Wednesday, January 13, 2021

LIVE BLOGGING FROM JANUARY DELEGATE ASSEMBLY (Unedited)

 I am actually on the call early this month. We are being treated to some upbeat piano music. 

UFT President Michael Mulgrew began his report by wishing all a happy new year. He said hopefully 2021 can be a better year than 2020. A lot going on.

Super crazy national government:

Second vote going on to impeach president. Was in schools. Tough to explain to students. We've never had media coverage where students can see what's happening in real time at all times. On top of the pandemic, we are trying to guide our students through this insanity at the national level. No support from the NYC Department of Ed. It is insane on what is happeniing in our country. Our focus from DC is vaccine and funding. Betsy DeVos quit so yeah. She will go down in history that she tried to take away equity, privatize and help vulture lenders. She tried to do everything in what we are against. She will go down as the worst Secretary of Education. Cardona is an improvement. He is a life-long educator. We applaud Biden for putting him in as Secretary of Education.

NY should get over $4 billion. NYC should get over $2.4 billion because of Title 1. Governor took over $1 billion from first stimulus and diverted it. They will be looking to us to fix some of the harm done by the pandemic. It is more than learning loss. If state supplants money coming from the federal government, we won't be able to help kids. Prioritization of children needs to be there. The fiscal year for city ends on June 30. Biden wants a stimulus and an infrastructure project. We want every school in NYC to be a carbon-free building. We will push aggressively for this. We want school buildings retrofitted. 

Vaccines: State adapting federal guidelines. 5.1 million in NYS goes to 16.4 million people eligible to receive the vaccine in NYS with 1B. Federal releasing reserves of vaccines. Vaccine should lead to herd immunity. Vaccines will be released in two weeks. Pool of people eligible expanded but we still have a limited supply of vaccines. NYS has 300,000 vaccines. Governor said for unions to set up their own apparatus. Thank God we did it. Biden will get it out faster than two weeks. Some large healthcare systems running out of vaccines. What federal government did was very bad. They tripled the number of people eligible while not increasing the supply. Title I could be tripled. 

We put $1.2 million into the Georgia runoff. We are pleased with the results helping our agenda. Damage to our country is huge from what is going on in DC. We should get a third stimulus from federal government.

Governor claims $63 billion deficit over three years. It is probably closer to $30 billion. In 2007-08, we had $700 million deficit. We were only large union that didn't get a layoff. Many layoffs in state in 2008-09. $9-10 billion deficits now. Safety Livelihood and profession throughout the pandemic. The biggest challenge is protecting our livelihoods. State will want to take money earmarked for education and supplant it. Next federal stimulus should cover city and state governments but it won't cover the deficit. We will push heavily on a revenue package. Assembly and Senate can override vetos. Governor has said nothing about education. Taxing the ultra-wealthy should be on the table. Rich people buying condos should not get tax breaks. Federal money should be add ons and not supplanted.

New State Ed Commissioner is Betty Rosa. We have worked well with her. Lester Young new Chancellor of the Board of Regents is a NYC educator. When was the last time we had an educator as chancellor in NYC, NYS, SED and DC? If state receives extra vaccines, it is going to local Departments of healths. City stockpiling vaccine and not getting it out. State outside of NYC getting out 74% of vaccines. NYC has only distributed 52% of vaccines it has received. We will see where this goes. With a major shortage of vaccines, we will see where this goes. If they continue to keep vaccines in storage, we will get angry. We need to get 65% to 70% vaccinated to get to herd immunity. With the expansion of who is eligible, we expect shortages. Biden will invoke the Defense Production Act to make pharmaceutical companies produce much more vaccine. Happy some are getting it now but we will see how this plays out. Members calling and emailing Mulgrew. He is advising to try every avenue. School nurses getting vaccines. Continue working with our partners. There is going to be a big scrum over vaccines. We are trying to communicate that clearly. We have a long way to go on the vaccines. 

Schools staying open:

When the state came out with regulations, the state said districts had to negotiate a plan with unions. That's what we did in August. In September, state said counties could change their plan as long as it complies with state minimum standards. They could change but it is a health emergency just as making us work during spring break which we will be fighting in arbitration was a health emergency. State agreed that we had to have more testing. City positivity rate is not measured the same way the rest of the country measures. 9% was state requirement to close schools. Governor changed that. School district can remain open as long as they have a positivity rate below the area which they always will since people can't go to work if sick. We objected to the governor. Schools are very safe with our testing program. If by state numbers positivity rate goes to 9%, we have to go to war. It's just going to be what it is at this point. Doctors telling us schools are the safest place in the community. Yes, there is new information but they can't keep changing the rules. It has a detrimental effect. City number kept getting higher when the mayor was trying to get the governor to do some things. The city number is coming down. City number never counted. It has always been the state number. 

If you hear that schools are closing, that's a positive thing. 271 schools closed today. Our program was so that virus wouldn't spread in schools. Masks, social distancing, ventilation and cleaning all help but if there is any evidence that there is COVID in a school, it shuts down. Our testing system is successful. If we had our testing system set up around the country, it would be much better. Christmas Eve was a disaster when contact tracers sent out results when schools were closed. City said they want to let people go early because it was Christmas Eve. Closing schools stops it from spreading in schools. Random testing getting better but still has issues. Random lists for each school are generated by DOE. Leave it to DOE, that's not good. Now testing more children. When 2/3 of those tested are adults, it's not random. More students than adults now being tested. We prioritized those working in schools for vaccines. The city made the same decision but they put nothing in place to put that into play.

