Halloween Special - Horror Stories From The ATR Pool

Today is Halloween and  its time to reprint my Halloween special from last year on the various horror figures in the form of administrators, fellow educators, and of course those lovely students who make life miserable for the ATRs as they rotate from school to school. Added to the list is one more from this school year, Here is the reprint of my post from last year, wiyh to additions.  Hope you enjoy reading it.

Horror Stories From The ATR Pool.

With Halloween here, its time to recount some of the horror stories told to me by the ATRs in the last couple of years.

Freddy Kruger:
This nightmare started when an ATR, trying to go the extra yard in entertaining the class he was covering, by asking them to solve a math question, using a baseball analogy.  In describing the problem he used statistics commonly used in baseball.  However, one female student didn't understand the concept and he patiently explained the math problem to her.  When she still didn't get it, the teacher explained that since she really didn't understand baseball he could see her confusion in solving the Math problem.  The girl felt insulted and reported the ATR to the Principal who charged the ATR with gender discrimination and verbal abuse. The ATR ended up with a Letter To The File (LIF) and a "u rating" for the year.

Jason:

An ATR covering a leave replacement was teaching a Science lesson when three girls decided to play "UNO" instead.  The teacher asked the girls to put the cards away three times.  However, the girls refused the teacher's request.  The Teacher went over to three girls and took the UNO cards away.  One girl refused to give up her pile and the teacher grabbed them from her hand.  In doing so he touched her hand in taking the UNO cards away.  The three girls went to the Principal and the teacher ended up being charged with corporal punishment and OSI was contacted.  The result was a LIF for the teacher and no disciplinary consequences for the three students who failed to do their work or follow the rules.

Michael Myers:
A student was feeling ill and the ATR, who was provisionally assigned to the school, told the student to go to the school clinic to be checked out.  The teacher was trying to do what's right by having qualified medical personal observe her and to ensure the child's illness was not contagious to her classmates.  The student refused to go and an argument ensued until the student reluctantly went to the school clinic.  Two weeks later the Principal held a disciplinary hearing and charged the teacher with verbal abuse (yelling)  and embarrassing the student in front of her classmates.  The  teacher ended up with a LIF and a "U rating" for the year.

Chucky:

An untenured ATR provisionally assigned to the school saw a poor performing student's Regents paper being marked separately from others and in another room and quickly realized that the teacher was violating State rules.  She asked the teacher why he had the student's Regents paper and was told to mind her own business.  She reported it first to the Assistant Principal and then the Principal of the alleged Regents violation.  However, it appears the Assistant Principal and Principal wanted this student out of the school and were in on it.  The untenured ATR's satisfactory observations in the Fall semester became "Unsatisfactory observations" after she reported the Regents violation, in the Spring semester.  She was discontinued at the end of the school year.

Alien:
A certified regular education Math ATR was dumped into a self-contained Special Education class all day without any technology or lesson plans left for the classes and was told by the Assistant Principal to keep them entertained when he complained about the lack of appropriate work for the students.  He tried his best but the students were out of control and when the Assistant Principal walked in saw that the teacher was having trouble keeping them focused.  The Assistant Principal gave the ATR a "U observation" for poor classroom management.

Villain: (new)

 Then there was the field supervisor assassin who "U" rated a poor Science teacher covering a Spanish class and stated that the coverage lesson, left by the teacher, was not rigorous enough and the ATR should have prepared her own lesson instead rather than you the coverage lesson left for the class.  Moreover, the ATR's lack of understanding Spanish or the fact that this was the first time she was exposed to these students was not an excuse and resulted in the ATR getting a "U" observation and was the basis of her "U" rating.  You can read the entire villainous story here.


Frankenstein: (new)
 This year, there is an ATR who was covering for a leave replacement in a severe shortage area where there are no other ATRs available who are certified in that Regents subject area,  The ATR was threatened to be shot by a student.  The result?  The Frankenstein Principal removed the ATR from the school while the 125 students did not have a certified teacher available to replace the ATR for their Regents course.    What happened to the student who threatened to kill the ATR?   Despite the many witnesses to the threat, the school didn't even punish the student for the monstrous action of threatening to kill the ATR.


These are just a few of the many horror stories from the ATR pool.  If you have some stories to share, please send them to the comment section and I will publish them.

The Unity Caucus And The Borg Collective.

In the age of accountability, one of the more unaccountable organization is the UFT's "Unity caucus" who controls the union from top to bottom.  The "Unity caucus" has ensured that nobody can seriously threaten their complete domination of the union.  All leadership positions above the school's Chapter Leader are appointed by the "Unity caucus" leadership and even at the Chapter Leader level dissidents are challenged by a carefully selected opponent by the "Unity caucus" when they believe its in their best interest to win the seat. Yes, the very same  "Unity" leadership that gave us Dainelson, Common Core, APPR and declared victory at every step as teacher "due process" rights were being eroded away, piece by piece.

 In trying to find a similar organizational structure I stumbled upon the one that best fits the "Unity caucus", its the Borg collective from Star Trek the Next Generation TV series!  Yes the scary, evil, and extremely dangerous organization who's mission is to destroy civilization, while assimilating their distinctive characteristics to make the Borg collective stronger and more powerful. Why do I think they are similar?  Let's investigate.

First, there is no independent thought in the Borg collective, all decisions are controlled by the Borg Queen.  When was the last time anybody in the "Unity caucus" voted against Randi Weingarten or Michael Mulgrew when they demanded that they vote in favor for their position?

