Let's look at the UFT Contract. It provides two areas where this topic is covered.
First is Article 8D:
D. Students’
Grades The teacher’s judgment in grading students is to be respected; therefore
if the principal changes a student’s grade in any subject for a grading period,
the principal shall notify the teacher of the reason for the change in writing.
Teacher grades are to be respected. Only the Principal, not you, can change a grade. Let administration have it on their hands if they want to engage in grade fraud.
I know, I know, I can already see the anonymous comments coming. Some of you are now going to tell me how you can't stand up to your all powerful principal. If you dare to challenge him/her, you will be inviting upon yourself ineffective observation reports and then there will be trumped up charges to throw multiple letters into your file. Refusing to be involved in fraudulent passing grades will be the first step in you being fired. Listening to that crazy guy at the ICEUFT blog will have cost you your job.
Okay, I get it. You can't fight city hall, or rather Tweed Courthouse, alone.
But what if members of a staff were united in demanding a fair process to test and appraise kids? Can we get that through the Contract? The answer is yes although we can only go as far as the Superintendent.Let's go to Article 24:
ARTICLE
TWENTY-FOUR PROFESSIONAL CONCILIATION The Board and the Union agree that
professional involvement of teachers in educational issues should be
encouraged. However, it is recognized that there may be differences in
professional judgment.
A. School Level
1. Where differences related to
school-based decisions in one of the following areas cannot be resolved, a
conciliation process will be available to facilitate the resolution of these
differences:
a. Curriculum mandates
a. Curriculum mandates
b. Textbook selection
c. Program offerings
and scheduling
d. Student testing procedures and appraisal methodology
e.
Pedagogical and instructional strategy,
technique and methodology.
I have seen this seemingly weak process that cannot go beyond the Superintendent work successfully when Chapters are united. Student appraisal methodology is covered as is instructional strategy, technique and methodology. If we want to be seen as professionals, we have to assert our professionalism.
I would be more than happy to assist if teachers are ready to cry foul on the grades and are willing to go through the conciliation process. We can alert the media if you like.
Ten Chapters would be a nice start.
Forget the anonymous comments and do something about it if you are really interested in restoring some integrity to the school system. I'm not talking about people who are lone wolves in a school. These teachers need to do what it takes just to survive.
I'm looking for teachers who are respected by their colleagues; teachers who can unite most of the pedagogues in their schools.
It's not up to Chancellor Carranza or President Mulgrew to stop the fraud. All of us can start the process.
If any school is in, you know where to find me.
If any school is in, you know where to find me.
30 comments:
And then we get targeted. It goes round and round...
If ten schools stand up or even 7 or 8, nobody will be targeted. How in the hell did I survive 32 years and going to speak at PEPP meetings repeatedly?
These teachers will give every excuse in the book on why they can't do anything. Here they come.
My chapter leader sleeps with the principal.
Our staff is mostly untenured.
I am just putting in x number of years until retirement, etc.
Stop wondering why we get dumped on. Just look in the mirror. All of us.
This all starts with the Danielson Rubric. It was foisted on the public school system by the education reform community. It is working beautifully for them.
It forces public school teachers not to teach, rather be facilitators where students (often with limited academic ability) are forced to teach each other in "collaborative" settings or enagae in "student to student" discussion even though many of them are very weak readers and writers.
This is DELIBERATE and EVIL! CHARTER SCHOOLS DON'T EVALUATE THEIR TEACHERS WITH DANILELSON! Gee, I "wonder" why? As long as the students don't learn, they can't complete course work, and they do poorly on state assessments. Hence, the public schools have poor data and are stuck forcing students from grade to grade even though they haven't learned much of anything in the Danielson structured classrooms where they are forced to work in groups for most of the period. When was the last time you saw a student take a state assessment such as a Regents exam in "groups?" Public school students do poorly and Charter schools look like a much better alternative. Help the kids actually learn in the classroom and maybe there wouldn't be so much pressure to pass students along who haven't done anything to deserve it. Danielson has been with NYC schools for 6 years and it is doing a very good job of destroying the system.
As a specialty elementary teacher, grade fraud is not really a part of my world. However, I do believe that those who speak up are putting a big target on their heads. Yes, folks need to speak out but they must feel safe in how they do it. We need a whistleblower protection clause in the contract for folks who want to report grade fraud. I kind of like the idea of anonymously sending in students work to the local newspapers with student names blacked out and stating what grades these kids got due to principal grade editing.
There are several clauses to protect whistleblowers in contract. You have to use them.
