Thursday, March 04, 2021

LIVE BLOGGING FROM MARCH MULGREW TOWN HALL (Somewhat Unedited)

The meeting began with President Mulgrew apologizing for the timing of the town hall with elementary school open school evening. He said there were no good choices. 

He then talked about vaccines and said members should go through UFT program or NYC or state. He then praises the nurses, both in school and out of school.

APPR teacher evaluation

DRs being trained with DOE people today. We want a simple system. DOE wanted a formal and an informal with 8 domains being hit. DOE gave in. It can't be like it was before the pandemic. Have to put it in terms of the pandemic. Chapter leader training tomorrow. Training for everyone tomorrow. Most get one observation, some who were ineffective two years ago get two. School-based or citywide MOSL. We are working on the citywide MOSL. Online complaint process. If the administrator looks for all 8 domains filled with evidence, you need to let UFT know right away. Observations have to be done in the context of how we are working. They don't understand it because they have never worked under these conditions. Training tomorrow and Monday. Please register. 

Standardized Testing

No blanket waiver from federal Department of Education. Standardized tests need to be reported to federal government. Need a 95% participation rate usually or there are penalties. We don't need that but reporting requirements are still in effect.  We need individual state waivers which the State Education Department is trying to get. If we don't get the waiver, federal position is only in-person students need to test. Opt-put, we support NYSUT position. High schools will be open before the end of the school year. Some Regents will be given. We want to use functional assessments. We are still in flux on these things. Exams have nothing to do with teacher evaluations. Looking for 3-8 waivers and high schools.

Calendar

Last year we didn't get a calendar until September. We are working with DOE as we want it out now. That is a big deal. Because of all our holidays, we will probably only have 180 instructional days. No snow days next year. We started late this year but I don't know if we can make every child remote if there is a snow day. We start contemplating School Based Options which involve in many changing the calendar and start times. Getting calendar out early helps for working on SBOs. Professional activity menu and comp time need to be done. For now, hold out and wait. We do over 1,000 SBO's per year. We don't want SBO's that can't be implemented. We will need an open SBO period toward September. Calendar first and then SBO's

Chapter Leader Elections

It's an election year for all chapter leaders. We will send something out that it is a combination of mail and electronic. We need an election chairperson in each school that is having an election. We are trying to put a stipend in for this.

Middle Schools

D75 are like the marines in opening and also elementary schools. Middle schools did a great job opening last week. Lead time was the key. COVID testing is the key We know how many students and staff are coming in. City has tons of extra money from two federal cares packages to spend on COVID-19 in schools. PPE, air filters, stand alone air purifiers, contact tracers, cleaning equipment all from Cares Acts. High schools have lowest percentage for in-person learning. We must recognize that a lot of students want to get back to schools in-person. We will use middle school formula. Need lead time. Mayor is in compliance with plan if he can show he can do the testing and contact tracing. He can open in a day if he can do this. Buildings are in pretty good shape. PPE, we can reload a building. Good idea to check things before we open. Building Response Teams have to go in. We need PSAL open. We are behind everyone else in the state on this. Parents and clergy want sports open. UFT told parents we are not stopping this. We know there will be testing.  

Social emotional trauma, learning loss, those at the end of their school careers (5th grade, 8th grade 12th grade) are real problems for at least the next two years. Some high school seniors graduated and didn't even know it. Seniors in our classes right now we have to get to a better place. We can't just leave it to the guidance counselors. Social and emotional trauma in our students and ourselves need to be addressed. We need a plan. One more major federal package on the floor of the US Senate right now. We must have plan for social emotional trauma, learning loss and students transitioning to the next level. Damage has been done. We need plans, supports with funding behind it to meet these challenges. Member assistance program: we have added resources but it is full. We have to do work for ourselves. We don't want to go to DOE for functional assessments. We can't make it a big bureaucratic mess. Working with CUNY and SUNY. They have had a massive drop in enrollment. We are not there to help students with their paperwork for college. We will see where we go with the state budget.

