Friday, May 01, 2020

CUOMO ANNOUNCES SCHOOL BUILDINGS CLOSED FOR REMAINDER OF SCHOOL YEAR

I just heard Governor Andrew Cuomo announce that school buildings will be closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. No decision has been made yet on summer school. It will be made by the end of May.

As for reopening schools, Cuomo acknowledged social distancing question is difficult in k-12 schools. He added we need a drop in  COVID-19 cases for summer schools to be open.





On NYC schools, the NY Post reported Chancellor Carranza has said it's 50-50 on school buildings being ready to open in September.  I wonder where the NY Post first got this information from? We do pass along what we know.

126 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy 6th anniversary to the worst contract in union history. 77% of the genius rank and file voted for it.

Bronx ATR said...

Cuomo is an idiot. There should be a decision every two weeks on Whether or not to open the schools. He must have a lot of trust in Trump’s economic policies to do this. It’s a really bad move. The economy can implode at any moment. God save the Donald!

Anonymous said...

They don t know how to re-open the school buildings with inadequate space, ventilation and bathroom hygiene. The re-imagining that Cuomo alludes to will require mega-$$$$$ and more time
than a few months. Otherwise, the buildings are not safe as in death traps.

Anonymous said...

Teachers are dolts. As is Mulgrew.

Anonymous said...

A Machiavellian master politician might just want to rush headlong to re-open the buildings so as to shed teachers off their municipal payroll. And each additional pedagogue fatality will surely reduce their unfunded pension liabilities.

So shedding the virus onto the lungs of teachers will bring about the shedding of huge state and local government budget shortfalls.

James Eterno said...

12:42, 2005 was worse than 2014. 2014 was just the second extension of the 2005 Agreement.

Anonymous said...

I sadly agree with 1:50. This is a way for the doe to purge expensive and older teachers. There's an article in the Post saying Covid 19 will last until the end of 2021 at least with waves expected in the fall and winter unless we keep to socially distancing. A reporter asked Cuomo about kids following socially distancing guidelines and how kids will be kids. Cuomo couldn't give a straight answer. There is no practical way to socially distance in a school. Summer school is possible but then again they have no guidelines on how many kids can be in a class in summer school.

Anonymous said...

Social distancing at a NY City public school is not even a reasonable possibility. Consider purchasing PPE equipment and several PPE suits with your teacher's choice money which will be 0$ next year. Re-imagine your school with every teacher showing up wearing a white PPE suit on the first day of school.

Anonymous said...

2014 was way worse financially.

Anonymous said...

UMMMMMM, read that last line in the speech: "Would any alternative academic calendars work"? This is very scary to me. It could mean anything from year round schools where teachers and students rotate every three months to teachers and kids having different vacation times. This is something that needs to watched very carefully.

Anonymous said...

I have 18 years in. I'm not sure if I'm considered an older teacher. I will gladly take a FAIR buyout immediately.

James Eterno said...

2:53, Quite true 2014 contract was worse financially but 2005 was when we surrendered so many rights that we have never recovered from.

Anonymous said...

2005 contract we gave away way too much.

People have to remember that weingarten negotiated that deal. She does not walk on water and is a worse leader than mulgrew. Remember, she was also for merit pay.

If I could go back to 2005(my first year) and had wisdom that I have now, I would have voted no.

I was an ATR after my 5th year and have had a rough time finding a consistent position.

Any contract that gives principals more power is a bad one.

Anonymous said...

so far no talks of a buyout
i have over 25 years, but under 50
i dont think i would even qualify for one
i would take it if offered though

Anonymous said...

Figure out the difference between 8.25% vs 7% fixed over 30+ years on hundreds of thousands of dollars. That cost us a ton.

Anonymous said...

Have you looked at the city budget? 7-9 billion in the red. We are about to get it up the ass further than a colonoscopy. 7% TDA? We will be lucky to still get more than 2 or 3% when we start giving things back. We aren't striking. We will start a strong petition, that's it.

Anonymous said...

Buyout? Why buy out when so many are begging to leave?

Anonymous said...

Because people won't leave unless they get a sweetener. As much as many hate it, not gonna forfeit salary and benefits and screw up pension/TDA, etc...Also keep in mind, many won't even be going into a school in September and will still get paid...I doubt we are back to normal. Many can now milk a few more years.

TJL said...

