The Abuse Of The Classroom Teacher & My Union's Poor Priorities

At this week's delegate meeting you would expect that the big issues would be teacher retention, classroom conditions, and improvements in teacher benefits, and salary in the upcoming negotiations. However, my union leaders of the UFT seems to have their priorities in a different direction. What are these priorities? The war in Iraq, Darfur, and same-sex marriage. While I may support two of the three issues the UFT supports, I question why am I paying $83.34 monthly in union dues for issues unrelated to classroom teaching?

In the New York City schools there is a culture of disrespect of the classroom teacher that is encouraged by the New York City Department of Education (DOE) and their pet anti-education newspapers, the New York Post, The Daily News, and the New York Sun. This culture of disrespect is very obvious as the DOE will get the three newspapers to publish headline articles about teacher misconduct while allowing the DOE to hide similiar misconduct by DOE educrats and administrators. When they do appear in the newspapers its usually well after the DOE employee has resigned or retired and is associated with a small article well inside the paper.

The DOE "rubber rooms", where teachers accused of misconduct are bursting at the seams as even the smallest infraction of the vague rules can get a teacher removed from the school. Further, any questioning of an administrator's action could get you a discipline Letter-To-a-File (LIF) that cannot be grieved. The DOE, increasingly lead by lawyers & business people who have little knowledge of schools and the classroom will mandate edicts that make no sense and when knowledgeable people question the DOE actions they are dismissed as malcontents or ignored. With the DOE abuse of the classroom teacher you would think our so-called powerful union would be on the front lines and counter the DOE attack of our schools? However, we are talking about the UFT whose leaders haven't been in the classroom in decades and have obviously forgot how it was there. Unfortunantly, for the classroom teacher our union is more interested in world events then school issues.

What should our union priorities be? Here is what I and many other classroom teachers think.

First, Let teachers teach as they see fit for the best academic results for their students. Eliminate the "one size fits all" approach that has strangled innovative teaching and make student learning boring.

Second, eliminate the mindless micromanagement of the classroom and curriculum. If the classroom teacher has to worry about the rugs, the bulliten board, and test preparation, where is the time for student learning?

Third, enforce student discipline codes. In many schools enforcing discipline codes can get the principal a visit from the DOE on why can't you control your school? The result is that the administrators are reluctlent to try to suspend students for non-criminal actions. Therefore, the classroom teacher feels that the school has no consequences for student misbehavior.

Fourth, ensure that "not ready to be promoted" eigth graders" be directed to alternate high schools where they can get the extra academic help they need rather than dumping them in the large comprehensive high schools where they are doomed to failure.

Fifth, stop the mindless persuit of small and or charter schools at the expense of the larger public schools. At the high school level the small schools are allowed to "screen the 8th graders". to ensure that they get the smallest percentage of the weakest students and no obvious discipline problems. This unequal selection process causes the large comprehensive high schools to compare unfavorably to the other schools and results in poor grades for those schools.

Sixth, ensure that all schools are air conditioned, especially if they are used for summer schools. The union's silence on using hot classrooms for summer programs is puzzling.

There are others, but suffice to say my union's priorities should be on the six issues I have listed above. World issues are important, as are social issues. However, until the UFT solves the problems in the classroom they should be using the dues money to improve the teaching conditions not non-education issues.

New York City & Teachers Union Agree On a Bonus & Housing Subsides For New Teachers To the System What A Deal, Or Is It?

The New York City Department Of Education (DOE), with the approval of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) have started a 1.5 million dollar program that will pay a $5,000 bonus and up to $400 a month rent subsidy for up to two years for math, science, & special education teachers who join the New York City school system. That is $14,600 to join the "smartest" (the DOE logo for NYC teachers). What a wonderful deal you think? I think not. First, you are placed in the "worst schools" and are committed to teach for a minimum of three years. Second, you will find that the average studio apartment in bad neighbourhoods in NYC is $1,000+ monthly and in the more desirable neighborhoods $2,000+! Third, be prepared to sleep on a friend's couch or on the streets and don't get sick because it can take up to six months to be put on the payroll. Finally, if you quit before the three years are up (and many do), be prepared to reinburse the City of New York for the bonus and housing subsidies. The program doesn't sound as good as you thought huh?

How about the classroom conditions you will encounter in the "worst schools" you will be assigned to? You will be given the most wonderful students. The ones who test well below average academically, who are disruptive, and disrespectful to adults, including teachers, and yes you! How about school discipline you say? Well the DOE does not enforce student discipline, you might hurt their self esteem. However, the DOE will go overboard and charge you with discipline infractions in a moment. You told her she looks nice in that outfit (sexual harrassment/proposition). You told him that was a stupid thing to do when he sent a spitball that just missed your eye (corporal punishment) and you just earned a 90-day unpaid suspension at the "rubber room". Better yet, being untenuried they will most certainly fire you and demand payment of the bonus and housing subsides.

Still interested? Good! how about parent involvement. Maybe they can help you? At the middle school and most certainly at the high school level the parent (if there is one) has long ago given up on the child. It's like spitting into the wind. It will only get you slimed.

