Student Misbehavior Is Ignored By Chancellor Carmen Farina

In yesterday's New York Post, Chancellor Carmen Farina used some questionable statistics to show how the New York City schools have improved.  First, was the 70% high school graduation rate, of course she failed to mention that only 34% were "college and career ready" and that far too many of the schools had a "college ready" rate below 20%.  Second, she crowed about the 55% who went to college but failed to mention that 78% needed no-credit remedial courses and usually flunked out without getting even a two year degree.  Finally,  school violence has gone down, due to a change in reporting requirements but she failed to mention how her lax student discipline policies has made student misbehavior the biggest problem for school staff. For more information behind the Chancellor's bogus statistics, read the New York City Controller report.

Today, in the New York Post an untenured teacher was discontinued because he dared report student misbehavior at the Bronx High School, called Design and Construction.  Despite the school's requirement to document student misbehavior, the school administration didn't want it reported,  You can read the article here.  How good is the school?  Take a look at their snapshot.  That;s right the school has a 63% graduation rate and a 15% "college and career readiness" rate, another diploma mill with few graduates who will be getting financially successful jobs.or succeed in college.

The school administration should be installing a strict student discipline policy rather than hiding student misbehavior but then we all know the DOE rather punish teachers that dare report such inconvenient facts and reward schools that hide incidents, just to make their statistics look good.  For the DOE it still is "children last" ....Always.

The DOE's Double Standard Continues.

One of the most glaring issues dealing with the DOE is the "double standard" when disciplining teachers and administrators.  Teachers who commit or allegedly committed minor infractions can and usually are removed from the school and subject to 3020-a termination charges.  By contrast, school administrators are presumed to be innocent and few are removed from their school.  A case in point is the story of 33 year old Assistant Principal Diana Rendon of Progressive High School for Professional Careers in Brooklyn, who was first caught on a cellphone apparently boozing it up on a hotel bed with some of her teachers at taxpayers expense and now she has been accused of barging into a boys locker room with some of the boys still in their underwear.

Can you imagine if a male coach walks into a girls locker room with half-dressed girls?  That coach would be immediately removed from the school, be subject to an SCI investigation, and quite likely suspended without pay for sexual misconduct and terminated.in a 3020-a hearing. Yet Ms. Rendon is still an administrator in the school.  As a coach of a girls soccer team, I knew better if I wanted to keep my job and always had a female team captain handle the locker room and only came in when she gave me the go-ahead to enter.  Yet, apparently Ms. Rendon rather than follow the rules, believes she can do as she pleases and barge in for any reason whatsoever.

If that is not enough, how about the free baseball tickets that she and the Principal were supposed to give to the students but went to staff instead?  This stuff apparently goes back to 2010.

What we have here is apparently another case of DOE's different criteria when disciplining teachers and administrators, or the old "double standard".

Why The School System Continues To Fail Students. Its The Inequality!

One of the metrics the DOE and politicians love to use is the graduation rate.  Every year the graduation inches up and everybody praises the heavens for the apparent improvement.  However, when I looked at the snapshot of the Queens High Schools, I found that there was a real; disconnect between the graduation rate and the "college and career readiness" rate.  Why is that important? Its important because it shows that far too many students are graduating unprepared for high education and for good paying jobs.  A recent study shows that a college graduate makes 56% more money than a high school graduate and every year the gap widens, that's why the "college and career readiness" metric is an important metric for a student's financial success.

While disappointing Chancellor Carmen Farina may keep claiming how academically the schools are improving, her policies and the poor administrative quality at Tweed and in the schools suggest otherwise.  In most of the high schools in the Bronx and the deep poverty communities in Southeast Queens and Eastern Brooklyn the "college and career readiness" rates are in single digits while graduating 70% or more of the students.  In other words, these schools are graduating students unprepared for the adult world.

Previously, I came up with a simple ratio to determine if the high schools are giving their students a real education or simply an academic fraud factory.  You can find the list for all unscreened Queens school Here.  As one can see, looking at the list, the schools located in solidly middle class neighborhoods attract a racially diverse student body and has a stable and an experienced teaching staff.  By contrast, the schools with the worst numbers have a nearly 100% minority student population, suffers from high teacher turnover, and an inexperienced teaching staff.  Add that to the poor quality of the school administration and the many over-the-counter- students these schools must accept to keep their school afloat and you have a recipe for educational disaster.

With the present policies implemented by Michael Bloomberg and Joel Klein still in place, like the school-based fair student funding, the ATR crisis, and student free choice at the high school level, I see little real change to our student educational needs as inequality between the haves and have nots will continue and students who are stuck in poorly performing high schools like the Renewal schools will have a dim future when it comes to financial success.

The Appointment Of Randy Asher To Tackle The ATR Problem Shows That The ATR Incentive Has Failed.

The DOE announced that the former Principal of Brooklyn Tech, Randy Asher, will get a promotion and a $185,000 dollar salary to tackle the vexing ATR problem.  According to Chancellor Carmen Farina, Randy Asher will bring a fresh approach and new strategies to reduce the ATR pool that cost the DOE over $100 million dollars annually.  This is proof that the DOE's ATR incentive has been a failure since if it was a success, there would be no reason to hire Mr.Asher to tackle the problem.  According to the Daily News article, there are presently, 981 ATRs in rotation, down from 1,303 at the beginning of the school year.  However, most of the reduction is due to provisional placements.  That means once their provisional assignments ends, they will be dumped  back into the ATR pool.  The latest anecdotal information showed only 125 ATRs were offered and accepted the incentive for a permanent placement.

What can Mr. Asher do to reduce the ATR pool?  The simple answer is to be given the authority by the Chancellor to prohibit principals from hiring outside the District until all exccessed teachers in the District in their content specialty are placed.  Without that authority, Mr. Asher will be met with resistance as principals who have been indoctrinated under the Bloomberg ideology and will simply refuse to hire ATRs.  Mr. Asher would need to obtain the power to penalize principals who fail to follow the new rules in hiring ATRs and get caught hiding vacancies.  These penalties should include but not limited to the following:

1. Monetary penalty in the form of a fine.
2. Taking away funding for the hidden vacancy
3. Removal of the Principal.

Of course this can only happen if the school-based fair student funding program is made District based and the schools no longer have a financial incentive to hire "newbies".

However, what I suspect will actually happen is that Mr. Asher will propose an ATR time limit and a reduced "due process" proposal when he negotiates with the union leadership.  Our union leadership will reject the ATR time limit but will agree to a more punitive ATR program that will once again make ATRs a "second class citizen".   Of course, our union leadership will once again declare victory and convince the DOE to make an inadequate ATR retirement incentive, similar to the one in 2014 as a sweetener so that everybody wins, except the ATRs who cannot afford to retire and are subject to more onerous requirements and more harassing pressure to quit the system.

