A NYC Teacher's Experience

 

 

 

 

 

 I was sent the article and after reading it, I felt it was necessary to reprint it in its entirety on my blog.  Obviously, many of you can relate to her experiences.  

The article describes why teaching in NYC urban schools can be a horror.  Student disrespect for education and their teachers, dysfunctional families and communities, negative peer pressure, lax student discipline policies, lack of resources, uncaring and incompetent administrators, and failure of our union to combat the antagonistic culture at the DOE.  Moreover,  the union failed to protect the teachers from DOE aggression and their biased investigations. 

 Its not bad teachers that causes poor student academic achievement as the media and the politicians would claim but its the many obstacles put up by the DOE and dysfunctional families that discourages good teaching and make the majority of teachers flee the system and the profession before being vested for a pension.

 Public Education’s Dirty Secret

written by Mary Hudson

Bad teaching is a common explanation given for the disastrously inadequate public education received by America’s most vulnerable populations. This is a myth. Aside from a few lemons who were notable for their rarity, the majority of teachers I worked with for nine years in New York City’s public school system were dedicated, talented professionals. Before joining the system I was mystified by the schools’ abysmal results. I too assumed there must be something wrong with the teaching. This could not have been farther from the truth.

Teaching French and Italian in NYC high schools I finally figured out why this was, although it took some time, because the real reason was so antithetical to the prevailing mindset. I worked at three very different high schools over the years, spanning a fairly representative sample. That was a while ago now, but the system has not improved since, as the fundamental problem has not been acknowledged, let alone addressed. It would not be hard, or expensive, to fix.

Washington Irving High School, 2001–2004

My NYC teaching career began a few days before September 11, 2001 at Washington Irving High School. It was a short honeymoon period;  the classes watched skeptically as I introduced them to a method of teaching French using virtually no English. Although the students weren’t particularly engaged, they remained respectful. During first period on that awful day there was a horrendous split-second noise. A plane flew right overhead a mere moment before it blasted into the north tower of the World Trade Center. At break time word was spreading among the staff.  Both towers were hit and one had already come down. When I went to my next class I told the students what had happened. There was an eruption of rejoicing at the news. Many students clapped and whooped their approval, some getting out of their seats to do a sort of victory dance. It was an eye-opener, and indicative of what was to come.

The next three years were a nightmare. The school always teetered on the verge of chaos. The previous principal had just been dismissed and shunted to another school district. Although it was never stated, all that was expected of teachers was to keep students in their seats and the volume down. This was an enormous school on five floors, with students cordoned off into separate programs. There was even a short-lived International Baccalaureate Program, but it quickly failed. Whatever the program, however, the atmosphere of the school was one of danger and deceit. Guards patrolled the hallways, sometimes the police had to intervene. Even though the security guards carefully screened the students at the metal detectors posted at every entrance, occasionally arms crept in. Girls sometimes managed to get razors in, the weapon of choice against rivals for boys’ attention. Although I don’t know of other arms found in the school (teachers were kept in the dark as much as possible), one particularly disruptive and dangerous boy was stabbed one afternoon right outside school. It appears he came to a violent death a few years later. What a tragic waste of human potential.

As the weeks dragged painfully into months, it became apparent that the students wouldn’t learn anything. It was dumbfounding. It was all I could do to keep them quiet; that is, seated and talking among themselves. Sometimes I had to stop girls from grooming themselves or each other. A few brave souls tried to keep up with instruction. A particularly good history teacher once told me that she interrupted a conversation between two girls, asking them to pay attention to the lesson. One of them looked up at her scornfully and sneered, “I don’t talk to teachers,” turning her back to resume their chat. She told me that the best school she ever worked at was in Texas, where her principal managed not only to suspend the most disruptive students for long periods, he also made sure they were not admitted during that time to any other school in the district. It worked; they got good results. 

This was unthinkable in New York, where “in-house suspension” was the only punitive measure. It would be “discriminatory” to keep the students at home. The appropriate paperwork being filed, the most outrageously disruptive students went for a day or two to a room with other serious offenders. The anti-discrimination laws under which we worked took all power away from the teachers and put it in the hands of the students.

Throughout Washington Irving there was an ethos of hostile resistance. Those who wanted to learn were prevented from doing so. Anyone who “cooperated with the system” was bullied. No homework was done. Students said they couldn’t do it because if textbooks were found in their backpacks, the offending students would be beaten up. This did not appear to be an idle threat. Too many students told their teachers the same thing. There were certainly precious few books being brought home. 

I tried everything imaginable to overcome student resistance. Nothing worked. At one point I rearranged the seating to enable the students who wanted to engage to come to the front of the classroom. The principal was informed and I was reprimanded. This was “discriminatory.” The students went back to their chosen seats near their friends. Aside from imposing order, the only thing I succeeded at was getting the students to stand silently during the Pledge of Allegiance and mumble a few songs in French. But it was a constant struggle as I tried to balance going through the motions of teaching with keeping them quiet. 

The abuse from students never let up. We were trained to absorb it. By the time I left, however, I had a large folder full of the complaint forms I’d filled out documenting the most egregious insults and harassment. There was a long process to go through each time. The student had a parent or other representative to state their case at the eventual hearing and I had my union rep. I lost every case.

Actually, the girls were meaner than the boys. The latter did not engage at all. They simply ignored me. Except for the delinquents among them, the boys didn’t make trouble. The girls on the other hand could be malicious. One girl even called me a “fucking white bitch.” It was confidence-destroying and extremely stressful. I was often reported to the principal for one transgression or another, like taking a sheet of paper from a student. Once I was even reprimanded for calmly taking my own cellphone from a girl who’d held on to it for half an hour, refusing all my requests to hand it back. The administration was consistently on the side of the student. The teacher was the fall guy, every time.

The abuse ranged from insults to outright violence, although I myself was never physically attacked. Stories abounded, however, of hard substances like bottles of water being thrown at us, teachers getting smacked on the head from behind, pushed in stairwells, and having doors slammed in our faces. The language students used was consistently obscene. By far the most commonly heard word throughout the school, literally hundreds of times a day, like a weapon fired indiscriminately, was “nigga.” The most amazing story from those painful years was the time I said it myself.

Sometimes you just have had enough. One day a girl sitting towards the back of the classroom shouted at some boy up front, “Yo! Nigga! Stop that!” I stood up as tall as I could and said in my most supercilious voice, “I don’t know which particular nigga the young lady is referring to, but whoever it is, would you please stop it.” The kids couldn’t believe their ears: 

“Yo, miss!  You can’t say that!”“Why not? You say it all the time.”“Uhh…  Because you’re old.”“That’s not why. Come on, tell the truth.” 

This went on for a bit, until one brave lad piped up: “Because you’re white.” “Okay,” I said, “because I’m white. Well what if I said to you, ‘You’re not allowed to say some word because you’re black.’ Would that be okay?” They admitted that it wouldn’t. No one seemed to report it. To this day, it’s puzzling that I didn’t lose my job over that incident. I put it down to basic human decency.