How about those wonderful administrators. Won't they help you? Duh, the reason these schools are the "worst" is because they are the dumping ground for bad administrators. They were bad teachers who couldn't or wouldn't deal with the classroom and please don't ask them to help you in the classroom. They can't stand being in the classroom that is why they are administrators!
Maybe if your real lucky you will get one of the DOE Leadership Academy principals. You know the ones with little if any classroom experience, poor interpersonal skills, and clueless of how a school operates. Why are you lucky? Well when the LIS is scheduled to visit the Leadership Acadamy principal is allowed to pay you $37.96 an hour for up to 4 hours to fix up your classroom! What a bonanza!


You still want the job? Congratulations, you will get the maximum amount of students the contract allows (34 for general education classes). You will be required to buy many of your own classroom supplies. Photocopying? Go to Staples or Kinkos for photocopying on your own dime. Air conditioning? You will be lucky to have heat in the winter. Your own classroom? Fat chance, expect to have three or even four different rooms and don't dare be late to class otherwise, a reprimand with a Letter-To-The-File (LIF) that will land in your personnel file for Life. Finally, don't bother to shine by being innovative. You will be micromanaged, told what to teach, how to teach it, and when to teach it. You talked one minute over the time for talking? Your LIS will gently pull you aside and let you know to follow the script "AND DON'T DO IT AGAIN OR ELSE ANOTHER LIF FOR LIFE! Further, make sure your student work is hung up, no matter how bad it is. You don't want to hurt their self esteem do you? Finally, I'm sure you can't wait to pitch in and do cafeteria duty (ducking food thrown at you) or potty patrol (hanging out at the bathroom). What a wonderful job for an adult with a Masters degree!

You changed your mind? Your going to the suburbs where there are 22 students to a classroom, adequate supplies, fair and enforced student discipline codes, your own parking space, good administrators, involved parents, and for more money? I don't understand why your giving up all the advantages the City of New York is offering you? Don't worry, I'm sure their will be some unlucky loser who will take the NYC offer only to leave because of how the DOE treats its teachers.

Good luck and I wish you well.

Marriage & Men Why It Is Important For Our Society

Many people seem to downplay the social unraveling of our society. Some cry racism. Others yell it's the seperation of the classes. While, our politicians decry issues based upon being a Republican versus being a Democrat. However, all seem to tiptoe around the major problem with our society; The avoidance of men to marry. This problem is especially true in the black community. An article in Ebony magazine stated that only 41% of black men married (The rest of the nation it is 62%). Interestingly during Martin Luther King's Civil Rights campaign in the 1960's, the number was 70%! (The numbers for the rest of the population was 90% ). Therefore, there has been a 42% reduction in married men as a percentage of the population. While the decrease is most obvious in the black community, this problem cuts across all racial and social lines. Why is this a societal problem?

First, studies have shown married men are less violent.

Second, married men tend to be more responsible and share responsibilities with the female in child rearing. The acceptance of responsibility by the male encourages them to make decisions that are best for the family.

Third, married men add income to the family unit by having a job and freeing the female to join the work force. This will increase the income of the family unit and resist temptation to engage in illegal behavior.

Fourth, married men are less likely to end up in jail. Interestingly, married women are rarely subject to jail as most of the female prisoners are unmarried.

Fifth, and I believe most importantly that married men are role models to their children. It is no accident that 90% of the men and 67% of the women in jail come from single parent (mother) households. You can spin this statistic any way you like but the lack of a father as a role model is a major contributor to criminal behavior.

Another element is the high school dropout rate. The average female dropout makes $13,288 annualy, less than the poverty rate. While the male dropout does slightly better $16,345 . (The poverty rate is $14,000 per year). Children growing up in these households are in grave danger of dropping out themselves. According to Time magazine children of parents that dropout are six times more likely to dropout themselves. The risk is probably higher if it is a single parent household.

Bill Cosby, in his speech in New Orleans in March of 2006, made it clear that the community needs to straighten out their morale compass before complaining about government inaction in the wake of Katrina. He cited the large numbers of 12 & 13 year old girls inpregnated by young men, males who refuse to lay down family roots by marrying the mother and supporting their children, the community acceptance of the large percentage of students who drop out of middle and high schools with no consequences , and the acceptance of "rap music" that glorifies violence, criminality, and disrespect of females. He also stated that the family unit must be brought together if we are to make progress in our society. He meant men coming back to marriage. While he was mainly talking to the black community, he could have been speaking of society in general.

While race and income are factors in the falling percentage of married men. It is more a societal issue. It was not accepted behavior for women to have children out of wedlock and men were pressured (rightly or wrongly) to do the right thing and marry the mother of the child. Now, in many communities, the married women is a minority and an unmarried women with children are not only accepted but are a majority! While welfare programs were the initial cause of this change in society, under the Clinton Administration and State changes, welfare no longer encourages behaviors like teenagers being rewarded for having kids by giving them their own apartment and welfare and going after the father who can pay for the child's support. However, it appears the damage to society was already done by decades of easy welfare benefits.

The leaders of our nation must get together and encourage men to buy into marriage and discourage the irresponsible behavior that seems to be prevalent in many communities. How can this be done? Penalties for dropping out of school, increase in vocational education, parenting classes, tax breaks for married couples, stricter rules and penalties on child payments, and other incentives that encourages marriage. I'm sure there are many more ideas and they should be fully explored and implemented if they work.

