Adam wrote to UFT President Michael Mulgrew and then Chancellor Meisha Porter before the break and we printed it here. It was very well received by our audience. Adam strikes again. Enjoy.
Great (Un)Expectations!
What should the nearly 1.3 million staff and students anticipate, when classes resume in NYC, on January 3rd? Very few parents, students and staff truly feel safe or comfortable going back to their school. The reason, simply put, is that the DoE has consistently mismanaged the handling of Covid cases. They opened the schools in September with massively overcrowded buildings, and a crackerjack plan that consisted of opening windows, using some air filters and wearing masks. Now, the DoE has provided limited assurances that our schools will be safe when it comes to accurately reporting the true number of Covid cases. The track record for this bureaucracy’s handling of Covid is paltry. Essentially, the DoE has basically been embarrassed and pressured into enacting a questionable safety plan, moving forward.
I know that the DoE put out a plan, but I can’t help to wonder how effective is their seemingly reactive engagement to Covid. Why do they feign shock that a viral pandemic has overwhelmed an already fragile and poorly run school system? And how dare they tout a plan that is already a fortnight too late? Ask anybody who has ever worked for the NYC Department of Education, how reliable is the quality level of craftsmanship of anything the DoE purchases. They find three bidders and pick the cheapest. Implementing that same logic with a home Covid test kit is the textbook definition of negligence. Is there any parent or staff member who actually believes that the DoE is suddenly going to procure over two million high quality test kits, in less than a week? With that said, since schools are not closing, wouldn’t it be easier and smarter to just test everyone while they are in the building? Then, everything will get reported under one streamlined agency. The logistics will initially prove challenging to set up, but once it is fully implemented the system will be much more manageable and organized. However, yet again, this would entail a pro-active approach to problem-solving.
It is also quite deplorable that the DoE and UFT now agree that the Situation Room has to be adequately staffed. Where was the rage that this central hub to report and monitor Covid was understaffed. I heard whispers from the union, but no outrage; no frustration, just an acknowledgment that the Situation Room lacked staff. How many DoE employees will actually be manning the Situation Room, because if you double or triple a trickle, you still only have a weak stream. At my school, when nearly 50 people a day were calling out (not all positive, thankfully) and hundreds of students were being kept home, the Situation Room only had us with single-digit Covid confirmations. Add to that, they didn’t answer the phones nor would they call back administrators trying to report active, confirmed Covid cases. Such gross mismanagement, by a joint city agency, should warrant a federal investigation of Bill de Blasio. And now we should just trust the DoE, because they are saying we really fixed it this time. Here’s an example of how the DoE fixes things, look at their new slogan, Stay Open, Stay Safe! Really? Shouldn’t this have been the mantra since before September, not mid-debacle December?
Let’s consider what else they are going to do to keep the students and staff safe. Doubling the testing in all schools sounds great, but now we go from 1.5% to a whopping 3%. School staff are on the front lines and their personal safety, up until a few days ago, did not seem to matter. As for the students, who are very vulnerable to Omicron, they seem to matter even less. Countless schools finished December, running on fumes. The sheer number of staff out, was overwhelming. Classes were collapsed and staff were offered massive overtime to cover all of the absent teachers. In the end, the kids got cheated out of instruction, and again the DoE was completely clueless. Where was the UFT, even in mid-November? They were certainly not screaming from every school building, calling for universal testing. If anything, they were complicit with the 10% staff testing threshold set by the DoE, back in early December.
My angst with UFT and DoE leadership is predicated upon their hubris directed towards the rank and file; a disregard for the students, and a consistently flawed decision-making process when it comes to safety and educational policies. My umbrage with the UFT, should not be misconstrued as misguided union animus. If anything, I think that a teachers union is the most important form of organized labor in this country. I just refuse to accept dysfunctional leadership in times of true crisis.
If you have never worked in a NYC public school, then please think twice before you attack school staff who are simply asking for all precautions and plans to be in place. That type of basic safety has not happened yet, not even close. If anything, we should want the highest level of safety measures in place so kids can learn and everyone can go home without the fear of spreading Covid like some Haight-Ashbury viral free-for-all.
Sincerely,
Adam C Bergstein
25 comments:
This is a Unity guy saying this. This could be the year.
I'd like to know who came up with the idea that the UFT members should all vote for the incumbent no matter how incompetent he/she is. If this were true, then Trump would have had a second term. To me that sounds Fascist.
The DOE should put in place an emergency remote pause for two weeks. Covid is rampant right now.
I just saw his email:
Updated Staff Isolation Policy
The State of New York recently issued updated guidance on isolation periods for essential staff, which includes teachers and school-based staff, the “Advisory on Shortening Isolation Period.” This guidance shortens the isolation period for these individuals who test positive, but are asymptomatic or showing mild symptoms, from 10 to 5 days.
Unity should rot in Hell. I can't wait to cast my vote for UFC.
Adam is Unity. Even some of them can't take the bullshit any longer.
