Friday, April 28, 2017

OPEN SCHOOL NIGHT FOUR IS MANDATORY

There have been several questions I have fielded in person and over the internet concerning next week's fourth open school night of this school year for most schools.

Open school night four is mandated by the 2014 contract. How quickly people forget.

Once again it is time to remind everyone that 75% of the teachers voted yes on that contract. A contract that featured piecemeal salary increases for UFT members of  the 4% and 4% raises that other city unions received from 2008-2010 but won't be completely added to our checks until next year, an interest free loan to the city that won't be paid back in full until 2020 for the money we should have had since 2009, a municipal pattern setting paltry 10% total raise over 7 years (later extended a month to pay retirees), healthcare givebacks and more.

As we continue to wait for money that is rightfully ours, the city's economy has grown significantly throughout the term of the contract and budget surpluses are now a regular feature on the city's balance sheet thanks in part to our generosity.

In the grand scheme of things, the two extra open school nights are not exactly a huge concession.

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

Some teachers are as dumb as the students

Anonymous said...

I'd love to know what percent of that 75% were newbies who aren't even teaching anymore. Idiots.

Anonymous said...

I know more than a handful of teachers at my school who have left teaching in NYC since the new contract went into effect. All these folks saw was the stupid $1,000 signing bonus. I did NOT vote for the contract and tried my best to convince my fellow teachers to do the same. Guess it did not work!

Anonymous said...

4 open school nights! Another victory for the UFT!

Anonymous said...

UFT teachers are a great success!

Anonymous said...

Thought: Maybe once the supreme court makes NY a right to work state all these newbies will stop paying dues and the hardcore, veteran teachers will remain members and then make the UFT work for us. Can this happen???

Anonymous said...

I pretty much just want to stay in the UFT in case I need a lawyer. You never know in this day and hostile age that we are working in.

Anonymous said...

There was a time when NYC teachers were a very smart and savvy bunch. No longer, the teaching force now reflects the wood-for- brains we have as UFT president.

waitingforsupport said...

Better off getting your own lawyer

Anonymous said...

I agree. Keep your dues and pay for a lawyer. The teachers I know that won paid for a lawyer, the guys I know that lost used the union lawyer. Stay away from the union lawyer that looks like Jerry Lewis in the Nutty Professor. My friend was a great teacher and his case should have been a slam dunk. Now he's driving a school bus. Everyone in the UFT is working for the DOE, especially Mulgrew.

Anonymous said...

At our monthly district chapter leader meeting another CL was telling us that his elementary school did an SBO so that instead of holding the May parent engagement night teachers attend one PTA meeting. I think they made a schedule so that teacher attendance at the PTA meetings was spread out over the school year. I'm thinking of bringing up the possibility of doing this with my principal. The parents on our PTA aren't happy that so few teachers attend their meetings so this would solve that problem.

Mary

Anonymous said...

James:
Have you ever lived a day when you were not complaining about something. It is not healthy. Not for yourself, not for your family, not for your students and most importantly not health for your gentle reader.

You have a meaningful career. You have made lives change for your students. You have made life long friends at the schools you work and you even get all summer off and the pay is not terrible, could be better, but not terrible.

Relax and have a pretzel and a beer.

Anonymous said...

Mary 6:37,

I think that's a great idea. I'm going to bring that up to my CL. My only question would be that I don't think our PTA meeting are 3 hours long- but I'm sure there's a way of working it out.

Anonymous 7:27,

James isn't complaining. The fourth open school night is a sham, and a total waste of time. It was voted in by idiots who thought that getting money we earned in 2009 in 2020 was a great idea.

waitingforsupport said...

I agree

Anonymous said...

For those folks who said they know somebody who used a private lawyer, can you please share who the lawyer was or let us know a tad more about the case that they won? This info is what is gonna make people like me decide to stay or not stay in the UFT once we become right to work. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

To the commenter 7:27-
You are exactly the wood-for-brains I was referring to in my comment 5:41

Anonymous said...

Good, well raised children...
A group of depraved students at a Bronx school forced a 12-year-old girl to perform a sex act on her boyfriend in front of them, demanding she do “nasty things,” the Daily News has learned.

The young couple told police that after gym class four students between ages 12 and 14 forced them into a stairwell near the gymnasium the Bronx Writing Academy on E. 167th St. in Morrisania about 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

One of the teens forced the girl onto her knees while another pulled down the boy’s pants, the victims said.

A student then pushed the girl’s face into the boy’s exposed genitals until contact was made, officials said.

The victimized students reported the incident to a school principal, who alerted police.

The NYPD’s Bronx Child Abuse Squad is investigating the incident, a police spokesman said.

City Education Department spokeswoman Toya Holness said the city's school safety team has visited Bronx Writing Academy to investigate the claims. The city has made extra guidance counselors available to the school, she added.

"This disturbing incident was immediately reported and is being investigated," Holness said. "The school is working closely with the NYPD and we will ensure appropriate follow-up action is swiftly taken."

Before Thursday's alleged incident, Bronx Writing Academy school officials had reported three sex offenses at the school to the state during the last school year which ended in June 2016. That's more than twice the city average of 1.2 incidents per school for the 2015-16 school year.

The school serves a high-poverty community and earns below-average marks in overall safety and academics.

In 2016, 77% of students surveyed by the city said they felt safe in the school’s hallways, below the city average of 82%.

