One part of the contract that still can work for UFT members is the reorganization grievance process. These are grievances claiming violations of the programming parts of Article 7 of the contract. If a school administration does not follow the contract on honoring preferences, rotation, keeping preparations to a minimum, giving teachers only three classes in a row or four work periods in a row and more, teachers have a legitimate way to address these contractual violations in an expedited manner resulting in their schedules being altered.
Reorganization grievances can succeed because they get to arbitration very quickly. On a regular grievance the administration just denies at the school level and the Chancellor's level (two kangaroo courts) and then it can take years before the union takes the case to an independent arbitrator. Meanwhile, the abuse of the member who filed the grievance continues and other UFT members see that fighting the system is pointless. The regular grievance process is completely broken and has to be restructured to have any chance of giving members any kind of justice.
Only obvious contractual violations get resolved through the regular process. The UFT is completely complicit in allowing the Department of Education to stall. They tell members to grieve and then they just abandon us in many instances after Step II (Chancellor's level).
Reorganization grievances still can be successful because the grievance goes right from the school level to arbitration in an expedited manner. These grievances must be filed within two school days of knowledge of the problem with the program but the Union then schedules many of them directly for arbitration after Step I (Principal's level) which has to be decided within two school days after the grievance is filed. I worked on on a reorganization case this week for someone in another school and we were successful at arbitration.
Teachers should know they have to present their own cases in the reorganization process. Some go to the Superintendent's level while many others go directly to arbitration. I generally write scripts that can basically be read at arbitration and provide talking points for administration's possible rebuttals. UFT does send someone from the Grievance Department to provide support. Principals have Department of Education lawyers to defend them. My experience with the process is that it actually works as long as members are prepared with evidence. It kind of reminds me of small claims court. Smart principals settle these problems in their buildings and don't let them get to arbitration.
We won or resolved so many reorganization grievances in favor of teachers at Jamaica High School that it really made administrators look ridiculous.
Another student brought a gun to school, loaded. When is somebody gonna do something? Another fine young man, 20 years old.
ReplyDeleteYeah, grievances are the least of our problems. 20 years old in high school is now the norm, as are weapons and disrespect.
ReplyDeleteIf you had a real grievance process, you could fight to get these kids out of the classroom.
ReplyDeleteAren't we way past that?
ReplyDeleteit's in the contract. As we just sit and let things pass, the contract is becoming more and more useless and we are easily defeated.
ReplyDeleteI understand we almost need to start over, but what is going on with students is becoming completely lawless. Nobody will do anything because it's not politically correct, and students are looked at as poor, innocent kids. We need to consider some extreme measures, which will never happen.
ReplyDeleteIt's like the mob riot I see in Charlotte now. Inmates running the asylum. Let's keep catering to losers...
ReplyDeleteIf teachers aren't willing to stand up for ourselves, we become part of the problem.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, i see nothing happening...
ReplyDeleteHey James you would be called a racists for trying to remove 20yr olds with no credits from school. Most of these students in nyc are African American and Latino. You would be called a bigot! It would be argued that they are good kids who just need another chance and restorative justice circles. It would also be argued that these kids are victims of white privilege that have caused them to have low self esteem and caused them not succeed. What a joke our country has become due to the idiotic progressive ideology. God Bless to all!
ReplyDeleteAgreed. And I tried so hard to leave race out of this...Because a 20 year old, still in HS, who will amount to nothing, fill a jail, bringing a loaded gun to school...Is really a good kid, and has a great future, and just needs to be spoken to less harshly...And its because his classes are too boring, and he has bad teachers, and we need more training...
ReplyDeleteWho is looking out for the kids who just want to learn and can't when others who have figured out how to play the system control schools and can run wild in the halls and classrooms with impunity? I have no issue with alternate settings and not putting kids with the greatest needs in regular schools and classes. I voted for the Second Opportunity Schools when I was on the UFT Executive Board and I support 100% teachers being able to remove disruptive students from class. The SAVE legislation should be enforced. We need a strong union to do this.
ReplyDeleteIt has nothing to do with race because the students who are prevented from getting an education are usually of the same racial or ethnic background as those who are constantly disrupting the learning process. I'm very pro student.
ReplyDeleteNo one is questioning your common sense approach to removing students but we all know that some will say you are a racists for removing them because we all know which groups have a higher rate of over age and under credits. I agree with your explanation but the system is all screwed up these days that it's almost impossible to critique any group without being called a bigot.
ReplyDeleteCome on...right away more black students will be removed, they will say it's racist, the mayor will force a cut on removals.
ReplyDelete"Another student brought a gun to school, loaded. When is somebody gonna do something? Another fine young man, 20 years old." Was obviously arrested. Send us an update in this student status.
ReplyDeleteAnd then more black students will benefit from having a safe and orderly learning environment so who cares who misuses statistics? A strong union would insist upon an orderly learning environment as a major priority. Their members would be supportive and I dare say so would most parents and students. I have raised this issue in participation in government classes over the years and the kids are generally tougher on each other than we would ever be. They get it. We are not helping overage and under-credited students by putting them back in the classroom after they have shown they don't belong there by their actions.
ReplyDeleteAgree James!
ReplyDelete