Just throwing ideas out there. I think the City is too stubborn and too penny wise dollar stupid, but nonetheless:
1. Make at least Fall '20 if not the whole year where in-person student attendance is not compulsory. DOE must hire IT people or give the Millenialls comp time to set up (especially this can reduce excessing) a camera in every room so all we have to do is teach. I'd rather do that than all this writing and typing assignments and uploading crap now. I know some of you hear "camera" and are against. There was paranoia over Zoom too. My take is a kid can already put you on SnapChat, Youtube, etc. That horse is out of the barn.
2. The next problem is what about teachers. Still have to be on the train, etc. If student attendance isn't compulsory you don't need as many teachers in the building either. Let anyone with a legit excuse get a doctor's note whether it's for him/herself or someone in the house. The private companies all have set up their employees with what they need to work at home so DOE needs to do the same.
3. So then who goes in if you can stay at home? Remember "The Chancellor's District"? Also the D75 people get a % of their pay instead of per session for summer school. With a cash incentive enough people will go in to work.
4. If in-person school isn't compulsory in-building population may no longer matter but you can still do Am/Pm half days as is done for kindergarten outside the city. No kids in the hallways, put your stuff on a cart and move classes.
5. Every kid gets issued a device that stays with him/her in their school. That's how everything gets handed in. That's where the textbook is. No handing out papers, no collecting papers. No worksheets no packets. They hand in on Google Classroom or whatever platform you want. No kids sharing calculators pencils etc. Every student responsible for his/her own device.
6. City has to make available Apex or other subscription. Our contract mandates that we be given a curriculum. You have to be able to click on something and assign it.
Pipe dream, I know - but if the City is actually serious they will do this.

Anonymous said...

Buyouts were offered in the past that saved the city money in that they were not replacing the person who left. I don't see it as very likely now as those who can leave are leaving. Yes you are right that people will stay if they need the salary and benefits. The reason people eligible to retire might stay is to build back up per session that was lost this year for the final average salary but if there is more Covid, there might not be much per session next year with the austerity budgets coming.

Anonymous said...

There ain't going to be cash incentives TJL and the city is never serious. The city is broke and nobody's posturing to say that. I think you all need to take a crash course in 1975 budgeting when the city was last this broke. Some of you are in for a rude awakening soon. Trump and McConnell ain't bailing NY out unless they get a hundred pounds of flesh in return. It helps Trump in red states to dump on NY.

Anonymous said...

Big news story: Success Academy's entire 98 students in their Senior Class got into College! Wow they are amazing aren't they. No mention in the article about how many left the program or were tossed.

Anonymous said...

What is a rude awakening?

Anonymous said...

Layoffs, or Mulgrew giving away our money. The 2020 money could be loaned back saving a few hundred million dollars. Salary steps could be frozen and longevities frozen. A true pay freeze. Benefits could be cut. All in the name of no layoffs. Mulgrew said safety and job security are our main goals. Watch him give away the store. Look at your wallets closely.

Anonymous said...

This was done when Sandy Feldman was president when we loaned money to the city. She was about a million times smarter than Mulgrew. The great Al Shanker used our pension funds to lend money to the city in 1975 and there were still thousands of layoffs. Read your history ladies and gentlemen. If you don't think something bad is coming, you are truly optimistic and think that the virus is going away by easter.

Anonymous said...

Mulgrew will give away our money as long as salaries aren't lowered because dues are based on maximum salary so they need as many teachers as possible. This doesn't take a PHD to figure out.

Anonymous said...

Even furloughs work if dues would stay the same. Mulgrew might not be an expert negotiator but he does know how to defend the UFT, not its members. And if a few hundred of you stop paying dues, that is a drop in the UFT bucket. He will laugh at you.

Anonymous said...

Lay off tier 5 and 6. Problem solved.

Anonymous said...

Not happening 7:07. Mulgrew loses money then.

Shelley said...

Technology has but one purpose: to increase productivity.

Baumol's Cost Disease & Bentham's Panopticon

The cost disease is the rise of salaries in jobs that have experienced no or low increase of labor productivity, in response to rising salaries in other jobs that have experienced higher labor productivity growth. This pattern goes against the theory in classical economics in which real wage growth is closely tied to labor productivity changes.



The classic examples of the cost disease are musicians and teachers. In NYC, if you happen to earn union wages as a musician, say, playing a violin, your wages increase not because you are more productive, for surely, even as you gain experience and as you age, though you may be more wily, more nimble, more adept, you can't, nor would you want to, play two violins. Of course the city can do what your average capitalist does when planning an event, say a wedding, and hire a DJ. But they don't because there is a union and because people, at least in NYC, wont buy ticket to see an opera or ballet if the music is not live. Not yet. In major cities in Europe they do. Yes, people go to see an opera and there are no musicians. Only a recording and speakers.


Bentham conceived the panopticon as being equally applicable to hospitals, schools, sanatoriums, and asylums, but he devoted most of his efforts to developing a design for a panopticon prison. It is his prison that is now most widely meant by the term "panopticon".


But in our hospitals, nurses stations now resemble a NASA mission control centers. The work of a singe health care worker is increased by cameras and monitors. In our prisons cameras do the work of dozens of guards.