I could be wrong but I strongly suspect that the scenario I outlined in the previous paragraph will be the most likely path that Mr. Asher will take as he won't step on the toes of his Tweed supervisors and the principals of the CSA union he was a long-term member in.

Things About The ATR Incentive I Would Like To Know From The DOE And UFT Leadership.

 


Earlier this school year the DOE, realizing that there is going to be a teacher shortage in the coming years and has already hit the Bronx, offered schools an incentive to hire ATRs.  This incentive would offer schools an ATR for free the first year, half price the second year, and a 25% discount the third year.  Yet few schools have taken the DOE up on the deal.  The reason is that the ATR comes with his seniority and institutional memory and the ever increasing numbers of Leadership Academy Principals rather not hire them.  Moreover, the Bloomberg policymakers at Tweed remind schools how Joel Klein called the ATRs "bad teachers" and rather hire a "newbie" then giving their students an experienced veteran teacher.

The questions I would like answered by the DOE and UFT leadership are the following:

1. How many ATRs were placed because of the incentive?
2. What was the experience breakdown?
3. What was the age breakdown?
4. What was the salary breakdown?
5. What was the percentage of tenured members?
6. What is the breakdown by subject area?

In addition, I would also like to see the statistics for the geographic locations in the City.

1. Placement by District
2. Placement by Borough  

Finally, it is clear that the DOE keeps two lists of  ATRs.  One list of ATRs who were excessed and a second list of ATRs who won their discipline hearings.  Therefore, I would like to know how many of the ATRs were offered an incentive who came from the discipline list?  10, 20, or more likely "0"!

I am appealing to the MORE and New Action members on the Executive Board to ask these questions to the UFT leadership, the union has the numbers and maybe the union could be pressured in releasing the statistical breakdown and that we can all see how disingenuous the DOE incentive offer has been.

Superintendents, The Weakest Link In The NYC Public Schools.

One of the very few improvements Chancellor Carmen Farina implemented was eliminating the useless and money sucking Children First Networks (CFN) and replaced their function back where it belonged with the Superintendents.  The idea was that principals could no longer play one CFN against another and do as they pleased like hiring uncertified teachers for Regents classes and making sure parent voices were not heard if the CFN was geographically located in another Borough.   The idea of giving back the responsibility to the Superintendents was a sound one in practice since principals could no longer do as they pleased and get no pushback from above.  However, this policy only worked if the Superintendent was an excellent educator with good instincts that did what's right for the children of the schools under their jurisdiction.

Unfortunately, under Chancellor Carmen Farina, far too many of the Superintendents were selected not based on their educational ability but on cronyism, favoritism, and political connections.  In fact, some Superintendents needed a  waiver since they never achieved either the ten year teaching experience and at least three years as a school Principal required for the position.  In fact, the Chancellor retained 34 of the 42 Bloomberg Era superintendents or 77% of these questionable leaders.  Add that to the Chancellor retaining 80% of the Bloomberg policymakers and you can see what's wrong with the DOE. Worse, these superintendents continued committed educational malfeasance  by allowing unsavory and vindictive principals to continue to harass staff and hire and use uncertified teachers for Regents courses in the subject area.

Just take a look at some of these Superintendents?  Amiee Horowitz, the Superintendent of the Renewal schools that oversaw the hiring of a whole staff of "newbies" instead of recruiting the "highly effective" teachers that Chancellor Carmen Farina claimed that the DOE was going to employ at Automotive High School,  The result?  The school which now will be merged with another failing school.  Moreover, she ignored Regents cheating and academic fraud instead of exposing it.

Let's not forget Superintendent  Juan Mendez who has put in far too many questionable principals under his administration.  and is under federal lawsuit for racial bias. Here.

There are many more superintendents with questionable educational ability but you get the picture.  Until a new Chancellor is appointed and Carmen Farina finally retires for good, the weakest link will continue to be the superintendents appointed by the Chancellor who herself saw nothing, did nothing, and said nothing when she was Superintendent in Brooklyn during the Cobble Hill Regents cheating scandal.

Too Bad Black Lives Matter Seem Not To Care About Black Children Shot By Gang Violence.

Over the last couple of years and especially after the Ferguson Missouri incident.  Black outrage against the police resulted in the rise of a new group called "Black Lives Matter".  This group was a vocal advocate of treating the young black men with the same respect as all other people,  However, the Black Lives Matter group slowly morphed into a political organization and seemed to move away from their roots.  While the Black Lives Matter movement still had a focus on anti-police action when they could exploit incidents that show the police abusing their authority and rightly so.  The movement has also taken an ideological slant that is quite disturbing to me.

For example the Black Lives Matter movement supports the Boycott Disinvestment and Sanction (BDS) organization against Israel, an anti-Semitic movement dominated by pro Palestinian, far left fringe groups.  Can anybody explain how the Black Lives Matter movement supports an organization that tries to DE-legitimatizes a Democratic country which has never discriminated against young black men in the United States?.

What bothers me the most is that the Black Lives Matter movement has been strangely silent about the escalating gang violence in Chicago that has resulted in 762 killing last year and 41 children under the age of 14 were shot. Most of these killings and the over 3,550 shootings in 2016 were black on black crime (75-80%).  Instead of protesting the occasional police misconduct or abuse, the Black Lives Matter organization should be protesting against the gang violence that plague the black neighborhoods of Chicago.  In fact, Black Lives Matter may have indirectly caused the skyrocketing of the crime rate in Chicago by stopping police from making stops of suspicious young black men for fear of being labeled a racist.

Back to the 41 innocent children shot who were in the crossfire of gang violence.  Because of neighborhood distrust of the Chicago police, only 3 of the 41 child shootings have resulted in an arrest.  According to the police, the distrust of the community makes it difficult to get witness statements even when people know who the shooter is.  Shouldn't the Black Lives Matter movement be protecting these children?  Try to clean up the neighborhood and eradicate gang violence?  Wouldn't the movement gain respectability by helping make the communities safe for families and children to walk to school and play on the street?  How about cooperating with the police to make communities safe?  Instead they continue to follow an ideologically driven anti-police agenda at the expense of the very communities that they should be supporting.

The bottom line is, if Black Lives Matter wants to be relevant then they must start with fighting gang violence in the Black communities of Chicago and not simply protesting the occasional police action.

Teachers And Stress, The Unseen Reason Why Good Teachers Quit.

