From Arthur's report of the May DA, we learn that there are four snow days built into the 2019-2020 school calendar. Here is a question from a Delegate and President Michael Mulgrew's answer:
Q—December
23—seems like we may stay longer next year. How many snow days? If we get it,
will they want something back for 23rd?
A—Officially we have four snow days. Anomaly year. Muslim holidays in summer, others on Saturdays. Will be many years with one or zero snow days. If they want us to give up something, we will have a discussion. My position is no. Hoping to fix it a different way. When minutes issue came up, was concern for small districts that needed flexibility. Good with that, but don’t want NYC hurt. We have June and July Regents meetings. Hope to resolve and move forward.
.A—Officially we have four snow days. Anomaly year. Muslim holidays in summer, others on Saturdays. Will be many years with one or zero snow days. If they want us to give up something, we will have a discussion. My position is no. Hoping to fix it a different way. When minutes issue came up, was concern for small districts that needed flexibility. Good with that, but don’t want NYC hurt. We have June and July Regents meetings. Hope to resolve and move forward.
If there are four snow days built in, that is 5 hours and 30 minutes of instruction for each day. That is 22.5 hours of instruction (1,350 minutes) that could be given up due to snow. Then, why are schools open for a one day work week on December 23? The UFT answer is that we are short instructional hours because of a change in state regulations.
School has never in the past been open on a Monday when Christmas Eve fell on a Tuesday. UFT is consulted on the calendar. They knew about the regulation change in September and were told by the State through NYSUT to negotiate a new contract under the new rules. The UFT failed to do that as a contract was agreed to in October which did not alter any instructional work hours. School being open on Monday, December 23 is a major UFT screw-up that we have been fighting.
In his President's Report, Mulgrew addressed the December 23 issue in some detail.
From Arthur's minutes:
Calendar—December 23rd—Legal
interpretation—we are strongly opposed—city has right to set calendar Tuesday
after Labor Day to June 28. 23rd has never been used as report day. Very
expensive to open a school for one day week. Makes no sense. Our issue is at
state level. Regulation says a school needs to use minutes and not days. We did
not agree, and don’t, because there is still a law that says there are days.
In NYC, there are some schools that don’t count some minutes. There is a reinterpretation. We are in midst of big fight right now. Calmer heads are saying this has to be straightened out, we think before school. We meet mandate under law is UFT position. We will have real conversation with Board of Regents, but they only meet once a month.
You need to pay attention to session time memo when it comes out on June 10th. You will see minimizing passing time, using homeroom as instructional, and maximizing instructional time. In original calendar, they weren’t even covering Passover. Believe with calmer heads we will get to a better agreement.
I wish we still had people in opposition at the DA and Executive Board who were willing to ask the tough questions.In NYC, there are some schools that don’t count some minutes. There is a reinterpretation. We are in midst of big fight right now. Calmer heads are saying this has to be straightened out, we think before school. We meet mandate under law is UFT position. We will have real conversation with Board of Regents, but they only meet once a month.
You need to pay attention to session time memo when it comes out on June 10th. You will see minimizing passing time, using homeroom as instructional, and maximizing instructional time. In original calendar, they weren’t even covering Passover. Believe with calmer heads we will get to a better agreement.
For anyone to ask:
- How could our issue be with the state if the city is opening the schools on December 23 even though there are four snow days (22.5 extra hours of instruction) built into the calendar?
- If we are short hours and do not meet the new state guidelines for the minimum of instructional hours, how could we possibly be allowed to have four snow days which would make us short an extra 22.5 hours if we use them?
- If there are four extra snow days and Monday, December 23 has always been a day off in the past, how is this not a change of our working days that would violate our contract?
43 comments:
So why not just have 3 snow days, since those would not be made up and get rid of 12/23, like has alayas been done.
Exactly, that's why numbers do not add up.
Oh, the angst over Dec. 23. A tragic story worth repeating time and again. And another shot at Arthur for running with Unity Caucus instead of running with one of the three losing caucuses and embarrassing himself. Solidarity forever.
And how about the snow days we don't use we get before and after Memorial day like everyone else. My kids have Friday and Tuesday off this holiday weekend.
8:27, Where is the shot at Arthur?
"I appreciate that Arthur Goldstein still writes Delegate Assembly reports even though he ran for election with Michael Mulgrew's ruling Unity Caucus."
I thank him for still writing DA Reports while he is running with Unity.
Dec 23 is a real issue that has not been adequately explained by the UFT leadership.