Evaluation: 

We have to have an evaluation system done by this month but we are getting nowhere with the DOE. People with the DOE we are negotiating with are in la-la land. We need a scientifically tested system to work with. DOE asking for ridiculous things. Our committee has met. There has to be a MOSL. We have to figure that out. 

Operational issues:

Chapter leaders have done a great job Almost 1700 filed. over 1,000 resolved. We are checking on them. ICT overburdening of teachers is a problem. Compensation is tied to almost all of the resolutions. We are not closing them until the chapter leader approves of the stipulation.  

NYC politics:

We have to work with the next City Council for next four years. Have people working on endorsements in every city council district. Districts do not align with school districts. Doing town halls with mayoral candidates. We probably will make an endorsement. It's too important not to make an endorsement. We need to know educational policy. Some Bloomberg associates are running. We are watching hedge funds.

Over 500 at chapter leader training. Thanks them for being chapter leader. This is the hardest time to ever be a chapter leader at the UFT. We are not the DOE if we have issues with computers. Thousands registered for one course but we had a computer problem. We will make sure people will get into courses. The elementary town hall, we didn't know 3,000 people wanted to attend. We have called Zoom to get more people in. 

We Feed NYC, we are helping. Everyone distributing food right now is facing some major shortages. In a four week period, we were able to raise a little money. We delivered over 20,000 meals to organizations distributing food. A restaurant owner thanked us for giving him the ability to distribute food. You can donate to We Feed NYC. 

Optical form of the UFT, Jeff Sorkin at UFT Welfare Fund went to an organization to go online. Email will come on that. We have gone paperless on optical.

Staff Director's Report:

Leroy Barr wishes a happy new year and notes there are over 2,000 on call. He then announces some upcoming dates of union activities including Black Lives Matter Week of Action lessons. 

Question Period:

Question: D1 CL, Happy about efforts UFT has made on vaccine. Is UFT trying to rush vaccines so schools will open?

Mulgrew answer: First of all it is safety. Goal from March 5 on was to get schools closed and this is the only way through the pandemic. No other large school system open. Chicago opened on Monday. Emails are off the charts. At the last town hall, I said it's up to state to mandate the vaccine. Members are now emailing saying teachers should have to get vaccine to get back to school. In October, some wanted schools open, some wanted them schools. We are a union. There are always going to be differences. There has been so much craziness in the country the last two weeks. Mulgrew afraid on how these vaccines will be doled out. No conversations with NYC on opening schools. When we get to stage 1C, it will be almost everyone. Schools already being used to distribute vaccines. We know politically that people try to create wedge issues. We're smarter than that. We're all at the same anxiety level. We have a reputation as a large, powerful, responsible union. We have access to the thing that gets us through this. Some want people to be mandated to get vaccine. Internal stuff splits organizations. Mulgrew appreciates that question.

Question: Student participation uniformly low. The administration is telling us to pass kids who don't deserve it.

Answer: Law says our professional judgment can't be changed as long as we can back it up. We keep asking DOE to get kids who aren't engaged. All of you can talk about it. UFT asked the DOE to put an outside the school (district and citywide) program and the DOE refused to do it. State law says as long as you can back up why you gave a student a particular grade, nobody can touch it. 

 Question: Update on retirement incentive? Will it help people with 20 years of service?

Answer: City unions (non-uniform) working on this. State will not give incentive to people who can retire in 20 years. It is one of our priorities. UFT goal to get as many as possible to be eligible. We have many new subs. The city knows this saves them money. 

Question: Overzealous AP. Can they do observation now for any evaluation later?

Answer: No. DOE polices nothing. They put out stuff and when it is not done, they don't do anything to fix it.

Question: How can the situation room be improved so there are no gaps and people are infected and nobody knows?

Answer: Testing results coming back better. We are supposed to get test results within two days, they are now doing it within 4 days. Tell district representative. Priority is to get back positives quickly. Goal to monitor to keep schools safe. They are not DOE folks. We also want people to know that the process works. When people don't know results, it leads to anxiety and fear. Get information to district reps, we will get results.

Question: Any sense of when will middle schools and high schools be returning?

Answer: No. Using large high schools for vaccine distribution. DOE does not have the capacity to do the testing so they can't open up. Just because you take the vaccine, we don't know if you can spread it still. Still need a mask. If we ever get to that, we will need time. We should be open by September. We could open before then.

Question: Gifted and talented and specialized high schools?

Answer: We want a gifted and talented program but we should not start testing before third grade. We did not get a heads up on the specialized high schools. DOE has told us they will send out new guidance for the specialized high school exam which should be given in two weeks. We need a plan that works inside of the pandemic. We think every school should have a gifted and talented program. There should be a multiple measure test put in place.

Question: Someone gets a first vaccine but not a second, what happens?

Answer: You have to start over. Scheduled to go where you got the first shot. We agreed with the state and city that we can't go through that. Working with MLC. We got release time. DOE tried to reinterpret that. Michael Sill worked on that.

Question: I missed one on a specific school in the Bronx.

Question: Teacher remote, saying school not cleaned. What is the policy on daily cleaning?

Answer: Tell the UFT. Did a walkthrough of MLK HS campus. Custodian thankful we got involved. We will take care of it. Tell district rep. We will take care of it.