Of course my teaching method had to be largely scrapped. The kids didn’t listen to me in either French or English. But they had a certain begrudging respect for me, I think because I told them the truth. I’d plead with them, “Look, kids, you’re destroying yourselves. Yes, the system stinks, but it’s the only show in town. Please, please don’t do this to yourselves. Education is your only way out.” But it was useless. I didn’t possess whatever magic some teachers have that explains their success, however limited. 

Aside from the history teacher from Texas, other Washington Irving educators stood out as extraordinary, and this in an unimaginably bad learning environment. One was a cheerful Lebanese math teacher who had been felled as a child by polio. He called himself “the million dollar man” because of his handicapped parking permit, quite a handy advantage in Manhattan. Although he could only walk on crutches, he kept those kids in line! His secret? A lovely way about him and complete but polite disdain for his students. Where he came from, students were not allowed to act that way. Another was a German teacher, the wife of a Lutheran minister. Her imposing presence—she fit the valkyrie stereotype—kept those mouths closed. You could hear a pin drop in her unusually tidy classroom, and she managed to teach some German to the few hardy souls who wanted to learn it. 

The most impressive of all was a handsome black American from Minnesota. He towered over us all, both physically and what the French call morally. He exuded an aura that inspired something like awe in his colleagues and students. I think he taught social studies. He was the only teacher who got away with blacking out his classroom door window, which added to his mystique. He engaged his students by concentrating their efforts on putting together a fashion show at the end of each school year. They designed and produced the outfits they strutted proudly on the makeshift catwalk, looking as elegant and confident as any supermodel. To tumultuous applause. They deserved it.

Although the school was always on the verge of hysteria and violence, it had all the trappings of the typical American high school. There were class trips and talent shows, rings and year books—even caps and gowns and graduation. High school diplomas were among the trappings, handed out to countless 12th graders with, from my observation, a 7th grade education. The elementary schools had a better record. But everyone knew that once the kids hit puberty, it became virtually impossible under the laws in force to teach those who were steeped in ghetto and gangster culture, and those—the majority—who were bullied into succumbing to it.

Students came to school for their social life. The system had to be resisted. It was never made explicit that it was a “white” system that was being rejected, but it was implicit in oft-made remarks. Youngsters would say things like, “You can’t say that word, that be a WHITE word!” It did no good to remind students that some of the finest oratory in America came from black leaders like Martin Luther King and some of the best writing from authors like James Baldwin. I would tell them that there was nothing wrong with speaking one’s own dialect; dialects in whatever language tend to be colorful and expressive, but it was important to learn standard English as well. It opens minds and doors. Every new word learned adds to one’s wealth, and there’s nothing like grammar for organizing one’s thoughts. 

It all fell on deaf ears. It was impossible to dispel the students’ delusions. Astonishingly, they believed that they would do just fine and have great futures once they got to college! They didn’t seem to know that they had very little chance of getting into anything but a community college, if that. Sadly, the kids were convinced of one thing: As one girl put it, “I don’t need an 85 average to get into Hunter; I’m black, I can get in with a 75.” They were actually encouraged to be intellectually lazy.

The most Dantesque scene I witnessed at Washington Irving was a “talent show” staged one spring afternoon. The darkened auditorium was packed with excited students, jittery guidance counselors, teachers, and guards. Music blasted from the loudspeakers, ear-splitting noise heightened the frenzy. To my surprise and horror, the only talent on display was merely what comes naturally. Each act was a show of increasingly explicit dry humping. As each group of performers vied with the previous act to be more outrageous, chaos was breaking out in the screaming audience. Some bright person in charge finally turned off the sound, shut down the stage lights, and lit up the auditorium, causing great consternation among the kids, but it quelled the growing mass hysteria. The students came to their senses. The guards (and NYC policemen if memory serves) managed to usher them out to safety.

Once, on two consecutive days, enormous Snapple dispensers on a mezzanine were pushed to the floor below. Vending machines had to be removed for the students’ safety. On another occasion, two chairs were chucked out of the building, injuring a woman below. Bad press and silly excuses ensued. Another time, word spread that a gang of girls was going to beat up a Mexican girl. There was a huge crush of students who preferred to skip the next class to go see the brawl. The hallway was packed, there was pushing and shoving, causing a stampede. I was caught in it and fell to the ground; kids stepped over me elbowing each other in the crush of bodies. Eventually, a student helped me to my feet. Badly shaken, I was taken to the nurse’s office. My blood pressure was dangerously high; I was encouraged to see a doctor, but declined. My husband came and brought me home.

Shortly thereafter, the teachers union (United Federation of Teachers, or UFT) fought the Department of Education, which had recently loosened the already lax disciplinary rulings. They organized a press conference and asked me to speak at it about the worsening security situation. The principal refused me permission to leave even though my supportive assistant principal found a fellow language teacher to take over my classes. As soon as school was out, though, a union rep implored me to rush downtown with him as the press conference was still going on. Questioned by reporters in front of the cameras, I spoke about the stampede. There was a brief segment on the local evening news.  The principal was furious, and the next morning screamed at me in the lobby that I was a publicity seeker who just wanted to give the school a bad name. However, the UFT was successful in this case, as the former, less inadequate disciplinary measures were restored, and things went back to their usual level of simmering chaos.

Although it was clear that my generally robust mental state was deteriorating, I did not want to quit. The UFT encouraged me to go into counseling; I didn’t see the point but acquiesced and agreed to see one of their social workers for therapy. Her stance seemed to be, “What is a nice girl like you doing in a place like that?” I started to write about the situation to people in authority. The UFT president Randi Weingarten and the DoE head Joel Klein were among the recipients of my letters detailing the problems we faced. I visited my local city councilman, who listened politely. I did not receive a single response.

Soon thereafter, my beloved husband died after a brief illness. The students knew, so were somewhat subdued when I returned to work. But one afternoon a girl, I forget why, muttered “you fucking bitch.” I finally broke. I screamed at the whole class and insisted that they all get out of the classroom. Furiously. Any physical contact was strictly forbidden between staff and students, so my voice alone did the job. It was also strictly forbidden to send one student out of the classroom, never mind the whole class. The good-hearted teacher next door came to my aid. The administration took pity on me and did not press charges.

In the meantime, the UFT somehow found the “nice girl” a job at Brooklyn Technical High School. There was one going for a French and Italian teacher, as there were not enough classes for another full-time French teacher.

Brooklyn Tech, 2004–2009

Brooklyn Tech was considered one of New York’s “top three” high schools. Students had to test in. My first principal was a big, jolly black man, but he got caught on a minor offense and was sent packing. His misdeed was bringing his daughter to school in New York from their home in New Jersey, which, although against the rules, was hardly unheard of. There was a $20 million restructuring fund in the offing for his replacement. The new principal ended the unruly after-school program that purportedly prepared underprivileged children for the entrance exam. Disruptive behavior subsequently dropped considerably.