8:27,
History of the world has shown that when you let the small matters pass without issue, the big ones are soon to follow.
It is a minor inconvenience to work on the 23rd; that is not the issue. The issues are the blatant lies, excuses, cavalier attitude and lack of support for teachers, being expressed by Mulgrew and the UFT.
I do believe that Mulgrew and the UFT thought this would just pass without a fuss. I have 30 years in and I am still baffled by how much the UFT has conceded in the past 15 years. If people don't fight for the small things, don't be surprised if you are working into July.
I find it completely HILARIOUS that the rank and file have their balls in a tizzy over having to work on December 23rd but did not even make a peep of a complaint when Mulgrew sold us out by agreeing to 4 observations 8 years ago.
Smart readers understand your passive-aggressive bullshit when you compliment Arthur then say no one asks the tough questions. If you wanted to ask the questions you shouldn't have retired.
I really am grateful we still get the reports from Arthur. There are plenty of others who don't ask the tough questions. He is not singled out. There are MORE reps, Soidarity reps, and independents who could challenge the numbers that don't add up.
Passive-aggressive is a new one. This blog is right up front usually. I will add that to the list of insults.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this is all part of something bigger that's coming down the pike.I'm not sure if it's going to be a longer day, losing February break, extending our year- but something is going to happen. I contend there was a hidden agenda behind this from the very beginning, and I'm not sure how this will play out. My only consolation is that our current contract ends September 2022, and I'll be waving goodbye to this Gd forsaken system sometime before that.
What happens to all the snow days at end of year that we accumulate? We are lucky to get 1 snow day a year. At end of the day it is impossible to complain. Anyone who is tier 6 is screwed, tier 4 teachers are last of the mohegans. Can you imagine teaching 30 years in this crazy city for a 30,000 pension. Rats are treated better.
RE- ANON 2323:
You mentioned Tier 6. I see these 23 year old teachers and I have never felt more sorry for anyone in my life. These newbies did not realize when they went into this profession that they cannot leave until their 63rd birthday. Can you imagine.... teaching 40 years in the NYC school system? Staying that long is close to impossible. And if they do choose to leave before their 63rd birthday, they are royally screwed and lose approx 7% per year of their pension. Meaning, if they choose to leave at 60 (which is still a horrifying long time),they lose approx 21% of their pension. Now, THAT is terrible! Thank goodness for Tier IV and it's 55/30 deal. That is a real sweetheart deal compared to the sorry state of Tier VI folk. Tier IV pension plus TDA funds will allow for a very comfortable, worry-free lifestyle!!
You’re right and we’re the rat race choir. Everything is slowly being stripped from the NYC public school teacher - a day here, a percent there, and then eventually your entire quality of life. All while the UFT make Champaign toasts and refuses to pay the bill because the quail portions were too small. Teachers stop trusting the UFT to do the right thing and start doing your own thinking, or it will be to late and NYC will be like Kentucky.
Original tier IV was forty years like Tier VI. Unions lobbied to improve it. Won't happen with Tier VI because we are so lame now.
Sick out for Dec 23.
Thank god for my 25/55! I will be out on my 55th birthday.
Not to mention Tier VI have to pay 3-6% for life where we paid only first 10 years. These newbies have to teach 15 years to just get health benefits for life, I sat 20-25% at best make that cut. These newbies coming in are beyond screwed. Makes more sense for a 40 year old changing careers.
December 23rd should be a day off period. Yes I can go in with barely any students coming from Long Island, its the principle and respect of this matter, and NYC teachers get little to no respect.
I am not sympathetic to young teachers. I think they are morons walking into this system at the age of 22. If you walk in around the age of 30, then 33 years is a career, that’s what it should be.
I will not take on a student teacher because I will not train my replacement. Actually, no one in my school will.
How will being against new teachers get us the solidarity we need to get all of us our dignity back?
Young, new teachers...there is plenty to say if ever a future topic.
How will the fact that the chancellor and most of the doe is anti-white help me? Why do we still think that most students are good human beings when we have daily evidence proving that to be false? Paying dues has proven not to work. Being nice has proven not to work.
James, your only argument continues to be that the uft sucks but it's better than nothing. Sorry, that no longer works. Everyday, every week we get hit with something new. Anti white stuff. December 23. Bad contract after bad contract. Loss or worsening of medical. Extension of contract with no raise for parental leave. 6 observations instead of 2. All I can do is stop paying.
Can we get 8.25% back since no more financial peril?
UFT got observations down to 2 minimum for most tenured teachers. Raises haven't been very good but we still top out at over $120,000 per year and pay no health premium. You think that is even remotely possible without a union?