New Motion Period:

Resolution to honor Stacey Abrams and voters of Georgia. She lost election for governor but worked on organizing. Let's honor them for flipping Georgia from red to blue. Nobody spoke against putting this on next month's agenda. 89% voted in favor-11% no.

Resolution for next month to condemn President Trump. 

RESOLVED that the United Federation of Teachers stands to protect the democratic process that President Trump and his followers are determined to undermine; and be it further

RESOLVED that the UFT condemns the actions of President Trump and the rioters as acts of domestic terrorism; and be it further

RESOLVED that as a result of these actions, Donald Trump is unfit to continue acting as our nation’s President and therefore should be removed from office immediately.

Motivator went over all of what Trump did last week and then what happened with the riots in DC. Nobody spoke against but someone had an objection to one of the resolved clauses being moot since Trump will be gone next week. 75% voted yes-25% voted no.

 Special Orders of Business:

20 candidate endorsements for the city council.

12 incumbents

8 new people 

1 endorsement for Borough President Donavan Richards (Queens)

(I couldn't keep up with all of the names as they were read for City Council.)

Update with names:

RESOLVED, that the UFT endorses Jenny Low, Carlina Rivera, Keith Powers, Gale Brewer, Diana Ayala, Mark Gjonaj, Ischia Bravo, Sandra Ung, Francisco Moya, Sheker Krishnan, Adrienne Adams, Robert Holden, Lincoln Restler, Crystal Hudson, Darma Diaz, Alicka Ampry-Samuel, Justin Brannan, Kalman Yeger, Farah Louis and Ari Kagan to be the next City Council members to represent their respective districts; 

Motivator says UFT members who are constituents in the respective districts who have been duly trained conducted the interviews.

Mulgrew: Viability, education, and labor issues are the criteria.

He asks if people want to pull individuals out for debate on particular candidates.

Jonathan Halabi says he wants Mark Joni pulled out to be discussed separately.

Motion to suspend the rules to allow debate on one candidate. Yes 41%-No 59%. 

Vote on all candidates without any debate on the package: 83% yes-17% no


93 comments:

Not ready to Die said...

Remote teacher evaluation?
Early retirement incentive?
Any info on these things ?

Just an endangered CL said...

+1 cent fee for stock transactions in NYSE solves the budget.
Solved.(not kidding, do the Math)

Anonymous said...

All I can say is "Wow"! We are in for long ride.

Frog Man said...

I don't why the UFT continues to push this Betsy DeVos narrative. In my 22 years of teaching, no one has negatively impacted my teaching career and the students in my classrooms more than Arne Duncan under the Obama administration.

Anonymous said...

Same old chestnuts, with their oft used for the abused - “You’re lucky to have a job”, hanging over the entire dog and pony show in neon lights. Ecstatic to hear Mike Sill was useful for something ...
Cuomo is planning on opening all schools soon. No school closures if someone gets ill. Just get get your ass to work, Trump is gone and we don’t have to tank the economy any longer. Mulgrew and deBlasio will tow the line.

nerd said...

Why do we “have to have an evaluation system done by this month? “

nerd said...

The questions from callers are repetitive. We would know if there were progress on an early retirement incentive because it impacts other unions too.

Jonathan Halabi said...

After Mulgrew's reso to suspend the rules failed, where was the debate on the original reso?

I was on hold, ready to oppose. He called the question without taking a speaker opposed.

jeff said...

Let me see if I understand...

Devos is awful, no word on Duncan/Obama
Mulgrew can't believe what students are seeing now but makes no mention of riots, looting, destruction, killing from last summer
He knows about the constant grade fraud and says we can give the grades but he is doing nothing to stop it
blm week?
Kiss the ass stacey abrams?
No mention of spring break pay from 10 months ago
Another flagrantly bad observation system upcoming

Anonymous said...

LOL. You can give any grade. Until AP, Principal and other teachers attack you. And as students threaten to call 311 and chancellor because you are the only one who grades honestly.

Anonymous said...

Any vote to condemn the riots last summer?

Anonymous said...

As a dues payer, can I ask what is Black Lives Matter Week of Action lessons?

Not ready to Die said...

Remote observations no details.

Early retirement incentive mentioned again with nothing really said.
Mulgrew is a typical politician . Lots of words but no substance. I know we all lie to each other as part of this job. We masquerade as professionals yet we don’t get paid like other professionals with similar education levels.
By the time you reach top pay you are ready to drop dead or run away somewhere warm.
Other city jobs reach top pay in 5 years and you can retire in 20.
Teaching is a life sentence. Mention summers off but don’t forget to mention summer jobs you have had to work in order to afford to keep teaching in the hopes of reaching retirement.

Anonymous said...

Not to me, I'm 40 and resigning as soon as they open the buildings.

Anonymous said...

BLM is a hate group. The UFT has become radicalized with its support of bigotry.

Anonymous said...

855, I agree with you, which must make us both racist.

Anonymous said...

Is there a week for Whites and Asians?

Anonymous said...

How are they just going to layoff thousands and thousands of teachers? Are we looking at class sizes of 50? Isn't there some kind of notice they have to give before laying all of these people off?

Anonymous said...

Black Lives Matter is an anti-semitic hate group.

Why does the UFT promote and support antisemitism?

More importantly, why is the UFT promoting anti-semitism through BLM instead of protecting the health and financial well being of it membership?