And you want them in our schools?

Our wages, as has been discussed here, have failed to keep pace with the lowest inflation rate in decades. Have failed to keep the pattern of other workers in the larger productivity pattern. Imagine what will happen when systems like PLATO expand in NYC schools.

I am not suggesting a Luddite resistance to tech. But we need to understand what is going on here. The Charters are ants we can crush. Tech are giants, billionaires robber barons. They own our political class. They will put all of us on the streets.

This is a fight we can't fail to show up for.

Anonymous said...

Then they must pay us all. Again, I will take a fair buyout. They would save a fortune on salary, pension, medical, etc.

Anonymous said...

Why would they buy you out if they can get rid of you for free?

Anonymous said...

The DOE would lose half their teachers if they laid off tier 5 and 6. Do people even think before they type?

Anonymous said...

Nope 8:01

Anonymous said...

Shelly, You are 100% correct. I had the same conversation last night. Andrew Yang, whom I didn’t support, but would now (almost anyone would be better than Biden) proposed a universal income. Joe Rogan has a great show with Tim Pool on all the topics you brought up. (3 hours long) https://youtu.be/Cs_mDpIkUOY

Anonymous said...

Wow, the intellectual level of the comments has raised significantly with Shelley here.

Anonymous said...

They cant just get rid of me

Anonymous said...

Tier 5 and 6 are about 20% of the teacher population at best. Most teachers are tier 4.

Anonymous said...

What is the source for that 20% number? There is no Tir V for teachers, just 27-55 tier IV.

Anonymous said...

3020-a can get rid of you. No one has a guaranteed job for life, just a right to a hearing before a neutral arbitrator.

Anonymous said...

So they are going to just make up charges and fire me? Let's get back to a fair buyout.

Anonymous said...

You wouldn't be the first although yes it is not likely.

Anonymous said...

If technology replaces teachers and allows for students to be home that would mean a parent would need to supervise the children while they are taking their online classes. This will not work across the board. Children need an educator to supervise the work being done. Online has many downfalls. Can utilize tech to improve lessons, but not to take over teaching.

Anonymous said...

The information is a little dated, but from this chart, teachers with 0-5 years experience are 20-25% of the teaching force. Tier 6 began in 2012, meaning this would include teachers with 1-8 years experience by June. It's not unreasonable to assume thats 35% of the DOE. If they let go of all of those people, they'll never recover.

https://www.uft.org/sites/default/files/attachments/attrition-report-dec-2015.pdf

Anonymous said...

@10:35, the one thing that remote learning has shown is that for most students, they need teachers in their face actually teaching and monitoring. The quantity and quality of work being submitted is atrocious, and no way parents could pick up the slack long term, with their other life responsibilities and, let's face it, inability of many of them to understand most of the work.

disgusted in Queens said...

I don't see how this can be done. How do you line up a class in elementary school 6 feet apart? How do you social distance students in a bathroom AND wipe it down after each student uses it to prevent germ spread? How do you have students enter school 6 feet apart in the morning? Even outside, where do you put them in NYC? We don't have the space. What do you do on rain days? Where do you put student's who are not picked up by 2:20pm(The end of my schools work day when parents are NEVER on time? There will be more deaths of teachers/DOE employees.

How do you get up and down the stairs without touching the railing on a stair case with no ventilation? The raining would need to be wiped down all day. What do you do with a class with a teacher who has a temp of 100.3 or above and is sent home without a substitute? Class should not be split because that would put the class over the 10/12 cap which is what is considered safe for social distancing.

There are so many issues and I doubt the UFT will protect us. We will have to protect ourselves.

Anonymous said...

There are so many issues and I doubt the UFT will protect us. We will have to protect ourselves.

Finally, someone wit sense.

Anonymous said...

There are a few problems with the comments here. I’ll try to say this as diplomatically as possible. Most of you still think of yourselves as teachers. Cuomo, deBlasio, Mulgrew, the parents and the students regard NYC public school teachers as babysitters. We have allowed this disrespect and we continue to do so, even now. You are still worried about teaching? Why? No one else cares, and you will be personally punished for doing so. No matter what you do or don’t do, the ‘student’ passes. Either we all get together and fight for respect and the profession of teaching or get on the babysitting line. Right now this is merely a job that pays well and has good benefits. That will be a big plus in coming months. When times were good and when times get good again, it should not be. Cuomo made a profound mistake yesterday. Most of the state has little to no coronavirus cases, it’s primarily in New York City, Westchester and a scattering of areas, but the whole state is on lockdown. Economic devastation will be real and it will be felt by most of you that have under 10 years in the system.

Jonathan said...

TJL's suggestions are interesting, and while the city/doe would not or could not implement all of them, there are elements that should certainly be part of the conversation.

