From the NY Post's Salim Algar:
The music stopped at famed La Guardia HS in Manhattan Friday as fuming students left their classrooms and massed in hallways to protest what they say is a waning emphasis on the arts.
A faction of kids at the renowned school asserts that administrators are betraying its artistic foundations in favor of standard academic pursuits.
The protesters delivered a letter outlining their concerns and solutions Friday, urging administrators to return the school to its roots.
NBC 4 News covered the story also. Jonathan Dienst's report shows the teachers voted no confidence in the principal by a wide 119 to 15 margin.
Protests at long time stable schools like LaGuardia and Forest Hills.
Is this isolated or is there a trend toward fighting the system?
36 comments:
The admins in every building can now get away with almost anything. They know the UFT won’t fight them or fight for teachers. Not like the pre-Mulgrew days, all you had to say is you were reporting it to the UFT and the nonsense would stop. Now you tell them the same thing and they laugh in your face and ask ‘what’s the UFT going to do? Raise your dues and tell you how lucky you are to have a job?’ That’s why teachers are bypassing the UFT and taking matters into their own hands. Where in the world is Michael Mulgrew?
The UNION members in the school are the ones who were pursuing the No-confidence. The UFT have been involved the entire time, but they do not control the administrators, that would be the DOE. The DOE has know about this principal for years, and they do/did nothing, including ignoring high up UFT people complaining about what is going on.
The anti-union trolls should not post about this, LaGuardia is a UNION school.
This is not a trend. Be serious. As if anything has changed. Ditto to the previous, uft does nothing, maybe they say they are trying, with no results. We suffer, they sit in their office not being cursed and threatened.
All public schools in the city are UNION schools. The UFT has a deal with CSA not to publicly criticize principals or APs. Don’t believe me? Call your local reporter and ask the UFT to go on record with their concerns. They won’t do it and if the CL does it, watch what happens - rubberroom and ATR status. I know three ATRs that were CLs and left to hang in the wind by the UFT.
A lot of schools do not behave like UNION schools. They are in name only.
That, in some ways, is the fault of the staff for night fighting back.
Most schools are filled with untenured teachers that are afraid to fight back. When they read stories like this (which is going on for what three years?), FHHS, Townsend, and so many many more - they can’t be blamed. The UFT’s impotence silences teachers and emboldens administration.
We haven't even had a union meeting this term. And the principal treats us like shit. Fake grades for everybody. And with that, we are looked at as amongst the best. BROOKLYN INSTITUTE FOR LIBERAL ARTS.
The union is not Mulgrew. It is every member in your school. Every school that unites under the union banner becomes a powerful weapon. That is what the UFT is about.
The Union does *nothing*. I once filed an APPR complaint on the Union’s website. You know what that does? It sends an automatic email to your Principal. THAT’S IT! What the hell is that? No one from the Union contacts you. Nothing is done. So, your Principal probably reads the email and laughs. He probably prints it out and shows it to his Principal friends and they all laugh about it. And, now the member is in even worse sh*t because they’ve complained and the Union has shown they don’t care. So open season on you., now.
Maybe once upon a time - now the UFT marches to a Mariachi beat , on its way to Peter Luger’s.
@10:38 leadership starts at the top. mulgrew needs to take charge and say " we,re not gonna take it.
then organize protest greive appeal etc
whatever it takes to push back.
we not gonna win every fight, but maybe admins think twice?
Union power comes from a rank and file willing to stand up for themselves. Leadership should support those efforts.
Define a rank and file? The anonymous posting on this blog?
To the Unity apologist:
"The UNION members in the school are the ones who were pursuing the No-confidence. The UFT have been involved the entire time.."
What a crock.
This is not new. Some Ed Notes posts:
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Stop La Guardia HS for Arts Principal Lisa Mars
https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/search?q=la+Guardia
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Update: Lisa Mars, LaGuardia's Failing Principal Gets Tenure!
So what exactly has the UFT done since August 2016 - almost 3 years?
The is no rank and file. Young teachers don't even know the contract and don't know what should be going on and what is right and wrong. UFT leadership doesn't give a shit. Things keep getting worse. Who disagrees?
imo it's not the job of "the rank and file " to organize
thats why i pay $120 a month.
Mulgrew should lay down the gauntet.
let us know we dont need to fear standing up against abuse
empower chapter leaders to instill confidence in those who lack it.