Next school year

We don't know. We will follow what independent medical experts are telling us. What happened last year in terms of planning cannot happen again. Members must tell leadership what to look for in terms of safety. Everyone who wants a vaccine will have it by next school year. Clinical trials taking place for 2-15 year olds. We depend on medical experts. Mayor is not a medical expert. For next year we would prefer fully remote or fully in person as the options. We can't wait like city did last year. Must push for city to have a responsible school opening as a priority. Medical experts should decide, not us. 

Today is almost a year since we won the fight to close schools. Not a big win because of what came after. We did that together. It is almost a full year. We learned remote by working together. Summer was the fight for opening for this school year.  We knew what we wanted to open. We got through it. We shut down in November and now we are slowly reopening. We still have a long way to go. We got it done safely. Everyone worked really hard. We don't have all the answers and it is not fair. Keep same mind frame for next year. We see the finish line but we still have a ways to go. We see the damage done to students. We need a plan. We don't have all the answers but we have a common motivation. 

We are a union that's based on a profession who care. We need to get through this year safely and have a better opening for next year. We are still working on an early retirement incentive. We and NYSUT are pushing very hard. We will know by April 1. (State budget deadline Mulgrew said is March 30 but we find out April 1. I think it is March 31.) We will get the no-layoff clause for next year if we get the extra money from the federal government. In an elementary school visit, teachers said thank God we are here and we are open. Thanks everyone. We will have complaint form for APPR next week. Standardized tests not linked to APPR this year. Get vaccines from us, city, state or drug stores soon. Schools are going to be opening. We will deal with budget challenges. We will get to the end of this thing.

Questions

Question: Question about observations from fully remote special ed teacher. AP came into remote class and wrote it up with feedback. Does that count?

Answer: It only counts if it is effective or highly effective, not if ineffective or developing. My guess is a lot of people's observations are already done. DOE guidance is often contradictory. Walk-throughs, remote or in-person can be used. 

Question: Is there any decision on calendar days in June?

Answer: We are stuck on instructional days because of the two week lag we had at the beginning of the year. SED approved our plan but there couldn't be any loss of instructional days.

Question: Standardized testing, are we just giving standardized testing to meet federal guidelines or to make admission decisions?

Answer: It is only to meet federal guidelines. Standardized tests can't be part of admissions decisions We need functional assessments. Tests diagnostic.

Question: Chapter 683, when will we get the calendar? When will we know type of instruction?

Answer: We are looking to DOE to work out answers to these questions. Many parents opted out. Gut feeling there will be remote and in-person. As soon as we get answers, we will get them out. Children in 683 have in many cases had developmental regression. 

Question: High school reopening, timelines because school has operational complaint that was moot and school reopening still has the problems?

Answer: High school operational complaints have to be addressed right away. Middle school testing has met goals. We have an open relationship with testing and contract tracing people. We need some lead time and will work on operational issues now because the city is building the capacity fast.

Followup: Are Regents testing days considered instructional days?

Answer: Yes, we can't just leave it to guidance counselors to help students transition. Crazy grading policies need to be cleaned up. If a student passes a class, they still get Regents credit. We need a hybrid plan. VEEPS have a plan.

Question: Sent an email to Ellie Engler. Thank elementary school teachers. Not chosen one time for COVID testing.

Answer: If you sent an email to Ellie Engler, there is a good chance you will get tested next week. We get hundreds of emails on a daily basis. We will say of course it's random, but we think this person should get tested. 

Question: Early retirement incentive, Is there anything new?

Answer: We are lobbying hard in Albany. It needs to be in the state budget. Deadline date is April 1. Lobbying governor's office, state assembly and state senate.

Question: Any other opt in for students for school for this year?

Answer: Original plan was for three opt in periods but mayor changed that to a period in December. There have been no conversation about another opt in period. We would have to reprogram many schools if more students came in.

Question: Parents have opted for fully remote, but would remote kids have to come in and take exams?

Answer: Only the in-person students take it. If the student takes the test and passes the class, whether they pass or fail the test, they still get Regents credit.

Question: Any validity to DOE mandating UFT members be vaccinated?

Answer: No, DOE can't do it; only the state can mandate it but state is not mandating it. It is a personal:  choice. 