Expectations will need adjustment if we are remote - we cannot cover as much. Testing has become tricky (to put it mildly). This means new curricula, and different state benchmarks.

How many people can we safely bring into a building at once? Take our chances and ignore the 6 foot guidelines? Or have each kid attend once or twice a week? (and what good does that do working parents? school = educational institution + daycare is definitely part of the equation)

jd

Jonathan said...

When de blasio announced school buildings would be closed for the rest of the school year, Andy Cuomo jumped in - No No No, I need to coordinate with the other governors.

Yesterday Andy announced school buildings would be closed for the rest of the school year, without a peep from the governors of Connecticut or New Jersey.

He only looks statesmanlike because his federal and city level counterparts are such buffoons.

He's a mean toddler. Wants the credit. Doesn't think people notice his lies.

James Eterno said...

Agree on Cuomo Jonathan. Mean toddler sounds about right.

Anonymous said...

41% of teachers hired in the 2013 school year quit within 5 years. I wonder why...

Disgusted in Queens said...

to 12:06pm.

I am absolutely still a teacher who holds students accountable for their work. I have held students back who did not have the skills to go forward to the next grade. It is not a decision I take lightly but I do what I believe is best for the student. I can say I have never regretted holding back a student. I would rather see then strengthen their stills at the current grade than continue to struggle. I teach at the elementary level so perhaps you are referring to a different level.

I will do what I can for my students going forward and for myself to stay safe. I am hoping that if class sizes are very small students will be comfortable to ask questions. Time will tell. I know what the politicians say and they are wrong. We are professionals who deserve respect. I do believe that some parents will view us as more than babysitters as they can see all that we do and deal with when teaching their kids. The one positive out of this horrible situation is this-parents are forced to see we do way more than just babysit.

Anon2323 said...

1. At the worst they will have to stagger schools m-w-f and t-th and every week they flip or month whatever
2. Group from 9:30-12:30 and group from 1:00-4:00 teachers
3. Teachers and students may have to wear masks


City def wont buyout but I would be thrilled if they had a 25 and a 20 year buyout.

Why would city cut tier 5 and 6 when their pensions are worse than living in a sewer with rats.

waitingforsupport said...

@ 5:30pm: Good for you. Your students are lucky to have you as their teacher. The profession of teaching is one of honor. No one should take it lightly. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Here's my plan for NYC schools
Let's end the coronaphobia. The fact is 99.6% of people who get the virus recover. It is not affecting children. Can everybody just stop being snowflakes? New York City's teachers are supposed to be the brightest? Not on this website they're not

Anonymous said...

But we still have to travel. What for those who use public?

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I really feel honored. As did the 41% who quit immediately after arriving. Lol.

Anonymous said...

Have you seen the death total from this thing in NY 10:00? There are over 10,000 dead New Yorkers, most in and around NYC. Look at the overflowing morgues. Washington adopted social distancing sooner and stopped the spread almost to a crawl. Look at South Korea. You clearly are just listening to dumb right wing talking points.

Anonymous said...

Second wave was worse than the first in 1918 flu pandemic. We can't let our guard down now.

Anonymous said...

10:00 How would you like it if someone in your family was in that .4%? Also many people get it and get very sick from it and unlike the regular flew it can last for weeks.

Anonymous said...

Try over 18,000 dead 10:40 Deaths:
18,610. Over 13,000 in NYC.

Veteran advice said...

1206,

I couldn’t agree with you more.

Teaching is not a career. It’s a year to year job that I can’t wait to leave and retire from.

So I have fun every now and again? Yes. But I have to laugh because if I took this job seriously, I would cry.

Look at what we are doing now. I receive blank attachments. We hear how good the kids are with technology. Yeah, ok. They can play fort nite or bypass censors to watch porn on a doe computer. Hahahahahaha.

My kids know that if they want to major in teaching, then my wife and I won’t be paying a dime for their college tuition.

Honestly, as an ATR this year, I’m enjoying this paid sabbatical. I check my emails a few times a day and read and work out. I don’t miss the 2 hour afternoon commute.

The 2005 contract and bleeding heart liberals killed this job.

I smile, say good morning to people, and go about my day. My memory for most things is good, however, I can’t even remember the names of other adults in the school.

But, I’m making over 100 k to sit at home. Not a bad life.

I was excessed because I tried to ‘fight the good fight’. Yeah, I could have kept fighting and battling administrators, but when I was mentally burnt out and had other health issues, I went to see a social worker for therapy and realized that life is too short to care about the doe. I need to care about me and my friends and family.

The doe is a means to an end. It’s one day at a time and our job is to survive.

To those who still think this is a ‘career,’ I say ‘God bless you. Whatever helps you get through the day!’