A friend shared that a relative of their collapsed and passed out after getting infected. I know the relative is vaccinated because they're a teacher. Imagine passing out while driving or standing on concrete. I was starting to believe the hype that it is simply a cold, but not anymore.
Like I said before, Adam is the best! Best ever. He should be UFT President
Adam for NYC mayor
I’ll never forgive de Blasio, Carannza, the DOE, and the UFT for what they did in the first three months of 2020. Total insanity!!!
Working for the DOE is toxic. If you were not aware, either you or your colleagues will get sick soon from Omicron Covid. If the UFT was functional, which it is not, it would file a complaint with OSHA about workplace safety. Allowing folks to go to an unsafe work environment is flat out wrong, disgusting and inhumane. Their disregard for workplace safety is just another criminal act by a criminal organization. The fact that the Superintendents manage the schools as public baby sitting services does not allow for this disgusting lack of regard for public safety.
Packed hallways. Danielson evaluations. Admin breathing down your necks. Everyone getting sick. Mental health trauma galore- teachers and students alike. New contract which will screw the teachers over. Sunny days ahead. Do we have a union?
Nevermind the overall mild symptoms of the new strain...it's a major pain in the ass to look for a testing site that doesn't have long lines or parking issues. Remember that testing before returning is strongly encouraged but not mandatory.
My kid goes back to college and the same crap..finding a place for a booster, and then a testing site within 5 days of returning to campus.
This is all stressing me out because of the POOR PLANNING of the NY Government. They wait until just the other day to let everyone know of what they have to do to return. WTF is that?
Just heard on the news this morning that Yonkers Public Schools are going remote because 25% of their students tested positive over Christmas break.
Let Unity try to defend staying during this.
Just let them try win votes after this immoral debacle.
Who cares if Adam is Unity? If he's speaking up for sound science and safety that's what's important.
This part: "With that said, since schools are not closing, wouldn’t it be easier and smarter to just test everyone while they are in the building? Then, everything will get reported under one streamlined agency." EXACTLY.
I was actually going to go out first thing this morning and head to one of the DOE testing centers, but decided that the safety of my car takes priority, and what I thought would be a quick fix has turned into a 3 hour job, and now I don't know if I'll get my car back in time. But none of the emails say it's mandatory that we get tested, so ya know what? Let them send their testing crews to the schools. Maybe they should work for free this time, since the last time they sat around all day and tested ZERO teachers since we hadn't given advance consent, as nobody knew they were coming on the day that they did. I got tested soon after that since we were dealing with an outbreak, and had to stand in the cold for hours. This whole thing really is a clown show.
I would vote for Adam for UFT President.
The problem is they are not allowed to mandate testing.parents are a roadblock here.idk the reason.it is painless, harmless, on invasive. It's nyc...the circus is in town and never left(building on clown show comment).
Now if the motion in court is accepted and won, they will really look stupid.win the freak show.eric prob no better for us than bill.jope I'm wrong.lets see if he backs up his words with action.buckle up!ps I guess his plant based compassion for animals doesn't extend to humans.he is prob closet eating raw meat! Lol
The "I want a union with difefrent leadership" thought is nice, IF there will ever be different leadership. At some point, when leadership doesn't change, we must ask what next step would be. That is where other options must be discussed. How many landslides must unity win for people to realize that nothing will change?
I'm not going to list all the failures, but right now we see a possible 20+% covid positive rate, mass public transportation, schools shutting down everywhere except ours, and see that mulgrew sends videos from his living room saying the city is working to fix things while sending us back into schools tomorrow.
I took a pcr test on Dec 17, I got the result on Dec 30. How does that help anyone?
We are trsuting studnrets to take the test home, use it, use it properly and report accurate results? Come on. They already lie on the screener daily.
Several times a week I have a student sitting in my class telling me they have fever.
Masks are always on the chin or in the pocket.
A lost cause is a lost cause. This union is a lost cause and the election results will change nothing.
If it is a lost cause, then why are you commenting here?
Teachers need to act as the adults in the room.
The DOE administrators, the Superintendents, the new Mayor and the new Chancellor are the children in the room. Treat them like the bad children. They certainly are acting like bad children.
@12:38
If you allow this to happen then YOU are part of the problem.
if a student says "they have fever" then you call your schools emergency officer on the brt and have them sent to the nurse immediately.
if a child doesnt wear a mask properly you stop what you are doing and remind them of the safety issues.
we constantly send home sick students in my elementary school.
the bureden isnt only on the uft or administration, its also on us!
Stop lessons to tell students about masks? EVERYDAY? We are never suppsoedd to stop teaching, I thought. Call about a fever? Ok. What happens when it happens the next day?
The guy is probably commenting here because he is looking for a better answer than---but we have to keep paying because this is better than nothing.
1:34 - I should have know you were elementary school when you said "if a child doesnt wear a mask properly you stop what you are doing and remind them of the safety issues.". You think High School students are going to give a rat's behind? Not all.
1:30: Easier said than done. I would love to be able to throw students out of class who don't follow mask mandates, but we are not allowed to do that. All we can do is talk to them.
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