Soooo, who here wants to be the first crash test dummy to report grade fraud in their school? How about you? Oh, you are untenured? Never mind. How about you? Oh, your principal is a Leadership Academy graduate? Never mind. Ok, how about you? Oh, you got rated "developing" last year? Never mind.
But, what if members of a staff were united in demanding a fair process to test and appraise kids? Can we get that through the Contract? The answer is yes although we can only go as far as the Superintendent.
Please read the posting in its entirety before you comment.
The Union doesn’t want to be painted as out to get students. Forget it. Plenty of people are telling the media. Nobody cares. Parents are getting what they want, the City is getting what it wants, students are getting what they want. So, why fight it? Seriously. If we step in, we get painted as the boogeyman. Bottom line, a kid with a 65 average has a diploma that is worthless. The educrats at Tweed have ensured this. So, let them take responsibility for it. That *is* *there* *job*, not the union’s.
I think Bloomberg's strategy of divide and conquer has worked. I have no faith in the UFT. I stopped expressing my concerns to my CL last year.
There is public and accepted grade fraud in the scores of the Regents exams. If nobody cares about this, does anyone really believe that the UFT will support any public whistle blowers?
But if they get all 65s, they graduate on time, never repeating a class. That is fraud as most 65s don't deserve 65. Then they get a free ride in college? And the principal gloats that we had 99% grad rate?
The Union does not do anything.
What about the 900 teaching fellows hired? Meanwhile, I cant get a transfer with an excellent record. The Open Market is a fraud as well.
Fair Student Funding has turned the Open Market into a joke. It’s all but getting the cheapest possible body to balance that individual school budget. Why is the city hiring teaching fellows when ATRs with the same license are languishing? Fair Student Funding. Look at the case in court this week of the inexperienced science teacher that caused severe burns on a student. At the same time there were many experienced teachers with that license sitting in the ATR pool and on the Open Market. NYC taxpayers will be paying that student millions of dollars because of Fair Student Funding.
And we all got the email yesterday, they have managed to weaken the discipline code further.
No grade standards, no discipline standards. Highest grade rate ever. Lowest suspension rates ever. Anybody see fraud? So, as a student in a NYC school, I can basically have marijuana in my possession, display disorderly conduct, spit, and do graffiti, the Safety Agents can’t stop me. Also, the teachers has limited access in calling the Safety Agents if I am: cutting class, late, smoking, lying, or gambling. Oooooo yeah, this is a GREAT idea.
Just today, a girl walked into class late and began walking around screeching and screaming. I said to her, "Morning. I need you to take a seat." Her response? "Fuck you bitch. How does my dick taste?" When I started teaching, that was a 3 day suspension. Would STILL be a suspension in my HOME, suburban , HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL district (#17 in the state). But in the DOE, were supposed to look at what WE did to make the sweet, innocent kid say such a thing. Maybe my "Morning" wasn't cheery enough. Maybe it was TOO cheery. Maybe this girl didn't want to be told what kind of morning to have..Maybe I wore a blue shirt today and this girl doesn't like blue shirts on Thursdays. But no matter, I'm supposed to kiss her ass and be super duper nice and grovel to get her to "like" me. It's absurd. I had teachers I didn't like. And I NEVER spoke to them like that, because even if I couldn't STAND them, I had respect for their POSITION as the educated adult in the room, and my home training required me to shut my mouth and stick with "Yes, ma'am, no ma'am" no matter what.
Dont make me laugh. Another way to cover up safety issues and let students get away with everything.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza and I announced an agreement earlier today that provides more clinical support for students struggling with behavior issues, ensures that suspensions are focused on the most serious cases of student infractions, and for the first time codifies the process by which teachers can have students removed from their classroom.
With this agreement, each school will be required to have — and enact — a plan of progressive student discipline, along with required training for the entire staff. In addition, the process for teachers to remove students from their classrooms — now poorly defined — will be clearly laid out.
The mayor and the chancellor also announced a new Memorandum of Understanding between the DOE and the NYPD that clarifies which student infractions should result in arrests or summonses and which should be dealt with by school safety agents and the school administration.
I am particularly pleased that today’s announcement recognizes what we have said for years — that educators need more access to trained personnel who can immediately deal with students in crisis. The new agreement includes the hiring of dozens of new clinical social workers, a resource we have sorely needed.
Hopefully, this new agreement will lead to a constructive and collaborative learning environment in more schools and classrooms next year.
Thanks for all you do, and, as always, we make it work when we work together.