As a second career teacher I know what it was like to work in an office and now in the classroom and the difference is night and day.  In an office you interact with a dozen adult personalities.  By contrast, most secondary school teachers interact with the dozen adult personalities and the 150 incomplete and unpredictable teenage personalities. Add that to a hostile and crowded classroom environment due to incompetent or vindictive administrators and unruly students and almost half the teachers feel high daily stress.  A high UFT official once told me that 25% of the teachers take anti-depressant or anxiety drugs to get them through the school day.

Even in good school districts 40% of the teachers leave before their fifth year and the quit rate is much higher in high poverty, minority school districts.  A study showed that the primary cause of high teacher turnover was student misbehavior and the failure of school administrators to support teachers.

Come Friday at many schools and you will see teachers lying down in the teacher's rooms complaining of headaches because of the accumulated stress throughout the week.  New York City Chancellor, Carmen Farina once told new teachers that they should stay away from the teacher rooms and the complaining veteran teachers.  However, for these complaining veteran teachers it is their coping mechanism that helps them deal with the accumulated stress.

How to help alleviate the stress? .First, find a low poverty or screened school where the students want to learn.  Second, make sure the school administration has a reputation for collaboration with teachers.  Finally, find a school with an experienced teaching staff where mentoring and peer role models will help newer teachers handle the everyday insults that go hand -in-hand with teaching in the New York City public schools.

If you cannot find a school that meets all three requirements then take up meditation, you will need it if you are to make a career out of teaching in the New York City public school system.

How NYC Labor Commissioner Bob Linn Outsmarted Michael Mulgrew In Negotiating The 2014 Contract.

When Mayor Michael Bloomberg finally left office on January 1, 2014.  UFT President Michael Mulgrew saw an opportunity to curry favor with the Bill de Blasio administration and pushed for a long delayed contract for the members. Being his first negotiated contract, Michael Mulgrew wanted to show he was a tough negotiator and his top priority was to get the two 4% raises owed to the members that Michael Bloomberg refused to give the UFT for the years 2009 and 2010.  This is when the story begins.

In the winter of 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio told his Labor Commissioner, Bob Linn to start negotiating with the UFT and he gave Mr. Linn two demands.  One, that the contract becomes the "new pattern" for all other municipal contracts and two, that the new contract be affordable to the City.  Mr. Linn, a veteran of the Koch administration is a savvy negotiator with decades of experience in negotiating municipal contracts. He quickly realized that Michael Mulgrew's top priority was to get his members their two 4% raises.  Mr. Linn also knew that the City would lose if the UFT had taken the retroactive payment issue to arbitration.  In fact, in the latest PBA arbitration, Arbitrator Edelman emphasized that the "pattern bargaining"  is a mainstay for all negotiated contracts and Mr. Linn was probably 99% certain that the City would be on the hook for billions of dollars and put extreme stress on the City budget.  Luckily for Mr. Linn, he was negotiating with a novice,  Michael Mulgrew.

Mr. Linn dangled the two 4% raises to Mr. Mulgrew as bait in exchange for deferring most of the retro payments out six years to 2020.   Customarily, all retro payments were given in the second paycheck to members after a contract was negotiated.  However, Mr. Linn persuaded Michael Mulgrew to waive the traditional practice and stretched out the retro payments with 87.5% of these payments not given to the members until 3 to 6 years after the contract was signed.   Moreover, Mr. Linn convinced Michael Mulgrew to allow certain teachers who worked during the 2009 and 2010 school years not to get their retro payments.  They included members who resigned, were terminated, on unpaid leave, or died. This forced many teachers to retire rather then fight their 3020-a charges.  Finally, with the urging of the DOE, the ATRs were made "second class citizens" with reduced due process rights for the first two years of the contract before the UFT thankfully allowed it to sunset.

Mr Linn outmaneuvered the municipal unions when he convinced an over matched Michael Mulgrew to accept a contract that averaged 1.42%  for the seven year period, less than the cost of inflation since Mr. Linn was well aware of Michael Mulgrew's eagerness to get a contract.  Further, he also received Micheal Mulgrew's approval to reduce health care costs that has saved the City millions of dollars as the municipal workers found themselves paying significantly higher health care costs.  The majority of municipal unions howled in disapproval, especially the uniformed unions that saw a meager annual raise since they already had received the two 4% raises, the contract was vastly inferior and thanks to UFT President Michael Mulgrew it became the pattern.

To say that UFT President was over matched by Labor Commissioner Bob Linn in negotiating the City favorable 2014 contract is an understatement.  It was like a man negotiating with a boy.

The DOE Talks Integration But It's Policies Encourages Segregated High Schools.

When Michael Bloomberg became Mayor of New York City there were only 15.8% of the high schools who  screened their students.  By 2009, at the beginning of the Mayor's third term, screened schools almost doubled to 28.4%  and rose even further by the end of his third term in 2013 to 33%.  The Mayor's "school choice" program led to a further segregation of the high schools, both racially and academically, as it gave the high achieving students greater choice to pick high schools that only admitted students like them.  In fact, as Mayor Bloomberg further exacerbated the segregation by closing down almost all the large comprehensive high schools that had a somewhat diverse student racial composition and ability called "educational options".  Approximately 55% of the high schools were in this category.  By the time Mayor Bloomberg left office the schools that had an "educational option" feel dramatically to only 27%!. Regardless, the abundance of screened schools make the "ed-opt" model a failed method to attract high achieving students since the multitude of screened schools could out compete them and this was encouraged by the DOE's school choice program.

Various studies have shown what is needed to make schools diverse and attract high achieving students is. One, sharply reduce screened schools.  Two, bring back the large comprehensive high schools in the community and offer programs and staff that can attract high achieving students like Mandarin, Computer Science, and Advanced Placement courses. Three, have a stable and experienced teaching staff.  Unfortunately, Deputy Chancellor Phil Weinberg has already said that school choice will not change and that few, if any, screened schools will be eliminated.  Moreover, the DOE policy of school-based fair student funding, which is funded at only 89% of what it should be,  discourages schools from hiring experienced teachers by penalizes them in their budget.  Therefore, while the City talks desegregation, their very policies actually encourages segregation.

While the DOE talks about desegregating the high schools, just look at how the DOE allows screened schools to grab the high achieving students and are relatively diverse racially while the remaining schools are left to fight over the low performing students that are age appropriate, have good attendance, and have no behavior issues.   Oh, by the way, is it any wonder that the schools that are not screened are 86% minority with few East Asians or Whites?  The DOE may claim they are looking at desegregating the high schools but the reality is their very policies will make this virtually impossible to achieve.

My 2017 Predictions

Here are my predictions for 2017.