"Jonathan S. Tobin: Want to fight racism? Begin by resisting BLM ideology
Indeed, the recent surge of anti-Semitic comments from some African-American athletes and celebrities like DeSean Jackson, Nick Cannon and Ice Cube were largely ignored by BLM activists rather than condemned. While there were some blacks who did speak out, like basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabaar and sports commentator Jemele Hill, they were the honorable exceptions who proved the rule and testified to the acceptance of Jew-hatred among many blacks. Jewish groups, some of which are diffident about confronting African-Americans about anti-Semitism, aren’t likely to rally BLM advocates to confront this issue, let alone seek its sources, such as the widespread influence of hatemonger Louis Farrakhan and his Nation of Islam.

Unfortunately, many liberal Jews are not only failing to see the inherent problems that arise from backing radical BLM ideas like demonizing all police, but they are also buying into the group’s dangerous ideas about the perils of “whiteness,” which represent a particular threat to Jews as well as undermine black aspirations for advancement.

Accepting the ideological constructs behind the idea of White Fragility—the bestselling book that is a modern patent nostrum of foolishness about race—sends well-meaning people down a rabbit hole of rigid racialism that discards Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s hopes for a race-blind society. And yet that is exactly what many Jews are doing in this overheated post-George Floyd atmosphere.

In the past, Jews have played a constructive role in the struggle for civil rights—whether by marching with Dr. King or funding African-American education precisely because their efforts were aimed at raising up African-Americans, not abasing themselves at the altar of race.

That is why rather than jumping on the BLM bandwagon, those who claim to represent Jewish interests should be holding that movement to account for its damaging ideology, as well as its anti-Zionist connections and passivity about the growth of anti-Semitism among African-Americans.

Racism is real. But so is the danger of aligning with a movement whose goals are antithetical to the values that are responsible for the tremendous advances towards a better society that the civil-rights movement supported by blacks and Jews in the past achieved."

Anonymous said...

Although I'm sure they would never lay off thousands of teachers if any, it can be done. There are many teachers unassigned in the atr pool and all they would have to do is discontinue elective classes and enrichment classes and not have as many co-teaching classes.

Anonymous said...

Look who Biden just hired for the DOJ.

Kristen Clarke invited an avowed anti-Semite to Harvard to give a speech on ‘The Jewish Onslaught’

She has now been nominated as Joe Biden’s Asst Attorney General.

Clarke also says people should be hired based on skin color, not merit. Sounds like the nycdoe.

Uft is silent. Randi applauds.

You proud, James? This is the union we need? The government we want?

Anonymous said...

@11:17 Is this the Big Guy pick for the civil rights division of the DOJ? You know--the one who said there is some melatonin section of the brain and that the more you have of it (i.e, the blacker you are) the smarter, more athletic and spiritual you are?
That person?

Anonymous said...

Keep milking the system teachers. while the dem hypocrites pander about race what they’re really doing is paying us to sabotage the very population they pander to. Let the dems pander. Keep passing kids who can’t read and cash that paycheck. Easy money and we have the blessing of the woke to do so. If and when rational adults get control of the nyc doe, we can actually work for that paycheck. In the meantime make things look good and just pass them.

Anonymous said...

@11:17 PM

The leftists traffic in and are silent about anti-Semitic tropes.

Here is an example from the NY Post:

The words leap out and grab you. Former President Barack Obama characterizes no other world leader in anything like the terms he reserves for former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

In his recent memoir, Obama tells us that Sarkozy is a “quarter Greek Jew.” Little wonder, then, that Sarkozy has “dark, expressive, Mediterranean features,” which resemble the exaggerated, often distorted figures “of a Toulouse-Lautrec painting.”

Little wonder, too, that he is “all emotional outbursts and overblown rhetoric,” while his conversation, which reflects unbridled ambition and incessant pushiness, “swoops from flattery to bluster to genuine insight.”

One might have thought Obama was deliberately directing at Sarkozy the insults notoriously hurled at Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), the first person of Jewish birth to become Britain’s prime minister. The colonial administrator Lord Cromer said of Disraeli that he was driven by “a tenacity of purpose” that was “a Jewish characteristic.” With his swarthy, “Oriental features,” Disraeli was consumed by an “addiction” to the “passionate outbursts” and “excesses of flattery” that were the hallmarks of his “nimble-witted” race.

Cromer’s taunts, which Obama so uncannily echoes, were hardly unusual. On the contrary, the traits Obama attributes to Sarkozy — from oily complexion to pushy, self-centered assertiveness — were at the heart of the anti-Semitic caricature of the Jew that crystallized, with murderous consequences, in the 19th century.

That history makes calling Sarkozy a Jew vastly different from noting, say, that Angela Merkel’s father was a Lutheran pastor; and if anti-Semitism involves using the label “Jew” to evoke, emphasize or explain an interrelated complex of unattractive attributes, Obama’s description of Sarkozy is unquestionably anti-Semitic.

Yet from The New York Times to The Washington Post and beyond, not one of the gushing reviews considered Obama’s statement even worth mentioning.

https://nypost.com/2020/12/17/obama-trafficked-in-anti-semitic-tropes-media-didnt-notice/

Anonymous said...

The Delegate Assembly is a monoculture of like minded intolerant leftists.
They are doing the bidding of their leader, Mr. Mulgrew.

They are indeed a very special kind of idiocracy.

Anonymous said...

