the female teacher with assault was given a mere 5 day removal from his class and will be back in his classroom next week.  Before the social justice crap took over the New York City schools this student would have received a Superintendent's suspension and sent to another school.  Just think what kind of message this sends to the students at Flushing High School?  Threaten a teacher with physical harm, get a response and the teacher is gone and you're a hero to the other misbehaving students at the school. I spent one year at Flushing High School back in 2011-12 school year and I can tell you I was happy to leave. Read my description Here.

It's not just Flushing High School, it's all the renewal schools that teachers are under assault and  many choose to leave as quickly as possible.  My good friend NYC educator doesn't think social justice is crap,  However when students can disrupt, threaten, and physically assault teachers, knowing full well that they only have to sit through a restorative justice circle session or get a warning card that they consider a joke and not worry about being suspended, sent to a different school, or arrested, then social justice is crap because it adds stress to the educational process, it hurts teacher instruction, student learning, and makes the school environment unsafe for all.

Speaking of renewal schools.  The Principal of Automotive High School, Caterina Lafergola,  is leaving to become a Principal at Baldwin high school in Long Island.  What possessed this suburb to hire a failed NYC Principal who has lots of baggage is beyond me?  Then again the Baldwin school system did gives us the infamous James Brown didn't they and failed to tell the DOE about his past?  I pity the parents, students, and especially the veteran teachers of the high school with her as Principal.  Then again, maybe there is a silver lining, Automotive high school might actually improve since its addition by subtraction unless the DOE puts another unqualified Leadership Academy Principal in charge of the struggling school.

Remember at the DOE its still "children last"..Always.

The Open Market Transfer System Is A Joke For Veteran Teachers.

I received my online edition of the "Organizer" and I was struck how the author, a "Unity" retiree is drinking the leadership's "kool-ade" on how the Open Market Transfer System (OMTS) is a success. The author, Gene J. Mann, states that the OMTS allows 4,000 teachers to transfer yearly, compared to only 300 annually before the OMTS.  While, I do not dispute his union supplied figures, my question is what is the actual experience breakdown of the 4,000 teachers in the OMTS who change schools?

My educated guess is that few of the 4,000 teachers who change schools through the OMTS are veteran teachers with ten or more years of service.  In fact, I believe the vast majority of the OMTS  are actually untenured teachers who make less money that the average teacher salary of the receiving school which allows the Principal to have extra money to spend in his or her budget.  Moreover, with schools receiving no more than 92% of the "fair student funding", few principals are willing to hire veteran teachers. Of course neither our union leadership or the DOE are willing to supply the nreakdown of teacher experience who successfully transferred to another school.

One of the more unaddressed issues of the OMTS is the failure of struggling schools and schools with a challenging student population to retain their better teachers.  The OTMS allows for a mass exodus of teachers from the schools who are in most need of good teachers and transfer to the better schools in the system.  The result is that the struggling schools suffer from high teacher turnover, and an unstable school environment, not conducive for student academic achievement.  In other words, the OMTS ensures that struggling schools continues to struggle.

Interestingly, as these struggling schools hire an inexperienced teacher corp annually to replace the departing teachers, averaging 5,000 in the last couple of years, there are almost 2,000 ATRs languishing without a permanent position. The ATRs cost the DOE over $100 million annually and the union's failure to demand that the DOE "do the right thing" and offer the ATR a permanent placement in their district. Instead, our disconnected union leadership allowed the DOE to become "second class citizens", subject to field supervisor "flyby observations" and potential termination.

While retiree Gene J. Mann can write about how great the OMTS is, the truth is that its basically a useless tool for veteran teachers.

The Renewal High Schools Are Losing, Not Attracting Students.

Not unexpectedly, the renewal high schools are failing to attract students, especially the academically proficient students, to these struggling schools. This is despite the promise the De Blasio/Farina administration made to make these schools better by providing more money and resources.  As a 20 year teacher in the high schools, I could have told you that these schools would not be able to attract academically proficient students and would probably continue to lose students since these schools have a bad reputation and were told to limit the amount of "over the counter" students assigned to various high schools in the City.