Second, when a member of the Borg collective show independent thought they are expelled from the collective or re-assimilated as a more compliant drone.  When a member of the "Unity caucus" disagrees with the leadership, they are expelled from the caucus or re-educated not to object.  There are persistent rumors that all "Unity caucus" members will be implanted with a vinculum so that the leadership can instantly communicate internally with its caucus drones.

Third, all Borg are required to tell outsiders that "resistance is futile", while the "Unity caucus" has their own loyalty oath that must be followed at all times.

Finally, the Borg will disregard civilizations that don't have any distinctive characteristics worthy of assimilation.  While the "Unity caucus" will only recruit outsiders they believe will enhanced their control over the membership.  All other outsiders are unworthy of admission into their cult organization.

Yes, the Borg is here in the guise of the "Unity caucus" and to all you dissidents? "Resistance is futile".

An Interview With Cleo Lacy

It has been years since I interviewed Cleo Lacy, then the propaganda minister of the UFT who's prime job was to protect the great leader and make crap look like steak.  Cleo defended the undefendable, the infamous 2005 "giveback" laden contract that gave us extra time, the ATR crisis, reduction of grievance rights, and the "fair student funding".  He also was one of the members of the secretive ATR committee that ignored the concerns of the ATRs.  In a previous interview he had wished they would all retire and leave. I decided it was time to interview Cleo Lacy once again.

Chaz:  Mr. Lacy, why did you leave the UFT for Washington?

Cleo Lacy:  Because the great leader needed me there since she cannot operate without me.

Chaz:  Didn't you think that your absence hurt the members?

Cleo Lacy:  Who gives a shit.  I was sick and tired of the whinny members.  They always wanted me to help them out.  I had more important work to do like protecting the great leader and getting more money.

Chaz:  Wait a second!  Your salary is paid by member dues, don't you think that the members are important?

Cleo Lacy:  Screw the members, just give me my much deserved money.

Chaz:  I see that the Great Leader jumped the gun and supported Hillary Clinton?

Cleo Lacy:  That's right.

Chaz:  Why didn't the Great Leader poll her membership before the endorsement?

Cleo Lacy: She did, she polled me, Mikey, and her inner circle.  That's all that counts.

Chaz:  Don't you believe the full membership should vote on an endorsement?

Cleo Lacy:  Screw the members.  They don't vote anyway.

Chaz:  I see where you think Common Core is the way to go.

Cleo Lacy:  Yeah but I'm pissed, I wanted to be known as the one to punch Common Core opponents in the face not Mikey.

Chaz:  I also see that you were against the "opt out" movement?

Cleo Lacy:  I'm a strong supporter of high-stakes testing since it doesn't affect me or the Great Leader and those parents who "opt out" don't know what they are doing.  Testing is good.

Chaz:  Now I see you are defending the union on not going after the class size issue?  Don't you believe lower class sizes are important for academic achievement?

Cleo Lacy:  Screw class sizes, the more students the merrier, when I taught in the classroom 20 years ago, I not only walked miles uphill both ways in a snowstorm but had full classes of eager and willing students who were thrilled to have me as a teacher. Come to think of it, most of the seats in my class were empty.  Don't publish this response to the question.

Chaz:  Is it true that you defended larger class sizes under PROSE?

Cleo Lacy: Its a lie!  A dammed lie!   Wait, let me talk to the Great Leader.  Oops, we support larger class sizes because the teachers want it for their PROSE school and they know best.

Chaz:  If Hillary wins will the Great Leader be Secretary of Education?

Cleo Lacy:  I hope so.  Then I can be the nation's propaganda minister and get another pension on the backs of the people.  Oops, I mean the voice of the people on education issues.

Chaz:  If that scenario occurs then you will have four pension when you retire?

Cleo Lacy:  Who's retiring?  Where else can I lie for a living, do little real work, and get overpaid?

Chaz:  Thank you for your time.

Cleo Lacy:  You welcome and screw you all.

Santa Claus And The Leadership Academy Principal

Once again its Christmas and poor old Santa Claus finds himself in hot water yet again.  This time Santa Claus was hired in one of those Bloomberg small schools, despite his checkered past, because he was inexpensive and untemured.  The Principal, a 35 year old with two years of teaching experience and straight out of the "Leadership Academy" told the not so jolly old Santa that he was expected to work a "sixth period" without compensation as he called it student assistance and also handle the school cafeteria. 

During the semester Santa tried hard but the students were a challenge, many of them were two or three grades behind and many had behavior issues that the Administration ignored.  When Santa tried to impose discipline of his own in the classroom he ended up with the Leadership Academy Principal giving him a letter to the file, not once but three times for verbal abuse.  His fourth letter to the file was for corporal punishment as OSI substantiated that he told one badly behaved boy that he would be getting coal in his stocking for Christmas.  He also had an SCI investigation initiated by the Principal who claimed that Santa called some of the girls hookers.  Santa explained to the SCI investigators that he said "ho, ho, ho and never called them hookers.  Of course SCI substantiated the Principal's accusation that he used verbal abuse of a sexual nature and received yet another letter to the file. The administration provided no support and came into his classroom for "gotcha observations".  When Santa Claus asked the Assistant Principal to model a lesson, the AP laughed and said that's your problem not mine.