Have a great summer.
Sincerely,
Michael Mulgrew
James - even you are living in a dream world.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
And then we get targeted. It goes round and round...
Wednesday, June 19, 2019 2:01:00 PM
Blogger James Eterno said...
If ten schools stand up or even 7 or 8, nobody will be targeted. How in the hell did I survive 32 years and going to speak at PEPP meetings repeatedly?
They are not you. How will 10 schools even know about each other? Doing this organizing should have been what the opposition did when it existed - but it didn't even really try.
So with no organized opposition - Anonymous Anonymous said...
The Union does not do anything.
Of course when you don't try to make the union do something then - why bother?
From the posting: "I would be more than happy to assist if teachers are ready to cry foul on the grades and are willing to go through the conciliation process. We can alert the media if you like."
The post was a challenge to schools that you can fight back. I would help guide and coordinate. Not surprisingly, no takers yet nor do I expect any.
That's because we don't trust or believe in you, James. You're retired and safe. Your keyboard activism is nothing but amusing.
I stood in front of Joel Klein and Carmen Farina and Dennis Walcott. I wrote to Rudy Crew. I called out DOE repeatedly and survived for 32 years. I still have active family and friends. I would not put people in peril. There is safety in numbers.
We need a Constitution rather than a contract. There are certain things that are non negotiable.
James,
This is year 30 for me. I was around when the union had some chutzpah and the CL were experienced and new the contract inside and out. As a teacher, I felt safe and protected. It is just not the same now. Even from just a few years ago.
Every year my principal finds a new way to punish the "troublemaker" teachers. The response from the CL is to just take it because it is worse somewhere else. When the union is contacted directly, teachers are instructed to go through channels, there is nothing they can do if we do not go through the CL first.
Leaders with skill and talent have the ability to unite people. Neither the UFT, nor the DOE have such leaders. Both are run by incompetent and corrupt people.
If a student ever speaks to me in a manner stated in a previous post "Fuck you bitch. How does my dick taste?" I will file a report with the police. It is shameful that I would not get help from my administration or my union.
The UFT needs to do more to inform the teachers of what is in the contract, to unite teachers, support the teachers, train the chapter leaders, make their presence known in the schools, etc. As long as the UFT has my money, I don't think they care to have my trust.
Are there any people with any character or morals left in the UFT? We know the DOE is void of these people already.
I dont think they care. The system keeps moving. Teachers show up, get paid, gone. The abuse that takes place doesn't matter. The fact that there is fraud, students aren't learning, arent working, can't read or write, are criminal in some cases, who cares?
I've been in the DOE since 1996. Shit has got real bad in the past 8 or so years. I have seen numerous teachers discontinued as well as placed in the "rubber room" due to nonsense charges in these last 8 years. I NEVER saw any of this prior to then. The fact is that we are are currently working in a hostile work place and the UFT does not have your back. Grade fraud? It happens but it is not worth reporting if you are going to be targeted for retaliation. And don't even mention that we now have whistleblower protections. As we all know our current contract is used as toilet paper by most admins. To survive the DOE, lay low and don't ever make any ripples. If some of you want to be a crusader, go for it. However, be ready for payback. Call me gutless, I don't care. I have a few years left and want to keep a roof over my head and food on the table, not to mention a well earned pension. I sure as hell am not going to risk all that.
"Shit has got real bad in the past 8 or so years."
You mean things were better under the Bloomberg-Joel Klein assault from 2002-2010? Where were you that you missed all that? Things may not have gotten better but worse?
The problem James, is that society as a whole is corrupt. The DOE is corrupt, UFT is corrupt, there are corrupt admin, and there are corrupt teachers.
Several blogs focus on the symptoms( going after admin) when we should be attacking policy. Since it seems that principals are often evaluated by their graduation rate and student pass rates, hence they feel pressured to improve grades. If that were to change I believe there will be far less issues with grade fraud. Honestly, if my rating was based strictly on student classroon pass rates, I will certainly reconsider how often I fail students.
James, so how can we change policy from the top down? That's the real question.
Thank you for a very thoughtful comment. I agree restoring integrity to the system should be a main UFT priority. It won't happen until teachers are empowered again. I think something coming organically from the schools makes the people in power move.
This is a quote, written, from a student, who is going into his senior year...And has never failed English...I didnt had any good success in this MP because I didnt did good.
3:36 is the best comment I have ever seen on this blog. Truth without an agenda!
James, that is what I think you should focus on, policy, and less sensationalism.
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