We have assembled a sampling of fan mail thanking our fearless leader for all of the wonderful things she has done for us. Names have been deleted to protect the writers from retaliation.
…from an Elementary School teacher in the Bronx..
Thanks Randi for all of the job opportunities our open market transfer system has given me. After 15 years teaching here in the Bronx my principal retired. The new principal has made my life hell. She says I’m too old and rigid in my ways. Now using the open market I thought I could get out of this place but no one will hire me. I have been told I cost too much now.
…from a Junior High School teacher in Brooklyn…
Thanks Randi for giving away our ability to grieve observations and letters in the file. My AP does not like me. He says I am not a team player so he writes vicious lies about me in letters to the file. I am certain they will result in a “U” rating. My Chapter Leaders says not to worry I can review all of the letters at the “U” rating hearing. Then I read that only 41 were reversed out of the hundreds of appeals brought. I can’t take this pressure.
…from a High School teacher in Queens…
Thanks Randi for giving away C-6 and making me work what is effectively a 6 period day. My Chapter Leader says I can prep at home but when I get home I barely have enough energy to eat and I go right to bed. We have no per session after school. I am really tired.
…from a High School teacher in Brooklyn…
Thanks Randi for watching my school close so we are now all ATRs with no rights to teach.
…from a Para in Manhattan…
Thanks Randi for giving us raises that don’t even keep pace with inflation.
…from an Elementary School teacher in Staten Island…
Thanks Randi for cutting down our summer vacation. I’d much rather be listening to boring professional development than vacationing. Oh, by the way, where was the time we were promised to set up our rooms?
…from a UFT District Rep in Queens…
Thanks Randi for the raise. It’s nice to collect two salaries and two pensions. Thank God you selected me. I would never win in an election.
…from a School Social Worker in Manhattan…
Thanks Randi for the dues increase. I didn’t want to vote on it anyway.
…from a Mayor in New York City…
Thanks Randi for allowing me to control the schools. I couldn’t have done it without your help!
9 comments:
Jeff you are making this election about the frustration we feel in the schools. Doesn't Randi deserve some of the blame for our situation? I think so and so do most people in my school.
Don't forget to thank Randi for supporting merit pay as this excerpt from a NY Sun piece shows.
Mr. Klein said he has already implemented some forms of merit pay in the school system, including the Lead Teacher Program, which pays experienced teachers extra to train other teachers. Ms. Weingarten has said she doesn't consider that a merit pay program. A compromise would be a school-wide merit pay system, which would given bonuses to the staff of an entire school for performance improvements — something both the union and Mr. Klein say they support.
Such a system has already been tried and discarded in New York City, the president of the Partnership for New York City, a coalition of business leaders, Kathryn Wylde, said. In the 1990s, her group funded a $15 million pilot program, Breakthrough for Learning, to experiment with merit pay systems,
"Unfortunately, the amount of money was too small when it came to school-wide. … We would argue that Breakthrough for Learning was a pilot program that didn't work," Ms. Wylde said. The business community still supports merit pay programs, she said, but added: "Based on our experience, we found that it's not a problem that private money can solve."
ICE opposition has done more to push Unity into stronger positions than anything New Action had done and the higher the vote total for the Unity/New Action coalition, the more givebacks we will see.
Good point. The higher percentage for Randi, the more UFT members will be beaten up the next few years. If ICE-TJC wins the high schools, it will force the union into shaping up a little as they will know that there are a lot of angry people out there.
The more votes the opposition gets, the better chance we have of seeing some change.
You guys speak for TJC also? We're all lost.
Look at what ICE people have done at their schools. That's where you will find them being very successful as chapter leaders and delegates.
ice/tjc
ALL WHINE ALL THE TIME!!!
We have a lot to whine about.
It doesn't appear UFT President Randi Weingarten is up to the task of debating her opponent, Kit Wainer. In the long UFT tradition of refusing to acknowledge The Help, Ms. Weingarten banned ICE-TJC rep Norm Scott from the one place she was appearing with her opponent. Not only were the results not videotaped, but the one person who could've easily accomplished the task was banned from the premises.
Ms. Weingarten's supporters have very clever labels for their opponents from ICE. They say it stands for "I Complain Everytime." Do you get it? What they did, see, is they took the initials "I," "C," and "E," and then they started a sentence with those initials. You get it? Not only that, but they took TJC, and said, "They Just Complain." Get it?
They're extremely clever over there at 55 Broadway. It certainly wasn't easy to move us 20 years backwards and then explain why it was a good thing.
Complaining, apparently, is a bad thing. Did Randi Weingarten complain when she sent 80,000 teachers to walk hall patrol? Did she complain when teachers were given six classes? Did she complain when teachers lost the right to grieve letters in their files? Did she complain when we lost the UFT transfer plan? Did she complain about unpaid suspensions based on unsubstantiated allegations? Did she complain when they halved our prep time?
Of course not. So why won't Ms. Weingarten defend her record to "complainer" Kit Wainer? She could certainly make a strong case that she complains less than he does.
During the 05 contract discussion, Unity folks asked me, "What would the Daily News and the NY Post say if we rejected this contract?" It's painfully obvious what they would have said--the very same things they say now. Ms. Weingarten's efforts to appear statesmanlike by selling us up the river were for naught. They still call her (gasp!) an old-time union boss.
Would that it were true. Personally, I don't give a damn she isn't a teacher. I don't care if she's paid many times my salary. I'd happily pay her double if she'd represent our interests.
The Daily News got one thing right--that's her job.
I don't think she's got what it takes.
Prove me wrong, Ms. Weingarten. Start by debating Kit. You owe us, at the very least, the opportunity to see you debate your opponent.
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