To me, its very obvious if I know anything about my child's potential high school, I am not going to have my child select a renewal school and that's what is occurring throughout the City.  Moreover, these schools are also suffering from high teacher turnover, and an exodus of veteran teachers, when given the opportunity to leave.  Just look at what happened at Automotive High School.   Additionally, many of the renewal high schools use teachers who are not certified in the subject they teach in.  An example of this is Richmond Hill High School who has multiple classes of Earth Science with no certified Earth Science teacher instructing them.  Finally,  with all the extra requirements placed on staff and students at the renewal schools (time being only one) the school environment is not very conducive for staff and students and the result is a staff of "newbie teachers" and  indifferent parents who dump their child in any school that accepts them.  Not an  encouraging sign of a successful school.

Maybe its time to bring back the large comprehensive high schools that are community based and only allow the highest academically achieving students to select another school, based upon rigorous criteria.  Otherwise, throwing money and resources into these renewal high schools is like pissing into a hurricane, the more you piss against the strong winds of the hurricane, the more likely it lands back on you. That's what's happening as the renewal high schools who cannot attract the academically achieving students necessary to improve these schools.

Why Can't A Teacher Grieve A Developing Rating?

A very disturbing trend is happening, some teachers rated "developing" are still being charged with incompetence  under 3020-a and must defend themselves at a termination hearing.  You heard me right, two consecutive "developing" ratings or one "developing" and one "ineffective" rating can land a teacher with 3020-a termination charges for incompetence.  Our union has constantly told the members that only two consecutive "ineffective" ratings could lead to 3020-a termination charges.  However, I guess our disconnected union leadership forgot to tell the DOE that and the DOE has proceeded with filing 3020-a incompetencecharges against teachers who had  "developing" rating(s). While the burden of proof is still on the DOE, the present arbitrators have been giving the DOE more severe awards, including termination.

Since the current teacher evaluation system does not allow for an appeal of a "developing" rating, can't the teacher file a grievance as a "Special Complaint" (Article 20 in the contract)?  The short answer is yes they can/  However, the problem is that the union must approve the grievance and my understanding is that the union has no intention of allowing such a grievance and taking the City to court is time consuming and expensive for the teacher.  Moreover, its quite likely such a court case may be stopped until the teacher exhausted his or her union protections, meaning the grievance procedures, adding more time and money before a decision is rendered..

Presently, there are only a handful of these cases (see the ICEUFT blog) but as more teachers who get "developing" rates find themselves under 3020-a incompetence charges and be terminated, the DOE will be empowered to go after even more teachers, especially the veteran teachers so they can be replaced by Tier VI "newbies" who are cheaper and will never last long enough to get a pension or retiree health benefits.

This is just another example of our disconnected union leadership not telling us the truth about what the DOE intends to do to our veteran teachers.

Is This Hometown Hero Principal Really One? I Don't Think So.

The New York Daily News is starting their bogus hometown hero series again and while some educators are really heroes, quite a few selections are highly questionable.  A case in point is the latest nominee, Principal Shawn Rux of MS 53, the Brian Piccolo school in Far Rockaway Queens.  Principal Rux has been in charge of this low-performing school since the 2011 school year and the graduates from his middle school have fared poorly on State tests and the majority of his students end up in the worst performing high schools in the Borough.

If you read the "puff piece" in the Daily News on Principal Shawn Rux you would be led to believe he is turning the school around.  However, when you look at the academic metrics you find that the school is still failing miserably.  It has only 6% of the students passing the State English test and 5% passing the State Math test.  This is little or no improvement since he first took over the school that ranks among the lowest achieving middle school in Queens.  The Daily News points out that he has reduced suspensions significantly but that goes for most all schools because of the new DOE policy that limits student suspensions.  Moreover, he tries to bribe students with something called "Rux Bux" for high grades and good behavior.  Is bribing students an academic strategy?  Since when is it school policy to offer rewards for appropriate behavior and grades that most of the world expect of their children?  If I gave my students cookies and snacks for high grades and good behavior, would I be brought up on charges by DOE legal for discrimination?  Moreover, what message am I sending the students?

When you look at the school's snapshot you find some very disturbing information about the teaching staff.  First, 52% of the teaching staff has less than 3 years experience, meaning that the vast majority of the staff are not tenured!  Moreover, the Principal has a staff trust factor of 76% compared to the City average of 86%.  This mean that the inexperienced teaching staff does not completely trust the Principal's decisions and that also shows up in the staff giving the Principal a lower than average "effective leadership" rating.  Finally, the constant teacher turnover at the school makes the school environment somewhat unstable and oppressive that is evident in the school's failing academic achievement and the poor ratings the teaching staff received in their quality review of "developing".

