RALLY ON MONDAY -- STAND UP FOR THE ATRs

4:30 p.m. Monday ---Rally for the ATRs at Tweed
Directions: (Broadway and Chambers Street -- any train to City Hall area). We will be there at 4:30 sharp!

4:00 p.m. Monday -- At the UFT (52 Broadway) President Randi Weingarten will speak at the UFT on the "side agreement" on the ATRs. Then they will walk up Broadway to the rally at Tweed.

After the rally -- Gather at Jerry's Cafe, at 90 Chambers Street (between Broadway and Church).

The UFT leadership is now saying that "the message is different" following the side agreement on ATRs signed last Tuesday. But what has actually changed? There are some financial incentives to place ATRs, but the principals still decide whether or not to take them. And in the present financial crisis and budget cuts, how much new hiring and placement will there be? Even if some ATRs are placed under the agreement, the "provisionals" will just be excessed again at the end of the school year. This is no solution for the ATRs who want to teach.

President Weingarten is seeking the "least bad" outcome in the framework of the contract, which abandoned seniority transfers, and thus continually produces new ATRs. We continue to demand that there be a freeze on hiring and placements until all ATRs who want positions are placed.

The union leadership says it will first have an informational session at 52 Broadway at 4 p.m. and then at the end of that, walk to the Tweed--DOE with however many are left. The ad hoc committee to support the ATRs is continuing to call on all teachers and defenders of the ATRs to rally at 4:30 p.m. at Tweed (between Broadway and Park Row). We will form up on the esplanade outside the Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall station on the 4, 5 and 6 lines, and then go around the corner to the DOE. Those who wish to go to the informational session at the UFT should do so, but the key is to have a strong showing at the Department of Education demanding that all ATRs be placed.

To repeat: There are over 1,500 experienced, licensed, capable teachers ready and willing to teach, while New York City classrooms are as overcrowded as ever. We say: Let Teachers Teach!

After the rally: Gather at “Jerry’s Café.” 90 Chambers Street, (between Broadway and Church). Good Coffee, good conversation, plans for next steps.