Followup: Evaluations, what will it look like for a remote teacher? What if my technology goes wrong?

Answer: DOE wanted a different system for remote and in-person. We said no. Tech problems can't be used against you. Evaluation-observation has to be based on what they observe. Context of the conditions you are working in has to be taken into consideration. In-person when you are wearing two masks and a shield has to be taken into context. New complaint process as well as an appeal process are taken into consideration. If it goes to arbitration next year, the fact that you are working under conditions that you were not hired under will carry great weight.

Question: Remote teacher without accommodation, can they make you come in?

Answer: They can do it but get in touch with UFT and we will try to address it.

Question: Spring break pay from last year?

Answer: This will be the first arbitration when it is fully up. Payroll and para termination grievances are open. Also, dealing with American Arbitration Association. This will be the first arbitration we will file. City position is CAR days was the compensation. We have a letter saying they couldn't use those days in a future proceeding. That is going to be the issue.

Question: I feel like I just got called to the Price is Right. Will high schools go back before spring break? Travel issues?

Answer: There is a real possibility it could be before the break. In terms of travel, that is up to you. It is your choice. A lot of members have been vaccinerated. If you travel, that's on you. Elementary and D75 have dealt with this. Get test before you travel and that should help with quarantine issues.

Question: Open market transfers, will that be open?

Answer: We will open it up. We may end up with a 2-4% drop in enrollment. Must get city up and running faster. Talk about mayor's race in next town hall.

Question: PPE and safety for D75 after COVID?

Answer: Reading about steps taken after 1918 flu. Looking to modernize in next federal infrastructure bill. Push it with DOE too. Also, technology needs to be figured out. Having conversations. 

Question: CTLE hours. New cycle started in 2016 ending now. Is there a change in this requirement? 

Answer: Last year everyone got an extension. We have a whole slew of CTLE classes. Some really cool stuff with Apple. We are waiting for the state for guidance.

Question: Thoughts on the new chancellor?

Answer: We have worked with her for years. We did a lot of work with the Bronx plan with her. Mayor thinks he's the chancellor. It is frustrating. New chancellor in our work with her has been phenomenal but we are at the end of this administration, you know what this means.

Thanks elementary schools again. Elementary schools like the rock. Foundational stuff done from the early grades. We gotta get through this March. People need to know what directions we are going in and why. We decided last year it was safety, livelihood and the profession. People recognize that NYC opened first. CDC guidelines look a lot like our plan. We will get to the end of this school year and hopefully we will have a better opening next year. Standardized tests, we are all fighting and a lot of people are on our side. Take advantage of APPR training. If you are vaccinated and want to travel, those are personal decisions. We continue to make progress because of members. You inspire Mulgrew. Passion and creativity keeps coming out and it's nonstop. That is why we are the greatest union in the world. Thanks everyone again and God bless.


83 comments:

  1. Mulgrew says nobody is college ready due to 2 years of covid yet everyone is graduating...Huh?

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  2. "We recently opened a portion of arbitration." What a scammer. You think this gets dealt with for spring break pay ever?

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  3. Sucks for any teacher who planned to go away for break.

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    Replies
    1. Imagine planning a house sale and a move for the week.

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  4. "This will be the first arbitration when it is fully up." What the hell does that mean? Can it not be not fully up for 2 more years?

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  5. High Schools opening soon!😊😊😊

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  6. Some states are starting to no follow CDC advice on 6 feet of social distancing in schools. Those states are now using 3 feet of distance in the classroom. The million dollar question is, "Will this happen in NYS and will the UFT fight it if it does happen."

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    1. Will this happen in NYS? The Answer is Yes...Will the UFT fight it? No...

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  7. So we can be forced into infected buildings but the uft cant negotiate spring break in person or via zoom?

    We can be forced into buildings but doe, uft and trs are closed?

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  8. AHHH so he finally admits thats what the city is saying about Spring Break 2020! Remember when he assured us that wouldn't be the case? They aren't claiming that for nothing. MULdirt is a fucking liar!!!!