Be well my friends!

Shelley said...

1. They will hire more IT people. They are doing this now. The IT people will outsource our work to edtech giants, like Edmentum, and they will use software like the PLATO system currently in use for credit recovery. Students login an do an entire course on a adaptive software program that automatically differentiates instruction and supports social and emotional learning. And teachers, parents, and kids, sick of the current grind of neck breaking work on home computers, will gladly embrace the new system, where a combination of tech solutions and social distancing will be a welcome reprieve. And, it will save money, cut costs because it will increase productivity as it decreases labor intensity. Result: massive layoffs, furloughs, and excessings. But it will solve the budget and social distancing problem. The horse, as you say, is out of the barn, but your proposal is a stampede. The lesson of Zoom porn bombs is that the decision makers don't think things through. Our profession suffers from several variations of the Peter Principle. Most administrators are incompetent. And Bloomberg made them in charge of a budget and a school, two things they have no business operating. Think about it. What intelligent person capable of running an organization the size of a comprehensive high school would take the job for the money administrators make? If they really had the skill and competence to manage a 15 to 20 million dollar budget, thousands of people, they would take a job in the real world and make five times the salary plus stock options. Amazon in hiring such people in NYC with compensation packages with these figures right now. Only a public employee can make the kinds of mistakes these idiots make everyday and get away with it. And in the contracts with the tech companies, at the publishing companies and software companies, like the company where Mulgrew's sister worked, like ARIS, like the iZone failure that Bloomberg is reviving with Cuomo's help, there is fraud and waste of tax dollars, money that is needed in classroom, to pay for our healthcare and pensions and salaries.

Shelley said...

2. Modelling our commute and/or work day after private work models is exactly the opposite of what needs to be done here. In fact, we need to show the private workforce what can be done if we put workers first. Consider the problems workers on the trains and buses now and the homeless. Suddenly the state is waking up to the appalling commute of workers. This problem is not a pandemic induced one. It is a problem everyday for decades. The wealthy don't go down in a subway tunnel. Most have never been on a public bus. The workers, who cram themselves into a packed car at 5pm, next to an empty car where a homeless person has made the car a toxic canister, have not been able to wake the state or city up to this because they only know how to raise fairs and repair, construct and reconstruct to meet new codes and laws, but they can't imagine a free, clean, functioning system of transportation for workers because they model everything on private profit systems. Most companies don't provide services to children. They can shift workers to the home and to a computer. But our work is different. It must be done in schools. We must insist on this. How does it get done? Where does the money come from? Right. Not easy, but we must insist or that horse out the barn won't be a stampede, it will be a Ford, and we will be buggy whipped.



3. Cash incentives for some workers breaks solidarity. Merit pay is bad. Risk pay, battle pay, all bad for union workers. We need to rid our contract of all the merit pay and incentive pay schemes. When one teacher is getting more money to do a job most don't want to do, several teachers are getting more money to do a job most want and can't get because of corruption. There is far too much of this now. Administrators can't do the work so they offer jobs to teachers whom they favor. They find methods to prevent those who would apply or do apply from getting the jobs. Bad for solidarity. Administrators are not too smart so they don't understand the larger system that is driven by a need to reduce pension and health costs, they favor younger and more pliable teachers because of fair funding and other immediate budget concerns, but also because there are major incentive to break seniority and get on board with the corporate guru scam. Seniority, school and system, have been seriously damaged by cash incentive schemes and by the peddlers of pedagogical best practices BS. Not good.

Anon2323 said...

@10:40 like the left wing talking points have been sooooo accurate lolololol, ban flying he is a racist, kavanaugh wrong, impeachment wronggggggg, russia wrongggg, go listen to maddow, cooper lemon and the fake news.

haha there is more fear mongering from the left media. Even with the second wave in 1918 it was 1918! Medicine and vaccines non existent.

We have morons here, Cuomo, Diblasio, Mulgrew, Carranza and AOC all left liberal fuck ups. Right is not perfect thats for sure, but nowhere as pathetic of these so called leaders

Anonymous said...

Just a thought:
The doe could create a contingency calendar under scenario:
A. School begins in September and end in June.
B. School begins in October and ends in:
1. June provided holidays are trimming (thanksgiving holiday is now only on Thursday)
2. July.
C. School begins in November and ends in early July or August - depends on the holidays trimming.
All of the above situations should correspond to the development in fighting cov-19.
Note: Learning online is a gimmick IMHO.

Bronx ATR said...

This Corona Virus is borderline BS outside NYC and New Rochelle. At most places in NYS, it’s non- existent. Something else may be going on here. Hopefully it’s just the normal idiocy and incompetency from our elected buffoons. Too little at first and now too much. There’s more people out now than I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I went to Rockefeller State Park yesterday and it was like Times Square before the shut down. It’s huge and was absolutely packed. Thousands of people ; parking lots completely filled, hundreds parked on all roads leading into it. Traffic on the highways was the same as before the shutdown. They’ll be massive protests in another week or two.