Santa Claus found himself swamped with tons of paperwork, useless professional development, and calling or scheduling meeting with parents who didn't even bother to answer the phone or appear for their appointments.  Worse, many of his students needed special education services but were either not receiving them or the school never hired certified personnel such as therapists, social workers, or guidance counselors because of the Principal's obsession to save money.  The less services provided for the students the more money the school has. Worse, poor old Santa found nobody on staff to talk to. .There was no Chapter Leader and the staff consisted of 20 something newbies, many of them two year Teach For America wonders.

Finally, Santa had to prepare for Christmas and asked to take a personal day.  However, the Leadership Academy Principal refused permission and told Santa if he takes a day off between now and the end of December, he will discontinue him.  Santa reluctantly complied and on the last day of school, two days before the Christmas vacation, Santa was handed a letter by the school secretary that stated that he will be discontinued as of February.  Santa contacted the union who expressed regret and said that they will represent him in his appeal to the Superintendent but alas, we know that those appeals are never won.

Poor Santa Claus, his every attempt to spread joy to the children of the NYC public schools is thwarted yet again.  This time by the Leadership Academy Principal.

Ebola, ATRs, And The 2017 Teachers Contract.

Now that we have a contract, its time to look ahead to 2017 and see how the UFT and the City will finally resolve the more than decade long ATR crisis that wastes talent and money. 

In 2017 New York City finds itself with an Enola outbreak and with close to a 50% mortality rate, its important that the City develop a vaccine as quickly as possible.  How will they get the volunteers to help? However, help is on the way in the form of the 2017 teachers contract.

The provisions of the new 2017 teachers contract will allow the DOE to "force place" ATRs into the City's voluntary Ebola vaccine trials. Any ATR who refuses to participate in the voluntary trials will have been considered to have voluntarily to have resigned.  Moreover, any ATR who refuses to be infected with the Ebola virus in the trials will be charged by the DOE with "problematic behavior"and terminated after receiving an expedited one day show trial by a DOE appointed hearing officer.

The expectation is that of the 2,000+ ATRs, half will be removed from the City payroll either by death, resignation, or termination.  In the New York Teacher Paper UFT President Michael Mulgrew calls this new ATR procedures a victory in draining the ATR pool of 50% of its members.

The DOE wants the surviving ATRs to be fired since they are infected with the Ebola virus and cannot be exposed to the students.  However, in a joint press conference with the new Mayor, Michael Mulgrew stated that the surviving ATRs will be put on a disability pension and receive 33% of their final average salary.  Mr Mulgrew further stated that its a win-win for all parties as he hugs the Mayor, Eva Muscowitz. Not only does the 2017 contract end the ATR crisis but increases educator salaries by the inflation rate and lengthens the school year to 225 days and increases the school day to 9 hours.

Yes, the new 2017 teachers contract is a win for the UFT leadership and the City and we all know that's the only thing that really matters.

Breaking News!

The UFT and DOE have agreed on a nine year contract that includes "retroactive raises"and "service credits" that will allow veteran teachers to retire.  As part of the contract the ATRs will be going back to the classroom...as pre-K and charter schools teachers.  UFT President Michael Mulgrew called it a "win win for all".

Charter schools will be offered all the trailers now used by public schools, since the trailers are good enough for the public school students, they are good enough for the charter school students.   Eva Moskowitz sent out a statement to the press thanking Mayor de Blasio for the trailers.

Chancellor Carmen Farina decided to re-retire after approaching the Cathie Black tenure date. Eric Naldelstern was then appointed the new Chancellor today and his first order of business was to instruct his staff to fill all school administrative vacancies with people who graduated from the "Leadership Academy".  His second order of business is to instruct principals to "do more with less" as he cuts school budgets.  Mr Naldelstern claims that he only took the job because he was the only one qualified in the world to be NYC Chancellor.  He was allegedly heard saying the following:

"I never wanted the Chancellor's position but after a worldwide search, I was the only person I know who was as smart as me so I accepted the position to help the education reformers, oops I mean the students to achieve their goals"

The DOE announced that with a change in attitude at the top, the money saved by cutting school budgets will be used to pay for more accountability experts for even more data mining, high-priced consultants, and lawyers for the "gotcha squad" who will be very busy in terminating teachers at the end of the 2014-15 school year.

In other news, ex Mayor Bloomberg wrote an apology for all his anti-teacher actions during his 12 year tenure.  He blamed the demoralization of teachers on ex-Chancellor Joel Klein.  That's why he put Dennis Walcott in charge since he needed a pet poodle who would follow his every whim without question.

Mayor Bill de Blasio was happy he was cheered at the Mets opening day game and promised to support the New York City horse carriage business after finding out how much Con Edision charges for electricity for his vintage electric cars.  He was allegedly quoted as saying "better stepping in horseshit, then going broke"!


BY THE WAY  APRIL FOOLS DAY!!!!!!!!

What's A Teacher's Monetary Value Really Worth?

Many people who have little clue how education works thinks that the teaching profession is just  "glorified babysitting of their children".  We get the summers off, only teach nine months out of the year, and, spend less than seven hours at school.  While the reality is that a teacher's day really is twelve hours a day between before class preparation and after school lesson planing, calling and writing parents, and unit development.  Moreover,many teachers spend large parts of their weekends on grading, correcting, and developing academic tasks for the week ahead.  This does not include the fact that teachers must maintain their certification by taking courses, getting their graduate degree, and pass their content specialty test.  Most intelligent people know that teaching is a high stress job and the summer and holidays are necessary to reduce the ever increasing stressful classroom environment and to recharge the batteries of teachers.  However, let's leave all that behind us and let's agree that teaching your child is "glorified babysitting" and concentrate on what is a teacher's value really is worth?

