He told Delegates NYC high school graduation rates are the highest ever, test scores are up (we have an ad running that says all of this), only 214 teachers were rated ineffective last year under the new evaluation system compared to over 3000 under the old satisfactory or unsatisfactory system, and the lump sum payments are in our bank accounts for the most part. He added the school year was off to a great start before the tragic stabbing in the Bronx; we only have to use our consultation committees for principal and superintendent issues to be resolved; consultation can even lower class sizes; SESIS has improved and everyone's been paid for work they did; and more. The overall tone was very upbeat. As the UFT commercial says, "We're making history."
ICE blog wants to know is this the best of times for NYC schools and for teachers?
Mulgrew did concede there are challenges: the Constitutional Convention, the whacky federal government and Janus. We are with a coalition of 600 organizations including the Conservative Party to get the no vote out on November 7; next year we will win the midterm Congressional election to fix DC; and the UFT will go door to door to convince over 100,000 members to stay in the Union when the Supreme Court makes us a right to work country. Face-to-face contact with our members will save the UFT.
- Are you feeling the love at school?
- Since so few teachers are rated ineffective, are you feeling secure in your job?
- Is the graduation rate real?
- Do you feel protected if you turn to the Union?
- Do your friends who are UFT members feel like Mulgrew that the NYC public schools are a beacon of light giving hope to public school supporters everywhere?
I can talk about how the Department of Education is ignoring effective ratings and discontinuing untenured teachers anyway or how tenured teachers with no ineffective annual ratings are being charged in dismissal hearings, how the minimum 4 observations for teachers are brutal, how there is no student discipline in many schools, how there are plenty of administrators who ignore the UFT contract, how there are useless CTLE hours teachers have to endure and more but what do I know?
- While Mulgrew conceded conditions in the schools could improve, is he right that the NYC schools are a major success story?
- Are we just a small group of disgruntled complainers?
Please answer. We need the anecdotals. Tell us the level, borough and district where you work.
Thanks.
56 comments:
Yesterday a 15 year old was arrested for assaulting a SSA at a school in the Bronx. A 15 year old in MS? Thats the problem. Should be 2nd year in HS at that point. When are we gonna stop allowing these "students" who have no interest in doing anything except destruction keep running wild?
What happened to the reduction in paperwork that way agreed to 20 different times. My school uses Jupiter Grades, so on top of everything normal we have to do, we have to enter a daily computerized grade for every single students, classwork, tests, projects, HW, etc. then they have the nerve to say that doing that doesnt even count as parental contact even though parents can see it. So why are we doing it? And then principal calls us in and tells us we are doing it wrong. Just another gotcha angle. Just un-needed pressure and extra work. Hey uft, they are breaking the contract again.
Just had another night of no sleep because I have a feeling that one of 4 Danielson unannounced observations might be today. Been working for the DOE longer than most of the new teachers at my school have been alive. I have never lived with more anxiety and fear than now. Staff morale at my school is the lowest it has ever been. If it were not for my future pension I would have quit years ago and gone to work in the suburbs where teachers are treated like professionals. Today, everyone has a target on their back. Even our chancellor brags about getting rid of 80% of her staff when she was a principal. Blame can be spread out on this but the simple fact is that the UFT is complicit in this and for years has hidden behind closed doors making deals with the DOE that has put us in this position. AT this stage in my career, I am actually happy with my salary. However, my day to day working conditions are horrible. I urge the UFT from the bottom of my heart to truly listen to what the teachers in the trenches are going through and what we would like to see. We don't need miracles, We simply want things to go back to the way they were pre-Bloomberg. A fair and sane evaluation system and treating teachers with respect will go a long way to ensure that we stay with the UFT.
I have never seen staff so demoralized as currently. We are swamped with busywork and meaningless PD, under constant threat of a Danielson drive-by, and drowning under lesson plan mandates that have us taking two hours a prep for each lesson plan. The micromanagement coming out of Farina and her superintendents makes the Bloomberg/Walcott DOE look like tame in comparison.
And Mulgrew thinks these are the best of times for teachers?
He has no clue.
The UFT is completely a company union at this point. Mulgrew's remarks are just the latest iteration of that.