Anonymous said...

https://nypost.com/2020/05/02/nyc-hotels-meant-for-recovering-coronavirus-patients-nearly-empty/?utm_campaign=iphone_nyp&utm_source=pasteboard_app

It’s difficult to ascertain who is worse - Mulgrew, deBlasio, Cuomo or Trump. For me it’s Cuomo. If I see or hear Cuomo on TV one more time, my TV goes in the trash. His lizard like face and horrid voice repel every living creature - my two cats and dog run out of the room when they hear him (seriously). (No wonder he’s begging for a date; a reptilian alien from a 1950’s sci-fi movie would have a better chance of getting laid.) Worse he thinks everyone is stupid; he slows, raises and over modulates his voice as if we are all retarded and he overtly lies. Where was the coordination with NYS mayors and neighboring states in making the decision to close the schools (as he claimed there would be)?! Open your eyes NY and see Cuomo for what he.

Anonymous said...

Tell the truth about the incompetence of the Dear Leader, lose your job. #PresidentAsshole https://t.co/Ia94wh6kJc

Disgusted in Queens said...

Thank you Waiting for support!

9:37am The problem with working through the summer is there are still many schools that don't have A/C(mine included)
It does make sense to have school in this summer when there should be a lull in the virus but not it is just too hot in many schools to do this.
The A/C planned for the city schools has been scrapped/put off for now.

Anonymous said...

I think people wouldn't be protesting so much if they only bought cars they could afford, homes they could afford, apartments with rent they could afford and avoided purchasing luxuries. If you go to Europe, everyone drives a small car. In America, everyone wants a big $60,000 SUV just so they can impress their friends, family and neighbors and the latest cell phone, big house with 5 bedrooms when you only need 2, etc. Now they are paying the price. It's not about putting food on the table as it is about being able to afford our useless luxuries. Everyone should read Walden. Thoreau believes if we make our wants few, we will be much happier and less needier.

Anonymous said...

Lets shout from the rooftops the fact that we're getting 7% in a time that the economy is cratering. The public sympathy for the poor teachers only getting 7% will be deafening. Come on let's wise up.

Anonymous said...

@11:38, I live within my means and I’m ready to protest. There’s many struggling people that are ready, willing and able to work that will protest. Many are facing eviction, job loss and small children that should be in school. They’ll protest also. The folks living beyond their means are getting full salaries working from home. I’d have to include teachers in that group. They will not be protesting. Why would they? Full salaries to spend the rainy days watching TV and sunny days at the park.

Anonymous said...

The point is not that we are getting 7%, the point is we gave up 8.25% for no reason, and never got it back while everyone else with the same deal still has 8.25%.

Anonymous said...


Oregon Gov. Kate Brown Extends Lockdown to July 6.

I find that the novel infectious coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to threaten public health and safety, and remains a statewide emergency under ORS 401.025. Accordingly, I am extending t​he state of emergency for an additional 60 days, through July 6, 2020

Anonymous said...

At 1206,

I couldn't agree with you more. I am in my 10th year teaching. Tier 5 and 6 are working like dogs until Age 62. They will be voting for different interests as Tier 1-4. I am in Tier 4. This job is a joke. Life is about family and friends. This job is a day to day survival where you put your moral fiber against the wall and take it deep. If you say anything that goes against the grain, they find a way to get you out of there.

I am now battling my second go-round of cancer within a year. One day at a time. Give your families and friends a hug. Life is too short. Thank you James for having a Blog that reflects true values and leadership. The UFT is a cesspool of sheep who sell their souls to the devil for "higher pay". Don't mess with my medical, my 401k, and my pension. Everything else is negotiable.

Anonymous said...

Jake Tapper just did a great job in pressing Gov. Whitmer on her different approaches to the Kavanaugh and Biden allegations. She said she "resented" the question and Jake should "take our word" that survivors "feel comfortable" with Biden..

waitingforsupport said...

@1:42 pm: I just said a prayer for you. May God give you the strength, courage and peace needed to get through this battle.

Anonymous said...

Would that be Jake Tapper from fake news CNN?

James Eterno said...

All the best for 100% health 1:42. I echo Waiting for Support's prayer.

"May God give you the strength, courage and peace needed to get through this battle."

Anonymous said...

Police stop arresting, crime rates go down. We ignore violent acts in schools, suspensions go down. We pass everybody, grad rates go up. Same stuff. All fake. Congrats to to the mayor, chancellor and liberals. Career minimum wage workers. Now they wonder why that group is always at minimum wage and on welfare.