The new principal ‘s word was law. Under the last-in-first-out system, my job was never secure. Most students were the children of recently arrived immigrants from Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. A minority were from older Irish and Jewish immigrant families. The many obvious cultural differences were fascinating.

Our assistant principal was an amusing old cynic who loved a hassle-free life. Under him, teaching was a pleasure. It was hard work, as classes were large and students handed in assignments to be graded, but it was rewarding. On Friday afternoons he would announce, “Okay, girls and boys, it’s time to go to the bank,” our signal that we could leave with impunity before the legally stipulated hour. However, some teachers always stayed behind for hours on end to avoid bringing work home.

Despite the disruptive students at first, the classes were manageable. What the youngsters lacked in academic rigor, they made up for in verve. However, as the years passed, micro-management became more burdensome. Supervision became stricter, with multiple class visits and more meetings. Some “experts” up the DoE ladder decided that we had to produce written evidence that our lesson plans conformed to a rigid formula. The new directives did not take into account that foreign-language teaching requires instilling four different skill sets (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and therefore a different, more flexible methodological approach. Unfortunately, our easy-going assistant principal had his fill of the worsening bureaucratic overload and retired. Instead of an eccentric opera buff with a sense of humor, an obedient apparatchik would enforce the new rules. 

In the spring of my 5th year there, he informed me that I had been chosen to replace the Advanced Placement French teacher, as her results were poor. I did the AP training course and prepared for the new challenge that would begin in September. The day before school began, however, he phoned to say that my job was terminated. “There wasn’t enough interest in French” to justify my position, apparently. This was despite vociferous protests from students and parents. I would like to know if, as a member of the UFT’s advisory council, I had asked the principal too many questions. He was so kind as to find me a place at a “boutique” school way down in Brooklyn’s Flatlands. 

Victory Collegiate High School, 2009–2010

Victory Collegiate High School seemed promising. It could boast of Bill Gates money, and was one of only two or three new experimental schools co-located in what was once the venerable South Shore High School. It served the local, partly middle-class, partly ghettoized black community. The principal informed me proudly that the students wore uniforms, and no cellphones were allowed. The classes were tiny in comparison to other high schools, and there were no disciplinary problems.

Despite the devastating blow to my career, I set out hopefully on the long commute to Canarsie. The metal detectors should have clued me in. Any pretense of imposing uniforms was eventually abandoned. Cellphones were a constant nuisance. Administrators turned a blind eye to the widespread anti-social behavior.

It would be repetitive to go over the plentiful examples of the abuse teachers suffered at the hands of the students. Suffice it to say, it was Washington Irving all over again, but in miniature. The principal talked a good game, believing that giving “shout-outs” and being a pal to the students were accomplishing great things, but he actually had precious little control over them. What made matters worse, the teaching corps was a young, idealistic group, largely recruited from the non-profit Teach For America, not the leathery veterans who constituted a majority at the two previous schools. I was a weird anomaly to these youngsters. What? I didn’t feel pity for these poor children? I didn’t take it for granted that they would abuse us? The new teachers were fervent believers in the prevailing ideology that the students’ bad behavior was to be expected, and that we should educate them without question according to the hip attitudes reflected in the total absence of good literature or grammar, and a sense of history that emphasized grievance. 

One example of the “literature” we were expected to teach was as racist as it was obscene. The main character was an obese, pregnant 14 year-old dropout. The argot in which it was written was probably not all that familiar to many of the students. Appalled, I asked an English teacher why the students had to read this rubbish. She was shocked at the question: we have to teach “literature the kids can relate to.” Why on earth did the school system believe that such a depraved environment as depicted in this book was representative of the very mixed group of families that inhabited the area, many of whom were led by middle-class professionals from the Caribbean? The “language arts” department (the word “English” was too Euro-centric) made one obligatory bow to Shakespeare—a version of “Romeo and Juliet” reduced to a few hundred words. It was common knowledge that the Bard was “overrated.” 

My small classes faced a large photograph of Barack Obama displayed proudly in front of the classroom over the title “Notre Président.” The picture resonated as little with the students as the Pledge of Allegiance. Like at Washington Irving, all I managed to do was to get them to stand for it and sing some songs. I did have the rueful satisfaction towards the end of the year, however, of being told after the class trip, “Mary, you won’t believe it! The kids sang French songs all the way to Washington!”

In the classroom, the children did as they pleased. Since the classes were smaller, some students managed to learn a bit of French, but most obdurately ignored me. One memorable 16 year-old fresh from Chicago loved French but was contemptuous of me. She was tall and slender, quite beautiful, and in love, it seemed, with another girl in the class, who was not blessed with similar beauty. Throughout the year they were an item. I finally managed to separate them, insisting that they change seats when it became increasingly difficult to stop them from necking in the classroom. That was when, despite her love of French, the Chicago girl left my class never to return, except once, when we were watching a movie. She came in, sat down and watched with us, breezing out again at the film’s end. This was not unusual behavior. Some students had the run of the hallways, wandering around as they pleased.

As before, students engaged fully in the ancillary aspects of high school life. As before, I tried to encourage them to engage in the learning process. On one memorable occasion, I said to them: “You are not here to play, you are here to develop your intellect.” The puzzled stares this remark elicited spoke volumes. It seemed an utterly new concept to them.

The school had an exceptionally good math teacher, among other excellent ones. In November, students sat for the preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test that all juniors were required to do in preparation for the real thing in the spring. I had to proctor the first half. As instructed, I walked up and down the aisles keeping an eye on things. It all went smoothly. When the language section was over and the math part began, however, students stopped working. They sat there staring at the desk. I quietly encouraged them to make an effort, but the general response was, “I ain’t doin’ it, miss, it’s too hard.” I could not get them to change their minds; they sat doing nothing for the rest of my shift.

The preliminary test results that came back in the spring were abysmally low—despite the fact that every single response bubble on the math test had been filled in. Either the next proctor forced the kids to randomly fill in the bubbles, or some administrators did so, another example of the rampant deceit the school system indulges.

After the terrible 2010 earthquake in Haiti, a number of Haitians joined the school. These youngsters were remarkable for their good manners and desire to learn, for their outstanding gentility in fact. They provided a most refreshing change, but it didn’t last. They quickly fell into the trap of hostile resistance.

By June, things were really depressing. Not only was the academic year an utter failure, word spread that 10 girls had become pregnant. Since there were only about 90 girls in the school, this represented over 10 percent. The majority of the pregnant girls were freshmen, targeted it was said by a few “baby daddies” who prided themselves on their prowess and evolutionary success. One of them, however, was the beautiful “lesbian” from Chicago. As her jilted partner moped around, cut to the quick, it was impossible not to feel terrible for her.

