At Wednesday's April Delegate Assembly, UFT President Michael Mulgrew painted an overall rosy picture of the state of public education here in New York City. Is he right?
Mulgrew described a school system that we should celebrate and show off to the world. Mulgrew's Unity Caucus majority did concede there are a few issues; they even passed a resolution to take up the cause of discontinued probationary teachers in a small way. Other than that, Mulgrew basically called New York schools a model for the country to emulate. Here is my account of Mulgrew's reporting of the state of the schools here in NYC:
May 4 national day for teachers. NYC using day to celebrate how we are moving public education ahead here. NYC leading the way in how you make public education work.
Maybe I didn't hear right. I checked with the NYC Educator minutes of the DA and here is how he described the same part of the meeting:
May 4th--Wants parents and teachers to simultaneously do events nationwide. Says we've already done this in NYC, and that we meet with many varied groups. Says while LA is ground zero for charters, but in NYC we will move public education by being respectful and working together: says there are 100 schools now cooperating.
The overall picture I get month-after-month from President Mulgrew is that the New York City schools are generally in much better shape under Bill de Blasio and Carmen Farina compared to the Michael Bloomberg-Joel Klein-Kathy Black-Dennis Walcott days.
Yet when I leave the meetings and go home, my inbox and voicemail are usually filled with teachers and other UFT members desperately seeking help. At best teachers are overwhelmed with paperwork mandates. Many are forced to spend an average of two to three hours an evening working on daily lesson plans because they are worried about when the administrator with the computer is next going to appear at the classroom door to write them up using the Danielson rubric which makes it simple to give out developing or ineffective ratings. Others are spending multiple hours a day working on IEP's or other mandates and still others are being forced to do multiple professional assignments. Absent Teacher Reserves are being harassed on a daily basis with ridiculous observations for classes they are just covering.
In addition, the DOE admits there are credit recovery programs that are out of control. Student discipline in many places is an out of date concept, class sizes are as high as ever and abusive/incompetent principal power is basically unchecked by the UFT. There are reports of teachers leaving in the middle of the year rather than face another day of this.
As for charter schools, I saw Ed Notes reporting on a public school being closed in New York City this week and it will be replaced by a charter school. MORE was there at the Panel for Education Policy meeting to stand up for the public school but I don't see any official UFT presence in Norm's account.
I could go on-and-on but you get the picture.
So who is right?
Is Mulgrew correct that teaching in NYC is a very challenging job but the school system is moving ahead and is a model for the nation to follow so let's celebrate our schools on May 4?
Or
Are the pro-public school critics right that nothing much has improved since de Blasio-Farina replaced Bloomberg-Klein-Black-Walcott and the school system is still in very poor shape with most teachers under siege?
Have a wonderful holiday everyone! The nine week stretch between midwinter recess and spring break this year has been a grind for sure.
Mulgrew says everything's ducky because public schools are"cooperating" with the charter schools that seek to replace them?
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to hear that the turkeys have officially endorsed Thanksgiving.
I attended the PEP Meeting on April 20,2016. These are my observations. The panel voted for siting five charter schools to be colocated with public schools. No questions asked. Granted few people came to defend these public schools but one would think questions would be asked by the respective representatives. I witnessed giving away public real estate to private entities. Three other colocations were deferred for the next meeting. I saw a group of parents, teachers, alumni defending Central Park East school from a clearly INEFFECTIVE and unqualified principal. Not too much comment from the panel. I saw contracts being approved for ebooks and I was wondering how this would work in our public schools where the technology needs can not be met with what they have today. Again, not too much comment from panel. Under Bloomberg, disdain for the public oozed from the panel. The panel seemed to be listenin;picking up documentation appropriately and handing out cards of the appropriate people to call to get problems straightened out. After this PEP meeting,I would conclude that NYC was pretty much in the running for ground zero for charter schools.
ReplyDeleteLA is ground zero for charter schools, not NYC. Mulgrew said so. He would never lie.
DeleteHow is anything moving ahead when 17-21 year old high school students cant read and write, and this is by the thousands. Every school i go to its nothing but cell phones, hats, walking the halls, no notebook, pen, pencil, and free grades. And teachers are too afraid of admin to gibe grades that students deserve. everybody passes, which is why we see such a disparity between grad rate and college ready rate.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, Mulgrew's words in my opinion make an implicit endorsement to our lousy evaluation system as well. Chess pieces are being moved in the battle over evaluation in this State by those seeking to destroy us and Mulgrew and the Unity caucus dictatorship are not only not fighting, they are complicit. They must go.
ReplyDeleteAnd why are start times of schools being moved all the way to 845 am? To appease the students? And they still dont get there on time. Because when they get a job their boss will let them come in whenever they want.
ReplyDeleteI am cautious about comments that seek to place the blame on students who are as much victims as teachers if not more so.