This post infuriates me because it shows just how little the UFT leadership knows/cares about what is happening to rank and file.
Been working as an ATR social worker since 2012 and never one opportunity to interview for a position. The open market is a sham. I have been applying to schools for years in the open market system and never not even once did I get a response to come in for an interview.
How is it that the press does not pick up on this situation? The DOE is not using their social emotional people but rather they are keeping them idle in the ATR pool to rot away. It clearly does not make any sense what so ever. The morale is down in every school and how do I know you say? I have been to over 50 schools and I see it first hand how unhappy our nycdoe employees are and it truly is from mismanagement from every level.
Just wondering how the UFT members at Flushing and DeWitt Clinton high schools feel about things in their schools? Chalk beat today has a story that many staff will have to reapply for their positions this spring! Oh and by the way the principal at Flushing a real prince has been shown the door as today is his last day as education leader at Flushing.
Today my principal threatened me with a letter to my file in front of an entire class of students. This pretty much says it all.
Does anybody know if we can be forced to do Jupiter Grades? Isnt that excessive paperwork?
Agree. As a school counselor sometimes have been asked to do secretarial work. Advocate for myself and find myself in the lounge.
There has been no reduction in paperwork, meaningless pd, oversized classrooms, the loss of thousands of dollars over the last 9 years since the TDA fixed fund was reduced from 8.25% to 7%. Randi Weingarten agreed to this while she soon after left the UFT for a more lucrative job as head of the AFT. THE UFT HAS SOME HEAVY LIFTING TO DO IF THEY EXPECT US TO CONTINUE PAYING UNION DUES FOR NO REPRESENTATION. THE JANUS VS AFSCME CASE COMES AS A WAKE-UP CALL FOR OUR UNION.
We have clowns in the UFT.
Nonsense over nonsense.
Can someone answer the question? Are we obligated to do Jupiter grades if principal says so?
As far I I have been told no you don't have to use jupiter grades, but is it really that bad, I think it is kinda good, our students have mostly bought into it and check grades regularly, now ad involved to that and live school and stars classroom ll at once together like my school and you have ridiculousness. I am going to write the software that does it all and rake in some dough, I don't mind online grading but none of them seem to work 100% for all you need to do, this one is good for this and that one that, etc etc etc
And if the UFT wanted to do something really meaningful they would get us that 155 minutes back. As in I go home same time everyday, I swear Mondays and Tuesdays are designed to break us.
"I swear Mondays and Tuesdays are designed to break us."
It's working.
Mulgrew is as out of touch with membership as Hillary Clinton was before her disastrous defeat. He is obviously living in a bubble and really should get out on the front lines a little more often. But of course he won't because he is so arrogant, just as Clinton was. And just as Clinton had her day of reckoning, his will soon be here.
If these are the best of times, how is it that we did not have a quorum in April, May or June and had a very poorly attended first DA (no 19th floor) and open seats in main floor? The times are so good we don't need to do anything???
Mulgrew said in the past electronic grading can't be mandated. Good luck getting backing from the UFT.
The president is right that these days will be looked at as a golden era when all you fools quit the union next year and we have nothing left. Keep complaining about your 8.25% TDA going down to 7%. Who else gets 7% fixed rate guaranteed these days? My savings account pays less than 1%. Don't blame PSC and CSA for not accepting a lower rate. Weingarten did and now we're stuck with it. That will be the least of our problems when thousands bolt the union next year.
Jupiter is good in theory, until students complain about every single grade put in, come to you every day telling you they want higher grades, change my grades, etc...And you get called in every day to explain, and you missed grades, etc, and then you are still supposed to call homes...
The point is not 7%, the point is that its gotten worse, its another free giveback that was never restored and never replaced, just like the medical, just like the delayed retro, just like the 1% raises, just like the loss of S/U, no discipline code, etc.
Whoever complains about 7% is a fool. On the adobe of a finance expert, I wrote to the TDA asking for a statement of the underlying assets of the TDA. An annuity is an insurance product, and is thus required to produce a statement to investors upon reqiest. As predicted, many of the assets were LLPs, the market value of these partnerships is whatever the hell they claim they are (until they try to sell them to meet obligations). If you think the TDA is solvent, you’re in for a rude surprise. Don’t believe me? Request a statement. Look for the letters “L-l-p”. They’re hiding the risk.