UFT Leadership:
Look for the UFT leadership to continue to make nice with the DOE at the expense of the members as they refuse to go after vindictive principals, allow the DOE to pursue their "gotcha agenda" on going after veteran teachers. and to continue the oppressive Danielson rubric while allowing four or more observations when most school districts are requiring only two.  Moreover, our disconnected union leadership not only does not support the "opt out" movement but falsely claims that it could cost the schools federal funding.  Finally, the UFT leadership allows the ATR situation to continue and refuses to oppose school-based  "fair student funding" that forces principals to hire the "cheapest and not the best teachers" for their schools.

Instead, look for our union leadership to campaign for increased COPE payments by claiming to fight the upcoming constitutional convention and the incoming Republican administration when the COPE money will probably be used for other issues that are not supported by the members.  Remember this?

DOE:
I  expect little change in the DOE as much of Mayor Bloomberg's managers still retain their policy-making positions at Tweed.  Until the disappointing Chancellor, Carmen Farina finally retires or is replaced, the DOE will remain the enemy of the classroom teacher.. Collaboration is discouraged and top down management is the mantra when it comes to the bloated DOE as they push their pet programs while ignoring academic fraud, support vindictive principals, and are tone deaf to parent complaints.


School Integration:
Look for this to be a total failure unless the City can bring back community high schools and integrate the neighborhoods.  Maybe in isolated elementary schools some limited integration can be achieved but at the high school level with complete choice, integration is a pipe dream.


Renewal Schools:
I predict that most of these struggling schools will continue to flounder unless the schools can attract a better educated student body (unlikely) and an experienced teaching staff (highly unlikely).  Most of the Renewal schools have "newbie" staff and are struggling to meet even the modest goals
assigned to them.

Teacher Shortage:
The teacher shortage that has hit the Bronx schools will become more prevalent and spread to the other boroughs, except for Staten Island.  Yet the DOE, for ideological reasons, will continue to keep ATRs who won their 3020-a hearings in limbo by refusing schools who would like to hire them.  The DOE will probably allow schools to hire uncertified teachers rather than do what's right for the students.

ATRs:
Few minor changes, like another failed incentive and maybe a little more flexibility for high school ATRs so that they are rotated Region wide and not Borough wide (probably wishful thinking).  Otherwise, I see little real change. Hopefully, the opposition caucuses of MORE and New Action will continue to put pressure on the UFT Leadership on the executive board to advocate for ATR since the Unity caucus does not..

Bill de Blasio:
Look for the UFT leadership to endorse Mayor Bill de Blasio by the Spring, without asking for member input. Will it lead to a new contract down the road?  Maybe, maybe not but the union leadership will endorse the Mayor anyway while ignoring the hostile classroom environment and punitive evaluations that make teaching a stressful occupation where the majority will never be vested for a  pension..


Conclusion:
While outside issues such as the Supreme Court, the new Secretary oi Education, and the new President (Donald Trump is his name UFT leadership) will affect the education landscape, the issues directly affecting New York City public schools will remain largely unchanged with large class sizes, tight school budgets, and poor quality administrators will continue,  As the members continually see their autonomy erode our disconnected union leadership will claim victory when negotiating with the City and the DOE.

Santa Claus Is Fired Yet Again By The Dysfunctional DOE.

Santa Claus, while waiting to do his real job, delivering presents to the world's children,  received an email from the Department of Education  that as a discontinued teacher, Santa Claus can now apply for the many vacancies cropping up in the Bronx where a teacher shortage has made it impossible to fill this year. Later that week a Bloomberg small high school contacted Santa Claus for a Social Studies position.  As a world traveler, Santa Claus was well founded in Geography and cultural History and eagerly accepted the position.

Santa Claus knew he had to stay clear of all the issues that got him in trouble before.  Here, Here, and Here.  That meant no "Ho, Ho, Ho's". Not saying "were you naughty or nice"?  Certainly don't let the students sit on his lap. Moreover, don't threaten to break into their homes and cause environmental damage by placing coal in their stockings.  Finally, never accept cookies and milk from the children since the DOE considers it a bribe. By now with his past run-ins with the DOE, Santa knew the DOE's policies were more like that of the Taliban's than American and any deviation of the DOE orthodoxy could result in his termination.

At first, Santa Claus was doing just fine teaching at the Bronx high school, he even received an "effective" on his first informal observation in October.  However, things rapidly deteriorated  and by Thanksgiving the school was having trouble retaining staff and teacher turnover was high due to the high needs student body and poor administrative discipline procedures.  Unfortunately, Santa Claus knew the time was fast approaching when he needed to take a leave of absence to do his real job, spreading cheer and joy to the world's children.  Santa Claus took a FLMA and promised he would be back at the beginning of the new year.  The school administration was quite unhappy and to retaliate, observed him on his last day before taking FMLA and of course , Santa received an "ineffective".

Santa just shrugged off the feeble and vindictive attempt to hurt him and did his job of giving the world's children their presents and once he finished spreading cheer and joy to the globe, Santa Claus showed up at his teaching job, as promised, on January 3rd.  However, Santa was met at the front door by a school safety officer and a school administrator who refused him entry into the school.  Instead he was handed a letter that said the following.  "Mr.  Santa Claus, you are hereby being reassigned, pending further investigation, due to your conduct unbecoming a teacher.  Please report to the reassignment center listed in the letter".

For the next two months Santa Claus sat at an empty desk at a reassignment center and did nothing until one day he was given notice to report to the Superintendent for a hearing on the DOE charges against him.  Santa was joyous, certainly, a respected educator would see what a benefit he is both in and out of the classroom.  However, Santa Claus was quite disappointed when he realized the Superintendent did not get her job because of her educational ability but was simply a political hack who didn't even have the qualifications of a tenured teacher to be a Superintendent but the Chancellor waived the educational requirement anyway.   The hearing was a farce. Santa's union appointed advocate was a retired Unity slug who barely asked any questions and seemed not to care about Santa.    The results were inevitable.  Once again Santa Claus was discontinued and his file now has a "problem code" and a "do not hire" label.  Poor Santa Claus once again finds himself terminated by the dysfunctional DOE and a Merry Christmas to all!

Cellphones In Schools Are Not Only Distracting But They Hurt Stiudent Learning.

Ask most any teacher and they will tell you the worst decision that Mayor Bill de Blasio and his disappointing Chancellor, Carmen Farina, made was allowing students to carry their cellphones into the school.   Even in the most structured classroom environment students peek at their cellphones from under the table or behind their notebook or textbook and get distracted.  Since the New York City public school classroom usually has thirty or more students, its almost impossible for teachers to eliminate cellphone use in the classroom.  Now a new study was published by the London School of Economics found that cellphone bans at schools raised student test scores by 6%.  Moreover, for under-performing students the increase was 14%!  The study was for twelve years from 2000 to 2012 and included thousands of students.