First, lets assume that teachers make the New York State minimum wage of $7.75 per hour to "babysit" each student under their supervision.  Since the teacher works six hours and fifty minutes daily and let's take off the 45 minute lunch period and you come out with $7.75 x 6.1 hours = $41.28 per day to "babysit the student".  However, the average class size for teachers are 30 students.  Therefore, its $41.28  must be  multiplied by the 30 students = $1,418 daily.  Where not finished just yet. Since the minimum school year is 180 days of instruction time the daily rate of $1,418 is multiplied by 180 days.  Therefore, the calculation is $1,418 x 180 = $255,240 annually  That's right, according to those non-educators who believe that teachers are simply "glorified babysitters for their children", by paying the teacher the minimum wage that "babysitters" get we are, at present, vastly underpaid by between 61% and 82% .

I propose that the union, in negotiating with the City, demand the State minimum wage that "babysitters" get.  Now that's what I call a raise appropriate of what the New York City teacher is really worth. This will make every teacher happy, even those traitors at Educators 4 Excellence who want "newbie teachers" to make the same as veteran teachers.  Give all teachers the minimum wage for each student they supervise and for those without a classroom  or teaching self-contained Special Education the default value will be used which is the average student classroom size in their District and grade level as not to penalize them.  Consequently, most teachers will be adequately compensated for "babysitting the children". Now that's a contract that I can support.


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Santa Claus's Experience As A Weekly Rotating ATR.

It's Christmas once again and the very best present the New York City Public School System will receive when they go back to the classroom will be that the "Grinch", Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his "poodle" Chancellor Dennis Walcott will be gone.  However, the damage they did will take nearly a decade to correct.  This article will talk about the experience Santa Claus has had as a rotating ATR in his weekly assignments.

Santa Claus has been an ATR for the last two years and because of his salary and age, cannot land a position in a school because of the "(un)fair student funding formula" and age discrimination.  Thanks to the UFT who agreed to the weekly ATR assignment travesty, poor Santa finds himself traveling from school to school in his District in a futile attempt to find a permanent position.  Previously, I chronicled Santa Claus's experience with the New York City Schools under Mayor Bloomberg.  First, how Santa Claus was subject to a biased SCI investigation and terminated in his 3020-a hearing, Here and Here. Then how he won his appeal in the courts only to find himself in the ATR pool rather than getting his position back Here.

Santa Claus is used to traveling since once a year he travels around the world giving gifts to all the children but traveling weekly from school to school in his District made little sense to him.  Each school he went to, he felt like "a stranger in a strange land". The school administration treated him with either disdain or was ignored.  The school secretary would always try to give him a "sixth period" if he didn't object or make him do hall or cafeteria duty that no other teacher did in the school.  Few schools supplied him a key to the bathroom and a place to store his stuff.  Most times the Chapter Leader never sought him out and in some schools there was no Chapter Leader.

Santa Claus also found that when he asked if there was parking for his sled, he was told that "ATRs cannot park in the schoolyard or garage like our teachers".  One week Santa showed up to a "D" rated school which needed a Social Studies teacher with knowledge of Geography and Global History.  "What a stroke of luck", Santa Claus was perfect for the job.  However, when he met with the Principal, the Principal told him that he had a  red flag on his file and that his CFN told the school not to hire anybody that had a substantiated investigation.  However, the Principal admitted to him that it would have been difficult to hire him because his CFN wanted him to hire new teachers who were 21st century thinkers and he didn't fit into that world.  Santa instantly knew that the Principal really meant that the schools can only hire the "cheapest teachers" under the "(un)fair student funding formula".

Santa Claus is hopeful that under the de Blasio Administration, he will be able to land a permanent teaching position and help his students in understanding the world instead of being treated as a substitute teacher and disrespected by the school administration. Maybe it really will be "children first".

What Place Should Be Renamed For The Outgoing Chancellor? The Teachers Room Toilet.

A prime example of when a school's Principal does not collaborate with his or her staff is found at Francis Lewis High School, where the new Principal, without even bothering to discuss it with the Chapter Leader or the consultation committee, decided to honor outgoing Chancellor Dennis Walcott, by renaming it the "Dennis Walcott college office.  The letter objecting to giving the Chancellor this honor was sent to the Principal by the school's Chapter Leader Arthur Goldstein and can be found on the nyc educator blog.

While its the right of the Principal to rename parts of his school as he pleased, I must question why the Principal would  rename the college office for a Chancellor that oversees a school system where only 22% are "college ready" and the latest available statistics showed that 23% needed "triple remediation" in college.  The Chancellor's "legacy of failure" makes it puzzling that the Principal would ignore his staff and bestow that honor on Dennis Walcott.

If teachers were able to rename a part of the school for the Chancellor then the most appropriate place would be the teachers bathroom toilet.  To me, the Chancellor has dumped on teachers during his three year tenure.  His policies are summarized as "Mayor Bloomberg first, students last"  has resulted in the following:

• No contract.
• A punitive evaluation system that looks to terminate teachers.
• A useless ATR rotation system
• Forces schools to hire the "cheapest" not the "best" teachers.
• Closed neighborhood schools. 
• Rising class sizes.
• Hypocrite when it came to disciplining teachers and administrators.
• An unacceptably wide student achievement gap.

 Therefore, I propose that the most appropriate place to be renamed for Chancellor Dennis Walcott, is the teachers bathroom toilet where we can sit on when we take a dump.