Is Principal Shawn Rux a "Hometown Hero"?  I certainly don't believe so since I see no significant improvement in the school's academic achievement and bribing students to do the right thing is a real zero in my book.

In other news, the New York Post reported today that Principal Emmanuel Polancio of MS 80 in the Bronx is back in the news again.  This time for trying to push a middle aged female teacher (51 years old) out of his school in favor of younger Hispanic teachers.  According to the teacher being targeted by Principal Polancio, he has nicknamed the teacher "Shrek".  The teacher has now filed a lawsuit against Mr. Polancio in Manhattan Supreme Court for $2 million dollars. This appears to be a "pattern and practice" of Mr. Polancio as you can see Here.  He is below average when it comes to "trust" and "effective leadership" and you can find his poor academic results on his school's snapshot.

Principal Emmanuel Polancio is also known as "El Siki" in his inappropriate sexually charged video that makes him a poor role model for impressionable young teenagers.   Yet he is still a Principal.
You can see my post Here.

Note: If you read my previous post on Principal Emmanuel Polancio the DOE was going to investigate his behavior.  Obviously, they quietly buried it since he is still Principal.  The complete "El Siki" video can be found on this link

The Disconnect Between The Graduation Rate And College And Career Readiness.

  Regardless who the Mayor of New York City was and is, be it Rudolph Giuliani (Conservative), Michael Bloomberg (Centralist), or Bill de Blasio (Liberal).  They all point to the ever rising graduation rate as showing improvement of student academic achievement.  However, real education experts know better that the graduation rate is bogus and is based upon questionable methods such as "credit recovery", Principal pressure, and scholarship requirements.  Since the Giuliani administration the graduation rate has risen from 45% to over 70% last year. However, just ask employers or colleges what they see when these "high school graduates" cannot fill out an employment application or fail their remedial courses and drop out of college within the first year?

The disconnection between the rising graduation rate and college readiness rates clearly shows the questionable value of a new York City high school diploma and the academic achievement gap.  In 2015, the city showed that 70.5% of all high school students graduated in four years, while the college and career readiness metric of those graduates only inched up to 35%.  That mean that 2 out of 3 New York City's high school graduates are not ready for college or the adult workplace.  Think what that means to our economy?  I shudder at the thought that the majority of New York City's high school graduates will be relegated to low wage jobs and will require public assistance to support a family to pay the rent and food on the table. All because we fail to make the high school diploma contingent on academic excellence.  Just push them out the door with a bogus high school diploma and hope for the best.  That's what the DOE does to these unfortunate students.

Next time the Mayor and Chancellor hail the rising graduation rate, ask them how many of those high school graduates are really academically ready for higher learning and the adult work place?  See how quiet or evasive they become.  "Children last"....always.

What's The Difference Between Bloomberg And De Blasio? Not Much When It Comes To The Classroom.

After twelve years of unremitting attacks on teachers and the union under Bloomberg, teachers were hopeful that things would turn for the better with Bill de Blasio.  Sure, he picked Carmen Farina as Chancellor and she had a checkered past when it came to teachers under her supervision. However, our union President Michael Mulgrew claimed there was a new tone at the DOE and everything would come out roses for the teachers in the trenches.  Unfortunately, it turned out to be wishful thinking on the part of out union.

Under Mayor Bill de Blasio, many of the Bloomberg policies remain in effect, be it "fair student funding", large class sizes, the ATR crisis, and the continuation of the punitive Charlotte Danielson framework.  School budgets remained essentially frozen and schools are funded at 86% of what "fair student funding" required.  While this is expected to go up to between 89-92%, its still less than 100%.  Moreover, Mayor de Blasio kept the "fair student funding" based upon a school rather than the District or City average which is what the rest of the country does.  This Bloomberg inspired program that forces schools to hire the cheapest and not the best teachers for their school remains intact under Mayor Bill de Blasio.  Finally, the Chancellor's emphasis in removing "bad teachers" outweighs what's best for the students as more tenured teachers are finding themselves removed from the classroom and given 3020-a termination charges.

Sure, there were some changes in the schools under Bill de Blasio, some good, some bad, but  overall little has changed.  The most negative change under Bill de Blasio was his ill-advised decision to rescind the cellphone ban in schools that has added to more distractions in the classroom.  In addition, he has pressured school leaders to reduce student suspensions that have resulted in increasingly unsafe schools.   Finally, Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carmen Farina has pushed for a watering down of the student discipline regulations by imposing a failed "restorative justice"  program and giving out "warning cards" for violent incidents.