By contrast, since Mayor Bill de Blasio lifted the ten year cell phone ban, the schools have dumped the enforcement of cellphone usage on the teachers which has resulted in increased classroom management problems, distracted learning, and downright student defiance and insubordination when told to put their cellphones away by the techer. Even the teachers who have strict classroom control must still remind various students to put their cellphones away only to have them look at it during class time and take away precious instruction time while dealing with the cellphone issue.

Ask a school administrator to enforce the rule of cellphone usage and you get various responses, mostly negative, that dumps the responsibility on the teacher.  Just yesterday, an Assistant Principal walked into a classroom for an informal observation and told the teacher today that she saw two students in the back peeking at their cellphones and blamed the teacher for not being observant enough while she was teaching the lesson.  This very same Assistant Principal regularly walks right past numerous students in the hallway using their cellphones during change of periods and does nothing to stop it, despite the school policy to only use it in the cafeteria.  In other words, accountability is only dumped on the teacher while the school administration is held unaccountable for the school behavior when it comes to cellphones.

If school administrators were really serious about improving student academic achievement they should do what the Lehman campus in the Bronx did.  Have the students check their cellphones at the school entrance and any cellphone found in the classroom results in the cellphone being automatically being confiscated by a Dean or administrator and only returned after a parent shows up. Holding teachers accountable and then penalizing them when the school administration fails to support the teacher with a strict and coherent cellphone policy is the primary reason why schools fail to show the real academic achievement as demanded by people who want to see their children get a world class education and not by academic fraud as is far too prevalent in our schools..

Why Does The City Want Veteran Teachers To Leave? It's All About The Pension.

 





The teacher shortage that is widespread throughout the country has reached the Bronx, where vacancies abound as few qualified candidates actually apply, and is ominously looming for the rest of New York City, especially after 2020.  Yet from the Chancellor on down into the school administration there is a deliberate push to remove veteran, in particular senior teachers out of the New York City schools.

One would think that schools would cherish their veteran teachers since they bring with them good classroom management skills, deep curriculum knowledge,  and a stable presence to the students.  Moreover, the veteran teacher is a role model for the many "newbies" being hired and possesses that hard to replace institutional memory of how schools need to be run efficiently.  However, the City and the DOE does not see it the way educators see it.  Instead to them its all about money.  They see the veteran teacher as a liability that's highly paid and worse the potential pension the City and the DOE must pay out if the veteran teacher when he or she reaches full retirement age.

Starting this school year, approximately 70% of teachers fall under the Tier IV pension provisions.  Most of the rest are Tiers V and VI, with the majority being Tier VI since Tier V lasted only two years.  For argument sake, let's assume that the remainder of the teaching staff are under Tier VI (30%). Since the schools hire about 4,500 teachers annually, the teachers under the Tier VI plan will be a majority by 2020, when a mass exodus of Tier IV teachers are expected to occur between 2018 and 2020.

Why is that so important to the City and the DOE?  Not only will they initially save money since a teacher at top salary makes twice what a Tier VI "newbie" makes but more importantly,  the veteran teacher's Tier IV pension benefits are far superior to the Tier VI plan. How superior is the Tier IV plan for veteran teachers than for the Tier VI "newbie"?  Let me count the ways.

Tier IV Veteran.............................Tier VI "Newbie"

Employee Contribution.............Employee Contribution
3% first 10 years......................3.5% < $55,000
0% thereafter............................6% > $100,000

Final Average Salary................Final Average Salary
Top 3 consecutive yrs..............Top 5 consecutive yrs

Multiplier..................................Multiplier
1.67% first 19 yrs......................1.67% first 19 yrs
2.0%  20 yrs..............................1.75% 20 yrs.

Full Retirement Age.................Full Retirement Age
62 years of age.........................63 years of age

Special Requirements
30/55 and 25/55.........................None

Reduced Age Factor................Reduced Age Factor
55 - 0.73....................................55 - 0.48
56 - 0.76....................................56 - 0,56
57.- 0.79....................................57 - 0.61
58 - 0,82....................................58 - 0.68
59 - 0.85....................................59 - 0.74
60 - 0.88....................................60 - 0.81
61 - 0.94....................................61 - 0.87
62 - 1.00....................................62 - 0.93

 Almost as important is that under the Tier VI plan it takes 15 years to get vested for retiree health benefits and a ten year vesting period to receive a minimal pension.  Unfortunately, the majority of Tier VI teachers will never be vested, even to get a minimal retirement and fewer yet will be vested for retiree health benefits.  Finally,  by 2018 all Tier VI teachers will be paying a minimum employee contribution of 4.5%  What follows are some examples of potential maximum pension calculations using different assumptions of time served and Final Average Salary (FAS) when comparing Tier IV and Tier VI.

Example 1:  Minimum Pension, Age 62
Tier IV................................Tier VI
10 years.............................10 years
FAS = $83,000....................FAS =.$78,000
Pension = $10,119..............Pension = $6,252

Example 2: Low Pension, Age 62
Tier IV................................Tier VI
15 years.............................15 years
FAS = $90,000.............,......FAS =.$85,000
Pension = $22,545..............Pension = $19,802

 Example 3:  Average Pension, Age 62
Tier IV................................Tier VI
20 years.............................20 years
FAS = $110,000..................FAS =.$104,000
Pension = $44,000..............Pension = $33,852
'
Example 4:  Maximum Pension, Age 62
Tier IV................................Tier VI
25 years.............................25 years
FAS = $120,000..................FAS =.$112,000
Pension = $60,000..............Pension = $45,570

Example 5:  Maximum Pension, Age 62
Tier IV................................Tier VI
30 years.............................30 years
FAS = $130,000..................FAS =.$120,000
Pension = $78,000..............Pension = $58,590

Example 6:  Special Pension, Age 55
Tier IV................................Tier VI
30 years.............................30 years
FAS = $130,000..................FAS =.$120,000
Pension = $78,000..............Pension = $30,240


Example 7:  Special Pension, Age 55
Tier IV................................Tier VI
25 years.............................25 years
FAS = $120,000..............,...FAS =.$112,000
Pension = $60,000..............Pension = $23,520

Now you know why the City and DOE wants to get rid of veteran teachers.  It's all about the pension.

Trust, A Quality Our Union Leadership Fails To Display.

Trust is defined in the dictionary as "a firm belief in the reliability, truth, the ability of strength of someone".  In other words trust is earned when that person or group gains the confidence, respect, and the belief from their associates.  That brings me to our union leadership.  I have one simple question.  "Do you trust the union leadership to represent your interests"?  While the question is simple, the answer is more complicated. While our union has generally protected the rights of their members through  "due process", they are unresponsive to the many issues that affect the members the most important, a safe and secure environment.  Let's go back through history, starting with Randi Weingarten as UFT President and see how our union leadership eroded our benefits and  classroom autonomy and therefore, the trust of the members.