Once again, I finally and suddenly broke. The threat was from an unlikely source, a big lad who was always subdued. He was in the special education program, and never gave any trouble when I substituted in that class. But one afternoon, for some unknowable reason, this usually gentle giant came up to me and said, “I gonna cut yo’ ass.” That was the final humiliation I would suffer in the New York City public school system. 

I left that afternoon never to return. I left much behind: trinkets I’d brought from France, hoping to use them as prizes for the highest achievers; my beautiful edition of Les Fables de Jean de la Fontaine; class records, French magazines, CDs and other educational materials. But I brought away something priceless: an insider’s knowledge of a corrupt system.

One teacher phoned me to say that in her culture “I gonna cut yo’ ass” should not be taken literally, it just meant that he would teach me a lesson. “I don’t care,” I replied. Another called to express her astonishment that I would abandon my students. Why on earth did that matter, I answered, they hadn’t learned anything anyway. The school would hand out passing grades no matter what I did. 

*     *     *

It is not poor teaching or a lack of money that is failing our most vulnerable populations. The real problem is an ethos of rejection that has never been openly admitted by those in authority.

Why should millions of perfectly normal adolescents, not all of them ghettoized, resist being educated? The reason is that they know deep down that due to the color of their skin, less is expected of them. This they deeply resent. How could they not resent being seen as less capable? It makes perfect psychological sense. Being very young, however, they cannot articulate their resentment, or understand the reasons for it, especially since the adults in charge hide the truth. So they take out their rage on the only ones they can: themselves and their teachers.

They also take revenge on a fraudulent system that pretends to educate them. The authorities cover up their own incompetence, and when that fails, blame the parents and New Post teachers, or lack of funding, or “poverty,” “racism,” and so on. The media follow suit. Starting with our lawmakers, the whole country swallows the lie. 

Why do precious few adults admit the truth out loud? Because in America the taboo against questioning the current orthodoxy on race is too strong and the price is too high. What is failing our most vulnerable populations is the lack of political will to acknowledge and solve the real problems. The first step is to change the ”anti-discrimination” laws that breed anti-social behavior. Disruptive students must be removed from the classroom, not to punish them but to protect the majority of students who want to learn.

Mary Hudson is a former teacher and the translator of Fable for Another Time and The Indomitable Marie-Antoinette. She has a PhD in French Literature from CUNY Graduate Center, and got her late husband Jack Holland’s last book, A Brief History of Misogyny: The World’s Oldest Prejudice, published posthumously when Viking Penguin abandoned it upon his death. It has recently been reprinted.

Michael Bloomberg's Failed Education Record

I read with humor that PolitiFact found that Mayor Michael Bloomberg's educational record of improvement was mostly true.  However, a closer look at the data finds that Mr. Bloomberg's education policy was a failure.

The only real improvement was the bogus graduation rate.  However, every educator knows that the improved graduation rates were because of "credit recovery" courses, administrative pressure to pass failing students, scholarship requirements, and linking teacher tenure to student grades.  This is known as academic fraud.

Moreover, the Bloomberg claim that he reduced the racial/income achievement gap is bogus, even PolitiFact questioned the claim.

What PolitiFact failed to investigate was the increasing class sizes under Michael Bloomberg, the bloated DOE Bureaucracy, the underfunded public school budgets, where most schools received only 82% to 86% of fair funding and the rise of charter schools at the expense of the public schools.

Just as important was Mayor Bloomberg's attempt to eliminate teacher tenure by bribing the Republican controlled State Senate by donating almost a million dollars to their campaign and asking them to eliminate 'Last in, First out". He also approved non educators to the highest positions, including the Chancellor at the DOE.  Be it Joel Klein, Cathie Black, and Dennis Walcott.  Under Mayor Bloomberg the DOE no longer collaborate with teachers to improve schools.  Instead, they were considered the enemy to the classroom teacher.

Mayor Bloomberg refused to give teachers their rightful raise, loaded up the "rubber rooms" till the expense was too much even for the Mayor, and even wanted to double class sizes with up to 70 students while eliminating half of the teaching force. He and Chancellor Joel Klein was the force behind the ATR crisis and was willing to waste 150 million dollars annually.

He hated public schools so much that he closed 162 of them while approving just about anybody who wanted to open up a charter school.  The Mayor allowed charters to inhabit underutilized public schools and used a suspect utilization factor to expand charter schools that were co-located with public schools.

Finally, Mayor Bloomberg made sure all reserve funds  were spent so that the more union friendly Bill de Blasio had no funds to pay teachers their retroactive raises.

Was Mayor Bloomberg the education Mayer?  Not by a long shot unless you're an education deformer.

Lydia Howrilka For UFT President

The UFT elections are fast approaching and I have reviewed the candidates of various caucuses and here are my candidates for the various union posts.

President:  Lydia Howrilka:of Solidarity Caucus

Lydia Howrilka  is a tireless worker and has made the Solidarity caucus relevant and no longer a one man show.  She was rubber roomed because she stood up for her rights and was discontinued before winning in Court and received a new position at another school.

By contrast, present UFT President Mickeal Mulgrew is disconnected and arrogant.  He rather suck up to the Mayor and the Chancellor than give his members an adequate raise. The MORE candidate does not reflect UFT membership with MORE turning sharply left with it's Socialist/Communist philosophy.

Executive Board: Arthur Goldstein and Micheal Shirtzer UNITY caucus and Johnathan Halabi New Action caucus.

Secretary: Francesco Portelos Solidarity caucus.

Treasurer: James Calantjis Solidarity caucus.

Presently, these are my candidates I will be voting for. As the electron date comes closer, I will be listing more selections as the electron slates are published..

Principals To Avoid

The 2017-18 school snapshot lists the most untrustworthy principals at the Queens high schools.  Many of the principals are repeat offenders from previous years and you can find them Here and Here. 

 
School....................................Principal.................Trust

Fredrick Douglas Academy VI...Charles Ogundimmu.33%
Forest Hills..............................Ben Sherman..........34%
Queens HS of Teaching.............Ean Corrado............44%
William Cullen Bryant...............Namita Dwarka........46%
Metropolitan High School..........Saida Rodriguez.......46%
Queens Collegiate....................Jaime Dubel............51%
Gateway To Health Sciences.....Judy Henry..............55%
Applied Communications..........Michael Weinstein....63%
Queens Preparatory Academy..Tayhon Haywood......63%
Arts And Humanities................Val-Jean Belton........67%
George Washington Carver.......Janice Sutton...........67%
Thomas Edison........................Moses Ojeda............68%

The Citywide average Principal trust factor is 79%

Charles Ogundimmu: runs the worst high school in Queens when it comes to academics, with high teacher turnover and the majority of students failing to graduate.  See my post Here.

Ben Sherman was appointed Principal at Forest Hills High School and promptly alienated the teaching staff. You can read about his actions Here and Here.  He also was on the list when he was Principal of East-West high school  Here.