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  9. Yes, the soft let down- DOE sees 3 CAR days as our spring break compensation. That's ridiculous for many reasons.
    1. we worked more than 3 days
    2. you can't take those days without admin givin' ya $hit
    3. if we took any of those days before or after a vacation, we are on notice, the DOE just cancels vacation and that's fiiiiiiiiiiiine.

    Mulgrew's starting the "sell." After delay has failed royally and the "not fully open BS, he's on to slowly presenting the reality. He's know it all along. He has no intention to get any more compensation. Now, watch him slowly move the bar down till he tells us, "you should take the 3 days and thank Unity for GUARANTEEING you have a job, folks, you don't know how lucky you are."

    Wait for it-

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  10. Those like me had to use those days for religious observance whereas normally,we would have been off.religious observance is deducted from the check.so we lost money. Plus what about the other days?they would need to fh I've us more days.if we get all car days I CD an live with it except for being screwed on the religious observance.i wonder if 683 will have accommodations.maybe not because it is per session/optional.i am on accommodation now.i need to work it for my fas which got lowered when I got screwed one summer.hoping virus is low or can we work it remotely.i am scared of this vaccine,so dont say to get vaccinated.i read that later on,the vaccinated got get a worse case if things go like previous research.scared for my family who are getting vaccinated.thankfully, it will be summer soon.hope the beaches will be open this time.pools still closed i think...not that i would chance my health on it anyway...tx for the opportunity to ramble on about these concerns...the whole situation is mentally draining.

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  11. DOn't forget if you retire or leave the system, you are only paid 1 day for every 2, so basically we are losing 2 days pay. We worked to days for free.

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  12. The kids obviously had no learning loss if the graduation rate is going up.

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  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  14. It's not that I don't want the money from that break too... but I think you're wasting your energy on that one. We threw up some assignments and made an instructional video or 2 during a time when we couldn't leave our house. In the end it's not worth making ourselves nuts over.

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    Replies
    1. Not how it went. I had a house closing sale and a move. A colossal inconvenience.

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  15. So throw another 7 sick days in my bank.

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  16. Mulgrew can’t put on his knee pads quick enough around other corrupt politicians.

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  17. 9:03, you're okay with working for free? Teachers like you are a problem

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  18. Remote Teachers and students did not start the school year 2 weeks late.

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  19. Unknown,

    One of the issues with the DOE and the UFT is when you extend yourself, out of the goodness of your heart, due to COVID, for the sake of the children, etc. it will soon become expected by the UFT and the DOE. Next, your good, generous,or kind act becomes a give-back or part of the next contract.

    Then, you will be asked, or voluntold, or feel the need to extend yourself again. Then after a few years, you find yourself working 12 hour days and on weekends all because the DOE and the UFT keeps turning your generosity into and expectation then a job requirement.

    If you do not address a leak when it starts, you will pay a lot more down the line. Second, the DOE and UFT suits are megalomaniacs, corrupt as Cuomo, immoral, untrustworthy, etc. You cannot believe anything they say or anything they do.

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  20. You just have to move on from thinking g we will get paid for spring break last year. It won’t happen.

    I’m not ok with it, but I didn’t do live lessons or any work that week.

    I uploaded the nonsense the chancellor sent us and never graded it.

    I’m not ok with what happened, but in this system, you have to make the doe work for you and not the other way around.

    Do I cut corners and bs my way through a lot? Sure I do!

    Am I proud of this? Sometimes I feel bad. Most of the time I don’t.

    This job is a racket. Never forget that.

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  21. Four CARS days does not equal one week of pay.
    Payments 12 years late is not equal to payment on time.

    Too many teachers are financially illiterate.
    Too many teachers are known as New York City's meekest.

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  22. 6:52.....I cannot agree with you more...for some of the most educated employees in the city, teachers are the absolute dumbest. They don't understand this nor do they have any idea whatsoever about how their retirement works. It's pathetic to think that teachers don't retire to collect their pension because they don't know what they would do. Teachers may work hard now on lesson plans, tests, and grading, but they are lazy and have very little self confidence outside of their comfort zone. It's down right pathetic.

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    1. Agree. They won’t even admit that they don’t know.