2005 Contract:
Probably the root of all our existing problems was the terrible 2005 "giveback" laden contract.  That resulted in the elimination of the following:

1. Seniority transfer rights
2. Bumping
3. Grieving letters to the file

 Moreover, the 2005 contract created the following:

1.  ATR pool
2. Removal from payroll for "probable cause" accusations 
3. Added time and days
4. Reimpose circular six requirements  

The 2005 contract and the UFT inaction allowed the DOE to impose the school-based "fair student funding" that made hiring veteran teachers a difficult venture for principals who found it advantages to hire "the cheapest and not the best teachers" for their school and the consequences of the 2005 contract has had repercussions till this day.

Even the so-called benign 2007 contract had "givebacks".  PIP+,was implemented which was a de facto termination program that saw over 90% of the teachers in the program either being terminated or forced to resign or retire.  Furthermore, the categories of  "probable cause" was expanded, meaning more educators being suspended without pay or health benefits even before their 3020-a hearing! An erosion of our "due process" rights.

Randi's Going Away Party:
In the summer of 2009 Randi Weingarten was leaving for the AFT Presidency but her parting gift to the members was to browbeat the Delegate Assembly to approve a reduction of our TDA interest from 8.25% to 7% so that the members could get back the two days before labor day, something she should have never given up in the first place in the 2005 contract.  Further, the vesting period for health benefits was increased to 15 years as well for employees hired after that date. Had the entire membership voted, as they should have had, the members would have probably rejected Randi's proposal.

Bloomberg outsmarts Mulgrew:
Despite the State requirement that approval of a teacher evaluation requires a new contract.  Mayor Michael Bloomberg outmaneuvered UFT President Michael Mukgrew and got his teacher evaluation without negotiating a new contract.  Rather than taking court action and probably winning, our disconnected union leadership claimed victory instead.  The union claimed victory because they got the State to approve all 22 components of Danielson and the use of artifacts instead of the DOE's insisted seven components and no artifacts.  Of course three years later our very same union leadership claimed victory again when the Danielson rubric was reduced to eight components and no artifacts.  While our union leadership keeps claiming victory their members keep losing.

Michael Mandel's Blunders.
Because of fair student funding and the rise of the "leadership academy principal" the ATR pool remained stable at between 1,300 to 2,000 ATRs, almost all veteran teachers. Enter UFT Vice President, Michael Mandel and chief propagandist Leo Casey, the two unaccountable UFT representatives on the secretive ATR committee.  Both UFT representatives deliberately failed to discuss the issues with ATRs and made decisions based on their own political considerations and not what's best for the ATRs they were supposed to represent.  Michael Mandel, without talking to the ATRs he was supposed to advocate for, proposed to the DOE the infamous rotation system because he believed principals were getting ATRs to fill vacancies for free.   Had Mr. Mandel asked the ATRs, they would have been told him that most of them liked being in one school for the year and felt part of the school community and yes, some were picked up permanently the next year because they were able to show the Principal how good a teacher they are.  Instead, Mr. Mandel proposed a weekly rotation and the DOE jumped at the chance since it helped demonize the ATRs as unwanted teachers. Finally, both UFT representatives failed to stop the field supervisor pilot program when it was proposed in Brooklyn and now we have field supervisors for all rotating ATRs.  Finally, it was those two unaccountable UFT leaders who agreed to the DOE proposal to make all high school ATRs Borough wide rather than by the community district.

2014 Contract:
The first contract negotiated by President Michael Mulgrew made winners and losers of different UFT members.  Winners were retirees, "newbie teachers" who received an extra bump in their salary, and ATRs near retirement who took a buyout. Losers were UFT members who resigned, were terminated, and died before the end of the contract.  Moreover, ATRs were made "second class citizens" and the 25% who won their 3020-a termination hearings became "untouchables".  While most of the ATR provisions have sunset this school year, the DOE still maintains two ATR lists and only recommends principals hire from the list of ATRs from closing schools or excessed programs and not those who won their 3020-a termination hearings.  Finally, the fear of losing $50,000+ of deferred lump sum payments are causing some teachers under 3020-a charges to retire rather than risking the chance of being terminated in their 3020-a hearing.

Michael Mulgrew's Shortcomings:
Michael Mulgrew has linked hands with the racial arsonist, anti-Semite, and tax dodger Al Sharpton against fellow union members, the police, while failing to support UFT members against vindictive and incompetent principals by claiming the CSA are fellow union members.  What a hypocrite! Furthermore, Michael Mulgrew has shown to be a poor negotiator by splitting the UFT membership between winners and losers and failing to change the hostile classroom environment despite his claim that their is a new tone at the DOE.  I guess we are all tone deaf.  Lately Mr. Mulgrew an opponent of the "opt out" movement has threatened the members who support the movement that it could result in NYS losing federal funds, which he knows is untrue.  Moreover, who can forget how as a supporter of Common Core, threatened to punch opponents in the face, of course Mr. Mulgrew is not subject to those inappropriate standards. Finally, Michael Mulgrew has shown to be arrogant, disconnected to the membership, and pits his personal views ahead of member needs. Let's not forget that one of Michael Mulgrew's first acts was his failure to call Mayor Bloomberg's bluff on layoffs and actually gave up our sabbaticals for the next yeart and allowed the ATRs to be rotated, despite the Mayor losing the "last in, first out" fight.

Trust must be earned and not awarded simply because 75% of the membership didn't decide to vote does not automatically bestow trust, just the opposite.  Its good deeds,open and transparent discussions, confidence in the ability to lead, and fairly represent all the members that earns that trust Unfortunately, our UFT leadership has fallen far short of earning that trust from the membership by their very actions of secrecy and unaccountability..

To Education Reformers, You Can't Measure Quality With A Ruler

The education reformer obsession of trying to evaluate teachers based upon student test scores has proven to be a failure, time and again.  Starting with Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, and Eli Broad,  and joined in by the mass media the education reformer holy grail was to link teacher ability with high-stakes testing.  However, the American Statistical Association found that a teacher only accounted for between 1% and 14% of a student's growth score. In fact, in the Sherri Lederman case the judge found the New York State high-stakes test to be "junk Science"!  Combine that with the rushed and faulty roll out of the age inappropriate Common Core standards and it sparked a parent uprising with 22% of the State's students "opting  out" of the test.