Join me in pulling Vote Cope.Then use the money to treat yourself.maybe we should explain why we are not supporting these causes.that is my plan.but unfortunately, I think these resolutions are voted on my the delegates reps who attend meetings.ie they are members, so it goes to show where many members are holding.maybe if enough of us state the reasons for our pulling these funds, it might make a difference.also, with greatly reduced cope funds, they will have fewer follies to fund.maybe they would stick more to MONEY AND WORKING CONDITIONS cuz everyone wants that.idk...james what do you think about this strategy?

Anonymous said...

The group of Trump supporters that stormed the capitol contained nazi supporters and Jews had no issues marching along with them.

Anonymous said...

Unsurprisingly this isn't being covered by MSM:

Biden pick to head DOJ Civil Rights Division wrote Blacks had 'superior physical and mental abilities'
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-kristen-clarke-doj-civil-rights-division


In 1994, Clarke wrote a letter to The Harvard Crimson in her capacity as the president of the Black Students Association to explain her views on race science.

"Please use the following theories and observations to assist you in your search for truth regarding the genetic differences between Blacks and whites [sic]," Clarke wrote. "One: Dr Richard King reveals that the core of the human brain is the 'locus coeruleus,' which is a structure that is Black, because it contains large amounts of neuro-melanin, which is essential for its operation.

Two: Black infants sit, crawl and walk sooner than whites [sic].

Three: Carol Barnes notes that human mental processes are controlled by melanin -- that same chemical which gives Blacks their superior physical and mental abilities.

"Four: Some scientists have revealed that most whites [sic] are unable to produce melanin because their pineal glands are often calcified or non-functioning. Pineal calcification rates with Africans are five to 15 percent [sic], Asians 15 to 25 percent [sic] and Europeans 60 to 80 percent [sic]. This is the chemical basis for the cultural differences between blacks and whites [sic].

"Five: Melanin endows Blacks with greater mental, physical and spiritual abilities -- something which cannot be measured based on Eurocentric standards."

Anonymous said...

Sorry, i cited Kristen Clarke and used the word 'melatonin' instead of 'melanin.' My comment may have been banned/moderated but I wanted to correct my misstatement.

Anonymous said...

The difference is that everyone condemned last Wednesday. Only half condemned last summer. half actually encouraged it. Most hate crimes are actually anti Jew, but that is ignored. Look it up.

Now, think what the response would be if I used Ms. Clarke's comments and just changed the skin colors, whites are smarter, blah, blah, blah. Outrage, right?

4:55 AM is right, the people that are supposedly abused are getting more abused while not realizing it because they are getting a completely fraudulent diploma.

Anonymous said...

I don’t watch Fox News, but I saw this Tucker Carlson clip on YouTube concerning Gov. Cuomo. It’s 100% true, https://youtu.be/524qd8pVt78
Cuomo will be opening up everything, including schools very soon. I think the NYshutdown was as much to tank the economy to kill Trump’s re-election as it was to stop the spread of the virus. As Trump is all but gone, Cuomo wants everything opened. Cuomo still refuses to give the number of nursing home residents he killed. Hey, but he won an Emmy. Mulgrew and deBlasio must be very envious.

James Eterno said...

The 25% vote not to condemn Trump kind of contradicts that like minded intolerant leftist comment.

Anonymous said...

LOL james.

Look at the outrage from last Wednesday vs last summer. There was none last summer.

Anonymous said...

Imagine if a GOP Congressman or Senator began to raise bail money for Capitol rioters...They would be lynched!

Kamala raised money for Rioters who burned & destroyed 150 federal buildings $2Billion in private property damage.

The corrupt media celebrated her for it

Anonymous said...

To get support in Albany for the Early Retirement Incentive, please email and text your State Senator and State Assemblyperson.

Look them up, find out who they are, email, call, or follow on Twitter and Facebook and message them there!

https://nyassembly.gov/mem/search/

https://www.nysenate.gov/find-my-senator

Please share this widely and let's work together to make this happen!

Anonymous said...

The comment section here has grown quite reactionary. I guess the parler trolls needed a new bridge to hide under.

Anonymous said...

Impeached for what? Encouraging a protest? Give me a break. The left doesn’t like it when the right wing thugs are violent but encourages violent BLM and antifa thugs. Cry me river. ALL political violence is wrong just like ALL lives fucking matter. All we heard during June was dem hypocrites encouraging BLM and refusing to acknowledge antifa even exists. Fuck Biden. Fuck Harris. No unity with them ever.

TeachNY said...

Anyone upset that once again, middle schools and high schools are put on the back burner and are STILL remote? Crazy. Most of Long Island is open full time or at least partially, yet middle and high schools remain shuttered. What a crime. And what a crime it is to start eliminating honors classes.

Anonymous said...

lets find out what the incentive is before we go and praise/push it

Anonymous said...

No. People are upset that elementary buildings are still open, and that the union is okay with that.

Anonymous said...

Why give an early retirement incentive when many on here say they’re retiring the moment they have to go back?

Anonymous said...

De Blasio just touted highest grad rate ever. You teachers are a joke.

He said we are getting money. Think we are getting the spring break money now?

Anonymous said...

You know what is interesting? There are finally many younger teachers who are fed up with the UNITY/Mulgrew machine. Where the hell were these teachers when Mulgrew sold us out by getting us 4 observations instead of the state mandated 2? I guess it takes teachers literally dying to finally see some pushback against Mulgrew.

Anonymous said...

I was wondering about the potential ERI based on a recent article which said retirement applications in NYC are up over 60%. Sorry I don't remember the source.
Would an ERI on top of that cause a teacher shortage?
I crunch snacks, not numbers.

Anonymous said...