Schools Are To Be Graded - A Tale Of Two Schools

The New York City Department of Education (DOE) has decided to grade the public schools based upon testing, attendance, school safety, and even parental involvement. Sounds good right! How can anybody be against a school report card? Well welcome to Chancellor Klein's world of education where he and his non-educators are pushing charter schools, failing that, the next best thing is small schools. The step child in Klein's world is the large comprehensive high schools, steeped in tradition and fame. This story is about two high schools. One a large comprehensive high school the other a small high school with a theme for social justice.

The large comprehensive school, lets call it Pierce high school, has been overcrowded for the past three years as other large schools have closed and the students not selected to the newly-created small schools are dumped into the school. By contrast the small high school , the school of Social Justice, has "screened their students" and does not suffer from overcrowding. Let's get to the statistics.

Attendance:

Pierce high school has a 80% attendance rate while the school for Social Justice had a 93% attendance rate. However, if you dig into the statistics the incoming 8th graders going into the school of Social Justice had a 94% attendance rate compared to a 81% attendance rate for Pierce high school. In reality, the school attendance rates reflect the attendance rate of the middle school students entering the two schools.

Weak Students:

The weakest students in the New York City school system are level 1 students. These are students that test well-below accepted standards. The school for Social Justice has only 10% of the incoming class as level 1 students while Pierce high school was required to accept 35% of the incoming freshmen as level 1 students. Further, of the level 1 students the school of Social Justice took in they made sure that there were no disciplinary problems among them. By contrast Pierce high school had no such discrestion.

Special Needs Children:

On a percentage basis Pierce high school admitted three times as many special needs children than the school of Social Justice. Historically, special needs students don't do as well as other students. These special needs chiildren range from disciplinary problems, slow learners, limited english language students, and emotionally reactive students.

Class Sizes:

The average class size at Pierce high school is 32 students per classroom. At the school of Social Justice the average is 20 students per class. All studies show that when it comes to education; class size matters!

Social Promotion:

Despite DOE denials eigth graders that are labled "promotion in doubt" are promoted anyway and end up in the large comprehensive high schools where that are doomed to failure as they are unready to do high school academics. The small schools like the school of Social Justice rarely, if ever, admit these students.

School Safety:

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to realize that the more overcrowded the school, the more incidents of bumping and shoving there will be. Unfortunantly, some of the pushing and shoving breaks into fights. The result, a safety report is issued. Large overcrowded high schools will always have more safety incidents than a small school. At Pierce high school not only is it a day school but a regional night school as well. Further, the regional Truency Center is located at the school. According to the DOE all incidents that happen during night school or in the Truency program is assigned to Pierce high school. Not fair you say? Who says it needs to be fair? This is how DOE works.

The report card? Can Pierce high school really compete with the school of Social Justice? I can only bring up the statement the late Rodney Dangerfield said " Its like a one legged man in an ass kicking contest". The answer is no.

Boys And Pencils

In my decade-long teaching career there has been one recurring theme. That is approximately 25% of the boys in my classes do not bring pencils for their scantron-based science test. What is that about boys and pencils? Well, being a scientist I did a limited study, based upon the 125 students I have in the classroom (62 girls, 63 boys). The results were as follows:

Boys don't bring pencils because it's not cool to carry a pencil!

Girls carry pencils because it's important to be prepared.

Secondary issues were:

Boys just plain forget to bring one or claim they lost it.

Girls almost always have a pocketbook with them and having a pencil in it is no big deal. In fact, many girls carry two pencils with them and usually give one to the boy. No, I didn't question the girls with two pencils why they carry two. Maybe that will be my next study.

How can you correct the boy/pencil problem? I came up with a novel way of handling this issue. First, you need to understand the mind of a male high school student. They want to impress the girls! No male high schooler wants to be called irresponsible or immature in front of the girls, especially by teachers that are respected by the students. Second, you need them to understand that responsible behavior is rewarded with good grades and respect from others. That means having individual meeting with them and letting them know that high school girls are always looking for the boys that shows promise as an adult (not always true, but most of the boys believe that anyway) and that colleges are always looking for the good student. Finally, all boys want respect from their peers and the adults they interact with. Even the more obnoxious boys crave respect. The ultimate form of respect for a teenage boy is being told he is maturing into a man.

My solution? Is to equate the pencil with manhood. I simply tell my students that the boys who have pencils are real men, responsible, and respected. The boys who don't bring pencils? I tell them that their still boys and not mature enough to be considered a man and have the responsibilities of middle schoolers. This illicits laughter by the girls in the classroom and yes, embarasses the boys. The next test and every test after, all the boys magically have pencils. Is this corporal punishment? Noooooooo! It is an effective teaching technique that is not racist, religious, cultural, or biased in any way. It is based upon personal responsibility and the tools that all students must have in a school setting. Than again, its a rare female that fails to have a pencil with her.

Seventeen and No Credits

The New York City Department Of Education's (DOE) policy on teenagers who are seventeen and are classified as a freshmen creditwize is a danger for all high school students who want to learn. The DOE has stated that the New York City high schools cannot remove a student from a school due to academic non-performance until their eighteenth birthday. Therefore, the student(?) is allowed to disrupt classrooms, disrespect staff, and walk the halls without any consequences. In fact, under DOE rules trying to suspend a student for academic non-performance or minor behavioral infractions is almost impossible. As the DOE educrats sit in their ivory walled Tweed offices and dictate policy that have no basis in reality, the schools must deal with this very real threat to learning.