Weingarten negotiated reducing our Fixed Fund TDA account while also claiming that the CSA (AP's and Principals) are also following suit. This was a complete lie. Go to the TRS site and you will see that CSA members and CUNY employees who opted for a TRS pension also enjoy the 8.25% fixed account plan. Janus vs AFSCME will prove to be a determinant of which unions survive by vigorously supporting their membership. Cops, Firefighters, Sanitation workers will overwhelmingly support their union status quo because their unions have their backs. Just think Retired UFT members get a $780 reimbursement for drug coverage yearly while PSC-CUNY professors and administrative and clerical staffs get drug coverage. I have a neighbor who enjoys this important coverage from a much smaller union than the UFT.
They have put us in a position where we want to do something to get back at them for all the disgusting things, and things made worse. We wre treated like garbage in many cases. Janus is what many will use to make a statement. Remember, we are off to a good start. Just ignore the daily abuse and everything else listed above.
I am 100% happy with my salary and 7% TDA. (And yes, I was teaching when it was 8.26) I am high up on the salary schedule. Money is not the big issue for me. The evaluation system and Danielson is what drives me insane. NYC teachers literally have the worst evaluation system in the state. 4 observations and we are judged by just 7 areas in the bullshit Danielson Framework. Go talk to teachers in any district outside of NYC and they will tell you that they have a good working relationship with their administration and do not live in fear of drive by observations meant to destroy careers. The UFT was OK with creating this evaluation mess and if they want members to stay, they need to fix it before Janus happens.
The paperwork is insane. Lesson plans must reflect instructional adjustments for brighter students, moderate students and special needs students. One lesson plan could easily be 4 or 5 pages. I have no faith that the UFT will support me.
Jupiter grade issues can be handled thru the paperwork reduction process. Speak to your CL or DR. If they do not help contact Debbie Poulos.
I’m not feeling any love…Our union should not be lending credence to test scores and flawed data. If some 5th graders enter class reading on a 1st grade level and the teacher gets those kids to a 2nd grade reading level, THE KIDS STILL CAN’T COMPREHEND THE DAMN 5th GRADE READING LEVEL TEST! So how the hell are we tracking progress? Are we tracking their ability to lucky guess? It seems Mulgrew is more interested in helping our mayor and chancellor look good than he is in protecting the membership. Same goes for graduation rates. We’ve all heard about the credit recovery schemes that falsely inflated the graduation rates. The stabbing in the Bronx school is a result of a dysfunctional discipline policy. Schools are not given the proper resources to deal with the increasing number of emotionally disturbed, disruptive and violent children. Even if one accepts the DOE argument that these kids need counseling and not suspensions, the counseling is not happening because we do not have enough counsellors in place. A kid gets killed then everybody at City Hall and Tweed act like they care. If they truly cared, systems would have been in place to prevent this from happening. Saying systems are in place doesn’t make it true. No matter how bad the NYC school system gets, Mulgrew will look to protect DeBlasio and continue to sacrifice the students and teachers who suffer from or witness acts of violence and verbal abuse on a regular basis. I hope to God Mulgrew proves me wrong. Currently, we are teaching children that abuse should be tolerated. We are normalizing outrageous behavior that has detrimental effects on our students and teachers. If we lose dues paying members in droves it will be no one’s fault but the fault of a union president who has yet to demonstrate he has the best interests of the membership at heart. Abuse from students, parents and administrators should not be tolerated by the UFT. An assaulted teacher in my school is still waiting for UFT victim’s services to call her back. It’s been more than a week. I emailed UFT leadership, including Mulgrew, on her behalf a week after my colleague left a message at victim's services. To his credit, my District Rep responded immediately and contacted my colleague. I’m now waiting to see how well the UFT represents her. An assaulted teacher filing for injury-in-the-line should receive assistance immediately. No excuses. Roseanne McCosh
It is now the end of October. Our new evaluation system was agreed to by the UFT last December. Literally not ONE UFT REP has come by our elementary school since the shitty evaluation system was agreed to by them. Why are you hiding UFT?