I Can't Believe it!.......But.

When I look at the New York City Public School System there are things that are being done that's hard to believe but its true.  What follows is a list of items that" I  can't believe it.... but"

That the DOE wastes $160 million dollars every school year by not placing excessed teachers, guidance counselors, and social workers in the overcrowded classrooms in the New York City schools.

That the news media  fails to take Mayor Bloomberg to task when his policies have resulted in rising class sizes, a 14% reduction in school budgets since 2007, and a phoney graduation rate that is significantly inflated  by the bogus "credit recovery system".

That Tweed can keep a straight face by using the slogan "children first, always" when its really Mayor Bloomberg first all the time.

That principals are hiring the cheapest teachers they can recruit and claim they were the best candidates for their schools.

That both the DOE and UFT bury their collective heads in the sand and allow teachers uncertified in subjects they are  teaching  in while excessed teachers in the subject area are treated as wandering gypsies..

That Chancellor Dennis Walcott has "zero tolerance" for staff sexual misconduct but hires a principal who was found guilty in a court of "sexual harassment".

That some naive parents really buy the false propaganda that "newbie teachers" are "quality teachers" that education reformers justify in their public education on the cheap agenda.

That some people don't understand why Bill de Blasio has a 45% lead over Joe Lhota

That the newspapers can't understand why the municipal unions are angry with Mayor Bloomberg and have embraced Bill de Blasio, the anti-Bloomberg for Mayor.

That the UFT leadership praises the flawed NYS Teacher evaluation System, complete with "junk science" that can cause a teacher to be 'ineffective" while rejecting it for their own charter school.

That Mayor Bloomberg considers his education policy a success while the racial/income achievement gap is actually wider than before he took office.

I'm sure there are many more "I can't believe it...but" these are the ones I am most familiar with.

Joke Of The Day When It Comes To Education.

Mayor Bloomberg:

• "I am the education  Mayor".

• "Teacher experience is not necessary"

• "We can double class sizes and reduce teachers by a half and improve student academic performance".

Chancellor Dennis Walcott:

• "I'm independent minded"

• "I can be a fair arbitrator for teacher misconduct cases".

• "We only want the best teachers for the City's students".

Tweed (DOE):

• "It's children first......Always".

• "Public school teachers cannot grade their own tests but Charter school teachers can".

• "School budgets are adequate and increasing class size and overcrowding is not a problem".

Ex Chancellor Joel Klein:

•  "Poverty is no excuse".

•  "I grew up in poverty".

Ex Chancellor Cathie Black:

• "I have the ability and experience to run the NYC schools".

• "Can't they just use birth control and stop having children"?

Education Reformers:

•  "A quality teacher is more important than the socioeconomic conditions in which a child is brought up in".

• "Class size is not a factor in student learning".

Teach For America:

• "Our teachers are quality teachers after completing a five week training course".

 NYSED Commissioner John King:

• "The New York State Teaching Evaluation System is a great way to measure a teacher's effectiveness".

Campbell Brown:

• "All teachers accused of sexual misconduct are guilty and should be fired".

Educators 4 Excellence:

•  "We represent teachers and want to improve the teaching profession".

Bill Gates:

• "High stakes testing is what's best for the student learning".

• "Standardized tests are the best indicator for teacher quality".

 Daily News and New York Post:

• "We publish fair and well-researched articles on the New York City schools".

Leadership Academy Principals:

•   "Experience in the classroom is not necessary to be a school leader".

Arnie Duncan:

• "I underatand what the challanges are in the classroom". 

• " High stakes standardized tests are a fair method to evaluate student learning and teacher effectiveness".

UFT President Michael Mulgrew:

• "The NYS teacher evaluation system is a win for our teachers".

The Thought Police At The DOE Have Banned The Topic Of Dinosaurs For their New Tests For Elementary & Middle School Students And I Agree!

My first reaction to the DOE banning 50 taboo subjects for their new tests was here we go again those wackos from Tweed using their warped idea of social policy to impose ridiculous limitations on the school system's students. What idiot at Tweed actually believes that the topic of dinosaurs are dangerous to the NYC students? Maybe somebody should tell those non-educators that dinosaurs are extinct. Yes, according to the Earth Science Reference Tables dinosaurs became extinct 65.5 millions year ago! Then again, we are talking about Tweed which wastes millions of dollars on high priced consultants, complex and unworkable computer programs, and corrupt managers.

On second thought, the "DOE Thought Police" may have a real reason to ban the topic of dinosaurs on their tests. It seems that dinosaurs are not extinct! Yes, one dinosaur is still living in our present day society, it is Barney, the Purple Dinosaur! Now I understand Tweed's thinking on why they banned the topic of dinosaurs. You see Barney, the Purple Dinosaur has been found to be sexually inappropriate with children. According to the DOE Barney, the Purple Dinosaur has been terminated after a 3020-a hearing and therefore since he is the only surviving member of an extinct race, the DOE has made dinosaurs a taboo subject.

What did Barney the Purple Dinosaur do? Glad you asked. Here is what he did according to the 3020-a proceedings. Below is his 3020-a hearing.

Barney, the Purple Dinosaur's 3020-a hearing: Mr. Dinosaur, the SCI report states that you have a habit of hugging students and propositioning them by singing love songs about you and them in the classroom. How do you respond to these accusations? Mr. Dinosaur: I do hug students because they like the affection and it shows that people care about them. So you admit to improper hugging? I guess so but it is not improper. Mr. Dinosaur how about the love songs you sing to your students, like "I love you and you love me". Why are you sexually soliciting these students? It's just a song that shows I care, there is nothing sexual about it. So you admit to singing love songs to the students? Yes, I do sing songs to them.