ReplyDeleteWhen students come in being insubordinate, cursing, threatening teachers, and have criminal backgrounds, I blame students.
ReplyDeleteYou can hold students responsible for their individual acts, but the failure to respond to that on an administrative and institutional level is the fault of the DOE, not the kids.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't blame administration for that. It's a city wide policy - restorative justice. The biggest failure in fast food education since the introduction of all you can eat salad bars in McDonald's. I remember people filling their shopping bags, its the same mentality. If students can do whatever they want with no consequences, they are going to shit all over everyone.
ReplyDeletePolice have busted four teens accused of delivering a beating to a postal worker at a Brooklyn deli.
ReplyDeleteMailman Abdel Khalaily, 50, was wearing his uniform when a large group taunted him inside the Genuine Deli in Fort Greene on Feb. 3, then pummeled him as he tried to chase them off.
Police arrested Keeshawn Ruan, 16, of Prospect Park South, and three other boys, two of them 14, the other 15.
Ruan was arraigned on felony gang assault and assault charges.
So I guess there weren't teens who did stupid things when Bloomberg was mayor.
ReplyDeleteThere were, but they learned that actions have consequences. Usually at home first, then at school.
DeleteThese teens aren't learning it at home or school. They go out in the streets and do the same type of things they are doing in school and get arrested. Restorative justice.
This is the trash, yes I mean the students, I see every day. I can elaborate, but why bother?
ReplyDeleteLet me guess, they must have all had bad teachers. Or we should pat them on the back and tell them to do better next time...or give them free candy and they will behave...
ReplyDeleteOnce you are calling the kids you deal with trash you really should consider a different line of employment.Saying actions have consequences under Bloomberg is just plain wrong. Bloomberg perfected the pass em all method of school governance. De Blasio has just continued it.
ReplyDeleteRestorative justice isn't a Bloomberg vs DeBlasio argument, its a common sense argument. Being critical of it doesn't necessarily mean teachers are anti-DeBlasio or pro Bloomberg. Most of us want to keep students and staff safe. Most of us do not consider students trash or condone passing all students.
DeleteA student who is 19, with 5 credits, arrested 25 times...I tell him to put his phone away, he tells me to suck his dick. That's not trash? Of course thats just one example, could give a million...
ReplyDeleteThat's the most common phrase I hear in the Bronx, but not all students are like that. The problem is that students who weren't allowed to have cell phones now are and the students who wouldn't have made that comment now will.
ReplyDeleteI find it unbelievable that someone in this forum could say to a teacher that he should find another job, when the teacher did everything right, bachelors, masters plus 30, career of satisfactory work, and since the job is garbage, the students are criminal, disrespectful parasites riding on the back of the taxpayers, I should throw my salary away, meanwhile they have $800 phones and 15 pairs of $200 sneakers, with a household income of nothing. Makes sense. This liberal stuff will catch up with all of you eventually. No discipline, pass everybody, thats the motto.
ReplyDeleteI have a better idea,elect Republicans, charter the system and fire all of you.
ReplyDeleteIf I told a student 1 time to suck my dick or called a student faggot or used the n word watch what would happen. This is every word out of their mouths, not to mention the a, lack of pen, pencil, notebook. And it's all ok...
ReplyDeleteIt isn't ok but it is being used by the people who want to terminate us as an excuse to privatize the system and get rid of us.
ReplyDeleteSO we should shutup, continue getting abused by lowlife, criminal students, keep suporting their welfare lifestyle, and hope to keep getting our paychecks. Great life.
ReplyDeleteAnd the winners are...The piece of crap students who sit there, do nothing, know they can keep getting handouts, abuse us, threaten us, no consequences, and keep getting all the material goods they want. And I spent how much money for college and grad school, and I travel how far to get to work, and I have to sit through how much stupid PD, and how hard is it to park, and how much traffic, and my car gets vandalized, and I have to watch my step, and I lose how much to taxes and dues...Why did I do that? Could have been on welfare too.
ReplyDeleteAmazing part is hillary and Bernie want to give them more free stuff. She keeps going more left. Where is this country headed? Just remember, one day these students will be responsible to pay into the social security system for us on collect. How does that make you feel? Once again the workers lose, the welfare collectors win.
ReplyDeleteYour solution is to vote for Trump so the grabbing hands can privatize the system and we can all lose our jobs. You are a genius.
ReplyDeleteGetting fired is the way to go. Better dead than red. Then we can let Cuomo come after our pensions so we can all be left with nothing. Better than being cursed out by a troubled kid.Small wonder we get nowhere with some of the people who call themselves educated and would prefer to be jobless. Let's build that wall too so no immigrants come in. Let Moskowitz have those who are left after we report the rest of the kids to the government for deportation.
ReplyDeleteVote Republican so you can lose your job. Some commenters here worry me. I will take the misunderstood teens over the unemployment line no matter how badly they behave.
ReplyDelete