Monday, March 16, 2020

USE PRUDENT JUDGMENT WHEN DECIDING WHETHER TO GO TO SCHOOL THE NEXT THREE DAYS

I have been hearing from UFT members today who are worried about going to work tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

This is from a Daily News op-ed written by teacher Monique Dols entitled "Stay home educators, why should teachers criss-cross the city this week?

Would the director of a hospital assemble all of her nurses and doctors in one room to train them on new methods in medicine without any protection right now? I am sure that they would follow the best practices of world health leaders so that they can continue to do their jobs through what is going to be a prolonged crisis. I would presume if they needed to bring together nurses in such a way, they would do so only having taken extreme preventative measures and, if possible, remotely.

Schools have no way to take such precautions. Most of us were just last week figuring out how to teach kids to wash their hands properly. All public school educators should be planning remotely like many private and charter schools are already doing.

Her conclusion:

We stand in for our students when the whole system has failed them because, let’s face it, we catch everything that our shredded safety net lets fall through.

At the same time, we’ve been at our wit’s end for a long time. And we aren’t going to and shouldn’t have to put our lives and the lives of our communities at risk this time, in this way. By even suggesting this outrageous and reckless idea, de Blasio is delaying any meaningful planning and collaboration between staff another week. We cannot continue to put our communities in danger in this way. Call it whatever you want: A sick out, a strike, or simply following the CDC guidelines. I’ll gladly work from home, but I’m not going in this week, and neither should you.

Here is what Michael Mulgrew said in his Sunday email to members:

Students will not be returning to school this week. School staff will all stay home on Monday. At this moment, the staff will then report to work on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to prepare instructional plans for remote learning for their students during this interval. If that plan should change, we will notify you. On those three days, please observe every precaution on your commute and at school. New York City public schools will then be shuttered from Friday, March 20, through Friday, April 17.

Many UFT members are anxious.  President Donald Trump said we should avoid gathering in groups of more than ten. I don't know of too many schools with under ten staff members.

I am not a doctor or lawyer but I was a chapter leader for 18 years. Friends told me they are worried about going to work this week. One said that there were two cases of coronavirus in their school building discovered in the last few days. Here is what I told this teacher and what I would tell anyone concerned about travelling to and from work and working in school buildings.

It is not an illegal strike or an unexcused absence to do what you think is necessary to protect your health in the middle of a pandemic.

UFT members should know the following:

1-Contract Article 16 entitles teachers to ten self-treated sick days per school year. It has not been waived. If you are feeling anxious, then stay home.  Losing three days in the sick bank is a very small price to pay. Look at what waiters, taxi drivers, bartenders, etc. are going through. Their livelihoods are being destroyed. We can worry about grieving to get sick bank days back later.

2-If any insane administrator questions someone, I consulted the UFT Chapter Leader Handbook about self-help. Self-help is when an employee is insubordinate by defying an order from a supervisor. Normally, a teacher should obey an order that violates the Contract and then grieve.  However, the Handbook provides three justifications for an employee to be insubordinate. Two of them apply to our current situation:

First, the employee has a reasonable belief that carrying out the order will endanger the employee's health.

Second, carrying out the order will threaten the safety of others.

Entering buildings that may have coronavirus would seem to apply to both justifications.

Don't expect the UFT to tell you not to report to work. I commended Mulgrew for strongly condemning the mayor's decision to keep schools open and think it helped lead to the decision to shut them down. However, we have to be very real here. The Union will be overly cautious throughout the crisis because if the leadership encouraged teachers to stay out of the buildings, they are fearful that it would be called a strike and they would lose automatic dues checkoff if the Taylor Law's prohibition against striking was invoked. The Taylor Law will not be invoked in my humble opinion. Nobody will lose two days pay for every day out and UFT won't lose dues. It's a pandemic! Safety first. 

UFT members are adults. It's your call. Please use sound reasoning skills in deciding whether to go to work tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday.

28 comments:

waitingforsupport said...

Absolutely. Why leave your judgment outside when it's needed inside? Do what needs to be done to keep you, your family and community safe.

Anonymous said...

Cuomo prohibited gatherings of 50+ people and ordered non-essential offices to close too while closing all NY schools.
How is that affecting us?


Anonymous said...

If the DOE's plan is the have teachers use Google Classroom to post units and keep track of student work then there is absolutely no reason for teachers to attend. This can all be done at home. I heard the chancellor mention Google Classroom today when he spoke. He also mentioned that there are teachers in the system that do not know how to use Google Classroom. I find that both embarrassing and incredible. If that is the case, it is a failure on part of the DOE, the specific school that the teacher works at, his or her assistant principal/principal and ultimately themselves. I am sorry, but if you have a Master's degree, it is not brain surgery to figure out how it's done. Films, videos, links, the entire net for goodness sake can be linked to any plan, activity or assessment your mind can dream of. I will be attending tomorrow. If the google classroom way is the way my school is going, I will leave as soon as I learn that. There is no reason for me to stay. Any decisions about report cards, progress reports, deadlines, or instructions can be easily emailed by principals or the powers that be. Am I missing something here? If so, please give your thoughts. Be safe and well.