To the arbitrator: I hereby request that you terminate Barney, the Purple Dinosaur for sexually hugging and propositioning the students. You have heard that Mr. Dinosaur admits to the charges and should be terminated from DOE employment. The arbitrator terminates Barney, the Purple Dinosaur.

I must agree that since Barney, the Purple Dinosaur is the only living dinosaur and he admitted to the following:

• Inappropriate touching
• Hugging
• Repeated verbal abuse of a sexual nature
• Soliciting

Therefore, I support Tweed's decision to make dinosaurs a taboo subject when it comes to our students in Elementary and Middle Schools. I guess in the DOE's case " a stopped clock is right twice a day".

The Doublespeak Administrators Use When They Tell Teachers To Use "Differentiated Instruction" Methods. In The Classroom.

One of my closest friends was observed the other day by an Administrator and was informally told that while his lesson and presentation in the classroom was satisfactory, he needed to work in "differential instruction" into his classroom lesions. Dumbfounded, my friend spoke to some of the other teachers in his department about how they handled "differential instruction". To his surprise none of the other teachers knew how to work "differential instruction" into their classroom routine.

Some of the teachers think that "differential instruction" was giving easy questions to academically weaker students and more difficult questions to the higher achieving students. Others though that you should have different lessons for each group of learners and a few thought that you put them in groups of four (cooperative learning) with a mixed academic group. Therefore, I looked at some Administrators who have informed teachers on how to use "differentiated instruction" in the classroom. The first example is Here. Another example can be found Here. Finally, I was able to find a good one Here.

What is "differentiated instruction"? Simple, "differentiated instruction" is as described right Here! Furthermore, why should you use "differentiated instruction"? Here is why!

Confusing and the "doublespeak" is quite funny. Unfortunately, the use of "differentiated instruction" is the new slogan for education reformers who believe quality teachers are the only thing that affects student learning. Therefore, if an Administrator asked me to include "differentiated instruction" into my lesson I would ask him to please model an actual lesson in my classroom that includes "differentiated instruction". Of course, I will not hold my breath waiting for that to happen.

We Finally Know Why Student Academic Achievement Is So Poor. It's SpongeBob and Apple Juice!

There has been an increasingly bitter debate on why it has been difficult to raise student academic achievement. For the educators, except for E4E, it is large class sizes, lack of funding, high teacher turnover, and lapsed student discipline. Moreover, students in poverty had a much lower academic achievement than higher income children, allowing or a large academic achievement gap. For the Education reformers,, the no "excuses crowd", made up of billionaires, hedge fund managers, and politicians blame the teacher unions, and bad educators for the failure to raise the academic achievement of students, especially the students who live in poverty. However, it now appears that both groups are wrong.

Yes, it now seems that SpongeBob and Apple Juice are the real villains of why student academic achievement is lacking. A study done by the University of Virgina on sixty 4-year-olds show exposure to SpongeBob cartoons reduced their attention span and destroyed brain cells. Furthermore, it now turns out the the levels of Arsenic in Apple juice are much higher than in water. Some evidence suggest that Arsenic reduces the IQs of children and can cause learning difficulties.

Boy did I get it wrong. I really thought it was poverty, community, and parents. In addition to large class sizes, high teacher turnover, lack of resources, and poor discipline for the reason for our failure to improve student academic achievement when all along it was SpongeBob and Apple juice who are the cause of the failure to raise student academic achievement.

If I Was The Chancellor It Will Really Be "Children First" Not "Tweed First, Children Last" As It Is Now.

It is September and the beginning of a new school year but unfortunately, we have the same old failed system run by those non-educators at Tweed along with a puppet Chancellor, the Mayor's poodle, Dennis Walcott. For people who had hoped for change with the new Chancellor, they have been disappointed yet again. The Chancellor has adopted all the failed policies of Joel Klein, and Mayor Bloomberg. That had me thinking about what would I do if I became Chancellor of the New York City Schools.

First, and immediately, I would restore the 13.7% cuts to the schools and reduce class size for better student learning. I would use the CFE State money to achieve that purpose. Presently, the DOE uses the money for other purposes. Furthermore, I would eliminate the "fair student funding" formula that penalizes almost all schools and at some middle class schools have resulted in a 20% reduction of much needed funding. (Interestingly, Charter schools are exempt from the "fair student funding" formula. I wonder why?) The teachers would come from the 1,940 ATRs, many of them experienced and quality teachers who just want a chance to get back into a classroom in their district. This would wisely allocate the $125 million dollars that is presently being wasted by the present Chancellor.

Second, eliminate the 62 "Children First Networks" (CFN) and their clusters and give the Administrative responsibility back to the District Superintendents. Realistically, you can eliminate many layers of bureaucracy and reduce the headcount by up to 75% with the elimination of the CFNs and their clusters. Moreover, no longer will many of these positions at the CFNs be put on the school budgets unless the schools and their "School Based Leadership Team" unanimously agree to fund the position. Presently, many principals complain that precious funds are being siphoned away to pay for increasing levels of bureaucracy at the CFNs. Here are some examples of this.

Third, hire an independent efficiency expert by competitive bidding, to identify administrative bloat, redundancy, and unnecessary positions at the DOE Central Bureaucracy. This should include scrutinizing consultant contracts, as well as assigning a numerical grade on each and every contract that affects the school system and in particular, the classroom. No longer will money be wasted in hiring questionable positions. We all remember this.