Our clueless union leadership may be having a love affair with Mayor Bill de Blasio and Chancellor Carmen Farina but when it comes to the classroom there is little difference between the policies of Michael Bloomberg and Bill de Blasio.

DOE's Expensive Contract To Supply Students With Bottled Water.

Every school I journey to has a bottled water machine in the student cafeteria and in other student accessible areas in and around the school.  The bottled water machine is Aquafine and for a bottle of water it cost $1.25.  This seems high for purified water and so I was in Costco this weekend and saw that Costco was selling their own bottled water in their machine.  It was  called Kirkland purified water and it cost only $0.25 for a cold bottle.  The question is a $1.00 per bottle markup appropriate for students, many living in poverty and some homeless?  The answer is certainly not.

Sure, the DOE will claim that transportation costs, vandalism, and the many bottled water machines needed for the schools throughout the City accounts for the cost difference.  However, does this account for the dollar difference?  I don't think so.  To me its all about greed and maybe the DOE's slogan should change from "children first" to "greed is good" when it comes to forcing the students to fork over their money for bottled water at a markup of  400% over what Costco charges its own brand.

Since the Bloomberg years the DOE has award many contracts to consultants that cost the school system millions of dollars over the actual cost of services and the contract with the bottled water vender is just another example of the DOE wasting precious money on questionable contracts at the expense of the students of the school system.  It's "children last" always when it comes to DOE awarding contracts.

Thanks To De Blasio And Farina Schools Are Becoming More Unsafe.

It's Sunday and the New York Post's Susan Edelman has published another important article on the New York City Public Schools, this time its about weapons in the schools.  According to the article there has been a 26% increase in weapons confiscated for this school year compared to last.  Of the 1,751 weapons confiscated, 698 came from schools with metal detectors, yet the Mayor is under pressure to eliminate these safeguards.  Imagine what these schools would be like if there were no meta detectors?  How more unsafe would these schools be?  As it is, most of the weapon confiscations are from schools without metal detectors or 60% of all confiscations.

Sure, under the Bloomberg administration there were weapon confiscations and many principals hid violent incidents, while the DOE looked the other way  An example was HIllcrest High School where staff knew not to report incidents and they received a safety award for being a safe school.  However,  the Mayor understood that  suspensions, arrests, were necessary and no electronics by students in school were important for him to achieve his educational goals.  Unfortunately, with our progressive mayor school suspensions are down 32%, cellphones are being used indiscriminately, and restorative justice meeting that students take as a joke allows disruptive and violent students back into the classroom to continue to make havoc in the classroom which hurts student learning.

Schools need to be safe and the classroom peaceful for real student academic achievement, neither is possible if the De Blasio administration continues to ignore what is really going on in the schools.  Giving a pass to student destructive behaviors and hiding the real statistics that show how unsafe schools really are and yet teachers are blamed when these behaviors go unchecked.

The DOE, Thanks To The Union, Is Achieving Their Goal To Terminate ATRs.

When Carmen Farina became Chancellor of the New York City Schools one of her priorities were to drain the ATR pool and eliminate the over $100 million dollar annual drain on the DOE budget.  She said all the right things like getting the ATRs back into the classroom and encourage incompetent teachers to voluntarily leave the profession.  To achieve this goal she authorized an ATR buyout in 2014 where all of 91 teachers (most were retiring anyway) took the inadequate buyout offer.  Failing that, the Chancellor changed her tune about ATRs and she not only retained the worst aspects of the Bloomberg/Klein policies but made them more punitive when it came to the ATR pool.

First, despite promises that there would be a new tone at the DOE, Chancellor Caren Farina retained 80% of the DOE policymakers and failed to change the school based "fair student funding" formula.  The one major change that needed to be made to encourage schools to hire the experienced teachers they require for better student academic achievement.  Instead, this destructive formula penalizes schools who hire highly experienced teachers and improves a school's budget when they hire clueless "newbie teachers".  In other words student academic achievement is less important than the school's budget.

Second, under Carmen Farina, all ATRs now have field supervisors whose job is to thin the heard and thanks to our union, they now can recommend termination to the Superintendent which will result in 3020-a charges.  More of this later.