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  23. Does anyone know if Mulgrew has agreed to more health care givebacks to the city? I noticed my prescription costs just skyrocketed with no explanation, $20 to $120 a month. Nothing else has changed about my prescription, other than the cost. I can’t get anyone to explain the increase. I’m retired btw.

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  24. 916. I believe retirees pay a percentage of drug cost as their copay. Copay is not a flat amount. So if the drug cost went up, so did your copay.
    Nyc should give more car days that you don’t need a doctors note to use. That would be a decent trade off for spring break.

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  25. I don't think more CAR days are coming 10:36. That would be a permanent cost to NYC.

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  26. But CAR days are a much cheaper way to go. If you save them they are only worth half as much as if you got paid $s and the city would not have to pay them for years, no different than our retro deal that was made.

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  27. The city is not trading 7 days worth of extra pay for a permanent cost. It isn't happening and the UFT wouldn't ask for it.

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  28. Spring break pay will simply be a negotiating tool for something else..."OK we won't take sick pay you don't take back (whatever). We are not going to see that money. Never were.

    Besides, we didn't even have to meet live with our students. Just post work and monitor that week...for a week you were stuck at home anyway. Was it sweeps week on the Price is Right or Maury or something that you missed? So we had to do a little work while others around the world lost their lives and jobs and wondered where their next paycheck was coming from. I get the principle of it all but I'll actually give Mulgrew a little credit if he used that as leverage. it's something we never had and never would receive credit for that may save a give back somewhere else.

    Be more worried about Cuomo. he will need something to distract from his issues right now, getting kids back to school could be that thing.

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  29. Asa therapist I worked those days last year during Spring Break. I worked incredibly hard as we had to get parents to agree to tele-therapy, and the paperwork to do this was unimaginable! We did not have a choice to just throw videos up on the screen. We had to work with the children face to face. As I was not technically savvy, there was also a tremendous learning curve and I had to teach the parents and children too! All I did was work, work, work. As therapists we don't get paid as much as teachers, which is why the majority of us voted down the original last contract (as they took our FMLA too!). I want to get paid for those days. And, at this point, I will take a buy-out! No appreciation for the incredible work we do.

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  30. Ok, james, what will we get? Your opinion...

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  31. A day of pay for a day of work sounds about right.

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  32. James... so don’t make it a permanent cost. I know it’s asking too much for dumb doe and UFT to think outside the box. Days must be used within 3 years and can’t be transferred to car.

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  33. A day? LOL. Sounds like master negotiating. Dues well spent.

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  34. Sorry James but unless we get $5-10B in education money with the stimulus, you're not getting an arbitrator to give away city money they don't have. Either the UFT will use it to bargain with (which is unfair) or they will give us CAR days again. Remember, those 4 CAR days we got were to take care of those of us that had religious observance last year...people seem to forget that. People also don't know, because it was NEVER put in writing that you didn't lose the 4 days if you went over 200 last July and for those of us retiring with a full bank (200 days)...we will get an extra 4 days ($2560) pay in addition to our 100 days ($64,000) for our 1 for 2. I did my homework last spring. I would love to get another few CAR days to cash out in addition to everything else, not to mention it's also a free disability policy if heaven forbid you need to use it.

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  35. Arbitration on this could go wrong. Set a precedent that we’re not entitled to spring break. Don’t think spring break is in our contract. Negotiating something is the better move. None of it matters anyway....Mulgrew won’t fight for it.

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  36. De Blasio plans to ditch hybrid learning next school year for full-time remote or in-person options
    By Christina Veiga Mar 5, 2021, 1:17pm EST

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  37. Extremely unlikely that CAR day credit will ever be issued—I don’t think is ever been done—for any labor union in NYC. However if teachers or any NYC employee worked a full day or even any part of the day -on any of their vacation days—they deserve to should be fairly compensated- as quickly as possible.

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  38. Have you seen the $1.9 trillion bill in the senate? States and cities get billions as does education. There will be money. One of the Republican opposition points is it's a blue state bailout but red states get the money too. Ask for money with interest for all 7 days. In negotiations, I would call the CAR days a 1 for 2 down payment.