Ask any school Dean and they will tell you that many of the problems in the high schools can be traced to the older students with little or no credits. In the past, the city had special schools for these children and others were sent to a different school, usually across the borough so that they couldn't hang with their posse. However, the DOE has limited alternative schools and eliminated transfers to other schools. The result? These students are free to prey on the student population of their home school.

Many of these students are academic non-performers and in the past would have gone into vocational schools. However, under the misguided philosiphy that all children are academic learners these students are frustrated and cannot compete with the other students so they disrupt the school. Some of the worst end up committing crimes and are sent to jail, only to return to the home school on their release.

Finally, the child advocates run roughshot over the school system by threatening to sue the city if they try to remove dangerous students from the school setting. These child advocates have even been known to threaten schools with lawsuits that try to enforce afterschool detention programs. In other words there may be no consequences for the actions of these students.

If we are to take back our high schools the first thing that most be done is to remove the older students who are operating with freshmen credits and send them to a work or vocational program. This would be a win-win situation with the student finally getting focus and a career and the school proceeding with their mission of graduating as many students as possible while providing a safe learning environment

Latina Students and High School Sports - Why are so Few Participating?

In my decade-long time as the girls' varsity soccer coach I have always had between five and eight players of hispanic heritage. However, despite my best efforts to recruit them, I am down to three, with two seniors having been on my team since freshmen year. Checking with other coaches in my and other schools the lack of Latina girls in sports appears to be a very disturbing trend. Sure, you can still find many Latina girls on some teams where the school is almost totally Hispanic. However, for the most part it appears that the percentage of Latina girls on a team is much lower than the school's population. What can be causing this problem? There are probably many reasons or combinations. I will try to pick out what I think are the problems, based upon my discussions with ESL, ELL, and other teachers.

1. Home Life: Many Latina girls are expected to do the chores that their mothers used to do. Cooking, cleaning, and supervizing younger family members. This may be due to an increasing lack of a father in many families making the mother the sole bread winner and the teenage girl then takes over the role of the mother.

2. Increasing ineligibility of their boyfriends to play soccer due to poor grades. Unlike many other cultures there appears to be a link between the Latina girl's decision to play/not to play soccer based upon their boyfriend's participation. Why are the Latina girls different? I asked that question to one of the Latina guidance officers. Her response was that Latina girls are very loyal to their boyfriends and won't play soccer if the boyfriend can't/won't. Again the increasing lack of a father in the household may be part of the reason on why boys are not doing well in school.

3. Finally, the attractiveness of many types of expensive items in a typical teenage girl's possesion (all cultures). Ipods, picture cell phones, and computers are all a necessity for the typical teenager and usually for a teenager to have these items they need a part-time job. This means that the opportunity to participate in after school activities are eliminated. Combined with the other two reasons, this reduces the students available for sports.

Are there any solutions to the dwindling participation of Latina girls in sports? More intact family structure. Aggressive recruiting at Freshmen orientation, and last, but not least, a targeted program to encourage all girls' to join after school activites by showing the girls the advantages of joining a team.

a. Better self-esteem
b. Working well with teammates
c. Have better quality friends
d. More respect from other students
e. Social bonding with team members

In conclusion, it will take a very aggressive effort if we are to stop and reverse the loss of Latina girls' in after-school activities.

Bill O'Reilly's Interview With John Stossel - Where Was Randi???

I am a casual viewer of Bill O'Reilly's show on Fox cable and was shocked to see that teachers-bashing 20-20 reporter, John Stossel was trying to explain why he wrote the piece that dissed the New York City public school teachers. However, even more shocking was Randi Weingarten's failure to accept the invite to debate Stossel. In fact, no UFT representative showed up! It was left to O'Reilly to question Stossel. To be fair O'Reilly did question Stossel about his statistics and teacher incompetence. Further, O'Reilly did defend teachers when he brought up the student culture, class values, and using tests that compared different community schools rather than the same type of schools. Finally, O'Reilly informed Stossel how clueless parents are to what goes on in the schools. This seemed to have caught Stossel off guard.

While, Bill O'Reilly, did not protect the public school teacher, he did not buy into Stossel's voucher rap either. He seemed to me to have been "Fair & Balanced" in his interview and it is too bad that Randi Weingarten did not see fit to debate Stossel on an equal footing. It's a pity, this was the chance Randi needed, she claimed she was edited by 20-20 and came off badly. In my view Randi has come up worse for not defending the teachers she is supposed to represent.

NYC Public Schools & The Absent Father

The New York Daily News published an article today about the low high school graduation rates of boys in the New York City high schools. The article by Kathleen Lucadamo stated that the four year graduation rate for girls was 50% compared to a 37% graduation rate for boys. Further, the article showed that the high school dropout rate was 13% for girls compared to 17% for boys. When you consider the pregnent girls usually do not graduate in four years, you would think the dropout rate for girls would be much higher than boys. The article compared the fourth-grade and eigth-grade students that were able to meet the New York State reading and math standards and found that the fourth-grade girls averaged 10% higher and eigth grade girls 8% higher in the reading test and yes the girls averaged 4% higher on the math tests for the two grades. Why are boys faring so poorly in the New York City public schools?