Anonymous said...

What would you do to resolve things genius? Privatize schools and prisons while giving tax cuts to giant corporations. There is your Republcan solution. Are you really a teacher or a Russian troll?

Be honest, there is plenty of blame to distribute to both political parties. The simplistic, oh it's the liberals' fault adds absolutely nothing to this conversation.

Anonymous said...

Who wants everything decriminalized and who wants everyone out of prison?

Anonymous said...

@11:38 AM - I had moved into my home 20 years ago. Have seen people come and go. People that cannot afford the homes leave. People that can want to move to places with bigger homes. Moved in 20 years ago and expect to retire in the same home with a million dollars to my name. I have tried purchasing a washer and dryer for my home that fits in the current space where both are located. Everything is huge. It's ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

Here is how a genius resolves things...Simple, if a student deserves to fail they fail, skin color doesn't get looked at and isn't an excuse...Our current leaders in NY make us change things because certain groups lag, that is why grades have been faked, for the most part. If people break laws, they go to jail, we don't lessen crimes because it keeps people out of jail.

Anonymous said...

@ 210 Exactly...I have been saying this for years as the request for handouts keeps going up and up and up. They can all afford to have the newest clothes, MCM bags and backpacks, newest Iphone, etc., etc but they can't figure out how to get an education.

I have always said and continue to say, the quality of an education needs to be measured K-16, not K-12. You could have 100% of students going to college but if only 34% of those students receive a four year degree, it doesn't say much about the strength of your program.
The only way you can check the rigor and relevance of your program is by looking at the percentage of students sticking it through and graduating college.

Anonymous said...

my doctor wanted to provide hcq for my cv but cuomo by edict prevents her from doing this. my body my choice? party of science? ill have to leave the state to get it. i know who the fascists are now.

TJL said...

So much to respond to...
8:02 Yes, we can reduce risk but there's no such thing as no risk. Absolutely look after yourself, just like we do when we go to the supermarket, Lowe's, etc. I wouldn't wait for the UFT or DOE to give me a mask.

12:06 Yes. Cuomo's keeping businesses closed is going to have a massive negative effect on us. Anyone who thinks "just stay home" is ok because we're still getting checks right now is deluding himself. The people who generate the tax dollars need to be able to work.

Jonathan I agree this was all about Cuomo's ego, but DeBlasio is also to blame for making an announcement he didn't have the authority to make. No surprise here but the politicians are just doing what they think will make them more powerful.

10:00 I agree with end the CoronaPhobia but there's something called July and August when school is closed and life goes on as normal. Another problem is public education being a government bureaucracy is famously slow to adapt and respond whereas businesses could open tomorrow because they adapt to serve a changing market. Especially with testing being cancelled and only a few weeks there's no point opening. A plan needs to be hammered out for September.

Veteran advice: Indeed you give good advice but I still say this is a career provided one follows the blueprint you laid out. Choose one's battles. Do your job right but don't be a hero. Anyone who sees things for what they are and doesn't piss in the wind can make a career of this for sure.

Shelley: I agree with what you're saying about Pluto, Apex, etc. That's why I suggested the camera thing so it is us still doing the teaching. That's why I used Zoom as well. Many kids (and parents) are getting used to their child watching Youtube videos made by someone from God knows where and not interacting with their actual teacher. This is not good. Home schooling is going to take off after this. Why make your child go to a dangerous school on a dangerous subway? Here in PA we already have cyber charters. Their test results are terrible but that doesn't stop people from signing up and it costs us taxpayers (the "sending" district pays the tuition) and the teachers through lower enrollment. So when you say this work MUST be done in schools, no it doesn't; but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't be done in schools. We have to sell parents on being the best choice for their children and being 20 years behind in tech won't cut it. Like you said previously we can't be Luddites. Unionized CUNY professors use Blackboard. A grad student sets up the camera so a student can see the lecture later, puts the slides on Blackboard, etc. The professor is free to just teach. Study Island by Edmentum is a good tool for a teacher to use. If it weren't for Scantron or ZipGrade (which is even better because I don't have to beg the AP for more Scantrons) I'd probably quit! It has to be negotiated to make sure it is us working and not a situation where the classes are outsourced to someone halfway across the world who will work for pennies on the dollar.

TJL said...

11:38 that's only part of it. Yes most people don't have the 3 or 6 months emergency savings they should have and many like you pointed out overspend. However, first our economy is overdependent on exactly the consumer spending you're talking about. We barely make anything anymore and the chickens are coming home to roost. Second, when you have tyrannical governors telling people they can't work, a person cannot even pay for the basics when they have no work. All the out of touch elite, politicians and celebrities chant "just stay home" when "just stay home" doesn't work for the half of the country who work by the hour and the other half who have a salary, their salaries depend on the economic contributions of those who get paid by the hour.

