Monday, July 06, 2020

IBO REVEALS ATR NUMBERS AND SAVINGS

Thanks to two readers who sent me a link to an Independent Budget Office report on the Absent Teacher Reserve pool. We have been repeatedly told by the UFT leadership that the ATR is a temporary position since the pool was basically created and expanded by the 2005 Contract. The pool is now being reduced gradually but is not ending anytime soon.

IBO reports on the actual numbers:

An examination of human resources data for pedagogues—including positions such as teachers, guidance counselors, and principals—shows that the number of positions in the ATR has declined steadily since the 2015-2016 school year. In October 2015, there were 1,341 pedagogues in the ATR pool. By October 2018, that number had fallen by almost 30 percent to 940 pedagogues. The de Blasio Administration told IBO that the size of the ATR pool was 725 in January and should fall to about 625 next year. As the size of the ATR pool has declined steadily over the past several years, it is unclear whether the savings from efficiencies included in this Preliminary Budget are truly that, or simply a reflection of an ongoing trend. Moreover, as the size of the pool is expected to decline, it will be harder for the city to realize recurring ATR savings in the future.


In 2018, this is what this blog said in opposing the proposed new Contract:

On Absent Teacher Reserves, the UFT said this was a temporary position back when we gave up in 2005 the right for teachers to be placed in a school in a district if excessed because of budget cuts and the choice of six schools on a wish list- and we were placed in one of them- if a school closed. We gave that up to allow principal discretion for hiring which created the ATR pool. As reported by City Limits, “Now, most agree that the ATR has led to more problematic consequences, and many teachers in the pool assert many of these consequences were in fact the intention all along.”  That temporary situation will go to 17 years through 2022 if this contract passes. That’s a lifetime for HS seniors and a career for many of us. Why can’t the UFT just say no deal until the ATRs all have a position in a school of their choice?

In this time of budget crisis during a pandemic, why not just place every ATR in a school of their choice (pick six, get one of them) as they did before the 2005  "Givebacks R Us" Contract? It won't cost the city a dime extra.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

A spate of shootings in cities across the U.S. over the holiday weekend resulted in the deaths of a number of children and calls for a halt to the violence. ⁦

But uft loves blm resolutions.

Anonymous said...

And with budget cuts looming and the possibility of the Affinity network disbanding, the pool will not only grow for teachers, but for administrators as well.

Anonymous said...

Answer to your question: Because it makes to much sense and it would be too easy to do, so of course the doe won't do it.

Anonymous said...

Nyc need massive cuts in bloated municipal workers and their pension and hc benies not a bailout

Anonymous said...

We just lost Teachers Choice!

Anonymous said...

The entire “back to school or not debate” amid a global pandemic has really put a spotlight on how overly committed humans are to a calendar & timeline.

Why?

What if we change it & normalize a different timeline for education, life, and learning?

Anonymous said...

This email about the fall from @uft is a joke. We can’t even have in-person dining at a small restaurant but we’re going to open schools?

Anonymous said...

There should be 0 teachers in the ATR pool especially since there is a hiring freeze. Last year they hired 4,000 new teachers. How could there still be this many ATRs if there haven't been any cuts to school staff?