First, the article stated some of the blame lies in the absence of male elementary school teachers to serve as role models for the boys. Second, is the emphasis on testing. The article states that testing means a more structured classroom and boys don't respond well to a structured environment. Therefore, they don't test as well as girls. Third, the emphasis on academics mean less time for recess and physical education which is an outlet for the energy that boys need to release. Fourth, school has become more academic and less vocational which affects more boys than girls. While all of these factors may (or may not) have an effect on the boys poor performance in school the main reason is being overlooked. The absence of a father in the family structure.


A liberal radio talk host, Sam Greenfield, stated that 90% of all men in prison came from a single family household, a shockingly high figure. It is safe to say very few of these single family households are headed by fathers. The importance of a biological father in the family unit has been time and again shown to be extremely important, especially to boys. However, for some reason it seems not to be politically correct to bring this up when talking about education. Ask any dean when they deal with problem boys how few have biological fathers in their family unit. Yet we seem to ignore this very important factor. Is it just coincidence that as an increase in the percentage of single mother headed households occur the boys are falling behind the girls in school? I don't think so.

Is it any wonder that the boys are doing poorly in school? Look who they have as a role model? A father that has abandoned the family, probably not financially supporting the children, and maybe in jail or disappeared? The pity is that many educators tiptoe around this reason why many boys are doing poorly in school. They bring up nebulous factors (lack of male teachers in the elementary schools-always been that way) and trying to connect two independent factors (testing and physical activity- a real streach). While I do agree that the lack of vocational courses can affect boys more than girls, the lack of a father is by far is the real cause of the poor educational results for boys.

It is time that the political, community, and educational leaders stop their grandstanding and take on the real cause of the boys poor performance in schools. The absent father in the family structure!

DOE's Assault On The Large High Schools

In New York City, like most of the country "education reform" in the form of small schools is all the rage. The Department of Education (DOE) has touted the small school craze at the expense of the large traditional high schools in the city. It is common knowledge that small schools allow for a closer relationship between the students and staff and increases attendance when compared to the large high schools. However, there has been no long-term study showing that the academic performance in a small school environment is any better than in a similar large high school. In fact, when class size, economic, and community characteristics are similar in the two type of schools, there are little differences in the academic performance of the students. DOE however, has found a devious method to ensure that the student performance in a small school is statistically superior when compared to the large schools. How did DOE do this? They spiked the data to ensure the desired results.

First, the DOE took attendance figures that showed that the small schools had a 15% increase in attendance rates than the large high schools. However, what DOE failed to report that the 8th graders entering the small schools had a 91% attendance rate compared to a 81% attendance rate for the 8th graders attending the large high schools. The 5% difference can be attributed to the large school having more special needs students and poor academically performing students which will be bought up later in this article. Consequently, the small schools really did not show an improvement in attendance rates when compared to the large high schools.

Second, The small schools had a lower percentage of Special Needs Students (Special Education, Physical and Mental disabilities, and Non-English Speakers). The small schools averaged 12% of the student population in this category while the large high schools had 34%! Somehow the DOE failed to account for this difference in the student population of the two types of schools.

Third, the academic performance of the small schools showed a slight improvement over the large schools, based upon incomplete data (many of the small schools have not had a full four year graduation cycle). However, what DOE didn't tell the media was that the 8th graders entering the small schools averaged 15 points higher on the mandated English test and 20 points higher on the mandated Math test, when compared to the 8th graders entering the large high schools

Fourth, in New York State the students are classified by how well they do on state tests for English and Math. Students well below normal are level 1, students below normal are level 2, and students at or above normal are level 3. Interestingly the small schools, when compared to the large high schools had less level 1 students (poor academic performers) and more level 3 students. Listed below are the statistics.

Small Schools........................... Large High Schools
Level ............1.......... 2.......... 3 Level....... 1........ 2........ 3

English........ 10%.... 73% ....17% English... 35%... 56%... 8%

Math............ 38%.... 48%... 14% Math...... 64% ....30% ...6%

Fifth, Despite denials from DOE, the small school class sizes are capped (13-20 students per class) at levels below those found in the large high schools (30 students per class). Almost all studies show that the smaller the class size, the better the student academic performance. Furthermore, the small schools are allowed to screen the entering 9th graders to ensure the best possible student body, something the large high schools are not allowed to do. This screening is clearly reflected in the data above.

Finally, as more and more large high schools close down and the rich history and tradition with it, the excess students who do not get into the small schools (usually the weakest academic performers) are dumped into the already overcrowded large high schools further weakening the academic performance of the schools. The result, a new crop of small schools replace these high schools and the beat goes on.

I would like to thank Jonathan H., a chapter leader in a small Bronx high school for the statistics found in this article. Jonathan's article and comments can be found in Edwiz.

Johnny Can't Pass The Test? It's The Teacher's Fault!

The Department Of Education (DOE) and their media followers (Daily News, New York Post, & The Sun) love to blame the teachers when something goes wrong in the schools. The DOE's top-down management imposes a strict curriculum and micromanages the classroom. This stifles teacher innovation and doesn't allow teachers to enrich the subject. Without teacher innovation and enrichment the students become restless and bored. When the students perform poorly on the "dumbed down" state and city tests who gets blamed the TEACHER!