Anonymous said...

According to the press conference and Richards email, we are required to report to our schools duration of the school shut down. We do remote teaching via Google classrooms from our schools.

Anonymous said...

It says schools are shuttered. James, can you confirm? I believe we only go in this week, Tue, Wed, Thur.

Anonymous said...

As a reminder, all staff are required to report and advise supervisors of attendance daily. Daily attendance records are especially critical to plan and respond to COVID-19.

James Eterno said...

Read the part of Mulgrew's email I copied. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thusday for teachers and then schools are closed until at least April 20.

Anonymous said...

Really???? WTF!!!

Dear colleagues,

The DOE has established a schedule, starting on Monday, that all schools will follow. Classes/lessons will be delivered on a school-normed online platform, and will include daily, live instruction from all teachers to their students. As of now, we are planning to use Google Classroom and Google Hangouts, as that is the platform that a significant majority of our staff is most familiar with, and that a majority of our students already have an account and at least some experience with. Please see below for the DOE schedule:

8-8:10: Staff Meeting + Roll Call/Administrative Announcements
8:10-8:50: Grade or Department Meetings (Days TBA)
9-12:20: Eight 25-minute periods of instruction. Teachers will be delivering live instruction via online platforms each day during assigned periods.
12:20-2:50: Teacher lunch period, and assigned professional time/tasks. (Exact schedule TBA)

Anonymous said...

From UFT.org

Will I be paid during the school closure?

Over the next five weeks, UFT members will be working from home. Because they will be working, UFT members will be paid for the five weeks the system is closed.

Anonymous said...

is that from an Admin or teacher??

Anonymous said...

@10:01 where did you see this?

Anonymous said...

From uft.org

Will I be paid during the school closure?

Over the next five weeks, UFT members will be working from home. Because they will be working, UFT members will be paid for the five weeks the system is closed.

Anonymous said...

1040

A friend of mines principal sent it out.

Anonymous said...

Do you know they can conduct these PD's remotely? Any teacher with a computer with an internet connection should be able to log in. I just did my college class remotely. I had students sharing documents, reviewing videos, and having discussions. This is bullshit especially as there's gonna be no students present. And let the fucking principals hand out the iPadds to the students tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

The DOE plan, as presented, is ridiculous. They cannot expect teachers and staff to implement a haphazard plan, obviously thrown together over the weekend. The plan involves counseling and providing special education services remotely, which is almost impossible and probably unethical. It actually involves grading students who are not there. It will simply not work. And what about teachers and staff dealing with child care issues and their own family illness at home. Our union needs to oppose the plan, including the summoning of teachers to school buildings for three days at this critical time.

Anonymous said...

I'm not doing all that. I'll post some sheets.

Anonymous said...

Too many questions at this point.

If I am expected to put in hours of work everyday preparing and posting online material for my 120 students and three subject areas, what are the PE, speech, PT, deans, restorative justice counselors, ENL, counselors, administrators, ELA and math specialists, going to be doing?



Anonymous said...

Alert! Alert! We just got an email from our chapter leader that said a staff member at Flushing High School just tested positive for COVid 19. I wonder how many more teachers in the system tested positive.

Anonymous said...

I am a PE teacher. I will simply post writing assignments for students.

Anonymous said...

James, does Cuomo’s Executive Order override DOE’s plans?

www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-signs-executive-order-closing-schools-statewide-two-weeks

Will the NYC schools have to be closed to staff Wednesday and Thursday of this week?

I’m wondering what percent of NYC teachers and administrators stayed home today.

Do you know what the plans are for per diem subs and ATRs?

Anonymous said...

8:58,

Do you really think the doe cares what atrs are going to do or per diem subs are going to do?

The answer is they don’t.

The doe is concerned w making it look like they care about kids learning.

I’m an ATR and am not looking to ask what to do.

Anonymous said...


We are all in our classrooms video conferencing with each others in the building. Why

we can not do this from home. Just saying

Anonymous said...

We don't go in after Thursday.

agathimits said...

I am an ATR too but if we need to show we are working to get paid or need to show our attendance what do we need to do? I've been out sick and they haven't emailed me with anything. We have to know how to show our attendance

Anonymous said...

1240,

We are all in a union. What does that mean? ‘Prove we are working to get paid.’

Very ignorant.

The doe can’t pick and choose who they pay and who they don’t pay. Paras, atrs, secretaries, social workers, guidance counselors all get paid during this.

Comments like you made are the reason stupid rumors get started.

Anonymous said...

Maybe when all is said in done, the doe will realize what a waste of money the ATR pool was and to save money they will force principals to hire us. They won't have money to keep paying us and hire new teachers on top of that. That's something to hope for. They also can't let us go since we have tenure. They would need a reason that we were incompetent or did something inappropriate.

Anonymous said...

How are ATRs supposed to take their attendance?

Anonymous said...

Atrs are supposed to check their emails. End of story. Period. No reporting to an enrichment center. We will get paid as atrs.

Why do some of the readers of these blogs not get that?