Tier VI pension is awful but can we improve it without a union?
Working conditions are horrible in many schools that do not have decent administrators. Do you think they listen to us at all without a union at full strength?
Let's continue to ask the hard questions about Dec 23 and consider protesting everything on how we have been abused (not just one day of school being open) But for heaven's sake, please stay union. We are stronger and have a fighting chance as a union.
Right, so with 100% membership, i get called bitch ass nigga everyday, the discipline code has pretty much evaporated, i get blamed for student cell phone use, get blamed for students not doing HW and projects, get blamed for my pass rate for assigning students work they dont do, have gotten under 2% per year raises the last 10 years, I'm still owed almost 30k in interest fee retro from 10 years ago, my medical is getting worse and more expensive, my tda interest has gotten worse, union dues have only gone up even while waiting 6 years for a contract, the open market is a sham, constant emails to the uft go ignored or they cant assist, i get incorrect info via email, phone and when i visit for a pension consultation...need i say more?
Wasn't the uft supposed to investigate schools with high turnover and find out why? I'm still waiting.
What about allowing this ridiculous electronic grading, which I MUST do for every class, every day. then, the principal has the nerve to say that this does not count as parent outreach. Then what is the point? It is there so parents can see it. Oh, i know, it is so the principal can look over our shoulders. Student openly say they dont check that shit. Parents either dont check or dont check till the end of the marking period when the kid blames me.
Only CSA and CUNY teachers in NYS still get 8.25% fixed. Next to impossible to imagine us getting the 8.25% back without a union at full strength.
Who else gets 8.25 or even 7% guaranteed today? Nobody. Giving it away for two days was a terrible exchange but I would rather get back tier IV but again, not possible without unions at full strength.
Why would state change law if we are not at full strength?
120K top salary with no healthcare premiums and pension. You get that without a union? No way.
I agree on many of your other points on not being supported by UFT.
That's the point, look at all those losses and complaints WITH 100% MEMBERSHIP. We are being played for suckers. So it wont be good either way. Might as well save $1600 per year.
The point is not 7%. The point is we lost 8.25%.
With all due respect, saving some money is very shortsighted self centered thinking. I pay but since my wife is a teacher, I have no financial incentive to stay in UFT as her welfare fund plan picks up my drugs.
The history with states that have become right to work shows conditions worsen when people leave their unions. That past precedent is no guarantee but a pretty strong indicator of what will happen here if thousands leave. If everyone stays and collectively demand our money's worth, we have a chance.Unions have power from the rank and file that are organized to collectively fight. Dec 23 could be a symbolic day of outrage if school is still open. We can protest against many of the conditions commenters complain about, not just that day.
How do you plan on winning 8.25% back with a weaker union with thousands of fewer members? The 7% giveback was a huge UFT error but it won't be rectified if thousands quit the Union.
So if I keep paying, what will we win back? Nothing.
If we stop paying, we could lose much more.
Did you read the post article about it takes a village academy in the tilden building in Brooklyn? The $186k principal was removed, replaced by a $155k principal who is failing, so they sent a $173k visiting principal to assist. Over $500k in all for 1 small school. 1 failing school, where teachers and ssa are getting injured, place smells like weed, etc.
My friend Sam Lazarus (former chapter leader Bryant HS) said this: The problems with the UFT are the leadership and the membership." Reading some of the hard UFT exiters here I have to admit he has a point. Up to rank and file to move leadership. Doable if everyone here could wake up a few colleagues.
I will check it out but that is kind of off topic here.
I spoke to my cousin't girlfriend a teacher in New Jersey. She said they had today off because they didn't use all their allotted snow days.
The UFT already has almost 100% membership. Maybe we can win things if we get 200% membership.
Maybe if more than a few dedicated activists were pressuring the leadership instead of waiting for Mulgrew to get us something,then we would make gains. We are failing by not convincing more people to fight for all of our rights. Dec 23 is an example in how to start some activism.
I absolutely do not advocate opting out of union dues, and know we are far better off having a union than not. BUT- to understand better why our union is becoming weak, you need look no further than the NYC DOE teachers only chat on FB. Most of them simply do not understand why this is more than an issue about "just one day", and mock/ridicule people who understand that everything the DOE takes from us it an erosion of working conditions.
Then again, based on the countless posts about probation being extended, discontinuances, 3020-A hearings, etc.- not to mention the poorly written, grammatically abysmal writing on many of the posts- none of these teachers are in it for the long haul.
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