Namita Dwarka:  Maybe the worst Principal in Queens.  You can read about her Here , Here  and Here.


Judy Henry has pitted teacher against teacher and many staff find it a living hell working for her.  Read it Here

Most of the principals listed have one thing in common.  They were either  appointed or worked under Superintendent Juan Mendez.

If you are a teacher, please stay clear of these schools run by the principals listed above.

Do Not Apply To These Queens High Schools

If I was a parent of a academically proficient child, here is my list of Queens high schools I would not have my middle school; student apply to,

School..................................Graduation..College Ready..Metric

Fredrick Douglas Academy VI.....43%.........11%........3.9
Academy of Medical Technology.73%.........22%........3.3
August Martin............................72%.........28%........2.6
Martin Van Buren.......................72%.........28%........2.6
Rockaway Collegiate.... .............67%.........26%........2.6
Pathways To College..................60%.........28%........2.5
HS of Law Enforcement...............79%.........38%.......2.1
Cambria Heights Academy..........83%.........39%.......2.1
Epic HS South.............................67%.........32%.......2.1
Flushing.....................................62%.........32%.......1.9
Community Leadership................91%........47%.......1.9
Rockaway Park............................67%........36%.......1.9
Humanities and Arts....................80%........43%.......1.9
George Washington Carver..........75%........39%.......1.9
Benjamin Franklin.......................80%........44%.......1.8
Richmond Hill..............................71%........42%.......1.7
Grover Cleveland........................63%........40%.......1.7 
John Adams...............................72%.........42%.......1.7
Queens High School of Teaching..91%.........53%......1.7
Queens Preparatory Academy.....67%.........39%......1.7
Hillside Arts And Letters.............88%..........52%......1.7 
Long Island City.........................76%..........46%......1.7
QIRT..........................................82%..........50%......1.6
Hillcrest.....................................71%..........44%......1.6
Excelsior Prep............................81%..........52%......1.6
Queens Collegiate......................88%..........56%......1.6
Applied Communications............87%..........56%......1.6
Math, Science, and Research......71%..........47%......1.5
Epic HS North.............................88%..........57%......1.5 

The higher the metric, the worse the school is academically and the more likely the school is a diploma mill that no parent should send their academically proficient child to..

Note: the Renewal High Schools are over represented on the list. Moreover,eleven of the twelve small schools at the Beach Channel, Far Rockaway, Campus Magnet, and Jamaica campuses are included on the "do not apply" list  Only Channel View, which is a partially screened school, escaped the list






.

The Disconnect Between The Graduation Rate And The College Readiness Rate - 2018

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High schools that have a ratio less than "1.2" are in blue and giving their students a world class education while high schools with ratios greater than "1.5" are listed in red and yellow and are simply diploma mills. Parents should make sure their academically achieving students should stay away from them.  This year's metric was lowered since the CUNY college readiness metric was lowered and the Algebra Regents rubric and cut scores were made easier to achieve higher grades and the English Regents was found also to be easier than previous years.  It appears the "college ready" scores went up  again by an average of fifteen points, primarily due to the lower cut scores in Math and an easier test in English.

We all know that principals can and do manipulate the graduation rate.   Credit recovery, grade changing, administration pressure on teachers, and school scholarship requirements (80% or more passing per class) or a combination of them all.  The result is an artificially bogus graduation rate as far too many schools graduate students unprepared for the real world.  Therefore, to determine if  unscreened Queens high schools are really diploma mills or truly giving their students a real world class education, I have developed the annual metric for the 2017-18 school year that takes the graduation rate and divides it by the college readiness percentage.

The list is based on the 2017-18 school year.

School...........................Graduation Rate.....College Ready

Cambria Heights Academy........83%....................39% 
Academy of Medical Tech..........73%....................27% 
Fredrick Douglas Academy VI....43%....................11%
Epic HS South...........................67%....................32%
Benjamin Franklin.....................80%....................44%
QIRT........................................82%....................50%
Rockaway Park.........................67%....................36%
Humanities and Arts.................80%....................43%
August Martin...........................72%....................28% 
Rockaway Collegiate.................67%....................26% 
Martin Van Buren......................72%....................28%
 Flushing..................................62%....................32%
Pathways College.......'.............69%....................28%
Hillside Arts & Letters...............88%....................52%
Law Enforcement.....................79%....................38%
Science, Research, and Tech.....71%....................47%
Excelsior Prep..........................81%....................52% 
 George Washington Carver.......75%...................39%
 John Adams............................72%....................42%
Queens Prep............................67%....................39% 
Grover Cleveland.....................63%....................40%  
Epic HS North..........................88%....................57%
Richmond Hill..........................71%....................42%
Long Island City......................76% ...................46%
Applied Communications..........87%....................56%
 Hillcrest.................................71%....................44%
 Queens HS of Teaching............91%....................53%
 Community Leadership...........91%....................47%
Queens Collegiate...................88%....................56%
 William Cullen Bryant..............71%....................52%
 Newtown...............................73%.....................57%
 Robert  H. Goddard.................97%....................71%
 Robert Wagner.......................91%....................65%
John Bowne............................77%....................55%
Channel View..........................97%....................76%
Writers Academy....................89%.....................62%
Information & Technology.......79%.....................60%
Robert F. Kennedy..................80%.....................60% 
Robert Wagner.......................91%.....................66% 
Arts & Business......................94%....................79%
World Journalism....................97%....................75%
Queens Vocational..................86%....................70%
TV & Media.............................98%....................73%
Metropolitan HS......................91%....................84% 
Middle College HS....................91%...................77%
Civic Leadership......................92%...................82% 
Maspeth HS............................98%....................86%
Forest Hills.............................91%....................81%
Bayside..................................99%....................87%
East-West..............................93%....................81%
Cardozo.................................89%....................74%
Thomas Edison.......................92%....................82%
Francis Lewis.........................88%....................80%
Finance & Enterprise...............97%....................84% 


 The citywide "college ready" average is 53%. "college and career readiness rate"  as defined by New York City  The more stringent New York State rates are lower.

 Obviously, the lowest rated schools are "diploma mills" and for the most part, are located in Southeast Queens or are "Renewal schools".  By contrast the best schools are located in two areas  Northeast Queens and the Long Island City/Astoria area.  The Bloomberg small schools in the Far Rockaway and Beach Channel campuses inhabit most of the top positions with the worst matrices on the list, while the worst school metric is by Fredrick Douglas Academy VI with a metric of 3.9.. By contrast, the best two schools Bayside and Francis Lewis, when it comes to the metric.

The takeaway is that all the high schools in the Far Rockaway, Beach Channel, and Campus Magnet campuses are academic failures and the Springfield Gardens campus is not far behind.  Moreover, the Jamaica Educational Complex is showing gradual deterioration with two school already failing and the one of the other unscreened school showing a significant drop.