You are right but veterans need to bring the newbies on board and educate them.
Mulgrew has a absolutely no power without the teachers willing to fight. Yes, he could be strong but without us willing to back leadership up, he can't do much.
Randi used to tell us that Bloomberg polled the teachers and he knew the membership better than Randi. We have a role beyond paying dues.
To 5:35,
The DOE closed most teacher cafeterias, and some schools don’t even have a teacher’s lounge. Many vets were turned into ATRs and those that weren’t have a target on their backs. Divide and conquer is the DOE’s policy and it happens to coincide with the UFT’s - apathy. An apathetic workforce that creates little work for the organization that it highly overpays. Keep the workforce passive, let the school leaders do as they wish, pass everyone, don’t complain about anything or anyone, keep your head down, keep paying those union dues and make believe everything is great. Under no circumstance should you think for yourself or have the audacity to question a principal or ask for assistance from the UFT. That is why teacher complaints are immediately emailed to the principal with those teachers’ names. It instills fear, stops all complaints and silences trouble makers.
But nothing ever changes
Hey Ed Notes,
I’m not Unity. But I’m a member of the UFT.
I’m one of several people who have been feeding you information about LaGuardia (for years).
We continue to fight, but it is difficult when the DOE does not care or listen.
The UFT does not control the hiring and firing practices, that’s the DOE job.
We have been working with newer teachers, they know the truth (and the contract) -why do you think the no-confidence vote was 119 -15?
Let’s see what happens now that our school has spent the weekend on the news, in most newspapers, and all over the internet.
How about some positive thoughts for LaGuardia?
Please look at May 25, 2019 article about the unsafe conditions at It Takes A Village Academy at the Tilden campus in Brooklyn. Security guard hurt, teachers threatened, and student cut by glass
Not enough deans in halls and students just roam the halls freely. Why is this allowed to continue?
They finally hired two new school aides when the security agent got injured! Since when are school aides deans?
Any reason we aren’t filing a “past practices” grievance regarding December 23rd? It’s very typical for most unions. https://www.labornotes.org/2008/12/understanding-and-defending-past-practices
I believe that Bronx ATR has hit the nail on the head.
DOE and school administrators are incompetent and immoral; it is only getting worse. I will never know how these administrators get away with the things they do. I do believe the UFT knows everything that is happening in the schools but considering they are just as incompetent and immoral they will not do anything.
Perhaps, one day it will be the non-UFT taxpayers who finally get so upset with the DOE absurd budget of $25,000,000,000 and all the corruption and nonsense that goes on in the DOE. Sorry to say it, the DOE could produce the same failure for half the price!
There were vacancies in LaGuardia this year, 2019. I applied, got no response, vacancy no longer there. My salary???
My problem is that the UFT has a PR machine that is massive. They could have been hammering away for years but didn't. That is the persistent question about so many schools. You can't pat the UFT on the back for doing stuff behind the scenes while principals weed out people they don't want and the UFT sits on its hands.
I know a number of LaG grads from my theater work and they have been telling me this stuff for years. The LaG alum could be a powerful force but the UFT was the only agency with the money and outreach to do it. They didn't.
We covered It Takes a Village Academy on May 26.
We also called for a grievance or PERB complaint based on past practice for Dec 23. Sources have speculated that the UFT signed off on next year's calendar not expecting the rank and file to be this angry so they cannot grieve now. I cannot confirm this.
The Queens Office 9f the UFT is corrupt. They are working with the DOE lawyers to get rid of senior teachers.
Agreed the UFT is corrupt by letting Princpals like Dwarka destroy careers and schools.
1:01, I let your comment post but could you please provide some evidence to support your contention about the Queens office.
Just fyi, LaGuardia has a $ multi-million endowment and great alumni(ae), including Peter Bakstansky
who developed the endowment over many years.
Our UFT negotiated in 2007 the FSF to hurt veteran teachers get hired, that is what led to age discrimination.
The UFT collaborates with the DOE in getting rid of trachers in their 50s.
They let Dwarka abused staff and retaliate against teachers and students.
I am a teacher at Forest Hills and I stand with the teachers at LaGuardia and Bryant. Let's get the UFT to negotiate for no confidence votes as a method to remove tyrants and for an end to the two tiered justice system. LGHS contact eterno and he will put you in contact with us.
End Mayoral control of NYC schools. Our current Mayor ids the Jack Wagon in Chief!!!!!!!!!!!
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