When the students come to school without parental support and discipline and act up in class it is always the TEACHERS FAULT! If the teacher dares to discipline the unruly student, the teacher is removed from the classroom and is subject to the corporal punishment regulations along with a 90 day unpaid suspension at a minimum.

When the DOE refuses to spend the money in the classroom and instead uses it for their favorite consultant or charter/small school, the result is oversized classes, poor materials, and overcrowding, it's the TEACHER'S FAULT that the students don't meet standards.

How dare teachers complain when DOE brings in the Leadership Academy principals (many without real classroom experience) and they use the business model and it doesn't work. Ignore the fact that children are incomplete personalities and unlike widgets, they are all different. It can't be the business model ? IT'S THE TEACHER"S FAULT!

The student who comes from a dysfunctional family and has poor work skills and when the student can't pass the state & city tests is it the parent's or student's fault? Of course not! It's the TEACHER'S FAULT! According to DOE a good teacher can get all the students to pass.

DOE has established a culture of disrespect for the teachers. Teachers are rarely consulted on decision affecting the classroom, they are removed from a classroom based upon a student's unfounded accusation, and no longer can grieve any administrator's observation. Why does the DOE disrespect the very teachers they need to improve their statistics? Why it's the TEACHERS FAULT that they don't buy into the failed DOE business model.

The DOE solution? Let's get Jack Welsh, Bill Gates, and other notable business leaders to tell them what needs to be done to improve our schools. You mean this has been done and so far there has been little or no improvement? Why it must be the TEACHERS FAULT!

In conclusion, whenever a school fails under NCLB, the state and city tests, it's not the students, it's not the parents, and it certainly not DOE. Therefore, it must be the TEACHERS FAULT!

Culture of Disrespect in the Classroom

Well, the winter break is here and none to soon. Since the beginning of the semester I have two students curse at me and three who told me to "mind my own business" when I caught them in the halls talking on a cellphone. Except for one, the rest are not my students. However, even in my classroom I experience the culture of disrespect as the students try to test the limits of my tolerance. For example, I will check if the students did their "Do Now" and the usual suspects will have a variety of excuses why they didn't do it. They continue not to do it until I threaten to call a parent. Further, I always have a couple of students who will find any excuse to talk to each other, usually when my back is turned or if I'm working with another student. Even the best teachers are tested by these students.

Occassionaly a student is having a bad day and will act up or feel sickly and put his/her head down. Or the teacher is not in top form and some students get restless. However, when a student continues to violate classroom rules and only threats of suspension seem to work, this is usually due to the student's disrespect of the school rules. Many a time I hear the "N" word being tossed around in my class. Some of the males disrespect the females calling them sexual names or touching then inappropriately. Finally, quite a few females think it's cool to out curse the males and insult them when they see fit. Eventually, my students learn that I don't tolerate bad behavior, curse words, and disrespect in general. I simply tell my class that if you don't follow my rules you will be taking this course again during summer or night school. Consequences for their action.

While I can control the students in my classroom by clearly showing them the consequences of their disrespecting me (the student who cursed at me was suspended and was transferred to another class, this action sent a clear message to the students in my classes). These very same students revert back to the culture of disrespect in the hallways. Until the students learn to respect each other, its an uphill climb for the classroom teacher to combat the culture of disrespect. We can only try to be the role models that many parents won't or can't be and hope that we get through to some of them, one student at a time.

The Office Of Special Investigations Double Standard

The New York City Office Of Special Investigations (OSI) was created to investigate educator misconduct from the school chancellor to the school aide. However, based upon past performance, not all investigations are handled the same. It is common knowledge that DOE administrators are treated differently than teachers. An unproven student accusation against a teacher can get the teacher removed from the classroom and a 90 day unpaid suspension. However, accusations by a group of teachers that seems to have merit are reluctently handled by OSI and the administrator is free to continue their service in the school until OSI gets around to issuing a report. Below are two examples of OSI dragging it's feet in reviewing allegations against two principals.


Over the last week two New York City Principals have been investigated about alleged abuses of their authority. The first, Dr. Lee McCaskill of Brooklyn Tech high school has been accused of not living in the State and sending his daughter to a local elementary school without paying the tuition for out of state students. Further, Dr. MacCaskill has been accused of changing failing grades to passing grades without the teacher's knowledge or approval. Finally, Dr. McCaskill allowed an AP Tracy Atkins-Zoughlami to go unpunished for reading to her class the false and anti-semitic poem by Amiri Baraka that stated that 4,000 Jews were given advanced warning of the 9/11 event and didn't go to work at the World Trade Center. Dr. McCaskill finally retired this week after it was found that he lived in New Jersey and his daughter did not pay the out of state tuition. No disciplinary action was taken.

The other principal, Mr. Anthony Rotunno of John F. Kennedy High School, has been accused of changing English Regents grades months after the Regents was given, without the knowledge or approval of the teachers. In fact, the teachers only found out that the English grades were changed by the administration when the students informed the teachers of their passing grades. OSI stated that the principal had the right to change Regents grades and cleared Mr. Rotunno of changing the grades without finding out why the grades were changed. Only after complaints were aired in the newspapers did OSI start a second investigation on why the grades were changed. This investigation is ongoing and Mr. Rotunno sits in his principals office in the meantime.