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  39. 1:18: Are you kidding me? This city has tons of money. The problem is it is all wasted. Don't buy their rhetoric bull that they don't have money when you have superintendants, deputy superintendants, supervisor for this, supervisor for that, not to mention the wasteful ATR pool and all the money spent on Consultants and other programs that were never utilized correctly. We have every right to ask for the money. IF you have enough money to keep a surplus of teachers in an absent reserve pool and then hire more teachers on top of that you have money for Spring break.

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  40. NYC officials float March 22 as return date for high school students
    By Christina Veiga and Reema Amin Mar 5, 2021, 3:36pm EST

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  41. Don't give me this garbage about spring break. We were supposed to not work, we were told we had to work. That means we get paid in some way. My questions is, when will this be finalized one way or another?

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  42. The spring break pay will be happen if teachers stop being meek and tell the UFT that we
    are getting paid or else.

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  43. If we don't get paid for spring break, we sill pull the pay out of Mulgrew's ass, so to speak.

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  44. One of the Republicans—that guy McConnell again—who seems to still be running the Senate—says the Blue States get too much money and the entire bill is a “clunker”. He should know -because he looks like a clunker.
    Biden is not doing too well with the moderate Republicans too- as they are going to vote no. So what happened to the bi-partisanship—if every time Kamala Harris has to break a 50-50 tie?

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  45. "De Blasio plans to ditch hybrid learning next school year for full-time remote or in-person options"

    https://ny.chalkbeat.org/2021/3/5/22315617/nyc-ditch-hybrid-learning-next-school-year

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  46. The spring break pay will happen if teachers stop being meek and tell the UFT that we
    are getting paid or else.

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  47. LOL.

    https://www.city-journal.org/nyc-schools-chancellor-meisha-ross-porter-has-record-of-failure?fbclid=IwAR3cpdCnCCIriHWFjc1g1wvn2VFR9mWE5nLbH_nBFo8jbeCUDA9eW-4kx_M

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  48. I read the article in Chalkbeat. Many kids are not going to return to school either hybrid or fully and will opt for fully remote next year because they don't want to have to commute. Others said that the schools were so empty there was no social interaction anyway.

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  49. from the uft, are they on our side?


    UFT Brooklyn Office Retweeted
    Andy Pallotta
    @AndyPallotta
    ·
    Mar 4
    The best way for educators to teach and for students to learn is to be in class with social distancing,masks and testing

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  50. Just wanted to check here for protocols of contact tracing. My middle school was placed on 24 hr lockdown for today due to 6th grade student testing positive and another staff member. I found out the class (even though I'm not supposed to know because its a big secret) and turns out I covered this class on Monday. Kid tested positive Wednesday. Why wasn't I notified to test?

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  51. Mayor will make announcement next week about high schools reopening!

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  52. Teens spread as well as adults do. B117, the UK variant, has spread widely in the EU and UK among children/teens. B1526, the NY variant, may undercut vaccine efficacy. Does the mayor think he can gaslight the city by just not reporting accurate case #'s and deaths?

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  53. So we worked 7 days over a holiday period. We were given 4 CAR Days to apply to taking a RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE if you are a religious person. There are still 3 days missing. Also, if you plan to save your CAR Days, those 4 days become 2 days. Those two days get paid out when you retire, but they are taxed. So that is essentially 1 day. Could you imagine the outrage if an Asian, Muslim, Black, Spanish holiday were taken away? But if it is negative to the White, then it must be alright.

    The DOE used us for "essential work" to keep "kids busy" when that isn't my responsibility. How about young parents like myself who want to spend uninterrupted time with their young child? We can't have that.

    The DOE tries to implement things to make them a "new norm". An example includes CTLE Hours to have people pay for UFT sponsored programs/jobs/help with money towards dues because people opt out. As a 34 year old, 10 plus year teacher, this hits people in my salary chart and below for the rest of education. Eventually when the Tier 1's and 2's retire, EVERY teacher will be paying dues and paying for CTLE Hours (there is a loophole: edweb.net is FREE by the way).