While my metric is not perfect it serves as a useful guide for parents who want the right Queens high school for their academically proficient student. You can see the metrics for the last three years  Here, Here and Here.

NYC's Bogus Graduation Rate Increases Again.

While I usually disagree with the New York Post's Editorial.  I find myself in agreement that the NYC graduation rate is bogus.  As expected. the NYC graduation rate improved to 75.9% and Mayor Bill de Blasio and Chancellor Richard Carranza proclaimed success in improving student academic achievement. However, the truth is far different.

It's no secret that the graduation rate is bogus and that many schools are simply diploma mills.  Principals are always pressuring teachers, especially untenured teachers to pass failing students.  Furthermore, many schools give "credit recovery" courses that consist of a paper or an online test that the student can take as many times as he or she needs to pass.  Finally, the State lowered Regents graduation standards and eliminated the requirement of taking the Social Studies Regents. Finally the academic achievement gap between White/Asian students and Black/Latino students is as wide as ever when it comes to getting an advanced Regents diploma.  50% Asian and 35% White students achieved that goal, compared to only Black 8% and Latino 12% students.  You can read the article Here.

Back in 2017  I posted all the unscreened high schools in Queens that showed that few schools had a graduation rate/college readiness rate of less than 1.5 that is a better indicator of student academic achievement .  Anything over 2 are simply a diploma mill  You can see the list Here

Where Does School Funding Come From By State?

..................................Federal.........State.......Local

Alabama	11.2%	54.9%	33.9%
Alaska	15.3%	59.7%	25.0%
Arizona	15.4%	38.6%	46.0%
Arkansas	10.7%	50.3%	39.0%
California	8.9%	58.0%	33.1%
Colorado	7.5%	45.7%	46.8%
Connecticut	3.5%	42.2%	54.4%
Delaware	11.0%	56.4%	32.6%
District of Columbia	8.9%	-	91.1%
Florida	11.7%	42.0%	46.2%
Georgia	11.2%	43.4%	45.4%
Hawaii	11.9%	86.1%	1.9%
Idaho	9.9%	64.9%	25.3%
Illinois	7.9%	24.0%	68.2%
Indiana	9.8%	59.1%	31.1%
Iowa	5.5%	57.7%	36.8%
Kansas	8.3%	66.4%	25.3%
Kentucky	8.9%	62.8%	28.3%
Louisiana	14.6%	42.6%	42.8%
Maine	15.9%	35.9%	48.2%
Maryland	6.7%	45.7%	47.6%
Massachusetts	5.0%	40.0%	55.0%
Michigan	14.9%	66.1%	19.0%
Minnesota	5.2%	71.9%	22.9%
Mississippi	19.4%	46.9%	33.8%
Missouri	8.4%	33.0%	58.5%
Montana	13.7%	52.6%	33.8%
Nebraska	6.5%	36.0%	57.4%
Nevada	11.4%	37.0%	51.6%
New Hampshire	5.9%	34.3%	59.9%
New Jersey	3.8%	40.9%	55.3%
New Mexico	12.4%	70.7%	16.9%
New York	4.7%	37.3%	58.0%
North Carolina	10.4%	59.1%	30.6%
North Dakota	7.7%	42.1%	50.2%
Ohio	7.8%	44.3%	47.8%
Oklahoma	11.1%	47.9%	41.0%
Oregon	7.0%	51.0%	42.0%
Pennsylvania	7.9%	35.2%	56.9%
Rhode Island	8.4%	39.3%	52.3%
South Carolina	9.0%	47.7%	43.3%
South Dakota	13.8%	29.8%	56.4%
Tennessee	12.0%	49.2%	38.8%
Texas	8.6%	41.3%	50.1%
United States	8.4%	46.0%	45.6%
Utah	11.4%	49.0%	39.6%
Vermont	5.7%	89.2%	5.1%
Virginia	7.7%	36.7%	55.6%
Washington	7.6%	58.3%	34.1%
West Virginia	14.5%	59.7%	25.8%
Wisconsin	6.4%	46.1%	47.5%
Wyoming	5.7%	57.0%	37.3%

Data from the National Education Association

The list shows the breakdown from Federal, State, and local sources for school funding, 

Average Teacher Pension For Each State

The average teacher pension for each State are listed below.  Included in the list is if the State participates in Social Security for teachers.

State..................Pension......Social Security...% Vested

Alabama...............$22,336...........Yes....................39%
Alaska.................$34,605...........Yes....................39%
Arizona................$19,771...........Yes..................100%
Arkansas.............$22,83..............Yes...................57% 
California............$49,268.............No....................69%^
Colorado.............$40,785.............No....................36%
Connecticut.........$53,452............No....................55% 
Delaware.............$21,793............Yes...................29%
Dist Of Columbia.$30,829..............Yes..................36%
Florida................$22,215.............Yes..................28%
Georgia...............$43,192.............No...................29%
Hawaii................$27,816.............Yes..................25%
Idaho..................$20,041............Yes..................70%
Illinois................$49,560..............No..................50%
Indiana..............$18,735.............Yes..................31%
Iowa...................$20,363............Yes..................42%
Kansas...............$17,052.............Yes..................45%
Kentucky............$46,576...............No..................67%
Louisiana...........$27,324................No.................54%
Maine................$28,421................No.................14% 
Maryland...........$24,409................Yes................43%
Massachusetts...$43,642.................No................12%
Michigan..........$28,148.................Yes................50%
Minnesota........$27,593.................Yes................50%
Mississippi.......$18,928.................Yes................22%
Missouri...........$36,303.................No.................58%
Montana...........$29,111................Yes...............35%
Nebraska..........$23,611................Yes..............32%
Nevada.............$35,683.................No...............57%
New Hampshire.$19,598................Yes..............31%
New Jersey.......$40,175................Yes..............56%
New Mexico.....$22,816..................Yes.............33%
New York........$47,432..................Yes..............40%
North Carolina.$18,400..................Yes..............28%
North Dakota..$29,508..................Yes..............56%
Ohio................$48,258..................No...............34%
Oklahoma.......$24,309.................Yes...............44%
Oregon............$37,794................Yes...............46%
Pennsylvania...$19,798................Yes...............36%
Rhode Island,..$25,103................Yes................59%
South Carolina.$20,528...............Yes................37%
South Dakota...$16,286................Yes...............51%
Tennessee.......$22,731................Yes...............56%
Texas..............$24,921.................No...............59%.
Utah................$18,569................Yes..............52%
Vermont..........$20,278................Yes..............33%
Virginia...........$22,771.................Yes.............50%
West Virginia..$21,415.................Yes..............25.%
Wisconsin.......$22,811.................Yes..............64%
Wyoming........$24,507.................Yes..............62%


The percent vested column are the percent of teachers that are eligible for a pension. The lowest vesting percentage are the states of Massachusetts (12%),  Maine (14%) and Mississippi (22%).  Nationally, the percentage of vested teachers is only 44.5% and 19.7% of teachers who are able to reach full retirement age.