Finally, under the new contract the Chancellor and the union negotiated ATRs are now second class citizens with reduced "due process" rights, mandatory interviews, and expedited 3020-a hearings.  A complete list of what ATR reduced "due process" rights are can be found Here.

Now,  thanks to our union, the DOE has proceeded with 3020-a termination hearings on ATRs who were given unsatisfactory observations by field supervisors and unfortunately. two consecutive unsatisfactory ratings by field supervisors are resulting in ATRs being terminated.  Yes, despite being in a strange classroom where the teacher does not know the students or have ownership of their grade, the ATRs are being "U rated" and losing their livelihood. 

While the blame lies squarely with the DOE and Chancellor Carmen Farina, the union is complicit with this travesty that has befallen the ATRS and the union leadership should be voted out of office for their failure to protect their most vulnerable members, the ATRs.  When you vote remember what the Unity caucus has done to make the life of the ATR a miserable experience.  You can read it Here.

More Proof That There Is A Correlation Between Poverty And Academic Achievement.

In 2004 Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein, heeding the education reform community, decided to eliminate the neighborhood high school and give students "free choice" to apply to any high school in New York City that was not a specialized school.  This "free choice" was supposed to narrow the academic achievement gap and help diversify schools.  In fact, Chancellor Joel Klein in his exit interview with the New York Times said " poverty is not destiny" when it came to student academic achievement. Well, fast forward to 2016 and the high schools are far from diverse with far too many of them segregated by race and income.  As for narrowing the racial/income?  It has been a total failure as the "college and career readiness" numbers show.  In other words, the education deformer claim that poverty is not the primary factor in academic achievement but teacher quality is has been proven false.  In fact, Joel Klein himself grudgingly acknowledged this in a speech this year.

Now adding to the evidence that poverty is correlated with poor academic achievement, a study just completed convincingly shows that a students home zip code is strongly correlated with academic achievement, regardless of what high school these students attend.  A study prepared by Measure for America found that neighborhoods are even more important than race or culture.  A Washington Post summary of the report is found Here.  Some of the findings are as follows: when linking the best and worst neighborhoods to graduation rates.

Neighborhood.............................................Graduation Rate

Morris Heights.....................................................60.9%
Ocean Hill/Brownsville.........................................61.4%
Crotona Park.......................................................61.4%
Highbridge..........................................................63.4%
Hunts Point.........................................................63.4%
East Harlem.........................................................65.1%
Far Rockaway......................................................67.7%
Bedford Stuyvesant.............................................67.7%



Neighborhood.............................................Graduation Rate

Greenwich Village/Soho....................................95.1%
Bayside/Little Neck...........................................92.2%
Forest Hills........................................................91.0%
Tottenville.........................................................89.0% 
Upper East Side.................................................88.3%
Murray Hill/Gramercy........................................86.8%
South Beach......................................................86.0%
Fresh Meadows.................................................83.9%

What the report shows that regardless of what high school the student travels to, the biggest factor in the student academic achievement is the community that student lives in not the quality of their teachers or the location to school resides in.


Note:  While I believe the graduation rate is inflated and the college and career readiness rate is probably a better indicator of student academic achievement, the study is simply comparing the graduation rate for different neighborhoods which shows the true academic achievement gap.

The Judge Rules, It's Junk Science!

Since the NYSED has developed a "student growth" algorithm back in 2012 to evaluate teachers, experts have stated that the State algorithm does not accurately represent student growth and should not be used to evaluate teachers.  Despite a ground breaking report showing that only 1% (high schools) to 14% ( K-2 Elementary schools) of a student's growth is affected by any one teacher, the State required 40% of a teacher's evaluation be based upon high-stakes tests.  Unless something changes, a teacher's evaluation will be based upon 50% of these high-stakes tests, starting next year, despite a four year moratorium on the use of the Common Core based high-stakes tests for grades 3-8.

The testing mania is supported by the education deformer organizations, charter schools, the media, Governor Cuomo, and yes, UFT President Michael Mulgrew who will punch you in the face if you oppose his Common Core based tests.  That's correct our own union President supports Common Core based high-stakes testing to evaluate teachers.  Of course, Mikey is not subject to these tests himself.

Fortunately, a Great Neck elementary school teacher decided to sue the NYSED on their growth algorithm and a judge handed down a decision that invalidated the 2013-14 evaluation for the teacher claiming it was "junk science" and not valid to determine a teachers effectiveness.   In fact, the judge called the growth model "arbitrary and capricious" and not based on good science.   The Answer Sheet article about the decision is a must read and can be found Here.  If you want to read the entire Sheri G. Lederman decision you can read it Here.