Stop asking about ERI. When there is a deal, you will find out the info. Maybe they will get us spring break pay first.

Anonymous said...

The graduation rate went up 1.5% in the city but the article did quote people who said it maintained mainly because there were no Regents exams, so the graduation rate only reflects course completion and not college readiness not that it ever measured college readiness anyway. I wonder why, though, individual schools don't have graduation rates posted. That would be interesting to see.

Anonymous said...

Grad rate should be 40%-50%, in reality. Maybe less.

Not ready to Die said...

4:39
Should we not mention the teacher evaluation?
After all it looks like you want to wait and have things dropped on you like a piano !

Not ready to Die said...

4:39
Should we not mention the teacher evaluation?
After all it looks like you want to wait and have things dropped on you like a piano !

Anonymous said...

Eri is different than evaluation. No point in discussing eri.

Anonymous said...

"Parler trolls" lol--nice ad hominem!
Besides, what's this "Parler" of which you speak?

Anonymous said...

There is now and always has been an existential ERI. The mismanagement, fraud and incompetence is the ERI.

Anonymous said...

Parler trolls-making $130k to sit home as liberals keep down the students they claim to care about. Who is the joke on? Minimum wage for life.

Anonymous said...

3 emails today

1. No show asking what he can do to pass, he wants to do better. No show, no work.
2. Guidance tells me I should pass a girl because she has a child
3. Mother wants to know how her son is doing, 10 days left in term, NX in every class, both marking periods. Also, no show, no work

Anonymous said...

DeBlasio is banking on MAJOR union concessions to balance NYC’s budget. Want to guess where he’ll go first? Forget about all the petty nonsense, this is what should concern us and what we should be pressing Mulgrew about, or the dynamic duo will screw all of us.

Anonymous said...

The worst kind of lie is a double standard. And right now, it’s double standards all the way down.

Anonymous said...

Watch out, Mulgrew won't save you.

With proposed $92 billion budget, de Blasio will push to reopen NYC schools fully

https://ny.chalkbeat.org/platform/amp/2021/1/14/22232069/de-blasio-budget-covid-relief?__twitter_impression=true

Anonymous said...

James, you approve? 3rd grade.

https://www.city-journal.org/identity-politics-in-cupertino-california-elementary-school

Anon2323 said...

Best bet for many studemts will be a major increase in vocational high schools and trade schools.


@9:31 instead of watching cnn at 8 maybe watch Tucker or newsmax instead.

Trump has jewish
grandchildren Nazis are not welcome, sickening that trump supporters are labeled this way.


Amazing people are ok with sensoring, wait until you see that facebook was heavily involved with the preeeeeee planeeeddddd events. IMpeaching without a trial when heads are hot, now wait and see how it all unfolds. Obama being declassified so James and the gang can see how corrupt this guy was. How unethical he is.

Just an Endangered CL said...

No Amy, what is crazy is that any school is open with widespread infection rates, multiple variants, and the lies due to intentional biasing of school testing.

Ask the families of the DEAD UFT members and dead parents & grandparents of our students how they felt about schools being open during this deadly pandemic.

No Amy, remote teachers are not "partying".

What is crazy is you, Mulgrew, and UNITY.
MUFT is coming to an end.

CLs are telling their members the truth about you and unity.
Your days of being a DOE-drone are numbered.

Anonymous said...

The joke has always been on the working class and the poor. Keep in mind support staff makes about 1/4 of that. Class analysis is important.

Anonymous said...

Albany should be actively working on a ERI for all city workers and also Congress should be working on Social Security Full Retirement Benefits - pushing it back to 66 from 67 for all workers born after 1954—since the average life expectancy in the United States has now from dropped one year and 6 weeks to age 77–due to COVID.

TeachNY said...

I guess as far as evaluations go-the fair thing to do would just check to see if the teacher is posting relevant work, offering feedback on things handed in, and looking to see if the teacher goes live regularly. You really can’t evaluate on student engagement. That’s out of our control. Unless you’re looking at kids participating in a live Google Meet. I do think teachers should be going live each teaching period. If they don’t, they’re a crappy teacher.

Anonymous said...

Francisco Moya has the the largest number of student suspensions in his school and district. School District 24. The Superintendent's office is even located in the same building?
it's very amusing how elected officials can support the DREAM act etc, in Albany and at City hall yet do not advocate for the hundreds on ELL/SPED students being suspended a few blocks from their office?

Why would the UFT endorse Francisco Moya?

Shelley said...

TeachNY, with yet another condemnatory statement about our fellow teachers, sez,
"I do think teachers should be going live each teaching period. If they don’t, they’re a crappy teacher."

Please get your head out of your own ass, TeachNY. That is where you got your "crappy" description of other teachers and that is where it should remain.

How do you claim to know what other teachers, in other schools, with other pupils, in entirely different contexts from yours must be doing to avoid being labeled with your denigrating description?

Try to have a little respect for the members of your profession, TeachNY. Try to understand that with a million children, ours is a very complex and diverse population of pupils and that no one teaching method, strategy, technology ... must be used by all to avoid be called crappy.

For months I've been reading your condescending attack on members of our profession and I'm sick of it. Who do you think you are?

Anon2323 said...