 For the most part, the highest teacher pensions are in State's that are not eligible for Social Security and are not taken out of a teacher's check.   The top four States are Connecticut ($53,452), Illinois ($49,560), California ($49,268), and Ohio ($48,258).

Note:  that urban school districts have much lower teacher vesting percentages.  You can see it Here.

Finally, New York State pays the bulk of the pension contributions and you can see this Here.

A New Chancellor But The Same Toxic Culture Exists At The DOE

Chancellor Richard Carranza is a distinct improvement over Carmen Farina.  He seems not to target teachers and cares about the public schools.  He also wants what's best for the students.  However, just like Carmen Farina, Chancellor Carranza has failed to "clean house" at the DOE.  Sure, he made a few changes like removing the terrible Director of the adult education program and the head of the pupil transportation office.  Unfortunately, the DOE policymakers, appointed during the Bloomberg Administration are essentially in place and their "gotcha" mentally is as strong as ever.

Moreover, Chancellor Carranza has failed to eliminate school based fair student funding, fully fund the public schools, reduce class size, eliminate the DOE bloat, and resolve the ATR crisis.  While our union leadership is having a love affair with the Chancellor, for teachers, the same old Bloomberg rules continue to apply at the schools, with incompetent administrators and a hostile work environment in the classroom.

While Chancellor Carranza is a friend to our union leadership, his DOE is still the enemy when it comes to the teachers.

I'm willing to wait to the summer and see if Chancellor Carranza can change the toxic culture at the DOE but I am not holding my breath.

Chief City Negotiator, Robert W. Linn Retires.

Chief City negotiator, Robert W. Linn  is retiring and his claim to fame was to convince the UFT leadership to accept a vastly inferior contract back in June 2014.

Our union leadership, led by clueless Michael Mulgrew allowed the City to defer our two 4% raises for years in the future, despite the collective bargaining rules that stated that on the second check after a contract is signed, all deferred raises will be paid at that time..  The two 4% raises, owed to us in 2009 and 2010, based on collective bargaining, would not be paid until in full until 2020.  Moreover, Mr. Lynn pushed and received union agreement that teachers who were terminated, resigned, took another position outside the UFT, or died were not eligible for the lump some payments.

Worse, Mr. Lynn convinced our union leadership to extend our contract to pay for the large retirements that year.  Therefore, the active members ended up with an annual raise of 1.37% for the length of the contract, while inflation averaged 2.5%.

Mr. Linn showed that his negotiating skills was superior to our union leadership and whenit came to negotiation with our union leadership it was like "men to boys" with the members coming out with the short end of the stick.

Arthur And Mike Join The Unity Caucus

The big buzz on the blogsphere is Arthur Goldstein and Mike Shirtzer joining the Unity caucus.  According to Arthur, Unity reached out to both of them and apparently agreed to a couple of conditions.  These conditions are that Arthur and Mike will not have to take the "Unity Oath" and can be an independent voice within the caucus.

Some feel that Arthur and Mike sold out to the Unity leadership.  However, I disagree.  I believe that the Unity leadership, fearing the effects of Janus down the road, and feeling the resentment members have on how the Unity caucus puts their own political interest above the member needs, realized that they must pretend to reach out to the members by giving an independent voice on the executive board,

By putting Arthur and Mike on the Unity ticket, they allow the two of them to vote as they please and oppose the Unity consensus, without changing the final outcome.

The bottom line is I support Arthur and Mike's decision to join the Unity caucus and will vote for them.. 

The Bronx And Brooklyn Have The Most Struggling Schools According To The State.

New York State Education Department (NYSED) has listed 124 New York City Public Schools as struggling when it comes to academic achievement.   Most of the struggling schools in the lowest tier are in the Bronx (37) and Brooklyn (28).  By contrast, Manhattan has (13), Queens (5), and Staten Island (1).

 Queens, schools in need of academic improvement are as follows:

Queens
FLUSHING HIGH SCHOOL
JHS 226 VIRGIL I GRISSON
ACADEY OF MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY – A COLLEGE BOARD SCHOOL
CATHERINE AND COUNT BASIE MIDDLE SCHOOL 72
IS 59 SPRINGFIELD GARDENS
IS 238 SUSAN B ANTHONY ACADEMY
WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT HIGH SCHOOL

Interestingly, many of the schools listed are in the Renewal program.  Moreover, in the lowest tier these are the Queens schools.

Queens
INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL FOR HEALTH SCIENCES
NORTH QUEENS COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL
FREDERICK DOUGLASS ACADEMY VI HIGH SCHOOL
QUEENS UNITED MIDDLE SCHOOL
EAGLE ACADEMY FOR YOUNG MEN HIGH SCHOOL

According to New York City, they will do the following to get these schools off the struggling list.

• Curriculum changes.
• Alternative discipline methods.
• Paying teachers more

 Missing are what's really needed:

• Lower class sizes.
• Experienced teachers.
• More stringent student discipline. 
• Prohibit student cellphone use in schools.
• Better school administrators.

An entire list of struggling schools can be found in Chatkbeat

Why Are The Los Angeles Public School Teacher Union Striking?

The Los Angeles Public School Teacher Union called a strike against the LAUSD for better wages, lower class sizes, and more librarians, nurses, and guidance counselors.. If you read the newspapers, the teachers' union want higher pay as the main driver for the strike.  However, the truth is far different.  The teachers' union is striking for the following improvements for the Los Angeles public schools.

• A 6.5% raise for the three years, effective immediately.
• Lower class sizes of up to 40 student to a maximum of 34.
• All schools should have a guidance counselor, nurse, and a librarian.
• A cap on charter school growth.
• Evaluations not linked to State tests and reduce that testing..

By contrast the LAUSD has proposed the following:

• A 6% raise for three years, with 3%  immediately and the reaming 3% next year, contingent on the school district having the funding.
• A commitment to reduce class sizes by 1 to 4 students in high poverty schools.
• Add a "highly effective" category to teacher evaluations.
• Making it easier to terminate teachers.
• Expand categories that can get a waiver from hiring excessed teachers.

Look for this strike to last for a while since the two sides are far apart.

NYC's Version Of Professional Development Is A Waste Of Time.

Over the last two decades, the sellouts,  consisting of Presidents  Randi Weingarten and Michael Mulgrew, has traded time for money and our school day was lengthened from 6 hours and 20 minutes to 6 hours and 50 minutes, while receiving puny raises that barely kept pace with inflation.  At first the union claimed that the extra time would be used as "office hours" like colleges do.  However, the union lied to the members, and the extra time was used for teaching.

