Tuesday, July 21, 2015

SURVEY SAYS FARINA NOW VERY POPULAR WITH TEACHERS; WHY DIDN'T THEY ASK ME?

Chalkbeat is reporting that the latest surveys have come out and Chancellor Carmen Farina is a hit with the teachers.  She has gone from 31% saying they are satisfied with the Chancellor last year to 60% saying they are satisfied now.  Of course they don't give Absent Teacher Reserves the survey at all to skew the results. Even though I was on staff as a Leave Replacement Teacher at Middle College High School this year, I didn't receive a survey.

My wife was on sabbatical this year; she didn't get a survey either.  Anybody else not polled?

Are we the minority who are unhappy with the schools and is there a Richard Nixonish silent majority out there who are crazy about the Chancellor and the New York City system?

Here are the full results.

Here is the DOE's more selective results.

My very brief analysis is that nobody played with the surveys and having a couple of thousand angry ATRs involved would have changed things but not that significantly.  Some will say that people are too scared to say anything negative about the schools and they may have a point but I would argue that the UFT is mainly responsible for the Chancellor's improved rating.

The UFT's top down spin that everything is wonderful now in the NYC schools has resonated with many people.  To me this is more evidence that he/she who heads the union at the school level (chapter leader/delegate) relays the message that the rank and file receive.  In most schools those leadership positions belong to members of Michael Mulgrew's Unity Caucus where loyalty to the party line is a membership obligation. Mulgrew has decreed it's all hunky-dory in NYC schools. See any Delegate Assembly report for details.  The problems are with the state according to the UFT leaders.

If we want to change the union, we need respected UFT members like those who read this blog to present the alternative view in just about every school. To put it another way, get in touch with us and spread the word.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Notice how the article and title make it appear teaching satisfaction has jumped? Everyone agrees that Farina is much better than her predecessors, but job satisfaction is much worse. Why wasn't a survey taken on that? Or was it? I wouldn't know. As an ATR I'm excluded from just about anything where an opinion is sought.

Anonymous said...

99 percent of teachers in NYC are clueless. They have no idea that Farina actually shit canned the majority of her staff when she was a school principal. The "gotcha squad" is still in full effect at the DOE. All the while teachers have no idea about this.

Anonymous said...

I have been boycotting this stupid survey for the last few years and encourage my colleagues to do the same.
Just think of the amount of money that is wasted with this bullshit. In a private business, a survey like this could actually be useful because the results would likely lead to some positive changes within the organization. But when it comes to the Department of Education, this is all about SHOW. It has no practical purpose other than for the bureaucrats to pat themselves on the back if they see something worth noting.
Can anyone point to some changes they've seen as a result of this survey?
I really wish New York City's" brightest" would wise up.

NYC Educator said...

It's certainly all about show, and that's why they dropped the question from the parent survey about what they wanted most. It was invariably class size reduction, something neither UFT nor DOE has lifted a finger to improve.

And while I do not hate the chancellor like I used to under Bloomberg, the junk science APPR ensures that morale remains buried deep inside the dumpster. Not good for us, or for kids either.

Anonymous said...

What's not to hate?

Anonymous said...

No teachers are very happy. This is all a crock of shit.

Anonymous said...

Trying to get information on Miles Doyle. Anybody know anything?

Anonymous said...

Who's he?

Anonymous said...

Me too... Strange.

Anonymous said...

Me too... Strange.