Any thoughts or concerns about this:

https://nypost.com/2021/01/15/23-die-in-norway-after-receiving-pfizer-covid-19-vaccine/

Anonymous said...

don't watch any of that garbage. Jewish Fascists exist, read up on them during Italy's era of fascist rule and on the birth of Israel. all united states presidents are corrupt.
and that misinformation, and corruption, seeps into many of the problems we have in education. leads to adults that don't know much and are easily persuaded to believe corporate news streams. such is the problem we face with the Open Schools crowd. and those people waiting for answers from Q

Anonymous said...

Hey TeachNY: Get off your high horse. You are a tool.

TeachNY said...

Because I DO think it’s lazy to not go live. You’re not ashamed of the teachers on who brag about “just posting” things and call it a day? That’s not crappy? These kids crave the live interaction. If you’re simply posting, and not grading NOR offering feedback...then YES...you are a bad teacher. I find it funny that people want to drop out of paying dues, yet they’re never ripped apart. I pay my union does, go live, and want to go into the building, yet I get told I’m condescending to people in our profession. I guess you’d prefer the teacher who said he sits in his bed and pajamas all day just posting work because he feels screwed over by the city. Fine by me. Geez. Some people should really leave this profession.

Anonymous said...

I agree with almost everything Shelley says, but it is unfair when I go live for 35 minutes per period everyday, every period, others do no teaching, then I get threatened because I have a grading standard and won't pass no shows.

Not ready to Die said...

Shelly ,
TeachNY is not centered in this reality.
Remote teachers have to be live for 2 hours to 2 hours and 45 minutes a day.
TeachNY should stop the b.s. and realize that we are all Uft members. I bet this person came up through the teaching fellows. Every fellow feels they are a quasi administrator.

Jeff said...

I'm the happy medium. I opted out. I teach live every day.
The students dont crave it, they don't even bother logging on, but it is my job, so I do it. I teach to the 5% who show up.

TeachNY said...

Yup. And that’s who we should care about ! They need it!

TeachNY said...

I don’t pass them either. Perhaps the other exception of not going live would be topmost a video of yourself. Not some random person off of YouTube. I mean, we do make a decent salary. Can’t deny it. Especially with 15 plus years in.

Dave said...

Jeff is right. So is 139 pm. I wish the other teachers in my school would have some standards. Oh well. Maybe I shouldn't teach live either.

Anonymous said...

TeachNY, 1:38 and whiners. Who ever told you fairness exists in the real world lied. To survive the doe it helps to be as conniving and dirty as the scum running the system. Don’t blame other teachers who have figured out strategies to muddle through the doe swamp. Not fair is a call for crybabies. Man up. Woman up. Get some game and milk the doe for everything you can. Or play by the rules, get abused and complain. Life’s about choices. Best of luck. Sincerely.

Anonymous said...

Gov. Andrew Cuomo: "The increase in crime is compounding the problems in New York City."

Anonymous said...

Yes, the teachers are to blame for the fraudulent rise in graduation. Its these so called pseudo teachers that pass everyone because they feel sorry for them or because they give into their administration.

Anonymous said...

I understand people who chose not to do anything. I also understand TeachNY's perspective.

At the end of the day we get paid to work. We should be doing that work. And I understand there are many kids who don't show up live, but to those who do, they deserve to be educated. As long as there are kids showing up, you should do live sessions.

Otherwise, you are as much as part of the problem of kids failing because you failed to teach the ones that actually try and care and show up. Good kids go bad when those around them give up. And the good kids don't deserve to be given up on.

The ones who don't, fail them. I fail the kids who don't show up. I document the outreach. I have my proof. I'm untenured as well.

If administration ever gives me a hard time about it, so be it. If they discontinue me, that's fine. Nothing in life is forever anyway.

But I put fulfill my responsibilities. I expect kids to fulfill their's. If they don't, there are consequences which is a bad grade. You don't show up, you don't the homework, in turn you do bad on exams, and now you have a failing grade.

However, the ones who do show up and try have learned so much this year, as much as they would during any normal year. I have seen some students grow academically and it took work to get there, but they are doing so well right now and will be ready to hit the ground running when we go back.

It wouldn't have been fair to deny these children an education. Especially in math which is a subject most kids do poorly on.

At the end of the day, it's your choice. I do live teaching, I plan lessons, I do outreach, and I clock out everyday at the contracted end time. It doesn't take me any more effort or work to actually teach versus me not teaching. I still clock out at the same time everyday.

Have a great three day weekend everyone!

waitingforsupport said...

@7:01 pm...
Good for you. I applaud you and your students will be better off because of you. Sometimes it's hard to do the right thing. Someone mentioned that a guidance counselor said that they "SHOULD" pass a student because of yada yada yada. I suggest that person tell that guidance counselor to send an email saying it. I personally would NEVER pass a student who has not done the work or made an effort. Again, I applaud you. Stay safe.

Shelley said...

I am not defending goldbrickers. I am defending teachers, the teaching profession, teacher autonomy, teacher craft. TeachNY's constant bullying of teachers who don't do what TeachNY does, what TeachNY says are "best practices" must be confronted head on. TeachNY talks the talk of a typical boss, promoted and emboldened by Kline/Bloomberg's corporate take-over of NYC schools.


What TeachNY is spouting is anti-teacher rhetoric disguised as good old fashioned protestant work ethic, pride in the profession, duty to the ones we are responsible for, and earning what we are compensated for. The implications of TeachNY's attack on teachers, so-called "crappy teachers" is that TeachNY, and those that do what TeachNY do, are the gold standard. That the methods, standards, ideas, practices of TeachNY & Company are the best and that anyone not using these listed methods, practices, technologies is crappy.