Maybe this is the beginning of the end in the test crazy education deformer effort to demonize teachers and hopefully we will see the pendulum swing back to teacher autonomy in the classroom and making learning fun again for the students.

People I Am Voting For.

Here are the people I am voting for and the caucus they are affiliated with.

Leadership Positions

Francesco Portelos..........President..................Solidarity
Camille Eterno................Secretary...................MORE/NAC
Carol Ramos-Widom......Assistant Secretary.....MORE/NAC
Mel Aaronson.................Treasurer...................UNITY
Gregory Distefano..........Assistant Treasurer....MORE/NAC
Mindy Rosier..................Vice President.............MORE/NAC 
Lauren Cohen.................Vice President............MORE/NAC
Nelson Santiago.............Vice President.............MORE/NAC
James Eterno..................Vice President............MORE/NAC
Christine Gross..............Vice President.............MORE/NAC
Carmen Alvarez.............Vice President.............UNITY

Executive Board 

Patrick Walsh....................................................MORE/NAC
Kit Wainer.........................................................MORE/NAC
Julie Cavanagh..................................................MORE/NAC
Angela Artis.......................................................UNITY
Jeff Kaufman.....................................................MORE/NAC
Peter Lamphere.................................................MORE/NAC
Michael Shulman................................................MORE/NAC

Michael Schirtzer................................................MORE/NAC
Arthur Goldstein.................................................MORE/NAC
Jonathan Halabi..................................................MORE/NAC

Delegates

Richard Covelli.................................................MORE/NAC
Leory Barr.......................................................UNITY
Joseph Kessler.................................................UNITY
Washington Sanchez.......................................UNITY
Norman Scott..................................................MORE/NAC
Jia Lee.............................................................MORE/NAC
August Leppelmeier........................................MORE/NAC
Harris Lirtzman...............................................MORE/NAC
Ellen Fox.........................................................MORE/NAC
Peter Zucker...................................................MORE/NAC
Paul Millstein...................................................MORE/NAC
John Giambalvo..............................................MORE/NAC
Amy Arundell..................................................UNITY
Michael Sill......................................................UNITY
Rona Freiser...................................................UNITY
Bernard Schwimmer.......................................UNITY
Gary Rubinstein..............................................MORE/NAC

Of course, whomever I voted for in the Leadership and Executive Board positions I also voted for them as delegates as well.  Moreover, if I know the person and didn't vote for that person, its because I don't like what that person did in his or her official position.  Finally, if I don't know the person by reputation, I didn't vote for them. 


Regardless who you vote for, please vote

Teacher Tenure Ticks Up Under Bill De Blasio. Will It Continue?

Chalkbeat reported that teacher tenure has ticked up during the first two years under Mayor Bill de Blasio but is still significantly lower than before Mayor Michael Bloomberg attacked teacher tenure.  In the last school year (2014-15), 64% of teachers received tenure, compared to 53% in the last year under Michael Bloomberg (2012-13).  Before the recession hit and teachers were hard to come by, 97% of the teachers received tenure in 2007 and drifted lower to 89% in 2010 before plummeting to 58% in 2011, at the height of the recession when their was a large teacher surplus.  As the economy improved less college graduates entered teaching and soon the pool of  "newbie teachers" were rapidly shrinking as the education reform movement made teaching a less rewarding profession both economically and professionally and administrators were more willing to reward teachers with tenure.

Most teachers who were refused tenure were not discontinued (2% to 3% annually) but had their probation extended for a year or two.  In the last year only 2.3% of the teachers were discontinued and effectively cannot work in the New York City public school system.  This does not include the thousands of teachers who resigned or simply left the system due to the terrible classroom environment or used teaching as a stopgap measure until a better offer presented itself.

As the teacher shortage looms on the horizon, I expect that more teachers will get tenure since there will no longer be a surplus of teacher candidates to replace them, especially, in Math, Science, Special Education, and other hard to fill teaching positions. The increased tenure rate is economically based and not due to a kinder or more sympathetic City Hall administration.