Fourth, bring back schools as neighborhood schools and ensure that struggling schools get extra resources to help those schools succeed. Instead of closing the schools the schools would get a crisis group of "great educators" (principals and teachers) who will observe, model, and review school safety and discipline procedures. Rewrite the Chancellor Regulations on A-420 and A-421 to give more leeway for school staff to discipline students without fear of retribution and termination. Presently, any school staff member can be brought up on 3020-a charges for a nasty look, a stare, a word, or for any physical contact. Only serious verbal abuse or corporal punishment should and will be subject to discipline.

Fifth, stop the destructive practice of co-locating Charter schools with existing schools. No longer will Charter schools exclude students with disabilities or English language learners. These Charter schools will have the same representation of student diversity as the neighborhood school. Moreover, if Charter schools are found to consul out struggling students rather than provide the services the student needs, the Chancellor has the right, no the obligation, to reduce or even suspend funding to the school.

Finally, restructure Tweed and put a majority of educators in the leadership positions. Presently, there is only one educator in the Chancellor's inner circle. Is it any wonder that there is a disconnect between Tweed and the schools?

Also on my agenda would be the elimination of the "double standard" between disciplining teachers and administrators, no funding of the infamous "Principal Leadership Academy" and requiring a minimum of 10 years of classroom teaching before an educator can become a Principal. In addition, there will be no hiring of outside teachers unless there are no teacher in excess available in that subject area and administrators found to have violated the rules, or abused their staff will be subject to termination.

As Chancellor I will reduce class size, put experienced teachers back into the classroom, and reduce the bloat at the DOE. This is what I call "children first" and so would you.

Hmmm Chancellor Chaz. It has a nice ring to it.

The DOE Leadership Wish List Sent To Santa Claus And Why They Ended Up With A Lump Of Coal In Their Stockings.

It was only last year that Santa Claus was terminated as a teacher, based upon the biased and unfair DOE investigation process. You would think that Santa Claus would be pretty upset with these naughty non-educators at Tweed that runs the DOE. Despite suffering from the DOE's witch hunt that lead to the false, embellished, and outrageous accusations against him and subjected him to the 3020-a process, Santa Claus did not hold any malice and still tried to meet the needs of the DOE leadership wish list because that is what he is. Of course we all know that the DOE leadership was "naughty" and far from nice when it came to the parents, students, and staff at the schools under their thumb. During their failed leadership, over 90 schools have closed or are closing and who cares about what the community wants. Even ex-Chancellor Joel Klein stated he didn't go far enough in destroying teacher due process rights and community input during his eight year tenure that saw teacher morale plummet, paperwork explode, and teacher control of the classroom eliminated by top-down mandated programs, just to name a few.

Let's take a peek what the DOE leadership wish list looks like.

Ex-Chancellor Joel Klein: A heart and managerial skills.

Future Chancellor Cathie Black: A masters degree and a clue about what goes on in a public school classroom.

Head Of Legal Services Michael Best: The power to suspend teachers without pay & health benefits when accused of misconduct or incompetence.

OSI & SCI: More investigators that can do biased and unfair investigations against school staff, when the Principalcalls them in. Here was one such advertisement for OSI investigators.

Tweed Leadership: The right to hire and fire teachers as they please and the elimination of those inconvenient "due process" rights. This is what Tweed wants. Moreover, an increase in their already-bloated headcount to achieve these aims and to further spin statistics and the fuzzy math that is the hallmark of Tweed.

"Leadership Academy Principals": The power to remove staff from their schools and budgets as they see fit. Furthermore, they want the authority to ignore building & layoff seniority rules without being questioned. Are they not the CEO of the building?

Santa Claus read the outrageous demands from the DOE leadership and realized how very naughty and unaccountable they were this year. Therefore, Santa Claus did the only thing possible. He gave every last one of them what they deserved. A lump of coal in their stockings.

I know, I forgot Mayor Bloomberg. However, Mayor moneybags is a mufti-billionaire and does not need a gift from Santa Claus. He just uses his money to change the rules and then he simply buys what he wants, like a third term as Mayor.

This is my last post until 2011. Everybody have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Bloomberg & Klein Close Down The Large Overcrowded "Rubber Rooms" & Create Mini For-Profit "Rubber Rooms".

This just in and is an exclusive by Chaz. Mayor Michael Bloomberg & Chancellor Joel Klein have decided to close down the large and overcrowded "rubber rooms" in New York City and will allow their well-connected friends to open up for-profit mini reassignment centers where there will each have two "Leadership Academy" administrators and a carefully selected group of reassigned teachers (no more than 25 per site) who will be worked to exhaustion with the tremendous amount of paperwork generated by those non-educators at Tweed. The motto for these mini "rubber rooms" will be "work will set you free". Where did I hear that before? hmmmm. Anyway the CEO's who run the for-profit mini "rubber rooms" will be allowed to select up to 25 reassigned teachers of their choice after interviewing them. Excluded from the interview process will be those teachers subject to felony charges, whistle blowers, union representatives, bloggers, teachers who dare read the blogs,and teachers who have time and attendance charges filed against them.

