This Alex Zimmerman piece in Chalkbeat is rather interesting.
Five years ago, former Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed that every New York City public school classroom would be air conditioned by 2022.
Now, after early setbacks and changing deadlines, city officials say they have followed through on that goal, with roughly 19,000 instructional spaces out of nearly 60,000 total receiving air conditioning since 2017.
Did the Department of Education Division of School Facilities people actually get this right?
“This initiative has since completed, and our Division of School Facilities continues to work on upkeep of units to ensure safe and comfortable learning environments for our students and staff,” education department spokesperson Jenna Lyle said in a statement.
Further down:
Still, some educators said they are unsure of how reliable the cooling will be, as some have experienced outages or temperatures that vary wildly with little control. The initiative also does not cover every school space where students spend time or even receive instruction. Gyms and other public assembly spaces were not required to be air conditioned under the expansion. About 40% of spaces used for physical education don’t have air conditioning, Lyle said.
And some rooms used for academic instruction will continue to lack air conditioning. Officials said spaces that were not initially designed to be classrooms — but have been “repurposed” as instructional spaces — were not included in the expansion. Lyle did not provide additional details about which specific rooms are not covered by the program. She also did not respond to a question about why 19,000 rooms were outfitted with air conditioning when the city originally claimed that 11,500 classrooms needed it.
Let's be fair: I don't think the former mayor said working air conditioning if you want to be technical.
He also didn't say all of the buildings would be fully air-conditioned. Fully air-conditioned buildings would make sense as it is 2022. There I go nitpicking again.
Please take the Chalkbeat survey for yourself to report on the state of air conditioning in your NYC school. Sorry, it isn't anonymous so the cowards here can crawl right back under their rocks.
NYC SCHOOL FUNDING LAWSUIT APPEAL WILL NOT BE HEARD UNTIL SEPTEMBER 29
In a not so wonderful development last week, the appeal for the lawsuit from parents and teachers trying to get a do-over vote from the City Council on the New York City public school budgets to restore funding to schools will not be heard until September 29. School begins September 8. This is from Gothamist:
“The mayor is completely responsible for this case dragging on through the courts rather than heeding the demand by City Council to negotiate a budget modification,” said Laura Barbieri, the attorney representing the teachers and parents who sued the city over the cuts. “There is more than enough money in the budget to provide for the children of this city. The mayor’s refusal speaks volumes about how little he cares.”
It looks like the city is running out the clock with the court which is what a City Council source told Gothamist. This looks like a big victory for the DOE bureaucracy that the UFT should be exposing at every opportunity. Even if the teachers-parents win on September 29, it is doubtful that the DOE would reprogram schools in October. If the plaintiffs win, there will probably be enough per session for many of you to need waivers for going over the maximum hours limits.
44 comments:
I work in a district 75 school that was built in 1995. It has central air . No body knows to operate the AC system . Class rooms are so humid it feels like you are in a green house .Windows do not open beyond a few inches
. The hallways are cooler then the classrooms …. Toilets are out of service constantly. No soap and paper towels when water is working.
I can not wait to walk away from the system.
“ Let's be fair: I don't think the former mayor said working air conditioning if you want to be technical.”
If you don’t have working air conditioning, you don’t have air conditioning. The presumption must be that it works. Of course, one can assume / accept a certain percentage of defects or other issues, like installation or capacity problems.
What about info on grade fraud. I mean, this is education, right?
You missed the sarcasm. OH well.
Too great a realm of possibility, for City to consider delivered or installed machines as having capacity for A/C or simply having A/C. The City and DoE are always too creative by half.
There are several classrooms in my building with an non-functioning air conditioner in the window. There are at least two classrooms with no air conditioner. There are at least three guidance offices without an air conditioner. There are classrooms that share the same weak electrical circuit that only allows one AC to be on at a time. Other classrooms where the teacher has to choose between the smartboard or the AC. Yes, the administrators know, the custodian knows and the DOE people are aware. Coincidentally, these people all have working AC units. I wouldn't care so much if the DOE was not so corrupt and wasteful with the taxpayer money. I have been teaching long enough to remember days when none of the classrooms had AC.
The UFT is so powerful that everyone can strike except for us. Dues well spent.
https://t.co/XZCjkZNn8M
@1206 pm. According to the writing on the wall--nobody cares. It's not harming anyone. Insert sarcasm here
PE teacher here. No AC in my gym. Hot as an oven.
What about a school building where classrooms have no windows, ventilation is poor to non-existent,
and half of the classrooms are located in the basement?