Both principals have been accused of changing grades without the knowledge and approval of the teachers. This is in apparent violation of New York State law that gives the teacher the final decision on a grade. Yes, Principals can change grades or Regents but only after the teacher(s) are informed and given input to the changing of grades. Nowhere in the New York State education law does an administrator have the right to change a student grade without teacher input. Yet both principals saw fit to ignore the teacher input and had them changed without informing the teachers. Why is OSI dragging its feet when the evidence is very easy to obtain? You can only guess why? However, OSI wasted no time in removing the Chapter Leader of JFK high school for using the school fax to send the information to a New York City newspaper. Against teachers the OSI works fast!

Is there an OSI double standard on how they investigate teachers and administrators? You better believe it!

Undefendable

Yesterday Epiphanny Prince scored 113 points in a 137 - 32 win over Brandeis High School in a Public School Athletic League (PSAL) basketball game. The local newscasts played up the issue as a wonderful event and the newspapers did the same. However, buried on page 60 of the New York Post was the real story of the game by reporter Dan Martin. The reporter interviewed the Brandeis coach, Vera Springer who put it in the proper perspective. She stated that "it stinks"! She further stated that the Murry Bergtraum coach Ed Grezinsky wanted to prove that Epiphanny was better than the Christ the King player, Tina Charles. What Ed Grezinsky did is undefendable and while he didn't break any technical rules under the PSAL, he certainly broke some moral rules:

* Don't run up the score on an inferior opponent.

* Keep your best players out once it is a blowout.

* Never embarres another team.

* Show class and be a role model for your players.


In my opinion, on all counts the Murry Bergtraum coach, Ed Grezinsky failed to meet these moral rules. Worse is the lack of criticism from the media. In fact, the Rugters women coach C. Vivian Stringer gave her a hug and congradulated Epiphanny on scoring 113 points. Real good role models that Epiphanny has in school basketball. Yes, Epiphanny is going to Rugters next year.

I have coached high school sports for the PSAL for the last eight years and travel teams for the ten years before that, when I am playing an inferior opponent, I never let my best players run up the score or embarres the other team. We are supposed to be role models to our players, a proud representative of our school, and a respected teacher who cares about their students well-being. Yes, there are coaches like Ed Grezinsky, who are poor role models, classless, and only care about winning. Thankfully, these coaches are a minority in high school sports and athletic directors and/or principals should be doing the right thing and dump these coaches. For every Epiphanny Prince there are thousands of players who never see significant playing time or are cut from the team because they will not add to the winning record. While all coaches want to win, the best coaches can balance winning with respect and make all players feel worthwhile. However, a minority of coaches lose sight of this goal in the zeal for winning and in the proccess destroy the self worth of the weaker athletes and opponents.

There is winning and there is winning. The way Ed Grezinsky won is undefendable!

My School , NCLB, & The NYC Department Of Education

Let me state this first. I believe in high-stakes testing and I have no problem using these tests for promotion or identifying student weaknesses. However, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is nothing but a farce because of policies employed by the New York City Department of Education that adversely affects my school. Let me explain.

My school is a large, overcrowded high school with the average class size of 32 students per classroom (The union contract allows for 34 students per classroom). Over the last five years my school both academically and safety-wise had improved, thanks to a zero-tolerance discipline program that suspends students rather than allow them to walk the halls, disrupt the classroom. or bully other students. Then NLCB came along and we had to improve on our baseline standards. No problem, our school was improving academically, safety was not an issue, and gangs in the school were deep underground, so what was the problem? The New York City Department of Education's flawed policy of closing poor performing large schools and make small schools out of them, that's the problem.

In the last three years three large high schools have been converted to small schools with the approximately three thousand excessed students sent to other schools in the borough of Queens. One of the recipients of these students was my school. The students came from underperforming middle schools and were not selected to go to the newly created small schools. Many of these students came with poor work habits, disrespected their teachers and peers, and were at the bottom of the heap in their middle school mandated tests. With the influx of the students overcrowding became worse, fights are on the rise, and academically, the school is floundering.

Why would NYC Department of Education want to push a large, respected high school into the dangerous waters of the NCLB penalties? I can only guess that it is a combination of incompetence, political policy, and apathy.

Incompetence - Many of the the middle-level administrators at the NYC Department of Education have little understanding of how a school operates. They think of the students as cogs in an assembly line. To them, all the cogs are the same aren't they? The teachers are widgets and the principal as the operator. Their only concern is that the school run smoothly. Incompetence is based upon their lack of understanding of what it takes to run a successful school. That is why they cannot understand that students need to be screened to ensure they are ready for high school and that illiterate students entering high school will not graduate, no matter how much they try without intensive one-to-one tutoring in an alternative setting.

Political Policy - Much of the top management at the NYC Department of Education (Tweed)
aren't educators and the few that are have been away from the classroom for decades. Their priorities are small schools and charter schools, where work rules can be relaxed (abused) by the administrators. Further, micromanagement is all the rage at Tweed. Tweed's policy is that the "one-size-fits-all" approach should be imposed on all classes. These non-educators believe that the more innovative a classroom teacher is, the more dangerous that teacher becomes. We all know that teachers are the best evaulators of their students. However, according to Tweed, all students learn the same using the same curriculum and a teacher might find him/her in the "rubber room" if they stray from Tweed's directives.