How much interest do you get in the bank? Has anyone seen the economy over the past 10 years? Get on your knees and thank them for that 7% which in today's world is an outrageous return - and if the constitutional convention gets past everyone will be lucky to get 2%. So stop looking at what others have. That's like the non-union people wanted to take away our benefits because they don't get them. Even with 7% TDA my yearly interest is higher than my pension.
Anon 8:20: the point is that teachers are disgusted with the constant give-backs and lack of support. It's fine for admistrators to have their 8.25% but not us? Bullshit! But my concerns about how we are treated---not the damn money. I'm not getting on my knees for anybody. But if I change my mind I'll take kneeling lessons from Mulgrew so I can become an expert at it. Roseanne McCosh
As mentioned above, lot's of us are way more concerned with out working conditions than the 7% TDA.
Except for Roseanne, a bunch of anonymous complainers who won't even admit the districts you work in. If the angry people who know what's going on won't step forward, then we're done. Blame ourselves not Mulgrew.
UFT is going to be obsolete very soon if they don't step up. Maybe not at first, but once teachers hear their colleagues are opting out, they will too. New teachers first, burned-by-the-UFT teachers, then veteran close to retirement. It's coming!!!!
What do you mean by stepping up? Win all kinds of gains when they have no leverage. I have said over and over how union power comes from the membership that is involved. It is we who have to step up.
No James, right now for better or for worse, Unity controls the UFT and hence, they are the gatekeepers to our working conditions. It is Unity folks who make secret deals behind closed doors with the DOE. The poster above means that "stepping up" means that the time is now for the Unity folks to get back to the bargaining table with the DOE and get us back what they gave away. (A fair evaluation system, seniority based transfers, being able to grieve letters to file, etc) These are all things that we had for many years and Unity agreed to give them away. Unity is in charge for now and it is they who have the ability to make deals to improve out working conditions. The bottom line is that what we want back will not cost the DOE a red cent.
Unity has zero leverage with the city at the bargaining table. Zero! Mulgrew told us at a DA last year that we asked for two observations. The DOE said no. What could we do about it? Nothing. Why do we have no leverage? Because the rank and file won't step up and demand Unity/DOE change things. In the end it comes down to what we are willing to do. Remember, we vote for each and every lousy contract.
DOE would love to give us nothing and then have teachers blame the union and quit the union. It makes their bargaining position even stronger. People here talking about the union as if it is some abstract group sitting in the ivory tower somewhere and saying we bear none of the responsibility for the mess we're in, or getting us out of the mess, are not helping.
Unity is in charge because the electoral system is rigged. They get away with doing next to nothing because they are not accountable. That won't change if thousands who would hold them accountable leave after Janus. Holding Unity accountable by threatening to leave and go without a union is, as I've been saying, cutting off our noses to spite Mulgrew's face.
Members who are aware of what is going on have to lead. Either demand en masse that the UFT be fixed or start a new union. The no union option is insane.
Also, we can argue to the cows come home if the reason the rank and file won't step forward is because of leadership scaring us again and again and not forcefully defending teachers so that we are afraid to step up or if it is our own fault. I happen to believe it is mostly the leadership's fault. However, at this point in history that does not really matter. It is up to us to save ourselves.
James, a question. Can admin force you to go to a PD that will get you home well past your normal time (due to the location of the PD)?
James, you are right that the (demoralized, disengaged, uninformed) membership must step up, but that's not the whole context.
Why is the membership so demoralized and disengaged? It's partly the result of Unity's behavior over the decades. The union mis-leadership intentionally cultivated that passivity among the membership, because it meant unending, single-party control of the union for them.
It's an ingoing negative feedback loop that is going to have tragic consequences for us: Weingrew made sure that members remain uninvolved in union affairs, since that gives them free reign to operate the union without a pesky, inquiring rank and file. Democracy is messy, time-consuming and sometimes leads to unforeseen results. Unity doesn't want to be bothered with that, and has done everything in its power to avoid it. But that very same process also causes the union to rot from within over the long term, so that we (and Unity too, for that matter) may in the not-too-distant future be facing a collapse of the union, in part brought about by the mis-leadership's behavior over the years.