Yes, the battle lines were drawn with complications dealing in politics, working conditions and general respect for the UFT as they were the seeds for strikes 40 to 50 years ago. But today, community school boards and their politics are virtual non-existent today—that could ruffle the feathers of the UFT—it’s just dealing with the Mayor/Chancellor. But there have not been any layoffs- in how many years? The summer vacation is still around even a few more holidays. The 2022-23 shows just 177 days. Okay-a major blemish was with he poor Bloomberg/Klein relationship and the UFT—with the awful Weingarten 2005 contract that created a wasteful ATR pool, the corruption with Open Market Transfers—those ridiculous hiring halls-that served no one’s best interest—but teachers were still paid and a good percent of those people did persevere.
Do you think Adams will layoff teachers? Do you think Adams is fearful of Mulgrew? Does Adams want to break the union the way Bloomberg was trying to do? Do you think Mulgrew will call a strike vote over 500-1000 possible layoffs? Do they both want to alienate the communities that are so dependent upon schools a to take care of their children. And how long will Mulgrew wait for any new contract to come to fruition, if the city stalls-3 months, 6 months, a year or two? So what actual catastrophic development will it take for Mulgrew to call a strike? And what percent of the 2022 teaching force would actually have the stomach do go out on strike? Never have been a big fan of Mulgrew—but the argument for change in leadership has its merits—but keep dreaming if you really think a new UFT union head would be willing to make the threat of a work stoppage?
Thank you James for the update.
So the excessed staff will not be back and the grade changes will remain for Sept 8th. At least we know now.
Adams is a POS. He is not a friend of children.
Well if the budget isn't changing then the UFT needs to get us a contract that reflects all that we have done in the past 2 years and no increases to medical. We are in a high risk job with poor ventilation we should not have to pay for medical.
I am so anxious about returning to work next week. I feel very overwhelmed and I wish there was something I could do to not worry, but I am a mess. Any suggestions?
My favorite teacher who just retired last year just passed away before even getting to enjoy retirement.
Attention District 22 peeps-
Yeah so today was chapter leader orientation …sat through hours of training this morning only to be dropped a bomb at 12 pm by our lovely union that Alan Abrams is no longer our district rep. You know the person we voted for in a union we PAY into....
Icing on the cake Bove (superintendent) announced it to the principals YESTERDAY. So our union thinks it is appropriate that NON-Paying Members be MORE informed than us.
Alan was one of the main reasons I took on this role and I am seriously re-considering my association with the UFT institution. The disrespect and unprofessional of how they just casually mentioned it when the link literally stated lunch with Alan Abrams
So please email our borough rep at eperez@uft.org and ask her the next steps on VOTING on who will represent us vs the union picking one for us. Please remind her, we elected her and that she represents us and she does have the right to tell us who our district rep will be.
They did not even select a person from our district or ask any of the chapter leaders to fill the roll to our knowledge. Just dropped the bomb.
I asked how they were announcing this information to the members so that you wouldn't find out and be blindsided like the chapter leaders in the district were today and they had no plan.
Remind them they are suppose to act in our interests and not do as they damn please/
At least we have Mulgrew to fix this.
The Hill
@thehill
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2m
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@SecCardona
: "A crisis of respect. And it shows in how educators are paid. [...] If we are serious in addressing the teacher shortage issue, we must first address the teacher respect issue. And that means, first and foremost, paying our teachers a livable and competitive wage."
Anon 6:52… First and foremost, my condolences on your favorite teacher passing. I will not say “don’t worry” because it will undermine the genuine concerns you have. What I will say is this too shall pass. Unfortunate events are inevitable, but so is the ending to them. Take it day by day and remind yourself that if you can’t do it, you have tried. You owe only yourself and who you deem important happiness. I wish you and the others who are going in next week the best of luck. I don’t know if I’ll continue my journey into teaching, but I admire anyone that desires to do so.
We are only human, only at best sometimes forces for good in an insane situation, trying to mitigate. What you feel could make you more empathetic and accessible to students, and it’s probably part of the drive to go in each day, fix things from the prior day. Think of all the ways you usually make a difference, mitigate, fix, suffer fools, or rebel, well.
I am thankful for my new job in the DOE, but I am extremely frustrated with how much money I am spending out of pocket. I’ve been teaching for years and I know that we have to spend some of our own money, but why would I have to spend my money to buy items for my science area in my kindergarten classroom? I have never heard of that. I love Lakeshore’s science activities but they are very expensive! My area is going to be a little empty for a few weeks until I get my first full paycheck. I’ll buy a plant and maybe some beta fish. I know we have Teachers Choice but $250 goes quick! I assumed a laminator would be in the room but I was wrong! I had to bring mine from home.