Apathy - The Tweed policy is that "you can fool some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time" and by the time the general population realizes they have been fooled, it's usually too late to do anything about it. Many parents are fooled by the statistics showing that their children are passing increasingly dumbed down state & city tests. Even some of the city politicians believe that Tweed is succeeding in improving the education of the city students.
Further, Tweed's disrespect for teachers and school administrators is obvious for all to see. Just ask any teacher what they think is wrong with the New York City schools and they will all say Tweed. Finally, our union (UFT) rather then push their "Let Teachers Teach Program" and fight the push to small schools, have remained silent about how to combat Tweed. Apathy breeds disrespect and with apathetic parents, politicians, and the UFT, Tweeds rides roughshot over the system.

It is time that educators stand up and fight for the system and in my case I will start at my school. Fight for what's right.

Why Can"t The Students Learn?

My Assistant Principal came to me and asked me how can we improve test scores in the science department. My simple answer; Get me better students and I will give you better test scores. We both laughed because the answer, while simple, cannot be implemented.

My school is an overcrowded large high school, with large class sizes, many recent immigrants with varying levels of education, and a Regional Office that has no problem dumping excess students from other large schools who became small schools into my school. Further, it seems the Principal refuses to defend the school by allowing the Regional Office to do as they please, even allowing students who were jailed for violent crimes to return to the very school they terrorized in the first place!

In some cases the student enters our school in their freshmen year as functional illiterates. How any school system allows this is beyond belief. These children should be flagged well before they enter high school and they should be put into an alternate setting with intensive reading and writing programs in a small class environment until they are certified as ready for high school. Recent immigrants with high school age children present a special problem, especially, if their native language is not english. Too many of these children find their way into my science class with no skills and are very frustrated at their inability to move ahead.

Many teens who are not academically prepared for high school may take out their frustrations by bullying other student, join gangs, and find themselves dropping out of school and/or going to jail. The result is an unsafe school that starts to spiral downward and will not stop until, under NCLB the good students will leave the school. Finally, the school closes down, or is broken into smaller schools and what was once a good school is no more.

It is easy for me to blame the parent, the middle school, the Department of Education, or the child advocates who protect the rights of the child at the expense of the student body. However, the real blame lies with the politicans who approve rules that makes it next to impossible for schools to throw out discipline problems, turn a blind eye to social promotion, and restricts teachers in how they handle their classroom (micromanagment).

How do we ensure the student has a chance to graduate? By intervening at the first indication that the child is falling behind. First, small classes so all the children have a maximum opportunity to learn the basics. Second, one-to-one tutoring with teachers specially trained to work with these children. Third, zero tolerance of destructive behavior, suspending and removing the child to an alternative setting. This lets the other students know that the school is a building of learning. Finally, letting teachers teach in a way that works for both the teacher and the student. The "one-size-fits-all" top-down approach does not and will never work when a teacher cannot teach what's best for the class.

Why can't students learn? Because the teacher does not have or is allowed to use the tools that are needed for the child to graduate and be a productive member of society.

Public vs. Charter Schools, is 20-20 Right? Wrong!

I watched Friday's 20/20 propoganda program how the public schools cheat our children and can only laugh how one-sided John Stossel's piece was. If you didn't know better, you would believe that our public schools are not educating our children and why would anybody want to go to a public school? However, there are some facts that were omitted by Stossel.

First, charter schools have not demostrated that they improve student achievement over the neighbourhood public school in the long term.

Second, charter schools usually emphizise academics at the expense of a well-rounded education such as physical education, arts, and music. Many charter schools have no gyms and studies have found that physical education is important for a child's development.

Third, charter schools have a longer day, and even saturday school. Teacher burnout is the dirty little secret in charter schools as the charter schools use young, enthusiastic, and usually uncertified teachers for a couple of years until they either leave the profession or go to the public school once they become certified.

Fourth, charter schools will throw out students who violate their discipline code. These students are usually associated with low test scores and failing grades.

Finally, many charter schools limit the size of their classes. One charter middle school looked like they had 12 students to a class in the 20/20 program.

I also found it interesting that many charter schools, to cut costs, have their students picking up garbage, serving meals, and during other clerical/janitorial jobs.

I do agree that the Kipps charter schools appear to have made significant gains over the public school. However, that is primarily due to their acceptance program that ensures that the parent contribute to their child's education by fundraising and volunteering their time at the school. Parent involvement is the key to a child's academic success.

If public schools can kick out discipline problems, have smaller class sizes, and select students, based upon parent involvement, the charter school has would disappear since they could not compete on a level playing field.

Where's Our Dues Going To?

As teachers we pay quite hefty dues to our teaching organizations with the expectation that the money will go to education related causes. However, Fox News (Fair & Balanced?) stated that the NEA gave 65 million dollars to non-educational organizations. While I don't always believe the media, the NEA admitted that they did donate the money. Who are some of these worthy organizations?

* PUSH

* Gun Control Lobby

* Gay & Lesbian Organizations

* National Women's Law Center


Regardless of how you feel about these and other organizations, teacher money should only be given to organizations that are educationally related and help support teacher working conditions. I personally resent that my dues go to any organization that does not advance an education agenda.