    Also, to the fool who said this is a pandemic, a crisis, etc., you are correct about that. Once again, we can't separate isolated incidents as people. Work is work. You get paid for what you work for. Who works for free? You can be thankful that you have a job (of course I would say we all are), BUT you should NOT be a goon and work for free.

    The DOE is a disgrace. Shout out to Joe, golf guy, and all the people that get it. Just go in, take one in the can, bite down on something while that's being done to you if you can, and let Mulgrew say "Everything is going to be alright". Instead of picturing Mulgrew, picture the old man from "The Wedding Singer" saying it. At least you'll laugh. Teaching in NYC due to the pandemic has become and will continue to be a joke when this is over. It's so sad, but this is what they want.

    Moose Out.

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    1. But keep paying dues? How has that worked out?

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  54. Just out of curiosity how many of you whining for spring break pay have 10 years plus experience 😂? For heavans sake we have not received retro payment from 12 years ago yearsssssss with no interest. THe 4 CAR days will be it. It's time to get rid of mayor, governor, if possible mulgrew and start demanding real change and raises. WE get 3% in May thank goodness.

    There will be maybe 5% and thats a high prediction for any tier 6 teacher to teach 30-40 years in this system. YOu will need Andy Dufrane from Shawshank to help you escape.

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  55. Too many weak and idiotic teachers who just love to take it up the bum from tweed. They try to praise us as martyrs and heroes so they can do exactly what they always do to us: force us to work out of contract with no compensation. OH! BUT IT'S OKAY! We're heroes. We were doing essential work and keeping the kids busy during a global pandemic. Our acknowledgement is our compensation because you all are too weak to fight for real compensation.

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  56. How about this bizarre nightmare of a choice - DeBlasio vs Cuomo for Governor of NYS?

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  57. Can someone clarify this about pension...Do they automatically look at your last 5 years or only if 1 of you highest 3 years shows a 10% difference? If, for example, I work thru 2022, and my highest 3 years are 19, 20, 21, would they automatically look back at 2018 and 2017?

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  58. If you don't want to pay dues Opt Out in June. However do realize all the things you justifiably complain about happen in spades when you're in a job as an "at will employee". Ask a teacher in Catholic school (especially that's not in the FCT). Even FCT schools have been at work since September, can be hired/fired at will for cheaper newbies (not as bad in a Union school), health insurance in Catholic school is actually better but be prepared to pay upwards of $1500 a month for it.

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    1. Oh, the uft is better than nothing excuse. No thanks. You get suckered.

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  59. Relax tough guy... nobody thinks they're a hero bit sometimes you can realize it's not worth making yourself crazy over a couple of days that... let's be honest... you hardly worked if worked at all.

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  60. Article in The Post today about a parent complaining how an Economics Teacher from A-Tech formerly Automotive High School showed two rap videos one from Wu Tang Clan in order to motivate his students. Automotive High School's enrollment dropped from 1,000 students in 2010 to 300 this year. This was one of the first high schools to do a restaffing. My school did a restaffing two years later and I wasn't rehired. I guess he was one of the new teachers hired. Doesn't look like the restaffing had a positive effect. I really wish the Post would do an article on the schools that were restaffed: AUtomotive, Boys and Girls High School, John Adams, August Martin, Flushing and DeWitt Clinton and see if there was any improvement. Does anybody work for these schools and can tell if there has been any improvement? I'd like to know.

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  61. JR,

    The way I understand it, they find your top 3 years, then go back another 2 years. They then find the lowest year and you can only make 10% more than the lowest year for pension calculation. If your highest 3 years were 120k, 122k, 124k but the year before you made 90k, you can only add up to 10% on the 90k, equaling 99k per year...So all those 120k years would be thrown out. So it would be 99k fas...I think.