Ok, I'm not sur which is worse, the uninfomred teacher or the union resposne.
A teachers posts in FB..."Did UFT post anything about salary increase for 2022-2023?"
The teacher has no idea about contract length?
Amy Arundell chimes in with...
Amy Arundell
There are no salary increases other than salary steps and longevities. We are preparing for another round of bargaining.
They are preparing for another round of bargaining? Preparing?
When the contract ends in 12 days?
lol. Our last raise was 16 months ago. Easy for people to talk when they make $200k-$400k and they never have to enter a school building.
Is there anyone here who really thinks we’re getting anything but a below inflation crappy raise and some give backs?
9:50. The DOE knows you’ll buy materials so they don’t bother. You’ve volunteered for this pay cut for yourself and it won’t end. We got $260 Teachers Choice back in 1990. Then the City figured out that they could get teachers to buy their own supplies and voila… Teachers Choice never kept up with inflation.
Do not spend too much of your own money. I believe science gets more funding than other subjects. They have money. It they do not let you buy stuff then it might be time to find a better school.
Not below inflation. We are getting nothing for the foreseeable future. Then we beg for retro. Only Mulgrew. Perhaps this is why people complain about dues.
I used to spend quite a lot on school supplies when I taught elementary school. Every school has a boat load of money. Every school should be audited and have to justify how the allotted money is used. The waste and corruption in my current school is astronomical.
And after 2014 where Mulgrew allowed the city to pay retro 12 years late with no interest-Why in the world would they give us an on time deal now?
But this is a pro union blog
The delay in the school funding guarantees that the school year gets off to a chaotic start. This chaos will be used by Adams to justify an increase in the number of charter schools. The degradation of public schools by sowing chaos and confusion is key to the strategy of charter school promotion and development.
I think we will wait 24 years with the next contract to get paid.
Mulgrew is an asshole, but you voted for him and you got what you deserve.
Big cigar
Not me. I saved $1600 so I can’t vote. Don’t blame me.
When's the last time a politician referred to teachers, cops , firefighters, nurses and doctors been referred to as "essential workers." How quickly those in power forget.
It's back to shitting on city employees and unions.
But we are the uft.
Seattle teachers, who make between $63k and $123k (depending on experience and degrees) and work 180 days out of the year, will announce their likely strike on Tuesday -- the day before the first day of school.
Mulgrew is a coward. He is incapable of organizing a coordinated strike with the other labor unions. WE NEED TO STRIKE, PERIOD.
Oh, today is the 2 billion dollar day we got to give up hundreds of thousands of dollars per person in the fixed TDA
For what exactly?
NYC members won't vote for a strike. Its not just about Mulgrew
NEW YORK TIMES says pandemic erased two decades of progress math and reading. Closing the schools and going remote unlike florida makes perfect sense right guys?
If you don't strike or you don't pull your dues we are baby sheep with no voices, period.
Leonie has good coverage on parents blog of NAEP scores.
"Even now, as Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Dr. Peggy Carr pointed out today at a NAEP online briefing, the pandemic had many effects that transcended school closures that could have had negative impacts on learning and test scores, including death of family members,
their loss of jobs, and widespread illness and absentees, including of students themselves.
"Moreover, the results from the long-term NAEP itself are so far unclear that remote instruction was the primary factor. For example, there was no drop in average reading scores in cities – where there were more frequent school closures, though the declines were significant in suburbs and towns."
https://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2022/09/naep-results-released-today-score.html?m=1
Some NYC teachers might be happier joining the Chicago, Seattle or Ohio teachers unions. They’re willing to strike. Anyone ever consider a move?
Who cares. Not happening. Just like I couldn’t vote in an election where Mulgrew got 90%
Oh sure, I would love to teach Chicago youth. I'm packing my bags as we speak. I get it, that was the joke, right, we should appreciate what we have? You're not serious are you?
No, 4:16. Not thinking you should appreciate the UFT. THEY SUCK. Serious question. Other teachers unions praised here so wondering if anyone actually considered a change to one of those places.
So you think teaching Chicago students will be an improvement? Not for all the money in the world.
The same problems. No difference.
"I think that's how Chicago got started. A bunch of people in New York said, 'Gee, I'm enjoying the crime and the poverty, but it just isn't cold enough. Let's go west.'" -- Richard Jeni
Have a good day everyone.
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