TeachNY and those like TeachNY undermine teacher freedoms and powers, and are the principal cause of poor solidarity in our Union.

There is no reason to label a teacher a "crappy teacher" because she doesn't use Zoom or whatever technology to go-live with students everyday. TeachNY is typical of the Post-Bloomberg malaise that has spread in schools: people who have not enough experience to know what actually goes on in a thousand different schools in thousands of very different classrooms, now on and off line. With data, with computers, and with "best practices" peddled by the corporate interests that have taken over education, and that are unequivocally anti-teacher and anti-union, TeachNY and TeachNY's ilk are bossing excellent teachers and instruction out of classrooms. Only the teachers know what is happening in the classes they teach. And, while there are some basic things that must not happen and some basic things that must, most of what is best, must be left to the teacher's judgement. Teachers like TeachNY, confident, arrogant, know-betters, willing to attack teachers who don't do what they do, what they have deemed good teaching, are the greatest threat to teaching because we can resist the corporate powers, we can resist and fight the bosses who harass and micromanage, but it the TeachNY teacher that we can't fight because we need TeachNY to build solidarity. So please, confront the TeachNY types, those that too quickly attack members of our union and profession. Lift up those that are exhausted, burned out, angry, disgruntled and, yes, even the goldbrickers. How did this teacher come to such a state? This is what we need to attack. The cause of burnout and exhaustion and anger.

Pay your dues, TeachNY, but that doesn't excuse your attack on teachers that do or don't.

There is no such thing as educational value in the abstract. Get used to it. Teachers don't have to use Zoom or any other "live" technology to do excellent work. Trust the professional judgement of instructors. It is the bedrock of solidarity in teaching unions.

TeachNY said...

Nice post. I clock out at the contractual time as well, and do a little work here and there as needed. I do think people owe it to the kids who show up. For the people out on the Island, I think they’d flip if their kids’ teachers never went live and just sent home packets. As far as what the other dude said (4:05), I don’t cry UNFAIR! I simply shrug my shoulders and think “What a shitty lazy teacher.” As far as navigating the DOE? It’s simple. If it’s that miserable for you, quit. Can’t afford to live then? Move to another state. There are solutions. You may not like them, but they’re there. Just because one is miserable at work doesn’t give them the right to screw the students who care. If navigating through the DOE sludge means doing nothing , it’s time to consider other career options. We have the type of job where our actions totally impact others and their futures. Get the fuck out take an office job. Selfish assholes. Almost a sign of being a sociopath....

Anonymous said...

Teach nothing useful. You are the sociopath.

Anonymous said...

TeachNY thinks I should resign. 124k to babysit and pass. I think I’ll stick around and play by progressive mayor and progressive chancellor’s progressive rules. Babysit, pass, collect money. Repeat. Who am I to challenge my progressive woke bosses and refuse to carry out their progressive woke agenda. I’m no racist, sir. Of course I defer to my brown chancellor’s judgement and obey his orders. Babysit, pass are the standing orders. Don’t be a racist nazi and free think against Carranza’s progressives’ orders.

waitingforsupport said...

@559 am....sooooo what's your complaint again?

Anonymous said...

My complaint is TeachNY shouldn’t try to get me to be a racist and usurp the authority of the chancellor of color by thinking MY grade policy is better for children of color than Woke Carranza’s policy. Other than that, I’m cool.

TeachNY said...

See!? I find it bizarre that I am the wrong one here and people like 5:59 never get looked at as a crappy teacher. Just another loser milking the system.

Anonymous said...

You’re missing the point. I’m doing exactly what our woke brown chancellor and my woke brown AP want me to do. Your privileged brain is telling you that you know better than Carranza. I’ve checked my privilege and am doing exactly what the chancellor and my AP have asked me to do. You are failing kids. That’s not what the woke bosses want. I think you’re the crappy teacher. Good teachers check their privilege and do what the expert woke tell us to do. Pass the kids no matter what. That’s my job. You’re running with your own agenda.

waitingforsupport said...

Why do you keep mentioning color and waking up?

Anonymous said...

Color and waking up? Part of pd last year in my school. Following through on doe pd. You’ve missed a lot in retirement I guess.

Anonymous said...

Woke (/ˈwoʊk/ WOHK) is a political term that originated in the United States, and it refers to a perceived awareness of issues that concern social justice and racial justice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woke

Anonymous said...

The NYC municipal retirement incentive that was presented last October by Senator Gounardes, #S9041 died in Committee as did its companion Bill in the Assembly sponsored by Assemblyman Abbate. The fiscal note attached to both Bills was only good for 2020. Right now there are no viable retirement incentives. Assemblyman Abbate indicated in the Chief this week that he would bring forward yet again a NYC municipal retirement incentive Bill. Interesting that he said that no one from the unions to other elected officials have called him since November to push the previous early retirement incentive or encourage him to present another one. Every early retirement incentive is allegedly a priority for every union yet it never gets out of Committee. At this point, I don’t believe the unions or any of the legislators in Albany. They got our votes with false promises and now they sit on their hands.

Anonymous said...

Yesterday evening Bill S2722 was introduced and has been referred to the Senate Civil Service And Pensions Committee. It replaces an older version that died in Committee. So far, this is the only active early retirement incentive. Guess it’s time to start emailing the Legislators again asking them to support this Bill. Senator Gounardes chairs the Civil Service And Pensions Committee. He allegedly is a friend of labor and the union. Time will tell.