James Eterno said...

7:41, If you want happy talk full time these days, listen to Mulgrew and Farina. They can tell you everything is wonderful. I prefer reality.

Yes I am grateful for what I have but I am lucky to have landed at Middle College. I am well aware that many people who work in the school system need support. That is what we try to do. My wife has been under viscous attack for two years. You want me to relax when lives are being ruined. No but I will take that pretzel.

I did write a very positive piece on my daughter's school and mine a little while ago. Like I said in the piece, how quickly they forget.

ed notes online said...

Unity comments are like coming from Trump Admin - everything Unity does is HUUUUUGE and BIGLY.

Now for those people who trash union lawyers and urge you to spend a fortune on your own without even examining the option -- I wonder if they have a dog in the race. I've heard of people who bought that line and got screwed anyway.
The NYSUT lawyers I've seen have been good -- though just a few.

Anonymous said...

Norm, name the good ones so those that find themselves in dire straits can save 10 grand. I stand by my original comment that all my friends who used union lawyers were canned. One is awaiting his outcome now, he used a union lawyer - so let's see if it's 10 for 10 against union lawyers. I don't have a dog in the race.

JP said...

So when are ATRs getting to choose any 6 schools in the city to be placed?

Anonymous said...

When Mulgrew grows some hair or a pair of balls.

John G said...

Anon 7:27:
What you mean is that if we didn't have James and the like, we'd all be able to drink the Kool-aid that you enjoy so much. I thought the number was 77% but I do clearly remember an enormous amount of drones at the DA that night screaming yes as they voted for this contract with its refurbished time and its refurbished raises and manner of retroactive pay. I don't think those people will be enjoying their pretzels and beer on the parent teacher night but I do think they'll be happy to see a small portion of their 2009, 2010 and 2011 dollars distributed to them, interest free, next October.
No worries, though, the inflation rate since '09 has only averaged about 1.3% since so kick back and gulp that Kool-aid. You're good.

Anonymous said...

Mulgrew and Fariña like to hire on the cheap.

Anonymous said...

Why do we pay dues if the UFT reps are useless like Vasquez from the UFT Queens office?

Anonymous said...

Mulgrew just loves Farińa and her corrupt practices.

James Eterno said...

77% UFT. 75% teachers only.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Norm. The union lawyers are very good whether it's for a 3020a case or an SCI investigation or a criminal case. Had two teachers in my school beat 3020a charges using NYSUT attorneys and know another 3 who used them for SCI investigations and/or criminal charges. All beat the cases and are still working. Whoever is telling you otherwise probably has a dog in this fight.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 7:27: Thanks for taking the time to remove your head from your own ass in order to let us know what you think of James. I’ve considered your comment as well as everything I have read on James’ blog over the years and think it’s best for you to just keep your eyes on your colon while James continues to expose the failures of UFT and DOE leadership. Roseanne McCosh

Anonymous said...

3. There shall be two (2) additional evening Par-
ent-Teacher Conferences. Each additional confer-
ence shall be three (3) hours long. Such conference
time, together with a portion of the Tuesday activ-
ities block, shall replace all existing faculty and
grade/department conferences as designated in the
By-Laws and collective bargaining agreement.

Can anyone explain what this means for the upcoming week? we dont have to have our grade department meetings this week? What portion of the Tuesday default goes with this? Thanks

Anonymous said...

11:36, I'd like to hear the names of the good ones because it could help teachers save a lot of money.

James Eterno said...

8:41-The extra two nights along with the extended time on Tuesday are a replacement for the twice a month conferences (Department and Faculty) that we used to have on Monday afternoons in most schools.

James Eterno said...

I have had some decent experiences with the NYSUT lawyers defending members. Some good and not so good with the private attorneys. Why pay twice for what you are already getting with your union dues unless the union won't take a particular case?

James Eterno said...

Finally, Thanks for the support from Mary, Roseanne, John G and Norm. Nice to have backing from people, particularly when they put their names to it. That's not always easy in this day and age.

Anonymous said...


I've been teaching for 24 years and I've never seen the morale as low as it is now. It's not just the ridiculous payout schedule for the raises and retroactive payments, it's that every NYC teacher I talk to feels like they're walking around with a target on their back. The gotcha observations with the nit-picky Danielson rubric, the arbitrary MOSLs, the excessive data, the list goes on and on. Most of the teachers I know would give up a few thousand dollars of salary in order to get rid of Advance and all that goes with it. Our profession is being destroyed yet the UFT thinks everything is just fine...just fine. Even when the UFT wins grievances the arbitrators' rulings are so broad and non-specific that the DOE lawyers find a way around it so that we actually win NOTHING (class size grievances, elementary school departmentalization, etc., etc., etc.). I have a year to go and I'm pretty sure I'll make it to retirement, but I feel terrible for those teachers who aren't even close. Seems like most won't make it. It's sad that so many great, caring, dedicated teachers are being forced out of a profession they used to love by this nonsense while the UFT claims victory after victory. And the real losers? The kids.

Mary

waitingforsupport said...

Well said Mary

Anonymous said...

Just remember Public School Proud, another great uft slogan...

James Eterno said...

I sadly have to agree with Mary although there are school that are exceptions.

Anonymous said...

Has anyone written to ATR spin master any about their secret deal?

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