Friday, December 22, 2017

MULGREW-REALITY BASED EDUCATOR RESPOND TO FARINA LEAVING

On Tuesday we wrote about Carmen Farina's imminent departure as NYC Schools Chancellor.In response, Reality Based Educator, a famous now very part time blogger, commented. UFT President Michael Mulgrew also put out a statement. Read them both and see whether a teacher in the schools or the UFT President has it right.

From Mulgrew:
UFT President Michael Mulgrew issued the following statement:

Carmen has a lot to be proud of during her tenure. Her decades of experience in the system gave her a deep understanding of how our schools work. She managed the historic introduction of universal pre-K and oversaw significant gains in student achievement from test scores to high school graduation rates. We wish her well.

From Reality Based Educator:
Carmen Farina said she wanted to bring "joy" back to the classroom.

Has there been any time that schools have been more stressful environments than they are now?

We are under constant Danielson driveby threats. Lesson plan and special education mandates have teachers spending hours a night getting ready for those possible Danielson drivebys. When the drive-bys occur, teachers are getting slammed for not hitting the unreasonable and/or impossible benchmarks on the Danielson rubric. The pressure teachers are under has been passed on to the students. Everything is about "rigor" and lo and behold any teacher who isn't teaching a "rigorous" lesson when the drive-by comes. And yet, students are suffering emotionally under all this stress, resulting in increased depression, bullying and self-harm incidents. The guidance counselors, understaffed as always, can't deal with the increased emotional and psychological problems students are experiencing because all of their time is spent on the ever-increasing academic mandates and tracking measures they have to engage in to make sure those are met. More and more pressure is being put on teachers to not only teach "rigorous" lessons, but also address the social and emotional needs of students - and yet, with the ever-increasing mandates, the time spent on lesson planning, the exhaustion teachers are experiencing from all the added pressure and stress, there is simply no ability to do this.

Carmen Farina is to blame for much the horror that is the NYC school system. De Blasio deserves more blame, however, because he hired her and supported her through her reign of terror/error. Like you, James, I have little hope that de Blasio will pick somebody who makes the system better. Instead we will get some Broadie who will continue to reign with a Blame Teachers First mentality.

In the end, at least Farina is gone. I do have one parting thought about Farina: I hope she experiences the same "joy" in her retirement that she brought to NYC schools during her chancellorship.

She deserves no less than that.

As usual, the ICEBlog leaves it to our readers to make an informed decision on who is correct.

25 comments:

  1. What a surprise: Mulgrew praises the boss!

    What else should we expect from a company union?

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  2. And De Blasio thinks he should run for president on his progressive credentials.

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  3. No one, and I mean no one, kisses ass like
    Mulgrew kisses ass.

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  4. Mulgrew,
    How does it feel to be Mr. Cock Sucker?

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  5. Mulgrew you are totally a loser, you just know how to abuse your power.

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  6. Let us look ahead! Who will be the next chancellor?

    HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!!

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  7. Who gives a shit about Mulgrew? The guy is in it for himself alone. That’s why the UFT will eventually be toast.

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  8. Mulgrwew is the king of sellouts. He does not give one shit about the rank and file. He is too busy sipping on champagne off our dues money. He better get us a good contract for once or come Janus, or he can kiss my dues money goodbye!

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  9. 2:27, Do not expect much in the new Cancellor.

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  10. Many veteran teachers are being attacked and brought on charges, and the UFT does nothing. Age discrimination is rampant in the DOE, and our UFT looks the other way.

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  11. Not one, but 2 teachers at my school were sent to the rubber room last year. I have never seen that happen in my entire career. I am bot shedding a single tear now that the old windbag Farina is leaving. I say good tiding to her. Time to clean house at the DOE!

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  12. The 2005 contract changes removing members right to challenge letter to the file was the death of the rank and file. Letters cannot be challenged so the administration can torture members as painful as the death of a thousand cuts, or in this case slices. When the supreme court rules against unions with the soon to be delivered Janus case, members will express their opinion regarding the leadership of Ms. Weingarten and Mr. Mulgrew. The once powerful voice of labor will be all but silent, and leadership and their partnership with management will in the words of a great ecoonomist, "wither away".

    To the barricades

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  13. Heres the thing: Once Janus happens, people will be able to quit the UFT. However, they can always come back. I think if a massive number of people leave, maybe, just maybe, the UFT will get it's shit together and actually fight for teachers since they will need the dues. Thoughts???

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  14. Is $1200 per year in dues worth it? Are you getting your moneys worth people? Has the UFT improved your quality of work life?, or has it actually had a hand in diminishing it over the years?
    Some argue a lousy union is better than no union at all, but I ask why should we settle for a lousy union? If membership feels $1200 per year in dues is NOT worth it, let them walk. Let the UFT hemorrhage financially. Let them shed all those do-nothing fat cats earning $100,000 per year.
    And once this UFT feels the fear of god, maybe they will become humble and remember that their real purpose is to serve membership, not themselves.

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  15. Well said, anonymous Dec 23 12:14 PM.

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  16. The UFT has done massive harm to teachers ever since the 2005 contract. Veteran teachers can't transfer, we can't fight letters to file, and we have 4 god dam observations per year when the rest of NYS only has 2. The UFT needs a big, fat, enema, and Janus is gonna stick it where the sun don't shine!

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  17. No more quail for the motherfuckers, it's going to be Kennedy Fried Chicken for those fat assed bald bastards. Mike and Jeff are going to have to share a bucket.

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  18. Hey Mikeeeeyyyyyyy, the woodshop is calling!

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  19. Agree, but it actually over $1400 a year in duess.

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  20. You max out at $113,000 per year with pretty good benefits and a pension. A shit union is better than none.

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  21. The UFT is not a union, it's a racketeering operation. I'm opting out with a big fuck you to the UFT.

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  22. Me too. (Unless the UFT gets it's act together)

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  23. A post union vision: lunch hours cut to 30 minutes.
    Why not add some time to the school day without pay?
    And maybe add July too.
    Can they do it? Who is there to stop them? Don't like it? Quit.

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  24. I don’t get a lunch now. Wagner tells us if we don’t work summer school we will be discontinued. This is with a UFT.

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