The only reason most states have a linking of a teacher's evaluation to a test is because of the 4 billion dollar bribe the Obama Administration dangled at states who were in a recession.  It was called "Race to the top".
To receive the money, New York State received 700 million dollars, the States had to have some sought of linkage between a student's test grade and a teacher's evaluation.  Therefore, to try to meet the federal  requirement and to make the teacher evaluation quantifiable, the State came up with a complicated mathematical equation called "Value Added Method" or VAM for short.  As in most states it was "garbage in, garbage out" and most educators referred to the VAM as "junk Science".  This was clearly exposed in the Lederman lawsuit. Despite the fact that the maximum a teacher's influence on a child's growth was 14%, New York State arbitrarily made it 40% and then raised it to 50% this year when Governor Andrew Cuomo was upset over the lack of "ineffective" teachers under the old rubric.

A severe backlash resulted by educators and with dropping ratings and under pressure from disgruntled parents, Governor Cuomo changed course 180 degrees and there is now a four year moratorium for grades 3 to 8 but not for high schools where Regents scores can still be used to determine a teacher's evaluation, at least until the first teacher gets an "ineffective".  Since  the inappropriate use of test scores in the Lederman case as precedent, I expect all those test-based "ineffective ratings" would be thrown out.   Because as everybody knows you can't measure quality with a ruler or a test score for that matter.

Is The Union Negotiating Away Our CAR Days?

There appears to be a Facebook rumor that our union leadership is in "secret negotiations" with the Bill de Blasio administration on obtaining paid FLMA for members on maternity leave and possibly family related issues. While these rumors are probably true, I can't believe our union would hold our Cumulative Absence Reserve (CAR) hostage and use it as a negotiating tool for a paid FMLA?  The CAR rules for UFT members is a hard-won perk that affects all teachers, guidance counselors, social workers, and paraprofessionals. Any diminishing of the CAR benefit would probably result in the union leadership being voted out of office and they know it.

According to the Facebook rumor, the City's opening proposal was ridiculous.   The City wants to reduce the annual CAR from 10 to 5 days.  Moreover, all previously accumulated CAR days would be eliminated with the only minor improvement has the City offering the UFT member payment for any of the 5 CAR days remaining at the end of the school year.  Obviously, this is the opening gambit by the City and reminds me of Chancellor Joel Klein's ludicrous 8 page contract that stalemated negotiations and only after it was finally removed as a negotiating item did contract negotiations proceed.

It appears the City has targeted the UFT first for the paid FMLA incentive since its the largest union in the City, has shown a willingness to negotiate a deal, and because it's one of the only unions that can accumulate sick leave and convert it to money or extra time, a potential cost savings for the City.  However, the City is not in a position of strength to dictate terms since there are forces mitigating against them and our union leadership should know that.

First, New York State just approved a paid FMLA program this year and there is little reason for the union to negotiate any "givebacks"  to the City.  While the State's paid FMLA will take years to be fully implemented then why just wait the City out rather than allow for unpopular and unnecessary "givebacks"?

Second, Our contract is not over until June of 2019, by then the City will be forced to negotiate with most of the other municipal unions for a comprehensive paid FLMA program.  Therefore, there is no reason to be anxious to be number one in line and be required to provide "givebacks".

Third, Mayor de Blasio is up for reelection in 2017 and needs the union's support.  Why would our union leadership be willing to give up member perks? Shouldn't it be the other way around?  Like eliminating school based fair student funding, eliminating the ATR pool by requiring schools to fill their vacancies with existing members, and bring back seniority transfer and bumping rights?

Finally, Why aren't we flexing our collective muscles by demanding lower class sizes, more school resources, being treated with respect, and eliminate all Bloomberg policy programs that hurt the students and the schools?

The bottom line is our union should be negotiating from a position of strength,  instead of the City asking for "givebacks" from our CAR.  Therefore, we should be requiring from the City better working conditions and a peaceful classroom in exchange for the paid FMLA program that we will get anyway.

The Legacy Of Michael Bloomberg Continues, Thanks To Chancellor Carmen Farina.

 





Before Michael Bloomberg became Mayor of New York City, the teaching profession was treated with respect, even if the previous Mayors weren't especially thrilled with the UFT's demands at the negotiating table.  Principals were long-term teachers who gradually found themselves as administrators and, for the most, part collaborated with the school staff.  The Chancellor was an educator and worked with the schools to ensure they had a solid core of veteran teachers while the DOE funded the school staff based upon units and not salary to ensure the principals could hire the experienced teachers, who mastered classroom management and had deep curriculum knowledge.  This allowed the school to keep a stable teaching staff and teacher turnover remained low.  Struggling schools in deep poverty communities were kept open and provided with additional services to help the schools, with mixed success and their was no ATR pool as excessed teachers were given a list of vacancies in their district to select before principals could hire outside the district to fill their vacancies.

Fast forward to the Bloomberg years and everything changed for the worst for teachers.  First, school funding was changed from units to salary and was dumped upon the school budget.  The result was that principals, were encouraged to hire the "cheapest and not the best teachers" for their schools. Moreover, under Michael Bloomberg, 162 schools were closed and few veteran teachers were hired from the closing school as the "fair student funding" (fsf) penalized principals financially from hiring them.  The result was a pool of excessed veteran teachers called the ATR pool that ranged from 1,000 to 2,000 yearly.  To make matters even worse, the fsf for each school was not fully funded and in 2010-11 school year was only 82% of full funding. The exceptions were the Bloomberg small schools who received 100% and some as much as 150% of their fsf. What other negative changes did Michael Bloomberg impose on teachers during his tenure?  Here's a list"

1. Eliminate most on-street parking placards.
2. Close almost all high school teacher cafeterias.
3. Reduced our TDA interest from 8'25% to 7%.
4. No longer able to grieve a letter to the file.
5. Ever increasing class sizes in his third term.
6. Closing schools and excessing teachers - ATR pool.
7. Redirect taxpayer money to charter schools and under resourcing public schools.
8. Attacking teacher morale and autonomy.
9. The leadership academy for principals
10.  Short-changing Science programs (5-1 to 4-1).

I'm sure there are others but you get the idea.

There was great hope that with a new Mayor would come a new DOE, except the Mayor hired a Bloomberg era Deputy Chancellor, Carmen Farina as Chancellor of the NYC public schools.  She kept 80% of the Bloomberg era policymakers and not surprisingly, kept the Bloomberg education programs as well.  The only changes Chancellor Carmen Farina has made was to eliminate the useless and money suching "Children First Networks" and stopped closing struggling schools.  However, she has retained most of the Bloomberg era policies like fsf and the ATR pool, just to name two.

If we are to see real improvement in the schools then we need to get rid of the destructive Bloomberg policies and the Chancellor along with it.