Francesco Portelos For UFT President - MORE/NAC For Leadership Positions

I have finally made my decision between MORE/NAC's Jia Lee and Solidarity's Francesco Portelos and after much deliberation, I have decided that Francesco Portelos would be the better candidate to represent members like me. I carefully decided on Franceso Portelos over Jia Lee for the following reasons:

First, Francesco has been through DOE hell, that is targeted by a vindictive Principal who was eventually forced to retire. and rather than cower and take a deal, went through with his open and public 3020-a hearing.  I went through a similar experience and have the up most respect for people who fight the DOE and win.  Moreover, he best understands what ATRs are going through with field assassins and impossible demands as he is one himself.

Second, Francesco offered the two other candidates an opportunity to debate the issues but was turned down by the arrogant Michael Mulgrew and Jia Lee.  That is a real negative with me when somebody wants my vote and fails to defend their positions on the issues.

Third, unlike the other two candidates, Francesco stands for teacher justice and not muddle the message with the "social justice" baloney.  In fact Jia Lee's caucus calls itself the "social justice caucus".  Just look at the restorative justice fiasco going on in schools that have resulted in 32% fewer suspensions but made far too many schools unsafe.

Fourth, the toolbox is an invaluable creation by Francesco Portelos and is used by many of us.

Finally, Francesco has been able to foil information that the DOE and UFT want to keep secret such as the amount of ATRs, the reemergence of the "rubber rooms", and the creation of the Administrator in need of improvement information on his Solidarity caucus blog.

Do I think Francesco is perfect?  No, he has his faults but don't we all?  In voting for Francesco, I will not be voting for any other Solidarity candidate since I do not know them and don't know what they actually stand for.  Therefore, for the UFT Leadership positions and Executive Board I will be voting for MORE/NAC and hopefully they win the high schools from the UNITY machine.  Once I get my ballot I will post my picks.

Detroit Teachers Will Get Paid After All. However, Danger Looms On The Horizon.

 

The Detroit public school teachers ended their two day sickout that closed the Detroit schools when the State of Michigan agreed to fund the teachers salaries for the summer months instead of stopping payment on June 30th.  Just like our teachers the Detroit teachers take less pay during the ten month school year to ensure they get summer checks and the City of Detroit was pleading poverty and was unable to fulfill their obligations to the teachers.  The sickout and the support of the parents forced the State to act and guaranteed payment.  However, there is some very ominous issues on the horizon that can have a significantly negative effect on the Detroit public schools and the teachers.

First, there is a severe teacher shortage, especially for Math, Science, and Special Education in the secondary schools and the State is proposing that the City of Detroit and other urban areas where shortages exist can hire adults without certification as a teacher.  Rather than increase salary, lower class size, and fund additional resources to the schools to attract "certified teachers" the State of Michigan is allowing for inferior instruction that will only hurt student academic achievement.

Second, a new school district will be formed to eliminate the existing $500 million dollar deficit.  This new district will include all the students in the Detroit public schools and will not be subject to the union's collective bargaining agreement or transferring the agreement to the new district.  Furthermore, the legislation will no longer allow for the union to collectively bargain on school calendars or work schedules.

Third, the old school district will exist in name only (no actual students) as the State tries to retire the 500 million dollar deficit and along with it the existing collective bargaining contract.

Fourth, all new teachers, certified or uncertified, will be given a 401(k) retirement program rather than a pension.

Finally, teacher pay will be linked to test scores.  A form of the failed merit pay schemes that has never shown to have worked.


While the Detroit public school teachers will get their summer pay, danger lurks on the horizon in the next school year with the State Legislature's proposed education  reform bills ready to be voted for.

Teacher Appreciation Day, DOE Style.

Today, May 3rd, is teacher appreciation day and I received a call by a devastated twenty year teacher who was given her 3020-a charges today by the DOE.  If that wasn't disgusting enough, another veteran teacher told me that he was told by his Principal that he will be given his second consecutive "ineffective" rating and that he should retire rather than face 3020-a charges.  Finally, on this date three years ago a teacher I knew quite well was officially terminated by the DOE after going through his 3020-a hearing.  Yes, for the DOE teacher appreciation day is just like any other day to deliver the bad news to teachers they target for termination.

The DOE has shown that the only teachers they appreciate are young and inexpensive "newbies".  To the DOE, the only "quality teachers" are the ones who never question authority, don't have an institutional memory, and have not attained tenure. Remember what Chancellor Carmen Farina said about veteran teachers?  Worse, school administrators are encouraged to micromanage teachers in their classroom and teacher autonomy is discouraged.  Finally, the DOE has made it clear that student misbehavior is no longer a suspend-able offenses and teacher safety concerns are minimized while students academic achievement suffer from the continued presence of misbehaving students and electronic devices that result in no action or a restorative justice program that the students think is a joke.

