AROUND THE BLOGS WE GO

From time to time we go around town to see what some of the local city education blogs have published. Not much earth shattering to report but there is news.

Over at South Bronx School, Peter Zucker is covering Brooklyn physical education teacher Brett Belsky who was fired because he played Fortnite online with two students. SBS said that if Belsky was a principal, it would be different.

If only the gym teacher were a principal. If herwas then he could be incompetent, a sexual harasser, insert his tallywhacker into copy machines, put relatives on payroll, steal, commit perjury, force people to attend their own church, recruit teachers for bible study in the library, and do whatever and not lose their jobs. Better, nine times out of ten they get removed to a cushy desk job at Tweed.

Where did Belsky go to have his case exposed in public? The NY Teacher, right? That's the official publication of the United Federation of Teachers so isn't it logical that the NY Teacher would publicize this wrong done to one of its members? No, the piece SBS is citing is from the NY Post.

We agree with the conclusion from South Bronx School:

The arbitrator, in this case was arbitrary and capricious. Brett Belsky deserves a fair hearing and his job back.

Next up if anyone wants to see an in depth piece on conditions in the high schools in New York City, go to Chaz's School Daze. Chaz prints a lengthy piece from former NYC high school teacher Mary Hudson describing in detail her experiences in three New York City High Schools in the 2000's. Hudson started pre Joel Klein and made it through most of the Klein years. We can see the deterioration in the schools and the lack of respect for teachers growing as she moves to three schools. Her theory on the cause of the problem I don't really buy but it's a very realistic portrayal of three high schools in this city.

This part from Ms. Hudson's story from Washington Irving High School stands out for me:

Once, on two consecutive days, enormous Snapple dispensers on a mezzanine were pushed to the floor below. Vending machines had to be removed for the students’ safety. On another occasion, two chairs were chucked out of the building, injuring a woman below. Bad press and silly excuses ensued. Another time, word spread that a gang of girls was going to beat up a Mexican girl. There was a huge crush of students who preferred to skip the next class to go see the brawl. The hallway was packed, there was pushing and shoving, causing a stampede. I was caught in it and fell to the ground; kids stepped over me elbowing each other in the crush of bodies. Eventually, a student helped me to my feet. Badly shaken, I was taken to the nurse’s office. My blood pressure was dangerously high; I was encouraged to see a doctor, but declined. My husband came and brought me home.

Shortly thereafter, the teachers union (United Federation of Teachers, or UFT) fought the Department of Education, which had recently loosened the already lax disciplinary rulings. They organized a press conference and asked me to speak at it about the worsening security situation. The principal refused me permission to leave even though my supportive assistant principal found a fellow language teacher to take over my classes. As soon as school was out, though, a union rep implored me to rush downtown with him as the press conference was still going on. Questioned by reporters in front of the cameras, I spoke about the stampede. There was a brief segment on the local evening news.  The principal was furious, and the next morning screamed at me in the lobby that I was a publicity seeker who just wanted to give the school a bad name. However, the UFT was successful in this case, as the former, less inadequate disciplinary measures were restored, and things went back to their usual level of simmering chaos.

Although it was clear that my generally robust mental state was deteriorating, I did not want to quit. The UFT encouraged me to go into counseling; I didn’t see the point but acquiesced and agreed to see one of their social workers for therapy. Her stance seemed to be, “What is a nice girl like you doing in a place like that?” I started to write about the situation to people in authority. The UFT president Randi Weingarten and the DoE head Joel Klein were among the recipients of my letters detailing the problems we faced. I visited my local city councilman, who listened politely. I did not receive a single response.

No reply is no surprise in fact it has only gotten worse since the early Klein years in my opinion when teachers reach out for help. (see any piece on the giveback laden 2005 contract for more information)

For those who want the depressing details on the upcoming UFT election, they are chronicled by Norm Scott over at Ed Notes. Considering stories like Mary Hudson's are most assuredly not unique, working in many New York City public schools is extremely difficult with teachers getting treated poorly by students and administrators and having really no place to turn to for help. Under these conditions, it would be logical to guess that many people would come together to challenge the leadership of the UFT in this spring's election. The truth is there are challengers but no real challenge of any kind. There are three caucuses running in the election against Mulgrew-Unity. They are Solidarity, New Action and MORE. Unfortunately, all are running limited slates so there will be a more bogus UFT election than usual. Even in the high schools, the high school opposition vote will be split so there is virtually no chance of any opposition group winning. Only Lydia Howrilka's Solidarity caucus tried to unite the opposition. I am backing Lydia for president but the election is not something I am looking forward to. Lydia has asked me to run with her but I  think the limited opposition slates are a huge disappointment.

For those interested in the day-to-day nuts and bolts at the UFT, NYC Educator has a report from the February Delegate Assembly. It seems President Michael Mulgrew has made the startling discovery that plenty of money earmarked for education doesn't actually get to the classrooms. 

From the summary of Mulgrew's Report:

NY put more money than any state into schools. Do you see it? Where does it go? Lawyers, consultants, management, executives… becoming more of a problem.

It's becoming more of a problem? Where has the President been?  If there were a  Rip van Winkle award for union presidents, Mulgrew just might win. I'm glad he woke up and realized there is a problem with education funding not finding its way into the schools and the classrooms.

Please note that there were no motions to the agenda and only "mom and apple pie" resolutions that all carried unanimously at the DA. It is hard to fathom a UFT democracy that is even deader than it was in previous years but that's where we appear to be today. There are two possible explanations:

1-NYC teachers have decent pay with good benefits so teachers and other UFT members are basically content with the UFT meaning there is no need to dissent or complain about much of anything with the union.

OR

2-People working in the schools have in large part given up on using the union to improve working conditions.