In other words, Unity will be hoist on its own petard, and in dialectical fashion, what maintained their power over the decades will be part of what brings them down. Unfortunately, it's rank and file teachers who will pay the price for that, while self-serving nullities like Mulgrew will land on their feet.
Michael, I think we agree that the UFT leadership in an ironic way is causing the demise of their own union empire. However, the rank and file, as you say, are going to have to pay the price for that. Only the masses can save this ship and to do it at this time will be more difficult than ever but I think we have to try.
11:59, I think it is up to the DR whether or not she/he wants to fight this. In the olden days, the answer would be the DOE can't send you out of your area and you could fight it. Now, I'm not sure. If you have child care or other responsibilities after school, I understand your concerns. I don't believe there is anything in the contract on this. It looks like policy and practice.
I 100% do not believe for a single second that the UFT asked for 2 observations. I believe that they did not ask at all and just took the 4 observations when the DOE threw it at them. Admins in the CSA are sick of spending so much time on observations. I think the DOE gave us 4 observations just to make our jobs that more stressful to either cause us to leave the system or enable admins to have more ammo to use against us. Talk to any average teacher in NYC and they will tell you that one of the worst things about teaching here is the shitty evaluation system.
Oh yeah, if the UFT loves the 4 observations and Danielson, why is it that their reps who only teach one class are still on the old "S" and "U" system? If the UFT is all about sticking together, why are we not all evaluated under the "S" and "U" system that every single teacher that I know wants back?
After Unity voted down a resolution that I wrote and introduced at the January 2017 DA asking for the UFT to push for two observations, here is the next part of my January 18 account: "President Michael Mulgrew after the vote stated for the record that the UFT pushed for two observations for teachers."
Ok, they may have not pushed very hard but what is your evidence tat the UFT didn't ask for two?
I have no evidence. I would like to see evidence. I would like to read the transcript of the meeting with the DOE and the UFT when they negotiated the observations. But just like everything else the UFT does, the meeting was behind closed doors and the details of what was actually said is secret. Since that meeting is history now, can we FOIL to read the transcript from that meeting? Hell. I'll pay the 75 bucks personally if that info is available via a FOIL.. Does it not seem odd to you that every single district other than NYC has less than 4 observations.
I totally agree with you 3:59. Two and through. Actually, one and done would be better but two and through fits in with the current law. I don't believe UFT-DOE negotiations are subject to FOIL requests. Having been on the negotiating committee, I don't even recall someone being there recording the sessions where nothing much got done anyway.
James
Calling for the ranks to rise up and throw out Unity is not realistic. There are opposition groups that seem so ineffective in organizing people. ICE is or was one. Why weren't you able to get people active as ICE? And then you combined with TJC in MORE and they seem ineffective too. So with people like you who spend time trying to reach people why expect them to rise up spontaneously? And how to they do it without forming some kind of caucus or joining a current caucus and then finding out these caucuses all too often are run like Unity?
I think the public believes that the NYC public schools are here to educate. As long as the public is bamboozled, nothing will change for the better.
Change is not happening unless all of us are involved 11:26. Naturally, leaders will emerge who are younger than me. I have been trying to change this union for over two decades. ICE was and is nothing like Unity. ICE is kind of overly democratic.
There has never been a time like now where the union is under a complete threat from the Supreme Court. Mulgrew concedes we will soon be a right to work country. Now is the time to take action to save and improve on what we have. This could be our last chance but only if many more teachers become active.
In the high schools opposition has won elections on numerous occasions but we are still marginalized by Unity Caucus in the UFT. Many of us get it. In the middle schools, there is a growing number of teachers who understand our plight.There is a buzz in many elementary schools too.
We activists need help. We can't get a militant union without you. Even if you don't agree with everything we put out here, you know it is coming from a place that is very pro-teacher and pro-union.
Have they talked about regents being scored back at the schools? I know it was brought up last year and janella was supposedly working with doe to get it back... Any update?
Not a word Joe. We can ask our High School Exec Bd reps to bring it up.
What is the chance we can get a buyout 20/50 @ 40%?
Slim and none and slim left town around 1975.
Truth . Reporter asked chancellor about these two schools when she visited mine. Definitely gonna be a re-apply
Post a Comment