At first, the extra time was used to teach or tutor an extra class of up to ten students but some devious principals took advantage of the extra time and made an almost full class lumping together two teachers per classroom and treated it as a class with an attendance sheet and giving an academic credit, while observing the teacher for evaluation purposes.  After numerous complaints by the members to this abuse, the union negotiated with the new De Blasio administration in 2014 to use the extra time for professional development.  The exception was for multi-session and District 75 and 79  schools who were allowed to simply extend the extra thirty minutes in classroom periods to accommodate the extra time.

The problem was that few school administrators were collaborating with the staff on the professional development activities.  Worse. the DOE imposed their own professional development activities that were a colossal waste of time. It was so bad that many teachers wished they were teaching an extra class that sit through this torture week after week, with no end in sight.  In some schools the 80 minute Monday professional development lasted so long that teachers did not leave the school until it was already dark.  Even the Tuesday 75 minute professional activities portion were simply another form of professional development.

By contrast, in the suburbs, most school districts have a six hour and 30 minute school day and the teacher is usually excused from the classroom for the day to attend professional development at the district office.  Moreover,  when the school does professional development in-house, students are either dismissed early (half a day) or its defined as a non attendance day with no students present.

In my many years of teaching, I have never, yes never, been to a school based professional development activity that made me a better teacher.  Our union should renegotiate the contract to eliminate the school-based professional development activities and simply extend the classroom periods or go to "office hours" that were originally intended to be.  Maybe, the union should follow the lead of the suburbs and do what they do when it comes to professional development.  Then again, the union leadership does not have to suffer through relentless professional development.like we do

A Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Annuls The Unfair Termination Of A Teacher.

A Brooklyn high school teacher at the High School for Civil Rights with an unblemished disciplinary record,  was terminated by a State arbitrator when he was charged with corporal punishment and conduct unbecoming a teacher by the DOE.  The teacher named Shawn Browne tried to remove an unruly student from his Math class and the confrontation escalated to the point that the misbehaving student, who was playing cards instead of working in his Math class, was told to leave the classroom and refused to do so.  The student then throw a stapler and a towel at the teacher and, in response, the teacher tried to push the student out of the room.  According to the student and a school safety agent, the teacher allegedly punched the student twice in the face while trying to remove the student from the classroom.  The teacher denied punching the student and was backed up by other students in the classroom. However,  the arbitrator, Dean Burrell, chose to believe the student and school safety officer and ignored the other witnesses and the teacher and terminated the teacher. 

The arbitrator did not take into account the 15 year unblemished disciplinary record of Mr. Browne or the circumstances that lead to the incident.  Consequently, the arbitrator claimed that the teacher's conduct cannot be remediated.. Therefore, the arbitrators award of termination. 

The teacher appealed his termination to Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge,   Alexander Tisch, who ruled that the arbitrator's award "shocked the conscious" and sent it back to the arbitrator for a lesser penalty. According to Justice Tisch the arbitrator failed to take into account the teacher's unblemished disciplinary record, the circumstances that lead up to the altercation, and the lack of a co-teacher in a co-teaching class, a violation of State regulations when dealing with students with an IEP.  Moreover, Mr. Tisch found that an anger management course for Mr. Browne is a proper remediation for the teacher for the one time incident, along with a penalty short of termination.

Naturally, the DOE will appeal the decision to a higher State court.

Restorative Justice Policies Have No Impact On Academic Outcomes.

A major study showed that when restorative justice policies are properly implemented, it does reduce student suspensions but also results in lowers test scores for Black students. The study was done for the Pittsburgh public schools, a medium sized urban city, between 2015-17 and found that middle schools showed a worsening of academic outcomes when restorative justice practices were implemented.  The key findings from the study are as follows:

Effects of the Pursuing Equitable and Restorative Communities (PERC) program in Pittsburgh Public Schools

• Implementation of restorative practices through PERC improved overall school climates, as rated by teachers.
• Implementation of restorative practices reduced the average suspension rate: During the study period, average suspension rates decreased in both PERC and non-PERC schools, but rates decreased more in PERC schools.
• Suspension rates of African American students and of those from low-income families also went down in PERC schools, shrinking the disparities in suspension rates between African American and white students and between low- and higher-income students.
• Academic outcomes did not improve in PERC schools, and actually worsened for grades 6–8.
• Arrest rates among PERC schools did not decrease.

In particular, Black male students saw significant reductions in test scores and middle school students showed lower academic outcomes when restorative justice practices were properly implemented at selected schools..

Does restorative justice work?  Yes. if the main goal is to reduce suspensions, especially,, when it comes to Black and low income students.  However, when it comes to improved academic outcomes, restorative justice polices have no impact and actually has a negative academic impact for middle schools and Black students.

Chalkbeat summarizes the report Here.

What Happened To Flushing Principal Carl Hudson Jr?

Back in March 2011, Carl Hudson Jr. was appointed Principal of Flushing High School by Superintendent Juan Mendez and promptly made a bad school worse with his inept leadership.  He was removed by the DOE the following year when he was arrested for Meth possession outside the school.  Read it Here.

After being removed by the DOE as Principal of Flushing High School, Mr Hudson was hidden by the DOE in their version of a "rubber room" for administrators and quietly parted company with the DOE, either voluntarily or pushed out.

Mr. Hudson resurfaced as a charter school teacher in Georgia and then a public school teacher at  the DeKalb County, School District making $45,000 a year as a high school Math teacher in 2016.  He quit in November of 2018. A pattern since he moved to Georgia.

Mr. Hudson was forced to quit once the local newspapers discovered his past. Interestingly, Mr. Hudson in his employment history to the school district never mentioned his tenure as a Principal at Flushing High School and his meth bust.  Where  will Mr. Hudson show up next?

What Chancellor Carranza Needs To Do This Year.

Richard Carranza has made a few positive changes since taking over as Chancellor of the NYC public schools..  He has pushed out Carmen Farina's favorite , Amiee Horowitz and has removed a couple of misbehaving principals.  However, he has failed to significantly change the culture at Tweed.  Just read the NYC Public School Parents Blog and you can see how. the pro charter and education reformers still dominate Tweed.

While the Chancellor is not anti teacher like the previous five Chancellors (Levy, Klein, Black, Walcott, and Farina), he has failed to make significant changes to the DOE that is still dominated by Bloomberg era policymakers.  What does Chancellor Carranza need to do?  Let me count the ways.he can tackle the issues.

• Eliminate Fair Student Funding
• Remove the Bloomberg policymakers at Tweed. 
• Let teachers teach and control their classroom.
• Stop schools from hiring "newbies" when ATRs are available for the subject area.
• Fully fund schools.
• Reduce the administrative bloat at the DOE.
• Lower class sizes.
• Eliminate Charlotte Danielson rubric for teachers.
• Reduce paperwork.
• Hire independent investigators for teachers accused. 
• More rights for Chapter Leaders.
• Stop discriminating against veteran teachers.

Come January 1, 2020, let's see if anything changes for the better.