Be Warned, Avoid This School At All Costs. - William Cullen Bryant High School

One of the worst schools for teachers to find themselves in is William Cullen Bryant High School in Queens.  This school has one of the lowest Principal trust factors by teachers in the city at 28%.  Furthermore, this school has seen all but one Assistant Principal leave the school since 2013 and I have been told of the 176 teachers on staff when the current Principal, Namita Dwarka came in, only 37 are left or 21% have survived her oppressive four year leadership.  This unusually high teacher turnover is more reminiscent of a small deep poverty school or a charter school than a large comprehensive high school. The school has suffered from low morale and both student and teacher walkouts as well as protests, yet the DOE ignores the administrative caused problems at the school.

The current Principal Ms. Dwarka, has seen her school's "college and career readiness" rates keep dropping during her tenure to a low point of 34% in the latest school snapshot, despite a student body.that draws from the middle to working class communities of Astoria and Long Island City and has a diverse student population.  Interestingly, a Principal favored  Assistant Principal who was accused of a sexual relationship with a student and was removed by the DOE has somehow reappeared at her old position back at the school this school year.  Was she cleared and found innocent of the accusation or was it substantiated but covered up?  The issue should be clarified on why she got her job back.

Back to Principal Dwarka.  She has found herself under various investigations for grade fixing, financial fraud, and retaliation.  Moreover, Ms. Dwarka has been accused of academic fraud and she is instrumental in pushing teachers out of her school even if it means filing 3020-a charges against these teachers for otherwise frivolous actions. Rather than go over each accusation against Ms. Dwarka you can read my previous posts on her Here.  Better yet, the show Crime Watch had  a major piece on Principal Namita Dwara and you can watch the entire show Here. Then there were front page headlines of a student who never attended her class but was passed and graduated anyway.

The bottom line is that any teacher who want to work in the school should have their head examined.  There is no parking, an abusive and untrustworthy school administration, and accusations of academic fraud that has resulted in high teacher turnover and an unstable school climate.  Stay away from William Cullen Bryant High School.

More Terrible Principal Selections For Two Great High Schools.

I must say that I am perplexed how Chancellor Carmen Farina selects Superintendents?  Be in Juan Mendez, Amiee Horowitz, and many others.  These Superintendents continue to hire principals that have questionable credentials and is it any wonder that students and staff are suspicious of the DOE's commitment to put children first?  Since I am only familiar with Queens High Schools, I will discuss two of them who have seen a change in leadership.

The first school is Townsend Harris, one of the top high schools in the city.  This year they were given a new Principal, her name is Rosemarie Jahoda, a refugee from the Bronx.  Want to know about her you ask?  Well here goes.  Rosemarie Jahoda was the Assistant Principal of Math at Bronx High School of Science and was a villain, according to the Math department teachers.  20 of the 22 Math teachers in the department signed a complaint of harassment in 2009,  Teachers accused Ms. Jahoda of verbal abuse by being admonished in front of their students and threatening their jobs.  You can read the article Here.  Moreover, you can read a first hand account of Ms. Jahoda's handiwork by ex-chapter leader Peter Lamphere, who won two "U" rating reversals by her.  His account is Here.

Now it seems that Ms. Jahuda has made enemies of the students and staff at Townsend Harris as she has told the teaching staff not to drink coffee or water in class and discourage the students as well.  Furthermore, she has demanded that the teachers assign more homework to the student's already heavy workload.  Finally, she threatened to cancel the senior trip if she doesn't get her way.  Today the students struck back by walking out of class and organized a "sit in" in the hallways.  The Deputy Superintendent showed up and pleaded in vain for the students to return to class. You can read the article about it Here.

Ms.Jahoda is trying to change the humanities  culture of the school by imposing a specialized test for admittance to the school and changing the school's mission to that of a STEM school.  Townsend Harris is an elite high achieving school in the city and is a school that has a reputation to graduate well-rounded Ivy League caliber students.  What idiot would change that successful approach ?  It appears Ms. Jahoda does.  A petition to not appoint Ms. Jahoda as permanent Principal has over 3,000 signatures consisting of students, staff, and alumni and is being sent to the DOE. let's hope they listen.

At Forest Hills High School Anthony Cromer took over as Principal on December 1st.  Who is Anthony Cromer?  He was the Principal at August Martin High School until he was pushed out in April of 2012 as he oversaw the continued academic decline of the school, as he hired and relied on uncertifed teachers to teach Regents caliber courses with disastrous results.  Mr, Cromer's claim to fame in my book, was when he forced the Living Environment teacher to teach Earth Science and the Earth Science teacher to teach Living Environment and then "U" rated them both for poor student performance.  "U" ratings under Principal Cromer  was not an isolated action, it happened far too frequently at August Martin.  Now he is Principal of Forest Hills High School and that is unfortunate for the students and staff of this great school.

Great schools need great leaders and not these two flawed educators who have harassed and "U" rated staff far too frequently if you ask me.

Beware Of The ATR Field Supervisiors Baring Gifts - A Plan Of Assistance.

By this time of the school year most rotating ATRs have met and have been observed by their field supervisors.  For the unfortunate many, who either have had a "U" rating the previous year or was given a poor observation report this school year, the field supervisors bring with them a gift called the " plan of assistance".  This plan of assistance is really not much of a plan to help the ATR's pedagogy but is used to go after some weaker ATRs with a second consecutive "U" rating and the ability to fire them with 3020-a termination charges due to incompetence.

The DOE claims the right to file 3020-a termination charges against any educator who has had two consecutive negative ratings.  The UFT claims that any ATR that gets two consecutive "U" ratings for incompetence, based solely on the filled supervisor's observation will not be subject to 3020-a charges.  However, I wouldn't trust the DOE to continue to follow that approach and it would not surprise me one bit that they start serving ATRs with 3020-a charges for incompetence, starting this school year since they have failed to significantly "trim the ATR herd".

It is unfair that the DOE is using field supervisors to evaluate rotating ATRs since the ATRs have little or no knowledge of the student's academic capabilities and have no ownership of their grade.  The union leadership should demand an end to the field supervisors not ignore the unfairness of the observation process and start listening to the most vulnerable of their members the ATRs.

Note:  I must say I was disappointed that at the UFT's Executive Board on Monday, MORE and New Action did not bring up the ATR incentive and whether the DOE is telling principals not to permanently hire ATRs who won their 3020-a termination hearings.   I would think that our opposition caucuses, whom have previously advocated for the ATRs, would thoroughly question the union leadership on what they are doing about it since its becoming increasingly clear that DOE Central is interfering with principals who want to hire an ATR with the incentive.  While I do not expect "Unity"  to advocate for the ATRs, I do expect MORE and New Action to represent our interests and in Monday's session they did not.  Maybe they will bring it up in January.