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  62. Hey, 5:53-I I used to mentor a new teacher at Automotive High School. After my first visit, we agreed that I would return to his school-
    in 3 months or 3,000 miles-or whichever came first

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  63. Saturday, March 06, 2021 5:53:00 PM

    I am a teacher that was rehired during a re-staffing. About 1/2 of our teachers were not rehired. About 45% of the teachers hired to replace these seasoned teachers are brand new teachers. They do not know how to handle our special clientele and some of them quit after only 2 years. Many of the these teachers have their lips stuck to the administrations asses and will change grades so our "Seniors" can graduate. Most of our Administrators were replaced as well. Most of the new administrators are new administrators that take pleasure in destroying well establishing teachers' observations to make themselves look good. It is funny though. The year my principal brags about the most is the year BEFORE the re-staffing. I would not be calling a school re-staffing successful.

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  64. JR...FAS pension: look at your highest 3 consecutive years(usually your last 3 years). Example 121k, 124k and 128k. Then average the two years prior to that. Example 115K +119k averages to 117k. 10% in addition to the 117k = 128,700. Since 128,700 is not more than any one of your 3 consecutive years you can average the 3 years to find your fas. If one of your 3 years was more than 128,700 you would have to knock that year’s salary down to 128,700. Google... nyc trs understanding your benefits letter tiers III, IV, VI... the explanation is there.

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  65. 609, it doesn't say average of the previous 2 years. I had a huge jump from 2017-2018. I was going to resign at the end of 2022. My highest 3 years look like they will be 2019-21, not 20-22. Trying to figure out how badly 17 will hurt me if 19-21 are used and 22 is excluded.

    Also, what does 3 years mean? 3 calendar years? 3 school or fiscal years? 36 months? How would I even be able to figure out which 36 months were the highest unless I use w2 forms, which may not be what trs is using?

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  66. 934 yes it does. Read it again. The word "average" is there. Be wary of w2 it includes retro which is not pensionable. I can't answer your question on calendar years vs school years. For my estimated calculations on my pension I'm assuming salary earned from July 1st through June 30th for each of the 3 years prior to a July 1 retirement. Is the uft doing virtual pension consultations? Make one if they are but remember everything is just an estimate. You can't actually know your exact amount until you are already retired and Trs finalizes your pension. Absurd but true. My cousin retired and her actual pension was pretty close to her own calculated monthly estimate using 3 years July through June. You can also do a search between dates you choose on payroll portal but you'd have to subtract your retro that fell in the 3 year time period you chose for your search.

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  67. Call the UFT or TRS. Don't get your pension advise from anonymous blog commenters.

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  68. Uft has given me incorrect me incorrect pension info before.

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  69. The calculations the UFT did with me were fairly accurate.

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  70. It does say average of 2 previous years. Your FAS would generally be the average of your
    highest three consecutive annual salaries during
    your periods of total credited service. However, if
    the salary earned during any year included in the
    three-year period exceeds the average of the previous
    two years by more than 10%, the amount in excess
    of 10% would be excluded from the calculation.

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  71. 5 years.average.if this is year 5 they avg years 5,4,3; then 4,3,2;then 3,2,1.1 meaning five years ago.i think they can throw out a low year if it throws it down.not exactly sure.they average these three numbers and multiply by Years.2%up to 3o years.then I think it is 1.5% for each additional year.yes the 10% Kingston rule does apply.they suggest dividing per session over years instead of a last year Cramer or u get screwed by the 10%penalty.hopefully this is accurate.i am still working but this is what I recall from workshops this is for tier 4 and assuming you have enough years to not get a penalty for not enough time/ age.

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  72. But what is a year? Every time a month starts there is a new 12 month period.

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  73. It is counted from the date you retire but call TRS and/or UFT for advice.

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  74. James, how would they go about figuring the highest 3 years if not the last 3 years? Any random 36 consecutive months?

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  75. Good question 515, does a computer program compute every 36 month period to find the highest 36 months?

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  76. For most teachers the highest consecutive years would be the 36 months going back from your retirement date. If it’s not, I would do my own calculations for fas and if it doesn’t match TRS’s fas, I would ask them what they used. Chaz’s blog still has all his info on pension and retirement. Also read TRS retiree companion. Be informed. Then get a UFT pension consultation or go to a pension clinic run by trs or something similar run by UFT. Yeah UFT screws up sometimes but if you read and are informed and get UFT info, you’ll be in good shape to make a retirement decision. Verify what you read from commenters. Don’t take a strangers word for it....including mine.

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