Anonymous said...

Stimulus and unemployment? An Atlanta mall saw massive crowds gather Saturday to buy the new Air Jordan sneakers after lockdown restrictions were lifted, according to a report.

Shoppers packed close to form lines that wrapped outside Greenbriar Mall on Saturday to get their hands on the new Air Jordan 5 “Fire Red” sneakers, news station 11Alive reported.

Video posted to social media showed people waiting to get into the mall and then again outside of the shoe store Jimmy Jazz.

“Everyone I talked to was in line for a new Air Jordan 5 that sold out online,” tweeted NBC producer Charlie Gile.

Anonymous said...

Let them eat Air Jordans 5:27.

Anonymous said...

Joe Biden doesn't want everyone out of prison. He pushed the crime bill that the left hates.

Anonymous said...

Yes those people who wanted the Air Jordans were probably spending their stimulus checks.

Anonymous said...

Biden raised his hand, yes, for free medical for illegals.

Anonymous said...

I guess they are in fine financial condition. Why all this about unequal pay? All buying were African American.

Anonymous said...

Jordan is getting richer and richer.

Anonymous said...

We know who you are 7:06. You will cry all day about African Americans buying Air Jodans but say nothing a out Jeff Bezos' obscene profits and how he treats employees.

Anonymous said...

Two totally different things...

Anonymous said...

Jeff Bezos didn't get a stimulus check.

Anonymous said...

But they are poor? They don't have money for internet? They can't do their HW? Isnt money better spent on food and shelter?

Anonymous said...

Lol. I didnt even get a stimulus check.

Anonymous said...

And Amazon not pay taxes, just like your welfare cheats. See, they are both cheats taking advantage of people.

Anonymous said...

You make too much money to get a stimulus check. I rest my case. Stop crying. The system treats you okay.

Anonymous said...

Salary vs welfare

Anonymous said...

Corporate welfare vs traditional welfare.

Anonymous said...

Corporate is much better and much more fun but complaining about black people is more fun for that guy. Glad he's not my teacher.

Anonymous said...

Fine, but dont complain about being underpaid or needing minimum wage raised if you can afford $200 sneakers during a pandemic.

Anonymous said...

Go work for Moskowitz. No excuses.

Anonymous said...

Would love to. Trash gets thrown out. Conform or leave.

Anonymous said...

You want an application?

Anonymous said...

Nah. I'm quitting once we are told to go back into infected buildings. I'm done wasting my life.

Anonymous said...

I guess you can go on welfare then.

TJL said...

Why is this bad? People spending their own money when and where they want to on the products THEY, not some tyrant in a government office, deem essential, and stores open to meet the demand. That's America.

And I agree, no to personal or corporate welfare. Let the free market work its wonders. No government picking winners and losers. A flat tax with no loopholes would fix much of this.

Anonymous said...

If the taxpayers give out money, don't they have a right to see how that money is spent?

Anonymous said...

I would never qualify, even with zero salary.

Anonymous said...

Just dont complain about being unable to pay rent or medical coverage if you can afford those sneakers.

Anonymous said...

Shush! Many NYC public schools will reveal kids not learning and teachers not teaching. Shhhhh. And if you are the "anonymous 9:47pm" why don't you just quit now? Save yourself and possibly save an educator's position who may be excessed. Do everyone the favor. Why wait?

Anonymous said...

Because I'm being paid to not go into a cesspool now.

waitingforsupport said...

@11:44 pm Ma'am, you can save the City alot of money right now.

Anonymous said...

Why?

waitingforsupport said...

@12:52: You said you're wasting your life. I thought you were being paid to teach. Being paid to Not go into a cesspool is not how i wish my taxpayer dollars to be spent. Leave now. Get on with your life.

Anonymous said...

Ok, when people start grading honestly.

Anonymous said...

I agree with 1144 PM. Why would a teacher who has been tortured quit now? Now you take the money and stay home. If you are ready to leave, the first day back in the buildings, you send an email saying you are not coming back.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I'm gonna do a favor for this group, save the city money...As the coronavirus spread in early March, Marilyn Howard worked side-by-side at Spring Street Community School in Brooklyn with a fellow nurse who came in with a fever and bad cough because she had run out of paid sick days.

Howard, 53, started feeling sick that weekend, when Mayor de Blasio finally decided to close schools for students. She tested positive for COVID-19, and collapsed on April 4 at the peak of the pandemic.

“My sister didn’t have to die, her brother, Haslyn Howard, told The Post. “It was completely preventable.”

Howard is apparently the only school nurse killed by COVID-19, but the city Department of Education has never counted her among its dead.

waitingforsupport said...

@12:52: Good luck