On this teacher appreciation day, teachers continue to teach in fear, as school administrators use the punitive Danielson rubric on them, dump 34 students in a classroom that includes ICT classes with more than 12 students who have IEPs and blame the teachers when these students don't test well due to the unacceptably large class sizes. demands an audit for teachers when a student disputes theuir grade, Finally, the DOE's bloated data mining and legal departments mean more money to attack teachers, be it their evaluation results or filing 3020-a charges due to alleged misconduct while keeping school budgets at less than fully funded.  That's how the DOE appreciates the public school teachers of New York City by continually putting a target on them.

Why You Should Not Be Voting For Michael Mulgrew For UFT President.

This week election ballots will be sent to all UFT members and retiree, yes retiree, households to vote for the next UFT President and all other elected positions.  While I am not supporting any one caucus, I will be voting for the people who I believe best serve the membership and that includes people from all the caucuses.   However, I most assuredly will not be voting for Michael Mulgrew for UFT President.  Michael Mulgrew has shown to be arrogant and disconnected to the members and has disregarded member complaints while having a love affair with Chancellor Carmen Farina and Bill de Blasio.  Since taking over from Randi Weingarten, Michael Mulgrew has worked against the interests of UFT members.  Let's discuss them at length.

Teacher Evaluation System that uses "junk science" to evaluate teachers:

Rather than heeding member wishes and oppose using the State's high-stakes tests that would be part of a teacher evaluation, he actually supported it.  Moreover, he agreed to one without getting a contract from Mayor Bloomberg as required by the State for the implementation of the new system.  In other words, he gave up our rights without any tangible benefit.   Finally, he agreed to the punitive rubric of Charlotte Danielson that required 22 components and claimed victory only to renegotiate with the DOE two years later and drop it to 8 components and claimed victory again when it was a total loss to the members.

Support of the Common Core Standards:

Despite widespread dissatisfaction by parents, students, and teachers with the Common Core standards, Michael Mulgrew is a strong supporter of the Common Core standards.  He even threatened to punch Common Core opponents in the face if they attacked his precious standards which he is not subject to.  What a hypocrite!  Moreover, he criticized the "opt out" movement and supported the State's inappropriate high stakes tests.

Negotiated an inferior contract:

Michael Mulgrew showed he was a poor negotiator as he negotiated a vastly inferior contract with the City by using scare tactics he received approval of a 10% raise for seven years and two months or a 1.39% annual raise.  Yes he did get us the two 4% raises we should have received back in 2009 and 2010 but you first must not resign, get terminated, or die before you are made whole in 2020!  In addition, our contract was the only one where there were "givebacks".  The making of ATRs into second class citizens.  The entire Unity legacy on what they did to the ATRs can be found Here.

Used member money to support his causes:

Who can forget how he agreed to pay and provide bus service for the racial arsonist Al Sharpton led march against fellow union members and how about the quail and booze incident in Albany by his lobbyist who is still there on the members dime!


Members subject to 3020-a termination hearings:

Under Michael Mulgrew, UFT members subject to 3020-a termination hearings rose from 192 to 368 in 2015.  That's correct, the amount of UFT members under termination charges almost doubled during Michael Mulgrew's tenure.  Moreover, the amount of teachers denied tenure went from 11% to 50% last year. Finally, under Michael Mulgrew, teacher autonomy in the classroom has been lost and micromanagement has increased.

Michael Mulgrew love affair with Chancellor Carmen Farina while members suffer:

Michael Mulgrew claims there is a new tone at the DOE, I guess he is tone deaf since class sizes are as large as they ever have been.  Further, the obscene paperwork and online grading remains at unacceptably high levels. In addition, Michael Mulgrew refuses to go after vindictive administrators and allows principals like Dwarka to destroy teacher careers.

For further damaging information about Michael Mulgrew and his Unity caucus read my six part series Here.

If you really care about our union and its ability to represent the active members do not reelect the unaccountable Michael Mulgrew to be President of the UFT.  To convince you further you may want to see the video that the Solidarity caucus put together of ex UFT insider James Callahan that is his version of what went on until his dismissal in 2011.  Here.