Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Transcript of Final 2005 General Election Mayoral Debate
If the mayor is going to call it an "extra period" why should I call it anything different? Does Randi know that this is an extra period, or was there miscommunication when selling this rag of a contract to us?
November 1, 2005
Transcript of Final 2005 General Election Mayoral Debate
On November 1, 2005, the New York City Campaign Finance Board and WNBC played host to a final debate with mayoral candidates Michael Bloomberg and Fernando Ferrer. It was moderated by Gabe Pressman. Questions were asked by reporters Melissa Russo, Jay DeDapper, David Ushery, and Jorge Ramos. The following is a transcript of the debate.
YEAR AROUND SCHOOL
Gabe Pressman: I’ve got a couple of questions on education requiring short answers. Do you favor, Mr. Ferrer, year around school as a way of developing students who can compete with students from other countries, who have much more intensive educational programs?
Ferrer: Yea, I think the kids who are struggling and need more time on task, extending the school year makes an enormous amount of sense, as does extending the school day and week.
Gabe Pressman: Do you agree with that?
Bloomberg: We are doing it. We have summer school for kids who need more help. And the new teachers’ contract has an extra period, four days a week for the kids who are struggling, every class, every school.
Gabe Pressman: Year around means virtually 12 months with a few vacations in between.
Bloomberg: School with summer-school goes almost year around.
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10 comments:
Sonavabrooklynbridge!
I was ranting on another ed blog when that came out of da Mayor's mouth...I almost choked.
It's amazing to me that the peon vote hasn't been counted but everyone from my principal to the mayor is talking like this is a done deal. And what is our fearless leader's response?
Nothing...if I was the president of the union I would make damn sure everyone in the city unerstood that until the rank and file spoke the contract was fantasy.
The UFT said that the tally will take place on Thursday, Nov 3 and should be done by the end of the day.
But not an extra teaching period, if we believe the mayor!
And people on this blog just love to believe the mayor--when it suits them! I won't be voting for the mayor! Who else here will vote for Ferrer, or Seth Blum?
Don't believe everything this mayor says. He is his own PR machine. Everyone eventually self destructs. Just like Bush these past few weeks, Bllomberg also will reveal how transparent, artificial and insincere he really is.
Teachers became everyone's scapegoat. Can't we put some of the blame squarely on the students themselves? There are students who simply are not interested in sitting in school, they don't want to learn what we have to offer and they have no respect. There are students who drink alcohol every day, smoke weed, sell drugs and engage in other activities. A 37 minute 'tutorial' will do nothing for them.
We are hard working, dedicated, caring teachers. We have commited our lives to helping others.
Now, we have been made fools of by a union leader, a billionaire mayor and a complete caricature of a chancellor. Three fools are controlling 80,000 teachers!
Instead of expending so much energy on those students who do not want to learn, lets put the energy into our own profession. We have the power. Lets take back our integrity. Lets remove these 3 dummies. Time for them to go back to school and learn a few lessons about what teachers really stand for.
Can this be? The UFT will defend all its members regardless of how wrong they maybe or how often?
Why aren't you all quick to post this or comment on this?
NY Post 11/1/05
TEACHERS UNION BIG SUES
By DAVID ANDREATTA
The city is being slapped with an improper-labor-practice charge for allegedly ousting a teacher from his school because of his union activity, The Post has learned.
Teachers union president Randi Weingarten said the union is filing the charge with a state labor board on behalf of Jeff Kaufman, an outspoken critic of the Education Department who was kicked out of his school at Rikers Island this month.
The Education Department said he was removed because he ran afoul of Correction Department regulations. Kaufman, a union leader at Island Academy, claims the city wanted to silence him.
In addition to leading the charge for teachers to reject the city's recent contract offer, Kaufman last year testified to the City Council Education Committee that the city fails to transfer juvenile offenders to regular schools upon their release from jail.
Education officials at the time conceded that the system was inadequate.
"There's no doubt in my mind that this move was done to prevent my members from being represented and to silence me," Kaufman said.
oh my goodness--i am speechless with rage over this crap. the people who voted yes for this load of garbage are total idiots--i am ashamed to conisder them my colleagues.
I think many voted yes because they were taken in by the money. I learned some time back that money cannot be the main objective in life; mony is not always the goal.
Dignity and respect are far more important. I wish more teachers had voted for their own dignity and respect. The power, pride and renewed hope we would have felt had this contract been voted down would have far exceeded the few more dollars in our paychecks.
Thee raise is coming .... and the retroactive pay. Watch how small the check will be after taxes. Watch how big the tasks will be once the contract is fully implemented. Watch how ashamed all those who voted yes will soon feel. Watch how Bloom/Wein/Klein will gloat.
Watch how our integrity will be shattered nto a million pieces. Watch how the next contract will be even more devastating and cruel.
Buyer beware!
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