The teachers selected must expect to work an expanded day from 7:30am to 6:00pm with only a half hour lunch. Further, the selected reassigned teacher must "volunteer" his or her services two Saturdays a month to handle excess paperwork generated by Tweed in their ever failing attempt to get it right but always getting it wrong. Failure to show up on voluntary Saturdays will result in the reassigned teacher to be transferred to the large holding cell being built by Tweed under their building. Moreover, any teacher that fails to meet their quota will be further charged with "neglect of duty" and "insubordination". Finally, if the teacher does not meet the Administrator's arbitrary definition of quality, an "incompetence" charge will be added to the reassigned teacher's 3020-a charges.

Teachers excluded from the mini "rubber room" selection process or not selected will have a special place set up for them. These reassigned teachers will be put into the large holding cell in the basement of the Tweed building and shovel coal to keep the Tweed building warm. Any teacher that refuses to shovel coal will be removed from the payroll and forfeit their health benefits.

Oh god! What a nightmare I had. No teacher due process rights. "arbitrary & capricious" judgement by administrators who never taught in the classroom and clueless & vindictive non-educators running the system. Wait a minute it was not a nightmare it is really happening. It is real. God help us all in the New York City teaching profession.

Wanted: OSI Investigators To Send More Teachers To The Rubber Room

In today's Chief , the Civil Service Newspaper, there is an advertisement for investigators for the DOE's Office Of Special Investigations (OSI). I guess it is important to remove more teachers from the classroom. 800+ teachers are just not enough for Tweed. I have taken the liberty to slightly alter the DOE advertisement for OSI investigators below to what the DOE really wants.

Minimum Selection Criteria: To be an OSI investigator the successful applicants must be a high school graduate who has benefited from the DOE's "credit recovery system" and holds grudges against their teachers. Further, ex-law enforcement personnel that were accused of false arrest and fired are especially sort after and the DOE will waive the college credit requirements for these investigators. Documented bias against teachers are a plus.

Duties And Responsibilities: The successful applicant must be able to develop a case, based upon a lying student statement or a vindictive administrator's "false accusation" and not let the facts interfere with a good story that substantiates teacher misconduct. The OSI investigator must be able to twist, embellish, and pervert innocent teacher actions into serious misconduct that results in termination charges against the teacher. To be selected the potential OSI investigator must show the ability to lie about the teacher and sleep soundly at night. Most importantly, the applicant must show that all teachers investigated are presumed guilty while all administrators are presumed innocent. Finally, the OSI investigator must be able to ignore student or administrator inconsistencies that could hurt the case against the teacher and ask leading questions to solicit the proper responses. Most importantly, the successful applicant must show how well he or she disregards a teacher's statement and believes the student, regardless of the past history of lying and bad behavior.

Salary Requirements: The salary range is $54,267 - $70,395 and promotions are based upon how many teachers are found guilty and terminated. Reports that are accurate and finds the teacher at no or little fault are not encouraged and can lead to the investigator's dismissal.

DOE is an equal opportunity employer and the only requirements for the OSI investigator is a driver's license, fake or real, and a dedication to get the accused teacher terminated regardless if the charges are true or not.

The Public Schools 1957 and 2007

I was e-mailed this very cute comparison between the public schools in 1957 and what they are like now. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

SCHOOL -- 1957 vs. 2007

Scenario : Jack goes quail hunting before school, pulls into school parking lot with shotgun in gun rack.
1957 - Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.
2007 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.
1957 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies..
2007 - Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it.

Scenario: Jeffrey won't be still in class, disrupts other students.
1957 - Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by the Principal. Returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
2007 - Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. Tested for ADD. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his neighbour's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.
1957 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2 007 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster care and joins a gang. State psychologist tells Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has affair with psychologist.

Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school .
1957 - Mark shares aspirin with Principal out on the smoking dock.
2007 - Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations. Car searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario : Pedro fails high school English.
1957 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.
2007 - Pedro's cause is taken up by state. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro given diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

Scenario: Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.
1957 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2007 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy!

As funny as the comparisons are, it's unfortunately true and an example of our public schools today.

DOE Wants Essays From New Teachers- What Should The Essay Say?

According to the DOE all new teachers who want to work in the New York City public schools must write an essay on why they want to teach in the classroom. Therefore, I believe my essay would most certainly qualify for employment by Tweed and those wonderful Leadership Academy principals looking to hire me.

My name is Cleo. I am a 22 year old liberal arts major and have made it through the "Teaching Fellows" program. I am ready to make a difference in the classroom. I have heard about all the negative things about teaching in the New York City public schools and am ready for the challenge.

I'm happy to handle as many students that the school administrators see fit to give me. Thirty-four to a class? No problem, give me more students. Load me up with more non-teaching duties? I just love the idea, I don't need prep or lunch periods. I will even volunteer for after-school and Saturday programs without pay!

I have heard that there is a disrespect of teachers by the DOE. However, I believe if I work hard and respond to my school administrator's call to jump by saying how high? I will be respected. Student discipline? I know that my administrators will always believe me over the student. Everybody knows that kids lie. Right?

I will give that extra effort to interact with my students and be personable and engaging. I'm sure my administrators want me to work closely with my students. I will be a loyal employee to the school and earn my administrator's respect and loyalty in return. I'm sure my administrators will support me against student allegations.

I have such good ideas that my school administrators will just love my lesson plans as they will enhance the curriculum. I refuse to believe that my administrators will require me to "teach to the test". No right thinking educator subscribes to the "one-size-fits-all" approach. Right?

Come to think of it. What teacher would want to put up with teacher disrespect, lack of student discipline, large class sizes, a hostile working environment, and the unbelievable (but believed anyway) accusations of students. On second thought take this job and shove it.